Both Jon Huntsman and Ron Paul declined their invitations to the Donald Trump-moderated Newsmax debate on December 27th, and many pundits have criticized the choice of Trump as moderator (including Mediaite’s own Colby Hall). Many wondered if any candidates would actually go to the debate, but during his visit to Staten Island yesterday, Republican frontrunner Newt Gingrich told reporters he would definitely attend the debate.

Ron Paul is joining Jon Huntsman in the growing list of Republican presidential candidates who are sitting out Newsmax’s December 27th debate hosted by Donald Trump. “The selection of a reality television personality to host a presidential debate that voters nationwide will be watching is beneath the office of the Presidency and flies in the face of that office’s history and dignity,” said Paul 2012 campaign chairman Jesse Benton.

News of Donald Trump‘s selection as moderator of a coming Newsmax sponsored GOP Debate makes a complete mockery of an institutional process that is already short on credibility and gravitas. Any serious GOP candidate should follow Jon Hunstman‘s lead, do the right thing, and politely decline participation. Who will be next in line to show leadership and bow out of this sham of a debate?

A new construction project underway at the White House has some wondering what, exactly, is going on over at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. While the official word is that America’s most famous address is having new water pipes and other such utilities installed or upgraded, Newsmax chief Washington correspondent Ronald Kessler says that just isn’t the case.

“He’s being rewarded for thinking,” said former President Bill Clinton of Newt Gingrich in an interview with Newsmax yesterday. The former President, for whom Gingrich was a longtime thorn in the side as Speaker of the House, gave an interview for his upcoming book to the conservative publication, the full content of which will be released tonight. The excerpt on Gingrich was released last night, however, and Clinton praised Gingrich by suggesting his message appeals to independents.

House Speaker John Boehner recently spoke with Newsmax editor David Patten about a variety of issues relating to the White House. Up first: The Obama administration’s role — or lack thereof — in the House’s probe into Solyndra’s bankruptcy.

Is that part of a pattern of obstruction?

New Jersey governor Chris Christie is not running for president in 2012. He has said so himself many, many times. And yet this week, once again, rumors have surfaced that the freshman governor is “in talks” with Republican bigwigs to hop in, months behind a nine-person Republican field already cannibalizing itself more than a year before the actual election. No matter what Christie himself does, it seems his nonexistent campaign has mutated into the zombie presence of this election cycle: no matter how many times the candidate himself tries to kill it, the undead rumors keep come back to munch on Republican strategist brains.

While MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell has the national panic level set to “orange,” right-leaning magazine Newsmax has been offering positive coverage of potential (or not) Republican (or Independent) presidential candidate Donald Trump. Is there some sort of conspiracy at play here?

The latest chapter in the unfolding saga of the Donald Trump Traveling Birther Circus almost has me convinced that The Donald is punking Republicans, and his prospective presidential bid is really a work of brilliant performance art. On Monday, Trump released what he called his “Birth Certificate” to Newsmax, the Grey Lady of conservative news hubs. But according to reporting by Politico, the document Trump released isn’t actually an official birth certificate, but rather, a “Certificate of Birth” that hospitals give out.

It has been more than a week since Japan was hit with a devastating earthquake and tsunami, and yet only now are religious celebrities beginning to come out of the woodwork to give a spiritual explanation for what occurred. Talking to Newsmax TV, Rev. Franklin Graham confirmed that, indeed, these recent natural disasters could signal the Second Coming of Jesus, but Bill O’Reilly was right in calling out the media for exaggerating the severity of the disaster in Japan.

President Obama’s decision earlier this week to refuse to defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act has conservatives up in arms, and not just based on the substance of the law. 2012 presidential hopeful (?) Newt Gingrich discussed with move with Newsmax’s Ashley Martella recently and, calling it entirely unconstitutional, suggested impeachment could be a possible remedy to the issue.

Right-leaning magazine Newsmax has been able to accomplish something quite rare in its industry these days: it has grown by double digits in the past few years. And with that growth came need for a new editorial director. Enter Steve Coz, formerly of American Media (which owns The National Enquirer and Star, among other magazines) and current head of consulting firm Coz Media.

Ex-New York Times reporter Judith Miller has come out swinging at critics who jumped on her for comments made over the weekend calling WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a “bad journalist.”

Miller, who many consider a bad journalist herself for her Times reporting that helped build the case for war in Iraq, told Yahoo’s The Cutline that there’s simply no comparison between the work she did for the Times and what Assange has done with WikiLeaks:

Lamestream media hater Sarah Palin gave what appears to be a lengthy interview to conservative magazine Newsmax last week parts of which were obtained by Politico and a preview of which you can watch below. Fear not, America! Turns out Palin is only interested in running for President if the country convinces her they are willing to go rogue along with her.

Yesterday, the conservative website Newsmax got caught producing an advertisement for a suspicious financial newsletter and using Bill O’Reilly (unbeknownst to Bill O’Reilly) to sell it. Fox News responded saying they had no idea that the “speaking engagement” was going to be used for profit and that they had no “financial stake” in the matter. Now Newsmax has responded that both parties agreed about the newsletter, but not about O’Reilly’s appearance.

In an otherwise easily-forgettable video touting a newsletter on a “forgotten, seven-state Constitutional Clause” that could help you cash in on IRS payouts, one “Bill Spetrino,” an economics personality of dubious presentation, gets an endorsement of his product from Fox News megastar Bill O’Reilly. Why would O’Reilly willingly involve himself in something so sketchy? Don’t ask him: Fox News representatives say had no idea he was in this video at all.

When it comes to building his media empire, Newsmax founder Christopher Ruddy must be following the old adage “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again,” because despite putting in a failing bid for ownership of Newsweek, he’s still making big moves to expand his company.

John King, anchor of John King, USA, is “doomed” says the New York Post‘s Page Six today.

Meanwhile, Newsmax has a different take: “King, of CNN” says the headline of a lengthy, glowing profile of King. So, what is it?

According to a new business profile in the Financial Times, conservative magazine and daily website Newsmax thrived in a year filled with media misery, scoring $35 million in revenue, after $25 million in 2008, and scoring a much-anticipated Sarah Palin endorsement in a chat with Sean Hannity. Speaking of Fox News, does this sound familiar: “liberal media” alternative excels in increasingly partisan news space? Bingo.

Oof. Welcome to the new decade where apparently we are on our own when it comes to security. Of course you remember, last month when the Salahis created quite the media stir after they slipped the Secret Service “crashed” a White House state dinner. Now the Secret Service confirms that there was a third party crasher, which in light of the aftermath of the Christmas Bomber is no longer at all amusing.

The secret is out now. As Keith Olbermann points out, it only took Sarah Palin a year and six weeks to name 3 news sources that she reads, and at the top of her very short list sits Newsmax.com. While much has been made of the current White House’s attitude toward Fox News, it makes you wonder what a Newsmax-guided Palin Presidency would be like.

Yesterday, Newsmax posted a column by frequent contributor John L. Perry entitled “Obama Risks a Domestic Military ‘Intervention,’” justifying the possibility of using military force against President Obama. But by today, the article had disappeared from the site without comment. Luckily, Gawker’s political writer Alex Pareene was quick enough to snag a screenshot of the entire piece. And it’s a doozy!