memeorandum: Russia Sanctions Disrupting Putin's Military Efforts, Treasury Official Says (Dylan Tokar/Wall Street Journal)

11:05 AM ET, November 17, 2022

Top Items:

Key Allies Are Inching Away From Trump — Early signs suggest he may struggle to win over Republican Party leaders for his third presidential bid, after a string of disappointments, but Donald Trump's staunchest voters are another matter. — ORLANDO, Fla. — Three billionaire donors …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Outside the Beltway, The Hill, Insider, WOWK-TV, Political Wire, Al Jazeera, CNN, Bloomberg and Raw Story

Carl Hulse / New York Times:

Republicans Barely Won the House. Now Can They Run It? — A thin margin, ideological differences and competing pressures could make managing the “people's House” virtually impossible. But the G.O.P. majority, however slim, will still be a challenge for President Biden.

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Daily Wire, Associated Press, CNBC, Kyiv Post, Sacramento Bee, Washington Times, Al Jazeera, Los Angeles Times and Politico

Yuval Levin / New York Times:

Democrats Lost the Midterms, Too — The surprising results of the midterm elections were understandably received by Democrats with an elated mix of relief and vindication. A president's party normally does much worse in his first midterms, and polls suggested this time would be no different.

Discussion: New York Magazine, E&E and Euractiv

Washington Post:

Republicans narrowly win House, ending full Democratic control of Congress — The GOP takeover will end two years of one-party control on Capitol Hill — Republicans on Wednesday were projected to win back control of the U.S. House with a narrow majority, dealing a blow to President Biden …

Discussion: HotAir, NPR, Wall Street Journal, pjmedia.com, Politico, Associated Press, Washington Post, NBC News, Roll Call, Semafor, WGN-TV, Raw Story, ABC News, Bloomberg, New York Post, CNN, The Right Scoop, Althouse, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Fox News, IJR and The Daily Wire

Washington Post:

Trump's early 2024 launch fails to rally GOP around him — The announcement is not immediately clearing the field as Trump hoped, but he has used party divisions to his advantage before — Former president Donald Trump has told associates and advisers that he wants his third White House bid …

Discussion: The Texas Tribune, The Hill, New York Post, HuffPost, PoliticusUSA, Raw Story, Bloomberg, National Review, Washington Examiner, Washington Times and IJR

Shane Goldmacher / New York Times:

Republicans Gain Control of the House — With a victory in California, Republicans captured the 218 House seats required to take a narrow majority and frustrate President Biden's agenda. In Los Angeles, Karen Bass became the first woman elected as mayor of the nation's second-largest city.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, HotAir, UPI, The Wrap, Metro.co.uk, CNN, National Review, The Hill, Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, The Daily Beast, Raw Story, CBS News, Florida Politics and Althouse

CNN:

Inside the White House's months of prep-work for a GOP investigative onslaught — More than four months before voters handed Republicans control of the House of Representatives, top White House and Department of Homeland Security officials huddled in the Roosevelt Room to prepare for that very scenario.  

Discussion: Raw Story

Politico:
Investigating the investigators: Dem strategists to launch counterpunch to House GOP

Discussion: New York Times, Not the Bee, PoliticusUSA and Raw Story

Andy Sullivan / Reuters:
Pence says he will not testify before U.S. House Jan. 6 panel

Discussion: CNN, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Mother Jones, The Guardian, Insider, Washington Times, Forbes, The Hill and Chicago Sun-Times

Scott Wong / NBC News:
House Republicans plan investigations and possible impeachments with new majority

Discussion: The Federalist and emptywheel

David Rothkopf / The Daily Beast:
GOP Authoritarianism Isn't Going Away After the Midterms

Discussion: Raw Story

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: All eyes on Pelosi

Discussion: CNN

Michael R. Blood / Associated Press:
US House win by ex-combat pilot cements Republican control

Discussion: San Diego Union-Tribune, NOQ Report, Los Angeles Times, Reasonably Right, Forbes, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Insider, RedState and Power Line

CNN:
A recipe for gridlock: Lawmakers brace for partisan feuds and legislative stalemate

Discussion: E&E

Benjamin Hart / New York Magazine:
The Pollster Who Predicted a Red Wave Explains Himself

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Fortune

Brian Murphy / Washington Post:

Michael Gerson, Post columnist and Bush speechwriter on 9/11, dies at 58 — Mr. Gerson helped shape President George W. Bush's messaging after the 9/11 attacks and then moved to The Washington Post, where he wrote about politics and faith — Michael Gerson, a speechwriter for President George W. Bush …

Discussion: The Hill, The Wrap, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Publishers Weekly

Michael Gerson / Washington Post:

Saying goodbye to my child, the youngster — Michael Gerson, 58, died on Thursday. For 15 years beginning in 2007, he wrote a twice-weekly column for The Post — including this beautiful meditation, originally published on Aug. 19, 2013, on what it felt like to drop off his son at college.

