Top Items:
Heidi Przybyla / NBC News:
Joe Biden's long evolution on abortion rights still holds surprises — As a senator from Delaware, he once supported stripping exceptions for rape and incest from federal funding. — WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Joe Biden's decadeslong evolution on abortion rights has in many ways mirrored …
Discussion:
National Review, Rewire.News and Splinter
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Morgan Gstalter / The Hill:
Biden campaign confirms he supports controversial abortion rule — Former Vice President Joe Biden's presidential campaign confirmed that he still supports a controversial ban prohibiting the use of federal funds for certain abortion services. — Campaign aides told The Hill …
Discussion:
National Review, Washington Free Beacon and Shakesville
Li Zhou / Vox:
Poll: a growing number of Democratic voters are prioritizing gender-related issues
Poll: a growing number of Democratic voters are prioritizing gender-related issues
Discussion:
Political Wire, Politico, The Week and Slate
Tim Starks / Politico:
Russia's manipulation of Twitter was far vaster than believed — Russia's infamous troll farm conducted a campaign on Twitter before the 2016 elections that was larger, more coordinated and more effective than previously known, research from cybersecurity firm Symantec out Wednesday concluded.
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Ken Dilanian / NBC News:
Russian trolls who interfered in 2016 U.S. election also made ad money, report says — Some accounts were set up months in advance. And some trolls used fake accounts to make money, researchers found, with one perhaps generating $1 million. — WASHINGTON — The effort …
Discussion:
Joe.My.God.
Gillian ClearySenior / Symantec Blogs:
Twitterbots: Anatomy of a Propaganda Campaign
Twitterbots: Anatomy of a Propaganda Campaign
Discussion:
UPI, more at Mediagazer »
Maria Sacchetti / Washington Post:
Trump administration cancels English classes, soccer, legal aid for unaccompanied child migrants in U.S. shelters — The Trump administration is canceling English classes, recreational programs, and legal aid for unaccompanied minors staying in federal migrant shelters nationwide …
Discussion:
Political Wire
Nick Statt / The Verge:
YouTube decides that homophobic harassment does not violate its policies — The company sides with edgy commentator Steven Crowder — YouTube has at last formally responded to an explosive and controversial feud between Vox writer and video host Carlos Maza and conservative YouTuber Steven Crowder.
Discussion:
Fortune, PinkNews, TechCrunch, 9to5Google, RedState and Daily Wire, more at Mediagazer »
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Detroit News:
Biden, Sanders other Democrats lead Trump in Michigan poll — Lansing — While most Michigan voters don't want Congress to impeach President Donald Trump, a majority said they would vote against him if the election were held today, according to a new statewide poll. — More:Potential Amash bid could hurt Biden in Michigan
Discussion:
Washington Post, Progress Pond, The Week and Washington Times
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Melissa Nann Burke / Detroit News:
Potential Amash bid could hurt Biden in Michigan
Potential Amash bid could hurt Biden in Michigan
Discussion:
Political Wire
Sam Levine / HuffPost:
Texas Governor Asked Officials To Hunt For Noncitizen Voter Records Before Botched Purge — New emails show the governor's office put in an “urgent” request to identify noncitizen voter records shortly before the 2018 midterm elections. — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) pushed officials …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Balloon Juice and Talking Points Memo
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RealClearInvestigations:
Policing Noncitizen Voting: What We Have Here Is a Failure of Data
Policing Noncitizen Voting: What We Have Here Is a Failure of Data
Discussion:
Real Clear Politics
Guillermo Contreras / ExpressNews.com:
Emails show Texas governor requested the voter purge that used flawed data
Emails show Texas governor requested the voter purge that used flawed data
Discussion:
CNN, Houston Chronicle and Campaign Legal Center
Fred Barbash / Washington Post:
Use of emergency declaration to impose tariffs on Mexico is legally questionable, scholars say — President Trump is once again sailing in uncharted legal and constitutional waters. — His promise to punish Mexico with escalating tariffs unless it controls what he calls the “invasion” …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Quartz, The Week and American Greatness
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Chris York / HuffPost UK:
Trump Interview: 7 Takeaway Moments From Piers Morgan's ITV Sit-Down — From his controversial comments on the NHS and Meghan Markle to climate change, nothing was off limits on Good Morning Britain. — In what appears to now be a tradition, Donald Trump has given his only TV interview …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress and Mother Jones
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ProPublica:
How Payday Lenders Spent $1 Million at a Trump Resort — and Cashed In — At the Trump Doral outside Miami, payday lenders celebrated the potential death of a rule intended to protect their customers. They couldn't have done it without President Donald Trump and his latest deregulator, Kathleen Kraninger.
Discussion:
Splinter
Eric Bradner / CNN:
Beto O'Rourke calls for term and donation limits in new voting rights plan — O'Rourke: Call to impeach Trump isn't a rushed decision — (CNN)Beto O'Rourke is proposing term limits for Supreme Court justices and members of Congress and far-reaching new restrictions on donations …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Axios, Beto For America and UPI
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Tim Reid / Reuters:
Democrat O'Rourke unveils voting rights plan to get 35 million more to the polls
Democrat O'Rourke unveils voting rights plan to get 35 million more to the polls
Discussion:
Political Wire
David M. Halbfinger / New York Times:
New Palestinian Premier Warns of a ‘Very Hot Summer’ — RAMALLAH, West Bank — Pressured by the Trump administration, confronted with Israeli talk of annexing the West Bank, increasingly isolated in the Arab world and running out of money, the beleaguered Palestinian Authority is staring …
Discussion:
Lawfare
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CNN:
How Donald Trump for years used the royal family to gin up publicity for his properties — (CNN)President Donald Trump was all smiles on Monday as he attended a state dinner at Buckingham Palace hosted by Queen Elizabeth II. But the royal family has for years batted back stories that its members …
Discussion:
Mediaite and Joe.My.God.
Christopher Rowland / Washington Post:
Pfizer had clues its blockbuster drug could prevent Alzheimer's. Why didn't it tell the world? — A team of researchers inside Pfizer made a startling find in 2015: The company's blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis therapy Enbrel, a powerful anti-inflammatory drug, appeared to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease by 64 percent.
Lauren Chadwick / euronews:
Noa Pothoven: Raped girl, 17, dies by legal euthanasia in the Netherlands — A teenager who said she was raped by two men died by legal euthanasia in the Netherlands, it's emerged. — Noa Pothoven made a “sad last post” to social media last week in which she announced she would “die within 10 days”.
Discussion:
Politico, The Guardian, Quartz, Washington Post, Louder With Crowder, Daily Mail and twitchy.com
Rebecca Hamilton / Just Security:
EXCLUSIVE: Draft Charter of Pompeo's “Commission on Unalienable Rights” Hides Anti-Human Rights Agenda — On May 30, without fanfare, a notice of intent to establish a State Department Commission on Unalienable Rights was published in the Federal Register. The stated purpose of the Commission …
Julia Marsh / New York Post:
De Blasio says anti-Semitism is strictly a ‘right-wing movement’ — Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that anti-Semitism is a “right-wing movement” — while rejecting a claim that the left plays any role in discriminating against Jews. — “I think the ideological movement that is anti-Semitic …
Discussion:
IJR and Front Page Magazine
HISTORY:
Former U.S. president Ronald Reagan dies — On this day in 2004, Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, dies, after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease. Reagan, who was also a well-known actor and served as governor of California, was a popular president known …
Andrew Beaujon / Washingtonian:
Behold the Vanity Plates DC Rejected in 2018 — A personalized tag in the District of Columbia can't refer to God or politics. — What does it take to get a personalized plate rejected in the District of Columbia? Follow the same ancient rule about conversation at dinner parties: It's best to stay away from God and politics.
Melanie Zanona / Politico:
‘It was a political lynch mob’: Steve King pledges to fight GOP over his exile — Rep. Steve King, hellbent on making a congressional comeback, is vowing to fight the GOP and force his way back on to the committees from which he was exiled. — But the Iowa Republican is finding little support …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and The Week
OpenSecrets.org:
World of influence: A guide to Trump's foreign business interests — Two years into his presidency, Donald Trump continues to make money from properties and licensing deals in nearly two dozen countries around the world, fanning the flames of concerns that the Trump administration is subject …
Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:
“Marla Was Under Duress”: Revealed in His Marla Maples Prenup, Donald Trump's Draconian Art of the Marriage Deal — She only got $1 million. Trump called himself a billionaire, but likely wasn't. Child support would cease if Tiffany joined the Army or the Peace Corps. And other secrets of the Trump-Marla prenup.
Discussion:
Mercury News, The Week, Mother Jones, Daily Kos, Jezebel, POLITICUSUSA and Mediaite
Amanda Marcotte / Salon:
Censure rather than impeach? Hell no, Democrats — that's inexcusable cowardice — There's a push to censure Trump instead of impeaching him. Do Democrats actually want to look like waffling wimps? — The clamor to impeach Donald Trump is growing in the wake of the damning report …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Pirate's Cove and The Hill
Alberto Nardelli / BuzzFeed News:
The EU's Embassy In Russia Was Hacked But The EU Kept It A Secret — A “sophisticated cyber espionage event” began in February 2017. Russian entities are believed to be behind the hack, a source told BuzzFeed News. — Reporting From — Brussels — BRUSSELS — The European Union's embassy …
Discussion:
Politico, more at Techmeme »
Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
Judge OK without public release of Flynn-Kislyak transcript — A federal judge reversed course on Tuesday and absolved the Justice Department of a demand to make public transcripts of recorded phone calls between former national security adviser Michael Flynn and a Russian official.
Discussion:
Power Line, CNN, The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller
Adam Goldman / New York Times:
F.B.I., Pushing to Stop Domestic Terrorists, Grapples With Limits on Its Power — EVERETT, Wash. — Dakota Reed's mind brimmed with thoughts of mass murder. In November, he wrote on Facebook, “I am shooting for 30 Jews.” — The next month, he uploaded a video of himself in his bedroom …
Laura Davison / Accounting Today:
New York offers up Trump's state tax returns — but one lawmaker stands in the way — House Democrats clamoring for Donald Trump's tax information have eagerly awaited a newly passed New York law allowing limited access to the president's state returns. — They're about to be sorely disappointed.
Discussion:
Law & Crime
Lee Smith / Tablet Magazine:
Spies Are the New Journalists — There are two sets of laws in the United States today. One is inscribed in law books and applies to the majority of Americans. The other is a canon of privileges enjoyed by an establishment under the umbrella of an intelligence bureaucracy that has arrogated …