Top Items:
John Hudson / Washington Post:
Key impeachment witness Gordon Sondland sues Mike Pompeo and U.S. for $1.8 million in legal fees — President Donald Trump's former ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, is suing former secretary of state Mike Pompeo and the U.S. government for $1.8 million to compensate …
Discussion:
USA Today, NBC News, Raw Story, Balloon Juice and Political Wire
Shawn Boburg / Washington Post:
Commerce Department security unit evolved into counterintelligence-like operation, Washington Post examination found — An obscure security unit tasked with protecting the Commerce Department's officials and facilities has evolved into something more akin to a counterintelligence operation …
Discussion:
The Hill
Craig Mauger / Detroit News:
Whitmer apologizes after photo shows her at bar violating her own order — Lansing — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an apology Sunday after a photo emerged showing her at a restaurant with 12 other people gathered around tables pushed together in violation of her health department's current epidemic order.
Discussion:
The Guardian, National Review, New York Post, Twitchy, The Hill and Breitbart
RELATED:
Washington Post:
E.U. promises swift retaliation after Belarus forces airliner to land and detains dissident — RIGA, Latvia — European leaders on Monday were considering a plan to sever Belarus from the rest of the continent's airspace, a day after Belarusian authorities forced a commercial airliner to land …
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Antony J. Blinken / United States Department of State:
Diversion of Ryanair Flight to Belarus and Arrest of Journalist
Diversion of Ryanair Flight to Belarus and Arrest of Journalist
Liudas Dapkus / Associated Press:
Belarus opposition figure detained when flight diverted
Belarus opposition figure detained when flight diverted
Discussion:
CNN, Washington Post, Reuters, New York Post, Washington Examiner, CBS News, Al Jazeera and KTAR.com
Zach Montellaro / Politico:
They tried to overturn the 2020 election. Now they want to run the next one. — Republicans who sought to undercut or overturn President Joe Biden's election win are launching campaigns to become their states' top election officials next year, alarming local officeholders and opponents …
Discussion:
The Guardian, CNN, Talking Points Memo, Fox News, Mock Paper Scissors, KTAR.com, Daily Kos, Raw Story and Political Wire
Wall Street Journal:
Intelligence on Sick Staff at Wuhan Lab Fuels Debate On Covid-19 Origin — Report says researchers went to hospital in November 2019, shortly before confirmed outbreak; Adds to calls for probe of whether virus escaped lab — WASHINGTON—Three researchers from China's Wuhan Institute …
Discussion:
CNN, Reason, National Review, TheBlaze, HotAir, IJR, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog, Power Line, New York Post, Townhall, Raw Story, NOQ Report, Twitchy, RealClearPolitics, The Daily Caller, RedState and Instapundit
RELATED:
Hunter Walker / The Uprising:
Trump Jokes About ‘Rough’ Treatment Of Press By North Korean Guards
Trump Jokes About ‘Rough’ Treatment Of Press By North Korean Guards
Discussion:
BBC and Foreign Policy
Ben Smith / New York Times:
It's the Media's ‘Mean-Too’ Moment. Stop Yelling and Go to Human Resources. — In public radio, there is either an epidemic of bullying or an epidemic of whining, depending on whom you ask. — For 20 years, the WNYC radio show “On The Media” has been the sort of place where the hosts …
Discussion:
The Wrap, more at Mediagazer »
Matti Friedman / The Atlantic:
The Americanization of the Israeli-Palestinian Debate — Rereading Exodus, the schmaltzy 1958 best seller about Israel that became a Hollywood movie starring Paul Newman, I was surprised by something I hadn't noticed as a teenager. The author, Leon Uris, describes a utopia of brave young pioneers …
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Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
How Joe Biden Can Win a Nobel Peace Prize
Edna Mohamed / The Guardian:
BLM activist Sasha Johnson in critical condition after gunshot to the head — Shooting in Southwark, London came after numerous death threats, says her Taking the Initiative party — The Black Lives Matter activist Sasha Johnson is in a critical condition after sustaining a gunshot wound …
RELATED:
New York Times:
What the Tulsa Race Massacre Destroyed — THE MARQUEE BLOCK — More than 70 businesses operated in mostly one-, two- and three-story red brick buildings clustered along the block. All but a couple were owned by Black entrepreneurs. — In this stretch alone, there were four hotels …
Zak Cheney-Rice / New York Magazine:
His Name in Vain One year later, America is struggling to reform and reimagine the agencies that have been licensed to kill us. — Art: Kevin Claiborne and Photo by Julio Cortez/AP Photo — Most of them don't die. It's easy to mistake the worst outcome for the most urgent crisis …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Associated Press and HuffPost
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Tim Arango / New York Times:
A Year After George Floyd: Pressure to Add Police Amid Rising Crime
A Year After George Floyd: Pressure to Add Police Amid Rising Crime
Discussion:
HotAir
Briana Stewart / ABC News:
Rep. Karen Bass ‘hopeful’ about passing policing reform as negotiations intensify
Rep. Karen Bass ‘hopeful’ about passing policing reform as negotiations intensify
Discussion:
IJR, NBC News and Crooks and Liars
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
The campaign for D.C. statehood just got a big boost — One of the most nettlesome objections to extending congressional representation to the residents of Washington, D.C., is that it requires a constitutional amendment. Many Republicans say this, which is hardly surprising.
Adam Entous / New Yorker:
Are U.S. Officials Under Silent Attack? — The Havana Syndrome first affected spies and diplomats in Cuba. Now it has spread to the White House. — During the final weeks of the Trump Administration, a senior official on the National Security Council sat at his desk …
Discussion:
Insider
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Liz Cheney defends GOP's restrictive voting laws, denies link to Trump lie — Cheney is trying to put Trump's Big Lie about the election in a silo.
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Ryan Leas / Stereogum:
80 Artists Pick Their Favorite Bob Dylan Song For Bob Dylan's 80th Birthday — ULTIMATE PLAYLIST — In the almost 60 years since Bob Dylan released his debut album, countless words have been spilled on his singular legacy. There are books and movies and over half a century's worth …
Mickey Kaus / Kausfiles:
45 + 2022 = 0 — #38: Why the GOP's new Trumpless Tower will collapse — Republicans seem to be coalescing around a delusional midterm strategy: The idea that they can get through the 2022 election while more or less ignoring Trump. Hey, they have all these great issues: Crime! Immigration!
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, The Nation and Althouse
Luke Savage / The Atlantic:
If Democracy Is Dying, Why Are Democrats So Complacent? — If you've followed recent Democratic messaging, you'll have heard that American democracy is under serious attack by the Republican Party, representing an existential threat to the country. If you've followed Democratic lawmaking …
Discussion:
DemCast, Politico and Media Matters for America
Anita Kumar / Politico:
Conservatives have a new target: Biden's IRS plan — Add another obstacle to the growing list President Joe Biden faces in his negotiations over his massive spending plans: mounting opposition to one of the ways to pay for his proposal — growing the IRS. — Conservative groups have launched …
Discussion:
HotAir, The National Interest, Washington Post, Washington Monthly and IJR
Marc Caputo / Politico:
Top MAGA ally under fire for ‘squishiness’ on Trump — During Jane Timken's tenure as Ohio's GOP chair, Donald Trump won the one-time bellwether state by a whopping 8 percentage points. She put 150,000 miles on her car driving to the state's 88 counties as a surrogate for the president.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Brian Steinberg / Variety:
CBS' ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ Will Return to Live Crowds … Stephen Colbert will break free of his coronavirus-imposed restrictions and return to doing CBS' “Late Show” in front of live audiences starting June 14. — Colbert has led 205 episodes of the late-night program without …
Keith Osmun / The Bulwark:
Lame Duck: The End of the Most Gerrymandered District in Ohio — Ohio is losing a seat in Congress, but will it keep Jim Jordan? — Since the 1930s, Ohio's 4th Congressional District has been under Republican control. At R+14, it is arguably the safest Republican district in the country.
Discussion:
Morning Shots
Ashley Parker / Washington Post:
Weightlifting, Gatorade, birthday calls: Inside Biden's day — During a speech in Pittsburgh in March, President Biden held up the index card he keeps in his right breast pocket to track the nation's covid deaths, inadvertently revealing a glimpse of his private schedule on the back side.
Discussion:
Insider
Jeremy Stahl / Slate:
What if the Unorthodox Arizona Audit Declares Trump Won? — Sitting in the press booth at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, several rows above where some two dozen tables of counters were retallying the 2020 presidential votes of the citizens of Maricopa County …
Discussion:
Politico, Talking Points Memo and IJR