U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi warned former FBI Director James Comey and New York AG Letitia James on Monday that the Department of Justice is not done with them, promising an appeal after a federal judge dismissed charges against the pair.
&#8220;We’ll be taking all available legal action, including an immediate appeal, to hold Letitia James and James Comey accountable for their unlawful conduct,&#8221; Bondi told the press on Monday, Fox News reported.
&#8220;I’m not worried about someone who has been charged with a very serious crime,&#8221; she said specifically of Comey. &#8220;His alleged actions were a betrayal of public trust.&#8221;
U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie dismissed charges without prejudice against both Comey and James on procedural grounds, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-judge-tosses-charges-against-james-comey-letitia-james?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Federal+Judge+Tosses+Charges+Against+James+Comey%2C+Letitia+James">The Daily Wire</a> reported Monday. Currie said Lindsey Halligan, the Trump-appointed prosecutor who secured their indictments, was unlawfully serving as interim U.S. attorney.
President Donald Trump appointed Halligan to serve as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, replacing former U.S. attorney Erik Siebert. Siebert resigned from the position after leading investigations into Comey and James, but stopping short of filing charges. Halligan was previously a member of Trump’s legal team.
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&#8220;We have made Lindsey Halligan a special U.S. attorney so she is in court, she can fight in court just like she was, and we believe we will be successful on appeal,&#8221; Bondi said.
&#8220;And I&#8217;ll tell you, Lindsey Halligan, I talked to all of our U.S. attorneys, the majority of them around the country, and Lindsey Halligan is an excellent U.S. attorney,&#8221; she added. &#8220;And shame on them for not wanting her in office.&#8221;
The Justice Department <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/comey-indicted-for-lying-to-congress-no-one-is-above-the-law">indicted</a> Comey in September on charges of giving false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. The charges stemmed from testimony Comey delivered to Congress in 2020 on his handling of the FBI investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
The department <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/letitia-james-indicted-following-doj-probe-into-2023-sweetheart-home-loan">brought</a> charges against James in October, over a loan she received in 2023 to secure a mortgage on a house in Virginia. James allegedly claimed the Virginia home as her primary residence while working as New York’s attorney general, a position which requires James to live in the state of New York. James secured more favorable terms on the mortgage, while the home was occupied by a relative of James instead.
James made a name for herself by leading a civil fraud case against Trump. The case was widely viewed as highly controversial and unprecedented legal warfare, especially since James expressly campaigned on “leading the resistance” to “take on” Trump.
Tim Pearce contributed to this report.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-judge-tosses-charges-against-james-comey-letitia-james?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Federal+Judge+Tosses+Charges+Against+James+Comey%2C+Letitia+James">Federal Judge Tosses Charges Against James Comey, Letitia James</a>

Pam Bondi

Not So Fast: Pam Bondi Has Message For James Comey And Letitia James

Not so Fast: AG Pam Bondi Has Message For James Comey And Letitia James

Courts

Department of Justice

James Comey

Letitia James

U.S.

D.C. is abuzz today ahead of President Trump’s meeting with Mamdani, fallout from the Epstein files mounts, and the September jobs report smashes expectations.
It’s Friday, November 21, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below, and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251121">video version can be seen on The Daily Wire</a>:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trump-meets-mamdani-epstein-fallout-continues-11-21-25/id1576594336?i=1000737766180" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump vs. Mamdani</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1003857" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Trump-Mamdani-Faceoff-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Trump-Mamdani-Faceoff-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Trump-Mamdani-Faceoff-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Trump-Mamdani-Faceoff-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Trump-Mamdani-Faceoff-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Trump-Mamdani-Faceoff.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: Despite the pair’s verbal battle during the New York City mayoral race, President Donald Trump plans to meet with far-Left Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at the White House on Friday afternoon.
There’s been a lot of back-and-forth between Trump and Mamdani. Trump even said during the mayoral campaign that he’d <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-warns-mamdani-no-federal-cash-for-a-communist-mayor">withhold federal fundin</a>g from New York City if Mamdani were to win. Since Mamdani has since won, that threat presumably now looms large. The meeting could be a chance to build a relationship, however.
Mamdani’s olive branch: It was Mamdani who reached out to Trump. He also changed his tone on Trump ahead of the meeting. During a presser on Thursday, Mamdani seemed to draw some parallels between himself and the president. That could be interpreted as an olive branch–but also as a self-serving comparison. 
“We ran a campaign focused on the … cost of living. And what we found actually is that one in 10 New Yorkers who voted for Trump ended up voting for our campaign, and they did so because they&#8217;re looking for leaders to actually deliver on the cost of living crisis,” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r6dYDsL_-c">said</a> Mamdani.
That is a far cry from Mamdani’s mayoral victory speech when he said he’d be “Trump-proofing” New York City and called Trump a “despot.”
What about Trump? Trump, too, seems open to the meeting. He obviously accepted the meeting request, and he also said this week that he wants to see “everything work out well for New York.”
What to expect: As for the agenda, Mamdani said he wants to talk to Trump about public safety, economic security, and affordability for New Yorkers.
“Affordability,” though, seemed to be Mamdani’s pitch to New Yorkers who really don’t like Trump and might not like him taking this meeting. Mamdani stressed that he’d work with anyone to bring down costs, and he acknowledged that he does need the White House. He needs funding from the federal government if he really wants to help New Yorkers.
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">What Comes Next On Epstein Files</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1003859" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Epstein-Files-Haunting-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Epstein-Files-Haunting-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Epstein-Files-Haunting-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Epstein-Files-Haunting-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Epstein-Files-Haunting-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Epstein-Files-Haunting.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: After years of sealed documents and whispered allegations around Jeffrey Epstein, President Trump has signed the bill forcing the release of the Epstein files, as new emails and texts are already leaking.
The order directs all documents to be produced, but there are exceptions carved out for the protection of witnesses’ and victims&#8217; identities, for national security, and for ongoing probes. Those exceptions could still delay some of these documents.
At the same time, victims such as Annie Farmer, who testified alongside Virginia Giuffre&#8217;s family, are still <a href="https://x.com/OfTheBraveUSA/status/1963256584127013360">hailing</a> this as a long overdue victory.
The measure now requires Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all unclassified Epstein documents within 30 days, including flight records, emails, and plea deal details. 
The Trump flip:  The Trump and the White House previously opposed this full release of the files, but earlier this week, the president made a prominent turnaround in messaging.
One reason the White House resisted the release for months prior was that it felt the vote would be premature. Eventually, though, all of those objections melted away in the face of vociferous public pressure from people and critics who wanted answers.
President Trump ended up urging Republicans to vote for it because, as he posted on social media, “we have nothing to hide.” Trump has additionally called for a new investigation into various Epstein associates, including former President Bill Clinton and others.
What to watch:  There are many layers to this. One of those is the perception of Trump&#8217;s past association with Epstein, which appears to have hurt him, as well as his resistance, for a time, to releasing all the documents.
But this has been damaging for Democrats as well. The documents already released show that Epstein fed questions to Democratic Delegate Stacey Plaskett during a congressional hearing in 2019. On Tuesday, Plaskett <a href="https://x.com/greg_price11/status/1990899465318785072?s=20">characterized</a> her communication with Epstein as simply receiving texts from a constituent.
Many other figures have been wrapped up in the Epstein files, as well, including former Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. He continued to communicate with Epstein up until 2019, long after Epstein had been put in jail.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Jobs Report A Mixed Bag Ahead Of December Fed Meeting</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1003861" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Jobs-Report-Crushes-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Jobs-Report-Crushes-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Jobs-Report-Crushes-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Jobs-Report-Crushes-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Jobs-Report-Crushes-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Jobs-Report-Crushes.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The September jobs numbers are finally here after data was delayed nearly two months over the government shutdown. While administration officials are excited about the data, a new poll shows Americans may not be as optimistic about the direction of the economy.
The data: The headline number from the report is the 119,000 jobs added in September. It is the highest gain since April, and it came in more than double economists’ expectations for the month. Downward revisions for July and August’s numbers stole some of the momentum, coming in 33,000 lower than previously reported.
The unemployment rate ticked up slightly from 4.3% to 4.4%. Overall, the administration says it is happy with the numbers.
“In the first 10 months of the Trump economy, we&#8217;ve increased take-home pay by about $1,200, adjusting for inflation. That&#8217;s a huge, huge thing,” <a href="https://x.com/JDVance/status/1991541104966267022">said</a> Vice President JD Vance on Thursday. “And this is really important … we are seeing the job growth go to native-born American citizens” rather than to illegal aliens.
Looking ahead: This jobs report is particularly important because it’s the only snapshot of the labor market ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next meeting on December 9 and 10.
Heather Long, the chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, <a href="https://x.com/byHeatherLong/status/1991512177430134943">expects</a> the Fed to hold interest rates steady.
Long points out that even though the jobs report has good numbers in September, the economy’s four-month average ending in September is only 44,000–just barely “treading water.” Labor force participation is up, a good sign even as the unemployment rate ticks up. But, according to Long, “it&#8217;s hard to argue things look *better* in the labor market.” It has largely remained steady, with no significant gains or losses.
Is Trump in trouble? Americans overall are not optimistic about the direction the economy is heading.
Fox News released its latest national <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-poll-voters-say-white-house-doing-more-harm-than-good-economy">survey</a> on Wednesday. According to Fox News, “Some 76% of voters view the economy negatively–worse than the 67% who felt that way in July and the 70% who said the same at the end of … President Biden’s term.”
The news gets worse for Trump, specifically. According to Fox News, “About twice as many [respondents] say President Donald Trump, rather than Biden, is responsible for the current economy. And three times as many say Trump’s economic policies have hurt them,” about the same as said Biden’s did last year.

MRN_251121_V1

Morning Brief: Mamdani At The White House, Epstein Files Loom, & Mixed Jobs Report

Morning Brief: Trump-Mamdani Meeting, Epstein Files Incoming, And September’s Mixed Jobs Report

Department of Labor

Donald Trump

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Jeffrey Epstein

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Zohran Mamdani

A Democratic congresswoman from Florida is facing decades in prison after the Justice Department accused her of stealing more than $5 million in FEMA funds. Prosecutors allege that she diverted the disaster-relief money to support her congressional campaign and enrich her associates.
The Justice Department announced Wednesday that a Miami grand jury had indicted Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick for fraudulently obtaining federal disaster funds, laundering the proceeds, and putting the money toward her 2021 congressional race. According to the Justice Department, Cherfilus-McCormick conspired with her brother, 51-year-old Edwin Cherfilus, to steal a $5 million FEMA overpayment that was sent to their family’s health care company.
“Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “No one is above the law, least of all powerful people who rob taxpayers for personal gain. We will follow the facts in this case and deliver justice.”
The $5 million payment was made in July 2021 after the siblings had a contract with FEMA for COVID vaccinations. The money was routed through multiple accounts to Cherfilus-McCormick’s 2021 congressional campaign and other personal accounts, according to the Justice Department. 
“This individual and her family allegedly stole money from FEMA and then laundered it through friends toward her own personal benefits &#8211; including her campaign accounts,” FBI Director Kash Patel <a href="https://x.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/1991306995366756653">said</a>. “Today the FBI and partners at [the Justice Department] took action. No one is above the law.”
The indictment also accuses 46-year-old Nadege Leblanc, Cherfilus-McCormick’s district chief of staff, of working with the Democrat representative to funnel some of the stolen money to straw donors who then donated back to the campaign.
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An additional defendant is 41-year-old tax preparer David Spencer, who is accused of working with Cherfilus-McCormick to file a false federal tax return. The indictment says that they falsely claimed political spending and personal expenses as business deductions and inflated her charitable contributions. 
Cherfilus-McCormick faces up to 53 years in prison; Edwin Cherfilus faces up to 35 years; Leblanc faces up to 10 years; and Spencer faces up to 33 years, according to the Justice Department. Cherfilus-McCormick&#8217;s legal team <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/sheila-cherfilus-mccormick-indicted-stealing-fema-funds-campaign-rcna244889">said</a> she was &#8220;a committed public servant&#8221; and that they would &#8220;fight to clear her good name.”
Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) is expected to file a motion on Thursday to censure Cherfilus-McCormick and remove her from all committees. She currently sits on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Veteran Affairs. 
“This is one of the most egregious abuses of public trust I have ever seen. Stealing $5 million in taxpayer disaster funds from FEMA of all places is beyond indefensible,” he <a href="https://x.com/RepGregSteube/status/1991317294870392922">said</a>. “Millions of Floridians have relied on FEMA after devastating hurricanes, and that money was supposed to help real disaster victims.”
Cherfilus-McCormick is also under investigation by the House Ethics Committee.

Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick

Florida Democrat Indicted For Turning FEMA Funds Into Campaign Cash

Congress

Crime

FEMA

Florida

House of Representatives

kash patel

Politics

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Wednesday that &#8220;new information&#8221; warrants further investigations into the Jeffrey Epstein case and those connected to the convicted sex abuser.
Bondi fielded questions about Epstein during a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqCjGqH2eTA&amp;list=RDNSPqCjGqH2eTA&amp;start_radio=1">press conference</a> alongside FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, and confirmed that the Department of Justice would release additional Epstein files within 30 days of Trump signing legislation making the documents public. Bondi, however, suggested that some material could be withheld as the investigation is ongoing.
Last week, President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-unleashes-doj-to-investigate-epsteins-democrat-friends">directed</a> the Justice Department to investigate Epstein’s connections to a list of powerful Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton, former U.S. Treasury Secretary and Harvard President Larry Summers, and venture capitalist Reid Hoffman. Bondi quickly <a href="https://x.com/AGPamBondi/status/1989411168067440722">responded</a> to Trump, saying the DOJ would &#8220;pursue this with urgency and integrity,&#8221; tapping Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, to lead the investigation.
On Wednesday, a reporter asked Bondi what had changed since last week, given that the Justice Department said earlier this year that no further investigation of third parties connected to Epstein was warranted.
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&#8220;Information. There&#8217;s information, new information, additional information, and again, we will continue to follow the law to investigate any leads,&#8221; Bondi said. &#8220;If there are any victims, we encourage all victims to come forward. And we will continue to provide maximum transparency under the law.&#8221;
Bondi did not expand on what new information came to the Justice Department and did not say whether the additional investigations would go beyond those mentioned by President Trump last week.
&#8220;We&#8217;re not going to say anything else on that because now it is a pending investigation in the southern district of New York,&#8221; she said.
The Daily Wire reached out to the Justice Department, asking when the new information came to light and whether it includes more allegations against Epstein or those connected to the pedophile. The Justice Department said it has no further comment.
After months of controversy over the Trump administration&#8217;s handling of the Epstein case, and the president referring to the issue as a &#8220;hoax,&#8221; Trump finally pushed for Congress to pass legislation to release the Epstein files, and Republicans complied. Bondi has faced the brunt of the criticism over the administration&#8217;s handling of the case after she suggested earlier this year that she was reviewing a client list. But when the Justice Department closed its investigation into Epstein in July, it said that it found no evidence of a client list. Bondi later clarified that she was referring to a file on the Epstein case, not an actual client list.
Trump is expected to sign the bill releasing the Epstein files after the legislation easily passed through the House and Senate on Tuesday.

Jeffrey Epstein Mug Shot

Bondi Says ‘New Info’ Warrants More Epstein Investigations As DOJ Sets Sights On His Dem Pals

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice is on the search for a man who it says attacked U.S. attorney Alina Habba&#8217;s office, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Thursday afternoon.
Bondi announced on Thursday that an individual attempted to confront Alina Habba, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, then &#8220;destroyed property in her office&#8221; and &#8220;fled the scene.&#8221; Habba, who previously served as a spokeswoman and personal lawyer for President Donald Trump, is one of the most high-profile figures in the Department of Justice.
That individual entered the building with a bat around 5 p.m. on Wednesday, a source close to Habba told The Daily Wire, and then proceeded to the seventh floor.
&#8220;Thankfully, Alina is ok,&#8221; said Bondi. &#8220;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.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I will not be intimidated by radical lunatics for doing my job. <a href="https://t.co/aeJiUjmV8d">https://t.co/aeJiUjmV8d</a>
— US Attorney Habba (@USAttyHabba) <a href="https://twitter.com/USAttyHabba/status/1989036105199501541?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
&#8220;We will find this person,&#8221; the attorney general added, &#8220;and the individual will be brought to justice. Our federal prosecutors, agents, and law-enforcement partners put their lives on the line every day to protect the American people, and this Department will use every legal tool available to ensure their safety and hold violent offenders fully accountable.&#8221;
Habba herself weighed in on the matter on Thursday afternoon, saying in a post on X : &#8220;I will not be intimidated by radical lunatics for doing my job.&#8221;
The move comes amid ongoing violence against conservatives, members of President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers across the nation. In September, Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk was murdered by a leftist assassin while speaking at a campus event in Utah.
And throughout the past two years, as Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) pointed out during a recent hearing on left-wing violence, &#8220;America has been plagued by arsons, bombings, armed ambushes, assaults, violent riots, mass shootings, and assassinations.&#8221;
Schmitt argued at the time that the people behind the violence are “determined militant extremists who wield violence for political ends.”
&#8220;We must confront the threat of left-wing extremism,&#8221; he said, adding, &#8220;None of this is random. It is organized, coordinated political terror.&#8221;

President Trump Holds Swearing-In Ceremony At The White House For U.S Attorney For New Jersey

