Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is "heartsick" after a malicious prank targeting her led to an innocent woman's death.
66-year-old Tammy Pickelsimer was killed in a car accident as police rushed to respond to a fake bomb threat at Greene's home in Rome, Georgia.
"I'm heartsick right now," Greene wrote. "I was just informed that an innocent women died today in an auto accident involving a member of the Rome Police bomb squad who was responding to the threat at my home."
In her post, Greene said she has been "swatted" - a form of criminal harassment in which a person makes false threats to provoke a police response - at least nine times.
"Since being elected to Congress, I have been swatted at least nine times - deliberate attempts to provoke a deadly police response through false and highly exaggerated threats," she said.
The Republican previously shared a video of the bomb squad responding to an e-mail threatening to blow up her mailbox. Greene said the message was traced to a Russian IP address.
I’m heartsick right now. I was just informed that an innocent woman died today in an auto accident involving a member of the Rome Police bomb squad who was responding to the threat at my home.
My prayers are with Tammie Pickelsimer, her family, the officer who was injured, and… https://t.co/eGaUoZkMWs
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) December 10, 2024
Georgia recently made swatting a felony - but since the apparent perpetrator of this act was living abroad, it's sadly unlikely they will be brought to justice.
Still, Greene said she is doing everything she can to find the culprit.
"Due to the international nature and severity of this threat, my office is collaborating closely with local and federal law enforcement, including the FBI, to ensure the perpetrator is brought to justice," Greene said.
"These violent political threats have fatal consequences," Greene said.
"It’s an undue strain on our law enforcement who must treat them seriously. The officer was responding to protect my life. And now, a woman has lost her life because of this despicable act."
The Rome Police also issued a statement on the tragedy, which also injured the police officer involved in the crash.
"The Rome Police Department extends its heartfelt condolences to the Pickelsimer family during this difficult time. The department holds the individual responsible for sending the threatening email fully accountable for setting this tragic chain of events into motion. In collaboration with Congresswoman Greene's office, the Rome Police Department is working with federal authorities to ensure the perpetrator is apprehended and brought to justice."
Donald Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump is stepping aside from co-chairing the Republican National Committee, as rumors swirl that Donald is working the phones to get her a Senate position.
In a post on X, Lara Trump thanked the president-elect for entrusting her to lead the RNC during a historic election year.
"The job I came to do is now complete and I intend to formally step down from the RNC at our next meeting," she wrote.
Trump appointed his daughter-in-law to co-chair the RNC in March after a series of electoral disappointments under the leadership of Ronna McDaniel.
This year, the RNC successfully built an "army" of lawyers to ensure a smooth election and capitalized on early voting to boost turnout, Lara noted in her post announcing her resignation.
"Serving as the @GOP co-chair throughout the course of the most consequential election in American history has truly been the honor of my life," Lara Trump wrote on X.
Her resignation comes as the Wall Street Journal reports that President-elect Trump is pushing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to appoint her to the Senate seat currently held by Republican Marco Rubio, who Trump picked to be his Secretary of State.
“It is something I would seriously consider,” Lara Trump, 42, told The Associated Press.
“If I’m being completely transparent, I don’t know exactly what that would look like. And I certainly want to get all of the information possible if that is something that’s real for me. But yeah, I would 100% consider it.”
If chosen for the Senate role, Lara would hold the position until 2026, when she would be in prime position to win a full term in a former swing state where her father-in-law won by double-digits last month.
DeSantis has emphasized that multiple qualified candidates are in the running for Rubio's seat, but allies of the governor acknowledged to the Wall Street Journal that appointing Lara would help repair his relationship with President-elect Trump, who clashed with the governor during a bruising primary last year.
While Lara Trump's last name is certainly a plus, she can take credit for being part of what has been widely called the greatest political comeback in U.S. history - as Donald Trump prepares to return to Washington with a popular mandate and Republican majorities in the House and Senate.
In her hopes of moving up to the Senate, Lara Trump has received support from Elon Musk - a close ally of the president-elect who has become a fixture at Mar-A-Lago - and Musk's mother Maye.
“The Senate is an old man’s club. We desperately need a smart, young, outspoken woman who will reveal their secrets,” Maye posted on X.
