Check out Mini-memeorandum for simple mobiles or memeorandum Mobile for modern smartphones.
7:45 PM ET, February 7, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Bloomberg:
Musk's DOGE Teen Was Fired By Cybersecurity Firm for Leaking Company Secrets  —  Edward Coristine posted online that he had retained access to the firm's servers.  Now he has access to sensitive government information.  —  Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old member of Elon Musk's squad that's …
RELATED:
Reuters:
Staffer with Elon Musk's DOGE amplified white supremacists online  —  One of the people working with billionaire Elon Musk in his efforts to overhaul the U.S. government is a Berkeley-educated computer scientist who has boosted white supremacists and misogynists online.
Discussion: Mashable and The Independent
CNBC:
Musk to rehire Treasury DOGE staffer behind racist posts after Trump endorses idea … Elon Musk said Friday he will rehire a DOGE staffer who abruptly resigned following the exposure of his tweets advocating for racism and eugenics.  —  Musk's announcement on his social media platform X came …
John Hyatt / Forbes:
The Now Deleted Tweets Of DOGE Staffer Gavin Kliger  —  From mass deportations and military tribunal executions to calling Hillary Clinton a slur, OPM staffer Gavin Kliger has embraced the fringes of Elon Musk's X and Trump's MAGA movement.  —  John Hyatt is a NYC-based Forbes staff writer covering billionaires.
Time:
Inside Elon Musk's War on Washington
New York Times:
Vance and Trump Call for Rehiring of DOGE Staffer Who Quit Over Racist Posts. Musk Obliges.
Wired:
A US Treasury Threat Intelligence Analysis Designates DOGE Staff as ‘Insider Threat’  —  An internal email reviewed by WIRED calls DOGE staff's access to federal payments systems “the single biggest insider threat risk the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has ever faced.”
RELATED:
The Atlantic:
The Government's Computing Experts Say They Are Terrified … Elon musk's unceasing attempts to access the data and information systems of the federal government range so widely, and are so unprecedented and unpredictable, that government computing experts believe the effort has spun out of control.
Washington Post:
Treasury installs ally of Musk's DOGE as head of payment system  —  The move follows the ousting of a career official who rebuffed attempts to use the payment system to stop federal spending.  —  The Treasury Department will make an ally of billionaire Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service the head …
Mother Jones:
Kash Patel Took $25,000 From Russia-Linked Firm to Appear on an Anti-FBI TV Series  —  Last year, Kash Patel, the MAGA provocateur whom Donald Trump has nominated to head the FBI, received $25,000 from a Russia-linked production company to participate in a documentary in which he assailed the FBI and called for closing its headquarters.
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Kash Patel was paid by Russian filmmaker with Kremlin ties, documents show
Discussion: Associated Press
NBC News:
Judge to pause Trump administration effort to gut USAID's workforce by thousands  —  Two labor groups had sued the Trump administration after it said that thousands of USAID employees would be placed on administrative leave starting at 11:59 p.m. Friday.  —  A federal judge on Friday …
RELATED:
Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:
Judge pauses Trump plan to put USAID staff on leave
Washington Post:
Trump hints at tariffs on Japan during meeting with its prime minister  —  President Donald Trump hinted during a news conference that Japan could soon face U.S. tariffs if it doesn't take steps to buy more from the United States.  The comments come as Japan's new prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba …
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Trump says he's revoking Biden's security clearance, ending intelligence briefings in payback move  —  President Donald Trump said Friday that he's revoking former President Joe Biden's security clearance and ending the daily intelligence briefings he's receiving in payback for Biden doing the same to him in 2021.
Joshua Keating / Vox:
Why Trump's plan to “clean out” Gaza actually matters  —  It's a safe bet that much of what President Donald Trump described in two press availabilities at the White House alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, as well as a follow-up social media post, is not going to happen.
grants.nih.gov:
Key Dates  —  Related Announcements  —  Issued by  —  Office of The Director, National Institutes of Health (OD)  —  Purpose  —  The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards a large number of grants providing substantial federal funding for research purposes.
Discussion: STAT
Louise Matsakis / Wired:
Trump's FBI Pick Kash Patel Took Up to $5M in Stock from Chinese Ecommerce Giant Shein  —  Donald Trump's pick for FBI director told senators he has no plans to divest his shares, which his financial disclosure form says were received in exchange for consulting services.
Amy Maxmen / KFF Health News:
Measles Outbreak Mounts Among Children in One of Texas' Least Vaccinated Counties  —  A measles outbreak is growing in a Texas county with dangerously low vaccination rates.  —  In late January, two school-age children from Gaines County were hospitalized with measles.
Discussion: Ars Technica, The Hill, KRDO, WAGA-TV and WXIA-TV
Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:
Former GOP Director Of FBI, CIA Urges Chuck Grassley To Stop Kash Patel's Nomination  —  “After all the hard work that you've done over your career, to allow it to be destroyed on your watch would not be a legacy I would want,” warned William Webster.  —  LOADING
Discussion: Raw Story
Rachel Selzer / Democracy Docket:
