Stuart Spencer, a California political consultant who helped launch the career of Ronald Reagan, has died. He was 97.
Spencer managed Reagan's successful 1966 gubernatorial campaign in California, paving a path for Reagan's eventual rise to the presidency.
In the 1960s, Spencer and his business partner, Bill Roberts, were becoming known for their hard-hitting TV campaigns in California.
The pair ran moderate Republican Nelson Rockefeller's unsuccessful presidential campaign against conservative Barry Goldwater. It was Goldwater who, after being targeted by Spencer's operation in the primary, urged Reagan, “If I ran in California, I’d hire those sons of bitches Spencer-Roberts.”
Spencer had met Reagan in 1964, the year the former movie actor put himself on the political map with "A Time For Choosing," his famous speech extolling limited government in support of Goldwater.
In 1966, Spencer's career was made when Reagan conscripted him to run his first political campaign. “What is politics but a gamble, so we took one big roll of the dice," Spencer would recall.
The gamble paid off. Armed with his natural charisma and a law-and-order message, Reagan soundly defeated California's Democratic governor Pat Brown, whose tenure was rocked by the student protests at Berkeley and the riots in Watts. Reagan served two terms as governor before setting his sights on the presidency.
Spencer worked for Gerald Ford's failed 1976 presidential campaign, which saw Ford clash with Reagan in the Republican primary.
The Reagans invited Spencer back into their circle when Reagan ran successfully for the presidency in 1980, and Spencer would remain a close adviser to Reagan for the rest of his career.
In a tribute, the Reagan Foundation called Spencer the "best political strategist of his era" who was "renowned for his sharp intuition, innate sense of judgement and his all-around 'gut instincts.'
A self-described moderate, Spencer drifted from his party as it moved further right. Spencer accused Reagan's Republican acolytes of whitewashing his record, including his signing of a liberal abortion bill as governor of California and an amnesty for illegal aliens during his presidency.
As Spencer saw it, Reagan was a pragmatist rather than a conservative ideologue.
"A lot of those people running out there don’t really understand what he did. It’s just a matter of attaching themselves to a winner," he said.
Later in life, Spencer made a complete break with his party over its embrace of Donald Trump. In 2020, Spencer cast his first vote for a Democrat in decades, backing Joe Biden, and later supported Kamala Harris in 2024.
Liberal California's breakdown into anarchy has hit close to home for Kamala Harris.
As looters take advantage of the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, two people have been arrested in the upscale neighborhood of Brentwood near the vice president's home.
The individuals were seen in the vicinity of Harris' residence around 4:30 a.m. on Saturday, NBC News reported.
As of Monday, the largest of the fires, the Palisades fire, had been 14% contained after torching nearly 24,000 acres. The fire has reduced much of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood to ash.
Residents in neighboring Brentwood, where Harris has a $4.8 million house, have been ordered to evacuate as the flames threaten areas east of the Palisades.
Around 4:30 a.m. Saturday, Los Angeles police were called about a possible burglary at the Harris residence. The police found two people and arrested them for breaking a curfew that was announced to deter looters.
Police have warned that violators will face serious consequences, including jail and $1000 in fines.
However, the individuals outside Harris' home were released as officers found no evidence they had committed a crime. Police have not said what they believe the people were doing in the area.
The fires have killed at least 24 people since January 7th. In addition to the lives lost, thousands of structures have been destroyed, including many unique and architecturally significant buildings.
“My heart goes out to all those being impacted by the devasting wildfires in Southern California,” Harris said last week. “We are deeply grateful for the heroic first responders who are risking their own safety to fight the flames and help keep communities safe.
“As a proud daughter of California, I know the damage that wildfires have on our neighbors and communities,” she added.
The fires are already estimated to be the most expensive in American history. Many of those who lost their homes were not insured, as insurers fled the area due to high risk.
At least 29 people have been arrested for looting, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Sunday. The majority of those arrested so far have been in the Pasadena/Altadena area, which has been impacted by the Eaton fire. The Eaton Fire has been 33% contained, as of Monday.
The National Guard have been deployed to help maintain law and order as the fires continue to burn.
President-elect Donald Trump often isn't given enough credit for the acts of kindness he performs behind the scenes.
