memeorandum: I just found out I'm in an ISIS video (Mike Walker/New York Post)

2:30 PM ET, December 18, 2015

Top Items:

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:

DNC penalizes Sanders campaign for improper access of Clinton voter data — Officials with the Democratic National Committee have accused the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders of improperly accessing confidential voter information gathered by the rival campaign of Hillary Clinton, according to several party officials.

Joe Battenfeld / Boston Herald:

Franklin Pierce/Herald poll: Cruz, Rubio, Christie surge toward front-runner Trump; Hillary climbs back in NH — A pack of more proven GOP contenders led by U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz is surging closer to Donald Trump in New Hampshire, while Democrat Hillary Clinton has clawed …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Political Wire, Washington Times and Trail Blazers Blog

New York Post:

Hillary Clinton's dream debate is one nobody watches — Busy Saturday night? Probably, what with the NCAA bowl games, the Jets' must-win battle in Dallas and opening weekend for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” So you'll skip the Democratic presidential debate — just as Hillary Clinton hoped.

Discussion: New York Times and Viking Pundit

Alan Rappeport / New York Times:

Martin O'Malley and Bernie Sanders Bristle at Holding Debates on Weekends — If a presidential debate is held and nobody watches, does it really happen? — While viewers are expected to watch the third Democratic debate on Saturday night, they are unlikely to be doing so in the droves …

Discussion: USA Today, Jezebel, Politico, The Daily Caller, The Week and TVNewser

Dan Merica / CNN:

Fired Sanders aide: I wasn't peeking at Clinton data files — (CNN)The Bernie Sanders campaign staffer who was fired for accessing data unique to the Hillary Clinton campaign's vote file, told CNN on Friday that he was only trying to “understand how badly the Sanders campaign's data was exposed” …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Bloomberg Business, Vox, cwa-union.org, U.S. Uncut, Politico, Mashable, NBC News and Washington Post

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:

Sanders Campaign Threatens Lawsuit Against DNC For Blocking Data Access — This post has been updated. — The campaign for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Friday threatened to file a federal lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee if the committee continues to keep the campaign from accessing its voter data.

Discussion: NBC News, RedState and Associated Press

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:
Sanders' campaign threatens to sue DNC

Discussion: Shadowproof and FiveThirtyEight

MaryAlice Parks / ABC News:
DNC Data Breach: What Happened and What It Means for Bernie Sanders' Campaign

Discussion: Mediaite and abc7.com

Jennifer Epstein / Bloomberg Business:
Sanders Accounts Saved Clinton Data During Breach, Audit Says

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, blog.ngpvan.com, naked capitalism, Daily Kos, Washington Post, Politico, AOL, ABC News, New York Times and Common Dreams, more at Mediagazer »

Evan McMorris-Santoro / BuzzFeed:
Bernie Sanders Campaign Accessed Confidential Clinton Data

Discussion: The Verge, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos and U.S. Uncut

New York Times:
Clash Erupts Between Bernie Sanders Campaign and Democratic Party

Discussion: Washington Post, The Week, Business Insider and Politico

Catherine Treyz / CNN:
Bernie Sanders campaign accesses Hillary Clinton data, gets suspended from DNC voter files

Discussion: WQAD-TV, Talking Points Memo and Common Dreams

Colin Campbell / Business Insider:

Donald Trump left Joe Scarborough stunned after being asked about Vladimir Putin killing journalists — During a Friday-morning interview with Donald Trump, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough was baffled by the Republican front-runner's embrace of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNN, Jezebel, New York Times, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, Daily Kos, Western Journalism, Washington Post, Politico, Shakesville, Joe.My.God. and The Hill

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

The Trump Pattern — Again and again over the last six months we've seen Donald Trump take memes and messages which are either implicit in mainstream Republican politics or explicit on the fringes of conservatism and make them loud and explicit. That might be on bashing Mexican immigrants …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

German Lopez / Vox:
Donald Trump on Vladimir Putin's alleged human rights abuses: “at least he's a leader”

Discussion: Mother Jones

CNN:
Putin praises ‘bright and talented’ Trump

Discussion: Gawker, Washington Free Beacon, ThinkProgress, Hit & Run, Truth Revolt, New York Times, TASS, addictinginfo.org, Outside the Beltway, 89.3 KPCC, RedState and Mashable

Vernon Freeman Jr / WTVR-TV:

Augusta County schools closed Friday after parental outrage over Arabic assignment — AUGUSTA COUNTY, Va. — Augusta County schools and all administrative offices are closing Friday December 18, after parental objections to a controversial high school geography assignment involving Arabic.

Discussion: Slantpoint, FOX2now.com, KFOR-TV, WGN-TV, rubber hose and Pamela Geller

Megan Williams / Daily News Leader:
Support for Riverheads teacher and Islam lesson

Discussion: Ghosts of Tom Joad, WVIR-TV, myfox8.com, Washington Post and ThinkProgress

CBS News:
Backlash over lesson about Islam leads to Va. school closings

Discussion: New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Althouse and The Bob and Chez Show

Dan De Luce / Foreign Policy:

Hagel: The White House Tried to ‘Destroy’ Me — In an exclusive interview, Chuck Hagel said the Obama administration micromanaged the Pentagon, stabbed him in the back on the way out — and still has no strategy for fixing Syria. — Jet-lagged from a long overseas trip …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, American Spectator, Hot Air, neo-neocon, The American Conservative, Western Journalism, Politico, Washington Free Beacon and New York Times

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

Rubio misses spending bill vote — Sen. Marco Rubio missed Friday's Senate vote approving a massive $1.8 trillion end-of-the-year spending bill and tax package — a day after he suggested that he could try to slow the legislation down. — The Florida Republican, who is running for president …

Discussion: Betsy's Page, Daily Kos and The Right Scoop

Eli Stokols / Politico:
Rubio baiting Cruz on immigration was months in the making

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, FiveThirtyEight, Associated Press and New York Times

Ken White / Popehat:

An Open Letter to Reuters Reporters Nate Raymond and David Ingram — Dear Mr. Raymond and Mr. Ingram: — Today you reported on the arrest of the widely-hated Martin Shkreli on securities fraud charges. You ran a picture of the “perp walk” — the once-free now-defendant being led away in handcuffs by law enforcement:

Discussion: Hit & Run and Mashable

The Huffington Post:

Progressive PR Firm Closes Down Over Sexual Harassment And Assault Allegations — The group represented some of the biggest progressive organizations. — WASHINGTON — FitzGibbon Media, a prominent progressive public relations firm, abruptly shut down on Thursday amid allegations …

Discussion: RedState, Talking Points Memo, Jezebel, Variety, RH Reality Check, Instapundit, The Daily Caller and BuzzFeed

Keith Naughton / Bloomberg Business:

Humans Are Slamming Into Driverless Cars and Exposing a Key Flaw — Accident rates are twice as high as for regular vehicles — Most mishaps are fender benders caused by inattentive drivers — The self-driving car, that cutting-edge creation that's supposed to lead to a world without accidents …

Discussion: alicublog, Bloomberg View, ERIC POSNER and Mashable

The Nation:

Rahm Emanuel Must Resign — From Laquan McDonald to Homan Square, Rahm has tacitly endorsed police violence. — By — In the coming months, a jury will consider the fate of Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, who has been charged with first-degree murder for shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times at close range.

Discussion: Newsalert

CNN:

House approves bill to avoid shutdown — Ryan: Budget bills are a ‘bipartisan compromise’ — Washington (CNN)The House overwhelmingly backed a $1.1 trillion spending package on Friday that avoids a government shutdown and funds federal agencies through next fall.

Discussion: Associated Press, NBC News, Hot Air and WSAV-TV

Julian Hattem / The Hill:

DHS official: ‘Apples and oranges’ to use no-fly list for guns — A top official at the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday appeared to break with the White House's call for Congress to ban people on the federal no-fly list from buying guns. — “I believe it would be apples and oranges” …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Hot Air