President-elect Donald Trump has confirmed he will begin pardoning January 6th prisoners on his first day in office - a move that is certain to trigger a meltdown from critics in the Democratic party.
During a sit-down interview with NBC, Trump said he would not hesitate to help supporters of his who have spent years languishing in "disgusting" conditions.
"First day, I'm looking first day. These people have been there — how long is it? Three, four years," Trump said. "They’ve been in there for years. And they’re in a filthy, disgusting place that shouldn’t even be allowed to be open."
Over the course of his presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to pardon January 6th participants whom he said were treated harshly by the system.
Of the more than 1,5000 people charged over the riot, over 900 have registered guilty pleas, many of them for non-violent offenses. Trump said that many of those who pled guilty had the deck stacked against them.
"Look. I know the system. The system's a very corrupt system. They say to a guy, 'You're going to go to jail for two years or for 30 years.' And these guys are looking, their whole lives have been destroyed," Trump said.
Trump said he will make "exceptions" for defendants accused of more serious wrongdoing, but he plans to move "very quickly" to free those "living in hell."
"I’m going to look at everything. We’ll look at individual cases," Trump told Welker. "But I’m going to be acting very quickly."
As precedent for his action, Trump pointed to the sweeping dismissal of cases against left-wing rioters in the summer of 2020, including anarchists who attacked a federal court building after the death of George Floyd.
"They took over the police station in Minneapolis. They burned it down," Trump said.
"And yet these people have been in jail, and I hear that jail is a hellhole," he said of his own supporters imprisoned in Washington D.C.
Trump also told Welker that members of the January 6th committee, like Liz Cheney, deserve prison but he would not direct his Justice Department to target anyone over politics.
"I think that they'll have to look at that. But I'm not going to. I'm going to focus on 'Drill, baby, drill,'" he said.
When Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden of federal crimes, Trump reacted by calling it a "miscarriage of justice" while asking if January 6th defendants would also go free. Biden's critics argue he gave Trump an excuse to now pursue his own controversial pardons.
President-elect Donald Trump continues to be highly praised by his supporters and allies in Congress for his seemingly neverending list of amazing selections for his upcoming administration.
One of those hires is Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, 48, who he chose to be the next surgeon general of the United States.
Nesheiwat is a highly respected, popular doctor who often makes appearances on Fox News and has talked at times about how the death of her father at a young age is what inspired her to get into medicine.
Over the weekend, according to the Daily Mail, The New York Times revealed that the doctor was involved in a freak accident at a young age that resulted in her father's death.
Reportedly taken from information contained in a police report from 1990, then-13-year-old Nesheiwat was in her father's bedroom attempting to locate a pair of scissors.
As she fumbled for the scissors in a tackle box on a shelf, it fell to the ground, and she reportedly heard a loud bang as a result, which ended up being a .38 caliber handgun that went off.
Unfortunately, the bullet from the gun struck her father in the head, and he died the next day in the hospital. Her father, Ben, was 44 at the time of his tragic and unfortunate death.
The Daily Mail noted:
‘I was in father’s bedroom at around 7.15am getting some scissors. I opened the fishing tackle box and the whole thing tipped over.
‘Something fell out of it and there was a loud noise. I saw blood on my father’s ear.’
Not surprisingly, the situation had a profound impact on the then-teenager, and it would inspire her to go on to seek out a career in medicine, citing the lack of being able to save him at the time of the bizarre, freak accident.
"When I was 13 years old I helplessly watched my dear father dying from an accident as blood was spurting everywhere. I couldn’t save his life. This was the start of my personal journey in life to become a physician," she wrote in her memoir, "Beyond The Stethoscope."
While virtually all of Trump's picks for his Cabinet and administration have been well received, Nesheiwat is on the edge of that warm reception, as many social media users pointed out that her stance during the pandemic on masks is a "deal breaker."
"Dr. Janette Nesheiwat supported masking kids in school. DEALBREAKER," Liz Wheeler wrote on X.
Another X user wrote, "We have to call out all bad appointments. It’s our duty. It’ll be to her benefit to go on shows like yours to tell the American people where she went wrong."
Others noted that in 2022 she seemed to have a change in thinking on the matter. She's expected to have a pretty straightforward Senate confirmation.
