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5:30 PM ET, December 18, 2020

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 Top Items: 
Business Insider:
EXCLUSIVE: Jared Kushner helped create a Trump campaign shell company that secretly paid the president's family members and spent $617 million in reelection cash, a source tells Insider … - Jared Kushner approved the creation of a shell company that spent almost half of the Trump campaign's $1.26B war chest …
RELATED:
New York Times:
Trump's Future: Tons of Cash and Plenty of Options for Spending It  —  When President Trump departs the White House, he will have a huge pile of cash to fuel his future ambitions.  He can hold rallies, hire staff and even lay groundwork for a potential 2024 run.
Rachel Olding / The Daily Beast:
Kushner OK'd Trump Campaign Shell Company That Secretly Paid Inner Circle: Report  —  ENDLESS GRIFT  —  Jared Kushner approved the creation of a shell company that operated like a “campaign within a campaign” and secretly funneled millions of dollars in campaign cash to Trump family members, Business Insider reports.
New York Times:
Lara Trump served on the board of a company through which the Trump political operation spent more than $700 million.  —  Lara Trump, President Trump's daughter-in-law and a senior campaign adviser, served on the board of a limited liability company through which the Trump political operation …
Discussion: The Intellectualist
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.
RELATED:
David Folkenflik / NPR:
‘New York Times’ Retracts Core Of Hit Podcast Series ‘Caliphate’ On ISIS  —  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 …
RELATED:
Rukmini Callimachi / New York Times:   ISIS Leader Paid Rival for Protection but Was Betrayed by His Own
Los Angeles Times:
The wealthy scramble for COVID-19 vaccines: ‘If I donate $25,000 ... would that help me?’  —  They're offering tens of thousands of dollars in cash, making their personal assistants pester doctors every day, and asking whether a five-figure donation to a hospital would help them jump the line.
Politico:
Disarray consumes Capitol ahead of critical deadline  —  Congress is going right up to the midnight shutdown deadline as leaders desperately try to clinch a $900 billion coronavirus aid package and keep the government open during a debilitating pandemic.  —  After meeting with Senate Majority …
RELATED:
Alice Miranda Ollstein / Politico:
Biden to receive coronavirus vaccine in public on Monday
Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:
William Barr: ‘One Standard of Justice’  —  The departing attorney general talks about John Durham, Robert Mueller, Hunter Biden, Mike Flynn and the flak he's taken from both parties.  —  The U.S. attorney general is meditating on one of his frustrations with the modern Justice Department …
Discussion: Washington Examiner
John Kruzel / The Hill:
Supreme Court tosses challenge to Trump's immigrant census plan  —  The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Friday to dismiss a challenge to the Trump administration's exclusion of undocumented immigrants from the U.S. census, the once-per-decade population count used to allocate House seats among the states.
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Lawrence Hurley / Reuters:
U.S. Supreme Court throws out challenge to Trump census immigrant plan
Peter Nicholas / The Atlantic:
Was It Worth It?  —  People who work for President Donald Trump typically meet one of two fates.  They fail to show the unthinking loyalty he demands and get fired.  Or, maybe worse, they don't get fired—they endure the tantrums and turmoil and survive another day, binding themselves …
Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite
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 …
Ken Gormley / Washington Post:
If Trump pardons himself, Biden should un-pardon him  —  Ken Gormley is an expert on the Constitution, the presidency and the pardon power.  He is president of Duquesne University.  —  If President Trump makes the ill-advised decision to try to pardon himself before he leaves the White House in January …
Eoin Higgins / The Appeal:
Bodycam Video Shows ‘Mob Mentality’ Of Boston Police Who Responded To George Floyd Protests, Lawyer Says  —  THESE COPS LIED IN COURT.  BUT SINCE THE D.A. ISN'T KEEPING A BRADY LIST, THEY COULD TESTIFY AGAIN  —  By Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg  —  ADVOCATES CALL ON BIDEN TO CHANGE THE NARRATIVE ON IMMIGRATION AND THEN CHANGE POLICY
RELATED:
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.
RELATED:
Jordain Carney / The Hill:
GOP senator blocks bill to provide $1,200 stimulus checks  —  GOP Sen. Ron Johnson (Wis.) on Friday blocked an effort to pass a second round of stimulus checks, arguing coronavirus relief needs to be targeted and raising concerns about the country's debt.  —  Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) …
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.
The Daily Beast:
Inside the Ivanka-Melania War  —  Melania Trump's one-time confidant takes us deep into one of the White House's nastiest battles.  —  They're the two most important women in Donald Trump's life.  And they absolutely loathe one another.  —  Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, the former Melania Trump confidant …
Discussion: Raw Story
Federal Register:
AGENCY:  —  Food and Drug Administration, HHS.  —  ACTION:  —  Proposed rule.  —  SUMMARY:  —  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or we) proposes to revoke the standard of identity and the standard of quality for frozen cherry pie.  This action, in part, responds to a citizen petition submitted …
Alexander Sammon / American Prospect:
The Establishment Strikes Back  —  Henry Cuellar and centrist Democrats mutiny against progressives in a key committee fight.  —  AOC in August during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing  —  Committee assignments are one of the least eye-catching parts of politics …
Associated Press:
Myon Burrell enjoys 1st days of freedom after prison release  —  MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — For nearly two decades, Myon Burrell had nothing but time.  —  Locked up for life at 16 for a high-profile murder he swore he had nothing to do with, he was stuck in a tiny cell without even a window to watch the seasons change.
The American Mind:
“Anti-Racist” Education Is Neither  —  Well-meaning Americans are being suckered into an illiberal political cabal.  —  Days before the Fourth of July, the famed KIPP charter schools announced they'd be abandoning their longtime slogan: “Work Hard, Be Nice.”
Joe Walsh / Forbes:
White House Advisor Peter Navarro Releases Dubious Voter Fraud Report  —  White House trade advisor Peter Navarro is the latest Trump administration staffer to publicly back up the president's baseless voter fraud claims, publishing a report Thursday that claims widespread irregularities …
Axios:
Scoop: Democrats try to tuck Pentagon waiver into spending bill  —  Democrats are trying to tuck a waiver allowing retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to serve as President-elect Joe Biden's defense secretary into a year-end government funding bill that must pass by tonight to avoid a shutdown, three sources familiar with the push tell Axios.
Discussion: Politico and Breitbart
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
Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed News:
The Next Tea Party Is Lurking Inside Trump's Election Results Denial  —  People actually believe Trump when he says he won the election.  What happens next isn't clear — but the president's increasingly radicalized supporters are already shaping the future of Republican politics.  —  Reporting From
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.
Joseph Simonson / Washington Examiner:
Questions raised over when Eric Swalwell knew about Chinese spy suspect Fang Fang  —  As Republicans demand to know the extent of Rep. Eric Swalwell's relationship with suspected Chinese spy Fang Fang, questions about what the California lawmaker knew (and when) remain unanswered.
Archie Bland / The Guardian:
Rupert Murdoch receives dose of Covid vaccine in UK  —  Exclusive: 89-year-old News Corp boss gives thanks to key workers, NHS staff and scientists  —  Rupert Murdoch has become the latest public figure to have the coronavirus vaccine, visiting his local GP's surgery late on Wednesday to receive his first dose.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Amy Qin / New York Times:
Chinese Journalist Who Documented Communist History Is Detained in Beijing
Stephanie McNeal / BuzzFeed News:
The Couple Accused Of Trying To Kidnap A Mom Influencer's Kids Have Been Completely Cleared By Police
Discussion: Raw Story and Jezebel
Washington Post:
Congressional leaders eye stopgap measure with hours before lapse in government funding
Bloomberg:
Yellen Sets Out to Build Treasury Team With Obama Alumni
Alexander Nazaryan / Yahoo News:
The coronavirus closed schools. Our diseased politics is keeping them closed.
Discussion: Washington Examiner
 Earlier Items: 
Henry Ergas / New York Post:
Obama trafficked in anti-Semitic tropes — lefty media didn't notice
Lauren Gibbons / MLive.com:
Michigan House votes to repeal 1945 emergency law used by Whitmer to issue coronavirus orders
Discussion: USA Today, Detroit News and Breitbart
Laura Hayes / Washington City Paper:
D.C. to End Indoor Dining at 10 p.m. on Dec. 23
Discussion: Barred in DC and The Daily Caller
Stephen Kruiser / pjmedia.com:
The Morning Briefing: If Lockdowns Work Why Is California a Global COVID-19 Hotspot?
David Brooks / New York Times:
Mark Shields and the Best of American Liberalism