Top Items:
Eric Holder / Washington Post:
William Barr is unfit to be attorney general — Eric H. Holder Jr., a Democrat, was U.S. attorney general from 2009 to 2015. — As a former U.S. attorney general, I am reluctant to publicly criticize my successors. I respect the office and understand just how tough the job can be.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, National Review, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, IJR, Axios, CNN, The Hill, Fox News, HuffPost, NBC News, Law & Crime, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite and The Editorial Board
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Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Of course the FBI spied on the Trump campaign — The great debate about whether the FBI spied on the Trump campaign continues. The question is why there is still any argument. The newly-released report from Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz shows that by any definition the FBI did indeed spy.
CNN:
2 GOP senators say McConnell will move to acquit Trump, not merely dismiss charges — (CNN)Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to hold a final vote to acquit President Donald Trump should he be impeached, when a majority of senators believe his trial has run its course instead …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Post, The Hill, Daily Kos and Vanity Fair
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Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Nothing could be more conclusive proof of Trump's guilt — When you say someone has “no case,” it is usually meant figuratively, as in “they have a weak legal or factual position.” In the case of President Trump, Senate Republicans are making it clear that he literally has no case, no defense.
Discussion:
Bloomberg
Burgess Everett / Politico:
Trump tightens grips on judges as McConnell wins 50th Circuit pick
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Report: Trump's Ukraine Extortion Scheme Was Financed by Russia — President Trump is facing impeachment primarily for abusing his power for political gain, extorting a foreign country to discredit his political rivals. The secondary aspect of the plot is that the target of his extortion is hardly random.
Discussion:
Progress Pond, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and New York Times
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Christian Berthelsen / Bloomberg:
Giuliani Ally Parnas Got $1 Million From Russia, U.S. Says
Giuliani Ally Parnas Got $1 Million From Russia, U.S. Says
Discussion:
NBC News, The American Independent, Contemptor, Letters from an American, New York Times, Fox News, POLITICUSUSA, Mediaite and Daily Kos
David Smith / The Guardian:
Fox host lambasts Trump over ‘most sustained assault on press freedom in US history’ — Chris Wallace, admired for breaking ranks with some in the conservative network, drew applause with most stinging critique yet — A leading host on Fox News, a conservative network notorious for its loyalty …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Axios, The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Deadline and Breitbart
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Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite:
Fox's Chris Wallace: Trump is ‘Engaged in the Most Direct, Sustained Assault on Freedom of the Press in Our History’ — Fox News anchor Chris Wallace called out President Donald Trump's attacks on the press in a speech at the Newseum in Washington D.C. Friday night.
Tim Miller / The Bulwark:
If Trump Is a Unique Danger Why Aren't Democrats Acting Like It? — Crisis. An existential threat to our democracy. A mortal danger. A White Supremacist. Emergency — This is what President Trump's opponents on the left say they believe about the current administration.
Discussion:
National Review and Raw Story
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Rebecca Traister / The Cut:
Can You Spot the Fake? Hint: Look at the pundits.
Can You Spot the Fake? Hint: Look at the pundits.
Discussion:
Washington Post
Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
Inside the jockeying to prosecute Donald Trump's impeachment — Behind the scenes, House Democrats battle to influence Speaker Nancy Pelosi's picks for the team that will take the case to the Senate. — WASHINGTON — In furtive conversations with senior colleagues on the House floor …
Discussion:
ABC News
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Alexander Mallin / ABC News:
DOJ charges 10 former NFL players in alleged health care fraud scheme — The scheme involved over $3.9 million in false health care claims. — The Department of Justice announced charges Thursday against 10 former NFL players over an alleged scheme to defraud millions of dollars from the league's health care benefits program.
Discussion:
Associated Press, DNyuz and One America News Network
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The Economist:
A plurality of Americans—but not of states—want Donald Trump impeached — The president continues to benefit from the constitution's pro-rural bias — Donald trump owes his presidency to America's quaint system of electing leaders. Despite losing the popular vote …
ABC News:
President Trump considering adding controversial lawyer Alan Dershowitz to impeachment legal team: Sources — Donald Trump is gearing up for his impeachment defense in the Senate. — Gearing up for an impeachment trial in the Senate, President Donald Trump and his top advisers …
Discussion:
New York Times, DNyuz, Washington Post, The Slot, The Hill, Raw Story and Mediaite
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Wall Street Journal:
Giuliani's Partnership With Fraud Guarantee Revealed in Letter — A 2018 investor letter offers new clues about the work Rudy Giuliani was hired to do for Fraud Guarantee, a company founded by his now-indicted associates Lev Parnas and David Correia. The letter has been handed over to the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Courier-Journal:
Bevin pardons include convicted killer whose brother hosted campaign fundraiser for him — The family of a man pardoned by Gov. Matt Bevin for a homicide and other crimes in a fatal 2014 Knox County home invasion raised $21,500 at a political fundraiser last year to retire debt from Bevin's 2015 gubernatorial campaign.
