memeorandum: UN team in China ahead of likely Xinjiang visit by human rights chief (Finbarr Bermingham/South China Morning Post)

4:40 PM ET, April 25, 2022

Top Items:

Elon Musk to Acquire Twitter — Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an entity wholly owned by Elon Musk, for $54.20 per share in cash in a transaction valued at approximately $44 billion.

Greg Roumeliotis / Reuters:

Twitter set to accept Musk's original $43 bln offer — Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) is poised to agree a sale to Elon Musk for around $43 billion in cash, the price the chief executive of Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) has called his “best and final” offer for the social media company, people familiar with the matter said.

Brooke Singman / Fox News:

Trump will not return to Twitter even as Elon Musk purchases platform, will begin using his own TRUTH Social — Trump said a Musk Twitter takeover would be a positive development, but he will stay with his own platform — Twitter reportedly nearing deal to accept Elon Musk's offer

Discussion: Grid News, The Hill, Insider, Metro.co.uk, Deadline, Raw Story, Variety, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Times and KTLA, more at Mediagazer »

Dan Primack / Axios:

Twitter agrees to be bought by Elon Musk — Twitter on Monday agreed to be acquired for around $44 billion in cash by Elon Musk, just weeks after the tech mogul launched his unsolicited, take-it-or-leave-it offer. … - It's sure to be criticized by those who disagree with Musk's laissez-faire views …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, HotAir, CNN, Reuters, Poynter, Mercury News, Breitbart, Slashdot and Human Events

Bloomberg:

Twitter on Track to Reach Deal With Musk as Soon as Monday — Twitter is in the final stretch of negotiations about a sale to Elon Musk, a person with knowledge of the matter said, Bloomberg News reports. The social media company is working to hammer out terms of a transaction and could reach …

Lauren Feiner / CNBC:

Twitter accepts Elon Musk's buyout deal — KEY POINTS — Twitter's board accepted billionaire Elon Musk's offer to buy the social media company and take it private, the company confirmed. — The announcement ends a weeks-long saga Musk kicked off when he offered to buy the company at $54.20 per share, his “best and final.”

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, The Western Journal, Ace of Spades HQ, Twitchy, Euractiv, Hollywood Reporter and The Daily Wire, more at Mediagazer »

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Biden officials worry Musk will allow Trump to return to Twitter

Discussion: The US Sun, Political Wire, Bloomberg and Breitbart

USA Today:
Elon Musk to acquire Twitter in $44 billion deal

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Washington Post, Metro.co.uk, Variety, Denver Post, Deadline, The Daily Wire, CBS Baltimore, Washington Times, Bloomberg and Just The News

CNN:

CNN Exclusive: Mark Meadows' 2,319 text messages reveal Trump's inner circle communications before and after January 6 — Washington (CNN)CNN has obtained 2,319 text messages that former President Donald Trump's White House chief of staff Mark Meadows sent and received between Election …

Aaron Rupar / Public Notice:

Marjorie Taylor Greene doesn't remember anything and you can't prove she does — Greene's painful, day-long effort to avoid perjuring herself, explained to me by Ron Filipkowski. — On Friday, Marjorie Taylor Greene gave sworn testimony in a case seeking to remove her from the ballot later this year.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

The Jolt: Takeaways from the brawl between Brian Kemp and David Perdue — It was less a debate and more of a barroom brawl. But we still learned plenty from the first Republican showdown between Gov. Brian Kemp and former U.S. Sen. David Perdue in their first debate on Channel 2 Action News …

Discussion: HotAir, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, CNN, BizPac Review, Fox News, Associated Press and The Daily Beast

Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
Greene, in text to Meadows, raised topic of martial law to keep Trump in power

Discussion: Insider, The Hill, CNN, Mediaite, Raw Story and Rolling Stone

New York Times:

Judge Holds Trump in Contempt Over Documents in New York A.G.'s Inquiry — Former President Donald J. Trump was ordered to turn over materials sought by Letitia James, the New York attorney general, and will be fined $10,000 per day until he does so. — Give this article- - - Read in app

Discussion: New York Magazine, CBS News, Associated Press, Insider, Washington Examiner, Washington Times, CNBC, Rolling Stone, Deseret News, POLITICUSUSA, Talking Points Memo, Reuters, Occupy Democrats, New York Post, Syracuse Post-Standard and Mediaite

CNN:
Judge holds former President Trump in civil contempt for failing to comply with document subpoenas from New York attorney general

Discussion: HuffPost, The Hill, The Daily Beast, Gizmodo, Forbes, The Root, Al Jazeera, Daily Kos and UPI

Dareh Gregorian / NBC News:
N.Y. judge holds Trump in contempt for failing to produce documents in attorney general probe

Discussion: Washington Post, Fox News, Wall Street Journal and The Daily Wire

Russell Berman / The Atlantic:

Mitch McConnell's Nightmare Scenario — The names Todd Akin, Richard Mourdock, Sharron Angle, and Christine O'Donnell have been lost to history, consigned to the dustbin of Beltway barroom trivia. For Mitch McConnell, however, they remain an all-too-fresh reminder of opportunities squandered.

