memeorandum: George Santos' Brazil Lawyer Did Time for Gang Execution: Report (Dan Ladden-Hall/The Daily Beast)

12:20 PM ET, February 2, 2023

Top Items:

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

Sophia Cai / Axios:

GOP investigations could launch Stefanik in 2024 — Rep. Elise Stefanik, who became a GOP favorite by aggressively defending former President Trump, is in position to be a bigger player on the national stage — possibly as his 2024 running mate. … - The panel, which began hearings Wednesday …

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Politico

New York Times:
Eager to Challenge Trump, Republicans Aren't So Eager to Be the First

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

Discussion: Raw Story and HuffPost

Politico:
Playbook: Trump vs. DeSantis vs. who else?

Discussion: CBS News, The Daily Caller and Political Wire

Ryan Teague Beckwith / Bloomberg:
Trump's Attacks on Early Voting Worry Some in GOP Over Turnout

Discussion: Raw Story and The Atlantic

Daniel Victor / New York Times:

New Jersey Councilwoman Is Fatally Shot, Officials Say — Eunice K. Dwumfour, 30, was found dead in her car with multiple gunshot wounds on Wednesday night. She was serving her first term on the Sayreville Borough Council. — Eunice K. Dwumfour, a 30-year-old councilwoman serving …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Washington Post, Gothamist, New Jersey Globe, RLS Media, The Gateway Pundit, One America News Network, The Post Millennial, The Daily Caller, The Western Journal 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: CBS News, abc7NY, New York Post, 6abc and Gothamist

New York Post:

Hunter Biden finally admits infamous laptop is his as he pleads for criminal probe — So much for, the laptop “could be” mine. — First son Hunter Biden's lawyers admitted late Wednesday that the infamous laptop the now-52-year-old abandoned at a Delaware computer repair shop in the throes …

Discussion: HotAir, Ace of Spades HQ, Twitchy, The Post Millennial, The Gateway Pundit, Arthuriana, Mediaite and Sean Hannity

Matt Viser / Washington Post:
Hunter Biden's lawyers, in newly aggressive strategy, target his critics

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

New York Post:
New tactic: Hunter Biden is the ‘laptop from hell’ victim

Discussion: RedState, Raw Story and The Gateway Pundit

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

Discussion: Associated Press, Human Events, Washington Times, The Gateway Pundit, emptywheel, RedState, CBS News, WTAJ, ABC11, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Raw Story, Twitchy and Psycho Politics

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: HuffPost, CNN, Florida's Voice, New York Post, Breitbart, Washington Times, The Floridian, Fox News, Mediaite, Washington Examiner and Just The News

Cami Mondeaux / Washington Examiner:
Mitch McConnell told Rick Scott he was off Commerce Committee via text

Discussion: The Hill and HuffPost

The Cut:

Do You Know How to Behave? Are You Sure? … THE NEW RULES FOR — Friends & Lovers — Strangers & Others — Going Out & Staying In — Tipping — Work — The City — Parenting — Posting & Texting — The ways we socialize and date …

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

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: The Hill, Washington Examiner and New Jersey Globe

NBC News:

Heating up: Bipartisan duo Manchin and Cruz pitch bill to defend gas stoves — WASHINGTON — A new bipartisan duo is diving in to defend gas stoves. — Senate Energy Committee Chairman Joe Manchin, D-W.V., and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the new ranking member of the Commerce Committee …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Hill, The Daily Caller and Florida Politics

Ari Natter / Bloomberg:
Gas Stoves Are Back Under Scrutiny With New US Limits Proposed

Discussion: RedState, The Daily Caller, NBC News, Fox News, Raw Story, NBC Bay Area and Washington Examiner

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.

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

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 …

Jim Tankersley / New York Times:

Deese, Top Economic Aide to Biden, Will Step Down This Month — Brian Deese, the director of the National Economic Council, played a pivotal role in negotiating economic legislation the president signed in his first two years in office. — WASHINGTON — Brian Deese, who served …

Discussion: The White House, NBC News, Washington Post, Bloomberg, CNN, The Hill, Associated Press, Washington Times, CBS News, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller and Political Wire

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 …

NBC News:

Biden admin transfers a Guantanamo detainee to Belize — Majid Khan, a Pakistani citizen and Guantanamo's only known legal U.S. resident, arrived in Belize on Thursday. Two more detainees could leave the facility in Cuba soon. — The Biden administration transferred a detainee …

Discussion: Politico, New York Times and Fox News

Miles J. Herszenhorn / The Harvard Crimson:

Harvard Misinformation Expert Joan Donovan Forced to Leave by Kennedy School Dean, Sources Say — Harvard Kennedy School Dean Douglas W. Elmendorf is forcing out online misinformation expert Joan M. Donovan from her role at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy and ending …

Dan Ladden-Hall / The Daily Beast:

George Santos' Brazil Lawyer Did Time for Gang Execution: Report — NEW BOMBSHELL — The lawyer Rep. George Santos (R-NY) chose to defend him in his fraud case in Brazil was convicted and jailed in connection with a gang execution, according to a report.

Discussion: Raw Story

Tanya Snyder / Politico:

Buttigieg, two years into Biden's Cabinet, ‘not planning on going anywhere’ — Pete Buttigieg said Thursday that he's planning on staying in his job as Transportation secretary, which he called “the best job in the federal government.” — “I don't have any plans to do any job besides the one I've got …

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: Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, The Hill, The Daily Beast, USA Today, CNBC, Fox News, Politico, Washington Examiner, UPI, Forbes, Talking Points Memo, Los Angeles Times, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Washington Times, CBS News, Bloomberg, Sean Hannity and IJR

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 and Political Wire

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

Jane C. Timm / NBC News:

Election officials say democracy is still at risk in 2024: ‘The gun is still loaded’ — The November midterms gave election officials and pro-democracy advocates their first sigh of relief in years: The election system they'd spent years defending and shoring up operated almost seamlessly …

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

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 …