Top Items:
New York Times:
Matthew Whitaker: An Attack Dog With Ambition Beyond Protecting Trump — WASHINGTON — President Trump first noticed Matthew G. Whitaker on CNN in the summer of 2017 and liked what he saw — a partisan defender who insisted there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, The Week, Hullabaloo, Hill Reporter, CNN, Wall Street Journal and NPR
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CNN:
Sessions realized too late that Whitaker was auditioning for his job — Washington (CNN)When things were particularly bad between President Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions, the attorney general's chief of staff, Matt Whitaker, would attend White House meetings in his place.
Discussion:
emptywheel, Political Wire and Law & Crime
Mark Landler / New York Times:
Even for This President, It Was a Remarkable Week of Attacks on American Institutions — WASHINGTON — In the three days after the Democrats captured the House, President Trump fired his attorney general and replaced him with a loyalist critical of both the courts and the Russia investigation.
Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Sneak peek of House Dems' agenda — DRIVING THE DAY — FIRST IN PLAYBOOK ... THE HOUSE DEM AGENDA: PATRIOT MAJORITY, a non-profit group aligned with House Democrats, is running a six-figure, nationwide television campaign framing the House Democrats' agenda before the new Congress.
Discussion:
AOL and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Wall Street Journal:
FBI Is Investigating Florida Company Where Whitaker Was Advisory-Board Member — Active case is being handled by FBI Miami office; acting attorney general oversees FBI — The Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting a criminal investigation of a Florida company accused of scamming millions …
Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:
Whitaker said he supports state's rights to nullify federal law — (CNN)Matthew Whitaker, the new acting attorney general, has said that states have the right to nullify federal law, but that they need the political courage to do so. — Whitaker, whom President Donald Trump announced …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Political Wire and Raw Story
Cristina Cabrera / Associated Press:
Whitaker May Have Violated Group's Tax-Exempt Status By Criticizing Clinton
Washington Post:
There is no way this man should be running the Justice Department
There is no way this man should be running the Justice Department
Discussion:
Raw Story, Daily Kos and BloombergQuint
Bret Stephens / New York Times:
A Trump Hack Hacks Justice
A Trump Hack Hacks Justice
Discussion:
Washington Post, Politico, Lawfare and emptywheel, more at Mediagazer »
Alex Harris / miamiherald:
Whoops! Brenda Snipes' office mixed bad provisional ballots with good ones — Broward's elections supervisor accidentally mixed more than a dozen rejected ballots with nearly 200 valid ones, a circumstance that is unlikely to help Brenda Snipes push back against Republican allegations of incompetence.
Discussion:
The Capitolist, Chicks On The Right, TheBlaze and twitchy.com
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Washington Post:
For Democrats, a midterm election that keeps on giving — In the early hours of election night on Tuesday, a consensus began to take hold that the vaunted Democratic blue wave that had been talked about all year was failing to materialize. Now, with a handful of races still to be called …
Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Sinema expands lead in Arizona Senate race
Sinema expands lead in Arizona Senate race
Discussion:
The Hill, Joe.My.God., Political Wire, Arizona Republic and CNN
Arizona Republic:
Kyrsten Sinema's lead over Martha McSally widens in roller-coaster U.S. Senate race to replace Jeff Flake
Kyrsten Sinema's lead over Martha McSally widens in roller-coaster U.S. Senate race to replace Jeff Flake
Discussion:
VICE News, Raw Story, Roll Call, Outside the Beltway and National Review
Nicholas Riccardi / Associated Press:
Nothing unusual about vote count in Arizona dragging on
Washington Post:
‘Real low energy’: Critics pile on after Trump cancels visit to U.S. military cemetery outside Paris — PARIS — President Trump flew 3,800 miles to this French capital city for ceremonies to honor the military sacrifice in World War I, hoping to take part in the kind of powerful ode …
Discussion:
Splinter and Associated Press
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Politico:
Truce in Paris after Trump's offense at Macron's EU army pledge — PARIS — It was an awkward truce to avert a Twitter war, a day before the big Armistice Day commemoration in Paris. — French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump, meeting at the Élysée Palace …
Discussion:
Politico, New York Times and Bloomberg
Henry Austin / The Independent:
Trump cancels First World War memorial visit to US cemetery because of ‘poor weather’
Trump cancels First World War memorial visit to US cemetery because of ‘poor weather’
Discussion:
Axios
Washington Post:
Tape of Khashoggi's killing has been given to U.S., Saudi, Europeans, Erdogan says — ANKARA — An audio recording tracking the dying moments of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul has been shared with Saudi Arabia, Britain, France and Germany in addition to the United States …
Discussion:
The Week
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Lucy Middleton / Metro.co.uk:
Twitter ‘gave Saudi Arabia information about journalist who ended up dead’
Twitter ‘gave Saudi Arabia information about journalist who ended up dead’
Discussion:
Jihad Watch
New York Times:
Deployed Inside the United States: The Military Waits for the Migrant Caravan — With little electricity, no combat pay and holidays away from home, the 5,600 American troops on the southwest border are on a mission ordered by a politically determined commander in chief and a Pentagon unable to convince him of its perils.
Los Angeles Times:
GOP Rep. Denham falls behind Democrat as 3 other Republicans lose ground in Friday's ballot tally — Republican Rep. Jeff Denham lost his lead over Democrat Josh Harder on Friday in one of California's four unresolved congressional races as updated ballot counts showed the GOP in growing danger …
Jerry Iannelli / Miami New Times:
Photos Show Scores of Uncounted Ballots in Opa-locka Mail Center … Miami-Dade County announced today that it has finished counting votes for the 2018 election. — But photos obtained by New Times show scores of mail-in ballots sitting inside an Opa-locka mail distribution center …
Discussion:
Political Wire, twitchy.com, Raw Story and Conservative News Today
April Ryan / Washington Post:
I'm a black woman. Trump loves insulting people like me. — The type of comments he makes, over and over, leaves little doubt about what he really thinks of us. — April Ryan is White House correspondent and Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Daily Wire, Washington Free Beacon and TMZ.com
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Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
‘What a stupid question’: Trump demeans three black female reporters in three days
‘What a stupid question’: Trump demeans three black female reporters in three days
Discussion:
AOL, Common Dreams and Townhall
Marisa Schultz / New York Post:
James Comey discussed sensitive FBI business on his private email … Fired FBI chief James Comey used his private Gmail account hundreds of times to conduct government business — and at least seven of those messages were deemed so sensitive by the Justice Department that they declined to release them.
Discussion:
Chicks On The Right, Power Line, AOL, twitchy.com, Conservative News Today and Political Wire
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Lulu Ramadan / Palm Beach Post:
Palm Beach elections supervisor bans cameras from public ballot-counting — An NBC attorney objected to the elections supervisor's camera ban, calling the Palm Beach County Canvassing Board meeting “illegal.” — RIVIERA BEACH — Breaking from normal practice, the Palm Beach County elections …
Discussion:
Townhall, Conservative News Today, twitchy.com and The Gateway Pundit
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Leah Willingham / Concord Monitor:
Girl Scout who pioneered child marriage bill elected to N.H. House … Cassie Levesque feels like she is part of a movement. — A movement where young people in New Hampshire - in particular women - are getting their voices heard in politics. — Levesque, known for her efforts to increase …
Wall Street Journal:
California Bar Shooter Posted on Social Media Shortly Before and During Massacre — Ian Long reached out to former Marine comrades in days before shooting — The gunman who killed 12 people at a Southern California bar was posting on Facebook and Instagram immediately before and during the massacre …
Discussion:
Washington Post, LifeZette and Clayton Cramer
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Soumya Karlamangla / Los Angeles Times:
When a mass killing and harrowing wildfire converged on my hometown