Top Items:
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.
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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.
Discussion:
USA Today, Al Jazeera, Politico and Axios
NBC News:
Pete Hegseth's FBI background check does not include interviews with key women from his past — The report doesn't have material from his ex-wives or a woman who accused Hegseth of sexual assault in 2017. Hegseth has said that encounter was consensual, and prosecutors never filed charges.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story and RedState
Bloomberg:
Hegseth Says He'd Be Pentagon ‘Change Agent,’ Rebuffing Critics at Confirmation Hearing — Trump pick says it's time for someone with ‘dust on his boots’ — Senate Armed Services Committee holds its confirmation hearing — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's choice for defense secretary …
Discussion:
Axios, CNN, The Hill, Scripps News, Reuters, RedState, New York Post, NBC News, The Daily Signal, The Guardian, Fox News, Washington Post, Associated Press and CBS News
Mike Allen / Axios:
Read: Full text of Pete Hegseth's opening statement — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump's controversial pick for secretary of Defense, will have his confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. — Why it matters: The former Fox News host and Army combat veteran likely faces …
Discussion:
IJR and Fox Business
Axios:
Scoop: Trump team sets red line on Hegseth's FBI background check
Scoop: Trump team sets red line on Hegseth's FBI background check
Discussion:
New York Times, UPI, 19FortyFive, NewsNation, Mediaite, ABC News, Politico, Breitbart, Fox News, Raw Story, USA Today, The Gateway Pundit and The Post Millennial
Washington Post:
FBI did not interview Hegseth accuser ahead of hearing, people familiar say
FBI did not interview Hegseth accuser ahead of hearing, people familiar say
Discussion:
Axios, CNBC, The Hill, The Independent, Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, New York Post, Raw Story and Wall Street Journal
Edith Olmsted / New Republic:
Trump Gets Insane Show of Support From Washington Post Editorial Board
Trump Gets Insane Show of Support From Washington Post Editorial Board
Discussion:
Politico, The Daily Caller, Rolling Stone and Mock Paper Scissors
CBS News:
Watch Live: Pete Hegseth confirmation hearing begins as Trump's defense pick faces senators
Watch Live: Pete Hegseth confirmation hearing begins as Trump's defense pick faces senators
Discussion:
NBC News, Default, CNN, Washington Examiner, USA Today, Washington Post, Associated Press, New York Times, UPI, The Guardian, The Independent, The Hill, Roll Call and Bloomberg
Deirdre Walsh / NPR:
Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for secretary of defense, faces tough confirmation hearing
Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for secretary of defense, faces tough confirmation hearing
Discussion:
Fox News and The Federalist
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.
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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 …
Discussion:
Fox News, RADAR, Daily Caller News Foundation, Townhall, Mediaite, New York Daily News, New York Post, NPR, The Hill, Daily Kos, National Legal …, Semafor, Associated Press, The Gateway Pundit, CNN and NBC News
NBC News:
Justice Dept. sends Congress Jack Smith's report on Trump's effort to overturn 2020 election — The special counsel's report calls Trump's claims that he was influenced by Biden for political reasons “laughable.” — WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump “inspired his supporters …
Discussion:
The Guardian, The Independent, Axios, Reuters, Bloomberg and Mercury News
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 Report on Trump's 2020 Election Subversion Is Damning
Discussion:
The Guardian, Axios, The Bulwark, HuffPost, CBS News, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, MSNBC, New Jersey Online, The Floridian, Courthouse News Service, Mercury News, Politico, Associated Press, Raw Story, NewsNation, Deadline, Reuters, Bloomberg, The Independent, The Sun, Mediaite and Washington Times
Chris Geidner / Law Dork:
Breaking: Special counsel's report on the January 6 case is now public
Breaking: Special counsel's report on the January 6 case is now public
Discussion:
USA Today, Forbes, Talking Points Memo, Axios, Business Insider, New York Daily News, Washington Examiner and Washington Times
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 …
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Examiner, Wall Street Journal, The Verge, New York Times, Fortune, Reuters, Music Ally, Forbes, Raw Story, UPI, The Sun, Althouse, BGR, HuffPost, Interesting Engineering, TechCrunch, The Post Millennial, Dexerto, Consequence, The Information, Variety, Semafor, The Gateway Pundit, Daring Fireball and NOTUS, more at Mediagazer »
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CNN:
What is RedNote, the Chinese social media app that US TikTokers are flocking to? — Hong Kong CNN — As Supreme Court justices ponder the future of TikTok in the United States, a growing number of American social media users have responded by moving to an unlikely alternative …
Discussion:
New York Times, CleanTechnica, The Sun, 9to5Mac, Gay Pride, TechCrunch and The Independent
New York Times:
Elon Musk Is Expected to Use Office Space in the White House Complex — The location suggests that Mr. Musk, who owns companies with billions of dollars in contracts with the federal government, will continue to have remarkable access to President-elect Donald J. Trump.
Discussion:
New Jersey Online, Raw Story, The Dispatch, Rolling Stone, Business Insider and Axios
Gnaneshwar Rajan / Reuters:
China mulls potential sale of TikTok US to Musk, Bloomberg News reports
China mulls potential sale of TikTok US to Musk, Bloomberg News reports
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, Fox Business, Washington Examiner, RedState, Raw Story, Deadline and The Verge, more at Mediagazer »
Zeyi Yang / Wired:
With a TikTok Ban Looming, Users Flee to Chinese App ‘Red Note’
With a TikTok Ban Looming, Users Flee to Chinese App ‘Red Note’
Discussion:
Fortune, TechCrunch, Newsweek, Metro.co.uk, NPR, IJR, The Verge, The 19th, Dexerto, New York Post and The Independent, more at Mediagazer »
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.
Discussion:
E&E News
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Malcolm Ferguson / New Republic:
Mike Johnson Vows to Hold Aid to California Hostage After Deadly Fires
Mike Johnson Vows to Hold Aid to California Hostage After Deadly Fires
Discussion:
The Bulwark, The Independent, Axios, Raw Story, The Hill, Washington Examiner and The Post Millennial
Politico:
‘Non-starter’: California Democrats blast GOP's fire trade
‘Non-starter’: California Democrats blast GOP's fire trade
Discussion:
Axios, NOTUS, The Hill and Vanity Fair
Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
Johnson confirms ‘discussions’ on tying wildfire aid to debt limit
Johnson confirms ‘discussions’ on tying wildfire aid to debt limit
Discussion:
E&E News, UPI, The Hill, ABC News, The Independent, New York Post, Deadline, Digby's Hullabaloo, Daily Kos and Raw Story
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 …
Discussion:
IJR, Twitchy, Raw Story, Townhall and Washington Examiner
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.”
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.
Discussion:
New York Times, Euromaidan Press and 19FortyFive
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 …
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Rebecca Carballo / Politico:
Biden's parting gift: Student loan debt relief
Biden's parting gift: Student loan debt relief
Discussion:
Bloomberg, CNBC, Associated Press, HotAir, One America News Network and The Gateway Pundit
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 …
Discussion:
Fox News, Variety, New York Post, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Raw Story and Status, more at Mediagazer »
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 …
Casey Newton / Platformer:
Meta goes mask-off — I. Notes on a theme — On Wednesday, as news of Meta's new guidelines permitting homophobic and transphobic speech on its platforms spread through the company, Loredana Crisan spoke up to defend them. — As she would tell employees in a previously unreported internal post obtained …
Ian Millhiser / Vox:
A new Supreme Court case seeks to make it harder to get screened for cancer — The Supreme Court announced on Friday that it will hear Becerra v. Braidwood Management, the latest in a long line of lawsuits seeking to undermine the Affordable Care Act, the landmark health reform law that President Barack Obama signed in 2010.
Discussion:
Daily Kos
The White House:
Statement by President Biden on the Executive Order on Advancing U.S. Leadership in Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure — The United States leads the world at the frontier of artificial intelligence (AI). Cutting-edge AI will have profound implications for national security …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, ABC News, The Hill, E&E News and Associated Press
Financial Times:
Is corporate America going Maga? — Donald Trump's election has accelerated a cultural shift in the nation's boardrooms — Last week Amazon announced plans to release a “behind the scenes” documentary about Melania Trump, produced by the incoming US first lady herself.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Daniel Villasenor / Governor of California:
Governor Newsom proposes billions in new funding for L.A. firestorm response and recovery — What you need to know: Through the ongoing special session of the Legislature, Governor Newsom, Pro tem McGuire and Speaker Rivas will work swiftly to provide Los Angeles with critical funding …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Scripps News, Washington Examiner, MyNewsLA.com, Bloomberg and Breitbart
Megan Brenan / Gallup:
Americans See Little Progress in Key Areas Under Biden — More think the U.S. lost than gained ground in a majority of economic, national and international areas — WASHINGTON, D.C. — As President Joe Biden prepares to leave office, Americans offer a largely negative assessment of the progress …