ABC under fire for Trump settlement as GOP allies grilled on threats to jail Jan 6 committee Democrats: Live
ABC News settles defamation suit ahead of trial as Donald Trump staffs up his incoming administration
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Your support makes all the difference.ABC News on Saturday agreed to a $15 million settlement stemming from Trump’s defamation suit involving a broadcast about E. Jean Carroll, who herself had successfully sued the president-elect for defamatory statements.
According to court documents, anchor George Stephanopoulos and the network were sued after Stephanopoulos wrongly said that the ex-president was found liable for rape at civil trial; he was actually found liable for sexual “abuse” for the incident dating back to 1996.
The decision by the network to reach a settlement with Trump was met with accusations of cowardice online from critics who argued that the company should have fought the lawsuit at trial.
Meanwhile, one of Donald Trump’s last remaining opponents in the GOP seems to have come to terms with the future of the Republican Party as a Trumpified political movement.
“MAGA is the Republican Party and Donald Trump is the Republican Party today,” Mitt Romney says in a new interview.
This weekend the president-elect also named several more picks for his administration on Saturday, including Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes to run an intelligence board, and staunch loyalist foreign policy adviser Richard Grenell as a presidential envoy for special missions.
Mike Lee says FBI watchdog report shows Jan 6 conspiracy theories ‘weren’t so crazy’
Utah Senator Mike Lee’s latest conspiratorial rant on Fox News suggested that his Democratic foes “destroyed” key evidence surrounding January 6 which would have implicated the FBI or other federal agencies in instigating the throngs of Trump supporters to attack the Capitol.
The Republican lawmaker is hoping to keep the dream of January 6 nonsense alive after a Department of Justice review found no evidence of federal agents instigating violence in the crowd.
Mike Lee says FBI watchdog report shows Jan 6 conspiracy theories ‘weren’t so crazy’
Justice Department watchdog found ‘no evidence’ FBI had undercover agents at the Capitol
Elon Musk wants to turn SpaceX site in Texas into his own city
In the decade since SpaceX arrived on the Texas coast, billionaire Elon Musk‘s company has created thousands of jobs near the Mexico border, launched rockets and sprung up new homes — all around an area dubbed Starbase.
Now SpaceX wants to make Starbase a recognized city.
Elon Musk wants to turn SpaceX site in Texas into his own city
SpaceX has formally petitioned a Texas county to start the process for becoming a city
Chris Rock makes crowd groan with Elon Musk joke on Saturday Night Live
Chris Rock made the crowd groan during his Saturday Night Live monologue with a joke about Twitter CEO Elon Musk.
The 59-year-old stand-up comedian and actor hosted the sketch comedy show last night (December 14).
During his monologue, Rock made reference to Donald Trump’s successful year, noting that he’d survived an assassination attempt, been re-elected to the US presidency and been named Time’s Person of the Year.
Chris Rock makes crowd groan with Elon Musk joke on Saturday Night Live
Rock referred to the Tesla and X owner as ‘the richest African American in the world’
Eric Adams’ chief political advisor resigns
Ingrid Lewis-Martin is resigning from New York city hall, according to The New York Times. She was Eric Adams’ top advisor on government affairs, and had withstood weeks of critical coverage for the criminal allegations the mayor now faces.
Adams, a Democrat, has turned to Donald Trump and Magaworld for a positive embrace as he faces isolation and ridicule in his own party while facing five criminal counts related to alleged corruption.
Eric Adams’ arraignment was more of a circus than Trump’s sexual abuse trial
Significantly more members of the media and everyday citizens stood outside the federal building to see Adams after his arraignment, Ariana Baio reports
New York governor demands Biden action on mystery drones after airfield shut down: ‘This has gone too far’
New York Governor Kathy Hochul is calling on Washington to do more about the mysterious drones spotted in recent weeks above the Northeast.
The governor said in a statement on Saturday on X that drone activity prompted officials to shut down Stewart Airfield in New Windsor for about an hour last night.
New York governor demands action on mystery drones after airfield shut down
White House has said threats from drones are ‘not credible’ and most sightings are likely just regular aircraft
Mitt Romney on CNN: Maga won
CNN’s State of the Union interviewed retiring senator Mitt Romney on Sunday. The Republican senator has been one of Donald Trump’s last remaining opponents in the GOP, but bowed out of the Senate this year.
Romney seems to have come to terms with the future of the Republican Party as a Trumpified political movement.
“MAGA is the Republican Party and Donald Trump is the Republican Party today,” the Utah senator told Jake Tapper, adding: "Democrats have badly misread the direction of the country... and President Trump took advantage of that."
Watch a clip here:
“MAGA is the Republican Party and Donald Trump is the Republican Party today.”@SenatorRomney tells @jaketapper Trump deserves credit for appealing to working class voters and predicts that JD Vance will likely be the GOP presidential nominee in 2028. pic.twitter.com/c1RUd1X6jG
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) December 15, 2024
Devin Nunes and Ric Grenell — who are Trump’s latest administration picks?
Donald Trump announced on Saturday that Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes and the president-elect’s Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell have been selected to serve in his upcoming administration.
Nunes, as former California House Representative, was tapped for to serve as Chairman of Trump’s Intelligence Advisory Board, while Grenell was picked to serve as his Presiential Envoy for Special Missions.
While Nunes was in office he served on the House Intelligence Committee and consistently backed any move then-President Trump made. He also led the two-year investigation into US’s responde to the 2012 Benghazi attack, which ultimate found no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the US State Department under Hillary Clinton.
Nunes also refused to back an investigation into Trump former national security adviser and Q-Anon conspiracy theorist Michael Flynn after it was revealed he had unreported discussions with Russian officials while serving under Trump.
“From everything that I can see, his conversations with the Russian ambassador—he was doing this country a favor, and he should be thanked for it,” Nunes said at the time.
Grenell formerly served as Trump’s ambassador to Germany and his Director of National Intelligence.
Prior to his involvement in Trump’s administration, Grenell was a consultant for an eastern European oligarch, Vladimir Plahotniuc. He faced criticism after he wrote articles defending the oligarch without making clear he was being paid to manage the man’s image.
Grenell is a former Fox News contributor and was named as a VP at the far-right media outlet Newsmax in 2021. He earned the ire of the media in 2020 when, during a Trump press conference, he refused to identify himself to reporters and publicly accused the state of covering up incidents of voter fraud in order to help the election prospects of then-Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
These claims were made without evidence, and Mr Grenell refused to answer questions from journalists who demanded he prove his assertions.
Mayorkas says federal authorities are addressing New Jersey drone sightings
Joe Biden’s secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas, on Sunday addressed the spotting of small drone aircraft in New Jersey in an interview Sunday on ABC’s This Week.
“There’s no question that people are seeing drones,” he said. “I want to assure the American public that we in the federal government have deployed additional resources, personnel, technology to assist the New Jersey State Police in addressing the drone sightings.”
Iran, drone or UFO: Mystery over bizarre lights spotted in skies over New Jersey
The drones — or drone — are about the size of an SUV, which is larger than a drone a hobbyist would fly
The woman behind Capitol bathroom protest says trans people can’t trust Democrats to protect them
A transgender activist who staged a sit-in at the US Capitol to protest House Republicans’ new policy targeting a transgender incoming member of Congress tells The Independent that the 2024 election cycle shows that LGBTQ+ Americans really can’t trust Democrats to have their backs in a fight.
“Unfortunately, the signals coming from our government right now, under a Democratic president, are telling us that we’re essentially on our own,” the 33-year-old activist told our Io Dodds in an interview.
Activist says trans people can’t trust Democrats to protect them anymore
In the face of ‘eradication’, one trans activist is preparing to fight – and she’s sick of silence and neglect from her supposed allies. Raquel Willis tells Io Dodds why Republican bathroom bans are everybody’s problem
Chicago mayor vows to protect residents after Trump’s border czar singles out Windy City for mass deportations
Donald Trump’s incoming “border czar” has suggested the president-elect’s plans for mass deportations will begin in Chicago, part of a plan that would deploy law enforcement officers into communities across the country for broad sweeps targeting people living in the country without legal permission.
The Windy City’s mayor is vowing to protect his city’s residents from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents who could push into schools and workplaces, butting against so-called “sanctuary” policies barring federal forces from using local police for deportation enforcement.
“What the Trump administration has called for is for local police departments around the country to behave as ICE agents. In sanctuary cities, that is not permissible,” Chicago’s Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson told CNN.
READ MORE:
Chicago mayor vows to protect residents after Trump’s border czar singles out city
Tom Homan told Democratic officials to ‘get the hell out of the way’ or risk prosecution
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