memeorandum: Nikki Haley planning Feb. 15 launch for 2024 White House bid (Meg Kinnard/Associated Press)

2:05 AM ET, February 1, 2023

Top Items:

It's official: Nikki Haley running for president. Formal announcement Feb. 15 — Cementing what has been in the works for months, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will formally announce she is running for president and will seek the Republican nomination for her party's 2024 ticket, The Post and Courier has learned.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Washington Examiner, The Hill, NBC News, Fox News, Politico, CNN, Insider, New York Post, The Post Millennial, The Gateway Pundit, TheBlaze and Mediaite

Washington Post:

Haley plans to announce presidential run, as GOP race starts slowly — The former U.N. ambassador's move comes as other prospective candidates have slowed their planning — Nikki Haley, a former United Nations ambassador and governor of South Carolina, is planning to announce that she will run …

Meg Kinnard / Associated Press:
Nikki Haley planning Feb. 15 launch for 2024 White House bid

Discussion: Bloomberg, CBS News, The Wrap, Vanity Fair and The Daily Beast

David Badash / Raw Story:

Another SCOTUS scandal: Chief justice's spouse makes millions placing attorneys at top law firms that argue before the court — The highly controversial and highly unpopular U.S. Supreme Court isn't just facing a historic loss of confidence, it's now facing yet another ethics scandal …

Discussion: The Mahablog

Steve Eder / New York Times:

At the Supreme Court, Ethics Questions Over a Spouse's Business Ties — The chief justice's wife, Jane Sullivan Roberts, has made millions in her career recruiting lawyers to prominent law firms, some of which have business before the court. Now, a letter sent to Congress claims that may present a conflict of interest.

Discussion: The Hill, Forbes, ABC News and Washington Examiner

Politico: ‘They come to me’: Jane Roberts' legal recruiting work involved officials whose agencies had cases before the Supreme Court

New York Times:

House Votes to End Covid Precautions as G.O.P. Uses Pandemic in Political Attacks — Republicans in Congress are seeking to capitalize on discontent about the federal coronavirus response while the party's presidential contenders are vying to be the biggest foe of restrictions.

Discussion: Washington Post, Majority Leader, The Hill, Washington Examiner, New York Daily News and Washington Times

Amy Gardner / Washington Post:

GOP report shows plan to ramp up focus on disproven election fraud claims — The report prepared by the Republican National Committee proposes expanding ‘election integrity’ activities in response to perceptions of a rigged process — A new internal report prepared by the Republican …

Discussion: Raw Story

W. James Antle III / Washington Examiner:
Pillow fight: Anticlimactic RNC chair race illustrates GOP stuck in leadership limbo

Discussion: Raw Story, The Wrap and HuffPost

Graham Kates / CBS News:

Video of Trump deposition in New York fraud probe shows former president taking the Fifth, repeating “same answer” — Newly released video obtained by CBS News provides the first look at former President Donald Trump's deposition last summer in the New York attorney general's civil fraud investigation.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, CNN, New Republic, Raw Story, CNBC, Talking Points Memo, New York Post, Washington Examiner, HuffPost, Mediaite, USA Today, Politico and The Guardian

Martin Pengelly / The Guardian:

Trump pleaded the fifth more than 400 times in fraud deposition, video shows — Former president repeatedly invoked constitutional right against self-incrimination in New York footage from late last summer — Video released on Tuesday showed Donald Trump answering questions …

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, Fox News, Insider, New York Daily News, ABC News, Raw Story, abc7NY, Washington Examiner and CBS News

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Trump's Well-Worn Legal Playbook Starts to Look Frayed

Discussion: Raw Story

Alan Rappeport / New York Times:

In Debt Limit Fight, Republicans Won't Say What Spending Cuts They Want — A renewed focus on fiscal restraint in the debt limit standoff with Democrats poses its own political risks. — WASHINGTON — At a news conference this month to showcase how Republicans will handle …

Discussion: Washington Post, Truthout, Bloomberg, R Street, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Don's Newsletter, Raw Story, Roll Call, Jacobin, HuffPost and The Spectator World

Joseph Zeballos-Roig / Semafor:

Republicans have a plan B if the U.S. breaches the debt ceiling. It'd still be a disaster. — Republicans have been talking up an old idea to prevent a catastrophic default should Washington breach the debt ceiling later this year. — If the government suddenly can't cover all of its bills …

Discussion: New York Times and Politico

Kevin Roberts / The American Conservative:
Getting Serious About Responsible Defense Spending

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Will Steakin / ABC News:

Promised green cards, catfishing, threats: How George Santos' ex-boyfriends say they were left feeling trapped, manipulated — The new congressman is facing scrutiny for fabricating swaths of his biography. — Rep. George Santos leaves the Capitol Hill Club as members of the press follow him on Jan. 31, 2023 in Washington, DC.

Discussion: Raw Story and Political Wire

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
The historic support for George Santos's resignation

Discussion: HuffPost, One America News Network, Page Array, Courthouse News Service, USA Today, New Republic, UPI, Mediaite, New York Post, The Hill, Bloomberg, The Daily Beast, Deadline and Insider

Washington Post:
Santos stepping down from committees amid fabrications about his life

Kevin Freking / Associated Press:
Santos tells colleagues he won't serve on 2 committees

NBC News:

Top Jan. 6 investigator says FBI, other agencies could have stopped Capitol mob had they acted on intel already collected — The House Jan. 6 committee concluded that the FBI and other federal security agencies could have prevented a violent mob from overrunning the Capitol had they acted …

Discussion: Insider, Roll Call and Newsbusters

Dánica Coto / Associated Press:

4 key suspects in Haiti presidential slaying in US custody — Four key suspects in the killing of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse were transferred to the United States for prosecution as the case stagnates in Haiti amid death threats that have spooked local judges, U.S. officials announced Tuesday.

Discussion: New York Times, Department of Justice, Rolling Stone, UPI and Raw Story

Cara Tabachnick / CBS News: Four suspects in assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse transferred to U.S., authorities say

New York Times:

DeSantis Takes On the Education Establishment, and Builds His Brand — A proposal by Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida to overhaul higher education would mandate courses in Western civilization, eliminate diversity programs and reduce the protections of tenure. — Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Law Dork with Chris Geidner, Fox News, Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

Jack Stripling / Washington Post:
DeSantis aims to cut college diversity efforts; New College ousts president

Priscilla Alvarez / CNN:

Nine Republican-led states ask judge to block DACA program — Nine Republican-led states asked a federal judge in Texas on Tuesday to block a rule providing protections to nearly 600,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children, a group often described as “Dreamers.”

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Camilo Montoya-Galvez / CBS News: Republican-led states ask judge to shut down DACA program for immigrant “Dreamers”

Josh Boswell / Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Set phone up so I can spy on you showering.’ Hunter Biden threatened to withhold cash-strapped assistant's pay if she didn't FaceTime him naked, texts show - as it's revealed she's the FOURTH employee with whom he had a sexual relationship — Texts obtained by DailyMail.com show First Son asked assistant for video sex

Discussion: Twitchy, The Gateway Pundit, New York Post, RedState, The Western Journal, The Post Millennial and TEMPLE CO

Teri Christoph / RedState:

It'll Cost You $95 to Hear Bernie Sanders Tell You Why Capitalism is Bad — As we've discussed here before, potential presidential candidates often signal an upcoming run by releasing a “leadership” book before officially announcing their candidacy. Republicans like Mike Pence …

Discussion: PenguinRandomhouse.com, The Western Journal, Louder With Crowder, The Daily Caller, Fox News, The Gateway Pundit, Twitchy and The Anthem

Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Company Offers Advanced Drones to Ukraine for One Dollar, With Some Costs — Sale of long-range, high-speed Reaper unmanned aircraft would require Biden administration approval — A U.S. weapons maker is offering to sell the Ukraine government two Reaper MQ-9 drones for a dollar …

Discussion: CBS News

Brittany Bernstein / National Review:

$5 Million Reparations Payment for Black Residents Not Enough, San Francisco Official Says — A San Francisco advisory committee's recommendation that the city pay out hefty reparations to the city's longtime black residents does not go far enough toward making things right …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Washington Examiner and Fox News

J.D. Vance / Wall Street Journal:

Trump's Best Foreign Policy? Not Starting Any Wars — He has my support in 2024 because I know he won't recklessly send Americans to fight overseas. — A few days before America's 2022 midterm elections, Ukraine's President Volodomyr Zelensky accused Russia of firing a rocket into Poland.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Washington Times

Jesús A. Rodríguez / Politico:

16 Hours With George Santos: Dunkin' Donuts, 27,000 Steps and a Scolding — It's 11:05 a.m. on a Tuesday, and none of the 20 or so reporters huddling outside George Santos' congressional office wants to grab the last of twelve donuts he brought to the Longworth House building.

Matthew Cunningham-Cook / The Lever:

Mass. Prisoners Could Choose Between Freedom And Their Organs — A new bill would allow prisoners to get time off their sentence if they donate their organs or bone marrow. — Massachusetts Democrats have a bold new proposal for prisoners: donate your organs or bone marrow …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

CBS News:

FBI searched the Penn Biden Center in mid-November — Washington — The FBI searched the Penn Biden Center offices in mid-November, according to two sources familiar with the investigation, after lawyers for President Biden had found about 10 documents marked classified there on Nov. 2.

Mike Stone / Reuters:

U.S. readies $2 bln-plus Ukraine aid package with longer-range weapons -sources — The United States is readying more than $2 billion worth of military aid for Ukraine that is expected to include longer-range rockets for the first time as well as other munitions and weapons …

Discussion: Al Jazeera and The Gateway Pundit

Michael Gartland / New York Daily News:

Harlem Councilwoman facing heat for government mailer that included campaign info — Harlem Councilwoman Kristin Richardson Jordan could be in hot water for using government resources to send out a mailer that included an address for her campaign website. — The mailer, which includes …

Zac Howard / The Florida Standard:

Democrat Politician Agrees with DeSantis, Calls Rejected AP Course “Trash” — Leon County Commissioner Bill Proctor has been an outspoken critic of the governor, but the two men agree on the lack of educational value in the recently rejected AP African American Studies course. — January 31, 2023 .

Discussion: The American Conservative and Fox News