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A look back at the biggest presidential Thanksgiving scandals, surprises
Thanksgiving typically slows the news as Americans gather with family and friends. But the holiday also has a habit of amplifying Washington, D.C.'s political drama and surprises.
Americans are no strangers to controversy and scandals, including a handful that have played out across the decades as citizens gathered around the dinner table for Thanksgiving or headed out for Black Friday shopping.
Fox News Digital took a look back at the biggest scandals and political events that rocked Washington, D.C., around the fall holiday.
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The Saturday before Thanksgiving in 1973, President Richard Nixon held a press conference in Orlando, Florida, where he famously said he was not a "crook" as the Watergate break-in and subsequent scandal came to light.
At the heart of the scandal were Nixon’s efforts to obstruct justice by directing a cover-up of the Watergate office complex break-in, including suppressing the FBI’s investigation, paying hush money and misusing federal agencies to shield his administration from scrutiny.
As the scandal surrounding the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters heated up, Nixon defended himself in a televised Q&A with newspaper editors gathered at Walt Disney World for a convention.
"Let me just say this, and I want to say this to the television audience: I made my mistakes, but in all of my years of public life, I have never profited, never profited from public service. I have earned every cent," Nixon said, initially answering questions about his personal finances. "And in all of my years of public life, I have never obstructed justice.
"And I think, too, that I could say that in my years of public life, that I welcome this kind of examination, because people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I am not a crook. I have earned everything I have got."
Nixon resigned in August 1974 with an impeachment process underway and a grand jury prepared to indict him on charges of bribery, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and obstruction of a criminal investigation related to the Watergate cover-up.
Nixon was later pardoned and did not face any federal prosecution in the matter.
Details unraveled about the Iran–Contra affair in the early days of November 1986 before crescendoing the week of Thanksgiving, including then-President Ronald Reagan dismissing Lt. Col. Oliver North and announcing the resignation of National Security Advisor John Poindexter two days before the holiday.
News began to percolate overseas in early November 1986 that the U.S. made a secret arms sale to Iran to secure the release of American hostages held in Lebanon. U.S. officials later divulged the funds from the deal were used to fund an anti-communist rebel group in Nicaragua called the Contras.
Two days before Thanksgiving, Reagan announced he had dismissed North from the National Security Council, with Poindexter resigning that same day. On Thanksgiving eve, Reagan announced the creation of a Special Review Board to review the National Security Council’s role in the deal, later known as the Tower Commission.
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The fallout from the report continued over the holiday and even into the George H.W. Bush administration, when the president granted pardons to a handful of individuals involved on Christmas Eve 1992.
While many Americans were out shopping on Black Friday in 1998, the Clinton White House delivered President Bill Clinton's written responses to 81 questions from House Judiciary related to his affair with intern Monica Lewinsky as part of an impeachment inquiry.
Clinton already had declared to the nation that he "did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky" in January 1998, and the House authorized an impeachment inquiry in October that intensified around the Thanksgiving holiday. The Judiciary had sent Clinton 81 questions that focused on his relationship with Lewinsky based on independent counsel Kenneth Starr's report that included evidence related to the affair allegations.
Clinton returned the 81 questions on Black Friday, which included questions about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky and his conduct in the Paula Jones case, which accused him of sexual harassment in 1994. Judiciary Republicans accused Clinton of playing "word games" in his responses, which included Clinton denying he committed perjury or obstructing justice, and the impeachment inquiry continued.
The House ultimately impeached Clinton on charges of perjury to a grand jury and obstruction of justice related to his efforts to conceal the affair with an intern, while the Senate voted to acquit Clinton on both articles of impeachment.
In a more light-hearted Thanksgiving political event, President George W. Bush quietly traveled to Iraq in 2003 to meet with the troops stationed in Baghdad. The visit, cloaked in secrecy until he was there, marked the first time a sitting president visited Iraq.
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"Our planners worked to answer every question," Bush said at the time about the intense planning for the trip. "I had a lot of questions."
Bush was on the ground for over two hours before he made the trip back to the U.S. The trip set off some claims that the president was working for a political gain ahead of the 2004 election, while the administration brushed off such claims while stressing the commander in chief's visit was focused on supporting the troops amid a war.
Just after 4 p.m. on the eve of Thanksgiving in 2020, Trump announced he delivered a full pardon to his former national security advisor, retired Army Gen. Michael Flynn.
The White House later in the day released a statement saying Flynn "should never have been prosecuted" and that the pardon ends "the relentless, partisan pursuit of an innocent man."
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"While today’s action sets right an injustice against an innocent man and an American hero, it should also serve as a reminder to all of us that we must remain vigilant over those in whom we place our trust and confidence," the statement continued.
The pardon ended a yearslong legal battle stemming from then-special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Flynn’s pardon was preceded by his 2017 guilty plea for lying to the FBI about contacts with Russia. He also had admitted to filing paperwork under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. His sentencing, however, was stalled due to his cooperation with authorities.
In 2019, Flynn claimed he was innocent in the case and sought to withdraw his guilty plea, citing alleged government misconduct.
The Department of Justice was in the midst of moving to dismiss the case when Trump pardoned Flynn.
Rep. Wasserman Schultz says Trump should blame self for putting National Guard in harm’s way with DC crackdown
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., former chair of the Democratic National Committee, suggested Friday that President Donald Trump is to blame for the death of a member of the National Guard.
Multiple left-wing commentators argued that the ambush-style shooting of National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe Wednesday only happened because of Trump’s orders to station the National Guard in U.S. cities.
On Friday, as the nation was still reeling from the shooting, CNN host Sara Sidner spoke to Schultz about the tragic incident.
The shooting, Schultz said, "begs the question, would an individual have flown across the country to target law enforcement officers in Washington, D.C.? And, I mean, the answer is likely no. So, why wasn‘t the president‘s first thought, 'Wow, you know, maybe I should reconsider deploying military troops in the nation‘s capital or in any city?'
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"Particularly not when they haven‘t coordinated closely with the leadership of these cities and when we have law enforcement that are quite capable of handling the criminal justice issues that are — that we need law enforcement to focus on, and not our military."
Trump said he launched the crackdown because local law enforcement had failed to handle the amount of crime in some of America’s most famous cities. Even D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, after initial hesitance, admitted at a news conference earlier this year that the federal surge has had a noticeable effect on one of America's most famously dangerous cities, to the point there was an 87% decrease in carjackings.
Since the shooting Wednesday, carried out by an Afghan national, according to authorities, Trump has called to halt mass migration from the "Third World" and to initiate a "reverse migration" plan.
Even before that, Sidner noted that "days before the shooting, the public learned through reporting that the Trump administration had planned to review and reinterview refugees that came in during the Biden administration."
"I just think that any administration needs to be careful about making sweeping generalizations," Wasserman Schultz responded. "If there were gaps that admitted this person, they would have failed over multiple levels of gaps. And this individual was trusted enough to participate in assisting our military during the war in Afghanistan."
Trump should blame himself for putting the National Guard in harm’s way, Schultz argued.
"The president looks everywhere except inward to blame his own policies. We need to make sure that we don‘t have our military deployed in our cities, doing — handling law enforcement responsibilities," she said. "We certainly need to make sure we always have the proper and appropriate and tight, tight vetting processes, and those should be reviewed. But it‘s never the president‘s fault or his policies when it comes to his reaction, and it‘s pretty disgusting."
The White House issued a scathing response.
"This animal would’ve never been here if not for Joe Biden’s dangerous policies, which allowed countless unvetted criminals to invade our country and harm the American people. The Trump administration is taking every measure possible — in the face of unrelenting Democrat opposition — to get these monsters out of our country and clean up the mess made by the Biden administration. Instead of defending terrorists, the Democrats should join us in protecting the American people," spokeswoman Abigail Jackson wrote.
Atlantic writer shredded for column saying Trump’s ‘political’ stunt endangered National Guard members’ lives
The Atlantic contributing writer Juliette Kayyem was criticized Thursday for a column stating President Donald Trump’s National Guard deployment in D.C. endangered troops’ lives.
Kayyem, also a CNN national security analyst, argued that Trump’s deployment of Guard troops to D.C. was an unnecessary stunt that culminated in the shooting of two Guard members Wednesday.
"There are costs to performatively deploying members of the military — one of which is the risk of endangering them," Kayyem declared.
Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, allegedly shot National Guard troops Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe just blocks from the White House in what officials called a "targeted" attack on Wednesday. Beckstrom died from her wounds on Thanksgiving Day. Wolfe continues to receive treatment for his wounds.
Lakanwal is in custody and recovering in the hospital after being shot and wounded by other National Guard members. Trump called the shooting a crime against the entire country and said the "animal" who committed the murder would pay the "steepest possible price."
