Top Items:
Politico:
McConnell warns Senate Republicans against challenging election results — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned Republican senators Tuesday during a private caucus call not to object to the election results on Jan. 6, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
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Keith Griffith / Associated Press:
MAGA turns on Mitch: Trump allies including Michael Flynn slam the GOP Senate majority leader for ‘caving to the mob and China’ for recognizing Biden as president-elect — Trump loyalists were furious after McConnell congratulated Biden on Tuesday — Top allies accused Senate majority leader of selling out the party's leader
Discussion:
Deadline
Politico:
Why Biden thinks the GOP fever could break (really) — Welcome to POLITICO's 2020 Transition Playbook, your guide to one of the most consequential transfers of power in American history. — JOE BIDEN thinks he'll succeed where President BARACK OBAMA failed — at least when it comes to Republicans in Congress.
Discussion:
New York Times, Bearing Arms, abc7NY, IJR, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Washington Post, CBS News and The Week
Alayna Treene / Axios:
Kevin McCarthy refuses to congratulate Biden on election victory — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell alerted House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy Tuesday morning that he would congratulate President-elect Joe Biden for winning the Electoral College vote.
Discussion:
Associated Press
Burgess Everett / Politico:
How McConnell and the GOP let Trump down gently — Before recognizing Joe Biden as America's next president, Mitch McConnell was careful to make sure President Donald Trump was in the loop. — The Senate majority leader transmitted a message to the White House ahead of time that he would …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Bloomberg, Issues & Insights, Mediaite and KIFI-TV
Alayna Treene / Axios:
Scoop: McConnell alerted White House before congratulating Biden
Scoop: McConnell alerted White House before congratulating Biden
Discussion:
Breitbart, Holy Bullies …, New York Times, POLITICUSUSA and The Guardian
Reuters:
Exclusive: Biden taps former rival Buttigieg for U.S. Transportation secretary -sources
Exclusive: Biden taps former rival Buttigieg for U.S. Transportation secretary -sources
Discussion:
New York Times, Power Line, Washington Examiner, RedState, President-Elect Joe Biden, Bloomberg, Denver Post, Breitbart, NPR, Business Insider, Townhall and The Week
Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:
Defying Trump, McConnell Seeks to Squelch Bid to Overturn the Election
Defying Trump, McConnell Seeks to Squelch Bid to Overturn the Election
Discussion:
Washington Post, Townhall, Washington Times, POLITICUSUSA, One America News Network, David Harris Jr. and TheBlaze
Michael Stratford / Politico:
DeVos urges career staff to ‘be the resistance’ as Biden takes over — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos urged career employees at the Education Department on Tuesday to “be the resistance” when the Biden administration comes into power next month, according to a recording of her remarks obtained by POLITICO.
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Examiner, New York Magazine, Washington Times, POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story
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Politico:
Biden to tap former Michigan Gov. Granholm to lead Energy Department — President-elect Joe Biden will pick former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to run the Energy Department, the agency that would play a key role in helping develop the technologies needed fulfill his pledge to move the country off fossil fuels.
Bloomberg:
MacKenzie Scott Gives Away $4.2 Billion in Four Months — World's 18th-richest person announced contributions on Medium — Scott's total gifts this year are close to $6 billion — MacKenzie Scott is giving away her fortune at an unprecedented pace, donating more than $4 billion …
Discussion:
Gothamist
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Jazmin Goodwin / CNN:
MacKenzie Scott donates $4.2 billion to 384 organizations — New York (CNN Business)MacKenzie Scott announced on Tuesday her second major charitable contribution of the year, giving away nearly $4.2 billion to 384 organizations as part of a plan to donate a majority of her fortune.
MacKenzie Scott / Medium:
384 Ways to Help — Emily Dickinson lived much of her life isolated in a single room …
384 Ways to Help — Emily Dickinson lived much of her life isolated in a single room …
Discussion:
New York Times, Orange County Register, Common Dreams, Vox, CBS News, El Paso Matters, NewsOne, GeekWire, The Wrap and The Hill
ABC13:
Alleged crusade to stop voter fraud lands former HPD captain in handcuffs — HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A former Houston Police Department Captain was arrested and charged for running a man off the road and pointing a gun at his head in an attempt to prove claims of a massive voter fraud scheme …
Discussion:
Business Insider, Washington Examiner, The Sun, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Daily Beast, TheBlaze, Raw Story and The Intellectualist
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John Hudson / Washington Post:
Hundreds of invitees skip Mike Pompeo's indoor holiday party at State Department — Only a tiny fraction of the more than 900 guests invited to an indoor holiday party hosted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife Susan showed up on Tuesday following an outcry from public health officials …
Discussion:
The Week and Political Wire
Associated Press:
Trump asking about special prosecutor for Hunter Biden — Washington (AP) — President Donald Trump is considering pushing to have a special counsel appointed to advance a federal tax investigation into the son of President-elect Joe Biden, setting up a potential showdown with incoming acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen.
Discussion:
Business Insider, Washington Examiner, New York Post, Mediaite, Washington Times, Raw Story, Los Angeles Times, Political Wire and Deadline
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Joyce Vance / MSNBC:
Barr's escape hatch isn't enough to shake Trump's stigma
Barr's escape hatch isn't enough to shake Trump's stigma
Discussion:
USA Today, CNN, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, New Republic, Real America's Voice and The Root
Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:
Bill Barr's Resignation Letter Perfectly Reflects His Entire Career
Frank Bajak / Associated Press:
Hack may have exposed deep US secrets; damage yet unknown — BOSTON (AP) — Some of America's most deeply held secrets may have been stolen in a disciplined, monthslong operation being blamed on elite Russian government hackers. The possibilities of what might have been purloined are mind-boggling.
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Rachel Sharp / Daily Mail:
San Francisco to rename Abraham Lincoln High School because former president did not demonstrate that ‘black lives mattered to him’ - as woke renaming committee also takes aim at Democrat senator Dianne Feinstein and Teddy Roosevelt — San Francisco Unified School District's renaming …
Discussion:
The College Fix, Townhall, Washington Free Beacon, The Western Journal and Big League Politics
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Jill Tucker / San Francisco Chronicle:
Abraham Lincoln was once a hero. In some S.F. education circles, he's now a bad guy
Abraham Lincoln was once a hero. In some S.F. education circles, he's now a bad guy
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Joanne Jacobs and Breitbart
Vincent Marshall / Dodge City Daily Globe:
Mayor Warshaw resigns effective immediately — On Tuesday, Dec. 15, Dodge City Mayor Joyce Warshaw officially resigned from her position effective immediately. — “I understand people are under a lot of pressure from various things that are happening around society like the pandemic …
Discussion:
Axios and Political Wire
MSNBC:
'There's now one pro-democracy political party': Steve Schmidt announces he's a Democrat — On becoming a Democrat, former Republican strategist Steve Schmidt says “At the end of the day, there's now one pro-democracy political party in the United States of America and that's the Democratic Party.
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Jordan Williams / The Hill:
Longtime GOP strategist Steve Schmidt announces he's registering Democrat
Longtime GOP strategist Steve Schmidt announces he's registering Democrat
Discussion:
RedState, POLITICUSUSA, The Intellectualist and CNN
Brian Flood / Fox News:
CNN says Jeffrey Toobin still employed as report suggests he may get second chance after masturbation scandal — NY Times reports CNN's president is a ‘big fan’ of legal pundit — New Yorker fires Toobin — CNN has yet to terminate Jeffrey Toobin amid an ongoing masturbation scandal …
Discussion:
New York Post
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Washington Post:
Mar-a-Lago neighbors to Trump: Spend your post-presidency elsewhere — Next-door neighbors of Mar-a-Lago, President Trump's private club in Palm Beach, Fla., that he has called his Winter White House, have a message for the outgoing commander in chief: We don't want you to be our neighbor.
Discussion:
New York Magazine and Raw Story
Hans Nichols / Axios:
Biden considering Republicans for Commerce secretary — President-elect Joe Biden is considering some well-known Republicans — think Meg Whitman types — for Commerce secretary as a way to signal to red-state Americans he understands their concerns and plans to address them.
Discussion:
The American Conservative
CNN:
How Qanon's lies are hijacking the national conversation — How Trump is fueling the alarming growth of QAnon — (CNN)It started with a Tweet from a QAnon supporter at 2:09 in the morning: #SubpoenaObama. — Though devoid of context, the cryptic message made sense to anyone in tune …
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Kadhim Shubber / Financial Times:
Prosecuting Donald Trump: the question that will roil Biden's first year — The US president could face investigation on a number of fronts when he leaves office — When Joe Biden is sworn in as president on January 20, his in-tray will include a pandemic that continues to kill thousands …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Politico, KIFI-TV and Just The News
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Biden picks former EPA chief Gina McCarthy as White House climate czar — McCarthy heads the Natural Resources Defense Council, which has sued the Trump administration more than 100 times. — President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Gina McCarthy, who ran the Environmental Protection Agency …
Discussion:
BuzzFeed News, NPR, The Hill, New York Times, Axios and The Week
Jesse Paul / The Colorado Sun:
Jenna Ellis, President Trump's lawyer, was fired from Weld County DA's office for “mistakes,” records show — Jenna Ellis, the attorney from Colorado representing President Donald Trump in his bid to overturn his 2020 election loss, was fired from her job as a Weld County prosecutor in 2013 …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Law & Crime, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Hill, The Intellectualist, Colorado Newsline, Raw Story and Political Wire
Glennon Doyle / Glamour:
Glennon Doyle and Biden Campaign Manager Jen O'Malley Dillon on Politics, Motherhood, and Doing Hard Things — Within an hour of the networks' at last declaring Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 presidential election, his campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon took to Twitter to celebrate.
Discussion:
Raw Story, Twitchy, Washington Examiner and The Daily Caller
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Matthew Yglesias / Slow Boring:
17 theses on Pete Buttigieg and the Department of Transportation — Emergency blog post! — 3 hr ago — Trying something new, an emergency out-of-schedule post on Pete Buttigieg and the Department of Transportation! — I love transportation policy and know a fair amount about it.
The Daily Beast:
Trump Is Considering Clemency for Silk Road Founder — Two sources tell The Daily Beast that the president has expressed sympathy for the situation of Ross Ulbricht, who is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. … In his final weeks in office before Joe Biden's inauguration …
Namita Singh / The Independent:
Husband arrested for throwing acid on wife after sending friends to gang rape her ‘because he lost a bet’ — India saw a sharp increase in domestic violence during the coronavirus lockdown — A gambler in India who bet his wife and lost then threw acid on her because she resisted his attempts …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
Jonathan V. Last / The Triad:
Everyone Trump Touches Dies: The List — He revealed people for what they really were. — Bill Barr? He gone. — Barr began the Year of Our Lord 2016 as a well respected member of the conservative legal establishment. He concludes 2020 with his reputation destroyed …