Trump moves to burn down the rule of law  —  His cabinet nominations are obscene and augur dark days to come. … 🌎  —  When the sordid history of the second Trump administration is written, should we all survive that long, it will be difficult to sort out which of his early cabinet picks were the most atrocious.

Putting RFK Jr. in charge of health breaks the first rule of medicine  —  The overriding rule of medicine is: First, do no harm.  —  We're certain installing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head Health and Human Services breaks this rule.  —  Maybe he's sworn to focus narrowly on areas …

House Ethics chair says meeting on Gaetz report has been postponed, not canceled  —  Chair of the House Ethics Committee Michael Guest said Friday morning the group has only postponed, not canceled, a meeting to discuss the panel's report about Matt Gaetz.  Guest (R-Miss.) declined to say whether …

Iran Told U.S. It Wouldn't Try to Kill Trump  —  Written communication last month came after Biden administration warned Tehran against attempts on Trump's life  —  Iran offered written assurances to the Biden administration last month that it wouldn't seek to kill Donald Trump …

Trump's team skips FBI background checks for some Cabinet picks  —  President-elect Donald Trump's transition team is bypassing traditional FBI background checks for at least some of his Cabinet picks while using private companies to conduct vetting of potential candidates for administration jobs …

Trump's Defense Secretary Pick Pete Hegseth Said to Face Previous Sexual Misconduct Allegation  —  Sources say Donald Trump's transition team leadership met with the former Fox News host, who is a left-field pick to head the Department of Defense, about the claims on Thursday.

Inside the Republican false-flag effort to turn off Kamala Harris voters  —  A multipronged dark money effort by advisers to Elon Musk targeted liberals, Jews, Muslims and Black voters with ads that were not quite what they seemed.  —  Muslims in Michigan began seeing pro-Israel ads …

This Is the Dark, Unspoken Promise of Trump's Return  —  For those bewildered by why so many Americans apparently voted against the values of liberal democracy, Balint Magyar has a useful formulation.  “Liberal democracy,” he says, “offers moral constraints without problem-solving” …

The Resistance Is Not Coming to Save You.  It's Tuning Out.  —  The first Trump administration sparked waves of public activism and aggressive media coverage.  This time, not so much.  —  In the weeks before the 2024 election, no media platform had more catnip for Donald Trump's detractors than the Drudge Report.

Mar-a-Lago intrigue rises as Trump eyes treasury secretary pick  —  Hedge fund executive Scott Bessent is expected to meet with the president-elect on Friday.  Transition co-chair Howard Lutnick is also seeking the post.  —  When Scott Bessent left President-elect Donald Trump's Mar …

Trump's New Oligarchy Is About to Unleash Unimaginable Corruption  —  Last spring, Donald Trump presided over a meeting with the country's top oil executives at his Mar-a-Lago resort.  According to The Washington Post, Trump promised to fulfill a wish list of policies sought by their industry …

Musk asks ‘high-IQ revolutionaries’ to work for no pay on new Trump project  —  World's richest man solicits applications for ‘tedious work’ in newly formed Department of Government Efficiency  —  Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are asking Americans who are “high-IQ small-government revolutionaries” …

Beware the Trifecta: History Shows Full Control of Government Is Fleeting  —  The last five presidents have all had periods where both the House and the Senate were in friendly hands — but most lasted just two years before the backlash set in.  —  After Republicans did better than expected …

Xi Warns Against ‘Going Back in History’ as Trump Tariffs Loom  — World entering ‘new period of turbulence and change’: Xi  — Xi set to champion globalization at APEC, G-20 summits  —  Biden to Meet Xi as Focus Turns to Trump  —  Chinese President Xi Jinping warned against any efforts …

Pay Close Attention to Your Credit Card Balance Under Trump 2.0  —  Expect efforts to protect consumers from sky-high fees to fizzle under the new administration.  —  During Donald Trump's reelection campaign, he boasted of plans to overhaul the federal government, promising to gut or even eliminate entire federal departments.

RSF presses criminal charges against X (formerly Twitter) for its participation in identity theft and spreading disinformation  —  Organisation:  — RSF_en  — RSF_Inter  —  After discovering that it was the target of a disinformation campaign, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) …