memeorandum: EXCLUSIVE: Prominent DeSantis ally who shot himself dead last year was under investigation for using sold out Taylor Swift tickets to lure teen to his office … (Greg Woodfield/Daily Mail)

5:45 PM ET, April 18, 2023

Top Items:

Live Updates: Fox News Settles Defamation Suit, Averting Trial — Fox News reached a last-minute settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, which accused Fox News of pushing conspiracies that harmed the company. — Pinned — The settlement averts what would have been a landmark trial.

Jane C. Timm / NBC News:

Fox News settles Dominion defamation lawsuit — The terms of the settlement were not immediately known. — WILMINGTON, Del. — Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems said Tuesday that they have reached a settlement agreement just moments before opening arguments were set to begin.

Washington Post:

Jury selected in Dominion v. Fox News trial — The judge reminded jurors they cannot talk about the case, among themselves or with members of... The judge is now giving instructions to the newly sworn-in jury. “You have to follow every... The judge decided to replace one of the alternate jurors with a new juror after the...

Discussion: Washington Press, CBS News, Associated Press, RedState, Deadline, Joe.My.God., Political Wire and Balloon Juice

Reuters:

Fox settles Dominion defamation lawsuit for $787.5 million, avoiding trial — Fox Corp (FOXA.O) and Fox News on Tuesday settled a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million, averting a high-profile trial putting one of the world's top media companies in the crosshairs …

Discussion: Associated Press, ABC News, Washington Free Beacon, NBC News, Metro.co.uk, Daily Kos, Alternet.org, Joe.My.God. and One America News Network

NBC News:

Fox News-Dominion live updates: Jury officially selected … The court prohibits reporters from sending dispatches in real-time while inside the courtroom, but Jane C. Timm offers this view from the room while on lunch break. — The Delaware Superior Court's largest courtroom is packed …

Discussion: Mediaite, Slate, Above the Law, Raw Story and The Hill

CNBC:

Fox to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million to settle election defamation lawsuit — Fox Corp. and its cable networks agreed to pay $787.5 million to Dominion Voting Systems to settle a defamation lawsuit over false claims that Dominion's machines swayed the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Discussion: Insider, The Daily Beast, CNN, Deadline, El País, New York Daily News, Vox, Variety, The Wrap, Financial Times, The Colorado Sun, The Post Millennial and NBC New York, more at Mediagazer »

Ken Miller / Associated Press:

Oklahoma sheriff says recording of killing talk was illegal — A southeastern Oklahoma sheriff's office says the recording in which the sheriff and others are reportedly heard discussing killing two journalists was illegal and predicted felony charges will be filed.

Discussion: NBC News, The Hill, Associated Press, New York Post, Mercury News, Talking Points Memo, New York Daily News, Occupy Democrats, al.com, WFLA-TV and Mediaite

Jonathan Edwards / Washington Post:
Okla. governor calls on officials to resign after ‘horrid’ audio emerges

Discussion: Alternet.org, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Lawyers, Guns & Money, KXII-TV, Tulsa World and The Oklahoman

Wall Street Journal:
Oklahoma Governor Calls for Resignations After Threatening Audio Surfaces

Discussion: 2 News Oklahoma KJRH Tulsa, KOCO, The Root, Raw Story and Public Radio Tulsa

Corky Siemaszko / NBC News:
Oklahoma county leaders caught on audio talking about killing reporters, complaining they can no longer lynch Black people

Discussion: NPR, Raw Story, Digby's Hullabaloo, Joe.My.God., Washington Examiner, KFOR-TV, Associated Press and HuffPost

Charlie Sykes / Morning Shots:
A Harrowing Tale From the Heartland

Discussion: New York Times

Washington Post:

Complaints about Justice Thomas's disclosures sent to judicial committee — Allegations from congressional Democrats that Justice Clarence Thomas likely violated federal ethics laws in his dealings with a Republican donor have been sent to a committee of federal judges responsible for …

