Top Items:
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Scoop: Gina Haspel threatened to resign over plan to install Kash Patel as CIA deputy — CIA Director Gina Haspel threatened to resign in early December after President Trump cooked up a hasty plan to install loyalist Kash Patel, a former aide to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), as her deputy …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, CNN and Mediaite
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Philip Bump / Washington Post:
A pillow salesman apparently has some ideas about declaring martial law — The galaxy of individuals who have orbited President Trump over the past five years is not lacking for unusual characters. Few, though, have had quite the same trajectory as businessman Michael Lindell.
Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Photos capture notes from Trump ally leaving the White House on Friday. — President Trump, isolated and watching the clock count down on his time in the White House, spent a few minutes of it on Friday with the C.E.O. of MyPillow, Mike Lindell, who brought some notes with him.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Ben Jacobs / New York Magazine:
Even the Guy MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell Wants for a Coup Is Confused
Even the Guy MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell Wants for a Coup Is Confused
Discussion:
Business Insider, Mock Paper Scissors and The Guardian
Washington Post:
Vaccine reserve was already exhausted when Trump administration vowed to release it, dashing hopes of expanded access — States were anticipating a windfall after federal officials said they would stop holding back second doses. But the approach had already changed, and no stockpile exists.
Discussion:
CNN, The Stranger, Gizmodo, KVIA-TV, CalMatters, NBC 6 South Florida, Oklahoma Watch, The Daily Caller, Vanity Fair, Bring Me The News, Common Dreams, Missouri Independent, TheGrio, Washington Examiner, The Colorado Sun, WV MetroNews, Daily Camera, Bangor Daily News, Los Angeles Times, Virginia Mercury, KOIN-TV, Gothamist, Mediaite, NBC News, Forbes, WCCO | CBS Minnesota, Rolling Stone, VTDigger, Business Insider, The Hill, HotAir, The Week, CBS News, Balloon Juice and Denver Post
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Wall Street Journal:
Covid-19 Vaccine Leaders Waited Months to Approve Distribution Plans — Holdup left states with little time to develop mass-vaccination plan; U.S. says it needed time for interagency clearance — Operation Warp Speed leaders waited more than two months to approve a plan to distribute …
Discussion:
HuffPost, Bloomberg, New York Magazine, Washington Post, HotAir, The Aspen beat and New York Times
Dartunorro Clark / NBC News:
Alex Azar resigns as Health and Human Services Secretary, citing Capitol mob
Alex Azar resigns as Health and Human Services Secretary, citing Capitol mob
Discussion:
The Hill
Merrit Kennedy / NPR:
Biden Administration Will Rename ‘Operation Warp Speed,’ Citing Trump ‘Failures’
Biden Administration Will Rename ‘Operation Warp Speed,’ Citing Trump ‘Failures’
Discussion:
Bloomberg, The Daily Caller and FiercePharma
New York Times:
Atlanta Prosecutor Appears to Move Closer to Trump Inquiry — The Fulton County district attorney is weighing an inquiry into possible election interference and is said to be considering hiring an outside counsel. — ATLANTA — Prosecutors in Georgia appear increasingly likely to open …
Thomas Lifson / American Thinker:
Statement — We received a lengthy letter from Dominion's defamation lawyers explaining why they believe that their client has been the victim of defamatory statements. Having considered the full import of the letter, we have agreed to their request that we publish the following statement:
Discussion:
Law & Crime, Mediaite, Big League Politics, The Hill, National Review, SOOPERMEXICAN, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Snopes.com and Lucianne
Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Capitol Police intelligence report warned three days before attack that ‘Congress itself’ could be targeted — Three days before thousands of rioters converged on the U.S. Capitol, an internal Capitol Police intelligence report warned of a violent scenario in which “Congress itself” …
Discussion:
New York Times, The Hill, KVIA-TV, Jacobin, Vanity Fair, The Root, Raw Story and NPR
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Washington Post:
How the rioters who stormed the Capitol came dangerously close to Pence — The violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 came perilously close to Vice President Pence, who was not evacuated from the Senate chamber for about 14 minutes after the Capitol Police reported …
Discussion:
CNN, Forbes, Associated Press, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Daily Caller, Sputnik News, Business Insider, NewsHounds blog, TheBlaze, Axios, Mock Paper Scissors, The Hill, The Guardian, Raw Story, CNBC and Mediaite
Politico:
Trump weighing a pardon for Steve Bannon — President Donald Trump is considering granting a pardon to Steve Bannon, his former White House chief strategist and top campaign aide, who was charged with swindling donors to a private crowdsourcing effort to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border …
Discussion:
TheBlaze and The Gateway Pundit
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ABC News:
Longtime Trump advisers connected to groups behind rally that led to Capitol attack
Longtime Trump advisers connected to groups behind rally that led to Capitol attack
Discussion:
VICE, Daily Kos, Forbes, Crooks and Liars, Mock Paper Scissors, Bloomberg, WayneDupree.com, Sputnik News and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »
Courtney Linder / Popular Mechanics:
Why Joe Biden Can't Bring His Peloton to the White House
Why Joe Biden Can't Bring His Peloton to the White House
Discussion:
Politico
Thomas Barrabi / Fox News:
Biden press secretary won't say if White House visitor logs will be published
Biden press secretary won't say if White House visitor logs will be published
Discussion:
Politico
Lachlan Markay / Axios:
John Weaver, former McCain aide, acknowledges “inappropriate” messages — John Weaver, a veteran Republican operative who co-founded the Lincoln Project, declared in a statement to Axios on Friday that he sent “inappropriate,” sexually charged messages to multiple men.
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon, The Hill, Washington Times, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and RedState
Susan M. Gordon / Washington Post:
A former president Trump won't ‘need to know.’ Cut off his intelligence. — Susan M. Gordon was the principal deputy director of national intelligence from 2017 to 2019. — Every former president in the modern era has benefited from a unique national security perk after leaving the White House …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner
Pew Research Center:
Biden Begins Presidency With Positive Ratings; Trump Departs With Lowest-Ever Job Mark — 68% of public does not want Trump to remain a major political figure in the future — Pew Research Center conducted this study to examine the public's reactions to the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election …
Discussion:
Al Jazeera, The Hill, WAFF-TV, USA Today, Washington Post, FiveThirtyEight, Breitbart, Daily Kos, The Lid, The Moderate Voice, wabe.org, TheGrio, Washington Examiner, Business Insider, Vox, Los Angeles Times, Mother Jones, The Daily Caller, The Wrap, The Week, ABC News, Mediaite, Townhall, HotAir and Forbes
New York Times:
Pence, occupying a leadership void, calls Harris to offer assistance — as Trump plans his Inauguration Day getaway. — Vice President Mike Pence telephoned Vice President-elect Kamala Harris Thursday to congratulate her and offer his belated assistance — filling a leadership role …
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Wall Street Journal:
Kudlow Criticizes Trump for Handling of Riot, Treatment of Pence — President's top economic adviser faulted his boss for recent actions, praised administration policy legacy on taxes and trade — WASHINGTON—President Trump's top economic adviser criticized his boss's handling of the riot …
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Alex Barker / Financial Times:
James Murdoch blasts US media for unleashing ‘insidious forces’ — Comments from Rupert's son are his strongest rebuke of industry practices since leaving the family business — James Murdoch has castigated the US media for the “toxic politics” threatening American democracy …
Discussion:
The Hill, more at Mediagazer »
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E. Jean Carroll / Vanity Fair:
“After Me, Baby, You're Gonna Be Ruined for Anyone Else”: Donald Trump Refused to Take ‘No’ From Women—And Then From America Itself — Donald Trump is leaving office with a reputation marred by two impeachments, multiple scandals, and a violent assault on the U.S. Capitol.
Discussion:
Political Flare and The National Interest
CNBC:
Biden to deploy FEMA, National Guard to set up Covid vaccine clinics across the U.S. — President-elect Joe Biden plans to use FEMA and the National Guard to build coronavirus vaccine clinics across the United States, according to new details of his Covid-19 vaccination plan released by his transition team on Friday.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, The Week, Business Insider, Vox, STAT, Trending Politics and CNN
Oren Liebermann / CNN:
Trump's Pentagon chief says he ‘cannot wait to leave’ his job — (CNN)Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, who will leave office in less than a week. stated that he 'cannot wait to leave this job," according to a transcript released by the Department of Defense.
