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What? The Topline on a Sunday? Yep, it’s true. But don’t get used to it. Tech issues caused a problem with delivery on Friday, but we didn’t want you to miss this issue. We apologize for the delay. Happy reading! —Melissa Amour, Managing Editor
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George Santos now under investigation by House Ethics panel —Associated Press
Biden, Germany's Scholz to weigh Ukraine aid in White House meeting —Axios
Blinken confronts Lavrov in first meeting since Ukraine war —The New York Times
EPA orders testing for highly toxic dioxin at Ohio derailment site —The Washington Post
Intel agencies: No sign adversaries behind 'Havana syndrome' —Associated Press
Lawmakers may find common ground on a sweeping privacy law —The Dispatch
Justice Department says Trump can be sued by police over Jan. 6 riot —The Washington Post
Far-right CPAC’s 2024 GOP playbook? Replay the 2022 playbook —U.S. News & World Report
Eli Lilly to cut prices of insulin drugs by 70%, cap patient costs at $35 —The Wall Street Journal
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‘I was a target’
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said on Thursday that the FBI confirmed she was a target of a man charged by federal prosecutors with threatening to kill state employees who are Jewish. Jack Eugene Carpenter III is accused of making threats on social media to cause injury and death to Jewish officials "if they don't leave, or confess," according to a criminal complaint unsealed last week in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Political violence is on the rise. The charges come months after several men were sentenced in a separate plot to kidnap the Michigan governor in 2020, a defeated New Mexico GOP candidate allegedly hired others to shoot at the homes of Democratic officials, and the husband of Rep. Nancy Pelosi was attacked in their home. —Reuters
Antisemitism is also on the rise. In 2021, the U.S. recorded its highest level of antisemitic attacks in recent years—on average seven per day. The latest annual survey by the American Jewish Committee revealed that nine out of 10 Americans, whether Jewish or not, regard antisemitism as a problem for society as a whole. "Antisemitism never just stops with the Jews. It suggests a greater problem in democracy," AJC CEO and former Congressman Ted Deutch says.
“We have a problem, and we are all concerned about it.” Three months ago, the White House set up an inter-agency group, led by the staff at the Domestic Policy Council and the National Security Council, to address the issue. The inter-agency initiative is expected to deliver America's first action plan to combat antisemitism later this year. —Deutsche Welle
MORE: Michigan threats deepen America's dangerous nexus between antisemitism and political violence —CNN
Kinzinger: We must break free from extremism to solve our problems
“America has an information crisis, with large numbers of people living in alternate realities fueled by daily distortions, superficial attacks, and downright lying. Many of our current leaders would rather exacerbate division— instead of mend it—in order to appease their base. Important debates about how we should address the challenges our nation faces have been replaced by arguments over what’s fact and fiction—leaving our problems unsolved and us further divided.” —Adam Kinzinger in TIME
Adam Kinzinger represented Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2023. He now leads “Country First,” an organization he founded to seek solutions to challenges not being addressed by political leaders.
MORE: Kinzinger political organization calls on voters to reject extremist candidates —The Hill
Going backwards in Tennessee
The push toward open primaries—in which voters don’t have to register with a particular political party to vote in primaries—is growing across the country. But in Tennessee, where open primaries currently allow voters to choose either a Republican or Democratic ballot, Republican lawmakers are trying to change that. Legislation introduced by Rep. Clay Doggett would require voters to register with a political party to vote in that party’s primary. Guy Cammilleri, a voting rights advocate, says closing primaries in a solidly red state could lead to more extreme candidates getting elected. The measure has passed its first House committee. The Senate version hasn’t been scheduled for a hearing. Stay tuned. —WPLN
MORE: Jarrell Corley: The America I wish to see —The Fulcrum
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French: A ‘national divorce’ would be a national nightmare
“The very idea is absurd. It’s incompatible with the Constitution. It’s dangerous. It’s unworkable. It would destroy the economy, dislocate millions of Americans, and destabilize the globe. Even in the absence of a civil war—it’s beyond unlikely that vast American armies would clash the way they did from 1861 to 1865—national separation would almost certainly be a violent mess. There is only one way to describe an actual American divorce: an unmitigated disaster, for America and the world.” —David French in The New York Times
David French is a New York Times columnist, attorney, and author of “Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation.”
MORE: John Krull: Marjorie Taylor Greene's divorce from reality can no longer be ignored —The Herald-Times
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This month’s read is: “The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill” by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch
First and foremost, I am a big Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch fan. From their first conspiracy book, “The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington,” I have eagerly awaited each new book in the conspiracy series. So naturally, I was excited to get my copy of their latest, “The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill,” the third installment in the series. It read differently than their previous two installments, but it did not disappoint. It shares various stories of Nazi attempts to upend Allied efforts and details the key players who worked to ensure Adolf Hitler’s mission was carried out to the fullest extent.
“The Nazi Conspiracy” delivers a thorough account of the ins and outs of World War II, setting the stage for the Big Three meeting among President Franklin Roosevelt, Russia’s Josef Stalin, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and bringing the reader inside the work that went into convening that fateful conference. The characters come to life through Meltzer and Mensch’s in-depth research, taking the reader back in time to feel as though they are sitting alongside Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill during one of the most tumultuous times in world history. The story is gripping, and Meltzer and Mensch do an outstanding job of sharing details and ensuring historical accuracy.
The thought of a plot to kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill seems unfathomable had it been successful, and Meltzer and Mensch keep the reader turning the pages as they wonder how close the Big Three came to being assassinated. Woven throughout the book, the authors share lesser-known stories about other key players during WWII. “The Nazi Conspiracy” is a must-read for any lover of history who enjoys a good page-turner. Meltzer and Mensch are masterful storytellers who manage to balance the somber realities of Hitler’s war with the enthralling question “what if?” Whatever plans you had this weekend, I encourage you to cancel them and pick up a copy of “The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill.” This is one book you won’t want to skip over. —Mary Anna Mancuso, Political Strategist
Have you read this? Share your thoughts with me on Twitter @MaryAnnaMancuso
Want to purchase this book? Click here.
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The Fox News internal communications revealed by the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit against Fox offer insight into the interlocking corrupting influences of sensation in news reporting and the need for sustained outrage in commentary to sustain ratings necessary for advertising revenue and shareholder value. It has long been true that the editor's cutting room floor was where journalistic ethics met the business end of journalism.
As a self-regulating profession, journalism as an objective enterprise has long lacked accountability except to the owner or shareholders. The role of political commentary has long been to nurture a target audience, but the shrillness of commentary and the assembly of half-truths and outright falsehoods to create narratives has turned the information media industry into mere political entertainment devoid of substantive analysis. For some, it has created alternative realities.
Dominion's reputation was unquestionably harmed by Fox. If Fox's internal communications are held to indicate that Fox demonstrated reckless disregard for the truth when it broadcast claims it knew to be false, it is difficult to assert that its claims even in political commentary should be protected speech under the 1st Amendment, and Fox should be held liable for Dominion's claim against it.
Awarding damages to Dominion will introduce some legal limits to what the fourth estate can do in promoting false narratives for market share and profit. That would not be a bad thing. —Steve J., Pennsylvania
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The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Renew America Foundation.
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