memeorandum: How Many Billionaires Are There, Anyway? — Forbes thinks there are 735 of them in America. (Willy Staley/New York Times)

2:50 PM ET, April 7, 2022

Top Items:

German Intelligence Intercepts Radio Traffic Discussing the Murder of Civilians in Bucha — DER SPIEGEL has learned that German intelligence intercepted radio traffic from the Russian military regarding the murder of civilians in Bucha. It appears that such atrocities were part of the plan.

Discussion: Washington Post, Bloomberg, The Hill, The Newsletter, Raw Story, Political Wire, Associated Press and EUROPP

Washington Post:

Russia-Ukraine live updates: Ukraine braces for assault in east; Russian talk of civilian killings intercepted — The gruesome killings in Bucha could further isolate Moscow as the U.S. sanctions Putin's daughters and the E.U. will vote on a Russian coal ban.

Discussion: New York Times, NDTV, Associated Press and UrduPoint News

Washington Post:

In Bucha, the scope of Russian barbarity is coming into focus — This story contains graphic photos, including images of bodies. — BUCHA, Ukraine — The name of this city is already synonymous with the month-long carnage that Russian soldiers perpetrated here.

Discussion: National Review, UPI, Al Jazeera, New Yorker, The Hill, HotAir, Associated Press, Snopes.com and New York Times

New York Times:
U.S. Says It Secretly Removed Malware Worldwide, Pre-empting Russian Cyberattacks

Discussion: Washington Post, Midday Macro, Decision Desk HQ, Morning Shots, Reuters, Washington Examiner, Supercreator, Outside the Beltway, Insider, The Hill, HotAir, UPI, New York Post, ABC News, CBS News, Deseret News and Puck

Washington Post:
Biden at war: Inside a deliberate yet impulsive Ukraine strategy

Discussion: Plain Dealer, NBC News, The Liberty Loft, Insider and Wall Street Journal

Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:

Trump deflects blame for Jan. 6 silence, says he wanted to march to Capitol … PALM BEACH, Fla. — Former president Donald Trump voiced regret Wednesday over not marching to the U.S. Capitol the day his supporters stormed the building, and he defended his long silence during the attack …

Discussion: Insider, Mediaite, Politico, Bloomberg, al.com, New York Post, Axios, Raw Story, HuffPost, The Hill, The Guardian, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Forbes, CNN, Hackwhackers, Rolling Stone, HotAir and Politico

Emily Shapiro / ABC News:
Nancy Pelosi tests positive for COVID-19; Biden not considered close contact, White House says

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Insider, CNBC, Associated Press, Breitbart, Los Angeles Times, The Daily Wire and IJR

CNN:
Nancy Pelosi tests positive for Covid-19, spokesman says

Meridith McGraw / Politico:
Trump's fixation on the past puts his political future in limbo

Discussion: Insider, Washington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, Raw Story, Mediaite, Forbes and Vanity Fair

Lobsang Gelek / Radio Free Asia: Tibetan exile leader set to visit Washington in April

Steven Perlberg / Insider:

LEAKED MEMO: The New York Times has issued a Twitter ‘reset,’ urging reporters to 'meaningfully reduce how much time you're spending on the platform' — NYT Executive Editor Dean Baquet said in a memo that Twitter is now “purely optional” for staffers. — Baquet said that the newsroom …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Hill, Mediaite and RedState, more at Mediagazer »

Anita Hill / Washington Post:

The Senate Judiciary Committee mistreated Judge Jackson. I should know. — Anita Hill is a professor of social policy, law, and women's studies at Brandeis University. — The shameful spectacle of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee …

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, Raw Story, New Republic and Hackwhackers

Erin Doherty / Axios:
McConnell won't commit to hearings for Biden SCOTUS picks if GOP retakes Senate

Discussion: Washington Post, Digby's Hullabaloo and Political Wire

Greg Stohr / Bloomberg:
Confirmation Puts Jackson in a Unique Position: Justice-in-Waiting

Discussion: NPR

Politico:

Whitmer sues over abortion law as governors prepare for state policy free-for-all — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging her state's 1931 law banning abortion — the latest move in a flurry of state activity preparing for the possible overturning of Roe v. Wade in a few months.

Discussion: Associated Press, Forbes and The 19th

Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Whitmer asks state Supreme Court to decide whether abortion is constitutional

Discussion: Townhall

Kate Sullivan / CNN:
Michigan governor files lawsuit to fight ‘real and present danger’ to abortion access in her state

Discussion: HuffPost, Bloomberg and Law & Crime

Edward Russell / Airline Weekly Lounge:

American Airlines Restarts Philadelphia Regional Routes With Landline Buses — American Airlines is the latest carrier to contract Landline for connecting “flights” operated with buses. The move comes as U.S. airlines face the concurrent challenges from a pilot shortage primarily hitting regional operators …

Discussion: 6abc, WHTM-TV and Eschaton

Dan Friedman / Mother Jones:

Exclusive: Leaked Messages Reveal the Origins of the Most Vile Hunter Biden Smear — Facts matter: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter. Support our nonprofit reporting. Subscribe to our print magazine. — Late in the 2020 presidential campaign, trailing in the polls …

Discussion: claytoonz, The Daily Wire and PolitiFact

Washington Post:

DOJ plans to investigate boxes of records taken to Trump's Mar-a-Lago — The Justice Department has begun taking steps to investigate former president Donald Trump's removal of presidential records to Mar-a-Lago — some of which were labeled “top secret,” people familiar with the matter said.

Discussion: USA Today, The Hill, Associated Press, NPR, Talking Points Memo, New York Post, Forbes, Metro.co.uk and Raw Story

CNN: Justice Department investigating handling of White House records taken to Mar-a-Lago after Trump left office

Susie Moore / RedState:

UN General Assembly Votes to Suspend Russia From Human Rights Council — Late Thursday morning, the United Nations General Assembly took a vote regarding Russia's seat on the Human Rights Council. Ahead of the vote, the US lead the move to suspend Russia's membership on the council.

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Examiner, Associated Press and Raw Story

CNN:
UN suspends Russia from Human Rights Council

Michael Balsamo / Associated Press:

US: 2 posed as agents, gave gifts to Secret Service officers — WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged two men they say were posing as federal agents, giving free apartments and other gifts to U.S. Secret Service agents, including one who worked on the first lady's security detail.

Discussion: HotAir, wusa9.com, CBS News, emptywheel, Washington Post, CNN, The Daily Beast, Power Line, New York Post, NBC4 Washington, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, Zandar Versus The Stupid and Talking Points Memo

The Philadelphia Inquirer:

How much is Mehmet Oz worth? A lot, a new Pa. Senate campaign report shows. — As he runs for U.S. Senate, Mehmet Oz has derided big tech as a “cartel” and boasted about taking on the Silicon Valley giants.But he's also deeply invested in them.Oz's personal financial disclosure report …

Discussion: Forbes, HuffPost, Raw Story and Political Wire

Jerusalem Demsas / The Atlantic:

Why So Many COVID Predictions Were Wrong — As many prominent policy makers reckon uncomfortably with persistent inflation after months of forecasting that the phenomenon would be transitory, I've started making a list of other pandemic predictions about the economy that never materialized.

Discussion: Nature

Ruy Teixeira / The Liberal Patriot:

The Democrats' Nevada Problem — Combining the Democrats' Hispanic Voter and Working Class Voter Problems — What do you get when you combine the Democrats' Hispanic voter problem with the Democrats' working class voter problem? Something like the Democrats' Nevada problem.

Discussion: HotAir and CANNONFIRE

Robby Soave / Reason:

Koch Network Smeared as Pro-Russia for Suggesting Sanctions Might Not Work — Stand Together is a charitable organization founded by Charles Koch that gives money to libertarian groups and causes. It works to advance classically liberal ideas on a variety of issues: school choice …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Tyler Kingkade / NBC News:

A Texas teacher faces losing her job after fighting for gay pride symbols in school — The school year at MacArthur High in Irving, Texas, began last fall with the administration scraping off rainbow stickers that had been posted on campus, prompting hundreds of students to walk out in protest.

Luke Gentile / Washington Examiner:

Marjorie Taylor Greene calls for police action against Jimmy Kimmel — The outspoken congresswoman alleged that Kimmel's joke was tantamount to a “threat of violence.” — “ABC, this threat of violence against me by @jimmykimmel has been filed with the @CapitolPolice,” she posted to Twitter.

Discussion: Fox News, The Hill, The Daily Caller, New York Post, BizPac Review, Rolling Stone, Deadline and IJR

Oliver Darcy / CNN:

NBC News journalists vexed by MSNBC's move to hire White House press secretary Jen Psaki — New York (CNN Business)NBC News journalists are troubled by and have expressed dismay to network executives about MSNBC's intention to hire White House press secretary Jen Psaki when she exits …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, Newsbusters, Mediaite, New York Post, TVNewser, BizPac Review, The Daily Caller, Washington Times and IJR

The White House:
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki, April 6, 2022

Discussion: Insider, Fox News, The Western Journal and Power Line

Corbin Barthold / The Bulwark:

Trump's Judge-Shopping Flop — Cynicism, mendacity, and incompetence rolled into one. — (CORBIS / GETTY) — Donald Trump has what might charitably be called a poor relationship with judges. It's not clear that he even understands what they do. Recall Trump's claim that …

Discussion: Raw Story