Top Items:
Washington Post:
Trump's claim that he didn't violate campaign finance law is weak — and dangerous — The case against the president would be far stronger than the case against John Edwards was. — Last week, in their case against Michael Cohen, federal prosecutors in New York filed a sentencing brief concluding that …
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, Bloomberg, Joe.My.God., Law & Crime, Fox News Insider, Daily Wire, Dan Bongino and ABC News
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George Stephanopoulos / ABC News:
Ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen says Trump knew it was wrong to make hush-money payments during campaign — Donald Trump directed Michael Cohen to arrange hush-money payments with two women because then-candidate Trump “was very concerned about how this would affect the election” …
Discussion:
Vox, Mother Jones, HuffPost, Fox News Insider, Breitbart, Wonkette, Daily Wire, Joe.My.God., NPR, The Gateway Pundit, Chicks On The Right, The Daily Caller, AOL, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, The Hill, VICE News, CNBC, POLITICUSUSA, Washington Times, Daily Kos, USA Today, Political Wire, Bloomberg, LifeZette, Townhall, Washington Press, Washington Post, Law & Crime, Roll Call, New York Times, IJR and Sputnik International
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Michael Cohen just dealt another big blow to Trump's hush-money defense — President Trump's defense against allegations that he directed Michael Cohen to carry out criminal hush-money payments on his behalf is essentially as follows: Cohen was his longtime fixer, and all Trump did was ask …
Discussion:
Fox News Insider, Business Insider and Joe.My.God.
George Stephanopoulos / ABC News:
Michael Cohen talks to George Stephanopoulos: TRANSCRIPT
Michael Cohen talks to George Stephanopoulos: TRANSCRIPT
Discussion:
RedState and Washington Times
Tom Winter / NBC News:
Trump was in the room during hush money discussions, NBC News confirms
Trump was in the room during hush money discussions, NBC News confirms
Discussion:
Washington Post, Washington Press, Outside the Beltway, Daily Wire, CNN, Daily Kos, Just Security, Contemptor, Hot Air, HuffPost, ThinkProgress, Law & Crime, Fox News Insider, Breitbart, Chicks On The Right, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, Bloomberg, VICE News, Joe.My.God., RedState, ABC News, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, The Guardian, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Axios, Wonkette and Salon, more at Mediagazer »
Washington Post:
Trump's falsehoods on hush-money payments are ‘coming home to roost’
Trump's falsehoods on hush-money payments are ‘coming home to roost’
Discussion:
ABC News and Washington Free Beacon
Los Angeles Times:
Trump increasingly isolated as aides leave, friends flip and investigations advance
Trump increasingly isolated as aides leave, friends flip and investigations advance
Discussion:
Raw Story
The Daily Beast:
Jared Kushner Replaced Michael Cohen as Trump's National Enquirer Connection — The president's son-in-law grew tight with David Pecker during the early months of the administration. — Shortly after the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner was handed …
Yvonne Wingett Sanchez / Arizona Republic:
Jon Kyl will resign from the U.S. Senate on Dec. 31, setting up another appointment by Ducey to John McCain's seat — U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl will resign from the U.S. Senate on Dec. 31, The Arizona Republic has confirmed, setting up a second appointment by Gov. Doug Ducey to the seat once occupied by the late John McCain.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, Daily Kos, Washington Post and The Daily Caller
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James Arkin / Politico:
Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl to resign, prompting new appointment to McCain seat
Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl to resign, prompting new appointment to McCain seat
Discussion:
ABC News
Washington Post:
7-year-old migrant girl taken into Border Patrol custody dies of dehydration, exhaustion — A 7-year-old girl from Guatemala died of dehydration and shock after she was taken into Border Patrol custody last week for crossing into the United States illegally with her father and a large group …
Discussion:
ABC News, Vox, Politico, BuzzFeed News, Common Dreams, Conservative News Today, Wonkette, Shakesville, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Shareblue Media, Splinter, The Resurgent, Washington Monthly, fox13now.com, Al Jazeera, Breitbart, Mediaite, Raw Story, Balloon Juice, Axios, Seymour Tribune, Media Matters for America and Lawyers, Guns & Money
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Richard Gonzales / NPR:
7-Year-Old Migrant Girl Dies Of Dehydration And Shock In U.S. Border Patrol Custody
7-Year-Old Migrant Girl Dies Of Dehydration And Shock In U.S. Border Patrol Custody
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, Conservative News Today, HuffPost, Breitbart and The Crime Report
Wall Street Journal:
Trump Inauguration Spending Under Criminal Investigation by Federal Prosecutors — Probe looking into whether committee misspent funds and top donors gave money in exchange for access to the administration — Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating whether President Trump's …
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Post, CNN, Chicks On The Right, Washington Times, Talking Points Memo, Shareblue Media, New York Times, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, Raw Story, Hullabaloo, Vox, Al Jazeera, HuffPost, Splinter, POLITICUSUSA, Daily Wire, Law & Crime, The Guardian, Liberty Unyielding, FOX2now.com, The Daily Caller, Balloon Juice, AOL, Breitbart, Joe.My.God., Axios, twitchy.com, Political Wire and Mediaite
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New York Times:
Trump Inaugural Fund and Super PAC Said to Be Scrutinized for Illegal Foreign Donations — WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors are examining whether foreigners illegally funneled donations to President Trump's inaugural committee and a pro-Trump super PAC in hopes of buying influence over American policy …
Discussion:
Middle East Eye, Raw Story, CNN, Chicks On The Right and Talking Points Memo
HuffPost:
Trump Considering Son-In-Law Jared Kushner For Next Chief Of Staff — The president is in the third round of his search for a job not many people seem to want. — WASHINGTON Having run through his first choices for his chief of staff vacancy without any luck, President Donald Trump is considering his own son-in-law for the job.
Discussion:
Jewish Insider, Reuters, The Daily Beast, Shakesville, Breitbart, East Bay Times, Chicks On The Right, Raw Story, Hot Air, Mediaite, CBS News, Booman Tribune, Spectator USA, KXLF-TV, Splinter, Joe.My.God., twitchy.com, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, NESN.com, Liberty Unyielding, Townhall, Law & Crime, AOL and The Daily Caller
RELATED:
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Trump meets with Chris Christie to discuss chief of staff role — President Trump met with Chris Christie on Thursday evening and considers him a top contender to replace John Kelly as chief of staff, according to a source familiar with the president's thinking.
Discussion:
CNN, Talking Points Memo, Joe.My.God., Breitbart, Politico and Washington Times
George Packer / The Atlantic:
The Corruption of the Republican Party — Why has the Republican Party become so thoroughly corrupt? The reason is historical—it goes back many decades—and, in a way, philosophical. The party is best understood as an insurgency that carried the seeds of its own corruption from the start.
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Dan Morain / CALmatters:
Chief justice of the California Supreme Court leaves the Republican Party, citing Kavanaugh
Chief justice of the California Supreme Court leaves the Republican Party, citing Kavanaugh
Discussion:
NBC News, New York Times, Raw Story and HuffPost
Morgan Gstalter / The Hill:
Chief Justice of California Supreme Court leaves GOP over Kavanaugh confirmation
Chief Justice of California Supreme Court leaves GOP over Kavanaugh confirmation
Discussion:
CALmatters and San Francisco Chronicle
Oliver Darcy / CNN:
The Weekly Standard, a conservative magazine critical of Trump, to shutter after 23 years — New York (CNN Business)The Weekly Standard, the magazine that espouses traditional conservatism and which has remained deeply critical of President Donald Trump, will shutter after 23 years …
Discussion:
Real Clear Politics
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Facebook bug exposed up to 6.8M users' unposted photos to apps — Reset the “days since the last Facebook privacy scandal” counter, as a Facebook has just revealed a Photo API bug gave app developers too much access to the photos of up to 5.6 million users.
Discussion:
The Verge, more at Techmeme »
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Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
“This Is Not a Normal Time”: Trump and the Rapidly Expanding “Witch Hunt” — The criminality of the key figures in the President's inner circle is now established, and they have started to implicate Trump himself. — Shortly after 11 a.m. on Thursday, Senator Jeff Flake, of Arizona, took to the Senate floor for his farewell speech.
Lisa Girion / Reuters:
Johnson & Johnson knew for decades that asbestos lurked in its Baby Powder — A REUTERS INVESTIGATION A REUTERS INVESTIGATION — Facing thousands of lawsuits alleging that its talc caused cancer, J&J insists on the safety and purity of its iconic product.
Discussion:
KXLF-TV
Lawfare:
The Steele Dossier: A Retrospective — The dossier compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele remains a subject of fascination—or, depending on your perspective, scorn. Indeed, it was much discussed during former FBI Director Jim Comey's testimony in front of the House Judiciary Committee on Dec. 7.
Greg Bluestein / politics.myajc:
Ossoff strikes populist tone as he mulls Senate bid — Cornelia - Jon Ossoff's bid for Georgia's 6th District brought him to all corners of Atlanta suburbs, but late Thursday he arrived at a new setting: A crowded library meeting hall in deeply-conservative Habersham County.
Discussion:
Political Wire, Washington Free Beacon and The Guardian
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New York Times:
Behind CBS's Secret $9.5 Million Settlement With the Actress Eliza Dushku — In March 2017, Eliza Dushku, an actress known for her work on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” signed on to play a major role in three episodes of the CBS prime-time drama “Bull,” and there were plans to make her a full-time cast member.
Discussion:
AOL, twitchy.com, IndieWire and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »
Christine Stapleton / Palm Beach Post:
BREAKING: Trump plans 16-day holiday visit to Mar-a-Lago — President Donald Trump is expected to spend 16 days at Mar-a-Lago over the Christmas and New Year's holidays, according to an alert issued by the Federal Aviation Administration this morning. — The alert warns pilots to avoid …
Discussion:
FiveThirtyEight, Florida Politics, HuffPost, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA and ThinkProgress
Tamar Auber / Mediaite:
Don Lemon Calls Out Cuomo for Kellyanne Interview: A ‘Defective, Dismissive and Histrionic Display of Non-Answers’ — On Thursday, Chris Cuomo devoted the majority of his Primetime show to a lengthy and at times headache-inducing interview with White House counselor Kellyanne Conway.
Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:
New Jersey Democrats' Diabolical Gerrymandering Scheme Is an Affront to Democracy — Behind closed doors, state lawmakers hatched a plan to entrench their majority in the Legislature by carving up districts along partisan lines. Party leaders figured out how to push through the measure at record speed …
Discussion:
NJ Spotlight, Outside the Beltway and Mother Jones
Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:
Mueller Target Raised $25,000 In Charity To Pay Cancer Doctor Who Doesn't Appear To Exist — Business records and evidence from social media raise questions about a cancer fundraiser touted during the summer by Jerome Corsi, the right-wing author ensnared in the Mueller probe.
Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
The biggest Pinocchios of 2018 — It's time for our annual roundup of the biggest Pinocchios of the year. — Once again, we face the challenge posed by President Trump, who could easily dominate this list if we're not careful. There has been no serial exaggerator in recent American politics like the president.
Washington Post:
‘Her skills are real’: How Pelosi put down a Democratic rebellion in bid for speaker — Rep. Nancy Pelosi's opponents knew they had an opportunity. But what they really needed was an alternative. — This past summer, they thought they had identified the perfect candidate to replace Pelosi …
Discussion:
Politico, New York Times and Political Wire