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Pete Hegseth’s Controversies Threaten to Derail Bid
Republican senators said that they want closer scrutiny of President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary and signaled the next few days could be critical for determining whether Pete Hegseth has enough support to be confirmed.
Trump Mulls Replacing Pete Hegseth With Ron DeSantis
President-elect Donald Trump is considering Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a possible replacement for Pete Hegseth, his pick to run the Pentagon, amid Republican senators’ concerns over mounting allegations about the former Fox News host’s personal life.
Picking DeSantis, a 2024 GOP primary rival for the presidency, would amount to a stunning turn for Trump. But he would also find in the governor a well-known conservative with a service record who shares Trump’s—and Hegseth’s—view on culling what they see as ‘woke’ policies in the military.
Trump allies increasingly think Hegseth may not survive further scrutiny, according to people close to the president-elect’s team, which considers the next 48 hours to be crucial to his fate.
Trumpists Don’t Seem to Mind Claims of Sexual Assault
Donald Trump is most likely not trying to intentionally assemble a Cabinet chock-full of people accused either of sexual assault or of enabling it, but if he were, he’d be killing it.
Trump’s New Press Secretary Was Paid for Articles Praising a Con Man
Before Guo Wengui was charged in a massive fraud scheme, his followers commissioned Karoline Leavitt to byline fawning op-eds.
Late last month, Donald Trump named Karoline Leavitt as his incoming press secretary, positioning her to become the youngest person ever to hold the job. That’s a big step up.
Just two years ago—following a failed congressional campaign—Leavitt was putting her name on a series of op-eds in right-wing publications lauding a fugitive Chinese mogul who has since been convicted of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from fans of his purportedly anti-communist movement.
The only reason to nominate someone like Patel to run the FBI is to commit impeachable abuses of power. Trump makes no secret that this is, in fact, his purpose. Patel is similarly explicit on the point. Yet the Senate might very well confirm the man once Trump removes the incumbent FBI director and nominates Patel to replace him.
If it actually does so, would that constitute ‘consent’ to impeachable offenses?
What Kash Patel Could Do to the FBI
It goes almost without saying that Kash Patel, whom Donald Trump picked over the weekend to lead the FBI, is supremely unqualified to direct the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency…
Yet the Patel selection stands out as more concretely dangerous and worrisome than many of the other questionable Trump choices. The true danger is almost less about Mr. Patel and more about what it says about Mr. Trump and his approach to his new presidency.
To understand the full scope of the damage Mr. Patel could inflict, you have to understand how unique, powerful and dangerous the F.B.I. can be — and why a Patel directorship would likely corrupt and bend the institution for decades, even if he only served a few years.
How Robert Lighthizer Got Shut Out of Trump’s Cabinet
Robert Lighthizer seemed like a shoo-in for a senior role in President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration.
But Trump’s former trade chief is expected to go home empty-handed after he expressed reluctance to engage in the behind-the-scenes jockeying that helped his competitors land crucial cabinet postings.
Fox News Ignores Pete Hegseth Stories
What’s a media outlet supposed to do when its longtime host is picked to run the Pentagon, and then a series of eyebrow-raising news stories trigger doubts about his appointment?
If you’re Fox News, evidently, you just pretend the stories don’t exist.
Fox News, which employed Pete Hegseth for a decade, has not covered the past week’s controversies involving President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary… The omission is potentially significant because Fox is the top TV outlet for Republicans, and Hegseth’s confirmation hinges on Republican senators.
Trump Taps Billionaire for Deputy Defense Secretary
President-elect Donald Trump offered billionaire investor Stephen Feinberg the job of deputy defense secretary, said people familiar with the matter, a decision that could elevate a longtime political supporter with investments in defense companies that maintain lucrative Pentagon contracts.
In Angola, Biden Warns That Slavery’s History Should Not be Erased
When American presidents visit another country, they typically like to highlight the positive history they share. But as the first leader of the United States to visit Angola, President Biden opted instead to focus on the most bitter chapter that connects the United States and this giant southern African nation.
At the National Museum of Slavery in the capital, Luanda, Mr. Biden recalled in a speech on Tuesday the slave trade that once defined relations between America and Angola. More Africans sold into slavery in the United States came from this part of the continent than anywhere else, scholars say, a legacy of inhumanity that remains relevant four centuries later.
