Posted in News

President Donald Trump’s pardon of ex-Honduran president Hernández injects wild card into election

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — The day before Honduras elects a new president, suddenly the main topics of conversation here shifted from domestic matters to U.S. President Donald Trump and the former Honduran president he had pardoned.

Trump cannonballed into the deep end of Honduran politics this week, first endorsing presidential candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura from the conservative National Party and then announcing the pardon of ex-President Juan Orlando Hernández — of the same party — sentenced to 45 years in a U.S. prison for helping move tons of cocaine.

Trump’s influence

Until the U.S. president’s splashy entrance, the main concern around the election was that the three candidates with an apparent chance to win were all undermining the process’ credibility, warning of manipulation and saying they wouldn’t recognize a preliminary result that didn’t go their way.

On Saturday, Hondurans were trying to sort out who would benefit from Trump’s actions and what exactly he was trying to do.

Wild card

The endorsement of Asfura seemed straightforward enough: one conservative backing another. But throwing in Hernández, someone whose lengthy U.S. federal trial in a New York City courtroom was covered daily in the Honduran media, was a wild card.

It could hurt Asfura by reminding voters of the depths of the corruption of his party. Or it could help him by firing up the National Party’s base.

Trump also dismissed the other two leading candidates Rixi Moncada of the governing social democrat Libre Party and Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party, who he called a “borderline Communist.”

Eve of the election

Moncada, the former finance and defense secretary in the outgoing administration of President Xiomara Castro, pounced on the U.S. president’s intervention.

Before she stepped to the podium before cheering supporters, a giant screen played video loops of Hernández’s arrest.

Moncada framed it as Honduras’ organized crime interests and the country’s handful of economically dominant families deciding in the days before the election that their candidates wouldn’t be able to beat her, so they went to Washington for help.

It was Castro who had Hernández arrested months after he left office, something Moncada said that Honduras’ powerful economic interests allowed, because he was no longer of use to them. But now, desperate, Trump was sending who she called “the biggest capo in the history of Honduras” back to try to energize conservative voters.

“What has happened yesterday (the pardon) is a new crime and that new crime we will judge tomorrow (Sunday) at the ballot box,” Moncada said to cheers. “They won’t come back.”

The night before, Nasralla tried to use Trump’s interference to bolster his own cultivated outsider status, even in his fourth bid for the presidency.

“I don’t answer to dark pacts, or corrupt networks or criminals who have killed our people,” he said Friday night.

Divisive figure

It was all giving Hondurans a lot to talk about Saturday.

At an intersection in a wealthier Tegucigalpa neighborhood, Adalid Ávila sold oranges, bananas, pineapples and rambutans from the back of a pickup truck. About 100 yards away a banner fluttered from a highway overpass with a picture of Hernández the day he was handed over to U.S. authorities in 2022.

It warned people not to forget allegations that he had also diverted money from social security as president.

But Ávila said a lot of people still think highly of Hernández, so he didn’t think Trump’s pardon would have much effect on the election.

Endorsement of Asfura

The 21-year-old vendor said that he planned to vote for Asfura, who he remembered as Tegucigalpa’s mayor for building tunnels and bridges – including the one the banner hung from — that somewhat relieved its crushing traffic.

“He’s hardworking, he inspires you,” Ávila said. He did think that Trump’s endorsement could help Asfura, because Hondurans know how much help the U.S. can be, he said.

Most of all, Ávila wants Honduras’ next president to be “honorable,” to work for the people and not forget the campaign promises, he said. He worried that the leading candidates won’t accept Sunday’s result.

“People aren’t tolerant in this country,” he said. “There’s always revolution, because no one likes to lose.”

Hope for peaceful vote

Melany Martínez, a 30-year-old nurse, waited in a long line Saturday morning for a “baleada,” a Honduran delicacy of beans, cheese and cream wrapped in a soft, fresh tortilla.

She called Trump’s endorsement of Asfura an “alert” to Hondurans and she wondered what the U.S. president’s angle was.

“I think the people’s decision must be taken here, because in the end we’re the citizens,” she said. Trump’s pardoning of Hernández struck her as wrong, because he had been convicted of a crime.

She too hoped for a peaceful election with a respected result. But she had heard talk in the street about the chance of trouble and even suggestions to stock up on household essentials.

As a nurse, she wants the next president to focus on education and health, two areas that have been chronically ignored.

Oliver Eraso, a law professor at the National Autonomous University of Honduras, said that he didn’t expect Trump’s interference to have a big impact on voters’ decisions.

“The social and collective behavior of the electorate was already defined a week or two ago, especially when it comes to the National Party and the Liberal Party,” he said.

Marlon González contributed to this report.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/29/trumps-pardon-ex-honduran-president/ 

Posted in News

No. 1 Ohio State beats No. 15 Michigan 27-9, sets up game with No. 2 Indiana for B10 title

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Julian Sayin threw three touchdown passes, including a 35-yarder to Jeremiah Smith on a fourth down in the second quarter, and No. 1 Ohio State beat No. 15 Michigan 27-9 in a dominant performance on Saturday.

The defending national champion Buckeyes (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten) likely earned a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff. They can keep their top seed with a win against No. 2 Indiana (12-0, 9-0) in the conference championship game Saturday night in Indianapolis.

Ryan Day should sleep well, a year after losing The Game when his team was favored by about three touchdowns. The upset extended his losing streak in the series to four games and sparked speculation he might also lose his job.

“We’re going to win with humility,” Day said, choking up, on the field in an interview with Fox.

The Wolverines (9-3, 7-2) started strong with two field goals and an interception on the first three possessions of the game, but couldn’t generate pressure when Ohio State wanted to pass.

Just Sayin.

After throwing an interception on his second snap, the redshirt freshman took advantage of the time and space he had to throw.

If they make it through this week, No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana would give Big Ten a historic title game

Sayin was 6 of 6 for 68 yards with two touchdowns on third and fourth down in the first half, including a 4-yard throw to Brandon Inniss with 16 seconds left that made it 17-9 at the break. He finished 19 of 26 for 233 yards and threw for at least three touchdowns for the sixth time this season.

His clutch throw to Smith early in the second stirred some controversy.

Smith bobbled the ball as he went into the end zone and Fox’s officiating expert, Mike Pereira, questioned the call during the TV broadcast.

Michigan might have gotten a break early in the game when edge rusher Jaishawn Barham was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct, but wasn’t ejected, after appearing to make contact with an official.

In the end, the calls were moot because Ohio State put together a convincing performance.

Sayin helped the Buckeyes pull away with a perfect pass to Carnell Tate for a 50-yard touchdown in the third quarter, lofting a ball over the receiver’s shoulder after he got past Michigan’s secondary.

That put the game out of reach for the Wolverines, who couldn’t catch up after being relegated to kicking three field goals in the first half and failing to get their defense off the field in the second half.

The Buckeyes removed all doubt with a field goal midway through the fourth quarter, capping a 20-play, 81-yard drive that took nearly 12 minutes off the clock.

Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood, the nation’s No. 1 recruit a year ago, was 8 of 13 for a season-low 63 yards with an interception late in the game.

The Wolverines ran for just 100 yards on 24 carries against the nation’s top-ranked defense.

The takeaway

Ohio State: Day earned a win he desperately needed and improved to 2-4 against the Wolverines, quieting any critics who were not convinced by the national championship he won.

Michigan: Underwood’s uneven season as a passer proved to be costly because it limited big-play potential against a defense that didn’t give up a touchdown for the fifth time this year.

Up next

The Buckeyes will face the Hoosiers for the first time since beating them 38-15 a little more than a year ago.

Michigan will find out next Sunday where it plays in a bowl game with just pride at stake.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/29/ohio-state-beats-michigan-big-ten/ 

Posted in News

Juez reabre investigación por desacato contra el gobierno de Trump

Por SUDHIN THANAWALA

Dos aviones que transportaban migrantes venezolanos fuera de Estados Unidos estaban en el aire el 15 de marzo cuando un juez federal de Washington ordenó al gobierno del presidente Donald Trump que los hiciera regresar.

En lugar de volver, los aviones aterrizaron en El Salvador horas después, desatando una extraordinaria lucha de poder entre las ramas judicial y ejecutiva del gobierno estadounidense sobre lo que sucedió y por qué la orden del juez no se ejecutó.

Esa lucha entró en una fase crítica el viernes, cuando el juez federal de distrito, James Boasberg, reinició una investigación para determinar si el gobierno republicano ignoró deliberadamente su instrucción, permitiendo que los aviones continuaran hacia El Salvador.

El juez concluyó previamente que así fue y amenazó con procesar por desacato al funcionario o funcionarios responsables. El gobierno ha negado cualquier violación.

Pero un tribunal de apelaciones anuló la decisión de Boasberg. La investigación por desacato parecía extinta hasta que, en otro giro, un panel más amplio de jueces del mismo tribunal de apelaciones dictaminó el 14 de noviembre que la investigación podría continuar.

Este es un vistazo a lo que hace que este caso sea inusual y lo que podría suceder ahora:

Las investigaciones por desacato criminal como la de Boasberg son extremadamente inusuales

Son un último recurso, dijeron a The Associated Press los exjueces federales Jeremy Fogel y Liam O’Grady en una entrevista realizada el lunes por Zoom.

“El juez tiene que creer que se ha cruzado una línea que no se puede pasar por alto”, dijo Fogel, quien pasó 20 años en el tribunal en el norte de California antes de retirarse en 2018.

Fogel dijo que los problemas planteados por la investigación de desacato de Boasberg, es decir, si los migrantes fueron privados de sus derechos al debido proceso y si se desobedeció la autoridad del tribunal, cumplen con ese estándar.

