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

7:55 PM ET, March 3, 2023

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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, Mediaite, Forbes, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone and The Guardian

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 …

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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, ABC News, The Independent, 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

Justine McDaniel / Washington Post:

Democrats challenge credibility of GOP witnesses who embrace false Jan. 6 claims — House Republicans vowing to uncover a “weaponization” of the federal government against conservatives have so far called witnesses who have not presented any evidence of wrongdoing at the Justice Department …

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

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: Washington Post, Raw Story, Breitbart, Vanity Fair, The Daily Beast, Talking Points Memo, Sputnik News, Digby's Hullabaloo, PoliticusUSA and Alternet.org

Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:

Why Biden Stabbed D.C. in the Back — For the first two years of his presidency, Joe Biden positioned himself as a champion of statehood and home rule in the District of Columbia. The president urged Congress to make D.C. the 51st state—even as the Senate filibuster stood in the way …

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

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

Discussion: Semafor and RedState

CNN:
Biden's about-face on the DC crime law angers Democrats

Sahil Kapur / NBC News:
Democrats hit some snags on Biden judicial nominees after topping 100 new judges

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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.

Alex Thompson / Axios:
Scoop: Biden tried to hire Jon Meacham, his volunteer muse

Discussion: Politico, HotAir, Slate, Alternet.org and Twitchy

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 …

Maeve Reston / Washington Post:

DeSantis cannonballs into America's deep blue states for war on ‘woke’ ahead of 2024 — The Florida governor has used his trips to highlight his state's accomplishments — citing statistics that sometimes mask far more complicated debates — LOS ANGELES — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has found …

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, NBC News, San Bernardino Sun and Political Wire, more at Mediagazer »

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Ron DeSantis Usually Avoids the Press. For Murdoch, He'll Make an Exception.

Discussion: Politico, NBC News, Media Matters for America, Axios, Insider, The Guardian, Washington Press, No More Mister Nice Blog, HotAir, The Florida Standard, RADAR, CNN, Raw Story, The Times, Mediaite, Wide World of News and Washington Times, 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.

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: The Hill, Fox News, Politico, CBS News, NBC News, UPI 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, Associated Press and TASS

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.

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

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

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: UPI, Fox News, The Daily Caller and Raw Story

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

Discussion: CNN, New York Daily News, New York Post and WTOP News

Cheri Jacobus / New York Daily News:

It's time to revoke Fox News' press credentials — The political media world has been rocked by the bombshell court filing by Dominion Voting Systems as part of their $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News. — Top executives from Rupert Murdoch on down, and on-air personalities …

Discussion: TVNewser, more at Mediagazer »

Alex Shephard / New Republic:
There's Never Been a Better Time to Take on Fox News

Discussion: The Dispatch, Raw Story, Mediaite, Plain Dealer and Washington Post

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, CNN, CBS News and Fortune

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.

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

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: Raw Story, CNBC, Adventus, Just The News and Mediaite

Casey Gannon / CNN:

January 6 rioter pleads guilty to assaulting Michael Fanone — A New York man who assaulted former Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone during the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol pleaded guilty on Friday to several felony charges.

Discussion: NBC News, Associated Press and Law & Crime

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: Raw Story, Bug-eyed and Shameless, Insider, Deadline, The Federalist and The Wrap, more at Mediagazer »

Tom Boggioni / Raw Story:

Trump lawyers scramble to exclude Access Hollywood clip from rape trial — In a legal filing on Friday, attorneys for Donald Trump asked to exclude a video clip of the former president boasting that he could sexually assault women at will because he was famous from evidence in the trial related …

Discussion: ABC News and The Daily Beast

Michael Sainato / The Guardian:

Leaked audio reveals US rail workers were told to skip inspections as Ohio crash prompts scrutiny to industry — Exclusive: employee says manager told her to stop marking cars for repair, as Ohio derailment brings hard look at industry's record of blocking safety rules

Discussion: Wisconsin Examiner, Raw Story, PennLive, American Prospect, New York Times and Reuters

Beth Mole / Ars Technica:

After 17th court hearing, woman with TB ordered to jail for refusing treatment — Washington judge issued an arrest warrant and ordered her to involuntary detention. — A judge in Washington issued an arrest warrant Thursday for a Tacoma woman who has refused to have her active …

Discussion: The Daily Caller 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 …

Tim Dickinson / Rolling Stone:

He Believes Hitler Went to Heaven — and Wants to Take Over the Lutheran Church — A nearly 2 million-member synod is fighting an attempt to turn its pews into a bastion for young fascists — ON ASH WEDNESDAY, the First Lutheran Church in Knoxville called the cops on a parishioner who was attempting to attend services.

Discussion: Raw Story

Arianna Coghill / Mother Jones:

South Carolina Woman Arrested For Allegedly Taking Abortion Pills — Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters. — A South Carolina woman was arrested this week for allegedly taking abortion pills in October 2021 to end a pregnancy.

Discussion: Greenville News, The State, Breitbart, Hot Feminism, VICE and Jezebel

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. —

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Judge denies Jan. 6 defendant's bid for time to review McCarthy's Capitol security footage — A federal judge on Friday denied a Jan. 6 defendant's request to delay her imminent trial in order to review thousands of hours of security footage recently made available by Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Discussion: Roll Call