Top Items:
David Folkenflik / NPR:
‘New York Times’ Retracts Hit Podcast Series ‘Caliphate’ On ISIS Executioner — Toggle more options — The New York Times has retracted the core of its hit 2018 podcast series Caliphate after an internal review found the paper failed to heed red flags indicating that the man it relied upon …
Discussion:
Eschaton, more at Mediagazer »
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New York Times:
A Riveting ISIS Story, Told in a Times Podcast, Falls Apart — A Canadian's gruesome account as an Islamic State executioner in Syria, which was the subject of the “Caliphate” podcast by The New York Times, was fabricated, officials say. A Times review found no corroboration of his claim to have committed atrocities.
New York Times:
New York Times Says ‘Caliphate’ Podcast Fell Short of Standards — The Times cited an institutional failure and determined the “Caliphate” team gave too much credence to the claims of a supposed former terrorist. — After an internal review that took more than two months …
Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
An outraged Kemp blasts pro-Trump conspiracy theorists harassing his family — Gov. Brian Kemp is fed up with the unrelenting attacks from conspiracy theorists calling on him to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's victory in Georgia. But he's even more enraged that some of those peddlers …
Discussion:
Forbes, HotAir, Axios, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Political Wire
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Politico:
Democrats in Georgia: ‘Trump is helping our case.’ — President Donald Trump has been waging war on Georgia Republicans the past month, spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories about the Senate runoffs — and Democrats are praying he keeps on talking.
Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Kamala Harris to arrive in Georgia on Monday for Senate runoff rallies — Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will travel to Georgia on Monday to campaign for Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock ahead of Jan. 5 runoffs for control of the U.S. Senate.
Jeff Stein / Washington Post:
White House aides talked Trump out of last-minute demand for stimulus checks as big as $2,000 — Chaotic chain of events at White House illustrates why stimulus bill remains in flux — White House aides intervened Thursday to prevent President Trump from issuing a statement calling …
Discussion:
NBC News, Politico, Talking Points Memo, The Week, FiveThirtyEight, The Sun, Business Insider and New York Magazine
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The Daily Beast:
Trump Bows to Reality, Asks Confidants: Should I Do ‘The Apprentice’ Again? — And the show's creator Mark Burnett is intrigued by the money-making potential of a post-presidency reboot, too. … As he begins his final weeks in office, amid a winter surge in coronavirus deaths …
Brad Smith / Microsoft On the Issues:
A moment of reckoning: the need for a strong and global cybersecurity response — The final weeks of a challenging year have proven even more difficult with the recent exposure of the world's latest serious nation-state cyberattack. This latest cyber-assault is effectively an attack …
Discussion:
Reuters, CNN, Axios, Just Security, New York Times, Associated Press, BBC, NPR, The Verge and President-Elect Joe Biden, more at Techmeme »
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Politico:
Nuclear weapons agency breached amid massive cyber onslaught
Nuclear weapons agency breached amid massive cyber onslaught
Discussion:
Reason, NBC New York, The Intercept, Bloomberg, TheBlaze, The Gateway Pundit, POLITICUSUSA, CNBC, NOQ Report, Defense One, Vanity Fair, The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner, HotAir, Sara A. Carter, Alternet.org, The Week, Business Insider, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Forbes, American Military News, Daily Kos, Mediaite, The Sun, Raw Story, Crooks and Liars, Washington Post, The Intellectualist and us-cert.cisa.gov, more at Techmeme »
Anne Gearan / Washington Post:
Biden and lawmakers raise alarms over cybersecurity breach amid Trump's silence
Biden and lawmakers raise alarms over cybersecurity breach amid Trump's silence
Discussion:
Axios, The Week, TheBlaze, Mediaite and Washington Examiner
Wall Street Journal:
Hack Suggests New Scope, Sophistication for Cyberattacks
Hack Suggests New Scope, Sophistication for Cyberattacks
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, HotAir, The Guardian, Reuters, Outside the Beltway, Roll Call, TechCrunch and Mediaite, more at Techmeme »
Joseph Menn / Reuters:
Exclusive-Suspected Russian hacking spree reached into Microsoft -sources
Exclusive-Suspected Russian hacking spree reached into Microsoft -sources
Discussion:
CNN, The Sun, GeekWire and NPR, more at Techmeme »
Axios:
Scoop: Pentagon halts Biden transition briefings — Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller ordered a Pentagon-wide halt to cooperation with the transition of President-elect Biden, shocking officials across the Defense Department, senior administration officials tell Axios.
Discussion:
Raw Story
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Rob Crilly / Washington Examiner:
Mike Pence gets coronavirus vaccine on live TV — Vice President Mike Pence became the highest-profile world leader to be vaccinated against coronavirus, receiving his shot on live television Friday morning. — “I didn't feel a thing,” he said moments later.
Discussion:
National Review and Talking Points Memo
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Quint Forgey / Politico:
‘Hope is on the way’: Pence gets coronavirus vaccine on live television
‘Hope is on the way’: Pence gets coronavirus vaccine on live television
Discussion:
Fox News, CBS News, ABC News, Business Insider and Associated Press
Annie Karni / New York Times:
Vice President Mike Pence Receives Coronavirus Vaccine on Live TV
Vice President Mike Pence Receives Coronavirus Vaccine on Live TV
Discussion:
The Hill, CNN, The Guardian and HotAir
Maeve Reston / CNN:
Trump fights for a job that he's not doing as coronavirus rages — (CNN)When the history of the pandemic is written, one of the great mysteries will be what President Donald Trump was doing in the waning days of his presidency as the number of Covid-19 deaths in the US soared past 3,000 each day …
Discussion:
USA Today, New York Times, Daily Kos, CBS Pittsburgh, KIFI-TV and Los Angeles Times
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Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
Trump's New Brand Is Loser — His post-election tantrum is forcing conservatives to affirm, again and again, that he lost the election fair and square. — In the six weeks since the Presidential election, various theories—many of them persuasive—have been advanced to explain President Trump's refusal to accept Joe Biden's victory.
Discussion:
National Review, CNN, Newsbusters, Axios, DCReport.org, The American Spectator, Mediaite, IJR, Reason, Mercury News and The Constitutionalist
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Timothy P. Carney / Washington Examiner:
Dear Republicans in Congress: Please don't become Barbara Boxer or Maxine Waters
Dear Republicans in Congress: Please don't become Barbara Boxer or Maxine Waters
Discussion:
The Bulwark and Raw Story
Tina Nguyen / Politico:
MAGA leaders call for the troops to keep Trump in office — An 1807 law invoked only in the most violent circumstances is now a rallying cry for the MAGA-ites most committed to the fantasy that Donald Trump will never leave office. — The law, the Insurrection Act, allows the president …
Discussion:
Raw Story and The Intellectualist
Amanda Carpenter / The Bulwark:
The Top 10 Worst Trump-Enabling Takes of 2020 — As we bid a not-so-fond farewell to 2020, here's a look back at some of the political lowlights. — As we close out the year, it's tempting but futile to compile a list of President Trump's worst lies. But reprinting all of his tweets …
Discussion:
Alternet.org and Raw Story
John F. Harris / Politico:
Joe Biden Wears a ‘Kick Me’ Sign — President-elect Joe Biden went on a rampage early this morning, lashing out at critics within his own party who say his appointments so far lack ideological and demographic diversity and hinting that lawmakers who cross him can expect retribution once he moves into the White House on Jan. 20.
Discussion:
Fox News, Reuters, Bloomberg, The Diplomat and Green Eagle
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Jeremy B. White / Politico:
Garcetti won't serve in Biden administration
Garcetti won't serve in Biden administration
Discussion:
MyNorthwest.com
Washington Post:
States report confusion as feds reduce vaccine shipments, even as Pfizer says it has ‘millions’ of unclaimed doses — Officials in multiple states said they were alerted late Wednesday that their second shipments of Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine next week had been reduced, sparking widespread confusion …
Discussion:
HotAir, East Bay Times, CNN, Michigan Advance, Colorado Pols, Talking Points Memo and Iowa Capital Dispatch
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Christopher Mathias / HuffPost:
Kelly Loeffler Keeps Posing For Photos With White Supremacists And Other Extremists — The senator recently disavowed a photo of her with a former KKK leader, but she's repeatedly aligned herself with racists and far-right supporters. — Earlier this week a photo of Georgia GOP …
Politico:
O Rahm, where art thou? — Welcome to POLITICO's 2020 Transition Playbook, your guide to one of the most consequential transfers of power in American history. — RAHM EMANUEL had never lost a political campaign. Until this week. — Over the past few weeks, the former Chicago mayor …
Discussion:
Raw Story
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Luke Money / Los Angeles Times:
ICU availability in Southern California at 0%, and it's going to get worse, officials warn — The availability of intensive care unit beds throughout Southern California reached critical mass Thursday with 0% open, and officials warned that conditions in hospitals are expected to erode further COVID-19 continues to spread unchecked.
Discussion:
New York Post, Poynter, NPR, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Business Insider and The Intellectualist
Axios:
Trump expected to issue wave of pre-Christmas pardons today — President Trump plans to issue a wave of pardons today, moving to expedite acts of clemency before Christmas, according to a source with direct knowledge and advocates who have been briefed on the plans.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, The Federalist and Fox News
James Baker / Washington Post:
Trump's recognition of Western Sahara is a serious blow to diplomacy and international law — James Baker served as the 61st U.S. secretary of state from 1989 to 1992 and as the U.N. secretary-general's personal envoy for Western Sahara from 1997 to 2004. — President Trump's recent …
Discussion:
The Economist, Raw Story and Politico
Eliza Goren / Washington Post:
The Washington Post asked readers to describe 2020 in one word or phrase. Here's what they said. — See their responses — Shefali S. Kulkarni and By Shefali S. Kulkarni — Operations editor for the financial and tech section — Community editor, with a focus on comments, live chats and reader submissions.
Mark Ferbrache / The Hill:
Not the FBI I remember: William Barnett's troubling interview — So, where is John Durham and what has become of his investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe? After serving nearly 28 years in the FBI, I'd like to know just how bad things are for the FBI — or not.
Politico:
Kathleen Rice beats out AOC for spot on coveted House committee — Rep. Kathleen Rice has captured a prized seat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee after a contentious showdown with fellow New Yorker, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. — Rice and Ocasio-Cortez have been battling behind …
Discussion:
Axios, Fox News, The Hill, Jewish Insider, CNBC and Political Wire
Vox:
How teachers are sacrificing student privacy to stop cheating — Surveillance software for remote learning is drawing criticism from privacy advocates and lawmakers. — SHARE All sharing options — As the fall semester began at the University of Nevada, Reno, psychology professor Mark Lescroart faced …
Tristan Justice / The Federalist:
FBI Spied On Fox News, Recorded Phone Call Between Fox Exec And George Papadopoulos, New Texts Show — New text messages released Thursday show FBI officials spied on a Fox News executive over the course of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation that targeted President Donald Trump …
Discussion:
American Greatness, emptywheel, hsgac.senate.gov, National Review and The Daily Caller
Eleanor Clift / The Daily Beast:
This California Representative Survived Jonestown and Says Trumpers Have Definitely Drunk the Kool Aid — A few years ago, Jackie Speier resisted comparisons between Jim Jones and Donald Trump. But now, she sees them clearly. — BEAST INSIDE … Jackie Speier was a legislative counsel working …
Discussion:
Raw Story