The Department of Justice on Monday urged a federal court to reject former FBI Director James Comey’s bid to dismiss his case, arguing that his claims of selective prosecution are unfounded.

The DOJ, in its 48-page filing, also denied that President Donald Trump’s September Truth Social post calling on U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to prosecute prominent political adversaries, including Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and New York Attorney General Letitia James, had any influence on the decision to bring charges.

‘These posts reflect the President’s view that the defendant has committed crimes that should be met with prosecution. They may even suggest that the President disfavors the defendant. But they are not direct evidence of a vindictive motive,’ prosecutors argued.

‘The defendant spins a tale that requires leaps of logic and a big dose of cynicism, then he calls the President’s post a direct admission,’ they continued. ‘There is no direct admission of discriminatory purpose. To the contrary, the only direct admission from the President is that DOJ officials decided whether to prosecute, not him.’

Trump wrote in a Sept. 20 post on his Truth Social platform that ‘nothing is being done’ to Comey, Schiff or James.

‘They’re all guilty as hell,’ he said. ‘They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!’

The Wall Street Journal reported that the public Truth Social post was intended as a private message to Bondi.

Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury in late September on charges of false statements and obstructing a congressional proceeding. He pleaded not guilty.

His legal team filed a motion on Oct. 20 to dismiss the indictment on grounds of vindictive and selective prosecution. They also argued that Lindsey Halligan, the interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, was unlawfully appointed.

Halligan, Trump’s former personal attorney, was appointed by the president after Erik Siebert, the former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, resigned. Siebert reportedly resigned amid mounting pressure from the White House to bring charges against Comey and James.

‘The official who purported to secure and sign the indictment was invalidly appointed to her position as interim U.S. Attorney. Because of that fundamental constitutional and statutory defect, the indictment is a nullity and must be dismissed,’ Comey’s legal team wrote.

The Justice Department maintains that Halligan’s appointment as interim U.S. attorney was lawful, arguing that it was in line with federal statute and the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.

Comey’s trial is scheduled to begin in January 2026.

NEWARK, N.J. – Enthusiasm was high among New Jersey Democratic voters who flocked to a community college campus Saturday evening to hear from former President Barack Obama as he rallied support for Rep. Mikie Sherrill in her campaign for the governorship.

‘I heard Barack Obama was gonna be here. And I love Barack Obama, so I really came out here for that,’ one voter, Alexis from South Jersey, told Fox Digital. ‘But I do support Mikie, as well.’ 

‘I want to hear Obama,’ Robert, from Spring Lake, told Fox Digital. ‘I think a lot of people want to hear Obama. Wouldn’t it be great to have a message of hope at this point in time?’ 

Hundreds of supporters wrapped around multiple blocks surrounding the Essex County College’s gymnasium on Saturday to hear from Obama and Sherrill as the New Jersey election comes down to its final days. The packed auditorium hit capacity before the ‘Get Out the Vote’ rally officially kicked off, with supporters also watching the rally from an overflow parking lot. 

Prominent rally speakers and attendees alike celebrated hearing from Obama on Saturday, but also repeatedly spoke about President Donald Trump, slamming him for efforts to deport illegal aliens, and pinning blame for the ongoing federal government shutdown on Trump and Republicans. 

A handful of voters who spoke to Fox Digital relayed that their ballot was not one solely focused on Sherrill, but also a vote against Trump and his administration.  

‘Well, the top issue is Trump,’ said Robert from Spring Lake. ‘There’s nothing else other than that. … Trump is absolutely the worst,’ he added, citing that Trump is allegedly ‘anti-science’ and against education. 

‘To get Trump out of office, number one’ one female voter from South Jersey told Fox Digital of why she came out to the rally and her top voting concerns this election. 

‘I am voting for Mikie Sherrill because she actually understands all the people. She is not a minion for Trump,’ another South Jersey voter added. 

Obama also leaned into slamming Trump during his remarks to the crowd, claiming the current economy has benefited ‘Trump’s billionaire friends,’ while ‘ordinary families’ pay increased prices at check-out lines due to Trump’s ‘shambolic tariff policy.’ 

