memeorandum: Niger Army Ready to Hit Back After Coup Attempt, Presidency Says (Katarina Hoije/Bloomberg)

12:05 PM ET, July 26, 2023

Top Items:

Josh Boswell / Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden's lawyers face SANCTIONS after being accused of lying to the clerk in his criminal tax case as judge orders First Son's attorneys to explain themselves by tonight — Hunter Biden's legal team is accused of lying to the clerk in his criminal case

Discussion: New York Post, RedState, Breitbart, CNN, Twitchy, JONATHAN TURLEY, NBC News, Power Line, Washington Examiner and TheBlaze

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Judge says member of Hunter Biden's legal team ‘misrepresented her identity’ on eve of plea deal hearing — Biden's legal team staunchly denied any misconduct, saying the episode was a misunderstanding. — The judge who will review Hunter Biden's plea deal on Wednesday accused a member …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Fox News and Political Wire

Punchbowl News:

7/26/23 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM — If you work at the DCCC or you're camped out in House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' second-floor Capitol office, the current state of the Republican Conference probably has you salivating. … If you talk to senior GOP leadership figures privately, they'll admit this.

Docket updates for United States v. Biden …:
CORRECTING ENTRY: — ORAL ORDER re 8 and 9 - The Court is in receipt of the parties' letters regarding …

Discussion: Fox News, BizPac Review and The Daily Caller

New York Times:
Republicans in Congress Seek to Block Hunter Biden's Plea Deal

Lisa Lerer / New York Times:

Anti-Trump Ads in Iowa Feature Republican Voters Who Turned Against Him — Hoping to persuade G.O.P. voters that Donald Trump cannot win another general election, the Republican Accountability Project is running ads that feature voters who grew disillusioned with him.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, American Greatness, Financial Times and NBC News

Jose Pagliery / The Daily Beast:

The Fulton County Case Against Trump May Be the Most Serious—and Imminent — Donald Trump is facing legal jeopardy on a number of fronts. But the Fulton County case may be the most challenging for him to wriggle out of. — The slowest of the many criminal investigations into Donald Trump …

Discussion: Alternet.org, Raw Story, Breitbart, The Messenger and The Guardian

Paul Rosenzweig / The Atlantic:

The 2024 Election Could Be the End of the Cases Against Donald Trump — The most powerful office in the nation presents his best chance to terminate the cases against him. — If, as seems likely, Donald Trump is the Republican presidential nominee next year, the 2024 elections …

Discussion: NBC News, Raw Story and Salon

NBC News:

Rudy Giuliani concedes he made ‘false’ statements about Georgia election workers — The Trump ally's acknowledgment came in a Tuesday filing related to the 2020 election workers' lawsuit about baseless claims of fraud that he made against them. — Rudy Giuliani conceded in a court filing Tuesday …

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Giuliani won't contest Georgia election workers' claims that he falsely accused them of manipulating ballots — In the heavily couched statement, Giuliani also conceded that his statements meet the “factual elements of liability” for Moss and Freeman's claims that his attacks amounted to “intentional infliction of emotional distress.”

Discussion: The Messenger, New York Post, New Republic, UPI, USA Today, RedState, The Guardian, IJR and Raw Story

Washington Post:

Republicans tiptoe toward an impeachment inquiry — Good morning, Early Birds. Are you like us and way overthink and inevitably fail Captchas, those little puzzles to make sure you're a human visiting a website? Soon, we might no longer have to stress about them. Tips: earlytips@washpost.com.

Discussion: Insider, Fox News, Raw Story, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, Politico, The Guardian, The Messenger, Washington Times and The Hill

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate Republicans see Biden impeachment as fraught with risk

Discussion: The Messenger, NBC News and Political Wire

CNN:
Inside McCarthy's sudden warming to a Biden impeachment inquiry

Alex Thompson / Axios:

DeSantis team fires aide who secretly made video with Nazi symbol — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' 2024 campaign fired an aide this week who secretly created and shared a pro-DeSantis video that featured the candidate at the center of a Sonnenrad, an ancient symbol appropriated by the Nazis and still used by some white supremacists.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Sun-Sentinel, Semafor, ZeroHedge News, UPROXX, Political Wire, Washington Examiner, Associated Press, The Hill, The Messenger and The Spectator World

Politico:
Playbook: Team DeSantis' identity crisis

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Daily Kos, Bulwark+, CBS News, TIME and Insider

