memeorandum: Democrat says Trump would ‘hand the keys over to Putin’ if reelected (Filip Timotija/The Hill)

3:15 PM ET, February 16, 2024

Top Items:

Russian activist and Putin critic Alexei Navalny dies in prison — Opposition leader, 47, was being held in jail about 40 miles north of Arctic Circle — The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died in jail, the country's prison service has said, in what is likely to be seen …

Yuliya Talmazan / NBC News:

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny dies in prison — Navalny, 47, a prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin, spent his final years behind bars as the Russian leader reshaped the country to rally behind his war in Ukraine. — Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died in prison …

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:

Fani Willis Endures Disrespect, Racist Tropes, And Public Humiliation — A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM's Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. — The District Attorney And Race — The smoldering confrontation in an Atlanta courtroom …

Discussion: New York Times, Sky Dancing, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, UPI, Raw Story, Forbes and IJR

Anton Troianovski / Associated Press:

A day ago, in his last public appearance, Navalny seemed in good spirits. — Aleksei A. Navalny died in prison, the Russian authorities said. The anticorruption campaigner rose to become the most prominent critic of President Vladimir V. Putin. — Moscow, 2013 Moscow, 2018 Moscow, 2012

Discussion: New York Times, Reuters, Digby's Hullabaloo, NBC News, TASS, Sputnik News, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, DNyuz and Mediaite

Politico:

Biden says there's no mistake: 'Putin is responsible for Navalny's death' — Saying he's ‘outraged’ by the death, Biden tells Congress to “step up” and pass supplemental aid to help Ukraine — President Joe Biden squarely blamed Vladimir Putin for Russian dissident Alexei Navalny's reported death Friday …

Reuters:
Jailed Russian opposition leader Navalny is dead -prison service

Discussion: The Hill, NBC News, HotAir, The Atlantic, The Moderate Voice, Breitbart, New York Times, CBS News, Reason, UnHerd, The Post Millennial, Agence France-Presse, Semafor, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Human Events, Raw Story, KTLA, TASS, RTÉ, New Republic and Twitchy

Tucker Reals / CBS News:
Alexey Navanly's message to the world “if they decide to kill me,” and what his wife wants people to do now

Discussion: The Hill, Vanity Fair, Al Jazeera, Resolute Square, Associated Press, nationalinterest.org, DNyuz and Business Insider

Paul Kirby / BBC:
Putin critic Alexei Navalny, 47, dies in Arctic Circle jail

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, Raw Story, New York Times, Mediaite, Reuters, DNyuz and TASS

Jim Heintz / Associated Press:
Alexei Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russia's Putin, has died, Russian authorities say

Washington Post:
Alexei Navalny, Russian opposition leader, dies in prison, officials say

Discussion: DNyuz, Reuters, Mediaite, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Bloomberg and TASS

Steve Holland / Reuters:
Biden to speak at noon on Navalny's death, White House says

New York Times:

Trump Privately Expresses Support for a 16-Week Abortion Ban — In supporting a 16-week ban with exceptions, Donald Trump appears to be trying to satisfy social conservatives who want to further restrict abortion access and voters who want more modest limits.

Discussion: Rolling Stone, HuffPost, The Hill, The Guardian, Bloomberg, USA Today, Mediaite, The Message Box, Forbes, Mother Jones, Balloon Juice and Raw Story

Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:

Trump opts against Supreme Court appeal on civil immunity claim over Jan. 6 lawsuits — The decision not to seek high court review means cases brought against Trump over Jan. 6 can move forward in district court, although he can still mount an immunity defense.

Discussion: The Hill, UPI, Politico and Law & Crime

McKay Coppins / The Atlantic:

Why Attacks on Trump's Mental Acuity Don't Land — Ten years ago, I stood in the back of a large room at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, watching Donald Trump ramble. The celebrity billionaire had been loitering on the fringes of American politics for a few years, but this was my first time seeing him give a proper speech.

Washington Post:

Inside Trump's ouster of Ronna McDaniel as RNC chair — “Loyalty is a one-way street” for the former president, one party committeeman said — For much of the fall, Donald Trump was annoyed at Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel. She was refusing to cancel the party's primary debates …

Discussion: New Republic, Washington Examiner and Raw Story

Alexander Bolton / The Hill: Romney rules out voting for Trump, citing court's sexual abuse finding in Carroll case

Neil Baron / The Hill: The law is clear: The Supreme Court must not allow Trump on the 2024 ballot

Dan Ladden-Hall / The Daily Beast:
Trump Loses It Over Fani Willis Testimony: ‘MAJOR LEAGUE SCANDAL!’

Discussion: Washington Times, Washington Post, BizPac Review, Politico, Washington Examiner, New York Times, Raw Story, The Hill, Joe.My.God., Fox News, DNyuz, Mediaite and Breitbart

Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling / New Republic: Judge Cannon—Yes, Judge Cannon!—Just Shot Down a Trump Delay Tactic

Roger Sollenberger / The Daily Beast:

Witness Told Feds She Was Paid for Sex Parties With Matt Gaetz — The Ethics Committee is investigating Gaetz—and has text messages between the congressman and a woman who claims she had sex with Gaetz at parties she was paid to attend. … When ABC News reported on Wednesday …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, New Republic, Mock Paper Scissors, Raw Story and Joe.My.God.

Robyn Pennacchia / Wonkette: ‘Sex Parties With Matt Gaetz’ Literally The Last Thing We Wanted To Think About This Morning

NBC News:

Joe Manchin to announce he will not run for president — The centrist West Virginia had been mulling a campaign for the White House that would have shaken up the 2024 campaign. — MORGANTOWN, W.VA. — Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., will announce Friday that he will not run for president …

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, ABC News, Fox News, DNyuz, UPI, National Review, Semafor, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Rhode Island Current, Joe.My.God., Plain Dealer and Deseret News

Washington Post:
Joe Manchin announces he won't run for president, ending months of speculation

Filip Timotija / The Hill:

Democrat says Trump would ‘hand the keys over to Putin’ if reelected — Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said if former President Trump is reelected, he would “hand the keys over” to Russian President Vladimir Putin. — Slotkin said Ukraine's fate in its war against Russia would be sealed …

Filip Timotija / The Hill:
Senate Democrat: Americans will be next on front lines against Russia if Ukraine aid not approved

Discussion: CNBC

Lee Moran / HuffPost:
Veterans Group Delivers Damning 'Putin's Puppet' Warning Over Donald Trump

Discussion: Mediaite

Monica Alba / NBC News:
Biden campaign blasts Trump's comments on Putin and NATO in a new ad

Discussion: ABC News, New York Times, Trending Politics Conservative, Mediaite, Florida Politics and WisPolitics

Darragh Roche / Newsweek:

James Comer Faces Potential Investigation Over Lying FBI Source — Republican Representative James Comer is facing calls for an investigation of his efforts to impeach President Joe Biden after a key witness in the probe was charged with lying to the FBI. — Special counsel David Weiss …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Hill, Raw Story, New Republic, The Federalist, Mock Paper Scissors and HuffPost

Associated Press:
FBI informant charged with lying about Joe and Hunter Biden's ties to Ukrainian energy company

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Remember the ‘Biden bribe’ allegation? DOJ now says it was made up.

Discussion: Business Insider, New Republic, Media Matters for America, Salon, Above the Law, Digby's Hullabaloo, emptywheel and PoliticusUSA

Robert B. Hubbell / Today's Edition Newsletter: A watershed moment for the truth.

Andrew Solender / Axios:

House bipartisan group unveils $66 billion foreign aid bill … - The bill also blocks the use of federal funds to transfer migrants between detention centers or other locations unless it is for adjudicating their immigration case. — It would also implement a Trump-era policy …

Discussion: The Hill, Roll Call, New York Post, Washington Times and Sputnik News

Punchbowl News:
2/16/24 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM

Discussion: Daily Kos and Roll Call

Aaron Rupar / Public Notice:

Simon Rosenberg on Trump the electoral albatross — “You can dye his hair, paint his face, strap a girdle and a diaper on him and pump him full of speed, and he's still not going to look like a presidential candidate.” — ∙ Paid … Tom Suozzi's victory in NY-03 was a big win for Democrats.

Nicholas Paphitis / Associated Press:

Greece becomes first Orthodox Christian country to legalize same-sex civil marriage — Lawmakers in Greece have begun a debate on a landmark bill to legalize same-sex marriage. It would make Greece the first Orthodox Christian country to do so. The Valentine's Day session …

Discussion: BBC, The Guardian, Joe.My.God., Watermark Online, PinkNews, UPI, The Daily Caller, Al Jazeera, Balkan Insight and LGBTQ Nation

Associated Press:
Greece just legalized same-sex marriage. Will other Orthodox countries join them any time soon?

Discussion: Reuters, PinkNews and Raw Story

Kevin Freking / Associated Press:

A chaotic US House is losing three Republican committee chairs to retirement in the span of a week — In a single week, the Republican chairs of three House committees announced they would not be seeking reelection, raising questions about whether the chaos that has reigned this Congress is driving out some of the GOP's top talent.

New York Times:

Democrats Have a Better Option Than Biden — It requires them to embrace an old-fashioned approach to winning a campaign. — Back to The Ezra Klein Show — More episodes of — The Ezra Klein Show — Building the Palestinian State With Salam Fayyad — • 59:17

Discussion: Mediaite, Crooked Timber, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Outside the Beltway

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Who is John Clifford Floyd III, father of DA Fani Willis? — The father of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to testify today. During her time on the stand Thursday, Willis repeatedly mentioned “daddy” and said the court would have a chance to learn more John Clifford Floyd III when he appeared today.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Hill, KUSA-TV, Law & Crime, Trending Politics Conservative, Mediaite, Daily Caller News Foundation, New York Post, DNyuz and The Guardian

Julia Ainsley / NBC News:

The top doctor for CBP tried to order fentanyl lollipops for a helicopter mission in New York, whistleblowers say — The whistleblowers also allege Dr. Alexander Eastman was already under investigation for trying to procure narcotics for a friend who worked as a chopper pilot for the border agency.

Discussion: Washington Times, Slate and CBS News