memeorandum: U.S. Makes Contingency Plans in Case Russia Uses Its Most Powerful Weapons (New York Times)

8:55 AM ET, March 24, 2022

Top Items:

Trump Is Guilty of ‘Numerous’ Felonies, Prosecutor Who Resigned Says — Mark F. Pomerantz, who had investigated the former president, left after the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, halted an effort to seek an indictment. — Give this article- - - Read in app

New York Times:

Read the Full Text of Mark Pomerantz's Resignation Letter — The former prosecutor who investigated Donald J. Trump believed that the former president was “guilty of numerous felony violations.” — Give this article- - - Read in app — The following is the full text of the resignation letter …

Discussion: BizPac Review, Associated Press, CBS News, Washington Examiner, Unreported Truths and Common Dreams

Lois Beckett / The Guardian:
Trump committed ‘numerous’ felonies, said resigning New York prosecutor - report

Discussion: Raw Story and Eschaton

New York Times:

Under Fire, Out of Fuel, No Air Support: What Intercepted Russian Radio Chatter Reveals — The Times's Visual Investigations team analyzed dozens of battlefield radio transmissions between Russian forces during an initial invasion of the town of Makariv, outside Kyiv.

New York Times:

U.S. Makes Contingency Plans in Case Russia Uses Its Most Powerful Weapons — A team of national security officials has been assigned to sketch out responses if President Vladimir V. Putin unleashes chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. — Give this article- - - Read in app

Discussion: CNN, NBC News, Washington Post, The Sun, RedState, New York Post and HuffPost

New York Times:

Live Updates: Biden Arrives in Brussels for Summits as U.S. Accuses Russian Forces of War Crimes — President Biden will press allies to help impose even more aggressive sanctions on Russia. NATO says it is doubling the number of battlegroups on its eastern flank to eight.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Associated Press, CNBC, Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, ABC News, The Kyiv Independent, Joe.My.God., The Guardian, Raw Story, NPR and Vanity Fair

Washington Post:

Biden and Europeans to announce major plan to redirect gas to Europe … BRUSSELS — President Biden and European leaders are expected to announce a major initiative to direct shipments of liquefied natural gas to Europe during his visit to Brussels this week, part of a broader effort …

Discussion: CNN, The Bulwark, Raw Story, Wall Street Journal, The Kyiv Independent and Bloomberg

Seth Hettena / Rolling Stone:

Exclusive: Sources Say Oligarch Funded Scheme to Paint Swastikas in Ukraine — Multiple sources tell Rolling Stone that a Ukrainian businessman offered payouts for a false flag operation aimed at bolstering Putin's claim that Ukraine was a Nazi hotbed — In the months before Vladimir Putin's invasion …

Danielle Wallace / Yahoo News:

Russia's Ministry of Defense Head Sergei Shoigu reportedly missing, hasn't made public appearances in 12 days — The head of Russia's Ministry of Defense Sergei Shoigu has not been seen in public for 12 days and is possibly missing, according to reports and messages circulated on Telegram on Wednesday.

Discussion: Pharyngula, New York Times, Washington Examiner and The Times of Israel

Hannah Fingerhut / Associated Press:

Russia-Ukraine war fails to fuel Biden rebound: AP-NORC poll — WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Joe Biden meets with key allies in Brussels to coordinate a stronger response to Russia's monthlong assault on Ukraine, a new poll shows Americans have yet to rally around his leadership.

Discussion: The Hill and Political Wire

Timothy Snyder / Washington Post:
Putin has long fantasized about a world without Ukrainians. Now we see what that means.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, The Kyiv Independent and Common Dreams

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:

Cory Booker Aside, Democrats Stranded Ketanji Brown Jackson — The third day of hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation to the Supreme Court came to a close on Wednesday following another 10-plus hours filled with character smears about child pornography from Republican senators …

Discussion: Insider, Rolling Stone, Letters from an American, New York Post, Forbes, CNN, The US Sun and Politico

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

GOP grandstanders aren't the only reason Jackson's confirmation hearings were so disgraceful — The only thing more stunning than the off-the-rails Republican badgering and constant interrupting of Ketanji Brown Jackson at her Supreme Court confirmation hearing on Wednesday was the utterly inaccurate and inapt media coverage.

Discussion: The Guardian, Today's Edition Newsletter, The Hill, Political Junkie, SCOTUSblog, Fox News, Politico and CNN

TMZ.com:

Justice Breyer Says Clarence Thomas is Fine, Jackson Confirmation Not My Business — JUSTICE STEPHEN BREYER CLARENCE THOMAS IS FINE ... And I Got No Dog In Confirmation Fight … Justice Stephen Breyer is reassuring folks, his colleague, Justice Clarence Thomas, is not in any danger after being hospitalized for an infection.

Washington Post:

Republicans boast they have not pulled a Kavanaugh. In fact, they've treated Jackson worse. — Throughout her Senate confirmation hearings, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has been a model of composure, which is made all the more impressive by the egregious behavior of some on the Republican side.

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Free Beacon, Washington Examiner, HuffPost, Politico, Forbes and YouTube

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Cruz attacks Jackson for ‘critical race theory’ — but sends his own daughters to learn it

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Guardian, The White Pages, New Republic, Backbencher and Washington Examiner

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Jackson endures questioning with racial overtones from GOP senators

Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:
The Ketanji Brown Jackson Hearings Show Marriage Equality Is the Next Target Once Roe Falls

Discussion: Lucian Truscott Newsletter

Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:
Ted Cruz May Have Just Boosted Sales For The Anti-Racist Children's Book He Attacked

Discussion: WFLA-TV, The Message Box, Raw Story and Gawker

CNN:

Biden requests Mehmet Oz and Herschel Walker resign from presidential council or be terminated — (CNN)President Joe Biden has formally asked two Trump-appointed members of the President's Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition to resign from their posts or be terminated.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, HuffPost, NBC News, Mediaite, Hollywood Reporter, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Fox News, TheBlaze, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth and Fox 8 Cleveland WJW

Dan Mangan / CNBC:
Rep. Mo Brooks says Trump asked him to ‘rescind the 2020 election,’ remove Biden and call special election

Discussion: CNN, Washington Times, HuffPost, ABC News, Insider, Raw Story, Slate, Alabama Today and New York Times

Washington Post:
Trump endorsements slow and prompt a scramble by candidates, advisers

Discussion: The Conntrarian

The Hill:
White House avoids Trump attacks on Russia-Ukraine

Discussion: HotAir and New Republic

Mo Brooks for Senate:
Statement by Mo Brooks

Discussion: Washington Post, WBRC-TV, The Hill, HotAir, Washington Examiner, The Daily Beast, Associated Press, POLITICUSUSA, Vanity Fair, Montgomery Advertiser, Talking Points Memo, Common Dreams, The Moderate Voice, Todd Starnes, NPR, Law & Crime and Alabama Today

John F. Harris / Politico: Why Trump Is Losing His Grip on the GOP

John Hudson / Washington Post:

Top Russian military leaders repeatedly decline calls from U.S., prompting fears of ‘sleepwalking into war’ … Repeated attempts by the United States' top defense and military leaders to speak with their Russian counterparts have been rejected by Moscow for the last month …

Discussion: Gizmodo, Balloon Juice, Marco Thinking, Raw Story and Just The News

CNN:

Exclusive: Inside a rare US meeting with a Russian general in Moscow — (CNN)A rare face-to-face meeting between Russian and US military officials last week led to an “outburst” of emotion from a normally stoic Russian general, a “revealing moment” that the Americans present believe hinted …

Discussion: Russia's War on Democracy, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, National Review, Mediaite and Political Wire

Sue Mi Terry / Foreign Affairs:

North Korea's Nuclear Opportunism … With the entire world focused on Ukraine, the coming weeks and months will present the perfect opportunity for rogue states to make trouble, knowing that the United States and other powers are distracted. Chief among such potential opportunists is North Korea …

The White House:
Statement by Press Secretary Jen Psaki on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's Ballistic Missile Launch

Discussion: CNN

Associated Press:
Dialing up pressure, North Korea tests long-range missile

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Fox News, New York Times, Washington Post, Al Jazeera, CBS News, Reuters, Raw Story, Metro.co.uk, Associated Press, UPI, Bloomberg, Japan Times and Rolling Stone

Douglas London / Wall Street Journal:

Spies Will Doom Putin — After invading Ukraine, he's tightening the screws the way the Soviets did—and that will help the CIA recruit Russians. — I spent 34 years in the Central Intelligence Agency's clandestine service, and watching Vladimir Putin's brutal war in Ukraine …

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:
Want to talk? FBI trolls Russian Embassy for disgruntled would-be spies

Discussion: HotAir

GOV.UK:

Foreign Secretary announces 65 new Russian sanctions to cut off vital industries fuelling Putin's war machine — New sanctions target strategic industries, banks and business elites. — From: — Liz Truss has announced 65 sanctions, targeting strategic industries, banks and business elites

Discussion: Politico, Bloomberg and HuffPost UK

John Otis / Washington Post:

Madeleine Albright, first female secretary of state, dies at 84 — Madeleine K. Albright, who came to the United States as an 11-year-old political refugee from Czechoslovakia and decades later was an ardent and effective advocate against mass atrocities in Eastern Europe while serving …

Discussion: Reuters, Outside the Beltway, The New Arab, Japan Times, Washington Times, The Western Journal, Daily Kos, UPI, CBS News, Associated Press, NBC New York and Politico

Caroline Kelly / CNN:
Madeleine Albright, first female US secretary of state, dies

Discussion: HuffPost, The Blast, NBC News, Reason, USA Today, The Guardian, The US Sun, UPI, Los Angeles Blade, Deadline, Insider, Joe.My.God., The Gateway Pundit, Political Wire and RedState

Caitlin Byrd / The State:

In texts, SC GOP candidates picks fight with Mick Mulvaney — A Trump-backed South Carolina GOP congressional candidate lashed out at the former president's acting White House chief of staff in a series of text messages this week, where she twice called Mick Mulvaney a “piece of s—” …

Discussion: Political Wire

Rick Hasen / Election Law Blog:

Breaking: Supreme Court, in Bizarre Unsigned Opinion, Strikes Wisconsin Legislative Maps on Voting Rights Grounds, Signalling New Hostility to the Voting Rights Act — March 23, 2022 redistricting, Supreme Court — In a per curiam (unsigned) opinion on the shadow docket …