Jon Husted, Ohio’s lieutenant governor, tapped to replace JD Vance in Senate
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(WASHINGTON) — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Friday announced his lieutenant governor, Jon Husted, will replace Vice President-elect JD Vance in the U.S. Senate.
Husted, 57, will serve until a special election in November 2026, the winner of which will complete the remainder of Vance’s term.
Vance and President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn into office on Monday.
DeWine said at a news conference that when he mulled over his appointment, he wanted “someone who knew Ohio” and a proven “workhorse.”
“Serious times demand serious people,” he said.
DeWine praised Husted’s track record on economic development, which includes a commitment from Intel to invest more than $20 billion in manufacturing plants in the state.
“In my mind, my mission has always been clear: to ensure Ohioans have access to good jobs, quality job training and the opportunity to achieve their vision,” Husted said as he accepted the appointment on Friday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams will stand trial on federal corruption charges starting on April 21, 2025, a judge said Friday.
The date upset the defense, which argued for a schedule that could end the trial no later than early April to accommodate “grave, grave Democratic concerns,” namely the mayor’s reelection campaign.
The defense argued Adams needed resolution of the criminal case by the time the New York City ballot is set in the spring.
“There is a point in early April when people know who is on the ballot,” defense attorney Alex Spiro said during a hearing on Friday. “He’s either running with this hanging over his head or he’s running with this over.”
Judge Dale Ho said he appreciated the interest in a speedy trial “that any defendant has, but particularly that Mayor Adams has given the election cycle.”
“But I also have to be realistic about what I think can get done,” he continued.
Adams has pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment that accused him of accepting years of luxury travel gifts in exchange for, among other things, persuading the fire department to approve the opening of the new Turkish consulate in Manhattan despite the lingering safety concerns of inspectors.
Defense tries to get bribery charge dismissed
The defense argued during the hearing Friday that a bribery charge should be dismissed because the alleged conduct does not meet the legal definition of bribery.
With Adams silently looking on in court, defense attorney John Bash argued federal prosecutors failed to show Adams did anything more than broker meetings and set up phone calls.
“The agreement has to relate to something specific and it has to relate to government power,” Bash said. “They had no agreement for a specific action.”
The defense argued Adams could not take an official action on behalf of his Turkish patrons because, at the time, he was in a largely ceremonial job of Brooklyn borough president and not the mayor with authority over the New York City Fire Department.
“The pressure must in some sense arise from the official’s governmental authority,” Bash said.
Federal prosecutors disagreed. They argued that even if Adams had no authority over the fire department, his position still gave him access.
“You don’t have to have a supervisory role to pressure,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagan Scotten said, calling the alleged bribery “as clear as day.”
The prosecutor argued Adams knew when he accepted the travel gifts “he is entering a transactional relationship.”
Scotten said, at most, Adams is entitled to a clarifying jury instruction and not an outright dismissal of the charge.
The judge has not issued a ruling yet on the defense’s request.
(WASHINGTON) — House Republicans had mixed reactions to President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement that he would nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be secretary of Health and Human Services in his administration.
Kennedy has been an anti-vaccine activist and founded the Children’s Health Defense, a prominent anti-vaccine nonprofit that has campaigned against immunizations and other public health measures like water fluoridation. Medical experts expressed concerns about a rise in medical misinformation through Kennedy’s candidacy.
HHS oversees major health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, among others.
Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif., raised concerns about the pick, saying, “Well, all my kids are vaccinated and I hope he’s not going to move against one of the most life-saving technologies in the history of the world.”
Asked if Kennedy was the right choice, Duarte responded, “I don’t know.”
“I’d like to see more of his opinions and more of his thoughts in different matters, but the anti-vaccine mantra scares me a lot,” he said.
There was no immediate reaction from senators, who would vote on Kennedy’s nomination.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, laughed when asked for an opinion, saying “It’s the president’s prerogative. I am not a senator.”
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, called the news “fantastic.”
“Robert’s a friend now for a few years, we’ve been talking a lot,” Roy said.
Roy said there’s a need to be “disrupting the corruption” in federal health agencies, which he expects Kennedy to accomplish.
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., called Kennedy’s selection a “great pick.”
“Good pick on the president’s part, as all of them have been, and he’ll do a good job,” Norman said. “People say, ‘Well, he’s a Democrat.’ Look, he’s got an interest, he’s got an interest, a passion for the medical field. He’ll do a good job in it.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Trump is building a “diverse” Cabinet.
“He’s bringing in Republicans, Democrats. He is bringing in people’s different walks of life. You saw Tulsi Gabbard yesterday, Scalise said.
(WASHINGTON) — Incoming first lady Melania Trump appeared on “Fox & Friends” Monday where she promoted her new documentary, indicating that production crews have started filming her day-to-day with the transition team and how it will show her return to the White House next week.
She said she will spend most of her time in Washington.
“I will be in the White House. And you know when I need to be in New York, I will be in New York. When I need to be in Palm Beach, I will be in Palm Beach. But my first priority is, you know, to be a mom, to be a first lady, to be a wife. And once we are in on January 20, you serve the country,” she said.
Asked what is different this time around, Melania Trump talked about being familiar with the process but appeared to take a jab at the Obama administration, claiming it withheld information in 2017.
“I know the rooms where we will be living. I know the process. The first time was challenging. We didn’t have much of the information. The information was upheld for us from the previous administration,” she said.
She continued, “But this time, I have everything. I have plans I could move in. I already packed, I already selected the, you know, the furniture that needs to go in. So, it’s very different.”‘
ABC News is reaching out to the Obama team for comment.
She also indicated that she would continue and expand her “Be Best” initiative, which focused on well-being for youth and advocated against cyberbullying.
“I will continue with Be Best, and also I will expand Be Best,” she said.
“I started the first in the first administration. I didn’t have much support from anyone. I invited all of the streaming platforms to the White House. I had the roundtable, and I didn’t have much support from them. And imagine what we could do in those years if they would rally behind me and teach the children what to do to protect them about social media and their mental health.”
Her apparent dig at streaming platforms is notable considering her documentary will air exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. Also, on the campaign trail, Barron Trump played a significant role in bringing podcasters to his father to help secure the youth vote.
Asked if her son will have a room in the White House residence, she said she thinks he’ll visit.
“I think he will come and visit. Yes, he will bring his friends,” she said.
As she has done before, she indicated that her voice would not be lost in the mix, detailing that she has previously given her husband, President-elect Donald Trump, advice.
“I gave him my advice, and sometimes he listens. Sometimes he doesn’t and that’s okay,” she said.
Asked if she’s different from eight years ago, she said she’s always been herself, but she didn’t feel accepted the first time around.
“I feel I was always me the first time as well. I just feel that people didn’t accept me. Maybe they didn’t understand me the way. Maybe they do now. And I didn’t have much support,” she said.
She continued, stressing her independence, “Maybe some people they see me as just the wife of the president, but I am standing on my own two feet. Independent. I have my own thoughts. I have my own yes and no. I don’t always agree with what my husband is saying or doing, and that’s okay.”
Melania Trump’s views became noteworthy on the campaign trail when she expressed her support for abortion rights without government interference in the eleventh hour, breaking from her husband’s position that it was up to individual states to decide.
