memeorandum: Fred Hiatt was an editor of surpassing integrity, intelligence and compassion (Washington Post)

9:35 AM ET, December 7, 2021

Top Items:

California Rep. Devin Nunes leaving Congress to head Trump social media group — Rep. Devin Nunes, a controversial San Joaquin Valley Republican, is leaving Congress to head a social media company created by former President Trump. — “I will deeply miss being your congressman,” Nunes said in a message to his constituents on Monday.

Judd Legum / Popular Information:

Trump's new media company is a $1.6 billion mirage — In October, former President Trump announced the creation of a new company, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG). Its signature product is a new social media site, Truth Social. According to an investor presentation …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post

CNN:
Who has the power? — As the senior Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee …

Discussion: Townhall, Washington Post, Raw Story, The Western Journal, Instapundit, Morning Shots, BizPac Review, Al Jazeera and Todd Starnes, more at Mediagazer »

Financial Times:
US regulators probe Donald Trump's social media Spac deal

Discussion: SPAC Track

Connor O'Brien / Politico:

Lawmakers drop proposal to add women to the draft as defense bill headaches mount — Compromise defense policy legislation set to be filed Monday will not require women to register for a military draft, according to two people with knowledge of the negotiations, a stunning turnaround …

Discussion: ABC News, Fox News, Roll Call, Althouse and Breitbart

Siobhan Hughes / Wall Street Journal:

McConnell Says Republican Party Needs to Move Forward — Senate minority leader addresses Fed leadership, foreign policy at Wall Street Journal CEO Council summit — WASHINGTON—Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said it was time for the Republican Party to move on from the 2020 elections …

Katherine Tully-McManus / Politico:

Legislative mix-and-match combo meal — With Andrew Desiderio. — Decisions over the debt limit and defense are still driving the week and it's still not smooth sailing for either. — DEFENSE-DEBT COMBO ON ICE? — A plan was percolating to attach a debt limit fix to the annual defense policy measure …

Manu Raju / CNN:
Mitch McConnell moves to cut deal on debt ceiling but faces GOP resistance

Discussion: Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit and Bloomberg

Politico:
Senate GOP rejects debt limit fix on must-pass defense bill

Discussion: Washington Times and Political Wire

Fox News:

Former WH chief of staff Mark Meadows will cease cooperation with Jan. 6 committee — The former Trump administration official had previously been working with the committee — Fox News Flash top headlines for December 7 — Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows will no longer …

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Amanda Carpenter / The Bulwark:

Who is Jeffrey Clark and Why Does He Matter? — Clark wanted to do all the election subversion Bill Barr wouldn't. — There's no good reason you should know Jeffrey Clark's name. — Before the 2020 election, he was just another run-of-the-mill Republican lawyer with a cushy appointment in the federal government.

Discussion: Raw Story and Washington Post

Daniel Chaitin / Washington Examiner:
Capitol riot panel finds White House metadata on letter pushing Georgia to overturn Trump election loss

Discussion: Politico, Raw Story and Mediaite

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
A GOP lawyer issues a frantic warning to his own party about Trump and 2024

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, Talking Points Memo and Bipartisan Report

Tal Axelrod / The Hill:
More voters would pick Trump over Biden if election were held today: poll

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, CNN, Breitbart and Washington Post

Washington Post:

Biden, Putin to discuss Ukraine in video call amid growing tensions — President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a video call Tuesday morning focused on growing tensions over Ukraine. — The secure call, which Biden will take from the Situation Room at the White House …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, CBS News, The Hill, Bloomberg, CNN, ABC News, New York Times, New York Post, UPI, The Daily Beast, Reuters, Raw Story, USA Today, Associated Press, Insider and Voice of America

Joel Gehrke / Washington Examiner:
Experts fear Putin ‘preparing citizens for war’ against Ukraine

Discussion: Fox News, Politico and The National Interest

American Greatness:
Irony Alert: Joe Biden to Tackle Political Corruption With New ‘5 Pillar Strategy’

Discussion: New York Post and The Daily Caller

Donald Graham / Washington Post:

I've never known a better editor than Fred Hiatt — or a better person — Donald Graham was publisher of The Post from 1979 to 2000 and served as chairman and CEO of The Washington Post Co. until 2013. — If you are reading this in the Opinion section of the online Washington Post or …

Matt Schudel / Washington Post:
Fred Hiatt, Washington Post editorial page editor, dies at 66

Discussion: New York Times, Poynter, Washingtonian, Associated Press, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Hill and Political Wire, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post: Fred Hiatt was an editor of surpassing integrity, intelligence and compassion

Gordon Lubold / Wall Street Journal:

Saudi Arabia Pleads for Missile-Defense Resupply as Its Arsenal Runs Low — Conflict pits $1 million Patriot interceptors against Houthi rebels' $10,000 ‘flying lawn mowers’ — WASHINGTON—Saudi Arabia is running out of the ammunition it uses to defend against weekly drone and missile attacks …

Sarah Leah Whitson / Foreign Policy: Congress Must Halt Biden's Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia

New York Times:

Trump's Blood Oxygen Level in Covid Bout Was Dangerously Low, Former Aide Says — Mark Meadows, Mr. Trump's former chief of staff, said in his new book that the weakened president's blood oxygen level reached 86 during a harrowing fight against the coronavirus.

