Top Items:
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
Trump's Epstein Humiliation Grows — Donald Trump is obsessed with the idea that his predecessor, Joe Biden, was so mentally incapacitated that he used an autopen to sign all his pardons and legislation. He not only put a picture of an autopen in place of Biden's mug on his …
RELATED:
Meredith Lee Hill / Politico:
‘He got tired of me winning’: How Thomas Massie outmaneuvered Trump on Epstein … Insisting “I DON'T CARE!” in a late-night Truth Social post, Trump was bowing to the inevitable — a broad House Republican mutiny on a vote that was only scheduled because Massie forced it.
Discussion:
Time and PoliticusUSA
Adam Wren / Politico:
Trump to back primary against Indiana Republican who opposes redistricting … A spokesman for Buck did not respond to a request for comment.
Discussion:
The Hill, CNN, Raw Story, Axios, Washington Times, Scripps News, New York Sun, Washington Examiner, NBC News, New Republic and Mediaite
Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Trump says he's talking to Democrats about direct health care payment plan
Kurt Schlichter / Townhall:
Time to Purge the GOP Backstabbers, Sissies, and Narcissists
Time to Purge the GOP Backstabbers, Sissies, and Narcissists
Discussion:
RedState
Adam Wren / Politico:
Indiana Republican called out by Trump on redistricting is swatted
Indiana Republican called out by Trump on redistricting is swatted
Discussion:
NBC News, The Hill, Axios, Associated Press, New Republic, Washington Times, Talking Points Memo, MeidasTouch News, Mediaite, HuffPost, IJR, Washington Examiner, MS NOW, Election Law Blog, UPI, NOTUS, NewsMax.com, Townhall, Raw Story, New York Post and RedState
Steven Beschloss / America, America:
Can America Avoid Moral Collapse?
Can America Avoid Moral Collapse?
Discussion:
The Guardian, New York Times, Associated Press, The Wrap, RedState, HuffPost and Straight Arrow News
Politico:
Trump's message to MAGA
Trump's message to MAGA
Discussion:
The Nation, Punchbowl News, New Republic, MS NOW, Mediaite, twitchy.com and The Gateway Pundit
Alan Feuer / New York Times:
Judge Says Justice Dept. May Have Committed ‘Misconduct’ in Comey Case — The ruling by a magistrate judge in Alexandria, Va., was only the most recent setback in the department's efforts to bring charges against the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey. — A federal magistrate judge …
Discussion:
The Guardian, NOTUS, Washington Examiner, Fox News, CBS News, Bloomberg, Democracy Docket, The Hill, CNBC, JURISTnews, New Republic, MS NOW, Raw Story, Law and Chaos and Newsweek
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Politico:
Judge says possible errors by Lindsey Halligan could imperil Comey case … Fitzpatrick's decision came after he personally reviewed records of the grand jury proceedings that led to Comey's Sept. 25 indictment on charges that he lied to Congress in 2020. The indictment was signed by Halligan …
Discussion:
emptywheel, IJR, The Mahablog and Reason
Brianna Sacks / Washington Post:
FEMA head resigns. Richardson had been hard to reach during Texas floods. — David Richardson resigned Monday after a brief tenure leading the Federal Emergency Management Agency. — David Richardson on Monday resigned as acting head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency …
Discussion:
CBS News, Daily Caller News Foundation and MS NOW
RELATED:
Luke Barr / ABC News:
Acting FEMA Administrator David Richardson resigns: Sources — Richardson was installed after his predecessor was fired by DHS Secretary Noem. — Acting Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) David Richardson testifies before the House Committee on Transportation …
Gabe Cohen / CNN:
FEMA chief steps down as Trump administration prepared to oust him — The embattled acting chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency will step down after hurricane season following months of public controversy and internal frustration. — David Richardson submitted a resignation letter …
The Harvard Crimson:
As Summers Sought Clandestine Relationship With Woman He Called a Mentee, Epstein Was His ‘Wing Man’ — When former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers was pursuing a romantic relationship with a woman he described as a mentee, he turned to a longtime associate for guidance: convicted sex offender Jeffrey E. Epstein.
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MJ Lee / CNN:
Exclusive: Elizabeth Warren calls on Harvard to sever ties with Larry Summers after new Jeffrey Epstein emails — Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Harvard University should sever ties with Larry Summers, the school's former president and one of its most prominent faculty members …
Nell Scovell / The Daily Beast:
Harvard's Slutty Professor Has to Go for Emailing Epstein for Sex Tips — INCONVENIENT VERITAS — Donald Trump wasn't the only name lurking in the predator's inbox. — OPINION — Before Republicans on the House Oversight Committee released a vast tranche of Jeffrey Epstein's emails …
Alex Isenstadt / Axios:
Scoop: Ted Cruz sets stage for 2028 run with Tucker jabs — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is laying the groundwork for a 2028 presidential bid by leaning into his feud with Tucker Carlson — and staking out turf as a traditional, pro-interventionist Republican.
Discussion:
The Hill, Daily Mail, Newsweek, NewsMax.com, The Post Millennial, The Gateway Pundit, The Independent and Mediaite
RELATED:
Chris Cameron / New York Times:
Trump Defends Tucker Carlson After Nick Fuentes Interview
Discussion:
Axios, Washington Post, Forbes, Washington Examiner, TMZ.com, The Hill, New York Post, One America News Network, Daily Caller News Foundation, Daily Mail, Newsweek, The Independent, Washington Times, Townhall, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, Mediaite and The Gateway Pundit, more at Mediagazer »
Zack Beauchamp / Vox:
Inside the war tearing the Heritage Foundation and the American right apart
Inside the war tearing the Heritage Foundation and the American right apart
Discussion:
Mediaite
Cheyanne M. Daniels / Politico:
Heritage board member resigns over organization's defense of Tucker Carlson
Heritage board member resigns over organization's defense of Tucker Carlson
Discussion:
The Hill, The Forward, NewsMax.com and Washington Post
New York Times:
The Unraveling of the Justice Department — Sixty attorneys describe a year of chaos and suspicion. — President Trump's second term has brought a period of turmoil and controversy unlike any in the history of the Justice Department. Trump and his appointees have blasted through …
Discussion:
Raw Story, The Forward and emptywheel
Olivia Nuzzi / Vanity Fair:
Olivia Nuzzi's American Canto: Read the Exclusive Excerpt — She flamed out and she faded away. Vanity Fair's West Coast Editor returns to the written word to survey scorched earth. — I woke the morning after Election Day on the wrong coast of the right country.
Discussion:
New York Post and Daily Mail
Ryan Lucas / NPR:
Justice Department official told prosecutors that U.S. should ‘just sink’ drug boats — At a Justice Department conference in February, then-acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove told the department's top drug prosecutors that the Trump administration wasn't interested in interdicting suspected drug vessels at sea anymore.
Ken Dilanian / MS NOW:
Kash Patel's girlfriend being protected by FBI SWAT agents as security perk — FBI Director Kash Patel's country music performer girlfriend currently enjoys the protection of an FBI security detail to shield her from potential threats, prompting concerns that the arrangement may delay law enforcement …
Discussion:
New York Sun, Raw Story, New Republic, The Independent, Mediaite, Crooks and Liars and Grabien
Washington Post:
How foreign student enrollment is shifting in the U.S., in 6 charts — Foreign student enrollment in U.S. colleges has stalled, with a 17 percent decline in new students this fall after Trump policy changes, a key survey shows. — The number of newly enrolled foreign college students …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, Reuters, New York Times, The Hill, The Guardian, UPI, Fox News, Washington Times, The Independent, Associated Press, PBS NewsHour and TheGrio
Thor Benson / madness:
We need to talk about JD — I know we try to think about him as little as possible, but I think we need to talk about the Vice President of the United States. While JD Vance seems to think the job of the vice president is to troll people on social media, host podcasts and travel …
Doha Madani / NBC News:
Trump administration ditches Biden plan to compensate travelers for airline delays — Under the Biden-era plan, passengers would have received reimbursements based on how long the delays went on with up to $775 for nine-hour delays. — The Trump administration has officially withdrawn …
Discussion:
UPI and FOX 32 Chicago
Steve Vladeck / One First:
193. The “War” on Judges — Deputy Attorney General Blanche's attack on lower courts is an impressive combination of light on substance; shamelessly hypocritical; and profoundly dangerous. More people should be condemning it. — Welcome back to “One First,” a (more-than) …
John Fritze / CNN:
Supreme Court to review rescinded Trump policy of turning away asylum seekers at the border — The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will review a controversial immigration policy adopted during the first Trump administration of turning away potential asylum seekers before they step foot …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, ABC News, New York Sun, Fox News, Al Jazeera, The Hill, The New World, Reuters, Los Angeles Times and SCOTUSblog
William S. Becker / The Hill:
The Supreme Court made a horrible mistake when it gave Trump absolute power — By now, the U.S. Supreme Court surely must see that it made a horrendous mistake last year when it ruled that presidents are above the law. The court's conservative majority should admit its error and fix it.
Matt Levine / Bloomberg:
Private Markets Are the New Securities Fraud — Also weather models, tariff refunds, Birkin correlation, robot delivery drivers and Sealed Air. — Everything is securities fraud — Two popular themes around here are: — Everything is securities fraud, and — Private markets are the new public markets.
Gilad Edelman / The Atlantic:
The ‘Easy Way’ to Crush the Mainstream Media — The scandal that briefly made Brendan Carr a household name this fall was an outlier several times over. For one thing, FCC chairmen rarely make news. More than that, Carr usually knows better than to draw too much attention to himself.
Discussion:
Breitbart and Rolling Stone
Anders Hagstrom / Fox News:
Majority of Democrats say ‘extremist political rhetoric’ contributed to Charlie Kirk assassination: poll — NBC News poll shows 61% of respondents believe extreme rhetoric contributed to conservative activist's death — A majority of Democrats, Independents and Republicans agree that …
Discussion:
NBC News, The Independent, NewsMax.com, IJR and Daily Caller News Foundation
Glenn Thrush / New York Times:
As Trump Looks for Distraction on Epstein, Justice Dept. Rushes to His Aid — The department was deployed, in effect, as an arm of the president's rapid-response operation to help him muscle through a damaging news cycle over Jeffrey Epstein, former and current officials said.
Discussion:
Raw Story and Washington Times
Joseph Choi / The Hill:
RFK Jr. says new dietary guidelines coming soon: 'We're ending the war on saturated fats' — Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Monday that new dietary guidelines are expected to be released next month that will end the “war on saturated fats.”

