Biden Pardons Son Hunter; Trump Names More Controversial Cabinet Picks: Latest Updates

President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter on Sunday after repeatedly saying he would not, drawing outrage from Republicans who are eagerly preparing for former President Donald Trump to take office again.
Trump, who defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election last month, criticized Biden’s pardon as “an abuse and miscarriage of Justice” while hinting again that he is considering pardons for those who have been charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
Trump continues to make news ahead of taking office in January, with ongoing announcements of controversial Cabinet picks and White House appointments.
Read the latest updates below:
Two of Trump’s embattled cabinet picks are to meet with senators in Washington this week as questions remain about their nominations.
Pete Hegseth, who Trump wants as defense secretary, will look to secure support from Republicans amid allegations of heavy drinking, sexual misconduct and financial mismanagement.
And former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), tapped to lead the U.S. intelligence community, heads to Capitol Hill as she faces scrutiny over her links to Syria and the now-fallen Bashar al-Assad regime.
Lara Trump, daughter-in-law of Donald Trump, said Monday she intends to step down as co-chair of the Republican National Committee at the group’s next meeting.
“The job I came to do is now complete and I intend to formally step down from the RNC at our next meeting,” she wrote in a social media post.Lara Trump told the Associated Press she “would seriously consider” pursuing the vacant seat of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), should he be confirmed as Donald Trump’s secretary of state.Trump took over the position in March, telling the AP at the time that voters should expect four years of “scorched earth” retribution if Trump won reelection. The prior RNC chair, Ronna McDaniel, held the position for eight years.
The Supreme Court on Monday denied a request to lift Trump’s gag order in his Manhattan hush money case, where sentencing has been delayed indefinitely.Politico’s Josh Gerstein reported the request from the Good Lawgic podcast was dismissed without comment by Justice Samuel Alito.A previous request by Good Lawgic’s founder Joseph Nierman was rejected by Justice Sonia Sotomayor in October.The pro-Trump YouTuber has argued the president elect’s comments on the case would be “newsworthy” because of New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan’s “irreconcilable conflicts of interest.”Trump himself has repeatedly attacked Merchan’s daughter, who he called a “rabid Trump hater.”
Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who will be sworn into the U.S. Senate on Monday, responded to Trump’s call to jail lawmakers who investigated the Jan. 6 insurrection.
In an interview that aired Sunday, Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he believes “everybody” on the congressional select committee that looked into the violent scenes at the Capitol in 2021 ”should go to jail.”
Appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday, Schiff, a member of the Jan. 6 committee, said: “This is about sending a message that no one better hold him to account in his second term, no one better look at what he does.”
Schiff added the president-elect is “intent on trying to break down these checks and balances in our system,” and using the Justice Department as “some vehicle of political retribution.”
In a clip from an NBC interview set to air Sunday in full, Trump said he’s confident the Senate will confirm former Fox News host Pete Hegseth for defense secretary despite sexual assault allegations against him and his record of reportedly excessive drinking and partying.
“Yes, I do, I really do,” Trump said when “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker asked him if he still believed Hegseth would make it through. “He’s a very smart guy. I’ve known him through Fox, but I’ve known him for a long time. And he’s basically a military guy. Every time I talk to him, all he wants to talk about is the military. He’s a military guy.”
But when asked by HuffPost this week, several Republicans refused to say this week if they’d confirm Hegseth. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), for one, expressed some hesitation.
“I have some very real concerns about some of what’s come out recently and I want to ask him about that,” she told us Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters in North Carolina on Friday, JD Vance reiterated his support for Pete Hegseth as Trump’s Defense Secretary despite reports that the president-elect was reconsidering the pick.
“We believe that Pete Hegseth is the right guy to lead the Department of Defense, that’s why Trump nominated him,” Vance said. “We’re not abandoning this nomination, we’re not gonna make it easy … to allow the media to determine who our Secretary of Defense is.”
See the full clip below:
VP-elect JD Vance reaffirms his support for Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary today in Western North Carolina when asked if he’s talked to Sen. Joni Ernst about the nomination — h/t @KitMaherCNN pic.twitter.com/8hbwVOMOP1
Elon Musk spent more than $250 million to help elect Donald Trump, according to campaign finance reports released Thursday, including a late boost of $20 million to a super PAC that invoked the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
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Donald Trump defended his pick for the defense secretary nomination as former Fox News host Pete Hegseth faces a whirlwind of criticism over sexual misconduct allegations, excessive alcohol use and more.
“Pete Hegseth is doing very well. His support is strong and deep, much more so than the Fake News would have you believe. He was a great student – Princeton/Harvard educated – with a Military state of mind. He will be a fantastic, high energy, Secretary of Defense Defense, one who leads with charisma and skill. Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!!!” Trump wrote Friday on his Truth Social platform.
Some recent statements from Republicans indicate that Hegseth could have trouble getting confirmed in the Senate.
Trump named former Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) as his pick to become the next U.S. ambassador to China, saying the man had “valuable expertise to help build our relationship with” Beijing.
“He will be instrumental in implementing my strategy to maintain Peace in the region, and a productive working relationship with China’s leaders,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “David has been a loyal supporter and friend, and I look forward to working with him in his new role!”
The president-elect also chose Rodney Scott, a former chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, to be his commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Caleb Vitello, a senior official at Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, was also chosen as his pick to be the acting director of the agency.
Trump named Silicon Valley venture capitalist David Sacks as a new artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency czar on Thursday.
“In this important role, David will guide policy for the Administration in Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency, two areas critical to the future of American competitiveness,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “David will focus on making America the clear global leader in both areas.”
Sacks is a Silicon Valley mainstay: He was an early COO at PayPal and a co-founder of the social networking site Yammer. He was also a key player in Trump’s decision to name J.D. Vance as his running mate.
The news comes a day after Bitcoin topped $100,000 for the first time, the latest height in a massive rally following the November election.
Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist picked to lead the Health and Human Services Department, reportedly had a dinner meeting with some executives from the pharmaceutical industry at Mar-a-Lago last night, according to Axios.The meeting was attended by the chief executives of Pfizer, Eli Lilly and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the outlet reported, noting they discussed “how the public and private sectors can collaborate on finding cures for cancer, among other topics.” The dinner reportedly went on for about three hours.
A new report from The Hill describes the anxiety some journalists that are part of the White House press briefings feel as Trump prepares for his second term.One White House reporter told The Hill “it would be a total mess” if Trump decides to ban certain media outlets from covering future press briefings.
“I would expect people would probably boycott the briefings, though that would put certain outlets in a tough spot deciding if they want to go along with what the Trump people are trying to pull,” the unnamed reporter said.Donald Trump Jr. said on a recent podcast that he’s talked to his dad about replacing legacy news outlets in the press briefings with “some of our friends” in the podcast world.
“I was on the plane with my father, I think it was coming back from the SpaceX launch with Elon last week,” Trump Jr. said.” And we were talking about the podcast world and some of our friends and [Joe] Rogan and guys like you.”“We had the conversation about opening up the press room to a lot of these independent journalists,” he added. “If the New York Times has lied, they’ve been averse to everything, they’re functioning as the marketing arm to the Democrat party, why not open it up to people who have larger viewerships, stronger followings?”
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) told Fox News that she remains undecided on whether to confirm former Fox News host Pete Hegseth to be the next secretary of defense, amid allegations regarding alcohol use, sexual misconduct, financial mismanagement and other behaviors.
“I think for a number of our senators, they want to make sure that any allegations have been cleared, and that’s why we have to have a very thorough vetting process,” Ernst said.
“And that’s why I was happy to sit down with Pete and have that conversation with him yesterday,” she went on, adding that they had a “very thorough” talk.
Hegseth is back on Capitol Hill today to continue meeting with the senators who will decide his fate.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the two businessmen Trump’s tapped to lead his new so-called Department of Government Efficiency, met with lawmakers on Thursday to sell them on their plans.
Upon exiting a meeting with Ramaswamy, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told Politico it was “way too early” to nail down priorities for the cost-cutting department but that regulatory rollbacks will be “the immediate thing we need to do.”
Musk held a meeting with other lawmakers, including incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who told reporters upon exiting the meeting that his priority is “to make sure we’re spending public money well,” including by getting rid of tax credits for electric vehicles.
WASHINGTON — After being transferred from prison where he is serving out a 22-year sentence for seditious conspiracy, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, the former leader of extremist group the Proud Boys, took the witness stand Thursday in the trial of a former D.C. police officer accused of disclosing insider information to him and then lying about it to investigators.
Shane Lamond, once the head of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department’s intelligence division, is charged with obstruction of justice and making multiple false statements. Prosecutors say he tipped Tarrio off about a police probe into the Proud Boys and the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner on Dec. 12, 2020.
Tarrio, wearing a dark green prison-issued jumpsuit and black-rimmed glasses, denied ever having a friendship with Lamond and repeatedly denied ever receiving information in advance from police about a warrant for his arrest.
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Trump announced Wednesday he will nominate former Republican Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler to serve as the head for the Small Business Administration (SBA).
“Kelly will bring her experience in business and Washington to reduce red tape, and unleash opportunity for our Small Businesses to grow, innovate, and thrive,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “She will focus on ensuring that SBA is accountable to Taxpayers by cracking down on waste, fraud, and regulatory overreach.”
Loeffler, a longtime ally of Trump, posed for a photo in 2020 with Chester Doles, a former Ku Klux Klan leader and member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance.
Trump has nominated Monica Crowley to serve as Ambassador, Assistant Secretary of State, he announced in a social media post.
Crowley served in Trump’s first administration as assistant secretary of the Treasury for public affairs, a role she ultimately bowed out of after reporters found she’d plagiarized substantial amounts of material for both a book she wrote in 2012 and her Ph.D. dissertation.
Crowley has also appeared on Fox News as a contributor.
President-elect Donald Trump agreed to participate in a sit-down interview with NBC News on Friday, for a segment scheduled to air on Sunday, Dec. 8.
This will be his first TV news interview since winning the presidency in November.
Trump resisted interviews in the weeks leading up to presidential election, refusing in October to participate in a decades-long tradition of candidates sitting down for an interview for CBS’ News famed show, “60 Minutes.”
Trump went on to sue CBS for their interview with his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris — an interview his lawsuit characterized as “partisan” and an act of “election and voter inference” that aimed to “mislead the public.”
Trump’s legal team has asked the court to cease proceedings on his election subversion case in Georgia, citing his return to the White House.
The move, which follows the post-election trajectory of his three other criminal cases, comes a few weeks after the court canceled oral arguments that were supposed to begin on Thursday.
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Two sources familiar with the plans told the Washington Post that Pete Hegseth will visit Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday. RealClearPolitics’ White House correspondent also confirmed the development.
Hegseth has been embroiled in controversy since Trump nominated him for defense secretary. In addition to a 2017 allegation of sexual assault, Hegseth’s Fox News coworkers said Tuesday they had been alarmed by Hegseth’s drinking habits.
Trump has reportedly considered replacing Hegseth with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).