Top Items:
Washington Post:
Russian disinformation teams targeted Robert S. Mueller III, says report prepared for Senate — Months after President Trump took office, Russia's disinformation teams trained their sites on a new target: special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Having worked to help get Trump into the White House …
RELATED:
New York Times:
Russian 2016 Influence Operation Targeted African-Americans — The Russian influence campaign on social media in the 2016 election made an extraordinary effort to target African-Americans, used an array of tactics to try to suppress turnout among Democratic voters and unleashed a blizzard …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Wired, Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Vox, The Root, RedState, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Hullabaloo, Shareblue Media, HuffPost, Raw Story, Conservative News Today, The Guardian, The Week, Mashable, No More Mister Nice Blog, Daily Kos, Bangor Daily News, Mediaite and FOX2now.com
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
It's high time for media to enter the No Kellyanne Zone — and stay there — Lies are coming at the American public in torrents — raining down on them everywhere they turn. — A report prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee, and obtained by The Washington Post, made that breathtakingly clear over the weekend.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Axios, more at Mediagazer »
Cindy Ma / The Computational Propaganda Project:
The IRA and Political Polarization in the United States
The IRA and Political Polarization in the United States
Discussion:
CNBC, Axios, POLITICUSUSA, Mother Jones, ABC News, Vox and NewsBusters
Ken Dilanian / NBC News:
Russia favored Trump, targeted African-Americans with election meddling, reports say
Russia favored Trump, targeted African-Americans with election meddling, reports say
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Washington Post, Mother Jones, Raw Story and Daily Kos, more at Mediagazer »
Wall Street Journal:
Roger Stone Admits Spreading Lies on InfoWars — Trump adviser made the admission in settling a defamation suit brought against him by an exiled Chinese businessman — As questions swirl about his credibility, former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone settled a defamation suit seeking $100 million …
Discussion:
Mediaite
Gary Baum / Hollywood Reporter:
Woody Allen's Secret Teen Lover Speaks: Sex, Power and a Conflicted Muse Who Inspired ‘Manhattan’ — In 1976, 16-year-old model Babi Christina Engelhardt embarked on a hidden eight-year affair with the 41-year-old filmmaker that mirrors one of his most famous movies.
Discussion:
The Week, Mediaite, Daily Wire and East Bay Times
Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite:
Napolitano Corrects Wall Street Journal on Fox Business: FBI Agents Did Not Entrap Mike Flynn — Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano dismissed claims that FBI agents “entrapped” former national security adviser Michael Flynn when they interviewed him at the start of the Trump administration.
Discussion:
Washington Post, CNN and Raw Story
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Andrew Desiderio / The Daily Beast:
Comey Blasts GOP, ‘Lying’ Trump: ‘At Some Point Someone Has to Stand Up’
Comey Blasts GOP, ‘Lying’ Trump: ‘At Some Point Someone Has to Stand Up’
Rebecca Morin / Politico:
Comey bashes GOP after latest closed-door hearing on Capitol Hill
Comey bashes GOP after latest closed-door hearing on Capitol Hill
Discussion:
Townhall and Daily Wire
Yair Rosenberg / Tablet Magazine:
The New York Times Just Published An Unqualified Recommendation For An Insanely Anti-Semitic Book — The book, recommended by author Alice Walker, repeatedly cites the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, dubs the Talmud “among the most appallingly racist documents on the planet,” and says Jews funded the Holocaust and control the KKK
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, The Guardian, Algemeiner.com, twitchy.com, Washington Free Beacon and Instapundit
Lawrence S. Robbins / Politico:
How Trump Could Get Away With It — This weekend, President Donald Trump raged against Michael Cohen, calling his former lawyer and accuser a “rat” for cooperating with federal prosecutors. Cohen has accused Trump of directing him to make secret hush-money payments to two women …
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Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:
How Donald Trump Got Caught in a Legal Vise
How Donald Trump Got Caught in a Legal Vise
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA, Snopes.com, Washington Post, New Republic and Daily Wire
Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:
Witches to Trump: Stop Calling the Mueller Investigation a ‘Witch Hunt’
Witches to Trump: Stop Calling the Mueller Investigation a ‘Witch Hunt’
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Daily Wire, twitchy.com, The Daily Caller and Breitbart
Alexis Levinson / BuzzFeed News:
Tulsi Gabbard Is Moving Toward An Unconventional Presidential Campaign. Her Fans See “Bernie 2.0.” — Tulsi Gabbard, a Democratic member of Congress from Hawaii, is known — insofar as she is known — for bucking her party. She criticized President Barack Obama's handling of ISIS.
Discussion:
New York Times
Rachel Weiner / Washington Post:
Michael Flynn's business partner charged with illegally lobbying for Turkey — A business partner of Michael Flynn is being charged with acting as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy for attempting to get Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen extradited from the United States.
Discussion:
The Atlantic, ThinkProgress, Hill Reporter, Breitbart, Wonkette, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Shareblue Media, New York Times, Daily Kos, Shakesville and HuffPost
RELATED:
Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:
Mick Mulvaney in October 2016: Trump would be disqualified from office in an ‘ordinary universe’ — (CNN)Incoming White House acting-chief of staff Mick Mulvaney once said Donald Trump's past words and actions would disqualify him from becoming president in an “ordinary universe.”
Discussion:
Contemptor and Mediaite
New York Times:
CBS Says Leslie Moonves Will Not Receive $120 Million Severance — The CBS Corporation, battered by scandal and facing a leadership vacuum, said its former chief executive, Leslie Moonves, misled the company about multiple allegations of sexual misconduct and tried to hide evidence …
Discussion:
BuzzFeed News, CNN, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, KTLA and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:
Jen Vafidis / CBS Corporation:
Statement from CBS Board of Directors
Statement from CBS Board of Directors
Discussion:
NPR and CBS Los Angeles
Natalie Delgadillo / DCist:
After Bloodbath, The National Zoo's Naked Mole-Rats Finally Choose Their Queen — At last, we've reached the conclusion of this scintillating drama: the National Zoo's naked mole-rat colony has chosen its queen. — In case you've been living under a rock, let us catch you up …
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Tucker Carlson wants his advertisers to know: ‘I like immigrants’ — On Thursday night, Fox News host Tucker Carlson argued that immigration has an undeniably negative impact on the U.S. economy. Then he veered into the gutter: “It's indefensible, so nobody even tries to defend it.
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, Splinter, The Daily Beast, Vox and Talking Points Memo
RELATED:
United States Senator Lamar Alexander:
Alexander Statement on 2020 Senate Election — NASHVILLE, Tenn., December 17, 2018 - United States Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement: — “I will not be a candidate for re-election to the United States Senate in 2020.
Discussion:
Politico, Raw Story, KXLF-TV, Daily Wire, Townhall, Bloomberg, Washington Free Beacon and Breitbart
RELATED:
Joel Ebert / The Tennessean:
Tennessee US Sen. Lamar Alexander will not seek re-election in 2020
Tennessee US Sen. Lamar Alexander will not seek re-election in 2020
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, HuffPost and Conservative Review
Evgenia Peretz / Vanity Fair:
“Men for Others, My Ass”: After Kavanaugh, Inside Georgetown Prep's Culture of Omertà — For generations, the renowned Jesuit prep school groomed its students to live up to the mantra “men for others.” But after Christine Blasey Ford's testimony, the school and its alumni are contending with other demons.
