memeorandum: House Republicans block Democrats' effort to advance $2,000 stimulus checks pushed by Trump (Jeff Stein/Washington Post)

11:45 AM ET, December 24, 2020

Top Items:

Tim Miller / The Bulwark:

The Treasonous Pardon of Paul Manafort — Trump, Russia, and the swamp won. America lost. — For four years we've been force-fed the preposterous dual notions that Donald Trump intended to “drain the swamp” and that any suggestion his campaign colluded with Russia in its interference in the 2016 election was a media hoax.

Discussion: Raw Story, Hackwhackers, The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller, FOX 5 San Diego and WTOP

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: Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, NPR, The Week, Breitbart, Forbes, Washington Examiner, The Sun, TalkLeft, Mock Paper Scissors, Fortune and New York Post

Franklin Foer / The Atlantic:

The Triumph of Kleptocracy — Paul Manafort came of age in New Britain, Connecticut. His father, the garrulous mayor of that decaying factory town, taught him how to cobble together an electoral coalition, passing down the tricks of the trade that became the basis for the son's lucrative career as a political consultant.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Clarence Williams / Washington Post:
Trump pardons former Prince George's County police officer

Discussion: Bark Bark Woof Woof

The White House:
Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding Executive Grants of Clemency

Discussion: CNN, Raw Story, Towleroad Gay News, Business Insider, USA Today, The Last Refuge, Power Line, The Texas Tribune, FOX 5 San Diego, HotAir, Reason and WTOP

CNN:
Trump issues 26 new pardons, including ones for Stone, Manafort and Charles Kushner

Discussion: Mother Jones, Los Angeles Times, The Daily Beast, Digby's Hullabaloo, KTVZ-TV, Outside the Beltway, Raw Story, Meduza.io, Washington Post, Axios, Washington Times, Bloomberg, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, POLITICUSUSA, Deadline and RedState

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Trump Completes Russiagate Cover-up by Pardoning Paul Manafort

Discussion: Law & Crime

Emma Austin / Courier-Journal:
President Trump grants pardon for Louisville activist Christopher 2X

Discussion: Reason

Politico:
Trump pardons Manafort, Stone, father of Jared Kushner

Discussion: CNN, Axios, emptywheel, Conservative News Today, Fox News, Townhall and NBC Bay Area

Jeff Stein / Washington Post:

House Republicans block Democrats' effort to advance $2,000 stimulus checks pushed by Trump — The Christmas Eve move came as Trump has refused to sign a $900 billion economic relief package into law — House Republicans on Thursday blocked an effort by House Democrats to approve $2,000 stimulus payments for millions of Americans.

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Washington Examiner, WSPA-TV, CNBC, Associated Press, UPI, WABC and ABC30

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Republicans raging at Trump are getting exactly what they deserve — House Republicans are in a fury with President Trump, now that he is threatening to blow up the carefully negotiated settlement that led to passage of the $900 billion economic rescue package.

Discussion: HotAir, Newsweek, The Guardian, Associated Press and The Gateway Pundit

CNN:
Congressional GOP grapples with ‘unhinged’ Trump

Discussion: Politico, Fox Business, National Memo, The Gateway Pundit, Bloomberg, HotAir, The Dispatch, Raw Story, KTVZ-TV and Vox

Kevin Liptak / CNN:
Analysis: Trump is more erratic than ever with final days in sight

Discussion: Business Insider, Raw Story and KTVZ-TV

CNBC:
GOP blocks House Democrats' attempt to pass $2,000 stimulus checks

New York Times:
How Trump's Attack on Relief Bill Has Divided GOP

Discussion: NPR, HuffPost, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Politico, WTOP, Townhall, The Hill, Washington Times, The Sun, Business Insider and Washington Examiner

Washington Post:

U.K. and E.U. announce a post-Brexit trade deal, smoothing Dec. 31 departure — LONDON — After seemingly endless negotiations, Britain and the European Union on Thursday announced they had struck a post-Brexit trade and security deal, which will reshape relations between the two allies …

Discussion: Politico, Telegraph, Associated Press, WTOP and The Sun

BBC:

LIVEUK and EU agree post-Brexit trade deal — Why does the UK need another Brexit deal? What were the sticking points in Brexit trade talks? — Play video BBC News live coverage — Summary — “We have taken back control of our money, borders, laws, trade and our fishing waters,” the UK government says

Discussion: New York Times and HotAir

The Guardian:
UK and EU agree Brexit trade deal

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Breitbart

Wall Street Journal:
Brexit Trade Deal Is Reached Between U.K., European Union

Discussion: Politico, Bloomberg, CNN, Business Insider, CBS News, NPR, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Fortune, Spectator USA, WGN-TV, Breitbart, Japan Times, WTOP, The Sun and New York Post

David Folkenflik / NPR:

Host of ‘The Daily’ Clouds ‘N.Y. Times’ Effort To Restore Trust After ‘Caliphate’ — Toggle more options — Late last week, The New York Times issued one of its biggest mea culpas in years. The nation's leading newspaper returned a Peabody award and a citation as a finalist …

Discussion: Meduza.io, more at Mediagazer »

Sarah Isgur / Washington Post:

We in the ‘shallow state’ thought we could help. Instead, we obscured the reality of a Trump presidency. — Sarah Isgur was the director of the Office of Public Affairs at the Justice Department from 2017-2018. — As far as I know, no spokesperson for the Justice Department has ever …

Discussion: Alternet.org

Wall Street Journal:
Jeffrey Rosen Takes Reins of a Justice Department Under Pressure

Discussion: The Colorado Sun, Washington Examiner and Political Wire

Brooke Singman / Fox News:
DOJ officials in ‘ongoing discussions’ about Hunter Biden special counsel, some say it's ‘warranted’: sources

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Donald G. McNeil Jr / New York Times:

How Much Herd Immunity Is Enough? — Scientists initially estimated that 60 to 70 percent of the population needed to acquire resistance to the coronavirus to banish it. Now Dr. Anthony Fauci and others are quietly shifting that number upward. — At what point does a country achieve herd immunity?

Discussion: HotAir and The Daily Caller

Reuters:

Millions of U.S. vaccine doses sit on ice, putting 2020 goal in doubt — (Reuters) -Millions of COVID-19 vaccines are sitting unused in U.S. hospitals and elsewhere a week into the massive inoculation campaign, putting the government's target for 20 million vaccinations this month in doubt.

Discussion: The Hill

USA Today:

Exclusive: As Trump leaves office, 50% of Americans see him as a ‘failed’ president — Susan Page Sarah ElbeshbishiUSA TODAY — President Donald Trump leaves the White House next month with the country more sharply divided than when he moved in and amid caustic assessments of his record in office …

Discussion: The Hill, Wall Street Journal, Salon, The Guardian and Political Wire

Rep. Steve Cohen / The Hill:

Stopping the abuse of the pardon power — How much more corruption do we have to endure before we see Donald Trump's term end on Jan. 20? Trump's most recent grants of clemency add to his pattern of self-serving publicity stunts and pervert a power designed for mercy …

Discussion: The Guardian, The Daily Beast and Mother Jones

Noah Bookbinder / USA Today:
The craven corruption of Trump's pardons: Separate justice system for friends and allies

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Roll Call

John Eligon / New York Times:

Black Doctor Dies of Covid-19 After Complaining of Racist Treatment — “He made me feel like a drug addict,” Dr. Susan Moore said, accusing a white doctor of downplaying her complaints of pain and suggesting she should be discharged. — Lying in a hospital bed with an oxygen tube hugging her nostrils …

Discussion: CBS News and Raw Story

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.

William M. Arkin / Newsweek:

Exclusive: Donald Trump's Martial-Law Talk Has Military on Red Alert — Pentagon and Washington-area military leaders are on red alert, wary of what President Donald Trump might do in his remaining days in office. Though far-fetched, ranking officers have discussed what they would do if the president declared martial law.

Discussion: Alternet.org and Raw Story

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Oops! Trump stomps all over David Perdue's dishonest TV messaging — As we have noted, a great many Republican ads in the Georgia runoffs feature endless fearmongering about phantom threats — scary non-white socialists, defunded police departments, Antifa mobs destroying property.

Discussion: Business Insider, CBS News, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog and POLITICUSUSA

William Saletan / Slate:
Trump's Coup Attempt Could Cost Republicans the Senate

Discussion: USA Today, IJR, Center for Public Integrity, Sara A. Carter, One America News Network, Washington Post, Raw Story, CNN and Alternet.org

Eddie Scarry / Washington Examiner:

I traveled for Christmas, and I'm not sorry — Democrats and cable news anchors have spent the greater part of 2020 telling everyone to “stay home” in order to “stop the spread,” especially during the holidays but — nah. — I traveled to South Carolina — on an airplane! …

Donald G. McNeil Jr / New York Times:

Covid-19 Latest Updates: Democrats' Bid to Call Trump's Stimulus Bluff Is Swiftly Rejected — Dr. Anthony S. Fauci is inching up percentages for community immunity. Covid has come to the town where Christmas started. Millions of Americans are traveling for the holidays. Here's the latest on the pandemic.

Tucker Carlson / Fox News:

The slow, painful death of California — The policies that destroyed America's largest and most economically important state are heading your way — Tucker: Incompetent leadership is destroying California — You may have noticed we often make fun of California on “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” but we're not really joking.

Discussion: Breitbart

Joe Concha / The Hill:

Joe Biden's continued ‘Russian misinformation’ defense of Hunter is conspiracy-level laughable — President-elect Joe Biden continued his campaign strategy of running from anything resembling a tough question from a reporter when attempting to leave the stage after another “press conference” …

Holden Walter-warner / Daily Mail:

'I wasn't expected to be alive today': Emotional Rush Limbaugh thanks listeners for their support in his final broadcast of 2020 as he battles stage 4 lung cancer — Rush Limbaugh has admitted he didn't think he'd even make it to October, as he battles terminal lung cancer

Discussion: RealClearPolitics, RedState, Fox News and TheBlaze