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Raw Story

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
GOP handling of Kevin McCarthy's treachery sinks to abysmal lows

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Punchbowl News, The Hill, Daily Kos and CNN

Josh Dawsey / Washington Post: ‘Exhilarated’ McConnell said Jan. 6 ‘discredited’ Trump, book says

Lynn Sweet / Chicago Sun-Times:
Sen. Duckworth's pushback after Biden rejected her for VP covered in new book

Discussion: Insider

Eli Yokley / Morning Consult:

Joe Manchin's Approach to Biden's Presidency Is Paying Off in West Virginia — Over the past year, Manchin has seen the largest job approval rating improvement of any senator — 57% of West Virginia voters approve of Manchin's job performance, up from 40% during the first quarter of 2021.

Discussion: USA Today, Insider, Breitbart, The Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, IJR, The Hill, Decision Desk HQ, Mediaite, Washington Times and Political Wire

Lorenzo Tondo / The Guardian:

Russia bombs five railway stations in central and western Ukraine — Casualties unknown after morning airstrikes fell within one hour of each other, say officials — Five railway stations in central and western Ukraine were hit by Russian airstrikes in the space of one hour on Monday …

Discussion: Associated Press, New York Times, The US Sun, Fox News and The Hill

Anne Applebaum / The Atlantic:
Ukraine and the Words That Lead to Mass Murder

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, The Drive, CBS News, The Daily Caller, United States Department …, Wall Street Journal and Financial Times

Oriana Gonzalez / Axios:
Biden to nominate Bridget Brink as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine

Discussion: NPR, National Review, CBS News, The White House, Washington Post, New York Times, Metro.co.uk, UPI, POLITICUSUSA, Reuters, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Al Jazeera, New York Post, Washington Times and Just The News

Fox News:

Biden's White House senior adviser called ‘Squad’ members ‘f—ing idiots’: book — White House counselor Steve Ricchetti said the issue with progressives is 'they don't understand that they lost' — Fox News Flash top headlines for April 25 — A new book being published by a pair …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, IJR, Insider and New York Post

Tyler Pager / Washington Post:
Democrats approach a midterm message but struggle to deliver it

Discussion: RedState, HotAir, Washington Examiner, Breitbart, New York Post, Daily Kos, Political Wire, Twitchy and Fox News

Jolie McCullough / The Texas Tribune:

Melissa Lucio's execution halted by Texas Court of Criminal Appeals — Acknowledging substantive questions about Lucio's guilt and the fairness of her conviction, the appeals court blocked her Wednesday execution so the case can be further investigated. — Copy link

Discussion: Innocence Project, USA Today, Bloomberg and NPR

Vulture:

The 101 Best Movie Sequels of All Time — Whether they come after, before, or between their predecessors, these films have their own indelible legacies. — Presented by — You loved the movie and you want more. The studio loves money, and they want more too.

Discussion: Althouse

Harvard University:

Spring 2022 — A national poll released today by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School indicates that while 18-to-29-year-olds are on track to match 2018's record-breaking youth turnout in a midterm election this November and prefer Democratic control 55%-34% …

Discussion: The Hill, Insider, Washington Examiner, USA Today, Forbes, The Daily Wire, Uniic Media and The Daily Caller

Kansas City Star:

Judge strikes down Kansas map, finding lawmakers intended to dilute minority voter power — A Kansas judge on Monday tossed the state's Republican-drawn congressional map, finding the Legislature intentionally diluted minority votes in a partisan and political gerrymander that violated the state constitution.

Discussion: Kansas Reflector and Washington Examiner

Michael Wines / New York Times: Kansas Congressional Map Is a Gerrymander, State Court Rules

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Political Correctness Is Losing — It's been seven or eight years since a wave of illiberal norms around the discussion of race and gender began to hit an expanding array of progressive institutions. The name for this phenomenon kept changing, from political correctness to call-out culture …

Discussion: Althouse

Rachel Cohrs / STAT:

White House's Jen Psaki offered a binder full of Covid spending details. Taking a peek was a process — WASHINGTON — It was a striking visual for the television cameras. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki took to the lectern, waving a thick, 385-page binder as evidence that contrary …

Devin Dwyer / ABC News:

Public school coach asks Supreme Court to OK post-game prayers — High school football coach Joe Kennedy was disciplined for prayer at midfield. — BREMERTON, Washington — A coach's personal act of prayer that grew into a public spectacle after Bremerton High School football games …

Discussion: Politico, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Deseret News and Human Events

Jaclyn Peiser / Washington Post:

In historic conviction, Air Force general found guilty of sexual abuse — A two-star general in the U.S. Air Force was found guilty Saturday of sexual assault, marking the first court-martial and conviction of a general officer in the military branch's 74-year history.

Discussion: Air Force Materiel Command, New York Times and NPR

BuzzFeed News:

Private Equity Giant KKR Bought Up Hundreds Of Group Homes. Some People In Its Care Paid A Steep Price. — BrightSpring Health Services, which KKR bought in 2019, says it helps thousands of people with disabilities “live their best lives.” But a BuzzFeed News investigation found conditions …

Discussion: GitHub

Finbarr Bermingham / South China Morning Post:

UN team in China ahead of likely Xinjiang visit by human rights chief — Five-member team will serve quarantine in Guangzhou before heading to Xinjiang China's strict anti-pandemic rules spark doubts about how freely the team can move around the country and Bachelet's visit itself China's …