‘Let’s face it, our country and our politics are in a pretty dark place right now,’ Obama told the audience on Saturday. ‘It’s hard to know where to start, because every day this White House offers up a fresh batch of lawlessness and carelessness and mean spiritedness. And just plain old craziness.’

Comments targeting Trump and his administration extended to attacks on Ciattarelli, as well, with Obama casting him as the president’s toady and a ‘suck up’ to the Republican Party. 

Trump made inroads with New Jersey voters just a year ago, in his decisive general election win over former Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump cut his 2020 loss from 16 points in the Garden State to six in 2024, and flipped five counties to the GOP, invigorating Republicans in the state to keep the momentum going as GOP gubernatorial candidate Ciattarelli launched his bid for Drumthwacket. 

‘Please go out and vote,’ Irvington Councilwoman Charnette Frederic told Fox Digital. ‘And I’m hoping Obama is the last push to remind you.’

Frederic has served as an Irvington councilwoman since 2012, and said that Obama’s presence in the state for past campaign rallies spurred an influx of voters, remarking she’s hopeful the same will unfold ahead of Tuesday. 

‘I am an immigrant, and I believe in treating people with respect and dignity,’ Frederic said. ‘Whatever I’m seeing right now, this is not the kind of opportunity that we want for our people,’ adding that Sherrill will ‘stand for the people’ against the White House’s stances on immigration and other policies. 

Sherrill, DNC chair Ken Martin, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, and other local Democrats took the stage of the auditorium to rally support for Sherrill, while also criticizing the Trump administration as top voter concern. 

‘But my fight doesn’t and can’t end at the border of New Jersey. We’ve got to take on all those hits coming from Trump and Washington, D.C. Because right now the president is running a worldwide extortion racket. You pay more for everything from the coffee you drink in the morning to the groceries you’re cooking dinner with at night as Trump pockets billions. His energy plan is designed for just one audience. The fossil fuel industry,’ Sherrill claimed. 

2025 is an off-year election cycle, with just New Jersey and Virginia holding gubernatorial elections, while other jurisdictions such as New York City are holding mayoral races and other local races. 

As the government shutdown stretches over a month, one left-wing figure has emerged as House Republicans’ most-cited political boogeyman — and it’s not either of the top two Democrats in Congress.

Instead, it’s Zohran Mamdani, a New York State assemblyman and self-proclaimed democratic socialist who is running for mayor more than 200 miles away in New York City.

‘You’ve seen their party get pulled further to the socialist left, and it started when [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.] beat Joe Crowley. And ever since then, Democrats have been afraid of that kind of emerging wing of their party,’ House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital when asked why GOP leaders are invoking Mamdani so often.

‘Today, they are the center of the Democrat Party. They are running the Democrat Party, and you can see it, Mamdani is the one that they’re all scared of and they’re all listening to.’

He pointed to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and his recent endorsement of Mamdani.

‘It’s changed how they run their whole party operation, because they’re afraid of the left base of the party, which is really headed by Mamdani now,’ Scalise said.

House GOP leaders or speakers at their daily shutdown press conferences brought up Mamdani both directly and indirectly at every one of their press conferences last week.

At his Thursday press conference, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., accused the media of criticizing his frequent commentary on the New York City socialist.

‘Amazingly, the media is criticizing Republicans for fixating on Mamdani. I read some of that yesterday. This socialist uprising is something that we have a responsibility to call out and sound the alarms. That’s what elected representatives of the people are supposed to do,’ Johnson said.

‘And we take that responsibility seriously. And obviously, Mamdani is a big issue here in the halls of Congress. Why? Because the second-highest ranked Democrat in the country, Leader Jeffries, endorsed him.’

Republicans have also taken to calling him ‘commie Mamdani’ recently, a nickname debuted by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., during a shutdown press conference where House GOP leaders invited Republicans in New York’s congressional delegation to speak.

