memeorandum: White House hangs up on Rick Scott as senator calls about tortured Cuban human rights activist (Houston Keene/Fox News)

1:35 PM ET, December 15, 2021

Top Items:

During January 6 Hearing, Schiff Doctored Text Messages Between Mark Meadows And Rep. Jim Jordan — Democrat Adam Schiff doctored text messages between Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan during Monday's Jan. 6 hearings, an investigation by The Federalist shows. — Oops, he did it again.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, RedState, CBS News, The American Spectator, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, We Love Trump, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, CNN, Twitchy, Vanity Fair and Just Security

Michael Brendan Dougherty / National Review:

Gone Too Far — The Capitol riot happened because President Donald Trump simply lied, and lied, and lied. — s cable television broadcast the scenes of Trump supporters breaking past police lines and even smashing their way into the Capitol on January 6, the president's son, Donald Trump Jr. …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Mother Jones, Washington Examiner and CNN

Angie Drobnic Holan / PolitiFact:

The 2021 Lie of the Year: Lies about the Jan. 6 Capitol attack and its significance — Shortly after 2 p.m. on Jan. 6, supporters of President Donald J. Trump breached the U.S. Capitol, turning the seat of American democracy into the scene of an unforgettable crime.

Dartunorro Clark / NBC News:

Fox News hosts blast House committee for releasing their Jan. 6 text messages to Meadows — House finds Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress as Fox News hosts respond to release of text messages — Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham lashed out at the Jan. 6 committee Tuesday night …

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, OpenSecrets.org, Digby's Hullabaloo, New York Post, Breitbart, New Republic, Raw Story, Insider and Just Security

National Archives:

JFK Assassination Records - 2021 Additional Documents Release — Have a question about JFK Assassination Records? — Ask it on HistoryHub! — The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is processing previously withheld John F. Kennedy assassination-related records to comply …

Discussion: National Review

Katie Bo Lillis / CNN:
Biden administration releases previously classified JFK assassination documents

Discussion: Politico

Reuters:

The military-intelligence veterans who helped lead Trump's campaign of disinformation — After Donald Trump lost the White House, ex-National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and three other current and former U.S. Army officers challenged the vote's legitimacy and pushed baseless conspiracy claims.

Dylan McGuinness / Houston Chronicle:

Former Houston cop who thought A/C repairman was a voter fraud mastermind indicted on felony assault charge — A Harris County grand jury on Tuesday indicted former Houston police captain Mark Aguirre on an assault charge after he was accused of running a man off the road and pointing to a gun …

Discussion: Off the Kuff and Political Wire

ABC13:

Ex-HPD captain indicted for aggravated assault in bizarre voter fraud conspiracy case … Former HPD Capt. Mark Anthony Aguirre charged with holding air conditioning man at gunpoint in fake voter-fraud conspiracy — HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A former Houston Police Department captain accused …

T. Becket Adams / And another thing:

That Dana Milbank column is even dumber than you think — Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank is as lousy a statistician as he is a political commentator. — Milbank claims journalists have been harder on President Joe Biden in the first year of his presidency than they were on former President Donald Trump in his last.

Naomi Lim / Washington Examiner:
Biden casts doubt on spending bill being signed, sealed, delivered by Christmas

Discussion: ABC News and Mediaite

Ed Morrissey / HotAir:
WaPo analyst: Time to face the possibility that Biden loses on BBB

Discussion: Washington Post

Bryan Metzger / Insider:

Pelosi rejects stock-trading ban for members of Congress: ‘We are free market economy. They should be able to participate in that’ — Speaker Pelosi rejected the idea of banning members of Congress and their spouses from trading stocks. — “We are free market economy.

Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs / New York Times:

Derek Chauvin Pleads Guilty to Violating George Floyd's Rights — The guilty plea is likely to lengthen the imprisonment of Mr. Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer who is already serving a prison sentence of 22 and a half years for murder. — ST. PAUL, Minn. …

Discussion: KARE-TV, The Daily Beast, Metro.co.uk, Raw Story and Rolling Stone

Mychael Schnell / The Hill:
Chauvin pleads guilty to violating Floyd's civil rights

Discussion: Associated Press, Al Jazeera, New York Post and POLITICUSUSA

George F. Will / Washington Post:

Build Back Better would make Biden's annus horribilis even worse — At the end of his year of Old Testament afflictions — the political equivalent of Job losing his camels and acquiring boils — President Biden might be muttering: Job was at least spared Sens. Joe Manchin III and Kyrsten Sinema.

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

Democrats push Manchin on ‘nuclear option’ for voting rights — Senate Democrats are escalating pressure on Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to get behind using the “nuclear option” to change the filibuster and break a months-long stalemate on voting rights legislation.

Discussion: NBC News, Washington Post and Insider

Ben Terris / Washington Post: One year of ‘President Manchin’: For the Democratic agenda, all roads go through West Virginia

Ed Morrissey / HotAir:

Frisco mayor: By golly, what this city needs is “aggressive” policing instead of “bull****” — Defund in haste, repent at leisure. As disenchantment falls on residents of a city that was last seen as enchanting decades ago, its mayor has had an epiphany about defunding its police.

Discussion: Fox News, The Daily Wire, National Review, TheBlaze, Michael Shellenberger, CBS San Francisco, Breitbart, NOQ Report and Reason

Phil Mattingly / CNN:

Biden set to surpass Trump in first-year judicial nominees; a window into a major Democratic push — (CNN)President Joe Biden will soon announce his latest wave of nine judicial nominees, according to a White House official, capping a year where the selections — and an effort to establish …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

Monmouth University Polling Institute:

Most Americans ‘Worn Out’ By Covid — Public officials' Covid ratings down; dip in support for mandates — West Long Branch, NJ - A majority of Americans say they feel “worn out” by how Covid has impacted their daily lives, and nearly half feel “angry” about it.

Dionne Johnson / KLFY-TV:

Lafayette City Judge Michelle Odinet responds to use of racial slurs in home video following burglary — LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) — Lafayette City Court Judge Michelle Odinet confirmed with News 10 that over the weekend she and her family were victims of an armed burglary at their home in the upscale area of Bendel Gardens.

Discussion: The Advocate, Insider, CBS News and The Daily Beast

Washington Post:

This block used to be for first-time homebuyers. Then global investors bought in. — LA VERGNE, TENN. — The homes on Tammy Sue Lane aren't fancy. Modest in size and clad in vinyl siding, the houses were priced below $200,000 when most were built about 15 years ago …

HEATED:

Edelman's dirty PR — Public relations is in the midst of a climate reckoning. In the last few months, more than 210 advertising agencies and 600 independent creatives have signed the Clean Creatives pledge, promising to never create marketing for the fossil fuel industry.

Joe Concha / The Hill:

Hillary 2024? Given the competition, she may be the Dems' best hope — There may be a rematch coming in the 2024 race for the White House. But we're not talking (God help us) Biden-Trump II. — Instead, 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is an interesting prospect to consider …

Discussion: HotAir and The Western Journal

Alan Rappeport / New York Times:

Republicans Who Assailed Biden's Stimulus Bill Are Embracing the Money — Republican governors who criticized the $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill as wasteful are championing state projects funded by the money. — WASHINGTON — At her annual budget address this month, Gov. Kristi Noem …

Discussion: Washington Post and Vanity Fair

Anne Barnard / New York Times:

N.Y.C.'s Gas Ban Takes Fight Against Climate Change to the Kitchen — New York is set to become the nation's largest city to enact a ban on gas heat and stoves in new buildings. It's a major step away from fossil fuels that is expected to influence wider markets.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, PIX11, The Daily Caller and Associated Press

Tyler O'Neil / Fox News:

DeSantis takes aim at CRT training in schools and corporate America — DeSantis' administration moved against critical race theory in schools; now the governor is broadening his efforts — DeSantis: Americans are rebelling against the Democratic Party — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis …

Discussion: USA Today, Breitbart, Washington Examiner, Human Events, TheBlaze, The Capitolist, Florida Phoenix, POLITICUSUSA, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, The Daily Wire, Florida Politics, Townhall and The Federalist

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

The lawyer behind the Trump coup memo unmasks the absurdity of the coverup — In their frantic efforts to disrupt the work of the House select committee examining Jan. 6, Donald Trump's co-conspirators have advanced a singular argument: The committee lacks any “legitimate legislative purpose.”

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Raw Story, Politico and POLITICUSUSA

Jose Pagliery / The Daily Beast:

Trump Rang in Birthday by Inflating Golf Club's Value by $42 Million — The then-president celebrated his 71st birthday by inflating the value of his New York golf course by $42 million. That's now under investigation. — A small town north of New York City is now openly confirming …

Discussion: Insider, Raw Story and New York Times

Jaclyn Diaz / NPR:

A leader of an Ohio Muslim organization was fired for spying for a hate group — The Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations says it fired one of its top leaders after discovering he was sharing information about the organization to “a known anti-Muslim hate group.”

Discussion: USA Today, CAIR, Raw Story and Fox 8 Cleveland WJW

Yarimar Bonilla / New York Times:

The ‘West Side Story’ Remake We Didn't Need — Ms. Bonilla is the director of Centro, the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College, and a professor of anthropology at the City University of New York Graduate Center. — I have to confess that I never saw the original “West Side Story.”

Discussion: The Stranger

Houston Keene / Fox News:

White House hangs up on Rick Scott as senator calls about tortured Cuban human rights activist — Scott wrote, 'This isn't just weakness, it's shameful cowardice' — Son of Cuban exile runs for Virginia Attorney General — The White House hung up on Sen. Rick Scott when the Republican …

Discussion: Raw Story

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

The GOP plotted to overturn the 2020 election before it was even over — It's been clear for a long time that GOP efforts to overturn the 2020 election had no regard for actual evidence of supposedly widespread fraud (of which there still isn't any) and were more about doing whatever it took to hold on to power.

Discussion: The Hill, Raw Story and Talking Points Memo