FBI Director Christopher Wray announced on Wednesday he is resigning from the FBI, ending his term three years early after President-elect Donald Trump indicated he planned to replace him.

Wray, who was nominated by Trump in 2017, told employees during a bureau-wide town hall that his last day will be in January when President Joe Biden leaves office.

“This is the best way to avoid dragging the Bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work,” Wray said, according to his prepared remarks.

The director added, “It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway — this is not easy for me. I love this place, I love our mission, and I love our people — but my focus is, and always has been, on us and doing what’s right for the FBI.”

The announcement comes after Trump revealed last month that he had nominated former intelligence aide Kash Patel, a Trump loyalist, to fill the director role. Patel welcomed the news of Wray’s planned exit.

“I look forward to a smooth transition,” Patel said in a statement. “I will be ready to serve the American people on day one.”

Trump initially praised Wray after firing former Director James Comey amid the FBI’s investigation into whether Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia.

Trump said at the time that Wray was “a man of impeccable credentials.”

Wray has, however, drawn ire from Trump and his Republican allies in recent years over accusations that the bureau has been, at times, weaponized against Republicans.

Trump called Wray’s planned departure a “great day for America.”

“I just don’t know what happened to him,” Trump said on his social media platform, Truth Social. “We will now restore the Rule of Law for all Americans.”

The FBI’s decision, under Wray’s leadership, to execute a search warrant for classified material at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, as well as the bureau’s lack of progress on its investigation into pipe bombs found on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021, have both been subjects of Trump’s wrath.

Under Wray, the FBI has also faced accusations from Republicans of being biased against Catholics and improperly pressuring social media companies to practice censorship, two matters the FBI has disputed.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who is set to lead the Senate Judiciary Committee next Congress, wrote a scathing letter to Wray this week, saying he had “no confidence” in the director and that he should step down.

Grassley, who has served in the Senate for more than four decades, said Wray’s resignation paved the way for a “new era” at the bureau.

“Wray’s departure is an opportunity for a new era of transparency and accountability at the FBI,” Grassley said.

“Future FBI Directors ought to learn a lesson from Wray’s mistakes. Stonewalling Congress, breaking promises, applying double standards and turning your back on whistleblowers is no longer going to cut it.”

Raunchy texts between ex-Fox News anchor Ed Henry and a young female staffer revealed in a new legal filing threaten to undercut her shocking claims of rape.

A 2020 lawsuit by former Fox Business associate producer Jennifer Eckhart, 34, accused Henry, 53, of handcuffing, beating and raping her in 2017, after a campaign of predatory ‘grooming’ and ‘manipulation’.

But on Monday, Henry’s lawyers unveiled texts between the two that they claimed show an enthusiastic and ‘consensual’, albeit kinky, relationship.

Just days after she claimed he raped her, Eckhart, 34, texted Henry: ‘You wanna f*** me,’ ‘Come spread them and slide my bikini off’, ‘F***ing dirty boy. I love it,’ and ‘Want it. Badly,’ according to screenshots of text messages in his latest legal filing.

The new court papers also described 15 naked and explicit photos she allegedly sent Henry, who co-hosted the show America’s Newsroom, in the two weeks after the alleged rape.

Five of the 15 photos were not of her, but other women, Henry’s new motion stated.

The legal filing said they had sadomasochistic, kinky sex on February 10, 2017, that was prompted by Eckhart’s ‘highly provocative sexting.’ The physical encounter involved Henry hitting her with a belt, and restraining her with handcuffs.

Although rough, Henry claimed it was all agreed on beforehand, saying she ‘sent Ed a photograph of a belt’ and told him in a text message that she would ‘always obey and make myself available to u’, adding ‘You NEED my 26-year-old p***y.’

The day before the sexual encounter, Henry texted Eckhart: ‘Gentle little wh**e. Gonna get tossed around like a rag doll,’ and she replied ‘Love that,’ according to the WhatsApp screenshots.

Henry has been married to NPR Managing Editor Shirley Henry since 2010.

And his legal filing alleged that Eckhart cherry-picked excerpts of their text conversations to cast him as a rapist when he claimed that it was instead a steamy, consensual affair.

‘All the WhatsApp messages preserved for litigation are selectively chosen photographs of a portion of Jennifer’s communications with Ed,’ his lawyers wrote.

‘Many of these messages, including most of the ones Jennifer thinks are incriminating, have been cut off to obscure a final comment by Jennifer expressing pleasure, agreement or desire.’

The photos supposedly sent by Eckhart to Henry ten days after the alleged rape, included ‘a photograph of herself in black lingerie with the tips of the two middle fingers of her left hand inserted into her panties’; ‘a photograph of herself lying sideways in her underwear on the bed, breast thrust forward’; ‘a photograph of a woman from a side view showing a nearly naked bottom’; and ‘a photograph of her own fully exposed, slightly parted vagina lathered in soap’.

‘Ed and Jennifer also continued sexting in the weeks after and months after the alleged rape, with frequent references to rough, consensual sex, with Jennifer often initiating,’ the filing said.

In her original legal complaint, filed in June 2020, Eckhart accused Henry of having ‘groomed, psychologically manipulated and coerced [her] into having a sexual relationship with him’, and that the alleged twisted process began ‘at the young age of 24, by exerting his abuse of power over her and her career.’

She stated he ‘sexually assaulted her on office property, and raped her at a hotel where Fox News frequently lodged its visiting employees’, and took photos of her while she was ‘naked, helpless and restrained’ to use for ‘blackmail’.

Their first sexual encounter was in 2014, in Henry’s room at the New York Marriott Marquis after they exchanged emails and met for a drink at the hotel bar.

Their second was at the Fox News offices on September 16, 2015. Henry claimed Eckhart initiated that tryst by handing him an envelope containing the panties she had been wearing that day while preparing to go to the New York Stock Exchange with Liz Claman – who Eckhart worked with as an assistant producer for The Claman Countdown.

She then ‘went up to see Ed in his office and performed oral sex on him’ while the cab was waiting outside to take Claman and Eckhart to their meeting, according to his legal filing.

Her complaint told a similar story but said she did it ‘in fear knowing that she would face retaliation if she refused to comply’, believing Henry to be ‘a very powerful man’ at Fox and that he ‘physically forced her’ to perform oral sex on him in his office.

Henry’s new legal filing included quotes from their emails a month later.

On October 21, 2015, Eckhart emailed Henry that she had ‘wiped all the dirty pictures,’ which he said was a reference to a story at the time about suspect messages being wiped from Hillary Clinton’s email server.

He responded, ‘I’d like to wipe you with my tongue,’ and claimed that 20 minutes later she wrote back ‘I bet you would, dirty boy. Come n get it.’

Eckhart is not the only woman Henry was embroiled in a sex scandal with.

He was exposed in May 2016 for having an affair with Las Vegas stripper Natalie Lima and was suspended by Fox for several months while he had treatment for alleged sex addiction – returning in September that year.

