memeorandum: Global fixer of corrupt energy deals sentenced to year in US prison (Financial Times)

7:25 PM ET, January 30, 2023

Top Items:

Manhattan Prosecutors Will Begin Presenting Trump Case to Grand Jury — The Manhattan district attorney's decision represents a dramatic escalation of the inquiry, and sets the case on a path toward criminal charges against the former president. — The Manhattan district attorney's office …

Kara Scannell / CNN:

Ex-publisher of National Enquirer set to meet with prosecutors investigating Trump — David Pecker, the former head of the company that publishes the National Enquirer, is expected to meet with Manhattan prosecutors investigating former President Donald Trump, people familiar with the matter said, indicating the probe is escalating.

Discussion: Mediaite, ABC News, Raw Story, Twitchy and Just The News

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Awful new details about the Durham probe demand a serious response — Senate Democrats, prepare to investigate the investigations of the investigators. — If this sounds likely to be mind-numbingly complicated, well, yes, it is. But there's only one way to tackle this difficulty: head-on.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Punchbowl News, Washington Times, The Hill and Fox News

Jeff Gerth / Columbia Journalism Review:

The press versus the president, part one — INTRODUCTION: ‘I realized early on I had two jobs’ — The end of the long inquiry into whether Donald Trump was colluding with Russia came in July 2019, when Robert Mueller III, the special counsel, took seven, sometimes painful, hours to essentially say no.

Discussion: The Philadelphia Inquirer

Jeff Gerth / Columbia Journalism Review: The press versus the president, part two

David Firestone / New York Times:
Bill Barr's Image Rehab Is Kaput

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Post, Bette Dangerous, The Federalist and Breitbart

Jeff Gerth / Columbia Journalism Review:
The press versus the president, part four

Discussion: Helen of desTroy Archive

Danielle Kurtzleben / NPR:

Recent infighting raises the question: How conservative is the GOP? — A few weeks ago, Americans — or, the subset who get excited about these things — were glued to C-SPAN as the House voted 15 times for a speaker. — It was a show of a deep but hard-to-describe division in the party.

Discussion: The Spectator World, New York Times and Washington Post

Politico:

Schumer plots debt ceiling course against McCarthy: 'We'll win' — Chuck Schumer, as he's known to do, is talking a lot these days. And it's all aimed at Kevin McCarthy. — The Senate majority leader is directing heat at the new House GOP majority on the daily, casting McCarthy's conference …

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Breitbart, E&E, CBS News, New York Daily News, Wall Street Journal, NBC News, Bloomberg, USA Today, Fox News and Politico

Ursula Perano / The Daily Beast:
Republicans Are Desperate to Cut Spending. They Can't Agree on What.

Discussion: HuffPost, Raw Story, The Nation and The Hill

Caitlin Emma / Politico:
House GOP grits its teeth for the ‘big lift’: A budget battle

Discussion: Washington Times, Talking Points Memo and Politico

Orlando Sentinel:

Florida leaders push to allow concealed guns without permits, training — TALLAHASSEE — Calling the right to bear arms “central to our freedom,” House Speaker Paul Renner on Monday unveiled a bill removing Florida requirements for a permit and training to carry concealed guns, an idea endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Discussion: Bloomberg, HotAir, USA Today, Politico, Associated Press, Breitbart, Florida News, Florida Politics, Fox News, Raw Story, The Capitolist, WFLA-TV, Florida's Voice, TheBlaze, IJR and Political Wire

Daniel Han / Politico:

Federal judge blocks more of New Jersey's new gun carry law — A federal judge on Monday blocked more of New Jersey's gun carry law from being enforced, less than a month after she blocked other sections of the newly-enacted law. — The order issued by U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb …

Discussion: The Hill

Cleve R. Wootson Jr / Washington Post:

Some Democrats are worried about Harris's political prospects — At a pivotal point in Biden's term, many party activists are not sure the vice president has shown she is up to winning the top job — As a longtime leader of the Cobb County Democrats, Jacquelyn Bettapadur has become highly attuned …

Discussion: RedState, National Review and IJR

Alex Seitz-Wald / NBC News:
Southern Democrats rally for Atlanta 2024 convention

Discussion: Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Political Wire

Bloomberg:

Trump Sues Journalist Bob Woodward for Releasing Interview Recordings — Former President Donald Trump is suing journalist Bob Woodward for releasing recordings of interviews that he gave to the journalist in 2019 and 2020, claiming he never agreed to those tapes being shared with the public.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, CNBC, Politico, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Deadline, New Republic, Washington Times, The Gateway Pundit and Just The News, more at Mediagazer »

Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite:

Matt and Mercedes Schlapp Off the Air at Fox News After Groping Allegation — American Conservative Union chief Matt Schlapp and his wife Mercedes have been off the air at Fox News since he was accused of groping a political campaign staffer. — The Daily Beast first reported on Jan. 6 …

Bryan Metzger / Insider:
Republicans are mostly ignoring a $9.4 million sexual assault lawsuit against the Trump-aligned head of CPAC

Discussion: Puck and Mock Paper Scissors

Politico:

Secret hold restricts DOJ's bid to access phone of Trump ally Rep. Scott Perry — A federal appeals court panel has put a secret hold on the Justice Department's effort to access the phone of Rep. Scott Perry as part of a broader probe of efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to subvert the 2020 election.

