Gothamist reports: Six years ago, Rep.-elect George Santos claimed to have been mugged on his way to pay $2,250 in back rent on his Queens apartment, according to court eviction records, but the NYPD has no record of the attack. Santos’ claim came in a sworn statement filed in connection with his threatened eviction from a Queens apartment. He said …

CNN reports: Then-President Donald Trump wanted to trademark the phrase “Rigged Election!” days after Election Day in 2020, according to emails provided by Jared Kushner to the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol. On November 9, 2020, then-Trump aide Dan Scavino emailed Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, with the request from Trump. “Hey …

Deadline reports: Actor Kirk Cameron went on Fox News Channel on Friday to discuss his fight against libraries who have been turning down story-hour book-reading pitches from the publisher of Cameron’s new children’s book As You Grow. The sit-down came after a reading Thursday a the Indianapolis Public Library drew a sizable crowd — though the library disputes the attendance …

The New York Post reports: The 34-year-old Republican — who admitted earlier this week to lying about his work background, academic credentials and ancestry during his successful campaign for the House of Representatives — is offering supporters a bus trip to DC, lunch and a “Team Santos Tour” of the US Capitol’s grounds, while asking VIPs to chip in $500 …

Politico reports: Trump’s returns, which were made public by House Democrats on Friday after a lengthy legal fight, disclosed income from 2015 to 2020 from a wide range of foreign countries, including Canada, Panama, the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom, among others. The former president was known for fusing his …

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports: Mark McCloskey, a lawyer who was pardoned alongside his wife for pointing guns at racial justice protesters outside their Central West End mansion in 2020, won’t be getting his guns or money back, a St. Louis judge ruled Wednesday. McCloskey filed suit last year seeking the return of a Colt AR-15 rifle and a Bryco …

Axios reports: Fidelity slashed its carrying value of Twitter by 56% during the first month of Elon Musk’s ownership, according to a new disclosure. Fidelity was among the group of outside investors that helped Musk finance his $44 billion takeover of the social media site, by purchasing equity. Fidelity’s Contrafund valued its Twitter shares at $53.47 million on Oct. 31, …

Detroit’s Fox affiliate reports: David Shagena was a youth leader at The River Church when minors came forward alleging him of inappropriate behavior, the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office said. Shagena was arraigned Dec. 24 on a fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct charge and three other counts of crimes against minors. He was given a $10,000 bond, which he has since …

The Associated Press reports: Alabama on Jan. 1 will become the latest state to allow people to carry a concealed handgun without a state permit that requires a background check. The new state law ends the requirement for a person to get a permit to legally carry a concealed handgun in public. The National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, …

Axios reports: Conservative activist Ginni Thomas spoke about her post-2020 election activity and interactions with Trump officials in her interview with the Jan. 6 committee, according to her testimony, which was made publicly available Friday.  Thomas said she hoped that Trump’s White House would “challenge the election until the truth could be found out if there was evidence of state …

Fox News reports: Actor-writer-producer Kirk Cameron, who was originally denied or ignored by over 50 public libraries in America for a story-time book reading connected to his new children’s book, appeared at the Indianapolis Public Library on Thursday — and was met with the biggest crowd the library had seen in 137 years, according to the library. Cameron and his …

CNN reports: House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy has offered a key concession to critics of his bid for the House speakership during private conversations this week: reducing the threshold that is required to force a floor vote on ousting the sitting speaker. One of the numbers that has come up in recent conversations between McCarthy and GOP lawmakers – and …

ABC News reports: A 28-year-old man, Bryan Kohberger, was arrested Friday morning in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains in connection with the murders of four University of Idaho students, law enforcement sources told ABC News. Sources said that authorities knew who they were looking for and had tracked Kohberger down to Pennsylvania. A SWAT team entered the location where he was staying …

The New York Times reports: As a presidential candidate in 2015, Mr. Trump said he would not take “even one dollar” of the $400,000 salary that comes with the job. “I am totally giving up my salary if I become president,” he said. In his first three years in office, Mr. Trump said he donated his salary quarterly. But in …

From a statement posted by Trump’s spokesmoron: The Democrats should have never done it, the Supreme Court should have never approved it, and it’s going to lead to horrible things for so many people. The great USA divide will now grow far worse. The radical, left Democrats have weaponized everything, but remember, that is a dangerous two-way street! The “Trump” …

Newsweek reports: Former GOP candidate for Arizona governor Kari Lake insisted she would be gracious in defeat if she believed that she lost her midterm election. “Somebody said, ‘Oh, just be graceful, you lost.’ No, we didn’t lose. If I would have lost I would be graceful. But I don’t walk away when I’ve been the victim of a crime,” …

The Daily Beast reports: Six years after his last armed standoff with law enforcement, far-right leader Ammon Bundy appears to be threatening another armed action—this time over a lawsuit from an Idaho hospital he’s accused of harassing. “They’re suing me for defamation. They’re probably going to try to get judgments of over a million dollars and take everything they have …

The Hill reports: The CEO of Southwest Airlines, Bob Jordan, promised that the airline will provide reimbursements to those who were affected by its thousands of cancellations over the past week, saying the “desire is to go above and beyond.” Jordan said in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Friday that the storm that led to the airline …

The New York Times reports: House Democrats on Friday released six years of former President Donald J. Trump’s tax records, making the closely guarded documents public after years of legal battles and speculation about Mr. Trump’s wealth and his financial entanglements. The release came 10 days after Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee published two reports about Mr. …

Reuters reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he was expecting Chinese President Xi Jinping to make a state visit early next year, in what would be a public show of solidarity from Beijing amid Russia’s flailing invasion of Ukraine. In effusive introductory remarks from a video conference between the two leaders broadcast on state television, Putin also said …