“Independientemente de lo que sucedió en realidad, creo que, para él, sería muy difícil simplemente dejarlo pasar”, dijo el juez.

O’Grady, quien sirvió durante 16 años en Alexandria, Virginia, justo en las afueras de Washington, elogió a Boasberg por sus esfuerzos para determinar los hechos.

“Se está asegurando de que su registro sea absolutamente claro”, dijo O’Grady.

Boasberg quiere comenzar con declaraciones escritas

El viernes, el juez ordenó a la administración que presentara, antes del 5 de diciembre, declaraciones de todos los funcionarios que intervinieron en la decisión de no devolver los vuelos a Estados Unidos. Señaló que luego decidirá si busca la participación de testigos.

Las declaraciones deben detallar los roles de los funcionarios en la decisión, dijo el juez en la breve orden.

Los abogados del Departamento de Justicia le habían instado a abandonar la investigación, pero Boasberg dijo que debe determinar si la secretaria de Seguridad Nacional, Kristi Noem, o cualquier otra persona “debería ser mencionada para un posible enjuiciamiento por desacato”.

“En otras palabras, el Tribunal debe decidir si: (1) la orden judicial fue ‘clara y razonablemente específica’; (2) ‘el acusado violó la orden’; y (3) ‘la violación fue intencional’”, escribió.

El martes, en un documento judicial, los abogados del Departamento de Justicia dijeron que Noem decidió que los migrantes a bordo de los vuelos podrían ser transferidos a El Salvador después de recibir asesoramiento del abogado general interino del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional, Joseph Mazzara.

Mazzara recibió asesoramiento legal sobre los aviones del fiscal general adjunto Todd Blanche y del principal fiscal general adjunto asociado Emil Bove, según el documento.

El gobierno ha defendido su decisión sobre los aviones

La directiva del juez de devolver las aeronaves se hizo verbalmente en el tribunal, pero no se incluyó en su orden escrita, dijeron el martes los abogados del gobierno en el documento judicial.

Esa orden impedía que el gobierno retirara “de Estados Unidos a cualquiera de los demandantes individuales por 14 días”, pero no se mencionaba nada sobre los vuelos en el aire.

Los dos aviones ya habían salido del territorio y del espacio aéreo de Estados Unidos, por lo que los migrantes que iban a bordo ya habían sido “retirados” y, por lo tanto, estaban fuera de la orden del tribunal, dijeron los abogados del Departamento de Justicia en el documento judicial.

“En consecuencia, el Gobierno sostiene que sus acciones no violaron la orden del Tribunal, ciertamente, no con la claridad requerida para el desacato criminal, y no se justifican ni son apropiados más procedimientos”, escribieron.

Un juez del tribunal federal de apelaciones dijo en agosto que la interpretación de la orden de Boasberg por parte del gobierno era plausible. Dicha orden “podría haberse interpretado razonablemente” como que solo prohibía que el gobierno “expulsara a los detenidos del territorio de Estados Unidos”, escribió Gregory Katsas, un juez del Tribunal Federal de Apelaciones para el Circuito de D.C. Katsas fue nombrado por Trump.

La Casa Blanca ha sido hostil a los jueces que supervisan su poder

Los funcionarios de Trump se han irritado ante la supervisión judicial y han impugnado repetidamente el poder de los jueces para revisar las políticas del poder ejecutivo, particularmente en temas de inmigración.

“Existe un esfuerzo deliberado para forzar los límites e intentar reducir la autoridad de los tribunales de primera instancia”, dijo David Noll, profesor de la Facultad de Derecho de Rutgers que escribe sobre la intersección de la ley y la política.

Noll dijo que espera que el Departamento de Justicia luche contra la investigación desde el principio, con “muchas apelaciones e intimidación” respecto a que Boasberg está excediendo su autoridad.

Trump ya ha atacado al juez. Tras el fallo del 15 de marzo, el mandatario lo ridiculizó, calificándolo como “problemático y agitador” y pidió su destitución. Boasberg fue nominado al tribunal por el presidente demócrata Barack Obama y actualmente se desempeña como juez principal del tribunal federal para el Distrito de Columbia.

En julio, el Departamento de Justicia presentó una denuncia de mala conducta contra él, alegando que le dijo en marzo al presidente del Tribunal Supremo John Roberts y a otros jueces federales que el gobierno desencadenaría una crisis constitucional al desobedecer los fallos de los tribunales federales.

Boasberg ha enmarcado la investigación por desacato como un esfuerzo por defender la Constitución de Estados Unidos, que, según él, exige el cumplimiento de las órdenes judiciales. Por separado, está considerando una solicitud para exigir a la administración que dé a al menos 137 de los migrantes, que ahora están de regreso en Venezuela, la oportunidad de impugnar su designación como integrantes de pandillas.

El juez ha acusado a los funcionarios del gobierno de Trump de expulsar apresuradamente a los migrantes de Estados Unidos y dijo que han surgido importantes pruebas que indican que muchos de ellos no estaban vinculados con la pandilla Tren de Aragua.

Las decisiones de desacato pueden conllevar multas y tiempo en prisión

Pero la historia muestra que tales castigos rara vez se emiten o se permiten contra el gobierno.

En un estudio de miles de opiniones de tribunales federales publicado en 2018 en Harvard Law Review se encontraron 82 decisiones de desacato contra funcionarios y agencias gubernamentales desde el final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Los jueces emitieron o intentaron emitir multas en 16 de esos casos, pero los tribunales superiores las bloquearon en todos ellos, excepto en tres.

El tiempo en prisión es aún más inusual. Los jueces encarcelaron o amenazaron creíblemente con encarcelar a un funcionario de una agencia federal en solo cuatro de los casos, y los tribunales superiores intervinieron de manera similar para bloquear la sanción, según el estudio del profesor de la Facultad de Derecho de Yale, Nicholas Parrillo.

Noll, el profesor de derecho de Rutgers, dijo que, si la investigación avanza, podría influir en el debate público sobre si el gobierno puede llevar a cabo su política de deportación masiva legalmente.

“Gran parte del poder de un tribunal de distrito proviene simplemente de la capacidad de llevar un tema ante el público”, dijo el martes en una entrevista telefónica.

___

Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/29/juez-reabre-investigacin-por-desacato-contra-el-gobierno-de-trump/ 

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Former Chicago Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson on his first return to the United Center: ‘It’s a privilege’

The Chicago Blackhawks had on different colors than usual on Friday. So did Nashville Predators assistant coach Luke Richardson, but for different reasons.

The road team came to Chicago and spoiled the Hawks’ black jersey return in their 4-3 win on Black Friday. They dealt the Hawks their fifth straight winless contest.

Richardson came into the United Center as the bad guy for the first time since his head coaching tenure with the Hawks ended. He said he’s enjoying his next step in Tennessee.

“We’ve had some really excellent games this year (but) a little bit frustrated not scoring enough to get more results at the end,” Richardson said. “It’s a good, resilient group that is sticking with it.”

He was hired as the Hawks coach on June 27, 2022, with the intention of leading a rebuild. It wasn’t expected to look great initially, but things got ugly in a hurry.

Richardson went 57-118-15 in his tenure with the team. Patrick Kane was traded, Jonathan Toews took a medical leave and the Stanley Cup-winning days felt like an eternity ago.

Blackhawks center Connor Bedard (98) handles the puck during the third period against the Nashville Predators, Nov. 28, 2025, at the United Center. (Dominic Di Palermo/Chicago Tribune)

After an 8-16-2 start to his third season, he was relieved of his duties. The record may say one thing, but it wasn’t all bad for Richardson.

He should be credited for kickstarting the development of Connor Bedard, helping Jason Dickinson to a career year and his leadership style that resonated with his skaters. He’ll be a popular candidate for another head coaching job in the future.

If he does get that opportunity, Richardson said he would be thankful for that chance. His love for the Blackhawks won’t disappear, though.

“It’s a privilege to be a part of the Blackhawks organization,” Richardson said.

This offseason, current Hawks coach Jeff Blashill was hired in as the franchise’s 42nd head coach. The current losing streak doesn’t look good, but there has been a notable step forward during his tenure.

Richardson and Blashill didn’t reach out to each other after the hire, but the respect is mutual.

“Luke and I know each other from afar, but it’s not someone I’ve crossed paths with a lot,” Blashill said. “(I) certainly have respect for him as a coach and as a man from everything I’ve heard.”

Photos: Chicago Blackhawks lose 4-3 to the Nashville Predators at the United Center

“Yeah, same. I don’t really know him very much other than seeing him once or twice, but (he has a) great career coaching,” Richardson said. “You feel and take a lot of pride in helping the young players achieve their goals and making it to the next level. He took that to the next level in Detroit and his time with a great team in Tampa Bay.”

The rookie top draft pick fracturing his jaw didn’t help things for Richardson. But the coach saw that he’s a warrior, so it’s not a shock to him that Bedard is becoming a superstar.

“You saw a lot of signs of it,” Richardson said. “I think the injury the first year probably set him back a little bit, (but) he’s a determined young man (with) a great family background, which gives him a good, stable base.

“His drive and his talent, you’re seeing it on the ice this year. I don’t think anybody’s really surprised with it.”

Bedard had a fairly quiet night against the Predators, scoring no points in his 23:23 of ice time. He did have five shots on goal, an aggressive scoring pursuit Richardson is used to.

“He’s definitely going to be a long-time star in this league,” Richardson said. “It was definitely fun to be around him.

“He’s a good kid that just wants to win and you love that as a coach. That was a great experience for myself and I wish him all the best going forward.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/29/chicago-blackhawks-luke-richardson-return/ 

Posted in News

The ‘K-Shaped’ Economy In One Graph

The ‘K-Shaped’ Economy In One Graph

Tuesday’s weak Consumer Confidence report was a good reminder of why some economists are calling our economy the K shaped economy.

