TOP STORIES

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Wednesday, January 22

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TRUMP'S BIZARRE DEFENSE: DEMS ARE BAD During a debate over impeachment trial procedures, the argument from White House counsel Pat Cipollone and President Donald Trump’s private lawyer Jay Sekulow boiled down to a series of complaints about the process during the House impeachment inquiry ― most of which were false or misleading. [HuffPost]

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SENATE BLOCKS EVIDENCE IN PARTY-LINE VOTE The Senate impeachment trial of Trump kicked off with a partisan brawl over the admission of new evidence and witness testimony. After Democrats moved to subpoena key White House documents, including records about the administration’s decision to withhold military aid to Ukraine, every Senate Republican voted to kill the effort. [HuffPost]

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GOP REJECTS SUBPOENAS FOR MICK MULVANEY, JOHN BOLTON The Senate plunged into the impeachment trial with Republicans abruptly abandoning plans to cram opening arguments into two late-night sessions and Democrats arguing for more witnesses to expose Trump’s “trifecta” of offenses. [AP]

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SAUDI EMBASSY DENIES BEZOS HACKING CLAIMS Saudi Arabia’s embassy denied that the kingdom’s crown prince personally hacked into the phone of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos two years ago. “Recent media reports that suggest the Kingdom is behind a hacking of Mr. Jeff Bezos’ phone are absurd,” the embassy tweeted. “We call for an investigation on these claims so that we can have all the facts out.” [HuffPost]

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GREENWALD CHARGED WITH CYBERCRIMES Brazilian authorities have reportedly charged journalist Glenn Greenwald with cybercrimes, an alarming sign that Brazil’s increasingly authoritarian government is punishing a journalist for revealing explosive information. [HuffPost]

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FIRST U.S. CASE OF MYSTERY VIRUS FOUND The first U.S. case of a new coronavirus strain that has killed at least nine people in China and sickened hundreds more has been reported in Washington state, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Exported cases of the illness also have been confirmed in Thailand, Japan and the Republic of Korea. [HuffPost]

WHAT'S BREWING

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POLLS FIND AMERICANS DIVIDED ON IMPEACHMENT TRIAL In a new HuffPost/YouGov poll, Americans say, by a margin of 47% to 41%, that they want their senators to vote in favor of convicting and removing Trump. Forty-six percent say he should be removed from office, and 43% say that he shouldn’t. [HuffPost]

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CLINTON BACKTRACKS ON SANDERS Hillary Clinton appeared to soften disparaging comments she made about her onetime rival and current presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), saying that regardless of her opinions, she’ll “do whatever” she can to support the person who secures the Democratic nomination. [HuffPost]

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WUHAN VIRUS DEATH TOLL RISES TO 9 The death toll from the Wuhan coronavirus has risen to nine, as dozens more cases were reported across China and as far afield as the western United States, sparking fears of a possible pandemic. Chinese health authorities said at least 440 cases had been confirmed across the country. [CNN]

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BUTTIGIEG'S MAYORAL STAFF WAS DISPROPORTIONATELY WHITE At an NAACP forum last year, Pete Buttigieg told the audience that as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, he strived to appoint aides who reflected the city’s diversity, and as president, he would do the same. But a new analysis by HuffPost of the executive staff Buttigieg surrounded himself with as mayor found that two-thirds were white, in a city that is roughly half nonwhite. [HuffPost]

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THE MAN (AND MISSION) BEHIND TRUMP'S CLASH WITH VENEZUELA At a campaign-style rally in Miami last February, Trump issued a clear warning to Nicolás Maduro, the socialist leader of Venezuela whom Trump had wanted to oust from the day he entered the White House two years earlier. “A new day is coming in Latin America,” Trump proclaimed, taking aim at not only Maduro but also the remnants of Fidel Castro’s regime in Cuba. [HuffPost]

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KLOBUCHAR ADDRESSES HER 'TOUGH ON CRIME' PAST Sen. Amy Klobuchar addressed her record as a Minnesota prosecutor after managing to sail through her Democratic presidential campaign relatively unscathed on the topic. Criminal justice reform advocates have criticized Klobuchar’s aggressive prosecution, including a push for harsher sentences for nonviolent drug offenders. [HuffPost]

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