memeorandum: Stash of assault rifles, body armor, passports with multiple visas, and sham uniforms found in penthouse of ‘fake’ Homeland agents … (Katelyn Caralle/Daily Mail)

12:45 AM ET, April 9, 2022

Top Items:

CNN:

CNN Exclusive: ‘We control them all’: Donald Trump Jr. texted Meadows ideas for overturning 2020 election before it was called — Two days after the 2020 presidential election, as votes were still being tallied, Donald Trump's eldest son texted then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows that …

Discussion: Associated Press, HuffPost, Washington Examiner, Metro.co.uk, Daily Kos, Raw Story, New York Times, Rolling Stone, Forbes, The Newsletter, The Gateway Pundit, POLITICUSUSA, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Mock Paper Scissors and Insider

Alan Feuer / New York Times:

Pro-Trump Rally Planner Is Cooperating in Justice Dept.'s Jan. 6 Inquiry — Ali Alexander, who was a key figure in the “Stop the Steal” movement, said he had received a grand jury subpoena and would assist the expanding investigation. — Give this article- - - Read in app

Discussion: Insider, Politico, The Guardian, Washington Examiner, CNN, Truthout, Raw Story, MindWar and Political Wire

Tom Jackman / Washington Post:

Proud Boys leader admits plan to storm Capitol, will testify against others … A North Carolina man who was one of the leaders of the far-right Proud Boys as they assaulted the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, pleaded guilty Friday to two felony counts with a minimum sentence of nearly six years in prison …

Discussion: USA Today, CNN, The Daily Beast, Radix's Newsletter, The Hill and CBS News

U.S. Department of Justice:
Leader of North Carolina Chapter of Proud Boys Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy and Assault Charges in Jan. 6 Capitol Breach

Discussion: Reuters, Associated Press, Queen City News, BuzzFeed News, NPR, UrduPoint News, Politico, Raw Story and CBS News

Detroit Free Press:

2 Whitmer kidnap plot suspects found not guilty; mistrial declared for other two — The historic Gretchen Whitmer kidnap plot case has ended with no convictions. — Defendant Daniel Harris, - the only one who testified at trial - was acquitted on all four counts, with the judge telling …

Discussion: USA Today, Breitbart, Daily Kos, UPI and Substack

Detroit News:
Jury finds 2 men not guilty in Whitmer kidnap case; unable to reach verdicts on 2 others

Discussion: Forbes, OutKick, Fox News, Washington Examiner, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Washington Times and ABC7

Ken Bensinger / BuzzFeed News:
A Stunning Surprise In The Michigan Kidnapping Case Calls The Government's Domestic Terror Strategy Into Question

Discussion: The Last Refuge, TheBlaze and Daily Insurrection

Mitch Smith / New York Times:
Two Men Acquitted in Plot to Kidnap Michigan Governor

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Magazine, American Greatness, Reason, The Daily Beast and RedState

Associated Press:
2 acquitted, jury hung on 2 more in Whitmer kidnap plot

Discussion: CNN, New York Post, Law & Crime, WWTV-TV/WWUP-TV, CBS News, 6abc and Twitchy

Matt Shuham / Talking Points Memo:
Two Acquittals, Two Mistrials In Federal Trial Over Whitmer Kidnapping Plot

Discussion: National Review and Fox News

Matthew Lee / Associated Press:

State Department: WH gift records for Trump, Pence missing — WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department says it is unable to compile a complete and accurate accounting of gifts presented to former President Donald Trump and other U.S. officials by foreign governments during Trump's final year in office …

Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:

Trump Officials Failed to Provide Accounting of Foreign Gifts — The State Department could not compile a list of gifts for 2020, making it difficult to determine whether officials did anything improper. — Give this article- - - Read in app — The Trump administration left office without providing …

Discussion: Raw Story

New York Times:

Russian Blunders in Chernobyl: ‘They Came and Did Whatever They Wanted.’ — Tanks treads ripped up the toxic soil, bulldozers carved trenches and bunkers, and soldiers spent a month camped in — and dug into — a radioactive forest. — Give this article- - - Read in app

Discussion: BBC and Mercury News

American Prospect:

How Republican Rep. John Rose Found His Wife — This Tennessee representative married a college undergraduate when he was 45. — Rep. John Rose (R-TN) attends a House Financial Services Committee organizational meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, January 30, 2019.

Eric Lipton / New York Times:

Donations Steered to Trump Super PAC by Canadian Are Found to Be Illegal — The Federal Election Commission fined a Canadian steel billionaire, Barry Zekelman, $975,000 in the case, one of the biggest penalties it has ever assessed. — Give this article- - - Read in app

Discussion: Raw Story and Politico

Francisco E. Jimenez / MyRGV.com:

Woman arrested in Starr County on murder for ‘illegal abortion’ — A woman was arrested Thursday and charged with murder for having a self-induced “illegal abortion.” — According to the Starr County Sheriff's Office, Lizelle Herrera, 26, was arrested and served with an indictment …

Nathaniel Puente / KVEO-TV:

Starr County woman arrested for “self-induced abortion” — STARR COUNTY, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A woman has been charged with murder after authorities say she performed a “self-induced abortion.” — Lizelle Herrera, 26, was arrested on Thursday by the Starr County Sheriff's Office and charged with murder.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Politico:

The Supreme Court question Republicans won't answer — Don't ask Chuck Grassley how he'd handle another Supreme Court nomination from President Joe Biden. — “Ask me that question on Nov. 9,” said Grassley, who's in line to run the Judiciary Committee if Republicans win back the Senate this fall.

Discussion: HotAir, Fox News, The Daily Caller, New York Post, The Dispatch, Breitbart, No More Mister Nice Blog, FOX 2, Townhall, CBS Baltimore, Washington Post and Bloomberg

Cleve R. Wootson Jr / Washington Post:
Jackson, after a tough confirmation, celebrates at White House

Discussion: Associated Press, Chicago Sun-Times, Truthout, Colorado Newsline, The Root, SCOTUSblog, TheGrio, CBS News, TheBlaze and Los Angeles Times

Katelyn Caralle / Daily Mail:

Stash of assault rifles, body armor, passports with multiple visas, and sham uniforms found in penthouse of ‘fake’ Homeland agents - including one with ‘links to Pakistani intelligence’ - who 'infiltrated Biden, Kamala and Jill's Secret Service details' — A motion for detention shows …

Justin Rohrlich / The Daily Beast:
Homeland Security Conman's Arrest Is ‘Karma,’ Says Former Friend

Discussion: Raw Story and The Blue State Conservative

Clayton Davis / Variety:

Academy Bans Will Smith From Oscars for 10 Years … The Board of Governors for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences met Friday morning to discuss the consequences for actor Will Smith following his slap of presenter Chris Rock during the 94th Oscars telecast, and voted to ban Smith …

Discussion: NPR, RedState, ABC News, New York Post, Page Six, OutKick, NewsWire, IndieWire, The Hill, Jezebel, Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Human Events, ABC7, Twitchy, TheGrio, Mashable, WFLA-TV, The Blast, CBS News, HotAir, Hollywood Reporter, Washington Examiner, Full Feed, Deseret News and IJR

CNN:
Actor Will Smith banned from attending Oscars for 10 years

Discussion: New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Root, Deadline, UPI, The Western Journal and IJR, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:

Finland and Sweden could soon join NATO, prompted by Russian war in Ukraine — (CNN)Finland and Sweden could soon join NATO, moves that would likely infuriate Moscow and that officials say would further underscore Russia's strategic error in invading Ukraine.

Discussion: CNBC, Ukraine SITREP, Daily Kos and Washington Examiner

The Economist:
Finland is hurtling towards NATO membership

Discussion: Bloomberg, Careful Bible Student, ARY NEWS, Anti-bellum and The Hill

Lois Weiss / New York Post:

Judge rules NYC illegally canceled Trump's contract to run Bronx golf course — Donald Trump is back in the Bronx. — A state Supreme Court judge ruled Friday that the city did not have the right to cancel Trump's contract to run the Ferry Point Golf Course.

Discussion: Twitchy

Claudia Irizarry Aponte / THE CITY:
Judge Says Trump Firm Can Keep Running Bronx Golf Course After de Blasio Broke Contract

Discussion: Raw Story

David Ignatius / Washington Post:

Biden won't remove Iran's Revolutionary Guard from terror list. He's right. — The Biden administration plans to reject an Iranian demand that the United States lift its designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization as a condition for renewing …

Discussion: Diplomatic,, Associated Press and Reuters

BBC:

Biden blames Russia for ‘atrocity’ at station that killed 50 — Updates from BBC correspondents: Joel Gunter in Kyiv, Yogita Limaye in Chernihiv, Jonathan Beale and Joe Inwood in Kramatorsk, Tom Bateman in Zaporizhzhia, and Anna Foster and Emma Vardy in Lviv — Summary

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Breitbart and Politico

Demetri Sevastopulo / Financial Times:

US to send officials to Solomon Islands due to tensions over China security pact — Washington fears Beijing will gain strategic toehold in Pacific close to Australia — The White House's top Asia official is preparing to travel to the Solomon Islands in a rare high-level visit …

Jonathan Lemire / Politico:

The White House is freaked out that Putin's next big win could be in Paris — The White House has begun to harbor fears that Vladimir Putin could soon notch his biggest victory of Russia's invasion of Ukraine — in Paris. — There is growing concern within President Joe Biden's administration …

Discussion: Financial Times, Washington Examiner, HotAir, Power Line, Politico, FiveThirtyEight and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »

Julie Carr Smyth / Associated Press:

Ohio GOP Senate hopeful: Middle class doesn't pay fair share — COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Mike Gibbons, a leading Republican Senate candidate from Ohio, said at a media event last fall that middle-class Americans don't pay “any kind of a fair share” of income taxes.

Discussion: Raw Story and Political Wire

Joshua Yaffa / New Yorker:

The Prisoners in a Cellar in the Ukrainian Village of Novyi Bykiv — A pattern of indiscriminate violence committed by Russian forces appears to have taken hold in a number of towns and villages in the Kyiv region. — In Novyi Bykiv, a village sixty miles east of Kyiv, I was led to a cellar.

WAVY-TV:

Exclusive: Chair of Hampton Electoral Board accused of racist post, called upon to resign — HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) - The Chairman of the Hampton GOP has called upon the appointing authority for all electoral board members to remove Electoral Board Chair David Dietrich from his position because of racist comments posted on Facebook.

Discussion: Raw Story

Gordon Corera / BBC:

Ukraine: Inside the spies' attempts to stop the war — Traditionally, it is the job of a spy to keep secrets - but as the invasion of Ukraine loomed, Western intelligence officials made the unusual decision to tell the world what they knew. — For nearly a dozen days in February …

Alexa Moutevelis / Fox News:

NPR reporter blasts own newsroom: Hunter Biden's laptop has ‘always been’ a story — Journo explicitly blamed ‘newsroom editors’ for refusing to report it. — An NPR reporter called out her own newsroom on Thursday for claiming the Hunter Biden laptop was “not a real story.”

Marc Elias / Democracy Docket:

We Can't Ignore Republican Attempts to Undermine Free and Fair Elections — There are no perfect elections, only fair ones. In any election there will be some citizens prevented from voting and legal votes not counted. It is a tragedy that is built into a system that relies on machines and people to do the best they can.

Discussion: CBS News and Raw Story