Top Items:
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:
The Intercept, CNN, ThinkProgress, The Week, Balloon Juice, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, Blue Mass Group and TheBlaze
RELATED:
NBC News:
FBI warned Trump in 2016 Russians would try to infiltrate his campaign — WASHINGTON — In the weeks after he became the Republican nominee on July 19, 2016, Donald Trump was warned that foreign adversaries, including Russia, would probably try to spy on and infiltrate his campaign …
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, Washington Monthly, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, The Week, Business Insider, IJR, RedState, The Daily Caller, Vox, Mediaite and CNN
Karoun Demirjian / Washington Post:
Senate intel committee investigating Jill Stein campaign for possible collusion with the Russians
Senate intel committee investigating Jill Stein campaign for possible collusion with the Russians
Discussion:
RedState
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 …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Raw Story, The Week, Business Insider, Mediaite and Axios
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Jacqueline Thomsen / The Hill:
Trump considered pulling Gorsuch's nomination after personal criticism: report
Trump considered pulling Gorsuch's nomination after personal criticism: report
Washington Post:
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:
Politico, New York Magazine, The Week, Raw Story, twitchy.com, Politicus USA, Balloon Juice, Axios, The Hill, Shareblue Media, Hullabaloo, Salon and Talking Points Memo
RELATED:
Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
The real reason Trump allies are attacking Mueller — Sowing public doubt about the special counsel's Russia investigation can give the president cover for pardons, even if the investigation is allowed to proceed. — President Donald Trump insists he's not going to fire Robert Mueller …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Asha Rangappa / Just Security:
Why it's Far Worse for Trump to Fire Rosenstein than to Fire Mueller
Why it's Far Worse for Trump to Fire Rosenstein than to Fire Mueller
Discussion:
Washington Post, Shakesville, Vox, The Hill, New York Magazine and Talking Points Memo
Jonathan Turley / The Hill:
Mueller makes reckless move with seizure of Trump transition emails
Mueller makes reckless move with seizure of Trump transition emails
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
Dylan Matthews / Vox:
The Republican tax bill got worse: now the top 1% gets 83% of the gains — In its last year, the bill raises taxes on more than 53 percent of Americans. — By 2027, more than half of all Americans — 53 percent — would pay more in taxes under the tax bill agreed to by House and Senate Republicans …
Discussion:
taxpolicycenter.org, Axios, USA Today, Mother Jones, New York Magazine and AOL
RELATED:
New York Times:
Tax Bill Lets Trump and Republicans Feather Their Own Nests — To understand the cynicism and mendacity underlying the Republican tax bill, look no further than a provision that would benefit President Trump and other property tycoons that is in the final legislation Congress is expected to vote on this week.
Discussion:
Politico and Booman Tribune
Thomas P. Bossert / Wall Street Journal:
It's Official: North Korea Is Behind WannaCry — The massive cyberattack cost billions and put lives at risk. Pyongyang will be held accountable. — Cybersecurity isn't easy, but simple principles still apply. Accountability is one, cooperation another. They are the cornerstones of security and resilience in any society.
Discussion:
NPR, The Guardian, Gizmodo, New York Times, Politico, IJR and The Week, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:
U.S. declares North Korea carried out massive WannaCry cyberattack — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (Korea News Service via Associated Press) — The U.S. government is publicly acknowledging that North Korea was behind the WannaCry computer worm that affected more than 230,000 computers in over 150 countries earlier this year.
Anchorage Daily News:
Track Palin, son of former Gov. Sarah Palin, arrested for assaulting his father — PALMER — Track Palin, the 28-year-old son of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, was arrested on assault and burglary charges after he repeatedly hit his father, Todd Palin, at the family home Saturday, charging documents say.
Discussion:
Althouse, AOL, The Week, The American Conservative and Mediaite
RELATED:
Seema Mehta / Los Angeles Times:
Track Palin charged with beating his father, who court documents say confronted him with a gun — Track Palin, oldest son of Sarah Palin, appears during the Republican National Convention in September 2008 in St Paul, Minn. (Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images)
Del Quentin Wilber / Wall Street Journal:
In FBI Agent's Account, ‘Insurance Policy’ Text Referred to Russia Probe — Agent's text was meant to convey the FBI needed to aggressively investigate allegations of collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia — An FBI agent's reference to “an insurance policy” in a much-debated text message …
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Hullabaloo, The Gateway Pundit, Project Republic, Townhall.com, Washington Post, twitchy.com, Axios and Raw Story
RELATED:
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:
NPR
Associated Press:
The Latest: Turkey joins criticism of US veto on Jerusalem — UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Latest on the U.N Security Council vote on a resolution that would require the U.S. to rescind its declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel (all times local): — Turkey is criticizing criticized …
Discussion:
Jihad Watch and The Week
RELATED:
Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:
Pence delays trip to Middle East
Pence delays trip to Middle East
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Free Beacon, The American Conservative and Axios
Zeke Miller / Associated Press:
White House temporarily removes petition tool — WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is temporarily removing a petition tool from its website after 11 months of silence, promising to respond to public concerns next year. — The Trump administration said the platform, used extensively …
RELATED:
Jacqueline Thomsen / The Hill:
White House taking down petition website, pledges to launch new one
White House taking down petition website, pledges to launch new one
Discussion:
Politicus USA
The Democrats / Medium:
A Year in Review: Alabama and the Growing Blue Wave — TO: Interested Parties FROM: DNC CEO Jess O'Connell — RE: A Year in Review: Alabama and the Growing Blue Wave — On Tuesday, we made history. Doug Jones became the first Alabama Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in 25 years.
Hannah Allam / BuzzFeed:
Women's March Planner Says A Report That She Ignored Sex Harassment Is “Character Assassination” — The prominent Muslim activist denied the accusations in an interview with BuzzFeed News and called them part of a smear campaign by her critics. But the woman alleging harassment is standing by her claims.
Discussion:
Jihad Watch, IJR, twitchy.com, TheBlaze and The Daily Caller
RELATED:
Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:
Trump Judicial Nominee Drops Out After Embarrassing Hearing, Per Senate Aide — Matthew Petersen is the president's third court pick to crash and burn over not being qualified to be a federal judge. — WASHINGTON President Donald Trump's judicial nominee Matthew Petersen has withdrawn …
Discussion:
LAW.com, Shareblue Media, Politico, The Atlantic, The Hill, WWL-TV, New York Magazine, Talking Points Memo, The Week, BuzzFeed, Raw Story, Mother Jones and Washington Post
RELATED:
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Poor Vetting Sinks Trump's Nominees for Federal Judge
Poor Vetting Sinks Trump's Nominees for Federal Judge
Discussion:
NPR, The Daily Caller, TheBlaze, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Mediaite
CRFB Papers and Blog Posts:
Final Tax Bill Could End Up Costing $2.2 Trillion — The final conference committee agreement of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) would cost $1.46 trillion under conventional scoring and over $1 trillion on a dynamic basis over ten years, leading debt to rise to between 95 percent and 98 percent …
Discussion:
NPR, National Review, Politicus USA, Hit & Run, ThinkProgress, Axios and Wall Street Journal
RELATED:
Mariko Paulson / Issues:
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as Reported by Conference Committee (12/15/17): Static and Dynamic Effects …
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as Reported by Conference Committee (12/15/17): Static and Dynamic Effects …
Discussion:
National Review and Tax Foundation
Thomas Smith / Disney Parks Blog:
The Hall of Presidents Reopens at the Walt Disney World Resort After Year-Long Transformation — Following a year-long transformation, The Hall of Presidents will officially reopen at Magic Kingdom Park on Tuesday, December 19, with enhancements that will bring the story of the American presidency to life as never before.
Discussion:
WDWMAGIC.COM, The Daily Beast, Gizmodo, Mashable and Mediaite
RELATED:
Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
President Trump, the Animatronic Version, Comes to Disney World
President Trump, the Animatronic Version, Comes to Disney World
Discussion:
Orlando Sentinel and Business Insider
John Solomon / The Hill:
Trump accuser lobbied to be his makeup artist months before her sex assault allegations roiled campaign — A New York cosmetics executive who publicly alleged Donald Trump — sexually assaulted her in the 1990s repeatedly solicited the future president to become his campaign makeup artist …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
Kurt Schlichter / Townhall.com:
Some Real Talk For Conservatives About 2018 — We conservatives need to get our heads right about the mid-terms or liberals will end up guzzling patriot tears and their gloating will be flat-out intolerable. We're not doomed in 2018 - I mean, it's not like tax reform or pulling …