memeorandum: Ukraine's Zelenskyy asked Biden to label Russia a state sponsor of terrorism (NBC News)

6:40 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 …

Discussion: Deseret News, Insider, New Republic, Rolling Stone, Washington Post, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Vanity Fair, POLITICUSUSA, Patterico's Pontifications, VICE, The Hill, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Forbes and The Guardian

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, New York Times, Raw Story, Insider, POLITICUSUSA, Mother Jones, Washington Examiner, VICE, Mediaite, Bipartisan Report, HuffPost, Daily Kos and Washington Post

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:

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

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

Discussion: Washington Times, Mediaite, Insider and Raw Story

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, Bloomberg, Forbes and Mediaite, more at Techmeme »

Washington Post:

Elon Musk's Twitter bid frustrates employees. That's a risk for him … As news of Elon Musk's hostile takeover bid spread throughout Twitter on Thursday, employees expressed concern that their workplaces might suffer under the leadership of the incendiary tech mogul, as well as exhaustion over the company's uncertain future.

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

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

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Washington Post, The Information, TheBlaze, The Last Refuge, OutKick, Breitbart, UPI, CBS News, Forbes, TechCrunch, The Daily Beast, Protocol, Mediaite, The Verge and The Wrap

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

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

Matt Levine / Bloomberg:
Sure Elon Musk Might Buy Twitter

Discussion: New York Times, Fox Business, SFist, Wall Street Journal, NPR, RedState, BreezyScroll, The Scroll and Machined, 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: Insider, Yahoo News, Washington Examiner, New York Times, The Hill, Axios, TheBlaze, Associated Press and NPR

Jeremy Herb / CNN:

Exclusive: Zelensky says world should be prepared for possibility Putin could use nuclear weapons — You can see more of the interview on ‘The Lead’ at 4pm ET and the full interview will run on Sunday at 9am ET on ‘State of the Union’ — (CNN)Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN Friday that …

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

Washington Post:
Russia believed the West was weak and decadent. So it invaded.

Discussion: UPI, Raw Story and New York Post

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

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Fox News, The Hill, New York Magazine, NPR, CNN, USA Today, Bloomberg, Associated Press, Plain Dealer, MyNorthwest.com, Political Wire and IJR

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: Politico, HuffPost, Breitbart, Mediaite and The Daily Caller

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

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

Trafalgar Group:
OH Sen GOP April 2022

Discussion: The Hill and Breitbart

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: Reason, POLITICUSUSA, MyNorthwest.com, BorderReport and Associated Press

Zijia Song / Bloomberg: Produce Worth Millions Gets Stuck in Blockade by Mexico Truckers

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

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

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

Discussion: CBS News and CNN

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

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

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

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

Discussion: CNN and Des Moines Register

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

Randy Krehbiel / Tulsa World:

Scott Pruitt, former Oklahoma AG, files for U.S. Senate seat — Former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is running for U.S. Senate. — Also the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency appointed by Donald Trump, Pruitt has filed to campaign for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jim Inhofe.

Discussion: The Hill and Raw Story

Sean Murphy / Associated Press:
Ex-EPA head Scott Pruitt to run for US Senate in Oklahoma

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

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

Drew Harwell / Washington Post:

Ukraine is scanning faces of dead Russians, then contacting the mothers … Ukrainian officials have run more than 8,600 facial recognition searches on dead or captured Russian soldiers in the 50 days since Moscow's invasion began, using the scans to identify bodies and contact hundreds …

Discussion: HotAir, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Mediaite, Trends Journal, The Moscow Times, New York Post, Al Jazeera, CNN, The Carpentariat, The Guardian, Digby's Hullabaloo, CNN and BBC, more at Mediagazer »

Stuart A. Thompson / New York Times:

How Russia Media Uses Fox News to Make Its Case — The conservative network has appeared hundreds of times in Russian media. — Give this article- - - Read in app — Stuart Thompson writes about online information flows. — As Western leaders introduced sanctions against Russia …

more at Mediagazer »

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, Just The News and lewrockwell.com

Wall Street Journal:

Biden Administration Resumes Oil Leases on Federal Land — Royalty rates on production to rise, acreage available for leasing to decrease — WASHINGTON—The Biden administration announced lease sales for oil and gas drilling on federal land Friday, but said it would sharply reduce …

Rebecca C. Lewis / City & State New York:

Suozzi calls Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' law ‘reasonable’ — Asked on a conservative radio talk show about the controversial law, Rep. Tom Suozzi leaned into right-wing talking points about not wanting teachers discussing sexual orientation and gender identity.