Top Items:
Allegra Kirkland / Talking Points Memo:
GOP Activist Who Says ACA Saved His Life Confronts Ryan At Town Hall (VIDEO) — In a remarkable exchange, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) was asked during CNN's Thursday town hall to explain to a cancer patient who said the Affordable Care Act saved his life how congressional Republicans …
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Evelyn Rupert / The Hill:
Ryan confronted by cancer patient who says ObamaCare saved his life … faced some tough questions from audience members at a CNN town hall Thursday night, starting with a cancer patient who said ObamaCare saved his life. — Jeff Jeans said he was a lifelong Republican and small business owner …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, CNN, Sputnik International, The Week, Speaker.gov and Politicus USA
Politico:
Chaffetz threatens to subpoena federal ethics watchdog over Trump criticism — House Republicans have found a subject for their opening review of conflicts of interest under Donald Trump: the federal official in charge of investigating conflicts of interest.
Discussion:
Vox, ThinkProgress, RedState, New York Magazine, New York Times, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, AOL, Politicus USA and alan.com
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New York Times:
G.O.P. Lawmaker Hints at Investigating Ethics Chief Critical of Trump — The Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee on Thursday issued a stern letter, including a veiled threat of an investigation, to the federal government's top ethics monitor, who this week …
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Sunlight Foundation, Democracy21, Law News, The Week, America Rising and Political Wire
Barbara Bush / TIME:
The Bush Sisters Wrote the Obama Girls A Letter — Bush is the CEO and co-founder of Global Health Corps — Malia and Sasha, eight years ago on a cold November day, we greeted you on the steps of the White House. We saw both the light and wariness in your eyes as you gazed at your new home.
Discussion:
TheBlaze, Daily Wire, IJR, The Week, The Daily Caller, abc7chicago.com, Mediaite, Mashable, KTLA, Business Insider, RedState, AOL, fox13now.com and Politico
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Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Approval of Trump Transition Still Low as Inauguration Nears — WASHINGTON, D.C. — In Gallup polling conducted two weeks before Inauguration Day, President-elect Donald Trump continues to garner historically low approval for his transition performance, with 51% of Americans disapproving …
Discussion:
CNBC, Business Insider, Washington Post, Politico and The Week
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Allegra Kirkland / Talking Points Memo:
Gallup Poll: Trump's Approval Rating Lowest Of Any PEOTUS In Decades
Gallup Poll: Trump's Approval Rating Lowest Of Any PEOTUS In Decades
Discussion:
alan.com and Washington Post
Associated Press:
The Latest: Trump and Obama Staff Meet — The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump (all times local): — Senior staff members of President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration will meet with their White House counterparts Friday. — Incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer …
Discussion:
Politico
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Tristan Lejeune / The Hill:
Trump: Intelligence ‘probably’ leaked ‘phony allegations’
Trump: Intelligence ‘probably’ leaked ‘phony allegations’
Discussion:
RedState, Infowars, Business Insider, The Gateway Pundit, CBS New York, The Week, Talking Points Memo and TheBlaze
Mark Hensch / The Hill:
Krauthammer: Trump honeymoon ‘officially over’ — Conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer says President-elect Donald Trump — has already lost any goodwill following his White House win. — “The shortest honeymoon on record is officially over,” he wrote in Thursday's edition of his column.
Discussion:
alan.com
David Ignatius / Washington Post:
Why did Obama dawdle on Russia's hacking? — “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark,” mutters Marcellus as ghosts and mad spirits haunt Elsinore castle in the first act of Shakespeare's “Hamlet.” — After this past week of salacious leaks about foreign espionage plots and indignant denials …
Seamus Duff / The Sun:
‘I JUST THREW UP’ Madonna tweets VERY racy picture in an intimate place - and Piers Morgan isn't impressed — The Good Morning Britain host claims to have lost his breakfast over the Queen of Pop's latest social media call to action — Madonna has incurred the wrath of Piers Morgan again …
Discussion:
alan.com
Bloomberg:
Davos Wonders If It's Part of the Problem — Did the global elite's devotion to borderless capitalism sow the seeds of a populist backlash? — by — Kenneth Rogoff can pinpoint the moment he started to grow concerned Donald Trump would be the next U.S. president: It was when Rogoff's fellow attendees …
The Hill:
Dems ‘outraged’ with Comey after House briefing — A number of House Democrats left Friday's confidential briefing on Russian hacking fuming over the actions of FBI Director James Comey and convinced he's unfit to lead the agency. — “I was nonjudgmental until the last 15 minutes.
Discussion:
Politico, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Townhall.com and Daily Wire
Alexey Kovalev:
A message to my doomed colleagues in the American media — Congratulations, US media! You've just covered your first press conference of an authoritarian leader with a massive ego and a deep disdain for your trade and everything you hold dear. We in Russia have been doing it for 12 years now …
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, Common Dreams and Raw Story
Eliana Johnson / Politico:
'It's Game of Thrones, the Apprentice, and Survivor all mixed into one' — Behind closed doors, Chris Christie — unceremoniously sent packing from Donald Trump's transition headquarters in Washington two months ago — is telegraphing a message to his confidants: I'll be back.
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Political Wire and The Week
Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
Trump's Cabinet nominees keep contradicting him — Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees, in their first round of confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill, have one after another contradicted the president-elect on key issues, promising to trim back or disregard some of the signature promises on which he campaigned.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Washington Monthly, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Post On Politics, Hot Air, Daily Kos, TIME, Politico and Wall Street Journal
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Kevin Daley / The Daily Caller:
Sessions Hearings Show Democrats Ill-Equipped To Stop Trump
Sessions Hearings Show Democrats Ill-Equipped To Stop Trump
Discussion:
Infowars, BizPac Review, The Last Tradition and AOL
Annie Linskey / BostonGlobe.com:
Legal Sea Foods chowder isn't on Trump's menu — WASHINGTON — Ever since Ronald Reagan rode into this town, there's been a certain custom here regarding Boston seafood. When new presidents move into the White House, the festivities include a steaming hot cup of New England clam chowder.
Casey Michel / The Daily Beast:
How Putin Played the Far Left — In the aftermath of the U.S. intelligence community's recent report on the Russian-directed hacking of the Democratic National Committee, it's easy but misleading to conclude that the Russian government's propaganda strategy lies solely in advancing the careers …
Discussion:
Raw Story and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Rosie Gray / The Atlantic:
Breitbart Alumni Launch ‘Populist-Nationalist’ Group — Patrick Howley, a former Breitbart News reporter, left the site under vague circumstances back in November. Howley told me at the time that he was leaving of his own volition because the site had become more “controlled” …
Washington Post:
Commanding general of D.C. National Guard to be removed from post — The head of the D.C. National Guard, Maj. Gen. Errol R. Schwartz, said Friday that he has been ordered removed from his command effective Jan. 20, 12:01 p.m., just as Donald Trump is sworn in as president.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Business Insider and The Week
Reid Wilson / The Hill:
Marijuana reforms flood state legislatures — Legislators in more than a dozen states have introduced measures to loosen laws restricting access to or criminalizing marijuana, a rush of legislative activity that supporters hope reflects a newfound willingness by public officials to embrace a trend toward legalization.
Mark Hensch / The Hill:
Franken to oppose Sessions — (D-Minn.) says he will oppose Sen. Jeff Sessions — 's nominee for attorney general. — “I'm going to vote against Senator Sessions,” Franken said on MSNBC's “Morning Joe” on Friday. “I just don't feel comfortable that he would protect all Americans' rights.”
Rachana Pradhan / Politico:
GOP governors fight their own party on Obamacare — Republican governors who reaped the benefits of Obamacare now find themselves in an untenable position — fighting GOP lawmakers in Washington to protect their states' health coverage. — This rift between state and federal GOP officials …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Political Wire
CNN:
First on CNN: Trump expected to tap longtime federal prosecutor for key DOJ post — (CNN)President-elect Donald Trump is expected to nominate Baltimore US Attorney Rod Rosenstein for deputy attorney general, according to people close to the Trump transition.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Above the Law and Washington Post
Sarah K. Burris / Raw Story:
Robert Reich speechless after Jeffrey Lord claims Trump free to flout ethics because he won — DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — Robert Reich doesn't understand why Donald Trump isn't going out of his way to reassure Americans that there are no conflicts of interest in his businesses and political dealings.
Jay Caruso / RedState:
Obama Kicks Cuban Refugees In The Teeth But Gives Money To Sanctuary Cities — As has been pointed out, Barack Obama, with one week to go in his administration decided to shut down the “wet foot, dry foot” policy for Cuban refugees. Under the policy, that has been in place for two decades …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Week and alan.com
Manisha Ganguly / The Guardian:
WhatsApp backdoor allows snooping on encrypted messages — Exclusive: Privacy campaigners criticise WhatsApp vulnerability as a ‘huge threat to freedom of speech’ and warn it could be exploited by government agencies — A security backdoor that can be used to allow Facebook and others …