[link removed]

As we recall all too well from 2016, disinformation shared on social media can have a devastating impact on elections. It’s not an easy task for social media companies to monitor and remove or refute disinformation on their networks, but it’s a necessary one. An even more challenging proposition is how to handle it when it comes directly from someone in a position of great importance and influence—like the President of the United States. Kudos to Twitter for finally drawing a line in the sand yesterday, and tagging tweets from the president that include misinformation and outright lies. Simply put, our republic cannot survive without truth. —Evan McMullin
Top Ten

Click here for shareable version ([link removed])
1. Trump vs Twitter Donald Trump has added yet another entity to his long enemies list—Twitter. Though he makes frequent and often infamous use of the social media network (covfefe anyone?), the president is now suggesting he may shut Twitter down altogether. Can he do that? Unlikely. But it hasn’t stopped him from trying. It all started yesterday. For the first time, Twitter fact-checked two of Trump's unsubstantiated tweets that mail-in ballots in the 2020 election would be fraudulent by directing users to "get the facts" through news stories that cover the topic. It didn’t sit well with the president. —Axios ([link removed])
* — “Twitter is now interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election. ([link removed]) They are saying my statement on Mail-In Ballots, which will lead to massive corruption and fraud, is incorrect, based on fact-checking by Fake News CNN and the Amazon Washington Post...,” Trump tweeted in response. —Twitter ([link removed])
*
— This morning, he kicked it up a notch. ([link removed]) He wrote, “Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices. We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen. We saw what they attempted to do, and failed, in 2016. We can’t let a more sophisticated version of that...” —Twitter ([link removed])
*
* —It is unclear whether Trump has the authority to shut down Twitter or any social media company. Congress, along with the Justice Department, has been considering changes to the Communications Decency Act, a federal law that largely exempts online platforms from legal liability for material their users post. The White House is also considering establishing a panel to review complaints of anti-conservative bias on social media. Stay tuned. —Reuters ([link removed])

2. Trump's tweets cause deep pain Over the last few days, President Trump has tweeted out baseless accusations that MSNBC host Joe Scarborough killed his former staffer, Lori Klausutis, in 2001. Klausutis tragically died from a heart condition in 2001. Her widower, Timothy Klausutis, asked Twitter in a letter to remove Trump's tweets. ([link removed])
* —“I’m asking you to intervene in this instance because the President of the United States has taken something that does not belong to him—the memory of my dead wife—and perverted it for perceived political gain,” Klausutis wrote to Twitter. ([link removed])
*
* — A Twitter spokesperson responded, saying the company is " ([link removed]) deeply sorry about the pain these statements [cause]," and that it is “working to expand existing product features and policies so we can more effectively address things like this going forward..." ([link removed])
*
* — Twitter indicated that it would not remove any of Trump's tweets. In a blog post from last year, Twitter said that it would leave world leaders' tweets up, even if they broke the rules, to serve the public interest. —Politico ([link removed])

More: Wehner: The malignant cruelty of Donald Trump (The Atlantic) ([link removed])

3. Gongloff: Don't underestimate the threat "First in his campaign and then in his presidency, Donald Trump has consistently flouted norms and laws in ways that echo authoritarians in other countries. But he's been so incompetent that his authoritarianism could be seen as no real threat to democracy. This is a false comfort. It doesn't take a criminal mastermind to dismantle a democratic system; one petulant leader and a compliant governing party is enough." —Bloomberg ([link removed])

More: Grassley: White House 'failed to address' if there was a 'good reason' for IG firings (The Hill) ([link removed])

4. Hong Kong no longer autonomous from China Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement today that he has certified to Congress that Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from China and does not warrant special treatment under U.S. law. The U.S. has long granted Hong Kong preferential status, making the city a top U.S. trading partner. ([link removed])
* — Revoking Hong Kong's special status would hasten its economic and financial decline. The U.S. and Hong Kong do $67 billion in bilateral trade each year, and more than 1,300 U.S. companies have operations in Hong Kong. ([link removed])
*
— The move comes after the Chinese Communist Party unveiled a sweeping new security law that will criminalize sedition, foreign influence, and secession in Hong Kong, putting the once semi-autonomous city's status at risk. ([link removed])
*
* — “Hong Kong and its dynamic, enterprising, and free people have flourished for decades as a bastion of liberty, and this decision gives me no pleasure,” Pompeo said. “But sound policy making requires a recognition of reality. While the United States once hoped that free and prosperous Hong Kong would provide a model for authoritarian China, it is now clear that China is modeling Hong Kong after itself.” —Axios ([link removed])

5. Waldman: What happens after the election? ([link removed])

“Imagine what Trump will be doing if it’s the day after the election and votes are still being counted in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Arizona. Will he be shouting that the election is in the process of being stolen? Will he be encouraging violent protests against election officials? And then, if former Vice President Joe Biden is declared the winner, we can be sure the Republican Party will file lawsuits seeking to have the results overturned. ... Even if those attempts fail and Biden becomes president next January, many Republicans will almost certainly be completely convinced that the election was stolen. Will they say, ‘Boy, that stinks. We’ll get ’em next time’? Or will they become even more radicalized and reject the legitimacy of not just Biden’s administration but the entire democratic system? What happens then?” —The Washington Post ([link removed])

More: Which party benefits most from vote-by-mail? (The New York Times) ([link removed])
[link removed]

6. Final Afghanistan withdrawal plans made Defense officials are preparing different withdrawal plans for U.S. forces from Afghanistan. One plan would see all U.S. forces removed from Afghanistan before the 2020 presidential election. President Trump is expected to be briefed and select one of the plans soon. ([link removed])
* — Today, the president tweeted his support for a speedy withdrawal from Afghanistan. "We are acting as a police force, not the fighting force that we are, in Afghanistan. After 19 years, it is time for them to police their own Country," he wrote. ([link removed])
*
* — Defense officials are expected to advise Trump not to pull out all U.S. forces too soon. Leaving Afghanistan by November would be earlier than what was agreed on in the U.S.-Taliban peace agreement. ([link removed])
*
* — Last year, Trump abruptly ordered the removal of almost all U.S. forces from Syria, against the recommendations of his top military leaders. Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham cautioned the president that a hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan would be "horrendous for our national security interests..." —Business Insider ([link removed])

More: Afghanistan begins freeing 900 Taliban prisoners, urges truce extension (Reuters) ([link removed])

7. Cobaugh: NatSec suffers when we go it alone ([link removed])

"A world dominated by current Chinese and Russian values leaves the U.S. vulnerable and lacking the leverage to sustain our precious values. The sad truth is that the American Dream is still alive because of our stated values, but unless we live them, we can no longer sell ourselves as the partner everyone prefers. America alone is an America that is far more vulnerable." — ([link removed]) Homeland Security Today ([link removed])

Ed. Note: Paul Cobaugh is retired from the U.S. Army and the U.S. Special Operations counterterrorism community, where he primarily focused on mitigating adversarial influence and advancing U.S. objectives through influence. He is the author of "Soft Power on Hard Problems".

More: US accuses Russia of sending warplanes to Libya (The New York Times) ([link removed])

8. Feds investigate police brutality case The FBI is investigating four officers of the Minneapolis Police Department involved in the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Monday encounter with police turned violent. The four officers involved in the incident have been terminated. ([link removed])
* — The officers were fired from the department due to public pressure created by a video circulating on social media showing an officer’s knee on Floyd’s neck and Floyd repeatedly saying he couldn’t breathe. ([link removed])
*
* — Floyd appeared to become unresponsive after he has been pinned to the ground for several minutes. Bystanders pleaded with police to check Floyd for a pulse. ([link removed])
*
* — Hours after Floyd’s death, protests started at the intersection where Floyd was killed, and protesters made their way to the police precinct. They were sprayed with tear gas after shattering a police cruiser’s back window. —NPR ([link removed])

More:[link removed] Commission on Human Rights investigating woman who called 911 on black man in Central Park after she failed to leash her dog ([link removed]) (New York Daily News) ([link removed])

9. Elliott: Divided by democracy? ([link removed])

“When has any American, faced with someone in desperate need of help, asked about the victim’s politics before they offered to help them? Not on the destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001, not in any hurricane, tornado, flood or fire, not in any natural disaster—except this one. Memorial Day, just past, is the day when we pause to thank those who have defended America from harm. We thank them irrespective of their politics, as they defended us without asking about our politics—or religion—or skin color. They defended us because, as Americans, we are all in this together. Lincoln, quoting the Bible, said, ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.’ We are painfully close to being divided because of politics.” — ([link removed]) The Missoulian ([link removed])

Ed. Note: Jim Elliott served 16 years in the Montana Legislature as a state representative and state senator, and four years as chairman of the Montana Democratic Party.

10. An American Story: Take me out to the (virtual) ballgame For baseball fans, the loss of the great American pastime this spring has been difficult. To help fans get their fix, Fenway Park organist Josh Kantor has been live-streaming concerts of ballpark music and other fan requests from Facebook every afternoon since what would have been Red Sox Opening Day on March 26. ([link removed])
* — Kantor, the Red Sox organist since 2003, begins to play his Yamaha Electone organ in his living room at 3 o'clock, right around the time of the seventh-inning stretch at a day game. ([link removed])
*
* — "Part of the experience of going to a ballgame is chatting with your neighbors. And we're in a time right now where there aren't necessarily opportunities for people to have that," Kantor said. "For half an hour a day, ideally people can just forget all their stresses and be a little bit refortified to then go face those stresses afterward." ([link removed])
*
— Kantor will sometimes stump for donations to food banks; a sign for FeedingAmerica.org sits on the bookshelf behind him. He can't estimate how much much he's helped raise, though one viewer offered to donate $500 if Kantor would do a 10-minute Grateful Dead jam. Priceless. —Associated Press ([link removed])

Ed. Note: We are spotlighting ways that Americans are helping each other through the coronavirus crisis. Would you like to suggest an "American Story" from your local news? If so, please forward a link to the story to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) . Thank you!
What's Your Take?


It becomes increasingly evident to me that systemic racism is alive and well in our country every time an unarmed black person is unjustly killed by police. Black men and women should not have to live in fear for their lives or their families’ lives. Being black in America should not be a death sentence. When we say “liberty and justice for all,” it should mean for ALL. While I’m glad the officers involved in the death of George Floyd were swiftly fired from their jobs, the police officer who pinned Floyd down by the neck with his knee should be charged for murder. White people need to use their privilege to demand change. —Lauren A., New Jersey

Click here to tell us what you think about today's stories. ([link removed])

Got feedback about THE TOPLINE? Send it to Melissa Amour, Managing Editor, at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .
[link removed]

Did you receive this email from a friend? Subscribe here. ([link removed])

This email was sent to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
why did I get this? ([link removed]) unsubscribe from this list ([link removed]) update subscription preferences ([link removed])
The Topline . 700 Pennsylvania Ave SE . Washington, DC 20003-2493 . USA