IMPEACHMENT. White House officials refuse to testify: ‘Four White House officials scheduled to appear before the House Oversight, Intelligence and Foreign Affairs committees, are not expected to show up, according to multiple media reports. Two of the officials — John Eisenberg, the National Security Council’s lawyer, and his deputy, Michael Ellis — fielded concerns from other officials about U.S. policy with Ukraine and are said to have knowledge of Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The others include Robert Blair, a senior adviser to Trump’s acting chief of staff, and Brian McCormack, an official at the Office of Management and Budget.’
FEED ME. Jason Momoa mouth-fed an Oreo to a bear.
UKRAINE. Paul Manafort was at the center of conspiracy spread before 2016 election: “Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, spread a conspiracy theory now at the center of the impeachment investigation — that Ukraine, not Russia, hacked the Democratic National Committee — as early as five months before the 2016 election, according to newly released documents from the special counsel’s investigation.”
DEEP DIVE OF THE DAY. John Oliver looks at voting machines.
HIS PEOPLE. Donald Trump booed at UFC fight.
WHISTLEBLOWER. Trump really wants to out him. ‘Trump (and thus Republicans) have sustained a burning interest in the whistleblower’s identity despite his or her growing irrelevance to the impeachment inquiry. Democrats, initially hellbent on getting the whistleblower’s testimony, now shrug at the prospect, citing the wealth of evidence they’ve gotten from other witnesses who don’t have to worry so much about protecting their identities.’
AFFORDABLE HOUSING. Apple promises $2.5 billion to ease California crisis: “It’s just unsustainable,” Cook said. “This problem is so big that the public sector cannot do it alone.”
MALE MODEL MONDAY. Elliott Meeten, Christian Hogue, Eian Scully, Jules Horn, Jake Hobbs and MORE.
GET USED TO IT. Pete Buttigieg says Russia and Saudi Arabia will just have to get used to the idea of a gay president.
CAROL BURNETT AWARD. Ellen DeGeneres to be honored at Golden Globes.
GERMANY. Health Minister Jens Spahn publishes draft law banning gay conversion therapy: “Under the draft law published on Monday, consenting adults can still request the service in Germany, but they would have to show that they had not been deceived, coerced or threatened into taking part.”
AWARDS SHOW PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY. Dua Lipa at the MTV European Music Awards.
MONDAY MAN. Tokeyo.
