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Rep. Jasmine Crockett

Nancy Mace Melts Down, Challenges Jasmine Crockett To Fistfight

On Tuesday, the House Oversight Committee's organizational meeting to kick off the 119th Congress briefly devolved into chaos as one Republican member threatened to fight a Democratic member during the latter's allotted time.

While Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) was speaking about Rep. Nancy Mace's (R-SC) crusade against transgender people — which led to Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE.) being forced to use the men's bathroom in the House of Representatives — Mace blew up at Crockett and appeared to challenge her to a fist fight.

"Somebody's campaign coffers really are struggling right now, so she gonna keep saying 'trans trans trans' so that people will feel threatened," Crockett said, tossing her hair as she spoke. "And chile, listen, I want y'all to tell me why—"

At that point, Mace began shouting over Crockett as she spoke.

"Do not call me a child. I am no child. Don't even start! I am a grown woman! i am 47 years old! I have broken more glass ceilings than you ever have," Mace yelled as Crockett repeated that she was "reclaiming my time."

"If you want to take it outside, we can do that," Mace said as she slammed her mic down on a table.

At that point, Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who chairs the Oversight Committee, repeatedly banged his gavel, called "order" and demanded the two stop arguing. Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), who sits on the committee, posted to Bluesky that Comer ruled "threatening violence against another member is okay, as long as it's in the form of question."

Crockett: Somebody’s campaign coffers are struggling right now so she’s going to keep saying trans trans trans.. Child listen Mace: I am no child! Do not call me a child. I am a grown woman. If you want to take it outside

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— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) January 14, 2025 at 9:09 PM

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

'Joke Appointment': Trump Names Tax Credit Scammer To Run IRS

'Joke Appointment': Trump Names Tax Credit Scammer To Run IRS

One of President-elect Donald Trump's appointments has so far escaped the level of intense scrutiny applied to some of his more controversial high-profile nominations. But experts are warning Americans to not overlook the damage one particular potential Trump administration pick could cause.

The Daily Beast reports that tax experts are urging senators to vote against the confirmation of former Rep. Billy Long (R-MO), who Trump has tapped to be the next commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In addition to not having any experience as a tax enforcer (aside from a three-day course in Florida that allowed him to call himself a "Certified Tax & Business Advisor"), Long is also accused of running a scam aimed at bilking the federal government out of Covid-19 pandemic relief funds.

According to the Beast, Long — a former auctioneer who ran a failed bid for U.S. Senate after leaving the House —worked with Lifetime Advisors in Wisconsin and Commerce Terrace Consulting in Missouri to help clients exploit a loophole that rewarded businesses for keeping workers on company payrolls. He bragged on a 2023 podcast, titled "Secret Tax Credit That Could Put Thousands Back in Your Pocket with Billy Long," that even if a certified public accountant may not sign off on the scheme, would-be clients could instead "go back to Billy. Let Billy do it for you."

The loophole was initially projected to cost the IRS $55 billion. However, the financial blow climbed to $230 billion, and could even skyrocket to $500 billion despite the agency's efforts to close the loophole. Brookings Institution senior fellow Bill Galston told the Beast that Long's confirmation would mean "the end of tax enforcement as we know it."

"He’s an auctioneer – that’s just perfect. Tax credits to the highest bidder!! Going once! Going twice!!" Galston said. "I can’t even get mad, it’s so bleeping funny."

While current IRS commissioner Daniel Werfel is supposed to serve in his role until November of 2027, it's assumed Trump won't allow President Joe Biden's appointee to serve out the remainder of his term. Center for American Progress tax expert Brendan Duke said the IRS is actually a "really important law enforcement agency," adding that it was the IRS that ultimately nabbed notorious mobster Al Capone.

"They track money laundering and terrorism. This is not a joke job, but it is a joke appointment," Duke said. "This has flown under the radar... He’s just as bad as RFK Jr., but nobody is paying attention."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

How Trump Team Staged Junior's Publicity Trip To Greenland

How Trump Team Staged Junior's Publicity Trip To Greenland

President-elect Donald Trump's eldest son, Donald Jr., visited Greenland earlier this week as his father continues to push for the island to become a U.S. territory. But locals were considerably chillier to Donald Jr.'s visit than depicted, according to one official.

In an interview with Politico, Greenland parliament member Pipaluk Lynge pushed back on the president-elect's assertion that his son's delegation was received with open arms. While Trump insisted on Truth Social that "the reception has been great," Lynge said the visit was artificial and structured to insulate Donald Jr. from any negative imagery.

"No journalists were allowed to interview him," Lynge told the outlet. "It was all staged to make it seem like we — the Greenlandic people — were MAGA and love to be a part of the USA."

"People were curious, but some took pictures giving him [the] finger at the airport … Some wrote on Facebook: yankee go home," she added.

