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Chris Matthews blames Democratic Party 'snobbery and attitude' for losing working class voters to Trump
Former MSNBC host Chris Matthews pointed to the Democrats' "snobbery and attitude" as a reason why working people voted for President Donald Trump during an interview Wednesday.
MSNBC host Katy Tur asked Matthews about how the Democratic Party should bridge the divide between the working class and the college-educated voters.
"I don’t know the whole answer. [Pennsylvania Gov.] Josh Shapiro said, 'All right, we’re going to stop this a little bit. We’re going to get rid of the law that you have to be some college graduate to get a job in the state government.' Pennsylvania doesn’t have that law anymore," Matthews said.
"It isn’t just for college grads. And I think there’s a lot to that. The town vs. gown has gotten to be political. The people that didn’t get to college are voting for Trump. Why? Because the snobbery and attitude," he said.
CHRIS MATTHEWS SAYS DEMOCRATS 'FALLING INTO A TRAP OF DEFENDING WHAT’S INDEFENSIBLE' ON CRIME
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro issued an executive order in 2023 after taking office to establish that 92% of state government jobs would no longer require a college degree, according to CBS News.
Matthews has been critical of the Democratic Party amid President Donald Trump's 2024 election victory, calling on lawmakers to focus on the economy.
While discussing the Democratic Party's low popularity on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" in August, Matthews pointed in part to the Biden administration's poor handling of illegal immigration as a reason, saying, "The polling will tell you, the open border — what seemed like an open border for four years.
"Today, the border has been closed since January and not a peep out of any Hispanic leader. Nobody has complained because they know that surge at the border was killing the Democrats," he said.
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Identifying another possible factor in Democrats' sinking approval, Matthews back in August cited how transgender policies impacted the 2024 presidential election.
"On the issue of trans people playing women’s sports, that ad ran in every sports event, starting with the World Series. It never stopped. It showed up around the third quarter, and everybody's like, ‘What’s that? That’s insane.’"
CNN HOST SAYS SHE STUDIES 'CONSPIRACY THEORIES' TO EFFECTIVELY TALK WITH CONSERVATIVES
The ex-MSNBC host said issues such as transgender participation in sports were 80/20 issues before calling for a renewed focus on the economy.
Democrats won elections in New Jersey, New York, and Virginia that largely focused on economic anxiety and affordability issues.
New Jersey Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill defeated Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli in the New Jersey governor's race, while former Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger defeated Republican challenger Winsome Earle-Sears in the Virginia gubernatorial race. In the Empire State, democratic socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani claimed victory over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an Independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
Matthews previously hosted "Hardball" on MSNBC and resigned from the network in 2020 after facing backlash over multiple controversies.
Patriots’ Kayshon Boutte embraces new era of stability in New England as team surges toward first-round bye
The New England Patriots are back.
There was a glimmer of hope in the post-Tom Brady era when rookie Mac Jones led the Pats to the playoffs, but he ultimately fizzled out, and dark times followed in Foxborough.
Drake Maye and Mike Vrabel, however, have come to the rescue.
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Kayshon Boutte is in his third season with New England, and he has seen it all. He's had as many head coaches as he's had seasons in the league (Bill Belichick, Jerod Mayo and Vrabel). In fact, Boutte has had six offensive coordinators since college, so the coaching changes in New England were nothing more than par for the course for him.
But now, it appears he will finally have some continuity.
"Last year wasn’t the way we wanted it to be, but just coming in, trusting everything he was saying and how he wants things done," Boutte said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital about his current head coach. "He was a player at one time, so he’s a players’ coach in our eyes. He wants the best for us as players. Trusting everything he’s saying, I think everybody has done a great job of that, and now we’re sitting at where we’re at today."
As far as Maye goes, Boutte has seen plenty of growth out of the second-year quarterback.
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"We had a little success last year, but based off last season compared to this season, he’s moving around a lot more in the pocket, finding open receivers, always reading the defenses great, trusting his receivers to make plays. That’s a big thing for quarterbacks — confidence. Every time he throws the ball to you, catch it, and it builds his confidence too, and just let it fly. Us working together just made the offense take another step to the next level."
The on-field success has helped Boutte spread his name off of it, as well. Yes, his name is pronounced how you think it might be, and yes, it was an easy joke to crack.
"I heard a lot about it my whole life," he said.
But Boutte has the last laugh both at the critics and himself with his new partnership with Charmin, which just released a "Forever Roll" that lasts a month. Fully laid out, it’s roughly the same number of feet as the Washington Monument.
"I think it was different for me, you know? It was a cool idea," he said. "Charmin loves booty." (Or Boutte?)
"The idea of everything is good. I love it. It’s fun to joke around with it. The Charmin forever roll is amazing. Something I never had, a tissue roll that lasts a month. That’s a great thing."
It's a different era of Patriots football. Gone are the days of Brady and Belichick, and Boutte admitted that he doesn't want to think too much about the organization's past, but rather, focus on its present. And the present is pretty good.
Boutte's Pats are 8-2 and on a fast track to not only making the playoffs but earning a first-round bye. They'll get a chance to keep it going on Thursday night against the New York Jets.
"Season’s been great, but it’s up to us to keep it going," Boutte said. "As far as sustaining success, it’s all about what we put in day in and day out. Sitting at 8-2, we gotta improve throughout November and December to play in January."
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New York man arrested after 11 NYPD vehicles damaged in vandalism spree
A 22-year-old man was arrested in New York City after nearly a dozen NYPD vehicles were vandalized on Monday night, according to authorities.
Christian Genwright, of Valley Stream, New York, was arrested in Queens on Tuesday night in connection with the vandalized vehicles, the NYPD said.
The vandalism spree happened around 11 p.m. Monday night in Jamaica, Queens.
Police said officers from the 116th Precinct had been alerted to the vandalization in the neighborhood and found 11 different police vehicles, both marked and unmarked, with damage.
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The vehicles, which were parked and unoccupied at the time of the incident, sustained damage from an unknown object, according to investigators.
Photos from the scene show police vehicles with broken windshields and side mirrors, and damaged tires.
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The rear window of one marked police car appeared to be completely shattered. Another unmarked vehicle was seen with a hole pierced through its windshield.
Police did not immediately provide a suspected motive for the vandalism.
Genwright was charged with reckless endangerment, 14 counts of criminal mischief, two counts of possession of a weapon and resisting arrest. Online records show that his next court date is scheduled for Jan. 21, 2026.
Daniel Jones has faith Jaxson Dart will 'figure it out' with Giants after Brian Daboll firing
While Daniel Jones is thriving with the 8-2 Indianapolis Colts, his replacement in New York is already going through his first head coaching change just 10 games into the season.
Jaxson Dart and the rest of the New York Giants will finish the 2025 season without head coach Brian Daboll, who was fired after yet another late-game collapse by the team — this time in a 24-20 loss to the Chicago Bears on the road.
Mike Kafka, the team’s offensive coordinator, was named interim head coach, while general manager Joe Schoen is already leading the search for Daboll’s replacement next year and beyond.
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Daboll’s situation mirrors the one Jones found himself in last year, when the Giants released him during a roller-coaster season that ultimately led to trading back into the first round and selecting Dart out of Ole Miss during the 2025 NFL Draft.
Jones, after a brief stint in Minnesota with the Vikings, won the quarterback battle in Indianapolis and hasn’t looked back since. But considering he was once a young quarterback trying to find his way with the Giants, could he have some advice for Dart, who will already have a second head coach as he begins his own career?
"I don’t know Jaxson personally," Jones told Fox News Digital, while also discussing his work with FedEx’s "Power Move" campaign during the bye week. "Heard great things about him and a lot of people in New York have really enjoyed working with him and playing with him. I think he’s played really well this year, and I look forward to watching him.
DANIEL JONES TOUTS VIKINGS' COACHESD FOR THEIR PREP WORK IN WORRYING GIANTS ADMISSION
"As far as advice, I think he’ll figure it out. He’s played really well. As long as he keeps working and playing like he’s playing, I’m sure he’ll be all right."
