memeorandum: Colorado shooter's 2021 case dropped for lack of cooperation (Associated Press)

12:35 PM ET, December 9, 2022

Top Items:

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema: Why I'm registering as an independent — The Arizona senator explains why she has left the Democratic Party. — There's a disconnect between what everyday Americans want and deserve from our politics, and what political parties are offering.

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Sinema switches to independent, shaking up the Senate — Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is changing her party affiliation to independent, delivering a jolt to Democrats' narrow majority and Washington along with it. — In a 45-minute interview, the first-term senator told POLITICO …

Jeremy Herb / CNN:

Sinema leaving the Democratic Party and registering as an independent — Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is leaving the Democratic Party and registering as a political independent, she told CNN's Jake Tapper in an exclusive TV interview. — “I've registered as an Arizona independent.

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

The politics of Kyrsten Sinema's party switch — Four days ago, we wrote about a few reasons the Georgia Senate runoff — and whether Democrats' majority would grow to 51-49 — mattered, practically speaking. One of those reasons? The possibility of a party switch.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Arizona Republic, Fox News, Inside Elections, Bloomberg and PoliticusUSA

Daniel Victor / New York Times:

Kyrsten Sinema Says She Will Leave the Democratic Party — The senator is registering as an independent, noting that she “never fit perfectly in either national party.” — Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, whose centrist approach pitted her against parts of President Biden's agenda …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Liberty Loft and Raw Story

Axios:
Kyrsten Sinema goes independent, scrambles Senate

Discussion: The Hill, NBC News, CBS News, Raw Story, Fox News, Washington Times, RedState, Louder With Crowder, Morning Shots, Insider, HuffPost and CNN

Marianne LeVine / Politico:
White House, Senate Dem leader: Our relationship with Sinema won't change

Discussion: Insider, The Hill and The Daily Caller

NBC News:
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema leaves Democratic Party and registers as an independent

Discussion: New York Post, The Wrap, NPR, The Daily, Raw Story and IJR

CNN:

House Republicans brace for doomsday scenario if McCarthy falls short of 218 votes for speaker — As a right-wing faction threatens to tank his speakership ambitions, House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy delivered a promise: “I'll never leave,” making clear he has no plans to drop out of the race …

Discussion: Raw Story and American Greatness

Associated Press:

Brittney Griner back home in US after Russian prisoner swap — Brittney Griner returned to the United States early Friday, nearly 10 months after the basketball star's detention in Russia made her the most high-profile American jailed abroad and set off a political firestorm.

Alex Gangitano / The Hill:

White House responds to criticism of Griner prisoner deal — The White House stressed on Thursday that it is committed to bringing home former Marine Paul Whelan and will remain vigilant over Viktor Bout's release amid a backlash of criticism over a prisoner swap deal that released WNBA star Brittney Griner …

Washington Examiner:
Joe Biden made a bad, deadly deal to free Brittney Griner

Discussion: The Daily Caller, CNN, The Full Belmonte, New York Post, Breitbart, The Western Journal, Politico, The Hill and Twitchy

Julia Ioffe / Puck:
Inside the Griner Prisoner Swap

Discussion: The American Conservative, New York Times, Algemeiner.com, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, The Wrap, Metro Weekly, Associated Press, New York Post, The Daily Caller and Mother Jones

Daniel Greenfield / Frontpage Mag:
Biden Saves Woke WNBA Player, Leaves Ex-Marine Behind

Discussion: NH Journal

Washington Free Beacon:
A Shameful Prisoner Swap

Discussion: Breitbart, Associated Press, The Hill, The Daily Caller, NBC4 Washington, The Western Journal and Metro.co.uk

Dave Zirin / MSNBC:
Brittney Griner should have never had to be in Russia in the first place

Discussion: CBS News, Agence France-Presse, Semafor, Las Vegas Review-Journal, CNN, ABC News, The Root, Twitchy, Oregonian, The Daily Caller and ESPN

Phillip Nieto / Fox News:
Who is Paul Whelan? Former US Marine left behind in Brittney Griner-Viktor Bout exchange

Meridith McGraw / Politico:

Private RNC member emails reveal anger at Trump, frustration with McDaniel's response to him — A handful of Republican National Committee members denounced former President Donald Trump, with one pushing for fellow members and RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel to forcefully condemn his decision …

Discussion: Raw Story and Just The News

NBC News:

Ronna McDaniel locked down votes for RNC chair despite the midterm debacle. Here's how she did it. — WASHINGTON — Ronna McDaniel's behind-the-scenes campaign for a fourth term as chairwoman of the Republican National Committee began midmorning on what would become a hellish day for the GOP: Nov. 8, the day of the midterm elections.

