TV News LIES

President Donald Trump on Aug. 25 announced he was firing Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, an unprecedented move that brings the president one step closer to shaping the balance of the Fed's seven-member board in his favor.

In a letter shared on Truth Social, Trump claimed "sufficient cause" to remove Cook immediately, pointing to accusations that Cook made false statements on mortgage agreements.

Cook said Aug. 26 the president lacked authority to oust her from the board of the central bank. She plans to challenge the move in court, according to a statement from her attorney.

The move comes amid Trump's monthslong efforts to influence the Fed's decisions on interest rates. Trump had previously focused on pressuring Fed Chair Jerome Powell to lower rates through name-calling and termination threats, although he has since walked back threats to remove Powell.

More...

A large bruise on the back on Donald Trump’s right hand, which the president appeared to be hiding, poorly, under a daub of makeup last week, was clearly visible during public appearances on Monday, renewing speculation that the White House might be concealing information about his health.

Last month, after similar speculation over Trump’s swollen ankles prompted questions, the White House physician, Sean Barbabella, revealed in a memo that the president was suffering from chronic venous insufficiency.

In the same memo, Barbabella said that images showing bruising on Trump’s hand were “consistent with minor soft tissue irritation from frequent handshaking” and his use of aspirin as a precaution against heart attacks.

More...

– President Donald Trump rekindled his Hudson River rivalry with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as they quibbled about what is a bridge too far in punishing political rivals.

The latest salvo came from the Oval Office, where the native New Yorker president insulted Christie on Aug. 25 as “a slob.” But Trump stopped short of saying Christie should be investigated criminally for his role in closing lanes of the George Washington Bridge as alleged retaliation against a mayor who didn’t endorse him.

“I think we have other things to do,” Trump said before adding: “I always thought he got away with murder.”

The political quibble came after Christie, a former U.S. attorney and two-time Republican presidential primary opponent of Trump, joined a chorus of critics accusing the president of wielding the Justice Department as his personal legal representative.

More...

The official White House newsletter has posted an article titled "President Trump Is Right About the Smithsonian." It calls out some of the institution's artwork, exhibitions, programs and online articles that focus on race, slavery, immigration and sexuality. That includes works at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, The National Portrait Gallery, and The National Museum of the American Latino.

The list of objectionable content comes a week after White House officials sent a letter asking eight of the Smithsonian's museums to submit their current and future plans for exhibitions, social media content and other material. The institution's director Lonnie Bunch was told it had 120 days to comply for what the administration says will be a "comprehensive review," in order to bring the Smithsonian in line with Trump's cultural directives ahead of the country's 250th anniversary celebrations.

The administration has directed the museums to replace "divisive or ideologically driven language with unifying, historically accurate and constructive descriptions."

NPR reached out to the White House asking for comment about the article highlighting the Smithsonian artists. They have not responded.

The list of artists and content seems to be drawn from art that was highlighted in a recent article in The Federalist. The conservative online magazine argued that the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, for example, was filled with "wall-to-wall, anti-American propaganda."

More...

The posthumous memoir of Virginia Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein’s most prominent accusers, will be published in the autumn, a publisher has announced.

Giuffre had been working on Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, with the award-winning author and journalist Amy Wallace before her death earlier this year.

The 400-page book will be released on 21 October, according to the Associated Press.

Giuffre, who alleged she had been trafficked for sex to Prince Andrew, had completed the manuscript before she took her own life in April, the publisher Alfred A Knopf said.

Prince Andrew has denied Giuffre’s allegations. In 2022, Giuffre and the prince reached an out-of-court settlement after she sued him for sexual assault.

Knopf’s statement includes an email Giuffre wrote to Wallace 25 days before her death, stating that it was her “heartfelt wish” the memoir be released “regardless” of her circumstances.

More...

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie slammed comments from Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell in which she said President Donald Trump was not guilty of any wrongdoing and praised him as "cordial" and "kind."

"She might as well have taken out Donald Trump, or President Trump, and said, 'The man who can pardon me has never done anything wrong. The man who can pardon me has always been wonderful," Christie, a rare vocal critic of Trump in the Republican party, told ABC's "This Week" on Aug. 24.

"I don't think Donald Trump had anything to do with Jeffrey Epstein that was untoward or illegal, but we're going to believe Ghislaine Maxwell?" Christie asked. "Give me a break."

Maxwell told Attorney General Todd Blanche during hours of interviews last month that Trump "was never inappropriate with anybody," and was "a gentleman in all respects."

More...