memeorandum: An Activist Court — Will there be any restraint? — News yesterday that a majority … (Steady)

2:51 AM ET, April 23, 2023

Top Items:

U.S. evacuates embassy personnel and families from Sudan, sources say — The United States completed the evacuation of U.S. Embassy personnel and their families from Sudan, people familiar with the matter said late Saturday. — The operation was carried out Sunday morning local time …

Discussion: CNN, Financial Times, CBS News, Bloomberg, Reuters, Fox News, Al-Monitor, The Hill, NBC News, Al Jazeera, TASS, Twitchy and Associated Press

Associated Press:

US evacuating diplomats in Sudan amid fierce fighting — U.S. troops are carrying out a precarious evacuation of American embassy staffers in the African nation of Sudan, shuttering the U.S. embassy there as fighting rages for a ninth day, according to a senior Biden administration official.

Discussion: Fox News, Al-Monitor, Task & Purpose, Townhall, PBS NewsHour, Al Jazeera, Financial Times, Reuters and NBC News

Jared Szuba / Al-Monitor:

US evacuates embassy in Sudan's capital Khartoum — Evacuations at the US embassy in Khartoum are taking place as fighting entered its second week in Sudan between the country's top two military commanders. — WASHINGTON — US special operations forces led an evacuation of American diplomatic staff …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, ABC News, NBC News, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, RedState, Just The News and TASS

Declan Walsh / New York Times:
As War Rages in Sudan, Countries Angle for Advantage

Discussion: Al-Monitor, Al Jazeera, POLYGRAPH.info and Axios

Reuters:
Sudan fighting continues despite ceasefire, army agrees to help evacuate foreigners

Discussion: TASS, Al-Monitor, New York Post, Al Jazeera, New York Times, Bloomberg.com, Fox News, Just The News and Cyprus Mail

Victor Swezey / The Daily Beast:

Trump Once Again Trounces DeSantis in New WSJ Poll — BACK ON TOP — Former President Donald Trump looks to have regained the upper hand in his undeclared war against Ron DeSantis' unannounced presidential campaign. According to a new poll from The Wall Street Journal …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Fox News, Raw Story, Alternet.org, Just The News, Florida Politics, The Hill and Washington Examiner

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
DeSantis Faces Republican Scrutiny on Issues While Trump Skates By

Discussion: Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Just The News and MSN

Mark Leibovich / The Atlantic:
Chris Christie Doesn't Want to Hear the Name Trump

Discussion: Insider, Digby's Hullabaloo and Fox News

Suzanne Bates / Deseret News:
Recent poll shows DeSantis ahead of Trump in Utah

Discussion: USA Today, Raw Story, New York Post, Washington Examiner and Florida Politics

Brittany Bernstein / National Review:
Nearly a Dozen Florida Republicans Have Endorsed Trump, Snubbing DeSantis

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, RTÉ, RedState, WFLA-TV, Washington Times, New York Post, Sacramento Bee, NBC News, Raw Story, Florida Politics, New York Times, The Daily Caller and Slate

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

The Supreme Court delivers a sigh of relief — and an outrageous dissent — Justice Clarence Thomas has gotten the attention of late due to questionable ethics. But it's high time Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. received the scrutiny he deserves. Alito's dissent in the mifepristone case …

Discussion: HotAir, Fox News, Reason, Law & Crime and VICE

Joyce Vance / Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance:
Not Quite Midnight at the Supreme Court

Discussion: New York Times, Wall Street Journal, RedState, Reason, Alternet.org, Vox, The Nation, Breitbart, Informed Comment and Talking Points Memo

The White House:

Statement from President Joe Biden on the Situation in Sudan — Today, on my orders, the United States military conducted an operation to extract U.S. Government personnel from Khartoum. I am proud of the extraordinary commitment of our Embassy staff, who performed their duties with courage …

Discussion: Fox News, The Daily Caller and ABC News

Washington Post:

Afghanistan has become a terrorism staging ground again, leak reveals — Less than two years after President Biden withdrew U.S. personnel from Afghanistan, the country has become a significant coordination site for the Islamic State as the terrorist group plans attacks across Europe and Asia …

Discussion: New York Post, Fox News and Washington Examiner

Rebecca Beitsch / The Hill:

Greene silencing leads to new pledges of civility — The silencing of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) after she called Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas a liar in a hearing has led to a pledge for a more civil House Homeland Security Committee going forward …

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

Ohio Republicans try to change rules to defeat abortion rights amendment — State lawmakers are seeking to toughen rules when public opinion appears to be running against them — For 111 years, Ohio voters have lived with a set of rules for amending their state constitution through citizen initiative.

