Top Items:
John Bresnahan / Politico:
House Republicans quietly investigate perceived corruption at DOJ, FBI — A group of House Republicans has gathered secretly for weeks in the Capitol in an effort to build a case that senior leaders of the Justice Department and FBI improperly — and perhaps criminally …
Discussion:
ABC News, Shareblue Media, The Gateway Pundit, Hullabaloo, Political Wire, Politicus USA, Raw Story and Business Insider
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Matthew Chapman / Shareblue Media:
“Are Republicans dead inside?” GOP host slams her own party in disgust — As the investigation into Russia breaks new ground, Donald Trump and his allies are ramping up their baseless attacks on the FBI and senior Justice Department officials for allowing it to continue.
Fox News:
McCabe draws blank on Democrats' funding of Trump dossier, new subpoenas planned — EXCLUSIVE: Congressional investigators tell Fox News that Tuesday's seven-hour interrogation of Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe contained numerous conflicts with the testimony of previous witnesses …
Discussion:
RedState, IJR, The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit
John Bowden / The Hill:
Group of House Republicans have been quietly investigating the DOJ and FBI for weeks
Group of House Republicans have been quietly investigating the DOJ and FBI for weeks
Discussion:
RedState
Karoun Demirjian / Washington Post:
Key NSA surveillance program's reauthorization hits roadblock in Congress
Key NSA surveillance program's reauthorization hits roadblock in Congress
Discussion:
The Verge, more at Techmeme »
AT&T:
With Tax Reform, AT&T Plans to Increase U.S. Capital Spending $1 Billion and Provide $1,000 Special Bonus to more than 200,000 U.S. Employees — Today, Congress approved legislation representing the first comprehensive tax reform in a generation. The President is expected to sign the bill in the coming days.
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Liz Moyer / CNBC:
Wells Fargo, Fifth Third Bancorp unveil minimum wage hikes after tax bill passage — Fifth Third and AT&T are paying employees special bonuses after getting tax cuts under the Republican tax plan. — Wells Fargo said Wednesday that it would boost minimum wages for employees to $15 an hour …
Discussion:
Axios, ThinkProgress, IJR, The Daily Caller and TheBlaze
Anita Balakrishnan / CNBC:
AT&T is giving $1,000 bonuses to 200,000 employees after tax bill
AT&T is giving $1,000 bonuses to 200,000 employees after tax bill
Discussion:
Power Line, Business Insider, twitchy.com, IJR and Speaker.gov, more at Techmeme »
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Wall Street Journal Killed Editorial on Trump's Mob Ties — In a short period of time, five staffers have departed The Wall Street Journal editorial page. The general cause of their departures, willing and otherwise, is known: the Journal editorial line has increasingly conformed …
Discussion:
Raw Story
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Washington Post:
Court tosses out one-vote victory in recount that had briefly ended a Republican majority in Virginia — A three- judge panel declined to certify the recount of a key House race today, saying that a questionable ballot should be counted in favor of the Republican and tying a race that Democrats …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Outside the Beltway, Reason, Washington Free Beacon, Shakesville, Hullabaloo, CNN, Shareblue Media, FiveThirtyEight and New York Times
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Jordan Pascale / Virginian-Pilot:
Republican awarded 1 more vote, causing a tie in House race that will decide balance of power — Republican David Yancey talks with student Asia Shell, 18, during a “take your legislator to school day” November 28 at Heritage High School in Newport News, Va.
Discussion:
Splinter, New York Times, NBC News, NPR, The Atlantic, Business Insider, AOL, Paste, Blue Virginia, Axios, WTKR-TV, Vox and Washington Post
Sydney Ember / New York Times:
Glenn Thrush, Suspended Times Reporter, to Resume Work but Won't Cover White House — The New York Times said on Wednesday that Glenn Thrush, one of the paper's most prominent political reporters, would remain suspended until late January and then be removed from the team covering the White House …
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United States Senator Lamar Alexander:
Alexander, Collins Statement on Bills to Lower Health Insurance Premiums — WASHINGTON, December 20, 2017—United States Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) today jointly released the following statement: — “Rather than considering a broad year-end funding agreement …
Discussion:
Kaiser Health News, New York Times, Business Insider, ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo and Politico
RELATED:
Eric Levitz / New York Magazine:
Congress Will Not Renew the Children's Health Insurance Program This Year
Congress Will Not Renew the Children's Health Insurance Program This Year
Discussion:
Center For Children …, Shareblue Media, Axios, Politico, NBC News, Splinter, Washington Post, Vox and Business Insider
Gideon Resnick / The Daily Beast:
States' Christmas Letter to Kids: No Health Care for You
States' Christmas Letter to Kids: No Health Care for You
Discussion:
Washington Post, Denver Post, Vox, Daily Kos and The Hill
Wall Street Journal:
Over Golf and an Airport Chat, Trump and GOP Hashed Out a Historic Tax Plan — Defeat of health-care bill hung over the tax legislation efforts, shaping the strategy used to pass it and mobilizing Republicans eager to show they could govern — Over rounds of golf at President Donald Trump's club …
Discussion:
New York Magazine
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Melanie Schmitz / ThinkProgress:
Paul Ryan was asked if Trump's accusers are liars. His response was abysmal. — During an interview with TODAY's Savannah Guthrie on Wednesday, House Speaker Paul Ryan punted when asked about the official White House stance on President Trump's sexual harassment accusers.
Discussion:
The Hill, HuffPost, Washington Post and bizpacreview.com
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Travis Gettys / Raw Story:
Ridiculous video emerges of wealthy Koch heir — and the internet is dying of laughter — The billionaire heir of conservative industrialist Bill Koch stands to benefit mightily from the newly passed Republican tax overhaul. — Wyatt Ingraham Koch is president and CEO of the Wyatt Ingraham clothing brand …
Discussion:
SPIN, thecut, Page Six, Balloon Juice and The Stranger …
Murray Waas / Foreign Policy:
White House Counsel Knew in January Flynn Probably Violated the Law — Don McGahn was looking at whether the national security advisor violated federal laws just days after Trump moved into the White House. — The White House turned over records this fall to special counsel Robert Mueller revealing …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
CNN:
Democrats' 2018 advantage expands — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — WASHINGTON (CNN)Democrats' already wide advantage over Republicans in a hypothetical Congressional matchup has grown, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. At the same time, enthusiasm about voting next year …
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Ryan Struyk / CNN:
Trump's approval rating just entered a league of its own
Trump's approval rating just entered a league of its own
Discussion:
NBC News, Fox News, New York Times, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Outside the Beltway
Ted Hesson / Politico:
McConnell will allow immigration vote if senators strike a deal — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will bring an immigration bill to the floor by the end of January if lawmakers and the White House can reach a compromise, he said in a statement Wednesday.
Discussion:
ABC News, CNN, Fox News, Vox, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, ImmigrationProf Blog and Breitbart
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The Commercial Appeal:
Memphis removing Confederate statues from Downtown parks — Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal — The city of Memphis sold two public parks containing Confederate monuments to a nonprofit Wednesday in a massive, months-in-the-planning operation to take the statues down overnight.
Yahoo:
Trump threatens to cut aid to U.N. members over Jerusalem vote — U.S. President Donald Trump holds a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington — WASHINGTON/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that vote …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, IJR, Project Republic and Jihad Watch
Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
The tax cut expectations game — I was reading the Penn Wharton Budget Model's dynamic analysis (this is an outfit run by a George W. Bush-era Treasury tax guy) of the tax bill Monday night, and I saw something interesting in its modeling assumptions. It had to decide what to do with the fact …
Discussion:
Politico and Mother Jones
Dean L. Winslow / Washington Post:
I spoke my mind on guns. Then my Senate confirmation was put on hold. — Dean L. Winslow, a retired Air Force colonel and flight surgeon, is a professor of medicine at Stanford University. — Last week, I withdrew my name from consideration to be assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
Trump administration approves lethal arms sales to Ukraine — The Trump administration has approved the first ever U.S. commercial sale of lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine, in a clear break from the de facto U.S. ban on arms sales that dates back to the Obama administration.
Emily Steel / New York Times:
2 Women Who Settled With O'Reilly Over Sexual Harassment Sue for Defamation — Two women who reached sexual harassment settlements with Bill O'Reilly joined a defamation lawsuit against Mr. O'Reilly and Fox News on Wednesday, asserting that statements that he and the network made depicted them as liars …
Discussion:
Politico, thecut and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
Stephen Galloway / Hollywood Reporter:
Tom Hanks Wouldn't Screen ‘The Post’ at the White House, Decries Attacks on First Amendment — “We have to decide when we take to the ramparts,” the Oscar-winner tells THR, noting that he would not attend a screening of his new film at the White House if invited.
Discussion:
Paste, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Axios, mikeallen and Washington Post
CNN:
Senior White House adviser at Homeland Security repeatedly promoted fringe conspiracy theories on the radio — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — (CNN)A White House senior adviser at the Department of Homeland promoted several far-right conspiracy theories in past radio appearances, a CNN KFile review has found.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Lorraine Woellert / Politico:
Puerto Rico governor vows midterm revenge for tax bill — Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló says he plans to mobilize 5.3 million Puerto Ricans living on the mainland to shake up the midterm elections in states ranging from Florida to California. — Rosselló …
Detroit Free Press:
Ex-MSP trooper charged with murder in death of Detroit boy being chased on ATV — It is alleged that Mark Bessner “unnecessarily deployed his Taser” at the boy while the ATV was traveling at 35-40 m.p.h. — CONNECT — A former Michigan State Police trooper is facing a murder charge …
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
In Cabinet meeting, Pence praises Trump once every 12 seconds for three minutes straight — Back in June, President Trump allowed almost his entire Cabinet to speak, one by one, in praise of him. And praise him they did, with each being more effusive than the last.