News & Politics

'People don’t care': Popular internet sleuths deny NYPD’s request to track down CEO shooter

The New York Police Department (NYPD) is crowd-sourcing their investigation into the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson to the general public after two days with no positive ID on the shooter. But they may not get much help from the internet, according to multiple popular TikTok sleuths.

NBC News reported that law enforcement is banking on the American public helping them identify the man seen in new photos released this week, which show the alleged assassin lowering his mask while flirting with a hostel concierge. Those are currently the only photos of the alleged killer in which his mask isn't concealing his face, and law enforcement veterans have called them a "turning point" in the investigation.

But Savannah Sparks — who has 1.3 million TikTok followers and is known for helping track down perpetrators of racist and hateful attacks — was unequivocal in her refusal to help find Thompson's murderer. Thompson told NBC she was "pretty apathetic" about the ongoing manhunt, and that her impression of the online sleuthing community's current mood was: "[C]oncepts of thoughts and prayers."

"It’s, you know, claim denied on my prayers there," Sparks said, with a tongue-in-cheek reference to health insurance industry lingo.

According to NBC, Sparks (who holds a doctorate of pharmacy and works in the healthcare industry as a lactation consultant) has been called on by law enforcement in the past to assist with training officers on how to track down suspects online. But she said that in this particular case, she has zero interest in helping the NYPD.

"Absolutely the f— not," she said.

Michael McWhorter, who is "TizzyEnt" on TikTok and has more than 6.7 million followers, observed that he hadn't seen the same drumbeat from the public to find Thompson's killer that he's seen in past cases involving "blatant violence." He opined that investigators may be underestimating "how much people don’t care." And Swarthmore College assistant professor of computer science Sukrit Venkatagiri said it's possible that some internet sleuths "don’t really empathize with who the victim is in this scenario."

"People are less motivated, from an altruistic perspective, to help this victim in this specific case," he said, noting that the victim in question was the multimillion-dollar CEO of a Fortune 500 health insurance company.

One person who helped police was software engineer Riley Walz, who obtained data from the Citibike station used by the alleged shooter after the murder. Some social media users called him a "snitch," according to NBC. McWhorter said those who help police being ganged up on could discourage others from helping to identify the shooter. But he said it's possible that apathy could play a larger role.

"There’s this weird thing, this vibe of like, I don’t see a bunch of people just feeling an urgency," he said.

Click here to read NBC's report in its entirety.

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'The volume’s getting turned up': J6 defendants expecting Trump pardons get unruly in court

Participants in the deadly siege of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 have reportedly become emboldened since the 2024 election given their expectations of being pardoned by President-elect Donald Trump.

According to a Friday article in Politico, several defendants being prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have been acting out in court proceedings during the lame-duck period between outgoing President Joe Biden's administration and Trump's inauguration. One of those defendants is Guy Reffitt, a Texas man who brought a gun to the insurrection. Politico's Kyle Cheney reported that Reffitt criticized Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, claiming his treatment was "bulls—."

Reffitt said he had been "in [his] feelings" since 2021, when he was first imprisoned in the Washington, D.C. jail. He added that now that Trump is about to enter the White House, he's "out of my feelings." Friedrich, who re-sentenced Reffitt to seven years, responded: “No one has a problem with your feelings. It’s the actions you took with your feelings.”

Other judges are also contending with the rowdiness of January 6 rioters. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who was appointed to the bench by former President Barack Obama, said during a sentencing hearing for a member of the Proud Boys gang that breaking past Capitol Police barricades “at the direction of a disappointed candidate” was “the definition of tyranny and authoritarianism.”

"The volume’s getting turned up," Jackson said on Friday.

Trump has previously referred to January 6 defendants as "hostages," which is a label Judge Jackson has pushed back against, though simultaneously doing so carefully and not mentioning the incoming president by name. Many of the defendants Trump has called for pardoning are in jail for assaulting police officers — including both defendants who were convicted by a jury, and defendants who pleaded guilty of their own volition.

Former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn called Trump's proposed pardons a "slap in the face" last month, given that hundreds of officers were injured defending the Capitol with others, like Officer Brian Sicknick, dying in the days following the attack. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said during a Friday sentencing hearing that he fears Americans have "largely shunted aside" the actions that law enforcement took to protect the Capitol.

Click here to read Politico's report in full.

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'Quickly get into problems': These 3 obstacles could slow down Trump’s mass deportations

Stephen Miller, who is the top immigration advisor to President-elect Donald Trump, has pledged that the incoming administration will begin its promised mass deportation campaign at "light speed" shortly after Trump's inauguration. But there are several significant legal impediments that could frustrate those deportations.

The Washington Post reported Friday that Trump's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will have some difficulty deporting at least of the roughly 1.4 million undocumented immigrants currently in the deportation queue next year. This includes those immigrants' home countries refusing to take them, immigrants serving prison terms and other immigrants getting reprieves from judges due to medical conditions or other factors.

Those obstacles could be just the beginning of the second Trump administration's headaches in enacting its deportation agenda, as other unforeseen logistical barriers could tie up ICE agents in myriad other ways. One example is the military planes that ICE would rely on to fly migrants out of the country being unavailable due to aircraft already being committed elsewhere.

