memeorandum: Records: Abbott's migrant busing has cost Texas $124 million (Monica Madden/KXAN-TV)

12:55 PM ET, February 3, 2024

Top Items:

E. Jean Carroll's Lawyer: Trump Told Me ‘See You Next Tuesday’ — ALL CLASS — Roberta Kaplan, the attorney who represented E. Jean Carroll in her successful lawsuit against Donald Trump, says the ex-president used a vulgarity on her at the end of a deposition at Mar-a-Lago.

Discussion: Business Insider, PinkNews, HuffPost, NBC News, The Hill, MeidasTouch, Jezebel and CNN

New York Times:

After Speedy Start, Appeals Court Slows Down on Trump Immunity Decision — The implications have started coming into focus with the scrapping of March 4 as the start date for the former president's federal trial on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election.

Discussion: Vanity Fair, Politico, New York Post, National Review, DNyuz, New Republic, The Daily Beast, CNBC, Deadline, HuffPost, CBS News, Fox News, Bloomberg, Washington Post, Deseret News, Fox 8 Cleveland WJW, Political Wire and NBC News

Shane Goldmacher / New York Times:

At R.N.C. Meeting, Talk Is of Coming Trump Merger and Chairwoman's Fate — Donald Trump has long worked closely with Ronna McDaniel, the head of the Republican National Committee. In private, he has begun to question its direction under her leadership. — In early 2021, when former …

Discussion: Associated Press, KRDO, Raw Story and NBC News

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

Most Republicans aren't aware of Trump's various legal issues — There is an assumption, probably particularly among those who cover the news and those who read it, that Donald Trump's legal travails are common knowledge. We talk about things like the potential effects of a Trump conviction …

Discussion: The Mahablog, No More Mister Nice Blog, Raw Story and Outside the Beltway

Politico:

Biden's economy keeps messing up Trump's message — “You can't blame the president when policies go wrong, and then say he's not responsible if things are going right.” — The U.S. economy just keeps getting better. And it's forcing Donald Trump and his allies to contort the talking points …

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo, New Republic, Washington Examiner, USA Today, Democrats, Political Wire and New York Magazine

Washington Post:
The ‘runt’ of Trump cases now likely to be his first criminal trial

Discussion: Rolling Stone, New York Times, Raw Story, Benzinga, UPI, Forbes, Law & Crime and The Guardian

Ron Filipkowski / MeidasTouch:
Trump Campaign Paid $20K to Fake a Union Rally

Discussion: PoliticusUSA

Politico:

Special counsel mounts forceful — and unusual — defense of Trump classified documents case — The routine filing features a public rebuttal of “misimpressions” allegedly fueled by the former president. — Special counsel Jack Smith used a routine legal filing Friday to offer …

Discussion: Associated Press, PoliticusUSA, Benzinga, Raw Story, NBC News, Law & Crime, DNyuz, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Political Wire, Plain Dealer, RedState and New York Post

Lauren Irwin / The Hill:

Trump markets himself as an outsider in new campaign ad: ‘Embrace the label’ — Former President Trump released a new campaign advertisement on his Truth Social site where he calls himself an outsider and tells supporters to embrace being one too. — “Treat the word ‘impossible’ as nothing more than motivation.

Discussion: Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Crooks and Liars

Tristan Snell / The Daily Beast:

I Prosecuted Donald Trump and Won. Here's How It's Done. — It might seem like justice will never catch up to the former president. But it has at least once, and it can again. … Most people don't think Donald Trump will ever face justice. Certainly his supporters don't think so …

Discussion: DNyuz and Raw Story

Drew Harwell / Washington Post:

The wild probe into investors of DWAC, Trump Media's proposed merger ally — Sales of Digital World Acquisition stock triggered a widespread federal probe that involved a confidential informant, a secret airport phone scan and an elite anti-money-laundering squad. Three people were indicted, but the investigation continues.

Discussion: Raw Story

Oriana Pawlyk / Politico:

Ted Cruz wants lawmakers to get security escorts through America's airports — Cruz told POLITICO that his amendment is about ensuring that political VIPs aren't endangered as they pass through public spaces in airports. — Viral photos of politicians jetting off to a tropical hideaway during …

Discussion: Washington Examiner and View from the Wing

Katherine Fung / Newsweek:

Exclusive: Republican Hits Clarence Thomas With Lawsuit Over His Taxes — Republican John Anthony Castro is filing a lawsuit against Clarence Thomas, accusing the U.S. Supreme Court associate justice of failing to file his income taxes, Newsweek has learned.

Discussion: Raw Story

Bianca Quilantan / Politico:

Education Department sends final Title IX rule to OMB for approval — Department officials were initially supposed to finalize the regulation on sexual misconduct and gender identity in May of 2023. — A long-awaited policy that mandates how schools respond to sexual misconduct …

Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:

Supreme Court may look to the Civil War to resolve whether Trump can be on the ballot — Chief Justice Salmon Chase's handling of cases involving Confederate President Jefferson Davis and a Black man in Virginia help inform the Supreme Court ahead of Feb. 8 hearing.

Discussion: Reason

Tim Dickinson / Rolling Stone:

This Lawmaker Wants to Jail People for Watching Porn — Oklahoma lawmaker Dusty Deevers is a hardcore Christian nationalist who believes the government should “terrorize evildoers” — Dusty Deevers is a fundamentalist preacher. He's also a state senator.

Discussion: Right Wing Watch

NBC News:

President Biden: ‘If you harm an American, we will respond’ — President Biden released a statement on the U.S. strikes in Iraq and Syria in response to the deadly drone attack in Jordan that killed three service members. In his statement he says “the United States does not seek conflict …

Discussion: The Daily Signal and The Hill