The audio tape of President-elect Donald Trump’s New York City sentencing hearing was released to the public on Friday giving insight into the unprecedented conviction against a former president where Trump was ultimately sentenced to an unconditional discharge.

"This has been a very terrible experience," Trump, who virtually attended the criminal trial sentencing hearing, told the New York City courtroom on Friday morning. "I think it's been a tremendous setback for New York and the New York court system."

"This is a case that Alvin Bragg did not want to bring. He thought it was from what I read and from what I hear, inappropriately handled before he got there. And a gentleman from a law firm came in and acted as a district attorney," the president-elect continued. "And that gentleman, from what I heard, was a criminal or almost criminal in what he did. It was very inappropriate. It was somebody involved with my political opponent." 

"I think it's an embarrassment to New York and New York has a lot of problems, but this is a great embarrassment," he added.

DONALD TRUMP SENTENCED WITH NO PENALTY IN NEW YORK CRIMINAL TRIAL, AS JUDGE WISHES HIM 'GODSPEED' IN 2ND TERM

At one point, Trump leaned forward, looking at Judge Juan Merchan, and referenced the November election, suggesting that it represented a repudiation of this case.

"It's been a political witch hunt," Trump explained. "It was done to damage my reputation so that I'd lose the election. And obviously, that didn't work. And the people of our country got to see this firsthand because they watched the case in your courtroom. They got to see this firsthand. And then they voted, and I won."

Assistant District Attorney Josh Steinglass stated that there was "overwhelming evidence to support the jury's verdict" and was critical of Trump, claiming the president-elect "has caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice system and has placed officers of the court in harm's way" with the comments he publicly made during the trial.

"I very, very much disagree with much of what the government just said about this case, about the legitimacy of what happened in this courtroom during the trial and about President Trump's conduct fighting this case from before it was indicted, while it was indicted, to the jury's verdict, and even to this day," Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said in response to the prosecution.

ANDREW MCCARTHY: SUPREME COURT ALLOWS TRUMP TO BE TAINTED AS A FELON. BUT THERE'S A CATCH

During the hearing, Judge Juan Merchan defended the actions he took along the way. 

"The imposition of sentence is one of the most difficult decisions that any criminal court judge is called to make," Merchan said, noting the court "must consider the facts of the case along with any aggravating or mitigating circumstances."

Merchan reflected on the case, saying that "never before has this court been presented with such a unique set of circumstances." The judge said it was an "extraordinary case" with media interest and heightened security but said that once the courtroom doors were closed, the trial itself "was not any more unique or extraordinary" than any other case.

Merchan acknowledged that Trump is afforded significant legal protections but argued that "one power they do not provide is the power to erase a jury verdict."

"Sir, I wish you Godspeed as you assume the second term in office," Merchan said at the close of the hearing.

Merchan's unconditional discharge sentence means there is no punishment imposed: no jail time, fines or probation. The sentence also preserves Trump's ability to appeal the conviction. 

"After careful analysis, this court determined only lawful sentence that permits entry of judgment of conviction is an unconditional discharge," Merchan said Friday. "At this time, I impose that sentence to cover all 34 counts." 

Trump’s team said in court that they will appeal the conviction, and he will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Jan. 20. 

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report

A reporter went head-to-head with the Democratic speaker of the California assembly about whether lawmakers should be focused on earmarking legal funds to "Trump-proof" the Golden State while wildfires in the Los Angeles region are still ablaze.

"Is now the right time to have a special legislative session on allocating money to fight Trump in a way that you could already do without a special legislative session?" California correspondent Ashley Zavala asked Speaker Robert Rivas on Thursday. 

"I'm here to address … these wildfires," Rivas responded. "This is a historic, historic wildfire. This is, this is a historic event. These wildfires, as I mentioned, are going to be, quite possibly, some of the worst wildfires and disasters in the state and national history."

NEWSOM PROPOSES $25M FROM STATE LEGISLATURE TO 'TRUMP-PROOF' CALIFORNIA

Zavala fired back, saying "while this wildfire is happening, and while people are trying to understand what's going on and are worried about disaster relief, worried about the ability to get homeowners insurance, your chamber gaveled into a special legislative session to prepare for Donald Trump in a way that you are already able to do without a special legislative session. So again, is now the right time for that?"

Again, Rivas pivoted his answer to focusing on wildfire recovery, but did not directly answer Zavala's inquiry.

"So certainly our focus right now, as Speaker, Ashley, at this moment, my colleagues and I, we are acting with great urgency, great urgency, to ensure that we're providing much needed relief to Angelenos, to ensure that we understand what it's going to take for that for this region to recover and and to support those that have been most impacted by this disaster," Rivas said. "And you know it's … the response from our first responders has been unprecedented, and they're doing all that they can to control and contain, again, these multiple fires and doing whatever they can to ensure that they're keeping people safe now, and again in anticipation and in preparation for recovery, and as a state, we will, as a legislature we will do everything we can to support that recovery."

'DEVASTATING': CALIFORNIA HAD RECORD RAINFALL LAST YEAR, BUT LACKED INFRASTRUCTURE TO STORE IT

Shortly after President-Elect Donald Trump's electoral victory, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a special legislative session to bolster the state's legal fund in the case of attacks from the Trump administration. Trump hit back at Newsom after the announcement, saying "He is using the term 'Trump-Proof' as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to 'Make California Great Again,' but I just overwhelmingly won the Election," Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.

Between 2017 and 2021, California's Department of Justice led 122 lawsuits against Trump administration policies, spending $42 million on litigation. Newsom's office said in one case, the federal government was ordered to reimburse California nearly $60 million in public safety grants.

While California filed over 100 lawsuits against the Trump administration, President-elect Donald Trump lobbed only four major lawsuits against the state. In 2018, Trump's DOJ filed a lawsuit over three California sanctuary state laws that restricted cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. That same year, Trump sued California for its state-level net neutrality law.

PACIFIC PALISADES INFERNO FORCES THOUSANDS TO FLEE CALIFORNIA HOMES; GOV. NEWSOM DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY 

In 2019, Trump also filed a lawsuit against California's vehicle emissions standards, attempting to revoke California's ability to set its own emissions rules. The Trump administration also sued California over its controversial independent contractor law, AB 5, in 2020. 

California, a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants, abortion procedures and transgender transition treatments for children, could be targeted by the Trump administration, especially considering Trump's mass deportation plan of illegal immigrants. 

Newsom said previously the Golden State "is a tent pole of the country … protecting and investing in rights and freedoms for all people" and that officials "will work with the incoming administration and we want President Trump to succeed in serving all Americans." 

"But when there is overreach, when lives are threatened, when rights and freedoms are targeted, we will take action," Newsom said. "And that is exactly what this special session is about – setting this state up for success, regardless of who is in the White House."

Axios reports that Meta is eliminating its biggest DEI efforts, effective immediately, including ones that focused on hiring a diverse workforce, training, and sourcing supplies from diverse-owned companies. Its DEI department will also be eliminated.   In a memo leaked to the outlet, Meta said it was making these changes because the “legal and policy landscape […]

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Automattic, the company that runs WordPress.com, is scaling back its contributions to the WordPress open-source project, according to an announcement on Thursday. The company says it’s decreasing contributions to “match” the amount of time companies like WP Engine spend on the ecosystem, further escalating the tension between Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg and the community.

Now, instead of spending 3,988 hours per week developing the WordPress project, Automattic says it will now contribute around 45 hours as part of Five for the Future — a program that encourages companies to give back five percent of their resources to WordPress.org. “These hours will likely go towards security and critical updates,” Automattic says.

Mullenweg, who also co-founded WordPress, criticized the third-party host WP Engine for contributing 40 hours a week to the ecosystem and called it a “cancer” to the community. On the Five for the Future page that tracks contributions, the number of hours contributed by Automattic is already dwindling.

Automattic blames the cutback on the “significant time and money” related to the ongoing legal battle with WP Engine. It also points to the “intense criticism” it has faced “from members of the ‘community’ who want Matt and others to step away” from the WordPress project:

We’ve made the decision to reallocate resources due to the lawsuits from WP Engine. This legal action diverts significant time and energy that could otherwise be directed toward supporting WordPress’s growth and health. We remain hopeful that WP Engine will reconsider this legal attack, allowing us to refocus our efforts on contributions that benefit the broader WordPress ecosystem.

WP Engine sued Automattic and Mullenweg last year after the co-founder waged a public campaign against the company and took over its ACF plugin. A judge later granted a preliminary injunction in favor of WP Engine, saying Mullenweg’s “conduct is designed to induce breach or disruption.”

A number of employees also left Automattic last year after the company offered to buy out staff who didn’t agree with its fight against WP Engine. The company also shuttered its sustainability team this week, with a screenshotted Slack message from Mullenweg saying, “it’s probably a good time to officially dissolve the team entirely,” adding that “it doesn’t seem like creating a team around this was able to further any of its goals.” The move has sparked criticism from the community, including journalist Kara Swisher.

• Influencers have filed a lawsuit against Capital One.
• They allege its Shopping extension hurt their earnings by unfairly claiming credit for sales.
• Capital One said it disagreed with the premise of the lawsuit.

