Traditional automotive public sale website Convey a Trailer gross sales hit file $1.Four billion

1967 Porsche 910

Source: Bringatrailer.com

Bring a Trailer, the popular online auction site for collectible cars, posted record sales in 2023, even as classic-car prices hit the skids.

Bring a Trailer’s sales increased about 2% last year to over $1.4 billion from $1.35 billion in 2022, according to the company’s CEO Randy Nonnenberg. Bring a Trailer sold over 30,000 cars in 2023, up 19% from 2022.

The growth in the number of cars sold helped to offset a decline in prices. The average price of a car sold on the site fell to $54,000 in 2023 from $59,500 in 2022.

The company’s growth marked a rare bright spot in the classic-car market in 2023, as prices fell from their feverish highs of 2021 and 2022 and rising interest rates took a toll on collectors. Total auction sales of classic cars (for both online and live auctions) fell 3% last year to $4.19 billion from $4.32 billion in 2022, according to data from Classic.com. Prices for many models have fallen 10% or more, according to classic-car analysts.

592-Mile 2014 Pagani Huayra

Source: Bringatrailer.com

In an interview with CNBC, Nonnenberg said inflation, economic uncertainty, a volatile stock market and turmoil overseas have cooled demand among potential bidders. But he said sellers are still offering trophy cars, and buyers are bidding, even if their offers are lower.

“People were a little bit nervous about their portfolio, so that can slow down discretionary car buying,” he said. “We thought we might see that people would stop selling or holding cars if they’re nervous. Interestingly, we didn’t see that. We still saw people wanting to trade out into something else. It’s just changed the pricing a little bit.”

Bring a Trailer’s low-cost, user friendly platform also continued to attract car enthusiasts. Its number of registered users grew to 1.2 million in 2023, up from 880,000 in 2022, according to Nonnenberg.

The number of active bidders surged to over 520,000. Sellers on Bring a Trailer pay a flat fee of $99, while the buyer fee is 5% of the car’s sale price with a cap of $5,000 — a fraction of what traditional car-auction firms take. The site offers everything from $3,000 motorcycles to $200,00 Porsches and $1 million Ferraris.

The big draw of Bring a Trailer is the auction voyeurism. Users follow bids and sales in real time, and view photos of and comments on rare cars. The site has up to 1,000 cars being auctioned at any one time, and auctions for each car typically last a week, Nonnenberg said.

For 2024, the company is launching a new suite of services to speed up the checkout process, helping buyers with paperwork, money transfers and other requirements.

Nonnenberg said this year’s sales are shaping up to be as good as or better than those of 2023, as prices stabilize and bidders gain confidence from potential interest rate cuts later in the year.

“The spring months are really popular on Bring a Trailer because people are kind of coming out of winter, and opening up their garage and starting to care about travel and cars,” he said. “We think we will be right on track for a typical spring for us, which is exciting.”

While Bring a Trailer didn’t beat its previous record for most expensive car sold on the site — a $5.36 million La Ferrari sold in 2022 — it managed to sell two cars for over $2 million last year. It’s most expensive sale in 2023 was a 2014 Pagani Huayra that sold for $2.9 million. It also sold a rare 1967 Porsche 910 race car for $2.5 million, a 2020 “Liquid Carbon” Ford GT for $1.8 million and a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT with only 601 miles for $1.8 million.

Nonnenberg said more newer cars from the 2000s and 2010s are starting to go up for auction.

“Even cars from the 2000s are starting to become collector’s items,” he said. “As everything goes electric, those cars from 20 years ago become more special. A lot of people think BAT is for 1960s cars. It’s actually much more modern.”

Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS Winter Sale Has Main Markdowns on High-Sellers

We independently selected these deals and products because we love them, and we think you might like them at these prices. E! has affiliate relationships, so we may get a commission if you purchase something through our links. Items are sold by the retailer, not E!. Prices are accurate as of publish time.

