memeorandum: Republican: Condemn the ‘birther’ attack on Kamala Harris (CNN)

10:12 AM ET, August 15, 2020

Top Items:

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

Trump's attacks on the Postal Service deserve sustained, red-alert coverage from the media — Listen to President Trump long enough, and, despite his penchant for falsehood, you'll eventually hear some unvarnished truth. — That happened Thursday when he stated his intentions clearly in an interview with Fox Business Network.

Discussion: Fox News, The Hill, Bangor Daily News, The American Independent and Daily Kos

Washington Post:

Postal Service warns 46 states their voters could be disenfranchised by delayed mail-in ballots — Anticipating an avalanche of absentee ballots, the U.S. Postal Service recently sent detailed letters to 46 states and D.C. warning that it cannot guarantee all ballots cast by mail …

CNN:

Exclusive: Postal service inspector general reviewing DeJoy's policy changes and potential ethics conflicts — Collins pushes Trump on USPS money and mail-in ballots — Washington (CNN)The internal watchdog at the United States Postal Service is reviewing controversial policy changes …

Discussion: Jacobin, The Hill, Gizmodo, BBC, KECI, Jon Tester, Breitbart, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Law & Crime, Talking Points Memo, ABC News and IJR

Bob Brigham / Raw Story:

Trump officials could face criminal charges for USPS sabotage — and the president may not be able to pardon them — Members of the Trump administration could face legal jeopardy over efforts to sabotage U.S. Postal Service operations to interfere with the 2020 presidential elections.

Paul P. Murphy / CNN:

USPS removes mail collection boxes and reduces post office hours as critics accuse Trump administration of voter suppression — (CNN)The United States Postal Service has started reducing post office operating hours across several states and removing their iconic blue letter collection boxes …

Discussion: UPI and The Week

Lisa Baertlein / Reuters:

Exclusive: UPS, FedEx warn they cannot carry ballots like U.S. Postal Service — LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - United Parcel Service and FedEx on Friday shot down social media calls that they step in to deliver mail-in ballots from the U.S. Postal Service, which is warning states of potentially “significant” delays.

Discussion: New York Post and The Hill

Jacob Bogage / Washington Post:

Postal Service will stop removing mailboxes — The iconic blue boxes are moved frequently depending on mail volumes — The removal of dozens of mailboxes in a handful of states set off a social media panic and some high-profile attention this week, but the U.S. Postal Service …

Discussion: NBC News, Washington Monthly, Mediaite, The Week, USA Today, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC and Senate Democratic Leadership

Pilar Melendez / The Daily Beast:
NJ Rep, Inspector General Investigate What the Hell Is Going On With USPS

Discussion: The Hill and CNN

Washington Post:
Trump's assault on the U.S. Postal Service gives Democrats a new campaign message

Discussion: Politico, Associated Press, Political Wire, Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal

Nick Gillespie / Reason:
Don't Blame Donald Trump if the Post Office Loses Your Vote

Discussion: BuzzFeed News, The Daily Caller and The Hill

Eric Levitz / New York Magazine: Americans Must Defend the Postal Service Like Our Democracy Depends on It

MSNBC: Postal Service Inspector General investigating recent policy changes by Trump's Postmaster General

Los Angeles Times:

Senate committee sought investigation of Bannon, raised concerns about Trump family testimony — The Senate Intelligence Committee sent a bipartisan letter to the Justice Department asking federal prosecutors to investigate Steve Bannon, a former Trump confidante, for potentially lying …

Discussion: Raw Story

Lloyd Grove / The Daily Beast:

It Took Newsweek Three Days and a Staff Revolt to Apologize for Kamala Harris Birtherism Op-Ed — The apology nevertheless fell far short of staffers' demands that the magazine retract and remove the supposedly erudite exploration of 19th century Supreme Court rulings.

Discussion: Raw Story, Just The News, The Daily Caller, Vox, Patterico's Pontifications and JONATHAN TURLEY, more at Mediagazer »

Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:

The White Supremacist “Scholars” Pushing the Kamala Harris Birther Lie — Sen. Kamala Harris is a citizen of the United States who is eligible to serve as vice president. This is not an argument but a statement of fact, because children born in the U.S. to immigrant parents receive birthright citizenship under the Constitution.

Discussion: The Bulwark, Washington Post, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Constitution Daily, The Atlantic and Reason

CNN:

Republican: Condemn the ‘birther’ attack on Kamala Harris — Douglas Heye is the ex-deputy chief of staff to former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a GOP strategist and a CNN political commentator. Follow him on Twitter @dougheye. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own.

Discussion: NPR, Raw Story and The American Independent

Marc Caputo / Politico:

Harris ‘electrifies’ West Indian voters — and gives Biden a new edge in Florida — LAUDERHILL, Fla. — Almost as soon as Kamala Harris became the first woman of Jamaican-Indian descent to be nominated for vice president, a mock White House menu of oxtail and jerk chicken cropped …

Frank Figliuzzi / NBC News:

Republican QAnon candidate Marjorie Taylor Greene's win highlights coming 2020 crisis … It would be comical if it weren't so increasingly dangerous. QAnon, a growing movement of unhinged, evidence-free conspiracists, are convinced that an evil cabal of Democrat, Satan-worshipping, pedophile sex-traffickers rule the world.

Discussion: The Indian Express, Mediaite and Axios

Marisa Schultz / Fox News:
Marjorie Greene, controversial Georgia Republican, says she's not a QAnon candidate

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Hill and Washington Post

Chris Cillizza / CNN:
Why Trump's birtherism attack on Harris is killing the Republican Party

Discussion: Mashable, Raw Story, The Dispatch and Big League Politics

Wyatt DobrovichFago / FOX News Radio:

“The Damnedest Thing I've Ever Seen” Chris Wallace On Biden Campaign Not Putting Any Surrogates On Sunday Shows Before Convention — Chris Wallace - Host of Fox News Sunday & Author of “Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days that Changed the World ” …

Discussion: Townhall

Ghaith Al-Omari / NBC News:

Israel-UAE deal achieves a Middle East rarity: It's win-win-win, Palestinians included — The United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates pulled off the rarest of feats on Thursday: a diplomatic win-win-win in the Middle East. President Donald Trump announced a historic breakthrough …

Annelle Sheline / Politico:
Trump's Win Is a Loss for the Middle East

Discussion: The Unz Review, The National, One America News Network, United States Department … and Power Line

Politico:

HHS chief information officer abruptly resigns — HHS' chief information officer, José Arrieta, resigned unexpectedly Friday. — Arrieta told senior leaders that he would stay on for up to a month to help with the transition, said two individuals with knowledge of his plans.

Jason Miller / Federal News Network:
HHS CIO Arrieta unexpectedly resigns

Discussion: New York Times

Caitlin McFall / Fox News:

NYC police union endorses Trump, who claims Biden would ‘gut every single police department in America’ — Trump used the endorsement speech to attack Biden, Harris, de Blasio and Warren — A New York City law enforcement union, the Police Benevolent Association (PBA) …

Discussion: Breitbart, Reuters and The Federalist

Vincent Barone / New York Post:
NYPD union endorses Trump: ‘We need your strong voice across the country’

Discussion: Fox News and Sputnik News

Charles Creitz / Fox News:
Sarah Palin: Media double standard for Kamala Harris proves 'if you're conservative, you'll get beat up'

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

New York Times:

Kamala Harris Changes the Race While Trump Tells on Himself — There were surprises this week that weren't entirely shocking: Ms. Harris joined Joe Biden's ticket and President Trump resurrected birtherism. Here's what to make of the last week in politics. — Welcome to our weekly analysis of the state of the 2020 campaign.

Discussion: WPRI-TV and UPI

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:

How Jennifer O'Malley Dillon transformed Joe Biden's campaign — When Jennifer O'Malley Dillon was brought in to take over the Joe Biden campaign operation five months ago, she barely knew a soul there — and that included the candidate himself. — If that wasn't a big enough adjustment …

New York Times:

Coronavirus Live Updates: Firm Helping Run Federal Database Refuses Senators' Questions — People who recover from the virus have a three-month window of safety, C.D.C. guidance shows. As tax revenues plummet, states face an estimated $555 billion budget gap over the next two years.

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Two sites that amplify hoaxes given special treatment at Trump's briefings despite restrictions — The White House press corps just got a little more Trump-friendly, thanks to a bit of maneuvering by the White House itself. — Representatives of the Gateway Pundit and Epoch Times …

Discussion: The Intercept, more at Mediagazer »

Rachel Olding / The Daily Beast:

QAnon-Loving Trump Sycophant Bill Mitchell Gets Permanently Booted From Twitter — BUH-BYE! — Bill Mitchell, Trump sycophant and prominent supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory, was permanently suspended from Twitter late Friday for previously trying to evade bans.

Discussion: Reclaim The Net

Justice News:

Drug-Dealing, White Supremacist Stripper Sentenced for Obstruction of Justice — TEXARKANA, Texas - A 28-year-old Dallas, Texas, man has been sentenced for federal violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Cox today. — On March 6, 2020 …

Alex Thompson / Politico:

‘The President Was Not Encouraging’: What Obama Really Thought About Biden — The way Joe Biden explained it on the campaign trail in Iowa, he and his friend Barack Obama had long talked of Biden succeeding him in the White House, continuing the work of their administration.

Discussion: Redstate, Fox News, Twitchy and The Daily Caller

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE:

Establishment of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force — On Aug. 4, 2020, Deputy Secretary of Defense David L. Norquist approved the establishment of an Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Task Force (UAPTF). The Department of the Navy, under the cognizance of the Office of the Under Secretary …

Discussion: Sputnik News, The Daily Caller, Axios and CNN