memeorandum: Assange arrest: Trump claims to ‘know nothing about WikiLeaks’ despite past praise

2:50 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, Vanity Fair, Politico, POLITICUSUSA, Balloon Juice, IJR and Shakesville

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, Fox News, Associated Press, Axios, Breitbart, Contemptor, Political Wire, Vox, Taylor Marsh, Gizmodo, ABC News, Just Security, Raw Story, Law & Crime and Task & Purpose

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: Nieman Lab, CNN, Politico, Financial Times, Slate, Rolling Stone, emptywheel, NBC News, 1A, Herman Cain, Quartz, RedState, Vox, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Lid, The Gateway Pundit, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Al Jazeera, Townhall, The Wrap and The Daily Caller

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, CNN, Home Office in the media, ACLU, National Review, ABC News, Test Feed Using Fields, Common Dreams, Breitbart, TechCrunch, WPIX 11 New York, NPR, KTLA, Mother Jones, TheBlaze and twitchy.com

The Guardian:

Assange arrest: Trump claims to ‘know nothing about WikiLeaks’ despite past praise - live — The US president says WikiLeaks is ‘not my thing’, despite frequently applauding the organization during 2016 campaign — Donald Trump, who frequently praised WikiLeaks during the 2016 presidential campaign …

Discussion: CNN, New York Post, The American Conservative and WREG-TV, more at Mediagazer »

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: Bloomberg, Shareblue Media, The Intercept, Outside the Beltway, Breitbart, Conservative News Today, Washington Post, The Wrap, Law & Crime, UNILAD, Patterico's Pontifications, Big League Politics, The Daily Caller, Mashable, The American Conservative and Boing Boing

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Trump on WikiLeaks after Assange arrest: 'It's not my thing'

Discussion: Axios, USA Today and The Week

Kate Lyons / The Guardian:
Julian Assange arrested at Ecuadorian embassy in London

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

Nancy LeTourneau / Washington Monthly:
Assange Indictment is Good News for Both Trump and Press Freedom

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Federalist and Mother Jones

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.

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:

Avenatti Allegedly Scammed Paraplegic Client Out Of $4 Million Settlement — Michael Avenatti was indicted Thursday on 36 charges of tax fraud, bribery and embezzlement, including in a case in which the embattled celebrity lawyer allegedly hid $4 million of settlement money from a mentally ill, paraplegic client.

U.S. Department of Justice:

Attorney Michael Avenatti Named in Federal Grand Jury Indictment that Accuses Him of Stealing Millions of Dollars from Clients — 36-Count Indictment also Alleges Tax Fraud, Bank Fraud and Bankruptcy Fraud — LOS ANGELES - A federal grand jury indictment filed late Wednesday charges high …

Discussion: Politico and Quartz

Associated Press:
The Latest: Avenatti could face 335 years in prison

Discussion: Louder With Crowder

Brian Melley / Associated Press:
Avenatti charged with embezzlement, fraud, cheating on taxes

Discussion: Conservative News Today and Political Wire

Zachary Basu / Axios:
Michael Avenatti charged in new 36-count indictment in California

Discussion: One America News Network

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 …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

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: New York Times and The Week

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

Discussion: The Hill and Geller Report

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

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Shakesville, Splinter, The Gateway Pundit, The Hill, The Daily Caller, RedState and PJ Media Home

Greg Sargent / Washington Post: Adam Schiff just issued a stark warning about William Barr

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

Discussion: Washington Monthly and The Week

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

Discussion: Fox News and Washington Monthly

Polls:

Health Care, Environment Top Dem Issues — West Long Branch, NJ - Democratic voters in the Hawkeye State like Joe Biden - a lot. The former vice president leads the pack and holds the best favorability rating in a field of two dozen presidential contenders, according to the first Monmouth University Poll …

Discussion: Axios, Saint Anselm College and Political Wire

New York Times:

Ron Burkle, Billionaire Investor, Is Said to Be in Talks to Buy National Enquirer — The owners of The National Enquirer are in talks to sell the tabloid to the California billionaire Ronald W. Burkle, according to two people with direct knowledge of the negotiations.

Discussion: New York Post, The Wrap, Washington Post, Gizmodo and CBS Pittsburgh, more at Mediagazer »

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, Washington Times and IJR

Ken Meyer / Mediaite:
Trump Spreads Fake Poll on His ‘Soaring Approval’ Aired By Fox's Lou Dobbs

Discussion: Politico, The Daily Beast and POLITICUSUSA

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

Discussion: USA Today, Raw Story, Shareblue Media and Media Matters for America

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: Center for Public Integrity, Vox, Talking Points Memo, Axios, Common Dreams, Daily Kos, Associated Press and Observer

Kathryn Kranhold / NBC News:
Twice as many companies paying zero taxes under Trump tax plan

Discussion: Shareblue Media, ITEP, Common Dreams and The Intercept

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, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Trending Home, The Daily Caller, Splinter and CANNONFIRE

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

‘Some people did something’: Rep. Omar's remarks in context — “CAIR was founded after 9/11, because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties.” — Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), in remarks to a Council …

Discussion: American Greatness, New York Post, Conservative News Today, Rolling Stone, Summit News, twitchy.com, Mediaite, Breitbart, Contemptor, Washington Free Beacon and The Week

New York Post:
Ilhan Omar's outrageous writeoff of 9/11's horrors

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

Washington Post:

Ex-Pope Benedict contradicts Pope Francis in unusual intervention on sexual abuse — ROME — Breaking years of silence on major church affairs, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has written a lengthy letter devoted to clerical sex abuse in which he attributes the crisis to a breakdown of church …

Discussion: New York Times, Press Herald, National Review and Raw Story

Katie Galioto / Politico:

Pence knocks Buttigieg for criticizing him: ‘He knows better’ — Days after South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg directly attacked Mike Pence for his stance on LGBT issues, the Republican vice president denounced the comments, saying the 2020 hopeful “knows better.”

Isaac Stanley-Becker / Washington Post:
‘He knows better’: Pete Buttigieg has made Mike Pence his target, and the vice president isn't pleased

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Daily Beast

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: Washington Post, The Advocate, New York Post, The Week, KTLA and Talking Points Memo

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Trump rushes to rescue of besieged party-switcher — With the president by his side, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice made a dramatic announcement before a raucous crowd of “MAGA"-hat wearing supporters: He was bolting a Democratic Party that had “walked away” from him to join Donald Trump's GOP.

Discussion: Forbes

Eliana Johnson / Politico:

Republicans confront Trump amid cascading controversies — As Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell asked Republicans this week to head off problematic nominees before President Donald Trump officially picked them, the Kentucky Republican singled out Ken Cuccinelli.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Daily Kos

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: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Slate and Geller Report

Rachael Bade / Washington Post: Former White House official accused in security clearance dispute to face House committee

Jason Hancock / Kansas City Star:

St. Louis reporter duped into writing Eric Greitens comeback story — For a few hours Wednesday morning, Missouri's political world was buzzing over a report that former Gov. Eric Greitens was plotting his political comeback. — But by day's end, the buzz turned to bust.