memeorandum: Senate braces for fight over renewing lapsed surveillance powers (Politico)

6:30 AM ET, May 13, 2020

Top Items:

Kushner, Law Aside, Doesn't Rule Out Delaying 2020 Election — The opinion of a White House staff member has no bearing on when the election is held, but his comment played into the concerns of President Trump's detractors. — WASHINGTON — Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law …

TIME:

Jared Kushner Admits There's ‘Risk’ in Reopening the Country Too Soon — The same day that the nation's top infectious-disease expert warned that reopening the economy too quickly could bring serious consequences, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner acknowledged that there is inherent …

Discussion: New York Times, Political Flare, Vanity Fair, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story and The Hill

Lloyd Grove / The Daily Beast: Jared Kushner Non-Committal When Asked if 2020 Election Could Be Delayed

Washington Post:

U.S. judge puts on hold Justice Dept. move to dismiss Michael Flynn's guilty plea to hear outside groups' challenges — A U.S. judge on Tuesday put on hold the Justice Department's move to drop charges against Michael Flynn, saying he expects independent groups and legal experts to argue …

Discussion: Power Line and New York Post

Sharon LaFraniere / New York Times:

Judge Hesitates to Accept Justice Dept. Move to Drop Flynn Charge — Law enforcement officials' abrupt decision to end the case drew accusations from former colleagues that they had undermined the rule of law. — WASHINGTON — A federal judge overseeing the criminal case …

Axios:
The facts on Michael Flynn, the FBI, and Bill Barr's bombshell

Discussion: Associated Press, The Hill, CNN, Breitbart, Just The News, Washington Monthly and The Daily Beast

Politico:
Judge slows down effort to drop Flynn case

Discussion: Townhall, Redstate and Breitbart

Washington Post: Acting intelligence chief Grenell gave DOJ list of Obama officials who ‘unmasked’ Michael Flynn

Michael Isikoff / Yahoo News:

EXCLUSIVE: In court filing, FBI accidentally reveals name of Saudi official suspected of directing support for 9/11 hijackers — WASHINGTON — The FBI inadvertently revealed one of the U.S. government's most sensitive secrets about the Sept. 11 terror attacks: the identity …

Discussion: Al Jazeera, Raw Story and New York Post

Ben Kamisar / NBC News:

Republicans look to win back California House seat in special election overshadowed by coronavirus — Special House elections in California and Wisconsin headline Tuesday's primaries as former Vice President Joe Biden netted more delegates in the Democratic primary race.

Discussion: The Hill

Annie Linskey / Washington Post:

Ocasio-Cortez is working with the Biden campaign on climate policy — Liberal leader Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is helping Joe Biden's presidential campaign develop proposals by serving on a climate policy panel that the former vice president created as part of a larger effort to woo the party's left wing.

Discussion: Axios

Orko Manna / KLAS - 8 News Now:
WEB EXTRA: Biden talks COVID-19, sexual assault allegations and more

Discussion: CNN, NBC News and New York Post

Associated Press: Biden plans to stay home, testing limits of virtual campaign

Politico:

Senate braces for fight over renewing lapsed surveillance powers — Senate leaders are preparing for what could be a protracted brawl over government surveillance powers during a rare public debate Wednesday over how to reauthorize key national security tools that lapsed two months ago.

Discussion: The Hill

Politico:
Fauci fatigue sets in among some Republicans

Discussion: New York Times, Reason, Bad News and The Week

CNN: GOP split on whether to back Fauci's or Trump's assessment on reopening economy

Daniel Dale / CNN:
Fact check: McConnell claims Obama didn't leave Trump a pandemic ‘game plan.’ Obama left a 69-page playbook

Discussion: New York Times, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Political Flare

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
McConnell, Senate GOP declare House Democrats' $3T coronavirus bill ‘dead on arrival’

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, The Daily Beast, The Week and Fox News

Pete Williams / NBC News:

‘Faithless elector’: Supreme Court hears cases that could change presidential contests — If presidential electors are determined to be free agents, a handful — or even one in a close election — could change the outcome. — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday takes up a …

Discussion: The Hill

Ian Millhiser / Vox:
The US House's Supreme Court defense of its Trump investigation was a disaster

Discussion: New York Times, Reason, The Bulwark, Slate and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:
Trump's lawyers just made appalling arguments to the Supreme Court

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Raw Story

Katelyn Polantz / CNN: Trump lawyer: 'We're asking for temporary presidential immunity'

USA Today: Trump Supreme Court goal: Slow walk the cases, hide secrets until the election is over

Brian Niemietz / New York Daily News:

Howard Stern to Trump supporters: He hates you and so do I — Howard Stern says he and President Trump are both showmen who love a good time — and they both hate Trump supporters. — “One thing Donald loves is celebrities, he loves the famous,” Stern said on his SiriusXM show Tuesday. “He loves it.

