Zach Sieler earns AFC Defensive Player of the Week after tormenting Aaron Rodgers and the JetsMaryland finds shooting touch, downs Maryland Eastern ShoreIt’s a testament to the energy and drive of Elon Musk that he’s now a key adviser to an incoming president of the United States that he helped elect this year — and this is a side project for him. What stamp-collecting is to most us — something we make time for when not engaged in our day jobs — influencing the future direction of the United States government is to Musk. This is not to minimize his significance. Far from it. The revolutionary businessman represents a distinctive and unexpected contribution to the Trump coalition. From the perspective of a decade ago, if you had said the most visionary and wealthy entrepreneur on the planet was at the right hand of a Republican president-elect, promising to cut a couple of trillion of dollars from the federal budget and bring massive innovation to the economy, you might have assumed Paul Ryan or someone in his ideological camp had gotten elected. The former Speaker of the House and vice-presidential nominee was a relentless advocate of entrepreneurship, economic dynamism and a slimmed-down government. Within the GOP, the rise of Trump the populist put the political squeeze on the likes of Ryan, whose business-oriented, free-market creed suddenly felt stale and out-of-touch. Now, a version of that worldview has returned via Musk. To be sure, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX is a different animal. He has an in-your-face persona, a bit of a Silicon Valley version of Trump. He’s been radicalized on immigration, becoming a fierce opponent of Joe Biden’s open border. He’s cultural warrior seeking to destroy what he calls “the woke mind virus.” And he is hated with a passion by the other side, which would shut him down if it could. The Biden SEC has notably clashed with him, and is trying to sanction him for how he acquired Twitter. All of this, and especially that acquisition, have made him a populist hero in his own right, even as he champions an economic dynamism that would have thrilled conventional Republicans from the pre-Trump era. Trump contains multitudes. Part of him is an inward-looking protectionist who believes, almost no matter what, that we are getting ripped off by foreign countries. Part of him is also a champion of endless possibility. Part of him is a tribune of the working class. Part of him is also inclined to make the stock market the economic measure of all things. He’ll talk of American carnage, and of an American golden age. This is a protean mix, and subject to change depending on circumstances and who is around Trump at any given point. A danger of populism is that it can succumb to pure nostalgia and become overly defensive, giving in to a distrust of technology, big companies and economic change. So long Musk is a major player in Trump’s world, there is a strong counter to this tendency. Musk is the paladin of a future ripped from the covers of paperback science-fiction novels circa 1950 — rocket ships, futuristic cars, robots and giant tunnel-boring machines. He has almost single-handedly changed Republican attitudes toward Big Tech. He’s proven that you can be a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and not be woke or a cowardly fellow-traveler with left-wing politics. There’s still plenty of contempt of and distrust for tech companies on the right, but now it is Democrats who talk more of ideas like repealing Section 230 to hobble social-media companies. At the same time, Musk’s DOGE has made talk of cutting government fashionable again on the right, when this priority had mostly lost out to other concerns since the advent of the Trump era. The hope that DOGE will cut as much as $2 trillion from the budget is unrealistic, but any savings and efficiencies would be welcome. Who knows how effective Musk will be in his role as a change agent confronting government, the most difficult institution to change? Sending a man to Mars might be easier. But Musk brings a boundless optimism and can-do verve to the effort, and he’s a healthy new ingredient to Trump’s populist mix. Twitter: @RichLowryHealth In Tech Announces Closing of Initial Public Offering
Governor to sign cannabis proclamation A Lancaster County District Court judge on Wednesday denied a request for an order preventing Gov. Jim Pillen from issuing a proclamation declaring a pair of medical marijuana petitions successful. Judge Susan Strong overruled a motion for a temporary restraining order from Edward Greim, a Kansas City attorney representing former state Sen. John Kuehn in a lawsuit seeking to stop the initiatives from taking effect. Nebraska voters approved Initiative 437, which legalizes medical marijuana in the state, with more than 70% support in the Nov. 5 general election, while Initiative 438, which creates regulations for medical marijuana, passed with 67% of the vote. Both measures were certified by the State Board of Canvassers this month and were set, along with the other ballot measures that passed, to be declared successful by Pillen no later than Thursday. 3 SHOOTINGS, 1 TRIAL: An Omaha woman accused of shooting three men, killing two of them, in separate incidents over an 11-month period will face just one trial for the sprawling allegations after a Douglas County judge denied a motion to separate the cases. Erika Mims, 42, faces two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree assault, three counts of use of a firearm to commit a felony, three counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and two counts of evidence tampering. She is accused of wounding Ron Townsend in a March 2022 shooting, killing 46-year-old Lamar Nedd in July 2022, and killing Laron Hodges, 39, in February 2023. Fortenberry seeks trial delay until Trump takes office Former Nebraska Rep. Jeff Fortenberry this week asked a judge to push back his scheduled February trial to give the Department of Justice, under new leadership, time to review the decision to retry him on charges of lying to federal agents. Prosecutors oppose a continuance. Fortenberry and his lawyer, Tobin Romero, long have contended that prosecutors in the case, which involves statements he made to FBI investigators looking into foreign campaign contributions in 2022, had political bias against the Republican, a supporter of President-elect Donald Trump. In a motion filed this week, Romero said Trump has stated publicly that upon taking office one of his priorities — and that of Pam Bondi, his pick for attorney general — will be to revisit prosecutorial decisions they believe to have been politically motivated. REGENTS: The University of Nebraska Board of Regents will continue to select leaders annually after a proposal to extend the terms that its chairpersons serve failed Dec. 6 on a 4-4 vote. All four regents representing rural areas of the state voted in support of the measure, while those representing Lincoln and Omaha voted against it at the regents’ final meeting of 2024. The proposal from Regent Rob Schafer of Beatrice would have extended the term board chairs serve from one year to two years. 54: People arrested on suspicion of DUI during the Nebraska State Patrol’s Husker football game day special enforcement efforts. In addition, 456 people were cited for speeding on game days. $12.5 million: Cost of renovations and expansion at Rowe Sanctuary near Gibbon, which reopened Dec. 7 with a holiday open house. Final touches will be completed by the start of crane migration season in late February. I never dreamed I’d see 100 Habitat homes. No way did I think I’d live that long.” Jerry Marlatt, 91, one of the four founders of Kearney’s Habitat for Humanity, which dedicated its 100th house Dec. 6. I know this feels like we’re Nebraska-phobes. But a lot of the weird (stuff) did happen in Nebraska.” Podcaster and comedian Dan Soder, about the recently released “Trapped in Nebraska” podcast episode he and his fiancée, sports media personality Katie Nolan, recorded when they were stranded in Big Springs during a snowstorm last year. CRUISER ROBBED: The Lincoln Police Department is investigating a theft from an unmarked Nebraska State Patrol cruiser Tuesday evening. The trooper told police he noticed his glove box was opened in the car parked in front of his residence. An AED device, two AR-15 magazines, a flashlight, body armor, glasses, and cold weather gear, all valued at approximately $3,500, were taken, police said. No firearm was stolen from the cruiser. PRIEST KILLING: The man accused of stabbing a Fort Calhoun priest to death inside a church rectory last December will pursue the insanity defense, according to court records. Kierre Williams, 44, faces charges including first-degree murder and burglary in connection with the killing of the Rev. Stephen Gutgsell.Cowboys owner Jerry Jones sounds like he wants Christmas Day to become as synonymous with football as it is with Santa. Jones appeared on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday and hinted that the NFL was in it for the long haul when it came to putting games on Christmas Day, no matter what day of the week the holiday falls on. “Christmas Day is Christmas Day, and it doesn’t wait around for what day it’s on. We want to be there on Christmas Day,” Jones said during the radio interview. “I would think the future is whatever day it’s on, we’re going to be there on Christmas.” Christmas Day falls on a Wednesday this season, and jamming the Chiefs, Steelers, Ravens and Texans in on an unusual day for NFL forced the league to have those teams play this past Saturday instead of Sunday. Next year Christmas is on Thursday, and the next potential headache would come in 2029, when Christmas will be on a Tuesday. The NFL has had a foothold on Christmas Day since 2020 and they will continue that this year when they play two games that are slated to air on streamer Netflix. The Chiefs and Steelers will play at 1 p.m. and the Ravens and Texans will face one another at 4:30 p.m., with the second game featuring a special halftime performance by Beyoncé. The holiday has traditionally been a date that the NBA has dominated as the only professional sports league in North America that is in action. The NHL shuts down for the holidays annually and the NFL had previously played when Christmas had fallen on a day traditionally that games would be scheduled on. The NBA has its normal allotment of five games on Christmas Day this year, the slate serving to highlight the league’s top teams and stars. Wednesday’s slate of NFL games will also be a monumental moment for the league as it will be the first time that its newest broadcast partner will carry games. Netflix had come under fire for the issues that its stream of the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight had .
For over a decade now, Ariana Grande has been known as one of the biggest and best voices in contemporary pop music. From “Dangerous Woman” and “Bang Bang” to “Yes, And?” and “7 Rings,” the two-time Grammy-winning Boca Raton-bred vocalist has dominated radio and streaming playlists alike with her trademark riffs and genre-blending catalog. Before she set up a residency in the uppermost regions of the Billboard Hot 100 , however, Grande’s primary career was in acting. After all, the most devoted Ariana Grande stans first encountered the star through grainy YouTube clips of her Broadway debut (2008’s 13 ) or re-runs of Nickelodeon classics Victorious and Sam & Cat . After spending a few years cementing herself as one of the most dominant forces in mainstream music, Grande set her sights on a grand return to acting. Grande stars as Glinda the Good Witch in director Jon M. Chu’s two-part cinematic adaptation of Wicked , the fourth-longest-running Broadway show of all time, which, in turn, pulls inspiration from the bestselling novel of the same title by Gregory Maguire. Academy Award nominee and Tony Award winner Cynthia Erivo plays opposite Grande as Elphaba, also known as the Wicked Witch of the West. Other notable cast members include Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Olivier Award winner Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Tony Award nominee Ethan Slater as Boq, Emmy Award nominee Bowen Yang as Pfannee and Emmy Award nominee Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard of Oz. For its transition to the silver screen, Wicked is split into two separate movie musicals. Wicked: Part I hit theaters on Nov. 22 and quickly made history, earning the highest-grossing opening weekend for a Broadway musical adaptation ever. (The second film follows almost exactly a year later on Nov. 26, 2025.) It marks a new win in an already big 2024 for Grande. Her Eternal Sunshine album topped the Billboard 200, and it produced two Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s: “Yes, And?” and “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love).” As theater audiences take a stroll down the Yellow Brick Road, let’s take a trip down memory lane and relive the best of Ariana Grande’s acting roles throughout her career so far. How’s this for a throwback? For Ariana Grande’s first proper television billing we have to go all the way back to 2009. That’s right, four whole years before she made her Billboard Hot 100 debut with “The Way” (with Mac Miller ). In the “Bad Bad News” episode (season two, episode two) of Connor Gallagher’s The Battery’s Down — a 2008 musical comedy series — Grande is billed as “Bat Mitzvah Riffer.” Unsurprisingly, she doesn’t really do much outside of belting out some ridiculous high notes in an appearance that lasts just half a minute, but at least she sounded great while doing so! – Kyle Denis Given that this is just a cameo, Grande’s appearance on Family Guy just barely makes this list. Nonetheless, her nod to her Italian heritage makes it memorable enough. In “Mom’s the Word,” episode 12 of season 12 of Family Guy , Grande voices one of the Italian next-door neighbors that Stewie and Brian eavesdrop on. In a way, this Family Guy cameo foreshadowed Grande’s eventual collaboration with a fellow Italian-American pop icon. Remember when she and Lady Gaga topped the Billboard Hot 100 with their Grammy-winning dance-pop anthem “Rain on Me” (2020)? – K.D. In 2016, the same year Grande unleashed her Grammy-nominated Dangerous Woman LP, Ben Stiller finally unveiled the long-awaited sequel to 2001’s Zoolander . Appearing alongside Stiller, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Penélope Cruz and Kristen Wiig, Grande made a cameo as SM Girl. She seduces Owen Wilson’s character while donning a black latex ensemble similar to the bunny ear-leotard combo she frequently wore during the Dangerous Woman era. Again, not really a showcase of her skills, but this cameo does speak to how strong Grande’s brand had grown by 2016. – K.D. Have you ever wondered if Ariana Grande and Jennette McCurdy ever teamed up to act outside of their hit Nickelodeon series, the answer is yes! Both Sam & Cat leads appeared in the 2013 American English dub of 2011’s Snowflake, the White Gorilla . Grande voices the titular character in the film, which explores Snowflake’s — the only white gorilla in the world — attempt to escape the zoo and find a witch to help her become a “normal” gorilla. While the film is nothing more than a blip in the larger cultural consciousness, it provided Grande a chance to show off both hr voice-acting bona fides and