THE DAILY NEWSLETTER  - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020 

Media Winners & Losers

MEDIA WINNER:
Clarissa Ward

CNN’s chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward and the investigators at Bellingcat revealed a stunning new element in the attempted killing of Alexey Navalny, a prominent opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin: Russia tried to off the politician with a poisoned Negroni.

CNN partnered with Bellingcat for the investigation, during which Ward uncovered that a secret team working for Russia’s FSB spy agency poisoned Navalny in August after they had been trailing him for years.

After revealing that reporting, Ward showed footage of her confronting Russian agent Oleg Tayakin over his involvement, showing up at his apartment building in Moscow to get answers.

“Back in Moscow, we went in search for the FSB’s toxins team,” CNN’s chief international correspondent said in the segment, referring to Russia’s intelligence service. Tayakin, is believed to be a senior member of the FSB’s poisoning squad.

“So, we are here now at one of the home of one of the FSB team and we’re going to see if he has anything to say to us,” she continued.

Tayakin opened his door, and Ward began to speak to him in Russian, confirming his name before stating she is with CNN.

“My name is Clarissa Ward, I work for CNN, can I ask you a couple of questions?” she stated, after asking the same in Russian.

Now that is journalism.

MEDIA LOSERS:
Charlie Kirk

Fox contributor and head of Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk faced off with Fox's Geraldo Rivera on The Story with Martha MacCallum last night over the results of the presidential election.

Kirk was arguing that the election's outcome - known for weeks and made even more super extra official with the electoral college vote yesterday - is not yet determined.

Rivera reacted to Joe Biden’s speech by saying the President-elect is right and that it is over, and he said he wants President Donald Trump, "my friend, the current president, the 45th president, to understand it is over.”

“The longer we drag this out. The more we damage the fabric of our democracy,” he said, adding that it also "damages the legacy of President Trump.”

Kirk, contrarily, insisted that it is not over, that major questions remain, and demonstrated that by citing conspiracy theories about the election and "pending legal challenges."

Geraldo interjected, saying "that is so dishonest!" but Kirk continued.

Kirk then accused Geraldo - GERALDO - of wanting to “suppress that conversation" out of, presumably, some enmity to Trump or whatever.

“You have to stop this!” Geraldo correctly objected to Kirk.

It made for quite the video clip, and not least for Geraldo's closing, cutting comparison with Al Gore.

The A-Block

Vote Jail??

President Donald Trump retweeted controversial MAGA attorney Lin Wood on Tuesday claiming that Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger will "soon" be put in jail for their roles in not overturned the election of Joe Biden.

Also the tweet had a photoshop of Kemp and Raffensberger wearing face masks bearing China's flag.

Alternate reality

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany suggested that, despite the Electoral College confirming President-elect Joe Biden on Monday, there could be a “continuation of power” of a second term for the Trump administration.

Disinformation

As McEnany was leaving the presser, CNN's Jim Acosta shouted "Isn’t it hypocritical of you to accuse others of disinformation when you spread it every day?” The circle is now complete.

Newsmax 

Conservative network Newsmax TV will begin recognizing Joe Biden as president-elect after his Monday victory in the Electoral College.

“As a result of the Electoral College vote, Joe Biden is the president-elect and will be referred to as such on Newsmax,” the network admitted.

Also Mitch

The Electoral College has spoken,” said Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, agreeing that Biden won in floor remarks Tuesday. He also praised Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, and said he looks forward to working with them.

The internet was not impressed with his timeliness.

Later he had to warn fellow Republicans about shenanigans, according to Axios.

JUST IN

President-elect Joe Biden will name former Mayor Pete Buttigieg as nominee for Transportation Secretary.

Cocktail circuit news

Before Donald Trump became president, George Clooney remembers a time when he was simply a guy hitting on cocktail waitresses on the New York City party circuit. In a new interview with the Guardian, the actor recalled seeing Trump at parties in the ‘90s behaving less than presidential.

Pearlstine steps down

Norman Pearlstine, executive editor of the Los Angeles Times, has stepped down.

Pearlstine had announced in October that he intended to retire, but it wasn’t clear when that would happen. His departure comes at the end of a year of highs and lows for the paper, including winning two Pulitzer Prizes, allegations of plagiarism, and a reckoning on racial diversity in the newsroom following the murder of George Floyd and worldwide racial justice protests.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Maria Bartiromo, a Fox anchor, on Monday morning cited an “intel source” declaring President Donald Trump the winner of the 2020 election.

“Challenging election results, as we await today’s Electoral College decision, an intel source telling me that President Trump did in fact win the election,” Bartiromo said.

No, we are not kidding.

"Glad to Do My Duty"

Washington state elector Jack Arends grew emotional during remarks casting his vote for President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris, revealing that he has a terminal illness and was happy to play a small role in unseating “petty dictator” President Trump.

After his emotional comments, the chamber erupted in cheers.

Kiss 'em goodbye

ABC News Chief Legal Analyst and Mediaite founder Dan Abrams brutally mocked Attorney General Bill Barr’s resignation letter to President Donald Trump while guest-hosting The View — roasting its “Dear Leader elements.”

“You expect someone to say, ‘I’m honored to have served, I’m proud of our accomplishments,’ but what is all this other stuff about, ‘Ohh, you’ve overcome! You’re amazing!

Must See Clip

Illiberals and Cancel Culture

Weeks after “aggressively centric” Matthew McConaughey took aim at “arrogant” progressives, the actor continued his raid on the left by blasting cancel culture and “illiberals” for causing division in the United States.

On Tuesday’s Good Morning Britain, McConaughey said "you need liberals" but what you don't need is "the illiberals."

“What I don’t think that some liberals see, is that they’re often being cannibalized by the illiberals,” McConaughey said.

And he was just warming up.

Links We Like

Facebook Is a Doomsday Machine
- Adrienne LaFrance, via The Atlantic
Trump was RIGHT and the fact-checkers were WRONG
- Becket Adams, Washington Examiner

How America’s middle class got hollowed out
- Anne Helen Petersen, via Vox

China further obscures origin of the coronavirus
- Jim Geraghty, via National Review
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