memeorandum: New Hampshire primary sets up fight for the Senate majority (Zach Montellaro/Politico)

9:20 PM ET, September 13, 2022

Top Items:

Graham's abortion ban stuns Senate GOP — Lindsey Graham's anti-abortion legislation once unified the Republican Party. The 15-week abortion ban he pitched Tuesday had the exact opposite effect. — The South Carolina senator chose a uniquely tense moment to unveil his party's …

Discussion: NBC News, Washington Post, VICE, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, CNN, Washington Examiner, Associated Press, National Review, Slate, Breitbart, KFOR-TV, Talking Points Memo, NPR, HuffPost, Bloomberg and Raw Story

Politico:

Lindsey Graham saves Biden's big day — A higher-than-expected inflation report was threatening to black out President Joe Biden's big celebration Tuesday of party-line legislation designed to bring down prices. The subsequent plunge of markets seemed to ensure a painful head-meets-wall day inside the White House.

Discussion: HuffPost, Washington Examiner, NBC News, The Hill, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, CNSNews and E&E

Annie Karni / New York Times:

Graham Proposes 15-Week Abortion Ban, Splitting Republicans — WASHINGTON — Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina introduced legislation on Tuesday that would institute a federal ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, reigniting debate on an issue that Republicans have worked …

Katie Shepherd / Washington Post:
West Virginia becomes second state to pass strict abortion ban since fall of Roe

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, Common Dreams, Balloon Juice and Mountain State Spotlight

Nicole Narea / Vox:
Lindsey Graham's national abortion ban bill makes the midterm stakes very clear

Discussion: New York Times, Politico, HotAir, Wall Street Journal, Nevada Current, ABC News, Reuters, Washington Times and Washington Post

Rebecca Falconer / Axios:
Lindsey Graham to propose new national abortion restrictions bill

Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:

Ken Starr, prosecutor in Clinton Whitewater probe, dies at 76 — Ken Starr, who led the Whitewater investigation into former President Bill Clinton, has died at 76, his family said. — Starr died in Houston of complications from surgery, the statement said.

Discussion: Fox News, CBS News, National Review, Washington Times, Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Just The News

Associated Press:

Kenneth Starr, whose probe led to Clinton impeachment, dies — Ken Starr, a former federal appellate judge and a prominent attorney whose criminal investigation of Bill Clinton led to the president's impeachment, has died at age 76, his family said Tuesday.

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Examiner, NBC News, National Review and FOX8 WGHP

The Family of Kenneth W. Starr:
KENNETH W. STARR, Former Federal Judge and U.S. Solicitor General, Dies at 76

Discussion: Baylor University, The Hill, Washington Post, Insider, Financial Times, The Western Journal, Metro.co.uk, Deadline, The Guardian, NPR and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Ken Starr, Independent Counsel in Clinton Investigation, Dies at 76

Discussion: The Daily Beast and The Texas Tribune

Herb Scribner / Axios:
Ken Starr, prosecutor in Clinton Whitewater case, dies at 76

Discussion: Fox News, Occupy Democrats, Reuters, TMZ.com and The Wrap

Tommy Witherspoon / KWTX-TV:
‘A scholar and a gentleman’: Former Baylor president, Clinton investigator Ken Starr dead at 76

Discussion: Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit and Ringside at the Reckoning

Wall Street Journal:
Ken Starr, Key Figure in Impeachment of Bill Clinton, Dies at 76

Discussion: Rolling Stone, HuffPost, Townhall and RedState

Chandelis Duster / CNN:
Ken Starr, independent counsel who pursued Clinton, dies

Discussion: Associated Press, New York Magazine, CBS News, The Daily Caller, New York Post, Boing Boing, NPR and NewsNation

Missy Ryan / Washington Post:

Russia spent millions in secret global political campaign, U.S. official says — Russia has secretly funneled at least $300 million to foreign political parties and candidates in more than two dozen countries since 2014 in an attempt to shape political events beyond its borders, according to a new U.S. intelligence review.

Discussion: HotAir, Bloomberg and Raw Story

Washington Post:

Rapid loss of territory in Ukraine reveals spent Russian military — Troop and logistics issues plus equipment losses could limit Vladimir Putin to defending the territory he already holds — Moscow's rapid loss of more than 2,300 square miles of territory in northeastern Ukraine has raised …

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, The Times of Israel, UPI, TASS, Associated Press and CBS News

Robyn Dixon / Washington Post:

Putin, tone deaf and isolated, pursues war ‘goals’ and refuses to lose — Vladimir Putin's definitive quality as president — his refusal ever to back down — helped him project Russian global power for years. But facing repeated setbacks in a catastrophic war in Ukraine, his inflexible approach is looking more like his great flaw.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and The Sun

Anna Wolfe / Mississippi Today:

Former Gov. Phil Bryant helped Brett Favre secure welfare funding for USM volleyball stadium, texts reveal — Never-before-seen text messages show former Gov. Phil Bryant tried to shepherd a proposal to use welfare funds on the construction of a new volleyball stadium for retired NFL player Brett Favre …

Discussion: ProFootballTalk and The Daily Beast

Brendan J. Lyons / Albany Times Union:

Rensselaer County's Republican elections commissioner arrested by FBI — The Times Union reported in June that Jason Schofield had become a focus of an FBI investigation that led to the guilty plea earlier this year of a Troy councilwoman — Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

Discussion: PoliticusUSA and Raw Story

CNN:

Justice Department criminal investigation now touches nearly all efforts to overturn 2020 election for Trump — Justice Department criminal prosecutors are now examining nearly every aspect of former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election - including the fraudulent electors plot …

Discussion: New York Times, Raw Story, Political Wire, Vanity Fair and RedState

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Trump faces a new threat: Scrutiny of ‘stop the steal’ money scam

Discussion: Associated Press, The Post Millennial, Talking Points Memo, The Mahablog, Raw Story, Voice of America and CNN

Zach Montellaro / Politico:

New Hampshire primary sets up fight for the Senate majority — The last party primaries of 2022 are wrapping up as the season began six months ago: with an expensive GOP brawl over a key seat in the evenly split Senate. — Voters are heading to the polls in three states — New Hampshire …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, New York Times, Townhall, Washington Post and Insider

Lachlan Markay / Axios:
Republicans' stealthy primary play

Discussion: Reason, The Daily Caller and Politico

Ryan King / Washington Examiner:

READ IT: Judge releases less-redacted Mar-a-Lago search affidavit — A judge approved Tuesday the release of a less redacted version of the affidavit laying out the legal underpinnings for the FBI's August search-and-seizure of material from former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Discussion: Fox News, Bloomberg, Just The News and Talking Points Memo

Techno Fog / The Reactionary:

Durham shocker: Danchenko was a paid FBI informant — Today, Special Counsel John Durham moved to unseal this motion in limine in the false statements case against Igor Danchenko. — This motion provides new information on the details of Danchenko's lies to the FBI, further information …

Jennifer Hansler / CNN:

First on CNN: Former Gov. Bill Richardson held meetings in Moscow this week with Russian leadership — Former Gov. Bill Richardson and his team were in Moscow this week and held meetings with Russian leadership, CNN has learned. The details around those meetings were not immediately clear.

Discussion: Associated Press and Political Wire

Matthew Cunningham-Cook / The Lever:

How Wall Street Is Funding The Culture War — Chris Rufo, the pugilistic pundit leading the right's charge against how public schools teach race and sexuality, is backed by billionaires who profited handsomely from the 2008 financial crisis that threw 8.6 million people out of work …

CNBC:

Stock sell-off deepens, Dow drops 800 points after hot inflation report — WATCH NOW — Four experts react to August's key inflation report — Stocks fell sharply on Tuesday after a key August inflation report came in hotter than expected, hurting investor optimism for cooling prices and a less aggressive Federal Reserve.

Discussion: HotAir, Mediaite, New York Times, The Daily Wire, Townhall, The Gateway Pundit, UPI, Forbes, Ace of Spades HQ, The Daily Caller and National Review, more at Techmeme »

Jonathan V. Last / The Triad:

Doug Mastriano and the Fifty-Foot Shark — He's looking for voters no one is certain exist. — A couple weeks ago I suggested that Everything Is Coming Up Brandon. Axios now has an item on “Biden's Lucky Streak.” — What today's Triad presupposes is: What if it's not? — Let's go dark.

Discussion: Power Line and The Daily Wire

Joseph Wulfsohn / Fox News:

Charlie Crist's running mate: Being ‘sp-ed teacher’ ‘qualifies me to deal with the dysfunctional legislature’ — Karla Hernández-Mats has been raising eyebrows ever since she joined the Democrat ticket in Florida — Charlie Crist running mate links special ed kids to ‘dysfunctional legislature’

Cameron Joseph / VICE:

Arizona GOP Chair Shares Post from Racist Account — Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward retweeted a video shared by an account run by a self-described “pureblood.” — Cameron Joseph — WASHINGTON, US — Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward shared a tweet …

Discussion: Raw Story and Crooks and Liars

Camille Mumford / Emerson Polling:

Nevada 2022: US Senate & Gubernatorial Elections in Statistical Dead Heat — Home Polls Nevada 2022: US Senate & Gubernatorial Elections in Statistical Dead Heat — The latest Emerson College Polling/8 News Now/The Hill survey of voters finds 42% of voters support Adam Laxalt for US Senate …

Discussion: The Hill and KLAS

New York Times:

Jean-Luc Godard, Daring Director Who Shaped the French New Wave, Dies at 91 — The Franco-Swiss filmmaker and provocateur radically rethought motion pictures and left a lasting influence on the medium. — Jean-Luc Godard, the daringly innovative director and provocateur whose unconventional camerawork …

Brady Knox / Washington Examiner:

Andrew Cuomo files ethics complaint against New York attorney general — Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo filed an ethics complaint against the state's attorney general, Letitia James. — In the 48-page filing, Cuomo alleged James purposefully misled the public about sexual assault allegations …

Discussion: Fox News, New York Times, The Hill and Axios

Nomaan Merchant / Associated Press:

US: Russia spent $300M to covertly influence world politics — WASHINGTON — Russia has covertly spent more than $300 million since 2014 to try to influence politicians and other officials in more than two dozen countries, the State Department alleges in a newly released cable.

Chuck Williams / WRBL-TV:

U.S. Senate Debate officially on: Warnock, Walker accept Nexstar broadcasted debate in partnership with other Georgia stations — GEORGIA (WRBL) - The debate over the debate in the Georgia U.S. Senate race is over. Late this afternoon, a representative from Sen. Raphael Warnock's campaign sent …

Discussion: The Hill, Peach State Politics … and Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Janan Ganesh / Financial Times:

US soft power grows as the alternatives become clear — America is more attractive in the light of Russia's failed aggression and China's domestic troubles — In 2020, according to the Pew Research Center, 31 per cent of French people had a favourable view of the US.

Morgan Phillips / Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: Pennsylvania property war heats up: Senate candidate John Fetterman did not disclose owning eight properties near Pittsburgh worth $100,000, watchdog says in complaint after blasting Dr. Oz for his New Jersey and Florida mansions — The total value of the properties he left off his disclosure form was $108,800

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Wire and RedState

The Post Millennial:

BREAKING: FBI seizes My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell's phone — After showing a copy of the warrant, Lindell explained that he was not even given a chance to do a backup of his phone, that it was simply taken away.

Discussion: The Right Scoop