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Matt Gaetz admits to womanizing and partying too much as he slams House’s move to release ethics report: Live

Former Florida congressman says ‘not criminal’ that he partied in his thirties, and now lives a different life

Oliver O'Connell,Joe Sommerlad,Gustaf Kilander
Wednesday 18 December 2024 22:11 GMT
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Donald Trump says ‘something strange is going on’ with drone sightings

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The results of an ethics investigation into now-former congressman Matt Gaetz will be made public after a secret vote to share the report in the final days of 2024.

Members of the House Ethics Committee voted again earlier this month, reversing a decision to withhold the findings of a long-running probe into allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use.

The report is expected to be made public as lawmakers prepare to leave Washington for the holidays, CNN reported. Gaetz, 42, responded on X, arguing his actions in his thirties were “not criminal” and he now leads a different life.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump has claimed ex-Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney “could be in a lot of trouble” after a House GOP subcommittee called for her to be investigated by the Justice Department over her stewardship of the panel that examined the Capitol riot of January 6, 2021, accusing her of witness tampering by “colluding” with Cassidy Hutchinson on her testimony.

The president-elect posted the taunt on Truth Social, thanking Congressman Barry Loudermilk, who led the subcommittee and produced the interim report, for “a job well done”.

Cheney herself has already rubbished Loudermilk’s report as “a malicious and cowardly assault on the truth”.

RFK Jr and Tulsi Gabbard head to the Hill for meetings with senators

HHS secretary nominee Robert F Kennedy Jr. and the nominee to serve as the director of national intelligence, former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard are on the hill Tuesday to drum up support for their respective nominations.

Former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii, (R) President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Director of National Intelligence, arrives for meetings in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on December 16, 2024 in Washington, DC
Former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii, (R) President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Director of National Intelligence, arrives for meetings in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on December 16, 2024 in Washington, DC (Getty Images)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, arrives for a meeting with Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) in the Hart Senate Office Building on December 17, 2024 in Washington, DC
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, arrives for a meeting with Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) in the Hart Senate Office Building on December 17, 2024 in Washington, DC (Getty Images)
Reporters follow Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, as he arrives for a meeting with Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) in the Hart Senate Office Building on December 17, 2024 in Washington, DC
Reporters follow Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, as he arrives for a meeting with Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) in the Hart Senate Office Building on December 17, 2024 in Washington, DC (Getty Images)
Gustaf Kilander17 December 2024 17:00

Congressional Republicans say government funding deal reached, report says

Congressional Republicans have reached a deal in principle to fund the federal government, according to CNN.

Speaker Mike Johnson has said he hopes to release the on Tuesday afternoon. It reportedly includes almost $100 billion in disaster aid and another $10 billion in banking relief for farmers.

The deal also includes an extension of the farm bill for one year, a provision aiding biofuels, a measure extending telehealth flexibilities, and another measure for pharmacy benefit managers, the network noted.

Leaders of both parties remain confident that a government shutdown will be averted before Friday.

Gustaf Kilander17 December 2024 16:45

Trump lashes out at New York justice: ‘A completely illegal, psychotic order’

Donald Trump lashed out at Acting Justice of the New York State Supreme Court Juan Merchan after he rejected the president-elect’s attempt to throw out his hush-money case conviction based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity.

“In a completely illegal, psychotic order, the deeply conflicted, corrupt, biased, and incompetent Acting Justice Juan Merchan has completely disrespected the United States Supreme Court, and its Historic Decision on Immunity,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday.

Calling Merchan a “radical partisan,” the former president went on to claim that he wrote, “an opinion that is knowingly unlawful, goes against our Constitution, and, if allowed to stand, would be the end of the Presidency as we know it.”

“I am the only Political Opponent in American History not allowed to defend myself,” Trump added in a subsequent post after nominating some of his own defense lawyers to top roles at the Department of Justice.

Gustaf Kilander17 December 2024 16:30

Mallory McMorrow is not running for DNC chair

Rising Democratic star Mallory McMorrow isn’t running for DNC chair — she went viral for a Michigan Senate speech against anti-trans attacks and “groomer” panic and was on the stage during this year’s Democratic National Convention.

