memeorandum: Playbook: Trump vs. DeSantis vs. who else? (Politico)

10:50 AM ET, February 2, 2023

Top Items:

Eager to Challenge Trump, Republicans Aren't So Eager to Be the First — Nikki Haley is expected to join the 2024 race this month, but other G.O.P. contenders are taking a wait-and-see approach. Some anti-Trump Republicans worry that too much dithering could be costly.

Jonathan Martin / Politico:

The Cold Calculus Behind the Shrinking GOP Presidential Field — DANA POINT, Calif. — The last time the Republican National Committee held its winter meeting at the outset of an open presidential race, the state chairs and committee members arrived at the Hotel del Coronado …

Discussion: Raw Story and Crooks and Liars

Politico:

Playbook: Trump vs. DeSantis vs. who else? — Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross — DRIVING THE DAY — NOT ‘IF,’ BUT ‘WHEN’ — RON KLAIN's departure from the White House on Wednesday was a tear-stained affair — the outgoing chief of staff cried …

Discussion: CBS News, The Daily Caller, New Yorker and Political Wire

Ryan Teague Beckwith / Bloomberg:

Trump's Attacks on Early Voting Worry Some in GOP Over Turnout — When Donald Trump attacked early voting in New Hampshire Saturday, he was speaking to an audience who was excited to hear the message. Others aren't so sure. — Republican officials in the state, one of only four …

Discussion: Raw Story and The Atlantic

Marianne LeVine / Politico:
Cruz control: Texas Republican keeps his distance from 2024 White House hunt

Discussion: Raw Story and HuffPost

Matt Viser / Washington Post:

Hunter Biden's lawyers, in newly aggressive strategy, target his critics — His attorneys have sent letters to prosecutors urging probes of Rudy Giuliani, Steve Bannon and others — Hunter Biden's lawyers, in a newly aggressive strategy, sent a series of blistering letters Wednesday …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, RedState, NewsNation, Insider, Mediaite, Bloomberg, HotAir, CNN, TheBlaze, ABC News and Twitchy

NBC News:
Hunter Biden asks for criminal probe into Trump allies for ‘theft’ of data from laptop

Discussion: Associated Press, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit, emptywheel, RedState, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Raw Story and Psycho Politics

New York Post:
Hunter Biden finally admits infamous laptop is his as he pleads for criminal probe

Discussion: HotAir, RedState, The Post Millennial, Arthuriana, Mediaite, Sean Hannity, Raw Story and The Gateway Pundit

Graham Kates / CBS News:
Hunter Biden demands investigations and retractions, opening new front against GOP foes

Discussion: Human Events, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Times, Mediaite, WTAJ and Just The News

John Wagner / Washington Post:

Pelosi to back Schiff for California Senate seat if Feinstein doesn't run — Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday threw her support behind Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) in what is shaping up as a competitive 2024 Senate race in California if Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) chooses not to run.

Discussion: The Hill, CNBC, Washington Examiner, The Daily Beast, Politico, Fox News, Los Angeles Times, CBS News, Washington Times, Sean Hannity and IJR

Laura Litvan / Bloomberg:
Pelosi Endorses Schiff Senate Run If Feinstein Bows Out

Discussion: The Hill and The Daily Caller

Salvador Rizzo / Washington Post:

Former ABC News journalist charged in child pornography case — Federal prosecutors in Virginia have charged a former national security journalist for ABC News with a child pornography offense. — James Gordon Meek, a producer who covered wars, terrorism and major crimes for the network …

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

McConnell pulls rival Rick Scott off powerful Commerce Committee — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has pulled Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who tried to oust him as the Senate's top Republican in a bruising leadership race, off the powerful Commerce Committee.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Florida's Voice, Breitbart, New York Post, Mediaite and Just The News

Houston Keene / Fox News:
Mike Lee, Rick Scott lose key committee seats, Scott blames McConnell

Discussion: Washington Times, The Floridian and Washington Examiner

Lawrence Richard / Fox News:

New Jersey Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour shot dead outside home in ‘despicable criminal act’ — Sayreville Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour found dead inside vehicle outside apartment with multiple gunshot wounds — Fox News Flash top headlines for February 2

Discussion: New York Times, abc7NY, Washington Post, Gothamist, New Jersey Globe, RLS Media, The Post Millennial, New York Post, The Daily Caller, The Western Journal, 6abc and Washington Examiner

NBC News:

Congress is off to a spectacularly slow start, and members fear it won't get better — WASHINGTON — The House, paralyzed for days, struggled to elect a speaker. The Senate is holding symbolic votes just to pass the time. America's most powerful lawmakers have been twiddling their thumbs …

Nick Miroff / Washington Post:

Illegal border crossings fell sharply in January, U.S. figures show — Tighter restrictions applied by the Biden administration against migrants from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti along the southern border last month led to a precipitous drop in the number of people from those countries crossing …

Discussion: Lucian Truscott Newsletter and The Hill

David Wasserman / Cook Political Report:

2024 House Race Ratings: Another Competitive Fight for Control — House Republicans enter the 2024 cycle with an infamously thin 222-213 majority and lots of questions about why they didn't perform better in 2022. But they have history on their side: despite the House flipping partisan …

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

Americans Still Glum About State of the Union in Most Areas — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans' assessment of the state of the nation remains in the pandemic-era slump seen since 2021, marked by subdued satisfaction with 30 different aspects of the country. These include the public's reaction …

Discussion: Washington Examiner and The Hill

Maxine Joselow / Washington Post:

The gas industry is under fire. It's hiring Democratic politicians to help. — Gas companies have enlisted prominent Democrats to convince liberal voters that the fuel is climate-friendly, documents show — At a time when many other Democrats fault natural gas for fueling climate change …

Josh Kraushaar / Axios:

Inside the GOP's “Save the kids” strategy — The fractious Republican Party is consolidating around a “Protect the children” platform for 2024 that aggressively targets school policies on gender identity and how racial issues are taught. … - Much of the battle is being fought at the state …

Discussion: Reason, Just The News and Washington Times

ProPublica:

“We're Still Gonna Say No”: Inside UnitedHealthcare's Effort to Deny Coverage to Chronically Ill Patient — Co-published with The Capitol Forum … In May 2021, a nurse at UnitedHealthcare called a colleague to share some welcome news about a problem the two had been grappling with for weeks.

Scott Bauer / Associated Press:

Lawsuit can proceed against Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse — A federal judge in Wisconsin ruled Wednesday that a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of a man shot and killed by Kyle Rittenhouse during a protest in 2020 can proceed against Rittenhouse, police officers and others.

Discussion: Rolling Stone, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit and Courthouse News Service

Balázs Gulyás / The Bulwark:

How Rod Dreher Caused an International Scandal in Eastern Europe — Blogging and backtracking. — Last week, Rod Dreher, the American author now living in Hungary, caused a diplomatic scandal that has gone largely unnoticed in his home country. — Dreher's stay in Hungary is apparently financed …

Discussion: Postliberal Order and Politico

New York Times:

Ukraine Carries Out Wide Anticorruption Raids Ahead of Visit From E.U. Leaders … More searches are conducted in connection with corruption allegations in Ukraine. — The Ukrainian authorities on Wednesday carried out dozens of searches across the country in connection with corruption allegations …

Discussion: Washington Post, Fox News, BBC, Euractiv, Balloon Juice, RedState, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg and Radio Free Europe/Radio …

Jacqueline Sweet / Politico:

Feds probing Santos' role in service dog charity scheme — NEW YORK — FBI agents are investigating Rep. George Santos' role in an alleged GoFundMe scheme involving a disabled U.S. Navy veteran's dying service dog. — Two agents contacted former service member Richard Osthoff Wednesday …

Discussion: HotAir, HuffPost, Axios, ABC News, NBC News, Insider, New York Post, CBS News, NBC Bay Area, Raw Story, Fox News, CNN, Forbes, The Daily Caller, PoliticusUSA, Political Wire and DCCC

Andrew Kaczynski / CNN: Inside George Santos' transformation from Anthony Devolder into a political figure

Max Zahn / ABC News:

Senator calls on Apple, Google to remove TikTok from app stores — TikTok poses “an unacceptable threat,” the senator said. — The push on Capitol Hill to rein in China-owned social media network — TikTok — has set its sights on tech giants Apple and Google.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Axios, Vox, The Daily Caller, The Hill and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Adam Cancryn / Politico:

Biden and McCarthy hold ‘first good’ meeting on debt ceiling, but ‘no agreements, no promises’ — President Joe Biden met Wednesday with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in search of a path to lifting the nation's debt ceiling — and averting the potential for an economic catastrophe.

Discussion: The Hill, Plain Dealer, NBC News, Robert Reich, Alabama Daily News, New York Post, Bloomberg, CNBC, Fox News, Raw Story, New York Daily News, CBS News, Washington Examiner, CNN and NPR

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Lawmakers Call for Inquiry Into Durham's Review of Russia Investigation — The Democrats asked the Justice Department's inspector general to scrutinize whether John H. Durham and William P. Barr “violated any laws, D.O.J. rules or practices, or canons of legal ethics.”

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Raw Story, Balloon Juice and The Raging Patriot

Jim Gomez / Associated Press:

US, Philippines agree on larger American military presence — The United States and the Philippines announced on Thursday an agreement to expand American military presence in the Southeast Asian country, where U.S. forces would be granted access to four more Philippine military camps …

Discussion: Associated Press, New York Times, Washington Post, U.S. Department of Defense, BBC, Global Nonsense, Washington Examiner, NPR and Fox News

Hugh Hewitt / The Hugh Hewitt Show:

Former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan On 2024 — Former Governor Larry Hogan joined me this AQM: — Audio: — 02-02hhs-hogan — Transcript: — HH: Joined by former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. Good morning, Governor. How are you? — LH: I'm doing great, Hugh. Thanks for having me.

Discussion: The Hill