memeorandum: Why Jim DeMint was ousted from the Heritage Foundation earlier this year (Andrew Prokop/Vox)

12:15 PM ET, December 19, 2017

Top Items:

Trump team's meeting with Mueller's office poised to ratchet up tensions … White House lawyers are expected to meet with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's office late this week seeking good news: that his sprawling investigation's focus on President Trump will soon end and their client will be cleared.

Discussion: Shareblue Media, CNBC, Project Republic, IJR, New York Magazine, The Week, Just Security, twitchy.com, Raw Story, Balloon Juice, Politicus USA, Axios and The Hill

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

The real reason Trump allies are attacking Mueller — President Donald Trump insists he's not going to fire Robert Mueller, but that's not stopping Republicans and others close to the president from orchestrating a relentless stream of attacks on the credibility and integrity of the special counsel and his team of Russia investigators.

Discussion: Washington Post and Raw Story

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:
Mueller's Scorched-Earth Tactics . . . Again

Discussion: Power Line, Law & Crime, Lawfare, The Hill and Fox News Insider

Renato Mariotti / Washington Post:
Why hasn't Trump fired Mueller yet? Because he's better off not doing it.

Discussion: Law & Crime, No More Mister Nice Blog, Shakesville, Shareblue Media and Vox

Emma Loop / BuzzFeed:

The Senate's Russia Investigation Is Now Looking Into Jill Stein, A Former Campaign Staffer Says — The Senate Intelligence Committee has asked Green Party candidate Jill Stein's campaign to turn over documents, a former employee says. Stein is expected to release them publicly as well.

Discussion: CNN, The Intercept, Washington Times, ThinkProgress, Balloon Juice, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, TheBlaze, The Week and Blue Mass Group

Karoun Demirjian / Washington Post:
Senate intel committee investigating Jill Stein campaign for possible collusion with the Russians

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, New York Post and RedState

Adam B. Schiff / Wall Street Journal:
What We Know About the Trump Campaign's Collusion With Russia

Discussion: Politico

Olivia Beavers / The Hill: Former Intel chief: Putin is handling Trump like ‘an asset’

Sally Q. Yates / USA Today:

Who are we as a country? Time to decide: Sally Yates — Stand up and speak out on America's core founding values. We are not living in ordinary times, and it's not enough to admire them from afar. — Over the course of our nation's history, we have faced inflection points …

Discussion: Philly.com, Balloon Juice, Raw Story, Shareblue Media and twitchy.com

John Cassidy / New Yorker:

The G.O.P. Tax Bill Is Unworkable — With the House of Representatives set to pass the final version of the Republican tax bill on Tuesday, and a vote in the Senate expected later in the week, here is a prediction: no matter which party controls Congress after next year's midterms …

Discussion: SSRN, Hullabaloo and NBC News

Alex Kotch / International Business Times:

Republican Senators Will Save Millions With Special Real-Estate Tax Break — When the U.S. Senate takes up the final tax bill this week, more than a quarter of all GOP senators will be voting on a bill that includes a special provision that could give them a new tax cut through …

Discussion: BillMoyers.com, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, Forbes, IJR, Vox, New Republic, ThinkProgress, CNN and Booman Tribune

New York Times:
Tax Bill Lets Trump and Republicans Feather Their Own Nests

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Kos and National Review

Washington Post:

Trump talked about rescinding Gorsuch's nomination … For nearly eight months, President Trump has boasted that appointing Neil M. Gorsuch to the Supreme Court ranks high among his signature achievements. — But earlier this year, Trump talked about rescinding Gorsuch's nomination …

Andrew Prokop / Vox:

Why Jim DeMint was ousted from the Heritage Foundation earlier this year — The true explanation seems to boil down office politics. … Original story: In the latest seismic shake-up of a major conservative institution during the age of Trump, the Heritage Foundation announced on May 2 …

Discussion: The Daily Signal

The Heritage Foundation:

Heritage's New President — The Heritage Foundation Names Kay Coles James New President … The Heritage Foundation today announced Kay Coles James will become the sixth president in the think tank's 44-year history. James will officially take over as president from founder Edwin J. Feulner on Jan. 1, 2018.

Discussion: Axios and TheBlaze

Eliana Johnson / Politico:
Heritage Foundation taps Kay Coles James to be next president

Discussion: Instapundit

Sean Colarossi / Politicus USA:

White House Blatantly Admits Trump Probably Didn't Read His Own National Security Strategy — Trump national security spokesman Michael Anton said he “can't say” whether the commander-in-chief of the world's most powerful military has read the 55-page document.

Discussion: CNN and Washington Post

Ellen Mitchell / The Hill:
WH official: 'I can't say' Trump has read entire national security strategy

Discussion: CNN, Politico, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, Washington Post and The Daily Beast

Polina Nikolskaya / Reuters:
Kremlin dismisses Trump's ‘imperialist’ security strategy

Discussion: Politico and The Daily Caller

Online NewsHour:
McMaster: We need to act urgently to stop North Korea

Discussion: Business Insider

CNN:

Public opposition to tax bill grows as vote approaches — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Trump's 35% approval is a new low in CNN polling, below previous first-year presidents at this point — WASHINGTON (CNN)With the House of Representatives set to vote on the Republican tax reform bill Tuesday …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Hill, Politico, IJR, Daily Kos, The Week and Political Wire

Asawin Suebsaeng / The Daily Beast:

‘Silicon Valley’ Star T.J. Miller Accused of Sexually Assaulting and Punching a Woman … Warning: This story includes graphic content. — An alleged victim of former Silicon Valley star T.J. Miller is coming forward with accusations that Miller hit and sexually assaulted her while in college.

Discussion: Mashable, Mediaite and The Daily Caller

CNN:

Former Pentagon UFO official: ‘We may not be alone’ — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — (CNN)A former Pentagon official who led a recently revealed government program to research potential UFOs said Monday evening that he believes there is evidence of alien life reaching Earth.

Discussion: Daily Mail, RedState, AOL, Betsy's Page, The Daily Beast, Clayton Cramer and The American Conservative

Eli Rosenberg / Washington Post:
Former Navy pilot describes UFO encounter studied by secret Pentagon program

Discussion: The Week

Ronald Brownstein / CNN:

Democrats have a new Southern strategy — MAGIC WALL: Jones' big Alabama win & its impact on 2018 — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — (CNN)With Doug Jones' upset victory in last week's Alabama US Senate race, Democrats are solidifying a new model for rebuilding their tattered competitiveness in the South.

The Democrats / Medium: A Year in Review: Alabama and the Growing Blue Wave

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:

‘I Was An Easy Pickup’: How Trump Lost Manchin on Taxes — Subscribe to Off Message on Apple Podcasts here. Subscribe via Stitcher here. — During the transition last year and several times since, Donald Trump repeatedly pushed Joe Manchin to switch parties and become a Republican …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNN, Raw Story, America Rising PAC, Mediaite, Shot in the Dark, NBC News, MichelleMalkin.com and The Hill

Rich Lowry / New York Post:

Trump's first year is starting to look like a big win — Republicans have tried, on and off, to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling since the 1980s. The effort has always engendered intense opposition and always been abandoned. A provision for drilling in ANWR …

New York Times:

Decades after the company tried to tackle sexual misconduct at two Chicago plants, continued abuse raises questions about the possibility of change. … CHICAGO — The jobs were the best they would ever have: collecting union wages while working at Ford, one of America's most storied companies.

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

We're witnessing the wholesale looting of America — Unchecked by norms or political prudence, it's smash-and-grab time for the GOP. — Over the course of 2017, both in Congress and in the executive branch, we have watched the task of government devolve into the full-scale looting of America.

Vicki Needham / The Hill:

Senate panel rejects Trump's nominee to lead Ex-Im Bank — The Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday rejected President Trump — 's nominee to lead the Export-Import Bank. — The panel in a 10-13 vote declined to advance the nomination of Scott Garrett — , a former Republican congressman from New Jersey.

Discussion: The Week and Political Wire

Toluse Olorunnipa / Bloomberg:

Trump Asks 'How's Your 401(k)?' But Most Voters Don't Have One — New campaign slogan celebrates growth of stock market — Only 45 percent of private-sector workers have 401(k) plans — President Donald Trump is trying out a new campaign slogan: “How's your 401(k) doing?”

Discussion: Axios

Kati Weis / WALA-TV:

Secretary of State launches investigation into voter fraud concerns in Senate special election — Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill is investigating a concern over potential voter fraud in last Tuesday's special Senate election. — It all stems from a brief interview FOX10 News …

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Bloomberg:

Grassley Wants FBI Director Wray to Replace McCabe as Deputy — McCabe is to meet privately Tuesday with House Russia probe — GOP wants to ask deputy FBI director about salacious dossier — The Senate Judiciary chairman said Monday he wants Andrew McCabe removed as deputy director of the FBI …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and NPR

Henry J. Gomez / BuzzFeed:

The Man Who Made The Republican Internet — And Then Sold It To Far-Right Nationalists Overseas — Vincent Harris was once hailed as the top Republican digital strategist in America, combining traditional conservative politics with online and social advertising.

Nahal Toosi / Politico:

Leaked memo schooled Tillerson on human rights — Three months into his tenure as secretary of state, Rex Tillerson alarmed veteran diplomats with remarks that sounded like a potential shift in American foreign policy: The U.S., he said, should be careful not to let values like human rights create …

Discussion: Shareblue Media, Raw Story and Vox