memeorandum: 'I don't think he cares about people': DeSantis struggles with former Hill colleagues (Eugene Daniels/Politico)

8:45 PM ET, April 21, 2023

Top Items:

Supreme Court allows abortion pill to stay on the market for now — The Justice Department and Danco Laboratories, which makes the brand version of mifepristone, Mifeprex, had asked the court to step in immediately. — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will allow the most commonly used abortion pill …

Discussion: The 19th, New York Times, The Guardian, RedState, Bridge Michigan, Gothamist, Joe.My.God., Talking Points Memo, Al Jazeera, Jezebel, Wall Street Journal and HotAir

Ariane de Vogue / CNN:

Supreme Court protects access to abortion pill — The Supreme Court on Friday protected access to a widely used abortion drug by freezing lower-court rulings that placed restrictions on its usage as appeals play out. — As a result, the US Food and Drug Administration's approval …

Abbie VanSickle / New York Times:

The court has generally supported the F.D.A.'s authority on drug safety. — The order halts a sweeping ruling by a federal judge in Texas as an appeal moves forward in a case that could have profound implications for abortion access and the F.D.A.'s regulatory authority.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Associated Press, Insider, New Republic, CalMatters, Washington Post, Turning Point USA, UPI, New York Daily News and KTLA

Washington Post:
Supreme Court preserves access to key abortion drug as appeal proceeds

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Politico, Bloomberg, Reuters, American Prospect, Political Wire, The Guardian and Semafor

Chris Geidner / Law Dork with Chris Geidner:
Breaking: Supreme Court keeps medication abortion drug available, with eased access, during appeals

Discussion: Colorado Newsline, The Hill, Roll Call, PBS NewsHour, SCOTUSblog, Law & Crime, The Daily Caller, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion and ArkansasTimes

Alex Leary / Wall Street Journal:

Donald Trump Tops Ron DeSantis in Test of GOP Presidential Field, WSJ Poll Finds — No candidate beyond the two leaders draws substantial support in the still-developing primary race — WASHINGTON—Donald Trump has gained command of the GOP presidential-nomination race over Ron DeSantis …

Washington Post:

Trump touts authoritarian vision for second term: ‘I am your justice’ — The former president is proposing deploying the military domestically, purging the federal workforce and building futuristic cities from scratch — Mandatory stop-and-frisk. Deploying the military to fight street crime, break up gangs and deport immigrants.

Discussion: Raw Story

Politico:
Playbook: How to lose friends and alienate people, by Ron DeSantis

Politico:
Trump killed the ‘values voter’ wing of the GOP. It isn't coming back in 2024.

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Times and Just The News

Zachary Cohen / CNN:

Exclusive: Text messages reveal Trump operatives considered using breached voting data to decertify Georgia's Senate runoff in 2021 — In mid-January 2021, two men hired by former President Donald Trump's legal team discussed over text message what to do with data obtained from a breached voting machine …

Discussion: New York Times, Raw Story, PoliticusUSA, Joe.My.God. and Rolling Stone

CNN:

Details about multimillion-dollar stock holding concealed in abortion pill judge's financial disclosures — The federal judge who issued a nationwide ruling blocking the approval of a common abortion medication redacted key information on his legally mandated financial disclosures …

Discussion: Alternet.org, Raw Story, Techdirt and Joe.My.God.

Ann E. Marimow / Washington Post:

Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk's financial reports include an unusual redaction — The federal judge known for his abortion pill ruling and conservative advocacy holds a single stock worth at least $5 million. The stock's name is redacted on financial disclosure forms.

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and MSNBC

Matt Binder / Mashable:

Dril and other Twitter power users begin campaign to ‘Block the Blue’ paid checkmarks — After Elon Musk removed legacy verified users' checkmarks, Twitter's biggest users are blocking everyone who pays. — On Thursday, April 20, Elon Musk made a rare move: He delivered on a promise.

New York Times:

Airman Shared Sensitive Intelligence More Widely and for Longer Than Previously Known — A Discord user matching the profile of Jack Teixeira distributed intelligence to a larger chat group, days after the beginning of the Ukraine war. — The Air National Guardsman accused …

Discussion: Washington Post

Bloomberg:

McCarthy Is Coming Up Short in Support for House Debt-Limit Bill — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is coming up short in support for his first big legislative effort, a bill tying a debt ceiling increase to spending cuts, risking serious damage to both his stature and the US economy.

