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8:25 AM ET, December 8, 2020

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Will Wright / New York Times:
Covid-19 Live Updates: U.S. Breaks Record for Most Deaths in a Week  —  Trump officials passed when Pfizer offered to sell more vaccine doses months ago.  Britain is readying a mass vaccination drive.  —  RIGHT NOW The U.S. has recorded its most Covid-19 deaths in a week.  —  Here's what you need to know:
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Pfizer tells U.S. officials it cannot supply substantial additional vaccine until late June or July  —  Trump administration officials deny there will be availability issues, but others say problems are possible in the second quarter.  —  Pfizer has told the Trump administration …
New York Times:
Trump administration officials passed when Pfizer offered in late summer to sell the U.S. more vaccine doses.  —  Trump administration officials passed when Pfizer offered in late summer to sell the U.S. government additional doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, according to people familiar with the matter.
Lev Facher / STAT:
Leading Covid-19 vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna decline invitations to White House ‘Vaccine Summit’  —  Both Pfizer and Moderna, the two major drug manufacturers likely to receive emergency authorizations for a Covid-19 vaccine in the coming weeks, have rejected invitations from President Trump …
Benjamin Mueller / New York Times:
National Health Service Delivers First Shots to Fight Covid-19
Discussion: Fox News
Politico:
Biden picks retired general Lloyd Austin to run Pentagon  —  President-elect Joe Biden has selected Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to serve as secretary of defense, according to three people with knowledge of the decision.  If confirmed, Austin would be the first Black person to lead the Pentagon.
RELATED:
Jim Golby / New York Times:
Sorry, Gen. Lloyd Austin.  A Recently Retired General Should Not Be Secretary of Defense.  —  After a tumultuous four years, we need civilian leadership and a return to normalcy.  —  Mr. Golby has been a special adviser to Vice Presidents Joe Biden and Mike Pence.
Discussion: The Guardian
Hans Nichols / Axios:
Biden faces battle to land Austin at Pentagon
Discussion: Political Wire
Bryan Bender / Politico:
Biden's reliance on retired military brass sets off alarm bells
Discussion: The Week
Jeffrey Schweers / Tallahassee Democrat:
Agents raid home of fired Florida data scientist who built COVID-19 dashboard  —  DeSantis “sent the Gestapo”: Video shows FDLE agents with guns drawn at home of woman fired over COVID-19 data.  —  View Comments  —  State police brandishing firearms Monday raided the Tallahassee home of Rebekah Jones …
RELATED:
CNN:
Florida police raid home of former state Covid-19 data scientist  —  (CNN)Florida police raided the home of a former state coronavirus data scientist on Monday, escalating a feud between the state government and a data expert who has accused officials of trying to cover up the extent of the pandemic.
Sun-Sentinel:
Florida police raid COVID data whistleblower's house with guns drawn  —  State police raided the home of a former Department of Health data scientist who is accusing Florida officials of wrongfully firing her for refusing to manipulate COVID-19 statistics.  —  Rebekah Jones …
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Scoop: Trump plots mass pardons, even to people not asking  —  President Trump isn't just accepting pardon requests but blindly discussing them “like Christmas gifts” to people who haven't even asked, sources with direct knowledge of the conversations told Axios.
Discussion: Business Insider and Raw Story
Kimberly Wehle / The Bulwark:
Ted Cruz Wants to Toss Out 7 Million People's Votes.  Appalling.  —  The ‘constitutionalist’ senator volunteers to help make the case at the Supreme Court.  —  Ladies and gentleman, Fox News just learned—this is “breaking,” mind you—that the junior senator from Texas, Ted Cruz …
RELATED:
Josh Feldman / Mediaite:
Lou Dobbs Snaps at Stephen Miller Over White House Not Doing More on Trump Legal Fight: 'Why Don't You Answer Me?!'  —  Fox Business' Lou Dobbs snapped at White House advisor Stephen Miller as he raged over why Republicans and the White House aren't doing more on the president's legal fight in multiple states.
Washington Post:
Trump asks Pennsylvania House speaker for help overturning election results, personally intervening in a third state  —  President Trump called the speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives twice during the past week to make the extraordinary request for help reversing his loss in the state …
RELATED:
Adam Van Brimmer / USA Today:   Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to state legislators: Picking own presidential electors ‘not an option’
Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian / Axios:
Exclusive: Suspected Chinese spy targeted California politicians  —  A suspected Chinese intelligence operative developed extensive ties with local and national politicians, including a U.S. congressman, in what U.S. officials believe was a political intelligence operation run …
Page Six:
Ivanka & Jared buy $30M lot on high-security Miami island  —  Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have splashed out on a $30 million-plus dollar lot of land on Miami's uber-swanky and high-security Indian Creek Island — known as the “Billionaire's Bunker” — Page Six can exclusively reveal.
Discussion: INSIDER, Raw Story, TMZ.com and Lucianne
Aaron Reich / Jerusalem Post:
Former Israeli space security chief says aliens exist, humanity not ready  —  This “Galactic Federation” has supposedly been in contact with Israel and the US for years, but are keeping themselves a secret to prevent hysteria until humanity is ready.  —  Has the State of Israel made contact with aliens?
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
MSNBC to Name Rashida Jones President, Succeeding Phil Griffin  —  Mr. Griffin, who has been with the cable news network for 25 years, will leave after the end of January  —  MSNBC is expected to name Rashida Jones as the network's president, people familiar with the matter said …
RELATED:
Ahiza García-Hodges / NBC News:
Rashida Jones named next president of MSNBC
Discussion: Breitbart
Zolan Kanno-Youngs / New York Times:
Armed Mexicans Were Smuggled In to Guard Border Wall, Whistle-Blowers Say  —  In a complaint unsealed on Friday, whistle-blowers working on President Trump's wall said that contractors were illegally bringing in Mexican guards to protect construction sites.  —  WASHINGTON — Two whistle-blowers …
Discussion: New York Magazine and Raw Story
HuffPost:
The Marines And The Racist Porn Actor Who Tried To Start A ‘Modern Day SS’  —  Four neo-Nazis arrested on gun charges wanted to spark a race war, prosecutors said, and their potential targets included Black Lives Matter protesters.  —  In 2016, Liam Collins, then just a teenager living in New Jersey …
FiveThirtyEight:
What The Polls Say About Georgia's Senate Runoffs  —  Headed into the 2020 election, we knew that Election Day might turn into Election Week or even Election Month because of the huge increase in mail voting due to the coronavirus pandemic.  While it thankfully didn't take a month to find …
RELATED:
New York Times:
Republicans Make Clear Their Georgia Senate Strategy: Attack Warnock
Discussion: BET, Roll Call and Esquire
Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:
Tribes Want Deb Haaland For Interior Secretary.  Some Biden Advisers Are Trying To Thwart Her.  —  Anonymous Biden allies are telling news outlets the Indigenous congresswoman is not qualified.  “Of course it's offensive,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.).
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Republicans Can't Handle the Truth  —  You shouldn't be surprised that they're still backing Trump.  —  President Trump's continuing attempts to overturn an election he lost decisively more than a month ago is, like so much of what he's done in office, shocking but not surprising.
Marcus Weisgerber / Defense One:
Trump Admin to Rename Two Bases for Space Force Over Military Objections  —  The Air Force had quietly agreed with Congress not to change anything until the NDAA settles a way forward on Confederate base names.  —  The U.S. Air Force plans to change the names of two Florida military bases heavily involved …
Washington Post:
A $4.5 billion Trump food program is running out of money early, leaving families hungry and food assistance charities scrambling  —  Trump's Farmers to Families Food Box program was set to end Dec. 31.  Vendors in some states are running out of money already.
Wilson Wong / NBC News:
Former Alabama senator dies of Covid at age 78, and in his last words warns, ‘We messed up’ … A former Alabama state senator died of Covid-19 last week at age 78, officials said.  —  Former Sen. Larry Dixon, a Republican who also served as the executive director of the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners …
Discussion: The Week, The Hill and al.com
CNN:
House conservatives urge Trump not to concede and press for floor fight over election loss  —  What Republicans are saying privately about the election  —  (CNN)President Donald Trump's staunchest defenders on Capitol Hill are urging him not to concede even after President-elect Joe Biden wins …
Politico:
Steakhouses, Hill bars and ski trips: GOP carries on amid the pandemic  —  It's not just the White House flouting pandemic rules to mark this town's schmooziest season.  —  Some corners of the GOP, including members of Congress, are refusing to let the coronavirus intrude on their holiday gatherings …
Discussion: Raw Story
David Siders / Politico:
Trump blows a hole in the GOP on his way out  —  The president's last-gasp efforts to overturn the election are reshaping the party.  —  President Donald Trump walks away after speaking at the White House.  Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the presidential election have met with defeat …
Politico:
Trump's options dwindle as safe harbor deadline looms  —  A reality is sinking in within Trump's orbit: It's over.  —  President Donald Trump's legal efforts are brushing up against a 19th century statute.  Doug Mills, Pool/Getty Images  —  President Donald Trump's effort to snatch …
Discussion: USA Today, CNN and NPR
New York Times:
Elevating Fringe Theories, Ron Johnson Questions Virus Science  —  The Wisconsin Republican has transformed his Senate panel into a forum for amplifying dubious theories and questionable treatments pushed by President Trump.  —  WASHINGTON — In choosing a slate of doctors to testify …
Nancy Cordes / CBS News:
ER doctor who criticized Trump's actions to be removed from Walter Reed schedule  —  Dr. James Phillips, the emergency room physician who publicly criticized President Trump's decision to drive with Secret Service agents to greet supporters while he was hospitalized with COVID-19 in October …
Discussion: The Hill, Jezebel and Raw Story
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Newsmax and One America News gain prominence as they push Trump's baseless theories  —  Since his reelection loss, President Trump has launched a campaign against Fox News and encouraged his allies to tune into more extreme conservative news outlets such as Newsmax and One America News.
Carl Swanson / Curbed:
Reasons We've Loved New York A send-off to the many places, big and small, that closed in 2020. … If you live in New York long enough — and it doesn't have to be very long — it gradually becomes unrecognizable.  And maybe, you begin to realize, it's for someone else entirely …
HuffPost:
This Is How Trump's Executions Are Spreading The Coronavirus  —  The government admitted in a buried footnote of a court filing that “some” key staffers contracted COVID-19 after the last execution.  —  In late November, as health officials urged the public to avoid travel amid a new wave …
Shibley Telhami / Brookings:
Why the discourse about Palestinian payments to prisoners' families is distorted and misleading  —  The war of narratives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has intensified as the Trump administration is poised to leave the scene.  As the New York Times recently reported, the Palestinian Authority …
Helen Sullivan / The Guardian:
Christchurch inquiry report released - as it happened  —  Below are is our summary of today's key findings.  With that, we will now be closing this blog.  Thank you for following along.  —  Here is our full story on the report's findings:  —  More from AAP:
Discussion: The Verge
 
 
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 More Items: 
Kelly Weill / The Daily Beast:
Group That Protested at MI Official's Home Claims Ties to Local GOP
Discussion: Reuters, Salon and Raw Story
John Tierney / City Journal:
Pandemic Penitents  —  Lockdowns are more about faith than science.  —  Covid-19
James McElroy / The American Mind:
Woke Capital Isn't a Game
Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg:
Biden Administration Will Create Position to Reach Conservatives
Discussion: Townhall
Matt Lewis / The Daily Beast:
Rudy Giuliani's COVID Case Shows There's No Vaccine to Treat the Disease the GOP Has Become
Discussion: Raw Story
David Roberts / Volts:
Welcome to Volts  —  Clean energy and politics, electrified  —  Hey there!
 Earlier Items: 
J. Michael Luttig / Washington Post:
No, President Trump can't pardon himself
Tim Prudente / Baltimore Sun:
Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby hires public defender to free elderly prisoners
Washington Post:
NFL investigation of Washington Football Team uncovers confidential settlement
Discussion: ProFootballTalk and Fox News
Tyler Pager / Politico:
Maya Harris aided effort to boost husband's attorney general bid
Discussion: Fox News and Raw Story
Benjamin Zeisloft / Campus Reform the #1 Source …:
Cornell offers ‘person of color’ exemption for flu vaccine requirement
 

 
From Techmeme:

Jody Godoy / Reuters:
Filing: Apple asks to participate in the remedial phase of Google's US antitrust case, saying it can't rely on Google to defend their revenue-sharing agreements

Bloomberg:
Iran's Supreme Council of Cyberspace approves lifting its ban on “certain widely used foreign platforms”, naming WhatsApp and Google Play as the first two apps

The Information:
Two major China-based Amazon merchants say Amazon reps have recently been offering incentives like free ads and lower commissions if they stop selling on Temu
 
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