“If you start using those planes for deportations, you quickly get into problems with military force readiness," an unnamed retired ICE official told the Post. “It’s the same contractors who are flying our service members to the Middle East or to Germany.”

Tom Homan, who the president-elect has tapped as his incoming border czar, is tasked with heading up his deportation agenda. He's promised that any undocumented immigrant that an immigration judge has cleared for deportation should be deported, regardless of whether they've committed a crime.

“If those orders aren’t executed or carried out, then what the hell are we doing?” Homan said in November. “Nothing in immigration law says you need to commit a very serious criminal offense to be removed from the country.”

Should Trump succeed in his stated goal of deporting millions of undocumented immigrants, it could inadvertently create a new financial headache for taxpayers. Journalist David Cay Johnston pointed out last month that any undocumented immigrant who has had a child since arriving in the United States would be separated from their children if deported, as their children are U.S. citizens. He then observed that foster care systems in multiple states could be overwhelmed, leading to significant property tax increases down the road.

Click here to read the Post's full report (subscription required).

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Butker’s 'traditional values' PAC took retiree cash, spent most on fundraising: report

A political action committee founded by Harrison Butker—the pro-Trump NFL placekicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, whose highly controversial comments have led to allegations of bigotry, including antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia, and sexism, along with anti-vax beliefs—has come under fire.

Butker’s Upright PAC was supposed to “promote and encourage Christian voters to vote, so that their voices are heard this November.” But according to reports, it appears to have taken in donations, and spent most of it on fundraising.

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A post shared by Harrison Butker (@buttkicker7)

Butker, 29, a friend of Missouri far-right U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, was described as “the latest angry rich guy with a Pac,” in an opinion piece at The Guardian.

His controversial views made major headlines this year when he delivered the commencement address at Benedictine college, a small Catholic school in Atchison, Kansas, back in May.

“Butker managed, in just a few minutes, to be homophobic, anti-abortion (saying that Joe Biden was responsible for ‘the murder of innocent babies’), and racist, railing against the ‘tyranny of diversity, equity, and inclusion,'” wrote Dave Zirin at The Nation. “He cried out against ‘things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values and media,’ which supposedly ‘all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder.'”

“Butker was also antisemitic,” Zirin charged. “He threw down with a ‘Jews killed Jesus’ line, saying, ‘Congress just passed a bill where stating something as basic as the Biblical teaching of who killed Jesus could land you in jail.’ Subtle as a blowtorch. But you won’t hear the right say a word about it while they’ll go full-House Un-American Activities Committee on college presidents over fabricated charges of the same.”

He attacked LGBTQ Pride Month as a “deadly sin.”

Butker also went after women, or more precisely, women who want to have careers outside the home—like his mother, a medical physicist, has. His mother also has not one but two university degrees.

“I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you,” Butker told the women graduates (full transcript here). “How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world…I’m on the stage today and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation…and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker. I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say that her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.”

And he went after President Joe Biden, calling him “delusional.”

“Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the sign of the cross during a pro-abortion rally,” Butker charged. “He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I’m sure to many people it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice.”

“He is not alone, Butker said. “From the man behind the COVID lockdowns to the people pushing dangerous gender ideologies onto the youth of America, they all have a glaring thing in common. They are Catholic. This is an important reminder that being Catholic alone doesn’t cut it.”

(GLAAD published this fact-check.)

On Friday, investigative journalist Roger Sollenberger reported: “Remember when Josh Hawley’s placekicker pal Harrison Butker started a PAC to promote candidates that support Christian values? Turns out it raised $36,000, gave $0 to candidates, and spent about $30K on fundraising fees.”

Sollenberger posted a link to this page at the Federal Election Commission.

He adds, “Most of the donors to Butker’s PAC say they’re retirees. One donor was unemployed three years ago and gave the pro-Christian group $475, listing her current job as an associate at Walmart.”

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) also investigated, saying, “we took a look. Butker’s PAC raised $36k from small donors. Guess how much it spent on its stated goal? Absolutely nothing.”

— (@)

“But records show it spent more than $30k of that $36k, so where did the money go?” CREW asked. “$100 on office supplies. And all the rest spent on fundraising.”

And CREW notes, “A further search shows no records of Butker, the highest paid kicker in the NFL, making any political contributions himself.”

— (@)

See the social media posts above or at this link.

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Infamous Trump-loving Nazi influencer arrested for battery: report

Infamous neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes has been arrested and charged with battery, the Smoking Gun reports.

According to police documents obtained by the Smoking Gun, the 26-year-old Holocaust-denying Fuentes was arrested after a woman claimed that he maced her and shoved her to the ground outside of his house in Illinois.

"Marla Rose, a 57-year-old Berwyn resident, told cops that after seeing an online Fuentes post 'in regards to women’s rights' that declared, 'Your body my choice,' she decided to 'record a video' of Fuentes’s Berwyn property. While recording, Rose said, a female passerby 'encouraged her to speak with Nicholas, so she...rang his front doorbell.'"

Upon ringing the bell, Fuentes emerged from the house an immediately sprayed her with pepper spray and then pushed her down the stairs.

ALSO READ: 'Does not bode well for Trump': CNN host winces at conservative's defense of nominee

Fuentes told police that he was "in fear for his life" after his "your body, my choice" declaration went viral and led to outrage among many women.

In late 2022, Fuentes was a dinner guest of President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort, where he was also joined by Hitler-praising rapper Kanye West.

Trump insisted afterward that he did not realize he had invited a neo-Nazi influencer to have dinner with him.

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'Flagrantly unlawful': Experts demolish Trump’s plan of bypassing Senate to confirm Cabinet

President-elect Donald Trump has floated the idea of a scheme to allow for "recess appointments" of his Cabinet. But several legal experts are pointing out that this would run afoul of the Constitution in a major way.

As the Associated Press reported in November, Trump is considering asking Republican leaders of both the House and the Senate to adjourn after he is inaugurated in order him to appoint the bulk of his Cabinet in one fell swoop, essentially bypassing the confirmation process. Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has notably not taken recess appointments off the table.

But in a Friday article for the Atlantic, Yale University law professor Akhil Reed Amar, Georgetown University law professor Josh Chafetz and Columbia Law School Thomas Schmidt revealed how Trump's controversial plan is contradictory to the most foundational elements of the American system. They pointed out that "there is simply no way to do this consistent with the text, history and structure of the Constitution.

In 2020, Trump previously threatened recess appointments when Democrats gummed up the works of the Senate. And he has even weighed the option of a provision in the Constitution that allows a president to force Congress into recess by declaring them to both be in disagreement on adjournment – something that Amar, Chafetz and Schmidt say has "never been used in all of American history."

"The House Republicans’ idea seems to be to manufacture a 'disagreement' to trigger this adjournment power. First, the House of Representatives would pass a resolution calling for a recess. The Senate would then (in all likelihood) refuse to pass the resolution. Trump would then declare the houses to be in 'disagreement' and adjourn both houses for as long as he likes," the authors explained. "From there, he would start his recess-appointments spree. There is just one glaring problem: The 'disagreement' in this scenario is illusory."

The House GOP has also toyed with the idea of Trump sending the Senate home against its will and confirm all of his Cabinet nominees during the artificial "recess," which the authors called "flagrantly unlawful." Trump reportedly considered doing this in his first term.

Several of Trump's Cabinet nominees — like Defense Secretary-designate Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence-designate Tulsi Gabbard and Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — have proved controversial even for the incoming Republican Senate majority. Republicans will have 53 seats, meaning Trump's Cabinet picks can only afford three defections in order to be confirmed. A petition calling on senators to stop Trump's most controversial Cabinet picks has accumulated nearly 55,000 signatures as of Friday.

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Ozempic coverage prompts stark internal schism among Republicans

Editor's note: This headline has been updated.

Anyone who watches MSNBC or CNN frequently has likely seen some commercials for Ozempic, a weight loss drug. Pharma companies do a lot of advertising on cable news, and Ozempic commercials have been plentiful.

According to Semafor's Kadia Goba, a major debate among Republicans involves Ozempic and other weight loss drugs.

Republicans, Goba reports in an article published on December 6, are "divided" on whether or not the federal government should "expand coverage of" Ozempic and other drugs aimed at weight loss.

Goba notes that Dr. Mehmet Oz, who Trump has nominated to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has "openly promoted Ozempic" — while anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been on an "anti-Ozempic crusade." Kennedy is Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

"(President-elect Donald) Trump will have the power to scrap the Biden Administration's plans for anti-obesity medication after he takes office without formal input from the Hill," Goba explains, "but congressional Republicans will likely want their say on the issue. That requires them to reconcile their own internal argument over whether to reject new federal cash for the drugs or agree to short-term spending in the hopes of reducing the long-term cost of obesity-related illnesses."

Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), a co-chair of the GOP Doctors Caucus, is among the Republicans who favors coverage of weight-loss drugs.

Wenstrup told Semafor, " If you want to fight obesity and you have a tool that seems to be working, do it — but closely monitored."

Read Semafor's full article at this link.

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MAGA Republicans ramp up plan to 'indoctrinate' public schools with Christian nationalism

Back in the early 1980s, a prominent liberal and a prominent conservative — television producer/People for the American Way founder Norman Lear and right-wing Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Arizona) — aggressively criticized the Religious Right and warned that the Moral Majority's Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr., the Christian Broadcasting Network's Pat Robertson, and others in that movement wanted to turn the United States into a theocracy.

Goldwater viewed the Religious Right as terrible for conservatism. Yet the Religious Right only tightened its grip on the Republican Party.

More than 40 years later, the Religious Right is celebrating Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential race. And far-right evangelical Christian fundamentalists, according to HuffPost's Nathalie Baptiste, are ramping up their push to turn public schools into evangelical schools.

"From displaying the Ten Commandments to demanding that teachers use the Bible in their classrooms," Baptiste reports in an article published on December 6, "conservatives seem determined to blur the lines between church and state by infusing Christianity into public schools. And with Donald Trump headed back to the White House and a conservative majority in the U.S. Supreme Court, reshaping the country's education system is looking increasingly feasible."

Baptiste notes that in late October, the Texas State Board of Education "approved a Bible-based curriculum for public school students in kindergarten through 5th Grade."

"Texas schools will not be forced to use the curriculum, but those that do will be rewarded with extra funding — up to $60 per student," Baptiste explains. "The material uses the Bible in a variety of lessons, including directly quoting from it, as well as teaching about creationism — the Christian belief that God created the Earth in one week — and the crucifixion of Jesus."

