President-elect Donald Trump is meeting with the TikTok CEO Shou Chew at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, a source familiar told ABC News.The meeting comes after Trump said in a news conference on Monday that he has a “warm spot” in his heart for TikTok, crediting the app for helping him win over young voters in last month's presidential election. CNN was the first to report on the meeting.Trump originally tried to ban TikTok in his first administration, but has since reversed course, vowing on the campaign trail to “save” the app. It’s not clear how he would do so, given the legislation passed with strong bipartisan support and would require approval from both the House and Senate.TikTok filed an emergency application with the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday seeking a temporary injunction that would delay the ban on the app from taking effect while the company seeks formal review by the justices.President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which was part of a massive, $95 billion foreign aid package passed by Congress, in April. As part of the act, TikTok, which has more than 170 million U.S. users, is forced to sell the company from its current Chinese-based owner ByteDance.Biden and some congressional leaders argued that the ultimatum against TikTok was necessary because of security concerns about ByteDance and its connections to the Chinese government.Lawmakers have warned Apple and Google to be ready to remove TikTok from their app stores on Jan. 19. They also wrote to TikTok’s CEO, urging him to look for a buyer.“We urge TikTok to immediately execute a qualified divestiture,” they wrote.Selling off TikTok from its Chinese parent would avoid the ban, but it would be an extremely complex and expensive transaction. Chinese officials have said they would block any sale of TikTok’s algorithm, which drives the app’s success.In addition to his meeting with the TikTok CEO, Trump will also meet with Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos on Tuesday at Mar-a-Lago and is expected to meet with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Wednesday, two sources familiar with the plans told ABC News. The meeting with Bezos comes after a Wall Street Journal report that Amazon is planning to donate $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund.-ABC News' Rachel Scott and Devin Dwyer contributed to this report.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

During a wide-ranging impromptu press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, President-elect Donald Trump signaled an eagerness to wrap up the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East as quickly as possible -- suggesting he would call on some of the combatants to make significant compromises.“We've been doing our best and we'll see what happens,” Trump said. “Since the election, I’ve been working every day to put the world at ease a little bit, to get rid of the wars.”Trump has previously insisted he would need only 24 hours to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, which has now pressed on for more than 1,000 days. But on Monday, he said he anticipated that would be “more difficult” to resolve than the current turmoil in the Middle East, which is rooted in the century-old Israeli Palestinian conflict.“I see that as more difficult,” Trump said, before decrying the Biden administration’s recent decision to loosen restrictions on Ukraine’s use of American-supplied arms in recent weeks, allowing Kyiv to strike deeper inside Russian territory.“I don’t think that should have been allowed,” he said. “Certainly not just weeks before I take over.Trump then said he might reverse the decision, adding “I thought it was a very stupid thing to do.”The president-elect also suggested he might expect Kyiv to hand over land to Russia as part of negotiated peace, signaling a departure from the Biden administration’s longstanding policy that Ukraine should steer any discussion on making territorial concessions in order to end the war.“All those cities are destroyed,” he said. “It's nice to say they want their land back, but the cities are largely destroyed.”Trump said he would speak to Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before weighing in on how much land Ukraine should cede, but said it was still possible a deal to end the war could be reached before he entered the White House.He also spoke about the devastation the war had caused in vivid terms, without expressly blaming Moscow for igniting it.“It's a carnage that we haven't seen since the Second World War. It's got to be stopped. And I'm doing I'm doing my best to stop it,” he said.On Syria's Assad: 'We have to get on with our lives'The president-elect was also asked by ABC’s Selina Wang if the Kremlin should have to hand over former Syrian dictator, Bashar al-Assad, who fled rebel fighters by escaping to Russia.“Well, I hadn't thought of it. I think we have to get on with our lives. I have to see what happens,” Trump responded.The president-elect said he was already actively engaged on other matters related to the Middle East, saying he had a “very good talk” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend.Tough talk on Israeli hostages in GazaTrump also reiterated a demand he made in a post on his Truth Social site earlier this month that all hostages held in Gaza should be released prior to his inauguration, saying otherwise there would be “ALL HELL TO PAY.”Asked about what the consequences Hamas would face if all the detainees were not freed by that point, Trump responded “they’re going to have to determine what that means.”“But it means it won’t be pleasant,” he added.Some progress on Gaza ceasefireTrump’s statements come as the State Department and some Israeli officials are signaling progress towards a limited deal to exchange some of the hostages held by Hamas for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza.According to two U.S. officials familiar with the negotiations, Hamas has shown more willingness to compromise in recent days -- indicating it would temporarily tolerate the presence of some Israeli forces in the enclave during a ceasefire. The group has also provided information on some hostages Hamas said it would release as part of an agreement, they added.“We are we are pushing as hard as we know how to do at this point, and we believe we can get to a deal,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday. “It remains incumbent on Hamas and Israel agreeing to those final terms and getting it over the line. And I can't good conscience tell you stand here and tell you that that's going to happen, but it should happen.”Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

The New York judge in President-elect Donald Trump's criminal hush money case ruled Monday that the Supreme Court's presidential immunity decision does not apply to that case.Trump had sought to dismiss his criminal indictment and vacate the jury verdict on the grounds that prosecutors, during the trial last May, introduced evidence relating to Trump's official acts as president, after the Supreme Court later ruled in July that Trump is entitled to presumptive immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts undertaken while in office.However, Judge Juan Merchan said on Monday that the evidence in Trump's hush money case related "entirely to unofficial conduct" and "poses no danger of intrusion on the authority and function of the Executive Branch."Trump was found guilty in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election. Judge Merchan has yet to hand down a sentence.In his ruling Monday, Merchan found that there was "overwhelming evidence of guilt" that led the jury to convict Trump at trial.Trump's attorneys, arguing for immunity, had emphasized the importance of former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks' testimony, including her recounting of interactions with Trump in 2018 when reporting about the alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels broke, to demonstrate Trump's knowledge of the payment and his preference that the story came out after the election.Defense lawyers used a similar argument to argue that tweets from Trump -- which prosecutors used to demonstrate an alleged "pressure campaign" to prevent Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen from cooperating with authorities in 2018 -- were official communications protected by immunity because the posts "fall well within the core authority of the Nation's Chief Executive."But Merchan on Monday rejected Trump's argument that the testimony of Hicks, Trump's Twitter posts about Cohen, and other evidence, constitute official acts."Just as the title of Communications Director does not bestow absolute immunity to any and all communications with Ms. Hicks, neither does mere reference to the Justice Department convert a Tweet to an official act," Merchan wrote in his ruling."It is therefore logical and reasonable to conclude that if the act of falsifying records to cover up the payments so that the public would not be made aware is decidedly an unofficial act, so too should the communications to further that same cover-up be unofficial," the judge wrote.Trump has also offered another argument that he is entitled to presidential immunity because he is now president-elect, which Merchan has yet to rule on.Last week, the Manhattan district attorney's office urged Merchan to preserve the jury's verdict and sentence Trump at some later date following his second term, but Trump's attorneys blasted that proposal as "thuggish tactics."In a letter accompanying Monday's ruling, Merchan referenced a forthcoming filing from Trump's lawyers alleging "juror misconduct," which has yet to be made public.Merchan wrote that Trump's argument "consists entirely of unsworn allegations," but that he will allow the president-elect's lawyers to file a redacted version of their claims."Thus, this Court finds that to allow the public filing of the letters without redactions and without the benefit of a hearing would only serve to undermine the integrity of these proceedings while simultaneously placing the safety of the jurors at grave risk," Merchan wrote.The judge said that he would consider Trump's claims if he submitted a motion to throw out the case with sworn testimony backing up the allegation of juror misconduct, rather than the unsworn allegations provided by Trump's lawyers in their recent filing."Allegations of juror misconduct should be thoroughly investigated. However, this Court is prohibited from deciding such claims on the basis of mere hearsay and conjecture," the judge wrote.Merchan's letter did not provide any additional context about Trump's allegation of juror misconduct, and Trump's filings have not been posted to the court's public docket.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

President-elect Donald Trump said Monday that the Biden administration knows more about the drones that have raised alarms over parts of the country than it's sharing with the public."They know where it came from and where it went. And for some reason, they don't want to comment. And I think they'd be better off saying what it is. Our military knows and our president knows. And for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense," Trump said.Trump took questions for more than an hour on a number of subjects. He started his remarks with an announcement that SoftBank will make a $100 billion investment in the U.S. that will create 100,000 jobs focused on artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. SoftBank plans to complete the work before Trump leaves office in 2029, according to a person familiar with the matter.TikTok and election resultsAsked about a potential ban on TikTok unless it finds new ownership, Trump said he has "a warm spot in my heart for TikTok," because of its effect on his winning a larger share of the youth vote than he did in 2016.A federal appeals court last week rejected TikTok's attempt to stop the pending ban and pause the Jan. 19 deadline for a sale."TikTok had an impact," Trump said. "And, so we're taking a look at it. I don't know why, but we ended up finishing, we were, there was one poll that showed us down about 30. We were 35 or 36 points up with young people. So I have a little bit of a warm spot in my heart."Considering a pardon for Eric AdamsTrump also said he would "take a look" at a pardon for New York Mayor Eric Adams, who was indicted in September on bribery charges."I think that he was treated pretty unfairly," Trump said, and suggested the charges were retribution for Adams speaking out against migrants flooding into the country."It's very interesting when he essentially went against what was happening with the migrants coming in," Trump said. "And, you know, he made some pretty strong statements like 'This is not sustainable.' I said, 'You know what? He'll be indicted soon.' And I said it. That is a prediction, a little bit lightheartedly, but I said it. I said, 'He's going to be indicted.' And a few months later he got indicted. So I would certainly look at it."Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and vaccinesFollowing reports last week that the personal attorney for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, had previously lobbied the Food and Drug Administration to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine, the president-elect said he is a "big believer in the polio vaccine.""You're not gonna lose the polio vaccine. That's not gonna happen," he said. "I saw what happened with the polio. I have friends that were very much affected by that. I have friends from many years ago, and they have obviously, they they're still in not such good shape because of it."Trump's selection of Kennedy, known an anti-vaccine crusader, to lead HHS has raised concerns about what effects his activism might have on the agency's mission. Trump said Monday those concerns are unfounded."I think you're going to find that Bobby is much -- he's a very rational guy. I found him to be very rational," Trump said."But we're going to look into finding why is the autism rate so much higher than it was 20, 25, 30 years ago," he said. "I mean, it's like it's 100 times higher. There's something wrong. And we're going to try finding that."Ending the war in UkraineAsked if Ukraine should cede territory to Russia to end the war, Trump didn't give a straight answer, instead saying cities there are a “demolition site” and there’s “nothing there” for Ukrainians.“But, a lot of that territory, when you look at what's happened to those, I mean, there are cities that there's not a building standing. It's a demolition site. There's not a building standing. So people can't go back to those cities. There's nothing there. It's just rubble,” Trump said, hinting that there isn’t a reason for Ukraine to keep the land.Auctioning off the border wallWhile calling the transition from the Biden administration to his incoming one “friendly,” Trump called for a policy change on the border wall, claiming the White House was attempting to auction off border wall material.“That has nothing to do with a smooth transition, that has to do with people really trying to stop our nation, and all it means really is that we're going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more, not even talking about the time,” he said.“It's almost a criminal act,” Trump claimed as he lamented that border wall materials are being sold for “5 cents on the dollar.”Deadline for Hamas to release hostagesIn recounting his discussion on a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump repeated his threat that Israeli hostages held by Hamas and others in the Middle East should be released by Inauguration Day."We discussed what is going to happen and I'll be very available on January 20th," he said. "And we'll see. I, as you know, I gave warning that if these hostages aren't back home by that date, all hell is going to break out and very strong."Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

The political drama over the future of the FBI took another turn this week when Christopher Wray announced he will resign as the agency's director by the end of the Biden administration on Jan. 20.The announcement came just weeks after President-elect Donald Trump said he wanted to replace Wray with Kash Patel, a controversial ally who has defended Jan. 6 rioters, threatened to fire FBI agents and vowed to investigate journalists.Although it might seem as if Wray's resignation provides a clearer path for Patel to immediately become director on Trump's first day office on Jan. 20, experts say federal regulations bar him from doing so until he's confirmed by the Senate -- and even from becoming acting director.Full Senate approval could take weeks -- or possible longer, they say.In fact, under the guidelines of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA), the FBI will be led by acting directors who are veterans of the agency in the early part of the new administration, Marty Lederman, a constitutional law professor at Georgetown Law School, told ABC News.Those same regulations, however, also give small loopholes that could allow Trump some options to have his say about who those "stopgap" leaders are, according to Lederman, a former Justice Department attorney."I think the practical effects of Wray resigning versus him being removed by Trump [on Jan. 20] are uncertain at best," he told ABC News.Lederman and others said FVRA provides rules for presidentially approved, Senate confirmed, roles.Once Wray leaves his position, his direct deputy -- currently Paul Abbate, an agency veteran -- would be called on to serve as acting FBI director, according to the FVRA. This acting director would be limited to 210 days on the job before a permanent leader is required to be approved by the Senate, the law mandates.The line succession for acting director would continue down to other senior FBI members if the deputy director leaves the job, according to the FVRA.Abbate joined the FBI in 1996 was named deputy director by Wray in 2021.Trump has not commented or made a statement about Abbate's role in his administration or his pending assumption to acting director once Wray leaves.The FVRA doesn't include any direct language about filling roles vacated due to termination so it would have been unclear how it would have played out if Trump went forward with his plans to replace Wray when he returned to the White House.However, the FVRA does give a sitting president options on choosing another person to be acting director from a larger pool of candidates -- outside the bureau -- albeit according to strict criteria.The act allows the president to name any person currently serving in a federal position who was approved by the Senate to serve as the acting director for the same 210-day period.Stephen Vladeck, a law professor at Georgetown University who has studied and written about the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, told ABC News that there are a only handful of Senate-approved Trump appointees still working in various federal offices, so he wouldn't be able to appoint a favored candidate to lead the bureau on Day 1.However, the president-elect could appoint someone to lead the FBI after more of his administrative picks are confirmed even ones unrelated to the Justice Department, according to Vladeck.The FVRA also provides a third option under which a president can appoint an agency employee who is paid at the "GS-15 rate or above", which is $123,041, and who has been an employee of the agency for at least three months of the past 365 days preceding the vacancy."The statute is a maze but it gives the president a lot of flexibility to nominate a wide range of folks," Vladeck said.Patel, who served as chief of staff in the Defense Department in the final months of the first Trump administration and hasn't had a government job in the last four years, does not fit the criteria for the three options under the FVRA and could not immediately assume FBI leadership, according to experts who spoke to ABC News.Patel, who has never worked for the FBI, nonetless has been meeting with senators in recent days to make the case for his approval and said he is ready "Day 1" to run the bureau.Lederman and Vladeck said there is one extreme possibility for Patel to serve as FBI earlier and without immediate Senate confirmation: if Trump or the attorney general fires Deputy Director Abbate and installs Patel in that role.Given the complications and pending leadership changes within the Justice Department and the time it will take for Trump's attorney general pick to assume office, this scenario seems unlikely, according to the experts.Lederman added that if he were to install Patel as the deputy director, the FVRA would not only limit his tenure as acting director but also force him to step down if Trump follows through with his nomination.Patel, who is already under extreme scrutiny and criticism for his extreme views, would also have to answer for actions and policies that he made during his time as acting director under this scenario, Lederman noted."It upsets the Senate because you already put that person in place without the confirmation process but it also makes everything they do in that position fodder for the nomination," he said, stressing it is very unlikely.The Justice Department and government watchdog groups will be keeping their eye on the ongoing proceedings and Lederman said that at the end of the day, Trump will have to nominate a permanent FBI director and it will come down to if there is enough support in the Senate to back Patel or another pick.He did note that Trump could use the FVRA for other positions throughout the federal government and noted that he and other presidents have used the loopholes to appoint acting directors that aligned with their administration's goals.Trump in particular used the act to keep his picks in office without any approval, picks such as Chad Wolf, who was first appointed to non Senate-approved position in the Department of Homeland Security before a series of controversial resignations led to his becoming the agency's acting director in 2019.A year later, a federal court found Wolf's appointment unlawful but he did not resign until a week before Trump left office."Lots of people including me have written about the ways Trump's behavior has turned this act into a pretzel," Lederman said.Lederman said there have been constant calls for Congress to strengthen the act to prevent the executive branch from asserting its power over Senate-approved appointees and maintains that this is a bipartisan issue that needs to be addressed immediately."There is broad consensus that the act goes way too far and much of is too generous and that Congress should fix it," he said.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

Newly sworn-in Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., criticized president-elect Donald Trump's selections to fill out his administration and said he doesn't think President Joe Biden should issue preemptive pardons as he leaves office."The precedent of giving blanket pardons, preemptive blanket pardons on the way out of an administration, I think, is a precedent we don't want to set," Schiff told anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview Sunday on "This Week."Schiff also responded to Trump's promise to pardon some Jan. 6 offenders."The American people, I think, voted for him in part because they wanted something done about crime," he said. "Not because they wanted to see him pardon criminals attacking the government."FBI Director Christopher Wray announced last week that he'll resign at the end of Biden's term after Trump announced he had selected hardliner Kash Patel for the position.Asked if Trump's threats to go after his political enemies worry him, Schiff pointed to Patel's nomination as reason for concern."I think if Patel is the director of the FBI, then all bets are off," he said.Schiff said Patel demonstrated a theme he saw during Trump's first term."And that is, you rise to the level of your sycophancy," he said. "The bigger the sycophant, the higher you rise."ABC News has reported that Biden is considering issuing preemptive pardons to individuals who Trump has vowed to go after, including members of the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, of which Schiff was a member. In an interview last Sunday on NBC, Trump said committee members "should go to jail."Schiff, who was a manager in Trump's first impeachment, has said he would not accept a preemptive pardon, pointing to the "vital, quintessential oversight" of the Jan. 6 committee and the impact of such a sweeping decision.The senator also said that Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's nominee for director of national intelligence, isn't qualified for that role and questioned her previous relations with ousted Syrian leader Bashar Assad."Someone that had shown that kind of poor judgment is not necessarily someone you want advising this president," Schiff said.Schiff was also asked about his communications with fellow California lawmaker Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi after she underwent hip replacement surgery following a fall in Luxembourg.Schiff said he's been in contact with Pelosi's daughter and that she is "recovering well.""As strong and as tough as she is, I know she'll be back on her feet soon," he said.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

President-elect Donald Trump tapped former California Rep. Devin Nunes as chairman of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board in a series of announcements on Saturday.Nunes has been a staunch Trump loyalist and serves as CEO of Trump Media and Technology Group, which runs the president-elect's social media company, Truth Social."I am pleased to announce that I will appoint Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes as Chairman of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, which consists of distinguished citizens from outside of the Federal Government," Trump posted in his announcement on Truth Social. "While continuing his leadership of Trump Media & Technology Group, Devin will draw on his experience as former Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and his key role in exposing the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, to provide me with independent assessments of the effectiveness and propriety of the U.S. Intelligence Community’s activities."Nunes represented California in the House from 2003 to 2022. He was chairman of the House Intelligence Committee from 2015 until 2019, as well as ranking member from 2019 until his resignation from Congress on Jan. 1, 2022, to lead Truth Social. Nunes will remain in his role in the president-elect's company while serving as chairman of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board.The President's Intelligence Advisory Board, established in 1956, aids the president by offering independent analysis on the effectiveness of the intelligence community and the ability of U.S. agencies to meet "the nation’s intelligence needs."In addition to Nunes, Trump named longtime friend and donor Bill White as the U.S. ambassador to Belgium and Troy Edgar to be his deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.Currently the CEO of Constellations Group, White was president of the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum before he resigned amid allegations of improper financial dealings. He has denied any wrongdoing. White, also a member of the Log Cabin Republicans, organized multiple pro-Trump LGBTQ fundraisers and events this past election.Edgar, currently an executive at IBM, previously was Trump's chief financial officer for the DHS and the associate deputy undersecretary of management for homeland security.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

Daniel Penny, the former Marine who was charged but acquitted in killing Jordan Neely, a Black homeless man, in a New York City subway, shared the spotlight with President-elect Donald Trump and his entourage on Saturday at the Army-Navy game in Landover, Maryland.Penny, who has received praise in conservative circles and jeers from others for his actions in May 2023, was seen chatting and laughing with Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, who invited the 25-year-old to the game.He did not speak to the press.Trump, who attended the same game in 2016 after winning the election, did not make any speeches but saluted during the national anthem and gave a fist pump and wave to a crowd.In addition to the president and vice-president-elect, Penny joined Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick to lead the Department of Defense; former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's selection to be director of national intelligence; House Speaker Mike Johnson; incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Pennsylvania Sen.-elect David McCormick and Elon Musk at the game.Penny's invitation came days after a Manhattan jury acquitted him of criminal charges for the incident on the F train on May 1, 2023. Neely, who was homeless at the time, boarded a subway car at the Second Avenue stop and was described by witnesses as yelling and moving erratically when Penny put Neely in a chokehold, which prosecutors alleged lasted for six minutes, according to officials.Some of the incident was captured on video.The city's medical examiner concluded Penny's chokehold killed Neely and ruled he died due to compression of the neck.Neely, a 30-year-old former street performer who would impersonate Michael Jackson, had a history of homelessness and schizophrenia.He had been convicted of assaulting people at subway stations, according to police. However, passengers on the train the day Neely died said he did not touch anyone during the incident.However, Neely had expressed a willingness to die or even kill while on the train, according to investigators.Penny was charged with manslaughter and negligent homicide but received praise from some conservative leaders, right-wing media pundits and others for what they claimed was an act of self-defense."Daniel's a good guy, and New York's mob district attorney tried to ruin his life for having a backbone," Vance posted on X this week.Others, however, criticized the former Marine for taking the life of a homeless Black man in need of mental health services.The Manhattan jury deliberated for 24 hours over five days and was deadlocked on the manslaughter charge, which carried a 15-year prison sentence, forcing the judge to dismiss it. The jury delivered a verdict of not guilty on the negligent homicide charge on Monday.In an interview with Fox Nation, Penny described himself as being in a "vulnerable" position."He was just threatening to kill people," Penny told host Jeanine Pirro about Neely. "He was threatening to go to jail forever, to go to jail for the rest of his life."Penny has been named in a lawsuit by Neely's father, Andre Zachery, for negligent contact, assault and battery that led to Neely's death."I promised this family justice -- we are still going to do that," Donte Mills, the attorney representing Zachery, said following Penny's conviction. "The district attorney did a good job, but the jury in this case let us down."Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