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:

Michael Gerson followed his faith — and America was better for it — One of the biblical injunctions sometimes cited by Michael Gerson, who died Thursday at the age of 58 after a long battle with cancer, comes from the New Testament book of Colossians: “Let your conversation be always full of grace …

Ankush Khardori / New York Times:

Trump Faces Five Major Investigations. He Has Dozens of Ways Out. — Mr. Khardori is a lawyer and legal analyst. He spent several years as a prosecutor at the Department of Justice. Before he joined the federal government, he defended corporate clients against charges of fraud and other crimes.

Discussion: Althouse, CBS News, USA Today and CNN

Charles Lane / Washington Post:
At long last, Trump gives his concession speech

Discussion: Townhall, HuffPost, The Atlantic, Raw Story, CNN, Fox News, Vanity Fair, Jacobin, National Review, Washington Examiner, The Colorado Sun, The Wrap, Jezebel, NewsNation and Semafor

Tierney Sneed / CNN:
Trump's running for president again. Does that get him off the legal hook?

Discussion: The Guardian

New York Times:
Trump's Candidacy Is in Motion, but His Campaign Is a Work in Progress

Discussion: BizPac Review, CNN, Raw Story, Insider, FiveThirtyEight, Washington Times, Washington Examiner and CNBC

Bloomberg:
Trump Candidacy Will Complicate, But Not End, DOJ Investigations of Him

Discussion: Raw Story, CREW, Associated Press, Politico, Los Angeles Times, The American Independent, TIME, Chicago Sun-Times, The Hill, MJR News, Insider and FOX31 Denver

John Nichols / The Nation:
Donald Trump Knows How to Win the Republican Presidential Nomination

Discussion: The Hill, Bloomberg, Fox News, Just The News, pjmedia.com, The Daily Beast, CNBC, Althouse, TIME, The Atlantic, Washington Examiner, National Observer, FOX News Radio, News Items, Boston Herald and Instapundit

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
DeSantis draws contrast with Trump as party hunts for 2024 alternative

Discussion: Raw Story, Insider and Fox News

David Bauder / Associated Press:
Trump bid nets tough reaction from some former media friends

Discussion: Emerald Robinson's …, The Present Age, RedState, The Western Journal, The Guardian and The Hill

Edward Luce / Financial Times:
The caging of America's Kraken

Discussion: Reuters, Fox News, Bloomberg and The Lincoln Project

Isaac Chotiner / New Yorker:

John Mearsheimer on Putin's Ambitions After Nine Months of War — The realist political scientist explains why Russia's move to annex four Ukrainian provinces isn't imperialism. — Back in February, a few days after Russia launched its war in Ukraine, I spoke with the political scientist John Mearsheimer.

Discussion: The Guardian and National Review

Julia Wick / Los Angeles Times:

Karen Bass elected mayor, becoming first woman to lead L.A. — Rep. Karen Bass has defeated businessman Rick Caruso in the Los Angeles mayor's race, according to an Associated Press projection Wednesday, making her the first woman and second Black Angeleno elected to lead the city in its 241-year history.

Discussion: Bloomberg, CNN, Breitbart, NBC News, Associated Press, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Wire, Fox News, Washington Post, CBS News, The Wrap, Common Dreams, Washington Examiner and KTLA

Shawn Hubler / New York Times:
Karen Bass Becomes First Woman Elected as Los Angeles Mayor

Discussion: El País, UPI, Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone and Los Angeles Times

Michael R. Blood / Associated Press:
LA elects US Rep Karen Bass mayor, first Black woman in post

Discussion: Associated Press, CalMatters, HuffPost, Los Angeles Times, NBC News, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, NPR, KTLA, The 19th, CBS News, Variety, Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, The Daily Beast, Politico, Just The News and Balloon Juice

Tyler Kingkade / NBC News:

Moms for Liberty-backed school board members fire superintendent, ban critical race theory — The Berkeley County, South Carolina, school board made several big moves in its first meeting after the election. The board's former chair said it was a “political witch hunt.”

Discussion: HotAir and Twitchy

Andrew Weissmann / Just Security:

Mar-a-Lago Model Prosecution Memo — This model prosecution memorandum (or “pros memo") assesses the potential charges against former President Donald Trump emanating from his handling of classified documents and other government records since leaving office on January 20, 2021.

Tara Palmeri / Puck:

Nancy Pelosi, Speaker Emeritus? — The longtime Democratic leader, a fixture of the House for decades, will step back into a chairman-like role in the minority rather than retire immediately, giving her time to manage her succession and ensure the stability of her caucus through the forthcoming McCarthy era.

Discussion: The Hill, CBS News, Politico and Bloomberg

Wall Street Journal:

FTX's Collapse Leaves Employees Sick With Anger — Many say they learned of crypto exchange's deteriorating situation through media and lost access to their funds — How FTX Went Bankrupt: What Went Wrong — Created with sketchtool. … One FTX executive vomited when he learned …

Discussion: The Daily Wire, CoinDesk, Associated Press and Breitbart, more at Techmeme »

Justin Hart / Wall Street Journal:

Covid Lockdowns Disqualify Trump in 2024 — ‘Fifteen days to stop the spread’ turned into an eternity. — 1x — March, 29, 2020, is a day that should live in infamy. The national mitigation plan against Covid-19, “15 days to stop the spread,” was about to expire.

Discussion: WEB OF EVIL, Alexander COVID News … and HotAir