memeorandum: Gen. Glen VanHerck, Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command and United States Northern Command, Holds an Off-Camera, On-The-Record Briefing … (U.S. Department of Defense)

2:15 AM ET, February 7, 2023

Top Items:

Zachary Cohen / CNN:

Exclusive: US intel assessment documents Chinese spy balloon incident under Trump — A US military intelligence report from last year that focused on China's use of high-altitude balloons mentioned sightings in Hawaii and Florida during the Trump presidency, according to an excerpt of the report reviewed by CNN.

Discussion: Raw Story, Alternet.org, PoliticusUSA, Washington Examiner, The Hill, TheBlaze and The Last Refuge

Bloomberg:

Chinese Balloons Were Spotted Near US Bases During Trump's Era — Alleged Chinese spy balloons were spotted on several occasions during President Donald Trump's administration, including three instances where they traveled near sensitive US military facilities and training areas, according to people familiar with the matter.

Discussion: Insider, Raw Story, Washington Post, Fox News, ABC News, The Daily Signal, Forbes, Breitbart, Twitchy, Ace of Spades HQ, Political Wire, TheBlaze and Washington Examiner

U.S. Department of Defense:
Gen. Glen VanHerck, Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command and United States Northern Command, Holds an Off-Camera, On-The-Record Briefing …

Discussion: UPI, Fox News, RedState and Defense One

The Drive:
U-2 Spy Planes Snooped On Chinese Surveillance Balloon

Discussion: Task & Purpose, The Western Journal, PoliticusUSA and Fox News

Washington Post:

Duo accused of neo-Nazi plot to target Maryland power stations — Atomwaffen founder Brandon Russell and Sarah Clendaniel allegedly sought to attack substations around Baltimore — BALTIMORE — A neo-Nazi leader recently released from prison is accused of plotting an attack …

Discussion: Department of Justice, Wall Street Journal, UPI, Breaking911, WKBN-TV, Agence France-Presse, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Daily Beast, Raw Story, Mediaite and Political Wire

NBC News:

Neo-Nazi leader among 2 arrested in plot to attack Baltimore's power grid, feds say — The FBI captured two people, one a nationally known neo-Nazi leader, before they could launch an attack on Baltimore's power grid that had the potential to “completely destroy this whole city,” authorities said Monday.

Discussion: HotAir, Plain Dealer, The Daily Caller, Washington Press and WFLA-TV

Maggie More / NBC4 Washington:
FBI Arrests 2 in ‘Racially Motivated’ Plot to Attack Baltimore Power Grid

Discussion: Fox News, New York Daily News, Reuters, Talking Points Memo, Ace of Spades HQ, CBS News and NewsNation

ABC News:
Suspects arrested in plot to attack power stations, destroy Baltimore: Prosecutors

Discussion: New Republic, Law & Crime, Bloomberg, The Gateway Pundit, Alternet.org, CNN and CBS News

Insider:
The grid is under attack

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, One America News Network, Los Angeles Times and Associated Press

Erin Woo / The Information:

Musk's Twitter Has Just 180,000 U.S. Subscribers, Two Months After Launch — Around 180,000 people in the U.S. were paying for subscriptions to Twitter, including Twitter Blue, as of mid-January, or less than 0.2% of monthly active users, according to a document viewed by The Information.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Slate, New York Post and Fortune, more at Techmeme »

Politico:

Federal judge says constitutional right to abortion may still exist, despite Dobbs — A federal judge in Washington, D.C., suggested Monday that there may be a constitutional right to abortion baked into the 13th Amendment — an area she said went unexplored by the Supreme Court …

Discussion: Reason, The Daily Caller, CNBC, Washington Examiner and Law & Liberty

Peter Hamby / Puck:

DeSantis Allies Are Eyeing a '24 Super PAC — There are a handful of unofficial, and unsanctioned, “Draft DeSantis” groups raising money to encourage the Florida governor to run for president. These sort of fundraising groups pop up online every few years as a nice little grift …

Melissa Ryan / CtrlAltRightDelete:
The Ugly Road to 2024 — The 2024 Republican primary is already ugly.

Discussion: The Atlantic and CNN

Sahil Kapur / NBC News:

Centrist Republican lawmaker rules out sidestepping McCarthy on debt ceiling — WASHINGTON — A key centrist House Republican is ruling out a fallback option to avert a calamitous debt default, which would require a small number of GOP lawmakers to sidestep Speaker Kevin McCarthy and work with Democrats on a legislative solution.

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Mock Paper Scissors and Political Wire

Erik Wasson / Bloomberg:
McCarthy Urges Negotiations on Debt Limit With No ‘Lines in Sand’

Discussion: The Guardian, CNBC, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Signal, Roll Call, Washington Times, The Hadley Herald, Vox, The Daily Caller, CNN and The Hill

Chronicle of Higher Education:

Yes, DEI Can Erode Academic Freedom. Let's Not Pretend Otherwise. … By Amna Khalid and Jeffrey Aaron Snyder — “We affirm both academic freedom and our responsibility to foster an inclusive learning community. Importantly, these values neither contradict nor supersede each other.”

Discussion: Washington Post

James Risen / The Intercept:

Marines Charged in Capitol Riot Got Highly Sensitive Spy Jobs After Jan. 6 … A Marine charged with taking part in the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was transferred into a highly sensitive intelligence assignment at the headquarters of the National Security Agency after the violent attempt …

Slate:

The Worst Judge in America Could Outlaw the Abortion Pill Nationwide. It Gets Worse. — A single judge could outlaw the abortion pill nationwide. And that's not even the worst of it. — When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, it promised to “return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives.”