More than a month has passed since President-elect Donald Trump wiped the floor with Vice President Kamala Harris on Election Day, but that hasn't stopped Democratic mouthpieces from continuing to play the blame game.
According to Fox News, one of the most triggered Democrat operatives out there, James Carville, is holding nothing back in blaming President Joe Biden for Harris' loss.
Carville has blamed Biden for the past several weeks, but during a recent rant he uploaded to YouTube, Carville called Biden a "tragic figure" and suggested his decisions over the past two years made him wildly unpopular.
Excuses for Harris continue to fly across the liberal media, with no end in sight.
The 80-year-old pundit held nothing back in his rant about Biden as far as his perceived effect on Harris' loss, but he essentially defended the president for pardoning his son, Hunter Biden.
The most tragic figure in American politics in my lifetime is President Biden," Carville said at one point.
He also spoke about the pardon, and seemingly didn't hold it against the president.
"Alright, so he said, ‘I’d never pardon the kid.’ Okay. I don’t believe any – When anybody says, ‘I never had sex with that person,’ or, ‘I’d never pardon my kid,’ I don’t pay any attention to it, ‘cause I think everybody lies about sex and everybody is going to do what they’re going to do with their own children," Carville said in the video.
James Carville articulates why Joe Biden is the most tragic figure in American politics:
"If he would have in September of 2023 wasn't going to run, goddamn we would have won this election, it wouldn't have been that close."Wouldn't have won, but anyone was better than Kamala. pic.twitter.com/HuWdD5JO2J
— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) December 6, 2024
Carville was mostly upset that Biden announced his reelection bid in the first place.
Users across social media poked fun at Carville for continuing the party's collective nervous breakdown after Harris' loss.
"Same guy who said this two weeks before the election. Sadly, Carville is washed up and has been for a while," one X user wrote.
Another X user wrote, "How does Carville keep escaping from the nursing home?"
It's kind of sad to see just how bad the Trump Derangement Syndrome is on the left right now. Let's pray they make it through it.
The House voted 206-198 to stop a Democratic effort to force the release of the Ethics Committee's report on former congressman Matt Gaetz.
Democrats have continued to demand the report after it became a political football during Gaetz's failed bid to be Donald Trump's attorney general.
Gaetz resigned abruptly from the House last month after President-elect Trump nominated him to lead the Justice Department.
While Democrats insist there is a continued public interest in the Ethics report, Republicans have said it would not be appropriate to publish findings on a former lawmaker who is no longer under the jurisdiction of Congress.
The Ethics report centers on accusations of sexual misconduct against Gaetz, who was also investigated by the Justice Department and never charged.
Just one Republican, Rep. Tom McClintock (Ca.), sided with Democrats on a resolution from Sean Casten (D-Il.) to force the report's release Thursday.
The resolution was sent back to the Ethics Committee in a 206-198 vote. A separate effort by Steve Cohen (D-Tn.) was shot down 204-198.
Casten complained that Republicans "took the easy way out" and shielded Gaetz from "serious and credible allegations of sexual misconduct, including having sex with minors."
"Instead, the House voted to sweep these allegations under the rug and set an unfortunate precedent that, if you are ever facing scrutiny, resigning from Congress can make your problems go away," he said.
The Ethics Committee was deadlocked on releasing the report on November 20, and the next day, Gaetz withdrew his nomination after failing to secure enough support from Republican senators.
The Ethics Committee met again briefly on Thursday to discuss the report as Democrats made their push to force its release.
"The Committee met today to discuss the matter of Representative Matt Gaetz. The Committee is continuing to discuss the matter. There will be no further statements other than in accordance with Committee and House Rules,” the panel wrote.
Gaetz has long said the Ethics Committee is out for political retribution over his role in removing former Speaker Kevin McCarthy from leadership. Details from the investigation were being leaked to reporters before Gaetz withdrew his bid for attorney general.
"It’s an ongoing matter of public interest. We’ll see if our former colleague is presented for any other administration positions," House minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Ny.) said. "It certainly is not a moot matter."
Despite winning another House term, Gaetz has said he will not serve again.
Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is stepping aside from an upcoming case about environmental regulation over an apparent undisclosed conflict.
