Top Items:
Pete Williams / NBC News:
‘Faithless elector’: Supreme Court will hear case that could change how presidents are chosen — A ruling could come in the spring — just as the 2020 presidential race is heating up. — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to take up an issue that could change a key element …
Discussion:
Townhall, One America News Network, The Hill and Associated Press
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Joe Otterson / Variety:
Hillary Clinton Urges Dems to ‘Vote for the Person Most Likely to Win’ in 2020 — Hillary Clinton called for Americans to come to grips with “basic facts” of reality in an appearance at the Television Critics Association winter press tour on Friday. — “We've got to somehow understand …
Susannah Luthi / Politico:
Supreme Court will again review Obamacare birth control mandate
Supreme Court will again review Obamacare birth control mandate
Discussion:
NBC News, Axios and Associated Press
Denise Lavoie / Associated Press:
Virginia urges justices to uphold weapons ban at gun rally
Virginia urges justices to uphold weapons ban at gun rally
Discussion:
Axios, NBC News, HuffPost, The Hill and globalnews.ca
Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Supreme Court will hear cases on electoral college, birth control mandate
Supreme Court will hear cases on electoral college, birth control mandate
Discussion:
Axios
Brent Kendall / Wall Street Journal:
Supreme Court to Look at Electoral College Rules
Washington Post:
'You're a bunch of dopes and babies': Inside Trump's stunning tirade against generals — There is no more sacred room for military officers than 2E924 of the Pentagon, a windowless and secure vault where the Joint Chiefs of Staff meet regularly to wrestle with classified matters.
Laura Reiley / Washington Post:
USDA proposes changing school menus to allow more fries and fewer vegetables, reversing a Michelle Obama effort — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has taken another whack at former first lady Michelle Obama's signature achievement: Establishing stricter nutritional standards for school breakfasts and lunches.
Discussion:
CNN, Mother Jones and POLITICUSUSA
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Alicia Cohn / The Hill:
Trump to roll back Michelle Obama's school lunch rules on vegetables, fruits
Trump to roll back Michelle Obama's school lunch rules on vegetables, fruits
Discussion:
Redstate, ABC News, Associated Press, The Guardian, The Gateway Pundit and Raw Story
Axios:
Trump tells HHS secretary he regrets wading into “that f***ing vaping thing” — President Trump told his health secretary yesterday that he regrets getting involved in the administration's policy on vaping, according to two sources familiar with the conversation.
Discussion:
Mediaite
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New York Times:
Joe Biden: Former vice president of the United States — The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. — This interview was conducted by the editorial board of The New York Times …
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Theodore Schleifer / Vox:
Mike Bloomberg throws shade at Joe Biden as a looming “lame duck”
Mike Bloomberg throws shade at Joe Biden as a looming “lame duck”
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Free Beacon and Mediaite
Makena Kelly / The Verge:
Joe Biden wants to revoke Section 230
Rebecca Ballhaus / Wall Street Journal:
Coordinated Posts Defend Connecticut Man Who Exchanged Ukraine Texts — Some of the pages describe themselves as representing groups of supporters of President Trump from different states — WASHINGTON—A network of several dozen Facebook pages is coordinating posts defending Robert F. Hyde …
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Matthew Lee / Associated Press:
Pompeo breaks silence on alleged threats to envoy in Ukraine — WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday broke nearly 72 hours of silence over alleged surveillance and threats to the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, saying he believed the allegations would prove to be wrong …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
Paul Blumenthal / HuffPost:
Chris Collins, First U.S. Lawmaker To Endorse Trump, Gets 26-Month Prison Sentence — The ex-House member from western New York pleaded guilty to illegal insider trading in September. — A judge on Friday sentenced former Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), an early and staunch ally of President Donald Trump …
Discussion:
CNBC
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Renae Merle / Washington Post:
Ex-congressman Chris Collins sentenced to 2 years on insider-trading, false-statements charges
Ex-congressman Chris Collins sentenced to 2 years on insider-trading, false-statements charges
Discussion:
Politico, Axios, The Buffalo News, The Hill and New York Times
Variety:
Disney Drops Fox Name, Will Rebrand as 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures — The mouse has officially killed the fox. — In a move at once unsurprising and highly symbolic, the Walt Disney Company is dropping the “Fox” brand from the 21st Century Fox assets it acquired last March, Variety has learned.
Discussion:
The Independent, The Verge, The Week and globalnews.ca, more at Mediagazer »
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CNN:
Barr dropped into Giuliani meeting at Justice Department in previously undisclosed encounter — Lev Parnas describes multiple quid pro quos with Ukraine — (CNN)Attorney General William Barr briefly attended a meeting at the Justice Department last fall between top criminal prosecutors …
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Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
William Barr Is Going After Trump's Enemies One by One
William Barr Is Going After Trump's Enemies One by One
Discussion:
Raw Story, Redstate, Daily Kos, CNN and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:
Meghan McCain: McSally 'Didn't Earn' the Senate Seat She Inherited From My Dad — “She didn't win that seat. I think that's important.” — The View's Meghan McCain took some shots at Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) on Friday after the lawmaker personally insulted a CNN reporter …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Twitchy, Breitbart and Contemptor
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Chris Cillizza / CNN:
Martha McSally's staggering cynicism
Martha McSally's staggering cynicism
Discussion:
The American Independent, Vox and Sara A. Carter
Josh Wingrove / Bloomberg:
White House Considers Changes to Law Banning Overseas Bribes — Kudlow says administration has heard complaints from companies — Book says Trump clashed with Tillerson over bribery law — President Donald Trump's administration is weighing whether to seek changes to a 1977 law …
Discussion:
Above the Law and Raw Story
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
The Grisham Watch: What's the White House press secretary up to? — First in a regular series on the activities of White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham. — Everyone knows what White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham isn't doing. Since assuming her post last summer …
Yaron Steinbuch / New York Post:
ISIS leader dubbed ‘Jabba the Jihadi’ captured in Iraq — He put the fat in fatwa. — A morbidly obese ISIS fanatic dubbed “Jabba the Jihadi” has been captured by Iraqi forces — who loaded him onto a flatbed truck because he couldn't fit in a police car.
Discussion:
Task & Purpose
Kansas City Star:
Trump tried to call Kris Kobach during his meeting with Roger Marshall, sources say — President Donald Trump initially tried to call Kansas Republican Kris Kobach while he was meeting in the Oval Office with Kobach's GOP rival Rep. Roger Marshall, according to two sources familiar with the meeting.
Martin Indyk / Wall Street Journal:
The Middle East Isn't Worth It Anymore — With few vital American interests still at stake there, the U.S. should finally set aside its grandiose ambitions for the chaotic region — Last week, despite Donald Trump's repeated pledge to end American involvement in the Middle East's conflicts …
Wall Street Journal:
Men Discussed Opening Fire at Pro-Gun Rally in Richmond, Officials Say — Other suspected members of white-supremacist group the Base arrested in Georgia — Three suspected white supremacists arrested in Maryland and Delaware this week had discussed opening fire from different positions …
Discussion:
Slate, Right Wing Watch, Reason, The Hill and The Crime Report
Noah Berlatsky / NBC News:
Trump voters motivated by racism may be violating the Constitution. Can they be stopped? — Republicans and Democrats alike have been unwilling to reprimand voters or to hold them accountable. But racist voting isn't an accident. — If the Trump era has taught us anything …
Jason Leopold / BuzzFeed News:
Mueller Memos Part 4: FBI Documents That Congress Had To Fight To Get — BuzzFeed News sued the US government under the Freedom of Information Act for the right to see all the work that Robert Mueller's team kept secret. Today we are publishing the fourth installment of the FBI's summaries of interviews with key witnesses.
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Hannity previews Trump's final defense: So what if he's guilty? — It has long been obvious that Republicans would ultimately converge on this final defense of President Trump: Even if he did everything he's been accused of doing, and perhaps a lot more that we don't know about, it's absolutely fine!
Discussion:
Digby's Hullabaloo, Raw Story, Fox News, The Moderate Voice, The Bulwark, NBC News, The Crime Report and HuffPost
Joe Heim / Washington Post:
National Archives exhibit blurs images critical of President Trump — The large color photograph that greets visitors to a National Archives exhibit celebrating the centennial of women's suffrage shows a massive crowd filling Pennsylvania Avenue NW for the Women's March on Jan. 21, 2017, the day after President Trump's inauguration.
Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Mike Bloomberg is assembling a team of fundraising experts to recruit wealthy donors - but not to take their money — Presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg is creating a team of fundraising experts to recruit wealthy donors. But he doesn't want their money. He wants them to act as surrogates for his campaign.
Kendall Karson / ABC News:
DNC outlines qualifying criteria for ABC News debate, adds new delegate threshold — The Feb. 7 debate will be the first matchup after voting begins. — The Democratic National Committee announced the qualifying rules for the Democratic debate on Feb. 7, the first matchup after voting begins …
Discussion:
Axios