memeorandum: President Biden's pick for a key banking regulator backs out. (Emily Flitter/New York Times)

9:45 PM ET, December 7, 2021

Top Items:

Meridith McGraw / Politico:

Meadows: Trump considered yanking Kavanaugh over ‘I like beer’ comments and apologetic tone — During Brett Kavanaugh's controversial 2018 Supreme Court confirmation hearings, President Donald Trump “strongly considered” dropping the nominee and instead going with a “stronger candidate,” …

Discussion: Fox News, Raw Story, Insider, Washington Post, The Hill, IJR, Human Events, Washington Examiner, The Guardian and Political Wire

CNN:

Read: Mark Meadows' letter to January 6 committee — By CNN — (CNN)Former Donald Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows will no longer cooperate with the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol Hill riot, according to a letter obtained by CNN from his attorney to the panel.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Select Committee …, Axios, Washington Examiner, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, National Review, The Gateway Pundit, YouTube, Mediaite, USA Today and IJR

CNN:
Exclusive: January 6 committee casts a wide net with over 100 subpoenas for phone records

Discussion: New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Talking Points Memo, Washington Times, Political Wire, Bloomberg, UPI, NPR, Insider and New York Post

HuffPost:
Subpoena Of Pence Aide Shows How Jan. 6 Committee's Work Remains Beneath The Radar

Discussion: Raw Story, Zandar Versus The Stupid and Washington Post

CNN:
Mark Meadows to halt cooperation with January 6 committee

Discussion: Bipartisan Report, NBC News, Politico, The Daily Wire, POLITICUSUSA, The Gateway Pundit, CBS News, Mediaite, The Hill and Talking Points Memo

CNBC:
July trial set for Steve Bannon in Jan. 6 Capitol riot contempt of Congress case

Discussion: Fox News, HuffPost, Real America's Voice News, Law & Crime, The Hill, Politico, Washington Examiner, Al Jazeera, Insider and NBC News

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Jan. 6 panel threatens Meadows with contempt

Discussion: HuffPost, Associated Press, Insider, Roll Call, One America News Network and Washington Post

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook PM: Jan. 6 committee dealt two big blows

Discussion: Washington Times, Rolling Stone and Raw Story

Emily Flitter / New York Times:

President Biden's pick for a key banking regulator backs out. — Saule Omarova, a Cornell Law School professor whom critics painted as a communist after President Biden picked her for a key banking regulator job, withdrew from consideration for the post on Tuesday.

Discussion: HuffPost, New York Magazine, Washington Free Beacon, New York Post and The Daily Wire, more at Techmeme »

Washington Post:

Saule Omarova, Biden's pick for top bank regulator, withdraws nomination — Saule Omarova, President Biden's pick to serve as a top banking regulator, has withdrawn her nomination for the office of the Comptroller of the Currency. — The Cornell University law professor …

Discussion: HotAir, Associated Press, NBC News, Breitbart, Politico, CNBC, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller and The Washington Current

Andrew Ackerman / Wall Street Journal:
Saule Omarova, Biden's Nominee to Oversee National Banks, Withdraws

Discussion: NPR and CNN

Zachary Halaschak / Washington Examiner:
Controversial Biden banking nominee drops out of contention after bruising hearing

Discussion: Washington Times

The White House:
Statement of President Joe Biden and Nominee for Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Saule Omarova

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Townhall and The Federalist

Politico:

House Republicans seethe over Senate GOP's debt deal — House Republicans are questioning Senate Republicans' decision-making at every turn, a rift that's fueling an intraparty fight over the debt ceiling. — First it was President Joe Biden's infrastructure bill, then it was last week's …

Discussion: The Hill, Insider, 1 to, New York Times, Agence France-Presse, One America News Network, CBS News and Common Dreams

Politico:

McConnell secures GOP support for new debt strategy — Mitch McConnell believes he's convinced a skeptical Senate Republican Conference to allow Democrats to more easily raise the debt ceiling, a critical development as the country faces a mid-December debt cliff.

Discussion: ABC News, The Hill, HuffPost, New York Magazine, CNN, Breitbart, UPI, Speaking Security, The Daily Wire, KVEO-TV, National Review, Roll Call, TheBlaze, Bloomberg, Insider, The Last Refuge, Washington Times and CNBC

Ed Morrissey / HotAir:
BREAKING: Did McConnell just win the debt-ceiling standoff?

Discussion: New York Post and Breitbart

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
The media has given Republicans a free pass on assaulting democracy

Discussion: Al Jazeera

Wall Street Journal:
Lawmakers Close In on Debt-Ceiling Deal

Discussion: NBC News, The Hill, Uphill and Political Wire

Mark Z. Barabak / Los Angeles Times:

So you think Kamala Harris has it rough. Remember Dan Quayle? — Kamala Harris can't catch a break. — When she's not being ignored — which is much of the time — the vice president is portrayed as inept, impossible to work for or depicted as an anchor weighing down the listing Biden administration.

Eugene Daniels / Politico: ‘Her failing is not an option’ — Harris convenes Black women and charts the path ahead

Charlotte Clymer / Charlotte's Web Thoughts:
The Media Coverage of Kamala Harris and Bluetooth is Ridiculous

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Cybersect

D. Patrick Rodgers / Nashville Scene:

Nathan Bedford Forrest Has Fallen — A widely mocked Nashville statue of the early KKK leader was removed Tuesday morning — The Confederacy has fallen. Again. — A notorious statue of Confederate general and early KKK leader Nathan Bedford Forrest that has stood beside I-65 …

Nick Beres / WTVF-TV:
Nathan Bedford Forrest statue along I-65 removed after more than 2 decades

Discussion: WKRN-TV, The Hill and New York Magazine

The Tennessean:
Nathan Bedford Forrest statue along Interstate 65 taken down

Discussion: CBS News and Mother Jones

Tara Copp / Defense One:

Austin Rejects ‘Red Lines’ for Taiwan, Ukraine — As crises loom, defense secretary reveals a bit of his diplomacy-first thinking. — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who served as a general during several Middle East wars, is used to the military charting the U.S. path in conflict zones.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Fox News, Politico, The White House and Washington Post

The White House:
Readout of President Biden's Video Call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia

Discussion: Fox News, Politico, New York Times, NPR, Washington Post, Associated Press, Bipartisan Report, HuffPost, The Daily Wire, Mediaite and Forbes

CNN:
Biden administration considering options for possibly evacuating US citizens from Ukraine if Russia invades

Discussion: pjmedia.com, New York Post, The National Interest, The Daily Wire, Mediaite, Defense One, Washington Examiner, Twitchy and Townhall

Dan Froomkin / Press Watch:

‘I think we need to rethink entirely how we do things,’ says Dana Milbank of the Washington Post — Longtime Washington Post political journalist Dana Milbank on Friday accused his colleagues of being “accessories to the murder of democracy.” — Milbank wrote in his biweekly opinion column:

Discussion: Mediaite and National Review

Alison Durkee / Forbes:

Wisconsin Conservative Group Finds ‘No Evidence Of Widespread Fraud’ In 2020 Election — A 10-month-long review of Wisconsin's 2020 election conducted by a conservative group in the state found no signs of widespread or significant election fraud, according to a new report of its findings …

Discussion: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Raw Story

Chauncey DeVega / Salon:

Hillary Clinton was right about the “deplorables” — and about the end of Roe v. Wade — Still hate Hillary's guts? Fine. But let's admit that she saw all this coming — and way before the rise of Trump — During her 2016 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton warned us that Donald Trump and his …

Discussion: The Left Place

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
An angry rift between Trump and Bannon signals the far-right's future

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, The Hill and Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Sara Fischer / Axios:

Exclusive: WSJ taps Biden, Trump pollsters for 2022 — The Wall Street Journal and its parent company Dow Jones are making big changes to its polling strategy ahead of the midterms, executives tell Axios. — Why it matters: The company had partnered with NBC News for the past three decades on polling.