On Jan. 2, 2021, former President Donald Trump asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" the votes needed to win the state in the 2020 election.The now-infamous phone call helped spark a criminal investigation launched the following month by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis looking into the efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election.Here's a look at how the probe -- one of several investigations involving the former president -- has unfolded so far.Nov. 3, 2020Voters head to the polls in the 2020 general election.Nov. 7, 2020Multiple media organizations, including ABC News, call the election for Joe Biden based on the projected electoral vote count, as several states, including Georgia, have yet to be projected.Nov. 10, 2020The Trump campaign requests a hand recount in Georgia, where Biden leads by about 14,000 votes out of nearly 5 million cast in the presidential race.Nov. 11, 2020Raffensperger, a Republican, announces that due to how slim the vote margin is between Biden and Trump, the state's planned audit will trigger a "full by-hand recount in each county" of the presidential race.Nov. 19, 2020The results of Georgia's statewide audit, which entailed that counties recount by hand every vote cast in the presidential race, reaffirm Biden as the winner -- by a margin of 12,284 votes. It's the first time since 1992 that a Democrat will win the state.Nov. 20, 2020Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Raffensperger certify the results of the general election, making it official that Biden won the state's 16 electoral votes.Nov. 24, 2020Georgia's 159 counties start counting the votes cast in the presidential race for a third time, after the Trump campaign requests a machine recount.Dec. 6, 2020Raffensperger defends the integrity of the general election, telling ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos during an interview on "This Week" that his office has yet to find evidence supporting "systemic fraud" that would change the outcome.Dec. 7, 2020Raffensperger and Kemp recertify the state's election results after a recount requested by Trump confirms once again that Biden won the state. The audit found that Biden won by a margin of 11,779 votes.Dec. 22, 2020Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff at the time, visits Georgia's Cobb County to observe a signature match audit.Dec. 23, 2020Amid the signature match audit in Cobb County, Trump phones a chief investigator in Raffensperger's office to discuss the audit, telling the investigator they would be praised for finding errors in the vote count, according to an individual familiar with the call.Jan. 2, 2021In an hourlong phone call obtained by ABC News, Trump calls Raffensperger and falsely claims that it was "not possible" for him to have lost and asks the secretary to "find 11,780 votes" -- the exact number Trump needed to win Georgia."The people of Georgia are angry. The people of the country are angry, and there's nothing wrong with saying that, you know, that you've recalculated," Trump says on the call. "All I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. ... Fellas, I need 11,000 votes, give me a break."Meadows was also heard speaking on the call.Raffensperger challenged the president's allegations, saying the data Trump is citing about tens of thousands of illegal votes "is wrong."Feb. 10, 2021Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis notifies Kemp that her office has launched an investigation into efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to a letter obtained by ABC News.The letter asked state officials to preserve any documents potentially related to the 2020 general election, "with particular care given to set aside and preserve those that may be evidence of attempts to influence the actions of persons who were administering" it, which would include Trump's phone call with Raffensperger.Jan. 20, 2022Willis requests to seat a special grand jury in her probe, according to a letter obtained by ABC News. In the letter to Fulton County Chief Judge Christopher Brasher, Willis wrote that the move is needed because "a significant number of witnesses and prospective witnesses have refused to cooperate with the investigation absent a subpoena requiring their testimony."May 2, 2022Twenty-six jurors are selected for a special grand jury in Willis' investigation.The special grand jury does not have the ability to return an indictment and can only make recommendations concerning criminal prosecution. Should charges be recommended, it would then be up to Willis to determine whether or not to pursue them.July 19, 2022New court documents reveal that 16 people identified as "fake electors" have been notified that they are targets of the Fulton County district attorney's criminal investigation, new court documents reveal.Aug. 15, 2022Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, is informed he is considered a "target" of the Fulton County district attorney's probe, according to sources familiar with the matter. Among his efforts to overturn the state's election results, Giuliani appeared during a December 2020 hearing before state lawmakers at which he presented since-debunked allegations that poll workers had suitcases containing illegitimate ballots.Nov. 1, 2022The U.S. Supreme Court rejects Sen. Lindsey Graham bid to block a subpoena for testimony before the special grand jury. Graham, in the aftermath of the 2020 election, called Georgia election officials to discuss the election.Nov. 8, 2022Voters head to the polls in Georgia for a primary election where Raffensperger is up for reelection for his secretary of state seat. Trump supports Rep. Jody Hice in the primary.Nov. 18, 2022A hand count of random batches of votes confirms Raffensperger has won reelection, state election officials announce.Jan. 9, 2023A new filing indicates that the special grand jury has finished its work and submitted its final report following months of closed-door testimony.The jurors heard testimony from some of Trump's closest allies and supporters, including lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, and Sen. Graham.Jan. 24, 2023Willis says during a hearing that charging decisions in the case are "imminent."Feb. 13, 2023Fulton County Judge Robert McBurney rules that portions of the special grand jury's report can be released in the coming days, though the majority of the report will remain sealed. Willis had argued for the report to remain sealed, saying that it was important to "be mindful of protecting future defendants' rights."Feb. 16, 2023Excerpts from the special grand jury's report are released, revealing that the jury has recommended to prosecutors that they seek indictments against witnesses who they believe may have lied during their testimony."A majority of the grand jury believes that perjury may have been committed by one or more witnesses testifying before it," the grand jury wrote in the report. "The Grand Jury recommends that the District Attorney seek appropriate indictments for such crimes where the evidence is compelling."The excerpts from the report do not list any names of those who grand jury members believe may have committed perjury nor offer any rationale for its allegations of perjury.There are also no details revealed regarding whether or not the grand jury recommended charges for anyone related to efforts to overturn the election. The excerpts do not identify any of the 75 witnesses interviewed and do not mention Trump by name.Following their release, a spokesperson for Trump said the excerpts "have nothing to do with the President because President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong.""The President participated in two perfect phone calls regarding election integrity in Georgia, which he is entitled to do -- in fact, as President, it was President Trump's Constitutional duty to ensure election safety, security, and integrity," the spokesperson said.Feb. 21, 2023In a series of print and television interviews, Emily Kohrs, the foreperson of the special grand jury, reveals that jurors recommended charges for several individuals, without naming any of them -- and intimated that the former president is among them."You're not going to be shocked," Kohrs told The New York Times about whether her panel recommended charges against Trump. "It's not rocket science."March 20, 2023Trump's attorneys file motions in Fulton County Superior Court and with the Georgia Supreme Court seeking to throw out the special grand jury report and remove the district attorney's office leading the investigation.April 24, 2023Willis indicates her office will announce any charging decisions sometime between July 11 and Sept. 1, 2023, in a letter to law enforcement.May 5, 2023Eight of the "fake electors" accept immunity in the Fulton County district attorney's probe into the matter, according to their lawyer.July 11, 2023Willis empanels a new grand jury that could ultimately decide whether to approve charges against Trump.July 17, 2023The Georgia Supreme Court denies the request by Trump to quash the findings of the special grand jury and remove Willis from the probe.July 29, 2023Senior Superior Court Judge Stephen Schuster, responding to a third motion filed by Trump seeking to disqualify Willis from the election probe, schedules a hearing for Aug. 10. The motion had been filed on July 20, after the Georgia Supreme Court denied a similar request.July 31, 2023Judge McBurney denies the motion filed with Fulton County Superior Court by Trump's legal team seeking to disqualify Willis and quash the findings of a special grand jury convened to review evidence in the matter.Willis, meanwhile, signals that an indictment of the former president could be imminent, telling a local news outlet, "We've been working for two and a half years -- we're ready to go."Aug. 4, 2023Trump's attorneys file a notice of appeal, signaling their intent to appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court Judge McBurney's ruling denying Trump's motion to remove Willis from the probe and quash the special grand jury's report.The filing comes a day after Trump drops his other remaining motion seeking to have Willis removed from the case.Aug. 8, 2023Sources tell ABC News that Willis is likely to go before the grand jury the following week to present her case so the panel can weigh potential charges.In the meantime, following a day of dueling motions from the special counsel's office and Trump's legal team regarding a proposed protective order in the case, Judge Chutkan schedules a hearing on the matter for Friday, Aug. 11.Aug. 9, 2023ABC News reports that a newly revealed memo from Dec. 6, 2020, details a plan by Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro to pursue slates of supposedly "alternate" electors in order to prevent Biden from amassing 270 electoral votes.Prosecutors say Chesebro was working with the Trump legal team to find ways to challenge the outcome of the election in order to keep Trump in office.Aug. 10, 2023Willis, responding to a recent attack ad from Trump, issues an internal memo to her staff urging them not to respond and telling them that "This is business, it will never be personal," according to a copy of the memo obtained by ABC News."We have no personal feelings against those we investigate or prosecute and we should not express any," Willis writes.Aug. 12, 2023Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and journalist George Chidi, who were previously subpoenaed in the probe, are called to appear early the following week before the grand jury in the case, as Willis is expected to being presenting the case to the panel so they can weigh potential charges.Duncan, a Republican, has been a vocal critic of Trump and efforts to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results. Democratic Georgia state Sen. Jen Jordan is also subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury, her spokesperson tells ABC News.Aug. 14, 2023Trump and 18 others are charged by Willis in a sweeping racketeering indictment over their efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. The indictment alleges they solicited state leaders throughout the country, harassed and misled a Georgia election worker, and pushed phony claims that the election was stolen, all in an effort for Trump to remain in power despite his election loss.Among those indicted in the alleged scheme are some of Trump's closet advisers from his time as president, including his former chief of staff Mark Meadows and his one-time personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.Trump's campaign calls the indictment "un-American and wrong." The former president says that his actions were not illegal and that the investigation is politically motivated.Aug. 22, 2023Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, as part of the bond arrangements for the 19 defendants in the Georgia case, sets Trump's bail at $200,000.Per Georgia law, the bond can be paid through cash, a commercial surety, or a court program that requires a payment of 10% of the bond amount.Aug. 24, 2023Trump and the 18 other defendants in the DA's case surrender to authorities at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta. Trump and 17 other defendants are processed and released on bail, with one defendant being held without bond.After Trump is released on a $200,000 bond, the Fulton County Sheriff's Office releases his mug shot -- the first one ever taken of a former U.S. president. Although Trump has been indicted in three other criminal cases, it is the first time a jurisdiction has required a mug shot be taken of the former president.Four defendants -- former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark, former Georgia GOP chair David Shafer and recently elected Georgia state Sen. Shawn Still -- file motions seeking to have their cases moved from Georgia state court into federal court.Attorney Kenneth Chesebro files a motion for a speedy trial, prompting DA Willis to request a trial start date of Oct. 23, 2023, for all 19 defendants -- leading Judge McAfee to schedule an Oct. 23 trial date for Chesebro only.Aug. 28, 2023Mark Meadows, seeking to have his case moved from Georgia state court into federal court, testifies about his election-related actions in a hearing before U.S. District Judge Steve Jones. Meadows' attorneys argue that his case should be tried in federal court because Meadows' actions were all performed "under color" of his role as chief of staff, while prosecutors contend that his actions were political in nature and not part of his official duties.Judge McAfee, meanwhile, sets the date of Sept. 6 for Trump and his 18 co-defendants to be arraigned on charges.Aug. 29, 2023Willis, in a filing, asks Judge McAfee for clarification on whether the Oct. 23 trial date he set for Cheseboro means that he is severing Chesebro's case from the other 18 defendants -- reiterating to the judge that her preference is to try all 19 defendants together.The filing comes as defendants Ray Smith III, Sidney Powell and Trevian Kutti waive their formal arraignment and enter a plea of not guilty to all charges, in order to be excused from appearing at their scheduled arraignments on Sept. 6.In a separate filing, Kenneth Chesebro asks Judge McAfee to unseal many of the underlying records in the case, including the special grand jury report that recommended charges, the transcripts of testimony heard by the panel, and any recordings of the proceedings.Aug. 30, 2023Trump's attorneys, citing the right to a fair trial and due process, file a motion opposing Willis' request that all 19 defendants be tried together.The filing comes as Harrison Floyd -- the only one of the 19 defendants to be held overnight after surrendering to authorities the previous week -- is released from the Fulton County Jail, according to the inmate database.Aug. 31, 2023Trump enters a plea of not guilty so he does not have to appear at his scheduled arraignment on Sept. 6, then files a motion to sever his case from other defendants who have requested a speedy trial.Sept. 6, 2023Judge McAfee sets an Oct. 23 trial date for defendants Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, but holds off on determining what will be done with the other 17 defendants, including Trump. McAfee says he's "very skeptical" of Willis' plan to try all 19 co-defendants together, but tells prosecutors, "I'm willing to hear what you have to say on it."By the end of the day, all 19 defendants in the case have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.Sept. 7, 2023Attorneys for Trump notify a Georgia state court in Fulton County that they may seek to remove his election interference case to federal court.Sept. 8, 2023The public release of the full report issued in February by the special purpose grand jury that aided in the DA's initial election investigation reveals that Sen. Lindsey Graham and two other senators were among those that the panel recommended for charges -- though none of the three were ultimately charged in the case. In total, the special purpose grand jury recommended charges against 39 individuals, 19 of whom ended up being charged by the DA.Meanwhile, a federal judge in Georgia denies Meadows' bid to remove his case from Georgia state court into federal court.Sept. 11, 2023Meadows files an emergency motion asking the judge to stay his order rejecting Meadows' request to move his case, pending the appeals process.Rudy Giuliani, meanwhile, files a motion seeking to sever his case, making him the latest defendant seeking to separate himself from defendants Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, who are set to stand trial on Oct. 23.Sept. 12, 2023Lawyers for Chesebro file a motion to dismiss the charges against him, arguing that his actions were "justified" because he was acting "within his capacity as a lawyer" for the Trump campaign.Sept. 13, 2023An appeals court schedules oral arguments for later in the week on an emergency motion filed by Meadows, which seeks to pause a lower court's ruling that denied his effort to move his case to federal court, pending appeal. The court also grants Meadows' separate request for an expedited appeal, and sets an initial briefing schedule on the matter.Sept. 14, 2023In a blow to prosecutors, Judge McAfee severs the case, ordering that 17 defendants -- including Trump -- will not be tried alongside speedy trial defendants Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell on Oct. 23.Prosecutors, in the meantime, agree to disclose to the defense the identities of the 30 unindicted co-conspirators referenced in their indictment, as requested by Chesebro.Sept. 18, 2023An attorney for former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark argues that his case should be removed to federal court because Clark's drafting a letter to send to Georgia officials claiming there was evidence of voter fraud would have been "impossible" if he wasn't acting under the color of his federal office. Prosecutors rebuff that argument, saying Clark's office only had limited authority over election fraud matters.Sept. 20, 2023Judge Steve Jones hears arguments from so-called "alternate electors" David Shafer, Shawn Still and Cathy Latham as to why their cases should be removed to federal court.Later in the day, the DA reveals in a court filing that pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood will be among the prosecution witnesses in the case.Sept. 21, 2023Several high-level Trump allies -- including Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel and Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn -- could potentially be called as witnesses in the first Georgia election interference trial, according to a court filing in the case.Sept. 28, 2023Attorneys for Trump notify a Fulton County court that he will not seek to have his Georgia election interference case removed to federal court. A month prior, Trump had notified the court that he may file to remove, which the new filing says was done "in an abundance of caution."Sept. 29, 2023Scott Hall, a Georgia bail bondsman charged in relation to the alleged breach of voting machine equipment in Coffee County, takes a plea deal in which he will agree to testify against others in the case. The arrangement marks the first plea deal in the case.Meanwhile, Judge Steve Jones rejects the efforts of all the remaining defendants who had sought removal of their cases to federal court. The judge rules that former Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark and so-called "alternate electors" David Shafer, Cathy Latham and Shawn Still have not met the requirements to have their cases moved from Georgia state court into federal court.Oct. 3, 2023Sources tell ABC News that a number of defendants in the case have received plea deal offers or have been approached about potentially making a deal by the district attorney's office.Oct. 4, 2023Kenneth Chesebro files a motion to dismiss his case, alleging that Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade, who was brought in by the district attorney to help with the election interference investigation, didn't file the oath of office required to join the DA's team.Oct. 5, 2023Judge McAfee denies the request from former Trump campaign attorney Sidney Powell to have the case against her dismissed over allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.Oct. 6, 2023Judge McAfee denies Kenneth Chesebro's motion seeking to dismiss his case over an alleged paperwork error by one of the prosecutors, saying that filing of the oath of office is not required by those working only on one specific case.Oct. 10, 2023Fulton County prosecutors files requests seeking the testimony of Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel and InfoWars host Alex Jones in the Oct. 23 trial of Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro.Oct. 16, 2023Former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is granted a hearing by the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals over his continued effort to move his Fulton County case into federal court. The appeals court sets oral arguments for Dec. 15.Oct. 18, 2023ABC News reports that Kenneth Chesebro, in late September, rejected a plea offer from prosecutors, according to sources. The deal would have allowed Chesebro to avoid prison time by pleading guilty to one felony count of racketeering and agreeing to testify against his co-defendants in the case, according to the sources.Oct. 19, 2023One day before jury selection is set to get underway in her trial, former Trump campaign attorney Sidney Powell takes a plea deal in which she receives probation in exchange for agreeing to testify in the case.Powell, who prosecutors accused of helping tamper with voting machines in Coffee County, becomes the second of the case's 19 defendants in the case to strike a plea agreement.Oct. 20, 2023Kenneth Chesebro, a key co-defendant in the case, takes a last-minute plea deal just as jury selection for his trial is getting underway.The attorney, who prosecutors say drafted a strategy to use so-called "alternate electors" to prevent Joe Biden from receiving 270 electoral votes in the 2020 election, pleads guilty to a single felony charge of conspiracy to commit filing of false documents, and will receive five years' probation and a $5,000 fine in exchange for agreeing to testify and provide documents and evidence.Oct. 24, 2023Former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis becomes the fourth defendant to take a plea deal, tearfully admitting in court that she made up details about election fraud and saying that she regretted representing the former president.She pleads guilty to one count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings, and will receive probation in exchange for her testimony in the case.Nov. 13, 2023ABC News obtains video excerpts of proffer interviews Georgia prosecutors held with attorneys Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell as part of the plea deals they struck in the case.Among other revelations, Ellis tells prosecutors in the video that senior Trump White House official Dan Scavino, referring to Trump, told her at a White House Christmas party weeks after the 2020 election that "the boss is not going to leave under any circumstances" despite losing the election.Nov. 16, 2023Judge McAfee issues a protective order in the case following a request from Willis' office in light of the publication of proffer interview videos by ABC News and other media outlets. The order requires the state to designate which discovery materials they believe are sensitive -- and are thus protected from being made public -- and gives the defendants an opportunity to challenge that.Nov. 17, 2023Fulton County prosecutors, in a court filing, request a start date of Aug. 5, 2024, for the trial of Trump and his co-defendants.The filing, which asks that all the defendants be tried together, says the August date "balances potential delays from Defendant Trump's other criminal trials," as well as the other defendants' constitutional speedy-trial rights.Nov. 21, 2023Judge McAfee rejects a request from prosecutors to revoke the bond of co-defendant Harrison Floyd, after the DA says he engaged in witness intimidation by posting multiple tweets tagging witnesses in the case.Dec. 1, 2023Trump's attorneys tell a Fulton County court that the indictment against Trump "needs to be dismissed" on the grounds that it prosecutes conduct protected by the First Amendment, during a pair of hearings in which lawyers for the former president and several of his co-defendants seek the dismissal of the case or a delay in the case's upcoming deadlines.Dec. 15, 2023Three judges on 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals pepper attorneys for former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and the Fulton County district attorney's office with questions during a hearing on Meadows' ongoing effort to move the charges against him into federal court.Dec. 18, 2023A federal appeals court in Georgia rejects a bid by former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to move his case into federal court, affirming a lower court's decision that left it in Georgia state court.The ruling comes on the same day that Trump, in a court filing, urges the judge in the case to dismiss all charges against him on First Amendment grounds, arguing that the DA's indictment seeks to criminalize "core political speech."Jan. 8, 2024A defendant in the election interference case, former Trump campaign staffer Michael Roman, files a motion seeking to dismiss the charges against him and disqualify DA Fani Willis, alleging that Willis "engaged in a personal, romantic relationship" with Nathan Wade, one of the top prosecutors she brought in to work on the case, which allegedly resulted in financial gain for both of them.Separately, Trump's legal team files several new motions seeking to dismiss the case against him on grounds that include presidential immunity, which they say "shields him from criminal prosecution."Jan. 12, 2024During a hearing to hear motions from several defendants in the case, Judge McAfee tells attorneys there will likely be a hearing in early February, at the earliest, to address allegations filed against Willis that she had an inappropriate relationship with prosecutor Nathan Wade.Jan. 14, 2024Willis, speaking during a Sunday church service celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day, appears to acknowledge the improper relationship allegations leveled against her, while also defending the special prosecutor she brought in for the election interference case.Jan. 18, 2024Judge McAfee sets a hearing date of Feb. 15 to hear evidence over allegations that Willis and prosecutor Nathan Wade were having an improper relationship.Jan. 19, 2024The credit card statements of Fulton County special prosecutor Nathan Wade appear to show he paid for multiple trips for him and Willis, according to copies of the statements included in a filing submitted by Wade's wife as part their divorce proceedings.Jan. 22, 2024The Georgia judge overseeing Nathan Wade's divorce case issues a stay of Fani Willis' deposition in the case, saying that he will wait until after Wade is deposed in the proceedings the following week to determine whether Willis should be deposed.Jan. 25, 2024Attorneys representing Trump move to join the motion filed by co-defendant Mike Roman that seeks to disqualify Willis and dismiss the criminal charges against him based on allegations of an improper relationship.Jan. 30, 2024On the eve of a hearing in the divorce proceedings of prosecutor Nathan Wade and his wife, the two come to a "temporary agreement" that cancels the hearing, preventing what could have been sworn testimony from Wade and the possible release of any records pertaining to the allegations involving Wade and Willis that could have arisen at the hearing.Jan. 31, 2024ABC News reports that DA Fani Willis and prosecutor Nathan Wade have been subpoenaed to testify at the Feb. 15 hearing set by Judge McAfee, according to a new lawsuit from election case co-defendant Michael Roman's attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, that accuses Willis' office office of "stonewalling" Merchant's efforts to obtain records from the office through public information requests.Feb 2, 2024A court filing from Fulton County DA Fani Willis admits to a "personal relationship" with prosecutor Nathan Wade, but argues that there is "no financial conflict of interest that constitutes a legal bases for disqualification" from the election interference case. The filing requests that the Feb. 15 evidentiary hearing scheduled to examine the allegations against Willis and Wade be canceled, claiming that "no further factual development is necessary."Feb 7, 2024Trump, in a court filing, renews his request to have Willis disqualified and his election charges dismissed, arguing that comments Willis made during her church speech in early January violated her office's ethics requirements.Feb 9, 2024Trump co-defendant Michael Roman files a motion accusing Willis of including falsehoods in her filing that admitted to a "personal relationship" with prosecutor Nathan Wade, saying he has a witness who will refute Willis' claim that her and Wade's relationship started after Wade was hired for the election case.Feb 12, 2024Saying that it's "possible" misconduct allegations leveled against DA Fani Willis "could result in disqualification" if evidence shows she financially benefited from the case, Judge McAfee confirms that the Feb. 15 hearing on the matter will proceed as scheduled.Feb 15, 2024On the first day of the evidentiary hearing into misconduct allegations against prosecutor Nathan Wade and DA Fani Willis, Wade testifies under oath that his romantic relationship with Willis began after she hired him in November 2021, and that when the two of them traveled together Willis often paid him back in cash so that expenses roughly "balanced out." Wade also testifies that he visited Willis' condo less than 10 times prior to his being hired.Willis, on the stand, blasts the allegations against her and testified that her and Wade's romantic relationship didn't start until after Wade's hiring, saying, "I didn't consider my relationship with him to be romantic before that."Feb 16, 2024On Day 2 of the hearing, Terrence Bradley, Wade's former law partner and divorce attorney, largely declines to answer questions, citing attorney-client privilege. Bradley, whom the defense has claimed has evidence that Wade and Willis' relationship began before Wade was hired, testifies that he had "no personal knowledge" of when the relationship started, but acknowledges that Wade had told him about "socializing" with Willis prior to November 2021.Judge Scott McAfee says he was "left wondering" about whether Bradley had "been properly interpreting privilege," and says he will need to examine Bradley in private to make that determination.Feb 23, 2024Attorneys for Trump submit a request to enter new evidence based on Wade's cellphone records, which they claims show that Wade visited the area of Willis' condo approximately 35 times in 2021, prior to her hiring him. The DA's office urges the judge not to admit the records into evidence, saying they "do nothing more" than show that Wade's phone "was located somewhere within a densely populated multiple-mile radius."Feb 26, 2024Judge McAfee rules that Wade's former law partner and divorce attorney, Terrence Bradley, must retake the stand to testify on topics not covered by attorney-client privilege.Feb 27, 2024A two-hour hearing concludes without providing any revelatory information about the timeline of Willis and Wade's romantic relationship, which the defense contends started before Wade was hired, in contrast to what they both testified.Wade's former law partner and divorce lawyer, Terrence Bradley, who the defense argued would testify that the relationship started prior to Wade's hiring, testifies that any past statements he made to that effect were "speculation on my part."March 1, 2024Judge McAfee hears final arguments on motions to disqualify DA Fani Willis, with the defense arguing that Willis and Nathan Wade conspired to bring the election case to enrich themselves with public money, and attorneys for the DA's office arguing that defendants have failed to meet the "high standard of proof" for disqualification.March 5, 2024DA Fani Willis' office urges Judge McAfee to reject the disqualification effort against her, arguing in a court filing that Trump and his co-defendants failed to meet the "high" standard required by law to disqualify an elected district attorney. In response, the defense says in a filing that that Willis committed "appalling and unforgivable" forms of forensic misconduct.March 6, 2024Ashleigh Merchant, the lead attorney pushing for the disqualification of DA Fani Willis, provides new testimony to a Georgia Senate panel about how she says she uncovered the romantic relationship between Willis and prosecutor Nathan Wade that sits at the heart of the misconduct allegations.March 13, 2024Judge McAfee quashes multiple counts contained in the election interference indictment against Trump and several of his co-defendants, dismissing six counts related to the charge of Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer. Of the 13 counts Trump faced, three of them are tossed by the judge's order, leaving Trump to face 10 counts in the case.March 15, 2024In a highly anticipated ruling, Judge McAfee declines to outright disqualify Fulton County DA Fani Willis, but rules that either she or prosecutor Nathan Wade must step aside from the case. The judge writes that while "dismissal of the indictment is not the appropriate remedy," his conclusion is that "the established record now highlights a significant appearance of impropriety that infects the current structure of the prosecution team."Hours later, Wade resigns as special prosecutor, ensuring that Willis will stay on.March 18, 2024Trump and several of his co-defendants file a motion asking Judge McAfee to grant a certificate of immediate review in order to appeal the judge's ruling that ultimately kept Fulton County DA Fani Willis on the election case.March 20, 2024Judge McAfee grants the request from Trump and several co-defendants to obtain a certificate of immediate review, clearing the way for Trump to appeal the judge's ruling that ultimately kept Willis on the case.March 25, 2024Judge McAfee, vowing to keep the election case moving forward during any potential appeal, schedules a March 28 hearing to hear oral arguments on a number of motions from Trump and his co-defendant David Shafer.March 27, 2024DA Fani Willis, in a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, says that her office has fully complied with a congressional subpoena related to a federal funding probe, and vows that "nothing that you do will derail the efforts of my staff and I to bring the election interference prosecution to trial."March 28, 2024Attorneys for Trump, seeking to have the election case dismissed, argue in a hearing that Trump's comments "calling into question" the election of 2020 were "political speech advocacy that lie at the heart of the First Amendment" -- but prosecutors fire back, telling Judge McAfee that Trump's speech was part of a conspiracy to commit crimes. The judge ends the hearing without making any rulings on the motions.March 29, 2024Trump and several of his co-defendants file an appeal of the disqualification ruling that allowed Fulton County DA Fani Willis to remain on the case. The motion argues that Judge McAfee "erred as a matter of law by not requiring dismissal and DA Willis' disqualification."April 4, 2024Judge McAfee denies a motion from Trump and several of co-defendants seeking to have the case thrown out on the grounds that the indictment violated their First Amendment right to political speech. "Even core political speech addressing matters of public concern is not impenetrable from prosecution if allegedly used to further criminal activity," the judge rules.April 24, 2024Trump, in a court filing, asks Judge McAfee to dismiss two more of the 10 remaining counts against him.May 5, 2024Nathan Wade, in an exclusive interview with ABC News' Linsey Davis, says he has certain regrets about the relationship with DA Fani Willis that ultimately resulted in his resigning form the case, but defends the integrity of the case itself and says he believes there will be a "day of reckoning" despite the case being sidelined for months over scandal.May 8, 2024A Georgia appeals court agrees to take up Trump's appeal of the Fani Willis disqualification ruling that ultimately allowed her to remain on the Georgia election interference case, likely delaying the case against the former president.May 23, 2024DA Fani Willis files a notice of appeal on the March ruling that dismissed six of the counts against Donald Trump and his co-defendants.June 3, 2024The Georgia Court of Appeals tentatively schedules oral arguments in former President Trump's appeal of the Fani Willis disqualification ruling for October, making it almost certain that Trump will not see trial in his Georgia election interference case before the 2024 election.June 5, 2024A Georgia court of appeals halts former President Trump's criminal case in Fulton County pending the resolution of his appeal of the disqualification ruling that allowed District Attorney Fani Willis to stay on the case.June 20, 2024Trump's attorneys, in a court filing, urge the Georgia Court of Appeals to reject DA Fani Willis' effort to dismiss his appeal of the judge's decision not to disqualify her from the case.July 1, 2024In a blockbuster decision that could affect Trump's Georgia case, the U.S. Supreme Court rules in Trump's federal election interference case that the former president is entitled to presumptive immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts taken while in office.July 16, 2024The Georgia Court of Appeals schedules oral arguments in Trump's appeal of the Fani Willis disqualification decision for Dec. 5, pushing the case past the November election.Sept. 12, 2024Judge Scott McAfee tosses out three more counts in the election interference indictment, two of which Donald Trump was facing, leaving the former president facing eight of the case's original 13 counts.Oct. 16, 2024DA Fani Willis asks the Georgia Court of Appeals to reinstate a number of charges against Trump and his co-defendants that were tossed out by Judge McAfee earlier in the year.Nov. 6, 2024Donald Trump is reelected president of the United States over Kamala Harris, potentially placing his Georgia election case into an unprecedented legal limbo, experts tell ABC News.Nov. 12, 2024The Supreme Court rejects a request from former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows to move his Georgia election interference case into federal court.Nov. 18, 2024The Georgia Court of Appeals, without offering further explanation, cancels the Dec. 5 hearing at which it was to hear oral arguments in Trump's appeal of the Fani Willis disqualification issue.Dec. 2, 2024Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney orders DA Fani Willis to turn over any records from special counsel Jack Smith or the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, following a lawsuit from the conservative legal group Judicial Watch seeking documents related to the DA's election interference case.Dec. 4, 2024Trump's attorney asks the Georgia Court of Appeals to direct Judge McAfee to dismiss the election interference indictment against Trump on the grounds that a sitting president is immune from federal or state criminal prosecution.Dec. 12, 2024Fulton County DA Fani Willis rebuffs the latest request from House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan seeking information related to her election interference probe, telling the Republican congressman in a letter that the investigation is "ongoing."Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, who introduced legislation last month to eliminate the Department of Education, told ABC News closing the agency could take "a couple of years.""We want to do it right," Rounds said, making it unlikely the department will see major changes on Day 1 of the next administration. "This is not just a 'make noise' bill. This is a serious [bill]. It's taken us a year and a half to write this bill."Rounds' "Returning Education to Our States" bill builds on one of President-elect Donald Trump's key campaign promises. It has a road map to elimination, sending block grants to states and redistributing major federal funding to other agencies, but it needs 60 votes in the Senate to pass and then be signed into law."We've tried to set this up so that some of it could be done within reconciliation. Some of it we'll have to gain consensus on by executive order, some of which may very well take 60 votes. So we might not get everything we want," Rounds acknowledged.Rounds said he has not met with or discussed the bill with Linda McMahon, Trump's education secretary pick. Meanwhile, Rounds insisted that federal programs affecting vulnerable students and those with special needs will not be gutted."We don't want to lose the specific offices that deliver particular congressionally directed funds, such as special education, IDEA and so forth," said Rounds, referencing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. "All of that is included in a redirection to other locations, but all those offices still remain with the focus of sending that money back [to the states]."Earlier this week, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a member of the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, told ABC News that reaching a 60-vote threshold to pass legislation that dismantles the agency would be "very difficult.""We need to downsize it," Tuberville said. "More money needs to go back to the states, every state, and you know, we can have a group up here that can -- they can supposedly be the Department of Education, but to have [4,000] or 5,000 people up here makes no sense. I mean, we need to take as much money as we can, put it back in the states, put it back in the schools and give these students a chance."Augustus Mays, vice president for partnerships and engagement at the advocacy group The Education Trust, said block grants could disproportionately affect marginalized students."If you were to take away, or block grant, the funding that goes towards IDEA, then you will have a situation where students with disabilities may not be getting the support they need towards a free and appropriate public education, which is required by law," Mays told ABC News."That could be $34 billion from the federal government that would be going out to all these states to support those needs, and states would be picking up that bill. … [Lawmakers] need to understand what that would actually mean if they were to eliminate Department of Ed," he warned.However, if the president-elect and his Cabinet picks start firing federal employees, education experts suggest it would be too tall a task for a diminished department to administer Education Department funds to states and have states distribute them to school districts. Clare McCann at American University said that is something skilled employees at the Department of Education would be equipped to do."There's a reason the Department of Education was created, and it was to have this kind of in-house expertise and policy background on these [education] issues," McCann told ABC News. "The civil servants who work at the Department of Education are true experts in the field."North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd, a Republican, said he disagreed with McCann's stance."The goal is more education, right?" he said. "And do you need a massive government bureaucracy to do that? Probably not."Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie told ABC News he will also be bringing forward legislation to abolish the Department of Education within the "first few weeks" of the 119th Congress."There'll be one sentence -- only thing that will change is the date: The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2026," Massie told ABC News.However, experts have told ABC News that Massie's one-sentence bill may not be realistic as all the funding that currently goes to the department will have to be redirected."The Department of Education administers a whole lot of laws," said Neal McCluskey, an education analyst at the libertarian think tank The Cato Institute. "Those laws have to be changed about who runs student aid and who is tasked with making decisions about cancelling student debt and who decides or who administers Title I and lots of these other federal programs."Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

President-elect Donald Trump this week voiced support for tens of thousands of unionized dockworkers in a dispute with major shipping companies.Negotiations between workers and management are deadlocked over the companies’ plan for further automation of ports, which the union said would eliminate jobs.“I’ve studied automation, and know just about everything there is to know about it,” Trump said Thursday in a post on Truth Social. “The amount of money saved is nowhere near the distress, hurt, and harm it causes for American Workers, in this case, our Longshoremen.”The vow of support for dockworkers aligns with Trump’s campaign promise to safeguard blue-collar workers threatened by global capitalism, depicting automation as an unwelcome change foisted on workers by foreign-owned shipping firms, some experts said.Trump’s rejection of automation highlights a tension found in his economic policy, however, some experts added.Like tariffs, the policy aims to protect a narrow set of workers at the possible expense of importers and consumers, who could suffer higher costs as a result of a missed opportunity to improve the supply chain, some experts said. While others defended Trump’s attempt to protect dockworkers from technological change.The Trump transition team did not respond to ABC News' request for comment.Here’s what to know about the labor dispute over automation at East and Gulf Coast docks, and what it says about how Trump may approach the economy in his second term.Dockworkers and freight companies feud over automationA strike in October at docks across the East and Gulf coasts threatened to upend the economy and drive up prices, but workers and management ended the stoppage with a tentative agreement after three days.The deal includes a 62% wage increase over the life of the six-year contract, but the two sides have yet to finalize it due to a disagreement over plans for further automation.The standoff centers on the potential installation of cranes that would facilitate the retrieval and storage of freight containers, said John McCown, a non-resident senior fellow at the Center for Maritime Strategy who closely tracks the shipping industry.Cranes already help remove containers from a ship and place it in a nearby port terminal, but shipping companies have sought the use of additional automated cranes once goods have reached land, McCown said.The cranes work like an old-fashioned juke box, he added. “You hit a number and it goes to pick a record and play a record,” McCown said, noting the cranes would similarly mechanize sorting and transport of containers.The U.S. Maritime Alliance, or USMX, the organization representing shipping firms in negotiations, said on Thursday that such automation would improve efficiency and increase capacity. Those enhancements would benefit U.S. companies and consumers that depend on goods from abroad, the group added.“We need modern technology that is proven to improve worker safety, boost port efficiency, increase port capacity, and strengthen our supply chains,” USMX said in a statement.The USMX did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment.The plans have drawn rebuke from the International Longshoremen’s Association, or ILA, the union representing dockworkers. The union has pointed to massive profits enjoyed by the shipping firms during the pandemic, saying further automation would invest those gains in job-cutting machinery rather than increased compensation. Workers have also disputed the supposed productivity benefits of the technology.“This isn’t about safety or productivity -- it’s about job elimination,” ILA President Dennis Daggett, said in a statement earlier this month. The union has proven that the automated cranes at issue “are not more productive than traditional equipment operated by human workers,” Daggett added.In response to ABC News' request for comment, the ILA shared a statement from Daggett praising Trump."Throughout my career, I’ve never seen a politician -- let alone the President of the United States -- truly understand the importance of the work our members do every single day," Daggett said.What could Trump’s approach to the standoff mean for his 2nd term? In his social media post backing the workers and opposing port automation, Trump criticized foreign-owned shipping firms for what he described as penny pinching.“For the great privilege of accessing our markets, these foreign companies should hire our incredible American Workers, instead of laying them off, and sending those profits back to foreign countries,” Trump said. “It is time to put AMERICA FIRST!”The framework presents U.S. workers as victims of foreign companies, which he says aim to make use of America’s economic resources at the expense of its citizens. As such, Trump’s intervention in this case favors the ILA in its longstanding fight against automation, Peter Cole, a professor at Western Illinois University who studies the history of dockworkers, told ABC News.“The ILA will really benefit if in fact Trump pushes employers to back off automation,” Cole said, noting that the explanation offered up by Trump reflects a larger political shift in the U.S. against unrestricted global trade.“Presidents in both main parties have supported more manufacturing domestically,” Cole said.However, Trump’s opposition to automation risks imposing higher costs on consumers and even some domestic manufacturers, since advances in productivity would help lower supply costs otherwise passed along to buyers at the end of the chain, some experts said.Trump mistakenly claims that foreign shipping companies would bear the cost of forgone automation, just as he inaccurately says that foreign countries would pay the cost of tariffs, David Autor, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who specializes in technological change and the labor force, told ABC News.“The assertion that raising tariffs at our ports will force foreigners to cover these costs is beyond naive,” Autor said. “It’s simply false.Autor said the hardship that dockworkers would face if automation were to advance and put many of them out of work. “It will not be good for the livelihoods of longshoremen and we should not pretend otherwise,” Autor said, adding that the workers should receive compensation or other protections under such circumstances.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Thursday rebuffed the latest request from House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan seeking information related to her Georgia election interference investigation into President-elect Donald Trump, according to a letter obtained by ABC News.Willis, who indicted Trump and 18 others in 2023, referred to the investigation as "ongoing" and rejected claims that the investigation was political."This case was not brought for political reasons," Willis wrote in the letter to the Republican congressman. "It also will not be dismissed for political reasons."Willis also wrote in her letter that the documents were protected by attorney-client privilege, and that the request would "expose legal theories and analysis, prosecutorial recommendations, and key evidence in an ongoing prosecution."Trump, in a filing last week, asked an appeals court to have the case dismissed because sitting presidents are immune from criminal prosecution.The Georgia racketeering case has been stalled for months on appeal over a disqualification effort against Willis -- but the letter is the latest back-and-forth between Willis and Jordan, who earlier this year threatened to hold Willis in contempt if she didn't comply with a request in a separate congressional probe.Willis' letter on Thursday was in response to a letter from Jordan last week in which he reiterated his longstanding request that she turn over documents, this time writing he "expects [Willis'] voluntary compliance with these requests" by Dec. 9.Jordan, in his request, said the House Judiciary Committee "continues to conduct oversight of politically motivated prosecutions," and was seeking any documents and communications between the Fulton County DA's office and the Justice Department, the office of special counsel Jack Smith, and House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.The letter from Jordan also referenced a recent ruling in which a judge in Georgia ordered Willis to turn over any records from Smith or the House Jan. 6 committee following a lawsuit from a conservative legal group seeking documents related to her probe.Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty last year to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia. Four defendants subsequently took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants.The DA's office has declined to comment on the future of the case following Trump's reelection as president.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

