memeorandum: Trump's Taste for Blood (Maureen Dowd/New York Times)

8:55 AM ET, February 13, 2021

Top Items:

CNN:

New details about Trump-McCarthy shouting match show Trump refused to call off the rioters — Washington (CNN)In an expletive-laced phone call with House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy while the Capitol was under attack, then-President Donald Trump said the rioters cared more about the election results than McCarthy did.

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Trump's Taste for Blood — If Republicans won't convict, bring on the handcuffs. — WASHINGTON — Every scene in “Lawrence of Arabia” is perfect, but there's one I find especially haunting. — Peter O'Toole's Lawrence returns to Cairo after successfully leading the Arabs in battle …

Discussion: Vox, The Intellectualist, Raw Story, Daily Kos and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

House Republican pleads for Pence, Trump aides to speak out on Jan. 6 insurrection — Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, one of 10 House Republicans to support Donald Trump's impeachment for inciting the Capitol insurrection, pleaded with those close to the former president …

Discussion: Reuters, CANNONFIRE, Insider, Associated Press, Cyprus Mail, Mediaite and The Daily Signal

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:

Trump sided with the Capitol mob, Herrera Beutler says McCarthy told her. — On the eve of a verdict in Donald J. Trump's Senate trial, one of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach him confirmed on Friday night that the top House Republican, Representative Kevin McCarthy …

Discussion: Mediaite, Common Dreams, Cyprus Mail, Raw Story, The Hill, WTOP, The Times of Israel, Fox News, Political Wire and Bloomberg

ProPublica: “I Don't Trust the People Above Me”: Riot Squad Cops Open Up About Disastrous Response to Capitol Insurrection

Bob Brigham / Raw Story:
GOP super-lawyer Ted Olson cuts off donations to Republicans who refuse to convict Trump

Discussion: LAW.com

Lachlan Markay / Axios:

Scoop: Lincoln Project co-founder resigns — Lincoln Project co-founder Steve Schmidt is resigning from the group's board amid a series of scandals that has rocked the high-dollar anti-Trump super PAC, Axios has learned. — Why it matters: Schmidt, a veteran Republican operative …

Discussion: RedState, Washington Free Beacon, The Gateway Pundit, HuffPost, New York Post, Twitchy, HotAir and Mock Paper Scissors

Amanda Becker / The 19th:

Inside the Lincoln Project's ‘toxic’ workplace — Interviews with nearly two dozen people with knowledge of the group's workings reveal a culture of infighting, sexist language and disparate treatment. — The Lincoln Project's launch in late 2019 was designed to make a splash.

Discussion: Washington Post, Fox News, New Republic, Twitchy, Forbes, Occupy Democrats, The National Pulse, CNN, Washington Free Beacon, BizPac Review, The Daily Poster, TheBlaze, The Daily Beast, MyNorthwest.com, Associated Press, spectator.us, The Guardian and Instapundit

Marlow Stern / The Daily Beast:

Bill Maher Grills The Lincoln Project Co-Founder Steve Schmidt: ‘Where Did the Other Money Go?’ — MONEY PIT — The “Real Time” host questioned the former Republican operative on his show, who announced his resignation from the #NeverTrump group earlier in the day amid an ongoing scandal.

Discussion: BizPac Review, Washington Examiner, Fox News and The Hill

Glenn Greenwald:
The Lincoln Project, Facing Multiple Scandals, is Accused by its Own Co-Founder of Likely Criminality

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Power Line, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, TheBlaze, Breitbart, Twitchy, Talking Points Memo and The Last Refuge

New York Times:
Lincoln Project Co-Founder Resigns From Board Amid a Deepening Crisis

Discussion: HuffPost, The Wrap, Washington Times, Washington Examiner, Fox News and TheBlaze

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Lincoln Project backers consider cutting off donations after misconduct allegations as co-founder Steve Schmidt quits board

Discussion: CBS News, Politico, Los Angeles Times, Washington Examiner, New York Magazine, Washington Post, Fox News, Breitbart, The Daily Beast and RedState

Benjamin Parker / The Bulwark:

The 10 Worst Moments from Trump's “Defense” — The former president got the impeachment defense he deserved. — Donald Trump's lawyers took only about three and a half hours to make their case in defense of the “45th president”—aka the former president. (More on that in a moment.)

Discussion: CNN, New York Daily News, NBC News, New York Times and BuzzFeed News

New York Times:

For the Defense: Twisted Facts and Other Staples of the Trump Playbook — The lawyers representing the former president in his impeachment trial are the latest in a rotating cast that has always had trouble satisfying a mercurial and headstrong client. — Ever since Donald J. Trump began …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Moderate Voice, Breitbart, Political Wire, Talking Points Memo, The Guardian and Raw Story

George Conway / Washington Post:

Trump's lawyers offered an attack on everything but the evidence — It wasn't a defense. Not in any serious factual, legal, or logical sense. — What former president Donald Trump's lawyers offered on the floor of the U.S. Senate on Friday was an attack — a misleading, distortive …

Discussion: New York Times, Yahoo Entertainment, ABC News and UPI

David Frum / The Atlantic:
The Incompetence Lasted to the Very End

Discussion: Raw Story

Susan Ferrechio / Washington Examiner:
Impeachment trial barrels toward Saturday acquittal of Trump

Discussion: Power Line, Washington Post, New York Times, HuffPost, CNN and Axios

Washington Post:

Graham's post-election call with Raffensperger will be scrutinized in Georgia probe, person familiar with inquiry says — An Atlanta-area prosecutor plans to scrutinize a post-Election Day phone call between Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger …

Discussion: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Hill, CNN and Raw Story

Marianne LeVine / Politico:

Graham to meet with Trump to talk future of GOP — Sen. Lindsey Graham said he'll be meeting with former President Donald Trump in the coming weeks to talk about the future of the Republican Party. — The South Carolina Republican told reporters Friday evening that he plans to encourage Trump …

Discussion: Insider

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic:

How to Beat the Pandemic by Summer — After nearly a year of social isolation and sacrifice in the long war on COVID-19, the end stage of the pandemic is finally in sight. Millions of Americans are being vaccinated each week, and the number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations …

Discussion: Quartz

Marcia Coyle / LAW.com:

Chuck Cooper's Test for Senate Republicans Weighing Trump Trial Verdict — The veteran U.S. Supreme Court lawyer and conservative stalwart days ago joined a chorus of prominent lawyers taking positions against Donald Trump.

Marcia Coyle / LAW.com: Ted Olson Backs Case for Trump Conviction at Impeachment Trial

Washington Post:

Postmaster general's new plan for USPS is said to include slower mail and higher prices — A key provision of the postmaster general's strategy includes banning air travel for all first-class mail at a time when delivery rates are at historic lows. — Postmaster General Louis DeJoy …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, CNN, Forbes and NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Chris Cillizza / CNN:

The story keeps getting worse for Andrew Cuomo on Covid-19 — (CNN)Amid the swirling controversy over whether New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration knowingly undercounted deaths among nursing home residents during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in the state, a top aide …

Discussion: CBS New York, Townhall, Fox News, TheBlaze and Insider

Politico:
Coverup claims engulf Cuomo as scandal over nursing home deaths grows

Discussion: NNY360, Spectrum News NY1, New York Magazine, Newsbusters, Breitbart, WCAX-TV, WTOP, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Western Journal, Zandar Versus The Stupid and New York Post

Bill McKibben / New Yorker:

The Beauty of Jamie Raskin's America, on Display at Trump's Impeachment Trial — The first time I remember meeting Jamie Raskin it was dark, and we were standing atop the great steps of Harvard's Widener Library, looking out over a sea of candles. I was a reporter for the Crimson …

Justin Stabley / PBS NewsHour:

Sen. Patty Murray recounts her narrow escape from a violent mob inside the U.S. Capitol — The impeachment trial this week has revealed a number of new, chilling details of the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack. For the first time, Sen. Patty Murray from Washington state and the highest ranking female Democrat …

Christopher Mathias / HuffPost:

57 GOP State And Local Officials Were At The Capitol Insurrection — And a month after the riot, few of the Republican political figures have been held to account. — At least 57 state and local Republican officials attended the Jan. 6 rally in Washington that turned into a deadly insurrection …

Discussion: CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

HotAir:

Question From Collins And Murkowski: When Did Trump Know Congress Was In Danger And What Did He Do About It? — We're at the question-and-answer portion of the trial already because Trump's defense took just three of the 16 hours it was allotted to present its case.

Discussion: New York Post, The Guardian and Washington Examiner

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Democrats have one big weapon left against Trump. Will they use it?

Discussion: HuffPost, Mother Jones, The Mahablog, Law & Crime, BuzzFeed News, Juanita Jean's, Vanity Fair and HotAir

CNN:

Senate passes legislation to award Officer Eugene Goodman Congressional Gold Medal — (CNN)The Senate on Friday approved legislation to award a Congressional Gold Medal to Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, who became a national hero for his actions defending the Senate during the siege of the Capitol on January 6.

Discussion: NPR, TheGrio, Washington Examiner, Politico, New York Post, KTLA, USA Today, Washington Times, Insider, Mediaite and UPI

Colby Itkowitz / Washington Post:
Senate votes to award Officer Eugene Goodman the Congressional Gold Medal

Discussion: New York Post and The Hill

Alexandra Jaffe / Associated Press:

White House aide suspended for threatening reporter — WASHINGTON — White House deputy press secretary T.J. Ducklo has been suspended for a week without pay after he reportedly issued a sexist and profane threat to a journalist seeking to cover his relationship with another reporter.