memeorandum: Tech Giants Are Giving China a Vital Edge in Espionage (Zach Dorfman/Foreign Policy)

6:10 PM ET, December 23, 2020

Top Items:

Karoun Demirjian / Washington Post:

Trump vetoes defense bill, teeing up holiday override votes in Congress — President Trump made good Wednesday on his repeated threats to veto a $741 billion defense spending bill, setting up what is expected to be the first successful veto override of his presidency during his last weeks in office.

Discussion: Associated Press, HotAir, The Week, The Gateway Pundit, Geller Report News, The Sun and The American Independent

Politico:

‘Complete clusterf—’: Trump leaves Washington in limbo — President Donald Trump has once again thrown Washington into chaos, making uneven demands that have left lawmakers baffled and Americans coping with a global pandemic uncertain when they'll be getting long-promised financial help.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, Reuters, Task & Purpose, Raw Story, NPR, Bloomberg, WINK NEWS, Associated Press and Alternet.org

Ariel Edwards-Levy / HuffPost:

GOP Voters Say They'd Back Trump Over Congressional Republicans — Republican Trump voters are more likely to identify with the president than their political party, a new survey finds. — GOP voters remain far likelier to align themselves with President Donald Trump than they are to side …

Discussion: Raw Story, Talking Points Memo and IJR

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Trump detonates a truth bomb in the Georgia Senate races — President Trump might not realize it, but he just handed Democrats a big weapon to wield against the two Republican senators running in the Georgia runoffs. — By abruptly calling for $2,000 stimulus checks on Tuesday night …

Discussion: The Nation, Forbes, Talking Points Memo, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, American Prospect, The Mahablog, Roll Call, No More Mister Nice Blog, New Yorker, POLITICUSUSA, The Root, The Intellectualist and Raw Story

Connor O'Brien / Politico:

Trump vetoes defense bill, setting up showdown with Congress — President Donald Trump vetoed major defense policy legislation Wednesday, sending the measure back to Congress for what could be the first successful override of his presidency if enough Republicans are willing to defy the commander in chief.

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, Breitbart, TechCrunch, New York Post, Alternet.org, Talking Points Memo, Roll Call, The American Independent, WCCO | CBS Minnesota, UPI and Townhall

Washington Post:
Trump's last-minute tantrum throws pandemic relief effort into chaos

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Hill, Associated Press, Fox News, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Business Insider, The American Independent and Crooks and Liars

CNN:
Trump vetoes massive defense bill despite overwhelming GOP support

Discussion: Florida Politics and Mother Jones

John Nichols / The Nation:
Ebenezer McConnell — On the chance that the heartless majority leader is not confronted …

Discussion: Raw Story, Fox News, Washington Post, Common Dreams, Alternet.org and NECN

Claudia Grisales / NPR:
Trump Vetoes Defense Bill, Setting Up Congressional Vote To Potentially Override Him

Discussion: Vox, USA Today, CNN, ABC News, Business Insider, Reuters, Forbes, Big League Politics, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Los Angeles Times, Florida Phoenix, Florida Politics, The Intellectualist, The Daily Caller and Raw Story

Amanda Macias / CNBC:
Trump vetoes colossal $740 billion defense bill, breaking with Republican-led Senate

Discussion: Associated Press, The Verge, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Deadline

Susan Ferrechio / Washington Examiner:
Democrats dare GOP to block $2,000 stimulus checks in Christmas Eve vote

Discussion: Politico, Forbes and BuzzFeed News

Axios:
Trump unleashes signature chaos with stimulus threat and wave of controversial pardons

Discussion: Business Insider, NBC News, Washington Post, Reason, WEWS, UncoverDC, Wall Street Journal, Raw Story, The Week, New York Magazine, First Draft, Fox News, New York Times, The American Independent, The Guardian and Fortune

Emily Cochrane / New York Times:
Live Updates: Trump Vetoes Military Bill, Setting Up First Override of His Term

Discussion: Bloomberg, Fox News, Washington Post, The Signorile Report and WLOS-TV

Shawna Chen / Axios:
Trump defies Congress, vetoes $740 billion defense spending bill

Discussion: Fox News, CBS News, The Hill and Task & Purpose

Kaitlan Collins / CNN:

Giuliani told to preserve all records as lawyers for Dominion warn legal action is ‘imminent’ — (CNN)A defamation law firm representing Dominion Voting Systems has sent letters to White House counsel Pat Cipollone and President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani instructing …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, CNBC, HotAir, Talking Points Memo, The National Interest, Mediaite, Forbes, Raw Story, Bloomberg, The Week, Just An Earth-Bound Misfit, I, KTVZ-TV, Associated Press and Political Wire

New York Times:

A President Unhappy, Unleashed and Unpredictable — President Trump remains the most powerful man in the world, but powerless to achieve what he most wants: to avoid leaving office as a loser. — With four weeks left in President Trump's term, he is at perhaps his most unleashed — and …

Discussion: Alternet.org, Right Wing Watch, Lawfare, The Week, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Digby's Hullabaloo, Vox, Business Insider and The Guardian

The Daily Beast:

‘This Is Just What Jared Does’: Kushner Bails on Trump's Mission to Destroy the 2020 Election — The president's son-in-law has developed a reputation in Trumpland for being conspicuously absent when things turn rocky. — As President Donald Trump tries to nullify the 2020 election …

Discussion: Election Law Blog

Veronica Stracqualursi / CNN:

Voting machine company executive sues Trump allies for defamation — Dominion CEO debunks ‘bizarre allegations’ pushed by Trump team — Washington (CNN)An executive for a voting machine company that has been the target of conspiracy theories in the aftermath of Donald Trump's 2020 election loss …

Discussion: Law & Crime, NPR, Forbes, Summit News and the way of improvement …, more at Mediagazer »

Politico:

Trump White House staffers receive conflicting messages about their departure — Conflicting internal memos created confusion inside the White House on Wednesday about when staffers in the Executive Office of the President should begin preparing to leave work ahead of the transition next month.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Forbes, POLITICUSUSA, HotAir, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, The Week and Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Daily Beast: Voting Company Dominion Threatens to Sue Trump-Boosting Networks Over Election Conspiracies

Stephen Battaglio / Los Angeles Times:

What happened to Maria Bartiromo? The Trump election fraud story has the TV news biz asking — When a public company makes news, a chief executive can expect a text or call from Maria Bartiromo. — The veteran business journalist, now an anchor at Fox News, made her bones by getting sit-downs …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and Raw Story

Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite:

Maria Bartiromo Duped Into On-Air Interview With Animal Rights Activist Posing as CEO of Pork Giant — Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo interviewed an animal rights activist posing as the CEO of food processing company Smithfield for an entire segment on Wednesday morning.

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, Forbes, The Hill, The Week and The Wrap

Sarah Ellison / Washington Post:
What happened to Maria Bartiromo?

more at Mediagazer »

Nolan Hicks / New York Post:

Andrew Yang files paperwork to run for NYC mayor — Andrew Yang, the tech entrepreneur who rose to prominence in 2020 as a Democratic presidential candidate, filed paperwork Wednesday to begin raising money for a mayoral campaign in New York City. — The filing with the city's Campaign …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Daily Caller and Democrats for Education Reform

NBC New York:
Andrew Yang Files Paperwork to Run for New York City Mayor

Discussion: The Hill, City & State NY, Breitbart, The Verge and The Daily Caller

Morgan Phillips / Fox News:
Andrew Yang plans run for NYC mayor, files paperwork

Discussion: Politico

Business Insider:

EXCLUSIVE: A deputy to Eric Trump helped build a campaign shell company to protect the president from grift. But the secretive operation morphed into a mystery — even for top Trump campaign staffers. … - One of Eric Trump's top deputies played an important role overseeing …

Business Insider: Democratic lawmaker says Trump campaign shell company was a campaign committee, likely broke law by not reporting or filing with the FEC

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook PM: No one knows how this ends — SO HOW DOES THIS END? That's a damn good question. — NO ONE KNOWS. Some say President DONALD TRUMP is in burn-it-down mode and is more than willing to veto the Covid relief/funding package, ending his presidency in a lengthy shutdown, with bluster and crisis.

Discussion: Detroit News, New York Times, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Fortune, COURIER, Conservative News Today, Business Insider and HotAir

Kadia Goba / Axios:

Scoop: Pistol-packing freshmen prompt Congress gun review — Several incoming House freshmen have inquired about carrying guns into the Capitol, leading a board overseeing congressional security to rethink a regulation banning members from packing heat under the dome, a House aide with direct knowledge of the board review told Axios.

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo, The Daily Caller and Mock Paper Scissors

Berkeley Lovelace Jr / CNBC:

The U.S. has vaccinated just 1 million people out of a goal of 20 million for December — The CDC said just 1,008,025 shots had been administered as of Wednesday at 9 a.m. ET. — That's roughly 19 million doses shy of earlier projections for December.

Discussion: Mediaite, Washington Examiner, IJR and KTVZ-TV

Axios:

U.S. considering closing Iraqi embassy after rocket attack — The United States is considering closing its embassy in Baghdad after a series of rocket attacks on Iraq's Green Zone by Iranian-backed militias, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.

Discussion: Mediaite and Political Wire

Wall Street Journal:
Rocket Attack on U.S. Embassy in Baghdad Largest in a Decade, General Says

Discussion: Twitchy and New York Post

Tom Knowles / The Times:

Octopuses are ocean thugs that punch fish — Despite its extraordinary intelligence, the life of an octopus is a solitary one. So perhaps it is no wonder that the mighty brained cephalopod engages in a little thuggery to relieve the boredom. — Scientists have discovered that, on occasions …

Gerald F. Seib / Wall Street Journal:

Biden Declares Political Center Alive and Well — President-elect says there are enough GOP lawmakers prepared to meet him in middle that he can get things done in evenly divided Congress — President-elect Joe Biden wants you to know that reports of the death of America's political center are greatly exaggerated.

Marc Ambinder / The Daily Beast:

Sources: Secret Service Has No Plan if Trump Refuses to Go — But they do have procedures for handling trespassers. — If there are any checklists or plans, procedures or guidelines for the Secret Service to follow in the event of an autogolpe—a Latin American-style crisis …

Discussion: National Review, Vanity Fair, Hackwhackers, Raw Story, Alternet.org and Business Insider

David Tarrant / Dallas Morning News:

Fort Worth pastor who urged ‘faith over fear’ in the pandemic mourns parents who died of COVID complications — The pastor of 2nd Mile Church in north Fort Worth, where his parents were members, said he was surprised by the sudden surge in COVID cases in recent weeks in Tarrant County.

Discussion: WEB OF EVIL

Davey Alba / New York Times:

Pennsylvania man is accused of casting Trump vote for his dead mother. — Shortly after the November election, the Trump campaign circulated on its Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as its website, the names of seven dead Americans in the battleground states of Georgia and Pennsylvania.

Discussion: Business Insider

CNN:

Tensions intensify between Biden and Pentagon over stalled transition briefings — (CNN)President-elect Joe Biden's transition team on Wednesday disputed suggestions from Pentagon officials who questioned the accuracy of Biden's assertion a day earlier that the Department of Defense has refused …

Discussion: Raw Story

Zach Dorfman / Foreign Policy:

Tech Giants Are Giving China a Vital Edge in Espionage … Beijing was giving China hawks in the United States plenty of ammunition. That same year, hackers working for China's People's Liberation Army would mastermind a massive breach of Equifax, one of the United States' largest credit reporting firms.