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8:40 AM ET, December 23, 2020

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
New York Times:
Trump Pardons Two Russia Inquiry Figures and Blackwater Guards  —  The pre-Christmas wave of 20 pardons and commutations are not likely to be the last before Mr. Trump leaves office on Jan. 20.  —  In an audacious pre-Christmas round of pardons, President Trump granted clemency on Tuesday …
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Trump grants clemency to 20 people, including three former GOP members of Congress and two men convicted in the Russia probe  —  President Trump granted clemency on Tuesday to 20 people, including three former Republican members of Congress and two people who were convicted of crimes as part …
The White House:
Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding Executive Grants of Clemency  —  Today, President Donald J. Trump granted Full Pardons to 15 individuals and commuted part or all of the sentences of an additional 5 individuals.  —  Alfonso Costa — President Trump granted a full pardon to Alfonso Costa, a dentist from Pittsburgh.
Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
Trump pardons Blackwater contractors convicted in deaths of 14 Iraqi civilians
Discussion: Informed Comment
The Guardian:
Trump pardons Blackwater contractors jailed for massacre of Iraq civilians
Discussion: WKRN-TV and Associated Press
Washington Post:
Trump calls on Congress to approve $2,000 stimulus checks, hinting that he might not sign economic relief bill into law without changes  —  The president has still not signed the measure even though it passed Monday night.  He called the measure “a disgrace.”
RELATED:
Tyler Van Dyke / Washington Examiner:
Trump rips coronavirus stimulus bill and demands bigger checks
Discussion: Reuters
RELATED:
Associated Press:
WH virus coordinator Deborah Birx says she will retire
Zoë Richards / Talking Points Memo:
‘I Will Retire’: Dr. Birx Will Not Seek Role In Biden Administration
The Daily Beast:
Trump Tells Sidney Powell He Won't Name Her ‘Special Counsel’  —  The president has met with the conspiracy theorist lawyer recently.  But he is not yet buckling to one of her wishes. … Donald Trump informed the conspiracy-theory-driven MAGA attorney Sidney Powell on Monday that he does …
RELATED:
Politico:
Trump orchestrates final loyalty test in dying bid to subvert election  —  President Donald Trump is plotting a final stand in Congress on Jan. 6, casting it as the ultimate loyalty test in his quest to remain in power and shutting out anyone who won't get in line.
Marc Ambinder / The Daily Beast:
Sources: Secret Service Has No Plan if Trump Refuses to Go
Discussion: Raw Story and Alternet.org
Washington Post:
Republicans plunge into open battle over attempts to overturn Trump's loss to Biden  —  The GOP is plunging into open warfare over President-elect Joe Biden's election victory — with President Trump taunting Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in a passive-aggressive email blast …
RELATED:
Washington Post:
FBI links Iran to online hit list targeting top officials who've refuted Trump's election fraud claims  —  The FBI has concluded that Iran was behind online efforts earlier this month to incite violence against the bureau's director, a former top U.S. cyber expert and multiple state elections …
RELATED:
Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal:
Iran Pushed Online Effort to Incite Violence Against Officials Defending U.S. Election Result
Discussion: Axios
Associated Press:
Dominion worker sues Trump campaign and conservative media  —  NEW YORK — An election systems worker driven into hiding by death threats has filed a defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump's campaign, two of its lawyers and some conservative media figures and outlets.
Discussion: NPR, The Week, Summit News, CBS Denver and Axios
RELATED:
Ben Collins / NBC News:
As Trump meets with QAnon influencers, the conspiracy theory's adherents beg for dictatorship  —  On Friday, President Donald Trump met with current and former advisers in the Oval Office, including retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, and one person familiar with the meeting said Flynn advocated …
David Enrich / New York Times:
Trump's Longtime Banker at Deutsche Bank Resigns  —  Rosemary Vrablic, who oversaw hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to President Trump's company, will leave the bank next week.  —  President Trump's longtime banker at Deutsche Bank, who arranged for the German lender to make hundreds …
RELATED:
Los Angeles Times:
Newsom names Assemblywoman Shirley Weber to succeed Padilla as California secretary of state  —  Gov. Gavin Newsom took swift action Tuesday to fill the newly vacant post of California secretary of state by selecting Democratic Assemblywoman Shirley Weber to serve as the state's chief elections officer …
RELATED:
Los Angeles Times:
Alex Padilla becomes California's first Latino U.S. senator, replacing Kamala Harris
Bradford Betz / Fox News:
Warnock's wife told officer that her husband is ‘a great actor’ after domestic dispute  —  Medical officials did not find visible signs of injury on his wife's foot and Warnock was never charged with a crime.  —  Ossoff, Warnock would embrace ‘far-left liberal policies’ in Senate: Alyssa Farah
David Edwards / Raw Story:
Karl Rove goes off on Sidney Powell: ‘Any idiot with access to Google’ can debunk her lawsuits  —  Fox News contributor Karl Rove on Tuesday lashed out at Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell over what he called “idiot” ideas about the 2020 election.  —  During an appearance on Fox News …
RELATED:
New York Times:
Pfizer Nears Deal With Trump Administration to Provide More Vaccine Doses  —  The company could provide at least tens of millions of additional doses of a coronavirus vaccine under an agreement that would give it better access to the supplies it needs to expand manufacturing.
Discussion: CBS News, Just The News and The Week
Phil Helsel / NBC News:
U.S. reports more Covid deaths than ever before  —  The United States on Tuesday saw the highest number of Covid-19 deaths in a single day, according to a count of reports by NBC News.  —  The 3,350 reported deaths break a previous single-day high that was set just last week, on Dec. 16.
Discussion: Balloon Juice and NPR
New York Times:
How Cities Lost Control of Police Discipline  —  In the chaos of 1960s Detroit, a fledgling police union laid the groundwork for a system that, to this day, constrains discipline for officers accused of misconduct.  —  It took Portland, Ore., almost $1 million in legal fees …
Benjamin Wermund / Houston Chronicle:
Texas AG Ken Paxton urged White House to revoke Harris County COVID relief  —  FILE- In this Sept. 10, 2020, file photo, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at the Austin Police Association in Austin, Texas.  Paxton on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020, announced a multi-state lawsuit against Google …
Discussion: ABC13, Talking Points Memo and CREW
RELATED:
Philip Bump / Washington Post:
The dishonest heart of the challenge to the 2020 election results
Discussion: Detroit News and Raw Story
 
 
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 More Items: 
Adam Klasfeld / Law & Crime:
Arizona GOP May Face Sanctions for Filing Lawsuit Contradicted by Audit, Judge Suggests
Roger Sollenberger / Salon:
Jared Kushner signed off on secret payments to top campaign officials, source says
Discussion: The Intellectualist
Derek Robertson / Politico:
Flint Has Clean Water Now. Why Won't People Drink It?
Tom Elliott / Grabien News:
Montage: The 20 Most Mortifying Media Moments of 2020
New York Times:
How to Stop the Mutant Coronavirus
The Guardian:
Putin signs bill granting lifetime immunity to former Russian presidents
Tara D. Sonenshine / The Hill:
Dr. Fauci made the right house calls
Discussion: HotAir
Shannon Najmabadi / The Texas Tribune:
Trump commutes remaining prison term of former Texas GOP congressman Steve Stockman, who was convicted of misusing charitable funds
Discussion: Off the Kuff
 Earlier Items: 
Wall Street Journal:
Hunter Biden's Family Name Aided Deals with Foreign Tycoons
Chrissy Clark / Washington Free Beacon:
Future Biden Education Secretary Oversaw Creation of Critical Theory Class for High Schoolers
The Cook Political Report:
36 Facts About the 2020 Elections  —  In keeping with our end-of-cycle tradition …
Discussion: Washington Post and Raw Story
Substack Blog:
Substack's view of content moderation
Andrew Blankstein / NBC News:
Former Rep. Katie Hill sues ex-husband, Daily Mail, Redstate.com over ‘nonconsensual porn’
Discussion: Axios and The Wrap
 

 
From Techmeme:

New York Times:
Japan Airlines halts ticket sales after a cyberattack hit its network equipment, causing delays to more than 40 flights, and says flight safety was not impacted

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch:
Bluesky launches a Trending Topics feature in beta on its desktop and mobile apps in English, and says users' muted words will transfer to Trending

Qwen:
Alibaba releases QvQ-72B-Preview, an experimental research model focused on “enhancing visual reasoning capabilities”, built on Qwen2-VL-72B
 
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