Top Items:
New York Times:
Prosecutors Examining Ukrainians Who Flocked to Trump Inaugural — WASHINGTON — Hours after he was sworn in as America's 45th president, Donald J. Trump and his wife, Melania, swayed together to a rendition of the Frank Sinatra classic “My Way,” as hundreds of their wealthiest …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Breitbart, emptywheel, CNBC and Talking Points Memo
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Katie Rogers / New York Times:
White House Memo: At White House, Empty Desks and Unpaid Bills as Trump Shows No Sign of Relenting — At White House, Empty Desks and Unpaid Bills — The pain of the partial government shutdown bit into all corners of America — even the White House, where there is often very little sympathy …
NBC News:
Trump could take billions from disaster areas to fund wall — Under the proposal, Trump could dip into money set aside to fund civil works projects all over the country including storm-damaged areas of Puerto Rico. — President Donald Trump has been briefed on a plan that would use …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The Week, Washington Press, Splinter, Curbed, Washington Post, Daily Kos, ABC News, Hot Air, The Right Scoop, The New Civil Rights Movement, Liberty Unyielding and IJR
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Washington Post:
Trump administration lays groundwork to declare national emergency to build wall — The White House has begun laying the groundwork for a declaration of national emergency to build President Trump's border wall, including searching for unused money in the Army Corps of Engineers budget …
Discussion:
National Review, The Week, Axios, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit and Joe.My.God.
New York Times:
White House Considers Using Storm Aid Funds as a Way to Pay for the Border Wall
White House Considers Using Storm Aid Funds as a Way to Pay for the Border Wall
Discussion:
Just Security and Politico
Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Shutdown drags toward 3 weeks, without an inch of progress
POLITICO Playbook: Shutdown drags toward 3 weeks, without an inch of progress
Discussion:
East Bay Times and CNN
Kristina Peterson / Wall Street Journal:
White House Looking Into Diverting Army Corps Funds to Build Wall
White House Looking Into Diverting Army Corps Funds to Build Wall
Discussion:
Washington Post and Political Wire
Heather Caygle / Politico:
Exasperated Democrats try to rein in Ocasio-Cortez — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is already making enemies in the House Democratic Caucus — and some of its members are mounting an operation to bring the anti-establishment, democratic socialist with 2.2 million Twitter followers into the fold.
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The Intercept:
Progressives Fought for Key Committee Spots, but Centrist New Dems Came Out on Top — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez failed in her long-shot bid for a seat on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, according to an announcement from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Wednesday evening.
Discussion:
Common Dreams and Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Kenneth Lovett / New York Daily News:
Ocasio-Cortez's campaign fined by state for failing to carry workers' comp coverage
Ocasio-Cortez's campaign fined by state for failing to carry workers' comp coverage
Discussion:
Conservative News Today, The Daily Caller, Breitbart and Townhall
Marisa Schultz / New York Post:
Ocasio-Cortez passed over for influential House committee
Ocasio-Cortez passed over for influential House committee
Discussion:
Newsday, Politico, Breitbart and Daily Wire
Erica Newland / Washington Post:
I worked in the Justice Department. I hope its lawyers won't give Trump an alibi. — Erica Newland is a counsel for the nonprofit group Protect Democracy and a former attorney adviser in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. — President Trump said Thursday that he will …
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CNN:
Exclusive: Robert Mueller met with Trump's pollster — Washington (CNN)Special counsel Robert Mueller sought information directly last year from one of Donald Trump's campaign pollsters who is also a former business associate of Paul Manafort's. — Mueller's team met with pollster Tony Fabrizio …
Ben Hubbard / New York Times:
U.S. Begins Syria Withdrawal, Amid Uncertainty Over Strategy — BEIRUT, Lebanon — The United States has started withdrawing its troops from Syria, an American military spokesman said on Friday, further muddling the Trump administration's plans for disengagement from one of the Middle East's most complex battlefields.
Discussion:
Joe.My.God., The Week, Test Feed Using Fields and Vox
RELATED:
Associated Press:
US official says troop withdrawal from Syria has started — BAGHDAD (AP) — After days of back and forth over U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pullout American troops from Syria, a U.S. military official said Friday the process of withdrawal has begun, declining to comment on specific timetables or movements.
Louisa Loveluck / Washington Post:
U.S. military announces start of Syria troop withdrawal
Laura Rozen / Al-Monitor:
Pompeo's Cairo speech panned as ‘tone-deaf,’ ‘hyper-partisan,’ ‘offensive’ — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to students at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 10, 2019. — WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's stridently partisan speech in Cairo today chiding …
Discussion:
Sputnik International, BloombergQuint, Washington Press, Common Dreams, US Department of State and New York Times
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Aaron David Miller / Politico:
Pompeo's Speech vs. Trump's View of the World
Pompeo's Speech vs. Trump's View of the World
Discussion:
Power Line, Brookings and One America News Network
Martin Matishak / Politico:
‘The secretary barely testified’: Pelosi rebukes Mnuchin after Russia sanctions meeting — The Treasury secretary said he was ‘somewhat shocked’ by the remarks following a briefing about lifting sanctions on three Russian companies. — House Democrats excoriated Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, ABC News and Breitbart
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Heather Caygle / Politico:
Dems eye legal challenge as Trump threatens national emergency
Dems eye legal challenge as Trump threatens national emergency
Discussion:
Townhall
Brianna Sacks / BuzzFeed News:
“I Felt Dirty”: Former Employees Of The Veteran Crowdfunding Trump's Wall Say He Pushed Fake News To Get Rich — “He never wanted the truth. It was all just for clicks, and the more inflammatory, the better,” a former employee said. “I felt dirty writing the stuff.”
Clare Foran / CNN:
Current shutdown ties record for longest government shutdown in US history — Where can't you travel during the shutdown? — Washington (CNN)The ongoing partial government shutdown hit a new milestone on Friday by matching the record for the longest government shutdown in US history.
Discussion:
Political Wire, Mother Jones, The New Civil Rights Movement, CBS San Francisco and Vox
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Rachel Silberstein / Albany Times Union:
Legislature to tackle electoral reform on Monday
Alex Samuels / The Texas Tribune:
Tarrant County GOP's vice-chairman survives recall vote over his religion — County party officials overwhelmingly rejected attempts to remove Shahid Shafi because he's Muslim. The 139-49 vote came after the state's top Republican officials denounced the failed move to oust the trauma surgeon.
Discussion:
The Week, The New Civil Rights Movement, Hit & Run, The Hill and The Daily Caller
Alexander Burns / New York Times:
Gillibrand Hires New Aide, Signaling Presidential Run Is Imminent — Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York has hired a communications director for an expected presidential campaign, a sign that she is all but certain to join the race against President Trump and that her entry may be imminent.
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Bob Bauer / The Atlantic:
What Someone Needs to Explain to Trump About ‘National Emergencies’ — When the recently arrived White House counsel Pat Cipollone took up his post, he could have had no illusions that the president he served would make his professional life easy. Just weeks into the job …
Discussion:
New Republic
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Philly.com:
AT&T says it'll stop selling location data amid calls for federal investigation — AT&T said Thursday that it will stop selling its customers' location data to third-party service providers after a report this week said the information was winding up in the wrong hands.
RELATED:
Joseph Cox / Motherboard:
AT&T to Stop Selling Location Data to Third Parties After Motherboard Investigation
AT&T to Stop Selling Location Data to Third Parties After Motherboard Investigation
Discussion:
Gizmodo, BloombergQuint, CityLab and Engadget, more at Techmeme »
New York Times:
Farm Country Stood by Trump. But the Shutdown Is Pushing It to Breaking Point. — DENVER, Colo. — In Georgia, a pecan farmer lost out on his chance to buy his first orchard. The local Farm Service Agency office that would have processed his loan application was shut down.
Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
The International Crisis of Donald Trump — While Washington melts down over the government shutdown, the worst-case scenario for the President's foreign policy has actually happened. — Congressional committees, like the priorities of the politicians who run them, change with the times.
Tal Kopan / San Francisco Chronicle:
Kamala Harris in the Senate — California senator gains prominence by grilling Trump officials, laying the groundwork for a likely 2020 presidential run — California senator gains prominence by grilling Trump officials, laying the groundwork for a likely 2020 presidential run
Alan Butterfield / Daily Mail:
EXCLUSIVE: ‘I killed JonBenét Ramsey!’ Convicted pedophile Gary Oliva has confessed to the murder of six-year-old pageant princess in prison letters to his friend - claiming it was ‘an accident’ — Gary Oliva, 54, has long been a suspect in the murder of JonBenét Ramsey …
Discussion:
RedState, CBS Denver, The Daily Caller, TheBlaze, Daily Wire and WGN-TV
Hollie Silverman / CNN:
Due to TSA absences, Miami airport will temporarily close one terminal early for 3 days — How does the government shutdown affect you? — (CNN)Miami International Airport will close a terminal early for three days because of a shortage of Transportation Security Administration screeners, airport spokesman Greg Chin said Thursday.
Carla Marinucci / Politico:
Newsom promises unemployment insurance to California's federal workers — SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed Thursday that thousands of federal workers in California who are furloughed in the partial government shutdown will be made “quickly eligible” for unemployment insurance …
RELATED:
Marissa J. Lang / Washington Post:
‘Pay the workers, furlough Trump’: Federal workers rally at White House for end to shutdown
‘Pay the workers, furlough Trump’: Federal workers rally at White House for end to shutdown
Discussion:
The Week, Jamie Dupree - AJC and The American Spectator
David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner:
Republicans plotting to oppose Trump in 2020 waiting for Mueller and June before pulling trigger — Renegade Republicans intent on upending President Trump in 2020 are keeping their powder dry, waiting to see if legal and political controversies drive him from office first.
WV MetroNews:
Manchin considering running for Governor... again — U.S. Senator Joe Manchin is once again considering running for Governor of West Virginia, according to several people who are familiar with the Senator's thinking. — At first glance, the fact that the political veteran is even contemplating the idea may be surprising.
Steven Kull / Washington Post:
Americans don't want Trump's border wall. This is what they want instead. — Americans have lately been spectators for a gladiatorial battle between President Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The president insists on getting $5.7 billion for a border wall in exchange for agreeing to fund the government and end the shutdown.