Welcome to the Washington Free Beacon’s morning newsletter, your comprehensive briefing on the Enemies of Freedom. To get this newsletter sent straight to your inbox every morning, sign up here.
STRONGER APART … "Hillary Clinton in Full: A Fiery New Documentary, Trump Regrets and Harsh Words for Bernie: ‘Nobody Likes Him’," via THR: In the doc, you're brutally honest on [Bernie] Sanders: "He was in Congress for years. He had one senator support him. Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done. He was a career politician. It's all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it." That assessment still hold?
CLINTON: Yes, it does.
THR: If he gets the nomination, will you endorse and campaign for him?
CLINTON: I'm not going to go there yet. We're still in a very vigorous primary season. I will say, however, that it's not only him, it's the culture around him. It's his leadership team. It's his prominent supporters.
REVOLUTIONARY GROVELS BEFORE ESTABLISHMENT … "Sanders apologizes to Biden for surrogate’s brutal op-ed," via POLITICO: "Whether or not [Joe] Biden is making choices to please donors, there is no doubt his record represents the transactional, grossly corrupt culture in Washington that long precedes Trump," wrote Zephyr Teachout, a progressive law professor.
The op-ed, published in the Guardian, was pushed out by the [Bernie] Sanders campaign newsletter, "Bern Notice." Sanders told CBS News: "It is absolutely not my view that Joe Biden is corrupt in any way. And I’m sorry that that op-ed appeared."
THEN AGAIN, SHE’S USED TO PLEADING IGNORANCE ABOUT MEN BEHAVING BADLY … "Hillary Clinton Pleads Ignorance About Harvey Weinstein Despite Multiple Warnings," by WFB’s Alex Griswold: "How could we have known?" Clinton said when asked by the Hollywood Reporter about her longstanding relationship with Weinstein. "He raised money for me, for the Obamas, for Democrats in general … And of course, if all of us had known what we know now, it would have affected our behavior."
Several Hollywood insiders have said that the Clinton camp was well aware of his predatory behavior … Clinton's professed ignorance also comes despite journalist Ronan Farrow's claim that the failed candidate's staff attempted to pressure him when he first began investigating Weinstein at NBC in 2017.
AS MEDIA INSISTS VOTER FRAUD IS A MYTH … "Non-U.S. citizens inadvertently registered to vote in Illinois," via HERALD-REVIEW: Five Republican Illinois House members are calling for an immediate hearing into the state's automatic voter registration law after more than 500 non-U.S. citizens were inadvertently registered to vote because of a programming error in the secretary of state's office.
"This is an absurd lack of compliance with state law, surfacing less than three weeks from the opening of early voting for our state's 2020 general primary election," the House members said in a letter dated Monday. The letter, sent to House Speaker Michael Madigan (D., Chicago) and seeking a House executive committee hearing, came from GOP executive committee members.
IT’S NO GREEN ROOM … "Michael Avenatti might be in El Chapo's former jail cell—and it's freezing, his attorneys say," via CNN: He is being held in New York's Metropolitan Correction Center. According to his attorneys' letter to U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe, Avenatti "has been locked down for 24 hours a day, in solitary confinement, except for attorney visits and two medical exams."
"He is in a cell reportedly once occupied by El Chapo, on a floor that houses individuals charged with terrorism offenses," the letter reads.
ARE YOU TIRED OF WINNING YET? … "Trump Lauds U.S. Economy as He Opens World Economic Forum," via WSJ: Hours before his impeachment trial was set to begin …It was a campaign-style address that appeared aimed as much at a U.S. re-election audience and the 100 senators who will act as jurors in his impeachment trial as at the other heads of state and business executives attending the World Economic Forum in this Swiss mountain resort …
David McKay, chief executive of Royal Bank of Canada, said that, based on his meetings in Davos so far, business leaders shared [President] Trump’s optimism. "There’s a general positivity about economic opportunity in the U.S.," Mr. McKay said.
CHILL, GRETA, CHILL … "Trump and the Teenager: A Climate Showdown at Davos," via NYT: [President] Trump implicitly criticized [Greta] Thunberg and other activists, saying they peddled warnings of doom at a time when his policies had ushered in a bright new era of economic prosperity for Americans.
"They are the heirs of yesterday’s foolish fortune tellers," the president said. "They predicted an overpopulation crisis in the 1960s, a mass starvation in the 70s, and an end of oil in the 1990s."
SEND THE BOMBERS … "Iran Has Spies Across U.S., Officials Warn, After Tehran Posts $3M Bounty on Trump," by WFB’s Adam Kredo: Following Iran's announcement of a three-million dollar bounty for the assassination of President Donald Trump, U.S. officials and terrorism experts are warning that Tehran has significantly expanded its terror capabilities in America, potentially allowing the Islamic Republic to conduct a domestic attack …
The bounty is the latest in a series of increasingly direct threats by Tehran. It has renewed concerns about the Islamic Republic's vast terrorism network, which stretches into the continental United States, U.S. officials and experts told the Washington Free Beacon.
LIBERAL HACK WILL BE RIGHT AT HOME … "CNN Brings on Hard-hitting White House Correspondent to Join Jim Acosta," by WFB’s David Rutz: [John] Harwood is a well-sourced veteran of Washington who can appeal to the leading experts for their insights. For instance, on Sept. 21, 2015, Harwood emailed Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta for advice on what to ask Jeb Bush during their interview the following day. Incredible access!
Six days later, he showed off his forward-thinking journalism and political prophecy when he emailed Podesta and Clinton adviser Jake Sullivan that he couldn't believe "that some people still think it's worth burning so much interview time with person most likely to be next president on her email." He was so right; Hillary Clinton very nearly became the president!
HOW DO THEY HANDLE AIRPORTS … "‘Chilling’: Reporters Whine About Going Through Metal Detector To Cover Impeachment Trial," via DAILY CALLER: New York Times White House correspondent and CNN political analyst Michael D. Shear called the arrangements an "ominous moment for the press and democracy."
Kansas City Star Washington correspondent Byron Lowry claimed the metal detectors were "not for security but meant solely to prevent people from tweeting or filing stories during the trial."
DIOS MIO … "Warren Turns Back on ‘Latinx’ in Major Campaign Departure," by WFB’s Collin Anderson: [Elizabeth] Warren has consistently used "Latinx" in favor of the gender-specific alternatives "Latino" and "Latina." … But Warren bucked the trend Tuesday when she released her "Restoring America's Promise to Latinos" plan …
Though only 2 percent of America's Latinos prefer the term, progressive activists began using it as a way to refer to all people of Latin American descent without excluding people who identify as neither male nor female.
SOME REAL NEWS FOR A CHANGE … "WATCH: Here’s What Happened at the Richmond Gun-Rights Rally," by WFB Staff: Demonstrators held signs displaying phrases like, "Gun rights are women's rights," "We will not comply," and "I want gay married couples to be able to protect their marijuana plants with guns." Stephen Gutowski, who was on the scene for his Free Beacon-presented YouTube show Range Time, said he was struck by the size of the rally and noted the absence of violence, white supremacist agitation, or even counter-protesters: "All we had were people from Virginia here to support their right to bear arms."
DAYS SINCE JOE BIDEN DID A SUNDAY SHOW: 1,137. Come back, Joe!
"You know who really doesn’t have it? Joe Biden." —Former President Barack Obama
Thanks for reading! Send tips to rutz@freebeacon.com.