Top Items:
Washington Post:
CDC gets list of forbidden words: fetus, transgender, diversity … The Trump administration is prohibiting officials at the nation's top public health agency from using a list of seven words or phrases — including “fetus” and “transgender” — in any official documents being prepared for next year's budget.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Axios, Shareblue Media, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mashable and Balloon Juice
CNN:
Trump lawyers set for key meeting with special counsel next week — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — (CNN)President Donald Trump's private lawyers are slated to meet with special counsel Robert Mueller and members of his team as soon as next week for what the President's team considers an opportunity …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, TheBlaze and Politicus USA
RELATED:
Jenny Strasburg / Wall Street Journal:
Deutsche Bank Was Asked for Information on Transactions Potentially Linked to Michael Flynn — Request was part of U.S. special counsel investigation — Deutsche Bank AG has been asked by U.S. government authorities to hand over information about transactions that could be linked …
Discussion:
Arizona Republic, RedState and CNBC
McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Kansas Dem Andrea Ramsey, accused of sexual harassment, will drop out of US House race — McClatchy Washington Bureau and The Kansas City Star — WASHINGTON — Andrea Ramsey, a Democratic candidate for Congress, will drop out of the race after the Kansas City Star asked her about accusations …
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Axios, Politico, New York Times, Business Insider, The Hill, AOL, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, VICE News, TheBlaze, RedState, IJR, Washington Free Beacon, Roll Call and twitchy.com
RELATED:
Kansas City Star:
Andrea Ramsey letter: ‘I never engaged in any of the alleged behavior’ — Dear Citizens of Kansas' Third Congressional District, — For the past six months, it has been my privilege and honor to meet folks from all walks of life in our district as we commenced our campaign, seeking to unseat Representative Kevin Yoder.
Discussion:
NPR, New York Magazine, KTLA, Washington Times, The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit
New York Times:
Executive at Consultancy Hired by E.P.A. Scrutinized Agency Employees Critical of Trump — One of the top executives of a consulting firm that the Environmental Protection Agency has hired to help it with media affairs has spent the past year investigating agency employees who have been critical …
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Daily Kos, Media Matters for America, Mashable, ThinkProgress and Grist, more at Mediagazer »
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Elizabeth Harrington / Washington Free Beacon:
Hundreds of EPA Employees Have Quit Under Trump — After months of crying at their desks, bureaucrats now ‘quitting in disgust’ — Over 700 employees at the Environmental Protection Agency have quit or taken early retirement during the Trump administration so far, bringing the agency close to employment levels not seen since Reagan.
Discussion:
The Right Scoop, MichelleMalkin.com and ThinkProgress
Jim Tankersley / New York Times:
Republicans Are Set to Release Compromise Tax Bill — WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers have agreed to expand the child care tax credit so that it benefits more low-income Americans, a move intended to win back the support of Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who on Thursday said he would not vote …
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Verge, The Gateway Pundit, Above the Law, FiveThirtyEight and RedState
RELATED:
Alayna Treene / Axios:
Bob Corker flips to “yes” on tax reform
Bob Corker flips to “yes” on tax reform
Discussion:
mikeallen and The Mahablog
Washington Post:
Republicans finalize plan, expand benefits for working families in bid to win over Rubio
Republicans finalize plan, expand benefits for working families in bid to win over Rubio
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Splinter and CANNONFIRE
Jacob Pramuk / CNBC:
Marco Rubio will support GOP tax bill after child tax credit tweaks, sources say
Marco Rubio will support GOP tax bill after child tax credit tweaks, sources say
Discussion:
The New York Observer, No More Mister Nice Blog, CityLab, RedState, The Right Scoop and The Week
Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:
Kushner's legal team looks to hire crisis public relations firm — Senior White House official Jared Kushner and his legal team are searching for a crisis public relations firm, according to four people familiar with the matter. — Kushner's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, has quietly called at least two firms, these people said.
Discussion:
Politico, The Hill, Daily Kos, AOL and New York Times
The Hill:
Exclusive: Prominent lawyer sought donor cash for two Trump accusers — A well-known women's rights lawyer sought to arrange compensation from donors and tabloid media outlets for women who made or considered making sexual misconduct allegations against Donald Trump
BostonGlobe.com:
Black conservatives reel after Omarosa resigns — WASHINGTON — When the White House senior staff convened Friday for a regular briefing, there was not one black person among the roughly 30 people gathered, and few minorities overall. — The departure Wednesday of Omarosa Manigault …
Facebook:
Hard Questions: Is Spending Time on Social Media Bad for Us? — By David Ginsberg, Director of Research, and Moira Burke, Research Scientist at Facebook — With people spending more time on social media, many rightly wonder whether that time is good for us. Do people connect in meaningful ways online?