Discussion: HuffPost, The Hill, Rolling Stone, Raw Story and Insider

New York Times:

Omicron Is Fast Moving, but Perhaps Less Severe, Early Reports Suggest — Researchers in South Africa, where the variant is spreading quickly, say it may cause less serious Covid cases than other forms of the virus, but it is unclear whether that will hold true.

Discussion: Twitchy and Political Wire

Politico:

Kamala Harris is Bluetooth-phobic — Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With Allie Bice. — KAMALA HARRIS is never missing her AirPods. That's because she's wary of them. — While a growing number …

Discussion: Mediaite and The Western Journal

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Defendant in Case Brought by Durham Says New Evidence Undercuts Charge — Lawyers for Michael Sussmann, accused by the Trump-era special counsel of lying to the F.B.I., asked for a quick trial after receiving what they said was helpful material from prosecutors.

CNN:

CNN Exclusive: Top Pence aide cooperating with January 6 committee — Washington (CNN)Marc Short, the former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, is cooperating with the January 6 committee, a significant development that will give investigators insight from one of the highest-ranking …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, HuffPost, Letters from an American, Politico, Raw Story, NBC News, Bipartisan Report, Insider, The Hill, Raw Story, Task & Purpose, Breitbart, Politico, VICE and Washington Post

Tom Mashberg / New York Times:

Michael Steinhardt, Billionaire, Surrenders $70 Million in Stolen Relics — The hedge fund pioneer is barred for life from buying more antiquities. He turned over 180 stolen objects that had decorated his homes and office. — Michael H. Steinhardt, the billionaire hedge fund pioneer …

Discussion: CNBC

ProPublica:

These Real Estate and Oil Tycoons Avoided Paying Taxes for Years — The Secret IRS Files … Here's a tale of two Stephen Rosses. — Real life Stephen Ross, who founded Related Companies, a global firm best known for developing the Time Warner Center and Hudson Yards in Manhattan, was a massive winner between 2008 and 2017.

Axios:

Letter comparing parent protests to domestic terrorism triggers funding fallout — The nation's leading school board advocacy group is facing a critical loss of funding and membership after sending a letter comparing parent protests and threats to domestic terrorism.

Discussion: HotAir and Twitchy

Ed Morrissey / HotAir:

You'd better believe there's a war on Christmas, says ... Pope Francis? — As my friend Francis X. Rocca quipped today, don't say “Happy Holidays” to Pope Francis. The oft-cited war on Christmas in the US often gets “debunked” by media focused on all of the secular celebrations of the holiday.

Discussion: Politico and Vatican News

Ed Shanahan / New York Times:

Man Charged With Sending Dozens of Violent Threats to L.G.B.T.Q. Groups — Robert Fehring warned that an attack on New York City's Pride March would make the Pulse nightclub shooting “look like a cakewalk,” the authorities said. — A Long Island man was charged on Monday with threatening violence …

BBC:

Rohingya sue Facebook for $150bn over Myanmar hate speech — Dozens of Rohingya refugees in the UK and US have sued Facebook, accusing the social media giant of allowing hate speech against them to spread. — They are demanding more than $150bn (£113bn) in compensation …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, New York Post, Forbes, One America News Network, WTOP News, Raw Story, Reuters and Al Jazeera

Michael Lee / Fox News:

Trump endorses ‘conservative fighter’ Perdue in Georgia governors' race — Perdue announced that he would mount a primary challenge against GOP Gov. Brian Kemp — Fox News Flash top headlines for December 6 — Former President Donald Trump endorsed former Sen. David Perdue …

Discussion: New York Times, Georgia Recorder, National Review, Page Array, Townhall, Raw Story, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Insider, Todd Starnes, Mediaite, Breitbart, WTOP News, The Georgia Star News, Political Wire and Washington Post

New York Times:

On the Banks of the Furious Congo River, a 5-Star Emporium of Ambition — As the clean energy revolution upends the centuries-long lock of fossil fuels on the global economy, dealmakers and hustlers converge on the Fleuve Congo Hotel. — KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo …

Joseph Simonson / Washington Free Beacon:

Deportations Plummet 90 Percent on Biden's Watch — Admin oversees drop as border crossings reach all-time high — Deportations of illegal immigrants, including those convicted of serious crimes such as burglary and homicide, dropped to the lowest levels in decades during President Joe Biden's …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart and TheBlaze

New York Post:

Chris Cuomo prepping to sue CNN for more than $18M over contract: sources — Fired CNN host Chris Cuomo is set to sue the network if it balks at paying him at least $18 million to cover what's left on his contract, sources told The Post on Monday. — Cuomo, 51, has hired lawyers …