Top Items:
Erica Orden / Wall Street Journal:
Prosecutors Examine Loan Made to Kushner Cos. Before Election — Unclear whether request is related to inquiry regarding company's use of EB-5 investment-for-immigration program — Federal prosecutors in New York are examining a $285 million loan that Deutsche Bank AG made one month …
Discussion:
Raw Story
RELATED:
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:
Politico, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »
Annie Karni / Politico:
Trump-supporting singer claims Lewandowski slapped her butt at recent party — President Donald Trump's former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, has been accused of unwanted touching by a singer and longtime Trump supporter whose potential “MAGA"-inspired congressional bid in Florida has been endorsed by the president himself.
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Daily Beast, Business Insider and RedState
New York Times:
F.B.I. Director Wants to Move Forward, but the President Is Making His Job Harder — WASHINGTON — When President Trump tapped Christopher A. Wray to be his next F.B.I. director, it signaled a clear break from the tenure of James B. Comey, whom Mr. Trump had grown to distrust and eventually fired.
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Just Security and Townhall.com
RELATED:
Felicia Schwartz / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. to Send Antitank Weaponry to Ukraine, Entering New Phase in Conflict — Decision to send Javelin antitank missiles places U.S. closer to the conflict in eastern Ukraine — WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump has signed off on a decision to provide Ukraine with lethal defensive weaponry …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
RELATED:
Michael Birnbaum / Washington Post:
Russian submarines are prowling around vital undersea cables. It's making NATO nervous. — BRUSSELS — Russian submarines have dramatically stepped up activity around undersea data cables in the North Atlantic, part of a more aggressive naval posture that has driven NATO to revive a Cold War-era command …
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Appeals court rules against Trump travel ban 3.0 — A federal appeals court ruled that the latest version of President Donald Trump's controversial travel ban policy should be partially blocked because the president appears to have exceeded his authority in issuing the directive.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, RedState and The Daily Beast
RELATED:
Timothy Cama / The Hill:
Court faults Obama administration for elephant hunting policy
Court faults Obama administration for elephant hunting policy
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:
Appeals court rules that Trump's third travel ban is illegal
Appeals court rules that Trump's third travel ban is illegal
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
Fox News:
Sessions orders DOJ review after report Obama administration gave Hezbollah a pass — EXCLUSIVE: Attorney General Jeff Sessions is launching a review of a law enforcement initiative called Project Cassandra after an investigative report was published this week claiming the Obama administration gave …
Discussion:
Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, IJR, The Gateway Pundit, bizpacreview.com, Axios and Reason
RELATED:
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Sessions orders review of abandoned Hezbollah-linked drug prosecutions
Sessions orders review of abandoned Hezbollah-linked drug prosecutions
Discussion:
American Thinker, RedState, TheBlaze, twitchy.com, Fox News Insider, Washington Free Beacon, israpundit.org and The Daily Caller
Rachael Bade / Politico:
Top FBI official linked to reporter who broke Trump dossier story — House Republicans are investigating contact between the FBI's top lawyer and a Mother Jones reporter in the weeks before the left-leaning outlet broke the first news story about the existence of a disputed dossier alleging …
Discussion:
RedState, bizpacreview.com, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Shareblue Media and emptywheel
Wall Street Journal:
Social media platform — The prince's fortune is estimated at $18.7 billion by Forbes, which would make him the Middle East's wealthiest individual. But Prince al-Waleed has indicated that he believes raising and handing over that much cash would be an admission of guilt and would require …
Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:
Was the Steele Dossier the FBI's ‘Insurance Policy’? — Clinton campaign propaganda appears to have triggered Obama administration spying on Trump's campaign. — The FBI's deputy director Andrew McCabe testified Tuesday at a marathon seven-hour closed-door hearing of the House Intelligence Committee.
Discussion:
Power Line
Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:
MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski apologizes for remarks about Mark Halperin victims — Mark Halperin apologizes after sexual harassment claims — MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski apologized Friday evening after she angered some of the women who had accused veteran journalist Mark Halperin …
Discussion:
RedState and The Daily Beast
Elena Schneider / Politico:
The next special election that could portend a Democratic wave — A March special election in a conservative-leaning stretch of western Pennsylvania that Donald Trump won by 20 points is the next big test of whether a Democratic wave will sweep the party into the House majority for the first time 2010.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Noor Al-Sibai / Raw Story:
Judge who tossed out Virginia delegate candidate's one-vote win was supported by her GOP opponent: report — The judge who threw out Virginia House of Delegates candidate Shelly Simonds' one-vote win and ruled a questionable ballot applicable as a vote for her opponent reportedly has a conflict of interest.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice and Hampton Roads Daily Press
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:
Jihad Watch, IJR, The Gateway Pundit, twitchy.com and The Daily Caller
RELATED:
Travis Kellar / PennLive:
Harrisburg shooting spree suspect named, ‘directly’ targeted police and chased trooper: DA — Gallery: Multiple shootings in downtown Harrisburg, including one near capitol — Hours after three shootings resulted in a trooper shot and the suspect killed, police have released additional details about the shooter.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
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
Jason Schwartz / Politico:
Fox News website beefs up and ‘goes a little Breitbart’ — A sleeping media giant may be about to wake up: Fox News' website — known for its high traffic, but not strong identity —is staffing up and sharpening its voice in hopes of equaling the impact of its increasingly pro-Trump television partner.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Paul Bond / Hollywood Reporter:
How Hollywood's Conservative “Street Artists” Troll the Industry — Two of the three behind the “She Knew” posters claim they are financed by unnamed wealthy conservatives who pay them $5,000-$20,000 per “mission.” — In a booth on the Westside of Los Angeles sit a trio …
Discussion:
Althouse
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:
New York Times, Project Republic, twitchy.com, Mediaite, Business Insider and Raw Story
Dilbert Blog:
How to Determine If You Should Talk About Politics in Public — When candidate Trump first set about the job of redefining politics (and reality) back in 2015, people had lots of predictions about how things would turn out. One year isn't long enough to know everything we need to know about his presidency …
Discussion:
Althouse