(CNN)Former Vice President Mike Pence told a group of conservative lawmakers on Tuesday that he maintains a close personal friendship with former President Donald Trump, while noting that he plans to launch a political organization that will defend their administration's record over the past four years.

Rep. Jim Banks, an Indiana Republican who chairs the conservative Republican Study Committee, told CNN that a group of members met at Pence's transition office in the Washington area on Tuesday afternoon, talking about the way forward for their party while also touting the accomplishments of the past.

Pence harbored no ill will towards Trump over the January 6 riot, where pro-Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol with many looking for Pence who was presiding over the congressional certification of Joe Biden's victory. In fact, Trump's actions ahead of the riot "never came up," Banks said.

"He spoke very favorably about his relationship with President Trump," Banks told CNN. "I got the sense they speak often and maintain the same personal friendship and relationship now that they have for four years."

When JOE BIDEN nominated JAIME HARRISON to head the Democratic National Committee, the president’s team also informed Harrison they had already hired his top staffers, according to a Democratic official familiar with the conversations.

The DNC’s CEO, MARY BETH CAHILL, would become a senior adviser and her deputy, SAM CORNALE, would be the DNC’s executive director, they said.

Some former DNC officials expressed surprise that Harrison, who had been boosted by House Majority Whip JIM CLYBURN, would not be able to bring in more of his own people.

The moves speak to the powerful role White House Deputy Chief of Staff JEN O’MALLEY DILLON — who’s become Biden’s point person dealing with the DNC — has at the committee.

Donald Trump and his allies are putting President Joe Biden’s sweeping immigration overhaul in their crosshairs.

The main salvo will be delivered this weekend when Trump is set to address the Conservative Political Action Conference and devote part of his speech to the topic. But days before then, the architect of Trump’s immigration policy, Stephen Miller, will discuss the issue with conservative House members as they organize their opposition to Biden’s planned changes to Trump-era immigration regulations and his recently unveiled blueprint for comprehensive immigration reform legislation.

Miller, whose opposition to nearly all forms of immigration earned him the admiration of Trump and the enmity of many others, will be joined at the Wednesday meeting by Tom Homan and Mark Morgan, two former top immigration officials, according to a person involved with the planning and first reported by The Hill. All three men played integral roles in enacting many of Trump’s most controversial immigration policies, including the separation of migrant children from their parents upon arriving in the U.S. without authorization.

The gathering was organized by the 147-member Republican Study Committee, a group of traditionalist conservative lawmakers that also has met recently with other Trump administration officials, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Fox News host Tucker Carlson. The group met with former Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday.

Right-wing evangelist Nathan French believes that God will somehow wipe out the social media companies that banned Donald Trump from their platforms.

Because, as we all know, the 11th Commandment is “Thou shalt be able to post whatever you want on the internet without consequences.”

… French claimed that God had told him that these platforms will be wiped out because they have picked “a fight with God.”

“The Lord said this morning, he told me, ‘It’s unwise to pick a fight with a reigning champion,’” French claimed. “He said, ‘Nathan, I’m going to overturn [the election], and I’m going to reinstate Trump.’ And so I realized that not only has God chosen President Trump and Melania, but when you mess with God’s plan, then you come against God himself, and you pick a fight with God.”

“This is what the Lord said to me this morning,” French continued. “He said, ‘Big tech companies will begin to crumble if they continue to come against God’s anointed.’ When the Lord speaks through his prophets and prophetic people, it is his own words, and they will not return void. So when the flesh and the way that seems right to a man — which is like leaning on your own understanding — stands against the Lord’s words or those he’s chosen as mouthpieces, they basically pick a fight with the reigning champion, and that’s just going to bring a KO. So God’s gonna knock out, he’s gonna wipe out everything that comes against what he’s preparing to release, which is the Third Great Awakening.”

Since November, Blanca Espronceda has spent many mornings chatting up other Latinos about the coronavirus vaccine, recruiting her neighbors in Maryland’s heavily immigrant suburbs to participate in ongoing trials.

