memeorandum: The Victory of ‘No’ — On January 29, 2009, the whittled … (Michael Grunwald/Politico)

1:05 PM ET, December 5, 2016

Top Items:

Evan McMullin / New York Times:

Trump's Threat to the Constitution — WASHINGTON — On July 7, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump, met privately with House Republicans near the Capitol. I was present as chief policy director of the House Republican Conference.

Discussion: RedState, Patterico's Pontifications, Raw Story and Politico

Charles M. Blow / New York Times:

Trump's Agents of Idiocracy — Last week when Donald Trump began his so-called Thank You Tour in Cincinnati, he had yet another opportunity to be magnanimous and conciliatory, to step beyond the division and acrimony of his campaign and into the unity and healing necessary to be president of a strained nation.

Discussion: Raw Story

Elana Schor / Politico:

Democrats to give Trump Cabinet picks the Garland treatment — Senate Democrats are preparing to put Donald Trump's Cabinet picks through a grinding confirmation process, weighing delay tactics that could eat up weeks of the Senate calendar and hamper his first 100 days in office.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, RedState, The Daily Caller, Political Wire, Hot Air, Daily Kos, The Week, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Resurgent and rubber hose

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Michael Flynn's tweet wasn't actually about #PizzaGate, but his son is now defending the baseless conspiracy theory — This post has been updated. — There are so many fake tales floating around about the 2016 election that they appear to be getting confused for one another.

Discussion: Mediaite, Raw Story, alan.com, Talking Points Memo, The Week and The Gateway Pundit

Politico:
Incoming national security adviser's son spreads fake news about D.C. pizza shop

Discussion: Washingtonian, NPR, New York Times, Mediaite, Mashable and New York Magazine

Eric Lipton / New York Times:
Man Motivated by ‘Pizzagate’ Conspiracy Theory Arrested in Washington Gunfire

Discussion: Althouse, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:
D.C. Police detain suspect with an assault rifle at Comet Ping Pong restaurant

David Wright / CNN:

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner plan move to DC — Kushner is expected to play a significant role in the new Trump administration, while Ivanka Trump may take a lead role in managing her father's sprawling business interests — (CNN)Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner …

Discussion: RedState, Washingtonian, Political Wire, CNBC, The Week, The Daily Caller and alan.com

Neetzan Zimmerman / The Hill:

Ivanka Trump to meet with Al Gore — Ivanka Trump is meeting Monday with climate change activist and former vice president Al Gore — The President-elect's daughter, who reportedly wants to make global warming one of her signature issues, will meet with Gore at Trump Tower in Manhattan …

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications

Business Wire:

Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics Partners Respond to the Statement from the Department of the Army — DALLAS & NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (NYSE: ETP) and Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. (NYSE: SXL) announced that the Administration's statement today …

Discussion: Truthout Stories, The Verge, USA Today and The Root

U.S. Army / army.mil:
Army will not grant easement for Dakota Access Pipeline crossing

Naomi Klein / The Nation:
The Lesson from Standing Rock: Organizing and Resistance Can Win

Discussion: The Daily Caller, ABC News and AOL

New York Times:
Protesters Gain Victory in Fight Over Dakota Access Oil Pipeline

Discussion: The Atlantic, Fox News, Daily Kos, Business Insider, The Week, ThinkProgress and Hit & Run

Trip Gabriel / New York Times:

Trump Chooses Ben Carson to Lead HUD — Ben Carson, who took Donald J. Trump on a tour of blighted neighborhoods in Detroit during the presidential campaign, including his boyhood home, has been chosen by Mr. Trump to oversee one of the government's main efforts to lift American cities …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, Business Insider, Rewire and twitchy.com

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Ben Carson: From Trump friend to enemy to ally to outsider to Cabinet member

Discussion: New York Magazine, Washington Monthly, The Atlantic and The Guardian

Louis Nelson / Politico:
Trump picks Ben Carson to be HUD secretary

Discussion: ABC News, Right Wing Watch, Washington Post, TheBlaze, Scared Monkeys and Business Insider

David Wright / CNN:
Trump taps Ben Carson for HUD secretary

Discussion: NPR, BizPac Review, The Root and Outside the Beltway

Anne Gearan / Washington Post:

Trump's Taiwan phone call was long planned, say people who were involved — Donald Trump's protocol-breaking telephone call with Taiwan's leader was an intentionally provocative move that establishes the incoming president as a break with the past, according to interviews with people involved in the planning.

Discussion: Politico, Power Line, Raw Story, NBC News, Business Insider, Fox News, Talking Points Memo, TheBlaze, Daily Kos, The Resurgent, Washington Monthly, New York Times, The Daily Caller, The Week and CHINAdaily

Walter Russell Mead / The American Interest: What the Taiwan Call Means

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:
Trump slams China on Twitter

Discussion: Washington Post, CNBC, The Guardian, BizPac Review, Coffee House, NBC News, Talking Points Memo, KTLA, The Moderate Voice, Raw Story and The Talking Dog

YouTube:

Governor McCrory statement on 2016 election results

Discussion: Political Wire, Politico, Business Insider and TheBlaze

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Pat McCrory Concedes In North Carolina Governor's Race

Discussion: Raleigh News & Observer, Lawyers, Guns & Money and governor.nc.gov

James Hohmann / Washington Post:

The Daily 202: Trump's pollster says he ran a ‘post-ideological’ campaign — THE BIG IDEA: — CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Donald Trump won more because of strength than ideology. — The shouting match between top advisers to the president-elect and Hillary Clinton's senior staff overshadowed several …

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

GOP wagers Americans don't care about Trump's conflicts — Republicans see the same ethically challenged complications lurking in Donald Trump's business portfolio that Democrats are squawking about. They just think Americans don't care about these entanglements anymore.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:

Rogue electors brief Clinton camp on anti-Trump plan — Advocates of the long-shot bid to turn the Electoral College against Donald Trump have been in contact with close allies of Hillary Clinton, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions, but the Clinton camp …

Discussion: Political Wire

Dante Chinni / NBC News:
Democrats' Popular Vote Advantage Is Growing But That May Not Equal Election Wins

Discussion: alicublog and Media Matters for America

New York Post:

The disclosure that could end Eric Schneiderman's career — State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's witch hunt against supposed “climate-science deniers” became an even more embarrassing debacle late last month — and just might wind up ending his career.

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

In an anti-recount filing, Trump's lawyers say the election was ‘not tainted by fraud or mistake’ — Three leading Republicans were asked over the weekend whether or not they agreed with Donald Trump's tweeted assertion that millions of voters had cast illegal ballots (part of Trump's effort to rebut his popular vote loss).

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Hot Air, Law News and The Guardian