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sabra's JournalHillary Clinton slams Trump supporters 'claiming to be offended' by Biden staffer cursing
Source: The Hill
Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton on Thursday took to Twitter to push back against any Trump supporters “offended” by President-elect Joe Biden’s former campaign manager cursing when talking about GOP lawmakers in a recent interview.
Republicans had aim at incoming deputy chief of staff Jen O’Malley Dillon after she called GOP lawmakers “a bunch of f---ers” and said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is “terrible” in an interview published by Glamour Tuesday.
Clinton responded to the criticism in a tweet Thursday, writing, “People who stood by Donald Trump for the last four years are now claiming to be offended that a Democratic campaign manager used a curse word?”
Users who responded to Clinton’s tweet were quick to point out Trump’s past use of explicit language, especially in a 2005 “Access Hollywood” video clip which resurfaced weeks before the 2016 election in which he bragged about kissing and groping women without their consent.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/news/530657-hillary-clinton-slams-trump-supporters-offended-by-biden-staffer-using-curse
https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/1339600151590051843
Trump asks about special counsel for Hunter Biden tax investigation
Source: USA Today/AP
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is considering pushing to have a special counsel appointed to advance a federal tax investigation into Hunter Biden, son of President-elect Joe Biden, setting up a potential showdown with incoming acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen.
Trump — angry that out-going Attorney General William Barr didn’t publicly announce the ongoing, two-year investigation into Hunter Biden — has consulted on the matter with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, White House counsel Pat Cipollone and outside allies.
That’s according to several Trump administration officials and Republicans close to the White House who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss private matters.
Beyond appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the younger Biden, the sources said Trump is interested in having another special counsel appointed to look into his own baseless claims of election fraud. But if he’s expecting his newly named acting attorney general to go further than Barr on either matter, he could end up quickly disappointed.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/12/16/trump-asks-special-counsel-hunter-biden-tax-investigation/3926416001/
White House counsel's office warned Trump not to fire Chris Wray
Source: NBC News
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has come so close to firing FBI Director Christopher Wray in recent months that the White House counsel’s office has warned him not to do so because it could put him in potential legal jeopardy, according to a senior administration official with direct knowledge of the discussion and a U.S. official familiar with the discussion.
White House lawyers “strongly” advised Trump against firing another FBI director out of concern that doing so would risk creating the perception that a “loyalty test” was being imposed on a position that traditionally has maintained independence from the White House, according to the senior administration official.
The lawyers, led by White House counsel Pat Cipollone, specifically said that firing Wray could spark legal issues similar to those raised after Trump ousted James Comey as FBI director in 2017 in the midst of the Russia investigation, the officials said.
Their concern was that firing Wray could be seen as retaliation because the president has publicly pressured him to take specific actions on certain investigations — such as announcing a probe into President-elect Joe Biden’s son — and then expressed frustration that Wray has not followed his suggestions.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/white-house-counsel-s-office-warned-trump-not-fire-chris-n1250956
Sen. Ron Johnson calls election legitimate and acknowledges Biden victory but still plans hearing...
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/USA Today
One day after the Electoral College affirmed Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential victory, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., said in an interview that he acknowledged Biden as the president-elect and believed the election was legitimate.
At the same time, Johnson plans to hold a Senate hearing Wednesday on election “irregularities,” saying there are “legitimate questions” about the way the election was administrated in Wisconsin and other states.
“All I’m trying to do is hold a very upfront, straightforward hearing talking about what controls there are in place, what fraud does occur, what can we do to prevent fraud in the future,” said Johnson in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
...
But asked if he regarded the election as "legitimate," he said, "Yes. I haven’t seen anything that would convince me that the results — the overall national result — would be overturned."
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/12/15/ron-johnson-calls-election-legitimate-and-acknowledges-biden-victory/3909332001/
McConnell congratulates Joe Biden on becoming president-elect
Source: Axios
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) officially addressed Joe Biden as president-elect on Tuesday, saying in a speech on the Senate floor: "The Electoral College has spoken."
Why it matters: McConnell is the most prominent Republican to concede that President Trump lost the November election and congratulate Biden on his victory.
Most Republicans on Capitol Hill have refused to acknowledge that Biden had won given Trump's extended legal battle contesting the elections results.
But after Biden officially secured 270 electoral votes in Monday's meeting of the Electoral College, a growing number of GOP lawmakers are conceding that Trump lost and preparing for the next administration.
Read more: https://www.axios.com/mcconnell-biden-electoral-college-1f38ad08-3138-497a-8dc8-e5da0f7318a8.html?stream=politics&utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alerts_politics
This Newly Released Letter Details The Criminal Referral On Donald Trump Over His Ukraine Phone Call
Source: BuzzFeed News
Nearly one year after the House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump, the federal government has released the criminal referral alleging Trump committed crimes related to his phone call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, a conversation that sparked the historic proceedings.
