memeorandum: “Russians” threatening Dutch F-16 pilots' family (Janene Pieters/NL Times)

10:05 PM ET, August 9, 2019

Top Items:

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:

Trump's Photo-Op With the Orphaned El Paso Baby Was the Smallest Moment of His Presidency — It took a tiny baby to reveal how small Donald Trump really is. — The president's trip to Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, this week, ostensibly undertaken to comfort the mourners and the injured …

Discussion: The Guardian, Talking Points Memo, Fox News, Dan Froomkin's White … and The Daily Caller

Edward Helmore / The Guardian:

Anger as grinning Trump gives thumbs-up while Melania holds El Paso orphan — A backlash is building over a picture posted by Melania Trump on Twitter that showed her and Donald Trump smiling broadly while holding a baby who was orphaned in the mass shooting in El Paso.

Discussion: Vanity Fair, The Independent, WhoWhatWhy, Daily Kos, Law & Crime, Mother Jones, The Daily Beast, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Jezebel and Mediaite

Graeme Wood / The Atlantic:

Trump's El Paso Photo Is Obscene — The president's callousness has reached a new low: smiling, flashing a thumbs-up next to an orphaned infant. — Staff writer at The Atlantic — A really exceptional work of obscenity, like a really exceptional work of beauty, exceeds the ability of its viewers to fathom what they just saw.

Discussion: El Paso Times

Associated Press:

Police: El Paso shooting suspect said he targeted Mexicans — EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The man accused of carrying out last weekend's deadly mass shooting at a Walmart in the Texas border city of El Paso confessed to officers while he was surrendering and later explained that he had been targeting Mexicans, authorities say.

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Fox News, Splinter, The Week and Mediaite

New York Times:

Trump's Trip to Dayton and El Paso: The Back Story — WASHINGTON — By the time President Trump arrived in El Paso on Wednesday, on the second leg of a trip to meet with people affected by mass shootings in two cities, he was frustrated that his attacks on his political adversaries had resulted …

Discussion: theGrio, The Root and Washington Post

Washington Post:

Why one family mourning El Paso victims chose to meet with Trump — Tito Anchondo wishes people would stop politicizing his family's tragedy. — Anchondo, who lost his beloved brother and sister-in-law in the rampage by an El Paso Walmart on Saturday, said he wanted to take his orphaned nephew …

Discussion: WTVR-TV, CBS Dallas, Bangor Daily News, TheBlaze and The Guardian

Brandy Zadrozny / NBC News:
Armed Trump supporter detained and released at El Paso immigrant center

Discussion: KTSM-TV and Washington Examiner

Charles Sykes / The Bulwark:
The Denialists — It takes a lot of work to try to exonerate …

Discussion: Fox News, Power Line and MinnPost

Kelly Tyko / USA Today:
Walmart removing violent video game displays, signs from stores but still selling guns

Discussion: Reason, The Guardian, Breitbart, Talking Points Memo, Bloomberg, CNN, Engadget, NPR, The Verge, Polygon, Rolling Stone, The Wrap, Shareblue Media, The Week, TheBlaze and New York Post

The Daily Beast:

Jeffrey Epstein Accuser Names Powerful Men in Alleged Sex Ring — In newly unsealed documents, Virginia Giuffre claims that Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell trafficked her to politicians, princes, and a high-flying financier, among others. — A young woman who says financier Jeffrey Epstein …

Discussion: Vanity Fair, Law & Crime, Mercury News, Press Herald, Mediaite, New York Post, The Daily Caller, Rolling Stone, The Verge and Jezebel

Julie K. Brown / Miami Herald:

Huge record cache details how Jeffrey Epstein, madam lured girls into depraved world — A chilling picture of how hundreds of girls and young women from around the world were trafficked for sex by Jeffrey Epstein, his alleged madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, and a number of other powerful business …

Discussion: VICE, Boing Boing, The Daily Beast and Progress Pond

New York Daily News:

Names are named as court documents related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are unsealed — Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, Britain's Prince Andrew and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson were among those whose names surfaced Friday after a trove of documents were released in a case …

Bloomberg:

Jeffrey Epstein Sent Girl to Governor and Senator for Sex, She Testified — Bill Richardson, George Mitchell, Glenn Dubin deny allegations — Virginia Giuffre's 2016 testimony made public by court Friday — Jeffrey Epstein and a friend sent an underage girl to have sex with former …

Washington Post:

‘She was shaking’: Court filings describe system Jeffrey Epstein allegedly used to procure girls — He demanded sex three times a day. A parade of powerful figures visited his private estates, which were adorned with pictures of naked girls and stocked with sex toys.

Zachary Cohen / CNN:

Top intel official interrupted meeting to urge his deputy to resign — Washington (CNN)The country's No. 2 intelligence official, Sue Gordon, knew it was likely she would have to eventually step down from her post, but the timing of that decision became more urgent on Thursday after her boss …

Discussion: Vanity Fair, The Resurgent, WDEF-TV, Shareblue Media, KTLA, Washington Times and Mediaite

Washington Post:
Trump's pick for intelligence director is a respected Special Operations veteran

Discussion: Mediaite, Talking Points Memo and CNN

Benjamin Fearnow / Newsweek:

FBI Ranks ‘Black Identity Extremists’ Bigger Threat Than Al Qaeda, White Supremacists: Leaked Documents — Leaked FBI documents indicate “black identity extremists” and animal rights activists are among the agency's top counterterrorism priorities under President Donald Trump.

Discussion: theGrio and TYT Network

David Badash / Raw Story: REVEALED: DOJ blocked report showing white supremacists responsible for all race-based domestic …

Yahoo News:
Here's the data on white supremacist terrorism the Trump administration has been 'unable …

Discussion: NBC News and Politico

KYTV-TV:

Former firefighter stops man armed with 100 rounds of ammunition at south Springfield Walmart — SPRINGFIELD, Mo. The Springfield Police Department says it responded to a call of an active shooter at the Walmart Neighborhood Market at Republic Rd., near Golden Ave., Thursday evening.

Nahal Toosi / Politico:

Fury grows over delayed probe of Trump aides' alleged political retaliation — Democrats and many in the State Department are increasingly exasperated that they have yet to see the results of an investigation into whether President Donald Trump's political appointees mistreated career staffers.

Robbie Gramer / Foreign Policy: Hiring Freeze Put U.S. Diplomats Under Threat Worldwide, Report Says

Brian Fung / CNN:

White House proposal would have FCC and FTC police alleged social media censorship — Washington (CNN Business)A draft executive order from the White House could put the Federal Communications Commission in charge of shaping how Facebook (FB), Twitter (TWTR) and other large tech companies curate …

Discussion: The Verge, TechCrunch, Boing Boing, Gizmodo, Breitbart, Reason and American Enterprise Institute, more at Techmeme »

Tony Romm / Washington Post:
White House questions tech giants on ways to predict shootings from social media

Discussion: The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Hot Air:

MSNBC Contributor: Why Aren't People Boycotting Pro-Trump Businesses Like They Boycotted Pro-Apartheid Businesses? — Via the Free Beacon, what is this network going to be like a year from now, in the thick of the general election campaign, if they're already at this level of hysteria?

Discussion: BizPac Review, Mediaite and Axios

Olivia Messer / The Daily Beast:
SoulCycle Revolts Against Billionaire Owner's Trump Fundraising

Discussion: CNN, Vanity Fair, Washington Post and The Week

The Daily Beast:

Trump Freaks Out Over ‘The Hunt,’ a Satirical Film He Doesn't Understand, as U.S. Reels From Mass Shootings — As the country grapples with two deadly mass shootings in one weekend, the president took time out of his busy Friday to rant about a movie that Fox News has also obsessed over.

