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11:20 AM ET, January 14, 2025

memeorandum

 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.
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 …
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
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
Adam Wren / Politico:
Playbook: Hegseth, Senate Dems prepare for battle
Discussion: New Republic
Edith Olmsted / New Republic:
Trump Gets Insane Show of Support From Washington Post Editorial Board
Washington Post:
FBI did not interview Hegseth accuser ahead of hearing, people familiar say
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
Punchbowl News:   Jan. 6 committee members talk to White House about pardons
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:
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 …
Zeyi Yang / Wired:
With a TikTok Ban Looming, Users Flee to Chinese App ‘Red Note’
Politico:
Bannon taunts Musk: He doesn't have that much power  —  As Trump's big-tent GOP returns to power, Bannon and Musk have served as a prime example of the infighting already underway.  —  Steve Bannon taunted his fellow Trump ally Elon Musk on Tuesday, telling POLITICO that the president-elect's …
RELATED:
Politico:
Trump made the GOP a big-tent party. Now, he's stuck with the infighting.
Discussion: UnHerd
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 …
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 …
Discussion: CBS News and UPI
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
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 …
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 …
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 …
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.”
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:
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
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
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 …
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.
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.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Washington Post:
Ethics worries grow for Florida Democrat as state sues over $5 million covid payment
Discussion: Florida Politics
Julia Shapero / The Hill:
Trump says he had ‘very good experience with TikTok’ as court considers ban
Discussion: USA Today, RedState and Bloomberg
Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
Bullets and lobster tails: Pentagon spends nearly $80 billion in one-month spree
Discussion: The Daily Caller and OpenTheBooks
Megan Brenan / Gallup:
Americans See Little Progress in Key Areas Under Biden
Discussion: The Hill, Forbes and Semafor
Erin Doherty / Axios:
Trump picks historically young group of top officials
Julia Mueller / The Hill:
Senate GOP incumbents brace for MAGA primary challengers
Discussion: Politico, Axios and NOTUS
Joseph Choi / The Hill:
How Trump's Greenland demands could impact Ozempic costs
Discussion: RADAR
Sarah McCammon / NPR:
RFK Jr. faces a complicated confirmation with some opposition on both sides of the aisle
 Earlier Items: 
Peter Hamby / Puck:
The Blood Is in the Water for Karen Bass
Discussion: Townhall and Fox News
Washington Post:
Here's who is performing at Trump's inauguration
Bloomberg:
Dollar Falls on Report Trump Team Is Mulling Gradual Tariffs
Bob Bauer / Default:
Donald Trump and the Department of Justice
Darlene Superville / Associated Press:
Trump flies US flag at full height before end of 30-day mourning period following Carter's death
 

 
From Techmeme:

Andrew Hayward / Decrypt:
Donald Trump is promoting a Solana memecoin called TRUMP from his social media accounts, with 200M $TRUMP available now and growing to 1B “over three years”

Financial Times:
A profile of Charlwin Mao, founder of Xiaohongshu, or Little Red Book, who claims the name references the color of his university Stanford and ex-employer Bain

Wes Davis / The Verge:
Instagram now lets users upload Reels that are up to 3 minutes long, doubling the 90-second limit, as TikTok is set to go dark on Sunday

 
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