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Donald Trump‘s campaign team celebrated his hush money trial sentencing being indefinitely postponed by Justice Juan Merchan on Friday, calling it “a decisive win” in a “Witch Hunt” case.
After winning the presidential election, Justice Merchan, who presided over the case, agreed to adjourn sentencing and set new deadlines on Trump’s motion to dismiss the verdict.
In May, the president-elect was found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in Manhattan over his efforts to conceal a $130,000 payoff to the adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
On Thursday, the Republican announced that former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi – who represented him at his first impeachment trial in the Senate in 2019 – is his new pick to lead the Department of Justice following the withdrawal of ex-congressman Matt Gaetz.
Gaetz dropped out of the confirmation process after the House Ethics Committee came under pressure to release the findings of its investigation into allegations he had sex with a minor, which the politician has consistently denied.
The scandal had reportedly led Trump’s team to consider Gaetz “blackmail-able”, marking the end of his run for the top job.
ICYMI: Marjorie Taylor Greene will lead ‘DOGE’ panel in Congress
Far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene will lead a new congressional panel to work with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy on their plans to slash the federal budget and fire workers across the government.
Greene has been tapped to chair a House subcommittee that will work in tandem with Donald Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency, an advisory board that the president-elect appointed the billionaire and wealthy entrepreneur to lead.
The “Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency” is “designed to work hand in hand with President Trump, Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, and the entire DOGE team,” the congresswoman from Georgia said in a statement to CNBC.
The panel, first reported by Fox News Digital, will recommend firing government “bureaucrats” and will provide “transparency and truth to the American people through hearings,” according to Greene.
“No topic will be off the table,” she said.
Alex Woodward22 November 2024 20:16
Trump expected to offer Kelly Loeffler agriculture secretary
President-elect Donald Trump is expected to offer his friend and ally, Kelly Loeffler, the position of secretary of agriculture, according to reports.
Loeffler served as a Senator from Georgia for one year between January 6, 2020 and January 20, 2021.
Ariana Baio22 November 2024 20:00
Trump’s transition team was ‘blindsided’ by new details of Pete Hegseth’s sexual-assault allegation
In yet another example of the Trump transition team being blindsided by claims about Pete Hegseth, members of the team were reportedly startled to see a California police report go public on Wednesday, detailing the 2017 night on which Hegseth was accused of sexually assaulting a woman.
The heavily redacted report from the Monterey Police Department details two different accounts from a night of drinking at a hotel bar in 2017 that ultimately ended in a sexual encounter between Hegseth and an unnamed woman.
The report arrives nearly a week after Trump tapped Hegseth to head the armed forces and reports emerged revealing Hegseth paid a settlement to the woman who accused him of assault.
Members of the Trump transition team were reportedly unaware of the settlement, which led to concerns about whether Hegseth was still fit to be the defense secretary nominee. They were dealt another surprising blow on Wednesday evening when the Monterey Police Department released the redacted report and revealed Hegseth was given a copy in March 2021.
Ariana Baio22 November 2024 19:30
Trumpworld insiders rule out potential FBI boss pick amid bureau shake-up
Donald Trump insiders have ruled out the possibility of former special agent Mike Rogers being named as FBI director.
Earlier reports suggested that Rogers was tipped to take the top job with controversial MAGA loyalist Kash Patel as his deputy.
But Dan Scavino, who was last week named as the president-elect’s deputy chief of staff, revealed that Trump has ruled out Rogers, contrary to earlier reports.
“Just spoke to President Trump regarding Mike Rogers going to the FBI. It’s not happening,” he said in a post on X. “In his own words, ‘I have never even given it a thought.’ Not happening.”
Ariana Baio22 November 2024 18:30
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones brushes off Gaetz sexual misconduct allegations as just him ‘being a stud’
The embattled InfoWars host has been busy downplaying the misconduct allegations against Trump’s original pick for US attorney general.
“They interviewed a bunch of the women on Gaetz, you know, that are all like 35, 40 years old now, because this goes back 12, 13, 40, 50 years,” the Texan said on his ailing conspiracy show yesterday.
“The women, they said, ‘Oh, that guy’s so nice,’” he continued.
“‘Oh yeah, I did date him. Yeah, you know, I did have sex with him in a hotel room. We took ecstasy. It was me and two other girls.’
“People are like, damn, Matt Gaetz is quite the stud. So yeah, Matt Gaetz is human. Okay, so now we know.”
Katie Hawkinson has more.
Joe Sommerlad22 November 2024 18:10
Megyn Kelly claims she’s an ‘independent’ and slams Morning Joe for partisanship – weeks after hugging Trump on stage
Weeks after helping President-elect Donald Trump deliver his campaign’s closing message while embracing him on a rally stage, right-wing podcaster Megyn Kelly insisted that she is “not on anybody’s team” and is merely an “independent” journalist.
Joe Sommerlad22 November 2024 17:50
Pop star, potential senator… and now clothes brand owner: Lara Trump’s latest career move
The co-chair of the Republican National Committee took to Instagram this week to launch her new activewear line –The LT Brand by Lara Trump Collection.
Here’s Gustaf Kilander on the latest commercial venture from the frustrated country singer turned MAGA enforcer.
Joe Sommerlad22 November 2024 17:30
Analysis: Gaetz burned down the House – then was shocked to find he couldn’t do the same to the Senate
Here’s Eric Garcia on the inconvenient truth Gaetz-gate has to teach Trump about the Senate.
Joe Sommerlad22 November 2024 17:10
Gaetz says he won’t be rejoining Congress next year
Here’s the latest on the thwarted former Florida congressman, who tells Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk in a new interview that he will not be trying to get himself re-elected in 2025 and again denies the “smears” against him, saying he would be in jail if they were true.
“If the things [in] the House Ethics report were true, I would be under indictment and probably in a prison cell, Gaetz tells The Charlie Kirk Show, according to advance clips seen by The Daily Mail.
Joe Sommerlad22 November 2024 16:50