Discussion: Slate

Jamelle Bouie / New York Times:
Clarence Thomas Can Do No Wrong

Discussion: HuffPost, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story and The Wrap

NBC News:
Senate Democrats eye a hearing on Clarence Thomas as Republicans shrug off gift revelations

Discussion: CNN, Joe.My.God., Political Wire, Reason, NPR, Bloomberg, Forbes and Raw Story

Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:
Clarence Thomas's explanations fail the laugh test

Discussion: New York Times, Alternet.org and Raw Story

Jose Pagliery / The Daily Beast:

Trump's Fake Georgia Electors Are Now Ratting on Each Other — The fake GOP electors Trump recruited in Georgia are now turning on each other, according to new court documents. — The fake GOP electors in Georgia that former President Donald Trump recruited as part of his failed attempt …

Discussion: USA Today, Bloomberg, CNN, Joe.My.God., Raw Story, Political Wire and PoliticusUSA

Tamar Hallerman / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Fulton prosecutors offered immunity deals to some GOP electors

Discussion: Washington Post

Andrew Romano / Yahoo News:

Poll: Trump's big post-indictment bounce is fading fast — The former president's lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the Republican primary has shrunk 10 points since late March. — Former President Donald Trump got a big bounce among Republican primary voters after his indictment …

Discussion: Washington Post

Mike Murphy / Bulwark+:
Iowa Is a Big Problem for Trump

Discussion: The Hill, NBC News, Iowa Starting Line and Raw Story

New York Times:
DeSantis Tried to Bury Her. Now She's Helping Trump Try to Bury Him.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, Washington Monthly and Wide World of News

US Department of Justice:

U.S. Citizens and Russian Intelligence Officers Charged with Conspiring to Use U.S. Citizens as Illegal Agents of the Russian Government — Defendants Sought to Sow Discord, Spread Pro-Russia Propaganda and Interfere in Elections Within the United States — A federal grand jury in Tampa …

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, Al Jazeera, UPI, The Daily Caller, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, NewsNation, WFLA-TV and TASS

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:
U.S. charges four Americans with aiding Kremlin efforts

Discussion: Raw Story

CNN:

‘I want justice to look the same’: The aunt of a Black teen who rang the wrong doorbell and was shot by a White homeowner reacts to charges — A White, 84-year-old homeowner charged with shooting Ralph Yarl after the Black teen went to the wrong Kansas City address to pick up his siblings told police …

Matt Stevens / New York Times:

Ex-Member of Menudo Says He Was Raped by Father of the Menendez Brothers — The allegation, made in a forthcoming docuseries, resembles the claims of abuse by the brothers, who were convicted in 1996 of murdering their parents. — It was a gripping case that was one of the first to draw …

Discussion: Variety, New York Daily News, TMZ.com and The Hollywood Reporter

Greg Woodfield / Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: Prominent DeSantis ally who shot himself dead last year was under investigation for using sold out Taylor Swift tickets to lure teen to his office and show him her breasts - then trying to buy family's silence — Kent Stermon, 50, of Jacksonville, was facing allegations …

Discussion: Raw Story, Florida Politics, Political Wire and Joe.My.God.

who13.com:

Iowa Senate passes child labor bill in pre-dawn session — DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Legislature went into session very early Tuesday morning, taking up debate on the bill on youth employment. — The session opened at 3:36 a.m. and the vote on SF 542 in the Iowa Senate happened at 4:52 a.m. It passed by a margin of 32 to 17.

Discussion: New Republic, Raw Story and Joe.My.God.

Stephen Gruber-Miller / Des Moines Register:
Senate passes bill loosening child labor laws to let Iowa teens work longer hours

Discussion: Associated Press, Insider, Iowa Capital Dispatch, The Guardian, Iowa Starting Line and Jezebel

Ann M. Simmons / Wall Street Journal:

Russian Court Upholds WSJ Reporter Evan Gershkovich's Detention — Journalist to remain in pretrial detention at Moscow's Lefortovo prison — A Moscow court upheld the detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich at the prison where he has been held since his arrest last month.

