Top Items:
Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Meandering Performance by Defense Lawyers Enrages Trump — The former president was particularly angry at Bruce L. Castor Jr., one of his lawyers, for acknowledging the effectiveness of the House Democrats' presentation. — On the first day of his second impeachment trial …
Discussion:
HuffPost, Insider, Slate, Associated Press, CNN, Althouse, Raw Story, The Week, Washington Examiner, ABC News, Washington Times, New York Magazine and NPR
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Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg:
McConnell Signals to GOP Trump Conviction Is a Conscience Vote — Minority leader suggests he hasn't decided on Trump guilt — Kentucky Republican voted to declare trial unconstitutional — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is signaling to fellow Republicans that the final vote …
Discussion:
National Review, Florida Politics, The Week, The Guardian, Raw Story, Mediaite, Proof and Political Wire
Politico:
Trump was quite displeased with his impeachment defense team — For former President Donald Trump, the opening day of his second impeachment trial did not go as planned or to his liking. — Cocooned at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump watched as his defense attorneys responded …
Discussion:
Washington Post, CBS News, The Week, The Dispatch, Newsweek, Vox, American Prospect, Snopes.com, Lawyers, Guns & Money, New Republic, The Guardian, Washington Examiner, Crooks and Liars, The Daily Caller, HotAir, The Moderate Voice, POLITICUSUSA, The Hill, The Intellectualist, Political Wire, NPR and YouGov
The Philadelphia Inquirer:
More Philly lawyers are on Trump's impeachment defense team and one sued the president last year — As Donald Trump's Senate impeachment trial began Tuesday in Washington, his lawyer, former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor, had two other big-name Philadelphia attorneys backing him up.
Discussion:
Raw Story and The American Independent
Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Trump is furious, and McConnell might vote to convict — DRIVING THE DAY — ANOTHER ANTI-TRUMP LEAK FROM MCCONNELL WORLD — “McConnell Signals to GOP Trump Impeachment Is a Conscience Vote,” Bloomberg: “Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is signaling to fellow Republicans …
Discussion:
CBS News, CNN, NPR, The Hill, Real Clear Politics, Raw Story, NBC 6 South Florida, Florida Politics and Political Wire
David Frum / The Atlantic:
Trump's Lawyers Lost the Day
Trump's Lawyers Lost the Day
Discussion:
Michael-In-Norfolk, Raw Story, The American Spectator and Los Angeles Times
Axios:
House managers look to shift public opinion during Trump impeachment trial
House managers look to shift public opinion during Trump impeachment trial
Discussion:
Politico, CNN, The Philadelphia Inquirer, HuffPost, Louisiana Illuminator, The Week and Washington Post
Sam Brodey / The Daily Beast:
First Day of Impeachment Stuns, Baffles and Shocks—but GOP Is Unmoved
First Day of Impeachment Stuns, Baffles and Shocks—but GOP Is Unmoved
Discussion:
Insider, HotAir, HuffPost, The Hill, Fox News, Chicago Sun-Times and New York Times
Nina Totenberg / NPR:
‘I Said The Opposite’: Criticism Of Trump's Impeachment Defense Intensifies
‘I Said The Opposite’: Criticism Of Trump's Impeachment Defense Intensifies
Discussion:
Reason, Bloomberg, DCReport.org, Slate, The American Independent, Raw Story, Denver Post, The Dickinson Press, NBC News, TalkLeft, Mediaite, Political Wire and Washington Post
Amy Gardner / Washington Post:
One of Trump's impeachment lawyers sued him last year — and accused him of making claims about fraud with ‘no evidence’
One of Trump's impeachment lawyers sued him last year — and accused him of making claims about fraud with ‘no evidence’
Discussion:
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Politico, The Week, Insider, Law & Crime and The Colorado Sun
The Hill:
GOP senators ‘perplexed’ by ‘unfocused’ and ‘weaker’ Trump legal defense
GOP senators ‘perplexed’ by ‘unfocused’ and ‘weaker’ Trump legal defense
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Media Matters for America, IJR, Politico, USA Today, Washington Post and NBC News
Steve Neavling / News & Views, Detroit Metro Times:
Sen. Shirkey baselessly claims U.S. Capitol riot was ‘staged’ by Trump haters, recording shows — Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey. — Michigan state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey suggested the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was a “hoax” perpetuated by opponents of former President Donald Trump.