According to Breitbart, two of the men who took bullets during the first assassination attempt on President Trump's life will be in attendance at his inauguration next week, thanks to an invite from the president himself.
Joseph Feldman, 57-year-old David Dutch and 74-year-old James Copenhaver, in a statement through their attorney, confirmed that they will attend Trump's inauguration.
The two shooting victims said they were "honored" to be invited to the special event that will see Trump take the White House for a second time.
The two men were elated at the invite to the event, and Trump was obviously happy to extend the invite, as the men all share a scary, rare bond after what happened on the day they were shot.
"James and David are very appreciative of President Trump and his team for inviting them to attend the Inauguration weekend," Dutch and Copenhaver said in a statement through their attorney, Joseph Feldman.
"They are honored to take part in the festivities alongside the incoming administration and other guests. President Trump has treated both of our clients as though they are family."
Trump's communication with the men and their families was also praised by Feldman, who was speaking for the two men.
The attorney wrote that Trump "and his team have been nothing short of spectacular in maintaining an open line of communication with the families and have expressed great interest in James and David’s long road to recovery."
The two men also had a chance to shake Trump's hand after the president-elect won the election in November.
The attorney and the men also paid tribute to a third person who was shot and unfortunately didn't make it.
His name was Corey Comperatore, a father of two and a former fire chief.
"Our clients would like to remember that while they and President Trump will have the great honor of being together at the Inauguration, there is one individual who will not be joining them, and they wish to once again send their prayers and condolences to the Comperatore family."
Hopefully, the men will enjoy the day as the president enters the White House and begins the task of saving America.
During his second term in the White House, President-elect Donald Trump will take extended measures to not be involved in his real estate empire or other Trump Organization business.
According to CNN, the news that Trump will virtually fully separate from his business ventures is part of a new ethics plan devised by the Trump Organization.
Trump and the company have appointed an outside ethics adviser to monitor "major company actions" while Trump is in the White House for the next four years.
The Trump-owned company laid out the plan as part of a larger plan to make sure the incoming president avoids any conflicts of interests while in the White House.
The Trump Organization has vowed not to enter into any new deals with foreign governments "and voluntarily donate to the US Treasury any profits from foreign governments that it can identify flowing into its hotels and other properties."
The plan largely mirrors a previous version of the company's ethics plan during Trump's first term in the White House.
The outlet noted:
In a statement, the Trump Organization noted that the incoming president is not required either by federal law or the US Constitution to remove himself from his business interests. Even so, Eric Trump said, the company “is dedicated to not just meeting but vastly exceeding its legal and ethical obligations during my father’s Presidency.”
Eric Trump, the company's executive vice president, has also stated that the Trump Organization will continue to pursue foreign business while his father is in office.
Prominent Republican lawyer William Burck was hired by the company, according to Eric Trump, to monitor transactions as they relate to potential ethics concerns and to avoid any potential ethics issues.
For the president's part, he'll only have "limited" access to the company's financials while he's serving in the Oval Office. His businesses will remain in a trust that will be managed by his children.
Eric Trump posted a statement on his X account welcoming Burck as the adviser who will make sure the Trump Organization is in line with its ethics goals.
"I am proud to announce William Burck, Global Co-Chair of Quinn Emanuel LLP, to serve as the Trump Organizations outside Ethics Advisor during my father’s term as the 47th President of the United States," the younger Trump wrote.
I am proud to announce William Burck, Global Co-Chair of Quinn Emanuel LLP, to serve as the Trump Organizations outside Ethics Advisor during my father’s term as the 47th President of the United States. pic.twitter.com/jYtsMkbZsG
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) January 10, 2025
There's no reason to believe that Eric Trump and his company will have any issues, whatsoever.
Air Force One has been grounded a second time by the Los Angeles wildfires, as President Biden cancels his last foreign trip to focus on the deadly inferno.
Biden was planning to leave the country Thursday to meet the Pope, but the president scrapped his plans as the blaze continued to rage in Los Angeles County.
The fires erupted Tuesday as high winds and dry conditions turned Los Angeles into a tinderbox - and whole neighborhoods into scenes of Biblical destruction.
The dangerous winds also caused Biden, who was in the area, to cancel a planned speech announcing a pair of national monuments near Joshua Tree National Park.
The windstorm also kept Biden's plane on the ground for a day, delaying his departure back to Washington D.C., where he gave a eulogy at Jimmy Carter's funeral on Thursday.
Before leaving California, Biden attended a briefing on the wildfires where he was criticized for making some flippant comments, including sharing the "good news" that he had become a great-grandfather.
"We're prepared to do anything and everything as long as it takes to contain these fires and help reconstruct, make sure that we can get back to normal," Biden said.
Biden declared a major disaster declaration Wednesday on his way back to the nation's capital, unlocking federal money for the recovery effort.
The Catholic president was planning to visit Rome to meet with Pope Francis on a three-day tour of Italy, but those plans were scuttled.
“After returning this evening from Los Angeles, where earlier today he had met with police, fire and emergency personnel fighting the historic fires raging in the area and approved a Major Disaster declaration for California, President Biden made the decision to cancel his upcoming trip to Italy to remain focused on directing the full federal response in the days ahead,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
The wildfires are already considered the most expensive in American history with an estimated cost of up to $150 billion.
After days of making little progress, firefighters had started to contain the two largest and most destructive fires - the Palisades fire and Eaton fire - as of Friday.
At least 10 people have died, and thousands of structures have been destroyed.
Biden has blamed the devastation on climate change, while President-elect Trump has targeted poor leadership from Biden and California Governor Gavin Newsom (D).
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito accepted a request to speak with Donald Trump on the phone, one day before the president-elect asked the top court to halt his criminal sentencing.
"William Levi, one of my former law clerks, asked me to take a call from President-elect Trump regarding his qualifications to serve in a government position," Justice Alito confirmed to ABC News Wednesday. "I agreed to discuss this matter with President-elect Trump, and he called me yesterday afternoon."
Trump's petition asks the court to block his Friday sentencing in his New York criminal case, citing the Supreme Court's own landmark ruling on presidential immunity last year.
Alito says he did not discuss any court business with Trump during their call, and he was not aware of Trump's emergency application, which had not been filed yet.
One of the court's most reliable conservatives, Alito has been a regular target of criticism from Democrats and reformists who want to discredit and overhaul the Supreme Court.
The justice was drawn into a firestorm last year over flags displayed at his home that critics tied to the January 6th riot. Alito responded with a fiery letter making it clear he had no intention of stepping aside from any cases.
Alito's phone call with Trump has given critics fresh fodder. They say it represents an unusual level of communication between a Supreme Court justice and an incoming president, and damages trust in the judiciary.
"No person, no matter who they are, should engage in out-of-court communication with a judge or justice who's considering that person's case," Gabe Roth, executive director of the nonpartisan group Fix the Court, said.
The trial judge in Trump's criminal case, Juan Merchan, has set the sentencing for Friday, January 10th - just 10 days before Trump's inauguration.
The same reasons that presidents enjoy immunity from prosecution also apply to a president-elect, Trump's lawyers said, noting his victory has already been certified by Congress.
"President Trump is currently engaged in the most crucial and sensitive tasks of preparing to assume the Executive Power in less than two weeks, all of which are essential to the United States’ national security and vital interests," they wrote.
Meanwhile, Alito's defenders say the backlash over his phone call is overblown - and just more evidence the Supreme Court is facing a leftist assault.
Carrie Severino, of the Judicial Crisis Network, dismissed the backlash over the phone call as "the newest manufactured 'ethics' scandal over a simple reference check."
New details have been released from the attempted assassination of Brett Kavanaugh by a deranged leftist.
The gunman, Nicholas Roske, told police that he was planning to break into Kavanaugh's house, shoot the Supreme Court justice, and then shoot himself.
The plan had been forming in his mind for a month following the unauthorized leak of the Supreme Court's draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade - and it all unraveled in seconds after an emotional phone call with his sister.
A redacted interview transcript between Roske and detectives was filed by Roske's lawyers as they fight to suppress evidence, arguing Roske wasn't in the right mental state to be informed of his rights.
"At the time, Mr. Roske was acutely suicidal, visibly exhausted, and had repeatedly expressed his need for psychiatric care,” they wrote in their motion.
Throughout the interview, Roske discussed his mental history and a condition that requires him to take medication, although the illness was redacted in the transcript.
Roske told police that he formed a "delusional" idea that killing Kavanaugh would "do something positive" after the leak of the court's Dobbs ruling, which ended the federal right to an abortion. He was also angry about two mass shootings in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas and believed the Supreme Court would make it easier to get guns.
"I’ve been suicidal for a long time, and when I saw that … leaked draft, it made me upset and then it made me want to—I don’t know,” Roske said. “I was under the delusion that I could make the world a better place by killing him.”
Roske told police that he flew from his home in California to Dulles' International Airport in Virginia on June 7, 2022, arriving before midnight. He had already researched Kavanaugh's home, using Wikipedia and Google to pinpoint the residence.
Roske took a taxi to Kavanaugh's family home in the quiet suburb of Chevy Chase, Maryland, arriving in the early morning. He had with him tools to break into Kavanaugh's house, including a crowbar, as well as zip ties and a pistol that he had brought in a suitcase.
Kavanaugh was left unharmed after Roske called 911 and told them he needed psychiatric help. It was Roske's sister who convinced him to drop his murderous plot. Roske had texted her "I love you" and she responded with a concerned phone call.
“I told her what I was doing, I was up to, and she told me that that wasn’t the way to go about trying to make the world a better place and, you know, that she didn’t want to, you know, she wanted to have me as a sibling for the rest of her life and not, you know, with that ending,” he said.
Roske is facing a trial in June, and his lawyers are battling with prosecutors about what evidence the jury will see. His lawyers argue the police interview should be suppressed because he could not understand his Miranda rights warning.
They also say his rights were violated by a warrantless search of his belongings.
North Carolina's cliffhanger Supreme Court race was frozen by the court's own Republican majority, in a bombshell reversal.
A day after a federal judge sent the case back to the state court, the justices blocked the board of elections from certifying Democrat Allison Riggs' victory over Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin.
Riggs leads by just 734 votes out of 5.5 million cast, and Griffin argues thousands of ballots may have been cast by people who weren't legally registered.
In particular, Griffin and the state's Republicans have argued that many voters registered without providing driver's licenses or Social Security numbers. Democrats have protested that Griffin wants to disenfranchise people who have been voting without issue for years.
The state's Board of Elections, which is controlled by Democrats, rejected Griffin's complaints, triggering a heated court battle.
In a win for Griffin, a federal judge appointed by President Trump, Richard Myers II, decided his court does not have jurisdiction and sent the case back to the Supreme Court, which has a 5-2 Republican majority. The Board of Elections and Griffin have appealed the judge's ruling.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court granted Griffin's request to put the election certification on hold while he pursues his challenges.
Griffin recused herself. The court's only other Democrat dissented, writing, "the public interest requires that the court not interfere with the ordinary course of democratic processes as set by statute and the state constitution.”
The deepening political divide in the United States has turned nominally non-partisan court races into contentious and sometimes expensive political battles. North Carolina is one of a few states to hold explicitly partisan elections for its Supreme Court.
North Carolina Democrats released a blistering statement accusing Griffin of attempting to overturn the will of the people.
“Justice Allison Riggs won her seat fair and square and that will continue to be demonstrated before the courts,” Anderson Clayton, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, said in a statement.
“... We are in this position due to Jefferson Griffin refusing to accept the will of the people. He is hellbent on finding new ways to overthrow this election but we are confident that the evidence will show, like they did throughout multiple recounts, that she is the winner in this race.”
Given the extremely close margins in this race, Griffin is right to pursue every legal measure available to contest the results - even if it's inconvenient for Democrats.
A former hairstylist is suing Fox Sports and its former host Skip Bayless for alleged sexual harassment.
The lawsuit claims that Bayless, 73, made repeated unwanted advances and offered to pay $1.5 million to the woman to have sex with him.
The hairstylist, Noushin Faraji, alleges she faced retaliation for raising her concerns, and ultimately lost her job for pretextual reasons. She accused Bayless and another Fox employee, executive Charlie Dixon, of sexual battery and harassment.
“We take these allegations seriously and have no further comment at this time given this pending litigation," Fox said.
The lawsuit also names Dixon and moderator Joy Taylor, whom Faraji claims had an affair with Dixon that led to Taylor getting a job on Undisputed.
According to Faraji, Dixon grabbed her buttocks at an office birthday party, and when she complained, Taylor told her to forget it ever happened. The lawsuit alleges that Fox enabled abusive men to target Faraji and other female employees.
Bayless was a host for Fox Sports' Undisputed between 2016 and 2024.
Shortly after she started doing haircuts for Bayless, Faraji said he found excuses to touch her inappropriately and ignored her repeated efforts to rebuff his advances.
"He would give her lingering hugs after each haircut, putting his body against her own, pressing against her breasts. He then began to kiss her on her cheeks," the lawsuit says.
This behavior persisted for several years, Faraji alleged, including an incident when she told Bayless that she was suffering from ovarian cancer to ward off his advances. He responded by kissing her hands and offering $1.5 million to have sex with her, she said.
"Approximately one week later, Mr. Bayless made another advance at Ms. Faraji. Ms. Faraji responded: 'Skip, stop, you have a wife.' Mr. Bayless responded: 'Aren’t you Muslim? Doesn’t your dad have three to four wives?' Ms. Faraji responded that her father was dead, and when Mr.
Bayless looked taken aback, she made an excuse to leave," the suit says.
Faraji also claims she was discriminated against because of her Iranian descent.
"Ms. Faraji brings forth this action because for over a decade at Fox, she was forced to endure a misogynistic, racist, and ableist workplace where executives and talent were allowed to physically and verbally abuse workers with impunity,” the suit alleges.
“When Ms. Faraji and others came forward to report the wrongdoing, instead of addressing their concerns, Fox retaliated against them while the perpetrators and those who protected them were inexplicably promoted. This case thus represents yet another in a long line of cases chronicling the toxic culture at Fox, marked by bad faith promises and repeated failures to address a poisonous and entrenched patriarchy.”
President-elect Donald Trump has warned for years that the Bide administration wasn't doing enough to control the immigration crisis at the southern U.S. border, especially as cartels and smugglers became more brazen and sophisticated.
According to the Daily Mail, the latest example of the out-of-control situation unfolding under President Joe Biden was the discovery of secret border tunnels that have allowed the funneling of an unknown number of illegals onto U.S. soil without detection.
The tunnels were recently discovered by high-tech drones "during a joint investigation between US Customs and Border Patrol and the Sonora State Police in Mexico," Mexican authorities reported.
The tunnel was reportedly not complete, but complete enough to allow drug runners and presumably human smugglers to conduct their business without much of a worry.
Interestingly, the discovery of the tunnel in that area is the third of its kind in 2024 alone.
The Daily Mail noted:
It is unclear which drug gang the tunnel belongs to, but the Sinaloa cartel frequently use these underground passages across the Southwest to smuggle drugs into the States, according to the DEA's 2024 drug threat assessment.
Many of their tunnels are 'not built by the cartel, but are part of the border cities' sewage and water systems.'
The DEA released a statement with more information on the suspected usage of the tunnel by the Sinaloa cartel.
"The Sinaloa Cartel exerts near-total control over the border region south of Arizona, giving the cartel easy access to the San Luis Rio Colorado and Nogales [ports of entry]," the federal law enforcement agency said.
DEA Administrator Anne Milgram added:
At the heart of the synthetic drug crisis are the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels and their associates, who DEA is tracking world-wide. The suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and money launderers all play a role in the web of deliberate and calculated treachery orchestrated by these cartels.
The agency said it will deploy whatever resources necessary to save American lives with regard to the tunnel system.
According to the CDC, over 107,o00 American lives were lost in 2022 due to drugs, most of which come from across the border. One can only imagine how that number has increased during Biden's presidency.
Fentanyl powder and pills are the most dangerous drug pouring across the border.
The DEA reported that it seized "nearly 30,000 pounds of fentanyl power and 79 million pills in 2023," which was exponentially more than numbers from as recent as 2021.
Trump has vowed to profoundly crack down on the amount of narcotics coming into the United States from Mexico.
Jan. 20 can't come soon enough.