THE SHOW NOTES: Brittney Griner Released, Republicans Voted Democrat, & The Missing Cartel Hitman

Welcome! A notorious cartel hitman who decapitated enemies is missing from a US prison.

NEW: Brittney Griner released from Russia.

OUTRAGE: Duke University Denies Kidney Transplant to 14-Year-Old Girl Who Refused COVID Vaccine - Life News

HEADLINE: Republicans have a post-election epiphany on mail voting - Politico

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Clip of the day:

RNC Research @RNCResearch

Biden Climate Envoy John Kerry laments Russia's invasion of Ukraine because it "has altered the dynamics of the [energy] transition that we were really ramping up."

Russian Prisoner Swap

Brittney Griner is on a plane home from Russia after a 1-for-1 prisoner swap. The United States released Viktor Bout known as “The Merchant of Death” who was serving a 25-year sentence in the United States for supporting terrorists and conspiring to kill Americans.

Missing: Notably, the prisoner swap leaves retired U.S. Marine Paul Whelan imprisoned in Russia. Whelan was arrested in Russia after attending a friend’s wedding and has been jailed for 4 years on espionage charges the US claims are illegitimate. Whelan is serving a 16 year sentence.

More: Who is Viktor Bout? - CNN

Blain Crain @Blain_Crain

This is the only WNBA trade that has ever made headlines

Republicans Have A Problem

Republicans voted at a higher rate than Democrats in the 2022 midterm election according to new data obtained by The New York Times. However, in many pivotal races, registered Repulicans voted for the Democrat, handing Repulicans embarrassing losses in multiple swing states. This is the paragraph that matters from The New York Times:

Instead, high-profile Republicans like Herschel Walker in Georgia or Blake Masters in Arizona lost because Republican-leaning voters decided to cast ballots for Democrats, even as they voted for Republican candidates for U.S. House or other down-ballot races in their states.

New Gun Laws

The strictest gun law in the nation is on hold after the Oregon supreme court said it would not overturn a lower court’s ruling. The law would prevent the ownership of gun magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds. Additionally, new gun purchases would require a permit that can only be obtained after taking a state-certified course.

Why it matters: The proposed law was on the November ballot and passed by a slim margin. Rural Oregon cities were worried about their ability to process the expected flood of applications for firearm permits.

The rest of the news:

• Congress agrees to scrap military coronavirus vaccine mandate, advances largest troop pay increase in 20 years - Stars and Stripes

• Inside the turmoil roiling No Labels’ unity ticket presidential campaign - Politico

• Kirk Cameron is denied story-hour slot by public libraries for his new faith-based kids book - Fox News

• ‘The world changed overnight’: Zero-Covid overhaul brings joy — and fears — in China - CNN

• Trump Organization found guilty on all counts of criminal tax fraud - CNN

• New York Times workers go on strike - AP News

• Janitors' union called a strike outside Twitter, so Elon Musk canceled its contract and fired the janitors - The Blaze

• Poll: DeSantis surges to 5-point lead over weakened Trump in 2024 primary matchup - Yahoo

• House Financial Services Chair Waters doesn’t plan to subpoena Sam Bankman-Fried to testify at hearing on FTX collapse - CNBC

• Face masks may return amid holiday ‘tripledemic’ of covid, flu and RSV - Washington Post (paywall)

• The Pentagon Marches Off to Climate War - WSJ (paywall)

Tweets that caught my eye:

Greg Bluestein @bluestein

One Democratic consultant called it a "delusional rant." “Stacey and Lauren seemed to be consumed with the approval from the Manhattan cocktail circuit. Sen. Warnock’s campaign was focused on Georgians. Georgia Democrats have turned the page from Stacey.

ajc.comAbrams’ aide says Democrat had ‘nearly impossible’ chance to beat KempStacey Abrams has stayed out of the spotlight since her rematch against Gov. Brian Kemp ended in a resounding defeat. Her top aide, however, broke her silence with a 52-part social media post that said it was “nearly impossible” for Abrams to beat the Republican incumbent.

David Yaffe-Bellany @yaffebellany

NEW: The Justice Department is investigating Sam Bankman-Fried for market manipulation -- focused on whether trading by Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto hedge fund helped trigger the Luna collapse in May. w/ @FlitterOnFraud @MattGoldstein26

nytimes.comFTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Is Said to Face Market Manipulation InquiryFederal prosecutors are investigating whether Sam Bankman-Fried and his hedge fund orchestrated trades in a way that led to the collapse of two cryptocurrencies in May.

Bloomberg Markets @markets

Vanguard is walking out of the world's largest climate-finance alliance, marking the coalition's biggest defection to date

trib.alBloomberg - Are you a robot?

Dave Portnoy @stoolpresidente

I gotta see what the @nytimes has to say about the Merchant of Death deal. Oh wait. They’re on strike today. Toxic workplace environment. 😂😂😂

Robin Wigglesworth @RobinWigg

Whoa, the Washington Post has lost 500k subscribers since the start of 2021. wsj.com/articles/washi…

Market snapshot: