[Special] Quick Hits & Nasty Cuts, December 2016 Edition

News of note from December 2016: 

• Talking Points Memo: It Comes So Easily by Josh Marshall (December 12, 2016)

It's all inconsequential in a way, just one more random nonsensical remark. But it shows the casual disregard for the truth or even basic commonsense that is pervasive with all of the President-Elect's leading sycophants. And of course, let's be honest, the President-Elect himself. It's a culture of casual lying and nonsense. It's an empire of word salad.

• Bloomberg: Trump Says No Deals While in Office; Sons Will Run Company by Kevin Cirilli, Caleb Melby, and Ben Brody (December 12, 2016)

President-elect Donald Trump gave his first clues as to how he’ll step away from his businesses, saying he would put his two sons Don and Eric in charge by Inauguration Day Jan. 20 but offering no information about his own role.

• Talking Points Memo: Judiciary Dem Flags Missing Documents In Sessions' AG Questionaire by Tierney Sneed (December 14, 2016)

According to [Diane] Feinstein's letter, Sessions' submission was missing copies of a number of speeches he has given over the years, including a a speech at an event called “Restoration Weekend” from 2003 and a 2007 speech for an event with the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that seeks to decrease immigration.

• Talking Points Memo: Federal Agency Warns Trump He Must Give Up DC Hotel Before Inauguration by Allegra Kirkland (December 14, 2016)

The President-elect has been warned by federal authorities that he will be in breach of a government lease if he does not revoke ownership of his Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. before Inauguration Day, Democratic lawmakers revealed Wednesday.

• The Wrap: Trump Team Dangled Ambassadorships to Lure A-List Inauguration Singers by Itay Hod (December 14, 2016)

The bookers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they were approached by members of Trump’s Presidential Inaugural Committee in recent weeks with offers of cash or even plush diplomatic posts in exchange for locking in singers.

• Washington Post: FBI in Agreement With CIA That Russia Aimed to Help Trump win White House by Adam Entous and Ellen Nakashima (December 16, 2016)

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 White House, officials disclosed Friday, as President Obama issued a public warning to Moscow that it could face retaliation.

• Washington Post: Trump Names Campaign Manager Kellyanne Conway as White House Counselor to the President by Philip Rucker (December 22, 2016)

He initially asked her to serve as White House press secretary — which is the most public-facing role in the administration — because of her skill at promoting and defending him, even when combating journalists. But they settled on a counselor role for Conway, which will give her a broad perch from which to advise him on all matters and promote the administration’s agenda.

• Talking Points Memo: Trump Claims Credit For Bringing Back Sprint Jobs That Were Already Announced by Tierney Sneed (December 29, 2016)

The thousands of telecommunications jobs President-elect Donald Trump claimed Wednesday that he was bringing back to the United States were part of a previously announced investment deal between Sprint and its main funder, SoftBank.