memeorandum: U.S. Said to Investigate Sheldon Silver, New York Assembly Speaker, Over Payments (New York Times)

9:10 AM ET, December 30, 2014

Top Items:

House majority whip Scalise acknowledges speaking at white nationalist event in 2002 — Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the House majority whip, acknowledged Monday that he spoke at a gathering hosted by white nationalist leaders while serving as a state representative in 2002 …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

Washington Post:

House Majority Whip Scalise confirms he spoke to white nationalists in 2002 — Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the House majority whip, acknowledged Monday that he spoke at a gathering hosted by white-supremacist leaders while serving as a state representative in 2002, thrusting a racial controversy …

Discussion: NPR, National Review, RedState, The Moderate Voice, Liberaland, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, theind.com and Bloomberg Politics

Steve Scalise / NOLA River:

‘I detest any kind of hate group’ — Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise said he doesn't support “any of the things I read about” a white supremacist group that organized an event at which Scalise appeared in 2002. — In an exclusive interview Monday with NOLA.com |

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, OnPolitics and Washington Post

Bill Clark / Roll Call:
What Scalise and Vitter Told Roll Call About David Duke in 1999

Discussion: Slantpoint, RedState and Little Green Footballs

Matt Sledge / The Huffington Post:
Majority Whip Steve Scalise Struggles To Distance Himself From David Duke

Discussion: Mediaite

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:
Report: GOP Whip Spoke At White Nationalist Meeting In 2002

Discussion: Booman Tribune

New York Times: Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana Acknowledges Addressing Racist Group in 2002

Politico: Steve Scalise's office: Likely he spoke to white supremacist group

Ben Kamisar / The Hill:
No. 3 House Republican leader spoke to white supremacist group

Discussion: Washington Post

The Huffington Post:
New Republican Whip Allegedly Addressed Supremacist Group in 2002

Discussion: Roll Call and Washington Monthly

Lamar White, Jr / cenlamar.com:
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise Was Reportedly an Honored Guest at 2002 International White Supremacist Convention

Dan Friedman / NY Daily News:

Michael Grimm has decided to resign from Congress days after pleading guilty: sources — EXCLUSIVE: The Staten Island Republican, who won reelection in the fall, has decided to vacate his seat after speaking with Rep. John Boehner. — WASHINGTON — Rep. Michael Grimm has decided to resign …

Discussion: CNN, Gothamist, The New York Observer, Hot Air, BuzzFeed, Gawker, Joe. My. God., Daily Mail, Slantpoint, Hinterland Gazette, The Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

Politico:

Michael Grimm resignation expected soon — New York GOP Rep. Michael Grimm — who pleaded guilty to a felony tax charge last week — is expected to resign from Congress this week, possibly as early as Tuesday, Republican sources said. — Grimm talked to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Monday, the sources said.

Discussion: Daily Kos and ABC News

ABC News:

AirAsia: Bodies, Debris Found in Search for Missing Jet — Wreckage spotted floating in Indonesian waters today is connected to the missing AirAsia jetliner that crashed into the Java Sea Sunday with 162 people aboard, according to the airline. — “AirAsia Indonesia regrets to inform …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Liberaland, abc7.com, Mediaite, The Verge and NPR

Dave Barry / Washington Post:
THERE'S JUST NO EXPLAINING 2014 — It was a year of mysteries.

Discussion: Ordinary Times and Gawker

Associated Press:
Search area expanded in hunt for AirAsia plane

Discussion: ABC News, Gawker, Mediaite and Associated Press

abc7.com:

Autopsy reveals Ezell Ford was shot in arm, back, abdomen — An autopsy report, released on Monday, revealed Ezell Ford was shot three times: in the right arm, right back and right abdomen. — The report was made public more than four months after Ford, 25, was fatally shot by LAPD officers …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Los Angeles Times:
Ezell Ford autopsy prompts new protests, calls for caution

Discussion: Gawker, Slantpoint and KTLA

CNN:
Officers shot at in Florida and Los Angeles

Discussion: Washington Times, The Daily Caller, Power Line, Yahoo! News, The Gateway Pundit and KTLA

New York Times:

Police Respect Squandered in Attacks on de Blasio — Mayor Bill de Blasio has spent weeks expressing his respect and admiration for the New York Police Department, while calling for unity in these difficult days, but the message doesn't seem to be sinking in.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Gothamist

New York Post:
Scared NYPD cops letting minor crimes slide

Discussion: Washington Times, PoliticusUSA, Daily Mail and National Review

Tal Kopan / Politico:

FBI briefed on alternate Sony hack theory — FBI agents investigating the Sony Pictures hack were briefed Monday by a security firm that says its research points to laid-off Sony staff, not North Korea, as the perpetrator — another example of the continuing whodunit blame game around the devastating attack.

Discussion: Lawfare and Firedoglake

New York Times:

U.S. Said to Investigate Sheldon Silver, New York Assembly Speaker, Over Payments — Federal authorities are investigating substantial payments made to the State Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, by a small law firm that seeks real estate tax reductions for commercial and residential properties …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Gothamist, Gawker, The PJ Tatler and Slantpoint

Caitlin Emma / Politico:

Testing under fire — Republicans may consider slashing the number of federally required tests. — Republicans on the Hill are finding unusual common ground with teachers unions about an overthrow of the annual testing mandate embedded in No Child Left Behind.

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Paul Waldman / Washington Post:

Why Hillary Clinton doesn't need to win the white working class — Few questions in American political debate recur with the regularity of this one: Can Democrats win the white working class? — As soon as it's time to start contemplating the next election, commentators begin to ask this question …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Taylor Marsh, Washington Monthly and The Daily Caller

Brian Beutler / The New Republic:
Obama Went on the War Path in 2014 Not Just for His Legacy, But Hillary's Too

Discussion: US News and NPR

Natasha Vargas-Cooper / The Intercept:

Exclusive: Jay, Key Witness from ‘Serial’ Tells His Story for First Time, Part 1 — On Jan. 13, 1999, Hae Min Lee, an 18-year-old high school student from Baltimore, went missing. About a month later, police uncovered her body in a nearby park; an autopsy would later find that she was choked to death.

Discussion: Gawker, Daily Mail, Raw Story, Business Insider, PopWatch and Mashable

Politico:

2015, the year the GOP strikes back at Obama food policies — The Obama administration is becoming increasingly involved in what Americans put on their dinner plates and in their cereal bowls, from requiring school children to be served fruit to eliminating trans fats in doughnuts.

Allie Grasgreen / Politico:

Colleges: Game plan set for student, faculty travel to Ebola-affected regions — It's the most wonderful time of the year on college campuses, as finals conclude and students and faculty flock home for the holidays. But when their destination involves Ebola-stricken nations, things get a little more complicated.

Maggie Haberman / Politico:

Ted Cruz is billed as a Passover vacation attraction — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a likely Republican presidential candidate and a vocal pro-Israel hawk, is being advertised as a featured attraction at a string of ritzy resort vacation getaways catering to religious Jews.

Discussion: CNN