Top Items:
Washington Post:
Barr doesn't accept key inspector general finding about FBI's Russia investigation — Attorney General William P. Barr has told associates he disagrees with the Justice Department's inspector general on one of the key findings in an upcoming report — that the FBI had enough information …
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Jason Leopold / BuzzFeed News:
Here Are The Latest Secret Memos From Mueller's Report — BuzzFeed News sued the US government for the right to see all the work that Mueller's team kept secret. Today we are publishing the second installment of the FBI's summaries of interviews with key witnesses.
Discussion:
CNN, The Daily Beast, Associated Press, HuffPost, Hullabaloo, Political Wire, The Hill, Raw Story and Axios
Rosalind Helderman / Washington Post:
How the Ukraine pressure campaign began as an effort to undercut the Mueller investigation — As 2018 came to a close, the special counsel investigation was bearing down on President Trump. — Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III had secured the cooperation of Trump's onetime fixer …
Rachael Bade / Washington Post:
Democrats quietly debate expanding impeachment articles beyond Ukraine — House Democrats are quietly debating whether to expand articles of impeachment to include charges beyond abuse of power in the Ukraine controversy, setting up a potential internal clash as the party races to impeach President Trump by Christmastime.
Discussion:
Axios, No More Mister Nice Blog, Political Wire, New York Times, The Gateway Pundit, The Atlantic and The Hill
New York Times:
Barr Is Said to Doubt Inspector General's Finding on Russia Inquiry — If the attorney general rebuts the finding that the F.B.I. had sufficient cause to open the investigation, the president's allies could use his skepticism to dismiss the entire report. — WASHINGTON — Attorney General …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Politico, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and Raw Story
Washington Post:
Trump calls French president's criticism of NATO ‘nasty’ and ‘disrespectful’ — LONDON — President Trump on Tuesday slammed as “very, very nasty” and “very disrespectful” recent comments by his French counterpart about the diminished state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance.
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Associated Press:
Trump calls Democrats impeachment push “unpatriotic” — 1 of 3 — LONDON (AP) — President Donald Trump criticized Democrats at the opening of a NATO leaders' meeting Tuesday, calling the impeachment push by his rivals “unpatriotic” and “a bad thing for our country.”
NBC News:
Boris Johnson looks to avoid damaging Trump meeting during NATO gathering
Boris Johnson looks to avoid damaging Trump meeting during NATO gathering
Discussion:
Associated Press, One America News Network and The Hill
Zachary Basu / Axios:
Trump says Macron's NATO “brain death” comments are “very insulting”
Trump says Macron's NATO “brain death” comments are “very insulting”
Discussion:
Politico, One America News Network and ustr.gov, more at Techmeme »
Morgan Chalfant / The Hill:
Trump calls Macron comments on NATO ‘insulting’ and ‘nasty’
Trump calls Macron comments on NATO ‘insulting’ and ‘nasty’
Discussion:
Political Wire
Natasha Korecki / Politico:
Biden says he doesn't need Obama's endorsement — EMMETSBURG, Iowa — Former Vice President Joe Biden on Monday said he didn't need Barack Obama's endorsement in the Democratic primary, even if the field were down to three people. — He also scoffed at the notion that Sen. Elizabeth Warren …
Discussion:
Breitbart, The Hill, Contemptor, Twitchy, The Independent, HotAir, Washington Times and ABC News
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Elena Schneider / Politico:
Buttigieg blows up his strategy to win black voters
Buttigieg blows up his strategy to win black voters
Discussion:
CNN, The Hill, Axios and Washington Post
Ken Thomas / Wall Street Journal:
Biden Targets Warren and Buttigieg on His Tour of Iowa
Biden Targets Warren and Buttigieg on His Tour of Iowa
Discussion:
Reuters, The Hill, Washington Times and Axios
Brian Slodysko / Associated Press:
Joe Biden sees fundraising improvement after rough summer
Joe Biden sees fundraising improvement after rough summer
Discussion:
Washington Post
Andrew E. Kramer / New York Times:
Ukraine Knew of Aid Freeze in July, Says Ex-Top Official in Kyiv — Ukraine's government learned of the military aid freeze during the Trump administration's pressure campaign — and tried to keep that knowledge from going public, says an ex-deputy foreign minister.
