Harris staffers’ tell-all podcast: Details beyond media headlines
Vice President Kamala Harris’ top campaign staff spoke out in their first sit-down interview since the election on the “Pod Save America” podcast. During the interview, officials offered new details about the campaign’s struggles.
Among the revelations were internal polling data that proved damaging for Harris, the reasons behind the canceled Joe Rogan interview and what staffers believe ultimately led to the campaign’s downfall.
The direction of media coverage has differed sharply, with reports shaped by the political leanings of various outlets.
Left-leaning outlets like CNN and The Associated Press focused on the staffers’ comments about the “price to be paid for a shortened campaign,” emphasizing the impact of a limited campaign timeline.
Meanwhile, right-leaning outlets such as the Washington Examiner and The Daily Wire honed in on internal polling that showed Harris consistently trailing President-elect Donald Trump.
CNN and the AP didn’t make any mention the internal polling in their coverage, while the Washington Examiner and The Daily Wire omitted comments from staffers about the campaign’s limited timeframe.
In the interview, David Plouffe, a senior adviser for the Harris campaign, discussed the disconnect between public polls and the internal numbers the campaign was seeing.
“I think it surprised people because there were these public polls that came out in late September and early October showing us with leads that we never saw,” Plouffe said. “It was basically a race that in the battlegrounds was 46-47, 47-48, so that’s not where we started. We started behind.”
Plouffe and other staffers also expressed frustration with the short amount of time they had to define Harris. They said she was largely undefined at the start of the campaign.
“This is where there was a price to be paid for the short campaign, and you can’t even say 107 days because some of that was spent shoring up the Democratic nomination,” Plouffe said. “You really need to have said everything you want to say before early voting, so we had a little more than two months.”
“We had discussions with Rogan’s team, they were great, they wanted us to come on, we wanted to come on, we tried to get a date to make it work, and ultimately we just weren’t able to find a date,” Dillon said.
Staffers also discussed the campaign’s message, which was shaped by internal research suggesting a focus on attacking Trump. They defended the strategy of bringing Liz Cheney on the campaign trail in an effort to appeal to Republicans.
Another topic discussed was an ad released by the Trump campaign, which staffers called “effective.” The ad depicted Harris’ stance supporting taxpayer-funded sex-change surgeries for prisoners.
“It was a very effective ad in the end,” one staffer said. “I ultimately don’t believe it was about the issue of trans rights. I think it made her seem out of touch.”
Despite the campaign’s setbacks, Harris thanked her supporters during a call to donors. However, questions remain about the campaign’s spending, with some reports placing the total at up to $1.5 billion.
The full extent of the campaign’s finances will become clearer next month, following the post-election filing with the Federal Election Commission on Dec. 5.
US requests for abortion pill access surge at Canadian nonprofit
A Canadian nonprofit that helps women get the abortion pill in countries with restrictions said it has seen a major surge in requests from the United States following the presidential election. Women on Web said it had 35 requests per day coming from the United States before the election. In the days after, it received four times the amount, totaling 145 per day.
The group’s executive director said most of the inquiries came from women who were not pregnant, but wanted the drug in case abortions are harder to access in the U.S. after President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
While Women on Web does not provide direct access to the pill, it connects women to doctors and pharmacies that can prescribe and give the drug.
Providing abortion pills before someone is pregnant is a practice called advance provision, which reduces delays in getting the medication in places where women face barriers.
Obstetrics and gynecology doctor Daniel Grossman told The Canadian Press it’s a very common FDA-approved practice but emphasized patients need to get follow-up medical care within 14 days of taking the pill.
Shield laws can legally protect providers who mail pills to states where they are banned. However, according to legal analysts, the cases can still be challenged in court.
Anti-abortion group Students for Life Action recently urged Trump to outlaw telehealth for abortion pills when he takes office, and endorsed Project 2025, a far-right think-tank policy paper that proposes reversing the FDA’s approval of the abortion pill and criminalizing mailing the drug.
Trump has said he plans to veto a federal abortion ban, adding the issue should be left to the states.
Trump to delay FBI checks on nominees until taking office: Report
President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is reportedly seeking to wait on FBI background checks for political nominees until the administration has taken office. According to the exclusive report in The Guardian, the administration first wants to install its own officials into key positions at the bureau.
