Trump says he’ll slap tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico on Day 1

(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged disappointment around her election loss during her remarks on Tuesday, urging voters to “stay in the fight.”

The speech marks the vice president’s most extensive comments since her concession speech following her loss to President-elect Donald Trump in November.

“Over the past several weeks, since the election, I have received tens of thousands of letters from people across our nation, many of them young leaders, Americans from every walk of life, people of every age, race, faith and political party,” Harris said in Prince George’s County, Maryland,. “These letters share a common theme. Yes, there is disappointment, but there is also resolve for the future.”

“As we then approach the end of this year, many people have come up to me telling me they feel tired … maybe even resigned … that they’re not sure whether they have the strength, much less the desire, to stay in the fight. Let me be very clear: No one can walk away. No one can walk away,” she said. “We must stay in the fight, every one of us, including the fight for an economy that works, not just for those at the very top but for working people — for all Americans. To fight to make sure everyone has a fair shot to pursue their ambitions. The fight for our ideals, including the equality among us, the freedoms to which we are entitled, the dignity that we possess and is possessed by every one of us.

“So we must stay in the fight because that is the responsibility, in my opinion, that comes with the privilege of being an American,” she added.

Harris thanked the audience of “young leaders,” including high school and college students, recent graduates and apprentices who have been active in their local communities, in her remarks at Prince George’s Community College. She was joined by Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller and Sen.-elect Angela Alsobrooks, all Democrats.

“Everyone, please, get some rest over the holidays and spend time with the people you love,” she concluded. “And then I urge you … I challenge you to come back ready, ready to chart our path into the future, chin up, shoulders back and forever impatient for change … and be ready to get back to work fighting for opportunity and freedom, fighting for fairness and dignity, back to work fighting for this country we love and the future we share.”

The speech followed remarks the vice president gave Sunday with President Joe Biden at the Democratic National Committee’s holiday reception and came amid questions about Harris’ political future after she leaves office on Jan. 20.

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(WASHINGTON) — A top government watchdog raised concerns Tuesday over the handling of leak investigations during the first Trump administration that targeted members of Congress and the media despite finding no evidence that the inquiries were politically motivated, according to a newly released report.

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz initiated the investigation after public reports that prosecutors, during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term, had obtained warrants to access communications records for members of Congress, congressional staffers and reporters at CNN, the New York Times and the Washington Post to identify sources of apparent leaks of classified information.

The investigations were not publicly disclosed until after Trump left office, in part because prosecutors had secured court orders that prevented lawmakers, their staff and media members from learning about the searches.

The report, which comes as Trump has threatened to take action against his political rivals and the media through the DOJ and FBI, reveals the scope of the leak investigations into members of Congress and their staff was much broader than previous reports suggested.

While Rep. Eric Swalwell and now-Sen. Adam Schiff, both California Democrats, previously revealed their records had been seized as part of the investigation, Horowitz’s report revealed prosecutors also searched the records of 43 others who were congressional staffers at the time the leaked information was published.

But Horowitz’s report noted that the partisan affiliation of the staffers was not imbalanced — 21 staffers whose records were searched were Democrats, 20 were Republicans, and two worked in nonpartisan positions. The inspector general investigation determined the basis for the staffers’ records being searched was entirely due to their known ability to access the materials that were found to be leaked to the press, while the investigations into Schiff, then a congressman, and Swalwell were initially bolstered by information given to the department by an unidentified committee staffer who suspected them of leaking — but provided no evidence to support the claims.

While his name is not mentioned directly in the report, Kash Patel, Trump’s pick for FBI director, was among the 43 people who were congressional staffers at the time of the Trump-era leak probe whose records were searched, a source familiar with the investigation confirmed.

Patel has also said publicly on multiple occasions that he was subject to investigation by Trump’s DOJ and was also informed by Google that the DOJ had sought information on his personal accounts.

Horowitz’s report expressed concerns regarding the congressional leak investigations largely related to a lack of existing policies at the DOJ to provide senior-level oversight over such investigations that implicate the separation of powers. Records reviewed by Horowitz said the inquiries into members of Congress were conducted by career prosecutors almost entirely without senior-level supervision or notification and that there was no evidence they were pressured to carry out the inquiries despite Trump and other Republicans repeatedly singling out Schiff and Swalwell as possible leakers.

According to Horowitz, that the department was able to carry out its sweeping investigation of the members of Congress and their staff solely on the basis of them having had access to the leaked information “risks chilling Congress’s ability to conduct oversight of the executive branch because it exposes congressional officials to having their records reviewed by the Department solely for conducting Congress’s constitutionally authorized oversight duties.”

As for the Trump-era leak investigations of reporters from CNN, the New York Times and the Washington Post, Horowitz found that officials in the department violated several policies that existed at the time then-Attorney General William Barr authorized the investigations. Prosecutors failed to convene a News Media Review Committee that would normally be consulted in the process of investigations of leaks to members of the media and, in one of the investigations, failed to obtain approval from the director of national intelligence, according to the report.

Upon disclosure of the news media leak investigations in 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland convened several meetings with newsroom leaders across Washington, D.C., and ultimately implemented new DOJ policy that bars prosecutors from securing search warrants for reporters’ records to obtain information about their sources.

The future of that policy, however, remains very much in question — given public comments by Trump and his top allies suggesting they fully intend to use the powers of the DOJ and the FBI to target political enemies and even possibly members of the media during his second term. While Horowitz’s report offered up several recommendations for internal policy fixes to the issued identified in the report, all of which were accepted by the Biden DOJ, it will be up to leadership in the incoming Trump DOJ to determine whether those recommendations will be implemented.

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(WASHINGTON) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s personal attorney previously lobbied the Food and Drug Administration to revoke the approval of the polio vaccine, highlighting an influential Kennedy ally who, sources tell ABC News, has been helping interview candidates for top health jobs in the incoming Trump administration.

Aaron Siri, a partner at the law firm Siri & Glimstad, has long fought against the widespread prevalence of vaccines. He has also filed petitions seeking to pause the distribution of other vaccines, including Hepatitis B, and to revoke the emergency use authorization of COVID-19 vaccines.

The polio petition was made on behalf of one of Siri’s clients, the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN), a group founded by Del Bigtree, another close Kennedy ally who also has been involved in health-related transition matters, according to sources.

“Petitioner requests that the FDA withdraw or suspend the approval for [the polio vaccine] for infants, toddlers, and children until a properly controlled and properly powered double-blind trial of sufficient duration is conducted to assess the safety of this product,” Siri wrote.

The New York Times reported on the petition earlier Friday.

Siri did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

Kennedy, meanwhile, did not respond to written questions about whether he agrees with revoking the approval of the polio vaccine or if, as Health and Human Services secretary, he would intervene in the FDA’s review of Siri’s petitions.

The polio vaccine available in the United States is recommended for children and three doses offer at least 99% protection against severe disease, including paralysis, according to the CDC. Side effects are usually mild and go away on their own, the agency notes, and the vaccine has not been known to cause serious problems.

ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.

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