Discussion: Insider and The Hill

Aaron Zitner / Wall Street Journal:
Voters Pessimistic About Economy, Biden's Leadership, WSJ Poll Finds

Discussion: RedState, Boston Herald, tippinsights, Ace of Spades HQ, NRCC, HotAir, Russell’s Newsletter, Political Wire and KVEO-TV

Teo Armus / Washington Post:

Charlottesville's Robert E. Lee statue will be melted down by city's African American history museum — The statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that once provoked a deadly weekend of violence in Charlottesville will soon be melted down and turned into a new piece of public artwork …

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Political Wire

Eduardo Medina / New York Times:
Charlottesville's Statue of Robert E. Lee Will Be Melted Down

Discussion: NPR and The Hill

Lee Brown / New York Post:

CNN's Don Lemon blasted for not mentioning his own key role in Jussie Smollett drama — CNN host Don Lemon is getting blasted for covering his pal Jussie Smollett's trial on his late-night show — without mentioning his own central role in tipping off the “Empire” star that he was being investigated by police.

Discussion: HotAir, Fox News, The Western Journal, Washington Examiner, Washington Free Beacon, RedState, TheBlaze and Newsbusters

Anthony Farris / OutKick:
Don Lemon Tipped Off Jussie Smollett That Police Didn't Believe His Attack Story

Discussion: Daily Mail, RedState and The Daily Caller

Tarpley Hitt / Gawker:

A Very Weird Interview With Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — There are many criticisms to lob at Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and, as a result of the COVID pandemic, one of the most powerful and adored physicians in America.

Brian Steinberg / Variety:

Yamiche Alcindor Joins NBC News as Washington Correspondent (EXCLUSIVE) … Alcindor, who is expected to start with NBC in March, will cover the Biden administration as well as the impact of federal policies on communities across the country and issues at the intersection of race …

Discussion: RedState, The Root, Deadline, The Hill, TVNewser, Hollywood Reporter and Twitchy, more at Mediagazer »

ITV News:

Downing Street staff shown joking in leaked recording about Christmas party they later denied — Senior Downing Street staff joked about holding a Christmas party in Number 10 just four days after the event is alleged to have taken place last December, a recording leaked to ITV News has revealed.

Discussion: Insider, The Guardian, The Gateway Pundit, Politico and The Times

Karol Markowicz / Fox News:

I am leaving New York City for Florida. I never thought I would — I was raised in Brooklyn, my husband in Queens. Our three children were born in Manhattan — Parents should ‘speak up on behalf of their kids’: Karol Markowicz — I always hated the “Goodbye, New York” genre of writing.

ACLU:

Cancel Student Debt: $50K for Every Borrower — Higher education should be accessible to everyone, regardless of economic status or background. Unfortunately, that's not the reality in the United States. — The cost of higher education has grown exponentially in our country …

Politico:

Dems begin souring on vaccine mandates — Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With Allie Bice. — Three months ago, as California Gov. GAVIN NEWSOM was turning around his fate in the state's recall election …

Discussion: Zandar Versus The Stupid

FiveThirtyEight:

How Biden Is Reshaping The Courts — When former President Donald Trump left office in January, one of the most formidable aspects of his legacy was his imprint on the federal courts. In Trump's four years in the White House, he appointed three Supreme Court justices …

Discussion: The Western Journal

The Philadelphia Inquirer:

Michael Nutter: Larry Krasner owes an apology to the 521 families of Philly's homicide victims — District Attorney Larry Krasner's recent remarks about whether we are experiencing a crime crisis are some of the worst, most ignorant, and most insulting comments I have ever heard spoken …

Discussion: Big Trial and Townhall

Julio Ricardo Varela / MSNBC:

‘Latinx’ is an unpopular term but Democrats shouldn't panic — New poll finds only 2% of U.S. Hispanics use term ‘Latinx’ — Once again, the term “Latinx” is trending — and once again, it is all for the wrong reasons. — Like a modern-day Hydra, a term based on a Spanish gender-inclusive …

Discussion: Reason, Breitbart and Washington Times