TV News LIES

More than 50 signatures on New York mayor Eric Adams’ petition to run as an independent candidate in November’s election are fraudulent, according to a report published on Friday.

The Gothamist said it had found 52 signatures from people who said their names were forged, including signatures of three people who turned out to be dead. The publication cited others who said they were deceived into signing the petitions.

The discovery, if confirmed, is likely to be insignificant to Adams’ independent campaign, which is required to produce 7,500 signatures to qualify him as a candidate. The Adams campaign has turned in nearly 50,000 signatures.

Still, the finding adds complexity to a race to lead the nation’s largest city that pits the incumbent mayor against Democratic party nominee Zohran Mamdani, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa and ex-prosecutor Jim Walden.

Cuomo and Walden, like Adams, are running as independents.

More...

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History said it is slated to restore the placard with information about President Trump’s two impeachments after removing it from the exhibit last month. 

The museum said in a Saturday statement that the section will be “updated in the coming weeks to reflect all impeachment proceedings in our nation’s history.”

The Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing an unnamed source familiar with the exhibit plans, that the removal of the placard occurred as part of an internal content review the institution agreed to after pressure from President Trump’s administration to get rid of the art museum director.

The Smithsonian said on Saturday that the placard, part of the exhibit “The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden,” did not meet the institution’s standards and argued no one within the administration asked the museum to remove the information.

More...

An independent watchdog agency responsible for enforcing a law against partisan political activity by federal employees has opened an investigation into Jack Smith, the Justice Department special counsel who brought two criminal cases against then-candidate Donald Trump before his election to the White House last year.

The Office of Special Counsel confirmed Saturday that it was investigating Smith on allegations he engaged in political activity through his inquiries into Trump. Smith was named special counsel by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022 and his special counsel title is entirely distinct from the agency now investigating him. The office has no criminal enforcement power but does have the authority to impose fines and other sanctions for violations.

It was not clear what basis exists to contend that Smith’s investigations were political in nature or that he violated the Hatch Act, a federal law that bans certain public officials from engaging in political activity. Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, had earlier this week encouraged the office to scrutinize Smith’s activities and had alleged that his conduct was designed to help then-President Joe Biden and his vice president Kamala Harris, both Democrats.

More...

The so-called Department of Government Efficiency, a project that President Donald Trump’s administration touted as the flagship endeavor in its “war on waste,” has generated $21.7 billion in waste since its launch, Democrats claimed in a new report Thursday.

The staggering figure comes from Democrats on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, spearheaded by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), who released their findings in a 55-page report on losses accrued by DOGE, the brainchild of Trump and his billionaire friend-turned-enemy Elon Musk.

The results, the Democrats say, are the unsurprising outcome of a tech CEO with zero government experience taking charge of a massive federal spending overhaul, promising it was “going to be a revolution.”

“By prioritizing disruption over governance and failing to identify solutions for any of the problems it purported to solve, DOGE has created its own forms of waste,” the report stated.

More...

Brown University on Wednesday announced a deal with the Trump administration to regain access to federal research funding and end investigations into alleged discrimination.

The Ivy League school agreed to pay $50 million to workforce development organizations in Rhode Island over 10 years as part of the agreement, along with other concessions in line with President Donald Trump’s political agenda. Brown will adopt the government’s definition of “male” and “female,” for example, and must remove any consideration of race from the admissions process.

Brown President Christina H. Paxson said the deal preserves Brown’s academic independence. The terms include a clause saying the government cannot dictate curriculum or the content of academic speech at Brown.

“The University’s foremost priority throughout discussions with the government was remaining true to our academic mission, our core values and who we are as a community at Brown,” Paxson wrote.

The three-year deal has numerous similarities with one signed last week by Columbia University that the government called a roadmap for other universities. Unlike that agreement, however, Brown’s does not include an outside monitor.

More...

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Emil Bove to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, launching President Trump’s former personal lawyer to a lifetime appointment on the bench amid a series of whistleblower complaints about his conduct.

Bove, currently in the No. 3 role at the Justice Department, is the subject of three different complaints in recent weeks, with two alleging he suggested violating court orders and a third saying he reportedly misled Congress on the dropping of bribery charges against New York https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5426437-senate-confirms-emil-bove-appeals-court/Mayor Eric Adams (D).

His nomination was confirmed with a 50-49 vote, with Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) crossing the aisle to join all Democrats in opposing his nomination.

More...