memeorandum: ‘Russia and China have to be laughing’: Mitt Romney goes off on Trump's voter fraud conspiracy theories (Sarah K. Burris/Raw Story)

7:30 PM ET, December 3, 2020

Top Items:

Trump aide banned from Justice after trying to get case info — WASHINGTON (AP) — The official serving as President Donald Trump's eyes and ears at the Justice Department has been banned from the building after trying to pressure staffers to give up sensitive information about election fraud …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Vanity Fair, littlegreenfootballs.com, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Forbes, The Daily Caller, Law & Crime, The Week, CNN, Raw Story, The Intellectualist, Political Wire and The Philadelphia Inquirer

Ashley Parker / Washington Post:

Farah resigns as White House communications director in tacit nod to Trump's loss — White House communications director Alyssa Farah resigned from her post Thursday after three-and-a-half years in the Trump administration. — Farah, 31, began her White House tenure as press secretary …

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Examiner, CNN, Fox News, Politico, Axios, Talking Points Memo, IJR, Forbes, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Townhall, more at Mediagazer »

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Kayleigh McEnany isn't aware of anything — Fourteenth in an occasional series on White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, to prove the impossibility of speaking for President Trump. — As White House press secretary, McEnany speaks on behalf of Trump. Or, at least, that's the job description.

Discussion: Raw Story, Talking Points Memo and Washington Examiner

Neal K. Katyal / New York Times:
I Wrote the Special Counsel Rules. Barr Has Abused Them.

Discussion: Raw Story, The Hill, Washington Monthly, The Bulwark, emptywheel and Power Line

Kaitlan Collins / CNN:
Trump and Barr had ‘contentious’ White House meeting this week, source says

Discussion: The Daily Beast, National Review, HotAir, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, ABC News, The Hill, Alternet.org, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, Forbes and Political Wire

Morgan Chalfant / The Hill:
Trump hits Barr over voter fraud remarks: 'He hasn't looked'

Discussion: Mic, Crooks and Liars, Raw Story, Reuters, IJR, Washington Examiner, The Guardian, Daily Kos, Forbes, Axios, Bloomberg, Politico, Business Insider, POLITICUSUSA, The American Independent and Washington Times

Washington Post:
Trump administration sets wave of executions for days leading up to Biden inauguration

Discussion: Washingtonian

New York Times:

How Is Trump's Lawyer Jenna Ellis ‘Elite Strike Force’ Material? — She bills herself as a “constitutional law attorney.” Her experience doesn't align with the sort of lawyer she plays on TV. — Jenna Ellis broke into the legal profession in 2012 as a deputy district attorney in Weld County …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Alternet.org, Law & Crime, Gothamist and Raw Story

Emily Cochrane / New York Times:
McConnell and Pelosi Discuss Stimulus Bill as Pressure Mounts for a Deal

Discussion: Washington Examiner, CNBC, The Nevada Independent, The American Independent, Washington Post, The Hill, The National Interest, Foreign Policy, Conservative News Today, The Daily Beast and Alternet.org

Dan Merica / CNN:

CNN Exclusive: Biden says he will ask Americans to wear masks for the first 100 days he's in office — Biden will ask Americans to wear masks for his first 100 days — (CNN)President-elect Joe Biden told CNN's Jake Tapper on Thursday that he will ask Americans to wear masks for his first 100 days after he takes office.

Discussion: Associated Press, Axios, CBS News, Washington Examiner, Politico, The Hill, NPR, Bloomberg, Washington Times, Mercury News, IJR, The Daily Caller, TheBlaze, Forbes, The Guardian, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo and UPI

Grace Segers / CBS News:
Fauci to have first “substantive discussions” with Biden transition officials

Discussion: New York Post, CNN, USA Today, The Daily Caller, IJR, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Axios and Mediaite

Quint Forgey / Politico:
Fauci: U.K. ‘really rushed through that approval’ of Pfizer vaccine

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, IJR, The Daily Caller, CNBC, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, NBC4 Washington, The Election Wizard, WINK NEWS, New York Post and Cyprus Mail

The Daily Beast:

Trumpworld Declares War on ‘Fool’ Trumpist Lawyer Lin Wood — After Wood encouraged a boycott of the GA runoff, the president's campaign suggested he was a Democratic plant. — On Wednesday evening, what was left of Donald Trump's reelection campaign began insinuating that an attorney striving …

Discussion: Washington Post, Law & Crime, Media Matters for America, National Review, Talking Points Memo, CBS News, Raw Story, Vanity Fair, The Hill, Business Insider, Outside the Beltway and NPR

Washington Post:
Trump roils Georgia GOP as party waits to see if presidential visit helps — or hurts — in crucial Senate runoffs

Discussion: The Week, Mic, CNN, Politico, Los Angeles Times, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Conservative News Today, Salon, Fox News, Washington Examiner, ABC7, wabe.org, Forbes and National Journal

Donesha Aldridge / WXIA-TV:
Poll results show tight races between candidates in U.S. Senate runoffs

Discussion: HotAir, Vox, Politico, Mediaite, National Review, The Hill and POLITICUSUSA

Rafi Schwartz / Mic:
Trump's voter fraud fantasy is starting to muck up Republicans' chances elsewhere

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Wall Street Journal, The Week and Breitbart

Tom LoBianco / Business Insider:

SCOOP: Don Jr. eyes a run for NRA chief. It's one more way the Trump family is making big plays to cement itself in GOP conservative politics for the next four years. … - President Trump and his family are looking to cement their hold on the Republican Party with a series of moves aimed …

Discussion: Mic, TheBlaze, Raw Story and The Intellectualist

Kate Bennett / CNN:

Plotting the future: Trump kids even look to profit from their father's fallen legacy — (CNN)It was Thanksgiving, but instead of being seated at an elaborate table dressed with gold silverware, expensive china and a buffet of chilled seafood, turkey and beef tenderloin, waited on by household staff …

John Ratcliffe / Wall Street Journal:

China Is National Security Threat No. 1 — Resisting Beijing's attempt to reshape and dominate the world is the challenge of our generation. — As Director of National Intelligence, I am entrusted with access to more intelligence than any member of the U.S. government other than the president.

Discussion: CNN, NBC News, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Business Insider, GNEWS, IJR, Reuters, HotAir, New York Post, The Diplomat, THE MARSHALL REPORT, CNBC and Fox Business

CBS News:
Ratcliffe says Biden getting “all of the same intelligence” as Trump, warns of China threat

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Bloomberg and Breitbart

Charlie Savage / New York Times:
U.S. Used Patriot Act to Gather Logs of Website Visitors

more at Techmeme »

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

The President Is Acting Crazy, so Why Are We Shrugging It Off? — The dangerous “yeah, whatever” phase of Trump's lame-duck Presidency. — On Wednesday, more than three thousand Americans died because of the coronavirus, the nation's deadliest day yet during the pandemic.

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Post, Politico, Bloomberg, Reuters, Forbes, The Daily Caller, Patterico's Pontifications, Breitbart, behindtheblack.com, Raw Story and HotAir

Ted Nesi / WPRI-TV:

Raimondo: I will not be Biden's HHS secretary — PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Gov. Gina Raimondo on Thursday ruled out leaving her job to become President-elect Joe Biden's health and human services secretary, seeking to put the idea to rest after a flurry of reports that she was a finalist for the job.

Stuart A. Thompson / New York Times:

Find Your Place in the Vaccine Line — A vaccine may be around the corner, but how long will it be until you get the shot? Health officials are considering vaccine timelines that give some Americans priority over others. If you're a healthy American, you may wait many months for your turn.

Teo Armus / Washington Post:

Trump campaign's star witness in Michigan was deemed ‘not credible.’ Then, her loud testimony went viral. — Weeks after Melissa Carone was tapped by the Trump campaign as a star witness in Michigan, little appeared to be going as planned with the contract IT worker's testimony …

Discussion: The Stream, The Cut, The Mary Sue, Crooks and Liars, RedState, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, The Root, Raw Story, Mediaite and The Daily Beast

Jerusalem Demsas / Vox:
Rudy Giuliani's bizarre legal strategy, in two clips

Discussion: The Wrap, Michigan Advance, Spectator USA, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Jezebel

Lauren Gibbons / MLive.com:
In unusual hearing, Rudy Giuliani asks Michigan lawmakers to ‘take back your power’

Discussion: USA Today, Fox News, Washington Examiner, Detroit Free Press, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Snopes.com and Detroit News

Matt Negrin / Washington Post:

A political litmus test for Republicans: Fail it, lose your TV slot — Time for a rapid test for the voter fraud delusion — Almost a month has passed since Joe Biden won the election, and the Republican Party still refuses to acknowledge him as president-elect.

Washington Post:

Reps. Meeks, Scott elected chairs of House Foreign Affairs and Agriculture committees, first Black lawmakers to lead the panels — House Democrats and Republicans on Thursday approved their committee chairs and members for the 117th Congress, with Black lawmakers set to helm the Foreign Affairs …

Discussion: Axios and The Hill

Paul Steinhauser / Fox News:
New House Democrats' re-election arm chair faces challenge holding ‘vulnerable’ majority

Discussion: ABC News and Roll Call

Carla Marinucci / Politico:

Prominent Democratic strategist and Newsom adviser facing domestic violence charges — SAN FRANCISCO — Prominent California Democratic strategist Nathan Ballard — a longtime friend and adviser to Gov. Gavin Newsom — was arrested and jailed on two felony domestic violence charges in Napa …

Discussion: Mercury News and Los Angeles Times

Politico:

Wikipedia page for Biden's new Covid czar scrubbed of politically damaging material — Jeff Zients, the man President-elect Joe Biden has put in charge of his administration's response to Covid-19, “fell in love with” the culture at Bain & Co. He later founded his own private equity firm, Portfolio Logic.

Discussion: Fox News, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Beast and Washington Free Beacon

Politico:
Zients, Murthy tapped to head up Biden's Covid-19 response

Discussion: Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News, Talking Points Memo, New York Post, GovExec.com, KVIA-TV, Washingtonian, The Week, STAT and CNN

Russ Buettner / New York Times:

Tenants Sue Trump Over Scheme That Drove Up Their Rents — The latest legal front against the outbound president involves a maneuver that earned him and his siblings millions while lowering their taxes. — President Trump will face a raft of potential legal challenges when he leaves office …

Discussion: Raw Story

Hailey Branson-Potts / Los Angeles Times:

Angry parents won't let officials slide over closed playgrounds, packed malls — Sydney Beckman ran beneath the yellow caution tape surrounding the empty playground equipment and flopped her tiny body over a swing. — The 2-year-old had tried opening a gate blocking the big green slide …

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Jonathan Capehart, Tiffany Cross Take Over ‘A.M. Joy’ Weekend Slots on MSNBC … Jonathan Capehart and Tiffany Cross were supposed to throw glasses at each other, not toast one another with them. — And yet the duo took to Zoom earlier this week to share a cocktail.

Discussion: TVNewser, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and The Wrap

Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:
MSNBC gives weekend shows to Tiffany Cross and Jonathan Capehart

Discussion: The Root

Jeffery Martin / Newsweek:

Roger Stone Says North Korean Boats Delivered Ballots Through Maine Harbor As Trump Boosts Fraud Claims — Former Trump adviser Roger Stone claimed on Wednesday that North Korea had interfered in the U.S. presidential election. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump continued to assert …

Discussion: Newsmax, Juanita Jean's and Mock Paper Scissors

KTLA:

Residents in city of Los Angeles to ‘remain in their homes’ amid COVID-19 surge, mayor's office says — All residents within the city of Los Angeles should continue to remain in their homes and follow the city's “safer-at-home” order, which mirrors guidance from L.A. County, according to the mayor's office.

Discussion: KRON4, Fortune, RedState, California Globe, Breitbart, TheBlaze, Conservative News Today, HotAir, The Daily Caller and The Last Refuge

Samir Ferdowsi / VICE:

Mysterious Monolith Update: Racists Destroy California Monolith, Proclaim Christ Superior to Space Aliens — A group of men shouting “Christ is King” and “America First” destroyed a new monolith and replaced it with a wooden cross. — SF — The new California monolith was torn …

Discussion: Mic, The Mary Sue, Observer and National File

U.S. Department of Justice:

Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against Facebook for Discriminating Against U.S. Workers — Lawsuit Alleges Facebook Favors H-1B Visa Workers and Other Temporary Visa Holders over U.S. Workers — The Department of Justice announced today that it filed a lawsuit against Facebook Inc. for discriminating against U.S. workers.