memeorandum: EXCLUSIVE: Jan. 6 Protest Organizers Say They Participated in ‘Dozens’ of Planning Meetings With Members of Congress and White House Staff (Hunter Walker/Rolling Stone)

11:20 AM ET, October 25, 2021

Top Items:

Hunter Walker / Rolling Stone:

EXCLUSIVE: Jan. 6 Protest Organizers Say They Participated in ‘Dozens’ of Planning Meetings With Members of Congress and White House Staff — As the House investigation into the Jan. 6 attack heats up, some of the planners of the pro-Trump rallies that took place in Washington, D.C. …

Washington Post:

The case against Mark Zuckerberg: Insiders say Facebook's CEO chose growth over safety … Late last year, Mark Zuckerberg faced a choice: Comply with demands from Vietnam's ruling Communist Party to censor anti-government dissidents or risk getting knocked offline in one of Facebook's most lucrative Asian markets.

Discussion: Insider, Bloomberg, The Verge, Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, Forbes, TechCrunch, Raw Story, Telegraph, The Guardian, Wired and Power Line, more at Mediagazer »

Ben Smith / New York Times:

How Frances Haugen Became a Power Player in the Facebook Leaks — In a time of mega-leaks, journalists' sources have become power players. Frances Haugen, the former Facebook product manager who shared company documents, led a meticulous media rollout. — Frances Haugen first met Jeff Horwitz …

Discussion: New York Post, UPI and CoinDesk, more at Mediagazer »

Adrienne LaFrance / The Atlantic:

‘History Will Not Judge Us Kindly’ — Before I tell you what happened at exactly 2:28 p.m. on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, at the White House—and how it elicited a very specific reaction, some 2,400 miles away, in Menlo Park, California—you need to remember the mayhem of that day …

Discussion: New York Post, Politico, Joe.My.God., Financial Times and CNN, more at Techmeme »

Mike Isaac / New York Times:

Facebook Debates What to Do With Its Like and Share Buttons — Likes and shares made the social media site what it is. Now, company documents show, it's struggling to deal with their effects. — SAN FRANCISCO — In 2019, Facebook researchers began a new study of one of the social network's foundational features: the Like button.

Discussion: Wired and Politico, more at Techmeme »

Cristiano Lima / Washington Post:

A whistleblower's power: Key takeaways from the Facebook Papers … A personal decision by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg leads to a crackdown on dissent in Vietnam. Measures to suppress hateful, deceptive content are lifted after the American presidential election in 2020 …

Discussion: The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Ellen Cushing / The Atlantic:

How Facebook Failed the World — In the fall of 2019, Facebook launched a massive effort to combat the use of its platforms for human trafficking. Working around the clock, its employees searched Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram for keywords and hashtags that promoted domestic servitude in the Middle East and elsewhere.

more at Techmeme »

Lauren Feiner / CNBC:
Facebook shares under pressure following release of leaked whistleblower documents

Discussion: CNN, TechCrunch, Raw Story and Mediaite, more at Techmeme »

Eliza Mackintosh / CNN:
Facebook knew it was being used to incite violence in Ethiopia. It did little to stop the spread, documents show

Discussion: New York Post, Washington Times and RedState

Associated Press:

AP source: Manchin agreeable to wealth tax for Biden plan — WASHINGTON (AP) — Pivotal Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin appears to be on board with White House proposals for new taxes on billionaires and certain corporations to help pay for President Joe Biden's scaled-back social services and climate change package.

Discussion: HotAir, NBC News, Insider, Reuters, New York Times, Associated Press, Joe.My.God., NBC Bay Area, WPTA21 and Bloomberg

Jonathan Allen / NBC News:

What drives Sinema? A different view of politics — Analysis: Democrats can't pass the ‘Build Back Better’ agenda in spite of the Arizona senator. They have to work with her. — WASHINGTON — Democrats in Washington and across the country have been wondering the same thing for months …

Discussion: HotAir, Sacramento Bee and WTOP

Politico:

What's still in the Dem megabill? Cheat sheet on 12 big topics — Democrats are making big sacrifices to slash the price tag of their social spending bill from $3.5 trillion to roughly $2 trillion as they close in on a deal that can satisfy both the party's moderate and progressive factions.

Discussion: Axios, Bloomberg, The Hill, CBS News and RedState

John Lucas / The Federalist:

How The Rachel Levine ‘Four-Star Admiral’ Photo-Op Will Damage U.S. Security — While maneuvering his Third Army to relieve Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, Gen. George Patton would have been outranked by ‘first transgender admiral’ Rachel Levine. — To great public fanfare …

Discussion: Insider

Ivana Saric / Axios:
Twitter suspends Rep. Jim Banks for misgendering transgender four-star officer

Discussion: CBS News, New York Post, HuffPost, RedState, NBC News, UPI, WPTA21 and New York Magazine

ProPublica:

“The Liberty Way”: How Liberty University Discourages and Dismisses Students' Reports of Sexual Assaults — Note: This story includes descriptions of sexual violence and attempted suicide. — When Elizabeth Axley first told Liberty University officials she had been raped, she was confident they'd do the right thing.

Discussion: New York Post

Katherine Huggins / Mediaite:

Trump Blasts Fox News For Supposedly Airing ‘Untruthful Anti-Trump Commercials’ — Former President Donald Trump blasted Fox News on Sunday, claiming the network “continually allow[s] horrible and untruthful anti-Trump commercials to be run.” — “What good is it if FOX News speaks …

Discussion: HotAir, BizPac Review and Joe.My.God.

Sarah Mucha / Axios:

McAuliffe pivots to schools — In the closing weeks of their closely watched Virginia gubernatorial race, Terry McAuliffe is going after Glenn Youngkin on unlikely ground — public education — as he tries to reverse the Republican's surprisingly strong challenge.

