memeorandum: Juneteenth is a holiday for all Americans. It's our second independence day. (Theodore R. Johnson/Washington Post)

2:00 PM ET, June 19, 2023

Top Items:

FBI resisted opening probe into Trump's role in Jan. 6 for more than a year — In the DOJ's investigation of Jan. 6, key Justice officials also quashed an early plan for a task force focused on people in Trump's orbit — Hours after he was sworn in as attorney general …

Discussion: Vanity Fair, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

emptywheel:

The WaPo Shows There Should Be More Scrutiny of Steve D'Antuono — The WaPo has a story that many Merrick Garland attackers claim confirms their fears about the DOJ investigation. Except the story has really important gaps, most importantly in its portrayal of the fake electors investigation …

Charlie Sykes / Morning Shots:

The Call is Coming from Inside the House — The new anti-Trumpers … — William Barr, Donald Trump's Attorney General — Happy Monday. — As I've warned you before, the new anti-Trump coalition will require a healthy gag reflex because it could include many of Trump's worst enablers.

Discussion: Notes from the Middleground, Raw Story and IJR

Chris Cameron / New York Times:

Barr Says Documents Case Against Trump Is ‘Entirely of His Own Making’ — The former attorney general, who has become a vocal critic of Donald Trump, was one of two people who served in the former president's cabinet to question his judgment on Sunday. — Reporting from Washington

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Rolling Stone, National Review, 19FortyFive, MSNBC, HuffPost, Mediaite, Washington Post, CNN, CBS News, Occupy Democrats, RedState, Politico, WFLA-TV, Insider, USA Today, The Hill, Political Wire and Breitbart

William P. Barr / The Free Press:

Bill Barr: The Truth About the Trump Indictment — This time the president is not a victim of a witch hunt. The situation is entirely of his own making. — He's the victim. Since President Trump was indicted in Florida last week, those of us who read and listen to conservative media have heard that singular message.

Discussion: ABC News, New York Post, Vanity Fair, New Republic, Washington Times, Washington Examiner, Breitbart, Rolling Stone, Bloomberg, The Hill, RedState, The Daily Caller and CBS News

Politico:
The GOP field discovers there are only side acts in the Trump show

Discussion: 19FortyFive, Raw Story and New York Post

Gareth Evans / BBC:

Titanic tourist submersible goes missing with search under way — A submersible used to take people to view the wreck of the Titanic has gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean. — The Boston Coastguard told BBC News that a search and rescue operation was under way off the coast of Newfoundland.

Rebecca Beitsch / The Hill:

Judge orders Trump not to disclose evidence in documents case — A federal magistrate judge Monday agreed to a motion from the Justice Department to block former President Trump from disclosing information relating to the Mar-a-Lago case, after prosecutors said the investigation remains ongoing.

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Times, RedState, Al Jazeera and Law & Crime

Tierney Sneed / CNN:

Judge issues order that Trump keep quiet about disclosure of discovery material issued in classified documents case — A magistrate judge has signed off on special counsel Jack Smith's request that former President Donald Trump and his co-defendant Walt Nauta be prohibited from disclosing information …

Discussion: NBC News, Reuters, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit, Conservative Brief and Raw Story

Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:

Why Robert Kennedy Jr.'s 2024 Bid Is a Headache for Biden — The unexpected polling strength of an anti-vaccine activist with a celebrated Democratic lineage points to the president's weaknesses, which his team is aiming to shore up. — Reporting from Washington

Discussion: Washington Times, Althouse, No More Mister Nice Blog, Florida Politics, The Daily Caller, Daily Mail, New York Post, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Conservative Brief, CNN and The Hill

William Cooper / Orlando Sentinel:
A Democrat's case for DeSantis

Discussion: Daily Mail, New York Post, Washington Examiner and Mercury News

David Rothkopf / The Daily Beast:

Blinken, Xi Take a Step Back From U.S.-China Cold War — Both sides emphasize communications, stability key to challenging superpower relationship. … The soundtrack for the China mission of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken might well be “I Can't Quit You Baby” by Led Zeppelin or …

Discussion: BBC, Reuters and CBS News

Matthew Lee / Associated Press:
Blinken and Xi pledge to stabilize the deteriorating ties between the US and China

Washington Post:
Blinken holds ‘candid’ talks with China's Xi amid effort to ease tensions

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times and Politico

Gideon Rachman / Financial Times:

Europe has fallen behind America and the gap is growing — From technology to energy to capital markets and universities, the EU cannot compete with the US — The Ukraine war has revived the transatlantic alliance. But the relationship between the US and its European allies is increasingly lopsided.

