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8:30 PM ET, May 19, 2026

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Justice Department expands Trump settlement to cover his tax audits … The waiver specifically encompasses “tax returns filed before the effective date” of the settlement, which was Monday.  —  Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed the addendum, dated Tuesday.
RELATED:
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
Trump's Angry Jan. 6 Tirade Accidentally Hands Dems Midterm Weapon  —  Now that Donald Trump has created his very own political slush fund with $1.8 billion in taxpayer money to hand out to allies, the very least that Democrats can do right now is this: Do everything possible to force Republicans to vote on it—over and over again.
Ryan J. Reilly / NBC News:
DOJ official told GOP ally that big payouts were coming for Jan. 6 defendants  —  Months before the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund was announced, Ed Martin predicted Capitol rioters would get millions, even if it took until 2028, two people told NBC News.
Discussion: MS NOW and HuffPost
New York Times:
I.R.S. Prohibited From Pursuing Audits of Trump and His Family  —  As part of the Justice Department's compensation fund deal, officials vowed not to pursue any matters, including those involving President Trump's tax returns, that are pending.  —  The Justice Department on Tuesday expanded …
Alex Rogers / Financial Times:
Donald Trump and sons to be ‘forever’ exempt from tax audits  —  Justice department deal comes day after government set up $1.8bn fund to pay president's allies hit by alleged ‘lawfare’  —  US tax authorities will be barred from pursuing claims against Donald Trump, his eldest sons …
Discussion: Raw Story and Reason
Torrie Herrington / NOTUS:
IRS ‘Forever Barred’ From Investigating Trump After DOJ Expands Settlement  —  The one-page document, which appeared on the DOJ website Tuesday, was signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.  — Copy  —  The Justice Department on Tuesday issued an expanded settlement agreement …
Politico:
Trump's $1.8 billion ‘lawfare’ fund is making Republicans nervous … “There is no level below which these folks will not go,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I) said in an interview.  “It is just disgusting, having come off Law Enforcement Week, to have set up a slush fund to pay off people who attack police officers.”
New York Times:   I.R.S. to Drop Audits of Trump and Family
Rebecca Beitsch / The Hill:
Senators put Blanche on defense over $1.776B ‘anti-weaponization’ fund
Alice Miranda Ollstein / Politico:
Abortion clinic protesters eligible for payouts from new Trump ‘anti-weaponization’ fund
Discussion: MS NOW
Paul Krugman:
The Looting of America  —  So the Trump administration is creating a $1.776 billion slush fund …
Discussion: Wall Street Journal
Sam Levine / The Guardian:
US justice department ‘forever’ bars IRS from auditing Trump's past tax returns
Discussion: Fox News and Mediaite
Josephine Walker / Axios:
DOJ settlement prevents future tax investigations of Trump
Discussion: Forbes
Stephen Groves / Associated Press:
Senate advances bill aimed at ending Iran war as Cassidy, after primary loss, flips to support it  —  The Senate advanced legislation Tuesday that seeks to force President Donald Trump to withdraw from the Iran war, as a growing number of Republicans defied the president's wishes.
RELATED:
New York Times:
Republican Senators Are Livid at Trump's Endorsement of Paxton  —  News that President Trump had snubbed Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the four-term incumbent, was met with shock, anger and fear that the G.O.P. could lose his seat.  —  Republican senators reacted angrily on Tuesday …
Wall Street Journal:
Why Trump Bucked His Party and Made a Risky Bet on Ken Paxton  —  President emboldened by recent electoral victories and frustrated with congressional Republicans who backed Paxton's GOP opponent  —  Sen. Tim Scott called President Trump on Tuesday with a last-ditch plea.
Discussion: CNBC, New York Times, CNN and NewsMax.com
Gabby Birenbaum / The Texas Tribune:
Trump endorses Ken Paxton in Senate GOP runoff  —  The development, coming partway through early voting, is a searing blow for John Cornyn, who finished first in the March runoff but was unable to convince Trump to endorse him.  —  TAKE OUR CONTENT — PLEASE!
Kaia Hubbard / CBS News:
Senate advances resolution to limit Trump's Iran war powers for first time, after 4 Republicans defect
Discussion: The Gateway Pundit
Bloomberg:
US Senate Signals Rising Opposition to Trump's War in Iran
NOTUS:
Trump's Paxton Endorsement Sends Shockwaves Through Senate Republicans
Lindsay Wise / Wall Street Journal:
Senate Advances War Powers Measure After GOP's Cassidy Switches Sides
Discussion: Washington Examiner and Fox News
NOTUS:
Democrats Are Bullish on Texas After Trump's Move for Paxton