If you want to be “the most interesting to look at” and the most comfortably dressed, you need SKIMS in your life. Kim Kardashian’s brand has become a personal favorite thanks to its next-level softness, supportive fabrics, inclusive sizing, and seasonal collections. Every time I think SKIMS can’t get any better, the brand continues leveling up. Unfortunately, I do not have an endless shopping budget— otherwise, I would have every single SKIMS piece. That’s why I’m always “keeping up with” SKIMS news, on the hunt for a good sale.

If you’re a seasoned SKIMS shopper, you know that sales don’t happen very often and when they do you need to act fast before your must-haves sell out (trust me, it’s the worst). The SKIMS Winter Sale starts on January 12, 2024, at 11 AM ET/ 8 AM PT.

Protection Secretary Austin is ‘actively concerned and engaged’ whereas hospitalized

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin testifies before a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the conclusion of military operations in Afghanistan at the Rayburn House Office building on Capitol Hill on September 29, 2021 in Washington, DC. 

Olivier Douliery | Afp | Getty Images

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is still hospitalized following doctors’ advice, but he’s “actively involved and engaged,” according to national security spokesperson John Kirby.

Appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Kirby said that Austin took part in discussions planning strikes on Iran-allied Houthi militants in Yemen several days ago.

“It’s also important for people to remember that the cabinet officials don’t have to sit and talk every single day to make every decision,” Kirby said. “A lot of the work that gets done in national security is done at the staff level.”

Austin has been treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center since Jan. 1, following complications from a surgery nearly two weeks earlier to treat prostate cancer. Kirby said Sunday that physical therapy is part of the reason doctors have kept Austin in the hospital.

The Pentagon’s failure to disclose Austin’s hospital admittance to the White House or the public has stirred up controversy, although President Joe Biden is standing by Austin.

For two days, Pentagon officials also failed to tell Austin’s second-in-command that he transferred his authority over to her while he was in the intensive care unit.

“The Pentagon’s investigating this, and we’ll see what comes out of that, but that is not the way that the process is supposed to work,” Kirby said.

Congressional Knowledgeable Says Home Democrats Ought to Introduce an Impeachment Decision In opposition to Decide Cannon

Judge Aileen Cannon refused to enforce a routine deadline in the Mar-a-Lago stolen documents case, which means it won’t go to trial before the 2024 election. Her pandering to defendant Donald Trump’s best interests is a clear-cut example of her working for the defense.

Anyone who has been following the Mar-a-Lago documents case is familiar with Judge Cannon’s blatant favoritism for Trump. The question is, what should be done about it?

“I think it is time for a House Democrat to introduce an impeachment resolution against Aileen Cannon. She is operating as a lawyer for Trump, not as an impartial judge. Of course, it would fail, but it will put a spotlight on her treachery,” Emeritus scholar at the conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute Norm Ornstein wrote above a post about Judge Aileen Cannon’s midnight ruling.

Ornstein is also, most importantly on this matter, an expert on the United States Congress.

In light of the fact that House Republicans are currently trying to impeach President Joe Biden for reasons yet unknown with no evidence or even suggestion of behavior warranting an impeachment inquiry, as well as members of his administration just because they don’t like Biden’s policies — you knows, the policies the voters chose — impeachment as a political weapon is becoming a thing.

This is being done by House Republicans on purpose as electoral help for Donald Trump in the upcoming election, in order to conflate the absolutely necessary two impeachments of Donald Trump with these toothless, politically-motivated impeachment noises over Biden family members repaying loans.

The impeachment fan fic Republicans are creating from your tax dollars and selling for political purposes are undermining the rule of law, much as the person they are meant to help has done since he descended that golden escalator in June of 2015 to announce his candidacy.

Yet, an impeachment proceeding against Judge Cannon, which will not happen, would actually be an attempt to steer the country back to the rule of law.