He was eventually fired by the company in July 2020, following Eckhart’s New York federal lawsuit filed jointly with guest news analyst Cathy Areu – who claimed Henry also sexually harassed her with explicit text messages.

Federal Judge Gabriel Gorenstein later dismissed Areu’s claims.

In a filing in the case last month, Eckhart added new claims that Henry had engaged in an inappropriate ‘sexual relationship’ with another unnamed Fox colleague and had used a work electronic device in a ‘sexting incident’.

Eckhart’s attorneys filed a sworn statement from the anonymous current Fox staffer on Monday, saying she had a secret, consensual affair with Henry that began after he sent her an unsolicited picture of his penis, and that it went on from November 2016 until Spring 2020.

She called him ’emotionally abusive’, and described one incident in which during ‘a consensual sexual encounter’ he ‘slapped my face a little harder than I would have liked and I cried right away’.

‘Ed apologized when he realized that I was upset,’ the woman wrote. But maintained in her declaration that it their relationship was consensual.

Eckhart claimed that Fox knew about Henry’s alleged abuse and promoted him instead of disciplining him. The network says they only found out when she made her legal complaint on June 25, 2020.

‘I have maintained my innocence from day one and have consistently said the truth will win out, and here we are more than four years later,’ Henry told DailyMail.com in a statement on Monday.

‘I am elated by the fact that the judge has ordered evidence unmasked that proves my innocence against these false allegations.’

He claimed Eckhart’s story has ‘always been a lie, and with the judge now ordering the release of this exculpatory information, everyone can see the claims against me are false and motivated by clear and actual malice that led to me being defamed.’

A New Jersey congressman claimed Wednesday that the mystery drones over the Garden State are from Iran, and they’re being launched by a mothership parked off the East Coast.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Republican, said the drones “very possibly could be” from Iran, citing confidential sources during an appearance on Fox News Wednesday morning.

“I’m going to tell you the real deal. Iran launched a mothership that contains these drones,” Van Drew said. “It’s off the East Coast of the United States of America. They’ve launched drones.”

“These drones should be shot down,” he said, adding that “the military is on full alert with this.”

The Pentagon has later rebuked Van Drew’s claims, insisting there is “no evidence” the drones belong to a foreign adversary – but did not offer any explanation whatsoever as to what they actually are.

Van Drew has stood by his statements, however, sending a letter to President Biden imploring him to take action and laying out “circumstantial evidence” supporting his claims.

“We have information that a sea-based Iranian drone mothership is currently missing from port, and that its embarkation timeline would align with the appearance of the New Jersey Drones,” he wrote the president in a letter obtained by Agudath Israel of America news.

BREAKING REPORT – DRONES OVER NEW JERSEY ARE FROM IRAN: Congressman Jeff Van Drew claims Iran has stationed a “mothership” off the U.S. East Coast, reportedly launching drones now flying over New Jersey. pic.twitter.com/ayV8tYioXA

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 11, 2024

He added that Iran has previously sailed ships near the US, and that the country has a “sophisticated” partnership with China over drone technology.

“And of course, it is the policy of the Iranian government to bring about the destruction of the United States of America. While I remain open to alternate explanations, I have not been presented a single credible, cohesive narrative except for that Iran is controlling these drones,” Van Drew wrote.

Van Drew’s startling claim comes as officials have continually told Americans the drones pose no threat – even as the FBI has admitted they have no idea what they are or how to stop them.

The large drones have been spotted flitting across the night skies across Jersey for weeks, baffling residents with mysterious arrays of flashing lights and seemingly aimless movements.

Sometimes numerous objects have been spotted flying in formation, and they’ve begun appearing across parts of New York, too.

The first reported sightings started on November 18, and have continued every night since, according to New Jersey Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia, who partook in a legislature briefing with the State Police Wednesday.

Sightings have been reported from dawn through dusk, she said, with sometimes as many as 180 reports coming in per night. Last Sunday alone, there were 49 reported sightings, mostly in New Jersey.

And their technology appears to be particularly sophisticated. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy explained that every time officials begin trying to track them, the drones “go dark.”

Officials say the drones are about six feet in diameter, stay in the air for up to seven hours at a time, and can cover at least 15 miles.

“To state that there is no known or credible threat is incredibly misleading, and I informed all officials of that sentiment,” Fantasia wrote in a post on X.

Addressing them has also become a bureaucratic snafu, Fantasia noted, explaining that the State Police doesn’t have the jurisdiction to intercept them in the skies, that the FBI is leading the investigation with the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, and that the US Coast Guard seems to have the most authority to intervene.

Rep. Van Drew said intelligence indicates Iran recently made a deal with China “to purchase drones, motherships, and technology,” and that the mothership containing them arrived off the east coast “about a month ago.”

“We’ve got to get them down,” Van Drew said. “Right now, they’re probably extracting information. This is a clear and present danger to the United States and our president elect, and this is a serious business.”

One high ranking Jersey State Police source said everybody is “befuddled” – and that nobody knows “what the f–k is going on.”

“The lack of a coordinated response is troubling,” the source told The Post. “I have never had anything in my time where no one knows what’s going on. But no one seems that concerned but the people who do national intelligence, the FAA, FBI.”

Speculation about the objects’ origins has ranged from Chinese spy operations — to visitors from other planets — to top-secret experimental military tech operated by the US government itself.

US military officials have reportedly insisted the drones do not belong to them or any secret operations, which Gov. Murphy said “I want to believe, but…” during a briefing with state lawmakers Wednesday.

“If anyone really knows they are not telling us,” Murphy said, “They keep doubling down on ‘There’s no threat,’ but they can’t find them and track them.”

“But when people are saying that there is no credible threat, I believe they are saying they don’t know if there is one. That’s concerning.”

President Joe Biden is reportedly looking to remove one of the Islamic terrorist groups that overthrew the Syrian government last week from the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list.

Biden is looking at removing Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which came from Al-Qaeda and is still close to the terror group, from the list after they overthrew Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Multiple current and former Biden administration officials told NBC News that Biden was looking to help the terrorist group “soon” by removing the designation, which would allow the group a way to get help from foreign governments.

Biden would also remove the $10 million bounty off the head of the terrorist group’s leader, Abu Muhammad Jawlani.

Former CENTCOM commander retired General Frank McKenzie said during an interview over the weekend that Jawlani “has a significant track record” of terrorism, and the notion that terrorists can change was ridiculous.

“Certainly he could advance new ideas coming in,” he said. “It’s been my experience, though, that typically they don’t.”

McKenzie warned that the collapse of the Syrian government — while bad news for Assad, Russia, Iran, and Lebanese Hezbollah — did not signal good news for the Syrian people.

“I’m not sure it’s ultimately going to be good news for the people of Syria,” he said. “You know, we could have an Islamic State arise there, which will have profound negative implications across the region. That is possible. There are other possibilities as well, and I think in the next 48, 72, 96 hours, this will begin to become clearer to us.”

The last time that the Biden administration removed an Islamic terrorist group from the terrorist list was during the initial days of his now-failed presidency when he removed the Houthis in Yemen from the list.

Just a couple of years later, the Houthis have engaged in widespread terrorism in the waters around the Arabian Peninsula, attacking merchant and naval vessels with missiles and drones.

Donald Trump is expected to be named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” — and to celebrate the unveiling of the cover, the president-elect will ring the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday morning, according to three people familiar with the plans granted anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge the plans.

Last year, pop superstar Taylor Swift was recognized. To mark the magazine cover reveal, Time CEO Jessica Sibley rang the opening bell.

Trump was also named Time Person of the Year in 2016 after he won the presidential election. He joins 13 other U.S. presidents who have received the recognition, including President Joe Biden.

A short list for Time Person of the Year was announced Monday on NBC’s “The Today Show” and included Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris, Kate Middleton, Elon Musk and Benjamin Netanyahu.

Time already announced NBA star Caitlin Clark as Athlete of the Year, Elton John as Icon of the Year and Lisa Su of Advanced Micro Devices as CEO of the Year.

A spokesperson for Time said the magazine “does not comment on its annual choice for Person of the Year prior to publication.

This year’s choice will be announced tomorrow morning, Dec. 12, on Time.com.”

The incoming president has long been fixated with being on the covers of magazines, especially Time.

The “Person of the Year” goes to a newsmaker who has had a significant impact on the year’s events, and in the past has included people ranging from Winston Churchill and Queen Elizabeth II to Vladimir Putin and Joseph Stalin.

Trump in 2013 called the magazine’s annual list of influential people “a joke and stunt of a magazine that will, like Newsweek, soon be dead. Bad list!”

And in 2015, Trump complained that he was not chosen for the magazine cover that instead went to then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But he went on to call being named “Person of the Year” a “great honor.”

“It means a lot, especially me growing up reading Time magazine. And, you know, it’s a very important magazine,” Trump said.

Trump has been featured on the magazine cover three times this year.

Update:

Two law enforcement officials told CNN that fingerprints found at the scene of the assassination of the UnitedHealthcare CEO outside a Midtown Manhattan Hilton hotel last week match those of 26-year-old Ivy League graduate Luigi Mangione.

CNN reports:

“This marks the first positive forensic match tying Mangione directly to the scene where Brian Thompson was gunned down just over a week ago outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel.”

This new development comes as suspected killer Mangione fights extradition to New York City.

He is currently held at the State Correctional Institution—Huntingdon, Pennsylvania—until proper paperwork by NY is filed.

Mangione’s extradition challenge has kicked off the process requiring a warrant issued by the New York governor’s office to allow him to be transported to the state, where he would then be arraigned at the criminal courthouse in lower Manhattan.

Mangione’s lawyer, Thomas Dickey, told CNN earlier: “I haven’t seen any evidence that they have the right guy.”

Ahead of the extradition proceeding at the Blair County Courthouse in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Mangione yelled to reporters: “It is completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people.”

Watch;

#LuigiMangione on his way to his extradition hearing shouts:
“This is completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people” pic.twitter.com/HXW7G9j1tG

— Blades&Bars (@BladesNBars) December 10, 2024

NYC prosecutors charged Mangione with murder late Monday night. NY’s criminal complaint against Mangione has yet to be made public.

Original:

The attorney hired to represent the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO said that he’s seen no evidence showing his client is guilty.

“I haven’t seen any evidence that says that he’s the shooter,” Thomas Dickey told reporters in Pennsylvania on Dec. 10, after a hearing in which his client Luigi Mangione was denied bail.

Law enforcement officials say Mangione is the individual who approached UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York City sidewalk earlier this month and fatally shot him in the back.

Dickey said Mangione plans to plead not guilty and urged people to remember that in the American justice system, defendants are innocent until proven guilty.

“The burden is always on the government, thank God, and that’s their burden, and they’re going to have to produce some evidence, and we’re anxious to see it,” said the lawyer, who announced during the hearing that he was fighting government attempts to extradite Mangione to face charges.

The challenge prolongs what can be a relatively quick process when defendants waive their right to fight extradition. The U.S. Constitution’s Extradition Clause provides that, upon the demand of the governor of the state from which a fugitive fled, the fugitive be delivered to that state.

Luigi Mangione’s lawyer denies his involvement in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson https://t.co/xaiJqPfgTw pic.twitter.com/7KPlqbQrsi

— New York Post (@nypost) December 11, 2024

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement that she was grateful for law enforcement arresting Mangione. She said that she would be signing a governor’s warrant “to ensure this individual is tried and held accountable.”

The judge in the hearing gave Mangione 14 days to file a petition formally challenging the extradition. The judge gave prosecutors 30 days to obtain the New York governor’s warrant.

“We’re going to do what’s necessary to get the governor’s warrant and we’re working with the New York City Police Department and the Manhattan DA’s office and we’re going to get the defendant out there so they can prosecute him on their charges,” Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks told reporters in a briefing after the hearing.

“So, waiving accelerates that process. Contesting it just provides more hoops for law enforcement and prosecutors to jump through but we’re happy to do that.”

Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona after a customer alerted police. Officers found Mangione with multiple fake IDs, a firearm, and a silencer, according to police.

Mangione suffered a back injury, according to friends and others, and underwent back surgery. Joseph Kenney, an NYPD official, said on Fox News that some of the writings that police allegedly found on the defendant were “discussing the difficulty of sustaining that injury.” Police were still looking into a possible nexus with insurance.

Dickey, Mangione’s lawyer, declined to talk about his client’s injury.

Mangione on his way into the hearing shouted, “It’s completely out of touch and an insult to the American people and their lived experience.”

“He seems outspoken,” Dickey said. As a defendant, it’s natural to experience a range of emotions, the lawyer said. Dickey said he wants to do all of the talking moving forward. “Hopefully there won’t be any more of that,” he said, regarding the shouting.

Dickey has met with his client. When asked by reporters about his first impressions of his client, Dickey said, “I wasn’t looking for impressions. What I was trying to do was form a bond with my client, I want him to trust me, and I want him to be confident that I’m here for him, and I feel that I’m very pleased with how that went.”

The lawyer said he was hired. He would not say who hired him.

Mangione grew up in Maryland, and his family owns a country club there. A cousin, Nino Mangione, is a member of the Maryland House of Delegates. Relatives declined requests for interviews.

“Unfortunately, we cannot comment on news reports regarding Luigi Mangione. We only know what we have read in the media,“ the family said in a previous statement. ”Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest. We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson, and we ask people to pray for all involved. We are devastated by this news.”

New York City Marine veteran Daniel Penny sat down with Judge Jeanine Pirro for a powerful first interview since jurors found him not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely.

“He was just threatening to kill people,” Penny said in a preview clip that aired on “The Five” Tuesday. “He was threatening to go to jail forever, go to jail for the rest of his life, and now I’m on the ground with him. I’m on my back in a very vulnerable position…If I’d just let him go, now I’m on my back and he can just turn around and start doing what he said – to me…killing, hurting.”

Penny was arrested in May 2023 nearly two weeks after he was questioned and released following a deadly encounter with Neely, who was high on drugs and threatening to kill people on a Manhattan F train when the 26-year-old architecture student grabbed him in a headlock from behind.

Penny described himself as a non-confrontational person. He said all the attention he’s received since the incident – strong praise from some, demonization from others – makes him uncomfortable.

“I didn’t want any attention or praise, and I still don’t,” he said. “The guilt I would’ve felt if someone did get hurt, if he did do what he was threatening to do, I would never be able to live with myself. And I’ll take a million court appearances and people calling me names and people hating me just to keep one of those people from getting hurt, or killed.”

But when Neely started threatening to kill people, Penny said, he believed the madman could do it.

“There’s outbursts on the train all the time, unfortunately in New York City there’s always people coming on and saying, talking crazy, and this was unlike anything that I’ve ever experienced, and it was very serious,” he said. “I completely believed what he was saying.”

Penny also took issue with the policies of officials like Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney who spearheaded the failed case against him, as politically motivated and beholden to policies that “have clearly not worked.”

“[Policies] that the people, the general population, are not in support of, yet their egos are too big just to admit that they’re wrong,” he said.

Neely had an active arrest warrant and lengthy criminal history at the time of his death. He had schizophrenia and a drug abuse problem. Three days before his encounter with Penny, a subway rider had been stabbed on another train with an ice pick, according to prior reporting. A PBS reporter had been sucker punched on another train, and more than 20 people had been shoved off of subway platforms in the year leading up to Penny’s arrest.

It was a climate of fear that put straphangers on high alert. Penny even referenced those other cases in a voluntary interview he gave to police after remaining on scene.

“He was talking gibberish…but these guys are pushing people in front of trains and stuff,” he told detectives. They released him without charges, but Bragg’s office secured an indictment 11 days later.

Witness Ivette Rosario, a 19-year-old student, testified that Neely shouted someone would “die that day.”

“I got scared by the tone that he was saying it,” she said. “I have seen situations, but not like that.”

Neely was free to threaten subway riders on the day of his death, and it was Penny that Bragg tried to send to prison.

Witnesses testified that Neely’s threats scared them more than a typical subway outburst would. They were thankful for Penny’s intervention.

Penny, a Marine veteran who received a humanitarian award for helping hurricane victims, is a Long Island native who friends described as calm and empathetic during trial testimony. He played lacrosse and was in his school’s orchestra as a teen and worked two jobs while studying architecture at the New York City College of Technology following his honorable discharge.

The full interview will stream Wednesday on FOX Nation.

The lights on Caitlin Clark have always shined bright, and the woman with the wide world of women’s basketball on her shoulders has never shied away. Not from the attention, not from the scrutiny, not from her deep-seated belief that she, too, walks on the shoulders of giants.

And, for this, she’s always drawn ire.

In interviews for her Time Magazine Athlete of the Year cover story, Clark spoke at length about the racial underpinnings behind her explosion to fame in a sport and league that, historically, has been dominated by Black women.

And Megyn Kelly was disgusted.

“Look at this,” the media personality wrote in a post to X Tuesday. “[Clark]’s on the knee all but apologizing for being white and getting attention. The self-flagellation. The ‘oh [please] pay attention to the black players who are REALY (sic) the ones you want to celebrate.’ Condescending. Fake. Transparent. Sad.”

Clark, in her interview, told Time, “I want to say I’ve earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is privilege. A lot of those players in the league that have been really good have been Black players. This league has kind of been built on them.

“The more we can appreciate that, highlight that, talk about that, and then continue to have brands and companies invest in those players that have made this league incredible, I think it’s very important. I have to continue to try to change that.

“The more we can elevate Black women,” Clark concluded, “that’s going to be a beautiful thing.”

In numerous media appearances, Clark has cited the Black players who built the game: Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper, Dawn Staley and Maya Moore.

Their legacies can’t be disputed, but their influences pale in comparison to Clark’s.

The narrative that women’s basketball is “having a moment” has become as ubiquitous as the record-setting. Record-setting on the court. In television ratings. At the box office. In sponsorship revenue. In merchandising sales. The list goes on.

And as that narrative has grown, so too has the racial one. The theme has — and always will — loom large over Clark’s story.

The moment when that narrative bloomed into the cultural consciousness came as the clock ticked down on the 2023 NCAA women’s basketball title game.

Angel Reese of the soon-to-be national champion LSU Tigers pointed to the joint of her finger, showcasing for Clark the spot where her championship ring would sit, and also doing a “you can’t see me” gesture.

The taunt changed Reese’s life. Clark’s, too.

The presumed rivalry between Reese and Clark has been a constant theme throughout the sport’s booming growth since.

“I don’t get that [perception] at all,” Clark said. “We’re not best friends, by any means, but we’re very respectful of one another. Yes, we have had tremendous battles. But when have I ever guarded her? And when has she guarded me?”

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) says she was assaulted by a “pro-trans man” at the Capitol on Tuesday night.

She said she is wearing a new wrist brace and has iced her arm after the attack.

A statement from the Capitol Police said the incident was reported by Mace’s office just before 6 p.m. Eastern time and took place in the Rayburn House Office Building. Police arrested a 33-year-old from Illinois, Jamie McIntyre, on a charge of assaulting a government official.

“I was physically accosted at the Capitol tonight by a pro-tr*ns man,” Mace said in a post on X. “One new brace for my wrist and some ice for my arm and it’ll heal just fine. The Capitol police arrested the guy. Your tr*ns violence and threats on my life will only make me double down. FAFO.”

In another post, she added, “All the violence and threats keep proving our point. Women deserve to be safe. Your threats will not stop my fight for women.”

Mace has faced serious backlash for a bill she introduced in November that bans transgender women from using facilities on federal property that don’t correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth.

She said that she’s also received death threats. Opponents of the bill say she’s unfairly targeting Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-DE), who is a transgender woman. “What Nancy Mace and what Speaker Johnson are doing are endangering all women and girls,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said last month.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) previously announced a ban within the House on any person not using the bathroom assigned to their sex at birth.

Mace has vowed not to back down from her bill. “Trying to destroy my career and threatening to kill me because I don’t want to be forced to undress in front of men,” she said before the assault. “Good effing luck! I will not back down nutjobs.”

The Justice Department spied on two House members and several congressional staffers in a leak investigation without telling the courts, the agency’s inspector general found in a sweeping investigation released Tuesday.

As a result, the department obtained phone records from the two members of Congress and 43 staff members including President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, who worked as a staffer on the GOP-led House Intelligence Committee at the time.

The department initiated the probe to investigate leaks to the media of FBI classified information as part of the now-discredited Trump-Russia probe which had recently been shared with Congress.

Inspector General Michael Horowitz found that the Justice Department, in filings with the court, did not reference “the fact that they related to requests for records of Members of Congress or congressional staffers,” despite implicating constitutional separation of powers between two government branches.

You can read the report here.

Patel, who is poised to become the new director of the FBI if confirmed, previously sued former Trump Justice Department officials and FBI Director Christopher Wray, accusing them of violating his Fourth Amendment right to protection from unreasonable searches and seizures when they tried to obtain Patel’s personal records, Just the News previously reported.

Patel said he was completely unaware of the subpoena until December 2022, when Google notified him about it.

Another former staffer, Jason Foster, previously told Just the News that he confirmed that the government successfully asked a federal court to hide its spying on Congress for five consecutive years.

Foster is now the head of the Empower Oversight whistleblower center. In 2017 at the time of the secret surveillance, he was the chief investigative counsel for Sen. Chuck Grassley on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The seizure of his personal data occurred in 2017 while he worked for the Senate, and ordinarily under the original court order, Foster would have been notified a year later. But because the DOJ sought court approval ex parte to keep its surveillance secret, he wasn’t alerted until earlier this fall, six years after the initial subpoena.

Grassley on Tuesday claimed that the investigation was an example of the Justice Department acting in “bad faith,” and urged the incoming Trump administration to fix the ongoing problem.

“It’s plain to see DOJ overstepped its authority here,” Grassley said in a statement.

“The Justice Department ought to learn from its mistakes and accept accountability, because Congress won’t accept any less. The incoming Trump administration must take steps to ensure these problems … are fixed.”

Donald Trump announced Tuesday he was appointing ex-Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle as his ambassador to Greece.

Guilfoyle, 55, studied international law and entered public life as a prosecutor in San Francisco and Los Angeles, but made her way into the Trump orbit as fiancee to the president-elect’s son Don Jr, 46.

‘Her extensive experience and leadership in law, media, and politics along with her sharp intellect make her supremely qualified to represent the United States, and safeguard its interests abroad,’ Trump said in a Truth Social post.

‘Kimberly is perfectly suited to foster strong bilateral relations with Greece, advancing our interests on issues ranging from defense cooperation to trade and economic innovation.’

The announcement comes just hours after Daily Mail published photographs of Don Jr. hand-in-hand with the Palm Beach socialite, Bettina Anderson, showing the six-year relationship with Guilfoyle is clearly over.

While Don Jnr and Guilfoyle began dating in 2018, the Daily Mail first revealed their relationship was all but over in September after the 46-year-old was spotted kissing the socialite.

While Guilfoyle felt ‘blindsided’ by the revelation, she continued to be photographed with Don Jnr. during Trump’s election campaign. They have not been seen together since November 12, and Guilfoyle didn’t attend the Trump family’s Thanksgiving.

‘There were a ton of people vying for this. It is one of the hottest posts in the world,’ said a source familiar with the president-elect’s thinking.

‘Not just because it’s an amazing place place to live, but because it’s a hotbed of activity with everything that is happening in Syria, throughout the middle east, and the migrant crisis.’

The source added that Guilfoyle, aside from her relationship with Don Jr. had known Trump for 20 years, and raised hundreds of millions of dollars for his campaigns.

‘He wants her to represent him on the world stage,’ the source added.

‘She studied international law and will be amazing spokeswoman for Donald Trump.

‘She’ll be the Jackie O of the MAGA movement.’

Guilfoyle was assistant district attorney in San Francisco from 2000 to 2004.

But it was her marriage to Democratic politician Gavin Newsom that brought into the public eye, when she was first lady of San Francisco during his first two years as mayor of that city.

Insiders said that experience would help her cope with the demands of being Trump’s representative overseas.

Guilfoyle was an energetic campaigner for Trump and appeared on stage with the family at the election night party in West Palm Beach.

She addressed foreign policy during her convention speech in Milwaukee.

‘In our vision, America will combat foreign aggressors and ensure our service members are protected, not abandoned, as they carry out their dangerous missions abroad, because we know we can only have peace through strength,’ she said in July.

But the appointment comes as her fiancee Don Jr. has been repeatedly pictured with Bettina Anderson, 38, around Palm Beach, suggesting his six-year engagement in well an truly over.

The new couple’s latest date saw them attend exclusive hotspot Buccan for two hours to celebrate Anderson’s birthday.

The restaurant is just three miles from Bettina’s townhouse, where Don often stays.

They looked every bit a new couple, with Don Jr holding her Bettina’s hand as they left the venue just before 10pm.

Guilfoyle’s new role means she will likely be swapping life in Florida for Jefferson House, the American ambassador’s residence in the Greek capital Athens.

It comes with a swimming pool in the backyard and enough reception space to entertain hundreds of dignitaries.

It was named for Thomas Jefferson who held up Greek democracy as the most important influence on the founding of the American republic.

Rupert Murdoch has been defeated in a Succession-style legal battle against three of his own children, as he failed to cement a Right-wing slant across his media empire.

In a fresh legal ruling, a US court rejected the 93-year-old media mogul’s attempt to change the terms of the Murdoch family trust, which would have handed control of his newspaper and TV businesses to his eldest son, Lachlan, after his death.

In court papers seen by The New York Times, Nevada commissioner Edmund J. Gorman Jr ruled resoundingly against the Fox News owner, accusing him of acting in “bad faith” and manufacturing a “carefully crafted charade”.

The legal row stems from Mr Murdoch’s attempts to leave control of his media empire, including Fox News and The Times and Sunday Times, to his eldest son Lachlan, as he sought to lock in a Right-wing editorial slant on issues such as climate change.

However, to do this, he had to change the terms of his family trust, which splits control equally amongst his four eldest children, Lachlan, James, Elisabeth and Prudence.

Lachlan, James and Elisabeth were at one point all considered as potential successors to Mr Murdoch, although the tycoon had in recent years settled on the former, who last year was appointed chairman of News Corp.

He is viewed as the most conservative of Mr Murdoch’s children, unlike Elisabeth and James who both have more liberal politics than their father.

News Corp controls newspapers in the US, UK and Australia, including The Times, The Sun and The Wall Street Journal.

In a 96-page judgment, Mr Gorman wrote that Mr Murdoch’s aim was to “permanently cement Lachlan Murdoch’s executive roles … regardless of the impacts such control would have over the companies or the beneficiaries” of the family trust.

Mr Gorman said that Mr Murdoch and Lachlan’s representatives had “demonstrated a dishonesty of purpose and motive”.

He also singled out one recently appointed representative of the trust who he said had little knowledge of the family and had researched them primarily through watching “Succession”, a fictionalised TV show inspired by the Murdoch family.

Mr Gorman said the representative’s research consisted of “Google searches and watching YouTube videos about the Murdochs (or the fictional family in the show ‘Succession’).”

Mr Gorman said Mr Murdoch’s attempt to change the trust was “an attempt to stack the deck in Lachlan Murdoch’s favour after Rupert Murdoch’s passing so that his succession would be immutable”.

He added: “The play might have worked; but an evidentiary hearing, like a showdown in a game of poker, is where gamesmanship collides with the facts and at its conclusion, all the bluffs are called and the cards lie face up.”

