memeorandum: McConnell-McCarthy divide grows as Trump aims to keep his grip on GOP (CNN)

12:35 PM ET, December 9, 2021

Top Items:

New York attorney general seeks Trump's deposition as part of civil fraud investigation — New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking a deposition from former president Donald Trump early next year as part of her investigation into potential fraud inside the Trump Organization, according to people familiar with the matter.

Discussion: NBC News, Raw Story, CNBC, Insider, Fox News, New York Times, Forbes, abc7NY, The Gateway Pundit, Mock Paper Scissors and Political Wire

Jimmy Vielkind / Wall Street Journal:

New York Attorney General Letitia James Ends Gubernatorial Bid — Democrat says she will seek second term as state's top prosecutor — New York State Attorney General Letitia James said Thursday that she was dropping her bid for governor and will seek another term in her current office.

Discussion: CNBC

New York Times:

New York A.G. to Subpoena Trump to Testify in Fraud Investigation — The move by the attorney general, Letitia James, comes at a critical moment in a criminal inquiry into the former president, who could try to block the demand. — The New York State attorney general, Letitia James …

Michael R. Sisak / Associated Press:
NY attorney general seeks Trump's testimony in civil probe

Discussion: Bloomberg, NBC New York and The Guardian

Axios:

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: Associated Press, Insider, Popular Information, Los Angeles Times, The Revolution, Georgia Recorder, Raw Story, Mediaite and CNN

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 …

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
David Perdue confesses he would have aided a coup. He's not the only one.

Discussion: NBC News, Election Law Blog, Washington Examiner, Conservative Guardian, Los Angeles Times and Daily Kos

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 two-day Summit for Democracy, kicking off Thursday.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Washington Post, The American Spectator, Common Dreams and Forbes

New York Times:

Event Planner Working on Bob Dole's Funeral Is Let Go for Jan. 6 Ties — Tim Unes was helping to plan memorial events for Mr. Dole when it came to light that he had been subpoenaed by the committee investigating the Capitol riot. — WASHINGTON — The Elizabeth Dole Foundation has cut ties with Tim Unes …

Discussion: The Hill, Insider and Political Wire

Luke Broadwater / New York Times:
Meadows Sues Pelosi in Bid to Block Jan. 6 Committee Subpoena

Jennifer Scholtes / Politico:

Senate takes up Schumer-McConnell debt pact — The loophole would allow Democrats to raise the debt ceiling with a simple Senate majority on a one-time basis, circumventing the need for GOP support. — The Senate will vote Thursday to take up a one-time loophole to allow Democrats to raise …

Discussion: Daily Kos, One America News Network and Washington Post

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: Insider, HotAir, Raw Story, Todd Starnes and Politico

CNN:
McConnell-McCarthy divide grows as Trump aims to keep his grip on GOP

Discussion: Axios, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA and Washington Post

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, The Daily Caller, The Western Journal, Raw Story, CITIZEN STRINGER, The Wrap, Breitbart, RedState, Townhall, National Review, BizPac Review, Twitchy, Fox News, YouTube and Deadline

Jackson Richman / Mediaite:
Fox News to Light New Christmas Tree After Previous One Torched

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

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.”

United States Capitol Police:

USCP Arrest Capitol Hill Staffer for Carrying a Gun — This morning at approximately 7:40 am, our officers in the Longworth Building spotted the image of a handgun in a bag on the x-ray screen. — The man was tracked down four minutes later and arrested.

Discussion: USA Today, Washington Post, NBC News, CBS News, Insider, The Daily Caller, Twitchy, CITIZEN STRINGER, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth and WTOP News

Taylor Lorenz / New York Times:

Birds Aren't Real, or Are They? Inside a Gen Z Conspiracy Theory. — Peter McIndoe, the 23-year-old creator of the viral Birds Aren't Real movement, is ready to reveal what the effort is really about. — In Pittsburgh, Memphis and Los Angeles, massive billboards recently popped up declaring, “Birds Aren't Real.”

Ruy Teixeira / The Liberal Patriot:

The Democrats' Hispanic Voter Problem — It's Not As Bad As You Think—It's Worse — The Democrats are steadily losing ground with Hispanic voters. The seriousness of this problem tends to be underestimated in Democratic circles for a couple of reasons: (1) they don't realize how big the shift is …

Discussion: The New Neo, BizPac Review, Page Array and Campaign Update

Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic:

Democrats Are Losing the Culture Wars — Maybe Bill Clinton got a few things right after all. — For years, Democrats have rarely cited Clinton and the centrist New Democrat movement he led through the '90s except to renounce his “third way” approach to welfare, crime, and other issues as a violation of the party's principles.