Introducing a resolution of impeachment against her would no doubt open Democrats to more accusations from Republicans that they are politically motivated, but more importantly, would certainly give the U.S. media the “both sides” red meat for which it lives and on which it thrives.

However, it might be time for Democrats to stop worrying about how the media is going to equivocate for anti-democracy forces because those who know already know, and those who don’t aren’t watching cable news or paying to read The New York Times anyway.

With social media, Democrats can get their message out to voters and if they dared, they could pull exactly what Republicans have for so many years by forcing the media to dance for them in order to appear.

Of course, that wouldn’t be good for democracy in the long run — and certainly, Democrats shouldn’t operate like Republicans. But when you’re in a war with authoritarians, adhering to the rules and thinking they will save you is a fatal mistake. The rules only exist to be weaponized against democracy by authoritarians. As Judge Cannon is demonstrating so well, the law is weaponized to only apply to opponents in a country that is engaged in democratic backsliding.

An impeachment resolution against Cannon would serve the same purpose as the impeachments of Donald Trump: A point of reference that this is not okay. An official objection to her abuse of the justice system. A warning that House Republicans have a very slim majority.

Democrats have started to demonstrate unexpected adeptness at battling these anti-democracy forces primarily found in the Republican Party, far-right and far-left. It’s a big fight, but it’s either going to happen or the country will just give in to the Dictator-in-Waiting.

A Special Message From PoliticusUSA

If you are in a position to donate purely to help us keep the doors open on PoliticusUSA during what is a critical election year, please do so here. 

We have been honored to be able to put your interests first for 14 years as we only answer to our readers and we will not compromise on that fundamental, core PoliticusUSA value.

Listen to Sarah on the PoliticusUSA Pod on The Daily newsletter podcast here.

Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.

Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Connect with Sarah on Post,  Mastodon @PoliticusSarah@Journa.Host, & Twitter.

Supreme Court docket case on ‘revenue’ may have main implications for taxpayers

People exit the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, June 27, 2023.

Minh Connors | The Washington Post | Getty Images

The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments Tuesday on a case that could affect broad swaths of the U.S. tax code and federal revenue.

The closely watched case, Moore v. United States, involves a Washington couple, Charles and Kathleen Moore. They own a controlling interest in a profitable foreign company affected by a tax enacted via former President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax overhaul.

The Moores are fighting a levy on company earnings that weren’t distributed to them — which challenges the definition of income — and could have sweeping effects on the U.S. tax code, according to experts.

“This could have the biggest fiscal policy effects of any court decision in the modern era,” said Matt Gardner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, who co-authored a report on the case.

More from Personal Finance:
FAFSA: The new college financial aid application will open by Dec. 31
More states require students to take a personal finance course
Here’s where to invest your cash to save on taxes in 2024

The case challenges a levy, known as “deemed repatriation,” enacted via the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Designed as a transition tax, the legislation required a one-time levy on earnings and profits accumulated in foreign entities after 1986.

While the 16th Amendment outlines the legal definition of income, the Moore case questions whether individuals must “realize” or receive profits before incurring taxes. It’s an issue that has been raised during past federal “billionaire tax” debates and could affect future proposals, including wealth taxes.

Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, who helped draft the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, said at a Brookings Institution event in September that the goal was to “finance a conversion from one system to another, and it wasn’t to justify a wealth tax.”

Ryan, who doesn’t support a wealth tax, said using the Moores’ argument to block one would require getting rid of “a third of the tax code.”

Pass-through businesses could be affected

Depending on how the court decides this case, there could be either small ripples or a major effect on the tax code, according to Daniel Bunn, president and CEO of the Tax Foundation, who has written about the topic.

If the court decides the Moores incurred a tax on unrealized income and says the levy is unconstitutional, it could affect the future taxation of so-called pass-through entities, such as partnerships, limited liability corporations and S corporations, he said. 

“You’ve got to pay attention to the way the rules are going to impact your business, especially if you’re doing things in a cross-border context,” Bunn said.

There’s also the potential for a “substantial impact” on federal revenue, which could influence future tax policy, Bunn said. If deemed repatriation were fully struck down for corporate and noncorporate taxpayers, the Tax Foundation estimates federal revenue would be reduced by $346 billion over the next decade.

However, with a decision not expected until 2024, it’s difficult to predict how the Supreme Court may rule on this case. “There’s a lot of uncertainty about the scope of this thing,” Gardner added.

Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO:

Google vows to not cost information switch charges when cloud prospects exit

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian speaks at the Google Cloud Next event in San Francisco on April 9, 2019.

Michael Short | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Google’s latest effort to win cloud deals over larger rivals Amazon and Microsoft involves making it cheaper for clients to leave.

In a blog post Thursday, Google took aim at cloud competitors that it says use their market power to force customers into “punitive” contract terms. Google gave the example of a company charging five times as much if a client uses a competitor’s cloud and “limiting interoperability of must-have software.” 

“Starting today, Google Cloud customers who wish to stop using Google Cloud and migrate their data to another cloud provider and/or on premises, can take advantage of free network data transfer to migrate their data out of Google Cloud,” Amit Zavery, a Google cloud vice president, wrote in the post. “This applies to all customers globally.” 

While Zavery didn’t name any specific vendors, data transfer fees are a profitable source of revenue for tech companies and can serve to reduce churn because they punish clients for going elsewhere. In 2018, Cloudflare announced the Bandwidth Alliance, a group of companies, including some cloud providers, that reduce or eliminate those data transfer, or egress, fees. Alibaba, Google, Microsoft and Oracle are all members, but Amazon is not.

Google is declaring that all transfer fees should be wiped away and companies should instead win with their technology and service.

“Customers should choose a cloud provider because it makes sense for their business, not because their legacy provider has locked them in with overly restrictive contracting terms or punitive licensing practices,” Zavery wrote.

A spokesperson for Amazon Web Services said in an emailed statement that since 2021, over 90% of customers have been paying nothing to transfer data out of AWS. The company said that in accordance with the European Data Act, which has just gone into effect and imposes data-sharing requirements on cloud providers, AWS will not charge “more than cost” for data transfers.

“Restrictive licensing practices remain a far bigger issue to customers who want the choice of working with their preferred cloud provider,” the spokesperson said.

Microsoft didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Under the leadership of Thomas Kurian, Google’s cloud business turned profitable last year, adding prominent customers and improving efficiency. Kurian’s former employer, Oracle, was notorious in the pre-cloud era for locking customers into its long-standing database software.

In the highly competitive and much more open world of cloud computing, locking in customers has become a more difficult proposition. By making transfer free, Google could be pressuring rivals to follow suit or risk losing out on new business prospects.

Egress costs vary based on several factors, including destination, origin and data volume. For example, before the change, a company planning to depart from Google and move a petabyte of data in the Google Cloud Storage service from the northern Virginia cloud region to a non-Google U.S. data center might have expected to pay around $80,000, based on list prices. Large customers generally receive discounts.

Google’s latest pronouncement follows a pattern, as the company has been more willing of late to criticize rivals on practices it sees as anti-competitive. Last year Google expressed concerns about Microsoft’s cloud practices to officials in the U.S. and the European Union.

“We will continue to be vocal in our efforts to advocate on behalf of our cloud customers — many of whom raise concerns about legacy providers’ licensing restrictions directly with us,” Zavery wrote. “Much more must be done to end the restrictive licensing practices that are the true barrier to customer choice and competition in the cloud market.”

WATCH: Regulatory risk to U.S. tech giants on market monopoly is real, but not priced in yet: Portfolio manager

YouTube launches First Support Info Cabinets to assist in emergencies

People walk past a billboard advertisement for YouTube in Berlin, Germany, on Sept. 27, 2019.

Sean Gallup | Getty Images

YouTube is taking steps to fight against medical misinformation, especially when it comes to finding immediate tips on how to handle an emergency.