Discussion: Radio Free Europe/Radio …

New York Times:

G.O.P. Targets Researchers Who Study Disinformation Ahead of 2024 Election — A legal campaign against universities and think tanks seeks to undermine the fight against false claims about elections, vaccines and other hot political topics. — On Capitol Hill and in the courts …

Discussion: Washington Press, Raw Story and Election Law Blog

Andrew McMillan / WSOC-TV:

Lawsuit alleges NC House Speaker had affair, sex with people seeking political favor — RALEIGH — A detailed lawsuit filed by a former Apex City Councilman claims that North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland County) started an affair with his wife and engaged in group sex with other people seeking political favor.

Glen OwenDaily Mail / PerthNow:

Chinese military scientist Zhou Yusen ‘thrown to his death’ at Wuhan lab for leaking COVID lab information — A Chinese military scientist who was reportedly thrown to his death from the roof of a Wuhan institute is at the centre of mounting evidence that the COVID pandemic resulted from a lab leak.

Discussion: National Review

Shira Kadari-Ovadia / Haaretz:

'I'll Blow It Up': Far-right MKs Threaten Summer Camp for Israeli and Palestinian Orphans — At a Knesset Education Committee meeting, coalition MKs slam a youth village for renting its complex to host a summer camp for bereaved Israeli and Palestinian children, warning that ‘this government will respond’

Discussion: The Times of Israel

New York Times:

Russia Sought to Kill Defector in Florida — A failed plot to assassinate a C.I.A. spy in 2020 in part led to expulsions of the agency's chief in Moscow and his Russian counterpart in Washington. — As President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has pursued enemies abroad …

Discussion: The Messenger, New York Post and Saywhat Politics

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

How Classified Evidence Could Complicate the Trump Documents Case — Prosecutors and defense lawyers appear to be preparing for a pretrial fight over showing sensitive evidence to the jury and the public. — Reporting from Washington — Lawyers for former President Donald J. Trump …

Discussion: Rolling Stone, The Hill and Washington Post

Mary Harrington / UnHerd:

Reaction11:53 Pride protests strain America's multicultural project — A clash of ideologies is tearing the country apart — Earlier this month, the White House unfurled a Progress Pride flag flanked by two national flags. This prompted some to read the act as symbolising defeat of the Stars and Stripes by a new ruling ideology.

Yaron Steinbuch / New York Post:

Jewish teacher resigns after antisemitic harassment from 12-year-old student — A Jewish middle school teacher in Massachusetts has resigned after facing antisemitic harassment by a 12-year-old student - who allegedly made Nazi jokes and sent him a drawing of Adolf Hitler.

Discussion: Raw Story

Politico:

2024's hidden prize: The upper hand in tax ‘Armageddon’ — If either party can claim a full sweep of next year's elections, it would claim the power to unilaterally shape the code for millions of Americans. — If either party can claim both the White House and Congress in next fall's elections …

Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Becomes Transgender-Care Outlier as More in Europe Urge Caution — Republicans seize on European doubts over medical interventions to call for restrictions — WASHINGTON—The U.S. is becoming an outlier among many Western nations in the way its national medical institutions treat children suffering …

Discussion: Power Line and Breitbart

New York Times:

In Argentina, Inflation Passes 100% (and the Restaurants Are Packed) — Argentina's financial crisis has a surprising side effect: a flourishing dining scene in Buenos Aires, as residents rush to spend pesos before they lose more value. — By Natalie AlcobaPhotographs by Sarah Pabst

Discussion: The Messenger

Sarah K. Burris / Raw Story:

‘Flat-out lying’: Legal analyst fact-checks Mike Pence claiming no BLM protesters were arrested — Former Vice President Mike Pence faced off against an angry crowd of Donald Trump's supporters who built a gallows on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol and chanted “Hang Mike Pence.”