memeorandum: Right-wing populists are thriving — even when they're friends of Putin (Fareed Zakaria/Washington Post)

8:10 AM ET, April 8, 2022

Top Items:

‘Gutted’: Inside the Manhattan DA's Unraveling Trump Probe — The Manhattan DA's case against Donald Trump increasingly seems to be going nowhere. … Over the last several weeks, the Manhattan District Attorney's investigation into former President Donald Trump has appeared to be unraveling …

Discussion: Occupy Democrats, Yahoo News, CNN and Political Wire

New York Times:

Under Fire, Manhattan D.A. Defends Handling of Trump Investigation — Alvin Bragg, in his first public comments about the inquiry into the former president, insisted his office was continuing to pursue the matter but provided few additional details. — Give this article- - - Read in app

Discussion: Puck, The Daily Beast, Bloomberg, Brooklyn Eagle, Manhattan District …, Washington Post, Politico, Law & Crime, Raw Story, CBS News, CNBC, Raw Story, Insider, Washington Examiner, Forbes and New York Magazine

Washington Post:

Expulsion of Russian ‘diplomats’ may strangle Moscow's spying — In the international game of spy vs. spy, Europe has dealt Russia a potentially crippling blow. — Nearly two dozen European countries have expelled hundreds of Russian government personnel from embassies …

Discussion: Raw Story, Foreign Policy, New York Times, CNN, The Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Breitbart, UN News and CNN

Financial Times:
Nato states agree to supply heavy weapons to Ukraine

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, EUobserver, Foreign Affairs, New York Post, Daily Mail, Slate, Joseph's Newsletter, Carl Beijer, RedState, Forbes, EL PAÍS in English and The Guardian

Alexis Petridis / The Guardian:
‘This is a crazy, unjust attack’: Pink Floyd re-form to support Ukraine

Discussion: YouTube, CBS News, NDTV, New York Post and The Sun

Anders Hagstrom / Fox News:
Putin has ‘probably given up’ on taking Kyiv, Austin says

Discussion: CNN, Outside the Beltway, Washington Examiner, NDTV, Roll Call, CBS News, Breitbart and Defense One

Michelle Nichols / Reuters:
U.N. suspends Russia from human rights body, Moscow then quits

Discussion: Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, CNBC, NDTV, The Daily Wire, Associated Press, New York Times, Forbes, Newsfirst, Al Jazeera and Patterico's Pontifications

New York Times:

Live Updates: At Least 39 Killed in Strike on Train Station, Ukraine Says, as Thousands Flee From East — The station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk had been a main point of evacuation as the region braced for a scaling up of Russia's offensive. The European Union formally approved …

Discussion: Washington Post, Just The News and The Guardian

New York Times:

F.B.I. Preparing to Investigate How Classified Material Went to Trump's Home — Federal authorities want to know more about how sensitive national security information came to be in 15 boxes of documents and mementos sent to Mar-a-Lago from the White House. — Give this article- - - Read in app

Discussion: Insider, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Vanity Fair, RedState, New York Post, Raw Story, The Daily Beast, Metro.co.uk and Talking Points Memo

Washington Post:

Rep. Gonzales on how the GOP can win more Hispanic voters — Good morning, Early Birds. Congress has skipped town, but we're still here. Send us your best tips: earlytips@washpost.com. Thanks for waking up with us. — In today's edition: Why Black voters who celebrated Ketanji Brown …

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Senators to restart bipartisan immigration reform talks

Discussion: Breitbart and Townhall

Justin Rohrlich / The Daily Beast:

Yakuza Boss Arrested at Manhattan Steakhouse for Alleged Rockets-for-Heroin Scheme — “The drugs were destined for New York streets, and the weapons shipments were meant for factions in unstable nations.” — A Japanese organized crime kingpin conspired to broker massive deals …

Discussion: Justice News, The Guardian, Raw Story and Voice of America

Elena Schneider / Politico:

‘If we do this right...’: The new Dem organizing strategy catching fire ahead of the midterms — Operatives who helped elect Sen. Jon Ossoff are exporting their voter contact program to more states for the midterm elections. — Then-Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jon Ossoff speaks …

CBS News:

Men accused of impersonating federal agents being investigated for possible ties to Iranian intelligence — The two men accused of impersonating federal agents over the course of several years will remain in jail pending a detention hearing Friday, a federal magistrate judge ruled Thursday.

Discussion: New York Times, NDTV, CNN, BuzzFeed News, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Fox News, Daily Mail, HotAir, Daily Kos, CNN, Raw Story, RedState, The Daily Beast, Insider, NBC Los Angeles, Talking Points Memo, Substack, IJR, NBC News, HotAir and NBC4 Washington

ABC News:
2 men posed as federal agents, gave gifts to Secret Service officers: Court documents

Discussion: Reuters, Politico, Washington Post, Washington Post, WJLA-TV, CBS News and Balloon Juice

Breck Dumas / Fox Business:

GEICO apologizes, reverses course after inviting Linda Sarsour to speak at company event — The pro-Palestinian activist has been widely accused of anti-Semitism — Property and casualty insurer GEICO landed in hot water with several Jewish advocacy groups this week after inviting pro-Palestinian activist …

Discussion: OutKick and The Daily Wire

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

If the Senate can't help workers, maybe unions and states can — For now, legislative proposals to reduce costs and improve the lives of workers, such as expanding paid leave, subsidizing child care and making prekindergarten universal, is kaput. Support for such a comprehensive package …

Discussion: New York Times

The Lever:
Biden Offers Amazon Workers Rhetoric, But No Action

Discussion: Washington Post

Nicole Chavez / CNN:

Texas leads among 26 states with book bans, free speech group says — (CNN)More than a 1,000 books have been banned in 86 school districts in 26 states across the United States, a new PEN America analysis shows. — PEN America, a literary and free expression advocacy organization …

Discussion: Insider

PEN America:
Banned in the USA: Rising School Book Bans Threaten Free Expression and Students' First Amendment Rights

Discussion: Insider, HuffPost and The Hill

Choire Sicha / New York Magazine:

Journalism's Twitter Problem Is the Journalists — Today, New York Times honcho Dean Baquet ordered a company-wide “reset” in how his staff should think about Twitter. Mostly, he'd like them to never look at it again. — You can see why. Most of the people who work for him are very bad …

Discussion: Althouse, NDTV, The Hill, The Daily Wire, Mediaite, Twitchy and The Daily Beast, more at Mediagazer »

Tom Burt / Microsoft On the Issues:

Disrupting cyberattacks targeting Ukraine — Tom Burt - Corporate Vice President, Customer Security & Trust — Today, we're sharing more about cyberattacks we've seen from a Russian nation-state actor targeting Ukraine and steps we've taken to disrupt it.

Discussion: Washington Post, USA Today, Radio Free Europe/Radio … and The Hill, more at Techmeme »

Kansas City Star:

Request for investigation sent before alleged abuse by Greitens — Missouri state Sen. Jamilah Nasheed grew concerned enough about Gov. Eric Greitens' potential for violence in April 2018 that she sent a letter asking the Department of Public Safety to investigate rumors of an incident involving …

Discussion: Raw Story

Leana S. Wen / Washington Post:

The Gridiron Club outbreak shows what living with covid-19 looks like — At least a dozen high-profile guests who attended Saturday's Gridiron Club dinner have tested positive for the coronavirus, including Attorney General Merrick Garland, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Reps. Adam B. Schiff …

Discussion: The Hill, New York Magazine and HotAir

New York Times:

Supreme Court Highlights: Senate Confirms Ketanji Brown Jackson — The 53-47 vote elevated the first Black woman to the pinnacle of the judicial branch as senators erupted in cheers. Three Republicans joined Democrats in supporting President Biden's nominee. — Here's what you need to know:

David Ignatius / Washington Post:

As Ukraine braces for a second round, the West has a duty to step up — With the second bloody round of the war in Ukraine about to begin, the West should step up its assistance and move quickly to provide Kyiv with heavier weapons to resist a savage new Russian assault on the southeastern part of the country.

Discussion: American Purpose, Wide World of News, Associated Press, NDTV, Politico, president.gov.ua, NPR and Washington Examiner

ABC News:

Is Trump's hold on the GOP waning? We're about to find out. — The former president will see his influence tested in a series of primaries. — A former president who famously claimed he would win so much that his followers would be “sick and tired of winning” faces the prospect of something …

Discussion: Plain Dealer

Fareed Zakaria / Washington Post:

Right-wing populists are thriving — even when they're friends of Putin — When Russia launched its attack on Ukraine, a wide variety of commentators believed there was at least one silver lining in this catastrophic cloud. Vladimir Putin's assault on the liberal order, they hoped …

Discussion: Financial Times

New York Times:

Alabama Lawmakers Approve Ban on Medical Care for Transgender Youth — Legislators also approved a measure restricting discussion of L.G.B.T.Q. issues in public schools. — Give this article- - - Read in app — Alabama lawmakers voted on Thursday to criminalize medical care …

Discussion: HuffPost, Raw Story, Reuters, UPI, Politico, CBS News and The Daily Wire

Joan Walsh / The Nation:

Eric Boehlert Got Everything Right About Our Petty, Self-Congratulating Media — From his early coverage of political reporters' savaging Al Gore to his incisive critique of their Joe Biden coverage right before he died, he got it. And he will be missed. — I am brokenhearted over the news …

Politico:

Judge restores Jan. 6 defendant's gun rights over DOJ objection — A judge has restored a Texas woman's right to possess firearms just weeks after she was sentenced for illegally entering the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. — U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden issued an order …