Top Items:
Gardiner Harris / New York Times:
Diplomats Sound the Alarm as They Are Pushed Out in Droves — WASHINGTON — Of all the State Department employees who might have been vulnerable in the staff reductions that Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson has initiated as he reshapes the department, the one person who seemed least likely …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, Outside the Beltway, Axios, The Last Refuge, Raw Story and CNN
Ashley Parker / Washington Post:
The shrinking profile of Jared Kushner — A month ago, Jared Kushner — President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser — made a surprise trip to Riyadh to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the fellow son of a world leader who is making waves with crackdowns and modernization efforts.
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New York Times:
Jared Kushner's Vast Duties, and Visibility in White House, Shrink — WASHINGTON — At a senior staff meeting early in President Trump's tenure, Reince Priebus, then the White House chief of staff, posed a simple question to Jared Kushner: What would his newly created Office of American Innovation do?
Discussion:
Political Wire, Mediaite and Balloon Juice
New York Times:
Why Trump Stands by Roy Moore, Even as It Fractures His Party — By the time Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, made the last of his repeated pleas to President Trump to keep his distance from the Senate candidacy of Roy S. Moore, it was too late.
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Richard Fausset / New York Times:
In America's Heartland, the Nazi Sympathizer Next Door — HUBER HEIGHTS, Ohio — Tony and Maria Hovater were married this fall. They registered at Target. On their list was a muffin pan, a four-drawer dresser and a pineapple slicer. — Ms. Hovater, 25, was worried about Antifa bashing up the ceremony.
Washington Post:
While eyes are on Russia, Sessions dramatically reshapes the Justice Department — For more than five hours, Attorney General Jeff Sessions sat in a hearing room on Capitol Hill this month, fending off inquiries on Washington's two favorite topics: President Trump and Russia.
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Shareblue Media and Power Line
Renae Merle / Washington Post:
The CFPB now has two acting directors. And nobody knows which one should lead the federal agency — President Trump and the outgoing head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau both named acting directors to head the watchdog agency on Friday, throwing its leadership into disarray.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Axios and NBC News
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Newsroom:
Leandra English Named Deputy Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Leandra English Named Deputy Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Reuters, Common Dreams, 89.3 KPCC, The Intercept, Associated Press, NPR, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and The Atlantic
Victoria Guida / Politico:
Trump taps Mulvaney to head CFPB, sparking confusion over agency's leadership
Trump taps Mulvaney to head CFPB, sparking confusion over agency's leadership
Discussion:
New York Times, Shareblue Media, Washington Post, Mother Jones, The Daily Caller and Washington Monthly
Brandon Carter / The Hill:
Trump visits his West Palm Beach golf club — President Trump traveled to his West Palm Beach, Florida golf club Saturday, marking the fourth consecutive day he's visited one of his golf properties. — Trump departed his Mar-a-Lago resort at 7:45 a.m. Saturday and arrived …
Discussion:
Politico, Politicus USA, Joe.My.God. and Raw Story
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CNN:
Trump tweets he ‘took a pass’ at being named TIME's person of the year
Trump tweets he ‘took a pass’ at being named TIME's person of the year
Discussion:
Washington Post, New York Times, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, The Root, Business Insider, Politicus USA, The Hill, CBS Miami, ThinkProgress, Snopes.com, Washington Free Beacon, RedState, Deadline, Raw Story, Mashable, Balloon Juice, Joe.My.God., IJR, The Last Refuge, Eschaton and ImmigrationProf Blog
Emily Goldberg / Politico:
Time says Trump is ‘incorrect’ after president says he rejected Person of the Year overture
Time says Trump is ‘incorrect’ after president says he rejected Person of the Year overture
Discussion:
RedState, Townhall.com, IndieWire, ABC News, Business Insider, Politicus USA, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Althouse, theGrio, Deadline, NBC News, Snopes.com, Associated Press, Shareblue Media, The Hill, twitchy.com, RT, NPR, fox13now.com, AOL, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, TheBlaze, Joe.My.God., Mashable, USA Today, Mediaite, Japan Times, Washington Times, IJR, CANNONFIRE, Axios and Big League Politics
David Willman / Los Angeles Times:
As he investigates Trump's aides, special counsel's record shows surprising flaws — Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III on Capitol Hill. — When he was named special counsel in May, Robert S. Mueller III was hailed as the ideal lawman — deeply experienced, strait-laced and nonpartisan …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
Matt Latimer / Politico:
Want to Know Why Roy Moore Might Win? Blame the Media. — In the wake of the Roy Moore fiasco, a number of “hot takes” have made their rounds in the media. How obviously hypocritical it is, for example, for evangelical leaders to stand behind a man crediblay accused of sexually assaulting a minor.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Greg P. / twitchy.com:
PIEGATE: Sarah Sanders accused of using stock photo for Thanksgiving tweet; Update — Apparently, Sarah Sanders can't even tweet a photo of a pie without triggering the MSM: — I dont cook much these days, but managed this Chocolate Pecan Pie for Thanksgiving at the family farm! …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, New York Daily News, RedState, bizpacreview.com, The Gateway Pundit, IJR, Gizmodo, TheBlaze, MichelleMalkin.com, Mediaite and Raw Story
Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
‘Morning Joe,’ did you really just pretape your post-Thanksgiving banter? — The hosts of MSNBC's “Morning Joe” did the usual day-after Thanksgiving kibitzing on the air on Friday morning, telling viewers about their turkey dinners and mentioning the big football game the night before.
Caitlin Emma / Politico:
How a powerful senator schooled Betsy DeVos — Several months ago, Sen. Lamar Alexander phoned Education Secretary Betsy DeVos with a message: Back off. — Alexander, the Republican chairman of the Senate HELP Committee, was furious that a top DeVos aide was circumventing a new law aimed …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Washington Post:
A flat-Earther's plan to launch himself in a homemade rocket just hit a speed bump — A California man who planned to launch himself 1,800 feet high Saturday in a homemade scrap-metal rocket — in an effort to prove that Earth is flat — said he is postponing the experiment …
Discussion:
Gizmodo, Friendly Atheist and RT
Zia Weise / Politico:
Turkey's Torrid Love Affair With Michael Flynn — ISTANBUL—Were Michael Flynn a Turkish citizen, it's very likely he would be sitting in prison right now, awaiting trial for terror crimes. — In July of 2016, before he briefly became Donald Trump's national security adviser …
Discussion:
Raw Story
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Wall Street Journal:
Mueller Probe Looks at Mike Flynn's Work on Documentary Targeting Exiled Turkish Cleric
Mueller Probe Looks at Mike Flynn's Work on Documentary Targeting Exiled Turkish Cleric
Discussion:
Business Insider, AOL and Raw Story
Paul Waldman / Washington Post:
Michael Flynn is the key to the Russia scandal — and he may have just flipped on Trump
Michael Flynn is the key to the Russia scandal — and he may have just flipped on Trump
Discussion:
Politico, Townhall.com, AOL, ThinkProgress and TheBlaze