Top Items:
Kate Sullivan / CNN:
Trump signed letter of intent for Trump Tower Moscow project despite Giuliani insisting he didn't — Giuliani changes Trump Tower Moscow timelines — (CNN)A newly obtained document shows President Donald Trump signed a letter of intent to move forward with negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Russia …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Hill Reporter, Raw Story, The Week and twitchy.com
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Zachary Basu / Axios:
CNN: Trump signed letter of intent to build Trump Tower in Moscow — On Tuesday night, CNN's Chris Cuomo obtained a letter of intent signed by now-President Trump to move forward with a Trump Tower in Moscow. — Why it matters: As Cuomo notes, the signed letter doesn't have direct legal implications or suggest obvious wrongdoing.
Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: White House on the sidelines in spending fight — DRIVING THE DAY — HEADS UP ... THE FEDERAL RESERVE will announce whether it will continue to hike rates today at 2:30 p.m. — PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP has urged the Fed to lay off another hike, but the FT puts it this way …
Discussion:
Breitbart, Right Wing Watch and Hullabaloo
New York Times:
As Facebook Raised a Privacy Wall, It Carved an Opening for Tech Giants — Internal documents show that the social network gave Microsoft, Amazon, Spotify and others far greater access to people's data than it has disclosed. — For years, Facebook gave some of the world's largest technology companies …
Discussion:
Facebook, Al Jazeera, CBS New York, Breitbart, Engadget, The Week, RAPPLER, The Verge, Mashable and New Republic, more at Mediagazer »
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Ken White / The Atlantic:
Note to Michael Flynn: Federal Court Is Not Twitter — Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn on Tuesday got an unpleasant lesson on the difference between politically effective arguments and legally astute ones. Backed by an array of well-wishers including President Trump …
Discussion:
Raw Story
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Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Judge's accusations mar Michael Flynn sentencing hearing — The sentencing of former Trump White House national security adviser Michael Flynn on a single charge of lying to the FBI turned into a dramatic scene in a Washington, D.C., courthouse Tuesday. Federal Judge Emmet Sullivan excoriated Flynn …
Discussion:
Power Line, Wall Street Journal and Instapundit
Natasha Bertrand / The Atlantic:
Michael Flynn's Lawyers Appear to Have Badly Miscalculated — Lawyers for retired General Michael Flynn had every reason to celebrate. They managed to get their client—who lobbied against U.S. interests while serving as a top Donald Trump-campaign surrogate; tried to undermine …
Discussion:
TalkLeft
Washington Post:
'I'm not hiding my disgust, my disdain': Veteran judge upends hopes of Trump allies as he spotlights Flynn's misdeeds — For a full eight minutes, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan read aloud an inventory of Michael Flynn's lies — describing his “disgust” that President Trump's national …
Discussion:
Just Security, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Politico and The American Spectator
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Trump backers just had their anti-Mueller hopes and dreams dashed
Trump backers just had their anti-Mueller hopes and dreams dashed
Discussion:
Shareblue Media, Axios, The Daily Beast, Politico, New Republic, Patterico's Pontifications, CNN, New York Times, ABC News and The Mahablog
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:
KXLF-TV
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Politico:
Mueller appears victorious in mystery subpoena dispute — The ruling offers the intriguing detail that the entity fighting the Mueller subpoena is a foreign-owned company, not a specific individual, as many had speculated. — A federal appeals court on Tuesday ordered a mystery corporation owned …
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Washington's Mystery Witness Turns Out to Be a Corporation, Not a Person
Washington's Mystery Witness Turns Out to Be a Corporation, Not a Person
Discussion:
The Guardian and Lawfare
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:
Senate overwhelmingly backs overhaul of criminal justice system — The Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a sweeping overhaul of the criminal justice system, after a remarkable political shift from Republicans who voted in large numbers to save money by reducing prison sentences …
Discussion:
Associated Press, NPR, The Guardian and Wall Street Journal
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Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:
Senate Passes Bipartisan Criminal Justice Bill — WASHINGTON — The Senate overwhelmingly approved on Tuesday the most substantial changes in a generation to the tough-on-crime prison and sentencing laws that ballooned the federal prison population and created a criminal justice system …
Discussion:
The Week and Marijuana Moment
Stef W. Kight / Axios:
Senate easily passes Trump-backed criminal justice reform bill
Senate easily passes Trump-backed criminal justice reform bill
Discussion:
Vox, Raw Story and New Yorker
Marianne LeVine / Politico:
Senate approves Trump-backed criminal justice overhaul
Senate approves Trump-backed criminal justice overhaul
Discussion:
Townhall, Jamie Dupree - AJC, KTLA and The Week
Jason Schwartz / Politico:
Ousted NPR news chief, ex-Fox News execs team up on new site — One was ousted from NPR amid allegations of sexual harassment. The other left Fox News shortly after writing a column widely panned as racist and anti-gay. Now they've been recruited to help launch a digital news startup …
New York Times:
Hacked European Cables Reveal a World of Anxiety About Trump, Russia and Iran — WASHINGTON — Hackers infiltrated the European Union's diplomatic communications network for years, downloading thousands of cables that reveal concerns about an unpredictable Trump administration and struggles …
Discussion:
Washington Post, CNN, Bloomberg, Raw Story and EURACTIV.com
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 …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, CNN, Contemptor, ThinkProgress, Media Matters for America, The Guardian and NBC News, more at Mediagazer »
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Sapna Maheshwari / New York Times:
Advertisers Flee Tucker Carlson's Fox News Show After He Derides Immigrants
Advertisers Flee Tucker Carlson's Fox News Show After He Derides Immigrants
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo and CNBC
Jacqueline Alemany / Washington Post:
Power Up: 'Cameras can't get in' is only reason Democrats say border patrol facility that held 7-year-old girl is still open — Happy Wednesday, Power People. We're en route from Texas back to Washington to close out the rest of the week. Comments, ideas, Christmas cookie recipes??
