memeorandum: What watchdogs? Trump leaves office with key IG jobs vacant across govt (Kevin Johnson/USA Today)

9:35 AM ET, December 25, 2020

Top Items:

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 …

Discussion: The Daily Beast and 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: The Hill and The Gateway Pundit

Matt Naham / Law & Crime:
Lawyers for Dominion Voting Systems Sent 21 Retraction or Record Preservation Demand Letters This Week — Read Them All Here

Discussion: Forbes and Raw Story

Jim Acosta / CNN:
Dominion sends legal letters to conservative media figures warning of ‘imminent’ action

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Wrap and Talking Points Memo, more at Mediagazer »

Jacob Shamsian / Business Insider:
EXCLUSIVE: Dominion sends letters threatening defamation lawsuits to Sean Hannity, Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, and other pro-Trump media figures

Discussion: CNBC, CNN, The Intellectualist, Political Wire, HotAir and LifeZette

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: Media Matters for America and Political Wire

Bill Allison / Bloomberg:
Democrat Ossoff's Fundraising Tops $106 Million In Georgia Senate Race

Discussion: Axios, CNN, The Hill, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post

David Brennan / Newsweek:
Kelly Loeffler Falls Behind Raphael Warnock in Georgia Senate Runoff Poll

Discussion: WAGA-TV, Breitbart, The Intellectualist and Raw Story

Washington Post:

Trump wields pardon power as political weapon, rewarding loyalists and undermining prosecutors — WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Among the dozens of people who received pardons from President Trump this week were several who lied to investigators and obstructed a federal probe into the president's links to Russia.

Discussion: Politico, Raw Story, Alternet.org, New York Times and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Hunter Walker / Yahoo News:
Jared Kushner played a key role in White House pardon ‘free for all’

Discussion: Gothamist and The Guardian

Adam Klasfeld / Law & Crime:
Here Are the Questionable Trump Pardons That You Did Not Hear About Last Night

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

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: Salon, Washington Examiner, Raw Story and Forbes

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

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Trump squeezes Republicans with eye on 2022 primaries

Discussion: American Prospect, Raw Story, The Hill, Washington Times, Forbes, ABC News, Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Mahablog

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: Raw Story, The Hill, CNN, IJR and Political Wire

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

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.

NBC10 Philadelphia:
House GOP Blocks Dems Attempt to Pass $2,000 Stimulus Checks

Discussion: Reuters, Associated Press and CNN

Billy House / Bloomberg:
Pelosi Sets New Vote as GOP Foils Move on Trump's $2,000 Checks

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo, Conservative News Today, WPHM, Fox News, USA Today, Business Insider, CNN, The Gateway Pundit, The Intellectualist, The Daily Caller, Raw Story and Axios

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

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, Alternet.org, middleeastmonitor.com, RedState, NPR and UPI

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: Raw Story and The Hill

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.

more at Mediagazer »

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

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

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 …

Amber Phillips / Washington Post:

Could Trump declare martial law to try to steal the election? — That and other efforts his allies are floating won't work, say legal and national security experts. Here's why. — He's thought about it. He's hosted political and legal outcasts at the White House to talk about it.

Discussion: CNN, The American Independent, The Guardian and Raw Story