memeorandum: Austin: US adds 500 troops in Germany, despite Trump pledge (Robert Burns/Associated Press)

2:45 PM ET, April 13, 2021

Top Items:

Biden will withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021 — President Biden will withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan over the coming months, people familiar with the plans said, completing the military exit by the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 …

CNN:

Biden to announce withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan by September 11 — Washington (CNN)President Joe Biden plans to announce Tuesday a withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan by the upcoming twentieth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, according to three people familiar with the plans.

Discussion: Washington Post, NBC News, CNBC, Al Jazeera, IJR, Associated Press and The Intellectualist

Helene Cooper / New York Times:
Biden to Announce Full Withdrawal of US Troops in Afghanistan by Sept. 11

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, USA Today and The National Interest

Washington Post:

Officer Kim Potter resigns: 26-vet and former union president fatally shot Daunte Wright, police said — The 26-year veteran police officer in Brooklyn Center, Minn. who fatally shot Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old unarmed Black man, has resigned “in the best interest of the community.”

Discussion: ABC News, NBC News, The Hill, Tangle, Washington Examiner, Mother Jones, Forbes, TMZ.com, The Guardian, TheGrio, IJR, Law & Crime, REVOLT and WCCO | CBS Minnesota

Bruce Gordon / Minnesota Department of Public Safety:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — BCA Identifies Officer in Brooklyn Center Shooting Incident — ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) has identified the officer who discharged her firearm during an officer involved shooting incident that occurred on Sunday, April 11, in Brooklyn Center.

Discussion: Star Tribune, Axios, The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner, Insider, Daily Kos, Law & Crime, NBC News, NPR, New York Times, ABC News, Breitbart and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

KSTP-TV:

BCA identifies officer in Daunte Wright shooting — Monday night, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension identified the officer who shot and killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center Sunday. — The BCA identified the long-time veteran of the Brooklyn Center Police Department as Officer Kim Potter.

Discussion: Insider and Raw Story

Rich Lowry / New York Post:

How did it become normal for every police shooting to bring ruinous rioting? — By now, it's a ritual of contemporary American life — a police-involved shooting followed by a riot. — Police in Brooklyn Center, Minn., shot and killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop last weekend …

Discussion: Fox News, RedState, We Love Trump, Chicks On The Right and Louder With Crowder

Reis Thebault / Washington Post:
Brooklyn Center fires city manager, gives mayor control of the police department following fatal shooting

Discussion: Washington Examiner, CBS News, The Daily Beast, National Review, KTLO, The Root and Townhall

Tim Harlow / Star Tribune:
Brooklyn Center mayor takes on oversight of police department, fires city manager

Discussion: Minnesota Reformer, National Review, Fox News, Insider, The Hill, Louder With Crowder, TheBlaze and Vox

Evie Fordham / Fox News:
Rashida Tlaib takes heat for ‘no more policing’ comment after Daunte Wright shooting

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Hill and Twitchy

USA Today:
Police chief and officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright have both resigned, Brooklyn Center mayor says

Discussion: WSVN-TV, The Hill, IJR, REVOLT and KDFX-TV

Brad Polumbo / Washington Examiner:
The response to Daunte Wright's death is only compounding the injustice

Discussion: Washington Post, RedState, New York Post and WCCO | CBS Minnesota

Dan Mangan / CNBC:
Cop Kim Potter resigns after fatally shooting Daunte Wright, police chief also quits

Discussion: WOOD-TV, TheGrio, The Daily Caller and CBS Sacramento

Star Tribune:
Protesters, police clash at Brooklyn Center police station

Discussion: CNN, National Review, Minneapolis Star Tribune, WCCO | CBS Minnesota, Breitbart, New York Times, New York Post, UPI, BizPac Review, The Hill, Al Jazeera and HotAir

New York Times:

U.S. Calls for Pause on Johnson & Johnson Vaccine After Rare Clotting Cases — The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control will stop using the vaccine at federal sites and urge states to do so as well while they examine the safety issues.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
Joint CDC and FDA Statement on Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine

Lissandra Villa / TIME:

John Boehner on His New Book, the Rise of Donald Trump and the Future of the GOP — John Boehner left office months before the biggest political story of the decade played out: Donald Trump won the Republican presidential nomination, became President, and redefined the Republican Party.

Discussion: Insider, The Hill, The Intellectualist, Washington Post, CNN, Mediaite, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, The Week and Crooks and Liars

Steven Shepard / Politico:

Dem pollsters acknowledge ‘major errors’ in 2020 polling — A group of top Democratic Party pollsters are set to release a public statement Tuesday acknowledging “major errors” in their 2020 polling — errors that left party officials stunned by election results that failed to come close to expectations in November.

Discussion: The Hill, NBC News and Althouse

Paul Rossi / Common Sense with Bari Weiss:

I Refuse to Stand By While My Students Are Indoctrinated — Children are afraid to challenge the repressive ideology that rules our school. That's why I am. — I am a teacher at Grace Church High School in Manhattan. Ten years ago, I changed careers when I discovered how rewarding …

Discussion: The Federalist and The College Fix

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Inside Trump's private, revisionist, grievance-laden speech to the RNC — The Trump Show was rekindled privately Saturday night at a Republican National Committee event at the former president's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., with Donald Trump delivering a speech heavy …

Discussion: Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog, Raw Story, The Mahablog and Power Line

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

Will the media ever hold the Trump enablers responsible? — The who's who of the Republican Party, including the 2024 wannabe presidential contenders, ventured out to Mar-a-Lago over the weekend to pay homage to disgraced former president Donald Trump, who instigated a violent insurrection.

Discussion: Raw Story, New York Magazine and The Hill

Jonathan V. Last / The Triad:

Reading the Republican Autopsy — It's real, and it's spectacular. — 1. The Autopsy Is Happening Right Now — In the days after Democrats unseated an incumbent president and won unified control of Congress, the victorious party went though a round of self-analysis and recriminations.

Orlando Sentinel:

Records: Joel Greenberg doled out contracts to politicians, strategists tied to figures in Florida's political scandals — Before he resigned in disgrace last year, Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg doled out dubious contracts to a number of Republican politicians …

Mike Allen / Axios:

Scoop: Trump alumni launch largest post-administration group — A constellation of Trump administration stars today will launch the America First Policy Institute, a 40-person nonprofit group with a first-year budget of $20 million, and the mission of perpetuating former President Trump's populist policies.

James Stavridis / Bloomberg:

Putin Has His Eye on Ukraine. Biden Must Stare Him Down. — Russia is massing troops — reportedly as many as 20,000 — along its border with Ukraine. Is President Vladimir Putin simply testing Washington, seeking leverage to push back on sanctions that are about to be announced …

Discussion: Foreign Policy, Al Jazeera and Washington Post

Aamer Madhani / Associated Press:
Biden raises concerns with Putin about Ukraine confrontation

Discussion: NBC News, CNBC, ABC News, Politico, CNN, Bloomberg, The Hill, Al Jazeera, Los Angeles Times, KDFX-TV, TASS, The Gateway Pundit and Mediaite

Robert Burns / Associated Press:

Austin: US adds 500 troops in Germany, despite Trump pledge — BERLIN (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Tuesday that he is expanding the U.S. military presence in Germany by 500 troops, suggesting he will not carry out a Trump administration order to withdraw thousands of them.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Politico, NPR, Reuters, Al Jazeera and American Military News

New York Times:
US to Increase Military Presence in Germany

Discussion: Reuters, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera and Politico

David Frum / The Atlantic:

Republicans Are Making 4 Key Mistakes — It's not only Georgia. — In every state where Republicans control a chamber of the legislature, bills to restrict voting are advancing fast. Arizona and Texas Republicans have acted especially aggressively to choke off unwanted voters in time for 2022.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Digby's Hullabaloo, Alternet.org, Crooks and Liars and Raw Story

Nicholas Wu / Politico:

GOP edges back from filibuster cliff on hate crimes bill — Democrats say a bipartisan effort is underway to amend their party's anti-hate crime legislation in the Senate — signaling that the GOP could be edging back from its first filibuster opportunity of Joe Biden's presidency.

Discussion: VICE, Washington Post and The Dispatch

Michelle Stoddart / ABC News:
Officer killed in attack lies in honor in Capitol Rotunda

Discussion: Politico, The Gateway Pundit and IJR

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Prosecutors: Oath Keepers appeared to stash Jan. 6 firearms at suburban Comfort Inn — Members of the Oath Keepers, the paramilitary extremists who played a central role in storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, appeared to stash firearms at a Comfort Inn in Arlington, Va., prosecutors indicated in a late Monday court filing.

Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

Eric Felten / RealClearInvestigations:

The Absentee Vote Logic of the New York Times — By making accusations of vote fraud he was not able to prove, both before and after the election, Donald Trump made it easy for his critics to dismiss as dishonest any and all concerns about election integrity.

Discussion: Real Clear Politics and Instapundit

National Review:

Anthony Fauci Has Worn Out His Welcome — More than a year ago, Americans welcomed Anthony Fauci into their homes as a sober scientist who was helping them make sense of a deadly new virus. But he has worn out that welcome. — It's true that Fauci has enjoyed an illustrious career …

Discussion: HotAir, The Daily Caller and New York Post

Jordan Gould / Washington Examiner:

When the social justice mob came for me — Throughout my life, I've always felt like an outsider. My family is Jewish and middle-income from Miami, Florida. Because my parents valued my education, they encouraged me to attend a private high school. I was only able to do this by applying for and receiving financial aid.

Jonathan M. Gitlin / Ars Technica:

France bans air travel that could be done by train in under 2.5 hours — France has a well-developed train network, and the ban only affects five routes. — On Sunday, the French National Assembly voted to ban some short-haul flights in favor of train travel.

The Daily Beast:

Former Navy SEAL Admits He Marched on Capitol on Jan. 6 — He used to serve his country. Then he stood side by side with the Proud Boys as they stormed the the U.S. Capitol grounds. … He's a veteran of SEAL Team 4, a motivational speaker, and a fan of the Proud Boys.

Discussion: Raw Story

Associated Press:

Idaho lawmakers hear pitch to absorb three-fourths of Oregon — BOISE, Idaho — Idaho lawmakers appeared intrigued but skeptical on Monday when pitched a plan to lop off about three-fourths of Oregon and add it to Idaho to create what would become the nation's third-largest state geographically.

Paul Egan / Detroit Free Press:

Michigan's big employers speak out against moves to restrict voting rights — LANSING — Michigan's corporate leaders spoke out strongly Tuesday against GOP-sponsored legislation in the state Legislature that would place new restrictions on voting. — The leaders of three-dozen major …