January 1, Trump: ’We’re Kicking Their Ass’

This Day in History | 1989

East Germany opens the Berlin Wall.

Good Morning Middle Americans.

President Donald Trump brushed aside concerns about the Democrats “hoax” impeachment inquiry from the White House on Friday. 

“Adam Schiff is a corrupt politician that is not giving us due process,” Trump said before heading to Atlanta for various events. He was referring to the California Democrat and House Intelligence Committee chairman. 

“And despite all that, we’re kicking their ass.”

Watch the president’s exchange with the press corps here

Read all about today’s big stories below, including Facebook cracking down on post that include the name of the Ukraine whistleblower and two Disney employees arrested for child porn.  

 – Fraser Dixon 

Who Will Betray Trump? 

(Politico) – The implication was clear: Any Republican who so much as flirted with impeachment would no longer have a home in the party.

[W]hen the House passed a resolution advancing the impeachment inquiry, all 196 of the House Republicans on the floor voted as a bloc against the measure. It was a display of solidarity and a reassertion of supremacy; once again, everyone in the party had fallen in line behind Trump. 

Or so the president hoped.

Read more about the Republicans who might break with President Trump here

Facebook Will Remove Posts Naming the Ukraine Whistleblower

(CNBC) – Facebook announced Friday it will remove from its platform any content that purports to name the U.S. official whose whistleblower complaint led to the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.

In a statement, a Facebook spokesperson said attempts to unmask the whistleblower violate its policies around coordinating harm, which prohibits content “outing of witness, informant or activist.”

“We are removing any and all mentions of the potential whistleblower’s name and will revisit this decision should their name be widely published in the media or used by public figures in the debate,” the spokesperson said.

Learn more from CNBC here

Two Disney Employees Busted in Child Porn Sting

(CNN) – Two Disney employees were arrested in a child pornography sting orchestrated by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.

They were among 17 men nabbed in an undercover sting operation, according to a press release from the agency.

Brett Kinney, 40, of Lake Alfred, Florida, told investigators he was a guest experience manager at Disney World. Kinney was arrested and charged with one count of promotion of child pornography and 24 counts of possession of child pornography-enhanced, the release said.

A second Disney employee, Donald Durr Jr., was also arrested.  Durr, 52, of Davenport, Florida, told investigators he was a custodial worker at Walt Disney Resorts. He was arrested and charged with eight counts of possession of child pornography and one count of promotion of sexual performance by a child.

Durr is on unpaid leave, a Disney spokesperson told CNN.

A Disney spokesperson told CNN by phone that Kinney was no longer employed with the company following his arrest in the sting.

See the complete report here