memeorandum: Four years later, brother speaks out on Paul Whelan's imprisonment in Russia (Mike Brest/Washington Examiner)

9:20 AM ET, December 28, 2022

Top Items:

G.O.P. Leadership Remains Silent Over George Santos's Falsehoods — The muted response from party leaders suggested that so far they were prepared to mete out little, if any, punishment to the congressman-elect. — WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders were silent on Tuesday …

Discussion: Raw Story, HuffPost, The Daily Beast, Wall Street Journal, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Political Wire, AFP, New York Post, CBS News and Deseret News

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

The scale of George Santos's deceit — and the remaining questions — A New York politician who built his 2022 campaign on false claims about his biography is set to take his seat next week in Congress. — And for the first time since those claims were spotlighted last week by the New York Times …

Discussion: The Forward, Raw Story, Letters from an American, Forbes, The Signorile Report, New York Magazine, Mother Jones, New Republic, ...the truth be known, The Hill and CNN

Jacob Kornbluh / The Forward:
Document reveals Santos boasted of being ‘proud American Jew’ during campaign

New York Post:

Biden heads to St. Croix as winter blast kills dozens, cancels 10,000 flights — WASHINGTON — Wanna get away? — President Biden left the White House Tuesday night for a tropical vacation in St. Croix to ring in the New Year — as much of the country deals with extreme cold and snowfall …

Discussion: Fox News, PJ Media, The Virgin Islands Consortium, Outside the Beltway, The Gateway Pundit, Frontpage Mag, The Hill, Associated Press, The Post Millennial, Washington Times and RedState

CNN:

The Bidens make an island escape ahead of consequential 2024 announcement — President Joe Biden this week returns to St. Croix, one of his and first lady Jill Biden's beloved vacation spots, seeking a final opportunity for rest before what is expected to be a contentious 2023 and reelection run.

Discussion: CBS News, KRON4 and USA Today

Jordan Fabian / Bloomberg:

US Weighs Covid-Prevention Measures for Travelers From China — The US is considering taking new coronavirus precautions for people traveling from China, which has seen a rapid rise in infections as officials lift Covid Zero restrictions. — US officials said the government is concerned …

Discussion: CNN, NBC News, NHK WORLD, Japan Times, The Gateway Pundit, Al Jazeera, ABC News, One America News Network and Reuters

Moira Warburton / Reuters:

Trump tax returns to be released by U.S. House panel on Friday — Former Republican President Donald Trump's redacted tax returns will be made public on Friday, a spokesperson for the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee said on Tuesday. — The Democratic-controlled …

Discussion: The Guardian, Just The News, CBS News, ABC News, CNN, Bloomberg, Fox News, The Gateway Pundit, NBC News, Politico and Washington Examiner

David Cay Johnston / DCReport.org: Trump's Brazen Tax Cheating Revealed

Associated Press:

US Supreme Court keeps asylum limits in place for now — The Supreme Court is keeping pandemic-era limits on asylum in place for now, dashing hopes of migrants who have been fleeing violence and inequality in Latin America and elsewhere to reach the United States.

Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:
Supreme Court keeps in place Trump-era immigration policy allowing asylum-seekers to be quickly turned away

Andrew Freedman / Axios:

Buffalo blizzard death toll exceeds 30 as storm preparation questioned — The death toll from the Buffalo blizzard over Christmas weekend rose to 31 Tuesday, according to numbers from Erie County's chief executive. … It calls into question how a city so used to snow could be endangered to such an extent.

Discussion: Frontpage Mag, Washington Post, CBS News, New York Post, UPI, WIVB-TV, Mercury News and 77 WABC

Associated Press:

Ukrainian tycoon arrested in French ski resort in bank probe — A Ukrainian businessman and former lawmaker suspected of embezzling more than $100 million has been arrested at a high-end ski resort in the French Alps, according to Ukrainian authorities. French police arrested Kostiantyn Zhevago …

Discussion: Bloomberg and Interfax-Ukraine

Samantha Max / Gothamist:

