Daily Beast

NewsmaxIf there’s one thing Donald Trump can count on, it’s that MAGA cable channel Newsmax will feverishly boost whatever grift he’s currently peddling.While the former president has faced widespread backlash and mockery for endorsing a $60 “God Bless the USA” Bible during Holy Week, the reportedly Qatari-funded network’s hosts have spent the past few days gushing over Trump’s cash grab and helping the presumptive GOP nominee sell his wares.“This is beautiful, this is blessed,” cartoonishly MAGA host Greg Kelly bellowed on Wednesday night, adding: “I think this is fabulous. And I think this is the answer to a lot of our problems. And so does President Trump.”Read more at The Daily Beast.

Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesEric Adams and the New York Police Department announced a plan on Thursday to deploy scanners that use artificial intelligence to detect guns in the city’s subway stations.“This is our Sputnik moment,” Mayor Adams said at a news conference in a Lower Manhattan subway station, according to Gothamist. “Like when Kennedy said we’re going to put a man on the moon. ... Let’s bring on the scanners.”Adams is still finalizing a deal with the scanners’ manufacturer, Evolv, which is under investigation by the Securities Exchange Commission as well as the Federal Trade Commission. The company recently had to walk back claims that its technology had been tested by the British government, and is now being sued by its investors for misleading them about the efficacy of its weapon-detecting capabilities. Read more at The Daily Beast.

Getty Images/Charley GallayThe rapper Al B. Sure! has publicly reached out to his biological son, Quincy Brown, who was raised by Diddy—telling his child, 32, to “come home” amid a pair of FBI raids at his stepdad’s homes this week.Brown, who was born to Al B. (whose real name is Albert Joseph Brown III) and the late Kim Porter, has always called Sean Combs his “pops” and accused his biological dad of being absent during his childhood. In the wake of a slew of sexual assault and trafficking allegations against Combs, however, Al B. appears to be using the difficult time to have a bigger role in his son’s life. Read more at The Daily Beast.

The Daily Beast/Brian Pritchard for GeorgiaA judge ruled on Wednesday that the first vice chairman of Georgia’s Republican Party, who’d made public claims about widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, voted illegally nine times.Brian K. Pritchard, who hosts a conservative talk show, was accused of illegally voting in Georgia while on probation after pleading guilty to felony check forgery in Pennsylvania in 1996. Pritchard claimed that he believed his probation had already ended when he registered to vote in Georgia, but Senior District Attorney General Russell Willard argued that was not true. Read more at The Daily Beast.

Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/GettyOrlando Commissioner Regina Hill was indicted Thursday by grand jury on charges of elder abuse and fraud, according to court records filed in Orange County, Florida.The commissioner was hit with three counts of first-degree elder abuse resulting in damages of more than $50,000, three counts of fraud including personal identity and mortgage fraud, and one count of scheming to commit fraud. The alleged abuses took place from April 2021 to August 2022.Hill is accused of financially exploiting 96-year-old Annie Mae Curtis, a woman who lived in her district, Florida Department of Law Enforcement records show. After gaining power of attorney over the woman, Hill allegedly stole more than $100,000 from the elderly woman’s savings account to use for personal benefit. Authorities say she used the money to buy her own house, settle her son and his girlfriend into a home owned by Curtis, and purchase other personal luxuries like vacations, facelifts, and dental surgery.Read more at The Daily Beast.

Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty ImagesU.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan excoriated FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried during his sentencing hearing on Thursday, declaring that the convicted fraudster had perjured himself on the stand and attempted to commit witness tampering. Kaplan then sentenced Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison, capping a stunning downfall for the former public face of crypto.Bankman-Fried, who was convicted on seven fraud and conspiracy counts in November, has been locked up since August, when Kaplan got fed up with his pretrial antics and remanded him into custody.During Thursday’s hearing, Kaplan rejected Bankman-Fried’s claim that he deserves a lighter sentence because many of his victims may be made whole on their lost investments. That may happen, the judge noted, but only because cryptocurrencies have skyrocketed in value. He offered an analogy to explain why Bankman-Fried is still culpable: If a thief steals money, takes it to Las Vegas, and earns a handsome profit by gambling, he is still a thief, even if the funds are repaid. Read more at The Daily Beast.

Lloyd Bishop/NBC/GettyMaya Rudolph has weighed in on the viral poster for a fake Golden Girls reboot, calling it “fascinating”—even though the proposed show definitely isn’t happening.In case you missed it, earlier this week, a poster for a new version of The Golden Girls featuring Rudolph, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Lisa Kudrow started making the rounds on the internet. The self-proclaimed “graphic design nerd” behind the poster told The Daily Beast that they got death threats from angry fans, even though they made the Photoshopped edit just “for fun.”Rudolph, for her part, had a laugh about it while appearing on Late Night With Seth Meyers on Wednesday. When the host pulled out the poster for Rudolph to ogle, she poked fun at the image-altering choices, quipping, “I’m—so which one am I?”Read more at The Daily Beast.

Shareif Ziyadat/Getty ImagesCardi B took to the Instagram comments of The Breakfast Club’s account on Wednesday to reveal that her wild story about being stripped naked and accused of trafficking fentanyl by two LAPD officers was, in fact, a “joke.”On Monday, over Instagram Live, Cardi B threatened to sue the LAPD over an alleged traffic stop that she claimed evolved into a strip search that left her “butt naked” on the sidewalk. “I got stopped by the cops yesterday,” Cardi B alleged. “They thought I was trafficking fentanyl, and they thought I had a gun in my car, so they stopped me and everything. All the helicopters in L.A., they was outside. Yo, I was freaking out.”Read more at The Daily Beast.

Santi Visalli/GettyIn a year when news outlets have been shedding staff, getting sold for parts, or shutting down altogether, Joshua Kushner and Karlie Kloss have an idea: resurrect a 141-year-old magazine that’s been dormant for about 20 years.Kushner and Kloss announced Thursday that they’ve purchased the publishing rights to Life from Dotdash Meredith (currently owned by IAC, which is also parent company to The Daily Beast), with plans to resurrect the magazine’s print and digital publication. The deal was finalized by Bedford Media, a start-up led by Kloss; Kushner, her husband and brother to Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, will serve as publisher.“LIFE’s legacy lies in its ability to blend culture, current events, and everyday life—highlighting the triumphs, challenges, and unique perspectives that define us,” Kushner wrote in a statement. Read more at The Daily Beast.

Winnebago County Sheriff’s OfficeA man was arrested Wednesday after four people were killed and another seven were injured in a stabbing spree across several locations in Rockford, Illinois, authorities said.Christian Soto, 22, was booked at the Winnebago County Jail early Thursday on 11 charges ranging from first-degree murder to attempted murder, along with another two charges of home invasion, according to online jail records. Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd, who did not name Soto, said: “Right now, we don’t have a clear motive as to what caused this individual to commit such a heinous crime.”One of those injured in the rampage was left in critical condition, according to Redd. She also confirmed that not all of the victims were stabbed and said none of them were shot. Police said the deceased included a 15-year-old girl, a 22-year-old man, a 49-year-old man, and a 63-year-old woman. Three died at the scene of their attack while a fourth passed away at a hospital, according to the Associated Press.Read more at The Daily Beast.