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    Report: Elon Musk to Run ‘Unregulated Entity’ Tasked With Reorganizing Government

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    5

    Elon Musk is reportedly poised to become “the most powerful civilian ever” in American history, according to a new report by Axios.

    The report by Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen at Axios highlighted Musk’s status as Trump’s “most influential backer” who “now sits at the pinnacle of power in business, government influence and global information (and misinformation) flow.”

    Musk’s immense wealth connected to his support for the winning presidential candidate means that his “power” is now “unmatched,” VandeHei and Allen wrote, because of his “information control” over “the most powerful information platform for America’s ruling party.”

    “X makes Fox News seem like a quaint little pamphlet in size, scope and right-wing tilt,” they continued, with “[v]irtually every powerful voice in the Trump media ecosystem congregates on X — where their reality, whether tethered to facts or fiction, are set. X will be the prosecutor, defender, jury and judge of Trump governance.”

    And Musk’s influence on the second Trump White House won’t just be from the outside in, the Axios report noted:

    Musk is helping staff the top ranks of the incoming White House and will run an unregulated entity to recommend ways to cut and reorganize government. Name another American figure with this kind of political juice.

    Report: Tom Cotton Removes Name From Cabinet Consideration

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    1
    Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    A surprising move…

    As President-elect Donald Trump begins to start forming his administration one high-profile name will be notably absent: Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton.

    Cotton had been widely seen as a front-runner for a top cabinet position in the next Trump administration, but a source close to the senator told Fox News on Thursday that he asked that his name be pulled from consideration

    Cotton has two boys under the age of 10 and wants to remain close to them and not upend their lives.  He also feels “confident” about securing the No. 3 position in the new GOP Senate majority, the Republican Conference chair when the election is held next week.

    The source said Trump understands Cotton’s decision and knows “he is with him all the way in the Senate.”

    It’s unclear who Trump will select to serve in his new administration but some familiar faces are expected to return.

    Ben Carson is being weighed to return once again as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and Betsy DeVos could return as Secretary of Education. Mike Pompeo too could return as Defense Secretary.

    New faces include North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who could serve as Secretary of the Interior or Energy Secretary. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is in the running for Secretary of State, while Robert F. Kennedy Jr., could serve as Secretary of Agriculture or Health and Human Services.

    SCOTUS Responds To Mark Meadows’ Bid To Move Election Subversion Case To Federal Court

    By
    Patrick Houck
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    5
    Duncan Lock, Dflock, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

    In a significant setback for former Trump administration Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, the Supreme Court has denied his request to transfer his election subversion case from Georgia state court to federal court. Tuesday’s ruling means Meadows will face charges in Fulton County, where the case was brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Since presidential pardons apply only to federal offenses, Meadows is now ineligible for a potential pardon, should one ever be considered.

    As The Hill reports:

    Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) charged Meadows, President-elect Trump and more than a dozen others over accusations they unlawfully attempted to overturn President Biden’s 2020 victory in Georgia.

    Refusing to hear Meadows’s bid to move courts marks a win for Willis, who has attempted to keep the defendants together for a singular trial in state court.

    Trump’s election as president Tuesday has complicated that goal, however. His attorneys are expected to argue the Constitution prohibits Trump’s charges from moving forward while he is in the White House.

    It remains unclear how any pause would impact the Trump allies charged alongside him. The trial proceedings already are on indefinite pause amid an appeal by some defendants seeking to remove Willis over her once-romantic relationship with a top prosecutor on the case who has since stepped aside.

    What Does This Mean for Meadows?

    Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

    With this decision, Meadows has exhausted his options for moving the case to federal court. The implications are significant:

    -Ineligibility for Presidential Pardon: Since his case remains in state court, a federal pardon would not apply.

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    -Focus on State Jurisdiction: The case will proceed under Georgia’s judicial system, potentially influencing how other co-defendants approach their defense strategies.

    What’s Next in the Georgia Election Case?

    Meadows isn’t alone in seeking relief from the legal proceedings. Other co-defendants, also charged with alleged election interference, are challenging District Attorney Willis’ authority in the case. A critical hearing is scheduled for Dec. 5 in the Georgia Court of Appeals, where arguments will be heard regarding the removal of Willis as the lead prosecutor.

    Trump’s victory will likely put the Georgia election interference case against him on hold, at least until he leaves office. However, attorneys for his co-defendants told Law360 that this is unlikely to apply to their clients.

    Key Points to Watch:

    -Outcome of Dec. 5 Hearing: If Willis is removed, it could reshape the prosecutorial strategy and impact case proceedings for Meadows and others.

