memeorandum: WH budget office, not DeVos, pushed for proposed Special Olympics cuts, official says (Michael Warren/CNN)

10:20 PM ET, March 29, 2019

Top Items:

Lucy Flores / The Cut:

An Awkward Kiss Changed How I Saw Joe Biden — In 2014, I was the 35-year-old Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in Nevada. The landscape wasn't looking good for my party that year. There were no high-profile national races to help boost turnout, and after the top candidate bowed …

Rebecca Traister / The Cut:

Joe Biden Isn't the Answer — It's still three months before the first Democratic debate, nearly a year before Super Tuesday, and he hasn't even declared yet, but poll after presidential poll continues to show 76-year-old former vice-president Joe Biden leading an enormous, diverse, and talented Democratic field.

Discussion: Axios and LifeNews.com

Laura McGann / Vox:

Lucy Flores isn't alone. Joe Biden's got a long history of touching women inappropriately. — The media gave Biden a pass for years. It won't in 2020. — Democrat Lucy Flores was preparing to give one of her final stump speeches in a race for lieutenant governor in Nevada when she felt two hands on her shoulders.

Discussion: New York Times, Balloon Juice, Louder With Crowder, Big League Politics and twitchy.com

Sebastian Murdock / HuffPost:

We Got Alex Jones' Deposition Video. It Was A Predictable Disaster For Him. — For all his dangerous talk about the Sandy Hook school shooting, Alex Jones couldn't even recall the date it happened. — Infowars host Alex Jones was questioned earlier this month for three hours by the lawyer …

Discussion: Law & Crime, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, HillReporter.com and Boing Boing

Elizabeth Williamson / New York Times:

How Alex Jones and Infowars Helped a Florida Man Stalk Sandy Hook Families — In the world of conspiracy theorists, Alex Jones and Wolfgang Halbig fueled each other's darkest tendencies. — Soon after the Dec. 14, 2012, mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. …

Discussion: The Trace, YouTube, Daily Kos and Boing Boing

Jonathan Tilove / Austin American-Statesman:

In Sandy Hook deposition, Alex Jones blames ‘a form of psychosis’ for thinking everything is staged — Alex Jones, the Austin-based provocateur embroiled in several lawsuits filed by parents of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, said in a deposition released Friday …

Discussion: KTLA and Mediaite

Sally Yates / Washington Post:

William Barr should release the full Mueller report as soon as possible — The writer served as deputy attorney general from January 2015 to January 2017. — America's justice system is built upon one thing — truth. When witnesses give testimony, they are sworn to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

Discussion: The Hill

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:
Mueller report will be delivered by ‘mid-April, if not sooner,’ attorney general tells Congress

Discussion: The New Civil Rights Movement, Slate and Political Wire

CNN:
Justice Dept. expects to release Mueller report to Congress by ‘mid-April, if not sooner’

Discussion: RedState, Raw Story, twitchy.com, Test Feed Using Fields and Fortune

emptywheel:
Pressure Works: After Four Days, William Barr Capitulates and Gives an Estimated Page Count!!

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Common Dreams

Rashaan Ayesh / Axios:
New Barr letter: Mueller report will be sent to Congress by mid-April

Discussion: Breitbart, Politico and Washington Post

Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
Trump may not be a Russian agent. He's just a Russian stooge.

Discussion: Raw Story

Michael Warren / CNN:

WH budget office, not DeVos, pushed for proposed Special Olympics cuts, official says — DeVos ignores CNN's questions after budget testimony — Washington (CNN)The Education Department failed to include funding for the Special Olympics in its budget proposal this year after it was rebuffed …

Discussion: IJR and Raw Story

New York Times:

After Trump Casts Blames for a Special Olympics Cut, Betsy DeVos Flashes Pique — WASHINGTON — After a two-day thrashing over her department's proposal to eliminate funding for the Special Olympics, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos sat before senators on Thursday ready to defend it again.

Discussion: Conservative Review and Hullabaloo

Toluse Olorunnipa / Washington Post: 'It'll happen fast': Trump creates problems and then rushes in to solve them

Kristen Hare / Poynter:

AP says the percentage sign now OK when used with a numeral (that's shift+5) — Brace yourselves. — The AP Stylebook says the percentage sign is now acceptable when paired with a numeral in most cases. — On Friday, Stylebook Editor Paula Froke announced the latest round of changes …

Doris Truong / Poynter:
AP Stylebook update: It's OK to call something racist when it's racist

more at Mediagazer »

John Bowden / The Hill:

Flake: Better for a Dem to win in 2020 than Trump — Former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said Thursday that he would rather see a Democrat win in 2020 than have President Trump elected to a second term. — Flake made his comments at a debate in New York hosted by the nonprofit Intelligence Squared.

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit and IJR

Paul Waldman / Washington Post: Spare us the lectures from Democratic candidates about how Democratic voters are the problem

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
The blue state Trump thinks he can flip in 2020

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, Chicks On The Right and Conservative News Today

Christopher Rivas / New York Times:

I Broke Up With Her Because She's White — When it comes to dating, I'd rather not think about race. But that's been hard to avoid. — O.K., let me just get to it. I think I broke up with my last girlfriend because she's white. Actually, no, I definitely broke up with her because she's white.

Discussion: Hot Air

Miriam Jordan / New York Times:

Former Trump Family Driver Has Been in ICE Custody for 8 Months — When Donald Trump's children and campaign staff arrived in South Florida during the 2016 presidential campaign, they were often greeted at the airport by Zoltan Tamas in a black Cadillac Escalade.

Discussion: Splinter and NY State of Politics

Linda Qiu / New York Times:

Trump's Inaccurate Claims on Mueller, Health Care and the Great Lakes — At a rally in Michigan, President Trump misstated the findings of the special counsel investigation, misleadingly promised to protect patients with pre-existing conditions and falsely described funding for a restoration program for the Great Lakes.

Discussion: Mediaite

Sahil Kapur / Bloomberg: GOP Sees Political Peril as Party Scrambles for Health-Care Plan

Dylan Scott / Vox:
Trump's health care agenda is a legal disaster

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Kos and Politico

David Ignatius / Washington Post:

How the mysteries of Khashoggi's murder have rocked the U.S.-Saudi partnership — It has been nearly six months since Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered inside Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, but the aftershocks continue. The U.S.-Saudi defense and intelligence partnership has been rocked.

Discussion: Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

Joel Gehrke / Washington Examiner:
Pompeo meets Saudi prince who lured Jamal Khashoggi to his death

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Vanity Fair

Daily Mail:

TIMELINE OF BUSH'S DECADE-LONG AFFAIR WITH JENNIFER FITZGERALD — Early 1970s — Bush is introduced to Jennifer by a mutual friend. They have flirtatious calls that lead to a romance that carries on for at least 12 years. — 1974 — President Gerald Ford appoints Bush to Chief of the Liaison Office in China.

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Christopher Ingraham / Washington Post:

The share of Americans not having sex has reached a record high — You can blame young people for this dry spell, data show — The share of U.S. adults reporting no sex in the past year reached an all-time high in 2018, underscoring a three-decade trend line marked by an aging population and higher numbers of unattached people.

Discussion: The Hill, The Stranger, RedState, Liberty Unyielding and Althouse

Daniel Lippman / Politico:

Linda McMahon to leave Cabinet for Trump 2020 PAC — Linda McMahon is stepping down as head of Small Business Administration to chair the pro-Trump super PAC America First Action, according to three people familiar with the move. — Trump allies have spent weeks searching for someone …

Discussion: CNN, Breitbart, The Atlantic, Raw Story, New York Times, Axios, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Townhall, The New Civil Rights Movement and New York Post

Dion Rabouin / Axios:

Larry Kudlow wants the Fed to cut rates — White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Friday told Axios that he wants the Federal Reserve to “immediately” cut interest rates by 50 basis points. — Why it matters: This mirrors comments by Stephen Moore, who President Trump is expected …

Discussion: Bloomberg, CNBC, TheStreet and One America News Network

Jenni Russell / New York Times:

Is Theresa May the Worst Politician Ever? — The British prime minister's deal has failed. Again. — This Op-Ed has been updated to reflect news developments. — LONDON — My first attempt to charm Theresa May was eight years ago, in the grand surroundings of the State Dining Room in Downing Street …

The Guardian:
May hopes to hold fourth vote on Brexit deal

Discussion: Press Association, Quartz, Shakesville and BuzzFeed

Carrie Johnson / NPR:

Nominee For No. 3 At Justice Department Withdraws After Backlash From GOP Senators — Updated at 10: 17 a.m. — President Trump's pick to serve as third in command at the Justice Department, overseeing health care and immigration cases, withdrew her name from consideration Thursday evening amid backlash …

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Monthly, Raw Story, RedState, Law & Crime, Fox News, U.S. Department of Justice, Splinter and Washington Post

Associated Press:

Trump issues new permit for stalled Keystone XL pipeline — WASHINGTON — In an apparent bid to kick-start the long-stalled Keystone XL oil pipeline, President Donald Trump on Friday issued a new presidential permit for the project — two years after he first approved it and more than a decade after it was first proposed.

Discussion: Public Pool and Axios

NRA-ILA:

Breaking! Federal Court Finds California Magazine Ban Violates the Second Amendment — In one of the strongest judicial statements in favor of the Second Amendment to date, Judge Roger T. Benitez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California determined on Friday …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and TheBlaze

Senator Jeff Merkley:

Merkley Introduces Legislation to Ensure Equal Representation for Every American — Legislation Would End Electoral College, Embrace Full Representation for D.C., Puerto Rico & Territories — Oregon's Senator Jeff Merkley today announced the introduction of a package of bills to ensure …

Discussion: Common Dreams

Matthew Sheffield / The Hill:

Poll: Americans more likely to say Ocasio-Cortez is ‘bad’ than ‘good’ for Democrats — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hurts the Democratic Party more than she helps it, according to a Hill-HarrisX poll released Friday that also found many voters are undecided when it comes to the first-term New York Democrat.

Discussion: Breitbart