Top Items:
New York Times:
Trump Discussed Naming Campaign Lawyer as Special Counsel on Election Fraud — In a meeting at the White House on Friday, the president weighed appointing Sidney Powell, who promoted conspiracy theories about rigged voting machines, to probe voter fraud. — President Trump on Friday …
Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:
Russia is behind the broad, ongoing cyber spy campaign against the U.S. government and private sector, Pompeo says — Russia is behind the massive, ongoing cyber spy campaign against the federal government and private sector, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday …
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA, Washington Monthly, The Guardian, HotAir and CNN, more at Techmeme »
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Michael R. Pompeo / United States Department of State:
Secretary Michael R. Pompeo With Mark Levin of The Mark Levin Show — QUESTION: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Merry Christmas to you, sir. — SECRETARY POMPEO: Merry Christmas to you as well, Mark. It's great to be with you. — QUESTION: It's always a pleasure.
Discussion:
CNN, Alternet.org and New York Post
Steve Kenny / New York Times:
Pompeo Says Russia Was Behind Cyberattack on U.S.
Pompeo Says Russia Was Behind Cyberattack on U.S.
Discussion:
NPR, Fox News, The Guardian and Mother Jones
Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:
Pompeo: Russia ‘pretty clearly’ behind massive cyberattack
Pompeo: Russia ‘pretty clearly’ behind massive cyberattack
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and Just The News
Frank Bajak / Associated Press:
Pompeo says Russia ‘pretty clearly’ behind cyberattack on US
Pompeo says Russia ‘pretty clearly’ behind cyberattack on US
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal and Axios
Alicia Victoria Lozano / NBC News:
Secretary of State Pompeo says hack was ‘pretty clearly’ Russian
Secretary of State Pompeo says hack was ‘pretty clearly’ Russian
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, The Week, Forbes, Business Insider, Radio Free Europe/Radio … and Washington Monthly
Evan Semones / Politico:
Trump downplays cyberattack on U.S., breaks with Pompeo on Russia's role
Trump downplays cyberattack on U.S., breaks with Pompeo on Russia's role
Discussion:
Associated Press, CBS News, NBC New York, Axios and The Week
Washington Post:
Even as Trump vows to keep fighting, his aides are quietly starting to move on — Vice President Pence has begun looking for a new home in the Washington suburbs, and he's planning a valedictory foreign trip to begin the day Congress counts the electoral college votes.
Discussion:
Washington Times, Juanita Jean's, JONATHAN TURLEY and Political Wire
New York Times:
U.K. Imposes Harsher Lockdown on London, Citing New Version of Virus — Scientists in Britain say the new variant is spreading faster than previous ones, but does not appear to make people sicker. — LONDON — Alarmed by a what he called a faster-spreading variant of the coronavirus …
Jennifer Hansler / CNN:
US plans to shutter remaining consulates in Russia — (CNN)The Trump administration has informed lawmakers of its plan to shutter its two remaining consulates in Russia. — In a notification dated December 10, the US State Department told Congress it intends to close the consulate …
Discussion:
NPR, One America News Network, East Bay Times and Bloomberg
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Raw Story:
BUSTED? Why the numbers behind Mitch McConnell's re-election don't add up — On a Thursday in August in Louisville, months before the 2020 election, a parade of cars filled with Kentucky Teamster representatives and labor groups, showed their fury at Mitch McConnell's constant blocking of critical COVID aid.
Discussion:
HotAir
Brian Bakst / MPR News:
Minn. Sen. Jerry Relph dies of COVID-19 complications — Brian Bakst and Kirsti MarohnSt. — Jerry Relph, a first-term state senator from St. Cloud, died Friday of complications of COVID-19, his family and the Senate majority leader confirmed. — “Jerry dedicated his life to service …
Business Insider:
EXCLUSIVE: Lawmakers ask FBI and Federal Election Commission to investigate Jared Kushner-backed Trump campaign company after Insider's reporting … - Two lawmakers demanded that the FBI and the Federal Election Commission open an investigation into whether the Trump campaign violated federal law …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, POLITICUSUSA, The Independent, Washington Post, Vanity Fair and The Sun
Josh Feldman / Mediaite:
Lou Dobbs Airs Stunning Fact-Check of His Own Election Conspiracies After Company Threatens Legal Action — Fox Business host Lou Dobbs has recently taken to raising questions about voting machine companies, which have been cast as complicit in the supposed grand conspiracy to steal the 2020 election from President Donald Trump.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars and Washington Examiner, more at Mediagazer »
Steven Sloan / Associated Press:
Analysis: For Republicans, profanity is suddenly scandalous — WASHINGTON (AP) — The definition of a scandal changes quickly in Washington. — Over the course of four years, the nation's capital has careened from crisis to crisis. There was the travel ban, the investigation …
Discussion:
The Nation, Crooks and Liars, NBC News and Salon
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New York Times:
No ‘Negative’ News: How China Censored the Coronavirus — Thousands of internal directives and reports reveal how Chinese officials stage-managed what appeared online in the early days of the outbreak. — 阅读.体中 文.閱讀.體 中文.
John S Gardner / The Guardian:
From A Very Stable Genius to After Trump: 2020 in US politics books … A long time ago, in 1883, a future president (Woodrow Wilson, a subject of this year's reckonings) studied political science at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, in a classroom in which was inscribed the slogan …
Mark Niesse / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Turnout in Georgia US Senate runoff approaches presidential levels — Almost as many Georgians have voted in the U.S. Senate runoffs as at the same point before the presidential election, a huge turnout that reflects the high stakes of the race. — Over 1.1 million people had voted through Thursday …
Discussion:
Alternet.org, CITIZEN FREE PRESS and The American Independent
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Molly Jong-Fast / Vogue:
No, This Pandemic Is Not Over. Please Don't Act Like It Is. — The other night, I made my stepmother cry. I've never done that before, but this time I felt as if I had to. My brother had told me about my father and stepmother's holiday plan, which included staying with relatives …
Discussion:
IJR
Politico:
Congress in frantic race to strike stimulus deal — Congressional leaders on Saturday morning were still scrambling to clinch a coronavirus relief deal, just two days before lawmakers face the threat of yet another shutdown. — Both chambers now plan to hold a rare weekend session days before Christmas …
Discussion:
Fox News, National Review, New York Times, Bloomberg, CBS News, WTOP and abc7NY
Bill Zeiser / RealClearPolicy:
Either the US Leads on Crypto, or China Will — Even casual viewers of cable news are familiar with commercials featuring actor William Devane - usually golfing or horseback riding - exhorting them to invest in precious metals. Lately, Devane has been joined in this pursuit …
David W. Brown / Wall Street Journal:
For NASA, It Should Be Mars or Bust — After decades of nostalgia for the Apollo program, it's time for NASA to send astronauts on a radical new adventure, worthy of America's pioneering spirit — Since the Apollo program ended almost 50 years ago, every newly elected U.S. president …
The White House:
Remarks by Vice President Pence at the Space Force's 1st Birthday Celebration — THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you all for being here today. To Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller, to the Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett, to General John Hyten, General Jay Raymond …
Discussion:
Breitbart, CBS News and The Daily Caller
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Eric Lipton / New York Times:
In Last Rush, Trump Grants Mining and Energy Firms Access to Public Lands — The outgoing administration is pushing through approval of corporate projects over the opposition of environmental groups and tribal communities. — WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is rushing to approve …
Discussion:
Political Wire
Frank Bajak / Associated Press:
Hacked networks will need to be burned ‘down to the ground’ — It's going to take months to kick elite hackers widely believed to be Russian out of the U.S. government networks they have been quietly rifling through since as far back as March in Washington's worst cyberespionage failure on record.
US Food and Drug Administration:
FDA Takes Additional Action in Fight Against COVID-19 By Issuing Emergency Use Authorization for Second COVID-19 Vaccine — Action Follows Thorough Evaluation of Available Safety, Effectiveness, and Manufacturing Quality Information by FDA Career Scientists, Input from Independent Experts
Discussion:
The Hill, CBS News, New York Times, The Root, Vox, BuzzFeed News, The Verge, New York Post, CBS San Francisco, Boston Herald, New York Magazine, WABC, NPR, Townhall and CBS Sacramento, more at Techmeme »
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Berkeley Lovelace Jr / CNBC:
FDA approves second Covid vaccine for emergency use as it clears Moderna's for U.S. distribution
FDA approves second Covid vaccine for emergency use as it clears Moderna's for U.S. distribution
Discussion:
CNN, National Review, Washington Examiner, KNSD-TV, IJR, NBC4 Washington, The Week, Washington Post, The Sun, The Colorado Sun, abc7NY, CBS News, Politico, TASS and New York Times
Washington Post:
Chinese dissidents say they're being harassed by a businessman with links to Steve Bannon — Human-rights scholar in New Jersey says he's the latest victim of intimidating protests staged by Guo Wengui — WEST WINDSOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. — The Mandarin-speaking protesters arrived in a convoy …
Discussion:
Daring Fireball, more at Techmeme »
Ann Telnaes / Washington Post:
All the Republican rats … - Tom Toles recently retired. See his archive of editorial cartoons. — Global Opinions — Mexico City's mayor has put politics ahead of public health, with deadly consequences — By León Krauze-