memeorandum: Jussie Smollett's final act: How a hate crime hoax became a pitch for jury nullification (Jonathan Turley/The Hill)

9:20 AM ET, December 9, 2021

Top Items:

Inside Trump's hunt for “disloyal” Republicans — Donald Trump and his associates are systematically reshaping the Republican Party, working to install hand-picked loyalists across federal and state governments and destroy those he feels have been disloyal, sources close to the former president tell Axios.

Discussion: Insider, Popular Information, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, The Revolution, Raw Story and Georgia Recorder

Emma Hurt / Axios:

Scoop: Trump-backed Perdue says he wouldn't have certified Georgia 2020 results — Georgia gubernatorial candidate David Perdue wouldn't have signed the certification of the state's 2020 election results if he had been governor at the time, the former Senate Republican told Axios.

Discussion: Mediaite, Georgia Recorder, CNN, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Insider and Forbes

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

David Perdue confesses he would have aided a coup. He's not the only one. — David Perdue, the former U.S. senator from Georgia and now a candidate for governor, made a stunning confession on Wednesday: Despite there being no evidence of election fraud and multiple audits that showed President Biden won …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Los Angeles Times and Conservative Guardian

Reuters:

Georgia Republicans purge Black Democrats from county election boards — Protesters filled the meeting room of the Spalding County Board of Elections in October, upset that the board had disallowed early voting on Sundays for the Nov. 2 municipal election. A year ago, Sunday voting …

New York Post:

Fox Christmas tree arson suspect released without bail — The arsonist who allegedly torched the Fox News Christmas tree was freed after his arraignment Wednesday night because his charges were not eligible for bail under new liberal reform laws. — “I didn't do it!” suspect Craig Tamanaha …

Discussion: HotAir, Breitbart, RedState, BizPac Review, Townhall, Twitchy, YouTube, Fox News and Deadline

Jackson Richman / Mediaite:

Fox News to Light New Christmas Tree After Previous One Torched — Fox News Media announced on Wednesday that a new tree will be lit on Thursday evening after its original one was allegedly burned by an arsonist early Wednesday morning. — The event on Fox Square in New York will include network personalities, clergymen and others.

Discussion: Gothamist, Raw Story, Snopes.com and The American Independent

Greg Pollowitz / Twitchy:
Meet Craig Tamanaha, the 49-year-old arrested for allegedly setting fire to the Fox News Christmas tree

Discussion: Ace of Spades HQ

Natalie O'Neill / New York Post:
Suspected Fox Christmas tree arsonist exposed himself outside Ghislaine Maxwell trial, photographer claims

Discussion: National Review

Luke Broadwater / New York Times:

Meadows Sues Pelosi in Bid to Block Jan. 6 Committee Subpoena — The suit came hours after the committee said it would prepare a criminal contempt of Congress referral against Mark Meadows, who was President Donald J. Trump's chief of staff on Jan. 6. — WASHINGTON — Mark Meadows …

New York Times:
Event Planner Working on Bob Dole's Funeral Is Let Go for Jan. 6 Ties

Discussion: Insider

Politico: Jan. 6 investigators' new challenge: Trump allies pleading the Fifth

Paul Steinhauser / Fox News:
Pence does not commit to cooperating with Jan. 6th congressional committee

Discussion: The Daily Beast, POLITICUSUSA, New York Post, Washington Examiner, Raw Story and New York Times

Kate Aronoff / New Republic:

Biden's Democracy Summit Is Dumb … “This is a moment to try to refocus our fellow citizens on what makes us exceptional,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Politico's James Traub of the White House's 2-day Summit for Democracy, kicking off Thursday. “It does speak to something …

Discussion: Washington Post, The American Spectator and Common Dreams

David Rothkopf / The Daily Beast:
The First Rule of the Democracy Club? Be a Damn Democracy.

Discussion: The Hill

Edward Luce / Financial Times:
Betting on democracy: Biden's big idea for US foreign policy

Discussion: Associated Press, Bloomberg, The Guardian and Los Angeles Times

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

Senate votes to nix Biden's vaccine mandate for businesses — The Senate on Wednesday voted to nix President Biden's vaccine mandate for larger businesses, handing Republicans a symbolic win. — Senators voted 52-48 on the resolution, which needed a simple majority to be approved.

Politico:
Progressives get rolled on Pentagon policy

Discussion: CNBC, HotAir, CNN, BizPac Review, Raw Story, American Prospect and Gizmodo

Alexander Cornwell / Reuters:

U.S. moves to tighten Iran sanctions enforcement as nuclear talks stall — The Biden administration is moving to tighten enforcement of sanctions against Iran with the despatch of a senior delegation to the United Arab Emirates next week, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday.

Discussion: The Times of Israel

Laurence Norman / Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Moves to Tighten Iran Sanctions Enforcement as Nuclear Talks Stall — Delegation to warn private firms and banks in U.A.E. that they ‘face extreme risk’ if sanctioned trade continues — The Biden administration is moving to tighten enforcement of sanctions against Iran …

Discussion: Atlantic Council, MyNorthwest.com and Political Wire

Jonathan Lemire / Politico:

Old foes thwart Biden's foreign policy pivot — President Joe Biden wants to pivot U.S. foreign policy to the future but has not yet been able to shake the past. — Biden took office early this year promising a new era for the United States on the world stage, casting aside …

Discussion: Washington Times, Bloomberg, HuffPost, NPR and Los Angeles Times

Financial Times:
Biden makes diplomatic concession to Russia with Nato talks plan

Discussion: NBC News, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, BBC, Albuquerque Journal, One America News Network, Political Wire, Ground News, The National Interest and New Republic

Julia Davis / The Daily Beast:
Russian State TV Drops Deranged Love Letter to Its Darling ‘Trumpushka’

Discussion: Raw Story, New York Post, RedState and Washington Post

Ryan J. Reilly / HuffPost:

Tucker Carlson's Jan. 6 ‘Agent Provocateur’ Is A Big Tucker Fan And An Amateur Cardinals Mascot — “If I'm wrong, so be it, bro,” Carlson's guest said after he'd told Fox News viewers that the St. Louis baseball booster was “clearly a law enforcement officer.”

