memeorandum: Some records taken by Trump so sensitive they may not be described in public (Washington Post)

7:55 PM ET, February 25, 2022

Top Items:

U.S. to Impose Sanctions on Putin, Official Says — It was unclear whether Russia would engage in talks with Ukraine's leadership. The E.U. sanctioned Mr. Putin, amid growing pressure to isolate him and Russia. — With Russian troops moving on Kyiv, the Kremlin sends mixed signals on talks.

Edward Wong / New York Times:

U.S. Officials Repeatedly Urged China to Help Avert War in Ukraine — Americans presented Chinese officials with intelligence on Russia's troop buildup in hopes that President Xi Jinping would step in, but were repeatedly rebuffed. — WASHINGTON — Over three months …

Ryan King / Washington Examiner:

Putin calls for Ukrainian military coup against ‘neo-Nazis’ and ‘drug addicts’ in government — Russian President Vladimir Putin called upon the Ukrainian military to overthrow its government, chastising its leadership as a “band of drug addicts and neo-Nazis.”

Discussion: Comment is Freed, Politico, RedState, Sputnik International, The Guardian, TASS, TheBlaze, CyberDisobedience, The Dispatch and KRQE-TV

Caroline Vakil / The Hill:

62 percent of voters say Putin wouldn't have invaded Ukraine if Trump were president: poll — © Associated Press/Ross D. Franklin — A majority of American voters say that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine had former President Trump been president, according to a new survey released on Friday.

Discussion: National Review, Just Ask the Question and WAVY-TV

Barak Ravid / Axios:

Zelensky to EU leaders: “This might be the last time you see me alive” — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told EU leaders “this might be the last time you see me alive” during a video conference on Thursday night, two European sources briefed on the call tell Axios.

Discussion: Financial Times, Washington Examiner, The Moscow Times, Mediaite, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, New York Post, Streams of Crunchiness, Insider, Conservative Brief, YouTube, Power Line, TASS and Common Dreams

Axios:

Zelensky says Russia to storm Kyiv tonight: “We have to stand our ground” — Late Friday night is when Russia “will launch an assault” on Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address to his nation, warning Ukrainians that “this night we have to stand ground.

Discussion: Associated Press, BBC, The Week, HotAir, Townhall, New York Times, PBS NewsHour, Metro.co.uk, Political Wire, National Review, The Drive, TheJournal.ie and Bloomberg, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:
On Ukraine's Snake Island, a defiant last stand against Russian forces

Discussion: USNI News, CNN, UPI, BBC, IJR, BizPac Review, GovExec.com, Task & Purpose, HotAir, The Federalist, The Political Insider, Second Nexus, Fox News, CBS News, KTLA, KRQE-TV, The Daily Beast, The Wrap and The Guardian

CNN:
US to impose sanctions on Putin following Ukraine invasion

Discussion: Axios, The Hill, NBC News, CNBC, Insider, Al Jazeera, The Daily Caller, Radio Free Europe/Radio … and Common Dreams

Anton Troianovski / New York Times:
Russia Says It Won't Enter Talks Until Ukraine Stops Fighting

Discussion: Insider, Work from home for justice, TASS, Townhall and Takes & Re-Takes

Washington Post:
E.U. plans to freeze assets of Putin, Lavrov

Discussion: Financial Times, Politico, Townhall, Hackwhackers and CNBC

Nahal Toosi / Politico:
Putin was playing Biden all along

Discussion: Washington Examiner, National Review, The Liberal Patriot, Vanity Fair, ABC News, The Guardian, The Bulwark, TheBlaze, Daily Mail, Tales From the Homestead, HotAir and United States Institute …

Hannah Grossman / Fox News:
Eric Swalwell floats kicking Russians out of US universities in retaliation to Putin invading Ukraine

Discussion: Reason, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Examiner, Twitchy and Eschaton

Myah Ward / Politico:
U.S. will sanction Putin, Lavrov and other Russian officials

Discussion: Townhall, Washington Times, Political Wire, Associated Press and The Daily Wire

Washington Post:
Russian forces press closer to Kyiv; U.S. fears capital could fall soon

Discussion: SpyTalk, The Verge, IJR, The Guardian, KSTP-TV, Fox News, Cyprus Mail and The Daily Wire, more at Techmeme »

The White House:

Supreme Court Nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson — On February 25, 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to become the 116th Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Lexi Lonas / The Hill:
Paul Ryan praises Biden's SCOTUS pick: ‘Incredibly happy for Ketanji’

Discussion: Fox News, New York Times, Washington Post, The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit

Errin Haines / The 19th:
Four Black women became classmates, roommates and lifelong sisters. One of them is now a historic nominee for the Supreme Court.

