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, FDD's Long War Journal, USA Today, Axios, WORLD, ABC News, The DC Chronicle, Test Feed Using Fields, Common Dreams, KXLF-TV, Commentary, The Week, NPR, Bloomberg, CNBC, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, Roll Call, CBS Denver, Outside the Beltway, Middle East Eye, Conservative Review, Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, Jewish Insider, twitchy.com, Mediaite, Balloon Juice and The Daily Caller
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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 …
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Bloomberg, The Daily Beast, Politico, Hit & Run, Vox, Splinter, The American Conservative, Washington Free Beacon, FOX2now.com, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Defense Post, Task & Purpose, The Week, RedState, The Mahablog, Daily Wire, Military Times, Townhall, Mediaite, Mother Jones and Axios, more at Mediagazer »
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:
Axios, Raw Story, Breitbart, The Guardian, Jihad Watch, The Week, Mediaite and Reuters
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 and CNBC
TASS:
US troops' withdrawal from Syria to create prospects for political solution, says diplomat — Moscow believes that the US decision arouses hopes of de-escalation in At-Tanf — /TASS/. The US decision to pull its troops from Syria creates good prospects for a political solution in that Arab country …
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
Missy Ryan / Washington Post:
Trump administration plans to pull U.S. troops from Syria immediately, defense official says
Trump administration plans to pull U.S. troops from Syria immediately, defense official says
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Hill Reporter, Raw Story and Talking Points Memo
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.
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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
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:
Mediaite, The Independent, New York Post, Axios, Vox, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, IJR, twitchy.com, 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 — 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, The Week, Axios, Wonkette, Law & Crime, Splinter, The Root, The Hill, ThinkProgress, 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
Giuliani Walks It Back: Trump Signed ‘Bullsh*t’ Letter Of Intent For Moscow Tower
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
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
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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, Taylor Marsh, Media Matters for America, ABC News and WORLD
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
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 …
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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:
Engadget, East Bay Times and The Week, more at Techmeme »
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
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 …
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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, Raw Story, Forbes, POLITICUSUSA, ABC News, Breitbart, Talking Points Memo and Axios
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, The Week, Hill Reporter and Hot Air
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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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
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
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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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
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Victoria Guida / Politico:
Fed raises rates, defying Trump
Fed raises rates, defying Trump
Discussion:
Axios, The Guardian and Breitbart
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.
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 …
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
Alex Kotch / Sludge:
Facebook Took Money From White Nationalist Candidate to Promote Neo-Nazi Podcast — A white nationalist candidate for U.S. House paid for a number of Facebook ads, including one promoting the podcast of a prominent neo-Nazi. — EDITED BY — White nationalist and former Wisconsin …
Discussion:
HuffPost
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 Resurgent, The Week and Associated Press
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:
Hit & Run, Splinter, No More Mister Nice Blog and Roll Call
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.
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
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.
Ilan Berman:
A Year Into Iran's Quiet Counterrevolution — Last December, grassroots protests erupted throughout Iran. Ordinary Iranians, discontented with worsening domestic conditions and their government's misplaced political priorities, held rallies and demonstrations that transformed …