NBC News:
Ron DeSantis fires staffer who retweeted video with Nazi imagery

Discussion: CNN, Bulwark+, The Daily Caller, Financial Times, UPI, Mediaite, Semafor, WFLA-TV, HuffPost and The Messenger

Damian Carrington / The Guardian:

Gulf Stream could collapse as early as 2025, study suggests — A collapse would bring catastrophic climate impacts but scientists disagree over the new analysis — The Gulf Stream system could collapse as soon as 2025, a new study suggests. The shutting down of the vital ocean currents …

Discussion: NBC 7 San Diego, Alternet.org, Washington Post, Saywhat Politics, Nature, Metro.co.uk, Politico and New York Times

New York Times:

Where Is Melania Trump Now? — The former first lady has mostly retreated from public view — and steered clear of the campaign trail — while her husband fights to return to the White House and faces increasing legal peril. — Lisa Lerer covers national politics and reported from New York.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Insider and Raw Story

Liz Dye / Public Notice:

Trump's aggressive legal strategies keep backfiring spectacularly — His lawyers love using the courtroom for political attacks. It's not going well. … Even before he was president, Donald Trump had a reputation for engaging in vindictive litigation and stiffing his lawyers.

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

Tuberville's tales about his father in World War II have false elements — The Fact Checker … — Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), in a tweet posted with a Fox News interview, June 6 — “He lied about his age at 16, joined the Army.” — Tuberville, in the Fox interview

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Alternet.org

Luc Cohen / Reuters:

Bannon co-defendant Shea sentenced to 5-1/4 years over ‘We Build the Wall’ fraud — The sole person convicted at trial of defrauding donors to an online campaign to build Donald Trump's signature wall along the U.S.-Mexico border was sentenced on Tuesday to 5-1/4 years in prison.

Discussion: Raw Story, Fox News, Political Wire and New York Post

Nicholas Biase / US Department of Justice:
Colorado Man Sentenced To Prison For “We Build The Wall” Online Fundraising Fraud Scheme

Discussion: CNN, Lawyers, Guns & Money, NBC News, Al Jazeera and New York Daily News

Miranda Nazzaro / The Hill: Man who misused donations solicited for Trump agenda sentenced to prison

CNN:

Actor Kevin Spacey cleared of all charges of sexual assault — Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey has been cleared of all charges after a four-week trial in London on claims of sexual assault. — The Hollywood star, 64, had tears in his eyes as the jury at Southwark Crown Court found …

Bloomberg:

Miami Mayor Under Fire for $500,000 Donation From Flower Shop With Chinese Ties — Miami Mayor Francis Suarez received a $500,000 donation from an online flower shop that allegedly violated federal campaign financing laws, according to a complaint filed to the Federal Election Commission.

Discussion: The Hill, The Daily Caller, Miami New Times, Associated Press and The Capitolist

Katarina Hoije / Bloomberg:

Niger Army Ready to Hit Back After Coup Attempt, Presidency Says — President Bazoum detained by “coup plotters,” Ecowas says — West African regional bloc condemns attempted military coup — Niger's presidency said the army is on standby to strike back against members …

Discussion: Reuters, Financial Times, NPR, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, TASS and The Messenger

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Will the real Ramaswamy please stand up, please stand up — Vivek Ramaswamy once had an Eminem-inspired, rap artist alter ego. — Before he was an upstart candidate for president and a philosophical leader of what he dubs the “anti-woke” movement, before he was a New York Times bestselling author …

Discussion: Mediaite

Seth Borenstein / Associated Press:

Water at tip of Florida hits hot tub level and may have set world record for warmest seawater — The water temperature on the tip of Florida hit hot tub levels, exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit two days in a row. Meteorologists say it could potentially be the hottest seawater ever measured.

Discussion: Al Jazeera, Fox News, Washington Post, The Guardian, New York Post, NBC News, Sun-Sentinel, CBS News and WFLA-TV

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Judge Vacates Bowe Bergdahl's Conviction and Dishonorable Discharge — The Army colonel overseeing the court-martial trial had applied for a job with the Trump-era Justice Department, raising the appearance of bias. — Reporting from Washington — A federal judge on Tuesday wiped …

Discussion: The Hill, RedState, Washington Post, BizPac Review, The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway, CNN, Fox News, Reuters and The Messenger

Axios:

DeSantis' small-dollar donation ratio ranks near bottom of GOP field — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is lagging far behind former President Trump on a crucial metric for the longevity of a presidential campaign: small-dollar donations. … These donors are able to give more than once …

Discussion: Breitbart, Political Wire and New York Times