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9:45 PM ET, December 10, 2016

Top Items:

Andrea Mitchell / NBC News:

Rex Tillerson of ExxonMobil Expected to Be Named Trump's Secretary of State: Sources — NBC News: Trump chooses Secy of State 2:55 — Donald Trump is expected to nominate ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state, two sources close to the transition process told NBC News on Saturday.

Rebecca Morin / Politico:

McCain: Tillerson relationship with Putin a ‘matter of concern’ — Sen. John McCain said Saturday that the relationship between Rex Tillerson, President-elect Donald Trump's leading candidate for secretary of state, and Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “matter of concern” to him.

Discussion: TheBlaze

Harper Neidig / The Hill:

Trump picks Exxon CEO Tillerson for secretary of State: report — has selected Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his nominee for secretary of State, NBC News reported Saturday. — Tillerson had reportedly jumped to the front of the pack of candidates in recent days, despite not being mentioned on shortlists as recently as last week.

Discussion: Mediaite, ABC News, reverbpress.com, Business Insider, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Politicus USA and Wall Street Journal

Harper Neidig / The Hill:

McCain: Tillerson ties to Putin a ‘matter of concern’ — (R-Ariz.) said Saturday he has concerns about the possibility of Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson being nominated for secretary of State, given his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. — “I don't know what Mr. Tillerson's relationship …

Discussion: alan.com, ThinkProgress and Mother Jones

Julia Ioffe / Politico:

What It Really Means to Be a ‘Friend of Putin’ — In June 2008, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson attended the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, Russia's answer to Davos, its way of showing itself to the world as the kind of economic powerhouse that can attract executives like Rex Tillerson to its banquets.

New York Times:
Rex Tillerson, Exxon Chief, Is Expected to Be Pick for Secretary of State

Discussion: The Guardian

MSNBC:
NBC News: Trump chooses Tillerson for Secy of State

Discussion: Business Insider, The Last Refuge, DeSmogBlog, Hot Air, WCMH-TV and BizPac Review

Andrea Mitchell / NBC News:
Rex Tillerson of Exxon Mobil Expected to Be Named Trump's Secretary of State: Sources

Discussion: Daily Kos, Patterico's Pontifications and Political Wire

Steve Holland / Reuters:
Trump likely to name Exxon CEO secretary of state -source

Discussion: Infowars

CBS News:
Rex Tillerson is Donald Trump's leading candidate for secretary of state

Discussion: CBS New York

Steven Mufson / Washington Post:
Trump expected to pick ExxonMobil chief Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state

Discussion: The Hill and Raw Story

New York Times:
Exxon Mobil Chief Rises as Trump's Choice for Secretary of State

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Mediaite, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Common Dreams and The Huffington Post

The Daily Beast:

How Russian Hackers Can Blackmail Donald Trump—and the GOP — Former and current U.S. national security officials and experts say that if it is true that the Russian government possesses documents belonging to the Republican National Committee, Donald Trump's incoming administration may be the most compromised in U.S. history.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, RedState, Mediaite, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, CNN, Techdirt, Raw Story, The Last Refuge and The Week

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Trump, McConnell, Putin, and the Triumph of the Will to Power — Of the many things that resulted in Donald Trump's election, from Hillary Clinton's own errors to James Comey's extraordinary insinuations against her in the contest's final stages, Russian hacking played a meaningful enough role to tilt a razor-tight contest.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, reverbpress.com, Occupy Democrats, Hot Air, Althouse, Independent Journal Review, Daily Kos, BuzzFeed, Talking Points Memo, Politicus USA, The Gateway Pundit and Diane Ravitch's blog

David E. Sanger / New York Times:

Trump, Mocking Claim That Russia Hacked Election, at Odds with G.O.P. — WASHINGTON — An extraordinary breach has emerged between President-elect Donald J. Trump and the national security establishment, with Mr. Trump mocking American intelligence assessments that Russia interfered …

Discussion: Politicus USA

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico: Intel world struggles to crack the code of an untrusting Trump

William Cummings / USA Today:
Trump bashes CIA, dismisses Russian hacking report

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
The CIA concluded that Russia worked to elect Trump. Republicans now face an impossible choice.

Discussion: Liberal Values, The Daily Caller, Informed Comment, Outside the Beltway, Political Wire, Power Line, Occupy Democrats and Balloon Juice

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:
Schumer calls for full investigation by Congress of Russian interference in U.S. elections

Discussion: Daily Kos, TheBlaze, Mediaite, emptywheel, Reuters, Common Dreams, Talking Points Memo, BizPac Review, The Guardian, The Reality-Based Community, Occupy Democrats, Mother Jones, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Politicus USA

Seung Min Kim / Politico:
Schumer demands congressional inquiry on Russian meddling

Discussion: EgbertoWillies.com, Hot Air, Mediaite, ThinkProgress, Business Insider, Politicus USA, No More Mister Nice Blog, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, New Urban Legends, NBC News, Taylor Marsh and Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:

Heitkamp is Trump's top choice for Agriculture secretary: report — (D-N.D.) has emerged as President-elect Donald Trump — 's top choice for Agriculture secretary, Politico reported Saturday. — Heitkamp joining Trump's administration would require a special election to fill her Senate seat, which could flip to a Republican.

Discussion: alan.com, RedState and Politico

Jenny Hopkinson / Politico:

Heitkamp tops Trump's list for agriculture secretary — Sen. Heidi Heitkamp has emerged as President-elect Donald Trump's leading choice for Agriculture secretary, sources close to the transition tell POLITICO. — The first-term Democrat from North Dakota and member of the Senate Agriculture Committee …

Discussion: Political Wire and The Hill

Michael Kinsley / Washington Post:

Donald Trump is actually a fascist — Michael Kinsley is a columnist for Vanity Fair magazine and a contributing columnist for The Post. — Donald Trump is a fascist. — When you call somebody a fascist, you can mean any number of things. Often, it means no more than “somebody I don't like.”

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Laura Vozzella / Washington Post:

Fiorina praises Trump's ‘brilliant’ moves ahead of visit to Trump Tower — RICHMOND — Carly Fiorina praised Donald Trump's “brilliant” moves as president-elect on Saturday as she formally endorsed Republican Ed Gillespie for Virginia governor and looked ahead to her Monday visit to Trump Tower in New York.

Kathryn Blackhurst / LifeZette:

Microsoft Holiday Ad Celebrates Left-Wing Causes — To celebrate the “spirit of the holidays,” Microsoft released an ad this week best described as a collage of Left-wing pet causes. The commercial features sympathetic images and anecdotes for Black Lives Matter, Syrian refugees, transgender activism and more general LGBT issues.

Discussion: Power Line

Elliot Smilowitz / The Hill:

Trump on ‘lock her up’ calls: 'Now we don't care' — on Friday said that now that he's won the election, he does not care to prosecute Hillary Clinton — Trump was speaking in Grand Rapids, Mich., as part of his “thank you” tour when he heard some chants of “lock her up” — a common refrain during his campaign events.

Discussion: RedState