WATCH LIVE: Joe Biden kicks off presidential campaign with rally in Pittsburgh
April 29, 2019
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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden hasn’t officially announced his 2024 plans yet, but in off-the-cuff remarks Tuesday at the White House, he hinted that he’s planning another presidential run next year.
Biden was presiding over a ceremony to honor National Medal of Arts and Humanities recipients, including household names such as rocker Bruce Springsteen, fashion icon Vera Wang, and "former President Selina Meyer," as Biden quipped about actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
But when Biden came to author Colson Whitehead, the president let slip he’s hoping to follow in the footsteps of the two-time Pulitzer Prize winner.
"Pretty good, man! I'm kind of looking for back-to-back myself,” Biden quipped to Whitehead.
Biden's comments echo those of first lady Jill Biden, who in February all but confirmed her 80-year-old husband would seek a second four-year term. If he runs, Biden will face at least one Democratic presidential primary challenger in self-help author Marianne Williamson, a 2020 also-ran who declared her 2024 presidential ambitions earlier this year.
On the Republican side, former President Donald Trump is running again despite the massive legal cloud looming over him. Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley is also in, and any of several other Republicans — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina among them — are also considering presidential bids.
While Biden's exchange with Whitehead was a moment of levity, the president was also serious as he adorned some of the nation’s most talented and iconic figures with gold medals and high praise.
"You're amazing,” Biden told the winners. “And you do make this country better. You make it a better place."
The president seemed especially happy to highlight Mindy Kaling from "The Office," which is set in Biden’s real hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Though he also went out of his way to praise New Jersey’s Springsteen in the president’s very Delaware way.
“The boss is here. The boss is here,” Biden said some audience members let out, "Bruuuuuuce."
“As they say in South Philly and North Wilmington, ‘a Jersey boy,’” the president mustered through a Delaware-pretending-to-be-Jersey accent.
There was faint, unsustained laughter. Still, the president used the accent again.
“I married a Jersey girl,” Biden said before getting back to his prepared off the cuff remarks. “Bruce, some people are just born to run, man.”
The president honored a range of storied Americans, including Gladys "Empress of Soul” Knight, LGBTQI+ advocate and Democratic mega donor Fred Eychaner, and Henrietta Mann, who many see as the reason universities from coast-to-coast even offer Native American studies programs today.
“The National Humanities Medal recipients have enriched our world through writing that moves and inspires us; scholarship that enlarges our understanding of the past; and through their dedication to educating, informing, and giving voice to communities and histories often overlooked,” National Endowment for the Humanities Chair Shelly C. Lowe (Navajo), said in a release. “I am proud to join President Biden in recognizing these distinguished leaders for their outstanding contributions to our nation’s cultural life.”
National Endowment for the Humanities is a “presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed advisory body.” It reviews nominations and provides recommendations to the president who ultimately picks the select few award recipients.
Below is the full list of this year’s winners, though Sir Elton John already received his award last year after playing for Biden and an invited audience at the White House.
National Medal of Arts winners
Judith Francisca Baca, artist
Fred Eychaner, philanthropist
Jose Feliciano, musician
Mindy Kaling, actor
Gladys Knight, musician
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, actor
Antonio Martorell-Cardona, painter
Joan Shigekawa, producer and arts administrator
Bruce Springsteen, musician
Vera Wang, designer
The Billie Holiday Theatre
The International Association of Blacks in Dance
National Humanities Medal winners
Richard Blanco, writer
Johnnetta Betsch Cole, anthropologist
Walter Isaacson, writer
Earl Lewis, historian
Henrietta Mann, Native American academic
Ann Patchett, writer
Bryan Stevenson, lawyer and activist
Amy Tan, writer
Tara Westover, writer
Colson Whitehead, writer
Native America Calling, radio show
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Trump lawyer could be sidelined over communications with Stormy Daniels just handed to DA: CNN
March 21, 2023
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has received communications between Stormy Daniels and an attorney representing Donald Trump, CNN reports.
The communiques between the adult-film star and Joe Tacopina date back to 2018, when Daniels was seeking legal counsel, according to her current attorney, Clark Brewster, who indicated the exchanges show that his client disclosed confidential information.
The latest revelation comes as all indications are that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is nearing a decision on whether to indict Trump over alleged hush money payments to Daniels, and threatens to sideline the celebrity attorney from defending the former president, according to CNN.
Tacopina dismissed the notion that a conflict of interest exists or that Daniels shared confidential information with his office, said he did not meet or speak with Daniels.
But Tacopina during a 2018 appearance with CNN’s Don Lemon said he may have been in contact with Daniels before she found a new lawyer.
RELATED: Trump bombshell: Lawyer won’t admit former president lost Georgia during MSNBC grilling
"I can't really talk about my impressions or any conversations we'd had because there is an attorney-client privilege that attaches even to a consultation," Tacopina said in the 2018 interview.
But Tacopina's firm after the video surfaced issued a statement denying that "there was no attorney-client relationship" between him and Daniels.
According to CNN’s Kristen Holmes and Tierney Sneed: “It would ultimately be up to a judge to decide whether the communications amount to a conflict of interest that requires disqualification or some other limitation on the advocacy Tacopina can do on behalf of the former president, if a case is brought against Trump.”
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Trump slams special counsel Jack Smith after judge grants him communications from his attorney
March 21, 2023
Former President Donald Trump reacted with rage to the news that special counsel Jack Smith invoked the "crime-fraud" exception to attorney-client privilege to get a judge to grant him access to communications he had with lawyer Evan Corcoran, reported POLITICO on Tuesday.
"Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign issued a statement Tuesday attacking special counsel Jack Smith and the judge who issued the sealed ruling, Beryl Howell," reported Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney. "The statement followed increasingly detailed news reports about Howell’s determination that Corcoran could be forced to testify and turn over related documents because prosecutors had shown sufficient evidence of an alleged effort to mislead investigators."
"'Prosecutors only attack lawyers when they have no case whatsoever,' the Trump campaign statement said, arguing that an ABC News report and other anonymously sourced stories about the still-sealed decision are based on illegal disclosures. 'These leaks are happening because there is no factual or legal basis or substance to any case against President Trump.'"
The ruling, which was made public earlier today, has been stayed by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, pending filings from both parties that the appellate judges want to see — however, the report noted, "The appeals court’s order — from Judges Cornelia Pillard, J. Michelle Childs and Florence Pan, all Democratic appointees — doesn’t identify Corcoran or the case at issue but makes clear that the government was on the winning side of the case in Howell’s court."
The classified documents case broke into public consciousness after the FBI executed a search at Mar-a-Lago last year. Trump allegedly held onto hundreds of documents, while falsely claiming they had all been returned to the National Archives. Some of these documents contained extremely sensitive national security secrets, including our knowledge of Iranian missile systems.
All of this is happening as a completely separate case against Trump, involving a $130,000 hush payment he made to adult film star Stormy Daniels to prevent 2016 voters from learning about an alleged affair between the two of them. An indictment in that case is broadly expected to be handed down in the coming days.
RELATED: Trump bombshell: Lawyer won’t admit former president lost Georgia during MSNBC grilling
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