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:
Slate, Mediaite, CNN, New York Times, IJR, Spectator USA and Axios, more at Mediagazer »
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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 and Raw Story
Elie Honig / CNN:
Judge slams the brakes on William Barr's abuse of power — Elie Honig is a CNN legal analyst and former federal and state prosecutor. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion on CNN. Watch Honig answer readers' questions on “CNN Newsroom with Ana Cabrera” at 5:40 p.m. ET Sundays.
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Daily Beast and POLITICUSUSA
Brian Beutler / Crooked Media:
Trump Begins His Final Authoritarian Push — Under cover of awful darkness—85,000 dead Americans, nearly all of whom should be alive today, and a great depression of his own making—President Trump has accelerated his efforts to dismantle the rule of law in America.
Discussion:
Politico, The Moderate Voice and Business Insider Nederland
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:
Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Vox, Townhall and Political Wire
Del Quentin Wilber / Los Angeles Times:
FBI serves warrant on senator in investigation of stock sales linked to coronavirus — Federal agents seized a cellphone belonging to a prominent Republican senator on Wednesday night as part of the Justice Department's investigation into controversial stock trades he made as the coronavirus …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Fox News, San Francisco Chronicle, CNN, Mediaite, USA Today, Mother Jones, BuzzFeed News, Politico, Townhall, NBC News, ABC News, The National Interest, The Root, Talking Points Memo, Axios, Financial Times, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Vanity Fair, Washington Times, 9to5Mac, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Beast, Tangle, emptywheel, Daily Kos, VICE, Slate, National Review, MacRumors, Twitchy, ABC7, NPR, Law & Crime, Letters from an American, Raw Story and Just The News
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New York Times:
Richard Burr Steps Back From Senate Panel as Phone Seized in Stock Sales Inquiry
Richard Burr Steps Back From Senate Panel as Phone Seized in Stock Sales Inquiry
Discussion:
Washington Post, Politico, Los Angeles Times, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, IJR, Talking Points Memo, ABC7 and Breitbart
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
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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:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, Balloon Juice, POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story
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, Outside the Beltway, VICE, WQOW-TV, New York Post, Vanity Fair, Fox News, POLITICUSUSA, Axios and jsonline
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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 Verge, The Hill, Jacobin and Raw Story, more at Techmeme »
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:
Los Angeles Times and The Hill
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Dan Diamond / Politico:
Top Trump critic set to testify before close ally sparks tensions on Capitol Hill
Top Trump critic set to testify before close ally sparks tensions on Capitol Hill
Discussion:
STAT, Vox, Breitbart, NB Blog, The Daily Beast, American Greatness and Energy and Commerce Committee
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
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:
Fox News
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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
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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.
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 …
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:
The Hill, IJR and Washington Post
Fadel Allassan / Axios:
NYT: EPA will not limit chemical compound linked to fetal damage — The Environmental Protection Agency will no longer impose limits on perchlorate, a toxic chemical compound linked to fetal and infant brain damage, the New York Times reports. — Where it stands: “The agency has determined …
Discussion:
Associated Press
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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 O'Connell / Washington Post:
Aspen Institute to return $8 million in small business funds — Day after saying it needed SBA money to fill budget shortfalls, a non-profit think tank reverses course — The Aspen Institute think tank announced it would return $8 million in federal small-business funds after a Thursday meeting of its board of trustees.
Politico:
McConnell pines for Pompeo as Kansas chaos looms — Senate Republicans have a problem in Kansas. And they still think Mike Pompeo is the solution. — Staring at a messy primary, a credible Democratic challenger and a real battle for Senate control, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Associated Press, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Breitbart and NBC News
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, One America News Network, ABC News, POLITICUSUSA and JONATHAN TURLEY
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.
Adam Kredo / Washington Free Beacon:
Chinese State Media Warn Country Will Interfere in U.S. Election — China is threatening to meddle in the upcoming U.S. presidential election as retribution for a flurry of American lawsuits seeking to hold Beijing accountable for the spread of the coronavirus.
Alexandra Petri / Washington Post:
Obamagate was the worst crime ever committed and here is what it was — “What is the crime exactly that you're accusing him of?” — “You know what the crime is. The crime is very obvious to everybody. All you have to do is read the newspapers, except yours.”
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, POLITICUSUSA and The Guardian
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, Washington Monthly and The Guardian
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 …
Henry Rodgers / The Daily Caller:
EXCLUSIVE: Senate Republicans Mobilizing To Confront China, Including Investigations, Sanctions And ‘Seizure Of Chinese Govt Assets’ — A number of Republicans in the Senate explained to the Daily Caller how they will hold China accountable for reportedly delaying the release of critical information regarding its coronavirus outbreak.
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.
The Economist:
Mike Pompeo's politicisation of foreign policy is so damaging — The secretary of state is confusing global leadership with bashing his opponents … For a man acknowledged to be highly intelligent, Mike Pompeo has a long history of talking nonsense. As a greenhorn House member …
Rasmussen Reports:
23% of Republicans Think GOP Should Nominate Someone Other Than Trump — Republicans overwhelmingly expect President Trump to be their nominee this fall, but nearly one-in-four GOP voters would prefer someone else. — The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds …
Discussion:
Washington Times