memeorandum: 1/23/23 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM (Punchbowl News)

12:20 PM ET, January 23, 2023

Top Items:

Former Special Agent In Charge Of The New York FBI Counterintelligence Division Charged With Violating U.S. Sanctions On Russia — A Russian Court and Government Interpreter Is Also Charged with Violating U.S. Sanctions on Russia — Damian Williams, the United States Attorney …

Discussion: The Hill, CNBC and The Daily Caller

ABC News:

Former top FBI official Charles McGonigal arrested over ties to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska — Oleg Deripaska has been sanctioned by the U.S. — A former top FBI official in New York has been arrested over his ties to a Russian oligarch, law enforcement sources told ABC News Monday.

Discussion: HotAir and The Post Millennial

Department of Justice:

Former Special Agent in Charge of the FBI New York Counterintelligence Division Charged with Violating U.S. Sanctions on Russia — A Russian Court and Government Interpreter Also Charged with Violating U.S. Sanctions on Russia — A former Special Agent in Charge of the FBI …

Discussion: NBC News and Associated Press

Benjamin Weiser / New York Times:

Former Top FBI Official in New York Charged in Money Laundering — Prosecutors say Charles McGonigal, who was chief of counterintelligence in the city, took payments from Oleg Deripaska to investigate a rival Russian oligarch. — A former high-level F.B.I. official has been indicted …

CNN:

Man found dead after police standoff in Torrance was the Monterey Park shooting suspect, sheriff says — The man found dead inside a white cargo van after a standoff with police in Torrance, California, has been confirmed as the person suspected of carrying out a mass shooting in Monterey Park Saturday night, according to police.

Los Angeles Times:

Lunar New Year shooting: A grim moment in Monterey Park, America's first suburban Chinatown — Sometime between 1970 and 1990, Monterey Park became America's first suburban Chinatown, where swift demographic changes heralded conflicts over language, signs, a changing business scene and political voice.

Discussion: New York Times and New York Post

Victoria Kim / New York Times:

How the Monterey Park Gunman Was Disarmed in Alhambra — Brandon Tsay is being credited with preventing further violence by subduing the gunman before he could kill more people. — SAN MARINO, Calif. — Saturday night was winding down at the Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio, with less than a half-hour to go until closing.

Discussion: The Hill, Law & Crime, NBC Chicago, Rolling Stone, The Daily Caller, New York Daily News, New York Post, Mercury News, Fox News, The Newsletter, abc7NY, Los Angeles Times, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Chicago Tribune and Associated Press

Washington Post:
California's strict gun laws don't eliminate violence, but they have helped

Discussion: Mercury News, Breitbart, New Republic, RedState, Wall Street Journal, Slate, Mother Jones and The Rough Draft

Michael Luo / New Yorker:
The Spectre of Anti-Asian Violence in the Monterey Park Shooting

Discussion: Washington Post, PJ Media, ImmigrationProf Blog and Los Angeles Times

Associated Press:
Sheriff: Suspect in dance club shooting killed self in van

New York Times:

How Kevin McCarthy Forged an Ironclad Bond With Marjorie Taylor Greene — The close alliance that has developed between the speaker and the hard-right Georgia Republican explains his rise, how he might govern and the heavy influence of the extremes on the new House G.O.P. majority.

Discussion: Insider, Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

Justin Rohrlich / The Daily Beast:

A 23-Year-Old Mayor Tried Trump's Stolen Election Playbook. Only It Worked. — “I've... seldom seen a political takeover that was this sleazy, and yet this well-orchestrated,” one local columnist wrote. — A small Kansas town is reeling after a baby-faced 23-year-old manipulated procedural technicalities …

Discussion: Raw Story

Monika Scislowska / Associated Press:

Poland pushes for more tanks for Ukraine, asks for German OK — Poland will ask Germany for permission to send some of the Polish army's Leopard tanks to Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Monday, as he pushes Europe to send more military hardware to Kyiv amid complaints …

Illia Ponomarenko / The Kyiv Independent:
With the loss of Soledar, Ukrainian positions in Bakhmut jeopardized

Discussion: TASS, Balloon Juice, Institute for the Study of War and Bloomberg

Bloomberg:

Even Democrats Are Now Critical of Biden Over Documents Fiasco — US President Joe Biden had hoped to put the mishandling of sensitive government files behind him. Instead, the emergence of another batch of classified material now has his own party upset at him.

Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Biden Lawyers Initially Thought Official Files Went to Think Tank Only

Discussion: emptywheel, Washington Examiner, Washington Times, Insider, Breitbart, Washington Post, USA Today, New York Post and BBC

Chris Brennan / The Philadelphia Inquirer:

Former President Donald Trump posed for picture with former Philly mob boss Joey Merlino at South Florida golf club — They share an affinity for golf and an aversion to cooperating witnesses who “flip” to help federal investigators.But former president Donald Trump and former Philly mob boss Joseph …

Discussion: Mock Paper Scissors, Newsbusters and Raw Story

NBC News:

Democrats name Schiff and Swalwell to Intelligence panel, picking fight with McCarthy — WASHINGTON — Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Monday tapped Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell to continue serving on the House Intelligence Committee, picking a long-anticipated fight …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Hill, Washington Post, CBS News, Washington Times and Political Wire

CNN:

George Santos' lies are casting a harsh spotlight on a powerful Republican who endorsed and raised money for him — Cascading revelations about New York Rep. George Santos' pattern of lies and deception are putting increased scrutiny on powerful New York Rep. Elise Stefanik …

Discussion: driftglass and Raw Story

Joseph Simonson / Washington Free Beacon:

Finally: A Bain Man Makes It To The White House … Zients will take over for Ron Klain in February. The former head of the White House's COVID response, Zients amassed a vast fortune working for Bain & Company and other management consulting firms. But at Bain, according to the Wall Street Journal …

Discussion: Tennessee Star, Politico, Fox News, New York Post, Ace of Spades HQ and NBC News

Washington Post:
Jeff Zients to be Biden's next chief of staff

Washington Post:

Early rift over immigration exposes House GOP's tough path to consensus — Republicans won't bring an immigration bill to the floor this week after members raised concerns about its scope and the process — House Republicans' attempt to bring a border security bill to the floor as early …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, E&E, San Antonio Express-News and RedState

Punchbowl News:

1/23/23 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM — Punchbowl News AM Pentagon prepares for McCarthy to go to Taiwan January 23, 2023 BY PUNCHBOWL NEWS STAFF THE TOP Happy Monday morning. News: The Pentagon is in the early stages of planning for Speaker Kevin McCarthy to travel abroad …

Discussion: Insider, Fox News, Washington Examiner, New York Post, Washington Times and The Guardian

David Folkenflik / NPR:

Fox News' defense in defamation suit invokes debunked election-fraud claims — Fox News' attorneys have set out the starkest defense yet against the accusation the network defamed an election-technology company when it broadcast false claims that the company had cheated then-President Donald Trump of victory in the 2020 election.

Discussion: Raw Story

Rolling Stone:

Trump Looks to Ditch His Own Social Media Site — The ex-president is planning his first tweets with a few months to go on his Truth Social contract — IN THE MONTHS ahead of what's likely to be a brutal Republican presidential primary, Donald Trump and his 2024 campaign are laying …

Discussion: Insider, Washington Press, New York Post and Political Wire, more at Techmeme »

Politico:

Borrow the opposition playbook? House GOP weighs the ultimate ‘tit for tat’ — Republicans are confronting a strategic dilemma as they prepare to unleash their new investigative powers on the Biden White House: Should they take a page from the Democrat-run Jan. 6 select committee?

Discussion: Mediaite, Raw Story and Political Wire

Ursula Perano / The Daily Beast:

Pennsylvania Republicans Quietly Plot Their Revenge After 2022 Wipeout — Bad candidates cost Pennsylvania Republicans big in 2022. They're already working to lock down better ones for 2024. — The last election couldn't have gone any worse for Pennsylvania Republicans: the top of their ticket …

Discussion: OpenSecrets.org and Raw Story

Judd Legum / Popular Information:

Florida teachers told to remove books from classroom libraries or risk felony prosecution — Teachers in Manatee County, Florida, are being told to make their classroom libraries — and any other “unvetted” book — inaccessible to students, or risk felony prosecution.

Discussion: Florida's Voice and Thomas Birmingham …

Washington Post:

Ruben Gallego announces run for Arizona Senate seat held by Kyrsten Sinema — Gallego's entry could make a three-way race in the battleground state in 2024; it's unclear currently if Sinema plans to run for reelection — Rep. Ruben Gallego announced he will run for Senate in Arizona on Monday …