memeorandum: Russian Covid-19 Vaccine Was Highly Effective in Trial, Study Finds, Boosting Moscow's Rollout Ambitions (Georgi Kantchev/Wall Street Journal)

9:35 AM ET, February 2, 2021

Top Items:

McConnell says Taylor Greene's embrace of conspiracy theories a ‘cancer’ to GOP, country — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday blasted Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's embrace of “loony lies and conspiracy theories” as a “cancer for the Republican Party.”

Manu Raju / CNN:

First on CNN: Liz Cheney gets boost from McConnell amid divisive intraparty battle over Trump's impeachment — (CNN)Rep. Liz Cheney, under fire from former President Donald Trump and his staunchest defenders, is picking up support from some influential Republicans as her allies close ranks …

Discussion: National Review, Casper Star-Tribune, Breitbart, Politico, USA Today, TheBlaze, Patterico's Pontifications, The Daily Caller, POLITICUSUSA, Mediaite, The Hill, Political Wire and Raw Story

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Cheney and Greene face their reckonings

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN and Florida Politics

Lauren Fox / CNN:
Democrats are moving ahead without Republicans on Covid relief

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Washington Post, The Bulwark, The Week, CBS News, Marijuana Moment and FiveThirtyEight

Jonah Goldberg / Los Angeles Times:
Column: Where QAnon goes, so goes the Republican Party

Discussion: Salon, New York Times and Michigan Advance

Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
Trumpism is American fascism

Discussion: driftglass, The Moderate Voice, Arizona Republic and Raw Story

Catie Edmondson / New York Times:
Mitch McConnell Says Marjorie Taylor Green's ‘Loony Lies’ Are a ‘Cancer’ on GOP

Discussion: Bangor Daily News, Twitchy, Crooks and Liars, CNN, UPI, HuffPost, The Guardian, Bloomberg and The Week

Washington Post:
As House GOP faces decision on its future, McConnell defends Cheney, rebukes Greene in rare set of statements

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CBS News, New York Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Fox News, Bloomberg, Balloon Juice, Business Insider, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

Axios:

Bonus episode: Inside the craziest meeting of the Trump presidency — Last month, Axios published “Off the rails,” a series taking you inside the end of Donald Trump's presidency, from his election loss to the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection that triggered his second impeachment — and a Senate trial set to begin next week.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Week and Raw Story

Alayna Treene / Axios:

Scoop: Fees — not just strategy — blew up Trump's legal team — Disagreements over legal strategy weren't the only reason Donald Trump's defense team collapsed just days before his second impeachment trial, Axios has learned. — What we're hearing: The notoriously stingy former president …

Discussion: New York Times, Business Insider and Raw Story

Politico:

Conservative groups go MIA on Trump's impeachment — A constellation of conservative groups that rallied behind former President Donald Trump during his first impeachment is sitting this one out, confident that the outcome is preordained. — The groups have gone quiet on social media …

Discussion: ABC News, The Carpentariat, Townhall, New York Times, The Guardian and Raw Story

Tim Miller / The Bulwark:

Dare Trump to Testify — He should be called out as a coward if he refuses to take the stand in his own defense. — Donald Trump attempted to overthrow an election and install himself as an autocrat. — This is an inconvenient truth for congressional Republicans who were complicit in the scheme …

Discussion: Dave Dubya's Freedom Rants, Raw Story and The Federalist

Lee Moran / HuffPost:
Lindsey Graham Warns Democrats Against Calling Witnesses In Trump Impeachment Trial

Discussion: Fox News, New York Post, Raw Story and Washington Examiner

Samantha Kubota / TODAY.com:

Dolly Parton turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice — Besides being East Tennessee's songbird, country superstar Dolly Parton has always had a philanthropic side and it turns out even presidents have noticed! — The queen of country, 75, told TODAY in an interview …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, The Week, Forbes, The Daily Beast, Business Insider, The Sun and WRBL-TV

Politico:

Progressive PAC kick-starts search for challengers to Manchin, Sinema — A trio of progressives who helped launch Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's 2018 upset campaign are now setting their sights on Senate Democrats. — The co-founders of No Excuses PAC — Saikat Chakrabarti, Corbin Trent and Zack Exley …

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Katie Glueck / New York Times:

Ocasio-Cortez Says She Is a Sexual Assault Survivor — “I haven't told many people that in my life,” the Democratic congresswoman said of the revelation, which came during a harrowing recounting of her experiences amid the Capitol riot. — Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday …

Discussion: spectator.us, The Daily Beast, Slate, Al Jazeera, theslot.jezebel.com, Conservative News Today, The Week and Business Insider

Monica Hesse / Washington Post:
AOC explains why Republicans can't just tell her to forget about the insurrection and move on

Discussion: Forbes

Thomas Barrabi / Fox News:
Rep. Burgess Owens rips AOC for invoking ‘white supremacist’ label to make point about health care

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and Politico

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Trump pollster's campaign autopsy paints damning picture of defeat — Former President Donald Trump has blamed the election results on unfounded claims of fraud and malfeasance. But at the top levels of his campaign, a detailed autopsy report that circulated among his political aides paints …

Discussion: The Week, Washington Examiner, Mediaite and FiveThirtyEight

Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:
Poor handling of virus cost Trump his reelection, campaign autopsy finds

Discussion: NPR, Raw Story and The Moderate Voice

Lyanne Melendez / ABC7:

Are acronyms a symptom of ‘white supremacy culture?’ SFUSD makes another disputable decision — SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — First the San Francisco School Board decided to rename 44 schools because they are named after people with ties to racism or slavery. Now the Arts Department has taken …

Discussion: New York Post

Gary Kamiya / The Atlantic:

San Francisco's Ridiculous Renaming Spree — San Francisco has issued its latest grand moral decree, and bad ex-presidents would be quaking in their coffins—if they could stop laughing. — On January 26, the San Francisco school board announced that dozens of public schools must be renamed.

