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Trump buried for new threat to military leaders using 'know-nothing loyalists'

Reacting to a report from NBC News that Donald Trump's transition team has been busy making a list of military officials involved in the Afghanistan withdrawal he wants to be investigated and possibly court-martialed, former War College instructor Tom Nichols raised a red flag on the impact it will have on the Pentagon.

NBC reported, "Officials working on the transition are considering creating a commission to investigate the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, including gathering information about who was directly involved in the decision-making for the military, how it was carried out, and whether the military leaders could be eligible for charges as serious as treason, the U.S. official and person with knowledge of the plan said."

Speaking with MSNBC host Alex Witt, a visibly shook Nichols stated, "We really have to drop the narrative that somehow this is about Afghanistan. It has nothing to do with Afghanistan."

ALSO READ: Why Trump voters should be held accountable for their choice

"This is Trump firing a shot over the heads of senior officers, telling them that from now on, loyalty to the Constitution is not their oath," he accused. "That from now on, it's loyalty to him and he won't tolerate the kind of things that happened in his first administration where he had people like General Mark Milley and others refusing and talking him out of doing things like shooting protesters in the streets."

Asked about the president-elect's choice of embattled Fox News personality Petet Hegseth as the new Secretary of Defense, Nichols replied, "Hegseth has no idea what he's doing. He has his own dirty laundry that he doesn't want to come out, as you're seeing now in the reporting about his background and he would be perfectly happy to do whatever Donald Trump tells him to do."

"This would not be a secretary of defense again who observes his oath to the Constitution or protects and takes care of the people under his stewardship, both civilian and military," he warned. "If Donald Trump says fire up some court-martials and go after some people that made me angry four years ago, he's going to do it. "

"If you're going to undermine a democracy, the three most important departments you need to capture are justice, defense, and the intelligence community and he has put know-nothing loyalists into all of them, or is trying to," he added.

Watch below or at the link.

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'He's nuts': Fox News host challenges Trump official on Matt Gaetz nomination

Fox News host Howard Kurtz challenged Trump campaign official Corey Lewandowski about the president-elect's decision to nominate former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) for attorney general by noting that a conservative media outlet had described him as "nuts."

"Well, the biggest uproar in the media, as you know, has been over Matt Gaetz," Kurtz told Lewandowski on Sunday, "not just because of the sex trafficking investigation that led to no charges, but because he only practiced law for a couple of years."

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Trump 'efficiency' co-leader suggests Dept. of Education will be 'deleted outright'

Vivek Ramaswamy, co-leading President-elect Donald Trump's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with billionaire Elon Musk, suggested over the weekend that the federal Dept. of Education would be "deleted outright" under the new administration.

"Elon and I aren't in this for the credit," Ramaswamy explained to Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday. "But I think we're gonna build the consensus to make the kind of deep cuts that haven't been made for most of our history."

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GOP senator: Matt Gaetz sex report should 'absolutely' be released

Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin (OK) argued that a House Ethics Committee report about alleged sexual misconduct on former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) should absolutely be released before President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general is confirmed.

Mullin made the comment on Sunday's Meet the Press program after host Kristen Welker recalled that the senator had accused Gaetz of admitting to sexual misconduct and abusing drugs on the House floor.

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'My eyes are on you': Trump lawyers put on notice after plans to join administration

According to former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, the slate of Donald Trump's personal lawyers who are being lavished with jobs in his administration have already been warned by one former DOJ official turned member of the House that their every move will be scrutinized.

Appearing on MSNBC's "The Weekend", Vance was asked for her reaction to the president-elect appointing three of his criminal defense lawyers, Todd Blache, Emil Bove and Dean John Sauer, to top DOJ posts.

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'You're a man of God': Jake Tapper calls out Mike Johnson for blocking Gaetz sex report

CNN host Jake Tapper called out House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-LA) Christian faith after the influential Republican lawmaker tried to scuttle a sexual misconduct investigation into attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz.

During a Sunday interview on CNN, Tapper noted that Gaetz had faced a House Ethics Committee investigation "over numerous allegations, including one that he had sex with a 17-year-old."

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'Steeper climb' ahead for Trump cabinet nominee after bombshell intoxication report: CNN

A late Saturday report from the Washington Post that Donald Trump's choice to be secretary of defense paid off a woman who accused him of sexual assault and that he was admittedly "visibly intoxicated” at the time may have created more problems for his confirmation.

According to the Post, Fox News personality Pete Hegseth "paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault as part of a nondisclosure agreement, though he maintained that their encounter was consensual."

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Alec Baldwin returns to SNL as 'medically-crazy' RFK Jr. in Trump cabinet skewering

This week "Saturday Night Live" kicked off by taking shots at Donald Trump's wild menagerie of cabinet choices, bringing back longtime SNL guest and host Alec Baldwin as a gravelly-voiced RFK Jr.

The cold open started with Donald Trump, portrayed by cast member James Austin Johnson, sitting down with Dana Carvey's President Joe Biden as they exchanged pleasantries in the White House.

That, in turn, led Trump to boast, "I am very vastly picking the most epic cabinet of all time. They are some of the most dynamic, free-thinking, animal killing, sexually criminal, medically crazy people in the country.”

ALSO READ: Why Trump voters should be held accountable for their choice

He then added, "We’ve got Elon and Gaetz. That’s an alien vs. predator.”

A disturbing Rep. Matt Gaetz, played by Sarah Sherman, made an appearance, telling Trump and Biden, "I’m going to do a great job. If anyone tries to break the law, I’ll tell them what I told my eyebrows — freeze!" adding, "Of course I had to resign from Congress because the confirmation process comes at the busiest time of the year for me: girls volleyball season.”

Baldwin, who earlier this SNL season portrayed Brett Baier of Fox News , entered and announced, "Americans need to someone to teach them how to be healthy, someone like me: a 70-year-old man with movie star looks and a worm in his brain.”

Referencing reports that RFK Jr. left a dead bear cub carcass in Central Park and once took a chainsaw to a dead whale, Baldwin stated, "I just wish people would take my appointment more seriously. Alright, I gotta go. I got a dead dolphin in my car. I think I might saw it in half and dump it in Central Park.”

Watch below or at the link.

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'Literally got goosebumps': Ex-GOP insider blasts 'breaking news' about Trump's plans

NBC on Saturday reported that Donald Trump is putting together a list of current and former military officers and exploring whether they can be court martialed, and the news gave one former Republican insider goosebumps.

Tara Setmayer, a former senior advisor for anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project and a former Republican congressional staffer, appeared on MSNBC over the weekend.

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Trump just put himself in a 'curious situation' with his own base: political analyst

Donald Trump's recent move put him in hot water with the most hardcore members of his own base, a political analyst said on Saturday.

Trump's decision to nominate Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democrat, is expected to outrage some of the former and incoming president's MAGA constituents, according to Alexi McCammond, who serves as an opinion editor for the Washington Post.

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GOP strategist flags 'truly disturbing' part of Trump's recent nominations

A lot of people have voiced concern about Donald Trump's decision to nominate to his new administration people who want to destroy the departments to which they would be assigned, but they are missing the point, a Republican strategist said on Saturday.

Speaking on MSNBC over the weekend, Republican strategist Susan del Percio, who has a history of working with Republican candidates and in Rudy Giuliani's administration, was asked about the former and incoming president's political appointments of Matt Gaetz, Tulsi Gabbard, and others to his new administration.

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'Wouldn't want to be in Matt Gaetz's position' headed into 'insane' hearings: GOP insider

During an appearance on MSNBC on Saturday afternoon, a longtime Republican party advisor said that, should he make it that far, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is headed for what will likely be "insane" confirmation hearings if he hopes to be the next attorney general after president-elect Donald Trump gave him the nod.

Speaking with host Alex Witt, Brendan Buck admitted that he is glad he is not the embattled Florida Republican facing a reportedly damaging House Ethics Committee report that could derail his political career.

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Trump team concerned there will be 'many more' allegations lodged against Pentagon pick

According to a Washington Post reporter, there are concerns among Donald Trump's transition team that they may be blindsided by more allegations levied against the former president's choice to be secretary of defense.

The day after Trump selected Fox News personality Pete Hegseth to oversee the Pentagon and the U.S. military command, it was revealed that Hegseth was investigated for sexual assault in California in 2017 which had the president elect's inner circle scrambling at the same time they were dealing with the backlash to the choice of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as the next attorney general.

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