memeorandum: Gerrymandering is about to get even more chaotic — The next round of congressional redistricting … (Stef W. Kight/Axios)

7:35 AM ET, February 19, 2021

Top Items:

Ted Cruz's Cancún Trip: Family Texts Detail His Political Blunder — The Texas senator faced fierce blowback for fleeing his state as a disaster unfolded. Text messages sent by his wife revealed a hastily planned trip away from their “FREEZING” family home.

Michael Hardy / New York Magazine:

Ted Cruz Abandons Millions of Freezing Texans and His Poodle, Snowflake — After jaunting off to Cancún with his family Wednesday night, Senator Ted Cruz explained that he was merely escorting his teenage girls on a vacation trip with their friends. In an apparent bid for sympathy …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Wrap, UPROXX and Raw Story

Marc Caputo / Politico:

Top Texas Republicans on the ropes after tone-deaf storm response — The brutal winter storm that turned Texas roads to ice, burst pipes across the state and left millions of residents shivering and without power has also damaged the reputations of three of the state's leading Republicans.

Discussion: ABC13, Austin American-Statesman and Houston Chronicle

CNN:

Ted Cruz has repeatedly slammed politicians for vacationing during crisis — (CNN)Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who is facing backlash for traveling to Mexico as a winter disaster ravages his home state, has repeatedly criticized politicians who vacationed or took part in leisure activities during times of crisis, a CNN KFile review finds.

Discussion: The Texas Tribune, Dallas Morning News, Off the Kuff, The Daily Beast, CBS Dallas / Fort Worth, Daily Kos, Insider, Bulwark+, Washington Post, San Antonio Current, UPROXX, Houston Public Media and Bloomberg

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: Reince reemerges as Cruz crashes — DRIVING THE DAY — SCOOP: REINCE PRIEBUS has been calling key GOP officials and operatives in Wisconsin the past week and signaling he's seriously exploring a bid for governor of his home state in 2022, two sources with knowledge of the calls told Playbook.

Discussion: Fox News, Political Flare and Common Dreams

Lauren Larson / Texas Monthly:
13 Curses to Mutter Against Ted Cruz While You Boil Snow to Drink

Discussion: Daily Kos

Christopher Hahn / Occupy Democrats:
Ted Cruz's Cancun scandal is a second Alamo for Texas Republicans

Discussion: Washington Post, Zandar Versus The Stupid and Insider

Houston Chronicle:
As Texans froze, Ted Cruz got a ticket to paradise. Paradise can have him.

Discussion: New York Post, CNBC and Daily Kos

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
Ted Cruz Is No Hypocrite. He's Worse.

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, PREVAIL, The Week, Politico, Salon and The Guardian

New York Times:

Manhattan D.A. Recruits Top Prosecutor for Trump Inquiry — The Manhattan district attorney has enlisted a former federal prosecutor who is an expert on white-collar crime to join the team investigating the Trump family business. — As the Manhattan district attorney's office steps …

Discussion: Insider, New York Daily News, CANNONFIRE, CNN, Grand Forks Herald, Washington Examiner, Law & Crime, Political Wire and Raw Story

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic:

Don't Read This If You Were a Rush Limbaugh Fan — As a radio broadcaster, Rush Limbaugh, who died yesterday, was a great success: He pioneered his genre, attracted millions of listeners for several decades, and grew fantastically wealthy. Many good people were used to his daily company …

Discussion: CNN, The Week, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, Human Events, Newsbusters, Hollywood in Toto, Vox and The 19th, more at Mediagazer »

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:

Rush Limbaugh's Complicated Legacy — He was a gifted entertainer and advocate, but in his later years certain flaws became more evident. — I meant to talk about something else this week, but my thoughts keep circling back to Rush Limbaugh. His obituaries in the mainstream press were mostly judgment, no mercy.

MICHAEL P. RAMIREZ:
RUSH LIMBAUGH R.I.P.

Discussion: Power Line

Leah Barkoukis / Townhall:
What Rush Limbaugh Discussed on His Final Radio Show

Discussion: National Review, Fox News and Crooks and Liars

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:

Biden can't negotiate with Iran as its proxies attack U.S. troops — On Monday, armed militants launched rockets at a U.S. air base in northern Iraq. The Biden administration still hadn't weighed in on who was responsible as of Thursday evening, even though an Iranian-linked Iraqi Shiite militia quickly claimed credit.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Fox News, The Daily Wire and Brookings

Nahal Toosi / Politico:
Biden aides debate how, or if, to save original Iran deal

Discussion: Bloomberg, NPR, Washington Post, Axios, The Times of Israel, Washington Examiner, Los Angeles Times and Associated Press

Michelle Nichols / Reuters: U.S. rescinds Trump White House claim that all U.N. sanctions had been reimposed on Iran

New York Times:
Biden Administration Formally Offers to Restart Nuclear Talks With Iran

Discussion: The Guardian, Latest MENA News Today, Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera, Kyodo News+, The Hill, Bloomberg, Politico and Reuters

Barak Ravid / Axios:
Blinken tells EU counterparts U.S. is ready to open talks with Iran

Discussion: Breitbart, United States Department …, Forbes, GOV.UK, UPI and Middle East Monitor

NBC News:
Biden administration says it's ready for nuclear talks with Iran

Discussion: Latest MENA News Today, NPR, USA Today and Associated Press

Whitney Wild / CNN:

6 Capitol Police officers suspended, 29 others being investigated for alleged roles in riot — (CNN)Six US Capitol Police officers have been suspended with pay, and 29 others have been placed under investigation, for their actions in the January 6 riot, a department spokesman said Thursday.