Discussion: HotAir, New Republic, Townhall, York News-Times, ABC News, Washington Times and Washington Post

Brent Buchanan / Cygnal:
Cygnal Poll: YOUNGKIN TIED; GENERIC REPUBLICAN +1

Discussion: The Hill, RedState, Breitbart and Political Wire

Tom Burt / Microsoft On the Issues:

New activity from Russian actor Nobelium — Tom Burt - Corporate Vice President, Customer Security & Trust — Today, we're sharing the latest activity we've observed from the Russian nation-state actor Nobelium. This is the same actor behind the cyberattacks targeting SolarWinds customers …

Discussion: Fox News, Wall Street Journal, Protocol, Associated Press, Microsoft Security Blog, New York Post, CyberScoop, The Daily Caller, Al Jazeera, WPTA21 and Defense One, more at Techmeme »

David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Ignoring Sanctions, Russia Renews Broad Cybersurveillance Operation

Discussion: Insider, Forbes, Human Events, Raw Story and Joe.My.God.

Natalie Allison / Politico:

Disgraced former governor is recast as MAGA warrior in Senate bid — Missouri's open Senate race features a crowded cast of conservative characters. There's the self-described “farm girl,” the auctioneer on a bus tour, a state attorney general suing China, and the guy who stood on his lawn and pointed an AR-15 at protesters.

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Raw Story

Jack Newman / Daily Mail:

Conservative pundit Candace Owens attacks Alec Baldwin over accidental shooting calling it ‘poetic justice’ for his previous criticism of Donald Trump — Owens said Baldwin spent four years painting Trump and his fans as ‘murderers’ — The actor portrayed the president on SNL and repeatedly slammed his politics

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Christina Zhao / Newsweek:

Cowboys for Trump Founder Turns on Trump in Conference Speech Over Capitol Riot Charges — Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin, who is facing charges in connection with the U.S. Capitol riot, has turned on the former president in a conference speech for abandoning January 6 rioters and failing to deliver on a campaign promise.

Discussion: Raw Story and IJR

Jerry Zremski / Buffalo News:

Real? Absolutely. Resilient? You bet. But some wonder: Is India Walton ready? — In South Buffalo on a recent Saturday evening, India B. Walton, all 4 feet, 11 inches of her, filled a tent with her passion and her presence - and kept the first promise of her campaign slogan.

Mitch Hotts / Macomb Daily:

Macomb County GOP on board with Trump election conspiracy theory — Party says ex-president won election by ‘wide margin’ in endorsing two state candidates — The Macomb County Republican Party is on-board with former President Donald Trump's assertions that 2020 presidential election …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Bryn Stole / Baltimore Sun:

U.S. Rep. Anthony G. Brown launching campaign for Maryland attorney general — U.S. Rep. Anthony G. Brown, a Prince George's County Democrat and former lieutenant governor, will run for attorney general of Maryland next year. — Brown, 59, is the first major Democratic candidate to jump …

Discussion: The Hill, The Daily Caller and Maryland Matters

Scott Pelley / CBS News:

Former Saudi official calls Mohammed bin Salman a “psychopath,” says Saudi crown prince fears what he knows — Saad Aljabri was number two in Saudi intelligence until, he says, Mohammed bin Salman forced him out. Now, MBS is Saudi Arabia's crown prince, and Aljabri is in exile.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Guardian, Insider and Bloomberg

Washington Post:

Inside PhRMA's fight to kill Democrats' drug pricing plan — Good morning, Early Birds. Please share your suggestions for what Theo should make with the dozens and dozens of apples he picked the other weekend — and also your tips! And if you have to choose between sending a recipe …

Discussion: Jacobin, Politico and Common Dreams

Albert Hunt / The Hill:

Republican spin on Biden is off the mark — The Republican spin about Joe Biden's presidency has taken hold: He ran as a centrist who'd promulgate bipartisan, moderate policies and appointments, but instead, they say, he's governing as a partisan left-winger, with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) …

Discussion: CNN

Heidi Przybyla / NBC News:

Biden administration to announce plan for accelerating authorization of at-home Covid tests — The Biden administration on Monday will announce several steps aimed at making rapid, at-home Covid testing more widely available while lowering costs, according to details shared with NBC News.

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, Reuters and HuffPost

Tami Luhby / CNN:

Lower premiums, more choices on Obamacare exchanges for 2022 as Democrats battle to extend generous subsidies — (CNN)Consumers shopping for health coverage on the federal Affordable Care Act exchanges can likely find lower premiums and more choices for 2022 — as well as generous government assistance …

Cathy Young / The Bulwark:

What Cancel Culture Is—and Isn't — Don't underestimate the chilling effect. — (PHOTOS: SHUTTERSTOCK) — Not a day goes by, it seems, without another “cancel culture” story: the backlash against Dave Chapelle's new Netflix standup special from transgender activists …

Boris Epshteyn / Newsweek:

Biden Administration Plans to Kill America's Energy Sector — The progressive environmental Left, led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and other Green New Deal radicals, seems poised to suffer a significant defeat at the hands of its own party. — According to recent reports …

BBC:

Sudan's military dissolves civilian government and arrests leaders — Sudan's military has dissolved civilian rule, arrested political leaders and declared a state of emergency. — Gen Abdel Fattah Burhan, who had been heading a joint council with civilian leaders, blamed political infighting.

Fatma Khaled / Newsweek:

Ron DeSantis Planning $5K Bonus for Unvaccinated Police to Relocate to Florida — Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said on Sunday that he is hoping to sign legislation that would give unvaccinated police officers a $5,000 bonus to relocate to his state.