memeorandum: Cuellar ducks abortion issue while campaigning through challenger's stronghold (Andrea Drusch/San Antonio Report)

9:20 AM ET, May 6, 2022

Top Items:

Jane Mayer / New Yorker:

Scooping the Supreme Court — The first Roe v. Wade leaks happened fifty years ago. — Supreme Court watchers have been calling the leak of a draft opinion in advance of the Court's abortion decision “unthinkable” and “unprecedented.” Chief Justice John Roberts has ordered …

Discussion: Washington Post

CNN:

John Roberts calls Supreme Court leak ‘absolutely appalling’ — Atlanta (CNN)Chief Justice John Roberts said Thursday that the leak of a draft opinion that would strike down Roe v. Wade is “absolutely appalling” and stressed that he hopes “one bad apple” would not change “people's perception” …

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, NBC News, Washington Examiner, Simony, Human Events, HuffPost, Insider, POLITICUSUSA and National Review

Joseph Klein / Front Page Magazine:

Pro-Abortion Dems Disrespect the Democratic Process — What the “leak” is really about. — Politico set off a firestorm on the Left after it published a leaked draft of a Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade if it ends up as the Court's final ruling.

Discussion: The Hill, America, America and Wall Street Journal

Politico:
Abortion bans and penalties would vary widely by state

Discussion: BRProud.com, Washington Post and PolitiFact

Emily Leibert / Jezebel:
Jewish Leaders: Banning Abortion is ‘Absolutely’ a Violation of Religious Freedom

Discussion: Alienhood

Tom Goldstein / SCOTUSblog:
How the leak might have happened

Discussion: Vox, The Hill, Washington Post, Common Sense and Politico

Politico:
Trump set the stage for Roe's demise. For now, he doesn't wanna talk about it.

Discussion: Vox, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Wall Street Journal, Washington Monthly, Wide World of News and CNSNews

Jonathan Edwards / Washington Post:
Newsmax host, without evidence, accuses Ketanji Brown Jackson of leaking Roe draft before she's sworn in

Discussion: Articles Archive, FiveThirtyEight and Plain Dealer

Pete Williams / NBC News:
How the Supreme Court could proceed with the Roe leak probe

Discussion: CNN, No More Mister Nice Blog, ABC News, Washington Examiner, HotAir and Reuters

John Burn-Murdoch / Financial Times:
Repeal of Roe risks exacerbating the US's most shameful statistic

Discussion: USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Byline Times and HotAir

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Putting Together the Pieces on The Campaign to Stop Roberts

Discussion: CNN, CBS News, NBC News, Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Hill, Washington Post, Bloomberg and New York Magazine

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Trump Proposed Launching Missiles Into Mexico to ‘Destroy the Drug Labs,’ Esper Says — It is one of the moments in his upcoming memoir that the former defense secretary described as leaving him all but speechless. — Give this article- - - Read in app

Discussion: Insider, Regular Order, Washington Examiner, Outside the Beltway, Raw Story, Politico, The Daily Wire, The Guardian, POLITICUSUSA, HuffPost, CNN, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Rolling Stone, Mediaite and Forbes

CBS News:
Esper: Stephen Miller called for a “quarter-million troops” to respond to migrant caravan

Discussion: The Hill

Martin Pengelly / The Guardian:
Esper book details Trump rage at Pence and proposal to hit Mexico with missiles

Discussion: CNN, Raw Story and Politico

John Nichols / The Nation:

Meet the Poster Boy for the GOP's Trumpian Cult of Personality — J.D. Vance was a loser. Now, he's a nominee. — J.D. Vance secured Ohio's Republican US Senate nomination Tuesday not by impressing the voters of Ohio but by winning the favor of one man.

Discussion: Democrats

Washington Post:

Trump, largely silent on abortion, to hold rally in Pennsylvania … Welcome to Post Politics Now. — Today, former president Donald Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in Pennsylvania with celebrity doctor and GOP Senate hopeful Mehmet Oz. Among the things we'll be watching: What, if anything, Trump has to say about abortion.

Haisten Willis / Washington Examiner:

White House works to tie ‘ultra-MAGA’ Republicans to Trump in midterm elections — The White House is embracing a new messaging strategy of pinning midterm Republican hopefuls to former President Donald Trump and his “ultra-MAGA” agenda, hoping to brand the GOP as a band of extremists.

Discussion: CNN and NBC News

New York Times:
In Ohio Senate Race, Democrats Pin Their Hopes on the Suburbs

Discussion: Raw Story, Plain Dealer, Breitbart and Washington Post

NBC News:

U.S. intel helped Ukraine sink Russian flagship Moskva, officials say — Intelligence shared by the U.S. helped Ukraine sink the Russian cruiser Moskva, U.S. officials told NBC News, confirming an American role in perhaps the most embarrassing blow to Vladimir Putin's troubled invasion of Ukraine.

Serge Schmemann / New York Times:
The Information War in Ukraine Is Far From Over

Discussion: The Hill, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, What the Hell is Going On?, 19FortyFive, A Dose of Sanity and Raw Story

Ian Phillips / Associated Press:
The AP Interview: Belarus admits Russia's war ‘drags on’

Discussion: Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Today's Edition Newsletter, Insider, The Hill, Washington Examiner, HotAir, The Times of Israel, NPR, NBC New York, Mediaite and Associated Press

WALV-TV:

Boone County man charged with wife's murder wins Republican primary for town board — Nikki Wilhoite's body was recovered from a creek northwest of Lebanon March 26, after Andrew told detectives that he dumped her there. — LEBANON, Indiana — A Boone County man charged with his wife's murder …

Discussion: Kansas City Star, The Daily Caller and Associated Press

Sarah Nelson / The Indianapolis Star:

Lebanon man accused of killing wife among winners in Indiana primary race — A Lebanon man accused of killing his wife in March and dumping her body in a creek is among the candidates to advance in a local election after Indiana's primaries Tuesday. — Andrew Wilhoite, who's suspected …

Discussion: Fox 59, HuffPost, PennLive and Raw Story

Scott Wong / NBC News:

‘We should not defund’: Democrats press Pelosi for vote on police funding — WASHINGTON — In an effort to address rising crime rates, 19 mostly moderate House Democrats are urging Speaker Nancy Pelosi to hold a vote soon on bipartisan legislation that would increase funding for police departments across the country.

Josh Mitchell / Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Job Growth Was Sturdy in April, Economists Forecast — Friday's jobs report is expected to show a payroll gain of 400,000 — Economists estimate the U.S. economy posted robust job growth in April despite rising interest rates, jittery stock markets and growing fears of a slowdown.

Discussion: HotAir, CNBC, The Daily Caller, ABC7 and Deseret News

Abha Bhattarai / Washington Post: Millions retired early during the pandemic. Many are now returning to work, new data shows.

Paula Reid / CNN:

Rudy Giuliani's expected appearance before January 6 committee canceled but talks continue, his lawyer says — Rudy Giuliani's appearance before the January 6 committee, set for Friday, has been canceled, his attorney told CNN. — Robert Costello said his client had been expected to appear virtually before the panel on Friday.

Discussion: HuffPost, Associated Press, New York Times, New York Post, Insider, The Hill and Bloomberg

Hugo Lowell / The Guardian:
Rudy Giuliani backs out of interview with Capitol attack committee

Discussion: CBS News, Raw Story and New Republic

Anthony Faiola / Washington Post:

How millions of Russians are tearing holes in the Digital Iron Curtain — A tremendous surge in VPN downloads represents a challenge to Putin and his version of the Ukraine war — RIGA, Latvia — When Russian authorities blocked hundreds of Internet sites in March, Konstantin decided to act.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

The Jolt: Leaked robocall: ‘This is Pres. Donald J. Trump, hopefully your all time favorite president of all time’ — Donald Trump is continuing to inject himself into races up and down the ticket ahead of Georgia GOP primaries.It's an ongoing byproduct of Trump's unparalleled involvement …

Alan Feuer / New York Times:

New Evidence Undercuts Jan. 6 Instigator Conspiracy Theory — Recordings released to defense lawyers directly challenge assertions by prominent Republicans that an Arizona man named Ray Epps was a federal informant and helped start the Capitol riot. — Give this article- - - Read in app

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Raw Story

Punchbowl News:

5/6/22 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM. … BEATTY SENT A LETTER TO THE WHITE HOUSE LAST MONTH EXPRESSING HER INTEREST IN THE POST, HILL AND THE WHITE HOUSE SOURCES SAID. — BUT A SOURCE FAMILIAR WITH THE CONFIRMATION PROCESS TOLD US THE WHITE HOUSE ALREADY HAS A CANDIDATE FOR THE POSITION …

Discussion: The Hill

Olivia Beavers / Politico:

Amid an uproar over Capitol staff mistreatment, meet the House's ‘worst boss’ — Rep. Victoria Spartz topped a nonpartisan group's “Worst Bosses” list last year, winning the dubious title of most staff turnover in the House. Her retention record is only getting worse.

Elena Schneider / Politico:

States line up for fight to go first in Democrats' next presidential primary — More than a dozen states and at least one territory are applying to be among the first to vote for Democrats' next presidential nominee — with the biggest pile-up coming out of the Midwest, where states are jockeying to take Iowa's long-held early spot.

Discussion: Vox

Andrea Drusch / San Antonio Report:

Cuellar ducks abortion issue while campaigning through challenger's stronghold — Wednesday night's rally alongside a member of Democratic leadership sought to boost support for U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar in a part of his district that helped his progressive primary challenger push the longtime incumbent into a runoff.

Discussion: HotAir

Joshua Rhett Miller / New York Post:

GOP senators want new TV rating for shows with LGBTQ characters — A group of Republican senators want a new TV rating created so parents can block their children from watching shows with LGBTQ characters. — The five senators from North Dakota, Kansas, Utah, Indiana and Montana sent …

Discussion: Daily Kos and Political Wire

U.S. Department of Defense:

Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby Holds a Press Briefing — Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby — PRESS SECRETARY JOHN F. KIRBY: I'm so glad that you guys are so concerned about my wellbeing. It's heartwarming really. I appreciate that. — (CROSSTALK) — MR. KIRBY: (inaudible) feel better?

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Balloon Juice