Top Items:
John Bolton / Wall Street Journal:
The Scandal of Trump's China Policy — The president pleaded with Chinese leader Xi Jinping for domestic political help, subordinated national-security issues to his own reelection prospects and ignored Beijing's human-rights abuses — U.S. strategy toward the People's Republic of China …
Discussion:
National Review, Axios, Fox News, Foreign Policy, KEYT-TV, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and Raw Story, more at Techmeme »
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Peter Baker / New York Times:
Bolton Says Trump Impeachment Inquiry Missed Other Troubling Actions — In his new book, John R. Bolton, the former national security adviser, describes episodes where the president sought to halt criminal inquiries. He also says President Trump's loyalists mocked him behind his back.
Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:
Trump asked China's Xi to help him win reelection, according to Bolton book — President Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to help him win the 2020 U.S. election, telling Xi during a summit dinner last year that increased agricultural purchases by Beijing from American farmers would aid …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Axios, Spectator USA, Political Wire, The Hill, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Deadline and The Daily Beast
Jennifer Szalai / New York Times:
John Bolton's Tone in ‘The Room Where It Happened’ Swings Between Tedious and Slightly Unhinged — Pity, for just an infinitesimal moment, John Bolton. — There he was last January, commanding an enormous share of the public's attention with news of a forthcoming book that reportedly included an …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Fox News, Daily Kos, IJR, Patterico's Pontifications, Washington Examiner and KEYT-TV
Del Quentin Wilber / Los Angeles Times:
Federal prosecutors are mulling criminal charges against John Bolton — Federal prosecutors are weighing whether to criminally charge John Bolton with disclosing classified information in his upcoming White House memoir, and the Justice Department is expected in coming days to ramp …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, NPR, Axios, Mediaite, The Hill, Reason and Vanity Fair
Theodore J. Boutrous Jr / Washington Post:
Why Trump's lawsuit against John Bolton will fail — Theodore J. Boutrous Jr. is a partner in the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and specializes in First Amendment law. — The Trump administration's lawsuit against John Bolton is a paper tiger, designed for a showy roar of outrage but with little prospect of any real bite.
Discussion:
New York Times
Axios:
John Bolton gets his revenge six months after Democrats needed him for impeachment — Early details are here from the John Bolton book that President Trump's legal threats are sending to the top of the bestseller lists. — The big picture: Bolton claims Trump asked China to help him win in 2020.
Discussion:
Mediaite
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Bolton says Trump didn't just ignore human rights, but encouraged China's concentration camps
Bolton says Trump didn't just ignore human rights, but encouraged China's concentration camps
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Hill and Mediaite
Chris Kahn / Reuters:
Biden opens 13-point advantage as Trump popularity drops to seven-month low: Reuters/Ipsos poll — NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has opened up a 13-point lead over President Donald Trump - the widest margin this year - according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll …
Discussion:
Washington Post, POLITICUSUSA, Breitbart, The Hill and Political Wire
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Malachi Barrett / MLive.com:
Michigan pollster: Trump's Bible photo op caused immediate drop in support — President Donald Trump's support among Michigan voters took a sharp dive in polls taken immediately after protesters were forcefully removed so Trump could have his photo taken holding a Bible outside a historic church.
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Steven Shepard / Politico:
Trump has a point about the polls
Trump has a point about the polls
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Progress Pond, Washington Post, Slate and Mediaite
New York Times:
Does Trump Want to Fight for a Second Term? His Self-Sabotage Worries Aides — Advisers and allies say the president's repeated acts of self-destruction have significantly damaged his re-election prospects, and yet he appears mostly unable, or unwilling, to curtail them.
Jon Jankowski / WKMG:
260 workers test positive for COVID-19 at Orlando International Airport — 2,993 people have died from COVID-19 in the state — TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Gov. Ron DeSantis said 260 workers at the Orlando International Airport have tested positive for the coronavirus after nearly 500 employees were tested.
