memeorandum: Full Text: Speaker Ryan's Farewell Address (Speaker.gov)

3:10 PM ET, December 19, 2018

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.

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

Jessica Hopper / ABC News:
President Trump's troop withdrawal from Syria a ‘huge’ mistake: Senator Lindsey Graham

Discussion: Politico, CBS News and CNBC

Reuters:
U.S. weighs complete withdrawal of troops from Syria: U.S. officials

Discussion: Washington Post, Shakesville, IJR and Mediaite

Missy Ryan / Washington Post:
Trump administration plans to pull U.S. troops from Syria immediately, defense official says

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

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
Trump undermines his entire national security team on Syria

Discussion: The Atlantic, USA Today and KXLF-TV

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

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, Raw Story, NY State of Politics, Axios, The Week, ThinkProgress, Wonkette, The Hill, The Root, Law & Crime, Splinter, Washington Times, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

Nicole Lafond / Talking Points Memo:
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

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: The Atlantic, Lawyers, Guns & Money and CANNONFIRE

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.

Discussion: Geller Report, Washington Examiner and Power Line

Stephen Collinson / CNN:
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

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?

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Alan Gomez / USA Today: Federal judge blocks another attempt by Trump to limit asylum

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: CNN, Hot Air, Splinter, Raw Story, Hill Reporter, IJR and KXLF-TV

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.

Victoria Guida / Politico:
Fed raises rates, defying Trump

Discussion: Axios and Board of Governors …

Binyamin Appelbaum / New York Times: Fed Raises Rates, Demonstrating Confidence in Health of Economy

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 …

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, Engadget, The Week, East Bay Times, The Daily Caller, Mashable, Vox, New York Times, Investor's Business Daily and Breitbart, more at Techmeme »

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

Jonathan Shorman / Wichita Eagle:
More Kansas lawmakers switch parties: Sykes, Clayton leave GOP, become Democrats

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Axios and Shareblue Media

Tim Carpenter / Topeka Capital-Journal:
Kansas Sen. Dinah Sykes, Rep. Stephanie Clayton flip from Republican to Democrat

Discussion: Raw Story and Political Wire

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:

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: Politico, ABC News, Bloomberg, POLITICUSUSA, Splinter, Forbes, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, The Week, Talking Points Memo and Axios

Saagar Enjeti / The Daily Caller:
Is Trump Blowing His Last Chance To Get The Wall?

Discussion: Townhall, Breitbart, Mediaite, Hill Reporter and Hot Air

Bloomberg:

Trump Ready to Remove Sanctions on Deripaska's Rusal in 30 Days — The Trump administration is ready to remove sanctions on Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska's aluminum company, United Co. Rusal, after he agreed to significantly reduce his ownership stake.

Discussion: Raw Story

Wall Street Journal: U.S. Treasury Levies Fresh Sanctions Against Russian Agents for 2016 U.S. Election Interference And Nerve-Agent Attack

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

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 …

Discussion: The Wrap, IJR and Observer

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, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Politico, 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

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

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: Political Wire

Speaker.gov:

Full Text: Speaker Ryan's Farewell Address — WASHINGTON—House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) today delivered his farewell address at the Library of Congress. Watch the address live on Speaker.gov. — Following are Speaker Ryan's remarks, as prepared for delivery:

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 »

Susan Page / USA Today:

Impeach Trump? Lessons learned from Clinton's impeachment, 20 years later — WASHINGTON - Democrats who are contemplating impeaching President Donald Trump after they take control of the House of Representatives next month are considering a cautionary tale: what happened the last time a president was impeached.