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3:45 PM ET, August 21, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Associated Press:
California is set to act fast after Texas advances congressional maps to boost Republicans  —  The national redistricting battle enters its next phase Thursday as California Democrats are scheduled to pass a new congressional map that creates five winnable seats for their party …
RELATED:
Maeve Reston / Washington Post:
California passes first of three bills to counter Texas in nationwide fight over election maps  —  California's Democratic lawmakers want to redraw congressional maps as Texas, led by Republicans, moves toward final approval of its plans.  —  The California Assembly on Thursday passed …
Politico:
Playbook: One big, beautiful rebranding
Discussion: Raw Story and The Hill
Associated Press:
Appeals court throws out massive civil fraud penalty against President Donald Trump  —  An appeals court has thrown out the massive civil fraud penalty against President Donald Trump, ruling Thursday in New York state's lawsuit accusing him of exaggerating his wealth.
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New York Times:
Divided Court Eliminates Trump's Half-Billion-Dollar Fine in Fraud Case  —  New York appeals judges said that the judgment was excessive, but agreed to uphold the case so the appeal could continue.  —  A divided New York appeals court on Thursday threw out a half-billion-dollar judgment …
Discussion: Axios, UPI and Althouse
Corinne Ramey / Wall Street Journal:
N.Y. Appeals Court Throws Out $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump
Ben Kochman / New York Post:
Trump's massive $500M civil fraud fine in AG Tish James' case thrown out by NY appeals court
Discussion: The Hill, twitchy.com and MSNBC
The City:
Eric Adams Advisor Winnie Greco Handed a CITY Reporter Cash Stuffed in a Bag of Potato Chips  —  A former top City Hall advisor and current campaign confidante to Mayor Eric Adams attempted to give money to a reporter from THE CITY following a campaign event in Harlem Wednesday.
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New York Times:
Adams Adviser Suspended From Campaign After Giving Cash to Reporter  —  A campaign volunteer for Mayor Eric Adams of New York was suspended after giving a journalist cash in a potato chip bag.  —  A close adviser to Mayor Eric Adams was suspended from his re-election campaign on Wednesday …
Washington Post:
Trump says he will join police, military on D.C. streets Thursday  —  The move continues his administration's efforts to exert control over the capital city.  —  just now  —  President Donald Trump said he will join law enforcement officials on D.C. streets Thursday …
RELATED:
Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Trump to patrol DC streets with police and military
Washington Post:   ICE is joining D.C. police patrols. Moped drivers are an early target.
New Republic:
Stephen Miller Erupts in Manic Fascist Rant—and Reveals a Big Weakness  —  Stephen Miller exploded in a long, unhinged rant about demonstrators who are protesting President Trump's military occupation of Washington, D.C. It was classic authoritarian agitprop, attacking demonstrators as …
RELATED:
New Republic:
Transcript: Stephen Miller's Crazed Fascist Rant to Media Is Revealing  —  The following is a lightly edited transcript of the August 21 episode of the  —  Daily Blast podcast.  Listen to it here.  —  Greg Sargent: This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR network.
Discussion: NewsMax.com and New Jersey Online
Bloomberg:
Fed Found Over 22,000 Mortgages Like Those Pulte Is Flagging  —  President Donald Trump and his allies are demanding Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook resign over alleged owner-occupancy fraud — a practice the central bank itself has found to be “broad-based” across the US.
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
Weaponizing the Housing Regulator
Zachary Basu / Axios:
Unlikely enforcers shape Trump's “weaponization” crusade
Discussion: Bloomberg
ProPublica:
How Deeply Trump Has Cut Federal Health Agencies  —  When the Trump administration announced massive cuts to federal health agencies earlier this year, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he was getting rid of excess administrators who were larding the government with bureaucratic bloat.
Pew Research Center:
U.S. Unauthorized Immigrant Population Reached a Record 14 Million in 2023  —  Preliminary data indicates continued growth into 2024 and a decrease in 2025  —  Table of Contents Table of Contents  —  Pew Research Center conducted this research to understand changes in the unauthorized immigrant population in the United States.
RELATED:
President Donald J. Trump / The White House:
Joint Statement on a United States-European Union Framework on an Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced Trade  —  The United States and the European Union are pleased to announce that they have agreed on a Framework on an Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced Trade ("Framework Agreement").
The Guardian:
Revealed: Israeli military's own data indicates civilian death rate of 83% in Gaza war  —  Figures from classified IDF database listed 8,900 named fighters as dead or probably dead in May, as overall death toll reached 53,000  —  Emma Graham-Harrison and Yuval Abraham in Jerusalem
Rachel Roth Aldhizer / New York Times:
I'm a Proud Conservative.  My Disabled Son Needs Medicaid to Live.  —  I'm a registered Republican who just watched her party spend much of the summer pushing through new cuts to Medicaid.  I'm also here to tell you why I'm an unlikely supporter of the program.  My son's life depends on government assistance.
Discussion: Eschaton
Jake Tapper / CNN:
Witkoff delivered Russian medal from Putin to family of American who was killed fighting for Russia in 2024  —  US special envoy Steve Witkoff delivered a Russian medal to the grieving family of an American who was killed fighting for Russia in 2024, a senior administration official told CNN.
