memeorandum: ‘Please tell me what I should be saying.’ Text messages show Sen. Mike Lee assisting Trump efforts to overturn 2020 election (Bryan Schott/Salt Lake Tribune)

9:30 PM ET, April 15, 2022

Top Items:

CNN:

CNN Exclusive: 'We need ammo. We need fraud examples. We need it this weekend.' What the Meadows texts reveal about how two Trump congressional allies lobbied the White House to overturn the election. — The texts, which have not been previously reported, were sent by Republican Sen. Mike Lee …

CNN:

READ: Mark Meadows' texts with Mike Lee and Chip Roy — (CNN)CNN has obtained text messages of separate conversations that then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows had with Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas after the 2020 presidential election and through early January 2021.

Discussion: HotAir, Raw Story, The Texas Tribune, New York Times, Insider, Mother Jones, POLITICUSUSA, VICE, Daily Kos, Bipartisan Report, Mediaite, Washington Examiner, HuffPost and Washington Post

Joe Patrice / Above the Law:

Donald Trump REALLY Needed To Stop Listening To Mike Lee's Terrible Legal Advice — Mike Lee is the wrongest lawyer in Washington. — The timeline of Mike Lee's communications with the Trump White House ran a little like this: “(1) Lee offers a facially terrible idea, (2) White House agrees …

Discussion: Raw Story and Insider

Bryan Schott / Salt Lake Tribune:

‘Please tell me what I should be saying.’ Text messages show Sen. Mike Lee assisting Trump efforts to overturn 2020 election — Newly released text messages show Lee knew of scheme to send alternate electors to Congress nearly a month earlier than he claimed.

Discussion: Insider and Raw Story

Tim Miller / The Bulwark:

Mike Lee and the “Good Republicans” Were No Different Than the Crazy Kraken Lady — Clowns to the left of me. Clowns to the right. — (COMPOSITE / GETTYIMAGES / SHUTTERSTOCK) — Among the self-appointed responsible Republicans, the story of Trump's attempted election theft goes something like this:

Mariana Alfaro / Washington Post:
Lee worked hard to overturn election, keep Trump in power, texts show

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, Mediaite and Insider

New York Times:

Trump Endorses J.D. Vance in Republican Primary for Senate in Ohio — The move amounts to a major bet on Mr. Vance's ability to prevail over a crowded field, and on the former president's power to alter the course of key congressional races. — Give this article- - - Read in app

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Jim Swift / The Bulwark:

Josh Mandel Gets Schlonged — Ohio's Senate primary is a little over two weeks away and while the MAGA field has been split, Donald Trump has finally picked his horse, endorsing former author, former professional Never Trumper, and current Thiel protégé J.D. Vance.

Discussion: NBC News, Politico, HuffPost, Breitbart, POLITICUSUSA, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

CNN:
JD Vance said in 2016 the Republican Party's three-decade strategy was antagonizing Black voters

Discussion: Insider, Rolling Stone, Raw Story, The Hill and Associated Press

Trafalgar Group:
OH Sen GOP April 2022

Discussion: The Hill and Breitbart

Lauren Feiner / CNBC:

Twitter board adopts poison pill after Musk's $43 billion bid to buy company — Twitter adopted a limited duration shareholder rights plan, often called a “poison pill,” a day after billionaire Elon Musk offered to buy the company for $43 billion, the company announced Friday.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, RedState, OutKick, Bloomberg, Forbes and Mediaite, more at Techmeme »

PR Newswire:
Twitter Adopts Limited Duration Shareholder Rights Plan, Enabling All Shareholders to Realize Full Value of Company

Washington Post:
Elon Musk's Twitter bid frustrates employees. That's a risk for him

Discussion: New York Times, Gizmodo, Associated Press, Raw Story, Fortune, Variety and TheBlaze, more at Techmeme »

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Elon Musk Demonstrates How Little He Understands About Content Moderation

Discussion: Slate, CBS News, Fortune and Bloomberg, more at Techmeme »

Matt Levine / Bloomberg:
Sure Elon Musk Might Buy Twitter

Discussion: New York Times, Fox Business, The Daily Wire, BreezyScroll, NPR, The Scroll, Machined, SFist and RedState, more at Techmeme »

Anne Applebaum / The Atlantic:

Liberation Without Victory — Kyiv is halfway normal now. Burnt-out Russian tanks have been removed from the roads leading into the city, traffic lights work, the subway runs, oranges are available for purchase. A cheerful balalaika orchestra was performing for returning refugees …

Discussion: The Times of Israel, Associated Press, Insider, Yahoo News, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, New York Times, The Hill, UPI, Raw Story and Axios

Jeremy Herb / CNN:
Exclusive: Zelensky says world should be prepared for possibility Putin could use nuclear weapons

Discussion: New York Post, Common Dreams, Insider, The Hill and Daily Kos

Helene Cooper / New York Times:

Russia's Black Sea flagship was hit by 2 Ukrainian missiles, a U.S. official says. — WASHINGTON — Two Ukrainian Neptune missiles hit Russia's flagship Moskva in the Black Sea, a senior Defense official said on Friday, providing the first American confirmation that the sinking of the Russian cruiser …

Discussion: Washington Post, Naval News, NBC News, NPR, The Hill, Issues & Insights and NDTV

Tyler Pager / Washington Post:

Bidens report $610,702 in 2021 income as they release tax returns — President Biden, Vice President Harris and their spouses released tax forms Friday showing they earned incomes and paid tax rates similar to those reported last year. — The Bidens reported a federal adjusted gross income …

Discussion: Associated Press, Washington Examiner, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, The Hill, NBC News, Politico, The Guardian, New York Times, Washington Times, Bloomberg and New York Post

The White House:
The President and Vice President release their 2021 tax returns

Discussion: Fox News and CNN

Brooke Singman / Fox News:
White House releases Biden's 2021 tax returns

Discussion: Associated Press and CBS News

Vladimir Kara-Murza / Washington Post:

Vladimir Kara-Murza from jail: Russia will be free. I've never been so sure. — Editor's note: On Monday, Russian human rights activist and Post contributing columnist Vladimir Kara-Murza gave an interview in Moscow to CNN in which he harshly criticized the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Discussion: The Hill

fldoe.org:

Florida Rejects Publishers' Attempts to Indoctrinate Students — Tallahassee, Fla., April 15, 2022 - Today, Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran approved Florida's initial adoption list for mathematics instructional materials properly aligned to Florida's Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (B.E.S.T.) Standards.

Discussion: New York Post and Raw Story

Paul J. Weber / Associated Press:

Texas repeals immigration order that caused border gridlock — AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday repealed his traffic-clogging immigration order that backed up commercial trucks at the U.S.-Mexico border, after a week of intensifying backlash and fears of deepening economic losses.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Reason, POLITICUSUSA, BorderReport, MyNorthwest.com and Associated Press

Tess Owen / VICE:

A High-Ranking Proud Boy Is Now Snitching for the Feds — A Proud Boy chapter leader has flipped for the U.S. government, and that's trouble for dozens of members facing charges over the Jan. 6 insurrection. — TO — Federal prosecutors appear to have made their biggest breakthrough yet …

Discussion: Raw Story

New York Daily News:

Amid NYPD manhunt, subway shooting suspect Frank James ate lunch at Katz's Deli, walked NYC in plain view of surveillance cameras — As the NYPD and federal law enforcement scoured the city for the accused Brooklyn subway shooter on Wednesday, the burly suspect enjoyed some of Manhattan's culinary delights.

Discussion: ABC News

Jaclyn Peiser / Washington Post:

An author was set to read his unicorn book to students. The school forbade it. — Jason Tharp wants to write books for weird kids — because he was one. — Growing up in Ohio, the 45-year-old children's author, illustrator and inspirational speaker sometimes felt invisible.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, The Hill and Althouse

Stephen Gruber-Miller / Des Moines Register:

U.S. Senate candidate Abby Finkenauer will appear on primary ballot, Iowa Supreme Court rules … U.S. Senate candidate Abby Finkenauer will appear on the June Democratic primary ballot, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday, reversing a district court decision that found Finkenauer failed to qualify.

Discussion: New York Post, CBS News, Raw Story and NBC News

David Pitt / Associated Press:
Iowa Supreme Court: Finkenauer qualifies for Senate ballot

Discussion: CNN and Des Moines Register

Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D. / Breitbart:

Pope Francis: ‘We Are Racists, We Are Racists’ — ROME, Italy — Pope Francis accused the West of racism Friday, insisting migrants are “subdivided” by skin color and country of origin. — “Refugees are subdivided,” the pontiff declared during a lengthy Good Friday interview on Italian television.

Discussion: vatican.va, RedState, The Daily Caller, Vatican News, lewrockwell.com and Just The News

Sean Murphy / Associated Press:

Ex-EPA head Scott Pruitt to run for US Senate in Oklahoma — OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Republican Scott Pruitt, the scandal-ridden former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, filed Friday to run for Oklahoma's open U.S. Senate seat, making a return to politics in a state with deep ties to the oil and gas industry.

Discussion: TheBlaze, Fox News, Oklahoman, NBC News, Associated Press, Washington Post and Politico

Randy Krehbiel / Tulsa World:
Scott Pruitt, former Oklahoma AG, files for U.S. Senate seat

Discussion: Raw Story and The Hill

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:

As G.O.P. Candidates Face Accusations, Rivals Tread Carefully — In several states, Republican candidates are contending with allegations of domestic violence and sexual assault. Few of their primary rivals want to talk about it. — Give this article- - - Read in app

NBC News:

Ukraine's Zelenskyy asked Biden to label Russia a state sponsor of terrorism — The designation triggers some of the most aggressive sanctions the U.S. could adopt. Only Iran, North Korea, Syria and Cuba are now on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terror. — Zelenskyy asks Biden to designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism

Discussion: MSNBC and The Moderate Voice