Headlines 

Democrats warned of cybercriminals targeting campaign funds

(CNN)Democratic campaigns were warned late last year that cybercriminals were seeking to steal their funds by posing online as staff and election vendors, CNN has learned. Many organizations are targeted in this way every day. Just last month, a Texas school district lost $2.3 million in a phishing scam. But while this is not unique to Democratic campaigns, the warnings served as a reminder to Democrats that they can be the target of criminals as well as the more publicized threat from state-backed hackers, such as the Russians who hacked…

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Setback for Boris Johnson as Lords amend Brexit bill

Peers back three amendments including right of EU citizens to physical proof of right to stay in UK Boris Johnsons Brexit deal has received a setback in the Lords after three amendments to the bill were passed. In the governments first parliamentary defeat since the general election, peers voted for EU citizens to have the right to be given official documentation if they lawfully reside in the UK after Brexit. They backed a cross-party amendment to the withdrawal agreement bill allowing for physical proof of status. The second defeat was…

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Odds and Ends 

Teen-Texting QAnon Creep Quits Campaign

Michael Moates lost his Twitter account and the dream of a seat in Congress in the span of a few days. A 24-year-old sometimes-journalist and occasional peddler of the QAnon conspiracy theory, Moates has also been Dec. 30, the right-wing wunderkind took to Twitter to announce a long-shot Libertarian bid to represent Texass 26th House District in Congress. About a week later, his campaign had been suspended. Moates has been banned from Twitter before. Previously, he had more than 200,000 followers under the Twitter @freedom_moates, where he has made headlines…

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Headlines 

Stellan Skarsgrd: I dont give advice to my children

The actor, 68, tells James McMahon about dreaming of being a diplomat, smashing telephones with skill and the days before Marvel ruled the world I intended to become a diplomat. That was my dream. I didnt take acting seriously until I was 16 and got a role in a Swedish show that made me extremely famous right away. There were screaming girls, all that stuff. Id never had any girl take an interest in me before that. Suddenly being a diplomat didnt seem half as attractive as it had done.…

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Buttigieg warns against ‘going to the extreme’ on election issues

Washington (CNN)Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday warned against “going to the extreme” on important election issues a day after he was assailed by his liberal competitors at the CNN/Des Moines Register Democratic debate for being too moderate. On Tuesday night, six candidates participated in the last debate before next month’s Iowa caucuses, where voters will cast the first votes of this election cycle. Buttigieg, who has cast his “Medicare for all who want it” plan as a viable alternative to Warren and Sanders’ “Medicare for All” plan, faced…

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Headlines 

6 takeaways from the Democratic debate in Iowa

Des Moines, Iowa (CNN)Caution ruled the night of the final Democratic presidential debate before the Iowa caucuses. Here are six takeaways from the debate: Warren’s pitch for a woman candidate Sanders and Biden spar over Iraq War vote Tuesday night brought the most substantive foreign policy debate of the Democratic race to date, with tensions flaring in the Middle East bringing the issue to the forefront. It started with Sanders attacking Biden’s 2002 vote to authorize the use of military force in Iraq. “Joe and I listened to what Dick…

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Headlines 

30 Thought-Provoking Digital Illustrations That Expose The Flaws Of Our Modern Society

Art has recently grown into a relatively strong medium to convey critique. Whether it’s of the way we live our lives, the way “things are done” in our society, or the way we abuse the planet (or abuse each other). In a world where a single picture can tell a thousand words—how information is much more consumed via imagery rather than language—art turns out to be an effective way to understand the scope of an issue and to call for change. This is the trajectory that artist and illustrator Davide…

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Headlines 

White House continues stonewalling on slew of issues

Washington (CNN)Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed he’s the most transparent president in American history, but just in the span of a week, his administration has stonewalled a number of inquiries for information to be made public. But the lack of transparency has been systemic. During the impeachment hearings and in further congressional investigations, members of the administration have refused to testify before Congress, even under subpoena. Agencies including the Office of Management and Budget, the Defense Department, the State Department and the White House turned over none of the documents…

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Headlines 

White evangelicals love Trump. Religious voters? Not so much.

(CNN)Much has been made of President Donald Trump’s strong standing with voters on the religious right, especially after a Christianity Today editorial called for Trump to be impeached and removed from office. The editorial generated a lot of press because Trump won white born-again evangelicals with more than 75% of the vote in 2016 and his approval rating with them remains at 75% in CNN/SSRS polling taken in the middle of last year. Simply put, Trump’s not popular with nonwhite born-again evangelical voters. His approval rating with them was a…

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Headlines 

Van Drew says this was the final straw for him to switch parties

Washington (CNN)New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew said the “final sign” for him to switch parties was being told that he had to vote in support of impeachment of President Donald Trump. Van Drew, who had been an outspoken critic of impeachment before switching parties, was facing a tough reelection in his New Jersey district and becoming a Republican would allow him to avoid a Democratic primary. CNN previously reported that internal polling showed Van Drew was losing major support among Democrats. Van Drew said that he felt he did…

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‘Those numbers are almost unfathomable’: Farmers skeptical of Trump’s $50 billion China promise

Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump says the Chinese will buy $50 billion worth of farm products as part of a phase one deal struck last week, but that would mean China would have to double the amount it bought from US farmers before the trade war started. The numbers have been repeated by other top administration officials. “You could think of it as $80 to $100 billion in new sales for agriculture over the course of the next two years — just massive numbers,” said US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in…

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Headlines 

How John Roberts might oversee a Senate impeachment trial

Washington (CNN)As the Democratic-led US House moves toward an impeachment vote on President Donald Trump, attention is turning to the likely Senate trial and how forcefully Chief Justice John Roberts might operate as he presides over the chamber. Senators are quarreling over whether to call witnesses and which ones. Schumer has told Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that he wants at least four witnesses to testify, including Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. Republican senators have suggested, alternatively, that they may want to call Hunter Biden, son…

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Headlines 

Analysis: Trump has weathered impeachment better than Clinton

(CNN)First things first: The theme song of the week is the closing credits from Growing Pains. In these, Trump usually comes out looking poorly compared to Bill Clinton, the last president to be impeached. Clinton’s job approval rating stayed higher and the percentage who wanted him impeached and removed from office stayed lower. I’ll make the argument, though, that these figures aren’t telling the whole story. A look at the net favorability rating changes for Clinton and Trump during their impeachment sagas indicates that Clinton was hurt by impeachment in…

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Headlines 

Michael Cohen asks judge to cut his prison sentence, says Attorney General Barr is biased against him

New York (CNN)Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, on Wednesday asked a federal judge to reduce his three-year prison term while claiming that Attorney General William Barr and the Justice Department are biased against him. Adler accuses the prosecutors with the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York, who did not support the request and have not agreed to meet with Cohen, of playing a game of “heads we win, tails you lose.” Cohen’s attorney suggests the Justice Department, under Barr, is biased against Cohen.…

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Headlines 

Washington Post: Barr told Trump he was not being well served by Giuliani

Washington (CNN)Attorney General William Barr counseled President Donald Trump that his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani has become a liability for his administration, The Washington Post reported Sunday, citing people familiar with the conversations. The counterintelligence probe — which indicates that FBI and criminal prosecutors in Manhattan are looking at a broader set of issues related to Giuliani — hinges in part on whether a foreign influence operation was trying to take advantage of Giuliani’s business ties in Ukraine and with wealthy foreigners to make inroads with the White House, according…

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