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    Election Expert Calls On Biden To Immediately Resign

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    5
    Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Does Joe Biden have any friends left?

    Expert election prognosticator and FiveThirtyEight founder Nate Silver called on President Biden to immediately resign and let Vice President Kamala Harris carry out the remainder of his term.

    Silver’s argument came in response to a Washington Post article about Biden’s recent trip to Brazil that began like this:

    MANAUS, Brazil — President Joe Biden was in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, unprotected from mosquitoes, fire ants and loud, squawking macaws. But there was another pest he did manage to avoid: the pack of reporters traveling with him.

    For a short speech in front of about two dozen people, the journalists were initially instructed to watch Biden on a flat-screen television placed amid sand and lush trees as the president spoke about 50 feet away, though they were eventually moved closer. As Biden finished his remarks, maracas rattled by a local group prevented him from hearing reporters’ shouted questions about Ukraine.

    During a six-day foreign trip to Peru and Brazil that wrapped up Monday, the president rarely spoke in public, answering almost no questions despite repeated efforts to engage him. One television producer took to writing messages on a large pad of paper, holding it up as Biden boarded and departed Air Force One.

    The story went on to note that Biden has been conspicuously quiet about the results of the 2024 presidential election, which he “repeatedly called the most important election in history” and  “warned would change the country forever if [Donald] Trump prevailed.”

    Silver was unamused by Biden’s performance as described by the Post.

    “Is there any particular reason to assume Biden is competent to be president right now?” he asked rhetorically on X. “It’s a very difficult job. It’s a dangerous world. Extremely high-stakes decisions in Ukraine. He should resign and let Harris serve out the last 2 months.”

    Trump Asks Judge To Dismiss Hush Money Case

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    4

    Trump lawyers called for an “immediate dismissal” of New York v. Trump on Wednesday, saying the American people’s choice to elect the former president to a second term “supersedes” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s “political motivations.”

    In a letter to Judge Juan Merchan on Wednesday, Trump defense attorney and now-nominee for Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche demanded the case against the president-elect be tossed. 

    “On November 5, 2024, the Nation’s People issued a mandate that supersedes the political motivations of DANY’s ‘People,’” Blanche wrote. “This case must be immediately dismissed.” 

    Blanche said that “immediate dismissal of this case is mandated by the federal Constitution, the Presidential Transition Act of 1963, and the interests of justice, in order to facilitate the orderly transition of Executive power following President Trump’s overwhelming victory in the 2024 Presidential Election.” 

    Blanche’s pre-motion letter Wednesday was sent in order to request permission to file a motion to dismiss by Dec. 20, 2024 and to request a stay on all deadlines, which Bragg and New York prosecutors have agreed to. 

    Blanche argued that Bragg “appears to not yet be ready to dismiss this politically-motivated and fatally flawed case, which is what is mandated by the law and will happen as justice takes its course.” Blanche pointed to Bragg’s own election campaign for another term as Manhattan DA. 

    Blanche argued that “continuing with this case would be ‘uniquely destabilizing’ and threatens to ‘hamstring the operation of the whole governmental apparatus, both in foreign and domestic affairs.’” 

    “The Court must address these new issues and dismiss the case, prior to issuing a decision on the previously filed Presidential immunity motion,” Blanche explained. “Any other action would obviously violate the presidential immunity doctrine and the Supremacy Clause.” 

    The letter comes after Bragg on Tuesday sent a letter to Merchan requesting a stay on the case until 2029. Bragg said he would oppose Trump’s motion to dismiss, but said he would be open to receiving the defense argument. 

    Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree stemming from the years-long investigation related to alleged hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

    Report: Trump Team Mulling Replacement For Controversial Admin. Nominee

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    5
    By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America - Pete Hegseth, CC BY-SA 2.0

    This Trump nominee could already be on his way out…

    President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has reportedly been drafting a list of alternative nominees for Defense Secretary in case Trump rethinks his choice of, Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Pete Hegseth.

    According to Vanity Fair, which spoke to two unnamed Republican sources “close to Trump,” the president-elect’s transition team has been “quietly preparing a list of alternative defense secretary candidates should Trump abandon Hegseth,” following news of a 2017 sexual assault allegation.

    “It’s becoming a real possibility,” claimed one of the sources. The other source said, “People are upset about the distraction. The general feeling is Pete hasn’t been honest.”

    Shortly after Trump announced his decision to nominate Hegseth for secretary of defense this month, the Trump transition team was informed about a 2020 payment Hegseth reportedly made to a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her at a hotel and spa in 2017.

    In a statement, Hegseth’s lawyer Timothy Parlatore insisted, “Mr. Hegseth is completely innocent. Not only did she take advantage of him, but we believe she then extorted him knowing that at the height of the #MeToo movement the mere public allegation would likely result in his immediate termination from Fox News.”

    The New York Times reported last week that Trump had “not moved off supporting Mr. Hegseth, despite claims that his team was reassessing the pick, according to several people close to the incoming president.”

    Hegseth’s nomination took Senate Republicans by surprise.

    Asked for his thoughts on the nomination, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) reportedly remarked, “Really? I’d have to think about it.”

    Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) reacted, “Wow… I’m just surprised because the names that I’ve heard for Secretary of Defense have not included him,” while Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) asked, “Who?”

    Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) was more optimistic about the nomination, calling Hegseth “an impressive individual.”

    Trump Nominates Dr. Oz To Key Role

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    5
    Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    On Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump nominated celebrity Doctor Mehmet Oz to serve as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator.

    Read Trump’s full statement:

    I am very pleased to nominate Dr. Mehmet Oz to serve as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator. America is facing a Healthcare Crisis, and there may be no Physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again. He is an eminent Physician, Heart Surgeon, Inventor, and World-Class Communicator, who has been at the forefront of healthy living for decades. Dr. Oz will work closely with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to take on the illness industrial complex, and all the horrible chronic diseases left in its wake. 

    Our broken Healthcare System harms everyday Americans, and crushes our Country’s budget. Dr. Oz will be a leader in incentivizing Disease Prevention, so we get the best results in the World for every dollar we spend on Healthcare in our Great Country. He will also cut waste and fraud within our Country’s most expensive Government Agency, which is a third of our Nation’s Healthcare spend, and a quarter of our entire National Budget.

    Dr. Oz graduated from Harvard College, and earned a joint MD and MBA degree at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Wharton Business School, my powerful alma mater. He rose to become a Professor of Surgery at Columbia University, while receiving numerous patents on his medical inventions, authoring more than 400 original publications, and publishing numerous New York Times Best Selling books.

    He won nine Daytime Emmy Awards hosting “The Dr. Oz Show,” where he taught millions of Americans how to make healthier lifestyle choices, and gave a strong voice to the key pillars of the MAHA Movement. Dr. Oz and his wife, Lisa, expanded this effort by founding HealthCorps, a non-profit that has improved the lives of millions of underserved teens Nationwide over the past two decades. 

    I have known Dr. Oz for many years, and I am confident he will fight to ensure everyone in America receives the best possible Healthcare, so our Country can be Great and Healthy Again!

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

    Manhattan District Attorney Opposes Push To Dismiss Trump Conviction

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    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.

    Trump Calls For Investigation Into Iowa Pollster

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

    President-elect Donald Trump called for an investigation into retired Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer as he accused her of undermining trust in the 2024 election.

    Selzer’s (inaccurate) Iowa reporting threatened to upend the state’s results, however Trump went on toe decisively win the Buckeye State.

    “A totally Fake poll that caused great distrust and uncertainty at a very critical time. She knew exactly what she was doing,” Trump posted to his Truth Social site.

    In the post, Trump thanked the “GREAT PEOPLE OF IOWA” for their votes, despite alleged possible “ELECTION FRAUD” by Selzer and the newspaper that published the poll, The Des Moines Register.

    “An investigation is fully called for!” Trump added.

    Just days before the election, Selzer’s survey, which found Vice President Harris leading Trump in Iowa, sent shockwaves nationwide. Trump went on to win the state by more than 20,000 votes.

    Selzer announced in a column on Sunday that she will retire from the Register’s Iowa Poll.

    Selzer, who has worked on a contract basis for the Register since 1997, said she would have liked to have made the announcement after polling lined up with the election results and admitted “it’s ironic” that it’s the opposite.

    Selzer’s poll was widely cited during the final days of the campaign, raising questions about whether its projections shaped voter sentiment or campaign strategies.

    Elon Musk Accuses Trump Ally Of ‘Leaking’ Info To The Media

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    3
    UK Government, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

    Tensions are running high within Trump’s inner circle…

    Billionaire Elon Musk clashed publicly with Boris Epshteyn, one of Trump’s closest allies in what sources called a “massive blowout” over key Cabinet appointments.

    According to three sources cited by Axios, the dispute reached a boiling point during a dinner at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club last week during which Musk accused Epshteyn of leaking sensitive details about the transition process, including potential personnel picks.

    “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Epshteyn reportedly fired back during the heated exchange.

    The altercation highlights a power struggle as Musk, a newcomer to Trump’s inner circle, increasingly advocates for his preferred candidates. Musk has reportedly criticized Epshteyn’s influence in selecting Justice Department nominees, including Matt Gaetz for attorney general.

    Musk is lobbying for Howard Lutnick, co-chair of Trump’s transition team, as Treasury secretary, over Wall Street veteran Scott Bessent.

    Despite the friction, Musk maintains considerable support among Trump’s family and allies. 

    However, the tech billionaire’s growing role in the transition has rankled longtime Trump loyalists, who view him as overstepping boundaries. 

    Musk has been among the president-elect’s most vocal and influential supporters since he endorsed Trump immediately after a July assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally but some in Trump’s inner circle say the Tesla CEO is being to overstay his welcome.

    “Elon won’t go home. I can’t get rid of him. Until I don’t like him,” Trump quipped, according to a source in the room when Trump met with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill last Wednesday.

    some Republicans have questioned how long Trump and Musk can happily co-exist, particularly given Trump’s past frustration with those who take up too much of the spotlight.

    “Trump is not going to have another alpha. I think Trump is going to tire of him,” one source close to the transition told The Hill.

    One Republican lobbyist with ties to Trump said there are some in the president-elect’s orbit who think Musk is “a little big for his britches.”

    Trump transition team spokesperson Karoline Leavitt did not respond to requests for comment from The Hill, but in a statement on Wednesday to NBC News described Musk and Trump as “great friends and brilliant leaders working together to Make America Great Again.”

    “Elon Musk is a once in a generation business leader and our federal bureaucracy will certainly benefit from his ideas and efficiency,” Leavitt said.

    Nikki Haley Hits Back At Trump Cabinet Snub

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    6
    The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley responded President-elect Donald Trump’s social media post over the weekend…

    Haley replied on X by highlighting her previous service, saying, “I was proud to work with President Trump defending America at the United Nations. I wish him, and all who serve, great success in moving us forward to a stronger, safer America over the next four years.” The reply received harsh criticism from Trump critics, which Haley noted as she said her family was frustrated that she didn’t make clear at the time she had told Trump aides she was not interested in a job.

    “I had no interest in being in his cabinet. He knew that,” Haley said on her SiriusXM show, Nikki Haley Live, adding:

    But to go a little further, his best friend, Steve Witkoff, came to our house in South Carolina, spoke to me and my husband, and basically wanted a truce between me and Donald Trump. And I told him at the time, there was no truce needed, that I had, that Trump had my support, there was no issue on my end.

    And at that point he was like, ‘What do you want? Tell me what you want. Is there anything you want?’ And I said, ‘There’s nothing I want.’ And there wasn’t anything I wanted. And then several weeks back I talked to Howard Lutnick, his transition director, and he asked, you know, if I knew of people that would be good in the cabinet, if there was any insight. And what I said is, I think it’s really important that Trump surround himself with people that are going to tell him the truth.

    And I, you know, mentioned someone that I thought would be good for Commerce Secretary and mentioned that I thought the UN Ambassador should be a cabinet pick. But I did not ask anything for me. And I have made it clear to everyone that I was not interested in the administration. So my husband and son were upset and said, ‘Why didn’t you say that in the tweet? Instead of just wishing him well?’

    Haley concluded by noting Trump’s social media post was nothing new to her, “And the truth is, I know the game he was playing. I don’t need to play that game.”

    “But more importantly, we have to look at the bigger picture. It is time to move on. It is time for us to focus on what America needs to do to be strong again, what America needs to do to be safe. The American people have spoken and spoken very loudly, and at this point, we should pray that President Trump does well. We should pray that everyone that he appoints does well. We should hope for the sake of our kids and generations to follow us, that all of this goes forward. So, you know, do I take it personally? No. That’s who he is. He can be shallow at times and I think he showed that. But I don’t have to be shallow. And at the end of the day, I’m very comfortable with where I am, and I’m comfortable with what happened,” she added.

    Watch:

    Trump Attorney Rejects Press Sec. Position

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    1
    Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America,

    Trump lawyer Alina Habba passed on the opportunity to serve as President-elect Donald Trump’s White House Press Secretary, days after she emerged as a front-runner for the job.

    Reports emerged earlier this week that Trump’s senior advisor and attorney was the favorite for the position, according to four sources. Habba traveled to Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday for discussions about a role, before announcing Thursday morning that she would not serve as press secretary.

    “While I am flattered by the support and speculation, the role of Press Secretary is not a role I am considering,” Habba wrote. “Although I love screaming from a podium I will be better served in other capacities. This administration is going to be epic! So proud of the Trump team, the latest appointments and 47!”

    A source said the Trump team lobbied Habba to take the job but she turned it down for reasons related to her family — Habba has three children and is based in New Jersey — and her law practice.

    Sean Hannity pressed Habba on his Fox News show on Tuesday over whether she would take on the position. Habba said, “I am very loyal to President Trump. I would think about it very seriously.”

    Trump Names Florida Republican To Be Next U.S. Attorney General

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    4

    On Wednesday, president-elect Donald Trump officially nominated Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to be the next Attorney General.

    Read the full statement:

    It is my Great Honor to announce that Congressman Matt Gaetz, of Florida, is hereby nominated to be The Attorney General of the United States. Matt is a deeply gifted and tenacious attorney, trained at the William & Mary College of Law, who has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice. Few issues in America are more important than ending the partisan Weaponization of our Justice System. Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department. On the House Judiciary Committee, which performs oversight of DOJ, Matt played a key role in defeating the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, and exposing alarming and systemic Government Corruption and Weaponization. He is a Champion for the Constitution and the Rule of Law. Matt will root out the systemic corruption at DOJ, and return the Department to its true mission of fighting Crime, and upholding our Democracy and Constitution. We must have Honesty, Integrity, and Transparency at DOJ. Under Matt’s leadership, all Americans will be proud of the Department of Justice once again.

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

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