    -Potential Legal Precedents: The rulings in this case could set important precedents for how state-level cases involving federal officials are handled in the future.

    Article Published With The Permission of American Liberty News.

    Trump Revokes Security Clearances For Officials Linked To Hunter Biden Laptop Letter

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    3
    President Joe Biden hugs his family during the 59th Presidential Inauguration ceremony in Washington, Jan. 20, 2021. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took the oath of office on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol. (DOD Photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Carlos M. Vazquez II)

    In one of his first moves as President, Trump revoked the security clearances of more than 50 national security officials who said Hunter Biden’s laptop had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”

    In 2020, a total of 51 former national security officials released a public letter in 2020 claiming that even though the laptop did not have “any evidence of Russian involvement,” it looked like a “Russian information operation.”

    The letter came after the New York Post reported that they had emails showing Hunter Biden coordinated for Joe Biden to meet with a top executive at Ukrainian energy company Burisma months before pressuring Ukrainian officials to oust a prosecutor to investigate the company. 

    Included on the list are former director of National Intelligence James Clapper Jr., former directors of the Central Intelligence Agency Michael Hayden, John Brennan, former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and former National Security Advisor John Bolton. 

    Fox News Digital previously reported that federal investigators with the Department of Justice were aware that Hunter Biden’s laptop was not manipulated and contained “reliable evidence.” 

    The order was one of more than 200 executive orders Trump approved on Inauguration Day, joining directives like withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement that the U.S. initially entered under former President Barack Obama’s administration in 2015. 

    Other executive orders Trump signed on day one include rescinding nearly 80 executive orders and memoranda issued under Biden, issuing a regulatory and hiring freeze upon the federal government, preventing “government censorship” of free speech, and directing every department and agency to address the cost of living crisis. 

    Prior to Trump’s Inauguration, the House Judiciary Committee signaled it plans to continue its probe into the criminal investigation of Hunter Biden who was issued a full pardon by his father.

    READ NEXT: Republican Says Hunter Biden Investigation Will Move Forward

    Supreme Court Rejects Challenge To Special Counsel’s Access To Trump Twitter Data

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    4
    Duncan Lock, Dflock, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

    On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to take up a challenge by social platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to court rulings that forced the platform to turn over data on former President Trump’s account to special counsel Jack Smith. 

    Early last year, Smith obtained a secret warrant for Trump’s account on X, where Trump posted constantly during his White House term, as part of prosecutors’ federal election interference investigation.

    X was prohibited from informing the former president about the warrant. It only became public last summer, after Trump was charged with four felonies in the case. He pleaded not guilty. 

    Kamala’s Plan to Destroy America Unveiled – Only Trump Can Stop Her! Take a Stand TODAY!

    The company challenged the order, arguing the records were potentially covered by executive privilege and not being able to tell Trump violated the First Amendment. Court filings show X at one point was fined $350,000 for not timely turning over Trump’s data.

    X brought its fight to the Supreme Court, hoping to prevent the process from happening again, insisting most similar challenges never reach the high court and the case was a “rare opportunity” to review the issue. 

    “If the Court does not grant this petition, it could be decades (if ever) before it gets another clean vehicle to resolve the important and recurring questions presented,” X wrote in its petition. 

    The Supreme Court declined to take up X’s appeal in a brief, unsigned order.

    “If review of the underlying legal issues were ever warranted, the Court should await a live case in which the issues are concretely presented,” prosecutors wrote in court filings. 

    Trump Accuses Former House Speaker Of Making ‘Dumbest’ Choice In Years

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    1
    Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    President-elect Donald Trump blindsided former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Sunday calling the debt ceiling suspension approved in 2023 as “one of the dumbest political decisions made in years.”

    However, while targeting the former top House GOP lawmaker, Trump leveled the criticism by describing McCarthy as a friend and a good person.

    “The extension of the Debt Ceiling by a previous Speaker of the House, a good man and a friend of mine, from this past September of the Biden Administration, to June of the Trump Administration, will go down as one of the dumbest political decisions made in years. There was no reason to do it – NOTHING WAS GAINED, and we got nothing for it – A major reason why that Speakership was lost. It was Biden’s problem, not ours. Now it becomes ours,” Trump declared in the post. 

    “I call it ‘1929’ because the Democrats don’t care what our Country may be forced into. In fact, they would prefer ‘Depression’ as long as it hurt the Republican Party. The Democrats must be forced to take a vote on this treacherous issue NOW, during the Biden Administration, and not in June. They should be blamed for this potential disaster, not the Republicans!” he added.

    A deal passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden last year suspended the debt limit through Jan. 1, 2025, but Trump has been calling for the ceiling to be increased before he takes office. 

    “In June 2023, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 was enacted, suspending the debt limit through January 1, 2025.  On January 2, 2025, the new debt limit will be established at the amount of outstanding debt subject to the statutory limit at the end of the previous day,” Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen wrote in a recent letter to congressional leaders. “Treasury currently expects to reach the new limit between January 14 and January 23, at which time it will be necessary for Treasury to start taking extraordinary measures. I respectfully urge Congress to act to protect the full faith and credit of the United States.”

    Responding to Trump’s post about McCarthy, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) wrote in a post on X, “Sadly, this bad debt ceiling extension was opposed by only 71 House Republicans 18 months ago (notably opposed by virtually the entire @freedomcaucus).”

    “Democrats did vote on the recent debt ceiling increase proposal on 12/19: 197-2 against it (their price to support is very high – more spending/taxes),” Roy added. “Yes, we can & should address the debt ceiling – thru reconciliation in January with mostly GOP votes – but with real, meaningful spending cuts.”

    Supreme Court Responds To Michael Cohen Appeal

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    1
    Duncan Lock, Dflock, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

    The Supreme Court will not get involved.

    On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to revive Michael Cohen’s lawsuit seeking damages for retaliation during his prison sentence.

    Cohen’s lawsuit comes after the former Trump “fixer” began serving his sentence for federal election finance crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Due to health reasons that would be exacerbated by the virus, Cohen’s prison term was furloughed, and he was temporarily sent to home confinement. 

    Officials later ordered him back to prison after he raised issue with a release condition asking him to waive his ability to criticize then-President Trump

    A federal judge ruled to release Cohen again and said the former president’s ex-fixer suffered unconstitutional retaliation for wanting to critique Trump on social media and in a book. However, the judge later dismissed Cohen’s claim for damages over the incident. 

    The Hill reports:

    “As it stands, this case represents the principle that presidents and their subordinates can lock away critics of the executive without consequence,” Cohen wrote in his request for the justices to hear his case.  

    Trump attorney Alina Habba said in the former president’s brief to the court that Cohen’s complaint is “entirely devoid of merit.” She also added a question over whether Cohen’s claim is barred by presidential immunity, which the justices declined to weigh. 

    Cohen testified as a star witness in the Manhattan district attorney’s criminal case against his former boss, which ended in a conviction in May, and took the stand in an earlier civil fraud trial against Trump and his business.  

    In a previous interview with The Hill, Cohen said his appeal to the justices was about deterrence. His experience, he said, was “merely a practice run” for the sweeping retribution Trump has vowed in a potential second term. 

    “Donald has opened up a Pandora’s box for future Trump 2.0s acting in the same autocratic manner,” Cohen said. “This writ of certiorari will be part of the process that would prevent any other U.S. citizen ever from being imprisoned because they refused to waive their First Amendment right or because they express criticism.”  

    The type of relief Cohen sought against Trump, various officials involved and the federal government itself for violating his constitutional rights is known as a Bivens claim. Over the past 44 years, the Supreme Court has turned away a dozen such lawsuits – making the ex-fixer’s request an uphill fight. 

    This is a breaking news story. Click refresh for the latest updates.

    President Trump is the only one who stood up for working families, and the DC elite want him destroyed. Kamala is raising over $1 Billion to crush his campaign. Will you chip in $3 before the day ends? — JD Vance

    Manhattan District Attorney Opposes Push To Dismiss Trump Conviction

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    4
    Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

    Manhattan prosecutors on Tuesday said they will oppose President-elect Trump’s demand to dismiss his criminal hush money.

    Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) in the new letter said he won’t resist adjourning Trump’s sentencing next week so the judge can receive further briefing on the issue. 

    “No current law establishes that a president’s temporary immunity from prosecution requires dismissal of a post-trial criminal proceeding that was initiated at a time when the defendant was not immune from criminal prosecution and that is based on unofficial conduct for which the defendant is also not immune,” Bragg wrote.  

    “Rather, existing law suggests that the Court must balance competing constitutional interests and proceed ‘in a manner that preserves both the independence of the Executive and the integrity of the criminal justice system,’” he said. 

    Bragg signed the filing himself – a departure from the office’s typical practice. 

    Trump’s team celebrated the development.

    “This is a total and definitive victory for President Trump and the American People who elected him in a landslide. The Manhattan DA has conceded that this Witch Hunt cannot continue,” Steven Cheung, Trump’s campaign spokesperson and incoming White House communications director, said in a statement. 

    Judge Juan Merchan, who oversees the case, must decide whether to push back the Nov. 26 sentencing, toss Trump’s conviction altogether or move forward despite his election victory.   

    Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records tied to a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to conceal an alleged affair, which he denies, ahead of the 2016 presidential election. 

    This is a breaking news story. Click refresh for the latest updates.

    Report: Special Counsel Jack Smith To Resign

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    5
    Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

    Goodbye and good riddance…

    Special counsel Jack Smith will finish up his work and resign from his position before President-elect Trump is sworn in.

    Smith is aiming to bring to an end his cases against Trump and step down before the presidential inauguration as a way to get ahead of the Republican’s promise to fire him “within two seconds.” 

    Trump has pointed to a Supreme Court immunity ruling from this summer that broadened the criteria for official presidential conduct ineligible for prosecution even after a president is no longer in office.

    Smith has been evaluating how to wind down both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case before Trump takes office, Fox News reported last week. 

    Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted while in office.

    Smith on Friday filed a motion to vacate all deadlines in the 2020 election interference case against Trump in Washington, D.C., a widely expected move, but one that stops short of dropping the case against him completely. 

    Smith is required under DOJ regulations to submit a report of his findings and an explanation of the charges the prosecutor considered and ultimately filed – even though neither case made it to trial. 

    However, it’s not clear whether Attorney General Merrick Garland would make that report public before the end of President Biden’s term or defer to the incoming Trump administration, according to the Times. 

    Sources close to the matter told the Times that Smith has no intention of dragging his feet, and has informed career prosecutors and FBI agents on his team not directly involved in preparing the report that they can plan their exits in the coming weeks. 

    Joni Ernst Backs Hegseth For Defense Secretary After Pressure From Team Trump

    By
    Patrick Houck
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    3
    By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America - Pete Hegseth, CC BY-SA 2.0

    Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) announced her support for Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense Monday evening, marking a reversal from her earlier reluctance to back the embattled nominee. Ernst’s decision came just days after she indicated skepticism about Hegseth’s qualifications for the role.

    According to Politico, Ernst’s shift followed a concerted effort by President-elect Trump’s allies to persuade her. The report describes an intense pressure campaign that reportedly left the senator’s political life “extremely uncomfortable.”

    Mediaite further reports:

    Last Thursday, after meeting with Hegseth, who has been accused of sexual assault and alcohol abuse, Ernst, a veteran and sexual assault survivor, told Fox News’ Bill Hemmer that she was undecided on his nomination.

    “I think for a number of our senators, they want to make sure that any allegations have been cleared, and that’s why we have to have a very thorough vetting process,” she said at the time.

    On Monday, after another meeting with Hegseth, Ernst changed her tune in a statement:

    I appreciate Pete Hegseth’s responsiveness and respect for the process. Following our encouraging conversations, Pete committed to completing a full audit of the Pentagon and selecting a senior official who will uphold the roles and value of our servicemen and women — based on quality and standards, not quotas — and who will prioritize and strengthen my work to prevent sexual assault within the ranks. As I support Pete through this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources.

    However, sources close to the matter strongly implied Ernst’s change of heart went beyond a productive discussion with Hegseth. One Trump ally, speaking to Politico, emphasized the role of grassroots activism, saying Ernst faced “an onslaught of criticism from MAGA activists” and “got the message loud and clear.”

    In recent days, allies of Trump adopted an approach that is not novel for the president-elect and his followers: Make life extremely uncomfortable for anyone who dares to oppose him. The swarm of MAGA attacks that Sen. Joni Ernst has experienced is a warning of what’s in store for others who express skepticism of his personnel choices.

    Days after signaling she continued to have serious concerns about confirming Hegseth, Ernst on Monday sounded a different note. She described their conversation Monday afternoon as “encouraging,” said she would “support” Hegseth through the process, touted some of the commitments he made to her about what he would do in the role, and suggested she would only take allegations against him seriously if they come from named accusers.

    The change in tune followed an aggressive push for Hegseth by top Trump allies and supporters, as well as a defiant performance by the Defense secretary nominee that has Trump’s team bullish on him getting confirmed. But it’s not just Hegseth. Trump allies believe his choice to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, and his nominee for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, are in a stronger position as well.

    With a narrow Senate majority, endorsements from key Republican senators like Ernst are critical to the prospects of Trump’s nominees.

    READ NEXT: Trump Gives Jaw Dropping Response Over Potential Biden Revenge Scheme

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