| By Derek Caney
The dossier that included unverified claims that could compromise President-elect Donald Trump was compiled by Christopher Steele, a former officer in Britain's Secret Service. After he left M-I6, he supplied the FBI with information about corruption at FIFA. It was this information that lent credibility to his info about Trump. But when he started submitting information to the FBI on Trump, the top U.S. law enforcement agency backed off for fear of influencing the election.
Trump lashed out both at U.S. intelligence agencies and the media outlets that broke the news (CNN) and disclosed the actual allegations (BuzzFeed). He likened spy agencies' practices to those of Nazi Germany. And he called CNN and BuzzFeed's reports "fake news." The allegations in the dossier had been circulating since the summer and haven't been corroborated. The information originated from opposition research and not from traditional intelligence channels.
What else did we learn from Donald Trump's first press conference since being elected president? - He finally conceded that Russia hacked the Democratic Party, but he added that lots of people and countries hack.
- He turned over the management of his company to his sons to address conflict-of-interest concerns, but he stopped short of selling off his business interests altogether. Trump’s lawyer said he went beyond what law requires. The U.S. government’s top ethics official was really not impressed.
"I could actually run my business and run government at the same time. I don't like the way that looks, but I would be able to do that if I wanted to." – Donald Trump - He said drug companies were "getting away with murder" on pricing. Drug and healthcare stocks got hammered on those remarks.
Moon over Mexico 
A full moon rises behind U.S. Border Patrol agent Josh Gehrich as near Jacumba, Calif., Nov. 14, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake
Around the country - Trump's pick for secretary of state set a course for a potentially serious confrontation with Beijing, saying that China should be denied access to the islands it built in the South China Sea. Rex Tillerson, ExxonMobil's former chairman, also departs from Trump on issues ranging from Russian sanctions, nuclear proliferation, a Muslim registry and climate change. Next up on the confirmation front is James Mattis, the prospective secretary of defense.
- The Senate took its first concrete step toward dismantling Obamacare, voting to instruct key committees to draft legislation repealing President Barack Obama's signature health insurance program. The resolution now goes to the House of Representatives, which is expected to vote on it this week.
- Meanwhile, a growing number of states are looking for ways to protect access to free birth control in case the benefit is axed as part of the effort to deep-six Obamacare. California, Maryland, Vermont and Illinois since 2014 have enacted statutes codifying the Affordable Care Act's contraception mandate in state law and expanding on the federal law's requirements. Democratic lawmakers in New York, Minnesota, Colorado and Massachusetts said they are pursuing similar measures this year.
Around the world - The United States sent a high-tech sea-based military radar further east into the Pacific to monitor for potential North Korean missile tests. Last week, Kim Jong Un said his country was close to testing a long-range missile.
- Japan wants to give Trump a crash course on its contribution to the U.S. economy in hopes of persuading him that Tokyo is different from his favorite trade target, China. Tokyo wants Trump back off his threats to impose a "border tax" on imports, and to stick to international trade deals on which Japanese companies base their investment strategies.
Around Wall Street - Trump's transition team wants to revamp the H-1B visa program used to bring foreign workers to the United States to fill high-skilled jobs. Trump senior policy adviser Stephen Miller proposed scrapping the existing lottery system used to award the visas. A possible replacement system would favor visa petitions for jobs that pay the highest salaries.
- China is betting that locally made electric cars will win market share over Tesla and Nissan, with the help of government subsidies. The cars, made by such firms as BYD and BAIC Motor, are cheaper and have a shorter range than those made their bigger rivals. But they are gaining traction among urban drivers, taxi fleets and government agencies.
Digits of the day: $6.2 trillion Trump's plans to slash taxes could threaten the United States' triple-A credit rating over the medium term, an executive from the Fitch bond-rating agency. "Even before elections the U.S had the highest level of government debt of any triple-A country. If we add on top of that Trump's plans to cut taxes by $6.2 trillion over the next 10 years that could add around 33 percent to U.S. government debt," said Ed Parker, Fitch's head of sovereign ratings for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Today's reason to live LCD Soundsystem – North American Scum |
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