But even as a community health worker, she has her own fears about getting the shot.

“What if the side effects make me sicker than the virus?” asked Espronceda, a 36-year-old native of Mexico who lives in Hyattsville. “What if I should wait a year, just to make sure it works?”

For those she approaches with fliers at food distribution sites and supermarkets, the objections are stronger: Some falsely insist that the vaccine contains a microchip or that it will give them cancer. Others fear their personal information will be used to spy on them. Many point to religious beliefs, claiming that God will cure them if they contract covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, or that the vaccine is a sign of the Antichrist.

“As Hispanics, we like to gossip, pass on messages from one person to the next,” said Espronceda, who works with a program called Salud y Bien­estar, or Health and Wellness.” “But if we listen to all the negative things people say, we will have a problem on our hands.”

Kiwi nun broke Irish lockdown rules to attend exorcism

A New Zealand nun based in Ireland breached local lockdown rules when she attended a bizarre exorcism outside the nation's parliament, it has emerged.

Seventy people took place in the illegal protest outside the Dáil (Irish Parliament) on December 8 (local time) demanding places of worship reopen in the country.

Sister Anne Marie, along with Mother Irene Gibson, from the Carmelite Sisters of the Holy Face of Jesus, travelled from Cork to Dublin to attend the event, during a period when inter-county travel was banned and outdoor gatherings were limited to 15 people.

A member of the group held an 'exorcism' outside the Dáil, before a traditional Latin Mass was also staged.

https://amp.rnz.co.nz/article/6cccde5f-2eec-4d03-ad36-553d1da9fa70

The Biden White House is signaling publicly and privately that it is not prepared to abandon Neera Tanden’s nomination to head the Office of Management and Budget.

But almost immediately after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced on Friday that he would vote against her confirmation — deeply imperiling her bid — behind-the-scenes jockeying began for those seeking to be the fallback option.

Two early contenders to replace Tanden are Gene Sperling, a two-time director of the National Economic Council, and Ann O’Leary, who just came off a stint serving as California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s chief of staff, and who was considered a leading alternative to Tanden back in November when Tanden’s nomination was announced, according to people familiar with the matter.

Tanden’s selection to run the OMB was always viewed as a risky one for Biden, given her bare-knuckled approach to dealing with Republicans and particularly inflammatory Twitter account. But after Democrats took control of the Senate, Biden allies believed the president would get her confirmed.

Gov. Kristi Noem on Tuesday issued a statement calling on Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg to resign, adding pressure on the state's highest ranking prosecutor to depart office.

Noem also said the state will release additional materials related to the investigation into Ravnsborg's fatal Sept. 12 accident.

"Now that the investigation has closed and charges have been filed, I believe the Attorney General should resign," Noem said. "I have reviewed the material we are releasing, starting today, and I encourage others to review it as well."

Besides pressure from the governor, South Dakota lawmakers are considering starting impeachment proceedings against Ravnsborg.

South Dakota's AG charged with 3 misdemeanors in fatal crash

PIERRE, S.D. — South Dakota's Republican attorney general was charged Thursday with three misdemeanors for striking and killing a man with his car last summer, avoiding more serious felony charges in a case that raised questions about how the state's top law enforcement official first reported the crash.

Jason Ravnsborg could face up to 30 days in jail and up to a $500 fine on each charge: careless driving, driving out of his lane and operating a motor vehicle while on his phone.

Ravensborg said he was grateful that the legal system assumes his innocence — for now — while relatives of the man killed in the collision, 55-year-old Joseph Boever, said they were disappointed but not surprised that the attorney general was only facing misdemeanor charges.

Hyde County Deputy State's Attorney Emily Sovell said the evidence simply didn't support felony charges of vehicular homicide or manslaughter, which could have meant years of prison time. She noted Ravnsborg wasn't intoxicated, and that a manslaughter charge would have required the state to show he "consciously and unjustifiably" disregarded a substantial risk.

https://www.startribune.com/south-dakotas-ag-charged-with-3-misdemeanors-in-fatal-crash/600024594/