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1:05 PM ET, April 27, 2019

Top Items:

NRA's Wayne LaPierre Says He Is Being Extorted, Pressured to Resign — Group's longtime leader says Oliver North, president of the NRA, wants him out — Longtime National Rifle Association leader Wayne LaPierre has told the group's board he is being extorted and pressured to resign …

Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:

NRA Suspends Top Lawyer as Infighting Roils Group — Ousted President Oliver North warned board the NRA could lose its nonprofit status — Steve Hart, the longtime lawyer for the National Rifle Association board, has been suspended from that role, two people with knowledge of the move told The Daily Beast.

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

New York Times:

Oliver North Says He Will Not Serve Another Term as N.R.A. President — INDIANAPOLIS — Lt. Col. Oliver North announced on Saturday that he would not serve a second term as the president of the National Rifle Association amid inner turmoil in the gun-rights group.

Danny Hakim / New York Times:

In N.R.A. Power Struggle, Insurgents Seek to Oust Wayne LaPierre — INDIANAPOLIS — Turmoil wracking the National Rifle Association is threatening to turn the group's annual convention into outright civil war, as insurgents maneuver to oust Wayne LaPierre, the foremost voice of the American gun rights movement.

Discussion: Daily Wire, Splinter, The Trace, CNN, Joe.My.God. and Mediaite

USA Today:

NRA President Oliver North says he won't serve a second term after power struggle — At the NRA convention, President Trump announced his administration is withdrawing America's signature from the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty. A global pact designed to regulate the sale of conventional weapons, from guns to battle tanks.

Discussion: Raw Story and The Week

Reuters:

Oliver North stepping down as National Rifle Association president — (Reuters) - Retired U.S. Marine Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North will step down as president of the National Rifle Association, North said on Saturday, adding he was being forced out due to his allegations that NRA leaders engaged in financial improprieties.

Discussion: Political Wire

The Daily Beast:
NRA Takes a Shot at Its Own President, Oliver North, in Court

Discussion: Politico, The Week and Raw Story

Josh Kovensky / Talking Points Memo:
NRA Chief Wayne LaPierre Claims NRA President Oliver North Is Extorting Him

Discussion: The Week and New York Post

Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:

White House Counsel: Official Who Cleared Jared Kushner Agrees to Hill Interview — After Trump ally Jim Jordan stepped in and said he could be interviewed with White House lawyers present. — Betsy Woodruff — Carl Kline, the official who green-lit Jared Kushner's security clearance …

Discussion: Raw Story

The Daily Beast:

Trump's Stonewalling Pushes House Democrats Towards Impeachment — “Trump's opacity is moving some members into the impeachment camp,” one Democratic lawmaker tells The Daily Beast. “Translation: it's always the cover-up that gets 'em.” — Donald Trump's declaration this week …

Discussion: Raw Story and Joe.My.God.

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
White House OKs testimony — with limits — from ex-security clearance chief

Discussion: Axios

Annie Karni / New York Times:
To Trump, ‘Leakers Are Traitors and Cowards,’ and He Wants to Find Them

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

New York Times:

The Neighborhood Is Mostly Black. The Home Buyers Are Mostly White. — Nationwide, the arrival of white homeowners in places they've long avoided is jolting the economics of the land beneath everyone. — RALEIGH, N.C. — In the African-American neighborhoods near downtown Raleigh, the playfully painted doors signal what's coming.

Sydney Ember / New York Times:

Bernie Sanders Campaign Sets Thousands of House Parties for Supporters — Just days after former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. became the 20th candidate to join the Democratic presidential race, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is readying what he hopes will be his latest show of force …

Discussion: New York Post

Edward-Isaac Dovere / The Atlantic:
The Gray Race for the White House

Discussion: Washington Post

The Hill:
Biden allies launch super PAC

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Mike Barber / Richmond Times-Dispatch:

UVA basketball team will decline to visit White House after winning championship — CHARLOTTESVILLE - After winning the national championship, the Virginia basketball team won't be following the tradition of visiting the White House. — “We have received inquiries about a visit to the White House …

Discussion: Raw Story, the way of improvement … and Townhall

Christian Vasquez / Politico:
Virginia's NCAA-winning basketball team declines White House invitation

Discussion: One America News Network, The Hill and TheBlaze

CNN:
Trump defends his Charlottesville comments after Biden slams them

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Vox, Raw Story, The Root and The Week

Frances Robles / New York Times:

Russian Hackers Were ‘In a Position’ to Alter Florida Voter Rolls, Rubio Confirms — It was the day before the 2016 presidential election, and at the Volusia County elections office, near Florida's Space Coast, workers were so busy that they had fallen behind on their correspondence.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Fox News, Daily Kos and Tampa Bay Times

Rosalind Adams / BuzzFeed News:

Blackwater Founder Erik Prince's New Company Is Operating In Iraq — HONG KONG — A Hong Kong-based security and logistics company founded by Erik Prince is working in the south of Iraq, according to documents obtained by BuzzFeed News. — Prince, a former Navy SEAL and the brother …

Discussion: Raw Story

Washington Post:

Hard-line views made Lou Dobbs a Fox powerhouse. Now he's shaping Trump's border policy. — One day in mid-March, President Trump gathered his top economic team at the White House to get its read on the state of the nation's financial health. — But before the Council of Economic Advisers finished …

Discussion: Politico

Globe and Mail:

Canada's new far right: A trove of private chat room messages reveals an extremist subculture — An analysis of 150,000 chat room messages paints a picture of a group that is actively recruiting new members, buying weapons and trying to influence political parties

Carol Rosenberg / New York Times:

Guantánamo Bay as Nursing Home: Military Envisions Hospice Care as Terrorism Suspects Age — With no sign that the prison will close, the Pentagon has begun planning for detainees to grow old and die at Guantánamo Bay. — GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba — Nobody has a dementia diagnosis yet …

Bloomberg:

Trump Playing Defense in Rust Belt as He Opens Re-Election Bid — First post-Mueller rally in Michigan aimed at shoring up base — As his 2020 campaign gears up, President Donald Trump is putting an early focus on the three Rust Belt states that sent him to the White House …

Discussion: Raw Story

Laura Hazard Owen / Nieman Lab:

“I felt like it was a betrayal, and we had raised funds on false pretense”: The Correspondent's first U.S. employee speaks out — “They're really good at the PR thing, and it really feels like gaslighting. They were like, ‘Well, we never promised a U.S. newsroom.’ I was like: Wait, did I just imagine all this?”

more at Mediagazer »

Jonah Engel Bromwich / New York Times:

The Raisin Situation — One man wanted to change the raisin industry for the better. He got more than he bargained for. — FRESNO, Calif. — Millennials just weren't eating raisins. So Sun-Maid, the century-old company with the iconic little red raisin boxes, hired someone to convince them that they should.

New York Times:

Donald Trump Shows a New Level of Contempt for Congress — Many presidents have resisted congressional demands for testimony and documents. But not quite like Mr. Trump. — The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher. It is separate from the newsroom and the Op-Ed section.

Discussion: Washington Post, Lawfare and Raw Story