Top Items:
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.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Daily Beast, CNN, Task & Purpose, Balloon Juice, VICE, Althouse, Raw Story, Contemptor and Eschaton
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Leo Shane III / Military Times:
Trump blasted top military generals as ‘a bunch of dopes and babies’ according to new book — President Donald Trump blasted top military officials as “losers” and “a bunch of dopes and babies” for a lack of success in the recent wars during a tense meeting early in his presidency that set …
Discussion:
Political Wire and Raw Story
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 …
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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:
Political Wire, NBC News, Fox News, Raw Story and HuffPost
Betsy Swan / The Daily Beast:
Lev Parnas Reveals Why He Turned on Trumpworld
Lev Parnas Reveals Why He Turned on Trumpworld
Discussion:
The Hill, VICE, Raw Story, Vanity Fair, New York Times, Breitbart, Washington Post, Politico, The Daily Beast and One America News Network
CNN:
Trump expected to add Ken Starr and Alan Dershowitz to impeachment defense team — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump plans to add three seasoned lawyers to his impeachment legal defense team, people familiar with the matter said, including Kenneth Starr, the hard-charging prosecutor whose work led …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Redstate, New York Post, VICE, Breitbart, The Week and The Daily Caller
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Washington Post:
Impeachment trial live updates: Trump expands legal team to include Alan Dershowtiz, Kenneth Starr and others — With his Senate trial to begin in earnest next week, President Trump has added some high-profile lawyers to his legal team, including Harvard emeritus law professor Alan Dershowitz …
Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
Trump's impeachment defense team to include Kenneth Starr, Alan Dershowitz — President Donald Trump will be represented by former Bill Clinton special prosecutors Kenneth Starr and Robert Ray, plus retired Harvard constitutional law professor Alan Dershowitz, at his Senate impeachment trial.
Discussion:
The Nation, Common Dreams, UPI and Twitchy
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Trump impeachment team includes Ken Starr and Alan Dershowitz
Trump impeachment team includes Ken Starr and Alan Dershowitz
Discussion:
The Federalist, National Review, Townhall, Roll Call and Boston Herald
Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Trump Legal Team to Add Starr and Dershowitz for Senate Trial
Trump Legal Team to Add Starr and Dershowitz for Senate Trial
Discussion:
Law & Crime
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
William Barr Is Going After Trump's Enemies One by One — In May of 2016, shortly after Donald Trump had wrapped up his party's nomination, but when the notion he might win the presidency seemed remote at best, Benjamin Wittes wrote one of the very early essays attempting to analyze …
Discussion:
The Crime Report
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Adam Goldman / New York Times:
Justice Dept. Investigating Years-Old Leaks and Appears Focused on Comey
Justice Dept. Investigating Years-Old Leaks and Appears Focused on Comey
Discussion:
CNN, Washington Post, The Crime Report, JONATHAN TURLEY, Axios, Washington Examiner, National Review, Fox News, Talking Points Memo, Twitchy, The Daily Caller, Townhall, The Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Times, Law & Crime, The Week, Redstate and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »
Kevin Baron / Defense One:
Eleven US Troops Were Injured in Jan. 8 Iran Missile Strike — The troops were medevaced this week to Germany and Kuwait to be treated for traumatic brain injury after experiencing concussion symptoms. — Nearly one dozen American troops were wounded in Iran's Jan. 8 missile attack on Iraq's al-Asad air base.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Politico, Task & Purpose, PJ Media Home, Raw Story, FOX31 Denver, UPI, CNN, The US Sun, Sputnik News, The Week, Radio Free Europe, JNS.org, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, fox8.com, Mediaite and New York Post
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Washington Post:
Black Americans deeply pessimistic about country under Trump, whom more than 8 in 10 describe as ‘a racist,’ Post-Ipsos poll finds — President Trump made a stark appeal to black Americans during the 2016 election when he asked, “What have you got to lose?”
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 …
Discussion:
The Verge, Mediaite, Politico, East Bay Times and Political Wire, more at Techmeme »
New York Times:
Angry Trump Says Focus Should Be on a Trade Deal, Not a ‘Hoax’ — But the few times the president did anything in public on Thursday, it was clear he was unnerved by the prospect of a Senate trial. — WASHINGTON — Shortly after 2 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, Senator Charles E. Grassley …
Discussion:
The Bulwark, Vox, Raw Story, The New Daily and Scroll.in
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David Harsanyi / New York Post:
CNN's bias is now beyond laughable — As Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) walked through the hallways of the Senate Thursday, CNN senior congressional correspondent Manu Raju asked her if the Senate should consider “new evidence as part of the impeachment trial.” McSally shot back: “Manu, you're a liberal hack.
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Sister Toldjah / Redstate:
‘Liberal Hacks’: Ted Cruz Dropkicks Chris Cuomo After His Nasty Attack Against Martha McSally
‘Liberal Hacks’: Ted Cruz Dropkicks Chris Cuomo After His Nasty Attack Against Martha McSally
Peter Baker / New York Times:
For the Senators Who Will Judge Trump, an Incomplete Story to Consider
For the Senators Who Will Judge Trump, an Incomplete Story to Consider
Discussion:
NBC News, Washington Post, Commentary, Politico, The Dispatch, HillReporter.com, Breitbart and HuffPost
Tim Miller / The Bulwark:
The McSally Maneuver — At this point, the goal of impeachment is simply forcing Republican senators to admit the truth. — On Thursday, in the halls of Congress, Senator Martha McSally was asked a simple question by reporter Manu Raju: “Should the Senate consider new evidence as part of the impeachment trial?”
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Politico, CNSNews, Morning Consult and CNN
Savannah Behrmann / USA Today:
Susan Collins surpasses Mitch McConnell as the most unpopular senator in a new poll — WASHINGTON - Republican Sen. Susan Collins has surpassed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as the most unpopular U.S. Senator, according to a new tracking poll. — The Maine Senator's net approval rating …
Discussion:
The Nation, Washington Post and Daily Kos
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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 …
FiveThirtyEight:
Trump May Be Even More Unpopular Than His Approval Rating Shows — Polls have consistently shown that President Trump is pretty unpopular, with only about 42 percent of the American public approving of the job he is doing as president. These numbers are much lower than what one might expect given the bustling economy.
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 Verge, more at Mediagazer »
Solomon Gustavo / Orlando Weekly:
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz accused of creating sex game with ‘points’ for sleeping with staff — In a Twitter clapback for the Capitol Hill ages, Florida state Rep. Chris Latvala accused Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz of designing a “game” with a point system for “sleeping with aides, interns, lobbyists, and married legislators.”
Discussion:
Fox News
CNN:
Exclusive: Evelyn Yang reveals she was sexually assaulted by her OB-GYN while pregnant — Washington (CNN)Evelyn Yang was reading letters that voters had sent to her husband, Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, and suddenly stopped in her tracks.
Discussion:
Politico, IJR, The Independent, NBC News, The Daily Caller, HuffPost, New York Times, New York Post, Fox News and Axios
Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:
Checking in on Wisconsin — One of the hallmarks of the Trump presidency is that no matter how unpredictable and erratic he may be, opinions of him are incredibly stable. At this point in 2019, for example, the FiveThirtyEight tracker showed President Trump's job approval rating at 41percent …
David Brooks / New York Times:
The Bernie Sanders Fallacy — No, Virginia, there is no class war. — This is a golden age for “Theyism.” This is the belief that there is some malevolent, elite “they” out there and “they” are destroying life for the rest of us. — There is Donald Trump's culture-war Theyism …
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog
Marc Polymeropoulos / Just Security:
How to Think About the Soleimani Strike in Four Questions — Not a single member of the U.S. national security establishment mourns the death of Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). I served as a CIA officer in the Middle East for many years …
YouTube:
We met Sen. Gardner at the airport to ask about Trump's Senate trial … We couldn't get a direct answer from Sen. Cory Gardner's (R-Colorado) office on whether he supports including witnesses in Pres. Donald Trump's Senate trial. So, when Gardner happened to end up on the same DC …