memeorandum: Seattle Firefighters Now Drilled on Ibram Kendi Before Promotion to Top Jobs (Aaron Sibarium/Washington Free Beacon)

6:05 PM ET, May 25, 2023

Top Items:

Trump workers moved Mar-a-Lago boxes a day before Justice Dept. came for documents — New details, including alleged ‘dress rehearsal’ for moving sensitive papers, show a focus on Donald Trump's instructions and intent — Two of Donald Trump's employees moved boxes of papers …

Discussion: CNN, Insider, Raw Story, Washington Press, Alternet.org, Mediaite, Forbes, Joe.My.God., The Messenger and Political Wire

Rolling Stone:

Trump's Lawyers Warn Him: Get Ready to Be Indicted by the Feds — The former president has angrily complained in response to predictions that if the Justice Department is going to charge him, then “what about Joe Biden?” … The feds have also been probing whether or not Trump tried …

Discussion: Vanity Fair, Raw Story, The Messenger, Bloomberg, Talking Points Memo and CNN

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

It Was More Than a #DeSaster — Ron DeSantis's botched campaign launch suggests that he's no Trump killer. — I've long been of the view that Donald Trump is something akin to a horror-movie monster—a Godzilla or a T. Rex, say—for the American political system.

Margaret Sullivan / The Guardian:

Now's the time to think about just how bad a DeSantis presidency would be — Consider what the two-term governor has wrought in his home state and in his early forays into world affairs — olitical journalists and pundits spent much of Wednesday obsessing over the gimmicky way that the Florida governor …

Discussion: The Nation

Marc Caputo / The Messenger:
Inside the Secret DeSantis Donor Briefing (Exclusive)

Discussion: Politico, Insider, Florida's Voice, The Hill and The Daily Caller

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
Ron DeSantis vs. the ‘Woke Mind Virus’

Discussion: The Nation, Vox, Mediaite, CNN, Washington Examiner and The Wrap

David Edwards / Raw Story:
Ron DeSantis says he would consider pardoning Trump for Jan. 6

Discussion: HuffPost, Rolling Stone, Digby's Hullabaloo, Joe.My.God. and Mediaite

Greg Minchak / The Lincoln Project:
An Open Letter To Ron DeSantis From The Lincoln Project

Discussion: New York Times, Twitchy, Mediaite, Balloon Juice, Florida Politics and Althouse

Jim Geraghty / National Review:
Everybody Calm Down about DeSantis's Campaign Début

Discussion: Vanity Fair, Semafor, No More Mister Nice Blog, RedState, Breitbart, Reason, Axios, The Daily Dot and New York Times

Sarah Smith / BBC:
The campaign launch Ron DeSantis will want to forget

NBC News:

Oath Keepers founder sentenced to 18 years in Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy case — Stewart Rhodes, who said after the Capitol attack that the rioters “should have brought rifles,” received the longest sentence of any Jan. 6 defendant to date. — WASHINGTON — The founder of the far-right Oath Keepers …

Alan Feuer / New York Times:

Oath Keepers Leader Is Sentenced to 18 Years in Jan. 6 Sedition Case — The sentence for Stewart Rhodes was the longest so far in the federal investigation of the Capitol attack and the first issued to a defendant convicted of sedition. — Reporting from Washington

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, New York Daily News, Florida Phoenix, Raw Story, KTLA, Talking Points Memo and Associated Press

Mariana Alfaro / Washington Post:

DeSantis says, if elected president, he'd consider pardons for Jan. 6 offenders — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that, if elected president, he would consider pardoning some of those convicted on charges related to the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Discussion: Florida Politics and Political Wire

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes gets 18 years for Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy

Discussion: acecomments.mu.nu, CBS News, USA Today, The Daily Caller, Joe.My.God., The Gateway Pundit and Agence France-Presse

Lauren Sforza / The Hill:
DeSantis says he'll consider pardoning Jan. 6 defendants, including Trump

Discussion: CNBC, Democrats and Fox News

George Prayias / Clay & Buck's Exclusive Interview …:
Clay & Buck's Exclusive Interview with Presidential Candidate Governor Ron DeSantis

Discussion: UPI, Washington Examiner, National Review, The Wrap, Forbes, Just The News, Deadline, IJR, The Gateway Pundit, The Messenger and Florida Politics

Washington Post:
Oath Keepers leader Rhodes sentenced to 18 years for Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy

Discussion: The Hill, Insider, CBS News, The Messenger, Outside the Beltway, The Sun, Associated Press, Vox, New Republic, Bloomberg and Raw Story

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Supreme Court Limits E.P.A.'s Power to Address Water Pollution — The justices ruled that discharges into some wetlands are not covered by the Clean Water Act. — Reporting from Washington — The Supreme Court on Thursday curtailed the Environmental Protection Agency's authority …

Matt Ford / New Republic:

Samuel Alito's Colleagues Catch Him in a Judicial Contradiction — Three years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that a federal law banning workplace discrimination on the basis of sex also applies to gay and transgender workers. Justice Neil Gorsuch crafted a narrow ruling that drew upon …

Ariane de Vogue / CNN:
Supreme Court rolls back federal safeguards for wetlands under Clean Water Act

Politico:

House conservatives blanch at leaked details of McCarthy-Biden debt talks — The group was already unlikely to support a final bipartisan deal, but lingering anger with Kevin McCarthy could have lasting implications on his speakership. — As details leak about an emerging bipartisan debt deal …

Discussion: New York Times, The Hill, CBS News, Washington Examiner, The Guardian, The Daily Caller, HuffPost and Courthouse News Service

Politico:
Democrats to Biden: Get ‘off the bench’ in the debt limit fight

Discussion: MSNBC, Forbes, ABC News and Alternet.org

Dan Froomkin / Press Watch:
Republicans are hellbent on default because why not

Discussion: Washington Post

Haris Alic / Washington Times: 35 Freedom Caucus members demand McCarthy expand debt limit negotiations with Biden

Ben Jacobs / New York Magazine:

CPAC Is Rocked by a Resignation — A top leader in the organization that puts on CPAC, the highly influential conference of conservative leaders, resigned on Tuesday night citing financial mysteries surrounding the organization's leader. — Bob Beauprez, the longtime treasurer …

Discussion: Mediaite, Alternet.org, Raw Story, Washington Press, Joe.My.God., The National Pulse+ and The Daily Beast

Washington Post:

CPAC treasurer accuses chief Matt Schlapp of financial, personnel mismanagement — The resignation letter adds pressure on Schlapp, who is fighting a defamation lawsuit from a campaign staffer who alleges he groped him — Matt Schlapp, the prominent Trump ally who leads …

Discussion: The Hill and PoliticusUSA

Haven Orecchio-Egresitz / Insider:

Lauren Boebert's son called 911 in tears to report his father was ‘throwing’ him around the house. Then she took the phone. — In December, Lauren Boebert's teen son called 911 to report his dad was “throwing me” in the house. — The teen sobbed throughout the two-minute call, saying he didn't understand why his dad was mad.

Discussion: Raw Story, The Daily Caller, The Daily Dot, Jezebel and Joe.My.God.

J. David Goodman / New York Times:

Texas Panel Recommends Impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton — The Republican-led House committee said Mr. Paxton's abuses of office rose to the level of possible crimes that warranted an impeachment vote. — Reporting from Austin — A Republican-led committee of the Texas House …

Discussion: The Guardian

The Texas Tribune:
Aide to Ken Paxton calls investigation into attorney general “illegal,” says Paxton can't be impeached for current allegations

Discussion: Axios, Associated Press, Vox and Off the Kuff

Andrew Lapin / Jewish Telegraphic Agency:

The Florida mom who sought to ban Amanda Gorman's poem says she's sorry for promoting the Protocols of the Elders of Zion — (JTA) - Months before a Miami-area mother persuaded a local school to restrict access to an Amanda Gorman poem, she was posting antisemitic memes on her Facebook page.

Discussion: Raw Story, Associated Press, Rolling Stone, NewsOne and The Daily Beast

Aaron Kliegman / Fox News:

University program linking Christians, Republicans to Nazis granted DHS funds under ‘anti-terror’ initiative — Biden admin funding controversial efforts to treat conservative groups as radical, watchdog warns — FIRST ON FOX: The Biden administration is doling out taxpayer money through …

Discussion: New York Post, HotAir, The Daily Signal, Human Events, National Review, Newsbusters, Trending Politics Conservative, The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner, The Gateway Pundit, BizPac Review, One America News Network and Twitchy

Sarah K. Burris / Raw Story:
Republicans triggered by Homeland Security chart showing right-wing extremism begins with GOP activism

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Newsbusters

Alex Thompson / Axios:

DeSantis PAC adds fake fighter jets to launch video — The super PAC supporting Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign altered footage to include the sound and sight of fighter jets flying over the Florida governor in its video promoting his campaign launch. — The video by Never Back Down …

Discussion: Insider, FIRST DRAFT, Raw Story, Forbes, Joe.My.God. and UPROXX

Michael Luciano / Mediaite:

Ronna McDaniel Says Possible U.S. Default ‘Bodes Very Well for the Republican Field’ in 2024 — Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel said the U.S. potentially defaulting on its debt would be a boon for Republicans in 2024. — McDaniel joined Wednesday's edition of The Story on Fox News …

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight and Democrats

Eric Lutz / Vanity Fair:
The Head of the Republican Party Literally Said a Default Could Bode “Very Well” for the GOP

Discussion: Politico, Alternet.org and CNN

Chris Stokel-Walker / The i Paper:

Twitter is making researchers delete data it gave them unless they pay $42,000 — EXCLUSIVEMove to hike price of academic access compared to ‘book burning’ amid fears it will harm fight against misinformation online — Academic researchers have been set a deadline of the end of the month …

Nathan L. Gonzales / Roll Call:

Left-behind polling memo shows abortion hurting outlook for GOP — Generic support for Democratic House and Senate increased — One party's trash is another party's treasure. — In the latest chapter of what seems to be a long-running series about Roll Call getting ahold of things people …

Discussion: Political Wire

Reuters:

Exclusive: Slimmed-down US debt ceiling deal takes shape — U.S. President Joe Biden and top Republican lawmaker Kevin McCarthy are edging close to a deal on the U.S. debt ceiling, with the parties just $70 billion apart on discretionary spending, according to a person familiar with the talks.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Messenger and New Republic

David Latona / Reuters:

Killer whales wreck boat in latest attack off Spain — Killer whales severely damaged a sailing boat off the coast of southern Spain, the local maritime rescue service said on Thursday, adding to dozens of orca attacks on vessels recorded so far this year on Spanish and Portuguese coasts.

Discussion: HotAir, CBS News, Gizmodo, Joe.My.God., The Sun and Telegraph

Michael Peregrine / Forbes:

Gym Shoes In The Oval Office Is A Sartorial Wake-Up Call For Leaders — It was, to borrow a Sports Illustrated phrase, a sign that the apocalypse is near. — Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries …

Brooke Leigh Howard / The Daily Beast:

School That Allegedly Had ‘Black’ Classrooms Now in More Trouble — An expanded federal probe is underway after a parent blew the whistle on apparent segregation at an Atlanta elementary school. — A federal department has expanded its probe into an Atlanta school district after a parent …

Discussion: Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Raw Story

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Target's surrender to MAGA rage shows how anti-wokeness really works — It is sometimes said that corporate America is a battleground in the culture wars. This has taken on ugly new meaning in the case of Target, which just announced that it will pull some LBGTQ-friendly merchandise …

Discussion: BizPac Review, Digby's Hullabaloo and NBC News

Rebecca Crosby / Popular Information:

Tennessee Speaker appoints conspiracy theorist to develop state social studies standards — Last week, Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R) announced that he had appointed Laurie Cardoza-Moore to serve on the Tennessee Standards Recommendation Committee to oversee …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and Joe.My.God.