News of the World
11-14-2025, 06:26 AM
The Jeffrey Epstein Emails Special Edition
THE EMAILS
Quote:WASHINGTON — House Democrats prevented a quick vote on legislation that would require the Justice Department to release all its files on sex predator Jeffrey Epstein, apparently hoping to keep the controversy in the spotlight longer, the GOP has alleged.
Ahead of the House vote to end the 43-day government shutdown, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) took to the floor and requested unanimous consent to immediately vote on the Epstein bill.
The GOP attempt failed, with Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), the senior GOPer in charge of the House floor, explaining: “The chair is constrained not to entertain the request unless cleared by the bipartisan floor and committee leaderships.”
“I tried to get the Epstein files [bill] straight to the floor, cut out all of this nonsense and the Democrats blocked it, oddly enough,” Burchett grumbled after his effort failed. “This is politics. It has nothing to do with what’s right.”
Womack was restricted by House rules from revealing which party blocked Burchett’s unanimous consent request — but the Tennessee lawmaker, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), and others insisted Democrats stood in the way.
The bill was the “Epstein Files Transparency Act,” which was introduced by Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who is championing an identical piece of legislation with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to release the Epstein files that is set to receive a vote next week.
Khanna and Massie have secured sufficient support for what’s known as a discharge petition to get a vote on their similar legislation to release the Epstein files, despite opposition from House Republican leadership.
Burchett did not sign the discharge petition, but wanted to bring the vote on Khanna’s similar bill forward.
“I have not seen many stories written yet about the fact we put the discharge petition up for unanimous consent on the floor tonight,” Johnson vented to reporters Wednesday.
“The Democrats objected to the unanimous consent. Nobody has written a story about that. That is stunning to me.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ (D-NY) office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Massie and Khanna began pursuing their discharge petition after the FBI and DOJ publicly concluded this past July that Epstein, 66, committed suicide while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges and did not maintain a “client list” of powerful friends to whom he peddled girls as young as 14 — contrary to widespread speculation.
Meanwhile, lefty Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett got put in her place on live TV by CNN anchors after she falsely tried to blame Republicans for redacting the name of one of Epstein’s victims in a newly released email.
The email in question was part of a tranche of 23,000 pages of documents from the convicted pedophile’s estate released by Republicans on the House Oversight Committee this week after Democrats published a smaller batch in which they chose to redact the name of deceased victim Virginia Giuffre.
Republicans later revealed the omitted name in the 2011 email was Giuffre, and accused the Democrats of deliberately muddying the waters by obscuring it.
“The fact that Trump does not want these files to be out to me says he has more to hide than him actually being able to exonerate himself,” Crockett said on “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer” Thursday.
However CNN anchor Pamela Brown then produced the email, and pointed out that Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, wrote in her posthumously published memoir that Trump had no hand in the disgraced financier’s wrongdoing.
“And I don’t know why they would necessarily redact someone’s name who is deceased at this point,” Crockett said.
President Trump has repeatedly and publicly lashed out over the ongoing Epstein controversy, and did so again this week.
Quote:Discredited author Michael Wolff once encouraged Jeffrey Epstein to blackmail then-presidential candidate Donald Trump — insisting the convicted pedophile could generate a “debt” from him.
The Trump-obsessed writer’s email exchanges with Epstein were among the trove of documents released by the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.
In one email, Wolff floated the possibility of intimidating Trump for his own benefit — as he warned Epstein that the then-GOP candidate could be asked about their alleged ties while on the campaign trail.
“I hear CNN planning to ask Trump tonight about his relationship with you — either on air or in scrum afterwards,” Wolff wrote to Epstein in December 2015.
“I think you should let him hang himself,” he added in a follow-up the next day.
“If he says he hasn’t been on the plane or to the house, then that gives you a valuable PR and political currency. You can hang him in a way that potentially generates a positive benefit for you, or, if it really looks like he could win, you could save him, generating a debt.”
Wolff — who penned “Fire and Fury,” a supposed tell-all about the first Trump administration — went on to say it was possible the then-candidate could speak glowingly about the sex trafficker.
“Of course, it is possible that, when asked, he’ll say Jeffrey is a great guy and has gotten a raw deal and is a victim of political correctness, which is to be outlawed in a Trump regime,” Wolff noted.
He also once mused that Epstein could be the “bullet” to end Trump’s 2016 campaign if he decided to openly discuss their past ties — and suggested that Epstein should have a strategy in place.
“The more Trump looks real, or perish the thought, inevitable, the more reporters are going to focus on this, so, as you will not be surprised, you need a strategy,” the author noted in a January 2016 email exchange.
In February 2016, Epstein emailed Wolff noting that he was being approached by more reporters as Trump’s popularity in the polls grew.
“Yeah, you’re the Trump bullet,” Wolff responded.
“NYT called me about you and Trump. Also, Hillary campaign digging deeply. Again, you should consider preempting,” Wolff wrote in another email later that month.
Right before the election, Wolff again suggested Epstein could tank Trump’s campaign with an email subject line that read: “Now could be the time.”
“There’s an opportunity to come forward this week and talk about Trump in such a way that could garner you great sympathy and help finish him,” Wolff wrote. “Interested?”
The author and journalist has made a career profiting off Trump’s presidency.
Wolff’s first book, “Fire and Fury,” sold almost 2 million copies in the first three weeks after it was published in January 2018. He went on to write three more books about Trump in power.
Right after Trump was elected, Wolff boasted to Epstein that he was writing one Trump book “for a pile of cash.”
“So… I’m doing this Trump book for a pile of money and with so far quite a bit of co-operation from them (DT called me the other day and spent 45 minutes on the phone ranting and raving about the media–alarming),” he wrote in February 2017.
Wolff went on to ask Epstein to introduce him to two people who could potentially help with “off-the-record perspective on White House procedures.”
Trump, for his part, later ripped Wolff’s “Fire and Fury” — calling it “trash” and “full of lies.”
Quote:A top economic official in the Bill Clinton and Barack Obama administrations sought advice from convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein about his relationship with an unidentified woman, bombshell emails released by the House Oversight Committee show.
Lawrence Summers, who served as Clinton’s final Treasury secretary and director of the National Economic Council under Obama, routinely picked Epstein’s twisted brain about how to interact with the woman, who apparently lived in London at the time of the exchanges.
On March 16, 2019, less than four months before Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges, Summers wrote that he and the woman had “talked on the phone.”
“Then [she said] ‘I can’t talk later’. Dint [sic] think I can talk tomorrow,” the former president of Harvard University continued in the correspondence tucked in 20,000 pages of documents made public by the panel Wednesday.
“I said what are you up to. She said ‘I’m busy’. I said awfully coy u [sic] are,” Summers complained. “And then I said. Did u [sic] really rearrange the weekend we were going to be together because guy number 3 was coming’. She said no his schedule changed after we changed our plans. I said ok I got to go call me when u feel like it.
“Tone was not of good feeling,” the now-70-year-old summed up. “I dint [sic] want to be in a gift giving competition while being the friend without benefits.”
“[S]hes smart,” Epstein told Summers in a responding email 11 minutes later. “[M]aking you pay for past errors. [I]gnore the daddy im [sic] going to go out with the motorcycle guy, you reacted well.. annoyed shows caring., no whining showed strentgh [sic].”
Epstein, 66, was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell 147 days later, on Aug. 10, 2019, while awaiting trial.
The March 2019 exchange was not the only time Epstein and the married Summers discussed the fairer sex.
In November 2018, Summers forwarded Epstein an email from a different woman with the comment: “Think no response for a while probably appropriate.”
“She’s already begining to sound needy :) nice,” Epstein replied.
The emails shed new light on the closeness of the relationship between Epstein and Summers, who serves on the board of directors at OpenAI.
In 2014, Summers had sought advice from Epstein about how to raise $1 million to help his wife, Harvard professor Elisa New, create an online educational project about American poetry.
The exchange was reported in 2023 by the Wall Street Journal, which noted that a nonprofit linked to New had received a $100,000 donation from Epstein.
Three years later, in October 2017, Summers went on a bizarre rant to Epstein about the case of Michelle Jones, whose admission to a Harvard PhD program had been rescinded after university officials learned she had spent time in prison for the murder of her 4-year-old son decades earlier.
“I’m trying to figure out why American elite think if u [sic] murder your baby by beating and abandonment it must be irrelevant to your admission to Harvard,” Summers wrote in apparent reference to the “Me Too” movement, “but hit on a few women 10 years ago and [you] can’t work at a network or think tank.”
Summers then added, in all caps: “Do not repeat this insight.”
When approached for comment by the New York Times on Wednesday, Summers referred the outlet — to which he contributes opinion pieces — to statements in which he has been “regretting my past associations with Mr. Epstein.”
Epstein and Summers also discussed President Trump in their newly revealed correspondence, with the former telling Summers on Feb. 8, 2017, that the commander-in-chief has “[n]ot one decent cell in his body.”
“I have met some very bad people, none as bad as Trump,” the disgraced financier added in the same message.
“[Y]our world does not understand how dumb he really is,” Epstein warned Summers in a May 28, 2017, email. “[H]e will blame everyone around him … for bad results.”
In December 2018, Epstein described Trump to Summers as “borderline insane,” adding that prominent attorney Alan Dershowitz, who represented both Epstein and Trump in various legal proceedings, was “a few feet further from the border but not by much.”
Quote:WASHINGTON — Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein ended his friendship with Bill Clinton because he believed the former president was a liar, according to new emails the disgraced financier’s estate handed over to Congress on Wednesday.
The emails obtained by the House Oversight Committee show that Kathryn Ruemmler, a former White House counsel to President Barack Obama, had a chummy relationship with Epstein — and the two frequently discussed politics in the lead-up to the 2016 election.
In a Jan. 23, 2016, email, Epstein revealed that he broke off contact with Slick Willy after “he swore, with whole-hearted conviction to me that he had done something, he had forgotten that he also swore the exact opposite to me only weeks before.”
“Who knows what they’re talking about,” a Clinton spokesperson responded in a statement. “What we do know and have always said is that President Clinton knew nothing about Epstein’s heinous crimes and hadn’t spoken to him in twenty years. Now here it is in black and white.”
Ruemmler and Epstein had been discussing another person named “macgiver” earlier in the email thread, and sources familiar with the exchange indicated that Ruemmler’s comments only referred to that individual.
“I will just say I told you so. Not to sound overly dramatic, but he is very close to being a psychopath,” Ruemmler had said earlier in the exchange of the mysterious individual. “[H]e has no conscience. It’s scary.”
“He obviously said something to you yesterday that was disturbing, and you don’t want to tell me. Just tell me — I can take it. I promise,” added Ruemmler of this person, who was once listed as a backup executor to Epstein’s estate in January 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported.
But it’s unclear how long the two remained at odds as Clinton was mentioned in other emails in the trove of more than 20,000 pages worth of documents released by the powerful House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.
“Let’s do a men of the world conference,” theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss said in an April 5, 2018, email to Epstein, sending a proposed invite list that included Clinton, actor Kevin Spacey, former Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and director Woody Allen.
Ruemmler had met Epstein while employed as a partner at Latham and Watkins. She is the Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel at Goldman Sachs. A spokesperson for the banking giant claimed Ruemmler’s interactions with Epstein were limited to business.
“They shared a common client that originated as an Epstein referral,” the spokesperson said, referring to her time at Latham & Watkins.
Clinton and Epstein’s ties date back to at least the early 1990s, when the child sex predator donated money to the 42nd president’s campaign. Later, he contributed $20,000 to Hillary Clinton’s Senate campaign in 1999. Epstein visited the White House over a dozen times during the Clinton presidency, visitor logs show.
Following Clinton’s White House departure, the two remained in touch. Epstein was an active donor to the Clinton Foundation and Slick Willy appeared in flight logs for the late pedaphile’s infamous “Lolita Express” on more than two dozen occasions.
Epstein was known to staff his jet with young women while mingling with powerful people.
Quote:A then-New York Times finance reporter tipped off Jeffrey Epstein in the spring of 2016 that an investigative journalist and former NYPD detective was “digging around” on the convicted pedophile for a tell-all book about his depraved lifestyle.
Landon Thomas Jr., gave the disgraced financier a heads-up after being contacted by ex-cop-turned-reporter John Connolly about the tome which became “Filthy Rich,” according to a tranche of emails released Wednesday by the House Oversight Committee.
“Keep getting calls from that guy doing a book on you — John Connolly. He seems very interested in your relationship with the news media. I told him you were a hell of a guy :),” Thomas wrote to Epstein in an email dated June 1, 2016.
“He actually seemed to be a sensible guy/solid reporter — just from the few conversations I had with him. I think he is close to finishing up. Did you ever speak to him?”
Elsewhere in the exchange, Thomas went on to note that Connolly had apparently inquired about an article he had written for New York Magazine in 2002, in which Donald Trump was quoted as speaking highly of Epstein.
“One oddity: he said he had been told that that quote from Trump about you in the original NY Mag story had been manufactured. ie, that I did not actually speak to Donald,” Thomas wrote in the email.
“Which is bull s–t of course. I am sure that is what Trump told him as they have been getting a lot of questions from reporters about you.”
In earlier emails, Thomas acknowledged that people had been coming to him because they figured he had “juicy info on you and Trump” — specifically because of his magazine article that quoted Trump as saying, “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” and “It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do and many of them are on the younger side.”
Connolly, who died in January 2022 at the age of 78, published “Filthy Rich: The Shocking True Story of Jeffrey Epstein” in October 2016, sharing author credit with celebrity wordsmith James Patterson.
The book became the basis of a four-part Netflix documentary that began streaming in May 2020, months after Epstein was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
In September 2017, nearly a year after the book was released, Thomas emailed Epstein that Connolly “is digging around again — not clear if its another book/or expanded paperback version. Was asking me all sorts of questions about why you hired Ken Starr” — a reference to the former independent counsel who investigated the Clinton White House.
“I told him I had no idea — I think he is doing some Trump-related digging too,” Thomas added. “Anyway, for what it’s worth…”
Other emails in the trove of more than 20,000 documents released Wednesday detail Thomas’ chummy relationship with Epstein through the years — revealing that the reporter picked the pervert’s brain for background information on a potential story about Saudi Arabia.
In multiple emails, Thomas fretted about Donald Trump potentially defeating Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, writing to Epstein in a Feb. 10 exchange: “Its [sic] getting scary. The stories you could tell…”
Thomas left the Times in early 2019, after he revealed to editors that he had solicited a $30,000 donation to a cultural center in Harlem from Epstein, NPR reported at the time.
USA
Quote:President Trump privately polled top CEOs for ideas on how to make US voters’ lives more affordable – even as he predicted a deregulation-driven economic boom on par with the Reagan and Clinton eras, The Post has learned.
Trump’s remarks came during a private Wednesday dinner at the White House that included some of Wall Street and corporate America’s biggest names, among them JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon.
While he stopped short of specifically mentioning an “affordability crisis” as alleged by Democrats, Trump appeared to concede that parts of the American dream have become out of reach, and asked the CEOs if they had any solutions, according to one CEO in attendance.
“He spoke a lot about affordability and what we can do from a market perspective to address it,” the CEO told The Post.
Other bigwigs at the dinner included Larry Fink of Blackrock, Ted Pick of Morgan Stanley, David Solomon of Goldman Sachs, Nasdaq’s Adena Friedman and Steve Schwarzman, CEO of private equity powerhouse Blackstone.
Also in attendance were Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Trump is said to have “controlled the room” of Wall Street and business heavyweights, sprinkling pitches on his pro-growth economic policies with his trademarked charisma and sense of humor.
Still, Trump raised eyebrows when he blurted out that he believes his economic policies – which include stiff tariffs on foreign goods — could make the US economy grow “between 5 and 6 percent,” according to an attendee.
The CEOs didn’t confront Trump on his prediction, which is far higher than most optimistic forecasts, including the 4% growth outlook from the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank. But privately, many had doubts given the current economic headwinds.
Some in attendance told The Post that even Trump’s economic advisers are skeptical of such growth. Meanwhile, they are concerned about next year’s midterms following the recent Democratic gubernatorial wins and Zohran Mamdani’s election as New York mayor.
“I sure hope the president is right about 6% growth,” another CEO told The Post. “But I don’t see how we get there. His people are worried as well particularly about affordability but they won’t tell him. He’s surrounded by a lot of ‘yes men.'”
The CEOs also discussed ways to open the markets up to average people so they can put their retirement savings in the stock market, which if history is any guide, provides the highest returns for investors than other assets, according to people who were present.
Quote:WASHINGTON — First lady Melania Trump joined her husband for a rare joint executive order signing ceremony Thursday on a directive to expand resources for teenagers in the foster care system.
“Too many people from the foster care community end up homeless, in danger on America’s streets,” the first lady said before the signing ceremony.
“I predict this small spark today will ignite a profound and lasting nationwide movement. Our united resolve will foster a thriving future filled with compassion and innovation.”
The executive order, signed by both Trumps, is intended to boost Melania’s “Fostering the Future,” which aims to elevate youth transitioning out of the foster care system through scholarships and educational opportunities.
“Fostering the Future” is part of the first lady’s “Be Best” initiative, which she launched during the first Trump administration to promote the well-being of children, including by countering bullying and drug addiction.
President Trump’s executive order lays out key goals for his administration, particularly the Department of Health and Human Services, to create more opportunities for teenagers in foster care as they transition to adulthood.
It instructs HHS to streamline the collection of child-welfare data, partner with the private sector to create opportunities for youth in foster care, and coordinate with faith-based institutions to ensure states and local governments aren’t stopping them from participating in federal child welfare programs.
There were an estimated 328,947 children in the foster care system as of September of last year, according to data from HHS’s Administration for Children and Families. That’s a downtick from the first Trump administration, when it stood at 437,000 in 2017.
Only 55% of children in the foster care system graduate high school and just 10% will graduate from college, per Route 21, a youth mentoring program.
Additionally, 1 out of 10 individuals in jail went through foster care, according to Route 21.
The president heaped praise on the first lady’s work, taking note of her ability to speak five languages.
“I couldn’t do that,” he quipped. “Thank you, Melania, and our country is truly blessed to have this magnificent and very caring First Lady.”
“We believe that every American child deserves a safe and loving home, and we’re determined to support the amazing families who helped make that happen,” he later added.
President Trump also invoked the Bible to underscore the importance of tending to society’s most vulnerable.
Quote:Mayor-elect Zohram Mamdani wants to deploy social workers instead of police officers to respond to 911 calls — but the controversial plan has already been operating in the Big Apple and is failing.
The early results of a program dubbed B-HEARD spells trouble for Mamdani’s proposed $1.1 billion Department of Community Safety (DCS), a signature imitative that his newly announced chief of staff and left-hand woman Elle Bisgaard-Church helped craft.
B-HEARD launched in 2021 as a pilot program and only operates in some city neighborhoods, but a bleak audit conducted in May by the city comptroller found it was limping — with a whopping 60% of calls deemed ineligible while more than 35% of eligible calls from mental health professionals never got a response.
“Calls were considered potentially dangerous, were ineligible because a mental health professional was already at the scene, or were unable to be triaged because FDNY EMS did not take the call or all necessary information could not be collected about the person in distress,” the comptroller’s office wrote in a news release at the time.
Between fiscal years 2022 and 2024, the program received a total of 96,291 calls — 24,071 of those received a response from a “B-HEARD Team” which consists of two FDNY officers and EMTS, and one social worker.
The proud socialist mayor-elect is looking to drastically scale up the program — which currently consists of 18 active teams — through a 150% increase in funding that would place one response squad in each Big Apple neighborhood, and up to three teams in areas with higher need.
Mamdani’s plan would absorb B-HEARD into the DCS, which his campaign website touts as an agency meant to “fill the gaps of our programs and services” on his campaign website.
“Its mission will be to prevent violence before it happens by taking a public health approach to safety,” the document reads.
Right now, B-HEARD operates in The Bronx, Upper Manhattan, central Brooklyn and a northwest section of Queens. DCS would likely require a massive increase in staffing and resources to scale citywide, experts said.
The pricey project would utilize $605 million by absorbing existing programs like B-HEARD, and seek to raise a whopping $455 million in new funding.
Mamdani’s DCS plan has alienated law enforcement, with critics saying it could not only put potential callers in harm’s way but endanger the responders.
Experts interviewed by The Post echoed said B-HEARD’s questionable effectiveness was a bad sign for a potential DCS.
“The devil is in the details, and here the detail is implementation. The fact that the program is not reaching people does not tell me it’s unsuccessful; that is a matter of resources,” said Richard Aborn, president of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City.
“But there are fundamental questions,” he said, noting the harrowing idea of when it’s appropriate to send mental health professionals to 911 calls instead of law enforcement.
Political strategist Hank Sheinkopf scoffed at the idea of a new department entirely.
“Exactly what New York doesn’t need: another government agency with an unmanageable bureaucracy. Domestic dispute calls can get violent,” Sheinkopf emphasized.
Quote:Zohran Mamdani held a secretive meeting with far-left Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday — a sitdown that was captured by an eagle-eyed New Yorker whose office is across from the mayor-elect’s headquarters.
Warren boasted about the meeting with the Democratic socialist and Big Tech antagonist Lina Khan, the co-chair of Mamdani’s transition team, on Instagram.
“Tax the rich. Billionaire tears not pictured,” Warren captioned the post of the beaming trio.
The nosy neighbor who works in the building across the street from Mamdani snapped a picture of him and Warren “in deep debate” on Nov. 12, according to a post on X.
“Update: the blinds are all closed this morning,” he wrote Thursday.
Exact details of the trio’s meeting are unclear. The Post reached out to Mamdani and Warren for comment.
Warren is a notorious hater of Wall Street who gushed about Mamdani’s “steely” focus on affordability over the summer, saying his fantastical promises of free child care, transit and rent freezes are the true “Democratic message.”
Maria Danzilo, a former candidate for the New York state Senate, gawked at the Bay State progressive’s apparent “obsession” with the incoming mayor.
“This woman will not rest until she brings down America, starting with NYC. It’s bad enough we have [AOC] here,” Danzilo seethed on X.
“NYC is bleeding jobs and it’s headed for anti-growth and a death spiral thanks to years of De Blasio, no course correction with Adams, and now four years of [t]his! She should go back to Massachusetts and leave NYC the heck alone.”
Others, growing fretful about the other lefty politicians swarming around Mamdani, couldn’t help but agree.
“Welp Bernie said it. He wants to bring Mamdani politics all across the country,” one user wrote, referring to independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who rallied with Mamdani just before the election.
“I don’t think her policies work for nyc,” another person noted.
“She is a MA senator…why is she even there?” one user wondered.
Quote:Gov. Kathy Hochul is getting cooked for placing her “Green New Deal” on the back burner.
The New York leader faced attacks from both sides of the aisle this week when her administration revealed it was stalling the implementation of the All-Electric Buildings Act that includes a controversial ban on installing gas stoves in newly built homes.
The law was supposed to start in January for new buildings up to seven stories, and then for all other buildings in 2029, but state lawyers agreed in a court filing to a delay amid an ongoing court fight challenging the law.
Environmentalists slammed Hochul for pushing off much needed green initiatives while Republicans, like GOP candidate for governor, upstate Rep. Elise Stefanik, accused her of cynically slowing the roll-out ahead of her re-election in 2026.
“Kathy Hochul is lying to New Yorkers,” Stefanik bluntly said in a statement.
“She wants them to believe there will not be a gas stove ban and all-electric mandate policies that will absolutely crush New York’s economy and cause a skyrocketing of prices further worsening the affordability crisis.
“This is a cynical political ‘pause’ so she can screw New Yorkers with higher prices after the election.”
The congresswoman, who announced her challenge of the Democrat last week, also brought up how Hochul suspended the implementation of congestion pricing for vehicles entering Manhattan’s business district last year, but reversed course following the 2024 elections.
“Just like congestion pricing, when Hochul lied to voters before the election and then immediately raised taxes on workers and commuters, she thinks New Yorkers are stupid and won’t notice this desperate political ploy,” she said, adding the gas stove ban should be fully repealed.
Environmental Advocates NY also joined in on slamming Hochul.
“Delaying the All Electric Buildings Act will keep us stuck in a fossil fuel past we can’t afford,” said Katherine Nadeau, deputy executive director of policy and programs at the organization.
“We need the governor to fight for clean energy, not drag things out further. Every months we wait holds back New York’s climate progress and puts our future at risk,” added the green energy activist.
Hochul’s office said in a statement it was still committed to enforcing the green mandate while pointing to the ongoing court challenge of the law brought by the construction industry including New York State Builders Association, National Association of Home Builders, New York Propane Gas Association and laborers’ unions.
“The governor remains committed to the all-electric-buildings law and believes this action will help the State defend it, as well as reduce regulatory uncertainty for developers during this period of litigation,” said Ken Lovett, Hochul’s senior communications adviser on energy and the environment.
“Governor Hochul remains resolved to providing more affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy for New Yorkers.”
State attorneys said it would not go ahead with the implementation until a federal appellate court delivers a ruling, according to reports.
Quote:House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan launched a probe Thursday into a Virginia prosecutor he claims is siding with a left-wing activist being investigated for threats to White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller and the intimidation of his family.
