memeorandum

5:35 AM ET, January 31, 2023

Top Items:

Manhattan Prosecutors Begin Presenting Trump Case to Grand Jury — The Manhattan district attorney's decision represents a dramatic escalation of the inquiry, and potentially sets the case on a path toward criminal charges against the former president. — The Manhattan district attorney's office …

CNN:

First on CNN: 2 people who searched Trump properties for classified documents testified before federal grand jury in Mar-a-Lago probe — Two people who found two classified documents in a Florida storage facility for Donald Trump have testified before a federal grand jury in Washington that's looking …

Discussion: New York Post, Raw Story and Washington Examiner

Kara Scannell / CNN:
Ex-publisher of National Enquirer set to meet with prosecutors investigating Trump

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, New York Post, Mediaite, National Review, Just The News, Twitchy, Raw Story and ABC News

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Awful new details about the Durham probe demand a serious response — Senate Democrats, prepare to investigate the investigations of the investigators. — If this sounds likely to be mind-numbingly complicated, well, yes, it is. But there's only one way to tackle this difficulty: head-on.

Discussion: The Bulwark, Mediaite, Washington Times, The Daily Caller, Fox News, The Hill and The Federalist

Bloomberg:

Trump Sues Journalist Bob Woodward for Releasing Interview Recordings — Former President Donald Trump is suing journalist Bob Woodward for releasing recordings of interviews that he gave to the journalist in 2019 and 2020, claiming he never agreed to those tapes being shared with the public.

Leonard Downie Jr / Washington Post:

Newsrooms that move beyond ‘objectivity’ can build trust — Leonard Downie Jr., a former executive editor of The Washington Post, is a professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. — Amid all the profound challenges and changes roiling …

Discussion: National Review and USA Today, more at Mediagazer »

Louis Menand / New Yorker:

When Americans Lost Faith in the News — Half a century ago, most of the public said they trusted the news media. Today, most say they don't. What happened to the power of the press? — When the Washington Post unveiled the slogan “Democracy Dies in Darkness,” on February 17, 2017, people in the news business made fun of it.

Alan Rappeport / New York Times:

I.M.F. Upgrades Global Outlook as Inflation Eases — The International Monetary Fund said the world economy was poised for a rebound as inflation eases. — WASHINGTON — The International Monetary Fund said on Monday that the global economy was expected to slow this year as central banks continued …

Discussion: Associated Press, Al Jazeera, Politico and TASS

Orlando Sentinel:

Florida leaders push to allow concealed guns without permits, training — TALLAHASSEE — Calling the right to bear arms “central to our freedom,” House Speaker Paul Renner on Monday unveiled a bill removing Florida requirements for a permit and training to carry concealed guns, an idea endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Discussion: Politico, Florida News, Fox News, Bloomberg, Breitbart, BizPac Review, Florida Politics, Florida Phoenix, HotAir, USA Today, MyNorthwest.com, Florida's Voice, Raw Story, The Capitolist, IJR, WFLA-TV, TheBlaze and Political Wire

Daniel Han / Politico:
Federal judge blocks more of New Jersey's new gun carry law

Discussion: The Hill

Peter Beinart / New York Times:

When Ilhan Omar Asks Questions, Her Colleagues Should Listen — House Republicans are poised make a grave mistake by removing from the Committee on Foreign Affairs the only person who consistently describes American foreign policy as it is experienced by much of the rest of the world.

Discussion: Semafor, Fox News and BizPac Review

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
The political targeting of Ilhan Omar is inextricable from her religion

Discussion: HotAir, Twitchy, TheBlaze, HuffPost, Vox and The Daily Beast

Justin Rohrlich / The Daily Beast:

Retired Air Force Intel Boss Caught With Hundreds of Top Secret Docs at Home — Retired Lt. Col. Robert Birchum had materials that could potentially cause “exceptionally grave damage” to national security, federal investigators allege. … Amid seemingly endless revelations …

Discussion: CNN, New York Post and Raw Story

Politico:

Secret hold restricts DOJ's bid to access phone of Trump ally Rep. Scott Perry — A federal appeals court panel has put a secret hold on the Justice Department's effort to access the phone of Rep. Scott Perry as part of a broader probe of efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to subvert the 2020 election.

Discussion: CNN, Raw Story and Political Wire

New York Times:

U.S. Plans to End Public Health Emergency for Covid in May — The end of the emergency will bring about a complex set of policy changes, and it signals a new chapter in the government's pandemic response. — WASHINGTON — The Biden administration plans to let the coronavirus public health emergency expire …

Discussion: Associated Press, Politico, Forbes, ABC News, NBC News, Al Jazeera, ABC7, UPI, The Hill, CNN, WHNT-TV, Washington Post, NPR, HuffPost, East Bay Times, USA Today, RedState, Fox News, New York Daily News and Just The News

Javier Manjarres / The Floridian:

Florida Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against DeSantis Administration over Illegal Immigrant Flights — TALLAHASSEE — A Leon County circuit judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging that the Florida Department of Transportation and a contractor did not fully comply with public-records requests …

Discussion: Tampa Bay Times, The Daily Caller, Ace of Spades HQ and RedState

Joshua Chaffin / Financial Times:

Jair Bolsonaro seeks six-month US tourist visa to extend Florida stay — Former Brazilian president is facing multiple investigations at home — Jair Bolsonaro, the former president of Brazil, has applied for a six-month visitor visa to remain in the US as his legal standing in his home country grows perilous.

