Top Items:
New York Times:
Trump Gives Clemency to More Allies, Including Manafort, Stone and Charles Kushner — It was the second wave of pardons and commutations by the president in two days, showing his willingness to use his power aggressively on behalf of loyalists. — President Trump doled out clemency …
Discussion:
Al Jazeera, Breitbart, Forbes, The Daily Caller, The Sun, Mock Paper Scissors, Fortune, Alternet.org, Vox, Outside the Beltway and The White House
RELATED:
CNN:
Trump issues 26 new pardons, including ones for Stone, Manafort and Charles Kushner — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening announced 26 new pardons, including ones for longtime ally Roger Stone, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner's father, Charles.
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, Washington Times, RedState, KTVZ-TV, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Mediaite and POLITICUSUSA
Zachary Basu / Axios:
Trump pardons Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and Charles Kushner — President Trump granted full pardons to 26 more people on Wednesday night, including his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, longtime associate Roger Stone and Charles Kushner, the father of Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Fox News, The Bulwark, The Guardian, LifeZette and Townhall
The White House:
Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding Executive Grants of Clemency — Today, President Donald J. Trump granted Full Pardons to 26 individuals and commuted part or all of the sentences of an additional 3 individuals. — James Kassouf — President Trump granted a full pardon to James Kassouf.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, The Texas Tribune and FOX 5 San Diego
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
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 …
CNBC:
Trump issues 26 more pardons, including Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and Charles Kushner — President Donald Trump issued 26 pardons, including to his son-in-law Jared Kushner's father Charles Kushner, and to his 2016 campaign manager Paul Manafort and Republican political operative Roger Stone.
Discussion:
NPR, CBS News, KNSD-TV, The Daily Caller, One America News Network, Power Line and New York Post
Washington Post:
Trump pardons Charles Kushner, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone in latest wave of clemency grants
Trump pardons Charles Kushner, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone in latest wave of clemency grants
Discussion:
USA Today, Business Insider, The American Independent and UPI
Politico:
Trump pardons Manafort, Stone, father of Jared Kushner
Trump pardons Manafort, Stone, father of Jared Kushner
Discussion:
Reuters, Fox News, BuzzFeed News, The Gateway Pundit, Big League Politics, Deadline, Law & Crime, The Wrap and NECN
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.
RELATED:
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Republicans just voted to defund the police
Republicans just voted to defund the police
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal and KTVZ-TV
John Nichols / The Nation:
Ebenezer McConnell — On the chance that the heartless majority leader is not confronted …
Ebenezer McConnell — On the chance that the heartless majority leader is not confronted …
Discussion:
Raw Story, RedState, Washington Post, Fox News, Common Dreams and NBC New York
Washington Post:
Trump's last-minute outburst throws pandemic relief effort into chaos
Trump's last-minute outburst throws pandemic relief effort into chaos
Discussion:
Bloomberg, ABC News, The Texas Tribune, Slate, Reuters, Mediaite, HotAir, One America News Network, IJR, WINK NEWS, NECN and New York Times
Susan Ferrechio / Washington Examiner:
Democrats dare GOP to block $2,000 stimulus checks in Christmas Eve vote
Democrats dare GOP to block $2,000 stimulus checks in Christmas Eve vote
Discussion:
Washington Post, ABC News, Politico, Fox News and BuzzFeed News
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 …
RELATED:
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, Forbes, Washington Examiner, the way of improvement …, Summit News and NPR
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
RELATED:
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.
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:
CNBC, NPR, New York Times, HotAir, Axios, Fox News, USA Today, Al Jazeera, Mercury News, CBS News, The American Independent, The Guardian, The Sun, The Hill, The Week and TheBlaze
RELATED:
Ariel Edwards-Levy / HuffPost:
GOP Voters Say They'd Back Trump Over Congressional Republicans
GOP Voters Say They'd Back Trump Over Congressional Republicans
Discussion:
Digby's Hullabaloo, Raw Story, IJR and Talking Points Memo
Isaac Arnsdorf / ProPublica:
Inside Trump and Barr's Last-Minute Killing Spree — Private executioners paid in cash. Middle-of-the-night killings. False or incomplete justifications. ProPublica obtained court records showing how the outgoing administration is using its final days to execute the most federal prisoners since World War II.
Discussion:
The Hill and American Prospect
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, Fortune, Conservative News Today, COURIER, Washington Examiner, The Hill and HotAir
RELATED:
Kadia Goba / Axios:
Scoop: Pistol-packing freshmen prompt Congress gun review
Scoop: Pistol-packing freshmen prompt Congress gun review
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Digby's Hullabaloo, Bulwark+ and Mock Paper Scissors
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 …
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
RELATED:
Reese Oxner / NPR:
Twitter Will Reset @POTUS Account To 0 Followers After Biden Transition
Twitter Will Reset @POTUS Account To 0 Followers After Biden Transition
Discussion:
Al Jazeera, CBS San Francisco, Newsbusters, Deadline, UPI, New York Post and littlegreenfootballs.com, more at Techmeme »
NBC New York:
Andrew Yang Files Paperwork to Run for New York City Mayor — Businessman and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang has filed paperwork to run for mayor of New York City, the city's Campaign Finance Board confirmed on Wednesday. — Yang's filing has the potential to immediately upend …
Discussion:
City & State NY, Politico, Fox News, Breitbart, The Hill, The Verge and The Daily Caller
RELATED:
Nolan Hicks / New York Post:
Andrew Yang files paperwork to run for NYC mayor
Andrew Yang files paperwork to run for NYC mayor
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Townhall, Forbes, The Daily Caller and Democrats for Education Reform
Wall Street Journal:
Rocket Attack on U.S. Embassy in Baghdad Largest in a Decade, General Says — U.S. Central Command chief says he doesn't know if Iran directed the attack, adding, ‘We do not seek a war’ — WASHINGTON—The barrage of rockets launched at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad Sunday was the largest attack …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Sun, Al Jazeera, KTVZ-TV, Twitchy and New York Post
RELATED:
Yascha Mounk / Persuasion:
Why I'm Losing Trust in the Institutions — The CDC came scarily close to adopting a plan that would, according to its own models, have killed thousands of Americans. — 1 hr ago — Who should be first in line to get the vaccine against Covid-19? — These kinds of decisions are never easy …
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:
Raw Story, Crooks and Liars, HotAir, Forbes, POLITICUSUSA, The Week, Talking Points Memo and Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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, The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner, KTVZ-TV and IJR
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 …
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:
Crooks and Liars and WEB OF EVIL
David Sirota Andrew Perez / Jacobin:
Where in the World Is Kamala Harris? — Vice president-elect Kamala Harris made headlines earlier this year pushing $2,000 checks for all American. But suddenly, despite being desperately needed right now, she's nowhere to be found on the issue. — Our new issue, “Failure Is an Option,” is out now.
Discussion:
Fox News, CBS Boston and Alternet.org
Jonah Goldberg / The Dispatch:
The Long March Back — A prudent, controlled burn of the GOP's dead weight would be wiser than an unmitigated act of arson. — Remember the whole “burn it down” debate? — Last summer it divided the anti-Trump right. (I'm not going to use “NeverTrump” because it's become a useless and often stupid label.)