memeorandum: EPA watchdog says Trump appointees kept fired employees on payroll (Alex Guillén/Politico)

5:30 PM ET, June 26, 2021

Top Items:

Engineer Warned of ‘Major Structural Damage’ at Florida Condo Complex — A consultant in 2018 urged the managers to repair cracked columns and crumbling concrete. The work was finally about to get underway when the building collapsed. — Three years before the deadly collapse …

Washington Post:
Before condo collapse, rising seas long pressured Miami coastal properties

Discussion: HotAir, Miami Herald, The Sun, NBC 6 South Florida and Insider

Patricia Mazzei / New York Times:
Frustration Mounts in Search for Survivors of Condo Collapse Near Miami

Discussion: The Hill

Adam Serwer / New York Times:

The Cruel Logic of the Republican Party, Before and After Trump — Mr. Serwer is a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of the forthcoming “The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America.” — Donald Trump has claimed credit for any number of things …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Lisa Lerer / New York Times:

Progressives' Urgent Question: How to Win Over Voters of Color — A yearslong challenge for the left was starkly illustrated this week as its hopes faded in the New York mayor's race. — Can progressives win broad numbers of the Black and brown voters they say their policies will benefit most?

Discussion: HotAir and Twitchy

Michael Wines / New York Times:

In Arizona, G.O.P. Lawmakers Strip Power From a Democrat — The State Legislature shifted legal authority from the secretary of state to a Republican attorney general, and enacted election measures it said would stop fraud. — WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled State Legislature …

Discussion: Mother Jones, LifeZette and Salon

Aaron Blake / Washington Post: 2 secretaries of state undercut Trump's fraud claims in key, GOP-controlled states. Republicans have now voted to strip both of power.

Berkeley Lovelace Jr / CNBC:

WHO urges fully vaccinated people to continue to wear masks as delta Covid variant spreads — The WHO urged fully vaccinated people to continue to wear masks and practice other Covid-19 pandemic safety measures as the highly contagious delta variant spreads rapidly across the globe.

Discussion: Twitchy, ArkansasTimes and TheBlaze

Politico:
‘A tough slog’: White House struggles to increase vaccination rates as Delta variant surges

Discussion: HotAir

Dov Lieber / Wall Street Journal:
Delta Variant Outbreak in Israel Infects Some Vaccinated Adults

Discussion: HuffPost, Forbes, HotAir, NOQ Report, Common Dreams and The Daily Caller

Wall Street Journal:
Delta Coronavirus Variant Prompts Limits in Australia, Israel, as India Warns of New Mutation

Discussion: HotAir

Blake Montgomery / The Daily Beast:
WHO Says Keep Your Mask on Even If You're Vaccinated as Delta Variant Spreads

Discussion: HotAir

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

A legendary Chicago newspaper columnist bids farewell — and wonders who will be left to tell her city's tale — In 29 years as a columnist for the Chicago Tribune, Mary Schmich was often adored and occasionally reviled by readers, as are all good newspaper columnists.

Luke Broadwater / New York Times:

Officer Injured in Capitol Riot Asks McCarthy to Disavow Lies About It — Officer Michael Fanone, who was seriously injured by the pro-Trump mob, said he came away disappointed from his meeting with the top House Republican. — WASHINGTON — For weeks, Michael Fanone …

Discussion: The Guardian, CBS News, Associated Press, Honolulu Star-Advertiser and CNN

Stundin:

Key witness in Assange case admits to lies in indictment — A major witness in the United States' Department of Justice case against Julian Assange has admitted to fabricating key accusations in the indictment against the Wikileaks founder. — bjartmar@stundin.is — ritstjorn@stundin.is

Shane Goldmacher / New York Times:

How Deceptive Campaign Fund-Raising Ensnares Older People — Older Americans, a critical source of political donations, often fall victim to aggressive and misleading digital practices. A broad Times analysis points to the scope of the problem. — William W. Vaughan Jr …

Discussion: Raw Story

Daniel Dale / CNN:

Fact check: White House national security adviser misleadingly describes pipeline company as ‘not Russian’ — Top WH official responds to bipartisan criticism of Biden-Putin summit — full interview — Washington (CNN)Last Sunday, CNN “State of the Union” co-anchor Dana Bash pressed White …

Andrew Romano / Yahoo News:

New Yahoo News/YouGov poll: Biden's approval rating falls, as both Republicans and Democrats grow more concerned about crime — Rising worries about crime among both Democrats and Republicans are starting to create a drag on President Biden's approval rating, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll …

Discussion: HotAir and The Daily Beast

Nicholas Reimann / Forbes:

Democrats Sue Texas Gov. Greg Abbott After He Strips Legislature Of Funding For 2 Years — Democrats in the Texas legislature filed a lawsuit against Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Friday, claiming the governor violated the state constitution when he vetoed all funding for the state legislature …

Discussion: The Texas Tribune

Dan Merica / CNN:

Trump kicks off revenge tour with eyes on one Ohio Republican — Cleveland (CNN)Donald Trump on Saturday will kick off his revenge tour against Republicans who defied him in the aftermath of the 2020 election and January 6 insurrection, hoping to convince his supporters to fire Ohio Rep. Anthony Gonzalez.

Discussion: The Guardian, UPI, Associated Press, The Hill, Raw Story, One America News Network, The Daily Caller, The Sun, Mediaite, NPR, USA Today and Florida Politics

Diane Francis / financialpost:

Canadian Forces have right to know if they got COVID at the 2019 Military World Games in Wuhan — Two members told the Post they fell sick with symptoms — This week, lawmakers in the United States called for an investigation into whether the October 2019 Military World Games in Wuhan …

Annie Linskey / Washington Post:

The remarkably unremarkable White House Pride ceremony — The Debrief: An occasional series offering a reporter's insights — Standing at a podium adorned with the presidential seal in the East Room of the White House, a transgender activist announced his pronouns before introducing the president.

Discussion: People.com and The Hill

Brittany Muller / WJXT-TV:

Man accused of shooting Daytona Beach officer arrested near Atlanta — Othal Wallace accused of attempted first-degree murder — DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A multi-agency manhunt for Othal Wallace, 29, ended Saturday morning when the Daytona Beach Police Department announced he had been captured outside Atlanta.

Discussion: The Other McCain, RedState, 100PercentFedUp.com, TheBlaze, WINK NEWS and WSVN-TV

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:

Harvard Poll: 80% see border disaster, want Trump closure restored, reject teaching Critical Race Theory — The Biden administration is failing big time with its inability to control illegal immigration, adding it to one of several issues that could doom Democrats if left unchecked.

Discussion: Raw Story and BizPac Review

Mike LaChance / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:

Democrats Trying to Rewrite History on ‘Defund the Police’ — “We've never taken the position as a party that we should defund the police” — The Democrats must have internal polling on ‘defund the police’ that's truly awful, because some of them are already trying to rewrite the history of the issue.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit