On Tuesday, a judge in New York denied a motion filed by President-elect Donald Trump to stay the Jan. 10 sentencing in the New York v. Trump case.
Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Manhattan case in May 2024.
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On Tuesday, Florida Judge Aileen Cannon temporarily blocked the Justice Department from releasing Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on President-elect Trump’s two prosecutions.
The ruling from Cannon comes after Trump’s two co-defendants in the Mar-a-Lago documents case asked her to bar the release of both sections of Smith’s report, including that dealing with Trump’s election interference case.
It’s not clear the extent of Cannon’s purview over the case, as a prior ruling from her tossing the case has been appealed to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Cannon said her ruling blocking any transmittance of the report would remain in effect until three days after any appeals court ruling “unless the 11th Circuit rules otherwise.”
The Florida-based federal judge said the ruling would “preserve the status quo” and “prevent irreparable harm.”
Smith’s office declined to comment, but in earlier court filings said they would respond to the substance of Trump’s request by 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
Attached to the filings is a letter from Trump’s legal team to Attorney General Merrick Garland asking him to fire Smith and leave the decision of whether to release the report to a Trump-appointed attorney general.
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President-elect Trump repeated his warnings that “all hell will break loose” in the Middle East if hostages kidnapped from Israel and held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip are not released before his inauguration.
“It will not be good for Hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone,” Trump said during a press conference at his residence in Florida, Mar-A-Lago. “All hell will break out. I don’t have to say anymore, but that’s what it is.”
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, said at the same press conference that there’s been a lot of progress on efforts to release about 100 hostages held in the Gaza Strip, saying he’s hopeful a deal is achieved ahead of the inauguration.
Witkoff said he had just returned from discussions in Doha, Qatar on the hostage release deal and was planning to head back to the region on Wednesday or Thursday.
“I believe we’ve been on the verge of it. I don’t want to discuss sort of what’s delayed it,” he said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken had earlier said he hoped the Biden administration could conclude a hostage release and ceasefire deal before the end of President Biden’s term
President-elect Trump and his two co-defendants in the classified documents case are working to block special counsel Jack Smith from releasing his final report.
The motion filed late Monday, the fourth anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol asks Judge Aileen Cannon to bar Smith from his plans to release his two-volume report.
An accompanying letter from Trump’s legal team to Attorney General Merrick Garland reveals they have already reviewed a draft of the report, asking Garland to fire Smith and leave the decision of whether to release the report to the president-elect’s incoming attorney general.
Trump has nominated Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi for the role.
While Smith was responsible for the report, Attorney General Garland makes the final decision to release it to the public.
Attorneys for Trump’s two co-defendants in the Mar-a-Lago case, valet Walt Nauta and property manager Carlos de Oliveira, rely on a ruling from Cannon that found Smith was unlawfully appointed in asking her to block the report’s release.
Smith’s team responded with an early Tuesday morning filing.
The Hill reports:
“The Department can commit that the Attorney General will not release that volume to the public, if he does at all, before Friday, January 10, 2025, at 10:00 a.m.,” Smith’s team wrote, the same day Trump is set to be sentenced in his New York hush money case.
“The Draft Report violates fundamental norms regarding the presumption of innocence, including with respect to third parties unnecessarily impugned by Smith’s false claims. Releasing the report to the public without significant redactions (that would render its release meaningless) would violate prohibitions on extrajudicial statements by prosecutors,” Trump’s team wrote in the letter to Garland.
“This is particularly problematic with respect to ongoing proceedings relating to Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, as well as others who Smith and his staff falsely characterize as co-conspirators in the Draft Report,” they added.
The letter to Garland reveals a few details about Smith’s report, including that it contains information about “anticipated members of President Trump’s incoming administration,” something Trump’s team complains could hinder their confirmation process.
It otherwise appears to mirror language already included in Smith’s indictments of Trump.
“Volume I of the Draft Report falsely asserts, without any jury determination, that President Trump and others ‘engaged in an unprecedented criminal effort,’ was ‘the head of the criminal conspiracies,’ and harbored a ‘criminal design,’” Trump’s legal team wrote in the letter. “Likewise, Volume II asserts, without any supporting verdict, ‘that Mr. Trump violated multiple federal criminal laws,’ and that he and others engaged in ‘criminal conduct.’”
Joshua Steinman, the former senior director for cyber on President Trump’s National Security Council (NSC), has issued a stark warning to the incoming president that demands immediate attention. Steinman, who loyally served from Trump’s first day in office to his last, cautions that mistakes in NSC staffing could spell disaster for the administration’s second term, leading to either ineffectiveness or outright betrayal. His insights form a compelling argument for a complete overhaul of the NSC as the cornerstone of Trump’s efforts to govern effectively.
The NSC, as Steinman explains, is not merely a bureaucratic appendage. It is the quarterback of the White House—the entity tasked with ensuring that the president’s directives are executed seamlessly across the vast machinery of the federal government. “If the president is the owner of the football team, the NSC is the quarterback,” he asserts, underscoring the centrality of this institution in driving the administration’s policy agenda. And yet, Steinman’s concerns suggest that the team surrounding this quarterback may not be up to the task.
Reflecting on Trump’s first term, Steinman identifies a critical error: the decision to retain approximately 50% of the NSC staff from the Obama administration. This hesitation to implement a sweeping purge, according to Steinman, allowed disloyal actors to undermine Trump’s policies. Some of these holdovers allegedly continued to operate under Obama-era guidance until explicitly instructed otherwise. Steinman’s message is clear: “Removing people like this isn’t personal; it’s just prudent.”
The stakes are high. Steinman contrasts Trump’s initial approach with the swift and decisive action taken by President Biden, who executed a comprehensive purge of Trump-aligned NSC staff upon taking office. This move ensured that Biden’s team could implement his agenda without interference from ideological adversaries. Critics labeled Biden’s actions a “purge” and raised concerns about the politicization of traditionally non-partisan roles, but his administration’s determination to align its personnel with its policies proved effective in consolidating its power.
Steinman’s critique does not stop at holdovers. He raises alarms about new hires, questioning their loyalty and expertise. Among those rumored to join Trump’s team is Adam Howard, GOP Staff Director for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), who is set to take the critical role of senior director for intelligence programs. Steinman questions whether Howard’s background equips him to confront potential interference from the intelligence community—a task vital to ensuring Trump’s agenda is not derailed.
The urgency of Steinman’s warning lies in the fundamental truth that personnel is policy. For Trump’s administration to succeed, the NSC must be staffed with individuals who are not only loyal to his vision but also possess the subject-matter expertise to navigate the complexities of their roles. Steinman’s concerns about Anne Neuberger, the Biden-appointed NSC cybersecurity director, exemplify this need. Her alignment with policies on artificial intelligence and tech censorship could undermine Trump’s objectives, should she remain in place.
Trump’s response to these challenges is beginning to take shape. Key appointments to his NSC include:
While these appointments reflect a renewed emphasis on loyalty and alignment, Steinman’s cautionary tale lingers. The success of Trump’s second term hinges on avoiding the missteps of the first. The NSC’s ability to serve as an effective quarterback depends entirely on the quality of its staff. As Steinman aptly puts it, “The Intel Senior Director position is one of the most CRITICAL posts in U.S. Government.”
The broader implications of Steinman’s warning extend beyond Trump’s presidency. The debate over Biden’s NSC purge highlighted the tension between ensuring policy alignment and maintaining non-partisan governance. Critics, including the Heritage Foundation, argued that Biden’s actions undermined the apolitical nature of advisory roles, while supporters contended that loyalty is essential for effective governance. Trump’s administration must navigate this delicate balance, prioritizing mission alignment without descending into the partisanship that critics decry.
As Trump prepares to assume office once more, the lessons of his first term and Biden’s purge are clear: the NSC must be reimagined, restructured, and resolutely loyal to the President’s agenda. Failure to act decisively could jeopardize the very goals Trump has championed—from ending unnecessary conflicts to revitalizing the economy. Steinman’s call to action is both a warning and a roadmap: “Fix the NSC, fix the presidency.”
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A new report Sunday revealed Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has privately promised President-elect Donald Trump that Pete Hegseth has enough votes in the Senate to be confirmed to head the Department of Defense.
According to a report by CBS News, three sources have confirmed that Thune has assured Trump privately that his embattled defense secretary nominee will make it through the Senate confirmation process.
When asked to confirm the reporting, a spokesperson for Thune told CBS News, “Two things we don’t discuss publicly: Whip counts and private conversations with the president.”
The confirmation briefing for the former Fox News star will occur later this month on Jan. 14.
On Sunday, Thune told Face The Nation host Margaret Brennan that all of Trump’s nominees will “still have to make their case in front of the committee.”
A week after defeating Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump nominated Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense. However, Hegseth faces allegations of sexual misconduct after an anonymous woman accused him of sexual assault in a Monterey hotel room back in 2017.
Hegseth has also faced accusations of alcohol abuse.
On Monday, President-elect Donald Trump’s legal team filed a motion urging Judge Juan Merchan to hold off on sentencing him on Jan. 10 in his New York criminal conviction.
Last week, the New York judge announced sentencing would move forward this Friday despite his imminent return to the White House
Trump’s attorneys told Merchan they are appealing his recent rulings upholding the jury’s guilty verdict and argued the judge must pause the case in the meantime.
“By virtue of President Trump’s filing of appellate proceedings raising his claims of Presidential immunity, all proceedings in this Court are automatically stayed by operation of federal constitutional law,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in the new filing, which was made public Monday.
“In the alternative, even if such a stay were discretionary, the Court should grant such a stay. The Court should vacate the sentencing hearing scheduled for January 10, 2025, and suspend all further deadlines in the case until President Trump’s immunity appeals are fully and finally resolved, which should result in a dismissal of this case, which should have never been brought in the first place,” they continued.
They asked Merchan to notify the parties by 2 p.m. EST Monday whether he will cancel the sentencing and said they would be filing two appeals Monday in state court.
“The Supreme Court’s historic decision on Immunity, the state constitution of New York, and other established legal precedent mandate that this meritless hoax be immediately dismissed,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung, who is set to become White House communications director, said in a statement.
A New York jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment made to adult film performer Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election so she would keep an alleged affair secret.
It is the only one of Trump’s criminal prosecutions to have reached trial.
Trump’s sentencing in New York comes after the judge rejected two of his attempts to dismiss the case.
In scheduling Friday’s sentencing, Merchan rejected a proposal to delay the proceeding until after Trump’s White House term, calling it “less desirable” and citing a need for finality in the case.
A U.S. District Judge denied a Jan. 6 rioter’s request to attend President-elect Trump’s inauguration later this month.
Russell Taylor, who is on probation after pleading guilty to obstructing an official proceeding, petitioned the court for permission to travel outside of the Central District of California to attend the ceremony after being invited by lawmakers.
Judge Royce Lamberth denied the request in a Friday court order, reflecting on the event that took place after the 2020 presidential election.
“Mr. Taylor brought a knife and plate carrier vest to the Capitol and carried a backpack containing a hatchet and stun baton,” Lamberth noted in the order.
“During the Riots, Mr. Taylor pushed past police barricades, encouraged fellow rioters to push against a police line where officers were being visibly assaulted, joined the push himself, and repeatedly threatened the police protecting the Upper West Terrace that it was their ‘[l]ast chance’ to ‘stand down’ and abandon their position,” the judge wrote.
Although Taylor did not injure any on duty officers, Lamberth said the effort to incite a riot warranted concerns for his attendance at high-profile future political events
“While he did not personally assault law enforcement officers, he did threaten them and encourage other rioters who were actively assaulting them,” Lamberth stated. “He also contributed meaningfully to the sheer danger of the day’s events by arriving armed and armored.”
“And although Mr. Taylor’s rhetoric on the day of the Capitol Riots is interspersed with pro-America motifs and allusions, his unlawful conduct and his later espousal of ‘insurrection’ belie any patriotic motives he may have professed that day,” he added.
Taylor’s attorney, Dyke E. Hush, praised Taylor’s compliance with probation orders and court cooperation that led to the conviction of the Three Percenters militia as proof of his changed behavior.
“While this ruling is disappointing, as my client is a huge supporter of president-elect Trump, he does understand the court denial of his request,” Hush told NBC News.
President-elect Trump is furious…
On Saturday, Trump called the New York judge who ordered sentencing to begin next week in his hush-money case to be disbarred.
“I never falsified business records. It is a fake, made up charge by a corrupt judge who is just doing the work of the Biden/Harris Injustice Department, an attack on their political opponent, ME!,” he wrote on Truth Social on Saturday morning, echoing his initial response.
“He created a case where there was none. Keeps a ‘gag order’ on me so that I can’t talk about how crooked he is,” Trump continued. “The Fake News knows all about it, but they refuse to talk. He may be the most conflicted judge in New York State history.”
His comments come a day after Judge Juan Merchan announced that sentencing for the president-elect’s 34-count felony conviction would begin before his inauguration on Jan. 10 — handing Trump a blow after he demanded his case be dismissed following his election win.
Despite the decision to move forward with the case, Merchan signaled he is inclined to propose no punishment in the case connected to a payment made to an adult film star to cover up an alleged affair during the 2016 election.
“The judge should be disbarred! This is why people, and companies, are FLEEING New York,” he wrote Saturday. “A corrupt court system.”
“There has never been a President who was so evilly and illegally treated as I. Corrupt Democrat judges and prosecutors have gone against a political opponent of a President, ME, at levels of injustice never seen before,” Trump wrote in a second post.
“Corrupt judges, or judges so blinded by their hatred of me and my political ideology to ‘MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,’ are making a mockery of the United States Judicial System, and the World is watching in disgust,” he added.
On Friday, New York Judge Juan Merchan announced President-elect Trump’s criminal sentencing will occur Jan. 10, rejecting his demands to dismiss the case.
Judge Juan Merchan signaled he is inclined to impose no punishment for Trump’s 34-count felony conviction, given concerns about his immunity from criminal prosecution upon taking the oath of office.
Merchan said an unconditional discharge “appears to be the most viable solution.”
“While this Court as a matter of law must not make any determination on sentencing prior to giving the parties and Defendant an opportunity to be heard, it seems proper at this juncture to make known the Court’s inclination to not impose any sentence of incarceration, a sentence authorized by the conviction but one the People concede they no longer view as a practicable recommendation,” Merchan wrote.
The jury of 12 New Yorkers in May found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment his ex-fixer made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels
Judge Merchan’s decision keeps Trump’s criminal conviction on the books, meaning he would be the first felon to assume the presidency, though Trump can still appeal the jury’s verdict.
