Thursday News: Michael Cohen Sentencing, National Enquirer “Publisher’s Deal in Hush-Money Inquiry Adds to Trump’s Danger”; Nancy Pelosi Effectively Clinches Speakership; “Will Trump Follow Through on His Incredibly Dumb Shutdown Threat?”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Thursday, December 13.

• May Wins More Time, but Only After a Humbling Concession (“Mrs. May had offered herself as a pair of “safe hands” in negotiating Brexit. But she survived only after promising to eventually step down.”)
• The Koreas take historic steps in de-escalation as Trump silently seethes in Washington (“The Koreas keep making symbolic and significant moves, as President Trump pivots from diplomacy to sanctions.”)
• Bruised UK leader returns to Brussels for Brexit help
• Global Stocks Mixed Amid Hints of Trade Progress
• Cohen Will Talk After Mueller Probe Is Complete, Lawyer Says
• AMI, publisher of National Enquirer, admits to hush-money payments made on Trump’s behalf
• Tabloid Publisher’s Deal in Hush-Money Inquiry Adds to Trump’s Danger (“The company admitted to paying a Playboy model, who had said she had an affair with Donald J. Trump, with the intention of protecting the Trump campaign. The revelation from prosecutors was a major step in their case that payouts to two women before the election violated campaign finance laws.”)
• How the National Enquirer broke up with President Trump
• A ‘loud gong’: National Enquirer’s surprise deal could imperil Trump (“The National Enquirer’s parent company has agreed to tell prosecutors everything it knows about Donald Trump — and it might know a lot.”)
• GOP leaders still lack funding plan as shutdown looms (“House Republicans are eager to give Trump his wall, but it’s not clear how they’ll get there amid low morale among departing GOP lawmakers.”)
• Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen sentenced to three years in prison
• Trump’s former friends flip as he faces a new reality
• ‘His Dirty Deeds’ (“Michael Cohen said President Trump led him into darkness. The courts brought him into the light.”)
• The democratic world is burning while Trump obsesses over a wall (“Because governing is their stock-in-trade, a complete collapse of confidence in our capacity for self-rule will — fairly or not — hurt them, too.”)
• Donald Trump Has No Friends Anymore. Only Witnesses. (“They all fell for the long con: that the president* knows anything about anything honest. Now they’re jumping ship.”)
• Countries that Blocked ‘Welcoming’ of Major Climate Science Report at UN Talks have Dozens of Delegates with Ties to Oil, Gas, and Mining
• ‘Gas is Not a Solution to Climate Change’: Activists Interrupt Fossil Fuel Lobby Group Event at UN Climate Talks (Nope, natural gas is a fossil fuel – with carbon dioxide, methane and other pollutants that make it anything but “clean,” as its industry’s propaganda bizarrely claims.)
• How Big Oil Secretly Pushed for Trump’s Car Emission Rollbacks (“When the Trump administration laid out a plan this year that would eventually allow cars to emit more pollution, automakers balked, saying that the changes went too far even for them. But it turns out that there was a hidden beneficiary of the plan that was pushing for the changes all along: the U.S. oil industry.”)
• Pelosi clears hurdle in bid to be House speaker, reaching deal with Democratic rebels (“The California congresswoman will support a three-term limit for the top four House Democratic leaders, meaning she would step aside no later than 2022 as party leader. Pelosi’s move earned support from seven Democratic holdouts, likely giving her the votes she needs for her election to speaker on Jan. 3.”)
• Meadows out of the running to be Trump’s chief of staff (He would have been a disaster.)
• John Kerry: If We Fail on Climate, It Won’t Be Just Trump’s Fault (“We’ll all be to blame.”)
• Half Our Political System Has Chosen to Live in a Vortex of Spoon-Fed Paranoia (“That makes, say, a hearing with a Google executive very difficult.”)
• As Trump Cries ‘No Collusion,’ Other Campaign Inquiries Close In
• Senate votes to overturn Trump donor disclosure rule
• GOP-controlled Senate breaks with Trump on Saudi vote (“The GOP-controlled Senate on Wednesday dealt a significant blow to President Trump by voting to advance a resolution ending U.S. support for the Saudi war in Yemen in the aftermath of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi’s slaying”)
• The Last Act of Paul Ryan’s Speakership Is a Suitable Disgrace (“Republicans have ensured continued U.S. collaboration in the human rights calamity in Yemen—and they put it in the farm bill.”)
• Will Trump Follow Through on His Incredibly Dumb Shutdown Threat? (“My profound hope is that Trump makes good on his threat and shuts down the government right before Christmas. He will set his party back even further than he already has, and do so at a time when congressional Republicans are going to be trapped with angry constituents back home during the holiday break”)
• Fox’s Napolitano: We learned today that prosecutors have evidence Trump committed a felony
• Trump Moves to Deport Vietnam War Refugees (“The White House again wants to expel certain groups of protected immigrants, a reversal after backing away from the policy months ago.”)
• Sarah Sanders hopes people remember her as being ‘transparent and honest’ (Hahahahahahaha.)
• Tribune, Tronc And Beyond: A Slur, A Secret Payout And A Looming Sale
• Maria Butina’s plea is the worst news ever for Trump (“What the Russian spy’s guilty plea tells us about Trump’s chances of surviving Mueller’s investigation”)
• Ivanka and Jared reportedly pushed John Kelly out — but their guy didn’t want the job (“Javanka remain the true gatekeepers to Trumpland — and according to a new report, they wanted John Kelly gone”)
• Kavanaugh’s Court begins its inevitable power grab with Kisor v. Wilkie (“The most important news, however, was the Court’s announcement that it will hear Kisor v. Wilkie, a case asking the Court to transfer power from the executive branch to the judiciary. Kisor is likely to be the first of many such cases, and the Court’s decision to hear this case so quickly after Kavanaugh’s confirmation suggests that the Court plans to consolidate power quite rapidly.”)
• Tim Kaine: Trump was ‘fact-checked to his face’ by Pelosi, Schumer
• Warner, Kaine tout industrial hemp, Chesapeake Bay cleanup provisions of U.S. Farm Bill
• The Amazon Invasion in New York and Virginia Will Be a Slow One (“Amazon’s announcement that it will bring 25,000 new jobs each to New York City and Northern Virginia has sparked a frenzy of local activity. Lost in all the commotion: It will likely take many years, if not a decade, before residents see a massive army of Amazon employees invading their cities.”)
• Environmental groups find something to cheer about from the Northam adminstration
• Former water board member: Lawsuit over pipeline violations is also an indictment of DEQ’s regulatory approach
• Editorial: Lawmakers must focus on Medicaid expansion (“… it is critical that Virginia stay focused, and that lawmakers remember what the public demanded in last year’s election. Medicaid expansion was the proper choice, reflecting the will of the people, and it must be made to work.”)
• Shift from hospitals (“Virginia must be cautious as it reconsiders the use of state hospitals to treat mental illness”)
• Congressman-elect Denver Riggleman takes educational trip to Israel (Wait, a trip organized by AIPAC gives them “all sides of the debate?” That’s, uh, a wee bit hard to believe.)
• Heather D. Heyer’s mother has a message for Trump: ‘Please think before you speak’
• Audio: WRVA’s December “Ask the Governor” Covers Taxes, Medical Marijuana, Education, Gerrymandering and…Yes, the Pipelines (“Northam gives his standard non-answers on the pipelines and the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board members’ dismissals just before a crucial vote.”)
• Cook Political Report’s First Look at House of Representatives 2020 Has Spanberger, Luria as “Toss Up”
• CASEY: How and why Roanoke dodged another ‘Snowmageddon’
• New problems for the Silver Line Phase 2: Officials say rail ties are flawed
• Rep. Comstock plans to move her leadership program for girls to GMU (Of course it will be at Koch-funded GMU. Of course.)
• Dominion offers ‘performance guarantee’ to protect ratepayers in solar projects for Facebook
• Immigration judge revokes green card, orders deportation of Virginia activist Alejandra Pablos
• Hounded by Trump administration, Virginia mother of 3 takes sanctuary in a church (“Rosa Gutierrez Lopez, whose youngest has Down Syndrome, is the first person to go public about seeking a church’s protection from ICE agents.”)
• Va. governor proposes to spend millions on improving water quality, accelerating bay cleanup
• Second video released in Park Police slaying of Bijan Ghaisar (“Officer appears to shine flashlight on unarmed driver before final shots are fired”)
• Real damage from Norfolk Southern’s departure may be to Hampton Roads’ image
• Glad You Asked: Hampton Roads by any other name is still in southeast Virginia
• John Fitzgerald, a founding father of Alexandria, owned slaves. Officials don’t want to name a park for him.
• Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington) Rings for Salvation Army, Sparking Intense Discussion on His Facebook Page
• Cloudy but calm before Friday’s rain, which could turn heavy at night