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8:50 AM ET, January 14, 2025

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 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.
RELATED:
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: NPR, Raw Story, Fox News and The Federalist
Axios:
Scoop: Trump team sets red line on Hegseth's FBI background check … - That means no FBI background check access for rank-and-file senators, according to two people familiar with the matter.  — Senate Armed Services chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and ranking member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) have been briefed on the report.
Adam Wren / Politico:
Playbook: Hegseth, Senate Dems prepare for battle  —  With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  JACK SMITH'S MIDNIGHT RIDE — Six days before President-elect DONALD TRUMP is due to be sworn as the victor of the 2024 election, special counsel JACK SMITH's report …
Mike Allen / Axios:
Read: Full text of Pete Hegseth's opening statement
Discussion: Fox Business
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 …
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 …
Punchbowl News:
Jan. 6 committee members talk to White House about pardons … In an interview, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who chaired the Jan. 6 committee, said he spoke to the White House counsel's office last month about the issue.  Thompson noted that he hadn't talked directly with President Joe Biden on the topic …
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:
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.
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 and The Independent
RELATED:
Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
Johnson confirms ‘discussions’ on tying wildfire aid to debt limit
Politico:
‘Non-starter’: California Democrats blast GOP's fire trade
Discussion: NOTUS, The Hill and Vanity Fair
Joseph Choi / The Hill:
How Trump's Greenland demands could impact Ozempic costs  —  President-elect Trump's threat to tariff Denmark if it resists his acquisition plans for the island territory of Greenland could disrupt one export that is wildly popular in America: Ozempic.  —  Trump added Denmark to his growing list …
RELATED:
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 …
RELATED:
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 …
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.
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.”
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 …
Darlene Superville / Associated Press:
Trump flies US flag at full height before end of 30-day mourning period following Carter's death  —  U.S. flags at President-elect Donald Trump 's private Mar-a-Lago club are back to flying at full height.  Flags are supposed to fly at half-staff through the end of January out of respect …
Edith Olmsted / New Republic:
Trump Gets Insane Show of Support From Washington Post Editorial Board  —  The Washington Post's editorial board made the mind-boggling decision Monday to say they support all but four of Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees, and their rationales were as unconvincing as they were brief.
Julia Mueller / The Hill:
Senate GOP incumbents brace for MAGA primary challengers  —  Several GOP Senate incumbents are already staring down the threat of primary challenges next year as friction builds between the MAGA and establishment wings.  —  Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who plans to run for reelection in 2026 …
Discussion: Axios and NOTUS
The White House:
Statement from President Biden Announcing the Names of CVN 82 and CVN 83  —  I am proud to announce that the next two Gerald R. Ford-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers will be named for two former presidents: Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.  —  When I personally delivered the news to Bill and George, they were deeply humbled.
Devlin Barrett / New York Times:
Special Counsel Report on Hunter Biden Denounces President's Criticism of Case  —  The report by the special counsel, David C. Weiss, criticized President Biden for making “baseless accusations” that threatened “the integrity of the justice system as a whole.”
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 …
Jonathan Chait / The Atlantic:
Maybe It Was Never About the Factory Jobs  —  The theory that populist economic policies can win back the working class for Democrats has been tried, and it has failed.  —  if there was any place in America where President Joe Biden's economic agenda ought to have won him votes, it would have been Lordstown, Ohio.
Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo
Hafiz Rashid / New Republic:
Elon Musk Exposed Over Right-Wing Lie on L.A. Fires  —  Elon Musk was fact-checked on his own livestream after making false statements about the California wildfires, and Gavin Newsom was quick to call out the tech mogul on social media.  —  In a post on X Sunday night …
Washington Post:
Here's who is performing at Trump's inauguration  —  Trump's inauguration performers include Carrie Underwood, Village People and Christopher Macchio.  —  The festivities planned for President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration next week symbolize a vibrant return to the White House …
Politico:
Trump made the GOP a big-tent party.  Now, he's stuck with the infighting.  —  The clashes are a preview to the challenges the president-elect faces.  —  A coalition of MAGA die-hards, tech bros and blue-collar workers were key to Donald Trump's November victory.  —  Now, some of them are already at each other's throats.
Discussion: UnHerd
Sarah McCammon / NPR:
RFK Jr. faces a complicated confirmation with some opposition on both sides of the aisle  —  As confirmation hearings begin for President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet, his nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services is facing pushback from members of both parties.
Politico:
Gavin Newsom and California Democrats reach $50M deal to Trump-proof the state  —  The first-of-its-kind agreement would fund litigation against the incoming White House and protect against a potential mass deportation of immigrants.  —  SACRAMENTO, California — California Democrats …
 
 
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 More Items: 
USA Today:
Exclusive poll: For Trump, a strengthened hand but skepticism on tax cuts, tariffs
Discussion: Fox News and The Hill
Peter Hamby / Puck:
The Blood Is in the Water for Karen Bass
Discussion: Townhall and Fox News
Bloomberg:
Dollar Falls on Report Trump Team Is Mulling Gradual Tariffs
Bob Bauer / Default:
Donald Trump and the Department of Justice
Angela Fu / Poynter:
A rare newspaper war was brewing in Baltimore. Then a billionaire owner began meddling.
Gary Levin / USA Today:
Rachel Maddow returns to nightly MSNBC show for first 100 days of Trump presidency
 Earlier Items: 
New York Times:
News Outlets Take Unusual Steps to Prepare for Onslaught From Trump
Daniel Lippman / Politico:
Past work for Liz Cheney cost a ‘sherpa’ his Trump transition role
Discussion: Raw Story
Josh Fiallo / The Daily Beast:
Star Washington Post Columnist Torches Paper on Her Way Out the Door
David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Biden Aides Warned Putin as Russia's Shadow War Threatened Air Disaster
Rachel Selzer / Democracy Docket:
North Carolina Judge Denies Republicans' Request To Toss 60,000 Ballots
Discussion: Salisbury Post and Democrats
Jason Koebler / 404 Media:
Meta Is Blocking Links to Decentralized Instagram Competitor Pixelfed