Matt Gertz / Media Matters for America:
Eight damning new revelations about Fox's 2020 election lies from the Smartmatic filings  —  Newly available filings in the election technology company Smartmatic's $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News provide fresh insights into the network's egregious and irresponsible promotion …
Holmes Lybrand / CNN:
FBI association accuses Director Kash Patel of violating due process in high-profile firings  —  The FBI Agents Association is warning lawmakers that recent firings at the agency have “purposely violated” the due process rights of agents, expressly calling out FBI Director Kash Patel …
Discussion: FBIAA and GovExec.com
Charlotte Tobitt / Press Gazette:
Wired and Business Insider remove ‘AI-written’ freelance articles  —  Wired and Business Insider have removed news features written by a freelance journalist after concerns they are likely AI-generated works of fiction.  —  Freedom of expression non-profit Index on Censorship is also in the process …
New York Times:
How Tiffany Trump's Husband Benefited From Proximity to Power  —  A Times investigation found that Michael Boulos and his family benefited financially from proximity to his in-laws for years.  —  Michael Boulos and his wife, Tiffany Trump, at the Liberty Ball for the inauguration …
Discussion: Raw Story
Karoun Demirjian / New York Times:
Vance Recounts Telling Zelensky to ‘Behave’ in Trump Meeting  —  It was not the first time that the vice president had addressed Ukraine's leader with words more commonly spoken to toddlers than heads of state.  —  As President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine headed into a high-stakes meeting …
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
State Department can't deny visas based on Trump travel ban, judge rules … Lawyers for the Trump administration asked Sooknanan to accept the “longstanding practice” of the State Department to refuse visas to people whose entry would be blocked by a presidential order.
Discussion: Law Dork and Newsweek
David French / New York Times:
One Sentence in the Constitution Is Causing America Huge Problems  —  On Nov. 8, 1787, a pamphleteer who wrote under the pseudonym Cato published one of the most prescient warnings in American history.  —  Cato looked at the proposed Constitution and declared that it might well turn into a vehicle for tyranny.
Matthew Lee / Associated Press:
Trump administration reviewing all 55M people with US visas for potential deportable violations  —  The State Department said Thursday that it's reviewing the records of more than 55 million foreigners who hold valid U.S. visas for potential revocation or deportable violations of immigration rules.
Joseph Choi / The Hill:
CDC finalizes roughly 600 layoffs; union says workforce ‘decimated’  —  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued layoff notices to hundreds of employees Wednesday after a federal judge last week shielded some but not all offices within the agency.
Robert D. McFadden / New York Times:
James Dobson, Influential Leader of the Religious Right, Dies at 89  —  The founder of the evangelical group Focus on the Family, he spent decades denouncing what he saw as the unraveling of the social order.  —  James Dobson, the evangelical Christian broadcaster who waged war on homosexuality …
Alayna Treene / CNN:
Trump to sign executive order to punish those who burn American flags  —  President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Thursday that would direct the Justice Department to try to bring charges against people who burn the American flag, a White House official told CNN.
Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:
August 20, 2025  —  President Donald J. Trump created a firestorm yesterday when he said that the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum, education, and research complex, located mostly in Washington, D.C., focuses too much on “how bad slavery was.”
Dana Goldstein / New York Times:
Trump Administration Retracts Instructions on Helping English Learners  —  Officials removed decade-old guidance outlining the rights of students who are still learning English, which could weaken support for immigrant children.  —  The Trump administration has rescinded federal guidance requiring schools …
Amy B Wang / Washington Post:
Trump demands release of Colorado official sentenced in election data scheme  —  Former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters is serving a nine-year prison sentence on charges that include conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation.  —  President Donald Trump is demanding the release …
Lydia Polgreen / New York Times:
Israel Is Making Sure There Is No One to Document the Horror of Its War  —  Eleven days ago, Israel assassinated a Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist, a young man who had suddenly become the face and voice of the desperate people of his homeland, Gaza.  —  In gripping dispatches on Al Jazeera …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Washington Post:
ICE aims to spend millions on decked-out vehicles for D.C. operation
Josephine Walker / Axios:
What historians say is at risk if Trump expands his culture war beyond Smithsonian
Discussion: The Hill and American Greatness
Karl Zinsmeister / Wall Street Journal:
A Moonshot Won't Stop Cancer
Ashleigh Fields / The Hill:
Newsom's office wishes Bed Bath & Beyond well in ‘efforts to become relevant again’
Francesca D'Annunzio / The Texas Observer:
A Venezuelan Was Detained as a “Documented” Gang Member by ICE, Which Refused to Provide Proof
New York Times:
‘Trump Is a Master at Creating Uncertainty’: 3 Experts Try to Make Sense of the Economy
 Earlier Items: 
NBC News:
White House suspends tours for ballroom construction
Steve Vladeck / One First:
Bonus 173: The Election of 1864  —  At the lowest moment of his presidency (if not the Civil War) …
Mark Hertling / The Bulwark:
Putin Always Breaks His Word. Why Would This Time Be Different?
Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:
Elon Musk must face lawsuit claiming he ran illegal $1 million election lottery
Discussion: Bloomberg and The Independent