memeorandum: De Blasio Relies on Aide Who Saw ‘No Proof’ Closures Curb Virus (New York Times)

12:35 AM ET, May 15, 2020

Top Items:

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

“Obamagate” Is Niche Programming for Trump Superfans — Donald Trump will not shut up about Barack Obama—not now, not ever. On Thursday morning, amid the gravest economic crisis in a century and a deadly pandemic that will have killed more than a hundred thousand Americans by the end of this month …

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: Patterico's Pontifications, IJR, CNN, Mediaite, Slate, Washington Monthly, Spectator USA, Letters from an American and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »

NBC News:
Trump allies push ‘Obamagate,’ but record fails to back them up

Discussion: Breitbart and CNBC

Washington Post:
How a Flynn theory became central to the Trump reelection campaign

Discussion: Vox, Redstate, Just The News, The Daily Signal, Daily Kos and IJR

Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal:
An ‘Unmasking’ Q&A — U.S. intelligence gathering and the case of Michael Flynn

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Natasha Bertrand / Politico:
Trump exults in his Mueller revenge play

Discussion: Crooked Media and Washington Examiner

Andrew Desiderio / Politico:
Graham shoots down Trump's call for Obama testimony on Russia probe origins

Discussion: New York Times, Vox, Letters from an American, Mediaite, Townhall, Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog, Talking Points Memo and Breitbart

Politico:

‘They are angry’: Pandemic and economic collapse slam Trump across Rust Belt — The Industrial Midwest was always going to be a battleground in November. — The region is now becoming a new front line for Americans' lives and livelihoods as coronavirus hot spots proliferate and jobless rates spiral.

Discussion: The Daily Beast and IJR

Washington Post:

CDC offers brief checklists to guide businesses, schools and others on reopening — With hundreds of millions of people still seeking advice on resuming their lives safely, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a scant six pages of recommendations Thursday to guide schools …

Discussion: Associated Press and Talking Points Memo

Meagan Flynn / Washington Post:
After Wisconsin court ruling, crowds liberated and thirsty descend on bars. …

Discussion: VICE, KFOR-TV, Slate, New York Post, Vanity Fair, POLITICUSUSA, WQOW-TV, Fox News, Outside the Beltway, The Hill and jsonline

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
5 takeaways from coronavirus whistleblower Rick Bright's testimony

Discussion: The Hill, Los Angeles Times, ABC News and Breitbart

Washington Post:
Live updates: Vaccine expert testifies that federal officials ‘did not respond’ to his alerts about mask shortages

Discussion: Raw Story and New York Post

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, The Hill, NBC News and Los Angeles Times

Lachlan Markay / The Daily Beast:
Loeffler Turns Over Coronavirus Stock Sale Docs to Feds

Discussion: Fox News, Raw Story and Washington Post

Tia Mitchell / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Loeffler supplies documents to DOJ, SEC, Ethics regarding stock sales

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Politico

Politico:
Loeffler turns over documents to SEC and DOJ amid stock-trading controversy

Discussion: Breitbart

Ed Mazza / HuffPost:

Barack Obama Speaks Out After Mitch McConnell Tells Him To Keep His ‘Mouth Shut’ — The former president calls for “better policy decisions” on dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. — Former President Barack Obama on Wednesday urged a better government response to the coronavirus pandemic …

Discussion: NBC News and IJR

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

McConnell says Obama administration ‘did leave behind’ pandemic plan — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday walked back comments made earlier this week, where he said the Obama administration didn't leave behind a “game plan” for a pandemic.

Discussion: Political Wire and Washington Post

Oliver Darcy / CNN:

Top health officials vanish from national TV interviews as White House refocuses messaging — New York (CNN Business)The nation's top physicians have stopped appearing on national television for interviews as the White House exerts increased control over communications during the coronavirus pandemic …

Discussion: VICE

Politico:
A metrics-obsessed White House struggles to define success on coronavirus

Discussion: Raw Story

Joseph Farah / WND: Why Trump is the most polite president

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 …

Jerry Lambe / Law & Crime:

Michael Flynn's Fired Lawyers Just Filed Court Papers to Reappear in His Case — The federal judge overseeing Michael Flynn's criminal prosecution has directed the law firm that Flynn fired to reappear as an interested party in the controversial proceeding. On Thursday, that firm complied by filing a notice of appearance.

Discussion: Power Line and The Gateway Pundit

JONATHAN TURLEY:
Judge Sullivan To Consider Perjury Charge Against Flynn

Discussion: Redstate, Power Line, The Daily Caller and The Bulwark

Elie Honig / CNN:
Judge slams the brakes on William Barr's abuse of power

Discussion: Washington Post and The Daily Beast

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, American Military News and Twitchy

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 and Jacobin, more at Techmeme »

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, Daily Kos and The Mahablog

Andrew O'Reilly / Fox News:
Whitmer's stay-at-home orders protested outside Michigan Captiol as scuffle breaks out

Discussion: MLive.com, The Daily Beast and The Daily Caller

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.

Discussion: Twitchy

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 …

Anna Wilde Mathews / Wall Street Journal:

New York Sent Recovering Coronavirus Patients to Nursing Homes: ‘It Was a Fatal Error’ — The state reversed its policy after mounting criticism and deaths. The mandate is part of broader scrutiny of weaknesses at long-term care facilities that have made them hot spots for Covid-19.

Michael Barone / Washington Examiner:
Who sent coronavirus-positive patients into nursing homes?

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Post and American Thinker

Cathy Young / Quillette:

Tara Reade's Dubious Claims and Shifting Stories Show the Limits of #BelieveWomen — Last year, a then-56-year-old California woman named Tara Reade publicly accused Joe Biden of sexual assaulting her in 1993. The issue caused an awkward rift among Democrats, one that has only widened since Biden became …

Discussion: The Atlantic, New York Times, The Daily Caller and NB Blog

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

A sweeping setback for Trump's foreign business dealings — President Trump's decision not to divest himself of his businesses, in particular his foreign holdings or holdings that derive income from foreign governments, was a fateful error that flew in the face of precedent, clean government and the Constitution.

Jordan Libowitz / CREW: CREW Statement on Emoluments Ruling

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 …

Colby Itkowitz / Washington Post:

Obama's former aides angry, hurt over Ronny Jackson's embrace of Trump's conspiracy theories — Former Obama officials expressed anger and a sense of betrayal after onetime White House doctor Ronny L. Jackson echoed President Trump's baseless conspiracy theories about their former boss, President Barack Obama.

Discussion: The Hill, Raw Story and IJR

Michael Laris / Washington Post:

Battered by upheaval, novelist Yu Lihua told raw stories from a speckled blue desk — Years before Yu Lihua was spurned by the English literature department at Taiwan's top university, before she was rejected by English professors at graduate school in Los Angeles, she overheard her mother longing for her to be dead.

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: Vanity Fair, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story and Contemptor

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.

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

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: Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

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 …

Discussion: Breitbart and Mediaite

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.