memeorandum: Grassley And Johnson Request More Information From Justice Department About Special Counsel Mueller Team's Missing Phones (Senator Chuck Grassley)

7:40 AM ET, July 16, 2021

Top Items:

State Senate to seek more election material from Maricopa County; door-to-door questioning recommended — Andrew Oxford Mary Jo PitzlArizona Republic — Senate President Karen Fann said the Legislature needs more materials and data from Maricopa County for an unprecedented and controversial review …

Discussion: The Daily Signal, Arizona Mirror and Mock Paper Scissors

Democracy Docket:

Court Denies Republican Request to Dismiss Arizona Audit Case — WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Thursday, the Arizona Superior Court in Maricopa County denied the state Senate's request to dismiss a case seeking records of the Republican-led ‘audit’ of the 2020 election.

Howard Fischer Capitol / Arizona Daily Star:
Arizona election audit reports ‘inconsistencies’; judge rules records must be public

Discussion: KTAR.com and Washington Examiner

Kira Davis / RedState:
Here's What the Arizona Audit Is Really All About

Discussion: RealClearPolitics

Jaci / American Oversight:
Court Rejects Arizona Senate's Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit for Records from Sham Election ‘Audit’

Discussion: Arizona Republic, Arizona Mirror, Forbes, Washington Examiner and Politico

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

“You're Gonna Have a Fucking War”: Mark Milley's Fight to Stop Trump from Striking Iran — Inside the extraordinary final-days conflict between the former President and his chairman of the Joint Chiefs. — The last time that General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, U.S. Department of Defense, The Times of Israel and HotAir

Tara Palmeri / Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: Caitlyn Jenner's reality TV campaign — DRIVING THE DAY — PARLIAMENTARY GAMES — A pair of stories up from CNN and POLITICO spotlight Democrats' upcoming gambit to back-door immigration reform through the reconciliation process — Senate parliamentarian be damned.

Discussion: Bloomberg, NBC News, Los Angeles Times, The Dispatch and Grist

Jonathan V. Last / The Triad:
Ross Douthat's Populist Dream World

Discussion: Military Times, Salon and New Republic

Matt Lewis / The Daily Beast:

Kevin McCarthy Rolls Over for Donald Trump, Like a Dog — HEEL … The meeting itself, at Trump's golf course, of course, was a show of dominance from the party's real leader to its House “leader.” — So Kevin McCarthy met with Donald Trump ("Much to discuss!), and I'm struggling to come …

Discussion: Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA and Washington Times

Sarah K. Burris / Raw Story:
Mark Meadows desperately begged ‘stable pony’ Ivanka to convince Trump to stop Jan. 6 insurrection: book

Discussion: Washington Post, Mercury News, Insider and Daily Kos

Dwight Garner / New York Times: Two Accounts of Donald Trump's Final Year in Office, One More Vivid and Apt Than the Other

Charlotte Alter / TIME:

Talking With Tucker Carlson, the Most Powerful Conservative in America — On a Thursday afternoon in June, five months after Inauguration Day, I asked Tucker Carlson whether Joe Biden was the legitimately elected President of the United States. — This was halfway through a meandering phone conversation …

Discussion: Poynter, Power Line, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Post, UPROXX, Raw Story, Insider, The Hill, Mediaite, TVNewser and Crooks and Liars

Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:

MAGA World's ‘Freedom Phone’ Actually Budget Chinese Phone — MAGA Influencers are pushing a phone preloaded with apps like Parler and Rumble that appears to be a vastly more expensive version of a phone made in China. — The pro-Trump internet went wild on Wednesday for the Freedom Phone …

Discussion: UPROXX and Raw Story

Steve Contorno / Tampa Bay Times:

Matt Gaetz hired legal firm used by Jeffrey Epstein and El Chapo, campaign report shows — Gaetz's campaign has spent $135,000 on legal expenses in the past year as his troubles have mounted. — Updated Just now — With his legal troubles still looming over him, U.S …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

Isaac Stanley-Becker / Washington Post:
Matt Gaetz's campaign paid $25,000 to lawyer who represented Jeffrey Epstein

Discussion: Breaking News USA

Robin Bravender / Insider:
Matt Gaetz's campaign paid $25K to a Manhattan criminal defense lawyer who represented Jeffrey Epstein, new records show

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Raw Story

Luke Money / Los Angeles Times:

L.A. County will require masks indoors amid alarming rise in coronavirus cases — Just a month ago, Los Angeles County and the rest of California celebrated a long-awaited reopening, marking the tremendous progress made in the battle against COVID-19 by lifting virtually all restrictions on businesses and other public spaces.

