memeorandum: What is Title 42? Explaining the contentious Trump-era border policy. (Amber Phillips/Washington Post)

5:20 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, Reuters, TechCrunch, Metro.co.uk, The Daily Caller, Deadline, Raw Story, Variety, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Times, KTLA and Al Jazeera, 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, The US Sun, Slashdot and Human Events

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, RedState, Fortune, TechCrunch, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, The Western Journal, The Daily Wire, Ace of Spades HQ, IJR, Twitchy, Euractiv, Hollywood Reporter and Bloomberg, more at Mediagazer »

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 …

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:

Biden officials worry Musk will allow Trump to return to Twitter — Officials within President Joe Biden's administration are closely watching Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, according to more than half a dozen advisors to Biden, including two administration officials.

Discussion: The Hill, Bloomberg, Reuters, The US Sun, Voice of America and Political Wire

Variety:
FX and The New York Times Announce Elon Musk Exposé Documentary (TV News Roundup)

Discussion: The Daily Wire, Deadline, Mediaite, IJR and Hollywood Reporter

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

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Washington Post, Metro.co.uk, 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 …

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

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.

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

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

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

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

Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:

‘Exhilarated’ McConnell said Jan. 6 ‘discredited’ Trump, book says — Hours after a mob ransacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 in a bid to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell described himself as “exhilarated” about the potential damage to then-president Donald Trump.

Russell Berman / The Atlantic:
Mitch McConnell's Nightmare Scenario

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

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, Breitbart, New York Post, Daily Kos, Washington Examiner, Political Wire, Twitchy and Fox News

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, IJR, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Decision Desk HQ, Mediaite, Washington Times and Political Wire

Oriana Gonzalez / Axios:

Biden to nominate Bridget Brink as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine — President Biden announced on Monday that he intends to nominate Bridget Brink to serve as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. … - Blinken announced during the visit that U.S. diplomats would return to Ukraine this week, the State Department said in a statement.

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

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

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

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

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

Department of Homeland Security:

Uniting for Ukraine — On April 21, 2022, President Biden announced Uniting for Ukraine, a new streamlined process to provide Ukrainian citizens who have fled Russia's unprovoked war of aggression opportunities to come to the United States. This represents a key step toward fulfilling …

Discussion: CBS 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

Terry Jones / Issues & Insights:

Who Do Dems Want In 2024? Right Now, Anybody But Biden: I&I/TIPP Poll — Yes, it's very early. But if given the choice right now, which Democrats do Americans want to see run for president in 2024? The perhaps not-so-surprising answer emerging from the latest I&I/TIPP Poll seems to be: “Anyone but Joe Biden.”

Discussion: The Western Journal, Washington Examiner and Townhall

Mark Penn / New York Times:
American Voters Haven't Been Afraid Like This in a Long Time

Discussion: NPR, National Review, Brandless Existence, Vox, The Hill and UPI

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 …

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, Associated Press, New York Times and Washington Examiner

Katie Benner / New York Times:

After a Rocky First Year, a Cautious Garland Finds His Footing — For all of the attention on the Justice Department's investigation into the Jan. 6 attack, Mr. Garland has focused on the everyday work of being the attorney general. — During a recent swing through the South …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

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

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 …