President-elect Donald Trump campaigned relentlessly on grocery prices in the 2024 race, vowing to bring down costs quickly for American families if given four more years in the White House.But in an interview with Time in conjunction with being named the magazine's "Person of the Year," Trump now says doing that will be a "very hard" task.Trump was asked if his presidency would be considered a "failure" if he didn't deliver on his promise to slash Americans' food bills."I don't think so. Look, they got them up," referring to the Biden-Harris administration. "I'd like to bring them down. It's hard to bring things down once they're up. You know, it's very hard," Trump said.The president-elect then added he believed lower prices were possible through boosting energy production and solving supply chain issues."But I think that they will. I think that energy is going to bring them down. I think a better supply chain is going to bring them down. You know, the supply chain is still broken. It's broken," Trump said.Just last week, Trump told NBC's "Meet the Press" that he won the election because of immigration and the economy."I won on the border, and I won on groceries," he told NBC's Kristen Welker. "Very simple word, groceries. Like almost -- you know, who uses the word? I started using the word -- the groceries. When you buy apples, when you buy bacon, when you buy eggs, they would double and triple the price over a short period of time, and I won an election based on that. We're going to bring those prices way down."Exit polls showed deep discontent with the economy was a big factor in driving voters to Trump.Inflation spiked to more than 9% during the Biden-Harris administration, a 40-year high. Negative views on the economy plagued President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, with the share of people saying they've gotten worse off under the current administration surpassing even Great Recession levels, according to exit poll analysis.Inflation has since cooled to 2.7% as of November. The latest CPI report found some food items like rice, flour and bacon fell over the past year. But the cost of eggs skyrocketed because of an avian flu outbreak.Trump said he will bring down prices through increasing American energy production, though domestic oil production under the Biden administration reached record levels, as well as through tariffs.The latter proposal has sparked alarm from many economists, who warn consumers will ultimately be saddled with the effects of slapping taxes on imported goods.Trump has proposed high tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada. Mexico and Canada account for the United States' first and third largest suppliers of agricultural products, according to the Departure of Agriculture.Asked by NBC's Welker if he could guarantee Americans won't pay more because of tariffs, Trump demurred."I can't guarantee anything. I can't guarantee tomorrow," he said before going on to claim that before the coronavirus pandemic he had the "greatest economy in the history of our country."Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

The only path forward in Donald Trump's criminal hush money case in New York is vacating his conviction and dismissing the case prior to Trump taking office, lawyers for the president-elect argued in a court filing unsealed Friday.Trump's lawyers, responding to a filing by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg unsealed Tuesday, rejected each of Bragg's proposals to preserve the president-elect's conviction while respecting the office of the presidency, accusing Bragg of "thuggish tactics" by proposing the judge in the case delay Trump's sentencing until 2029."[A] stay would require President Trump to lead the Country while facing the ongoing threat that this Court and DANY are prepared to impose imprisonment, fines, and other punishment as soon as he leaves Office," the filing said. "To be clear, President Trump will never deviate from the public interest in response to these thuggish tactics."Trump's lawyers also described a plan proposed by Bragg to abate Trump's conviction -- a mechanism generally used when a defendant has died while a case is pending -- as "unhinged" and "extremely troubling.""As a further illustration of DA Bragg's desperation to avoid legally mandated dismissal, DANY proposes that the Court pretend as if one of the assassination attempts against President Trump had been successful," wrote Trump's lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, who Trump has nominated to top jobs in the Department of Justice.Trump was found guilty in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election -- but his sentencing in the case has been indefinitely postponed following his reelection. Trump's lawyers have argued that the entire case should be dismissed because a sitting president is immune from prosecution.In their filing earlier this week, prosecutors proposed three alternative options to preserve Trump's sentencing while respecting the prohibition on prosecuting presidents, including delaying the sentencing until 2029, abating the sentencing -- which would terminate the case but preserve the record of his conviction -- or sentencing Trump to a punishment that does not include incarceration.Trump's lawyers rejected each option as unconstitutional and called the case politically motivated, taking the unusual step of citing in the filing's introduction a Truth Social post by Sen. John Fetterman in which the Pennsylvania Democrat called the case an example of "weaponizing the judiciary.""DA Bragg's interest in maintaining the jury's verdicts as a notch in whatever belt he plans to wear to campaign events in 2025 is not a basis for interfering with the Executive Branch," the filing said.Trump's lawyers argued that delaying the sentencing until Trump leaves office in 2029 would unfairly require Trump to serve as president while the threat of potential imprisonment hangs over him."Staying the proceedings during President Trump's second term would impede the Presidency and give New York County intolerable leverage over the Executive Branch, which exists for the protection of the entire Nation," the filing said.The filing argued that prosecutors' proposal to abate the case would violate Trump's right to appeal, and sentencing Trump to something other than prison or jail would still be a "grave and impermissible" danger to the functions of the presidency."One would expect more from a first-year law student, and this is yet another indication that DANY's opposition to this motion has not been undertaken in good faith," Trump's lawyers said about the abatement idea.The filing took an overtly political tone, repeatedly referencing Bragg's 2025 campaign for reelection and accusing the district attorney of politicizing the case "to defend his poor record.""It is abundantly clear at this point that DANY will say and do anything -- including urging the Court to disregard the Constitution, the New York Court of Appeals, and the Second Circuit -- to try to make this abomination stick," the filing said.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, who introduced legislation last month to eliminate the Department of Education, told ABC News closing the agency could take "a couple of years.""We want to do it right," Rounds said, making it unlikely the department will see major changes on Day 1 of the next administration. "This is not just a 'make noise' bill. This is a serious [bill]. It's taken us a year and a half to write this bill."Rounds' "Returning Education to Our States" bill builds on one of President-elect Donald Trump's key campaign promises. It has a road map to elimination, sending block grants to states and redistributing major federal funding to other agencies, but it needs 60 votes in the Senate to pass and then be signed into law."We've tried to set this up so that some of it could be done within reconciliation. Some of it we'll have to gain consensus on by executive order, some of which may very well take 60 votes. So we might not get everything we want," Rounds acknowledged.Rounds said he has not met with or discussed the bill with Linda McMahon, Trump's education secretary pick. Meanwhile, Rounds insisted that federal programs affecting vulnerable students and those with special needs will not be gutted."We don't want to lose the specific offices that deliver particular congressionally directed funds, such as special education, IDEA and so forth," said Rounds, referencing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. "All of that is included in a redirection to other locations, but all those offices still remain with the focus of sending that money back [to the states]."Earlier this week, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a member of the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, told ABC News that reaching a 60-vote threshold to pass legislation that dismantles the agency would be "very difficult.""We need to downsize it," Tuberville said. "More money needs to go back to the states, every state, and you know, we can have a group up here that can -- they can supposedly be the Department of Education, but to have [4,000] or 5,000 people up here makes no sense. I mean, we need to take as much money as we can, put it back in the states, put it back in the schools and give these students a chance."Augustus Mays, vice president for partnerships and engagement at the advocacy group The Education Trust, said block grants could disproportionately affect marginalized students."If you were to take away, or block grant, the funding that goes towards IDEA, then you will have a situation where students with disabilities may not be getting the support they need towards a free and appropriate public education, which is required by law," Mays told ABC News."That could be $34 billion from the federal government that would be going out to all these states to support those needs, and states would be picking up that bill. … [Lawmakers] need to understand what that would actually mean if they were to eliminate Department of Ed," he warned.However, if the president-elect and his Cabinet picks start firing federal employees, education experts suggest it would be too tall a task for a diminished department to administer Education Department funds to states and have states distribute them to school districts. Clare McCann at American University said that is something skilled employees at the Department of Education would be equipped to do."There's a reason the Department of Education was created, and it was to have this kind of in-house expertise and policy background on these [education] issues," McCann told ABC News. "The civil servants who work at the Department of Education are true experts in the field."North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd, a Republican, said he disagreed with McCann's stance."The goal is more education, right?" he said. "And do you need a massive government bureaucracy to do that? Probably not."Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie told ABC News he will also be bringing forward legislation to abolish the Department of Education within the "first few weeks" of the 119th Congress."There'll be one sentence -- only thing that will change is the date: The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2026," Massie told ABC News.However, experts have told ABC News that Massie's one-sentence bill may not be realistic as all the funding that currently goes to the department will have to be redirected."The Department of Education administers a whole lot of laws," said Neal McCluskey, an education analyst at the libertarian think tank The Cato Institute. "Those laws have to be changed about who runs student aid and who is tasked with making decisions about cancelling student debt and who decides or who administers Title I and lots of these other federal programs."Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance will make their way to Landover, Maryland, on Saturday to attend the Army-Navy football game and will be joined by Daniel Penny, the Marine veteran recently acquitted in the subway chokehold case in New York City.Vance posted on X that he invited Penny, who was just acquitted in the death of Jordan Neely, to join him in Trump's suite."Daniel's a good guy, and New York's mob district attorney tried to ruin his life for having a backbone," Vance posted. "I'm grateful he accepted my invitation and hope he's able to have fun and appreciate how much his fellow citizens admire his courage."In the wake of his acquittal, Vance posted that "justice was done in this case. It was a scandal Penny was ever prosecuted in the first place."Also, attending Saturday's game will be Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for secretary of defense and a former Army National Guard officer, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Navy veteran. Hegseth is expected to meet with Trump, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.The case involving Penny garnered national attention putting a spotlight on race, mental illness, public safety and homelessness.Penny, a 26-year-old Marine veteran, put Neely in a chokehold after Neely entered the subway car acting erratically, officials said. Neely died due to compression of the neck, according to medical examiner Cynthia Harris.Neely, a former street performer who would impersonate Michael Jackson, had a history of homelessness and schizophrenia. In addition, the 30-year-old had been convicted of assaulting people at subway stations, according to police. But passengers on the train with him and Penny said he did not touch anyone but he had expressed a willingness to die or even kill.In an interview with Fox News, Penny described himself as being in a “vulnerable” position."He was just threatening to kill people," Penny told Jeanine Pirro. "He was threatening to go to jail forever, to go to jail for the rest of his life."Prior to finding Penny not guilty of criminally negligent homicide, the jury was deadlocked on a more serious charge of manslaughter. The manslaughter charged, which carried a maximum 15-year sentence, was dismissed. The jury then turned to a lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide, which has a maximum 4-year sentence.Now that Penny has been acquitted, the attention has been turned to the civil case filed by Neely’s father, Andre Zachery.Earlier this week, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would also be attending the game with Trump-Vance along with members of Republican leadership to discuss "in-depth" the sequence of the 119th Congress' legislative agenda ahead of the game.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

President-elect Donald Trump said Friday he's in favor of eliminating daylight saving time, calling it "inconvenient" and "very costly" as his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) directors also push for action on the matter."The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn't! Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation," Trump posted on Truth Social Friday.While Trump tweeted, “Making Daylight Saving Time permanent is O.K. with me," in 2019, he appears to be changing course now. This comes as his DOGE directors, Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk and Republican businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, have advocated for the time change to be eliminated."Looks like the people want to abolish the annoying time change," Musk posted in response to a poll on X calling for DST to be abolished."It’s inefficient & easy to change," Ramaswamy responded.Any changes would need to be passed by Congress, and legislation on the issue has been considered before in recent years.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

As Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House, his namesake company is expanding its global footprint.Trump's son Eric Trump, an executive vice president with the Trump Organization, on Wednesday formally announced that the family's real estate company is partnering with the Saudi Arabian real estate firm Dar Al Arkan to launch a Trump Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.Earlier this week, the Trump Organization announced that it had leased its name for two projects in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, increasing the company's role in a part of the world critical to United States' foreign policy."We're doing projects in Jeddah, we're doing projects in Oman, we're doing projects in Riyadh, we're doing projects all over the region," Eric Trump said this week at a cryptocurrency conference in the United Arab Emirates.The approach follows a lucrative business strategy the Trumps have embraced for decades -- making money by licensing their name to projects rather than constructing or manufacturing them themselves. The recently announced projects are a significant expansion for the Trump Organization in Saudi Arabia, where they currently operate a golf course with a second one under development."We are delighted to strengthen our ongoing relationship with The Trump Organization and expand our portfolio by delivering premium properties to redefine Saudi Arabia's high-growth real estate market," said Ziad El Chaar, the CEO of Dar Global.Trump was criticized for his close relationship with -- and defense of -- Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammed bin Salman during his first term, following the 2018 murder of Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents. The Saudi government and Mohammed bin Salman have denied that the prince ordered the killing.Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has also invested billions with the private equity firm of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.During his first term, Trump vowed that his company would not take any foreign business deals, but it remains unclear if the president-elect will make a similar vow when he returns to the White House."Should I stop all expansion? I don't know what the answer is. I tried to do everything right in 2016 and I got very little credit for it," Eric Trump told the Wall Street Journal in October, expressing confidence that the company would avoid conflicts.A representative of Trump's transition team did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.In the months ahead of the election, the Trump Organization has ramped up its overseas business, including agreeing to manage and brand a $500 million hotel and golf course in the Middle East country of Oman, and licensing its name for a Trump Tower in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates."The UAE is the developer's greatest dream, because they never say no to anything," Eric Trump said at the crypto conference earlier this week.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

PORTLAND, Maine -- The incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump is likely to bring big changes for one of the oldest sectors of the U.S. economy — seafood — and some in the industry believe the returning president will be more responsive to its needs.Economic analysts paint a more complicated picture, as they fear Trump’s pending trade hostilities with major trading partners Canada and China could make an already pricy kind of protein more expensive to consumers. Conservationists also fear Trump's emphasis on government deregulation could jeopardize fish stocks that are already in peril.But many in the commercial fishing and seafood processing industries said they are excited for Trump’s second presidency. They said they expect he’ll allow fishing in protected areas as he did in his first presidency, crack down on offshore wind expansion and cut back regulations they describe as burdensome. And they expect a marked shift from the administration of President Joe Biden, who prioritized ocean conservation and championed wind power from the start.The seafood industry isn't hungry for another tariff war, which hurt fishermen during Trump's first term, said Beth Casoni, executive director of the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association. But she said the new Trump administration has a unique chance to throw its support behind U.S. fishermen. “I think we should be focused on feeding Americans,” Casoni said. “The ‘America First’ administration I think will make that point loud and clear. Know where your food is coming from.”But the seafood industry, which is international in nature, could be seriously disrupted if Trump goes through with a plan to impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada, said John Sackton, a longtime industry analyst and founder of Seafood News. Canada is the largest seafood market for the U.S. for both imports and exports, and nearly a sixth of the seafood imported by the U.S. is from its northern neighbor, according to federal statistics published in November. In total about 80% of seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported. Losing Canada — an especially important buyer of American lobster — as a market for U.S. seafood could cause prices to fishermen to collapse, Sackton said. And some products could become unavailable while others become more expensive and still others oversupplied, he said. He described the seafood industry as “interdependent on both sides of the border.”In Canada, members of the country's seafood industry are watching closely to see what changes Trump ushers in, said Geoff Irvine, executive director of the Lobster Council of Canada, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.“A potential trade war will cost everyone more (in Canada and the U.S.) and cause damage to the seafood section in Canada and the United States,” Irvine said via email. “We are working with allies in Canada and the U.S. to send this message to all governments.”One of the major changes for fishermen under a new Trump administration is that they can expect to have a seat at the table when high-level decisions get made, said representatives for several commercial fishing groups. Last time around, Trump sat down with fishermen and listened to their concerns about loss of fishing rights in Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, a nearly 5,000-square mile (13,000 square kilometers) protected area off New England, said Robert Vanasse, executive director of industry advocate Saving Seafood.That goodwill is likely to carry over into Trump's new presidency. And the industry feels it has already scored a win with election of a president who is an outspoken critic of offshore wind power, said Drew Minkiewicz, an attorney who represents the New Bedford, Massachusetts-based Sustainable Scalloping Fund. Fishermen of valuable seafoods such as scallops and lobsters have long opposed offshore wind development because of concerns wind power will disrupt prime fishing grounds.“There is excitement in the industry that offshore wind will basically be contained to its existing footprint and nothing beyond that,” Minkiewicz said.Others in the industry said they're concerned about how Trump will handle the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency that regulates fisheries. The undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, who is currently the Biden-appointed Rick Spinrad, will be one of Trump's key appointees. Trump went through three different administrators at the post during his first term of office.The industry has recently suffered major recent crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic and trade hostilities with another major trading partner in Russia, and isn't in a position to withstand unstable leadership, said Noah Oppenheim, coordinator for Fishing Communities Coalition, which represents small-scale commercial fishing groups."The Fishing Communities Coalition is always deeply concerned that any administration’s shifts away from a fishery management focus on conservation and accountability will do serious lasting damage to the industry," Oppenheim said.Conservation groups who have pushed for stricter vessel speed rules and new fishing standards, such as new gear that is less likely to harm whales, said they're also waiting to see the direction Trump takes fisheries and ocean policy. They said they're hopeful progress made under Biden can withstand a second Trump presidency.“It would be extraordinarily short-sighted for the incoming administration to ignore the science and set off a fishing free-for-all that will only hurt fisheries — and healthy oceans — in the long run,” said Jane Davenport, a senior attorney with Defenders of Wildlife.___This story was supported by funding from the Walton Family Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

As Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House, his namesake company is expanding its global footprint.Trump's son Eric Trump, an executive vice president with the Trump Organization, on Wednesday formally announced that the family's real estate company is partnering with the Saudi Arabian real estate firm Dar Al Arkan to launch a Trump Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.Earlier this week, the Trump Organization announced that it had leased its name for two projects in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, increasing the company's role in a part of the world critical to United States' foreign policy."We're doing projects in Jeddah, we're doing projects in Oman, we're doing projects in Riyadh, we're doing projects all over the region," Eric Trump said this week at a cryptocurrency conference in the United Arab Emirates.The approach follows a lucrative business strategy the Trumps have embraced for decades -- making money by licensing their name to projects rather than constructing or manufacturing them themselves. The recently announced projects are a significant expansion for the Trump Organization in Saudi Arabia, where they currently operate a golf course with a second one under development."We are delighted to strengthen our ongoing relationship with The Trump Organization and expand our portfolio by delivering premium properties to redefine Saudi Arabia's high-growth real estate market," said Ziad El Chaar, the CEO of Dar Global.Trump was criticized for his close relationship with -- and defense of -- Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammed bin Salman during his first term, following the 2018 murder of Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents. The Saudi government and Mohammed bin Salman have denied that the prince ordered the killing.Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has also invested billions with the private equity firm of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.During his first term, Trump vowed that his company would not take any foreign business deals, but it remains unclear if the president-elect will make a similar vow when he returns to the White House."Should I stop all expansion? I don't know what the answer is. I tried to do everything right in 2016 and I got very little credit for it," Eric Trump told the Wall Street Journal in October, expressing confidence that the company would avoid conflicts.A representative of Trump's transition team did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.In the months ahead of the election, the Trump Organization has ramped up its overseas business, including agreeing to manage and brand a $500 million hotel and golf course in the Middle East country of Oman, and licensing its name for a Trump Tower in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates."The UAE is the developer's greatest dream, because they never say no to anything," Eric Trump said at the crypto conference earlier this week.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/