Discussion:
National Review, Axios, FactCheck.org, KyivPost, Hullabaloo, HuffPost, Reason, Talking Points Memo, Los Angeles Times, Law & Crime, PJ Media Home, Fox News and Politico
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Natasha Bertrand / Politico:
Senate panel look into Ukraine interference comes up short — With the impeachment inquiry charging forward, President Donald Trump's allies have defended his demand for political investigations from Ukraine by claiming that the government in Kyiv tried to sabotage his candidacy and boost Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Discussion:
CNN, Washington Post, HuffPost, The Hill, HotAir, Raw Story, The Daily Beast, KyivPost, The Guardian and Mediaite
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Jake Tapper / CNN:
GOP-led committee probed possible Ukraine interference in 2016 election and found nothing worth pursuing, sources say
GOP-led committee probed possible Ukraine interference in 2016 election and found nothing worth pursuing, sources say
Discussion:
The American Independent, Vanity Fair, Mediaite, Politico and Washington Post
David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner:
Republicans embrace Ukrainian 2016 interference allegation in defense of Trump
Republicans embrace Ukrainian 2016 interference allegation in defense of Trump
Discussion:
Washington Post and National Review
New York Times:
China Uses DNA to Map Faces, With Help From the West — Beijing's pursuit of control over a Muslim ethnic group pushes the rules of science and raises questions about consent. — TUMXUK, China — In a dusty city in the Xinjiang region on China's western frontier, the authorities are testing the rules of science.
Discussion:
National Review, more at Techmeme »
Washington Post:
North Dakota company that Trump touted gets $400 million border wall contract — A company that President Trump urged military officials to hire for border wall construction has been awarded a $400 million contract to build a span of new barrier across an Arizona wildlife refuge …
Discussion:
The Hill
Jamie Ross / The Daily Beast:
Trump Denies Knowing Prince Andrew, Despite Numerous Photos of Them Together — KISS OF DEATH — Donald Trump has denied knowing Prince Andrew, despite multiple photos of the two together, including several of them meeting in June this year. The president, who is in the United Kingdom for a NATO summit …
Discussion:
Political Wire and VICE
Griff Witte / Washington Post:
Trump gave states the power to ban refugees. Conservative Utah wants more of them. — SALT LAKE CITY — Apiel Kuot had survived war, sexual assault and life — first as an orphan, then as a single mother — in an east African refugee camp. But Utah terrified her.
Robin Givhan / Washington Post:
Melania Trump's Christmas decorations are lovely, but that coat looks ridiculous — First lady Melania Trump unveiled this year's White House Christmas decorations in a gauzy video in which she strolls through the public rooms marveling at their holiday luster.
Discussion:
Townhall, Aleteia, The Gateway Pundit, Mother Jones, The Daily Beast, Twitchy, SPIN, ABC News and IJR
Julie Kelly / American Greatness:
Fusion GPS Chiefs Spin Hard Before the Horowitz Report — There are a few bombshells tucked in the new book authored by Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch, co-owners of Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm responsible for the most infamous dossier in American political history.
Bloomberg:
Trump Sees No Deadline for China Trade Deal, Sending Stocks Down — U.S. president signals no urgency for truce as Dec. 15 looms — 'We'll see whether not the deal is going to be right,' he says — Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars.
Discussion:
CNBC and Political Wire
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Angelo Fichera / FactCheck.org:
Photo Manipulated to Show Schiff With Epstein — Quick Take — A doctored photo circulating on Facebook purports to show Rep. Adam Schiff with the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The original photo shows Schiff with his father. — Full Story
San Diego Union-Tribune:
Rep. Duncan Hunter to plead guilty in campaign finance scandal, leave Congress — Longtime congressman says he wants to spare his family the spectacle of a trial, which was to start Jan. 22 — After years of denials and claims he was the target of a political witch hunt, Rep. Duncan Hunter …
Borzou Daragahi / The Independent:
Turkey threatens to veto Nato plans unless the Syria Kurd militia is labelled ‘a threat’ — Officials fear Nato summit will turn into another debacle like defence ministers' gathering in October — Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday threatened to scuttle Nato plans …
Washington Post:
Mueller Report Illustrated — A book and six-part digital series on the obstruction investigation — Written and designed by The Washington Post and illustrated by artist Jan Feindt, “The Mueller Report Illustrated: The Obstruction Investigation” brings to life the findings …
Casey Michel / GEN:
Rudy Giuliani Isn't the Shadiest Lawyer in the Trump-Ukraine Scandal — Meet Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing, tied to almost every foreigner in the impeachment saga, including an indicted oligarch — or the past few months, Rudy Giuliani has chewed up screen time and headlines at a rate he hasn't seen in nearly two decades.