Top Items:
Kalhan Rosenblatt / NBC News:
Dow drops 653 points in worst Christmas Eve trading day ever — The plummet followed a tumultuous few days in Washington, amid reports that Trump was discussing how to remove Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. — Both major stock indexes nosedived on Monday in the worst …
Discussion:
Washington Post, CNBC and New York Times
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CNBC:
Dow dives 600 points to below 22,000, S&P 500 enters bear market - worst Christmas Eve ever — Trump resumed his attack on the Fed on Monday, tweeting that the central bank is “the only problem” with the U.S. economy. — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held calls on Sunday with the heads …
Discussion:
Politico, TheStreet, The Guardian, FOX31 Denver, Deadline, Contemptor, The New Civil Rights Movement, The Week, Joe.My.God., Mediaite, Raw Story, Washington Times and twitchy.com
Washington Post:
Markets stage one of worst Christmas Eves ever, closing down more than 600 points as Trump blames Fed for stock losses in a tweet — The Dow Jones industrial average followed its worst week in a decade with a 650- point drop Monday, and President Trump once again took to Twitter to interject himself into financial markets.
Alan Rappeport / New York Times:
Trump Renews Attack on Fed as Mnuchin Tries to Calm Markets — With stocks extending their slide Monday, President Trump took another swipe at the Federal Reserve, writing on Twitter that the “only problem our economy has is the Fed” as he continued to blame the central bank for recent volatility in the financial markets.
Washington Post:
Treasury secretary startles Wall Street with unusual pre-Christmas calls to top bank CEOs — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin startled financial analysts, bankers and economists on Sunday by issuing an unusual s declaring that the nation's six largest banks had ample credit to extend to American businesses and households.
Discussion:
One America News Network, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, Daily Wire, skippy the bush kangaroo and Splinter
CNN:
Dow's wild ride continues after Steven Mnuchin fails to calm markets — New York (CNN Business)Markets took a wild ride on Monday, and the Dow briefly fell below 22,000, after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's attempts to calm investors backfired. — The Dow, which crossed 22,000 …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The Week, FOX2now.com, Bloomberg, twitchy.com and New York Times
Bloomberg:
U.S. Stocks Hit 19-Month Low as D.C. Tumult Weighs: Markets Wrap — Trump team attempts to assure markets over Powell, liquidity — Many exchanges are shut or will close early on Christmas Eve — U.S. stocks tumbled to the lowest since May 2017 as the turmoil in Washington kept investors …
Annie Lowrey / The Atlantic:
What Was Steve Mnuchin Thinking? Three Possibilities
What Was Steve Mnuchin Thinking? Three Possibilities
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Hullabaloo, Raw Story and The Guardian
Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Shutdown day 3, and Mnuchin talks with bank CEOs about liquidity
POLITICO Playbook: Shutdown day 3, and Mnuchin talks with bank CEOs about liquidity
Discussion:
Financial Times and One America News Network
Emily Flitter / New York Times:
Markets Drop as Trump Picks on Fed While Mnuchin Offers Unexpected Assurances of ‘Ample Liquidity’
Markets Drop as Trump Picks on Fed While Mnuchin Offers Unexpected Assurances of ‘Ample Liquidity’
Binyamin Appelbaum / New York Times:
Stock Market Rout Has Trump Fixated on Fed Chair Powell
Stock Market Rout Has Trump Fixated on Fed Chair Powell
Discussion:
Politico, Mediaite, Bloomberg and The Guardian
Dave McMenamin / ESPN:
LeBron James apologizes for ‘Jewish money’ Instagram post — LOS ANGELES — LeBron James apologized Sunday for lyrics he shared on his Instagram account over the weekend that included the line, “getting that Jewish money.” — “Apologies, for sure, if I offended anyone,” …
Discussion:
Breitbart, The Root, AOL, twitchy.com, The Guardian and Jewish Telegraphic Agency
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Benjamin Fearnow / Newsweek:
Lebron James Posts ‘Jewish Money’ Selfie With 21 Savage Rap Lyrics, Angering Conservative Critics — Los Angeles Lakers superstar Lebron James landed himself in a second racially-charged controversy this weekend after posting rap lyrics about “Jewish money.”
Discussion:
Front Page Magazine, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart and The Daily Caller
Andrew Ross Sorkin / New York Times:
How Banks Unwittingly Finance Mass Shootings — The New York Times reviewed hundreds of documents including police reports, bank records and investigator notes from a decade of mass shootings. Many of the killers built their stockpiles of high-powered weapons with the convenience of credit.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Axios and twitchy.com
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Roberts, Leader of Supreme Court's Conservative Majority, Fights Perception That It Is Partisan — “We don't work as Democrats or Republicans,” he has said, a theme he has returned to while trying to strike a delicate balance as the chief justice. — WASHINGTON — In his first 13 years …
Discussion:
SCOTUSblog
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Peter Hamby / Vanity Fair:
“They Are Suspicious of Beto”: Why Are Democrats Trying to Annihilate an O'Rourke Campaign Before It Has Even Started? — The howls about O'Rourke from the Chapo wing of the Internet say as much about Bernie Sanders's diminished stature as they do about the golden boy from Texas.
Discussion:
Politico
Matt Rocheleau / BostonGlobe.com:
Actor Kevin Spacey faces criminal complaint in alleged sexual assault at Nantucket bar — Actor Kevin Spacey faces a felony charge for allegedly sexually assaulting the teenage son of former Boston WCVB-TV news anchor Heather Unruh at a Nantucket bar in July 2016, authorities said Monday.
John A. Nagl / New York Times:
Jim Mattis and I Fought Together. No One Called Him Mad Dog. — Jim Mattis was a scholar of war, blunt, courageous and loyal to his troops. Our enemies will cheer his departure. — Mr. Nagl is a former Army officer. — I met Jim Mattis in Anbar Province, Iraq, in 2004.
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David Axe / The Daily Beast:
Trump's Incoming Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan Pushed Military to Buy Weapons It Didn't Want — Patrick Shanahan's corporate allies have thrived under Trump. Now he's going to be Secretary of Defense. — By DAVID AXE12.23.18 6:37 PM ET — By tapping former Boeing executive Patrick Shanahan …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Just Security, Los Angeles Times, Mediaite, USNI News, Raw Story, Associated Press and Breitbart
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Dan Lamothe / Washington Post:
Patrick Shanahan, Trump's pick for acting defense secretary, steps into spotlight after Mattis's ouster
Patrick Shanahan, Trump's pick for acting defense secretary, steps into spotlight after Mattis's ouster
Discussion:
Task & Purpose and Washington Monthly
David Brown / Politico:
Meet Trump's acting Pentagon chief
Meet Trump's acting Pentagon chief
Discussion:
Politico, The Daily Beast and Washington Post
Ari Natter / Bloomberg:
Here's Why Closing the Government Actually Costs Taxpayers Money — Fees go uncollected, workers will get back pay for not working — ‘Everything from groceries to cars will be affected’ — Even though paychecks stop going out to hundreds of thousands of workers …