Romania’s election called off over accusations of Russian meddling
Romania’s presidential election was called off following accusations that the surprise frontrunner’s social media campaign was influenced by Russia. Far-right independent candidate Calin Georgescu won the first round of voting and rose to popularity by posting his “Romania first” nationalist brand on TikTok.
His account gained more than 530,000 followers and over 5 million “likes” but fueled suspicion that his overnight success was driven by Russian meddling.
In a surprise move, the Romanian government declassified intelligence reports days ahead of the election alleging that Moscow ran an elaborate internet scheme to boost Georgescu’s account.
This comes after the country’s election servers had allegedly been hacked by Russia.
“Romania is a target for aggressive Russian hybrid actions including cyber attacks and information leaks and sabotage,” the Foreign Intelligence Service said.
Like Russian President Vladimir Putin, Georgescu has been a vocal NATO critic, questioning Romania’s membership in the alliance, which ignited fears about NATO’s future in the country.
Now, Romania’s top court says the entire election process must be redone, meaning a second-round run-off that was scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 8, will no longer happen.
Georgescu would have gone head-to-head with his centrist rival Elena Lacsoni.
FEC filings reveal Dem finances following most expensive election in US history
One month after the election, new financial details have emerged regarding the Democratic and Republican National Committees and the parties’ top supporting PACs. Political candidates rely on several funding sources, including official party committees, campaigns and super PACs.
A significant amount of attention has focused on the Harris campaign, which reportedly raised more than $1.4 billion. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) reported nearly $50 million in the bank after the election.
Combined with the broader Harris campaign, the DNC and its affiliates had $84 million as of Nov. 25, following weeks of continued fundraising.
Meanwhile, Future Forward, the largest Democratic super PAC, ended the election cycle with nearly $50 million in debt, according to filings reviewed by the Washington Post. The unpaid bills are primarily related to media buys and advertising costs, according to filings.
The massive spending from all fundraising entities has come under scrutiny from high-profile Democratic strategists. James Carville, during a recent appearance on the “Politics War Room” podcast, called for audits of the financial statements.
“Without complete transparency, the campaign — we think — raised a billion and a half dollars,” Carville said. “Okay, we know that Future Forward, the last we saw, was $900 million, so we can assume that they got to a billion before the election. That’s two and a half billion dollars. We’re going to audit the campaign. We’re going to audit Future Forward. We’re going to audit the DNC so people can know.”
On the Republican side, the Republican National Committee and Trump’s campaign reported $124 million in cash following the election, according to FEC filings.
Billionaire Elon Musk contributed more than $250 million to support Trump and other Republican candidates. Filings state his donations went through the “America” super PAC and other affiliated groups.
House Republicans block release of Matt Gaetz ethics report
Republicans block efforts by their Democratic colleagues to release the House Ethics Committee’s report on its investigation into former Congressman Matt Gaetz. And the manhunt continues for the gunman in the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Friday, Dec. 6, 2024.
House Republicans block release of Matt Gaetz ethics report
The House Ethics Committee’s report on its investigation into former Congressman Matt Gaetz will not be made public — at least for now. Thursday, Dec. 5, House Republicans blocked two separate Democratic resolutions to release the report, voting to refer the matter back to the committee.
Lawmakers voted along almost entirely party lines to table an effort from Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) to force the report’s immediate release, saying the former Florida congressman is no longer under the House’s jurisdiction because he resigned.
Gaetz left Congress last month after President-elect Donald Trump announced he was nominating the Republican lawmaker to become the nation’s next attorney general. That all happened just days before the ethics report was supposed to be released.
Gaetz later withdrew from consideration for the job after it became clear he would not get the Senate support needed to win confirmation, amid allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor and illicit drug use. He’s also denied those allegations.
Another effort by Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen of Tennessee was also blocked.
Casten blasted the House’s decision in a statement after the vote, saying, “Today, the majority of the House of Representatives took the easy way out. They could have ensured a vote on whether or not former members should be held accountable when they face serious and credible allegations of sexual misconduct — including having sex with minors. Instead, the House voted to sweep these allegations under the rug and set an unfortunate precedent that, if you are ever facing scrutiny, resigning from Congress can make your problems go away.”
Casten added he will continue to try to get the report released.
Tonight the House of Representatives voted to sweep credible allegations of sexual misconduct under the rug.
I retain options to pursue the release of the Gaetz Report.
Congressman Michael Guest (R-MS), the committee chairman, said there no longer is the same urgency to release the report because Gaetz has left Congress and stepped aside as Trump’s choice to head the Justice Department.