Feds On Hunt For Man Who Attacked Trump Official Alina Habba’s Office With A Bat

Alina Habba

The Justice Department is fighting back against the Democrat-backed congressional maps in California following the overwhelming passage of Prop. 50, which would temporarily change the state’s maps in the next three election cycles.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli said that the DOJ “filed a motion to intervene in the Prop 50 lawsuit.”
“The race-based gerrymandered maps passed by the California legislature are unlawful and unconstitutional. We are moving swiftly to prevent these illegal maps from tainting our upcoming elections,&#8221; Essayli posted to X. “California is free to draw congressional maps, but they may not be drawn based on race.”
Proposition 50 would allow for five seats to potentially add to the Democrats&#8217; roster in the House, and it was done as a direct countermeasure to Texas’ Republican-backed mid-decade redistricting efforts earlier this year.
“These losers lost at the ballot box and soon they will also lose in court,” a spokesperson for Newsom’s office told The Daily Wire in an email on Thursday.
Attorney General Pam Bondi posted to X on Thursday that “Newsom should be concerned about keeping Californians safe and shutting down Antifa violence, not rigging his state for political gain.”
The California Republican Party announced legal action against the maps last week, calling them unconstitutional.
“Dear Gavin Newsom, I hate to rain on your parade but your celebration over the passage of Prop 50 will need to wait a few days,” Mark Meuser, an attorney with Dhillon Law Group, posted to X regarding the lawsuit.
“You have been sued. Your unconstitutional racial gerrymandering is now heading to a federal three-judge panel and maybe to the SCOTUS to determining if your use of race in drawing congressional districts should be enjoined,” Meuser added.
The Daily Wire reported last week that the nation’s redistricting fight continues to get messier, as multiple red and blue states have already taken or are weighing mid-decade redistricting steps. Redistricting is typically only done each decade when there is new census data, but the fight for the House and a Voting Rights Act case before the Supreme Court could drastically change the landscape in 2026, or leave it looking similar with extra steps in between.
Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-redistricting-battle-keeps-getting-messier">The Daily Wire</a> last week that Republicans could ultimately have the upper hand nationwide. Republicans currently hold a narrow 219-214 majority.
“I think the Republicans will, and the reason for that is that, you know, with a few exceptions, Democratic-controlled states have already gerrymandered their states pretty much to the maximum you can,” he said.
“So, I actually think even if California is successful, I think with what the other states are doing, I still think Republicans may come out slightly ahead,” he added.
“Look, what’s at stake in the Louisiana case is actually very simple: it’s the conflict between the Voting Rights Act and the 14th Amendment,” he continued, noting that Louisiana v. Callais could potentially pave the way for many more Republican seats in the south, as it could possibly result in Section 2 of the VRA being nixed.

Trump Admin Takes Legal Action Against California’s ‘Race-Based’ Gerrymandering

2026 elections

California

Elections

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Gavin Newsom

gerrymandering

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The government shutdown is over, the Justice Department investigates riots surrounding a Turning Point USA event, and a standoff brews in the Caribbean between Venezuela and the United States.
It’s Thursday, November 13, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251113">the video version can be seen on The Daily Wire</a>:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trump-ends-shutdown-venezuela-mobilizes-troops-11-13-25/id1576594336?i=1000736567005" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Shutdown Comes To A Close</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1000149" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Marathon-Shutdown-Ends-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Marathon-Shutdown-Ends-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Marathon-Shutdown-Ends-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Marathon-Shutdown-Ends-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Marathon-Shutdown-Ends-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Marathon-Shutdown-Ends.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The government shutdown finally came to a close on Wednesday, with President Donald Trump signing legislation to reopen the government.
The House voted on legislation to fund the government through the end of January. The vote came after eight Senate Democrats sided with Republicans earlier this week to break the filibuster and push through a continuing resolution to fund the federal government.
After more than 40 days, the shutdown’s impacts hit all across the country. From air travel to food stamps, Americans felt it.
What comes next:  The debate will quickly shift to healthcare and Obamacare subsidies, which the Democrats used as a rhetorical tool to prevent funding the government for the past 40 days. When they voted to reopen the government over the weekend, part of the deal was to bring that debate back to the Senate in December.
On the House side, Democrats such as Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have proposed extending those subsidies for three years. But with Republicans in the majority, the calculus is different, and there is a lot unknown about the continuation of those subsidies.
The argument from many Republicans and opponents of the renewed subsidies for the Affordable Care Act is that the program was never sustainable to begin with.
Shutdown drama continued:  Republicans are very pleased with the outcome, but many Democrats, aside from those few who voted to reopen the government, are not. 
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Berkeley Riot</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1000153" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/DOJ-Probes-TPUSA-Riot-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/DOJ-Probes-TPUSA-Riot-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/DOJ-Probes-TPUSA-Riot-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/DOJ-Probes-TPUSA-Riot-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/DOJ-Probes-TPUSA-Riot-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/DOJ-Probes-TPUSA-Riot.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The DOJ is investigating a protest outside of a Turning Point USA event at UC Berkeley this week.
TPUSA has gotten more attention than ever over the last two months since Charlie Kirk, the group’s founder, was assassinated. In the wake of that tragedy, rather than pull back, the conservative activist group has gone all in.
While a number of its events have faced significant protest, thanks to increased security, most have been peaceful. But during the final stop of the Turning Point tour this week at Cal Berkeley, a protest turned violent. In the hours leading up to the event, hundreds of black-clad protesters <a href="https://x.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1988056273716474048?s=20">descended</a> on the venue, hurling insults and threats at conservative students attending the event, and mocking Kirk’s murder.
Other chants included, “When fascists come and cause a wreck, they get a bullet in the neck.” At one point, a group of protesters attempted to rob a man of his necklace and proceeded to beat him when he attempted to stop them. As the victim, who was briefly detained by police himself, stands up, dripping blood from his face, some in the crowd begin to taunt him, <a href="https://x.com/FrontlinesTPUSA/status/1988051012050186316?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying,</a> “white boy, you’re bleeding.”
Turning Point staffers say rioters set off smoke bombs and tear gas outside the venue, and hurled fireworks and glass bottles at those trying to get in, including parents carrying small children. And then, as the event ended, large groups of rioters blocked exits and hurled threats at those leaving. 
DOJ steps in: Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday that the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force will &#8220;spare no expense unmasking all who commit and orchestrate acts of political violence” and seeking out the identities of specific agitators. Bondi <a href="https://x.com/AGPamBondi/status/1988339354754769099">added</a>, &#8220;Antifa is an existential threat to our nation.&#8221; The Justice Department also sent a letter to the University of California Board of Regents, notifying them that an investigation had been opened into their handling of the riot, ordering them to preserve all internal records regarding security preparations. 
“ There was a sold out crowd of over 2,000 tickets for this event with Rob Schneider, the comedian, and in fact, only a thousand people were allowed to enter,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/AAGDhillon/status/1988582068776026127?s=20">said</a> the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, Harmeet Dhillon. &#8220;There were shenanigans with the ticketing, but a lot of people didn&#8217;t come because of what we call the ‘heckler&#8217;s veto,’ the violent mob allowed to fester outside.” 
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Fracas In Caracas</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1000145" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Will-Venezuela-Blink-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Will-Venezuela-Blink-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Will-Venezuela-Blink-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Will-Venezuela-Blink-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Will-Venezuela-Blink-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Will-Venezuela-Blink.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: Venezuela says it’s launched a “massive mobilization” of its armed forces – as the United States’ largest aircraft carrier arrives in the region.
Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro’s defense minister, Vladimir Padrino López, on Tuesday <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/maduro-orders-massive-military-mobilization-as-u-s-carrier-group-nears-venezuela">announced</a> a military buildup to counter what he called the “imperialist threat” from the United States. That buildup included military exercises on Wednesday that reportedly <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/venezuela-military-mobilization-us-navy-flotilla-nears-caribbean-uss-ford/">involved</a> around 200,000 troops. Reports say that the military has prepped anti-aircraft systems across Venezuela in case Trump decides to order land strikes, as he has hinted at a few times.
State of play: The United States’ largest and most advanced warship, the USS Gerald R. Ford, has finally arrived in the region, military officials said on Tuesday.
But diplomatic relations between Caracas and Washington have broken down, and it is unclear whether they have since rebounded.
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/world/americas/maduro-venezuela-us-oil.html">reported</a> last month that diplomacy between the two sides is basically broken. It broke over Maduro’s refusal to vacate leadership.
Caracas had offered the United States a majority stake in its oil and other mineral wealth. Part of the agreement would have been that Caracas would distance itself from powers hostile to the United States – namely, China, Iran, and Russia. But the United States walked away.
Invasion?: Many have made comparisons between the military buildup in the Caribbean Sea and the lead-up to the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989. There remain some stark differences, however. Venezuela is much larger than Panama, has a larger military, and Maduro is protected by special forces from Cuba, and Moscow has promised to help Venezuela in the event of an invasion.
Also, in 1989, the United States went into Panama to oust dictator Gen. Manuel Noriega with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/11/us/politics/panama-noriega-maduro.html">roughly</a> 27,000 troops. With the addition of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the United States still has only <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/11/americas/venezuela-military-mobilization-us-buildup-intl-latam#:~:text=Maduro%20has%20also%20claimed%20that,CNN's%20Haley%20Britzky%20contributed.">around</a> 15,000 troops in the Caribbean Sea.

MRN_251113_V1

Morning Brief: The Swamp Reopens, Berkeley Riot On FBI’s Terror Radar, & The Fracas In Caracas

Morning Brief: Govt Shutdown Ends, DOJ Probes Berkeley, And Venezuela Calls Up Troops

Government Shutdown

Hakeem Jeffries

Harmeet Dhillon

Media

Mike Johnson

Nicolas Maduro

U.S. House of Representatives

United States

University of California Berkeley

Venezuela

The Department of Justice launched a &#8220;full investigation&#8221; into the leftist demonstrations that took place outside of a Turning Point USA event at the University of California, Berkeley, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Tuesday.
Bondi said that Antifa was behind &#8220;violent riots&#8221; at UC Berkeley on Monday after leftist agitators showed up at the venue hours before the TPUSA event began on campus, harassing conservative attendees as they lined up for the event. The investigation is being led by the FBI&#8217;s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which focuses on international and domestic terrorism.
&#8220;Antifa is an existential threat to our nation. The violent riots at UC Berkeley last night are under full investigation by the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force. We will continue to spare no expense unmasking all who commit and orchestrate acts of political violence,&#8221; Bondi <a href="https://x.com/AGPamBondi/status/1988339354754769099">wrote</a> in a post on X. &#8220;Under President Trump’s leadership, and pursuant to his Executive Order designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, the Department of Justice and our law-enforcement partners are dismantling violent networks that seek to intimidate Americans and suppress their free expression and First Amendment rights.&#8221;
Two people were arrested after a fistfight broke out between one of the agitators and a man wearing a red Turning Point USA t-shirt. One person was charged with battery, but it&#8217;s unclear if the person who was charged was one of the two men who were seen fighting.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
At least two people detained after violence breaks out at a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TurningPointUSA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TurningPointUSA</a> event at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ucberkeley?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ucberkeley</a> Our crews say tensions are growing as the number of protesters grow <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ktvu?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ktvu</a> <a href="https://t.co/r8YuYvcqgr">pic.twitter.com/r8YuYvcqgr</a>
— Claudine Wong (@ClaudineKTVU) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClaudineKTVU/status/1988059428340592641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
UC Berkeley currently looks like a war zone.
An ANTIFA member just lit off a flare resulting in TPUSA event attendees being rushed inside.
A car then comes and starts backfiring visibly scaring multiple attendees who feared they were hearing gunshots. <a href="https://twitter.com/TPUSA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TPUSA</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/Savsays?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Savsays</a> <a href="https://t.co/u3mG8rJDSx">pic.twitter.com/u3mG8rJDSx</a>
— FRONTLINES TPUSA (@FrontlinesTPUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/FrontlinesTPUSA/status/1988063048825970850?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Two more people were arrested for attempting to get past a barrier police had set up to separate protesters from attendees. Some of the agitators lit flares and shouted at the conservative attendees as they waited to enter the building, and when they left after the TPUSA event ended.
The event, which was the last stop on the &#8220;This is the Turning Point” tour, went on as planned, capping off a tour that was started by TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk on September 10 at Utah Valley University, when he was assassinated while speaking to college students.
The DOJ&#8217;s Civil Rights division is also probing the leftist demonstrations at UC Berkeley, according to Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.
&#8220;We saw all of this at Berkeley back in 2017. @UCBerkeley was sued, and settled the case. The @CivilRights will investigate what happened here, and I see several issues of serious concern regarding campus and local security and Antifa’s ability to operate with impunity in CA,&#8221; Dhillon <a href="https://x.com/AAGDhillon/status/1988272046741111268">wrote</a> on X.
UC Berkeley, which has long been one of the most liberal universities in the United States, was at the center of violent demonstrations when leftist groups protested right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos’ planned speech in 2017. Dhillon brought some of the legal challenges against the university that same year over the free speech case.
&#8220;In America, we do not allow citizens to be attacked by violent thugs and shrug and turn our backs,&#8221; Dhillon <a href="https://x.com/AAGDhillon/status/1988293108686352875">added</a>. &#8220;Been there, done that, not on our watch.&#8221;
President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/designating-antifa-as-a-domestic-terrorist-organization/">designated</a> Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization in September, calling it &#8220;a militarist, anarchist enterprise that explicitly calls for the overthrow of the United States Government, law enforcement authorities, and our system of law.&#8221;

