memeorandum: Dismal Russian Record in Occupied Eastern Ukraine Serves as Warning (Yaroslav Trofimov/Wall Street Journal)

3:10 PM ET, February 5, 2022

Top Items:

Trump's ‘circular firing squad’ threatens GOP midterm gains — SALT LAKE CITY — Nine months before the midterm elections, nearly everything is falling the Republican Party's way, from President Joe Biden's dismal approval ratings to rising gas prices and a seemingly never-ending pandemic.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Raw Story, The Hill, TheBlaze, Bloomberg, Insider, HotAir and IJR

National Review:

RNC Should Take a Lesson from Mike Pence — The Republican National Committee has voted to formally censure Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for “actions in their positions as members of the January 6th Select Committee not befitting Republican members of Congress.” This is both morally repellent and politically self-destructive.

Discussion: Raw Story

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

This was the week when Trump revealed all — He really did want to overturn the 2020 election, and he never meant it when he said those who broke the law on Jan. 6 should have to pay. — Former president Donald Trump has told some big lies over the years.

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, Raw Story and Salon

Caroline Vakil / The Hill:

Trump responds to Pence criticism — Former President Trump responded to former Vice President Mike Pence's remarks that he did not have the authority to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. — “Just saw Mike Pence's statement on the fact that he had no right to do anything …

Discussion: Slate, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, Mediaite, Washington Times and CBS News

Ben Sisario / New York Times:

Joe Rogan Apologizes for ‘Shameful’ Past Use of Racial Slur — His apology came as listeners said that as many as 70 episodes of “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast had been quietly taken off Spotify; the company has yet to comment on the reported removals. — As pressure has intensified …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Townhall, Breitbart, Gizmodo, Vanity Fair, globalnews.ca, One America News Network, TheBlaze, The Verge, The A.V. Club, ET Canada, Stereogum, Consequence and BrooklynVegan, more at Mediagazer »

Jessica Bennett / Page Six:

Joe Rogan addresses his repeated use of the N-word in viral clip … Joe Rogan has responded to a resurfaced clip of him using the N-word almost two dozen times while hosting his wildly popular podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience.” — Calling the clip “the most regretful and shameful thing I've ever …

Discussion: RedState, Variety, The Daily Wire, Deadline, The Daily Caller and Consequence

Timothy Bella / Washington Post:

Joe Rogan apologizes for ‘regretful and shameful’ past use of the n-word — Joe Rogan apologized Saturday for the many previous instances in which the host used the n-word on his Spotify podcast. — Rogan, already under fire in recent weeks after medical professionals and musicians decried …

Lexi Lonas / The Hill:
Dozens of Joe Rogan podcast episodes pulled from Spotify

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Zach Montellaro / Politico:

GOP takes mail voting to court in swing states Biden won — A pair of looming state court cases could significantly curtail mail voting ahead of the midterms — one of Republicans' major goals since former President Donald Trump went to war against the practice in 2020.

Discussion: NBC10 Philadelphia

Samuel Benson / Politico:
Former clerk rewrites SCOTUS contenders' Wikipedia bios

Discussion: Insider, BizPac Review, Outside the Beltway, Reason and Fox News

Michael Wines / New York Times:
North Carolina Court Says G.O.P. Political Maps Are Unconstitutional

Discussion: Zandar Versus The Stupid, Politico and Roll Call

WRAL-TV:
North Carolina Supreme Court strikes down new voting maps

Discussion: Associated Press, POLITICUSUSA, Digby's Hullabaloo, Work Matters and One America News Network

Will Doran / Raleigh News & Observer:
Gerrymandering lawsuit: NC districts ruled unconstitutional

Discussion: The Hill, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Fox News, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, WRAL-TV and Breitbart

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Hawley posts a fist-pump to ignorance with his position on Ukraine — Something serious appears to have prompted Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., to label a fellow Republican, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, a “con artist” and “one of the worst human beings.” Perhaps it was Hawley's public questioning …

Discussion: Fox News, The Hill, Townhall, Political Wire and HuffPost

Michael Schwirtz / New York Times:
Russian Troops in Final Stages of Readiness Add to Worries for Ukraine

Discussion: globalnews.ca, Japan Times, Comment is Freed, Townhall, Newsy and TFIGlobal

Michael Crowley / New York Times:
All Options Are Not on the Table as Biden Moves Troops Closer to Ukraine

Discussion: The National Interest, HotAir and TFIGlobal

Politico:

New York mayor holds court in swanky restaurant alongside friend with checkered past — NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams' whereabouts have long been a source of intrigue — from his unconventional living arrangement that spilled into public view on the campaign trail last year …

Discussion: New York Magazine

New York Daily News:
Mayor Adams apologizes for calling white NYPD officers ‘crackers’ in 2019: ‘That was inappropriate’

Discussion: BizPac Review, The Gateway Pundit, HuffPost, Breitbart, CBS New York, PIX11, Politico, TheBlaze and Fox News

Amanda Holpuch / New York Times:

Esper Memoir of Trump Tenure to Move Ahead After Legal Battle Ends — The former defense secretary dropped a lawsuit against the Defense Department after it reversed decisions on what parts of his memoir were to be redacted, his lawyer said. — A memoir by the former defense secretary …

The Daily Beast:

Trump Fixated on ‘Fucking Weird’ Senate Candidate and His Sex Life — The former president has gossiped openly about and so far declined to endorse Josh Mandel. — Starting at the very dawn of the Biden presidency, a slate of increasingly MAGA-fied Republican candidates have each competed …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Columbus Dispatch, NBC News and National Zero

Yaroslav Trofimov / Wall Street Journal:

Dismal Russian Record in Occupied Eastern Ukraine Serves as Warning — The areas, once engines of the Ukrainian economy, are now impoverished, depopulated enclaves that increasingly rely on Russian subsidies to survive. It's what many fear could happen to the rest of the country if Vladimir Putin carries out a broader invasion.

New York Times:

In Scrutinizing Trump and His Allies, Jan. 6 Panel Adopts Prosecution Tactics — The House committee investigating the assault on the Capitol and what led to it is employing techniques more common in criminal cases than in congressional inquiries. — The House select committee scrutinizing …

Chris Megerian / Associated Press:

Looking for evidence? Trust us, Biden administration says — WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Biden's administration was asked for evidence to back up dramatic claims about national security developments this past week, it demurred with a simple rejoinder: You'll have to trust us on that.

Discussion: Breitbart and The Daily Beast

Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Why ‘Trust Us’ Is Often Reason Enough Not to Trust the Government

Discussion: Mano Singham

Andrew Mark Miller / New York Post:

Man who tried to burn Minnesota school during BLM riots gets probation — A man convicted of attempting to set fire to a high school during the Black Lives Matter riots in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd has been sentenced to five years probation.

Discussion: Fox News and The Gateway Pundit

Cleve R. Wootson Jr / Washington Post:

Trump and allies try to redefine racism by casting White men as victims — Holding court at a political rally in Texas last week, former president Donald Trump implied that he — a wealthy White man who was elected to an office almost exclusively held by White men — was also a victim of racism.

Discussion: Slate and The Western Journal

Wall Street Journal:

The World Is Likely Sicker Than It Has Been in 100 Years — Omicron has probably made more people ill at the same time than in any period since the flu pandemic, experts say — in Mexico City, Joanna Sugden in London and Rajesh Roy — The world is living through a unique moment …

The Hill:

White House gets set for cautious pivot on pandemic — The White House is preparing to pivot on the pandemic — but with a different approach than the July 4 celebration last summer that some have subsequently criticized as premature. — “No one wants a repeat of last July,” said one Democratic strategist.

Discussion: Direct Left and Political Wire

Audrey Mcavoy / Associated Press:

US military faces crisis in Hawaii after leak poisons water — HONOLULU (AP) — A giant U.S. government fuel storage installation hidden inside a mountain ridge overlooking Pearl Harbor has provided fuel to military ships and planes crisscrossing the Pacific Ocean since World War II.

Mujib Mashal / New York Times:

Editor in Kashmir Is Arrested Amid Intensifying Clampdown — The police accused Fahad Shah, who edits a news website, of “uploading anti-national content.” Critics say journalists in Kashmir have increasingly been harassed and intimidated. — NEW DELHI — The editor of a news website …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Hill, Al Jazeera and Committee to Protect …, more at Mediagazer »

Humeyra Pamuk / Reuters:

U.S. restores sanctions waiver to Iran with nuclear talks in final phase … President Joe Biden's administration on Friday restored sanctions waivers to Iran to allow international nuclear cooperation projects, as indirect American-Iranian talks on reviving the 2015 international nuclear deal with Tehran enter the final stretch.