memeorandum: Boris Johnson's Comic Downfall and the U.S.-U.K. ‘Special Relationship’ (David Rothkopf/The Daily Beast)

9:40 PM ET, July 7, 2022

Top Items:

Elon Musk's deal to buy Twitter is in peril — Talks with investors have cooled in recent weeks and Musk's camp believes it can't confirm Twitter's claims about spam accounts — Listen — Gift Article — Elon Musk's deal to buy Twitter is in serious jeopardy, three people familiar …

Washington Post:

Boris Johnson blames ‘the herd’ as he resigns to make way for new U.K. prime minister — Listen — Gift Article — LONDON — Boris Johnson stepped down as leader of the Conservative Party on Thursday but will continue to serve as prime minister until his successor is chosen …

Anne Applebaum / The Atlantic:

What Brexit Did to Boris Johnson—And Britain — Not too long ago, I heard one of the leading Brexiteers describe his political philosophy in a room full of CEOs and senior politicians. He started by talking to this elite group about the great division between “elites” and “the people,” …

Discussion: New York Times, Fox News, Washington Post and Vanity Fair

BBC:

Who will replace Boris Johnson? — Boris Johnson has announced he will resign, which means there will now be a leadership election to decide who becomes the next Conservative leader and prime minister. — They will have to secure the backing of Tory MPs, with the final two candidates going to a ballot of Conservative members.

Discussion: Telegraph, YouGov, Bloomberg, Reason, Washington Post, Slate, The Daily Caller and Agence France-Presse

Pippa Crerar / Mirror.co.uk:

Boris Johnson and wife Carrie to host lavish Chequers wedding party while he clings on — Senior Tories claim Boris Johnson is clinging to power in part so that he and wife Carrie can host lavish bash at Chequers to mark their marriage, which took place in May 2021

Discussion: New York Post, Reuters, Metro.co.uk, Vanity Fair and Today in Tabs

David Rothkopf / The Daily Beast:
Boris Johnson's Comic Downfall and the U.S.-U.K. ‘Special Relationship’

Discussion: CNN and The Guardian

Max Colchester / Wall Street Journal:
Boris Johnson Resigns Amid Scandals but Says He Will Remain U.K.'s Prime Minister Until Successor Is Found

Discussion: Politico, GOV.UK, Reuters, New York Times, CNN, Sky News, NBC News, Foreign Policy, Forbes, Al Jazeera, Metro.co.uk, Like What you see? …, Rolling Stone, The Bulletin, WTOP News, NPR, CBS Philly, Reuters, TIME, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, Metro.co.uk, Politico, IJR, Florida Politics, PinkNews, Khakis & Leather, Campaign Update, Fox News and Al Jazeera

New York Times:
U.K. Live Updates: Boris Johnson Agrees to Resign as Prime Minister

Discussion: Metro.co.uk, Vanity Fair, Yahoo News, Axios, New York Post, The Hill, Substack, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, ABC7, WTOP News, Mother Jones, NBC News, Axios and The Atlantic

Bloomberg:
Defeated Boris Johnson Jokes to Staff About His Doomed Bid to Stay in Power

Discussion: Raw Story

Mark Leibovich / The Atlantic:

The Most Pathetic Men in America — When he wasn't melting down over how “very badly” he was treated or acting like a seditious lunatic, Donald Trump could be downright serene in certain Washington settings—and never more so than when he would swan in for dinner at the Trump International Hotel …

Discussion: New York Times, Balloon Juice and The Mahablog

Ewan Palmer / Newsweek:
Lindsey Graham ‘Desperate’ Not to Self-Incriminate in Georgia: Kirschner

Discussion: Raw Story and The Hill

Chris Anderson / Sarasota Herald-Tribune:

Exclusive: Trump left Sarasota media company weeks before federal subpoenas were issued — Donald Trump removed himself from the board of his Sarasota-based social media company, records show, just weeks before the company was issued federal subpoenas by both the Securities and Exchange Commission and a grand jury in Manhattan.

