Raw Story

Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi declined to admit that President-elect Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election.

At her Wednesday confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, ranking member Dick Durbin (D-IL) asked Bondi if she was prepared to state that Trump had lost the 2020 election. But she refused to do so.

"Are you prepared to say today under oath without reservation that Donald Trump lost the presidential contest to Joe Biden in 2020?" Durbin wondered.

"Ranking Member Durbin, President Biden is the President of the United States," Bondi replied. "He was duly sworn in, and he is the President of the United States. There was a peaceful transition of power."

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"Do I agree with what happened?" she continued. "And I saw so much — you know, not no one from either side of the aisle should want there to be any issues with election integrity in our country."

"I think that question deserved a yes or no, and I think the length of your answer is an indication that you weren't prepared to answer yes," Durbin remarked.

Bondi also said she would consider recommending pardons for Jan. 6 rioters.

Watch the video below or click here.

Gov. Jim Pillen (R-NE) ordered flags at the Nebraska Capitol to be flown at full staff on Inauguration Day even though they were supposed to be at half staff until the end of January due to the death of former President Jimmy Carter.

Pillen issued the order after a complaint from President-elect Donald Trump.

"The official installation of a President is a historic day in the calendar of our nation and should be recognized as such," Pillen said in a statement. "Having the flag at full staff symbolizes the respect to that office and our nation's newly elected leader."

"Flags will fly at full staff from sunrise until sunset on Inauguration Day," the statement added. "The following morning, flags will return to half-staff, resuming the honor to former President Jimmy Carter. Flags are to remain at half-staff in remembrance of the former president through Jan. 28."

In a Truth Social post on Jan. 3, Trump complained about U.S. flags flying at half staff for his swearing-in.

"Nobody wants to see this," Trump wrote. "The Democrats are all 'giddy' about our magnificent American flag potentially being at 'half mast' during my inauguration."

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Pillen became the second Republican governor to lift flags to full staff on Inauguration Day. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) of Texas issued a similar order.

"While we honor the service of a former President, we must also celebrate the service of an incoming President and the bright future ahead for the United States of America," Abbott said.

Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), whom Donald Trump has threatened to jail over her role in the Jan. 6 investigation into his alleged election subversion, touted the release of the J6 report and questioned whether Republicans would give their "loyalty to a tyrant" by blindly supporting the president-elect.

The DOJ released special counsel Jack Smith's report shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday, after Trump fought tooth-and-nail to prevent it from going public.

In the report, Smith concluded that "If Donald Trump hadn’t won the presidential election in November, the Justice Department would have had ample evidence to convict him at trial of trying to obstruct the 2020 election results," according to The Washington Post.

Cheney posted on social media Tuesday morning, "The Special Counsel’s 1/6 Report, made public last night, confirms the unavoidable facts of 1/6 yet again. DOJ’s exhaustive and independent investigation reached the same essential conclusions as the Select Committee. All this DOJ evidence must be preserved."

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Cheney then questioned Republicans as they hold confirmation hearings on Trump's most controversial nominees, including Kash Patel for FBI director, Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, and Pete Hegseth for defense secretary.

"But most important now, as the Senate considers confirming Trump’s Justice Department nominees: if those nominees cooperated with Trump’s deceit to overturn the 2020 election, they cannot now be entrusted with the responsibility to preserve the rule of law and protect our Republic," Cheney wrote. "As our framers knew, our institutions only hold when those in office are not compromised by personal loyalty to a tyrant. So this question is now paramount for Republicans: Will you faithfully perform the duties the framers assigned to you and do what the Constitution requires? Or do you lack the courage?"

According to a CNN analyst, the J6 report cited "many instances" where "Trump knew the election was not stolen in 2020, that there was not widespread fraud that could have delivered him a victory, and that he continued to lie to his supporters."

Trump responded on social media to the report's release, writing, "Deranged Jack Smith was unable to successfully prosecute the Political Opponent of his 'boss,' Crooked Joe Biden, so he ends up writing yet another 'Report' based on information that the Unselect Committee of Political Hacks and Thugs ILLEGALLY DESTROYED AND DELETED, because it showed how totally innocent I was, and how completely guilty Nancy Pelosi, and others, were," Trump posted shortly after the report's release.

Cheney, a Republican, was the chairwoman of the J6 Select Committee investigating Trump's alleged involvement in election subversion, which led to his second impeachment. Trump was ultimately acquitted by Senate Republicans.

Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth slammed the "liberal media" during his confirmation hearing Tuesday, blaming it for a "coordinated smear campaign" against him.

"What became very evident to us from the beginning, there was a coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media against us that was clear from moment one," Hegseth said.

He continued, "What we knew is that it wasn't about me. Most of it was about President Donald Trump, who's had to endure the very same thing for much longer amounts of time, and he endured it in incredibly strong ways. So we, in some ways, knew it was coming.

"We didn't understand the depth of the dishonesty that would come with it."

Hegseth has been the focus of several reports involving allegations of sexual abuse, alcohol use, and financial mismanagement.

"So, from story after story in the media, left wing media, we saw anonymous source after anonymous source based on second- or third-hand accounts," he continued.

"And time and time again, stories would come out and people would reach out to me and say, 'You know, I've spoken to this reporter about who you really are, and I was willing to go on the record, but they didn't print my quote.'

" ... Instead, a small handful of anonymous sources were allowed to drive a smear campaign, an agenda about me because our left-wing media in America today sadly doesn't care about the truth."

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of defense, was immediately hit with protests as he gave his opening remarks at his confirmation hearing.

The protests came moments after Hegseth began speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

"All glory belongs to our lord and Savior Jesus Christ," the nominee remarked. "May his will be done."

Seconds later, a bearded man shouted at Hegseth.

"You are a misogynist!" the protester shouted before accusing Hegseth of being a "Christian Zionist."

The man was quickly escorted from the room.

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"I want to thank the authorities for their swift reaction to that outburst and state that similar interruptions will be treated in like manner," Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) said.

Within moments, another protest broke out and was shut down, before a third was physically carried out.

Watch the video below or at this link.

While former President Jimmy Carter lay in state at the U.S. Capitol, Adrian Hinton allegedly attempted to light his car on fire using gasoline and the shortening brand Crisco.

Politico legal affairs reporter Kyle Cheney posted a filing from the U.S. Department of Justice Monday saying that on Jan. 8, 2025, current and former elected officials were paying their respects when Hinton drove to the building and lit the top of his car on fire using a flammable object.

Hinton believed that Crisco, which can be flammable with high enough temperatures, was some kind of "napalm explosive mixture" when combined with gasoline, the filing stated.

Cheney reported that the burning was intended to protest the election of President-elect Donald Trump.

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"The officers approached the area [and] observed an individual later identified as Mr. Hinton standing next to his car with the light of a small flame coming from his hands. Officer Nepomuceno activated his body-worn camera, began running toward Mr. Hinton, and ordered him to stop and step away from the vehicle."

The report continued: "Mr. Hinton looked at Officer Nepomuceno raised his hands above his head, stepped away from Officer Nepomuceno, turned away from his vehicle, and knelt on the sidewalk now facing the reflecting pool.

"...As Officer Nepomuceno approached Mr. Hinton, he dropped a small item from his hand into the snow. Officer Nepomuceno noticed [a] light was reflecting off of his vehicle in a peculiar and uneven [manner]. Laid out on the ground near the vehicle was a plastic bag and multiple containers."

Read the full filing here.