Top Items:
Greg Miller / Washington Post:
Trump has concealed details of his face-to-face encounters with Putin from senior officials in administration — President Trump has gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal details of his conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, including on at least one occasion taking possession …
Discussion:
CNN, Axios, Lawyers, Guns & Money, POLITICUSUSA, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, Mediaite and The New Civil Rights Movement
New York Times:
Trump Tweets Lengthy Attack on F.B.I. Over Inquiry Into Possible Aid to Russia — WASHINGTON — President Trump on Saturday unleashed an extended assault on the F.B.I. and the special counsel's investigation, knitting together a comprehensive alternative story in which he had been framed by disgraced …
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story and Lawfare
RELATED:
Isaac Chotiner / New Yorker:
How the Times Reported the F.B.I. Counterintelligence Investigation Into President Trump: An Interview with the Journalist Adam Goldman — On Friday evening, the Times reported that, days after President Trump fired the F.B.I. director James Comey, on May 9, 2017, the Bureau opened …
Discussion:
Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Vox, Lawfare and New York Times
Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:
Report on the Trump FBI Investigation — This is the most astounding evidence of Oval Office criminality since the release of the “smoking gun” tape in 1974. — Deep in — The New York Times's latest bombshell — is one singularly deadly word, a lethal bit of shrapnel aimed directly …
NBC News:
Trump's firing of Comey triggered an FBI counterintelligence investigation. Here's what ‘counterintelligence’ entails. — It is crucial that we have a robust counterintelligence capability housed within the FBI, even if you may not see most of its work. — The authority of the FBI …
Discussion:
Lawfare, Washington Press and Patterico's Pontifications
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Why the FBI might've thought Trump could be working for Russia
Why the FBI might've thought Trump could be working for Russia
Discussion:
Hot Air, Washington Press, Talking Points Memo, IJR and The Mahablog
Washington Post:
‘In the White House waiting’: Inside Trump's defiance on the longest shutdown ever — When President Trump made a rare journey to the U.S. Capitol last week, he was expected to strategize about how to end the government shutdown he instigated. Instead, he spent the first 20-odd minutes delivering a monologue about “winning.”
Discussion:
Deadline, Raw Story, Washington Press, Townhall, The Right Scoop, Politico, Talking Points Memo and Fox News Insider
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Associated Press:
Pence's pickle: How to bargain when no one speaks for Trump — WASHINGTON (AP) — Progress made, said one. — Not so, said the other. — We'll meet again, said one. — Waste of time, said the other. — Such has been the life lately of Mike Pence, the loyal soldier dispatched …
Discussion:
KTLA and WPIX 11 New York
Darren Sands / BuzzFeed News:
In A Private Meeting, Kirsten Gillibrand Signaled She Will Run For President — New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Saturday signaled to a group of about 20 influential women that she will run for president, according to a person familiar with the meeting. — Gillibrand made her intentions clear …
Nate Cohn / New York Times:
As Trump Sticks With His Wall, His Ratings Stay Stuck in Place — The border wall remains popular only with the president's base, and shutting down the government over the issue seems unlikely to win new fans. — By insisting on a border wall, President Trump is emphasizing an issue …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
Maggie Astor / New York Times:
Julián Castro, Former Housing Secretary, Announces Presidential Run — Julián Castro, the former housing secretary and former mayor of San Antonio, announced on Saturday that he would run for president, one of the most high-profile Latino Democrats ever to seek the party's nomination.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Splinter, Townhall, TheBlaze and Liberty Unyielding
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Adam Bernstein / Washington Post:
Patricia Wald, pathbreaking federal judge who became chief of D.C. Circuit, dies at 90 — Shortly before she graduated from Yale Law School in 1951, Patricia Wald secured a job interview with a white-shoe Manhattan firm. The hiring partner was impressed with her credentials …
New York Times:
V.A. Seeks to Redirect Billions of Dollars Into Private Care — WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs is preparing to shift billions of dollars from government-run veterans' hospitals to private health care providers, setting the stage for the biggest transformation of the veterans' medical system in a generation.
The Guardian:
Blind date: ‘I left my knickers at a house party we crashed’ — What happened when Joanne, 24, barista, met Morgan, 24, children's social worker? — What were you hoping for? — A fun evening on the Guardian's dime! — First impressions? — Cute, chatty and early. — What did you talk about?
Mary McNamara / Los Angeles Times:
John Lasseter's return proves that Hollywood still does not understand the damage he did — It is so reassuring to discover that David Ellison's recent decision to hire former Pixar chief, Disney executive and billionaire frat house-atmosphere generator John Lasseter to head his company, Skydance Animation, was not one he made lightly.
Amanda Sakuma / Vox:
Megyn Kelly wanted to be the next Oprah. Her split with NBC shows why that may never happen. — Kelly is taking the reminder of her $69 million contract with her. — Megyn Kelly has officially split with NBC, taking the reminder of her $69 million contract with her …
Henry Olsen / Washington Post:
The GOP must stamp out the seeds of hatred before it's too late — Henry Olsen is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and author of “The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue-Collar Conservatism.” — The left has wrongly tarred conservatives as racists for decades.
Discussion:
Mediaite, ThinkProgress, WGNO and The Guardian
Tim Fitzsimons / NBC News:
‘Serial predator’: L.A. writer has been sounding alarm on Ed Buck for over a year — Long before a second man died in the political donor's home, writer Jasmyne Cannick has been publishing accounts from his alleged victims. — When authorities in Los Angeles found Timothy Dean dead …
Kimberly Ross / RedState:
Senator Tim Scott Excoriates the GOP For Being Silent on Rep. Steve King & Racism in Blistering Op-Ed — U.S. Rep. Tim Scott, left, speaks to the media during a news conference as South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley looks on at the South Carolina Statehouse on Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, in Columbia …
Discussion:
Mother Jones and TheBlaze
New York Times:
Who Is MacKenzie Bezos? — Her divorce from the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has made this novelist, and her private life, a public fascination. — In her 25 years of marriage to Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Bezos has been a loyal ambassador for Amazon, the company that made her and her husband the richest couple in the world.
Discussion:
The Guardian and Althouse
Yahoo News:
Russian lawyer at Trump Tower meeting says she won't come to U.S. to fight charges — The Russian lawyer who played a key role in — the infamous Trump Tower meeting with Trump campaign officials, including Donald Trump Jr., tells Yahoo News she won't return to the United States to face charges …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Ben Widdicombe / New York Times:
Their Warhols Are at the Whitney. Their Ugly Divorce Is on Display, Too. — The tawdry divorce of Libbie and David Mugrabi is not just a tabloid story. At stake are a trophy townhouse, works by Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons, and the inner-workings of one of the world's most influential art dealer families.
David Bauder / Associated Press:
TV station backs off accusation that CNN played politics — NEW YORK (AP) — An executive at a San Diego television station that accused CNN of rejecting an appearance by one of its reporters for political reasons conceded Friday he didn't really know why the network turned him down.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Washington Press, Contemptor, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, TheBlaze and KUSI-TV
Ian Livingston / Washington Post:
D.C.-area forecast: Snow develops later today, with at least several inches likely tonight through Sunday — * Winter storm warning for immediate D.C. metro area and south 4 p.m. Saturday to 1 p.m. Sunday | Winter weather advisory for northern areas 4 p.m Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday *
Jeff Hauser / HuffPost:
Prosecute Donald Trump To The Full Extent Of The Law — Want Americans to feel like the country is fair? Think the rule of law is important? Prosecute powerful people when they commit crimes. Even people who worked for a president. Even a former president.
Enjoli Francis / ABC News:
Drone captures California man surfing with dolphins — Breathtaking drone video of a pod of friendly, playful dolphins joining a surfer as he took to the waves near the coast of Ventura, California, is making the rounds on social media and bringing smiles — and wow's — to viewers.