The @nytimes.com invented the Times Square NYE ball drop in 1907, & is going to participate in the drop this year to kick-off a celebration of the paper's 175 anniversary.

“Why didn’t the media report” usually turns out to be “why didn’t I read/watch.” People have lives and the algorithms blind us, but still, have less certainty in that critique!

The victims of Trump's pardons & commutations: At least 20 people who received clemency from Trump this year were also forgiven financial penalties totaling tens of millions of dollars. Some of the money would have gone to their victims, report @bethreinhard.bsky.social & @aaronschaffer.com

Trey Gowdy's lobbying during a round of golf with Trump led to a pardon this month for Gowdy's client, Tim Leiweke. Since then, other white collar defendants are contacting Gowdy for help winning pardons. Gabe Kaminsky, in The Free Press, on the Trump pardon industry:

There’s double incentive for donors to give to the ballroom & other Trump projects & groups: 1) major donors have benefited from actions by Trump/his administration. 2) some corporations & individuals fear that if they don’t give, they could be targeted.

La consultora financiera Isabela Herrera, hija del acusado banquero venezolano Julio Herrera Velutini, donó $2.5 millones al MAGA Inc. Senor Herrera y la Fiscalía federal alcanzaron un acuerdo para evitar el juicio, que estaba pautado para el mes de agosto. www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/est...

I made my 1st TikTok! (No idea if this is how you do it) www.tiktok.com/t/ZTrveKLH1/

NEW: Senator Blumenthal writes to donors to Trump's ballroom whose contributions were revealed by the @nytimes, raising questions about "what promises may have been or may yet be made in exchange for what presumably will be substantial contributions."

NEW: The National Park Service & Interior Dept. have not produced records related to the demolition of the WH's East Wing & construction of Trump's planned ballroom in response to a FOIA request by @publiccitizen.bsky.social. The watchdog org is now suing for records www.citizen.org/wp-content/u...

Overall, this big @nytimes.com investigation identified $500m+ that was donated to Trump-backed groups AFTER the election from 346 donors. It found that more than half of the donors have benefited in some way from actions by Trump or his administration. (gift link)

SCOOP-1: The @nytimes.com has confirmed the following previously unreported donations/pledges to the WH ballroom: ▶️Miriam Adelson’s foundation: $25m ▶️Lockheed Martin: $10m ▶️Palantir: $10m ▶️Ripple: $5m ▶️Parsons: $2.5m ▶️Roblox CEO: $2.5 Here's a gift link. There's more in the story 🧵…

After almost 19 years, @politico.com's newspaper comes to an end with tomorrow's edition. I've been at the helm of the newspaper for over a decade, and it's been an opportunity unlike anything I would've gotten to do at another organization. I'll miss the newspaper, but I'm not going anywhere.

Politico's print paper was always something of a contradiction for an outlet that set out to prove that political journalism could thrive in the digital world. As the digital reach grew, the paper became less important, leading to the decision to end the print edition. Still, I am sad to see it go

Flashback to when RFK Jr thought that George W. Bush & his corporate donors were plundering the country & hijacking democracy.

SCOOP: House Democrats suspected a few in their caucus would support a bill criminalizing gender-affirming care for trans youth So Sarah McBride reached out to Republicans Four Rs — Fitzpatrick, Lawler, Kennedy, Evans — joined Dems in opposing the bill www.notus.org/congress/mcb...

NEW: A convicted fraudster is seeking the waiver of his pending 6-year prison sentence because his co-conspirator David Gentile received a commutation from Trump. "The less culpable defendant who was convicted on fewer counts now faces exponentially greater punishment than his co-defendant."

The estimated cost of the White House ballroom — initially pegged at $200m, then $300m — will now be $400m, Trump said last night. He said it will feature 5-inch-thick glass windows “impenetrable by anything but a howitzer.”

Democratic Senators sent a letter to Trump requesting info about his commutation of David Gentile, who was convicted in a $1.6 billion fraud. The commutation, the Dems wrote, "is legally indefensible, morally reprehensible & a crushing blow to the thousands of victims whose lives he destroyed."

When senior members of the Trump administration were posing for glamour shots for Vanity Fair, @JDVance quipped to the photographer: “I’ll give you $100 for every person you make look really shitty compared to me.” “And $1,000 if it’s Marco.”

Susie Wiles, on her boss: “I don’t think he wakes up thinking about retribution. But when there’s an opportunity, he will go for it.”

Under Trump, the SEC has eased up on more than 60% of the crypto cases that were ongoing when he took office in January. Many of the firms that benefited from the leniency had financial ties to the Trump family. The SEC is no longer pursuing any cases against crypto firms with Trump ties.

Donors are so unenthused about funding a Biden presidential library that there are talks about consolidating the library with pre-existing Biden institutions at the University of Delaware. “He’ll be lucky to have a bookmobile," said John Morgan, a top Biden bundler.

Largely because of corporate tax breaks in Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill, the government lost about $52B in corporate income tax revenue (a drop of roughly 33%) between July & November, @aduehren.bsky.social reports.

NEW: Trump pardoned Tina Peters for "offenses she has or may have committed or taken part in related to election integrity & security." The pardon is symbolic, since Peters was convicted of a state crime (tampering with voting machines) that falls outside the reach of presidential clemency powers.

NEW: Trump's mysterious commutation of David Gentile has upset & confused his victims. Several of the businesses in which their life savings were invested had Scientology links. Gentile is a Scientologist himself, but the church says it had nothing to do with the commutation.

At least the Chargers Jumbotron operator thinks Jalen hasn’t thrown any interceptions yet

At the Eagles game in LA. I heard unconfirmed reports that there might be some Chargers fans here. Will update if I can confirm.

Brad Parscale, quien dirigió la campaña de reelección de Trump en 2020, trabajó con asesores que ayudaron a dirigir la campaña presidencial de Nasry Asfura que recibió el respaldo de Trump.

With the Heritage Foundation mired in crisis & shedding donors, the Cato Institute has launched what appears to be a major capital campaign featuring Charles Koch. (Having a billionaire ask for $ always struck me as odd, but I guess it works for Trump…)

More new billionaires were created this year — 287 — than all but one other year in the past decade. There are now about 2,900 billionaires controlling $15.8 trillion, up from about 2,700 billionaires with a cumulative wealth of nearly $14 trillion last year.

The @nytimes.com lawsuit vs the DOD over its press restrictions “is not just about physical access,” AG Sulzberger writes to staff. “The rights we are fighting for here are bigger than that. It’s about the right to ask questions of the gov’t. The right to publish truths they’d rather keep secret.”

SCOOP: Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale assisted the Honduran presidential campaign of Nasry Asfura, the right-wing candidate Trump endorsed. Parscale says he had nothing to do with Trump's endorsement or his pardon of ex-Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez.

Reminder: Rep. Henry Cuellar was accused of trying to influence US policy/debates on behalf of a Mexican bank (including by weakening money laundering laws) & an Azerbaijani oil company (including by inserting provisions into aid bills) that combined to pay him & his wife at least $598k.

It's not clear how/if this will affect as much as $1.1B seized by a court-appointed receiver from Gentile's former firm for distribution to victims.

NEW: The commutation Trump issued to David Gentile wipes away all further fines & restitution. Gentile had been sentenced to 7 years for his role in a $1.6B scheme that defrauded thousands of investors. Prosecutors had been seeking $15.5M in forfeiture. www.justice.gov/pardon/media...

Just posted: A FULL AND UNCONDITIONAL PARDON for JUAN ORLANDO HERNANDEZ signed by Trump & dated Dec. 1 "For those offenses against the U.S. individually enumerated & set before me for my consideration: United States v. Juan Orlando Hernandez, 1:15-CR-379" www.justice.gov/pardon/media...

Perhaps more than any book, Seymour Hersh's memoir captures the dogged mindset & skepticism of institutions required to do ground-breaking investigative reporting. I can't wait for the forthcoming @netflix.com documentary on Hersh from Laura Poitras & Mark Obenhaus.

Evocative detail regarding Gretchen Whitmer's politically tricky relationship with Trump: During one of her three WH visits, she hid her face behind some blue folders, leading to viral @nytimes.com photo. The next time she visited, she signed a copy of the paper with the photo.

NEW: Here is Juan Orlando Hernandez's letter pleading for a pardon. Roger Stone delivered it to Trump, who issued the pardon hours later. While the letter casts Hernandez's prosecution as a political move by the Biden DOJ, the investigation started under Obama & continued during Trump's 1st term.

Juan Orlando Hernandez's pardon plea letter was delivered to Trump by Roger Stone. While the letter casts Hernandez's prosecution as a Biden DOJ effort, the investigation started under Obama & continued during Trump 1. But claims of Biden witch hunts have been shown to resonate with Trump.

NEW: In a letter to Trump, Juan Orlando Hernandez cast himself as the victim of “political persecution” by Biden's DOJ & compared his fate to Trump's. Trump announced a pardon of Hernandez hours after receiving the letter. Hernandez was freed from prison yesterday, per the Bureau of Prisons.

I get (& respond to) emails

If you want to understand how/why DC works (or doesn't), you need to understand the K Street-orchestrated corporate capture of the federal government. "The Wolves of K Street" tells the story vividly. Authors Brody & Luke Mullins take you behind the scenes of the book (& K St) in their new podcast

At least once a month, I share this column with a reader who emails to complain about how the @nytimes.com is disrespecting President Trump by referring to him as “Mr. Trump” on second reference.

SCOOP: David Gentile reported to prison on Nov. 14 to begin a 7-year sentence for what prosecutors described as a $1.6B scheme that defrauded thousands of victims. Trump commuted Gentile's sentence 12 days later, freeing him from prison.

JMart anoints Gavin Newsom the 2028 Democratic presidential front runner: There may not be a modern political figure who was simultaneously so well-positioned to be the nominee & so doubted by the smart set since Joe Biden in 2020.

This is devious: Across the U.S., burglary rings run by Colombian nationals & others have stolen millions of dollars from the homes of first generation Asian small business owners who work long-but-predictable hours & are believed to be more likely to keep large amounts of money at home.

In 2021, Trump commuted the 24-year sentence of Ponzi schemer Eliyahu Weinstein. In 2023, Weinstein was charged with a new fraud. On Friday, he was sentenced to 37 years by a judge who chastised him for squandered his 2nd chance, & called him "a predator that has stolen investors’ life savings."

RFK Jr. still uses psychedelics, & even smoked DMT, a powerful drug on which people are known to have what feel like near-death experiences, he told Olivia Nuzzi. That’s just one of the revelations in her forthcoming book “American Canto.” (I preordered)

Volodymyr Zelensky ran for president of Ukraine on an anti-corruption platform. But investigators say a criminal organization led by one his business partners siphoned & laundered $100m from the country’s publicly owned nuclear power company & engaged in other fraud & financial crimes.