In addition, the report states the administration wants to provide appointees with security clearances on day one, meaning they would bypass the standard approvals.
Normally, obtaining a security clearance is a multi-step process that involves rounds of background checks. According to the report, incoming administration officials view that as pointless, because the president can grant clearances to whomever he wants.
The decision to delay the checks could prevent incoming officials from receiving classified briefings before they take office, at which point Trump can unilaterally grant access. It’s worth noting The Guardian report is based on anonymous sources. It cites, “people familiar with the matter.”
In fact, the only on the record statement is from Trump spokesperson Brian Hughes who said, “The Trump-Vance transition lawyers continue to constructively engage with the Biden-Harris administration lawyers regarding all agreements contemplated by the Presidential Transition Act. We will update you once a decision is made.”
Hughes was referring to the campaign declining to sign papers to officially begin the transition. If they do that, the team could receive security clearances and federal funds to pay for the work they’re doing. Instead, they are relying on private donations which they are not required to disclose.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the teams continue to stay in touch, but Trump and his team have not entered a formal agreement with the White House and General Services Administration.
New poll shows Harris leading Democrats for potential 2028 nomination
President-elect Donald Trump has not even been sworn-in yet and already polls are coming in on who might succeed him in 2028. That includes a long list of Democrats in what likely will be a crowded primary field.
An Emerson College poll asked which candidate voters would support in their party’s 2028 nominating contest. Among Democrats, 37% said Vice President Kamala Harris and 7% said California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro rounded out the top five, polling slightly lower than an Echelon Insights poll conducted a week after the 2024 election.
According to Politico, Harris told supporters she is not leaving the political arena despite her defeat in the recent presidential election. The vice president said that she wants to keep her options open.
One possibility would be a run for governor in her native California in 2026. Harris was once attorney general of California and is a Bay Area native. In addition, current Gov. Newsom is term-limited, leaving a major vacancy.
The same Emerson College poll found Vice President-elect JD Vance leading the pack on the Republican side, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in second, followed by Vivek Ramaswamy. DeSantis jumped into the conversation ahead of former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who polled in line with Ramaswamy in the post-election Echelon poll.
Trump plans new tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China over drugs, migrants
President-elect Donald Trump vows to hit Canada, Mexico and China with new tariffs on their products coming into the U.S. And TSA is laying out its expectations as the Tuesday before Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel days of the year. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024.
Trump plans new tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China over drugs, migrants
President-elect Donald Trump has announced some of the first executive orders he plans to issue on day one of his administration. Trump said he will make good on a campaign promise by raising tariffs on goods from China, Canada and Mexico – the latter two being the top trading partners of the U.S. – due to illegal border crossings and drugs entering the country.
Trump made the announcements Monday night, Nov. 25, on his Truth Social platform. He targeted Canada and Mexico first.
The president-elect said on his first day in office, he will impose a 25% tariff on all products coming into the United States from those two countries, which account for 30% of trade volumes. Trump said the tariffs will remain in effect until drugs, specifically fentanyl, and illegal immigrants stop crossing into the U.S.
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) November 26, 2024
“Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem,” Trump said. “We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!”
In a second post on Truth Social, Trump turned his attention to China, saying he’ll charge China an additional 10% above any other tariffs on all their products coming into the U.S.
While he said he has had many talks with Chinese officials about drugs being sent into the U.S., Trump said nothing has changed. He added, “Representatives of China told me that they would institute their maximum penalty, that of death, for any drug dealers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never followed through, and drugs are pouring into our country, mostly through Mexico, at levels never seen before.”
Reaction has been coming in from the countries affected by Trump’s tariff plans.
Chinese Embassy Spokesperson Liu Pengyu said, “China believes that China-U.S. economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature. No one will win a trade or a tariff war.”
In a joint statement, Canada’s deputy prime minister, Chrystia Freeland, and public safety minister, Dominic LeBlancr, said, “Canada and the United States have one of the strongest and closest relationships – particularly when it comes to trade and border security. Canada places the highest priority on border security and the integrity of our shared border.”
Ricardo Monreal, Mexico’s lower house leader for the ruling party, responded in a post on X, saying, “The imposition of a possible tariff on Mexican products goes against the United States–Mexico–Canada agreement and does not solve the common problems of the border between Mexico and the United States…escalating trade retaliation would only hurt the people’s pocketbooks.”
Scott Bessent, Trump’s nominee for treasury secretary — who says tariffs would not add to inflation — supports the move, but many economists forecast tariffs would increase prices for U.S. consumers.
The Peterson Institute for International Economics estimated over the summer the tariff plan Trump promised on the campaign trail, which included 60% tariffs on Chinese goods, would cost the typical U.S. household more than $2,600 a year.
A CNBC analysis said retail chains like Five Below and Dollar Tree, along with online outlet Wayfair, would be some of the most vulnerable companies when it comes to a trade war.
Meanwhile, multiple reports said President-elect Trump spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Monday night following the social media posts. The reports said the two had a “good conversation” about trade and border security.
Federal judge dismisses Trump’s 2020 election interference charges
Special Counsel Jack Smith has dropped all federal charges against President-elect Trump in connection with attempting to overturn the 2020 election results. He filed the motion Monday and a federal judge granted it within hours.
A different judge had already dismissed the federal charges against Trump for mishandling classified documents. Smith was appealing that decision before he dropped those charges as well on Monday.
The Justice Department’s longstanding position that a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime is set to apply to Trump once he takes office again in January, which is why Smith decided to give up the cases against him.
On Truth Social, Trump posted, “I persevered, against all odds, and won.”
FBI agent acquitted in 2020 shooting arrested on sexual assault charges
An FBI agent has been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting two women, according to police in Montgomery County, Maryland. Authorities there also said they believe there might be other victims out there.
Valdivia is now suspended from the FBI pending the outcome of this case.
This is not his first brush with the law. In 2020, prosecutors charged Valdivia with attempted murder in an off-duty shooting on a metro train in Bethesda, Maryland. A Montgomery County jury found him not guilty in that case in 2022.
Macy’s says employee hid $154M in expenses, delays Q3 report
Macy’s said one employee intentionally created so many accounting inconsistencies it had to delay its quarterly report.
While the department store chain said it saw stronger-than-expected sales from July to October this year, it also discovered a now-former employee hid up to $154 million in expenses over nearly three years. The company said the issue was related to delivery expenses in one of its accrual accounts.
Macy’s delayed its third-quarter earnings report after the retailer said an employee hid up to $154 million in delivery expenses over several years, prompting an investigation https://t.co/7PlNTb2qp0
While the questionable expenses only account for a small fraction of the $4.36 billion in delivery expenses during that almost three-year period, the company found the errors to be significant enough to delay reporting its full quarterly earnings.
That report was originally set to be released Tuesday, Nov. 26. It has now been pushed back until Dec. 11.
TSA preparing for ‘busiest Thanksgiving ever’ for air travel
Thanksgiving travel is taking off and this year is expected to be another for the record books. The Transportation Security Administration said it’s ready for the rush and expects to screen 18.3 million people at U.S. airports from Tuesday through next Monday, Dec. 2.
Today we kick off our busiest travel week of the year! Flying to visit with family or friends? Start your packing with an empty bag. Leftover items from past adventures often include prohibited items. Unsure what’s allowed in your carry-on or checked bag? Send a DM to our @AskTSA… pic.twitter.com/kduiVqKY5a
The Sunday after Thanksgiving, Dec. 1, is expected to be the busiest day for air travel. The TSA estimates more than three million people are likely to pass through their checkpoints that day alone.
The word went viral after a video was posted on TikTok by user @JoolsLebron in August. Dictionary.com said demure saw a nearly 1,200% increase in usage in digital web media alone from January to the end of August, mainly attributed to the video.
The website said while demure was traditionally used to describe those who are reserved and quiet, the new usage seen on social media is meant to describe refined and sophisticated appearance or behavior.
Trump rounds out his cabinet with picks to lead USDA, CDC, FDA
President-elect Donald Trump continued to stock his cabinet in quick fashion over the weekend. And as travel cranks up before Thanksgiving, stormy weather might hamper some people’s plans. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Monday, Nov. 25, 2024.
Trump rounds out his cabinet with picks to lead USDA, CDC, FDA
Over the weekend, President-elect Donald Trump rounded out his cabinet selections. He picked several names to fill key roles in his second administration.
Trump selected Brooke Rollins as the secretary of agriculture. Rollins served under Trump in his first term, first as the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental and Technology Initiatives and then later as the acting director of the Domestic Policy Council.
Rollins, a Texas lawyer, is currently the president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank consisting of former Trump staff members. As agriculture secretary, Rollins would oversee the 10,000 employees of the USDA and be only the second woman to lead this department.
Trump also chose hedge fund manager Scott Bessent for treasury secretary. Bessent is the founder of investment firm Key Square Capital Management and has recently become one of Trump’s top economic advisers.
He is a former protégé of Democratic donor George Soros and was once the chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management. As treasury secretary, Bessent would oversee Trump’s tax policies and the nation’s sanctions programs.
During Trump’s first term, Turner served as the first executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council. Turner is currently the chair for the Center for Education Opportunity at America First Policy Institute.
President-elect Trump also announced his choices for three top health positions.
Marty Makary, a Johns Hopkins surgeon and a member of the National Academy of Medicine, has been tapped to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In this role, Makary would oversee the FDA’s $7 billion budget and report to Trump’s pick for health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Former Florida Congressman Dr. Dave Weldon is Trump’s pick to be director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Weldon is a physician and Army veteran who served in the House from 1995 to 2009.
Finally, Trump picked Dr. Janette Nesheiwat to be the next U.S. Surgeon General. The doctor is a Fox News contributor and the medical director of CityMD, a network of urgent centers in New York and New Jersey.
All of these positions will need Senate confirmation.
Israel and Hezbollah trade attacks as cease-fire deal is in the works
Monday morning, Nov. 25, reports said Hezbollah attacked Galilee from Lebanon, while Israel continued to focus on the Lebanese capital of Beirut.
⭕️ 12 Hezbollah command centers were struck by the IAF in Dahieh, Beirut, including sites used by Hezbollah's Intelligence Unit, coast-to-sea missile unit, and Unit 4400—responsible for smuggling weapons from Iran through Syria into Lebanon.
The latest round of attacks started with an Israeli strike on Beirut Saturday night, Nov. 23, that left more than two dozen people dead, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Hezbollah responded to that strike by launching more than 200 rockets and drones at Israel, marking one of the heaviest bombardments of Israel since fighting intensified in September.
Israel said its goal is to return tens of thousands of people home, who evacuated from the northern part of the country due to rocket attacks by Hezbollah. Meanwhile, Israeli attacks on Beirut have led the Lebanese education ministry to postpone school there until January.
On Sunday, Nov. 24, the European Union’s foreign policy chief said a U.S. cease-fire proposal was awaiting final approval from Israel.
At least 1 killed after cargo plane crashes, skids into home in Lithuania
The flight had taken off from Germany and crashed around 5:30 a.m. local time while approaching its final destination in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Officials said the person who was killed was a member of the flight crew but was not a pilot. Three other people on board were injured. Nobody on the ground got hurt.
Officials said at least 12 people had to be evacuated from the home.
Investigators are looking into the cause of the crash and have not yet ruled out it being an act of terrorism.
Winter storms expected across the U.S. this Thanksgiving week
In California, where two bodies were recovered from floodwaters on Saturday, authorities are bracing for more downpours while still dealing with flooding and landslides from last week’s “bomb cyclone.” On top of that, the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for the Sierra Nevada through Tuesday, Nov. 26, with heavy snow expected at higher elevations and wind gusts potentially reaching 55 MPH. That area is expected to get up to four feet of snow by Wednesday. Nov. 27.
Periods of rain showers are expected for the Valley through Wednesday. 1 to 2 feet of additional snow up to 4 feet at the highest peaks is forecast to fall on the mountains. Make sure to travel safe and visit https://t.co/WjKBsJmSfA for updates! #CAwxpic.twitter.com/QyrmHZJFzR
Forecasters said the Midwest and Great Lakes regions will see rain and snow Monday, while the east coast will feel the effects on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.
So far, this upcoming weekend is shaping up to have pretty clear conditions for travelers heading home.
Biden set to issue his final Thanksgiving turkey pardon
President Joe Biden will take part in a Thanksgiving tradition at the White House Monday: his final turkey pardon.