Discussion: Breitbart

Rowan Scarborough / Washington Times:

Biden cancels oil while Americans suffer and the world laughs — OPINION: — It has been quite a transition for America, from being the world's self-sufficient No. 1 oil producer to begging horrible foreigners to pump more fossil fuels. But by God, President Biden did it. With ease.

Edward Luce / Financial Times: America is still a dangerous nation

Jonathan Lemire / Politico:
Old foes thwart Biden's foreign policy pivot

Discussion: Bloomberg, Townhall, HuffPost, NPR, Los Angeles Times and The Guardian

Politico:

Progressives get rolled on Pentagon policy — Democrats had big plans this year when they took full control of Washington, D.C. — before political reality got in the way. For proof, look no further than this year's Pentagon policy bill. — The compromise National Defense Authorization Act …

Discussion: Roll Call, Wall Street Journal, HotAir, CNBC, NPR, The Hill, The Daily Wire, Washington Examiner, CNN, Raw Story, American Prospect, Gizmodo, WTOP News and Washington Post

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Senate votes to nix Biden's vaccine mandate for businesses

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: Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Breitbart, Twitchy, Marist Poll, New Republic and Nevada Current

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: New York Magazine, The Daily Beast, Raw Story, HuffPost, Rolling Stone, POLITICUSUSA and Daily Kos

Andy Kroll / Rolling Stone:

Big Law Firms Promised to Punish Republicans Who Voted to Overthrow Democracy. Now They're Donating to their Campaigns — But less than a year later, they're back to business as usual — WASHINGTON — In the aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection, some of the country's biggest law firms …

Ed Pearce / KOLO-TV:

Search for January 6th suspect ends on Peavine Mountain — RENO, Nev. (KOLO) -Among the faces captured on video January 6th, battling capitol police, trashing the nation's capitol was a 34 year old Winnemucca man, Josiah Kenyon. — The FBI charged Kenyon with, among other crimes, assaulting a capitol police officer with a table leg.

Discussion: Mercury News, Insider and Raw Story

U.S. Department of the Treasury:

Treasury Issues Sanctions on International Anti-Corruption Day — Designations target corrupt individuals and networks in Central America, Europe, and Africa — WASHINGTON — Today, on International Anti-Corruption Day, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control …

Zach Everson / Forbes:

Trump Donor Allegedly Used Embezzled Money To Support The Former President's Campaign And Lead A Lavish Lifestyle — Richard Kofoed, a serial entrepreneur from California, looks like a big shot on social media. One photo shows him sipping rare bourbons, including Old Rip Van Winkle and George T. Stagg …

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Raw Story

Associated Press:

AP-NORC Poll: Income is up, but Americans focus on inflation — WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans' overall income has accelerated since the pandemic, but so has inflation — and a new poll finds that far more people are noticing the higher prices than the pay gains.

Discussion: Political Wire

Tim McMillan / Washington Examiner:

The government's real problem with UFOs — UFOs, or, as the Defense Department now terms them, “unidentified aerial phenomena,” or UAP, have become big news inside the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill. — In June, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released an unclassified …

Gary Fineout / Politico:

Fried campaign tries to smack down ethics charges — Hello and welcome to Wednesday. — Jumping out front — Nikki Fried is going to get some bad news today, but her campaign is trying to get out ahead of the story. — Findings — The Florida Commission on Ethics will announce …

Discussion: Fox News and Tampa Bay Times

US Food and Drug Administration:

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Expands Eligibility for Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Booster Dose to 16- and 17-Year-Olds — For Immediate Release: — Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Politico, CBS News, The Hill, KNSD-TV, CBS Detroit, STAT and New York Times

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 and Political Wire

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 …

Fred Kaplan / Slate:

Did Anyone Even Look at the Massive Defense Budget Before Passing It? — By an overwhelming margin, the House passed a bill to spend $778 billion on defense next year, $25 billion more than what President Joe Biden had requested. The Senate is expected to second the motion within days.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon and Speaking Security

BBC:

New Zealand to ban cigarettes for future generations — New Zealand will ban the sale of tobacco to its next generation, in a bid to eventually phase out smoking. — Anyone born after 2008 will not be able to buy cigarettes or tobacco products in their lifetime, under a law expected to be enacted next year.