memeorandum: House GOP flirts with Jan. 6 extremism (Politico)

2:10 PM ET, June 18, 2023

Top Items:

Chip Muir / The Hill:

Nine reasons Biden should pardon Trump — Conventional thinking suggests that under no circumstances would President Joe Biden consider, let alone offer, former President Trump a pardon for the charges in his June 9 indictment. No one has made the suggestion.

Discussion: Breitbart and Power Line

Alex Thompson / Axios:

Biden's weird words — President Biden often uses old-timey expressions that confound even his own staff. That happened again Friday when he ended a speech on gun violence with “God save the queen, man.” — Even Olivia Dalton, the White House's principal deputy press secretary, didn't know what her boss meant.

Discussion: RedState

Zolan Kanno-Youngs / New York Times:

As Trump Battles Charges, Biden Focuses on the Business of Governing — The past week appears to provide a blueprint for the way the White House wants to handle the politically touchy subject of former President Donald J. Trump's legal troubles. — Reporting from Philadelphia

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Vanity Fair, Al Jazeera, NPR, Political Wire, Power Line, UPI, Associated Press, Florida Politics, The Hill and NBC10 Philadelphia

Kevin Liptak / CNN:
Biden kicks off reelection bid with union rally in Philadelphia

Discussion: 19FortyFive, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, Politico, Fox News, Associated Press, Hartford Courant, The Hill, CNBC, RedState, Washington Times, CBS News, ABC News, Washington Examiner, The Messenger, The Philadelphia Inquirer and New York Post

Neil Vigdor / New York Times:

DeSantis Takes Clear Aim at Trump in Nevada, an Important Early State — Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida avoided mentioning Donald Trump at a G.O.P. fund-raiser in Nevada, but he took clear aim at the former president. — Reporting from Gardnerville, Nev. — In black boots …

Discussion: The Messenger, New York Post, The Nevada Independent, Associated Press, NBC News, The Hill, Florida Politics, Raw Story and Insider

New York Times:
Ron DeSantis Is Young, Has Little Kids and Wants America to Know It

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Jonathan Landay / Reuters:

Trump lacked power to declassify secret nuclear arms document, experts say — Even when he was president, Donald Trump lacked the legal authority to declassify a U.S. nuclear weapons-related document that he is charged with illegally possessing, security experts said, contrary to the former U.S. president's claim.

Discussion: Political Wire

Peter Wehner / The Atlantic:

Morality Is for Trump What Colors Are to the Color-Blind — The majority of his enablers, though, still know right from wrong. — Earlier this week, Donald Trump was arraigned in Miami on charges that he willfully retained documents containing some of the nation's most sensitive secrets …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Washington Post:

How government rules for classified papers could help Trump delay his trial — Graymail, ‘Goldilocks rule’ and silent witnesses could help the former president put off case until after 2024 election — As former president Donald Trump prepares for trial on charges that he repeatedly …

Discussion: Political Wire

Niall Stanage / The Hill:
The Memo: Trump's legal defenses draw derision — even from some conservatives

Discussion: Orange County Register and ABC News

Politico:

House GOP flirts with Jan. 6 extremism — Far-right conservatives have entertained false conspiracy theories about the Capitol attack — but so have some House GOP leaders and key committee chiefs, without outright embracing them. — House Republicans don't want to talk about Jan. 6.

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, Breitbart and Political Wire

The Guardian:

‘They enjoyed this’: Ukrainian woman recounts five-month nightmare of torture and imprisonment — Russian occupiers have unleashed a reign of terror in the city of Enerhodar, detailed here by one survivor of the secret police — Dan Sabbagh and Artem Mazhulin in Zaporizhzhia

Ruby Cramer / Washington Post:

Tracing the power of Casey DeSantis — As Ron DeSantis pursues the presidency, his wife's role is limitless. Casey, 42, isn't a typical political spouse. Why does that inspire so much fear? Her rise in TV and insular marriage tell the story. — Where's Casey? — Ron was asking.

Discussion: Insider and Daily Mail

CNN:

Christie calls GOP presidential debate pledge a ‘useless idea’ — Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie said Sunday it was a “useless idea” to force 2024 GOP contenders to sign a pledge to back the party's ultimate nominee in order to participate in primary debates.

Discussion: Fox News, Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, Politico and The Hill

Jesse McKinley / New York Times:

Why NYC Suburbs Increasingly Resent the City — Tension between the city and its surrounding areas over issues like crime, immigration and congestion pricing has grown since the pandemic. — Ed Day says he proudly remembers his days as a New York City police commander, fighting crime and helping to restore the city's luster.

NBC News:

Pence: 'I'm still waiting for the rash of prosecutions of people involved in the BLM riots' of 2020 — Former Vice President Mike Pence says “the vast majority of Republicans have lost confidence” in the DOJ in an exclusive interview with Meet the Press.

Llazar Semini / Associated Press:

After escaping the Taliban, hundreds of Afghans languish in Albania in a prolonged US visa process — Almost two years since he fled Afghanistan to escape the Taliban takeover, Firooz Mashoof is still haunted by the memory of his last day in Kabul — the bus that took him to the airport …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Radio Free Europe/Radio …