memeorandum: UK Tory leader: Sandwiches aren't real (Matt Honeycombe-Foster/Politico)

4:15 PM ET, December 12, 2024

Top Items:

Time:

Read the Full Transcript of Donald Trump's 2024 Person of the Year Interview With TIME — President-elect Donald Trump, TIME's 2024 Person of the Year, sat down for a wide-ranging interview at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., on Nov. 25. — Over the course of the interview …

Garrett Ross / Politico:

Playbook PM: Trump's ‘fury’ road to redemption — BREAKING — DOJ IG MICHAEL HOROWITZ just released his long-awaited report on the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. The topline, via Kyle Cheney: “NO evidence that there were any undercover FBI employees at the Capitol or nearby protests,” though some FBI informants were present.

Discussion: NPR and Washington Post

Arthur Delaney / HuffPost:

Trump Backtracks On Campaign Pledge To Bring Down Grocery Prices — The president-elect walked back what was always a wildly unrealistic campaign promise. — LOADING — President-elect Donald Trump admitted in an interview with Time magazine that it will be difficult for him to reduce consumer prices …

Discussion: Democrats, Mediaite and Raw Story

Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:
Trump rings bell at NYSE to cheers of ‘USA’ as Wall Street CEOs, business leaders look on

Discussion: New York Times, The Hill, Daily Mail, New York Post, Washington Examiner, New York Daily News, One America News Network, Florida's Voice, The Post Millennial, Fox Business, Le Monde, CBS News, USA Today, Forbes, IJR and The Gateway Pundit

Ryan Bort / Rolling Stone:
Trump Is Starting to Walk Back His Vow to Bring Down Grocery Prices

Discussion: Business Insider, Ohio Capital Journal and Raw Story

Sam Jacobs / Time:
Donald Trump — Three days before Thanksgiving, the former and future President …

Discussion: CBS News, The Hollywood Reporter, HotAir, HuffPost, UPI, Washington Times, New York Times, Deseret News and Semafor

New York Times:
Power, Intimidation and the Resurrection of Trump's Support for Hegseth

Discussion: Althouse

The White House:

FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces Clemency for Nearly 1,500 Americans — Today's announcement will commute the sentences of close to 1,500 individuals who were placed on home confinement and will pardon 39 individuals convicted of non-violent crimes — Today, President Biden announced …

Colleen Long / Associated Press:

Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people in biggest single-day act of clemency — President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes.

William Kristol / The Bulwark:
Chris Wray's Pre-Surrender

Discussion: The Federalist, New York Daily News and Washington Post

The White House:
Statement from President Joe Biden on Providing Clemency for Nearly 1,500 Individuals on Home Confinement and Pardons for 39 Individuals Convicted of Non-Violent Crimes

Discussion: New Republic, Reason, Mother Jones, USA Today, New Jersey Monitor, WKBN.com, Raw Story, RedState, Axios, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and CBS News

Ryan J. Reilly / NBC News:

FBI missed ‘basic step’ when gathering intel in the lead-up to Jan. 6, DOJ watchdog finds — Investigators found no evidence of undercover FBI employees at the Capitol, but the presence of FBI informants could further fuel right-wing “fedsurrection” conspiracy theories.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, Washington Times and Los Angeles Times

Fox News:
DOJ IG reveals 26 FBI informants were present on Jan. 6

Hannah Rabinowitz / CNN:
No undercover FBI agents were at the January 6 US Capitol riot, watchdog reports

Discussion: Reuters and Raw Story

Minho Kim / New York Times:

Trump Chooses Kari Lake to Lead Voice of America — Ms. Lake, a former TV news anchor turned right-wing firebrand who has called journalists “monsters,” would be in charge of a federally funded news outlet with a huge global audience. — President-elect Donald J. Trump on Wednesday night chose Kari Lake …

Discussion: Adweek, Plain Dealer, The Hill, Alternet.org, Al Jazeera, Reuters, Raw Story, Arizona Mirror, Associated Press, The Independent, Daily Mail, Fox News and Daily Kos, more at Mediagazer »

Brian Stelter / CNN:

Trump's Kari Lake ‘pick’ sparks fears at Voice of America — Presidents don't ordinarily pick the director of Voice of America, an international news broadcaster funded by the US government. But President-elect Donald Trump says he wants his ally Kari Lake to take over VOA.

Glenn Thrush / New York Times:

Ex-F.B.I. Informant Agrees to Plead Guilty to Lying About Bidens — Alexander Smirnov's deal with the special counsel overseeing the investigation into Hunter Biden could lead to 48 to 72 months in prison, though a federal judge would need to review the deal.

Katelyn Polantz / CNN:
FBI informant accused of lying about Joe and Hunter Biden pleads guilty

Discussion: New Republic, CBS News, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, Associated Press, Politico, Law & Crime, The Hill, Reuters, One America News Network, The Gateway Pundit, New York Post and Fox News

CNN:

Pete Hegseth, Trump's Defense pick, says allowing gay troops to serve openly reflects a Marxist agenda — Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for secretary of defense, has repeatedly criticized policies allowing gay people to serve openly in the US military, calling them part of a …

Discussion: New Republic and Alternet.org

New York Times:

Trump's Middle East Adviser Pick Is a Small-Time Truck Salesman — The lore around Massad Boulos, Tiffany Trump's father-in-law, is that he is a billionaire dealmaker. Records show otherwise. — The lore around Massad Boulos, Tiffany Trump's father-in-law, is that he is a billionaire dealmaker.

Discussion: New York Magazine

Ryan Cooper / American Prospect:

Democrats Lost the Propaganda War — The party used up about $5 billion on political ads in 2024. There's a better way. — A Fox News ad is displayed outside the Fiserv Forum on the eve of the Republican National Convention, July 14, 2024, in Milwaukee.

Discussion: Mostly signs

Noah Berlatsky / Public Notice:

Chris Wray folds like cheap suit. Don't be Chris Wray. — The FBI director obeys in advance. … 🚔 — FBI Director Christopher Wray became the latest public official to remove his own spine and dissolve into a puddle of genuflecting goo for the greater glory of MAGA …

Discussion: Twitchy, Fox News, CNN, The Atlantic, Deseret News, Daily Caller News Foundation, Default, The Hill, The Post Millennial and The Gateway Pundit

New York Times:

Blue States are Unaffordable. The Price Will be Political. — Every year, millions of Americans bounce around the country like electrons, moving from one state to another. But there are patterns in this chaos, and one of the clearest in recent decades is that Americans are moving from blue states to red states.

Clarissa Ward / CNN:

‘My God there is light’: CNN witnesses moment Syrian prisoner is freed from Assad's forced detention — While searching a secretive prison in the belly of the Assad regime's legacy of torture for American journalist Austin Tice, CNN's Clarissa Ward made a startling discovery …

Discussion: New York Post, The Sun and Mediaite

Matt Honeycombe-Foster / Politico:

UK Tory leader: Sandwiches aren't real — Kemi Badenoch “will not touch bread if it's moist.” — Britain's Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch kicked off a heated political debate about a lunchtime favorite Thursday after declaring that sandwiches are not “a real food.”

Discussion: Spectator, New York Post and Metro.co.uk

Oriana Pawlyk / Politico:

FAA chief resigns, opening another spot for a Trump pick — Mike Whitaker's resignation comes at a time of turmoil for the agency, which is facing air traffic controller shortages and aging equipment. — The head of the Federal Aviation Administration is resigning in January …

Discussion: New York Times, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, Reuters, UPI, Must Read Alaska and Semafor

Alex Gangitano / The Hill:
FAA administrator to resign on Trump swearing-in

Discussion: Bloomberg and NPR

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

Los Angeles Times Owner Wades Deeper Into Opinion Section — Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong's public comments and actions, including recently blocking an editorial weighing in on President-elect Trump's cabinet picks, have concerned many staff members. — After President-elect Donald J. Trump announced …

more at Mediagazer »

Melissa Koenig / Daily Mail:

Trump's border czar Tom Homan reveals which Democrat city is first on his list for mass deportations — President-elect Donald Trump's border czar Tom Homan has revealed that the nation's largest mass deportation effort will begin in Chicago. — Homan, 63, the former acting head of Immigration …

Discussion: HotAir, Fox News, New York Post, Chicago Sun Times, Washington Examiner, CBS News, Alternet.org, NBC News, Politico and Townhall

Judd Legum / Popular Information:

Ohio teacher suspended for including four books with LGBTQ characters in her classroom library — Karen Cahall has been a teacher in the New Richmond School District in Ohio for 34 years. During that time, according to a lawsuit Cahall filed earlier this month, she “consistently received …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and Washington Post

Reuters:

No Iranian drone ‘mothership’ off the United States, Pentagon says — The Pentagon on Wednesday flatly dismissed claims by a U.S. lawmaker that Iran might be launching drones over New Jersey from a “mothership” off the East Coast. — “There is no truth to that,” said Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh.

Ayelet Sheffey / Business Insider:

Hundreds of student-loan borrowers who applied for debt cancellation are being denied relief by a major lender, over 20 Democratic lawmakers say — Sen. Elizabeth Warren led over 20 colleagues in requesting the CFPB and FTC investigate student-loan company Navient.

Rolling Stone:

'It'll Be Brutal': Inside Trump's Planned War on Leakers and the Press — Trump 2.0 will feature more media subpoenas, communications seizures, whistleblower prosecutions, and personal lawsuits against news outlets … As BuzzFeed reported at the time, “Immigration and Customs Enforcement …

Wall Street Journal:

Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Donates $1 Million to Trump's Inaugural Fund — President-elect had blasted the tech tycoon during the presidential campaign, but ties have been improving — Meta Platforms has donated $1 million to president-elect Donald Trump's inaugural fund …

Daniel Payne / Politico:

Trump says he'll pull vaccines if he finds they're unsafe — President-elect Donald Trump said he's open to getting rid of vaccines depending on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s review of their safety. Trump's comments to Time magazine contradict promises previously made by Kennedy …

Discussion: USA Today, Reuters, Axios and Mediaite

New York Times:

Musk's Foundation Gave Away Less Money Than Required in 2023 — Private foundations must donate 5 percent of their assets every year. Elon Musk's enormous charity missed that standard for three consecutive years. — For the third year in a row, Elon Musk's charitable foundation did not give away enough of its money.

Discussion: New Republic

Leah Willingham / Associated Press:

Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats — A newly elected state lawmaker in West Virginia is facing at least one felony and is accused of making terroristic threats. Joseph de Soto, 61, was arrested by state police Thursday in Martinsburg following …

Discussion: New York Times

Washington Post:

RFK Jr.'s daughter-in-law meets with Trump's chosen CIA director about possible job — The president-elect has voiced support for Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, a former CIA operative, getting a senior role at the agency or in another national security post. — Amaryllis Fox Kennedy …

Discussion: One America News Network, New York Times and Daily Mail