memeorandum: Virginia Holds Special Election to Fill Empty House Seat (Eric Bazail-Eimil/Wall Street Journal)

5:45 PM ET, February 21, 2023

Top Items:

Jury in Georgia Trump Inquiry Recommended Multiple Indictments, Forewoman Says — She would not discuss specific indictments in the special grand jury's report but noted that its recommendations are “not going to be some giant plot twist.” — A special grand jury that investigated election interference …

Discussion: Rolling Stone, HuffPost, Washington Examiner, The Hill, USA Today, HotAir, Insider, Mediaite, The Dean's Report, Talking Points Memo, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Just The News, Raw Story, WGN-TV and The New Civil Rights Movement

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Trump Spent $10 Million From His PAC on His Legal Bills Last Year — Now that the former president is a declared candidate again, there are questions about whether he can continue using donor funds to pay his lawyers. — Former President Donald J. Trump, who throughout his business career …

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Rolling Stone

Kate Brumback / Associated Press:

Inside the Trump grand jury that probed election meddling — 1 of 7 — They were led down a staircase into a garage beneath a downtown Atlanta courthouse, where officers with big guns were waiting. From there, they were ushered into vans with heavily tinted windows and driven to their cars under police escort.

Discussion: CNBC, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story and Just The News

Anatoly Kurmanaev / New York Times:

Wagner Group Chief Accuses Russian Military Command of Treason — The mercenary group's founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, operated for years in secrecy, but he has assumed an increasingly public role in the Ukraine conflict since last summer. — The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group accused …

Discussion: Reuters, Associated Press, The Daily Beast, Financial Times and Politico

Washington Post:

Putin says Russia will suspend role in New START nuclear accord with U.S. — Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in a state of the nation address Tuesday that Moscow is “suspending” its participation in the New START nuclear nonproliferation agreement, the last remaining arms control treaty between the United States and Russia.

Discussion: BBC, NBC News, Raw Story, The Guardian, The Guardian, Associated Press, Washington Free Beacon, Insider, Haaretz, Al Jazeera, The Bulwark, Talking Points Memo, Fox News, CNN, The Western Journal, BizPac Review, American Greatness, Al Jazeera, TASS, Associated Press, Slate, New York Times, Reuters, CNN, Gizmodo, WPRI-TV, Telegraph, Bloomberg, Financial Times, Defense One, Breitbart, Washington Examiner, Sputnik News, The Maine Wire, Dr. John's Blog, Twitchy, Vanity Fair, Semafor, One America News Network, abc7NY, Forbes, The Post Millennial, Firstpost, Associated Press, The Guardian, NBC News, TheBlaze, New York Times, New York Daily News, ABC News, TASS, Politico, Washington Examiner, Financial Times, NPR, UPI, BBC, Common Dreams, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Instapundit, Los Angeles Times, CNN, HotAir, Morning Shots, Balloon Juice, Reuters, Politico, New York Post, TASS, Insider, NBC News, Fortune, Washington Examiner and Insider

David E. Sanger / New York Times:
What Putin's Suspension of New START Treaty Means for Arms Control

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Fox News, CNN, Raw Story, TASS, NBC News, Bloomberg, Politico and Defense Daily

Wall Street Journal:
China's Xi Jinping Plans Russia Visit as Putin Wages War in Ukraine

Discussion: Foreign Policy, New York Post, The Daily Caller, Bloomberg and El País

New York Times:
Russia's shelling of a Kherson bus station kills at least six people, Ukrainian officials say.

Discussion: NBC News, Politico, Al Jazeera, New York Post, ABC News, Fox News, Washington Times, Raw Story, Breitbart, The Post Millennial, UPI, Bloomberg, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Washington Post, Just The News, TASS and NBC News

Ann M. Simmons / Wall Street Journal:
Putin Suspends Nuclear-Arms Treaty Between Russia, U.S.

Discussion: Vox, Metro.co.uk, Roll Call, The Daily Caller, Sputnik News, National Review, TASS and The Guardian

Steve Benen / MSNBC:

Why it matters that Kevin McCarthy gave Jan. 6 tapes to Fox News — Kevin McCarthy gave 41,000 hours of sensitive Jan. 6 footage to a controversial television personality. What could possibly go wrong? — Just a few days after getting his gavel, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters …

Meryl Kornfield / Washington Post:

McCarthy gives Tucker Carlson exclusive access to Jan. 6 riot video — By Meryl Kornfield and Jacqueline Alemany — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has provided exclusive access to a trove of U.S. Capitol surveillance footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection to Fox News host Tucker Carlson …

Discussion: The Hill, NBC News, Mediaite, Lawyers, Guns & Money, emptywheel, The Nation, Balloon Juice, Breitbart and RedState

Charlotte Klein / Vanity Fair:

