5: Apparently Trump’s Wall Will Be Funded by Taxpayers and Reimbursed by Mexico Later
On Thursday, CNN reported that Trump is planning to get Congress to appropriate taxpayer funds to foot the bill for the border-wall construction, breaking from his mantra-esque promise to “build the wall” and get Mexico to pay for it.
Trump immediately hopped on Twitter bright and early Friday morning to correct the “dishonest media.” Mexico will be reimbursing the US for the multibillion-dollar project after the fact. Using taxpayer money to begin with is just “for the sake of speed,” he said, so don’t even worry about it.
Vice News
4: Israel to cut $6m from UN dues in protest over settlements resolution
Israel has announced it is cutting approximately $6m in its annual dues to the United Nations this year to protest last month’s security council resolution condemning Israeli settlements as “a flagrant violation under international law”.
Israel’s UN mission said the amount represented the portion of Israel’s contribution to the UN’s regular budget totalling more than $40m allocated “to anti-Israel bodies”.
It named the UN agency for Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA, the Division for Palestinian Rights, the committee investigating Israeli practices affecting Palestinian human rights, and information programs on “the Question of Palestine”.
The Guardian
3: Facebook’s New Head of News Partnerships, Campbell Brown, Has Deep Ties to Trump Nominee
FACEBOOK ANNOUNCED FRIDAY that former CNN host and education reform activist Campbell Brown will be leading its news partnership team.
Brown wrote in a statement on her Facebook page that she will “help news organizations and journalists work more closely and more effectively with Facebook. I will be working directly with our partners to help them understand how Facebook can expand the reach of their journalism, and contribute value to their businesses.”
Brown’s hiring should raise eyebrows given her close ties to Betsy DeVos, the president-elect’s nominee to lead the Education Department. DeVos is a Michigan-based billionaire heiress who has poured millions of dollars into organizations supporting school vouchers and charter schools.
One of the organizations DeVos funds is The 74, an education reporting website Brown founded to, among other things, push for education reform. Brown also sits on the board of the DeVos-backed group American Federation for Children, a nonprofit that advocates for the expansion of school vouchers and whose electoral arm spends heavily in state legislative elections.
The Intercept
2: US intelligence: Putin sought to help Trump in election
A new declassified report released by US intelligence officials says Russian President Vladimir Putin “ordered” a campaign to influence the 2016 US presidential election.
The 25-page public version of the report was released on Friday after the officials briefed President-elect Donald Trump and top lawmakers on Capitol Hill on a longer, classified version.
The report said Russian efforts to meddle in vote represent the most recent expression of Moscow’s long-standing desire to undermine the US-led liberal democratic order.
It also noted that the scope of Russia’s activities was significantly larger compared with previous operations.
Aljazeera
1: Glenn Greenwald: U.S. Intel Chiefs Alleging Russian Threat Have History of Deceiving the Public
Journalist Glenn Greenwald examines the track record of intelligence chiefs, including CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Director James Comey and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who are meeting today with President-elect Donald Trump to give him a classified briefing on alleged Russian cyberthreats.
Democracy Now
