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:
Washington Post, New Republic, The Atlantic, ABC News, Talking Points Memo, KXLF-TV, NBC News, Test Feed Using Fields, Common Dreams, Commentary, Conservative Review, Bloomberg, Outside the Beltway, Raw Story, NPR, The Week, The Gateway Pundit, CBS Denver, Middle East Eye, Breitbart, CNBC, twitchy.com, The Daily Caller, Jewish Insider, Daily Kos and Balloon Juice
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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 …
CNN:
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
Missy Ryan / Washington Post:
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
Reuters:
U.S. weighs complete withdrawal of troops from Syria: U.S. officials
U.S. weighs complete withdrawal of troops from Syria: U.S. officials
Discussion:
Washington Post, Shakesville, IJR and Mediaite
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:
Axios, Vox, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, The Independent, New York Post, Daily Kos, Hill Reporter, Raw Story, The Week, twitchy.com, Shakesville and AOL
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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:
Politico, Axios, Raw Story, ThinkProgress, Wonkette, Law & Crime, The Hill, Washington Times, The Root, Splinter, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite
Nicole Lafond / Talking Points Memo:
Giuliani Walks It Back: Trump Signed ‘Bullsh*t’ Letter Of Intent For Moscow Tower
Giuliani Walks It Back: Trump Signed ‘Bullsh*t’ Letter Of Intent For Moscow Tower
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
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:
Media Matters for America, Taylor Marsh, ABC News, WORLD, ThinkProgress and Mediaite
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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.
Chris Baynes / The Independent:
Trump critics celebrate as Flynn judge smashes right-wing conspiracy theory about Russia prosecution at hearing
Wall Street Journal:
The Flynn Fiasco — A sentencing hearing devolves into a spectacle of misinformation.
The Flynn Fiasco — A sentencing hearing devolves into a spectacle of misinformation.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and Power Line
Stephen Collinson / CNN:
Reality deals more blows to Trump's alternative narrative
Reality deals more blows to Trump's alternative narrative
Discussion:
USA Today, Washington Post and CNBC
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.
Discussion:
Raw Story
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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 …
Griffin Connolly / Roll Call:
Rep. Adam Schiff: If Michael Cohen Goes to Jail, Why Wouldn't Trump?
Rep. Adam Schiff: If Michael Cohen Goes to Jail, Why Wouldn't Trump?
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
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:
Politico, Vox, Washington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Fox News Insider, Investor's Business Daily, FOX2now.com, The Guardian, The Ringer, Raw Story, East Bay Times, The Daily Caller, WORLD, twitchy.com, TVNewser, The Week, WCCO | CBS Minnesota, Shakesville, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Al Jazeera, CBS New York, KTLA, Sara A. Carter, Mashable, The Verge, Engadget, Breitbart, RAPPLER, New Republic, Mediaite and Meduza.io, more at Mediagazer »
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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:
Engadget, The Week, New York Times, Mashable and Vox, more at Techmeme »
Konstantinos Papamiltiadis / Facebook:
Let's Clear Up a Few Things About Facebook's Partners
Let's Clear Up a Few Things About Facebook's Partners
Discussion:
Investor's Business Daily, TechCrunch, AOL, East Bay Times and abc7chicago.com, more at Mediagazer »
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 …
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
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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:
Axios and Shareblue Media
Tim Carpenter / Topeka Capital-Journal:
Kansas Sen. Dinah Sykes, Rep. Stephanie Clayton flip from Republican to Democrat
Kansas Sen. Dinah Sykes, Rep. Stephanie Clayton flip from Republican to Democrat
Discussion:
Raw Story and Political Wire
John Bresnahan / Politico:
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 …
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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:
The Daily Caller
Washington Post:
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 …
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Sarah Ferris / Politico:
McConnell moves to avert shutdown disaster
McConnell moves to avert shutdown disaster
Discussion:
The Hill, Breitbart, ABC News and twitchy.com
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:
Vox, Politico, The Guardian, Reuters, Raw Story, Bloomberg, KXLF-TV and EURACTIV.com, more at Techmeme »
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
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 …
Discussion:
Splinter and Talking Points Memo, more at Mediagazer »
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:
Splinter, No More Mister Nice Blog and Roll Call
careers.ap.org:
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.
Wall Street Journal:
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
Cato Institute:
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
Binyamin Appelbaum / New York Times:
Fed Raises Rates, Demonstrating Confidence in Health of Economy — The Federal Reserve announced a widely expected quarter-point increase in its benchmark interest rate on Wednesday, and signaled that it plans to continue raising rates next year. — The Fed emphasized the strength …
Michael R. Strain / National Review:
Is the Working Class in Crisis? — There is a growing consensus that the working class is in crisis following years of difficult economic change and due in part to their being ignored by Washington. This view has been considerably strengthened in the conservative movement and within …
Discussion:
Mother Jones and Bloomberg
Center for Public Integrity:
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