Top Items:
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.
Discussion:
Politico, ABC News, The Guardian, Talking Points Memo, Washington Free Beacon, RedState, The Verge, Patterico's Pontifications, USA Today, Sputnik International, The Daily Caller, NBC News, Hot Air, Gizmodo, Raw Story, TheBlaze, Associated Press, Mediaite, Towleroad, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Wire, KTLA, twitchy.com, emptywheel, Joe.My.God., New York Magazine, ThinkProgress and Techdirt
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Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Earnest: GOP intellectually dishonest on Manning pardon — President Obama's top spokesman on Wednesday blasted Republicans who criticized his decision to commute the sentence of former Army Pvt. Chelsea Manning. — White House press secretary Josh Earnest said GOP lawmakers have put on …
David Nakamura / Washington Post:
In final news conference, Obama defends his last acts in office — President Obama held his final news conference at the White House on Wednesday, defending the importance of the free press and some of the final decisions he has made before leaving office. — But even as touted …
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:
Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog, Occupy Democrats, The Mahablog, Politicus USA, Taylor Marsh, The Slot and The Week
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Tara Fowler / ABC News:
Trump on Intel Briefings: 'I'll Solve the Problems' — President-elect Donald Trump admitted that receiving intel briefings has shown him that the U.S. faces some formidable “enemies” but said he will “solve the problems.” — “I've had a lot of briefings that are very …
Discussion:
Axios and Talking Points Memo
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 …
Discussion:
Associated Press, WRBL-TV, CBS New York and The Slot
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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’ — Former President George H.W. Bush and his wife could end up “six feet under” if they sit outside for Donald Trump's inauguration this week, the former president wrote the president-elect in a personal letter.
Discussion:
ABC News
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.
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Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Donald Trump's new 2020 campaign slogan is very, well, Donald Trump — Donald Trump, who wasted no time after the 2012 presidential election to pick his slogan for 2016, isn't waiting much longer when it comes to his reelection slogan. — It's “Keep America Great!”
Discussion:
BizPac Review, CNBC, The Daily Caller, RedState and The Week
Matt Lewis / The Daily Beast:
Betsy DeVos Fight Demonstrates Donald Trump's Serious About Changing Washington — It's hard to grill something in just five minutes. But that didn't stop Democrats from trying. — Sen. Lamar Alexander's (R-TN) decision as chairman of the Senate education committee to limit senators …
Discussion:
Forbes, Hullabaloo, AR Squared, The Atlantic, Media Matters for America, RedState, Common Dreams, The Week and Eduwonk
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Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:
The Betsy DeVos Hearing Was an Insult to Democracy
The Betsy DeVos Hearing Was an Insult to Democracy
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money
Eliza Shapiro / Politico:
De Blasio: Don't ‘overstate the threat’ DeVos poses to city
De Blasio: Don't ‘overstate the threat’ DeVos poses to city
Discussion:
RedState
Tom McKay / Mic:
Trump Ed pick Betsy DeVos cites danger of “grizzlies” as reason to allow guns in schools
Trump Ed pick Betsy DeVos cites danger of “grizzlies” as reason to allow guns in schools
Discussion:
Raw Story, Washington Post, The Nation, Daily Kos, Mother Jones and The Slot
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:
Mother Jones, Business Insider, The Federalist, Outside the Beltway, Vox, FiveThirtyEight, The Verge, Common Dreams, Gothamist and Eschaton
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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 …
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, Mother Jones, The Daily Beast, Political Wire, Politicus USA, naked capitalism, Washington Post and TheBlaze
Josh Feldman / Mediaite:
‘Tell Me What Your Real Name Is’: Tucker Carlson Confronts Guest Over Hoax in Bonkers Interview — The video above contains quite possibly one of the most bizarre interviews you will ever watch. — Here's how Tucker Carlson began the interview: … Okay, let's back up a second.
Discussion:
The Federalist, Daily Wire, BizPac Review, The Gateway Pundit and The Week
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Leah Barkoukis / Townhall.com:
Ads in Dozens of Cities Offer to Pay Protesters Up to $2,500 to Disrupt Trump Inauguration; UPDATE: It Was a Hoax
Ads in Dozens of Cities Offer to Pay Protesters Up to $2,500 to Disrupt Trump Inauguration; UPDATE: It Was a Hoax
Discussion:
Washington Post and The Slot
New York Times:
Price: 'Nobody's Interested in Pulling the Rug Out' on Health Coverage — Right Now: President Obama is addressing the press corps for the last time from the White House. Follow our live coverage and analysis. — Representative Tom Price of Georgia, the nominee for health and human services secretary …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Political Wire, CNBC, NBC News and The Week
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Ron Kampeas / Jewish Telegraphic Agency:
At least 32 JCCs across US targeted in second wave of bomb threats — This is a developing story. — WASHINGTON (JTA) — At least 32 Jewish community centers in 16 states 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:
ThinkProgress and WSVN-TV
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, RedState, Political Wire and Washington Times
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, The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, Business Insider, The Week and Political Wire
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
Discussion:
Political Wire, Business Insider, Daily Kos, TheBlaze, New York Times, The Week, CNBC, The Guardian, Hot Air, STAT and The Federalist
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.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Towleroad and Media Matters for America, more at Mediagazer »
NBC News:
Democrats: Left in the Lurch — The curious decline and uncertain future of the Democratic Party — When President-elect Donald Trump replaces Barack Obama on January 20, the Democratic Party will find itself more removed from power than at almost any point since the party's creation.
Numbers / Pew Research Center:
U.S. Catholics, non-Catholics continue to view Pope Francis favorably — Some world leaders begin their tenures with high favorability ratings - only to see their popularity fall over time. But, in the U.S., Pope Francis remains as popular as ever, with seven-in-ten Americans saying …
Discussion:
Religion News Service
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Judge orders 4 Homeland Security officials to preserve private-account emails — A federal judge has ordered four current or former top officials at the Department of Homeland Security, including Secretary Jeh Johnson, to preserve emails in their private accounts that may be responsive to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
Discussion:
RedState and twitchy.com