memeorandum: Forget advise and consent. This is smear and degrade. (Ruth Marcus/Washington Post)

8:05 PM ET, March 25, 2022

Top Items:

Jane Mayer / New Yorker:

Legal Scholars Are Shocked By Ginni Thomas's “Stop the Steal” Texts — Several experts say that Thomas's husband, the Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, must recuse himself from any case related to the 2020 election. — Several of the country's most respected legal scholars …

Discussion: New York Times, USA Today, The Hill, PolitiFact, Bloomberg, Slate, TheBlaze, New Republic, Forbes, Lawyers, Guns & Money, HuffPost, New York Post, Substack, Rolling Stone, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, CBS News, SCOTUSblog, emptywheel, Insider, Washington Post, THE JACKAL and ArkansasTimes

Jesse Wegman / New York Times:

Ginni and Clarence Thomas Have Done Enough Damage — Give this article- - - Read in app — What did Justice Clarence Thomas know, and when did he know it? — The question usually gets directed at politicians, not judges, but it's a fair one in light of the revelation on Thursday …

Discussion: Vox, Washington Post, Morning Shots, New Republic, Kevin Swanwick …, True North Research, National Memo, High Plains Blogger, ABC7, Smoke Show, Vanity Fair, Raw Story, The Racket News, RedState and UPI

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

‘Morning Joe’ shock over Ginni Thomas points to a hidden Jan. 6 truth — Buried in the explosive news that Virginia Thomas aggressively advocated for Donald Trump's coup attempt is a choice revelation: The spouse of Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas texted with White House Chief …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Insider, Raw Story, The Daily Beast, VICE, Media Matters for America, The Root and TMZ.com

Andrew Stiles / Washington Free Beacon:

In Fit of Racially Charged Outrage, Democrats Target Supreme Court's Only Black Justice for Impeachment — Party's ugly segregationist past resurfaces as prominent interracial couple comes under attack — In an echo of the party's racist past, prominent Democrats are demanding …

Discussion: HotAir, Insider and IJR

Spencer Ackerman / Forever Wars:

Maybe Take It Seriously When Coup Advocates Talk About Throwing People in Guantanamo? — I read Ginni Thomas' texts to Mark Meadows and it turns out that the longer a forever prison stays open, the worse an assumption it is that only Those People end up there

Discussion: The Bulwark, Mother Jones and Townhall

Scott Wong / NBC News:

Ginni Thomas pressed for GOP lawmakers to protest 2020 election results — WASHINGTON — Shortly after the 2020 election, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the conservative activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, sent an email to an aide to a prominent House conservative saying …

Discussion: CNN, POLITICUSUSA, Rolling Stone, Washington Post, National Memo, The Decent America Newsletter, News Detectives and Decision Desk HQ

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
The conservative media stars at the heart of the Ginni Thomas texts

Discussion: NPR, TheGrio and CNN

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Supreme Court won't stop Biden administration from deployment decisions involving unvaccinated Navy SEALs

Discussion: Just The News and Political Wire

Erin Doherty / Axios:
Sen. Wyden calls on Justice Thomas to recuse himself from Jan. 6 cases

Discussion: Politico, Fox News, The Nation, Washington Post, NBC News, Raw Story and Balloon Juice

Ariane de Vogue / CNN:
Justice Clarence Thomas released from hospital after week-long stay

Discussion: The Hill, NBC News, The Root, Talking Points Memo, UPI and New York Times

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Wyden: Justice Thomas should recuse himself from Jan. 6 and 2024 election cases

Discussion: Raw Story, CNBC, Townhall, Mediaite, Financial Times, Common Dreams, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden … and NPR

Aaron C. Davis / Washington Post:

Wesley Hawkins, talk of the Jackson hearings, describes life after pornography sentence — Wesley Hawkins heard a few weeks ago that a Black woman had been nominated to the Supreme Court and wondered why her name, Ketanji Brown Jackson, sounded so familiar. Then, he saw her picture and knew.

Discussion: Twitchy, The Gateway Pundit, NPR, The Crime Report, Common Dreams, Grid News and Breitbart

Ruth Marcus / Washington Post:

Forget advise and consent. This is smear and degrade. — The pretense is gone — the pretense that Supreme Court confirmation hearings are about determining nominees' fitness for office, gleaning a sense of their legal acumen and approach to judging, and gathering the information necessary to exercise a solemn senatorial power.

Discussion: Florida Phoenix, PolitiFact and RedState

Lisa Mascaro / ABC News:
Supreme Court nominee's ‘empathy’ is flashpoint for Senate

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Manchin Backs Jackson as Democrats Unite Behind Confirmation

Discussion: Associated Press, CBS News, CNN, Townhall, TheBlaze, POLITICUSUSA, New York Magazine, Washington Times, TalkLeft, Toledo Blade and National Memo

Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
Manchin says he supports Jackson for Supreme Court

Discussion: Washington Examiner, New York Times, TheBlaze, TheGrio, USA Today, Vanity Fair, Common Sense, The Daily Caller, NBC News, New York Post, The Hill, UPI, Fox News, New York Times and Insider

Reuters:

Russia signals scaled-back war aims, Ukrainians advance near Kyiv — Moscow signalled on Friday it was scaling back its ambitions in Ukraine to focus on territory claimed by Russian-backed separatists as Ukrainian forces went on the offensive to recapture towns on the outskirts of the capital Kyiv.

Discussion: The Drive, Aearnur's Newsletter, Political Wire and Radio Free Europe/Radio …

Financial Times:
Russia says new ‘phase’ of Ukraine offensive to focus on Donbas

Discussion: Associated Press, Bloomberg, New York Times, NPR, nationalinterest.org, The Times of Israel, Global Community Weekly, Al Jazeera and The Guardian

Josh Boswell / Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden DID help secure millions in funding for US contractor in Ukraine specializing in deadly pathogen research, laptop emails reveal, raising more questions about the disgraced son of then vice president — The Russian government held a press conference Thursday claiming …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Emily Brooks / The Hill:
Issa lays groundwork for House GOP probe into Hunter Biden laptop story

Discussion: The Western Journal and Breitbart

Andrew Prokop / Vox:
The return of Hunter Biden's laptop

Discussion: Townhall, TheBlaze, TK News, Twitchy, The Daily Signal, New York Post and The Daily Caller

BBC:

Ukraine war: JK Rowling hits back at Putin's ‘cancel culture’ comment — JK Rowling has hit back at Vladimir Putin, after the Russian president cited her in a wide-ranging speech that saw him criticise “cancel culture”. — At a televised meeting on Friday, Mr Putin compared recent criticism …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Caller and Bloomberg

Andy Hayes / Sky News:
JK Rowling cited by Vladimir Putin as he accuses the West of ‘trying to cancel’ Russia

Discussion: The Guardian, Deadline and Politico

New York Times:

Conflicting reports emerge on whether Russia is still in full control of Kherson. — Russia signals redefined goals in Ukraine as its attacks stall. — Russia signaled a possible recalibration of its war aims in Ukraine on Friday as the Kremlin faced spreading global ostracism for the brutal invasion …

Discussion: HotAir, Greensburg Tribune-Review, Raw Story, Associated Press, The Daily Wire, Washington Post, consilium.europa.eu, Politico, Florida Politics, Political Wire, president.gov.ua and Denver Post

John Fritze / USA Today:

Supreme Court sides with Navy in challenge to COVID-19 vaccine requirements by SEALs … WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Friday sided with the Biden administration in a battle over COVID-19 vaccine requirements for a group of Navy SEALs and other special forces who sought a religious exemption.

Discussion: New York Times and National Review

Jessica Gresko / Associated Press:
High court gives Biden win for now in Navy vaccine case

Discussion: Vox, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, NBC News, Bloomberg, NPR, Los Angeles Times, SCOTUSblog, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller and NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Jacob Shamsian / Insider:

Trump and his 2 eldest sons are scheduled to be deposed for a lawsuit accusing them of promoting a scam multi-level marketing scheme — Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to sit for another deposition. — It's for a case where he's accused of promoting a scam multi-level marketing scheme on “The Celebrity Apprentice.”

Discussion: CNN, Law & Crime and Bloomberg

Shawn McCreesh / New York Magazine:

Has Goldman Sachs's Dina Powell Finally Gone Too Far? — The Republican Party these days is full of plutocrats turned populists who think the only way to make it is to fake it as MAGA true believer. But sometimes ... you might wish they had a little more dignity.

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:

Venture capital fund backed by Russian oligarch Abramovich removes all traces of operations online — A venture capital fund backed by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich appears to be avoiding attention since the Chelsea owner is sanctioned by U.S. allies.

Discussion: Financial Times

Bloomberg:
Abramovich's Dubai House Hunt Shows Russian Diaspora Widening

Discussion: Raw Story, Insider and NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Priscilla Alvarez / CNN:

Record-breaking surge of migrants anticipated at the US-Mexico border, Border Patrol chief says — (CNN)Another record-breaking surge of migrants may attempt to cross the US-Mexico border this spring, alarming officials who are now rushing to build more facilities and lining up prison buses to help accommodate the new arrivals.

Discussion: TheBlaze, RedState, The Western Journal and Townhall

John Sexton / HotAir:
Sens. Sinema and Kelly warn Biden administration not to end Title 42 without a plan

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Associated Press and Senator Kyrsten Sinema

Seth Borenstein / Associated Press:

Ice shelf collapses in previously stable East Antarctica — An ice shelf the size of New York City has collapsed in East Antarctica, an area long thought to be stable and not hit much by climate change, concerned scientists said Friday. — The collapse, captured by satellite images …

Discussion: ScienceAlert

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

Trump accidentally proves that the Clinton campaign wasn't the driving force of the Russia probe — What stopped me in my tracks in the new lawsuit filed on behalf of former president Donald Trump was a reference to internal discussions at the Democratic National Committee that, the suit alleges …

Discussion: Raw Story, Townhall, Above the Law, TheBlaze, Big League Politics, Newsweek, YouTube, Louder With Crowder and CNN

Sapna Maheshwari / New York Times:

She Was a Candidate to Lead Levi's. Then She Started Tweeting. — Jennifer Sey left Levi's after her advocacy against school closures and mask mandates for children gained attention. She says it's a matter of free speech. The company disagrees. — Give this article- - - Read in app

Discussion: Digging In with Debra …

Eduardo Medina / New York Times:

Utah Legislature Overrides Governor's Veto of Transgender Athlete Bill — The measure bars transgender athletes from competing in girls' sports. Lawmakers expect it to be challenged in courts. — Give this article- - - Read in app — The Utah State Legislature voted on Friday …

Discussion: Fox News, Deseret News, KSTU, Associated Press, CNN, CBS News, The Daily Wire and One America News Network

Meagan Flynn / Washington Post:

Judge throws out Maryland congressional map over ‘extreme’ gerrymandering — A Maryland judge has thrown out the state's congressional map, calling it an “extreme partisan gerrymander” in what is a victory for Republicans who said Democrats in the state General Assembly sought to silence their votes.