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The Intercept

31 Dec 20, 10 tweets, 4 min read

Here's a look back at some of our best politics reporting of the year.

The corruption and politicization of the Department of Justice under William Barr is complete. It will take a generation to reestablish its credibility and independence, writes James Risen. interc.pt/382M2I4

Following an abrupt reversal by Trump, Chinese telecom giant ZTE’s path back into business remained shrouded in mystery. An Intercept investigation reveals some missing pieces — centering on Eric Branstad, the son of Trump's ex-ambassador to China. interc.pt/3aXUVEz

Michael McCabe, a former EPA official and aide to Joe Biden, led DuPont’s defense of the toxic PFAS chemical PFOA, dubbed a “forever chemical” because it remains in the human body forever. interc.pt/2Mrj5xb

One result of conflating “defund the police” with modest police reforms that have broad bipartisan support, like ending or limiting qualified immunity, is that those modest reforms are now in jeopardy, Democratic aides told The Intercept. interc.pt/382pfMo

@mehdirhasan

Lindsey Graham once cultivated an image of a moderate Republican willing to denounce Donald Trump. Today, there's no lie he won't tell in service of the president, says @mehdirhasan.

“I’ve been involved in three shootings myself, and not one of them has bothered me. Maybe I’m different,” Minneapolis police union head Lt. Bob Kroll said in April, underscoring the rampant nature of police violence in the United States. interc.pt/2JxrrC4

As early as 1984 and as recently as 2018, Joe Biden called for cuts to Social Security. After a Sanders campaign newsletter confronted Biden’s record, the Biden campaign complained to fact-checkers that his comments were being taken out of context. interc.pt/3rGkos1

“This will sink his campaign.”

Message logs obtained by The Intercept shed new light on a year-old plan by the University of Massachusetts Amherst College Democrats to engineer and leak accusations against Alex Morse. interc.pt/3844zDL

The Intercept uncovered exact passages from at least eight Bloomberg plans or accompanying fact sheets that were direct copies of material from media outlets like CNN and CBS, as well as the American Medical Association and other organizations. interc.pt/351ltAX

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World faces Covid-19 “vaccine apartheid” interc.pt/2Ldfemo by @fastlerner

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The buzz of a drone in the night sky warned residents of the Afghan village of Omar Khail that trouble was coming.

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