The Daily Beast Podcast - Cheat Sheet Podcast from The Daily Beast 12/16/20

Episode Date: December 16, 2020

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You may be wondering what this new podcast is in your new abnormal feed. It's an episode of the Daily Beast Cheat Sheet Podcast, which keeps you up to date right out of the gate with quick summaries of the biggest stories dominating the day all in a five-minute podcast. From the chaos unfolding in the White House to the latest Hollywood scandals, the Daily Beast can help you stay up to date with the latest stories. Every weekday, the cheat-sheet podcast runs down the top scoops and stories dominating the headlines. The twice-a-day updates are really key for beating Rick to the punch on hot takes. Look for the cheat sheet on your favorite podcast app and subscribe today. Good morning. This is Brooke Howard with The Daily Beast.

It's Wednesday, December 16th, and these are the top stories the Chi-She team is watching right now. This is an absolute mess. President Trump is reportedly already considering replacing a tour. Attorney General William Barr's replacement Jeffrey Rosen before he's even started his new job. The president wants to appoint a special counsel to investigate the finances of President-elect Biden's son Hunter. The Associated Press reports that he's spoken with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and White House counsel Pat Cipollone about doing so. If Rosen is not willing to appoint such a special counsel,

White House staff members say Trump may get rid of Rosen. Trump was publicly enraged when news broke of Barr working to keep an ongoing investigation into Hunter Biden out of Delaware from the public in accordance with policy from the Department of Justice. Earlier this week, Barr announced he would step down before Christmas, after which Rosen will step into the DOJ's top job in an acting role. She has some nerve. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos issued a dramatic plea to staffers at a department. and wide meeting on Tuesday to, quote, be the resistance after the presidential transition next month. Citing a recording of the virtual meeting, Politico reports that DeVos acknowledged that many staffers in attendance would stick around after the transition before launching into her Trumpian tangent.

She predicted that the incoming administration will try to, quote, derail staff from doing what's right for students and that they must resist. DeVos also reportedly pointed to her revamping a Title IX rules of sexual assault as one of her biggest achievements. Her overhaul of the Obama-era policy, which regulates how schools must handle sexual assault allegations, was criticized for giving more rights to those accused of sexual assault. President-elect Biden has said he intends to put a quote, quick end to DeVos's Title IX overhaul. A New York judge ruled Tuesday that the Trump Organization must make documents about a certain property and the tax abatements related to available to the New York Attorney General's Office.

The Trump Organization has claimed attorney-client privilege protected the documents. An attorney for the Trump Organization argued that the company had, quote, every expectation that those communications would be confidential. But an attorney from the Attorney General's Office countered that the business had, quote, waived privilege to gain benefit from the IRS and submitting documents to the financial agency for tax purposes. The Attorney General's office has been investigating the Trump Organization since the president's former fixer, Michael Cohen, testified by the company lied about the values of its properties.

An Ohio man who posed as a missing boy from Illinois was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison and won on probation. Brian Michael Rainey had claimed in 2019 that he was the 14-year-old version of Timothy Pitson, a boy who had been abducted at age six from Aurora, Illinois. Rini said he had been physically and sexually abused for years and escaped a hotel where two men were holding him captive. After his DNA was tested, though, investigators realized he was a felon. Rini admitted that he had seen an episode of 2020 about the child and attempted to assume his identity in order to escape his own family.

Rini was convicted of aggravated identity theft. He apologized during his sentencing. Human remains discovered in Michigan sleeping baridunes, National Park back in 2017 have been determined to be, quote, most likely prehistoric and age, park officials say. The remains were found by a visitor and later handed over to a lab for testing, but the news only became public this sweep when findings were released. In a notice, authorities said the remains, quote, show characteristics of Native American populations and were found on, quote, lands that are recognized as the aboriginal land of the tribes. Officials are now said to be

consulting tribal communities on what should be done with the remains. A woman who worked as a live-in nanny for real housewives of New York star Jennifer Gilbert and her ex-husband has filed a lawsuit, alleging she was secretly filmed in the nude and having sex with her boyfriend while living at the couple's home. A complaint filed Tuesday alleges that Daniela de Las Rios only discovered that her bedroom was under constant surveillance in late August. When Gilbert's former husband, Wall Street executive Bennett Eagith left his iPad out on a hallway table, giving De Laos a glimpse of the lie feed. The lawsuit says De Laos Rios was traumatized when she quickly found that a digital clock that had been aimed at her bed the entire time she lived in the home actually contained a camera.

Eagith was arrested in September. His defense lawyer denied the allegations. That's all for this morning. Check back every weekday morning and afternoon for more of the news. need to know. Find us wherever you listen to podcasts. Want more great listens? Check out our comedy podcast, The Last Laugh, and our star-studded The Daily Beast podcast at the Daily Beast.com slash podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, consider becoming a Daily Beast subscriber. Subscribing is the best way to feed the beast and support all of your podcasts as we cover what might become the darkest timeline. Head to the DailyBeast.com slash membership slash podcast and sign up today. Thank you.