Mamdani himself criticized Johnson at one point for his focus on him earlier this month.

‘Speaker Johnson should be seating members of Congress, as opposed to using his time to try and attack our campaign,’ Mamdani fired back from Manhattan on Monday.

‘But I understand if I was one of the leaders of the Republican Party that had led a campaign that promised Americans a lower cost of living and cheaper groceries, and all I could deliver for them was a government shutdown, then I, too, would be looking to distract in any way that I could from those lack of results.’

NEWARK, N.J. – Enthusiasm was high among New Jersey Democratic voters who flocked to a community college campus Saturday evening to hear from former President Barack Obama as he rallied support for Rep. Mikie Sherrill in her campaign for the governorship.

‘I heard Barack Obama was gonna be here. And I love Barack Obama, so I really came out here for that,’ one voter, Alexis from South Jersey, told Fox Digital. ‘But I do support Mikie, as well.’ 

‘I want to hear Obama,’ Robert, from Spring Lake, told Fox Digital. ‘I think a lot of people want to hear Obama. Wouldn’t it be great to have a message of hope at this point in time?’ 

Hundreds of supporters wrapped around multiple blocks surrounding the Essex County College’s gymnasium on Saturday to hear from Obama and Sherrill as the New Jersey election comes down to its final days. The packed auditorium hit capacity before the ‘Get Out the Vote’ rally officially kicked off, with supporters also watching the rally from an overflow parking lot. 

Prominent rally speakers and attendees alike celebrated hearing from Obama on Saturday, but also repeatedly spoke about President Donald Trump, slamming him for efforts to deport illegal aliens, and pinning blame for the ongoing federal government shutdown on Trump and Republicans. 

A handful of voters who spoke to Fox Digital relayed that their ballot was not one solely focused on Sherrill, but also a vote against Trump and his administration.  

‘Well, the top issue is Trump,’ said Robert from Spring Lake. ‘There’s nothing else other than that.… Trump is absolutely the worst,’ he added, citing that Trump is allegedly ‘anti-science’ and against education. 

‘To get Trump out of office, number one,’ one female voter from South Jersey told Fox Digital of why she came out to the rally and her top voting concerns this election. 

‘I am voting for Mikie Sherrill because she actually understands all the people. She is not a minion for Trump,’ another South Jersey voter added. 

Obama also leaned into slamming Trump during his remarks to the crowd, claiming the current economy has benefited ‘Trump’s billionaire friends,’ while ‘ordinary families’ pay increased prices at check-out lines due to Trump’s ‘shambolic tariff policy.’ 

‘Let’s face it, our country and our politics are in a pretty dark place right now,’ Obama told the audience on Saturday. ‘It’s hard to know where to start, because every day this White House offers up a fresh batch of lawlessness and carelessness and mean-spiritedness. And just plain old craziness.’

Comments targeting Trump and his administration extended to attacks on GOP gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli, as well, with Obama casting him as the president’s toady and a ‘suck up’ to the Republican Party. 

Trump made inroads with New Jersey voters just a year ago, in his decisive general election win over former Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump cut his 2020 loss from 16 points in the Garden State to six in 2024, and flipped five counties to the GOP, invigorating Republicans in the state to keep the momentum going as Ciattarelli launched his bid for Drumthwacket. 

‘Please go out and vote,’ Irvington Councilwoman Charnette Frederic told Fox Digital. ‘And I’m hoping Obama is the last push to remind you.’

Frederic has served as an Irvington councilwoman since 2012, and said Obama’s presence in the state for past campaign rallies spurred an influx of voters, remarking she’s hopeful the same will unfold ahead of Tuesday. 

‘I am an immigrant, and I believe in treating people with respect and dignity,’ Frederic said. ‘Whatever I’m seeing right now, this is not the kind of opportunity that we want for our people,’ adding that Sherrill will ‘stand for the people’ against the White House’s stances on immigration and other policies. 

Sherrill, DNC chair Ken Martin, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, and other local Democrats took the stage of the auditorium to rally support for Sherrill, while also criticizing the Trump administration. 

