memeorandum: Montana Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Wildlife Trafficking Charges as Part of Yearslong Effort to Create Giant Hybrid Sheep for Captive Hunting (US Department of Justice)

5:25 PM ET, March 13, 2024

Top Items:

Judge overseeing Georgia election interference case dismisses some charges against Trump — ATLANTA (AP) — The judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case on Wednesday dismissed some of the charges against former President Donald Trump, but many other counts in the indictment remain.

Caroline Vakil / The Hill:

Cheney fuels speculation about her next move — Speculation is growing about the role former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) will play in the 2024 election as President Biden and former President Trump barrel toward a rematch. — Cheney has vowed that she'll do whatever it takes to keep Trump from returning to the White House.

Discussion: RedState, KOIN.com, WFLA-TV, BizPac Review, Washington Examiner and Wall Street Journal

Max Burns / The Hill:

Trump's GOP is already dying — For Donald Trump, last week must have seemed like a final, crowning victory over his lingering Republican critics. On Friday the Republican National Committee made official what Trump had already decreed weeks ago, electing Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, as party co-chair.

Discussion: Mediaite, CLAYTOONZ, Axios, The Dispatch, New York Magazine, The Daily Beast, DNyuz, Democrats, Forbes and LGBTQ Nation

Lee Moran / HuffPost:

Donald Trump Flips Out At Democrats' Mocking Montages With Massive Self-Own … Video

Discussion: Decider, Salon, Mediaite, New Republic, Crooks and Liars, IJR and MeidasTouch

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

Trump demonstrates why ‘Artificial Intelligence’ will be so useful to him — It is perfectly fitting that Donald Trump used his social media platform Truth Social to allege that he'd been the target of artificial-intelligence nefariousness. — “The Hur Report was revealed today!

Discussion: Raw Story

Allison Quinn / The Daily Beast:

Putin Recalls Trump Acting Like Jealous GF in Private — According to him, Trump made no attempt to hide his own insecurities about Joe Biden. — Russia's Vladimir Putin has revealed an apparently previously unreported conversation with Donald Trump in which he claims the then-American president …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Raw Story, ABC News, Reuters and Washington Examiner

Dan Ladden-Hall / The Daily Beast:

Haley Shaved 77K Votes Off Trump's Georgia Win Despite Dropping Out — The haul is substantially more than the number of votes by which Trump lost the state in 2020. — Donald Trump's overwhelming victory in the Georgia Republican primary Tuesday locked up the 2024 GOP nomination for him …

Discussion: MeidasTouch, Semafor, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Newsweek, The American Conservative, The Hill, Fox News, Georgia Recorder, The Gateway Pundit, The Guardian, Political Wire and RedState

Roger Sollenberger / The Daily Beast:

‘Make the RNC White Again’: GOP Ends Minority Outreach Program — With Trump allies taking over the RNC and cleaning house, one of the casualties was a minority outreach program that seemed to be working for Republicans. … After years of accusations of financial mismanagement …

Discussion: MeidasTouch, Raw Story, Washington Examiner and Vanity Fair

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo: Don't Be Lulled Into Thinking Trump II Will Just Be A Repeat Of Trump I

Michael Scherer / Washington Post:
No Labels to appoint a panel Thursday to pick presidential candidate

Discussion: Political Wire

Russell Contreras / Axios:
Racial reset shakes American politics

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Breitbart, Outside the Beltway, BizPac Review and Washington Free Beacon

ABC News:
Criminal referrals emerge as possible ‘exit strategy’ of struggling Biden impeachment inquiry, sources say

Discussion: New Republic, Raw Story, The Maine Wire and Punchbowl News

Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:
Trailing Trump in Polls, Biden Can Be More Bullish in One Battleground

Discussion: ABC News, BizPac Review, Associated Press and Journal Sentinel

NBC News:
Judge in Georgia election interference case dismisses three counts against Trump

Discussion: Fox News, ABC News, RedState, CNN, Breitbart, UPI, Washington Times, Raw Story, PoliticusUSA, Forbes, Blaze Media, CNBC, Deadline, DNyuz and IJR

USA Today:
Trump shows slight lead over Biden in new exclusive poll even as views of economy brighten

Discussion: American Greatness, The Guardian, New York Daily News, The Bulwark, Reason, The Hill, Fox News, New York Post and HotAir

Washington Post:
Biden and Trump secure their parties' presidential nominations

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
Trump Repeats Obama's Mistake

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Fox News, Blaze Media, HuffPost, The Wrap, Bloomberg, DNyuz, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Truthout, Tusk and IJR

Lauren Sforza / The Hill:

Man pleads guilty to scheme to create giant sheep hybrids for captive hunting — A Montana man pleaded guilty Tuesday to two felony charges connected to an effort to create a giant sheep hybrids for captive hunting, the Justice Department announced. — Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, 80 …

US Department of Justice:
Montana Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Wildlife Trafficking Charges as Part of Yearslong Effort to Create Giant Hybrid Sheep for Captive Hunting

Discussion: CBS News, RedState, The Daily Beast, Interesting Engineering, The Daily Caller and Gizmodo

Shannon Vavra / The Daily Beast:

Russians Warned to Flee Border Cities While They Still Can — Anti-Putin militants urged citizens to evacuate on Wednesday after launching a military offensive aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. — Anti-Kremlin Russian fighters have begun urging their fellow citizens to abandon their homes …

Discussion: The Moscow Times

Sarah Fielding / Engadget:

Tesla paid no federal income taxes while paying executives $2.5 billion over five years — Spoiler: The company actually received $1 million in refunds. — In case you need another reason to shout “tax the rich” from the rooftops, it's here, and it's going to make you angry.

Discussion: The Guardian and Institute for Policy Studies

Averyr / Institute for Policy Studies:
More for Them, Less for Us — Corporations That Pay Their Executives More Than Uncle Sam

Discussion: The Hill, HuffPost, Raw Story, DNyuz and Washington Times

Nathaniel Meyersohn / CNN:

Family Dollar and Dollar Tree will close 1,000 stores — New York CNN — Family Dollar, the struggling discount chain that caters to low-income customers predominantly in cities, said Wednesday it will close nearly 1,000 stores. — Years of mismanagement and poor conditions in stores have hurt Family Dollar's brand.

Farnoush Amiri / Associated Press:

Hunter Biden rebuffs Republicans' invitation to appear for a public hearing — Hunter Biden on Wednesday rejected an invitation from House Republicans to appear for a public hearing next week alongside former business associates, an inquiry his attorney dismissed as a “carnival side show.”

Mariana Alfaro / Washington Post: Hunter Biden declines House committee invitation to testify publicly

Judd Legum / Popular Information:

Say gay, Florida — This week, the State of Florida agreed to settle a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Parental Rights in Education Act, better known as the “Don't Say Gay” law. The bill's text prohibited “classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties …

Discussion: WFLA-TV, PinkNews, Twitchy and Advocate

Melissa Gira Grant / New Republic:
Ron DeSantis's Anti-LGBTQ Regime Is Crumbling

Discussion: Miami Herald, Reuters, Sun-Sentinel, RedState, LGBTQ Nation, Advocate, ABC News, Florida Phoenix, Blaze Media and New York Daily News

Kati Perry / Washington Post:

Republicans' House majority is their smallest in decades, and shrinking — Republicans are entering a months-long stretch of legislating with their smallest House majority in decades. And the margin is about to tighten even more. — Jan. 200120032005200720092011201320152017201 9202120230170190230250Number …

Discussion: NBC News, Reuters, Raw Story, Idaho Capital Sun, KXAN-TV, The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner and IJR

Elizabeth Elkind / Fox News:
Biden impeachment effort starting to ‘lose steam,’ House Republicans say

Discussion: New Republic, HuffPost, PoliticusUSA, Forbes, Axios, Raw Story, Washington Examiner and Washington Times

Dasha Burns / NBC News:

Abortion is a top concern for Trump as he considers his VP pick — Former President Donald Trump has been laser-focused on the abortion views of his potential running mates, viewing the issue as a potential vulnerability for Republicans. — PALM BEACH, Fla. — Last month at Mar-a-Lago …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Daily Caller News Foundation, Fox News and Iowa Starting Line

Dan Mangan / CNBC:

Chubb CEO defends backing Trump appeal bond in E. Jean Carroll case — The CEO of the Chubb insurance company defended a subsidiary providing former President Donald Trump with a $91.6 million appeals bond in the case where he was found liable for defaming E. Jean Carroll after she accused him of rape.

Discussion: The Hill, ABC News, NBC News and The Moderate Voice

Washington Post:

On popular online platforms, predatory groups coerce children into self-harm — Vulnerable teens are blackmailed into degrading and violent acts by abusers who then boast about it — Editor's note: This story describes extremely disturbing events that may be upsetting for some people.

Discussion: Wired, more at Techmeme »

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

LGBTQ+ Identification in U.S. Now at 7.6% — More than one in five Gen Z adults identify as LGBTQ+ — WASHINGTON, D.C. — LGBTQ+ identification in the U.S. continues to grow, with 7.6% of U.S. adults now identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or some other sexual orientation besides heterosexual.

Discussion: RedState, NPR, LGBTQ Nation, UPI, New York Daily News, PinkNews, Daily Caller News Foundation, The Hill, New York Post, Advocate, NBC News and Axios

Bloomberg:

TikTok Will Use Every Legal Tool to Fight a Forced Sale … A sale of the viral video app is considered to be the last resort for ByteDance, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. A divestiture would also require approval by the Chinese government …