Turning Point USA Tour Event Held At University Of California, Berkeley

FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force Investigating ‘Violent Riots’ That Erupted Outside Of TPUSA Event

FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force Investigating 'Violent Riots' That Erupted Outside Of TPUSA Event

Leftism

Terrorism

Turning Point USA

The U.S. Supreme Court sided with President Donald Trump late Friday night, temporarily blocking an order for the administration to somehow fully fund food stamps while Senate Democrats keep the government shut down.
The administration already planned to tap into emergency funds to partially pay out Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments to the tune of billions of dollars. Administration officials said it would be impossible to provide the remaining billions needed to fully fund the program without congressional action, noting that the shortfall was the fault of Congress, not the executive branch.
SNAP payments are made to a stunning 42 million Americans every month.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Judicial activism at its worst.
A single district court in Rhode Island should not be able to seize center stage in the shutdown, seek to upend political negotiations that could produce swift political solutions for SNAP and other programs, and dictate its own preferences for…
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) <a href="https://twitter.com/AGPamBondi/status/1986940990146449762?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
&#8220;Given the imminent, irreparable harms posed by these orders, which require the government to transfer an estimated $4 billion by tonight, the Solicitor General respectfully requests an immediate administrative stay of the orders pending the resolution of this application by no later than 9:30pm this evening,&#8221; the administration&#8217;s request said.
&#8220;Congress has failed to appropriate funds to pay for Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for this fiscal year,&#8221; the request continued. &#8220;The Executive Branch has since exhausted the entirety of its SNAP contingency reserve, which amounted to over $5 billion. But that will be only enough to cover partial payments for the month of November. Such a funding lapse is a crisis. But it is a crisis occasioned by congressional failure and one that can only be solved through congressional action.&#8221;
SCOTUS sided with Trump, and agreed to temporarily block the lower court order for 48 hours. Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/07/ketanji-brown-jackson-supreme-court-snap-benefits-ruling-00643639?utm_source=chatgpt.com">issued</a> the stay.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
More from the administration&#8217;s <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCOTUS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SCOTUS</a> filing over <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SNAP?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SNAP</a> benefits &#8211; putting blame squarely on lawmakers:
&#8220;Congress has failed to appropriate funds to pay for Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for this fiscal year. The Executive Branch has 
since…
— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShannonBream/status/1986950886644486149?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
🚨SNAP UPDATE: The Supreme Court has issued a temporary stay.
The Federal Government can&#8217;t just create money for food stamps when Democrats CHOOSE to not fund the government (14 times and counting🤦🏻‍♀️).
Activist judges have ordered reckless and unconstitutional legal maneuvers… <a href="https://t.co/kbh2izckOz">pic.twitter.com/kbh2izckOz</a>
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecRollins/status/1987166731081498904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
“The core power of Congress is that of the purse, while the Executive is tasked with allocating limited resources across competing priorities,&#8221; the Department of Justice argued. &#8220;But here, the court below took the current shutdown as effective license to declare a federal bankruptcy and appoint itself the trustee, charged with picking winners and losers among those seeking some part of the limited pool of remaining federal funds.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none">
As our Supreme Court brief puts it:
“The core power of Congress is that of the purse, while the Executive is tasked with allocating limited resources across competing priorities. But here, the court below took the current shutdown as effective license to declare a federal…
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) <a href="https://twitter.com/AGPamBondi/status/1986940996899262542?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
&#8220;The Supreme Court just granted our administrative stay in this case,&#8221; Attorney General Pam Bondi posted to X on Friday night. &#8220;Our attorneys will not stop fighting, day and night, to defend and advance President Trump’s agenda.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The Supreme Court just granted our administrative stay in this case.
Our attorneys will not stop fighting, day and night, to defend and advance President Trump’s agenda. <a href="https://t.co/VJnf2GwPLk">https://t.co/VJnf2GwPLk</a>
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) <a href="https://twitter.com/AGPamBondi/status/1986985866900738242?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
Currently, the main webpage of the U.S. Department of Agriculture says that SNAP delays are due to Democrats, who have now voted 14 times to keep the government closed.
&#8220;Senate Democrats have voted 14 times against reopening the government. This compromises not only SNAP, but farm programs, food inspection, animal and plant disease protection, rural development, and protecting federal lands,&#8221; the USDA message reads. &#8220;Senate Democrats are withholding services to the American people in exchange for healthcare for illegals, gender mutilation, and other unknown &#8216;leverage&#8217; points.&#8221;

Group Photograph Of U.S. Supreme Court Justices

SCOTUS Sides With Trump On Food Stamp Funding During Shutdown

Food Stamps

Ketanji Brown Jackson

Supreme Court

Trump Administration

Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday that the Biden administration turned over President Donald Trump’s government phone to Jack Smith as he snooped through the president’s phone records as part of his wide-reaching investigation into the 2020 presidential election.
Bondi made the announcement on X, confirming previous revelations from Senate Republicans that the FBI seized Trump&#8217;s government-issued phone as part of Smith’s Arctic Frost investigation. That investigation, supposedly into Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, targeted hundreds of Republicans in Congress and Trump allies outside of Capitol Hill.
“During the Arctic Frost Investigation, we found that Special Counsel seized President Trump’s government-issued phone. This means the Biden Administration turned over President Trump’s phone to Special Counsel—an UNPRECEDENTED action,” Bondi <a href="https://x.com/AGPamBondi/status/1985754381216624949">said</a>. “In addition, Special Counsel subpoenaed all of President Trump’s PERSONAL phone records.”
“We can never again allow this kind of government weaponization in America,” Bondi added. “I submitted these new documents to our partners on Capitol Hill. I commend our team at the FBI for working diligently to expose this.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt commented more on the revelation during Tuesday’s press briefing.
&#8220;I think this is just further evidence of the egregious overreach and weaponization of government that took place under the previous White House against then former president and now President Donald J. Trump. It was a clear effort by the Biden White House and the Biden DOJ to go after the president and this is just further evidence of that.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a> on the Biden White House turning over President Trump’s phone records to Jack Smith as part of Arctic Frost:
&#8220;I think this is just further evidence of the egregious overreach and weaponization of government that took place under the previous White House against… <a href="https://t.co/OEZmOCXtJj">https://t.co/OEZmOCXtJj</a> <a href="https://t.co/ozajWcNjEn">pic.twitter.com/ozajWcNjEn</a>
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1985783717340590170?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
According to a March 2025 <a href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_johnson_to_doj_fbi_-_arctic_frost_updates.pdf">letter</a> from Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), the FBI first began the process of seizing Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence’s phones in April 2022 before they gained access to them and entered them as evidence in May 2022.
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), one of the GOP senators who was targeted in the probe, said the news should enrage every American.
“This information should outrage every American,” she <a href="https://x.com/MarshaBlackburn/status/1985804405871153172">said</a>. “This is one of the worst examples of government weaponization in American history.”
Blackburn, alongside Sens. Cynthia Lummis (WY), Ron Johnson (WI), Tommy Tuberville (AL), Dan Sullivan (AK), Josh Hawley (MO), Bill Hagerty (TN), Lindsey Graham (SC), and Rep. Mike Kelly (PA), all had their phone metadata analyzed by the FBI as part of Arctic Frost.

Former President Donald Trump Indicted In January 6 Investigation

Biden’s Justice Department Took ‘Unprecedented Action’ Against Trump, Bondi Reveals

2020 Election

General

Jack Smith

President Donald Trump ends his Asia tour with a much-anticipated sit-down with China’s Xi Jinping, a scathing report on Joe Biden’s presidency casts doubt on key executive actions, and Canada&#8217;s government is pressured to include minors in its euthanasia program.
It’s Thursday, October 30, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251030-member-exclusive">the video version can be seen on The Daily Wire</a>:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trumps-asia-trip-apex-bidens-autopen-presidency-10-30-25/id1576594336?i=1000734183688" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump V. Xi In South Korea</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-993375" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/South-Korea-Summit-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/South-Korea-Summit-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/South-Korea-Summit-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/South-Korea-Summit-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/South-Korea-Summit-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/South-Korea-Summit.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The eyes of the world turned to South Korea, as President Trump sat down with China’s Xi Jinping for a high-stakes meeting.
Trump v. Xi: President Donald Trump cut tariffs on China overnight after President Xi Jinping promised to purchase large amounts of farm products from the United States and crack down on fentanyl trafficking. 
Trump said the tariff rate on China would be reduced from 57% to 47% after a high-stakes meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in South Korea. In return, he said China promised to purchase American soybeans, sorghum, and other farm products and stop the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
“I had a truly great meeting with President Xi of China. There is enormous respect between our two Countries, and that will only be enhanced with what just took place,” Trump posted on Truth Social after the meeting. “We agreed on many things, with others, even of high importance, being very close to resolved.”
Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DailyWire.com/Subscribe</a> to join now.
Trump added that China had agreed to “continue the flow” of rare earth minerals used in products ranging from cell phones to fighter jets. China had been looking to implement strict export controls on the minerals.
The meeting began late Wednesday night by United States time. 
Just minutes before the meeting began, President Trump issued a stunning social media <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115460423936412555">post</a>, saying, “Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately.”
The U.S. has not tested any nuclear weapons for the last 33 years. The timing of that message is no accident. In the last week alone, Vladimir Putin announced that Russia had successfully tested nuclear-powered, nuclear-capable cruise missiles, along with a nuclear-capable torpedo. 
North Korea also claims to have conducted missile tests of its own. But this appears to be directed at Xi, who has overseen a historic nuclear buildup in China, growing its arsenal at an alarming pace. Despite that apparent warning, once Trump and Xi met just a few moments later, the two were all smiles, with Trump cracking a joke as they shook hands.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Biden Autopen Questions Grow</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-993373" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Signed-Without-Consent-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Signed-Without-Consent-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Signed-Without-Consent-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Signed-Without-Consent-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Signed-Without-Consent-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Signed-Without-Consent.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The House Oversight Committee has recommended that the Justice Department investigate the Biden White House’s use of an autopen to sign official presidential actions. In a 100-page <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/release/oversight-committee-releases-report-on-the-biden-autopen-presidency/">report</a> released this week, Republicans charged Biden staffers with covering up for an increasingly senile president and taking action without his knowledge.
Republicans want the DOJ to take a deep look at former President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen because many of the actions Biden took – or appeared to take – may not have been valid. Committee Chairman James Comer asked Attorney General Pam Bondi for a “comprehensive review of all executive actions taken during the Biden presidency.”
Comer also asked for special attention to be paid to White House doctor Kevin O’Connor, deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini, and senior adviser to the first lady Anthony Bernal. They all pleaded the Fifth during the House investigation.
Comer v. O’Connor: Comer sent a letter to the D.C. Board of Medicine asking for a review of O&#8217;Connor’s work as the chief White House doctor. The report says testimony indicates that O’Connor “may have succumbed to political pressure” and hid Biden’s health decline from the American people.
Comer said the medical board should consider whether O’Connor “issu[ed] misleading medical reports, misrepresent[ed] treatments, or [failed] to conform to standards of practice” in violation of D.C. law. If any violations are found, the D.C. Board of Medicine could discipline O’Connor or even <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/10/28/us-news/biden-white-house-doctor-kevin-oconnor-referred-for-investigation-of-ex-prez-health-cover-up-could-lose-license/?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_source=twitter">revoke</a> his medical license.
&nbsp;
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Canada&#8217;s Growing Euthanasia Movement</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-993371" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Euthanasia-For-Minors-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Euthanasia-For-Minors-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Euthanasia-For-Minors-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Euthanasia-For-Minors-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Euthanasia-For-Minors-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Euthanasia-For-Minors.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: Canada’s euthanasia program is rapidly expanding, with some groups calling for minors as young as 12 years old to be included in the government-funded program. 
MAiD, or Medical Assistance in Dying, is effectively an euthanasia program funded by the Canadian government. It began in 2016 for people whose natural death was “reasonably foreseeable” and who wanted to end their lives. The program has only expanded since, particularly in 2021, when chronic illness and disability became included as reasons for someone to be euthanized. 
Since its inception, more people have undergone these procedures. Thousands of Canadians now do this annually.
Efforts to expand MAiD: Advocates want children 12 years and older to have access to MAiD. Current rules state that one must be 18 years old to be considered for this procedure.
The general argument is that children need more autonomy in health care, and the MAiD program is supposedly about “compassion.” Advocates also noted that minors can already consent or refuse certain treatments, so permitting this would be consistent. Finally, advocates will point to the Netherlands, where assisted dying for “mature minors” has been legal since 2002.
As for consent, one advocacy group called “Dying With Dignity Canada” recommends that minors between 12 and 15 years old have parental permission to be euthanized. It does not recommend that as a requirement for minors aged 16 and 17, however.
Morning Wire spoke to Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, a psychiatrist, author, and a director at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, about the euthanasia movement.
“Once you cross the line of allowing doctors to kill patients, once you cross the line of accepting the basic premise of the euthanasia movement, which is that some lives are not worth living and therefore these people should be killed by the medical profession, then it&#8217;s very hard to argue that there should be any limitations to that,” said Kheriaty.
In addition to advocating for minors to be permitted in the program, there is a strong push to include people who suffer solely from mental health issues. That section is set to take effect in 2027. 
Euthanasia is not legal in the U.S.; however, several states do permit assisted suicide. This is a domestic movement that is worth watching closely and has undoubtedly been influenced by our neighbors up north.

MRN_251030_V3

Morning Brief: Trump Meets With Xi, Biden Autopen Probe, & A Growing Euthanasia Obsession

Morning Brief: South Korea Summit, Autopen Investigation, And Canada's Euthanasia Obsession

Canada

Euthanasia

James Comer

Joe Biden

South Korea

Xi Jinping

The Department of Justice warned multiple top Democratic California politicians, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, of potential charges on Thursday, after Pelosi suggested that federal immigration agents could be arrested by state and local police.
Earlier this week, Pelosi, along with Democratic Rep. Kevin Mullin, <a href="https://pelosi.house.gov/news/press-releases/pelosi-mullin-statement-reports-planned-federal-immigration-operation-bay-area">threatened</a> that ICE agents could be detained as President Donald Trump considered a major immigration operation in San Francisco. In response, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche sent a letter to Newsom, Pelosi, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, and San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, urging them to &#8220;abandon this apparent criminal conspiracy.&#8221;
&#8220;The Department of Justice views any arrests of federal agents and officers in the performance of their official duties as both illegal and futile,&#8221; Blanche wrote. The deputy attorney general then cited multiple federal laws that prohibit interfering with federal law enforcement operations.
The California Democrats addressed in the letter were told to &#8220;preserve all written and electronic communications and records related to any attempts to or efforts to impede or obstruct federal law enforcement officials.&#8221;
&#8220;We urge you and other California officials to publicly abandon this apparent criminal conspiracy, to stop threatening law enforcement, and to prioritize the safety of your citizens,&#8221; Blanche added. &#8220;In the meantime, federal agents and officers will continue to enforce federal law and will not be deterred by the threat of arrest by California authorities who have abdicated their duty to protect their constituents.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
California politicians want to arrest federal agents for enforcing federal law. 
We just sent them a letter: Stand down or face prosecution. 
No one threatens our agents. No one will stop us from Making America Safe Again. <a href="https://t.co/xe0EK8QssO">pic.twitter.com/xe0EK8QssO</a>
— Todd Blanche (@DAGToddBlanche) <a href="https://twitter.com/DAGToddBlanche/status/1981495700450893894?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi <a href="https://x.com/JesseBWatters/status/1981528588516987011">told</a> Fox News host Jesse Watters Thursday night that if Democratic officials are telling state and local police to arrest ICE officers, they will face charges.
Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to <a href="http://dailywire.com/Subscribe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DailyWire.com/Subscribe</a> to join now.
&#8220;If they think I won’t [charge them], they have not met me,&#8221; Bondi added. &#8220;Because we will charge them if they are violating the law. We will protect our federal agents.&#8221;
Pelosi and Mullin, who both represent parts of the Bay Area, wrote in a <a href="https://pelosi.house.gov/news/press-releases/pelosi-mullin-statement-reports-planned-federal-immigration-operation-bay-area">press release</a> on Wednesday that California law &#8220;prevents federal agents from taking certain actions.&#8221; The Democratic lawmakers added, &#8220;Our state and local authorities may arrest federal agents if they break California law — and if they are convicted, the President cannot pardon them.&#8221;
California Democrats have also moved to make ICE agents show their faces while on the job. Late last month, Newsom signed a bill into law that bans ICE agents from wearing masks during arrests. The bill was signed as federal immigration agents face a massive increase in attacks on them, including shootings and car rammings. ICE sources told <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nice-try-gavin-newsom-cant-stop-ice-agents-from-wearing-masks-sources-say">The Daily Wire</a> that the new California law would not apply to the federal officers, and U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli told “Fox &amp; Friends” that California “does not and cannot have jurisdiction” over the federal agents.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-to-target-san-francisco-with-immigration-raids">announced</a> on Monday that the Trump administration would soon target San Francisco as part of its crackdown on crime and illegal immigrants. However, after Trump said some of his friends in San Francisco urged him to hold off on the federal law enforcement &#8220;surge,&#8221; the president had a phone call with Democratic San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie and decided to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-calls-off-deployment-of-federal-agents-to-san-francisco">hold off</a> on the operation.
“The Federal Government was preparing to ‘surge’ San Francisco, California, on Saturday, but friends of mine who live in the area called last night to ask me not to go forward with the surge in that the Mayor, Daniel Lurie, was making substantial progress,” Trump <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1981406531926315028?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">wrote</a> on Truth Social Thursday. “I spoke to Mayor Lurie last night and he asked, very nicely, that I give him a chance to see if he can turn it around. I told him I think he is making a mistake, because we can do it much faster, and remove the criminals that the Law does not permit him to remove.”
Jennie Taer contributed to this report.

Nancy Pelosi/Gavin Newsom

Trump Admin Warns California Democrats: Arresting ICE Agents Is A ‘Criminal Conspiracy’

Illegal Immigation

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Nancy Pelosi

San Francisco

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