Discussion: Political Wire

Leonard Downie Jr / Washington Post:

Newsrooms that move beyond ‘objectivity’ can build trust — Leonard Downie Jr., a former executive editor of The Washington Post, is a professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. — Amid all the profound challenges and changes roiling …

Discussion: National Review and USA Today

Joshua Chaffin / Financial Times:

Jair Bolsonaro seeks six-month US tourist visa to extend Florida stay — Former Brazilian president is facing multiple investigations at home — Jair Bolsonaro, the former president of Brazil, has applied for a six-month visitor visa to remain in the US as his legal standing in his home country grows perilous.

Discussion: CNN, Bloomberg, Politico, Associated Press, Washington Post, Al Jazeera, Just The News, Fox News, Semafor and Political Wire

Washington Post:

U.S. military poised to secure new access to key Philippine bases — The expansion is part of a broader push in the Indo-Pacific to buttress U.S. force posture, reinforce alliances and deter China — The U.S. military is poised to secure expanded access to key bases in the Philippines …

Bloomberg:

Trump Used Records Requests to Hinder IRS Release of His Tax Returns — Donald Trump demanded reams of information from the Internal Revenue Service as it was preparing to turn over his personal tax returns to a congressional committee, papering the agency with a deluge of Freedom …

Discussion: KARK-TV

Ben Wilson / Washington Free Beacon:

Lib NBA Star Stephen Curry Opposes Affordable Housing Near His $30 Million Mansion — NBA superstar and Biden-supporter Stephen Curry is opposing the proposed construction of a low-income multifamily unit proposed for construction next to his $30 million mansion, saying he has “major concerns” for his “privacy” and “safety.”

Discussion: Twitchy and The Daily Caller

Katie Lobosco / CNN:

Century-old train tunnels in Baltimore and New York to get funding from Biden's infrastructure law — Long-needed improvements are coming to train travel along the nation's busy Northeast Corridor, thanks in part to the federal infrastructure funding package that President Joe Biden signed into law in the fall of 2021.

Discussion: New York Times, ABC News, NewsNation, Associated Press, Roll Call, The White House, CNBC, Washington Post, UPI, Bloomberg and The Hill

John D. McKinnon / Wall Street Journal:

TikTok's Chief to Testify Before Congress in March — Republicans are expected to use hearing to highlight security and privacy concerns over video app — How TikTok Could Become a U.S. Company — Created with sketchtool. … 1x — TikTok's chief executive has agreed to appear …

Alan Blinder / New York Times:

Trump Courses Will Host Three Tournaments for Saudi-Backed LIV Golf — As the league announced more details of a 14-stop second season, former President Donald J. Trump's courses remained central to the schedule, deepening his ties to Riyadh. — Former President Donald J. Trump's golf courses …

Discussion: CBS News, Washington Examiner and The Hill

Javier Manjarres / The Floridian:

Florida Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against DeSantis Administration over Illegal Immigrant Flights — TALLAHASSEE — A Leon County circuit judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging that the Florida Department of Transportation and a contractor did not fully comply with public-records requests …

Discussion: Ace of Spades HQ and RedState

Financial Times:

Global fixer of corrupt energy deals sentenced to year in US prison — Unaoil's Saman Ahsani helped build an empire of bribery involving 27 companies — A British-Iranian consultant whose company fixed billions of dollars of corrupt energy deals was sentenced to just over a year in US prison on Monday …

Peter Stone / The Guardian:

Far-right project that pushed election lies expands mission as Trump ramps up 2024 campaign — ReAwaken America faces criticism from religious leaders as it pushes disinformation using Christian nationalist messages — A far-right project that has helped spread Donald Trump's false claims …

Discussion: Raw Story

Megan Brenan / Gallup:

More Cite Gov't as Top U.S. Problem; Inflation Ranks Second — WASHINGTON, D.C. — More Americans name the government as the nation's top problem in Gallup's latest poll, which encompassed the rocky start of the 118th Congress' term. With high prices persisting, inflation remains the second …

Discussion: New York Post, Forbes, Human Events, UPI, Washington Examiner, RedState, Fox News and The Hill

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

The political targeting of Ilhan Omar is inextricable from her religion — Over the past three Congresses, the ones that began in 2019, 2021 and earlier this month, a number of members of the House have faced ouster from committees on which they served. — In 2019, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) …

Discussion: Semafor, Twitchy, HotAir, HuffPost, TheBlaze, Vox and The Daily Beast

The Daily Beast:

How the Trump Document Scandal Became a Congressional Pissing Match — Lawmakers wanted a briefing assessing the damage of former President Donald Trump mishandling classified documents. Then politics happened. … When classified documents were found at former President Donald Trump's mansion …

Discussion: CBS News, American Prospect, New York Post, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, NBC News, CNN and Fox News

Raw Story:

Epidemic alert: Two more Republican members of Congress ripped off by thieves — Thieves recently stole thousands of dollars from the campaigns of two Republican members of Congress — the latest examples of what's fast becoming an epidemic of fraudsters plaguing federal political committees.

Discussion: The Daily Caller