memeorandum: Russian warlord passed UK money laundering checks with mother's utility bill (Miles Johnson/Financial Times)

7:00 AM ET, February 23, 2023

Top Items:

A global divide on the Ukraine war is deepening — Russia capitalizes on disillusionment with the United States to win sympathy in the Global South.

Discussion: Foreign Policy Research …

Anne Applebaum / The Atlantic:

Biden's Hope vs. Putin's Lies — The U.S. president's optimism about Ukraine creates the expectation that everything is possible—and commits him to a Ukrainian victory. — It's not that often that the president of Russia and the president of the United States give major speeches on the same day …

Discussion: The Hill, Al Jazeera, UPI, Blue Virginia, WGN-TV, New York Times, The White House, Washington Times, CNN, Washington Post, CBS News, USA Today, Vox, NBC News, BizPac Review and American Greatness

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:

Ukraine appears to attack deep into Russian-occupied territory. — President Biden's visit to Europe ended with a show of support for NATO members on the alliance's eastern flank. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia welcomed China's top diplomat to Moscow, seeking stronger ties.

Discussion: European Council …, Politico, CNN, RealClearPolitics, New York Post, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Semafor, CBS News, Forbes, Reuters, Bloomberg, TASS and The China Project

Timothy Snyder / Washington Post:
You can't understand the war in Ukraine without knowing history

Discussion: The Free Press

Paul Kirby / BBC:
Russian Wagner chief Prigozhin blames ammunition shortage for high deaths

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Euromaidan Press, Al Jazeera, The Sun, Washington Examiner, Fox News, HotAir, Politico, The Guardian, The Moscow Times and Associated Press

New York Times:

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Subpoenaed in Jan. 6 Investigation — The special counsel overseeing the inquiry into Donald Trump's efforts to retain power after the 2020 election wants the former president's daughter and son-in-law to testify to a grand jury.

Erin Snodgrass / Insider:

Donald Trump, who rolled back rail safety regulations and slashed environmental protections, donates Trump-branded water to East Palestine residents — Donald Trump visited East Palestine, Ohio, on Wednesday, following a disastrous train derailment. — The 2024 Republican candidate donated pallets …

Prem Thakker / New Republic:

Trump, Who Deregulated the Railroad Industry, Lies to the People of Ohio in His Visit — Almost three weeks after the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials in Ohio, twice-impeached former President Donald Trump visited and lied to the people of East Palestine, all to score a few photo ops.

Discussion: Washington Press, Bloomberg, Political Wire, Raw Story and Yahoo News

The Guardian:
Trump's environmental rollbacks in focus on visit to Ohio toxic train site

Discussion: Associated Press and The Hill

Joey Garrison / USA Today:
White House blames Trump administration and Republicans over East Palestine, Ohio spill

Eric Garcia / The Independent:
‘Pure political theater’: Lincoln Project overshadow Trump's Ohio visit with video highlighting rail safety hypocrisy

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, One America News Network, Associated Press, 19FortyFive, Raw Story, The Hill, We Love Trump, Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, Fox News, The Daily Caller, NewsNation, BizPac Review, ABC News and PoliticusUSA

ProPublica:

A Norfolk Southern Policy Lets Officials Order Crews to Ignore Safety Alerts — In October, months before the East Palestine derailment, the company also directed a train to keep moving with an overheated wheel that caused it to derail miles later in Sandusky, Ohio.

Discussion: ABC News and Fox 8 Cleveland WJW

Chris Isidore / CNN:

Norfolk Southern is paying $6.5 million to derailment victims. Meanwhile, it's shelling out $7.5 billion for shareholders — New York CNN — Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw pledged Tuesday the freight railroad will spend $6.5 million to help those affected by the release of toxic chemicals …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Washington Press

New York Times:

Giving Jan. 6 Tapes to Carlson, McCarthy Keeps a Promise to the Hard Right — In granting exclusive access to Jan. 6 Capitol surveillance footage to a cable news host bent on rewriting the history of the attack, the speaker effectively outsourced a politically toxic re-litigation of the riot.

Discussion: The Hill, NBC News, Washington Post, Louder With Crowder, Washington Examiner, Twitchy, Breitbart, Associated Press, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Wall Street Journal, The Daily Beast, Politico, Vanity Fair, RedState and Deadline

Dareh Gregorian / NBC News:
Jan. 6 rioter who threatened Rep. Ocasio-Cortez sentenced to 38 months in prison

Discussion: Axios, HuffPost, Washington Post, CBS News, Raw Story, UPI, Washington Press, CNN, Washington Examiner, WKBN-TV and Bangor Daily News

Claudia Grisales / NPR:
Democrats are warning against the release of Jan. 6 tapes to a Fox News host

Discussion: Twitchy, New York Post, RedState, HuffPost, PoliticusUSA, Washington Times, Ace of Spades HQ, The Hill, 6abc, DNyuz, Axios, Breitbart and PennLive

Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Considers Release of Intelligence on China's Potential Arms Transfer to Russia — Western nations have intelligence that Beijing might end its self-imposed restraint on weapons supplies to Moscow — The Biden administration is considering releasing intelligence it believes shows …

Discussion: Politico, Simplicius76's Battle Room and Episophium

Luis Martinez / ABC News:

Close-up photo of Chinese spy balloon in flight released by US military — The mid-air photo was taken by a U-2 pilot. — A close-up photo of the Chinese spy balloon, taken mid-air from a U-2 spy plane, has been released by the U.S. military — The photo was taken on Friday …

Discussion: Washington Post and NewsNation

Spectrum News 13:

Spectrum News 13 crew member, 9-year-old girl killed in Pine Hills shootings — According to Orange County Sheriff John Mina, two members of a Spectrum News 13 crew at the scene of a homicide investigation were shot Wednesday afternoon. — One of the two has died, he said. — What You Need To Know

Zoë Richards / NBC News:

Former Arizona attorney general failed to release report disproving election fraud claims — Former Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich did not release to the public findings from his office that showed a series of 2020 election fraud claims were not backed up by evidence, according to documents released Wednesday by his successor.

Discussion: Arizona Attorney …, Associated Press and Raw Story

Yvonne Wingett Sanchez / Washington Post:
Arizona's top prosecutor concealed records debunking election fraud claims

Discussion: USA Today, The Atlantic, Raw Story, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Associated Press, Civil Discourse …, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Arizona Mirror, Digby's Hullabaloo, Conservative Brief, Election Law Blog, Washington Examiner and Politico

Amy Gardner / Washington Post:

Georgia juror unsettles Trump investigation with revealing interviews — Emily Kohrs may have added to the challenge for Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis, whose investigation has come under scrutiny for what some have described legal and ethical missteps — The forewoman of a special grand jury …

Discussion: CNN, The American Conservative, Fox News, Wall Street Journal, ABC News, The Daily Caller, American Greatness, TheBlaze, Vanity Fair, Breitbart, PJ Media, BizPac Review, USA Today, IJR and The Daily Beast

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

Young people are more likely to accept gay couples — and to identify as gay — As it does regularly, Gallup asked Americans last year if they identified as straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. About 7 percent of Americans said they identified as one of the latter four categories …

Discussion: Breitbart

Stef W. Kight / Axios:

GOP group of 16 complicates McCarthy's debt ceiling leverage … - As it stands, Republicans are already divided over which government programs to cut — handing Democrats an opening to accuse them of wanting to axe Social Security and Medicare. — The Biden administration, meanwhile …

Discussion: NPR, Breitbart, Sputnik News, Washington Examiner and FiveThirtyEight

The Daily Beast:

Ron DeSantis' Press Secretary Throws Hissy Fit at NBC, MSNBC — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' office has announced it would be boycotting both NBC News and MSNBC after pushing back on a report by the network's Chief Washington Correspondent and Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell.

Discussion: Mediaite, Raw Story, Instapundit, Fox News, Washington Examiner, Twitchy, Florida's Voice, Newsbusters, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller and Breitbart

Etan Smallman / Telegraph:

Evanna Lynch: ‘JK Rowling has always advocated for the most vulnerable members of society’ — The Irish actress was mentored by Rowling, and went on to star as Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter films - then cancel culture arrived — Evanna Lynch, the Irish actress best known …

Natalie Kitroeff / New York Times:

Mexico Hobbles Election Agency That Helped End One-Party Rule — The changes come ahead of a presidential election next year and are part of a pattern of challenges to democratic institutions across the Western Hemisphere. — Reporting from Mexico City — Mexican lawmakers passed …

Discussion: Financial Times, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera and Associated Press

Sam Brodey / The Daily Beast:

Kyrsten Sinema's $300,000 Security Expert Is Tulsi Gabbard's Sister — The Arizona senator has a security arrangement that raises several ethical red flags, according to campaign law experts. … Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) spends more of her campaign funds on security than nearly every …

Discussion: Raw Story

Joanna Marsh / FreightWaves:

Norfolk Southern, maintenance-of-way workers reach deal on sick leave — NS joins CSX and Union Pacific in offering sick leave — Norfolk Southern has reached a sick leave agreement for members of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way - Employes Division, the railroad announced Wednesday.

Discussion: Norfolk Southern Newsroom

David Folkenflik / NPR:

NPR says it's cutting jobs by 10% as ad revenue drops — NPR's chief executive announced the network would lay off roughly 10% of its current workforce - at least 100 people - and eliminate most vacant positions. CEO John Lansing cited the erosion of advertising dollars, particularly for NPR podcasts …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Variety, HotAir, abc7NY, Fox News, Newsbusters, Deadline, Washington Free Beacon, The Hollywood Reporter, The Hill, New York Daily News, Twitchy and Bloomberg, more at Mediagazer »

Matt Dixon / Politico:

DeSantis administration requires events at the Capitol ‘align’ with its mission — TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The DeSantis administration now requires events held at the Florida state Capitol to “align” with its mission, a recent change that is sparking concerns that the governor's office is trying to censor events it doesn't like.

Miles Johnson / Financial Times:

Russian warlord passed UK money laundering checks with mother's utility bill — Law firm relied on gas invoice when scrutinising Wagner group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin as prospective client — A sanctions-hit Russian warlord who has been accused of human rights abuses around the world was able …

Discussion: Russian Free Press

New York Times:

Former Proud Boy Says Group Prepared for ‘All-Out Revolution’ on Jan. 6 — The two-day testimony of Jeremy Bertino, a former leader of the far-right group, shed new light on the Proud Boys' growing desperation in the weeks before the riot. — WASHINGTON — As a gang of Proud Boys stormed …

Discussion: Politico, CNN, Raw Story, Associated Press, USA Today, Washington Post and The Daily Caller

CNN:

Steve Bannon's ex-lawyers sue him over nearly $500,000 in unpaid legal bills — A law firm that represented former Donald Trump strategist Steve Bannon during his fight against a subpoena from the House January 6 committee and other cases is suing Bannon for nearly $500,000 in unpaid legal bills.

Discussion: Associated Press, Raw Story, The Hill, New York Post, Crooks and Liars, The Daily Beast, Insider and Reuters

Brooke Leigh Howard / The Daily Beast:

Florida School District Bans a Book on... Penguins — The ban, which flew in the face of a wide-ranging committee's recommendations, was “clearly a screen for something else,” the book's author told The Daily Beast. — A Florida school district voted this week to ban a book on penguins …

Discussion: WUWF and Popular Information

Jessica Miller / Salt Lake Tribune:

Help The Salt Lake Tribune and ProPublica investigate sexual assault in Utah — We're reporting on sexual assault by health care professionals, an issue highlighted in our story about a Provo OB-GYN who was sued by nearly 100 women who said he sexually assaulted them during treatments.

Discussion: Raw Story

Kelly Kasulis Cho / Washington Post:

5 killed in Little Rock plane crash with no survivors — Five people were killed after a plane crashed in Little Rock on Wednesday, shortly after taking off from a nearby airport. — A twin-engine Beechcraft King Air 200 plane departed Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport and crashed …