memeorandum: Pelosi on DC crime bill: I wish Biden 'would've told us first' (Joe Jacquez/The Hill)

11:50 PM ET, March 3, 2023

Top Items:

CNN:

DeSantis appointee to new Disney oversight board suggested tap water could turn people gay — An appointee to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' new oversight board in control of Disney's special tax district called homosexuality “evil” last year and shared a baseless conspiracy theory that tap water could be making more people gay.

Discussion: Washington Press, Raw Story, Deadline, New Republic, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Forbes and Mediaite

Zeke Miller / Associated Press:

Doctor: Lesion removed from Biden's chest was cancerous — A skin lesion removed from President Joe Biden's chest last month was a basal cell carcinoma — a common form of skin cancer — his doctor said Friday, adding that no further treatment was required.

Perry Bacon Jr / Washington Post:

Biden puts reelection over principles with his decision on D.C. law — Democratic presidents in the past have done troubling and at times truly terrible things to appease centrist White voters and win elections. President Biden shouldn't continue that legacy — and I am becoming increasingly worried that he will.

Discussion: Reason, Fox News and New York Post

Joe Jacquez / The Hill:
Pelosi on DC crime bill: I wish Biden 'would've told us first'

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Washington Post, Fox News, New York Post, El País, Regular Order, HotAir, IJR, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, NBC News, Roll Call and CNN

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Republicans Use Arcane Political Tactic to Thwart Democrats

Discussion: Axios, Washington Examiner, New York Magazine, Roll Call, The Hill, New Republic, Becker Brief, The Western Journal, Breitbart, Representative Eleanor …, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Washington Times and WTOP News

Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:
Why Biden Stabbed D.C. in the Back

Discussion: Grid News, Washington Post, CBS News, The Atlantic, Fox News, Washington Examiner, TheDCLine.org, DCist, ABC News, NBC4 Washington and Bloomberg

Hans Nichols / Axios:
Scoop: Dems fear Biden FCC nominee Sohn won't be confirmed

Discussion: RedState

Washington Post:

As 2024 race begins, special counsel advances with focus on Trump lawyers — Prosecutors have sought information from multiple attorneys and senior aides to the former president, triggering new legal battles — Federal prosecutors investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Raw Story and PoliticusUSA

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Pompeo's personal dig at Trump — This year's Conservative Political Action Conference has been a much lower profile affair than usual, as many big names opted to skip the festivities. But it's still a significant stage on which ambitious Republicans can test their message in front of the right wing of the right wing.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Independent, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Times and The Hill

Greg Walters / VICE:
Trump's Prosecution Primary Has Already Begun. It's Going to Be Wild.

Discussion: Just The News

Politico:

The Trump world-Fox News war gets nasty — In his first minute onstage at CPAC on Friday, Steve Bannon identified one of his top targets of the moment, an entity he claimed is opposing Donald Trump's presidential campaign at its own peril: Fox News. — The host of the popular War Room podcast …

Page Six:

Kellyanne Conway and George Conway to divorce after 22 years of marriage — D.C's weirdest marriage is over. — Page Six hears that Kellyanne Conway, the longtime advisor to President Donald Trump, and George Conway, the longtime tormentor of President Trump, have decided to divorce after 22 years of marriage.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, RADAR and Just The News

Hannah Rabinowitz / CNN:

Attorney General Merrick Garland makes unannounced trip to Ukraine — Attorney General Merrick Garland made an unannounced trip to Ukraine on Friday, according to a Justice Department official, his second trip to the country after Russia invaded a little more than a year ago.