The ruling comes after days of in-person testimony in the US in September, during which Mr Murdoch and his four eldest children were all present at the hearing.

The commissioner’s ruling will not be the final decision on the case, which will fall to a district judge. They will then decide whether to ratify or reject his recommendation.

If the district judge agrees with the commissioner, Mr Murdoch and Lachlan will still have an opportunity to challenge the decision.

It is also possible that they could turn to other avenues, such as Lachlan attempting to buy out his siblings’ stakes in the News Corp business.

Mr Murdoch’s attempt to change the trust would not reduce his children’s financial interests, but would instead determine who has control over one of the most powerful media organisations in the world.

Adam Streisand, a lawyer for Mr Murdoch, said that they intended to appeal the ruling.

The Daily Wire is looking to possibly partner with a larger company or raise a significant round of capital next year to meet its growth ambitions, its co-CEO Jeremy Boreing told Axios.

The company’s commercial success has caught the attention of investors and potential buyers looking to gain a foothold in the younger conservative culture.

Semafor reported Sunday that Fox Corp. was eyeing potential acquisitions of conservative podcast companies, including Daily Wire.

Asked about a deal with Fox, Boreing said the company isn’t actively looking for a buyer, but “we’re not closed off to an offer.”

“It’s easy to imagine a strategic partnership with Fox or someone like Fox, that could be mutually beneficial. I think that we complement Fox and don’t compete with Fox,” he added, noting Daily Wire’s audience is primarily younger and more coastal urban.

The Nashville-based company, which is on track to surpass $200 million in revenue this year, would come with a hefty price tag.

Daily Wire raised an undisclosed round of capital in 2023 at a valuation well north of $1 billion, a source told Axios.

The firm was initially funded by Republican fracking billionaire Farris Wilks, but until its latest raise, it relied mostly on its profits to fuel its growth.

In addition to subscriptions, the firm makes money from advertising and e-commerce.

Earlier this year, its star podcaster and co-founder Ben Shapiro testified on Capitol Hill as part of a broader fight to get ad agencies not to dismiss conservative media. Boreing said conversations with Fortune 500 advertisers have “opened up enormously” since.

The company made more than $22 million on commerce sales in 2023. This year, it will make more than $20 million on its Jeremy’s Razors business alone, Boreing said. Mayflower Cigars, its cigar startup, has grossed $4.2 million in sales since it launched last November.

Like many modern media companies, The Daily Wire has started to pivot its focus away from social media and more toward its owned and operated channels.

“The big strategic change for us is that we think a big part of the future now is in actually becoming a destination,” Boreing said. “What we want to do over the next three years is really grow the percentage of the audience that engages with our content on our platform.”

For many years, Daily Wire was the top publisher on Facebook. It used that audience to build narrower subscription products.

The company’s streaming service, Daily Wire+, has well over 1 million subscribers, Boreing said. This year will be its biggest in terms of gross subscription additions since it launched in 2021.

Next year, Boreing says the company will expand its podcast suite and will add more focus to its children’s subscription entertainment platform, Bentkey.

Despite their political differences, Boreing says he’s taking cues from the New York Times.

“It’s an unbelievable success, and it shows us that there is a path to serving an audience on-platform and not being completely at the mercy of the social partner.”

Most of Daily Wire’s content today is focused on news analysis and entertainment. But looking ahead, Boreing said the firm wants to invest more in original journalism.

“We think that there’s a real opening for us,” he said.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said there “ought to be repercussions” for anyone who leaked information related to the unreleased Ethics Committee probe into former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-Fla.) conduct.

The leaks, which have allegedly been traced to the panel’s ranking member, Susan Wild (D-Pa.), could set a dangerous precedent if left unpunished, Johnson told Axios Tuesday.

“In my opinion, there ought to be repercussions for that,” Johnson said in a hallway interview. “We can’t set that as a precedent. It’s dangerous.”

Johnson said he had not discussed the prospect of disciplinary action with House Ethics Chairman Michael Guest (R-Miss.) and did not elaborate on what he thought might be appropriate.

Guest told Axios later Tuesday that he hasn’t spoken to Johnson for “a couple of weeks” but would be “happy to” discuss the situation allegedly involving Wild.

But with Wild’s pending departure from Congress in January, Guest said lawmakers “would be limited on anything that could possibly be done within the Ethics environment.”

Another House Republican close to GOP leadership told Axios they doubt there is time for any repercussions to occur.

Citing anonymous sources,The Hill newspaper reported Monday that Wild was absent from the panel’s meeting Thursday after being traced as the source of press leaks regarding the Gaetz investigation.

Whether she skipped the gathering of her own accord remained unclear, according to the outlet, which cited two sources saying Wild ultimately acknowledged to the panel that she had leaked information.

The committee was investigating Gaetz for a litany of allegations including sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, all of which he denies.

Amid a dispute over whether releasing a report dealing with the actions of a former member would break precedent, the Ethics panel deadlocked in November, thus keeping the Gaetz report under wraps.

The full House last week beat back a Democratic effort to make the report public.

Gaetz resigned his House seat when President-elect Trump tapped him as his attorney general nominee before later withdrawing himself from consideration.

Johnson came out against the report’s release following Gaetz’s resignation.

Gaetz took a public jab at Wild, tweeting late Monday that she, “leaked false allegations about me which were so unfounded that they were rejected by the Biden DOJ.”

Gaetz’s attorneys said last year they’d been informed that the Justice Department would not bring charges against the lawmaker over sex trafficking allegations.

Moderate GOP lawmakers have asserted that if Gaetz — who is set to start hosting a show on One America News network — snags a different senior role in Trump’s administration, they could force another vote to release Ethics’ findings.

One America News Network, (“OAN”) announced today that powerhouse Matt Gaetz will be joining OAN’s prime-time lineup in January. The former eight-year member of the U.S. Congress and recent U.S. Attorney General nominee will be hosting a one-hour political talk show every weeknight.

Mr. Gaetz’s program, branded “The Matt Gaetz Show”, is scheduled to air in coveted time slot of 6 pm Pacific, 9 pm Eastern every weeknight. With Gaetz rounding out OAN’s prime-time lineup, the network is poised for a groundbreaking 2025, reaffirming its mission to deliver credible, independent news and unfiltered commentary to audiences across the nation.

Matt Gaetz has earned a reputation as a relentless champion of conservative values, taking on entrenched Washington bureaucrats and exposing government overreach. While serving on key committees including the House Judiciary and Armed Services Committees, Gaetz was a leading voice in defending President Donald Trump and advocating for an unapologetic America-first agenda. His knack for connecting with grassroots Americans and shaking up the status quo makes him a dynamic and timely addition to OAN’s team.

OAN’s evening lineup will pack even more punch in 2025, featuring five powerhouse political talk shows designed to keep viewers informed, energized, and inspired with breaking news and hard-hitting analysis. Gaetz will also take the lead in engaging younger audiences by co-hosting a weekly video podcast with Dan Ball, host of Real America with Dan Ball. This vibrant new podcast, launching in January, will deliver fresh perspectives and unfiltered conversations tailored for Millennials, late Gen Z, and early Gen Xers.

