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1:40 PM ET, May 20, 2020

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
NBC News:
Pompeo's elite taxpayer-funded dinners raise new concerns  —  NBC News: Pompeo's elite dinners on taxpayers' dime raising concern  —  WASHINGTON — As federal workers file out of the State Department at the end of a Washington workday, an elite group is often just arriving in the marbled …
RELATED:
Politico:
Fired State Department watchdog was probing protocol office  —  The now-fired State Department inspector general had recently wrapped up an investigation into two other top aides to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, determining that they had likely failed to report allegations of workplace violence …
New York Times:
Pompeo Declined Interview Request From Inspector General About Saudi Arms Sales
CNN:
Pompeo says he should have had inspector general fired ‘some time ago’ but refuses to explain why
Discussion: The Week
Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:
Trump Fans Gobble Up His Favorite, Unproven COVID Drug—Some Are Even Trying To Cook It Themselves  —  IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?  —  QAnon users are posting make-at-home recipes for hydroxychloroquine as Trump says he's using the drug  —  Donald Trump's allies are seeking …
RELATED:
Dylan Stableford / Yahoo News:
'It's sick': Biden blasts Trump Jr.'s pedophilia ‘joke’
Discussion: Washington Times and Breitbart
CNN:
'We've been muzzled': CDC sources say White House putting politics ahead of science  —  (CNN)In the early weeks of the US coronavirus outbreak, staff members in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had tracked a growing number of transmissions in Europe and elsewhere …
Discussion: IJR and Raw Story
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Trump just said the corrupt part out loud  —  During the impeachment of President Trump, an expert witness called by Democrats floated a theoretical scenario involving the president threatening a state hammered by a natural disaster, to illustrate the corruption of Trump's shakedown of Ukraine.
RELATED:
Politico:
Trump misstates Michigan mail-in ballot policy, threatens federal funding  —  President Donald Trump mischaracterized Michigan's absentee ballot policies on Wednesday while threatening federal funding to the state if election officials there do not retreat from measures meant to facilitate mail-in voting.
Catherine Lucey / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Upbraids Michigan for Easing Vote-by-Mail
Discussion: Vox, Axios and Mother Jones
Morgan Chalfant / The Hill:
Trump threatens to withhold Michigan, Nevada funding over mail-in voting
Discussion: Mother Jones, NBC News and POLITICUSUSA
Juan Williams / The Hill:
Anti-Trump Republicans flex their muscle  —  The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill  —  Republican strategists earlier this month sent a startling message to GOP senators facing reelection: “Don't Defend Trump.”  —  Then last week, a Rasmussen Reports poll …
RELATED:
Albert Hunt / The Hill:
‘Never Trump’ Republicans: Fringe, or force to be reckoned with?  —  Donald Trump dominates the Republican Party and conservative movement.  But a small, yet forceful, “Never Trump” contingent in the media and politics infuriates him and may gain traction in the election year.
Discussion: Daily Kos
Susan K. Livio / New Jersey Online:
5,368 dead and counting: An investigation of state failures as crisis rampaged through N.J. nursing homes  —  The last time Claire Collins saw her family through the glass door of the nursing home in Bergen County, the 87-year-old woman looked weak but happy.
RELATED:
Rich Lowry / National Review:
Where Does Ron DeSantis Go to Get His Apology?  —  The Florida governor explains a COVID-19 strategy that has gotten bad press and favorable results.  —  A couple of months ago, the media, almost as one, decided that Governor Ron DeSantis was a public menace who was going to get Floridians killed …
Discussion: Instapundit and TheBlaze
Gabby Orr / Politico:
‘A moonshot mission’: Trump campaign eyes a return to megarallies  —  The Trump campaign has an order from the president: Find a way to get him back on the road and into megarallies to re-energize his base.  —  In recent meetings with top campaign officials and White House aides …
Discussion: Vanity Fair and Raw Story
RELATED:
Marc Caputo / Politico:
Anti-China sentiment is on the rise
David Brody / CBN News:
EXCLUSIVE: Kayleigh McEnany's Emotional Tribute to Ravi Zacharias  —  In an exclusive interview with CBN News, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany got emotional discussing the recent passing of famous Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias, someone who made an enormous impact on her with his Christian faith.
RELATED:
David Brody / CBN News:   EXCLUSIVE: White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany Armed for Battle with God on Her Side
Farhad Manjoo / New York Times:
The Worst Is Yet to Come  —  The coronavirus and our disastrous national response to it has smashed optimists like me in the head.  —  For as long as I can remember, I have identified as an optimist.  Like a seedling reaching toward the golden sun, I'm innately tuned to seek out the bright side.
Discussion: Raw Story and Althouse
Andrew McCarthy / Fox News:
Rice tried to protect Obama, blame Comey for withholding intelligence from Flynn & Trump team  —  Blame-shifting.  It is a Washington pastime.  It also appears to be the reason why former National Security Adviser Susan Rice wrote her now-infamous memo, documenting an Oval Office meeting …
RELATED:
Brooke Singman / Fox News:
Comey mum on email suggesting move to freeze out Flynn, as Rice says she ignored advice
Mona Charen / The Bulwark:
Is Holocaust Denial Conservative Now?  —  Trump's no-enemies-to-the-right mentality has made it impossible for the right to police itself.  —  Among dozens of addled tweets from the commander-in-chief over the past few days, one in particular deserves pausing over, because it demonstrates …
Discussion: Jerusalem Post
Rasmussen Reports:
Biden Tops Trump in Vote, Economic Confidence  —  Joe Biden still bests President Trump in a head-to-head matchup, perhaps in part because voters express slightly more confidence in the likely Democratic nominee to handle the post-coronavirus economy.  —  The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone …
Ed Yong / The Atlantic:
America's Patchwork Pandemic Is Fraying Even Further  —  Editor's Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers.  Find the collection here.  —  There was supposed to be a peak.  But the stark turning point, when the number of daily COVID-19 cases …
Ally Mutnick / Politico:
GOP House candidate demeans Muslims and compares Dreamers to pedophiles  —  Republican congressional candidate Ted Howze said earlier this month he had nothing to do with social media posts from his personal accounts that demeaned Muslims, accused prominent Democrats of murder and mocked a survivor of the Parkland school shooting.
Discussion: Raw Story and DCCC
Janet Adamy / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Birthrates Fall to Record Low  —  Last year's data are another sign of how American childbearing, which began declining during the 2007-09 recession, never fully rebounded  —  American women had babies at record-low rates last year and pushed U.S. births down to their smallest total in 35 years …
Charles Sykes / The Bulwark:
The Strange Case of Ron Johnson  —  From champion of the IGs to crocodile tears.  —  I go way back with Ron Johnson.  —  A mutual friend introduced us in early 2010, when I was still a radio host in Wisconsin.  Democratic senator Russ Feingold was cruising to re-election …
Discussion: New York Post
CBS Detroit:
‘How Can I Be Sick?’  Woman Who Took Hydroxychloroquine For 19 Years To Treat Lupus Still Got COVID-19  —  OCONOMOWOC, Wis. (CBS Local) — A Wisconsin woman who has taken hydroxychloroquine for 19 years to treat lupus says the anti-malarial drug will not protect someone from COVID-19.
NBC News:
Here's how the early battleground map has opened up for Joe Biden  —  WASHINGTON — Maybe Joe Biden isn't leading President Trump by 7 points in Arizona, as one poll showed yesterday.  —  But Biden has been ahead of Trump in every Arizona poll released this year.
Nathan Heller / New Yorker:
The Town That Tested Itself  —  Bolinas, a tiny hippie enclave north of San Francisco, mounted one of the most advanced coronavirus-testing efforts in America.  What did it learn?  —  Bolinas, California, is not a place one finds oneself by accident, in part because it is a place that must be found.
Washington Examiner:
Trump is right to hold WHO accountable  —  President Trump's effort to hold the World Health Organization accountable for its bungled handling of the coronavirus is well justified.  It is outrageous to expect taxpayers to continue supporting an international body which acts as a lapdog for Beijing.
Cristina Marcos / The Hill:
Pelosi formally authorizes remote voting for 45-day period  —  Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday formally authorized a 45-day period during which House members can cast votes remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic.  —  Under the historic rules changes that the House adopted last week …
Discussion: Politico and Axios
Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Trump says he's considering holding G-7 in person again amid pandemic  —  President Trump on Wednesday said he is considering holding this year's Group of Seven (G-7) summit in-person at Camp David again after it was scrapped in favor of a video-conference due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Arrests Former Green Beret, Son, in Connection with Carlos Ghosn Escape From Japan  —  Michael and Peter Taylor are arrested in Ghosn case, extradition to Japan is sought  —  U.S. authorities arrested a former Green Beret and his son on suspicion they helped smuggle auto titan Carlos Ghosn …
NBC News:
Trump administration paying huge premium for mask-cleaning machines.  Which don't do the job.  —  The president pressured the FDA to waive rules for mask-cleaning machines that ballooned to 10 times the original cost.  But the machines appear to damage the masks.
Andrew Desiderio / Politico:
Republican-led Senate panel authorizes subpoena in Hunter Biden probe  —  A Senate committee voted on Wednesday to authorize a subpoena as part of a Republican-led investigation targeting former Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter.  —  The party-line vote in the Senate Homeland Security …
Discussion: The Hill, New York Post and Raw Story
Dion Rabouin / Axios:
Airlines pack in customers like there's no coronavirus  —  As restaurants, department stores and other local businesses grapple with operating at half occupancy (or less) to comply with social distancing guidelines, airlines are packing customers to near capacity on a reduced number of flights.
Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:
HHS watchdog who exposed hospital shortages to testify before House panel  —  The federal watchdog who issued an early report documenting grave shortages of coronavirus tests and personal protective equipment at overwhelmed hospitals will testify before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Tuesday, a congressional aide said.
Discussion: The Hill
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Trump Is Failing at Governing But Winning at Authoritarianism  —  Donald Trump has been battering away at American democracy for about four years now, first as a populist candidate warning of rigged elections and inciting his supporters to violence, and then as a president.
Discussion: New York Times
Errin Haines / Washington Post:
Biden campaign adds Karine Jean-Pierre as senior adviser  —  Joe Biden has hired Karine Jean-Pierre, a veteran African American political strategist, as a senior adviser to his presidential campaign as the presumptive Democratic nominee pivots to the general election campaign.
Discussion: Twitchy
 
