Trump to be named Time’s ‘Person of the Year’; president-elect gloats about FBI Director Christopher Wray’s resignation: Live

In a statement posted to Instagram a day before his successor Christopher Wray announced he’d be stepping down, Comey wrote: “I realize there is a great deal of anxiety in the Bureau now — produced by the rhetoric of those who have reason to fear honest investigators.

“But please know you will be ok in the long run.”

The former bureau director’s tenure at the department abruptly ended in 2017 when then-president Donald Trump fired him and Wray appears to be jumping before he is pushed in favor of Kash Patel.

Here’s more on Comey from Michelle Del Rey.

The president-elect yesterday filed a petition with a federal judge seeking the dismissal of the lawsuit brought against him in October by the so-called Central Park Five – Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown and Korey Wise – five Black New Yorkers who were falsely accused of the rape of a jogger in 1989 and who were exonerated in 2002.

Trump, then a New York City real estate kingpin with no particular political pull, took out full-page adverts in Big Apple newspapers calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty in the Empire State to execute the men.

He never apologized, even after the real culprit was caught and the Five were vindicated thanks to the emergence of DNA evidence.

Then, at a September presidential debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump stated that the men had killed someone and pleaded guilty to the crime (see below), prompting the lawsuit that alleged Trump’s comments intentionally inflicted emotional distress and painted the men in a false light.

In court filings, Trump’s lawyers argued that his statements were protected under the First Amendment as expressions of opinion on public matters.

“The president-elect’s speech about matters of public concern is safeguarded by the Constitution,” his attorneys wrote.

Days after using this shot of the first lady to shill his new line of “Fight, Fight, Fight” Christmas cologne, the president-elect is now back trying to be a bit more gallant about their meeting in Paris over the weekend for the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral.

The same picture inspired Fox host and former Trump economist Larry Kudlow to suggest, absurdly, that Dr Biden had been “flirting” with the new president because she “gravitates towards power”, on which Justin Baragona has more.

Joe Biden has issued the single largest act of clemency in modern history, commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people and issuing 39 presidential pardons.

With just 40 days left in the White House, the president announced on Thursday that he is lessening the sentences of thousands of prisoners who were released and placed on home confinement for at least one year during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Biden, who faced backlash after pardoning his own son Hunter from his federal crimes earlier this month, also issued pardons for US citizens convicted of non-violent crimes such as drug offenses, who have shown “successful rehabilitation”.

The president said his administration will continue reviewing clemency petitions to “advance equal justice” and “provide meaningful second chances,” before Donald Trump is inaugurated as his successor on January 20 .

“America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances,” Biden said.

James Liddell and Colleen Long have the full story.

Linking to a Reuters story about Grenell, his former ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence, being named new special envoy to Tehran, the president-elect called him “a fabulous person, A STAR” and promised he would be “someplace, high up!”

All of which suggests the appointment, or one like it, is likely to happen but why not just get on and announce it?

The president-elect announced more nominees to his new administration last night, finally finding work for Kari Lake, the ex-news journalist and serial election-loser who has been haunting Arizona politics for several years.

The following quartet was also announced by the transition team yesterday:

• Leandro Rizzuto, billionaire co-founder and chairman of Conair, as Ambassador to the Organization of American States.
• Dr Peter Lamelas, a physician who practices in Palm Beach, Florida, as United States Ambassador to Argentina.
• Daniel J Newlin, a personal injury attorney who funded much of Trump’s campaign advertising, as Ambassador to Colombia.
• Michael J Rigas, who served as Deputy Director of the Office of Personnel Management and Acting Deputy Director of Management, is to be Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources.

Here’s more on Lake from Alex Lang.

The president-elect has invited his Chinese counterpart to watch his swearing in ceremony on Washington DC on January 20, CBS News reports.

Trump reportedly extended the invite last month but the Chinese embassy in Washington has yet to comment.

The Republican said in an interview with NBC conducted on Friday that he “got along with very well” with Xi and that they had “had communication as recently as this week”.

It would be unprecedented for a leader of China, a top US geopolitical rival, to attend an American presidential inauguration and Trump has risked poking the bear by naming numerous China hawks to key posts in his incoming administration, including Senator Marco Rubio as secretary of state.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly donated $1m to Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, the latest twist in the complicated relationship between the tech boss and the Republican president-elect.

The donation has been confirmed by the Silicon Valley company, according to The Wall Street Journal, and comes despite Trump threatening the Facebook founder with prosecution if he attempted to influence the election against him during the campaign.

The move is the latest example of a tech CEO moving to make a conciliatory gesture towards Trump now that his return to the White House has been confirmed and his party have secured control over both houses of Congress, with the GOP commonly hitting out at the California tech sector, which is seen as predominantly left-leaning.

Trump has meanwhile been gloating over the resignation of FBI Director Christopher Wray, whom he appointed to replace James Comey in 2017 and who announced his departure on Wednesday, with nominee Kash Patel waiting in the wings.

Writing on Truth Social, the president-elect called it “great day for America” that would “end the Weaponization of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice.”

Trump went to accuse the bureau of having “illegally raided my home, without cause, worked diligently on illegally impeaching and indicting me.”

Here’s Andrew Feinberg with a full report in the outgoing Wray.

Donald Trump is expected to be named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” on Thursday after winning the presidential election for the second time, according to Politico.

The annual cover – which highlights an individual who has greatly influenced the year, for good or ill – is set to be unveiled today, with sources suggesting in advance that the president-elect will grace the cover again.

The Republican was also named “Person of the Year” in 2016, the year he beat Hillary Clinton to win election to the White House for the first time, and is expected to celebrate the honor by ringing the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange this morning.

As the Truth Social post below suggests, he’s pretty excited about it.

We’ll bring you the cover as soon as it drops a little later on.