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Trump signed letter of intent for Trump Tower Moscow project despite Giuliani insisting he didn't — (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, despite his attorney Rudy Giuliani claiming …
Discussion:
Vox, Talking Points Memo, The Independent, New York Post, Mediaite, Daily Kos, The Week, Raw Story, Hill Reporter and twitchy.com
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Rudy Giuliani admits President Trump signed ‘bulls—t’ letter of intent for Moscow tower during 2016 campaign — President Trump signed a “bulls—t” letter of intent to build a Trump Tower in Moscow during the 2016 campaign, Rudy Giuliani conceded Tuesday - just two days after the former …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Political Wire, Mediaite and The Guardian


Trump Considering Full Withdrawal of U.S. Troops From Syria — WASHINGTON — President Trump is considering pulling 2,000 United States ground troops out of Syria in a move that would seek to describe the four-year American-led war against the Islamic State as largely won, officials said Wednesday.
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NBC News, ABC News, Bloomberg, Jewish Insider and Balloon Juice
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U.S. Military Preparing for a Full Withdrawal of Its Forces From Northeastern Syria — Move throws campaign against Islamic State into question — WASHINGTON—In an abrupt reversal, the U.S. military is preparing to withdraw its forces from northeastern Syria, people familiar with the matter …


Trump administration plans to pull U.S. troops from Syria immediately, defense official says — The Trump administration has decided to pull all U.S. troops out of Syria, a defense official said on Wednesday. — The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a decision …
Discussion:
Axios


The Former National Security Advisor's Sentencing Hearing: Flynncompetent Judging — A number of years ago, a group of singing lawyers put together an excellent parody song about the egomania of federal district judges. Set to the tune of the old Turtles song, “Happy Together,” it opens: “Imagine me as God—I do.
Discussion:
ABC News, New York Times, Patterico's Pontifications and WORLD
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The Flynn Fiasco — A sentencing hearing devolves into a spectacle of misinformation. — By The Editorial Board — Well, that was bizarre. We're referring to the fiasco Tuesday of what was supposed to be the sentencing of Michael Flynn. The sentencing was postponed until next year …
Discussion:
Power Line


Note to Michael Flynn: Federal Court Is Not Twitter — Former National-Security Adviser 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 Donald Trump …
Discussion:
Raw Story


'I'm not hiding my disgust, my disdain': Veteran judge upends hopes of Trump allies as he spotlights Flynn's misdeeds
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Hullabaloo, Just Security, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Politico, New York Times, The American Spectator and emptywheel

Judge's accusations mar Michael Flynn sentencing hearing
Discussion:
Power Line and Instapundit

Michael Flynn's Lawyers Appear to Have Badly Miscalculated
Discussion:
TalkLeft

Reality deals more blows to Trump's alternative narrative
Discussion:
USA Today, Washington Post and CNBC


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 …
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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:
Axios, Townhall, Wall Street Journal, Politico, NPR, The Guardian and Associated Press
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Senate Passes Bipartisan Criminal Justice Bill
Discussion:
The Week, Marijuana Moment and Mediaite

Senate easily passes Trump-backed criminal justice reform bill
Discussion:
Vox, Raw Story and New Yorker


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 …
Discussion:
Hill Reporter and Political Wire


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 …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Splinter, more at Mediagazer »


White House signals it might accept a short-term spending bill to avert shutdown — The White House signaled Wednesday that it might accept a short-term spending bill that would keep the government open until early February and abandon President Trump's demand that Congress include $5 billion for his long-promised border wall.
Discussion:
Politico, ABC News, The Gateway Pundit, The Week and Breitbart
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For Voters, Trump's Border Wall Is at the Bottom of Proposed Priorities
Discussion:
ThinkProgress


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


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 …
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Washington's Mystery Witness Turns Out to Be a Corporation, Not a Person
Discussion:
The Guardian, Outside the Beltway, Lawfare and KXLF-TV


Warning To Democrats: Most Americans Against U.S. Getting More Politically Correct — Heading into the 2020 Democratic primaries, a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll has a warning for Democrats: Americans are largely against the country becoming more politically correct.
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog and Roll Call


Everyone is Misreporting the Texas BDS Lawsuit — No, a Texas school district did not require speech pathologist Bahia Amawi to sign a “pro-Israel oath,” nor even to promise not to personally boycott Israel. — Speech pathologist Bahia Amawi, who works as a contractor …
Discussion:
New York Times, Israellycool, The Daily Caller, Washington Post and middleeastmonitor.com


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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In Home Village of Girl Who Died in U.S. Custody, Poverty Drives Migration
Discussion:
NPR and Media Matters for America


Advertisers Flee Tucker Carlson's Fox News Show After He Derides Immigrants — The Fox News host Tucker Carlson has lost advertisers after saying on the air last week that allowing certain immigrants into the United States “makes our own country poorer and dirtier and more divided.”
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Hill and Talking Points Memo, more at Mediagazer »
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Here Are The Advertisers Boycotting Tucker Carlson's Show
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Breitbart, Contemptor, ThinkProgress, CNN, Media Matters for America, The Guardian and NBC News


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.
Discussion:
Shareblue Media
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Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet says he is considering a run for Democratic presidential nomination — Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., confirmed in an interview Tuesday that he is considering a run for president. — “I am thinking about it,” Bennet said in an interview for the Yahoo News podcast “The Long Game.”
Discussion:
Political Wire


How Trump the ‘Tariff Man’ could lose to ‘Dow Man’ Trump — President Donald Trump loves two things very much: tariffs and a rising stock market. It's becoming increasingly clear he can't have both. — Free-traders inside and outside the White House are now hoping that Trump's love …
Discussion:
Raw Story


FT Person of the Year: George Soros — For a man facing daily attacks for his activism and liberal vision of the world, George Soros was in a curiously buoyant mood on a sunswept afternoon in Marrakesh. He had just visited South Africa, home to his first philanthropic foray in the late 1970s …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo