North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed a bill that will strip his Democratic successor of certain powers ― because sometime putting glue in the offices keyboards just doesn’t cut it. James Comey agrees with the CIA’s assessment about Russia’s election interference, a declaration that will say “sorry” to Hillary Clinton in a way that Edible Arrangement never could. And Clinton herself voiced her outrage to the one group of people who will be impacted by Donald Trump’s policies more than anyone ― wealthy Manhattan political donors. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Friday, December 16th, 2016:
FBI BACKS CIA ASSESSMENT OF RUSSIAN ELECTION INTERFERENCE - Vodka shots at Russia House on us! Adam Entous and Ellen Nakashima: “FBI Director James B. Comey and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. are in agreement with a CIA assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election in part to help Donald Trump win the presidency, according to U.S. officials. Comey’s support for the CIA’s conclusion — and officials say that he never changed his position — suggests that the leaders of the three agencies are in agreement on Russian intentions, contrary to suggestions by some lawmakers that the FBI disagreed with the CIA. ‘Earlier this week, I met separately with (Director) FBI James Comey and DNI Jim Clapper, and there is strong consensus among us on the scope, nature, and intent of Russian interference in our presidential election,’ CIA Director John Brennan said in a message to the agency’s workforce, according to U.S. officials who have seen the message.” [WaPo]
Obama weighs in: “Obama suggested a counterattack against Russia could be in the works. ‘Our goal continues to be to send a clear message to Russia or others not to do this to us because we can do stuff to you,’ he said. ‘But it is also important for us to do that in a thoughtful, methodical way. Some of it we do publicly, some of it we will do in a way that they know, but not everybody will.’” [HuffPost’s Jessica Schulberg]
If you’re interested in this sort of thing, HuffPost’s union is being stonewalled by our bosses over pay and employees are upset, WaPo’s Erik Wemple reports.
DAILY DELANEY DOWNER, DEY TERK ER JERBS EDITION - Arthur Delaney: “Though he promised to stop U.S. companies from shipping jobs overseas and criticized Rexnord Corp.’s planned layoffs on Twitter, President-elect Donald Trump has been unable to make the ball-bearing manufacturer reconsider. The company finalized an agreement Friday with the local United Steelworkers union for severance pay when the company shuts down its Indianapolis factory next spring. Roughly 300 workers will lose their jobs. Rexnord announced its plan to shift production to Mexico this year. Trump, who followed through on a campaign promise to stop the Carrier Corp. from shuttering a factory in Indianapolis, blasted Rexnord on Twitter. “ [HuffPost]
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CLINTON SPEAKS OUT ABOUT RUSSIAN HACKING, FBI LETTER - If you ask us, she lost because she put Rob Reiner in that convention “Fight Song” video. Paige Lavender: “Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a group of donors she believes Russian President Vladimir Putin contributed to her presidential election loss, The New York Times and CNN report. Clinton told donors during a meeting at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan that Russia attempted to ‘undermine our democracy’ by hacking into the emails of the Democratic National Committee and former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, according to the Times. ‘Putin publicly blamed me for the outpouring of outrage by his own people, and that is the direct line between what he said back then and what he did in this election,’ Clinton said, according to the Times. ‘This is not just an attack on me and my campaign, although that may have added fuel to it. This is an attack against our country,’ Clinton added. ‘We are well beyond normal political concerns here. This is about the integrity of our democracy and the security of our nation.’” [HuffPost]
EUROPE IS FREAKING OUT A LITTLE - Catherine Stupp: “Meeting for the first time since the U.S. presidential election, European Union members agreed Thursday to increase their spending on defense. President-elect Donald Trump’s friendly overtures to an expansionist Russia and his statements casting doubt on his commitment to the NATO alliance have sent shudders through Europe. The agreement to boost national defense budgets was widely seen as a response to the election and fears that the U.S. may become a less dependable ally…. During his campaign, Trump said the U.S. was carrying too much of the burden of maintaining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.” [LA Times]
DEMOCRATIC BUNDLERS NOT FEELING GREAT ABOUT THEIR ROI - Again, it was the Rob Reiner video. Gabriel Debenedetti: “[T]he wealthy Democrats who helped pump over $1 billion into Clinton’s losing effort have been urging their local finance staffers, state party officials, and campaign aides to provide a more thorough explanation of what went wrong. With no dispassionate, centralized analysis of how Clinton failed so spectacularly, they insist, how can they be expected to keep contributing to the party? ‘A lot of the bundlers and donors still are in shock and disbelief by what happened. They’re looking for some introspection and analysis about what really happened, what worked and what didn’t,’ said Ken Martin, chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and a top campaign bundler himself. ‘It may take some time to do that, but people are still just scratching their heads.’ Or, in the words of a Midwestern fundraiser who’s kept in touch with fellow donors, ‘A lot of people are saying, ‘I’m not putting another fucking dime in until someone tells me what just happened.’’” [Politico]
TRUMP TRIES TO DISTRACT FROM RUSSIAN MEDDLING BY MENTIONING RUSSIAN MEDDLING - Christina Wilkie: “After spending weeks denying the mounting evidence that Russia played a role in cyberattacks on the Democratic National Committee, Donald Trump employed a new tactic Friday. The president-elect suggested that whoever stole tens of thousands of emails from top Democratic officials and leaked them online was actually doing America a favor. ‘Are we talking about the same cyberattack where it was revealed that head of the DNC illegally gave Hillary the questions to the debate?’ [Trump tweeted.] It’s unclear what prompted Trump to pose this question to his 17 million Twitter followers at six o’clock in the morning.” [HuffPost]
MCCRORY SIGNS BILL SCREWING SUCCESSOR - Super-sore losers in North Carolina. Julia Craven: “Current North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) has signed one of two bills that would drastically reduce the powers of his successor, incoming Democratic Governor-elect Roy Cooper. House Bill 17 and Senate Bill 4 were introduced by Republican lawmakers in the state legislature on Wednesday. Both bills passed in their respective chambers the following day by large margins. McCrory promptly signed SB 4 on Friday. SB 4 takes aim at the North Carolina Board of Elections following several board decisions to extend voting hours in certain precincts in the Democratic stronghold of Durham County on Election Day. The bill will increase the number of Board of Elections members from five appointed by the governor to eight, split evenly along party lines. Cooper would appoint four of them, while two would be picked by the state House and another two by the state Senate. SB 4 also increases county election boards from three members ― two appointed by the sitting governor ― to four members, split along party lines.” [HuffPost]
STEVE MNUCHIN: JUST A GOOD, GOOD GUY - Proud to bring his decades of experience of being swell to Treasury. Ben Walsh: “The official GOP biography of Steven Mnuchin, which appeared on the Republican National Committee’s website earlier this week, has some interesting gaps. Mnuchin, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Treasury, spent 17 years working at Goldman Sachs ― where, like his father before him, he became a partner. He also worked for hedge fund manager George Soros, founded a hedge fund of his own and was the lead investor in IndyMac, a failed subprime lender that turned into a ‘foreclosure machine’ during the housing crisis. In other words, Mnuchin doesn’t exactly fit with Trump’s promises to ‘drain the swamp.’ To gloss over the inconsistency, the Republican Party has simply elided Mnuchin’s almost two decades at Goldman and his role in fraud-driven foreclosures that cost thousands of people their homes.” [HuffPost]
ZOMBIE OBAMACARE WALKING TALL - Jeffrey Young: “While the Affordable Care Act faces a looming repeal by President-elect Donald Trump and the GOP-led Congress next year, its health insurance exchanges had a record day on Thursday. More than 670,000 people selected health insurance plans via the federally run exchange marketplaces, which serve people in 39 states through HealthCare.gov, President Barack Obama said Friday. It’s the biggest number of sign-ups in a single day since the exchanges debuted in 2013.” [HuffPost]
TRUMP LOVES THE PRESS - And in no way, shape or form does he want to transform the James S. Brady Briefing Room into a gallery for Newt Gingrich’s animal photography. Michael Calderone: “Sean Spicer, the senior communications advisor for Donald Trump’s presidential transition team and a leading candidate to become White House press secretary, said Thursday night that the incoming president would ‘absolutely not’ kick out news organizations in response to critical coverage. This is an understandable fear given how the Trump campaign blacklisted nearly a dozen outlets through much of the election. In addition to denying some news organizations press credentials, the campaign sometimes placed unusual restrictions on journalists once inside. During an interview with Fox News host Megyn Kelly, Spicer said Trump would not ‘bounce’ reporters from the briefing room and ‘has a healthy belief in the First Amendment.’” [HuffPost]
BECAUSE YOU’VE READ THIS FAR - Here’s a dog bullying a cat.
FOR THOSE OF YOU REALLY MISSING DAVID DUKE’S SENATE RUN - Have we got a virulent strain of white nationalism for you! Dana Liebelson: “White nationalist Richard Spencer, riding a post-Trump wave of media fame, is entertaining the idea of running for U.S. Congress. He is considering campaigning for Montana’s at-large congressional seat that would be vacated by Rep. Ryan Zinke (R) if he is confirmed as secretary of interior. To be clear: Spencer is only thinking about it. He thinks ‘about lots of things,’ he told The Huffington Post on Thursday. But he noted that ‘a lot of people were calling me and saying, “Oh, you should do it, just do it, this is the moment.” I’m obviously flattered.’ ‘I’m taking it very seriously,’ he added. ‘It’s an exciting prospect.’ Zinke is a former Navy SEAL who previously served in the Montana Senate. If he leaves Congress for President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet, a special election would likely be held sometime in 2017.” [HuffPost]
COMFORT FOOD
- DIY Drake.
- Tokyo rush hour subways remind us that our commute isn’t that bad.
- The zaniest thing you can do with a MacBook touch bar.
TWITTERAMA
@daveweigel: For McCrory’s part, I guess “governor who undermined democracy” is a better first line of obit then “guy who lost because of trans-bashing”
@SimonMaloy: OBAMA: I quit because Sheriff Joe got me, he was right, Sheriff Joe was correct and my birth certificate is fake, I faked it, on a computer
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Who’s seeing Rogue One this weekend
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