Top Items:
McKay Coppins / The Atlantic:
How Mitt Romney Decided Trump Is Guilty — Mitt Romney didn't want to go through with it. — “This has been the most difficult decision I have ever had to make in my life,” he told me yesterday afternoon in his Senate office. Roughly 24 hours later, Romney would deliver a speech announcing …
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Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Romney votes to convict Trump on charge of abuse of power, becoming the first Republican to break ranks — Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) sealed a place in history Wednesday when he voted to convict President Trump of abuse of power, becoming a rare lone voice in a Republican Party that otherwise …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, ABC News, Axios, Deseret News, The Daily Beast, Politico, Townhall, Breitbart, Outside the Beltway and The Hill
Burgess Everett / Politico:
Romney denies Trump unanimous Republican support — Mitt Romney brought a stunning twist to the end of President Donald Trump's impeachment trial: A bipartisan vote to convict the president on charges of abuse of power. — The Wednesday announcement by the Utah Republican made him the only member …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Mother Jones, The Hill, Townhall, No More Mister Nice Blog, Axios, LifeSiteNews, The Daily Beast and Breitbart
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Senate Acquits Trump, Ending Historic Trial — Three Senate Democrats from conservative-leaning states who had been targeted by the White House as possible defectors voted to convict Mr. Trump, depriving the president of the chance to claim a bipartisan exoneration despite the political risk.
Discussion:
The American Spectator, Washington Post, The Daily Beast, KFOR-TV, BuzzFeed News, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Kos and Twitchy
NBC News:
Senate acquits Trump on both impeachment charges
Senate acquits Trump on both impeachment charges
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Axios, Washington Post, ABC News, Talking Points Memo, UPI, The Root and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Tyler Olson / Fox News:
Fox News Exclusive: Romney says he had to follow ‘conscience’ on vote to convict Trump, expects ‘enormous consequences’
Fox News Exclusive: Romney says he had to follow ‘conscience’ on vote to convict Trump, expects ‘enormous consequences’
Discussion:
Associated Press, Disrn and Breitbart
Erielle Davidson / The Federalist:
Romney's Entire Career Has Been About Punishing Republicans For Voting For Him
Romney's Entire Career Has Been About Punishing Republicans For Voting For Him
Discussion:
American Greatness and Breitbart
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
What's next — giving the Presidential Medal of Freedom to David Duke? — So that the right-wing, faux-outrage crowd does not have a meltdown, let me be clear: I am sorry to hear talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh has cancer. Any decent person should hope he has a full recovery.
Discussion:
Redstate, CNN, Vox, COURIER, Outside the Beltway, Twitchy, NB Blog, The Guardian, Raw Story and The Daily Beast, more at Mediagazer »
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Tamar Lapin / New York Post:
Nancy Pelosi ‘pre-ripped’ pages of Trump's SOTU speech, video shows — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi apparently made tiny tears into her copy of President Trump's State of the Union address — so that her speech-ripping moment could go off without a hitch. — As Trump introduced cancer …
Discussion:
Fox News and The Gateway Pundit
Politico:
Pelosi unloads on Trump in private meeting after SOTU standoff — Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped into President Donald Trump in a private meeting with Democrats Wednesday, just hours after the two jousted in a silent sparring match during his State of the Union address.
Discussion:
Variety, The Hill, Vanity Fair, POLITICUSUSA, Talking Points Memo, Breitbart and Daily Kos
Rick Wilson / The Daily Beast:
Trump's Speech Was a Bataan Death March of Bullsh*t
Trump's Speech Was a Bataan Death March of Bullsh*t
Discussion:
Raw Story
Jonathan Turley / The Hill:
Nancy Pelosi should resign
Nancy Pelosi should resign
Discussion:
JONATHAN TURLEY, Breitbart, Fox News, Townhall and CBS News
Yvonne Wingett Sanchez / Arizona Republic:
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema says she will vote to convict President Trump on impeachment charges — Citing her concern for the Constitution as well as the conduct of future presidents, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema will vote Wednesday to convict President Donald Trump on the impeachment charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
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Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:
Sen. Jones says he will vote to convict Trump, drawing criticism from GOP rivals
Sen. Jones says he will vote to convict Trump, drawing criticism from GOP rivals
Discussion:
The Hill
Politico:
First head rolls after Biden's weak Iowa finish — DES MOINES — Joe Biden's campaign has parted ways with its Iowa field director, two days after the former vice president came in an embarrassing fourth place in the primary caucus state. — Adrienne Bogen, who headed field operations for Biden …
Discussion:
NBC News, Associated Press, Vanity Fair, Fox News, The Hill and ABC News
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Cleve R. Wootson Jr / Washington Post:
Biden calls Iowa caucuses standing a ‘gut punch’
Biden calls Iowa caucuses standing a ‘gut punch’
Discussion:
Iowa Starting Line, The Hill and The Boston Globe
New York Times:
What Went Wrong for Joe Biden in Iowa
What Went Wrong for Joe Biden in Iowa
Discussion:
Mother Jones, IJR and Political Wire
Marc Caputo / Politico:
Biden concedes Iowa was ‘a gut punch’
Biden concedes Iowa was ‘a gut punch’
Discussion:
Associated Press, Washington Post, The Hill and Bangor Daily News
Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
TV Ratings Declined for Trump's State of the Union Speech — About 37 million Americans tuned in on Tuesday, the smallest audience of President Trump's tenure. — President Trump put a “Celebrity Apprentice” spin on his State of the Union address on Tuesday, seeding the 78-minute broadcast …
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Rick Porter / Hollywood Reporter:
TV Ratings: State of the Union Falls in Early Broadcast Numbers — Preliminary figures show the annual address down by double digits versus 2019. — The State of the Union address drew a considerably smaller audience on the broadcast networks than it did a year ago, at least in the preliminary ratings from Tuesday.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and POLITICUSUSA
Sherrod Brown / New York Times:
In Private, Republicans Admit They Acquitted Trump Out of Fear — One journalist remarked to me, “How in the world can these senators walk around here upright when they have no backbone?” — Mr. Brown is a Democratic senator from Ohio. — Not guilty. Not guilty.
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA
ProPublica:
The Iowa Caucuses App Had Another Problem: It Could Have Been Hacked — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published. — A glitch in the smartphone app used to count and report votes …
Discussion:
Twitchy, The Verge, VICE, protocol, Fortune, BuzzFeed News, National Review and UPI, more at Techmeme »
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Washington Post:
House managers: Trump won't be vindicated. The Senate won't be, either. — Reps. Adam Schiff (Calif.), Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), Zoe Lofgren (Calif.), Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Val Demings (Fla.), Sylvia Garcia (Tex.) and Jason Crow (Colo.) were the Democratic House managers in the impeachment trial of President Trump.
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Ryan Goodman / Just Security:
Reading Between the Votes: 53 Senators Say Trump Guilty on the Facts
Reading Between the Votes: 53 Senators Say Trump Guilty on the Facts
Discussion:
Washington Post, Politico, Raw Story, Omaha World-Herald and Axios
Morgan Phillips / Fox News:
McConnell announces he will award Chief Justice Roberts the ‘Golden Gavel’
McConnell announces he will award Chief Justice Roberts the ‘Golden Gavel’
Discussion:
The Hill
Matthew Haag / New York Times:
Surprise for New York Renters: No More Broker Fees — Regulators unexpectedly banned broker fees for renters, which in the city have long amounted to as much as 15 percent of the annual lease. — In New York's City intensely competitive rental market, tenants usually deal with middlemen known as brokers …
Hollywood Reporter:
Kirk Douglas, Indomitable Icon of Hollywood's Golden Age, Dies at 103 — The actor starred in such films as ‘Champion,’ ‘The Bad and the Beautiful,’ ‘Lust for Life,’ ‘Gunfight at the O.K. Corral’ and ‘Spartacus,’ to name just a few. — Kirk Douglas, the son of a ragman who channeled a deep …
George Conway / Washington Post:
I believe the president, and in the president — George T. Conway III is a lawyer in New York and an adviser to the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump super PAC. — I believe the president, and in the president. — I believe the Senate is right to acquit the president.
Discussion:
Mediaite
Josh Kovensky / Talking Points Memo:
New Evidence Shows Pressure Campaign Started Earlier With Prior Ukraine Prez — As the Senate votes to acquit President Trump over his bid to extort the Ukrainian government into providing him with domestic political help, TPM has new evidence suggesting that the pressure campaign came far closer …
Discussion:
Fox News, Spectator USA and Raw Story
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Christopher Miller / BuzzFeed News:
Evangelical Christians Also Wanted To Get Rid Of The US Ambassador To Ukraine
Evangelical Christians Also Wanted To Get Rid Of The US Ambassador To Ukraine
Discussion:
The Hill
Washington Post:
Fact-checking President Trump's 2020 State of the Union address — President Trump's State of the Union speech once again was chock-full of stretched facts and dubious figures. Many of these claims have been fact-checked repeatedly, yet the president persists in using them.
Discussion:
National Review, Raw Story, Big Think, Associated Press, The Mahablog, Vox, Daily Kos, The Nation and Common Dreams
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Vivian Salama / CNN:
Pentagon officials stunned by White House decision to block Ukraine aid, new emails show — Washington (CNN)Days before the July 2019 call between President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, US officials were still working to expedite the delivery of Javelin anti-tank missiles to the country …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Cganemccalla / NewsOne:
Rush Limbaugh's Most Racist Quotes: A Timeline Of Destructive Commentary — Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh has announced that he had been diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer. The 69-year-old made the announcement on his show on Monday, ABC News reported.
Discussion:
The Nation
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