memeorandum: New poll: DeSantis — not Trump — leads Biden in battleground states (Alex Roarty/McClatchy Washington Bureau)

1:45 PM ET, April 17, 2023

Top Items:

Why Joe Biden Has Slow-Walked His Way to a 2024 Run — Closed-door meetings about when to roll out the president's campaign are intensifying. Still, with no serious primary challenge and Republicans infighting, he feels little pressure. — Closed-door planning meetings involving White House officials …

Discussion: Erick Erickson's Show Notes and Political Wire

Sarah Longwell / Bulwark+:

You Have to Think of Trump's Election as Year Zero — THERE ARE EVENTS SO EPOCHAL that they create clear periods of before and after: Hiroshima; the fall of the Berlin Wall; 9/11. Eight years after he declared his intention to run for president, it's now clear that we should consider Donald …

Discussion: Alternet.org

Alex Roarty / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

New poll: DeSantis — not Trump — leads Biden in battleground states — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis narrowly leads President Joe Biden in the battleground states of Arizona and Pennsylvania, according to a poll of a hypothetical matchup between the two men in the 2024 presidential race.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, NBC News, Morning Consult, RedState, Breitbart, New York Post and Opinion Today

Doug Sosnik / New York Times:

The ‘Diploma Divide’ Is the New Fault Line in American Politics — The legal imbroglios of Donald Trump have lately dominated conversation about the 2024 election. As primary season grinds on, campaign activity will wax and wane, and issues of the moment — like the first Trump indictment …

Kevin Igoe / Washington Examiner:
Revenge is not a winning election message

Discussion: Mediaite, ABC News, Washington Times and USA Today

Lee Moran / HuffPost:
GOP Megadonor Pulls Plug On Ron DeSantis, Cites Abortion And Book Bans

Discussion: The Hill, The Guardian, The Wrap and Insider

Julia Mueller / The Hill:
Trump picks up two more endorsements from Senate Republicans

Discussion: Fox News, Breitbart, Florida Politics, Sean Hannity, TNJ, Washington Examiner, Washington Times, The Daily Caller and Twitchy

Tony Romm / Washington Post:

Fiscal crisis nears as McCarthy takes debt ceiling plan to Wall Street — The House speaker is set to outline the party's new proposal at the New York Stock Exchange, more than a decade after a similar GOP-led standoff hammered U.S. markets — NEW YORK — Nearly 40 years ago …

Discussion: Insider, Washington Examiner, Alternet.org, Democrats, The Hill, Politico, Wide World of News, CBS News and Washington Times

Billy House / Bloomberg:

McCarthy Pledges Vote on US Debt Limit — With Spending Cuts — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told a Wall Street audience on Monday that the US House will vote in coming weeks on a plan to lift the nation's borrowing limit, but not without new curbs on spending.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, ABC News, Florida Phoenix and NewsNation

Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
McCarthy's pitch to shrink food aid drawing skepticism from fellow Republicans

Discussion: Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, Iowa Starting Line, Digby's Hullabaloo, Alternet.org and Washington Post

Punchbowl News:
NEWS: What McCarthy will say in NYC

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Vanity Fair, NPR and NBC News

Christina Wilkie / CNBC:
McCarthy pledges a vote on one-year debt limit hike - without clear GOP support

Discussion: HuffPost, ABC News, Fox News, CBS News, Politico, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Insider, Associated Press, NBC News, New York Post, New York Times, Financial Times, UPI, Roll Call, Washington Times, CNN, Insider Paper, Raw Story, E&E News, Just The News and Reuters

Isaac Schorr / Mediaite:

Trump Implores Rupert Murdoch to Say 2020 Election Was Rigged During His Testimony at Dominion Trial — Former president Donald Trump offered some unconventional legal advice to Fox Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch on the eve of the Fox News-Dominion Voting Systems trial.

Discussion: Raw Story

New York Times:

Judge Delays Fox and Dominion Trial by a Day — Opening statements in the $1.6 billion defamation case against Fox News were set to begin on Monday. — A Delaware judge on Monday said that he had delayed by a day the start of a highly anticipated defamation trial over the spread of misinformation in the 2020 presidential election.

Discussion: NBC News, Washington Post, NPR, Deseret News, KTLA, Reuters, Washington Times, Financial Times, Daily Kos, Joe.My.God., Just The News, CBS News, USA Today, CNN, The Hill, Mediaite and NBC New York

Washington Post:
Dominion v. Fox trial delayed for settlement talks, people familiar with the matter say

Michael Tomasky / New Republic: Don't Settle, Dominion! Drag Fox News Across the Hot Coals

Wall Street Journal:
Fox News, Dominion Defamation Trial Delayed Amid Network's Push to Settle

Ariane de Vogue / CNN:

Clarence Thomas to amend financial disclosure forms to reflect sale to GOP megadonor — Justice Clarence Thomas intends to amend his financial disclosure forms to reflect a 2014 real estate deal he made with a GOP megadonor - an acknowledgment that the transaction should have been disclosed almost …

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, Mock Paper Scissors, Joe.My.God., Talking Points Memo, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Raw Story, Forbes, HuffPost, Mediaite, Mother Jones, Insider, Rolling Stone, Political Wire and Project On Government …

Chris Panella / Insider:
GOP megadonor Harlan Crow isn't charging Clarence Thomas' mother rent. Zillow estimates suggest that would have saved her $155,000 since 2014.

Discussion: The Dean's Report

Cheryl Hall / Dallas Morning News:
Harlan Crow: There's nothing wrong with my friendship with Clarence Thomas

Discussion: The Hill, Insider, Fortune, Joe.My.God., Mediaite, Althouse, Daily Camera and Raw Story

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:
The Truth About Clarence Thomas's Disclosures

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Cafe Hayek

Robyn Dixon / Washington Post:

Russia sentences Kara-Murza, Putin critic and Post contributor, to 25 years — RIGA, Latvia — A Russian court sentenced Vladimir Kara-Murza, a longtime opposition politician and Washington Post Opinions contributor, to 25 years in prison on Monday on charges of treason for criticizing Russia's war on Ukraine.

Discussion: Reuters, Washington Examiner, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Politico, Associated Press, Metro.co.uk, The Sun, Al Jazeera, NPR and The Guardian

Kathryn Armstrong / BBC:
Vladimir Kara-Murza: Russian opposition figure jailed for 25 years

Discussion: The Guardian, Washington Examiner, The Moscow Times, Washington Free Beacon, CBS News, New York Times, Freedom House, GOV.UK, Bloomberg, Joe.My.God., Semafor, Raw Story, UPI and Just The News

Sky News:
Vladimir Kara-Murza: Russian opposition leader jailed for 25 years after treason conviction

Discussion: Associated Press, Euractiv, U.S. Embassy & Consulates … and New York Daily News

Juan Perez Jr / Politico:

Why GOP culture warriors lost big in school board races this month — “Don't assume that a blanket message on critical race theory or transgender issues is going to claim every district,” one GOP activist said. — Amid all the attention on this month's elections in Wisconsin and Illinois …

Discussion: Raw Story and Diane Ravitch's blog

New York Times:

G.O.P. to Attack Bragg on Crime at a Hearing in New York — Republicans argue Alvin Bragg, the district attorney, has allowed a crime crisis to flourish in New York. But data shows that, after a pandemic spike, crime is down slightly in the city. — House Republicans are descending …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Breitbart, RedState, NBC News, CNN, No More Mister Nice Blog, PIX11, Raw Story and New York Daily News

Michael R. Sisak / Associated Press:
Trump's House GOP allies take fight to Manhattan DA's turf

Discussion: USA Today, Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, Washington Free Beacon, ABC News, Rolling Stone, New York Post, New York Daily News, CNN, NewsNation, PoliticusUSA, American Greatness, Raw Story, Joe.My.God. and Washington Post

Jose Pagliery / The Daily Beast:
DA's Secret Weapon May Be Lawyer Who's Dogged Trump for Years

Discussion: Raw Story

New York Times:

F.B.I. Arrests Two on Charges Tied to Chinese Police Outpost in New York — Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn charged the men with conspiring with the People's Republic of China and destroying evidence in connection with a Chinese police outpost in Lower Manhattan.

Discussion: CNN, Insider Paper, Semafor and NBC New York

Hannah Dreier / New York Times:

U.S. Was Warned of Migrant Child Labor, but 'Didn't Want to Hear It' — The White House and federal agencies were repeatedly alerted to signs of children at risk. The warnings were ignored or missed. — In the spring of 2021, Linda Brandmiller was working at an arena in San Antonio …

Eric Hananoki / Media Matters for America:

Rep. Paul Gosar promotes pro-Hitler and Holocaust-denying site after it praised him for attacking “Jewish warmongers” — Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) used his House.gov newsletter to direct people to a story posted on a Holocaust-denier website that praised him for attacking “Jewish warmongers” for their support of Ukraine.

Discussion: Washington Press, Joe.My.God. and Political Wire

Ellen Mitchell / The Hill:

Senior ISIS leader suspected killed in US raid — U.S. forces believe they killed a senior Islamic State leader on Monday in an early morning helicopter raid in northern Syria, according to U.S. Central Command. — The raid sought the senior ISIS Syria leader, an unnamed operational planner responsible …

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Free Beacon, Task & Purpose, The Times of Israel, Washington Examiner, Al-Monitor, Insider Paper, MyNorthwest.com, Fox News, ABC7, CNN and 6abc

Judd Legum / Popular Information:

Sexton responds, constituents call for resignation — On Thursday, Popular Information reported that Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R) secretly purchased a $600,000 home in Nashville. Sexton and his family live in the Nashville home year-round, raising questions about whether Sexton …

Rose Horowitch / NBC News:

U.S. ambassador visits Evan Gershkovich in Russian prison — U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy said that Gershkovich is “in good health and remains strong.” — U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy made her first visit to Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich on Monday …

Discussion: Bloomberg, CBS News, The Hill, Associated Press, New York Post, Wall Street Journal and TASS

Lee Moran / HuffPost:

Del. Stacey Plaskett Exposes Rep. Jim Jordan's Glaring Hypocrisy — The Virgin Islands delegate hit the Donald Trump-loving Ohio Republican with a blunt reminder of the former president's own conduct. — Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) slammed Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for hypocrisy on Sunday's broadcast of MSNBC's “Ayman.”

Discussion: New York Daily News

Mike Corder / Associated Press:

Dutch intel agency paints grim picture of multiple threats — The Dutch national intelligence agency painted a grim picture Monday of a growing number of internal and external threats to the rule of law in the Netherlands compounded by Russia's war in Ukraine, international cyberattacks and espionage.

Discussion: Bloomberg, TASS and Political Wire

Manuel Roig-Franzia / Washington Post:

A brash new media network bets ‘Trump’ translates into Spanish — Americano Media, the first national Spanish-language conservative radio and streaming news service, aims to nudge more Latinos to the right — LAS VEGAS — The office park is nearly empty. — Miles away, casinos blink and blare.

Discussion: The Message Box and Political Wire