Top Items:
Ben Smith / New York Times:
Why Won't TV News Book Tara Reade? — The stakes are high for the media in the case of a sexual assault allegation against Joe Biden. — There were good reasons to be skeptical of her 20-year-old allegations: She'd changed her story and said some weird stuff, and even denied the whole thing under oath.
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BuzzFeed News:
Tara Reade Knows She Has A Difficult Allegation. And She's Had A Difficult Time Getting A Hearing. — She has seen Joe Biden take questions on cable news and late-night television. She has watched him host virtual town halls with voters and online fundraisers with donors.
Discussion:
Redstate, Los Angeles Times, Politico, The Federalist, Mediaite and Washington Post
Nicole Einbinder / Business Insider:
Biden camp refuses to open up Senate papers that could shed light on accuser's claims — but has sent operatives to look through records — Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's campaign has insisted that journalists “rigorously vet” the allegations of former Senate aide Tara Reade …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Redstate, New York Times, Breitbart, TheBlaze, Patterico's Pontifications, Twitchy, National Review, New York Post, Fox News, HuffPost and Washington Post
Alyssa Milano / Deadline:
Alyssa Milano On Why She Still Supports Joe Biden & How She Would Advise Him About Tara Reade Allegations - Guest Column
Alyssa Milano On Why She Still Supports Joe Biden & How She Would Advise Him About Tara Reade Allegations - Guest Column
Discussion:
Washington Post, Reason, New Republic, Breitbart, TheBlaze, Washington Free Beacon, NB Blog, The Daily Caller, Althouse, HuffPost, IJR, Axios, Sara A. Carter, Twitchy, The Week, Fox News and NPR
Katelyn Caralle / Daily Mail:
'I don't need a lecture!' …
Washington Post:
U.S. officials crafting retaliatory actions against China over coronavirus as President Trump fumes — The president has in recent days told aides and others that China has to pay for the outbreak and publicly floated demanding billions in compensation — Senior U.S. officials are beginning …
Discussion:
Power Line, Vanity Fair, Law & Crime, The American Independent, The Daily Caller, CNN, The Hill, Raw Story, Mother Jones and Redstate
RELATED:
Anna Fifield / Washington Post:
China wasn't wild about Mike Pompeo before the virus. It's really gunning for him now. — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is, according to the official Chinese narrative, an “enemy of humankind” practicing “highly venomous” diplomacy. He's a “super-spreader” of a “political virus.”
Politico:
Capitol physician says Senate lacks capacity to test all senators — The Capitol's attending physician said Thursday that coronavirus tests will be available for staffers and senators who are ill, but not enough to proactively test all 100 senators as the chamber comes back in session, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
Washington Post
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David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
It's Slowly Dawning on Trump That He's Losing — It's far too early to know who will win the 2020 presidential election, but at the moment, President Donald Trump is losing. — There's ample polling to back that up. RealClearPolitics's average has the presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, up 6.3 percent on Trump.
Discussion:
Vanity Fair and Raw Story
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Associated Press:
Biden reaches deal to let Sanders keep hundreds of delegates
Biden reaches deal to let Sanders keep hundreds of delegates
Discussion:
Fox News, Politico, Frontloading HQ, Forbes and Althouse
Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:
A QAnon Devotee Live-Streamed Her Trip to N.Y. to ‘Take Out’ Joe Biden
A QAnon Devotee Live-Streamed Her Trip to N.Y. to ‘Take Out’ Joe Biden
Discussion:
Raw Story, Gizmodo, POLITICUSUSA, New York Daily News, Digby's Hullabaloo and The Daily Dot
Jonathan Turley / The Hill:
Michael Flynn case should be dismissed to preserve justice — Previously undisclosed documents in the case of former national security adviser Michael Flynn offer us a chilling blueprint on how top FBI officials not only sought to entrap the former White House aide but sought …
Discussion:
Washington Post and Fox News
RELATED:
Kyle Cheney / Politico:
FBI docs suggest agents prepared to close Flynn case — then reversed course
FBI docs suggest agents prepared to close Flynn case — then reversed course
Discussion:
The Hill
Jessica Taylor / The Cook Political Report:
South Carolina Senate Moves to Likely Republican — It's hard to think of a politician who has undergone a bigger evolution over the past four years than South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. But could that very political makeover hurt him at the ballot box in 2020, even in a reliably red state?
Discussion:
The Hill
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Ed Mazza / HuffPost:
Top Lindsey Graham Donor Switches Sides, Now Backs Democratic Rival
Top Lindsey Graham Donor Switches Sides, Now Backs Democratic Rival
Discussion:
The Hill and The Intellectualist
Sareen Habeshian / KTLA:
O.C. officials criticize Newsom's order to close beaches as county sees surge in COVID-19 cases — Orange County officials criticized Gov. Gavin Newsom's order to close all beaches in the county Thursday, with one supervisor calling the move an “abuse of power.”
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Richard Essex / WISH-TV:
Nearly 900 at Tyson Foods plant test positive for coronavirus — LOGANSPORT, Ind. (WISH) — The Cass County Health Department on Wednesday afternoon said it has seen just under 1,200 positive COVID-19 cases. Almost 900 employees at the Tyson Food plant in Cass County's Logansport have tested positive.