Discussion: RedState, Vanity Fair, Hullabaloo and No More Mister Nice Blog, more at Mediagazer »

Janene Pieters / NL Times:

“Russians” threatening Dutch F-16 pilots' family — The partners of Dutch fighter pilots who were active in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania in 2017, were harassed at home during this period. They received repeated, unpleasant phone calls from people with a Russian accent who asked whether …

Naomi Lim / Washington Examiner:

Kamala Harris moves toward nixing the Senate filibuster — SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Kamala Harris is open to doing away with the filibuster if Democrats recapture control of the Senate next year. — “I want to find common ground on legislation, but if there's gonna be the obstructionist kind …

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Magazine and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Daniel Chaitin / Washington Examiner:
Twitter unlocks Mitch McConnell campaign account after two-day standoff

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Hill, Engadget and Patterico's Pontifications

Timothy Bella / Washington Post:

A black man was about to buy a cop's house. Then, he found a KKK application in a bedroom. — The Confederate flag place mat on the dining room table was Rob Mathis's first hint that something was off inside the home he was thinking of buying. — “I thought to myself …

Discussion: VICE and New York Post

Jerry Iannelli / Miami New Times:

Publix Heirs Are Maxing Out Donations to Donald Trump's 2020 Campaign … Progressives, critics, and basically all people with moral backbones and souls this week are furious at Stephen Ross — the multibillionaire owner of the Miami Dolphins and the gym chains Equinox and SoulCycle …

Chris Sommerfeldt / New York Daily News:

Ohio man charged with threatening to shoot Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, illegally stockpiling ammunition — An Ohio man was slammed with criminal charges Friday for threatening New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and stockpiling illegal ammunition in his home, according to prosecutors.

Rachel Dodes / Vanity Fair:

Ivanka Trump Is Uniquely Unqualified to Condemn Donald Trump's Racism — It must be tough to be Ivanka Trump. As the favored daughter of an openly racist president, and as a woman with a nebulous, nepotistic, and unpaid job as a senior adviser to that man, she is uniquely ill-equipped …

Michael Edison Hayden / Southern Poverty Law Center:

White Nationalist State Department Official Surfaces in Photographs — Hatewatch has obtained images of Matthew Q. Gebert, a State Department official who is involved in the white nationalist movement. — Gebert oversaw the Washington, D.C.-area chapter of a white nationalist organization …

Discussion: CNN, HuffPost and WhoWhatWhy

John DiStaso / WMUR:

Sununu vetoes 3 gun bills, citing NH's ‘culture of responsible gun ownership, individual freedom’ — Governor says bills would not solve ‘national issues’ or prevent violence by ‘evil’ people — HIDE TRANSCRIPT SHOW TRANSCRIPT — CONCORD, N.H. — Gov. Chris Sununu …

Discussion: National Review, Bearing Arms and Instapundit

Washington Post:

'If you're a good worker, papers don't matter': How a Trump construction crew has relied on immigrants without legal status — OSSINING, N.Y. — For nearly two decades, the Trump Organization has relied on a roving crew of Latin American employees to build fountains and waterfalls …

Discussion: National Review, Axios, Vanity Fair, Mediaite, Splinter, Daily Kos and Little Green Footballs

Ellen Ioanes / Business Insider:

A scathing new Pentagon report blames Trump for the return of ISIS in Syria and Iraq — The Pentagon inspector general issued a report to Congress saying that the Islamic State is again growing in power in Syria and Iraq, with approximately 14,000 to 18,000 militants.

Discussion: CNBC

U.S. Department of Justice:

Las Vegas Man Charged With Possession of Illegal Firearms And Destructive Devices — The government alleges that the man promoted white supremacist ideology and made threatening statements — LAS VEGAS, Nev. - A southern Nevada man, who is employed as a security guard …

Discussion: KTLA

Adam Kredo / Washington Free Beacon:

Europe Poised to Put Warning Labels on Jewish-Made Products — Legal decision reminiscent of Holocaust-era boycotts of Jews — The European Union is poised to mandate that Israeli products made in contested territories carry consumer warning labels, a decision that could trigger American anti-boycott laws …