memeorandum: Emboldened GOP looks to expand midterm battleground map (Tal Axelrod/The Hill)

7:10 AM ET, February 23, 2022

Top Items:

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

Biden lowers the hammer on Russia, just as he vowed — You could feel President Biden's indignation as he announced on Tuesday that he would make good on his vow to enact crippling sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. — “Who in the Lord's name does [Russian President Vladimir] …

Discussion: NBC News, The Guardian, The Dispatch, New York Post, CNBC, Breitbart, TheBlaze, PREVAIL, Political Wire, UPI, New York Times, OFAC, The Bulwark, Task & Purpose and Washington Post

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: GOP pans Biden's first taste of sanctions — DRIVING THE DAY — OVERNIGHT — NYT: “Australia, Canada and Japan said they would impose sanctions over the Ukraine crisis as more American allies add to efforts to punish Russia and its president.”

Discussion: Washington Post and Florida Politics

Wall Street Journal:

In Ukraine Crisis, Putin Confounded Diplomatic Efforts by Western Leaders — A parade of Western officials sought to stop Putin from attacking Ukraine, but they found a leader whose position only hardened — in Moscow, Noemie Bisserbe in Paris and Bojan Pancevski

Discussion: Washington Post, The Bulwark, The Guardian, The Times of Israel and Washington Examiner

Politico:

Biden's Putin reading list — Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. — There is no world leader JOE BIDEN has likely spent more time thinking about than VLADIMIR PUTIN. — While GEORGE W. BUSH initially found Putin …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, New York Times, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, Washington Post and Mother Jones

Reuters:

U.S.' Blinken cancels meeting with Lavrov, says Russian moves are ‘rejection of diplomacy’ … U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday he had canceled a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov planned for Thursday after Moscow's recognition of two separatist regions in Ukraine as independent entities.

Discussion: TASS and KyivPost

U.S. Department of the Treasury:
U.S. Treasury Imposes Immediate Economic Costs in Response to Actions in the Donetsk and Luhansk Regions

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, NPR, The White House, RedState, The Daily Caller, Бло …, New Republic, National Review and The Guardian

Jonathan V. Last / The Triad:
Reality Is a Tank — Vladimir Putin has been clear-eyed about the world. We're the ones who lost touch with reality.

Discussion: New York Times, Overtime, Politico, The Sword and the Sandwich and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Shaun Walker / The Guardian:
‘There is a clear plan of action’: east Ukraine readies for invasion

Discussion: Providence, Wall Street Journal and New Republic

The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show:

Full Interview: President Trump with C&B from Mar-a-Lago — CLAY: We are live from the majestic Mar-a-Lago estate with 45 himself, President Donald Trump, and I'll bring you right in, sir, 'cause I know our audience loves to hear from you. Buck and I have been walking around this estate.

Discussion: New York Times, HuffPost, Silent Partner, NPR, POLITICUSUSA, Insider, Metro.co.uk, Washington Examiner, Vanity Fair, The Daily Wire, Balloon Juice and Washington Post

Michael Wilner / Kansas City Star:
Only one former secretary of state is praising Putin and criticizing Biden in Ukraine crisis

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, Raw Story and Fox News

NBC News:
Trump praises Putin's ‘genius’ as GOP fissures grow on Ukraine crisis

Kansas City Star:
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley appeases Russia on Ukraine

Discussion: HuffPost, The Gateway Pundit, NBC News, POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

Paul Kane / Washington Post:
On Ukraine, Republicans are united on criticizing Biden, but not on how to counter Russian threat

Discussion: RedState, CNN, Newsbusters and Metro.co.uk

Beverley McLachlin / Globe and Mail:

The Ottawa truck convoy has revealed the ugly side of freedom … Beverley McLachlin is a former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and served as Chief Justice from 2000 to 2017. — During the truck convoy protests, we have watched banners demanding “freedom” waving over big rigs parked in front of Parliament.

Discussion: Twitchy and TheBlaze

Marisa Schultz / Fox News:
Pelosi says she's monitoring the freedom trucker convoy heading to DC ‘very closely’

Discussion: Military Times, HotAir and Breitbart

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Fighting Jan. 6 committee, John Eastman details how he came into Trump's post-election fold — Attorney John Eastman, a key ally in Donald Trump's bid to subvert the 2020 election, says he began advising Trump two months before Election Day, when a prominent conservative attorney recruited him to …

Discussion: Raw Story

Matina Stevis-Gridneff / New York Times:

Condemns the ‘Beginning of a Russian Invasion of Ukraine’ — Washington and its allies called the Kremlin's recognition of two separatist regions a blunt defiance of international law that risks war. Western officials said Russian troops have entered eastern Ukraine.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Los Angeles Times, Deseret News, Fox News, Raw Story, The Guardian, Responsible Statecraft, Townhall, PIX11, Mediaite, Common Dreams and HuffPost

The White House:
Fact Sheet: United States Imposes First Tranche of Swift and Severe Costs on Russia

Discussion: New York Post, Pennsylvania Capital-Star and PBS NewsHour

Washington Post:

Biden interviews at least two Supreme Court contenders as announcement nears … President Biden is in the final stages of making his first nomination to the Supreme Court — having completed interviews with at least two leading contenders — and West Wing officials have begun advising outside allies …

Discussion: ABC News, CNN, Wide World of News, New York Times, Associated Press, NBC News, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, HotAir, The Hill and USA Today

Drew Harwell / Washington Post:

Trump's Truth Social's disastrous launch raises doubts about its long-term viability … Former president Donald Trump, a longtime critic of how Democrats debuted healthcare.gov, is facing a bungled website launch of his own. — His long-promised social network, Truth Social …

Discussion: Gizmodo, Platformer, Raw Story, Mediaite, The Daily Dot, CNN, Wall Street Journal, NPR and The Gateway Pundit, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:

Trump Organization and Finance Chief Seek Dismissal of Fraud Charges — In court papers, the former president's family business and Allen Weisselberg, its longtime chief financial officer, called the case against them politically motivated. — The Trump Organization and its longtime chief …

Discussion: CNN, CBS News and Insider

Tal Axelrod / The Hill:

Emboldened GOP looks to expand midterm battleground map — Republicans are looking to expand the battleground map ahead of the November midterms, eyeing gubernatorial, Senate and House races outside of traditional swing states in the middle of a favorable political atmosphere.

Discussion: The National Interest

Quin Hillyer / Washington Examiner:

New case should compel Supreme Court to protect free speech and faith — The Supreme Court has given itself another chance to say definitively that laws that compel particular forms of expression are null and void. As well it should. — The court agreed Tuesday to consider the appeal …

Discussion: Politico, New Republic, Denver Post, National Review, adflegal.org, Gizmodo and SCOTUSblog

Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:
The Supreme Court Just Teed Up a Direct Assault on Civil Rights Law

Discussion: Axios, Nebraska Examiner, Forbes, Jezebel, Roll Call, Vox, Washington Blade, Fox News, CBS News, National Review, The Daily Caller and Washington Post

Politico:

The 2024 presidential race has already started online — Potential candidates in the next presidential election are already spending big money to build online fundraising machines. — Most politicians with national ambitions are playing coy about running for president in 2024.

Ellie Silverman / Washington Post:

As ‘Freedom Convoy’ spinoffs pop up on social media, D.C. region braces — Local and federal agencies are preparing for possible traffic disruptions in the D.C. region related to plans inspired by the self-styled “Freedom Convoy” that occupied downtown Ottawa for more than three weeks protesting vaccine mandates.

Jay Willis / Balls and Strikes:

The Case of the Anti-Democracy Harvard Law Review Note — An arcane policy allows editors at one of the country's most prestigious legal journals to publish anonymously. — Earlier this month, the Harvard Law Review published a student note from its most recent issue entitled " …

Irina Ivanova / CBS News:

How the Ukraine crisis is already hitting Americans' wallets — Although many Americans may prefer that the U.S. stay out of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the brewing violence and political fallout are already hurting their wallets. Gasoline prices, which have hit eight-year highs …

Discussion: Ziemba Insights, EdgeTheory Narrative …, One America News Network and TASS

Dave Jamieson / HuffPost:

Starbucks Tries To Slow Union Elections But Misses Legal Deadline By 8 Minutes — The coffee chain's legal team said Microsoft Outlook crashed as it was emailing the files. A labor board official didn't have much sympathy. — As more baristas around the country seek to unionize …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Rick Scott thrusts the GOP back into Romney-'47 percent' territory — For a few years now, the leaders of the Republican Party have pretty steadfastly avoided outlining anything amounting to an actual party agenda. The 2020 Republican platform was merely a (somewhat awkward) …