memeorandum: West Virginia's Republican Governor Is ‘Leaning’ Toward a Senate Run (Bloomberg)

8:15 AM ET, January 31, 2023

Top Items:

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

CNN:

First on CNN: 2 people who searched Trump properties for classified documents testified before federal grand jury in Mar-a-Lago probe — Two people who found two classified documents in a Florida storage facility for Donald Trump have testified before a federal grand jury in Washington that's looking …

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Examiner and New York Post

Associated Press:
Reports: New grand jury in NY examining Trump hush money

Discussion: Mediaite, NPR, Fox News, Bloomberg, Raw Story, National Review, Insider and PoliticusUSA

Punchbowl News:

1/31/23 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM — The Biden Justice Department has its hands full with a slew of House GOP investigations. — What they probably didn't expect was the onslaught coming from Senate Democrats, too. … Warner also reiterated that he's not seeking any information …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Fox News and New York Daily News

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: The House GOP's growing pains — Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross — DRIVING THE DAY — FIRST LOOK: OMAR'S NEXT ACT — As House Republicans try to boot Rep. ILHAN OMAR off the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the Minnesota Democrat is laying …

Discussion: CNN

Phil Mattingly / CNN:
Biden's message to McCarthy ahead of critical White House meeting: Show me your plan

Discussion: Fox News, Just The News and Talking Points Memo

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

Discussion: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, CNN and Political Wire

Alan Rappeport / New York Times:

I.M.F. Upgrades Global Outlook as Inflation Eases — The International Monetary Fund said the world economy was poised for a rebound as inflation eases. — WASHINGTON — The International Monetary Fund said on Monday that the global economy was expected to slow this year as central banks continued …

Discussion: BBC, UPI, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, Politico and TASS

David J. Lynch / Washington Post:

Prospects for the global economy are improving, as worst fears fade — International Monetary Fund and Wall Street analysts are more upbeat, with resilient hiring in the United States, signs of growth in Europe and the reopening of China — The outlook for the global economy in recent weeks …

Discussion: New York Times and The Guardian

Thomas Beaumont / Associated Press:

In Iowa, potential 2024 GOP Trump challengers quiet for now — By this time four years ago, at least a dozen Democratic presidential hopefuls eager to make their case against Donald Trump had either visited Iowa or announced plans to soon visit the leadoff voting state ahead of the 2020 election.

Discussion: The Hill, Fox News, New York Magazine, 19FortyFive, Raw Story, CNN, Insider and Washington Examiner

NBC News:

Trump revamps his fundraising operation after struggling to raise money for 2024 — Former President Donald Trump is strapped for campaign cash following the mid-November launch of his 2024 presidential campaign, according to end-of-year figures obtained exclusively by NBC 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 Bulwark, The Federalist, Mediaite, Washington Times, The Daily Caller, Fox News and The Hill

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, more at Mediagazer »

Louis Menand / New Yorker:

When Americans Lost Faith in the News — Half a century ago, most of the public said they trusted the news media. Today, most say they don't. What happened to the power of the press? — When the Washington Post unveiled the slogan “Democracy Dies in Darkness,” on February 17, 2017, people in the news business made fun of it.

Associated Press:

President Biden to end COVID-19 emergencies on May 11 — President Joe Biden informed Congress on Monday that he will end the twin national emergencies for addressing COVID-19 on May 11, as most of the world has returned closer to normalcy nearly three years after they were first declared.

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.

Josh Boak / Associated Press:

Biden to highlight grant for NYC rail tunnel under Hudson — New day, new tunnel. President Joe Biden is ready to showcase a $292 million mega grant that will be used to help build a new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey, part of a broader effort to draw …

Discussion: Washington Post, abc7NY, New York Daily News, Politico, The Hill, Political Wire and Associated Press

Katie Lobosco / CNN:
Century-old train tunnels in Baltimore and New York to get funding from Biden's infrastructure law

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

Peter Beinart / New York Times:

When Ilhan Omar Asks Questions, Her Colleagues Should Listen — House Republicans are poised make a grave mistake by removing from the Committee on Foreign Affairs the only person who consistently describes American foreign policy as it is experienced by much of the rest of the world.

Discussion: Semafor, Fox News and BizPac Review

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
The political targeting of Ilhan Omar is inextricable from her religion

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

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: Politico, BizPac Review, Florida News, Bloomberg, Breitbart, Fox News, Florida Politics, Florida Phoenix, HotAir, USA Today, MyNorthwest.com, Florida's Voice, Raw Story, The Capitolist, IJR, WFLA-TV, TheBlaze and Political Wire

Daniel Han / Politico:
Federal judge blocks more of New Jersey's new gun carry law

Discussion: The Hill

Justin Rohrlich / The Daily Beast:

Retired Air Force Intel Boss Caught With Hundreds of Top Secret Docs at Home — Retired Lt. Col. Robert Birchum had materials that could potentially cause “exceptionally grave damage” to national security, federal investigators allege. … Amid seemingly endless revelations …

Discussion: CNN, Raw Story and New York Post

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: emptywheel, CNN, Raw Story and Political Wire

Bloomberg:

West Virginia's Republican Governor Is ‘Leaning’ Toward a Senate Run — West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, a Republican, expressed a keen interest in running for the state's Senate seat now held by moderate Democrat Joe Manchin. — Justice, 71, a former Democrat who announced …

Discussion: New York Times

The Intercept:

New FTX Filing Pulls Back the Curtain on Sam Bankman-Fried's Massive Influence Peddling Operation … A filing in FTX's bankruptcy proceedings is shedding light on the true extent of the crypto-trading powerhouse's influence peddling operation. Last week, FTX filed its creditor matrix …

Discussion: The Stanford Daily, more at Techmeme »

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: BRIGHT, Tampa Bay Times, The Daily Caller, Ace of Spades HQ and RedState

Yvonne Wingett Sanchez / Washington Post:

Top Arizona election official seeks campaign-violation probe of Kari Lake — PHOENIX — Arizona's top election official has asked the attorney general to investigate Kari Lake, the Republican candidate who lost her bid for governor in 2022, over potential campaign violations involving the disclosure of voter signatures.

Discussion: Raw Story and The Gateway Pundit

Sam Brasch / Colorado Public Radio:

It looks like the Suncor shutdown is driving up gas prices … After Suncor Energy temporarily shut down Colorado's only oil and gas refinery last month, many industry experts told drivers to expect a rise in prices at the pump. — Despite some signs that prices weren't affected, those predictions now appear to be coming true.

Discussion: Denver Post

Kyle Pope / Columbia Journalism Review:

Looking back on the coverage of Trump — Seven and a half years ago, journalism began a tortured dance with Donald Trump, the man who would be the country's forty-fifth president—first dismissing him, then embracing him as a source of ratings and clicks, then going all in on efforts …

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, Columbia Journalism Review, Just The News, Raw Story, Columbia Journalism Review, Columbia Journalism Review, Just The News, Breitbart, New York Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer

Jacob Magid / The Times of Israel:

Abbas assures US security ties with Israel only partially cut, can be restored — PA president tells CIA chief announced freeze aimed at pushing Netanyahu to moderate settlement expansion, said to fear condemning Jerusalem attack would be ‘political suicide’

Discussion: CNN and New York Times