memeorandum: Trump meets with McCarthy in Florida to plan GOP House takeover in 2022 (Marisa Schultz/Fox News)

5:25 PM ET, January 28, 2021

Top Items:

Eric Hananoki / Media Matters for America:

Marjorie Taylor Greene penned conspiracy theory that a laser beam from space started deadly 2018 California wildfire — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has done little to stop Greene's ascension in the Republican Party — In November 2018, California was hit with the worst wildfire in the state's history.

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, CBS News, Washington Post, CAIR, NPR, Bloomberg, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Daily Beast, The Intellectualist, CNN, Georgia Recorder, littlegreenfootballs.com and Raw Story

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:

The GOP struck a bad bargain. That's how it got stuck with Marjorie Taylor Greene. — Donald Trump has departed Washington, but he has left behind a new set of rules for Republicans. One of them is that words and deeds, no matter how reckless or disconnected from the truth, carry no consequences.

Discussion: CNN, Vox, Raw Story, Roll Call, POLITICUSUSA and IJR

Marisa Schultz / Fox News:

Trump meets with McCarthy in Florida to plan GOP House takeover in 2022 — The meeting took place at Mar-a-lago after McCarthy said Trump bears responsibility for Jan. 6 riot — McCarthy: Trump still has ability to lead Republican Party — House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy met …

Discussion: Bloomberg, CBS News, The Independent and The Daily Caller

Rebecca Shabad / NBC News:
Pelosi condemns GOP for overlooking Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's incendiary comments

Discussion: Associated Press, CBS News, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Reuters, New York Post, National Review, Forbes and Informed Comment

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: SCOOP: Inside the White House's new thinking on Covid relief

Discussion: Associated Press, USA Today, The Federalist, The Message Box, The Guardian, Roll Call, The Bulwark, Crooked Media, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, Raw Story, Common Dreams, Florida Politics, Townhall, Real America's Voice, ABC7 and Political Wire

Politico:
Capitol forces plead for permanent barrier as Pelosi warns ‘the enemy is within’

Discussion: HuffPost, Townhall, Roll Call and The Guardian

Olivia Nuzzi / New York Magazine:
Parkland Parents: Marjorie Taylor Greene Won't Get Away With Lying About Our Son

Discussion: WRCB-TV, Washington Post, Business Insider, Salon, The Root, theslot.jezebel.com, The Daily Caller, Forbes, Talking Points Memo, U.S. Representative …, The Daily Beast and Vanity Fair, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:
Pelosi slams Republican leadership for response to Marjorie Taylor Greene: ‘What could they be thinking?’

Discussion: Fox News, HuffPost, CBS News, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Washington Times, WTOP, IJR, Mediaite, Common Dreams, Butterflies and Wheels, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Crooks and Liars and Politico

Chris Stirewalt / Los Angeles Times:

Op-Ed: I called Arizona for Biden on Fox News. Here's what I learned — The New York Evening Express was no great shakes as a newspaper. But in 1886, when the New York Times ran the obituary of one of the Express' former owners, Erastus Brooks, it had to give credit where it was due.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Raw Story, Patterico's Pontifications, Washington Post, The Hill, Mediaite, Deadline, TVNewser and The Wrap

Jordan Pearson / VICE:

Robinhood Stops Users From Trading GameStop Stocks, Other Reddit YOLO Picks — With the market in chaos, even Robinhood has now turned on retail investors pumping dark-horse stocks. — Jordan Pearson — Robinhood, the fee-free investment app that has helped Redditors …

Discussion: Raw Story, HuffPost, Politico, New Republic, Washington Examiner, Business Insider, TheGrio, The Daily Caller, The RFAngle, IJR, Common Dreams, USA Today, The Last Refuge, KLRT-TV, Crooks and Liars, New York Post and Greensburg Tribune-Review

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:

Janet Yellen Received $810K In Speaking Fees From Hedge Fund Embroiled In GameStop Saga — Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen received more than $800,000 in speaking fees from a hedge fund that has become embroiled in the saga over stock trades for video game retailer GameStop, according to her financial disclosures.

Discussion: Jewish Telegraphic Agency, CNBC, Popular Information, The National Pulse and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »

Alexis Goldstein / Markets Weekly:

What happened with GameStop? — It's not David vs Goliath. It's Goliath vs. Goliath, with David as a fig leaf — This is a free post from Markets Weekly, a newsletter by former Wall Street professional Alexis Goldstein. If you appreciated this post, please consider signing up here for premium access to all posts.

Discussion: NBC News, New York Times, American Prospect, RedState and Common Dreams, more at Techmeme »

Under the Hood:
Keeping Customers Informed Through Market Volatility

Sabrina Eaton / Plain Dealer:

Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan won't run for U.S. Senate next year — WASHINGTON, D.C. - Champaign County GOP Rep. Jim Jordan on Thursday announced that he won't run for the U.S. Senate seat that will be vacated by Republican Rob Portman's upcoming retirement, a decision that opens the field …

Discussion: Politico, CNBC, Fox News, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Conservative News Today and fox8.com

Henry J. Gomez / BuzzFeed News: This Doctor Became The Face Of Ohio's Coronavirus Response. Some Democrats Want To Make Her A Senator.

CNN: Jim Jordan won't run for Ohio US Senate seat in 2022

Politico:

Democrats ready to plow ahead on Covid relief — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi will begin moving forward on a massive coronavirus package as soon as next week, with or without Republicans. — In separate remarks Thursday, the top two congressional Democrats …

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, The Hill, CBS News, Forbes, Roll Call, Bloomberg and IJR

New York Times:
McConnell Was Done With Trump. His Party Said Not So Fast.

Discussion: Reason, Outside the Beltway, IJR, Sun-Sentinel, Washington Post, Florida Politics, Salon, Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Breitbart

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Byron York's Daily Memo: What if Democrats don't go through with Trump's trial?

Discussion: Fox News, Politico, RedState, National Review and Mediaite

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Schumer and McConnell close to finalizing pact on organizing 50-50 Senate

Discussion: CNN

Jesse McKinley / New York Times:

N.Y. Severely Undercounted Virus Deaths in Nursing Homes, Report Says — The state attorney general, Letitia James, said the Cuomo administration likely omitted thousands of Covid-19 deaths of nursing home residents. — ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York State attorney general accused …

Dylan Scott / Vox:

Biden just took his first step to expand health coverage — Biden is opening up Obamacare enrollment and planning an ad blitz. — Eight days into his administration, President Joe Biden took a small step to expand health coverage during the Covid-19 pandemic — one that Donald Trump refused to take last year.

Discussion: Yahoo News, New York Times, CBS News, Fox News, The Guardian, The Independent, Bloomberg and New York Times

The White House:
FACT SHEET: President Biden to Sign Executive Orders Strengthening Americans' Access to Quality, Affordable Health Care

Discussion: Washington Examiner, ABC News, New York Times, Daily Kos, ACA Signups, National Review, NPR, Breitbart, Washington Post, Mother Jones, Reason, The Week and Balloon Juice

New York Times:
Covid-19 Live Updates: Vaccine Stocks Dwindle in the E.U.

Discussion: HuffPost, The Hill and THE CITY

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:

Trump officials moved most Bureau of Land Management staffers out of D.C. More than 87 percent quit instead. — The decision to relocate BLM headquarters to Colorado and redistribute jobs in the West prompted 287 employees to retire or find other jobs — The Trump administration's decision …

Daniel Lippman / Politico:

GOP senator stocks office with 13 former Trump staffers — As Trump administration alums face a tough job market after the Capitol riot, one new Republican Senate office has turned into a full-employment factory for Trump officials looking for their next gig.

Discussion: Bloomberg and Raw Story

Joseph Choi / The Hill:

Man arrested with gun, ammunition near Capitol — A man was arrested on Wednesday after it was discovered there was a handgun in his vehicle parked near the U.S. Capitol, authorities said. — Dennis Westover, 71, of South Charleston, W.Va., was arrested on Wednesday …

Discussion: United States Capitol Police, Washington Examiner, CNN, The Daily Caller and Boing Boing

The Daily Beast:
MAGA Supporter Arrested Yards From Capitol With Gun, Ammo, ‘Stop the Steal’ Paperwork

Discussion: Forbes, wusa9.com, The Independent, Raw Story and New York Post

J. Miles Coleman / Sabato's Crystal Ball:

2022 Senate Races: Initial Ratings — On a potentially limited playing field, both parties look to expand past their current 50 seats — KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE — Republicans will be defending more Senate seats than Democrats in 2022, but both sides have some potential pickup opportunities …

Discussion: CBS News, Politico, The Daily Caller and USA Today

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

RNC invites Trump to speak at spring meeting — The Republican National Committee is planning to invite former President Donald Trump to its upcoming spring donor meeting, according to a person familiar with preparations for the event. — The RNC is also expected to invite …

Discussion: Raw Story and Political Wire

ProPublica:

“This Is War”: Inside the Secret Chat Where Far-Right Extremists Devised Their Post-Capitol Plans — Chats from a private Telegram group obtained by ProPublica show how a suspect tied to the Jan. 6 insurrection tried to organize a self-styled militia. The hidden proliferation of such groups worries experts.

Tim Carman / Washington Post:

Subway's tuna is not tuna, but a ‘mixture of various concoctions,’ a lawsuit alleges — Subway describes its tuna sandwich as “freshly baked bread” layered with “flaked tuna blended with creamy mayo then topped with your choice of crisp, fresh veggies.” It's a description designed to activate …

Discussion: New York Post, Eater, Fox News, Law & Crime and Boing Boing

Natasha Korecki / Politico:

Twitter's priceless gift to Biden — As he entered his first week in office, President Joe Biden was handed a priceless gift: the blissful sound of former President Donald Trump's Twitter silence. — Gone are the pre-dawn tirades, the all-caps declarations, the “Sleepy Joe” mocking …

Discussion: RedState, Breitbart, National Review, The Gateway Pundit, New York Times and Raw Story

VI Free Press / Virgin Islands Free Press:

Former Vice President Mike Pence Escapes Harsh Media Spotlight With St. Croix Vacation — CHRISTIANSTED — The now-former vice president could have gone anywhere. — But to get away and just feel safe, Mike Pence — who left office eight days ago — chose St. Croix.

Discussion: theslot.jezebel.com, The Independent, Crooks and Liars and Raw Story

The Daily Beast:

Star NY Times Reporter Accused of Using ‘N-Word,’ Making Other Racist Comments — The paper's top COVID reporter joined a group of students on a trip to Peru in 2019. Participants alleged he repeatedly made racist comments. … Less than six months before he became the New York Times …

American Prospect:

Merrick Garland Wants Former Facebook Lawyer to Top Antitrust Division — Susan Davies has spent much of the last decade working on behalf of major mergers and fending off antitrust enforcement. — Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland is working behind the scenes to install longtime aide Susan Davies …

Discussion: Breitbart and Washington Post

Hugo Gurdon / Washington Examiner:

The emergency of government by Democrats — During the Cold War, a U.S. Air Force Starfighter radioed to an airport in England asking for permission to land. Starfighters were difficult to fly, and many crashed. Air traffic control told the pilot he was using a frequency reserved …

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

The Republican Party is about doing nothing — The Republican Party, judging from its lack of output in the House and Senate, has little to contribute to the restoration of Americans' health and prosperity. They have essentially no interest in addressing racial inequity or in rooting out domestic terrorism.

Discussion: The Bulwark, Raw Story, CNBC, Daily Kos, CNN, Daily News and Washington Times

Saeed Shah / Wall Street Journal:

Pakistan's Supreme Court Orders Release of Man Convicted in Killing of WSJ Reporter Daniel Pearl — Omar Sheikh is cleared of any role in the journalist's kidnapping and death after 18 years in prison — ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—The country's Supreme Court ordered the release of the man convicted …

RFE / Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty:

Ukraine Launches Criminal Probe Into Meddling In 2020 U.S. Election — Ukraine has launched a criminal investigation into attempts to interfere in the November 2020 U.S. presidential election. — Andriy Yermak, the head of the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy …

Marc Caputo / Politico:

‘What Democrat beats that guy?’: Top Dems flinch from Rubio challenge — MIAMI — Few Republicans are more loathed by Democrats than Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Many have never looked at him the same since, after helping to draft the 2013 bipartisan immigration bill, he backed away under conservative pressure.

Discussion: Twitchy