memeorandum: Grassley says White House response on IG firings insufficient (Seung Min Kim/Washington Post)

3:01 AM ET, May 27, 2020

Top Items:

Elizabeth Dwoskin / Washington Post:

Twitter labels Trump's tweets with a fact-check for the first time — The action comes after years of criticism that social media companies have allowed the president to push misinformation unchecked — Twitter on Tuesday slapped a fact-check label on President Trump's tweets for the first time …

Peter Wehner / The Atlantic:

The Malignant Cruelty of Donald Trump — “I'm asking you to intervene in this instance because the President of the United States has taken something that does not belong to him—the memory of my dead wife—and perverted it for perceived political gain.” — There may be a more damning thing that's …

Discussion: Variety, Vox, The Guardian, Jezebel, Daily Kos, Slate, Politico, Althouse and The Week

Makena Kelly / The Verge:

Twitter labels Trump tweets as ‘potentially misleading’ for the first time — Only two tweets about California have received the label — On Tuesday, Twitter labeled two tweets from President Donald Trump making false statements about mail-in voting as “potentially misleading.”

Discussion: Fox News, The Hill, Donald J. Trump for President and CNET

Washington Post:

Trump doubles down on conspiracy theory about woman's death, ignoring grieving widower's plea for peace — President Trump and the White House on Tuesday continued to promote a baseless conspiracy theory about a woman's 2001 death, ignoring her grieving widower's plea for peace …

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, NPR, New York Post, New York Times and Breitbart, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

Twitter Refutes Inaccuracies in Trump's Tweets for First Time — Twitter added a link to two of President Trump's tweets in which he had made false claims about mail-in ballots, urging people to “get the facts.” — OAKLAND, Calif. — Twitter added information to refute the inaccuracies …

Discussion: Discourse Blog, Wall Street Journal, NBC News, Breitbart and Washington Post

New York Post: The hidden risk in Donald Trump's tweets

Bob Brigham / Raw Story: JusticeForCarolyn trends on Twitter as pressure mounts on Jack Dorsey to rein in Trump

Jack Dorsey / New York Times:
Timothy Klausutis's Full Letter to Jack Dorsey, and Twitter's Response

Discussion: Yahoo News, The Wrap, Patterico's Pontifications, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Washington Post, The Daily Caller and Vanity Fair

Will Steakin / ABC News:
Despite widower's plea, Trump doubles down on murder conspiracy theory targeting cable news host

Discussion: New York Times and Breitbart

Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:

“This Is So Unfair to Me”: Trump Whines About His COVID-19 Victimhood as Campaign Flails — Raging at campaign manager Brad Parscale and Joe Scarborough, Trump attempts a campaign reset. But “Trump can't pivot to a different strategy,” says an adviser. Because he's the problem.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Raw Story and New York Times

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Trump's 2016 campaign brass warns he's in trouble in 2020 — David Bossie and Corey Lewandowski, two key allies and former political advisers to Donald Trump, went to the White House last week to issue him a warning: The president was slipping badly in swing states, and he needed to do something to fix it.

Discussion: KDFX-TV

Politico:
Grenell to join Trump campaign

Discussion: Twitchy, Fox News and New York Post

Wall Street Journal:

A Presidential Smear — Trump imitates the Steele dossier in attacks on Joe Scarborough. — By The Editorial Board — Donald Trump sometimes traffics in conspiracy theories—recall his innuendo in 2016 about Ted Cruz's father and the JFK assassination—but his latest accusation …

Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite

Hayley Miller / HuffPost:

4 Minneapolis Police Officers Fired Over George Floyd Death — The move comes after a video showed an officer kneeling on the neck of Floyd, an unarmed Black man, on Monday. — Four Minneapolis police officers were fired Tuesday following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died …

Discussion: KSTP-TV, The Sun, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, Washington Post and BuzzFeed News

CNN:
4 Minneapolis cops fired after video shows one kneeling on neck of black man who later died

Discussion: KARE-TV, Star Tribune and WCCO | CBS Minnesota

Timothy Bella / Washington Post:
‘I cannot breathe!’: …

Discussion: CBS News, New York Post, Minneapolis Police, NPR, PBS NewsHour, Sports Illustrated, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, VICE, Law & Crime, The Hill, Reason, Talking Points Memo, Common Dreams and The Root

New York Times:
George Floyd Death: Minneapolis Police Video Leads to Protests

Discussion: NBC News and Twitchy

Jared Goyette / The Guardian:
Hundreds demand justice in Minneapolis after police killing of George Floyd

Discussion: Axios, Fox News, MPR News and WCCO | CBS Minnesota

Libor Jany / Star Tribune: Minneapolis police, protesters clash almost 24 hours after George Floyd's death in custody

Aruna Viswanatha / Wall Street Journal:

Justice Department Closing Insider-Trading Investigations Into Three U.S. Senators — Probe into trading earlier this year by Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina continues — The Justice Department is closing investigations into three U.S. senators for stocks trades made shortly …

Discussion: Axios, The Daily Beast, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, The Sun, ABC News, The Hill, Law & Crime, Fox News, Politico, CNBC, Breitbart, Townhall, KDFX-TV, Talking Points Memo, Roll Call, The Week, IJR, The Daily Caller and New York Post

NBC News:
Justice Department drops insider trading investigations of three senators

Discussion: Oklahoman.com and Raw Story

Robert A. George / New York Daily News:

Cooped up: A shameful Central Park encounter demands all New Yorkers be better people — In the latest episode of the everyday-fresh-hell that is New York City under quarantine, one white female, Amy Cooper, was caught on video calling the cops on one black male, Christian Cooper.

