Top Items:


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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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, CNN, Raw Story, Townhall, New York Daily News, New York Times, The Hill, Daily Kos, Semafor, Associated Press and The Gateway Pundit


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.


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.”

Justice Dept. sends Congress Jack Smith's report on Trump's effort to overturn 2020 election
Discussion:
The Guardian, The Independent, Reuters, Axios and Bloomberg

Trump rages after Smith report release: ‘Lamebrain prosecutor’
Discussion:
Washington Times, IJR, The Independent, The Sun, New York Post, The Post Millennial, NPR and Mediaite

Breaking: Special counsel's report on the January 6 case is now public
Discussion:
Forbes, Talking Points Memo, Axios, USA Today, Business Insider, ABC News, New York Daily News, Washington Examiner and Washington Times


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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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:
Al Jazeera


Hegseth Says He'd Be Pentagon ‘Change Agent,’ Rebuffing Critics at Confirmation Hearing
Discussion:
CNN, Scripps News, New York Post, The Guardian, Washington Post and Associated Press

Read: Full text of Pete Hegseth's opening statement
Discussion:
The Federalist, The Post Millennial, Mediaite, Fox News, IJR and Fox Business

Pete Hegseth's FBI background check does not include interviews with key women from his past
Discussion:
Time, Politico, NPR, acecomments.mu.nu, Mock Paper Scissors, Washington Post, The Independent, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, RedState, Fox News and The Federalist

Watch Live: Pete Hegseth confirmation hearing begins as Trump's defense pick faces senators
Discussion:
NBC News, Washington Post, The Independent, USA Today, The Hill and Washington Examiner

Hegseth's track record falls short of military standards: Dem senators
Discussion:
New York Daily News and Associated Press


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:
Wall Street Journal, BBC, The Hill, Fortune, Breitbart, Washington Times, Washington Examiner, Semafor, Vanity Fair, RedState, The American Conservative, The Gateway Pundit, Reuters, Forbes, New York Times, Music Ally, The Sun, Raw Story, Interesting Engineering, UPI, Al Jazeera, BGR, Variety, HuffPost, Fox Business, The Post Millennial, Dexerto, TechCrunch, Althouse, Mercury News, East Bay Times, Consequence, The Information, Daring Fireball and The Independent, more at Mediagazer »
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What is RedNote, the Chinese social media app that US TikTokers are flocking to?
Discussion:
Wired, Vibe, Courthouse News Service, New York Times, Fortune, CleanTechnica, Metro.co.uk, The Sun, Newsweek, RedState, NPR, 9to5Mac, IJR, Gay Pride, The Verge, New York Post, TechCrunch and Space Pirate Seeks, more at Mediagazer »


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
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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.”
Discussion:
Breitbart and Crooks and Liars, more at Techmeme »


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:
CNN, Chicago Sun Times, NBC News, CBS News, The Hill, Scripps News, USA Today, Washington Examiner, New York Post, New Jersey Online, Vibe, The Independent and Daily Mail
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Here's who is performing at Trump's inauguration
Discussion:
Forbes, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, USA Today, New York Daily News, Daily Mail, UPROXX, The Daily Signal, TMZ.com, Vanity Fair, Axios, New York Times, masslive.com, Associated Press, RADAR, HuffPost, One America News Network, UPI, Fox News, Consequence, Washington Examiner, Twitchy, The Hill, Deadline, Los Angeles Times and Deseret News


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:
The Forward, The Conversation, Just Security and Bloomberg


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, Raw Story, Townhall, Twitchy and Washington Examiner


A Life Sentence of Disgrace — It goes without saying that the big historic event of last week—maybe of the year—is the catastrophic L.A. Fire, which I will write about in the weeks ahead. But before we say farewell to Jimmy Carter's Long Goodbye, I wanted to tell you a bit about my experience …


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


The president who could not choose — “To govern is to choose, however difficult the choices may be.” —Pierre Mendès France, prime minister of France 1954-'55 — If you want to understand where Joe Biden's presidency went wrong, when his administration stopped looking …


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


Democrats will get amendments to Senate immigration bill, says key Republican — Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) said on Tuesday that there will “absolutely” be amendments to the Senate GOP's first immigration bill — indication that Republicans will agree to Democratic demands for a more expansive legislative debate.
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Examiner and Semafor


New Jersey Announces It's Stockpiling Abortion Pills Before Trump Takes Office — Gov. Phil Murphy is expected to make the announcement Tuesday, joining a number of other states in trying to safeguard access to mifepristone. — LOADING — New Jersey is joining a handful of states …


Consumer bureau sues Capital One for ‘cheating’ customers on savings account interest — The government's consumer watchdog on Tuesday sued Capital One for alleging “cheating” customers out of billions in interest payments. — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) …
Discussion:
New York Times, Forbes and Consumer Financial …


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 …


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 …
Discussion:
The Hill, Townhall, LGBTQ Nation, Forbes and Semafor


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 …


The Blood Is in the Water for Karen Bass — The feckless Los Angeles mayor is certain to lose her seat, if she isn't recalled first. “If it is true that she left the country on a Saturday after the warning came out, that is a dereliction of duty,” Ari Emanuel, who donated to Bass's campaign, told me.


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 …
Discussion:
Israpundit and USA Today