‘But my fight doesn’t and can’t end at the border of New Jersey. We’ve got to take on all those hits coming from Trump and Washington, D.C. Because right now the president is running a worldwide extortion racket. You pay more for everything from the coffee you drink in the morning to the groceries you’re cooking dinner with at night as Trump pockets billions. His energy plan is designed for just one audience. The fossil fuel industry,’ Sherrill claimed. 

During this off-year election cycle, New Jersey and Virginia are holding gubernatorial elections, while other jurisdictions such as New York City are holding mayoral races and other local races. 

Late morning was sleepy but bright in Harlem Sunday as Democrat mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani gave remarks at the First Corinthian Baptist Church for some last-minute outreach to the Black community.

Just down the street, about 50 people were gathered to learn how to canvass for, and get a pep talk from, Mamdani, along with a row of TV cameras and some milling members of the press. One man walked by chanting ‘Cuomo, Cuomo,’ mostly to amusement from the crowd.

Suddenly, there he was, walking up the sidewalk with his entourage. A school bus driver screamed, ‘Zohran’ and the quick candidate pivoted over to the bus, and took a step up for a hug and a selfie.

It was the first time I had ever seen Mamdani in person, and the bad news for those of us who abhor socialism is that this 34-year-old candidate has some serious political chops, effortlessly and effervescently pressing the flesh with his trademark toothy smile.

‘He’s very polished,’ Matt, in his early 30s told me as we watched him take a few questions from what seemed to be pre-chosen reporters. I tried to ask him one but was ignored in my Fox News Digital vest. But that was OK. I was more interested in asking Matt and his friends questions.

They had just stumbled upon the event, and when I asked Matt to expand a bit on his thought, he told me, ‘He looks and sounds like a politician.’ I asked if that was a good or bad thing He just smiled and shrugged, but then added, ‘He also looks really young.’

Matt’s friend Cam told me, ‘He has a lot of appeal to the young people,’ I couldn’t quite gather if the millennial included himself in that category. He went on to say, ‘and that’s good. It’s time for the young people’s ideas to be tried now.’

In chatting with a few of the soon-to-be canvassers, there was an almost joyous quality about them. ‘We are all just so excited for him,’ one told me. Another added: ‘I’ve never felt this way about a candidate before.’

The canvassers, mostly on the young side, looked much more like gentrifiers than lifelong residents of Harlem, but that is, after all, now also a part of the historic Black neighborhood’s 21st Century identity.

Andrew Cuomo needs not just to win the Black vote on Tuesday to have any chance, he needs it to come out in massive numbers. Chad, who I met on the corner outside a bodega was trying his best to help.

I noticed him when I caught the tail end of a yelling match with an older Black woman. I saw he was handing out flyers, and had assumed it was for Mamdani. In fact, he was out there pushing campaign materials for Cuomo.

He told me he had been in New York all his life, and he wasn’t ready for the kind of change Mamdani is proposing. ‘Free stuff,’ Chad said with disdain. ‘It takes money to keep the lights on…I’m sick of hearing about people getting stuff for free, free, free, what about the children? What about the educational system?’

I asked him about the confrontation with the woman and he said, ‘I get that all the time. Some people just hate him, and feel free to be abusive towards me.’

I told him to keep a stiff upper lip, that what he was doing was important and how democracy works. He said, ‘Thanks, I needed to hear that.’

I was glad I could be consoling, but also understood instantly what a warning sign for Cuomo his account was. If older Black women in Harlem are giving him the business for supporting the former governor, then Cuomo’s backstop may not be as secure as it seems.

At the end of the day, for better or worse, political campaigns run on enthusiasm. For as much clear good sense as Chad made in his defense of Cuomo, the enthusiasm gap I have seen in the last few days on the ground is Grand Canyon sized.

Maybe there is a silent majority, or in this case a plurality, ready to quietly pour into voting booths and fill in the little circle for Cuomo. But if so, at least thus far, they are doing a very good job of hiding.

During my final overseas CIA assignment as a station chief in a South Asian war zone, our team was ruthlessly focused on detecting and preempting terrorist threats long before they could inflict harm on the U.S. homeland. We conducted plenty of clandestine operations unilaterally, but we also worked in close partnership with the host government’s intelligence service. We did not always agree on everything, but we enjoyed a robust exchange of intelligence on our mutual adversaries, shared analytical judgments and collaborated on a number of joint tactical counterterrorism operations.

On one occasion, our CIA team successfully found and fixed the location of a senior al Qaeda terrorist on the FBI Most Wanted list for having planned terrorist attacks. We shared our sensitive intelligence with the host government, whose military launched a well-planned raid and killed the al Qaeda terrorist during a firefight.

If there was one thing I learned at CIA, especially when it came to counterterrorism operations, it’s that our allies can be a tremendous force multiplier for our sacred mission of keeping our country safe from those who seek to do us harm.

Today, the Trump administration is applying a similar strategy for ensuring secure critical minerals supply chains and de-risking from Communist China, which is the world’s leading miner and processor of rare earths. China has made it a practice of extorting its commercial adversaries by restricting its exports of critical minerals.

Rare earth minerals are essential for making semiconductors, motors and fighter jets, all critical for our national security. The last thing we would want is to have to rely on Communist China for the supply.

China’s brazenly unfair trade practices involve dumping on the global market its massive, excess production of rare earths deliberately to drive prices down and force competitor mining companies out of business, thereby eliminating any long-term competition.

But the Trump administration has deployed a counter playbook to reduce China’s influence over rare earth markets. Rightly concerned that China is seeking to control the global economy by imposing its will on the high technology supply chain, Trump recently signed an $8-billion rare-earth mineral deal with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. And during his recent trip to Asia, Trump signed rare earth deals with Thailand and Malaysia.

The Trump administration also deftly applies the same principle of de-risking to critical materials and minerals including polysilicon, a pure form of silicon essential for the production of microchips and integrated circuits. Seeking to minimize the risk of China’s dominant global market share of polysilicon, the Trump administration smartly relies on NATO member Germany for the bulk of our polysilicon imports.

Further, the Trump administration is investigating national security threats posed by imports from other countries, including, but not exclusively, those linked to China. China dominates global polysilicon through state subsidies, deliberate overproduction and other nefarious trade practices — a familiar Chinese Communist Party playbook used on strategic materials.

‘If an enemy has alliances,’ Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu wrote, ‘the problem is grave and the enemy’s position strong.’

The U.S. is leading the way by building a global network for key technology components, which are vital to protecting our national security from Communist Chinese mercantilist aggression.

Dictators like Chinese President Xi Jinping want their enemies to be weak and divided. That’s because together the U.S. and our commercial partners are stronger and more able to protect internationally recognized borders, freedom of navigation and free trade on which the U.S. and global economy rely.

We have passed the spooky season of silly ‘No Kings’ protests and whines about White House renovations. Halloween is the start of one of our favorite times of year – eating. The three biggest food holidays land within two months – Halloween (Candyland for those of us with sweet teeth), Thanksgiving and Christmas. And the best two are still on their way – sort of like dessert before the main course. So, who better to lead that off than our friends at Peta.

1. Peta bites again

Peta, which wouldn’t exist if people didn’t eat animals or wear animals or have pets or look at animals in zoos, etc., is one of the strangest organizations around. It is so pro-animal and anti-human that it’s always good for a laugh or a gross out. (We dropped one previous item that was, well, funereal. Trust me, you are better off.) This month, it’s sort of similar, except it’s about a memorial … for some of those previously mentioned tasty animals.

According to Peta, ‘Wesleyan University, students, faculty, and alumni are coming together to build a more compassionate campus.’ No, they’re not doing charity work or going to animal shelters adopting cute puppies. That would make sense. They’re pushing for a plaque. They are ‘calling on the school to install a PETA-supported ‘Wesleyan Animal Recognition Memorial.’’ What’s that, you ask? It’s a memorial plaque ‘outside the dining hall that would commemorate the millions of chickens, cows, fish, pigs, and others who have been killed and served there as food.’

Yum. Imagine getting ready to eat your industrial, cafeteria burger or chicken fingers and pass by a memorial devoted to the dead critters you are about to eat. For what we are about to receive, thank Peta.

2. Loving those cop killers

The far-left news outlet The Nation sure does take ‘F— the police’ pretty far. The publication’s Sports Editor Dave Zirin wrote a loving piece about infamous cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal under the headline, ‘Mumia Abu-Jamal Speaks With the Clear Voice of a Free Man.’ 

News flash, he isn’t free and isn’t much of a man either. ‘Mumia,’ as his supporters call him, was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1982 for murdering Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. He managed to escape the death penalty, but go to almost any leftist protest in the last 40 years and a couple idiots will be carrying ‘Free Mumia’ signs.

The timing of Zirin’s latest interview (he wrote about Mumia for Rolling Stone earlier this year) came right after ‘an event commemorating the recently departed revolutionary Assata Shakur, the former member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army who escaped a New Jersey prison to Cuba 46 years ago.’ 

In other words, another cop killer. According to the New York Times’ loving farewell to Shakur, she murdered ‘state trooper, Werner Foerster, [who] was killed and another, James Harper, [who] was wounded.’ 

Notice a trend? You should. Shakur died in September, or I’d dwell more on the media’s love fest for her. Watching Zirin lament the poor health of ‘the country’s best-known political prisoner’ was bad enough. For the record, I lament his health, too, just not in the same way.

3. Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow 

If you travel the back roads of the United States, you will encounter oddities – large monuments to furniture, trolls, a giant elephant and even Carhenge. (Just what you think it is. Stonehenge is better.) Count wacky museums in that list. But we are losing one, Leila’s Hair Museum in Missouri. Alas, Leila Cohoon died at 92 and now they are, ‘rehoming the collection of more than 3,000 pieces to museums across the country,’ according to the Associated Press.

AP describes the hair art coming from, ‘from past presidents, Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe and even Jesus.’ (That last one, I kind of doubt.) 

Hair art used to be how people remembered loved ones or captured keepsakes of famous people. The museum also drew the attention of celebrities from comedian Phyllis Diller to Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne. It’s good to see other museums taking on these unusual memories, but that’s one less cool roadside stop.

4. When You’ve Lost the Washington Post… 

Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made the news in October and not in a good way. She should be used to that after an inauspicious term in her role covering for President Joe Biden’s obvious dementia. ‘KJP,’ as she is sometimes called, has a new book out, ‘Moving Forward: A Story of Hope, Hard Work, and the Promise of America.’ In World Series terms, she whiffed on all three. Don’t wait to buy your copy.

Even the Washington Post had unkind words for it. Book critic Becca Rothfeld wrote a lede 190 words long with six semicolons and two em dashes. She complained that KJP had only given up on the Democratic Party because it helped ‘usher a doddering Joe Biden out of the 2024 presidential race.’ 

The piece called KJP a ‘devoted apparatchik’ and ‘revealingly blinkered.’ She’s ‘an artifact of an age that looks recent on paper but feels prehistoric in practice — the age of pantsuits, the word ‘empowerment,’ the musical ‘Hamilton,’ the cheap therapeutic entreaties to ‘work on yourself’ and ‘lean in’ to various corporate abysses.’

Rothfeld guts the author and the book, noting, ‘It is incredible — and emblematic of the Democrats’ total aesthetic and intellectual driftlessness — that someone who writes in such feel-good, thought-repelling clichés was hired to communicate with the nation from its highest podium.’ I wouldn’t recommend KJP send her resume to the Post just yet.

5. Democrats Don’t Know What a Woman Is

It takes MSNBC to complain about misogyny in a governor’s race … between two women. Yep, the bright lights of ‘Morning Joe,’ the same show that told you demented Biden was ‘intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever,’ now whine that voting against Virginia Democrat Abigail Spanberger was sexist. One small problem with that, the Republican candidate is Winsome Earle-Sears, who also happens to be a woman.

Co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Jonathan Lemire had an epic exchange on why female Democrats are struggling. ‘They’ve nominated women two of the last three elections for the presidency — lost both. There are some who say, ‘Well, we can’t do that again. The stakes are too high.’ But, of course, that does fall into the same misogynistic trap,’ said Lemire. To which Brzezinski replied, ‘Other countries have no problem electing women.’ 

Earle-Sears had the last laugh until Election Day, tweeting, ‘Who wants to tell them?’

Rap superstar Nicki Minaj recently thanked President Donald Trump for shedding light on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

‘Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter,’ Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Friday. ‘The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other countries. We stand ready, willing, and able to save our great Christian population around the world!’

Minaj is open about her Christian faith and said that the president’s statement made her ‘feel a deep sense of gratitude.’

‘Reading this made me feel a deep sense of gratitude. We live in a country where we can freely worship God. No group should ever be persecuted for practicing their religion. We don’t have to share the same beliefs in order for us to respect each other,’ Minaj wrote.

‘Numerous countries all around the world are being affected by this horror [and] it’s dangerous to pretend we don’t notice. Thank you to the president [and] his team for taking this seriously. God bless every persecuted Christian. Let’s remember to lift them up in prayer,’ she added.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz thanked Minaj for ‘using your platform to speak out in defense of the Christians being persecuted in Nigeria.’

‘We cannot allow this to continue,’ Waltz added. ‘Every brother and sister of Christ must band together and say, ‘Enough!”

The situation for Christians in Nigeria has become dire as entire villages have been burned to the groups, worshippers have been murdered at Sunday services and thousands have been displaced by Islamist groups sweeping through the country.

‘Even being conservative, it’s probably 4,000 to 8,000 Christians killed annually,’ Mark Walker, Trump’s ambassador-designate for International Religious Freedom, told Fox News Digital. ‘This has been going on for years — from ISWAP to Islamist Fulani ethnic militias — and the Nigerian government has to be much more proactive.’

Trump said he has directed Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., and members of the House Appropriations Committee to investigate the situation and report their findings to him.

The president also said that he would designate Nigeria a ‘country of particular concern’ (CPC). According to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), in countries with that designation, the government has ‘engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom,’ which is defined as ‘systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.’ This comes from the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act.

‘Nigeria is the most dangerous nation on Earth to follow Christ,’ the House Appropriations Committee said in a statement. ‘For simply practicing their faith, Christians are actively being kidnapped, attacked, and slaughtered. With President Trump announcing he will be redesignating Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, the United States is making clear in one resolute voice: religious persecution will not be tolerated. The scourge of anti-Christian violence and oppression of other religious minorities by radical Islamic terrorists is an affront to religious freedom. This is a critical step in mobilizing leadership and attention to confront evil extremism.’

The committee vowed that once the government shutdown is over, its members will ‘continue moving full-year appropriations across the finish line to uphold your priorities. We know you’ll be ready at your desk with a pen in hand.’

Fox News Digital reached out to Minaj’s representative for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Fox News Digital’s Efrat Lachter and Sophia Compton contributed to this report.

Staggering revelations came out this week concerning Operation Arctic Frost, the Biden Justice Department’s weaponization campaign against Republicans predicated on the non-crime of objecting to a presidential election.

Democrats lodged similar objections in 1969, 2001, 2005 and, most infamously, in 2017 when they cited the discredited Steele Dossier to attempt to overturn President Trump’s victory. Yet, none faced charges. Objecting to electors is protected by the First Amendment and the Electoral Count Act of 1887. It was eminently reasonable for Members of Congress—the arbiters of whether to certify election results—to lodge inquiries about the fairness of the 2020 election.

There is no evidence that the Arctic Frost targets participated in any crimes that occurred at the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. Still, Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, former FBI Director Christopher Wray, and Special Counsel Jack Smith went on a fishing expedition targeting President Trump, his aides, the Republican Attorneys General Association, Members of both chambers of Congress, and many other Trump allies.

Thanks to the stellar leadership of FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley—an oversight bulldog for more than half a century—was able to deliver a powerful presentation to the media that detailed the horrific abuse of power by the Biden administration. For no valid reason, Jack Smith and his henchmen sought phone records for nine senators, all Republicans.

Even more alarmingly, Smith subpoenaed AT&T to tap the office line of Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. AT&T declined to do so on the advice of counsel but could not disclose Smith’s astonishing request thanks to an order from radical D.C. Obama Judge James Boasberg. Boasberg preposterously asserted that disclosure could lead to evidence destruction and witness intimidation. As former top Senate attorney Michael Fragoso pointed out, Boasberg’s secret snooping likely violated a clear federal statute that requires disclosure to the Senate when spying on a senator.

Boasberg deserved impeachment even prior to this revelation based on his grossly irresponsible order to turn planes full of Tren de Aragua terrorists around while they were flying over the ocean, lawlessly exposing an ongoing military operation and endangering American and allied lives. The House more than ever needs to impeach this renegade judge.

People are understandably outraged at the Democrats’ weaponization of law enforcement, and many are upset that, in their view, not enough is being done. This sentiment ignores the reality of our legal system. Earlier this month, Miami U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones sought and obtained permission to empanel two new grand juries in January—including in Fort Pierce, Florida. It takes several months to prepare for a grand jury because prospective grand jurors need sufficient notice to respond to summonses. Anyone who has received a jury duty summons understands this process. Hopefully, this grand jury will investigate the unprecedented Mar-a-Lago raid as part of a broader probe into a conspiracy against the rights of President Trump, his aides, and his allies pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 241.

Criminal charges also are time-consuming because defendants can delay the process. Former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Leticia James, for instance, have moved to dismiss their charges on the grounds of vindictive prosecution. They also claim that Lindsey Halligan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, is serving pursuant to a constitutionally invalid appointment. If the leftist judge rules in their favor, the government will appeal, but this is time-consuming, especially if the case reaches the Supreme Court. Jack Smith tried to rush President Trump’s D.C. criminal case to trial, attempting to bypass the D.C. Circuit during the appeal of the presidential immunity issue. The Supreme Court rightly rebuffed Smith’s politically-motivated effort, and Smith’s blatant attempt to rush provided plenty of ammunition for his critics. As one federal judge wisely summarized the right course of action in criminal cases, it is better to do it right than to do it twice.

Patel and Bongino are not sitting on the sidelines while the criminal process plays out under the superb leadership of Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Over ten ringleaders and more than five case agents involved in the Arctic Frost case have been fired so far. Many of these agents, such as Walter Giardina, are suing over their terminations. These suits will take time to play out, as will more firings.

Patel and Bongino have done far more than investigate weaponization. Congress had been demanding documents concerning the shooting that nearly killed House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and more than a dozen other lawmakers by a deranged Bernie Sanders supporter nearly a decade ago. Shortly after assuming office, Patel and Bongino delivered the documents. The FBI also has been at the forefront of drug seizures, taking enough fentanyl off the streets to kill 127 million innocent Americans. The government also has seized more than 190,000 kilos of cocaine and more than 8,000 kilos of methamphetamine. In addition, the Trump administration has taken more than 6,000 illegal weapons off of our streets. Violent crime arrests are up 100%, and gang arrests are up over 200%. Arrests of child predators are up 10%, and human trafficking arrests are up 15%. Four of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted have been captured; no captures occurred in 2024.

Justice is coming for those responsible for the lawfare; Bondi, Blanche, Patel, and Bongino are working diligently to make it happen. They were the targets of the weaponization they are investigating; they have no reason to drag their feet in exposing it and holding its architects accountable. Patience is a virtue, and the coming justice for the individuals who engaged in Republic-ending lawfare surely will be worth the wait. We will make sure of it.