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10:45 PM ET, December 20, 2020

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Jeff Stein / Washington Post:
White House secures ‘three martini lunch’ tax deduction in draft of coronavirus relief package  —  President Trump has long seized on the tax break as a way to revive the restaurant industry.  But economists have panned it as ineffective and largely benefitting the wealthy.
Discussion: Political Wire and Mother Jones
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Here's what's in the new $900 billion stimulus package  —  Jobless benefits, aid to small businesses, stimulus checks and money for vaccine distribution are in.  New aid for local governments and corporate liability shields are out.  —  Congressional leaders brokered a deal …
Washington Post:
Details emerge on $600 stimulus checks, jobless benefits as Congress rushes to finalize deal
Evie Fordham / Fox News:
McConnell expects coronavirus relief package to be finalized ‘in a matter of hours’
Discussion: Washington Examiner
Stephanie Clifford / Elle:
The Journalist and the Pharma Bro  —  Why did Christie Smythe upend her life and stability for Martin Shkreli, one of the least-liked men in the world?  —  Almost every weekday for six years, Christie Smythe took the F train from Park Slope downtown to her desk at Brooklyn's federal court …
Ben Smith / New York Times:
The ‘Red Slime’ Lawsuit That Could Sink Right-Wing Media  —  Voting machine companies threaten “highly dangerous” cases against Fox, Newsmax and OAN, says Floyd Abrams.  —  Antonio Mugica was in Boca Raton when an American presidential election really melted down in 2000 …
Peter Wehner / The Atlantic:
Trump Is Losing His Mind  —  Donald Trump's descent into madness continues.  —  The latest manifestation of this is a report in The New York Times that the president is weighing appointing the conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell, who for a time worked on his legal team, to be special counsel …
RELATED:
Harry Enten / CNN:
How voters rank Trump a historically bad president  —  (CNN)Poll of the week: A new Fox News poll finds that 42% of voters say history will remember President Donald Trump as one of the worst presidents ever.  —  An additional 8% say he will be remembered as below average …
Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo
Max Boot / Washington Post:
Trump saved the worst for last  —  Presidents usually experience a poll bump after they leave office.  George W. Bush, for example, nearly doubled his popularity rating between 2009 and 2018.  If there is any justice in the world (admittedly a big if), that won't happen with Donald Trump.
Donald J. Trump for President:
Trump Campaign taking Constitutional fight to Supreme Court  —  President Trump's campaign today issued the following statement:  —  “Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., President Trump's campaign committee, today filed a petition for writ of certiorari to the US.
RELATED:
Mica Soellner / Washington Examiner:
Trump campaign independently filing with Supreme Court over election results  —  The Trump campaign issued its first independent filing with the Supreme Court on Sunday, in hopes of reversing actions taken by Pennsylvania's high court.  —  The campaign aims to reverse three Pennsylvania Supreme Court cases …
Patrick Marley / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Shirley Abrahamson, longest-serving member of Wisconsin Supreme Court, dies at 87  —  MADISON - Shirley Abrahamson crashed through barriers for women, but her son was only dimly aware of it as he was growing up.  —  Daniel Abrahamson was about 12 when his mother became the first woman to serve on the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1976.
Erica Newland / New York Times:
'I'm Haunted by What I Did' as a Lawyer in the Trump Justice Department  —  No matter our intentions, lawyers like me were complicit.  We owe the country our honesty about what we saw — and should do in the future.  —  Ms. Newland worked in the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department from 2016-18.
Associated Press:
Birx travels, family visits highlight pandemic safety perils  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — As COVID-19 cases skyrocketed before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus response, warned Americans to “be vigilant” and limit celebrations to “your immediate household.”
RELATED:
Arya Hodjat / The Daily Beast:   Dr. Birx Took Family Trip to Delaware After Thanksgiving, Despite Her Own COVID Advice
The Citizen Lab:
Journalists Hacked with Suspected NSO Group iMessage ‘Zero-Click’ Exploit  —  Summary & Key Findings  — In July and August 2020, government operatives used NSO Group's Pegasus spyware to hack 36 personal phones belonging to journalists, producers, anchors, and executives at Al Jazeera.
RELATED:
Lara Jakes / New York Times:   Trump Incentives for Signing Peace Accords With Israel Could Be at Risk
The Guardian:
Dozens of Al Jazeera journalists allegedly hacked using Israeli firm's spyware
Apoorva Mandavilli / New York Times:
The Coronavirus Is Mutating.  What Does That Mean for Us?  —  Officials in Britain and South Africa claim new variants are more easily transmitted.  There's a lot more to the story, scientists say.  —  Just as vaccines begin to offer hope for a path out of the pandemic …
Discussion: Twitchy, Gothamist and HotAir
Washington Post:
Ex-cop hits truck thinking it held 750,000 fraudulent ballots, police say.  It held air conditioning parts.  —  David Lopez-Zuniga, an air-conditioner installer, had just left his mobile home for his typical predawn commute when he noticed an SUV's headlights closely trailing his small cargo truck.
Discussion: Buttermilk Sky
Reuters:
Canada halts passenger flights from UK for 72 hours due to new virus strain  —  TORONTO (Reuters) -Canada is halting passenger flights from the United Kingdom for 72 hours, the health ministry said on Sunday, joining a growing list of countries barring British travelers to prevent the spread of a new coronavirus strain from the country.
RELATED:
Washington Post:
A frustrated Trump redoubles efforts to challenge election result  —  President Trump has intensified efforts to overturn the election, raising a series of radical measures in recent days, including military intervention, seizing voting machines and a 13th-hour appeal to the Supreme Court.
Denver Post:
What happened to the Colorado Republican Party?  —  Out of power in a changing state, the GOP is in soul-searching mode  —  The Jefferson County GOP began its annual assemblies in the 1990s by asking all elected Republicans in attendance to say a few words.
Juleanna Glover / USA Today:
Don't cut in line for the COVID vaccine.  Elites who do will be named and shamed.  —  The optics of the privileged jumping the COVID vaccine line ahead of essential workers will be terrible and should be damaging.  —  Concierge medical practices are fielding inquiries from their wealthy patients wondering …
Discussion: HotAir
Amy Gardner / Washington Post:
How Trump drove the lie that the election was stolen, undermining voter trust in the outcome  —  Elena Parent, a Democratic state lawmaker from the Atlanta area, listened incredulously in a small hearing room in early December as a stream of witnesses spun fantastical tales of alleged election fraud …
New York Times:
A President Who Can't Put Aside Grudges, Even for Good News  —  The past week served as a preview of Mr. Trump's post-presidency: no leadership on debates within his party, but keen attention to waging personal vendettas and cultivating his supporters.  —  It was among the most consequential weeks …
Discussion: CNN, Digby's Hullabaloo and CBS News
RELATED:
Fadel Allassan / Axios:
Mitt Romney: GOP has “strayed” from core values
Discussion: Politico
 
 
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 More Items: 
Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:
A Conservative Justice in Wisconsin Says He Followed the Law, Not the Politics
Discussion: Crooks and Liars
Michael Lee / Washington Examiner:
Seattle City Council member who supports defunding police calls officers to her home to report a crime
Discussion: RedState and Instapundit
E.J. Dionne / Washington Post:
How Biden can make us hate each other a little bit less
Cathy Park Hong / New York Times:
How Fake News Is Hatching in Immigrant Communities
Gabriel Debenedetti / New York Magazine:
A Biden Style of Government Is Emerging: Lowest Drama Possible
Daisuke Wakabayashi / New York Times:
The Antitrust Case Against Big Tech, Shaped by Tech Industry Exiles
Washington Post:
Major U.S. companies are lobbying in a scrum for early vaccine
Raphael Satter / Yahoo:
Biden chief of staff says hack response will go beyond ‘just sanctions’
Discussion: Reuters
 Earlier Items: 
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Scoop: Trump likely won't announce 2024 run before Jan. 20
Lingling Wei / Wall Street Journal:
Jack Ma Makes Ant Offer to Placate Chinese Regulators
David French / The Dispatch:
Why Do They Hate Us?  —  Race, Christian Nationalism, and White Evangelical Alienation from America
Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo
Politico:
GOP winning the Georgia ad war as Dems shift money to ground game
Discussion: The Hill and New York Times
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Todd Spangler / Variety:
Don Lemon, who sued Elon Musk and X after a deal fell apart, says he's leaving X on November 15, citing X's new ToS that moves legal disputes to Texas courts

Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:
Spotify plans to pay incentives to video creators who hit certain viewing thresholds and, in January, to let Premium subscribers view podcast videos without ads

Murray Stassen / Music Business Worldwide:
German royalty licensing group GEMA sues OpenAI and subsidiary OpenAI Ireland in Munich Regional Court, claiming ChatGPT violates copyrights of lyrics

 
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