Top Items:
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 Hill, Business Insider, New York Times, AOL, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Washington Free Beacon, IJR, 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:
New York Magazine, Washington Times, The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller
Alexi McCammond / Axios:
Dem woman drops out of Kansas race over sexual harassment settlement
Dem woman drops out of Kansas race over sexual harassment settlement
Discussion:
RedState, TheBlaze and twitchy.com
Maggie Severns / Politico:
Female House candidate withdraws over sexual harassment claim
Female House candidate withdraws over sexual harassment claim
Discussion:
VICE News
Washington Post:
Republicans finalize plan, expand benefits for working families in bid to win over Rubio … Congressional Republicans finished rewriting their massive plan to overhaul the tax code on Friday, adding in a significant expansion of the Child Tax Credit aimed at boosting benefits for low-income families.
Discussion:
New York Times, CANNONFIRE, Daily Kos and Splinter
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Alayna Treene / Axios:
Bob Corker flips to “yes” on tax reform — Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the only holdout on the Senate's initial tax bill, announced Friday that he will vote “yes” on the GOP's tax cuts bill, less than an hour after Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said he will also vote yes.
Discussion:
Political Wire, The Mahablog and mikeallen
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:
RedState, The New York Observer, The Week and The Right Scoop
Alayna Treene / Axios:
Trump: “People are very, very angry” with FBI and Justice Department
Trump: “People are very, very angry” with FBI and Justice Department
Discussion:
Politico, The Daily Caller and ABC News
Dani McDonald / Stuff.co.nz:
Ashley Judd responds to Peter Jackson's claims on Harvey Weinstein blacklist — Film producer Weinstein is facing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct by Hollywood actresses. — Ashley Judd has spoken out after Sir Peter Jackson said the Weinstein brothers orchestrated a smear campaign …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Deadline, IndieWire, Mediaite, Mashable, AOL, Full Feed, twitchy.com and The Guardian
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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:
Longreads, SPLICETODAY.com, IndieWire, Shakesville, Deadline and New York Times
Alexa Valiente / ABC News:
Matt Damon opens up about Harvey Weinstein, sexual harassment and confidentiality agreements
Matt Damon opens up about Harvey Weinstein, sexual harassment and confidentiality agreements
Discussion:
Telegraph, ThinkProgress, East Bay Times, thecut, IndieWire, Full Feed, Hollywood Life, The Daily Beast, TheBlaze, Mashable and Instapundit
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:
RedState, Arizona Republic and CNBC
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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:
Raw Story
Jenny Strasburg / Wall Street Journal:
Deutsche Bank Had Flagged Manafort-Related Transactions
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.
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Derek Hawkins / Washington Post:
Trump judicial nominee fumbles basic questions about the law — Nomination hearings for U.S. district judges tend to be dry affairs that offer little in the way of mass entertainment — in other words, they're not typically the stuff of viral videos. — But a clip of one of President …
Discussion:
ACS Blog, Popehat, Above the Law, electionlawblog.org, Shareblue Media, Mediaite and Daily Kos
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
Discussion:
Page Six, RedState, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, IJR, Raw Story, The Right Scoop, The Last Refuge and twitchy.com
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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John Harwood / CNBC:
Rep. Tom Cole doesn't trust the economists on GOP tax plan: ‘There are about as many economists as there are opinions.’ — Rep. Tom Cole is as good as anyone to ask: Why are Republicans rushing to pass an unpopular tax bill that economists predict will increase deficits without fueling much economic growth?
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:
BuzzFeed, Run The Trap, YouTube, Hit & Run, New York Magazine, Instapundit, Mediaite and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
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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:
The Hill and New York Times
The Hill:
Federal judge blocks Trump rollback of ObamaCare birth control mandate — A federal judge in Pennsylvania temporarily blocked the Trump administration's recent rules allowing moral and religious exceptions for ObamaCare's birth control requirement. — The injunction comes …
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon, LifeNews.com, IJR and The Right Scoop
RELATED:
Ema O'Connor / BuzzFeed:
A Federal Judge Just Blocked The Trump Administration's Contraception Coverage Rules
A Federal Judge Just Blocked The Trump Administration's Contraception Coverage Rules
Discussion:
Axios and Refinery29
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:
Little Green Footballs, Salon and Joe.My.God.
CNN:
Trump initiated Putin call in the wake of economic praise — Putin praises Trump, slams Russia probe — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — “He said very nice things about what I have done for this country in terms of the economy,” Trump said — “We would love to have his help on North Korea.
Discussion:
Shareblue Media and VICE News
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David Ignatius / Washington Post:
The Russia facts are hiding in plain sight
The Russia facts are hiding in plain sight
Discussion:
Townhall.com, National Review, The Federalist, Shakesville, Talking Points Memo and Judicial Watch
Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
G.O.P. Establishment Declares Open Season on a Weakened Bannon — WASHINGTON — A small group of conservative leaders had gathered in the Trump International Hotel last week for a friendly discussion about the year that was ending and their priorities for the year to come, when Stephen K. Bannon spoke up.
Discussion:
Raw Story
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Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
To save the GOP, Republicans have to lose
To save the GOP, Republicans have to lose
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Hullabaloo
Julia Manchester / The Hill:
White House: FBI has ‘extreme bias’ against Trump … White House spokesman J. Hogan Gidley ripped the FBI in an interview with Fox News on Friday, saying the bureau has an “extreme bias” against President Trump — in the wake of the release of anti-Trump text messages between two FBI officials.
Discussion:
Fox News Insider, Weekly Standard, The Daily Caller, Fox News, TheBlaze and The Last Refuge
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Matthew Fowler / Washington Post:
Why 41 percent of white millennials voted for Trump — In the year since Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, many have continued to debate what motivated those who voted for him. We wanted to understand Trump voters among millennials, the generation that will make up the largest share …
Discussion:
Vox and Lawyers, Guns & Money
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?
Discussion:
New York Magazine, East Bay Times, The Ringer, The Daily Beast, Business Insider, The Verge, Gizmodo, Mashable, The Daily Caller and abc7ny.com, more at Techmeme »
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
Ramin Setoodeh / Variety:
Inside Matt Lauer's Secret Relationship With a ‘Today’ Production Assistant (EXCLUSIVE) — In 1999, Addie Collins arrived at NBC's “Today” as a young intern with big aspirations. A few months later, she landed her dream job as production assistant, forming close bonds with her new colleagues Katie Couric, Ann Curry and Al Roker.
Discussion:
Mediaite, NewsBusters, NBC News, AOL, Hollywood Life, FOX31 Denver, The Daily Caller, East Bay Times and twitchy.com
Scott Shackford / Hit & Run:
There Will Be No Viking Longboats Cruising the Mississippi, Thanks to Hard-Headed U.S. Protectionism — There are 2,000 ports across the world where cruise ships dock for passengers to embark on fabulous getaways. Only 30 of them are in North America. — The market won't likely be calling …
Ben Collins / The Daily Beast:
New Mexico School Shooter Had Secret Life on Pro-Trump White-Supremacy Sites … In real life, William Edward Atchison—people called him Bill—lived in a little yellow house with his parents, about a mile away from the Giant gas station where he worked and from Aztec High School …