Discussion: Associated Press and The Root

Igor Bobic / HuffPost:
GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn Objects To Timing Of Biden's Supreme Court Announcement, Citing Ukraine

Discussion: Breitbart, Insider, Fox News and Townhall

Washington Post:
Biden nominates Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court

Wall Street Journal:

CDC Eases Mask Guidelines, Reflecting Covid-19's Retreat — About half of U.S. counties meet new threshold for recommending masks indoors, including at schools, compared with 95% under earlier metrics — Federal officials eased their guidelines on Covid-19 masking, including at schools …

Discussion: Centers for Disease Control …, HotAir, PBS NewsHour, Washington Times, Outside the Beltway, WSVN-TV and WHYY

ABC News:

CDC to ease masking recommendations for 70% of country, including inside schools — The new metrics would term the majority of the country low-to-medium risk. — Some 70% of Americans will be able to remove their masks indoors, including inside schools, under new guidance to be released …

Discussion: Politico, Spectrum News NY1, National Review, STAT, The Gateway Pundit, Gizmodo, Fox News and Toledo Blade

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

COVID-19 by County — COVID-19 Community Levels are a new tool to help communities decide what prevention steps to take based on the latest data. Levels can be low, medium, or high and are determined by looking at hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area.

Discussion: Washington Post, USA Today, Washington Examiner, Associated Press, CBS News, New York Times, Reason, Greensburg Tribune-Review, Townhall, The 74, Your Local Epidemiologist, PIX11, Mother Jones, WHYY, KXAN-TV, HotAir, The Colorado Sun and Screaming into the Void

Marist Poll:

NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist National Poll: The Biden Administration Heading into the State of the Union Address, February 2022 — Americans Perceive Biden's First Year in Office to Be a Failure... Want Biden's Administration to Focus on Inflation Amid Persistent Financial Concerns

Discussion: TheBlaze, Political Wire, PBS NewsHour and The Federalist

Washington Post:
Post-ABC poll finds bipartisan support for sanctions on Russia as it invades Ukraine

Discussion: The Hill, ABC News and IJR

Domenico Montanaro / NPR:
A majority says Biden's first year was a failure, a new poll finds

Discussion: CNN, RedState and Meanwhile, back at the ranch

Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Biden's job approval hits new low: poll

Discussion: HotAir

Allahpundit / HotAir:

Tucker: Putin started this war and deserves the blame for what follows — We're all neocons now. — Well ... not quite. Carlson stressed last night that the U.S. should do everything possible to avoid being dragged into the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, FiveThirtyEight, The Hill, The Moderate Voice and Washington Post

John Nichols / The Nation:
Putin's Not the “Genius”—Russia's Anti-War Protesters Are

Discussion: The Guardian, Radio Free Europe/Radio … and LifeSite

RJ Reinhart / Gallup:
U.S. Public Sees Russia-Ukraine Conflict as Critical Threat

Discussion: HotAir and Morning Consult

Andee Tagle / NPR:

5 ways to cope with the stressful news cycle — Russia invaded Ukraine this week, and the world seems to have shifted. — Even after weeks of bracing for an attack amid speculation, global tensions and diplomatic attempts to stave off invasion — the reality of conflict is always a shock to the system.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Twitchy and Althouse

Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:

Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin keeps fact-checking her colleagues on Ukraine … Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin has been pulling double duty lately. — Much like her peers at other news outfits, the national security correspondent has reported live from the Pentagon …

Discussion: Mediaite and The Daily Beast

Chris Casteel / Oklahoman:

Sen. Jim Inhofe to resign from Senate, backs top aide Luke Holland to succeed him … Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe plans to resign the seat he has held since 1994, setting up what could be major changes in the state's political landscape just weeks before candidate filing.

Discussion: Fox News, UPI, The Daily Wire, Associated Press, The Hill, Washington Post, Roll Call, Bloomberg, HuffPost, Washington Examiner, National Review, The Gateway Pundit and CNN

Wall Street Journal:

CNN Probe Finds Allison Gollust Assisted Chris Cuomo in His Efforts to Help Andrew Cuomo — Spokeswoman for ex-CNN marketing chief says notion that messages to Chris Cuomo could be considered covert advice to Andrew Cuomo ‘is patently ridiculous’ — CNN's parent company determined …

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter

New York Times:

'I'll Stand on the Side of Russia': Pro-Putin Sentiment Spreads Online — After marinating in conspiracy theories and Donald J. Trump's Russia stance, some online discourse about Vladimir Putin has grown more complimentary. — Davey Alba and Stuart Thompson, tech reporters based in New York, report on online information flows.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story and North Stars and Cowboy Bars

Sam Levine / The Guardian:

Judge orders new trial for US woman sentenced to six years for trying to register to vote — Pamela Moses, who has been in prison since December but is being released on Friday, says she had no idea she was inelegible — A Memphis judge ordered a new trial for Pamela Moses …

Discussion: Memphis Watch

Washington Post:

Some records taken by Trump so sensitive they may not be described in public … Some of the presidential records recovered from former president Donald Trump's residence at Mar-a-Lago are so sensitive they may not be able to be described in forthcoming inventory reports in an unclassified way …

Discussion: ABC News, UPI, Truthout, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo and Politico

Pacific Legal Foundation:

Federal judge rules that admissions changes at nation's top public school discriminate against Asian-American students — Alexandria, Virginia; February 25, 2022: Today, a federal judge ruled that Fairfax County school officials violated the law by changing admissions requirements …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Asra Investigates