memeorandum: GOP seizes on Biden gaffes to attack competence (The Hill)

9:40 AM ET, October 5, 2022

Top Items:

Walker's team knew of an abortion allegation months before it surfaced — Months before news broke alleging that Herschel Walker paid for an abortion, top Republicans in the state — including those advising his team — warned him that the story could torpedo his campaign.

Washington Post:

Republicans cling to Walker's denials — Good morning, Early Birds. Congratulations to White House grounds superintendent Dale Haney on 50 years of service. (Haney started weeks before President Biden was first elected to the Senate.) Tips: earlytips@washpost.com. Thanks for waking up with us.

Discussion: The Hugh Hewitt Show, Associated Press, Axios, al.com, Letters from an American, Politico, Bloomberg, National Review and Insider

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: What to expect from Elon Musk's Twitter — Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross — DRIVING THE DAY — OOPS —Bloomberg's Zoe Tillman noticed a sealed filing that was accidentally made public in the Trump document case that includes details …

Discussion: Axios and Mediaite

Bridget Bowman / NBC News:
George W. Bush to fundraise for Colorado GOP Senate candidate Joe O'Dea

Discussion: Fox News and The Hill

CNN:
GOP moves to contain Herschel Walker's latest scandal: 'We're going to need a few days to assess'

Discussion: Raw Story, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, High Plains Blogger, Breitbart, Wall Street Journal, Reason, Religion News Service, FOX News Radio, The Daily Caller, Alternet.org, HuffPost, Washington Examiner and Townhall

Washington Post:
GOP leaders rally behind Walker. But in Georgia, Republicans fret.

Kenneth P. Vogel / New York Times:
Pence and His Group, Pushing Conservative Causes, Keep a 2024 Dream Alive

Discussion: Washington Times

CBS News:

Mark Kelly has edge in Arizona Senate race that hinges on abortion, economy, immigration — CBS News Battleground Tracker — Arizona is another battleground where strong opposing forces underpin the race. — Democratic candidates enjoy stronger personal ratings, while Republican voters …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Reuters:

Republicans have edge on crime, immigration ahead of U.S. midterms -Reuters/Ipsos poll — U.S. voters prefer Republicans over Democrats for solving immigration and crime problems, suggesting the Republican emphasis on border security and fighting crime could help it in the Nov. 8 midterm elections, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.

Discussion: The Hill

Camille Mumford / Emerson Polling:
Oregon 2022: Republican Christine Drazan with Two-Point Lead Over Democrat Tina Kotek for Governorship; Sen. Wyden Holds 19-Point Lead in Re-election Bid

Discussion: Oregonian, National Review, The Hill and Just The News

Zoe Tillman / Bloomberg:

Inside Mar-a-Lago: Pardons, White House Emails, Legal Bills — The thousands of documents seized from former President Donald Trump's Florida home included a mix of government, business and personal affairs, including analysis about who should get a pardon, call notes marked with a presidential seal …

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, emptywheel, CNN, Raw Story, Breitbart, Daily Kos and Washington Examiner

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Trump Asks Supreme Court to Intervene in Review of Mar-a-Lago Records — In earlier cases, the justices have ruled against Mr. Trump when he sought to shield his financial and presidential records from prosecutors and congressional investigators. — WASHINGTON — Former President Donald J. Trump asked …

Discussion: NBC News, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Common Dreams, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, Roll Call, Townhall, New York Daily News, CNN and Alternet.org

Tierney Sneed / CNN:
Trump goes to Supreme Court over Mar-a-Lago search and seizure of documents

CNN:

White House launches last ditch effort to dissuade OPEC from cutting oil production to avoid a ‘total disaster’ — The Biden administration has launched a full-scale pressure campaign in a last-ditch effort to dissuade Middle Eastern allies from dramatically cutting oil production …

Discussion: CNBC, Washington Post, Sputnik News, allAfrica.com, Al Jazeera, ABC7, Bloomberg, NPR, Energy Voice, Reuters, Breitbart, Fox News and Zandar Versus The Stupid

Financial Times:

Saudi Arabia and Russia plan deep oil cuts in defiance of US — Riyadh and Moscow seek reductions that would push prices higher at crucial Opec+ meeting — Saudi Arabia is seeking to raise oil prices at a crucial meeting in Vienna, in a move set to anger the US and aid Russia.

Discussion: Sputnik News, One America News Network, TASS, New York Times, The Hill and Fortune

David French / The Dispatch:

Lifting Up the Rock on the Gutter Right — Lie after lie after lie. — I want to write about cruelty and slander and how those dark sins are wielded as weapons of political and cultural warfare in the worst corners of the online right. While politics has never been a gentle pursuit …

Discussion: Fox News

Wall Street Journal:

Chess Investigation Finds That U.S. Grandmaster ‘Likely Cheated’ More Than 100 Times — An internal report reviewed by The Wall Street Journal alleges a previously unknown pattern of likely widespread cheating by Hans Moke Niemann, the player whose September victory over Magnus Carlsen has rocked the chess world

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Insider, New York Times, Al Jazeera, Fox News, Gizmodo, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, New York Post, Defector and The Daily Beast, more at Techmeme »

The Hill:

GOP seizes on Biden gaffes to attack competence — Republicans are seizing on recent gaffes from President Biden, putting a spotlight on his slip-ups to attack Biden's competency ahead of both the midterms and a 2024 presidential race. — The GOP in particular is using a moment last week …

Discussion: IJR, The Political Insider, Politico, Insider, Fox News and New York Post

Ryan J. Reilly / NBC News:

A cop in a MAGA hat and an Oath Keeper: Inside one of Jan. 6's strangest moments — WASHINGTON — It was an oddity amid the chaos. As a rowdy pro-Trump mob tried to force their way into the Capitol on Jan. 6, a Capitol Police lieutenant emerged out of the Columbus Doors on the eastern side of the building …

John Frank / Axios:

Lauren Boebert's re-election in jeopardy, new poll shows — Republican firebrand Rep. Lauren Boebert is dangerously close to being upset by a little-known Democratic rival, a new poll in Colorado's 3rd Congressional District shows. … - 7% of voters are undecided, per the poll.

Discussion: National Journal, The Gateway Pundit, The Colorado Sun, Mediaite and Raw Story

Kipp Jones / Mediaite:

Jesse Watters Says Democrats Leaving Border Open for Post-Civil War ‘Servants’, Migrants are ‘Waiters and Field Hands’ — Jesse Watters said Democrats have refused to secure the country's southern border, as the party needs “servants” to work menial jobs. — The Fox News host opened …

Discussion: Althouse

Marc Caputo / NBC News:

DeSantis leads ‘defanged’ Crist after hurricane, poll shows — The Republican governor holds an 11-point lead as Florida voters begin receiving vote-by-mail ballots. — Ahead in fundraising and advertising, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis has a large 11-percentage-point lead …

Discussion: Politico, USA Today, New York Times, Florida Politics and TheBlaze

Politico:

Republicans gain ground in Senate races in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — PHILADELPHIA — After a grueling summer, Republicans are finally making headway in protecting their top two firewalls in the race for the Senate. — Holding onto at least one of the GOP-held seats in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania …

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Beast, Mandela Barnes for U.S. Senate, UpNorthNews and The Hill

Justin Rohrlich / The Daily Beast:

Northeastern Lab Manager Charged With Staging Zuckerberg-Inspired Explosion — Jason Duhaime, who claimed he was injured by an explosive device that was sent to him last month with a threatening note, has been charged with fabricating the entire thing. — UPDATE, 10/4/22, 10:16PM ET …

Discussion: Instapundit, KXAN-TV, New York Post, ABC13, UPI, Gizmodo, Boston.com and The Hill

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:

JUST IN: Trump's Own Lawyers Mocked His Lack of Wealth In Emails Revealed By January 6 Committee — Former President Donald Trump's own lawyers mocked their client's claims of wealth behind his back in a set of emails revealed by the January 6 committee. — Exaggerated or false claims …

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Politico, CNN and Raw Story

Marc Siegel / New York Post:

America deserves answers on President Biden's cognitive function — Though I have never examined President Joe Biden nor read through his full health records, nevertheless, as a practicing internist who treats many elderly patients, I have reason to be concerned. What exactly is his level of cognitive function?