her ability to lead a feature film. – K.D. Here’s a little-known fact about Ariana Grande’s early career: she appeared in not one, but two English-language dubs of animated features. In 2016, an English-language dub of Underdogs finally arrived on Netflix and DVD following a scrapped theatrical release. Underdogs follows a young boy named Amadeo on his journey to defend his crown as the town’s reigning table football king and finally score the girl of his dreams, Laura, voiced by Grande. Other notable Underdogs cast members include Shawn Mendes, Matthew Morrison , Katie Holmes, Bella Thorne , Nicholas Hoult, Brooklyn Beckham, Mel Brooks and Jay Pharaoh. Panned by critics and quietly offloaded onto streaming, Underdogs was far from a success. At the very least, Grande showed some improvement from her last voice-acting gig. – K.D. When it came time to revive Winx Club Stateside, Nickelodeon knew to tap Victorious co-stars and BFFs Liz Gillies and Ariana Grande. The “Positions” singer voiced Princess Diaspro for twelve episodes between 2013 and 2014. A certified mean girl, Princess Diaspro is one of Winx Club’s most conniving characters — especially when it comes to getting in the way of her ex-fiancé and his new girlfriend. Due to scheduling conflicts, Grande could not return for the show’s sixth season, so she was recast with Cassandra Lee Morris. – K.D. If you don’t already know by now, Ariana Grande adores Jim Carrey. She referenced The Truman Show (1998) in her photoshoot for her Billboard 200 -topping Sweetener LP, she’s called him a “lifelong crush” and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is the dominant influence for her forthcoming Eternal Sunshine album. Thus, it was no surprise that the two stars finally found their way to each other in a professional capacity. In 2018, Carrey debuted Kidding , a Showtime dramedy that followed Mr. Pickles, a children’s television presenter, who must balance his multimillion-dollar pickle empire with onslaught of family drama and personal tragedy. The series, which starred Frank Langella, Judy Greer and Catherine Keener, among others, picked up a pair of 2019 Golden Globe nominations, both of which it lost. Grande guest starred in the fifth episode of Kidding’s second season as Piccola Grande, the Pickle Fairy of Hope. Unsurprisingly, her cameo was her singing a song, but she did it while sitting on a tree branch and donning a pickle fairy costume, and that’s what matters! – K.D. Did you know that there’s a pantomime version of Snow White that includes songs from the likes of Michael Jackson, Britney Spears and Hall & Oates? Well, one exists, and back in 2012, Grande played the titular princess in the 2012 Pasadena Playhouse revival of the Kris Lythgoe-penned show. The production ran from Dec. 12-30, 2012. Low-quality recordings of the show are still available on YouTube, and even though the footage is a bit crunchy, the “Break Free” singer sounds gorgeous. Grande is a natural in the musical theatre realm, so any role in that arena is a slam dunk for her. – K.D. The unsung heroes of Nickelodeon and Disney Channel are their original movies. Gloriously campy and often accompanied by a new banger or two, those films allowed young fans to see their favorite stars outside of their trademark television series. Swindle , a 2013 film based on Gordon Korman’s 2008 children’s novel of the same name, follows a friend group as they try to rectify getting swindled out of an incredibly valuable Honus Wagner baseball card. The film was squarely a Nickelodeon affair, with sneak peeks airing during three separate Sam & Cat episodes as well as the series finale of Big Time Rush . As far as these types of movies go, Grande delivered a fine performance alongside co-stars Jennette McCurdy, Noah Crawford and Chris O’Neal. If anything, it was nice to see Grande grapple with Nick material outside of the Cat Valentine character. – K.D. Back to where it all began! The 2008 Broadway production of 13 marked the professional debuts of both Grande and Elizabeth Gillies . Across 105 performances and 22 previews, Grande rocked the Great White Ray as Charlotte, one of the key female characters in the Jason Robert Brown-penned musical. The production earned Brown a Drama Desk Award nod for outstanding lyrics. Like her other stage performances, only low-quality recordings of 13 are available online. Regardless, those clips find a fierce, young Ariana Grande absolutely killing her choreography and blocking as if she were a seasoned Broadway star. Over 15 years removed from the original 13 run, the musical still stands as a guiding light in Grande’s career. After all, she’s (kind of) returning to those roots with the Wicked movies and she and Brown have collaborated twice — 2016’s “Jason’s Song” and 2020’s “Still Hurting” — since first meeting each other through 13 . – K.D. Standing as the most mature film in her still-growing filmography, Grande took it to the Oscars with Don’t Look Up . An apocalyptic black comedy infused with political satire, Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up follows two astronomers (Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence) attempting to warn the world about an impending comet set to destroy human civilization and permanently alter the planet. Grande stars as Riley Bina, an international pop star who is eventually able to pick herself up from her trivial romance woes to write and record an original song to help the astronomer get their message to the masses. This is easily the most recent we’ve seen Grande onscreen, and the nuance she brings to the character — as well as the way she infuses Riley’s persona with glints of her own experience as an internationally renowned pop star — demonstrates remarkable growth from her younger roles. In 2022, Don’t Look Up broke the Netflix weekly viewing record with 152.29 million hours viewed in its second week of release. The film also picked up four Academy Award nominations, including best picture, while Grande’s original song — the Kid Cudi-assisted “Just Look Up” — won the 2022 Society of Composers & Lyricists Award for outstanding original song for a comedy or musical visual media production. – K.D. The woman, the myth, the legend — Cat Valentine. The role that cemented Grande as a new-age Nickelodeon and gave her the catalyst for her record-breaking pop career, Cat Valentine carried the “Yes, And?” singer through three series: Victorious , iCarly (guest stints count!) and Sam & Cat . In essence, Cat is a trademark ditz – with a fear of clouds! — who’s bubbly and sweet. People often mistake her as a complete idiot (she’s not) because of her airy tone of voice, and despite her tendency to find herself in unsavory situations, she always shows up for her friends. There’s also Cat’s distinctive red hair — a ‘do that used to be synonymous with Grande before the ponytail came around, if you can believe it! Comedic acting is often underrated, and what Grande did with Cat Valentine was something pretty special. From her random interjections to her more serious moments of disappointment and frustration, Grande brought a lot of verve and nuance to a character that could have been remarkably flat in lesser hands. – K.D. How could a role that included such an iconic death scene not top the list? Boasting a star-studded cast comprised of Grande, Emma Roberts, Neicy Nash-Betts, Jamie Lee Curtis, Keke Palmer , Lea Michele , Glen Powell and Billie Lourd, Scream Queens is on the Mount Rushmore of early Gen Z TV cult classics. The slasher-themed horror-comedy took the ethos of fellow Ryan Murphy anthology series American Horror Story and injected it with camp of the highest degree. Playing Sonya Herfmann, Grande slayed her role as one of the Chanels — think of them as descendants of the Heathers or the Plastics — that dominate Kappa Kappa Tau sorority at Wallace University. Her breathy intonation for the characters evokes her classic Cat Valentine performance, but there’s a level of straight-up cattiness that she brings to her Scream Queens role that perfectly complements the show’s comedic tone. The Red Devil may have gotten her in the end — the end of the first episode, that is — but Grande’s winning performance trumps all. – K.D. When Wicked: Part 1 debuted in Nov. 2024, Grande had been acting professionally for 16 years – but with many of those screen appearances being Nickelodeon shows, voice-over work and movie cameos, even her staunchest supporters couldn’t say with certainly whether she could carry a Hollywood blockbuster. Playing Galandi/Glinda alongside Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba in Jon M. Chu’s lavish reimagining of Oz, Grande demolished expectations, turning in a hilarious, haunted and nuanced performance with the charm, wit and timing of an old school Hollywood pro. And talk about popular: Wicked set a new record for the biggest opening weekend of a Broadway musical adaptation. – Joe LynchWhen Ponipate Loganimasi opted to play rugby rather than attending university, his father Joeli Kalougata made him follow his heart. And in less than two years with the national sevens side, Loganimasi has stamped his mark on the international rugby arena. Not only he won an Olympic silver medal with the men’s rugby sevens side this year, he was the only Fijian player named on the World Rugby Men’s Sevens Dream Team of the Year, which was announced yesterday. Loganimasi’s breakout year continued during the World Rugby’s Pacific Nations Cup in September when he debuted for the Flying Fijians in the final against Eddie Jones’ Japan where he scored two tries, in their 41-17 win. The Fijians retained the PNC title. He signed with the Fijian Drua in October. Born and bred in his mother’s village in Nabua, Koroalau, Cakaudrove, the 26-year-old is originally from Lovoni in Ono-i-Lau. Speaking from Savusavu yesterday, Kalougata was proud of his son’s achievement. His family advised him to follow his older siblings’ footsteps to continue his studies at Brigham Young University (BYU), Utah, United States of America but he opted otherwise. “My only advise to him was to depend on God to lead Him for all his rugby plans,” he said. “He is just a different breed of player from playing sevens locally, to the national side, Olympics, Flying Fijians and now the Drua in a short span and we can only thank God for that. “If you ask for God’s guidance you should take the first step – train hard, be humble, a good listener then God will lift you before others. “And if rugby will put food on the table for you – I’ll support your decision – those were my advice to him.” He added that Loganimasi is also a Coca- Cola Games gold medallist; he won the 200m event during his junior year at Navatu Secondary School. He also played rugby and indoor basketball during high school. Other players on the dream team are Selvyn Davids (South Africa), Antoine Dupont (France), Aaron Grandidier Nkanang (France), Terry Kennedy (Ireland), Nathan Lawson (Australia) and Matías Osadczuk (Argentina). Feedback: sereana.salalo@fijisun.com.fj
Bears QB Caleb Williams' interception-less streak isn't worth preserving
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A boat explosion at a South Florida marina has left one person dead and five others injured, officials said. The explosion occurred Monday night at the Lauderdale Marina, Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue said in a social media post. Rescue workers transported five people to local hospitals, three with traumatic injuries, officials said. A sixth person was found dead in the water several hours later by the Broward Sheriff's Office. Fire rescue officials said they didn't immediately know what caused the explosion.Heavy travel day off to a rough start after American Airlines briefly grounds all flights
Health In Tech Announces Closing of Initial Public OfferingWASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith moved to abandon two criminal cases against Donald Trump on Monday, acknowledging that Trump’s return to the White House will preclude attempts to federally prosecute him for retaining classified documents or trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat. The decision was inevitable, since longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution. Yet it was still a momentous finale to an unprecedented chapter in political and law enforcement history, as federal officials attempted to hold accountable a former president while he was simultaneously running for another term. Trump emerges indisputably victorious, having successfully delayed the investigations through legal maneuvers and then winning re-election despite indictments that described his actions as a threat to the country's constitutional foundations. “I persevered, against all odds, and WON," Trump exulted in a post on Truth Social, his social media website. He also said that “these cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought.” The outcome makes it clear that, when it comes to a president and criminal accusations, nothing supersedes the voters' own verdict. In court filings, Smith's team emphasized that the move to end their prosecutions was not a reflection of the merit of the cases but a recognition of the legal shield that surrounds any commander in chief. “That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind,” prosecutors said in one of their filings. They wrote that Trump’s return to the White House “sets at odds two fundamental and compelling national interests: on the one hand, the Constitution’s requirement that the President must not be unduly encumbered in fulfilling his weighty responsibilities . . . and on the other hand, the Nation’s commitment to the rule of law.” In this situation, “the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated,” they concluded. Smith’s team said it was leaving intact charges against two co-defendants