Top Items:
National Review:
Republican Voters Can — and Should — Rethink Nominating Trump — To say Donald Trump is the front-runner for the Republican nomination is an understatement. He is above 60 percent in national polling averages and leads by roughly 30 points in Iowa. His lead is much narrower in New Hampshire …
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Hill, Raw Story, The Detroit News, Politico, The Messenger, New York Times and PoliticusUSA
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Associated Press:
Judge rescinds permission for Trump to give his own closing argument at his civil fraud trial — Donald Trump won't make his own closing argument in his New York civil business fraud trial after his lawyers objected to the judge's insistence that the former president would stick to “relevant” matters.
Joyce Vance / Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance:
Trump's Bad Day in Court — The first of many to come — Following Tuesday morning's oral argument in the District of Columbia, Donald Trump made some predictable comments to the press from a Washington, D.C., hotel. As he finished, a reporter shouted out a request that he use the moment to tell his followers, “No violence.”
Eddy Wax / Politico:
Trump vowed he'd ‘never’ help Europe if it's attacked, top EU official says — ‘By the way NATO is dead,’ the former (and potential future) US president added in private meeting. — BRUSSELS — One of Europe's most senior politicians recounted how former U.S. President Donald Trump privately warned …
Jose Pagliery / The Daily Beast:
Judge Signals Trump Is Doomed in New E. Jean Carroll Trial
Judge Signals Trump Is Doomed in New E. Jean Carroll Trial
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Forbes, Raw Story, Slate, New York Daily News, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, New Republic and The Messenger
Washington Post:
Hunter Biden makes surprise appearance at House contempt hearing — President's son also made an unexpected appearance last December to blast House Republicans who have subpoenaed him — Hunter Biden made an unexpected appearance on Capitol Hill on Wednesday morning …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, The Messenger, Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, Rolling Stone, Semafor, Raw Story, The Hill, Townhall, abc7NY, PoliticusUSA, The Guardian, IJR and Daily Kos
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Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:
Hunter Biden crashes House hearing on resolution to hold him in contempt
Hunter Biden crashes House hearing on resolution to hold him in contempt
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Messenger and Raw Story
Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Trump often passively encourages violence — and actively rationalizes it — There is no question that Donald Trump appears at least indifferent when his supporters engage in violence on his behalf. There are numerous examples and numerous compilations of those examples, to the extent that it barely warrants recapitulation.
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Guardian, The Bulwark, HuffPost, Metro.co.uk, Raw Story and Daily Kos
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Mick Mulvaney / The Hill:
Democrats play a dangerous game with dire warnings about Trump
Democrats play a dangerous game with dire warnings about Trump
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, RedState and Fox News
NBC News:
Trump promotes ‘totally baseless’ birther conspiracy theory against Nikki Haley — The former U.N. ambassador was born in South Carolina and is a U.S. citizen. — DES MOINES, Iowa — Donald Trump, the chief propagator of false birther claims first against then-President Barack Obama …
Discussion:
New York Times, NPR, Mediaite, The Guardian, New York Post, American Prospect, HuffPost, Mercury News and USA Today
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Victor Nava / New York Post:
Trump prosecutor accused of ‘improper’ relationship with Georgia DA Fani Willis billed $4K for meetings with WH officials — The special prosecutor that Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis is accused of having an “improper” relationship with billed the Fulton County DA's office $4,000 …
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Stephen Kruiser / PJ Media:
The Morning Briefing: Georgia Trump Haters Are Getting Their Fani Handed to Them
The Morning Briefing: Georgia Trump Haters Are Getting Their Fani Handed to Them
Discussion:
Townhall, Reuters, Twitchy and NewsNation
Judd Legum / Popular Information:
Florida school district removes dictionaries from libraries, citing law championed by DeSantis — The Escambia County School District, located in the Florida panhandle, has removed several dictionaries from its library shelves over concerns that making the dictionaries available to students would violate Florida law.