Discussion: KTLA, SacCounty News, ABC7, New York Magazine, HotAir, Courthouse News Service, Politico, Townhall, The Hill, Insider, Breitbart and Forbes

Jose Pagliery / The Daily Beast:

Explosive Interview Directly Implicates Trump in Tax Scheme — As investigators look into a scheme at the Trump Organization to avoid paying taxes on employee benefits, one witness has set the scene to show Trump was involved. — A witness in the New York investigation against the Trump Organization …

Discussion: Raw Story

Ryan J. Reilly / HuffPost:

'I'm Here, Mom!': FBI Arrests Man Who Wore Roman Gladiator Costume To Capitol Riot — Nathan Wayne Entrekin was talking to his mother during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. — Nathan Wayne Entrekin, a man who wore a Roman gladiator costume to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot in support …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Insider, Raw Story and Crooks and Liars

Rob Tannenbaum / Los Angeles Times:

'The screen door slams, Mary's dress...' waves? Sways? An investigation into The Boss' mystery verb — The internet doesn't seem to know the correct lyrics to Bruce Springsteen's “Thunder Road.” It's possible Springsteen doesn't know either. — The latest niche Twitter controversy began on July 3 …

New York Times:

Cuomo to Be Questioned in Sexual Harassment Inquiry — Gov. Andrew Cuomo is expected to face investigators on Saturday in a sign that the attorney general's inquiry may be nearing its final stages. — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is expected to be questioned on Saturday by investigators …

Discussion: Forbes, NBC News, RochesterFirst, Associated Press, New York Post, New York Magazine, National Review, Washington Examiner, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Sputnik News, Mediaite, NBC New York, KRDO, Breitbart, CBS New York and WIVB-TV

Bill Mahoney / Politico:
Report: Cuomo to be deposed by AG's investigators on Saturday

Discussion: Washington Post and New York Post

Melissa Eddy / New York Times:

Floods in Germany and Other Parts of Western Europe Leave at Least 45 Dead — Strong rains caused rivers to burst their banks, overloaded sewage systems and washed away buildings in Germany and Belgium. Homes and streets in the Netherlands and Switzerland also flooded.

Discussion: CNN, Insider and NPR

Senator Chuck Grassley:

Grassley And Johnson Request More Information From Justice Department About Special Counsel Mueller Team's Missing Phones — WASHINGTON - Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) are asking the Justice Department for more information and records after learning that the department …

Discussion: Washington Examiner and The Federalist

Michael Luciano / Mediaite:

Fox News Guest Says Kamala Harris Slept Her Way to the Top: 'She Started Out Her Political Career as Willie Brown's Bratwurst Bun' — On Thursday, Jesse Kelly said on Fox News that “Kamala Harris will do anything to get ahead,” including sleeping around. — In the early 1990s …

Orlando Sentinel:

Windermere police officer arrested in Capitol riot along with ex-Apopka cop son — A Windermere Police Department officer resigned and was arrested Thursday on charges that he participated in the January riot at the U.S. Capitol — the first member of Central Florida law enforcement to face charges in the attempted insurrection.

Discussion: Raw Story and Florida Politics

ABC News:

Biden's big bets on government grow: The Note — He needs people to see the federal government as a force for good. — If it's true that if you break it then you own it, does it necessarily follow that you own what you build? — President Joe Biden has cast his presidency in bold terms …

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Politico

Kenneth Chang / New York Times:

Jeff Bezos Picks 18-Year-Old Dutch Student for Blue Origin Rocket Launch — Oliver Daemen will fly to the edge of space after another passenger who paid $28 million for the seat had a scheduling conflict. — Someone paid $28 million to not go to space with Jeff Bezos next week.

Discussion: CNBC, The Atlantic, UPROXX, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, KRDO, GeekWire and One America News Network

Joseph Simonson / Washington Free Beacon:

Biden Admin to Border Agents: Prepare for the Flood — Docs say 1,200 migrant families expected to be processed each day — The Biden administration is telling immigration agents to prepare to process hundreds of thousands of migrant families and asylum claims as the White House moves …

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Politico

The Citizen Lab:

Another Mercenary Spyware Vendor Comes into Focus — Summary — Candiru is a secretive Israel-based company that sells spyware exclusively to governments. Reportedly, their spyware can infect and monitor iPhones, Androids, Macs, PCs, and cloud accounts.

Discussion: Microsoft On the Issues, Associated Press, Financial Times, Bloomberg and Washington Post, more at Techmeme »

Mississippi Free Press:

Young Black Activists Helped Change The State Flag. They Intend To Change The State. — Maisie Brown has heard people argue that removing an emblem of the Confederacy from Mississippi's state flag meant little—that, in a state still rife with systemic racism, it was nothing more than a symbolic change with no substance.

Jeremy Beaman / Washington Examiner:

Sailor becomes first woman to complete Naval Special Warfare training — A sailor in the U.S. Navy made history this week by becoming the first woman to complete the service's rigorous, monthslong training for prospective Naval Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewmen.

Discussion: Associated Press, Fox News and TheBlaze

Philip Klein / National Review:

Jen Psaki Just Escalated the Conservative War with Big Tech — Whether or not she intended to, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has escalated the conservative war with Big Tech. — During the Thursday press briefing, Psaki said regarding COVID-19 messaging that “we're flagging problematic posts …

Discussion: Townhall and Patterico's Pontifications

Max Hauptman / Washington Post:

Alabama military base is first in the U.S. to require vaccination proof amid rising covid-19 rates — An Alabama military base is taking increased actions to combat the ongoing prevalence of coronavirus infections, authorizing leaders to ask for proof of vaccination of service members not wearing a mask while on duty.

Discussion: Children's Health Defense, The Western Journal, New York Times and NOQ Report