memeorandum: The hard left took over American institutions. It doesn't have to last. (Hugh Hewitt/Washington Post)

10:05 AM ET, August 3, 2023

Top Items:

Sam Baker / Axios:

Trump's First Amendment defense in Jan. 6 case is shaky, experts say — Former President Trump's legal team says he's been indicted for actions that are protected by the First Amendment — and that the First Amendment will ultimately exonerate him. … - “Donald Trump had every right …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, Forbes, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Associated Press, The Daily Beast, Daily Kos, The Messenger, The Daily Caller, Raw Story and PoliticusUSA

Jose Pagliery / The Daily Beast:

Indictment Mystery: Did Someone Spill About the Trump-McCarthy Jan. 6 Call? — It's one of the more intriguing mysteries about the new Trump indictment: Why are details about Trump's call with McCarthy on Jan. 6 unsourced? What could it mean? — The 45-page federal indictment …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Hill, Insider, Nebraska Examiner and HuffPost

Washington Examiner:

Jack Smith's dangerous criminalization of dissent — “The attack on our nation's capital on Jan. 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy,” special counsel Jack Smith said on Tuesday as he unveiled his latest indictment of former President Donald Trump.

Discussion: The Hill, HuffPost, NewsNation, New York Times, The Daily Caller, Fox News, The Western Journal, The Dispatch, New York Post, Althouse, American Greatness, acecomments.mu.nu, National Review, Financial Times, New York Magazine, Breitbart and Raw Story

Zachary Petrizzo / The Daily Beast:

‘So Sad!’ Trumpworld Delights That This Aide May Be in Legal Trouble — Trump's aides maintain that the former president is totally innocent and the latest indictment is a witch hunt. They're also happy to see one aide potentially in trouble. … When the latest indictment of Donald Trump came …

Discussion: Raw Story and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic:

Trump's Threat to Democracy Is Now Systemic — Each time GOP leaders have had the opportunity to move away from Trump, the party has sped past the off-ramp. — The long-awaited federal indictment of Donald Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election may be necessary to contain …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, Digby's Hullabaloo, Mediaite, Raw Story, Orlando Sentinel, RedState, Al Jazeera, The Hill, National Review, Financial Times, NPR and Mother Jones

Marc Elias / Democracy Docket:

Trump, Five Lawyers and Their Conspiracy Against Our Democracy — Former President Donald Trump has again been indicted by a federal grand jury. The four-count indictment lays out how Trump refused to accept that he lost the 2020 election. It describes how he contested the election in court and …

New York Times:

Trump Election Charges Set Up Clash of Lies Versus Free Speech — The indictment of former President Donald J. Trump over his efforts to retain power accuses him of conspiracies built on knowing falsehoods. His supporters say he is protected by the First Amendment.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Vox, Digby's Hullabaloo, Eschaton, Washington Examiner, emptywheel, The Federalist, Axios, HuffPost, Raw Story, Mediaite, Washington Times, Media Matters for America, Forbes, PBS NewsHour, The Daily Dot, Politico and New York Post

New York Times:
Trump 2024: Running for President, and to Beat the Rap

Discussion: Raw Story, The Messenger, PIX11, NH Journal, The Daily Caller, Power Line, UnHerd, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, USA Today, New York Magazine, Metro.co.uk, The Guardian, NPR, Politico, New York Post and ABC News

Hunter Walker / Talking Points Memo:
Newly Revealed Text Messages Show GOP Officials At Ground Zero Of Election Conspiracy Outlined By Trump Indictment

Discussion: Raw Story

Washington Post:
Special counsel asks if Nauta's attorney has too many Mar-a-Lago clients

Discussion: New York Times, NBC News, Sun-Sentinel, The Guardian, Washington Examiner, The Messenger, The Hill and Political Wire

Jonathan Turley / The Daily Beast:
Trump Was Indicted for Being Wrong—Which Is Not a Crime

Discussion: The Federalist, Raw Story, Washington Monthly, Rolling Stone, Mediaite, Washington Examiner and Washington Post

Politico:
Trump's indictment for Jan. 6 turns Mike Pence into a litmus test

Glenn Thrush / New York Times:
Trump Prepares to Make Familiar Trip to Courthouse, This Time in Washington

Discussion: USA Today, CBS News, CNN, Bloomberg, Punchbowl News, Politico, NPR, Fox News, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, The Hill, Political Wire and NewsNation

New York Times:
From Right-Hand Man to Critical Witness: Pence at Heart of Trump Prosecution

Rolling Stone:
Trump Extremists Make New Calls to Hang Mike Pence: ‘Watch His Toes Dangle’

Discussion: Raw Story, The Hill, The Western Journal, TheBlaze and National Review

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
A dumbed-down defense of Trump on Jan. 6 indictment

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, CBS News, TODAY.com, IJR, Raw Story, Axios, Financial Times, New Republic, CNBC, The Hill and Semafor

New York Times:
Messages Point to Identity of Co-Conspirator 6 in Trump Indictment

Charlie Sykes / Morning Shots:
Finally. The Coup Indictment.

Discussion: The Federalist, Financial Times, OLD GOATS with Jonathan Alter, Raw Story, Wall Street Journal, Michigan Advance, NewsNation, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, Politico, New York Magazine, The Bulwark and RedState

CNN:

CNN Poll: Percentage of Republicans who think Biden's 2020 win was illegitimate ticks back up near 70% — The share of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who believe that President Joe Biden's 2020 election win was not legitimate has ticked back up, according to a new CNN poll fielded throughout July.

Discussion: The Hill, The Messenger and Political Wire

CNN: CNN Poll: Half of Americans think the economy is getting worse, despite months of stronger economic news

Politico:
Biden world eyes Cornel West and No Labels as potential obstacles for his reelection campaign

Discussion: Axios, Washington Post, Daily Caller News Foundation, HuffPost and El País

Christopher Cadelago / Politico:

Ron DeSantis agrees to debate Gavin Newsom on Fox News — The California governor has been trying to get his Florida Republican counterpart to engage. On Wednesday, he got it. — Govs. Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom have tentatively agreed to debate — one hosted by Fox News.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Daily Caller, Breitbart and Florida Politics

NBC News:

Ron DeSantis agrees to debate Gavin Newsom — Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, recently challenged DeSantis, the governor of Florida and GOP presidential candidate, to a “Red v. Blue debate.” — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination …

New York Times:
Trump Dines With Fox News Executives After Learning of Third Indictment

Discussion: Breitbart, NBC News, The Messenger, Daily Kos, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, New Republic, Raw Story, Rolling Stone, Mediaite, The Hill and Political Wire, more at Mediagazer »

Ryan Bort / Rolling Stone:

Rudy Giuliani in Vile New Audio Transcripts: ‘Jewish Men Have Small Cocks’ — The transcripts were filed on Tuesday by Noelle Dunphy, who is suing the former Trump lawyer for sexual harassment — RUDY GIULIANI WAS sued for sexual harassment earlier this year by Noelle Dunphy, a former staffer at his firm.

Discussion: Morning Shots, New Republic, HuffPost, Raw Story, The Daily Dot, Mother Jones, UPROXX, The Messenger, Mediaite and Insider

Isabella Ramirez / The Daily Beast:
‘Come Here, Big Tits’: Rudy Giuliani's Sex Abuse Accuser Has the Tapes

Discussion: VICE, Raw Story and New York Daily News

Ryan J. Reilly / NBC News:

Jan. 6 rioter who Tucker Carlson guest said was a fed is arrested by the FBI — Rally Runner, an amateur mascot who runs around St. Louis Cardinals stadium, was charged in connection with the Capitol attack. — WASHINGTON — A Donald Trump fan who participated in the Jan. 6 attack …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, New York Daily News, Raw Story, Associated Press and The Messenger

Raheem J. Kassam / The National Pulse+:
EXCLUSIVE: Capitol Police Chief Called Jan 6 Events ‘A Cover Up’ in Tucker Carlson Interview HIDDEN By Fox News.

Discussion: The Messenger, The Gateway Pundit and Breitbart

Reese Gorman / Washington Examiner:

Biden investigation: Full Devon Archer testimony released — The House Oversight Committee released the full transcript from Monday's Devon Archer interview, in which he testified that Hunter Biden had his father on speakerphone 20 times around business associates and that Burisma officials …

Discussion: Washington Times, New York Post, The Federalist and RedState

The Daily Beast:
James Comer Skipped His Panel's Big Biden Probe Interview With Devon Archer

Discussion: PolitiFact, New York Post, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Raw Story and HotAir

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

Majority in U.S. Say Biden Administration Ethics Are Subpar — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans rate the ethics of “top Biden administration officials” more negatively than positively in Gallup's first measure of this assessment since President Joe Biden took office.

Discussion: The Hill and The Messenger

Jane C. Timm / NBC News:

Arizona Republicans wanted to hand-count ballots. Then they saw the price tag — and the errors. — Election workers spent three days counting 850 ballots in Mohave County. They made errors in 46 races. — An Arizona county has decided not to hand-count its ballots in next year's elections …

Discussion: Salon

Hugh Hewitt / Washington Post:

The hard left took over American institutions. It doesn't have to last. — When intellectual history is done well, it can be fascinating. Books by conservative thinkers in recent years qualifying for that distinction include Matthew Continetti's “The Right” (2022) and George F. Will's …

Jo Yurcaba / NBC News:

Gay Louisiana doctor says he's leaving the state over its ‘discriminatory’ legislation — Dr. Jake Kleinmahon, who is just one of three pediatric heart surgeons in Louisiana, said he feels like the state has targeted families like his. — Heart doctor leaves Louisiana over state's anti-LGBTQ laws

Discussion: WDSU-TV