memeorandum: The Case for a Big Coronavirus Stimulus (Jason Furman/Wall Street Journal)

6:30 AM ET, March 6, 2020

Top Items:

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Judge Calls Barr's Handling of Mueller Report ‘Distorted’ and ‘Misleading’ — The judge said the attorney general lacked credibility on the matter and said he would review the report to decide whether to make its redacted portions public. — WASHINGTON — A federal judge …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Week and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Harper Neidig / The Hill:

Judge demands unredacted Mueller report, questions Barr's ‘credibility’ — A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to hand over to him a copy of the unredacted Mueller report and accused Attorney General William Barr of misrepresenting its findings in the days before it was submitted to Congress last year.

Discussion: Associated Press, Politico, Fox News and The Intellectualist

Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:

Federal Judge Says He Needs to Review Every Mueller Report Redaction Because Barr Can't Be Trusted — Attorney General William Barr's wildly inappropriate campaign to spin the Mueller report in Donald Trump's favor last year may have finally backfired. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge …

Discussion: Washington Post and Raw Story

Washington Post:

Judge cites Barr's ‘misleading’ statements in ordering review of Mueller report redactions — A federal judge in D.C. sharply criticized Attorney General William P. Barr on Thursday for a “lack of candor,” questioning the truthfulness of the nation's top law enforcement official in his handling …

Discussion: Mother Jones

Jason Leopold / BuzzFeed News: A Federal Judge Slammed The Attorney General For Being Misleading About What Was Actually In The Mueller Report

Bob Brigham / Raw Story: Federal judge issues ruling saying he can't trust AG Bill Barr's Department of Justice

Anton Troianovski / New York Times:

As Bernie Sanders Pushed for Closer Ties, Soviet Union Spotted Opportunity — Previously unseen documents from a Soviet archive show how hard Mr. Sanders worked to find a sister city in Russia when he was a mayor in the 1980s. Moscow saw a chance for propaganda.

Discussion: Slate and Twitchy

TIME:

‘Doomed from the Start.’ Experts Say the Trump Administration's Coronavirus Response Was Never Going to Work — The Trump Administration's strategy to combat COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, began with a relatively simple focus: keep it out of the United States.

Discussion: Rolling Stone

Michael Scherer / Washington Post:

Mike Bloomberg plans new group to support Democratic nominee — Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has decided to form a new independent expenditure campaign that will absorb hundreds of his presidential campaign staff in six swing states to work to elect the Democratic nominee this fall.

Discussion: One America News Network, The Hill, HuffPost, Politico, Fox News, National Review, Twitchy and Breitbart

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal: Jim Clyburn Saves the Democrats

Mara Gay / New York Times: Why Southern Democrats Saved Biden

Kevin Freking / Associated Press:
Trump to take questions at 1st TV town hall of 2020 campaign

Discussion: Washington Post, Breitbart, Politico, The Hill and Fox News

Hannah Sampson / Washington Post:

Sick cruise passengers await coronavirus results at sea as officials debate quarantine — A Princess Cruises ship that recently carried people who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus was still being kept off the coast of California Thursday as officials sent kits to test passengers …

Discussion: CNN, WREG-TV, VICE, Politico and HuffPost

Washington Post:

Maryland coronavirus: Hogan confirms three cases in Montgomery County — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Thursday that three people from Montgomery County have been diagnosed with coronavirus: a husband and wife in their 70s and a woman who is in her 50s. — Hogan declared a state of emergency to speed the delivery of resources.

Discussion: CBS Baltimore

Teta Alim / WTOP: Gov. Hogan: Maryland has first positive cases of coronavirus

ABC News:

Controversial execution carried out despite pleas from advocates — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey refused to step in and stop the lethal injection. — The controversial execution of Nathaniel Woods was carried out late Thursday in Alabama just minutes after the Supreme Court denied a temporary stay, issued only hours earlier.

Discussion: Reason

Brian Lyman / The Montgomery Advertiser:

Nathaniel Woods executed as accomplice in 2004 police murders — A Birmingham man was executed Thursday evening on a 2005 conviction of being an accomplice to the murder of three police officers. — Nathaniel Woods, 43, was pronounced dead at 9:01 p.m. after an execution that lasted 15 minutes.

Discussion: UPI, Common Dreams and The Daily Beast

Lisa Lerer / New York Times:

Was It Always Going to Be the Last Men Standing? — For Elizabeth Warren, the historic number of women in the 2020 field and the Democrats who supported them, the question will linger. — WASHINGTON — In the end, the pink wave carried two white men ashore.

