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10:50 PM ET, December 21, 2018

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
CNN:
Trump lashed out at Whitaker after explosive Cohen revelations  —  Cohen says he lied about project in Moscow  —  Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump has at least twice in the past few weeks vented to his acting attorney general, angered by federal prosecutors who referenced …
RELATED:
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Trump Is Building a Team of Lackeys to Go to War With Mueller
Discussion: Vox, New York Times and Politico
Jonathan Andrews / ODNI Newsroom:
DNI Coats Statement on the Resignation of Secretary Mattis
Discussion: Politico
Associated Press:
Trump call with Turkish leader led to US pullout from Syria  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw American troops from Syria was made hastily, without consulting his national security team or allies, and over strong objections from virtually everyone involved …
RELATED:
The Daily Beast:
Bolton's Hawkish Syria Plan Backfired, Pushing Trump to Get Out  —  The national security adviser expanded U.S. goals in Syria to challenge Iran.  But Trump wasn't on board, senior officials say, and Turkey took an opportunity to push the U.S. out.  —  A fateful decision by national security …
Washington Post:
A tumultuous week began with a phone call between Trump and the Turkish president  —  When he spoke to President Trump on the telephone a week ago Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's agenda had not changed from when they met two weeks earlier at the Group of 20 summit in Argentina.
Bret Stephens / New York Times:
Dear Anonymous Inside the Trump Administration  —  The problem with the president isn't that he's an empty vessel.  It's that he's a malignant one.  —  Dear Anonymous,  —  It's time we revisit that famous op-ed of yours.  —  In September, you acknowledged that you were a member of the …
Joby Warrick / Washington Post:   Retreating ISIS army smuggled a fortune in cash and gold out of Iraq and Syria
Reuters:
Kurdish-led Forces Report ‘Huge’ ISIS Assault in Southeast Syria
Discussion: Algemeiner.com
Burgess Everett / Politico:
Trump sees dangerous cracks in Hill GOP support  —  President Donald Trump faces a dangerous erosion of support among rank-and-file Republicans thanks to a series of jarring recent moves that have alienated even some close GOP allies.  —  From his defense of Saudi Arabia's crown prince …
Discussion: Washington Post
RELATED:
Julia Davis / The Daily Beast:
Russia Gloats: ‘Trump Is Ours Again’  —  If Moscow was happy about the Syria pullout, it's ecstatic about Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' resignation.  —  By JULIA DAVIS12.21.18 12:49 PM ET  —  The Kremlin is awash with Christmas gifts from Washington, D.C. and every move by the Trump administration seems to add to that perception.
New York Times:
Trump Policy Gyrations Threaten Fragile Republican Coalition  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump's near-simultaneous decisions this week to force a government shutdown over his demand to fund a border wall and withdraw American troops from Syria and Afghanistan have imperiled the fragile Republican coalition …
Neil MacFarquhar / New York Times:
Glee in Russia Over Trump's Foreign Policy Largess
Discussion: Jihad Watch
Axios:
What should worry Trump most: Republican allies are turning on him
Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:
Mick Mulvaney in 2015: Trump's views on border wall ‘simplistic,’ ‘absurd and almost childish’  —  (CNN)Incoming White House acting-chief of staff Mick Mulvaney once called President Donald Trump's views on a border wall and immigration “simplistic” and “absurd and almost childish.”
RELATED:
Axios:
Pre-Christmas Trump: Rebuked, rampaging
Rick Wilson / The Daily Beast:
Jim Mattis Was the Only Thing Keeping Trump's Insane Clown Posse in Check
NBC News:
Trump warns shutdown could last ‘very long time,’ urges McConnell to go ‘nuclear’ and end filibuster  —  “Mitch, use the Nuclear Option and get it done!  Our Country is counting on you!”  Trump tweeted.  —  President Donald Trump on Friday said the chances of a partial government shutdown were …
RELATED:
David Nakamura / Washington Post:
'He takes no ownership — that's just Trump': President eschews responsibility for a shutdown he once craved
Emmie Martin / CNBC:
The budget breakdown of a 25-year-old who makes $100,000 a year and is excellent with money  —  Trevor Klee, he admits, is a “terrible employee.”  But he's great at working for himself — and at taking tests.  —  So the 25-year-old entrepreneur started a thriving business of his own.
Discussion: Mashable and Splinter
Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Supreme Court denies Trump administration request to immediately enforce new asylum rules  —  The Supreme Court on Friday denied the Trump administration's request that it be allowed to immediately enforce a new policy of denying asylum to those who illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border …
RELATED:
Elise Viebeck / Washington Post:   Violence Against Women Act to expire with government shutdown
Marty Lederman / Just Security:
What's Noticeably Missing from the Whitaker Nonrecusal Explanation  —  The Department of Justice issued a letter yesterday explaining why Matthew Whitaker has decided he won't recuse from superintending the Russia Investigation overseen by Special Counsel Robert Mueller …
RELATED:
Washington Post:
In a normal administration, Whitaker would listen to government ethics experts
Discussion: BuzzFeed News and Wonkette
Aaron Rodriguez / CREW:
CREW Files IG Complaint Against Matthew Whitaker
Discussion: ThinkProgress
Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Billionaire megadonor Robert Mercer cuts back on support for GOP after being scrutinized for backing Trump  — Yet people close to Mercer say he's “disappeared” and he's no longer playing as big a role in supporting the Republican Party as he used to.  — “He's out,” said a former associate of Mercer.
Discussion: POLITICUSUSA
New York Times:
As Markets Tumble, Tech Stocks Hit a Rare and Ominous Milestone  —  When it comes to the stock market, America's technology giants have become a harbinger of more pain to come.  —  If Facebook, Apple or Google looked shaky this year — as investors worried about growth, regulation or mismanagement — the rest of the market felt it.
RELATED:
Jonah Goldberg / National Review:
Conservative Facts  —  The problem conservatism faces these days is that many of the loudest voices have decided to embrace the meanness while throwing away the facts. … D  —  ear Reader (including all you mole-rat monarchists),  —  One or two times a year I wake up in a Japanese family's living room …
New York Times:
Bill Barr Just Argued Himself Out of a Job  —  His recent memo to President Trump seriously damages his credibility and raises questions about his fitness for the Justice Department's top position.  —  Mr. Hemel and Mr. Posner are professors of law at the University of Chicago Law School.
Discussion: Law & Crime and National Review
Luke O'Neil / gofundme.com:
Build a Giant Escalator Over the Wall  —  $1,658 of $200.0M goal Raised by 105 people in 21 hours  —  The wall is never going to be built but just in case it is we will build a series of giant escalators that are spaced out a half mile along the wall on either side and if that doesn't happen we'll …
Discussion: Washington Times, The Week and Mashable
Travis Gettys / Raw Story:
Michael Cohen discussed mysterious $1.8 million loan to pool boy that Jerry Falwell Jr and his wife befriended: report  —  Jerry Falwell Jr. confirmed that he loaned $1.8 million to a young pool attendant he and his wife had befriended while staying six years ago at a luxury hotel.
Dan Berman / CNN:
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg undergoes surgery  —  Washington (CNN)Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had two malignant nodules removed from her left lung Friday at a New York hospital, the Supreme Court announced.  —  There is no evidence of any remaining disease, says a court spokesperson …
Detroit Free Press:
GOP bill making it tougher to get proposals on ballot heads to Snyder  —  LANSING — Despite fierce opposition from Democrats and a wide variety of groups, Republicans in the Legislature gave final passage to a bill that will make it tougher to get enough signatures to get a proposal on the statewide ballot.
Discussion: Detroit News and HuffPost
Julia Ioffe / Washington Post:
Please don't wish me ‘Merry Christmas’  —  It's impolite and alienating to assume I follow your religion.  —  'Twas five nights before Christmas, and my Lyft driver was the umpteenth person to wish me a “Merry Christmas” that day.  He probably just meant it the way most people do …
Discussion: Hot Air and twitchy.com
Itai Vardi / HuffPost:
Exxon Attorney Drafted White House Comments Backing Top Trump Environmental Pick  —  Newly obtained emails involving the nomination of a climate change denier for the White House post show the fossil fuel industry's sway over Trump's administration.  —  An energy industry lawyer whose client …
Colby Hall / Mediaite:
Maggie Haberman: ‘Disgusted’ Republicans Now Privately Admitting They Regret Supporting Trump  —  New York Times reporter and CNN contributor Maggie Haberman appeared on New Day Friday morning and revealed insight into the current turmoil in Washington D.C.  —  In light of the many issues challenging …
Stacey Stowe / New York Times:
Life After Horrific Death for the Journalist James Foley  —  On a cool October evening, in a Brooklyn studio crowded with canvases, some still wet, Diane Foley stood before an oil painting of two solemn grade-school boys in the Libyan civil war.  One of the boys held aloft a photo of a middle-aged man, a relative, who was missing.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Ronald A. Klain / Washington Post:
Justice Alito, you owe President Obama an apology
Suzanne Gamboa / NBC News:
Deported Mexicans reported being refused medical care while in US custody
Washington Post:
Is ‘Fox & Friends’ getting feistier with its Friend in Chief?
NBC News:
Taliban greets Pentagon's withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan with cries of victory
Discussion: Vox
Avi Steinberg / New York Times:
After More Than Two Decades of Work, a New Hebrew Bible to Rival the King James
Courier-Journal:
Amy McGrath says she won't run for governor of Kentucky
 Earlier Items: 
Caity Weaver / New York Times:
What Is Glitter?  —  A strange journey to the glitter factory.
Andrew Restuccia / Politico:
Trump bumps Mar-a-Lago getaway amid shutdown confusion
Discussion: Breitbart, Raw Story and New Republic
Mike Pomranz / Food & Wine:
Why Are Hershey's Kisses Suddenly Missing Their Tips?
Discussion: Instapundit
Washington Post:
N.C. election board's warnings to local and federal prosecutors about alleged election fraud drew little action
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Republicans are responsible for the Trump fiasco
Discussion: Raw Story
 

 
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Samuel Stolton / Bloomberg:
The European Commission designates iPadOS under the DMA, giving Apple six months to comply, after designating iOS, the App Store, and Safari in September 2023

Madhumita Murgia / Financial Times:
The Financial Times signs a deal with OpenAI to train AI models on the publisher's archived content and to let ChatGPT reply with short summaries of FT articles

Konrad Krasuski / Bloomberg:
Manor Lords, a new medieval city building game from Polish indie developer Grzegorz Styczen, sells 1M+ copies and hits 170K+ concurrent players on Steam

 
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