memeorandum: Michael Avenatti indicted on 36 counts, accused of embezzling tens of millions of dollars (Erica Orden/CNN)

12:00 PM ET, April 11, 2019

Top Items:

WikiLeaks Founder Charged in Computer Hacking Conspiracy — ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Julian P. Assange, 47, the founder of WikiLeaks, was arrested today in the United Kingdom pursuant to the U.S./UK Extradition Treaty, in connection with a federal charge of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion …

Washington Post:

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrested by British police after being evicted from Ecuador's embassy in London — PARIS — Ecuador handed Julian Assange over to British authorities Thursday, ending a standoff that left the controversial WikiLeaks founder holed up in the Ecuadoran Embassy in London for nearly seven years.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, National Review, IJR, Shakesville, Balloon Juice, Political Wire and POLITICUSUSA

Mynewsdesk:

Arrest of Julian Assange — UPDATE: Julian Assange arrest. — Julian Assange, 47, (03.07.71) has today, Thursday 11 April, been further arrested on behalf of the United States authorities, at 10:53hrs after his arrival at a central London police station. This is an extradition warrant under Section 73 of the Extradition Act.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Washington Post, The Intercept, CNN, ACLU, TheBlaze, Mother Jones, Breitbart, Common Dreams, NPR, TechCrunch, WPIX 11 New York and The Week

New York Times:

Julian Assange Charged by U.S. With Conspiracy to Hack a Government Computer — WASHINGTON — The United States has charged WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange with one count of conspiracy to hack a computer related to his role in the 2010 release of reams of secret American documents …

Discussion: Politico, RedState, Financial Times, Nieman Lab, Quartz, Vox, NBC News, Rolling Stone, Townhall, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Wrap, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, The Lid, The Gateway Pundit, Al Jazeera, twitchy.com, Mediaite and Lawyers, Guns & Money

BBC:

Julian Assange: Wikileaks co-founder arrested in London — Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange has been arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. — Mr Assange took refuge in the embassy seven years ago to avoid extradition to Sweden over a sexual assault case that has since been dropped.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Daily Caller, Patterico's Pontifications, The Wrap, UNILAD, Law & Crime, Big League Politics, Mashable, The American Conservative, Boing Boing and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Kevin Poulsen / The Daily Beast:

Why Ecuador Finally Got Sick of Julian Assange and Ended His Refuge at the Embassy in London — The Justice Department is set to announce charges against the Wikileaks founder after he was dragged from Ecuador's embassy in London. — Six years, nine months and 24 days after walking …

Discussion: Politico, Axios, Vox, Just Security and Mediaite

Jim Geraghty / National Review:

Julian Assange's Asylum Stint Comes to an End — Making the click-through worthwhile: The face of WikiLeaks — now oddly resembling Randy Quaid — is taken into police custody in London; the reign of a notorious dictator appears to be coming to an end; television viewers may already be tuning out the lesser-known Democratic candidates.

Discussion: CNN, KTLA and The Daily Caller

Kate Lyons / The Guardian:

Julian Assange arrested at Ecuadorian embassy in London — WikiLeaks founder arrested for alleged breach of bail at London embassy where he took refuge for seven years — Play Video — Julian Assange has been arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, after the South American country withdrew asylum from the WikiLeaks founder.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Mynewsdesk, Quartz, The Week and Towleroad Gay News, more at Mediagazer »

Los Angeles Times: WikiLeaks' Julian Assange faces U.S. computer-hacking charge after arrest in London

Home Office in the media:
Julian Assange statement and extradition factsheet

Discussion: Vox

Benjamin Wittes / Lawfare:

Bill Barr's Low Moment — Attorney General Bill Barr's statements today on supposed “spying” by the FBI on the Trump campaign before the Senate Appropriations Committee were indefensible. They at once indecipherable and contentless, on the one hand, and incendiary, on the other hand.

Discussion: The Week, Test Feed Using Fields, Media Matters for America, Vanity Fair and Washington Press

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Adam Schiff just issued a stark warning about William Barr — As you've heard, on Wednesday morning, Attorney General William P. Barr made the remarkable claim that the Trump campaign might have been the target of “spying” by law enforcement during the 2016 campaign.

Caroline Kelly / CNN:
Ex-DNI: ‘Stunning and scary’ that Barr would raise spying allegation

Discussion: The Hill, The Daily Caller, RedState, Media Matters for America, PJ Media Home, Raw Story and Washington Press

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Barr is right, spying on Trump campaign did occur

Discussion: Fox News, Slate and Vox

Eli Lake / Bloomberg:
Focus on the Leaking, Not Just the Spying

Discussion: The Hill, Geller Report and RedState

Charles Sykes / The Bulwark:
Seven Reasons Not to Trust William Barr

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Week and Washington Post

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:
CNN's Jeffrey Toobin: Attorney General Bill Barr ‘Talks Like Sean Hannity’

Discussion: NBC News, Mediaite, Breitbart, TheBlaze and Contemptor

Barbara McQuade / The Daily Beast:
Barr Sounds More and More Like Trump's Roy Cohn

Discussion: Raw Story and Daily Wire

Michael Finnegan / Los Angeles Times:

Avenatti indicted on 36 counts of tax dodging, perjury, theft from clients and other crimes — In a sweeping expansion of the criminal charges against Michael Avenatti, a federal grand jury has indicted the Los Angeles lawyer on 36 counts of fraud, perjury, failure to pay taxes, embezzlement and other financial crimes.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, RedState, Big League Politics, CNBC, Law & Crime and New York Times

Brian Melley / Associated Press:

Avenatti charged with embezzlement, fraud, cheating on taxes — LOS ANGELES (AP) — Attorney Michael Avenatti has been charged in a 36-count federal indictment alleging he stole millions of dollars from clients, did not pay his taxes, committed bank fraud and lied in bankruptcy proceedings.

Discussion: Political Wire

Erica Orden / CNN: Michael Avenatti indicted on 36 counts, accused of embezzling tens of millions of dollars

Fox News: Feds seize $4.5 million Avenatti plane amid tax scandal

Kathryn Kranhold / NBC News:

Twice as many companies paying zero taxes under Trump tax plan — The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act lowered the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. In its first year, the number of companies paying no taxes went from 30 to 60. — Taxpayers are scrambling to make last-minute payments due …

Discussion: ITEP and The Intercept

Elizabeth Warren / Team Warren:

I'm proposing a big new idea: the Real Corporate Profits Tax — It's almost Tax Day, and chances are you'll be paying federal taxes this year. Maybe it's a lot, maybe it's a little. But you'll be kicking in something for our military, for medical research, for highways and bridges …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Vox, Axios, Associated Press and Observer

Stephanie Clegg / ITEP:
Corporate Tax Avoidance Remains Rampant Under New Tax Law

Discussion: wgbh.org and Center for Public Integrity

Benjy Sarlin / NBC News: Warren targets big business with $1 trillion ‘profits’ tax

Bloomberg: Warren Pushes New Corporate Tax on Profits Above $100 Million

New York Times:

Retiring as a Judge, Trump's Sister Ends Court Inquiry Into Her Role in Tax Dodges — President Trump's older sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, has retired as a federal appellate judge, ending an investigation into whether she violated judicial conduct rules by participating in fraudulent tax schemes with her siblings.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Talking Points Memo, Trending Home, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, Splinter, CANNONFIRE, The Week, CNN, Bipartisan Report, Patterico's Pontifications and Axios

Matthew Chapman / Raw Story: Trump's sister retires from the federal judiciary to avoid ethics investigation into her taxes

Washington Post:

Gregory Craig, ex-Obama White House counsel, expects to be charged in relation to Ukrainian work with Manafort, his lawyers say — The expected indictment — which his attorneys called “a misguided abuse of prosecutorial discretion” — stems from work Craig did with GOP lobbyist Paul Manafort …

Discussion: Washington Times and Raw Story

Wall Street Journal:
Former Obama White House Counsel Expects to Be Indicted

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, VICE News, CNN, POLITICUSUSA, Conservative News Today, The Gateway Pundit, TheBlaze, The Daily Beast and Daily Wire

Kenneth P. Vogel / New York Times:
Ex-Obama Counsel Expects to Be Charged Soon in Mueller-Related Case

Discussion: RedState, Geller Report, Politico, Splinter, Slate and The Daily Caller

CNN:

Sources: Suspect taken into custody in connection with fires at three black churches in Louisiana — (CNN)A suspect has been taken into custody in connection with fires at three historically black Louisiana churches in 10 days, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Post, KTLA, Splinter and Fox News

The Daily Beast:
‘Evil Act’: Holden Matthews Charged With Arson of 3 Black Louisiana Churches

Discussion: Law & Crime, KATC-TV, New York Times and Balloon Juice

Orion Rummler / Axios:

Trump tweets incorrect approval rating from Fox Business segment — President Trump tweeted a screenshot of his approval rating Thursday morning from a segment on Fox Business' “Lou Dobbs Tonight” that incorrectly presented polling numbers from Georgetown's Institute of Politics & Public Service, New York Magazine reports.

Discussion: Vox, New York Magazine and IJR

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Trump shares an inaccurate graphic on Twitter that overstates his job approval by 12 points

Discussion: Mediaite, Raw Story, Shareblue Media and POLITICUSUSA

New York Times:

The U.S. Immigration System May Have Reached a Breaking Point — For years, there have been warnings that America's immigration system was going to fail. That time may be now. … SAN YSIDRO, Calif. — It was never like this before. — The migrants come now in the middle of the night or in the bright light of day.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Washington Post, Front Page Magazine and Breitbart

Washington Post: Neither Trump nor Democrats have advanced a solution for the border. Here's one.

Isaac Chotiner / New Yorker:

Bret Easton Ellis Thinks You're Overreacting to Donald Trump — “When did people start identifying so relentlessly with victims, and when did the victim's world view become the lens through which we began to look at everything?” So begins Bret Easton Ellis's take on, of all things …

New York Post:

Ilhan Omar's outrageous writeoff of 9/11's horrors — How pathetic: A member of Congress can't acknowledge what happened on one of the most horrific days in US history. — In a March 23 speech, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) complained of “the discomfort of being a second-class citizen” …

Discussion: Townhall, The Wrap, The Daily Caller and Daily Wire

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
‘Some people did something’: Rep. Omar's remarks in context

Discussion: American Greatness, Washington Free Beacon, Contemptor, The Week, IJR, Splinter and Media Matters for America

Bloomberg:

Amazon Workers Are Listening to What You Tell Alexa — Tens of millions of people use smart speakers and their voice software to play games, find music or trawl for trivia. Millions more are reluctant to invite the devices and their powerful microphones into their homes out of concern that someone might be listening.

Discussion: Day One, CNBC, Boing Boing, TheBlaze, MIT Technology Review, The Guardian, Fortune, KRON, RedState, Engadget, New York Post, Fox News, Gizmodo, New York Times, The Sun, The Verge and fox8.com, more at Techmeme »

Kansas City Star:

Herman Cain, Trump's prospective Fed nominee, calls Senate critics ‘a bunch of yahoos’ — Herman Cain, whose prospects for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors have grown shaky before President Donald Trump even nominates him, likely gave his detractors in the U.S. Senate more reason …