Kayyem argued the tragedy was avoidable because Trump was warned not to station troops in the city in the first place.
"The troops, deployed in an effort to reduce crime, are untrained in law enforcement; their days are spent cleaning up trash and walking the streets in uniform. Commanders, in a memo that was included in litigation challenging the high-visibility mission in D.C., argued that this could put them in danger," she wrote.
Kayyem added that Trump’s decision was merely a way to attack his "political" opponents and not a good use of U.S. military members.
"The National Guard has been deployed as part of the White House’s political attacks on cities run by Democrats, and the Guard members are vulnerable because politics is not a military mission," Kayyem continued.
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"Even if the deployments to D.C. were legal, they lack a clear mandate and metrics of success, and have vague rules of engagement and ill-defined operating procedures," she added. "And morale is low among part-time volunteer soldiers, who have had to leave home to patrol the streets of an American city that Trump doesn’t like."
Conservatives slammed Kayyem for the piece.
Prominent conservative X account, "AGHamilton29," wrote, "This is a gross and ignorant attempt to blame the victims of terrorism for the terrorism. 1) The presence of National Guard troops has objectively reduced violent crime in D.C. so it’s not performative.
"2) Even if you disagree with the policy, that is clearly not the reason for yesterday’s attack. Someone committed to carrying out such an attack would have found a target regardless if the national guard was deployed or not. In fact, their presence likely reduced the amount of harm this particular attacker did as others were able to heroically respond almost immediately."
Commentator Noam Blum said, "This take only works if you assume that simply being in our nation's capital presents a risk to one's safety. So you can either blame Trump for this by arguing that DC is too dangerous for members of the military, or you can ditch this moronic argument. Can't have it both ways."
Conservative author Varad Mehta posted, "These vermin really are going with the ‘their skirts were too short’ angle. Enemies of the people, and should be treated as such."
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Journalist Drew Holden wrote, "The media simultaneously mitigating culpability for the shooter (‘look what the US government did!’) while blaming the troops in the line of the terrorists fire for being there is vile."
The White House also condemned liberals who have blamed Trump for the shooting.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital, "This animal would’ve never been here if not for Joe Biden’s dangerous policies, which allowed countless unvetted criminals to invade our country and harm the American people.
"The Trump administration is taking every measure possible — in the face of unrelenting Democrat opposition — to get these monsters out of our country and clean up the mess made by the Biden administration. Instead of defending terrorists, the Democrats should join us in protecting the American people."
Super Bowl champion coach takes issue with NFL officials over pass interference penalties
Super Bowl champion head coach Tony Dungy expressed his frustration with inconsistent pass interference penalties during Thanksgiving Day’s slate of NFL games.
There were plenty of questionable calls during each of the three games – as there have been over the course of the entire 2025 season. He wrote on social media that the discrepancies have made it appear that NFL officials do not know what pass interference is.
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"When you watch NFL football all day long you just come to the conclusion our officials don’t know what pass interference is," he wrote on X. "We tried making it reviewable a couple of years ago and that didn’t help. But these are monster penalties that are not called consistently at all."
Dungy explained his take further when one X user wrote back that his comments were "cheap seats kind of gripes."
"I had a good day watching football. I just think pass interference is called very inconsistently. And they are sometimes 40 yard penalties. Doesn’t make it a cheap seat gripe. It’s just a statement of fact made from watching 3 games with (DBs) and WRs making contact on 40-50 passes. Anybody who watched the games would say the same thing."
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NFL officials have sparked debates across social media over pass interference calls, which have also reached the broadcast booth as Tony Romo and Cris Collinsworth were among those critical of them this year.
Former NFL head coach Jon Gruden said last December that he would want to see the league adopt college football’s rules on pass interference penalties.
"I would make it the college rule, honestly, because some of these pass interference calls are impacting the game, just one play there," Gruden said at the time on the "Pardon My Take" podcast.
He also suggested the call was too subjective and that the penalty flag should only be thrown if it is clear and obvious.
Fox News’ Chantz Martin contributed to this report.
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Eagles booed off field at home stadium as Bears dominate on the ground in upset victory
The panic meter is high in Philadelphia.
The Eagles lost their second straight, this one a 24-15 defeat to the Chicago Bears in a battle of 8-3 squads in front of a frustrated home crowd.
The end of each Eagles' drive in the first half ended with loud boos from the crowd. The Birds had 83 yards of offense in the first 30 minutes, while former Eagle D’Andre Swift alone had 88 yards rushing and a 13-yard catch.
The Bears had 232 yards of offense prior to halftime.
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The start of the second half wasn't much different, as Philly went three and out. On the next, Jalen Hurts threw an interception. Something clicked in the third, though, when the Eagles needed just five plays to go 92 yards, with the final 33 gained on an A.J. Brown touchdown. However, the Eagles missed the extra point, and Chicago held a 10-9 lead.
The momentum was in the Eagles' hands as Caleb Williams threw an interception at the line of scrimmage, but the Bears responded by forcing and recovering a fumble on a tush push. The Bears continued to run the ball down the Eagles' throats, and this time it was seventh-round rookie Kyle Monangai who scampered all over the field and found the end zone to make it a 17-9 Chicago lead.
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It was another three and out for the Eagles, and the Bears continued to be unstoppable. The icing on the cake was a 28-yard touchdown pass to Cole Kmet. The Eagles responded with another touchdown from Brown, but, down nine, they went for two and were unsuccessful, leaving it a two-possession game and all but ending the game.
It was the first time since 1985 the Bears had two running backs rush for 100-plus yards in the same game. In all, they had 281 rushing yards to the Eagles' 87 and twice as many first downs (28-14).
The Eagles will look to get back on track in a Monday night contest in Los Angeles against the Chargers Dec. 8, while the Bears, winners of five straight, head to Lambeau Field to face the Green Bay Packers.
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Pro-Palestinian agitators storm popular fashion store in Manhattan on Black Friday, 4 arrested: NYPD
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) confirmed at least four people were arrested after a group of pro-Palestinian agitators allegedly burst into a ZARA store in New York City on Black Friday, blowing whistles and waving a Palestinian flag.
"They fund the genocide, Free Palestine!" one woman could be heard screaming inside the store.
"ZARA is a genocidal company," another protester shrieked while blowing a whistle at employees.
NYPD officials told Fox News Digital officers responded to the scheduled demonstration near the popular fashion store at Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan and determined there were about 70 protesters boycotting Black Friday.
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As tensions rose, several protesters barged into the ZARA store and were seen on video quickly being ushered out by police officers.
As of 4 p.m. local time, the group is continuing to noisily march south on Fifth Avenue, on the sidewalk.
The same protesters were later seen on video chanting outside the Microsoft store.
"We will not be complicit in the exploitation of our neighbors, including children," an agitator yelled. "Black children. Brown children. We say no more. And we say shame!"
A man on the street could be heard telling protesters, "f--- you, you piece of s----. All of you are …" before smiling and walking away.
An investigation is ongoing, according to the NYPD.
Political turkeys of 2025: Blunders of 2025 that will never be pardoned by the public
With the year winding down, 2025 has left many top Democratic figures wishing things had turned out differently — or maybe that the public had put its focus elsewhere. Here are the top political turkeys ripped by conservatives in the past year.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has received scorching criticisms from Republicans and Democrats alike in the wake of a 43-day government shutdown that left Democrats empty-handed.
Democrats led by Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., had refused to advance spending legislation to keep the government open past Oct. 1 without first considering extensions to supplemental funding for Obamacare.
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But by the end of a painful and highly visible shutdown — the longest in the country’s history — Republicans had rebuffed efforts to negotiate over the subsidies. Without an off-ramp or negotiating strategy, even the chamber’s most progressive members expressed doubts about continuing the shutdown.
"I just don’t get what the point is of delaying even longer," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said just moments after a key vote to reopen the government cleared the Senate.
Many Democrats in and out of Congress blamed Schumer for failing to either keep Democrats united in their standoff over the subsidies or for failing to deliver on some other sort of concession. Across both chambers on Capitol Hill, Schumer faces questions about his continued role as the party's leader in the Senate.
The country’s worst kept secret got a fresh coat of paint in 2025 when a groundbreaking book by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson took readers behind the scenes of President Joe Biden’s physical decline — and the effort to hide it.
Questions about what Vice President Kamala Harris knew about Biden’s cognitive state rebounded in the wake of the book’s publication.
Harris, who maintains that Biden could have served out another term, would eventually take his place as the Democrat on the ticket in 2024.
