Top Items:
New York Times:
Intercepted Russian Communications Part of Inquiry Into Trump Associates — WASHINGTON — American law enforcement and intelligence agencies are examining intercepted communications and financial transactions as part of a broad investigation into possible links between Russian officials …
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Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Report: Manafort part of intelligence review of intercepted Russian communications — American intelligence and law enforcement agencies are looking at intercepted communications and financial transactions as part of an investigation into possible ties between Donald Trump
Discussion:
RedState
New York Times:
A Trump Administration, With Obama Staff Members Filling In the Gaps — WASHINGTON — Donald J. Trump arrived in Washington the day before his inauguration as the nation's 45th president in a swirl of cinematic pageantry but facing serious questions about whether his chaotic transition …
Discussion:
Political Wire, Politico, CNBC, The Week, Gizmodo, The Daily Caller, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mashable, CBS New York, The Verge, New York Magazine, Washington Times and WPRI-TV
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Clemence Michallon / Daily Mail:
‘Thank you, baby’: Donald Trump pays tribute to Kellyane Conway for going on CNN to ‘destroy’ his critics when ‘my men are petrified to go on’ — Donald Trump paid a vibrant tribute to his former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway at his campaign donors' dinner Thursday night.
Discussion:
BizPac Review
Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
‘None of us knows what is going to happen’ — No one knows. — Everything in Washington is a question—what kind of bills are going to come through Congress, how radically Republicanism and conservatism are going to be reshaped, what the Democratic Party is going to do in an attempt to be relevant again …
NBC News:
Anti-Trump Protesters Pepper Sprayed on Eve of Inauguration Outside ‘DeploraBall’ in D.C. — Hundreds of Inauguration Weekend Protests Planned Across the Country 1:40 — A weekend of protests over the inauguration and presidency of Donald Trump began Thursday night with police in Washington …
Discussion:
Politico, RedState, DCist, Hot Air, twitchy.com, CBS Boston, American Power, The Gateway Pundit and Washington Free Beacon
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Camille Dodero / Hollywood Reporter:
Robert De Niro, Alec Baldwin Address Crowd at Anti-Trump Rally in NYC
Robert De Niro, Alec Baldwin Address Crowd at Anti-Trump Rally in NYC
Discussion:
RedState and The Daily Caller
Matt Pearce / Los Angeles Times:
Protests already underway in Washington ahead of Trump's inauguration
Protests already underway in Washington ahead of Trump's inauguration
Gideon Resnick / The Daily Beast:
Anti-Fascists Crash Alt-Right Deploraball
Claudia Koerner / BuzzFeed:
Trump's Inaugural Concert Didn't Fill The National Mall — Here's the crowd outside the Lincoln Memorial on Thursday for a concert celebrating President-elect Donald Trump's upcoming inauguration. … The National Park Service declined to estimate how many people attended the concert.
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Week and Politicus USA
David Fahrenthold / Washington Post:
Trump to be sworn in, marking a transformative shift in the country's leadership — Donald John Trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States at noon on Friday, on a day that is expected to offer less ceremony and flourish than previous inaugurations …
Discussion:
The Week
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Karoun Demirjian / Washington Post:
Senate set to confirm two Trump Cabinet nominees Friday; others will wait — President-elect Donald Trump's two least controversial Cabinet nominees are expected to be confirmed by the Senate Friday afternoon, but the rest may have to wait before they can officially join the Trump administration.
Discussion:
USA Today and Talking Points Memo
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Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Trump says his Cabinet has ‘highest IQ of any Cabinet’
Trump says his Cabinet has ‘highest IQ of any Cabinet’
Discussion:
TheBlaze and Politicus USA
Nate Cohn / New York Times:
Is Trump Stronger Than He Seems? — New polls suggest that Donald J. Trump has the lowest approval and favorability ratings of any incoming president in the polling era — by a lot. Unsurprisingly, he is not buying it. — He tweeted that the polls are “rigged” just like the “phony” …
Jessica Schulberg / The Huffington Post:
Trump Sought Military Equipment For Inauguration, Granted 20-Plane Flyover — “It's very Red Square,” said Stephen Kerrigan, who oversaw the past two inaugurations. — Foreign Affairs Reporter, The Huffington Post — WASHINGTON Part of being a great president is showing off America's …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, Occupy Democrats and Politicus USA
Shane Goldmacher / Politico:
Trump aides jockey for best White House real estate — In the two months since Donald Trump won the most coveted office in the United States, his aides have quietly jostled for the next most valuable workspace—the short corridor just down the hall from the Oval Office.
New York Times:
Can President Trump Be Presidential? — A special strength of American democracy has been the desire of newly elected presidents to unite the public with healing words after the sound and fury of the campaign. — Now comes President-elect Donald Trump. He has won the office and yet …
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications
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Ernesto Londoño / New York Times:
Malia Obama's Secret Trip to Bolivia and Peru
Christy Gutowski / Chicago Tribune:
Dennis Hastert seeks repayment of $1.7 million from sex abuse accuser — Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert is serving a 15-month sentence in a Minnesota federal prison hospital after pleading guilty in October to a financial crime. — Imprisoned former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert …
Discussion:
Suburban Guerrilla …
Bloomberg:
Wright Under Consideration as Trump's Antitrust Chief, Source Says — Ex-FTC commissioner said in running for Justice Department job — Courts have countered Wright dissents in FTC enforcement cases — The Trump team is considering giving a top antitrust post to a former U.S. trade …
Cyra Master / The Hill:
Report: Trump has given up personal cellphone — Less than 24 hours before his inauguration, the Associated Press reports President-elect Donald Trump — has given up his personal cellphone. — Trump apparently told a friend on Thursday that he has given up the phone on the advice of security agencies.
Hugh Hewitt / Washington Post:
It's time to relax about Trump — Hugh Hewitt hosts a nationally syndicated radio show and is author of the forthcoming “The Fourth Way: The Conservative Playbook for a Lasting GOP Majority.” — My wife and I welcomed Mike and Debbie for dinner at our California home Tuesday night.
Alex Felton / CNN:
From Russia with love: A $10,000 Trump coin — Moscow (CNN)Money, the saying goes, can't buy love. But $10,000 will buy you the perfect Donald Trump inauguration keepsake — a coin with the words “In Trump we trust.” — It's the handiwork of a Russian mining company because …
Discussion:
John Hawkins' Right Wing News and BizPac Review
Azam Ahmed / New York Times:
El Chapo, Mexican Drug Kingpin, Extradited to the U.S. — Mexico City — Joaquin Guzman Loera, the notorious drug lord known as El Chapo, who twice slipped out of high-security Mexican prisons and into criminal legend, was being extradited to the United States on Thursday night, officials said …
Discussion:
CNN, Gothamist, The Week, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Hot Air, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Raw Story and New York Magazine
Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:
Jim Brown backs Donald Trump — Who are the most formidable and iconic male African-Americans of the 1960s? Martin Luther King and Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali are surely the top two. — Who is third? For me, it's Jim Brown (and not John Lewis). — Brown is as great an athlete as I've ever seen.
Discussion:
Washington Post and USA Today
Charlie Hoffmann / Washington Free Beacon:
Al Franken Criticizes Tom Price for Holding Tobacco Stocks He Owns Too — Sen. Johnny Isakson (R., Ga.) came to the defense of Donald Trump's nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, Rep. Tom Price (R., Ga.), during his Wednesday confirmation hearing after Sen. Al Franken …
Discussion:
Power Line and The Gateway Pundit
Meghan Keneally / ABC News:
First on ABC: George W. Bush's Inauguration Day Letter to Barack Obama — Writing a letter to the next commander-in-chief has been a tradition for outgoing presidents. — As Barack Obama prepares to hand the baton to Donald Trump, ABC News has obtained an exclusive look at the missive …
Discussion:
The Week, Politico, Mediaite and Associated Press
Brooke Seipel / The Hill:
Michael Moore leads massive anti-Trump protest in NYC — Documentary director Michael Moore held a massive protest Thursday night outside Trump's New York City International Hotel featuring speeches from public figures including actors Robert De Niro and Mark Ruffalo.
Discussion:
Hollywood Life and MichelleMalkin.com