Alex Woodward17 December 2024 16:00

Trump sues Des Moines Register and top pollster for survey released the day before the election

Donald Trump is suing the Des Moines Register, its top pollster J. Ann Selzer, her firm, and the newspaper’s parent group Gannett, alleging news coverage of Selzer’s poll showing Kamala Harris with a surprising lead was used to fraudulently boost his rival in the final days of the 2024 election.

The lawsuit accuses the newspaper of “brazen election interference” and violations of consumer protections — his latest line of attack against media outlets he disagrees with as he prepares to wage war against a critical press when he returns to the White House.

Read more:

Trump sues Des Moines Register and top pollster over election survey results

President-elect launches another legal attack against in his war on the media

Alex Woodward17 December 2024 15:30

Nigel Farage meets Elon Musk at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion amid rumours of $100m donation to Reform

Nigel Farage has met Elon Musk at Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago mansion amid rumours the tech billionaire is preparing to donate $100m to Reform UK.

The two men met at the Florida club on Monday, alongside Reform’s new party treasurer Nick Candy.

In a statement Mr Farage and Mr Candy said: “We had a great meeting with Elon Musk for an hour yesterday. We learned a great deal about the Trump ground game and will have ongoing discussions on other areas.

“We only have one more chance left to save the West and we can do great things together. Our thanks also to President Trump for allowing us to use Mar-a-Lago for this historic meeting. The special relationship is alive and well.”

Read more:

Farage meets Musk at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion amid rumours of $100m donation

Donation could be the largest in British electoral history as tech billionaire continues his feud with Keir Starmer

Kate Devlin17 December 2024 15:00

Trump sues Des Moines Register after poll showed Harris winning Iowa

Donald Trump is ratcheting up the pressure on media companies by suing Iowa pollster Ann Selzer, her polling company, The Des Moines Register newspaper, and Gannett, its parent company. All this comes after a poll showed Vice President Kamala Harris winning Iowa towards the later stages of the 2024 campaign for the White House.

Trump is suing under the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act, which outlaws deception in advertising or the selling of merchandise, CNN noted.

The claims are unlikely to be successful in court, but Trump is using the measure to go after what he views as Democratic-friendly media outlets, pollsters, and press coverage of elections.

Trump claims that the news coverage of the Selzer poll was meant to help Democrats. The poll showed Harris with a surprising lead in the Hawkeye State, which didn’t come to pass in the actual vote.

Gustaf Kilander17 December 2024 14:45

Trump wants immigrants gone. He keeps hiring them for his businesses

The president-elect has made it clear that he wants to crack down hard on immigration once he’s in office.

But his own businesses keep employing foreign guest workers, hiring more of them this year than any other on record.

Here’s Gustaf Kilander’s report.

Trump wants immigrants gone. He keeps hiring them for his businesses

Trump has said that since some of his clubs are seasonal, they will have temporary jobs that Americans looking for full-time jobs are more hesitant to take on

Joe Sommerlad17 December 2024 14:30

Trump is bringing a hawkish Iran policy back in with him

With the end of Joe Biden’s administration on the horizon, American foreign policy is in flux.

Donald Trump, the president-elect, remains in Mar-a-Lago for now, but even without a presidential seal behind him has taken to holding discussions with world leaders beyond the typical congratulatory calls that occur in the post-election period.

And it’s increasingly becoming clear that US-Iran policy will be an arena where one of the biggest shifts in the American posture will occur.

A Wall Street Journal report in November unveiled the discussions underway about “maximum pressure 2.0” — a return to an updated version of the hardline policy platform the first Trump administration deployed against Iran with the expressed intention of cutting off the country’s nuclear program and weakening its government and state economy.

John Bowden has more.

Trump is bringing a hawkish Iran policy back in with him

Biden’s visionless Iran policy gives way to a return to ‘maximum pressure’

Joe Sommerlad17 December 2024 14:00

Trump reportedly considering nominating Democrat to run FEMA

In what would be one of his more surprising cabinet nominations were it to come to pass, the president-elect is reported by CNN to be toying with the idea of appointing a Democrat, Florida Representative Jared Moskowitz, to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which handles natural disaster relief.

It is not clear whether Trump and Moskowitz have met yet to discuss the proposition, which would see him take a leaf out of Kamala Harris’s book.

Jared Moskowitz
Jared Moskowitz (AP)
Joe Sommerlad17 December 2024 13:30

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