memeorandum: Oz urges Americans to get measles vaccine amid outbreaks (Max Rego/The Hill)

3:20 PM ET, February 8, 2026

Top Items:

Will Lewis steps down as Washington Post publisher and CEO after job cuts — British journalist's tenure was controversial after Jeff Bezos appointed him to turn around the newspaper — Christopher Grimes in Los Angeles, Daniel Thomas in London and Anna Nicolaou in New York

The Guardian:
As goes the Washington Post: US democracy takes another hit under Trump

Discussion: Deadline and Fox News, more at Mediagazer »

Politico:
Dems want the Bad Bunny playbook

Discussion: Associated Press and Awful Announcing

David Remnick / New Yorker: Democracy Dies in Broad Daylight

Greg Sargent / New Republic:

Trump Rages at Bad Bunny—and Accidentally Exposes a Big MAGA Weakness — On Sunday, Bad Bunny is set to perform in the Super Bowl's halftime show, and President Trump is angry about it. “I think it's a terrible choice,” Trump seethed recently, referring to the Puerto Rican performer …

Discussion: New Jersey Online, Raw Story, Blaze Media, Deadline, Newsbusters and NewsMax.com

Washington Post:
The enthusiasm — and scorn — surrounding Bad Bunny's star turn at the Super Bowl

Discussion: The Guardian, Politico, The Borowitz Report, New York Times, Bloomberg, CBS News, Plain Dealer, Mashable, KUSA-TV, Newsweek, Christian Science Monitor and MS NOW

New York Times:

For $1 Million, Donors to U.S.A. Birthday Group Offered Access to Trump — A new organization blessed by the president is raising money for events and projects that will put a Trumpian spin on the nation's semiquincentennial. — President Trump's allies are offering access to him and other perks …

David Cohen / Politico:

Massie on Trump's rhetoric: 'He's gone too far' … After that video depicting the Obamas was widely denounced, including by some Republicans, the White House took it down. — “He should absolutely apologize. He's gone too far. I mean, he's attacked my wife recently online …

Discussion: Salon

Joseph Ramos / The Bulwark:
Trump 2.0's Most Racist Moments, Ranked

Discussion: Mediaite

James Rosen / New York Times:

Seven Pages of a Sealed Watergate File Sat Undiscovered. Until Now. — On July 1, 1975, under gray skies, two Watergate prosecutors arrived in the office of the White House counsel. Also present was the deputy national security adviser, U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft.

Politico:

Top Starmer aide Morgan McSweeney resigns over Peter Mandelson scandal — The British prime minister has been under pressure since revelations about Mandelson's relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney …

Discussion: New York Times, The Guardian, Newsweek, Fox News, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Al Jazeera, France 24, Breitbart, Bloomberg, Byline Times, LabourList, Canary and HuffPost

Associated Press:

FBI concluded Jeffrey Epstein wasn't running a sex trafficking ring for powerful men, files show — The FBI pored over Jeffrey Epstein's bank records and emails. It searched his homes. It spent years interviewing his victims and examining his connections to some of the world's most influential people.

Jacob Bogage / Washington Post:

The disappearing art gallery in your post office … To lift the United States out of the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt put Americans to work building roads and bridges, conserving forests and rivers, laying sewer pipes, and constructing schools, parks and airports.

Michael Rothfeld / New York Times:

Files Detail Epstein's Dealings With Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick — Mr. Lutnick had claimed to have distanced himself from Jeffrey Epstein even before the disgraced financier was convicted of a sex crime in Florida. — Howard Lutnick, President Trump's billionaire commerce secretary …

Discussion: CNBC, Forbes, Raw Story and Mediaite

Orestes Georgiou Daniel / Associated Press:

Iran extends Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi's prison sentence by seven years — Copyright Javad Parsa/Javad Parsa / NTB — Supporters of Narges Mohammadi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023, said she had been on hunger strike since 2 February.

Discussion: Reuters, France 24 and New York Sun

Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:

Yesterday two right-wing circuit judges signed off on the Trump administration's new mass detention policy: the extraordinary assertion that vast numbers of noncitizens throughout the country can be arrested and held in detention centers without the right to release until they are deported.

Discussion: Newsweek and HuffPost

Colleen DeGuzman / The Texas Tribune:
Two cases of tuberculosis detected at El Paso ICE facility

Discussion: El Paso Times

Wall Street Journal:

One Generation Runs the Country. The Next Cashed In on Crypto. — Sons of top Trump administration officials made billions for their families, but their investors didn't always fare so well — In the depths of Donald Trump's interregnum, his eldest two sons huddled in a Mar …

Discussion: New York Times, more at Techmeme »

Danny Hakim / New York Times:

Epstein Files Reveal Scope of Ghislaine Maxwell's Role in Clinton Circle — Jeffrey Epstein's longtime companion helped advise on the kickoff of the Clinton Global Initiative and arranged for $1 million in funding for it, emails show. — Jeffrey Epstein's longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell …

Discussion: NewsMax.com

Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:

Trump Using A ‘Softer Touch’ With ICE In Minnesota? Residents Say Don't Be Fooled. — Two weeks after Alex Pretti's killing, federal agents have shown no signs of backing down. The resistance definitely hasn't. — MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Top Trump administration officials certainly put …

Jacob Wendler / Politico:

Democrats sound alarm about possible voter intimidation in midterms … “There is a very real threat, without reforms at ICE, that you could have ICE patrols around polling stations,” Warner told host Margaret Brennan. “And people would say, 'Well, why would that matter if you're all American citizens?'

Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal:

Gabbard Whistleblower Complaint Based on Foreign Call About Person Close to Trump — Call intercepted by U.S. formed a key part of a complaint filed last year against the director of national intelligence — A whistleblower complaint against Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, New York Times and NewsNation

NBC News:
Tulsi Gabbard responds to senator's criticism over handling of whistleblower complaint

Discussion: Straight Arrow News, CBS News, New York Post, The Times of Israel, IJR, twitchy.com, Canary, RedState, Washington Examiner, The Independent, New York Times, NewsMax.com and The Guardian

Quinn Coffman / The Advocate:

Democrat Chasity Verret Martinez wins District 60 seat, replacing Chad Brown — Democrat Chasity Verret Martinez won Saturday's special election for State House District 60, defeating Republican Brad Daigle. — Martinez, a member of the Iberville Parish Council, earned 62% of the vote against Daigle …

David Nir / The Downballot:
Democrats resoundingly defend red district in Louisiana, denying GOP its first pickup

Discussion: emptywheel, New York Sun and CBS News

Adam Gabbatt / The Guardian:

Rightwing critics blame Mamdani as New York snow fails to melt — Murdoch tabloid leads charge as big freeze persists - could the mayor please do something about the weather? — It snowed two weeks ago in New York. Since then, the temperature has barely risen above freezing …

Discussion: New York Post

Wall Street Journal:

How a $30 Billion Welfare Program Became a ‘Slush Fund’ for States — Republicans and Democrats alike decry the lack of oversight for America's famous antipoverty experiment. ‘Fraud by design.’ — When the Trump administration targeted billions of dollars in federal welfare funds recently …

The Guardian:

From New York to New Mexico: new Epstein files shed light on his sprawling ranch outside Santa Fe — Several men appear in photos on the nearly 10,000-acre Zorro ranch, which included a 26,700 sq ft mansion — For years, Jeffrey Epstein took respite at a sprawling ranch in the desert scrub outside Santa Fe, New Mexico.

David J. Lynch / Washington Post:

Trump wants to run the economy hot, as midterm elections approach — The White House bets on AI-driven productivity gains boosting wages without spooking the Federal Reserve. — Amid signs that the U.S. economy may be poised to accelerate, Trump administration officials are predicting …