Ariane de Vogue / CNN:

Chief Justice John Roberts punts on request to investigate Clarence Thomas — Chief Justice John Roberts has declined to directly respond to a congressional request to investigate Justice Clarence Thomas' alleged ethical lapses. — Roberts instead referred the request …

Discussion: Raw Story, Bloomberg, NPR, Political Wire and The Daily Caller

Tom Boggioni / Raw Story:

Bombshell revelation of Trump election texts is ‘more damning’ than his Georgia phone call: legal analyst — Reacting to a CNN report that Trump operatives were making plans to use breached voting data to not only undercut the 2020 presidential election results but also to give the GOP control of the Senate …

Discussion: RADAR

Adam Sabes / Fox News:

NYC Mayor Eric Adams says ‘migrant crisis’ under Biden administration has ‘destroyed’ city — Eric Adams even took a hit at New York City politicians — Democrat New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Friday the migrant crisis the country is facing under the Biden administration has “destroyed” his city.

Discussion: Raw Story, HotAir, Just The News, Twitchy, Breitbart, New York Post, RedState and The Gateway Pundit

Steady:

An Activist Court — Will there be any restraint? — News yesterday that a majority of justices on the Supreme Court would keep the abortion drug mifepristone legal, at least for the time being, was good for reproductive rights and frankly, the rule of law.

Discussion: Raw Story, Off the Kuff, Slate, Politico and Associated Press

Sean Maguire / Yahoo News:

Alaska Supreme Court, in landmark ruling, says partisan gerrymandering violates state constitution — In a landmark decision, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled Friday that partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional under the Alaska Constitution's equal protection doctrine.

Discussion: Political Wire

Minyvonne Burke / NBC News:

Jewish student with autism had swastika carved onto his back, mother says — The woman said she noticed the hate symbol after her nonverbal son came home from Clark High School in Las Vegas. — The FBI said it is in contact with authorities in Las Vegas after a woman said her Jewish son …

Politico:

The GOP's new electability problem: North Carolina — Mark Robinson, North Carolina's highly controversial Republican lieutenant governor, is the latest test of firebrand politics in the GOP. — Republicans are on the verge of wiping out what remains of Democrats' political power in North Carolina.

Discussion: FOX8 WGHP, Associated Press, Alternet.org, Raw Story, Just The News and Political Wire

Associated Press:

Trump Defends Push To Restrict Abortion Rights After Rebuke — Donald Trump, stinging from a rebuke by a leading anti-abortion group, used a speech in Iowa to spotlight his actions as president to try to restrict abortion rights. — Donald Trump, stinging from a rebuke …

Discussion: Washington Post, Reuters, Washington Times, Associated Press and The Nation

Dani Anguiano / The Guardian:

A California journalist documents the far-right takeover of her town: 'We're a test case' — Doni Chamberlain's been a journalist in Shasta county for nearly 30 years. Now she's targeted by the extremists who are looking to reshape the region — The fight for democracy is supported by

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Washington Post:

Inside the final days before Biden announces his reelection bid — The last-minute scramble as Biden looks to release a video Tuesday officially declaring his 2024 candidacy — By the time Air Force One returned from Ireland in the pre-dawn hours of April 15, President Biden's plans …

Discussion: HotAir, RedState, Political Wire, CNN, One America News Network, Breitbart, Washington Times, The Hill and Washington Free Beacon

Associated Press:

Alabama governor ousts a top education official over a book's ‘woke concepts’ on race — MONTGOMERY, Ala. —Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday announced she replaced her director of early childhood education over the use of a teacher training book, written by a nationally recognized education group …

Discussion: Montgomery Advertiser, The Hill, Alternet.org, Fox News, Just The News and al.com

John L. Dorman / Insider:

An ex-GOP congressman says Ron DeSantis didn't say ‘a single word’ to him for two years as they sat beside each other during House hearings: 'He's just a very arrogant guy' — An ex-GOP congressman told Playbook that DeSantis didn't speak to him for two years during hearings.

Discussion: Forbes and Puck