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Carolina Panthers:
Panthers' statement on internal investigation — The Carolina Panthers today announced it has commenced an internal investigation into allegations of workplace misconduct against the team's owner and founder, Jerry Richardson. The investigation is being led by the outside international law …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Deadspin, The Ringer and myfox8.com
Naomi Jagoda / The Hill:
Republicans unveil final version of tax bill — Republicans late Friday afternoon unveiled the final text of their bill to rewrite the tax code, which they are racing to send to President Trump — 's desk before Christmas. — Like the bills that came before it, the legislation produced …
RELATED:
Yashar Ali / HuffPost:
Fox News Women Furious Over Rupert Murdoch Comments On Sexual Misconduct — The media mogul said claims of rampant sexual harassment at the network are “nonsense.” — Current and former female Fox News employees say they are stunned, disgusted and “hungry for justice” …
Matt Zapotosky / Washington Post:
Nine more women say judge subjected them to inappropriate behavior, including four who say he touched or kissed them — Nine more women say that Alex Kozinski — a high-profile judge who sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit — subjected them to sexual comments or other conduct …
Discussion:
Axios, KTLA, NPR and Above the Law
Molly Redden / The Guardian:
Peter Jackson: I blacklisted Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino under pressure from Weinstein … Film director Peter Jackson has admitted to blacklisting actors Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino in response to a “smear campaign” orchestrated by accused sexual predator Harvey Weinstein.
Discussion:
Stuff.co.nz, Longreads, The Daily Beast, IndieWire, Page Six, NBC News, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Mashable, Mediaite, Deadline, AOL, Full Feed, SPLICETODAY.com, Shakesville, twitchy.com and New York Times
Michael R. Bloomberg / Bloomberg:
This Tax Bill Is a Trillion-Dollar Blunder — Congress and President Trump put politics ahead of smart reform. — Last month a Wall Street Journal editor asked a room full of CEOs to raise their hands if the corporate tax cut being considered in Congress would lead them to invest more.
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Ema O'Connor / BuzzFeed:
A Federal Judge Just Blocked The Trump Administration's Contraception Coverage Rules — A judge in Pennsylvania put a temporary, nationwide block on Trump's rules creating exceptions for no-cost contraception coverage, saying that they could potentially cause women “enormous and irreversible” harm.
Discussion:
Refinery29 and Axios
RELATED:
Ruth May / Dallas Morning News:
How Putin's proxies helped funnel millions into GOP campaigns — As Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team probes deeper into potential collusion between Trump officials and representatives of the Russian government, investigators are taking a closer look at political contributions made by U.S. citizens with close ties to Russia.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Zoe Tillman / BuzzFeed:
Judge Says That Paul Manafort Can Go Free But He Has To Live In Florida And Be Home By 11 P.M. — Manafort will have GPS monitoring and must get permission from the judge to travel outside of court appearances. — Reporting From Washington, DC — Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort …
Discussion:
Politico and New York Magazine
RELATED:
Miranda Green / CNN:
Trump judicial nominee struggles to answer basic legal questions at hearing — Washington (CNN)A Trump judicial nominee struggled to answer basic legal questions posed to him by a Republican senator on Wednesday, including his lack of experience on trial work, the amount of depositions he'd worked on and more.
Neil Patel / The Daily Caller:
Harlem Shook: Google Is Using Its Immense Power To Censor Content That Doesn't Fit Its Political Goals. Everyone In America Should Be Concerned About That — The Daily Caller released a funny video Tuesday of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai defending the commission's upcoming net-neutrality rollback.
Discussion:
RedState, Hit & Run, Run The Trap, BuzzFeed, Mediaite, Joe.My.God., New York Magazine and Instapundit
Media Matters for America:
Breitbart editor-in-chief: We had to defend Roy Moore from child molestation accusations to protect Trump from his accusers — ALEX MARLOW (HOST): In hindsight guys, look, it's a — there was no option at Breitbart — and I will try to articulate this over and over.
Discussion:
Salon, Shareblue Media, Little Green Footballs and Joe.My.God.
Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:
House Intelligence Panel Is Rushing to Complete Russia Probe — WASHINGTON — The House Intelligence Committee is racing to complete its investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election, scheduling a host of witness interviews here and in New York for next week …
Discussion:
AOL
Fox News:
Mattis shoots down report Trump chills Russia talk — Pentagon Secretary James Mattis didn't borrow his boss's favorite phrase to refute a Washington Post report that President Trump doesn't want to hear about Russia from his intel chiefs, but he might as well have called it fake news.
Discussion:
New York Times, Power Line and Washington Free Beacon
Ed Pilkington / The Guardian:
A journey through a land of extreme poverty: welcome to America — The Guardian joined him on a special two-week mission into the dark heart of the world's richest nation — Los Angeles, California, 5 December — “You got a choice to make, man. You could go straight on to heaven.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:
GOP Senators unanimous in support for tax bill — So reports Jibran Khan at NRO's Corner. Senators Rubio and Scott have fallen into line, having secured an increase in the child tax credit refund. No surprise there. — But here's a surprise, at least to me.
Discussion:
National Review, Business Insider and The Atlantic
Josh Delk / The Hill:
Roy Moore fundraising for ‘election integrity fund’ ahead of election certification — 's campaign announced Friday that it is seeking donations for an “election integrity fund” following the former judge's unsuccessful bid for an Alabama Senate seat. — Moore has refused to concede the race …
Discussion:
Politico and twitchy.com