Top Items:
Lawfare:
The Roger Stone Commutation Is Even More Corrupt Than It Seems — President Trump's commutation of the prison sentence of his long-time confidante Roger Stone is wholly unsurprising. Indeed, given Trump's repeated teasing of the matter over the life of the case against Stone …
Discussion:
The Dispatch, Vanity Fair, The White House, The Week and Reason
RELATED:
USA Today:
Resolve after appalling Roger Stone commutation: Don't let Donald Trump break us, America. — This is truly the cul-de-sac presidency. Every avenue of potential accountability is a dead end. Donald Trump and his many enablers have made sure of it. — Now comes the Roger Stone protection racket …
David Frum / The Atlantic:
Stone Walks Free in One of the Greatest Scandals in American History — Roger Stone's best trick was always his upper-class-twit wardrobe. He seemed such a farcical character, such a Klaxon-alarm-from-a-mile-away goofball—who could take him seriously? — Aldrich Ames, Robert Hanssen: They had tradecraft.
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Mother Jones, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, The Root, Mediaite and BuzzFeed News
Washington Post:
Trump's commutation of Roger Stone's sentence is an unforgivable betrayal of his office — THERE ARE no doubt thousands of people in federal prison who deserved a presidential commutation more than Roger Stone. But after President Trump's intervention on Friday, Mr. Stone will serve none of his prison sentence.
Discussion:
Slate, Common Dreams, The Guardian, IJR, Outside the Beltway, Bloomberg, The Hill, Reason, Mother Jones, Power Line, Balloon Juice, Axios and The Crime Report
Lawfare:
Trump's Aberrant Pardons and Commutations
Trump's Aberrant Pardons and Commutations
Discussion:
Washington Post, Bloomberg, Outside the Beltway and New York Times
Veronica Stracqualursi / CNN:
Pelosi blasts Roger Stone commutation as ‘an act of staggering corruption’ as Trump defends move
Pelosi blasts Roger Stone commutation as ‘an act of staggering corruption’ as Trump defends move
Discussion:
Axios, Twitchy and HillReporter.com
Peter Baker / New York Times:
In Commuting Stone's Sentence, Trump Goes Where Nixon Would Not
In Commuting Stone's Sentence, Trump Goes Where Nixon Would Not
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, NBC News and Mother Jones
Lee Moran / HuffPost:
Mitt Romney Slams Donald Trump's Commutation For Roger Stone: ‘Historic Corruption’
Mitt Romney Slams Donald Trump's Commutation For Roger Stone: ‘Historic Corruption’
Marshall Cohen / CNN:
Debunking 12 lies and falsehoods from the White House statement on Roger Stone's commutation
Debunking 12 lies and falsehoods from the White House statement on Roger Stone's commutation
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Althouse, Talking Points Memo and New York Times
Gerald Tracy / WOAI:
‘I thought this was a hoax’: Patient in their 30s dies after attending ‘COVID party’ — SAN ANTONIO, Texas (WOAI/KABB) - A patient in their 30s died from the coronavirus after attending what is known as a “COVID party,” according to health care officials. Chief Medical Officer …
Discussion:
Fox News, Raw Story, Mediaite, HillReporter.com, The Sun and New York Post
Jeremy Kohler / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Portland Place couple who confronted protesters have a long history of not backing down — ST. LOUIS — When Black Lives Matter protesters marched up Kingshighway on June 28 and turned through an iron gate into the magnificent private street of Portland Place, they encountered a couple who have for years …
Discussion:
Quiz Category
Christine Byers / KSDK-TV:
McCloskeys served with search warrant, police take rifle shown in viral pictures — Sources told 5 On Your Side police seized one of the weapons, the rifle, from the couple and they told police their attorney has the pistol seen in photos. — ST. LOUIS — 5 On Your Side …
Discussion:
KMOV-TV, The Western Journal, The Daily Wire, Disrn, Twitchy, The Daily Caller, Power Line, The Hill, The Federalist, The Gateway Pundit, Fox News, TheBlaze and New York Post
RELATED:
CNN:
Democrats, it's too soon to cheer Trump's defeat — Opinion by Arick Wierson and Bradley Honan — Arick Wierson, who writes frequently for CNN Opinion, is a six-time Emmy Award-winning television producer and a former senior media adviser to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Discussion:
Sputnik News and Instapundit
Jonathan Karl / Washington Post:
It's the duty of the White House press secretary to hold briefings. But not like this. — Jonathan Karl, the author of “Front Row at the Trump Show,” covers the White House for ABC News and is president of the White House Correspondents' Association. — On the Monday following President …
Discussion:
Mediaite
Sonny Soleil / WTF Florida?:
Commissioner who Voted Against Masks in Critical Condition with COVID-19 — St. Augustine (WTFF) - St. Johns County Commissioner Paul Waldron caught the coronavirus and went into septic shock after voting against a motion to mandate masks for county employees last week.
