Top Items:
Pete Madden / ABC News:
Maria Butina, accused Russian agent, reaches plea deal with prosecutors that includes cooperation — Maria Butina, a 30-year-old Russian gun rights activist who stands accused developing a covert influence operation in the United States, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy and cooperate with federal …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, NPR, Splinter, Joe.My.God., Political Wire, Law & Crime, Boing Boing and National Newswatch
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CNN:
Accused Russian spy Maria Butina appears to reach plea deal — Washington (CNN)Accused Russian spy Maria Butina appears to have reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors. — Butina is accused of trying to infiltrate Republican political circles and party leaders during the 2016 campaign …
Discussion:
Vox
Washington Post:
Alleged Russian agent Maria Butina poised to plead guilty in case involving suspected Kremlin attempts to influence NRA — Maria Butina, a Russian gun rights activist, is poised to plead guilty in a case involving accusations that she was working as an agent for the Kremlin in the United States, according to a new court filing.
Discussion:
ABC News, Moms Demand Action …, New York Times, Shareblue Media, Daily Kos, Above the Law, Politico, Axios and Balloon Juice
Anna Massoglia / OpenSecrets.org:
NRA leader, Jack Abramoff and GOP operative tied to alleged Russian spy Maria Butina have long history as foreign agents lobbying together — Alleged Russian spy Maria Butina has changed her plea to guilty, according to a new joint motion filed by her attorneys this morning.
Discussion:
Shakesville
Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:
Maria Butina Agrees to Cooperate With U.S. — Butina has inked an agreement with prosecutors and becomes the first Russian since the 2016 election to confess to a crime connected to efforts to influence American politics. — Betsy Woodruff — Maria Butina, a Russian national …
Discussion:
ABC News and Talking Points Memo
Kaitlan Collins / CNN:
Amid chief of staff search, Trump increasingly anxious over political future — Washington (CNN)While President Donald Trump and Nick Ayers were still in the middle of negotiations about him replacing John Kelly as chief of staff, Trump had already given Ayers a task, according to a source familiar with the discussion.
Discussion:
Political Wire and Outside the Beltway
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Rahm Emanuel / The Atlantic:
Trump Doesn't Want a Chief of Staff — Before a president begins thinking about who should be his White House chief of staff, he has to define both the job and the moment. There's nothing magical about the chief of staff's corner office in the West Wing. How any individuals perform …
Bob Brigham / Raw Story:
‘The bottom is going to fall out’: White House reporter says Republicans are privately discussing abandoning Trump
Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:
“It Got Back to Trump That Kelly Was Bad-Mouthing Him”: After Firing John Kelly on Impulse …
Discussion:
Baltimore Sun, Shareblue Media, New York Times and Hullabaloo
Tarini Parti / BuzzFeed News:
Who Will Be Trump's Next Chief Of Staff? It Doesn't Really Matter.
Discussion:
National Review, Bloomberg and New York Times
Eliana Johnson / Politico:
Meadows would give Trump a skilled brawler in the White House
Discussion:
Associated Press, Breitbart, Raw Story and Mediaite
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Everybody Says Mueller Is Almost Done. What If He Isn't? — In late 2015, the British spy agency GCHQ, and then other Western intelligence agencies, learned of suspicious interactions between Russian agents and Donald Trump's inner circle. By the summer of 2016, James Comey testified Friday …
Discussion:
Washington Post and Washington Monthly
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Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
Meet the Bottomless Pinocchio, a new rating for a false claim repeated over and over again — It was President Trump's signature campaign promise: He would build a wall along the nation's southern border, and Mexico would pay for it. — Shortly after becoming president, Trump dropped the Mexico part …
Discussion:
Political Wire, Washington Monthly, IJR, Joe.My.God., Splinter, The Root and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »
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Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Jared Kushner did what? — The New York Times reports: … As a preliminary matter, we should recognize this as yet another example of why a president should not put a relative in a position of power — especially if the relative possesses questionable judgment and is utterly unqualified for the job.
Discussion:
Shareblue Media, CNN and Mediaite
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Trump's latest rage-tweets expose the depth of his own corruption — The news contained in the fusillade of new legal filings relating to President Trump can be summed up this way: Federal prosecutors are now alleging that Trump personally directed a criminal conspiracy that helped get him elected …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Big League Politics and Bloomberg
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Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Sudden shift in get-Trump talk; now it's campaign finance, not Russia — Prosecutors investigating President Trump made big news Friday, but it wasn't about Russia. Rather, in their sentencing recommendation for fixer Michael Cohen, lawyers with the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District …
Discussion:
Hit & Run and Shareblue Media
Streiff / RedState:
President Trump Is Going To Be Impeached the Question Is How Much Damage It Does
Discussion:
Feeds and Crooked Media
Lachlan Markay / The Daily Beast:
Sources: Dan Bongino Out at NRATV — Trump loves the guy. But the gun rights group is downsizing its media operation and his show appears to be a casualty of those plans. — The National Rifle Association's media arm has dropped pro-Trump firebrand Dan Bongino from its lineup …
Discussion:
Big League Politics and twitchy.com
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Lachlan Markay / The Daily Beast:
Dan Bongino Out at NRATV — Trump loves the guy. But the gun rights group is downsizing its media operation and his show appears to be a casualty of those plans. — The National Rifle Association's media arm has dropped pro-Trump firebrand Dan Bongino from its lineup of conservative commentators …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Joe.My.God.
Adam Cancryn / Politico:
Establishment looks to crush liberals on Medicare for All — The united front that helped Democrats save Obamacare just a year ago is falling apart over single-payer health care. — Deep-pocketed hospital, insurance and other lobbies are plotting to crush progressives' hopes of expanding …
Discussion:
Hot Air and Washington Post
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Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Supreme Court declines to review rulings that blocked efforts to end Planned Parenthood funding — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review lower court decisions that blocked efforts in two states to end public funding to Planned Parenthood, refusing for now to get involved in state battles over abortion rights.
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, CNN, Politico, Breitbart, ThinkProgress, Associated Press, Hit & Run, Shakesville, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, ABC News and Axios
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Zoe Tillman / BuzzFeed News:
A Former Trump Campaign Staffer Was Ordered To Pay $25,000 For Violating Her Nondisclosure Agreement — WASHINGTON — Jessica Denson, a former staffer for President Donald Trump's campaign, is fighting an order to pay nearly $25,000 for violating a nondisclosure agreement, according to court papers.
Discussion:
Raw Story and Political Wire
Andy Kroll / Rolling Stone:
Talk About Pizzagate — The former Clinton campaign chairman is among the victims still recovering from a vile conspiracy theory that ended in gunfire — WASHINGTON — John Podesta has given it a lot of thought and believes the best way to deal with the trolls is to ignore them.
Discussion:
The Mahablog and Washington Monthly
Harry Enten / CNN:
An insane amount of people turned out to vote in the midterm elections — (CNN)President Donald Trump solved a problem that no other president before him could: Getting people to vote in a midterm election. — Whether they were voting for or against his agenda, it is now clear that voters turned out in record numbers in 2018.
F.H. Buckley / New York Post:
Why ‘No Hate Here’ signs are actually pretty hateful — My walks with my dog take me to a quiet off-street, with middle-class houses made expensive because they're inside the Beltway. Their owners are mostly youngish attorneys who work as assistant-deputy-director-somethings in some government department or other.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and No More Mister Nice Blog
Matt Donnelly / Variety:
Academy Looks Warily at Oscar Host Options As Board Meeting Looms — Kevin Hart's abrupt departure as Oscars host has left the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences scrambling to find someone to take the gig. As of now, the situation remains fluid as the group's leadership explores options …
miamiherald:
Epstein sex abuse victims press judge for decision on tossing his lenient plea deal — Victims of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, who have waged a decade-long fight for justice, on Monday pressed a federal judge to finally take action on their motion to throw out a controversial plea agreement …
Suyin Haynes / TIME:
TIME Announces 2018 Person of the Year Shortlist on Today Show — The shortlist of candidates for TIME's 2018 Person of the Year was unveiled Monday on NBC's Today show. Since 1927, TIME has identified the Person of the Year, recognizing the person or group of people who most influenced …
Discussion:
Big League Politics, IJR, Splinter, abc7ny.com, AOL, CBS Boston, Daily Wire, Conservative Review, twitchy.com and The Daily Caller
Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:
YouTube Bans Proud Boys Founder Gavin McInnes — YouTube banned Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes on Monday, marking the latest social-media blow for the man who started the far-right men's group. McInnes had amassed more than 220,000 subscribers on YouTube before the ban …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Raw Story, Daily Wire, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, The Daily Caller and Splinter, more at Mediagazer »
Des Bieler / Washington Post:
Colin Kaepernick reportedly ‘ready and willing’ to play for the Redskins — The Redskins' increasingly makeshift situation at quarterback has done nothing to end questions about why the team has been hesitant to sign Colin Kaepernick. For his part, the noted free agent was reported Sunday to be …
Discussion:
NESN.com, ESPN, The Daily Caller and USA Today
New York Times:
Your Apps Know Where You Were Last Night, and They're Not Keeping It Secret — Dozens of companies use smartphone locations to help advertisers and even hedge funds. They say it's anonymous, but the data shows how personal it is. — The millions of dots on the map trace highways …
Discussion:
CityLab, BREAKER and Gothamist, more at Techmeme »
Jared Holt / Right Wing Watch:
YouTube's Biggest Personality Promoted an Anti-Semite — Felix Kjellberg, a Swedish YouTube personality best known online by his account name “PewDiePie,” promoted, in one of his video offerings, another YouTube account that has posted white nationalist and anti-Semitic content.
Discussion:
The Verge
Tablet Magazine:
In an email to Tablet the Women's March wrote: … But whatever concerns were popping up were ultimately no match for the steamroller of the event's progress. And when the day came, the reality far exceeded expectations. Estimates for the March on Washington range between half a million …
Alex Kotch / Sludge:
Beto Got $430,000 From Individuals in Oil and Gas. Should We Care? — It all started with one Sunday morning tweet from investigative reporter David Sirota. — On Dec. 2, Sirota was browsing through OpenSecrets.org, the most popular website for campaign finance data.
Discussion:
Splinter
Jordan Libowitz / CREW:
CREW Sues FBI for Giuliani Leak Records — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — The FBI is in violation of the law for failing to turn over documents related to the FBI's investigation into the leak of information to Rudy Giuliani in October 2016 that then-FBI Director James Comey was going to reopen …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Hullabaloo
Ezra Klein / Vox:
Paul Ryan's long con — He betrayed his promises and left a legacy of debt and disappointment. — House Speaker Paul Ryan's legacy can be summed up in just one number: $343 billion. — That's the increase between the deficit for fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2018 — that is …
Discussion:
Big League Politics, twitchy.com and Splinter
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