Ally Mutnick / Politico:

The one thing Trump and McConnell agree on: A hatred for this group — The anti-tax group wants to pick Senate candidates. Republicans see a 2022 repeat. — Former President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell don't agree on much, but there's still one thing that unites them: A disdain for the Club for Growth.

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, BizPac Review, Washington Examiner, Raw Story and Political Wire

Igor Bobic / HuffPost:
Mitch McConnell Refuses To Discuss Trump Indictment

Discussion: Sputnik News and Joe.My.God.

Associated Press:

Littlest intruder: Toddler crawls through White House fence — A toddler on Tuesday earned the title of one of the tiniest White House intruders after he squeezed through the metal fencing on the north side of the executive mansion. U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division officers …

Discussion: Fox News, NBC News, CNN, Politico, USA Today, Washington Post, TMZ.com, New York Daily News, Al Jazeera, Metro.co.uk, New York Post, Sputnik News, The Hill, IJR and CBS News

David Corn / Mother Jones:

Donald Trump's Lawyers Just Made a Big Mistake — Their plan is to discredit Michael Cohen. Instead, they're undermining their own client's case. — Washington, DC, Bureau Chief — Last week, when Donald Trump filed a $500 million civil lawsuit in federal court against his former lawyer …

Discussion: Raw Story, Digby's Hullabaloo and Washington Examiner

Willy Staley / New York Times:

What Was Twitter, Anyway? — Whether the platform is dying or not, it's time to reckon with how exactly it broke our brains. — The trouble began, as it usually does, when I saw something funny on my computer. It was the middle of the morning on a Wednesday, a few years back …

Scott Macfarlane / CBS News:

Justice Department to seek longest sentence in any Jan. 6 riot case so far — The U.S. Department of Justice will seek the longest prison sentence in any January 6 riot case to date when it argues for more than 24 years in prison for Peter Schwartz of Pennsylvania at sentencing on May 5.

Discussion: The Hill, Raw Story and The Daily Caller

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
‘Cheese-eating rat’: Defense lawyers seethe after DOJ pushes witness to identify more Jan. 6 perpetrators

Discussion: Raw Story

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:

An intellectual battle rages: Is the U.S. in a proxy war with Russia? — Vladimir Putin says the West is trying to ‘finish’ Russia. The Biden administration denies the accusation. But leaked documents reveal the extent of U.S. involvement in the Ukraine fight.

Discussion: Insider, Political Wire, Daily Kos and Politico

Alex Horton / Washington Post:
Russia unveils secretive weapon to target SpaceX's Starlink in Ukraine

Discussion: The Post Millennial and New York Times

Reuters:

Facing brutal climate math, US bets billions on direct air capture — The world is failing to cut carbon emissions fast enough to avoid disastrous climate change, a dawning truth that is giving life to a technology that for years has been marginal - pulling carbon dioxide from the air.

Discussion: Information Technology …

Rolling Stone:

Key DeSantis Donors Rip Him in Private Chats: ‘What the F-ck Is Wrong With RD?’ — The governor's donor prowess fueled his rise to Trump's top GOP rival, but the money men are getting anxious — THE RON DESANTIS megadonor meltdown is accelerating. — On a group chat of wealthy DeSantis donors …

Discussion: The Hill, Semafor, Semafor, Jewish Insider and Raw Story

Barbara Ortutay / Associated Press:

Twitter removes policy against deadnaming transgender people — Twitter has quietly removed a policy against the “targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals,” raising concerns that the Elon Musk-owned platform is becoming less safe for marginalized groups.

Discussion: GLAAD, PinkNews, Jezebel, TechCrunch, The Verge, Forbes, New Republic and Twitchy, more at Techmeme »

David Koenig / Associated Press:

Southwest passengers face delays after nationwide grounding — Southwest Airlines planes were grounded nationwide for what the airline called an intermittent technology issue, causing more than 1,700 flight delays Tuesday just four months after the carrier suffered a meltdown over the Christmas travel rush.