Top Items:
The Tennessean:
Massive downtown Nashville explosion an ‘intentional act’, police say — Yihyun Jeong Brinley HinemanNashville Tennessean — Nashville authorities believe an explosion that occurred in downtown Nashville early Christmas morning was an “intentional act” and sparked by a vehicle.
Discussion:
New York Post, Twitchy, Mediaite, CBS News, RedState, The Guardian, The Gateway Pundit, Lucianne and Mock Paper Scissors
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Spencer Ackerman / The Daily Beast:
Vehicle in Downtown Nashville Blared a Warning—Then Exploded — The FBI and ATF are investigating the incident, which sent three people to the hospital. — An RV broadcasted a warning to passersby in downtown Nashville of an imminent explosion. Then the vehicle detonated early Christmas morning.
Discussion:
CBS News, Associated Press, WKRN-TV, The Election Wizard and Alternet.org
New York Times:
Nashville Explosion Appears Intentional, Authorities Say — An explosion linked to a vehicle sent debris and shattered glass into the city streets, and has injured three people. — An explosion rocked downtown Nashville on Christmas morning, sending smoke rising high above the city, blowing out store windows and forcing evacuations.
Discussion:
CBS News, Associated Press, Tennessee Lookout, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Election Wizard and We Love Trump
Adam Tamburin / The Tennessean:
Exclusive: Nashville explosion witness remembers chilling warning from the RV: ‘A bomb is in this vehicle’ — A woman's voice warned downtown residents to evacuate before the Christmas morning explosion that rocked Nashville, according to witness who described hearing the chilling message before fleeing with her family.
Tyler Durden / ZeroHedge News:
CCTV Footage Appears To Capture Ominous ‘Evacuation’ Warning Before Nashville Explosion — Update (1250 ET): Unconfirmed video appears to have captured the moments before and after the Christmas morning explosion in Downtown Nashville. — Right before the explosion, a woman can be heard on a loudspeaker …
WKRN-TV:
Large ‘intentional’ explosion damages downtown Nashville Christmas morning — NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A large explosion was reported in downtown Nashville early Christmas morning. — The explosion happened in the area of Second Avenue and Broadway near Commerce Street occurred around 6:30 am Friday.
Discussion:
CNN, Associated Press, The Hill, The Sun, WHNT-TV, The Tennessean, The Daily Caller, Reason and UPI
Andrew Kaczynski / Medium:
Andrew Kaczynski — Francesca Kaczynski, also known as Bean, Beanie or Beans, died December 24th of complications from cancer. She was nine months old. — In her short life, Francesca was an outgoing, bold and curious baby. She had huge, deep brown eyes that followed whatever her parents were doing.
Michael Balsamo / Associated Press:
Judge delays execution of only woman on US death row — WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge said the Justice Department unlawfully rescheduled the execution of the only woman on federal death row, potentially setting up the Trump administration to schedule the execution after president-elect Joe Biden takes office.
Discussion:
The Hill and Washington Examiner
Gabriel T. Rubin / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Lawyers Get Little Backup From Their Firms or Universities — Chapman University becomes the latest organization to formally distance itself from the president's legal efforts to challenge the election results — LAWYERS HELPING TRUMP with his quixotic election challenges …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Nicole Sperling / New York Times:
An Oscar Winner Made a Khashoggi Documentary. Streaming Services Didn't Want It. — Bryan Fogel's examination of the killing of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi had trouble finding a home among the companies that can be premier platforms for documentary films.
New York Times:
Behind Trump Clemency, a Case Study in Special Access — Philip Esformes was sentenced last year to 20 years for Medicare fraud. Then a well-connected organization supported by his family weighed in with the White House. — Philip Esformes acquired a $1.6 million Ferrari and a $360,000 Swiss watch …
Discussion:
The Intellectualist
Joe Walsh / Forbes:
Judge Tosses Out Rep. Nunes' Lawsuit Against Washington Post — A federal judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit against the Washington Post from Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) on Thursday, the latest development in a string of legal battles waged by Nunes against mainstream media outlets …
Discussion:
Law & Crime
Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Merry Christmas! — DRIVING THE DAY — MERRY CHRISTMAS! — THE PRESIDENT is complaining to people he speaks to that the coronavirus/government funding package has too much “pork,” as he says, and the direct payments are too low. The bill has been flown to Florida from Washington for his signature.
Discussion:
Fox News, The Sun, New York Post, Fox Business, We Love Trump and Alabama Political Reporter
Politico:
Democrats shatter fundraising records ahead of Georgia Senate runoffs — Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock shattered fundraising records by hauling in more than $100 million each in the past two months, significantly outraising GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in the final stretch …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, The Daily Caller, Media Matters for America, The Hill and Political Wire
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Bill Allison / Bloomberg:
Democrat Ossoff's Fundraising Tops $106 Million In Georgia Senate Race
Democrat Ossoff's Fundraising Tops $106 Million In Georgia Senate Race
Discussion:
Associated Press, CNN, Georgia Recorder, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Axios and Washington Times
Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
China's atrocities in Tibet are growing too big to ignore — The world is finally responding to the Chinese government's mass atrocities against Uighurs and other ethnic minorities in China's northwest province of Xinjiang. But now Beijing is replicating some of its worst practices …
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:
New York Times, Forbes, Alternet.org, RedState and middleeastmonitor.com
Kevin Johnson / USA Today:
What watchdogs? Trump leaves office with key IG jobs vacant across govt — As President-elect Joe Biden continues to weigh critical Cabinet appointments, the new administration will be confronting widespread vacancies in watchdog offices across the government.
Discussion:
Raw Story
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:
RedState, We Love Trump, The Gateway Pundit, The Hill and Raw Story