memeorandum: Texas Gov. Abbott greets Biden with scathing letter as president visits border: ‘emboldened the cartels’ (Bradford Betz/Fox News)

8:40 AM ET, January 9, 2023

Top Items:

Assault on presidential palace, congress challenges Brazil's democracy — BRASILIA — Thousands of radical backers of far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro breached and vandalized Brazil's presidential office building, congress and supreme court Sunday in scenes that hauntingly evoked the Jan. 6 …

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, Reuters, The Brazilian Report, Frontpage Mag, TASS, New York Times, The Times of Israel, Twitchy, The Brazilian Report, Fortune, UPI, Al Jazeera, Just The News and Bloomberg

Lauren Sforza / The Hill:

Texas Democrat calls for US authorities to extradite Bolsonaro back to Brazil — Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) called on the Biden administration and local authorities in Florida on Sunday to send back to Brazil its former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, whose supporters stormed the country's Congress and Supreme Court.

Discussion: HuffPost, New York Times, NBC New York, Matthew's Notebook, Mike Klonsky's Edu/Pol, Deadline, Politico, Raw Story and Mediaite

Mike Wendling / BBC:

How Trump's allies stoked Brazil Congress attack — The scenes in Brasilia looked eerily similar to events at the US Capitol on 6 January two years ago - and there are deeper connections as well. — “The whole thing smells,” said a guest on Steve Bannon's podcast, one day after the first round …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Joining the Dots, Blue Virginia, Raw Story and Digby's Hullabaloo

Associated Press:

Pro-Bolsonaro crowd storms Brazil's Congress, other sites — Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro who refuse to accept his election defeat stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and presidential palace in the capital on Sunday, a week after the inauguration of his leftist rival …

Politico:

Speaker McCarthy's first governing test — Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross — DRIVING THE DAY — THE LATEST FROM BRAZIL: — Brazilian police have cleared protesters from government offices after supporters of former Brazilian President JAIR BOLSONARO stormed …

Terrence McCoy / Washington Post:

How Bolsonaro's rhetoric — then his silence — stoked Brazil assault — RIO DE JANEIRO — For more than four years, the most fundamental of questions has loomed over Brazil: Would its young democracy survive the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro? — Latin America's largest country embarked …

Discussion: Associated Press, CIVIL AND GLOBAL DEFENSE and CBS News

Associated Press:
McCarthy's next big task: Win GOP support for House rules

Discussion: Politico, USA Today, Fox News, New York Times, Florida Politics, The Hill, CNN, RedState, Boston Herald, Washington Times, The Guardian and CBS News

Adriano Machado / Reuters:
Bolsonaro supporters invade Brazil presidential palace, Congress, Supreme Court

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Insider and The Daily Caller

Deutsche Welle:
Brazil: Bolsonaro supporters storm National Congress

Discussion: Reuters, TMZ.com, BBC, Informed Comment, TASS, The Brazilian Report, Bloomberg, RedState, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Washington Post

BBC:
Brazil Congress: Lula vows to punish supporters of Bolsonaro after riot

Discussion: The Guardian, Washington Post, Occupy Democrats, Reuters, Forbes, NBC 6 South Florida, TASS, Balloon Juice, Letters from an American, The Hill and Bloomberg

CNN:
Bolsonaro supporters break into Brazilian Congress and presidential palace

Discussion: WSVN-TV, Bloomberg, Insider, Payday Report, NPR and Forbes

Josh Kraushaar / Axios:

Biden's '24 pivot — President Biden is quietly pivoting to the middle as he prepares for a 2024 run. … Republicans accommodated the far right, with often disastrous results. — Biden began his administration pandering to progressives. … - “This feels like the Joe Biden of 2020 …

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, The Dispatch, The Guardian and Conservative Brief

Bradford Betz / Fox News:

Texas Gov. Abbott greets Biden with scathing letter as president visits border: ‘emboldened the cartels’ — Sunday's trip marked the president first visit to the border since taking office — Gov. Abbott calls out Biden admin for failing to ‘communicate’ on first border visit since taking office

Politico:
Migration issues cast long shadow over Biden's visit to ‘3 Amigos’ summit

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, NBC News, Deseret News, USA Today, Raw Story, Al Jazeera, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Associated Press, Washington Times and UPI

Carl Hulse / New York Times:

Republicans Prepare New Rules, but Fixing Congress Isn't So Easy — History suggests that the procedural plans of the new House Republican majority are likely to lead to more gridlock and legislative instability, not less. — WASHINGTON — Smarting after a dozen years under iron-fisted Republican rule …

Discussion: E&E and The Daily Caller

Zachary B. Wolf / CNN:
The speaker fight is over but the chaos is just beginning

Discussion: Washington Post, Bloomberg, The American Spectator, Raw Story, The Hill, USA Today and Fox News

Rachael Bade / Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: The clock starts ticking on McCarthy's speakership

Discussion: Against the Grain, Breitbart, Mock Paper Scissors, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press and CBS News, more at Mediagazer »

Julia Moskin / New York Times:

Noma, Rated the World's Best Restaurant, Is Closing Its Doors — The Copenhagen chef René Redzepi says fine dining at the highest level, with its grueling hours and intense workplace culture, has hit a breaking point: “It's unsustainable.” — Julia Moskin has been reporting on the restaurant industry for The Times since 2004.

Punchbowl News:

1/9/23 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM — THE FIRST TEST OF THE SPEAKER KEVIN MCCARTHY ERA WILL COME TONIGHT AS HOUSE REPUBLICANS TRY TO PASS THEIR RULES PACKAGE FOR THE 118TH CONGRESS. IT SHOULD GET THROUGH, BUT AFTER LAST WEEK'S EXCRUCIATING FIASCO ON THE FLOOR, HOUSE REPUBLICANS CAN'T TAKE ANYTHING FOR GRANTED.

Discussion: Mayer's Morning Rundown

Washington Post:

Russian trolls on Twitter had little influence on 2016 voters — Welcome to The Cybersecurity 202! I caught up on some time hanging out with friends this past weekend. Friends are cool. I recommend them. — Below: A watchdog criticizes the Interior Department's cybersecurity weaknesses …

Discussion: Nature

Bart Barnes / Washington Post:

Bernard Kalb, journalist and commentator, dies at 100 — He resigned in 1986 as State Department spokesman to protest a government disinformation campaign — Bernard Kalb, a journalist and author who covered global affairs and later cast a critical eye on the media as a commentator for CNN …

Discussion: CNN, Outside the Beltway, New York Times, New York Daily News, CBS News, Associated Press, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter

New York Times:

Here's what to know about Brazil's presidential election. — Supporters of Jair Bolsonaro had stormed into Congress, presidential offices and the Supreme Court in the capital, building barricades and breaking windows. More than 200 people were arrested.