Meanwhile, in Oklahoma, Baptiste observes, far-right State Education Superintendent Ryan Walters has "mandated that all public schools must begin teaching the Bible." And in Louisiana, the reporter adds, the GOP-controlled state legislature "passed a law, in June, requiring schools to display the Ten Commandments."

Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, warns that the Religious Right has "globbed onto schools as a place to indoctrinate students."

Laser told HuffPost, "They want to raise the next generation to learn false history, illegitimate science, and to favor Christianity over other faiths and nonreligion."

Heather Weaver, an ACLU attorney in Louisiana, is applauding the federal judge who struck down the Louisiana law as unconstitutional.

Weaver told HuffPost, "This ruling should serve as a reality check for Louisiana lawmakers who want to use public schools to convert children to their preferred brand of Christianity. Public schools are not Sunday schools, and today's decision ensures that our clients’ classrooms will remain spaces where all students, regardless of their faith, feel welcomed."

Read HuffPost's full article at this link.

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Trump wants to 'impound' money Congress appropriated — but this 50-year-old law could get in the way

Donald Trump is not the first Republican president-elect to complain that Congress spends too much money. But he has made a proposal that is unusual even for a Republican: withholding money or "impounding" money that Congress has already appropriated.

Bloomberg News reporter Steven T. Dennis examines Trump's ability — or inability — to do that in an article published on December 4.

"Trump wants to hold back some money — 'impound' it, in the jargon of Washington — to slash the budget," Dennis explains. "The only problem: There's a 50-year-old law that forbids that exact gambit."

The 50-year-old law that Dennis is referring to is the Impoundment Control Act in 1974, which Congress, Dennis notes, passed to "reassert its power over spending."

"While it set up a fast-track process for the president to quickly seek the approval of Congress if he wanted to override its spending decisions," Dennis explains, "it also established a mechanism for the U.S. comptroller general, who advises Congress, to sue the president for unauthorized impoundments."

The U.S. Constitution, according to Dennis, "explicitly grants Congress control over how much the government can spend."

Back in 1788, Dennis adds, James Madison referenced Congress' "power over the purse."

Read Bloomberg News' full article at this link (subscription required).

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'Melania grift': Incoming first lady hawks her Christmas 'collectibles' in Fox interview

America’s incoming First Lady, Melania Trump, in a rare public appearance, sat down with the “Fox & Friends” crew Friday morning to discuss how she is getting ready to return to the White House, how her husband, President-elect Donald Trump, is handling his second transition, and to promote her apparently for-profit business ventures, including her book, Christmas ornaments, NFTs, and other “collectibles.”

Other First Ladies have had careers after serving the American public in the White House, notably Hillary Clinton and Jacqueline Kennedy, but should she continue with this venture or others, Melania Trump may become the first First Lady who has a for-profit business during her time in the White House.

On Fox News, Trump was asked about the public programs she will focus on as First Lady.

She spoke briefly about her signature “Be Best” program, which she launched in May, 2018. It was widely mocked when she introduced it, and reports found some of it was a repackaging of existing federal initiatives around cyberbullying, including those from the Obama administration.

Trump then quickly moved to talking about what she said were her “Web 2” and “Web 3” businesses.

“Well, when I was in the White House for four years, I established my Be Best initiative and I also successfully brought it overseas and around the world. It was very successful and after I left the White House, I established my Web 3 and Web 2 platforms where I design, where I have collectibles like ornaments every season, this is the third season. And many other collectibles that are available now.”

She then appeared to suggest some of the proceeds from those businesses go to support students, but she did not offer any specifics, nor do her websites. The website where she sells her Christmas ornaments does not appear to say anything about donations to charity.

“So with those, I have students from a foster community that I sponsor and I’m very proud of and we have many of them now, so their life changes because they will have an education,” Trump said.

— (@)

Juliet Jeske, who runs Decoding Fox News, writes: “The money from the overpriced ornaments doesn’t go to charity. I went through her entire website. The profits go back to her.”

On her website, the Christmas ornaments sell for $75 each. The “USA Star” ornament is listed at $90.

“So this are the ornaments that they are available this season, this is the third season that I design and they are very special,” Trump told the “Fox & Friends” co-hosts. “For example, Lady Liberty, it was inspiration from my necklace that I bought when I was modeling in Paris. And now we have an ornament and we have also a necklace that it’s available on MelaniaTrump.com. So I, also, this one it’s the necklace and inspiration, the flower and they’re very patriotic this year. As you could see, it’s all red white and blue and I was inspired by that.”

“They discontinue, they retire, and this is available right now. And it’s a great gift and great collectible, actually.”

Attorney Michael Kasdan, an adjunct professor at NYU School of Law, remarked, “The Fox-Trump Home Shopping Network.”

Attorney Jeffrey Evan Gold, a CNN legal analyst, called it “Free advertising for Melania Grift.”

— (@)

Last year, The New York Times reported, “In February 2022, Mrs. Trump started ‘Fostering the Future,’ a scholarship program for foster children aging out of the system. A person familiar with the program, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, would not offer details or disclose how many scholarships have been awarded, saying only that it was ‘more than two.’ No charity with the name Fostering the Future or Be Best is registered in Florida or New York.”

Hillary Clinton, who served as First Lady from 1993 to 2001, has authored nine books, including three during her eight years inside the White House. First Ladies Eleanor Roosevelt and Barbara Bush also authored books while serving in the White House.

For her first book, the 1996 New York Times bestseller “It Takes a Village and Other Lessons Children Teach Us,” Hillary Clinton donated all royalties to charity and took no money except to cover expenses, according to The New York Times. Similarly, for the other two books she wrote during her time as First Lady, Clinton donated the proceeds to charities, including the National Park Foundation and the White House Historical Association.

Barely weeks after Donald Trump’s first inauguration, in 2017, Melania Trump’s “representatives issued statements saying that the first lady ‘has no intention’ of using her public position for personal gain,” The Washington Post reported. The paper noted those statements came one day “after Melania Trump filed a lawsuit accusing a British news company of hurting her ability to build a profitable brand.”

Before Election Day this year, CNN reported Melania Trump’s publisher had requested the news network pay $250,000 for an interview.

— (@)

PEOPLE magazine reported on Friday that “Melania Trump is gearing up for another four years as first lady and all the duties that come with the title, including decorating the White House for Christmas.”

“The ex-model wife of President-elect Donald Trump, 54, previously made headlines surrounding the holidays for her bold choice of Christmas decor — and because of leaked audio recordings where she griped about the responsibility of decorating 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.,” PEOPLE’s report notes.

“’I’m working … my a– off on the Christmas stuff, that you know, who gives a f— about the Christmas stuff and decorations?’ she was heard saying in a recording from 2018 that has recently resurfaced on social media. ‘But I need to do it, right?'”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

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'Absolute disaster': Watchdog groups slam Trump nominee as 'domestic extremist'

Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth — President-elect Donald Trump's embattled pick to lead the U.S. Defense Department — has been inundated with negative publicity for allegations of everything from sexual assault (which Hegseth has vehemently denied) to public drunkenness and extreme alcohol abuse. Trump has reportedly considered withdrawing the Hegseth nomination and nominating Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the position instead, but Hegseth has vowed to keep making his case for confirmation.

In an article published by The Guardian on December 6, journalist Ben Makuch reports that various watchdog groups are sounding the alarm about Hegseth's "extremist" far-right views —and arguing that someone who holds such opinions is unfit for the defense secretary position.

One of those groups is Taskforce Builder, whose CEO, Kristofer Goldsmith, told The Guardian, "I think it's going to be an absolute disaster. Pete Hegseth is a domestic extremist."

Hegseth's tattoos — some of which, critics say, underscore his far-right Christian nationalist views — have been drawing plenty of scrutiny. But according to Goldsmith, Hegseth's books (which include "The War on Warriors" and "American Crusader") are even more damning.

Goldsmith told The Guardian, "I know that there's been a lot of attention on his crusader tattoos. There hasn't been enough attention on his actual books…. The guy has tattoos … However, the bigotry and the hatred that he put in black and white, that is more important."

The Guardian also interviewed Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE).

Beirich told the publication, "Just as the insurrection was downplayed by Republicans, so too has extremism in the military…. Also, a new screening database for tattoos was created, some tightening up of clearances, and some more investigative clarity. But a more fulsome effort should have been on the table. Of course, Republicans are far more to blame, as they politicized the whole process, made light of the problem and claimed efforts to root out extremists were giving the military a bad name."

Read The Guardian's full article at this link.

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House GOP faces 'fate worse than death' because of its own 'incompetence': analysis

Republicans in the House of Representatives have a highly ambitious agenda that they want to pass even though they have a razor-thin majority that leaves them with no room for error.

The American Prospect's David Dayen took a look at the daunting timeline Republicans face and has concluded that they really could fail to deliver on their vow to extend the tax-cut package they passed seven years ago.

First, he notes that Republicans are currently split on how to handle an ambitious budget reconciliation package, as they are debating over whether to cut their agenda into one or two packages.

Although the House GOP favors doing everything in one fell swoop, Dayen argues that path is still fraught with peril.

"Throwing everything into one bill just complicates the enormous number of issues that must be addressed," he writes. "As my colleague Bob Kuttner has laid out, Trump has made as much as $7 trillion in tax cut promises, and there isn’t much around in the way of obvious offsets to fill that gap, even though many in the caucus want the package to not increase the deficit. That much actual savings would require cutting deep into broadly popular programs."

Added to this, Dayen has found that there will be major divides between Republicans about what should and should not be concluded in the package.

"On the details, some Republicans want to keep parts of the IRA intact and some don’t," he notes. "Some want to raise tariffs legislatively as an offset and some don’t. Some are demanding a repeal of the cap on state and local tax deductions and some see that as too expensive. Some want to deal with health care in that tax bill and some don’t. Some want to cut Medicaid and food stamps and some don’t."

With all these balls in the air, Dayen concludes that not extending the Trump tax cuts, which he describes as "a fate worse than death" to Republicans, could really happen due to their own "incompetence."

Read the full analysis here.

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From Crowley to Duffy: Inside Trump’s Fox News administration

In a Wednesday, December 4 post on X, formerly Twitter, former Fox News pundit Monica Crowley announced that President-elect Donald Trump had nominated her for assistant secretary of state. Crowley, in her tweet, said she looks forward to working with Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) — Trump's pick for secretary of state — in 2025.

Because Rubio isn't one of Trump's more controversial nominees, he is likely to receive a bipartisan confirmation from the U.S. Senate next year.

Vanity Fair's Bess Levin, in a biting December 5 column, notes that Crowley is the 12th nominee for Trump's incoming administration who has a Fox News and/or Fox Business background — and she expects that number to keep growing.

"When it comes to the people Donald Trump wants advising him in a second term," Levin argues, "the president-elect has a type. Accused of sexual misconduct? You're a shoo-in for a Cabinet gig. Did time in prison? Step right up. Related to him by marriage? When can you start? Another obvious plus, and one that apparently far outweighs actual experience, is having worked for Fox News or another Fox Corp. subsidiary."

Levin continues, "While Pete Hegseth is the most prominent network personality to have received a nod — in his case, for defense secretary — he's far from the only one Trump has poached from the conservative broadcaster. Others include Sean Duffy for transportation secretary and Janette Nesheiwat for surgeon general, plus multiple additional Fox News contributors."

The Vanity Fair columnist notes that Crowley has been nominated for "a job that deals in foreign diplomacy" but has, according to Media Matters' Matt Gertz, "pushed several bigoted conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama's heritage, including promoting a documentary about his purported 'real father.'"

"After serving as Treasury Department assistant secretary for public affairs during the first Trump Administration," Levin points out, "Crowley (according to Gertz) 'returned to punditry, claiming that the deep state has been trying to destroy Trump through COVID-19…. and assassination attempts.' She was also a contributor to Project 2025."

Bess Levin's full Vanity Fair column is available at this link.

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'Good lord, what’s going on here?' MSNBC host stunned by GOP lawmaker's meltdown

On Friday morning, MSNBC host Willie Geist was stunned and appalled after watching a clip of a Texas Republican get into a screaming match with acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe during a hearing on Thursday.

The hearing on the Donald Trump assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, which the the Washington Post's Jackie Alemany stated was productive until the altercation, descended into chaos as Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) bellowed and pointed his finger at Rowe who returned fire.

Following sharing the clip, a stunned Geist uttered, "Good lord, what's going on here?

"Yeah, Willie, it's actually, I have to say, up until that moment I was in the room I was thinking to myself, 'Wow, this is really such a substantive congressional hearing that we're having,' there were a lot of productive exchanges between Republicans and Democrats until that moment," the Washington Post reporter responded.

"Actually the exchange began with Pat Fallon asking Rowe why, as the second in command to [ex-CIA director] Kimberly Cheatle at the time of the assassination if he was aware of some of the heightened threats against Donald Trump... and more proactive in terms of deploying counter-surveillance units and counter-assault units to try to ultimately prevent the assassination attempt on Donald Trump," she elaborated.

"Basically insinuating that Rowe was in a position as the number two at the agency at the time to try to have the knowledge to prevent something like that," she continued. "And then from there it devolved into Fallon accusing Rowe of trying to position himself for personal gain, that he was essentially auditioning for a job for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris by trying to get in the back of this photo op."

Geist then noted that Republican lawmakers, under Donald Trump, have become notorious for using hearings to get attention for themselves.

'I think some of those members of Congress, as you know Jackie, are used to using those hearings to grandstand, maybe raise some money, get some clips online," he observed. "Not always used to getting it back as good as they gave in that hearing."

You can watch below or at the link right here.

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'Out of line!' Secret Service agent shouts down MAGA rep during chaotic hearing ›

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Trump’s 'blitz approach' with controversial nominees is 'overkill meant to overwhelm': analysis

"War Room" host Steve Bannon famously said that a major tactic of the MAGA movement is to "flood the zone with s---." Bannon stressed that the more MAGA Republicans make their opponents feels overwhelmed and disoriented, the more progress they will make.

In a biting column published on December 6, the New York Times' Frank Bruni argues that President-elect Donald Trump's willingness to make so many controversial nominations for his administration is a "tactic," a "blitz approach" and "overkill meant to overwhelm."

The opinion columnist stresses that the terrible nominees are drawing so much attention that Trump will have an easier time getting the nominees who are merely bad confirmed in the U.S. Senate. The goal, according to Bruni, is "desensitizing" Trump's opponents.

"It's galling that he chose a son-in-law's father, Charles Kushner, who spent two years in prison for witness retaliation, tax evasion and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission, to live in 60,000-square-foot splendor in Paris and swan around the Champs-Élysées as the next American ambassador to France," Bruni laments. "But is that any worse than Kash Patel storming around America's capital in the role of FBI director?.... But there’s little sign of serious resistance to Patel's confirmation from Republicans in the Senate. They have slimier fish to fry — for example, Pete Hegseth, Trump's designee for defense secretary."

Trump has reportedly considered withdrawing his Hegseth nomination and offering the position to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis instead. And at least two Democratic senators, Pennsylvania's John Fetterman and Arizona's John Kelly, told CNN they would consider voting for DeSantis for secretary of defense.

DeSantis has drawn more than his share of criticism from Democrats, but Fetterman and Kelly's comments indicate that even Democrats would view the Florida governor as an improvement over Hegseth.

