Top Items:
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
The 2016 nightmare is already repeating itself — The latest developments in the Michael Flynn case should prompt us to revisit one of the most glaring failures in political journalism, one that lends credibility to baseless narratives pushed for purely instrumental purposes, perversely rewarding bad-faith actors in the process.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Mediaite, Slate, CNN, IJR, New York Times, Spectator USA and Letters from an American, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:
Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal:
An ‘Unmasking’ Q&A — U.S. intelligence gathering and the case of Michael Flynn — WASHINGTON—Republican senators on Wednesday released the names of Obama administration officials who had requested and received the identity of a U.S. citizen mentioned in classified foreign intelligence …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
Elie Honig / CNN:
Judge slams the brakes on William Barr's abuse of power
Judge slams the brakes on William Barr's abuse of power
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Daily Beast and POLITICUSUSA
Andrew Desiderio / Politico:
Graham shoots down Trump's call for Obama testimony on Russia probe origins
Graham shoots down Trump's call for Obama testimony on Russia probe origins
Discussion:
Redstate, Mediaite, Vox, Talking Points Memo and Townhall
Brian Beutler / Crooked Media:
Trump Begins His Final Authoritarian Push
Trump Begins His Final Authoritarian Push
Discussion:
Business Insider Nederland and The Moderate Voice
Natasha Bertrand / Politico:
Trump exults in his Mueller revenge play
Trump exults in his Mueller revenge play
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and Issues & Insights
Washington Post:
Postal Services launches review of package delivery fees as Trump influence grows — Deputy Postmaster General Ronald A. Stroman will leave before new agency head Louis DeJoy takes the helm — Weeks before a Republican donor and top White House ally becomes postmaster general …
Discussion:
The Hill, The Verge, Jacobin and Raw Story, more at Techmeme »
Jamie Ross / The Daily Beast:
Trump Feared Testing Too Many People for Virus Would Spook Stock Markets, Says Report — FAILURE TO ACT — President Trump was wary of making preparations for the coronavirus pandemic because he was concerned doing so would sent the stock market into a panic, the Financial Times reports.
Discussion:
Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Balloon Juice and POLITICUSUSA
RELATED:
Edward Luce / Financial Times:
Inside Trump's coronavirus meltdown — When the history is written of how America handled the global era's first real pandemic, March 6 will leap out of the timeline. That was the day Donald Trump visited the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Washington Post:
Trump encourages Pompeo to run for Senate but Secretary of State rebuffs him — President Trump recently encouraged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to reconsider running for the U.S. Senate in Kansas but Pompeo rebuffed the request, according to two people familiar with the conversation.
Discussion:
Raw Story
RELATED:
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
5 takeaways from coronavirus whistleblower Rick Bright's testimony — A Trump administration vaccine expert who says he was removed from a key role for raising concerns about the federal government's coronavirus response — and its promotion of unproven drugs to treat the virus — testified Thursday before Congress.
Discussion:
ABC News, The Hill, Los Angeles Times and Breitbart
RELATED:
Mara Gay / New York Times:
Coronavirus Is Making Young People Very Sick. I Was One of Them. — Young, healthy people like me are getting very, very sick from the disease caused by the coronavirus. — Ms. Gay is a member of the editorial board. — The day before I got sick, I ran three miles, walked 10 more …
David Welch / Bloomberg:
Michigan Cancels Legislative Session to Avoid Armed Protesters — Michigan closed down its capitol in Lansing on Thursday and canceled its legislative session rather than face the possibility of an armed protest and death threats against Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Discussion:
detroitnews and Daily Kos
RELATED:
Andrew O'Reilly / Fox News:
Whitmer's stay-at-home orders protested outside Michigan Captiol as scuffle breaks out
Whitmer's stay-at-home orders protested outside Michigan Captiol as scuffle breaks out
Discussion:
MLive.com, The Daily Beast and The Daily Caller
Washington Post:
Trump's company has received at least $970,000 from U.S. taxpayers for room rentals — The U.S. government has paid at least $970,000 to President Trump's company since Trump took office — including payments for more than 1,600 nightly room rentals at Trump's hotels and clubs …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Raw Story and Contemptor
Robert Frank / CNBC:
Private jet company founded by Trump donor gets $27 million bailout — A private jet company founded by a donor to President Donald Trump received nearly $27 million in government funding under a program run by the Treasury Department, according to government filings.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Appeals court greenlights emoluments suit against Trump — A lawsuit accusing President Donald Trump of violating the Constitution by accepting foreign government money through his luxury Washington hotel can proceed to fact-gathering about Trump's profits, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
Discussion:
The Hill, ABC News, JONATHAN TURLEY, One America News Network and POLITICUSUSA
RELATED:
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
A sweeping setback for Trump's foreign business dealings
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Coronavirus is now invading Trump counties in the swing states — The novel coronavirus continues to shift our political geography. The latest development: It's now penetrating counties in the battleground states that were carried by President Trump, which raises the possibility …
Politico:
How Burr's stock scandal shocked the Senate — The Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday met as usual in a classified room in the Capitol. During the meeting, Chairman Richard Burr discussed the next time the secretive panel would gather. — Less than 24 hours later …
Discussion:
Washington Post, NBC News and Los Angeles Times
Politico:
The New York Times Surrendered to an Outrage Mob. Journalism Will Suffer For It. — In a time in which even a virus has become the subject of partisan disinformation and myth-making, it's essential that mainstream journalistic institutions reaffirm their bona fides as disinterested purveyors of fact and honest brokers of controversy.
John Hudson / Washington Post:
Democrats scrutinize State Department plan to overhaul Social Security — The Democratic chairmen of two House panels are scrutinizing a State Department plan to overhaul Social Security that they say unfairly takes away Americans' entitlement benefits in exchange for a quick cash payment.
CBS News:
Company tied to Trump campaign manager gets PPP loan — A company whose largest shareholder is Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale received nearly $800,000 from the federal coronavirus relief fund for small businesses, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
New York Times:
De Blasio Relies on Aide Who Saw ‘No Proof’ Closures Curb Virus — The head of New York City's public hospitals pushed to keep the city open in early March. Now Mayor de Blasio has put him in charge of contact tracing, deepening a rift with the Health Department.
Discussion:
New York Post, Redstate, Fox News and American Military News
Seung Min Kim / Washington Post:
Nonprofit run by Trump nominee to head U.S. media agency is under investigation, senator says — A nonprofit organization that is run by President Trump's nominee to lead a federal media agency with oversight of Voice of America and other news outlets is under investigation by the District …
Meagan Flynn / Washington Post:
After Wisconsin court ruling, crowds liberated and thirsty descend on bars. 'We're the Wild West,' Gov. Tony Evers says. — On Wednesday night in the heart of downtown Platteville, Wis., just hours after the Wisconsin Supreme Court threw out the state's stay-at-home order, Nick's on 2nd was packed wall to wall, standing room only.
Discussion:
Slate, KFOR-TV, WQOW-TV, VICE, Fox News, POLITICUSUSA, The Hill, Outside the Beltway, New York Post, Vanity Fair, Axios and jsonline
Erik Ortiz / Yahoo News:
ACLU sues Betsy DeVos over new campus sexual assault rules — revised federal guidelines on how sexual assault allegations should be handled on college and K-12 campuses is the target of a federal lawsuit filed Thursday, claiming the changes would “inflict significant harm” on victims and “dramatically undermine” their civil rights.
William Mersey / New York Daily News:
Congratulations, Paulie: An ex-cellmate wishes the best to Paul Manafort — It was just about this time last year that I was lying in my cell's upper bunk and asking my bunky if he ever entertained the fantasy that the president would somehow engineer a pardon and get him released early.
CBS News:
Trump's marks for handling COVID-19 outbreak decline - CBS News poll — Americans continue to say they trust medical professionals for virus information, but Republicans also rank President Trump about as highly among their trusted sources, even as others give him his lowest marks to date for handling the outbreak.
Discussion:
Slate, Washington Post, IJR and The Hill
Lisa Friedman / New York Times:
E.P.A. Opts Against Limits on Water Contaminant Tied to Fetal Damage — A new E.P.A. policy on perchlorate, which is used in rocket fuel, would revoke a 2011 finding that the chemical should be regulated. — WASHINGTON — The Trump administration will not impose any limits on perchlorate …
RELATED:
Fadel Allassan / Axios:
NYT: EPA will not limit chemical compound linked to fetal damage
NYT: EPA will not limit chemical compound linked to fetal damage
Discussion:
Associated Press
Associated Press:
Officials release edited coronavirus reopening guidance — NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials on Thursday released some of their long-delayed guidance that schools, businesses and other organizations can use as states reopen from coronavirus shutdowns. — The Centers for Disease Control …
Politico:
Pentagon fires its point person for Defense Production Act — Jennifer Santos, the Pentagon's industrial policy chief who oversees efforts to ramp up production of masks and other equipment to help fight Covid-19, was fired from her job this week and will move to a position in the Navy, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, CNN, Fox News and Raw Story
Washington Post:
Ex-detective charged in death of Ahmaud Arbery lost power to make arrests after skipping use-of-force training — Gregory McMichael's law enforcement certification was suspended in 2019 after repeated failures to complete required training, according to records acquired by The Washington Post.
Discussion:
The Leadership Conference …, VICE, The Daily Beast, New York Post and The Hill
Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
The Curious Case of the People Who Want to “Reopen” America—But Not Wear Masks — The coronavirus, you may have heard, is a biological weapon engineered in a Chinese lab and unleashed—accidentally?— on America by the godless communists. At least, according to Alex Jones. — That's one theory, anyway.
Discussion:
VICE, The Mahablog, Progress Pond and The Guardian
The Hill:
Trump says testing may be ‘frankly overrated’ — President Trump on Thursday suggested the practice of widespread coronavirus testing may be “overrated,” even as health experts insist it is critical to safely loosen restrictions and reopen businesses. — Trump boasted about the United …
Paul Sperry / RealClearInvestigations:
Transcripts: Clinton Aides Allied With Fusion GPS Pair After Election — to Re-Push Anti-Trump Dossier — Above, Hillary Clinton with her 2016 campaign chairman John Podesta. He testified that he backed a new post-election, anti-Trump effort with Fusion GPS's principals and Daniel Jones …
Discussion:
Real Clear Politics
Salena Zito / Washington Examiner:
Trump to Salena Zito: 'Joe has absolutely no idea what's happening' — ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania — President Trump, speaking to the Washington Examiner ahead of an event at a medical supply facility in this key swing state, took aim at Joe Biden's mental faculties, at one point claiming …
Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic:
Trump Brings in the Infantry for His War on Blue America — Even during the shared national challenge of the coronavirus outbreak, President Donald Trump is escalating his attacks on the institutions of blue America. And a growing number of other Republicans are joining him.
Discussion:
Raw Story