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    Congress Elects House Speaker

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    3

    On Friday, Congressional lawmakers convened to elect the next Speaker of the House.

    Mike Johnson (R-La.) will serve as Speaker of the House for the 119th Congress.

    With the Republican majority at 219-215, Johnson could lose only one Republican vote to remain speaker.

    Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was reelected to the top post in the House in a stunning floor vote on the opening day of Congress on Friday, securing the gavel on the first ballot.

    It appeared that he would fail on the first ballot as Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Keith Self (R-Texas) voted for other candidates. However, the chamber held the vote open as Johnson conferred with his opponents and Norman and Self switched their votes to applause in the chamber.

    The vote came after President-elect Donald Trump issued his “total” endorsement of Mike Johnson (R-la.) earlier this week.

    “Speaker Mike Johnson is a good, hard working, religious man. He will do the right thing, and we will continue to WIN. Mike has my Complete & Total Endorsement. MAGA!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene also offered her endorsement of Johnson shortly before Friday’s vote.

    Watch:

    “Tomorrow we convene at noon in the House of Representatives, and our first order of business will be to vote for Speaker of the House. This is a historic vote, and it is the first order of business that we have to accomplish before we can even swear in as members of Congress,” began Greene. “Now, here’s how I feel about it. You all have seen may disagree with Mike Johnson at times. You’ve seen me fight against him at times. But you want to know something else? Here’s what I recognize: For the past four years, all of you and myself included, have put blood, sweat, and tears into electing President Trump. And when you want to talk about blood, President Trump himself actually was the one that shed blood after an assassin shot him in the face.”

    This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

    Jimmy Carter Dead At 100

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    1

    The nation mourns an icon…

    Former President Jimmy Carter (D) has passed away at 100 years old.

    He had turned 100 in October, making him the longest-lived president in the nation’s history.

    “My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love,” said Chip Carter, the former president’s son, in a Carter Center statement. “My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honoring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs.”

    Surviving the former president are his children Jack, Chip, Jeff and Amy; 11 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren. His wife of 77 years, Rosalynn Smith Carter, died Nov. 19, 2023.

    The Carter Center announced on Feb. 18, 2023, that the former president had begun receiving hospice care after a series of short hospital stays, choosing to “spend his remaining time at home with his family” instead of receiving additional medical intervention.

    Former President Carter, a Democrat who was 52 when he entered the Oval Office.

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

    Court Rules Georgia Lawmakers Can Subpoena Fani Willis For Information Related To Trump Case

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    0

    Things have gone from bad to worse for Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis.

    A Georgia judge recently ruled that state lawmakers can subpoena Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis as part of an inquiry into whether she engaged in misconduct during her prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump.

    In his Dec. 23 order, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shukura Ingram gave Willis until Jan. 13 to file a list of claimed privileges and objections to anything that has been subpoenaed.

    Willis plans to appeal the decision. 

    “We believe the ruling is wrong and will appeal,” former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, who is representing Willis in the case, wrote in an email to The Associated Press.

    Earlier this month, an appeals court removed Willis from the Georgia election interference case against Trump and others, citing an “appearance of impropriety.” The panel also cited the romantic relationship between Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

    “This is the rare case in which disqualification is mandated and no other remedy will suffice to restore public confidence in the integrity of these proceedings,” the court said. 

    At the time, Trump called the case a “disgrace to justice.”

    “It was started by the Biden DOJ as an attack on his political opponent, Donald Trump,” he said, “They used anyone and anybody, and she has been disqualified, and her boyfriend has been disqualified, and they stole funds and went on trips.” 

    Willis has been evasive in questioning over her alleged misconduct in prosecuting the new President-elect.

    MAGA Insider Suggests Matt Gaetz Could Still Become Governor of Florida with Help from Trump

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    1

    Gaetz isn’t going anywhere anytime soon…

    Florida political journalist Marc Caputo reports that former congressman Matt Gaetz could still have a bright political future and may even succeed Ron DeSantis as governor of the Sunshine State two years from now.

     Caputo reports for The Bulwark that Gaetz’s career in politics may not be over yet:

    Gaetz has hinted that he’s not done with politics, even if politicians in D.C. want to be done with him. Just a day before the report’s release, the ex-congressman was met with applause at Turning Point USA’s America Fest in Phoenix, where he floated the idea of running for governor or Senate. And there’s a good chance Trump would endorse Gaetz, whom he nominated to be the next attorney general before his hasty withdrawal, should Gaetz choose to jump into either race.

    “Matt never got a commitment from the big guy to endorse him in 2026; he probably knew it was too much of an ask,” said a Trump adviser familiar with the discussions between the two men when Gaetz withdrew his nomination. But, the adviser noted: “Could Donald Trump endorse Matt Gaetz? Definitely. Matt is loyal. Matt is MAGA. But he needs to earn it like everyone else.”

    Florida pollster Kevin Wagner agreed.

    “The short answer is I don’t know what happens to Matt Gaetz. The incoming president could endorse him in 2026, and in that case, I wouldn’t bet against him in Florida,” he told Caputo.

    Caputo expanded further on Gaetz’s path forward:

    Already, the groundwork is being laid to get Gaetz to run once more. On Monday, MAGA operatives were lashing out at the Ethics Committee report, treating it as a form of political propaganda engineered by establishment lawmakers to remove a perpetual thorn in their side. Steve Bannon, a Trump adviser and the host of the War Room podcast influential in MAGAville, urged Gaetz to “return to Congress on its first day next year and take a page from that old song the ‘Harper Valley P.T.A.’ and expose all the hypocrites in the House who have used tax money to cover up their sexual depravity.”

    Bannon’s bet is that the no-apologies-no-fucks-given approach that Trump has perfected can be adopted by his acolytes, even if it hasn’t worked for others (see: Lake, Kari). Some fellow Republicans agree that negative saturation media coverage isn’t as deadly as it used to be, especially in GOP politics, and that politicians with their own standalone brands like Gaetz are better built than others to survive scandal when scandal no longer seems scandalous.

    Gaetz, whose nomination to serve as President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general quickly fell apart, was dealt another blow on Wednesday when the House Ethics Committee released a devastating report alleging severe sexual misconduct on his part.

    Gaetz Sues House Ethics Committee In Final Bid To Block Report’s Release

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    1

    Former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz (R) filed a lawsuit against the House Ethics Committee in a last-minute attempt to block the panel from releasing its report on the Florida Republican.

    Gaetz, who resigned from Congress last month, filed the lawsuit as several outlets reported on leaked drafts of the Ethics Committee’s report, which CNN and CBS say found “substantial evidence” that the ex-congressman violated House rules or Florida state laws

    The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., asks a judge to issue an emergency order blocking the report’s release. 

    Gaetz claims the committee is acting beyond its authority because it has no jurisdiction over him now that he has resigned from Congress. Gaetz’s attorneys said the report contains “untruthful and defamatory information” that would “significantly damage” his reputation.

    “The Committee’s apparent intention to release its report after explicitly acknowledging it lacks jurisdiction over former members, its failure to follow constitutional notions of due process, and failure to adhere to its own procedural rules and precedent represents an unprecedented overreach that threatens fundamental constitutional rights and established procedural protections,” Gaetz’s attorneys wrote.

    The suit names the Ethics Committee and its chair, Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.), as defendants.

    “These claims would be destroyed in court — which is why they were never made in any court against me,” Gaetz told The Hill on Monday.

    The Ethics Committee continued investigating Gaetz after the DOJ declined to charge the Florida Republican, probing allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, accepting improper gifts, dispensing special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship and seeking to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.

    In a lengthy statement posted on X last week, after news broke that the panel reversed course and voted to release its report into Gaetz, the ex-congressman defended his conduct, saying it was “embarrassing, though not criminal.”

    The panel is expected to publicly release the report as early as Monday.

    Read the full report:

    807818265-Committee-ReportDownload

    Trump Defends House Speaker Amid Mutiny Threats

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    2
    Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

    Is House Speaker Mike Johnson on the brink of betrayal?

    President-elect Trump on Thursday said Speaker Johnson (R-La.) can likely remain in the leadership role if he cracks down on spending, while Johnson is reorganizing plans to fund the government ahead of Friday’s deadline to avert a shutdown.

    “If the Speaker acts decisively, and tough, and gets rid of all of the traps being set by the Democrats, which will economically and, in other ways, destroy our country, he will easily remain speaker,” Trump told Fox News Digital in an interview on Thursday morning.

    Some GOP lawmakers have questioned their support for Johnson over to his handling of the end-of-year spending deal, which has thrown his grasp on his gavel into uncertain territory ahead of the critical Jan. 3 vote.

    On Wednesday, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) pledged to oppose Johnson on the House floor next month and a handful of other Republicans are not saying if they will support him.

    When asked why he wouldn’t back his fellow Republican, Massie told The Hill it was due to “all the grievances I had this summer, when we tried to vacate. And then this bill.”

    Trump told Fox News Digital that he warned Republicans against supporting legislation that doesn’t tackle the debt limit, calling for those lawmakers to be primaried.

    “Anybody that supports a bill that doesn’t take care of the Democrat quicksand known as the debt ceiling should be primaried and disposed of as quickly as possible,” he said.

