memeorandum: Ukraine war: The Russian ships accused of North Sea sabotage (Gordon Corera/BBC)

1:25 PM ET, April 19, 2023

Top Items:

A $787.5 Million Settlement and Embarrassing Disclosures: The Costs of Airing a Lie — Fox News's late-stage agreement with Dominion Voting Systems came with a rare acknowledgment of broadcasting false claims by the conservative media powerhouse. — Reporting from Wilmington, Del.

Washington Post:

Fox News still faces $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit from Smartmatic — Fox News's legal troubles related to the 2020 presidential election are far from over, despite its massive settlement with Dominion Voting Systems announced Tuesday afternoon. — The media company also faces …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Associated Press, Forbes, Slate, Raw Story, New York Times, New Republic, Variety, Reason, The Guardian, Joe.My.God., Insider, Just The News, Political Wire, Mother Jones and Hackwhackers, more at Mediagazer »

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

There's a big hole in the Dominion-Fox News settlement — When news of a possible settlement between Dominion Voting Systems and Fox News surfaced on Sunday night, pleas from concerned citizens popped up on social media: Don't settle this lawsuit, Dominion. Put all the evidence before a jury.

Washington Post:

Fox News, Dominion settle defamation lawsuit for $787.5 million — The agreement brings an abrupt end to one of the most significant media cases in recent decades, one that hinged on false claims about a presidential election — WILMINGTON, Del. — Fox News agreed Tuesday to pay $787.5 million …

New York Times:

Fox Will Pay $787.5 Million to Settle Defamation Suit — The settlement with Dominion Voting Systems was the latest extraordinary twist in a case that exposed the inner workings of the most powerful voice in conservative news. — Reporting from Wilmington, Del.

Max Tani / Semafor:
Ex-Fox News Political Director: “Who gets fired?”

Discussion: New York Times, HuffPost and Raw Story

Richard L. Hasen / Slate:
Why It's Fine that Fox and Dominion Settled

Discussion: VICE, Political Wire, Lawfare, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, El País and The Guardian

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Putting the massive Fox News settlement in perspective

Discussion: Raw Story

Jeffrey Blehar / National Review:
Fox News Finally Bows to the Inevitable, Cuts Losses in Dominion Case

Discussion: NDTV, HuffPost, The Detroit News and Progress Pond

Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite:
How Much Did Fox's Election Lies Cost? The Largest Media Settlement in US History

Discussion: Media Matters for America, HotAir and New Republic

Reuters:
Exclusive: Fox investors seek records in possible step toward suing directors

Discussion: Axios, Raw Story, Washington Post, Forbes, Erick Erickson's Show Notes, New York Times, Insider, The Wrap, Alternet.org, Political Wire and Associated Press, more at Mediagazer »

Sally Goldenberg / Politico:

DeSantis is in a rut. His trek to D.C. didn't help. — At a big moment for him, the Florida governor was overshadowed by rival Donald Trump's string of endorsements. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis values being in control. Presidential candidate-in-waiting DeSantis is losing it.

Discussion: Insider, Talking Points Memo, Twitchy, NBC News, RedState, Wide World of News, Raw Story, Fox News, Sacramento Bee, Boston Herald, Florida Politics, Washington Post, Just The News, The Hill, Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller and Washington Press

Politico:

Playbook: How Trump ambushed DeSantis in D.C. — Presented by The U.S. Chamber of Commerce — With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross — DRIVING THE DAY — POPPING THIS MORNING — We've gotten our hands on a “confidential discussion draft” of a debt ceiling proposal being circulated …

Discussion: The Nation, The Hill and The Guardian

Wall Street Journal:
Donald Trump Sides With Disney

Discussion: New York Times, Axios, Semafor, Vanity Fair, Orlando Sentinel, HuffPost, HotAir, Vox, Fortune, New York Daily News, Washington Examiner, Twitchy, Power Line, USA Today, RedState, Just The News, CBS News, LGBTQ Nation, Florida Politics, The Hill and Joe.My.God.

Liz Crampton / Politico:

Democratic governors lose their grip as Republicans nab supermajorities — A steady number of GOP wins and party-flipping have created a particularly challenging environment for Democratic governors in Kentucky, Kansas, Louisiana and North Carolina. — Kansas Rep. Heather Meyer …

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Post and FiveThirtyEight

Nathan Tankus / Politico:

Biden Can Steamroll Republicans on the Debt Ceiling — And Fed Chair Jay Powell won't interfere. — The threat of a real debt ceiling crisis is growing rapidly. House Republicans are still pushing steep spending cuts that the White House won't countenance, even as the GOP remains deeply divided on a strategy.

Discussion: New York Times and CNN

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Biden digs in with Democrats on debt limit, castigates ‘extreme’ Republicans

Discussion: Fox News, Politico, Associated Press, The Hill, Roll Call and Insider

Washington Post:

Inside the secret list of websites that make AI chatbots sound smart — AI chatbots have exploded in popularity over the past four months, stunning the public with their awesome abilities, from writing sophisticated term papers to holding unnervingly lucid conversations.

Discussion: Gizmodo, Althouse and Metro.co.uk, more at Techmeme »

Eli Yokley / Morning Consult:

Red-State Voters Give Democrats Tester, Manchin Opposite Marks Ahead of 2024 — 58% of Montana voters approve of Tester, while 55% of West Virginia voters disapprove of Manchin. — Among the 59% of Montana voters who disapprove of Biden, 42% of them give Tester positive marks.

Discussion: The Hill and The Daily Caller

Wall Street Journal:
Kyrsten Sinema, Joe Manchin Fail to Attract Small Donors for Potential Re-Election Campaigns

Discussion: Alternet.org, OpenSecrets.org and Sludge

Politico:
GOP drops $1M on Manchin as Justice preps run

Discussion: NBC News, Washington Examiner and Washington Times

Kiara Alfonseca / ABC News:

So-called 'Don't Say Gay' rules expanded through 12th grade in Florida — Classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity is limited. — The Florida Board of Education has voted to — expand restrictions — on classroom instruction related to sexual orientation and gender identity.

Discussion: Washington Post, Reuters, The Hill, Associated Press, NBC 6 South Florida and The Daily Caller

Karen Freifeld / Reuters:

Ex-Trump Organization CFO Weisselberg released from jail — Former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg was released from jail on Wednesday, according to New York City Department of Correction records. — Weisselberg was sent to New York's Rikers Island jail …

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and Raw Story

Graham Kates / CBS News:
Allen Weisselberg, former Trump Organization CFO, released from jail

Discussion: Associated Press, The Daily Beast, New York Post, Just The News and New York Daily News

Shannon Ryan / ABC13:

Man arrested after 2 Woodlands Elite cheerleaders were shot outside HEB near Austin, police say — Police say Payton Washington was one of two Woodlands Elite cheerleaders hit when someone opened fire near a grocery store outside Austin. One man is in custody.

Discussion: KXAN-TV, ABC News, KLTV-TV, NBC News, The Hill, The Daily Beast, New York Daily News, MyNorthwest.com, Associated Press, Metro.co.uk, CBS News, Insider, UPI, The Daily Caller, NPR, New York Post, Law & Crime and Digby's Hullabaloo

Carol Robinson / al.com:

Dadeville birthday party shooting: 2 teen brothers arrested for reckless murder — Dadeville birthday party shooting — Two teenage brothers have been charged with four counts of reckless murder in the Saturday night shooting at a Dadeville birthday party that killed four young people and injured 32 others.

Discussion: ABC News, Alabama Reflector, Just The News, NewsNation and WHNT-TV

NBC News:

Boyfriend of N.Y. woman who was gunned down in the wrong driveway recalls her final moments — Blake Walsh said he was heartbroken after Kaylin Gillis, his girlfriend of four years, was fatally shot Saturday while they looked for a party. — SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — The boyfriend of a New York woman …

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, New York Daily News, New York Post, CBS News, CNN, NPR, The Black Wall Street Times and BizPac Review

Snejana Farberov / New York Post:

Ex-Biden official Sam Brinton to undergo mental health evaluation in luggage theft case — Sam Brinton, the disgraced former Biden administration official accused of stealing luggage on at least two separate occasions, has agreed to undergo a mental health evaluation as part of a Minnesota's adult diversion program.

Discussion: Daily Mail, The Daily Caller, Fox News and Washington Times

Axios:

Women lawmakers come to Feinstein's defense — Women across the aisle are defending Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), saying they see sexism and ageism in the calls for her to resign from Congress. … - “To me it's ageist and it's sexist,” said Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).

Molly Jong-Fast / Vanity Fair:
It's Time for Dianne Feinstein to Resign

Discussion: HuffPost, Just Security, Washington Post, The Hill, Raw Story, NBC News, New Republic and Politico

Jonathan Mattise / Associated Press:

Tennessee moves to shield gun firms after school shooting — In the wake of a deadly school shooting last month, Republican lawmakers in Tennessee awarded final passage Tuesday to a proposal that would further protect gun and ammunition dealers, manufacturers and sellers against lawsuits.

Discussion: Insider, CBS News, The Tennessean, New Republic and Joe.My.God.

Susan Page / USA Today:

Exclusive: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launches unlikely presidential bid backed by 14% of Biden voters — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launches his unlikely bid for the Democratic presidential nomination Wednesday with the support of 14% of voters who backed President Joe Biden in 2020, an exclusive USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds.

Discussion: ABC News, Associated Press, Fox News, The Hill, National Review and CNN

Benjy Sarlin / Semafor:

People should say why they are running for president — Chris Christie may be a long shot if he runs in 2024, but he has one extremely important idea that other Republicans could learn from: Candidates should say why they'd be a better choice than their top rivals.

Discussion: Raw Story and Breitbart

Gordon Corera / BBC:

Ukraine war: The Russian ships accused of North Sea sabotage — Russia has a programme to sabotage wind farms and communication cables in the North Sea, according to new allegations. — The details come from a joint investigation by public broadcasters in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

Discussion: Insider Paper, The Guardian, Metro.co.uk, Cyprus Mail and Politico

Declan Walsh / New York Times:

Sudan's Generals Dined With Peace Negotiators, Then Started a War — What led the two generals, recently allies, to turn their forces on each other — devastating a country of 45 million people? — NAIROBI, Kenya — As they talked peace, Sudan's generals prepared for war.

Discussion: Al Jazeera, Associated Press, CBS News, Al-Monitor, Washington Post, One America News Network and NBC News

Ashton / NPA:

South Carolina 2024 Presidential Primary Poll Findings — National Public Affairs conducted a poll among likely 2024 Presidential primary voters from April 11 to April 14, 2023. We collected responses from 538 voters via landlines, text-to-web and online panel.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Hill, NewsNation, The Capitolist, Fox News, Florida Politics and Political Wire

Jana Winter / Rolling Stone:

DHS Official Has Office Raided, Covered in Crime Scene Tape — The head of the office that tracks cross-border threats — including fentanyl and cartel activity — was walked out by security and questioned on Monday, sources tell Rolling Stone — THE DEPARTMENT OF Homeland Security intelligence official …

Discussion: Raw Story

Sarah K. Burris / Raw Story:

Oklahomans terrified of right-wing extremists 28 years after Tim McVeigh's federal building bombing — Charlotte Cisneros came of age in Oklahoma City in the wake of the bombing that killed 168 people on April 19, 1995. So, when she turned on the new Netflix documentary about Waco last month, it hit her hard.

Discussion: WHNT-TV and New York Times

The Texas Tribune:

Texas House approves sweeping limits on local regulations in GOP's latest jab at blue cities — City officials say the full scope of the legislation advanced Tuesday is still unclear, but it would limit their ability to issue worker protections, water restrictions and more.

Discussion: The Hill, Joe.My.God., Raw Story and Off the Kuff