Discussion: RedState

Washington Post:

Justice Department asks judge to hold Trump team in contempt over Mar-a-Lago case — The request came after months of mounting frustration from the Justice Department with the former president's lawyers. — Prosecutors have urged a federal judge to hold Donald Trump's office in contempt …

New York Times: Judge to Hear Justice Dept. Contempt Request in Trump Documents Case

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

Trump's 2024 Campaign So Far Is an Epic Act of Self-Sabotage — But is this really the end of an error? — The official campaign for the 2024 Republican Presidential nomination is barely three weeks old, but there is one clear takeaway so far: Donald Trump is running against himself—and losing.

Discussion: Raw Story and Bloomberg

Jessica Piper / Politico:
Trump cash haul spiked after 2024 launch — but not as high as in the past

Discussion: Washington Examiner

NBC News:

Russia is providing ‘unprecedented’ military support to Iran in exchange for drones, officials say — Russia is now providing an “unprecedented level” of military and technical support to Iran in exchange for Tehran supplying weapons for the war in Ukraine, senior Biden administration officials say.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and CNN

Politico:

Biden earned political capital this fall. He's quietly spending it. — White House officials and senior Democrats believe the party's better-than-expected fall has relieved considerable pressure on Joe Biden to act quickly on a reelection bid. — But they're still making moves.

Discussion: Associated Press

Julia Shapero / The Hill:
Sanders will give 2024 ‘a hard look’ if Biden doesn't run: adviser

Discussion: Fox News, The Post Millennial, Just The News, HuffPost, New York Post, CBS News, Washington Examiner and The Daily Wire

Shawn McCreesh / New York Magazine:

Just What Did the Times Walkout Change? — As they have been threatening to do for months now, the New York Times newsroom went on a one-day strike today. — As a reader, you might not have noticed. The paper got its Brittney Griner-is-free scoop out on a push notification before the Washington Post did.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and TheBlaze, more at Mediagazer »

Claudia Irizarry Aponte / The City:
The Other New York Times Workers On Strike

Discussion: Algemeiner.com, FiveThirtyEight, The Peoples Voice, Vanity Fair, Magic + Loss, National Review, The Wrap, Slate, American Greatness and Twitchy, more at Mediagazer »

Allie Griffin / New York Post:

Non-binary Biden nuclear official Sam Brinton accused in second luggage heist — A Biden energy department official who allegedly stole a woman's suitcase from a Minneapolis airport in September has been accused of another luggage heist at a Las Vegas airport.

Washington Post:

War has tamed Ukraine's oligarchs, creating space for democratic change — Ukraine may have the opportunity to rebuild a postwar society that is more democratic, less corrupt and more economically diversified — BURSHTYN, Ukraine — Over two days in October, eight Russian cruise missiles screamed …

CNN:

First on CNN: January 6 committee considers criminal referrals for at least 4 others besides Trump — The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection is considering criminal referrals for at least four individuals in addition to former President Donald Trump, multiple sources told CNN.

Discussion: HuffPost, Bloomberg, Mediaite, The Wrap, Just Security, The Hill, Raw Story, Politico and Washington Examiner

Nate Raymond / Reuters:

Making PACER court records system free wouldn't add to deficit, CBO says — Making the federal judiciary's online court records system known as PACER free under a pending bill in the U.S. Senate would not add to the federal deficit as initially presumed, but would actually cut it by $14 million …

CNN:

CNN Poll: Views of the state of the country are slightly improved, but Americans' economic concerns remain — Americans' views of the state of the nation have bounced back slightly since earlier this year, a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds, but public perception of the economy remains grim.