An Australian woman has been sentenced to three months in jail after lying about having terminal cancer and using donations from concerned friends and family on vacations, but her attorney says this isn't fair because she only scammed people out of $31,000.

After Hanna Dickenson, 24, told her parents she had cancer and needed to get medical treatment overseas, donations started coming in; Judge David Starvaggi said that in one case, a cancer patient donated to her while undergoing his own treatment. Since Dickenson didn't actually have cancer, the money wasn't spent on medical care, but rather on vacations and going out with friends. A donor turned her in to the police after becoming suspicious of photos she posted on Facebook, BBC News reports.

Starvaggi called the scheme "despicable," and said Dickenson "engaged in conduct that tears at the very heartstrings of human nature." She pleaded guilty to seven charges of obtaining property by deception, but Dickenson's lawyer, Beverley Lindsay, said she shouldn't have to do time because she has "turned her life around," and also, Dickenson didn't pull in as much money as blogger Belle Gibson, who was fined $317,000 last year for falsely saying she survived brain cancer. Starvaggi told Lindsay to stop comparing apples to oranges, and said this should serve as a warning to anyone else planning on carrying out a similar scam. Catherine Garcia

Former FBI Director James Comey said his assumption that then-candidate Hillary Clinton would win the 2016 election played a role in his decision-making about investigating the private email server she used as secretary of state. Clinton has blamed Comey for her loss.

"Wasn't the decision to reveal [further investigation to Congress shortly before the election] influenced by your assumption that Hillary Clinton was going to win, and your concern that, she wins, this comes out several weeks later and then that's taken by her opponents as a sign that she's an illegitimate president?" host George Stephanopoulos asked Comey.

"It must have been," Comey replied. "I don't remember consciously thinking about that, but it must have been. I was operating in a world where Hillary Clinton was going to beat Donald Trump. I'm sure that it was a factor. I don't remember spelling it out, but it had to have been. That she's going to be elected president, and if I hide this from the American people, she'll be illegitimate the moment she's elected, the moment this comes out."

Comey's comments come in an interview excerpt, below, released by ABC News Saturday. The full interview will air Sunday at 10 p.m. Eastern on ABC. Bonnie Kristian

"We can all see that a Russia disinformation campaign is in full-force this morning, but Russia's desperate attempts at deflection cannot change the facts," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Saturday at a Security Council meeting following U.S.-led strikes on Syria. President Trump ordered the attack Friday in response to what Washington believes was chemical weapons use by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last week.

Haley argued "there is clear information demonstrating" the Assad regime's culpability. "The pictures of dead children were not fake news," she said. "They were the result of the Syrian regime's barbaric inhumanity. And they were the result of the regime and Russia's failure to live up to their international commitments to remove all chemical weapons from Syria."

The ambassador also indicated the Trump administration is prepared to launch further strikes on Syria if chemical weapons are used again. "The time for talk ended last night," she announced. "The United States is locked and loaded. When our president draws a red line, our president enforces a red line." Watch an excerpt of Haley's comments below. Bonnie Kristian

There "has been a 2,000 percent increase in Russian trolls in the past 24 hours," chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana White said Saturday, accusing Moscow of ramping up a "disinformation campaign" against the U.S.-led strikes on Syria ordered by President Trump Friday night. She did not detail how the Defense Department calculated that number, but told assembled reporters the Pentagon would supply them with "the facts, moving forward."

Like President Trump, White spoke of the strikes as an unqualified success. She said they do not "represent a change in U.S. policy" or "an attempt to depose the Syrian regime." Watch a clip of her comments below, or see the full briefing here. Bonnie Kristian

Renowned director Milos Forman died early Saturday morning at a hospital near his Connecticut home, his family announced through his agent. He was 86. Known for films including One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus, and Man on the Moon, Forman won two Oscars in the best director category and was nominated for a third.

Forman was born in 1932 in what was then known as Czechoslovakia, and during World War II, his mother was killed at Auschwitz. He was part of the "Czechoslovak new wave" of film but fled his home country after the imposition of Soviet rule. Forman is survived by four children. Bonnie Kristian

Some congressional Democrats and Republicans alike slammed President Trump for ordering military strikes on Syria without seeking congressional authorization:

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) called the strikes "illegal" and "reckless." "Today, it's a strike on Syria — what's going to stop him from bombing Iran or North Korea next?" Kaine asked. "The last thing Congress should be doing is giving this president a blank check to wage war against anyone, anywhere." Minority leaders Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) gave more neutral responses, calling for caution and strategy without condemning the strikes.

On the other side of the aisle, libertarian-leaning Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) used language similar to Kaine's:

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a frequent Amash ally, tweeted a litany of questions for those, especially Republicans, supporting the strikes:

In the Senate, Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) likewise called on Trump to seek congressional authorization. Paul said on Fox News Thursday he objects to the idea that the president can just "go to war when he wants, where he wants." Bonnie Kristian

The Republican National Committee (RNC) deputy finance chair, Elliott Broidy, resigned from his position Friday after news broke that he hired President Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to negotiate a settlement with a Playboy model in 2016.

"I acknowledge I had a consensual relationship with a Playboy Playmate," Broidy said in a statement. "At the end of our relationship, this woman shared with me that she was pregnant. She alone decided that she did not want to continue with the pregnancy and I offered to help her financially during this difficult period."

As with the deal Cohen made to buy the silence of adult film star Stormy Daniels about her alleged affair with President Trump, the Broidy settlement uses alliterative pseudonyms for the parties involved. And the women in each case share a lawyer: One Keith M. Davidson represented both Daniels and the Playboy model in the Broidy agreement in their dealings with Cohen.

Broidy, who is married, resigned after his $1.6 million deal came to light. This story comes as Friday court filings revealed Cohen is under criminal investigation. Bonnie Kristian

President Trump celebrated on Twitter Saturday morning following Friday night's U.S.-led strikes on Syrian regime targets, his words echoing former President George W. Bush's now infamous "Mission Accomplished" speech about Iraq:

Many of the president's prominent supporters do not share his enthusiasm. Fox News' Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham questioned the wisdom of the attack Friday night, with Carlson contrasting the decision with Trump's campaign rhetoric and Ingraham making a comparison to the war in Iraq. Infowars host Alex Jones, in tears, said Trump backers have "made so many sacrifices and now he's crapping all over us." Bonnie Kristian