memeorandum: Stormy Daniels: Donald Trump legal team ‘pushes for end to hush money case’ (Hugo Lowell/The Guardian)

2:25 PM ET, March 16, 2023

Top Items:

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

GOP lawmakers cringe over Trump's effort to destroy DeSantis — Senate Republicans are wincing over former President Trump's early barrage of attacks against his chief rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), fearing they're seeing a preview of a brutal primary to come that could leave …

Discussion: Washington Post, Alternet.org and Political Wire

The Daily Beast:

The GOP Campaign Trail Is Already Getting DeSantis-Proofed — As he explores a run for president, the demanding Florida governor is already coming across as a “nightmare” in the early primary states. — At any given fundraiser or VIP room where he's present, Ron DeSantis is usually easy to find—in the corner, keeping to himself.

Discussion: Raw Story, Mediaite, Louder With Crowder, Newsbusters, RedState, Twitchy, Alternet.org and USA Today

Politico:

Ron DeSantis has a Florida problem — Ron DeSantis would seem to have everything going for him in the Republican presidential primary. There's just one small question: Will the good vibes now result in election doom later? — As the Florida governor cast out to early nominating states in recent days …

Discussion: New Jersey Online, One America News Network and CNBC

Jeffrey Blehar / National Review:
DeSantis's Ukraine Statement Was Careful Electoral Politics, and That's a Good Thing

Discussion: HotAir

Rich Lowry / Politico:

Republicans Are Delusional If They Think Biden Will Be Easy to Beat — At this juncture, no one else in the country is as likely to be president of the United States come January 2025 as Joe Biden. — Republicans telling themselves otherwise are engaged in self-delusion.

Discussion: The Wrap, Raw Story and Issues & Insights

Heidi Przybyla / Politico: Inside the Trump world-organized retreat to plot out Biden oversight

Ashley Parker / Washington Post:
Much of the 2024 GOP field focuses on dark, apocalyptic themes

Discussion: Raw Story

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:
Swamp GOP ‘secretly’ worked with Democrats to doom Trump: Voters

Discussion: Rasmussen Reports and Political Wire

Variety:

21% of Fox News Viewers Trust Network Less After Texts Revealed in Dominion Lawsuit: Survey — More than a fifth of Fox News Channel viewers are less trusting of the cable network in the wake of publicly disclosed text messages and emails from Fox executives and on-air personalities, according to a new survey.

Discussion: The Hill, Wall Street Journal, RedState, Mediaite and Press Herald, more at Mediagazer »

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Maria Bartiromo isn't done with misinformation just yet

Discussion: Mediaite

Washington Post:
At center of Fox News lawsuit, Sidney Powell and a ‘wackadoodle’ email

Discussion: Election Law Blog

Washington Post:

Ukraine live briefing: Poland to send Ukraine fighter jets; U.S. released footage of apparent drone collision — Poland plans to give Ukraine Soviet-designed MiG-29 fighter jets, becoming the first NATO country to provide long-sought warplanes since the Russian invasion began last year …

Discussion: Reuters, CNN, NPR, Politico, PJ Media, Center for Security Policy, Associated Press, The Times of Israel, Sputnik News, The Sun, Financial Times, Bloomberg, BizPac Review, The Debrief, Metro.co.uk, NewsNation, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, CNBC, UPI, HotAir, Japan Times and TASS

Fox News:
US video shows moment Russian fighter jet collides with US drone

ProPublica:

Wealthy Executives Make Millions Trading Competitors' Stock With Remarkable Timing — The Secret IRS Files — On Feb. 21, 2018, August Troendle, an Ohio billionaire, made a remarkably well-timed stock trade. He sold $1.1 million worth of shares of Syneos Health the day before a management shake …

Dean Obeidallah / The Dean's Report:

Glenn Kirschner is right: “We will see charges way beyond 'hush money” by Manhattan DA versus Trump. Here is how we know. — The media is missing the bigger case — Many in the media reporting on the Manhattan District Attorney's investigation into Donald Trump are solely fixated …

Discussion: USA Today, Raw Story, Insider, CNN and Alternet.org

Hugo Lowell / The Guardian:

Stormy Daniels: Donald Trump legal team ‘pushes for end to hush money case’ — Lawyers understood to have argued that payments would have been made regardless of presidential run and did not use campaign funds — Donald Trump's legal team recently urged the Manhattan district attorney's office …

Discussion: Forbes, Raw Story, Alternet.org, UPI, Political Wire, CNN, Associated Press, Washington Post, abc7NY, Decider, CBS News and ABC7

Popular Information:

Silicon Valley Bank donated zero dollars to Black Lives Matter — Rebecca Crosby, Tesnim Zekeria, and Judd Legum — Tuesday night on Fox News, host Jesse Watters asserted that Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) “donated $74 million to Black Lives Matter.” That was why, Watters claimed …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Nation, Digby's Hullabaloo, New York Times, The Daily Wire, MSNBC, Joe.My.God., Daily Mail, Breitbart, The Wisconsin Daily Star, Washington Examiner, American Greatness, Talking Points Memo and New York Post

Joseph Zeballos-Roig / Semafor: After Silicon Valley Bank's failure, one policy response is gaining bipartisan momentum

Lauren Egan / Politico:

Marianne Williamson's ‘abusive’ treatment of 2020 campaign staff, revealed — The best-selling author Marianne Williamson has built a career preaching love and forgiveness. It is the cornerstone of her second Democratic campaign for president which she launched on March 4.

Discussion: Fox News, BizPac Review, New York Post, IJR, Mock Paper Scissors, The Guardian, National Review and Mediaite

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

Democrats' Sympathies in Middle East Shift to Palestinians — Democrats sympathize more with Palestinians than Israelis for first time — Independents, Republicans still side more with Israelis in the conflict — Favorable views of Israel remain high across party groups

Discussion: Axios, Semafor, The Hill, New York Post, Common Dreams and BizPac Review

Bloomberg:

US Pushes First Republic Rescue With Big Banks After Stock Slump — The US government is trying to orchestrate a rescue of First Republic Bank with the aid of the nation's biggest banks, according to people with knowledge of the matter, after the California lender's shares plunged.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, CNN, Washington Examiner, Fortune, The Guardian, Financial Times, The Information, Quartz, TechCrunch and New York Times

Tom Jones / Poynter:

Did an email about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis get this Axios reporter fired? — ‘This is propaganda, not a press release,’ Ben Montgomery wrote in an emailed response to the governor's office. Axios fired him shortly after. — Ben Montgomery, a former Pulitzer Prize finalist and a reporter …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, New York Post, IJR, BizPac Review, Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, HuffPost, Breitbart, Fox News, National Review, The Wrap, The Gateway Pundit, Crooks and Liars and Florida Politics, more at Mediagazer »

Hunter Walker / Talking Points Memo:
Reporter Describes Being Fired By Axios After Being Targeted By Ron DeSantis' Media ‘Machine’

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, National Review, New York Post and The Daily Caller

Zoe Tillman / Bloomberg:

DOJ Told Court to Expect a Deluge of New Jan. 6 Prosecutions — More than 1,000 additional people could still face charges in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, according to a letter to the DC federal court from the US attorney in Washington.

Discussion: CNN, Fox News, Axios, The Guardian, Talking Points Memo, Joe.My.God., The Daily Caller and New York Post

Jose Pagliery / The Daily Beast:
Graham Told Grand Jury Trump Was Out of His Mind After Losing 2020 Election

Discussion: CNN, Washington Examiner, Talking Points Memo, Alternet.org, HuffPost, Insider and Joe.My.God.

Sarah Mervosh / New York Times:

Florida Scoured Math Textbooks for ‘Prohibited Topics.’ Next Up: Social Studies. — Behind the scenes, one publisher went to great lengths to avoid mentions of race, even in the story of Rosa Parks. — The nitty-gritty process of reviewing and approving school textbooks has typically …

Discussion: Raw Story, Religion News Service, Joe.My.God. and Fred Klonsky in Retirement

Eric Cortellessa / TIME:

Louis DeJoy's Surprising Second Act — Louis DeJoy thought his workday was done as he arrived home one evening in February 2022. The Postmaster General was locked in a grueling, monthslong battle with Congress over a bill to shake up the Postal Service. But as he settled in …

Rolling Stone:

A Pro-Trump Social Network Wants to Corner the Anti-Vax ‘Jizz Market’ — Gettr, a struggling right-wing social media company, is looking to create a marketplace for men who won't take the Covid vaccines to sell their sperm … But it's not just any sperm.

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

Politico:

Chinese companies are shipping rifles, body armor to Russia — Chinese companies, including one connected to the government in Beijing, have sent Russian entities 1,000 assault rifles and other equipment that could be used for military purposes, including drone parts and body armor …

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Former editor of Jewish newspaper charged for Jan. 6 actions — The former editor of an Orthodox Jewish newspaper in New York City — identified two years ago as a member of the Jan. 6 mob by POLITICO — was charged Thursday with two felonies for his actions at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Times of Israel, The Post Millennial, Joe.My.God. and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:

Marianne LeVine joins The Post as national political reporter — Announcement from National Editor Matea Gold, Deputy National Editor Philip Rucker, Senior Politics Editor Dan Eggen and Deputy Politics Editor for Campaigns Sean Sullivan: — We are thrilled to announce that Marianne LeVine …

Aubrie Spady / Fox News:

Sen. Rand Paul walks out of Homeland Security hearing after butting heads with Democrat chair over amendments … Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., stormed out of a Homeland Security Committee hearing Wednesday and suggested every Republican leave the meeting after Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich. …

Discussion: One America News Network, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner, BizPac Review, Mediaite and IJR

Eric Hananoki / Media Matters for America:

Fox's Tucker Carlson questions 9/11 attacks, complains you'd “lose your job” on TV for bringing it up — Fox News host Tucker Carlson recently appeared on a podcast and pushed a central tenet of the conspiracy theory that 9/11 was an inside job, stating: “What actually happened with building 7?

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and AE911Truth

Charlie Sykes / Morning Shots:

The Dilemma of Horny Bro Conservativism — Plus: Defining “wokeness.” — Irony is dead, Chapter 897,453: Trump Super PAC hits DeSantis With Ethics Complaint. — Because we know how much Trump values... ethics. … Speaking of ethics, here's man-of-the-people Steve Bannon and his buddies:

Discussion: Vanity Fair, Fortune, New York Post, PoliticusUSA, Mother Jones, Al Jazeera, One America News Network, Associated Press, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, NBC News, Joe.My.God., CBS News, Vox, Mediaite and ABC7, more at Mediagazer »

climateandcommunity:

An Economist's Case for Restrictive Supply Side Policy — Ten policies to manage the fossil fuel transition — Until the rise of the Green New Deal, economists' favored response to the climate crisis was some form of carbon pricing—leveraging the market to produce positive climate outcomes.

Discussion: New York Times, BizPac Review, Los Angeles Times and Common Dreams

Emily Baker-White / Forbes:

The FBI And DOJ Are Investigating ByteDance's Use Of TikTok To Spy On Journalists — Months before the U.S. government demanded ByteDance divest from TikTok, the Department Of Justice's Criminal Division subpoenaed the app's Chinese parent company, according to a source.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, NPR, Quartz, Bloomberg, Deseret News, USA Today, HuffPost and The Hill, more at Techmeme »

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

Be skeptical of Elon Musk's claims of educational ‘indoctrination’ — Elon Musk, unlike most users of the social media platform he owns, has an incentive to tweet controversial opinions. The more he riles people up, the more people engage on Twitter. It's hate-clicks as a business strategy …

Discussion: Just The News and BizPac Review

Charisma Madarang / Rolling Stone:

MyPillow CEO Says Company Is Going Broke Defending Election Fraud Claims — Mike Lindell claims the company has had to borrow almost $10 million to keep the lights on — MYPILLOW FOUNDER AND CEO Mike Lindell claims the company has had to borrow almost $10 million to keep the lights on.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Beast, Joe.My.God., Raw Story, Newsweek and Media Matters for America