Top Items:
New York Times:
Russia Inquiry Review Is Said to Criticize F.B.I. but Rebuff Claims of Biased Acts — A watchdog report will portray the pursuit of a wiretap of an ex-Trump adviser as sloppy, but it also debunks some accusations by Trump allies of F.B.I. wrongdoing. — WASHINGTON — A highly anticipated report …
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Washington Post:
Justice Dept. watchdog finds political bias did not taint top officials running the FBI's Russia probe but documents other errors — The Justice Department's internal watchdog is expected to find in a forthcoming report that political bias did not taint top officials running the FBI investigation …
Washington Post:
Justice Dept. watchdog is said to have found evidence an FBI employee altered document in Russia probe
Justice Dept. watchdog is said to have found evidence an FBI employee altered document in Russia probe
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Vox, Fox News, Politico, Breitbart, Law & Crime, The Rush Limbaugh Show, The Gateway Pundit, The Hill, PJ Media Home, IJR, New York Post, National Review, The Last Refuge, The Week, CNN and Raw Story
Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:
Trump's Defenders Have No Defense — Witnesses were uneven, but even his closest allies don't try to deny he did what he's accused of doing. — Look, the case has been made. Almost everything in the impeachment hearings this week fleshed out and backed up the charge that President Trump muscled Ukraine for political gain.
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Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
The Awful Truth About Impeachment — Facts be damned is Trump's approach, and it's working. — After five days, twelve witnesses, lots of shouting, and dozens of angry tweets from the President, the House Intelligence Committee's public impeachment hearings into Donald Trump's Ukraine affair ended …
Discussion:
The Nation
Erin Banco / The Daily Beast:
Bolton Allies Cut Out ‘Three Amigos’ for Direct Line to Kyiv — After a White House meeting that was thrown into chaos by Ambassador Gordon Sondland, senior National Security Council officials took matters into their own hands, sources say. — In the days following a July meeting at the White House …
New York Times:
Charges of Ukrainian Meddling? A Russian Operation, U.S. Intelligence Says — Moscow has run a yearslong operation to blame Ukraine for its own 2016 election interference. Republicans have used similar talking points to defend President Trump in impeachment proceedings.
Discussion:
Axios, Mother Jones, Rolling Stone, Political Wire and Raw Story
Caitlin Oprysko / Politico:
‘A lot of things are the matter with me’: The best lines from Trump's Fox interview — President Donald Trump called in to “Fox & Friends” on Friday for a nearly hour-long interview that he agreed after was a form of “stress relief.” — As House Democrats close in on an impeachment vote …
Discussion:
One America News Network, Mediaite and Breitbart
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Jack Holmes / Esquire:
President Fox News Grandpa Had Himself a Morning on Fox & Friends — If you are in any way tethered to observable reality, you will have noticed that this was not a good week for Donald Trump, American president. — A parade of witnesses testified under oath
Discussion:
Vox, POLITICUSUSA and Washington Post
Politico:
POLITICO Playbook PM: Trump riffs for an hour, Bloomberg's big buy
POLITICO Playbook PM: Trump riffs for an hour, Bloomberg's big buy
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post, Political Wire and CNN
Marina Fang / HuffPost:
Trump Pushes Debunked Ukraine Theory In Long, Rambling Call To ‘Fox & Friends’
Axios:
Trump repeats Ukraine conspiracy theory on 53-minute “Fox & Friends” call
Trump repeats Ukraine conspiracy theory on 53-minute “Fox & Friends” call
Discussion:
CNN, Washington Post, Joe.My.God. and Associated Press
Quint Forgey / Politico:
Trump unloads to Fox News as impeachment threat heightens
Trump unloads to Fox News as impeachment threat heightens
Discussion:
Washington Post and Fox News
Eric Bradner / CNN:
Biden: Lindsey Graham will ‘regret his whole life’ doing Trump's bidding on Ukraine — Watch “CNN Tonight” at 10 p.m. ET to see Don Lemon's full interview with former Vice President Joe Biden. — Abbeville, South Carolina (CNN)Joe Biden said he is “embarrassed” for South Carolina …
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John Solomon Reports:
Responding to Lt. Col. Vindman about my Ukraine columns ... with the facts
Responding to Lt. Col. Vindman about my Ukraine columns ... with the facts
Discussion:
BizPac Review, Twitchy, Breitbart, Politico and Redstate
Marc Caputo / Politico:
Biden camp: Graham ‘forfeited his conscience’ over Ukraine
Biden camp: Graham ‘forfeited his conscience’ over Ukraine
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, TheBlaze and Axios
Harry Siegel / New York Daily News:
‘1984’ arrives 35 years late: Republicans like Devin Nunes are intent on making 2 plus 2 equal whatever the hell they want it to — “It was a bright cold day,” begins George Orwell's “1984,” “and the clocks were striking 13.” — That came to mind as the impeachment drama reached its 11th hour …
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Grant Stern / Occupy Democrats:
House Dem points out that Devin Nunes could be an impeachment inquiry witness
House Dem points out that Devin Nunes could be an impeachment inquiry witness
Discussion:
Daily Kos and Hullabaloo
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Keep in mind these points about a historic week
Keep in mind these points about a historic week
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Trump's GOP defenders cannot be shamed. It's time to try this instead. — If there is one widely shared conclusion about the impeachment hearings that have just concluded, it's that President Trump's GOP defenders were never “gettable.” — This idea has been repeated countless times in recent days …
Discussion:
Slate and New York Times
Geoff Bennett / NBC News:
Yovanovitch's lawyers rate Trump's embassy portrait claim Pinocchio worthy — Lawyers for former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch say President Donald Trump's claim that she refused to hang his picture in the U.S. embassy in Ukraine is false. — “The Embassy in Kyiv hung …
Discussion:
CNN, CBS News, Joe.My.God. and Occupy Democrats
RELATED:
Michael Calderone / Politico:
Jake Tapper: Trump is trying to ‘gaslight the country’ — CNN's Jake Tapper thinks fact-checking Donald Trump is no longer enough — and he's created an hourlong special exploring the effects on foreign policy, business and the national culture of the president's compulsive lying.
Gabby Orr / Politico:
'He cares about his grievances and his reelection, and that's it'
'He cares about his grievances and his reelection, and that's it'
Discussion:
Associated Press, NPR, Breitbart, Salt Lake Tribune, Talking Points Memo, Vanity Fair, Raw Story and ABC News
Marc Caputo / Politico:
Bloomberg makes ‘massive’ ad buy — In the latest sign Michael Bloomberg is prepared to spend freely on a prospective presidential bid, the billionaire has begun booking a huge quantity of TV ad time in media markets across the country — including the one that's home to President Donald Trump's winter White House, Mar-a-Lago.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Joe.My.God. and Raw Story
RELATED:
Thomas Beaumont / Associated Press:
AP sources: Ex-Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack plans to endorse Biden
AP sources: Ex-Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack plans to endorse Biden
Discussion:
Political Wire
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Read This — I read through this a number of times before deciding to publish it. But I strongly, strongly recommend it to you. The author of the email is a former federal prosecutor. When I first read it I confess I found it all a bit loopy or improbable.
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Mother Jones and Balloon Juice
Eileen Sullivan / New York Times:
Trump Attacks Impeachment Inquiry and Accuses a Witness of Lying — Mr. Trump said a career diplomat made up a conversation between him and his ambassador to the European Union, dismissing a critical detail in the Democrats' impeachment inquiry. — WASHINGTON — President Trump unleashed …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, Crooked Media and HuffPost
RELATED:
Tom Nichols / USA Today:
Hill, Holmes impeachment hearing: Experts beat crackpots on Trump, Russia and Ukraine
Adam Serwer / The Atlantic:
Trump's Crime Against America
Trump's Crime Against America
Discussion:
Reason, The Daily Beast, Lawyers, Guns & Money, HuffPost, Raw Story and The Bulwark
Sydney Morning Herald:
Defecting Chinese spy offers information trove to Australian government — A Chinese spy has risked his life to defect to Australia and is now offering a trove of unprecedented inside intelligence on how China conducts its interference operations abroad. — Wang “William” Liqiang …
Discussion:
PoliticalShort
RELATED:
David Lynch / Washington Post:
Trump says he might veto legislation that aims to protect human rights in Hong Kong because bill …
Trump says he might veto legislation that aims to protect human rights in Hong Kong because bill …
Discussion:
Reason and Foreign Policy
David Brennan / Newsweek:
Trump Said U.S. Is ‘Getting Raped’ by NATO, Has Pushed to Exit Alliance According to White House Insider — President Donald Trump's criticisms of NATO have been one of the most concerning elements of his presidency to date for career diplomats and Pentagon officials.
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Ellen Barry / New York Times:
The Jungle Prince of Delhi — For 40 years, journalists chronicled the eccentric royal family of Oudh, deposed aristocrats who lived in a ruined palace in the Indian capital. It was a tragic, astonishing story. But was it true? — NEW DELHI — On a spring afternoon in 2016 …
Brent Larkin / Plain Dealer:
Jim Jordan was imposed on us for egregiously partisan reasons. Now he's afflicting the nation. — CLEVELAND — Of all the regions in all the states in all the country, Jim Jordan got dragged into ours. There was no good reason to punish Greater Cleveland by making the person who's …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Fox News and Washington Post
Michael Balsamo / Associated Press:
AG Barr: Epstein's death was a ‘perfect storm of screw-ups’ — 1 of 6 — ABOARD A US GOVERNMENT AIRCRAFT (AP) — Attorney General William Barr says Jeffrey Epstein's death was the result of a “perfect storm of screw-ups.” — Barr's comments in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press come days …
Discussion:
The Independent, emptywheel, New York Times, HuffPost, National Review, IJR, The Hill, Joe.My.God., Axios, Raw Story and Political Wire
Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
Impeachment is about to get a Robert Mueller reprise — Right now, impeachment is all about Ukraine. But after Thanksgiving, prepare for a Robert Mueller reprise. — Now that House Democrats have wrapped up public hearings on President Donald Trump's pressure campaign to get Ukraine …
Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:
South Bend black leader endorses Biden, rebukes Buttigieg — The longest-serving African American man on the South Bend, Ind., Common Council is endorsing Joe Biden for president, a rejection of Pete Buttigieg that highlights the South Bend mayor's struggles with black voters.
Discussion:
CNN, Fox News, Bloomberg, Axios, The Daily Caller, The Boston Globe, The Hill, Mediaite, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Guardian, CBS News, Mother Jones, New York Times, Roll Call, Slate and Washington Post
Alex Kotch / Sludge:
Nation's Biggest Charity Is Funding Influential White Nationalist Group — A charitable nonprofit linked to Fidelity Investments has donated at least $100,000 to the New Century Foundation, the organization behind white nationalist publication American Renaissance, since mid-2015. — EDITED BY
Discussion:
HuffPost