memeorandum: Trump Administration Politicized Some Intelligence on Foreign Election Influence, Report Finds (New York Times)

1:15 PM ET, January 9, 2021

Top Items:

Trump went ‘ballistic’ after being tossed off Twitter — President Donald Trump has many prized possessions. But few seemed to inspire as much personal joy as his Twitter feed. Trump routinely boasted of the social media bullhorn he possessed. He credited it with launching his political trajectory.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Talking Points Memo, Slate, Mediaite, Metro.co.uk, Towleroad Gay News, Joe.My.God., New York Times, Washington Post, NBC News, DNyuz and Axios, more at Techmeme »

Twitter:

Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump — After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.

Discussion: Fox News, New York Times, emptywheel, New York Daily News, CNBC, New York Post, CBS News, Metro.co.uk, The Signorile Report, Breitbart, Mother Jones, TheBlaze, DNyuz, Washington Post, HuffPost, National Review, The Verge, Politico, The Week, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, Outside the Beltway, IJR, No More Mister Nice Blog, Conservative News Today, Sputnik News, The Sun, RedState, NPR, Mediaite, The Guardian, Raw Story, Mashable, POLITICUSUSA, NBC News, The Constitutionalist, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Techdirt, CNN, The Gateway Pundit, ABC News, Business Insider, Washington Examiner, BuzzFeed News, TechCrunch, WOWK-TV, CBS Denver, Reason, Al Jazeera, Media Matters for America, Los Angeles Times, Black America Web, The Moderate Voice, Wired, NEWS 1130, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Occupy Democrats, Common Dreams, Alpha News, The Last Refuge, WV MetroNews, Protocol, NBC Los Angeles, New York Magazine, Associated Press, Snopes.com, KSNT-TV, Althouse, littlegreenfootballs.com, National File, Crooks and Liars, Law & Crime, The Daily Dot, Talking Points Memo, USA Today, Voter Protection Program, Vox, HotAir, Joe.My.God., CBS Baltimore, CANNONFIRE, Compatible Creatures, Orange County Register, Slate, Townhall, WRIC-TV, VentureBeat, The American Independent, MIT Technology Review, Political Wire, The Daily Beast, Florida Politics, Deadline, Axios, The Intellectualist, Daily Kos, UpNorthNews, The Root, The Law and Policy Blog, Just An Earth-Bound Misfit, I, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth and Liberty Unyielding, more at Techmeme »

Olivia Nuzzi / New York Magazine:

Senior Trump Official: We Were Wrong, He's a ‘Fascist’ — On Friday afternoon, 48 hours after the U.S. Capitol was stormed by violent insurrectionists encouraged by Donald Trump in an attempt to overthrow the government in protest of his election loss, a senior member of his administration spoke to me while he was driving to work.

Discussion: Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA

Kelly Tyko / USA Today:
Rush Limbaugh deactivates his Twitter account after President Trump permanently banned

Discussion: Joe.My.God., Townhall, Breitbart and DNyuz

BuzzFeed News:
Apple Has Threatened To Ban Parler From The App Store

Houston Chronicle:

Resign, Senator Cruz. Your lies cost lives. — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is among a number of GOP lawmakers claiming without evidence that voter fraud was widespread during the November election. (Eli Imadali/American-Statesman/TNS) — In Texas, we have our share of politicians …

Discussion: The Hill, ExpressNews.com and Joe.My.God.

Politico:

Election gambit blows up on Hawley and Cruz — Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz have positioned themselves as heirs to President Donald Trump's base. But their decision to embrace Trump's election challenge is fueling major blowback — even as they remain largely unrepentant after this week's deadly riot.

Discussion: Houston Chronicle, Conservative News Today, Raw Story, Bloomberg, New York Times, Mediaite, Fox News and The Hill

Washington Examiner: Tim Scott, not Ted Cruz, has the right election commission idea

Associated Press:

'He's on his own': Some Republicans begin to flee from Trump — NEW YORK — President Donald Trump's steadfast grip on Republicans in Washington is beginning to crumble, leaving him more politically isolated than at any other point in his turbulent administration.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, Foreign Affairs, KDFX-TV, Associated Press, Michigan Advance, DNyuz, Sputnik News, DCReport.org, Foreign Policy, Trending Politics and Jacobin

New York Times:

Democrats Ready Impeachment Charge Against Trump for Inciting Capitol Mob — Speaker Nancy Pelosi threatened decisive action against the president for his role in the insurrection against Congress if he refused to resign. — WASHINGTON — Democrats laid the groundwork on Friday …

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos, HotAir, HuffPost, Mediaite, The Carpentariat, Business Insider, CBS News, WRIC-TV, Joe.My.God., Fox News, Townhall, DNyuz, CAIR, Raw Story, Bulletin of the Atomic …, Breitbart, Alpha News, The Hill and The Intercept

Molly Jong-Fast / The Daily Beast:
The One Good Thing the MAGA Mobs Smashed? The Trump Kids' Futures.

Discussion: Raw Story and Daily Kos

Chris Kahn / Reuters:
Majority of Americans want Trump removed immediately after U.S. Capitol violence - Reuters/Ipsos poll

Discussion: Joe.My.God., Associated Press, Bloomberg, Raw Story, DNyuz, Blue Virginia, Common Dreams and Forbes

James Brooks / Anchorage Daily News:
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski calls on President Trump to resign, questions her future as a Republican

Your Side / WFLA-TV:

Tampa Bay man seen carrying lectern at U.S. Capitol riot arrested in Pinellas County — PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office inmate search shows that the man seen carrying a lectern through the U.S. Capitol during a riot Wednesday has been arrested.

Discussion: pcsoweb.com, Business Insider, NBC News, NBC Los Angeles, The Intellectualist and NBC4 Washington

U.S. Department of Justice:

Three Men Charged in Connection with Events at U.S. Capitol — WASHINGTON - Three men were charged today in federal court in the District of Columbia in connection with the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. — Jacob Anthony Chansley, a.k.a. Jake Angeli, of Arizona …

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Daily Beast, Joe.My.God., Rolling Stone, Balloon Juice, Forbes, KCCI-TV, CBS Pittsburgh, Fox News, NBC4 Washington, Mashable and WOWK-TV

Sophia Barnes / NBC4 Washington:

Capitol Rioter Seen in Horned Hat, Carrying Spear Arrested: US Attorney — A man photographed in the U.S. Capitol carrying a 6-foot spear and wearing a horned helmet as a pro-Trump mob breached the building Wednesday has been arrested and charged, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said.

Discussion: ABC News, NBC News, DNyuz and HuffPost

Ronan Farrow / New Yorker:

An Air Force Combat Veteran Breached the Senate — As insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol this week, a few figures stood out. One man, clad in a combat helmet, body armor, and other tactical gear, was among the group that made it to the inner reaches of the building.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Business Insider, Daily Kos, Juanita Jean's, Task & Purpose, DNyuz and Political Wire

Amy Gardner / Washington Post:

‘Find the fraud’: Trump pressured a Georgia elections investigator in a separate call legal experts say could amount to obstruction — President Trump urged Georgia's lead elections investigator to “find the fraud” in a lengthy December phone call, saying the official would be a “national hero …

Discussion: Political Wire

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:

Pro-Trump dark money groups organized the rally that led to deadly Capitol Hill riot — The rally, officially known as the “March to Save America,” was largely organized by a 501(c)(4) group known as Women for America First. — Women for America First's Facebook pages show they were calling …

Discussion: NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Talking Points Memo and Mercury News

NBC News:

Republican AGs group sent robocalls urging march to the Capitol — An arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association, a national group representing the top law enforcement officers in their states, sent out robocalls encouraging people to march to the U.S. Capitol the day before the building was stormed by a pro-Trump mob.

Discussion: Business Insider and Democratic Attorneys …

Chief Adrian Diaz / SPD Blotter:

SPD Officers in D.C. Referred to OPA — Today the Seattle Police Department was made aware that at least two of its officers were reportedly in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. The Department fully supports all lawful expressions of First Amendment freedom of speech, but the violent mob …

Discussion: UPI, The Hill, NBC News, ABC News and DNyuz

Politico:
‘Inside job’: House Dems ask if Capitol rioters had hidden help

Discussion: DNyuz and The Intellectualist

Washington Post:
Arrested by Capitol Police at peaceful protests? You're not alone.

