Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) brushed off a comment by Elon Musk that he planned to fund moderates in heavily Democratic districts over the next two years in order to "get rid of those who don't represent them."
"When I worked for John Lewis back in the 60s, a lot of the money and power was against us. We did what we had to do. And I don’t know of a single Democrat who is afraid of Elon Musk’s money because we stay close to our constituents and we will outwork him," he said on CNN.
The media narrative in recent days and weeks has been to claim that Musk is the "real" president taking office and that he has some kind of power behind the scenes even though he wasn't elected.
That claim is rich considering that President Joe Biden has been in a diminished mental state since before taking office in 2021.
In reality, unelected officials have been running the country for the last four years, so why would they complain about that with Trump taking office?
Their woe-is-me attitude is almost humorous, as illustrated by this tweet.
The next two years sound awesome !!!
Quote:
“Can you imagine what the next two years are going to be like?”“there's a tweet from an individual ... who threatens members on the Republican side with a primary, they succumb?”pic.twitter.com/Nu7SOT7RC6
— Wall Street Mav (@WallStreetMav) December 20, 2024
As Scott Jennings of CNN pointed out, the Wall Street Journal this week began talking about Biden's diminished capacity during his presidency, giving several examples from three years ago in 2021 to describe his lack of function.
The report cited dozens of sources and gave specific details about the diminished nature of Biden's mental state.
It also said that handlers surrounding the president controlled who he spoke to, what his team said to him, and what information he received.
"Un-elected people have been running the government for the last four years. I hear Democrats criticizing the influence of billionaires on our politics when you've got this Soros punk running around collecting Democrat politicians like my kids collect Pokémon cards," Jennings said.
"I think all the criticism of Musk coming from the left is totally hypocritical, totally over the top," he added.
Of course, the White House is clinging to the party line that Biden is totally fine and sharp as a tack.
The denial of reality by the powers that be is one of the main reasons Democrats lost big in the election, and they are bound to lose more if they don't face facts.
The frustrating December ritual of congressional haggling over government funding up until the brink of a shutdown reared its head again this year, but what grabbed a surprising share of headlines was the startling silence that came from the White House as negotiations continued.
As the uninterrupted continuation of federal functions hung in the balance late last week, President Joe Biden, who still has nearly a month left in his term, remained mum on the contentious battle, leaving many to wonder why he would choose not to weigh in, as Fox News reports.
As Republicans, Democrats, and President-elect Donald Trump duked it out over federal funding last week, there was a conspicuous sense of quiet coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Whereas a battle over a potential government shutdown is usually the province of the commander-in-chief, Biden remained utterly above the fray, leading to a host of questions from curious journalists.
On Friday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre received numerous inquiries from reporters, one of whom asked, “Why hasn't President Biden said anything in the public about this? Don't the American people deserve to know why millions of federal workers could enter this holiday period without a paycheck?”
Jean-Pierre deflected, saying, “All Americans need to know that Republicans are getting in the way here and they are the ones who have created this mess. That's the reality. That's the fact. This is not the first time we've been here. And the president has had this approach before.”
She went on, “He understands how Congress works. He's been around for some time. He understands what strategy works here to get this done” also adding that Biden had been “getting regular updates from his team.”
Dissatisfied with Jean-Pierre's response, those in attendance in the briefing room continued to press for answers about Biden's absence on the issue.
In response to the general curiosity about the president's lack of input on the crisis, Jean-Pierre said, “The president is the president of the United States, and he is leading.”
That remark prompted to journalist to follow up by saying, “To be clear, the strategy is he is leading by staying in the background?”
Jean-Pierre continued to dodge the point by musing, “The strategy is that Congress, Republicans in particular, need to do their jobs and get out of their own way and focus on the American people, not their billionaire friends.”
She continued, “That is what needs to happen. And that's what the president wants to see,” though she did not offer further insight into Biden's level of engagement with the process.
With Biden effectively AWOL, President-elect Donald Trump has played the role of de facto commander in chief, as David Marcus wrote in an op-ed for Fox News.
