memeorandum: Prosecutors pick their battles. I chose not to pursue an ICE raid in Alabama. (Joyce White Vance/Washington Post)

4:30 PM ET, August 9, 2019

Top Items:

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: Washington Post, CNN, Mother Jones, The Daily Beast, Law & Crime, Talking Points Memo, Breitbart and Splinter

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, The Week, Splinter and Mediaite

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 and Dan Froomkin's White …

Kelly Tyko / USA Today:

Walmart removing violent video game displays, signs from stores but still selling guns — Following two shootings inside its stores, Walmart is removing violent video game displays and signs from stores, the retailer confirmed Thursday. — Stores were sent a memo that called for …

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

Charles Sykes / The Bulwark:

The Denialists — It takes a lot of work to try to exonerate the president's fomenting of racist violence, but Trump fans are giving it their all. — “This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.” —The El Paso killer's manifesto — Byron York wants to make sure …

Discussion: Power Line, MinnPost and Big League Politics

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

Discussion: KTSM-TV

Colin Drury / The Independent:
Grinning Trump gives thumbs-up with baby whose parents were shot dead in El Paso terror attack

Discussion: The Guardian, Daily Kos, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Jezebel

Wall Street Journal: Lost in Life, El Paso Suspect Found a Dark World Online

Lulu Garcia-Navarro / The Atlantic:
The Media Erased Latinos From the Story

Discussion: New York Times

Reed Richardson / Mediaite: Trump and First Lady Smiling With Baby Orphaned in El Paso Massacre Draws Criticism: ‘Act Like a Human Being’

Claudia Koerner / BuzzFeed News:
Injured Victims At An El Paso Hospital Refused To Meet Trump During His Visit

Discussion: Coffee House and Washington Examiner

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.

KOLR:
Springfield Police arrest armed person at Walmart on Republic

Discussion: Louder With Crowder, The Gateway Pundit, Townhall, TheBlaze, Daily Wire, FOX2now.com and New York Post

Darren Reynolds / ABC News:
Man arrested after walking into Missouri Walmart armed with a rifle and wearing body armor

Discussion: Daily Mail

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: New York Post, Mediaite, The Daily Caller 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: Boing Boing

New York Times:

Trump's Opponents Want to Name His Big Donors. His Supporters Say It's Harassment. — WASHINGTON — For many businesses, a sudden deluge of phone calls might signal an influx of new customers. But most of the 25 calls Justin Herricks received before noon on Thursday were from people …

Discussion: Michael Berry, Los Angeles Times, Fox News, BizPac Review, Daily Kos, Advocate, Patterico's Pontifications, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Slate

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Stephen Ross expressed qualms about Trump bash after liberal backlash

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, New York Times, The Week, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, Associated Press and CNBC

Don Gonyea / NPR:
SoulCycle Owner, Trump Donors Face Public Shaming

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, New York Times and Pirate's Cove

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: Little Green Footballs, Splinter, Daily Kos and Mediaite

Axios:
Report: Trump Organization employed undocumented construction workers

Discussion: Washington Post and Associated Press

Yahoo News:

Here's the data on white supremacist terrorism the Trump administration has been ‘unable or unwilling’ to give to Congress — WASHINGTON — Alleged white supremacists were responsible for all race-based domestic terrorism incidents in 2018, according to a government document distributed earlier …

Discussion: Politico and NBC News

Jonathan Lemire / Associated Press:

Trump heads for golf club holiday - but summer storms loom — NEW YORK (AP) — Now is the summer (vacation) of the president's discontent. — As Donald Trump prepares to leave Friday for his annual August holiday at his lush New Jersey golf club, he's confronting a storm of crises …

Discussion: The Week and Mediaite

Peter Weber / The Week:
Trump's aides reportedly expect his August vacation will center around ‘golf, cable news, and Twitter’

Discussion: Political Wire and Washington Post

Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:

The Iowa Caucus Is a Frontrunners' Nightmare — This week was the start of the Iowa State Fair. Besides being one of the few places in America where you can eat fried Oreos AND watch a baby pig being born, the Iowa State Fair is also the unofficial kick-off to campaign season in the state.

Discussion: Breitbart, Washington Post and Opinion Today

Stephen Gruber-Miller / Des Moines Register:
Joe Biden says ‘poor kids’ are ‘just as talented as white kids’

Discussion: NBC News, Splinter, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, UPI and Mediaite

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

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

Caitlin Byrd / Post and Courier:

Sen. Tim Scott says his 2022 SC reelection bid will be his last political race — In three years time, Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Scott will be facing reelection in South Carolina, but he will also be facing something else: His last political run. — In a wide-ranging interview Thursday …

Jonathan Shieber / TechCrunch:

Reports say White House has drafted an order putting the FCC in charge of monitoring social media — The White House is contemplating issuing an executive order that would widen its attack on the operations of social media companies. — The White House has prepared an executive order called …

Discussion: CNN, American Enterprise Institute and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times:

Heavily redacted texts show Mayor Garcetti's request for home to be checked during Woolsey fire — On a November afternoon, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti texted the city's fire chief to ask how much destruction the Woolsey fire had caused in a wealthy gated Ventura County neighborhood.

Sudarsan Raghavan / Washington Post:

Egypt jails American traveler, saying she criticized the government on Facebook — CAIRO — When Reem Mohamed Desouky arrived from Washington last month with her 13-year-old son, Egyptian authorities detained them at the airport, he said. They confiscated their phones and interrogated Desouky, holding the two for hours.

Discussion: National Review

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:

Bruce Ohr Documents Undercut FBI Claims In Carter Page FISAs — Justice Department official Bruce Ohr told the FBI in November 2016 about meetings between dossier author Christopher Steele and a reporter who published a story about the former British spy's allegations against Carter Page.

Discussion: Daily Wire, emptywheel and New York Post

U.S. Department of Justice:

Iranian Citizen Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Facilitate the Illegal Export of Technology to Iran — Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, U.S. Attorney Erica H. MacDonald, Assistant Director John Brown of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division and Special Agent …

Sara Boboltz / HuffPost:

Suspected White Nationalist Leader Suspended From State Department: Reports — The employee, Matthew Q. Gebert, allegedly oversaw a chapter of a white nationalist group and hosted white nationalists at his home. — The State Department has placed one of its employees on leave following …

Discussion: WhoWhatWhy

Kevin Poulsen / The Daily Beast:

8Chan Refugees Blow Their Anonymity — An unofficial new version of the hate-filled forum isn't as anonymous as its users might hope. — Refugees from the anonymous 8chan forum are flooding into a new censorship-resistant home on the dark web, and inadvertently giving up their anonymity along the way.

Joyce White Vance / Washington Post:

Prosecutors pick their battles. I chose not to pursue an ICE raid in Alabama. — U.S. attorneys don't have the resources to charge all crimes. Shouldn't they focus on people who present the greatest threat? — Federal prosecutors have broad discretion to choose what cases they will bring.

Discussion: Salon

David Byler / Washington Post:

Blue Texas is a Democratic dream. Shifting left is a reality. — For three years now, Texas Republicans have been taking on water. In 2016, Donald Trump won the state by nine points — a seven-point decline from Mitt Romney's 16-point margin four years earlier.

Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:

Psychologist: Google generated at least 2.6 million votes for Hillary — Dr. Robert Epstein is a psychologist, professor, and author. He's the former editor-in-chief of Psychology Today. — Dr. Epstein is a liberal Democrat. In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee (see below) …