Donald Trump Jr. told Politico that any suggestion his visit wasn't received well was "ridiculous," and denied that the Greenland trip was staged. But Lynge countered that her country was well-aware of the United States' history of disrespect toward Indigenous communities and that the island prefers independence from both the U.S. and from Denmark, which currently claims control of Greenland.

“We know how they treat the Inuit in Alaska,” Lynge said. “Make that great before trying to invade us.”

Earlier this week, the Guardian reported that King Frederik II of Denmark changed the country's coat of arms for the first time in 50 years to emphasize Greenland, which is represented on the royal crest by a polar bear. Denmark, which is a key NATO ally, has already indicated that the island is not for sale and would reject any effort by the president-elect to purchase the territory.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Lady Karen Pence

Mrs. Pence Redeems 'Karen' As She Snubs Trump At Carter Funeral

One awkward interaction between President-elect Donald Trump and former Second Lady Karen Pence at the state funeral of President Jimmy Carter is going viral.

The Indianapolis Star reported Thursday that while Trump and his wife, Melania were walking past Vice Presidents Al Gore, Mike Pence and his wife, the spouse of Trump's former vice president — who declined to endorse him in 2024 — stayed seated and didn't even acknowledge the Trumps. Karen Pence snubbed the incoming First Family despite both Gore and her husband rising from their seats to shake his hand.

Former Republican Ron Filipkowski — who is now the editor-in-chief of liberal news site MeidasTouch — posted video of the snub to Bluesky, writing: "Karen Pence wants nothing to do with Donald or Melania Trump."

"Karen Pence has more of a spine than her entire party," retired attorney Michael B. Lehroff wrote in response to the video.

The former second lady's coldness to the incoming president could be due to Trump egging on the mob of his supporters that laid siege to the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, erected a gallows outside and roamed the halls chanting "hang Mike Pence!" Pence was escorted out of the Senate chamber by Secret Service as the mob broke past police barricades after refusing to stop the certification of Electoral College votes for President Joe Biden. Rather than call off the mob, Trump instead tweeted that his vice president "didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution."

Olivia Troye — a former national security aide for Vice President Pence — praised her former boss' wife on Bluesky, writing: "Karen Pence is all of us right now having to stomach Trump sitting that close to them. Her face when he walked in said it all." Rolling Stone reporter Asawin Suebsaeng was also shocked at the interaction, especially when contrasting it with how Trump was received by other dignitaries, like former President Barack Obama.

"Am I getting this right? Is the only one being openly rude to Trump at this funeral… Karen Pence?" Suebsaeng skeeted.

"At least one of the Pences has some cojones," writer Rebecca Bodenheimer commented.

Karen Pence wasn't the only celebrity present at the funeral to decline a handshake from the president-elect. Former Republican President George W. Bush also refused to shake Trump's hand, despite warmly welcoming former President Bill Clinton and former First Lady Hillary Clinton to the ceremony.

Watch the video of Karen Pence's snub below, or by clicking this link.

Karen Pence wants nothing to do with Donald or Melania Trump.

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— Ron Filipkowski (@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) January 9, 2025 at 3:13 PM

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Trump May Claim 'National Emergency' To Impose New Tariffs

Trump May Claim 'National Emergency' To Impose New Tariffs

President-elect Donald Trump may be planning to invoke a national security-related emergency shortly after taking office in order to pass one of his signature campaign promises, according to a recent report.

CNN reported Wednesday that Trump is contemplating an economic emergency declaration as a means of imposing broad, sweeping tariffs on imported foreign goods. Under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA), which hasn't been used since President Richard Nixon's administration, Trump could declare that new tariffs are necessary for national security. One unnamed aide told CNN that "nothing is off the table" when considering how to impose new tariffs.

IEEPA allows a president to unilaterally implement a new tariff program to oversee U.S. imports, without Congress having the ability to provide any oversight or regulation on how those tariffs are imposed. He previously threatened to use IEEPA in 2019 to impose a five percent tariff on Mexican-made goods – with a ceiling of 25 percent — unless Mexico's government took action to slow the number of undocumented immigrants entering the U.S. However, after the U.S. and Mexico negotiated the "remain in Mexico" policy, Trump withdrew the tariff threat.

While Trump was largely able to impose tariffs during his first administration without Congress, one expert is skeptical that Trump will be able to force through his proposed new tariffs under IEEPA. Alan Wm. Wolff, who is a former deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization, wrote in a November blog post that the president-elect likely wouldn't be able to justify a national security emergency to singlehandedly raise tariffs without congressional input.

"Can it be used against trade with all countries, our allies and friends in Europe and Asia, in the Americas, not to mention the poorest countries in Africa? That would simply be too large a power grab to have been within what Congress intended in this statute," he argued.

As Wolff wrote, Trump may have difficulty convincing Congress that there's a national security situation dire enough to warrant an economic emergency declaration. The U.S. economy has been healthy by all measurable metrics for the last half of President Joe Biden's administration, despite him taking office under abnormally high inflation and interest rates due to the stress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Additionally, real wages have been steadily climbing since 2022, and unemployment rates have remained historically low despite economist's predictions that the jobless rate would have to go up significantly to lower inflation.

“Over the next four years the United States is going to take off like a rocket ship. But really it’s already doing it," Trump said in a Tuesday press conference.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

GOP Lobbyists Fret Over Possible Obstacles To Trump Tax Cut

GOP Lobbyists Fret Over Possible Obstacles To Trump Tax Cut

President-elect Donald Trump has signaled he plans to focus the first months of his administration on passing border security legislation, which means another main goal — extending his 2017 tax cut package — will have to take a back seat.

This means that the estimated $4.6 trillion cost of extending the tax cuts (which primarily benefit the richest Americans) could cause potential chaos among House and Senate Republicans in the 119th Congress. Adding that much to the federal deficit is likely to ruffle the feathers of House Freedom Caucus members like Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who has indicated that he wouldn't vote for any new federal spending without offsetting budget cuts.

And as Politico reports, even Republicans are likely to be exhausted after a lengthy months-long battle over the immigration system and may not have the stomach for back-to-back legislative slugfests. One unnamed Republican lobbyist told the outlet that the timing of the tax cut negotiations could risk torpedoing them altogether.

"Can you immediately turn around and do another bill and break even more arms?" The lobbyist asked.

Republicans' majorities in both the House and Senate are razor-thin, which means that both the border and the tax cut bills could run into a wall when individual members have bones to pick with the finer points of the legislation. Politico's Brian Faler observed that Senate Majority Leader John Thune's (R-SD) three-seat majority and House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-LA) potential one-seat majority — assuming Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Mike Waltz (R-FL.) join the Trump administration — give members a lot more "leverage" to insist on "their own pet provisions."

"Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) recently proposed a big, pricey increase in the child credit, to a maximum $5,000, from the current $2,000, per kid," Faler wrote. "Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL), meanwhile, just rolled out a plan seconding Trump’s bid to cut income taxes on Americans living abroad."

The 2017 tax cuts are due to expire at the end of 2025, meaning Republicans may have less time than they would like to get an extension to Trump's desk. Republicans have already proposed several controversial pay-fors to offset the $4.6 trillion extension, including the repeal of President Joe Biden's popular student debt relief programs. If the extension is signed into law, Americans making $450,000 and up would see their incomes increase by 3.2 percent, while the richest one percent — who make $1 million a year or more – would get an average tax cut of nearly $70,000.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Judge Juan Merchan

New York Judge Orders Trump To Appear For Sentencing Next Week

Even though he's due to be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States in a little more than two weeks, President-elect Donald Trump is still being ordered to appear in court next Friday to be officially sentenced for his 34 felony convictions.

On Friday, New York Daily News reporter Molly Crane-Newman reported that Trump's motion to dismiss his felony convictions handed down by a Manhattan jury last spring was unsuccessful, according to New York Supreme Court acting Justice Juan Merchan's latest ruling. Crane-Newman posted Merchan's order to Bluesky on Friday afternoon, in which the judge who oversaw Trump's 2024 trial ruled that the president-elect failed to prove that his convictions should be thrown out in accordance with the Supreme Court's immunity decision.

"HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant's motion to dismiss the indictment and vacate the jury verdict ... is denied, and it is further ORDERED that Defendant appear for sentencing following conviction on January 10, 2025 at 9:30 in the morning," Merchan wrote. He added that Trump could appear in-person or virtually, and that he is ordered to respond with his preference by Sunday, January 5.

Even though Trump is to be sentenced for 34 felony crimes, Merchan's ruling suggested that he would simply impose an "unconditional discharge," meaning that the president-elect won't face any actual penalties. He referred to it as "the most viable solution" and acknowledged Trump's concerns that being sentenced to prison or home confinement would impede his duties as president.

"While this Court as a matter of law must not make any determination on sentencing prior to giving the parties and Defendant an opportunity to be heard, it seems proper at this juncture to make known the Court’s inclination to not impose any sentence of incarceration, a sentence authorized by the conviction but one the People concede they no longer view as a practicable recommendation," Merchan wrote.

Trump was initially found guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in late May of last year, and faced a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years. His initial sentencing date was slated for July, though Merchan eventually moved it back to September, and then to late November, before once again delaying it after Trump was re-elected. His repeated delays frustrated many legal observers and experts who lamented that Trump was "above the law."

""The American people have no trust in their institutions because those institutions do not work," journalist Nick Field posted to X in September.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

GOP Governor Urges Medicare, Social Security To Be Cut And 'Privatized'

GOP Governor Urges Medicare, Social Security To Be Cut And 'Privatized'

New Hampshire Republican Governor Chris Sununu is bullish on a billionaire-led effort to cut social safety nets for working-class Americans — including the political third rail of Social Security.

Semafor reporter David Weigel recently interviewed Sununu, who is retiring after his successor, Republican Governor-elect Kelly Ayotte, assumes office on January 8. The Granite State governor expressed optimism about billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's "Department of Government Efficiency," or "DOGE," (which is not yet an actual federal agency authorized by Congress) which he is co-leading with billionaire pharmaceutical investor Vivek Ramaswamy.

While Musk and Ramaswamy's advisory panel is expected to recommend the elimination of various labor and environmental regulations and the firing of thousands of public sector workers, Sununu is particularly hoping they will pursue cuts to both Medicare and Social Security. Sununu compared Musk and Ramaswamy's efforts to former President George W. Bush's failed proposal to privatize Social Security in 2005.

"George W. Bush was absolutely right, and he’s been proven right time and time again," Sununu said. "You have to move that retirement age. That’s just so obvious... Whether it’s 62 or 64 or 65, find the right number that works. Do it for the next generation. Allow some of this to be privatized. Those models have proven to be absolutely rock solid, and work."

"George W. Bush was a couple of senators away from getting this done," he added. "So many of America’s problems would be cured."

Sununu specifically argued that the proposed austerity measures were necessary, saying: "In about eight years, Social Security benefits drop to 83 percent, Medicare goes bankrupt [and] the interest rates come due." The first point seems to come from the May 2024 Social Security trustees report, which states that the fund reserves that help pay for Social Security benefits will be spent down by 2035.

However, as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and others have pointed out, Social Security could be made solvent for decades by simply removing the cap on paying into the fund. Currently, the super-rich only have to pay a 6.2 percent payroll tax of the first $132,900 they earn in a year into Social Security. But Sanders argues if that cap were removed, Social Security benefits would be fully paid for 52 more years. The Vermont senator added that seniors who earn less than $16,000 per year would get an additional $1,300 per month in benefits if that cap were removed.

"When Republicans say they want to run back George W. Bush’s plan to destroy Social Security, believe them," Social Security Works executive director Alex Lawson told AlterNet. "Elon Musk's slash and burn commission is a transparent plot to gut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid."

Like Social Security, Medicare is also not a contributor to the federal deficit. Just as both employers and employees contribute 6.2 percent toward Social Security, they also contribute a 1.45 percent Medicare tax from every paycheck to keep the program funded. And unlike Social Security, there’s no wage cap on paying into that fund.

While Medicare's Hospital Insurance fund is expected to reach its limit in 2026, this can be remedied by — as the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) recommended in 2019 — repealing language in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that eliminated the individual mandate built into the Affordable Care Act. The individual mandate decreased the number of uninsured patients, which decreased the amount Medicare paid for uncompensated care. The CBPP also called to reinstate the Independent Payment Advisory Board, which was projected to help slow the growth of increasing costs.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Border State Sheriffs Defying Trump On Mass Deportation Scheme

Border State Sheriffs Defying Trump On Mass Deportation Scheme

President-elect Donald Trump's advisors have been hoping county sheriffs in border states will assist with the incoming administration's mass deportation campaign. But several sheriffs are already publicly promising to not lift a finger.

According to a Tuesday report in WIRED magazine, top Trump immigration advisors like Tom Homan and Stephen Miller have been having conversations with several far-right sheriffs who have expressed an interest in helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) remove immigrants from the United States. But that effort is unlikely to pick up traction, both for legal reasons and because other sheriffs have said they already have their hands full and don't want to take on more work.

Currently, ICE's 287(g) program allows for state and local law enforcement to collaborate with ICE in its efforts "to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of noncitizens." However, this does not include sheriffs themselves rounding up and detaining undocumented immigrants.

Additionally, no federal funding has been appropriated to any sheriffs' offices that help ICE, meaning just 125 out of 3,081 sheriff's offices in the U.S. have signed up. And Yuma County, Arizona Sheriff Leon Wilmot told WIRED that the Supreme Court has already established that enforcing immigration law is outside the jurisdiction of local police departments and sheriffs' offices.

"[T]hat's not our realm of responsibility," Wilmot said. "If we wanted to do immigration law, we would go work for Border Patrol."

The push for sheriffs to assist the incoming administration has been led by retired sheriff Tom Mack, who is the head of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA). Mack told WIRED he's been exchanging voice and text messages with Homan about getting more sheriffs involved with deportations. Homan has previously promised to build "the biggest deportation force this country has ever seen." But Wilmot said "no one listens to" Mack, that he "hasn't been a sheriff in a long time" and that he "pushes his own agenda."

Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway, who is a Democrat, told WIRED that he wasn't invited to an event Homan hosted in his state last month, even though Hathaway's jurisdiction includes some of the nation's biggest ports of entry. He added that he would refuse any calls to help the Trump administration deport immigrants, as it would hurt his standing in his county.

"I'm not going to cooperate, because 95 percent of the residents of the town where I live, where my county is, are Hispanic,” Hathaway said. “I'm not going to go checking the documents of practically every single person in my county to determine their immigration status, because that would create distrust between law enforcement and all the people in my community."

The sheriffs bucking calls to assist with mass deportations even include some of Trump's biggest supporters in the law enforcement community. Livingston County, Michigan Sheriff Mike Murphy — who hosted a pro-Trump rally in a building owned by the sheriff's office — told the outlet that he isn't interested in using county resources to help with federal immigration law enforcement.

"I still have a county to do police work in,” Murphy said. “Just because the president says, 'Hey, go out and round them up,' that is not all of a sudden gonna move to the top of my priority list. If somebody's house is getting broken into, that's my priority. If somebody's involved in an injury crash and they're laying on the side of the road, that's my priority. I've got cases that are open.”

Other border state sheriffs who have come out against calls to help the Trump administration round up migrants include Val Verde County, Texas Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez and Brewster County, Texas Sheriff Ronny Dodson. According to Dodson, the incoming Trump administration giving sheriffs the authority to jail migrants could "break" county law enforcement.

"I’m not gonna let the government tell me what to do in my job," Dodson said.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Christopher Wray

FBI Director's Abrupt Resignation Blasted As 'Obeying In Advance'

On Wednesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray announced that he would be resigning from his post after President Joe Biden's term ends on January 20, 2025. His decision has been met with swift condemnation from various experts, journalists, commentators and activists.

Wray's resignation is particularly noteworthy as FBI directors serve 10-year terms and cannot be easily replaced by a new president. Then-President Donald Trump appointed Wray in 2017, and he continued to serve under Biden after he took office in 2021. Wray could have served in that role through the bulk of Trump's second term had he chosen to remain in his position.

"In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the Bureau deeper into the fray," he told the FBI's rank-and-file. "It should go without saying but I'll say it anyway — this is not easy for me. I love our mission and I love our people — but my focus is, and always has been, on us and doing what's right for the FBI."

Bowdoin College political science professor Andrew Rudalevige disagreed with Wray's argument, countering: "This does not 'protect' the Bureau — just the opposite."

"[Wray] is undermining the post-Watergate reforms that sought to place the FBI and DOJ above partisanship," he wrote.

President-elect Trump celebrated Wray's resignation on Truth Social as "a great day for America," telling his millions of followers that the FBI "illegally raided my home [after he refused multiple requests to hand over classified documents]" and "worked diligently on illegally impeaching and indicting me." Attorney and writer Luppe B. Luppen, who posts as "nycsouthpaw" on X and Bluesky, observed: "If Chris Wray thought advance compliance with the incoming authoritarian regime's wishes would earn him a handshake and a graceful exit, he miscalculated even in that."

In a post to Bluesky, Renato Mariotti — who was a federal prosecutor between 2007 and 2016 — lamented that the outgoing FBI director was simply greasing the skids for Trump. He pointed out that Wray could have stayed on in his role for over two more years.

"It is not normal for a president-elect to threaten to fire the FBI Director," he wrote. "Wray could have stayed on until Trump [fired] him, but he is making things easy for Trump."

Ian Bassin, who is the founder and executive director of the organization Protect Democracy, referenced author Timothy Snyder's book On Tyranny, in which he encourages those fighting against authoritarian regimes to not "obey in advance." He urged Wray and others who have resigned ahead of Trump's inauguration to rethink their decisions.

"To Jack Smith, Chris Wray, and anyone else thinking of just obeying in advance: STOP," he wrote on Bluesky. "Our system depends on there being a political cost for breaking things. If Trump wants to fire the FBI Director or fire the Special Counsel prosecuting him, make him do it. Stop doing his work for him!"

American University assistant professor David Ryan Miller wrote that Wray is "just the latest political elite whose reaction to Trump's win and pre-inaugural attempts to break what remains of the institutions and the rule of law is to throw up his hands and let Trump have his way," and added: "The 'compliance in advance' of the political class has been deeply disappointing."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

At Mar-a-Lago, Trump Hosted German Far-Right 'Friends' Who Defend Nazis

At Mar-a-Lago, Trump Hosted German Far-Right 'Friends' Who Defend Nazis

President-elect Donald Trump recently hosted several members of the far-right German political party whose top leaders have gone on the record defending Nazi war criminals.

That's according to The Guardian, which reported that a group of AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) members recently traveled to Mar-a-Lago to celebrate Trump's 2024 election victory. The incoming president was seen posing for photos with far-right Bundestag candidate Philipp-Anders Rau, who the Guardian described as a "purported semi-professional, one-time porn actor, self-confessed former cocaine user [and] convicted thief."

The outlet also reported that Trump posed for a photo with Maximilian Krah, an AfD member of the European Parliament who went on the record earlier this year defending members of the Nazi party's infamous Waffen-SS unit. Krah's remarks were considered too extreme even for members of France's far-right National Rally, which said it would no longer sit with the AfD in European Parliament.

In one of the photos, Trump is seen posing with Rau, along with right-wing conspiracy theorist Leonard Jäger, far-right activist Beat Ulrich Zirpel, and Fabrice Ambrosini, who had to step away from a political post in 2021 for allegedly flashing the Hitler salute. Zirpel posted a video to Instagram in which Trump is seen greeting the group saying: "Where's my German friends?" The president-elect also shook their hands, and said "thank you, fellas" after they chanted "fight, fight fight!" (Trump's catchphrase after narrowly avoiding an assassination attempt in July.)

The AfD party — which is known for its ardent anti-immigration stance and Islamophobia — is expected to have a strong showing in Germany's upcoming parliamentary elections on February 23. Phillipp-Anders Rau was introduced to Trump by AfD official Jan Wenzel Schmidt, who has been a member of the Bundestag since 2021.

"I was convinced that Trump would become president again, and wanted to make contact with the Republicans early on,” Schmidt told the German newspaperBild. “Other parties are hectically setting out and we already have a good connection.”

Similar to Trump, the AfD has also opposed aid for Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia. Should the party win a plurality of votes in February, it's likely that Kyiv would lose an additional source of support, as the incoming Trump administration is also likely to cut off U.S. aid for Ukraine.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Biden Mulls Pardons For Cheney, Fauci And Other Targets Of MAGA 'Hit List'

Biden Mulls Pardons For Cheney, Fauci And Other Targets Of MAGA 'Hit List'

Throughout the course of his third bid for the White House, President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly promised to use the full powers of the federal government to prosecute his political enemies. Now, President Joe Biden appears to be taking those threats seriously.

According to a Wednesday report by Politico's Jonathan Martin, Biden is now weighing preemptive pardons for several people Trump has directly targeted, including Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) — who won California's U.S. Senate race in November — and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), who was vice chair of the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.

Martin wrote that Biden was "deeply concerned" about the fate of the people Trump has singled out, particularly after the president-elect nominated Kash Patel to be the next potential FBI director. According to The Hill, Patel has referred to Schiff — who led Trump's first impeachment effort — as a "government gangster," and has accused Cheney of being "the main architect of this disinformation campaign."

"[Cheney] and her band of miscreants suppressed evidence that completely exonerates the January 6 defendants from their ginned-up charge of insurrection," Patel wrote in a May email.

Biden is also reportedly weighing a pardon for Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Martin didn't name any other potential recipients of a preemptive pardon, but Patel is reportedly eyeing both Democrats and Republicans alike for prosecution, including former Attorney General Bill Barr, former National Security Advisor John Bolton, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper and other former Trump White House staffers who later opposed him publicly, like Sarah Isgur Flores, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Stephanie Grisham.

"If it’s clear by January 19 that [revenge] is his intention, then I would recommend to President Biden that he provide those preemptive pardons to people, because that’s really what our country is going to need next year," Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) told WGBH.

Journalist Eleanor Clift recently called on Biden to issue preemptive pardons for Cheney and Schiff, along with former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), who also publicly opposed Trump during the 2024 election cycle. Former Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly — who both called Trump a "fascist" — have also been recommended for pardons.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Russian TV Ecstatic Over Patel, Who 'Will Quickly Dismantle America'

Russian TV Ecstatic Over Patel, Who 'Will Quickly Dismantle America'

Russian state-owned broadcast channels have been bullish on President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet. But hosts on one channel are particularly enthusiastic about two appointees. And they're specifically excited because they believe the Cabinet will quickly bring about the destabilization of the United States.

In a segment posted to YouTube by Russian Media Monitor (a channel created by Daily Beast columnist Julia Davis) Russia-1 anchor Vladimir Solovyov recently heaped praise on Kash Patel, who Trump has nominated to be the next FBI director. Solovyov said that he "really really like[s]" most of Trump's nominees, though he lamented that the Senate "will not let them in." Davis noted that Solovyov and the rest of the panel were "thrilled" about the incoming administration given his Cabinet appointees.

"And the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah," Solovyov said. "What an excellent team is coming along with Trump! Not with respect to Ukraine, but as far as everything else goes, if they are allowed to get in, they will quickly dismantle America, brick by brick."

"Trump's nominee to head the FBI, Kash Patel, is simply on fire," Solvyov continued, before playing a clip of Patel describing how he would shut down the J. Edgar Hoover building in Washington, D.C. and turn it into a "museum of the Deep State" while scattering its 7,000 employees across the U.S.

"He's a beaut! He is very, very good!" Solovyov added.

Another panelist — professor Andrey Sidorov, who is the Dean of the School of World Politics at Moscow State University — was complimentary of both Patel and Secretary of Defense-designate Pete Hegseth, saying that the latter was in the same vein as Patel. Sidorov said he was "fully in support" of Patel leading the FBI, and exclaimed that "another one like him will head the Defense Department."

Aside from Patel and Hegseth, other Trump Cabinet picks have also received high marks from Russian state media hosts. Director of National Intelligence-designate Tulsi Gabbard has been praised for her friendliness to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Keith Kellogg, who Trump picked to be special envoy for Ukraine, reportedly got a "lukewarm reaction" from Moscow.

Watch the video of the panel below (comments about Patel and Hegseth start at around the 6:15 mark).


- YouTubeyoutu.be


Reprinted with permission from Alternet

RFK Jr. Nomination Under Fire From Trump's Former FDA Chief

RFK Jr. Nomination Under Fire From Trump's Former FDA Chief

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who President-elect Donald Trump's picked to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, may be in for a tougher confirmation battle than previously believed.

According to a Friday article in healthcare publication Stat, former Food & Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Scott Gottlieb — who served in the role for two years under Trump's first administration — is growing more confident that RFK Jr. won't get the 51 Senate votes he needs next year. Gottlieb said there is an increased level of "skepticism in the Republican caucus [on RFK Jr.’s nomination], more than the press is reporting right now."

"I’ve had conversations, and I’ve raised my concerns and I will continue to raise my concerns,” Gottlieb told CNBC's Squawk Box.

Gottlieb said he's enlisting Republican senators in his cause to sink RFK Jr.'s nomination using three core arguments: Large agricultural interests who could spend big against incumbent Republicans in future elections due to RFK Jr.'s positions on the American food industry, his past support for abortion rights and his opposition to childhood vaccines ruffling the feathers of "public health-minded" senators.

He's also warning senators against weighing their confirmation vote by using their position to box RFK Jr. in by threatening to withhold appropriations for HHS. He pointed out that Congress already has immense difficulty in passing government funding bills and doubted that there would political will in a Republican-controlled Congress to deny funding to a Republican executive branch.

"That's not going to be successful," Gottlieb said.

The former FDA commissioner also warned that RFK Jr.'s calls to revamp childhood vaccines could bring back a resurgence of measles and could "cost lives" if he takes the reins of HHS. RFK Jr.'s confirmation hearing will likely take place in the days following Trump's inauguration on January 20, 2025.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Why Trump's Massive Tax Gift To The Rich Makes Some Republicans Nervous

Why Trump's Massive Tax Gift To The Rich Makes Some Republicans Nervous

Despite Republicans keeping the House of Representatives and flipping control of the Senate, some are acknowledging that extending President-elect Donald Trump's tax cuts in 2025 will be a tall order.

In a recent Politico article, several Republican members of Congress expressed worry that renewing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TJCA) of 2017 could be difficult given its $4.6 trillion price tag. While the initial legislation came with an estimated cost of $1.5 trillion over 10 years, Politico reported that extending the approximately 40 provisions in the law would come in at a cost of $4 trillion over that same time period, with another $600 billion in interest.

The bulk of those tax cuts overwhelmingly benefit the rich. According to CNN, an analysis from July found that if the TJCA was extended next year, the richest five percent of taxpayers would reap almost half the benefits. Those making $450,000 and up would see their incomes increase by 3.2 percent, while the richest one percent — who make $1 million a year or more – would get an average tax cut of nearly $70,000. And the top 0.1 percent richest Americans would see a whopping $280,000 average reduction in their own taxes.

Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL), who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee (which oversees tax-related matters) was skeptical that the GOP would be able to easily pass the new tax cuts without a big fight even among members of his own party.

"That’s going to be the biggest challenge for the [House Republican] conference," he said.

Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX), who chairs the House Budget Committee, is also wary of any new tax cuts that will add to the federal deficit. In order to make the new round of tax cuts deficit-neutral, Arrington is pondering pairing them with cuts to Medicaid (the health insurance program for the poorest Americans), repealing green energy tax breaks and increasing taxes on corporate profits booked overseas that get repatriated. But House Ways and Means chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) told Politico he was less concerned about paying for a new round of tax cuts.

"“Look at history — were the Bush tax cuts paid for?” He said.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Pete Hegseth

Hegseth Envisions Public Schools As Christian Nationalist 'Bootcamps'

Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, who President-elect Donald Trump has nominated to be the potential next defense secretary, recently called for radically transforming the public education system in order to accommodate a Christian nationalist vision.

That's according to Salon writer Amanda Marcotte, who highlighted Hegseth's remarks in a November episode of the "CrossPolitic" podcast. In that podcast — which is hosted by two men with close ties to far-right chattlel slavery apologist pastor Douglas Wilson — Hegseth called for an "educational insurgency" of "classical Christian schools."

In the interview promoting his book Battle for the American Mind, Hegseth agreed with host Toby Sumpter, who said: "I think we need to be thinking in terms of these classical Christian schools are boot camps for winning back America."

"That's what the crop of these classical Christian schools are gonna do in a generation," Hegseth said. "Policy answers like school choice, while they're great, that's phase two stuff later on once the foothold has been taken, once the recruits have graduated boot camp."

"We call it a tactical retreat," Hegseth added, using overtly militaristic language. "We draw out in the last part of the book what an educational insurgency would look like, because I was a counterinsurgency instructor in Afghanistan and kind of the phases that Mao [Zedong] wrote about. We're in middle phase one right now, which is effectively a tactical retreat where you regroup, consolidate, and reorganize. And as you do so, you build your army underground with the opportunity later on of taking offensive operations in an overt way."

Marcotte pointed out that the conversion of public schools to far-right Christian indoctrination spaces is already underway in some red states. She observed that Oklahoma education superintendent Ryan Walters is mandating that all schools show students a video in which he attacks the "radical left" and "woke teachers' unions" and delivers a lengthy prayer for the protection of Trump. She also noted that Walters has already proposed spending millions in taxpayer dollars on putting Trump's branded Bibles in public school classrooms.

"So far, this flagrant violation of the Constitution hasn't worked. The state attorney general stepped in and declared that Walters cannot mandate the viewing of his propaganda. Some school districts refused, though it's quite possible others gave in out of an unwillingness to fight with Walters to defend their students," Marcotte wrote. "More importantly, this is just an escalation of an all-out effort by Walters to turn Oklahoma's public schools into exactly the 'boot camps' building up the 'army' of Christian nationalists that Hegseth and his cronies imagine."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Hakeem Jeffries

If Not For Swing State's GOP Gerrymander, Democrats Would Control House

While Democrats lost control of the White House and the Senate in the 2024 election, they might well have flipped control of the House of Representatives were it not for a controversial move by Republican lawmakers in one battleground state.

In a Wednesday tweet, Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-NC) claimed that "North Carolina's gerrymandered maps changed the nation." The freshman congressman — who announced in 2023 that he would not seek a second term — further argued: "The three seats stolen from Democrats (mine included) cost Democrats control of the U.S. House of Representatives."

"Without a brutal mid-census NC GOP gerrymander @RepJeffries would be the next Speaker in a 218-217 House," Nickel added, mentioning the official handle of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) in his tweet.

Nickel's opinion was also shared by NBC News reporter Sahil Kapur, who posted to Bluesky that the current partisan makeup of the House as of this week stands at 220 Republican seats and 214 Democratic seats. In the one contest yet to be decided in California's 13th Congressional District, Rep. John Duarte (R-CA is narrowly trailing his Democratic opponent Adam Gray by roughly 200 votes. If Gray prevails, that would put Democrats at 215 seats.

However, the House's Republican majority becomes even more tenuous after the 119th Congress is sworn in on January 3. At that point, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) will officially leave the House. When President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20, Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) will join his administration as National Security Advisor. And if Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), currently House Republican Conference chair, is confirmed as the next U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, the GOP could end up with the tiniest of majorities.

"Could be a 220-215 majority, which shrinks to 217-215 early 2025 when you subtract Gaetz, Stefanik, Waltz," Kapur wrote. "The GOP gerrymander in North Carolina (flipped 3 Dem seats) saved their majority."

The gerrymander went through last fall, when North Carolina Republicans ignored court-drawn maps in 2022 to propose new redistricting maps that effectively turned four previously Democratic districts into districts that heavily favored Republicans. Even though Democratic Governor Roy Cooper vetoed the maps, the GOP supermajority overrode him, making the maps official for the 2024 election.

Lindsey Prather, a Democratic lawmaker in the Tar Heel State, blasted her Republican colleagues in a tweet, and called for an independent redistricting process to propose fairer maps.

""I want to take a second & acknowledge the sheer insanity that is [North Carolina politics]," Rep. Prather posted. "We need nonpartisan, independent redistricting. We shouldn't be waiting w/bated breath for maps that were drawn in secret. This shouldn't be exciting. It should be a boring thing that happens every 10 years."

The new maps will likely remain in place until after the 2030 Census. However, Democrats were able to break the Republican supermajority in the Tar Heel State legislature this November despite Republicans' wins at the federal level. And Attorney General Josh Stein won North Carolina's gubernatorial election, keeping the governor's mansion in Democratic hands through at least 2028.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.