North Carolina Judge Rejects GOP State Supreme Court Candidate's Bid To Throw Out 60K Ballots  —  A Wake County Superior Court judge rejected a bid by GOP North Carolina Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin to overturn his 2024 election loss to incumbent Democratic Justice Allison Riggs …
Joseph Menn / Washington Post:
U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users' encrypted accounts  —  Secret order requires blanket access to protected cloud backups around the world, which if implemented would undermine Apple's privacy pledge to its users.  —  Security officials in the United Kingdom have demanded that Apple create …
Isaac Schorr / Mediaite:
Elon Musk Demands Firing of ‘Disgusting and Cruel’ WSJ Reporter Who Uncovered DOGE Employee's Racist Tweets  —  Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), suggested that The Wall Street Journal reporter responsible for uncovering …
RELATED:
Rolling Stone:
Dem Overseeing ‘Digital Assets’ to Hold Luxury Retreat With Crypto Kingpin  —  Ruben Gallego, Arizona's new senator, is set to hold a fundraising weekend with Silicon Valley investor Marc Andreessen and blogger Matt Yglesias  —  Freshman Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego was recently named …
Discussion: Gizmodo and New York Times
Maya C. Miller / New York Times:
As Trump and Musk Upend Washington, Congressional Phones Can't Keep Up  —  In the three weeks since President Trump took office and gave Elon Musk free rein inside the federal government, millions of calls have poured in to members of Congress, jamming the system.
Discussion: Breitbart and Washingtonian
Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
How to Win the USAID Fight  —  First up: Sarah and I argued about everything on the Secret pod today.  The show is here.  —  Second: An update on yesterday's story about the confusion surrounding Trump's (maybe?) firing the head of the National Archives.  There had been conflicting reports …
Discussion: DNyuz
Andrea Long Chu / New York Magazine:
Goodbye, Pamela Paul … Goodbye, Pamela Paul!  You hardly knew us.  —  The controversial columnist is exiting the New York Times “Opinion” section this spring as part of a wave of job cuts.  In 2022, after a decade of editing the Book Review, Paul joined “Opinion,” where she quickly gained …
Brian Barrett / Wired:
The US Government Is Not a Startup  —  Elon Musk is moving fast and breaking things that can't afford to be broken.  —  It feels like no one should have to say this, and yet we are in a situation where it needs to be said, very loudly and clearly, before it's too late to do anything about it: The United States is not a startup.
Discussion: Washington Post
Qasim Rashid / Let's Address This with Qasim Rashid:
AG Bondi to Criminally Prosecute Private Entities for DEIA  —  Bondi makes clear that the “again” in MAGA refers to the period of Jim Crow America  —  This week a contact at the DOJ sent me a dozen memos just been issued by new US Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Steve Benen / MSNBC:
Trump makes an outrageous choice for his White House Faith Office  —  After Trump's 2020 loss, Paula White said “demonic confederacies” were trying to steal the election.  She'll now lead the new White House Faith Office.  —  Donald Trump's remarks at the latest National Prayer Breakfast went about as well as expected.
Gordon Brown / The Guardian:
Be clear about what Trump and Musk's aid axe will do: people will face terror and starve, many will die  —  The decimation of USAid is already having a terrible effect in some of the poorest places on the planet.  It damages America: it will harm us all  —  An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 or above could not have caused more carnage.
Ezra Klein / New York Times:
What Elon Musk Wants  —  This is an edited transcript of an episode of “The Ezra Klein Show.”  You can listen to the conversation by following or subscribing to the show on the NYT Audio App, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.
Discussion: CNN, HotAir and Grabien
Zeke Miller / Associated Press:
Trump orders freeze of aid to South Africa, citing country's land expropriation law  —  President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday formalizing his announcement earlier this week that he'll freeze assistance to South Africa for a law aiming to address some of the wrongs …
Discussion: Bloomberg, Reuters and Baltimore Sun
Caleb Brennan / Heartland Signal:
Controversial Christian nationalist legislation introduced in North Dakota House  —  At the start of the new legislative session, a group of North Dakota legislators put forward a potentially unconstitutional resolution that would have the state “acknowledge the Kingship of Jesus Christ.”
Juan Carlos Lara / KQED:
FCC Investigates SF Radio Station for ICE Reporting, Sparking Press Freedom Fears  —  The Federal Communications Commission is investigating San Francisco-based KCBS for its coverage of immigration enforcement actions in San José last month, sparking concerns from press freedom advocates …
Reuters:
Exclusive: Trump Air Force nominee arranged satellite contract in manner that favored Musk's SpaceX, sources say  —  President Donald Trump's nominee as Air Force Secretary, currently a top official at the national spy satellite agency, arranged a multibillion-dollar contract solicitation …
Andrew Solender / Axios:
Scoop: Jeffries' centrists press him to let them vote for GOP bills … - The discussion, according to one House Democrat who was present, centered on giving centrist and swing-district Democrats “flexibility to take certain votes.” … - Said another member who was at the meeting …
Discussion: New York Daily News, The Hill and NOTUS
NBC News:
DOJ orders child safety authority to comply with Trump's ‘gender ideology’ order  —  The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said it would be removing all references to transgender people from its public materials.  —  The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children …
Discussion: Techdirt, The Verge and Advocate
 