Discussion: CNBC, PoliticusUSA, Talking Points Memo, Forbes, Mediaite, The Hill and Raw Story

New York Post:

Judge lowers bail on NYC bodega worker Jose Alba charged with murder in self-defense case — A Manhattan judge on Thursday lowered the sky-high bail on a bodega worker who was charged with murder after fending off a violent ex-con inside his store. — Jose Alba was being held on Rikers Island …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, WNYW-TV, Newsweek, The Last Refuge, Fox News and derekhuntershow.com

New York Post:
Bodega worker Jose Alba charged in fatal stabbing feared for his life, family says

Discussion: Daily Mail, The Daily Signal, Louder With Crowder, The Gateway Pundit, Twitchy, The Western Journal and The American Conservative

New York Post:
Eric Adams supports ‘hard-working’ bodega clerk Jose Alba over ‘self-defense’

Discussion: RedState and Ace of Spades HQ

Hans Nichols / Axios:

Dems weigh jamming McConnell on China bill — Some key House Democrats think they've found a clever way to break Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's stranglehold on a popular bill to massively fund the U.S. chip industry at the expense of China.

Discussion: Political Wire

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
McConnell's bizarre threats show the danger of a GOP-controlled Congress

Discussion: Politico, Associated Press and Florida Phoenix

Emily Crane / New York Post:

Hunter Biden front and center at White House Medal of Freedom ceremony — Disgraced first son Hunter Biden got a front row seat at the White House Thursday to watch his father hand out the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 17 honorees. — President Biden's 52-year-old son was accompanied …

Discussion: The Western Journal

Carmel Dagan / Variety:

James Caan, ‘The Godfather’ and ‘Misery’ Star, Dies at 82 … James Caan, whose indelible, Oscar-nominated performance as Sonny Corleone, the recklessly hotheaded son of Marlon Brando's Mafia don in “The Godfather,” is sure to be remembered as long as there are gangster movies, died on Wednesday, his family announced in Twitter.

Discussion: New York Times, NPR, Washington Post, The Forward, The Wrap, The Daily Beast, The Playlist, Rolling Stone, ABC News, WGN-TV, New York Post, RedState and The Daily Wire

Roger Sollenberger / The Daily Beast:

Herschel Walker Lied About His Secret Kids to His Own Campaign — Herschel Walker's campaign said he had never tried to hide his children. He did—to his own campaign even. … When Herschel Walker's campaign aides approached him this winter to discuss whispers that Walker had a secret child …

Discussion: HotAir, Jezebel, Raw Story, Mediaite, PoliticusUSA, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Insider and Politico

Holly Otterbein / Politico:

Where in the world is Dr. Oz? — PHILADELPHIA — Mehmet Oz is trailing in polls. A key Republican has yet to endorse him since the celebrity doctor won the GOP nomination for Pennsylvania Senate more than a month ago. And Oz has gone dark on the airwaves since May 21 …

Discussion: Insider, Raw Story, Heartland Signal and National Review

Jim Geraghty / National Review:
Campaign Spokesman: Fetterman Is ‘Living a Pretty Normal Life Right Now’

Discussion: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Rich Lowry / Politico:

Liberals Should Welcome Ron DeSantis' Rise — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hasn't even won a second term yet, let alone announced for president, and he's already emerging as the most dangerous Republican in America. — That takes some doing given the continued intense focus on Donald Trump …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Hill, Twitchy and Eyes on the Right

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis plans Utah fundraiser with GOP megadonors, signaling possible presidential run

Discussion: HotAir, Salt Lake Tribune, Reuters, The Hill, Just The News and Tampa Bay Times

Nick Miroff / Washington Post:

Secret Service chief James Murray leaving agency — Listen — Gift Article — Secret Service Director James Murray is stepping down from his post as head of the storied protective service, according to a statement issued by the agency Thursday. — Murray, who has held the job since 2019 …

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Wrap, Variety, Washington Times, Mediaite, The Hill, The Verge and Just The News

United States Secret Service:
United States Secret Service Director James Murray Announces Retirement

Discussion: USA Today, UPI and The White House

New York Times:

How Unlikely Is It That the Audits of Comey and McCabe Were a Coincidence? A Statistical Exploration. — The chances are minuscule. But minuscule is not zero. — Francesca Paris, a reporting fellow with The Upshot, was formerly a data reporter for The Berkshire Eagle.

Discussion: CNN, CNBC, Salon, CBS News, USA Today, Raw Story and Rolling Stone

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
How unlikely were those Comey-McCabe audits? See for yourself.