Roni Caryn Rabin / New York Times:

The Coronavirus Attacks Fat Tissue, Scientists Find — The research may help explain why people who are overweight and obese have been at higher risk of severe illness and death from Covid. — From the start of the pandemic, the coronavirus seemed to target people carrying extra pounds.

Discussion: The National Interest, KFF, Boston Herald, UPI, CNN, Townhall, NPR and Pfizer

Mike Stobbe / Associated Press:
The AP Interview: CDC chief says omicron mostly mild so far

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The National Interest, CNN, CBS Denver, The Daily Beast, STAT and HotAir

Washington Post:

Low-profile heiress who ‘played a strong role’ in financing Jan. 6 rally is thrust into spotlight — Eight days before the Jan. 6 rally in Washington, a little-known Trump donor living thousands of miles away in the Tuscan countryside quietly wired a total of $650,000 to three organizations that helped stage and promote the event.

Discussion: CREW, Raw Story and Washington Times

William Neuman / New York Times:

De Blasio Fought for 2 Years to Keep Ethics Warning Secret. Here's Why. — Mayor Bill de Blasio was warned that he created an “appearance of coercion and improper access” by directly contacting donors who had business before the city. — When Bill de Blasio was first elected mayor of New York …

Discussion: New York Magazine

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Graham warns GOP about Trump's wrath on debt vote — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) offered a forceful warning to Republican colleagues during a private lunch on Wednesday, saying former President Trump will come down hard on any GOP senators who vote for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's …

Discussion: CNN, HotAir, Raw Story and Todd Starnes

Laura He / CNN:

Evergrande has defaulted on its debt, Fitch Ratings says — Hong Kong (CNN Business)Evergrande, the embattled Chinese property developer, has defaulted on its debt, according to Fitch Ratings. — The credit ratings agency on Thursday downgraded the company and its subsidiaries to …

Washington Post:

Biden promised to reverse Trump's health policies. He's done that — mostly. — Good morning! It's almost the end of the year and we're wondering...have you signed up for our sister newsletter The Climate 202 yet? Subscribe here to add it to your 2022 reading list.

Discussion: Politico and Washington Examiner

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

Believe it or not, Fox News once knew shame — It wasn't so very long ago that Fox News had some standards for what was unacceptable. — In 2008, a Fox host named E.D. Hill suggested that a playful fist bump between Barack and Michelle Obama looked like a “terrorist fist jab.”

Discussion: Twitchy and Mercury News

Zachary Petrizzo / The Daily Beast:

Mike Lindell Supports Fans' Push to ‘Bombard’ Supreme Court — OVERNIGHT SHIPPING — Increasingly restless supporters of MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell have a new plan of action: Send the Supreme Court physical copies of the pillow maven's dubious and unsigned 80-plus page court filing that seeks to overturn the 2020 election.

Discussion: Raw Story

Domenico Montanaro / NPR:

A new poll finds major warning signs for Biden and fellow Democrats — Americans don't feel the direct payments or expanded child tax credits doled out earlier this year helped them much, according to the latest NPR/Marist poll, and they don't see Democrats' signature legislation as addressing their top economic concern — inflation.

Discussion: New Republic and Marist Poll

Abigail Shrier / The Truth Fairy:

What I told the students of Princeton — I was so honored tonight to be hosted by the Princeton Tory, the Witherspoon Institute and the Tikvah Fund. The undergraduates I met tonight were clear sighted and brilliant and astonishingly well read. There's so much on their shoulders.

Discussion: Unreported Truths

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: Why tongues are wagging inside the House GOP — DRIVING THE DAY — THE RETURN OF RENEE — Former Rep. RENEE ELLMERS announced on Twitter Wednesday that she's running for Congress again in North Carolina's 4th district — and sent the House GOP gossip mill into overdrive.

Discussion: Washington Post and Foreign Policy

Jonathan Turley / The Hill:

Jussie Smollett's final act: How a hate crime hoax became a pitch for jury nullification — In his testimony before a Chicago jury this week, actor Jussie Smollett talked about how he has had to carefully maintain his image as “a black Cary Grant.” The “Empire” star, however …

Discussion: Breitbart

Andrew Jeong / Washington Post:

A GOP senator suggested gargling mouthwash to kill the coronavirus. Doctors and Listerine are skeptical. — Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) recommended mouthwash as a treatment for the coronavirus during a town hall meeting Wednesday, immediately drawing criticism for suggesting gargling would offer protection.

Discussion: Raw Story and HuffPost

Amanda Hess / New York Times:

The Sublime Spectacle of Yoko Ono Disrupting the Beatles — In Peter Jackson's “The Beatles: Get Back,” Ono is a performance artist at the height of her powers. — To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.