Jones may not know Dart personally, but he does recognize the talent of his successor — as does the rest of the NFL. It’s been hard to ignore what Dart has done since being named the starter over Russell Wilson in Week 4, which ended up as the team’s first win of the season over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Dart has thrown for 1,417 yards with 10 touchdowns and three interceptions with a 62.7% completion rate, while also showcasing his running ability. He has seven rushing touchdowns this season, leading all quarterbacks. In fact, only four players in the entire NFL have more rushing scores.
But one of those runs proved costly in Chicago, as Dart suffered a concussion that knocked him out of the game prematurely. He won’t suit up this Sunday at home against the Green Bay Packers, as Kafka has already named Jameis Winston the team’s starter for the contest.
Then again, Jones couldn’t care less what kind of tumultuous season the Giants are going through now. He leads the NFL in passing yards through 10 weeks as he and star running back Jonathan Taylor have set the tone with an explosive offense that has stifled opponents so far. The Colts are sitting comfortably atop the AFC South at 8-2, and Jones may have found his next long-term home — provided he remains in place given his free-agent status for 2026.
However, Jones knows what Dart is going through as a first-round quarterback in one of the toughest media markets in professional sports.
In 2019, Jones was already counted out by some Giants fans before he had the chance to prove himself out of Duke. He did nothing but keep his head down, work hard and perform at his best — even when the results weren’t there.
He also watched as Pat Shurmur was fired after his rookie year, Joe Judge was shown the door ahead of the 2022 campaign and now Daboll gets the boot around the same time Jones was released in 2024.
The NFL, like any professional sports league, can be a tough business, and the Giants have certainly endured their share of struggles since their last Super Bowl title in 2012. The glass-half-full view is that Dart has the potential to be the franchise quarterback for years to come, while young pieces on both sides of the ball are in place.
Jones will be watching from afar now, but seeing as he still has friends in New York, there are no ill wishes on his end. That’s simply not his nature.
As he did in New York, Jones will work with his Colts teammates and coaches in hopes of continuing their push toward the playoffs and a potential Super Bowl run. What the future holds in his old stomping grounds remains to be seen.
POWER MOVES WITH FEDEX
Jones came right back from Berlin, Germany after a win over the Atlanta Falcons and got right to business with FedEx for its "Power Move" campaign. When asked what he would say his power move is right now, he replied, "Handing the ball to Jonathan Taylor right now."
Taylor was just nominated for the fourth time this season for the FedEx Air $ Ground NFL Awards Program, the fan-voted award in its 23rd year. Jones is a huge fan of the program, which celebrated the top NFL performances across the league each week, and it isn’t just for quarterbacks. Running backs, tight ends and wide receivers are also eligible, but it’s hard not to put in Taylor, who had yet another three-touchdown game overseas.
"He’s been on fire," Jones said of Taylor. "It seems like every week he shows up and tops the week before and super, super consistent for us running the ball. These explosive runs, especially in the second half when we get into these games we they’ve worn on him a little bit, he finds a seam and pops one. I think the offensive line obviously deserves a lot of credit with that stuff, too. But he’s been incredible, so I’ll definitely be pulling for him. He’s got my vote for the FedEx Ground Player of the Year, which I know they’re doing again this year."
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Repeat offender terrorizes sorority with break-in to steal underwear, spy on women in shower: police
A 45-year-old Bay Area man with a lengthy criminal history was arrested in connection with a break-in at a UC Berkeley sorority house, where police say he stole food and personal items and was seen watching women shower.
"It’s understandably shocking and scary," Berkeley Police Officer Byron White told the Los Angeles Times. "Just the knowledge that somebody had been inside the home like that, going into bedrooms, taking underwear, watching people shower, regardless if that was you or not, it does shake your sense of safety."
According to the Berkeley Police Department, officers arrested Courtney Emile Alford on Nov. 5 after identifying him as the suspect in a burglary that occurred four days earlier at a sorority house on the 2300 block of Warring Street.
Police said that around 6 a.m. on Nov. 1, a resident awoke to find an unknown man inside her bedroom before he fled through a rear door. Other residents later reported seeing the same man inside the house as early as 3 a.m.
