Top Items:


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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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:
Washington Post, Jacobin, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Los Angeles Times, The Federalist, Redstate and Politico


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 …


Joe Biden set to break his silence on Tara Reade allegations — Former Vice President Joe Biden is expected to address a recent allegation of sexual assault for the first time on Friday when he appears on MSNBC's “Morning Joe.” — Against the backdrop of the #MeToo allegations …
Discussion:
NBC News, The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, Law & Crime and Breitbart

Alyssa Milano On Why She Still Supports Joe Biden & How She Would Advise Him About Tara Reade Allegations - Guest Column
Discussion:
Washington Post, Reason, Big League Politics, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, TheBlaze, NB Blog, Washington Free Beacon, New Republic, Althouse, HuffPost, IJR, Axios, Sara A. Carter, Twitchy and The Week


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 and The Hill
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Capitol Hill physician says he can't test every senator for coronavirus — The Capitol's attending physician told senior Republican staff in a conference call today that he doesn't have the equipment to do either rapid or widespread testing of the 100 senators who return to work Monday, per two sources familiar with the call.


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:
Vanity Fair, Law & Crime, Power Line, National Review, The American Independent, The Daily Dot, The Daily Caller, The Hill, CNN, Raw Story, Gizmodo, Mother Jones, Al Jazeera and Redstate
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Pence staff threatens action against reporter who tweeted about visit to clinic without surgical mask — Vice President Pence's office has threatened to retaliate against a reporter who revealed that Pence's office had told journalists they would need masks for Pence's visit to the Mayo Clinic …
Discussion:
New York Times, The American Independent, Fox News, Raw Story, Palmer Report, CNBC, Axios and Daily Kos
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Mike Pence, the Mayo Clinic, and the Mask
Discussion:
The Bulwark Podcast and Raw Story


A QAnon Devotee Live-Streamed Her Trip to N.Y. to ‘Take Out’ Joe Biden — Jessica Prim was arrested on Wednesday with more than a dozen illegal knives. — An Illinois woman inspired by pro-Trump QAnon conspiracy theory videos traveled to New York City on Wednesday with more than a dozen illegal knives …
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, New York Daily News, Gizmodo, Digby's Hullabaloo and The Daily Dot
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It's Slowly Dawning on Trump That He's Losing
Discussion:
Vanity Fair and Raw Story

Biden reaches deal to let Sanders keep hundreds of delegates
Discussion:
Politico, Fox News, Frontloading HQ, Forbes and Althouse

Team Biden talks about getting their candidate out of the house
Discussion:
Axios, Sean Hannity and Politico, more at Techmeme »


Thank you for your service, Jared Kushner — Peter Bergen is CNN's national security analyst, a vice president at New America and a professor of practice at Arizona State University. He is the editor of the Coronavirus Daily Brief and author of the new book “Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos.”
Discussion:
HuffPost and Business Insider
RELATED:

The golden age of Jared Kushner
Discussion:
Raw Story, The Bulwark and Vox


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:
Law & Crime, Washington Post and Fox News
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FBI docs suggest agents prepared to close Flynn case — then reversed course
Discussion:
The Hill


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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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:
Sabato's Crystal Ball, The Hill, Digby's Hullabaloo and Forbes
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Top Lindsey Graham Donor Switches Sides, Now Backs Democratic Rival
Discussion:
The Hill and The Intellectualist


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 …


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


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, New York Post and The Hill


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 …


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.
Discussion:
Daily Kos


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.


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, WOOD-TV, Breitbart, The Daily Beast, Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story and The Intellectualist


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 …


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


BREAKING: Kemp to lift statewide shelter-in-place for most Georgians on Friday — Governor also urges Georgians to wear masks — Gov. Brian Kemp will lift a statewide shelter-in-place order for most of Georgia's 10.6 million residents starting Friday as he continues to roll back coronavirus restrictions …


Justin Amash's Libertarian candidacy may act as a spoiler - but that could help Biden — Never-Trump Republicans have denounced the congressman's third-party move, but its effect in 2020 is far from certain — Justin Amash's announcement that he is exploring a run for president …
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Week and Financial Times


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.”


Tiny airports rake in big cash after botched stimulus formula — A tiny airport in Devils Lake, N.D., scored enough money under the federal stimulus law to cover its expenses for 50 years. But one of the country's busiest airports, JFK International in New York, got barely enough aid to make it through three months of operations.