TV News LIES

The Biden administration has tapped former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley to head the Social Security Administration, the White House announced Wednesday.

O’Malley, a Democrat, will require Senate confirmation to take over at the agency, which oversees a $1 trillion budget and is responsible for distributing benefits to older adults and disabled people.

The Social Security Administration has been run by acting Commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi since President Joe Biden fired then-Commissioner Andrew Saul, a Trump holdover, in 2021. Saul’s ouster set off a partisan backlash, with members of each party accusing the other of politicizing the independent federal agency. Saul, who refused to resign, was just two years into a six-year term.

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The special counsel’s office has inquired about a White House briefing on Feb. 14, 2020, at which federal officials assured then-President Donald Trump of the security and integrity of the U.S. election system, according to people familiar with the matter.

Two people who have been interviewed since May by the special counsel’s office, which is investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election, spoke with NBC News on condition that they not be named.

In the briefing, officials from multiple agencies — including the FBI, Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) — laid out why it’s extraordinarily difficult for hacking or fraud to change the results of a U.S. election.

Trump was receptive to the message and spoke about holding a news conference on the topic, though he never did, two people familiar with it said.

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Rudy Giuliani, who as a member of Donald Trump’s legal team sought to overturn 2020 presidential election results in battleground states, was interviewed recently by investigators with the Justice Department special counsel’s office.

A spokesman for Giuliani confirmed he met with the special counsel. “The appearance was entirely voluntary and conducted in a professional manner,” Ted Goodman said in a statement.

A person familiar with the matter said the interview was not done before a grand jury. The person, who insisted on anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, would not say what questions investigators asked.

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The two people who guaranteed bail for George Santos will have their names publicly revealed, a federal judge ruled, rejecting the indicted Republican congressman’s claim that the disclosure could threaten the guarantors’ safety.

Joanna Seybert, a US district judge in Central Islip, New York, said the names would be made public on Thursday at 12pm ET.

Seybert said Santos could in the meantime try to modify the terms of his release if his guarantors, who he has suggested are family members, withdraw their $500,000 guarantee.

Santos, 34, has expressed a willingness to go to jail rather than release the names.

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Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday made his first public remarks after the historic indictment of former President Donald Trump on federal criminal charges.

Garland, taking questions at an event on combating violent crime, said he couldn't discuss particulars of the case but offered general praise for special counsel Jack Smith and his team after being asked about accusations made by Trump and other Republicans that the Justice Department has been "weaponized."

"As I said when I appointed Mr. Smith, I did so because it underscores the Justice Department's commitment to both independence and accountability," the attorney general said. "Mr. Smith is a veteran career prosecutor. He has assembled a group of experienced and talented prosecutors and agents who share his commitment to integrity. Any questions about this matter will have to be answered by their filings in court."

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