Discussion:
Daily Wire
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Washington Post:
Judiciary dismisses ‘serious’ misconduct complaints against Brett M. Kavanaugh — The judicial council reviewing dozens of misconduct claims against Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh has dismissed the complaints that coincided with his contentious nomination battle.
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David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner:
South Carolina GOP could scrap 2020 primary to protect Trump — The South Carolina Republican Party could cancel its marquee presidential nominating contest in 2020 in a move to protect President Trump from any primary challengers. — Drew McKissick, chairman of the South Carolina GOP …
Roger Kimball / Wall Street Journal:
The National Gallery of Identity Politics — Forget Monet or Hopper. The art museum's new director wants to tackle ‘gender equality,’ ‘social justice’ and ‘diversity.’ — 'Every thing is what it is and not another thing," observed the 18th-century British philosopher Joseph Butler.
Discussion:
Instapundit
openDemocracy:
Revealed: Arron Banks Brexit campaign's ‘secret’ meetings with Cambridge Analytica — Leaked emails show Leave.EU misled parliament and UK regulator about meetings with controversial Trump-linked firm - where they discussed targeting British voters. Steve Bannon was included in correspondence.
Sherrilyn Ifill / Washington Post:
It's time to face the facts: Racism is a national security issue — Sherrilyn Ifill is president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. — Two newly released reports from the Senate Intelligence Committee about Russian interference in the 2016 election have been nothing short of revelatory.
Discussion:
New York Times, EURACTIV.com and Mother Jones, more at Mediagazer »
Matt Viser / Washington Post:
In ways subtle and loud, the presidential contest is already underway in Iowa — DES MOINES — When New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) came here two months ago, he lingered long after events ended to talk to the curious, posing for selfies with anyone who wanted one.
Shannon Houser / Cleveland 19 News Cleveland, OH:
Cleveland man alleges racial profiling after bank refuses to cash check, calls 911 — BROOKLYN, OH (WOIO) - A Cleveland man says he was racially profiled at a local branch when they called the cops on him for trying to cash a check. — Paul McCowns tells Cleveland 19 he went …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Hill Reporter and The Root
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Michael Brice-Saddler / Washington Post:
A black man tried to cash his paycheck. The bank called the cops.
The Economist:
Our pick of the decade's eight best young economists — They mostly want to change the world, not just fathom it — “The solution in Vietnam”, said William DePuy, an American general in 1966, “is more bombs, more shells, more napalm.” But where exactly to drop it all?
Discussion:
Marginal REVOLUTION
Nathan L. Gonzales / Roll Call:
Poll: Democrat Leads GOP Governor in Kentucky — A new poll of next year's gubernatorial race in Kentucky shows Democrats in position to extend their nationwide winning streak beyond the 2018 midterms. — Aside from taking back the House majority, Democrats also gained seven governorships around the country.
Financial Times:
Fed's Powell under pressure over rate rises — Jay Powell will today wrap up the thorniest policy meeting of his chairmanship as the Federal Reserve faces a barrage of calls for easy money as the stock market slides in anticipation of soggy global economic growth.
Discussion:
Political Wire
Harold Meyerson / American Prospect:
Imperatives for Democrats — For all their differences, House Democrats need to unite around a pro-worker agenda. The party also needs a smart way to winnow its immense field of presidential prospects. — Of all the dogs that did not bark in the night during the 2018 midterm-election campaigns …
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:
Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, OpenSecrets.org, Raw Story, Daily Kos, New Republic and Law & Crime