Top Items:


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.
Discussion:
Washington Post, ABC News, New Republic, The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, CBS News, KXLF-TV, NBC News, Bloomberg, Commentary, Conservative Review, Outside the Beltway, NPR, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, CBS Denver, Middle East Eye, twitchy.com, Breitbart, CNBC, The Daily Caller, Jewish Insider, Daily Kos, The Week and Balloon Juice
RELATED:


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:
ThinkProgress, Hill Reporter, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and The Guardian


Trump orders rapid withdrawal from Syria in apparent reversal — Washington (CNN)Planning is underway for a “full” and “rapid” withdrawal of US troops from Syria, a US defense official told CNN Wednesday. — The decision, which would be a reversal from previously stated US policy …
Discussion:
Breitbart, Mediaite, Jihad Watch, The Week and Reuters


U.S. weighs complete withdrawal of troops from Syria: U.S. officials — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is considering a total withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria as it nears the end of its campaign to retake all of the territory once held by Islamic State, U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Shakesville, IJR and Mediaite


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:
Axios, Vox, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, The Independent, New York Post, Daily Kos, Hill Reporter, Raw Story, The Week, twitchy.com, Shakesville and AOL
RELATED:


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:
Politico, Axios, Raw Story, ThinkProgress, Wonkette, Law & Crime, The Root, The Hill, Washington Times, Splinter, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

Giuliani Walks It Back: Trump Signed ‘Bullsh*t’ Letter Of Intent For Moscow Tower
Discussion:
Balloon Juice


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:
Media Matters for America, Taylor Marsh, ABC News, WORLD, ThinkProgress and New York Times
RELATED:


In Defense of Emmet Sullivan: Van Grack Suggested Mueller Did Review Whether Flynn's Behavior Amounted to Treason — I'd like to defend Judge Emmet Sullivan's intemperate mentions of unregistered foreign agents and treason in the Mike Flynn sentencing hearing yesterday.


Trump critics celebrate as Flynn judge smashes right-wing conspiracy theory about Russia prosecution at hearing — 'It shows that the Trump people do not do well in the courts of law, when you're dealing with facts and evidence,' says former prosecutor — {{#singleComment}}{{total}} …


The Flynn Fiasco — A sentencing hearing devolves into a spectacle of misinformation.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and Power Line

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 …
Discussion:
Politico, Vox, Washington Post, Fox News Insider, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Investor's Business Daily, FOX2now.com, The Guardian, The Ringer, Raw Story, East Bay Times, The Daily Caller, WORLD, twitchy.com, TVNewser, WCCO | CBS Minnesota, Sara A. Carter, The Week, Shakesville, Al Jazeera, Lawyers, Guns & Money, KTLA, CBS New York, Mashable, The Verge, Engadget, Breitbart, RAPPLER, New Republic, Mediaite and Meduza.io, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:


D.C. attorney general sues Facebook over alleged privacy violations from Cambridge Analytica scandal — The attorney general for the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Facebook for allowing Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy, to gain access to the names …
Discussion:
Engadget, The Week, New York Times, Mashable and Vox, more at Techmeme »

Let's Clear Up a Few Things About Facebook's Partners
Discussion:
Investor's Business Daily, TechCrunch, abc7chicago.com, AOL and East Bay Times, more at Mediagazer »


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 …


New secret filing in case of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen placed in NY federal court vault — A document that is sealed from public view was placed in a New York federal court vault in a criminal case against President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen.
RELATED:

Rep. Adam Schiff: If Michael Cohen Goes to Jail, Why Wouldn't Trump?
Discussion:
Washington Monthly

Sealed v Sealed: ruling sheds light on mystery case thought to involve Mueller
Discussion:
Vox, Washington Post, Politico and New York Times


In Party Switch, 3 Kansas Lawmakers Will Start The New Session As Democrats — When the Kansas state government reconvenes in January, three of its formerly Republican members will report as freshly minted Democrats. — The two state senators and one state representative, all women …
Discussion:
Shawnee Mission Post
RELATED:

More Kansas lawmakers switch parties: Sykes, Clayton leave GOP, become Democrats
Discussion:
Axios and Shareblue Media


Federal judge strikes down Trump asylum rules for domestic and gang violence victims — In a ruling Wednesday, Judge Emmet Sullivan struck down large portions of Justice Department policies that made it harder for immigrants to claim asylum. — A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed Justice …
RELATED:


Cummings puts Trump on notice for wave of investigations — Democrats still have two weeks until they take control of the House, but a top Democratic investigator is already putting President Donald Trump on notice. — Incoming House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings …
RELATED:


Senate to pass bill that would keep government open, deny Trump wall funding — The Senate prepared Wednesday to pass a short-term spending bill that would keep the government open through the New Year but deny President Trump the money he wanted for his border wall — a stark retreat …
Discussion:
ABC News, Bloomberg, Politico, Forbes, Talking Points Memo, Axios, Daily Kos, The Gateway Pundit and Breitbart
RELATED:

McConnell moves to avert shutdown disaster
Discussion:
The Hill, Breitbart, ABC News and twitchy.com


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:
Politico, The Guardian, Raw Story, KXLF-TV, Bloomberg, EURACTIV.com and Reuters, more at Techmeme »


Revealed: Antifa Leader Relied On Anonymity To Push Radical, Violent Communist Agenda — Editor's note: The subject of this story is being identified because he's pushed radical rhetoric and has advocated for politically-motivated violence from behind a mask.
Discussion:
Instapundit


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 »


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:
Splinter, No More Mister Nice Blog and Roll Call

Temporary Newsperson, Politics … The Associated Press is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the largest and most trusted source of independent news and information.


United States added to list of most dangerous countries for journalists for first time — At least 63 professional journalists were killed doing their jobs in 2018, a 15 percent increase over last year, Reporters Without Borders said. — PARIS — The murder of the Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller


U.S. Treasury Levies Fresh Sanctions Against Russian Agents for 2016 U.S. Election Interference And Nerve-Agent Attack — *U.S. Treasury Also Cites Russian Government Interference in Elections Worldwide In New Sanctions — *U.S. Treasury Blacklists Two Russian Companies For Alleged Role in Election Interference


Why did Donald Trump's national security adviser want to meet with a Ukrainian billionaire? — An aide to National Security Adviser John Bolton sought to schedule a meeting for him with a Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk during Bolton's official trip to Ukraine last August …
Discussion:
Bloomberg and ThinkProgress


Bump Stock Rule Bumps Up Against the Constitution — This morning, Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker signed the Trump Administration's new regulation banning bump stocks. The final rule is largely unchanged from the one put up for notice and comment several months ago …
Discussion:
The Week, Associated Press and Townhall