Top Items:
New York Times:
Michael Cohen to Plead Guilty to Charge in Mueller Investigation — Michael D. Cohen, President Trump's former lawyer, who pleaded guilty in August to breaking campaign finance laws, made a surprise appearance in a Manhattan courtroom on Thursday morning to plead guilty to a new criminal charge …
Discussion:
NBC News, POLITICUSUSA, twitchy.com and Splinter
RELATED:
George Stephanopoulos / ABC News:
Michael Cohen expected to plead guilty to lying to Congress in collusion probe; gave 70 hours of interviews to special counsel: Sources — Special counsel Robert Mueller has reached a tentative deal with Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney and long-time fixer for President Donald Trump, sources told ABC News.
New York Post:
Trump slams special counsel after retweeting image of Rosenstein behind bars … WASHINGTON - It was no accident that President Trump Wednesday retweeted an image of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein locked up. — When asked during an interview with The Post: “Why do you think he belongs behind bars?”
Wall Street Journal:
Manafort Lied About Business Dealings, Mueller's Team Believes — Statements, which the former Trump aide describes as truthful, led the special counsel to end his plea agreement — Paul Manafort's alleged misstatements to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigators include comments …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, Raw Story, Political Wire, CNN, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, VICE News, Law & Crime and Politico
Matthew Kahn / Lawfare:
Document: Michael Cohen Criminal Information in Mueller Probe — The Associate Press reports that on Thursday morning, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in the Southern District of New York to making false statements to Congress related to his involvement in real estate deals in Russia on behalf of Donald Trump.
New York Post:
Trump threatens to declassify ‘devastating’ docs about Democrats
Trump threatens to declassify ‘devastating’ docs about Democrats
Discussion:
CNN, Shareblue Media, Washington Times, TheBlaze, Axios, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post and Mediaite
Natasha Bertrand / The Atlantic:
Is Manafort Angling for a Pardon?
New York Post:
Trump says he's done with ‘The Apprentice’ after Schwarzenegger ‘blew it’
Trump says he's done with ‘The Apprentice’ after Schwarzenegger ‘blew it’
Discussion:
Politico, HuffPost and The Daily Caller
New York Times:
Trump Talks of Pardon for Manafort and Escalates Attacks on Russia Inquiry
Trump Talks of Pardon for Manafort and Escalates Attacks on Russia Inquiry
Discussion:
Raw Story, JONATHAN TURLEY, RedState and The Guardian
Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Democrats press the case for Trump-Russia ‘collusion’
Democrats press the case for Trump-Russia ‘collusion’
Discussion:
Washington Post, Power Line, New York Times, The Hill, Salon and Political Wire
Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
Trump on Rod Rosenstein: ‘He should have never picked a special counsel’
Trump on Rod Rosenstein: ‘He should have never picked a special counsel’
Discussion:
Politico and New York Post
MSNBC:
Key Mueller witness: I lied and I'm ready to die in jail — In a blockbuster interview, key Mueller witness and Roger Stone associate Jerome Corsi admits to MSNBC's Ari Melber that he lied to Congress, that he tried to get stolen Clinton emails back to the Trump campaign in 2016, that he …
Discussion:
New Republic
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Washington Post:
Trump's night-owl calls to Roger Stone in 2016 draw scrutiny in Mueller probe — The calls almost always came deep into the night. — Caller ID labeled them “unknown,” but Roger Stone said he knew to pick up quickly during those harried months of the 2016 presidential campaign.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, CNN, Washington Times, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, Mediaite, Booman Tribune, HuffPost, Washington Monthly, Politico, Mother Jones, National Review and CNBC
New York Times:
Deutsche Bank Offices Are Searched in Money Laundering Investigation — One hundred seventy officers searched the headquarters of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt and five other sites in the area early Thursday as part of a money-laundering investigation involving hundreds of millions of euros, prosecutors in Frankfurt said.
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Bloomberg:
Deutsche Bank Raided by Police in Money-Laundering Probe — 170 German officials involved in searches of bank offices — Probe stems from Panama Papers, not role in Danske laundering — German authorities descended on Deutsche Bank AG, including its downtown Frankfurt headquarters …
Discussion:
Washington Post and The Guardian
The Daily Beast:
Stormy Daniels: Michael Avenatti Sued Trump For Defamation Against My Wishes — The porn star also says her lawyer refused to give her information about how her crowdfunding money was being spent, and launched a second crowdfund without her knowledge. — Michael Avenatti sued Donald Trump …
Discussion:
Power Line, USA Today, Townhall, Scared Monkeys, The Guardian, Washington Free Beacon, JONATHAN TURLEY, POLITICUSUSA, Conservative News Today, Jezebel, New York Times, RedState, Axios, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, Daily Wire, Hot Air, Washington Post, Washington Times, The Gateway Pundit, Splinter, Observer, HuffPost, Fox News Insider, Talking Points Memo, IJR, Law & Crime, New York Post, Mediaite and Raw Story
RELATED:
Erin Banco / The Daily Beast:
Team Trump Had Many Ties to Israeli Intel Firm in Mueller's Crosshairs — The company promised to use social media manipulation to get Trump elected. And several members of Trump's inner circle were very, very interested. — At least three members of Donald Trump's 2016 campaign staff reached …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Lenny Bernstein / Washington Post:
U.S. life expectancy declines again, a dismal trend not seen since World War I — Life expectancy in the United States declined again in 2017, the government said Thursday in a bleak series of reports that showed a nation still in the grip of escalating drug and suicide crises.
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Washington Post:
How Donald Trump appeals to men secretly insecure about their manhood — From boasting about the size of his penis on national television to releasing records of his high testosterone levels, President Trump's rhetoric and behavior exude machismo. His behavior also seems to have struck a chord with some male voters.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Heather Caygle / Politico:
Pelosi shuts down critics in tense meeting — Nancy Pelosi was having none of it. — A trio of her fiercest Democratic critics — lawmakers trying to bar her from reclaiming the speaker's gavel — were trying to pin her down on exactly when she planned to relinquish power.
Discussion:
New York Times, Vox, Outside the Beltway, The Root, The Hill and Daily Wire
RELATED:
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Hakeem Jeffries Emerges as New Face of House Democrats
Hakeem Jeffries Emerges as New Face of House Democrats
Discussion:
The Root and Washington Monthly
Phil McCausland / NBC News:
Veterans Affairs Dept. tells Capitol Hill it won't repay underpaid GI Bill benefits recipients — The news conflicts with a promise VA officials made to a House committee earlier this month that it would reimburse those veterans who received less than the full amount they were due.
Peter Kafka / Recode:
Mic has laid off the majority of its staff — The publisher is trying to sell the remainder of the company to Bustle Digital Group. — Mic is laying off the majority off its staff while the digital publisher works on a deal to sell the remainder of its assets to Bustle Digital Group.
Wes Parnell / New York Daily News:
Holocaust scholar at Teachers College, Columbia University finds swastikas spray-painted on her office wall — A Jewish professor and Holocaust scholar at Columbia Teacher's College said she found two swastikas and an anti-Semitic slur spray-painted on her office wall Wednesday.
Discussion:
Splinter
Sonam Sheth / Business Insider:
Investigators are probing a letter that claims George Papadopoulos said he was pursuing a lucrative Russian business deal for himself and Trump after the election — Trump-Russia investigators are reportedly looking into an uncorroborated letter that claims George Papadopoulos was pursuing …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo and Boing Boing
RELATED:
Natasha Bertrand / The Atlantic:
Papadopoulos's Russia Ties Continue to Intrigue
Papadopoulos's Russia Ties Continue to Intrigue
Discussion:
Washington Press, Raw Story and Daily Torch
Matt Vespa / Townhall:
Sen. Jeff Flake's Nauseating Obstructionism Over Protect Mueller Bill Delayed 21 Trump Judicial Nominations — Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MI) won her runoff election last night over Democrat Mike Espy in Mississippi, so Republicans have a solid 53-47 majority.
RELATED:
Burgess Everett / Politico:
Senate Judiciary cancels nominee hearings over Flake's Mueller stand
Senate Judiciary cancels nominee hearings over Flake's Mueller stand
Discussion:
Washington Post, Breitbart, Raw Story, Axios and CNN
Joe Sexton / ProPublica:
“I Don't Want to Shoot You, Brother” — A shocking story of police and lethal force. Just not the one you might expect. — A partnership with Frontline Dispatch. — PART I. — Nine Minutes in Weirton — THE DISPATCHER for the Weirton Police Department took the 911 call at 2:51 a.m. on May 6, 2016.
Tami Luhby / CNN:
More American children are uninsured despite strong economy — See the consequences of a town divided by healthcare — New York (CNN)For the first time in nearly a decade, the number of uninsured children in America has grown. — The reversal is unprecedented, particularly given …
Eliana Johnson / Politico:
U.N. ambassador hunt drags on as top candidate fades — The hunt for a new United Nations ambassador — a job for which State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert was once considered a lock but is now out of contention — has faced repeated delays and is running up against Nikki Haley's end-of-year departure date.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Aaron Bandler / Jewish Journal:
ADL Responds to CNN Commentator Calling for a ‘Free Palestine from the River to the Sea’ — The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called CNN political commentator and Temple University Professor Marc Lamont Hill's call for a “free Palestine from the river to sea” on Wednesday “divisive” and “destructive” in an email to the Journal.
Discussion:
The Federalist, Conservative Review, Conservative News Today, Arutz Sheva and The Daily Caller
RELATED:
Alex Shephard / New Republic:
What Is Chuck Schumer Thinking? — When the 116th Congress begins in just over a month, President Donald Trump's dream of a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border will be all but dead. Massive gains in the midterm elections will give Democrats a sizable majority in the House of Representatives …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, CNBC and IJR
New York Times:
'If Bobbie Talks, I'm Finished': How Les Moonves Tried to Silence an Accuser — A trove of text messages details a plan by Mr. Moonves and a faded Hollywood manager to bury a sexual assault allegation. Instead, the scheme helped sink the CBS chief, and may cost him $120 million.
Discussion:
TVNewser, The Big Lead, Jezebel, Bloomberg, Mediaite, Deadline and TMZ.com, more at Mediagazer »
Jason Schwartz / Politico:
Fox News will not tweet this story — The network hasn't tweeted since Nov. 8. — Tuesday was a red-letter day for Fox News: The launch of Fox Nation, its new subscription streaming service designed to appeal to the most obsessed Fox News fans. — And yet, armed with a Twitter feed capable …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos and Media Matters for America, more at Mediagazer »
Anne Godlasky / USA Today:
Suicide rate up 33% in less than 20 years, yet funding lags behind other top killers — Suicide rates are up 33% in the U.S., yet funding lags behind that of all other top causes of death — leaving suicide research in its “infancy.” — More than 47,000 Americans killed themselves in 2017 …
Associated Press:
AP Exclusive: Mormons support GOP, but Trump approval lags — WASHINGTON (AP) — About two-thirds of Mormon voters nationwide favored Republicans in the midterm elections, but President Donald Trump's approval rating among members of the faith lagged behind, according to a nationwide survey of midterm voters.
Mairead McArdle / National Review:
Border Patrol Arrests MS-13 Member Who Traveled with Caravan — U.S. Border Patrol agents have arrested a member of the infamous Salvadoran MS-13 gang who admitted to authorities that he traveled with a caravan of Central American migrants who were hoping to qualify for asylum in America.
Discussion:
cbp.gov, Daily Wire, Townhall, The Daily Caller and Front Page Magazine