memeorandum: Here's Everything That's Wrong With The Vanity Fair Hit Job On Brett Kavanaugh's Alma Mater (Ashe Schow/Daily Wire)

9:40 AM ET, December 23, 2018

Top Items:

Kris Schneider / ABC News:

Mick Mulvaney says DHS can't ‘spend money from Mexico’ for wall: ‘We have to get it from the treasury’ — The president's incoming chief of staff said Sunday that any money for the border wall would have to come from the Treasury Department, saying “the Department of Homeland Security can't actually spend money from Mexico.”

Discussion: Axios and CNN

The Hill:

GOP discord on wall prolongs shutdown fight — The government shutdown fight is increasingly shaping up as a battle among Republicans for the president's ear. — President Trump summoned a group of Republicans to lunch at the White House Saturday afternoon as negotiators struggled to reach an agreement to reopen the government.

New York Times:
Government Shutdown to Continue for Days as Senate Adjourns Until Thursday

Discussion: Politico, Mother Jones and Outside the Beltway

Washington Post:
Shutdown to stretch on until at least Thursday as Senate adjourns with no deal over budget, Trump's border wall

Discussion: Daily Kos and Splinter

CBS News:
Senate adjourns through Christmas with government partially shut down — live updates

Discussion: Roll Call, USA Today, ABC News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Week

New York Times:

For Trump, ‘a War Every Day,’ Waged Increasingly Alone — At the midpoint of his term, the president has grown more sure of his own judgment and more isolated from anyone else's than at any point since he took office. — WASHINGTON — When President Trump grows frustrated with advisers during meetings …

Discussion: Axios, Althouse, Mediaite, Raw Story and Mother Jones

Katelyn Polantz / CNN:

Mystery company involved in Mueller investigation appeals to Supreme Court — Washington (CNN)An unnamed, foreign government-owned company in a mystery court case is asking the Supreme Court to pause a grand jury subpoena it received related to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

Greg Stohr / Bloomberg:
Mystery Filing Appears to Ask High Court to Act in Mueller Probe

Discussion: Raw Story

Josh Gerstein / Politico: Mystery firm takes Mueller-linked subpoena fight to Supreme Court

Paul Sperry / RealClearInvestigations:

John Huber, Justice Dept. Sheriff Who Never Quite Rode Into Town — John Huber has developed almost mythical status among pro-Trump tweeters since former Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed him to investigate why the FBI spied on Trump's aides and whether they protected Hillary Clinton and her foundation over alleged misdeeds.

Josh Campbell / CNN:
Trump's relationship with Whitaker imperils the rule of law

Discussion: Mother Jones, Hullabaloo and Hot Air

Salena Zito / Washington Examiner:

Trump forgets his base is populists and conservatives — When candidate Donald J. Trump steamrolled American politics in 2016, he seemed to understand the coalition available to him was an eclectic bunch that felt its issues had been ignored. — They were both populists and conservatives, and they placed him in office.

HuffPost: The GOP Ends Its One-Party Rule In Shambles

Josh Lederman / NBC News:

White House says Erdogan promised Trump he'd finish off ISIS in Syria — What took place during Trump's phone call with the Turkish leader has been a central question in the debate over Trump's decision to pull all U.S. troops out of Syria. — In his phone call with President Donald Trump …

The Times of Israel: Departing Mattis said to cancel Israel trip, as Israel feels ‘betrayed’ on Syria

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

‘A rogue presidency’: The era of containing Trump is over — For two years, they tried to tutor and confine him. They taught him history, explained nuances and gamed out reverberations. They urged careful deliberation, counseled restraint and prepared talking points to try …

Discussion: The Atlantic

Beto O'Rourke / Beto O'Rourke:

Closed until further notice — The government of the greatest country the world has ever known, the wealthiest, most powerful nation on the planet: closed until further notice. — This shutdown - hundreds of thousands of our fellow Americans working without pay during the holidays …

Kelly Weill / The Daily Beast:

Christmas Is the Loneliest Time for Qanon Fans — The Daily Beast spoke to four Q believers who claim to have been isolated from loved ones, as well as a former Q believer who thinks the isolation helps reinforce QAnon support. — Kimberly's boyfriend was tired of hearing the QAnon videos she watched around their small apartment.

Discussion: Raw Story

Stanley Widianto / Washington Post:

Indonesia tsunami kills at least 222 after striking without warning — JAKARTA — At least 222 deaths have been reported in Indonesia on Sunday after a tsunami struck the Sunda Strait without warning, the latest disaster to befall a Pacific nation repeatedly stricken this year.

Cleve R. Wootson Jr / Washington Post:

Laura Ingraham taunted David Hogg over college rejections. He just said he got into Harvard. — In mid-December, Harvard's early-entry candidates began logging on to the application status portal to learn whether they'd been accepted to one of the world's most prestigious universities.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, New York Post and Associated Press

Washington Post:

Trump can launch nuclear weapons whenever he wants, with or without Mattis — No defense secretary can stop an impulsive president. — The abrupt and pointed resignation of Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis on Thursday alarmed official Washington. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) called him an …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

Ashe Schow / Daily Wire:

Here's Everything That's Wrong With The Vanity Fair Hit Job On Brett Kavanaugh's Alma Mater — Months after Judge Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court, Vanity Fair decided to run yet another hit piece on him by going after his alma mater, Georgetown Prep.

Nancy Cook / Politico:

‘Bushies’ creep into Trump's administration — President Donald Trump uses the term “Bushie” as shorthand for anyone he considers too establishment, thinks too conventionally, or is just, in the president's mind, a pain. — But a strange thing has been happening within his administration lately.

Discussion: Raw Story

The Times of Israel:

Simcha Rotem, last surviving fighter in Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, dies at 94 — Rotem fought Nazis in city streets, later helped rebels flee through sewers; Netanyahu says, ‘His story will forever be with our people’ — Simcha Rotem, last surviving fighter in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943 …

New York Times:

Brett McGurk, Top U.S. Diplomat Leading Fight Against Islamic State, Resigns — Brett McGurk, the special presidential envoy to the coalition fighting the Islamic State, has accelerated his resignation, telling colleagues this weekend that he could not carry out President Trump's newly declared policy of withdrawing from Syria.