Top Items:
McClatchy Washington Bureau:
FBI, 5 other agencies probe possible covert Kremlin aid to Trump — WASHINGTON — The FBI and five other law enforcement and intelligence agencies have collaborated for months in an investigation into Russian attempts to influence the November election, including whether money …
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Mark Hensch / The Hill:
FBI, other agencies probing possible Russian aid for Trump: report — The FBI and five other intelligence and law enforcement agencies are working together on an investigation into whether Russia's government secretly helped President-elect Donald Trump — win the election, according to a new report.
Discussion:
alan.com
Joe Uchill / The Hill:
Assange lawyer: Manning commutation doesn't meet extradition offer's conditions — The attorney for Julian Assange said President Obama's commutation of Chelsea Manning's sentence does not meet the conditions of the WikiLeaks head's offer to be extradited to the United States if Manning were pardoned.
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Politico, The Guardian, ABC News, Gizmodo, Reuters, The Gateway Pundit, Above the Law, The Daily Caller, Washington Monthly, Patterico's Pontifications, Hot Air, Washington Free Beacon, The Verge, Talking Points Memo, Sputnik International, NBC News, TheBlaze, USA Today, Raw Story, Towleroad, RedState, Associated Press, Mediaite, twitchy.com, Joe.My.God., Daily Wire, KTLA, emptywheel, New York Magazine and ThinkProgress
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Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Earnest: GOP intellectually dishonest on Manning pardon
Earnest: GOP intellectually dishonest on Manning pardon
Discussion:
RedState
Tara Golshan / Vox:
Trump inauguration time, how to watch, and what to expect — After more than a year of campaigning, 26 primary and general election debates, and countless press conferences, attack ads, victory speeches, public apologies, and early morning Twitter rants, Donald Trump's inauguration is here.
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David Nakamura / Washington Post:
Obama says he'll speak up post-White House if he sees ‘core values’ at risk
Obama says he'll speak up post-White House if he sees ‘core values’ at risk
Louis Nelson / Politico:
Obama tells nation: 'I think we're going to be OK'
Obama tells nation: 'I think we're going to be OK'
Discussion:
Washington Post
Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:
The Betsy DeVos Hearing Was an Insult to Democracy — Who are the real grizzlies? — WASHINGTON, D.C.—It was not a hearing. It was the mere burlesque of a hearing, rendered meaningless by a preposterously accelerated process that rendered all questioning perfunctory and that left …
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money
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Matt Lewis / The Daily Beast:
Betsy DeVos Fight Demonstrates Donald Trump's Serious About Changing Washington
Betsy DeVos Fight Demonstrates Donald Trump's Serious About Changing Washington
Discussion:
Forbes, Hullabaloo, AR Squared, The Atlantic, RedState, Media Matters for America, Common Dreams, Eduwonk and The Week
Valerie Strauss / Washington Post:
Betsy DeVos apparently ‘confused’ about federal law protecting students with disabilities
Betsy DeVos apparently ‘confused’ about federal law protecting students with disabilities
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and Above the Law
Mike Allen / Axios:
Reality bites: Trump's wake-up call — NEW YORK — On Twitter and in public, Donald Trump remains an uncompromising mix of bluster and bombast. Behind the scenes, he's confronting, and in some cases succumbing (slightly) to, the hard truths of governing and leading a world that hangs on his every word.
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, The Mahablog, Politicus USA, No More Mister Nice Blog, Occupy Democrats, Taylor Marsh, The Slot and The Week
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Tara Fowler / ABC News:
Trump on Intel Briefings: 'I'll Solve the Problems'
Trump on Intel Briefings: 'I'll Solve the Problems'
Discussion:
Axios and Talking Points Memo
Nikita Vladimirov / The Hill:
Trump aide: Dems are trying to humiliate Cabinet nominees — 's close aide Kellyanne Conway on Wednesday blasted Democrats for “trying to embarrass” the incoming administration's Cabinet nominees. — “This idea of humiliating and trying to embarrass qualified men and women who just wish …
Discussion:
Politico and Political Wire
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Madeline Conway / Politico:
Conway: Dems trying to humiliate Cabinet picks
Conway: Dems trying to humiliate Cabinet picks
Discussion:
Washington Post and Joe.My.God.
John Hudson / Foreign Policy:
Democratic Rep. Gabbard Makes Secret Trip to Syria — The Hawaii lawmaker, who has bucked both parties on the issue of Syria, met with government officials on a “fact finding” trip. — Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii has just departed war-torn Damascus following a trip her aides described as a …
Discussion:
Politico, Hot Air, The Atlantic, Washington Free Beacon, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, The Week and Political Wire
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Tegna / KHOU-TV:
President Bush moved to ICU; Mrs. Bush also hospitalized — Former President George H.W. Bush has been at Houston Methodist Hospital for treatment of pneumonia. Mrs. Bush has also been admitted to the hospital due to “fatigue and coughing”. … HOUSTON - Former President George H.W. Bush …
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Washington Post, Houston Chronicle, Outside the Beltway, Associated Press, WRBL-TV, CBS New York, The Slot and IJR
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Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:
George H.W. Bush to Trump: Doctor says going to inauguration could ‘put me six feet under’
George H.W. Bush to Trump: Doctor says going to inauguration could ‘put me six feet under’
Discussion:
ABC News
New York Times:
Earth Sets a Temperature Record for the Third Straight Year — Marking another milestone for a changing planet, scientists reported on Wednesday that the Earth reached its highest temperature on record in 2016 — trouncing a record set only a year earlier, which beat one set in 2014.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Met Office, Vox, EcoWatch, Business Insider, The Verge, Common Dreams, The Federalist, FiveThirtyEight, Outside the Beltway, Mother Jones, Hullabaloo, Gothamist and Eschaton
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Madison Malone Kircher / New York Magazine:
Is Donald Trump Writing His Inaugural Address from a Mar-a-Lago Receptionist's Desk? An Investigation … As tends to be the case with the president-elect's social-media statements, there is much to discuss. First, there's the fact that Trump seems to be drafting his first speech as POTUS with a ... Sharpie.
Discussion:
Politico, CBS New York, Mashable, WFLA-TV, Occupy Democrats, Sputnik International, CBS Miami, American Power, Gothamist, Joe.My.God., Mediaite, TheBlaze and The Guardian, more at Mediagazer »
Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
How Donald Trump came up with ‘Make America Great Again’ … “Make America Great Again.” — The four words that would help propel Donald Trump to the White House were an inspiration born years before, when hardly anyone but Trump himself could imagine him taking the oath of office as the 45th president of the United States.
Discussion:
The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, ThinkProgress, New York Magazine, Washingtonian, The Guardian, The Daily Caller, Gothamist, The Verge, AOL, Occupy Democrats, IJR, Mashable, Business Insider, Daily Kos, Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, Fox News Insider, Washington Free Beacon, RedState and The Week
Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
Trump Budget Nominee Did Not Pay Taxes for Employee — WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump's choice for White House budget director failed to pay more than $15,000 in payroll taxes for a household employee, he admitted in a statement to the Senate Budget Committee …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Washington Times, RedState, The Slot and Political Wire
Daniel Lippman / Politico:
Trump's D.C. hotel bans press during inauguration week — The Trump International Hotel in Washington is banning the media from its premises during inauguration week. — “Media is not allowed in this week in respect of the privacy of our guests,” Patricia Tang, the hotel's director of sales and marketing wrote in an email.
Claude Brodesser-Akner / New Jersey Online:
Christie: Mary Pat refused to move to D.C. for Trump White House job — TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday disclosed that first lady Mary Pat Christie had refused to move with the governor to Washington D.C. should he take a job in the Trump cabinet, and that this informed …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine and Wall Street Journal
Ron Kampeas / Jewish Telegraphic Agency:
Some 30 Jewish institutions across US targeted in second wave of bomb threats — WASHINGTON (JTA) — Some 30 Jewish institutions in at least 17 states have received bomb threats, Jewish security officials said, in the second wave of such mass disruption in two weeks.
Discussion:
Tennessean.com and Hot Air
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Taly Krupkin / Haaretz:
Jewish Centers Across U.S. Evacuated Amid New Wave of Bomb Threats
Jewish Centers Across U.S. Evacuated Amid New Wave of Bomb Threats
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress and WSVN-TV
Paul Blumenthal / The Huffington Post:
Tom Price Just Contradicted Trump Team's Defense Of His Questionable Stock Trades — Trump's pick for HHS secretary admitted he, not an independent financial adviser, chose to buy stock in a biotech firm. — Money in Politics Reporter, The Huffington Post
Robert Frank / CNBC:
Take a peek inside the most expensive home for sale in the US — This is the most expensive home in America — A newly built modern palace overlooking Los Angeles has just become the most expensive home listed in the United States. Price tag: $250 million.
Discussion:
Forbes
Scott Shane / New York Times:
From Headline to Photograph, a Fake News Masterpiece — ANNAPOLIS, Md. — It was early fall, and Donald J. Trump, behind in the polls, seemed to be preparing a rationale in case a winner like him somehow managed to lose. “I'm afraid the election is going to be rigged, I have to be honest …
Discussion:
Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »
David Leonhardt / New York Times:
America's Great Working-Class Colleges — The heyday of the colleges that serve America's working class can often feel very long ago. It harks back to the mid-20th century, when City College of New York cost only a few hundred dollars a year and was known as the “Harvard of the proletariat.”
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Trump pays out $25 million to settle Trump University litigation — Days before President-elect Donald Trump is set to take the oath to uphold the Constitution, he has followed through on a more painful obligation: coughing up $25 million to settle litigation over his defunct Trump University real estate seminar program.
Discussion:
Washington Post