Jordan’s (R-Ohio) request for information from Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington County and the City of Falls Church, comes after the prosecutor reportedly asked a local judge to limit a state law enforcement search of a woman accused of putting up menacing flyers in Miller’s Northern Virginia neighborhood and making a bizarre gesture at the White House official’s wife.
“On October 2, 2025, in the matter pending before a court in Arlington County, you made ‘an unusual request’ by siding ‘with the defense’ in requesting that the judge overseeing the matter limit the search warrant and the information that state police could share with the FBI, which the judge so ordered,” Jordan wrote in a letter Dehghani-Tafti.
“According to investigators involved in the case, you have been ‘stymying the investigation’ into the threats made against the Miller family,” the congressman added.
The Millers moved out of their Arlington, Va., home, and put it up for sale, after 66-year-old Barbara Wien allegedly plastered their neighborhood with “”NO NAZIS IN NOVA,” flyers, according to Axios.
The posters included an image of Miller’s head inside a crossed-out red circle and listed his home address.
A QR code on the flyers linked to the Instagram account of the activist group, Arlington Neighbors United for Humanity (ANUFH) – an organization Jordan claimed Dehghani-Tafti is a supporter of.
The flyers were put up on Sept. 11 – the day after Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination in Utah.
That same day, Wien allegedly walked by the Millers’ home as the White House official’s wife, Katie Miller, sat on the porch and pointed her index and middle fingers to her eye, signaling that she was watching the family.
Dehghani-Tafti became involved in the case when the Millers went to Virginia State Police with their complaint, after Magistrate Judge Lindsey Vaala denied two FBI search warrant requests related to Wien.
Wien has not been arrested, and the warrants sought were to investigate whether she had violated any laws.
“Your unmistakably partisan actions suggest that you are willing to not only ignore threats of political violence against those with whom you disagree, but will actively side with those making the threats,” Jordan wrote in his letter to the prosecutor.
“The Miller family deserves the same protections afforded to all Americans, particularly when it comes to feeling safe in their own home,” he added. “Their safety is especially important in light of recent left-wing political violence against prominent Republicans, and the election of an attorney general in Virginia who fantasizes about murdering the children of his political opponents.”
“The appearance that you have allowed your political bias to influence an investigation involving a senior Trump Administration official gives rise to substantial federal concerns.”
Dehghani-Tafti’s office did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Quote:A violent lunatic attempted to confront acting US Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba reportedly with a bat before allegedly trashing her office in a crazed fit – and the Department of Justice is on the hunt for the unhinged suspect.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi said the terrifying incident unfolded Wednesday night and vowed that the deranged suspect will be “brought to justice” amid a growing wave of political violence.
“Last night, an individual attempted to confront one of our U.S. Attorneys — my dear friend [Alina Habba] —destroyed property in her office, and then fled the scene. Thankfully, Alina is ok,” Bondi wrote on X.
“Any violence or threats of violence against any federal officer will not be tolerated. Period. This is unfortunately becoming a trend as radicals continue to attack law enforcement agents around the country. We will find this person, and the individual will be brought to justice,” she continued.
“Our federal prosecutors, agents, and law-enforcement partners put their lives on the line everyday to protect the American people, and this Department will use every legal tool available to ensure their safety and hold violent offenders fully accountable.”
Habba, President Trump’s former personal lawyer, was in her Newark office Wednesday night when the man allegedly appeared outside with a bat and was barred from entering the building, two people close to the matter told The New York Times.
He later returned without the bat, and security officers allowed him inside before he went up to Habba’s office and began shouting incoherently and destroying property, the outlet reported.
It’s unclear if the disturbed maniac was targeting the New Jersey native, who oversees all federal criminal prosecutions and civil litigations in the Garden State.
“I will not be intimidated by radical lunatics for doing my job,” Habba, who was tapped for the temporary role by Trump in March, said on X.
The FBI is aware of the man’s appearance, an agency spokesperson told The Times.
While details about the alleged incident were not immediately available, the FBI said it would release more information when possible.
Wednesday’s attack is the latest in a disturbing wave of violence targeting elected officials, including President Trump, who narrowly escaped death when a would-be 20-year-old assassin fired at him and struck the then-candidate’s ear during a 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
In June, Former Minnesota Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman, her husband and dog, were gunned down and killed in their Minneapolis home in a politically motivated attack. Alleged assassin, Vance Boelter, is also accused of shooting state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, who both survived.
Quote:WASHINGTON — Sen. John Fetterman was hospitalized “out of an abundance of caution” after falling and hitting his face during a morning walk near his home in Braddock, Pa., his office announced Thursday.
Doctors diagnosed the Pennsylvania Democrat with a “ventricular fibrillation flare-up,” meaning his heart wasn’t pumping blood correctly due to an irregular heartbeat. It can be life-threatening.
“He is doing well and receiving routine observation at the hospital,” Fetterman’s office continued. “He has opted to stay so doctors can fine-tune his medication regimen. Senator Fetterman is grateful for the EMTs, doctors, and nurses who are providing his care.”
The 56-year-old was “feeling light-headed” and suffered unspecified minor injuries from the fall. He received treatment at a Pittsburgh hospital.
“If you thought my face looked bad before,” Fetterman quipped in a statement, “wait until you see it now!”
The accident took place two days after the publication of the Democrat’s memoir, “Unfettered,” which relates his various health problems — including a battle with depression early in his term.
Fetterman survived a stroke back in 2022, months before his election to the Senate.
In 2023, Fetterman was hospitalized for two days after feeling light-headed.
A few weeks after that, he checked himself into Walter Reed Military Medical Center, where he received treatment for six weeks for clinical depression.
On Thursday, the hulking senator was in his home state of Pennsylvania at the time of his fall after voting with Republicans on Monday to reopen the government and end the record-breaking shutdown.
The Keystone State senator has been on a media tour this week to promote his book, opening up about his recovery process.
Fetterman’s stroke left him with an auditory processing impairment that has made it difficult for him to communicate, though he has made significant improvements over the past three years.
“It changed my life,” Fetterman recalled of his stroke during an interview on “CBS Morning” this week, in which he also talked of his struggle with depression.
“I don’t know what your road for recovery is, but I promise if you stay in the game, you will get better, and I’m being here right now is a testament to that,” he said.
Quote:WASHINGTON — Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) was hit with a federal criminal referral for alleged mortgage and tax fraud related to his purchase of a $1.2 million home in Washington, DC, that he claimed as a primary residence, The Post has confirmed.
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte in a Wednesday letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi requested an investigation of Swalwell based on allegedly false and misleading statements he made about the purchase, NBC News first reported.
The California Democrat was able to secure millions of dollars’ worth of loans and refinancing based on the primary residence declaration in DC, a source familiar with the referral said.
The designation could constitute mortgage fraud, insurance fraud and state and local tax fraud, among other charges, the source noted.
In addition to the Department of Justice criminal referral, FHFA’s inspector general is probing the alleged mortgage fraud.
“As the most vocal critic of Donald Trump over the last decade and as the only person who still has a surviving lawsuit against him, the only thing I am surprised about is that it took him this long to come after me,” Swalwell responded in a statement.
“Like James Comey and John Bolton, Adam Schiff and Lisa Cook, Letitia James and the dozens more to come – I refuse to live in fear in what was once the freest country in the world,” added the California congressman, who is now the fourth Democratic official to be targeted for mortgage fraud by the Trump administration.
“Of course, I will not end my lawsuit against him. And I will not stop speaking out against the president and speaking up for Californians,” Swalwell said.
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), New York Attorney General Letitia James and Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook have all faced criminal referrals from Pulte based on allegedly false statements they made about second homes or rental properties being their primary residence.
The referrals indicated the misrepresentations may have granted each more favorable loan terms.
On Oct. 9, a federal grand jury handed up a criminal indictment of James for purported falsehoods related to a $109,600 loan she obtained for a Norfolk, Va., residence, netting her an extra nearly $19,000.
A separate grand jury in Maryland as of August was weighing charges against Schiff. Cook was fired from the Fed amid a DOJ criminal investigation — but has since appealed her case to the US Supreme Court.
Swalwell purchased the Victorian bungalow, nestled in the District’s historic Eckington neighborhood and just a mile north of the US Capitol, in 2020 for $1.2 million, records show.
Quote:New York Attorney General Letitia James threatened to take Condé Nast to court over the “Fired Four” on Wednesday night during a union rally outside the company’s World Trade Center headquarters.
Condé Nast angered the NewsGuild of New York last week by firing four employees after they confronted the company’s HR chief outside his C-suite office to “demand answers” on recent layoffs at WIRED and Teen Vogue.
The Guild blasted the firings as “grossly illegal tactics” designed to union-bust and intimidate and organized a rally to call for the reinstatement of the group that has been billed as the “Fired Four” by colleagues.
