NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Former President Donald Trump's comeback is complete: He was elected the 47th president of the United States on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press, beating his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris.
12:58 p.m.: Gillen flips Long Island's NY-4 House seat
Democrat Laura Gillen, a former town supervisor, has won the House election in New York's 4th Congressional District, the AP projected, beating incumbent Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, a 1st-term, retired NYPD officer Republican, who he defeated in 2022.
The election was a rematch of the November 2022 race, when D'Esposito beat Gillen and flipped the seat from blue to red.
11:15 a.m.: Biden addresses nation: ‘In a democracy, the will of the people always prevails’
He says he spoke with Donald Trump and assured him that he would direct his administration to ensure a “peaceful and orderly transition,” because that’s what the people deserve.
The president is subtly nodding to how Trump, in 2020, refused to accept he lost the election. Trump was reelected this week.
The US election system “is honest, it is fair, and it is transparent. And it can be trusted, win or lose,” Biden said.
He added there will be a “peaceful transfer of power.”
11 a.m.: Biden to address nation
President Joe Biden is scheduled to deliver remarks to the nation Thursday in what will be his first appearance on camera following Donald Trump’s decisive victory over Kamala Harris.
10 a.m.-- federal prosecutor investigating Trump may wind down the criminal cases against him
Even as President-elect Donald Trump celebrates his victory, he is still under a cloud of federal charges for plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
That may be coming to an end.
Jack Smith, the prosecutor appointed to investigate Trump, is evaluating how to wind down the two federal cases against Trump before he takes office, a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday. That’s because a longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents can’t be prosecuted. The charges stemming from the documents case had been dismissed, but Smith was appealing to have them reinstated.
The person familiar with Smith’s plans was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press.
By moving to wind down the cases before the inauguration in January, Smith and the Justice Department would be averting a potential showdown with Trump, who said as recently as last month that he would fire Smith “within two seconds” of taking office.
Trump is still mired in other legal cases, and their fate is unclear. He has already been convicted for his connection to a $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election.