Top Items:
New York Times:
Prosecutors Said to Seek Kushner Records From Deutsche Bank — Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have sought bank records about entities associated with the family company of Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, according to four people briefed on the matter.
Discussion:
Business Insider and Raw Story
Michael C. Bender / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Deputy Chief of Staff to Step Down — Rick Dearborn, latest high-profile departure from West Wing, plans to pursue private sector work — WASHINGTON—Rick Dearborn, one of President Donald Trump's top aides, will step down early next year to pursue private-sector work …
Discussion:
The Hill, Politico, CNN, Talking Points Memo, bizpacreview.com, Business Insider, Washington Free Beacon, Mediaite and Washington Times
RELATED:
Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Republicans warn Trump of 2018 bloodbath — A few weeks before Alabama's special Senate election, President Donald Trump's handpicked Republican National Committee leader, Ronna Romney McDaniel, delivered a two-page memo to White House chief of staff John Kelly outlining the party's collapse with female voters.
Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
Trump bucks White House tradition by skipping end-of-year presser
Trump bucks White House tradition by skipping end-of-year presser
Discussion:
New York Times, IJR, CBS Miami and AOL, more at Mediagazer »
Associated Press:
Russian hackers targeted more than 200 journalists globally — PARIS (AP) — Russian television anchor Pavel Lobkov was in the studio getting ready for his show when jarring news flashed across his phone: Some of his most intimate messages had just been published to the web.
Discussion:
Mashable and Towleroad, more at Mediagazer »
Jane Mayer / New Yorker:
A Conservative Nonprofit That Seeks to Transform College Campuses Faces Allegations of Racial Bias and Illegal Campaign Activity — On Tuesday, in a convention center in West Palm Beach, Florida, amid chants of “USA!” and “The wall is going to be built!,” Donald Trump, Jr. …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Shareblue Media, Talking Points Memo and Axios
Billy House / Bloomberg:
Bannon and Lewandowski Are Asked to Testify to House Russia Investigators — President Donald Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon and his former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski have been asked to testify to House lawmakers investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Ana Swanson / New York Times:
Trump Promised to Protect Steel. Layoffs Are Coming Instead. — CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. — At this sprawling steel mill on the outskirts of Philadelphia, the workers have one number in mind. Not how many tons of steel roll off the line, or how many hours they work, but where they fall on the plant's seniority list.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Shareblue Media, The Week, Outside the Beltway and Raw Story
Chris Ariens / TVNewser:
James Rosen Out at Fox News — James Rosen, a stalwart of Fox News Channel's Washington D.C. bureau, is leaving the network, TVNewser has learned. — “James Rosen is exiting the company at the end of the year,” a Fox News spokesperson confirms, without providing further detail.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller and Mediaite
Jill Colvin / Associated Press:
Former US attorneys, GOP officials come to Mueller's defense — WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 40 former U.S. attorneys and Republican and conservative officials are pushing back against efforts to discredit the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Frustrated lawmakers pressed FBI's McCabe for answers on Trump dossier. They got nothing. … There are some important things the public doesn't know about the so-called “Trump dossier,” such as whether the FBI used information from the dossier to win court permission to spy on Americans.
Discussion:
Power Line, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and CNN
RELATED:
Mike Memoli / NBC News:
Rhona Graff, longtime Trump assistant, to be interviewed by House Intelligence Committee
Rhona Graff, longtime Trump assistant, to be interviewed by House Intelligence Committee
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and NBC News
BBC:
Jerusalem: UN resolution rejects Trump's declaration — The UN General Assembly has decisively backed a resolution effectively calling on the US to withdraw its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. — The text says that any decisions regarding the status of the city are “null and void” and must be cancelled.