As RealInvestmentAdvice.com reports, The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index fell 6.8 points to 88.7 in November, below expectations of 93.

Moreover, it sits at levels similar to those of early 2020, when the pandemic shuttered the economy. Similarly, the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment survey is slightly above 70-year lows.

Both surveys indicate that a large majority of consumers are struggling.

Within the surveys, the outlook on current jobs and job availability is low.

Inflation, tariffs, politics, and the government shutdown are also weighing on the consumer and limiting big-ticket spending plans.

A K shaped economy describes a post-crisis recovery where different parts of the economy and society are performing at sharply diverging rates, forming the two arms of the letter “K.”:

The upper arm (going up): Sectors, companies, assets, and people that benefit from the recovery and, in many cases, are wealthier than before the pandemic. This includes investors in technology stocks, big tech companies, the luxury sectors, high-income professionals, and asset owners.

The lower arm (going down): Sectors, small businesses, and people that continue to decline or stagnate even as the overall economy appears to improve. Examples include: the hospitality and travel industries, many lower-priced retail outlets, low-wage service workers, small businesses, and many middle-class and lower-income households.

The graph below showing the stark divergence between the S&P 500 and the University of Michigan consumer survey best depicts the K shaped economy.

You can make similar K shaped plots comparing stock markets, GDP, and megacap corporate profits versus small business closures, wage growth for low-income workers, and economic activity in the manufacturing sector.

The question is – how do the jaws of that widening alligator’s mouth snap shut? Sentiment surge or equity purge?

Tyler Durden
Sat, 11/29/2025 – 15:45

https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/k-shaped-economy-one-graph 

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Miles de hinchas del Barcelona se topan con problemas en accesos al nuevo Camp Nou

BARCELONA (AP) — El segundo partido del Barcelona de regreso al estadio Camp Nou no salió como se planifició, ya que unos 7.500 aficionados tuvieron problemas para acceder con sus entradas virtuales en la victoria del sábado por 3-1 sobre Alavés.

La vicepresidenta del club, Elena Font, informó que los aficionados no pudieron descargar sus entradas virtuales desde la aplicación del club. Se disculpó con los titulares de las entradas afectados y manifestó que el club estaba trabajando para resolver el problema relacionado con un nuevo sistema digital que el club está utilizando.

El club indicó que respondió al contratiempo enviando PDFs de las entradas a los titulares, pero eso no evitó largas filas, retrasos y aficionados molestos.

Font expresó que el club cree que todos, excepto 300 de los titulares de entradas afectados, pudieron ingresar al estadio.

Barcelona tiene tres días antes de recibir al Atlético de Madrid en otro partido de La Liga.

El conjunto catalán regresó al Camp Nou para su primer partido recién el fin de semana pasado, poniendo fin a una ausencia de más de dos años del estadio de fútbol más grande de Europa mientras se somete a una amplia renovación.

El estadio sigue en construcción y solo está a disponible para aproximadamente la mitad de su capacidad, con unas 45.000 plazas disponibles.

____

Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/29/miles-de-hinchas-del-barcelona-se-topan-con-problemas-en-accesos-al-nuevo-camp-nou/ 

Posted in News

Documents Stuffed Into Burn-Bags At FBI HQ To Be Made Public: Kash Patel

Documents Stuffed Into Burn-Bags At FBI HQ To Be Made Public: Kash Patel

Authored by Zachary Stieber and Jan Jekielek via The Epoch Times,

Sensitive documents found in burn bags at FBI headquarters will all be made public, FBI Director Kash Patel said in a new interview with The Epoch Times.

“You’re going to see everything we found in that room in one way or another, be it through investigation, public trial, or disclosure to the Congress,” Patel told The Epoch Times’ Jan Jekielek in an exclusive interview, which is set to air on EpochTV at 5 p.m. ET on Nov. 29.

Before becoming FBI director, one of Patel’s past roles was working as a congressional investigator. He was on the House Intelligence Committee team that uncovered previously unknown information about the FBI’s probe of possible links between the 2016 campaign of President Donald Trump and Russia.

The probe and fallout over the information that emerged, including the reliance on a dossier compiled on behalf of the Hillary Clinton campaign, has come to be known as “Russia Gate.”

Patel said on X in August that “we just uncovered burn bags/room filled with hidden Russia Gate files, including the Durham annex, and declassified them.”

The declassified annex to a report from former special counsel John Durham, whose team investigated the FBI’s actions and found that the full probe was based on unverified intelligence, was released in July by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). It showed that the FBI did not adequately review reports showing the Clinton campaign may have been promoting a false narrative connecting Trump to Russia, Grassley said at the time.

Clinton’s office has not commented on the annex. Robby Mook, Clinton’s 2016 campaign manager, has said he believed that work done by the international law firm Perkins Coie, which paid the dossier author, “was done for the purpose of providing legal services and legal advice” to the campaign.

