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9:50 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.
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.”
Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
Trump pardons Blackwater contractors convicted in deaths of 14 Iraqi civilians
Discussion: Informed Comment and The Week
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:
New York Times:
Trump Demands Changes to Coronavirus Relief Bill, Calling It a ‘Disgrace’
Axios:
Trump asks Congress to increase stimulus payments
Tyler Van Dyke / Washington Examiner:
Trump rips coronavirus stimulus bill and demands bigger checks
Discussion: Reuters
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:
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 …
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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: Raw Story and Alternet.org
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
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 …
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
RELATED:
Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Warnock's ex-wife calls him ‘great actor’ in police footage of dispute's aftermath
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Associated Press:
WH virus coordinator Deborah Birx says she will retire
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
RELATED:
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.
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, Axios, CBS Denver and Summit News
RELATED:
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
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:
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 …
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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
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 …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
DACA backers ask judge for reprieve until Biden administration
Discussion: The Daily Caller
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
 Earlier Items: 
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
Wall Street Journal:
Hunter Biden's Family Name Aided Deals with Foreign Tycoons
Los Angeles Times:
Newsom names Assemblywoman Shirley Weber to succeed Padilla as California secretary of state
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
Adam Klasfeld / Law & Crime:
Judge Says Lin Wood's Post-Election Lawsuits May Have Violated Several Professional Rules, Orders Him to Respond
Discussion: Raw Story
 

 
From Techmeme:

Gleb Bryanski / Reuters:
Russia's finance minister says Russian companies have begun using bitcoin and other digital currencies in international payments to counter Western sanctions

Bloomberg:
Taiwan's FTC blocks Uber's $950M acquisition of Delivery Hero's Foodpanda, arguing it would decrease competition as their combined market share would be 90%+

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