memeorandum: Senate Democrats want communications between Boris Epshteyn and potential Trump appointees disclosed (Daniel Klaidman/CBS News)

4:50 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 …

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

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: Washington Post and NPR

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, One America News Network, Florida's Voice, Washington Examiner, New York Daily News, The Post Millennial, Fox Business, CBS News, USA Today, Le Monde, 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

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

Discussion: Daily Kos, Fox News and Althouse

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

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

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 — The FBI only directed 3 confidential human sources to attend the events of Jan. 6, 2021, Horowitz says — Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said there were more than two dozen confidential human sources in the crowd on Jan. 6 …

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

Discussion: Reuters, New York Times and Raw Story

Daniel Klaidman / CBS News:

Senate Democrats want communications between Boris Epshteyn and potential Trump appointees disclosed — Two top Senate Democrats are calling for President-elect Donald Trump's potential appointees to be required to disclose any communications they had with Boris Epshteyn, a longtime Trump adviser …

New York Times: Democrats Ask That Trump Cabinet Picks Produce Communications With Epshteyn

Irie Sentner / Politico: Murkowski: 'I'm not attached to' Republican label

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, The Hill, Plain Dealer, Alternet.org, Al Jazeera, Raw Story, Washington Post, Arizona Mirror, Associated Press, The Independent, Reuters and Daily Mail, more at Mediagazer »

Brian Stelter / CNN:
Trump's Kari Lake ‘pick’ sparks fears at Voice of America

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: The Guardian, New Republic and Alternet.org

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

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 and Raw Story

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.

Bruce Shipkowski / Associated Press:
US senator says mysterious drones spotted in New Jersey should be ‘shot down, if necessary’

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Hill, Axios, Washington Examiner, 404 Media, NBC News, WTTG-TV, Fox News, Associated Press, RedState, New Jersey Online, Global News, New York Post, CNN, The War Zone, New York Times, New Jersey Globe, Al Jazeera, CBS News, NPR and Fox Business

Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech / The Hill:

Ohio Senate passes measure forcing hospitals to administer ivermectin, other patient-requested treatments — The Ohio state Senate passed a bill earlier this week that will allow patients to force hospitals to administer drugs for off-label use. — The passage of the bill comes …

Jake Zuckerman / Plain Dealer: Bill forcing hospitals to administer ivermectin, other requested treatments nears finish line

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.

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

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

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, Deseret News and Daily Caller News Foundation

Karissa Waddick / USA Today:

Rep. Bennie Thompson says he'd take a Biden pardon after Trump's Jan. 6 jail threat — “I've never heard an elected official other than the incoming President talk about retribution,” Thompson told CNN. — WASHINGTON - Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, former chair of the House Jan. 6 committee …

Discussion: TheGrio

Sarah Fortinsky / The Hill:
Jan. 6 committee chair says he'd accept preemptive pardon if Biden offers

Discussion: The Post Millennial, Mediaite and Breitbart

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

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

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 …

Discussion: Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

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.