Discussion:
New Republic, Florida Politics, The Guardian, Twitchy, Raw Story and ABC News
Politico:
House Republican leaders condemn GOP candidate who made racist videos — The House's highest-ranking Republicans are racing to distance themselves from a leading GOP congressional candidate in Georgia after POLITICO uncovered hours of Facebook videos in which she expresses racist, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic views.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Axios and Raw Story
Ursula Perano / Axios:
Officer who shot Rayshard Brooks charged with murder — The Fulton County district attorney announced at a press conference on Wednesday that former officer Garrett Rolfe, who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta last week, will be charged with 11 counts, including felony murder and aggravated assault.
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Jared Holt / Right Wing Watch:
Cassandra Fairbanks Claims Antifa Attacked Her. Police Reports and Neighbors Say Otherwise — Cassandra Fairbanks and her right-wing media colleagues solicited nearly $25,000 in a fundraiser benefiting Fairbanks after she claimed she was targeted …
Ben Kesslen / NBC News:
Aunt Jemima brand to change name, remove image that Quaker says is ‘based on a racial stereotype’ — The Aunt Jemima brand of syrup and pancake mix will get a new name and image, Quaker Oats announced Wednesday, saying the company recognizes that “Aunt Jemima's origins are based on a racial stereotype.”
jsonline:
Wisconsin Elections Commission approves sending 2.7 million absentee ballot request forms to voters — MADISON - State election officials signed off Wednesday on a plan to send absentee ballot request forms to most registered voters despite a last-minute push by a Republican lawmaker to halt the effort.
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Mark Niesse / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Georgia elections chief launches plan to avoid repeated problems
Georgia elections chief launches plan to avoid repeated problems
Discussion:
electionlawblog.org
Tim Elfrink / Washington Post:
Pelosi asks House committees to require masks, setting up clash with GOP holdouts — Masks have become the norm inside the House of Representatives, where some politicians now embrace the novel coronavirus precaution with colorful odes to their home districts.
Discussion:
Vox, Mediaite, The American Independent, Raw Story, KEYT-TV and Talking Points Memo
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Elliot Hannon / Slate:
Since Some Republicans Still Refuse to Wear Masks in Congress, Now Nancy Pelosi Is Requiring It
Since Some Republicans Still Refuse to Wear Masks in Congress, Now Nancy Pelosi Is Requiring It
Discussion:
The Hill and POLITICUSUSA
Axios:
Scoop: Republican operatives launch pro-Biden super PAC — A group of prominent Republican operatives that includes former officials from the Trump and George W. Bush administrations are launching a super PAC to turn out GOP voters for Joe Biden in November, organizers tell Axios.
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, New York Post, National Review, Disrn, KEYT-TV, Just The News and Fox News
CNBC:
Texas coronavirus hospitalizations surge 11% in a single day — The number of people sickened with Covid-19 across Texas' hospitals hit a new high Wednesday, surging about 11% in a single day. — The total Wednesday marks the eighth new high in the state in less than two weeks.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
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Laurel Wamsley / NPR:
Texas Governor Says ‘No Reason Today To Be Alarmed’ As Coronavirus Cases Set Record
Texas Governor Says ‘No Reason Today To Be Alarmed’ As Coronavirus Cases Set Record
Discussion:
CNN, Daily Kos, POLITICUSUSA, No More Mister Nice Blog and Eschaton
Wall Street Journal:
How Exactly Do You Catch Covid-19? There Is a Growing Consensus — Surface contamination and fleeting encounters are less of a worry than close-up, person-to-person interactions for extended periods — Six months into the coronavirus crisis, there's a growing consensus about a central question: How do people become infected?
Discussion:
Washington Post
CNN:
'They're in denial': How Trump's White House is ignoring the pandemic — (CNN)President Donald Trump has largely tuned out the persistent coronavirus contagion — which is causing spikes in new cases across 21 states and daily death tolls that reach into the hundreds …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Vox and KEYT-TV
Marianne LeVine / Politico:
Susan Collins opposes Trump's pick to the D.C. Circuit — Sen. Susan Collins is opposing President Donald Trump's nominee to the second most powerful court in the country. — In a statement, the Maine Republican cited comments Justin Walker made at his investiture as a district judge …
Discussion:
Fox News
QU Poll:
Release Detail — June 17, 2020 - 68% Say Discrimination Against Black Americans A “Serious Problem,” Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Slight Majority Support Removing Confederate Statues — With the United States at a moment of racial reckoning, voters say 68 …
Discussion:
The Hill
Shruti Advani / Financial Times:
The awkward lessons of my luxury lockdown in Kensington — Pandemic shows us we owe the most to the people who surround and support us — All of us have had to put up with restrictions “of a kind that we have never seen before in peace or war”, as UK prime minister Boris Johnson put it.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast
Spencer Soper / Bloomberg:
EBay's Former PR Chief Is ‘Executive 2’ in Cyberstalking Indictment — Six employees allegedly cyberstalked newsletter proprietors — Former EBay CEO, ousted last year, is said to be ‘Executive 1’ — EBay Inc.'s former communications chief is “Executive 2” in a federal indictment …
HuffPost:
Inside The Dangerous Online Fever Swamps Of American Police — Cops have a far-right media ecosystem of their own, where they post racist memes, spread disinformation and call for violence against antifa. — Around the time news broke on Monday afternoon that the New York City Police Department …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Hannah Fry / Los Angeles Times:
‘They were bent on silencing us’: Groups clash in Orange County over mask requirements — A small group opposed to Orange County's relaxed rules on face coverings amid the COVID-19 pandemic was met Tuesday by a much louder crowd intent on drowning out their message.
Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
The Smart Money Is on Val Demings — The congresswoman / grandmother / former police chief is the best bet—literally—for Biden's VP. — I'm going to do something I've never done here before and probably won't do again. So bear with me. — I got a long—crazy long—email from a reader about Biden's VP choice.
Jeff Timmer / The Bulwark:
Michigan May be a Nightmare for the GOP — The state party's transformation didn't start with Trump. But his weak polling could plunge MIGOP into wrack and ruin. — Simon & Garfunkel sang “Michigan seems like a dream to me now” as they went off to look for America.
Discussion:
Raw Story
CNN:
Bob Woodward's new book on Trump administration coming this September — (CNN)President Donald Trump is about to get the Bob Woodward treatment again. — Woodward's second book about the Trump administration is scheduled for release on September 15 in the lead-up to the November presidential election.
Sean Collins / Vox:
The systemic racism black Americans face, explained in 9 charts — Mourners listen to a eulogy by Rev. Al Sharpton at a memorial service for George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on June 4. Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images — Longstanding inequalities have led to the current wave of protests.
Discussion:
FiveThirtyEight
Marisa Schultz / Fox News:
Oklahoma GOP Sen. Lankford urges elderly to avoid Tulsa Trump rally — Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., on Wednesday advised senior citizens and others at higher risk for coronavirus to not attend President Trump's indoor rally Saturday in Tulsa. — “We're advising people if they're coming to the rally …
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Daily Caller, Vanity Fair, Breitbart and Tulsa World
Financial Times:
US upends global digital tax plans after pulling out of talks with Europe — Decision hits attempts to forge agreement on taxation of multinational technology companies — The US has thrown into disarray plans for a new global tax framework for technology companies after suspending talks …
Discussion:
Politico
USA Today:
Fact check: Yes, Kente cloths were historically worn by empire involved in West African slave trade — The claim: Kente scarves worn by Democrats were historically worn by rich African slave owners and traders — On June 8, Democratic members of Congress wearing kente cloths and face masks knelt …
Emily Wagster Pettus / Associated Press:
Mississippi official: Black people ‘dependent’ since slavery — JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — After rejecting a proposal to move a Confederate monument, a white elected official in Mississippi said this week that African Americans “became dependent” during slavery and as a result, have had a harder time …
Discussion:
New York Post