memeorandum: Trump should shut down the southern border AND the government until we fix our immigration system (Ned Ryun/Fox News)

12:45 PM ET, December 17, 2018

Top Items:

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: Talking Points Memo, Shareblue Media, Raw Story, Daily Kos and CNN

Washington Post:

New report on Russian disinformation, prepared for the Senate, shows the operation's scale and sweep — The report, a draft of which was obtained by The Washington Post, is the first to study the millions of posts provided by major technology firms to the Senate Intelligence Committee

Ken Dilanian / NBC News:

Russia favored Trump, targeted African-Americans with election meddling, reports say — The Russians set up 30 Facebook pages targeting the black community, the researchers found, and 10 YouTube channels that posted 571 videos related to police violence against African-Americans.

Discussion: Bloomberg and CNN, more at Techmeme »

David McCabe / Axios:
Senate-commissioned reports show scale of Russian misinformation campaign

Discussion: Politico

James Hohmann / Washington Post: The Daily 202: Russian efforts to manipulate African Americans show sophistication of disinformation campaign

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: Talking Points Memo, New York Times, Breitbart, HuffPost and Political Wire

U.S. Department of Justice:

Two Men Charged with Conspiracy and Acting as Agents of a Foreign Government — An indictment was unsealed today charging Bijan Rafiekian, aka Bijan Kian, 66, of San Juan Capistrano, California, and Kamil Ekim Alptekin, 41, of Istanbul, and a Turkish national, with conspiracy …

Discussion: Law & Crime

New York Times:

Former Michael Flynn Business Associates Indicted in Turkey Lobbying Case — WASHINGTON — Two former business associates of Michael T. Flynn, President Trump's first national security adviser, have been indicted as part of a federal investigation into Turkey's secret 2016 lobbying campaign …

Discussion: New Republic, Axios, CNN and Mediaite

Associated Press:

Prosecutors charge 2 involved in Flynn's Turkish lobbying — Two men involved in a Turkish lobbying campaign led by former National Security adviser Michael Flynn have been charged with illegally lobbying in a case related to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

Discussion: Politico and NBC News

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.

Discussion: Raw Story

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.

Joel Ebert / The Tennessean: Tennessee US Sen. Lamar Alexander will not seek re-election in 2020

Wall Street Journal:

Texas ObamaCare Blunder — A judge's ruling will be overturned and could backfire on Republicans. — By The Editorial Board — No one opposes ObamaCare more than we do, and Democrats are now confirming that it was designed as a way-station to government-run health care.

Discussion: Raw Story

Axios:

Suddenly everyone is defending the Affordable Care Act — Now that federal Judge Reed O'Connor has ruled the entire Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional — since Congress zeroed out the penalty tied to the mandate to buy health insurance — the health care law once again has to show it has an extra life in its back pocket.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Politico, USA Today, Washington Post, Breitbart and One America News Network

Garrett M. Graff / Wired:

A Complete Guide to All 17 (Known) Trump and Russia Investigations — WHILE POPULAR MEMORY today remembers Watergate as five DNC burglars leading inexorably to Richard Nixon's resignation two years later, history recalls that the case and special prosecutor's investigation at the time was much broader …

Discussion: Washington Post, Bloomberg, Mediaite, Axios, Hot Air and New Republic

Holly Otterbein / Politico:

Pennsylvania meltdown triggers Republican alarms — PHILADELPHIA — A GOP implosion in Pennsylvania has Republicans alarmed about President Donald Trump's reelection prospects in a state that proved essential to his 2016 victory. — The enfeebled state party — still reeling …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

How Trump Made War on Angela Merkel and Europe — The German Chancellor and other European leaders have run out of patience with the President. — This past July, on the final day of the nato summit in Brussels, Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, proposed a closed-door emergency meeting.

Discussion: Politico

Jason Zengerle / New York Times:

These Democrats Will Soon Have the Power to Investigate the White House. How Far Will They Go? — In two weeks, congressional Democrats will return to Washington with the authority to investigate a White House that is suspected of foreign collusion, conflicts of interest and mismanagement of the federal government.

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Pelosi tries to buy Mueller time

Discussion: The Federalist and Raw Story

Adam Wren / Indianapolis Monthly:

Pete Buttigieg Has His Eye On The Prize — Can South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg work the angles to become a dark-horse presidential contender in 2020? — To know Pete Buttigieg is to watch him play a skill crane game, the joystick-guided, mechanical claw-driven pastime found in video arcades …

Jeff Parrott South Bend / South Bend Tribune:
Pete Buttigieg will not seek a third term as South Bend mayor

Discussion: Political Wire

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:

Michael Cohen Adviser Deals Major Blow To The Steele Dossier — Michael Cohen did not visit Prague during the 2016 campaign, as the Steele dossier alleges, according to the former Trump lawyer's adviser. — Lanny Davis vehemently denied the dossier's allegations that Cohen visited Prague to arrange payments to Russian hackers.

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller: WaPo Reporter: FBI And CIA Sources Say They Doubt Major Dossier Allegation

Aya Batrawy / Associated Press:

Saudi Arabia rejects US Senate's ‘interference’ in kingdom — RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia issued an unusually strong rebuke of the U.S. Senate on Monday, rejecting a bipartisan resolution that put the blame for the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi squarely …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

Steven Chase / Globe and Mail: Trudeau says Canada trying to end arms contract with Saudi Arabia

Vivian Wang / New York Times:

Cuomo to Push Legalizing Recreational Marijuana in New York by Early 2019 — [What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that he would push to legalize recreational marijuana next year, a move that could bring …

John Harwood / CNBC:

Most Americans want action on climate change. Republicans are the exception: Poll — In a new NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll 66 percent of Americans now say they've seen enough evidence to justify action on climate change, up from 51 percent two decades ago.

Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:

Witches to Trump: Stop Calling the Mueller Investigation a ‘Witch Hunt’ — The witch community is tired of the president invoking the worst moment in their history to serve his political needs. — It may, on the surface, seem like a harmless way to trivialize Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation …

Discussion: twitchy.com

Michael Brice-Saddler / Washington Post:

His fiancee was killed on a run in Logan Circle. He was left with the rest of his life. — On a chilly December morning, nearly three months after the runner's death, her makeshift memorial was still visible. — But things had changed. — The pairs of running shoes and dozens of bouquets …

Laura Barrón-López / Politico:

House Dems eye quick action on guns in new Congress — House Democrats are planning to move several high-profile bills to combat gun violence soon after they take power in January, underscoring their belief that the political landscape has shifted dramatically on an issue that's plagued American society for decades.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Reid J. Epstein / Wall Street Journal:

California Upends 2020 Democratic Primary Calendar — By moving its presidential primary to early March, California will force candidates to address West Coast issues — When Iowa Democrats hold their February 2020 presidential caucuses, millions of Californians will already have their primary ballots.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

I Have Seen the Future of a Republican Party That Is No Longer Insane — This week, the Niskanen Center, a libertarian-leaning Washington think tank, held a conference on the future of the Republican Party, called “Starting Over: The Center-Right After Trump.”

Martin Crutsinger / Associated Press:

After the Fed's likely rate hike this week, all bets are off — WASHINGTON (AP) — Having raised interest rates with steady regularity in recent months, the Federal Reserve may embrace a new message this week: Flexibility. — On Wednesday, the Fed is set to announce its fourth rate hike of the year.

Karol Markowicz / New York Post:

Soaring suicides are another sign of our toxic social disconnect — Americans are dying — earlier than they have been and often at their own hands. — According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2017 tally, there has been a dramatic rise in the numbers of US deaths by suicide and drug overdose.

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications