Top Items:
BuzzFeed News:
President Trump Directed His Attorney Michael Cohen To Lie To Congress About The Moscow Tower Project — President Donald Trump directed his longtime attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, according to two federal law enforcement officials involved …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Patterico's Pontifications, The Atlantic, RedState, ThinkProgress, The Intercept, New York Magazine, Vox, Talking Points Memo, Townhall, CNN, Lawfare, Washington Post, National Review, Shareblue Media, Politico, Axios, Al Jazeera, Political Wire, Roll Call, Reuters, The Guardian, Breitbart, East Bay Times, PoliticalCharge, Just Security, Outside the Beltway, myfox8.com, Shakesville, emptywheel, The Gateway Pundit, Common Dreams, Spectator USA, Hullabaloo, Raw Story, Law & Crime, Daily Kos, Faithwire, Washington Free Beacon, FOX31 Denver, The Real Deal New York, Splinter, POLITICUSUSA, The Week, Florida Politics, Contemptor, Towleroad Gay News, USA Today, The New Civil Rights Movement, Mediaite, KAJ-TV, Taylor Marsh, Boing Boing, The Daily Beast, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mother Jones, The Daily Caller, Above the Law and Balloon Juice
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CNN:
Trump startled by cozy Barr-Mueller relationship — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump was startled Tuesday as he watched television coverage of his nominee for attorney general describing a warm relationship with the special counsel Robert Mueller in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
Colby Hall / Mediaite:
BuzzfeedNews Bombshell Reporter: No We Have Not Seen the Evidence Supporting Our Report — Anthony Cormier is one of the two investigative reporter at BuzzfeedNews who co-authored the bombshell report published Thursday night — a report which claimed President Donald Trump directed …
Discussion:
RedState, Chicks On The Right, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and twitchy.com
Andrew Egger / The Bulwark:
Trump, Cohen, and Buzzfeed: Is This the Big One? — If the new Buzzfeed report is true, the legal debates about Trump and obstruction just got blown out of the water. — Buzzfeed News is reporting, based on the testimony of two anonymous law enforcement sources, that special counsel Robert Mueller …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and The Week
Tim Elfrink / Washington Post:
Democrats demand investigation after report that Trump ordered Michael Cohen to lie to Congress — Democratic leaders reacted with fury and demanded an investigation late Thursday following a new report that President Trump personally directed his former attorney, Michael Cohen …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, CNN, The Daily Caller, Roll Call, Media Matters for America, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Spectator USA, Vox, The Week, Axios, VICE News, Joe.My.God. and Political Wire
Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
The circular firing squad: Mueller targets turn on each other — Rudy Giuliani sent an unmistakable message Wednesday night: It's everyone for themselves. — During a CNN interview, President Donald Trump's personal lawyer blurted out that the only person he knows about who didn't collude with Russia was Trump himself.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Raw Story, Washington Press, BuzzFeed News, RELEVANT Magazine, Mediaite and USA Today
Mary Clare Jalonick / Associated Press:
Congress to probe report that Trump directed lawyer to lie — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic chairmen of two House committees pledged Friday to investigate a report that President Donald Trump directed his personal attorney to lie to Congress about negotiations over a real estate project in Moscow during the 2016 election.
Discussion:
National Review and POLITICUSUSA
Philip Bump / Washington Post:
14 Republican senators are on-record holding a president accountable for obstruction: Bill Clinton
Jacqueline Alemany / Washington Post:
Power Up: Cohen bombshell could significantly change Mueller debate
Discussion:
Vox, Talking Points Memo and CNN
Wall Street Journal:
Lawmakers to Investigate Report That Trump Directed Cohen to Lie to Congress
Discussion:
Mediaite
Washington Post:
McConnell courting Pompeo to run for an open Senate seat in Kansas — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has personally courted Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to consider leaving his post to run for the Senate, according to people familiar with the effort, a move …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and The Daily Caller
RELATED:
Jordain Carney / The Hill:
McConnell blocks bill to reopen most of government
Discussion:
Conservative News Today, Splinter, Joe.My.God. and The Gateway Pundit
Mitch McConnell / Washington Post:
Behold the Democrat Politician Protection Act
Discussion:
Splinter, The Week and electionlawblog.org
The White House:
Letter from President Donald J. Trump to Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi — Speaker of the House of Representatives — Dear Madame Speaker: — Due to the Shutdown, I am sorry to inform you that your trip to Brussels, Egypt, and Afghanistan has been postponed.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Townhall, New York Daily News, New York Times, The Hill, Breitbart, Common Dreams, Daily Wire and IJR
RELATED:
Brent Scher / Washington Free Beacon:
PICTURE: Trump Returns CODEL Luggage to Pelosi's Office
Discussion:
RedState, CNN, The Daily Caller, Conservative News Today, Washington Times, The Gateway Pundit and The Right Scoop
The Daily Beast:
What Trump Just Wrecked by Canceling Pelosi's Trip to Afghanistan
Discussion:
Politico, CBS San Francisco, KAJ-TV and CNN
Mark Landler / New York Times:
Washington as Unruly Sandbox: Squabbles, Antics and Tantrums
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, Townhall, CNN and Washington Post
Heather Caygle / Politico:
'Feel like I'm going to strangle you': Shutdown breaks Congress' spirit — A dismal mood has descended on Capitol Hill as the shutdown concludes its 27th day. — The House speaker and the president are at war. A bipartisan Senate push to reopen the government failed for a second consecutive week.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos and Raw Story
RELATED:
Debbie Wasserman Schultz / USA Today:
Why I refuse to walk with the Washington Women's March — It should not be this difficult to condemn hate speech. Until national leaders get it right, local marches will carry the mission forward. — CONNECT — I walked away from the Women's March on Washington two years ago absolutely electrified …
Discussion:
Townhall, Commentary, New York Times, Fortune, NPR, Washington Post and Washington Free Beacon
Robin Opsahl / Des Moines Register:
Rep. Steve King raising money off controversy from white nationalism, supremacy comments — The House has approved a Democratic measure disapproving of Republican Rep. Steve King's comments about white supremacy. The nine-term Iowa congressman was among those supporting the measure, which was approved, 416-1.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, WHOTV, POLITICUSUSA, Joe.My.God., Roll Call, The Hill, Political Wire and Splinter
Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
“Are We Really Where We Are?”: Trump, Putin, and Washington's Unbelievable New Normal — Regardless of whether Trump ends up making a speech on Capitol Hill on January 29th, the state of the union is not strong, and everyone knows it. — Sunday will mark the second anniversary of Donald Trump's Presidency.
Axios:
Exclusive: Former aide describes in new book how Trump demanded names of leakers — President Trump was frustrated about leaks — specifically leaks attributed to “White House officials” — that were critical of him. — Behind the scenes: Cliff Sims, a young White House communications aide …
Discussion:
US Macmillan, Joe.My.God., Mediaite and The Week
CBC News:
Twins get some ‘mystifying’ results when they put 5 ancestry DNA kits to the test — Chief geneticist at a popular ancestry company admits it's ‘kind of a science and an art’ — One set of identical twins, two different ancestry profiles. — At least that's the suggestion …
Julia Ainsley / NBC News:
Trump admin weighed targeting migrant families, speeding up deportation of children — A draft plan obtained by NBC News also shows officials wanted to specifically target parents in migrant families for increased prosecutions. — WASHINGTON — Trump administration officials weighed speeding …
Discussion:
Common Dreams, POLITICUSUSA, ABC News, CNN, Shakesville, Hit & Run, The Daily Beast, Daily Kos and Washington Post, more at Techmeme »
Dara Lind / Vox:
Even with the shutdown, the Trump administration is still suing to take land for the border wall — Most federal lawsuits have been postponed due to shutdown — except where a delay would compromise “the safety of human life.” — President Donald Trump hasn't yet gotten Democrats to acquiesce …
Discussion:
ABC News
RELATED:
Ted Hesson / Politico:
DOJ hiring attorneys to handle property seizures for border wall
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:
So, I Got an Email From Matthew Whitaker's Wife — In her message, Marci Whitaker says the Mueller investigation is “wrapping up” and that the government shutdown is affecting her family's ability to earn a living. — On Monday, Dahlia Lithwick and I wrote an article in Slate arguing …
Discussion:
Just Security, CNN, Mediaite and Talking Points Memo
Alexandra DeSanctis / National Review:
Republican Senators Skip Vote on Key Pro-Life Legislation — On Thursday evening, the night before the annual March for Life, the Senate voted on the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, a measure to prohibit taxpayer-funded abortion, which would have codified the Hyde Amendment …
Brett McGurk / Washington Post:
Trump said he beat ISIS. Instead, he's giving it new life. — The president decided to withdraw U.S. forces without consulting allies or understanding the facts on the ground. — On Dec. 17, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asked for an important call with me and a few …
Discussion:
Political Wire
Herman Wong / Washington Post:
Congressman who yelled ‘go back to Puerto Rico’ apologizes to Latino colleague — A Republican congressman apologized for shouting “Go back to Puerto Rico” on the House floor on Thursday, said Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.), who Democrats had believed was the target of the verbal attack.
RELATED:
Juliegrace Brufke / The Hill:
Democrats will push to retake vote on funding government after chaos on the floor
Discussion:
Splinter
Carla Herreria / HuffPost:
Vice President Says Outrage Over Wife Karen Pence's Discriminatory School Is ‘Offensive’ — Mike Pence's wife took a job teaching art at a school that bans LGBTQ families and individuals, HuffPost first reported Tuesday. — Vice President Mike Pence defended second lady Karen Pence's decision …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Towleroad Gay News and PinkNews
RELATED:
David French / National Review:
Karen Pence, Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been, Part of a Christian Ministry?
Discussion:
Faithwire, The American Conservative, NB Blog, Washington Post, Mashable, Splinter, Washington Times, TheBlaze, CNN, Townhall and DCist
Jason Rezaian / Washington Post:
‘Their job is to scare me’: Jason Rezaian describes first terrifying hours inside Iranian prison — The author, then The Washington Post's correspondent in Tehran, and his wife, Yeganeh, were arrested by Iranian authorities on July 22, 2014. Jason would spend 18 months in Iran's Evin prison …
Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Hogan stokes speculation he'll primary Trump in 2020 — Republican Gov. Larry Hogan is acting a lot like a guy who wants to run against Donald Trump in 2020 — and the president's reelection team is taking notice. — The second-term Maryland governor has been implicitly going after Trump in speeches …
Discussion:
Mediaite
Caitlin Oprysko / Politico:
Trump touts story about finding ‘prayer rugs’ along border — President Donald Trump on Friday sought to prop up his administration's claims that migrants who enter the U.S. illegally along the U.S.-Mexico border don't come from only Mexico and Central America, in an attempt to justify his demands for a border wall.
Discussion:
Washington Post, VICE News and The Daily Beast
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