Raw Story

President-elect Donald Trump apparently wants MAGA fans to watch Monday's inauguration on TikTok so much that he promised "no liability" to any company who gets the social media platform back up and running before he takes office.

TikTok, owned by Chinese company Bytedance, officially went dark on Sunday after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld lawmakers' ban on the platform in the name of national security.

Trump took to his own social media platform, TruthSocial, to float his idea Sunday.

"I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark! I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order," Trump wrote.

ALSO READ: Inside the parade of right-wing world leaders flocking to D.C. for Trump's inauguration

He continued, "Americans deserve to see our exciting Inauguration on Monday, as well as other events and conversations."

Trump then proposed a business deal: "I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture. By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say up. Without U.S. approval, there is no Tik Tok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars - maybe trillions.

"Therefore, my initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose."

Earlier, Trump posted, "SAVE TIKTOK!"which angered some in his MAGA base.

So far, legal experts haven't weighed in on Trump's proposal or whether it would pose any liability to TikTok or Bytedance, itself. Once Trump becomes president, however, he will have the power to pardon federal offenses once a formal application is received by the Office of the Pardon Attorney.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) lashed out at CBS News host Margaret Brennan, accusing her of not "fairly" reporting about FBI director nominee Kash Patel's so-called enemies list.

During a Sunday interview on Face the Nation, Brennan noted that former Attorney General Bill Barr said Patel had "virtually no experience that would qualify him to serve at the highest level of the world's preeminent law enforcement agency."

"Was Attorney General Barr wrong then and wrong now?" Brennan wondered.

"Yeah, he was wrong then," Graham ranted. "He's wrong now. And I take my advice on Kash Patel from Trey Gowdy, a dear friend from South Carolina who worked with Kash."

"Well, OK, but he's got a list," Brennan asserted. "He's got a list he's published. Kash Patel has. He published it in a book of enemies."

"I mean, do you take him at his word here that these are an enemies list, and you're going to put him in a law enforcement role to go after him?" she asked.

"I believe the hearing will expose him to be a very qualified man of the law," Graham shot back. "He'll have to answer questions about what's in the book. But I'm ready to vote for him because I know him, too. So you never asked me about the Russia hoax that he exposed."

ALSO READ: Inside the parade of right-wing world leaders flocking to D.C. for Trump's inauguration

"Lindsey Graham, this is a far cry from the question about Kash Patel," Brennan said as Graham's answer turned into a rant about Israel. "You took me all the way to Israel from Kash Patel."

"OK, ask him about going after journalists, which he's also said," she added. "I'm interested in the answer to that."

"I'm sure Democratic friends will ask him," Graham quipped. "You shouldn't worry about Kash Patel."

"You should worry about reporting the news fairly, which you don't do when it comes to everything Trump!" the senator exclaimed.

"Lindsey Graham, you're a guest on this program because we wanted to hear you out," Brennan pointed out.

Watch the video below from CBS or at the link..

Ex special counsel Jack Smith may have dropped his cases against President-elect Donald Trump, but Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) claimed he wasn't done yet with the special counsel.

After Trump won the presidency in November, Jordan's Oversight committee sent a letter to the Justice Department telling Smith to "preserve your records" related to the Trump election interference case and the classified documents case.

CNN's Dana Bash asked Jordan Sunday, "When you and I spoke in November. I asked you if you would call Jack Smith to testify. You said that you hadn't decided, but it was on the table. Now his report has been released. He has stepped down. Will you call him to testify?"

"We're still looking at all that," Jordan answered. "One of the things we are going to check into is, one of his lawyers — I mean, this is just one of the many issues I think we need some answers to — but Jay Bratt, one of the guys who worked for him, went to a lawyer who was who was representing one of the defendants in the case, representing Walt Nauta, said to that lawyer, 'We didn't know you were a Trump guy. We thought you were interested in this judge position.' You can't do those kind of things! So we're going to investigate that. We're going to look at a number of things Jack Smith didn't include in his report, like something that's happened since I was here in November — the 26 confidential human sources who were there on January 6th, 2021, seventeen within restricted space, four in the inside the Capitol — "

Bash interrupted, "So you're not done?"

"— two were tasked to be there by the FBI —"

"You're not done with this?" Bash pressed.

"Yeah, because I think there are lots of answers, lots of questions that the American people want answers to," Jordan said.

ALSO READ: Inside the parade of right-wing world leaders flocking to D.C. for Trump's inauguration

Smith's report on Donald Trump's alleged election interference was released to the public last week. In it, Smith wrote, "Indeed, but for Mr. Trump’s election and imminent return to the presidency, the office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.”

Republicans have long contended that the DOJ was "weaponized" against Trump and committed "election interference" by pursuing criminal charges against him.

Watch the clip below via CNN or at the link.

Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D) joked with CNN's John Berman Thursday about his love-hate relationship with House Judiciary Chairman James Comer (R-KY) while discussing the potential confirmation of Florida's former Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Berman began, "You are switching committees. People got used to watching you on the Oversight Committee, you know, going after, in some cases, the Chair, James Comer. Now, you're moving to Judiciary, and you talk about Florida — politics in Florida — Pam Bondi, who will likely be the next attorney general from Florida, what do you see as your biggest concerns, vis-à-vis, with the incoming attorney general?"

Moskowitz quipped, "Well, first, John, don't talk negatively about my friend James Comer, okay? And, just because I'm leaving Oversight doesn't mean I'm leaving James, I promise you!"

Moskowitz has been known for sparring with Comer during House Judiciary Committee hearings, once trading barbs about who takes more medication during a hearing called, "A Legacy of Incompetence: Consequences of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Policy Failures.”

ALSO READ: Fox News has blood on its hands as Trump twists the knife

“You need to take your medication and leave,” Comer said when Moskowitz challenged him to impeach President Biden. Moskowitz then shot back, “Mr. chairman, you’re several decades older than me, we know who’s taking more medication."

In reality, Comer is 52 to Moskowitz is 43.

Moskowitz also recently posted a photo of Comer's new book next to a public toilet with the caption, "The subway tile work in this bathroom is lovely."

When Moskowitz finally answered Berman's question about Bondi, the congressman called her "very capable."

"You know, as far as Pam Bondi is concerned, obviously, I know the incoming attorney general. I was in the legislature when she was the attorney general of Florida when the shooting happened at my high school, at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas six years ago," Moskowitz said.

"She was the attorney general at that time and was involved in not just the response, but when we put together the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas School Safety Commission to investigate what went wrong that day, and then to work on legislation to make sure something like that never happened again. And, so, I know her fairly well. Obviously, we have many political disagreements, but she is very capable, and I think she'll wind up serving well as the attorney general."

Watch below or click the link here.

But its cash flow woes are even worse than previously aired in public. The national hospital chain operator owes more than $1 billion to more than 100,000 creditors, but has just $3.4 million cash on hand, Paul Rundell, Prospect’s chief restructuring officer, wrote in testimony ahead of a federal bankruptcy court hearing in Dallas on Tuesday.

“It is my understanding that, without post-petition financing, the Debtors will be unable to meet their next payroll cycle,” Rundell wrote in the Jan. 13 filing.

Prospect declares bankruptcy, says sale of Roger Williams and Fatima hospitals will continue

Even Chris Callaci, who represents the 1,200 United Nurses & Allied Professionals members who work for Prospect’s Rhode Island facilities, was taken aback.

“That was more grave than we thought in terms of a brush with disaster of not making payroll,” Callaci said in an interview on Wednesday. “We thought they had access to a little more capital.”

The 12,500 Prospect hospital employees, including the 2,500 in Rhode Island, will get their next paycheck, after a federal bankruptcy judge in Dallas authorized a $100 million line of credit on Tuesday.

Not that it offered much assurance to Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha, whose office has been keeping close tabs on Prospect’s management of Roger Williams and Fatima for the last decade. Anticipating the potential for bankruptcy, Neronha’s office also brought on New York bankruptcy attorney Andrew Troop last year; Troop attended the hearing in Dallas Tuesday on the AG’s behalf.

“We wanted to be ready,” Neronha said in an interview on Wednesday.

In search of investors

But the proactive approach may not be enough to save Rhode Island’s safety net hospitals, whose fates hinge on their cash-strapped owners’ ability to drum up the money to sell the facilities. The $80 million sale to The Centurion Foundation was expected to close this month, following a yearslong application and review process, which included a set of 85 conditions set by state regulators.

Both Prospect and Centurion insist they still intend to go through with the deal, using a clause in federal bankruptcy code that allows debtors to sell certain assets through private sale, according to court documents.

But first, they have to finish securing the $160 million in financing — $80 million for the sticker price of the sale plus another $80 million injected directly into hospital operations — required by state regulators. Neronha said Wednesday the companies had not finished raising the funds required.

Callaci doubted Prospect would be able to entice investors, given its bankruptcy declaration, and feared the company would ask state regulators to ease up on the financial strings attached to the sale.

Neronha maintained that his office did not intend to change its conditions. Joseph Wendelken, a spokesperson for the Rhode Island Department of Health, said in an email Wednesday that the agency was “committed to ensuring the hospitals have new ownership.”

Dr. Jerry Larkin, state health director, stressed the importance of keeping Roger Williams and Fatima open in pre-filed testimony to the federal bankruptcy court. The two hospitals, with 500 beds between them, account for more than 50,000 emergency room visits per year. Together they have 104 beds for behavioral health patients, representing more than 20% of behavioral health beds available statewide.

“It is certain that an abrupt closure of RWMC and/or OLF will disproportionately impact vulnerable and underserved populations, creating deeper inequities in access to care,” Larkin wrote. “The closure of these RI safety net hospitals would overwhelm RI’s healthcare system and create significant barriers to care for individuals already facing profound health disparities.”

Surgeries rescheduled

Not that operations have been running smoothly now. Rundell testified in bankruptcy court Tuesday that the company also owes millions of dollars to vendors at its 16 hospitals, forcing delays in surgeries, according to news reports.

Otis Brown, a spokesperson for CharterCARE Health Partners, Prospect’s Rhode Island subsidiary, confirmed in an email Wednesday that two spine surgeries scheduled for that day in Rhode Island had been moved to Monday, Jan. 20 because a vendor “unexpectedly requested pre-payment.”

“We are actively working with them to resolve it,” Brown said of the payment problem, adding that the rescheduling of surgeries was “without incident.”

It’s not the first time the hospital operator let bills at its Rhode Island hospitals pile up. In November 2023, Neronha’s office sued Prospect for missing $24 million in payments to vendors at Roger Williams and Fatima, forcing elective surgeries to be canceled due to lack of staff, supplies and equipment. Paying its bills on time and keeping day-to-day operations running was one of a host of conditions set by Neronha’s office in 2021, when Prospect’s ownership composition changed.

A Providence Superior Court judge sided with Neronha, demanding Prospect fork over the longest overdue vendor payments — $17 million — and blasting the company for using its Rhode Island hospitals as a “line of credit” to pay off debts elsewhere. A Prospect executive confirmed it had paid the $17 million balance as of July, but in November, filed a new affidavit that the company again let bills pile up beyond the 90-day payment deadline.

Prospect intended to rectify the late payments by the time its pending sale of Roger Williams and Fatima to The Centurion Foundation closed at the end of January 2025, George Pillari, Prospect’s senior vice president and chief performance officer, wrote in the Nov. 15 Rhode Island Superior Court filing.

“For years, they’ve been playing this game of slow walking on paying their bills, gimmicks like that to save a buck,” Callaci said. “Our guys consistently, for years, have been telling us it’s a struggle to do their jobs in a timely fashion.”

Union members who work at Roger Williams and Fatima had not indicated that daily operations had worsened in recent weeks, Callaci said.

While the union railed against the pending sale to Centurion, citing the debt financing used to fund the deal and Centurion’s lack of experience, Callaci now considers hospital closure a worse outcome.

McKee ‘missing in action’

Potential buyers were few when Prospect first sought interest in 2023. And Neronha isn’t hopeful that the pool will be larger now, given Rhode Island’s uncompetitive reimbursement rates relative to neighboring states, and his criticism of Gov. Dan McKee.

McKee attempts to rally his team in 2025 State of the State

McKee in his 2025 State of the State Tuesday night acknowledged Prospect’s financial crisis with a single line, saying he was “in conversations” with Prospect and Centurion executives.

Neronha, who sat in the front row for the packed State House event, called McKee’s statement “meaningless.”

“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Neronha said Wednesday. “He’s not involved in any talks with Prospect.”

Callaci blasted McKee for being “missing in action.”

“He ought to be making unequivocal affirmative commitments to the 2,500 to 3,000 people who work in that system and the tens of thousands of people who use those facilities,” Callaci said. “He’s chief executive officer of this state. It is his job to do the job.”

Olivia DaRocha, a spokesperson for McKee’s office, offered further explanation on McKee’s State of the State remarks in an email Wednesday.

“Discussions have centered on a potential carve-out for Prospect’s Rhode Island facilities and ensuring that the sale of Roger Williams and Fatima moves forward,” DaRocha said.

She did not respond to requests for comment on criticisms of the governor made by Callaci and Neronha.

A second hearing on Prospect’s request for short-term financing is set for Feb. 12 in federal bankruptcy court in Dallas.

Updated to include comment from Gov. Dan McKee’s office and from the Rhode Island Department of Health.

President-elect Donald Trump may have claimed that he would hire "the best people" to work in his incoming administration, but one thing's for certain — he is hiring the richest.

In fact, the combined wealth of Trump’s richest nominees and transition team officials "amounts to over $313 billion," according to a report from Americans For Tax Fairness.

Trump's pick for treasury secretary, hedge fund executive Scott Bessent, is set to answer questions at his confirmation hearing on Thursday. Bessent "has hundreds of millions of dollars in assets and owns property from North Dakota to the Bahamas," CNN reported.

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CNN national political writer Fredreka Schouten pointed out the irony in an article for CNN.com Thursday, writing, "Trump is returning to the White House after making appeals to working-class voters in last year’s election, but he has assembled one of the wealthiest administrations in history – turning to nearly a dozen people worth at least $1 billion on their own or combined with their spouses’ assets – to oversee the nation’s policies and represent the US overseas as ambassadors."

Some of the more high-profile multi-millionaires and billionaires ready to take their place in the Trump administration are Elon Musk ($300+ billion), Vivek Ramaswamy ($1 billion), Doug Bergum ($100 million), and, of course, Trump ($5.4 billion) and incoming Vice President J.D. Vance ($4.8 to $11.3 million), themselves.

Americans For Tax Fairness broke out the names and net worths of some of the other wealthiest nominees and office holders. They include:

Linda McMahon, Education Secretary Nominee, $2.6 billion; Howard Lutnick, Commerce Secretary Nominee, $2 billion; Scott Bessent, Treasury Secretary, $1 billion; Steven Witkoff, Special Envoy to the Middle East, $500 million; Chris Wright, Energy Secretary Nominee, $171 million; Robert F. Kennedy Jr. HHS Secretary Nominee, $15 million; Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Labor Secretary Nominee, $9.6 million; Michael Waltz, National Security Advisor, $9 million; Pete Hegseth, Defense Secretary Nominee, $6 million; Kristi Noem, Homeland Security Secretary Nominee, $1 to $5 million; Marco Rubio, Secretary of State Nominee, $3 million; Brooke Rollins, Agriculture Secretary Nominee, $3 million; Elise Stefanik, UN Ambassador Nominee, $1.8 million; Pam Bondi, Attorney General Nominee, $1.8 million.

During his farewell speech Wednesday, President Biden warned Americans about allowing the super-rich to control the government.

“I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern. And this is a dangerous concern. And that’s the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people,” Biden said. “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”

View the list of the wealthiest nominees and office holders here and read the CNN Politics article here.