Top Items:
George Conway / Washington Post:
Don't let the defense fool you. This impeachment is all about corruption. — George T. Conway III is a lawyer in New York and an adviser to the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump super PAC. — The president's lawyers this week floated their catch-all impeachment defense, one tailor-made for President Trump.
Discussion:
HuffPost, Raw Story, The Week and BuzzFeed News
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Quint Forgey / Politico:
Dershowitz attempts to clarify controversial argument about presidential powers — Alan Dershowitz, an attorney for President Donald Trump, on Thursday claimed the media twisted his words when he made the controversial legal argument that a president could engage in a quid pro quo …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Associated Press, The Hill and Mother Jones
ABC News:
New witnesses unlikely, Trump impeachment trial could end quickly: GOP sources — The Senate trial could be over by the weekend if Republicans have the votes. — LIVE NOW — Senators return at 1 p.m. Thursday for a second day of questions to House managers and President Donald Trump's legal team …
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Free Beacon, The Gateway Pundit, Politico, HuffPost, The Daily Caller, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Balloon Juice, IJR, Raw Story, Mediaite and CNN
Politico:
Republicans grow confident they can defeat witness vote
Republicans grow confident they can defeat witness vote
Discussion:
Associated Press, ABC News and The Gateway Pundit
Politico:
John Roberts refuses Rand Paul's whistleblower question
John Roberts refuses Rand Paul's whistleblower question
Discussion:
Law & Crime, NBC News, Washington Post, Vanity Fair, Vox and The Hill
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
The reasons not to call John Bolton are ridiculous
The reasons not to call John Bolton are ridiculous
Discussion:
The Hill
Betsy Swan / The Daily Beast:
Paul Manafort and Rudy's Indicted Associate Igor Fruman Go Way, Way Back — The relationship — stretching from New York to London to Kyiv — long predated Rudy Giuliani's attempts to discredit the evidence that played a key role in Manafort's downfall. — The web of connections between …
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Washington Post:
New recording shows access Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman had to Trump at Mar-a-Lago donor event — Ten days before Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman dined with President Trump at his Washington hotel, they were part of a small group of Republican Party donors who met with the president at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate, a new recording shows.
Discussion:
OpenSecrets.org, The Intercept and The Week
Natasha Bertrand / Politico:
New video shows indicted Giuliani associate with RNC chief Ronna McDaniel — The recording is the second video Lev Parnas' attorney has released this month. — Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel. — New video released by the attorney for Lev Parnas …
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo, The Hill and ABC News
The Daily Beast:
New Audio Appears to Show Ex-Giuliani Pal Lev Parnas at Dinner With Trump
New Audio Appears to Show Ex-Giuliani Pal Lev Parnas at Dinner With Trump
Discussion:
New York Times, Raw Story and Daily Kos
Yamiche Alcindor / PBS NewsHour:
Second video demonstrates Lev Parnas' access to Trump
Associated Press:
AP Exclusive: Woman who says Trump raped her seeks his DNA — NEW YORK — Lawyers for a woman who accuses President Donald Trump of raping her in the 1990s are asking for a DNA sample, seeking to determine whether his genetic material is on a dress she says she wore during the encounter.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Daily Kos and UPI
Caitlin Oprysko / Politico:
Trump: Coronavirus will have ‘a very good ending for us’ — President Donald Trump on Thursday sought to assure Americans about the spread of a new coronavirus, saying it would have “a very good ending for us ... that I can assure you,” hours after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global emergency.
Discussion:
Politico, One America News Network and Raw Story
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Washington Post:
Live updates: World Health Organization declares coronavirus outbreak a ‘public health emergency’ — The World Health Organization announced Thursday that it was declaring the coronavirus outbreak a “public health emergency,” setting in motion a plan for global coordination to stem the spread of the virus …
Discussion:
Breitbart and Task & Purpose
Joseph Simonson / Washington Examiner:
Bernie Sanders praised George Wallace as ‘sensitive’ in 1972 — Seven years after Martin Luther King, Jr. referred to George Wallace as “perhaps the most dangerous racist in America today,” a young Bernie Sanders praised the segregationist Alabama governor.
Discussion:
Washington Post
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Nick Miroff / Washington Post:
Trump's border wall, vulnerable to flash floods, needs large storm gates left open for months — NACO, Ariz. — President Trump's border wall likely will require the installation of hundreds of storm gates to prevent flash floods from undermining or knocking it over, gates that must be left open …
Discussion:
Vanity Fair, The Hill, Raw Story, VICE and America's Voice
Marshall Cohen / CNN:
In contrast with Trump legal team, Justice Department lawyer says House can impeach over defied subpoenas — Five memorable exchanges from Wednesday's trial — Washington (CNN)A Justice Department lawyer said Thursday in federal court that the House can impeach a president over ignored subpoenas …
Discussion:
CBS News, Mother Jones, Raw Story, The Week, Daily Kos and Law & Crime
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Politico:
Biden argued against witnesses in 1999 impeachment trial memo — In January 1999, then-Sen. Joe Biden argued strongly against the need to depose additional witnesses or seek new evidence in a memo sent to fellow Democrats ahead of President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial.
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Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
The Atlantic made Rahm Emanuel a contributing editor. Then, suddenly, he wasn't. — Last May, the Atlantic announced that Rahm Emanuel, who'd just left his post as Chicago mayor, would be joining the magazine as a contributing editor. “The Atlantic will be the primary home for Emanuel's writing …
Mike Bloomberg / YouTube:
George … Mike Bloomberg 2020's ad airing during Super Bowl LIV highlights the urgent need to prevent gun violence in America and why Mike is the candidate to get it done. — As an entrepreneur, mayor, and problem-solving philanthropist, Mike has taken on the toughest challenges and gotten big things done.
Discussion:
Politico, New York Times, LifeNews.com, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, Bloomberg, The Daily Caller, ABC News, Fox News, New York Post and Axios
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Todd S. Purdum / The Atlantic:
Democrats Never Found Their Hero — As the final sliver of daylight faded over the Capitol dome last night, it was clear that Democrats' long, frustrated quest for a deus to save them from Donald Trump would produce no machina after all. Instead, there was only Representative Adam Schiff …
Discussion:
Twitchy and The Gateway Pundit
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Politico:
Trump expected to reveal travel ban expansion on Friday — President Donald Trump is expected to reveal an expansion of his controversial travel ban on Friday, the same day he could be acquitted in his impeachment trial and just days ahead of the president's annual State of the Union address.
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Washington Post:
A controversial Trump legal opinion weakened a law to protect birds. Now it might be made permanent. — Proposed rule would ensure people, companies won't face prosecution for accidentally killing birds — The Trump administration is working to cement new standards weakening enforcement …
Discussion:
NPR
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Politico:
Pence aide who testified in impeachment inquiry to leave VP's office — A national security aide to Vice President Mike Pence and key witness in the House's impeachment of President Donald Trump will be leaving her post in the vice president's office early to join Central Command, according to two people with knowledge of her plans.
Michael Balsamo / New Haven Register:
AP Exclusive: Barr names new U.S. attorney in DC — WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General William Barr on Thursday named Timothy Shea, one of his closest advisers, to be the next top prosecutor in the nation's capital. — Shea will lead the largest United States attorney's office in the country …
Michael Edison Hayden / Southern Poverty Law Center:
White Nationalist State Department Official Still Active in Hate Movement — U.S. State Department official Matthew Q. Gebert has been steadily producing white nationalist propaganda in the nearly six months since he was suspended from his job, Hatewatch has learned.
New York Times:
Bernie Sanders Is Still Sad About the Dodgers — And he knows how to nurse a grudge. — BURLINGTON, Iowa — The role was not an artistic stretch. — “My name is Rabbi Manny Shevitz,” Bernie Sanders began, acting in a little-seen 1999 comedy called “My X-Girlfriend's Wedding Reception.”
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
GOP senators know Trump's defense is based on lies. Here's proof. — As President Trump's trial hurtles toward a vote on new witnesses, his lawyers have based his defense in part on the notion that Trump's demand that Ukraine investigate the Bidens was legitimate.
CNN:
Leaked memo shows US border officers were directed to stop Iran-linked travelers — (CNN)An internal Customs and Border Protection memo obtained by CNN suggests that US border officers working at Canadian ports of entry were directed to detain and question travelers of Iranian descent …
NBC News:
Coronavirus misinformation surges, fueled by clout chasers — Misleading, unverified and clearly false information about the coronavirus has spread across social media platforms with a mix of fearmongering and racial stereotyping. — Misleading, unverified and clearly false information …
Wall Street Journal:
The ‘Corrupt Motives’ Doctrine — Every President equates his re-election self-interest with the public interest. It isn't grounds for impeachment. — By The Editorial Board — The questions from Senators in the impeachment trial aren't plowing much new ground, but they have been useful …
Discussion:
NBC News, The Dispatch and Raw Story
William Feuer / CNBC:
Facebook closes down 6%, wiping out more than $30 billion in market value — Facebook stock closed Thursday down 6.1% after it reported fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday evening. — The drop erased more than $30 billion from the social media giant's market cap.
Willy Staley / New York Times:
‘High Maintenance’ and the New TV Fantasy of New York — It was probably during the fourth episode of the second season of HBO's “High Maintenance” when I finally noticed what it was up to. The show follows a weed dealer known only as The Guy while he bikes around Brooklyn …