memeorandum: Biden's goal to reopen schools meets high-stakes political test (Washington Post)

4:25 PM ET, February 11, 2021

Top Items:

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Tuberville says he informed Trump of Pence's evacuation before rioters reached Senate — Sen. Tommy Tuberville revealed late Wednesday that he spoke to Donald Trump on Jan. 6, just as a violent mob closed in on the the Senate, and informed the then-president directly that Vice President Mike Pence …

Discussion: ABC News, The Guardian, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, The Intellectualist, Orange County Register, Axios, Truthout, Magnolia State Live, The Root, Daily Kos, Raw Story, The American Independent, NBC News and CNN

Wall Street Journal:

The Trump Impeachment Evidence — He might be acquitted, but he won't live down his disgraceful conduct. — By The Editorial Board — Whether a former President ought to be subject to an impeachment trial is a matter of constitutional debate. Whether it's prudent, if acquittal appears likely, is a related question.

Discussion: Media Matters for America, CNN, IJR, The Hill, Reason, Raw Story, CNBC and Washington Post

HuffPost:

Trump's Tweet Attacking Pence Came Right After Learning His VP's Life Was In Danger — A statement from Sen. Tommy Tuberville shows Trump turned his mob against Pence minutes after hearing his vice president had to be hustled from the Senate. — WASHINGTON ― Donald Trump posted …

Discussion: NPR, Reason, The Hill, Mediaite, Washington Post, The Week, IJR, Common Dreams, Raw Story and Political Wire

Kaitlan Collins / CNN:

Trump's defense team expected to finish its arguments in one day — Conway on Trump's lawyers: This is the best he can do? — Washington (CNN)Former President Donald Trump's defense team expects to finish its arguments in the Senate's impeachment trial by Friday night, two sources tell CNN.

Discussion: Mediaite, CNBC, HotAir, The Week, The Daily Caller, NBC New York, Washington Post, UPI and Mercury News

Politico:
Managers say acquittal could embolden pro-Trump extremists

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, USA Today, JONATHAN TURLEY, Washington Post, Insider, Power Line, Bloomberg, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, NBC Chicago, Raw Story and The Daily Signal

Kimberly Wehle / The Bulwark:
Damning Evidence in Impeachment Trial Clarifies Trump's Guilt

Discussion: The Week, The Daily Caller, Slate, CNN, Crooks and Liars and Raw Story

Bryan Schott / Salt Lake Tribune:
What Sen. Mike Lee told me about Trump's call the day of the Capitol riot

Discussion: Associated Press, Raw Story, HotAir, The Independent, The Gateway Pundit, Fox News, Deseret News, Breitbart, Townhall, Mediaite and Politico

CBS News:
Live Updates: Democrats tie Trump to mob that stormed Capitol at Senate trial

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, Associated Press, Washington Post, The Mary Sue, Mother Jones, IJR, The Dickinson Press, Deadline, Al Jazeera, The Independent, Mediaite and Twitchy

Peter Baker / New York Times:
If Convicting Trump Is Out of Reach, Managers Seek a Verdict From the Public and History

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, Fox News, Daily Kos and Jewish Insider

Martin Gould / Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: Embattled QAnon congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene ‘openly cheated’ on her husband of 25 years with a polyamorous tantric sex guru and then moved on to another affair with the manager at her gym — Marjorie Taylor Greene had affairs with tantric sex guru Craig Ivey …

Discussion: The Intellectualist, UPROXX, Occupy Democrats and Boing Boing

New York Times:

Trump Was Sicker Than Acknowledged With Covid-19 — When hospitalized with the coronavirus in October, his blood oxygen levels had plunged and officials feared he was on the verge of being placed on a ventilator. — WASHINGTON — President Donald J. Trump was sicker with Covid-19 in October …

Discussion: Raw Story and Political Wire

Katelyn Polantz / CNN:

Justice Department says an Oath Keepers leader waited for Trump's direction before Capitol attack — The extremist Oath Keepers who planned attack on Capitol — (CNN)The Justice Department is now making clear that a leader among the Oath Keepers paramilitary group …

Discussion: Axios, The Week and Raw Story

Zoe Tillman / BuzzFeed News:
Prosecutors Say A Member Of The Oath Keepers Conspiracy Was “Awaiting Direction” From Trump Before The Capitol Attack

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Tim Reid / Reuters:

Exclusive: Dozens of former Republican officials in talks to form anti-Trump third party — (Reuters) - Dozens of former Republican officials, who view the party as unwilling to stand up to former President Donald Trump and his attempts to undermine U.S. democracy, are in talks to form …

Tim Miller / The Bulwark:
Not My Party: Guilty, Guilty — Not My Party is back with a new episode on Trump's second impeachment trial.

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Caller, NewsHounds blog, The American Independent, Fox News, Instapundit, New York Post, littlegreenfootballs.com, Townhall and Washington Times

Andrea Salcedo / Washington Post:
Dozens of former GOP officials reportedly met last week to discuss mounting a new anti-Trump party

Discussion: Bloomberg, TheGrio and the way of improvement …

Benjamin Parker / The Bulwark:
GOP Senators Support the ‘January Exception’

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Fox News, New York Times, RedState and TheGrio

Tom Gjelten / NPR:

A ‘Scary’ Survey Finding: 4 In 10 Republicans Say Political Violence May Be Necessary — Toggle more options — The mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol may have been a fringe group of extremists, but politically motivated violence has the support of a significant share of the U.S. public …

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Post, The Survey Center …, TheBlaze, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Slate and Boing Boing

Jack Jenkins / Religion News Service:

Survey: More than a quarter of white evangelicals believe core QAnon conspiracy theory — Flip — (RNS) — A new survey reports more than a quarter of white evangelical Protestants believe a QAnon conspiracy theory that purports former President Donald Trump is secretly battling a cabal …

Discussion: Political Wire

Associated Press:

How a leading anti-Trump group ignored a crisis in its ranks — WASHINGTON (AP) — Last June, the Lincoln Project was on a high. — Led by several prominent former Republican consultants, its slickly produced ads attacking President Donald Trump made it perhaps the best known of the so-called Never Trump organizations.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Breitbart, HotAir, Discourse Blog, RedState, National Review, Fox News, NOQ Report, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and Twitchy

Washington Post:

Biden to announce his administration has secured 200 million additional vaccine doses — The promised purchases would increase available supply by 50 percent, but not immediately. — President Biden is expected to announce Thursday afternoon that his administration has secured deals …

Discussion: Raw Story

Lyz Lenz / Columbia Journalism Review:

Thread Man — Seth Abramson's viral meta-journalism unreality — For four years, America has been ruled by the tyranny of tweets, and the news media has been tangled in threads. Twitter threads are a way for journalists to gather information and to promote their work …

Alexander Nazaryan / The Atlantic:

I Was an Enemy of the People — Thrilling, without a single boring day: That's how I'd describe my four years as an enemy of the people, a lanyard-wearing member of the “Lügenpresse,” a term some Donald Trump supporters borrowed from the Nazis to refer to insufficiently flattering coverage …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Fox News, Townhall, Mediaite, Washington Times, Instapundit and Twitchy

David Shortell / CNN:

Five people associated with Proud Boys arrested for Capitol riot on conspiracy charges — (CNN)The Justice Department unsealed conspiracy charges against five people associated with the Proud Boys on Thursday in the latest and largest move against the far-right group's coordinated role in the insurrection last month.

Discussion: CNBC, Forbes, Truthout, Boing Boing and Raw Story

Kevin Drum:

Barely Anyone Believes In QAnon's Conspiracy Theories — A few days ago Morning Consult released a poll showing that 18% of American adults believed in QAnon's conspiracy theories. Shazam! That might be down a bit from previous polls, but 18% is still a lot. It's one out of six Americans.

Discussion: HotAir and Outside the Beltway

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:

Tucker Carlson Goes Full Conspiracy Theorist, Ties Insurrection to George Floyd's Death — Claiming George Floyd's death was an “utter lie” and “carefully concocted myth,” Carlson wondered aloud why liberals and Democrats wouldn't also lie about the Capitol riots.

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Federalist, Breitbart, HuffPost and Okayplayer

Nikki McCann Ramirez / Media Matters for America:
Once again, Tucker Carlson is lying about why George Floyd died

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Wrap and Sports Illustrated

Dan Barry / New York Times:

Houston Doctor Fired for Giving Away Doses of Covid Vaccine — Ten doses of the Covid-19 vaccine would expire within hours, so a Houston doctor gave it to people with medical conditions, including his wife. What followed was “the lowest moment in my life,” Dr. Hasan Gokal said.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, RedState, Reason, Law & Crime, National Review, The Guardian and Lawyers, Guns & Money

CBO Publications:

The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2021 to 2031 — The Congressional Budget Office regularly publishes reports presenting projections of what federal budget deficits, debt, revenues, and spending—and the economic path underlying them—would be for the current year and for the following 10 years …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, NPR, Axios, Breitbart, Washington Times and UPI