The two lucky birds getting spared this year are Peach and Blossom from Minnesota. They got to live in the lap of luxury at the famed Willard Intercontinental Washington hotel near the White House while waiting for their permanent clemency from becoming a Thanksgiving feast.
The annual pardon of the turkeys will take place at 11 a.m. ET. The birds will then return to Minnesota to live out their days on a farm.
‘Wicked’ has best opening weekend for Broadway to film adaption
It was a magical weekend at the box office as the movie “Wicked” proved to be quite popular with audiences.
The film, based on the Broadway hit about the land of Oz before, during and after Dorothy’s famous visit, was number one in North America. It raked in $114 million, making it the third-biggest domestic opening of the year.
The film, which stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, is now the number one Broadway-to-film adaptation and ranks fourth for the biggest debuts for a musical in history.
News headlines compared: Did Trump win by a landslide?
The size of Donald Trump’s election victory has sparked debate. Was it a landslide? The answer depends on where a person looks for their news outlet.
News outlets with a left-leaning bias, such as The New York Times, referred to Trump’s victory as “the ‘landslide’ that wasn’t.” MSNBC noted Trump “won every battleground state and the popular vote but not by a landslide.”
Meanwhile, right-leaning outlets like National Review reported “Landslide or not, Trump won a mandate.” Breitbart reported, “Trump’s landslide victory moved 48 states to the right.”
It’s been more than two weeks since election night, but the size of Trump’s victory continues to make headlines, especially as several counties, including many in California, have been slow to report results.
The updated vote tally over the past two weeks has narrowed Trump’s lead over his opponent Kamala Harris. However, he remains the winner of the popular vote, becoming the first Republican to do so in 20 years.
Here’s how news outlets are covering the updated numbers that have trickled in since the election.
Left-leaning publications
“By traditional numeric measures, Mr. Trump’s victory was neither unprecedented nor a landslide” The New York Times reported. “In fact, he prevailed with one of the smallest margins of victory in the popular vote since the 19th century and generated little of the coattails of a true landslide.”
The Times focused on Trump hovering around the 50%, with 99% of votes counted. However, some counties are still tallying results.
As of Friday, Nov. 22, Trump had received 50% of the vote compared to Harris’ 48.3%, a 1.7% margin of victory, according the Times election results tally.
The Times also compared Trump’s victory to what they referred to as real landslides, citing Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1964 win by 22.6 points, Richard Nixon’s 1972 win by 23.2 points, and Ronald Reagan’s 1984 win by 18.2 points.
The paper noted in the 40 years since Reagan’s victory, no president has won the popular vote by double digits.
The Times offered an explanation as to why the 2024 election is being classified as a landslide by the right.
“The incoming president and his team are trying to cement the impression of a ‘resounding margin,’ as one aide called it, to make Mr. Trump seem more popular than he is and strengthen his hand in forcing through his agenda in the months to come,” The Times wrote.
Right-leaning publications
On the other side of the political spectrum, the right-leaning National Review offered a different perspective.
“At 76.7 million votes and counting, Trump has now won the second most votes of any presidential candidate in history,” its story said.
The National Review also pointed out Trump won all seven key swing states and six states he lost four years ago.
“If a state was considered in play, Trump won it. If you want to dispute that Trump won a mandate on Election Day, you have to accept that Democrats earned an anti-mandate, a rebuke,” the publication wrote.
Some categories in the 2024 election were unprecedented. Trump garnered more support from Hispanic voters than any other Republican candidate in history, according to an Axios exit poll. Trump also became the first president to be twice-impeached and convicted of a felony to win re-election. He is set to take office again in January 2025.
Multiple cities in Oregon vote to ban ‘magic mushrooms’
A growing number of cities in Oregon have banned the use of psychedelic mushrooms, despite the state becoming the first in the country to legalize therapeutic use of the drug. Four cities added new voter-approved bans for psilocybin, the compound found in such mushrooms, in the Nov. 5 election.
A dozen other communities that approved two-year prohibitions in 2022 voted in this election to make those restrictions permanent.
Psilocybin is still accessible in over 30 licensed centers including in some of Oregon’s largest cities, like Portland, and a handful of small towns. Some rural counties also voted to stay in the program.
Supporters say psychedelics can help people struggling with anxiety, depression and PTSD. Critics say the substances can be dangerous to certain people including those with schizophrenia.
Psychedelic researchers think the recent decisions by voters may be a sign that a majority of people are favoring “law and order” when it comes to drug policies.
“Oregon, specifically, has been touted as an example of liberal drug policies gone wrong,” Josh Hardman, the founder of Psychedelics Alpha told The Associated Press.
In 2020, around 56% of Oregon voters approved a measure allowing therapeutic use of psilocybin at licensed facilities for those over 21. But the measure let other counties and cities vote to opt out, resulting in the differing regulations across the state.
Judge delays sentencing in Trump hush money trial indefinitely
President-elect Donald Trump’s sentencing in his New York criminal hush money trial has been postponed indefinitely, with no future date yet in sight. Judge Juan Merchan postponed the sentencing scheduled for the week of Nov. 22 in order to allow both sides more time to present arguments related to potentially dismissing the case.
A jury convicted Trump in May on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records in order to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep her alleged affair with Trump quiet before the 2016 election. He is the first sitting or former president to have been found guilty on felony charges.
Trump’s lawyers asked to dismiss the case, citing the President-elect’s upcoming term in the White House and a Supreme Court ruling in July 2024 giving a president wide immunity from prosecution.
It’s the latest delay for a sentencing first scheduled for July 2024. Trump’s presidential campaign and legal complications from the Supreme Court ruling have led Merchan to rule in favor of delays.
Trump’s defense lawyers now have until Monday, Dec. 2, to present their argument for dismissing the case after prosecutors said they were ok with a delay. Prosecutors will have a week to respond, and have said they recognize a sentencing may need to occur after Trump leaves office in 2029.
“The People deeply respect the Office of the President, are mindful of the demands and obligations of the presidency, and acknowledge that Defendant’s inauguration will raise unprecedented legal questions,” the filing said.
Trump is set to be sworn in on Monday, Jan. 20. The defense wants Trump’s charges to be dismissed. They said a sentencing after Trump leaves office would be too long to wait.
The PRESS Act Trump opposes: Reporter protections or security risk?
President-elect Donald Trump is urging Republicans to block a bill designed to protect journalists from government surveillance. The legislation, known as the PRESS Act, would be the first federal law to shield reporters from being forced to disclose their confidential sources.
While the bill has received bipartisan support, it faces opposition from some prominent Republicans, including Trump himself. In a post on Truth Social, Trump responded to a PBS News report on the PRESS Act, stating that Republicans “must kill this bill.”
Trump’s opposition comes after the bill passed the Republican-controlled House earlier this year. The PRESS Act would establish the first-ever federal shield law in the U.S., protecting journalists from being compelled to reveal their sources to federal investigators. It would also prevent the government from seizing reporters’ records.
A case currently underway highlights the potential significance of the bill. Fox News reporter Catherine Herridge could face jail time for refusing to reveal her sources in a story about a Chinese-American scientist, Yanping Chen.
Herridge reported on an FBI investigation into Chen’s potential national security risks, which led Chen to sue several federal agencies, claiming the report damaged her reputation. Chen demanded to know Herridge’s source, prompting a subpoena that Herridge has refused to comply with.
Legal analysts told the Seattle Times that if the PRESS Act were law, the subpoena of Herridge would not have been allowed.
Supporters of the bill, like Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley, Calif., argue that press freedom requires protection from government interference.
“A critical aspect of the freedom of the press is the pursuit of truth without government entanglements or intimidation,” Kiley said. “Administrations from both political parties have unjustly targeted journalists and used compulsory process to obtain information from them about their sources. Most states have protected journalists from such interference, and it is past time for Congress to do so as well.”
Similar press protections already exist in 49 states, but the PRESS Act would offer these protections at the federal level.
Opponents of the bill, however, are concerned that it could shield “leakers” — individuals who release classified or sensitive information — instead of protecting journalists who report on the information.
“During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the press routinely revealed details about America’s efforts to hunt down terrorists, details that helped our enemies cover their tracks and evade justice,” Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, Ark., said. “These leaks were reckless and harmful to our national security, yet the PRESS Act would immunize journalists and leakers alike from scrutiny and consequences for their actions.”
The likelihood that the Senate will take up the bill during the current session is low, with Democratic senators prioritizing the confirmation of judges and other high-interest legislation before political power shifts in Congress.