Top Items:
Kate Bennett / CNN:
Exclusive: Iconic White House tree to be cut down — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)The south facade of the White House will undergo a dramatic change this week: the historic Jackson Magnolia, a tree that has been in place since the 1800s, is scheduled to be cut down and removed.
Tom Newton Dunn / The Sun:
TRUMP SNUB FEAR Government pleads with Prince Harry not to invite Barack Obama to his wedding — Prince, 33, became friends with former US President after bonding with them at the Invictus Games — GOVERNMENT mandarins are urging Prince Harry not to invite the Obamas to his wedding for fear of infuriating Donald Trump.
Discussion:
AOL, The Daily Banter, Raw Story, Althouse and Politico
Emily Holden / Politico:
Where is Trump's Cabinet? It's anybody's guess. — The Cabinet members carrying out President Donald Trump's orders to shake up the federal government are doing so under an unusual layer of secrecy — often shielding their schedules from public view, keeping their travels under wraps …
Discussion:
Shareblue Media and Raw Story
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Emily Alpert Reyes / Los Angeles Times:
L.A. psychologist claims to have left manure outside Steve Mnuchin's home
L.A. psychologist claims to have left manure outside Steve Mnuchin's home
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Reuters, thecut, Power Line, YouTube, Balloon Juice and IJR
Dan Zak / Washington Post:
What's a Wendy's doing there? The story of Washington's weirdest traffic circle. — First things first. There's a Wendy's in the middle of the intersection. Hard to get around that. — It's been there since the mid-'80s, on a wedge of land bordered by First Street NE and Florida …
Sattkisson / Sharyl Attkisson:
Investigating the Investigators at DOJ and FBI — Why do heads seem to be rolling—or at least tilting—at the Department of Justice and FBI? — Eight high ranking Department of Justice and FBI officials have been removed, reassigned or are rumored to be leaving.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Business Insider, IJR, The Gateway Pundit, bizpacreview.com, Raw Story, Politico, AOL and Power Line
New York Times:
New York's Attorney General in Battle With Trump — Eric Schneiderman, New York's attorney general, reached a milestone of sorts recently. — By moving to sue the Federal Communications Commission over net neutrality this month, his office took its 100th legal or administrative action …
Discussion:
New York Daily News, Business Insider, The Daily Caller and Law & Crime
Associated Press:
13 Days in July: The Trump White House's crucible — WASHINGTON (AP) — They were the 13 days that transformed the White House. — Even for an administration that spent most of 2017 throwing off headlines at a dizzying pace, events in the second half of July unfolded at breakneck speed.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Annie Karni / Politico:
What happens when Trump targets you on Twitter — Five Americans named by the president on social media talk about the unexpected fallout in their real lives. … It was a fitting way to end the first year of his presidency, which has been punctuated by his targeting of individuals …
Discussion:
Mediaite
Reuters:
China halts oil product exports to North Korea in November as sanctions bite — Ryan Woo, Muyu Xu — BEIJING (Reuters) - China exported no oil products to North Korea in November, Chinese customs data showed, apparently going above and beyond sanctions imposed earlier this year …
Discussion:
Axios
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Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:
GOP lawmaker calls for ‘purge’ of FBI … (R-Fla.) on Tuesday called for a “purge” of the FBI, warning of “deep state” figures at work in the agency. — Rooney said during an interview on MSNBC that the American people have “very high standards” for the country's government agencies, and suggested they aren't being met.
Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
What's Bill de Blasio's Problem? — DES MOINES—The website for the Progressive Agenda Committee that Bill de Blasio launched in 2014 is now just an error message. — The mayors of Detroit, Chicago, New Orleans and Boston all declined or didn't return several requests seeking comment on him.
Discussion:
MichelleMalkin.com, Splinter and The Week
Michael Morell / Washington Post:
Russia never stopped its cyberattacks on the United States — Michael Morell is a former deputy director and twice acting director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2010 to 2013. Mike Rogers, a Republican from Michigan, served in the House from 2001 to 2015 and was chairman of the Intelligence Committee from 2010 to 2015.
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
America Is Not Yet Lost — Many of us came into 2017 expecting the worst. And in many ways, the worst is what we got. — Donald Trump has been every bit as horrible as one might have expected; he continues, day after day, to prove himself utterly unfit for office, morally and intellectually.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
Rebecca Morin / Politico:
Trump: GOP and Dems ‘will eventually come together’ on new health care plan — President Donald Trump said Tuesday morning that Republicans and Democrats “will eventually come together” to create a new health care plan as a result of the recently passed tax reform bill.
Discussion:
The Root
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Avery Anapol / The Hill:
Hatch tweets praise for editorial criticizing him for ‘utter lack of integrity’ — (R-Utah) on Monday tweeted praise for a newspaper editorial that harshly criticized him and called for him to retire. — “Grateful for this great Christmas honor from the Salt Lake Tribune,” Hatch tweeted …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Shareblue Media, RedState, New Republic, Salt Lake Tribune, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, twitchy.com and The Daily Caller
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Avery Anapol / The Hill:
Utah paper tells Hatch to ‘call it a career’ in blistering editorial
Utah paper tells Hatch to ‘call it a career’ in blistering editorial
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, ABC News, ThinkProgress, The Guardian, NPR, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, IJR, Balloon Juice, thecut, Salt Lake Tribune, Mediaite, The Week, Splinter, Political Wire, RedState and Raw Story
Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:
Trump's first year was even worse than feared — Grit your teeth. Persevere. Just a few more days and this awful, rotten, no-good, ridiculous, rancorous, sordid, disgraceful year in the civic life of our nation will be over. Here's hoping that we all — particularly special counsel Robert S. Mueller III — have a better 2018.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Daily Kos and Raw Story
Chris Perez / New York Post:
United apologizes to passenger booted for congresswoman — United Airlines has apologized to a female passenger and given her a $500 travel voucher after she accused the company of giving away her first-class seat to a Texas congresswoman, an airline spokesperson said Monday. — SEE ALSO
Discussion:
twitchy.com, Scared Monkeys, bizpacreview.com and Instapundit