Woman testified to House Ethics Committee that Gaetz had sex with her when she was 17: Sources  —  Trump tapped Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to be the new attorney general.  —  Rep. Matt Gaetz speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Md., Feb. 23, 2024.

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.

Scoop: Manchin signals willingness to back Biden's final push on judges … - Manchin told Axios that “we're in different times right now” when asked about his previous pledge, adding that “my Republican friends are under the microscope.” … - Manchin's vote is critical …

Elon Musk Met With Iran's U.N. Ambassador, Iranian Officials Say  —  The tech billionaire, a top adviser to President-elect Donald J. Trump, was reported to have discussed ways to defuse tensions between Iran and the United States.  —  Elon Musk, a close adviser to President-elect Donald J. Trump …

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” …

Trump Threatens New York Times, Penguin Random House over Critical Coverage  —  Legal letter follows complaints aimed at CBS News, the Washington Post, and the Daily Beast.  —  The letter, addressed to lawyers at the New York Times and Penguin Random House, arrived a week before the election.

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.

Scoop: Rahm Emanuel weighs bid for DNC chair … - David Axelrod, who steered Barack Obama's campaigns and is a friend of Emanuel, floated earlier this week that the combative and energetic Emanuel would be an ideal leader for a deflated party.  — “If they said, 'Well, what should we do?

Trump's intelligence chief pick Tulsi Gabbard is 'Russia's girlfriend'  —  Ukraine accused the president-elect's choice for cabinet of being on the Kremlin's payroll  —  Donald Trump's pick for US national intelligence chief was accused by Ukraine of being on the Kremlin's payroll after the start of Russia's invasion.

Steve Bannon Threatens Ari Melber, Says Matt Gaetz's DOJ Is Coming For Him And ‘All The Producers of MSNBC’  —  Former Trump White House advisor Steve Bannon told MSNBC's Ari Melber and “all you hosts” and producers at the network that they had better “lawyer up” because Matt Gaetz's Justice Department would soon be coming for them.

The Sanewashing of RFK Jr.  —  Let's call a crank a crank.  —  Is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump's improbable nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services, actually such a crank?  Short answer: yes.  But two opinion pieces published in just the past few days argue that although Kennedy …

Tim Scott's New NRSC Hire Is Ruffling Feathers Even Before It's Official  —  Sources told NOTUS that Scott is tapping Mike Pence's former campaign manager to be executive director of the Senate GOP's campaign arm.  —  Reese Gorman and Alex Roarty  — Copy