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 …
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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.
Washington Post:
How a Flynn theory became central to the Trump reelection campaign — On the day Attorney General William P. Barr moved to drop criminal charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn, again winning the adulation of President Trump, he was paid a special visit.
Discussion:
Vox, Redstate, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Just The News and The Daily Signal
Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal:
An ‘Unmasking’ Q&A — U.S. intelligence gathering and the case of Michael Flynn
An ‘Unmasking’ Q&A — U.S. intelligence gathering and the case of Michael Flynn
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
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:
New York Times, Mediaite, Vox, Townhall, Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog, Talking Points Memo and Breitbart
Natasha Bertrand / Politico:
Trump exults in his Mueller revenge play
Trump exults in his Mueller revenge play
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and Issues & Insights
Brian Beutler / Crooked Media:
Trump Begins His Final Authoritarian Push
Trump Begins His Final Authoritarian Push
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice and Business Insider Nederland
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
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Meagan Flynn / Washington Post:
After Wisconsin court ruling, crowds liberated and thirsty descend on bars. …
After Wisconsin court ruling, crowds liberated and thirsty descend on bars. …
Discussion:
VICE, KFOR-TV, Slate, POLITICUSUSA, WQOW-TV, New York Post, Fox News, Vanity Fair, Outside the Beltway, The Hill and jsonline
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
5 takeaways from coronavirus whistleblower Rick Bright's testimony
5 takeaways from coronavirus whistleblower Rick Bright's testimony
Discussion:
The Hill, Los Angeles Times, ABC News and Breitbart
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
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Lachlan Markay / The Daily Beast:
Loeffler Turns Over Coronavirus Stock Sale Docs to Feds
Loeffler Turns Over Coronavirus Stock Sale Docs to Feds
Discussion:
Raw Story, Washington Post and Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Politico:
Loeffler turns over documents to SEC and DOJ amid stock-trading controversy
Loeffler turns over documents to SEC and DOJ amid stock-trading controversy
Discussion:
Breitbart
Tia Mitchell / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Loeffler supplies documents to DOJ, SEC, Ethics regarding stock sales
Loeffler supplies documents to DOJ, SEC, Ethics regarding stock sales
Discussion:
CNN, New York Times, Politico and San Francisco Chronicle
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 …
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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
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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 …
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.
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Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Appeals court greenlights emoluments suit against Trump
Appeals court greenlights emoluments suit against Trump
Discussion:
The Hill, JONATHAN TURLEY, ABC News, One America News Network and POLITICUSUSA
Jordan Libowitz / CREW:
CREW Statement on Emoluments Ruling
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
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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 and The Daily Beast
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
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
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, Fox News, American Military News, Redstate, Twitchy and The Daily Caller
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 »
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 …
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
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
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 …
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:
POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story and Contemptor
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:
Raw Story
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.
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.
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.
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, Mediaite and Political Wire
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.
CDC:
Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) Associated with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) — Distributed via the CDC Health Alert Network — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is providing 1) background information on several cases of a recently reported …
Discussion:
The Hill
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 …
Discussion:
New York Times, The Hill and Deadline