Dozens of ‘New York Times’ Journalists Hit Staff Union for Its Defense of Trans Coverage Criticism — Some of the paper's top reporters signed a letter objecting to the Guild's response to newsroom leaders. “We ask that our union work to advance, not erode, our journalistic independence,” they wrote.

more at Mediagazer »

Sarah Fitzpatrick / NBC News:

EPA orders Norfolk Southern to clean up Ohio train derailment site and pay all costs — The Environmental Protection Agency announced a sweeping enforcement action against Norfolk Southern on Tuesday, compelling the rail company to conduct and pay for cleanup actions associated …

Rebecca Shabad / NBC News:
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro says his office made a criminal referral in East Palestine train derailment

Discussion: Fox News and The Daily Caller

Isaac Schorr / Mediaite:

‘I Was So F*cking Freaked Out’: Ex-NYT Staffer Describes ‘Crying’ and ‘Bloodthirsty’ Colleagues Seeking Vengeance for Cotton Op-Ed — Embarrassing details about the extent of the 2020 staff revolt at the New York Times have been revealed in a new book featuring an interview with former Times staffer Shawn McCreesh.

Discussion: HotAir, Fox News, New York Post and The Daily Caller

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

The right fans a repulsive campaign to racialize the Ohio train disaster — The fiery derailment of a freight train carrying hazardous chemicals in eastern Ohio is coming to represent bigger societal failures. It's a story about profit-driven rail companies underinvesting in safety …

Discussion: Mother Jones and HERSAY

Alex Henderson / Raw Story:
How ‘vile’ MAGA Republicans are painting Ohio's environmental nightmare as a ‘war on white people’

Discussion: The Western Journal

Rob Wile / NBC News:

Feds fine Mormon church for illicitly hiding $32 billion investment fund behind shell companies — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a nonprofit entity that it controlled have been fined $5 million by the Securities and Exchange Commission over accusations …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Associated Press, The Daily Caller, CNBC, Reuters, UPI, Financial Times and Political Wire

Zach Everson / Forbes:

Mike Pompeo's PAC Spent $42,000 On Books The Day His Memoir Was Published. It Became A Bestseller. — Mike Pompeo's political action committee shelled out $42,000 on books the day his memoir hit bookshelves, according to a filing submitted to the Federal Election Commission on Monday.

Discussion: New York Times

Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: 'If Don doesn't go, we will!': Angry female staffers at CNN issue ultimatum over Lemon's sexist Nikki Haley comments and threaten to quit if he stays on-air — CNN staffers have threatened to quit if Don Lemon is not fired from the network — It comes days after he said women older …

Discussion: Associated Press, Fox News, Deadline, HotAir, New York Times, CNN, Conservative Brief, Ace of Spades HQ, The Gateway Pundit, Louder With Crowder, The Western Journal and Washington Examiner, more at Mediagazer »

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

Jen Psaki, Once the Voice of Biden, Moves to an Anchor Chair — The former White House press secretary will start hosting a weekly MSNBC talk show on March 19. As for the president, “I am not going to gratuitously attack him.” — Rachel Maddow is teaching her to use a TelePrompTer, so far with mixed results.

Discussion: BizPac Review, Fox News, PoliticusUSA, The Wrap, Mediaite, Conservative Brief, The Hill, Deadline and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:

Nikki Haley defended right to secession, Confederate History Month and the Confederate flag in 2010 talk — Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley defended states' rights to secede from the United States, South Carolina's Confederate History Month and the Confederate flag in a 2010 interview …

Discussion: Semafor

Steve Benen / MSNBC:

Party tells former RNC chair that he's no longer a Republican — Marc Racicot was a Republican governor and a former RNC chair. That didn't stop the Montana GOP from approving a resolution kicking him out of the party. — On the surface, there doesn't appear to be any reason to question Marc Racicot's partisanship.

Discussion: Helena Independent Record

Will Sommer / Rolling Stone:

Why QAnon Targeted the Creator of Hollywood's ‘Black List’ — This excerpt from Will Sommer's new book ‘Trust the Plan’ tells the story behind QAnon's twisted fixation on Franklin Leonard. — ON OCTOBER 18, 2018, film executive Franklin Leonard's phone started vibrating and would not stop.

Discussion: Raw Story

Associated Press:

Supreme Court won't upset Arkansas anti-Israel boycott law — The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to step into a legal fight over state laws that require contractors to pledge not to boycott Israel. The justices rejected an appeal on behalf of an alternative weekly newspaper in Little Rock …

Discussion: National Review, The Daily Caller, The Forward and ArkansasTimes

Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch:

Sensitive US military emails spill online — A government cloud email server was connected to the internet without a password — The U.S. Department of Defense secured an exposed server on Monday that was spilling internal U.S. military emails to the open internet for the past two weeks.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, CNN, DefenseScoop, Washington Times, TheBlaze, The Gateway Pundit, Twitchy, The Daily Caller and The Post Millennial, more at Techmeme »

Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:

Supreme Court rejects Ohio man's bid to sue police over arrest for Facebook parody — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned away an Ohio man's claim that his constitutional rights were violated when he was arrested and prosecuted for making satirical posts about his local police department on Facebook.