NewsGuild of New York President Susan DeCarava introduced James to rallygoers by declaring she has “built her career on standing up for working people” and “holding powerful interests to account.”
James came to the podium and started chants of, “When we fight, we win,” and “People, united, will never be defeated,” before suggesting the economy is “rigged against working people.”
James told the assembled crowd she was proud to stand with the Guild before asking, “Since when is it illegal for an individual, or individuals, to express, or recognize, their First Amendment rights? Since when is that illegal? When is it illegal to ask a question? When is it illegal to speak truth to power? When is it illegal to get answers from your employer?”
James, who is fighting her own battle right now after pleading not guilty to federal bank fraud charges, accused Condé Nast of skirting labor protections.
“To all of those who are responsible for the termination of these individuals, let me introduce myself. My name is Letitia James, otherwise known as Tish, and I am here to let you know that I stand with workers now, and I will stand with workers forever,” she said.
“I want you to know that I’m not afraid to march into a courtroom to assure that the rights of these individuals, and the rights of all workers, is respected and honored. And that the rule of law is on the side of those individuals who simply asked the question, ‘What is going on?’ So, I urge you, I urge you now, to reverse these terminations,” James continued. “This is an injustice. My name is Letitia James and as the Attorney General of the State of New York, Condé Nast, I’ll see you in court.”
Condé Nast appeared unfazed by James’ threat, insisting the “Fired Four” had been terminated lawfully.
“The employment terminations were lawful and based on clear violations of company policies. We have an obligation to protect our workplace from harassment and intimidation. If the Attorney General has concerns, we are happy to respond to her,” a Condé Nast spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
The dispute began last week when staffers confronted Condé Nast Chief People Officer Stan Duncan, peppering him with questions about the recent layoffs.
Duncan urged them to return to their workspaces immediately.
The caught-on-camera interaction resulted in the termination of four of the employees involved.
Quote:In an exclusive interview with People, the longtime Murdaugh employee discussed the details that led her to believe that the now disgraced South Carolina lawyer killed his wife and son in 2021.
Turrubiate-Simpson wrote that she long trusted Alex and loved the family she served.
“There was no universe in which Alex could have committed these crimes,” she wrote in her new memoir, “Within the House of Murdaugh: Amid a Unique Friendship – Blanca and Maggie,” co-written with Mary Frances Weaver, which will be released this month.
But after the June 7, 2021, killings at the Murdaughs’ Moselle estate in South Carolina, small inconsistencies began to trouble her.
The morning after the murders, Maggie’s Mercedes SUV had been parked in an unusual spot, something Turrubiate-Simpson said Maggie never did.
Pajamas and a pair of underwear were laid out neatly in the laundry-room doorway, even though Maggie “never wore underwear to bed,” Turrubiate-Simpson said.
“I knew automatically that wasn’t her,” she told the outlet.
In Alex’s bathroom, she found a puddle of water, a towel and a pair of khaki pants she recognized from the morning before.
She also noticed that the shirt Alex wore in a Snapchat video that day disappeared and was never seen again.
Months later, Alex asked her if she remembered him wearing a Vineyard Vines shirt on the day of the murders.
“You remember what I was wearing that day,” she remembers him telling her, she writes. “You know, the Vinny Vines [Vineyard Vines] shirt.”
Turrubiate-Simpson said she did not, saying she remembered ironing a seafoam green polo. The question, she said, felt like an attempt to change his story from that night.
“One thing was for sure,” Simpson writes. “He was lying.”
Her turning point came during Alex’s 2023 murder trial, when she saw police bodycam video showing a beach towel on the front seat of his car.
The longtime housekeeper said she had washed, dried and folded that towel earlier that day and placed it on a high shelf in the laundry room.
“When I saw that towel in his car, I said, ‘Oh my God. He did it,’” she told People.
She speculates in the book that Alex hosed himself off near the kennels and either changed there or back at the house.
Quote:WASHINGTON — Staffers at the Democratic National Committee seethed over the party’s new directive to show up to the office and work in-person five days a week, blasting the order as “shocking” and “callous.”
DNC Chairman Ken Martin informed workers during an all-staff meeting on Wednesday that the national Democratic Party apparatus will require its entire Washington, DC-based staff to return to full in-person work starting in February.
“It was shocking to see the DNC chair disregard staff’s valid concerns on today’s team call,” the DNC staff union leadership fumed in a statement first reported by the New York Times.
“DNC staff worked extremely hard to support historic wins for Democrats up and down the ballot last Tuesday, and this change feels especially callous considering the current economic conditions created by the Trump administration.”
The union, which ratified a collective bargaining agreement with the DNC back in July, noted that it is “considering its options.”
That collective bargaining agreement allows DNC workers to “request to work remotely on occasion.”
During the announcement, Martin caveated that DNC workers would have flexibility for family, medical and other personal matters that warranted remote work, a DNC official told The Post.
Martin argued that Democrats had momentum after the off-year elections last week and contended that having staff work together is conducive to better brainstorming and allows the party to make time-sensitive decisions quickly, the source claimed.
The DNC boss also impressed upon staff that the 2025 off-year election cycle is different than the 2026 midterm elections, in which states and the Democratic party will lean on the DNC more for support.
Backlash quickly ensued, with a flurry of thumbs-downs on the Zoom call for remote workers and questions from staffers, according to the New York Times.
Some staffers reportedly argued that Democrats won the 2020 election despite the remote work and contended that the party could do so again in 2028.
The DNC declined to comment on the record. The Post also reached out to Local 500 of the Service Employees International Union, of which the DNC staffer union is a member.
It's really
unbelievable to read how people complain about a working in person nowadays.Quote:The union repping taxpayer-funded Legal Aid lawyers agreed to settle a discrimination lawsuit brought by members who were allegedly ridiculed and targeted for opposing a union-approved anti-Israel resolution as antisemitic.
The Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, UAW Local 2325, agreed to pay the three pro-Israel members a total of $315,000 and admitted that some of the comments leveled at the trio were “inappropriate.”
“We’re happy for our clients, and for the precedent this settlement establishes for Jewish and allied union members across the country laboring against an obsessive focus on demonizing Israel and Jews, instead of a focus on fighting for better wages, benefits and working conditions,” said Rory Lancman, director of corporate initiatives & senior Counsel at the Brandeis Center, who led the prosecution for the plaintiffs.
The settlement also calls for mandatory training of union members.
The case was brought by the Louis Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, a Jewish legal civil rights group.
The ALAA had even initiated proceedings to expel the three Nassau County members — Ilana Kopmar, Diane Clarke and Isaac Altman — after they filed a lawsuit last year to block the union from passing a one-sided resolution that condemned Israel for the war, but didn’t blame Hamas, whose Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks sparked the conflict.
Two of three plaintiffs are Jewish.
The approved resolution also opposes all existing and future US military aid to Israel and endorses the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against the Jewish state, which critics say is a form of antisemitism.
In their federal court complaint, the plaintiffs described being targeted as “snitches,” “losers,” “disgusting,” “dictators in training” and “Zionist ghouls” in the ALAA’s internal discussion boards.
Plaintiff Ilana Kopmar said she and the others fought the union for passing “an antisemitic resolution.”
“They retaliated, tried to silence and bully us. I’m proud that me and my co-plaintiffs fought, and I’m hoping that with this resolution the union will think twice about retaliating against their members,” Kopmar said.
Plaintiff Isaac Altman said he’ll be donating a portion of his settlement payout to the Israeli emergency medical services group Magen David Adom.
Quote:A US congresswoman said she is working with Italian and Bosnian officials to see if any Americans took part in the alleged “sniper tourist” killings that saw wealthy Westerns pay to shoot humans in Sarajevo during the Balkan Wars of the 1990s.
Following news that Italian prosecutors are investigating alleged “human safari” trips, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) said Thursday that she has opened an investigation into the matter and is in contact with the Bosnian Consulate and Italian Embassy.
“Paying money to shoot civilians — and even worse to shoot children — is a level of evil our country cannot and will not tolerate,” Luna wrote on X.
“Both the Italian and Bosnian governments will be sharing any and all information regarding any AMERICANS that may be implicated,” she added. “If there are any Americans who have engaged in this, they deserve to be charged and prosecuted.”
It’s unclear if any Americans took part in the alleged killings, which were supposedly carried out by wealthy gun enthusiasts who would pay Bosnian Serb forces as much as $90,000 to shoot people in Sarajevo. According to the report, there was an extra fee to kill children.
Ezio Gavazzeni, an investigative writer, claimed he uncovered the gruesome history and provided his evidence to Italian prosecutors, the Guardian reported.
“There were Germans, French, English … people from all Western countries who paid large sums of money to be taken there to shoot civilians,” Gavazzeni alleged.
“There were no political or religious motivations. They were rich people who went there for fun and personal satisfaction. We are talking about people who love guns who perhaps go to shooting ranges or on safari in Africa,” he added.
The “human safari” was allegedly maintained by Radovan Karadžić, the former Bosnian Serb leader who was found guilty of genocide and other crimes against humanity in 2016.
More than 10,000 people were killed during the four-year siege in Sarajevo, which was constantly under shelling and sniper fire following Bosnia and Herzegovina’s declaration of independence from Yugoslavia.
Fear ruled over Sarajevo during the four years as sniper fire often struck civilians walking in the streets, including children, at random.
The city’s main street, Meša Selimović Boulevard, was notoriously nicknamed “Sniper Alley” because of the frequent murders on the only road leading to the airport.
Gavazzeni said his research led him to name several Italian nationals who allegedly took part in the killings, with prosecutors in Milan probing the case.
UKRAINE WAR
Quote:Ukraine suspended its justice minister on Wednesday after an investigation linked him to an alleged $100 million energy kickback scheme, a case that’s shaking trust in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s wartime government.
Justice Minister German Galushchenko, who had previously served as energy minister, was suspended after one of his advisors had been named a suspect in the alleged scheme to control procurement at the Energoatom nuclear agency and other state enterprises.
Five suspects were charged this week in connection with the case, including long-time Zelensky ally Timur Mindich, the co-owner of the Kvartal-95 TV studio that brought the president national fame before his foray into politics.
The charges have fueled public outrage against the long history of corruption in Kyiv, serving as an especially harsh blow given the current state of Ukraine’s energy grid from Russia’s daily bombardments.
Galushchenko, who was not among the five arrested, said he agreed with the government’s decision to suspend him for the duration of the investigation, which is being handled by Ukraine’s National Anticorruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).
“I will defend myself in the legal arena and prove my position,” the justice minister said.
The “high-level” case saw a slew of former officials and execs allegedly receive benefits and launder money through Energoatom, including a ploy to force contractors for the company to pay an illegal commission of 10-15% or risk losing their supplier status, NABU and SAPO allege.
“Using their official connections in the ministry and the state-owned company, [the suspects] ensured control over personnel decisions, procurement processes, and financial flows,” the agencies said in a statement.
NABU added that the criminal organization also transferred funds to an “unnamed former deputy prime minister of Ukraine, referred to internally as Che Guevara.”
Some $1.2 million was transferred to this person, with the so-called Guevara transferring nearly half of it to his wife when he became the subject of investigation, NABU said.
During the investigation, NABU also obtained recordings of Galushchenko speaking with the suspects, a source familiar with the case told Reuters.
Kvartal 95, which produced the sitcom that propelled Zelensky to fame as a comedian and actor, distanced itself from Mindich, stating that he is not an active participant in the company, nor does he influence its contents or decisions.
Energoatom also stated that the corruption case has not impacted its operations to provide energy to Ukrainians.
The development is the latest blow to Zelensky, who has seen allies embroiled in corruption charges and whose government is still struggling to root out high levels of fraud — one of the key issues keeping Ukraine from being able to join the European Union.
Quote:Belgium's federal prosecutor's office launched eight investigations following the 17 unexplained incidents involving drones flying over sites which included airports, nuclear power plants, and military bases.
The incidents come on the heels of drone incursions into the airspace of other NATO members which have been blamed on Russia.
Newsweek has contacted Belgium's federal prosecutor's office for comment.Why It Matters
Russia has been accused by NATO countries of hybrid warfare following unauthorized drone flights over critical infrastructure, which have caused flight suspensions, military alerts, and international concern.
Belgium is the latest country which has raised the alarm about these flights and its investigations will focus attention on Russia’s alleged tactics to destabilize the continent’s security.
What To Know
Belgium's media reported that the country's federal prosecutor's office had opened eight investigations following 17 incidents involving drones flying over sensitive sites such as airports, nuclear power plants, and military bases.
No country was mentioned in the reports, but media had previously reported that Belgian security services are convinced that Russia is behind the spate of drone incidents, although there is no independent confirmation of Moscow’s involvement.
Incidents included five drones hovering over the Doel nuclear power station near Antwerp on November 9 and the suspension of flights due to drone sightings near air bases.
Violations of drone regulations are under the jurisdiction of local prosecutors. Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson Yasmina Vanoverschelde said it was a challenge to differentiate between local rule-breaking and activity tied to foreign state actors, the Brussels Times reported.
Dozens of sightings of drones and other uncrewed aerial objects have been made near and over civilian airports, military bases, defense industry hubs, and critical infrastructure in Europe with Germany, Denmark, and Norway the most affected.
In Germany and Belgium, drones hovered around and over defense hubs and military bases, including a possible depot in Europe holding United States nuclear weapons.
ACLED’s (Armed Conflict Location & Event Data) Eastern Europe Assistant Research Manager, Cristian Vlas, told Newsweek that these increasingly frequent drone overflights have highlighted the vulnerability of key defense sites in Europe and that EU member states are struggling to counter these risks due to gaps in legislation and a limited choice of means to engage relatively cheap drones.
What People Are Saying
Belgian Federal Prosecutor's Office spokesperson Yasmina Vanoverschelde told the newspaper De Standaard: "It is still very difficult to determine whether these are local drone operators violating regulations or attempts at destabilization by a state actor."
ACLED’s Eastern Europe Assistant Research Manager, Cristian Vlas to Newsweek: "Coupled with Russia’s openly provocative flyovers near and over NATO territory in the Baltic Sea, these suspicious overflights question Europe’s ability to deter military and hybrid activity below the threshold of triggering mutual defense clauses."
Quote:The U.S. Coast Guard said it is monitoring a Russian military vessel that was spotted operating about 15 nautical miles south of Oahu on October 29, officials said Thursday.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Government Press Office and Russian Foreign Ministry via email on Thursday evening outside of normal business hours for comment.
Why It Matters
Tensions between Russia and the U.S. have increased in recent months as the two nations failed to advance any peace deal between Russia and Ukraine—a major campaign promise that U.S. President Donald Trump said would occur shortly after returning to office, but that he subsequently found difficult and more complicated than he had anticipated.
Trump then escalated matters by announcing his intent to have the U.S. restart testing nuclear weapons. The president said he had instructed the Pentagon to resume nuclear testing, while U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters the pledge was the same as "other countries around the world."
European leaders have also faced seeming provocation from Russia, accusing Moscow of violating their sovereignty by launching drones and balloons into the airspace of NATO members, prompting a few of them to invoke NATO Article 4, which seeks dialogue among member states about potential provocation.
What To Know
A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft and cutter William Hart conducted an overflight and passed near the Kareliya, a Vishnya-class Russian intelligence ship. The Coast Guard said it is tracking the vessel in accordance with international law to ensure maritime security and support U.S. homeland defense efforts.
Foreign military ships are allowed to operate outside a nation’s 12-nautical-mile territorial boundary, but Coast Guard officials said they routinely monitor such activity to protect U.S. interests in the Pacific.
In a statement issued on Thursday evening, the Coast Guard said that it is "working in concert with partners and allies, our crews monitor and respond to foreign military vessel activity near our territorial waters to protect our maritime borders and defend our sovereign interests.”
Coast Guard Oceania District and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command will continue communicating about the matter and monitor further actions by the vessel.
What People Are Saying
The U.S. Coast Guard in a statement, in part: "Acting in accordance with international law, Coast Guard personnel are monitoring the Russian vessel’s activities near U.S. territorial waters to provide maritime security for U.S. vessels operating in the area and to support U.S. homeland defense efforts."
Quote:Russia is "ready" to help Venezuela as the U.S. beefs up its military presence near the South American nation, Russia's foreign minister said.
Caracas and Moscow signed a strategic partnership in May. The Kremlin is "ready to fully act within the framework of the obligations that were mutually stipulated in this agreement with our Venezuelan friends," Sergey Lavrov said in comments reported by Russian state media on Tuesday.
Russia and Venezuela have long-standing diplomatic, economic and military ties stretching back to Venezuela's former leader, Hugo Chávez. A factory to pump out Kalashnikov munitions opened in Venezuela in July and a Russian cargo aircraft, sanctioned by the U.S. and known for transporting defense equipment to Venezuela, landed in the country late last month, according to flight records.
Why It Matters
The U.S. military footprint close to Venezuela has ballooned as the White House forges ahead with a strike campaign it has framed as a lethal crackdown on drugs smuggled from Latin America, while international experts and former officials have described the attacks on suspected drug boats as illegal under international law.
The overwhelming show of force—augmented by the world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, arriving in waters close to Venezuela along with three warships on Tuesday—has raised questions about whether U.S. President Donald Trump hopes to topple Venezuela's authoritarian leader, Nicolás Maduro. Caracas has loudly protested the gathering of U.S military forces close to its coastline, at once appealing for peace and insisting Venezuela is ready to respond to any American attack.
What To Know
The agreement between Caracas and Moscow hasn't yet come into force but is "getting close," Lavrov said. The leaders of both countries have ratified the strategic partnership.
"Now it is at the final stage of ratification [by the Russian Legislature]," Lavrov said, Tass reported. "It states the need to continue our security cooperation, including military-technical cooperation."
Venezuela has not requested military assistance or that Russian weapons be deployed in the country, Lavrov said. But a senior Russian official suggested this month that Russia could furnish Venezuela with its experimental Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile, which Moscow debuted to the world in a strike on central Ukraine a year ago.
"We supply the country with virtually the entire range of weapons, from small arms to aircraft," said Alexei Zhuravlev, who sits on the defense committee of Russia's state Duma, the lower parliamentary house. Zhuravlev said the details of which weapons Russia sends to Venezuela was classified, but there were no "obstacles to supplying a friendly country with new developments" like Oreshnik, or Moscow's Kalibr cruise missiles that it has extensively used against Ukrainian targets.
"The Americans could be in for some surprises," Zhuravlev said.
The alliance between Caracas and Moscow is strong, and hands Russia a friend close to the U.S., said Carlos Solar, a senior research fellow in Latin American security with the U.K.-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank. But Venezuela gets the better end of the deal, Solar told Newsweek.
Venezuela has long hosted Russian military advisers and purchased military supplies from Moscow, although its S-300 surface-to-air missile systems would struggle to intercept any kind of attack the U.S. could launch.
U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats in the southern Caribbean and eastern Pacific have killed at least 75 people since the start of September, according to the administration's publicly acknowledged numbers. Strikes have continued in the weeks since the administration confirmed the USS Gerald R. Ford and the thousands of additional personnel in tow would head for the region.
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López ordered the mobilization of 200,000 soldiers across the country on Tuesday against the "threat" posed by the U.S.
The strikes appear to be cutting at U.S. relationships with key allies, including Colombia. The country's president, Gustavo Petro, ordered Bogotá's security and intelligence forces to stop communication sharing with the U.S. on Tuesday as long as Washington attacks boats in the Caribbean. CNN separately reported on Tuesday that the U.K. had paused intelligence sharing on suspected drug vessels more than a month ago.
Quote:Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warned on Thursday that "Russia will respond in kind" if the United States begins testing nuclear weapons.
The comments came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked about resuming testing on Wednesday, and also addressed concerns that China might be expanding its nuclear arsenal.
Why It Matters
Tensions have been growing around nuclear weapons and testing in recent months, despite North Korea being the only nation to have conducted any nuclear tests this century. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, signed in 1996, has kept the threat of escalation somewhat at bay. The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, and concerns in Europe and the U.S., have led to increased discussions and veiled threats that testing would begin again around the world.
What To Know
President Donald Trump said in late October that he had instructed the Pentagon to resume nuclear testing in Nevada, claiming the U.S. had the most nuclear weapons of any country.
Then on Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that the president's pledge was "on par with other countries around the world," and in part to ensure the weapons were safe. He did not appear to fully commit to full testing.
Peskov, a key ally and top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, responded to Rubio's remarks on Thursday.
"If we consider this [Rubio’s words] to be confirmation that the U.S. is lifting the ban on testing, then this indeed signifies Washington’s intention to conduct such tests, as this would interrupt a long-standing period of a comprehensive ban on nuclear testing," Peskov said, according to Russia's Tass news agency.
"As our president has said, in that case, Russia will respond in kind," the Kremlin spokesperson said.
On November 5, Putin reportedly told Russia's Foreign and Defense Ministries, as well as the country's special services and civil agencies, to gather information and analyze what was needed to possibly restart full-scale nuclear tests in Russia.
Peskov insisted that this was simply analyzing a potential plan, and not an instruction to begin testing.
Relations between Trump and Putin have become somewhat strained in recent months, with the U.S. president growing frustrated at the lack of progress being made to end Russia's war with Ukraine. A meeting between the two at the end of October was put on indefinite hold.
Quote:Russian strongman Vladimir Putin has rubber-stamped the sale of Citi’s Russian banking operations to Renaissance Capital, an investment firm that once belonged to billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, the former owner of the Brooklyn Nets.
The presidential order was published on the Kremlin’s website on Wednesday, confirming a key step in the Jane Fraser-led lender’s planned exit from Russia, three years after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine that has killed tens of thousands of people.
Renaissance Capital was part of Prokhorov’s Onexim conglomerate until November of last year.
The 60-year-old, who sold the NBA outfit to Joseph Tsai for $2.3 billion in 2019 amid reported pressure from Putin, fled to Israel two months after Russia invaded its smaller neighbor.
The sale to Renaissance, which had been complicated by wider Western sanctions and asset freezes on Russian entities, still requires approval from US regulators.
It follows similar exits by Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs, Germany’s Deutsche Bank, and French financial firm Société Générale.
A Citi spokeswoman told The Post: “The transaction is subject to additional approvals and we won’t be commenting further at this stage.”
News of the diktat, which provided no details of the price or timeline of the transaction, was first reported by Bloomberg.
The move comes weeks after Citi’s board of directors voted to make Scotland-born Fraser the bank’s board chair while awarding her a $25 million bonus of restricted stock.
Citi first announced plans to sell its Russian consumer business in 2021 as part of Fraser’s global restructuring plan.
But in August 2022, it went further and announced that it would wind down all of its consumer and commercial banking operations in Russia over the war, which Moscow merely refers to as a “special military operation.”
The bank had approximately $11.7 billion in clients’ exposure to Russia as of the end of September, the majority of which were corporate dividends that the Russian government would not allow Citi to remit.
TRUMP'S jANUARY 6 SPEECH
Quote:The BBC apologized to President Trump Thursday after he threatened the British broadcaster with a massive lawsuit for deceptively editing his Jan. 6, 2021 — but the network is refusing to pay out any money.
“Lawyers for the BBC have written to President Trump’s legal team in response to a letter received on Sunday,” a BBC spokesperson said, according to the outlet.
“BBC chair Samir Shah has separately sent a personal letter to the White House making clear to President Trump that he and the corporation are sorry for the edit of the president’s speech on 6 January 2021, which featured in the programme.
“The BBC has no plans to rebroadcast the documentary Trump: A Second Chance? on any BBC platforms.”
The documentary aired on the BBC’s current events program, “Panorama,” last October and “materially misled viewers” by splicing together clips of Trump’s White House Ellipse speech at the “Stop the Steal” rally to make it seem like he incited the riot at the US Capitol, The Telegraph reported last week, citing a whistleblower.
Trump’s attorney threatened the BBC with a $1 billion lawsuit Monday if it did not retract the deceptively edited documentary and “appropriately compensate President Trump for the harm caused.”
The demand letter noted the BBC had until Friday to respond.
The BBC argued that it shouldn’t have to compensate Trump.
“While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim,” the BBC spokesperson said.
The White House referred The Post to Trump’s outside legal counsel, attorney Alejandro Brito, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The BBC documentary showed footage of Trump appearing to tell rally-goers: “We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you and we fight. We fight like hell and if you don’t fight like hell you’re not gonna have a country any more.”
The clip was spliced together from three separate parts of the president’s speech – with a nearly hour-long gap edited out to make it seem like one fluent sentence.
The BBC edited out the president saying, “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
The program also made it appear as if members of the Proud Boys, an extremist right-wing group, were inspired to march toward the Capitol after Trump’s speech.
Quote:An Australian news program doctored President Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021 speech on the White House Ellipse in the same manner in which the BBC manipulated his remarks, according to a report.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) aired a documentary program a month after Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally which included deceptive edits to make it seem like he incited the riot at the US Capitol, Sky News host Chris Kenny reported on Monday.
The scandal Down Under comes a week after the BBC was caught by The Telegraph misleading viewers by splicing together segments of Trump’s speech – delivered almost an hour apart – for a program that aired last October.
Kenny accused the ABC of committing the “same journalistic sin” as the BBC, which resulted in the resignations of two top executives at the British broadcaster.
The documentary – “Downfall: The Last Days of President Trump” – aired in February 2021 on the ABC’s current events program, “Four Corners.”
The ABC included footage of Trump telling rally-goers: “We’re going to walk down, and I’ll be there with you. Because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and have to be strong.”
The scene was followed by a cutaway shot which edited out Trump calling on his supporters “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
“They have clipped up the speech to suit their narrative rather than reality, and the true meaning of what Donald Trump said,” Kenny charged.
A spokesperson for the ABC told the Sky News host that the network stood by its program.
“The quote in question from President Trump was used accurately by the ABC, did not change the meaning of that section of the speech and it did not mislead the audience,” the spokesperson said. “The program was consistent with the ABC’s high standards of factual, accurate and impartial story telling.”
Trump’s attorney threatened the BBC with a $1 billion lawsuit Monday if it did not retract the deceptively edited documentary.
“If the BBC does not comply … President Trump will be left with no alternative but to enforce his legal and equitable rights, all of which are expressly reserved and are not waived, including by filing legal action for no less than $1,000,000,000 (One Billion Dollars) in damages,” attorney Alejandro Brito wrote in a demand letter, adding, “The BBC is on notice.”
MIDDLE EAST
Young female Hamas hostage forced to perform sex act — then smile at captors: harrowing UN testimony
Quote:A young, female Hamas hostage was forced to perform a sex act on a terrorist — and then smile after the sickening abuse, according to harrowing testimony given to a United Nations committee.
Israeli hostage Aviva Siegel recounted the horror she saw while testifying Wednesday to the UN Committee against Torture in Geneva.
“I’m a witness of one of the girls that was with us, that the Hamas terrorist took her into the bathroom, told her to get undressed, came into the shower with her and forced her to do oral sex on him,” Siegel said, laying bare the gruesome extent of Hamas’ sexual violence.
“And she had to smile after that happened, too,” she added.
Siegel, who was held by Hamas for 51 days, said the terrorists would repeatedly grab the girls and force them into the bathroom, with the victims coming back shaking.
The former hostage also recounted how she saw this happen to a 16-year-old girl who was held captive.
“She’s never, ever shown anybody her body. The Hamas terrorist just stood there and stared at her and smiled,” Siegel recalled.
“I remember looking at her while she came out of there. She was shocked, I was shocked,” she added.
During the harrowing episodes, Siegel — the wife of Israeli-American Keith Siegel, who was also held hostage — said she was never allowed to comfort the victims.
Still, she said she had to hug one of the victims after she returned from the bathroom with one of the terrorists.
“She told us that the Hamas terrorist touched her whole body and did whatever he wanted… She was so scared because he said to her if she ever says anything about that he will kill her, but she told us,” Siegel told the UN committee.
Quote:Israeli security forces in recent weeks broke up a major Hamas terror network in the Judean city of Bethlehem, including a cell in the advanced stages of preparing an attack, according to an Israel Police statement on Thursday.
Over 50 operatives were arrested in more than 15 separate operations conducted by reservists from the Israel Defense Forces’ Etzion Brigade, along with forces from the IDF’s Duvdevan Unit and the Israel Border Police’s Counterterrorism Unit (Yamam).
The Judea and Samaria District Police and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) also took part in the joint operation.
In addition to the arrests, weapons were also confiscated, including an M16 rifle.
The network had planned to carry out shootings against Israeli security forces and civilians, with one cell “at an advanced stage of readiness to carry out attacks in the immediate timeframe,” the statement said.
According to the Shin Bet investigation, senior members of the network “recruited and established terror cells, procured weapons and planned shooting attacks targeting Israeli civilians and security personnel.”
The dismantling of the network “prevented major planned shootings and bombings that could have resulted in significant loss of civilian and military life,” the agency said.
The Shin Bet, IDF, and Israel Police said they will continue efforts to thwart any attempts by Hamas to harm Israel and its citizens and will work to bring those involved to justice.
Quote:U.S. President Donald Trump has sent a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog requesting a full pardon for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his corruption trial, Herzog’s office said on Wednesday.
The letter reads in part, “As the Great State of Israel and the amazing Jewish People move past the terribly difficult times of the last three years, I hereby call on you to fully pardon Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been a formidable and decisive War Time Prime Minister and is now leading Israel into a time of peace, which includes my continued work with key Middle East leaders to add many additional countries to the world changing Abraham Accords.”
The letter continues: “Prime Minister Netanyahu has stood tall for Israel in the face of strong adversaries and long odds, and his attention cannot be unnecessarily diverted.”
Trump wrote that, while he respects the independence and requirements of the Israeli judicial system, he believes the case against Netanyahu is a “political, unjustified prosecution.” He added that “it is time to let Bibi unite Israel by pardoning him, and ending lawfare once and for all.”
Herzog, for his part, responded to the letter, with his office noting that a formal request for a pardon must be submitted:
“President Herzog holds President Trump in the highest regard and continues to express his deep appreciation for President Trump’s unwavering support for Israel, his tremendous contribution to the return of the hostages, to reshaping the situation in the Middle East and Gaza especially, and to ensuring the security of the State of Israel,” the statement reads.
“Alongside and not withstanding this, as the Office of the President has made clear throughout, anyone seeking a Presidential pardon must submit a formal request in accordance with the established procedures,” it added.
The letter follows Trump’s Nov. 2 comments on CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” in which he said his administration would “help out” with Netanyahu’s trial.
During an interview at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump told journalist Norah O’Donnell: “I don’t think they treat him [Netanyahu] very well. He’s under trial for some things and I don’t think they treat him very well. We’ll be involved in that to help him out a little bit because I think it’s very unfair.”
Quote:NIR OZ, Israel — The hum of construction has replaced the gunfire that once tore through this quiet kibbutz less than two miles from Gaza — but for survivor Irit Lahav, the fear hasn’t faded.
“I was born here. I love this kibbutz,” she told The Post in Israel this week. “I want to make it alive, full of energy and happy again. But every night, I’m still afraid.”
More than two years after Hamas terrorists slaughtered and kidnapped more than 100 Nir Oz residents in the Oct. 7 attack, rebuilding is underway though tragic memories remain.
So far, 14 families have moved back, with ten new houses almost ready for a group of about 30 young couples waiting for their turn. Some are temporarily living in kindergartens and community buildings — anything that still stands.
“Sixty percent of the houses are a total loss,” Lahav said. “Completely burned down. So even those who want to come back need to renovate. Even if it was just shooting or a grenade in the house or broken windows, you still have to fix it.”
The kibbutz is taking it one house at a time, as Hamas terrorists entered all but six of the more than 200 homes in the community, Lahav said.
“Slowly, slowly, the kibbutz is trying to renovate those houses that are in better condition,” Lahav explained. “As we have the money and time to renovate more, more people will move in.”
But its survival and security depend on the next steps of President Trump’s peace plan coming through — something that is far from guaranteed.
Hamas has not agreed to disarm or give up power as laid forth for phase two of the plan, and Israel Defense Forces deal with daily incursions from armed terrorists from Gaza City trying to sneak past the yellow line separating Palestinian- and IDF-controlled parts of the area.
For now, construction is the main sign of movement in the community, aside from the occasional boom of artillery as the IDF demolishes buildings and tunnels in Gaza and pushes back against terrorists.
The kibbutz was among the worst hit by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack, with IDF soldiers unable to reach it until the evening after the morning attack. Of the 1,139 people who died and roughly 240 who were kidnapped by terrorists that day, 123 came from Nir Oz alone.
“In Nir Oz, it’s different than other kibbutzim,” she said. “All the kibbutz is destroyed, so we have to rebuild the whole kibbutz again.”
When Lahav’s own house was repaired in May, she returned alone.
“I was the only person in the whole neighborhood,” she said. “Even if I would shout, nobody would hear me.”
For her, rebuilding Nir Oz is more than a physical act — it’s an act of courage. One that asks her to stand on ground that reminds her of the worst of humanity, and believe that life here can go on.
But starting over can be scary for anyone, let alone for survivors of unthinkable horror.
“I used to go to sleep and lock all the windows, turn down all the shades, make sure ten times my door is locked,” she said. “Then I’d wake up and lock my bedroom door again. It was very hard for me — and it’s still very hard for me — to sleep here.”
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
![[Image: SP1-Scripter.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-Scripter.png)
![[Image: SP1-Writer.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-Writer.png)
![[Image: SP1-Poet.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-Poet.png)
![[Image: SP1-PixelArtist.png]](https://www.save-point.org/images/userbars/SP1-PixelArtist.png)
![[Image: SP1-Reporter.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/GmxWbHyL/SP1-Reporter.png)
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE
