Top Items:
Richard L. Hasen / Slate:
Donald Trump Should Be Prosecuted for His Shakedown of Georgia's Brad Raffensperger — President Donald Trump likely broke both federal and state law in a Saturday phone call during which he encouraged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn the state's election results.
Discussion:
Arizona Republic, Fox News, CNN, Politico, The Hill, Raw Story, NPR, The Nation, The Atlantic, UPI, Washington Times, POLITICUSUSA, DNyuz, The American Independent, Reason, Eschaton, Daily Kos, Mediaite, The Week, Just Security, The Dispatch, Bloomberg and Business Insider
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Marc Caputo / Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: The backstory of Trump's Georgia call — DRIVING THE DAY — Good morning from Atlanta, Gateway to the South and the pulsing center of Tuesday's two U.S. Senate runoffs that will determine partisan control of the upper chamber and the success of Joe Biden's first term as president.
David Frum / The Atlantic:
Trump Crosses a Bright-Red Line — In a bombshell conversation with Georgia's secretary of state yesterday, President Donald Trump made monkeys of every Republican official and every conservative talking head who professed to believe Trump's allegations of voter fraud.
Nick Niedzwiadek / Politico:
‘Disgusting’: Perdue hammers Georgia secretary of state for recording Trump call — Sen. David Perdue tore into Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Monday for recording a phone call with President Donald Trump over the weekend, calling it “disgusting” to do so.
Discussion:
The Hill, Raw Story, Breitbart and CBS San Francisco
Newsmax:
Trump Ga. Transcript Shows Case for Vote Fraud, President Acted Properly — The Washington Post on Sunday released audio of a Saturday phone call between President Donald Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which the two can be heard discussing election results.
Discussion:
Liberty Unyielding, The Week and IJR
Eric Lipton / New York Times:
Trump Call to Georgia Official Might Violate State and Federal Law — The president's demand for action to overturn the result of the election in the state raised questions about whether he violated election fraud statutes, lawyers said, though a charge is unlikely.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Axios, CNN, Daily Maverick, IJR, The Intellectualist, The Guardian, Daily Kos, The Wrap, Business Insider, HotAir, National Review, New York Magazine, The Week, Common Dreams, Raw Story, Washington Monthly, Foreign Policy, Law & Crime, HuffPost, The Daily Beast, The Hill, The Sun, DNyuz, Informed Comment, NBC News, Chicago Sun-Times, The Gateway Pundit, No More Mister Nice Blog, Al Jazeera, The Daily Caller and The Atlanta Voice
Quint Forgey / Politico:
Raffensperger: Trump could face investigation over election call — Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Monday that it was unlikely his office would open an investigation into his weekend phone call with President Donald Trump, but suggested a criminal probe could still be launched by an Atlanta-area district attorney.
Rebecca Shabad / NBC News:
Georgia's Raffensperger says he ‘never believed’ it appropriate to speak with Trump about election
Georgia's Raffensperger says he ‘never believed’ it appropriate to speak with Trump about election
Discussion:
Axios, Mock Paper Scissors, POLITICUSUSA, Salon, The Intellectualist, Business Insider and Towleroad Gay News
Chandelis Duster / CNN:
Georgia GOP lieutenant governor says Trump call with secretary of state ‘inappropriate’
Georgia GOP lieutenant governor says Trump call with secretary of state ‘inappropriate’
Washington Post:
Audio: Trump's full Jan. 2 call with Ga. secretary of state
Audio: Trump's full Jan. 2 call with Ga. secretary of state
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Wrap, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, We Love Trump, Towleroad Gay News, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, New York Times, DNyuz, Breitbart, CNBC, The Hill, IJR and POLITICUSUSA
NBC News:
Democrats ask FBI Director Wray to open criminal probe into Trump after leaked phone call
Democrats ask FBI Director Wray to open criminal probe into Trump after leaked phone call
Discussion:
Washington Times, TheGrio and NBC New York
Washington Post:
Here's the full transcript and audio of the call between Trump and Raffensperger
Here's the full transcript and audio of the call between Trump and Raffensperger
Discussion:
Business Insider, American Greatness, The National Pulse, New York Times, The Atlantic, The Daily Caller, Power Line, CNN, Regular Order, Towleroad Gay News, Balloon Juice, HuffPost, DNyuz, Daily Kos, Townhall, Wall Street Journal, Election Law Blog, One America News Network, Mediaite, The Week, The Clayton Crescent, HotAir, Reuters, We Love Trump, Spectator USA, CBS News, NBC News, The Hill, TheGrio, UPI, The Moderate Voice, Variety, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Deadline, Zandar Versus The Stupid, The Daily Beast, Althouse, Florida Politics, USA Today, Talking Points Memo, Slate, KDFX-TV, Washington Examiner, Mother Jones, littlegreenfootballs.com, Axios, The Intellectualist, FOX 5 San Diego, emptywheel, WREG-TV, Law & Crime, TalkLeft, Crooks and Liars, Breitbart, The Mahablog and Patterico's Pontifications
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
The Senate's coup-staging ‘Dirty Dozen’ shouldn't be allowed to hold office
The Senate's coup-staging ‘Dirty Dozen’ shouldn't be allowed to hold office
Discussion:
CNN, New York Times and DCReport.org
Patricia Murphy / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Gov. Brian Kemp absent from GOP campaign trail in closing days
Gov. Brian Kemp absent from GOP campaign trail in closing days
Discussion:
The American Independent, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Politico, The Daily Beast and Mercury News
Quinn Scanlan / ABC News:
Trump ‘just plain wrong’ on fraud claims: Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger
Trump ‘just plain wrong’ on fraud claims: Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Hill, Washington Times, Raw Story and IJR
Ken Meyer / Mediaite:
Brad Raffensperger Opens Up About Pressure From Trump in Leaked Call: I ‘Never Believed it Was Appropriate’ to Talk to Him, But He ‘Pushed’
Brad Raffensperger Opens Up About Pressure From Trump in Leaked Call: I ‘Never Believed it Was Appropriate’ to Talk to Him, But He ‘Pushed’
Discussion:
Washington Post, Disrn and Law & Crime
Michael Tomasky / The Daily Beast:
The GOP Can't Stop Biden but They'll Murder Democracy Trying
The GOP Can't Stop Biden but They'll Murder Democracy Trying
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post and HuffPost
Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas:
Cotton Statement on Joint Session of Congress — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Contact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 734-0430 — Washington, D.C. — Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement on the joint session of Congress later this week:
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Mike Allen / Axios:
The GOP battle lines drawn by Trump and McConnell will shape the next four years
The GOP battle lines drawn by Trump and McConnell will shape the next four years
Gerald F. Seib / Wall Street Journal:
In Trump's Final Days, Lines Are Drawn for a Republican Civil War
In Trump's Final Days, Lines Are Drawn for a Republican Civil War
Discussion:
Politico, Fox News, Boston Herald, Roll Call and The Guardian
Russell Berman / The Atlantic:
Mitch McConnell's Slipping Grip on the Republican Party
Mitch McConnell's Slipping Grip on the Republican Party
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Common Dreams, Florida Politics, ABC News and Crooks and Liars
Raphael Warnock / Wall Street Journal:
The Election Rejectionists — The GOP stunt over the Electoral College will hurt the country and the party.
The Election Rejectionists — The GOP stunt over the Electoral College will hurt the country and the party.
Maria Hardiman / Voter Protection Program:
Guide to January 6th Joint Session of Congress Released by Voter Protection Program
Talia Kaplan / Fox News:
Reps. Brooks and Jordan on GOP group challenging Electoral College results
Reps. Brooks and Jordan on GOP group challenging Electoral College results
Discussion:
Washington Post and HotAir
Tom Nichols / The Atlantic:
Worse Than Treason — “We are what we pretend to be,” Kurt Vonnegut wrote in the opening of his 1962 novel, Mother Night, “and so we must be careful what we pretend to be.” Republicans in Congress are pretending to be seditionists—and so they have become, in fact, seditionists.
Discussion:
Washington Post
Jessica Yun / Yahoo Finance:
Chinese billionaire Jack Ma suspected missing — Speculation has swirled around Chinese billionaire Jack Ma's whereabouts after reports surfaced that the high-profile businessman has not made a public appearance in more than two months. — The Alibaba founder also failed to appear …
Discussion:
Orange County Register, We Love Trump, New York Post and Reuters
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Jamie Ross / The Daily Beast:
Plane Sightings Fuel Rumors Trump Planning Escape to Scotland on Day Before Biden Inauguration — GOLF WAR — Something strange is happening on the west coast of Scotland. According to a report from the Sunday Post, a lot of unusual U.S. military activity has been recorded at one airport …
Discussion:
Raw Story
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Kate Conger / New York Times:
Hundreds of Google Employees Unionize, Culminating Years of Activism — The creation of the union, a rarity in Silicon Valley, follows years of increasing outspokenness by Google workers. Executives have struggled to handle the change. — OAKLAND, Calif. — More than 225 Google engineers …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Washington Post, The Hill, VICE, Breitbart, KTLA, DNyuz, The Verge, The Week and The Daily Caller, more at Techmeme »
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Washington Post:
All 10 living former defense secretaries: Involving the military in election disputes would cross into dangerous territory — Ashton Carter, Dick Cheney, William Cohen, Mark Esper, Robert Gates, Chuck Hagel, James Mattis, Leon Panetta, William Perry and Donald Rumsfeld are the 10 living former U.S. secretaries of defense.
Marco Rubio / Fox News:
Georgia Senate runoffs — The fate of our nation is in Georgia's hands — If Georgians believe in our democracy and our nation's institutions, they will reject Warnock and Ossoff — Sen. Perdue says he and Sen. Loeffler are ‘last line of defense’ against socialist agenda
Discussion:
Florida Politics
Hans Nichols / Axios:
Rhode Island governor emerges as leading candidate for Commerce Department — Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo has emerged as a leading candidate to be President-elect Joe Biden's commerce secretary, according to people familiar with the matter. — Why it matters: Raimondo …
The New York Times Company:
Metro's New Chief Political Correspondent — Katie Glueck, a talented and hard-driving political reporter with a knack for landing scoops, is joining Metro. Read more in this note from Clifford Levy and Dean Chang. — A populace still reeling from the pandemic. A damaged economy, with worsening inequality.
Stuart Stevens / The Bulwark:
The Bravery of William Winter — Stuart Stevens remembers the Mississippi governor who changed his life. — I was only 14 but it was a scene I will never forget. In many ways, it changed my life. — It was 1967 on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and William Winter was running for the Democratic nomination for governor.
Jonathan Rauch / Persuasion:
The Made-Up Conspiracy — A Republican bid to deny Biden's victory is another worrying Trumpist disinformation ploy — When Republican senators attempt to block congressional confirmation of Joe Biden's presidential victory this week, they will not succeed in reversing the outcome of the election.
Discussion:
New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Business Insider, The Hill, Al Jazeera, HotAir, POLITICUSUSA and Election Law Blog