memeorandum: A Look Inside Interior (Alexander Sammon/American Prospect)

1:30 PM ET, February 15, 2022

Top Items:

Nomaan Merchant / Associated Press:

US accuses financial website of spreading Russian propaganda — WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. intelligence officials on Tuesday accused a conservative financial news website with a significant American readership of amplifying Kremlin propaganda and alleged five media outlets targeting Ukrainians have taken direction from Russian spies.

Discussion: ZeroHedge News, The Hill, USA Today, The Gateway Pundit and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:

Inside the White House preparations for a Russian invasion — A “Tiger Team” of administration officials has spent the past several months preparing a clear series of responses, gaming out scenarios from cyberattacks and limited intervention to an invasion of Ukraine.

Discussion: NBC News, Muzzle Velocity, Outside the Beltway, The Atlantic, Reuters, USA Today, Vox, Associated Press, eurofieldnotes, Townhall, NBC News, Reuters, Forbes, The Moderate Voice and HotAir

Max Glicker / Miburo:
Russia's Propaganda & Disinformation Ecosystem - 2022 Update & New Disclosures

Discussion: The Hill

Associated Press:
Russia says some forces pulling back amid Ukraine crisis

Discussion: Reuters, The Hill, Defense One, Vanity Fair, euronews, GovExec.com, HotAir, CNN, ABC7, Washington Post and NewsNation Now

Allahpundit / HotAir:
Peace in our time? We're ready to discuss security measures with the U.S. and NATO, says Putin

Discussion: Washington Examiner, USA Today, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, National Review, Al Jazeera, The National Interest, Politico, TASS, Metro.co.uk, Associated Press, NewsNation Now, Bloomberg, New Republic and WTOP News

Washington Post:
Russia says some troops withdrawing from Ukraine's border; NATO chief notes ‘cautious optimism’ but sees no de-escalation yet

Discussion: Financial Times, The Daily Beast, Associated Press, CNBC, New Republic, The Times of Israel, Daily Mail, TASS, The Western Journal, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Agence France-Presse, WTOP News, UPI, Political Wire, Voice of America, The Daily Wire and Politico

New York Times:
Russia Claims Some Troop Pullbacks as Biden Plans to Speak About Crisis

Discussion: New York Magazine and The Hill

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Court Filing Started a Furor in Right-Wing Outlets, but Their Narrative Is Off Track — The latest alarmist claims about spying on Trump appeared to be flawed, but the explanation is byzantine — underlining the challenge for journalists in deciding what merits coverage.

Chuck Ross / Washington Free Beacon:

Biden Had Firm at Center of Trump Hacking Scandal on Campaign Payroll — The Biden campaign paid nearly $20,000 to a cybersecurity firm at the center of Special Counsel John Durham's investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe. — The campaign paid Neustar Information Services …

Discussion: AND Magazine, Raw Story, Instapundit, Twitchy, TheBlaze and RedState

National Review:
Durham's Jaw-Dropping Revelation

Discussion: Mediaite

Tom Winter / NBC News:
Tech exec used access to White House computers to look for dirt on Trump, says special counsel

Discussion: New York Magazine, JONATHAN TURLEY, Washington Examiner, emptywheel, The Federalist, Mediaite, Washington Post, Political Wire, Raw Story, CNN, Meaning In History, IJR, The Daily Caller, Fox News, The Daily Beast, The Hill, Fox News and Burseblades Bits

Kevin Tober / Newsbusters:
Nets Ignore Explosive Report Showing Clinton Spied on Trump

Discussion: New York Post, Fox News, Townhall and Breitbart

Benjamin Weiser / New York Times:

Prince Andrew Settles Sexual Abuse Lawsuit With Virginia Giuffre — Financial terms of the settlement, which was announced in a federal court filing in Manhattan on Tuesday, were not revealed. — Prince Andrew, the disgraced second son of Queen Elizabeth II, has settled a lawsuit brought …

Shayna Jacobs / Washington Post:

Prince Andrew settles with U.S. woman who says she was trafficked to him by Jeffrey Epstein — NEW YORK — Britain's Prince Andrew has settled the sexual abuse lawsuit brought by a woman who said she was trafficked to him by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, a court filing Tuesday revealed.

Discussion: Fox News

BBC:

Prince Andrew settles US civil sex assault case — Prince Andrew has settled a civil sexual assault case brought against him in the US by Virginia Giuffre, court documents show. — Ms Giuffre had been suing the Duke of York, claiming he sexually assaulted her on three occasions when she was 17, allegations he has repeatedly denied.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Agence France-Presse, The Daily Caller, Deadline, Variety and The Daily Wire

Andrew Wolfson / Courier-Journal:

Activist Quintez Brown named in attempted shooting of Louisville mayor candidate Greenberg — A Louisville activist has been identified as a suspect in Monday's attempted shooting of mayoral candidate Craig Greenberg. — Quintez Brown, 21, was charged with attempted murder and four counts …

Discussion: WDRB, WLKY-TV, HotAir, Twitchy, The Hill, Washington Examiner, The Guardian, Fox News, The Daily Caller, WAVE-TV, Associated Press, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Wire, Yahoo News, WTOP News, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Raw Story and Insider

Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:
Gun Control Activist Attempts to Shoot Louisville Mayoral Candidate

Discussion: Twitchy and Courier-Journal

Aaron Katersky / ABC News:

Sandy Hook families settle with Remington marking 1st time gun maker is held liable for mass shooting — Twenty first-graders and six staff members were killed in the 2012 massacre. — Remington Arms agreed Tuesday to settle liability claims from the families of five adults and four children killed …

Discussion: NBC News, New York Post and IJR

New York Times:
Settlement Reached With Gun Maker in Sandy Hook Massacre

Discussion: CNBC, The Daily Beast, Wall Street Journal, UPI and Rolling Stone

Toronto Sun:

Trudeau has gone too far — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's unjustified invoking of the Emergencies Act is deeply problematic and will have long-lasting consequences for the country. — STORY CONTINUES BELOW — This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Rachel Aiello / CTV News:
The Emergencies Act has been enacted. Here's what that means

Discussion: Alexander COVID News …, LifeSite, The Daily Caller and Politico

Toronto Star:
Invoking the Emergencies Act is a shocking admission of failure

Discussion: Politico, CTV News, Fox News, Commentary Magazine, MyNorthwest.com, Financial Times, CBC News, New York Times, One America News Network and Insider

Reuters:

School boards get death threats amid rage over race, gender, mask policies — Local school officials across the United States are being inundated with threats of violence and other hostile messages from anonymous harassers nationwide, fueled by anger over culture-war issues.

Discussion: Christopher Six's Pick Six

Reid Wilson / The Hill:

Florida Gov. DeSantis leads Dem challengers: poll — Four years after winning election by the narrowest of margins, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) leads his three most likely Democratic challengers in advance of November's midterm elections, a new poll finds.

Discussion: Breitbart, National Review and Florida Phoenix

Renzo Downey / Florida Politics:
Mason-Dixon poll shows Ron DeSantis with healthy lead over Democratic opponents

Discussion: HotAir, Greensburg Tribune-Review and CBS Miami

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Peter Thiel backs conservative dating app The Right Stuff — Peter Thiel is injecting $1.5 million into a seed round for a new conservative dating app called “The Right Stuff,” a source familiar with the funding tells Axios. — The big picture: Conservatives have been aggressively building their own apps …

Discussion: Insider, Raw Story, New York Magazine and No More Mister Nice Blog

Jeff Cox / CNBC:

Wholesale prices rise 1% in January, up near-record 9.7% over the past year — The producer price index, which measures wholesale prices, rose 1% in January and 9.7% for the 12-month period, the latter just off the record high. — Core PPI rose 0.9%. Both increases were at least double the Wall Street estimate.

Discussion: CNN, Washington Free Beacon, HotAir, MarketWatch, National Review, FXStreet and The Daily Caller

Will Bunch / The Philadelphia Inquirer:

Top Oath Keeper reveals a key secret of Jan. 6 — Do you ever feel like everything is on ice? Like when it's time for pitchers and catchers to report for spring training, except the billionaires have locked them out. Or when the great James Harden is ready to finally win the 76ers an NBA title, but his hamstring isn't.

Russell Berman / The Atlantic:

Republicans Discover the Horror of Gerrymandering — The wails of protest began almost immediately after the lopsided votes concluded in the New York legislature earlier this month. Lawmakers in Albany had redrawn the state's congressional map to create what instantly became perhaps the nation's most brutal gerrymander.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon and Politico

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

What the GOP meant when it called Jan. 6 ‘legitimate political discourse’ — The Republican National Committee's attempt to unwind the controversy over its characterization of Jan. 6, 2021, as “legitimate political discourse” may have given investigators of the Capitol riot an underappreciated piece of the puzzle they're assembling.

Discussion: Raw Story and Financial Times

Catherine Rampell / Washington Post:

Are Republicans hiding their agenda — or do they not know what it is? — Didn't expect to say this, but: Maybe Republicans should start listening to Sen. Lindsey O. Graham. — Asked about Donald Trump's role in the midterm elections on ABC's “This Week” on Sunday, the South Carolina Republican said …

Discussion: The Bulwark, Vanity Fair and HotAir

Josh Israel / The American Independent:

Josh Hawley accused of lying about origin of his ‘Made in USA’ Jan. 6 mugs — GOP Rep. Billy Long says he found evidence suggesting Hawley's $20 coffee mugs were actually ‘Made in China.’ — Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) is one of the Senate's most vocal critics of China and of the United States' imports of Chinese goods.

Discussion: Raw Story, Insider, Rolling Stone, The Mind Shield, The Hill and VICE

John Wagner / Washington Post:

Rep. Kathleen Rice won't seek reelection, becoming 30th House Democrat to leave after current term — Rice has represented New York's 4th Congressional District since 2015 — Rep. Kathleen Rice (N.Y.) said Tuesday that she would not seek reelection, becoming the 30th House Democrat …

Discussion: NBC News, Washington Examiner, Axios, The Hill and CNN

Ariana Eunjung Cha / Washington Post:

Chris Crouch was anti-vaccine. Now his pregnant wife had covid, and he faced a terrible choice. … KINGWOOD, Tex. — Chris Crouch had had low expectations for online dating. He was a police officer in his 30s, almost a year out from a painful divorce, and, he said, the women he had met had been …

Alexander Sammon / American Prospect:

A Look Inside Interior — Biden appointed Native Americans to top jobs at the Cabinet agency, but so far the Interior Department's policies have been business as usual. — President Joe Biden greets Interior Secretary Deb Haaland prior to delivering remarks on restoring protections for national monuments …

Vinay Prasad / Tablet Magazine:

How the CDC Abandoned Science — Mass youth hospitalizations, COVID-induced diabetes, and other myths from the brave new world of science as political propaganda — The main federal agency guiding America's pandemic policy is the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, which sets widely adopted policies …

Discussion: ABC11 and Cracked Bowl

Detroit News:

Michigan State Police raid home of ex-Speaker Chatfield's top staffers … Spokespeople for Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and the state police declined to provide information about what was happening at the home of Rob and Anne Minard. But Shanon Banner of the state police said the agency …

Discussion: Raw Story

Amol Rajan / BBC:

Novak Djokovic: I'm not anti-vax but will sacrifice trophies if told to get jab — Novak Djokovic has said he would rather miss out on future tennis trophies than be forced to get a Covid vaccine. — Speaking exclusively to the BBC, he said he should not be associated with the anti-vax movement …

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, Fox News, NPR, National Review, The Daily Wire, Defector, The Daily Caller, Insider, TMZ.com, Summit News, Page Array, The Guardian and LifeSite

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

The Jolt: Kemp stuns with Clarence Thomas protege for state Supreme Court — The word of Gov. Brian Kemp's surprise decision to tap a new Georgia Supreme Court justice had the legal community buzzing hours before he announced Tuesday.Typically, when a sitting justice steps down, there's a lengthy process before a replacement is picked.