This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Adam Schiff, one of the most devoted adherents to the false narrative created by Democrats two elections ago that then-candidate Donald Trump was colluding with Russia, and then a devotee of ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's failed agendas to impeach and remove him, is quitting his House seat.
He'll be taking up a role in the U.S. Senate after November's election,.
The Washington Examiner said Schiff is to be sworn into the Senate next week.
The report said Schiff ends a 24-year tenure in the House "with a reputation as a chief antagonist to President-elect Donald Trump, leading the first House impeachment involving withholding aid to Ukraine in return for investigations of Hunter Biden."
Because he "misused intelligence for political purposes," according to then-Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Schiff was stripped of his position on the intelligence committee.
"In June 2023, Republicans voted to censure Schiff, and McCarthy delivered a public reprimand that said Schiff misled the public during congressional investigations into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia. Trump this year referred to Schiff as 'an enemy from within,' fueling speculation that President Joe Biden should issue preemptive pardons for Schiff and others to shield them from Trump's possible legal retribution," the report explained.
Schiff beat Reps. Katie Porter, D-Calif., and Barbara Lee, D-Calif., in a primary and then won the election to replace the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Because the position was open, Schiff is being installed before the rest of the newly elected senators, meaning he will have "seniority" over others who will be installed in January.
A few weeks ago, columnist Rachel Alexander in a commentary at WND said, "It is no secret that far-left California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff uses sleazy tactics to go after his political opponents. While most members of Congress usually skate on ethics charges or receive light penalties, once in a great while their behavior is so overtly criminal that they end up prosecuted. Although Democrats are far more likely to use lawfare against Republicans than vice versa, when the behavior is so criminal, even Democrats – such as New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez who is being prosecuted for bribery – can't escape justice.
She continued, "Schiff is getting dangerously close to this stage. When he became chair of the House Intelligence Committee in 2019, he made it a personal mission to investigate Donald Trump's supposed connections to Russia, completely separate from and in addition to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.
"When Mueller concluded there was no collusion between Trump and Russia, Schiff dismissively blew off the exoneration, hinting that he would continue his own investigation. '[T]here may be, for example, evidence of collusion or conspiracy that is clear and convincing, but not proof beyond a reasonable doubt,' he said during an interview in February 2019."
Schiff's agenda has triggered complaints to the Office of Congressional Ethics, and the full House noted he "misled the public by reading a false retelling of a phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky."
The column also noted Schiff "paid the daughter of the judge handling New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg's prosecution of Trump $4 million to push the Russia collusion hoax. Loren Merchan's hatred of Trump is so extreme that she used a photo of Trump behind bars as her profile picture on X. She runs a digital marketing agency that works with Democrats and progressive groups.
And he hasn't changed, the commentary said.
"While running for the U.S. Senate, Schiff has brazenly engaged in sleazy tactics. He spent $10 million promoting his Republican opponent during the primary. Since California uses 'top 2' voting, which means the top two vote getters in the primary move on to the general, he wanted to ensure that Republican Steve Garvey ended up with the second-most votes instead of his two Democratic challengers. On the campaign trail, Schiff brags about his political persecution of Trump as a campaign platform."
Previously, Schiff admitted he feared that a Trump administration might prosecute him.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Middle East/Israel:
IDF recovers body of murdered hostage Itay Svirsky
Israeli security forces have recovered the body of Itay Svirsky, 38, after 425 days in Gaza. He was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7, the same day his parents were killed in the Hamas attack. The recovery comes after confirmation of his death in January alongside fellow hostage Yossi Sharabi after 99 days in Hamas captivity.
Forces loyal to Assad driven from key hub of Hama; prior to potential last stand in Homs
Syrian rebels ousted pro-government forces from Hama on Thursday, bringing the insurgents a major new victory after a lightning advance across northern Syria and dealing a new blow to President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies .
The Syrian army said it was redeploying outside the city "to preserve civilians lives and prevent urban combat" after what it called intense clashes.
Hamas terrorists likely executed 6 Israeli hostages as troops drew near
Hamas terrorists likely executed the six Israeli hostages whose bodies were recovered from southern Gaza on Aug. 20, the Israel Defense Forces said on Wednesday following a comprehensive probe.
While the military said it was not possible to determine with absolute certainty how Yagev Buchshtab, Alexander Dancyg, Yoram Metzger, Avraham Munder, Haim Peri and Nadav Popplewell were killed, their bodies were found with gunshot wounds, unlike their six guards, who are believed to have died in an Israeli Air Force strike in the area.
Report: Trump wants hostage deal before inauguration
Donald Trump's Middle East envoy has traveled to Qatar and Israel to kickstart the U.S. president-elect's diplomatic push to help reach a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal before he takes office on Jan. 20.
Steve Witkoff, who will officially take up the position under Trump's administration, met separately in late November with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, according to a source.
Amnesty International publishes report accusing Israel of 'genocide' in Gaza
Amnesty International says Israel is "committing genocide" against Palestinians in Gaza, in a new report that it calls a "wake-up call" for the international community.
The London-based rights organization says its findings are based on "dehumanizing and genocidal statements by Israeli government and military officials," satellite images documenting devastation, fieldwork and ground reports from Gazans. It did not, however, go to Gaza itself, or interview any serving or former IDF soldiers to get a more balanced view. Indeed, the Israeli branch rejected the parent group's accusation.
Hamas threatens to 'neutralize' hostages if IDF makes additional rescue attempts
Hamas leaders ordered the organization's operatives to "neutralize the hostages" if Israel launches a rescue operation to free them,
A report cites an "\internal document" in which Hamas leaders ordered operatives holding the Israeli hostages to "neutralize them," after Hamas leaders claimed that "information has been received that Israel is planning an operation to rescue the hostages."
U.S. claims Hezbollah already 'trying to rebuild' after IDF onslaught massively denuded weapons reserves
Hezbollah is trying to restore its power and rebuild the stockpiles lost to Israel over the course of Operation Northern Arrows.
An American official, an Israeli source, and two American Congress members who were exposed to the information confirmed that U.S. intelligence agencies assessed in recent weeks that Hezbollah, even during the operation, acted to recruit new terrorists and attempted to find creative ways to acquire new weapons – including local production and smuggling of materials from Syria.
British chief of defense staff says Israel set Iranian missile production back by a year; world entering 'third nuclear age'
"Global power is shifting and a third nuclear age is upon us," said Britain's Chief of the Defense Staff, Adm. Sir Tony Radakin. "The era of state competition primarily through geo-economics has shifted to a resurgence of geo-politics. And it will last decades."
U.N. resolution demands Israel return Golan Heights to Syria's Assad
At the same time as Sunni jihadist rebels are battling Iranian client Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, the U.N.G.A. called on Israel to "desist from … its repressive measures against the population of the occupied Syrian Golan."
The United Nations estimates that the Syrian civil war has claimed the lives of over 300,000 civilians since it began in 2011. The annual resolution, which does not consider the fate civilians in the Golan would face under Assad, passed with 97 countries in favor, eight against, and 64 abstentions.
O.E.C.D. cuts Israel's growth forecast as war costs continue to mount
The O.E.C.D. significantly downgraded its growth projections for Israel, forecasting a mere 0.6% GDP growth in 2024 – a sharp reduction from the 1.9% previously estimated in May – and 2.4% growth forecast in 2025, down from the earlier projection of 4.6%. These figures imply negative per capita growth in 2024, with the economic outlook bleak amid inflationary pressures, fiscal imbalances and geopolitical instability. Inflation expectations have been revised upward, reaching 3.1% for 2024 and 3.6% for 2025, well above the government's target range.
IDF spokesperson R.Adm. Hagari in hot water after criticizing bill that could protect intel leakers
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari drew widespread backlash on Wednesday when he criticized a law being advanced by the government that would shield members of the defense establishment from prosecution should they give classified intelligence to the prime minister or defense minister without authorization.
During a press briefing, Hagari said the bill would be "very dangerous for the IDF and national security" should it become law.
Qatari emir given royal treatment after he lands for state visit
After rolling out the red carpet for Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Tamim Al Thani, the U.K. government announced plans to double joint U.K.-Qatar humanitarian assistance with a $100 million fund intended to "tackle key global challenges" in Gaza, Syria, Somalia, and beyond.
The humanitarian pledge was the first initiative announced during Al Thani's two-day state visit to Britain, which kicked off with pomp and circumstance on December 3. Prince William and Princess Catherine greeted the emir and his wife before King Charles III formally welcomed the Qatari couple along London's Horse Guards Parade.
Nearly one-third of Jewish Ontario doctors considering emigration over vertiginous spike in antisemitic incidents
Nearly one third of Jewish medical practitioners in Ontario are considering leaving the country in response to rising antisemitism, according to a new survey that found that doctors across Canada are worried about what's happening to their profession.
The data released by the Jewish Medical Association of Ontario (JMAO) on Wednesday reveal widespread concerns of antisemitism among health-care practitioners across Canada.
IDF eliminates senior Hezbollah representative to Syrian army in targeted airstrike
The Israeli Air Force recently announced the elimination of the Hezbollah terrorist Salman Nemer Jama'a who represented Iran's Lebanese proxy in the group's dealings with the Syrian Army. He held various positions in the terrorist organization over the past several years, particularly those involving links to the Syrian military.
"Jama'a was a key figure in the terrorist group which supported these operations," the IDF said. "The Syrian regime has actively supported Hezbollah, allowing the smuggling of weapons into Lebanon and endangering Syrian and Lebanese civilians."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Joe Biden's lies about his son Hunter's legal jeopardy this week, in the course of using his presidential power to pardon him from any possible punishment through America's justice system, have added to his record of willful misstatements.
Hunter Biden was convicted of gun charges, and pleaded guilty to tax charges, with the possible penalties being years in prison.
So Joe Biden, after months and months of repeatedly assuring Americans he would not issue a pardon to Hunter, did exactly that.
But how he did it, by blaming prosecutors and judges for being unfair to Hunter and for singling him out for their cases, now has drawn a rebuke from a federal judge.
Fox News said it was U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi, who is overseeing Hunter Biden's tax case and had a sentencing scheduled, who responded to Joe Biden's fabrications.
In a five-page order, the judge described how Joe Biden is trying to be "rewriting history" with the pardon, and he cited a technical illegality in Joe Biden's decision.
"The Constitution provides the president with broad authority to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, but nowhere does the Constitution give the President the authority to rewrite history," the judge said.
He noted that the president told the judiciary of his flip-flop on the issue, and the resulting pardon, through a press release.
"Rather than providing a true and correct copy of the pardon with the notice, Mr. Biden provided a hyperlink to a White House press release presenting a statement by the president regarding the pardon and the purported text of the pardon," the judge said. "In short, a press release is not a pardon."
Then he continued, with, "the president asserts that Mr. Biden 'was treated differently' from others 'who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions,' implying that Mr. Biden was among those individuals who untimely paid taxes due to addiction. But he is not."
And, the judge pointed out, "According to the president, '[n]o reasonable person who looks at the facts of [Mr. Biden's] cases can reach any other conclusion than [Mr. Biden] was singled out only because he is [the president's] son.' But two federal judges expressly rejected Biden's arguments that the government prosecuted Mr. Biden because of his familial relation to the president. And the president's own attorney general and Department of Justice personnel oversaw the investigation leading to the charges."
The judge commented how Joe Biden considers "this legion of federal civil servants, the undersigned included, (as) unreasonable people."
The judge said the pardon would be processed in the legal case once the official pardon is provided.
But he also noted that the pardon, issued on December 1, was for any acts that included those through the end of that day.
"The Supreme Court long has recognized that, notwithstanding its nearly unlimited nature, the pardon power extends only to past offenses," he wrote.
He pointed out, "Because the period of pardoned conduct extends 'through' the date of execution, the warrant may be read to apply prospectively to conduct that had not yet occurred at the time of its execution, exceeding the scope of the pardon power."
The Washington Examiner characterized the judge's comments as being "harshly" critical of Joe Biden.
And he said Joe Biden's characterizations "stand in tensions with the case record."
The report noted, "Hunter Biden pleaded guilty in September to nine tax charges, and as part of his plea, the first son admitted that every accusation made by special counsel David Weiss in his indictment was true, including that he committed tax crimes while he was sober."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly considering Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the nation's new defense secretary, following a concerted Democrat and media narrative that has claimed Trump's first pick, Pete Hegseth, may have a drinking problem.
It was NBC News that claimed "two sources" identified DeSantis as a possible nominee, following a report on the issue by the Wall Street Journal.
The network said, "Other possible contenders for the Pentagon top job include Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., according to two sources familiar with the decision-making. Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., whom Trump had chosen for White House national security adviser, is also a possible pick for leading the Pentagon, two other sources said."
The narrative that was unleashed following Trump's pick of Hegseth has included various stories about his drinking and a "sexual assault" in 2017 for which he was not charged.
Hegseth has denied he mistreated women and explained the incident involving the woman who accused him was a consensual event.
Hegseth, on social media, has cited the "smear" campaign based on "fake" and "anonymous" sources.
"Our warriors will never back down, & neither will I," he said.
He repeated his assertion Wednesday morning:
It was Twitchy that called out Democrats and the media for their leftist attacks.
"Hegseth has been in the crosshairs of the left since President-Elect Trump nominated him to lead the Department of Defense. First, they said he was unqualified, completely ignoring his Ivy League education and decorated military service. Then they tried to 'Kavanaugh' him with a 2017 accusation of sexual assault, which was investigated by police at the time. No charges were filed. They accused him of being a white supremacist because he had tattoos or something. Most recently, The New Yorker ran a hit piece claiming Hegseth was commonly intoxicated on the job while he worked for Concerned Vets for America. Senator Dick Blumenthal was quick to pounce on the story."
Now, the report said, "NBC has doubled down on The New Yorker article with claims from Fox News employees."
There were those who apparently were being swayed by the claims.
There were defenders, too.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
HIALEAH, Florida – After flipping by double digits in the 2024 election the former Democrat stronghold of Miami-Dade County, President-elect Donald Trump is now being honored by local officials with a street named for him.
Palm Avenue, a main thoroughfare in the Cuban-packed city of Hialeah, is now President Donald J. Trump Avenue.
The approval vote Tuesday from the county commission was 9 to 1, and Democrats could have blocked the measure as they hold seven of the 10 seats.
Trump had personally signed one of the street signs when attending a memorial service in Florida.
"Miami-Dade County strongly supported President Trump during the election, and this designation serves as a lasting tribute to his leadership and vision for our nation," Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera said on X.
Commissioner Marleine Bastien, a Haitian-American who represents northern Miami, was the sole vote against Trump Avenue.
"I respect the fact that President Trump won the popular vote, the Electoral College and Miami-Dade County," Bastien said, according to the Miami Herald.
"However, his victory does not erase the collective trauma that immigrants and citizens alike felt during this election cycle."
She specifically pointed to "falsehoods about Haitians eating cats and dogs in Ohio" and "derogatory comments about Haiti, Mexico, and some African countries in the past."
In both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, Trump lost Miami-Dade County to Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, respectively.
"I want to thank the commissioners that supported this item, as well as the City Council of Hialeah who had endorsed this effort from the moment President Trump visited Hialeah," Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo said.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A top conservative is a warning about the 2028 presidential possibility of U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., should she decide to run for the White House.
"AOC has a lot of talent. She has tens of millions of followers on social media, and she needs to be taken seriously. If she were to run for the presidency within the Democrat party, intially she would be formidable," said Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, on "Sunday Morning Futures" on the Fox News Channel.
"As Republicans, we can laugh and we can try to make fun of her, but she understands where the energy of the Democrat base actually is which is a progressive energy."
"Now, good luck winning in Ohio or Michigan or Wisconsin or Pennsylvania, in any of these rust-belt states with that sort of radical, left-wing perspective."
Kirk added whether or not AOC runs for the presidency "will be a very interesting litmus test of where is the center and the soul of the Democrat party. "
"Are they going to double- and triple-down on what we would consider to be woke ideas or policies or are they going to try to moderate themselves the way Bill Clinton did in the 19990s and was able to kind of build a southern Democrat strategy that ended up being very, very successful for them in the 1992 and 1996 election?
"My bet is there are far too many people on the woke side of the Democrat party, I think it's going to go more in the direction of AOC, and she should be taken very seriously."
Fill-in host Jackie DeAngelis noted the Cabinet picks of President-elect Donald Trump are "filling up the Republican bench. There's so much youth, there' so much vigor to combat what they're putting out there. And ultimately, you think to yourself, he's really setting up the Republicans in a great positioning for 2028."
Kirk responded: "We don't want to get too cocky, we don't want to get too confident, but we really are seeing a potential for a decade-long's governing, let's just say, regime. And I mean that in the best possible way where we can see really low taxes, high growth, secure borders.
"And you look at this all-star team that you have. You have Vivek Ramaswamy, you have Marco Rubio, you have Elise Stefanik, you have this incredible avengers squad not to mention if Elon Musk, you have J.D. Vance, who we'll see if he runs for the presidency in 2028, and the president has really set up this Republican Party to be a party of common sense, to be a party of younger voice, of innovative ideas.
"And you look around the Democrat party, you have to ask the question: where is their bench? Where are their change makers? Where are their really interesting types of candidates? The president won this election, and he is going to leave a legacy behind him, one that will keep the MAGA movement going for many generations to come."
Kirk was asked if he thinks the federal government should go after political agitators who have made recent bomb threats and "swatting" incidents against Trump's picks for his administration.
"I sure hope so," he said. "Look, anyone that makes these kind of disgusting threats should face the entire full force of the federal justice system.
"I'll say this, though, that talking to some of the people that received those threats such as Pete Hegseth and many others, their resolve to keep on fighting has only strengthened. They understand that they are here to be change-makers.
"This is not just a normal mandate, this is a historic, once-in-many-lifetimes mandate. And, yes, there's gonna to be some agitators, and some people trying to throw nonsense at them, but the team remains stronger than ever."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Leftists before and throughout the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration have schemed with social media companies to censor political views they don't like.
Evidence shows sometimes the social media companies have been pleased to help, other times they've been targeted by government mandates. One of the biggest scandals was over the FBI's push, targeting legacy and social media, to suppress the accurate reporting during the 2020 election season of the scandals involving the Biden family.
A survey later showed that agenda likely handed the White House to Biden.
But one of those mandate agendas, in the state of California, now is under fire in a courtroom.
"California's war against political speech is censorship, plain and simple. We can't trust the government to decide what is true in our online political debates," explained ADF lawyer Phil Sechler.
"Rumble is one of the few online voices stepping up against this trend of censorship while other platforms and sites cave to totalitarian regimes censoring Americans. Rumble is standing for free speech even when it is hard. Other online platforms and media companies must see these laws for what they are—a threat to their existence."
The case being brought by the ADF on behalf of Rumble is against California's mandates.
"To defend the constitutionally protected right to freely post political content online, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of Rumble and Rumble Canada," the legal team said.
The problem is that California lawmakers have adopted laws recently that target and punish speakers for posting certain political commentary online.
One of the laws, in fact, is AB 2655 which requires also requires large online platforms like Rumble to act as the government's censorship police and remove such content from their sites.
"California is forcing Rumble to alter its speech and censor its users' speech, while also compelling the platform's speech, in violation of the First Amendment," the ADF reported.
The state's infringement on the U.S. Constitution developed a few months ago when Gov. Gavin Newsom lost his cool over a parody video of Kamala Harris.
He said the video should be outlawed, and the Democrat-controlled California legislature then fast-tracked its agenda, which Newsom quickly signed.,
AB 2839 censors speech by using vague standards to punish people for posting certain content about elections, including political memes and parodies of politicians, and AB 2655 requires large online platforms to censor much of that speech, the legal team said.
ADF said in the lawsuit one law deputizes Rumble to restrict others' speech, and also puts the company under the requirement to alter the content and viewpoint of its own speech.
"The law forces Rumble to train its team to remove and label content based on inherently subjective terms that pollsters and government officials can't even agree on, like what harms electoral prospects or what undermines confidence in an election. And if Rumble doesn't comply, AB 2655 authorizes officials to file suits against it," the ADF said.
The action follows a similar legal charge against the state, on behalf of the Babylon Bee and California lawyer Kelly Chang Rickert, that was filed earlier.
California officials admitted as a result of that filing they cannot enforce AB 2839 after a federal district court ruled that the law likely violates the First Amendment.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Alexander Vindman, an ex-Army officer whose speculations and claims about President Trump were turned by Democrats into their first, and failed, attempt to impeach and remove him from office, is in the headlines again.
This time he's accusing Elon Musk of being a puppet of Russian President Vladimir Putin, doing his bidding and giving him American secrets.
It might not end up going so well for Vindman, as Musk responded with an accusation that Vindman has committed treason and will pay the appropriate penalty.
The Washington Examiner said, "Vindman is mainly known for testifying against President-elect Donald Trump during the Trump-Ukraine scandal in 2019."
Vindman accused Trump of trying to use the presidential power against a political opponent, asking Ukraine to investigate the corruption involving Burisma, an energy company there, and its payments of a million dollars to Hunter Biden.
In fact, evidence now shows that Joe Biden used his influence as vice president to get rid of a prosecutor investigating Burisma during the time his son was on Burisma's payroll.
However, Vindman said it was awful that Trump suggested that be investigated. Democrats turned it into an impeachment attempt.
Musk now has been nominated by Trump to serve on his new Department of Government Efficiency.
Vindman claimed, before the election, "Putin has been very effective in playing both Trump and Elon, and he's been using the richest man in the world to do his bidding. In some cases, that's encouraging him probably to support Donald Trump. That's not speculation. We see how far in Elon has gone and then using Twitter as a disinformation platform. This is not some sort of far-off, distant threat. This is going to impact our elections, it's a national security threat."
Vindman accused Musk of "divulging state secrets to Vladimir Putin, and that the real reason he supports Trump is because Putin ordered him to do," the report said.
"Vindman is on the payroll of Ukrainian oligarchs and has committed treason against the United States, for which he will pay the appropriate penalty," Musk said.
Vindman, removed from his position during the first Trump administration after he made his accusations against the president, has been politically active since, often making extraordinary claims against Trump.
In 2022, he sued several Trump allies, alleging that they had intimidated and retaliated against him while he testified in Congress, but the action failed.
A report at the Gateway Pundit noted Vindman "was a crucial figure in the first impeachment of President Trump over his 'perfect' phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2019."
"But he was caught repeatedly lying during his testimony before Congress, which made him a leftist hero," the report said. "The truth is that Vindman was a leaker who thought his opinions overruled the Trump administration. He was moved from the White House with his twin brother (who was unfortunately elected to Congress this month) after his unsuccessful attempt, along with Eric Ciaramella, to remove the sitting president from office."
The report noted, "Even Vindman's boss testified that he was a leaker and a liar who could not be trusted."
Now, the report said, he's followed with a "disgusting smear" toward Musk.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Democrats thought they were pushing the first woman president in 2016 when Hillary Clinton was on the ballot.
She failed, becoming a two-time loser in the race for the White House as she had lost eight years earlier to Barack Obama in the primary.
Then this year the Democrats, the elites of the party anyway, hand-picked Kamala Harris to replacing an aging and mentally diminishing Joe Biden.
She, too, failed, in grand style, giving up a landslide victory in the Electoral College as well as in the popular vote to President-elect Donald Trump.
Now there's talk floating around social media that the next Democrat woman candidate could be Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
It isn't the first time such talk has arisen.
It was reported back in 2020 that her name was on a short list for a nomination – at some point.
She pledged herself, then, to the "mission."
"I think what's really important is that we have a lot of work that we need to do right now. And I want to like level with all of you: I'm not a person that aspires to position. I aspire to a mission," she said.
Now it is the Liberty Daily that cited Cortez-for-president speculation on social media.
In fact, a report in the Hill "named her as being seriously considered by Democrat strategists," the report said.
"The left-leaning publication is reporting that not only is AOC a possible candidate, but that she's becoming a moderate," the report said.
In fact, the Hill said, "When Democrats talk about the future of the party, the 35-year-old New York congresswoman's name always bubbles to the top. Democrats have long been impressed with Ocasio-Cortez's ability to 'cut through the BS and tell it like it is,' the second Democratic strategist said. 'She's somebody who can cut through the noise and doesn't talk like Washington.' Democrats say Ocasio-Cortez would be a magnet for young voters…"
Cortez, a former bartender, could benefit from being younger, the report noted, as the Republican base "is getting older."
However, she has established a reputation as an extremist, in many ways.
She once claimed billionaires should not exist.
And she's accused Christians of "weaponizing" the Bible to support "bigotry."
At a House committee hearing she charged that Christians who justified slavery in the 19th century did the same.
"It's very difficult to sit here and listen to arguments in the long history of this country of using Scripture and weaponizing and using Scripture to justify bigotry," she said. "White supremacists have done it. Those who justify slavery have done it. Those who fought against integration did it."
Then she ramped up her attacks on Christians.
""I am tired of communities of faith being weaponized and being mischaracterized because the only time religious freedom is invoked is in the name of bigotry and discrimination," she said.
"My faith commands me to treat [committee panelist] Mr. Minton as holy because he is sacred, because his life is sacred," she said. "There is nothing holy about rejecting medical care for people, no matter who they are, on the grounds of what their identity is. There is nothing holy about turning someone away from a hospital. There is nothing holy about rejecting a child from a family. There is nothing holy about writing discrimination into the law."
Those comments came at a time when LGBT activists were trying to use nondiscrimination laws to force Christians to violate their faith. Essentially they demanded not just tolerance, but enthusiastic support for their lifestyle choices from Christians, such as a Christian photographer, web designer, and baker, even though those choices violated the Christian faith of those involved.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
After a two-day hearing, a federal judge tossed Ray Epps' defamation lawsuit against Fox News on Wednesday, saying he didn't provide enough facts to show that former host Tucker Carlson acted with "actual malice" when he insinuated that Epps may have been working with the government to provoke the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill uprising.
The Hill reported Epps was "at the center of a conspiracy theory about what sparked" the events that day, when protesters objecting to what they perceived as unusual election procedures that gave the White House to Joe Biden eventually rioted.
Epps, a former U.S. Marine, sued Fox claiming the network "knowingly" promoted what his lawyers claimed were "destructive conspiracy theories."
Fox stated it was "pleased" with several decisions, including the Epps case, "from federal courts preserving the press freedoms of the First Amendment."
A report at HeadlineUSA said Epps was the "controversial figure" seen on camera during those events "urging protesters to enter the Capitol."
"He initially appeared on the FBI's wanted list in relation to the Capitol rioting, only to be removed in the summer of 2021 with no explanation … ," the report noted.
The dismissal was reported by Politico's Kyle Cheney.
Epps sued in 2023 when he had not yet been charged by the Department of Justice for anything during that time. Later, he was accused of one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct.
He was not accused of inciting, "even though he's caught on video telling protestors to go 'into the Capitol'—and even though the DOJ described his behavior as 'felonious,'" the report said.
He was given probation.
The report noted, "According to journalist Christina Urso, who attended the sentencing, the government bizarrely went to bat for Epps during the hearing."
Urso revealed, "The prosecutor praised Epps 'de-escalation tactics' and had a whole slide show for it entitled 'Attempts to De-escalate.' Both Judge Boasberg and the prosecutor both claimed 'he never tried to go into the Capitol.'"
Multiple social media commenters had suggested Epps was working hand-in-glove with the federal government that day.
While it's known that there were many federal agents in the crowd that went from protest to riot, their numbers and identities have not been revealed.
Epps said the misdemeanor charge against him proved he was not in that group.
In his now-failed legal action, he stated, "In May 2023, the Department of Justice notified Epps that it would seek to charge him criminally for events on January 6, 2021—two-and-a-half years later. The relentless attacks by Fox and [Tucker] Carlson and the resulting political pressure likely resulted in the criminal charges."