memeorandum: Inside a private portal from GOP campaigns to local news sites (Washington Post)

10:30 AM ET, April 27, 2023

Top Items:

On Eve of Trial, Discovery of Carlson Texts Set Off Crisis Atop Fox — Private messages sent by Tucker Carlson that had been redacted in legal filings showed him making highly offensive remarks that went beyond the comments of his prime-time show. — The day before Dominion Voting Systems …

Discussion: Insider, The Guardian, Talking Points Memo, Bulwark+, Mediaite, HotAir, ABC7, HuffPost, The Hill, Raw Story and Political Wire, more at Mediagazer »

Anthony L. Fisher / The Daily Beast:
Nobody Sold Out Harder Than Tucker Carlson

Discussion: National Review

Charlie Nash / Mediaite:
Tucker Carlson Drops First Video After Fox News Ouster

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, IJR, NBC News, Crooks and Liars, Forbes, Breitbart, CBS News, The Gateway Pundit, Power Line, The Daily Signal, New York Post, Just The News, Page Array and Instapundit, more at Mediagazer »

Politico:

Dems ready to pounce on GOP debt bill — Presented by The Alzheimer's Association — After House Republicans barely passed their debt bill, House Democrats are getting ready to pull out the playbook that worked for them in 2018 to win back the majority in 2024.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Arizona Republic, Roll Call, Townhall, NPR, E&E News, New York Times, Idaho Capital Sun, Al Jazeera, New Republic, Twin Cities, RedState, The Hill, USA Today, Washington Times, Wall Street Journal and HuffPost

Jeff Stein / Washington Post:

The GOP wonks trying to get their party not to detonate the debt limit bomb — An increasingly personal spat among conservative policy nerds could have big implications as U.S. nears economic disaster — A small group of conservative budget experts is cautioning House Republicans …

New York Times:

Montana G.O.P. Bars Transgender Lawmaker From House Floor — The move was the culmination of a weeklong battle between House leadership and Representative Zooey Zephyr after her impassioned comments over a bill that would prohibit care for transgender minors.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Status Kuo, National Review, Newsbusters, Associated Press, Rolling Stone, Pluribus News, Insider, Reuters, Washington Examiner, Just The News, Vox and Montana Free Press

Punchbowl News:

4/27/23 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM — THE TOP … This was an important step by McCarthy and his leadership team. Does it end the debt-limit debate? No, of course not. But it's the end of the beginning, to borrow a famous phrase. We have some thoughts on how this could all unfold during the next few weeks.

Discussion: Washington Post, NBC News, USA Today, The Daily Beast, The Hill, Breitbart, Semafor, Politico, New York Post, Washington Times, ABC7, Washington Examiner and Bloomberg

Politico:
Playbook: How Kevin McCarthy proved his naysayers wrong

Discussion: CNN

Ted Barrett / CNN:
GOP revolts against bill to study cannabis to help veterans with pain and PTSD

Discussion: KFOR-TV and The Hill

CNN:
House votes to pass debt ceiling bill in win for McCarthy

Jonathan Martin / Politico:

Is Trump Inevitable? Some in the GOP Are Starting To Wonder — It's still quite early, but the parade of sycophants to Mar-a-Lago worries Chris Christie and others who've rejected the ex-president. — HENNIKER, N.H. — Standing before a room filled with lightly interested college students …

Discussion: Raw Story

Dana Blanton / Fox News:
Fox News Poll: Trump still top 2024 Republican preference, DeSantis slipping

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Raw Story, New York Times, New York Post, Breitbart, Wide World of News, Bloomberg, Washington Times, The Hill, Politico and Forbes

NBC News:
Ron DeSantis is set to jump into the 2024 presidential fray in mid-May

Discussion: Jewish Insider, Washington Examiner, Forbes, Washington Post, Politico, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, ABC News, Fox News and NBC Bay Area

Washington Post:
Trump is racking up GOP endorsements, even amid criminal jeopardy

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Examiner, HotAir and Trending Politics Conservative

Hugo Lowell / The Guardian: DeSantis assembles senior staff for expected 2024 presidential campaign

Rachel Weiner / Washington Post:

Trump can't stop Pence from testifying to Jan. 6 grand jury, court rules — Donald Trump cannot block his former vice president from testifying before a grand jury investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Guardian, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Joe.My.God., CBS News, Wall Street Journal and Political Wire

Katelyn Polantz / CNN:

Trump loses appeal to block Pence from testifying about direct communications — Former President Donald Trump has lost an emergency attempt to block former Vice President Mike Pence from testifying about their direct conversations, in the latest boost to a federal criminal investigation examining Trump's …

Discussion: Raw Story, Politico, NBC News, UPI, New York Times, PoliticusUSA and Forbes

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:
Trump lawyers offer detailed defense to Mar-a-Lago case

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Raw Story, New York Times, CNN, Bloomberg, CBS News, Politico, Balloon Juice, Just The News and The Guardian

Glenn Thrush / New York Times:

Airman Accused of Leak Has History of Racist and Violent Remarks, Filing Says — Prosecutors accused Jack Teixeira of trying to fecklessly cover up his actions and described a possible propensity toward violence. — WASHINGTON — Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guardsman accused …

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and Rolling Stone, more at Techmeme »

Associated Press:

Releasing leak suspect a national security risk, feds say — The Massachusetts Air National guardsman accused of leaking highly classified military documents kept an arsenal of weapons, talked of “violence and murder” on a social media platform and an “assassination van,” …

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, HotAir, USA Today, The Boston Globe, The Hill, NBC News, WPRI-TV, UPI, New York Post, Reuters, New York Daily News, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Boston Herald, Washington Examiner, Fox News and Foreign Policy

Associated Press:

Montana transgender lawmaker barred by GOP from House floor — Montana Republicans barred transgender lawmaker Zooey Zephyr from the House floor on Wednesday, wielding “decorum” rules after she rebuked colleagues supporting a ban on gender-affirming care for children and protested their efforts to silence her.

Shaylee Ragar / NPR:
Montana House votes to formally punish transgender lawmaker, Rep. Zooey Zephyr

Discussion: The Western Journal, ABC News, Associated Press, Joe.My.God., HuffPost, acecomments.mu.nu, ACLU, Talking Points Memo and Reuters

MSNBC: ‘A new generation is rising up’: Young Dems stand up to GOP extremism

Mitchell Epner / The Daily Beast:

Jury Has Likely Decided Trump's Fate in Rape Case Already — E. Jean Carroll took the stand on Wednesday—and jurors have likely already made up their minds about whether she is telling the truth. … On the first day of trial testimony Wednesday, E. Jean Carroll took the witness stand …

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, Raw Story, ABC7, Associated Press, Mother Jones, Law & Crime, Politico, Wall Street Journal, NBC Bay Area, HotAir, The Hill, USA Today and CNN

Chris McGreal / The Guardian:
Judge rebukes Trump for ‘entirely inappropriate’ post before E Jean Carroll testimony

Discussion: The Bulwark, NBC News, The Gateway Pundit, New York Daily News, Alternet.org, Al Jazeera and Politico

TMZ.com:

Jerry Springer Dead at 79 — REMEMBERING JERRY SPRINGER — Jerry Springer, one of the most influential and controversial figures in TV history, has died ... TMZ has confirmed. — Jerry hosted the smash hit syndicated talk show “The Jerry Springer Show” for 27 years …

Ben Casselman / New York Times:

U.S. Economy Grew at 1.1% Rate in First Quarter — The gross domestic product increased for the third straight quarter as consumer spending remained robust despite higher interest rates. — Higher interest rates took a toll on the U.S. economy in early 2023, but free-spending consumers …

Discussion: CNBC, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Associated Press, U.S. Bureau …, CBS News, The Daily Caller and Just The News

Paul Wiseman / Associated Press:
US economic growth likely slowed in January-March quarter

Discussion: Washington Post, Associated Press, Insider and NPR

Slate:

John Roberts Is Acting Like Justices Are Kings — Last Thursday, Sen. Dick Durbin invited Chief Justice John Roberts to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about, well, to put it directly—the Supreme Court's diaphanous ethics regime. On Tuesday evening, in his letter to Durbin …

Discussion: Washington Post, Associated Press, Alternet.org, The Lever, Politico, Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, Vox, Daily Kos, NBC News, Vanity Fair and Law & Crime

Washington Post:
Roberts should face reality: The Supreme Court needs a code of conduct

Discussion: Reuters, Truthout, MSNBC, One America News Network and Washington Examiner

Mike Stobbe / Associated Press:

US adult cigarette smoking rate hits new all-time low — U.S. cigarette smoking dropped to another all-time low last year, with 1 in 9 adults saying they were current smokers, according to government survey data released Thursday. Meanwhile, electronic cigarette use rose, to about 1 in 17 adults.

Ian Shapira / Washington Post:

‘DEI is dead’: At VMI, Youngkin's diversity chief slams diversity, equity, inclusion — At Virginia Military Institute, a college trying to attract more women and minorities, Martin D. Brown declares diversity is the ‘wrong mission’ — Virginia's chief diversity officer was blunt.

Washington Post:

Inside a private portal from GOP campaigns to local news sites — Leaked screenshots show how politicians shape coverage in a local news network that's seeking to expand with help from Trump advisers — The top Republican campaigns in Illinois used a private online portal last year …

Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:

Dana Bash will succeed John King as anchor of CNN political news show — Bash, who was married to King, will host her own daily show for the first time in her 30-year career at the network. — CNN veteran Dana Bash will replace John King, the network's chief national correspondent …

Discussion: CNN, Deadline and Variety

Tisya Mavuram / American Prospect:

The Real Tucker Carlson — A neofascist who opposes corporate globalism is still a neofascist—and a threat to democracy. … On Tuesday afternoon, the Prospect posted an article about Tucker Carlson on its home page. Focusing almost solely on Carlson's opposition to corporate globalism …

Discussion: Mediaite

Curt Anderson / Associated Press:

DeSantis-backed New College board scraps 5 professors tenure — The New College of Florida trustees now dominated by conservatives appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis voted Wednesday to deny tenure to five professors, overriding concerns by faculty and students that the decision poses a threat to academic freedom.

Discussion: Florida Politics and The Daily Caller

Nick Schwellenbach / Project On Government Oversight:

Insurrection's Eve — In the weeks before January 6, 2021, then-newly installed officials in charge of the Capitol Police's intelligence division made changes that hampered its ability to provide earlier, more comprehensive, consistent, and prominent warnings about the threats that day.

Jacob Bogage / Washington Post:

DeJoy says USPS will keep raising prices, follow abortion pill rulings — The mail agency has made steady improvements despite persistent inflation, the postmaster general said — The U.S. Postal Service has kept unhealthy businesses alive because of its low prices, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy says.

Discussion: Breitbart

Institute for the Study of War:

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 26, 2023 — April 26, 5pm ET — Click here to see ISW's interactive map of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This map is updated daily alongside the static maps present in this report. — Click here to access ISW's archive of interactive …

NBC News:

Map of gun deaths across the U.S. shows cities have lower rates than rural counties — The most rural counties had a 37% higher rate of firearm deaths than the most urban counties from 2011 to 2020, an analysis found. — Gun death rates are consistently higher in rural areas than in big cities, two decades of data show.

Discussion: UPI

Camille Mumford / Emerson Polling:

April 2023 National Poll: Biden and Trump on Track for 2024 Rematch — Home Polls April 2023 National Poll: Biden and Trump on Track for 2024 Rematch — A Decade Later, Many Attitudes Surrounding Gun Policy Remain the Same — BOSTON - The latest Emerson College Polling national survey …

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Punchbowl News:

Inside a new FAA reauthorization flight: Washington Reagan flights — Delta Air Lines is backing a new coalition aimed at altering the perimeter requirements at Washington Reagan Airport as part of the FAA reauthorization. … Washington Reagan, the airport closest to downtown Washington …

Associated Press:

US to send nuclear ballistic submarines to Korean Peninsula — President Joe Biden and South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol unveiled a new plan Wednesday to counter North Korea's nuclear threat, with the U.S. leader issuing a blunt warning that such an attack would “result in the end of whatever regime” took such action.

LZ Granderson / Los Angeles Times:

Disney's lawsuit will show what DeSantis' war on LGBTQ+ allies is really about — While the lawsuit brought by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Inc. against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his handpicked oversight board came as a surprise to many, the defendants apparently saw it coming.