memeorandum: Three things to watch as National Guard hunkers down in frigid DC (Abraham Mahshie/Washington Examiner)

4:30 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, The Daily Beast, The Intellectualist, CNN, littlegreenfootballs.com, Crooks and Liars, Washington Post, Fox News, Raw Story, The American Independent, IJR, Talking Points Memo and Common Dreams

Rebecca Shabad / NBC News:

Pelosi condemns GOP for overlooking Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's incendiary comments … WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Thursday denounced House Republican leaders for appointing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., to the committee overseeing education after she has questioned …

Discussion: Vox, Washington Examiner, Reuters, U.S. Representative … and New York Post

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
The GOP struck a bad bargain. That's how it got stuck with Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Discussion: Raw Story, The Guardian and Axios

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

Discussion: Business Insider, The Root, The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast and Vanity Fair

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

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

WRCB-TV:
Channel 3 crew threatened with arrest after asking Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene a question during town hall meeting

Discussion: CBS News, Washington Post, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Washington Times, The Independent, The Daily Caller, The Intellectualist, Business Insider and HotAir, more at Mediagazer »

Marisa Schultz / Fox News:
Pelosi calls out armed colleagues as security threats: ‘The enemy is within the House’

Discussion: JONATHAN TURLEY, Associated Press, The Hill, CBS News, Business Insider, Townhall, Roll Call, The Guardian, IJR, Forbes, Washington Times and CNN

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

Discussion: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia Recorder, Salon, WTOP, Mediaite, Butterflies and Wheels, Raw Story, Daily Kos and Politico

Valerie Strauss / Washington Post:
Republicans assign QAnon supporter to House education committee — and top Democrats blast the move

Discussion: The Hill, IJR, Crooks and Liars, The Guardian, Politico and Informed Comment

Paul LeBlanc / CNN:
Video surfaces of Marjorie Taylor Greene confronting Parkland shooting survivor with baseless claims

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, Washington Post, The Hill, Patterico's Pontifications, 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, New Republic, HuffPost, Washington Examiner, Business Insider, Politico, Bloomberg, USA Today, Forbes, Common Dreams, The Last Refuge, KLRT-TV, Crooks and Liars, New York Post and Greensburg Tribune-Review

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, American Prospect, RedState, The Daily Caller and Common Dreams, more at Techmeme »

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: CNBC, Popular Information, The National Pulse and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »

Under the Hood:

Keeping Customers Informed Through Market Volatility — Our mission at Robinhood is to democratize finance for all. We're proud to have created a platform that has helped everyday people, from all backgrounds, shape their financial futures and invest for the long term.

Eamon Javers / CNBC:
Republicans in Washington warn Wall Street: The GameStop populists are more powerful than you think

Discussion: ETFdb and Boing Boing

Tucker Higgins / CNBC:
Lawmakers from AOC to Ted Cruz are bashing Robinhood over its GameStop trading freeze

Discussion: Fox News, Business Insider, New York Post and Mother Jones, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:
GameStop Stock Soars as Reddit Investors Take On Wall St.

NBC News:

Democrats prepare to go it alone on Covid relief if Republicans don't cooperate — WASHINGTON — Democrats are discussing a path to bypass Republicans and approve an aggressive Covid-19 relief package on a party-line basis as prospects for bipartisan support for President Joe Biden's top priority diminish.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, NPR, Talking Points Memo, Ohio Capital Journal, Daily Kos and Political Wire

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: The Hill, Washington Examiner, Forbes, Bloomberg and IJR

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

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

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

Discussion: CNN

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

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

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

Discussion: HuffPost, The Hill, ABC7 and THE CITY

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, ACA Signups, National Review, Breitbart, Mother Jones, Washington Post, ABC7, Reason and The Week

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

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 …

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

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: Fox News, The Hill and Conservative News Today

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, Raw Story, The Independent and New York Post

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, 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: The latest factchecks …, Breitbart, National Review, New York Times, The Gateway Pundit and Raw Story

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

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.

Arizona Republic:

Republicans demand audit of Kelli Ward's narrow win for Arizona GOP chair — Yvonne Wingett Sanchez Ronald J. HansenArizona Republic — After months of sounding the alarm on what she claimed was a stolen presidential election, Kelli Ward is facing questions about her own reelection Saturday as Arizona Republican Party chair.

Discussion: Washington Post, NPR, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, CNN, HotAir, Twitchy, Forbes, Raw Story, Washington Examiner and Election Law Blog

U.S. Department of Justice:

Man Charged with $1.9 Million COVID-Relief Fraud — A Nevada man was charged in an indictment Wednesday for his alleged participation in a scheme to defraud multiple financial institutions by filing bank loan applications that fraudulently sought more than $1.9 million dollars …

Discussion: The Hill and The Daily Caller

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

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 …

The Hill:

Keep the ideas behind ‘defund the police,’ but forget the slogan — The Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol finally may have put to rest the debate about the usefulness and efficacy of the “defund the police” slogan. After watching how close a mob came to destroying 245 years of democracy …

Jeremy Wallace / Houston Chronicle:

Beto O'Rourke says he's thinking about running for governor — Gary Kubiak describes David Culley as ‘energy in the building’ — Want to reduce inflammation? Try the Mediterranean diet. — In climate push, Biden bets on cutting fossil fuels while protecting jobs

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Fox News and National Review