Bloomberg:

Musk Proposes to Buy Twitter for Original Price of $54.20 a Share — Elon Musk revived his bid for Twitter Inc. at the original offer price of $54.20 a share, potentially avoiding a courtroom fight over one of the most contentious acquisitions in recent history.

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, The Atlantic, Forbes, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, Platformer, Al Jazeera, Engadget, BRIGHT, Fortune, IJR, The Guardian, NBC News, One America News Network, The Verge, Reuters, Associated Press, One Foot Tsunami, The Hill, Variety, TheBlaze, Daily Kos, Mediaite, PC Gamer, CITIZEN FREE PRESS, Politico, Slate, TMZ.com, The Daily Wire, NBC10 Philadelphia, Rolling Stone, UPI, Big League Politics, NPR, HotAir, Raw Story, The Right Scoop, The Blue State Conservative, The Post Millennial, Above the Law, SFist, Twitchy, Chicago Tribune, Billboard, Townhall, The National Interest, New York Daily News, CBS News, Deadline, The Register, The Wrap, Sputnik News, al.com, Breitbart, NBC4 Washington, Newsbusters, RedState, The Daily Caller, Gizmodo, National Review, IndieWire, The Daily Beast, PBS NewsHour, Protocol, WLNS-TV, ABC News, Human Events, Media Matters for America, The Gateway Pundit, CNBC, Just The News and Instapundit, more at Techmeme »

Andrew E. Kramer / New York Times:

Ukraine Reports Advances in Its Southern Counteroffensive — Yevgen Honcharenko/EPA, via Shutterstock … Ukraine says its offensives are gaining ground not just in the east, but also in the south. — DNIPRO, Ukraine — A brigade of Ukrainian marines appears to have expelled Russian forces …

Discussion: BBC, Moon of Alabama, Foreign Policy, CBS News, Fox News, Reuters, The Guardian and Washington Post

Yacob Reyes / PolitiFact:

Most of Florida's Lee County wasn't in the cone three days before hurricane, but parts of it were — Most of Lee County, Florida, was not within the forecast cone of Hurricane Ian 72 hours before landfall. But one of the county's barrier islands, Cayo Costa, appeared inside the forecast cone …

Discussion: Louder With Crowder, Washington Post, Against the Grain and NHC Atlantic Wallet 2

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Senate Dems face brutal 2024 map with at least eight undecided incumbents — Senate Democrats are staring down the risk of their own Great Resignation in 2024. — Even as the caucus pushes to expand a 50-50 majority this fall, it's bracing for a fight to defend 23 seats to the GOP's 10 …

Discussion: Just The News

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Trump sued CNN for defamation. Here's where his case falls apart. — Did Donald Trump miss the news? Under Chris Licht, CNN's new chairman and CEO, the network is embracing middle-of-the-road newscasting and has parted ways with high-profile staffers who spoke in blunt terms about Trump's behavior in office.

Discussion: The Dispatch, 19FortyFive, The National Interest, Breitbart, Mediaite and NBC News, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

U.S. National Debt Tops $31 Trillion for First Time — America's borrowing binge has long been viewed as sustainable because of historically low interest rates. But as rates rise, the nation's fiscal woes are getting worse. — WASHINGTON — America's gross national debt exceeded $31 trillion …

Discussion: Sputnik News, Newsbusters, UPI, Fox News, Alternet.org, Bangor Daily News, Associated Press and New York Post

U.S. Department of Justice:

Five Current or Former IRS Employees Charged with Defrauding Federal COVID-19 Relief Programs — Five current or former IRS employees have been charged with schemes to defraud the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program, federal stimulus programs authorized …

Discussion: The Daily Wire, The Daily Caller and WREG-TV