The document, obtained by BuzzFeed News from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, is a letter dated September 4, 2019, and signed by Michael Atkinson, inspector general for the intelligence community. It was sent to Stacey Moy, the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s counterintelligence division. Moy’s involvement in the Ukraine matter has not been previously disclosed.
The inspector general “is formally referring allegations received from an individual regarding, among other things, alleged violations of law related to a telephone call on July 25, 2019, between President Donald J. Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky,” Atkinson wrote. “This referral is a follow-up to my secure telephone call on August 27, 2019, with FBI Director Christopher A. Wray’s Chief of Staff, Paul B. Murphy, during which I provided to Mr. Murphy a summary of the Complainant’s allegations.”
On Aug. 12, 2019, an anonymous CIA official had filed a formal whistleblower complaint with the House and Senate Intelligence committees and Atkinson, the inspector general, alleging Trump pressured Zelensky to publicly announce investigations into his political rivals while withholding $400 million in military aid. Trump wanted Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden, then the Democratic presidential frontrunner, and his son Hunter related to unsubstantiated claims that Biden had pressured Ukraine’s prosecutor to drop an investigation into the Ukrainian gas company his son, Hunter, sat on the board of.
Read more: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/criminal-referral-on-trump-ukraine
https://twitter.com/JasonLeopold/status/1338614682937040896
Voting Machine Manufacturer Demands Retractions From Conservative News Networks Over Fraud Claims
Source: Forbes
TOPLINE Smartmatic—one of two voting machine manufacturers that’s been attacked by President Trump and his allies (without evidence) for supposedly rigging the 2020 election—announced Monday that it is demanding retractions and delivering legal notices to three conservative networks that promoted the conspiracy theories.
KEY FACTS
The demand letters, according to an announcement from the company, will be sent to Fox News, as well as two of the president’s new favorite right-wing networks: Newsmax and One America News Network.
Inside, the letters outline “dozens of factually inaccurate statements” made by each organization as part of what Smartmatic describes as a “disinformation campaign” to harm the voting machine company and discredit the 2020 election.
“These organizations could have easily discovered the falsity of the statements and implications made about Smartmatic by investigating their statements before publishing them to millions of viewers and readers,” wrote Smartmatic.
Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2020/12/14/voting-machine-manufacturer-demands-retractions-from-conservative-news-networks-over-fraud-claims/?sh=778379e7c9a8
White House Official Recovers From Severe Covid-19, Friend Says
Source: Bloomberg
A White House official who fell ill with Covid-19 in September is recovering after three months in the hospital, though he lost his right foot and lower leg in his battle against the virus, according to a friend.
Crede Bailey, the director of the White House security office, was the most severely ill among dozens of Covid-19 cases known to be connected to the White House. Bailey’s family has asked the White House not to publicize his condition, and President Donald Trump has never publicly acknowledged his illness.
Bailey’s friends have raised more than $30,000 for his rehabilitation through a GoFundMe account. The White House declined to say whether Trump has contributed to the effort.
“Crede beat COVID-19 but it came at a significant cost: his big toe on his left foot as well as his right foot and lower leg had to be amputated,” Dawn McCrobie, who organized the GoFundMe effort for Bailey, wrote Dec. 7.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-14/white-house-official-recovers-from-severe-covid-19-friend-says
Biden Captures Electoral Votes From All States Trump Contested
Source: Bloomberg
Electoral College members in all six battleground states where President Donald Trump most fiercely contested the results cast their ballots for Democrat Joe Biden on Monday, effectively cutting off the president’s path to overturning the election.
The vote marks the watershed moment some Republican lawmakers have said would signal the end of their support for attempts to overturn the Nov. 3 election.
The 16 electors in Michigan voted for Biden, following the 63 votes cast for him earlier in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Biden will have enough electoral votes to be officially declared president-elect when members have cast 270 ballots, which is expected after California votes. Congress will officially count the votes on Jan. 6.
Electors in 50 U.S. states and District of Columbia are voting for president and vice president in time-honored constitutional ceremonies that have drawn new attention this year after Trump refused to concede and insisted without evidence that the election was “rigged.”
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-14/biden-captures-electoral-votes-from-all-states-trump-contested?utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_medium=social&utm_content=business&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_source=twitter
Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds Biden's win, rejects Trump lawsuit
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
MADISON - The state Supreme Court upheld Democrat Joe Biden's Wisconsin win Monday, handing President Donald Trump a defeat less than an hour before the Electoral College was to meet.
The 4-3 ruling was the latest in a string of dozens of losses for the president across the country as Republicans pursue last-gasp efforts to give Trump a second term.
Read more: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/12/14/wisconsin-supreme-court-upholds-joe-bidens-win/6529642002/
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