Top Items:
New York Times:
Barr Installs Outside Prosecutor to Review Case Against Michael Flynn, Ex-Trump Adviser — Amid turmoil in the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, the attorney general has also sent outside prosecutors to review other politically sensitive cases. — WASHINGTON — Attorney General William P. Barr …
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Washington Post:
Justice Dept. won't charge Andrew McCabe, the former FBI official who authorized the investigation of President Trump — The Justice Department will not bring charges against former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe for lying to investigators about a media disclosure, according to people familiar …
Discussion:
Redstate, Talking Points Memo, CNN, UPI and Raw Story
Adam Goldman / New York Times:
Andrew McCabe, Ex-F.B.I. Official, Will Not Be Charged in Lying Case — The decision to decline charges appears to be a move to distance the Justice Department from President Trump, who has long attacked Mr. McCabe. — WASHINGTON — Andrew G. McCabe, the former deputy F.B.I. director …
Discussion:
The Week, Raw Story and Columbia Journalism Review, more at Mediagazer »
Carol E. Lee / NBC News:
Justice Department opens inquiry into FBI interview at heart of Flynn's guilty plea — AG Barr has asked a U.S. attorney to lead the inquiry. Flynn pleaded guilty to making false statements during the interview, but wants to withdraw plea. — WASHINGTON — The Justice Department recently opened …
Discussion:
Redstate, CNBC, Law & Crime and Vanity Fair
Lee Moran / HuffPost:
People Aren't Buying William Barr's Rebuke Of Donald Trump — Lawmakers, legal experts and cable news hosts highly doubt the attorney general's interview appearing to stand up to the president. — Attorney General William Barr on Thursday appeared to stand up to Donald Trump when he complained …
Discussion:
Raw Story, NB Blog, NBC News, New York Times, CNN and No More Mister Nice Blog
Associated Press:
US closes case against ex-FBI boss McCabe with no charges — WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors have declined to charge former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, closing an investigation into whether he lied to federal officials about his involvement in a news media disclosure, McCabe's legal team said Friday.
Discussion:
IJR
Washington Post:
Trump bucks Barr's request to stop tweeting about Justice Dept., declaring a ‘legal right’ to seek intervention in criminal cases — A day after Attorney General William P. Barr publicly warned President Trump not to tweet about the Justice Department, Trump did just that, declaring that he has the …
Discussion:
The American Independent, Fox News, Power Line, National Review, The Hill, ABC News, One America News Network, The Daily Beast and Joe.My.God.
Alexandra Petri / Washington Post:
Please stop tweeting, Mr. President. It's making it much more difficult for me to do your bidding!
Please stop tweeting, Mr. President. It's making it much more difficult for me to do your bidding!
Associated Press:
Trump ignores AG Barr's request to stop tweeting about DOJ
Trump ignores AG Barr's request to stop tweeting about DOJ
Discussion:
Politico, Associated Press and ABC News
Franklin Foer / The Atlantic:
Now We Know What Kind of Authoritarian Trump Aspires to Be
Now We Know What Kind of Authoritarian Trump Aspires to Be
Discussion:
Raw Story
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Barr's ABC News interview is deeply damning. Here's what must come next.
Barr's ABC News interview is deeply damning. Here's what must come next.
Discussion:
New York Times, Reason, Common Dreams, ABC News and Raw Story
Andrew C. McCarthy / The Hill:
Roger Stone's sentence: How the judge will really decide to ‘lock him up’
Roger Stone's sentence: How the judge will really decide to ‘lock him up’
Discussion:
Townhall, The Bulwark and Washington Post
Elizabeth Vaughn / Redstate:
AG Barr Conducts Damage Control After Trump's Reckless Tweets Nearly Spark Impeachment 2.0
AG Barr Conducts Damage Control After Trump's Reckless Tweets Nearly Spark Impeachment 2.0
Discussion:
Slate, Washington Post and Mediaite
Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:
The Trials of Bill Barr
Rory Appleton / Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Sanders holds lead heading into Nevada's Democratic caucuses, poll finds — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders leads the presidential field by a solid margin among likely Democratic caucusgoers heading into Nevada's four-day early voting period, but all six of the candidates actively campaigning …
Discussion:
Fox News, The Hill, The Nevada Independent and Politico
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Ross Ramsey / The Texas Tribune:
Bernie Sanders leaps to first among Texas Democrats in latest UT/TT Poll — Sanders now leads the Democratic presidential candidates among Texas voters, but Donald Trump maintains a slight lead over each of the top Democrats in the race, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.
Discussion:
JONATHAN TURLEY, The Hill, Joe.My.God., Common Dreams and Morning Consult
Andrew Romano / Yahoo News:
New Yahoo News/YouGov poll shows Sanders's strength going head-to-head with rivals — A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll shows that Sen. Bernie Sanders would defeat each of the other Democratic presidential candidates in a one-on-one race — in many instances by double-digit margins.
Discussion:
The Dispatch and Power Line
Dylan Scott / Vox:
Bernie Sanders is leading the 2 most important states on Super Tuesday
Bernie Sanders is leading the 2 most important states on Super Tuesday
Discussion:
Politico, Associated Press and The Daily Beast
Washington Post:
She pushed Trump to exit the Paris climate agreement and roll back environmental rules. And she's returning to EPA as chief of staff. — One of EPA's first Trump appointees, Mandy Gunasekara has run a ‘pro-Trump nonprofit’ since leaving the agency a year ago.
Discussion:
The Week
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
There is another service to the country Biden may need to perform — Perhaps former vice president Joe Biden can rebound in Nevada or South Carolina. Goodness knows, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has done everything in his power to anger Nevada's most important union, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is running on fumes.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and The Hill
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Ryan Nicol / Florida Politics:
New front-runner? Mike Bloomberg edges out Joe Biden in new Florida survey
New front-runner? Mike Bloomberg edges out Joe Biden in new Florida survey
Discussion:
The Hill, The Guardian, New York Post, Raw Story, Mediaite and Joe.My.God.
Betsy Swan / The Daily Beast:
U.S. Readied Sanctions on Russian Oligarch's Associates—Then Mysteriously Backed Off — “Somebody overruled [Treasury], essentially,” one sanctions expert said. “That's the most likely scenario.” — Something strange happened in mid-December involving Oleg Deripaska, the Russian oligarch.
Discussion:
Raw Story
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Henry Foy / Financial Times:
US cites reports Oleg Deripaska helped Vladimir Putin launder cash
US cites reports Oleg Deripaska helped Vladimir Putin launder cash
Discussion:
РБК
Adam Bienkov / Business Insider:
Boris Johnson has cancelled his planned trip to the White House after Trump slammed the phone down on him in a moment of ‘apoplectic’ fury — UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has cancelled his planned trip to meet Donald Trump next month after a furious row between the two men.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money and Raw Story
Ryan Goodman / Just Security:
White House ‘1264 Notice’ and Novel Legal Claims for Military Action Against Iran — To its credit, the Trump administration has submitted a newly released notice to Congress, describing the legal and policy basis for the Jan. 2 airstrike against Qassem Soleimani, Iran's top military commander.
Discussion:
CNBC, New York Times and Virginia Mercury
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Julia Ioffe / Washington Post:
Democrats are wasting time fighting over policies the Senate will never pass — It was a sight to behold: a former vice president, two senators and a former mayor on a stage in New Hampshire a week ago, arguing over the impossible. Would Sen. Bernie Sanders deliver Medicare-for-all immediately, as he promised to do?
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Megan Messerly / The Nevada Independent:
Culinary Union officials face profanity-laced attacks after scorecard says Sanders would ‘end’ their health care — Geoconda Arguello-Kline, left, secretary-treasurer for the Culinary Union announced that the culinary will not endorse a Democratic presidential candidate in the primary.
Discussion:
Redstate, Raw Story, PBS NewsHour, Vox, Washington Post and The Daily Beast
Jonathan Bernstein / Bloomberg:
An Unrestrained Trump May End Up Trapping Himself — The Senate pushes back on war powers and a Fed nominee, while a White House purge might undercut the president's clout. — I'm not sure what the conventional wisdom is about the current health of Donald Trump's presidency …
Discussion:
Raw Story and New York Times
New York Times:
We Checked the Iowa Caucus Math. Here's Where It Didn't Add Up. — Caucus volunteers tally the final round votes. Then they divide the county delegates among the viable candidates based on their vote shares. — They must round down or up to the nearest whole number to award the delegates.
Jacqueline Feldscher / Politico:
Army won't investigate Vindman over impeachment testimony, top leader says — The Army will not investigate Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the former National Security Council staffer who testified in the president's impeachment investigation, the service's top civilian said Friday.
Associated Press:
Facebook reverses on paid political messages that aren't ads — SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook decided Friday to allow a type of paid political message that had sidestepped many of the social network's rules governing political ads, in a reversal that highlights difficulties tech companies …
Dan Mangan / CNBC:
Disgraced lawyer Michael Avenatti found guilty in Nike extortion trial — Disgraced lawyer Michael Avenatti was convicted of all three charges related to his efforts to extort up to $25 million from athletic apparel giant Nike. — The verdict in Manhattan federal court came two years …
Jo Craven McGinty / Wall Street Journal:
How Many People Might One Person With Coronavirus Infect? — Researchers in U.K. offer clues as to how contagious Covid-19 virus could be — When an infection erupts the way coronavirus has exploded in Wuhan, China, and elsewhere in the world, public-health experts try to gauge the potential …
Discussion:
Mediaite
ProPublica:
The Benefits of Being Joe Biden's Brother — Jim Biden has been at his brother's side at nearly every critical junction in Joe's life. He's also repeatedly tapped into Joe's political network for help with his finances, and used Joe's fame to promote his business ventures. … Jim Biden was in a bind.