Discussion:
The American Independent, Raw Story and The Hill
NBC News:
Pentagon watchdog plans to review award of $400M border wall contract to firm touted by Trump — Fisher Sand & Gravel has been publicly and privately endorsed to build the wall by members of the Trump administration, including the president himself. — WASHINGTON — The Defense Department's …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Daily Kos and ABC News
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Elizabeth Findell / Wall Street Journal:
Construction of Texas Border Wall Stalls Over Fights With Landowners
Allan Smith / NBC News:
Trump mocks Greta Thunberg after she wins Time Person of the Year — “So ridiculous,” Trump tweeted. “Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!” — Trump mocks Time's Person of the Year on Twitter
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Washington Post, Vox, CNN and Talking Points Memo
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New York Times:
Democrats Will Debate Four More Times in January and February — The Democratic National Committee announced the next set of primary debates. One will be held in each of the early-voting states. — Democratic presidential candidates will debate four times in January and February …
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Adam Edelman / NBC News:
NBC News, MSNBC to host February Democratic debate in Las Vegas
NBC News, MSNBC to host February Democratic debate in Las Vegas
Discussion:
Associated Press, Axios, Gizmodo, The Hill and MSNBC, more at Mediagazer »
Christine Stapleton / USA Today:
Mongolian ambassador visited Mar-a-Lago before Trump Jr. got coveted permit to hunt rare sheep — PALM BEACH, Fla. - About four months before Donald Trump Jr. went to Mongolia in August, where he reportedly managed to get a coveted permit to kill a threatened-species of sheep after he shot …
Discussion:
HuffPost, Daily Kos, The Guardian and VICE
Wall Street Journal:
GOP Poll: Kobach Would Win Kansas Senate Primary, Unless Pompeo Jumps In — Internal Republican polling shows Kris Kobach trouncing the current GOP primary field for an open U.S. Senate seat Kansas, but losing by double digits to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, should he jump into the race.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, FiveThirtyEight, The Hill and National Review
Associated Press:
UK voters choose a new government to resolve Brexit impasse — LONDON (AP) — Britons who have endured more than three years of wrangling over their country's messy divorce from the European Union cast ballots Thursday in an election billed as a way out of the Brexit stalemate in the deeply divided nation.
Astead W. Herndon / New York Times:
Elizabeth Warren Draws Sharp Contrasts With Rivals in New Hampshire Speech — Ms. Warren, who has ramped up her criticism of her presidential opponents after months of avoiding conflict, issued another rebuke Thursday in a speech about the economy and corruption.
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Hill and Contemptor
Amanda Connolly / globalnews.ca:
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is resigning — Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer is resigning. — But he says he will stay on as leader until his replacement is chosen and continue to serve as MP for Regina—Qu'Appelle. — His resignation comes as a direct result of new revelations …
Sebastian Murdock / HuffPost:
Paul Watson Throws Alex Jones Under The Bus In Sandy Hook Case — “This Sandy Hook stuff is killing us,” the far-right Infowars editor said in a 2015 email. — Far-right personality and longtime Infowars editor Paul Joseph Watson warned Alex Jones to stop pushing the lie …
Katherine Clarke / Wall Street Journal:
Lachlan Murdoch Sets L.A. Record by Paying $150 Million for a Château-Style Mansion — Once listed for $350 million, the Bel-Air estate of late media tycoon A. Jerrold Perenchio is the second priciest home ever to have traded in the U.S. — Lachlan Murdoch, media executive and son …
Discussion:
FiveThirtyEight and Mediaite
Anne Applebaum / The Atlantic:
The False Romance of Russia — Sherwood Eddy was a prominent American missionary as well as that now rare thing, a Christian socialist. In the 1920s and '30s, he made more than a dozen trips to the Soviet Union. He was not blind to the problems of the U.S.S.R., but he also found much to like.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Andrew Desiderio / Politico:
Pence rejects calls to declassify new impeachment testimony — Vice President Mike Pence's counsel rejected House Democrats' request to declassify details of a Sept. 18 call between Pence and Ukraine's president, calling the request illegitimate because the impeachment inquiry has concluded.
Discussion:
The Hill, HuffPost, Talking Points Memo and NBC News
Maryan Abdulkarim / Politico:
Finland is no feminist utopia — Maryan Abdulkarim is a Somali-Finnish writer and feminist community organizer. — HELSINKI — Last Sunday, Sanna Marin, the 34-year-old Finnish Social Democrat, became the world's youngest sitting prime minister — and Finland's third female government leader.
Discussion:
One America News Network
Mariko Paulson / Issues:
Senator Elizabeth Warren's Wealth Tax: Projected Budgetary and Economic Effects — Print to PDF Summary: Penn Wharton Budget Model (PWBM) projects that Senator Warren's proposed wealth tax, if implemented in 2021, would raise between $2.3 trillion (including macroeconomic effects) …
Discussion:
Fox News, Wall Street Journal, IJR and Fortune