Glenn Greenwald / The Intercept:
A Texas Elementary School Speech Pathologist Refused to Sign a Pro-Israel Oath, Now Mandatory in Many States — so She Lost Her Job — A children's speech pathologist who has worked for the last nine years with developmentally disabled, autistic, and speech-impaired elementary school students in Austin …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Hit & Run, Talking Points Memo and Splinter
Michael Sheetz / CNBC:
The stock market is on pace for its worst December since the Great Depression — Two benchmark U.S. stock indexes are careening toward a historically bad December. — Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 are on pace for their worst December performance since 1931 …
Discussion:
The Week
RELATED:
Thomas Franck / CNBC:
Stocks fall further into correction territory as Dow drops 160 points
Stocks fall further into correction territory as Dow drops 160 points
Discussion:
New York Times, Investor's Business Daily, The Week and FOX2now.com, more at Mediagazer »
Todd May / New York Times:
Would Human Extinction Be a Tragedy? — Our species possesses inherent value, but we are devastating the earth and causing unimaginable animal suffering. — Mr. May is a professor of philosophy at Clemson University. — There are stirrings of discussion these days in philosophical circles about the prospect of human extinction.
Discussion:
twitchy.com, The Daily Caller and Breitbart
Luciano Guerra / Washington Post:
I voted for Trump. Now his wall may destroy my butterfly paradise. — The Republican party is abandoning the conservative principles I treasured. — Right now, in Mission, Tex., we don't worry about immigrants who crossed the border illegally or drug smugglers.
The Daily Beast:
‘Vice,’ the Dick Cheney Biopic, Might Be the Worst Movie of the Year — Filmmaker Adam McKay's political satire, starring an unrecognizable Christian Bale, is getting major awards buzz. But is it any good? Marlow Stern and Kevin Fallon break it down. — Kevin: One of the last major …
Bryan Lowry / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
‘Purple’ Kansas? Former federal prosecutor mulls Senate run against Pat Roberts — Former U.S. Attorney for Kansas Barry Grissom — Sen. Pat Roberts looks vulnerable to Democrats — and some Republicans, and that's a big reason the 2020 race has quickly drawn a prominent potential challenger …
Discussion:
Political Wire
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Giuliani stumbles into admitting Trump's hush money payments were probably illegal — One comment Rudolph W. Giuliani made Sunday has been getting short shrift. In one fell swoop, he offered a false legal argument that both watered down the Trump team's previous denials and — most important …
Discussion:
AOL
Alex Kotch / Sludge:
Democrats on Key Energy Subcommittees Have Financial Stakes in Oil and Gas Companies — Seven Democratic members of the House Energy Committee's Energy and Environment subcommittees collectively own at least $2.3 million worth of stock in the oil and gas industry. — EDITED BY
David Edwards / Raw Story:
Fox & Friends segment calls on Trump voters to each give $80 to fund the wall: 'It could be a people's wall' — A Fox & Friends segment on Monday suggested that each Trump voter should give $80 to fund the president's border wall even though he has promised Mexico would pay for it.
New York Times:
Trump Officials Plan to Rescind Obama-Era School Discipline Policies — WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is planning to roll back Obama-era policies aimed at ensuring that minority children are not unfairly disciplined, arguing that the efforts have eased up on punishment and contributed …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Jordyn Phelps / ABC News:
Supporters of criminal justice reform bill warn of ‘poison pills’ as legislation heads for Senate floor — With the Senate set to vote this week on White-House backed legislation that seeks to reform the nation's prison system and sentencing guidelines, supporters are crying foul over a set …
Discussion:
Politico and Washington Post
Hamed Aleaziz / BuzzFeed News:
The Trump Administration Is Slowing The Asylum Process To Discourage Applicants, An Official Told Congress — A high-ranking Customs and Border Protection official told Congress earlier this month that border agents were limiting asylum applications along the border because allowing …
Brian Sullivan / HUD.gov:
HUD REPORTS HOMELESSNESS UNCHANGED IN U.S. IN 2018 WITH NOTABLE DECLINES AMONG VETERANS AND FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN — WASHINGTON - Homelessness in the U.S. remained largely unchanged in 2018, according to the latest national estimate by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Discussion:
CNN, Wall Street Journal and The Daily Caller