memeorandum: Abrams camp rejects ‘false rumors’ about her no-show at Biden event (Greg Bluestein/Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

8:10 AM ET, January 13, 2022

Top Items:

Barack Obama / USA Today:

Former President Barack Obama: We need to follow John Lewis' example and fight for our democracy — “The world, and future generations, will be watching,” Obama writes as he calls on Senate to “do the right thing” and pass legislation to protect voting rights. — Barack ObamaSpecial to USA TODAY

Alayna Treene / Axios:

Schumer finds loophole to advance elections reform package — Democratic leaders have found a mechanism to enable them to bypass an initial Republican filibuster and debate the party's sweeping elections reform bills, according to a new leadership memo obtained by Axios.

Discussion: Washington Post, To Port of Court, Ineptocracy Chronicles, The Hill, Raw Story, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Roll Call, NPR, The American Independent, HotAir and Politico

Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Abrams camp rejects ‘false rumors’ about her no-show at Biden event — Stacey Abrams' campaign slammed the “false rumors” about her decision to skip President Joe Biden's voting rights event in Atlanta and called on anonymous operatives to stop spreading inaccuracies about the Georgia Democrat.

Discussion: Althouse, CNN, The Hill, Fox News and Washington Examiner

Caroline Vakil / The Hill:

Durbin says Biden may have gone ‘a little too far’ in Georgia speech — Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said Wednesday that President Biden may have gone “a little too far” with his rhetoric during a speech in Georgia the previous day advocating voting rights legislation.

Discussion: The American Spectator, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, New York Post, Daily Kos, Breitbart, Wall Street Journal, CNN, U.S. Senator John Thune, The Daily Wire and The Intercept

Washington Post:
How pollsters say Democrats should talk about voting rights

Discussion: New York Magazine, Washington Examiner, The Hill, ABC News, The Daily Beast, Politico, Voice of America, New Republic, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Raw Story, Reuters, Erick Erickson's Confessions …, One America News Network, Pennsylvania Capital-Star, The Moderate Voice, Opinion Today and New York Times

ABC News:
McConnell blasts Biden's voting rights speech as ‘rage and false hysteria’

Alec Dent / The Dispatch:
Fact Checking Joe Biden's Speech on Voting Rights Legislation

Discussion: Breitbart, The American Independent and USA Today

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Democrats Plan to Fast-Track Voting Rights Bill, Speeding a Showdown

Discussion: NBC News, Daily Kos, The Hill, PBS NewsHour, The Liberty Loft, Hobbservation Point, Fox News, Associated Press, WTOP News and U.S. Senator John Thune

Luke Broadwater / New York Times:

Kevin McCarthy Refuses Interview Request From Jan. 6 Committee — The panel said it was interested in conversations the top House Republican had with President Donald J. Trump on the day of the riot and afterward. — WASHINGTON — The House select committee scrutinizing the Jan. 6 attack …

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: Biden and Manchin come face to face — DRIVING THE DAY — Typically presidents head to Capitol Hill to put a final squeeze on lawmakers on the cusp of passing major legislation. Today, JOE BIDEN will make the trek up Pennsylvania Avenue for yet another sales pitch that's doomed for failure.

Discussion: CNN, Supercreator, Common Dreams and Law & Liberty, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:

Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany met with January 6 committee, sources say — (CNN)Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Wednesday appeared before the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, two sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.

Discussion: CBS News, Raw Story, Washington Examiner, Mediaite, Political Wire and POLITICUSUSA

Meridith McGraw / Politico:

Trump is eyeing the White House and wants a more compliant Senate for when he gets there — The former president still is angry that key agenda items got stymied in the chamber. He doesn't want that to happen again. — As Donald Trump charts out his midterm elections strategy …

Discussion: CNN and Raw Story

Lee Moran / HuffPost:
‘Spineless’ Lindsey Graham Ridiculed For Latest Show Of Subservience To Donald Trump

Discussion: The Hill, HillReporter.com and Insider

House Republican Leader:
Leader McCarthy's Statement about Pelosi's Illegitimate Select Committee

Discussion: Insider, Breitbart, Fox News, Raw Story, New York Post, Washington Post, National Review, Washington Examiner, NPR, Townhall, TheBlaze and Politico

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Jan. 6 committee broaches witness tampering and Trump

Discussion: CBS News, Raw Story, Associated Press, Insider, Forbes and Bloomberg

Washington Post:

Omicron waves appear to slow in New York City, other major metropolitan areas … The explosion of omicron cases along the Interstate 95 corridor from the Mid-Atlantic to New England is showing signs of slowing down, according to health officials and epidemiologists, offering reason …

Discussion: Reuters, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Associated Press

David Bauder / Associated Press:
Omicron wave prompts media to rethink which data to report

Discussion: Poynter, The Gateway Pundit, Twitchy, HotAir and Breitbart, more at Mediagazer »

Jan Ransom / New York Times:

A Look Inside Rikers: ‘Fight Night’ and Gang Rule, Captured on Video — Videos obtained by The New York Times reveal scenes of violence as the Department of Correction struggles to restore order in the jail system. — The men had gotten along on Rikers Island, had even been friendly …

The Columbus Dispatch:

Redistricting: Ohio Supreme Court strikes down state House and Senate maps — Jessie Balmert Laura A. BischoffThe Columbus Dispatch — The Ohio Supreme Court struck down GOP-drawn state House and Senate maps as unconstitutional gerrymandering in a 4-3 decision Wednesday …

Discussion: Sabato's Crystal Ball, The Hill, USA Today and Associated Press

U.S. Rep. Trey Hollingsworth / The Herald-Times:
Rep. Trey Hollingsworth won't run for reelection in Indiana's 9th district. Here's why.

Discussion: Daily Kos, CNN, Roll Call, Washington Post, Political Wire, The Hill, The Herald-Times and Truthout

Washington Post:

Democrats worry Biden could pay the political price for rising inflation — President Biden and his advisers for months predicted inflation would be only transitory, a temporary problem that would fade as the economy rebounded and as supply chain issues were alleviated.

Discussion: New York Post, The Hill, Roll Call and Politico

Steven Nelson / New York Post:
Biden says he is ‘making progress’ on still-rising inflation

Discussion: Full Stack Economics, Marketplace, RedState and Deseret News

John Stoehr / The Editorial Board:

We suspected that rightwing politics caused mass injury and death. A new book proves it — When partisanship subsumes everything, people die. Period. … The Republicans are sabotaging the country's full recovery from the covid pandemic. They don't think so, though.

Tyler Rogoway / The Drive:

Incoming North Korean Missile Warning Prompted FAA's Mysterious Air Traffic Halt — Two days after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a highly peculiar ground-stop order to aircraft operating across the western United States and Hawaii, and after the release of a remarkably murky official statement …

Discussion: The Western Journal

Peter White / Deadline:

Olivia Nuzzi Developing Pitch-Black Satirical DC Drama At AMC — EXCLUSIVE: Olivia Nuzzi, the Washington correspondent for New York magazine who wrote some of the wildest stories about President Donald Trump during his four years in office, is turning her attention to television.

more at Mediagazer »

Quinnipiac University Poll:

Political Instability Not U.S. Adversaries, Seen As Bigger Threat, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Nearly 6 In 10 Think Nation's Democracy Is In Danger Of Collapse — mail_outline — In a sharply divided country, Americans agree on this: the bigger danger to the United States comes from within.

The Intercept:

House Republicans Release Text of Redacted Fauci Emails on Covid Origins … On Tuesday, Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform released a letter that paints a damning picture of U.S. government officials wrestling with whether the novel coronavirus may have leaked …

Discussion: spiked, HotAir, Ace of Spades HQ and New York Post

Associated Press:

German court: Syrian man guilty of crimes against humanity — KOBLENZ, Germany (AP) — A former Syrian secret police officer was convicted by a German court Thursday of crimes against humanity for overseeing the abuse of detainees at a jail near Damascus a decade ago.

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, UPI, NPR, The New Daily, Madrid's Newsletter, Reuters, Amnesty International, Al Jazeera and New York Times

The Daily Caller:

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Ron Johnson Demands Details Of DOD Investigation Into COVID-19 Origins — Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson is requesting information about a Department of Defense investigation into the origins of COVID-19, following the recent republication of a report written …

The Citizen Lab:

Extensive Hacking of Media & Civil Society in El Salvador with Pegasus Spyware — Key Findings — The Citizen Lab and Access Now have conducted a joint investigation into Pegasus hacking in El Salvador in collaboration with Frontline Defenders, SocialTIC, and Fundación Acceso.

Discussion: Washington Post, Amnesty International, Wired and Committee to Protect …, more at Mediagazer »

David Edwards / Raw Story:

Mike Lindell says he has ‘enough evidence’ to put ‘300 million’ Americans in jail for election fraud — MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell argued this week that “300 million” Americans belong in jail for election fraud. — Lindell's remarks on Real America's Voice were first reported by Right Wing Watch.

Discussion: Daily Kos and HuffPost

Stuart Rothenberg / Roll Call:

Don't rule out a GOP Senate wave — ANALYSIS — As usual, Democrats are fighting among themselves — this time about what to do with the Senate filibuster. — Most would like to simply eliminate it, but that is not going to happen in a 50-50 Senate that includes Sens. Joe Manchin III …

Discussion: Military Times, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Two Cents Worth, RedState, GovExec.com, Voice of America, Reason, The American Independent, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, HotAir, CNN and Insider

Jessica Grose / New York Times:

I See Signs of Despair From Parents of Kids Under 5 — I've been talking to parents about pandemic stress for nearly two years, and I haven't heard the level of despair that I've heard over the past week since the spring of 2020. Some of the words parents used to describe their January 2022 …

Discussion: Pandemic Mama

Kanoko Matsuyama / Bloomberg:

Cannabis Compounds Prevented Covid Infection in Laboratory Study — Cannabis compounds prevented the virus that causes Covid-19 from penetrating healthy human cells, according to a laboratory study published in the Journal of Nature Products. — The two compounds commonly found in hemp …

Discussion: New York Times, HillReporter.com, WFRV Local 5, TheBlaze, Orlando Sentinel, Metro.co.uk, KNWA FOX24 and Twitchy

Tiffini Theisen / Orlando Sentinel:

Florida State Board of Administration official killed in apparent road-rage shootout — A spokesman for Florida's State Board of Administration was shot and killed in an apparent road-rage incident last week near Tallahassee, according to law enforcement and news reports.

Discussion: WCTV and Tallahassee Democrat

Daniel Chang / El American:

Florida Democrats Make Baseless Claims Blaming Hispanic GOP Strategist for January 6 Riot — Florida Democrats, who have been suffering a string of devastating electoral losses since 2012, found a new culprit for the January 6 Capitol Riots. It is not Alex Jones, not the QAnon shaman nor the resuscitated corpse of George Wallace.

Scott Merzbach / Daily Hampshire Gazette:

Amherst residents voice support for moratorium on large-scale solar projects … AMHERST — A temporary moratorium on developing large-scale, ground-mounted solar projects, defined as ones that generate at least 250 kilowatts of power, is winning support from residents.