 
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 More Items: 
New York Times:
How the ‘Plandemic’ Movie and Its Falsehoods Spread Widely Online
Sadie Gurman / Wall Street Journal:
Justice Department Tells California Its Reopening Plan Could Disfavor Churches
Discussion: Power Line and Reuters
Kai Kupferschmidt / Science:
Why do some COVID-19 patients infect many others, whereas most don't spread the virus at all?
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Florida Gov. DeSantis calls scientist's data-manipulation claim a ‘nonissue’
New York Times:
Iran Quietly Lowers the Temperature With U.S.
Lateshia Beachum / Washington Post:
Two churches reclose after faith leaders and congregants get coronavirus
Discussion: TheBlaze and The Christian Post
Caitlin Dickerson / New York Times:
10 Years Old, Tearful and Confused After a Sudden Deportation
Richard North Patterson / The Bulwark:
Break Up Amazon  —  The actions of the monopolistic giant …
 Earlier Items: 
Washington Post:
Ukrainian lawmaker releases leaked phone calls of Biden and Poroshenko
Discussion: New York Post and The Daily Caller
Sean Trende / Real Clear Politics:
The COVID ‘Spike’ in Reopened Texas: CNN Gets It Wrong
USA Today:
Trump calls high number of coronavirus cases in the US a ‘badge of honor,’ attributes it to testing
Discussion: Contemptor
Washington Post:
Trump-Biden voters could decide the 2020 election
emptywheel:
Glenn Greenwald's Invented Claims in Defense of Bill Barr and Mike Flynn
Helen Branswell / STAT:
Vaccine experts say Moderna didn't produce data critical to assessing Covid-19 vaccine
Discussion: Observer, Vox, CNBC and UPI
CNN:
A complicated life and conflicting accounts muddle efforts to understand Tara Reade's allegation against Joe Biden
Discussion: The Nation
 

 
From Techmeme:

Wall Street Journal:
The FTC bans noncompete clauses that restrict job switching, the first time in 50+ years that the FTC has issued a regulation mandating an economy-wide change

Lauren Feiner / The Verge:
The US Senate passes the TikTok divestment bill by a margin of 79-18; the legislation now heads to President Biden, who has committed to sign it into law

Victoria Song / The Verge:
Meta rolls out multimodal AI in early access for the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, mainly to help identify objects, translate signs, and write Instagram captions

 
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