    One House Republican told the Washington Examiner that House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) is the most likely replacement for Johnson if House Republicans decide they need new leadership.

    Emmer is among the most experienced leaders of the House Republicans, having led the National Republican Congressional Committee from 2019 to 2023 before being elected Republican whip in 2022.

    Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) was floated by the House Republican as the second most likely House speaker replacement.

    Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) was floated as the third most likely candidate by the House Republican, a consistent favorite among the conservative wing of the party.

    Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, was a leading figure in pursuing an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. He unsuccessfully ran for the speakership in October 2023, losing to Johnson

    Report: Fani Willis Disqualified As Prosecutor on Trump Georgia Election Case

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    2

    A Georgia appeals court on Thursday disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D)’s office from the 2020 election interference case against President-elect Trump

    The panel described Willis’s relationship with ex-special prosecutor Nathan Wade as a “significant appearance of impropriety.” 

    The court declined to outright dismiss Trump’s indictment, but disqualifying Willis’s office throws the future of the case further into doubt.

    The Hill reports:

    “After carefully considering the trial court’s findings in its order, we conclude that it erred by failing to disqualify DA Willis and her office,” the court wrote in its ruling.  

    “The remedy crafted by the trial court to prevent an ongoing appearance of impropriety did nothing to address the appearance of impropriety that existed at times when DA Willis was exercising her broad pretrial discretion about who to prosecute and what charges to bring,” it continued. 

    In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Trump said the “whole case has been a disgrace to justice.” 

    “It was started by the Biden DOJ as an attack on his political opponent, Donald Trump,” he said, “They used anyone and anybody, and she has been disqualified, and her boyfriend has been disqualified, and they stole funds and went on trips.” 

    Trump said the case “should not be allowed to go any further.” 

    “There is no way such corrupt people can lead a case, and then it gets taken over by somebody else,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “It was a corrupt case, so how could it be taken over by someone else?” 

    This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

    Report: House Panel Holds Secret Vote To Release Gaetz Ethics Findings

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    6
    Ted Eytan from Washington, DC, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

    The House Ethics Committee voted secretly to release the investigatory report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL).

    According to reports from CNN, the committee has voted to release the ethics report despite Gaetz’s resignation from Congress last month.

    CNN reports:

    The vote, which has not previously been reported, amounts to a stark reversal for the panel after it had voted along party lines in late November not to release the results of the investigation. The decision to release the report suggests that some Republicans ultimately decided to side with Democrats on the matter, and it is unclear if the committee will once again change course now that it has voted.

    When the committee voted last month to shelve the report, Gaetz was President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to be attorney general. Since then, Gaetz withdrew himself from consideration for the Senate-confirmed post, though he maintains frosty relations with many in his party and is still active in GOP politics.

    It is exceedingly rare for an ethics report to be released after a member has left Congress, though it has happened on a couple of occasions in the past. The committee revisited the issue behind closed doors earlier this month after a feud over the report spilled into public view before Thanksgiving.

    The Ethics Committee’s report concludes a years-long probe into numerous allegations against Gaetz, including whether he engaged in sexual misconduct, used illicit drugs, “shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gifts,” according to an announcement by the panel last summer.

    Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crimes.

    Gaetz, in a statement posted on the social platform X, pointed to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decision not to charge him after investigating allegations of a sexual encounter with a 17-year-old, claiming he was “FULLY EXONERATED.” He did, however, admit to an “embarrassing” past.

    “In my single days, I often sent funds to women I dated – even some I never dated but who asked. I dated several of these women for years. I NEVER had sexual contact with someone under 18.  Any claim that I have would be destroyed in court – which is why no such claim was ever made in court,” Gaetz wrote. “My 30’s were an era of working very hard – and playing hard too. It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life.  I live a different life now.”

    Speaker Mike Johnson has spoken out against releasing the report due to Gaetz’s sudden resignation once Trump announced him as his initial attorney general choice. Johnson has acknowledged he has no role on the operations of the panel, which has traditionally operated separately from leadership.

    Gaetz, who was reelected to the seat last month prior to his resignation, has said he has no plans of returning to Congress next year.

    “I’m still going to be in the fight, but it’s going to be from a new perch. I do not intend to join the 119th Congress,” he told Charlie Kirk in an interview last month.

    Gaetz is also reportedly planning to join One America News Network (OANN) next month.

    Judge Rejects Trump Request To Toss Charges On Basis Of Presidential Immunity

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    4
    Gavel via Wikimedia Commons Image

    Judge Juan Merchan rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s request to dismiss charges brought against him by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on the basis of presidential immunity.

    The ruling came after President-elect Trump and his team requested Merchan to overturn his guilty verdict in New York v. Trump, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that presidents have immunity for official acts. 

    Merchan ruled that the evidence presented in the trial was related “entirely to unofficial conduct and thus, receive no immunity protections.” 

    “Further, even if this Court were to deem all of the contested evidence, both preserved and unpreserved, as official conduct falling within the outer perimeter of Defendant’s Presidential authority, it would still find that the People’s use of these acts as evidence of the decidedly personal acts of falsifying business records poses no danger of intrusion on the authority and function of the Executive Branch, a conclusion amply supported by non-motive-related evidence,” Merchan writes. 

    READ:

    people-v.-djt-cpl-330.301-decDownload

    Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree stemming from the yearslong investigation related to alleged hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.

    Merchan also argued that the Court said “if error occurred regarding the introduction of the challenged evidence, such error was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of guilt.” 

    Merchan rejected Trump’s presidential immunity argument but has yet to rule on President-elect Trump’s formal motion to dismiss the case altogether.

    “Today’s decision by deeply conflicted, acting Justice Merchan in the Manhattan DA Witch Hunt is a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s decision on immunity, and other longstanding jurisprudence,” Trump spokesman and incoming White House communications director Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital. “This lawless case should have never been brought, and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed, as President Trump must be allowed to continue the Presidential Transition process, and execute the vital duties of the presidency, unobstructed by the remains of this, or any other, Witch Hunt.” 

    Cheung added: “The sooner these hoaxes end, the sooner our country can unite behind President Trump for the betterment of all Americans.”

    Trump Sues Iowa Pollster Over Election Interference

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    0
    Gage Skidmore Flickr

    President-elect Donald Trump is suing the Des Moines Register and its top pollster J. Ann Selzer for “brazen election interference.”

    Trump’s lawsuit centers around Selzer’s final Iowa poll conducted before the 2024 election that reported Democrat candidate Kamala Harris leading by three points before Trump went on to carry the state by 13 points.

    The lawsuit was filed Monday night in Polk County, Iowa under the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act and related provisions. It says it seeks “accountability for brazen election interference committed by” the Des Moines Register (DMR) and Selzer “in favor of now-defeated former Democrat candidate Kamala Harris through use of a leaked and manipulated Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll conducted by Selzer and S&C and published by DMR and Gannett in the Des Moines Register on Nov. 2, 2024.” The lawsuit is also against the parent company of the Des Moines Register, Gannett, which also owns other publications, including USA Today.

    Selzer’s poll, though, had been hyped up by the media ahead of the elections, as her polling predictions in previous elections had been historically accurate. 

    Trump attorneys said Selzer had “prided herself on a mainstream reputation for accuracy despite several far less publicized egregious polling misses in favor of Democrats” and said she “would have the public believe it was merely a coincidence that one of the worst polling misses of her career came just days before the most consequential election in memory, was leaked and happened to go against the Republican candidate.” 

    “The Harris Poll was no ‘miss’ but rather an attempt to influence the outcome of the 2024 Presidential Election,” the lawsuit states, adding that “defendants and their cohorts in the Democrat Party hoped that the Harris Poll would create a false narrative of inevitability for Harris in the final week of the 2024 Presidential Election.” 

    “Instead, the November 5 election was a monumental victory for President Trump in both the Electoral College and the Popular Vote, an overwhelming mandate for his America First principles, and the consignment of the radical socialist agenda to the dustbin of history.” 

    Trump’s attorneys noted that it’s not entirely uncommon for Democrat pollsters to attempt to influence electoral outcomes through manipulated data coupled with high error rates but Selzer’s large platform is cause for concern.

    “While Selzer is not the only pollster to engage in this corrupt practice, she had a huge platform and following and, thus, a significant and impactful opportunity to deceive voters,” the lawsuit states. “As Selzer knows, this type of manipulation creates a narrative of inevitability for Democrat candidates, increases enthusiasm among Democrats, compels Republicans to divert campaign time and money to areas in which they are ahead, and deceives the public into believing that Democrat candidates are performing better than they really are.” 

    According to Fox News, Trump is demanding actual damages upon trial of the case; statutory damages three times the actual damages suffered; an order enjoining defendants’ “ongoing deceptive and misleading acts and practices relating to the Harris Poll and compelling defendants to disclose all information upon which they relied to engage in the deceptive and misleading acts relating to the Harris Poll; attorneys’ fees and costs associated with the case; and any other relief as deemed just and proper by the court. 

    The lawsuit Monday night comes just hours after the president-elect said during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago that he planned to sue the Des Moines Register and Selzer. 

    Following the 2024 election Selzer also announced her retirement after more than 35 years.

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