memeorandum: How a Saudi firm tapped a gusher of water in drought-stricken Arizona (Washington Post)

2:00 AM ET, July 17, 2023

Top Items:

Jonathan Martin / Politico:

No-Show Republicans Shun NGA — The once-vital forum for common ground among state leaders has fallen prey to polarization. Its new chief, Utah's GOP Gov. Spencer Cox, has something to say about that. — ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — There are 26 Republican governors.

Politico:

Playbook: DeSantis in disarray? — Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross — DRIVING THE DAY — NEW J-MART FROM ATLANTIC CITY — “No-Show Republicans Shun NGA”: “There are 26 Republican governors. Three of them showed up here this week at the annual summer meeting of the National Governors Association.

Discussion: Mother Jones

Politico:

Here's who won, and lost, and face-planted in the presidential money race last quarter — Nearly every candidate's fundraising came with a caveat. — Ron DeSantis has money problems. — Tim Scott is on a bit of a spending binge. — Rich candidates are parting with their money, while also-rans are struggling to break through.

Discussion: Chicago Sun Times, Raw Story, IJR, CBS News, Financial Times, The Messenger, Florida Politics, The Daily Caller, New York Times, Washington Post, Balloon Juice, CNN, RedState, Washington Examiner, The Hill and Bloomberg

CNN:
Early alarm bells for DeSantis as Pence falls behind: Takeaways from new campaign finance reports

Discussion: USA Today, Florida Politics, Raw Story, Politico and Associated Press

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
DeSantis campaign sheds staff amid cash crunch

CNN:
Ron DeSantis to sit down with CNN's Jake Tapper for an exclusive interview Tuesday

Discussion: New York Post, National Review, PoliticusUSA, Florida Politics, Sun-Sentinel and Political Wire

NBC News:
Ron DeSantis' campaign finances have some flashing warning signs

Discussion: Gazette, Breitbart, ZeroHedge News, Mother Jones, The Daily Beast, Insider, Washington Post, Bloomberg, The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, Deadline, USA Today, The Messenger, Rolling Stone and Political Wire

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

Trump praises judge overseeing his classified documents case, saying she ‘loves our country’ — Former President Trump praised the judge overseeing his classified documents case as his legal team seeks a postponement of his trial in Florida. — Trump's motion for a continuance of the trial …

Discussion: Washington Times and The Messenger

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:

Trump's outbursts met with silence so far by prosecutor, judge — Other defendants might get in trouble for publicly calling the prosecutor a deranged drug user. Not Donald Trump. — Since his indictment last month on charges of withholding classified documents, former president Donald Trump …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Messenger and PoliticusUSA

Rebecca Beitsch / The Hill:

Trump seeks unprecedented delays as he battles prosecution — Former President Trump is seeking unprecedented delays as he faces prosecution for mishandling classified documents, arguing his status as a candidate and other factors require punting the case indefinitely.

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo and Raw Story

Washington Post:

How a Saudi firm tapped a gusher of water in drought-stricken Arizona — Lax rules let the foreign-owned company pump water from state land to grow alfalfa for the kingdom's cattle. After almost a decade, the deal is in jeopardy. — BUTLER VALLEY, Ariz. — A megadrought has seared Arizona …

Discussion: Insider and Raw Story

Lidia Kelly / Reuters:

Russian scientists warn of powerful solar flare activity on Monday — Powerful solar flare activity is forecast for Monday which may interfere with short-wave communications, Russian scientists said after three flares were observed on the sun on Sunday. — The Fedorov Institute …

Lidia Kelly / Reuters:

Traffic stopped on Crimean Bridge due to ‘emergency’ - Russian-backed governor — Traffic was stopped at the Russian-built Crimean Bridge linking the Crimean peninsula to the Russian region of Krasnodar due to “an emergency” situation, Russia-installed Governor Sergei Aksyonov wrote on the Telegram messaging app early on Monday.

Discussion: Bloomberg, New York Times, Al Jazeera, Associated Press, Ukraine Today .org, TASS, The Messenger and ZeroHedge News

CNN:

Top House Democrats rebuke Jayapal comments that Israel is a ‘racist state’ as she tries to walk them back — Top House Democrats are rebuking Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal's comments from earlier this weekend that “Israel is a racist state,” which she sought to walk back on Sunday.

Discussion: Reuters, The Hill, Politico, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, Breitbart, New York Post, Washington Examiner, Fox News and Haaretz

Tim Dickinson / Rolling Stone:

A Trooper Issued More than 1,000 Fake Tickets. Connecticut Police Won't Say Whether He Still Has a Job — An audit has uncovered a massive scandal in Connecticut, where hundreds of troopers manipulated the state's racial-profiling database through fraudulent citations

David Morgan / Reuters:

Third-party No Labels will not be a ‘spoiler’ in 2024 election, chair says — The third-party No Labels group will stay out of the 2024 U.S. presidential race if polling shows its candidate would play a “spoiler” role by helping to elect either the Democratic or Republican nominee, co-chairman Joe Lieberman said on Sunday.

Discussion: ABC News and Political Wire

Brad Brooks / Reuters:

US heatwave: high temperatures forecast, northeast braces for rain — Nearly a quarter of the population in the U.S. is under warnings for extreme heat on Sunday, while an already rain-soaked New England braces for more downpours, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

Julia Johnson / Washington Examiner:

Asa Hutchinson met with booing and ‘Trump’ chant during Turning Point Action speech — Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson was met with audible booing from attendees at the Turning Point Action Conference in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday. — When Hutchinson, who is running …

Discussion: HuffPost, The Hill, Raw Story, The Messenger and Mediaite

Ruby Cramer / Washington Post:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggests covid was designed to spare Jews, Chinese people — Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. advanced a dangerous conspiracy theory this week that the coronavirus could have been a bioweapon “deliberately targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews …