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No thank you, Mr. Pecker — Something unusual happened to me yesterday. Actually, for me it wasn't just unusual—it was a first. I was made an offer I couldn't refuse. Or at least that's what the top people at the National Enquirer thought. I'm glad they thought that, because it emboldened them to put it all in writing.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Washington Post, HuffPost, Bloomberg, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Lawfare, Deadline, The Verge, GeekWire, Daily Kos, Gizmodo, Joe.My.God., Engadget, KTLA and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »
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Jeff Bezos Accuses National Enquirer of Blackmail — SEATTLE — Jeff Bezos, Amazon's chief executive and the world's richest man, accused the owner of The National Enquirer on Thursday of trying “extortion and blackmail” to stop his investigation into how his private text messages and photos …

Bezos says Enquirer threatened to publish revealing pics
Discussion:
Washington Post and Mediaite


Virginia Sen. Tommy Norment was an editor for VMI yearbook filled with racist photos and slurs — Blackface and Confederate flag images are seen from the 1968 edition of Bomb: Virginia Military Institute's yearbook. — Virginia Senator Thomas K. Norment arrives on the floor of the Senate chamber on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019.


Trump furious after Schiff hires former NSC aides to help oversee his administration — Washington (CNN)House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff has hired officials with experience at the National Security Council to help with its oversight of President Donald Trump's administration, according to a committee aide.
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Adam Schiff, Glenn Simpson and their Forrest Gump-like encounter in Aspen — The new House Intelligence Committee chairman, Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), has proven to be his party's most effective antagonist toward President Trump. And now, with the new powers of being chairman, he is drawing both new weapons and new scrutiny.
Discussion:
The Last Refuge, Mediaite, Daily Kos and The Daily Caller


Trump Fears Schiff Is Recruiting White House Employees for Probe — Intelligence chairman hired former national security official — Schiff said not to be trying to learn about Trump via hires — Donald Trump believes House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff is trying …
Discussion:
Shareblue Media, Mediaite, Axios, Washington Press, Daily Kos, FiveThirtyEight, Fox News Insider, Hullabaloo, The Gateway Pundit, POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story


Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Releases Green New Deal Outline — Whether it's a deadly cold snap or a hole in an Antarctic glacier or a terrifying new report, there seem to be constant reminders now of the dangers that climate change poses to humanity. — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez …
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Townhall, Shareblue Media, The Week, Politico, RedState, The Hill, HuffPost, The Last Refuge, Vox, National Review, Tampa Bay Times, The Daily Signal, Louder With Crowder, Gothamist, Grist, RT, The Daily Caller, Axios, Fox News, Hit & Run, Breitbart, Washington Post, Common Dreams, Conservative News Today, Conservative Review, Portland Mercury, Gizmodo, Daily Wire, Mother Jones, The Rush Limbaugh Show, The Daily Beast, Jacobin, Washington Free Beacon, Curbed, Daily Kos, VICE News, Bloomberg, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, twitchy.com, Hullabaloo, The Resurgent, Mediaite, The Verge, Representative Alexandria …, NTK Network, NRCC, Balloon Juice, Crooked Media and Jezebel, more at Mediagazer »
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‘Too hot to handle’: Pelosi predicts GOP won't trigger another shutdown — Speaker Nancy Pelosi is vowing that the federal government will not shut down again, even as President Donald Trump ratchets up pressure for his border wall ahead of a fast-approaching deadline.
Discussion:
RedState, The Federalist, Washington Post, Vox, Orange County Register, Breitbart, ThinkProgress, The Hill, New York Times, Patterico's Pontifications, The Daily Caller, CNBC, Chicks On The Right, TheBlaze, Conservative News Today, Bloomberg, Louder With Crowder, twitchy.com, Daily Kos, The Week, Splinter, Instapundit, Mediaite, Axios, CNN and Talking Points Memo

Nancy Pelosi just threw some serious shade at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Instapundit, New York Post, The Daily Signal, IJR, Politico, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Breitbart and Daily Wire

Pelosi announces Dems for new climate panel
Discussion:
The Atlantic, NPR, Vox, The Intercept, VICE News, Joe.My.God. and twitchy.com

Congress nears border security deal, but Trump's support unclear
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, The Daily Caller and The Week


‘They Hate This Guy’: Matt Whitaker Braces for Showdown With Dems — 'We don't know what we're up against with the House Judiciary Committee,' one Justice Department source told The Daily Beast. ‘We have no idea.’ — Betsy Woodruff — The Justice Department is bracing for impact.
Discussion:
Politico, One America News Network, Raw Story, emptywheel, Law & Crime, The Gateway Pundit, CNN, Axios and Breitbart
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Whitaker's testimony uncertain after Democrats refuse to drop subpoena threat — House Democrats refused to rescind their subpoena threat against President Trump's acting attorney general, leaving it unclear whether the nation's top law enforcement official will appear at a much-anticipated hearing scheduled for Friday.
Discussion:
The Daily Signal, Mediaite, FiveThirtyEight, Townhall, American Oversight and The Hill


Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker Threatens to Stiff-Arm Congress
Discussion:
Politico, Breitbart, Raw Story, New York Times and Axios

The showdown between Democrats and acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, explained
Discussion:
Politico, Raw Story, Just Security and Washington Post


Year Before Killing, Saudi Prince Told Aide He Would Use ‘a Bullet’ on Khashoggi — WASHINGTON — Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia told a top aide in a conversation in 2017 that he would use “a bullet” on Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist killed in October …
Discussion:
Joe.My.God. and Mediaite
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UN rapporteur: Khashoggi murder ‘perpetrated’ by Saudi officials
Discussion:
New York Daily News


“I Am Disgusted”: Behind the Scenes of Trump's Increasingly Scrutinized $107 Million Inauguration — Stephanie Winston Wolkoff was the mastermind event producer behind Trump's inaugural celebration, which has since come under S.D.N.Y. investigation. Now, taped conversations reveal Wolkoff's concerns …
Discussion:
Raw Story
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Manafort kept working in Ukraine after Mueller indictment, transcript shows — According to prosecutors, Paul Manafort and Konstantin Kilimnik had a discussion that referred to a “backdoor.” — The newly released transcript of a sealed hearing held earlier this week reveals …
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Former Fox News reporter expected to be named to lead counter-propaganda efforts at State — (CNN)A former Fox News reporter is expected to be appointed to lead the State Department agency in charge of efforts to counter foreign propaganda and disinformation, two officials told CNN.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Joe.My.God. and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »


BREAKING: U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall will not seek re-election — U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall, who narrowly won the closest congressional race in the nation last fall, will not seek re-election next year, all but ensuring his rapidly-diversifying suburban House district will become one of the country's fiercest political battlegrounds in 2020.
Discussion:
CNN, Shareblue Media, IJR, Daily Kos, Joe.My.God., POLITICUSUSA, Politico, Rob Woodall and Washington Post


Poll: Only 58 percent of Americans oppose blackface — The roiling blackface scandal in Virginia continues. It not only includes Gov. Ralph Northam (D) but now Attorney General Mark Herring (D), who says that he dressed in blackface at a college party. The scandal has put renewed focus …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, The Atlantic, The Root, Daily Kos, Latest - Truthout and The Guardian
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Virginia Police Sergeant Suspended After Antifa Ties Him to White Nationalism
Discussion:
HuffPost, ThinkProgress, Washington Times, RedState, Antifa Seven Hills, Raw Story and WTVR-TV

The Virginia Blackface Scandal Is Only Getting Worse
Discussion:
Salon, The Republican Standard, Above the Law and The Daily Caller


Democratic focus groups may have identified a hidden vulnerability for Trump — This is the week that the broad outlines of President Trump's reelection strategy are coming into focus. Trump will continue pushing forward with his reactionary xenophobic nationalist agenda on immigration …
Discussion:
Toronto Star and Raw Story


A Florida politician allegedly made a habit of licking men's faces. She's now resigned. — It was supposed to be a fun, lighthearted alternative to typical government meetings, and one befitting a laid-back beach town. The city commission of Madeira Beach, Fla. — a coastal community …
Discussion:
Chicks On The Right, The Daily Caller and Althouse


Phoenix Police Refute Cindy McCain's Story of Human Trafficking at Airport — Phoenix police on Wednesday disputed Cindy McCain's account of human trafficking at an Arizona airport. McCain had told local news station KTAR on Monday that she intervened at Sky Harbor International Airport …
Discussion:
KTAR.com, KASW-TV, Breitbart, Joe.My.God., twitchy.com, The Root, Daily Kos, Washington Post, Jezebel, New York Post and Eschaton


Senate Intel Chairman: 'We Don't Have Anything That Would Suggest There Was Collusion' — After more than two years of investigation, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has not found evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, the committee's Republican chairman said in interview.
Discussion:
Tennessee Star
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Richard Burr on the Senate Intelligence Committee's Russia investigation, 2 years on
Discussion:
Politico


Does inconspicuous clerk's marking on Stone indictment hold clues to Mueller case? — Hints of those ties may have been in a little-noticed marking on the indictment. — 2h ago — Ex Fox News reporter, Navy vet tapped to lead center combating Russian disinformation


A Swamp Divided: How Trump's Arrival Turned D.C. Nightlife Upside Down — “Trump doesn't need to build a wall; he's built one here.” — Washington is one of the only places in America where an election transforms the city's social life. Plenty of people live here with no regard …


New York's Grand Hyatt Hotel to Be Torn Down — A development group will demolish the glass-sheathed hotel by Grand Central Terminal that was Donald Trump's first major Manhattan project, and replace it with a mixed-use tower.
Discussion:
View from the Wing, Curbed NY and WPIX 11 New York


Trump's troop deployment strung ‘lethal’ razor wire on the border. This city has had enough. — Arturo Garino said one of his constituents told him about the razor wire on Saturday night. — Garino knew the military had installed a line of wire across the top of the fence that divides Nogales …
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Defense One, Raw Story and Mother Jones


The vow of ‘never again’ is dying in Assad's prisons — During his State of the Union address, President Trump invoked the Holocaust, praising some of his invited guests: American soldiers who liberated Nazi concentration camps and victims of those camps. Trump's comments force us to ask ourselves …
Discussion:
CNN


Blackface is a tool of white oppression. There are many more towering over us. — James Comey is a former director of the FBI and a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. — White people designed blackface to keep black people down, to intimidate, mock and stereotype.