Mayor Adams defends U.S. Virgin Islands trip as NYC prepared for winter storm … Donate now — As a major winter storm brought frigid temperatures and flooding to parts of the city, delaying mass transit and sending holiday travel plans into a tizzy, Mayor Eric Adams was in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Discussion: New York Post, The Daily Caller and New York Daily News

Mike Brest / Washington Examiner:

Four years later, brother speaks out on Paul Whelan's imprisonment in Russia — Wednesday marks four years since former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan was arrested by the Russian Federal Security Service and charged with espionage. — Whelan, who had been in Russia for a wedding, was caught by the FSB …

Discussion: IJR

Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill:

How Murdoch's media empire turned on Trump in 2022 — An increasingly sour relationship between former President Trump, Fox News and the rest of Rupert Murdoch's media empire that has been building for months has come to a head in the weeks following the midterm elections.

Ben Jacobs / Vox:

What to know about the most important elections in 2023 — It's an off-year, but there are a few big races in a handful of states. — The midterms are over and the 2024 presidential election is still far in the future, which means one thing: more elections in between.

Discussion: Raw Story

Stephanie Becker / CNN:

Arizona judge orders Kari Lake to compensate Katie Hobbs for some fees for election lawsuit, but declines to sanction her — A Maricopa County judge on Tuesday ordered Arizona Republican Kari Lake to compensate Democratic Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs for some legal fees related to the election lawsuit Lake …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Arizona Mirror, Fox News, Just The News, The Daily Caller, HuffPost, RedState, New York Post, The Western Journal, Washington Times, Reuters, The Hill, UPI, Talking Points Memo, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Corned Beef Catholicism, CBS News and NewsNation

Nicholas Nehamas / Miami Herald:

DeSantis aide — using alias ‘Clarice Starling’ — helped ex-client bid on migrant flights — A top aide to Gov. Ron DeSantis used a private email address with the alias “Clarice Starling” — a reference to the Hannibal Lecter serial killer novels — to help his former client win a state contract …

Discussion: Orlando Sentinel, Raw Story and WFLA-TV

New York Times:

U.S. Scrambles to Stop Iran From Providing Drones for Russia — As the war in Ukraine grinds on, some officials have become convinced that Iran and Russia are building a new alliance of convenience. — WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has launched a broad effort to halt Iran's ability …

New York Times:

Race for G.O.P. Chair Obscures the Party's Bigger Problems — Ronna McDaniel's quest for a fourth term atop the Republican National Committee has triggered an ugly intraparty fight between the right and the farther right. Figuring out how to win back swing voters is not a top priority.

Leighton Woodhouse / Social Studies:

In Response to the Twitter Files, Establishment Media Rushes to Defend the FBI — The Hunter Biden laptop story shows the extent to which the corporate media has become the propaganda arm of the state — Last week, the FBI responded to the revelations exhumed from the Twitter Files …

Discussion: Mediaite and The Federalist

Extremism and Disinformation Research:

Chaya Raichik appears to have trespassed at the Capitol — Newly-released analysis of footage appears to show Chaya Raichik, the woman behind the LibsOfTikTok account, trespassing on restricted grounds of the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021. — Today Chaya Raichik …

Discussion: Mediaite and Crooks and Liars

Megan Messerly / Politico:

These states tried an Obamacare public option. It hasn't worked as planned. — A trio of Democratic Western states hailed passage of their public health insurance options as important steps toward finishing Obamacare's work of providing universal health coverage.

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Ann M. Simmons / Wall Street Journal:

Kremlin Bans Sales of Russian Oil to Countries That Impose Price Cap — Action to take effect Feb. 1 and run through July 1, 2023 — How a Cap on Russian Oil Prices Could Affect U.S. Consumers — Created with sketchtool. … 1x — MOSCOW—Russian President Vladimir Putin banned …

Discussion: Reuters, Mercury News, The Daily Caller, TASS, The Guardian, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Al Jazeera and Bloomberg

Janan Ganesh / Financial Times:

Drama has cost populists more votes than incompetence — Demagogues can't see that most people want a quiet life between elections — Consider, in this month of goodwill, the loneliness of Giorgia Meloni. The Italian prime minister is the only head of government in a G7 country …