Discussion:
HotAir
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Kara Scannell / CNN:
Manhattan DA expands criminal investigation into Trump Organization finances to include family compound in Westchester County — (CNN)The Manhattan district attorney's office has expanded its criminal investigation into the Trump Organization's finances to include the family's compound in Westchester County …
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA
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Corinne Ramey / Wall Street Journal:
Manhattan Prosecutors Seek Records About Trump's Seven Springs Estate
Manhattan Prosecutors Seek Records About Trump's Seven Springs Estate
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Washington Post, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, CNBC and Raw Story
Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:
‘Destroy Trump’: Breitbart Staffers Seethe After Capitol Riot — “This is banana republic shit,” wrote one editor at the staunchly pro-Trump outlet, in response to colleagues downplaying or excusing the violence during last week's MAGA mob. … Editors and reporters at the staunchly pro …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast
Gizmodo:
Leaked Parler Data Points to Users at Police Stations, U.S. Military Bases — Location data gleaned from thousands of videos posted on the social network Parler and extracted in the days before Amazon restricted access to app this week, reveal its users included police officers around the U.S …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:
Pelosi Holds Back Impeachment Article as House Builds Case — The speaker called the impeachment of President Trump “urgent,” but did not send the charge to the Senate to prompt the start of a trial, nor commit to when she would do so. — WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Friday …
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Axios:
NRA declares bankruptcy, says it will reincorporate in Texas — The National Rifle Association said Friday it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will seek to reincorporate in Texas, calling New York, where it is currently registered, a “toxic political environment.”
Discussion:
CNBC, National Review, TheGrio, Breitbart, Washington Post, Townhall, Al Jazeera, KTLA and The Wrap
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Michelangelo Signorile / The Signorile Report:
The GOP's complete collapse — As Donald Trump crashes and burns, so does the Republican Party … Back in late November I wrote a column headlined, “Don't believe the media hype: Trump's left the GOP in shambles.” The premise was that much of the media, addicted to Donald Trump …
Discussion:
Verfassungsblog, DemCast and Minnesota Reformer
Brian Flood / Fox News:
Fellow Army veteran Parnell defends Rep. Mast after ‘gross’ smear by CNN's Tapper: ‘Below the belt’ — ‘What Jake Tapper did is further entrench the trauma...that veterans feel when they come home from war,’ Parnell said — Rep. Brian Mast responds to smear from CNN anchor Jake Tapper
Discussion:
Conservative News Today, Sara A. Carter and The Wrap
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
A hidden reason that Joe Biden is trying to go big — The sheer scale of the economic rescue package that Joe Biden has unveiled has surprised a lot of observers who were expecting the president-elect to offer something more in line with his centrist, incrementalist past.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, Right Wing Watch, Fox News and The Root
Ben Collins / NBC News:
Online far-right movements fracture in wake of Capitol riot — Online far-right movements are splintering in the wake of last week's Capitol riot, as some radical anti-government movements show signs of disillusionment with the relatively hands-off approach of some QAnon conspiracy theorists amid warnings of future violence.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Trump's GOP has an ugly authoritarian core. A new poll exposes it. — In the wake of President Trump's incitement of a violent insurrectionist assault on our seat of government, a new Post-ABC News poll offers perhaps the most detailed look yet at public attitudes about the attack …
Discussion:
Trending Politics and HotAir
Mary Louise Kelly / NPR:
Outgoing CDC Director Warns Of Pandemic's Peak: 'We're About To Be In The Worst Of It' — Toggle more options — Next week marks one year since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first coronavirus case in the United States. — Dr. Robert Redfield …
Discussion:
Axios, Forbes, CBS News, Alabama Political Reporter, Bloomberg and Angry Bear
Stephen Collinson / CNN:
The world will take away a tragic truth from Biden's inauguration — This was excerpted from the January 15 edition of CNN's Meanwhile in America, the daily email about US politics for global readers. Click here to read past editions and subscribe. — (CNN)There'll be no arguments …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, Rolling Stone and Vox
Jason Proctor / CBC News:
B.C. billionaire given the green light to sue Twitter over ‘Pizzagate’ tweets — Judge says Frank Giustra's connections to province and Twitter's reach give B.C. court jurisdiction — West Vancouver billionaire Frank Giustra has been given the go-ahead to sue Twitter in a B.C. courtroom …