memeorandum: US Secretary of State Blinken Set to Travel to Beijing for Talks in Coming Weeks (Bloomberg)

12:50 PM ET, June 6, 2023

Top Items:

Lillian Rizzo / CNBC:

PGA Tour agrees to merge with Saudi-backed rival LIV Golf — The PGA Tour agreed to merge with rival LIV Golf, which is backed by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, an entity controlled by the Saudi crown prince. — The proposed merger comes after the PGA Tour and LIV Golf …

Discussion: PGATOUR.COM, ABC News, The Daily Beast, Politico, RedState, 24/7 Wall St., New York Post, Forbes, Associated Press, Mediaite, Awful Announcing, The US Sun, The Daily Caller, CBS News, NPR, Just The News and Political Wire

Alan Blinder / New York Times:

PGA Tour and LIV Golf Agree to Merger — In a stunning announcement, the tour, along with the DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, said the rivals had agreed to create a “new, collectively owned, for-profit entity.” — The PGA Tour and LIV Golf, the insurgent league bankrolled …

Sarah Blaskey / Miami Herald:

Texas sheriff recommends criminal charges in DeSantis' migrant flights to Martha's Vineyard — A Texas sheriff's department has recommended that the district attorney in Bexar County bring criminal charges over the first iteration of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' so-called migrant relocation program.

Discussion: HuffPost, Raw Story, New York Times, Quartz, Joe.My.God., The Daily Caller, The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, UPROXX, Balloon Juice, The Messenger, Sacramento Bee, RedState and The Moderate Voice

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:

It Is Completely Bizarre That Florida Is Allowed to Do This — This scheme to ‘transport’ migrants across state lines is crying out for the intervention of federal law enforcement on every level. — Not to put too fine a point on it, but the state of Florida seems to be running a some kind of kidnapping operation.

Discussion: KQCA-TV, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, NBC News and Joe.My.God.

Adam Gabbatt / The Guardian:
Texas sheriff files criminal case over DeSantis flights to Martha's Vineyard

Discussion: Washington Post, Axios, San Antonio Express-News, SFist, Forbes, UPI, lawprofessors.typepad.com, NBC 6 South Florida, CBS News, HuffPost and Talking Points Memo

Los Angeles Times:
Newsom threatens DeSantis with kidnapping charges after migrants flown to Sacramento

Reuters:
Second flight arrives in Sacramento carrying migrants with Florida documents

Discussion: KRON4, Just The News, USA Today, Breitbart, The Daily Beast, KNSD-TV, New York Post, Insider, The Hill, NBC 6 South Florida and Associated Press

Washington Post:

U.S. had intelligence of detailed Ukrainian plan to attack Nord Stream pipeline — The CIA learned last June, via a European spy agency, that a six-person team of Ukrainian special operations forces intended to blow up the Russia-to-Germany natural gas project

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Rolling Stone

New York Times:

Russia-Ukraine War — Crucial Dam Destroyed on Southern Ukraine's Front Lines — President Volodymyr Zelensky blamed Russia and convened the National Security Council. The damage threatened the safety of a nearby nuclear plant and forced the evacuation of thousands.

Discussion: NBC News, Financial Times, New York Post, The Hill, Defense One, Sputnik News, Reuters, The Guardian, NPR, Al Jazeera, Forbes, The Messenger, Bloomberg and TASS

Washington Post:

Live updates: Nova Kakhovka dam destroyed on Ukraine's front lines, causing flooding and evacuations — A major dam and hydroelectric power plant in southern Ukraine were severely damaged by an explosion early Tuesday, unleashing flooding near the front lines.

Discussion: The Guardian, Reuters, Human Events, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, vaticannews.va, Patterico's Pontifications, The Kyiv Independent, Daily Kos, New York Times, The Gateway Pundit, Metro.co.uk, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Politico, belganewsagency.eu's …, UPI, CBS News and GZERO

CNN:

Exclusive: Mar-a-Lago pool flood raises suspicions among prosecutors in Trump classified documents case — An employee at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence drained the resort's swimming pool last October and ended up flooding a room where computer servers containing surveillance video logs were kept …

Philip Rotner / Bulwark+:
Here's Why Trump's “Declassification” Defense Falls Apart

Discussion: USA Today

New York Times:
Trump Lawyers Visit Justice Dept. as Classified Documents Inquiry Nears End

Alicia Victoria Lozano / NBC News:

Oregon breakaway effort is down to just 8 votes, deepening urban-rural divide — The Greater Idaho movement aims to redraw Idaho's map to include 14 conservative Oregon counties, but opponents say it's only worsening political tensions. — ENTERPRISE, Ore. — A grassroots movement …

Rachel M. Cohen / Vox:

Republicans' abortion bans are nothing like those in Europe — Yes, even the 12-week ones. — Republicans scrambling to address mounting backlash to abortion bans have landed on what they hope they can market as a moderate political compromise: limiting abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight and Jezebel

Axios:

Uninsurable America: Climate change hits the insurance industry … - It is also bedeviling regulators. … - State Farm said in late May it was done accepting new applications for California property insurance — including homes and commercial property — “due to historic increases …

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo

New York Times:

Robert Kennedy Jr., With Musk, Pushes Right-Wing Ideas and Misinformation — Mr. Kennedy, a long-shot Democratic presidential candidate with surprisingly high polling numbers, said he wanted to close the Mexican border and attributed the rise of mass shootings to pharmaceutical drugs.

Discussion: Axios, Politico, Conservative Brief, CNN, TheBlaze, New Republic, Trending Politics Conservative, The Message Box, Insider, The Messenger and Rolling Stone

Judd Legum / Popular Information:
Fox News' favorite Democratic presidential candidate

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Washington Post

Thomas Kika / Newsweek:

Republicans Urge Immigrants to Stay in Florida, Fearing New Law's Impact — A handful of Florida Republicans have implored immigrants to stay in the state in the wake of recent laws signed by Governor Ron DeSantis. — Last month, Florida enacted a new bill, SB 1718, that is set …

Discussion: Raw Story, New Republic and Digby's Hullabaloo

Bloomberg:

US Secretary of State Blinken Set to Travel to Beijing for Talks in Coming Weeks — Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to visit China in the coming weeks for talks with top officials, possibly including President Xi Jinping, people familiar with the matter said, as the US looks …

Discussion: CNN and The Hill

Lee Moran / HuffPost:

Conservative Pundit Says 4 Things Show It's ‘Gotten Very, Very Real’ For Donald Trump — Charlie Sykes explained what the former president “losing his mind” on social media amid developments in the classified documents case really means. — Conservative commentator Charlie Sykes on Monday broke …

Gabby Deutch / Jewish Insider:

U.S. diplomat with antisemitic, racist blog ‘cannot continue to serve’: Foreign Service union president — U.S. Ambassador Eric Rubin called for the firing of Fritz Berggren, who remains at State Department more than two years after the discovery of his ties to the website

Axios:

Team DeSantis bets big on angrier GOP base — Flush with $82.5 million that was just transferred from his state account, the super PAC backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is ready to spend huge sums on a bet that the Republican electorate in 2024 is angrier and more conservative than it was in 2016.

Discussion: Washington Post, NBC News, Florida Politics and The Post Millennial

Jessica Chasmar / Fox News:
Trump campaign continues to push false narratives about DeSantis: Here are five examples

Discussion: Raw Story and Washington Post

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission:

SEC Charges Coinbase for Operating as an Unregistered Securities Exchange, Broker, and Clearing Agency — Coinbase also charged for the unregistered offer and sale of securities in connection with its staking-as-a-service program. — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — 2023-102

Benjamin Weiser / New York Times:

Trump Asks Judge to Stop Carroll's Second Defamation Suit — Former President Donald J. Trump told a judge that he could not have defamed E. Jean Carroll by denying her rape accusation because a jury had found him liable only for sexually abusing her. — Former President Donald J. Trump told …

Discussion: New Republic, Raw Story, Associated Press and Political Wire

Audrey Fahlberg / The Dispatch:

North Carolina Republicans Fret Over Their Gubernatorial Frontrunner … North Carolina Republicans continue to feel uneasy about their party's current gubernatorial frontrunner, firebrand Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. But no coherent strategy yet exists to knock him out in a primary.

Discussion: Associated Press and The American Independent

Mike Masnick / Techdirt:

Twitter Admits in Court Filing: Elon Musk Is Simply Wrong About Government Interference At Twitter — from the confirmation-idiocy dept — It is amazing the degree to which some people will engage in confirmation bias and believe absolute nonsense, even as the facts show the opposite is true.

Washington Post:

FBI had reviewed, closed inquiry into claims at center of Hill fight — Republican lawmaker James Comer said he will still seek to hold the FBI director in contempt of Congress after viewing document in question — The FBI and Justice Department under then-Attorney General William P. Barr …

Discussion: CNN, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller, Balloon Juice, Mediaite, Conservative Brief, The Pulse of NH, Newsbusters, New York Times, Raw Story, Washington Press, Washington Free Beacon and Politico

Whitney Downard / Indiana Capital Chronicle:

Fort Wayne man charged with felony in harassment of Congressman Banks — (Photo courtesy of congressional office) — Allen County prosecutors charged a Fort Wayne man with intimidation and harassment of Congressman Jim Banks after he allegedly threatened the elected representative and his family.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and The Daily Signal

Paul Sonne / New York Times:

Fake Putin Speech Calling for Martial Law Aired in Russia — The Kremlin said it was investigating what it called a “hack” after a bogus speech aired on some radio and television networks. — A faked declaration of martial law and military mobilization by President Vladimir V. Putin …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, Radio Free Europe/Radio … and The Kyiv Independent

Alex Seitz-Wald / NBC News:

Maine election officials say No Labels may be misleading voters in its third-party push — After receiving complaints, Maine's secretary of state is trying to make sure voters are aware they switched their registration to the centrist party. — LINCOLNVILLE, Maine …

Matthew Chapman / Raw Story:

Florida college left without American history professor after axing DeSantis critic — Erik Wallenberg, a visiting professor at the New College of Florida and a detractor of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' efforts to take over the state's higher educational system, was unceremoniously removed …

Discussion: Miami New Times

Abrahm Lustgarten / ProPublica:

Climate Crisis Is on Track to Push One-Third of Humanity Out of Its Most Livable Environment — As conditions that best support life shift toward the poles, more than 600 million people are already living outside of a crucial “climate niche,” facing more extreme heat, rising food scarcity and higher death rates.

NBC News:

Boppy's recalled infant lounger is now linked to at least 10 deaths — An NBC News investigation last month found that baby loungers were associated with more deaths than federal regulators had previously announced. — The Boppy Newborn Lounger, a popular infant pillow recalled nearly two years ago …

Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill:

Trump to sit with Fox News's Bret Baier for interview airing June 19 — Former President Trump is slated to sit for an extensive interview with Fox News's Bret Baier later this month, The Hill has learned. — The taped interview, which is set to air June 19 during Baier's “Special Report” …

Discussion: Mediaite

Betsy Klein / CNN:

Biden to convene his Cabinet on the heels of debt ceiling resolution — President Joe Biden is set to convene his Cabinet Tuesday, bringing his top lieutenants together to discuss a wide range of topics for the first Cabinet meeting since he declared his candidacy for reelection and days …

Discussion: IJR and Political Wire

Josh Boak / Associated Press:
White House website highlights infrastructure as Biden pushes policy wins

Discussion: The White House

David Enrich / New York Times:

A Reporter Investigated Sexual Misconduct. Then the Attacks Began. — After publishing an exposé, journalists in New Hampshire faced broken windows, vulgar graffiti and a legal brawl, with important First Amendment implications. — Reporting from Concord, N.H., and Melrose, Mass.

more at Mediagazer »

Ursula Perano / The Daily Beast:

How Lauren Boebert Gifted Her Dem Opponent a New Attack — Adam Frisch, who is challenging the Colorado Republican again after narrowly losing in 2022, is capitalizing on her strange maneuvering around a recent key vote. — When Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) was caught on video missing …

Discussion: Raw Story, CNN, Mediaite, Denver Post, The Hill and IJR