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7:40 AM ET, February 14, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
New York Times:
Danielle Sassoon and Other Officials Resign After Order to Drop Eric Adams Case  —  The interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and two officials with the federal public integrity unit all quit after the Justice Department ordered the charges against Mayor Eric Adams to be dropped.
RELATED:
New York Times:
How the Justice Dept. Helped Sink Its Own Case Against Eric Adams  —  A top Trump appointee guided Mr. Adams's legal team as they crafted an argument for dismissing corruption charges against the mayor of America's largest city.  —  President Trump had just taken office when lawyers …
Discussion: abc7NY and PoliticusUSA
NBC News:
Federal prosecutors in New York and Washington resign after refusing to drop Adams charges  —  At least six prosecutors, including the acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan, have stepped down over the DOJ order to dismiss corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.
Luis Ferré-Sadurní / New York Times:
Mayor Adams to Sign Order Allowing ICE Agents Into Rikers Island
Charisma Madarang / Rolling Stone:
Trump Appointee Quits Instead of Dropping Eric Adams Charges, Alleges Quid Pro Quo
Discussion: Politico, City Journal and Daily Kos
BBC:
Top prosecutor resigns after being told to drop case against NYC mayor Eric Adams
Discussion: The Gateway Pundit
Wall Street Journal:
Vance Wields Threat of Sanctions, Military Action to Push Putin Into Ukraine Deal  —  In interview with The Wall Street Journal, vice president says Ukraine must have ‘sovereign independence’  —  PARIS—Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the U.S. would hit Moscow with sanctions …
RELATED:
Politico:
Senior Republican senator ‘puzzled and disturbed’ by Hegseth's Ukraine remarks  —  Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker is breaking with the line from the Trump White House. … MUNICH — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made a “rookie mistake” when he said a return to Ukraine's pre-war borders was …
Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling / New Republic:
Pete Hegseth Crumbles When Asked What Russia Is Conceding to Ukraine
Dan Rather / Steady:   A Dangerous Bromance Is Back  —  It's already a win-win for the Russian president
Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
It Took Trump Only Twenty-four Days to Sell Out Ukraine
Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
Anyone Can Push Updates to the DOGE.gov Website  —  The doge.gov website that was spun up to track Elon Musk's cuts to the federal government is insecure and pulls from a database that can be edited by anyone, according to two separate people who found the vulnerability and shared it with 404 Media.
Adrian Horton / The Guardian:
Stars pull out of shows and positions at Kennedy Center after Trump takeover  —  Issa Rae, Ben Folds and Shonda Rhimes among those who chose not to associate with the institution and president  —  Donald Trump's takeover of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington …
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Kennedy Center staff describe climate of fear as events drop from calendar  —  Issa Rae became the first major artist to publicly cancel an upcoming show at the center after President Trump took over its board and leadership.  —  The fallout from President Donald Trump's takeover …
Washington Post:
Trump administration directs agency heads to fire most probationary staff  —  Terminations should happen within two days, according to four people familiar with internal conversations.  —  The Trump administration has directed agency heads to fire most trial period and probationary staff within two days …
Discussion: Axios
RELATED:
Politico:
Judge orders Trump administration to restore funds for foreign aid programs  —  A U.S. district judge said the administration failed to account for the extraordinary harm caused by the broad-based halt.  —  A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore funding for hundreds …
RELATED:
Megan Lebowitz / NBC News:
Judge orders Trump administration to temporarily reinstate foreign aid funding
Discussion: JURIST and Reuters
Michael Crowley / New York Times:
Judge Orders Trump Administration to Resume Foreign Aid Spending
Discussion: Roll Call
Dan Lamothe / Washington Post:
Hegseth team invites far-right activist Jack Posobiec on overseas trip  —  The offer triggered alarm among Pentagon officials concerned about the military being dragged into partisan warfare.
Politico:
Trump administration fires thousands of federal workers  —  At least six government agencies have initiated layoffs, as DOGE's efforts enter a more aggressive phrase.  —  The Trump administration moved swiftly to lay off thousands of government employees in at least six agencies Thursday …
RELATED:
The White House:
Establishing the President's Make America Healthy Again Commission  —  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:  —  Section 1.  Purpose.  American life expectancy significantly lags behind other developed countries …
New York Times:
Texas Judge Fines New York Doctor and Orders Her to Stop Sending Abortion Pills to Texas  —  It is the first ruling in a case challenging “shield laws” intended to protect doctors in states that support abortion rights who send abortion pills to states with bans.
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
How the Trumps Turned an Election Victory Into a Cash Bonanza  —  First lady's documentary deal with Amazon, president's legal settlements and other transactions near $80 million so far; Trump library a major beneficiary  —  | Illustrations by Alexandra Citrin-Safadi/WSJ
Jennifer Scholtes / Politico:
House Republicans advance their budget after appeasing hard-liners  —  The House Budget Committee adopted a budget resolution Thursday as GOP leaders work to unlock the power to enact major Republican priorities along party lines.  —  Score one for the backers of “one big, beautiful bill.”
Washington Post:
Trump insults McConnell over RFK Jr. vote, casts doubts on polio diagnosis  —  ‘I have no idea if he had polio,’ Trump said when asked about the 82-year-old Kentucky senator's decision to vote against Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Ashley Harrell / SFGATE:
‘Honestly terrifying’: Yosemite National Park is in chaos  —  California's beloved national park is on the brink of disaster  —  Yosemite National Park is in trouble.  Hamstrung by President Donald Trump's hiring freeze, hundreds of rescinded job offers and the threat of coming layoffs …
Matthew Chapman / Raw Story:
GOP got an ‘alarming glimpse at the future’ as it eyes massive cut: report  —  House Republicans have made slashing hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid, the federal-state partnership of public health insurance for lower-income people, a core part of their plan to pay for new tax cuts for the rich …
Anne Applebaum / The Atlantic:
There's a Term for What Trump and Musk Are Doing  —  How regime change happens in America  —  despite its name, the Department of Government Efficiency is not, so far, primarily interested in efficiency.  DOGE and its boss, Elon Musk, have instead focused their activity on the eradication …
Ben Walsh / The Bender:
Did Secret Data Doom Biden?  —  Why Politico Is Wrong About the Biden Boom  —  You might remember that in mid-November, there was an idea that Donald Trump won the 2024 election because the economy wasn't very good.  Sure unemployment was low and wages were up.  But egg prices!
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Defiance in New York  —  The acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Danielle Sassoon, has submitted her resignation to Attorney General Pam Bondi, an implicit refusal to seek the dismissal of charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams, as Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered her to do on Monday.
Discussion: CNBC
Emily Woodruff / The Advocate:
Louisiana Department of Health ends mass vaccinations, bans seasonal vaccine promotion  —  Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham sent a directive to state health workers Thursday ending long-standing mass vaccination clinics and banning staff from promoting seasonal vaccines …
Addy Baird / Salt Lake Tribune:
Nazi flags can fly in Utah schools, but not pride flags, GOP lawmaker says  —  A new bill would allow for Nazi and Confederate flags to be displayed in some instances in Utah schools and government buildings, but pride flags would be banned.  —  An ongoing fight in Utah to ban pride flags …
New York Times:
Billionaire Airbnb Co-Founder Is Said to Take Role in Musk's Government Initiative  —  Joe Gebbia is a board member at Tesla and is close to Elon Musk, the company's C.E.O.  —  One of Elon Musk's closest friends, a billionaire co-founder of Airbnb, is taking a role in President Trump's administration …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Timothy Snyder / Thinking about:
The Weak Strongman  —  Impotence and Unfreedom, Together  —  Americans have a certain idea of freedom.
Discussion: The Guardian
New York Times:
No Tubman, No Rainbows: Defense Schools Prepared for Hegseth's Wife
Pluralistic:
Premature Internet Activists (permalink)
Discussion: Whittier Daily News
Reuters:
Exclusive: Trump's foreign aid freeze stops anti-fentanyl work in Mexico
Discussion: Al Jazeera and American Thinker
 Earlier Items: 
Politico:
Elise Stefanik's UN posting is on ice
Discussion: Raw Story, NBC News and Jewish Insider
New York Times:
'You've Blown a Hole in the Family': Inside the Murdochs' Succession Drama
New York Times:
U.S. Park Service Strikes Transgender References From Stonewall Website
Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:
Associated Press and the White House remain in standoff over access
Irina Ivanova / Fortune:
Some federal workers are ‘getting wealthy at taxpayer expense,’ says Elon Musk, whose companies have received at least $20 billion from the government
Discussion: WPR
 

 
From Techmeme:

Casey Crownhart / MIT Technology Review:
Google says the median Gemini app text prompt consumes 0.24Wh of energy, about the same as running a microwave for a second, and emits 0.03g of CO2 equivalent

Tripp Mickle / New York Times:
Nine current and ex-Apple staffers accuse VP of Fitness Tech Jay Blahnik of bullying and inappropriate behavior; Apple settled a sexual harassment complaint

Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Google expands AI Mode to 180 countries and territories in English, following the US, the UK, and India, and plans to add more languages and regions “soon”

 
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