Hunter Biden: President Biden has issued a presidential pardon for his son Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden was due to be sentenced for tax and gun law violations. President Biden said that Hunter Biden was selectively and unfairly prosecuted. He said that people almost never stand trial for incorrectly filling out a gun purchase form. He said that the same was true in tax cases where taxes are late being paid. President Biden said, “No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son.” Â
FBI: Donald Trump has named Trump loyalist Kash Patel to be director of the FBI. Trump said he would fire current FBI Director Christopher Wray, who Trump named to a 10-year term as FBI director during his first term in the White House. Patel says as FBI director he would destroy the agency as built up over a lifetime by J. Edgar Hoover. Patel said his first move would be to shut down FBI headquarters in Washington. Patel has promised to prosecute people who don’t support Trump including politicians, bureaucrats and journalists.
Relatives: Donald Trump has selected two relatives for key positions in his upcoming administration. Charles Kushner, father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, would be U.S. Ambassador to France. Charles Kushner is a convicted felon who Trump pardoned during the final days of his first term. Trump also named Massad Boulos, father-in-law of his daughter Tiffany, to be a senior advisor on the Middle East. Boulos was involved in Trump’s campaigns and was pushing for voters with Arab backgrounds to vote for Trump.
Hegseth: The New York Times reports that the mother of Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, accused Hegseth of being an abuser of women. The Times published an email written by Hegseth’s mother Penelope in April 2018 in which she accused him of abusing numerous women including his wife at the time. In the email, she urged her son to get help.
Online sales: Today is Cyber Monday, and online sales are expected to set a new record, just as a new record was set for last week’s Black Friday sales. Shoppers spent $10.8 billion in internet buying on Black Friday, up about 10% from last year, according to Adobe Analytics. Adobe forecasts Cyber Monday spending will be about $13.2 billion. The company Salesforce reported that 69% of Black Friday internet purchases were made by people using mobile devices. The company Sensormatic Solutions reported that in-store traffic was down 8.2% from last year.
Snow: New York’s Gov. Kathy Hochul declared emergencies for 11 counties as lake effect snow piled up in parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin. Snow falling at up to four niches per hour was expected to continue through today. National Guard troops were being used in New York and Pennsylvania to help in the effort to keep roads open for emergency services.
