memeorandum: White House studies options on gas prices as Sanders pushes profits tax (Jeff Stein/Washington Post)

3:30 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: NBC News, Insider, HotAir, emptywheel, VICE, Politico, New York Post, ABC News, CBS News, Washington Post, POLITICUSUSA and THE JACKAL

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, Insider, New Republic, CNN, Vanity Fair, True North Research, Common Dreams, Raw Story, The Racket News, ArkansasTimes, High Plains Blogger, ABC7, RedState and UPI

John Kruzel / The Hill:

Justice Thomas discharged from hospital, faces mounting ethics scrutiny — Justice Clarence Thomas was discharged from the hospital earlier today, a court spokesperson said, a development which comes amid mounting ethical scrutiny of the conservative justice.

Discussion: CNN and WFLA-TV

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

Amanda Carpenter / The Bulwark:
What Matters About Ginni Thomas's Texts

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Nation, Axios, The Hill, Raw Story, Washington Post, Morning Shots, New York Times and Outside the Beltway

Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas discharged from hospital

Discussion: Fox News, Associated Press, Washington Post, Raw Story and Forbes

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: Common Dreams, NPR, The Crime Report, Breitbart and Grid News

Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:

Manchin says he supports Jackson for Supreme Court — Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) said Friday that he intends to support President Biden's nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, essentially ensuring Jackson's confirmation. — Manchin, who has been a roadblock …

Discussion: Fox News, Bloomberg, UPI, The Hill, full stop., San Francisco Chronicle and Axios

Lisa Mascaro / ABC News:

Supreme Court nominee's ‘empathy’ is flashpoint for Senate — Empathy is not a quality many Republican senators want to see in the next Supreme Court justice — WASHINGTON — Empathy is not a quality many Republican senators want to see in the next Supreme Court justice.

Discussion: Insider, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Los Angeles Times, National Review, NPR, The 19th, Common Dreams, RedState, The Editorial Board, The Crime Report, Townhall, Twitchy, FiveThirtyEight, CBS News, The Daily Signal and Polar News Newsletter

Christopher Tremoglie / Washington Examiner:
Ruth Bader Ginsburg rolling over in grave at Ketanji Brown Jackson's answers

Discussion: RedState, Townhall and Ace of Spades HQ

Vimal Patel / New York Times:
Ted Cruz's Daughters Attend a Private School That Is ‘Antiracist’

Discussion: Civil War Memory, Written hope, Politico, IJR, National Review, Unlicensed Punditry, Washington Post and National Review

Nellie Bowles / Common Sense:
TGIF: What Is a Woman? — Ketanji Brown Jackson, Ginni Thomas, Madeleine Albright and more.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, USA Today, USA Today, Human Events, Breitbart, The Dispatch and New York Times

Clare Foran / CNN:
Manchin says he will vote for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson

Discussion: HuffPost, New York Times, Chop Wood, Carry Water, Insider, Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine, Breitbart, USA Today, The Root, NPR, New York Post, NBC News, The Hill, Florida Phoenix, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit and The Crime Report

Dan Bilefsky / New York Times:

Russian forces secure a partial land corridor, Ukrainian officials say, but have had few recent territorial gains. — Russia says its focus is eastern Ukraine, not major cities, and the Pentagon says Ukrainians are fighting to retake a strategic region. President Biden met U.S. troops in Poland.

Associated Press:
Ukraine says 300 died in theater attack, hunger grips cities

Politico:

McCarthy nudges convicted Rep. Fortenberry to resign — PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Friday suggested Rep. Jeff Fortenberry should resign from Congress, hours after the Nebraska Republican was convicted of lying to the FBI over illegal campaign contributions.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Roll Call and New York Post

Brian Melley / Associated Press:
Nebraska US Rep. Fortenberry found guilty in campaign probe

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:
‘Speaker’ Greene? MTG says, ‘They would really hate it’

Discussion: The Dispatch

Paul Hammel / Nebraska Examiner:
U.S. Rep. Fortenberry found guilty of three felonies in stunning and swift jury verdict

Discussion: The Hill and Politico

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 — Statement made by high-ranking Russian army official met with caution by Kyiv and its western allies — Russia said it was refocusing its month-long military offensive in Ukraine on the country's eastern Donbas region …

Discussion: The Times of Israel, Global Community Weekly, Bloomberg and The Guardian

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.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Political Wire

Zach Montellaro / Politico:
Maryland court strikes down congressional map as illegal Democratic gerrymander

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, CNN, The Hill, New York Times, RedState, National Review and Roll Call

Financial Times:

Germany vows to end dependence on Russian gas by 2024 as US offers extra shipments — America plans to deliver at least 15bn cubic metres of LNG to Europe as west ramps up moves to reduce reliance on Moscow — Germany vowed to all but wean itself off Russian gas by mid-2024 as the US …

Discussion: New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera, The Daily Caller and Politico

Bloomberg:
U.S., EU Reach LNG Supply Deal to Cut Dependence on Russia

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 …

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.

Discussion: Insider

Andy Hayes / Sky News:

JK Rowling cited by Vladimir Putin as he accuses the West of ‘trying to cancel’ Russia — “Today they are trying to cancel a whole thousand-year culture - our people,” Mr Putin says, adding: “They are banning Russian writers and books.” — Vladimir Putin has cited JK Rowling as he accused the West of “trying to cancel” Russia.

Discussion: The Guardian, Politico and Deadline

Allahpundit / HotAir:
Putin: The west wants to cancel Russia just like it canceled J.K. Rowling for criticizing transgenderism

Discussion: New York Magazine, Bloomberg, The Weekly Dish, Talking Points Memo and Rolling Stone

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 and NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

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 …

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Giuliani ally Lev Parnas pleads guilty to fraud fundraising for ‘Fraud Guarantee’ — A Florida man who worked closely with Rudy Giuliani on former President Donald Trump's drive to get Ukraine to open an investigation that would be politically damaging to President Joe Biden pleaded guilty Friday …

Discussion: Political Wire

Deepa Shivaram / NPR:

Texas attorney general says Austin school Pride Week celebration breaks state law — An annual Pride Week celebration in Austin schools is breaking state law, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said this week — the state's latest move to confront LGBTQ rights.

Discussion: The Guardian, KXAN-TV, KUT Radio … and Washington Post

Hugo Lowell / The Guardian:

Bannon's escape plan: how the Trump strategist is trying to dodge prison — Bannon is advancing a high-stakes defense as he battles a case that could mean up to a year in federal prison and thousands of dollars in fines if convicted — s the House select committee investigating …

Discussion: Raw Story

Patrick Kingsley / New York Times:

Israel to Host 3 Arab Foreign Ministers in Historic Meeting — The gathering of top diplomats from Israel, the U.A.E., Bahrain and Morocco, as well as Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, is a sign of how quickly Middle Eastern alliances are shifting. — Give this article- - - Read in app

Discussion: The New Arab, Al Jazeera, The Times of Israel, Bloomberg, Al-Monitor, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and One America News Network

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic:

The Myth That Most Americans Hate Their Job — Sign up for Derek's newsletter here. — Perhaps you've heard: Everybody hates their job now. — “No One Wants to Work,” The New York Times Magazine declared on its cover in February. In the issue, the writer Noreen Malone explained that amid …