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11:45 AM ET, December 24, 2020

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Tim Miller / The Bulwark:
The Treasonous Pardon of Paul Manafort  —  Trump, Russia, and the swamp won.  America lost.  —  For four years we've been force-fed the preposterous dual notions that Donald Trump intended to “drain the swamp” and that any suggestion his campaign colluded with Russia in its interference in the 2016 election was a media hoax.
RELATED:
New York Times:
Trump Gives Clemency to More Allies, Including Manafort, Stone and Charles Kushner  —  It was the second wave of pardons and commutations by the president in two days, showing his willingness to use his power aggressively on behalf of loyalists.  —  President Trump doled out clemency …
Franklin Foer / The Atlantic:
The Triumph of Kleptocracy  —  Paul Manafort came of age in New Britain, Connecticut.  His father, the garrulous mayor of that decaying factory town, taught him how to cobble together an electoral coalition, passing down the tricks of the trade that became the basis for the son's lucrative career as a political consultant.
Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money
Clarence Williams / Washington Post:
Trump pardons former Prince George's County police officer
Discussion: Bark Bark Woof Woof
The White House:
Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding Executive Grants of Clemency
CNN:
Trump issues 26 new pardons, including ones for Stone, Manafort and Charles Kushner
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Trump Completes Russiagate Cover-up by Pardoning Paul Manafort
Discussion: Law & Crime
Emma Austin / Courier-Journal:
President Trump grants pardon for Louisville activist Christopher 2X
Discussion: Reason
Jeff Stein / Washington Post:
House Republicans block Democrats' effort to advance $2,000 stimulus checks pushed by Trump  —  The Christmas Eve move came as Trump has refused to sign a $900 billion economic relief package into law  —  House Republicans on Thursday blocked an effort by House Democrats to approve $2,000 stimulus payments for millions of Americans.
RELATED:
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Republicans raging at Trump are getting exactly what they deserve  —  House Republicans are in a fury with President Trump, now that he is threatening to blow up the carefully negotiated settlement that led to passage of the $900 billion economic rescue package.
CNBC:
GOP blocks House Democrats' attempt to pass $2,000 stimulus checks
New York Times:
How Trump's Attack on Relief Bill Has Divided GOP
Washington Post:
U.K. and E.U. announce a post-Brexit trade deal, smoothing Dec. 31 departure  —  LONDON — After seemingly endless negotiations, Britain and the European Union on Thursday announced they had struck a post-Brexit trade and security deal, which will reshape relations between the two allies …
RELATED:
BBC:
LIVEUK and EU agree post-Brexit trade deal  —  Why does the UK need another Brexit deal?  What were the sticking points in Brexit trade talks?  —  Play video BBC News live coverage  —  Summary  — “We have taken back control of our money, borders, laws, trade and our fishing waters,” the UK government says
Discussion: New York Times and HotAir
The Guardian:
UK and EU agree Brexit trade deal
Discussion: Washington Examiner and Breitbart
Wall Street Journal:
Brexit Trade Deal Is Reached Between U.K., European Union
David Folkenflik / NPR:
Host of ‘The Daily’ Clouds ‘N.Y. Times’ Effort To Restore Trust After ‘Caliphate’  —  Toggle more options  —  Late last week, The New York Times issued one of its biggest mea culpas in years.  The nation's leading newspaper returned a Peabody award and a citation as a finalist …
Sarah Isgur / Washington Post:
We in the ‘shallow state’ thought we could help.  Instead, we obscured the reality of a Trump presidency.  —  Sarah Isgur was the director of the Office of Public Affairs at the Justice Department from 2017-2018.  —  As far as I know, no spokesperson for the Justice Department has ever …
Discussion: Alternet.org
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
Jeffrey Rosen Takes Reins of a Justice Department Under Pressure
Brooke Singman / Fox News:
DOJ officials in ‘ongoing discussions’ about Hunter Biden special counsel, some say it's ‘warranted’: sources
Discussion: Washington Examiner
Donald G. McNeil Jr / New York Times:
How Much Herd Immunity Is Enough?  —  Scientists initially estimated that 60 to 70 percent of the population needed to acquire resistance to the coronavirus to banish it.  Now Dr. Anthony Fauci and others are quietly shifting that number upward.  —  At what point does a country achieve herd immunity?
Discussion: HotAir and The Daily Caller
Reuters:
Millions of U.S. vaccine doses sit on ice, putting 2020 goal in doubt  —  (Reuters) -Millions of COVID-19 vaccines are sitting unused in U.S. hospitals and elsewhere a week into the massive inoculation campaign, putting the government's target for 20 million vaccinations this month in doubt.
Discussion: The Hill
USA Today:
Exclusive: As Trump leaves office, 50% of Americans see him as a ‘failed’ president  —  Susan Page Sarah ElbeshbishiUSA TODAY  —  President Donald Trump leaves the White House next month with the country more sharply divided than when he moved in and amid caustic assessments of his record in office …
Rep. Steve Cohen / The Hill:
Stopping the abuse of the pardon power  —  How much more corruption do we have to endure before we see Donald Trump's term end on Jan. 20?  Trump's most recent grants of clemency add to his pattern of self-serving publicity stunts and pervert a power designed for mercy …
RELATED:
Noah Bookbinder / USA Today:
The craven corruption of Trump's pardons: Separate justice system for friends and allies
Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Roll Call
John Eligon / New York Times:
Black Doctor Dies of Covid-19 After Complaining of Racist Treatment  —  “He made me feel like a drug addict,” Dr. Susan Moore said, accusing a white doctor of downplaying her complaints of pain and suggesting she should be discharged.  —  Lying in a hospital bed with an oxygen tube hugging her nostrils …
Discussion: CBS News and Raw Story
Isaac Arnsdorf / ProPublica:
Inside Trump and Barr's Last-Minute Killing Spree  —  Private executioners paid in cash.  Middle-of-the-night killings.  False or incomplete justifications.  ProPublica obtained court records showing how the outgoing administration is using its final days to execute the most federal prisoners since World War II.
William M. Arkin / Newsweek:
Exclusive: Donald Trump's Martial-Law Talk Has Military on Red Alert  —  Pentagon and Washington-area military leaders are on red alert, wary of what President Donald Trump might do in his remaining days in office.  Though far-fetched, ranking officers have discussed what they would do if the president declared martial law.
Discussion: Alternet.org and Raw Story
RELATED:
Eddie Scarry / Washington Examiner:
I traveled for Christmas, and I'm not sorry  —  Democrats and cable news anchors have spent the greater part of 2020 telling everyone to “stay home” in order to “stop the spread,” especially during the holidays but — nah.  —  I traveled to South Carolina — on an airplane! …
Donald G. McNeil Jr / New York Times:
Covid-19 Latest Updates: Democrats' Bid to Call Trump's Stimulus Bluff Is Swiftly Rejected  —  Dr. Anthony S. Fauci is inching up percentages for community immunity.  Covid has come to the town where Christmas started.  Millions of Americans are traveling for the holidays.  Here's the latest on the pandemic.
Tucker Carlson / Fox News:
The slow, painful death of California  —  The policies that destroyed America's largest and most economically important state are heading your way  —  Tucker: Incompetent leadership is destroying California  —  You may have noticed we often make fun of California on “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” but we're not really joking.
Discussion: Breitbart
Joe Concha / The Hill:
Joe Biden's continued ‘Russian misinformation’ defense of Hunter is conspiracy-level laughable  —  President-elect Joe Biden continued his campaign strategy of running from anything resembling a tough question from a reporter when attempting to leave the stage after another “press conference” …
Holden Walter-warner / Daily Mail:
'I wasn't expected to be alive today': Emotional Rush Limbaugh thanks listeners for their support in his final broadcast of 2020 as he battles stage 4 lung cancer  — Rush Limbaugh has admitted he didn't think he'd even make it to October, as he battles terminal lung cancer
 
 
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 More Items: 
HuffPost:
Trump Back At Mar-A-Lago, Raising Taxpayer Golf Tab To $151.5 Million
New York Times:
Brad Parscale Fell From Trump's Favor. Now He's Plotting a Comeback.
Washington Post:
Trump administration pushes forward on $500 million weapons deal with Saudi Arabia
Discussion: Raw Story
Jerusalem Post:
Trump gives awards to top aides for Arab-Israeli deals
Discussion: Washington Examiner
Joel Achenbach / Washington Post:
Fauci's Christmas Eve: Turning 80 and fighting the pandemic
Discussion: The Hill and Talking Points Memo
 Earlier Items: 
Washington Examiner:
The season of truth  —  Christmas is a celebration of many things, but most of all, of truth.
Perla Trevizo / The Texas Tribune:
The Trump administration awarded border wall contracts to build on land it doesn't own in Texas
Discussion: American Oversight
Robert Kuttner / American Prospect:
Biden's Cabinet: The Scorecard So Far
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Republicans just voted to defund the police
Politico:
New cracks emerge among Democrats over Biden's Pentagon pick
Paul Campos / New York Magazine:
Pence Should Remove Trump From Office on Sunday
Yascha Mounk / Persuasion:
Why I'm Losing Trust in the Institutions
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Alexandra Bruell / Wall Street Journal:
The Atlantic is profitable, has 1M subscribers, and revenue grew 10% in 2023 thanks to a 50% price hike, a harder paywall, and a shift to in-depth reporting

New York Times:
The NBC News-Ronna McDaniel saga highlights the perks and perils of partisan talk TV; a source says McDaniel is now seeking $600K+ for her two year deal

New York Times:
Karlie Kloss' Bedford buys Life publication rights from Dotdash Meredith and plans to resume regular print publication in 2025; Josh Kushner will be publisher

 
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