During a hearing in September, Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wis.) asked Patel why somebody would place documents related to the investigation into the FBI’s probe of Donald Trump and Russia in burn bags.

Patel said he could not comment on the case because it was ongoing.

“In general terms … a burn bag is what you use to put classified documents into, generally, because that is literally how you destroy them,” he said.

Patel told The Epoch Times that “when the United States government and agency heads want things to disappear and want things to be buried and hidden, they know how to do it.”

“But what they didn’t count on was President Trump winning, him electing leadership across the United States government to say, ‘Go, find out how they corrupted and weaponized law enforcement,’ and that’s what we did—that’s what we’re doing; that’s how we found it, and we’re going to continue to expose it.”

Patel said the FBI is working with partners in Congress to release documents, including those relating to the Department of Justice investigation into Trump for alleged unlawful interference with the transfer of power after the 2020 election, which involved obtaining records from senators’ phones.

While investigations are ongoing, “we are going to have full accountability and we are going to have full transparency for the American public,” he said.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 11/29/2025 – 15:10

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/documents-stuffed-burn-bags-fbi-hq-be-made-public-kash-patel 

Posted in News

¿Podrán Nick Sirianni y los Eagles evitar otro colapso al final de la temporada?

Por DAN GELSTON

FILADELFIA (AP) — Unos Eagles en declive empiezan a generar el temor de un colapso.

¿Suena familiar?

Los fanáticos de Filadelfia —el entrenador Nick Sirianni y los jugadores que aún siguen en el equipo—no soportan recordar la temporada 2023.

Los Eagles venían de disputar al Super Bowl (como este año), comenzaron 10-1 (los Eagles de este año estaban 8-2) antes de un derrumbe monumental que casi le costó el trabajo a Sirianni. Se desplomaron con cinco derrotas en sus últimos seis juegos y fueron eliminados rápidamente en su primer encuentro de playoffs.

Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown y Sirianni están de vuelta, esta vez enfrentando dos derrotas consecutivas que podrían descarrilar la recta final de la campaña y han hecho que los fanáticos de los Eagles, pidan el despido de su coordinador ofensivo Kevin Patullo.

En 2023 Sirianni despojó al coordinador defensivo Sean Desai de sus funciones en un esfuerzo desesperado por salvar la temporada.

La medida no funcionó.

Sirianni ha intentado mantener la calma esta vez y le dio a Patullo su segundo voto de confianza en cinco días después de que los Bears de Chicago mostraran su músculo ofensivo y vencieran el viernes 24-15 a los Eagles.

“Todos tenemos una parte de responsabilidad en esto. Todos los entrenadores tienen una parte en esto. Todos los jugadores tienen una parte en esto. Nuevamente, se gana y se pierde como equipo. Nunca es por una sola cosa”, señaló Sirianni.

Sin embargo, hay una cosa que ha condenado a los Eagles y esa es una ofensiva disfuncional.

Los Eagles (8-4) han anotado 10, 16, 21 y 15 puntos desde la semana de descanso y han anotado 24 puntos o menos en ocho de 12 juegos.

Hurts, el MVP del Super Bowl, no ha estado ni cerca de jugar a un nivel élite esta temporada. Surge la duda, ¿realmente Patullo no es bueno o está limitado el uso del libro de jugadas debido a las deficiencias de Hurts?

Lo que está funcionando

No mucho. No ahora.

Lo que necesita ayuda

El tush push. La jugada que una vez fue imparable (amada en Filadelfia; muy criticada en otros lugares) se ha vuelto más fácil de resolver últimamente para las defensas.

Hurts anotó el único touchdown de los Eagles hace dos semanas en Green Bay en la normalmente confiable jugada de corto yardaje, pero los Eagles fallaron en sus otros cinco intentos de sneak. Contra los Bears, Hurts soltó el balón en el empujón de trasero y los Bears lo recuperaron y anotaron un touchdown.

¿Las defensas rivales finalmente han descubierto cómo defenderse?

“Se está volviendo más difícil y más difícil”, dijo Hurts. “Pero, en última instancia, yo sosteniendo el balón, eso es algo que puedo controlar”.

Acciones en alza

¿Creerían en A.J. Brown?

Brown se quejó públicamente y publicó crípticamente sobre su descontento con su rol —bajo el pretexto de querer contribuir más— cuando sus números estaban bajos y los Eagles estaban 8-2.

Los números de Brown se han disparado en los últimos dos juegos con 18 recepciones combinadas para 242 yardas. Contra los Bears, Brown se convirtió en el primer jugador de los Eagles con más de diez recepciones para más de 125 yardas y más de dos touchdowns desde Zach Ertz en 2018 contra Dallas.

Mejores estadísticas. Peor récord de victorias y derrotas. Los Eagles están 0-2 desde que Brown consiguió sus recepciones.

Acciones en baja

Cualquier defensor.

