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9:00 PM ET, February 7, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Bloomberg:
Musk's DOGE Teen Was Fired By Cybersecurity Firm for Leaking Company Secrets  —  Edward Coristine posted online that he had retained access to the firm's servers.  Now he has access to sensitive government information.  —  Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old member of Elon Musk's squad that's …
RELATED:
Reuters:
Staffer with Elon Musk's DOGE amplified white supremacists online  —  One of the people working with billionaire Elon Musk in his efforts to overhaul the U.S. government is a Berkeley-educated computer scientist who has boosted white supremacists and misogynists online.
John Hyatt / Forbes:
The Now Deleted Tweets Of DOGE Staffer Gavin Kliger  —  From mass deportations and military tribunal executions to calling Hillary Clinton a slur, OPM staffer Gavin Kliger has embraced the fringes of Elon Musk's X and Trump's MAGA movement.  —  John Hyatt is a NYC-based Forbes staff writer covering billionaires.
Discussion: Bloomberg, Slate and Fox News
New York Times:
Vance and Trump Call for Rehiring of DOGE Staffer Who Quit Over Racist Posts. Musk Obliges.
CNBC:
Musk to rehire Treasury DOGE staffer behind racist posts after Trump endorses idea
Time:
Inside Elon Musk's War on Washington
Wired:
A US Treasury Threat Intelligence Analysis Designates DOGE Staff as ‘Insider Threat’  —  An internal email reviewed by WIRED calls DOGE staff's access to federal payments systems “the single biggest insider threat risk the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has ever faced.”
RELATED:
The Atlantic:
The Government's Computing Experts Say They Are Terrified … Elon musk's unceasing attempts to access the data and information systems of the federal government range so widely, and are so unprecedented and unpredictable, that government computing experts believe the effort has spun out of control.
Washington Post:
Treasury installs ally of Musk's DOGE as head of payment system  —  The move follows the ousting of a career official who rebuffed attempts to use the payment system to stop federal spending.  —  The Treasury Department will make an ally of billionaire Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service the head …
Michael Stratford / Politico:
Treasury elevates Musk ally to lead government payment system
Mother Jones:
Kash Patel Took $25,000 From Russia-Linked Firm to Appear on an Anti-FBI TV Series  —  Last year, Kash Patel, the MAGA provocateur whom Donald Trump has nominated to head the FBI, received $25,000 from a Russia-linked production company to participate in a documentary in which he assailed the FBI and called for closing its headquarters.
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Kash Patel was paid by Russian filmmaker with Kremlin ties, documents show
Discussion: Associated Press
Ted Johnson / Deadline:
Donald Trump Says He'll Name Himself Chairman Of Kennedy Center And Oust Board Members  —  Donald Trump said that he will oust board members of the Kennedy Center, while naming himself as its new chairman.  —  David Rubenstein is the current chairman of the center and agreed to stay in that role through 2026.
Discussion: Washington Post
RELATED:
New York Times:
Trump Says He Will Dismiss Kennedy Center Board Members and Install Himself as Chair  —  The move by the president, whose authority to make the changes was not clear, is the latest attempt to bring a Washington institution under his control.  —  President Trump announced his intention …
NBC News:
Judge to pause Trump administration effort to gut USAID's workforce by thousands  —  Two labor groups had sued the Trump administration after it said that thousands of USAID employees would be placed on administrative leave starting at 11:59 p.m. Friday.  —  A federal judge on Friday …
RELATED:
Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:
Judge pauses Trump plan to put USAID staff on leave
Washington Post:
Trump hints at tariffs on Japan during meeting with its prime minister  —  President Donald Trump hinted during a news conference that Japan could soon face U.S. tariffs if it doesn't take steps to buy more from the United States.  The comments come as Japan's new prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba …
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Trump says he's revoking Biden's security clearance, ending intelligence briefings in payback move  —  President Donald Trump said Friday that he's revoking former President Joe Biden's security clearance and ending the daily intelligence briefings he's receiving in payback for Biden doing the same to him in 2021.
RELATED:
Matt Viser / Washington Post:
Trump says he is revoking Joe Biden's security clearance
Discussion: Axios and NBC News
grants.nih.gov:
Key Dates  —  Related Announcements  —  Issued by  —  Office of The Director, National Institutes of Health (OD)  —  Purpose  —  The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards a large number of grants providing substantial federal funding for research purposes.
Discussion: Ars Technica and STAT
Politico:
Capitol agenda: The rundown on reconciliation, Vought vote, Netanyahu visit  —  Senate Republicans are forging ahead with their budget plan next week as Hill skepticism persists that Speaker Mike Johnson will be able to unify his conference around one mammoth bill.
Discussion: USA Today and Breitbart
RELATED:
Jordain Carney / Politico:
Senate Republicans release budget blueprint ahead of Wednesday markup
Louise Matsakis / Wired:
Trump's FBI Pick Kash Patel Took Up to $5M in Stock from Chinese Ecommerce Giant Shein  —  Donald Trump's pick for FBI director told senators he has no plans to divest his shares, which his financial disclosure form says were received in exchange for consulting services.
Pew Research Center:
1. Trump's second term: Early ratings and expectations  —  Table of Contents Table of Contents  —  Americans are deeply divided over Donald Trump's plans and the way he is handling his job in the early weeks of his return to the presidency.  —  Overall, 47% of U.S. adults approve …
Discussion: YouGov and Breitbart
New York Times:
Falsehoods Fuel the Right-Wing Crusade Against U.S.A.I.D.  —  As the Trump administration works to dismantle the aid agency, right-wing influencers have flooded the internet with falsehoods about its work.  —  The video falsely claiming that the United States Agency for International …
Joshua Keating / Vox:
Why Trump's plan to “clean out” Gaza actually matters  —  It's a safe bet that much of what President Donald Trump described in two press availabilities at the White House alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, as well as a follow-up social media post, is not going to happen.
Amy Maxmen / KFF Health News:
Measles Outbreak Mounts Among Children in One of Texas' Least Vaccinated Counties  —  A measles outbreak is growing in a Texas county with dangerously low vaccination rates.  —  In late January, two school-age children from Gaines County were hospitalized with measles.
Discussion: Ars Technica, The Hill, KRDO, WAGA-TV and WXIA-TV
Reuters:
Exclusive: Trump Air Force nominee arranged satellite contract in manner that favored Musk's SpaceX, sources say  —  President Donald Trump's nominee as Air Force Secretary, currently a top official at the national spy satellite agency, arranged a multibillion-dollar contract solicitation …
Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:
Former GOP Director Of FBI, CIA Urges Chuck Grassley To Stop Kash Patel's Nomination  —  “After all the hard work that you've done over your career, to allow it to be destroyed on your watch would not be a legacy I would want,” warned William Webster.  —  LOADING
Discussion: Raw Story
Rachel Selzer / Democracy Docket:
North Carolina Judge Rejects GOP State Supreme Court Candidate's Bid To Throw Out 60K Ballots  —  A Wake County Superior Court judge rejected a bid by GOP North Carolina Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin to overturn his 2024 election loss to incumbent Democratic Justice Allison Riggs …
ProPublica:
The Elite Lawyers Working for Elon Musk's DOGE Include Former Supreme Court Clerks  —  ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.  Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.  —  As members of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency …
Maya C. Miller / New York Times:
As Trump and Musk Upend Washington, Congressional Phones Can't Keep Up  —  In the three weeks since President Trump took office and gave Elon Musk free rein inside the federal government, millions of calls have poured in to members of Congress, jamming the system.
Discussion: Breitbart and Washingtonian
Joseph Menn / Washington Post:
U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users' encrypted accounts  —  Secret order requires blanket access to protected cloud backups around the world, which if implemented would undermine Apple's privacy pledge to its users.  —  Security officials in the United Kingdom have demanded that Apple create …
Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
How to Win the USAID Fight  —  First up: Sarah and I argued about everything on the Secret pod today.  The show is here.  —  Second: An update on yesterday's story about the confusion surrounding Trump's (maybe?) firing the head of the National Archives.  There had been conflicting reports …
Discussion: DNyuz
David Enrich / New York Times:
Trump's New Line of Attack Against the Media Gains Momentum  —  First Amendment experts say Mr. Trump's lawsuits, based on an unproven legal theory, lack merit.  But more could be on the way.  —  Media lawyers scoffed last year when President Trump sued two news organizations for producing journalism that …
Discussion: Mercury News and Forbes
 
 
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 More Items: 
Politico:
States accuse Trump administration of continuing to block federal climate funding
Discussion: Los Angeles Times
Qasim Rashid / Let's Address This with Qasim Rashid:
AG Bondi to Criminally Prosecute Private Entities for DEIA
Dan Lamothe / Washington Post:
Trump DEI crackdown targets books in Pentagon schools
Discussion: Politico
 Earlier Items: 
Dan Hon / MIT Technology Review:
From COBOL to chaos: Elon Musk, DOGE, and the Evil Housekeeper Problem
Caleb Brennan / Heartland Signal:
Controversial Christian nationalist legislation introduced in North Dakota House
Rolling Stone:
Dem Overseeing ‘Digital Assets’ to Hold Luxury Retreat With Crypto Kingpin
Discussion: Gizmodo
Brian Barrett / Wired:
The US Government Is Not a Startup
Discussion: Washington Post
Andrea Long Chu / New York Magazine:
Goodbye, Pamela Paul
Gordon Brown / The Guardian:
Be clear about what Trump and Musk's aid axe will do: people will face terror and starve, many will die
Discussion: New Republic and New York Times
 

 
From Techmeme:

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Netflix agrees to acquire WBD's studios and streaming business in an $82.7B cash-and-stock deal, including debt, to close after WBD splits in two in Q3 2026

Foo Yun Chee / Reuters:
The EU fines X €120M for breaching online content rules, the first fine under the DSA, citing issues like its deceptive blue checkmarks, after a two-year probe

Echo Wang / Reuters:
Meta acquires Limitless, which makes a pendant-style AI wearable that records and transcribes real-world conversations; Limitless has raised more than $33M
 
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