memeorandum: Biden's Ugly Options in Ukraine (Walter Russell Mead/Wall Street Journal)

12:35 PM ET, April 5, 2022

Top Items:

Ukraine Live Updates: E.U. Moves to Ban Russian Coal; Zelensky to Address U.N. — The European Union said it was also working to ban Russian oil. As Ukraine's president prepared to speak to the Security Council, U.S. and European allies vowed to hold Russia accountable for the reported killings of hundreds people in a Kyiv suburb.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Reuters, CBS News, Bloomberg, Forbes, The Daily Beast, UPI, NBC4 Washington, Euractiv, NBC New York, Althouse and Just The News

William Saletan / The Bulwark:

Who's Soft on Russia? Meet the Republican Anti-Ukraine Caucus! — The Republicans who love Russia and hate America. — After years of defending a pro-Putin American president and dismissing Russia's interference in American elections, Republicans have returned to their old shtick: accusing Democrats of being soft on Russia.

Discussion: Morning Shots, FiveThirtyEight, Associated Press, National Review, Raw Story and nationalinterest.org

Bloomberg:

Russia's Effort to Avoid Default Undermined by New U.S. Sanction — Russia's efforts to avoid a sovereign default took another blow after the U.S. Treasury halted dollar debt payments from the country's accounts at U.S. banks. — The decision further complicates Russia's attempts …

Discussion: Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, HotAir, Financial Times, New York Times, CNBC, New York Post, EU NEIGHBOURS east and Reuters

Walter Russell Mead / Wall Street Journal:

Biden's Ugly Options in Ukraine — Pushing to defeat Russia has high risks and costs, but so do the alternatives. — We are only six weeks into Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine, but the conflict has already settled into a familiar pattern. Both sides often go into wars with a theory of victory …

Discussion: CBS News, Wide World of News and Washington Examiner

Michael Weiss / New Lines Magazine: Exclusive: How Russia Evades Sanctions via Syrian Loan Schemes

Associated Press:
Live updates | Putin warns on nationalizing Russian stakes

Discussion: Politico, HotAir, France 24 and Associated Press

Presidential Office of Ukraine:
There is ample evidence that it is Russian troops who destroy peaceful cities, torture and kill civilians - address by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Discussion: New York Times, Axios, BBC, The Guardian, Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, The Daily Wire, The Bulwark, Mariia Kravchenko and Politico

Washington Examiner:
Biden has gone wobbly on Ukraine

Discussion: MSNBC

New York Times:
Satellite images show bodies lay in Bucha for weeks, despite Russian claims.

Anthony Capaccio / Bloomberg:
U.S. Drones for Ukraine Will Include Latest Tank Killers

Discussion: Forbes, The Hill and Washington Examiner

Associated Press:

Trump aide seeking NH House seat voted in 2 states in 2016 — CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A former Trump administration official now running for Congress in New Hampshire voted twice during the 2016 primary election season, potentially violating federal voting law and leaving him at odds …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story and Political Wire

Emma Roth / The Verge:

Twitter will appoint Elon Musk to its board of directors — Musk is limited from buying more than 15 percent of Twitter's stock — Twitter is appointing Tesla CEO Elon Musk to its board of directors, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Musk will serve as a class II director until 2024.

Christopher Hutton / Washington Examiner:

Elon Musk pushes for Twitter edit button after becoming largest shareholder — Tesla CEO Elon Musk made a push for a Twitter edit button a day after becoming the company's largest stakeholder, prompting speculation about his efforts to influence Twitter's future.

Discussion: pjmedia.com, Politico, Fox Business, Associated Press, The Daily Caller, The Blast, Raw Story, WAVY-TV, New Republic, Election Law Blog, Bloomberg, Vault, Mashable and The Daily Wire, more at Techmeme »

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:

Inside the consulting firm run by Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, runs a little-known consulting company. — Some campaign watchdog groups say it could create yet another conflict of interest for her husband.

Discussion: The Hill and Washington Post

Martin Pengelly / The Guardian:

'I didn't win the election': Trump admits defeat in session with historians — The ex-president also said that Iran, China and South Korea were happy Biden won, adding that ‘the election was rigged and lost’ — Donald Trump has admitted he did not win the 2020 election. — “I didn't win the election,” he said.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Digby's Hullabaloo, Raw Story, Hackwhackers, Insider and The Atlantic

NBC News:

Ivanka Trump to testify Tuesday before House Jan. 6 committee — WASHINGTON — Ivanka Trump, the daughter and senior White House adviser of former President Donald Trump, is set to testify before the House Jan. 6 committee on Tuesday, three sources tell NBC News.

Discussion: Associated Press, Fox News, New York Times, Bloomberg, ABC News, Washington Examiner, The Hill, NPR, CNN, The Guardian, POLITICUSUSA, Metro.co.uk and CBS News

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: Why Biden's base is in distress — DRIVING THE DAY — Democrats are desperately trying to understand what's roiling the electorate heading into a brutal midterm environment. — HIT Strategies has been conducting weekly focus groups to find out in real time how Americans are processing events in 2022.

Discussion: The Republican Standard, RedState, Townhall and NRCC

Jeff Amy / Associated Press:

Stacey Abrams reaches millionaire status before 2nd campaign — ATLANTA (AP) — When Democrat Stacey Abrams first ran for Georgia governor in 2018, her lackluster personal finances and a hefty bill from the IRS gave Republicans fodder to question how she could manage a state budget when she struggled with her own debts.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, The Federalist and The Daily Caller

Politico:

GOP Rep. Fred Upton to retire — Rep. Fred Upton, one of the longest-tenured Republicans in the House of Representatives, has decided to retire rather than seek reelection in 2022. — Upton was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump in January 2021 …

Discussion: The Hill, Associated Press, NBC News, HuffPost, Fox News, Wall Street Journal, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, CBS News, CNN, Talking Points Memo, Washington Times, The Daily Wire, NPR and Political Wire

Last Positivist / The Sooty Empiric:

Why I Am Not A Liberal — Those of us in the contemporary academy who are not liberals ought give an account of why not. This asymmetric burden falls on us, I believe, because the presumption is so strongly that one does fit within the broad confines of liberalism that if one does …

Fox News:

Ron Klain solicited money from Hunter Biden for VP residence in 2012, emails show: ‘Keep this low low key’ — Klain told Hunter ‘raising money for the Residence now is bad PR’ — Hunter Biden probe has DOJ in ‘untenable’ position, case for a special counsel is ‘absolutely clear’: Turley

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Twitchy, New York Post, Townhall, Breitbart and BizPac Review

New York Post:
Hunter Biden grand jury witness was asked about deal with Chinese firm - and ‘the big guy’

Discussion: RedState, Jewish World Review, Power Line, Washington Examiner, Human Events and Notes from the Twilight Zone

Elizabeth Nolan Brown / Reason:

California Can't Mandate Diversity on Corporate Boards — Plus: Prayer on football field faces SCOTUS, Mike Tyson's ear-shaped edibles banned in Colorado, and more... Law “violates the Equal Protection Clause of the California Constitution on its face,” says judge.

Discussion: Ohio Capital Journal

Elena Schneider / Politico:

How election conspiracy theories turned local politics ‘toxic’ in one Wisconsin city — GREEN BAY, Wis. — For the second time since Election Day 2020, uniformed police officers will be on duty when ballot counting begins in Green Bay's local elections. — It's the result of tension building …

Discussion: Bolts

Ben Adler / Yahoo News:

Republican-controlled states have higher murder rates than Democratic ones: study — 46th and current president of the United States — Republican politicians routinely claim that cities run by Democrats have been experiencing crime waves caused by failed governance …

Discussion: Kevin Drum

Rudi Keller / Missouri Independent:

Sheena Greitens says she has photos, records to document abuse by former Missouri governor — Eric Greitens addresses the media after filing to run in the Missouri Senate primary on Feb. 22, 2022, at the James C Kirkpatrick State Information Center in Jefferson City (photo by Madeline Carter).

Discussion: Raw Story

Michelle Fox / CNBC:

Inflation fears force Americans to rethink financial choices — 76% of Americans worry inflation will force them to rethink financial choices: CNBC survey — Surging inflation has Americans reconsidering how they spend their money. — The Consumer Price Index, which measures …

Discussion: Zandar Versus The Stupid

Jerry Dunleavy / Washington Examiner:

Durham: Sussmann put his lie to the FBI in writing — released a potential smoking gun in the case against Michael Sussmann on Monday night, as he published documents showing the Democratic cybersecurity lawyer messaged the FBI general counsel that he was not working on behalf of any client …

Discussion: Fox News

Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath / Axios:

Putin unlikely to face punishment for any war crimes in Ukraine — President Biden has called Vladimir Putin a “war criminal,” and said Monday the Russian leader should face a trial over the alleged atrocities in Ukrainian city of Bucha. … - This is especially true when prosecutors seek …

Discussion: Washington Post and TheBlaze

Johanna Chisholm / The Independent:

Matt Gaetz says Americans with diabetes should lose weight after voting against lowering the price of insulin — ‘The price of insulin increases as waistlines increase,’ Gaetz wrote in defence of voting against the bill that would cap the price of insulin at $35

Stephanie Akin / Roll Call:

Facing criticism, Tim Ryan defends anti-China ad in Ohio Senate race — Asian American super PAC says he's stoking hate to stir up base — Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan is not backing down as he faces blowback from some in his party for an ad in his Senate campaign that repeatedly blames China for workers' economic woes.

Discussion: Breitbart and The Hill

The Daily Beast:

Ted Cruz Knew Exactly What He Was Doing Caping for Trump and His Big Lie — The Harvard-educated lawyer knows what the Constitution calls for, and what his duties and obligations are. He just didn't care. — You know who's telling on themselves? The American conservatives cheering …

Discussion: Raw Story

Kate Briquelet / The Daily Beast:

Victim: Epstein Shared Hotel Suite With Bill Clinton and Worried About Being Poisoned — STRANGE BEDFELLOWS — Juliette Bryant was approached in a Cape Town bar and asked if she'd like to meet the former president and Jeffrey Epstein. It was the beginning of her personal nightmare.

Discussion: Raw Story