On December 10, the court will wade into a legal battle over a proposed railway project in rural Utah, the Uinta Basin Rail. The Supreme Court has to decide the scope of environmental review required by the government for such projects under the National Environmental Policy Act.
Critics of Gorsuch pushed for his recusal because of his ties to billionaire Philip Anschutz, whom Gorsuch represented as a corporate lawyer in the 2000s.
The case, Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, concerns whether the National Environmental Policy Act "requires an agency to study environmental impacts beyond the proximate effects of the action over which the agency has regulatory authority."
Anschutz's company, Anschutz Exploration Corporation, filed a brief in the case arguing for a limited interpretation of NEPA.
"Because NEPA applies to every major federal action—including the authorizations Anschutz needs to develop federal oil-and-gas reserves—far more is at stake in this case than the 88-mile rail line in rural Utah," the company wrote.
A letter from a court clerk said that Gorsuch "has determined that he will not continue to participate in this case."
The proposed 88-mile Utah rail line would connect the oil-rich Uinta Basin with the national rail network.
The project has backing from seven eastern Utah counties and was approved by the Surface Transportation Board, but a lower court struck it down, finding the environmental review didn't go far enough.
Gorsuch's letter did not provide an explanation for his recusal. But the letter cited a code of conduct that the court adopted in 2023 after outrage over gifts that conservatives Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas received from billionaires.
Democrats have complained the code is not enforceable, and they have called on Congress to impose strict rules requiring recusal in certain situations.
Republicans have dismissed the pressure on the court as a partisan attempt to discredit and weaken the conservative majority that was solidified during President Trump's first term. Gorsuch was Trump's first appointee.
After Gorsuch made public his decision to recuse himself from the railroad case, Democratic congressman Hank Johnson (GA) took a victory lap and suggested, without evidence, that the court is in the pocket of billionaire benefactors.
"I think it is essential to maintaining the public's respect in the integrity of the Court, and I applaud Justice Gorsuch for doing the right and honorable thing," Johnson said.
"It is important that the Court show the public that it is not in the pocket of billionaire benefactors."
It has been decades since six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was murdered, but her father, John Ramsey, believes the case can be solved.
JonBenet's now 80-year-old father told NewsNation that the killing has a "good chance" of being solved with the latest DNA technology.
“We want them (police) to do more,” Ramsey said during an appearance on NewsNation's Elizabeth Vargas Reports.
John and his late wife Patsey Ramsey became the prime suspects in the eyes of police and the media after the killing of JonBenet, which became an international story.
A new Netflix series has reignited interest in the 1996 murder and the theory that an intruder was responsible.
John Ramsey believes that new methods of DNA analysis, like genetic genealogy, can help lead the police to the killer.
“If they use the latest DNA technology, collaborate with labs, and use familial genealogy research, which successfully finds solutions to old cold cases. If they do that, there’s a good chance we can solve it," he said.
John Ramsey discovered the dead body of his six-year-old in the basement of his Boulder, Colorado home, hours after her parents found a strange ransom note and reported the girl missing.
John said he and Patsey understood the initial suspicion of him and his wife, but the cops pinned them as the killers early on and never considered other possibilities.
“We were in the home. We think it’s horrible, but we accept that,” Ramsey said. “But don’t stop there. That was their conclusion.”
Some have speculated that an intruder killed JonBenet, possibly a pedophile who developed an interest in the child beauty queen.
John Ramsey has been making the rounds of the media to build pressure to solve the killing, as a new Netflix series, Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey sparks fresh interest in the tragedy.
The series looks at alternative suspects, including John Mark Karr, a teacher who was arrested in Thailand after confessing to killing JonBenet in 2006. But his DNA did not match the crime scene, and he was ruled out.
In 2008, the Ramseys were ruled out by a former prosecutor after DNA pointed to an unidentified third party.
Responding to the renewed public interest in the case, Boulder Police have denied claims that they are withholding evidence.
“The assertion that there is viable evidence and leads we are not pursuing — to include DNA testing — is completely false,” Boulder Police said.
While praised for his strong leadership, no one would describe President-elect Trump as a modest figure. According to a celebrity surgeon, the Donald has spent a pretty penny on preserving his appearance over the years.
