memeorandum: Democrat Lizzie Pannill Fletcher is about to find out how badly Texas Republicans want her out of Congress (Abby Livingston/The Texas Tribune)

1:00 PM ET, September 24, 2021

Top Items:

Hand count in audit affirms Biden beat Trump, as Maricopa County said in November — Jen Fifield Robert AnglenArizona Republic — A monthslong hand recount of Maricopa County's 2020 vote confirmed that President Joe Biden won and the election was not “stolen” from former President Donald Trump …

New York Times:

Republican Review of Arizona Vote Fails to Show Stolen Election — The much criticized review showed much the same results as in November, with 99 more Biden votes and 261 fewer Trump ones. — PHOENIX — After months of delays and blistering criticism, a review of the 2020 election …

Discussion: Washington Post, CNBC, Insider, The Blue State Conservative, Mediaite, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Outside the Beltway, Forbes, Just An Earth-Bound Misfit, I, Associated Press, IJR, Townhall, Zero Day, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, NBC Bay Area and The Philadelphia Inquirer

Max Greenwood / The Hill:

Trump blames media after Arizona audit finds Biden won — Former President Trump on Friday laid into the news media after a draft report of the 2020 election audit in Arizona reaffirmed President Biden's victory in the state's largest county and showed Trump with fewer votes than previously counted.

Discussion: NPR, Al Jazeera, Arizona Agenda, Mediaite, Raw Story, Joe.My.God., Washington Times, Associated Press, Insider and Right Side Broadcasting …

Stephen Collinson / CNN:
Not even Arizona's sham audit can dispel reality of Trump's election loss

Discussion: CBS News, The Hill, NBC News, Reuters, Washington Post, American Oversight, HotAir, Right Side Broadcasting …, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Missouri Independent, The Guardian, Crooks and Liars, Talking Points Memo, Ace of Spades HQ and Forbes

Neelam Bohra / The Texas Tribune:
Texas secretary of state's office auditing four counties' 2020 elections months after an official called the statewide process “smooth and secure”

Discussion: HotAir, Bloomberg, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, sos.state.tx.us, The Western Journal, Austin American-Statesman, Raw Story, KXAN-TV, Washington Examiner, Washington Times and The Hill

Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:
Texas, Spurred By Trump, Announces Election Audit in 4 Counties

Discussion: Washington Post, HuffPost, Daily Kos, UPI, Joe.My.God., Raw Story, Politico, Insider and The Texas Tribune

Shelley Ross / New York Times:

Chris Cuomo Sexually Harassed Me. I Hope He'll Use His Power to Make Change. — Ms. Ross is a veteran television journalist and former executive producer at ABC and CBS. — I was Chris Cuomo's boss at ABC News nearly two decades ago, and I am a regular viewer of CNN today …

Emily Crane / New York Post:
Chris Cuomo accused of sexually harassing ex-boss Shelley Ross at 2005 party

Discussion: Insider, HotAir and Newsbusters

Politico:

Jan. 6 committee subpoenas 4 from Trump's inner circle — The select panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection is issuing subpoenas to four current and former top aides to President Donald Trump, including his most recent chief of staff Mark Meadows. — The committee issued its first subpoenas …

C. Ryan Barber / Insider:

Meet the Trump lawyer who wanted Pence to overturn the 2020 election — John Eastman authored a memo to convince Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 election. — Known as an unorthodox legal scholar, he retired amid scrutiny of his role in Trump election fights.

Discussion: Reason, Angry Bear and New Republic

Jamelle Bouie / New York Times:

The Jan. 6 Plotters Had a Mob. They Also Had a Plan. — You can understand a revolution as a time when the unthinkable becomes, suddenly, thinkable. It is a time when the rules that ordinarily govern political life lose their force and conflict takes the place of consensus …

Discussion: VICE, Washington Post, Raw Story, The Why Axis and Lawyers, Guns & Money, more at Mediagazer »

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
The White House might give up the goods on what Trump did Jan. 6. What would that mean?

Discussion: Raw Story, Insider and Washington Examiner

CNN:
White House moving to release information on Trump to congressional investigators

Discussion: USA Today, Wall Street Journal, globalnews.ca, The Cook Political Report and Raw Story

Hunter Walker / Rolling Stone:
The Bannon Subpoena Is Just the Beginning. Congress's Jan. 6 Investigation Is Going Big

Discussion: Raw Story, Letters from an American, Angry Bear, Just Security and NPR

Select Committee to Investigate …:
SELECT COMMITTEE SUBPOENAS INDIVIDUALS TIED TO THE FORMER PRESIDENT IN THE DAYS SURROUNDING JANUARY 6TH

Discussion: The American Independent, Crooks and Liars, Raw Story, National Review, Raw Story, HillReporter.com, The Daily Caller, Financial Times, Roll Call, UPI, POLITICUSUSA, TheBlaze, Washington Examiner, HuffPost, The Wrap and Insider

Michael Edison Hayden / Southern Poverty Law Center: Jan. 6 Video Suggests ‘Russia Insider’ Entered Capitol

Natassia Paloma / KTSM-TV:

Photographer behind controversial photos speaks exclusively to KTSM — EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) - The photographer behind images depicting Border Patrol agents on horseback told KTSM things are not exactly what they seem when it comes to the photos. — The photographs, which were taken Sunday …

Discussion: National Review, Washington Examiner, HotAir, ABC News, RedState, Breitbart, The Federalist, The Daily Caller, Townhall, Twitchy, Washington Post and BorderReport

Washington Post:
Facing Black leaders' anger, Biden condemns treatment of Haitians

Discussion: CNN, NBC News, Washington Examiner, Mother Jones, American Greatness, RedState, Sacramento Bee, KION546, Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed News, Associated Press, Washington Times, The Daily Beast and ImmigrationProf Blog

Tara Palmeri / Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: Scoop: Fox to Rudy: You're banned — DRIVING THE DAY — BREAKING OVERNIGHT: The Arizona Republic scooped the results of the Maricopa County “audit” paid for by “Stop the Steal” and DONALD TRUMP allies: It found that Trump lost the key county by a wider margin than the official election results.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, The Hill, The Guardian, POLITICUSUSA, HillReporter.com, Insider, Mediaite, Crooks and Liars, Raw Story, Townhall, Joe.My.God. and Political Wire, more at Mediagazer »

Ryan Bort / Rolling Stone:

Fox News Bans Rudy Giuliani — The network is not allowing the former Trump lawyer on the air for at least three months, a move one of his allies described as “cowering to the far left” — It turns out there's a limit to just how far from reality you can stray and still be welcome on Fox News.

Discussion: HotAir

New York Times:

C.D.C. Chief Overrules Agency Panel and Recommends Pfizer-BioNTech Boosters for Workers at Risk — In a highly unusual decision, the C.D.C. director, Rochelle Walensky, reversed a move by agency advisers and endorsed additional doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for health care workers, teachers and other workers at risk.

Brooke Singman / Fox News:
Biden says he will get COVID-19 booster shot after approval from FDA, CDC boss

Discussion: Politico and Reuters

Bob Herman / Axios:
Other drug companies want to help make the vaccines

Discussion: NBC Chicago, Sun-Sentinel, Poynter and PIX11

Ben Collins / NBC News:

‘Vigilante treatments’: Anti-vaccine groups push people to leave ICUs — Anti-vaccine Facebook groups have a new message for their community members: Don't go to the emergency room, and get your loved ones out of intensive care units. — Consumed by conspiracy theories claiming that doctors …

Robert Kagan / Washington Post:

Our constitutional crisis is already here — “Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation.” — The United States is heading into its greatest political and constitutional crisis since the Civil War, with a reasonable chance over the next three to four years …

Discussion: The Hill, The Signorile Report, Digby's Hullabaloo, Blue Virginia, Homeless on the High Desert, Hackwhackers, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Daily Kos, Raw Story and Vanity Fair

Alex Gangitano / The Hill:

Biden: Negotiations over economic agenda at a ‘stalemate’ — President Biden on Friday acknowledged it is going to take time to pass his economic agenda following meetings with key Democratic lawmakers this week to discuss the bipartisan infrastructure package and the Democrats' $3.5 trillion reconciliation package.

Discussion: CNN

Matthew Continetti / Washington Free Beacon:
Fall Guys — President Joe Biden practically begged a group of moderate Democrats visiting …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Associated Press, CBS News, Daily Kos, CNN, Raw Story, FOX News Radio, Slate, The Federalist, Florida Politics and Political Wire

Tyler Olson / Fox News:

House to vote on landmark abortion rights legislation, as Dems slam Supreme Court for decision on Texas law — Bill virtually certain not to become law due to Senate filibuster — Fox News Flash top headlines for September 24 — Democrats on Friday are set to vote on a bill to guarantee …

Discussion: New York Times, CNBC, ABC News, CNN, Washington Examiner, KION546, Denver Post and MyNorthwest.com

Washington Post:
House passes legislation to create statutory right to abortion as battle over Texas law heats up

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, The Hill, USA Today, The Texas Tribune and Los Angeles Times

Rebecca Shabad / NBC News:
House passes abortion rights bill amid challenges to Roe v. Wade

Discussion: Insider, National Review, The Guardian and NPR

Washington Post:

Rep. Karen Bass plans to announce run for mayor of Los Angeles — Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) is planning to announce that she will run for mayor of Los Angeles in 2022, according to two people with knowledge of the situation, joining a high-stakes race to run the second-most populous city in the country.

Discussion: Politico, The Hill and Los Angeles Times

Khaled Elgindy / Middle East Institute:

No, Iron Dome doesn't save Palestinian lives — The ongoing (and largely overblown) controversy over the decision by congressional progressives to block the inclusion of $1 billion in additional funding for Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system, over and above the $3.8 billion …

Catie Edmondson / New York Times:
House approves $1 billion for the Iron Dome as Democrats feud over Israel.

Discussion: HotAir, Twitchy, Algemeiner.com, Mediaite, New York Post, Breitbart, Why Evolution Is True, Haaretz, BizPac Review and Letters from an American

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

It's Too Early to Consign Joe Biden to the Ash Heap of History — But not too early for Democrats to start panicking. — Is Joe Biden's Presidency actually “dead,” “failed,” and all but “over,” as you have surely heard by now? The Republicans and their conservative allies in the commentariat …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, New York Times, Bloomberg, KION546, Sacramento Bee, HotAir, Townhall and The Week

Hugo Gurdon / Washington Examiner:
White House whoppers

Discussion: Power Line

Burgess Everett / Politico:

McConnell warms to Herschel Walker as primary war with Trump fizzles — Republicans are hand-wringing over former President Donald Trump's hand-picked candidate Herschel Walker entering a critical Senate race. Surprisingly, Mitch McConnell isn't one of them.

Discussion: Washington Post and HuffPost

Scientific American:

Why the Term ‘JEDI’ Is Problematic for Describing Programs That Promote Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion — They're meant to be heroes within the Star Wars universe, but the Jedi are inappropriate symbols for justice work — The acronym “JEDI” has become a popular term …

Discussion: Power Line