Lisa Lerer / New York Times:
The Amy Klobuchar Exit Interview

Discussion: New Republic, The Independent, HuffPost and POLITICUSUSA

Sarah Ferris / Politico:
Pelosi cites ‘element of misogyny’ after Warren drops out

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Breitbart, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Hill, OpenSecrets.org, Patterico's Pontifications and Vanity Fair

Jill Lawrence / USA Today: Warren, Klobuchar, Harris, Gillibrand: Did gender sink Democratic women in 2020? Nope.

BBC:

Coronavirus: White House concedes US lacks enough test kits — The White House has acknowledged the nation does not have enough coronavirus test kits as cases of the disease ticked upwards on both US coasts. — Vice-President Mike Pence said the Trump administration would not be able …

Kevin Liptak / CNN:
Pence admits 'we don't have enough tests' to meet demands as delay in coronavirus testing persists

Discussion: New York Times

Politico:
White House sidelines Azar from coronavirus response

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and C-SPAN.org

Nihar Kabinittal / ABC News:
Trump falsely blames Obama admin for hurting rollout of coronavirus test kits: Fact Check

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times and Associated Press

Andrew Desiderio / Politico:

Romney could derail Republican subpoena targeting Bidens — A Republican effort to subpoena records about Joe Biden and his son Hunter could be derailed amid concerns from at least one GOP senator that the push appears politically motivated. — The Senate Homeland Security Committee is set …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, One America News Network, Fox News, Breitbart and The Daily Beast

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Romney may vote against Trump again — this time with some bite

Discussion: Fox News, HuffPost, The American Independent, National Review, The Week, Raw Story, The Daily Beast and Politico

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Romney: Biden, Burisma probe ‘appears political’

Discussion: Fox News, Vanity Fair and The Intellectualist

Timothy Shenk / New York Times:

Elizabeth Warren Was the Wrong Kind of Radical — She wanted to reform everything except the Democratic Party itself. — Mr. Shenk is a co-editor of Dissent. — Remember when Elizabeth Warren was going to save the Democratic Party? — Back in 2016, it looked as if she had been engineered …

Ryan Grim / The Intercept: Elizabeth Warren's Campaign Fell Apart in the Fall, and It Never Recovered

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner: Elizabeth Warren's candidacy failed because voters saw through her

New York Times:

'It's Pure Panic': A Wrenching Wait at Nursing Home Where Coronavirus Took Hold — Cut off from their relatives inside a virus-stricken nursing center, families are frantically searching for help and basic information. — KIRKLAND, Wash. — The hardest day of Debbie de los Angeles's life …

Discussion: The Nevada Independent

Tamara Keith / NPR:

Trump's Gut Collides With Science On Coronavirus Messaging — President Trump is known to say what's on his mind, to go with his gut and accentuate the positive. That approach is now colliding with a public health emergency in the form of coronavirus. — The challenge posed …

Discussion: Informed Comment and Vanity Fair

Associated Press:

AP Exclusive: Gun found inside Epstein jail during lockdown — WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal investigators found a loaded gun Thursday that had been smuggled into the jail where Jeffrey Epstein killed himself last summer, following a weeklong lockdown that turned up other contraband and led …

Discussion: Twitchy, KRON4 and New York Post

New York Times:

Coronavirus Live Updates: Cases Surge in U.S. and Europe, Thousands Quarantined in N.Y.C. — Congress approved an $8.3 billion emergency spending bill to fight the virus, but officials in several countries say the virus will keep spreading fast for some time.

Discussion: HuffPost and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »

Kathleen Pender / San Francisco Chronicle:

California orders insurers to waive out-of-pocket costs for coronavirus testing — California on Thursday became the latest state to order insurance companies to waive out-of-pocket costs for coronavirus testing. — The California Department of Insurance and Department of Managed Health Care ordered …

Discussion: Cal OES News, GeekWire and STAT

Toluse Olorunnipa / Washington Post:

The Trump administration's greatest obstacle to sending a clear message on coronavirus may be Trump himself — As leading public health experts from across the government have tried to provide clear and consistent information about the deadly coronavirus, they have found their messages undercut …

Discussion: NBC News, The American Independent, PJ Media Home, POLITICUSUSA and Vox

Jason Furman / Wall Street Journal:

The Case for a Big Coronavirus Stimulus — Congress should send you $1,000—and another $500 for each of your children—as soon as possible. — Given the mounting economic risks posed by the spread of the novel coronavirus, Congress should act swiftly but thoughtfully to pass fiscal stimulus.

Dan Lamothe / Washington Post:

New Special Operations network will serve as security backbone in Afghanistan ahead of U.S. withdrawal — KABUL — A new network of Special Operations forces will serve as the backbone of a smaller U.S. military mission in Afghanistan, hunting Islamic State fighters as the U.S. withdraws …

Discussion: The Federalist