memeorandum: U.S. Park Police officers placed on administrative duty over assault on Australian journalists (Tim Stelloh/NBC News)

8:55 AM ET, June 4, 2020

Top Items:

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic:

James Mattis Denounces President Trump, Describes Him as a Threat to the Constitution — James Mattis, the esteemed Marine general who resigned as secretary of defense in December 2018 to protest Donald Trump's Syria policy, has, ever since, kept studiously silent about Trump's performance as president.

Marc Tracy / New York Times:

Senator's ‘Send In the Troops’ Op-Ed in The Times Draws Online Ire — Staff members at the newspaper, including a Pulitzer winner, denounced an opinion essay by Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, calling for a military response to protests. — “Country Braces for a 9th Straight Night of Unrest …

Discussion: Raw Story

Tom Cotton / New York Times:

Send In the Troops — The nation must restore order. The military stands ready. — Mr. Cotton, a Republican, is a United States senator from Arkansas. — This week, rioters have plunged many American cities into anarchy, recalling the widespread violence of the 1960s.

Discussion: Redstate, The Federalist, Bloomberg, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, The Daily Beast, The Hill, Fox News, Los Angeles Times, Axios, KTVZ-TV, Power Line, Raw Story, Variety, Common Dreams, Townhall, Talking Points Memo, Spectator USA and KRON4

Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:

New York Times Staffers in Open Revolt Over Tom Cotton's ‘Send in the Troops’ Column — “Running this puts Black @NYTimes staff in danger,” dozens of Times employees tweeted in solidarity on Wednesday evening. — Staffers at The New York Times are in open revolt Wednesday …

Discussion: JONATHAN TURLEY, Deadline and Lawyers, Guns & Money, more at Mediagazer »

Tim Miller / The Bulwark:

The ‘Tear Gas Hoax’ Hoax — Trump apologists deny and distort the tactics used on the Lafayette Square protesters. — By now, everyone reading this is aware that on Monday night President Trump committed a grotesque and unconstitutional abuse of power: To show that he was “reclaiming the territory” …

Discussion: USA Today, Raw Story, Washington Post and Breitbart

Calvin Woodward / Associated Press: AP FACT CHECK: Trump denies tear gas use despite evidence

Elahe Izadi / Washington Post:
New York Times staffers denounce newspaper for Tom Cotton's op-ed urging military incursion into U.S. cities

Discussion: The Federalist, New York Times, The Moderate Voice and Fox News

Oliver Darcy / CNN:
New York Times staffers revolt over publication of Tom Cotton op-ed

Discussion: The Wrap and Balloon Juice

Orion Rummler / Axios:
James Mattis condemns Trump as a threat to the Constitution

Discussion: The Atlantic, Just The News, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Mediaite and IJR

New York Times:

Trump Campaign Looks at Electoral Map and Doesn't Like What It Sees — As polls show President Trump significantly trailing his rival, Joseph R. Biden Jr., his campaign is spending heavily in states, like Ohio, that it had hoped would not be competitive at all this year.

Discussion: Raw Story, KTVZ-TV and Washington Post

Vicky Prodeline / Polls:

More Voters Trust Biden on Race Relations — Increase in views that outbreak is hurting Trump — West Long Branch, NJ - Joe Biden currently holds an 11-point lead over Donald Trump in the presidential race as more voters say they trust the challenger to handle race relations in the country.

Discussion: The Guardian, The Daily Caller, The Hill, CNBC, KTVZ-TV, NBC News, Fox News and Politico

Public Policy Polling:

Democrats Lead Key NC Races — PPP's newest North Carolina poll finds that Joe Biden leads Donald Trump 49-45, the largest lead PPP has found for Biden in the state so far in 2020. Only 45% of voters approve of the job Trump is doing to 50% who disapprove.

Dana Blanton / Fox News:
Fox News Poll: Biden ahead in Arizona, Kelly trouncing McSally in Senate race

Discussion: New York Times, The Hill and Bloomberg

Reuters: A triple whammy of crises tests Trump's support ahead of November's election

Dana Blanton / Fox News:
Fox News Poll: Biden leads Trump in Wisconsin

Discussion: Axios and Washington Times

HuffPost:

William Barr's Vast, Nameless Army Is Being Brought To Bear On D.C. Protesters — Federal law enforcement officers are operating on American streets without identification, which experts say breeds a culture of impunity. — WASHINGTON ― Just a few hundred feet north of the White House …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Defense One and The Daily Beast

Quint Forgey / Politico:

Trump promises Stone won't serve prison time: ‘He can sleep well at night!’ — President Donald Trump on Thursday promised his longtime political adviser Roger Stone would not serve time in prison, revealing the convicted Republican provocateur “can sleep well at night” …

Discussion: Washington Post, Mediaite and Twitchy

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:

Barr seeks to subdue D.C. protests by ‘flooding the zone’ with federal firepower — From an FBI command center in Washington's Chinatown neighborhood, Attorney General William P. Barr has orchestrated a stunning show of force on the streets of the nation's capital — a battalion of federal agents …

Discussion: COURIER, The Daily Beast, The Root, Daily Kos, emptywheel and Talking Points Memo

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Republicans face looming unemployment dilemma — Forty million Americans are unemployed and extra unemployment benefits expire at the end of next month. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are grappling with deep ideological divisions over what to do with the popular program in the middle of a pandemic and an election year.

Nicholas Kristof / New York Times:
Trump Uses the Military to Prove His Manhood

Discussion: Washington Post, TIME, Reason and The Mahablog

Sabato's Crystal Ball:

The Veepstakes: Handicapping Biden's Choices — KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE — Joe Biden should not be in a rush to name his vice presidential pick. Circumstances may change his list of contenders — and probably already have. — A predictable name leads our list, but a not-so predictable name is second.

Discussion: Political Wire

ABC News:

Renewed skepticism of law enforcement dims Klobuchar, Harris, Demings VP nod — Biden's shortlist includes three candidates with law enforcement backgrounds. — Civil unrest and renewed frustration with the criminal justice system have further complicated Joe Biden's hunt for a running mate …

Discussion: Politico, Florida Phoenix and NBC News

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

A dangerous new factor in an uneasy moment: Unidentified law enforcement officers — After more than a week of unrest, tensions in a number of major U.S. cities has eased. The vandalism and looting that had often used large, peaceful protests as cover has faded; the eruption of violence at protests appears to be less common.

Discussion: Daily Kos

The Hill:
Un-identified military personnel extend perimeter around the White House

Discussion: DCist and Daily Kos

CNN:
Why Trump has the FBI, ICE and TSA patrolling Washington streets

Discussion: Lawfare

John Allen / Foreign Policy:

A Moment of National Shame and Peril—and Hope — We may be witnessing the beginning of the end of American democracy, but there is still a way to stop the descent. — The slide of the United States into illiberalism may well have begun on June 1, 2020. Remember the date.

Discussion: Fox News and Task & Purpose

Mike Baker / New York Times:

Another Man Who Said 'I Can't Breathe' Died in Custody. An Autopsy Calls It Homicide. — Manuel Ellis of Tacoma, Wash., died in part as a result of how he was restrained, according to the medical examiner, who concluded that his death was a homicide. — SEATTLE — A black man who called out …

Discussion: VICE

Tim Stelloh / NBC News:

U.S. Park Police officers placed on administrative duty over assault on Australian journalists — Two U.S. Park Police officers who were seen clubbing and punching Australian journalists in video footage from a demonstration outside the White House have been placed on administrative duty, officials said Wednesday.

Discussion: Bloomberg and New York Times

New York Post:

Two NYPD cops shot, one stabbed during ‘cowardly’ attack in Brooklyn — Two police officers were shot and a third was stabbed in a confrontation with a suspect in Brooklyn late Wednesday night, police and sources said. — The melee unfolded when a suspect approached a cop …

Discussion: National Review, Fox News, American Greatness and The Daily Caller

Masha Gessen / New Yorker:

Donald Trump's Fascist Performance — Donald Trump thinks power looks like masked men in combat uniforms lined up in front of the marble columns of the Lincoln Memorial. He thinks it looks like Black Hawk helicopters hovering so low over protesters that they chop off the tops of trees.

Associated Press:

Virginia governor to announce removal of Lee statue — RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is expected to announce plans Thursday to remove one of the country's most iconic monuments to the Confederacy, a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee along Richmond's prominent Monument Avenue …

Discussion: Virginia Mercury, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Lawyers, Guns & Money, KTVZ-TV, DCist and Blue Virginia

Stephen Montemayor / Star Tribune:

Attorney General Keith Ellison to elevate charges against officer who knelt on George Floyd's neck; also charging other 3 involved — Ellison took over case on Sunday. — TEXT SIZE — Attorney General Keith Ellison plans to elevate charges against the former Minneapolis police officer …

Associated Press:
Protests turn subdued after new charges in Floyd case

Discussion: CNBC, KRON4 and INSIDER

Clare Foran / CNN:

Rep. Eliot Engel caught on hot mic: 'If I didn't have a primary, I wouldn't care' — (CNN)Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel was caught on a hot mic at a news conference on Tuesday following civil unrest in New York City, appearing to tell another speaker that he only wanted to speak because of his primary race.

Discussion: The Riverdale Press, Disrn and NBC News

Curtis M. Wong / HuffPost:

‘Sesame Street’ Vows To ‘Speak Out Against Racism’ Amid Ongoing Protests — Big Bird and Elmo will address the demonstrations and racial justice issues in a virtual CNN town hall this weekend. — Throughout its half-century run, “Sesame Street” has tackled topical issues such as bullying …

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

BunkerBoy's Photo-Op War — Is this an authoritarian crackdown by Donald Trump or just another politicized spectacle? — On Tuesday morning, a day after Donald Trump crossed Lafayette Square for an awkward photo op in front of St. John's Episcopal Church, I met an outraged Lutheran pastor there …

Discussion: Raw Story

Michele Munz / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

No new COVID-19 cases from Lake of the Ozarks crowds, Missouri health director says — ST. LOUIS — The large crowds of people at the Lake of the Ozarks over Memorial Day weekend have not led to any more reported cases of COVID-19, Missouri's top health official health department said Wednesday.

Edward Luce / Financial Times:

How things could go very wrong in America — It Can't Happen Here was the title of a 1930s novel about America. Fascism never came to America — nor is it likely to. But martial law, or something close to the militarisation of America's cities, is plausible.

Discussion: Raw Story

Alexandra Petri / Washington Post:

Sorry I can't comment on the president's actions, I just remembered I'm turning into a bird — Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.): “Sorry, I'm late for lunch.” — Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.): “Didn't really see it.” — Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio): “I'm late for lunch.”

Brent Scher / Washington Free Beacon:

Former Obama Intelligence Official Helps Secure Bail for Molotov Cocktail-Throwing NYC Lawyer — Former official said alleged firebomber is her ‘best friend’ — A former Obama administration intelligence official who worked in both the Departments of State and Defense has guaranteed bail …

Discussion: Fox News, Townhall and Instapundit

Joseph Wulfsohn / Fox News:

Mainstream media avoids on-air coverage of Rod Rosenstein hearing after years of pushing Russia collusion — After years of pushing the Russia collusion narrative, all of the major networks avoided on-air coverage of the Senate Judiciary hearing of former Acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein …