Top Items:
Denver Post:
Sen. Cory Gardner to break with Republicans on Trump's wall — it's the right thing to do — Colorado senator's spokesman says Gardner intends to vote for clean funding bill that would open the government with no border-security strings attached. — Colorado Republican Sen. Cory Gardner's …
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Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg:
Republican Senator Joni Ernst Says She Was Raped in College — Ernst speaks in first interview since divorce details divulged — Fourth-ranking Senate Republican up for re-election in 2020 — Republican Senator Joni Ernst says that she was raped in college by someone she knew …
NBC News:
Where's the ‘art of the deal’? Trump has simply stopped negotiating to end the shutdown — First Read is your briefing from “Meet the Press” and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter. — WASHINGTON — As workers continue without pay …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, CNBC, CNN and Talking Points Memo
Jacqueline Alemany / Washington Post:
Power Up: Here's why Trump isn't budging on his border wall — Good morning and welcome to the 34th day of the government shutdown. An AP-NORC poll released last night show that 6 in 10 Americans blame President Trump for the shutdown and reject his call for the border wall.
Discussion:
Joe.My.God., Boing Boing and The Week
Washington Post:
‘Master negotiator’ or ‘nonentity’? Kushner thrusts himself into middle of shutdown debate
‘Master negotiator’ or ‘nonentity’? Kushner thrusts himself into middle of shutdown debate
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Talking Points Memo, Joe.My.God., Sputnik International, Jezebel, Raw Story, Breitbart, The Week and ThinkProgress
Marisa Fernandez / Axios:
Cory Gardner will vote to reopen government without wall funding
Cory Gardner will vote to reopen government without wall funding
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Washington Post and The Hill
Niels Lesniewski / Roll Call:
Wilbur Ross doesn't understand why furloughed federal workers need food banks — Commerce secretary suggests they should be able to take out bridge loans — Chuck Grassley reminds U.S. Olympic Committee about requirements for its tax exemption Senate sets up Thursday test votes on ending shutdown …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Vox, Shakesville, Axios, The Democrats, Jezebel and Washington Post
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Alexander Mallin / ABC News:
Trump Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says he doesn't ‘understand’ why federal workers lining up at food banks
Trump Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says he doesn't ‘understand’ why federal workers lining up at food banks
Discussion:
CNBC, Jamie Dupree - AJC and IJR
CNN:
Michael Cohen subpoenaed by Senate Intelligence committee — (CNN)President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen was subpoenaed Thursday to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee in mid-February, according to a source close to Cohen. — It is not clear how Cohen will respond.
Discussion:
Axios, Common Dreams, Conservative News Today, Raw Story and Law & Crime
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Dana Blanton / Fox News:
Fox News Poll: Voters see shutdown as bigger problem than border situation — Most voters consider the partial government shutdown a major problem or, even worse, an emergency, according to a new Fox News Poll. — After a 33-day stalemate over the funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall …
Discussion:
Washington Post, RT, NPR, Associated Press, Political Wire, CNN, Townhall and The New Neo
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New York Post:
Nathan Phillips is a liar, not a victim — Days after Nathan Phillips' story of his confrontation with a group of students in Washington was thoroughly discredited, many on the left are still rallying behind him, pretending he was somehow a victim. — This, even after both the New York Times …
Discussion:
Daily Wire, Breitbart, FOX 61, twitchy.com and Snopes.com
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Alana Goodman / Washington Examiner:
Native American activist Nathan Phillips has violent criminal record and escaped from jail as teenager
Native American activist Nathan Phillips has violent criminal record and escaped from jail as teenager
Discussion:
RedState, New York Post, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Wire, Conservative News Today, Military Times, twitchy.com and The Daily Caller
Caitlin Flanagan / The Atlantic:
The Media Botched the Covington Catholic Story
The Media Botched the Covington Catholic Story
Discussion:
Hot Air, NBC News, The Federalist, Task & Purpose, The American Conservative, Front Page Magazine, 1A and Instapundit
Cliff Sims / Vanity Fair:
“She Was a Cartoon Villain Brought to Life”: A Former Trump Aide Recalls Conway's Leaking Tactics in the West Wing Viper's Nest — In this exclusive excerpt from Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House, a former Trump aide recalls the leaking, the gossiping …
Discussion:
The Root, Talking Points Memo, Joe.My.God., Mediaite, Axios, Raw Story and Jezebel
Nahal Toosi / Politico:
Benghazi hangs over U.S. decision to leave diplomats in Venezuela — The Trump administration's decision to leave U.S. diplomats in Venezuela — despite orders from the unstable country's ruling regime — is drawing criticism from former officials who say it endangers American lives.
Discussion:
Axios, ABC News, Washington Post, One America News Network, Caracas Chronicles and KTLA
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Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
Ocasio-Cortez's misfired facts on living wage and minimum wage — “I think it's wrong that a vast majority of the country doesn't make a living wage, I think it's wrong that you can work 100 hours and not feed your kids. I think it's wrong that corporations like Walmart and Amazon can get paid …
Discussion:
CommonWealth Magazine, Washington Free Beacon and twitchy.com
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David Harsanyi / The Federalist:
25 Questions For Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
25 Questions For Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Discussion:
Econlib and Hoover Institution
Allan Smith / NBC News:
Ocasio-Cortez is lone Democrat to vote against bill to re-open government because it funded ICE
Ocasio-Cortez is lone Democrat to vote against bill to re-open government because it funded ICE
Discussion:
The Hill, Hot Air, Splinter and The Daily Caller
GQ:
The Unfinished Business of Bernie Sanders — He went from the rumpled bit player of the progressive movement to a legit presidential candidate and liberal kingmaker. But now that Sanders wields such enormous power in Democratic politics, the question is, what's he going to do with it?
Taylor Garland / Media Releases:
Air Traffic Controllers, Pilots, Flight Attendants Detail Serious Safety Concerns Due to Shutdown — Washington, D.C. — On Day 33 of the government shutdown, National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) President Paul Rinaldi, Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) President Joe DePete …
George F. Will / Washington Post:
Why do people such as Lindsey Graham come to Congress? — Back in the day, small rural airports had textile windsocks, simple and empty things that indicated which way the wind was blowing. The ubiquitous Sen. Lindsey O. Graham has become a political windsock, and as such, he …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Edward Morrissey / The Week:
Why Trump's immigration compromise is a shrewd move — For the past month, Democrats have insisted they will not negotiate with President Trump while the government remains in partial shutdown. The president has spent most of that time insisting he will not negotiate on his demand for $5.7 billion in funding for the border wall.
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Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
Group launches ‘Draft Ann Coulter’ for president — A political action committee that pushes for stricter immigration controls said Thursday it is launching a campaign to draft conservative writer Ann Coulter to challenge President Trump. — Americans for Legal Immigration PAC has been among …
Discussion:
Raw Story
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Kevin Poulsen / The Daily Beast:
This Time It's Russia's Emails Getting Leaked — The Russian oligarchs and Kremlin apparatchiks spared by Wikileaks in the past will not be so lucky this week, when transparency activists drop a massive archive of leaked docs. — Russian oligarchs and Kremlin apparatchiks may find …
Discussion:
Defense One
Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
Why the 2020 Democratic primary could turn into ‘Lord of the Flies’ — Top party insiders see a real possibility that superdelegates could play a role at a brokered convention. — WASHINGTON — The 2020 Democratic presidential race has just begun, but party insiders and strategists …
Reid Wilson / The Hill:
Kamala Harris faces Democrats' Rocky Mountain divide — © Getty Images, The Hill photo illustration — If Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) wins her party's nomination to run against President Trump, she will have broken through one of the impenetrable barriers of modern politics.
Brian Stelter / CNN:
Is it time for journalists to sign off Twitter? — New York (CNN Business)A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. You can sign up for free right here. — “Never tweet.” — Sometimes the insanity on Twitter makes my brain hurt. Sometimes the hatred makes my heart ache.
Brian Faler / Politico:
‘Extraordinarily angry and very upset taxpayers’: IRS faces chaotic tax season amid shutdown — The IRS is facing tax season amid the shutdown with new rules that could complicate filing for millions of Americans — and a potential shortage of workers to handle the returns …
Ezra Klein / Vox:
The political scientist Donald Trump should read — What Trump would do if he really wanted his wall. — It's not often I run across political science that genuinely changes my understanding of how American politics works. But Frances Lee's research has done exactly that. Twice.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast
Max Abelson / Bloomberg:
This Is What Happens When You Try to Sue Your Boss — Millions of American workers sign away legal rights without knowing what they're in for: Arbitration Hell. — Illustrations by Michael Deforge — :00 — The proof that the fight between Alex Beigelman and UBS had descended …