Top Items:
Benjamin Weiser / New York Times:
Veselnitskaya, Russian in Trump Tower Meeting, Is Charged in Case That Shows Kremlin Ties — [What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] — Natalia V. Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who in 2016 met with Trump campaign officials in Trump Tower …
Discussion:
Axios, Daily Kos, Political Wire and Mediaite
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Russian lawyer at Trump Tower meeting charged in separate case — A Russian lawyer whose role at a 2016 meeting at Trump Tower has come under scrutiny from special counsel Robert S. Mueller III was charged Tuesday in a separate case with obstructing justice in a money-laundering investigation.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Kareem Fahim / Washington Post:
Turkish leader Erdogan scolds and snubs Bolton over Kurdish fighters — ISTANBUL — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan scolded and snubbed visiting White House national security adviser John Bolton on Tuesday, saying that he had made a “very serious mistake” by demanding protection for U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria.
Discussion:
NPR, Hit & Run, The American Conservative, TheBlaze, Al Jazeera, Just Security and Sputnik International
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New York Times:
Bolton Walked Back Syria Statement. His Disdain for Debate Helped Produce It. — WASHINGTON — John R. Bolton found himself last weekend in a familiar but dangerous spot for any White House aide: cleaning up after his boss, President Trump, announced the withdrawal of 2,000 troops from Syria …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, The Week, Al-Monitor, Washington Post, Fox News, Hit & Run, TheBlaze, Vox, The Guardian and Bloomberg
DailySabah:
A soft coup against Donald Trump — If U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton thought yesterday's visit was going to be a walk in the park, he must have had a rude awakening thanks to the lukewarm reception in the Turkish capital Ankara. In retrospect, it was probably a bad idea …
Discussion:
The Right Scoop
Carlotta Gall / New York Times:
Erdogan Snubs Bolton Over Comments That Turkey Must Protect Kurds
Erdogan Snubs Bolton Over Comments That Turkey Must Protect Kurds
Discussion:
CNN, Daily Wire, Al Jazeera and Wall Street Journal
Elaina Plott / The Atlantic:
Why Mike Pence Couldn't End the Shutdown — Mike Pence was set up to fail. — It seemed that way a lot over the past three weeks. In the days ahead of the federal funding deadline in December, it was the vice president who told Senate Republicans that the president would back a short-term spending bill to keep the government open.
Discussion:
Raw Story
RELATED:
Sarah Ferris / Politico:
House GOP leaders fear support eroding for Trump's shutdown fight
House GOP leaders fear support eroding for Trump's shutdown fight
Discussion:
Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, Talking Points Memo and The Week
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
As shutdown effects loom for normal Americans, Trump is feeling pressure to solve the stalemate
As shutdown effects loom for normal Americans, Trump is feeling pressure to solve the stalemate
Discussion:
NBC News, Raw Story and Media Matters for America
Kurt Bardella / USA Today:
News networks should not air Trump Wall speech without fact-checking first — On the same day Donald Trump asked broadcast networks for air time, he attacked the news media as ‘the enemy of the people.’ — President Donald Trump announced Monday that he “will Address the Nation …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Reuters, The Nation, IJR, Townhall, Mediaite and Fox News Insider
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Brian Stelter / CNN:
Trump's border address sparks extraordinary debate inside and outside TV networks — (CNN)President Trump is tapping into one of the powers of the presidency, a televised Oval Office address, for his first time. He will receive wall-to-wall coverage for his pro-wall speech on Tuesday night.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Splinter and The Week, more at Mediagazer »
Rebecca Ballhaus / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Undecided on Emergency Declaration for Border Wall, Officials Say
Trump Undecided on Emergency Declaration for Border Wall, Officials Say
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications
Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Networks giving Trump free airtime on Tuesday refused to air Obama's 2014 immigration speech
Networks giving Trump free airtime on Tuesday refused to air Obama's 2014 immigration speech
Discussion:
National Review, IJR, Shakesville, Common Dreams, The Week, CNN, POLITICUSUSA, The Hill, Breitbart, Contemptor and ImmigrationProf Blog, more at Mediagazer »
Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite:
Kellyanne Conway Corrects Sarah Sanders' Border Terrorist Claim: ‘Unfortunate Misstatement’ — Kellyanne Conway said her colleague, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, made an “unfortunate misstatement” on illegal immigration at the border on Fox News.
Discussion:
Splinter, Politico, Los Angeles Times and Shareblue Media
RELATED:
Julia Ainsley / NBC News:
Only six immigrants in terrorism database stopped by CBP at southern border in first half of 2018 — The low number contradicts statements by Trump administration officials. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered only six immigrants on the U.S-Mexico border in the first half …
Discussion:
Politico, The Week, Media Matters for America, Washington Post, emptywheel, twitchy.com, HuffPost, Raw Story, Fortune, Monitor, CBS News, Townhall, Mother Jones, Associated Press, Mediaite, ThinkProgress, New York Daily News, Balloon Juice, Hullabaloo, Talking Points Memo, Vox, Axios, Political Wire and Splinter
Ken Meyer / Mediaite:
Ex-Border Patrol Agent Suggests Trump Admin Lying About Only Six Suspected Terrorists Detained — National Border Patrol Council president and Fox News regular Brandon Judd bashed NBC on Tuesday for their report on how many terrorists U.S. Customs and Border Protection supposedly stopped at the southern border.
Ilya Somin / Reason:
Eminent Domain, Emergency Powers, and Trump's Wall — President Donald Trump claims he can use an “emergency” declaration to secure funding to use eminent domain to acquire land for his border wall, even without any additional congressional authorization. The validity of this claim is dubious at best.
Discussion:
Just Security, Hot Air, Patterico's Pontifications, Vox, Lawfare, Outside the Beltway, Little Green Footballs, The Hill, USA Today and CBS San Francisco
RELATED:
Andrea Pitzer / Washington Post:
If Trump declares a state of emergency, he might actually cause one
If Trump declares a state of emergency, he might actually cause one
Discussion:
Raw Story
Ryan Struyk / CNN:
Trump's wall would be the 32nd active national emergency
Trump's wall would be the 32nd active national emergency
Discussion:
twitchy.com, Raw Story, Washington Post and Mediaite
Joe Bruno / WSOC-TV:
Emergency Exit: Mark Harris trips alarm trying to evade Channel 9 in uptown — CHARLOTTE, N.C. - After Republican 9th Congressional District candidate Mark Harris finished addressing Mecklenburg County Republicans at the Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center Monday night, reporters …
Discussion:
Political Wire, Raw Story, Joe.My.God. and Talking Points Memo
Jim Swift / The Bulwark:
Trolls and Grifters: David Reaboi and Charlie Kirk Edition — “The crazies have started rolling into Kandahar like it's a f—king bathtub drain.” — It is axiomatic that while change creates opportunity, chaotic change creates the most dramatic opportunities for the most unsavory actors.
Discussion:
twitchy.com, Townhall, Mediaite and Conservative News Today
RELATED:
Greg Stohr / Bloomberg:
Supreme Court Receives New Filing in Apparent Mueller Case — A new U.S. Supreme Court filing suggests the public may soon get more information about a mystery case believed to be tied to the criminal investigation being conducted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
RELATED:
Lydia Wheeler / The Hill:
Ginsburg misses second day in a row at Supreme Court
Ginsburg misses second day in a row at Supreme Court
Discussion:
Daily Wire and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Margaret Brennan / CBS News:
U.S. envoy working on Qatar dispute resigns from State Department — Anthony Zinni, a retired Marine Corps general and former head of U.S. Central Command who has been working as an envoy for the Trump administration to resolve a dispute with Qatar, has resigned from his position with the State Department.
Discussion:
Task & Purpose and The American Conservative
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
U.S. Still Leans Conservative, but Liberals Keep Recent Gains — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans' assessment of their political ideology was unchanged in 2018 compared with the year prior when 35% on average described themselves as conservative, 35% as moderate and 26% as liberal.
Discussion:
NTK Network
Steven Erlanger / New York Times:
U.S. Downgraded E.U.'s Diplomatic Status (but Didn't Say Anything) — BRUSSELS — The Trump administration downgraded the diplomatic status of the European Union's delegation to the United States last year without making a formal announcement or informing the bloc about the change, a European official said on Tuesday.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
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Brad Plumer / New York Times:
U.S. Carbon Emissions Surged in 2018 Even as Coal Plants Closed — WASHINGTON — America's carbon dioxide emissions rose by 3.4 percent in 2018, the biggest increase in eight years, according to a preliminary estimate published Tuesday. — Strikingly, the sharp uptick in emissions occurred …
Discussion:
The Guardian, CNN, Washington Post, Rhodium Group, Mother Jones, The Daily Caller, Common Dreams and The Week
Antonio Olivo / Washington Post:
Corey Stewart, the firebrand Virginia Republican, will leave politics in December — Corey A. Stewart, the Republican firebrand whose fights to crack down on illegal immigration and preserve Confederate monuments reflected the nation's increasingly polarized political landscape …
Patricia Mazzei / New York Times:
'It's Just Too Much': A Florida Town Grapples With a Shutdown After a Hurricane — MARIANNA, Fla. — A federal prison here in Florida's rural Panhandle lost much of its roof and fence during Hurricane Michael in October, forcing hundreds of inmates to relocate to a facility in Yazoo City, Miss., more than 400 miles away.
Los Angeles Times:
Second body found in West Hollywood home of Democratic donor Ed Buck — A man's body was found early Monday in the West Hollywood home of prominent Democratic donor Ed Buck, authorities said. — Deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's West Hollywood station responded …
RELATED:
James Arkin / Politico:
Romney gets chilly reception from GOP senators after Trump attack — Sen. James Lankford will occasionally take issue with President Donald Trump's tactics and rhetoric. But he's not sure what Mitt Romney was thinking with his biting condemnation of the president before he was even sworn into office.
Discussion:
Breitbart and American Thinker
Mike Allen / Axios:
The next juicy White House memoir comes out in 3 weeks, and ABC scored the first interview with its author — President Trump is curious — and White House aides, alumni and reporters are anxious — ahead of the Jan. 29 publication of the tightly embargoed “Team of Vipers,” a delicious, unsparing memoir by former Trump aide Cliff Sims.
Discussion:
Joe.My.God.