Top Items:
Washington Post:
Families on brink of eviction, hunger describe nightmare Christmas as $900 billion relief bill hangs in limbo — About 14 million Americans will lose unemployment aid on Saturday after President Trump and Congress were unable to reach a deal. — Millions of Americans who are hours away …
Discussion:
CNN, IJR, Raw Story, The Hill and Political Wire
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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, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, National Memo, The Guardian, Press Enterprise, ABC13, CNN, Bloomberg and The Dispatch
New York Times:
Answering Trump, Democrats Try and Fail to Jam $2,000 Payments Through House — In a brief bit of political theater, the House majority leader opened the House for business to ask for unanimous consent to accede to President Trump's request for larger checks.
Discussion:
The Hill, CNN, The Boston Globe, Mother Jones, No More Mister Nice Blog, Business Insider, ABC News, Al Jazeera, UPI, Forbes, NBC New York, Washington Examiner, New York Post, Sludge, Associated Press, One America News Network, CBS Sacramento, American Prospect, HuffPost, NPR and Blue Virginia
Washington Post:
Pence under pressure as the final step nears in formalizing Biden's win — Vice President Pence urged an audience of conservative youth activists earlier this week to “stay in the fight,” as they chanted “Four more years” and “Stop the steal” to trumpet their embrace of the groundless notion …
Discussion:
The Pipeline and Associated Press
Jeff Stein / Washington Post:
House Republicans block Democrats' effort to advance $2,000 stimulus checks pushed by Trump
House Republicans block Democrats' effort to advance $2,000 stimulus checks pushed by Trump
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, CNBC, Associated Press, UPI, Raw Story, Washington Examiner, New York Magazine, Business Insider Australia, KTSM-TV, WABC, Hackwhackers and Politico
Jon Swaine / Washington Post:
Sidney Powell's secret intelligence contractor witness is a pro-Trump podcaster — As she asked the U.S. Supreme Court this month to overturn President Trump's election loss, the attorney Sidney Powell cited testimony from a secret witness presented as a former intelligence contractor …
David Martosko / Newsweek:
Sidney Powell Wants to Fight for Donald Trump—But His Aides Won't Let Her, She Says — President Donald J. Trump says he wants a lawyer to probe “election theft,” but the president's leading candidate, Sidney Powell, says she has been barred from the White House by the president's own chief of staff.
Discussion:
The Hill and The Gateway Pundit
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Matt Naham / Law & Crime:
Lawyers for Dominion Voting Systems Sent 21 Retraction or Record Preservation Demand Letters This Week — Read Them All Here — Dominion Voting Systems has sent a slew of retraction and/or record preservation demand letters as it threatens defamation litigation against numerous parties …
Jacob Shamsian / Business Insider:
EXCLUSIVE: Dominion sends letters threatening defamation lawsuits to Sean Hannity, Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, and other pro-Trump media figures
EXCLUSIVE: Dominion sends letters threatening defamation lawsuits to Sean Hannity, Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, and other pro-Trump media figures
Discussion:
CNN, CNBC, The Intellectualist, HotAir, Political Wire and LifeZette
Jim Acosta / CNN:
Dominion sends legal letters to conservative media figures warning of ‘imminent’ action
Dominion sends legal letters to conservative media figures warning of ‘imminent’ action
Discussion:
The Wrap, Washington Examiner, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Forbes
CNN:
Frustrated Trump met with Pence before holiday break — Washington (CNN)Hours before President Donald Trump retweeted a message for his vice president to “act” in stopping the ratification of the Electoral College, he met for more than an hour in the Oval Office with Mike Pence …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Raw Story, Forbes and Business Insider
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:
Mediaite and Alternet.org
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William M. Arkin / Newsweek:
Exclusive: Donald Trump's Martial-Law Talk Has Military on Red Alert
Exclusive: Donald Trump's Martial-Law Talk Has Military on Red Alert
Discussion:
National Memo, Alternet.org, The Intellectualist and Raw Story
Amber Phillips / Washington Post:
Could Trump declare martial law to try to steal the election?
Could Trump declare martial law to try to steal the election?
Discussion:
CNN, The American Independent, Raw Story and the way of improvement …
Tyler Olson / Fox News:
Jenna Ellis, Trump campaign legal adviser, pans calls for martial law
Jenna Ellis, Trump campaign legal adviser, pans calls for martial law
Discussion:
Washington Post and Alternet.org
CNN:
FBI team leader: How I know the Blackwater defendants didn't deserve a pardon from Trump — Thomas O'Connor served for 23 years as an FBI special agent before retiring in 2019. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion at CNN.
Discussion:
RedState, middleeastmonitor.com and New York Times
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Gabor Rona / Just Security:
Can a Pardon Be a War Crime?: When Pardons Themselves Violate the Laws of War
Can a Pardon Be a War Crime?: When Pardons Themselves Violate the Laws of War
Discussion:
Towleroad Gay News
Laurel Wamsley / NPR:
Shock And Dismay After Trump Pardons Blackwater Guards Who Killed 14 Iraqi Civilians
Shock And Dismay After Trump Pardons Blackwater Guards Who Killed 14 Iraqi Civilians
Discussion:
New York Times, The Intercept and Polygon
Hunter Walker / Yahoo News:
Jared Kushner played a key role in White House pardon ‘free for all’ — WASHINGTON — President Trump's son-in-law and top advisor, Jared Kushner, has played a key role in managing the avalanche of clemency requests that have come into the White House as the administration nears its end next month, according to multiple sources.
Discussion:
Gothamist and The Guardian
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Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Trump squeezes Republicans with eye on 2022 primaries — President Donald Trump has instructed his top political advisers to begin monitoring potential 2022 GOP primary targets, as he lashes out at fellow Republicans whom he deems disloyal. — With less than a month until Trump leaves office …
Discussion:
The Hill, Forbes, Washington Times, ABC News, Raw Story and The Mahablog
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Ashton Pittman / Mississippi Free Press:
Republican Mississippi Senator: Trump's Pardons ‘Smack of Cronyism and Political Favors’ — Sen. Brice Wiggins, a prominent Republican member of the Mississippi Senate from Pascagoula, broke ranks with most members of his party in the state last night as he criticized President Donald Trump's ongoing pardon spree.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Orlando Sentinel:
DeSantis spokesman Piccolo deletes his Twitter account after tweet about COVID-19 victims — Fred Piccolo, spokesman for Gov. Ron DeSantis, deactivated his Twitter account Wednesday after he tweeted in the middle of night that photos of each dead COVID-19 victim should be balanced with 99 photos of people who survive the disease.
Discussion:
Florida Politics
David Brennan / Newsweek:
Kelly Loeffler Falls Behind Raphael Warnock in Georgia Senate Runoff Poll — Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler has slipped behind Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock in the latest poll for next month's runoff election, while the race between Sen. David Perdue and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff for the second seat remains on a knife-edge.
Discussion:
WAGA-TV, Raw Story, Breitbart and The Intellectualist
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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?
Mark Niesse / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Judge dismisses GOP lawsuit to limit Georgia ballot drop box hours — A Fulton County judge dismissed a Republican Party lawsuit Thursday that tried to close absentee ballot drop boxes after normal business hours. — Superior Court Judge Kimberly Esmond Adams' ruling allows voters …
Discussion:
The Hill
Washington Post:
As Biden zeroes in on attorney general pick, some worry one contender is too moderate on criminal justice issues — As President-elect Joe Biden seeks an attorney general who can restore public faith in the Justice Department as an independent law enforcement institution while boosting internal morale …
Jacob Bogage / Washington Post:
USPS and civil rights groups reach deal to fast-track ballots in Georgia runoff elections — The Postal Service agrees to treat ballots as express mail and take other steps to expedite delivery ahead of the Jan. 5 vote, avoiding a court fight — Civil rights groups and the U.S. Postal Service struck …
Discussion:
Business Insider, CNN, The Hill and Forbes
Reuters:
Iran says U.S. approved its funds transfer to buy COVID vaccines — DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran has won U.S. approval to transfer funds for coronavirus vaccines from overseas, the central bank chief said on Thursday, as its daily death toll fell to a three-month low.
Discussion:
One America News Network
Joseph Goldstein / New York Times:
Hospital Workers Start to ‘Turn Against Each Other’ to Get Vaccine — “I am so disappointed and saddened that this happened,” a New York hospital executive wrote to his staff after workers who did not have priority cut the line for the vaccine. — At NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital …
Discussion:
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 …