Tuesday News: “Vladimir Putin’s FSB Got Conned”; “Massive Package of Virus Relief, Federal Funding Passes Congress”; “Trump threatens reign of destruction on his way out of office”; “Northam: 2021 focus must be on pandemic relief for Virginians”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Tuesday, December 22.

• For Europe, It’s Wave After Wave of Coronavirus
• Navalny Reportedly Dupes Agent Into Revealing Details Of Poisoning
• Vladimir Putin’s FSB Got Conned
• Trump administration weighing legal immunity for Saudi crown prince accused in assassination plot (Absolutely unacceptable.)
• Biden Camp Adds Pressure on EU to Hit the Brakes on China Deal
• Israel barrels towards fourth election within two years (“If budget is not agreed on Tuesday, parliament will dissolve and trigger snap election in March”)
• Vaccines Are Coming, But The U.S. Still Needs More Testing To Stop The Surge
• So long, 2020. We won’t miss you.
• 2020 Was The Deadliest Year In U.S. History (“Deaths are expected to top 3 million for the first time, mainly due to the coronavirus pandemic.”)
• $4 In My Bank Account: Pandemic Has Left Millions Of Livelihoods In Limbo
• Why Americans are numb to the staggering coronavirus death toll
• Congress passes $2.3T coronavirus relief, government funding deal
• Congress passes long-awaited Covid relief bill and government funding plan
• Massive Package of Virus Relief, Federal Funding Passes Congress
• House approves huge spending package, rushing to send economic relief to pandemic-stricken country
• What the stimulus bill tells us about each party
• Omnibus endorses 1% federal pay raise, gives feds more time to repay deferred payroll taxes
• Relief bill’s passage sets off scramble to declare victory, assign blame
• Democrats say more COVID relief needed after current measure becomes law
• A Dinner, a Deal and Moonshine: How the Stimulus Came Together (“Top party leaders cinched a deal after laying down their swords. But it took an empowered, bipartisan group of moderates to help bridge the divide.”)
• Stimulus deal includes raft of provisions to fight climate change (“The most substantial federal investment in green technology in a decade includes billions for solar, wind, battery storage and carbon capture. Congress also agreed to cut the use of HFCs, chemicals used in refrigeration that are driving global warming.”)
• Solar ITC wins extension as part of pending congressional action (“The solar ITC would remain at 26% for projects that begin construction in 2021 and 2022, step down to 22% in 2023, and down to 10% in 2024 for commercial projects.”)
• Congress Acts To Spare Consumers From Costly Surprise Medical Bills
• Pentagon anxiety rises as officers wait for Trump’s next unpredictable move
• Trump threatens reign of destruction on his way out of office (“Surrounded by dead-end loyalists, the President flings lies and political venom in a crumbling Twitter kingdom, alarming some staffers about what he will do next”)
• Trump assembles a ragtag crew of conspiracy-minded allies in flailing bid to reverse election loss
• “Sadly, Mitch forgot”: Trump trashes McConnell in astonishing email to GOP senators (“President Trump lashed out at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday night for acknowledging Joe Biden won the election, sending a slide to Republican lawmakers taking credit for saving McConnell’s career with a tweet and robocall.”)
• McConnell: Senate to return Dec. 29 for potential Trump veto override vote
• Romney isn’t there yet, but he should consider a new party (“The Republican Party is not defensible.” Agreed.)
• House conservatives strategize with Trump and Pence in push to challenge Biden’s win (They’re not “conservatives,” they’re extremists.)
• Some White House advisers fear Trump’s final days
• Undercutting Trump, Barr says there’s no basis for seizing voting machines, using special counsels for election fraud, Hunter Biden
• Barr Sees ‘No Reason’ for Special Counsels for Hunter Biden or the Election
• Did Bill Fucking Barr Just Save American Democracy?! (“As wild as it is to see the ultimate heel turn hero just before the credits roll, there’s a method to the attorney general’s madness.”)
• Feds have discussed making a legal request for Giuliani’s electronic communications, say two sources
• Rudy Distances Trump From Sidney Powell as She Visits White House for Third Time
• Trump’s Enablers Will Meet Their Shakespearean Ends (“The Bard had a rich sense of the creeps and criminals, sycophants and slimeballs, weirdos and wing nuts who hang around power.”)
• Is Trump Really All That Holds the G.O.P. Together? (“The Republican Party has embraced reality-TV authoritarianism not out of strength but weakness.”)
• Trump is an authoritarian wannabe. He must never hold power again.
• ‘Subpoenas are necessary’: House watchdog details extensive meddling with CDC Covid-19 reports
• This Is the Most Criminal Dereliction of Duty in the History of the American Presidency (“The Washington Post offers a staggering vista of lies and blundering—and blundering lies—that is the sad history of the Trump administration response to the pandemic”)
• Biden receives first dose of coronavirus vaccine publicly
• The COVID-19 Stimulus Bill Would Make Illegal Streaming a Felony
• Trump’s final hope rests with Tommy Tuberville. Sad!
• Biden Must Reverse These Environmental Horrors
• 12 Trump Attacks on the Environment Since the Election (Evil.)
• Here’s a plan for accountability (“The critical objective must be to ensure objectionable behaviors do not recur.”)
• Young conservatives mingled maskless at Mar-a-Lago and partied with a money cannon
• Why social media hasn’t been able to shut down vaccine misinformation
• Michael Cohen: Here’s What’s Really Behind Trump’s Election Lies (“This is a cash grab. When you finish a job, you’re always thinking about how to reinvent yourself. That’s what Donald Trump is doing right now”)
• Biden poised to nominate Connecticut education chief Miguel Cardona as education secretary
• Biden poised to pick Connecticut schools chief as education secretary
• Analysis-U.S. shale oil just had its worst year and the pain could bleed into 2021
• Will McConnell and Biden friendship mean a calmer, more functional Washington?
• We’ve lost control: The real lessons of the Trump regime and the pandemic (“Our society, and our species, is gripped by hopeful delusion. Dire recent events should have stripped all that away” It never does, though.)
• Millions of Christmas presents may arrive late because of USPS package delays
• Jared Kushner signed off on secret payments to top campaign officials, source says (“Source tells Salon that dubious shell-company arrangements to pay top officials were approved by Kushner and Trump”)
• Google, Facebook Agreed to Cooperate, Draft Suit Alleges (“Facebook and Google agreed to “cooperate and assist one another” if they ever faced an investigation into their pact to work together in online advertising, according to an unredacted version of a lawsuit filed by 10 states against Google last week.”)
• Officials finally found a case of a dead person voting, accusing a Republican of pretending to be his dead mom to vote for Trump
• Journalist says she fell in love with Martin Shkreli while covering his arrest (Yuuuuuck.)
• The Devils Went Down to Georgia In the newest swing state, all of the Senate runoff candidates are relying on Trump for one last turn out extravaganza.
• Senate Candidates Duel in Georgia as G.O.P. Voters’ Anger Persists
• Fox News barely covers Trump’s reported flirtation with martial law (“The network has helped to spur paranoia about the election, but now it’s downplaying Trump’s attempted coup”)
• Amidst defamation threats, Newsmax host cuts off guest from spewing Dominion conspiracy theories (“Under legal duress, Newsmax recently admitted there was no factual basis to any of the claims”)
• Pepper spray and pepper balls used by protesters and police at Oregon Capitol (“Protesters?” Really? Is that what they are?)
• Heavily Armed Far-Right Mob Floods Oregon Capitol
• Video: Pat Robertson of All People Declares Biden Will Be President, Trump “lives in an alternate reality,” is “very erratic” and “it’s time [for Trump] to move on”
• Televangelist Pat Robertson says it’s time for Trump to accept Biden’s win and ‘move on’
• Rep. Gerry Connolly Releases Climate Report On Benefits to Virginians if America Rejoins Paris Climate Agreement (Potential $1.2 *TRILLION* in health benefits to Virginia over next 50 years)
• Photos: Virginia Removes Confederate Statue from U.S. Capitol Overnight (“Commission recently selected civil rights icon Barbara Johns to represent the Commonwealth with new statue”)
• Gen. Robert E. Lee statue removed from U.S. Capitol
• Metro Could Get Hundreds Of Millions In Federal Relief, Avoid Most Drastic Service Cuts
• New Year Holds Slimmer Housing Protections for Virginians
• Virginia isn’t quite ready to put a ring on the Transportation and Climate Initiative (Sen. Scott Surovell: “I think TCI has a lot to offer, but we definitely would have to figure out if we were to do it how to implement it here in Virginia.”)
• Virginia Delegate Mark Levine Announces Bid for Lieutenant Governor, Pledges to Do the Job Full Time (There are now eight announced Democrats running for Virginia LG in 2021…)
• Del. Mark Levine joins the crowded race for Virginia lieutenant governor
• Gay Virginia Delegate Mark Levine announces run for lieutenant governor (“A progressive Democrat, Levine would be the first LGBTQ and first Jewish person elected to statewide office in Virginia”)
• Banned starting Jan. 1: Holding a phone while driving
• Robert M. McNab column: The commonwealth endures
• In one-on-one interview, Northam reflects on a pivotal year and future priorities
• Northam: 2021 focus must be on pandemic relief for Virginians
• How Long Before Virginia’s Economy Recovers? ODU Report Offers an Estimate (“It’ll take at least three years before parts of the state economy fully recover, Old Dominion report says.”)
• Monday (12/21) Virginia Data on COVID-19 Finds +4,042 Confirmed/Probable Cases (to 310,890), +70 Hospitalizations (to 16,948), +4 Deaths (to 4,654)
• A Black VMI cadet was threatened with a lynching, then with expulsion (Appalling)
• Democratic Party of Virginia Staff Ratify First Union Contract
• Telehealth in Virginia: Where do we go from here?
• Steve Descano column: The time is now to ban mandatory minimums
• Fairfax County prosecutor formally ends cash bail, joining a growing movement
• Editorial: Big changes for Hampton Roads’ HBCUs
• Virginia Beach Police Department apologizes after officer mistakes man for accused thief, handcuffs him at Lynnhaven Mall
• Fairfax firefighters routinely denied workers’ comp after coronavirus infections, union says
• Sunny, windy and warmer today ahead of a stormy Christmas Eve