Donald Trump has caused fresh disquiet after suggesting in his NBC interview on Sunday that his political enemies Liz Cheney, Adam Schiff, Adam Kinzinger and Bennie Thompson “should go to jail” for investigating the attempted insurrection at the US Capitol by his supporters four years ago.
So much so that even conservative law professor Jonathan Turley, a Fox News legal analyst and ally who defended Trump during hearings related to his first impeachment by the House of Representatives in 2019, has been moved to caution him against “rage rhetoric” in a blog post.
The president-elect has promised to issues pardons to convicted rioters on his first day in office and is now reportedly interested in appointing right-wing activist Pete Marocco – who was spotted among the mob that laid seige to the legislative complex in a bid to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election results – to a key role in his transition team.
Trump has meanwhile backed a candidate to succeed his daughter-in-law Lara Trump as co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and named two new nominees to his incoming administration: Harmeet Dhillon and Mark Paoletta.
Key Points
- Donald Trump rebuked for ‘rage rhetoric’ on jailing House Jan 6 committee members
- President-elect gives his endorsement to new candidate seeking to co-lead RNC
- Trump announces two more nominees to new administration
Conservative law professor rebukes Trump for ‘rage rhetoric’ on jailing House Jan 6 committee members
09:30
Joe Sommerlad
The president-elect will not like the following one bit from Professor Jonathan Turley, who spoke out on his behalf during his first impeachment by the House of Representatives and whom he regularly quoted on Truth Social earlier this year during his now-historic legal wrangles.
But responding to Trump’s threat in his NBC interview on Sunday to jail the likes of Bennie Thompson, Liz Cheney and Adam Schiff for daring to investigate his part in the Capitol riot, the Fox News legal analyst wrote on his blog: “The fact, however, is that there is no viable criminal case to be made against the J6 Committee members for their investigation or report.
“We need to move beyond the rage rhetoric if this country is going to come together to face the tough challenges ahead.”
Cheney herself has already hit back at Trump over the same comments, declaring in a statement: “Here is the truth: Donald Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election and seize power.
“He mobilized an angry mob and sent them to the United States Capitol, where they attacked police officers, invaded the building and halted the official counting of electoral votes.
“Trump watched on television as police officers were brutally beaten and the Capitol was assaulted, refusing for hours to tell the mob to leave.”
Trump announces two more nominees to new administration
09:00
Joe Sommerlad
Good morning!
Donald Trump has announced two more picks for his incoming administration, naming Harmeet K Dhillon as his choice for assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department and Mark Paoletta as general counsel to the Office of Management and Budget, a role he has held before.
Here’s what he had to say about them:
I am pleased to nominate Harmeet K. Dhillon as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice. Throughout her career, Harmeet has stood up consistently to protect our cherished Civil Liberties, including taking on Big Tech for censoring our Free…
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) December 10, 2024
I am pleased to announce that Mark Paoletta will be returning as General Counsel of the Office of Management and Budget. Mark will work closely with our DOGE team to cut the size of our bloated Government bureaucracy, and root out wasteful and anti-American spending.
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) December 10, 2024
Mark is a…
Trump’s claim that Democrats are ‘fighting hard’ to keep the Electoral College sparks confusion
08:00
Gustaf Kilander
President-elect Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform on Sunday night and declared that Democrats were “fighting hard” to make all future presidential elections based “exclusively” on the Electoral College.
The curious late-night post prompted many to wonder if the incoming president was trolling liberals after finally winning the popular vote on his third try. At the same time, some progressives hoped that Trump’s assertion could lead conservatives to be “radicalized” against the notion of relying on states’ electoral votes to determine presidential elections.
Justin Baragona reports.
Trump calls on China to help end ‘madness’ between Russia and Ukraine: ‘World is waiting’
07:00
Gustaf Kilander
Donald Trump called on China to help broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine as the incoming US president revealed he had communicated with Xi Jinping.
The conflict had caused enormous losses to both Russia and Ukraine, Mr Trump said, and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky “would like to make a deal” to end the “madness”.
Mr Zelensky was yet to respond to the claim.
Shweta Sharma has more.
Trump to launch two new Saudi Arabia projects weeks before White house return
06:00
Gustaf Kilander
The Trump Organization has said it has leased its brand to two new real estate projects in Saudi Arabia.
The news comes just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House. His close ties to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and day-to-day ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, drew heavy criticism after the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi columnist for the Washington Post who had written critically about the monarchy.
The company will partner with Dar Global, a London-based luxury real estate developer that will lease the Trump brand but fully own and develop the projects in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. The two have partnered on other projects in the region, including the development of a golf resort in neighboring Oman.
AP reports.
Adam Kinzinger has three-word response after Trump threatens to put him in jail
05:00
Gustaf Kilander
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger gave a succinct response to President-elect Donald Trump’s suggestion that the Illinois Republican and his colleagues on the January 6 House panel should be jailed.
When asked during a wide-ranging Sunday interview on “Meet the Press” what he would do on his first day back in the White House, Trump said that each Congress member who sat on the bipartisan committee investigating the Capitol attack “should go to jail” for “what they did.” That group includes only two Republicans, Kinzinger and former Rep. Liz Cheney.
The retired Illinois congressman wrote on his Substack: “Bring it on.”
Kelly Rissman has more.
Can Trump actually end birthright citizenship?
04:00
Gustaf Kilander
President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to end birthright citizenship, which would undo 150 years of how the U.S. has handled the issue.
Trump made the comments during NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday. He was asked if he still plans to end birthright citizenship, to which he said, “Yeah, absolutely.”
Read more:
President-elect gives his endorsement to co-lead RNC
03:03
Alex Lang
Donald Trump is already throwing his support behind one candidate to co-lead the Republican National Committee.
The president-elect has backed KC Crosbie for the role after Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law, stepped down. Lara Trump has been floated as a possible senate replacement for Marco Rubio, who was the president-elect’s pick to be secretary of state.
Crosbie is the current treasurer for the RNC.
“As Treasurer, she helped the RNC smash every fundraising record in History, and fortified our Party’s financial foundation. KC has been with me from the very beginning, helping REAL Republicans get elected across the Country, and would be a tremendous Co-Chair of the RNC! KC will work on continuing to ensure a highly functioning, fiscally responsible, and effective RNC that makes Election Integrity a highest priority,” Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday night.
Fox News hosts suggest Jill Biden ‘flirted’ with Trump because ‘she gravitates towards power’
03:00
Gustaf Kilander
Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner and Fox Business host Larry Kudlow said that First Lady Dr. Jill Biden was engaged in “heavy flirtation” with Donald Trump this past weekend because “she gravitates towards power.”
Kudlow, a former economic adviser to Trump, also asserted that both the first lady and her husband, President Joe Biden, secretly voted for the incoming president rather than Vice President Kamala Harris.
Justin Baragona reports.
Sebastian Stan receives Golden Globe nomination for controversial Trump biopic amid Hollywood pushback
02:00
Gustaf Kilander
Sebastian Stan has been nominated for two Golden Globe awards amid controversy over his latest project.
The I, Tonya actor, 42, was put forward for the Best Actor gongs in the Comedy or Musical and Drama categories for Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man and Ali Abbasi’s controversial Trump biopic The Apprentice.
Stan stars as Trump in the divisive film about the president-elect’s early days as a real estate tycoon and his relationship with lawyer Roy Cohn, played by Jeremy Strong.
Lydia Spencer-Elliott reports.
Business leaders and families of murder victims urge Biden to commute federal death row sentences
01:00
Gustaf Kilander
Business leaders and families of murder victims are calling on President Joe Biden to commute the sentences of inmates on federal death row.
Meta’s former Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Sir Richard Branson signed a letter to Biden along with other prominent business leaders asking the president to “fulfill your campaign promise of working to end the death penalty by using your clemency power to commute all federal death sentences to a term of life imprisonment.”
And it added: “We believe this act will cement your legacy of leadership, compassion and advancing racial justice.”
Michelle Del Rey has more.
Everyone from Richard Branson to the Pope wants Biden to act on death row before Trump can
00:00
Gustaf Kilander
Pressure is growing on the White House to make something of Joe Biden’s last few weeks in office, and on Sunday it ratcheted up with a new, personal angle.
Biden was already facing calls last from opponents of capital punishment to commute the sentences of death row inmates and halt what could very well be a second Trump-led effort to accelerate the use of the death penalty in federal cases beginning next year. The president is now also seeing those calls taken on Pope Francis, the highest Catholic authority in the world and a man for whom the US president has repeatedly expressed great respect.
John Bowden has more.
Education secretary nominee says she wants to send ‘education back to the states'
Monday 9 December 2024 23:30
Gustaf Kilander
New: Linda McMahon, Trump’s nominee to be Education Sec, tells @scrippsnews Trump wants to “raise the level of education across the country by sending education back to the states”
— Nathaniel Reed (@ReedReports) December 9, 2024
On eliminating Dept of Ed, tells me she’s “not going to get ahead of the President’s policies” pic.twitter.com/w9Xaeynp8g
Who is Alina Habba? Trump’s personal attorney joins White House team after losing in court
Monday 9 December 2024 23:00
Gustaf Kilander
A lawyer who represented Donald Trump in his sprawling civil fraud trial and a defamation case in which he was found liable for sexual abuse will be heading to the White House.
Alina Habba, a fierce loyalist who injected Trump’s courtrooms with campaign fury, will serve as counselor to the president in the incoming administration, joining a team of Trump’s personal criminal and civil defense lawyers in critical roles across the federal government.
Alex Woodward has more.
Peter Sarsgaard says ‘big problem’ in the US caused Trump’s election victory
Monday 9 December 2024 22:30
Gustaf Kilander
Peter Sarsgaard has given his verdict on why Donald Trump won the US presidential election.
The Republican candidate defeated Kamala Harris following a chaotic campaign dogged by anger, insults and division, winning 51 percent of the popular vote last month.
Sarsgaard, 53, attributed Trump’s victory to a “big problem” with the US electoral system – that exercising the right to vote is optional.
Lydia Spencer-Elliott reports.
Giuliani will get time to find an attorney so he can avoid a threat of prison time after defamed election workers call to hold him in contempt
Monday 9 December 2024 21:55
Alex Woodward
The judge overseeing Giuliani’s defamation case in Washington DC has agreed to give him yet another extension of time to respond to a motion to hold him in contempt.
Giuliani blew an initial deadline, then explained to the court that he couldn’t find an attorney to represent him. He has been representing himself. The judge turned him down, noting that he didn’t even file his request correctly. Giuliani tried again, and the judge is now agreeing to give him another chance — as long as he agrees to stop making false claims about the election workers that he is court-ordered from speaking out against after defaming them.
He has until January 2 to file a response. The defamed election workers who want to hold him in contempt have until January 7. A hearing on the contempt motion will be moved to January 10, given that Giuliani “needs this time in order to ‘find an attorney,’” according to Judge Beryl Howell, and “given the potential scope and severity” what contempt for Giuliani could mean — including “compensatory and coercive fines, as well as imprisonment.”
“Any further extension requests so he can obtain counsel will be viewed with continuing skepticism, since defendant is apparently able to obtain the assistance of counsel in this matter,” the judge added.
Previously:
Key senator issues supportive statement after meeting Hegseth
Monday 9 December 2024 21:35
Gustaf Kilander
Iowa Senator Joni Ernst issued a supportive statement after her meeting Monday with defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth:
Joni Ernst not sounding like she’s going to tank Pete Hegseth, per new statement pic.twitter.com/XDmvsNLSmx
— bryan metzger (@metzgov) December 9, 2024
Iowa Senator Grassley calls on FBI Director Christopher Wray to resign
Monday 9 December 2024 21:15
Gustaf Kilander
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley has called on FBI Director Christopher Wray to resign.
“Your and Deputy Director Abbate’s failure to take control of the FBI has hindered my work and others’ work throughout multiple Congresses on matters that needed timely information, and has prevented the truth on some issues from ever reaching the American people,” Grassley wrote in a 11-page letter. “You’ve also shown a continuing double standard and failure to carry through on promises. For the good of the country, it’s time for you and your deputy to move on to the next chapter in your lives.”
Trump’s surgeon general pick accidentally set off handgun that killed her father
Monday 9 December 2024 20:55
Gustaf Kilander
Donald Trump’s pick for US Surgeon General was involved in a tragic gun accident that killed her father when she was only 13 years old.
Dr Janette Nesheiwat was a teenager when she accidentally knocked a loaded gun over, which fired upon impact and fatally shot her father in the head.
The incident occurred in February 1990 at her family’s home in Umatilla, Florida, according to a report by the New York Times.
Graig Graziosi reports.
Hegseth says he had ‘very good meeting’ with key senator
Monday 9 December 2024 20:35
Gustaf Kilander
Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, told CNN on Monday that he had a “very good” meeting with Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, who has appeared skeptical of the former Fox & Friends host.
But the 44-year-old didn’t say if the senator would back him.
“It was a very good meeting with the senator,” Hegseth told CNN. “I’ve known her for 10 years. The more we talk the more we’re reminded, as two combat veterans, how dedicated we are to defense. She has been dedicated to making the Pentagon work for warfighters for a long time …. I appreciate her commitment to the process and we look forward to working together.”
Gabbard meets with Iowa senator who has appeared skeptical of Hegseth
Monday 9 December 2024 20:15
Gustaf Kilander
It was great to see you, my friend. Thank you for your support! https://t.co/YE9NgbIQQl
— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) December 9, 2024
Why is Biden letting Trump take the spotlight already? Insiders are divided
Monday 9 December 2024 19:55
Gustaf Kilander
Donald Trump won’t be sworn in for his second term as president for more than a month, yet by some measures one could infer that Joe Biden has largely given up acting as America’s head of state.
When world leaders gathered in Paris over the weekend to celebrate the reopening of the iconic Notre Dame cathedral, the sitting American president was nowhere to be found. Instead, only his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, was there to represent the US government. Joe Biden remained in Washington, apparently due to an unspecified scheduling conflict.
Andrew Feinberg has more.
Trump’s claim that Democrats are ‘fighting hard’ to keep the Electoral College sparks confusion
Monday 9 December 2024 19:35
Gustaf Kilander
President-elect Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform on Sunday night and declared that Democrats were “fighting hard” to make all future presidential elections based “exclusively” on the Electoral College.
The curious late-night post prompted many to wonder if the incoming president was trolling liberals after finally winning the popular vote on his third try. At the same time, some progressives hoped that Trump’s assertion could lead conservatives to be “radicalized” against the notion of relying on states’ electoral votes to determine presidential elections.
Justin Baragona reports.
Trump calls on China to help end ‘madness’ between Russia and Ukraine: ‘World is waiting’
Monday 9 December 2024 19:15
Gustaf Kilander
Donald Trump called on China to help broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine as the incoming US president revealed he had communicated with Xi Jinping.
The conflict had caused enormous losses to both Russia and Ukraine, Mr Trump said, and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky “would like to make a deal” to end the “madness”.
Mr Zelensky was yet to respond to the claim.
Shweta Sharma has more.
Kash Patel meets with John Cornyn
Monday 9 December 2024 18:55
Gustaf Kilander
.@JohnCornyn met today with FBI director nominee Kash Patel.
— Anthony Adragna (@AnthonyAdragna) December 9, 2024
Photo courtesy his office. pic.twitter.com/TN2FGXO8n3
Trump to launch two new Saudi Arabia projects weeks before White house return
Monday 9 December 2024 18:35
Gustaf Kilander
The Trump Organization has said it has leased its brand to two new real estate projects in Saudi Arabia.
The news comes just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House. His close ties to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and day-to-day ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, drew heavy criticism after the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi columnist for the Washington Post who had written critically about the monarchy.
The company will partner with Dar Global, a London-based luxury real estate developer that will lease the Trump brand but fully own and develop the projects in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. The two have partnered on other projects in the region, including the development of a golf resort in neighboring Oman.
AP reports.
Adam Kinzinger has three-word response after Trump threatens to put him in jail
Monday 9 December 2024 18:15
Gustaf Kilander
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger gave a succinct response to President-elect Donald Trump’s suggestion that the Illinois Republican and his colleagues on the January 6 House panel should be jailed.
When asked during a wide-ranging Sunday interview on “Meet the Press” what he would do on his first day back in the White House, Trump said that each Congress member who sat on the bipartisan committee investigating the Capitol attack “should go to jail” for “what they did.” That group includes only two Republicans, Kinzinger and former Rep. Liz Cheney.
The retired Illinois congressman wrote on his Substack: “Bring it on.”
Kelly Rissman has more.
Trump says Prince William is more attractive in real life: ‘Some people look better in person’
Monday 9 December 2024 17:55
Joe Sommerlad
“Er, thanks I guess,” says the Prince of Wales.
Here’s Athena Stavrou on a back-handed compliment.
Federal employees scrub social media accounts of any negative posts about Trump as they scramble to save jobs
Monday 9 December 2024 17:35
Joe Sommerlad
Thousands of US civil servants are taking steps to protect themselves from plans to slash the number of federal employees as promised by Trump and his allies, according to The Washington Post.
Some federal employees are removing posts from X and Facebook, with one official who testified in the former president’s first impeachment inquiry considering filing retirement papers as others are taking steps to move to possibly safer agencies.
Gustaf Kilander has more.
Mitch McConnell gets standing ovation after speech with indirect swipe at Trump
Monday 9 December 2024 17:15
Joe Sommerlad
Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, on Saturday, the outgoing GOP Senate leader bemoaned the current state of his party compared to when Ronald Reagan was in power and cautioned it against isolationism.
“Within the party Ronald Reagan once led so capably, it is increasingly fashionable to suggest that the sort of global leadership he modeled is no longer America’s place,” McConnell said
Then, in a nod to Trump’s campaign slogan, he added the following declaration, drawing a round of applause.
“But let’s be absolutely clear: America will not be made great again by those who are content to manage our decline.”
Rhian Lubin reports.
Democrat says he’s open to ‘bipartisan cooperation’ with Musk’s DOGE
Monday 9 December 2024 16:55
Joe Sommerlad
Representative Ro Khanna has signaled that he is open to “bipartisan cooperation” with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The California congressman, who says he has known Musk for over 10 years, told Martha Raddatz on ABC’s This Week yesterday about his recent conversations with the billionaire on his mission to cut government spending in Trump’s second administration.
“I think when it comes to defense, getting better defense for value and cutting costs, there can be huge bipartisan cooperation,” Khanna said.
Rhian Lubin has more.
Lara Trump is stepping down as RNC co-chair. So what’s next?
Monday 9 December 2024 16:35
Joe Sommerlad
As we mentioned earlier, the incoming president’s daughter-in-law announced on Sunday night that she was stepping down from from the Republican National Committee.
So what lies ahead for the aspiring country-rock singer and clothing retailer?
Justin Baragona takes a look.
Supreme Court declines to lift Trump’s hush money gag order
Monday 9 December 2024 16:17
Joe Sommerlad
Joseph Nierman, the right-wing YouTuber/podcaster behind the Good Lawgic account, had asked America’s highest court, with its six-three conservative bias, to toss out New York justice Juan Merchan’s gag order in Donald Trump’s hush money case because it blocks the president-elect from publicly commenting on witnesses and jurors.
Nierman’s 31-page application earlier this year claimed that the order unconstitutionally blocks him from “obtaining newsworthy comment” from Trump “about such issues which appear to potentially place Judge Merchan in direct conflict with his obligations.”
Today, the justices rejected his request but did not cite a reason for doing so.
Eric Trump says US can be crypto superpower with ‘sensible’ regulation
Monday 9 December 2024 15:55
Joe Sommerlad
Speaking to CNBC’s Dan Murphy from the UAE a week after Bitcoin hit $100,000 in value for the first time, Trump’s middle son had this to say on cryptocurrency: “The modern banking system is antiquated. It’s just a matter of time before crypto not only catches up, but just really leaps ahead. And so, we’re incredibly excited on a lot of fronts.
“I think America will be the crypto capital of the world. I fully support it. My father fully supports it. Our family, you know, is fully embracing it. We believe in DeFi [decentralized finance].
“We believe that’s the way of the future. And again, America, you know, better lead the way, otherwise we’re going to leave a lot behind.”
While that will be music to the ears of crypto bros, the younger Trump was more cautious on the question of regulation.
“The people in the crypto industry are frustrated that no-one’s ever put together a sensible plan as to how to regulate an industry. They’re fine with regulation, but they just want guidelines, and they’ve said that,” he said.
“We will have a clear road map, and hopefully the rest of the world follows that. Hopefully we can lead by example, because that’s what we should do as Americans. And hopefully we truly are the crypto superpower of the world.”
In the same interview, he described Elon Musk as “the modern-day Albert Einstein” and, if anyone would know a genius when he sees one, it’s Eric Trump.
Team Trump discord over Kemi Badenoch’s meeting with JD Vance
Monday 9 December 2024 15:35
Joe Sommerlad
The newly-elected British Conservative Party leader believes she has found a new political ally in Vice President-elect JD Vance after the two met over the weekend – but not everyone in Team Trump is happy.
David Maddox has more.
Trump pledge to pardon Jan 6 ‘hostages’ on first day inspires first defendant to request trial delay
Monday 9 December 2024 15:15
Joe Sommerlad
We could see much more of this from people prosecuted over their part in the Capitol riot of January 6 2021 after the president-elect promised during his Meet the Press interview with Kristen Welker yesterday to issue pardons on his first day back in the White House.
There it is
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) December 9, 2024
Jan 6 defendant promptly files request for delay of trial, citing Trump's statement about pardons on Sunday's "Meet the Press"
====> pic.twitter.com/RlVhJuTmSx
Trump did offer the caveat that his administration would be looking at “independent cases” rather than issuing a blanket clemency order but
