November 20, 2024: Trump Taps Dr. Oz and WWE's McMahon, Laken Riley's Killer Convicted, Prosecutors Took P. Diddy's Notes in Raid, Speaker Johnson's New House Bathroom Rule, and More.
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Welcome back to Unbiased. Today is November 20th, and this is your daily news rundown. In today's episode, we will talk about what we have learned about the Gates hacker story since yesterday, two more of Trump's picks, including Dr. Oz and Linda McMahon, this new bathroom rule in the House, the conviction of Lake and Riley's murderer, P. Diddy's jail notes, and more. So without further ado, let's get into today's stories. Unbiased is a

I actually want to start today's episode by quickly revisiting Monday's discussion of RFK Jr. because I have heard from some of you through social media or email that my segment on RFK Jr. came off as biased because I failed to mention that his claims about a potential link between autism and vaccines have been disproven. Now, what I want to say about that is this. So in all of these discussions about Trump's picks, and so far we've covered more than a dozen,

I am solely focused on who these people are, what their backgrounds look like, what their new potential role will be, and what their views are. It's all about the individual so you can get to know them, right? I'm not focused on telling you why their policies or views might be flawed. I'm just telling you what they believe, as an example.

In yesterday's episode, I touched on the nominee for Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, and I noted that to him, there is no such thing as clean and dirty energy. All energy has positives and negatives. And while there are probably a lot of people that would disagree with that belief, I'm

I didn't touch on the other side of the argument because the segment was all about right, his views, his policies, his background, etc. Same thing with Kennedy. I spoke about Kennedy's views, what he said, what he wants to do if he's confirmed, and that was that. I'm not suggesting he's right. I'm not suggesting he's wrong. It's just so you can get to know him as a person and what he plans to do if he's confirmed. So with that quick note out of the way, let's move on to our first story, which is an update to yesterday's episode.

Yesterday, we briefly spoke about this hacker gaining access to court documents related at least in part to the investigations into Gates. And I said that I would update you once we know more. We now know a little bit more. So here is that update.

First and foremost, the documents that were hacked were actually part of a civil lawsuit against Gates. So this wasn't, you know, a hacking of the DOJ's investigation or the Ethics Committee's investigation. This was a civil lawsuit, a defamation suit, that was filed by Gates's friend. His name is Christopher Dorworth.

Dorworth claimed he was defamed when the 17-year-old girl at the center of the House Ethics Investigation told authorities that Dorworth hosted parties where he, Gates, and others took drugs and openly had sex.

As a disclaimer, I have not personally seen these hacked documents, so I will only report on what's being said, but I cannot confirm the contents. Allegedly, the hacked file contains 24 exhibits stemming from this civil defamation lawsuit, which includes sworn testimony by the woman who said she had sex with Gates in 2017 when she was 17 years old, as well as corroborating testimony by a second woman who said that she witnessed the encounter. And this is very much in line with what I reported yesterday.

The hacked information also allegedly includes sworn statements from Plaintiff Dorworth and his wife, as well as testimony from Michael Fisher, who is Gates' former campaign treasurer and is also said to have attended this party. There is also alleged quote-unquote supporting material, such as the gate logs showing who entered the property of the Dorworth home on the evening of July 2017, when the two women said that the sexual encounter with Gates and the minor occurred.

A source familiar with the contents of the files characterized them as very detailed and damaging to Gates, but again, this is all reported as of now. What we know about the actual hacking job is that an unidentified hacker gained access to a computer file that was shared in a secure link among lawyers. The information was downloaded by a person using the name Altam Beasley at 1:23 PM, but as I said, it's unclear what the hacker's real name actually is.

A lawyer connected to the case apparently tried to send an email to the email address associated with this Beasley individual, only to be informed in an automated reply that the recipient doesn't exist. And so far, it doesn't appear that the hacker has made the material public.