Discussion: New York Daily News, Bloomberg, Plain Dealer and Washington Examiner, more at Mediagazer »

Avery Schmitz / bellingcat:

Borderless Vigilantism: The Nativist US Militias Entering Mexico — Run all the way back!" shouts Jeremiah ‘Jay’ Shivers to a terrified, unarmed man whom he threatens at gunpoint. Shivers is an affiliate of a nationalist militia, and “back” means Mexico. But a geolocation indicates that …

Eric Hananoki / Media Matters for America:

Eric Trump is touring with another antisemite who shares pro-Hitler propaganda — Ward also pushed conspiracy theory that President Joe Biden and Justice Amy Coney Barrett are “reptilian humanoid hybrids” — Eric Trump is touring with far-right commentator Charlie Ward …

Cameron Joseph / VICE:

GOP Elects QAnon Conspiracist Who Thinks Yoga Is Satanic as Party Chair in Michigan — Kristina Karamo became chair over Donald Trump's endorsed candidate—because she was more extreme. — Cameron Joseph — WASHINGTON, US — Former President Donald Trump wanted his election-denying campaign lawyer …

Discussion: The Bulwark, The American Independent, Jezebel and Raw Story

Bloomberg:

World's Largest Four-Day Work Week Trial Finds Few Are Going Back — The largest-ever trial of the four-day work week found that most UK companies participating are not returning to the five-day standard, and a third are ready to make that change permanent.

Discussion: NPR, ABC News, Financial Times, The Guardian, New York Post, Reuters, Common Dreams and Gizmodo

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Why Medicare and Social Security Are Sustainable — The G.O.P. response to President Biden's truthful statement that some Republicans want to sunset Medicare and Social Security has been highly gratifying. In other words, the party has reacted with sheer panic — plus a startling lack …

Eric Bazail-Eimil / Wall Street Journal:

Virginia Holds Special Election to Fill Empty House Seat — Democrat Jennifer McClellan would be the first Black woman to represent Virginia in Congress if elected — WASHINGTON—Voters in southern Virginia are casting their ballots in a special election Tuesday that could elect …

Discussion: CNN, ABC News, WAVY-TV, Associated Press and Just The News

Victoria Bisset / Washington Post:

George Santos admits: 'I've been a terrible liar' — After months of intense scrutiny of seemingly every aspect of his biography — from his education and work history to his heritage and religious background — Rep. George Santos has admitted he has been “a terrible liar.”

Discussion: USA Today, Advocate, NBC News, TalkTV, The Times, The Guardian, Fox News, HuffPost, Talking Points Memo, The Wrap, Gothamist, New Republic, New York Post and National Review

Olivia Beavers / Politico:

GOP lawmakers seek investigation of ‘unauthorized’ disclosure of their Air Force records — Two Republican lawmakers say the Air Force alerted them that their military records were improperly released during the midterm campaign. — Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) was informed of the …

Discussion: Breitbart, Fox News, TheBlaze, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller and IJR

Julia Shapero / The Hill:

Democratic Rep. Cicilline to leave Congress in June — Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) will leave Congress in June to take over as the president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation, his office announced on Tuesday. — “Serving the people of Rhode Island's First Congressional District …

Lauren Sforza / The Hill:

Pentagon warning US military to avoid poppy seeds, citing effects on drug testing — The Department of Defense is warning service members to avoid poppy seeds due to concerns that it could affect drug testing. — In a memo published on Tuesday, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel …

Discussion: USA Today and KTSM-TV

Seema Mehta / Los Angeles Times:

Rep. Barbara Lee kicks off Senate campaign to replace Feinstein — Rep. Barbara Lee, a longtime favorite of liberal Democrats, confirmed Tuesday that she will run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein. — “For those who say my time has passed, well, when does making change go out of style?

Discussion: New York Magazine, KTVU-TV, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, UPI, Orange County Register, Deadline, Bloomberg, Common Dreams, CBS News, Jezebel, Washington Times, CNBC, Fox News, Washington Examiner, ABC7 and HuffPost

Ashley Parker / Washington Post:

Republicans use ‘wokeism’ to attack left — but struggle to define it — Conservatives attach the term to a host of policies they oppose, from transgender rights to climate change measures to socially responsible investing — Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), a likely 2024 presidential candidate …

Discussion: So What?, Digby's Hullabaloo, Twitchy and Althouse