It doesn't appear Rick Wilson, the longtime Republican strategist who helps run The Lincoln Project super-PAC, knew he was walking into an ambush when he agreed to speak with the cartoon news anchors on CBS's Tooning Out the News, executive produced by Stephen Colbert. The Lincoln Project has been received warmly by many on the left for its ruthless savaging of President Trump. And the interview started out in that vein — until Wilson called Trump "a whining bitch addicted to Twitter," and "Inside the Hill" cartoon anchor Sarah Sabo (Maureen Monahan) jumped in, deadpanning: "Yes, he is a bitch. That is the biggest insult, comparing someone to a woman — I hate us."

Co-anchor Richard Ballard (Addison Anderson) started the battering in earnest by noting that seven members of The Lincoln Project's leadership (though not Wilson) are alumni of George W. Bush's campaign, adding, "I gotta say, we really miss Bush: He always did what was right for the country — and that country being Saudi Arabia." Things got increasingly uncomfortable from there, with Ballard, Sabo, and their color commentators highlighting Wilson's past tweets about liberals then digging into The Lincoln Project's use of its millions in donations.

The coup de grâce was with a Lincoln Project–style video on the "savvy grifters" at The Lincoln Project. Wilson did not appear amused, but there was a slightly lighter moment at the end. Watch below. Peter Weber

One of former President Donald Trump's defense lawyers dodged a question about the winner of the 2020 presidential election, saying his own judgement on the matter is "irrelevant."

After Trump's team concluded their arguments in his impeachment trial on Friday, senators had the opportunity to ask questions of both sides. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) asked whether prosecutors are "right when they claim that Trump was telling a big lie" when he repeatedly falsely claimed he won the 2020 election, "or, in your judgement, did Trump actually win the election?" Trump defense attorney Michael van der Veen declined to answer either way.

"In my judgement, it's irrelevant to the question before this body," Van der Veen responded. "What's relevant in this impeachment article is, were Mr. Trump's words inciteful to the point of violence and riot? That's the charge, that's the question. And the answer is no."

Trump is facing charges of inciting a riot at the Capitol building on Jan. 6 — his supporters who breached the building backed his false claims that widespread voter fraud affected the outcome of the election and that he won in a landslide.

Earlier in the question-and-answer session, Trump's defense team was also asked for details regarding when Trump learned about the breach at the Capitol building, as well as what "specific actions" he took "to bring the rioting to an end." Van der Veen referenced a tweet from Trump before complaining that there's been "absolutely no investigation" into this. Brendan Morrow

Lawyers for former President Donald Trump have contradicted a Republican senator's account of what happened in the Senate chamber during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

After lawyers for Trump finished their defense of his impeachment for inciting the insurrection, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) questioned the timing of Trump's "disparaging tweet" about Pence during the attack. At 2:24 p.m., 11 minutes after Pence was escorted from the chamber as Trump backers stormed the building, Trump tweeted that Pence "didn't have the courage to do what he should've done" and somehow object to the election results. Despite the implication of the certification process already being over (it wasn't), Trump's lawyers said he had not been informed Pence was in danger when it happened.

But Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) gave a different story Wednesday night. While he already disclosed that he was on the phone with Trump when the attackers started getting into the Capitol, Tuberville specified Wednesday that he was talking to Trump went Pence was escorted from the Senate. "I said 'Mr. President, they just took the vice president out, I've got to go,'" Tuberville recalled, suggesting Trump knew Pence was in danger when he sent the tweet. Kathryn Krawczyk

Gina Carano is headed to work with Ben Shapiro after her ouster from the galaxy far, far away.

Carano, who was fired from her role as Cara Dune on Disney's Star Wars series The Mandalorian this week over her controversial social media posts, announced Friday she's making a film with the conservative political commentator's website The Daily Wire.

"The Daily Wire is helping make one of my dreams — to develop and produce my own film — come true," Carano told Deadline. "I cried out and my prayer was answered. I am sending out a direct message of hope to everyone living in fear of cancellation by the totalitarian mob. I have only just begun using my voice which is now freer than ever before, and I hope it inspires others to do the same. They can't cancel us if we don't let them."

Carano frequently stirred up controversy on social media in recent months, including with posts mocking the use of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic and suggesting voter fraud occurred in the 2020 presidential election, prompting the hashtag "#FireGinaCarano" to often trend on Twitter. This week, she shared a post on Instagram comparing the experience of conservatives in the United States to Jews in Nazi Germany, which was reportedly the last straw for Lucasfilm.

The decision to remove Carano from Star Wars garnered celebration by those fans who had been calling for her ouster, as well as criticism from conservatives, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who came to her defense. Shapiro on Friday praised the actress and former MMA star as an "incredible talent dumped by Disney and Lucasfilm for offending the authoritarian Hollywood Left."

In announcing that Carano would no longer be involved in Star Wars, Lucasfilm condemned her social media posts "denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities" as "abhorrent and unacceptable." Brendan Morrow

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has made another questionable hair choice.

As former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial wrapped up Friday, observers noted something particularly odd about one of the jurors: His hair. Cruz's salt-and-pepper locks were slicked back in a style that could only be described as a budding Morgan Wallen.

A review of recent photographs of the senator revealed he'd been rocking the heavily gelled look for weeks now.

And given his past refusal to follow pandemic lockdown rules, his new 'do is probably a deliberate choice and not just Cruz's inability to get to a barber.

The new look comes about two years after Cruz emerged from a congressional recess with a potentially revolutionary beard, and has kept it ever since. Kathryn Krawczyk

Former President Donald Trump's impeachment defense has already wrapped up.

Trump's lawyers on Friday afternoon concluded their arguments in the former president's impeachment trial about three hours after they began, ultimately only using two-and-a-half hours to make their case when discounting a break.

Both sides in the impeachment trial were allotted 16 hours over two days for their arguments. While neither used the full amount of time, House impeachment managers made their arguments over the course of two days on Wednesday and Thursday.

Trump's defense during the fourth day of the trial made the case that his remarks before the Jan. 6 Capitol riot were protected political speech, and they repeatedly played clips they argued showed that Democrats have made similar statements. Some of these videos were played more than once throughout the presentation.

While wrapping up the arguments, attorney Bruce Castor told lawmakers "we will not take most of our time today" in "the hopes that you will take back these hours and use them to get delivery of COVID relief to the American people." The next step, according to CBS, will be four hours of questions, but the trial now looks to be on track to potentially wrap up with a vote on Saturday.

Trump is highly likely to be acquitted of the charges, which could explain why his defense didn't feel the need to use even half of its allotted time.

"Rule #1 of politics is when you have the votes, you vote and when you don't, you talk," Bloomberg's Steven Dennis wrote. "Explains why defense was so short: They think they have the votes." Brendan Morrow

Former President Donald Trump's lawyers say House impeachment managers' never-before-seen Capitol riot footage was a mystery even for them.

As they made their case for Trump's alleged incitement of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, House impeachment managers featured both widely circulated videos and footage from security cameras and other sources that had never been made public before. And while the new footage proved attention grabbing even for senators determined to acquit, Trump lawyer David Schoen argued Friday that it was a violation of due process that the former president's impeachment team never saw them.

But as a person close to the impeachment managers quickly told MSNBC, Shoen's allegation wasn't true. "Every piece of evidence, including new videos, were given to the defense team before the trial," the person told MSNBC's Nicole Wallace. The trial rules that both House impeachment managers and Trump's lawyers agreed upon actually required that, the source added. Kathryn Krawczyk