memeorandum: A Border Security Bill Worth Passing (Wall Street Journal)

12:30 PM ET, February 6, 2024

Top Items:

Trump has no immunity from Jan. 6 prosecution, appeals court rules — A federal appeals court has unanimously ruled that Donald Trump can be put on trial for trying to stay in power after losing the 2020 election, rejecting Trump's sweeping claim of presidential immunity and moving the case one step closer to a jury.

Politico:

Trump is not immune from prosecution for bid to subvert the 2020 election, appeals court rules — The unanimous 57-page decision is a major win for special counsel Jack Smith. — Former President Donald Trump — and indeed any other former president — may be prosecuted for alleged crimes …

Discussion: Axios, Wall Street Journal, CBS News, New York Times, WWLP-TV, One America News Network, DNyuz, Raw Story and The Gateway Pundit

Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:

Appeals court rules against Trump presidential immunity in 2020 election interference case — Trump is likely to ask the Supreme Court to intervene after the ruling, which would allow the trial to go ahead in the criminal case in Washington, D.C. — WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court …

Discussion: CBS News, ABC News, The Guardian, Associated Press, The Gateway Pundit, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, 6abc, PBS NewsHour, The Hill and New Republic

Sam Cabral / BBC:

Donald Trump does not have presidential immunity, US court rules — Donald Trump does not have presidential immunity and can be prosecuted on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election, a US court has ruled. — Mr Trump had claimed in the landmark legal case that he was immune …

Discussion: The Hill, MeidasTouch, CNN, El País, Rolling Stone, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, The Guardian, Reuters and USA Today

Politico:

Playbook: ‘Everything is dead’ — With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine — DRIVING THE DAY — JUST POSTED — “Is Antony Blinken Too Nice to be Secretary of State?” by Nahal Toosi: “The secretary of State has shown ... quiet fury in private these last few months …

Discussion: HotAir, Washington Examiner, CNN, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Wall Street Journal, Business Insider and Bloomberg

The Hill:

Appeals panel rules against Trump on presidential immunity — A three-judge panel upheld a lower court ruling that deemed former President Trump is not immune from criminal prosecution as a former executive, blocking his effort to toss his election interference federal case on those grounds.

Discussion: MeidasTouch, Mother Jones and Associated Press

Bloomberg:

Trump Denied Immunity in DC Election Case by Appeals Court — Three judge panel issues unanimous decision on Trump immunity — Trump has until Feb. 12 to appeal ruling to Supreme Court — Donald Trump can be prosecuted for trying to overturn the 2020 US election, a federal appeals court ruled …

Discussion: USA Today, NBC News, Michigan Advance, Raw Story, TASS, Mercury News, Al Jazeera and The Hill

Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:
February 5, 2024 — It's been an exceedingly weird 24 hours. — Last night the Senate released …

Discussion: Rolling Stone, New Republic, DNyuz, New York Daily News, Raw Story, MeidasTouch, LGBTQ Nation and Washington Examiner

Judd Legum / Popular Information:
The immigration “compromise” — On Sunday, a group of Senators — James Lankford (R-OK) …

Discussion: Washington Post, Houston Public Media, Nevada Current, NewsNation, PolitiFact, The Hill, Washington Times, Idaho Capital Sun, Mediaite and Washington Examiner

Washington Post:
Republicans fear they will be targets in Trump's ‘retribution’ campaign

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Wall Street Journal

William Vaillancourt / The Daily Beast:
Trump Now Falsely Claims He Didn't Endorse Immigration Bill Co-Author

Discussion: NBC News, Raw Story, The Oklahoman, Axios, CNN, HuffPost, Rolling Stone, DNyuz and The Hill

Politico:
Our border deal whip count: It's halfway to getting blocked

Discussion: Associated Press

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Trump meets with Ronna McDaniel — then says he'll be recommending RNC changes

Discussion: Washington Examiner, New York Times, The Hill, Associated Press, Washington Post, Forbes, DNyuz, RedState, Breitbart, Mediaite, NBC News, Newsmax, CBS News, Daily Kos, HotAir and Semafor

NBC News:
Trump says he wants to debate Biden

Discussion: The Guardian, Fox News, CNBC, Althouse, Mediaite, Raw Story, Axios, HuffPost, One America News Network, New York Post, Fargo | KFGO, DNyuz, Washington Times, The Hill, Political Wire and Greensburg Tribune-Review

Nicole Narea / Vox:
Democrats are trying to pass a right-wing border bill, but the GOP won't let them

Discussion: Power Line, BizPac Review, UPI, The Federalist, The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner, Los Angeles Times, Fox News, NBC News, Off Message and ABC News

Wall Street Journal:

A Border Security Bill Worth Passing — The Senate bill has reforms Trump never came close to getting. — Do Republicans want to better secure the U.S. border, or do they want to keep what has become an open sore festering for another year as an election issue?

David Frum / The Atlantic:

The GOP's True Priority — The Republicans who won't take yes for an answer — Sometimes, a negotiation produces a deal. — Sometimes, a negotiation reveals the truth. — Negotiators in the Senate have produced a draft agreement on immigration and asylum. The deal delivers on Republican priorities.

Discussion: The Hill, Raw Story and Michigan Advance

Steve Benen / MSNBC:

As a compromise border plan collapses, the GOP is in disarray — There can be little doubt that one of the major American political parties is in disarray, but it's not the Democratic Party. — For those familiar with online political commentary, the phrase “Dems in disarray” …

Discussion: New Republic and Business Insider

Sarah Fortinsky / The Hill:

Heritage Action urges ‘no’ vote on border security, foreign aid package — Heritage Action, the advocacy arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, is urging lawmakers to oppose the national security supplemental package, which includes the bipartisan border agreement and foreign aid …

Discussion: Republican Leader and Senator James Lankford

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate GOP will block border deal, leaving Ukraine in limbo

Discussion: ABC News, Fox News, Bloomberg and Axios

Igor Bobic / HuffPost:
In Huge Reversal, GOP Poised To Kill The Border-Ukraine Package It Demanded

Discussion: NBC News, Punchbowl News, The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner, Semafor, RedState, The Hill, Talking Points Memo and NPR

Washington Post:
Border-for-Ukraine deal on life support as GOP opposition mounts

Discussion: Fox News, NBC News, The Daily Beast, The Spectator World, The Hill, Reuters, Boston Herald, Deseret News, Bloomberg, Business Insider, DNyuz, ABC News, Fargo | KFGO, New York Daily News, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Forbes and Washington Examiner

Punchbowl News:
Senate GOP poised to block border deal — for now

Discussion: HotAir, Semafor, acecomments.mu.nu, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, New Republic, BizPac Review, Power Line and Washington Examiner

Will Oremus / Washington Post:

Bluesky, a trendy rival to X, finally opens to the public — The upstart social network has been by invitation only since its launch last year — When Jack Dorsey, then Twitter's CEO, tweeted in 2019 that he planned to create a new, “decentralized” form of social media, most people scratched their heads.

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Verge and Lawyers, Guns & Money, more at Techmeme »

Libby Cathey / ABC News:

Chris Christie predicts ‘huge personnel problem’ if Trump is reelected to ‘vendetta presidency’ — In an exclusive interview, the former governor warned of “absolute mayhem.” — Former New Jersey Governor and Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie speaks with George Stephanopoulos from ABC News, Feb. 5, 2024.

Libby Cathey / ABC News:
Christie calls hot mic moment ‘a complete mistake’ in 1st interview since leaving race

Discussion: The Hill and Politico

Elizabeth Crisp / The Hill:
Christie says second Trump term will be ‘vendetta presidency’

Discussion: Raw Story and DNyuz

Rebecca Beitsch / The Hill:

Second GOP rep says he'll vote against Mayorkas impeachment — Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) announced Tuesday that he would vote against a resolution to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, becoming the second Republican to buck the party and putting GOP plans in jeopardy.

Discussion: Congressman Tom Mcclintock, HuffPost, Axios, KRQE NEWS 13, Vox, Sacramento Bee, Raw Story, Fargo | KFGO, New York Post and New York Times

Bradford Betz / Fox News:

Biden tells crowd he recently met with Mitterrand, former French president who died in 1996 — François Mitterrand was France's president between 1981 and 1995 — President Biden told a crowd in Las Vegas on Sunday that he recently met with Francois Mitterrand, the French president who has been dead for nearly 30 years.

Discussion: Breitbart, Politico, BizPac Review, Washington Times, The Gateway Pundit, RedState, Washington Examiner, Mediaite and IJR

Yvonne Wingett Sanchez / Washington Post:

Kari Lake's leaked recording is causing trust issues in the Arizona GOP — The Senate candidate was booed by the party faithful after a secret tape forced out the party chair. Republican officials say they assume they are being recorded when speaking with her.

Discussion: Raw Story

Dan Ladden-Hall / The Daily Beast:

House Dem Brutally Hits Back at Marjorie Taylor Greene's Gross Bathroom Claim — The MAGA lawmaker was seemingly upset about Rep. Jim McGovern likening her to a clown. — A House Democrat got into a wild war of words with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday involving mutual accusations …

Discussion: Business Insider, The Root, LGBTQ Nation, Raw Story, New Republic, Political Wire and The Hill

Paul Kiel / ProPublica:

Senate Investigation “Casts Fresh Doubt” About the Validity of Harlan Crow's Yacht Tax Deductions — In their extensive probe, Senate investigators found evidence to suggest Crow has made repeated misrepresentations to the U.S. government. ProPublica revealed the tax maneuvers in a previous story.

Lauren Sforza / The Hill:

Chip Roy: Border package authors 'don't know what they're talking about' — Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) took aim at bipartisan Senate negotiators for the border security deal revealed over the weekend that he says he will oppose. — Roy criticized the proposed deal on CNN's …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, BizPac Review, Mediaite, American Military News and The Maine Wire