The campaign’s legal department reports that President-elect Donald Trump is stalling the presidential transition process by refusing to sign an ethics pledge that is legally required of each sitting president

Under the Presidential Transition Act, Trump and his transition team must sign a document ensuring he avoids any conflicts of interest once he takes office. Only after the document is signed and sent to the General Services Administration (GSA) can the incoming administration gain access to federal agencies.

The transition, which President Joe Biden has promised will likely be “orderly and peaceful,” sets the tone for the Trump-Vance administration’s approach to transparency, accountability and earning the trust of Americans, all of that are seen as essential to making sure the administration fulfills its responsibilities to the U.S. people mean .

The reasons for withholding Trump’s documents are unknown, but some speculate it has to do along with his latest financial disclosure reports and for one reason particularly. Many of his holdings might be considered conflict of interest red flags, equivalent to his latest cryptocurrency business, a majority stake in his social media platform Truth Social, real estate, books and licensing deals.

It’s not only the GSA that the president-elect is avoiding. According to , Trump also refused to make use of the State Department’s secure phone lines and interpreters and kept away from using the FBI’s security clearance system. That’s why House Democrats issued latest laws on November 19 requiring Executive Office employees to have FBI security clearances. If not, Congress will likely be warned.

Democratic lawmakers and powerful Trump opponents like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) are baffled by his transition team’s refusal to sign an ethics agreement.

“Donald Trump and his transition team are already breaking the law. I would know because I wrote the law myself,” Warren wrote in X on November 11. “Future presidents are obliged to prevent conflicts of interest and sign an ethics agreement. This is what illegal corruption looks like.”

Skepticism towards the bill, presented by Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA) and Ted Lieu (D-CA)persists. The upcoming GOP-controlled Congress is seemingly leaning toward Trump. Once back in office, Trump will give you the chance to issue security clearances to anyone he wants, no matter the FBI’s objections or whether the person faces legal charges. This latest situation involves two of Trump’s Cabinet picks – Matt Gaetz as attorney general and Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, each of whom have faced allegations of sexual misconduct.

Parole was denied Wednesday for notorious South Carolina mother Susan Smith, who drowned her two young children after initially claiming a black man had kidnapped them.

“I wish I could take it back, I really do,” Smith, now 53, said. “I didn’t lie to get away with it. … I used to be just afraid. I didn’t know the way to tell the individuals who loved them that they might never see them again.

Smith said she found peace because of her Christian faith. God is a vital part of her life testified on Wednesday, “and I know he has forgiven me.”

It was her first appearance before the state parole board, which voted unanimously to keep her in prison for the remaining of her life. After serving 30 years, Smith is eligible for parole every two years.

“I know what I did was terrible,” she said in her testimony given via Zoom. “And I would give anything if I could go back and change it.”

“I love Michael and Alex with all my heart,” she said openly, crying and wiping away tears.

The disappearance of 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex made national headlines after their mother told the chilling story of how a black man stopped her automotive and took her children. She appeared incessantly on television, playing every bit the role of a distraught mother, and the search for her boys lasted nine grueling days.

Susan Smith, a South Carolina woman who pleaded guilty to killing her 3-year-old and 14-month-old sons in 1994, speaks at her parole hearing.

Smith initially lied to police, saying that a black man had kidnapped her and kidnapped her sons. pic.twitter.com/oppN49EvWj

— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) November 20, 2024

It was then that Susan Smith, questioned by police who began to doubt her story, truthfully confessed what really happened on October 25, 1994.

Smith, then 23, strapped her sons into their automotive seats and drove the automotive into a lake near her home in Union, South Carolina.

Smith’s pleas fell on the ears of not only the parole board but in addition many on social media. As videos of her interrogation began circulating online, a whole bunch of comments condemned the mother for not seeming sufficiently remorseful about her actions.

“☠️MONSTERS should be kept in CAGES☠️”, one person wrote on Xformerly Twitter.

Another added: “I remember it when it happened. She claimed that her children were kidnapped by black people. And people believed her, unfortunately. She should be sentenced to death. He must remain behind bars until the very end.”

“I’m sure her children, strapped in their automotive seats, screamed and cried as they drowned in their own mother’s hands for her lustful pleasures. Shameful,” – wrote one other commentator.

Sixteenth Judicial District Solicitor Kevin Brackett recalled pulling Susan Smith’s automotive out of the water with her children inside. She added that these crimes shocked not only the family but your complete country.

“On behalf of the community I now represent, I do not believe she should ever be released from prison until the last living person who remembers Michael and Alex dies, and that will not happen in her lifetime. She should never have been released,” Brackett said Wednesday.

Defense lawyer Susan Smith argued that she planned to die with her sons, but jumped out of the automotive on the last minute.

Lead prosecutor Tommy Pope noted that Smith was not wet or injured when she ran for help after the automotive disappeared beneath the lake.

“God is an important part of my life and I know he has forgiven me… I just ask that you show the same kind of mercy.”

Killer mother Susan Smith applies for release 30 years after drowning her two young sons at her first parole hearing. The Parole Board unanimously rejected… pic.twitter.com/0jR88Mkuzo

— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 20, 2024

“Susan’s focus was always on Susan,” said Pope, who presented evidence during Smith’s murder trial that she was distraught over her breakup with one other man. Prosecutors say the connection ended because Smith had children.

“Susan made a terrible, terrible decision, choosing a man over her family,” Pope said. “If she could have put David in the car, he would have been there too.”

David Smith, Michael and Alexander’s father, who was captured entering the constructing, told the board that his ex-wife had never shown any remorse for their murder.

David Smith has just arrived at Susan Smith’s parole hearing.
He is her ex-husband and the daddy of the boys she murdered.
He wanted the death penalty, and now 30 years later he must face it again when it asks the South Carolina Parole Board to release her. pic.twitter.com/2WdqXjwQxM

— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) November 20, 2024

“It wasn’t a tragic mistake. (…) She deliberately wanted to end their lives,” he said.

David Smith testified that his grief over the loss of his sons “came close to taking my own life.”

His current wife, Tiffany Smith, says there are still days when her husband cannot get out of bed because of the pain.

“Michael and Alex didn’t get a chance at life,” she said. “They were given the death penalty.”

He said his ex-wife served just 15 years for each child. “It’s just not enough.”

Susan Smith’s attorney, Tommy Thomas, told the parole board his client’s case shows “the dangers of untreated mental health.” He said Susan Smith was not diagnosed with depression after the birth of her second child.

Her stepfather testified that he had sexually abused her for years.

Susan Smith was not a model prisoner. She was convicted multiple times, once for sex with a prison officer and one other time for drug possession. She was also threatened with punishment for providing documents with her ex-husband’s contact details.

Her lawyer said that if she was released on parole, she would live with her brother.

David Smith said if his wife applied for parole again, he could be there for the sake of his sons.

(*30*) he told the board.

U.S. Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.) is set to turn out to be the subsequent chair of the Congressional Black Caucus throughout the next session of Congress, marking a pivotal moment for the longtime New York congresswoman and the 53-year-old caucus.

When the subsequent session of Congress is sworn in on January 3, Clarke – who is unopposed as the present first vice chairman – might be ready to lead the CBC at its peak. This comes as Democrats come face to face with a Republican troika in full control of Congress and a White House stuffed with President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration.

While Congresswoman Clarke admits she and her colleagues within the Congressional Black Caucus are “extremely disappointed” in Vice President Kamala Harris’ defeat, she believes the caucus can effectively stand between Republicans and policies that would harm Black communities.

The congresswoman noted some vivid spots within the 2024 CBC elections, similar to expanding the caucus and winning more “non-traditional” seats, like Rep.-elect Janelle Bynum’s flipping of Oregon’s fifth Congressional District. The congresswoman also highlighted the historic victories of Senator-elect Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware – each Black women – bringing the overall variety of CBC members within the U.S. Senate to 4, probably the most within the club’s history.

“We will have members on every committee of jurisdiction, which puts us in a good place in terms of … advancing legislation that will advance the benefits of Black communities across the country,” Clarke said.

She added: “…in addition, we are positioned to combat disinformation and disinformation regarding any suggestions made by colleagues that are not in the best interests of the Black community.”

Clarke said the CBC have to be “vigilant” now greater than ever because it serves as “the vanguard of the Black community across the country.” Even though Republicans can have full control of federal power in Washington, Congresswoman Clarke said caucus members will proceed to focus next 12 months on reintroducing key laws to improve voting rights protections, combat police brutality, and delineate path forward for renovation.

“We will continue to be the conscience of Congress and advance legislation that will greatly benefit Black communities,” the hopeful CBC president promised.

Democrats are already preparing for a controversial 4 years of the second Trump administration. The president-elect has nominated several controversial nominees to his Cabinet, including former congressman Matt Gaetz as attorney general, Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defense secretary and, most recently, wrestling entertainment mogul Linda McMahon as education secretary.

Clarke said she’s not surprised by what many see as Trump’s several unqualified picks or the shortage of diversity within the proposed administration up to now. The congresswoman argued that the selections prove that Trump intends to implement the controversial Project 2025, which he claimed he had no idea about throughout the campaign.

“It is abundantly clear to me and members of the Congressional Black Caucus that planning around Project 2025 puts Black communities in the crosshairs of mistreatment and retaliation,” Clarke said.

The congresswoman expressed particular concern about Trump’s plan for the “largest” mass deportation within the country’s history, which she described as “unknown territory.”

While the problem of immigration and conversations about deportation largely focus on Mexican and Latin American immigrants, Clarke said she is equally concerned about black immigrants.

“We live in a society that has stigmatized people of African descent from the beginning,” she explained. “So when you think about the terrible disinformation campaign being waged against Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, you get the idea of ​​the kind of justification and targeting of people of African descent in this mass deportation.”

While Democrats and members of the Congressional Black Caucus will definitely use their positions to oppose what they see as harmful policies from the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress, additionally they hope there could also be pockets of bipartisanship.

Rep. Clarke said she would love to see the favored Child Tax Credit, which expired in 2021, restored and laws to higher improve privacy regulations within the tech space, particularly on social media. However, the congresswoman admits that she is unsure whether such cross-party cooperation might be possible at the subsequent Congress.

“The body has changed quite a bit in terms of membership, and with that comes a change in GOP chemistry and strategy,” she said. “It’s much more magnetized… so hopefully there will be places where we can connect.”