The company on Wednesday introduced a feature called First Aid Information Shelves, a library of step-by-step videos that show people what to do if they’re witnessing a drug overdose, heart attack or other life-threatening event. 

Videos from accredited health organizations such as Mass General Brigham will appear pinned to the top of relevant search results so they’re easy to discover. YouTube users in the U.S. can find videos on 12 topics, including CPR, seizures, choking, bleeding and psychosis. Most are a minute or two long.

“The whole idea is timing and conciseness and trying to share that information as quickly as possible,” Garth Graham, global head of health care and public health at YouTube, told CNBC in an interview. Graham said people should always call first responders right away in the case of an emergency. 

The videos will not contain ads, which means Google-owned YouTube won’t make money from them, Graham said.

YouTube was not involved with the content creation, which Graham said was left to experts. In addition to Mass General Brigham, health organizations such as the Mexican Red Cross and the American Heart Association have partnered with YouTube to help make the videos. 

Content moderation has long been a challenge for YouTube, which removes videos if they’re found to be in violation of the company’s guidelines. The process is often slow and costly. Medical misinformation became a bigger problem during the Covid-19 pandemic due to the constant spreading of inaccurate messaging related to the effectiveness of vaccines and masks.

In July 2021, more than a year after the onset of the pandemic, YouTube announced plans to label videos and promote credible sources after facing criticism for its role in spreading misinformation. The company banned several high-profile anti-vaxxer accounts and said in September of that year that it had removed more than 130,000 videos for violating its Covid policies. 

Even as the pandemic has subsided, medical misinformation continues to proliferate. Researchers recently found that popular videos on YouTube about insomnia and sleep contain both “misinformation and commercial bias,” according to a study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.  

YouTube announced a new framework for combating medical misinformation in August, outlining how the site will remove content that contradicts established guidance from health officials on subjects including cancer, Covid and reproductive health. 

Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwards

An example of what First Aid Information Shelves will look like on YouTube.

‘First videos that you see’

Mass General Brigham, the largest health-care system in Massachusetts, started officially partnering with YouTube in 2021 “to offer patients easier access to credible medical information,” according to a press release at the time.

The hospital has a dedicated content team with an expertise in medical education that determines the topics and substance of the videos, said Dr. Merranda Logan, the health system’s associate chief academic officer.

For YouTube’s First Aid Information Shelves, Mass General Brigham’s team produced 11 videos across topics such as heart attacks, strokes and seizures.

Logan said there’s a lot of medical information and misinformation online and distinguishing between the two can be a challenge. She said people should be able to turn to trusted experts in an emergency when “every minute, every second counts.”

“We wanted to make sure that these videos are the first videos that you see when you’re on YouTube and you search for any of those topics,” Logan said in an interview. “These videos really are not meant to replace calling 911, but to provide clear and concise information that can help during an emergency.”

When searching for videos on CPR, users will find content from the AHA, which writes the guidelines on the procedure and, since the 1990s, has worked to educate people about how to handle emergency situations.

“We have a really strong interest in partnering with our search engines that we know where people are going for content to make sure that they’re getting scientifically accurate content,” said Dr. Comilla Sasson, the AHA’s vice president for health-care business solutions for emergency cardiovascular care.

Videos will initially be available in English and Spanish, thanks to the help of the Mexican Red Cross, Graham said. Mass General Brigham is also using one of YouTube’s artificial intelligence-powered translation tools to present content in Spanish.

YouTube plans to add more topics, countries and languages in the future. 

Graham said YouTube will regularly work with its partners to ensure the videos remain as accurate and up to date as possible. The shelves are part of an “ongoing evolution of information quality” at YouTube, he said. 

“It’s important for us all to be prepared to respond to a series of common medical conditions that could happen to us, family, loved ones, people who are passing by,” Graham said. “We should be up to speed on that.”

