Top Items:
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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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 …
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Republicans' nuttery exposed
Republicans' nuttery exposed
Discussion:
New Yorker, The Nation and New York Times
Julie Pace / Associated Press:
Analysis: Mountain of impeachment evidence is beyond dispute
Analysis: Mountain of impeachment evidence is beyond dispute
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, KTLA, The American Independent, Politico, One America News Network, Axios and Florida Politics
Peter Baker / New York Times:
The Impeachment Witnesses Not Heard
The Impeachment Witnesses Not Heard
Discussion:
The Nation and Politico
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
In Fiona Hill's powerful testimony, a disturbing glimpse into Pompeo's mindset
In Fiona Hill's powerful testimony, a disturbing glimpse into Pompeo's mindset
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, The Mahablog and New York Times
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
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David A. Hopkins / Honest Graft:
This Week in Impeachment: The Most Important Republican on the House Intelligence Committee Speaks
This Week in Impeachment: The Most Important Republican on the House Intelligence Committee Speaks
Adam Serwer / The Atlantic:
Trump's Crime Against America
Trump's Crime Against America
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Political Wire, Raw Story and The Bulwark
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.
Discussion:
Political Wire
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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:
Talking Points Memo, ABC News, Raw Story, Daily Kos and The Week
Quint Forgey / Politico:
Trump unloads to Fox News as impeachment threat heightens
Trump unloads to Fox News as impeachment threat heightens
Discussion:
Vanity Fair, Fox News and Washington Post
Washington Post:
Justice Dept. watchdog is said to have found evidence an FBI employee altered document in Russia probe — The Justice Department inspector general has found evidence that an FBI employee may have altered a document connected to court-approved surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser, according to people familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
Breitbart, Law & Crime and The Week
RELATED:
CNN:
Exclusive: Former FBI lawyer under investigation after allegedly altering document in 2016 Russia probe — Washington (CNN)A former FBI lawyer is under criminal investigation after allegedly altering a document related to 2016 surveillance of a Trump campaign adviser, several people briefed on the matter told CNN.
Gregg Re / Fox News:
Horowitz finds evidence FBI employee altered key document related to Carter Page surveillance: reports
Horowitz finds evidence FBI employee altered key document related to Carter Page surveillance: reports
Discussion:
The Hill, PJ Media Home, Mediaite and New York Post
Nicole Lafond / Talking Points Memo:
DOJ IG Finds FBI Lawyer May Have Altered Carter Page Surveillance Document
DOJ IG Finds FBI Lawyer May Have Altered Carter Page Surveillance Document
Discussion:
The Last Refuge, The Gateway Pundit and Mediaite
Marina Fang / HuffPost:
Trump Pushes Debunked Ukraine Theory In Long, Rambling Call To ‘Fox & Friends’ — The nearly hourlong phone call on the president's favorite morning show devolved into a soliloquy. — President Donald Trump on Friday pushed a false right-wing conspiracy theory roundly debunked by U.S. officials …
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Jay Nordlinger / National Review:
Moral Equivalence, Etc. — Today on Fox & Friends, President Trump said, “We have to stand with Hong Kong, but I'm also standing with President Xi.” Once upon a time, we conservatives had a name for this: “moral equivalence.” We didn't like it, and we were right. — What manner of man is Xi Jinping?
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 …
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Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Questions over next steps as Judiciary moves into impeachment spotlight
Questions over next steps as Judiciary moves into impeachment spotlight
Discussion:
Fox News, Joe.My.God. and Axios
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:
New York Times, National Review, IJR, Axios, Joe.My.God., The Hill and Political Wire
David Lynch / Washington Post:
Trump says he might veto legislation that aims to protect human rights in Hong Kong because bill would impact China trade talks — The legislation easily passed Congress with a veto-proof majority — President Trump suggested on Friday that he might veto legislation designed …
Discussion:
Foreign Policy
Wall Street Journal:
Trump Appears Open to Possible Pompeo Senate Run: ‘He Would Win in a Landslide’ — President Trump opened the door to a possible Senate run by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, telling “Fox & Friends” he was confident Mr. Pompeo would “easily win in Kansas.” — “He came to me, 'Look …
Discussion:
HuffPost
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Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:
Black South Bend leader endorses Biden, rebukes Buttigieg
Black South Bend leader endorses Biden, rebukes Buttigieg
Discussion:
The Boston Globe, Bloomberg and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Politico:
Bloomberg makes ‘massive’ ad buy — In the latest sign Michael Bloomberg is prepared 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:
Joe.My.God.
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David A. Fahrenthold / Washington Post:
Far-right group warning of Islamist infiltration to hold banquet at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club
Far-right group warning of Islamist infiltration to hold banquet at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club
Discussion:
Axios and Center for Security Policy
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Shepard Smith Uses a Post-Fox Spotlight to Defend Freedom of the Press — The former anchor made his first public appearance since his abrupt departure from Fox News, where he faced taunts from colleagues and President Trump. — In his first public remarks since abruptly resigning …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, IJR, Committee to Protect …, The Wrap, USA Today and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »
Matt Wilstein / The Daily Beast:
Sacha Baron Cohen Uses ADL Speech to Tear Apart Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook — Accepting an award from the Anti-Defamation League, the comedian called Facebook “the greatest propaganda machine in history.” — Sacha Baron Cohen accepted the International Leadership Award …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Anti-Defamation League, Mashable, Talking Points Memo, IndieWire and Fortune, more at Techmeme »
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
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Trump and His Corrupt Old Party — For Republicans, there is no bottom. — Formally, the House of Representatives is holding an inquiry into the question of whether Donald J. Trump should be impeached. In reality, we've known the answer to that question for a long time.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Daily Kos and Washington Post
Kayla Epstein / Washington Post:
Obama tells Democrats worried about the primary field to ‘chill out’ — It's the fall before a presidential election year: the leaves are changing, the weather's getting brisk, the days are getting shorter, and Democrats are getting antsy about their field of potential nominees.
Discussion:
New York Times, CNN, Political Wire and Vox
Betsy Swan / The Daily Beast:
Parnas Attended Giuliani's Madrid Meeting With Zelensky Aide — Parnas was at the table for a meeting where Giuliani pressured a senior Ukrainian official to investigate a company linked to the Bidens, the official told The Daily Beast. — When Rudy Giuliani met with a senior Ukrainian official …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Salon, The Atlantic, The Hill, One America News Network, Raw Story and Joe.My.God.
Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Ambassador Sondland's slick move — By many accounts, Gordon Sondland delivered the most consequential testimony of the House Democrats' rushed public impeachment proceedings. Sondland, U.S. ambassador to the European Union, testified in the impeachment hearings Wednesday.
Discussion:
Twitchy
John Solomon Reports:
Responding to Lt. Col. Vindman about my Ukraine columns ... with the facts — I honor and applaud Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman's service to his country. He's a hero. I also respect his decision to testify at the impeachment proceedings. I suspect neither his service nor his testimony was easy.
Jim Geraghty / National Review:
The Road That Brought Conservatives and Republicans to This Point — At some point in your development, probably in your younger years, you stepped into the world of politics out of curiosity and it lit something within you. While lots of your peers found it boring, you started to feel like it was grand crusade in the best sense.
Washington Post:
Members of an NCAA championship team plan to rebuke Trump's policies during White House visit — Some members of the Columbia University fencing team plan to confront President Trump at the White House on Friday over his administration's stance on gender issues.