Top Items:
New York Times:
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:
The Atlantic, New Republic, Raw Story, FDD's Long War Journal, NY State of Politics, ABC News, The DC Chronicle, WORLD, Axios, KXLF-TV, Commentary, NPR, Bloomberg, CNBC, The Gateway Pundit, Test Feed Using Fields, Common Dreams, Roll Call, Outside the Beltway, Middle East Eye, Conservative Review, twitchy.com, Talking Points Memo, The Week, Breitbart, Jewish Insider, Mediaite, CBS Denver, Balloon Juice, The Daily Caller and Daily Kos
RELATED:
Dion Nissenbaum / Wall Street Journal:
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 …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Bloomberg, Politico, Hit & Run, Vox, Splinter, FOX2now.com, The Defense Post, The Week, The American Conservative, Task & Purpose, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Mahablog, RedState, Daily Wire, Military Times, Washington Free Beacon, Mediaite, Townhall, Mother Jones and Axios, more at Mediagazer »
Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
Trump undermines his entire national security team on Syria — On Monday, the U.S. special representative for Syria engagement publicly pledged that the U.S. commitment to Syria would not waiver. The very next day, Trump reportedly decided to rapidly withdraw all U.S. troops there.
Discussion:
NBC News, New York Times, CNBC, USA Today and Balloon Juice
CNN:
Trump orders rapid withdrawal from Syria in apparent reversal
Trump orders rapid withdrawal from Syria in apparent reversal
Discussion:
Axios, KXLF-TV, Raw Story, The Guardian, Breitbart, Jihad Watch, The Week, Mediaite and Reuters
Jessica Hopper / ABC News:
President Trump's troop withdrawal from Syria a ‘huge’ mistake: Senator Lindsey Graham
President Trump's troop withdrawal from Syria a ‘huge’ mistake: Senator Lindsey Graham
emptywheel:
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.
Discussion:
National Review, Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money, CANNONFIRE and The Atlantic
RELATED:
Lawfare:
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:
USA Today, Washington Post, Taylor Marsh, Media Matters for America, ABC News and WORLD
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
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.
Kate Sullivan / CNN:
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:
Roll Call, Washington Monthly, Mediaite, The Independent, New York Post, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Vox, twitchy.com, IJR, Axios, Hill Reporter, Raw Story, The Week, AOL and Shakesville
RELATED:
New York Daily News:
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:
Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Politico, NY State of Politics, The Week, Wonkette, Law & Crime, Splinter, The Hill, The Root, Balloon Juice, Axios, ThinkProgress, Washington Times and Mediaite
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 …
Discussion:
Hot Air, CNN, No More Mister Nice Blog, Splinter, Raw Story, Hill Reporter, IJR and KXLF-TV
Washington Post:
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:
New Republic, Hill Reporter, Engadget, The Week, The Daily Caller, Vox, East Bay Times, Investor's Business Daily, Mashable, New York Times and Breitbart, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Brian X. Chen / New York Times:
How to Delete Facebook — Lost faith in Facebook after data leakages …
How to Delete Facebook — Lost faith in Facebook after data leakages …
Discussion:
twitchy.com and The Week, more at Mediagazer »
New York Times:
As Facebook Raised a Privacy Wall, It Carved an Opening for Tech Giants
As Facebook Raised a Privacy Wall, It Carved an Opening for Tech Giants
Discussion:
BuzzFeed News, The Atlantic, Facebook, Mother Jones, The Daily Caller, ThinkProgress, KXLF-TV, Big Think, Engadget, Politico, NewsBusters, CBC News, The Daily Beast, Breitbart, DCist, Fox News Insider, The Guardian, Investor's Business Daily, The Ringer, WORLD, Vox, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, East Bay Times, CBS San Francisco, FOX2now.com, Washington Post, Raw Story, WCCO | CBS Minnesota, 9to5Mac, The Week, Sara A. Carter, Shakesville, twitchy.com, Lawyers, Guns & Money, TVNewser, AOL, TechCrunch, abc7chicago.com, CBS New York, Al Jazeera, KTLA, Mashable, The Verge, New Republic, RAPPLER, Mediaite and Meduza.io, more at Mediagazer »
Kaitlan Collins / CNN:
Trump sensitive to criticism about so-far failed border wall promise — McConnell announces continuing resolution — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump has become increasingly sensitive to criticism that he's backing off his signature promise to build a wall along the US-Mexico border …
Discussion:
KXLF-TV
RELATED:
Saagar Enjeti / The Daily Caller:
Is Trump Blowing His Last Chance To Get The Wall?
Is Trump Blowing His Last Chance To Get The Wall?
Discussion:
Mediaite, Sara A. Carter, Breitbart and Hill Reporter
Washington Post:
Senate to pass bill that would keep government open, deny Trump wall funding
Senate to pass bill that would keep government open, deny Trump wall funding
Discussion:
Politico, Bloomberg, Splinter, Forbes, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, Breitbart, ABC News, Talking Points Memo and Axios
Eliza Dushku / BostonGlobe.com:
I worked at CBS. I didn't want to be sexually harassed. I was fired — The narrative propagated by CBS, actor Michael Weatherly, and writer-producer Glenn Gordon Caron is deceptive and in no way fits with how they treated me on the set of the television show “Bull” and retaliated …
ClickHole:
Legal Bombshell: Mueller Flipped Trump's Confidant's Lawyer's Friend's Associate Gorpman (Who Could Testify Against Bleemer!) And It's Not Even Lunchtime — The day's just getting started, and the Trump house of cards is already crumbling. This morning, Special Counsel Robert Mueller dropped …
Discussion:
The Week
Washington Post:
We were FBI agents. We want to know why Flynn lied to the bureau. — He could have been covering his tracks — or hiding something worse. — Tuesday's sentencing hearing for Michael Flynn, President Trump's former national security adviser, took an unexpected twist after his attempts to shift blame to the government backfired.
RELATED:
Kate Riga / Talking Points Memo:
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:
Jonathan Shorman / Wichita Eagle:
More Kansas lawmakers switch parties: Sykes, Clayton leave GOP, become Democrats
More Kansas lawmakers switch parties: Sykes, Clayton leave GOP, become Democrats
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Shareblue Media and Axios
NBC News:
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:
National Review, The Hill, TIME, Fortune, Breitbart and The Daily Caller
Wall Street Journal:
Trump Testimony From Decades Ago Indicates Knowledge of Campaign-Finance Laws — Legal experts say that could be critical if investigators pursue a case over hush-money payments to women in the 2016 campaign — Sworn statements by President Trump dating back several decades indicate …
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Why not indict the Trump Organization? — Legal scholars debate whether a sitting president can be indicted or only impeached. If the latter, it's not clear given the statutes of limitation on most crimes whether he could ever be prosecuted for certain crimes.
Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
President Trump is telling allies he wants Vice President Mike Pence to stay on the ticket in 2020 — President Donald Trump has been telling his closest political advisors in recent weeks that he wants Vice President Mike Pence to be with him on the ticket in 2020, CNBC has learned.
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA and Political Wire
Zach Baron / GQ:
The Fresno Bee and the War on Local News — Local newspapers like The Fresno Bee have long been an endangered institution in America, and that was before California Rep. Devin Nunes began waging a public campaign against his hometown paper. Zach Baron spent time with the reporters fighting …
Dareh Gregorian / NBC News:
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 …
Bloomberg:
Markets Revolt as Steadfast Powell Downplays Recent Sell-Off — S&P 500 careens to 15-month low as Fed chairman speaks — Dollar firms and Treasury yields tumble on latest policy move — The Federal Reserve leaned dovish during its latest policy meeting. Financial markets wanted more.
Rebecca Traister / The Cut:
The Imagined Threat of a Woman Who Governs Like a Man — On Tuesday, Politico posted a provocative, anonymously sourced piece claiming that New York congresswoman elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez might be planning, in concert with Justice Democrats, to recruit a Democratic primary challenger …
Jeff Cox / CNBC:
Fed hikes rate, lowers 2019 projection to 2 increases — Central bank officials now forecast two hikes next year, down from three rate raises previously projected. — However, the Fed continued to include in its statement that further ‘gradual’ rate hikes would be appropriate.
Discussion:
Board of Governors …, Washington Post and The Week
Karen K. Ho / Columbia Journalism Review:
Sinclair fires reporter as she battles cancer — Alex George had already been through a lot. In the summer of 2017, four weeks after graduating from the University of Michigan, she moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, at the age of 22, to work as a general assignment reporter at WTVC, an ABC-affiliate, on a two-year-contract.
Spiegel Online:
Answers to the Most Important Questions — In recent years, DER SPIEGEL published just under 60 articles by reporter and editor Claas Relotius. He has now admitted that, in several instances, he either invented stories or distorted facts. — What happened?
Discussion:
The Guardian and Samizdata, more at Mediagazer »
Jeremy Pelzer / Plain Dealer:
John Kasich says he couldn't beat President Donald Trump in a GOP primary — COLUMBUS, Ohio—Gov. John Kasich on Wednesday voiced doubts about challenging President Donald Trump in 2020, saying right now he couldn't beat the president in a Republican primary.
Discussion:
Breitbart and Political Wire
Domenico Montanaro / NPR:
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:
Townhall, Hit & Run, Splinter, No More Mister Nice Blog and Roll Call
Andrew Kerr / The Daily Caller:
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
Eliana Johnson / Politico:
‘It got a little heated’: GOP infighting almost killed criminal justice reform — Just hours before the Senate passed major reforms to the criminal justice system, Mike Lee and Tom Cotton were still bickering. — At a private party lunch, the two young Republican senators argued one last time …