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| Presented By Facebook |
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| Axios AM |
| By Mike Allen ·Dec 22, 2020 |
| 🎶 Good Tuesday morning. Today's Smart Brevity™ count: 1,185 words ... 4½ minutes. ⚡ Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York have been in communication with Justice Department officials about gaining access to Rudy Giuliani's emails, NBC News reports. |
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| 1 big thing: Trump turns on everyone |
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| A Marine stands outside the West Wing of the White House yesterday, signifying the president is in the Oval Office. Photo: Evan Vucci/AP |
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| President Trump, in his final days, is turning bitterly on virtually every person around him, griping about anyone who refuses to indulge conspiracy theories or hopeless bids to overturn the election, several top officials tell Jonathan Swan. - Targets of his outrage include Vice President Pence, chief of staff Mark Meadows, White House counsel Pat Cipollone, Secretary of State Pompeo and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Why it matters: Trump thinks everyone around him is weak, stupid or disloyal — and increasingly seeks comfort only in people who egg him on to overturn the election results. We cannot stress enough how unnerved Trump officials are by the conversations unfolding inside the White House. Top officials are trying to stay away from the West Wing right now. - Trump is lashing out, and everyone is in the blast zone: At this point, if you're not in the "use the Department of Homeland Security or the military to impound voting machines" camp, the president considers you weak and beneath contempt.
- Trump is fed up with Cipollone, his counsel. Some supporters of Cipollone are worried that Trump is on the brink of removing him and replacing him with a fringe loyalist.
A source who spoke to Trump said the president was complaining about Pence and brought up a Lincoln Project ad that claims that Pence is "backing away" from Trump. This ad has clearly got inside Trump's head, the source said. - Trump views Pence as not fighting hard enough for him — the same complaint he uses against virtually everybody who works for him and has been loyal to him.
A new fixation: Trump has even been asking advisers whether they can get state legislatures to rescind their electoral votes. When he's told no, he lashes out even more, said a source who discussed the matter with the president. - And in an Oval meeting last night, Trump spoke with House Republicans about voting to overturn the result on Jan. 6 — a desperate vote that even Trump has privately acknowledged he's bound to lose.
The person who has the worst job in Washington, according to multiple administration officials: the incoming head of the Justice Department, Jeffrey Rosen. - The consensus is he has no earthly idea the insanity he is in for.
- The next month will be the longest of his life.
Obtained by Axios Another reflection of Trump's state of mind: - As we reported in a Swan alert last night ("Trump trashes McConnell to fellow Republicans"), POTUS got his personal assistant to email Republican lawmakers a PowerPoint slide (above) attacking the Senate majority leader for being "the first one off the ship," and absurdly claiming credit for McConnell's victory in his Kentucky reelection.
- That's quite a message to send two weeks out from crucial runoff races in Georgia, where Republicans need to stay unified.
Where's Jared? A source told Swan that Kushner, who yesterday participated in a tree-planting ceremony in Jerusalem Forest's Grove of Nations, "is focused on the Middle East." - It's a perfect visual encapsulation of Kushner's absence — on the other side of the world, planting a tree with Bibi and accepting plaudits, while Trump discusses mayhem with Sidney Powell.
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| 2. Tesla mania vs. economic reality |
 Data: YCharts. Reproduced from Raazum Capital. Chart: Axios Visuals Tesla is now more valuable than the combination of the world's top seven traditional automakers, despite only delivering half a million cars this year, Axios managing editor for business Aja Whitaker-Moore writes. - Why it matters: Anyone searching for evidence that the stock market and the real economy aren't the same thing ... should look no further.
Keep reading. |
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| 3. 💰 Stimulus checks could come next week |
| Dusk falls over the Capitol last night. The light atop the dome signifies Congress is in session. The Suburbans mean the leaders are in the building. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/AP At 11:42 p.m., Congress passed a $900 billion coronavirus relief bill and $1.4 trillion government funding measure — a 5,593-page package — after months of gridlock, Alayna Treene reports. - Why it matters: While the plan is roughly half the size of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act Congress passed in March, it's still one of the most expensive rescue packages in modern history.
- Democratic leaders say they view this deal as a "down payment" — something to tide Americans over until Joe Biden takes office.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on CNBC that the $600 direct payments to qualifying Americans will be direct-deposited "at the beginning of next week." - The fine print, from the N.Y. Times (subscription): "Individual adults with adjusted gross income on their 2019 tax returns of up to $75,000 a year ... receive a $600 payment, heads of household making up to $112,500 and a couple ... earning up to $150,000 a year would get twice that amount. If they have dependent children, they ... also get $600 for each child.'
- "The amount of the check then decreases by $5 for every $100 of income above those thresholds, phasing out completely at $87,000 for individuals and $174,000 for couples," per CNBC.
Go deeper: Read the 5,593-page bill. |
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| A message from Facebook |
| It's time to update internet regulations |
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| The internet has changed a lot in 25 years. But the last time comprehensive internet regulations were passed was in 1996. We want updated internet regulations to set clear guidelines for addressing today's toughest challenges. Learn More |
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| 4. Space Inc. thrives despite virus |
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| Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios |
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| From crewed commercial flights to startup space companies going public, 2020 was the year that a maturing space industry emerged, Axios Space author Miriam Kramer writes. - Why it matters: Those accomplishments defied expectations that the space industry would largely shut down due to the pandemic.
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| 5. Axios-Ipsos poll: Finally, COVID hope |
 Data: Axios-Ipsos survey. Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios One in three Americans believe their physical and mental health will be better next year, with more people saying they plan to get the COVID vaccine as soon as it's available, Axios managing editor David Nather writes from the latest installment of the Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index. - Why it matters: In a year of unrelenting bad news and doom, the survey finally shows some hints of optimism.
🥊 Trump appointees "attempted to alter or block at least 13 scientific reports related to the virus," Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), chair of the House select subcommittee on COVID-19, wrote in a letter obtained by Politico's Dan Diamond. - Clyburn issued subpoenas to HHS Secretary Azar and CDC director Redfield, demanding documents by Dec. 30. Read the 20-page letter.
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| 6. 🇨🇳 China think tanker offered to pay for Axios sources |
| A person on LinkedIn claiming to work for a think tank run by a high-ranking Chinese Communist Party department recently offered money for the names of sources for Axios China reporter Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, and for reports about the incoming Biden's administration's views on China. - Why it matters: It was a surprisingly clumsy attempt to gain insider information about the U.S. government's China policy — suggesting that amid a chill in U.S.-China relations and a global pandemic, it's gotten harder for people in Beijing to know what's happening in Washington.
Keep reading. |
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| 7. Hack breached tech, accounting giants |
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| Graphic: MSNBC |
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| The suspected Russian cyberattack hit tech and accounting firms Cisco, Intel, Nvidia and Deloitte, as well as California Department of State Hospitals and Kent State University, The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription). |
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| 8. Bad sources gained more traction in 2020 |
 Data: NewsGuard; Chart: Sara Wise/Axios In 2020, nearly one-fifth (17%) of engagement among the top 100 news sources on social media came from sources deemed generally unreliable, compared to about 8% in 2019, Axios Media Trends author Sara Fischer writes from a NewsGuard analysis. - Why it matters: Quality filters from Big Tech platforms didn't stop inflammatory headlines from gaining lots of traction, especially from fringe-right sources.
Sign up for Media Trends, out later this morning. |
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| 9. Data du jour: Trade deficit grew under Trump |
 Data: Census Bureau via FRED, BEA via FRED; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios The U.S. trade and current account deficits are at their deepest level since 2008, Axios Capital author Felix Salmon writes. - Why it matters: America's underwater trade position was one of the defining complaints of Trump's 2016 campaign, and the Trump administration has spent the past four years waging trade wars in a futile or even counterproductive attempt to turn it around.
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| 10. 1 celestial thing: "Great conjunction" |
| Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images Jupiter (left) and Saturn (rings!) are seen last night from Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, during the planets' closest alignment in nearly 400 years — since Galileo's time in the 17th century (July 1623). |
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| A message from Facebook |
| Internet regulations need an update |
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| It's been 25 years since lawmakers passed comprehensive internet regulations. But a lot has changed since 1996. We want updated regulations to set clear guidelines for protecting people's privacy, enabling safe and easy data portability between platforms and more. Learn More |
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