At the time, Harris’ stand-in for Biden was seen by many in the party as the obvious choice. But that view soured later when President Donald Trump stormed to victory in November and questions arose about whether Harris should have joined the calls for Biden to step down.
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The presidential walk of fame at the White House features portraits of every president — except one. Instead of President Joe Biden, the Trump administration put up a picture of an autopen, a device used to mimic the signature of someone else, symbolizing President Joe Biden’s reliance on his inner circle to make presidential-level decisions.
The House of Representatives launched an investigation into just how much of his power Biden decided to delegate. In a report released in October, the House Oversight Committee slammed the Biden administration for what it called "invalid executive actions."
"The report exposes how President Joe Biden’s top advisors, political operatives, and personal physician concealed the President’s mental and physical decline from the American people. The findings reveal that as President Biden’s condition deteriorated, his aides exercised presidential authority and facilitated executive actions without his direct authorization," the report states.
Questions remain about just how far Biden's use of the autopen went and whether the legal standing of sensitive decisions like pardons could receive a second look.
The former governor of New York attempted a political comeback in 2025 by running for New York City mayor. The bid, which came after disastrous management of the state’s nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic and sexual harassment allegations during his time as governor, did little to improve his political standing.
Cuomo failed to capture the Democratic Party nomination, losing to Zohran Mamdani by 7.7 percentage points. Refusing to call it quits, Cuomo launched an independent campaign. There, Cuomo again fell behind Mamdani — this time by almost nine points.
In addition to a personal loss, Cuomo’s defeat dovetails with questions about whether more traditional Democrats can still compete with the vision offered by far-left figures in the party.
"This campaign was necessary to make that point — a caution flag that we are heading down a dangerous, dangerous road," Cuomo said in his concession speech. "Well, we made that point, and they heard us, and we will hold them to it."
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Schumer’s woes over the shutdown weren’t the only sore spot for the Senate minority leader in the last few months. The meteoric rise of Zohran Mamdani put this year’s biggest political turkey in a pressure cooker he could not escape.
Schumer first faced questions about Mamdani in the lead-up to the New York mayoral primary. Then reporters began to ask him if he would endorse Mamdani after the self-proclaimed socialist secured the Democratic nomination. And even in the closing days of the race, Schumer faced questions about whether he had made a decision to support the race’s clear frontrunner.
Through it all, Schumer gave the same non-answer.
"Look, the bottom line is very simple. I have a good relationship with him, and we’re continuing to talk," Schumer told reporters less than a week out from the election.
While other Democrats, including Jeffries, also delayed in giving responses about Mamdani, Schumer’s refusal to speak on the New York City Mayoral race stands out.
Schumer’s dismissal of the topic fueled questions about the direction of the Democratic Party and whether its congressional factions could play along with the momentum of its leftward flank.
That — coupled with questions about his management of the shutdown — has resulted in some Democrats wondering if the Senate’s top Democrat should move aside for someone new.
Afghan withdrawal refugees had ‘free rein’ on US bases in 2021, sources said, leaving in Ubers untracked
The tragic Wednesday shooting of two West Virginia National Guardsmen in Washington, and President Donald Trump's call to reexamine green card holders from "countries of concern" including Afghanistan, was predated by a warning from Fox News host Laura Ingraham about the Biden administration's announcement amid the withdrawal that they were vetting evacuees on the "back end."
The identification of a suspect has raised concerns again about the chaotic 2021 Kabul evacuation and previous reports of misconduct by evacuees on U.S. military bases.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, originally of Afghanistan and once part of a CIA-linked team fighting the Taliban, was identified as the main suspect in the shooting, which has since claimed the life of West Virginia National Guard Spc. Sarah Beckstrom of Nicholas County, West Virginia.
On Friday, "Ingraham Angle" host Laura Ingraham told Fox News Digital she and other conservatives have been sounding the alarm on failures of Biden-era vetting following the withdrawal ever since the Fox News host exclusively broke the story in September 2021 that members of Congress brought concerns over chaos at Army bases holding refugees directly to the State Department.
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"Soon after the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal, it was obvious that their intent was to bring as many Afghans into the U.S. as possible," Ingraham wrote in an email Friday.
"Conservatives, including myself, raised serious concerns about the cost, the difficulty of assimilation and potential threats posed to no avail," she said. "The Biden team didn’t care.
"We kept hearing, ‘But we promised,’ — Americans didn’t promise anything — and they shouldn’t be forced to keep paying for previous presidents' horrendous mistakes."
