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, Washington Post, Observer, Raw Story, FDD's Long War Journal, ABC News, NY State of Politics, New Republic, USA Today, CNBC, The DC Chronicle, KXLF-TV, NPR, Bloomberg, Commentary, The Gateway Pundit, Test Feed Using Fields, Common Dreams, Roll Call, WORLD, Outside the Beltway, Middle East Eye, Conservative Review, twitchy.com, The Week, Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, Jewish Insider, CBS Denver, Balloon Juice, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and Daily Kos
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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:
Axios, NBC News, Raw Story, New York Times, Hit & Run and Balloon Juice
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 …
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The Daily Beast, CNN, Bloomberg, Politico, Hit & Run, Vox, Washington Free Beacon, Splinter, The Defense Post, The Week, FOX2now.com, The Mahablog, The American Conservative, Task & Purpose, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, RedState, Daily Wire, Military Times, Townhall, Mother Jones, Axios and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
CNN:
Trump orders rapid withdrawal from Syria in apparent reversal
Trump orders rapid withdrawal from Syria in apparent reversal
Discussion:
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
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
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Pete Kasperowicz / Washington Examiner:
Jeff Flake strikes out: Senate blocks his third push to protect Robert Mueller
Jeff Flake strikes out: Senate blocks his third push to protect Robert Mueller
Discussion:
Axios
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, CANNONFIRE, Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Atlantic
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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, Media Matters for America, Taylor Marsh, ABC News and WORLD
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 …
Brian X. Chen / New York Times:
How to Delete Facebook — Lost faith in Facebook after data leakages, breaches and too much noise? Here's a guide to breaking up with the social network and its photo-sharing app for good. — You may have decided enough is enough: It's time to delete Facebook.
Discussion:
Hill Reporter, The Daily Caller and DCist, more at Techmeme »
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Washington Post:
D.C. attorney general sues Facebook over alleged privacy violations from Cambridge Analytica scandal
D.C. attorney general sues Facebook over alleged privacy violations from Cambridge Analytica scandal
Charlie Warzel / BuzzFeed News:
Apps Are Revealing Your Private Information To Facebook And You Probably Don't Know It
Apps Are Revealing Your Private Information To Facebook And You Probably Don't Know It
Discussion:
NewsBusters, Engadget, Politico and The Week, more at Techmeme »
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:
New Republic, Hot Air, Hullabaloo, No More Mister Nice Blog, CNN, Splinter, Raw Story, Hill Reporter, IJR and Politico
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.
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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.
Washington Post:
Mueller seeks Roger Stone's testimony to House intelligence panel, suggesting special counsel is near end of probe of Trump adviser — Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III asked the House Intelligence Committee on Friday for an official transcript of Trump adviser Roger Stone's testimony …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Political Wire and Shareblue Media
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, Vox, Mediaite, The Independent, Talking Points Memo, New York Post, Booman Tribune, Daily Kos, twitchy.com, IJR, Axios, Hill Reporter, Raw Story, The Week, AOL and Shakesville
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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
Rudy Giuliani admits President Trump signed ‘bulls—t’ letter of intent for Moscow tower during 2016 campaign
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Politico, NY State of Politics, Law & Crime, The Hill, The Week, Wonkette, Splinter, Balloon Juice, The Root, Axios, ThinkProgress, Washington Times and Mediaite
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 …
Discussion:
Deadline, AOL and IndieWire, more at Mediagazer »
Tim Carpenter / Topeka Capital-Journal:
Kansas Sen. Dinah Sykes, Rep. Stephanie Clayton flip from Republican to Democrat — Kansas Sen. Dinah Sykes and Rep. Stephanie Clayton served notice Wednesday of a decision to politically re-brand themselves by leaving the Republican Party to represent Johnson County districts as Democrats.
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Kate Riga / Talking Points Memo:
In Party Switch, 3 Kansas Lawmakers Will Start The New Session As Democrats
In Party Switch, 3 Kansas Lawmakers Will Start The New Session As Democrats
Discussion:
Shawnee Mission Post
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
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 …
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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:
Washington Post, Mediaite, Sara A. Carter, The Week, Hot Air and Hill Reporter
Anna Massoglia / OpenSecrets.org:
Trump 2020 campaign used a shell company to pay ad buyers at the center of alleged illegal coordination scheme with NRA — The Trump campaign funneled money to ad buyers alleged to have facilitated illegal coordination between the campaign and the NRA by routing funds through a secretive LLC …
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 …
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
New York Times:
Illinois Attorney General Says Catholic Church Withheld Names of at Least 500 Accused Priests — A scathing report by the Illinois attorney general accused the Roman Catholic Church in the state of failing the victims of clergy sexual abuse by neglecting to investigate their allegations …
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.
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 …
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.
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.
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
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 …
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:
twitchy.com and Instapundit
Bloomberg:
Trump Poised to Lift Sanctions on Rusal as Deripaska Cuts Stake — Russian billionaire will cut ownership stake below 50 percent — Treasury also plans to lift sanctions on his EN+ Group — The Trump administration is ready to remove sanctions on Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska's …
Discussion:
Law & Crime and Raw Story