memeorandum: Trump is still pushing the limits of the gag order. It could come back to haunt him at sentencing. (Ben Feuerherd/Politico)

1:45 PM ET, May 25, 2024

Top Items:

Jack Smith Invites Aileen Cannon to Protect the Country Rather than Just Donald Trump — Jack Smith has asked Judge Aileen Cannon to prevent Trump from lying about a plot to assassinate him, as he has done since propagandist Julie Kelly made a stink about a routine Use of Force form Trump himself released …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Mediaite, New Jersey Online, Washington Post and Raw Story

Ben Feuerherd / Politico:

Trump is still pushing the limits of the gag order. It could come back to haunt him at sentencing. — Dealing with the gag order is a distraction for both sides. But if Trump is convicted, his violations could be used as aggravating factors. — NEW YORK — So far …

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Raw Story and JONATHAN TURLEY

Katelyn Polantz / CNN:

Special counsel asks judge for gag order in Trump classified documents case — Special counsel's office prosecutors on Friday asked a federal judge in Florida to place a gag order on Donald Trump that would limit his ability to comment about law enforcement that searched his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Discussion: RedState, Bloomberg, Yahoo News, Associated Press and Media Matters for America

Eric Tucker / Associated Press:

Prosecutors seek to bar Trump from statements endangering law enforcement in classified records case — Federal prosecutors on Friday asked the judge overseeing the classified documents case against Donald Trump to bar the former president from public statements that “pose a significant …

Discussion: Fox News, PoliticusUSA, Law & Crime, The Gateway Pundit, New York Times, The Daily Beast, ABC News, Mediaite and NBC News

Washington Post:

Wife of Justice Alito called upside-down flag ‘signal of distress’ — In January 2021, Martha-Ann Alito said the flag, a symbol embraced by election deniers, was raised outside her home in response to a neighborhood dispute. — The wife of Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. told …

Discussion: Mediaite, The National Pulse and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Politico:

Libertarian convention devolves into fighting, obscenities on eve of Trump's visit — The former president could face a hostile crowd when he addresses the Libertarian Party on Saturday. — Donald Trump won't be speaking to his usual self-selected crowd of adoring red-hatted MAGA fans …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Associated Press, Orange County Register, Digby's Hullabaloo, New York Times, Breitbart, Raw Story, Washington Post, ABC News, NewsNation, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, The American Spectator and NPR

NBC News:

Libertarian convention crowd appears hostile to Trump ahead of Saturday speech — Vivek Ramaswamy was booed when he mentioned Trump, while a convention-goer who called for “Donald Trump to go f— himself” was met with widespread applause. — WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump …

Discussion: Reason, Forbes, NPR, Raw Story, Washington Examiner, Associated Press and Washington Post

The Hill:

Sotomayor admits some Supreme court decisions have driven her to tears — Justice Sonia Sotomayor reflected on her time on the Supreme Court Friday, admitting that some of the high court's decision have driven her to tears. “There are days that I've come to my office after an announcement …

Discussion: Reason

Abbie VanSickle / New York Times:

Justice Sotomayor Describes Frustration With Being a Liberal on the Supreme Court — In a conversation at Harvard, the justice spoke of her despair at some of the court's decisions, but she urged optimism and a focus on future generations. — Some days, after Justice Sonia Sotomayor listens …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Twitchy and Washington Examiner

Ryan Lizza / Politico:

‘It Was Pure Retaliation’: The Feud That Will Define the Senate GOP — Rick Scott hasn't given up his quest to vanquish Mitch McConnell and restore his own battered image inside the Republican conference. — In late November of 2022, Sen. Rick Scott received a text from an aide to Mitch McConnell.

Discussion: New York Times, The Post Millennial and Washington Examiner

Alexandra Marquez / NBC News:

Key Senate Democrats seek meeting with Chief Justice Roberts over 'Supreme Court's ethics crisis' — The senators are asking Chief Justice John Roberts to “ensure” that Justice Alito recuses himself from certain cases. — Two top Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee asked to meet …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, Axios, RedState, Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Courthouse News Service, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, HuffPost, CNN and CBS News

Rolling Stone:

GOP Officials Are Outsourcing Their Lawsuits to a Far-Right Christian Group — Conservative public officials are hiring the Alliance Defending Freedom to lead their culture war lawsuits — and handle their public statements — TWO SEPARATE, CONTROVERSIAL Idaho laws have landed in front …

Jenny Kleeman / The Guardian:

America's premier pronatalists on having ‘tons of kids’ to save the world: ‘There are going to be countries of old people starving to death’ — Elon Musk (father of 11) supports their cause. Thousands follow their ideology. Malcolm and Simone Collins are on a mission to make it easier for everyone to have multiple children.

Brian Beutler / Off Message:

Biden's Critics On The Left Should Rethink The Concept Of ‘Leverage’ — Our flawed political system gives them less power than they deserve, but more than many of them realize. — The 2000 election turned out as it did in part because a small but decisive number of voters convinced themselves …

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo

Axios:
Scoop: Blackstone's Steve Schwarzman backs Trump

Discussion: Conservative Brief, RedState, The Guardian, Politico, Fox News, Breitbart, Forbes, Reuters, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, Washington Post and Semafor

Chris Cameron / New York Times: Blackstone's Chief, a G.O.P. Megadonor, Says He Will Again Back Trump

Patrick Wintour / The Guardian:

Polish foreign minister calls for long-term rearmament of Europe — Exclusive: Radosław Sikorski also says he favours deepest possible inclusion of UK in EU defence structures — A long-term rearmament of Europe, in which the UK can play the closest possible role …

Discussion: Politico and The Kyiv Independent