Good morning. A cold morning will precede a sunny day with a high around 45. Rain, or maybe a wintry mix, is possible overnight, with a low near 35. The Capital City Go-Go play the Sioux Falls Skyforce in Orange County this morning. You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there ’s a link to my email address below. This roundup is available as a morning email newsletter. Sign up here. I can’t stop listening to: Brad Linde’s Bleak Midwinter Ensemble will play “sad songs and waltzes” alongside Christmas carols at Rhizome tonight.  Take Washingtonian Today with you! I’ve made a playlist on Spotify and on Apple Music of my daily music recommendations this year. Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out: Bari’d alive: CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss abruptly yanked a feature about the Trump administration’s deportations of people to a prison in El Salvador from “60 Minutes” Sunday, saying it needed more work. Sharyn Alfonsi, who reported the story, called Weiss’s decision “political” in a note to colleagues. (NYT) Trump, whose lawsuit over what he claimed was “deceptive editing” in a segment about Kamala Harris CBS settled as it completed a sale to David Ellison‘s Skydance Media, has been complaining about “60 Minutes” lately. Ellison hired Weiss. Some “60 Minutes” employees are mulling quitting. (CNN) Epstein, Epstein, Epstein: The Justice Department began to release its files about the disgraced, deceased financier Jeffery Epstein on Friday evening. TL;DR: There are few revelations so far. (NYT) DOJ didn’t meet a deadline to release all the files Friday, ensuring every subsequent drop will make news. (Politico) US Representatives Ro Khanna of California and Thomas Massie of Kentucky wrote the law that compelled the records’ release; they’re not especially thrilled about the delay and say they’re considering holding Attorney General Pam Bondi in contempt. (NBC News) Khanna “said he particularly wants to see a draft of a 60-count federal indictment of Epstein from 2007 and the accompanying prosecution memo.” (Washington Post) Let’s insert a line break for readability: DOJ released, then un-released, then re-released a photo that depicted a table with photos of Epstein alongside celebrities including his former friend and now President of the United States Donald Trump. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, like Bondi a former personal lawyer for Trump, said the department wasn’t trying to protect the President. (NBC News) Blanche said the delay was necessary so the department could redact information about Epstein’s victims. (AP) Some of those victims are not satisfied. (NYT) Video from Epstein’s surveillance footage hasn’t yet been produced. (The Dean’s Report) Bill Clinton was in a bunch of the material released Friday—in a hot tub in one pic—much to the delight of the White House. (Politico) Boater fraud: The US Coast Guard is in pursuit of the oil tanker Bella 1, which evaded capture in international waters near Venezuela and which an unnamed US official said was “flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order.” (Reuters) The US has a warrant for Bella 1, not because of any trade with Venezuela but due to its “previous involvement in the Iranian oil trade.” (NYT) The US boarded another tanker, the Centuries, Saturday. Meanwhile: The US military carried out strikes against ISIS targets on Syria Friday, a response to an attack on US forces earlier this month. (ABC News) Administration perambulation: After a weekend of MAGA infighting, Vice President JD Vance attempted to finesse the situation at Turning Point’s AmericaFest gathering in Phoenix. (Politico) Ted Cruz is thinking of running for President again. (Washington Post) DOJ wants to take yet another run at the prosecutions Trump asked for of his perceived enemies James Comey and Letitia James. (Axios) Remember Greenland? Trump has named Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry to be his special envoy to the territory. Landry will keep his day job. (AP) The administration will recall more than two dozen career diplomats it considers insufficiently loyal. (AP) Health Secretary and vaccine crank RFK Jr. backed off a press conference Friday where he was due to announce a significant change to US vaccine requirements for children. (Politico)  Such a change “could also effectively unwind the federal liability protections that have shielded vaccine manufacturers for decades.” (Axios) Now here is a weird tale: “At least six career staffers at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency were suspended with pay this summer after organizing a polygraph test that the agency’s acting director, Madhu Gottumukkala, failed.” (Politico) The administration increased pressure on the Smithsonian Institution, whose content it wishes to “review.” (Washington Post) Some artists are beginning to cancel shows at the Kennedy Center after Trump renamed it for himself. (NOTUS) Let’s wrap a bit less, by Sam Nicholson: December is here, and according to Spotify, I’m 52 years older than I realized. I’m a fiend for a grilled cheese, says Panera, and apparently, I catalyze on LinkedIn? It’s the time of year when seemingly every organization unwraps its way into our lives. For this year, WMATA dropped its Metro Rewind, offering a fun glimpse into your rider history—an exciting reel of stats for DC public transportation users who traveled more than 1 billion miles on the system this year. Admittedly, Spotify Wrapped—where it all began—sparks great conversation. “What’s your most-listened-to song?” Mine was Raye’s “Where Is My Husband!” (pretty alarming, considering it only came out in September). The wraps are a fun way to share some cultural connections. It turns out, DC is a city of Swifties, listening to Taylor above all else. For those who run on Dunkin’, you’ve got some stats waiting for you. Uber has prepared a dossier of your travel and kindly quantified all those late-night Uber Eats deliveries you’d chosen to forget. YouTube is waiting with your watch history—and even DC Water got involved. Nonetheless, as I mull New Year’s resolutions and open my “Strava Year in Sport,” I’m not sure I really want to know that I was a top consumer of Panera grilled cheese. Arguably worse, I’m now figuring out what it means to be a “catalyst” on LinkedIn. Considering the year of federal firings and the bleak job market, it’s a tad tone deaf. Trends are fun, but perhaps some truths are best left under wraps. Recently on Washingtonian dot com: • Need a few last things? Here are eight gifts you can still get before Christmas. • We went to the aucti0n for Dan Snyder‘s old house—and chatted with the lone in-person bidders there. (They didn’t win.) • No. • Possibly. • An elegant white-and-gold wedding at the Hotel Washington. Local news links: • A Serbian man who police say wore a disguise and an Englishwoman who purportedly posed as a PA are suspects in a Shenandoah Valley wine heist last month. (Washington Post) • Outgoing DC Police Chief Pamela A. Smith said she was “going to the Bible when I say this to my haters: F you” in a valedictory speech Friday. (Washingtonian Today wasn’t able to immediately locate this passage in his concordance.) (Washington Post) • UVA named Scott Beardsley its new president on Friday over the objection of governor-elect Abigail Spanberger. (VPM) • A network of volunteers helped to identify a Maryland man who has pleaded guilty to sending threatening letters to Jewish institutions in the mid-Atlantic. (Washington Post) • Georgetown University men’s basketball coach Ed Cooley got a one-game suspension after he beaned a child with a water bottle. (NBC4 Washington) • Authorities pulled a local angler out of the Anacostia. (WUSA9) • A Maryland driver hit a Giant. (WTOP) • Authorities found the body of Leonard Thompson, the father-in-law of Dominique Dawes, near Roanoke, Virginia, on Saturday. He’d been reported missing last week. (WUSA9) • Crystal City Restaurant and Gentlemen’s Club, which once toyed with changing its name to National Landing Strip, has been sold to the regional chain Paper Moon. (ARLnow) • People attended a funeral for the penny on Saturday. (WTOP)The post “60 Minutes” Yanks Story Critical of Administration, Suspects ID’d in Wine Heist, and Jeffrey Epstein Is Back in the News first appeared on Washingtonian. ...read more read less