memeorandum: Officer in Columbus, Ohio fatally shoots Black man and only then turns on body camera, officials say (CBS News)

10:35 AM ET, December 23, 2020

Top Items:

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 …

Discussion: The Guardian, Mediaite, IJR, Outside the Beltway, The Week, Mother Jones, Florida Politics, Lawyers, Guns & Money, POLITICUSUSA, Digby's Hullabaloo, Business Insider, USA Today, Alternet.org, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller and Law & Crime

Axios:

Trump unleashes signature chaos with stimulus threat and wave of controversial pardons — Advisers to President Trump tell Axios three forces drove last night's twin bombshells — a slew of pardons for his allies, and a last-hour attack on the $900 billion stimulus bill as a “disgrace.”

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Magazine, Raw Story, Associated Press, The Daily Caller, Alternet.org, Fortune, The Guardian and New York Times

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 …

Discussion: Politico, National Review, Washington Examiner, Axios, Associated Press, Business Insider, POLITICUSUSA, Talking Points Memo, Fox News, NPR, RedState and The Intellectualist

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.

Discussion: Breitbart, The Last Refuge, Wall Street Journal, Reason, The Texas Tribune, The Guardian, TheBlaze, American Military News, Greensburg Tribune-Review, UPI, NPR and HotAir

CNN:
Trump announces wave of pardons, including Papadopoulos and former lawmakers Hunter and Collins

Discussion: The Dispatch, Breitbart, THE CITY, CNBC, Townhall, HotAir, The Intellectualist and Mock Paper Scissors

The Guardian:
Trump pardons Blackwater contractors jailed for massacre of Iraq civilians

Discussion: middleeastmonitor.com, Raw Story, WKRN-TV and Associated Press

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
Trump pardons Blackwater contractors convicted in deaths of 14 Iraqi civilians

Discussion: Informed Comment, Politico and The Week

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.”

New York Times:

Trump Demands Changes to Coronavirus Relief Bill, Calling It a ‘Disgrace’ — The president sought bigger checks for Americans and a bill that dealt more specifically with pandemic relief. — WASHINGTON — President Trump on Tuesday evening threatened to derail months of bipartisan work …

Discussion: CBS News, The Hill, Mediaite, Bloomberg, UPI, HotAir, Crooks and Liars, OutKick, Washington Post, CNBC, RedState, Raw Story, The Federalist, NECN and middleeastmonitor.com, more at Mediagazer »

Axios:
Trump asks Congress to increase stimulus payments

Discussion: Fox News, Business Insider, CBS News, Al Jazeera, Washington Examiner, Townhall, Deadline, The Daily Caller, TheBlaze and NPR

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, Hackwhackers, Alternet.org and Raw Story

The Daily Beast:
Trump Tells Sidney Powell He Won't Name Her ‘Special Counsel’

Discussion: Business Insider, The Guardian, CyberScoop, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Conservative News Today, TheBlaze, Talking Points Memo, HotAir, What The Fuck …, Forbes and Washington Examiner

Politico:
Trump orchestrates final loyalty test in dying bid to subvert election

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Fox News, Front Page Magazine, RedState, IJR, The Week 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 …

Discussion: Raw Story, ABC News, HotAir, Los Angeles Times, The Week, POLITICUSUSA, Business Insider, Denver Post, Mediaite, Breitbart, Bloomberg, Forbes, Washington Times, Townhall and NBC News

Edward Foley / Washington Post:
It's time for Mike Pence to choose: Trump, or the truth

Discussion: What The Fuck …, American Thinker, Alternet.org and Forbes

Politico:

Trump White House staffers receive departure instructions — Staffers in the Executive Office of the President were informed Tuesday that they “will start departing” on the week of Jan. 4, according to an email from the White House Management Office. — The memo, which was obtained by POLITICO …

Discussion: HotAir, Forbes and Raw Story

Robin Bravender / Business Insider:
Bidenworld is worried Trump will trash tradition and force the president-elect to fire thousands of GOP holdovers on his first day in the White House

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, Variety, Politico, Vanity Fair and Salon, more at Techmeme »

Mark Niesse / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Top Trump aide Mark Meadows visits Georgia ballot signature audit

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Forbes, Reuters and One America News Network

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

Discussion: Washington Times, Washington Examiner, HotAir, Business Insider, Townhall, WABC, The Daily Caller, Georgia Memo and Instapundit

Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Warnock's ex-wife calls him ‘great actor’ in police footage of dispute's aftermath

Discussion: New York Post and Conservative News Today

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 …

Discussion: CyberScoop, Crooks and Liars and Political Wire

Dustin Volz / Wall Street Journal:
Iran Pushed Online Effort to Incite Violence Against Officials Defending U.S. Election Result

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Axios

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 …

Discussion: Bulwark+

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: Mediaite, CBS News, Just The News and The Week

Rebecca Shabad / NBC News:
Gov't agrees to buy additional 100 million doses of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine

Discussion: WMTV, CNBC, HotAir, Mock Paper Scissors, WSPA-TV, NPR, ABC13, One America News Network and UPI

Washington Post:

Despite Trump's intense hunt for voter fraud, officials in key states have so far identified just a small number of possible cases — In Pittsburgh, the local police department this year received 10 complaints of possible fraudulent voting in the November election.

Discussion: Conservative News Today, Geller Report News, Raw Story and The Bulwark

Zach Abolverdi / USA Today:

Florida's Keyontae Johnson diagnosed with heart inflammation that has been associated with COVID-19 — GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida forward Keyontae Johnson, who collapsed on the court during a game Dec. 12 at Florida State, has been diagnosed with a heart inflammation that may be related to an earlier infection for COVID-19.

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Roger Sollenberger / Salon:

Jared Kushner signed off on secret payments to top campaign officials, source says — Source tells Salon that dubious shell-company arrangements to pay top officials were approved by Kushner and Trump — Top White House adviser Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law …

Discussion: The Intellectualist

Patrick Lohmann / Syracuse Post-Standard:

Brindisi-Tenney race narrows even more: 3 to 5 votes separate candidates — OSWEGO, N.Y. — The incredibly close race for the 22nd Congressional District got even closer Tuesday, as about 90 new votes from a bundle of about 2,500 affidavit ballots from Oneida County were counted.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

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, Axios 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: Washington Post

Amara Omeokwe / Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Jobless Claims Retreat From Three-Month High — Claims still hovering at highest levels since recent peaks in September — The number of workers seeking unemployment benefits fell last week, amid signs the economy is continuing to recover, but at a slowing pace.

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Barbara Moens / Politico:

Donald Trump gives green light to EU-US lobster deal — The deal was intended as a peace offering to the outgoing US president. — A new presidential proclamation from U.S. President Donald Trump gives the green light from Washington for a mini-trade deal, or “lobster deal,” between the EU and the U.S.

Discussion: The White House

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 …

Adam Klasfeld / Law & Crime:

Arizona GOP May Face Sanctions for Filing Lawsuit Contradicted by Audit, Judge Suggests — The Arizona Republican Party could face court sanctions for filing a lawsuit even though the state's audit debunked its allegations, a judge suggested in a ruling tossing the case.

Discussion: Arizona Republic

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 …