Top Items:
CNN:
Trump to issue around 100 pardons and commutations Tuesday, sources say — (CNN)President Donald Trump is preparing to issue around 100 pardons and commutations on his final full day in office Tuesday, according to three people familiar with the matter, a major batch of clemency actions …
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Washington Post:
Trump prepares to offer clemency to more than 100 people in his final hours in office — President Trump is preparing to pardon or commute the sentences of more than 100 people in his final hours in office, decisions that are expected to be announced Monday or Tuesday, according …
Discussion:
The Hill, Business Insider, NBC News, The Guardian and CNN
Lolita C. Baldor / Associated Press:
FBI vetting Guard troops in DC amid fears of insider attack — WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. defense officials say they are worried about an insider attack or other threat from service members involved in securing President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, prompting the FBI to vet …
Discussion:
RedState, Conservative News Today, The Week, Townhall, Business Insider and WHTM-TV
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Ben Smith / New York Times:
Fox Agreed to Pay for Telling Lies. But It Insisted on One Unusual Condition. — Why did the network insist its hyping of a conspiracy theory stay secret until after the election? — On Oct. 12, 2020, Fox News agreed to pay millions of dollars to the family of a murdered Democratic …
Discussion:
Mediaite and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Off the rails: Inside the disintegration of Trump's relationship with Bill Barr — Beginning on election night 2020 and continuing through his final days in office, Donald Trump unraveled and dragged America with him, to the point that his followers sacked the U.S. Capitol with two weeks left in his term.
Discussion:
The Hill, emptywheel and Raw Story
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Axios:
Off the rails: Trump mainlines election conspiracies as Oval Office descends into madness — Beginning on election night 2020 and continuing through his final days in office, Donald Trump unraveled and dragged America with him, to the point that his followers sacked the U.S. Capitol with two weeks left in his term.
Discussion:
Mediaite
Kyle Cheney / Politico:
FBI investigating whether woman stole laptop from Pelosi's office to sell it to Russia — The FBI is investigating evidence that a woman who entered the Capitol on Jan. 6 stole a laptop or hard drive from Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office and intended to sell it to Russians.
Discussion:
CNN, New York Post, NPR, Business Insider and Daily News
Kyle Bakx / CBC News:
Biden indicates plans to cancel Keystone XL pipeline permit on first day in office, sources confirm — ‘Rescind Keystone XL pipeline permit’ appears on transition briefing note list of executive actions — U.S. president-elect Joe Biden has indicated plans to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline …
Discussion:
Washington Post, HuffPost, Business Insider, HotAir, Trending Politics, Wall Street Journal, Common Dreams, Reuters and Bloomberg
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CNN:
Army reservist with security-level clearance among the latest charged in connection with Capitol riot — (CNN)An Army reservist who federal investigators say has secret-level security clearance and a long record of posting his extremist views online was among the latest wave of rioters charged …
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Andrew J. Goudsward / Asbury Park Press:
Colts Neck man, ‘an avowed white supremacist,’ charged with involvement in Capitol riot, feds say
Colts Neck man, ‘an avowed white supremacist,’ charged with involvement in Capitol riot, feds say
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, New York Post and NBC New York
Associated Press:
Records: Trump allies behind rally that ignited Capitol riot — WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of President Donald Trump's failed presidential campaign played key roles in orchestrating the Washington rally that spawned a deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol, according to an Associated Press review of records …
Discussion:
Business Insider, The Daily Beast, Raw Story, Occupy Democrats, Denver Post and Eschaton
Wall Street Journal:
Proud Boys, Seizing Trump's Call to Washington, Helped Lead Capitol Attack — Far-right group invoked the president's rhetoric to build momentum toward violent showdown, a Wall Street Journal review shows — On Jan. 3, three days before the attack on the Capitol, Enrique Tarrio …
Discussion:
Rolling Stone
Washington Post:
FBI moves on alleged members of extremist groups Oath Keepers, Three Percenters — A heavy-metal guitarist and the alleged leader of a Colorado paramilitary training group have been charged with allegedly taking part in the riot at the Capitol last week, as the FBI ratchets up its investigation …
Discussion:
emptywheel and NBC News
Laura J. Nelson / Los Angeles Times:
Another new coronavirus variant found across California, including L.A. County — As the total number of coronavirus infections in California approaches 3 million, health officials said Sunday that a new strain — different from a highly contagious variant first identified in the United Kingdom …
Discussion:
New York Post and KTLA
ProPublica:
What Parler Saw During the Attack on the Capitol — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published. — As supporters of President Donald Trump took part in a violent riot at the Capitol …
Discussion:
The Verge
Karen Heller / Washington Post:
Attorney Roberta Kaplan is about to make Trump's life extremely difficult — On the other side of Donald Trump's turbulent presidency, the lawyers are waiting. — Leaving aside his Senate impeachment trial, mounting government investigations include a civil probe by New York Attorney General Letitia James …
Discussion:
Reason
Politico:
Biden taps Warren ally Chopra to lead Consumer Bureau — President-elect Joe Biden will nominate Rohit Chopra to be the next director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to four sources familiar with the decision, choosing a strong consumer advocate aligned with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
Discussion:
Axios, Wall Street Journal, Political Wire and NBC News
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CBS News:
“Cowboys for Trump” founder, who vowed to return with guns to Capitol for inauguration, arrested by FBI — Santa Fe, New Mexico — A New Mexico county official and founder of the group Cowboys for Trump, who vowed to return to Washington after last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol to place …
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Eric Boodman / STAT:
Sharon Begley, path-breaking science journalist who spun words into gold, dies at 64 — Trying to write a lede about the loss of Sharon Begley feels a little like being asked to sing a song at Aretha Franklin's grave. Sharon would have hated that sentence. She didn't settle for similes that needed qualifying.
Elle:
Four Years in the Front Row — The country's best female political reporters go on the record about what it was really like covering Trump's America. — Savannah Guthrie was in downward dog when it hit her: QAnon. The — anchor was 48 hours away from her famous election townhall-turned-grilling …
New York Times:
One Year, 400,000 Coronavirus Deaths: How the U.S. Guaranteed Its Own Failure — After the White House declined to pursue a unified national strategy, governors faced off against lobbyists, health experts and a restless public consumed by misinformation. — The path to beating the coronavirus …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
Wall Street Journal:
Covid-19 Vaccines Are Getting Stuck at the Last Step — Local governments, hospitals and clinics have the doses, but not the resources to organize getting them to the right people — In South Texas, a man slept in his car for two nights straight so he wouldn't lose his place in a line …
New York Times:
N.S.A. Installs Trump Loyalist as Top Lawyer Days Before Biden Takes Office — The acting defense secretary ordered the spy agency to appoint Michael Ellis, who has been accused of having a hand in one of the Trump administration's most contentious legal decisions.
Discussion:
Politico, Balloon Juice, Washington Examiner, CNN, Washington Post, New York Times and The Week
Conrad Black / National Post:
Trump's incomparable presidency … Many readers have asked that I comment on the American political scene and President Trump, most noisily veteran Toronto Star plagiarist Bob Hepburn, who for 40 years has been intermittently snorting out of the undergrowth foaming biliously about some alleged turpitude of mine.
Trip Gabriel / New York Times:
In Minnesota, a G.O.P. Lawmaker's Death Brings Home the Reality of Covid — Minnesota Republicans celebrated election victories with a gala party. A state senator's death from Covid-19 underlined the consequences of the G.O.P.'s rejection of health experts' guidance.
McKay Coppins / The Atlantic:
Republicans Will Try to Pretend Like Trump Never Happened — A collective case of amnesia will begin to set in the moment the president leaves office. — As Donald Trump lurches through the disastrous final days of his presidency, Republicans are just beginning to survey the wreckage of his reign.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Todd A. Heywood / Michigan Advance:
New: Michigan GOP Senate leader advised militias on messaging, says they've gotten ‘a bad rap’ — Just a month before 13 men were charged by state and federal law enforcement for a far-right plot to allegedly kidnap and execute Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey …