memeorandum: Lawmakers hit major roadblock over GOP plan to limit Federal Reserve, imperiling weekend deal for emergency relief package (Washington Post)

1:10 AM ET, December 20, 2020

Top Items:

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Officials increasingly alarmed about Trump's power grab — Senior Trump administration officials are increasingly alarmed that President Trump might unleash — and abuse — the power of government in an effort to overturn the clear result of the election. — Why it matters …

Discussion: Task & Purpose, Forbes, Slate, The Gateway Pundit and Mediaite

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 …

CNN:

Heated Oval Office meeting included talk of special counsel, martial law as Trump advisers clash — (CNN)President Donald Trump convened a heated meeting in the Oval Office on Friday, including lawyer Sidney Powell and her client, former national security adviser Michael Flynn …

Jeff Stein / SpyTalk:

Spies on Flynn-Trump Coup Talk — ‘Horrifying..embarrassing.’ It's ‘white knuckle’ time, says one former top CIA officer — Reports that disgraced former Army General Michael Flynn urged President Trump to declare martial law and “re-run” the election drew harsh reactions Saturday …

Kaitlan Collins / CNN:

Trump campaign told to preserve all documents related to Sidney Powell and Dominion Voting Systems — (CNN)President Donald Trump's campaign legal team sent a memo to dozens of staffers Saturday instructing them to preserve all documents related to Dominion Voting Systems and Sidney Powell …

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Trump Floats Coup Plan That's So Wild Even Rudy Giuliani Is Terrified — At the White House on Friday, President Trump held what may have been his most deranged meeting yet. In it, the president raged at his loyalists for betraying him, and discussed taking extra-legal measures to overturn the election.

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Giuliani asks DHS about seizing voting machines — Rudy Giuliani called Ken Cuccinelli, second in command at the Department of Homeland Security, on Thursday night and asked him whether DHS could seize voting machines, a source familiar with the call confirmed to Axios.

Politico:
Trump sought to tap Sidney Powell as special counsel for election fraud

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Hill, USA Today, Talking Points Memo, The Signorile Report, Washington Times and Mother Jones

Washington Post:
Even as Trump vows to keep fighting, his aides are quietly starting to move on

Discussion: Washington Times, JONATHAN TURLEY, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Juanita Jean's and POLITICUSUSA

Yasmeen Abutaleb / Washington Post:

The inside story of how Trump's denial, mismanagement and magical thinking led to the pandemic's dark winter — National reporter focusing on health policy — Reporter covering the White House White House Bureau Chief — As the number of coronavirus cases ticked upward in mid-November …

Discussion: littlegreenfootballs.com, Boing Boing and Mediaite

Wall Street Journal:

Amid Vaccine Rollout and Historic Hack, Trump Remains Focused on Reversing Election — The president has been largely out of sight, paying little public attention to any events other than his efforts to overturn Joe Biden's victory — WASHINGTON—In a week that began with the Electoral …

Discussion: Yahoo News, Conservative News Today, Mediaite, KIFI-TV, The Daily Caller, POLITICUSUSA, ABC News, Forbes and Crooks and Liars, more at Techmeme »

Ana Lucia Murillo / The Daily Beast:
White House Blocks a Statement Acknowledging Russia's Role in Cyberattack

Discussion: Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Washington Monthly, The Intellectualist, Daily Kos, Slate and CNN, more at Techmeme »

Frank Bajak / Associated Press:
Pompeo says Russia ‘pretty clearly’ behind cyberattack on US

Discussion: CNBC, The Western Journal, Boing Boing, Washington Times, Axios, CBS News and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »

Vanessa Romo / NPR:
U.S. State Department Closing Two Consulates In Russia

Discussion: One America News Network and East Bay Times

Reuters:

‘Powerful tradecraft’: how foreign cyber-spies compromised America — (Reuters) - Speaking at a private dinner for tech security executives at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco in late February, America's cyber defense chief boasted how well his organizations protect the country from spies.

New York Times:
Trump Contradicts Pompeo Over Russia's Role in Hack

Discussion: CNET, Bloomberg, Israpundit, Mediaite, The Week and The Guardian

BBC:
US cyber-attack: Russia ‘clearly’ behind SolarWinds operation, says Pompeo

Discussion: The Last Refuge, NBC Los Angeles, Business Insider, New York Post, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Vanity Fair, NPR and Wired

Washington Post:

Lawmakers hit major roadblock over GOP plan to limit Federal Reserve, imperiling weekend deal for emergency relief package — Both Democrats and Republicans say an issue over the Federal Reserve's authority remains a significant hurdle. — Senior congressional lawmakers attempting to complete …

Discussion: Business Insider, New York Times, New York Post, Political Wire and Reuters

Politico:
Stimulus deal in sight after compromise reached on Fed dispute

Discussion: Fox News, Business Insider, The Hill, Washington Examiner, KIFI-TV, Bloomberg, New York Times and Slate

Wall Street Journal:

Defense Officials Push Proposal to Separate NSA, Cyber Command — Proposal to split control of the two agencies before end of Trump administration faces resistance from lawmakers — WASHINGTON—Some senior Defense Department officials are pressing to formally separate the leadership …

Discussion: Politico and Defense One, more at Techmeme »

Christopher Bing / Reuters:
Congress, experts worry about potential spy agency reorganization amid hack response

Discussion: Associated Press

Anand Giridharadas / The.Ink:

EXCLUSIVE: The Sacklers' group chat of pain — The Ink reviewed the WhatsApp text thread of a family behind the opioid crisis, as they faced — and refused to face — the walls closing in — For years, as an opioid crisis ravaged America, the Sackler family, which founded Purdue Pharma …

Discussion: COURIER

Frank Pallotta / CNN:

Jim Carrey will no longer play Joe Biden on ‘SNL’ — New York (CNN Business)Jim Carrey's short stint as Joe Biden has come to an end. — Carrey will no longer play the president-elect on “Saturday Night Live,” the comedian announced on Twitter Saturday. — “Though my term was only meant …

Discussion: Axios, Variety, KIFI-TV, Chicago Sun-Times, The Wrap, Deadline, Glamour, Althouse, New York Post and Mashable

Joanna Weiss / Politico:

What Happened to the Democrats Who Never Accepted Bush's Election — Steven Freeman felt, in his bones, that something was wrong with the election. It was November 2, 2004, and the exit polls had predicted an overwhelming victory for Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.

Ron Lieber / New York Times:

An Oral History of the World's Biggest Coupon — Bed Bath & Beyond's plus-size mailer, known as Big Blue, has made it to TV, eBay, even a mobster's kitchen drawer. “The poor mailmen,” the company's former marketing V.P. said, “what we did to them.” — The F.B.I. found one in the junk drawer …

Pranshu Verma / New York Times:

Trump Appointee Seeks to Cut Off Funding for Global Internet Access Group — Michael Pack, the head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, is moving to stop federal funding of the Open Technology Fund, which develops tools that allow people to get around controls on internet access.

Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:

Lou Dobbs debunks his own claims of election fraud — after a legal demand from Smartmatic — A fact-check segment that aired on his Fox Business show Friday will be rebroadcast on two other Fox programs this weekend — Something surprising happened Friday night on Lou Dobbs's top-rated show on the Fox Business Network.

Discussion: CNN, Slate, Deadline and Conservative News Today, more at Mediagazer »

Ashok Selvam / Eater Chicago:

Stephanie Izard Apologizes For a Poorly Received Representation of a Korean Dish — A photo posted Thursday using Izard's social media handle showed a “bibimbap” without any cultural context, igniting a conversation on cultural appropriation — A fellow Chicago chef is once again accusing …

Clay Risen / New York Times:

Jean Graetz, White Supporter of Civil Rights in Alabama, Dies at 90 — With her husband, Robert, Mrs. Graetz became a friend of Rosa Parks and supported the Montgomery bus boycott, despite threats to her life. — Jean Graetz, who was among the few white people in Montgomery, Ala. …

Brittny Mejia / Los Angeles Times:

They risk their lives cleaning hospitals. Now, they are getting vaccinated. ‘I want people to know that we exist’ — Maria Saravia changes in and out of protective gear 24 times a day — once for each patient room she enters on the COVID-19 floor at Keck Hospital of USC.

CNN:

Tucker Carlson's vaccine rant should be called out by every reputable news organization — Joe Lockhart is a CNN political analyst. He was the White House press secretary from 1998-2000 in President Bill Clinton's administration. He co-hosts the podcast “Words Matter.”

Discussion: The Guardian