Bruni argues that "Hegseth's troubles better the odds that the conspiracy theorist and carcass fetishist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. winds up the secretary of health and human services and that the al-Assad apologist and Putin fangirl Tulsi Gabbard gets to run national intelligence."

"There's only so much resistance that Republican senators can muster — only so many times that lap dogs this thoroughly muzzled can bark," Bruni writes. "Trump's picks for lofty posts speak to his veneration of scoundrels — to his belief that rules are for sissies and the strong take what they want however it must be taken."

Frank Bruni's full New York Times column is available at this link (subscription required).

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MAGA media ramp up 'full-throated defense' of Trump’s embattled defense nominee

With the embattled Pete Hegseth facing allegations of everything from sexual assault (the former Fox News host was never charged with anything and flatly denied the accuser's claims) to public drunkenness and severe alcohol abuse, President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly considering withdrawing his nomination of Hegseth for defense secretary — and nominating Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis instead for that position. Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, on December 4, told CNN's Manu Raju he would consider "voting yes" if DeSantis becomes the nominee.

But Hegseth is still Trump's pick for defense secretary, and he has vowed to keep fighting for votes from GOP senators.

During an appearance on The New Republic's "Daily Blast" podcast, Media Matters' Matt Gertz discussed the divide between GOP senators who would like to see someone other than Hegseth as the nominee and far-right MAGA media pundits who are aggressively defending him.

When Sargent asked Gertz if there is "any way Hegseth survives this," the Media Matters reporter responded, "I think there is."

Gertz told Sargent, "What we're seeing right now is a test of the power that the right-wing media has within the MAGA movement. Some sort of flair clearly went up over the last 24 hours because after largely remaining passive and backing off from the nomination as all of these damning reports came out, people at Fox (News) and throughout the right-wing media have started rallying to Hegseth's defense."

Gertz noted that a "full-throated defense of Hegseth" has been "coming from the MAGA movement," including "people like Charlie Kirk, Jack Posobiec."

The Media Matters reporter predicted that MAGA Republicans will ramp up their demonization of the mainstream media in the weeks and months ahead.

"When the media actually reports facts about Trump and his administration and his administration figures and policies," Gertz told Sargent, "MAGA will turn everything into a test of whether Republicans are on the side of the liberal media or on the side of Trump. And since Trump has spent years threatening, in another administration, to use the power of the state against the media, he has raised expectations among the MAGA masses that this will happen. So when these big tests start arising, the pressure will intensify on figures in the government to actually do this stuff — not just talk about it, to do it."

Greg Sargent's full interview with Media Matters' Matt Gertz is available at this link.

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Trump may end America’s place as 'the world’s preeminent cultural and economic force': analysis

When Never Trump conservatives are asked why they supported now-President Joe Biden in 2020 and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in 2024, many of them cite foreign policy as one of their top reasons. Biden and Harris, with their aggressive support of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), are — as many Never Trumpers see it — more Reaganesque on foreign policy than President-elect Donald Trump, who they view as dangerously isolationist.

Another main reason is Biden and Harris' views on trade; the vice president was highly critical of Trump's tariff proposals during her campaign. Never Trumpers see Trump as having protectionist views that are a huge departure from traditional Ronald Reagan/Barry Goldwater conservatism.

Democrats won the popular vote in the most of the United States' post-1980s presidential elections; the exceptions were President George W. Bush in 2004 and Trump in 2024. In this year's close election, Trump won the popular vote by roughly 1.4 or 1.5 percent (according to the Cook Political Report).

In a think piece published by Politico on December 6, author/journalist Joshua Zeitz argues that Trump's victory marks the end of "the American Century" and a time when the U.S. was "the world's preeminent cultural and economic force."

"Donald Trump's second presidential victory represents a sharp break, and perhaps a permanent one, with the American Century framework," Zeith emphasizes. "It's a framework that rested on four key pillars."

Those pillars, according to Zeitz, are: (1) "a rules-based economic order that afforded the U.S. free access to vast international markets, (2) "a guarantee of safety and security for its allies, backed up by American military might," (3) an increasingly liberal immigration system that strengthened America's economy and complemented military and trade partnerships with the rest of the non-communist world," and (4) "an America that valued — and exported to the rest of the world — its technical and artistic skills."

"Whether Trump can or will pursue his agenda remains to be seen," Zeitz explains. "But it's also beside the point. It's what nearly 50 percent of voters just endorsed — steps that would both dismantle and repudiate the American Century framework. Maybe that's not a bad thing."

Zeitz continues, "At its worst, that framework resembled what scholars refer to as 'imperialism by invitation'…. But the American Century framework has defined the nation's trajectory for well over 80 years. For good or bad, it undeniably made the United States a very prosperous and powerful country."

Joshua Zeitz's full essay for Politico is available at this link.

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'Not a top-tier assassin': UnitedHealthCare CEO shooter lowered mask to flirt with hostel worker

One of photos released by the New York City Police Department of the suspected UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter Thursday showed him smiling with his mask off, according to The Hill.

CNN's Kaitlin Collins reported Thursday evening, "Wow. Per @JohnMillerCNN, among the interviews law enforcement has been conducting, they spoke to a female employee at the hostel who said, at one point, she asked the then-masked man to lower his mask while flirting with him, which is when this photo released by NYPD today was taken."

