memeorandum: EXCLUSIVE: Former FBI director Louis Freeh gave $100,000 to a private trust for Joe Biden's grandchildren and spoke with the then vice president in 2016 … (Josh Boswell/Daily Mail)

8:55 PM ET, May 20, 2021

Top Items:

CNN:

Trump administration secretly obtained CNN reporter's phone and email records — Washington (CNN)The Trump administration secretly sought and obtained the 2017 phone and email records of a CNN correspondent, the latest instance where federal prosecutors have taken aggressive steps targeting journalists in leak investigations.

Discussion: The Hill, Raw Story and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Daniel Chaitin / Washington Examiner:
Biden DOJ to brief reporters about Trump-era secret records seizures

Discussion: NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth and Raw Story

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

The GOP keeps reinforcing the real reason it opposes a Jan. 6 commission — It's as if Republicans were trying to prove they were just doing this for political reasons — One of the most stupefying aspects of the fast-emerging GOP resistance to a Jan. 6 commission is how they ever even allowed it to get to this point.

Discussion: Politico, HuffPost, ABC News, CNN, The Moderate Voice, Bloomberg, Crooks and Liars, Townhall, Raw Story, CBS News, The Hill and The Editorial Board

Donald J. Trump:

back to feed — See, 35 wayward Republicans—they just can't help themselves. We have much better policy and are much better for the Country, but the Democrats stick together, the Republicans don't. They don't have the Romney's, Little Ben Sasse's, and Cheney's of the world. Unfortunately, we do.

Discussion: IJR, Breaking911 and CNN

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Republicans offer a vile new excuse for opposing a Jan. 6 commission

Discussion: Townhall, NBC News, New York Times and IJR

Washington Post:
Several Republicans who oppose Jan. 6 commission are potential witnesses about Trump's conduct that day

Discussion: HuffPost, New York Times, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, Forbes and IJR

Arthur Delaney / HuffPost:
Some Republicans Opposed To Capitol Riot Commission Supported One In January

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN and Talking Points Memo

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Trump attacks your family? Your wife? Your mom? No big deal in today's GOP.

Discussion: HuffPost, New York Daily News, Fox 59, No More Mister Nice Blog and Digby's Hullabaloo

Washington Post:

Chris Cuomo took part in strategy calls advising his brother, the New York governor, on how to respond to sexual harassment allegations — CNN anchor Chris Cuomo advised his brother, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, and senior members of the governor's staff on how to respond …

Oliver Darcy / CNN:

CNN says it was ‘inappropriate’ for Chris Cuomo to participate in strategy sessions advising brother on sexual harassment allegations — New York (CNN Business)CNN anchor Chris Cuomo advised his brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, on how to respond to sexual harassment allegations …

Discussion: Washington Post, Mediaite, New York Post and Fox News

Reuters:

Blinken confirms the U.S. does not want to buy Greenland after Trump proposal — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday confirmed that the United States does not seek to buy Greenland, after then-President Donald Trump had proposed buying the island, sparking diplomatic fallout.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Forbes

John Hudson / Washington Post: Biden's top diplomat turns the post-Trump page with Greenland

Rosalind Helderman / Washington Post:

Arizona secretary of state says Maricopa County should replace millions of dollars worth of voting equipment because of GOP-backed recount — Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D), the state's chief elections officer, advised Maricopa County Thursday that it should replace all voting machines …

Discussion: NBC News, The Hill, MSNBC, Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

Perry Bacon / Washington Post:

American democracy is in even worse shape than you think — Joe Biden so far has been an effective president, particularly in terms of managing the coronavirus vaccine rollout and making hard but necessary policy decisions such as moving to withdraw U.S. troops out of Afghanistan.

Eric Lutz / Vanity Fair:
Arizona's Absurd Election “Audit” Could Be Just the Beginning for Trump Dead-Enders

Discussion: Washington Post, American Oversight, Associated Press, USA Today, IJR, Washington Times and HotAir

Jerusalem Post:

Israel announces ceasefire after 11 days of fierce battle with Hamas in Gaza — Egyptian security source - whose country has been mediating between the sides - said they had agreed in principle to a mutual halt in hostilities. — The Israeli security cabinet voted to accept a ceasefire late Thursday …

Discussion: New York Times, The Times of Israel, Crooks and Liars, New York Post, TheBlaze and Political Wire

Washington Post:
Cease-fire aimed at ending 11 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas takes effect

Discussion: New York Times, HotAir, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Deadline, The Times of Israel, The Daily Caller, Politico, Bloomberg and Vox

Leah Aharoni / Jewish Journal:

Throwing Israel Under The Bus Will Not Save American Jews … https://jewishjournal.com/wp-content/ uploads/speaker/post-336828.mp3?cb= 1621538318.mp3 — “Mom, if this is our last conversation, I don't want it to end this way,” said my 18-year-old daughter before walking out of the house to spend Shavuot with her friends.

Lawrence Kudlow / New York Sun:
Changing on Israel, Democrats Turn Toward Iran

Discussion: Vox and Algemeiner.com

Francesca Gillett / BBC:

Martin Bashir: Inquiry criticises BBC over ‘deceitful’ Diana interview — The BBC fell short of “high standards of integrity and transparency” over Martin Bashir's 1995 interview with Princess Diana, an inquiry has found. — Bashir acted in a “deceitful” way and faked documents to obtain the interview, the inquiry said.

Discussion: The Hill, Variety, bbc.co.uk, CNN, Telegraph, Vanity Fair, The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast, The Wrap and CBS News, more at Mediagazer »

Hunter Walker / The Uprising:

Police Records Refute GOP's ‘No Firearms’ Claim About January 6 Riot — Some Republican members of Congress are trying to downplay the January 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol by claiming that no guns belonging to members of the pro-Trump mob were confiscated by police.

Discussion: CNN

Hunter Walker / The Uprising:
One Claim About January 6 That Just Doesn't Add Up

Discussion: Washington Times, The Hill and Wall Street Journal

New York Daily News:

Feds accidentally seized computer belonging to Rudy Giuliani's ex-wife during NYC raids: lawyer — A computer that belongs to Rudy Giuliani's most recent ex-wife was among the more than dozen electronic devices the feds confiscated when they raided the former mayor's Manhattan pad and law office last month.

Christian Berthelsen / Bloomberg:
Giuliani Raid Yielded 18 Devices From His Home and Office

Discussion: KTAR.com

The White House:

Executive Order on Climate-Related Financial Risk — By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: — Section 1. Policy. The intensifying impacts of climate change present physical risk to assets …

Discussion: Politico

Abby Smith / Washington Examiner:
Biden issues sweeping executive order requiring agencies to combat climate change

Discussion: CNBC and Washington Times

Max Ufberg / New York Magazine:

Chickpea of the Sea — While meat consumption has for decades been scrutinized for its contributions to climate change, the world is only just starting to reckon with the climate tolls of the commercial-fishing industry. — For example, a study published in March in the journal Nature found …

Kyle Kondik / Sabato's Crystal Ball:

The House: Democrats Would Have a Tough Slog Even Without Redistricting — Our hypothetical ratings of House 2022 if no district lines changed — KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE — The reapportionment of House seats and pending redistricting has prevented us from releasing U.S. House ratings so far this cycle.

Discussion: New York Magazine, FiveThirtyEight, Breitbart, Florida Politics, HotAir, NBC News and Politico

Brad Reed / Raw Story:

Arizona vote ‘audit’ sinks deeper into insanity as state GOP chair threatens her own officials with arrest — The Trump-backed “audit” of the 2020 election in Arizona is sinking deeper into madness, as Arizona GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward this week threatened her own party's officials with arrest.

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Daily Kos

Peter Wehner / The Atlantic:

Trump Is Marching Down the Road to Political Violence — At the beginning of last week, former President Donald Trump referred to the 2020 election as the “greatest Election Fraud in the history of our Country.” By the end of the week, he had issued a statement saying, “As our Country is being destroyed …

Discussion: New York Post, Washington Post, Digby's Hullabaloo and CNN

William Saletan / Slate:

Ousting Liz Cheney Could Backfire on the GOP — Many Republican voters agree with her. Without them, the party risks disaster. — Two weeks ago, in an interview on Fox News, Sen. Lindsey Graham explained why House Republicans had to purge Rep. Liz Cheney from their leadership.

Discussion: Raw Story and Roll Call

Sahil Kapur / NBC News:

Fetterman poll shows him with a large lead in Democratic Pennsylvania Senate primary — Lt. Gov. John Fetterman holds the lead in a rare early poll of the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate primary, winning 40 percent of likely Democratic voters, with Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Pa. …

CNN:

Pakistan FM invokes antisemitic slur - CNN Video — Discussing Israel's actions in Gaza, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Israel has “deep pockets” and “they control media,” prompting strong pushback from CNN's Bianna Golodryga.

Washington Post:

As GOP-run states slash jobless aid, the Biden administration finds it has few options — More than 20 states have moved to cut expanded jobless aid — The Biden administration has scrambled to devise a way to keep paying heightened unemployment benefits to an estimated 3.6 million Americans …

Discussion: CNN, Associated Press and KTLA

Matthew Vadum / Front Page Magazine:

Race-Crazed Disney Backs Down — Resisting woke corporations works. — A humiliated Walt Disney Corporation scrubbed its bizarre critical race theory-based employee indoctrination materials from the Internet after a think tank scholar exposed them. — Christopher F. Rufo …

Josh Boswell / Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: Former FBI director Louis Freeh gave $100,000 to a private trust for Joe Biden's grandchildren and spoke with the then vice president in 2016 ‘to explore lucrative future work options’ with Hunter as the middle man — DailyMail.com can reveal former FBI director Louis Freeh gave $100,000 …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Jim Puzzanghera Globe / The Boston Globe:

Warren, Moulton want Walsh to disclose more on Dennis White controversy — WASHINGTON — Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Seth Moulton said Thursday they want to know more about Labor Secretary Martin J. Walsh's role in his final weeks as Boston mayor in the appointment of Dennis White as the city's police commissioner.

Discussion: The Hill

John Ganz / Unpopular Front:

Are Republicans still democrats? — The Right's Long War on Majority Rule — This week FiveThirtyEight published a piece entitled “How The Republican Push To Restrict Voting Could Affect Our Elections.” Included in the article is a graph that purports to chart “The GOP's eroding commitment to Democracy” …

David Ignatius / Washington Post:

MBS's lawsuit against a Saudi spy threatens to spill secrets. The U.S. should intervene. — The Biden administration, worried about possible disclosure of sensitive counterterrorism operations, is considering whether to intervene in a lawsuit that pits a former Saudi spymaster against Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Kyle Mantyla / Right Wing Watch:

Lauren Boebert Falsely Claims Texas Hasn't Had a Single COVID-19 Death Since Lifting All Restrictions Two Months Ago — Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and other Republican lawmakers are rebelling against the requirement that members of Congress wear a mask while on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Discussion: The Colorado Sun

Marina Pitofsky / The Hill:

First vaccine boosters could be needed as soon as September, executives say — The first Americans who received their COVID-19 vaccines could need a “booster” shot of as soon as September, the CEOS of Pfizer and Moderna told Axios. — “The data that I see coming, they are supporting …

Discussion: Axios, Page Array and HotAir

Hannah Knowles / Washington Post:

Body-cam video shows Louisiana troopers stunned, hit and dragged Black man before his death — At first, police told Ronald Greene's loved ones that he died in a car accident — plowing into a tree late one night in 2019 after driving past a traffic stop, according to a lawsuit filed by the man's family.

Discussion: New York Post, Mediaite, CNN and The Daily Dot