WATCH: YouTube is worth $350 billion to $400 billion, says Needham’s Laura Martin

Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO:

Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin has prostate most cancers

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized on Jan. 1 for complications following surgery nearly two weeks earlier to treat prostate cancer, doctors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center revealed Tuesday.

The disclosure of Austin’s diagnosis and cause of his hospitalization came amid controversy over the Pentagon’s failure for days to inform the White House or the public that the Defense secretary had been admitted to Walter Reed, where he ended up in the intensive care unit.

Pentagon officials also failed for two days last week to notify Austin’s second-in-command that he had transferred authority to her while he was in the ICU, and while she was in Puerto Rico.

President Joe Biden only learned Austin’s prostate cancer diagnosis on Tuesday morning, three days after speaking with Austin on the phone, the White House said.

Hours later Tuesday, the Walter Reed doctors issued their public statement, which is just the latest in a series of surprising disclosures about the Defense chief’s health since Friday.

Austin is sixth in the line of presidential succession and is an essential player in the United States national security apparatus. His previously secret hospitalization came as the U.S. was weighing and executing several major national security measures, including military strikes in the Middle East.

Members of Congress were stunned last Friday to learn from a public Pentagon statement that Austin had both had elective surgery, and later hospitalized on Jan. 1 without them being informed at the time. Biden was informed of the hospitalization on Thursday.

Shortly before Austin’s diagnosis was publicly released Tuesday, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Jack Reed said, “This lack of disclosure must never happen again.”

“He is taking responsibility for the situation, but this was a serious incident and there needs to be transparency and accountability from the Department,” said Reed, D-Rhode Island.

The Republican-led House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday opened a formal inquiry into Austin’s secret hospitalizations, saying it had “grave concerns about the handling of your absence and hospitalization.”

“With wars in Ukraine and Israel, the idea that the White House and even your own Deputy did not understand the nature of your condition is patently unacceptable,” committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Alabama.

The panel asked Austin for information about any medical sedation or anesthesia he received last week, any orders given to “inform or not inform any other person of your hospitalization or medical condition,” and a detailed account of his transfer of duties to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks.

The statement Tuesday from Walter Reed came from Dr. John Maddox, trauma medical director, and Dr. Gregory Chesnut, director of the Center for Prostate Disease Research of the Murtha Cancer Center.

The statement said that Austin, as part of his “routinely recommended health screen, “has undergone prostate specific antigen surveillance.”

“Changes in his laboratory evaluation in early December 2023 identified prostate cancer which required treatment,” the doctors said in their statement.

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in American men, occurring at a rate of 1 in every 8 men, and at a rate of 1 in every 6 Black men, the statement noted.

“On December 22, 2023, after consultation with his medical team, [Austin] was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and underwent a minimally invasive surgical procedure called a prostatectomy to treat and cure prostate cancer.”

Austin was “under general anesthesia during this procedure,” the doctors said. “Secretary Austin recovered uneventfully from his surgery and returned home the next morning.  His prostate cancer was detected early, and his prognosis is excellent. “

But on Jan. 1, the doctors said, Austin was re-admitted to the Bethesda, Maryland, hospital after experiencing complications from the surgery, “including nausea and severe abdominal, hip and leg pain.”

“Initial evaluation revealed a urinary tract infection,” the statement said.

On Jan. 2, Austin was transferred to Walter Reed’s ICU “for close monitoring and a higher level of care,” the doctors said.

Biden was not told that Austin was in the hospital until two days after his admission to the ICU.

After Austin’s transfer there, doctors discovered a collection of abdominal fluid was impairing the function of his small intestines.

“This resulted in the back up of his intestinal contents which was treated by placing a tube through his nose to drain his stomach,” the statement said. “The abdominal fluid collections were drained by non-surgical drain placement.”

The doctors said Austin’s condition has “progressed steadily throughout his stay” and that his infection has cleared.

“He continues to make progress and we anticipate a full recovery although this can be a slow process,” the doctors said. “During this stay, Secretary Austin never lost consciousness and never underwent general anesthesia.”

Austin is no longer in the ICU but remains at Walter Reed.

The new statement is not likely to put an end to questions about Austin’s failure to disclose his condition or hospitalization, which had led to calls for his resignation by some lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Austin and Biden so far have resisted those calls.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has said that the president maintains “complete confidence” in his defense secretary.

But on Tuesday, Biden’s chief of staff Jeff Zients sent a memo to all members of the president’s Cabinet, which includes Austin, notifying them that the White House is conducting a review of protocols by departments for the delegation of authority by Cabinet members.

Zeints directed all Cabinet members to instruct their agencies to submit their existing protocols to the White House, according to the memo, which was obtained by NBC News.

In the meantime, Zients wrote, Cabinet agencies “must ensure” that they notify the White House and the chief of staff “in the event of a delegation of authority or potential delegation.”

“This notification should occur when agencies anticipate or are preparing for a delegation of authority and again when the delegation occurs,” Zients wrote.

Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder at a press briefing Tuesday said, “Secretary Austin has taken responsibility for the issues with transparency, and the Department is taking immediate steps to improve our notification procedures.”

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, at a press briefing Tuesday, referred to the controversy surrounding Austin.

“We all recognize that this didn’t unfold the way it should have on so many levels,” Kirby said.

Diamond Explains Why She Had An Abortion With Lil Scrappy

In the trailer for her Carlos King interview, Diamond seemed to be on a thousand while speaking on her ex-fiancé Lil Scrappy and the mothers of his children.

With the full sit-down out as of Jan. 9, fans saw a vulnerable side of the Crime Mob rapper. Diamond spoke openly about deciding to have an abortion while dating Scrappy.

Diamond Says An Abortion Felt Like The “Best Decision” For Her At The Time

The procedure took place either before or after she had experienced a “traumatizing” miscarriage at three months pregnant. A tattoo on her hand shows that the miscarried child was supposed to be born on Oct. 26, 2007. She blamed the incident on “relationship” and “industry stress.”

Carlos and the ‘Knuck If You Buck’ star touched on the sensitive topic about 17 minutes into the hour-plus interview. As for having an abortion, Diamond admitted it’s something she’s “not happy about” and deals with “every day.”

“At that time, I felt that this was the best decision that I felt I was making,” Diamond shared. “So, to see women be able to get pregnant and be on stage, to really have a relationship and be open about dating, that was so unheard of. You had a boyfriend, you got pregnant your career was over. You cut off.”

Though she didn’t name-drop anyone, the Atlanta rapper said someone “in a sense” told her to get an abortion. She added that there was “so much money that was at stake,” given that she and Scrap were at the “height of [their] career.” Diamond added that they were touring six days a week at the time and only came home on Sundays to re-pack and do it all over again.

Still, Scrappy allegedly didn’t take the pregnancy’s end too lightly. Diamond suggested that they’ve spoken about it, and it feels like he’s still angry with her behind it.

“He was devastated. He still carries that hurt, he’s still angry with me in a sense for that and allowing the industry to, but you know, I was afraid, and he was doing his thing. I thought I would be home with a baby. My career would be over, he’d just be doing his thing like he was already doing his thing. But I knew that he would be a great father. Hands down, we know he’s a great father, he loves his kids. Still, at the end of the day, everything is left up to Mommy, you can come and go, it’s really left up to mom to do everything.”

Diamond explained that she’s a very hands-on mother. It’s a parenting method she picked up from her own mom and applies while mothering her seven-year-old Princeton from a different relationship. She called her little one the “love of her life” and “best friend.”

Watch her comments below.

Lil Scrappy Responds After Diamond Takes Shots At Erica Dixon

As previously reported, Diamond made waves with the interview trailer after she seemed to target Erica Dixon and Bambi. She revealed that she was the first pick for the ‘Love & Hip Hop ATL’ debut season before rejecting the offer.