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Ms. Magazine, Vox and The Texas Tribune

Hansi Lo Wang / NPR:

How a major election theory case at the U.S. Supreme Court could get thrown out — An unusual move by North Carolina's highest state court has raised the question of whether the U.S. Supreme Court will end up throwing out a major election case about a once-fringe theory that could upend federal elections across the country.

Discussion: Alternet.org

Richard L. Hasen / Slate:
Unfortunately, the Biggest Election Case of the Supreme Court Term Could Be Moot

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Law & Crime, Talking Points Memo, New York Times and Anderson Alerts

Michael C. Bender / New York Times:

Club for Growth Distances Itself Further From Trump — The anti-tax group has invited six possible presidential candidates to its donor retreat in Florida, and a notable name was left off the guest list. — WASHINGTON — The Club for Growth, a conservative anti-tax group that spent nearly $150 million …

Discussion: CBS News, The Hill, RedState, Political Wire and TIME

Bloomberg:

Ron DeSantis to Take Control of Disney's District Board in New Bill — Florida lawmakers are proposing to give Ron DeSantis full control over the board overseeing Walt Disney Co.'s special district, as the Republican governor escalates his fight with the entertainment giant.

Discussion: Tallahassee Democrat, ABC News, Florida Politics, Variety, The Capitolist, Insider, Raw Story, Deadline, CNN, WFLA-TV, Pluribus News, Sun-Sentinel and Associated Press

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:

McCarthy, Scalise go to war with U.S. Chamber after group backed some Democrats in 2020 and 2022 elections — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise refuse to meet with the Chamber of Commerce after it previously endorsed Democrats running for office.

Discussion: Breitbart and Political Wire

Jerry Lambe / Law & Crime:

Convicted Jan. 6 Capitol rioter caught secretly filming woman undressing at tanning salon owned by his father: Police — An Iowa father who recently pleaded guilty to interfering with police during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has found himself once again embroiled in scandal …

NBC News:

Biden expected to visit Poland this month to mark first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine — President Joe Biden is expected to travel to Poland this month to mark the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to three people familiar with the planning.

Discussion: New York Post, TASS and Twitchy

The Daily Beast:

Ex-Fox News Star Claims Network Is Still Retaliating Against Her — ‘STRIP AWAY MY VOICE’ — Former Fox News contributor Tamara Holder alleges the network has deleted all traces of her digital show in retaliation for her years-old sexual-assault accusations.

Discussion: Raw Story

Financial Times:

Russia's budget deficit soars as energy revenues slump by almost half — Fall in oil and gas sales coupled with sharp rise in defence spending highlight economic damage of Ukraine conflict — Russia's budget deficit reached Rbs1.76tn ($25bn) in January as the Kremlin boosted defence spending …

Michelle Nichols / Reuters:

Exclusive: Record-breaking 2022 for North Korea crypto theft, UN report says — North Korea stole more cryptocurrency assets in 2022 than in any other year and targeted the networks of foreign aerospace and defense companies, according to a currently confidential United Nations report seen by Reuters on Monday.

Discussion: The Hill

Christopher Cadelago / Politico:

Jeffrey Katzenberg's escape to L.A. — Early last year, the Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg sat for lunch with Rick Caruso, a billionaire mall tycoon who was preparing his run for Los Angeles mayor. — Katzenberg told Caruso he understood why he was running.

Discussion: Breitbart

The Forward:

Meet the Auschwitz survivor saluted by George Santos in Congress — Some doubted her story was real. But it is, and it will break your heart — Jacob Kornbluh — When Rep. George Santos marked Holocaust Remembrance Day on the House floor by saying that the grandmother of one of his staff members …

Pilar Melendez / The Daily Beast:

This Judge's Ruling Could Be Very Bad for Alex Murdaugh — Jurors will get to hear about the South Carolina lawyer's alleged scheme to cover up millions in debt just before the murders of his wife and son. — South Carolina jurors will be allowed to hear about Alex Murdaugh's alleged financial crimes …

Discussion: Raw Story, NewsNation, Law & Crime, WGN-TV and CBS News

Jason Koebler / VICE:

AI-Generated ‘Seinfeld’ Show Banned on Twitch After Transphobic Standup Bit — “Nothing, Forever,” has been banned for at least 14 days. — Jason Koebler — “Nothing, Forever,” the infinitely-generating AI version of Seinfeld that tens of thousands of people were watching has been banned …

Discussion: Ars Technica, The A.V. Club, Engadget, PC Gamer, Mediaite, New York Post, TechCrunch, The Forward, The Verge, Twitchy and Fox News, more at Mediagazer »

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

The Road to a Supreme Court Clerkship Starts at Three Ivy League Colleges — The chances of obtaining a coveted clerkship, a new study found, increase sharply with undergraduate degrees from Harvard, Yale or Princeton. — WASHINGTON — When Ted Cruz attended Harvard Law School …

Michael Gold / New York Times:

George Santos Invited a Guest to the State of the Union. He Said Yes. — Michael Weinstock, a Democrat who once ran for Mr. Santos's district, said he wanted to raise attention to health issues of 9/11 rescue workers like himself. — Representative George Santos, a Republican facing scrutiny …

Discussion: ABC News, New York Post, Raw Story, abc7NY and Insider

Jack Fitzpatrick / Bloomberg:

White House Calls Proposed GOP Commission a ‘Death Panel’ for Medicare, Social Security — The White House slammed a proposal by House Republican committee and caucus chairs to set up a panel examining Social Security and Medicare solvency as part of debt-limit negotiations, likely shutting the door on the approach.