Yahoo News reports: While campaigning in New Hampshire, Nikki Haley refused to reject the idea of becoming former President Donald Trump’s running mate in 2024. During a town hall in Lebanon on Dec. 28, an attendee asked the former South Carolina governor, “Would you be able to say categorically that you will not accept being Trump’s vice president?” “I could …

The Hill reports: Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) issued a warning to states moving to keep former President Trump off the presidential ballot, saying the House of Representatives has the final say over whether electors from those states are certified on Jan. 6, 2025. “Maine, Colorado, and other states that might try to bureaucratically deny ballot access to any Republican nominee …

“Well, obviously, to have one executive branch official unilaterally striking someone off the ballot is not an appropriate interpretation of the 14th Amendment. We could have in Florida, what are we going to have Biden struck off the ballot because he’s allowed an invasion of eight million people, including enemy nations, have sent people in. This could just end up …

The Meidas Touch reports: Following the ruling by Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows barring Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot, Trump predictably lashed out and posted a link to Bellows’ biography on the official Maine government website with a simple caption: “Maine Department of Secretary of State.” Trump has become known for using his following to inspire threats, …

“He’s a cheater. He’s a scoundrel. He’s a bad guy. But in his life, he’s always been able to convince people he’s this really nice guy. I laugh when they say, ‘Trump is the evil one and he’s the nice one.’ That’s the one thing he’s been able to do. All you have to do is look at his credentials. …

“Although I respect the Secretary of State’s careful process—which she was specifically required to undertake under Maine law—absent a final determination of a violation of the 14th Amendment’s disqualification clause, I believe the decision as to whether or not Mr. Trump should again be considered for the presidency should rest with the people as expressed in free and fair elections. …

The Independent reports: Fox News was forced to issue an on-air apology for mistakenly including baseball Hall of Famer Frank Thomas in a tribute to celebrities who passed away in 2023. During an in memoriam segment on Friday morning’s edition of The Faulkner Focus, Fox showed footage of the 55-year-old former Chicago White Sox slugger next to the graphic: “Frank …

The Associated Press reports: CLAIM: As of Jan, 1, 2024, T-Mobile is going to fine individual consumers for texting about topics that fall under the categories of sex, hate, alcohol, firearms or tobacco. AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The wireless carrier is instituting new fines for third-party vendors that send mass messaging campaigns on behalf of other businesses, not for individual consumers. …

“Governor Mike DeWine’s veto of the SAFE Act will have devastating consequences for Ohio’s children, unless the legislature moves to override. Minors cannot drive cars, purchase cigarettes, or consume alcohol legally. Parents cannot take newborn infants home from the hospital without a car seat or allow children to ride in an automobile without a seatbelt. Yet, in the absence of …

The Miami Herald reports: The Herald investigated Suarez’s role in planning a March 2023 trade summit put on by the Saudi kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund. A review of city emails and the summit’s promotional materials show Suarez and a handful of city staffers helped make the event, at an exhibition hall in Miami Beach, happen. The …

The Albany Times-Union reports: A state Supreme Court justice has rejected a request from U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik and the Republican Party to temporarily suspend a new state law that allows any registered voter in New York to cast their ballot early by mail. Republicans immediately appealed the ruling state Supreme Court Justice Christina L. Ryba. The case, in which …

The Hill reports: Michael Cohen, former President Trump’s ex-fixer and personal lawyer, said in newly unsealed court filings that he accidentally gave his lawyer fake legal citations concocted by the artificial intelligence program Google Bard. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman called three case citations into question earlier this month after they were used in a motion to end Cohen’s supervised …

The Messenger reports: GOP presidential hopeful and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Thursday he would fire Special Counsel Jack Smith “on day one” is elected president in 2024. DeSantis accused Smith, who indicted Trump twice over his mishandling of classified documents and his attempt to overturn the 2020 elections, of “weaponizing the legal system.” “After you win the election, …

The New York Times reports: Detroit is on track to record the fewest murders since the 1960s. In Philadelphia, where there were more murders in 2021 than in any year on record, the number of homicides this year has fallen more than 20 percent from last year. And in Los Angeles, the number of shooting victims this year is down …

The Associated Press reports: The world population grew by 75 million people over the past year and on New Year’s Day it will stand at more than 8 billion people, according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday. The worldwide growth rate in the past year was just under 1%. At the start of 2024, 4.3 births …

The Texas Tribune reports: The Southern Baptist Convention and others have reached a confidential settlement in a high-profile lawsuit that accused a former leader of sexual assault, ending a six-year legal drama that expanded victims’ rights in Texas, helped prompt a broader reckoning over child sexual abuse in evangelical churches and showed that a prominent conservative activist and Texas House …

Raw Story reports: A federal appeals court has ruled against Donald Trump for a second time this month in a lawsuit filed by police officers over the Jan. 6 insurrection. The former president had argued that he should be immune from the lawsuit because his conduct should be considered part of his official duties and “constituted speech on matters of …

The Columbus Dispatch reports: Gov. Mike DeWine on Friday struck down legislation that would have banned transgender girls from female sports and restricted the medical care of transgender minors. House Bill 68, which cleared the House and Senate earlier this month, would have prevented doctors from prescribing hormones, puberty blockers or gender reassignment surgery before patients turn 18. It also …

“I bought two apples the other day in DC. Now, I know that’s the most expensive place in the world to buy groceries. Two apples in DC were $5.72 for those two apples. Now, I don’t know when the last time Joe Biden has been grocery shopping. but I suggest that he get out of his little penthouse up there …

Politico reports: Groups aligned with the conservative legal movement and its financial architect, Leonard Leo, are working to promote a publicly funded Christian school in Oklahoma, hoping to create a test case to change the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the First Amendment’s separation of church and state. At issue is the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma’s push to create the …