memeorandum: Judge orders North Korea to pay more than $500 million in damages for Otto Warmbier's death (Susan Svrluga/Washington Post)

2:50 PM ET, December 24, 2018

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: Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, CNBC and New York Times

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, Associated Press, TheStreet, Raw Story, FOX31 Denver, The Guardian, Deadline, Contemptor, The New Civil Rights Movement, The Week, Joe.My.God., Mediaite and Washington Times

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.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

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.

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, TheStreet, KTLA, The Week, FOX2now.com, Bloomberg and twitchy.com

Annie Lowrey / The Atlantic:

What Was Steve Mnuchin Thinking? Three Possibilities — The Treasury secretary put out an alarming—and confusing—press release on Sunday evening. — Imagine having a runny nose, itchy eyes, congestion, and a sore throat, and your doctor telling you that you shouldn't worry about cancer …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Bloomberg, Hullabaloo and Raw Story

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: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, Daily Wire, skippy the bush kangaroo, Splinter and New York Times

Emily Flitter / New York Times: Stocks Close in on Bear Market as Trump and Mnuchin Fuel Christmas Eve Drop

Bloomberg: U.S. Stocks Hit 19-Month Low as D.C. Tumult Weighs: Markets Wrap

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Shutdown day 3, and Mnuchin talks with bank CEOs about liquidity

Discussion: Financial Times and One America News Network

Binyamin Appelbaum / New York Times:
Stock Market Rout Has Trump Fixated on Fed Chair Powell

Discussion: Mediaite, Politico, Bloomberg, The Guardian and Mother Jones

Jason Lange / Reuters: Top Trump official calls bankers, will convene ‘Plunge Protection Team’

Ryan Parker / Hollywood Reporter:

Kevin Spacey Charged With Felony Sexual Assault — The actor — who posted a bizarre 'House of Cards'-style video address on Monday — will be arraigned in Massachusetts on Jan. 7. — The Cape and Islands, Massachusetts, district attorney announced Monday that Kevin Spacey will face …

Discussion: YouTube, Daily Wire and CBS Boston

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.

Discussion: KTLA and Deadline

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, Algemeiner.com, The Root, AOL, twitchy.com, The Daily Caller, The Guardian and Jewish Telegraphic Agency

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: The Daily Caller, Front Page Magazine, The Gateway Pundit and Breitbart

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

Jane C. Timm / NBC News:

Mystery case that appears tied to Mueller investigation reaches Supreme Court — The matter involving a foreign company remains shrouded in unusual secrecy. — A legal battle that appears to involve Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation has reached the Supreme Court.

Discussion: Politico

Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Roberts, Leader of Supreme Court's Conservative Majority, Fights Perception That It Is Partisan

Discussion: SCOTUSblog

Kevin Daley / The Daily Caller: Supreme Court Intervenes In Apparent Mystery Mueller Case

Kevin Bohn / CNN:
Chief Justice pauses contempt order for mystery company in Mueller investigation

Discussion: Hot Air

Supreme Court of the United States:
Proceedings and Orders — Application (18A669) for a stay …

Discussion: BuzzFeed News

Susan Svrluga / Washington Post:

Judge orders North Korea to pay more than $500 million in damages for Otto Warmbier's death — A federal court judge issued an order Monday for North Korea to pay the parents of Otto Warmbier more than $500 million, holding the country liable for the death of their son.

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

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.

NBC News: Full Durbin: 'Depth of dysfunction I've never seen in Washington'

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 …