 
 Archived Page Info: 
This is a snapshot of memeorandum at 7:45 PM ET, February 7, 2025.

View the current page or another snapshot:


 
 See Also: 
memeorandum: site main
memeorandum River: reverse chronological memeorandum
memeorandum Mobile: for phones
memeorandum Leaderboard: memeorandum's top sources
 
 Subscribe: 
memeorandum RSS feed
memeorandum on Mastodon
 
 
 More Items: 
Jordain Carney / Politico:
Senate Republicans release budget blueprint ahead of Wednesday markup
David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
This Ain't The Apprentice. Stop Calling Them Firings. They're Purges.
Washington Post:
A House Democrat warns against making ‘everything Defcon 5’
Discussion: The Hill and The Daily Caller
David Dayen / American Prospect:
Bessent Gives Musk a Present, Stalling CFPB Oversight of Big Tech
 Earlier Items: 
Katherine Stewart / New York Times:
Now Will We Believe What Is Happening Right in Front of Us?
Discussion: Just Security
Dan Hon / MIT Technology Review:
From COBOL to chaos: Elon Musk, DOGE, and the Evil Housekeeper Problem
Derrick Bryson Taylor / New York Times:
Ye Takes Back Apology and Calls Himself a Nazi in Social Media Rant
Adrian Carrasquillo / The Bulwark:
Trump's Deportation Dragnet Widens and Puerto Ricans Are Getting Caught in It
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
Annual letter: YouTube CEO Neal Mohan says TV has overtaken mobile as the “primary device for YouTube viewing in the US”, indicating YouTube is “the new TV”

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Sources and a memo: Disney makes changes to its DEI programs, like scraping its Reimagine Tomorrow initiative and changing content disclaimers on some titles

Matthew Weaver / The Guardian:
A BBC study finds 51% of AI answers to questions about the news had “significant issues”, and 19% of answers citing BBC content introduced factual errors
 
Sister Sites:

Techmeme
 Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web
Mediagazer
 Top news and commentary for media professionals from all around the web
WeSmirch
 The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page