Top Items:
New York Times:
Biden Administration to Impose Tough Sanctions on Russia — Administration officials were determined to draft a response that would impose real costs on Moscow, as many previous rounds of sanctions have been shrugged off. — WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is set to announce …
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The Daily Beast:
U.S. Intel Walks Back Claim Russians Put Bounties on American Troops — It was a huge election-time story that prompted cries of treason. But according to a newly disclosed assessment, Donald Trump might have been right to call it a “hoax.” — It was a blockbuster story about Russia's return …
Discussion:
New York Times and Al Jazeera
The White House:
FACT SHEET: Imposing Costs for Harmful Foreign Activities by the Russian Government
FACT SHEET: Imposing Costs for Harmful Foreign Activities by the Russian Government
Discussion:
Axios, U.S. Department …, The Hill, Insider, American Military News, Breaking Defense, TheBlaze, Рос …, New York Times and РБК, more at Techmeme »
Bloomberg:
Biden Imposes Sanctions on Russia, Restricts Buying New Debt
Biden Imposes Sanctions on Russia, Restricts Buying New Debt
Discussion:
Washington Post, CNN, KDFX-TV, The Sun, Insider, The Guardian, Raw Story, NPR, New York Post and The Week
Politico:
Biden sanctions Russia, expels diplomats over election interference
Biden sanctions Russia, expels diplomats over election interference
Discussion:
ABC News, Associated Press, National Review, Reuters, IJR and The Daily Caller
Sahil Kapur / NBC News:
Democrats to introduce bill to expand Supreme Court from 9 to 13 justices — WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats will introduce legislation Thursday to expand the Supreme Court from nine to 13 justices, alongside progressive activists pushing to transform the high court.
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Kate Riga / Talking Points Memo:
‘Frankly, I Think Everyone Is Baffled’: Searching For Clues In SCOTUS' Abortion Silence
‘Frankly, I Think Everyone Is Baffled’: Searching For Clues In SCOTUS' Abortion Silence
Discussion:
Fox News, RedState, Page Array, Arkansas Online, No More Mister Nice Blog, Politico and Washington Free Beacon
Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill:
Pelosi rips McConnell in new book: He's an ‘enabler of some of the worst stuff’
Pelosi rips McConnell in new book: He's an ‘enabler of some of the worst stuff’
Discussion:
IJR, POLITICUSUSA, The American Independent and Mediaite
Jess Bravin / Wall Street Journal:
Democratic Lawmakers to Present Plan to Expand Supreme Court
Democratic Lawmakers to Present Plan to Expand Supreme Court
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Guardian, National Review, Politico, HotAir and Washington Times
Ryan Grim / The Intercept:
House and Senate Democrats Plan Bill to Add Four Justices to Supreme Court
House and Senate Democrats Plan Bill to Add Four Justices to Supreme Court
Tyler Olson / Fox News:
Republicans slam ‘assault’ on Supreme Court by Dems' court-packing bill, say move will help GOP in elections
Republicans slam ‘assault’ on Supreme Court by Dems' court-packing bill, say move will help GOP in elections
Discussion:
RedState, Talking Points Memo, American Military News, We Love Trump, 77 WABC and Breitbart
Ian Millhiser / Vox:
A new bill would add 4 seats to the Supreme Court
A new bill would add 4 seats to the Supreme Court
Discussion:
ABC News, CBS News, Boston Herald, Crooks and Liars and WRIC-TV
U.S. Department of the Treasury:
Treasury Escalates Sanctions Against the Russian Government's Attempts to Influence U.S. Elections — WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took sweeping action against 16 entities and 16 individuals who attempted to influence …
Discussion:
emptywheel, UPI, The Verge, Washington Times and Meduza.io
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Zachary Basu / Axios:
U.S. says Manafort associate passed sensitive polling data to Russian intelligence — The U.S. government has sanctioned Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian-Ukrainian political consultant indicted in the Mueller investigation in 2018, for carrying out election influence operations on behalf of Russian intelligence services.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Josh Kovensky / Talking Points Memo:
New Sanctions On Manafort Deputy Suggest Deeper Role Of Russian Intel In 2016
New Sanctions On Manafort Deputy Suggest Deeper Role Of Russian Intel In 2016
Discussion:
Election Law Blog
Robin Bravender / Insider:
We spoke with 21 of Matt Gaetz's high-school classmates. Some say they could have predicted the congressman's sex scandal. — Some of Matt Gaetz's former classmates spoke exclusively with Insider about his high school days. — Gaetz, now 38, had a reputation as a know-it-all who talked over his classmates and teachers.
Discussion:
HillReporter.com, HotAir and Raw Story
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The Daily Beast:
Matt Gaetz's Wingman Paid Dozens of Young Women—and a 17-Year-Old — VEN-UH-OH … Venmo payment records reveal a vast network of young women received money from Rep. Matt Gaetz's associate, the accused sex trafficker Joel Greenberg. — As new details emerge about Rep. Matt Gaetz's role …
Discussion:
Mediaite, HuffPost, Talking Points Memo, HotAir, Insider, The Week, Florida Politics, Raw Story, Fortune, The Wrap, Mic, The Intellectualist and IJR
Benjamin Din / Politico:
Rep. Matt Gaetz announces ad buy to ‘fight back’ against CNN, allegations
Rep. Matt Gaetz announces ad buy to ‘fight back’ against CNN, allegations
Discussion:
Insider, Mock Paper Scissors, The Hill, Forbes, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story and Florida Politics
Kathy Frankovic / YouGov:
Decision to pause Johnson & Johnson vaccine causes public confidence in vaccine to sink — Economist/YouGov Poll Politics & current affairs — Fieldwork for the latest Economist/YouGov poll on vaccine safety perceptions was in the midst of being conducted when the Centers for Disease Control …
Discussion:
CNN, Political Wire, The Blue State Conservative, CBS News and Washington Post
RELATED:
Miles Parks / NPR:
The Most Popular J&J Vaccine Story On Facebook? A Conspiracy Theorist Posted It — CNN. ABC News. The New York Times. Fox News. — Those are the publishers of four of the five most popular Facebook posts of articles about the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine this week.
