The Verge reports: On a party-line vote, the FCC today approved a controversial measure that gives mobile phone carriers more power over text messages. The agency’s Republican leadership has pushed for the measure, which would classify text messaging as an information service. The move will give carriers leeway to stop spam texts without fear of breaking the law, Chairman Ajit …

Via press release from hate group leader Tony Perkins: For a taxpayer-funded organization, Planned Parenthood has gotten away with a lot. So three years ago, when David Daleiden stumbled on the biggest scandal of the year — the group’s baby body parts ring — states thought they finally had the proof they needed to cut those Medicaid contracts. Eleven tried, …

Published today by AFA radio host Bryan Fischer: Conservatives have made a career out of getting duped by Naugahyde Conservatives, guys that look, sound, and feel like the real thing and then turn out to be cheap plastic. It’s happened again. Brett Kavanaugh, whom conservatives defended through thick and thin in his confirmation hearings, let us down the first chance …

Politico reports: House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows is no longer under consideration to be President Donald Trump’s chief of staff. “Congressman Mark Meadows is a great friend to President Trump and is doing an incredible job in Congress. The President told him we need him in Congress so he can continue the great work he is doing there,” White …

Mediaite reports: Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano dropped a pretty stunning piece of analysis Wednesday: federal prosecutors have evidence President Donald Trump committed a felony, and they intend to do something with that evidence. “Career prosecutors here in New York City have evidence that the president of the United States committed a felony by ordering and paying Michael …

The Atlantic reports: The Trump administration is resuming its efforts to deport certain protected Vietnamese immigrants who have lived in the United States for decades—many of them having fled the country during the Vietnam War. This is the latest move in the president’s long record of prioritizing harsh immigration and asylum restrictions, and one that’s sure to raise eyebrows—the White …

Business Insider reports: Theresa May has survived a confidence vote in her leadership by Conservative MPs, meaning she can continue to serve as prime minister.  May won a confidence vote in her leadership clear of the 158 votes needed to oust her. However, the result only came after the prime minister assured MPs on Wednesday evening that she would stand …

CNN reports: The Russian government claims that Maria Butina, the accused Russian spy who had cultivated connections with the National Rifle Association before the 2016 US election, was “tortured” while in US custody. In an exclusive interview with CNN Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova alleged that Butina was treated to a “medieval inquisition” while in detention and said …

Extra TV reports: Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle are getting into the holiday spirit. “Extra” spoke to the couple at the Daily Mail TV and DailyMail.com holiday party in NYC, where they dished on their holiday plans. Don said, “We’re gonna go down to Mar-a-Lago, so we’ll be in Palm Beach — my kids, her kid, my …

Courthouse News reports: A group of Bernie Sanders supporters faced off against the Democratic National Committee before an 11th Circuit panel Tuesday, fighting to resurrect their claims that the committee shafted them by favoring Hillary Clinton over Sanders in the 2016 presidential primary. The Sanders supporters urged the Atlanta-based federal appeals court, which held hearings in Miami on Tuesday, to …

The Guardian reports: A “hi-tech robot” shown on Russian state television has turned out to be a man in a suit. Russia-24 praised the ersatz android during coverage of a youth forum dedicated to robotics, boasting that “Robot Boris has already learned to dance and he’s not that bad”. But sharp-eyed bloggers were dubious. The Russian website TJournal listed questions …

Buzzfeed News reports: Tom Steyer posted a job listing on LinkedIn last week for several high-ranking positions on his potential 2020 presidential campaign, a spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday afternoon. Steyer, a San Francisco–based billionaire and the Democratic donor behind the national “Need to Impeach” effort aimed at President Donald Trump, published the job openings under an anonymous account. The listing …

Boing Boing reports: The U.S. Southern District of New York has reached a non-prosecution agreement with the parent company of the National Enquirer, AMI, in which the firm admits it made “catch and kill” hush money payment to Karen MacDougal “in concert with” the Donald Trump presidential campaign. Said the SDNY prosecutors, “AMI admitted that it made the $150,000 payment …

The Tennessean report: A soon-to-be congressman from Tennessee told constituents Tuesday he believed vaccines may be causing autism, denying data from the Centers for Disease Control and other institutions disproving such a theory. Not only did Republican Mark Green, a Congressman-elect from Clarksville who is also a medical doctor, express hesitation about the CDC’s stance on vaccines, Green said he …

Axios reports: Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro announced today he’s forming an exploratory committee to run for president in 2020. He will make his final decision about running on Jan. 12, per AP. This gives Castro an early start for courting donors, potential campaign staffers and media attention. The 44-year-old former San Antonio mayor will have more …

CNBC reports: Michael Cohen, the former personal lawyer and fixer for President Donald Trump, was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison for crimes that include ones which put Trump into legal peril. “I take full responsibility for each act that I pled guilty to — The personal ones to me and those involving the president of the United States …

Talking Points Memo reports: MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski referred to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as “a wannabe dictator’s butt boy” on Wednesday. She later apologized for the remark. On Twitter, Brzezinski expressed regret for her “SUPER BAD choice of words.” She made the comment during a discussion of the Trump administration’s muted response to journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder in the …

“The more that we talk about immigration, the better. The only thing I would say for Trump is that he should be rattling off examples of individuals who have been released in places like New York and California; released from prison — from state prison in order to go kill, or maim, or brutalize, or commit domestic violence, or a …

Politico reports: The House Education and the Workforce Committee postponed a hearing scheduled for today on the economic consequences of a $15 hourly minimum wage after homophobic and sexist blog posts surfaced that were penned by one of the Republican witnesses, San Diego State University economist Joseph Sabia. In a 2002 post published on his personal column “No Shades of …

I literally laughed out loud at this. Scared the cat. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on Tuesday that she hopes to be remembered as being “transparent and honest” when her tenure in the role comes to an end. Sanders’ remarks came while speaking at Politico’s “Women Rule” event on Tuesday with reporter Eliana Johnson about what she …