Discussion: Politico, Fox News, The Hill, CBS News, UPI, NBC News and USA Today

Glenn Thrush / New York Times:
The U.S. attorney general meets with Zelensky during a surprise visit to Ukraine.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Washington Examiner, Associated Press and TASS

Department of Justice:

Former U.S. Army Soldier Sentenced to 45 Years in Prison for Attempting for Murder Fellow Service Members in Deadly Ambush — A Kentucky man was sentenced today to 45 years in prison for attempting to murder U.S. service members, providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists …

Discussion: Task & Purpose, The Daily Caller, Fox News, UPI, CNN, Raw Story and New York Daily News

Larry Neumeister / Associated Press:
Ex-Army private gets 45 years for plot against his unit

Discussion: New York Daily News and WTOP News

Reuters:

70 years after death, Stalin's polarising legacy looms large — On the eve of the 70th anniversary of Josef Stalin's death, attitudes to the Soviet Union's wartime leader remain mixed in the nations he once ruled with an iron fist. — During three decades of dictatorial rule …

Jane C. Timm / NBC News:

Fox Corp. and the Trump campaign hit with FEC complaint over Dominion revelations — A progressive group wants the Federal Election Commission to investigate Fox Corp. and former President Donald Trump's 2020 campaign for breaking campaign finance laws. — On Friday, End Citizens United PAC filed …

Discussion: The Hollywood Reporter, Bug-eyed and Shameless, Raw Story, Media Matters for America, Insider and Deadline, more at Mediagazer »

Matt Day / Bloomberg:

Amazon Pauses Construction on Second Headquarters in Virginia as It Cuts Jobs — Amazon.com Inc. is pausing construction on its sprawling second headquarters near Washington, a decision that coincides with the company's deepest ever job cuts and a reassessment of office needs to account for remote work.

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, Axios, Billboard, TechCrunch, Financial Times, Raw Story, Boondoggle, Mediaite, Wired, CV CREW NEWSLETTER …, 6abc, Forbes, NBC4 Washington, Alternet.org, ABC News and Just The News, more at Techmeme »

Eric Lutz / Vanity Fair:

Walgreens Caves To Antiabortion Republicans — Including In States Where Abortion Remains Legal — Walgreens says they won't distribute abortion pills in states where Republican officials are opposed. — Abortion remains legal right now in states like Alaska, Iowa, Montana, and Kansas …

Daniella Silva / NBC News:

Capitol Police confiscate assault-style ‘ghost gun’ and handgun capable of automatic fire during arrests — The U.S. Capitol Police confiscated an assault-style “ghost gun” and a handgun capable of automatic fire during the arrests of two people near the Capitol, police said Friday.

New York Times:

Conservative Media Pay Little Attention to Revelations About Fox News — Even in today's highly partisan media world, experts said, the lack of coverage about the private comments of Fox's top executives and hosts stands out. — Fox News and its sister network, Fox Business, have avoided the story.

Discussion: Forbes, Reason and Wall Street Journal, more at Mediagazer »

NBC News:

White nationalist Nick Fuentes is ‘removed’ from CPAC, chair of ultraconservative conference says — Nick Fuentes, the antisemitic white nationalist provocateur who dined with former President Donald Trump last year, was “removed” from the premises of the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland …

Discussion: The Hill, Raw Story, Forbes, CBS News and USA Today

Washington Post:

A cleaning company illegally employed a 13-year-old. Her family is paying the price. — One of 27 minors hired to clean a Nebraska slaughterhouse, the middle-schooler and her family now fear deportation and more. — By Maria Sacchetti and Lauren Kaori Gurley — GRAND ISLAND, Neb. —

Arthur Delaney / HuffPost:

Democrats Present Damning Info On Jim Jordan's FBI ‘Whistleblowers’ — Jordan's subcommittee interviewed FBI agents who espoused conspiracy theories and received cash payments from a Donald Trump associate. — WASHINGTON — Since last year, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has spoken of the dozens …

Discussion: Vanity Fair, Raw Story, Sputnik News, Talking Points Memo, Digby's Hullabaloo, The Daily Beast and PoliticusUSA

Justine McDaniel / Washington Post:
Democrats challenge credibility of GOP witnesses who embrace false Jan. 6 claims

Discussion: Raw Story, Esquire, The Hill, Alternet.org and Adventus

Jared Gans / The Hill:

Employment commission sues ExxonMobil, alleging discrimination after nooses found at facility — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is suing ExxonMobil over racial discrimination after multiple nooses were found at one of the company's facilities.

Discussion: Raw Story, U.S. Equal Employment …, Plain Dealer, CBS News, CNN and Fortune

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic:

Why Are We Still Arguing About Masks? — All this time later, their utility is in doubt. — In the past few weeks, the conventional wisdom about COVID seems to have been upended. — Early in the pandemic, several mainstream news outlets dismissed theories that COVID came from a Chinese lab.

Discussion: Air Force Times, Washington Post, Hong Kong Free Press HKFP, Raw Story, Alternet.org, Bridge Michigan, The Post Millennial, Fox News and Financial Times

Lindsay Beyerstein / The Editorial Board:
Lab can't leak what it never had

Discussion: USA Today, Newsbusters, Talking Points Memo and DCReport.org

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Trump courts early-state Republicans at Mar-a-Lago — Former President Donald Trump is intensifying his courtship of influential GOP figures in key primary states - this time, over steaks and ice cream at his Mar-a-Lago club. — Trump spent Thursday night wooing over a dozen leaders …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Cook Political Report and Newsbusters

Brian Zhang / Yale Daily News:

“Professor Robin Fierce”: RuPaul's Drag Race contestant visits Yale Law School — Drag queen Robin Fierce came to the Yale Law School on Tuesday evening for a children's book reading and discussion with students about the current political animosity against drag culture.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, PinkNews, New Jersey Online, Plain Dealer, Oregonian and MLive.com

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

F.B.I. Queries for U.S. Messages Collected Without Warrants Are Said to Drop ‘Dramatically’ — A report about a warrantless surveillance program detailed new limits imposed since 2021, but it did not provide a number for how often the F.B.I. searched it for Americans' information in 2022.

Meridith McGraw / Politico:

Trump calls for contest to create futuristic ‘Freedom Cities’ — Modern cities and flying cars might sound like the makings of an episode of the 1960s cartoon The Jetsons, where a fictionalized family flew around in Orbit City. — For former President Donald Trump, however …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Raw Story, CNBC, Buttermilk Sky, Adventus, Mediaite and Just The News

Beege Welborn / HotAir:

Not so fast: CA NOT going to shutter nasty old Diablo Canyon nuke plant — What a difference falling flat on your renewable face time after time after time and again makes. — Eventually, attitudes come around a teensy weensy bit. … Not without a significant bit of CYA tapdancing …

Discussion: CalMatters, KTVX-TV, Los Angeles Times, Washington Examiner and Associated Press

Bloomberg:

California Weighs $360,000 in Reparations to Eligible Black Residents. Will Others Follow? — California is moving closer to determining what eligible Black residents are owed for generations of discriminatory practices, a key step toward potentially becoming the largest US jurisdiction to pay out billions of dollars in reparations.

Discussion: NBC News

Washington Post:

Russia's Lavrov elicits cheers and groans at Indian political dialogue — NEW DELHI — A boisterous international audience of academics, diplomats and business executives both cheered and groaned as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov presented Moscow's view of the war in Ukraine, reflecting global splits on the crisis.

Discussion: Russian Free Press and Fox News

NBC News:

U.S. intel on China considering lethal aid for Putin's war was gleaned from Russian officials — Initial U.S. intelligence suggesting that China is considering supplying lethal aid to Russia for its war in Ukraine was gleaned from Russian government officials, according to one current …

Pablo Manríquez / Vanity Fair:

Statesman or Shitposter? J.D. Vance Makes His Entrance in Washington — The Hillbilly Elegy author transformed from an anti-Donald Trump conservative into MAGA flamethrower in his successful bid for the Senate last fall. Now, Vance faces a first real test of leadership with tragedy in East Palestine.