Discussion:
Cass County Online and The Hill
David A. Fahrenthold / Washington Post:
Secret Service paid Trump's D.C. hotel more than $33,000 for lodging to guard treasury secretary — The Secret Service rented a room at President Trump's Washington hotel for 137 consecutive nights in 2017 — paying Trump's company more than $33,000 — so it could guard Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin …
Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Big money donors are pressuring Joe Biden against picking Elizabeth Warren for VP: ‘He would lose the election’ — Big money donors are pressuring Joe Biden to not choose Sen. Elizabeth Warren as his running mate, even while the centrist former vice president tries to appeal to progressive voters.
Jeremy Wallace / Houston Chronicle:
Texas reports most deaths in a day from COVID-19 as Gov. Abbott prepares to drop stay-home order — Texas reported 50 more COVID-19 deaths on Thursday, the most in any one day since the state reported its first deaths in mid-March. — The state also reported it had added more than 1,000 …
Becket Adams / Washington Examiner:
Biden nominates Chris Dodd of ‘waitress sandwich’ fame to help shop for female vice presidential candidates — The Biden campaign, which is under mounting pressure after a woman claimed Joe Biden sexually assaulted her in the early 1990s, announced Thursday that former Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd …
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon, Townhall, The Daily Caller, Redstate, The Federalist, Law & Crime and National Review
RELATED:
Amie Parnes / The Hill:
Team Biden talks about getting their candidate out of the house — Joe Biden's campaign is discussing how to get the former vice president out of the basement where he's been holed up since March because of the coronavirus pandemic. — Biden's team is taking a baby-steps approach so far …
Discussion:
Axios, Politico and Sean Hannity, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Mark Weinberg / The Bulwark:
Mike Pence, the Mayo Clinic, and the Mask — This is America. The rules are supposed to apply to everyone. — News reports of Vice President Mike Pence's refusal to wear a mask during his visit to the Mayo Clinic this week reminded me of something that occurred when I worked in the Reagan administration.
Discussion:
The Bulwark Podcast, Raw Story and HuffPost
RELATED:
Jill Colvin / Associated Press:
Pence's wife says he was unaware of mask policy during visit
Pence's wife says he was unaware of mask policy during visit
Discussion:
Breitbart, Washington Post, POLITICUSUSA, Axios and IJR
Caity Weaver / New York Times:
Time to Check Your Pandemic-Abandoned Car for Rats — There might be a nest in the engine. — You might want to make sure there's not a rat living (or recently dead) in your car's engine. — Why are you still reading? Check your car for a rat, I said. That's the tip.
Dartunorro Clark / NBC News:
Hundreds of protesters, some carrying guns in the state Capitol, demonstrate against Michigan's emergency measures — Protesters held signs, waved American flags and even carried firearms as lawmakers debated extending Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's state of emergency.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Forbes, Breitbart, WOOD-TV, Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Beast, Raw Story and The Intellectualist
Reid Wilson / The Hill:
Governors in all 50 states get better marks than Trump for COVID response — A sweeping survey of more than 22,000 Americans has found that voters in all 50 states say their governor is doing a better job than President Trump in handling the coronavirus outbreak.
Discussion:
Vox and Iowa Starting Line
Fred Barbash / Washington Post:
AskTheAG: Barr is taking Twitter questions on coronavirus issues, and it's getting ugly — The Justice Department offered the public a rare opportunity on Wednesday morning to submit questions to Attorney General William P. Barr for a “nationwide #AskTheAG Q&A session on May 1.”
Stuart A. Thompson / New York Times:
How Long Will a Vaccine Really Take? — A vaccine would be the ultimate weapon against the coronavirus and the best route back to normal life. Officials like Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the top infectious disease expert on the Trump administration's coronavirus task force, estimate a vaccine could arrive in at least 12 to 18 months.
Discussion:
Gothamist
NBC4 Washington:
DC May Not Reopen for Another 3 Months, Officials Say — D.C. leaders laid out a new timetable Wednesday evening for when the city could begin to reopen. — During an hourlong virtual town hall, Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt, director of the D.C. Department of Health, walked through a slide show …
UN Watch:
Abuser states seek election to top UN rights body — Cuba, Russia, and Saudi Arabia are running for election to the UN's top human rights body, sparking outrage from human rights activists. (See quotes below) — The candidacies of the three countries widely considered …
Edward Luce / Financial Times:
The golden age of Jared Kushner — President's son-in-law embodies everything that is wrong with America's coronavirus response — George W Bush declared mission accomplished in Iraq just before the war fell off a cliff. Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law, has just gambled the same on coronavirus.
Discussion:
The Bulwark, Raw Story and Vox
Reuters:
Special Report: Trump told Saudis: Cut oil supply or lose U.S. military support - sources — WASHINGTON/LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) - As the United States pressed Saudi Arabia to end its oil price war with Russia, President Donald Trump gave Saudi leaders an ultimatum.
Discussion:
Foreign Policy