Dr Gary Motykie claimed to MailOnline that the Trump clan has spent nearly $1 million on plastic surgeries over the years. He claimed Trump spent $160,000 on his teeth and iconic hairdo.
The doctor has never treated anyone in the Trump family. He based his analysis on photos and his own knowledge of the industry.
The surgeon claimed that Trump spent $80,000 on restoring his hairline using various techniques like the flap method. Considered an older technique, it involves removing hair-bearing skin to cover bald patches on the scalp. However, it can leave bald patches on the side, which could explain Trump's famous combover.
"And then, I do think we have some older techniques too — like flap techniques, which he tries to cover with this strange parting and combing over," he said.
While some in Trump's orbit appear to have received extensive plastic surgery, Donald's glamorous wife Melania is a notable exception. She maintains a natural appearance, having previously admitted she prefers to "age gracefully."
Motykie speculated that Melania has spent about $50,000 on subtle "maintenance work," including face fillers and some Botox.
While President-elect Trump has denied having plastic surgery, he is no stranger to poking fun at his personal vanity. At a campaign rally for his re-election, Trump joked to the crowd about his haircut.
"That’s very severe, that comb over that’s a severe sucker," Trump joked.
"It looks OK from the other side, but that is very severe. I apologize. Man, I looked up there, I said, ‘Whoa, look at that.’ Wow. That’s like a work of art."
Of course, the Trumps are far from the only famous people to receive plastic surgery. Just look at Joe Biden or his son Hunter - who received a set of veneers after extensive drug use destroyed his teeth.
Trump, despite his famous love of fast food, does not suffer from any known medical issues, and he possesses a level of stamina for his age that has left many people amazed.
The 78-year-old recovered quickly from an assassination attempt in July that left him with a bloody ear. Trump's courageous reaction to the shooting created an instantly iconic image of fearless leadership.
"The fact that he attended 120 events in 7 months — often multiple rallies in a single day in different states — is proof-positive that Trump has a tremendous amount of stamina, mentally and physically," Dr. Brett Osborn, a Florida neurosurgeon and longevity expert, told Fox News Digital.
Every teenager has had moments where they felt embarrassed by their parents - even Barron Trump.
A video of President-elect Trump's youngest child smiling awkwardly at the Thanksgiving dinner table has gone viral - with some labeling the college freshman mortified by his father's dance moves.
In the clip, Donald raps the table to the beat of unofficial MAGA anthem "YMCA," then turns to ally Elon Musk to give a tap on the shoulder.
Musk reacts by pumping two fists in the air as Trump flashes a big grin and turns to Barron, seated next to his mother Melania Trump.
The famously stoic Barron appeared uncomfortable as the impromptu dance party went on - and then came to an abrupt stop.
🇺🇸Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!🇺🇸 https://t.co/CQMGaAODKq
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 29, 2024
The clip caused a stir online, as observers noted the peculiar dynamic between Trump and Musk, who has become a fixture at Mar-A-Lago after supporting Trump's successful bid for re-election.
While the video led to predictable jeers from critics, reactions were not necessarily negative.
Some saw the interaction as a wholesome, if awkward moment that humanizes the president-elect and his family.
“Barron’s thinking, ‘Okay, have we had enough of this song yet, Father?’” one user wrote. Another added, “The poor kid is stuck between his dad and Elon Musk—let him leave the table!”
On the campaign trail, Trump successfully created silly, viral moments that were celebrated for their humor and authenticity - with Trump famously donning a garbageman's outfit and performing a shift at McDonald's in an apron.
Trump has continued to influence popular culture, with his goofy dance moves inspiring imitators in professional sports and on TikTok.
While Barron does not show much of his personality to the public, he is said to have played a significant, if quiet, role in his father's historic re-election.
In particular, Barron has been credited with helping his father appeal to disenfranchised young men with a series of freewheeling podcast appearances.
It's hard to imagine Barron has anything but admiration for his father after Donald pulled off the greatest political comeback in American history. But Barron still has to absorb his fair share of uncomfortable family moments.
At the end of the day, the Trump family is a family like any other - and moments like these, while embarrassing, will be appreciated by many for their sincerity.