Top Items:
David Corn / Mother Jones:
A Florida Massage Parlor Owner Has Been Selling Chinese Execs Access to Trump at Mar-a-Lago — The latest Trump political donor to draw controversy is Li Yang, a 45-year-old Florida entrepreneur from China who founded a chain of spas and massage parlors that included the one where New England …
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA, Fox News, Shareblue Media, KTLA, The Stranger, WTVR-TV, The Guardian, miamiherald, Vanity Fair, VICE News, The Daily Beast, Roll Call, Polipace Insider …, Daily Kos, Washington Times, Splinter, Hullabaloo, New York Post, Talking Points Memo, FOX6Now.com, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Mediaite
Mary Papenfuss / HuffPost:
Ex-Mercenary CEO Erik Prince Admits To Trump Tower Meet With Donald Jr. And Saudi Emissary — He said the campaign huddle focused on “Iran policy,” and suggested his congressional hearing transcript when he failed to mention it was inaccurate. — Erik Prince, former head of mercenary business Blackwater …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and POLITICUSUSA
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Mehdi Hasan / The Intercept:
Did Blackwater's Erik Prince Lie to Congress About a Trump Tower Meeting? I Asked Him.
Did Blackwater's Erik Prince Lie to Congress About a Trump Tower Meeting? I Asked Him.
Discussion:
Raw Story and Hullabaloo
Chris Riotta / The Independent:
Jared Kushner goes rogue in Saudi Arabia, prompting national security concerns
Jared Kushner goes rogue in Saudi Arabia, prompting national security concerns
Discussion:
Right Wing Watch
Al Jazeera English / YouTube:
Blackwater's Erik Prince: Iraq, privatising wars, and Trump | Head to Head
Blackwater's Erik Prince: Iraq, privatising wars, and Trump | Head to Head
Discussion:
Al Jazeera
Washington Post:
Is Paul Manafort's sentence too light? He fared worse than many fraudsters, data shows. — Paul Manafort's prison sentence of less than four years on bank- and tax-fraud charges Thursday sparked outrage from commentators who said it was too light a punishment for his crimes.
Discussion:
New York Times, Outside the Beltway and HuffPost
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Ken White / The Atlantic:
6 Reasons Paul Manafort Got Off So Lightly — Paul Manafort, the former campaign manager for President Donald Trump, entered Virginia federal court on Thursday facing a recommended sentence of 19 to 24 years, and left with a sentence of less than four years.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, USA Today and New York Times
NBC News:
Trump administration responsible for even more separated children, judge rules — “The hallmark of a civilized society is measured by how it treats its people and those within its borders,” the judge wrote. — WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Trump administration …
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Maria Sacchetti / Washington Post:
In another blow to Trump, judge rules in favor of ACLU in family separations case — In a legal blow to the Trump administration, a federal judge ruled Friday that all migrant families separated during the government's border crackdown should be included in a class-action lawsuit.
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA
Anne Applebaum / Washington Post:
The more we learn about Brexit, the more crooked it looks — Elements of the 2016 British referendum campaign have long seemed familiar to Americans. There was a close, controversial election, full of rancor and anger. There were a lot of wealthy men talking about “the people” and their “will.”
