Asheville’s ABC affiliate reports: The McDowell County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) has charged a local pastor with multiple felonies. According to an MSCO Facebook post, Detective Grant Robinson with the MSCO charged Jeffrey Brian Merrow, 60, of Marion, N.C., with felony embezzlement and felony larceny.The release said Deputy Alicia Lund spoke with members of Garden Creek Baptist Church, where Merrow was …

Via press release from Rep. Sarah McBride: Today, Congresswoman Sarah McBride (DE-AL) announced that she was named a House Democratic Deputy Whip for Policy, a role focused on strategic, long-term planning and coordination on policy priorities across the House Democratic Caucus. This position is appointed by Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, the number two Democrat in the House of Representatives. “Since …

The Daily Beast reports: Marjorie Taylor Greene hinted at a more dangerous reason behind the inauguration being moved indoors. After news broke of the change, the representative tweeted her conspiracy theory for the cause: A possible security threat. “I have personally attended countless rallies where President Trump spoke in extreme weather conditions from cold to rain to heat,“ Greene wrote …

Washington DC’s CBS affiliate reports: A former Texas prosecutor will serve a year in prison for ordering members of the Oath Keepers militia to destroy evidence about their involvement in the Capitol riot after Jan. 6, 2021. Kellye SoRelle, 45, of Granbury, pleaded guilty in August to one felony count of obstruction of justice and one misdemeanor for entering the …

The Washington Post reports: Biotech entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy plans to run for Ohio governor, according to two people familiar with his plans who say that the co-leader of President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative will announce his bid shortly. A person inside Ramaswamy’s political apparatus who spoke to Ramaswamy this week said that Ramaswamy …

A Baptist site called The Biblical Reporter has published a lengthy lionizing of the life of recently dead Anita Bryant with a headline which crows that she “foretold the battle against the LGBTQ agenda.” The piece closes with this: Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, recalled on The Briefing podcast Jan. 13 that he heard Bryant sing in …

“January 20th cannot come fast enough! Everybody, even those that initially opposed a Victory by President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Administration, just want it to happen. It is my obligation to protect the People of our Country but, before we even begin, we have to think of the Inauguration itself. “The weather forecast for Washington, D.C., with the …

CBS News reports: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is expected to name Lt. Gov. Jon Husted to fill the Senate seat that Vice President-elect JD Vance is vacating, multiple sources tell CBS News. DeWine is expected to announce his selection at a 1 p.m. press conference Friday. The announcement will end months of speculation and jockeying for the seat Vance held …

CNN reports: President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration is expected to be moved indoors Monday due to dangerously cold temperatures projected in the nation’s capital, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the plans told CNN. Plans are underway to have Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance sworn into office inside the US Capitol Rotunda, the sources said. Discussions regarding where to hold …

Florida Politics reports: Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody hasn’t been sworn into the Senate yet, but she’s already eyeing her first federal election next year. Moody, whom Gov. Ron DeSantis announced as the replacement for future Secretary of State Marco Rubio, will be buoyed by the eponymous Moody for Florida committee, according to Federal Election Commission records. However, Moody may …

CNN reports: President Joe Biden announced a major opinion Friday that the Equal Rights Amendment is ratified, enshrining its protections into the Constitution, a last-minute move that some believe could pave the way to bolstering reproductive rights. It will, however, certainly draw swift legal challenges – and its next steps remain extremely unclear as Biden prepares to leave office. The …

Peter Montgomery reports at Right Wing Watch: The America First Policy Institute, a MAGA movement think tank founded by former Trump aides, has raised millions in tax-exempt funds to promote policies that would undermine public education, restrict access to abortion, limit voter registration and voting, roll back environmental protections, gut government’s ability to regulate corporate behavior, pursue campaigns against transgender …

NBC News reports: The Supreme Court on Friday delivered a blow to TikTok by upholding a law that could potentially lead to the video-sharing social media platform being banned in the United States. The justices rejected a free speech challenge filed by the company, meaning the law is set to go into effect on Sunday as planned. The bipartisan law …

Rahm Emanuel writes for the Washington Post: What’s 18-karat gold, bears the face of a Swedish inventor and keeps Donald Trump awake at night? The Nobel Peace Prize. Trump began obsessing over the annual award long before he failed to win one during his first term as president. Much of his griping has been aimed at Barack Obama, who was …

Los Angeles’s ABC affiliate reports: The biggest names in pop, rock and country are coming together to raise funds for victims of the Palisades and Eaton wildfires and assist with the recovery. A benefit concert, FireAid, will take place on Jan. 30 on two stages, one at Intuit Dome and the other at The Kia Forum, organizers announced on Thursday. …

NBC News reports: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security, will testify today at a confirmation hearing held by the Senate homeland security committee. If she is confirmed, Noem will oversee a workforce of more than 260,000 people across several agencies. Noem had at one time been viewed as a possible …

Axios reports: Former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) conspicuous silence is starting to spook Tulsi Gabbard’s team. Voting against Gabbard would resume hostilities between McConnell and Trump. It could have implications for big policy questions down the line, from funding Ukraine to raising tariffs. Two key GOP swing votes sit on the Intel committee: Sens. Susan Collins (R-Me.), a …

Houston’s CBS affiliate reports: A judge in Texas ruled Thursday that three other states can move ahead with their effort to roll back federal rules and make it harder for people across the U.S. to access the abortion drug mifepristone. The states of Idaho, Kansas and Missouri made the request in U.S. District Court in Amarillo, Texas. The only judge …

CBS News reports: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced early Friday local time that Israel has finalized its ceasefire agreement with the militant group Hamas that will see the release of hostages held in Gaza. Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that the prime minister “has been updated by the negotiating team that agreements have been reached on a …

ABC News reports: A Missouri man who brandished a Nazi flag after a thwarted attack on the White House in 2023 was sentenced to eight years in federal prison on Thursday. Sai Varsith Kandula traveled from St. Louis, Missouri, to Washington, D.C., on May 22, 2023. Four hours after his arrival, Kandula — then 19 years old — crashed the …