Discussion: Politico, HotAir, Jacobin, PoliticusUSA, Political Wire, CBS News, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin …, Washington Examiner and Axios

Washington Post:
Enraged by GOP debt limit extortion? Blame MAGA's moderate enablers.

Discussion: Washington Times

Jim Tankersley / New York Times:
The Debt Ceiling Debate Is About More Than Debt

Discussion: Daily Kos, CNN and Letters from an American

Arthur Delaney / HuffPost:
Republicans' Proposed Medicaid ‘Work Requirements’ Would Affect 10 Million

Discussion: Axios and Daily Kos

Jason Easley / PoliticusUSA:

Jim Jordan Just Got Busted With Evidence Of His Hunter Biden Lies — Jim Jordan and House Judiciary Republicans got caught editing witness interviews to smear the Sec. of State and push their Hunter Biden laptop scandal. — Here is what Rep. Jordan's House Judiciary Republicans tweeted.

Discussion: Fox News, New York Post, The Post Millennial, PJ Media, One America News Network, RADAR, Big League Politics and RedState

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
House GOP's latest Hunter Biden laptop theory is less than meets the eye

Discussion: New York Post, Breitbart, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, RedState, Commentary Magazine, The Western Journal and Washington Examiner

US Department of Justice:

Two Men Sentenced for Conspiring to Provide Material Support to Plot to Attack Power Grids in the United States — Domestic Terrorism Plot was in Furtherance of White Supremacy — Two men were sentenced in federal court today to crimes related to a scheme to attack power grids in the United States in furtherance white supremacy.

Discussion: Raw Story and WCMH-TV

Jake Sheridan / Chicago Tribune:

Chicago police investigating officers' response to mob attack in Loop after witness says police declined to help — Large groups of youths gather in downtown Chicago, April 15, 2023. Two teens were shot in the area during the evening. (Network Video Productions)

Discussion: The Daily Signal, Breitbart, WGN-TV, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion and ABC7

Eric Daugherty / Florida's Voice:

Trump campaign releases lengthy statement trashing Florida: ‘Misery and despair’ — WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (FLV) - As a potential announcement for president in 2024 from Gov. Ron DeSantis nears, former President Donald Trump's campaign has ramped up attacks against the governor.

Discussion: Fox News, Donald J. Trump …, American Greatness, Raw Story, acecomments.mu.nu and Washington Examiner

Eugene Daniels / Politico:
'I don't think he cares about people': DeSantis struggles with former Hill colleagues

Discussion: NBC News, New York Magazine, Breitbart, The Daily Caller and Raw Story

Ben Makuch / VICE:

Rightwing Edgelords Are the Real Threat to National Security — “The amount of Three Percenters and Boogaloo guys I work with is untenable,” said one Department of Defense worker. — Ben Makuch — Since the beginning of the Biden Administration, the GOP has painstakingly attacked the Pentagon as a …

Tom Boggioni / Raw Story: Department of Defense riddled with ‘Three Percenters and Boogaloo guys’: report

Steven Monacelli / The Texas Observer:

Abbott Aims to Pardon Racist Murderer Who Sent Explicit Texts to Apparent Minor — After an Austin jury unanimously convicted Sergeant Daniel Perry of murder, it took Governor Greg Abbott less than one full day to call for his pardon. — Legal experts and lawmakers have described …

Nancy Scola / Politico:

Washington's Angriest Progressive Is Winning Over Conservatives - and Baffling Old Allies — The activist who breathed new life into the antitrust movement wants support from the other side. But it could cost him. — American Economic Liberties Project Director of Research Matt Stoller speaks …

Mary Anne Franks / Slate:

Chief Justice John Roberts' Mockery of Stalking Victims Points to a Deeper Problem — The justices take their own safety very, very seriously. Everybody else's? Not so much. — Stalking is so closely correlated with lethal violence that experts refer to it as “slow motion homicide” …

CNN:

EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden lawyers to meet with Justice Department officials next week as scrutiny of investigation intensifies — Lawyers for Hunter Biden are scheduled to meet next week with US attorney David Weiss and at least one senior career official from Justice Department headquarters …

Discussion: CBS News, Washington Examiner, Washington Free Beacon, Fox News, New York Post, RADAR, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, RedState and The Daily Caller

Adam Gabbatt / The Guardian:

Rightwing extremists defeated by Democrats in US school board elections — Republican-backed culture warrior candidates fare poorly in Illinois and Wisconsin, offering hope to the left — Scores of rightwing extremists were defeated in school board elections in April …

Discussion: Political Wire

Marshall Cohen / CNN:

Smartmatic wants more than Dominion's $787 million payout, plus a retraction from Fox for its 2020 election lies, lawyer says — A top lawyer for Smartmatic, the voting technology company whose defamation lawsuit against Fox News is still pending, said Thursday that he won't accept …

Discussion: Mediaite, Alternet.org, Heartland Signal, HuffPost, CNBC, The Western Journal, The Nation, ABC News and New York Times

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Republicans follow their new leader, Marjorie Taylor Greene — This is the price America pays for Kevin McCarthy's ambition. — To understand the consequences of the many concessions the House speaker made to get his job, look at what has happened to the House Committee on Homeland Security.

Discussion: Raw Story, BizPac Review and Daily Kos

Anthony L. Fisher / The Daily Beast:

America's Tragedy Is Its Culture of Fear—That Happens to Be Armed With Millions of Guns — “Patriotic” culture warriors are terrified of drag queens, “illegals,” and extremely rare vaccine injuries. But tens of thousands of annual gun deaths—meh.

Discussion: The Hill

Claire Goforth / The Daily Dot:

Brewery tapped to make Ultra Right beer backed out when they found out what it was — The brewery reportedly said it ‘took a pass’ after seeing the marketing. — A right-wing influencer appears to be having trouble finding a brewery willing to craft his anti-woke beer.

Discussion: Wired, Brewbound and Joe.My.God.

Bob Hoge / RedState:

18-Year-Old Transgender Athlete Exposes Himself to Freshman Girls in Locker Room — The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) wants answers from Sun Prairie Area School District (SPASD) after an 18-year-old transgender athlete exposed himself to four 14-year-old girls in the shower area …

Discussion: Fox News, Wisconsin Institute …, Breitbart, The Post Millennial, BizPac Review and Louder With Crowder

Danielle Jackson / WSMV-TV:

Lawmakers speak out after Rep. Campbell's resignation — Rep. Justin Jones says Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton is part of the “coverup.” — NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - As the legislative session wrapped up for the day, former Rep. Scotty Campbell's desk inside of the House chambers was empty Thursday evening.

Discussion: Raw Story, The Root, Talking Points Memo, Washington Press, USA Today, Lawyers, Guns & Money and WKRN-TV

Wall Street Journal:

JPMorgan's Ties to Jeffrey Epstein Were Deeper Than the Bank Has Acknowledged — The bank has said it shut the convicted sex offender's accounts in 2013, but its bankers were still meeting with him years later, people familiar with the matter said. — JPMorgan Chase & Co. had ties …

Discussion: The Information

Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill:

Kari Lake says she told ‘Morning Joe’ hosts to stop ‘badmouthing’ her — Former Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake says she confronted the hosts of MSNBC's “Morning Joe” at an airport in Florida this week. — “I happened to be at the airport in Palm Beach and I happened …

Discussion: Mediaite, RADAR, The Wrap, New York Post, The Daily Caller, Crooks and Liars, The Gateway Pundit and Raw Story

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:

Any Questions? Biden Holds Fewest News Conferences Since Reagan — As President Biden prepares to announce his bid for a second term as soon as Tuesday, his decision to keep the news media at arm's length is part of a deliberate strategy. — WASHINGTON — In the 100 years since Calvin Coolidge …

Discussion: Politico, One America News Network, Breitbart, Al Jazeera, The Hill, Political Wire and Fox News

Aaron Zitner / Wall Street Journal:

They're the Happiest People in America. We Called Them to Ask Why. — Only 12% of respondents in a recent WSJ poll said they were ‘very happy.’ We called to ask what makes them different. — America's happiest people have a few traits in common: They value community and close personal relationships.

Discussion: Breitbart

Madison Alder / Bloomberg Law:

Justice Thomas Is ‘Man of Integrity’ Says Ex-Colleague Breyer — Retired Justice Stephen Breyer said Clarence Thomas is a “man of integrity,” as his former US Supreme Court colleague faces ethics questions over ties to a Republican donor. “As far as I'm concerned, I sat next to him on the bench for 28 years.

Discussion: Alternet.org, Washington Examiner and The Daily Caller