Discussion:
Byline Times
WLS / ABC7:
Jussie Smollett update: ‘Empire’ actor indicted on 16 felony counts by grand jury … There have been dozens of twists and turns since “Empire” start Jussie Smollett reported being attacked. Here are some key moments from the start of this story. — WLS
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Crime In Boystown / CWB Chicago:
Exclusive: Grand jury returns 16 felony counts against Jussie Smollett
Exclusive: Grand jury returns 16 felony counts against Jussie Smollett
Discussion:
CBS Chicago, Bounding Into Comics, Daily Wire, Hollywood Reporter, Hot Air, twitchy.com, RedState and The Gateway Pundit
Doha Madani / NBC News:
‘Empire’ actor Jussie Smollett indicted on 16 felony counts by grand jury
‘Empire’ actor Jussie Smollett indicted on 16 felony counts by grand jury
Discussion:
The Wrap, Slate, Breitbart and Washington Free Beacon
New York Times:
Only One Roadblock on the Road to Reform: Mitch McConnell — Why no vote on the House-passed ethics and election reform bill, Mr. Senate Leader? “Because I get to decide what we vote on.” — The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Daily Kos, Washington Post, Vox and Conservative Review
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Addy Baird / ThinkProgress:
House passes sweeping voting rights, electoral reform bill
House passes sweeping voting rights, electoral reform bill
Discussion:
Washington Post, Shareblue Media and Washington Monthly
Sydney Ember / New York Times:
A ‘Beat Trump’ Fervor Is Producing Big Turnouts for 2020 Democrats — COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — They dragged their friends to see Bernie Sanders in Iowa. In South Carolina, their unrelenting selfie requests made Cory Booker late. And in New Hampshire, so many showed up at a church for an event …
Heather Long / Washington Post:
Workers suddenly have more power to demand higher pay and better jobs — Workers are receiving the fattest wage increases since the Great Recession as employers struggle to find enough people to fill their ranks and employees have more leverage to demand higher pay and jump to better jobs.
Discussion:
Breitbart, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal and New York Times
Washington Post:
She exposed Russian trolling. Her award for her work was rescinded after she criticized Trump. — LONG BEFORE fears erupted in the United States about Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign, Jessikka Aro, an investigative journalist in Finland, was poking around an unusual company …
Discussion:
NB Blog
Jennifer Senior / New York Times:
Teen Fiction and the Perils of Cancel Culture — Readers, not a Twitter mob, should decide the fate of a book. — Late last month, a young man named Kosoko Jackson became the second young adult author in five weeks to pull a debut work just before it hit the shelves.
Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:
In Surprise Move, House Republican Releases Bruce Ohr Transcript — Georgia Rep. Doug Collins unilaterally released a 268-page transcript Friday of a deposition that Justice Department official Bruce Ohr gave to Congress in August. — Collins, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and twitchy.com
Bret Stephens / New York Times:
Capitalism and the Democratic Party — The most successful economic system shouldn't be a dirty word. — John Hickenlooper ought to be a poster child for American capitalism. After being laid off from his job as a geologist during the oil bust of the 1980s, he and his business partners turned …
Discussion:
MSNBC
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Alyza Sebenius / Bloomberg:
Russian Trolls Shift Strategy to Disrupt U.S. Election in 2020 — Hackers infiltrate computers to create fake social media users — Fake accounts are used to amplify divisive messages by others — Russian internet trolls appear to be shifting strategy in their efforts to disrupt …
Discussion:
Political Wire
Andrew Sullivan / New York Magazine:
How Should We Talk About the Israel Lobby's Power? — Let's get this out of the way first: Using the phrases “all about the Benjamins” and “allegiance to a foreign country” when referring to the Israel lobby in D.C., as freshman Democratic representative Ilhan Omar recently did, is anti-Semitic.
Discussion:
The American Conservative and Jewish Insider
Tim Ross / Bloomberg:
U.K. Dismisses EU's Brexit Concession as a ‘Disappointing’ Joke — Andrea Leadsom says Commons could hold more votes on exit deal — Leadsom says EU stance is pushing U.K. toward a no-deal Brexit — Follow @Brexit on Twitter, join our Facebook group and sign up to our Brexit Bulletin.
Discussion:
Politico and Coffee House
Jeff Stein / Newsweek:
Where Is Robert Levinson? Inside the Secret Campaign to Find Ex-FBI Agent Who Disappeared on Mission to Iran — The plans were ready; the $250,000 payoff cash was committed. On December 10, 2018, a former Air Force intelligence officer named Bob Kent was planning to board a plane in New York …
Washington Post:
Trump budget to propose slashing domestic spending, boosting defense — President Trump on Monday will propose major spending cuts across a range of domestic government programs while seeking a large increase for the Pentagon, a budget plan that's already encountering withering opposition …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos