memeorandum: Government warns of “heightened threat” to 2022 elections, fueled by rise in domestic violent extremism (Nicole Sganga/CBS News)

10:20 AM ET, October 29, 2022

Top Items:

Accused Pelosi attacker David DePape spread QAnon, other far-right, bigoted conspiracies — In the months before police accused him of attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, David DePape had been drifting further into the world of far-right conspiracies, antisemitism and hate …

Discussion: Bloomberg, San Francisco Chronicle, Politico, Fox News, New York Post, NBC News, Insider and CNN

San Francisco Chronicle:

What we know about David DePape, man accused of attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer — LIVE UPDATES: Suspect David DePape lived with group who believed 9/11 was ‘inside job’ — Law enforcement have identified David DePape, 42, as a suspect in the Friday morning home invasion violent attack on Paul Pelosi.

Discussion: CBS News, Fox News, Bloomberg, Just The News, NBC News, Kurt Nimmo on Geopolitics, The Daily Beast, Insider, Mediaite, Los Angeles Times, Twitchy, Raw Story and The Western Journal

CNN:

Alleged Paul Pelosi attacker posted multiple conspiracy theories — The man who allegedly attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband early Friday posted memes and conspiracy theories on Facebook about Covid vaccines, the 2020 election and the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol …

Tess Owen / VICE:

Man Accused of Attacking Nancy Pelosi's Husband Left Trail of Far-Right Hate — VICE News identified several blogs under the name of the suspect that espoused far-right conspiracy theories, racism, and sexism. — TO — KH — The man who allegedly broke into Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco home …

Discussion: NBC News, New York Times and National Review

Rolling Stone:
Paul Pelosi's Alleged Attacker Raged About ‘Pedos,’ Shared QAnon Beliefs

Discussion: Associated Press, Outside the Beltway, New York Post, The Daily Beast, Althouse, RedState, Mercury News, The Daily Wire, Forbes and The Guardian

Washington Post:

Attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband follows years of GOP demonizing her — A man with right-wing views who broke into the House speaker's home yelled “Where is Nancy?” before assaulting Paul Pelosi with a hammer, police say. — In 2010, Republicans launched a “Fire Pelosi” project …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Wall Street Journal, Raw Story, World Socialist Web Site, WWBT-TV, Mercury News, Washington Times, Breitbart, Insider, The Daily Caller, HuffPost, The Daily Wire, Fox News and The Atlantic

Catie Edmondson / New York Times:

Pelosi Attack Highlights Rising Fears of Political Violence — The assault of the House speaker's husband inside their home comes as threats against members of Congress have increased in recent years. — WASHINGTON — Members of Congress have watched warily in recent years as threats …

Discussion: Axios, ABC News, ABC7, The Hill, CNN, Bloomberg, Roll Call and Los Angeles Times

Ruth Ben-Ghiat / MSNBC:
The attack on Paul Pelosi was shocking — and yet also predictable

Discussion: Axios, HuffPost, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Raw Story, New York Post, The Hill, Bloomberg, Steady, CNN, RedState, KTLA and Breitbart

Blake Hounshell / New York Times:

It's 2024. Trump Backers Won't Certify the Election. What Next, Legally? — The question is most urgent in Arizona, where two of the former president's loyalists may well become governor and secretary of state. — It's a nightmare scenario for American democracy …

Discussion: Washington Times, ABC News, Bloomberg and NBC News

Steven Nelson / New York Post: Knives out in House GOP whip race over Electoral College abolition

Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:
Governor's Races Enter Final Sprint on a Scrambled, Surprising Map

Discussion: Washington Examiner

CNBC:

GM temporarily suspends advertising on Twitter following Elon Musk takeover — General Motors is suspending its advertising on Twitter following Elon Musk's takeover of the social media platform. — “We are engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership,” GM said.

Politico:

'I think it's an earthquake': The political world reckons with a Musk-owned Twitter — America's political and media players woke up Friday to a new reality: One of the country's most outspoken, often divisive, business figures is now the moderator of its most obsessive political conversation.

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
Elon Musk's First Move Is To Fire The Person Most Responsible For Twitter's Strong Free Speech Stance

Nicole Sganga / CBS News:

Government warns of “heightened threat” to 2022 elections, fueled by rise in domestic violent extremism — Less than two weeks before the 2022 elections, the U.S. government is warning of a “heightened threat” to the midterm contests, fueled by a rise in domestic violent extremism, or DVE …

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Herb Scribner / Axios:

U.S. faces “environment of fascism” ahead of 2022 midterms, AOC says — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said in an interview with MSNBC Friday that the United States is “facing an environment of fascism” similar to the days of Jim Crow in the leadup to the 2022 midterms.

Discussion: MSNBC and CNN

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

American Jews start to think the unthinkable — On the holiest night of the Jewish year earlier this month, my rabbi looked up from his Kol Nidre sermon — a homily about protecting America's liberal democracy — and posed a question that wasn't in his prepared text: “How many people …

Discussion: American Prospect and Associated Press

Insider:

Paul Pelosi secretly called 911 while in front of the intruder and spoke in ‘code’ to dispatcher to convey what was happening: ‘Why are you here? What are you going to do to me?’ — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband was attacked by an intruder at their San Francisco home Friday.

Discussion: TMZ.com, The Daily Wire, New York Post, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Raw Story, Los Angeles Times and CNN

New York Times:
Officers responded so rapidly to Paul Pelosi's 911 call that they witnessed the attack, officials say.

Los Angeles Times:
Attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband ‘was not a random act,’ San Francisco police say

Evita Duffy / The Federalist:

John Fetterman's ‘Trump-Voting Republican’ Parents Are Card-Carrying Democrats — It appears Democrat Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman's “Trump-voting Republican” parents are not Trump-voting Republicans, but card-carrying Democrats. In an apparent attempt to paint himself …

Discussion: New York Post

Trip Gabriel / New York Times: Oz Struggles to Woo Black Philadelphians in Senate Race

Benjamin Lindsay / The Wrap:

Penguin Random House Staffers, Others Call for Canceling of Amy Coney Barrett Memoir … Hundreds of Penguin Random House staffers and other literary professionals are calling on the publishing company to cut ties with Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett and to cancel her upcoming book.

Discussion: The American Conservative, National Review, Fox News, Mediaite and IJR, more at Mediagazer »

CBS News:

Man convicted of 1983 murder cleared after spending nearly four decades in prison — A 69-year-old man who has spent nearly the last four decades in prison after being convicted of murder was freed on Friday, after new evidence exonerated him from the crime.

Discussion: KTLA and ABC7

Articles and Investigations:

COVID-19 Origins: Investigating a “Complex and Grave Situation” Inside a Wuhan Lab — The Wuhan lab at the center of suspicions about the pandemic's onset was far more troubled than known, documents unearthed by a Senate team reveal. Tracing the evidence, Vanity Fair and ProPublica give …

Discussion: Marginal REVOLUTION, New York Post, The Honest Broker, HotAir, National Review, TheBlaze, The Daily Sceptic, RedState and New York Times

Carol Rosenberg / New York Times:

U.S. Releases Guantánamo's Oldest Prisoner — Saifullah Paracha, 75, was accused of being a Qaeda sympathizer and was held for two decades. But he was never charged with a crime. — GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba — The United States has released the U.S. military's oldest prisoner …

Discussion: Associated Press and Al Jazeera

Sarah Mearhoff / VTDigger:

‘So blatantly illegal’: Liam Madden admits to funneling money through family to inflate campaign finance numbers — Liam Madden, the Republican nominee in the open race for Vermont's lone seat in the U.S. House, during a radio interview Thursday morning described in detail a self-funded scheme …

CNN:

Man pleads guilty to threatening to kill Rep. Eric Swalwell and staffers — A Pennsylvania man previously arrested for impersonating Donald Trump's family members in fraud scheme pleaded guilty on Friday to threatening to kill a member of Congress and his staff.

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Examiner and Mediaite

Justice News: Pennsylvania Man Pleads Guilty To Making Threats To Kill United States Congressman

Wall Street Journal:

Iranian Drones in Ukraine Project Tehran's Power Beyond Mideast, Testing U.S., Europe — Wave of Russian attacks highlights how sanctions failed to stop Tehran from building a drone army that can arm proxies and friendly governments — Russia's expanding use of Iranian drones in Ukraine poses …

Discussion: middleeastmonitor.com, Informed Comment, Washington Examiner and RedState

Washington Post:

Republicans oppose Democrats' plan to fund Ukraine with seized Russian assets — A provision Democrats want in the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act would allow the Justice Department to transfer millions of dollars in yachts and other assets from Russian oligarchs

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Reason, Newsbusters, The Daily Caller and CNN

Philip Oltermann / The Guardian:

Mondrian painting has been hanging upside down for 75 years — Despite the discovery, the work, titled New York City I, will continue to be displayed the wrong way up to avoid damaging it — Mondrian painting wrong on the left and correct on the right — A painting by abstract Dutch …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Times of Israel, New York Post, Gothamist, nltimes.nl and Boing Boing

Washington Post:

Key Proud Boys Jan. 6 co-conspirator pleads guilty, Tarrio lawyer says — A cooperator plea by John Charles Stewart related to the Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy case is disclosed as the U.S. turns up pressure on Proud Boys ahead of December trial — An accused key co-conspirator …

Discussion: Raw Story