memeorandum: Georgia special grand jury wraps up probe of Trump, allies (Kate Brumback/Associated Press)

2:50 PM ET, December 24, 2022

Top Items:

Arizona Judge Rejects Kari Lake's Effort to Overturn Her Election Loss — Kari Lake, a Republican who was defeated by Katie Hobbs in the Arizona governor's race, had made false election claims the centerpiece of her campaign. — A state judge on Saturday rejected Kari Lake's last-ditch effort …

Isaac Stanley-Becker / Washington Post:

Judge rules against Kari Lake in bid to overturn election results — The defeated GOP candidate for Arizona governor claimed that illegal voting and printer malfunctions had cost her the November election — An Arizona judge on Saturday rebuffed an effort by Kari Lake …

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, CBS News, Axios, The Gateway Pundit, PJ Media, Associated Press and Arizona Republic

New York Times:

How the Worst Fears for Democracy Were Averted in 2022 — A precariously narrow but consequential slice of the electorate broke with its own voting history to reject openly extremist Republican candidates — at least partly out of concern for the health of the political system.

Discussion: The Hill

Michael Barajas / Bolts:
Ten Questions that Will Shape Democracy and Voting Rights in 2023

Discussion: Election Law Blog

The Athletic:

Mets have concerns with Carlos Correa's physical: Sources — It's the physical. Again. — The New York Mets, like the San Francisco Giants earlier in the week, have raised concerns about Carlos Correa's surgically repaired lower right leg, potentially jeopardizing their 12-year …

Discussion: New York Daily News and New York Post

Kenneth Li / Reuters:

Twitter restores suicide prevention feature after Reuters report — Twitter Inc restored a feature that promoted suicide prevention hotlines and other safety resources to users looking up certain content, after coming under pressure from some users and consumer safety groups over its removal.

Discussion: Bloomberg and New York Daily News, more at Techmeme »

Yasmin Tayag / The Atlantic:

How Many Republicans Died Because the GOP Turned Against Vaccines? — No country has a perfect COVID vaccination rate, even this far into the pandemic, but America's record is particularly dismal. About a third of Americans—more than a hundred million people—have yet to get their initial shots.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Kate Brumback / Associated Press:

Georgia special grand jury wraps up probe of Trump, allies — A special grand jury investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and his allies illegally tried to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election in Georgia appears to be wrapping up its work, but many questions remain.

Discussion: The Western Journal and Raw Story

Michael Luciano / Mediaite:

Eric Bolling Rips 'Putin's Press Secretary' Tucker Carlson for Innuendo About Lindsey Graham's Personal Life — Newsmax host and former Fox News talking head Eric Bolling said “Putin's press secretary” Tucker Carlson owes Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) an apology for comments he made about the senator's personal life.

Discussion: The Mahablog, IJR and Trends Journal

New York Times:

Putin Wants Fealty, and He's Found It in Africa — The Russian president has unleashed a new disorder on the world with his war in Ukraine, and the Central African Republic may be its ultimate expression. — BANGUI, Central African Republic — In early March, as Russia's invasion …

Mark Chiusano / Newsday:

George Santos' congressional freshman yearbook entries come with questions — Besides a photo and party affiliation, there are only three pieces of personal information in George Santos' entry for the recently released 118th Congress freshman yearbook — and all three of them come with questions.

Guillermo / Foreign Policy Research Institute:

A Nation Must Think Before it Acts How the Battle for the Donbas Shaped Ukraine's Success — A nation must think before it acts. — BOTTOM LINE — As the Russian-Ukrainian War enters the winter, Ukrainians have reason to be cautiously optimistic about the course of the war.

Discussion: TASS

Washington Post:
Inside the monumental, stop-start effort to arm Ukraine

Discussion: Al Jazeera and The Guardian

Farhad Manjoo / New York Times:

Elon Musk's Twitter Antics Are Hurting Tesla's Brand — Not long ago, Tesla's electric vehicles were far and away the best on the market. If you wanted a stylish, long-range, easy-to-charge and feature-packed E.V., Elon Musk would be your most likely supplier — even if you hated his guts.

Discussion: Boston Herald, Bloomberg and Wall Street Journal

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Tucker Carlson's rage at Zelensky caps a year of getting things wrong — After Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a rousing speech to U.S. lawmakers this week, Tucker Carlson unleashed a diatribe that put schoolyard sadists everywhere to shame. “No one's ever addressed the United States Congress …

Discussion: Anti-Imperialist League, Mediaite, Digby's Hullabaloo, Let's Fix This Country, The Hill, Comic Sands, IJR and The Daily Beast

Peter Sterne / City & State New York:

'It's on life support.' Hochul's chief judge pick faces existential opposition — A growing number of Democrats have expressed publicly that they will vote against Hector LaSalle, possibly pressuring the governor to appeal to Republicans. — Gov. Kathy Hochul has so far stuck by her choice.

Discussion: New York Post, Semafor, Gothamist, Law Dork, with Chris Geidner, New York Daily News, New York Times and New York Amsterdam News

James Fallows / Breaking the News:

The Skill Involved in Zelensky's Congressional Address — The words of the speech were ‘left brain,’ with careful writerly eloquence. The in-person performance was ‘right brain,’ with emotional power beyond the words. The combination was remarkable. — This post starts with some major …

Discussion: Big League Politics, Los Angeles Times, The Post Millennial and The Hill

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

The Jan. 6 report's most important finding: Trump enabled extremist groups — It will take weeks to absorb the massive, 845-page report from the House Jan. 6 select committee. No doubt, certain sections will receive more attention than others, such as Chapter 1, about Donald Trump's role …