5:46 am (MST) – “At least 24 players kneeling this weekend at NFL stadiums that are now having a very hard time filling up. The American public is fed up with the disrespect the NFL is paying to our Country, our Flag and our National Anthem. Weak and out of control!”
Republicans in the Senate are scrambling to find votes for their tax reform plan. The effort to win GOP votes is resulting in more provisions that benefit wealthy Americans finding their way into the package [New York Times].
Former national security adviser Michael Flynn met with members of special counsel Robert Mueller‘s team on Monday, raising the specter that he is trying to cut a deal with prosecutors [ABC News].
This is an astonishing story. A woman approached the Washington Post claiming to be a victim of Alabama Republican Roy Moore. In doing their due diligence, the paper discovered she was actually part of a right-wing sting operation to discredit the media, then confronted her about it [Washington Post].
Evan McMullin redux? A retired marine colonel in Alabama is launching a write-in campaign for next month’s U.S. Senate election. Lee Busby‘s last-minute candidacy certainly has the potential to siphon votes away from controversial Republican Roy Moore [Washington Post].
President Donald Trump broke out his favorite racial slur for Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, calling her “Pocahontas,” at an event honoring Native American veterans. It did not go over well [Time].
There’s a bizarre situation unfolding at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Two people, each claiming to be the acting director of the agency, showed up on Monday [New York Times].
Yet another woman says longtime Democratic Rep. John Conyers made unwanted sexual advances toward her [Detroit News].
Sen. Al Franken apologizes for groping several women, saying he would work to regain the trust of voters [New York Times].
The White House is weighing a ban on personal phones for employees. The official explanation is personal devices pose a cybersecurity threat, but some wonder if it’s an effort to cut down on leaks [Bloomberg].
Maliz Beams, who was hired to help Secretary of State Rex Tillerson overhaul the State Department, has quit after just three months on the job [BuzzFeed].
Ivanka Trump for U.N. Ambassador? Don’t laugh. Some in Washington are floating the idea [Politico].
Dictionary.com names “complicit” as the 2017 word of the year [Washington Post].
Consumers racked up $6.59 billion in online sales this year on “Cyber Monday” [USA Today].
Gun shoppers on Black Friday set a new record as the FBI ran more than 200,000 background checks, a single-day record [Time].
On this day in history:
1520 – An expedition under the command of Ferdinand Magellan passes through the Strait of Magellan.
1895 – The first American automobile race takes place over the 54 miles from Chicago’s Jackson Park to Evanston, Illinois. Frank Duryea wins in approximately 10 hours.
1919 – Virginia-born Nancy Astor became the first woman member of the British Parliament.
1994 – Serial killer Jeffery Dahmer was beaten to death by another prisoner in Wisconsin.