Top Items:
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
Trump Boat Bombings Suddenly on Shakier Ground as Damning Info Emerges — Are Republicans really about to exercise real oversight on President Trump's reprehensible bombings of alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean Sea? They're talking a good transparency game in response to the jarring news …
Discussion:
Axios, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Raw Story and The Independent
RELATED:
Julia Manchester / The Hill:
White House confirms Hegseth authorized second strike on drug boat — White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Monday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the second, follow-up strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean in September following …
Joshua Keating / Vox:
Why is the US on the verge of war with Venezuela?
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Independent, Breitbart and Washington Times
Paul McLeary / Politico:
White House says admiral approved second deadly boat strike
White House says admiral approved second deadly boat strike
Discussion:
Washington Post, NBC News, New York Sun, France 24, The Daily Signal, The Gateway Pundit, Reason and The Hill
Washington Post:
Trump says Hegseth denied issuing order to kill boat crew
Trump says Hegseth denied issuing order to kill boat crew
Discussion:
Associated Press, NewsNation, Reason, New Republic, Civil Discourse …, Defense One, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, IJR, Wonkette, Fox News, Politico and Semafor
Herb Scribner / Axios:
Here are all of Hegseth's boat strikes near Venezuela that we know about
Here are all of Hegseth's boat strikes near Venezuela that we know about
Discussion:
Scripps News, The Independent, TMZ.com, New Republic, CBS News, The Hill, Mediaite, Plain Dealer, The Wrap, Fox News, Raw Story, NewsMax.com and Bloomberg
Max Boot / Washington Post:
No wonder Trump is outraged by warnings about illegal orders
No wonder Trump is outraged by warnings about illegal orders
Discussion:
New York Times and USA Today
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
Sex Crimes. State Crimes. War Crimes. — You really just can't take breaks around here, huh? While we were all busy digesting dinner Thanksgiving night, Donald Trump was tapping away at his phone doing a little supervillain brainstorming on Truth Social.
Discussion:
New York Times, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
Paul Krugman:
Trump: Pro-crypto or Pro-crime? — Or are they the same thing? — On one side, the Trump administration is sinking small boats that it claims, without evidence, are smuggling drugs — and according to the Washington Post, Pete Hegseth, the self-styled Secretary of War …
Discussion:
Deseret News, The Nation and New York Times
Jennifer Rubin / The Contrarian:
War Crime...or Murder? — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who makes up in false bravado what he lacks in judgment and expertise, appears to have committed an inexcusable, unjustified violation of black-letter international and domestic law, according to a stunning Washington Post story released last Friday.
Discussion:
NextDraft and Just Security
Just Security:
Unlawful Orders and Killing Shipwrecked Boat Strike Survivors: An Expert Backgrounder — This is part of Just Security's Collection: U.S. Lethal Strikes on Suspected Drug Traffickers. — The question of when it is lawful for U.S. military personnel to refuse an unlawful order has become a point of discussion in the political arena.
Discussion:
The American Conservative and Media Matters for America
New York Times:
Appeals Court Says Alina Habba Is Unlawful U.S. Attorney — The judges wrote that the Trump Administration appeared to have become frustrated by legal and political barriers that have prevented its preferred U.S. attorneys from leading federal prosecutors' offices.
RELATED:
Mike Catalini / Associated Press:
Former Trump lawyer Alina Habba disqualified as New Jersey prosecutor, US appeals court rules — The Trump administration's maneuvers to keep the president's former lawyer Alina Habba in place as New Jersey's top federal prosecutor were illegal and she is disqualified, a federal appeals court said Monday.
Discussion:
MS NOW, NBC News, Politico, Fox News, CNN, Axios, The Daily Signal, Democracy Docket, The Hill, HotAir, Raw Story, Reason, NOTUS, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, MeidasTouch News, Washington Post, New York Daily News, The National Pulse, RedState, CBS News, Bloomberg, New Republic, Blaze Media, CNBC, Mediaite, ABC News, Crooks and Liars and Newsweek
Miranda Devine / New York Post:
Damning report labels FBI ‘rudderless ship’ under Kash Patel — with him and Dan Bongino more concerned with building ‘personal résumés’ — FBI Director Kash Patel is facing withering criticism from an alliance of active-duty and retired agents and analysts …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Hill, Mediaite, Salon, New York Sun, New Jersey Online, IJR, The Daily Caller, The Independent, New Republic, The Guardian, Raw Story and emptywheel
RELATED:
Brittany Chain / Daily Mail:
Kash Patel humiliated as explosive 115-page dossier reveals what FBI agents really think... and his tantrum after being issued a women's raid jacket — A scathing 115-page report into the state of the FBI under Kash Patel has exposed turmoil and friction as agents turn on him and even Trump …
Andrew Solender / Axios:
House Democrats investigate Kash Patel's use of FBI jet
House Democrats investigate Kash Patel's use of FBI jet
Discussion:
CBS News, Washington Times and NewsMax.com
Emily Cochrane / New York Times:
Johnson and Trump Try to Avoid an Upset House Loss in Tennessee — Speaker Mike Johnson put the president on speakerphone during a Monday stop in the state, underscoring the unusual amount of national attention on a House special election. — The crowd milling around the sleek multimillion-dollar barn full …
RELATED:
Jordain Carney / Politico:
‘Time is not our friend’: Health care scramble begins amid mixed signals from Trump
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Post, Punchbowl News and NewsMax.com
NBC News:
At least 9 Indiana Republicans were targeted in swatting attacks amid redistricting pressure from Trump — The threats came after Trump publicly called on state lawmakers to pass new congressional maps that would benefit Republicans. — At least nine elected Republicans in Indiana …
Discussion:
Roll Call, Raw Story, Washington Examiner, Townhall, The Hill, IJR and Democracy Docket
RELATED:
Jonathan Lemire / The Atlantic:
The Bubble-Wrapped President — For a decade, Donald Trump's rallies were intertwined with his political identity. His big crowds were how he first got the media and the Republican Party to take him seriously, and they provided real-time feedback. Those who followed him closely could watch …
Discussion:
Raw Story, The Parnas Perspective, Mediaite, The Independent and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Jordain Carney / Politico:
Schumer says his NY offices received ‘MAGA’ bomb threats — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday his offices in three New York cities received bomb threats via an e-mail titled “MAGA.” Schumer in a statement said the threats were made against offices in Rochester, Binghamton and Long Island.
RELATED:
Erin Reed / Erin In The Morning:
Dem. Senator Gallego's Leaked Texts Echo Far-Right Gender Panic And Misogyny — Erin In The Morning is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a subscriber. — In recent months, a handful of Democrats have tried to court a strain …
Discussion:
LGBTQ Nation
RELATED:
Katherine Alejandra Cross / Liberal Currents:
Trans Panic? More Like Trans Apathetic
Trans Panic? More Like Trans Apathetic
Discussion:
PinkNews
NBC News:
Costco sues the Trump administration, seeking a refund of tariffs — The wholesaler is the latest company to file a lawsuit against a federal agency over the president's signature economic policy. — Costco Wholesale has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration …
Discussion:
The Parnas Perspective and NewsMax.com
RELATED:
Richard Eberwein / Heartland Signal:
Republican mayor in Kansas facing deportation over voter fraud — Joe Ceballos, a longtime Republican and small-town mayor in Kansas, is facing felony voter fraud charges and possible deportation from the presidential administration he voted for. — Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Politico:
Record-setting personnel issues are marring Trump's second term … The pace of withdrawals, the highest since at least the Ronald Reagan presidency, has flown below the radar in the day-to-day churn on Capitol Hill, with many Republican senators expressing surprise at the data in interviews.
Discussion:
The Independent and Raw Story
Joseph Choi / The Hill:
RFK Jr. replaces chair of controversial vaccine advisory panel — The chair of a federal vaccine advisory committee, himself a well-known vaccine critic, will be moving to an official role within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the agency announced Monday.
Discussion:
NewsMax.com and Bloomberg
Zach Everson / Forbes:
Trump Crypto Partner Alt5 Sigma May Have Violated SEC Rules After Another Filing Discrepancy — Topline — Alt5 Sigma told regulators it learned in November its accountant had resigned, but the accountant says he stepped down three months earlier — a fresh discrepancy that marks …
Mark Hertling / The Bulwark:
Pete Hegseth, Moral Failure, and the Erosion of Military Legitimacy — IN EARLY 2008, WHILE COMMANDING a divisional task force in northern Iraq, I stood on a dusty outpost in Nineveh Province waiting for an old friend and one of my “bosses”—then-Lieutenant Gen. Marty Dempsey—to step off a helicopter.
Dan Diamond / Washington Post:
White House says Trump got MRI for ‘preventive’ cardiovascular check-up — The 79-year-old president also underwent imaging for abdominal health, and he “remains in excellent overall health,” Trump's physician said. — Just now … The White House on Monday said an advanced imaging scan …
Discussion:
Axios, NBC News, The Guardian, NewsNation, CNBC, Fox News, Scripps News, Breitbart, Raw Story, Associated Press, Washington Times, IJR, twitchy.com and CBS News
Charlie Sykes / To the Contrary:
The Silence of the Canaries — We hear a lot about the canaries in the coal mine these days. But we were reminded last week that dead canaries are littered all around us. We never imagined that death could undo so many.1 — Happy Monday. — This. Is. Not. A. Drill.
Discussion:
Washington Post and The Left Hook with Wajahat Ali
New Republic:
Trump's Fury at NYT Explodes Amid Fresh Concerns About Mental Decline … President Trump dreads being seen as weak. He exploded in a long, crazed rant about a harsh new piece in The New York Times about his ongoing decline. Though the piece documented his deterioration in careful detail …
Discussion:
Raw Story
