Trump cabinet latest updates: Matt Gaetz withdraws from attorney general nomination
Former Florida congressman withdrew from consideration as more details of ethics investigation leaked
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Your support makes all the difference.Matt Gaetz, the controversial Trump pick for attorney general has withdrawn his name from consideration for the role. In a statement on X, he said: “While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.”
The former Florida congressman was the subject of investigations into drug use and sex with a minor, allegations which he has always denied.
Meanwhile, police have released a detailed investigative report into Pete Hegseth, the Fox News personality and military veteran Donald Trump has nominated to be America’s next defense secretary, after he was accused of sexual assault by a woman he met at a conservative conference in Monterey, California, in 2017, the latest resurfaced scandal to dog the incoming administration.
Hegseth told officers at the time that the encounter in question had been consensual and denied any wrongdoing. On Thursday, he told reporters on Capitol Hill “the matter was fully investigated, and I was completely cleared.”
The president-elect has meanwhile unveiled a new range of branded guitars and made further additions to his proposed cabinet, naming Matthew Whitaker and Peter Hoekstra his ambassadors to NATO and Canada, following the nominations of Linda McMahon, Dr Mehmet Oz and Howard Lutnick earlier this week.
Top Democrat on Ethics panel accuses Republican chair of ‘betraying the process’ on Matt Gaetz report
Trump looking at naming right-wing radio host Dan Bongino to head the Secret Service: Report
Trump’s cabinet is filling up with Project 2025 authors despite him saying he has ‘no idea’ what it is
Inside Trump and Musk’s controversial bromance: ‘They are having a blast’
‘Morning Joe’ viewer exodus continues amid fallout over hosts ‘kissing the ring’ at Mar-a-Lago
MSNBC viewers continue to give Morning Joe the cold shoulder following the revelation that hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski trekked to Mar-a-Lago to meet with President-elect Donald Trump.
The precipitous ratings drop comes at the worst possible time for the morning talk show. On Wednesday, parent company Comcast announced that it was spinning off most of NBCUniversal’s cable channel lineup amid rampant cord-cutting — including cable news networks MSNBC and CNBC.
A representative for MSNBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Justin Barangoa reports.
Viewers continue to bolt from Morning Joe amid fallout over hosts ‘kissing the ring’
The plunging ratings at MSNBC’s flagship morning show comes at a perilous time as the cable news network’s parent company is set to spin it off from the rest of NBCUniversal.
Vance returns to US Capitol as ‘sherpa’ for controversial defense pick Hegseth
Trump’s cabinet is filling up with Project 2025 authors despite him saying he has ‘no idea’ what it is
Donald Trump said he has “no idea” who’s behind it.
Howard Lutnick, his presidential transition chair and the man he picked to be the secretary of commerce, said he wouldn’t touch it.
But the authors of Project 2025 – a 900-page playbook from a right-wing think tank for the next Republican president’s agenda – are all over Trump’s incoming administration.
And now, the president-elect is reportedly expected to appoint Russell Vought as the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, a key role that oversees spending across the administration.
Vought is also among the architects of the Heritage Foundation’s plan and wrote the chapter on transforming the executive branch.
Here’s more from Alex Woodward.
Trump’s cabinet is filling up with Project 2025 authors
Trump said he didn’t know who’s behind the blueprint for his return. He just hired the authors for key roles
VP-elect JD Vance faces flack from own party for helping Democrats push through Biden judicial nominees
Trump’s point man on Capitol Hill has been annoying his Senate colleagues for ducking out of votes on Joe Biden’s nominees to judicial appointments, allowing them to pass unopposed while Vance focuses on transition priorities.
Gustaf Kilander has more.
JD Vance faces flack from GOP for helping Democrats push through judicial nominees
Frustrated Republican Senator says ‘we’ve got potentially dozens’ of judges ‘we could have shoved down our throat’
Inside Trump and Musk’s controversial bromance: ‘They are having a blast’
The tech billionaire has taken part in calls with world leaders, he’s had meals with the Trump family and he has been a constant presence during the last two weeks as the president-elect begins to put together his next administration.
But others close to the incoming president have been surprised at the close relationship that appears to have developed between Trump and the world’s richest person.
Gustaf Kilander takes a closer look.
Inside Trump and Musk’s controversial bromance: ‘They are having a blast’
World’s richest man calls president-elect ‘a great guy with an excellent sense of humor’
Leaked DOJ investigation into Matt Gaetz alleges web of payments over three years
A bombshell leaked document from the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into Matt Gaetz alleged there was a web of payments between the former congressman and friends and associates said to have been with him at drug-fueled sex parties.
The meticulously detailed diagram, obtained by The New York Times, was assembled by federal investigators during the sex-trafficking investigation into Trump’s pick for attorney general.
It charts how Gaetz and associates, including convicted sex trafficker Joel Greenberg, allegedly sent thousands of dollars via Venmo to dozens of people who were reportedly involved in the sex parties between 2017 and 2020, according to testimony to federal and congressional investigators, The NYT reported.
A copy of the chart was also provided to the House Ethics Committee, according to the paper.
Rhian Lubin has the latest.
Leaked DOJ investigation into Matt Gaetz alleges web of payments over three years
The diagram charts how Gaetz and his associates allegedly sent thousands of dollars via Venmo to dozens of people involved in the ‘sex parties’ between 2017 and 2020
Analysis: Why the Gaetz report blew up the Ethics Committee
Republicans have found themselves stuck pretty badly between a rock and a hard place, reports Eric Garcia from Congress.
Why the Matt Gaetz report blew up the Ethics Committee
Republicans have found themselves stuck pretty badly between a rock and a hard place, reports Eric Garcia from Congress
Trump unveils latest merchandise grift: $10,500 signed American Eagle guitars in time for Christmas
Here’s more on the president-elect finding time to sell luxury items during a cost of living crisis rather than picking a treasury secretary, his latest venture following hot on the heels of the gold high-top sneakers, NFTs, “MAGADonald’s” T-shirts and Bibles he hawked to his acolytes on the campaign trail.
Trump unveils latest merchandise grift: $10,500 signed American Eagle guitars
President-elect takes break from choosing cabinet members and planning next administration to promote his latest merchandise
Nancy Mace’s accused of hypocrisy over pivot to transphobia
The South Carolina Republican appeared on Newsmax yesterday to promote her Capitol Hill bathrooms bill and declared: “It is offensive that a man in a skirt thinks that he’s my equal.
“He’s forcing his genitals into women’s restrooms.”
Which is interesting, as her views on the issue were not always quite so abhorrent:
Bitcoin inches close to record $100,000 propped up by Trump’s pro-crypto stance
The world’s leading cryptocurrency has topped $96,000 for the first time, reaching a record-high value of just over $97,522.
Several digital coins, including bitcoin, have been on a record-breaking price rally of late amid what’s being called a “Trump bump” of crypto frenzy.
Vishwam Sankaran reports.
Bitcoin inches close to record $100,000 propped up by Trump’s pro-crypto stance
Incoming president has promised to end ‘persecution’ of crypto industry and position US as ‘bitcoin superpower of the world’
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