Is Convicted Felon Donald Chump a drug addict? If not, does he spend his days crashing? Jennifer Bowers Bahney (RAW STORY) reports of yet another late night/early morning social media rage-a-thon Chump engaged in:
Trump wrote on TruthSocial, "Deranged Jack Smith was fired today by the DOJ. He is a disgrace to himself, his family, and his Country. After spending over $100,000,000 on the Witch Hunt against TRUMP, he left town empty handed!"
In fact, Smith resigned from the DOJ on Friday in an unsurprising move just 10 days before Trump's inauguration. According to CNBC, "His departure was expected, as Smith indicated he would leave before Trump took office, and because the president-elect planned to fire the special counsel if he did not resign."
At his age and the nearly four-hundred pounds he currently weighs, he really needs to be getting sleep instead of raging to the point that he's going to give himself a stroke. His need to spew lies constantly is really disturbing. But these rage-a-thons also aren't very healthy.
Possibly JD Vance grasps that? And encourages it? Since he'd be next in line. Appearing on FOX "NEWS" today, Miss Sassy had much to say.
Rachel Dobkin (NEWSWEEK) notes one portion of the interview:
His need to spew lies constantly is really disturbing. But these rage-a-thons also aren't very healthy.
Possibly JD Vance grasps that? And encourages it? Since he'd be next in line. Appearing on FOX "NEWS" today, Miss Sassy had much to say.
Bream mentioned some good economic news during her interview with Vance on Fox News Sunday.
U.S. employers defied expectations by adding 256,000 jobs in December 2024 from 212,000 in November 2024, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released Friday. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate slightly decreased to 4.1 percent in December 2024 from 4.2 percent in November 2024.
"The December numbers were good. What kind of credit do you give him?" Bream asked Vance about Biden.
JD also talked about the hell Chump intended to burn down Gaza with if hostages taken on October 7, 2023 weren't released before Chump was sworn in. Remember, the Palestinian-Americans who fronted for Norman Solomon helped elect Donald Trump. Think of them as each day another Palestinian in Gaza is murdered. Remember that their deaths were brought to you by people in Dearborn and Hamtramck. Also on the interview, Corbin Bolies (THE DAILY BEAST) notes:
Vice President-elect JD Vance appeared to walk back President-elect Donald Trump’s promises of near-blanket pardons for January 6 rioters in a Sunday interview.
Vance, on Fox News Sunday, said the “very simple” process would mean pardons for those who protested peacefully and who he claimed were “treated like a gang member” by Attorney General Merrick Garland. But for those convicted of violent crimes, including assaulting Capitol police officers, “obviously, you shouldn’t be pardoned.”
That third topic is what's upset MAGA. David McAfee (RAW STORY) explains:
Vance told Fox News on Sunday that not all Jan. 6 defendants deserved pardons, specifically saying those who engaged in violence could potentially be excluded.
[. . .]
That comment struck a chord with numerous Trump supporters, including Philip Anderson, a Texas man who was arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges connected to the riot.
"Telling your own supporters that the election was stolen and then not giving them a pardon or commutation after you sent them into what you call a 'fedsurrection' and 'trap' is a betrayal," he wrote Sunday. "All of the J6 defendants must be saved. JD Vance is wrong and I hope Trump will save his own supporters."
Another Jan. 6 defendant, Samuel Fisher, (aka Brad Holiday), replied to Anderson, saying, "He better or we will raise hell for the rest of our lives."
Anderson said the sentiment was shared throughout the J6 community, claiming, "Been seeing lots of this."
Meanwhile, Donald Chump's nominees continue to be laughable and the time for him to come up with some names of people with actual experience grows shorter and shorter. Pete Hegseth, for example, will face a confirmation hearing on Tuesday. Tom Boggioni (RAW STORY) reports:
Multiple Democratic senators are pointing with alarm at what they believe are gaps in information provided by the FBI on one of Donald Trump's most controversial Cabinet nominees.
According to a report from the New York Times, the slim information provided on Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, chosen to be the president-elect's secretary of defense, does not include examinations of information they have been provided directly.
Hegseth is facing a slew of questions over accusations of sexual assault, excessive drinking and financial improprieties while heading up several veterans organizations.
According to the Times, with Hegseth scheduled for a confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Democrats are questioning whether the nominee has received enough scrutiny in the short time allowed.
The Times is reporting, "several Democrats on the panel expressed concerns that they might not have relevant information for Mr. Hegseth’s confirmation hearing on Tuesday," adding, "Democrats on the committee believe there are additional allegations that should appear in the pages of an F.B.I. background check, to inform their questioning. That belief is based in part on information they have gleaned from individuals who have quietly approached Senate offices to divulge information about Mr. Hegseth."
Some opinions? At NEWSWEEK, Greg Kelly offers:
Pete Hegseth, President Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense, revealed his vulnerability to blackmail in a single damning statement. Asked by Megyn Kelly why he paid money to a woman accusing him of sexual assault, Hegseth responded, "I paid her because I had to—or at least I thought I did at the time. I had a great job at Fox and a wonderful marriage... It is not what I should have done, but I did it to protect that. I did it to protect my wife, I did it to protect my family, and I did it to protect my job. It was a negotiation purely to try to prevent that."
This is the essence of blackmail: coercion through exploitation. It's a dark and dangerous reality. And it disqualifies Hegseth from leading the Pentagon—or any national security role under longstanding federal policy.
National security regulations have been clear for decades: Individuals susceptible to coercion cannot hold sensitive positions. Executive Order 10450, signed in 1953 and still in effect, explicitly bars individuals with vulnerabilities—such as blackmail—from positions of national security. This principle is reinforced by Standard Form 86, the mandatory questionnaire for all national security roles, which screens for "vulnerability to exploitation and coercion."
Hegseth's admission aligns directly with these disqualifiers. He has already demonstrated a willingness to pay off his accuser, allegedly to protect his personal and professional life. As Secretary of Defense, his responsibilities would be infinitely more critical, and his adversaries exponentially more dangerous.
Christian Whiton (NATIONAL INTEREST) offers:
There is much talk about experience, considering he can boast so little. He has never supervised or run an organization of any magnitude or complexity like that of the Defense Department. He has never reformed an obstinate organization, and this obstinate Pentagon has been in desperate need of change since the Cold War ended thirty years ago. It has lost the ability to win wars and is still configured for a Europe-first foreign policy with counterinsurgency and nation-building as side hustles. It needs a radical transformation to deter war with China. Hegseth is neither a leader of leaders, a deal guy, or even a simple manager. His garish choice of finery is another clue to his future performance. That may sound like a gratuitous comment, but appearances matter—man-boys with tough guy tats won’t move a culture that places exceptionally high value on what the military calls “command presence.”
The two people quoted above? Both conservatives. The first, a NEWSMAX host, the second served in Chump's first administration. Lindsay Wise and John McCormick (WALL ST. JOURNAL) report:
Pete Hegseth’s performance will be closely watched in what is expected to be a contentious confirmation hearing Tuesday for the defense secretary nominee. But also in the spotlight: Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa), whose support the Trump transition team views as crucial.
Ernst, a former Army National Guard commander, endured a torrent of criticism from prominent Trump supporters late last year after publicly raising specific issues she wanted Hegseth to address: the role of women in the military, sexual assault prevention and auditing the Pentagon for waste and abuse. Her questions and eventual votes could be key to Hegseth’s future—as well as her own.
The Senate Armed Services Committee hearing will force Ernst to balance loyalty to President-elect Donald Trump with her long-running effort to combat sexual assault and support women serving in the military. She is up for re-election in 2026 and has been measured in her comments about Hegseth, whom Trump has continued to back amid allegations regarding sexual assault and drinking that raised doubts last month about whether he could be confirmed.
Corrupt and unqualified. Apparently those were the two traits Donald Chump was looking for when selecting nominees. Bryan Metzger (BUSINESS INSIDER) notes:
Former Rep. Lee Zeldin, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, has made millions of dollars in recent years from consulting, speaking fees, and paid op-eds, according to a financial disclosure made public on Saturday.
That includes tens of thousands of dollars to write about environmental and climate change-related topics. In one instance, Zeldin was paid $25,000 for an op-ed in which he likened environmental, social, and governance investing, or ESG, to the practices of disgraced cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried.
A staunchly pro-Trump Republican first elected to Congress in 2014, Zeldin left office after mounting an unsuccessful bid for governor of New York in 2022. As retiring lawmakers in both parties often do, Zeldin cashed in, establishing a consulting firm to advise corporate clients while enmeshing himself in the well-funded world of conservative political advocacy.
It's paid off. According to the disclosure document, which covers Zeldin's major financial activities since the beginning of 2023, the ex-congressman has made a total of $775,000 in salary income and between $1 million and $5 million in dividends from his main firm, Zeldin Consulting.
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