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Media Matters for America and HotAir, more at Mediagazer »
The Cook Political Report:
Introducing the 2021 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index — The Cook Political Report is pleased to introduce the post-2020 edition of the Partisan Voter Index (PVI) for all 50 states and 435 congressional districts. Although these district boundaries won't be in place …
Discussion:
Political Wire
Robbie Whelan / Wall Street Journal:
CDC Identifies Small Group of Covid-19 Infections Among Fully Vaccinated Patients — Incidence is rare, occurring in only 0.008% of cases and in line with expectations — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified a small cohort of approximately 5,800 cases …
Discussion:
Mediaite and Political Wire
Christopher Mathias / HuffPost:
Tucker Carlson Is Giving ‘Red Pills’ To Millions. White Nationalists Are Thrilled. — After the Fox News host doubled down on the “great replacement” conspiracy theory, white nationalists were excited at what it could mean for their movement. — After Fox News host Tucker Carlson doubled …
Discussion:
Washington Post, New Republic, The Intellectualist and Townhall
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Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:
Tucker Carlson villainizes journalists on his top-rated show. Then the threats pour in.
Tucker Carlson villainizes journalists on his top-rated show. Then the threats pour in.
Discussion:
Mediaite
Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
Biden Finally Got to Say No to the Generals — Critics be damned, the President is ending the Forever War waged by Bush, Obama, and Trump in Afghanistan. — On Wednesday, Joe Biden announced the close of the two-decade-long American war in Afghanistan, giving the U.S. military a deadline …
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Dan Primack / Axios:
J.D. Vance tells associates he plans to run for Senate in Ohio — J.D. Vance, venture capitalist and author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” has told friends and colleagues that he plans to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Axios has learned from multiple sources.
Washington Post:
17 requests for backup in 78 minutes — A reconstruction shows how failures of planning and preparation left police at the Capitol severely disadvantaged on Jan. 6 — At 1:13 p.m. on Jan. 6, a D.C. police commander facing a swelling crowd of protesters on the west side of the U.S. Capitol …
Jaclyn Peiser / Washington Post:
Accused Capitol rioter planned an escape to Switzerland, prosecutors said. Now he'll stay in jail. — When Jeffrey Sabol returned to his Colorado home after allegedly storming the U.S. Capitol and assaulting two police officers on Jan. 6, he fried his electronic devices in the microwave …
Philip Wegmann / Real Clear Politics:
Christie to GOP Study Group: Call Biden Out as ‘a Liar’ — Republicans are bloodied and beaten, and maybe just a little too bashful for their own good. At least, so says Chris Christie. — Knocked back on their heels and forced to answer for every outrageous thing Donald Trump did …
Discussion:
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Politico, Vox and Mediaite
April Ryan / TheGrio:
Vice President Kamala Harris weighs in on gun vs. Taser debate in Daunte Wright shooting — EXCLUSIVE: In an exclusive interview with theGrio, VP Kamala Harris calls for “full accountability” in the Chauvin case and said Wright “should still be alive today.” — Loading the player...
Discussion:
Snopes.com
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Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Warnock off to a fast fundraising start for 2022 Senate re-election race — U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock has hardly slowed his torrid fundraising pace since his narrow January runoff victory. — The Democrat's campaign said Thursday he raised more than $5.7 million from more than 101,000 …
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Susan Page / Politico:
Inside Nancy Pelosi's War With AOC and the Squad — Adapted from Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power, to be published by Twelve Books on April 20. — “Nancy doesn't have much patience for people who don't know what they don't know.” — That was what a senior congressional …
Discussion:
CNN, Insider, IJR and National Review
Washington Free Beacon:
Kristen Clarke, Bigot and Liar — Having sworn to answer all questions truthfully, in an appearance Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, President Joe Biden's nominee to lead the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division offered a series of answers that strained credulity and veered into outright falsehood.
Discussion:
National Review, C-SPAN.org, Daily Kos and Slate
Sarah Chaney Cambon / Wall Street Journal:
Jobless Claims Fell to a New Pandemic Low Last Week — Applications for unemployment benefits have declined this year but are still historically high — Unemployment claims declined to the lowest level since the pandemic struck last spring, adding to signs the U.S. economic revival is picking up speed.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and The Week
Josh Feldman / Mediaite:
‘YOU SON OF A B*TCH!’ Geraldo Rivera, Dan Bongino Get in Shouting Match Over Police, Protests — Geraldo Rivera and Dan Bongino faced off for a second time this week on Sean Hannity's show and ended up getting into an even bigger shouting match over policing.
Discussion:
New York Post, RedState, HillReporter.com, The Daily Caller, The Wrap, Washington Examiner, The Daily Beast and Insider
Kimmy Yam / NBC News:
Macaulay Culkin's past comments and how white parents might ‘other’ their multiracial children — As fans celebrate the birth of Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song's son, comments Culkin made in a past podcast interview are drawing criticism among Asian Americans.