Discussion:
YouTube, Haaretz, The Federalist, IJR, The Daily Caller, WTKR-TV, usun.state.gov and The Week
RELATED:
Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Haley sends ‘friendship’ invites to countries that didn't vote against US Jerusalem decision
Haley sends ‘friendship’ invites to countries that didn't vote against US Jerusalem decision
Discussion:
The Atlantic and RedState
Washington Post:
It's ‘very gold’: The presidential coin undergoes a Trumpian makeover … For two decades, the commander in chief has doled out distinguished-looking coins as personal mementos. Now, the presidential “challenge coin” has undergone a Trumpian transformation.
Discussion:
Raw Story
abc7news.com:
FBI: Man planned Christmas terror attack for SF's Pier 39 … <iframe width="476" height="267" src="http://abc7news.com/video/embed/ ?pid=2812618" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> — Officials have stopped a man who reportedly stated that “Christmas was the perfect day” …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and Jihad Watch
Josh Delk / The Hill:
Top Marine general: 'There's a war coming' — The commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Robert Neller, told troops Thursday that “there's a war coming” and urged them to be prepared. — “I hope I'm wrong, but there's a war coming,” Neller told Marines stationed in Norway, during a visit there, according to Military.com.
Discussion:
RedState, Military.com, IJR and Business Insider
Ron Dicker / HuffPost:
Mark Hamill Rips His Role In ‘Last Jedi’: 'He's Not My Luke Skywalker' — The actor dishes on his creative differences with director Rian Johnson. — The actor Mark Hamill just lasered in on why he disliked how director Rian Johnson had him play Luke Skywalker in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
Amanda Erickson / Washington Post:
Trump's ambassador to the Netherlands just got caught lying about the Dutch … A Dutch journalist just asked new U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra why he said there are “no go” areas in the Netherlands, where radical Muslims are setting cars and politicians on fire. — Hoekstra denied it, and called the claim “fake news.”
Discussion:
Detroit News, Washington Monthly, DutchReview, DutchNews.nl, The Hill, Booman Tribune, Daily Kos, Vox, Balloon Juice, Shareblue Media, The Poke, ThinkProgress and Mediaite
Jon Levine / The Wrap:
‘Young Turks’ Founder Cenk Uygur Apologizes for ‘Ugly,’ ‘Insensitive’ Old Blog Posts (Exclusive) — Liberal host once wrote that women are genetically “flawed” because they don't want to have sex often enough — “Young Turks” creator and host Cenk Uygur made multiple graphic and disparaging remarks …
Discussion:
The Daily Banter, Shakesville, The Daily Caller, IJR, The Gateway Pundit and twitchy.com, more at Mediagazer »
Yashar Ali / HuffPost:
The Miss America Emails: How The Pageant's CEO Really Talks About The Winners — Internal correspondence reveals name-calling, slut-shaming and fat-shaming in emails between the Miss America CEO, board members and a pageant writer. — In late August 2014, the CEO of the Miss America Organization …
Discussion:
Fox News, Associated Press, Taylor Marsh, CBS Chicago, NBC News, The Daily Caller, bizpacreview.com, Mediaite, Mashable and thecut
The Guardian:
Ex-Trump adviser Carter Page accused academics who twice failed his PhD of bias — Carter Page, Donald Trump's former foreign policy adviser, accused his British examiners of “anti-Russian bias” after they took the highly unusual step of failing his “verbose” and “vague” PhD thesis, not once but twice.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Matt Lewis / The Daily Beast:
My Theory on Why Mike Pence Kisses Donald Trump's, uh, Ring So Fulsomely … By now, you've seen the adoration heaped upon President Donald Trump by members of his team and congressional leaders on Wednesday. — House Speaker Paul Ryan praised his “exquisite leadership …
Discussion:
Politico, New York Times, Washington Post, Raw Story, Project Republic, Mashable and HuffPost
Caleb Ecarma / Mediaite:
EXCLUSIVE: James O'Keefe Believes Roy Moore's Accusers Despite Attempt to Debunk Their Stories — Not only does James O'Keefe not regret paying a woman to pose as a rape victim in a botched hit-job that would serve to discredit Roy Moore's accusers — in a surprising twist …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, more at Mediagazer »
Media Matters for America:
Morning Joe's Mika Brzezinski chastises Mark Halperin's sexual harassment victims for not wanting to see him so he can apologize — MIKA BRZEZINSKI (CO-HOST): We also have — some men who are willing to face the music, who are willing to face the facts, who are willing to admit to their actions 10, 20 years ago, even five years ago.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Washington Post, Raw Story, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress and Eschaton
Kerry Howley / New York Magazine:
'The World's Biggest Terrorist Has a Pikachu Bedspread' — Not every leaker is an ideological combatant like Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning. Reality Winner may be the unlikeliest of all. — Reality Winner grew up in a carefully kept manufactured home on the edge of a cattle farm 100 miles north …
New York Times:
Security Council Tightens Economic Vise on North Korea, Blocking Fuel, Ships and Workers — UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations Security Council imposed new sanctions on North Korea on Friday that significantly choke off new fuel supplies and order North Koreans working overseas …
Discussion:
Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Week, bizpacreview.com and Mediaite
Bloomberg:
How the Carried Interest Break Survived the Tax Bill — Treasury chief sought to keep break for private equity funds — Congress imposed three-year holding requirement in legislation — President Donald Trump's plan to abolish a tax break for hedge-fund managers was kept …
Discussion:
Fox Business and The Daily Caller
Evelyn Cheng / CNBC:
Coinbase, one of the biggest bitcoin marketplaces, says buying and selling is temporarily disabled amid price rout — The interruption in service comes as bitcoin briefly tumbled below $11,000, down 44 percent from its record high hit Sunday. — On Thursday, Coinbase had temporarily disabled buys …
Discussion:
GeekWire and The Daily Caller, more at Techmeme »
Veronica Stracqualursi / ABC News:
President Trump signs tax bill into law — President Donald Trump signed the $1.5 trillion rewrite of the tax code into law at the White House on Friday capping off a victory lap before leaving to spend the holidays in Mar-a-Lago. — “Everything in here is really tremendous things for businesses …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Politico, Axios, The Daily Beast and The Root
New York Times:
Opioid Deaths Are Spreading Rapidly Into Black America — 2016 drug overdose deaths per 100,000 residents — In counties with fewer than 10 drug overdose deaths, the map combines observed totals with modeled estimates. — The epidemic of drug overdoses, often perceived as a largely white rural problem …
Discussion:
Vox
Washington Post:
FBI's top lawyer said to be reassigned … The FBI's top lawyer, James Baker, is being reassigned — one of the first moves by new director Christopher A. Wray to assemble his own team of senior advisers as he tries to fend off accusations of politicization within the bureau.
Discussion:
Shareblue Media, Althouse, emptywheel and IJR
Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:
‘Pumping sunshine’: Pennsylvania Congressman delivers epic pro-Trump rant — In a bizarre Fox News appearance on Friday, Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) claimed that President Trump has “changed the entire complexion of our entire country.” — Asked by host Harris Faulkner about a congressional bill passed Thursday …
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog
Orlaith Farrell / CNN:
Swipe left if you voted for Trump — How dating in New York is changing under the new administration — It's your typical midtown Manhattan happy-hour crowd: Groups of co-workers with buckets of beer, a family of tourists and a couple at the bar enjoying the tense chemistry of a successful-looking early date.
Discussion:
Raw Story
New York Times:
E.P.A. Officials, Disheartened by Agency's Direction, Are Leaving in Droves — This article was written through collaboration between The New York Times and ProPublica, the independent, nonprofit investigative journalism organization. — WASHINGTON — More than 700 people have left …
Discussion:
New York Magazine
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Why I started saying ‘reality-based press’ in 2017, instead of ‘mainstream media’ — On Jan. 22, Kellyanne Conwaydefended the president's order that Sean Spicer, in his first appearance before the White House press corps, should feed reporters a whopping lie.
Discussion:
Althouse