Asbury Park Press:

Springsteen blew 0.02 - quarter of legal limit, source says — Kathleen Hopkins Ken SerranoAsbury Park Press — New Jersey rock icon Bruce Springsteen's blood-alcohol content was .02 - just a quarter of New Jersey's legal limit - when he was arrested on Sandy Hook in November and charged …

Discussion: Vulture, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit, CNN, USA Today, ABC News, Vanity Fair, Variety, Fox News, TheBlaze and TMZ.com

Poynter:

Factually: What will fact-checkers find on Clubhouse? — This is the Feb. 11, 2021 edition of Factually. Live audio and no recording might complicate the work of fact-checkers on this new platform. … A fact-checker lands on Clubhouse — There is a new social media platform trending worldwide.

Discussion: Vox, 9to5Mac and Mashable

Washington Post:

Biden's goal to reopen schools meets high-stakes political test — One of Joe Biden's central campaign promises sounded simple: reopen most schools within his first 100 days in office. The politics and the logistics have proved far more complicated. — The outcome is significant for Biden …

Discussion: CNN, Associated Press, Reason and New Yorker

Manuel Roig-Franzia / Washington Post:

For decades Donald Trump bullied Palm Beach to get his way. Now he's determined to make it his home. — One night in late January 1994, fireworks sparkled in the sky above Mar-a-Lago, a grand estate in Palm Beach, Fla., with a gilded ceiling, an entry gate clad in antique Spanish tiles …

Discussion: Raw Story, Political Flare, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Daily News, Fox News and CBS Miami

Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic:

The GOP Cheat Code to Winning Back the House — Democrats face a daunting future of severe Republican gerrymandering that could flip control of the House in 2022 and suppress diverse younger generations' political influence for years to come, according to a new study released today.

Discussion: Insider and Brennan Center for Justice

Nicholas Reimann / Forbes:

Georgia Sen. Warnock Under Investigation For Voter Registration Misconduct — The Georgia State Election Board voted unanimously Wednesday to move forward with an investigation of U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) for his role serving as board chairman of a voter registration organization founded …

Discussion: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Washington Examiner, Human Events, The Daily Caller, The National Pulse, National Review, Fox News, TheBlaze, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, We Love Trump, Townhall and Twitchy

Bloomberg:

MacKenzie Scott's Remarkable Giveaway Is Transforming the Bezos Fortune — As MacKenzie and Jeff Bezos, the couple's donations were mostly unremarkable. Then came a divorce and her $6 billion gift—a true feat—which upstaged her ex-husband, who has pledged big numbers but has been slower to spend.

Amanda Meade / The Guardian:

Kevin Rudd says Sky News is using Fox model to radicalise politics in Australia — The former prime minister tells a media inquiry News Corp's ‘template for America’ is also its ‘vision for Australia’ — Rupert Murdoch's Sky News will radicalise politics in Australia within a decade …

Amanda Holpuch / The Guardian:

US could have averted 40% of Covid deaths, says panel examining Trump's policies — The country began the pandemic with a degraded public health infrastructure, leading to more deaths than other high-income countries — The US could have averted 40% of the deaths from Covid-19 …

Discussion: VICE, Insider, The Lancet, Mother Jones, Forbes, UPI and Slate

Hamed Aleaziz / BuzzFeed News:

Biden Is Planning To Bring Back Immigrants Who Were Forced To Wait In Dangerous Mexican Border Towns — Immigrants who were forced by former president Donald Trump to wait in dangerous conditions in Mexico while they tried to gain asylum will soon start being allowed to enter the US …

Discussion: CNN, ImmigrationProf Blog and Jacobin

globaltimes.cn:

China bars BBC World News over false reports — BBC World News has been barred from airing in China, the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA) announced, saying some BBC's reports on China infringed the principles of truthfulness and impartiality in journalism.

Discussion: Reuters, Forbes, news.cgtn.com, The Hill, New York Times, Breitbart, Fox News, Deadline, NPR and Variety, more at Mediagazer »

bellingcat:

Vladimir Kara-Murza Tailed by Members of FSB Squad Prior to Suspected Poisonings — In a December 2020 investigation, we disclosed the existence of a clandestine unit within the FSB's Criminalistics Institute, members of which - having medical and chemical weapons training …

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Daily Beast and Radio Free Europe/Radio …

Jennifer Jett / New York Times:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is barred from Instagram over false coronavirus claims. — Instagram took down the account of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the political scion and prominent anti-vaccine activist, on Wednesday over false information related to the coronavirus.