memeorandum: MacKenzie Scott's Remarkable Giveaway Is Transforming the Bezos Fortune (Bloomberg)

3:20 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, Washington Post, The Guardian, Washington Examiner, The Intellectualist, Truthout, Axios, Associated Press, Orange County Register, Magnolia State Live, The Root, The American Independent, Daily Kos, Raw Story, CNN and NBC News

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

Politico:
Managers say acquittal could embolden pro-Trump extremists

Discussion: Fox News, CBS News, Insider, JONATHAN TURLEY, Denver Post, Associated Press, Bloomberg, New York Post, CNBC, New York Times, The Dickinson Press, Al Jazeera, Mediaite and NBC Chicago

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

Discussion: The Week, Washington Post, Slate, The Daily Caller, Crooks and Liars, CNN 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: HotAir, The Independent, The Gateway Pundit, Fox News, Deseret News, Breitbart, Townhall and Mediaite

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

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

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. — He tried to steal the election. People are dead. It's onto impeachment round two. — We're three weeks deep in the Biden presidency. Trump has been dispatched to Mar-a-Lago …

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

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: Fox News, New York Times, RedState and TheGrio

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

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, Slate, Lawyers, Guns & Money 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

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: Outside the Beltway

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 …

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

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, Washington Times, Instapundit, Townhall, Mediaite and Twitchy

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

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 …

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: Raw Story

CREW:

Pompeo spent $10k on engraved pens for notorious “Madison Dinners” … Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spent more than $10,000 in taxpayer funds on engraved Madison Dinner-branded pens that he gifted to attendees of the notorious dinner parties, according to records obtained by CREW …

Discussion: CNBC

John Bowden / The Hill: Pompeo spent $10K on engraved pens for guests at ‘Madison Dinners’: CREW

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

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, Okayplayer, Breitbart and HuffPost

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

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

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.

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

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.

Discussion: The Hill, NPR, CNN, CBS News, The Daily Caller, Associated Press, TheBlaze, Variety, Joe.My.God., Mediaite, UPI and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »

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 and Washington Times

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, The Daily Caller, The National Pulse, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, National Review, Fox News, TheBlaze, We Love Trump, Townhall and Twitchy

Tyler Van Dyke / Washington Examiner:

Biden and Yellen brush aside inflation warnings in pursuing $1.9 trillion plan for full employment — The Biden administration is fighting hard for a historically ambitious fiscal package in the name of lowering unemployment, disregarding warnings from Democratic-aligned economists that their plans would risk runaway inflation.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Board of Governors … and Washington Post

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, UPI, Truthout, Slate and Forbes

Washington Post:

Now out of office, Trump may have to face tax questions — However his impeachment trial ends, Trump faces an IRS decision on a massive refund and may no longer be able to conceal his tax returns — Once his impeachment trial concludes and former president Donald Trump returns to his business …

Discussion: Raw Story

Candace Sweat / NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth:

Man Takes His Own Life in Front of Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne's Home — An unidentified man took his life in front of the home of Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne Wednesday afternoon. Irving police say the incident happened around 3:45 p.m. Officers responded to a call of a shooting on Shumard Oak Lane.

Discussion: Dallas Morning News, Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller and New York Post

Hollywood Reporter:

‘The Mandalorian’ Star Gina Carano Fired Amid Social Media Controversy — UTA has also dropped the actor, who will no longer be part of the ‘Star Wars’ galaxy. — Gina Carano will not be returning to The Mandalorian or the Star Wars galaxy after sharing a post on social media implying …

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, Radio Free Europe/Radio … and The Daily Beast

Kurt Schlichter / Townhall:

Stop Calling It an ‘Insurrection’ — So, I was out at dinner with my old battalion commander - literally outside, because dining inside apparently is super deadly if you live under blue tyranny - and we were laughing at this whole “Muh Insurrekshun” nonsense.

Discussion: pjmedia.com