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12:30 PM ET, January 14, 2025

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 Top Items: 
New York Times:
Special Counsel Report Says Trump Would Have Been Convicted in Election Case  —  “But for Mr. Trump's election and imminent return to the presidency, the office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial,” the report said.
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Justice Dept. releases Trump special counsel report on Jan. 6 case  —  President-elect Donald Trump has tried to prevent the release of special counsel Jack Smith's report before he takes office next week.  —  If Donald Trump wasn't elected president in November, the Justice Department …
Norman Eisen / The Contrarian:
A Contrarian Take on Volume One of Jack Smith's Report  —  The fact that we are already familiar with almost all of the facts in the first volume of Jack Smith's final report on January 6th and Donald Trump's attempted self-coup, makes them no less horrifying.
Ryan Bort / Rolling Stone:
The Report on Trump's 2020 Election Subversion Is Damning  —  “The admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial,” Jack Smith's team wrote in the 130-page report … The 130-page report is damning, and concludes that “the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.”
Punchbowl News:
Jan. 6 committee members talk to White House about pardons
Discussion: HuffPost
Filip Timotija / The Hill:
Trump rages after Smith report release: ‘Lamebrain prosecutor’
Jane Mayer / New Yorker:
The Pressure Campaign to Get Pete Hegseth Confirmed as Defense Secretary  —  Supporters of Donald Trump's nominee have intimidated potential witnesses and suppressed the F.B.I. background check of the former Fox News host in the run-up to his Senate hearing.
RELATED:
Sarah Fitzpatrick / NBC News:
Former Fox anchor Gretchen Carlson makes request ahead of hearing  —  Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson and her nonprofit group sent a letter yesterday asking the Senate Armed Services Committee to allow an alleged victim of sexual assault to testify anonymously at Hegseth's confirmation hearing.
Bloomberg:
Hegseth Says He'd Be Pentagon ‘Change Agent,’ Rebuffing Critics at Confirmation Hearing
New York Times:
Live Updates: Pete Hegseth to Face Sharp Questions at Confirmation Hearing
CBS News:
Watch Live: Pete Hegseth confirmation hearing begins as Trump's defense pick faces senators
Military Times:
Hegseth's track record falls short of military standards: Dem senators
NBC News:
Pete Hegseth's FBI background check does not include interviews with key women from his past
Axios:
Scoop: Trump team sets red line on Hegseth's FBI background check
Bloomberg:
China Discusses Sale of TikTok US to Musk as One Possible Option  — ByteDance's preferred strategy is to fight ban, sources say  — Trump has said he would like to delay ban to seek resolution  —  Chinese officials are evaluating a potential option that involves Elon Musk acquiring …
RELATED:
Zeyi Yang / Wired:
With a TikTok Ban Looming, Users Flee to Chinese App ‘Red Note’
Darlene Superville / Associated Press:
Michelle Obama will skip Trump inauguration, but ex-Presidents Obama, Clinton and Bush will be there  —  Former first lady Michelle Obama will skip the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, the second time in two weeks that she is not attending a gathering of former U.S. leaders and their spouses …
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Here's who is performing at Trump's inauguration
Tara Suter / The Hill:
Bannon: Zuckerberg 'can't be trusted'  —  Steve Bannon, a former adviser to President-elect Trump, went after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a Monday episode of his “Bannon's War Room” podcast.  —  “Zuckerberg can't be trusted, at all,” Bannon said on his show, in a clip highlighted by Mediaite.
Discussion: Mediaite and Vanity Fair
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
Zuckerberg Debuts ‘Real Mark’ in Push to Woo Trump  —  Meta pursues a MAGA makeover, in the latest political pivot for a company that once banned the now-president-elect from its platforms  —  Mark Zuckerberg wants Donald Trump to get to know the “real Mark.”
Nahal Toosi / Politico:
Marco Rubio Isn't Likely to Last Long as Secretary of State  —  He's being undermined by fellow Republicans, and that's before he shows up to lead a workforce Trump distrusts.  —  Congratulations, Marco Rubio!  You'll soon be secretary of State.  —  Condolences, too.  You're not likely to last long in the job.
Jennifer Jacobs / CBS News:
Harris declines to invite Vance for courtesy visit to vice president's residence before inauguration  —  When JD Vance, his wife Usha and their three young children move into the Naval Observatory residence on Jan. 20, it will be their first time inside the white Queen Anne-style mansion …
Dylan Matthews / Vox:
The president who could not choose  —  Joe Biden's fatal flaw led to four years of weakness. … Build Back Better was a sweeping agenda of economic reform on the scale of the New Deal, meant to solidify its author as the “FDR-sized” president he wanted to be.  —  Dusting the text off now, you can feel that ambition.
Camille Mumford / Emerson Polling:
January 2025 National Poll: Democrats, Republicans, and Independents Agree U.S. is on the Wrong Track  —  Home Polls January 2025 National Poll: Democrats, Republicans, and Independents Agree U.S. is on the Wrong Track  —  A majority of voters think climate change contributed to raging California wildfires.
RELATED:
USA Today:
Exclusive poll: For Trump, a strengthened hand but skepticism on tax cuts, tariffs
Discussion: The Hill and Fox News
David R. Lurie / Public Notice:
Putin needs Trump's help more than ever  —  And Trump is signaling that he'll deliver.  —  It's been nearly three years since Vladimir Putin's despotic regime began its reign of terror against Ukraine by attempting to conquer the country and, in Putin's words, put an end to the “fictional” Ukrainian nation.
Washington Post:
Ethics worries grow for Florida Democrat as state sues over $5 million covid payment  —  Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick's self-reported income increased by millions of dollars the same year as the overpayment.  —  Questions surrounding a newly reelected Democratic lawmaker deepened …
Discussion: Florida Politics
Zach Montague / New York Times:
Biden's Push to Cancel Student Debt Surpasses 5 Million Borrowers  —  With Monday's authorization and 27 previous ones, the Biden administration has forgiven over $180 billion in student loans, even as its larger policy vision never took root.  —  The Education Department announced on Monday …
USA Today:
‘Conditions’ should be placed on California wildfire aid: House Speaker Mike Johnson  —  A number of Republicans are calling for conditions to any federal aid that goes to California as the state struggles with catastrophic wildfires.  One Democrat says it could come back to bite them.
RELATED:
Jennifer Rubin / The Contrarian:
It was the Best of Biden, It was the Worst of Biden  —  As President Biden's final days in public service wind down, his legislative accomplishments and the stumbles of his presidency are laid bare  —  The release of the first volume of Special Counsel Jack Smith's report provides …
New York Times:
Rashida Jones, MSNBC President, Steps Down  —  Rebecca Kutler, senior vice president of content strategy at MSNBC, will succeed Ms. Jones as interim president.  —  The president of MSNBC, Rashida Jones, is stepping down from that position, the company said on Tuesday, a major change …
 
 
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 More Items: 
Jordain Carney / Politico:
Democrats will get amendments to Senate immigration bill, says key Republican
Jonathan Alter / Washington Monthly:
A Life Sentence of Disgrace
Politico:
Bannon taunts Musk: He doesn't have that much power
Discussion: Israpundit and USA Today
Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
Bullets and lobster tails: Pentagon spends nearly $80 billion in one-month spree
Discussion: The Daily Caller and OpenTheBooks
Ian Millhiser / Vox:
A new Supreme Court case seeks to make it harder to get screened for cancer
Discussion: Daily Kos
 Earlier Items: 
Erin Doherty / Axios:
Trump picks historically young group of top officials
Financial Times:
Is corporate America going Maga?
Discussion: Raw Story
Julia Mueller / The Hill:
Senate GOP incumbents brace for MAGA primary challengers
Discussion: Politico and Axios
Joseph Choi / The Hill:
How Trump's Greenland demands could impact Ozempic costs
Discussion: RADAR
Casey Newton / Platformer:
Meta goes mask-off
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Greg Stohr / Bloomberg:
SCOTUS upholds the TikTok divest-or-ban law, says free speech rights must yield to concerns that Chinese control of the app creates a national-security risk

Winston Cho / The Hollywood Reporter:
A Florida jury finds that CNN defamed a US Navy veteran in a 2021 report portraying him as illegally exploiting Afghans, awards the veteran $5M

New York Times:
Report: a Russian org linked to Kremlin's influence campaigns placed Facebook ads worth ~$338K over 15 months ending in October, despite EU and US restrictions

 
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