Rolling Stone reported, "Law enforcement confirmed to CNN that they had interviewed a female employee of the hostel who said she had asked him to lower his neck gaiter face mask while flirting with him. (Security video frames from a Starbucks, released by the NYPD on Wednesday, showed a suspect whose lower face was covered by such a mask.)"

Several journalists and political experts reacted to the news

Crooked Media's What a Day podcast host Jane Costa wrote: "Okay so you're not a top-tier assassin"

New York CNN correspondent Gloria Pazmino replied: "You couldn’t script it if you tried"

Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger (FL) said: "Wow."

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Why Trump’s potential labor secretary pick has 'alarmed business interests': report

Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR) — who Donald Trump is poised to nominate to serve as Labor Secretary — is not the top pick for some business leaders, according to a Thursday Politico report.

Per the report, the Oregon lawmaker backs "some prominent union-friendly legislation," which "has alarmed business interests."

An anonymous business group official told Politico, "Disappointed is fair, to say the least. Obviously there were better choices out there from our perspective."

Former President George W. Bush Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division lead, Paul DeCamp, told the news outlet, "We need to have a much better understanding of her policy views in a detailed way, beyond just the PRO Act."

He added, "If she ends up being a fairly traditional secretary of Labor, then I think you would expect to see, for lack of a better term, the usual cast of characters."

Michael Saltsman, a GOP strategist at Berman and Company, "Its fair to say that the significance of [Chavez-DeRemer’s selection] will be downplayed a bit as we see some of these other roles filled in. The top position really sets the tone."

Politico's full report is available at this link.

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How this 'relatively competent' MAGA ally shows he’s prepared to be who Trump needs: columnist

One potential addition to President-Elect Donald Trump's administration is Peter Navarro — the former Trump official who served four months in prison earlier this year over his refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena in the January 6 investigation.

In an op-ed published by MSNBC Thursday, MSNBC Opinion writer and editor Zeeshan Aleem submits, "Navarro can serve as a relatively competent lieutenant — at least by Trump’s standards — while the president pursues his promised radical agenda on tariffs and China."

Furthermore, Aleem suggests, "He can also be trusted to help Trump undermine democratic institutions and sit in on top conversations with Trump that could potentially be legally incriminating — and not flip on his boss."

However, "policy knowledge and more buttoned-up appearance shouldn’t obscure the reality that he is very much a stick of Trumpian dynamite," the MSNBC writer emphasizes.

The MAGA ally " became the first former White House official to be imprisoned for a contempt of Congress conviction," Aleem adds. "In other words, even though Trump didn’t come to Navarro’s rescue, Navarro went to jail refusing to say anything that might strengthen the case against Trump.

"I still have some principles. But not as many as you might think because I don’t have any concern at all about making stuff up about my opponent that isn’t exactly true," Aleem notes that "Navarro wrote in 1998 while reflecting on his many failed efforts to win public office."

Aleem concludes, "Perhaps the best illustration of the kind of figure Navarro is in Trump World — industrious, wonky, obedient — is that even when he was in prison this year for refusing to comply with an inquiry into his involvement in efforts to overturn the election, he was still working on detailed policy proposals for a future Trump administration."

Aleem's full op-ed is available here.

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Insurance giant abruptly nixes 'egregious' anesthesia cap after UnitedHealth CEO’s murder

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) is quickly backtracking on a previously announced policy of not paying for anesthesia just 24 hours after it announced the policy.

On Wednesday, the health insurer announced that plans for customers in Connecticut, Missouri and New York would no longer cover anesthesia if surgeries went beyond an arbitrary time limit starting in February of 2025. Dr. Donald E. Arnold of the American Society of Anesthesiologists condemned the move, saying it was "just the latest in a long line of appalling behavior by commercial health insurers looking to drive their profits up at the expense of patients and physicians providing essential care."

"It’s a cynical money grab by Anthem, designed to take advantage of the commitment anesthesiologists make thousands of times each day to provide their patients with expert, complete and safe anesthesia care," he said. "This egregious policy breaks the trust between Anthem and its policyholders who expect their health insurer to pay physicians for the entirety of the care they need."

"[A]s someone who was once under anesthesia for nine hours: f— these people," journalist Marisa Kabas wrote on Bluesky.

Now, the insurance giant is abruptly reversing course. Hartford, Connecticut CBS affiliate WFSB reported that Blue Cross Blue Shield would in fact pay for full anesthesia coverage in the Nutmeg State. New York Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul also announced Thursday that Anthem "will be announcing a full reversal of this misguided policy" after her administration pushed the company to back down.

Anthem's decision notably came a day after UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson was shot to death by an unknown assassin early Wednesday morning outside of his Midtown Manhattan hotel. The gunman — who is still at large — wrote the words "delay" and "depose" on shell casings found at the scene, which suggest the assailant may have been motivated by UnitedHealth's industry-leading denial rate for insurance claims.

As LendingTree's ValuePenguin noted, UnitedHealth denies roughly 32% of claims, which is twice the industry average of 16%. Arstechnica reported in late 2023 that it used an AI with a 90% error rate to automatically deny claims called nH Predict, which is reportedly still in use.

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