Zack Baun y Nakobe Dean fueron totalmente superados en el medio en un juego donde D’Andre Swift y Kyle Monangai corrieron cada uno para más de 100 yardas —los primeros compañeros de equipo de los Bears en alcanzar esa marca en un juego desde 1985— y Chicago se abrió camino hacia 281 yardas por tierra.

Lesiones

Los Eagles escaparon sin lesiones importantes.

Número clave

.400. Ese es el porcentaje de victorias de los Eagles contra los cinco equipos restantes en el calendario. Solo los Chargers y los Bills (ambos 7-4) tienen récords ganadores. Los Commanders (con quienes juegan dos veces) y los Raiders tienen un total combinado de cinco victorias.

Próximos pasos

Recompener la ofensiva antes del juego del 8 de diciembre contra los Chargers de Los Ángeles.

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Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/29/podrn-nick-sirianni-y-los-eagles-evitar-otro-colapso-al-final-de-la-temporada/ 

Posted in News

Experts doubt the Pentagon can punish Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly over the ‘illegal orders’ video

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s investigation of Sen. Mark Kelly over a video that urges American troops to defy “illegal orders” has raised a slew of questions, and some criticism, from legal experts.

Some say the Pentagon is misreading military law to go after Kelly as a retired Navy fighter pilot. Others say the Arizona Democrat cannot be prosecuted as a member of Congress. A group of former military prosecutors insists he did nothing wrong.

The Pentagon announced the investigation last week after President Donald Trump’s social media post accusing Kelly — and the five other Democratic lawmakers in the video — of sedition “punishable by DEATH.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Kelly was facing investigation because he is the only one in that group who formally retired from the military and is still under the Pentagon’s jurisdiction.

Kelly dismissed the inquiry as the work of “bullies” and said it would not deter him and other members of Congress “from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable.”

‘It’s not totally unheard of’

Stephen Vladeck, a Georgetown University law professor, said there has been a “significant uptick” in courts-martial of retired service members in the past decade. While courts have debated the constitutionality, the practice is currently allowed. He said there have been roughly a dozen such prosecutions across the service branches.

There are roughly 2 million people who formally retired from the military and receive retirement pay, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service. Service members are generally entitled to retirement pay after completing 20 years of active duty.

Todd Huntley, a retired Navy captain and judge advocate general, or JAG, said it is rare to prosecute retirees for something that happened after they retired.

“It’s not totally unheard of,” said Huntley, who now directs Georgetown’s national security law program. “I actually prosecuted a enlisted guy who had been retired for 16 years. He was essentially assaulting his adopted daughter. Basically no one else had jurisdiction so we prosecuted him.”

A ‘ridiculous conclusion’

Colby Vokey, a prominent civilian military lawyer and former military prosecutor, said Hegseth appears to be misreading the Uniform Code of Military Justice to justify the Kelly investigation.

Vokey said Hegseth has personal jurisdiction over Kelly because Kelly is entitled to retirement pay. But Vokey said Hegseth lacks subject matter jurisdiction because Kelly made his statements as a senator.

Vokey said case law has evolved to where the military can prosecute an active-duty service member for a crime committed off base, such as robbing a convenience store. But applying military law to a retired service member and “assuming that means every offense ever is kind of a ridiculous conclusion.”

“Let’s say you have a 100-year-old World War II veteran who is retired with pay and he steals a candy bar,” Vokey said. “Hegseth could bring him back and court-martial him. And that in effect is what is happening with Kelly.”

Patrick McLain, a retired Marine Corps judge and former federal prosecutor, said the cases he has seen of retirees being called back “are more like extreme examples of fraud or some of these child pornography cases.”

“I’ve not seen anything like the kind of the wackadoodle thing they’re trying to do to Sen. Kelly for essentially exercising his First Amendment right to free speech, which they don’t like,” McLain said.

‘He did it as a civilian’

Charles Dunlap, a Duke University law professor and retired Air Force lawyer, said in an email that military law can restrict speech for service members that is protected for civilians under the First Amendment.

But even if the video was found to have violated military law, a key issue may be whether the law can be applied to someone who is retired, Dunlap said.

A group of former military lawyers, the Former JAGs Working Group, said in a statement that Kelly did not violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

“The video simply described the law as it pertains to lawful versus unlawful orders,” the group said. “It did not suborn mutiny or otherwise encourage military members to disregard or disobey lawful orders issued to them.”

Troops, especially uniformed commanders, have specific obligations to reject orders that are unlawful. Broad legal precedence also holds that just following orders — colloquially known as the “Nuremberg defense,” as it was used unsuccessfully by senior Nazi officials to justify their actions under Adolf Hitler — does not absolve troops.

Kelly and the other lawmakers did not mention specific circumstances in the video. Some Democratic lawmakers have questioned the legality of the Trump administration’s attempts to send National Guard troops into U.S. cities. Kelly has pointedly questioned the use of the military to attack alleged drug boats off South America’s coast, saying he was worried about the military officers involved with the mission and whether they were following orders that may have been illegal.

Michael O’Hanlon, director of research in the foreign policy program at the Brookings Institution, said any case brought against Kelly likely would be thrown out or end in an acquittal.

O’Hanlon said it might not have been politically smart to “wave a red flag in front of the bull” but he does not see the legal grounds for a court martial.

“Saying that you shouldn’t break the law cannot be a crime,” O’Hanlon said. “But in addition, he did not do it as a military officer. He did it as a civilian.”

Separation of powers

Kelly’s status as a senator could block the Pentagon’s investigation because of constitutional protections for the separation of powers in the U.S government.

The Constitution explicitly shields members of Congress from White House overreach, said Anthony Michael Kreis, a constitutional law professor at Georgia State University.

“Having a United States senator subject to discipline at the behest of the secretary of defense and the president — that violates a core principle of legislative independence,” Kreis said in a telephone interview.

Kreis said such protections were a reaction to the British monarchy, which arbitrarily punished members of Parliament.

”Any way you cut it, the Constitution is fundamentally structurally designed to prevent this kind of abuse,” Kreis said.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/29/experts-pentagon-punish-kelly-illegal-orders-video/ 

Posted in News

Trump llama al cierre total del espacio aéreo de Venezuela

Por JOSH BOAK

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida, EE.UU. (AP) — El presidente Donald Trump afirmó el sábado que el espacio aéreo “sobre y alrededor” de Venezuela debería considerarse “cerrado en su totalidad”, una declaración que generó más preguntas sobre la presión de Estados Unidos sobre el líder venezolano Nicolás Maduro.

La Casa Blanca no respondió a preguntas sobre lo que Trump publicó en su plataforma Truth Social, y no se sabe si estaba anunciando una nueva política o simplemente reforzando el mensaje de su campaña contra Maduro, en la que se han producido múltiples ataques en el mar Caribe y el océano Pacífico oriental contra pequeñas embarcaciones que presuntamente transportaban drogas, así como un aumento en la presencia de las fuerzas navales en la región. Más de 80 personas han muerto en tales ataques desde principios de septiembre.

El presidente republicano dirigió su llamado a establecer un bloqueo aéreo a “Aerolíneas, Pilotos, Narcotraficantes y Traficantes de Personas”, y no contra Maduro. La semana pasada, las aerolíneas internacionales comenzaron a cancelar vuelos a Venezuela después de que la Administración Federal de Aviación de Estados Unidos (FAA, por sus siglas en inglés) advirtiera a los pilotos que tuvieran precaución al volar alrededor del país debido a la intensificación de la actividad militar.

La jurisdicción de la FAA generalmente se limita a Estados Unidos y sus territorios. La agencia advierte rutinariamente a los pilotos sobre los peligros de volar sobre áreas con conflictos en curso o actividad militar en todo el mundo, como lo hizo a principios de este mes con Venezuela. La agencia trabaja con otros países y la Organización de Aviación Civil Internacional (OACI) en asuntos internacionales. Hasta el sábado, ninguno de los dos organismos había respondido a las solicitudes de comentarios.

La administración de Trump ha buscado aumentar la presión sobre Maduro. El gobierno de Estados Unidos no lo considera como el líder legítimo de la nación sudamericana, rica en petróleo pero cada vez más empobrecida, y el mandatario venezolano enfrenta cargos de narcoterrorismo en Estados Unidos.

Las fuerzas estadounidenses han realizado vuelos con bombarderos cerca de Venezuela, y el USS Gerald R. Ford, el portaaviones más avanzado de Estados Unidos, fue enviado a la zona. El Ford completa el mayor despliegue de poderío militar estadounidense en la región en generaciones. Con su llegada, la “Operación Lanza del Sur” incluye casi una docena de barcos de la Marina y alrededor de 12.000 marineros e infantes de marina.

Ambos partidos han hecho llamados a una mayor supervisión de los ataques militares de Estados Unidos contra embarcaciones en la región después de que The Washington Post informara que el secretario de Defensa, Pete Hegseth, emitió una orden verbal para que todos los miembros de la tripulación fueran abatidos como parte del ataque efectuado el 2 de septiembre contra presuntos narcotraficantes.

El senador republicano de Mississippi, Roger Wicker, presidente del Comité de Servicios Armados del Senado, y el principal demócrata del organismo, el senador Jack Reed de Rhode Island, dijeron en un comunicado conjunto emitido el viernes por la noche que el comité “realizará una supervisión rigurosa para determinar los hechos relacionados con estas circunstancias”.

El equipo de Trump ha considerado opciones militares y no militares en Venezuela, incluida la acción encubierta por parte de la CIA.

El presidente ha planteado públicamente la idea de hablar con Maduro. The New York Times informó el viernes que ambos mandatarios habían dialogado. La Casa Blanca se negó a responder preguntas sobre la conversación.

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El periodista de The Associated Press Josh Funk en Omaha, Nebraska, contribuyó a este informe.

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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/29/trump-llama-al-cierre-total-del-espacio-areo-de-venezuela/