Elon Musk spent more than $250 million getting Trump re-elected
Billionaire Elon Musk spent almost a quarter of a billion dollars in supporting Donald Trump’s reelection, according to Federal Election Commission filings released late Thursday, Dec. 5. While that accounts for just a fraction of Musk’s wealth as the richest man in the world, it’s a massive amount to come from just one single donor.
Musk donated most of that money to his America PAC, making three donations of $25 million each in the final weeks of the race. Over the course of the campaign, he gave America PAC a total of $239 million in cash and in-kind contributions.
Musk also spent more than $40 million on checks to voters in swing states who signed a petition in support of the Constitution.
According to the filings, Musk also put $20 million into a PAC named after the late liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. That PAC was behind political ads claiming Trump does not support a federal abortion ban and he and Ginsburg had that in common.
New images released as manhunt continues in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing
Police have released new information about the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as the manhunt continues for the gunman. Investigators released new images Thursday of a hooded man who they say is “a person of interest” wanted for questioning in the slaying of the health insurance executive.
Police sources confirmed to multiple news outlets the images were taken from a surveillance camera inside a hostel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Officials said the man used a fake New Jersey ID to check into the hostel.
The sources said the suspect is believed to have traveled from Atlanta to New York City on a Greyhound bus the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Nov. 24, then later checked in to the hostel. Greyhound is reportedly cooperating with the investigation.
The gunman shot Thompson multiple times at point-blank range as he was walking into a New York City Hilton hotel. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities said the shooting was “premeditated” and a “brazen, targeted attack.”
According to multiple reports, the bullet casings located at the scene had the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” written on them. The gun used in the shooting has not been recovered.
Police are still searching for a motive in the deadly shooting.
Aftershocks rock California after magnitude 7 earthquake
Dozens of aftershocks have been reported in California after a powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake rattled a large part of the west coast Thursday. The epicenter of the earthquake was around 50 miles southwest of the northern port city Eureka in the Pacific Ocean.
A tsunami warning briefly went into effect from Oregon down to central California, but that has since been canceled. Evacuation orders have also been lifted.
California’s governor signed a state of emergency and said damage assessments are underway. So far, only minor damage and no injuries have been reported.
NASA delays next two manned moon missions
We’ve waited decades to see an astronaut walk on the moon again, and now, we’ll have to wait a little longer.
NASA announced Thursday it is delaying its next two Artemis moon missions to address an issue with the Orion crew capsule that will be housing the astronauts and its heat shield. The agency said the Artemis II mission that will fly a crew around the moon has been pushed from September of this year to no earlier than April of 2026.
The Artemis III mission, which will see the first moon landing in more than 50 years, set for 2026 will now happen no earlier than mid-2027.
Taylor Swift’s recording-breaking Eras tour ends this weekend
The tour kicked off in March of last year with Swift putting on the 3.5-hour concert more than 150 times in front of sold-out crowds across five continents.
OPEC+ delays production increase, awaits arrival of Trump administration
The oil cartel OPEC+ is extending its current production cuts as it anticipates the return of President-elect Donald Trump. It’s waiting to see how oil sanctions against Iran and Venezuela might play out.
CNBC, citing sources and internal documents, reports the OPEC oil producers alliance has delayed plans to “unwind voluntary crude oil cuts.” They said it’s because of a lack of global demand and the conflict in the Middle East. Member countries produce about 40% of the world’s oil.
The oil cartel is now restricting its production to about 40 million barrels a day, until the end of 2026. It had previously set the end date as December 2025. Saudi Arabia and Russia are currently holding back about 6 million barrels per day in an effort to shore up prices.
The Financial Times is reporting Trump’s threats to slap tariffs on some oil producers is an effort to exert pressure on Iran and drive down its oil exports.
“I think the Trump factor is a big uncertainty… we don’t know how tariffs will impact the price,” Amrita Sen, director of research at Energy Experts, said.
Oil supply has a large effect on the gas prices that Americans pay. AAA reported that of Thursday morning, Dec. 5, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is $3.02 a gallon.
That’s down from $3.22 a year ago and a huge drop from June 2022 when the national average was $5.01 a gallon.
Meta executive admits to over-moderating COVID-19, election content
Is Meta moderating its content too much? A top executive at the company shared regrets over removing posts about the pandemic.
Meta’s President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg admitted the company has wrongfully taken down posts across its apps, pointing to the height of COVID-19.
He told reporters Monday, Dec. 2, “No one during the pandemic knew how the pandemic was going to unfold, so this really is wisdom in hindsight. But with that hindsight, we feel that we overdid it a bit.”
Meta and other social media companies face increasing pressure to improve the safety of their platforms amid hateful or misleading information, while also making sure users have free speech online.
The moderation impacted political posts as well. Meta recently apologized after its systems suppressed photos of President-elect Donald Trump after his attempted assassination.
Clegg also commented on Meta’s election content in a blog post Tuesday, Dec. 3, “Too often harmless content gets taken down or restricted and too many people get penalized unfairly.“
He added the company has worked throughout the past year to update content policies fairly. He noted that no platform will ever strike this balance “100% of the time.”
Postal Service highlights ballot delivery as oversight hearing nears
It’s been a mixed (mail) bag for the United States Postal Service this week, as USPS delivered some positive news Monday, Dec. 2, concerning its efforts during election season. However, the next day, Congress notified the agency of an oversight hearing to get answers on its performance and efficiency.
According to its newly-released Post-Election Analysis Report, the Postal Service processed more than 99 million ballots during the 2024 general election period starting Sept. 1. According to USPS, 99.88% of ballots were delivered to election officials within seven days. The USPS says they delivered 97.73% of ballots within three days.
On average, the agency said it delivered ballots from voters to election officials within one day. All in all, mail carriers delivered 3.37 billion pieces of political and election mail this year.
USPS said “extraordinary measures” were implemented to swiftly move ballot mail entered close to or on election day. These measures included extra deliveries and collections, special pick-ups and specialized sorting plans at processing facilities.
The Postal Service’s Post-Election Analysis Report comes as the agency undergoes a 10-year transformation plan called “Delivering for America.” USPS is looking to modernize the postal network, restore long-term financial sustainability, and dramatically improve service across all mail and shipping categories as it aims to eliminate tens of billions of dollars in predicted losses over the next decade.
If we do nothing more, we remain on the path to either a government bailout or the end of this great organization as we know it.
United States Postal Service
The progress on these initiatives will be the focus of a House Oversight Committee hearing on Dec. 10. Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., announced Tuesday, Dec. 3, that the committee will receive an update from Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
In a statement, Comer said, in part, “While the Postal Service’s finances and performance have seen some improvement under Postmaster General DeJoy’s 10-year plan, there is still work to be done. Many families and small businesses around the country are still experiencing poor USPS service, resulting in unacceptable delays, and this Committee has a responsibility to examine its operations to ensure hardworking American taxpayers are receiving a service they can rely on.”
Last month, the Postal Service reported a net loss of $9.5 billion for its fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30. Since 2007, the agency has lost more than $100 billion.
The Postal Service warns it must continue to find ways to cut costs and increase revenue. As stated in its updated “Deliver to America” plan, “If we do nothing more, we remain on the path to either a government bailout or the end of this great organization as we know it.”
In July, the Postal Service raised the price of first-class mail stamps from 68 cents to 73 cents. They also planned a price hike twice a year through 2027. However, in September, the agency vowed there would be no increase in stamp prices this January.
That would be the first time in two years we won’t see an increase in stamp prices to begin a new year. There’s something to write home about.
Trump’s pick for head of FBI target of Iranian-backed cyberattack: US
U.S. intelligence revealed on Tuesday, Dec. 3, that an alleged Iranian-backed cyberattack targeted Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the FBI. The FBI reportedly told Patel the hackers attempted to infiltrate his communications.
Although Trump’s team didn’t specifically respond to the latest suspected cyberattack, Trump transition spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer told CBS News, “Kash Patel was a key part of the first Trump administration’s efforts against the terrorist Iranian regime and will implement President Trump’s policies to protect America from adversaries as the FBI director.”
Trump announced Patel as his pick to lead the FBI on Saturday, Nov. 30. Patel was Trump’s chief of staff to the secretary of defense during Trump’s first term in office.
Patel’s appointment will need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate when Trump returns to the White House on Jan. 20.
The latest revelation of alleged Iranian meddling in U.S. affairs comes after warnings from U.S. authorities of Iran-based cyber sabotage attempts on Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
Democrats win final House race of 2024 election, Republican margin narrows
Four weeks after Election Day, the make-up of the House of Representatives is now known. The last race has finally been called.
Democrat Adam Gray has defeated incumbent Republican Rep. John Duarte in California’s 13th Congressional District. Officials have counted all ballots.
Gray’s victory puts the current election tally in the House at 220 Republican wins to 215 Democratic victories. However, three seats will soon be open after President-elect Donald Trump nominated three Republican House members to his cabinet, dropping the majority to a very slim 217-215 margin in favor of the GOP.
Within days after the election, Trump nominated Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to be attorney general. Gaetz resigned from the House and later removed his name from consideration. There’ll now be a special election in northwest Florida. It’s set for April 1, 2025.
Another Republican, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, is slated to become the Trump administration’s national security adviser and leave Congress on Jan. 20. A special election in the Daytona Beach area of Florida is also set for April 1.
In northern New York, Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik is Trump’s pick for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. She hasn’t announced when she is leaving Congress.
In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul is required, by law, to set the date for a special election within 10 days of Stefanik’s resignation, and that election has to happen within 70 to 80 days.
The departure of the Republicans and uncertainty of who wins the special elections leave the GOP with almost no wiggle room to push their agenda forward in Congress in early 2025.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has supposedly urged President-elect Trump not to tap any more House Republicans for cabinet jobs.
Trump vows to tank $15B buyout of US Steel by Japan’s Nippon
President-elect Donald Trump doubled down on a campaign promise Monday, Dec. 2. Trump said he would block a $15 billion deal between Japan’s Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel, but its fate could be sealed before he ascends to the Oval Office.
“I am totally against the once great and powerful U.S. Steel being bought by a foreign company, in this case Nippon Steel of Japan,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “As President, I will block this deal from happening. Buyer Beware!!!”
While on the campaign trail in U.S. Steel’s home state of Pennsylvania, Trump talked about the importance of the company.
“If you go back 70 years, our greatest company by far was United States Steel Corporation. That was the big deal. And now we have Japan buying it,” he said in August.
The United Steelworkers union has generally been against the deal between the two steel manufacturers.
“The proposed sale is bad for workers, our communities and the domestic industry — as well as our national security, critical infrastructure and domestic supply chains,” the union said in a statement released Monday.
However, The New York Times reports there’s more to the union’s opposition. The newspaper claimed they were upset Nippon didn’t consult union leaders during negotiations. The Japanese steelmaker reportedly believed doing so could risk the deal getting leaked to a competitor in the bidding process. That competitor, Cleveland-Cliffs, has close ties to the union.
The president-elect may have found an ally in United Steelworkers, but his former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed in January claiming opposition to the deal is rooted in xenophobia.
In the op-ed, he mentioned President Joe Biden, who had expressed concern about the deal at the time and later came out against it.
“If we were going to paint a picture of the best deal, this would be it because it checks all the boxes in terms of strengthening national security, strengthens economic security, strengthens job security,” Burritt told WTAE-TV Pittsburgh last month. “In fact, there’s opportunity to grow jobs as a result of the big investment. So you look at each one of those things; that’s thumbs-ups across the board.”
The president-elect has his own ideas of how to support the U.S. steel industry.
“Through a series of Tax Incentives and Tariffs, we will make U.S. Steel Strong and Great Again, and it will happen FAST!” he said on Truth Social.
The deal could be blocked on national security grounds, which Biden has entertained. But Burritt points out that Japan is one of America’s greatest allies and the two sides have shared a lot of technology.
Despite the promise from Trump, Biden could still beat him to the punch by stopping the deal. The White House was poised to block it in September but decided to allow Nippon to resubmit its filing with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., which handles reviewing the deal.
The CFIUS investigation is set to conclude by Dec. 23 and Biden would then have 15 days to announce a decision.
MSNBC, CNN lose nearly half of viewers since election night
Nielsen data shows a significant drop in viewership for MSNBC and CNN following the 2024 presidential election. In the week ending Nov. 24, MSNBC’s primetime audience fell by 53%, dropping from 1.34 million viewers the week before the election to just 632,000. CNN also saw a major decline, falling 47% from 754,000 to 398,000 viewers.
For MSNBC, the ratings drop has been especially pronounced for its top anchor, Rachel Maddow. Since Nov. 5, Maddow’s show has experienced a 41% decrease in total viewers, with a 50% drop in the key 25-54 demographic.
On Monday, Maddow’s show recorded its lowest viewership of the year and its worst performance in the key demographic since 2015.
MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” has also taken a hit, losing 37% of its audience since the election.
Internally, the network faces uncertainty. Last week, parent company Comcast announced plans to spin off MSNBC and other cable channels next year.
The announcement has raised concerns about potential layoffs and restructuring, with some employees expressing worry about the future of the network.
Despite these challenges, some within MSNBC told the New York Post the viewership drop is temporary and may recover in the new year after the inauguration.
While it’s common for news networks to lose viewers after major events like elections, Fox News has seen a surge in popularity, with viewership increasing 32% since election night. The network remains the dominant cable news provider, especially after President-elect Donald Trump’s victory.
On election night, Fox led with 10 million primetime viewers, followed by MSNBC with 6 million and CNN with 5.1 million. Fox’s viewership has continued to rise, reaching 3.2 million, an 86% increase from last year.