memeorandum: ‘Gov. Greitens has to go’: As lawmakers react, House will launch investigation (Kansas City Star)

8:45 AM ET, February 23, 2018

Top Items:

Parkland school cop ‘never went in’ during the shooting. There were other failures, too. — Eight days after mass shooter Nikolas Cruz murdered 17 people inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Broward's top cop on Thursday revealed a stunning series of failures by the sheriff's department.

Discussion: Townhall.com, The Last Refuge, Washington Press, twitchy.com, TheBlaze, Mediaite and BBC

New York Times:

Armed Sheriff's Deputy ‘Never Went In’ During Florida Shooting — FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The only armed security guard on campus during a deadly mass shooting at a Florida high school last week “never went in” to a building to try to take down the shooting suspect, Sheriff Scott Israel …

Discussion: The Week, The Daily Caller, Forward Progressives and IJR

Luke Barnes / ThinkProgress:

Three major car rental companies dump the NRA — A major car rental conglomerate which operates three prominent national brands is ending its corporate relationship with the National Rifle Association, as backlash grows in the wake of the Parkland mass shooting.

Discussion: Business Insider, Dallas Morning News, Gizmodo, Washington Press, New York Magazine, Joe.My.God., Woke Sloth, Breitbart, Law & Crime, The Atlantic, Mediaite and CNN

Washington Post:

Armed sheriff's deputy stayed outside Florida school while mass killing took place … FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The armed school resource officer assigned to protect students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School took a defensive position outside the school and did not enter the building …

Discussion: The Federalist, Shot in the Dark, Betsy's Page, Instapundit, Hit & Run, CNN and East Bay Times

Todd Tongen / WPLG-TV:
Stoneman Douglas BSO resource officer did not enter school during shootings

Discussion: RedState, Instapundit, The Last Refuge, IJR, twitchy.com, New York Magazine, Daily Wire and The Daily Caller

Stephen Hobbs / Sun-Sentinel:
Stoneman Douglas cop resigns; sheriff says he should have ‘killed the killer’

Discussion: New York Post, CNN, The Root, Splinter, The Week, Vox, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Orlando Sentinel

David Choi / Business Insider:
Armed police are guarding the home of the deputy who resigned over his lack of action in the Parkland school shooting

Discussion: Sun-Sentinel

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / New York Times:

What Do Jotted Talking Points Say About Trump's Empathy? — WASHINGTON — For more than an hour on Wednesday, President Trump listened quietly to entreaties for action, personal stories of grief and loss, and expressions of raw anger, clutching a white notecard with talking points written on it.

Discussion: thecut, Politicus USA, Washington Press, Business Insider, The Week, Woke Sloth and Mediaite

Kansas City Star:

Gov. Greitens indicted for felony invasion of privacy stemming from affair — Gov. Eric Greitens was indicted Thursday afternoon by a St. Louis grand jury on a felony charge of invasion of privacy. — The charge stems from a 2015 affair and allegations that he threatened to release …

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens indicted for felony invasion of privacy

Discussion: FOX2now.com and The Daily Caller

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens indicted for felony invasion of privacy

Discussion: The Atlantic, Daily Kos, RGA, News Blog, Riverfront Times, AOL, Washington Free Beacon, Joe.My.God. and Mother Jones

Dylan Matthews / Vox:
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens's sexual blackmail scandal, explained

Discussion: CNN, Raw Story, Washington Post, Associated Press, ABC News, KFOR-TV, New York Magazine, KTLA, The Right Scoop, ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, Politico, Jezebel, thecut and The Week

Kansas City Star: ‘Gov. Greitens has to go’: As lawmakers react, House will launch investigation

Abby Livingston / The Texas Tribune:

In rare move, national Democrats come out against primary candidate Laura Moser in bid for Culberson's seat — The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Thursday posted negative research on Democratic congressional hopeful Laura Moser, one of seven Democrats vying to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. John Culberson.

Discussion: Political Wire and Off the Kuff

DCCC:

Laura Moser — Democratic voters need to hear that Laura Moser is not going to change Washington. She is a Washington insider, who begrudgingly moved to Houston to run for Congress. In fact, she wrote in the Washingtonian magazine, “I'd rather have my teeth pulled out without anesthesia” than live in Texas.

Emma Platoff / The Texas Tribune:
Jury finds state Sen. Carlos Uresti guilty of 11 felonies, leading to calls from Democratic colleagues to resign

Discussion: Off the Kuff, Daily Wire, Washington Free Beacon and The Daily Beast

Ryan Grim / The Intercept: EMILY's List Weighs in Hard in Texas Primary — Against a Leading Woman in the Trump Resistance

The Daily Beast:

Sources: Ex-Trump Staffer Rick Gates to Drop His Lawyer in Russia Probe … Former Trump campaign official Rick Gates has fired his lawyer, The Daily Beast has learned. And, contrary to recent media reports, Gates is not about to make a deal with the Special Counsel Robert Mueller, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, Politico, Raw Story, Law & Crime, ABC News, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, Vox, Weekly Standard, New Republic, Mediaite, Lawyers, Guns & Money, CNN, KTLA, WTVR-TV, VICE News, Hullabaloo, Axios, Salon and Daily Wire

Washington Post:
Special counsel Mueller files new charges in Manafort, Gates case

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Hit & Run, IJR, The Week, Shakesville, The Atlantic and Axios

Margaret Carlson / The Daily Beast: This Is the Law That Could Take Down Trump

CNN:
Mueller files new charges against Manafort and Gates

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Root, Media Matters for America, Washington Press, TheBlaze, Law & Crime and Splinter

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Mueller's team has leveled over 100 criminal charges against 19 people

Discussion: National Review, New York Magazine and Vox

Washington Post:

Putin ally said to be in touch with Kremlin, Assad before his mercenaries attacked U.S. troops … A Russian oligarch believed to control the Russian mercenaries who attacked U.S. troops and their allies in Syria this month was in close touch with Kremlin and Syrian officials in the days …

Discussion: VICE News, Just Security, Axios and Mother Jones

CNN:

Sources: Mueller probe stymies Kushner security clearance — Washington (CNN)Jared Kushner has been unable to obtain a full security clearance in part because of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Discussion: Political Wire

John Walcott / Reuters:

Two top White House advisers may leave over tensions with Trump: sources — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Longstanding friction between U.S. President Donald Trump and two top aides, the National Security Adviser and the Chief of Staff, has grown to a point that either or both might quit soon, four senior administration officials said.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Washington Press and Hullabaloo

CBS News:

Poll: Support for stricter gun laws rises; divisions on arming teachers — Nearly two-thirds of Americans support stricter laws on gun sales, including an increasing number of Republicans, but the public divides on the idea of allowing more teachers and school officials to carry guns.

Discussion: Washington Times and Politico

Kevin D. Williamson / National Review:

An Epidemic of Dishonesty on the Right — Enough with the rancid conspiracy theories — First it was the Holocaust, now Parkland — is there any act of depravity to which the less respectable right-wing media cannot imagine a connection for George Soros?

Josh Lederman / Associated Press:

AP sources: Adelson offers to help pay for Jerusalem embassy — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is considering an offer from Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson to pay for at least part of a new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, four U.S. officials told The Associated Press.

Discussion: Axios and Political Wire

David French / National Review:

The Gun-Control Debate Could Break America — A rage more personal than political exists on both sides, and poses real danger to the ties that bind us as a nation. — Last night, the nation witnessed what looked a lot like an extended version of the famous “two minutes hate” from George Orwell's novel 1984.

Discussion: Vox, No More Mister Nice Blog and Mediaite

New Yorker:
CNN's Town Hall on Guns and the Unmaking of Marco Rubio

Discussion: New Republic

Steve Holland / Reuters:

Trump administration to target North Korea with new sanctions on Friday — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration plans to announce on Friday what is being billed as the largest package of sanctions yet against North Korea to increase pressure on Pyongyang for its nuclear …

Associated Press:
AP EXPLAINS: What's N. Korea up to with provocative visit?

Discussion: One America News Network

GQ:

What Ever Happened To Brendan Fraser? — GQ's Zach Baron reports on the stupendous rise and surprising disappearance of the once ubiquitous movie star. — Brendan Fraser wants me to meet his horse. “I got this horse because it's a big horse,” he says, standing in a barn in Bedford, New York.

Discussion: PinkNews, Fox News, Breitbart, WGN-TV, East Bay Times, Daily Wire, RedState, Vox, AOL, IndieWire and Mashable

Ryan Devereaux / The Intercept:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Will Remove “Nation of Immigrants” From Mission Statement — The lead U.S. agency tasked with granting citizenship to would-be Americans is making a major change to its mission statement, removing a passage that describes the United States as a nation of immigrants.

Discussion: Vox, ImmigrationProf Blog, KTLA, Refinery29, VICE News, The Daily Caller, Splinter, Hullabaloo and Axios

Miriam Jordan / New York Times:
Is America a ‘Nation of Immigrants’? Immigration Agency Says No

Discussion: Breitbart

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:

Kasich's team gears up for possible 2020 bid — John Kasich's inner circle is gearing up for a possible presidential run in 2020 — actively weighing the prospect of a Republican primary challenge to President Donald Trump against the feasibility of a long-shot general election campaign as an independent.

Discussion: Political Wire and The Week

Sarah Larimer / Washington Post:

‘They have had it’: West Virginia teachers strike, closing all public schools … Teachers across West Virginia walked off the job Thursday amid a dispute over pay and benefits, causing more than 277,000 public school students to miss classes even as educators swarmed the state Capitol in Charleston to protest.

Discussion: USA Today, NPR and Splinter

Kim Janssen / Chicago Tribune:

Gov. Rauner drinks chocolate milk to demonstrate his commitment to diversity — In an awkward onstage appearance this week, Gov. Bruce Rauner drank a glass of chocolate milk to demonstrate his belief in diversity. — “It's really, really good,” Rauner said after taking a sip of the sugary drink.