memeorandum: William Barr Obliterated the DOJ's Standard for Defending Laws Because Donald Trump Asked (David R. Lurie/Slate)

4:05 PM ET, April 13, 2019

Top Items:

Lois Beckett / The Guardian:

Yemeni bodegas boycott New York Post over attacks on Ilhan Omar — Murdoch-owned paper published front page that Yemeni American Merchants Association says ‘provoked hatred’ — A group of New York corner-store owners has announced a boycott on the sale of the New York Post …

Discussion: Washington Post, NPR and New York Post

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic:

Ilhan Omar Falls Victim to the Outrage Exhibitionists — When the ideological left engages in what is variously denigrated as “political correctness,” virtue-signaling, performative wokeness, or “social-justice warrior” cry-bullying, many on the right find it easy to spot the flaws in those modes of discourse.

Discussion: Townhall, Mother Jones, Business Insider and No More Mister Nice Blog

Mary Papenfuss / HuffPost:

Now Outraged, Trump Boasted On 9/11 That His Building Was Tallest After Attack — Appallingly insensitive — and false, Democratic strategist Paul Begala recalls after the president tries to bash Rep. Ilhan Omar using images of the terrorist strike. — President Donald Trump is expressing outrage …

Discussion: CBS News, Slate, New York Times and ThinkProgress

Victor Garcia / Fox News:
Geraldo on ‘The Five’: Give Rep. Omar ‘a break’

Discussion: Axios

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Dems rip Nunes' plan for private huddle with Barr to discuss criminal allegations — House Democrats are crying foul over a plan by the Intelligence Committee's top Republican, Rep. Devin Nunes, to meet privately with Attorney General William Barr to push the Justice Department …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Bipartisan Report and Raw Story

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Stone cites Barr, Kavanaugh writings in last-ditch effort to dismiss Mueller indictment

Discussion: ABC News and Raw Story

Katelyn Polantz / CNN:
Roger Stone connected to matters still under investigation, Justice Dept. says

Discussion: Raw Story

Matt Flegenheimer / New York Times:

The Many Reasons to Run for President When You Probably Don't Stand a Chance — There is no discernible mass groundswell for an Eric Swalwell presidential campaign. — The case against: He is a 38-year-old California congressman of little legislative distinction.

Masha Gessen / New Yorker:

How to Resist Validating President Trump's View of Sanctuary Cities — On Thursday, the Washington Post reported that the Trump Administration has tried to pressure Immigration and Customs Enforcement to transport detained immigrants to sanctuary cities and release them there.

Discussion: Althouse, Washington Post, The Colorado Independent, CNN and Instapundit

Maria Sacchetti / Washington Post:

Trump's plan to send migrant detainees to sanctuary cities draws concerns about cost, legality — Should President Trump follow through on a proposal to release migrants in U.S. “sanctuary cities,” it would be a major departure from the way federal agencies are handling detainees.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Wall Street Journal, IJR and Conservative News Today

Jenny A. Durkan / Washington Post:
Seattle isn't afraid of immigrants, Mr. Trump

Discussion: Conservative News Today, Booman Tribune, Outside the Beltway, Axios, CBS Philly, Common Dreams and The Stranger

Jeff Stein / Washington Post:

House Democrats give IRS hard deadline of April 23 to turn over Trump tax returns, say administration's concerns ‘lack merit’ — House Democrats are giving the Trump administration a hard-deadline of April 23 to turn over President Trump's tax returns, pushing back against Treasury Secretary …

Discussion: Associated Press, Slate, The Guardian, Raw Story and New York Post

Barbie Latza Nadeau / The Daily Beast:
House Dems Give IRS Until April 23 to Hand Over Trump Taxes

Discussion: Reuters and Raw Story

Sarah Longwell / The Bulwark:

Democrats, Please Take Whatever Precautions Are Necessary To Prevent This Terrible Disaster — All of this has happened before. — I'm a Republican and I'm here to help. — I want to help because we live in the same country and while our politics may diverge, our future is inextricably bound together.

Discussion: Raw Story

Jennifer Valentino-DeVries / New York Times:

Tracking Phones, Google Is a Dragnet for the Police — The tech giant records people's locations worldwide. Now, investigators are using it to find suspects and witnesses near crimes, running the risk of snaring the innocent. — When detectives in a Phoenix suburb arrested a warehouse worker …

more at Techmeme »

Bret Stephens / New York Times:

Trump and the Annihilation of Shame — Charles Van Doren's death marks the end of an era. — I had never heard of Charles Van Doren until, in college, I saw the movie “Quiz Show,” and I probably never thought of him again until I read his obituary this week in The Times.

New York Times:

As Ecuador Harbored Assange, It Was Subjected to Threats and Leaks — The secrets came directly from the phones of President Lenín Moreno of Ecuador: intimate pictures of him and his family on vacation, text messages from his wife, even a photograph of the president himself in a posh bedroom, eating a lobster in bed.

Discussion: Politico

David R. Lurie / Slate:

William Barr Obliterated the DOJ's Standard for Defending Laws Because Donald Trump Asked — Attorney General William Barr has faced harsh criticism for his problematic treatment of the Mueller report, which some have suggested appeared to be calculated to benefit the president.

Radio Free Asia:

North Korea Stages Public Executions to Strengthen ‘Social Order’ — North Korean authorities staged a public trial and shot two female fortune tellers to death last month, forcing tens of thousands of people to watch, in what appeared to be a resumption of public executions.

Discussion: Hullabaloo

The Babylon Bee:

Ocasio-Cortez Appears On ‘The Price Is Right,’ Guesses Everything Is Free — HOLLYWOOD, CA—Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was pumped to attend a taping of The Price Is Right in Hollywood this week. The special guest introduced herself as a U.S. representative and rising star of the Democratic Party.

Discussion: Louder With Crowder and twitchy.com

Media Matters for America:
Six weeks of Fox's Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez obsession: “Totalitarian,” “ignorant,” “scary,” and waging a “war on cows”

Discussion: The Guardian, Political Wire, twitchy.com and Mediaite

Benjamin Wallace-Wells / New Yorker:

Bernie Sanders Imagines a Progressive New Approach to Foreign Policy — In the early summer of 2017, a little less than a year after his Presidential campaign had ended, Bernie Sanders spent a few days on a speaking tour in England, to promote the European version of his book “Our Revolution.”