memeorandum: MyPillow Sues Dominion Voting Systems in Federal Court in Minnesota (Alexa Corse/Wall Street Journal)

7:30 PM ET, April 19, 2021

Top Items:

Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who engaged rioters, suffered two strokes and died of natural causes, officials say — Capitol Police officer Brian D. Sicknick suffered two strokes and died of natural causes a day after he confronted rioters at the Jan. 6 insurrection, the District's chief medical examiner has ruled.

United States Capitol Police:
Medical Examiner Finds USCP Officer Brian Sicknick Died of Natural Causes

Discussion: RedState and Must Read Alaska

Gerren Keith Gaynor / TheGrio:

Maxine Waters slams GOP attacks over ‘confrontational’ comment: ‘I am nonviolent’ — Exclusive: In an interview with theGrio, California US Rep. Maxine Waters accuses Republicans of distorting her words, adding “I'm not going to be bullied by them.” — Loading the player...

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, Washington Examiner, CNN, Crooks and Liars, Talking Points Memo, HotAir, Digby's Hullabaloo, RedState, IJR, Vanity Fair, Law & Crime, Raw Story, WISH-TV, Breitbart, Deadline, Mediaite, Washington Post, Newsweek, The Guardian, MSNBC, Yahoo News and Fox News

Matthew Boyle / Breitbart:

Exclusive - Kevin McCarthy Moves to Formally Censure Maxine Waters for Having ‘Broke the Law,’ ‘Incited Violence’ — House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy told Breitbart News exclusively that he will move to formally censure House Financial Services Committee chairwoman Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) …

Discussion: The Hill, RedState, HotAir, TheGrio, Mediaite and Human Events

Brooke Singman / Fox News:
Pelosi says Waters shouldn't apologize for ‘confrontational’ remark, claims she wasn't inciting violence

Discussion: National Review, Washington Times, TheBlaze, IJR and The Hill

Orlando Sentinel:

Florida Gov. DeSantis signs controversial ‘anti-riot’ bill into law — Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Florida's controversial “anti-riot” bill into law on Monday, a measure that vastly increases law enforcement's powers to crack down on civil unrest. — The bill, which passed mostly along partisan lines …

Discussion: Florida Phoenix, HuffPost, The Hill, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Breitbart, National Review, The Intellectualist, Crooks and Liars and Townhall

Greg Allen / NPR:

Florida Adopts Nation's Toughest Restrictions On Protests — Florida's Governor has signed a law that he called the “strongest anti-rioting, pro-law enforcement measure in the country.” The law was written in response to protests around the country last summer following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Kelly McLaughlin / Insider:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs ‘anti-riot’ bill that grants civil immunity to drivers who hit protesters and protects police budgets from being cut

Discussion: WJXT-TV, WTXL-TV, WFLA-TV, Washington Examiner, TheGrio, UPI, TheBlaze, Breitbart and The Daily Caller

Jason Murdock / Newsweek:

Mike Lindell's Platform Frank Fails to Launch Again, ‘Massive Attack’ Blamed — MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell's new social media platform failed to launch for the second time in a week, with users unable to sign up on Monday. — On Friday last week, followers of the Donald Trump-supporting businessman …

Discussion: HuffPost, Raw Story and Crooks and Liars

Alexa Corse / Wall Street Journal:

MyPillow Sues Dominion Voting Systems in Federal Court in Minnesota — The voting-machine maker sued MyPillow and CEO Mike Lindell in February for defamation over election-fraud claims — MyPillow Inc. sued voting-machine maker Dominion Voting Systems on Monday, a counter move after Dominion sued …

Discussion: Insider, Crooks and Liars, Washington Examiner, Forbes, POLITICUSUSA, CNBC and Digby's Hullabaloo

The Daily Beast:
MyPillow CEO Recruits First Amendment Heavy Hitters to Fight Dominion

Discussion: Washington Times and Raw Story

Daniel Lippman / Politico:

William Barr, Amy Coney Barrett land book deals — While some veterans of Donald Trump's administration are having a tough time selling memoirs about their time in power, others with ties to Trump who didn't embrace his election conspiracy theories have sold book deals.

Discussion: The Guardian, New York Magazine, The Hill, Reason, Vanity Fair, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Washington Examiner, Insider, Mock Paper Scissors, No More Mister Nice Blog and Althouse

John Fritze / USA Today:
Supreme Court passes on Second Amendment cases challenging lifetime gun ownership ban

Discussion: Raw Story

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

Irrational Covid Fears — Why do so many vaccinated people remain fearful? Listen to the professor's story. — Guido Calabresi, a federal judge and Yale law professor, invented a little fable that he has been telling law students for more than three decades.

Discussion: Power Line

Jesse McKinley / New York Times:

Cuomo Faces Inquiry Over Use of State Resources for Pandemic Book — The New York State attorney general has opened an investigation into whether Gov. Andrew Cuomo acted improperly while writing his book about the pandemic. — ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York State attorney general has opened …

Discussion: Politico, Insider, Washington Examiner, Gothamist, CNN, Forbes, WHDH-TV, RedState and The Week

Nate Cohn / New York Times:

How Democracy Faces a Rising Threat Splitting Republicans and Democrats — The country is increasingly split into camps that don't just disagree on policy and politics — they see the other as alien, immoral, a threat. Such political sectarianism is now on the march.

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo

Washington Post:

Howard University's removal of classics is a spiritual catastrophe — Cornel West is a professor of the practice of public philosophy at Harvard University and serves on the board of academic advisers of the Classic Learning Test. Jeremy Tate is the founder and chief executive officer of the Classic Learning Test.

Spectrum News NY1:

Exclusive: Andrew Yang leads Democrats in Spectrum News NY1/Ipsos poll on mayor's race — For the past few months, Andrew Yang has been treated as the frontrunner in the mayor's race by both the media and his fellow candidates, despite the fact there had been few reliable polls in the race.

Discussion: New York Times, New York Magazine and Political Wire

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
There is an important difference between a celebrity candidate and a candidate who is a celebrity

Discussion: Fox News, Politico and RedState

Nathaniel Meyersohn / CNN:

Trump wants you to boycott Coke. His properties are still serving it — New York (CNN Business)Over the past few years former President Donald Trump has called for boycotts against a number of companies, so it's hardly unusual to see him add Coca-Cola, Delta and other corporate giants …

Rick Scott / Fox Business:

Sen. Rick Scott: Dear Woke Corporate America, beware of the backlash that's coming — It turns out that power does corrupt, and you have become corrupt — Larry Kudlow examines corporate giants appeal to the ‘woke’ mob — I hope you are all having fun with your virtue signaling.

Discussion: RedState, Talking Points Memo, Washington Examiner, Occupy Democrats, Roll Call, Florida Politics and The Hill

Maria Sacchetti / Washington Post:

ICE, CBP to stop using ‘illegal alien’ and ‘assimilation’ under new Biden administration order — The Biden administration has ordered U.S. immigration enforcement agencies to stop using terms such as “alien,” “illegal alien” and “assimilation” when referring to immigrants in the United States …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Associated Press, CNN, RedState, NPR, ImmigrationProf Blog, HotAir, The Hill, Fox News, The Daily Caller, IJR, CBS News, National Review, New York Post, Talking Points Memo, Twitchy and Political Wire

Michael Isikoff / Yahoo News:

Report: China, Russia fueling QAnon conspiracy theories — Foreign-based actors, principally in China and Russia, are spreading online disinformation rooted in QAnon conspiracy theories, fueling a movement that has become a mounting domestic terrorism threat, according to new analysis of online propaganda by a security firm.

Discussion: CNN

Newsbusters:

STUDY: Once Top Trump-Bashers, TV News Now Loves Joe Biden — Text to Speech — For four years, the liberal media led the Left's fierce resistance to the Trump administration, slamming the President night after night after night. Now, a new study by the Media Research Center finds …

Discussion: National Review, Breitbart and The Federalist

CNN:

Kimberly Guilfoyle joins Eric Greitens' US Senate campaign in Missouri — (CNN)Missouri Senate candidate Eric Greitens announced Monday that Kimberly Guilfoyle, a top official on former President Donald Trump's 2020 campaign, will serve as the national chair of his Senate bid.

Discussion: The Hill, New York Magazine and The Intellectualist

Quint Forgey / Politico:
Kimberly Guilfoyle joins Greitens' Senate campaign as national chair

Discussion: Eric Greitens for U.S. Senate, Washington Examiner, Mock Paper Scissors, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

Taffy Brodesser-Akner / New York Times:

The Essential Philip Roth — Looking to read one of his books? Let us help. — Probably you cannot accurately measure a writer — or any person — until the moment after his death. A life can stretch out in front of you, but until it's over, you don't know how the beginning truly informed the end …

Evie Fordham / Fox News:

Manchin to cosponsor PRO Act, union-backed bill that would crush right-to-work laws — West Virginia passed right-to-work legislation in 2016 — Eric Shawn: Sen. Joe Manchin, making Senators mad...or glad? — Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., will co-sponsor the Senate version of House Democrats' PRO Act …

Discussion: Bloomberg, National Review and National Press Club

Jennifer Maloney / Wall Street Journal:

Biden Administration Considering Rule to Cut Nicotine in Cigarettes — Policy could be paired with proposal to ban menthols; FDA must decide whether to pursue menthol ban by April 29 — The Biden administration is considering requiring tobacco companies to reduce the nicotine levels …

Discussion: Insider and Political Wire

Associated Press:

Prosecutor: FedEx shooter never had ‘red flag’ hearing for seized gun — INDIANAPOLIS — A former FedEx employee who shot and killed eight people at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis never appeared before a judge for a hearing under Indiana's “red flag” law, even after his mother called police …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Indianapolis Star, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, WISH-TV, WOOD-TV and New York Post

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Why the GOP is fretting about its inability to define Biden — For the better part of a year now, Republicans have tried and largely failed to define Joe Biden — or even just to make people dislike him. And with his 100th day as president approaching, they're admitting as much.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Raw Story, Progress Pond, Digby's Hullabaloo, The Dispatch and The American Independent

Akela Lacy / The Intercept:

Elizabeth Warren Suggests U.S. Explore Conditional Aid to Israel … At today's meeting of the annual J Street conference, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., suggested that the U.S. consider conditional aid to Israel. — “I support military assistance to Israel,” said Warren's planned remarks …

Jason Samenow / Washington Post:

White House removes scientist picked by Trump official to lead key climate report — Betsy Weatherhead, chosen to steer government's National Climate Assessment, has been reassigned to U.S. Geological Survey — White House officials have removed Betsy Weatherhead, an experienced atmospheric …

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, Talking Points Memo and The Week

Peter King / The Hill:

What the statistics show about police shootings and public safety — Whatever the verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin for the killing of George Floyd, that case — and the tragedy of another death, this time of 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop …

Marc Elias / Democracy Docket:

Consent of the Governed — Seven million more Americans voted for Joe Biden than Donald Trump. Yet Republicans filed more than sixty lawsuits to have Trump declared the winner. Even when those failed, 140 Republican Members of Congress voted to reject the results.

Discussion: The Hill, Roll Call, USA Today, Michigan Advance, prairieweather.typepad.com, Washington Post, Defense One and Washington Examiner

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

The latest GOP efforts to bury Trump's insurrection call for a tougher response — The prospects for a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection are looking increasingly grim. Republicans are pretending they have substantive objections to the makeup of the committee …

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo, Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

Laura K. Field / Niskanen Center:

The Highbrow Conspiracism of the New Intellectual Right: A Sampling From the Trump Years — One of the strongest temptations of the Trump era has been to assume that Republican support for Trump was fundamentally limited to fringe groups and the economically disadvantaged …

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:

Tyrannosaurs likely hunted in packs rather than heading out solo, scientists find — The new discovery in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument could provide Biden with ammunition to restore the Utah site's boundaries — Tyrannosaurs probably hunted in packs, scientists announced Monday …

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic:

Are Outdoor Mask Mandates Still Necessary? — Last week, I covered my nose and mouth with close-fitting fabric like a good citizen and walked to a restaurant in Washington, D.C., where I de-masked at a patio table to greet a friend. I sat with my chair facing the entrance and watched dozens …

Discussion: New Republic, HotAir and The Week

Nicholas Rowan / Washington Examiner:

Supreme Court skeptical of allowing temporary immigrants to apply for green cards — The Supreme Court on Monday showed skepticism about allowing temporary immigrants protected from deportation to apply for green cards. — The case's outcome could affect more than 400,000 noncitizens …

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, WHDH-TV, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, Fox News, Law & Crime and Immigration Reform Law …

Associated Press:

Feds weighing how to respond after verdict in Chauvin trial — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is privately weighing how to handle the upcoming verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, including considering whether President Joe Biden should address …

Discussion: Star Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times