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1 Trump's Proposed Nominee To Run DEA Withdraws From Consideration
On Saturday, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he was picking Chad Chronister, the sheriff of Hillsborough County, Florida, to be the head of the Drug Enforcement Agency when he takes office next month. Chronister said he was honored that same day, and then late yesterday said he was withdrawing his name from consideration for the role. A spokesperson for Trump’s transition team didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from "NBC News" about the withdrawal. Yesterday afternoon, Chronister said on X “Over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in, I’ve concluded that I must respectfully withdraw from consideration.” He referred to ongoing work in Hillsborough County and “a lot of initiatives I am committed to fulfilling.” The nomination of Chronister had gotten some pushback from Trump’s base after it was revealed the sheriff had arrested Ronald Howard-Browne, a Tampa-area pastor, in 2020 for flouting pandemic-era lockdown orders.
2 A Bad Day In Court For Fulton County DA Fani Willis
It’s been a bad week on the job for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis yesterday. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered Willis on Monday to hand over any records of her contacts with special counsel Jack Smith’s office or the US House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 Attack within five business days. The group Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit after they claimed Willis’ office told them that there weren’t any responsive records from either source. Willis then suffered a defeat in the longest trial in Georgia’s history when a jury returned a verdict of not guilty on all charges yesterday against Deamonte “Yak Gotti” Kendrick and not guilty verdicts on all charges except possession of a firearm by a convicted felon against Shannon “SB” Stillwell. Counts against the two men that received not guilty verdicts from the jury included RICO, murder, and participation in criminal street gang activities. When asked by the Associated Press for her feelings on the verdict in the case prosecuted by her office, Willis simply said “We always respect the verdict of a jury.”
3 Hunter Biden's Gun Case Terminated After Pardon
He made it clear he’s not happy about it, but yesterday US Judge Mark Scarsi said the California tax case against Hunter Biden would be terminated after the court receives the appropriate records from the Office of the Pardon Attorney. Scarsi mentioned President Joe Biden’s claim that “no reasonable person” would find the charging decisions against Hunter fair, and noted that “the president’s own attorney general and Department of Justice” oversaw the case. Hunter Biden’s federal gun case in Delaware was terminated yesterday morning by US District Judge Maryellen Noreika. Termination is different from dismissal; by terminating the cases, the judges leave the records of the indictments to continue to exist.