She also questioned why Erica seems overly invested in Scrappy and not the father of her twin daughters. This comes amid multiple public and presumed romantic outings between Dixon and Scrappy — from concert and spa dates to bringing in 2024 together.

When Scrappy clapped back, suggesting Diamond was mad that he didn’t want her, she dropped receipts saying otherwise.

He remained mum online after that, and, for now, so have Erica and Bambi.

RELATED: Oop! Diamond Drops Receipts After Lil Scrappy Says He Doesn’t Want Her While Defending Erica Dixon

Pat McAfee assaults ESPN government amid Rodgers, Kimmel battle

PHOENIX, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 09: Former NFL player and host Pat McAfee speaks on radio row ahead of Super Bowl LVII at the Phoenix Convention Center on February 9, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Mike Lawrie | Getty Images

ESPN’s Pat McAfee problem is getting more complicated.

On Friday, the host and former NFL punter publicly attacked longtime ESPN executive Norby Williamson, accusing him of “actively trying to sabotage” him by leaking information to reporters.

The New York Post reported on McAfee’s relatively low ratings Thursday, noting, “Since the inception of McAfee’s show on ESPN in the fall, Stephen A. Smith and ‘First Take’ are handing McAfee a 583,000 viewer lead-in, and McAfee is maintaining just 302,000, which is a 48% drop.”

McAfee implied Williamson may have leaked the idea for the story to New York Post reporter Andrew Marchand. Marchand declined to comment.

“I believe Norby Williamson is the guy who is attempting to sabotage our program,” McAfee said. “I’m not 100% sure. That is just seemingly the only human that has information and then somehow that information gets leaked, and it’s wrong.”

McAfee didn’t specifically say what information was wrong. Over the years, other ESPN talent have speculated that Williamson has leaked private details, including contract information, according to people familiar with the matter. On Friday, former ESPN journalist Jemele Hill posted on social media platform X “I can relate” with regard to McAfee’s comments about Williamson.

There’s no evidence Williamson has leaked information. Williamson, who has worked for ESPN for nearly 40 years, declined to comment through an ESPN spokesperson.

There’s also a contingent of ESPN employees who have grumbled about McAfee’s show and his large contract. McAfee signed a five-year, $85 million contract with ESPN in May.

ESPN management values the importance of McAfee and Williamson and is looking into why McAfee denigrated an executive, according to a person familiar with the matter. There is no planned suspension for McAfee, and ESPN hopes to find a path forward for both Williamson and McAfee, according to a person familiar with the matter.

“No one is more committed to and invested in ESPN’s success than Norby Williamson,” an ESPN spokesperson said. “At the same time, we are thrilled with the multi-platform success that we have seen from the Pat McAfee Show across ESPN. We will handle this matter internally and have no further comment.”

Earlier this week, McAfee found himself in hot water for providing a platform for New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers to disparage a fellow Disney employee. Rodgers, a frequent guest on McAfee’s show, incorrectly suggested ABC late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel would be included in court documents related to late sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein. Kimmel fired back Tuesday, tweeting Rodgers’ “reckless words put [his] family in danger.”

McAfee later apologized over the Kimmel comments.

“I could see exactly why Jimmy Kimmel felt the way he felt, especially with his position,” McAfee said Wednesday, noting that Rodgers “did go too far.”

ESPN on Friday also addressed Rodgers’ comments about Kimmel.

“Aaron made a dumb and factually inaccurate joke about Jimmy Kimmel. It should never have happened. We all realized that in the moment,” ESPN executive Mike Foss told Front Office Sports.

The New York Post previously reported that McAfee has paid Rodgers “millions” to appear on his show. The former MVP and Super Bowl champion, who has made hundreds of millions of dollars in the NFL, joined the Jets last year after playing for over a decade with the Green Bay Packers. He missed the season with an Achilles tendon injury.

A representative for Rodgers didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.