memeorandum: Lisa Murkowski Will Bring Back Bill To Help Abused Native Women (Jennifer Bendery/HuffPost)

7:10 AM ET, December 27, 2018

Top Items:

James LaPorta / Newsweek:

Donald Trump Twitter Account Video Reveals Covert U.S. Navy SEAL Deployment During Iraq Visit — President Donald Trump and the White House communications team revealed that a U.S. Navy SEAL team was deployed to Iraq after the president secretly traveled to the region to meet …

Discussion: Associated Press, Raw Story, The Week, Splinter, Washington Post and Bloomberg

Wall Street Journal:

The Constant Spin Zone — How one publication reported Trump's trip to see troops in Iraq. — By The Editorial Board — President Trump and his wife Melania made a surprise visit to American soldiers in Iraq on Wednesday, and you would think that would be a straightforward event to write up.

Reuters:

Iraqi lawmakers criticize Trump visit as blow to Iraqi sovereignty — BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi political and militia leaders condemned U.S. President Donald Trump's surprise visit to U.S. troops in Iraq on Wednesday as a violation of Iraq's sovereignty, and lawmakers said a meeting between Trump …

Discussion: Townhall

Benjamin Siegel / ABC News:
President Donald Trump makes surprise Christmas visit to troops in Iraq in first trip to combat zone

Discussion: twitchy.com, CNBC, The Daily Caller, The Hill, The Last Refuge, The Gateway Pundit, The Week, Washington Times, Breitbart, Mediaite, Joe.My.God., Politico, One America News Network and The Root

The Daily Beast:
Trump to Troops in Iraq: 'We're No Longer the Suckers, Folks'

Discussion: The Last Refuge, CBS New York and Wall Street Journal

Darlene Superville / Associated Press:
Trump in Iraq on first visit to troops in troubled region

Discussion: Task & Purpose and Daily Wire

Matt Wilstein / The Daily Beast:

MSNBC Beats Fox News in Weekly Cable News Ratings for First Time Since 2000 — MSNBC ended the week of Dec. 21st with the #1 cable news ratings on television, beating Fox News for the first time in 17 years. For the Monday through Friday leading up to the Christmas holiday …

NBC Universal:

MSNBC IS THE #1 CABLE NEWS NETWORK FOR WEEK OF DEC. 17, BEATING FOX NEWS FOR 1ST TIME IN 17 YEARS — MSNBC Dominates Cable News in Sales Day (M-F 6a-2a) with Total Viewers, Finishing #1 for the Week and Topping FOX News for 1st Time Since 2000; MSNBC Also Tops FOX News in A25-54 for 1st Time Since 2001

David Bauder / Associated Press:
Bad headlines for Trump also means ratings slump for Hannity

Discussion: The Week and Joe.My.God.

Brandon Kochkodin / Bloomberg:

Here Are Three Crazy Market Statistics on a Wild Day of Trading — To say that U.S. stocks trading has been odd this week seems like an understatement. — All three major U.S. indexes gained at least 4 percent on Wednesday. That's the first time that's happened since 2011.

Jessica Menton / Wall Street Journal:

Dow Industrials Leap More Than 1,000 Points — Rebound pulls Dow industrials, S&P 500 from brink of bear market — The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 1,000 points for the first time in a single session Wednesday, rebounding after a bruising four-day selloff put the blue-chip index …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Mediaite

Thomas Heath / Washington Post:
Dow Jones industrial average rises over 2 percent as U.S. stock markets try to recover …

Discussion: Townhall and Wall Street Journal

Mark Maremont / Wall Street Journal:

Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker Incorrectly Claims Academic All-American Honors — Claim from Whitaker's University of Iowa football days listed on résumé and government documents — Matthew Whitaker, the acting U.S. Attorney General, has incorrectly claimed …

Discussion: Splinter, Daily Kos, POLITICUSUSA, Contemptor, Joe.My.God. and Mediaite

Josh Kovensky / Talking Points Memo: WSJ: Whitaker Fudged Academic Honors On Resume, Gov Documents

New York Times:

As Shutdown Continues, Resolution May Depend on Definition of ‘Wall’ — WASHINGTON — With a partial government shutdown stretching past Day 5, the impasse over funding a wall at the southwestern border has highlighted the debate over effective border security, with a breakthrough possibly hinging …

Michael Burke / The Hill:
Trump says he wants to visit border wall before State of the Union

Discussion: Hit & Run and Political Wire

Garrett Ross / Politico:
Trump says he will do ‘whatever it takes’ to secure funding for border wall

Discussion: Associated Press

Annie Grayer / CNN:
Mark Meadows says Trump is still ‘very firm’ on the wall as shutdown drags on

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and The Daily Signal

Cameron Easley / Morning Consult:

Trump's Popularity Revisits Low as Government Agencies Shut Down — Plurality of voters say president mostly to blame for funding lapse amid fight over border wall — President Donald Trump told Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Dec. 11 that he would be “proud” to shut down the government over border security.

Discussion: TheStreet, Raw Story, The Resurgent, Mediaite and Talking Points Memo

New York Times:
Trump Makes Surprise Visit to American Troops in Iraq

Discussion: The Resurgent, AOL, Raw Story, BuzzFeed News, RedState, NBC News and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

USA Today:

USA TODAY/Suffolk Poll: What do Democrats want in 2020? Someone new - and Biden. But definitely not Hillary — Former Vice President Joe Biden hints at a 2020 run, saying he thinks he's “the most qualified person” in this Country to be president. Veuer's Justin Kircher has the story. — CONNECT

Discussion: The Week and Joe.My.God.

Chris Smith / Vanity Fair:
“Democrats Don't Like to Be Told Who to Vote For”: Obama Has Flirted with Beto and Other Potential …

Discussion: Breitbart, Conservative News Today and The Week

Max Read / New York Magazine:

How Much of the Internet Is Fake? Turns Out, a Lot of It, Actually. — In late November, the Justice Department unsealed indictments against eight people accused of fleecing advertisers of $36 million in two of the largest digital ad-fraud operations ever uncovered.

more at Mediagazer »

politics.myajc:

‘Deportation bus’ candidate reports to jail following indictment — State senator and former Republican gubernatorial candidate Michael Williams turned himself into Hall County jail Wednesday, days after news broke that he had been indicted on charges that included insurance fraud.

Discussion: Raw Story

Associated Press: Georgia ‘deportation bus’ GOP candidate reports to jail

Andrew Restuccia / Politico:

How Trump gave away his secret war zone trip — The tweets stopped and soon the jig was up. — President Donald Trump's trip to Iraq this week, his first to a war zone as president, was supposed to be a surprise. But the White House couldn't keep the sensitive trip a secret for long.

Discussion: Breitbart and The Gateway Pundit

Wall Street Journal:

Investors Fret Over Khashoggi Killing but Still Maintain Saudi Ties — Many businesses have linked their future to Saudi money and the kingdom's sweeping economic overhauls — On Oct. 12, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson announced he was pulling out of talks on a $1 billion deal …

more at Mediagazer »

Audrey McNamara / The Daily Beast:
Russia Warns United States: Don't Interfere in Saudi Royal Succession

Discussion: Bloomberg

Carla Herreria / HuffPost:

Homeland Security Chief Faults Parents, ‘Open Border’ Supporters In Migrant Kids' Deaths — Kirstjen Nielsen ordered an overhaul of medical screening procedures at the Mexican border after Felipe Gómez Alonzo, 8, died on Christmas Eve. — Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen …

Discussion: Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and RedState

Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:

Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Knights of Columbus? — Recently, Sen. Mazie Hirono claimed that Democrats have a hard time connecting with voters because they (Democrats) are so “smart” and “know so much.” If Democrats are smart and knowledgeable, you can't prove it by Hirono.

Discussion: National Review, American Thinker and Real Clear Politics