memeorandum: Putin's army expansion may not help Russia much, U.S. and British officials say. (New York Times)

5:10 PM ET, August 28, 2022

Top Items:

GOP seat lead shrinks as Biden approval ticks up — CBS News Battleground Tracker poll — Republicans head into the fall still in position to gain enough House seats for a majority, but a tumultuous summer has made their advantage appear a little smaller today — with a trend so far pointing toward narrow gains instead of a wave.

Discussion: Politico, The Hill and Wall Street Journal

Jason Miciak / Political Flare:

WaPo Bombshell: Trump Took Boxes of Material on Trips Around the World for ‘No Reason’ — There are a couple of salient facts that many people do not know regarding the problem with Trump keeping Top-Secret/SCI files. They paint a very sinister picture. — First, these boxes at issue …

Discussion: Raw Story

Michael Stern / Just Security:

Assessing Trump's Claim of ‘Executive Privilege’ on FBI Access to MAL Docs — The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and former President Donald Trump are locked in a long running dispute over records taken from the White House in January 2021.

Discussion: Townhall

Washington Post:
Inside Trump's war on the National Archives

Discussion: Raw Story, Axios, Occupy Democrats, Digby's Hullabaloo, Daily Kos and Political Wire

Liz Essley Whyte / Wall Street Journal:

Latest Covid Boosters Are Set to Roll Out Before Human Testing Is Completed — The FDA and vaccine makers say they are confident that shots targeting Omicron subvariants will work safely — Covid Variants Keep Getting More Infectious. Here's Why. — Skip Ad — in 15 — YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Discussion: The Daily Wire and Los Angeles Times

Benjamin Mueller / New York Times: Fall Vaccination Campaign Will Bring New Shots, Worse Access

Margaret Talbot / New Yorker:

Justice Alito's Crusade Against a Secular America Isn't Over — He's had win after win—including overturning Roe v. Wade—yet seems more and more aggrieved. What drives his anger? … Some baby boomers were permanently shaped by their participation in the countercultural protests …

Discussion: Althouse

Lauren Gambino / The Guardian:

‘The US could lose the right to vote within months’: Top official warns on threat to democracy — Jena Griswold urges Americans to pay attention to crucial but often overlooked races for secretary of state — Colorado's secretary of state, Jena Griswold, is warning anyone who will listen …

Discussion: Mediaite and Alternet.org

Detroit News:

Insider: Top Michigan Democrats may not need to debate GOP opponents, lawmaker suggests — Lansing — State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who's gained national attention for her approach to taking on Republican attacks, is contending that top Michigan Democrats don't necessarily need to participate …

David Shepardson / Reuters:

Duke volleyball game in Utah moved after racist abuse hurled at Black player — Duke University women's volleyball match on Saturday was moved to an alternate location in Provo, Utah, after racial slurs were hurled at a Black player from the crowd during Friday's match with BYU, school officials said.

Glynn A. Hill / Washington Post:
BYU bans fan, relocates volleyball match after racist incident

Discussion: New York Times, Raw Story and WTOP News

Elahe Izadi / Washington Post:

They were some of the last journalists at their papers. Then came the layoffs. — The latest cutbacks at Gannett come amid an industry-wide trend of shrinking newspaper newsrooms. — The only full-time news reporter at the Daily Jeffersonian kept busy until recently.

Henry Foy / Financial Times:

EU set to suspend visa travel agreement with Russia — Plan to freeze 2007 deal will make it harder and more expensive for Russians to get Schengen-area documents — EU foreign ministers are this week set to back a suspension of the bloc's visa facilitation agreement with Moscow in an effort …

Discussion: Radio Free Europe/Radio …, The Guardian and Politico

Chris Stirewalt / Politico:

I Watched Fox News Go Off the Rails. Then Fox Fired Me. — My first meeting in Roger Ailes' boardroom of doom was on Election Day 2010. — At the time, I was the network's new political editor. Republicans were poised to deliver a serious walloping to President Barack Obama and roll …

Brad Lendon / CNN:

US sends two warships through Taiwan Strait, in first transit since Pelosi trip — China fires missiles towards Taiwan strait in drill after Pelosi visit — Two United States Navy warships have entered the Taiwan Strait in what is the first US naval transit in the waterway since US-China tensions spiked …

Discussion: Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet, New York Times, The Times of Israel, Washington Examiner, CBS News, Fox News, Reuters, Mercury News, Trends Journal, Politico, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, WTOP News, The Hill and TASS

Sahil Kapur / NBC News:

Democrats hammer Republicans over Social Security as conservative candidates grab the ‘third rail’ — WASHINGTON — When Blake Masters was running for the Republican nomination for Senate in Arizona, he floated what he called a “fresh and innovative” idea. — “Maybe we should privatize Social Security.

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo

New York Times:

Putin's army expansion may not help Russia much, U.S. and British officials say. — Here's what you need to know: — Artillery strikes continue near the troubled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. — KYIV, Ukraine — Artillery barrages along a section of front line near an imperiled nuclear power plant …

Discussion: RedState

Katie Balevic / Insider:

It's now illegal for anyone under 21 to buy canned whipped cream in New York, officials say it's to stop teens from inhaling nitrous oxide — A 2021 law made it illegal for New Yorkers under age 21 to purchase a can of whipped cream. — The law is meant to prevent teens from inhaling nitrous oxide in canned whipped cream.

Brooke Singman / Fox News:

Judge announces ‘preliminary intent to appoint a special master’ to review Trump records seized by FBI — The ruling follows Trump's motion seeking an independent review of records seized by the FBI — What did we learn from DOJ's Mar-a-Lago affidavit? — FIRST ON FOX: A federal judge …

Discussion: National Review, New York Post, Townhall, Insider, New York Magazine and NewsNation