Discussion: Audubon, Wealth Management and New York Post

Nylah Burton / The Independent:
It looks like Amy Cooper, the white woman in the viral Central Park video, is a liberal. That's important

Discussion: Raw Story, TheBlaze and The Daily Beast

Sarah Maslin Nir / New York Times:
White Woman Is Fired After Calling Police on Black Man in Central Park

Discussion: Balloon Juice, KDFX-TV, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Raw Story, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Twitchy, Law & Crime, Jezebel, NBC New York and Slate

Olivia Beavers / The Hill:

Ex-Pompeo staffers asked to sign letter against ‘smear campaign’ — Former House staffers to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are being asked to sign a letter offering him support after a “smear campaign” that he and his wife asked staffers to carry out trivial tasks such as bringing him lunch or getting his dry cleaning.

Discussion: Politico

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

Mike Pompeo Is the Worst Secretary of State Ever — Where's the Republican uproar over what's gone on under his watch? — If you thought the volume on the Trump-Twitter-Fox noise distraction machine was turned up extra loud in the past few weeks, it was not only to deflect attention …

David Ignatius / Washington Post: Pompeo's ‘Madison Dinners’ aren't scandalous. I went to one.

Helen Branswell / STAT:

New research rewrites history of when Covid-19 took off in the U.S. — and points to missed chances to stop it — New research has poured cold water on the theory that the Covid-19 outbreak in Washington state — the country's first — was triggered by the very first confirmed case of the infection in the country.

Chip Brownlee / Alabama Political Reporter:

“We're surging:” Alabama reports largest COVID-19 increases to date — Alabama saw its largest single-day increase in new COVID-19 cases Monday, according to the state, as daily case counts continue an upward trend and hospitals across the state report increasing hospitalizations.

Seung Min Kim / Washington Post:

Grassley says White House response on IG firings insufficient — A senior Senate Republican criticized the White House late Tuesday for what he deemed an insufficient response to demands from senators to more fully explain President Trump's controversial recent ousters of two inspectors general.

Discussion: ABC News and Associated Press

CNN:
Pentagon deputy inspector general resigns, becomes latest watchdog to exit administration

Discussion: Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, UPI and Axios

John Whitehouse / Media Matters for America:

Bombshell report: Facebook has known that it is fomenting extremism for years — and refuses to stop — A major report from The Wall Street Journal revealed that Facebook has known that it is fomenting political polarization for years — and that its top executives refused to implement proposed solutions to stop it.

Wall Street Journal:
Facebook Knows It Encourages Division. Top Executives Nixed Solutions.

Discussion: Common Dreams and The Week, more at Techmeme »

Maggie Fox / CNN:

Antibody tests for Covid-19 wrong half the time, CDC says — (CNN)Antibody tests used to determine if people have been infected in the past with Covid-19 might be wrong up to half the time, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in new guidance posted on its website.

USA Today:

As pandemic bore down, Rep. Phil Roe snatched up Zoom shares, unloaded stock in cruise lines — NASHVILLE — With a global pandemic threatening to hit the United States earlier this year, U.S. Rep. Phil Roe made hundreds of financial transactions, buying stocks in companies now working …

Discussion: The Hill

Tim Burke / COURIER:

WATCH: 10 Local TV Stations Pushed the Same Amazon-Scripted Segment — The package was produced by Amazon spokesperson Todd Walker. — Amazon is taking proactive action ahead of Wednesday's annual shareholders meeting—at which investors plan on demanding the company address worker safety issues …

Discussion: The Verge, VICE, TVNewser and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Colby Itkowitz / Washington Post:

Trump calls mask wearing ‘politically correct,’ Biden calls him a ‘fool’ — President Trump dismissed a mask-wearing reporter as being “politically correct” on Tuesday while the presumptive Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, called him a “fool” for mocking their use.

Discussion: Axios and Vox

New York Times:

After Crowding at Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri Officials Urge Quarantine — “It's irresponsible and dangerous to engage in such high risk behavior just to have some fun over the extended holiday weekend,” said the mayor of St. Louis. — After large crowds gathered at the Lake of the Ozarks …

Discussion: NBC News, Jezebel, The Gateway Pundit, The Hill, Mediaite and Talking Points Memo

Brian Mann / NPR:

Trump Team Killed Rule Designed To Protect Health Workers From Pandemic Like COVID-19 — When President Trump took office in 2017, his team stopped work on new federal regulations that would have forced the healthcare industry to prepare for an airborne infectious disease pandemic like COVID-19.

Natasha Korecki / Politico:

California DA launches investigation into Tara Reade testimony — ‘We are investigating whether Ms. McCabe gave false testimony under oath,’ said a Monterey County prosecutor. — The Monterey County District Attorney's office has launched an investigation into whether Tara Reade lied …

FiveThirtyEight:

Don't Expect A Quick Recovery. Our Survey Of Economists Says It Will Likely Take Years. — All across the country, the gears of the economy are grinding slowly and creakily into motion. Retail stores are newly open for in-person shopping in California. It's possible to get a much-needed haircut in Alabama.

James Vincent / The Verge:

YouTube is deleting comments with two phrases that insult China's Communist Party — These Chinese language phrases are removed within seconds — YouTube is automatically deleting comments that contain certain Chinese-language phrases related to criticism of the country's ruling Communist Party (CCP).

Discussion: National Review, Washington Free Beacon, Breitbart, Louder With Crowder, Mediaite, WND, Twitchy, Fox News, Bloomberg, The Daily Caller, NB Blog and TheBlaze, more at Mediagazer »

Stuart Rothenberg / Roll Call:

Memorial Day 2020: Presidential race still leaning Biden — ANALYSIS — More than two months ago, even before COVID-19 became all-consuming in our lives, I wrote a column arguing that the presidential race had changed from a toss-up/tilting Democratic to leaning Democratic.