Top Items:
Washington Post:
On Twitter, Trump comes out swinging in many directions — President Trump lashed out Tuesday morning at threats from many directions, taking aim at the special counsel's Russia inquiry, the Federal Reserve, social media companies and undocumented immigrants in tweets that spanned more than two hours.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and The Daily Beast
RELATED:
Erin Banco / The Daily Beast:
Mueller Ready to Pounce on Trumpworld Concessions to Moscow — New court filings by Mueller's office could answer a central question of the Russia investigation: What did the Kremlin hope to get from its political machinations? — For more than a year, Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Politico, Law & Crime, Wonkette, Raw Story, Hill Reporter, Talking Points Memo and Just Security
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Trump backers just had their anti-Mueller hopes and dreams dashed — Watch live video from washingtonpost on www.twitch.tv — On Saturday, Fox News host Jeanine Pirro engaged in a bit of wishful fantasizing. — Earlier that week, Michael Flynn's attorneys seemed to imply that he was tricked into lying to the FBI.
Discussion:
Politico, Axios, Shareblue Media, ABC News, twitchy.com, HuffPost, Mediaite and The Mahablog
Eli Lake / Bloomberg:
Michael Flynn Is Owed an Apology — One year after he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, there is still no evidence that he is a traitor. — Remember when Michael Flynn was a traitor? It was early 2017. Democrats were still stinging from their defeat at the hands of Donald Trump.
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, Hill Reporter, Breitbart, Balloon Juice and Talking Points Memo
Washington Post:
Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, scheduled to be sentenced
Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security adviser, scheduled to be sentenced
Discussion:
New Republic, Los Angeles Times, Power Line, Vox, Patterico's Pontifications, Balloon Juice, The Week, The New Neo, Raw Story, RedState, Mother Jones and Hill Reporter
New York Times:
Judge Postpones Sentencing of Michael Flynn After Harshly Rebuking Him
Judge Postpones Sentencing of Michael Flynn After Harshly Rebuking Him
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Root, Daily Kos and Contemptor
Axios:
Judge postpones Michael Flynn's sentencing
Judge postpones Michael Flynn's sentencing
Discussion:
ABC News, BuzzFeed News and Washington Post
Ryan J. Reilly / HuffPost:
Judge Rips Flynn, Asks About Treason Ahead Of Sentencing For Lying To FBI
Judge Rips Flynn, Asks About Treason Ahead Of Sentencing For Lying To FBI
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and Wonkette
Brad Reed / Raw Story:
‘You sold your country out!’ Judge delivers scathing smackdown of Michael Flynn during sentencing
‘You sold your country out!’ Judge delivers scathing smackdown of Michael Flynn during sentencing
Discussion:
emptywheel and CANNONFIRE
NY State Attorney General:
A.G. Underwood Announces Stipulation Dissolving Trump Foundation Under Judicial Supervision, With AG Review Of Recipient Charities — News from the New York Attorney General's Office — Attorney General's Office Press Office / 212-416-8060 — nyag.pressoffice@ag.ny.gov
Discussion:
New York Times, New Republic, CNN, Vox, The Week, The Guardian, OpenSecrets.org, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, Wonkette, Orlando Weekly, AOL, Washington Free Beacon, IJR, Law & Crime, Axios and The Mahablog
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David A. Fahrenthold / Washington Post:
Trump agrees to shut down his charity amid allegations he used it for personal and political benefit — President Trump has agreed to shut down his embattled personal charity and give away its remaining funds amid allegations that he used it for his personal and political benefit, the New York attorney general announced Tuesday.
Discussion:
ABC News, RedState, Politico, CNBC, Conservative News Today, Gothamist, Daily Wire, Daily Kos, The Daily Beast, Shareblue Media, Shakesville, Splinter and Mediaite
Timothy L. O'Brien / Bloomberg:
The Trump Foundation Gets Put to Sleep — New York's attorney general dissolves the president's personal piggy bank, but a lawsuit against the faux charity alleging fraud continues. — The Trump Foundation, a tiny New York outfit masquerading as a philanthropy but operating, essentially …
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Melanie Schmitz / ThinkProgress:
Trump shutters his namesake charity, amid mounting pressure from various investigations
Trump shutters his namesake charity, amid mounting pressure from various investigations
Discussion:
Washington Post, Hullabaloo and The Week
Katelyn Polantz / CNN:
Court orders company to comply with special counsel subpoena in mystery grand jury appeal — (CNN)Four days after attorneys secretly argued over a grand jury subpoena suspected to be related to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 election …
Discussion:
Politico and Political Wire
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Tierney Sneed / Talking Points Memo:
READ: Appeals Court Upholds Grand Jury Subpoena In Secret Mueller-Linked Case
READ: Appeals Court Upholds Grand Jury Subpoena In Secret Mueller-Linked Case
Discussion:
Townhall
Washington Post:
White House signals it will back down on President Trump's demand for border wall funding and avert a partial government shutdown — The Trump administration wants to avoid a partial government shutdown and has found other ways to get the border wall money it wants, spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Tuesday.
Discussion:
JustOneMinute
RELATED:
Washington Post:
White House says it wants to avoid government shutdown, will find other ways to fund border wall
White House says it wants to avoid government shutdown, will find other ways to fund border wall
Michael Sykes / Axios:
White House asks federal agencies to contribute to border wall funding
White House asks federal agencies to contribute to border wall funding
Discussion:
ABC News and Washington Post
John Parkinson / ABC News:
White House backs off Trump's $5 billion border wall demand as shutdown looms
White House backs off Trump's $5 billion border wall demand as shutdown looms
Discussion:
Washington Post, Breitbart, Conservative Review, Daily Kos and POLITICUSUSA
Stephen Rex Brown / New York Daily News:
Second woman claims billionaire perv Jeffrey Epstein ‘directed’ her to have sex with Alan Dershowitz — A second alleged trafficking victim of Jeffrey Epstein says the billionaire pedophile “directed” her to have sex with Alan Dershowitz — a claim the prominent attorney adamantly denies.
RELATED:
Ken White / Popehat:
Alan Dershowitz Is Lying To You — Alan Dershowitz, famed Harvard Law School professor and successful trial and appellate lawyer, is lying to you. — He's lying about American law — the subject he ostensibly teaches, the subject on which he is called upon as an expert — for partisan reasons …
Jenna Amatulli / HuffPost:
Here Are The Advertisers Boycotting Tucker Carlson's Show — The Fox News host is facing backlash after suggesting that immigrants make our country “poorer and dirtier and more divided” on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” — Fox News' Tucker Carlson is rapidly losing advertisers amid a controversy …
RELATED:
Oliver Darcy / CNN:
Advertisers abandon Fox News host Tucker Carlson's show over anti-immigration comments
Advertisers abandon Fox News host Tucker Carlson's show over anti-immigration comments
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Right Wing Watch, Breitbart, The Guardian and Contemptor
Arizona Republic:
Martha McSally will be appointed to John McCain's Senate seat — Republican U.S. Rep. Martha McSally will replace retiring U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl to fill for the next two years the Senate seat long held by the late U.S. Sen. John McCain. — Gov. Doug Ducey's decision to appoint McSally …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Shareblue Media, Office of the Arizona Governor, The Federalist, Politico, Mother Jones, FiveThirtyEight, Power Line, The Atlantic, Daily Wire, ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, Vox, Outside the Beltway, Conservative News Today, Washington Free Beacon, twitchy.com, The Daily Signal, Axios and Political Wire
Dennis McLellan / Los Angeles Times:
Penny Marshall, who played feisty Laverne in ‘Laverne & Shirley’ before directing movies, dies at 75 — Penny Marshall, who costarred as a Milwaukee brewery worker in the top-rated 1970s and '80s sitcom “Laverne & Shirley” before becoming a director of hit movies such as “Big” and “A League of Their Own,” has died.
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, Page Six, The Week and The Daily Caller
RELATED:
Anita Gates / New York Times:
Penny Marshall, TV Sitcom Star and Hollywood Director, Dies at 75
Penny Marshall, TV Sitcom Star and Hollywood Director, Dies at 75
Discussion:
Variety and Outside the Beltway
Michael Brice-Saddler / Washington Post:
A black man tried to cash his paycheck. The bank called the cops. — Three weeks into his new job, Paul McCowns was ready to cash his first paycheck. — There were no issues when he first entered a Huntington Bank branch in Brooklyn, Ohio, on Dec. 1. The bank asked for two forms of ID …
RELATED:
Shannon Houser / Cleveland 19 News Cleveland, OH:
Cleveland man alleges racial profiling after bank refuses to cash check, calls 911
Cleveland man alleges racial profiling after bank refuses to cash check, calls 911
Discussion:
Raw Story, Hill Reporter and The Root
Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:
“The Staff Is Fed Up He's Acting Like a Nut”: Trump's West Wing Braces for Christmas Madness, More Departures—And Mueller — Javanka blocked Bannon ally David Bossie for chief of staff—but bigger problems are looming. — Donald Trump plans to head to Mar-a-Lago for a 16 …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Raw Story and Wonkette
Laura Davison / Bloomberg:
Mnuchin Backs Off Trump's Promise of 10% Middle-Class Tax Cut — Tax focus will be on technical fixes, Treasury secretary says — Trump floated idea of middle-class relief before elections — The Trump administration is setting aside a middle-class tax cut and planning to focus …
Discussion:
CNBC, The Week and Political Wire
Joe Pompeo / Vanity Fair:
“I Think You Could Double the Size of This Company, Honestly”: Politico's Robert Allbritton on Trump, a Record Year, Expansion, and Axios — Despite some management upheaval, Politico has apparently been able to avoid the financial panic that has seized many of its peers.
Riley Snyder / The Nevada Independent:
Nevada becomes first state with majority female Legislature — The Legislature and guests look on during Gov. Sandoval's State of the State address on Jan. 17, 2017. Photo by David Calvert — Nevada will become the first state in the country to have a majority female Legislature …
Discussion:
Mother Jones
YouTube:
Die Hard | The Greatest Christmas Story Ever Told | 20th Century FOX … Facing Christmas 3,000 miles from his estranged wife and two children, New York policeman John McClane (Bruce Willis) flies to Los Angeles bearing presents and hoping to patch up his marriage.
Laura Barrón-López / Politico:
Ocasio-Cortez weighs a new primary target: Hakeem Jeffries — Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is eyeing a new member of House Democratic leadership as a 2020 primary target: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). — Ocasio-Cortez, who ousted House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley earlier …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Washington Post, The Federalist, Washington Times, Washington Free Beacon, Mediaite, twitchy.com, The Week and The Daily Caller
Olivia Nuzzi / New York Magazine:
Donald Trump Hates Christmas Parties — On Monday and Wednesday this week, Donald Trump will leave the Oval Office in the West Wing in the late afternoon and walk eastward to the White House residence, where he will meet Melania Trump. Together, they will head downstairs at 5:15 to the Grand Foyer …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Zoe Tillman / BuzzFeed News:
All 83 Of The Ethics Complaints Against Justice Brett Kavanaugh Were Dismissed Because He's On The Supreme Court Now — WASHINGTON — All of the ethics complaints filed against Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation proceedings were dismissed on Tuesday after a panel of federal judges concluded …
Discussion:
Axios
Howard Berkes / NPR:
An Epidemic Is Killing Thousands Of Coal Miners. Regulators Could Have Stopped It … Greg Kelly's grandson, Caden, scampers to the tree-shaded creek behind his grandfather's house to catch crawdads, as Kelly shuffles along, trying to keep up. Kelly's small day pack holds an oxygen tank with a clear tube clipped to his nose.
Dominic Holden / BuzzFeed News:
Trump Bans Bump Stocks, Saying They Must Be Destroyed Or Surrendered To The Government — The Trump administration on Tuesday issued a final rule that bans so-called bump stocks, devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire more rapidly, saying tens of thousands of them around …
Discussion:
CNN, Associated Press, Townhall, No More Mister Nice Blog, twitchy.com, The Week and IJR
Emery P. Dalesio / Associated Press:
N. Carolina gov. vetoing bill with congressional race redo — RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina's governor says he's vetoing legislation directing new elections if fraud is found in a disputed U.S. House race because the hastily approved bill also adds new cover for lobbyists and people who violate campaign finance laws.
Guru Gowrappan / Verizon Fios & Custom TV:
Introducing Verizon Media Group — Verizon Media Group will replace the Oath brand, representing our strong alignment as a core pillar of Verizon's business. — I'm excited today to share that beginning January 8, 2019, Verizon Media Group will replace the Oath brand …
Marissa J. Lang / Washington Post:
Rats are everywhere in D.C. Even on the White House lawn. — The District for years has been plagued by a growing mischief in its midst. Rats — the four-legged, bewiskered kind — have been spotted roaming the streets, scurrying across alleys and eating their way through trash cans.
Discussion:
Conservative News Today
Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Trump launches unprecedented reelection machine — President Donald Trump is planning to roll out an unprecedented structure for his 2020 reelection, a streamlined organization that incorporates the Republican National Committee and the president's campaign into a single entity.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, KXLF-TV and Mediaite
Washington Post:
‘He was the future of the party’: Ryan's farewell triggers debate about his legacy — House Speaker Paul D. Ryan is using his final weeks in Congress to leave a lasting image of a brainy conservative warrior for lower taxes, free markets and a more muscular America abroad — in public appearances …
Discussion:
Political Wire
Miranda Green / The Hill:
Grijalva cleared of wrongdoing in $48K settlement with female staffer — The House Committee on Ethics has cleared Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) of any wrongdoing for a settlement he made with a former female staffer who accused him of being drunk on the job, according to a document obtained by The Hill.
New Yorker:
Senator Amy Klobuchar on How Democrats Can Defeat Trump in 2020 — As she mulls a run for the Presidency, the Minnesota lawmaker advises potential candidates, “You go not just where it's comfortable but where it's uncomfortable.” — Whether we like it or not, the 2020 race for President is on.
Discussion:
Politico