memeorandum: ‘Survivor’ Champ Kentucky Pol Whose Incest Bill Would Let Cousins Have Sex: ‘I Made a Mistake’ (Exclusive) (Steve Helling/The Messenger)

3:50 PM ET, January 17, 2024

Top Items:

Ben Feuerherd / The Messenger:

Judge Threatens to Kick Trump Out of E. Jean Carroll Defamation Trial if He Disrupts Court — Trump told the judge he would ‘love it’ if he threw him out of the courtroom — The federal judge presiding over Donald Trump's defamation trial on Wednesday warned the former president …

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Examiner, Axios, The Daily Beast, HuffPost, Politico, Fox News, Business Insider, New York Times, Raw Story, Mediaite, Associated Press, CNBC, New Yorker, WATN, Al Jazeera, Slate, New Republic, New York Daily News, New York Post and NPR

Brad Raffensperger / National Review:

Trump Recycles Tired 2020 Election Allegations — The former president just won't let his loss go, even if that means returning to long-disproven allegations about the outcome. — As originally conceived by its inventors, the concept of the “big lie” is supposed to be a tale so audacious and captivating that people can't doubt it.

Discussion: The Hill, The Messenger, The Guardian, Mediaite, The New Civil Rights Movement, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Newsbusters, Raw Story, Boing Boing and Wall Street Journal

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Do You Remember the Ecstasy of Electing Joe Biden? — How the coalition that defeated Donald Trump crumbled. — We danced in the streets when Joe Biden was elected. Do you remember? American cities staged the greatest spontaneous outpouring of joy since V-J Day with cars honking …

Discussion: nationalinterest.org

Slate:
Judge Aileen Cannon Is Quietly Sabotaging the Trump Classified Documents Case

Discussion: New York Times, BizPac Review, NBC News, Associated Press, Raw Story and Political Wire

Stephen Kruiser / PJ Media:
The Morning Briefing: Trump Triggering the Lefties Never Ceases to Amuse and Entertain

Discussion: RedState and Daily Caller News Foundation

New York Times:

DeSantis Super PAC Begins Layoffs, Even as He Projects Confidence — The number of layoffs at the super PAC, Never Back Down, was unclear on Wednesday morning, but an official said that those being laid off were being paid through the end of January. — The super PAC supporting Gov. Ron DeSantis …

Discussion: HuffPost, The Messenger, CNBC, WFLA-TV, Raw Story and Highly Respected

Aaron Navarro / CBS News:
Ron DeSantis to prioritize South Carolina, leave New Hampshire in week before its primary

Discussion: The Messenger, Washington Examiner, ABC News, The Hill, CNN, New York Times, Florida Phoenix, RedState, NBC News, Florida Politics, 24sight, WCVB, WFLA-TV, Raw Story, NPR, USA Today, WGN-TV, Fox News, Business Insider, Politico and The Daily Beast, more at Mediagazer »

ABC News:
Nikki Haley says she will only debate Donald Trump or Joe Biden

Marc Caputo / The Messenger:
The Inside Story of How Ron DeSantis Got Crushed by Donald Trump (Exclusive)

Discussion: Bloomberg, Slate, The Hill, New Republic, Washington Post, Raw Story, Business Insider, OpenSecrets.org and New York Times

Steven Lemongello / Orlando Sentinel:

Democrat Keen wins state House 35 special election over GOP's Booth — In a race seen as a bellwether for Democratic chances in November, Democrat Tom Keen flipped what had been a Republican state House seat in Central Florida in a special election held Tuesday.

Discussion: Raw Story, New Republic, Balloon Juice, The Capitolist, National Review, The Messenger, Florida Politics, WESH-TV, Political Wire and Saywhat Politics

Caroline Vakil / The Hill:
Democrats flip Florida state House seat in special election

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Orlando Sentinel, Decision Desk HQ and Daily Kos

Kimberly Wehle / Politico:

The ‘Sleeping Giant’ Case that Could Upend Jack Smith's Prosecution of Trump — The Supreme Court has agreed to consider a case that doesn't mention the former president, but that could invalidate half of the Jan. 6 charges against him. — There's been a lot of attention paid …

Discussion: The Western Journal and Raw Story

emptywheel:

David Weiss Buries Bill Barr Right Alongside Tony Bobulinski — For a second time, David Weiss' Special Counsel team has buried an inconvenient (some)body to avoid accounting for the politicization of the investigation they claim is not political. — This time, it's Bill Barr.

Discussion: USA Today, Bearing Arms, New York Post, NBC News and The Hill

Ed Morrissey / HotAir:
DoJ: Hunter's Laptop Is Real, Spectacular, and So Was the Cocaine on His Holster

Discussion: acecomments.mu.nu, Associated Press, RedState, Reuters, emptywheel, Blaze Media, The Daily Caller, Twitchy, BizPac Review, Breitbart, ABC News, One America News Network and The Messenger

Karoun Demirjian / New York Times:

Johnson Digs In Against Border Deal to Unlock Ukraine Aid, Defying Biden — Hours before a scheduled meeting at the White House about how to break the stalemate in Congress over aid to Ukraine, the Republican speaker signaled a compromise was not possible. — Speaker Mike Johnson …

Emily Brooks / The Hill:
Johnson: Now is not ‘the time for comprehensive immigration reform’

Discussion: Bloomberg, Vanity Fair and New York Post

Steve Helling / The Messenger:

‘Survivor’ Champ Kentucky Pol Whose Incest Bill Would Let Cousins Have Sex: ‘I Made a Mistake’ (Exclusive) — ‘I was thinking like a lawyer, not like a legislator,’ state Rep. Nick Wilson tells The Messenger — A Kentucky Republican introduced a bill on Tuesday that was intended to broaden …

Discussion: Raw Story, New York Daily News and Political Wire

House Committee on Energy and Commerce:

E&C Investigation Uncovers Earliest Known SARS-CoV-2 Sequence Released Outside of China — Discovery that shows virus sequence existed two weeks earlier than previously known undercuts China's timeline of events — Washington, D.C. — The House Energy and Commerce Committee's investigation …

Discussion: The Hill, RedState and National Review

Gabrielle M. Etzel / Washington Examiner:
Coronavirus was sequenced weeks before China disclosed existence, new documents show

Discussion: The Messenger, Daily Caller News Foundation and MDPI Publishing

Judd Legum / Popular Information:

Right-wing media mogul buys the Baltimore Sun — David D. Smith, the executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group (Sinclair), purchased the Baltimore Sun — the largest newspaper in Maryland — for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition means another powerful media outlet will be under …

Discussion: The Baltimore Banner, New Republic, Baltimore Brew, Digby's Hullabaloo, Los Angeles Times and Crooks and Liars, more at Mediagazer »

Zachary Leeman / The Messenger:

House Hearing Turns Chaotic as GOP Rep, Witness Clash on ‘Family Separation’: ‘Why Are You Laughing!?’ — ‘Are you psychic? Have you won the lotto, Mr. Bier?’ Rep. Anna Paulina Luna exclaimed — Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., was shocked to find a congressional witness laughing …

Discussion: Daily Caller News Foundation

Politico:

Phillips takes intra-party heat for scrubbing campaign website's reference to DEI — The Minnesota Democrat has already angered others in the caucus with his longshot primary challenge to the president.

Discussion: The Messenger, Forbes and Talking Points Memo

Evan Urquhart / Slate:

The Suicide of an Alabama Mayor Shows That Pre-Stonewall Horrors Aren't Just Coming Back. They're Here. — Many Queers Can't Bring Themselves to Face the Emotion They're Really Feeling Right Now. We Must. — The practice of press outlets terrorizing gender-nonconforming people …

Courtney McBride / Bloomberg:

Blinken Stranded After Boeing 737 Breaks Down on Davos Trip — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was unable to fly home from Davos as scheduled on Wednesday due to a critical error with his aircraft. … An oxygen leak detected previously could not be remedied.

Discussion: The Lever, Politico, Reuters, Daily Mail, NBC News, Axios, New York Daily News, The Messenger, CNN, Semafor, Fox News, RedState, Breitbart, Twitchy and Oregonian

Kirkland An / The Boston Globe:

New Hampshire Republican primary tracking poll results — The Boston Globe is tracking the final days of the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary campaign. Each morning at 5 a.m., new polling data from Suffolk University, The Boston Globe, and NBC10 Boston will be released on this page.

Discussion: New York Magazine, HuffPost, The Hill, Politico, Forbes, CBS News, USA Today, NBC News, ABC News and Des Moines Register

Nathaniel Weixel / The Hill:

New Biden rule cracks down on insurers' use of prior authorization — A new Biden administration rule released Wednesday aims to streamline the prior authorization process used by insurers to approve medical procedures and treatments. — Prior authorization is a common tool used by insurers …

Emi Tuyetnhi Tran / NBC News:

‘Heartstopper,’ ‘9-1-1 Lone Star’ and 'Baldur's Gate 3' among GLAAD Media Awards nominees — In 2023, stories about transgender and nonbinary youth took center stage amid a wave of anti-LGBTQ bills proposed across the nation. — This year's nominees for the 35th annual GLAAD Media Awards reflect …

Discussion: The Hill, The Root, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety

Asher Notheis / Washington Examiner:

Arnold Schwarzenegger detained at German airport over his watch — Former Hollywood superstar and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger was detained at an airport in Germany on Wednesday over a watch he was traveling with. — Schwarzenegger, best known for his role in The Terminator franchise …

Discussion: TMZ.com, Page Six, CBS News, The Daily Caller, The Messenger and WFLA-TV

New York Times:

China's Population Shrank Again in 2023 as Births Continue to Fall — Faced with falling births, China's efforts to stabilize a shrinking population and maintain economic growth are failing. — 阅读.体中文.閱讀.體中文.

Discussion: HotAir, Reuters, National Review, PJ Media, UPI and Chicago Tribune