So that is your update on that. Now let's go over some more of Trump's picks. We'll go over two, starting with Linda McMahon, who Trump nominated yesterday for the position of education secretary. Per usual, let's talk a little bit about the role and who she is. So the education secretary oversees all agencies and offices within the education department, the Office for Civil Rights, the Office of Inspector General, the Office of the Deputy Secretary, etc., etc., many more.

The education secretary also serves as the principal advisor to the president on federal policies, programs, and activities related to education in the United States and also ensures federal funds are distributed as intended, ensures research is provided to policymakers, and ensures schools comply with all federal education laws governing funding and discrimination.

McMahon is 76 years old and currently serves as a co-chair on Trump's presidential transition team. In the earlier days of her career, from 1980 to 2009, she worked as the president and CEO of Titan Sports, which later became WWE. Her and her husband founded WWE together and are currently being sued by five anonymous employees, former ring boys who worked with the WWE, accusing them of failing to stop decades of sexual abuse between the 70s and 90s.

After serving as CEO of WWE, she served on the Connecticut State Board of Education in 2009, but soon after resigned to run for Senate in 2010 and 2012, she did not succeed in either of those campaigns. In Trump's first administration in 2016, she was head of the Small Business Administration before she stepped down in 2019 to lead the America First Action Super PAC ahead of Trump's bid for reelection.

When it comes to education, McMahon has said she admires the profession of teaching, and in 2015 said that one of the most important issues for her is the question of school choice. She wrote in a newspaper op-ed, quote,

End quote. McMahon has also voiced her opposition to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. And finally, and as we discussed on Monday, Trump campaigned on dismantling the Department of Education. So if that were to happen, McMahon would be in charge of overseeing the dismantling. Next, let's talk about Dr. Oz, who was chosen by Trump to be the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, also referred to as CMS.

This role does require Senate confirmation, and if confirmed, Oz will oversee the agencies that run Medicare and Medicaid. Together, these two programs provide health insurance for more than 140 million Americans. The agency also handles enrollments in income-based government-subsidized health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, which Trump and other Republicans have previously tried to repeal, but now say that they only seek to overhaul it.

CMS has an annual spending of $2.6 trillion and operates within the Department of Health and Human Services, which Trump has nominated RFK Jr. to head. CMS also plays a role in setting Medicare payment rates for hospitals, doctors, labs, and other service providers, and sets the standards that govern how healthcare providers operate. Perfect.

Personally, Oz is a former heart surgeon, celebrity physician, TV personality, founder of a nonprofit to educate teens about healthy habits, and at one time did try to enter the ring of politics that was in 2022 when he ran in the Pennsylvania Senate race but lost to John Fetterman.

And before that, Oz was appointed by Trump in Trump's first administration to the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. Aside from that, though, Oz doesn't really have much government leadership experience. Oz was also a regular Fox News commentator during the pandemic and on social media challenged the Biden administration's pandemic policies, including mask policies. He said that the Biden administration ignores

the science and were based on missing data. Oz has repeatedly promoted Medicare Advantage, which is a Medicare-approved plan from a private company rather than the government's.

Now, before we take a break, and while we're still on the topic of the presidency, I do want to quickly talk about the presidential line of succession because ever since I released that episode where I talked about the differences between the executive office of the president and the president's cabinet and how the cabinet plays a role in the presidential line of succession, a lot of you asked me what exactly that order of succession looks like. So,

So if anything were to happen to the president, whether he dies, becomes incapacitated, resigns, is unable to hold office, or is removed from office, we know that the VP steps in. If anything happens to the VP, then the Speaker of the House steps in.

From there, it goes president pro tempore of the Senate, and then in the order of the creation of each cabinet position. So secretary of state, secretary of treasury, secretary of defense, attorney general, secretary of the interior, secretary of agriculture, secretary of commerce,

Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and then finally, the Secretary of Homeland Security.

So that is the presidential line of succession. Let's take a quick break, and when we come back, we'll talk about the conviction of Lakin Riley's killer, the fight over bathrooms on Capitol Hill, P. Diddy's jail notes, and some quick hitters.

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Welcome back. Let's continue on with today's news. The suspect accused of murdering 22-year-old Georgia nursing student Laken Riley was found guilty on all counts today and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Jose Ibarra, a 26-year-old man who is in the country illegally from Venezuela, murdered Riley while she was out for a run on the trails of University of Georgia's campus on the morning of February 22nd. The evidence against Ibarra was overwhelming, so it's not a surprise that he was convicted just 19 minutes after closing arguments concluded.

At trial, a forensic expert testified that Ibarra's DNA was found under Riley's right fingernails, and his two brothers, who lived in the same apartment as him, were excluded as matches. When Ibarra was questioned by police one day after the murder, he had visible scratches on his arms, neck, and back.

Ibarra's thumbprint was also left on Riley's phone, and he was captured on a ring camera near his apartment, throwing away a bloodied jacket and disposable gloves, which were later found to have Riley's DNA. The argument from the defense suggested that one of Ibarra's brothers could have been responsible for the murder. Defense attorney Caitlin Beck said in closing arguments, "...the facts and evidence in this case should leave you with some reasonable doubt."

While the evidence in this case is voluminous, it is circumstantial. It is more than possible that one brother's DNA would get on another brother's clothes. End quote. The defense attorney noted Riley's physical fitness and said she could have outrun Ibarra, but maybe not Ibarra's brother, who was taller and more physically fit. Ibarra's brothers were not called as witnesses for the defense because they are currently involved in their own criminal cases.

However, one of the strongest witnesses for the defense was actually Ibarra's next-door neighbor, who was in a relationship with Ibarra's brother, Diego. She testified that she was sitting on the back porch with Diego the night that police were searching around their neighborhood, and she said she knew that Diego walked near the area where Riley was killed on his way to work every day. So she just told him, you know, if you know anything about the situation, say something to the police.

As they were talking, the police approached the two of them, asked what they were talking about. The woman told the police what she had just told Diego and the police walked away. But just seconds after the police walked away, she said Diego spoke into a translation app on his phone and showed her the screen and the screen said, quote, if you tell them, I will tell them you did it and then I will kill you too.

The woman, however, also acknowledged on the stand that she had been drinking that day and had been angry with Diego because she thought he was involved with another woman. But despite that testimony and due to the overwhelming amount of evidence against Jose Ibarra, the judge overseeing the case

found Jose Ibarra guilty on all 10 counts. One count of malice murder, three counts of felony murder, one count of kidnapping, one count of aggravated assault with intent to rape, one count of aggravated battery, one count of hindering a 911 call, one count of tampering with evidence, and one count of being a peeping Tom. And as I said, Jose Ibarra was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Now for some congressional news, Speaker Johnson has banned transgender people from using bathrooms that are not for members of their biological sex.

The announcement was made today, two days after Republican Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina introduced a two-page resolution that would prohibit any lawmakers and House employees from, quote, using single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex, end quote. This new rule comes after Sarah McBride was elected to the House earlier this month, who will be the first transgender member of Congress.

In response to Mace's proposed resolution, McBride said in part, quote, this is a blatant attempt from far right wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing. We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care and child care, not manufacturing culture wars.

End quote. Mace had initially planned to force a vote on her resolution this week, but instead discussed it internally with House GOP leadership, and today Speaker Johnson announced the new rule. Something to note here is that Speaker Johnson, as Speaker, has, quote, "...general control of the Hall of the House, the corridors, and passages in the part of the Capitol assigned to the use of the House."

End quote. That is according to the official House rules, so that is where his authority comes from to create a rule such as this one. Notably, this rule does not extend to the Senate's chamber, as the Senate would have to come up with their own rule. But McBride is a representative-elect, so she will be conducting her business from the House. And

And I know you're probably wondering what can happen if McBride chooses to use the women's bathroom despite this rule being in place. And the answer is that it's unclear, but I would imagine there would be a Republican lawmaker, at least one, that would try to at least censure her for violating House rules.

A censure requires a simple majority of House representatives to pass, and it's essentially a statement of disapproval of that representative that violated, you know, the code of conduct or House rules. There's also a reprimand, which is slightly less severe than a censure, but in either instance, reprimand or censure, nothing would happen to her seat. She would keep her seat.

A more severe form of punishment would be expulsion. And in that case, she would lose her seat. Expulsion requires a two-thirds vote, so harder to pass, and happens much less frequently. It's only happened six times in the history of the House.

Moving on in an update to Diddy's legal issues, a judge yesterday ruled that prosecutors must destroy copies of Diddy's handwritten notes and turn over the original notes to the court. The notes were found during a raid at the jail where Diddy is being held in Brooklyn, New York, and prosecuting attorneys said that based on the evidence found during the raid, not just the notes but other things as well, Diddy had obtained multiple inmates' phone lines in attempts to evade scrutiny.

control witnesses, and influence testimony while jailed. They also said Diddy uses a non-authorized messaging app to communicate with the outside world and coerced his family into creating a birthday message intended for the eyes of potential jurors before his trial begins in the spring. Diddy's legal team argued that the notes found in the raid should be turned over as they were collected in a raid that violated Diddy's constitutional rights

and included attorney-client privilege material, and therefore Diddy's attorneys requested an evidentiary hearing. Diddy's lead attorney wrote to the court, quote, this search and seizure are in violation of Mr. Combs' Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment right.

Moreover, the targeted seizure of a pretrial detainee's work product and privileged materials created in preparation for trial is outrageous government conduct amounting to a substantive due process violation. Because the prosecutors are currently in possession of privileged material and are actively using this material to detain the defendant, the defense requests an immediate action.

evidentiary hearing, end quote. That evidentiary hearing went forward as requested, and the defense at the hearing argued that their raid wasn't a ditty targeted raid, but instead a general raid to find and get rid of contraband in the Brooklyn facility.

Diddy's attorneys disagreed with this, and after the hearing, the judge ruled that the prosecutors must destroy copies of Diddy's handwritten notes and turn over the original notes, which will remain in court custody while both sides submit briefs over the next few weeks. And after reviewing those briefs, the judge will decide whether the notes can be used at trial.

All right, so let's finish with some quick hitters, starting with House Leader Hakeem Jeffries winning re-election yesterday as the Democratic House Minority Leader. He currently serves as the House Minority Leader, but his position was up for grabs following the election. In a private ballot vote, Democrats did re-elect him.

as well as Democratic whip Catherine Clark and Democratic caucus chairman Pete Aguilar. Jeffries said in a post-vote statement, in part, quote, we are prepared to work hard to find bipartisan common ground with our Republican colleagues and the incoming administration on any issue whenever and wherever possible. But at the same period of time, we will push back against far-right extremism wherever necessary, end quote.

In some other news, the United States has shut down its embassy in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, due to what it called the threat of a significant air attack. Those of you that listened to yesterday's episode know that Ukraine did in fact launch the U.S.-provided long-range missiles into Russia, and now it seems the U.S. is expecting some sort of retaliation, so it closed its embassy there.

And finally, in a little update to yesterday's episode, Texas Land Commissioner Don Buckingham has offered the incoming Trump administration 1,402 acres to be used, quote, to construct deportation facilities, end quote. The Texas General Land Office purchased this plot of land from a farmer in October to facilitate Texas's efforts to build a wall, but is now offering up this chunk of land to the future Trump administration.

Buckingham wrote in her letter to Trump, quote, my office is fully prepared to enter into an agreement with DHS, ICE, or the CBP to allow a facility to be built for the processing, detention, and coordination of the largest deportation of violent criminals in the nation's history, end quote. That is what I have for you today. Thank you so much for being here. As always, have a great night, and I will talk to you tomorrow for your final news rundown of the week.