In September 2021, Ingraham reported exclusively that a top Republican demanded answers from then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken over the reports out of Fort Pickett in Blackstone, Virginia, depicting chaos and unvetted, unaccounted for evacuees.
As Ingraham pointed out, Blinken had said the State Department tried to "get as many people out as fast as we can, while we had the airport functioning. We focused on doing just that, and we're doing accountings on the back end as people arrive in the United States."
"That's your Secretary of State admitting that he didn't care about vetting these folks before we brought them to U.S. Soil," Ingraham said at the time.
"And if you thought they would be securely held on US military bases, well, think again."
Then-Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee exclusively provided Ingraham with a letter he wrote demanding answers from Blinken.
"I've recently been made aware from someone at Fort Pickett, Virginia, that Afghan evacuees basically have free rein of the complex and have even been allowed to leave, despite not having completed the vetting process," Green wrote.
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"My sources made shocking allegations, including multiple incidents of sexual assault and several evacuees have been picked up by Uber drivers without any permission from authorities or being cleared to leave."
Green called upon his own combat service in Afghanistan as an Army special operations flight surgeon to request confirmation or denial of the allegations made by the source, telling Blinken the reports pose an obvious national security risk.
At the time, Ingraham contrasted Green’s letter with Blinken’s public statements. During a news conference at the time, Blinken said that in the administration’s effort to get "as many people out (of Afghanistan) as fast as we can, while we had the (Hamid Karzai) Airport functioning, we focused on doing just that.
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"We’re doing accountings on the back end as people arrive in the United States," Blinken told reporters at the time.
"If you thought they would be securely held on U.S. military bases, think again," Ingraham said of Green’s revelation.
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Ingraham added Friday in comments to Fox News Digital that Afghan evacuees from Biden’s withdrawal not only come from a culture hostile to Western values, but they are often "all too dependent on the U.S. taxpayers to support them and their families."
"This must end — (it’s) yet another calamitous Biden mistake President Trump is forced to address," she said.
In his discussion with Ingraham after the withdrawal, Green, a member of and later chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee who left public life earlier in 2025, said he was hearing similar reports from bases beyond Fort Pickett, Virginia.
"DOD is getting its directions on how to handle these situations by the State Department," Green claimed. "And the State Department is failing to give them adequate information. They're letting them leave. They can catch an Uber and actually leave the base. They don't know exactly how many are even there.
"So, they can't account for someone if they don't return."
Green said officials warned evacuees that if they leave the base their visa processing would stop but that such a warning appeared to have little effect on those who may have left.
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"Then you get the shocking allegations of harassment and sexual assault, and it's just horrific," he said.
At the time, Ingraham reported many of the evacuees on the planes out of Kabul came with no personal documentation at all, and she questioned how any "vetting" could be done of people who couldn’t begin to prove their own identity.
When contacted by Fox News at the time, the Biden State Department said, as a general rule, it did not comment on communications with Congress.
Alejandro Mayorkas, Homeland Security Secretary at the time, told CBS News that the administration was dealing with "very few" evacuees who had given "any cause for concern."
CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell followed up by pressing the secretary whether he could guarantee none of "thousands" of prisoners released by the Taliban would be coming to America.
"I can guarantee you that we are doing everything possible to make sure that they don't," Mayorkas said.
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By one year after the Afghanistan withdrawal, lawmakers were still focusing on fallout from the apparent chaos.
Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., said on Fox News in September 2022 he had heard similar reports out of Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, in his home state as Green had out of Virginia.
"Should it be any surprise to the American people that they were misled? This is no different than the Southern border when Secretary Mayorkas came before the (House) Judiciary Committee and lied to us and said the border is secure. A year ago, President Biden said ‘inflation is transitory’. And now, a year later, we find out that they did not vet them," Tiffany said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
Tiffany said he was at Fort McCoy in Tomah, Wisconsin, when the first 2,000 refugees arrived there.
"None of them had gone through the SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) process," he said. "I asked about it.
"People could walk right off from the base without any authorization from the commanding officer. We sounded the warning bell on that. And now, finally, the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security is talking about this and saying this is a threat to national security and to our local communities."
Golf star hilariously awarded check for $0 after not cashing in at Skins Game return
The Skins Game returned Friday for the first time since 2008, and while there were big winners, there was one major loser.
Last held in 2008, the event featured four players from September's Ryder Cup: Keegan Bradley and Xander Schauffele from the United States, and Team Europe's Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry, the latter of whom clinched retention of the cup on the 18th hole at Bethpage Black.
Bradley was the big winner of the day, taking home $2.1 million, $900,000 of which coming on a birdie on the par-3 12th at Panther National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. That had been the largest prize ever in the Skins Game until Fleetwood racked up $1.25 million three holes later.
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Bradley won 11 skins total, nine of them on two holes, while Fleetwood brought home $1.7 million in all. Lowry's winnings were significantly lower at $200,000, but Schauffele is going home empty-handed.
After the match, each of the golfers was awarded big checks for their winnings. Despite not winning a penny, Schauffele was not left out.
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The two-time major champion's check read "zero dollars." But he remained a good sport.
"This is actually the first check I've ever gotten," Schauffele said. "I'm gonna frame this in the living room.
"That's motivation. Probably the last Skins Game I ever play, to be honest."
Players started with $1 million. They had money deducted whenever someone else won a skin.
The Skins Game used to be a Thanksgiving weekend staple on television, held from 1983 to 2008 before the recent hiatus. Fred Couples won the event five times in his career.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Trump rips former VP candidate on immigration: 'Tim Walz does nothing, through fear, incompetence, or both'
President Donald Trump on Thursday slammed Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, calling him "seriously r------d" and accusing the governor of failing to address crime and immigration concerns in the blue state.
In a lengthy Truth Social post, Trump argued that immigration is fueling crime nationwide and straining public services. He pointed to Minnesota as a prime example, claiming that "Somalian gangs are roving the streets" of what he described as a "once great state."
"A very Happy Thanksgiving salutation to all of our Great American Citizens and Patriots who have been so nice in allowing our Country to be divided, disrupted, carved up, murdered, beaten, mugged, and laughed at, along with certain other foolish countries throughout the World, for being ‘Politically Correct,’ and just plain STUPID, when it comes to Immigration," Trump said.
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Trump said the nation’s 53 million foreign-born residents are largely "on welfare, from failed nations, or from prisons, mental institutions, gangs, or drug cartels" and argued that American taxpayers are being forced to shoulder the cost.
He further claimed that a migrant earning $30,000 with a green card receives "roughly $50,000 in yearly benefits for their family."
"This refugee burden is the leading cause of social dysfunction in America," Trump said, blaming it for issues including crime, urban decline, overcrowded hospitals, housing shortages and growing deficits.
Trump pointed to Minnesota, alleging that "hundreds of thousands of refugees from Somalia are completely taking over" the state and claiming that Governor Walz "does nothing" in response.
"Somalian gangs are roving the streets looking for ‘prey’ as our wonderful people stay locked in their apartments and houses hoping against hope that they will be left alone," Trump said. "The seriously r------d Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, does nothing, either through fear, incompetence, or both."
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Walz responded on X to a screenshot of the Truth Social post, writing: "Release the MRI results."
Indiana state Senator Michael Bohacek, who has a daughter with Down syndrome, condemned Trump's language as "insulting and derogatory," saying the president's "words have consequences."
"I have been an unapologetic advocate for people with intellectual disabilities since the birth of my second daughter," Bohacek said. "… This is not the first time our president has used these insulting and derogatory references and his choices of words have consequences. I will be voting NO on redistricting, perhaps he can use the next 10 months to convince voters that his policies and behavior deserve a congressional majority."
In the post, Trump also targeted Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, calling her the "worst congressman/woman in our Country."
"Ilhan Omar, always wrapped in her swaddling hijab, and who probably came into the U.S.A. illegally in that you are not allowed to marry your brother, does nothing but hatefully complain about our Country, its Constitution, and how ‘badly’ she is treated, when her place of origin is a decadent, backward, and crime ridden nation, which is essentially not even a country for lack of Government, Military, Police, schools, etc," Trump said.
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The comments follow shortly after the Thanksgiving Eve shooting in Washington, D.C., that left one West Virginia National Guard member dead and another clinging to his life.
The suspect, Rahmahullah Lakanwal, is an Afghan national who reportedly worked with a CIA-operated unit that fought the Taliban on America’s behalf, Fox News Digital confirmed, which helped evacuate people during the fall of Kabul under then-President Joe Biden.
The White House, Governor Walz and Rep. Omar did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital's Charles Creitz contributed to this report.