Top Items:
Marianne LeVine / Politico:
McConnell prepares to move forward on impeachment trial rules without Democrats — Senate Republican leaders are preparing to move forward on a set of impeachment trial rules without Democratic support. — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has locked down sufficient backing …
Discussion:
ABC News, Axios, Associated Press, Vox, Townhall, The Hill, UPI, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, The Week, One America News Network, The Daily Beast, The Root, Raw Story and War Room
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Amanda Terkel / HuffPost:
Biden: Mitch McConnell Will Become ‘Mildly Cooperative’ With Democrats Post-Trump — The former vice president has also said Republicans will have an “epiphany” once Donald Trump leaves office. — Joe Biden believes that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) ― …
Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:
McConnell Says He Will Proceed on Impeachment Trial Without Witness Deal — The Senate majority leader said he had the votes to begin President Trump's trial without committing to calling witnesses or admitting new evidence, over Democrats' objections. — WASHINGTON — Senator Mitch McConnell …
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, Blue Delaware and Bloomberg
Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Schumer vows to force votes on impeachment witnesses — Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday that Democrats will force votes on witnesses at the start of the impeachment trial even as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has secured enough support to delay the decision until mid-trial.
Discussion:
Politico, National Review, UPI, Daily Kos, Breitbart, Political Wire and Redstate
Quint Forgey / Politico:
DNC says next debate will be rescheduled if it conflicts with impeachment trial — The chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Tom Perez, said on Tuesday that the party organization would reschedule next week's presidential primary debate in Iowa if the televised event conflicts …
Discussion:
Axios, The Hill, Breitbart and Outside the Beltway
Washington Post:
Impeachment live updates: McConnell says he is ready to proceed with Trump impeachment trial …
Impeachment live updates: McConnell says he is ready to proceed with Trump impeachment trial …
Discussion:
Townhall, National Review, Houston Chronicle, Political Wire, Balloon Juice, Twitchy, Althouse and Common Dreams
Benjamin Wittes / The Atlantic:
Pelosi and McConnell Are Playing High-Stakes Poker
Pelosi and McConnell Are Playing High-Stakes Poker
Discussion:
New York Times, Redstate and No More Mister Nice Blog
Associated Press:
Stampede kills 32 at funeral for Iran general killed by US — TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A stampede erupted on Tuesday at a funeral procession for a top Iranian general killed in a U.S. airstrike last week, killing 32 people and injuring 190 others, state television reported.
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Erin Cunningham / Washington Post:
Live updates: Iran prepares to bury Soleimani after deadly stampede — As U.S. officials defended the decision to kill Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad, Iranian leaders have stepped up calls for revenge against the United States on Tuesday. — The calls for retaliation came …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Week, Politico, CNN and The Moderate Voice
Chris Pleasance / Reuters:
Iran is considering 13 ‘revenge scenarios’ over the death of General Soleimani as top official vows to create ‘historic nightmare’ for the US — Iran is considering 13 ‘revenge scenarios’ in retaliation for the US airstrike that killed General Qassem Soleimani in Iraq, a top official has said.
Discussion:
Daily Mail
Adam Kredo / Washington Free Beacon:
Pompeo: Trump Admin Ready to Launch More Strikes on Iran
Pompeo: Trump Admin Ready to Launch More Strikes on Iran
Discussion:
middleeastmonitor.com
Wesley Morgan / Politico:
Defense secretary insists U.S. isn't withdrawing from Iraq after PM calls for timetable
Defense secretary insists U.S. isn't withdrawing from Iraq after PM calls for timetable
Discussion:
Washington Post and Raw Story
David Martosko / Daily Mail:
Iraq says unsigned U.S. troop-withdrawal letter sent by mistake COUNTS despite Arabic translation …
Iraq says unsigned U.S. troop-withdrawal letter sent by mistake COUNTS despite Arabic translation …
Discussion:
Washington Post
CBS News:
Iran's military displaying “heightened state of readiness,” U.S. defense official says
Iran's military displaying “heightened state of readiness,” U.S. defense official says
Discussion:
Redstate, The American Independent and USA Today
Scott Neuman / NPR:
Iran's Foreign Minister: U.S. Strike On Soleimani An Act Of Terrorism And War
Iran's Foreign Minister: U.S. Strike On Soleimani An Act Of Terrorism And War
Discussion:
CNN, Slate and Foreign Policy
Caitlin Oprysko / Politico:
‘Tweets, threats and tantrums’: Biden tears into Trump's handling of Iran crisis
‘Tweets, threats and tantrums’: Biden tears into Trump's handling of Iran crisis
Discussion:
Breitbart
New York Times:
Don't Tilt Scales Against Trump, Facebook Executive Warns — In an internal memo, Andrew Bosworth said he “desperately” wanted the president to lose. But, he said, the company should avoid hurting Mr. Trump's campaign. — SAN FRANCISCO — Since the 2016 election, when Russian trolls …
Discussion:
Boz, Mercury News and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
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New York Times:
Lord of the Rings, 2020 and Stuffed Oreos: Read the Andrew Bosworth Memo — On Dec. 30, Andrew Bosworth, a longtime Facebook executive and confidant of Mark Zuckerberg, wrote a long memo on the company's internal network. — In the post, titled “Thoughts for 2020,” Mr. Bosworth …
Discussion:
National Review, BuzzFeed News, Axios, The Week, Raw Story and The Verge, more at Techmeme »
Miami Herald:
New incident at Mar-a-Lago under ‘criminal investigation’ by Secret Service — Palm Beach police say they are conducting an “open and active criminal investigation” at Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's South Florida estate, following an unspecified incident Monday night.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Nick Corasaniti / New York Times:
Bloomberg Takes On Trump With a $10 Million Super Bowl Ad — Michael R. Bloomberg's presidential campaign has secured a 60-second advertising spot to be aired nationally during the game on Feb. 2, campaign officials said. — Michael R. Bloomberg's presidential campaign has secured …
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Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Trump to drop $10 million on Super Bowl ad — President Donald Trump's reelection campaign is planning to drop $10 million to advertise during the Super Bowl, the start of a massive election-year spending spree that will intensify over the coming months, according to four people briefed on the plans.
Discussion:
Washington Post and Axios
Lauren Artino / WXIX-TV:
CNN settles lawsuit with Nick Sandmann — COVINGTON, Ky. (FOX19) - CNN agreed Tuesday to settle a lawsuit with Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann. — The amount of the settlement was not made public during a hearing at the federal courthouse in Covington, Kentucky.
Discussion:
PJ Media Home, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, NB Blog, The Daily Caller and Twitchy
Zachary Basu / Axios:
Prosecutors recommend Michael Flynn serve up to 6 months in prison — Federal prosecutors recommended in a sentencing memo Tuesday that President Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn receive a sentence of zero to six months in prison, arguing that he should not receive credit …
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Bloomberg:
Trump Inaugural Committee Donor to Plead Guilty to Obstruction — Zuberi back-dated check to donor, deleted emails, U.S. says — Lawyer says Zuberi will plead guilty for a second time — A fundraiser for President Donald Trump will plead guilty to obstructing a federal investigation …
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NBC News:
6.4 quake strikes Puerto Rico, killing at least 1 amid heavy seismic activity — “We've never been exposed to this kind of emergency in 102 years,"said the governor as the island grapples with ongoing aftershocks and assesses the damage. — A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Puerto Rico early Tuesday …
Discussion:
Associated Press, WPRI-TV, The Hill, Al Jazeera and UPI
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Bridget Phetasy / Quillette:
Ricky Gervais, Man of the People — In a room filled with self-absorbed narcissists, one brave, slightly less self-absorbed narcissist had the balls to speak truth to power—and his name is Ricky Gervais. — If courage had a face, it would be a slightly overweight, pasty British multi-millionaire drinking a pint.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Daily Mail, americandigest.org, Spectator USA and Hollywood Reporter
Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
The Nightmare Stage of Trump's Rule Is Here — Unstable and impeached, the president pushes the U.S. toward war with Iran. — There are no more adults in the room. — After three harrowing years, we've reached the point many of us feared from the moment Donald Trump was elected.
Discussion:
Politico, Raw Story, Washington Post, Defense One, Bangor Daily News, Los Angeles Times and New York Magazine
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David Leonhardt / New York Times:
No One Believes Trump
Alex Horton / Washington Post:
Russian trolls are targeting American veterans, and Trump's government isn't helping, group says — The Trump administration has for nearly two years ignored mounting evidence that Russian operatives and other foreign actors were deliberately targeting U.S. troops and veterans …
Jaime Joyce / TIME:
How to Talk to Your Kids About the Situation With Iran — On Jan. 3, the U.S. military carried out a drone attack in Iraq. The attack killed Qasem Soleimani, a top military leader from Iran. The action comes after increased tensions between the U.S. and Iran, and has fueled anxiety about what might happen as a result.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Twitchy and Sara A. Carter
Steve Hayes / The Dispatch:
Anatomy of a Screw-Up: The Story Behind the Letter Withdrawing Our Troops — In a letter dated January 6, Brigadier Gen. William Seely III, the commanding general of Task Force Iraq, wrote to his Iraqi counterpart with big news: The United States military was preparing to leave Iraq.
Discussion:
Slate, Alternet.org, Raw Story, Reason, The Morning Dispatch and CNN
Ashley Strickland / CNN:
Mysterious repeating fast radio burst traced to nearby galaxy — (CNN)Astronomers have traced the signal of an enigmatic repeating fast radio burst for only the second time — and it's in a spiral galaxy similar to our own, not so far away. — Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, are millisecond-long bursts of radio waves in space.
Discussion:
ScienceAlert and UPI
Zachary Basu / Axios:
Trump walks back targeting cultural sites: “I like to obey the law” — President Trump said in the Oval Office Tuesday that he would obey international laws banning the targeting of cultural sites when considering how to retaliate against a potential Iranian attack.
Joshua Rhett Miller / New York Post:
Muslim religious leader in Texas charged with sex crimes against four children — A well-known Islamic religious leader in Texas has been busted for sexually assaulting four children — though authorities believe he's victimized others. — Mohamed Omar Ali, a 59-year-old Somali national …
Nathaniel Rakich / FiveThirtyEight:
Trump Is The Most Unpopular President Since Ford To Run For Reelection — Now that the 2020 election has gone from “next year” to “this year,” it's worth taking a step back and asking a question that we first posed in early 2017: How popular is Donald Trump?
Discussion:
Raw Story and Alternet.org
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Ball of Confusion — As noted below, in the broadest sense we know why President Trump ordered the assassination of Soleimani: it was an attempt to dominate a weaker power by dramatically escalating a simmering conflict. This squares with how states act and it squares with President Trump's personality.
Cat Zakrzewski / Washington Post:
Ivanka Trump's CES keynote address sparks backlash — Some critics say there are women with more technical experience who are better qualified to speak at the annual technology conference — LAS VEGAS — Ivanka Trump may face an icy reception today at one of the world's largest technology conferences …
David Krayden / The Daily Caller:
Fox News's Tucker Carlson: In San Francisco, ‘Civilization Itself Is Coming Apart’ — Fox News host and Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson described San Francisco as a place where “civilization itself is coming apart.” — “The reality of that city we discovered when we spent …
Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Bernie Sanders can unify Democrats and beat Trump in 2020 — The first in a Vox series making the best case for each of the top Democratic contenders. … The case for Bernie Sanders is that he is the unity candidate. — The Vermont senator is unique in combining an authentic …
Pete Buttigieg / YouTube:
Windshield … To stay connected with the campaign: — About Pete: — Pete Buttigieg is a husband, Afghanistan veteran, and the Mayor of his hometown, South Bend, Indiana. — Pete is running for president because this is a now or never moment for our nation.
Discussion:
CNN, The Daily Caller and The Hill
Heather Long / Washington Post:
Every American family basically pays an $8,000 ‘poll tax’ under the U.S. health system, top economists say — SAN DIEGO — America's sky-high health-care costs are so far above what people pay in other countries that they are the equivalent of a hefty tax, Princeton University economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton say.
Discussion:
Mother Jones and Common Dreams
Desmond Lachman / The Hill:
President Trump's stock market gamble — As the 2020 presidential election campaign gets into full swing, President Trump might want to reflect on a 1929 cautionary tale involving Irving Fisher, the pre-eminent U.S. economist of his time. Maybe then Trump would not keep making …