Discussion:
PEN America, The Forward, Diane Ravitch's blog and El País
The Messenger:
Speaker Johnson, Desperate To Avoid Mutiny, To Call Trump For Approval Check — 'He and I have a very close relationship. He's been an enthusiastic supporter of my leadership here," Johnson said of Trump — House Speaker Mike Johnson is reaching for the ultimate lifeline on Wednesday …
Discussion:
Fox News, Daily Caller News Foundation, Raw Story, Semafor, The Hill, New Republic and Washington Examiner
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Mia Jankowicz / Business Insider:
Fox News ran a conspiratorial segment saying the Pentagon wanted to use Taylor Swift as a psy-op — Fox News' Jesse Watters floated a brand new theory about Taylor Swift on Tuesday night. — He said the Pentagon had planned to make her an “asset” in a pro-President Joe Biden “psyop.”
Discussion:
HuffPost, Mediaite, BizPac Review, Crooks and Liars, The Daily Beast, UPROXX and Media Matters for America
Eugene Daniels / Politico:
Bosses in the Biden admin are pressed over young staffers' anonymous letters — Protest letters, like those over Israel, were rare in past administrations. White House veterans can barely contain their disdain over how times have changed. — Protest culture is shattering the last remaining barriers …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, RedState, Erick Erickson's Show Notes, Fox News and Althouse
Alex Sundby / CBS News:
TSA found a record number of guns at airport security checkpoints in 2023. Almost all of them were loaded. — The Transportation Security Administration found a record-setting 6,737 guns at airport security checkpoints in 2023, the agency announced Wednesday.
Annie Gowen / Washington Post:
Republican governors in 15 states reject summer food money for kids — Moving beyond efforts to block expansion of health care for the poor and disabled, Republican governors in 15 states are now rejecting a new, federally funded summer program to give food assistance to hungry children.
Discussion:
CBS News and Associated Press
Abdi Latif Dahir / New York Times:
Al Shabab Terrorist Group Captures U.N. Helicopter in Somalia — Somali officials said the helicopter was carrying nine passengers, one of whom was killed. — A United Nations helicopter carrying nine passengers was captured in Somalia on Wednesday by the terrorist group Al Shabab …
Discussion:
Reuters, Bloomberg and Al Jazeera
Matt Holt / The Messenger:
New Arizona Poll Finds Sinema Trails Gallego, Lake in Three-Way Matchup (Exclusive) — Biden and Trump are also locked in a dead heat in the state — A new poll from Arizona found that Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is far behind her potential general election opponents.
Discussion:
Political Wire
Roger Sollenberger / The Daily Beast:
Lauren Boebert's Ex-Husband Arrested on Weapons and Assault Charges — In addition to the assault and weapons counts, Boebert was also charged with harassment ("strikes shoves, kicks"), disorderly conduct, and trespassing, jail records show. — Jayson Boebert, the former husband of Rep. Lauren Boebert …
Discussion:
CBS News, Associated Press, BizPac Review, East Bay Times, Denver Post, New York Post, Raw Story, Political Wire and UPROXX
Jonathan Martin / Politico:
Why Haley Won't Break Through — Today's GOP is split along class lines, and her college-grad supporters aren't the majority. — WAUKEE, Iowa — Nikki Haley's Tuesday rally outside Des Moines was a fittingly pedestrian event in this desultory excuse of a presidential primary.
Discussion:
The Hill, National Review, Bloomberg, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Guardian, Fox News and BizPac Review
Jon Henley / The Guardian:
Adopting rightwing policies ‘does not help centre-left win votes’ — Study of European electoral data suggests social democratic parties alienate supporters by moving towards the political centre — Adopting rightwing policies on issues such as immigration and the economy does …
New York Post:
Hunter Biden knew most of his art buyers despite sham ‘ethics’ plan — contradicting the White House: dealer — WASHINGTON — Hunter Biden's Manhattan art dealer said Tuesday that he never worked with the White House on an ethics pact to ensure buyers would remain anonymous …
Joseph Choi / The Hill:
ObamaCare enrollment breaks record for third consecutive year — Health insurance enrollment through the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) insurance marketplace has reached a record for the third consecutive year, according to the latest update from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Discussion:
New York Times, The White House and Balloon Juice
Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling / Washington Monthly:
Psst: Joe Biden Has Solved the Student Debt Crisis — This past fall, with student loan payments set to resume after the pandemic pause, dread was setting in. My pre-pandemic monthly payments had been a crippling burden that made saving money impossible; the pause was a lifeline that had allowed …
Discussion:
Forbes