memeorandum: Inside impeachment: How an ‘urgent’ tip became ‘high crimes’ (Associated Press)

Key Democratic senator remains undecided on whether Trump should be removed from office — Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.), who won a stunning special election victory in 2017 and faces a difficult reelection campaign next year, said Sunday that he remains undecided on whether President Trump should be removed from office.

Adia Robinson / ABC News:

Pelosi's decision to withhold articles of impeachment ‘bizarre’: Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. — In response, Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., said Pelosi's delay was not unfair. — Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to withhold the articles of impeachment was …

Discussion: Mother Jones, The Hill, Joe.My.God., Raw Story, American Greatness and New York Post

Ronn Blitzer / Fox News:
Pence chief of staff not worried about Pelosi impeachment tactics: ‘She will yield’

Discussion: Associated Press

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
As Pelosi plays games with impeachment, what next for GOP?

Discussion: Reason and Twitchy

Zeke Miller / Associated Press:
Trump slams ‘unfair’ Pelosi delay, rallies conservatives

Discussion: Axios, The Hill, Joe.My.God., Breitbart and Daily Kos

Susannah Luthi / Politico:

How Trump is filling the liberal 9th Circuit with conservatives — A bastion of liberalism in the federal judiciary is slowly turning rightward, threatening Democratic court challenges on everything from abortion to who gets a green card. — The Senate confirmation of Lawrence VanDyke …

Discussion: Raw Story

Trump is remaking the federal judiciary — WASHINGTON - After three years in office, President Donald Trump has remade the federal judiciary, ensuring a conservative tilt for decades and cementing his legacy no matter the outcome of November's election. — Trump nominees make up 1 in 4 U.S. circuit court judges.

Discussion: The Hill

Michael Schwirtz / New York Times:

How a Poisoning in Bulgaria Exposed Russian Assassins in Europe — For years, members of a secret team, Unit 29155, operated without Western security officials having any idea about their activities. But an attack on an arms dealer in Sofia helped blow their cover.

USA Today:

How America went from Barack Obama to Donald Trump in one head-spinning political decade — Obama's America and Trump's America feel like separate nations, but they are bound by Newton's law: For every action, an equal and opposite reaction. — How did we get from Barack Obama to Donald Trump?

IMPORTANTVILLE:

Scoop: Mayor Pete's South Bend polling — The mayor leads the Democratic field in his hometown. — In one of his last acts as both mayor and presidential candidate, Pete Buttigieg commissioned a poll of his own South Bend constituents showing he leads the Democratic field and President Trump …

Discussion: PJ Media Home, The Gateway Pundit, Outside the Beltway and Viking Pundit

New York Times:

It Seemed Like a Popular Chat App. It's Secretly a Spy Tool. — ToTok, an Emirati messaging app that has been downloaded to millions of phones, is the latest escalation of a digital arms race. — WASHINGTON — It is billed as an easy and secure way to chat by video or text message …

Jonathan Lemire / Associated Press:

Us vs. them: Trump aiming to use impeachment to rev up base — NEW YORK (AP) — Using stark “us vs. them” language, President Donald Trump and his reelection campaign have begun framing his impeachment not as a judgment on his conduct but as a referendum on how Democrats regard him and his supporters.

Associated Press:

Inside impeachment: How an ‘urgent’ tip became ‘high crimes’ — WASHINGTON (AP) — The night before the whistleblower complaint that launched President Donald Trump's impeachment was made public, Democrats and Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee crammed into the same room to get a first look at the document.

Discussion: Fox News

Associated Press:

GOP governors grapple with whether to accept refugees or not — LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — An executive order by President Donald Trump giving states the right to refuse to take refugees is putting Republican governors in an uncomfortable position. — They're caught between immigration hardliners …

Marcia Dunn / Associated Press:

Boeing capsule returns to Earth after aborted space mission — CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Boeing safely landed its crew capsule in the New Mexico desert Sunday after an aborted flight to the International Space Station that threatened to derail the company's effort to launch astronauts for NASA next year.

HuffPost:

Trump's Mar-A-Lago Winter Vacation Pushes Taxpayer Golf Tab Above $118 million — Trump criticized predecessor Barack Obama for spending too much time playing golf — but is on track to pass Obama's eight-year total in just four years. — President Donald Trump has pushed …

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

Wall Street Journal:

Klobuchar Works to Boost Momentum in Iowa — With long days on the trail, Minnesota senator looks to make up ground on Biden and other front-runners ahead of first Democratic presidential nominating contest — After Thursday night's Democratic presidential debate in Los Angeles …

New York Post:

If FBI was routinely cutting corners on FISA warrants, Comey will look even worse — Now that we know FBI agents deceived the court to get the warrants to spy on Trump campaign aide Carter Page, the big question is: Was this the exception, or the rule? — That is, has the bureau taken …

Daniella Diaz / CNN:

Warren on fundraising: ‘I wanted to do better’ — Cedar Rapids, Iowa (CNN)After criticism following news of her Senate election fundraising practices, Sen. Elizabeth Warren told reporters after a town hall in Cedar Rapids that she “saw how this system works” and decided to quit high dollar fundraising …

Discussion: The Hill

Pamela McClintock / Hollywood Reporter:

Universal Notifies Theaters ‘Cats’ Is Being Updated With “Improved Visual Effects” — The move is unheard of for a finished film already in release. — How many lives does Cats have? — On Friday — the movie's opening day — Universal notified thousands of theaters they will be receiving …

Discussion: New York Times, Breitbart, Deadline, Rolling Stone, The Independent, Vanity Fair, Slate and New York Post