memeorandum: Justice Sotomayor Describes Frustration With Being a Liberal on the Supreme Court (Abbie VanSickle/New York Times)

12:30 PM ET, May 25, 2024

Top Items:

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 …

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, San Bernardino Sun, Digby's Hullabaloo, New York Times, Breitbart, Raw Story, ABC News, NewsNation, The Daily Beast, Washington Post, 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: Forbes, NPR, Raw Story, Washington Examiner, Associated Press and Washington Post

emptywheel:

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, Raw Story and Washington Post

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

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, Washington Examiner and Breitbart

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 Hill, The Daily Caller, Twitchy, Raw Story and Washington Examiner

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: The Guardian, RedState, Politico, Fox News, Breitbart, Reuters, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Examiner, Forbes, 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

Edith Olmsted / The Daily Beast:

Trumpworld Claims 25,000 People Attended His Rally. Aerial Shots Show Otherwise. — COUNTING IS EASY — The Trump campaign was adamant 25,000 people attended his Bronx rally. Footage, and The Daily Beast's reporter in attendance, suggested otherwise. — Trumpworld is once again splintering from reality.

Discussion: New York Post, New Republic, Fox News, Raw Story, The Post Millennial, acecomments.mu.nu and Twitchy

Ryan J. Reilly / NBC News:

Jan. 6 rioter who attacked cops lashes out at Trump-appointed judge after 12-year sentence — Christopher Quaglin said that Donald Trump would be back in the White House in eight short months and called the judge who sentenced him Trump's “worst mistake of 2016.”

Discussion: Law & Crime, Politico, Raw Story and New Jersey Online

Ryan J. Reilly / NBC News:
‘Sedition Panda’ convicted of assaulting officer on Jan. 6 after judge calls defense argument ‘absurd’

Discussion: New York Times, Law & Crime, Mediaite, CBS News and Raw Story

Hayden Field / CNBC:

Google criticized as AI Overview makes obvious errors, such as saying former President Obama is Muslim … It's been less than two weeks since Google debuted “AI Overview” in Google Search, and public criticism has mounted after queries have returned nonsensical or inaccurate results within the AI feature — without any way to opt out.

Discussion: The Verge, Telegraph, Futurism, HotAir, Rolling Stone, VentureBeat, New York Times, Adweek and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »

Variety:

As ‘The Apprentice’ Seeks Cannes Sale, Trump Team Sends Cease and Desist Letter to Block Film's Release (EXCLUSIVE) — Attorneys for Donald Trump have sent a cease and desist letter to the filmmakers behind “The Apprentice” in an effort to block its U.S. sale and release.