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9:45 PM ET, May 20, 2026

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Lawfare:
The President Who Sued Himself  —  The Trump administration settles Trump's lawsuit against the IRS with $1.776 billion for his allies and blanket immunity from civil actions.  —  annabower.bsky.social  —  EricColumbus  —  ericcolumbus.bsky.social  —  Meet The Authors
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Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Trump's $1.8 Billion Fund Tests Constitutional Limits  —  The deal the president reached with his own subordinates relies on a mechanism created by Congress that legal experts had warned was subject to manipulation.  —  In January, on a flight to his Florida club Mar-a-Lago …
Discussion: Politico, Bloomberg, Zeteo and Truthout
Steve Benen / MS NOW:
2 Jan. 6 police officers sue to block Trump DOJ's ‘slush fund’
Hailey Fuchs / Politico:
House Judiciary Republicans reject subpoenas for architects of new ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’
Discussion: Washington Times and Raw Story
Devlin Barrett / New York Times:
How the $1.8 Billion Trump Fund May Violate Past Practice and Policy
Discussion: The Hill and Axios
Luke Broadwater / New York Times:
Jan. 6 Police Officers Sue to Block Trump's Payout Fund
Jordain Carney / Politico:
Ballroom won't be funded after Senate GOP drops $1 billion Trump security request … And several GOP senators aired public concerns about including any ballroom funding in a bill otherwise dedicated to immigration enforcement.  A larger swath of Republicans were privately opposed …
RELATED:
Yair Rosenberg / The Atlantic:
The Real Reason Thomas Massie Lost  —  Last night, Donald Trump notched the latest victory in his cross-country revenge campaign against political apostates.  Ed Gallrein, a Navy SEAL backed by the president, soundly defeated the seven-term representative Thomas Massie in Kentucky's Fourth Congressional District.
Ben Johansen / Politico:
Trump demands Senate Republicans fire parliamentarian
NOTUS:   House Republicans Downplay Impact of Massie's Defeat
Ramsey Touchberry / Washington Examiner:
Republicans brush off Trump demand to oust nonpartisan Senate rulekeeper
Calen Razor / Politico:
Capitol agenda: Trump may regret his revenge tour
Dan Diamond / Washington Post:
Trump officials say they can build 250-foot arch without Congress's okay  —  To build a triumphal arch near Arlington Cemetery, the administration hopes to rely on a 100-year-old authorization for a different project in the area.  —  Summary  —  The Trump administration does not plan …
Discussion: Raw Story
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Former federal prosecutor indicted for stealing copies of unreleased Jack Smith report … U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has barred public release of that volume of Smith's report, which discusses his investigation into the presence of classified documents at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home.
RELATED:
US Department of Justice:
Former DOJ Attorney Indicted for Concealment, Theft of Government Records  —  For Immediate Release  —  U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Florida  —  Fort Pierce, Florida - Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, 62, of Port St. Lucie, has been indicted in federal court for two counts …
Quinnipiac University Poll:
Trump's Handling Of Economy Hits All-Time Low, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Voters Prefer Dems To Win Control Of House But Give Them Poor Marks For Current Job  — mail_outline  —  More than two months after the U.S. launched an attack on Iran and with a jump in oil prices …
Discussion: Fox News, AP-NORC, Newsweek and Bloomberg
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
White House must comply with Presidential Records Act, judge rules … Bates, a George W. Bush appointee, faulted the OLC opinion for relying on a “stark misreading” of Supreme Court precedent.  He also rejected the Justice Department's arguments that the law is unconstitutional …
Discussion: MS NOW and New Republic
RELATED:
Sarah N. Lynch / CBS News:
U.S. indicts Cuba's Raúl Castro on murder and conspiracy charges for downing of planes in 1996  —  Add CBS News on Google  —  Washington — Former Cuban leader Raúl Castro and five others have been indicted by a U.S. grand jury in Florida in connection with the Cuban military's fatal downing …
RELATED:
James LaPorta / CBS News:
U.S. intel community analyzing how Cuba might respond to military action
Discussion: Mediaite, The Daily Caller and PJ Media
Rick Rojas / New York Times:
He Was Jailed Over a Charlie Kirk Post.  The Sheriff Now Owes Him $835,000.  —  Larry Bushart sued a Tennessee sheriff who claimed he wanted to incite hysteria with a post after Mr. Kirk's killing and jailed him for 37 days.  —  A Tennessee man who was jailed for 37 days over a Facebook post …
The Harvard Crimson:
70% of Faculty Vote to Overhaul Harvard Grading With A Cap  —  Faculty voted 458-201 to cap A grades beginning in fall 2027, while rejecting a companion measure that would have let courses opt out.  —  Harvard faculty voted to impose a roughly 20 percent cap on A grades beginning in fall 2027 …
CNBC:
CNBC Exclusive: Transcript: Jeff Bezos Speaks with CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin on “Squawk Box” Today  —  Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC exclusive interview with Amazon Executive Chairman & Founder, Blue Origin Founder and Project Prometheus Co-Founder & Co-CEO Jeff Bezos live …
RELATED:
BBC:
Empty rooms and Fifa cancellations - US hotels fear World Cup washout  —  The World Cup was supposed to provide a tourism boom for the US, but now the fear is it may never materialise.  —  A report  —  produced by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) has found that bookings …
Discussion: WHYY, SFist and Raw Story
Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:
Barney Frank, Gay Pioneer and Liberal Stalwart in Congress, Dies at 86 … Barney Frank, the brassy, lightning-quick former Massachusetts representative who for decades was the most prominent gay politician in the country and who was an author of the most significant overhaul …
RELATED:
Steven Sloan / Associated Press:
Barney Frank, a liberal congressman and trailblazer for gay rights, dies. He was 86
Carmen Paun / Politico:
RFK Jr. fires leaders of group that determines what insurers must cover … “If it had been doing its job, we would have early screening,” he told Ohio Republican Troy Balderson.  —  Some advocates for people with diseases are already lobbying to expand the range of services the task force …
RELATED:
New York Times:
James Murdoch, Intent on ‘Thoughtful Journalism,’ Buys Half of Vox Media … James Murdoch is acquiring roughly half of Vox Media, a dramatic expansion in American media for the younger son of the media mogul Rupert Murdoch.  —  The deal includes Vox Media's podcast network as well as New York magazine …
Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
After Town Bans Flock, Councilmember Crashes Out, Proposes Internet and Phone Ban  —  A Texas councilmember will propose “a total ban on all cellular and GPS-capable devices for all operations within city limits” and"a total termination of all internet services."
Adora Brown / NOTUS:
Kari Lake Earned Tens of Thousands of Dollars From Media Side Hustles  —  The former U.S. Agency for Global Media leader made money from a book, a song and social media.  — Copy  —  Kari Lake benefited from several streams of media-related income around or during the time she served …
Andrew Solender / Axios:
Democrats scramble to contain their Maureen Galindo problem  —  House Democrats are in a mad dash to isolate Texas Democratic congressional candidate Maureen Galindo, who has said she wants to turn an ICE facility into a “prison for American Zionists.”
 
 
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 More Items: 
Shawn McCreesh / New York Times:
‘Good Looking Men’, the Iran War and Déjà Vu at Trump's Coast Guard Speech
Media Matters for America:
Enrique Tarrio: “Every J6er needs to be able to get some type of funds” from Trump's weaponization money
Chris Marquette / Politico:
White House pushes Congress to pass Vance's long-sought rail safety bill
Discussion: The Daily Caller
Amy Curtis / Townhall:
Jamie Raskin Continues to Lie About President Trump's Charlottesville Remarks
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Trump's Government Moves to Spare an Unhappy Taxpayer Named Trump
Sarah N. Lynch / CBS News:
DOJ veterans fear criminal probe into ex-CIA director is being stacked with Trump loyalists
 Earlier Items: 
Piper French / Bolts:
This DA Tried to Punish Stanford Protesters Again, Until Judge Pulled Him from Case
Joe Concha / Washington Examiner:
Stephen Colbert's demise, by the numbers
Discussion: Associated Press
The Downballot:
How Democrats can fight new GOP gerrymanders—while still respecting the VRA
Sherrilyn Ifill / Sherrilyn's Newsletter:
Trump's Insurrectionist Payout Scheme Violates the 14th Amendment
Brian Beutler / Off Message:
They're Really Going For It  —  Trump's plan to overturn the midterm elections comes into focus.
 

 
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Jason Hiner / The Deep View:
Q&A with Doug Brooks, senior product manager of Apple silicon, about Mac minis becoming preferred AI agent machines, future of on-device AI, and more
 
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