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1:00 AM ET, May 16, 2020

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Politico:
Trump ousts State Department watchdog  —  President Donald Trump has removed State Department Inspector General Steve Linick and replaced him with an ally of Vice President Mike Pence — the latest in a series of moves against independent government watchdogs in recent months.
RELATED:
House Foreign Affairs Committee:
Engel Statement on the Firing of Inspector General Linick  —  Washington—Representative Eliot L. Engel, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, this evening made the following statement on the President's removal of State Department Inspector General Steve Linick:
Discussion: Balloon Juice
CNN:
State Department inspector general becomes the latest watchdog fired by Trump  —  (CNN)President Donald Trump on Friday fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick, the latest in a series of dismissals of independent government watchdogs that have come in the wake of the President's acquittal …
Matthew Lee / Associated Press:
Pompeo fires State Dept. watchdog critical of Trump moves  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has fired the State Department's inspector general, an Obama administration appointee whose office was critical of alleged political bias in the agency's management.
Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Raw Story
Natasha Korecki / Politico:
‘Manipulative, deceitful, user’: Tara Reade left a trail of aggrieved acquaintances  —  Harriet Wrye did a double take the first time she saw Tara Reade on television lodging sexual assault allegations against Joe Biden.  —  “Jim, that's Tara,” the 79-year-old author and psychologist called …
RELATED:
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
New Reporting Increases Doubts on Tara Reade's Allegation Against Joe Biden  —  When Tara Reade first made her assault allegation against Joe Biden, I thought the charge was more likely to be true than false.  To be clear, I had no intention of changing my vote.
Discussion: The Atlantic and Quillette
PBS NewsHour:
What 74 former Biden staffers think about Tara Reade's allegations  —  Over his decades-long career in the Senate, former Vice President Joe Biden was known as a demanding but fair and family-oriented boss, devoted to his home life in Delaware and committed to gender equality in his office.
Katie Glueck / New York Times:   How the Biden Campaign Aims to Win Battleground States
New York Times:
A Sitting President, Riling the Nation During a Crisis  —  By smearing his opponents, championing conspiracy theories and pursuing vendettas, President Tru​mp has reverted to his darkest political tactics in spite of a pandemic hurting millions of Americans.
Discussion: Raw Story
Manu Raju / CNN:
GOP congressman on why he's not wearing a mask: 'There's just no need'  —  Washington (CNN)Republican Rep. Ted Yoho of Florida was spotted Friday walking around the Capitol and on the House floor without wearing a mask.  —  Asked why not, he told CNN: “There's just no need.”
Discussion: The Hill and Talking Points Memo
RELATED:
Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:
House changes its rules during pandemic, allowing remote voting for the first time in its 231-year history
Discussion: Roll Call, The Hill and New York Times
CNN:
House approves $3 trillion Covid aid bill and historic rules change to allow remote voting
Politico:
As crisis continues, an anxious House returns to Washington
Discussion: Washington Post
CNN:
Behind the Justice Department's split over the Flynn dismissal  —  (CNN)Before the Justice Department moved last week to drop the charges against Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, department officials and the FBI were in sharp disagreement …
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
Justice Department, State Attorneys General Likely to Bring Antitrust Lawsuits Against Google
Paul Waldman / Washington Post:
Michael Flynn isn't a martyr.  He's a crook and a crackpot.  —  For anyone with a memory that stretches all the way back to 2016, it is positively bizarre to see Republicans suddenly claiming that Michael Flynn, President Trump's former national security adviser, is a martyr.
Discussion: PREVAIL
RELATED:
Brooke Singman / Fox News:
McEnany, pressed on Trump's accusations of Obama administration crimes, points to Flynn leaks
CNN:
‘He lied on national television’: Trump says truckers protesting industry problems are actually honking to support him  —  This is what brings out Trump's inner child  —  Washington (CNN)When blaring truck horns intruded on President Donald Trump's Friday speech in the White House Rose Garden …
Stephanie M. Lee / BuzzFeed News:
JetBlue's Founder Helped Fund A Stanford Study That Said The Coronavirus Wasn't That Deadly  —  A highly influential coronavirus antibody study was funded in part by David Neeleman, the JetBlue Airways founder and a vocal proponent of the idea that the pandemic isn't deadly enough to justify continued lockdowns.
CNBC:
Trump downplays the need for coronavirus vaccine: 'It'll go away at some point'  — President Trump said the U.S. will overcome the coronavirus crisis with or without an effective vaccine, saying that the disease will “go away at some point” either way.  — “If we don't …
Discussion: NaturalNews.com
RELATED:
Victoria F. Piccoli / ODNI Newsroom:
Director of National Intelligence Announces Changes to Election Security Briefings  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the ODNI announced that the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) will lead all intelligence-based threat briefings to candidates, campaigns, and political organizations under the U.S. Government's notification framework.
Discussion: The Gateway Pundit
RELATED:
Victoria F. Piccoli / ODNI Newsroom:   Acting DNI Grenell Announces Organizational Changes to National Counterterrorism Center
New York Times:
Intelligence Chief Reduces Size of Counterterrorism Office
Discussion: Axios
Josh Feldman / Mediaite:
Dan Abrams: Based on All We Know Right Now, ‘This Obamagate Theory Is 100 Percent Bullsh*t’  —  Mediaite founder and ABC News chief legal analyst Dan Abrams went on a tear during his SiriusXM show Friday calling the idea of the “Obamagate' scandal “100 percent bullshit.
Mike Baker / New York Times:
F.D.A. Halts Coronavirus Testing Program Backed by Bill Gates  —  The program allows people in the Seattle area to easily take a coronavirus test at home.  Researchers say such testing is essential for future monitoring of the virus.  —  SEATTLE — An innovative coronavirus testing program …
Discussion: Raw Story and Marginal REVOLUTION
Fox News:
Space Force flag unveiled in Oval Office, presented to Trump  —  President Trump on Friday was presented with the newly unveiled official flag of the U.S. Space Force (USSF) — the first official flag of a new U.S. military service in 72 years.  —  “This is a very special moment,” …
RELATED:
Barbara Sprunt / NPR:
Trump, Unveiling Space Force Flag, Touts What He Calls New ‘Super-Duper Missile’
Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Mike Bloomberg plots spending blitz to support Joe Biden's run for president  — Billionaire and former presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg is plotting a massive spending blitz to back Joe Biden's quest for the White House.  — The former New York mayor and his advisors are discussing whether …
Washington Post:
Drug promoted by Trump as coronavirus ‘game changer’ increasingly linked to deaths  —  For two months, President Trump repeatedly pitched hydroxychloroquine as a safe and effective treatment for coronavirus, asking would-be patients “What the hell do you have to lose?”
Discussion: Houston Chronicle and NPR
Ken Dilanian / NBC News:
Burr asks that final volume of Senate Intel report on Trump and Russia be declassified  —  The last part of the Senate Intel Committee's bipartisan report on Russian election interference is a 1,000-page volume on “counterintelligence findings.”  —  WASHINGTON — In a final act before stepping …
Discussion: Associated Press
RELATED:
Steven T. Dennis / Bloomberg:   Senate Panel Submits Final Russia Report as Burr Steps Down
Jack Shafer / Politico:
How Not to Listen to Donald Trump  —  It turns out President Donald Trump's status as the most accessible person to ever hold the office is more a curse than a blessing.  Day after day, he fills the air with the ack-ack of disinformation and misdirection, needlessly alarming the public …
Alexander Nazaryan / Yahoo News:
Newly reopened South Florida seen as an emerging coronavirus hotspot  —  WASHINGTON — Federal officials responding to the coronavirus pandemic are concerned about the rapidly rising number of cases in Palm Beach County, Fla., according to an internal Trump administration document reviewed by Yahoo News.
Todd Spangler / Variety:
Law Firm Hackers Claim to Have Dirt on Donald Trump, Up Data Ransom to $42M  —  UPDATED: The cyber-extortionists who stole a trove of private data from entertainment law firm Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks now have a new target in their sights: President Donald Trump.
Corinne Gretler / Bloomberg:
Tobacco-Based Coronavirus Vaccine Poised for Human Tests  — First phase of clinical trials could begin as early as June  — Tobacco-made vaccine would contrast with other health effects  —  An experimental Covid-19 vaccine developed by cigarette maker British American Tobacco Plc is poised to begin testing in humans.
Sara Fischer / Axios:
The Economist Group lays off 90  —  The Economist Group is laying off 90 roles from its staff of 1,300, sources tell Axios.  Its life and culture print publication, 1843, will move to a digital-only publication.  Sources say that the company's editorial team hasn't been impacted.
Washington Post:
Growing friction between White House, CDC hobbles pandemic response  —  The meager guidelines for safely reopening the country released this week are the latest sign of the Trump administration's efforts to sideline the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the increasing tension between …
Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Trump, Biden and the Myth of ‘But 2016’  —  There are members of both parties who believe the president has the ability to defy the normal rules of politics.  That view ignores electoral trends of recent years.  —  WASHINGTON — At first glance, there seems little in common between red-hat-wearing admirers …
Discussion: Fox News
 
 
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 More Items: 
Associated Press:
Most US states fall short of recommended testing levels
Ian Shapira / Washington Post:
Small businesses in high-rent cities face disaster. If they go under, urban life will change.
Zak Cheney-Rice / New York Magazine:
The Coronavirus Makes Trump's Cruelty Toward Indian Country Even More Deadly
Marisa Schultz / Fox News:
House passes $3T coronavirus relief — the most expensive bill in history
Discussion: The Hill and NB Blog
Wall Street Journal:
Google Hides News, Tricked by Fake Claims
Hope Yen / Associated Press:
VA says it won't stop use of unproven drug on vets for now
 Earlier Items: 
Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:
Why We're Not Ready to Call Georgia a Toss Up
Amy Graff / SFGATE:
South Lake Tahoe issues $1,000 fines to tourists and short-term rental owners
Venessa Wong / BuzzFeed News:
Even If You're Trying To Avoid Grubhub By Calling Your Favorite Restaurant Directly …
Discussion: The Verge
detroitnews:
Detroit man arrested after allegedly threatening to kill Whitmer, Nessel
David Fahrenthold / Washington Post:
Secret Service signs $179,000 contract to rent golf carts in Bedminster, N.J., this summer
Discussion: The Hill and Raw Story
New York Times:
Sweden Stayed Open. A Deadly Month Shows the Risks.
Discussion: Althouse
 

 
From Techmeme:

Benj Edwards / Ars Technica:
Anthropic's Claude 3 Opus surpassed OpenAI's GPT-4 for the first time on Chatbot Arena, a crowdsourced leaderboard used by AI researchers for LLM evaluations

Rebekah Valentine / IGN:
Take-Two acquires Borderlands developer Gearbox Entertainment from the Embracer Group for $460M in stock; the deal is expected to close by the end of June 2024

Jess Weatherbed / The Verge:
Oregon's governor signs the first US right-to-repair law that bans manufacturers from using “parts pairing” to dictate what replacement components can be used

 
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