When officers reviewed the home’s security video, they found multiple clips showing the suspect walking in and out of the building until about 6:35 a.m. — even leaving, changing clothes and returning later wearing a ski mask.
White noted that because it was a busy Halloween night on UC Berkeley’s Greek Row, security at the sorority house may have been more relaxed than usual. Surveillance video, he said, shows a man resembling Alford moving in and out of the residence for roughly three hours.
During the investigation, detectives learned that the suspect had stolen food and underwear from a resident’s room and watched women shower in the communal bathroom.
"We know, at least, at one point, he went into the shower room and was watching the women as they shower," White told the outlet. "He had also taken some underwear from a room."
Using surveillance video and FLOCK license-plate-reader technology, detectives with the department’s Sex Crimes Unit identified Alford as the suspect. Based on that evidence, officers obtained an arrest warrant on Nov. 4 and took him into custody the next day without incident.
A search of his Dublin residence uncovered parts of an assault rifle, high-capacity magazines and more than 900 rounds of ammunition, police said.
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The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office has charged Alford with burglary, prowling/peeking, invasion of privacy, felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, multiple counts of unlawful entry, and several criminal enhancements.
Court filings also indicate that Alford faces separate March 2024 charges for lewd acts upon a child under 14, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
Alford, who is well known to law enforcement in Alameda County, is being held at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin on $275,000 bail, records show.
A UC Berkeley school official confirmed the incident occurred at an off-campus sorority house and said the case is being investigated by the City of Berkeley Police Department. The university’s Student Affairs team is in contact with the sorority organization and has offered support resources to affected students.
Public records and the address provided by police identify the house as belonging to Alpha Chi Omega, one of the university’s recognized Greek chapters.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Alpha Chi Omega sorority and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office for comment.
'My whole life was a lie': Former vegan chef sinks her teeth into cattle ranching
A former vegan chef is living a very different life today.
Once the force behind a string of vegan restaurants in Southern California, Mollie Engelhart now lives on a ranch in Texas, raising livestock and serving as co-executive chef at The Barn, a restaurant at her family's Sovereignty Ranch.
Engelhart told Fox News Digital she's best known as being a "vegan chef in Los Angeles with five large vegan restaurants and transitioning to being a cattle rancher in Texas."
She added, "It's not a transition that a lot of people go through."
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The shift began more than a decade ago, when "cracks" started forming in her food philosophy, she said.
"I started my vegan restaurants with a full-throated endorsement," Engelhart said. "I was an environmentalist. I believed this was the pathway forward for humanity."
But a TED Talk in 2013 changed everything.
"I heard something that made sense for the future, for agriculture," she said. "It just clicked in my mind that cows were not the problem … but it also clicked that food waste was a big problem. So I decided to get my own farm to try to deal with the food waste from my restaurants."
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She soon realized "there was no vegan food" — and that "my whole life was kind of a lie," Engelhart admitted.
"All organic food is fertilized by blood meal, bone meal, feather meal and chicken poop. And that's all coming out of the consolidated feedlot system that the vegans hate," she said. "You grow avocado trees, you kill ground squirrels. . . . There's no plate without death. Life and death are two sides of the same coin."
When COVID-19 lockdowns shuttered restaurants across California, Engelhart tried pivoting.
"I tried to switch my restaurants from vegan to regenerative, which did not work. . . . The vegans went completely crazy, throwing blood on the restaurant, coming in with loud horns, screaming, drums," she said.
Finally, during the wildfires in January of this year, the 47-year-old mother of four closed her last restaurants in Los Angeles and moved with her family to Texas.
"I wasn't interested in my kids growing up in California," Engelhart said.
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She called the level of bureaucracy in the Golden State "intolerable," citing the many barriers to operating a business.
"I just felt like that level of government involvement in every single interaction that we have to have was not something I was interested in, and that's why I chose Texas," Engelhart said.
These days, Engelhart and her husband raise cattle, pigs, lambs and a small dairy herd while advocating for regenerative agriculture — a system she says rebuilds both the land and the human body.
"Regenerative agriculture uses six principles," she said. She checked them off: context (farming for the environment you're in); minimizing soil disturbance; biodiversity; more living roots; fewer chemicals; and animal integration.
She said the foundation of those principles is to build healthy soil, because there's "a huge overlap between healthy soil and healthy humans."
Her belief that "food is medicine" runs deep.
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"The food that we eat in our grocery stores today largely didn't exist 100 years ago," she said. "And many of the metabolic conditions that we have today largely didn't exist 100 years ago."
To Engelhart, "Food is medicine" isn't just a "wellness catchphrase."
"I think we've moved far away from the way God intended food to be, and I think we need to move back to eating foods in their whole form," she said.
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Her advice for other American families? "Trade a little bit of our convenience for a little bit more resilience."
She noted that doing so "is hard when there's Instacart, Uber Eats and Amazon — and you can get whatever you want delivered to your door."
Engelhart said she recommends buying from local producers at small farms.
"If we want there to be other options, then we have to support those other options," she said.
In her new book, "Debunked by Nature," Engelhart asserts that "Mother Nature is conservative."
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"The constructs of the world that the liberal sphere is trying to make us lie about all the time — if you look into nature, they don't exist," she said. "Largely, they're made up."
She said she "take[s] 19 constructs from our world today, and I look at them through the lens of nature … and I basically prove that they don't exist."
Pride-flag-carrying suspect accused of scrawling 'anti-Christian statements' on 3 NYC churches
Police in New York City are looking for a Pride-flag-carrying suspect accused of defacing three churches with "anti-Christian statements" during a 20-minute hate crime spree last month.
The suspect, who was also wearing a rainbow face covering and pushing a bicycle, scrawled "anti-gay cult" on the façade of the Refuge Church of Christ in Far Rockaway, Queens, at around 1:40 a.m. on Oct. 5, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) said. Far Rockaway is the southernmost neighborhood in the borough of Queens.
Minutes later, the rainbow-clad suspect allegedly tagged the neighboring City of Oasis Church of Deliverance with the same anti-Christian message, police said. Both churches are on Mott Avenue.
In a security video released by the NYPD, the suspect was captured scrawling "anti-gay cult" in black paint on the façade of one of the churches.
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At about 2 a.m., the suspect spray-painted "Welcome Cult Members" on the wall of St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Church on New Haven Avenue and wrote "cult" multiple times on the sidewalks outside, police said.
The suspect also defaced two religious statues, painting over their faces, police said.
Police said the person is wanted in connection with multiple acts of criminal mischief as a hate crime and the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force is investigating.
The Rev. Francis Shannon, who has been a priest at St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Church for more than eight years, said he was saddened to learn of the graffiti.
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"It was really heartbreaking learning about the vandalism. I was at my mother’s house, and as soon as it happened, I got sent pictures," Shannon, 67, told the Post. "So when I woke up, I saw them, and it was just really sad."
"I think this is more of a statement than a hate crime, just anti-institution kind of stuff," he said.
Shannon said he doesn’t believe the graffiti reflects the broader LGBTQ community and urged the vandal to talk out their frustrations instead of acting out.
"I don’t think this is a big part of the LGBTQ movement since he had the flag. I think he’s just the exception," Shannon said. "I just think he needs to talk it out and not act on it with violence."
Livvy Dunne celebrates Paul Skenes' Cy Young Award honor
Former LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne celebrated her boyfriend Paul Skenes’ National League Cy Young Award win on Wednesday.
Skenes was named the top pitcher in the National League after a career year that saw him finish with a major-league best 1.97 ERA to go along with 216 strikeouts. He was an All-Star for the second time, and became the first pitcher since Dwight Gooden to win the Cy Young Award after winning the Rookie of the Year Award.
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"Cy Young Skenes has a nice ring to it," Dunne wrote in a post on X.
She also posted a video on her TikTok page, showing the differences in Skenes’ reaction to his Rookie of the Year Award win to his Cy Young Award win. Skenes’ reaction last year was very timid while Dunne was extremely cheerful.
This year, the two embraced after the Pirates star gave a jubilant fist pump.
Dunne and Skenes have been dating for over a year. She's routinely seen at Pirates games supporting Skenes and the team.
Skenes’ award win came amid rumors that he wants out of Pittsburgh before he hits free agency after the 2029 season. He pushed back on that notion Wednesday night.
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"I don’t know where that came from," Skenes said. "The goal is to win and the goal is to win in Pittsburgh."
He remained optimistic about the Pirates’ ability to field a contending World Series team.
"The way that fans see us outside of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh is not supposed to win," Skenes said. "There are 29 fan bases that expect us to lose. I want to be a part of the 26 guys that change that."
Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal won the American League Cy Young Award for the second straight year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Comey and James challenge Trump appointee's legitimacy in federal court hearing
Former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James are aiming to convince a federal judge on Thursday that Lindsey Halligan, who brought criminal charges against both of them, is an unlawful U.S. attorney.
Lawyers for Comey and James plan to make their arguments during a hearing in Virginia to Judge Cameron Currie, a Clinton appointee tasked with deciding Halligan’s fate.
President Donald Trump installed Halligan in September as the top prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia days after ousting Erik Siebert, who opposed charging Comey and James, two of the president’s top political nemeses. Amid the change, Trump posted a message to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Truth Social, indicating that he wanted revenge for his own prior prosecutions and that Bondi needed to act fast.
Halligan, a former insurance lawyer with no prosecutorial experience, brought the indictments almost immediately. Her name was the lone signature on each of them, and no Virginia prosecutors joined the case.
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In court briefs, Comey's and James' lawyers have said Halligan’s appointment was defective because Bondi improperly designated her as an interim U.S. attorney after Siebert had already served in that position, which had a 120-day term limit that had expired.
Because Halligan was the only prosecutor to sign the grand jury indictments, legal experts have said that could be their fatal flaw if the courts deem her invalid.
Bondi has since said she retroactively ratified the indictments and designated Halligan a "special attorney" for the "avoidance of doubt," according to court filings.
"In all events, the government has endorsed the prosecutions, and the Attorney General has personally ratified the indictments to obviate any question as to their validity," DOJ lawyers wrote.
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Halligan’s appointment came as part of a series of maneuvers the Trump administration has made to bypass the Senate confirmation process and keep in place the president's preferred appointees in temporary capacities using loopholes in federal vacancy laws. Federal judges in New Jersey, California and Nevada have disqualified appointees in those states, and the New Jersey case is now pending before an appellate court. The issue could be bound for the Supreme Court.
Comey’s lawyers argued in court papers that Currie, the judge presiding over the issue, "should reject the government’s machinations."
Comey is facing a charge that he made a false statement to Congress and James is facing a bank fraud allegation.
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Both have pleaded not guilty and have argued their indictments should be tossed out on the grounds that Halligan was improperly appointed and that they were selectively and vindictively prosecuted.
If Comey's and James' charges were to be thrown out, it is unclear what would happen next. The DOJ could appeal or attempt to bring them again, depending on how the courts rule.
Fox News’ Bill Mears and David Spunt contributed to this report.
Argentina reveals secret WWII files on Hitler's henchmen who fled before, after the war
Multiple documents featuring some of the worst Nazi war criminals were released and declassified earlier this year by Argentine President Javier Milei. The more than 1,850 documents comprise thousands of pages detailing the South American country’s efforts to track and verify the whereabouts of thousands of Nazis who fled Europe after World War II.
The catalyst for the effort came from the Senate Judiciary Committee and Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who was credited by the Simon Wiesenthal Center for his efforts in getting Milei to release the documents.
Most of the materials relate to investigations carried out between the late 1950s and the 1980s and were digitized and made available on the nation’s General Archive website, along with secret, declassified presidential decrees from 1957 to 2005.
The original batch of documents released online is divided into seven large files roughly centered around the main Nazi criminals covered in them. There are multiple documents related to Adolf Eichmann, the engineer of the "Final Solution," the plan for the extermination of European Jewry. He lived under the name Ricardo Klement around Buenos Aires until being captured by Mossad agents on Argentine soil and taken in a secret operation to stand trial in Jerusalem in 1960.
Eichmann’s case features prominently in the files and there is contradicting evidence that the leftist, populist government of Juan Perón not only knew Eichmann was in the country but also made efforts to protect him.
Multiple documents also exist detailing the lives of Josef Mengele, the "angel of death" doctor from Auschwitz-Birkenau camps who lived in Argentina and escaped to Paraguay and Brazil, where he died in 1979.
Documents detailing the hunt for Martin Bormann, Hitler’s lieutenant and right-hand man, as well as Croatian murderer, Ante Pavelic, deputy führer and defector Rudolf Hoess and the so-called "butcher of Lyon," Klaus Barbie, received special attention in the files.
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According to Harley Lippman, a member of the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad and a board member of the European Jewish Association, the relevance of the release of the Argentinian documents cannot be understated.
"There are numerous questions that these documents can bring light to why a sophisticated society, far from the plagues of European antisemitism such as Argentina’s, agreed to hide Nazi criminals and their secrets for so long. What happened to the U-boats loaded with Nazi gold brought to the country and given to the authorities?" he asked.
"On the one hand, it is shameful that Argentina kept these documents a secret for so long, but on the other hand, we also need to acknowledge the enormous efforts being made by this government to make these documents public. While the historical significance is important, this is more important for Argentinians to be able to confront their demons as a society than for Jews," Lippman said.
Adding to the large reveal, in May, while the Supreme Court of Argentina was undergoing renovations and transferring document collections to museums, a forgotten trove of 83 boxes of Nazi documents was discovered almost untouched in the basement of the institution. Upon inspection, the crates revealed documents intercepted by Argentine customs in 1941, sent from the German Third Reich Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, to Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires, aboard the Japanese steamer Nan-a-Maru.
The documents had been sent as personal effects of embassy personnel but were intercepted under orders of the country’s minister for foreign affairs in order not to undermine Argentina’s neutral position in the war. The shipment became the subject of a probe by a commission investigating "anti-Argentine activities," which led to the seizure and possession of the crates by the country's supreme court, where they remained for nearly 84 years.
The finding of the boxes revealed multiple materials intended to propagate and consolidate the Third Reich’s and Hitler’s ideologies in Argentina and South America, possibly in an effort to bring neutral countries under the auspices of Germany.
MILEI SCORES HISTORIC WIN IN ARGENTINA MIDTERMS, TIGHTENS GRIP ON CONGRESS
After opening the boxes along with prominent members of the country's Jewish community, the court issued a statement saying that "given the historical relevance of the find and the potential crucial information it could contain to clarify events related to the Holocaust," an exhaustive survey of all the material was ordered.
The contents of the crates have not yet been made public, but Milei's office has said that once all the documents have been digitized, they will also be declassified and made available.
Argentina’s chief of the Cabinet of Ministers, Guillermo Francos, has previously said Milei gave the order "because there is no reason to continue withholding that information, and it is no longer in the interest of the Republic of Argentina to keep such secrets."
"Jews after World War II lived a golden age of about 80 years where antisemitism had subsided, at least apparently, and they could be productive and contributing members of society. This has now ended — partially because of the genocide committed against Israelis by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, with world opinion projecting on Israelis and Jews the false role of perpetrators of genocide in the war in Gaza, but also by bringing back the same old antisemitic views that had been alive in Germany and before then," Lippman says.
"The fact that many people under 30 do not know or understand [the meaning of] the Holocaust is part of the reason why antisemitism is on the rise again. "The Holocaust was the largest systematic industrial killing of humans in history. This happened only 80 years ago. Young people seem not to be able to grasp the scale of this, but these documents can bring back the memory of what the Holocaust really was," he said, comparing the propaganda war currently faced by Israel and Jews under a progressive and projectionist guise.
Beyond the lives of senior Nazis who escaped to South America on the so-called "ratlines"—possibly under the auspices of certain local governments—Lippman said the documents could also provide important information regarding the role played by Swiss and Argentine banks.
"The Holocaust was the greatest theft in history. Many Swiss banks [which were the depositaries of Jewish money] would not release funds to sometimes a sole survivor from a family who perished in the Holocaust without a death certificate for their loved ones. But Auschwitz did not issue death certificates — they only issued ashes."