As Marcus noted, “In the space of just a few days, Trump's pressure on the Congress, including siccing his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) attack dogs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy on reckless spending, turned a 1,500 page monstrosity of a bill into a slim 120-page banger of basic necessities, including disaster relief and help for farmers,” and given that level of success, few Americans are likely to lament Biden's decision to sit this one out.
Francis J. Conway, best known as the production manager for Baywatch and Criminal Minds, passed away on Dec. 17, Deadline reported. The 70-year-old West Hollywood resident died of natural causes.
Conway's death was confirmed by his brother, John. He shared memories about Francis and his love for the entertainment industry.
John Conway recalled how his brother would take his Volkswagen bus "to anybody who wanted help. He loved it and felt like it was a blessing to be working in that field," he said.
"I remember going to the premiere of Baywatch. One of them was in Hawaii. He loved the beach," John Conway said.
Francis Conway was born in Westwood, California, and was one of five children. He studied film at UC Santa Cruz in the hopes of making a career in Hollywood.
He would eventually make a name for himself in the business as production manager on the original Baywatch from 1996 to 2001. He would return to work for the franchise in 2003 for the made-for-TV movie Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding.
Francis Conway also worked as a unit production member for other major television shows of the era. Some of those productions included The Agency, ER, Prison Break, Criminal Minds, and Stalker.
According to his IMDB page, the 2023 series The Consultant was his last credited project. It's unclear whether Francis Conway was in poor health prior to his passing.
Besides his brother John, Francis Conway is survived by his siblings Mary, Anne, and Joe. His brother Chris, along with his parents, preceded him in death.
Francis Conway isn't the only tragedy the long-running series experienced this year. In October, Michael Newman died after a long battle with Parkinson's disease, PEOPLE reported.
Matt Felker, Newman's close friend and director of Hulu docuseries After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun, said he passed away "from heart complications" but was "surrounded by his family and friends." Newman was 67 at the time.
"I got to see Mike the last time he was conscious and he looked [at] me and in typical Mike fashion said, 'You’re just in time,'" Felker recalled. Despite having a role on the hit series, Felker maintained his day job as a fireman and retired after 25 years.
Another Baywatch alum, Nicole Eggert, recently finished treatment for Stage 2 breast cancer, which has created challenges for her. "But the gray area is the hardest because you don’t know what’s happening. When I’m doing treatment, I felt like I was doing something productive," she lamented.
Francis Conway spent his life making popular television, which is enjoyed by many. Although he worked behind the scenes, his contributions to the medium will not be forgotten.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) shut down rumors that he's leaving Congress to serve as head of President-elect Donald Trump's Federal Emergency Management Agency, The Hill reported. Media reports earlier this week noted that Moskowitz was on Trump's shortlist for the position.
After the news spread, Moskowitz felt it necessary to get ahead of the chatter. In a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday, Moskowitz unequivocally stated he would not be leaving his position.
"I appreciate the speculation but I am staying in Congress and running for re-election. It’s an honor to serve the people of Florida’s 23rd district," Moskowitz wrote. "To be clear, nothing was ever offered," he added.
To be clear, nothing was ever offered.
— Jared Moskowitz (@JaredEMoskowitz) December 17, 2024
If Moskowitz had taken a position with the Trump administration, he would have been the first Florida Democrat to do so. However, he is already one Democrat who is used to working with Republicans.
Under Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, Mosowitz served as the Florida Division of Emergency Management from 2019-2021. He's also the first Democrat on the Department of Government Efficiency Caucus, with Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk's DOGE.
According to the New York Post, Moskowitz was very receptive to the idea of creating such a committee. His priority was moving FEMA from under the Department of Homeland Security because it had "become too big."
Perhaps seeing Moskowitz side with Republicans made it okay for others to join in on DOGE in the Democratic Party. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) have expressed interest in joining the mission to cut waste, especially in the military.
Moskowitz has also joined Republicans speaking out against the antisemitism that has crept into his party since the war in Gaza began. Many Democrats are openly criticizing Israel for retaliating against the attacks perpetrated by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
Even if Trump didn't tap Moskowitz this time, it's possible he's considering asking other Democrats to fill other positions. Many of his appointments take Republicans out of Congress, which narrows the GOP's already slim majority.
The president-elect has asked House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) to become the U.S. ambassador as well as Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) for national security adviser. He also had tapped Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as his attorney general, though the ensuing accusations against him led to Gaetz stepping down from Congress altogether.
With his appointments and the loss of three seats by Republicans since November, the GOP could find itself with just a one-seat majority in the House of Representatives. This will mean a more complicated path to implementing all of his agenda.
Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance have repeatedly expressed their openness to appointing Democrats. With the Republican majority at stake, it would help alleviate that issue.
It seems it was just a rumor that Moskowitz had been asked to join the Trump administration. Even so, there are other signs that Trump is willing to work with whoever will get the most done for the American people, even Democrats.
First Lady Jill Biden told a group of supporters that Kamala Harris could "go f--k" herself after she insinuated that Joe Biden was racist during the 2020 presidential primary debate, The Inquisitr reported. After Harris became the vice president who lost the race Joe Biden handed her, their mutual disdain is out in the open.
In June 2019, when the Democratic field was still anybody's to win, Harris pulled out her story about desegregation to blame Biden for opposing it at the time. Harris blasted Joe Biden for working with politicians with spotty records on racial justice and confronted him about the busing.
"It was not only that, but you also worked with them to oppose there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools and she was bused to school every day. That little girl was me," Harris famously claimed.
"So I will tell you that on this subject, it cannot be an intellectual debate among Democrats." At the time, this landed quite a blow against Joe Biden, and his wife was not about to let it go.
When Harris made this remark, her star was rising as a strong contender to be the Democratic nominee. Her campaign was leaning into Biden's tough stance on criminal justice, and it was working.
This was before the George Floyd riots, but the tide was already turning away from the conventional approach to these issues. Harris' comment was precisely the kind of thing that would hurt a longtime politician like Joe Biden, and Jill Biden couldn't hack it.
"With what he cares about, what he fights for, what he’s committed to, you get up there and call him a racist without basis? Go f–k yourself," Jill Biden said of Harris during a phone call to supporters shortly after this exchange.
Perhaps the reason Jill Biden was particularly upset by this comment was because it was so effective. The New York Times reported that Joe Biden's poll numbers "generally slipped while support for Ms. Harris increased" after Harris made the remark.
Harris also got a significant bump in fundraising after the exchange. Joe Biden would eventually admit that Harris' question took him by surprise, and he apologized for his previous cooperation with segregationists.
Despite nearly four years of coexisting around Joe Biden, it doesn't seem Harris and Jill Biden have improved their relationship. If anything, Harris' her loss to President-elect Donald Trump has allowed both women to drop any pretense of mutual respect.
Not long after that disastrous Election Day, Harris and Jill Biden appeared at the same event but made no effort to interact, even for optics. Conservative commentator Steve Cortes picked up on this iciness and shared the clip to X, formerly Twitter, last month.
"It’s safe to say that Jill Biden hates Kamala Harris’s guts," Cortes captioned the brief clip. It's undeniable that there is palpable tension between the two when watching it.
It’s safe to say that Jill Biden hates Kamala Harris’s guts. pic.twitter.com/K6Te9Onf50
— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) November 12, 2024
Harris' attack was effective, and possibly the reason Joe Biden picked her as his running mate was to put the issue to bed forever. However, Jill Biden apparently sees this as more than political and always has.
GOP lawmakers are urging the FBI to investigate former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney for "potential criminal witness tampering" during a congressional investigation, Fox News reported. Cheney was part of the Jan. 6 House Select Committee, which was formed in 2021 to investigate the breach at the Capitol.
The committee was part of Democrats' attempt to turn the unrest into an excuse to keep President-elect Donald Trump out of the White House. During the politically-motivated investigation, Cheney may not have been acting above board.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk is determined to hold her accountable. "Based on the evidence obtained by this Subcommittee, numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, the former Vice Chair of the January 6 Select Committee, and these violations should be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation," said a report from the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight chair.
"Evidence uncovered by the Subcommittee revealed that former Congresswoman Liz Cheney tampered with at least one witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, by secretly communicating with Hutchinson without Hutchinson’s attorney’s knowledge," the report added. Hutchinson was the committee's "star witness."
According to the report, Cheney had "direct intervention" with Hutchinson, including her choice to replace legal representation with "Committee-friendly attorneys to represent her." This was after Hutchinson, an aide to then-chief of staff Mark Meadows, had already testified.
She told the committee that Trump was "irate" and demanded to join the protesters at the Capitol after delivering his speech near the White House. Hutchinson was responsible for spinning the most insane narrative of all about Trump's behavior that day.
According to Hutchinson, Trump wrestled with the Secret Service and attempted to grab the steering wheel of the SUV he was riding in so he could go to the Capitol. This purportedly happened after they insisted on returning Trump to the White House.
Of course, this insane account was refuted by White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations Anthony Ornato. Still, that wouldn't be the last time the committee would hear from Hutchinson.
Once Hutchinson switched legal representation, she "sat for her fourth transcribed interview with the Select Committee under unusual circumstances," the report said. Hutchison was interviewed in Cheney's office with just her new attorney, Cheney, and a Select Committee attorney rather than the "approximately a dozen people" in a conference room as other witnesses were.
Hutchinson's special treatment and elevation to become a key witness to the exclusion of others shaped the investigation. Laudermilk's report noted that "it is unlikely the Select Committee could make its assertions about President Trump’s mood, attitude, and alleged culpability in the events of January 6" without Hutchinson's remarks.
"Hutchinson is mentioned by name in the Select Committee’s Final Report no fewer than 185 times. Inexplicably, the Select Committee discredited the multitude of legitimate witnesses who, under oath, repeatedly refuted Hutchinson’s testimony," the House GOP went on.
"These legitimate witnesses include senior government officials and federal agents." The report also noted that, as Trump asserted, the committee didn't archive "as many as 900 interview summaries or transcripts.
"Cheney did something that’s inexcusable, along with [Rep. Bennie] Thompson and the people on the un-select committee of political thugs and, you know, creeps. They deleted and destroyed all evidence," Trump said in an interview. "And Cheney was behind it."
The investigation began in bad faith and bore bad fruits. The voters of Wyoming rightly threw Cheney out of office already, and this report only makes her look that much worse.
Podcaster Alex Marlow said President-elect Donald Trump is right to sue pollster Ann Selzer over skewed eleventh-hour poll in Iowa, Breitbart reported. Marlow, the publication's editor-in-chief, made this recommendation on Monday.
During the final days of the 2024 presidential election, the seasoned pollster released results suggesting Vice President Kamala Harris was going to win the state by "three or four points," Marlow recounted. Instead, Trump won the state "by over 13%," which is a wide swing.
"[Trump’s] announced he wants a lawsuit against Ann Selzer for rigging her Iowa poll to influence the election; of course, he should do this. It absolutely was election interference. This was an insurrection," Marlow said.
Marlow believes there is more to the story than Selzer simply getting it wrong by being so radically wrong. "She's a very good pollster. How could she miss by that much?" Marlow asked.
"She couldn't. It had to have been intentional. Or, at least, it was close enough, was suspicious enough, where someone's got to investigate it to learn for sure," Marlow claimed.
"So Trump needs to be highly aggressive for people try to interfere with our democracy. Our democracy is under attack from Anne Seltzer. She attacked our democracy with that bogus poll, and we need to understand how things got the way it got," he went on.
"Maybe the air will get cleared. But our democracy is a precious thing, and we cannot trust it to the Ann Selzers, who are willing to miss polls by 16 or 17% to cause some sort of a frenzy of momentum for Kamala Harris," Marlow added.
The podcast host repeatedly said that this was "an insurrection," using the language the left has used against Trump for nearly four years. Now, it seems the tables have turned as Trump proceeds with his legal action.
On Monday night, Trump's legal team filed a lawsuit against Selzer and the Des Moines Register alleging "brazen election interference," Fox News reported. The lawsuit falls under the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act and related provisions.
The poll was published on Nov. 2, 2024, in the final days of the campaign. "Contrary to reality and defying credulity, defendants’ Harris Poll was published three days before Election Day and purported to show Harris leading President Trump in Iowa by three points; President Trump ultimately won Iowa by over thirteen points," the filing states.
The poll showed a seven-point swing in Harris' favor over Selzer's September poll. Attorneys for Trump said that the results for Harris in "deep-red Iowa were not reality, it was election-interfering fiction."
A police officer has just learned his fate after a recent decision by the Texas Supreme Court.
According to KERA news, a small Texas city in Leon County was justified in firing a police officer who crashed during a high-speed chase while a civilian was in the car.
However, just because the Supreme Court ruled that the officer could be fired, that doesn't mean this case is over. Now, the question is, did the city of Buffalo, Texas, go about the disciplinary process incorrectly?
Under the Texas Local Government Code, the Buffalo City Council has the authority to oversee the details of former police officer Gregory Moliere's employment, including the decision to fire him. Justices on Texas' Supreme Court decided that the Buffalo City Council did NOT act beyond the city's authority.
"Moliere cannot dispute that he had been subjected to discipline for conduct that could have exposed the municipality to substantial liability; he did not contest it," the court wrote. "The City Council had the authority to respond as it did."
Moliere was a police officer in Buffalo, Texas, which is an hour east of Waco, back in 2020. During that time, he engaged in a high-speed chase while a civilian was riding along with him.
Texas Supreme Court records did not indicate why a civilian was in the vehicle, but they did decide that the decision to engage in a pursuit at that time directly violated department policies.
The chase reportedly ended in a crash that damaged the police car Moliere had been driving, although neither Moliere nor the civilian were injured.
Police Chief Lloyd Lance Pavelka initially only gave Moliere a written reprimand for starting a high-speed chase over a minor infraction. Moliere acknowledged the letter and did not appeal, according to court records. Police Chief Pavelka stated in an affidavit he had no intention of firing more.
However, a few weeks later, the Buffalo City Council met, reviewed the situation, and voted to fire Moliere. Police Chief Pavelka said that the Buffalo City Council had never done that during his tenure before that day.
Moliere's case is of special interest right now because high-speed chases have been under scrutiny in Texas, especially after the deaths of two people in less than one month's span in Fort Worth last year during police chases. Cities in Texas are desperate to clean up their image after the fatalities.
Moliere felt like an example was being made out of him, so he sued the city and Mayor Jerrod Jones in 2021, arguing council members didn't have the authority to fire him. Texas' Supreme Court ultimately ruled that the firing was legal, but Moliere is now fighting on a different issue:
KERA states that "a separate claim — whether the city council violated Moliere’s due process rights by not correctly following the police department’s disciplinary procedures and the rules governing complaints against police officers under state law."
From day one of his presidency, Joe Biden did everything possible to reverse course from his predecessor's immigration policies, and in the last days of his term, the commander in chief is still working to appease the left flank of his party on the issue.
It was reported last week that the administration was taking steps to haul wall materials away from America's southern border so they could be sold at government auction, activity that was captured on video to show Biden's determination to thwart President-elect Donald Trump's plans for stronger immigration enforcement, as Breitbart reports.
As the Daily Wire explained, the Biden administration had commenced its plan to undermine the potential resumption of border wall construction by removing and subsequently selling unused or incomplete components of the border wall championed by Trump, supplies that were abandoned once the current president took power in early 2021.
Videos obtained by the outlet from a Border Patrol agent reveal portions of wall being taken away on trucks, with the source guessing that upwards of half a mile was being shifted away from the border on a daily basis.
The agent, who requested anonymity, said, “They are taking it from three stations: Nogales, Tucson, and Three Points. The goal is to move all of it off the border before Christmas.”
The insider continued, “They just started taking all the wall that was not used which is still totally good and usable, and they started taking it northbound. They're pulling it all off the border.”
As the Daily Caller noted, if substantial amounts of materials brought to the area during Trump's initial term in office are auctioned off now, progress on the wall's resumption will likely be delayed to a considerable degree.
In response to the news that the Biden administration was attempting to remove border wall materials ahead of the presidential transitions, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick appeared on Fox News with a creative suggestion.
“Message to the White House right now, I will bid on all of that wall, and we will buy it in Texas, and we will give it to Donald Trump,” Patrick said.
To that end, Patrick later noted that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had ordered the Texas Facilities Commission to explore the possibility of buying abandoned wall materials.
Patrick ultimately explained, “The Texas Facilities Commission told us today that the material for sale was mostly junk, with most panels covered in concrete and rust. There were a few panels that might be usable but not worth the cost of shipping to Texas from Arizona.”
It was then that Patrick revealed the real reason behind Biden's push to move and action off old wall materials.
“In short, this was a Biden ruse to gain favor with the radical left open border crowd, showing Biden was fighting President Trump to the bitter end,” Patrick observed.
He added, “Rest assured, if they sell any panels that make economic sense, we will buy them and give them to President Trump when he takes office,” and given Trump's decisive victory on Nov. 5, that is a move millions of Americans would support.
A Georgia judge has rejected Kenneth Chesebro's request to withdraw his guilty plea in his case involving President-elect Donald Trump's alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, The Hill reported. Chesbro was formerly a lawyer for Trump and was part of a sweeping case against Trump and 17 others in his orbit.
Last year, Chesebro and his legal representative reached a plea deal just before becoming the first of the group to go on trial. He pleaded guilty to a single charge he was facing as Trump was shocked by the brazenness of the Georgia prosecution.
However, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee retooled the indictment and removed several charges. One of those was the single charge the former Trump attorney had already accepted the deal for.
Despite this fact, McAfee denied Chesebro's request on the basis that it was unworkable "in more ways than one," the judge claimed. "The Defendant has already submitted a plea in response to this indictment — one of guilt," he wrote.
McAfee took exception to many problems with Chesebro's request. For starters, Chesebro never successfully argued against the charge, and now the request to dismiss it is too late in the process.
His attorney countered by claiming it could be considered a "motion in arrest of judgment," which is a challenge to the validity of the charge. McAfee struck that down as well, citing Chesebro's sentencing under the First Offender Act.
The Georgia statute "defers further proceedings while the charge remains pending for the duration of the sentence," but there never was a judgment in the case. McAfee noted that this nullified Chesebro's request.
"No final judgment occurs. Therefore, there can be no motion in arrest of judgment here," McAfee said.
Chesebro's attorney, Manny Arora, acknowledged the judge's decision was reasonable in light of the facts of the situation.The only other route right now will be to file a habeas corpus petition to further examine the legality of the overall case.
While Chesebro might not get a reprieve from his guilty plea, the entire case has been coming apart at the seams. According to NBC News, Trump's attorneys now argue that the case against him should be thrown out following the election.
Trump is the incoming president and will be immune from all prosecution once he takes the White House, the defense argues. However, that case had problems even before Trump's electoral victory.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who was prosecuting the case, had a considerable conflict of interest. According to Fox News, she has also been stonewalling Judicial Watch's subpoena for communications between her office and special counsel Jack Smith, who was in charge of Trump's federal investigation.
"Fani Willis is something else. We’ve been doing this work for 30 years, and this is the first time in our experience a government official has been found in default for not showing up in court to answer an open records lawsuit," Tom Fitton, Judicial Watch President, said.
As Trump heads to the White House, it becomes increasingly clear that these efforts to stop him were all for nothing. Unfortunately, Chesebro got caught up in Georgia's version and can't seem to find a way out just yet.