Discussion: HuffPost, New York Magazine, TheBlaze, UPI, Political Wire, The Week and Liberty Unyielding

Lindsay Watts / WTTG-TV:
6 Capitol police officers suspended, 35 under investigation after Capitol riot, spokesperson says

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Stephen Groves / Associated Press:

GOP's Thune says Trump allies engaging in ‘cancel culture’ — PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — U.S. Sen. John Thune on Thursday criticized Republican activists and party leaders for engaging in “cancel culture” by rushing to censure GOP senators who found former President Donald Trump guilty of inciting an insurrection.

Discussion: The Hill and WTOP

HuffPost:
Trump Ramps Up Efforts To Retain Control Of The Republican Party By Attacking McConnell

Discussion: Political Flare, POLITICUSUSA, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Hill, Mother Jones, Raw Story and Forbes

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
It's still too soon to suggest that Jan. 6 prompted any massive GOP exodus

Discussion: NPR and CNN

Politico:
Trump snubs Haley

Andrew Blankstein / NBC News:

California investor who donated nearly $1M to Trump inauguration sentenced to 12 years in prison — A Federal Judge in California on Thursday sentenced a venture capitalist who donated nearly $1 million to former President Donald Trump's inaugural committee to 12 years in prison …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and Raw Story

Erin Douglas / The Texas Tribune:

Texas was “seconds and minutes” away from catastrophic monthslong blackouts, officials say — Officials with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said that grid operators implemented blackouts to avoid a catastrophic failure that could have left Texans in the dark for months. — Copy link

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

After Years of Chaos, the White House Is Definitely in Different Hands — Biden's new chief of staff, like the new President, is a serious Washington lifer. — Donald Trump made numerous outrageous but not necessarily consequential decisions throughout his Presidency …

Discussion: CBS News, Politico and Informed Comment

New York Times:

Cracked Pipes, Frozen Wells, Offline Treatment Plants: A Texan Water Crisis — Electricity was restored to most Texans who had lost power after a winter storm, but water systems for nearly two-thirds of residents were disrupted, leaving millions without drinkable water.

Discussion: CNN, Eater and AustinGO RSS

Laura Krantz Globe / The Boston Globe:

Cornel West threatens to leave Harvard again — Harvard University professor Cornel West, the well known philosopher, progressive political activist, and outspoken social critic, is threatening to leave Harvard University after he said the administration disrespected him by denying his request to be considered for tenure.

Discussion: Raw Story

Wall Street Journal:

Nursing-Home Death Data Was Sought From Cuomo by U.S. Prosecutors — Request came after governor's top aide told lawmakers information was delayed out of fear Trump would politicize it — Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn sought data this month on nursing-home deaths from New York …

Stef W. Kight / Axios:

Gerrymandering is about to get even more chaotic — The next round of congressional redistricting is shaping up to be a mess, beset by even more complications and lawsuits than usual. — Why it matters: This process will likely help Republicans pick up seats in the House in 2022.

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:

Release of intelligence report on Khashoggi killing could push already strained U.S.-Saudi relations to new lows — Facing court cases and its own promises of transparency, the Biden administration is about to release a long-sought U.S. intelligence report concluding that Saudi Crown Prince …

Discussion: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE and Axios

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:

James Murdoch, Who Publicly Broke With Family Over Climate Change, Took $2.2 Million In ‘Personal’ Flights On Corporate Jet — James Murdoch, the son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, took $477,000 in personal flights on his family company's corporate jet in 2018, his last year as CEO of 21st Century Fox, records show.

CNN:

Allegations of shackled students and gang rape inside China's detention camps — Hong Kong (CNN)On the first day of her new teaching job at a Chinese government-run detention center in Xinjiang, Qelbinur Sidik said she saw two soldiers carry a young Uyghur woman out of the building on a stretcher.

Discussion: DFRLab

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Republicans think they've found Biden's big weakness. But there's a problem. — In recent days, Republicans have tried to project confidence that they've found a killer attack line on President Biden: They can use the increasing anger of parents over the failure of schools to reopen to win back the suburban voters they've lost.

Discussion: HotAir and Raw Story

Robby Soave / Reason:

School Board Mocks Parents Who Support Reopening: ‘They Want Their Babysitters Back’ — A northern California school board discussed ways to limit the public's ability to speak at meetings and mocked parents who desperately want schools to reopen. — “They want their babysitters back,” …

Discussion: Power Line, NBC Bay Area, CBS San Francisco and HotAir

Julia Terruso / The Philadelphia Inquirer:

Malcolm Kenyatta is running for Senate in Pennsylvania — Malcolm Kenyatta, a state representative and progressive activist from Philadelphia, officially launched a campaign for U.S. Senate on Thursday, casting himself as a champion of working people who would make history as Pennsylvania's …

Discussion: WHYY

Politico:

Biden privately tells governors: Minimum wage hike likely isn't happening — When Joe Biden met with a group of mayors and governors last week he bluntly told them to get ready for a legislative defeat: his proposed minimum wage hike was unlikely to happen, he said, at least in the near term.

Discussion: Forbes, Townhall and Washington Examiner