Discussion: Political Flare, Breitbart, The Week and Washington Times

Joe Scarborough / Washington Post:

Trump's racism will bring his party down with him — President Trump can't help himself. The former reality-TV host was warned by White House staff, his campaign team, financial contributors and Republicans on Capitol Hill that his afternoon news conferences were causing political damage.

Discussion: USA Today, HBCU Digest and CNN

Toluse Olorunnipa / Washington Post:
As coronavirus roils the nation, Trump reverts to tactic of accusing foes of felonies

Discussion: Political Flare, Mother Jones, The Wrap, POLITICUSUSA, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Politico, Mediaite, The American Independent and New York Post

Salvador Rizzo / Washington Post:
Trump's vicious claim that Joe Scarborough might have murdered an aide

Discussion: MSNBC

Matthew Haag / New York Times:

Manhattan Faces a Reckoning if Working From Home Becomes the Norm — Even after the crisis eases, companies may let workers stay home. That would affect an entire ecosystem, from transit to restaurants to shops. Not to mention the tax base. — Before the coronavirus crisis …

Discussion: BuzzFeed News and Streetsblog New York City, more at Techmeme »

Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

A new internal GOP poll suggests tight prez, Senate races in Georgia — An internal poll conducted by a group backing Gov. Brian Kemp showed a deadlocked presidential race in Georgia and tight contests for both U.S. Senate seats, underscoring the challenges Republicans face keeping the state in the GOP column.

Colleen Shalby / Los Angeles Times:

L.A. County could keep stay-at-home orders in place well into summer — Los Angeles County's stay-at-home orders will “with all certainty” be extended for the next three months, county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer acknowledged during a Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday.

Discussion: Townhall, Just The News, Redstate, Mediaite, The Hill, CBS Los Angeles, Breitbart, New York Post, Twitchy, The Week, ProFootballTalk and The Daily Caller

Chris Kahn / Reuters:

Trump approval dips amid mounting coronavirus death toll, trails Biden by 8 points: Reuters/Ipsos poll — NEW YORK (Reuters) - More Americans have grown critical of President Donald Trump over the past month as the death toll mounts from the coronavirus pandemic and he now trails Democratic …

Discussion: The Week

Manuel Roig-Franzia / Washington Post:

Under fire, President Trump drops his Mar-a-Lago dock plan — for now — President Trump has temporarily withdrawn a controversial dock proposal at his Palm Beach resort that had raised larger questions about the legality of the change of his official residency from New York to Florida.

Discussion: The Hill

Ann Limpert / Washingtonian:

Inn at Little Washington Chef Will Fill His Socially Distanced Dining Room With Midcentury Mannequins — The three Michelin-starred destination will also have Marilyn Monroe masks. — A few weeks ago, the Inn at Little Washington sent out an email blast announcing that the luxury Rappahannock …

Robby Soave / Reason:

No, 68 Percent of Americans Did Not Say They Would Avoid ‘Normal Life’ Until There's a Coronavirus Vaccine — Two-thirds of Americans said they would not return to “normal life” until a vaccine becomes available for COVID-19, according to CNN. — The ramifications of this finding …

Discussion: Arc Digital, Mediaite and Redstate

Moriah Balingit / Washington Post:

Armed militia helped a Michigan barbershop open, a coronavirus defiance that puts Republican lawmakers in a bind — OWOSSO, Mich. — Armed members of the Michigan Home Guard stood outside Karl Manke's barber shop, ready to blockade the door if police arrived.

Discussion: Raw Story

Heather Long / Washington Post:

Small business used to define America's economy. The pandemic could change that forever. — More than 100,000 small businesses have closed forever as the nation's pandemic toll escalates — The coronavirus pandemic is emerging as an existential threat to the nation's small businesses …

CNN:

UK railway ticket office worker dies from Covid-19 after being spat on — (CNN)A British railway ticket office worker has died from Covid-19 after being spat on while she was working at Victoria station in central London. — Belly Mujinga, 47, was working with a colleague when a member …

Joseph Wulfsohn / Fox News:

CNN skips revived WH briefings after yearlong complaints demanding ‘transparency’ — Ever since President Trump took office, one of CNN's longest-running complaints was that the White House had broken norms when it no longer held regularly-scheduled press briefings.

Washington Post:

Trump presses immunity argument in Summer Zervos defamation case — NEW YORK — Lawyers for President Trump this week reiterated their argument that a defamation lawsuit from a woman who alleges Trump groped and kissed her without consent should be halted because the president is immune …

Discussion: The Week

David Crary / Associated Press:

As Trump urges reopening, thousands getting sick on the job — NEW YORK (AP) — Even as President Donald Trump urges getting people back to work and reopening the economy, an Associated Press analysis shows thousands of people are getting sick from COVID-19 on the job.

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Washington Post

ABC News:

Horrific attacks on maternity ward, funeral in Afghanistan may derail peace process — Sitting down for peace negotiations seems less likely. — In the two months since the U.S. and the Taliban signed an agreement to end their 18-year old war, violence between the militant group and Afghan government forces has surged.

Discussion: Human Rights Watch, Reuters and Fox News