Discussion: The Root, CNN, The Hill, The Daily Caller and USA Today

Rebecca Traister / The Cut:

‘It Was No Accident’ Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal on surviving the siege. — On Wednesday, January 6, Pramila Jayapal, a Democratic congresswoman from Washington State, was sitting in the gallery above the House chamber, watching the proceedings to count the Electoral College vote and certify …

Jane Mayer / New Yorker:

A Palm Beach Proud Boy at the Putsch — Bobby Pickles, a purveyor of far-right T-shirts, joined the horde of balding dudes in dad jeans at the Capitol, because Donald Trump, he says, is “like punk rock.” — As federal law-enforcement officials consider investigating the President's role …

Discussion: Althouse

Politico:

McCarthy and Scalise face internal dissension after Capitol riot — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise are facing backlash from their Republican colleagues for standing by President Donald Trump after he incited a violent mob to storm the Capitol this week …

Discussion: The Week and Raw Story

Harry Enten / CNN:
The events of this week show the GOP has a big problem

Discussion: New York Times, The Guardian, Raw Story, Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Mock Paper Scissors

Oriana Gonzalez / Axios:

Kim Jong-un calls U.S. “our biggest enemy” — North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Friday called the United States his country's “biggest enemy” and pushed to continue expanding North Korea's arsenal, according to text of his remarks at the Workers' Party Congress meeting published by state media.

Discussion: Reuters and HotAir

Anthony Kuhn / NPR:
Kim Jong Un Calls U.S. North Korea's ‘Biggest Enemy,’ Vows To Advance Nuclear Arsenal

Discussion: The Daily Beast, KDFX-TV and The Week, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:

Companies backed Trump for years. Now they're facing a reckoning after the attack on the Capitol. — ‘It was a classic Faustian bargain,’ one critic says. ‘They should have known from the beginning.’ — The bargain with the business world worked like this: They mostly tolerated President …

Discussion: Raw Story and HotAir

SiriusXM:

“Something Else Is Going On”: James Clyburn Asks How Rioters Found Out The Location Of His Office — ABOUT THIS CLIP — Majority Whip James Clyburn to Joe Madison: “They posted pictures ransacking Nancy Pelosi's office. And something else is going on here Joe.

Discussion: Fox News, National Review, Washington Times, Washington Examiner and The Intellectualist

Caitlin Yilek / CBS News:
James Clyburn says “somebody on the inside” of Capitol was “complicit” in letting rioters inside the building

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and DNyuz

John F. Harris / Politico:

Hey, Twitter, Are You Sure About This? — For a half-century, the trend in political culture has been inexorably in one direction: toward the steady loosening and eventually the near-obliteration of media filters. — If someone has a voice that other people want to hear, that voice is going to be heard.

Discussion: HotAir and Althouse

Seung Min Kim / Washington Post:

McConnell memo outlines how Senate would conduct second trial for Trump if House impeaches — On the cusp of the second impeachment battle in just over a year, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is circulating a memo to Republican senators that outlines how a potential Senate trial …

Discussion: Vox, Axios, Washington Examiner, DNyuz, The Week, The Hill, Joe.My.God., Sputnik News, The Dispatch, HotAir, Business Insider, TheBlaze, Political Wire and CNN, more at Mediagazer »

Brian McEntee / Slate:

D.C. Residents Put Up With Overbearing Security for 20 Years. It Did Nothing. — You develop a certain psychic geography as a bike commuter in D.C. You know places, but from the outside only. Most people here aren't Hill staffers or journalists or tour guides—we don't actually go into the U.S. Capitol …

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Eschaton and Politico

Washington Post:

‘The storm is here’: Ashli Babbitt's journey from capital ‘guardian’ to invader — The politician she revered above all others had lost an election. She'd struggled with crippling amounts of debt. Her home state of California was locking down again because of a virus she believed was fiction.

Discussion: New York Post, The Sun and DNyuz

Randall Lane / Forbes:

A Truth Reckoning: Why We're Holding Those Who Lied For Trump Accountable — Yesterday's insurrection was rooted in lies. That a fair election was stolen. That a significant defeat was actually a landslide victory. That the world's oldest democracy, ingeniously insulated via autonomous state voting regimens, is a rigged system.

Discussion: Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Jonathan Turley / The Hill:

Swift new impeachment would damage the Constitution — Author Franz Kafka once wrote, “My guiding principle is this. Guilt is never to be doubted.” Democrats appear close to adopting that standard into the Constitution as they prepare for a second impeachment of President Trump.

Discussion: Townhall, JONATHAN TURLEY and WHTM-TV

CNN:

Decoding the extremist symbols and groups at the Capitol Hill insurrection — Photo Illustrations by Priya Krishnakumar, CNN — How the US Capitol riot unfolded, minute by minute — This story contains images and descriptions of extremist groups and their beliefs.

Discussion: New York Post, The Guardian and Joe.My.God.