Discussion:
Michigan Advance, MLive.com, NPR, Crooks and Liars, Forbes, Insider, CNN, Mediaite, Big League Politics, The Hill, Washington Times, Associated Press, Detroit Metro Times, POLITICUSUSA, The Intellectualist, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Root, The American Independent, New York Times and Raw Story
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CNN:
Two men cried in the Senate Tuesday. One of them made a devastating case against Trump — Democrats begin impeachment trial with stunning riot video — Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) is a journalist based in New York and author of the book “OK Boomer, Let's Talk: How My Generation Got Left Behind.”
Discussion:
New York Times, New York Post and Washington Post
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David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
Why Jamie Raskin's Speech Resonated — The emotional high point of Donald Trump's second impeachment trial probably came in its first hours. — Closing out the opening presentation from the Democratic House managers, Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland offered a powerful speech …
Discussion:
New York Daily News, The Stranger, Washington Post, IJR, Associated Press, Talking Points Memo and Insider
Daniel Victor / New York Times:
'I'm Not a Cat,' Says Lawyer Having Zoom Difficulties — The video was immediately shared widely and brought joy to many. The lawyer, Rod Ponton, said he was happy people got a much-needed laugh. — It was a civil forfeiture case hearing like any other hearing, except for the lawyer cat.
Discussion:
CNN, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Slate, Dallas Morning News, New York Post, Common Dreams, The Sun, RedState, Japan Times, Washington Examiner, Insider, The Daily Caller, Mashable, The Verge, UPI and Fox News
Politico:
Trump hid his calls with Putin. Now, Biden has access to them. — Few Trump-era mysteries are as intriguing as what the 45th president said to Vladimir Putin in at least a dozen rambling, off-the-cuff calls and meetings over four years. Understanding what was said between …
Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
In impeachment trial, a clarifying moment for the GOP — WASHINGTON — The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump offers a clarifying moment for the GOP. — As the trial began Tuesday, Republican senators remained deeply — though not evenly — divided over whether to convict the party's …
Discussion:
Roll Call, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, Townhall, Associated Press and Fox News
RELATED:
Simon Shuster / TIME:
Exclusive: Ukraine Releases ‘Shock’ Call With Giuliani As Trump's Second Impeachment Trial Begins — “Let these investigations go forward,” Rudy Giuliani told the presidential headquarters in Kyiv, Ukraine, his voice turning impatient. “Get someone to investigate this.”
Discussion:
CNN, The Intellectualist and Raw Story
Scott Fontana / New York Post:
Mark Cuban's Mavericks won't play national anthem anymore — Haven't heard about any national anthem protests at Dallas Mavericks games? There's a good reason for that: The team isn't and won't be playing it anymore. — Mark Cuban told The Athletic it was his decision to eliminate …
Discussion:
The Athletic, ESPN, Twitchy, HuffPost and Townhall
Todd Frankel / Washington Post:
A majority of the people arrested for Capitol riot had a history of financial trouble — Trail of bankruptcies, tax problems and bad debts raises questions for researchers trying to understand motivations for attack — Jenna Ryan seemed like an unlikely participant in the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Discussion:
Raw Story and Political Wire
Dexter Thomas / VICE:
Is This Beverly Hills Cop Playing Sublime's ‘Santeria’ to Avoid Being Live-streamed? — Police officers in Beverly Hills have been playing music while being filmed, seemingly in an effort to trigger Instagram's copyright filters. — DT — Last Friday, a man entered the Beverly Hills police department …
Discussion:
CBS Los Angeles and Boing Boing, more at Mediagazer »
Wall Street Journal:
TikTok Sale to Oracle, Walmart Is Shelved as Biden Reviews Security — Trump-driven deal had languished as video-sharing app's Chinese owner mounted successful legal challenges — WASHINGTON—A U.S. plan to force the sale of TikTok's American operations to a group including Oracle Corp …
Erin Banco / The Daily Beast:
Biden Team Fears: No COVID Herd Immunity Until Thanksgiving — Dr. Fauci is still “cautiously optimistic” that life can return to normal by the beginning of the fall. But others worry that we may not get there until the early winter. — Top members of Biden's COVID response team …
Discussion:
Washington Post, HotAir and The Guardian
Mike Luckovich / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
2/10 Mike Luckovich: Where they came from — ByeDonThis was after Super Tuesday, and after Biden won South Carolina. It seemed at that point that he was gonna be the nominee. I woke up around 330 a.m. the next morning and started thinking, and something just hit me — “ByeDon.”
Michael Gartland / New York Daily News:
Yang holds commanding lead in mayor's race: new poll — Andrew Yang commands a double-digit lead in the Democrat primary for mayor, with his closest rivals, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Comptroller Scott Stringer, trailing by more than 10 percentage points each, a new poll released early Wednesday morning revealed.
Politico:
Inside Republicans' plans for a House takeover — House Republicans surprised nearly everyone last November when they almost captured the majority. — Then they spent January roiled by the deadly attack on the Capitol, confronting a second impeachment of then-President Donald Trump …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Week and Raw Story
New York Times:
'There's Nothing Left': Why Thousands of Republicans Are Leaving the Party — Voting registration data indicates a stronger-than-usual flight from the G.O.P. since the Capitol riot, with an intensely fluid period in American politics now underway. — In the days after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol …
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
The Jan. 6 images were already disturbing. The impeachment-trial video makes them terrifying. — The pounding on the Capitol doors, the shouts of the mob, police officers screaming in pain, barricades toppled, windows shattered, the deadly gunshot. — Captured in fragments on cellphone videos …
Discussion:
Politico, CNN and Occupy Democrats
U.S. Chamber of Commerce:
U.S. Chamber Letter on the Nomination of Neera Tanden to be OMB Director — TO THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS: — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports the nomination of Neera Tanden to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
PepsiCo:
Aunt Jemima Rebrands As Pearl Milling Company — PepsiCo, Inc., today announced the debut of Pearl Milling Company, the new name of the pancake mix and syrup varieties previously found under the Aunt Jemima brand. — Pearl Milling Company-branded pancake mixes, syrups, cornmeal, flour …
Axios:
Dozens of states see new voter suppression proposals — There are at least 165 proposals under consideration in 33 states so far this year to restrict future voting access by limiting mail-in ballots, implementing new voter ID requirements and slashing registration options.
Discussion:
Vanity Fair, The American Independent and Popular Information
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
GOP Image Slides Giving Democrats Strong Advantage — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans' opinions of the Republican Party have worsened in recent months, with 37% now saying they have a favorable view of the party, down from 43% in November. This decline, along with a slight increase …
Charles Lane / Washington Post:
With states doing better than expected, time to rethink Biden's $350 billion rescue — There hasn't been much to celebrate, economically or public-health-wise, during the past year, but one area has surprised on the upside: state finances. — In April 2020, as the United States entered a sudden shutdown …
Caitlin Owens / Axios:
The biggest ACA overhaul in a decade is underway — Democrats' coronavirus relief proposal includes major changes to the Affordable Care Act, aiming to make health insurance more affordable for the millions of people who have lost their employer-based coverage during the pandemic.
Discussion:
NPR and Ways and Means Committee
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Why Trump's Second Impeachment Is a Visceral Reckoning — At issue will be many aspects that defined Donald Trump's presidency: his relentless assaults on truth, his fomenting of divisions, his shattering of norms and his undermining of an election. — This was no phone call transcript, no dry words on a page open to interpretation.