Discussion: Orlando Sentinel, CNN, BBC, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Payday Report, Just The News, Washington Post, Politico, MyNorthwest.com, Semafor, Associated Press, Bloomberg, Fox News, Al Jazeera and Political Wire

Michael McFaul / Foreign Affairs:

How to Get a Breakthrough in Ukraine … Nearly a year after he invaded Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has failed to achieve any of his major objectives. He has not unified the alleged single Slavic nation, he has not “denazified” or “demilitarized” Ukraine, and he has not stopped NATO expansion.

Discussion: Washington Post, Ghaffar's Newsletter, The Economist, Lawyers, Guns & Money, HotAir, Outside the Beltway and The American Conservative

Jonathan Stefanko / DVIDS:
USTRANSCOM sends more than 60 Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine

Discussion: Washington Post

The Intercept:

New FTX Filing Pulls Back the Curtain on Sam Bankman-Fried's Massive Influence Peddling Operation … A filing in FTX's bankruptcy proceedings is shedding light on the true extent of the crypto-trading powerhouse's influence peddling operation. Last week, FTX filed its creditor matrix …

Discussion: The Stanford Daily

Washington Post:

U.S. military poised to secure new access to key Philippine bases — The expansion is part of a broader push in the Indo-Pacific to buttress U.S. force posture, reinforce alliances and deter China — The U.S. military is poised to secure expanded access to key bases in the Philippines …

Discussion: Foreign Affairs, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and The Diplomat

Kyle Pope / Columbia Journalism Review:

Looking back on the coverage of Trump — Seven and a half years ago, journalism began a tortured dance with Donald Trump, the man who would be the country's forty-fifth president—first dismissing him, then embracing him as a source of ratings and clicks, then going all in on efforts …

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, Columbia Journalism Review, Columbia Journalism Review, Columbia Journalism Review, Just The News, Raw Story, Just The News, Breitbart, New York Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer

Jacob Magid / The Times of Israel:

Abbas assures US security ties with Israel only partially cut, can be restored — PA president tells CIA chief announced freeze aimed at pushing Netanyahu to moderate settlement expansion, said to fear condemning Jerusalem attack would be ‘political suicide’

Discussion: New York Times

Bloomberg:

Trump Used Records Requests to Hinder IRS Release of His Tax Returns — Donald Trump demanded reams of information from the Internal Revenue Service as it was preparing to turn over his personal tax returns to a congressional committee, papering the agency with a deluge of Freedom …

Discussion: Raw Story

Alex Seitz-Wald / NBC News:

Southern Democrats rally for Atlanta 2024 convention — Southern Democrats are banding together to urge President Joe Biden to select Atlanta for the 2024 Democratic National Convention, according to a letter obtained by NBC News, arguing the choice would solidify the party's gains in Georgia …

Discussion: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, CNN and Political Wire

Yvonne Wingett Sanchez / Washington Post:

Top Arizona election official seeks campaign-violation probe of Kari Lake — PHOENIX — Arizona's top election official has asked the attorney general to investigate Kari Lake, the Republican candidate who lost her bid for governor in 2022, over potential campaign violations involving the disclosure of voter signatures.

Discussion: Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit and Political Wire

Sam Brasch / Colorado Public Radio:

It looks like the Suncor shutdown is driving up gas prices … After Suncor Energy temporarily shut down Colorado's only oil and gas refinery last month, many industry experts told drivers to expect a rise in prices at the pump. — Despite some signs that prices weren't affected, those predictions now appear to be coming true.

Discussion: Denver Post

Kirsten Grieshaber / Associated Press:

Global report highlights link between corruption, violence — Most of the world continues to fail to fight corruption with 95 % of countries having made little to no progress since 2017, a closely watched study by an anti-graft organization found Tuesday. Transparency International's 2022 …

Discussion: Politico, Radio Free Europe/Radio … and Semafor

Financial Times:

Global fixer of corrupt energy deals sentenced to year in US prison — Unaoil's Saman Ahsani helped build an empire of bribery involving 27 companies — A British-Iranian consultant whose company fixed billions of dollars of corrupt energy deals was sentenced to just over a year in US prison on Monday …

New York Times:

Justice Dept. Drops Investigation of Retired U.S. General — John R. Allen, a retired four-star Marine general who was the president of the Brookings Institution, had been accused of secretly lobbying for the government of Qatar. — WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has informed John R. Allen …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and CNN