First, the influencers came for PayPal's Honey. Now, Capital One is in the crosshairs.

Capital One is the subject of a lawsuit filed this week by creators, who allege the company's Shopping browser extension hurt their affiliate-marketing commissions by stealing credit for driving sales.

"We disagree with the premise of the complaint and look forward to defending ourselves in court," a Capital One spokesperson told Business Insider.

Capital One Shopping is a free browser extension that searches for discount codes and coupons, compares prices across around 30,000 online retailers, and lets users earn rewards that can be exchanged for gift cards. It makes money by earning a commission when its users purchase an item from its merchant partners.

In a class-action lawsuit filed on January 6 in a Virginia court, two creators who promote products on social media allege Capital One's Shopping browser extension is designed to "systematically appropriate commissions that belong to influencers."

The lawsuit alleges Capital One Shopping "stole credit" by swapping out influencers' affiliate-marketing browser cookies with its own. Cookies are small data files stored on a user's device that help companies track users' browsing history.

The war for the last click

Much like recent lawsuits filed by influencers against PayPal over its Honey browser extension, the Capital One Shopping case hones in on the marketing practice of "last-click attribution."

In this model, cookies, unique web links, promo codes, and other analytics tags are used to determine the last piece of content a user engages with before they make a purchase. That entity, be it a YouTube video or an ad, gets credit for the purchase.

The practice has fallen out of favor in some marketing circles because it doesn't consider the full cycle of convincing someone to buy a product. There are also concerns that some middlemen may try to game the system to unfairly claim last-click credit for purchases that they had little to do with.

Companies in the affiliate-marketing industry often seek to adhere to "stand down" practices, where they won't override another affiliate's cookies.

In their lawsuit, content creators Jesika Brodiski and Peter Hayward allege Capital One Shopping took credit for sales and conversions that were originally derived from affiliate-marketing links they shared to social media.

Brodiski shared affiliate-marketing links on social media for products on Walmart.com, and the lawsuit claims that — if a user had the Capital One Shopping extension activated during the checkout process — Capital One would remove her associated cookie and replace it with its own. The lawsuit said Brodiski earned around $20,000 through affiliate marketing in 2024 but that her earnings were hampered by Capital One Shopping.

Hayward is part of the Amazon affiliate-marketing program and similarly alleges Capital One would replace his referral tag with its own.

The lawsuit also alleges Brodiski and Hayward "face future harm in the form of stolen referral fees and sales commissions because the Capital One Shopping browser extension continues to steal affiliate marketing commissions with each passing day."

A court will need to certify the class action in order for the case to proceed

The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial. If the case is certified as a class action, other influencers could join the suit.

Christopher Roberts, partner and class action attorney at the law firm Butsch Roberts & Associates, told BI the most difficult part of such cases is getting the class certified. The court will need to rigorously analyze various factors, such as whether the class is big enough and whether it would make more sense to litigate complicated cases individually.

Certification aside, Roberts said he felt the case would come down to what discovery shows.

"This case, on its face, is very well-pled, and it's pretty specific as to the code for this app being supplanted on the computer so that they can get the affiliate payment," Roberts said.

• The third book in Rebecca Yarros' "Empyrean" series comes out on January 21.
• It will pick up where dragon rider Violet Sorrengail left off in "Iron Flame."
• Warning: This article contains major spoilers for "Fourth Wing" and "Iron Flame."

The much-anticipated third installment of Rebecca Yarros' "The Empyrean" series is finally hitting bookshelves.

"Onyx Storm," which continues Violet Sorrengail's journey to become a dragon rider, will be released on January 21 by Red Tower Books.

Yarros' dragon-filled romantasy world became massive in "Iron Flame," and it might be difficult to remember everything that happened in the sequel before you read the third "Empyrean" book.

Check out Business Insider's recap of the major events in "Iron Flame" so you're ready for "Onyx Storm." And if you need a refresher on the first installment in the series, you can also read BI's guide to "Fourth Wing."

The rest of this article contains major spoilers for "Fourth Wing" and "Iron Flame."

Violet Sorrengail was reckoning with some major shocks at the start of 'Iron Flame'

When "Iron Flame" opens, Violet Sorrengail is recovering from a battle that brought her face to face with venin and wyverns, evil creatures the government of Navarre — including her mother, General Lilith Sorrengail — told her weren't real.

The battle also revealed that her romantic interest, Xaden Riorson, and other students at Basgiath, the war college Violet attends, have been secretly fighting for the revolution, and it left her friend Liam dead.

As if those revelations weren't enough, Violet also awakens at a rebel outpost in Aretia to discover the mender who saved her life is Brennan, her brother she thought had died. Instead, he has been working with the rebels under an alias since his disappearance.

Violet and her other classmates decide to return to the Riders Quadrant at Basgiath before the school's graduation. They are under strict orders to keep the venin attack — and the true cause of Liam's death — secret. Violet also decides to try to find information about Navarre's wards to help protect innocents from the venin.

During the fight, Violet's younger dragon, Andarna, exerted so much power to protect Violet that she escalated her growth process and had to fall into a deep sleep to complete her change. Violet takes her to the Vale, the home of the dragons, to recover while she returns to Basgiath with her other dragon, Tairn.

New dangers at Basgiath

After graduation, Xaden is assigned to work at an outpost called Samara, a full-day flight away from Basgiath. Xaden and Violet, who is still a student, must visit each other every seven days so her dragon, Tairn, and his dragon, Sgaeyl, can see each other because they are mated.

Meanwhile, the imposing Vice Commandant Varrish comes to work at Basgiath, keeping a close eye on Violet and her classmates who were at the venin battle.

Violet also discovers that Jack Barlowe, her nemesis from "Fourth Wing," whom she thought she killed, was resurrected. Violet is wary of Jack as he's integrated back into Basgiath, but when a first-year student tries to kill her, Jack saves her, telling Violet they're even after his attempts on her life the previous year.

Violet and her squad continue to bond as they face new challenges in a Rider Survival Course. Violet also manages to steal a journal written by Lyra, one of the First Six Riders, from the royal family with their help. She hopes it can offer insight into how Basgiath's wards function.

The danger surrounding Violet at Basgiath comes to a head when Varrish and his cronies torture her for five days for stealing the journal. Visions of Liam keep Violet sane during the torture. When Varrish taps Violet's childhood friend Dain Aetos to wrench secrets from her mind with his signet power, he surprises them all by betraying Navarre and freeing Violet.

Xaden arrives soon after, and he and Violet kill Varrish and confess their love for each other. They also decide to reveal the existence of venin and wyvern to the Basgiath student body, giving their peers the chance to join them as they flee to join the rebels.

They manage to convince around 200 riders to leave with them, including Dain, Violet's squad, and even some teachers, heading to Xaden's home, Riorson House, for safety. Mira, Violet's sister, also joins her siblings at Basgiath.

Violet and her squad join the resistance

Andarna wakes up soon after Violet arrives at Riorson House, and she now appears to be a large, black dragon. Though she has matured into a moody adolescent, her disrupted growth means her wing muscles didn't develop correctly. She will never be able to bear a rider, which is heartbreaking for both her and Violet.

Meanwhile, Violet and the other cadets from Basgiath settle in with the rebels. They continue to train alongside gryphon riders — including Xaden's ex-girlfriend Cat — which can be fraught as the riders learn to trust each other.

Ahead of a wyvern attack, Violet manages to get the wards surrounding Aretia up, though they don't work as well as those in Navarre. Lilith then gives Violet Lyra's journal during a meeting because she wants her children to be safe, and Violet taps her Scribe friend Jesinia to translate it so they can find answers about the wards.

During their time at Riorson House, Violet realizes Xaden has a second signet he has kept secret from everyone but her. He confides in her that he is an inntinsic, allowing him to read people's intentions — a signet that riders are immediately killed for having because of the dangers they pose to other riders.

The conversation also hints that Violet has a second signet that has yet to be revealed because she is bonded with two dragons.

'Iron Flame' culminates with a battle at Basgiath

Violet and her friends rush back to Basgiath when they realize venin are launching an attack on the school. When they arrive, they discover that Jack has secretly turned venin months ago, and he destroys the wards after killing his own dragon.

Dragons, gryphons, and their riders work together to defend Basgiath from venin and wyverns in an intense battle. Brennan manages to mend the wardstone Jack broke, and Jesinia finally translates Lyra's journal, telling Violet they need a seventh type of dragon to make them work.

Jesinia's discovery makes Violet realize Andarna isn't a black dragon as she previously believed and is, in fact, the seventh breed of dragon. Andarna then tells Violet she didn't hatch for 650 years, as she was waiting specifically for her.

The dragons assemble to raise the wards, and Violet nearly gives all her power to secure them until her mother steps in. Lilith sacrifices herself, raising the wards and killing the invading wyvern.

Violet rushes to find Xaden after the battle, and she discovers he has the red-rimmed eyes associated with the venin, as he took power from the land to try to protect Violet. The book ends with Jack telling Xaden there is no known cure to turning venin.

Violet won't continue her studies at Basgiath in "Onyx Storm," instead traveling to find allies to help fight the venin — and save Xaden.

• Mom Lisa Ward lives in Topanga, between Palisades and Malibu, where the LA wildfires are raging.
• Her family was horrified when they saw TV images of their local high school burning to the ground.
• While her 17-year-old won't get the graduation he hoped for, his priority is to help homeless friends.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Lisa Ward, 59, a stay at home mom from Topanga, California. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Our family is sheltering in Topanga, a canyon region between Palisades and Malibu that is being ravaged by California wildfires.

The generator turns on and off at random, but we're glued to the local TV news whenever we can be. On Tuesday — when the fires struck our area — my oldest son, Luc, 19, jumped up from the couch.

"That's the high school," he shouted, pointing to the footage of the flames and billowing smoke consuming the campus. "There's the locker building, the baseball field, and the football stadium — they're all burning."

We were in shock. We'd been in the stadium for Luc's graduation from Palisades Charter High School in 2023 and were proudly looking forward to sitting in the bleachers for his 17-year-old brother Cole's graduation in June.

Our youngest, Theo, 15, began as a freshman there last September.

It was terrible to see the campus ablaze, though we knew it wasn't as horrific as watching someone's home burn down. A few minutes earlier, Luc's girlfriend, Nikola, 19, had spotted her condo building on fire around a mile away from the school.

She sobbed in my arms. We later found out she'd lost everything except the bag of clothes she'd grabbed before evacuating. The branches of the trees were in flames as she ran to the car.

My son asked about his graduation and prom

Cole, our senior, was on a snowboarding trip with some classmates in Mammoth Mountain, a five-hour drive from Topanga. They found out about what happened to the high school on social media.

"I won't get my graduation ceremony at Pali High, will I?" Cole asked me. "Or prom?"

"No," I replied as gently as I could. I don't think you will." He had gone to his brother's graduation, and it had been an enormous thing. Cole is a linebacker on the school football team, which plays a huge role in the celebration.

Some people in his cohort have already had their pictures taken for the senior graduating yearbook in their formal dresses and suits. But this year's book can't be finished. The photo lab where they do it has gone.

I could tell Cole was upset, but he's a kid who puts things into perspective. It's best not to have a school than a home. Of the six kids who went to Mammoth Mountain, only two of them — including Cole — still had homes. We've told them that there'll always be a bed for them here as long as we're not evacuated.

Everyone is on edge as we worry about our houses. We haven't really had a chance to think about what classes will look like this year.

But Cole and Theo have been told they will start online schooling before the high school figures out how to relocate about 3,000 kids to other places.

The kids can't really process the events

Remote learning during the pandemic was a nightmare for everyone, particularly Theo, who suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was younger. We didn't get through a single day without tears. The social isolation also affected the kids.

As for the here and now, they can't absorb what's going on. When you watch the fires on the news, the images are so shocking that they don't seem real. I can see it in their faces. "My darlings," I told them. "I don't think the human brain can process this because so much has gone in such a short space of time."

I'm a big communicator, even when the boys don't like it. Sometimes, I'll talk and hear nothing back, but I don't stop. I'm constantly checking in on them to tell them that I love them.

One of the big perks of the Fitbit app is access to a huge collection of workout plans that include videos, but recent app updates have removed the ability to cast those videos to TVs.

more…

TikTok’s US saga is almost at an end, and its last major source of hope—a Supreme Court intervention—now looks unlikely to pan out. Thus, a January 19 ban in the US is looking more realistic than ever. Here’s the latest.

more…

"By the time an actor gets to the point of improvisation in a Mike Leigh process, they've got a whole person that they're working with," Marianne Jean-Baptiste tells Newsweek.

"A tiny, spiky, bundle of cuteness!" the NOAA Fisheries said about the miniature king crab.

Supreme Court justices appeared to be skeptical toward TikTok's arguments when challenging a law that may result in it being banned.

The defending Stanley Cup champions released news on their home arena in Sunrise, FL.

"I've never seen anything like it before," the hiker noted of the historic meteorite impact site in the viral TikTok clip.

The 'Gimme More' singer shared an update on her safety with fans as she evacuated her mansion amid the deadly L.A. wildfires.

A spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the possibility of in-person talks during a Friday conference call.

"I am in awe, I really am," Guy Fieri says of his youngest son, Ryder, 19

Investigators announced Thursday that Virgil Thew was taken into custody and charged with three homicide counts after a weeks-long manhunt

"Billy just had this way about him and you obviously noticed him automatically no matter where he was at," Bill Byrge's cousin Sharon Chapman tells PEOPLE

“I walked in like, ‘wow’ [and] that’s what you want,” the bride said of her unique venue