in the classified documents case — Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira — because “no principle of temporary immunity applies to them.” Steven Cheung, Trump's incoming White House communications director, said Americans “want an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and we look forward to uniting our country.” Trump has long described the investigations as politically motivated, and he has vowed to fire Smith as soon as he takes office in January. Now he will start his second term free from criminal scrutiny by the government that he will lead. The election case brought last year was once seen as one of the most serious legal threats facing Trump as he tried to reclaim the White House. He was indicted for plotting to overturn his defeat to Joe Biden in 2020, an effort that climaxed with his supporters' violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But the case quickly stalled amid legal fighting over Trump’s sweeping claims of immunity from prosecution for acts he took while in the White House. The U.S. Supreme Court in July ruled for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, and sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to determine which allegations in the indictment, if any, could proceed to trial. The case was just beginning to pick up steam again in the trial court in the weeks leading up to this year’s election. Smith’s team in October filed a lengthy brief laying out new evidence they planned to use against him at trial, accusing him of “resorting to crimes” in an increasingly desperate effort to overturn the will of voters after he lost to Biden. In asking for the election case to be dismissed, prosecutors requested that Chutkan do it “without prejudice,” raising the possibility that they could try to bring charges against Trump again after he leaves office. But such a move may be barred by the statute of limitations, and Trump may also try to pardon himself while in office. The separate case involving classified documents had been widely seen as legally clear cut, especially because the conduct in question occurred after Trump left the White House and lost the powers of the presidency. The indictment included dozens of felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding classified records from his presidency at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and obstructing federal efforts to get them back. He has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing. The case quickly became snarled by delays, with U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon slow to issue rulings — which favored Trump’s strategy of pushing off deadlines in all his criminal cases — while also entertaining defense motions and arguments that experts said other judges would have dispensed with without hearings. In May, she indefinitely canceled the trial date amid a series of unresolved legal issues before dismissing the case outright two months later. Smith’s team appealed the decision, but now has given up that effort. Trump faced two other state prosecutions while running for president. One them, a New York case involving hush money payments, resulted in a conviction on felony charges of falsifying business records. It was the first time a former president had been found guilty of a crime. The sentencing in that case is on hold as Trump's lawyers try to have the conviction dismissed before he takes office, arguing that letting the verdict stand will interfere with his presidential transition and duties. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office is fighting the dismissal but has indicated that it would be open to delaying sentencing until Trump leaves office. Bragg, a Democrat, has said the solution needs to balance the obligations of the presidency with “the sanctity of the jury verdict." Trump was also indicted in Georgia along with 18 others accused of participating in a sprawling scheme to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election there. Any trial appears unlikely there while Trump holds office. The prosecution already was on hold after an appeals court agreed to review whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she had hired to lead the case. Four defendants have pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors. Trump and the others have pleaded not guilty. Associated Press writers Colleen Long, Michael Sisak and Lindsay Whitehurst contributed to this story.
NoneTrump convinced Republicans to overlook his misconduct. But can he do the same for his nominees?Former National Party Minister Nikki Kaye has died after battle with cancer