memeorandum: Biden Faces Tough Choice Over How to Respond to Iran (Paul Wallace/Bloomberg)

1:55 PM ET, January 29, 2024

Top Items:

Trumps Throw Tantrum Over Court Monitor's Financial Bombshell — A lawyer for the Trumps slammed Judge Barbara S. Jones in a court filing Monday morning, vehemently denying Trump lied about a missing $48 million loan. — Now that the retired federal judge babysitting the Trump Organization …

Discussion: CNBC, PoliticusUSA and Mock Paper Scissors

Bernard Condon / Associated Press:

Trump civil fraud trial: Why the New York case stands apart — Within days, Donald Trump could potentially have his sprawling real estate business empire ordered “dissolved” for repeated misrepresentations on financial statements to lenders, adding him to a short list of scam marketers …

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, Benzinga and The Hill

Adam Klasfeld / The Messenger:

Trump Lawyer Attacks ‘Self-Serving’ Court-Appointed Monitor as a ‘Javert’ After She Calls Out Financial ‘Errors’ — Instead of stealing a loaf of bread like Victor Hugo's protagonist, Trump stands accused of fraudulently inflating his wealth by billions — The Donald Trump family's lawyer went …

Discussion: MeidasTouch, New Republic, Raw Story, Crooks and Liars and Benzinga

Erik Larson / Bloomberg:
Trump Cash Stockpile at Risk From $450 Million Dual Verdicts

Discussion: The Messenger, USA Today, Benzinga and PoliticusUSA

Kierra Frazier / Politico:

Trump calls UAW president a ‘dope’ after union endorses Biden — “Get rid of this dope & vote for DJT,” Trump said on Truth Social. — Former President Donald Trump took a swipe at the United Auto Workers president Sunday night, calling him a “dope” days after the UAW endorsed President Joe Biden.

Discussion: New York Times, Detroit Free Press, Mediaite, Raw Story, The Hill, The Messenger and Washington Examiner

New York Times:

Inside Biden's Anti-Trump Battle Plan (and Where Taylor Swift Fits In) — Watching Donald Trump ascend, the newly energized Biden campaign is aiming to make the general election all about him. It's also hoping for some big endorsements. — As former President Donald J. Trump speeds toward …

Discussion: The Hill, Business Insider, TMZ.com, Washington Examiner, Deadline, The Messenger, The Post Millennial, NBC News, Althouse, Florida Politics, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, IJR and Washington Post

Edward-Isaac Dovere / CNN:
Joe Manchin could upend Biden's reelection campaign - and blow up No Labels along the way

Discussion: Breitbart, Balloon Juice, Washington Examiner, Mediaite, Fox News and No More Mister Nice Blog

Dan Ladden-Hall / The Daily Beast:
Trump Tears Into UAW President: ‘Get Rid of This Dope’

Discussion: The Hill, Rolling Stone, Benzinga, Raw Story, Fox Business and CBS News

Jay Kuo / The Status Kuo:

The Border Is Now Becoming a GOP Crisis — How the GOP is fumbling its best chance at pinning Biden and the Democrats in a corner on immigration — It's hard to believe, but the GOP is turning its best weapon—the border crisis—into a political liability.

Discussion: USA Today, HotAir, Washington Post and Boston Herald

Judd Legum / Popular Information:

The second insurrection — “The Federal Government has broad constitutional powers in determining what aliens shall be admitted to the United States, the period they may remain, regulation of their conduct before naturalization, and the terms and conditions of their naturalization …

Discussion: CBS News and The Atlantic

Lisa Needham / Public Notice:

Republican governors' dangerous border standoff with Biden — This free edition of PN is made possible by paid subscribers. To become one and support our work, please click the button below to sign up. — 📚 Subscribe to Public Notice 📚 — Over the last several years …

Discussion: Houston Public Media, CNN, One First, Default, Sacramento Bee, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit and Raw Story

Politico:
The huge wedge between McConnell and Johnson: Donald Trump

Discussion: SAN, The Moderate Voice, The Bulwark and Raw Story

Associated Press:

Preliminary report suggests enemy drone that killed US troops in Jordan was mistaken for a US drone — An enemy drone that killed three American troops and wounded dozens of others in Jordan may have been confused with an American drone returning to the U.S. installation, two U.S. officials said Monday.

Paul Wallace / Bloomberg:
Biden Faces Tough Choice Over How to Respond to Iran

Discussion: The Messenger, The Hill, Tasnim News Agency, New York Times, Raw Story, ABC7, Reason, Middle East Monitor, Reuters, RedState, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Breitbart, New York Post, Al Jazeera and Axios

Fox News:
Drone from Iran proxy evaded US defenses because it was mistaken for US drone: official

Discussion: Politico, FDD, Newsbusters, Outside the Beltway, The American Spectator, Semafor, Washington Post and Committee on Foreign Affairs

U.S. Department of Defense:
Statement From Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III on an Attack Against U.S. and Coalition Forces in Northeastern Jordan Near the Syria Border

Discussion: The Messenger, U.S. Central Command, PressTV, National Review, The Atlantic, The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner, Florida Politics, The Hill, The Unz Review, Fox News, Frontpage Mag and Wall Street Journal

Daniel Greenfield / Frontpage Mag:
3 U.S. Soldiers Died Because Biden Won't Stand Up to Iran

Marshall Cohen / CNN:

Pro-Trump network OAN execs may have ‘engaged in criminal activities’ while promoting 2020 election lies, Smartmatic alleges — In the wake of the 2020 election, the president of the far-right network One America News sent a potentially explosive email to former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, New Republic, Mediaite and Raw Story

Wall Street Journal:

At Least 12 U.N. Agency Employees Involved in Oct. 7 Attacks, Intelligence Reports Say — Around 10% of Palestinian aid agency's 12,000 staff in Gaza have links to militants, according to intelligence dossier — TEL AVIV—At least 12 employees of the U.N.'s Palestinian refugee agency …

Discussion: HotAir, Washington Free Beacon, New York Post, Human Events, Frontpage Mag, The Forward, Fox News, Reuters and The Daily Caller

New York Times:
Israel Details Claims Against U.N. Workers It Says Aided Hamas

Discussion: Reuters, inews.co.uk, Fox News, FDD, The Messenger, The Post Millennial, Associated Press, New York Post, DailyChatter, The Guardian, The Indian Express, CBS News, RedState, HotAir, The Times of Israel and Al-Monitor

Rolling Stone:

Trump's Secret Plan to Expand Presidential Immunity To ‘King George’ Levels — Tired of being criminally prosecuted, Donald Trump and his allies are plotting a way to give presidents a legal shield for life if he wins in 2024 … But the arguments that Trump's lawyers are currently litigating …

Discussion: Raw Story, al.com, New York Post and The Independent

NBC News:

Ex-IRS contractor sentenced to 5 years in prison for leaking Trump tax records — Charles Littlejohn had pleaded guilty to leaking thousands of tax records, including for Trump and billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. — WASHINGTON — The former Internal Revenue Service contractor …

Peter Charalambous / ABC News:

E. Jean Carroll says she plans to use $83 million on ‘something Donald Trump hates’ — “He's just something in a suit,” Carroll said about seeing Trump in court. — E. Jean Carroll appears on “Good Morning American” on Jan. 29, 2024, after a jury awarded her more than $83 million …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Guardian, CBS News, HuffPost, The Messenger and Political Wire

Mariana Labbate / The Messenger:
E. Jean Carroll Says She Wants to Spend Her $83.3 Million in Damages on Something ‘Trump Hates’

Discussion: The Hill, Raw Story and New Republic

Sam Brodey / The Daily Beast:

Kyrsten Sinema Loves to Fly Private—on the Taxpayer's Dime — Kyrsten Sinema is using her Senate office's money for a curious purpose: private flights. … It's hardly a secret that Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) likes to fly private. It was just last April when it came out that Sinema's campaign …

Discussion: Business Insider and Raw Story

Barak Ravid / Axios:

Scoop: Israeli defense chief tells U.S. he won't allow rebuilding of settlements in Gaza — Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant told U.S. officials last week that he and the Israeli military will not allow the rebuilding of illegal outposts or settlements by Israeli settlers inside the Gaza Strip …

Discussion: HuffPost, Haaretz, The Messenger, Fox News, Reuters and Middle East Monitor

Jared Gans / The Hill:

Boebert finishes fifth in straw poll of new district — Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) came in fifth place in a straw poll of voters in the district where the controversial congresswoman recently relocated and is trying to win reelection to the House. — Boebert, who was first elected …

Discussion: HuffPost and Digby's Hullabaloo

Sarah Fortinsky / The Hill:

GOP's Salazar says she can't recall how she voted on CHIPS, appropriations bills — Rep. María Salazar (R-Fla.) said on Sunday she could not recall how she voted on two key pieces of legislation that she has since touted as victories that she brought home for her district.

Discussion: Business Insider

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

The combustible mix of right-wing anger coming together in Texas — One of the most striking news photos taken in 2014, 10 years ago, showed an armed man lying on a highway overpass in Nevada, aiming a long gun through a gap in the overpass's concrete barriers. The target at which he was apparently aiming?

Discussion: Boston Herald