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google Search as you know it is over  —  The era of the “ten blue links” is officially over.  —  Google unveiled on Tuesday an AI-powered overhaul of Search centered around a reimagined “intelligent search box” — what the company describes as the biggest change to this entry point …
Nia Prater / New York Magazine:
What We Know About the Motives of the San Diego Mosque Shooters  —  A California community has been left reeling after a pair of teenage gunmen opened fire at the San Diego Islamic Center Monday morning, killing three people in an attack that is currently being investigated as a hate crime.
RELATED:
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Five dead, including two teenage suspects, at San Diego mosque shooting
Patrick McNeil / nomination notes:
Eight Democrats vote to confirm a lifetime judge who wouldn't say Biden won in 2020  —  The Senate on Tuesday afternoon voted (52-38) to confirm the nomination of Sheria Clarke to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.  Eight Democrats voted in favor of confirmation.
New York Times:
Early War Goal Was to Install Hard Line Former President as Iran's Leader  —  An Israeli strike designed to free Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from house arrest in Tehran, U.S. officials said, was part of an effort to bring about regime change and put him in power.  —  Days after Israeli strikes …
Discussion: Mediaite
Benjamin Mullin / New York Times:
Book on Truth in the Age of A.I. Contains Quotes Made Up by A.I.  —  Steven Rosenbaum, author of “The Future of Truth,” said he had started his own investigation after The New York Times asked about the fake quotes.  —  The author of a nonfiction book about the effects of artificial intelligence …
New York Times:
Manager at Trump's N.J. Golf Club Helped Plan Reflecting Pool Repairs  —  David Schutzenhofer, a Trump Organization employee, reached out to one of the vendors the government later hired for the iconic site near the Lincoln Memorial, documents show.  —  The general manager of President Trump's golf club …
G. Elliott Morris / Strength In Numbers:
Independents and 2024 non-voters have swung back left  —  The big story in the new NYT/Siena poll isn't Trump's 37% approval (although that's very bad) — it's a 24-point swing among persuadable voters  —  I received six emails from major news outlets on Monday asking me to comment …
Discussion: MS NOW
RELATED:
Tamara Keith / NPR:
These men voted for President Trump. They have very different views of how he's doing
Discussion: Raw Story and Bloomberg
Bloomberg:
Trump Tells Agencies to Advise Banks on Immigrant Services  —  President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that directs regulators to issue guidance on banking services to undocumented migrants, in a move that could tighten access to the financial system amid the administration's immigration crackdown.
RELATED:
The White House:
Restoring Integrity to America's Financial System
Discussion: Associated Press
New York Times:
Trump's Special Envoy to Greenland Receives a Cold Welcome From Locals  —  After President Trump's threats to seize the island, Gov. Jeff Landry's offers of MAGA hats and chocolate chip cookies fall flat.  —  President Trump's special envoy to Greenland, Gov. Jeff Landry of Louisiana …
US Department of Justice:
Four of the World's Largest Container Manufacturing Companies and Seven of Their Executives Indicted for a Global Conspiracy Affecting Billions of Dollars of Commerce  —  For Immediate Release  —  Seven Chinese executives and four of the world's largest shipping container manufacturing companies …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Lisa Kashinsky / Politico:
Trump picks off Massie in Kentucky
Henry J. Gomez / NBC News:
Trump-backed Andy Barr wins GOP nomination for Mitch McConnell's Senate seat in Kentucky
Jo Ingles / The Statehouse News Bureau:
LaRose cast provisional primary ballot when his overseas ballot didn't get to Ohio in time
Discussion: Raw Story
Reuters:
Exclusive: US plans to shrink forces available to NATO during crises, sources say
Discussion: Bloomberg
 Earlier Items: 
Amy B Wang / Washington Post:
NAACP calls for college sports boycott in states targeting Black voting power
Fox News:
Unearthed posts show Dem Senate hopeful praising vulgar graffiti, making crude porta potty admission
Demetri Sevastopulo / Financial Times:
Xi Jinping told Donald Trump that Putin might ‘regret’ invasion of Ukraine
 

 
From Techmeme:

Matthew Sparkes / New Scientist:
Levent Alpöge, a mathematician who works at Anthropic, says he was able to disprove the 87-year-old Jacobian conjecture with the help of Fable 5

Kate Conger / New York Times:
Google's AI Search is endangering the open web; Cloudflare: between June 2025 and April 2026, human traffic to sites of businesses in many industries fell ~40%

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / TechCrunch:
Cybersecurity companies say hackers are exploiting vulnerable WordPress versions to take over websites; WordPress patched two critical security flaws last week
 
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