Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some very compelling stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s going on.
The special counsel in a federal case against President-elect Donald Trump makes a surprising request, a recent Trump appointee offers a pledge regarding his role in the new administration, and a number of high-level officials say they’re joining forces to oppose certain government policies.
Also, a crucial Senate race heads for a controversial recount, and the outbreak of a deadly bacteria linked to a popular fast food chain is growing.
Special Counsel Jack Smith Changes Course
Noting Trump’s recent election, special counsel Jack Smith has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to halt all proceedings with regard to Trump’s classified documents case.The special counsel’s motion asked for the court to suspend his appeal in the case and to delay the deadline for the government’s reply brief, which was originally due today, until Dec. 2.
The court document says that the postponement will give “the Government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy.”
So you know, Smith has been pursuing an appeal over Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to dismiss the case earlier this year, when she determined that his appointment violated the U.S. Constitution.
Last week, the special counsel also cited Department of Justice policy when he asked a different judge in Washington to vacate the schedule in another federal case against Trump.
The special counsel’s recent motions were both made following Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election, and a spokesman for his office pointed The Epoch Times to a decades-old memo saying that the prosecution of a sitting president would be unconstitutional.
The two requests likely spell the end of the federal cases against the president-elect, who is set to be inaugurated in January 2025.
Ramaswamy Responds to Trump’s Appointment
Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy says that both he and billionaire Elon Musk will plan “massive downsizing” of the federal government as part of their work under the proposed new “Department of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE.On the social media platform X, Ramaswamy said that “slapping the bureaucracy on the wrist won’t solve the problem,” and that significant cuts are the only right answer.
He also wrote that his department will soon begin crowdsourcing examples of government waste, fraud, and abuse. He pointed out that “Americans voted for drastic government reform” and that they “deserve to be part of fixing it.”
Details about how the to-be-established department will operate are unclear, including who will be the head man in charge. However, Trump said earlier that DOGE would “provide advice and guidance from outside of government” and that it would work in tandem with the White House Office of Management and Budget.
The president-elect also said that Ramaswamy and Musk will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.”
Trump added that DOGE’s work will conclude by July 4, 2026—which marks the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
By the way, the acronym DOGE is a nod to Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency, Dogecoin, which the tech billionaire has been touting for the past four years.
Democratic Governors Create Coalition to Push Back Against Trump Policies
The governors of Illinois and Colorado, who are both Democrats, have just announced the formation of a new alliance called “Governors Safeguarding Democracy,” and it’s being put together to battle the policies of the upcoming Trump administration.The group says that it will be a nonpartisan coalition of governors who will work together to prevent “authoritarianism” and the “undermining of democratic institutions,” including executive agencies, elections, and the state courts.
The alliance says that the group’s members will leverage their combined powers to deliver results for the American people.
The group says they’ll also develop “playbooks” to enable governors and their teams to “anticipate and swiftly respond to emerging threats.” However, they did not specify what those threats were.
So you know, Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Jared Polis of Colorado launched the group, and they will act as co-chairs overseeing the coalition. Neither of them said how many governors have joined the team so far, and specifics regarding how the alliance would function have not yet been provided.
A spokesperson for Trump’s transition team responded to the group’s formation by saying that the president-elect “will serve all Americans, even those who did not vote for him,” and that he will “unify the country through success.”
Pennsylvania Race for US Senate Seat Heads to Recount
Pennsylvania’s top election official says that the Senate race between Democrat Sen. Bob Casey and Republican businessman Dave McCormick is headed to a mandatory recount, because the margin of victory is within 0.5 percent.Right now, McCormick is leading Casey by just under 30,000 votes, according to unofficial results issued by the State of Pennsylvania.
Officials point out that the state’s counties must start their recount no later than Nov. 20, and it must be completed by noon on Nov. 26. The results will be made public on the following day.
It’s estimated that the procedure will cost at least $1 million in taxpayer money, and recounts typically change no more than hundreds of votes.
So you know, The Associated Press and a number of other outlets have called the race in favor of McCormick, who earlier this week attended orientation for new senators in Washington.
However, so far, Casey has declined to concede. He says that the American democratic process was born in Pennsylvania and that it will continue to “play out.”
A spokesperson for McCormick’s campaign says that his lead is “insurmountable” and that a recount will be “a waste of time and taxpayer money.”
By the way, the state’s last automatic recount occurred just a couple of years ago, it also involved McCormick, and he eventually lost in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate to Dr. Mehmet Oz.
McDonald’s E. Coli Outbreak Worsens
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) both say that the E. coli outbreak linked to slivered onions used on certain McDonald’s burgers has continued to spread.They say the outbreak has now reached at least 14 states and that more than 100 people have already gotten sick, and some people have even been hospitalized.
So you know, the states with the highest number of reported cases include Colorado, Montana, and Nebraska.
However, the CDC warns that the outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses. It also points out that the true number of infections is likely “much higher,” because many people infected with E. coli recover without seeking medical attention.
The FDA reports that McDonald’s has stopped using the slivered onions on their Quarter Pounders in the affected states, and that the supplier of the yellow onions, Taylor Farms, recalled the product on Oct. 22.
Additionally, the CDC notes that the affected onions were past their shelf life, and that they believe the risk to the public is “low,” because it’s unlikely that the contaminated onions are still available for sale.
Earlier this week, McDonald’s said that it was committed to food safety. The company added that it had found an alternate supplier for the roughly 900 restaurants that had temporarily stopped serving Quarter Pounders and that, over the past week, these restaurants have resumed selling the burgers with slivered onions.
By the way, E. coli infections can cause severe gastrointestinal problems. While most people recover within a week, severe cases can lead to kidney failure and, in some cases, even death.
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Friday edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
Don’t forget the News Brief Motto: We’re portable, affordable, and always on-demand.
And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from the great ballet dancer Misty Copeland, who said: “The path to your success is not as fixed and inflexible as you think.”
For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.
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Enjoy the remainder of your day, and we’ll see you right back here tomorrow for another edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
For now, let’s all continue to watch out for one another, and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.
