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:
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:
CBS News, USA Today, Al Jazeera, Politico and Axios
CBS News:
Watch Live: Pete Hegseth confirmation hearing begins as Trump's defense pick faces senators — What to know about Pete Hegseth's confirmation hearing — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's embattled pick to lead the Defense Department, is facing senators at his confirmation …
Discussion:
Military Times, NBC News, Politico, The Hill, Default, USA Today, Washington Examiner, Daily Kos, The Independent, Breitbart, New York Times, UPI and Roll Call
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, Scripps News, RedState, The Daily Signal, New York Post, Reuters, NBC News, Fox News, The Guardian, Washington Post, Associated Press and CBS News
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:
Wide World of News, Washington Examiner, Lawyers, Guns & Money, RedState and Raw Story
Mike Allen / Axios:
Read: Full text of Pete Hegseth's opening statement
Read: Full text of Pete Hegseth's opening statement
Discussion:
The Post Millennial, IJR and Fox Business
New York Times:
Live Updates: Pete Hegseth to Face Sharp Questions at Confirmation Hearing
Live Updates: Pete Hegseth to Face Sharp Questions at Confirmation Hearing
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, CNBC, CNN, The Independent, New York Post, Washington Post, The Hollywood Reporter, PBS NewsHour and The 19th
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 and The Gateway Pundit
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:
The Hill, ABC News, Axios, 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 and The Daily Caller
Deirdre Walsh / NPR:
Watch live: Confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth, Trump's secretary of defense pick
Watch live: Confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth, Trump's secretary of defense pick
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.
Discussion:
Daily Mail, USA Today, Scripps News, The Daily Signal, RedState, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Hill, Wait - what ?, New Jersey Online, Washington Examiner, Forbes, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Digby's Hullabaloo, UPI, Politico, The Japan Times, The Independent, Associated Press and Law & Crime
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 …
Discussion:
Fox News, RADAR, CNN, Daily Caller News Foundation, Townhall, New York Daily News, Mediaite, New York Post, NPR, New York Times, The Hill, Daily Kos, Associated Press, Semafor and The Gateway Pundit
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.”
Discussion:
The Guardian, Axios, The Bulwark, HuffPost, CBS News, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, MSNBC, Courthouse News Service, New Jersey Online, The Floridian, Mercury News, Politico, Associated Press, Raw Story, Deadline, Reuters, Bloomberg, The Independent, NewsNation, The Sun, Mediaite and Washington Times
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
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:
Forbes, Talking Points Memo, USA Today, Axios, Business Insider, ABC News, 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, The Gateway Pundit, Reuters, New York Times, Fortune, Forbes, Music Ally, UPI, The Sun, BGR, Raw Story, Interesting Engineering, HuffPost, Althouse, TechCrunch, The Post Millennial, Dexerto, Consequence, The Information, Variety, Semafor and Daring Fireball, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:
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
Elon Musk Is Expected to Use Office Space in the White House Complex
Discussion:
New Republic, New Jersey Online, Raw Story, The Dispatch, Rolling Stone and Business Insider
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 »
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 »
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:
New Jersey Online, Breitbart, RedState, IJR, Twitchy, Townhall, Raw Story and Washington Examiner
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.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, USA Today and The Hill
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 …
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
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.”
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:
New Republic, Reuters, Politico, UPI, E&E News, The Bulwark, Axios, The Independent, ABC News, Raw Story, Deadline, The Hill, New York Post, Washington Examiner and The Post Millennial
RELATED:
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
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 …
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:
The Hill, Los Angeles Times, Fox News, Variety, New York Post, The Hollywood Reporter, The Independent, Deadline, Mediaite, Raw Story and Status, more at Mediagazer »
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.
Discussion:
Fox News, Just Security, The Conversation, Bloomberg and Commentary Magazine
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 …
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.
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 …
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
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 …
Discussion:
RADAR