Discussion: Reuters, New York Times, CNBC, Politico and Talking Points Memo

Zoe Schiffer / The Verge:

Netflix doesn't want to hear it anymore … This article is a collaboration between New York Magazine and The Verge. — The sign that Netflix's culture had irreversibly started to change came in the form of a Google doc. The company had long prided itself on welcoming brutally honest feedback …

Discussion: Breitbart

Washington Post:

Trump's new money-maker: political speeches to fans — The former president makes millions appearing at events that resemble his political rallies. — Listen — Gift Article — SOUTHAVEN, Miss. — On a Saturday morning at an arena outside Memphis, Terri Owens joined the crowd streaming in to see former president Donald Trump.

Discussion: Insider and Raw Story

Abby Bammerlin / The Columbus Dispatch:

'It's another crappy day': Feces sent to Ohio senators in mail launching investigation — All 25 Republican members of the Ohio Senate were mailed envelopes full of feces on Thursday morning launching a federal investigation. — The packages arrived after being sent almost a week earlier from a Cleveland post office.

Discussion: HuffPost and Raw Story

Axios:

Biden is nowhere close to hitting his refugee goals — Biden officials expect to fall short by about 100,000 refugees on their goal to resettle 125,000 in the U.S. this fiscal year, according to two sources with direct knowledge of internal estimates. — Why it matters: The U.S. refugee system …

Joseph Manson / Common Sense:

Why I'm Giving Up Tenure at UCLA — The ideological takeover of my university has ruined academic life for anyone who still believes in freedom of thought. … I'm a 62-year-old professor—by academic standards, still young. But I am retiring this summer because the woke takeover of higher education has ruined academic life.

Discussion: The American Conservative, HotAir and The Influence

Jeremy Roebuck / The Philadelphia Inquirer:

Seven Pa. lawyers involved in Trump's legal fight to overturn the 2020 election are hit with ethics complaints — A legal advocacy group formed in hopes of disbarring and disciplining lawyers who aided Donald Trump's push to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election filed complaints Thursday …

Discussion: Raw Story and The 65 Project

Ken Klippenstein / The Intercept:

Ron Johnson Campaign Scrambled to Pull “Mass Murder” Ad After July 4 Mass Shooting … “The latest mass murder in America didn't involve guns,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said in a recorded campaign radio ad slated to appear on July 6. But when the Highland Park, Illinois, shooting took place on July 4 …

Discussion: Mediaite

Brittany Shammas / Washington Post:

Eight-year-old Highland Park victim hospitalized with a severed spine — Listen — Gift Article — An 8-year-old boy shot during the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill., remains hospitalized in critical condition, his spinal cord severed. — Cooper Roberts is sedated …

Discussion: Chicago Sun-Times, NBC Chicago and WGN-TV

Chelsea Curtis / USA Today:

Recordings within 8 feet of police will be illegal in Arizona under new law — People will no longer be allowed to take close-range recordings of Arizona police under a new bill signed into law by Gov. Doug Ducey on Wednesday. — House Bill 2319, sponsored by state Rep. John Kavanagh …

Lauren Leatherby / New York Times:

What the BA.5 Subvariant Could Mean for the United States — The most transmissible variant yet of the coronavirus is threatening a fresh wave of infections in the United States, even among those who have recovered from the virus fairly recently. — The subvariant of Omicron known as BA.5 …

Discussion: Your Local Epidemiologist, NBC Chicago, Space Y, Slate, Washington Post and Denver Post

ABC News:

Highland Park alleged shooter's father says he is not culpable for son's attack — “I had not an inkling ... that this was going to happen,” Crimo told ABC News. — Robert Crimo Jr. stands in a park near his home in Highland Park, Ill. His son Robert Crimo III was arrested as a suspect in the mass shooting at a July 4th parade.

Discussion: Fox News, Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, The Western Journal and New York Post

Julia Davis / The Daily Beast:

Putin World's Lovefest With ‘Beaut’ Trump Gets Cringier Than Ever — Just when you thought Russia's love affair with the former U.S. president could not get any more nauseating. — Russia is starting to feel the sting of Western sanctions, with state media shows featuring multiple experts who talk of …

Discussion: Raw Story

Associated Press:

GOP push to defeat Whitmer threatened by candidates' baggage — WASHINGTON (AP) — A leading contender for the Republican nomination for governor in Michigan was sued in the 1990s, accused of using racial slurs about Black people in the workplace and sexually harassing his employees.