memeorandum: Zelenskiy Invites Trump to Experience ‘Real War’ at Frontlines (Volodymyr Verbianyi/Bloomberg)

7:50 AM ET, February 17, 2024

Top Items:

Abdallah Fayyad / Vox:

Trump is suddenly in need of a lot of cash. That's everyone's problem. — The former president was just ordered to pay $355 million in his New York fraud case, bringing the tally this year to nearly half a billion dollars in civil damages. — Two recent verdicts have now left Donald Trump …

Discussion: Raw Story, DNyuz and The Guardian

New York Times:

Trump Ordered to Pay $355 Million and Barred From New York Business — The ruling in Donald J. Trump's civil fraud case could cost him all his available cash. The judge said that the former president's “complete lack of contrition” bordered on pathological.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, DNyuz, Raw Story, Trending Politics Conservative, The Moderate Voice, The Mahablog, LGBTQ Nation, Slate, Joe.My.God., Washington Post, The Hill, Lawyers, Guns & Money, CBS News and Media Matters for America

Volodymyr Verbianyi / Bloomberg:

Zelenskiy Invites Trump to Experience ‘Real War’ at Frontlines — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy invited Donald Trump to travel with him to the frontlines of Russia's full-scale invasion of his country so that the former US leader can experience “real war.”

Discussion: Politico and CNBC

Slate:

Trump and His Family Are Fined $355 Million for Fraud—and a Lack of Remorse That “Borders on Pathological” — The ruling, if upheld, marks the end of the Trump Organization as we know it. — New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ordered Donald Trump to pay $355 million in fines …

Discussion: New York Times, The Daily Beast, MeidasTouch, Fox News, One America News Network, The Hill, Raw Story, DNyuz, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, New York Post, New Republic, Business Insider, BizPac Review and CBS News

Jake Offenhartz / Associated Press:

Trump's legal debts top a half-billion dollars. Will he have to pay? — A New York judge has ordered Donald Trump and his companies to pay $355 million. The judge found they engaged in a years-long scheme to dupe banks and others with financial statements that inflated his wealth. (Feb. 16)

Discussion: USA Today, Raw Story, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, DNyuz, The Guardian, Forbes, The Japan Times, Slate, Associated Press, The Hill, NewsNation and CNBC

Molly Beck / Journal Sentinel:

Wisconsin fake elector tells ‘60 Minutes’ he was afraid of Trump supporters — MADISON - The former chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party in a new interview claims he sent Congress paperwork he signed posing as an elector for Donald Trump following the former president's 2020 election loss …

Discussion: Raw Story

Lauren Aratani / The Guardian:

Donald Trump ordered to pay over $350m in New York financial fraud case — Trump also banned from running any New York corporation or entity for three years in devastating blow for ex-president — Donald Trump, his eldest sons and associates have been ordered to pay over $350m by a New York judge …

Discussion: The News Beyond Detroit, Raw Story, DNyuz, New York Post, MeidasTouch, The Atlantic, The Nation, The Federalist, PoliticusUSA, Washington Times, NPR, New Republic, New York Magazine, New York Daily News and CBS News

Associated Press:
Verdict in Donald Trump's civil fraud trial expected Friday, capping busy week of court action

Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Judge: Trump Org defendants' ‘complete’ lack of contrition ‘borders on pathological’

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo, Raw Story, Arizona Mirror, Joe.My.God., DNyuz, National Review, Chicago Tribune and USA Today

Fox News:
Trump barred from operating business, ordered to pay over $350 million in NY civil fraud case

Discussion: The Daily Caller, DNyuz, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, BizPac Review, El País, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, Semafor, Associated Press and The Post Millennial

Filip Timotija / The Hill:
Trump attorneys blasts $355 million verdict against him

Discussion: DNyuz and RedState

Reuters:
Trump hit with $354.9 million penalty, 3-year ban in NY civil fraud case

Discussion: CNN, Associated Press, New York Post, The Guardian, Raw Story, The Hill, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, DNyuz, TMZ.com, KTLA, NBC News, CBS News, Mediaite, Wall Street Journal and New Republic

NBC News:
Judge fines Donald Trump more than $360 million, bars him from running businesses in N.Y. for three years

NBC News:
Trump campaign scrambles over abortion ban report as Democrats seize the moment

Discussion: New York Times, New York Post, Raw Story and New Republic

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

Discussion: Deseret News, Raw Story and Forbes

New York Times:
Trump Privately Expresses Support for a 16-Week Abortion Ban

Discussion: LifeNews.com, DNyuz, The Hill, New Republic, Politico, Associated Press, ABC News, Democrats, Mediaite, WisPolitics, Forbes, Mother Jones, Bloomberg, Digby's Hullabaloo, HuffPost and The Guardian

NBC News:
Judge fines Donald Trump more than $350 million, bars him from running businesses in N.Y. for three years

Discussion: Politico, Raw Story, Bloomberg, New York Daily News, Mock Paper Scissors, The Hill, HotAir, Above the Law, Benzinga, RedState, DNyuz, New York Times, Deadline, CBS News and Political Wire

Steve Benen / MSNBC:
In civil fraud case, judge fines Trump more than $350 million

Discussion: Raw Story and DNyuz

Nathaniel Weixel / The Hill:
Biden campaign accuses Trump of trying to hide his abortion views

Discussion: New York Times

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

Discussion: Breitbart

Maura Reynolds / Politico:

One of Navalny's Closest Friends Mourns His Death, and Russia's Future — “For Putin, I think he got obsessed with this desire to break Navalny.” — Alexei Navalny didn't want to be a martyr. What he wanted, according to Yevgenia Albats, one of his closest friends, was to lead his country.

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, DNyuz, Just Security, Washington Examiner, The Bulwark and Business Insider

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

No, Donald Trump is not America's Navalny — President Biden had been in office for less than a week before he first addressed Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died in a penal colony on Friday. — A reporter from Reuters asked whether the new president would approve sanctions …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, CNN, New York Times, ABC News, Sky News, PBS NewsHour, New Yorker, Human Events, New Republic, HotAir, PoliticusUSA, Media Matters for America, NPR, Al Jazeera, IJR, Twitchy, DNyuz, HuffPost, The Bulwark, El País, Reuters and The Hill

Politico:
U.S. outrage at Navalny's death turns into a rallying cry

Discussion: The Hill, Reuters, Meduza.io, DNyuz, Vox, Foreign Policy, New York Times, Plain Dealer, Breaking Defense, Politico, WGN-TV, nationalinterest.org, Axios and CBS News

Politico:
Biden, lawmakers hammer Ukraine aid holdouts after Navalny death

Discussion: The Hill, Benzinga, The Guardian, DNyuz, Business Insider, Washington Times, RedState, KSLTV.com, Washington Examiner, Axios and The Daily Caller

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

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

Matt Binder / Mashable:

The majority of traffic from Elon Musk's X may have been fake during the Super Bowl, report suggests — These numbers are legitimately shocking. … Also riding high from the big game? Elon Musk's X. The company formerly known as Twitter published its own press release …

Discussion: Air Mail

Steve Benen / MSNBC:

GOP suffers ‘most spectacular embarrassment imaginable’ in anti-Biden case — The GOP's impeachment crusade against Joe Biden will continue, even after their star witness was charged with lying to the FBI, but it really shouldn't. — It's not exactly a secret that the impeachment crusade …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, New York Times, Trending Politics Conservative, New York Post, The Hill, Mediaite, New Republic, PoliticusUSA and NPR

Elie Honig / New York Magazine:
The Real Biden Documents Scandal (It's Not the Old-Man Stuff)

Discussion: NBC News, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Mediaite and Fox News

Darragh Roche / Newsweek:
James Comer Faces Potential Investigation Over Lying FBI Source

Discussion: emptywheel, New Republic, Washington Times, The Mahablog, Above the Law, Washington Examiner and Mock Paper Scissors

Laura Kelly / The Hill:

GOP House chair: Johnson has no way out of Ukraine floor vote — The GOP chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee was bullish Friday on the chamber delivering U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, despite the “brainwashing” of some within his caucus who oppose foreign spending …

Discussion: RedState, Washington Examiner, Reuters and Roll Call

Lawrence K. Altman / STAT:

I've reported on the health of every president since Reagan. Here's what I think about Trump and Biden — When I interviewed Ronald Reagan about his health in 1980, he was 69 and poised to become the oldest person to be elected president. During our conversation, Reagan was mentally sharp.

US Department of Justice:

Retired FBI Special Agent in Charge Sentenced for Concealing Information from the FBI — For Immediate Release — Charles F. McGonigal Admitted to Receiving $225,000 Cash Payment — Charles F. McGonigal, 55, a former FBI Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office …

Discussion: NBC News

Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Plans to Send Weapons to Israel Amid Biden Push for Cease-Fire Deal — Delivery would include bombs, precision-guidance kits and bomb fuses — ISTANBUL—The Biden administration is preparing to send bombs and other weapons to Israel that would add to its military arsenal …

Discussion: Al Jazeera and Reuters

The Conversation:

Students lose out as cities and states give billions in property tax breaks to businesses − draining school budgets and especially hurting the poorest students — Built in 1910, James Elementary is a three-story brick school in Kansas City, Missouri's historic Northeast neighborhood …