Trump to face hush-money sentencing days before inauguration: Live updates

Donald Trump appears furious that President Joe Biden awarded Liz Cheney a medal on Thursday for her service in putting country before party by investigating the events of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Here’s what the president-elect wrote on Truth Social:

Biden gave Liz Cheney a Medal yesterday, even though she has proven to be totally corrupt. She, “Bennie” Thompson, and the rest of the Unselect Committee, destroyed and deleted all evidence from their crooked investigation of January 6th. Cheney has the distinction of losing her Congressional seat by the largest margin in History! The people of Wyoming understood how bad for our Country she was, but Biden rewarded her only because she hated “TRUMP.” She’s a Warmonger of low intelligence. All she wants to do is kill people in “Endless Wars,” with no gain other than to defense companies. Liz Cheney, Cryin’ Adam Kinzinger, Bennie Thompson, and the rest of these dishonest Thugs have gotten away with horrible things under the pretense of January 6th. Nancy Pelosi refused to accept the help which was offered for security. She is responsible, and admitted as much, for all to see, on her daughter’s tape. They have destroyed the lives of many people, and are rewarded by getting Biden Fake Medals. This is not America. January 20th cannot come fast enough. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

The judge overseeing the criminal case against President-elect Donald Trump in his former home state of New York has ordered him to appear before him on January 10 to be sentenced on the 34 felony counts he was convicted of last year.

In an 18-page ruling released on Friday, Judge Juan Merchan said he will not sentence Trump to a term of incarceration and would instead impose “a sentence of unconditional discharge” as “the most viable solution to ensure finality” and permit Trump to continue to appeal the case.

But Merchan rejected arguments from Trump’s attorneys, who’d sought to have the case dismissed on grounds of immunity stemming from his victory in the 2024 presidential election.

CNN’s Paula Reid breaks down what the extraordinary announcement regrading Donald Trump’s sentencing really means.

Donald Trump was originally scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, 2024.

That was pushed to September 18, then November 26, and now it’s set for 10 days before he returns to the White House on January 10, 2025.

As concerns about outbreaks of bird flu and the nation’s response continue to grow, the Biden administration announced Friday that it would ramp up spending to support its efforts.

There are currently 66 confirmed human cases reported across 10 states, with the majority reported in California and Colorado. Of the dozens, one case in Louisiana marked the nation’s first severe illness from the virus, which likely mutated inside the patient. However, there has not yet been human-to-human transmission of H5N1.

MAGA acolytes Laura Loomer and Charlie Kirk have slammed Justice Juan Merchan’s decision to proceed with sentencing Donald Trump for his 34 felony convictions in the New York hush-money case.

Loomer called the order “outrageous.”

Kirk said it was the case was “a total clown show.”