Senate Democrats have sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray asking for “the complete evidentiary file” from the bureau’s investigation into allegations of sex trafficking of minors against former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), whom President-elected Trump has tapped to become the next attorney general, The Hill reports.
MSNBC Faces Potential for Big Changes
“MSNBC fans who are disappointed in the progressive-leaning network after Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election may no longer have it to kick around,” Variety reports.
“The cable-news outlet could have to consider changing its name and familiar markings under a spin-off of the bulk of the cable assets of parent company Comcast, one of the nascent company’s new top executives suggested to an assemblage of MSNBC staffers Wednesday morning.”
Mike Johnson to Announce Transgender Bathroom Rule
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is planning to announce that transgender women are not permitted to use bathrooms in the Capitol that match their gender identity, The Hill reports.
The policy will also apply to bathrooms in House office buildings, changing rooms and locker rooms.
Biden Avoids All Reporters
Washington Post: “Since Donald Trump’s victory in the Nov. 5 presidential election, Biden has not taken questions about what he had repeatedly called the most important election in history, one he warned would change the country forever if Trump prevailed.”
Behind the Scenes at a Secretive MAGA Gathering
New York Times: “What demanded the dayslong presence of all these Trumpworld figures during some of the most important weeks of their careers? The fall gathering of a secretive group of wealthy tech executives and their allies who have ascended swiftly within the Republican Party’s donor class: the Rockbridge Network.”
“The group, which was co-founded five years ago by JD Vance, sprouted from an informal set of dinners into a powerful coalition of Republican donors who have given more than $100 million to Rockbridge projects since 2019, according to a person close to the group, helping lead Silicon Valley’s march to the right. For Rockbridge, Mr. Vance’s election as vice president was a crowning achievement — and a tantalizing opportunity to wield new national influence.”
“But Rockbridge has largely kept its activities stealthy, mindful of how groups of wealthy conservatives like the Koch Network have drawn attacks from both liberal detractors and Republican wannabes.”
Trump Picks Matthew Whitaker as NATO Ambassador
President-elect Donald Trump designated Matthew Whitaker, a conservative firebrand who filled in briefly as his acting attorney general in the first Trump administration, to serve as U.S. ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in his second administration, USA Today reports.
Trump Demands Immediate Dismissal of Hush Money Case
Donald Trump’s attorneys are demanding the judge who presided over his New York hush money trial and conviction immediately throw out the case, saying it would be “uniquely destabilizing to the country” otherwise, NBC News reports.
History Will Not Be Kind to Joe Biden
Garrett Graff: “Tragedy has always defined the public pathos of Joe Biden’s political career. And he will be a uniquely tragic figure now in American presidential history, for reasons that will be seen as entirely within his own control.”
“Biden’s presidential legacy will be defined historically by creating the circumstances that allowed Donald Trump to regain the White House, allowing a man to return to the presidency despite during his time out of office having been found liable of sexual assault, convicted of 34 felonies, and charged in three more serious state and federal criminal cases, including one that involved an attempted coup.”
“Biden’s decision to not run for re-election earlier, despite his visible public decline, will surely rank as one of the most far-reaching in American politics, a turning point that altered the path of the country, perhaps for generations.”
Why Trump Picked Matt Gaetz for Attorney General
A Trump adviser familiar with the process explained to The Bulwark:
“None of the other attorneys had what Trump wants, and they didn’t talk like Gaetz. Everyone else looked at AG as if they were applying for a judicial appointment. They talked about their vaunted legal theories and constitutional bullshit. Gaetz was the only one who said, ‘Yeah, I’ll go over there and start cuttin’ fuckin’ heads.’”
Flashback Quote of the Day
“Many people argue that this pandemic was a ‘plandemic,’ that it was planned from the outset, it’s part of a sinister scheme. I can’t tell you the answer to that. I don’t have enough evidence. A lot of it feels very planned to me. I don’t know. I will tell you this: If you create these mechanisms for control, they become weapons of obedience for authoritarian regimes no matter how beneficial or innocent the people who created them.”
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr., quoted by The Bulwark in August 2020.
Hegseth Wants a Christian Nationalist ‘Insurgency’
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Defense Secretary, said on a podcast this week that he supported a system of “classical Christian schools” to provide the recruits for “an underground army” that will eventually launch an “educational insurgency” to take over the United States.
Matt Gaetz Used ‘Adopted’ Son’s Paypal Account
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) reportedly was using his “adopted” son’s PayPal account to pay women for sex, the Washington Post reports.
Trump’s Pick Claimed She Had Degree in Education
“Linda McMahon, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice as education secretary, incorrectly claimed in 2009 that she had a bachelor’s degree in education on a questionnaire for a Connecticut Board of Education post,” the Washington Post reports.
“The error on the questionnaire was reported by the Hartford Courant during her unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2010. She said at the time that she mistakenly thought her degree was in education because she did a semester of student teaching.”
Cruise Line Offers an ‘Escape’ from Trump’s Presidency
“As Donald Trump prepares to begin his second four-year term, one cruise company is giving Americans the choice to opt out and escape,” The Guardian reports.
“The residential cruise line Villa Vie Residences announced earlier in November that it was launching a program that will allow travelers to join its ship, the Odyssey, at any port as it traverses around the world for the next several years. The trip is expected to travel to 425 ports across 140 countries, and the program will cost less than $40,000 a year.”
“The program is being offered in one-, two-, three-, and four-year packages. The one-year package is called Escape From Reality and the two-year package is called Mid-term Selection.”
Trump Staffers Won’t Comment on Michael Wolff
Donald Trump campaign issued an unusual statement, preemptively saying it will not comment on forthcoming book from Michael Wolff:
“As a group, we have decided not to respond to his bad faith inquiries, and we encourage others to completely disregard whatever nonsense he eventually publishes. Consider this our blanket response to whatever he writes,” read the statement signed by 15 staffers.”
Wolff had recently told the Daily Beast that Jeffrey Epstein had photos of Trump with “topless young women” sitting in his lap.
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Austin Says Women in the Military ‘Make Us Stronger’
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told NBC News that women and racial diversity are vital to the strength of U.S. armed forces.
Said Austin: “I have spent 41 years in uniform, three long tours in Iraq, one in Afghanistan, and everywhere I went on a battlefield, there were women in our formation. I would tell you that, you know, our women are the finest troops in the world. Quite frankly, some of the finest in the world.”
He added: “They do impact readiness. They make us better. They make us stronger. And again, what I’ve seen from our women is quite incredible, and I’m not — this is not hyperbole. This is fact.”
GOP Senators Cool to Using Tariffs to Pay for Tax Cuts
“Donald Trump may be interested in using steep new tariffs to pay for tax cuts next year, an idea that would force Congress to vote on his aggressive trade agenda,” Semafor reports.
“Republican lawmakers, however, are far from sold. Some are already panning the prospect.”
Said Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY): “I don’t like tariffs, Number One. I think the consumer pays them. So they’re regressive. They’re a sales tax, basically.”