Discussion: Joanne Jacobs

Charles Lane / Washington Post: Confederate names are coming down, but San Francisco is now taking on ... Abe Lincoln?

Jill Tucker / San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. schools see learning gaps widen during pandemic

New York Times:

Trump's Sleight of Hand: Shouting Fraud, Pocketing Donors' Cash for Future — With breathless, often misleading appeals, the former president promised small donors that he was using the money to fight the election results, but in fact stored much of it for future use.

Discussion: Raw Story

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
The GOP's biggest response to Trump's baseless voter fraud push could still be coming

Discussion: The Federalist, TheBlaze and The Intellectualist

Travis Waldron / HuffPost:
Republican State Legislatures Are Radicalizing Against Democracy

Discussion: Washington Examiner, USA Today, Washington Post and American Enterprise Institute

Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:

White House Reporters: Biden Team Wanted Our Questions in Advance — “It pissed off enough reporters for people to flag it” for the White House Correspondents' Association, one of The Daily Beast's sources said. … If you're a reporter with a tough question for the White House press secretary …

Discussion: Business Insider, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, Conservative News Today, Townhall, Newsbusters, Breitbart, The National Pulse and Washington Examiner

Jack Brewster / Forbes:
White House Reviewing Whether To Revoke Trump's Access To Intelligence Briefings

Discussion: CBS News, Business Insider and The Week

Georgi Kantchev / Wall Street Journal:

Russian Covid-19 Vaccine Was Highly Effective in Trial, Study Finds, Boosting Moscow's Rollout Ambitions — Sputnik V shot achieved 91.6% efficacy against coronavirus symptoms, says paper in U.K.'s Lancet — MOSCOW—Russia's homegrown Sputnik V vaccine showed high levels of efficacy …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Twitchy and The Week

James Hamblin / The Atlantic:

The Brazil Variant Is Exposing the World's Vulnerability — Editor's Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers. Find the collection here. — Even in a year of horrendous suffering, what is unfolding in Brazil stands out.

Discussion: Washington Post

Bisnow:

D.C. Claims Eminent Domain To Seize Infamous NoMa Wendy's Site — D.C. is using eminent domain to seize the Wendy's property in NoMa as part of a plan to transform the notorious “Dave Thomas Circle” intersection. — The District government filed an eminent domain case in D.C. Superior Court …

Discussion: PoPville

Ronan Farrow / New Yorker:

A Pennsylvania Mother's Path to Insurrection — How claims from Rudy Giuliani and Alex Jones spurred a parent of eight to become one of the Capitol riot's biggest mysteries and a fugitive from the F.B.I. — Before the pandemic, Rachel Powell, a forty-year-old resident of a small town …

Kevin Walling / The Hill:

Democrats will expand their Senate majority in 2022 — With the announcement last week that Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) will forgo seeking a third term representing the Buckeye State, Democrats are increasingly bullish about expanding their slim majority in the midterm elections.

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Tim Ryan, a Top Democrat in Ohio, Is Said to Plan Senate Bid

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Roll Call, CNN, Politico, The Hill and Talking Points Memo

Adam Rawnsley / The Daily Beast:

Capitol Rioter Asks Court to Let Her Vacation in Mexico — THE AUDACITY — One of the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 is asking a federal court to let her leave the country so she can make the most of a Mexican vacation she booked prior to the insurrection.

Discussion: Business Insider

Matt Lewis / The Daily Beast:

Biden's About to Steamroll the GOP. Here's Why That's Wrong. — HIGH STAKES … Every president this century except for Trump promised to unite the country, and every one including Trump ended up dividing it. Joe could still take a different approach. — It feels like 2009 all over again.

Discussion: Crooked Timber

Washington Post:
Biden, Senate Republicans hold lengthy meeting on coronavirus relief bill

Discussion: Fox News, New York Times, CBS News, Business Insider, The White House, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, IJR, The Dispatch, Politico, Common Dreams, Raw Story, Letters from an American, The Week, CBS Dallas / Fort Worth and CBS Miami

Rebecca Morin / USA Today:

Biden to create task force to reunite families separated at border, sign order to review asylum program — President Joe Biden will continue to review and roll back several of the Trump administration's hardline immigration policies Tuesday, including introducing a task force to reunify families …

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Times, IJR and The Independent

Priscilla Alvarez / CNN:
Biden to sign immigration executive orders and establish task force to reunite separated families

Discussion: CBS News, ABC News, NBC News, Wall Street Journal, Vox, Politico, New York Times, The Daily Beast, Associated Press, The Hill, Axios, The Federalist, Los Angeles Times, NPR and The Independent

Sahil Kapur / NBC News:

Democrats risk unintended Medicare cuts if they pass partisan Covid relief … WASHINGTON — Democrats considering a maneuver to forgo bipartisan support to pass Covid-19 relief are confronting an unintended consequence: doing so could automatically cut Medicare.

Discussion: HotAir, Talking Points Memo, New York Post, Vox, Politico and Associated Press

Wall Street Journal:

Officer Who Shot Capitol Rioter Ashli Babbitt Shouldn't Be Charged, Investigators Advise — Ms. Babbitt died after being shot by Capitol Police officer on Jan. 6 — WASHINGTON—Investigators have made a preliminary determination that the police officer who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt during …

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, Business Insider, New York Times, The RFAngle, The Sun, The Gateway Pundit and New York Post

CREW:

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump's final financial disclosures … Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner disclosed receiving between $23,791,645 and $120,676,949 in combined outside income in their final financial disclosure reports. The disclosures cover the entirety of 2020 through January 20, 2021.