memeorandum: Is $100K Bond Fair for Woman Accused of Insurer Threats? Experts Weigh In (Andrew Stanton/Newsweek)

8:45 PM ET, December 15, 2024

Top Items:

David Enrich / New York Times:

Trump and His Picks Threaten More Lawsuits Over Critical Coverage — The small flurry of threatened defamation suits is the latest sign that the incoming Trump administration appears poised to do what it can to crack down on unfavorable media coverage. — The legal threats have arrived in various forms.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Guardian and Twitchy, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:
ABC to Pay $15 Million to Settle a Defamation Suit Brought by Trump

New York Times:

His Family Voted to Support Trump's Deportation Plan. That Includes Him. — His friends and family members in Rome, Ga., voted to support mass deportation. Now he's scrambling to stay in the country. — Jaime Cachua with his son Julian. He fears he will be deported.

Piper Hudspeth Blackburn / CNN:

Romney stands by Trump criticism but says MAGA is now the Republican Party — Sen. Mitt Romney, a frequent Donald Trump critic who will soon retire from Congress, stood by his criticism of the president-elect's character but said Trump and his MAGA movement now define the Republican Party.

Discussion: The Hill, RedState, Daily Caller News Foundation, The Independent, HuffPost, USA Today, New York Post, Mediaite, Politico and Washington Times

Jack Birle / Washington Examiner:
Romney defends Trump after ‘overwhelming’ win: 'Can't complain'

Discussion: RedState, The Hill, Mediaite, Salt Lake Tribune and CNN

Tom Boggioni / Raw Story:

Panicked CEOs left ‘scratching their heads’ as Trump ignores their warnings: WSJ — CEO's and business execs hoping to dissuade Donald Trump from enacting what they and many economists believe will be ruinous tariffs are finding he won't budge and that has them scrambling to find a way to get through to him.

Brian Schwartz / Wall Street Journal:
CEOs Want Trump to Change Course on Tariffs. He Isn't Budging.

Discussion: MPR News

Washington Post:
How Donald Trump broke the ice between RFK Jr. and drug company CEOs

Discussion: Al Jazeera and Washington Examiner

Pilar Arias / Fox News:

Bernie Sanders believes Hunter Biden pardon sets a ‘dangerous’ precedent — Sanders discusses Biden's legacy, one way he will work with President-elect Trump — Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., had two thoughts about President Biden pardoning his son Hunter Biden after previously saying he would not …

Discussion: HuffPost, New York Post, Daily Mail, The Hill and Washington Examiner

Alexandra Marquez / NBC News:
Sen. Bernie Sanders says Biden should ‘very seriously’ consider preemptive pardons

Discussion: The Hill

Axios:

Universities warn international students to return before Trump inauguration … They include the University of Southern California, Brown University, University of Pennsylvania, MIT and others. — USC in an email to students on special visas said they are expected to be in class …

Discussion: Breitbart and Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

Edward-Isaac Dovere / CNN:

Harris debates her future: A run for California governor that would take 2028 off the table — Top aides and people close to Kamala Harris have divided over whether she should head home to run for California governor in 2026 — and it all comes down to whether they believe she could win …

Discussion: Townhall, RedState, The Post Millennial and Los Angeles Times

Greta Reich / Politico:

Thom Tillis warns pressure campaign to push Cabinet nominees could backfire — “If anything they could create a structural problem for future nominees if they overreach,” the GOP senator said. — GOP Sen. Thom Tillis warned Sunday that pressure campaigns to push President-elect Donald …

Discussion: Raw Story, NBC News and Washington Examiner

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

McConnell has the chutzpah to complain about Trump's ‘America First’ — Mitch McConnell bears great responsibility for the return of Trump and his foreign policy. — Without minimizing the many factors responsible for reelecting the most unfit presidential candidate in U.S. history …

Discussion: Raw Story

Karoun Demirjian / New York Times:

Graham Says Hegseth Plans to Release Accuser From Confidential Agreement — Senator Lindsey Graham said that Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's defense secretary pick, promised to release his accuser from a settlement that his lawyer has said was already breached.

Discussion: The Independent, Raw Story, Sun-Sentinel, The Hill and Mediaite

Los Angeles Times:

Industrial and business groups send Trump a deregulatory wish list — More than a hundred industrial trade groups and chambers of commerce are urging President-elect Donald Trump to weaken or eliminate numerous Biden administration regulations on energy, air pollution, recycling …

Discussion: PoliticusUSA

Washington Post:

Elon Musk put $277 million into the election. Now he's $200 billion richer. — The tech mogul made a big bet on Donald Trump. By one measure, it has paid off handsomely. — Elon Musk's net worth has climbed by more than $200 billion in 2024, a massive increase in the same year …

Andrew Stanton / Newsweek:

Is $100K Bond Fair for Woman Accused of Insurer Threats? Experts Weigh In — Briana Boston, the 42-year-old woman accused of threatening Blue Cross Blue Shield after the health insurance company allegedly denied some medical claims by her, is being held on a $100,000 bond, according to local media.

Carole Cadwalladr / The Guardian:

‘Trump has been explicit about revenge’: Asif Kapadia on his new film about the threat to democracy — The man behind Amy and Senna has turned his attention to ‘techno-authoritarianism’ in the genre-defying 2073. He talks to our journalist - one of the movie's unlikely stars - about the events that fed his dystopian vision

Discussion: Deadline

James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:

Patrick Soon-Shiong's controversial shakeup at the L.A. Times: ‘Bias meter,’ opinion upheaval and a call for growth — Patrick Soon-Shiong had become accustomed to making the news. — He was the doctor and medical technology innovator who built a fortune, the striving South African immigrant …

Discussion: HotAir, more at Mediagazer »

The Hill:

RFK Jr. seeks to win over Senate GOP skeptics as he begins HHS meetings — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be seeking to ease any skepticism over his confirmation this week as he begins meetings with Senate Republicans over his nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Discussion: Reuters