Discussion:
WJXT-TV and Florida Politics
Andrew Feinberg / The Independent:
White House insiders are worried that ‘unhinged conspiracy theorists’ are being given more and more powerful roles at the Pentagon — 'It's like these individuals are living in a complete alternate reality,' one source told me, adding that the idea of such people still serving in government was ‘terrifying’
Discussion:
Raw Story
Associated Press:
Coronavirus deaths take a long-expected turn for the worse — NEW YORK (AP) — A long-expected upturn in U.S. coronavirus deaths has begun, driven by fatalities in states in the South and West, according to data on the pandemic. — The number of deaths per day from the virus had been falling for months …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway
Ben Brachfeld / BKLYNER:
Your Absentee Vote May Not Count — Thousands of absentee ballots in Brooklyn and across the city are likely to be invalidated by the city's Board of Elections, after many were not marked with a cancellation notice, or postmark, at post offices in the city.
New York Times:
'I Couldn't Do Anything': The Virus and an E.R. Doctor's Suicide — Dr. Lorna Breen was unflappable — until she faced a new enemy. — On an afternoon in early April, while New York City was in the throes of what would be the deadliest days of the coronavirus pandemic …
David Rutz / Washington Free Beacon:
NBC Contributor Reveals He Never Had Coronavirus After Network Documented His Recovery — An NBC medical expert who was brought on air nearly a dozen times to detail his struggle with COVID-19 never had the virus, he revealed this week. — After believing he had the coronavirus in spite …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Townhall, us20.forward-to-friend.com, Disrn, The Federalist, Breitbart and The Gateway Pundit
Mike Allen / Axios:
Scoop: Don Jr. plans convention-week Biden book — Donald Trump Jr., in quarantine since girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle tested positive for the coronavirus, says he's used the time to finish a book that he'll self-publish the week of the Republican convention, at the end of August.
Discussion:
The Hill and The Intellectualist
Ashe Schow / The Daily Wire:
HATE CRIME HOAX: Student Claims He Found Racist Notes On His Car. Police Say He Wrote Them. — In late June, Texas A&M University student Isaih Martin made headlines after he said he found racist notes on the windshield of his car. — Martin posted a picture of the notes to his Twitter page …
Discussion:
The College Fix
RELATED:
Maria Copeland / Campus Reform:
Police say Texas A&M student who found racist notes on his car put them there
Police say Texas A&M student who found racist notes on his car put them there
Discussion:
TheBlaze
Frank Bruni / New York Times:
The Republicans Who Want to Destroy Trump — Their party's a lost cause. America isn't. — Should you have any doubt about how passionately George Conway and the other Never Trumpers at the Lincoln Project want to defeat the president, check out their ads.
USA Today:
‘Republicans are really fed up’: GOP increasingly splits with Trump as his polls drag — WASHINGTON - Weeks before President Donald Trump accepts his party's nomination, cracks are deepening within the party as a host of GOP lawmakers distance themselves from the Republican standard bearer …
Discussion:
Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA
New York Times:
'I Don't Want to Go Back': Many Teachers Are Fearful and Angry Over Pressure to Return — Teachers say crucial questions about how schools will stay clean, keep students physically distanced and prevent further spread of the virus have not been answered. — Many of the nation's 3.5 million …
Discussion:
Just The News, Gizmodo, NPR, The Daily Caller and Deadline
Michael Birnbaum / Washington Post:
Reopened schools in Europe and Asia have largely avoided coronavirus outbreaks. They have lessons for the U.S. — BRUSSELS — Many countries around the world are pushing ahead with plans for full-time, full-capacity, in-person classes, after having largely avoided coronavirus outbreaks linked …
WTTG-TV:
Army's ‘Captain America’ who served nearly 12 combat tours dies by suicide after moving to DC — Master Sgt. Andrew “Andy” Christian Marckesano — The enemy could never break him, but what this decorated Green Beret eventually found was that his enemy was within.
Nathan L. Gonzales / Roll Call:
Rating changes: Democratic control of Senate more likely because of Trump — Alaska, South Carolina seats in play; McSally an underdog — ANALYSIS — After Donald Trump's unexpected victory in 2016, there's a temptation to avoid making political projections. But one election result shouldn't cause us to ignore the data.
Discussion:
The Guardian
Richard A. Friedman / New York Times:
Trump Says He ‘Aced’ a Cognition Test. What Does That Tell Us? — If the president wants to impress us with his intellect, he should take the SAT. — President Trump said on Thursday that he “aced” a cognitive test administered at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Associated Press:
Mail carrier in West Virginia pleads guilty to attempted election fraud — ELKINS, W.Va. (AP) - A West Virginia postal carrier has pleaded guilty to altering mail-in requests for absentee voter ballots. — Thomas Cooper entered the plea Thursday in federal court in Elkins.
Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Georgia. Ohio. Texas. Democrats Tell Biden to Go Big (He's Being Cautious). — This election, some Democrats argue, offers the party the provocative possibility of a new path to the presidency, even as others warn against overconfidence. — WASHINGTON — With President Trump's poll numbers sliding …