Gaetz shared his enthusiasm, saying, “OAN is blazing a trail in media, embracing not just traditional news but the platforms where Americans are going—streaming, apps, podcasts, and social media. I couldn’t be more thrilled to join OAN’s forward-thinking team and be part of this revolutionary expansion.”

OAN is ending 2024 with historic gains on the distribution front. In 2024, OAN enhanced its reach to over 160 million new homes in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa via deployments on Eutelsat’s direct to consumer satellite delivery platform.

In addition, in 2024 the company made multiple announcements of new broadcast distribution in the United States exceeding 10 million homes. Going into 2025, OAN is deep in discussions with multiple major United States MVPDs with announcements expected early next year.

Charles Herring, President of OAN, praised Gaetz’s addition to the network. “Matt is a remarkable talent and a principled leader. His insider access to America’s top policymakers and unwavering dedication to America-first values will bring unparalleled insight and exclusive content to OAN viewers. We’re thrilled to welcome him to the OAN family.”

Dan Ball, Host of Real America with Dan Ball, is excited for the collaboration as well. “We’ve been big fans of Matt Gaetz from day one. We admire his leadership and authenticity, and we’re confident he’ll really connect with our viewers. It’s an exciting partnership that’s going to take OAN to the next level.”

Born in Hollywood, Florida, and raised in Fort Walton Beach, Gaetz comes from a family steeped in public service. A graduate of William & Mary Law School, he’s no stranger to the demands of leadership. In 2021, Matt married Ginger, and together they’ve built a life grounded in faith, family, and freedom. Whether it’s hosting a backyard barbecue or connecting with locals at community events, Matt and Ginger embrace the values of everyday Americans.

Luigi Mangione’s former roommate said that the suspected killer’s actions were “incompatible” with the person he knew, saying that it was like “two completely different human beings.”

R.J. Martin, the former roommate of Mangione, discussed on Fox News’ Jesse Watters’ Primetime his time with the Ivy League graduate turned suspected killer of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, saying that the pair were close friends and shared common pastimes together.

“It feels strange because he was a great friend and I considered him a close friend,” he said. “And that someone who would assassinate somebody is completely incompatible with the person that I lived with, the person I cooked meals with, the person that was part of book club and other activities with.”

“It’s like two completely different human beings,” he said.

Martin said that, to his knowledge, Mangione did not do drugs.

Watch:

Senator Mitch McConnell has suffered a fall in the latest of a series of health emergencies that have left supporters terrified for his well-being.

Medics grabbed a wheelchair and raced to the Kentucky senator’s office after he collapsed during a GOP luncheon on Tuesday.

Moments later, a Washington DC fire and rescue team left his office.

McConnell spoke at the lunch, and GOP leaders exiting the meeting didn’t appear to know what was going on.

The senator’s condition was unclear until a spokesperson confirmed he was doing fine.

When asked what happened, his office said, “Leader McConnell tripped following lunch.

“He sustained a minor cut to the face and sprained his wrist.

“He has been cleared to resume his schedule.”

However, McConnell failed to give his weekly press conference and had to be replaced by Senate Majority Leader-Elect John Thune.

When asked about the frail senator’s condition, Thune also said his colleague was “fine.”

“He’s in his office,” said Thune.

“And any other questions about Senator McConnell, I’ll refer to staff.”

McConnell, 82, who has served as GOP minority leader since 2007, announced in February that he would step down from that position after this year’s election.

However, he planned to fulfill his term as senator until February 2027.

McConnell, who is the longest running GOP leader, has faced a worrying series of health battles and ailments in his final term as Kentucky senator.

In March 2023, McConnell took a brutal fall at a dinner in Washington DC and was left with a concussion and cracked rib.

It took six weeks for the aging politician to recover from those injuries.

In July of the same year, he froze for 19 seconds at a news conference in the Capitol in a worrying moment that was caught on camera.

Addressing assembled cameras and reporters, he suddenly stopped speaking and stared blankly ahead before an aide intervened.

After a while, McConnell was then able to pick back up with his remarks.

Worried colleagues said they’d noticed a decline since he suffered the fall.

McConnell’s office attributed the two freezing incidents to him feeling “momentarily lightheaded ” but provided no further details.

In September 2023, McConnell’s staff released medical notes written to him by Dr Brian Monahan, the attending physician of Congress, which said that the senator wasn’t showing signs of seizure disorders, a stroke, or Parkinson’s disease.

The Office of Attending Physician had cleared McConnell to continue working, the notes said.

Speaking to Face the Nation in October last year, McConnell insisted he had “completely recovered” and was “back on the job,” following concerns about his health and ability to govern.

Thune will take over as the Senate GOP leader in January.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said she will not drop the civil fraud case against President-elect Donald Trump as she waits for the appeal court decision, arguing presidents are not immune from civil litigation.

Trump and his attorneys demanded that James drop her civil fraud case against him, his family and his businesses “for the greater good of the country” last month.

Trump was ordered to pay a $454 million civil fraud judgment in James’ lawsuit against him.

Trump has appealed the ruling, and judges on a New York appeals court seemed receptive to potentially reversing the judgment altogether.

The New York attorney general’s office on Tuesday said they are not going to take action to drop the case against the president-elect.

James’ office argued that presidents do not have immunity from civil litigation arising from unofficial conduct, and said lawsuits “may proceed while the president is in office.”

James’ office also argued that the final judgment does not impact any conduct Trump may undertake as president.

They also said Trump’s inauguration is “irrelevant to the 14 other defendants found liable in our case.”

James’ office also said that they are now waiting for a decision on Trump’s appeal, and said waiting for that decision on the civil matter “does not in any way affect Trump’s ability to serve as president.”

A ferocious wildfire fanned by strong winds spread rapidly early Tuesday in Malibu, spurring evacuations along the coast and threatening homes while firefighters struggled to contain the flames.

The eastern half of Malibu was ordered evacuated. The rest of the city and portions of unincorporated Los Angeles County were under an evacuation warning affecting roughly 18,000 people. More than 2,000 structures are covered by the evacuation order, and an additional 6,000 are under evacuation warnings.

Dubbed the Franklin fire, the blaze was moving at a fierce pace, fanned by strong Santa Ana winds, and had exploded to nearly 2,600 acres as of 11 a.m. with no containment, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said during a news conference Tuesday morning that a “minimal number” of homes had been destroyed, though he did not have an exact count of structures damaged. He urged residents to limit the use of lawn sprinklers to maintain water pressure for firefighters.

About 700 firefighters were battling the fire Tuesday morning on the ground, building containment lines, as air tankers dropped water on the blaze. The aircraft were able to fly through most of the night and into the early morning even amid heavy winds, Marrone said.

“We’d really like to button this fire up and get some containment by this afternoon,” Marrone said. “I believe that the winds are going to be continuing, so that’s going to create challenges for the Fire Department and for the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department with evacuations. We are going to have a coordinated air and ground assault on this fire for as long as it takes.”

The fire was reported a few minutes before 11 p.m. Monday along Malibu Canyon Road in the hills north of Pepperdine University.

Flames were reported on both sides of Pacific Coast Highway, with the fire jumping the road in at least two locations — the area around Malibu Pier and around Malibu Road and Webb Way, just next to Malibu Colony Plaza, where a Ralphs supermarket is located, according to the city.

Structures were “impacted” along Malibu Knolls Road, where there are a few homes and a church, and in the area of Sweetwater Canyon Drive, where there are more than a dozen homes, the city said.

Matt Myerhoff, a spokesperson for the city, told CBS News on Tuesday morning that the Malibu Pier had not been damaged in the fire, which had been a concern overnight as the fire marched toward the ocean.

“I think the preponderance of structures being impacted around here are going to be homes,” he said.

A sheriff’s patrol car was damaged in the fire, but the deputy was not hurt, said L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna.

“I cannot tell you how much we appreciate when a deputy or another official comes to your door, or you get a notification that there is a warning or specifically an order, you need to evacuate,” Luna said. “It saves lives, and it actually impacts the lives of our first responders, because if they have to come in to save a life, they’re putting their own lives at risk.”

Residents described having just minutes to flee as they saw a storm of embers rain down, with hillsides and trees bursting into flames, and having precious little time to decide what to take with them.

Shortly after midnight, sheriff’s deputies went door to door and used air horns to wake residents and urge them to leave.

“I think I’m in shock right now,” said Malibu City Councilmember Bruce Silverstein, who evacuated shortly after he smelled smoke at his home in the hills above City Hall around 11 p.m.

His wife got an alert about the fire and by 11:20 the flames licked the hillside while the sky grew ever redder. The couple packed their bags and drove on Pacific Coast Highway toward Santa Monica to check into a hotel.

The lawn and trees around the home were “just burning wild,” said Silverstein, who watched as fire gradually approached his property through the internet-connected cameras mounted around his house.

“My house has come very close to catching fire multiple times in the last couple of hours,” Silverstein said. The bushes and fence at the top of the property burned, a sight rendered in video, but the fire department showed up and doused the area.

“We thought it was completely under control,” Silverstein said. “Then a bunch of embers came flying into the yard.”

Evangelist Jonny Constantine said he was at the beach Monday night, walking and praying to try to relieve some of the stress from his work, when the winds began to pick up. A wind advisory showed up on his cellphone, but he didn’t initially think much of it, he said.

It was nearing 11 p.m. when he got another notification on his phone: A fire had erupted in Malibu. The fire was small at the time, but grew quickly, prompting evacuation orders. Constantine drove to his friend’s house along Carbon Canyon from Pacific Coast Highway. The orange glow of flames greeted him.

“There was smoke everywhere,” he said. “The whole sky was on fire.”

In a way, Constantine said, driving to the beach allowed him to be more aware of the fire and better able to warn his friend while most of the city slept. “God didn’t let me go to sleep that night,” he said.

When James Perry, 42, got the first emergency notification about the fire at 11:45 p.m. Monday, he and his wife were already packing belongings in their Los Flores home. About 20 minutes earlier their electricity had been cut.

Without cellular service or WiFi, Perry said his family relied on the emergency notifications to prepare and get themselves out of their home — just a canyon over from the growing inferno.

“As soon we as came down [Los Flores Canyon Road] near Duke’s Malibu, we saw the halo of the fire, smoke and the light,” Perry said. “That’s when we realized it was closer than we thought.”

This isn’t the first time that a fire has forced the family from their home. They were evacuated from their previous house in Topanga for two weeks during the Woolsey fire in 2018. Living in a high-risk fire zone has changed the way they think about emergency preparedness, Perry said.

“We don’t have anything expensive on site, and we keep our important documents off site and have printed (copies) with us,” he said. “We love living where we live, but it feels like [fires] are happening more often.”

Jonathan Torres, spokesman for L.A. County Fire Department, told The Times that hundreds of firefighters responded to the fire and had been hampered by winds of 50 to 80 miles an hour.

At around the time the fire ignited, there were gusts of up to 65 mph reported. By around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, the winds were weakening slightly, with gusts in the 40-mph range, said National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Hall. But patterns seen in past Santa Ana wind events “suggest winds should ramp up around daybreak,” Hall said. Meanwhile, relative humidity was quite dry, as low as 5%.

The cause of the fire was unclear.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said early Tuesday that the governor had been briefed on the blaze and the state had secured a Fire Management Assistance Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help with fire suppression costs.

“Fire officials and first responders are working relentlessly to protect lives and property from the Franklin fire. California is grateful for this federal support, which bolsters these efforts. I urge all residents in affected areas to stay alert and follow evacuation orders,” Newsom said in a statement Tuesday.

There were several power outages in the area of the fire Tuesday morning. Some electricity was cut off for firefighter safety, and other outages were part of widespread public safety power shutoffs — deliberate outages meant to limit the chances that damaged utility equipment could start a fire, according to David Eisenhauer, a Southern California Edison spokesperson.

Across the region, almost 40,000 customers had their electricity cut through planned shutoffs.

Around 1 a.m. Tuesday, the fire had moved into the Serra Retreat area and was threatening structures. The community is less than a mile northwest of Malibu Pier. There are private homes in addition to a Catholic retreat and conference center noted for its views.

A six-mile stretch of Pacific Coast Highway was ordered closed east of Corral Canyon Road and west of Las Flores Canyon Road, the city of Malibu said. Las Virgenes Road, which continues as Malibu Canyon Road on the way to the coast, is closed south of Mulholland Highway all the way to Pacific Coast Highway, a six-mile stretch of road, the city added.

#FranklinFire map and evacuation zones/ status: https://t.co/AH2MQE7yAw pic.twitter.com/MXVsKtBYdv

— City of Malibu (@CityMalibu) December 10, 2024

An evacuation warning along Pacific Coast Highway extended as far east as the Los Angeles city limits, on the border of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, and as far west as Zuma Beach.

On Tuesday, there were about a dozen residents at the Palisades Recreation Center, which was serving as an evacuation center.

Mimi Teller, spokesperson for the Red Cross, said the organization had the evacuation center was up and running about two hours after word of the fire arrived at 2:30 a.m. The center has space for about a dozen people, she said, but overall the property can take up to 800.

Two evacuees, Jessica Jones and Matthew Ryder, said they saw the flames coming around 11:30 p.m. down a ridgeline overlooking the ranch they rent in Serra Retreat. The pair rushed to grab the essentials — important documents, clothing and their three goats and pot belly pig — before the fire made its way to their home.

Fleeing a wildfire is stressful enough, they said, but adding livestock to the mix can really complicate matters. The kid goats, Willie and Russell, were easy enough to wrangle into the back of the couple’s pickup truck, along with the goats’ mother, Ginger. But the 1-year-old pig, Penelope, put up a fight when it was time to leave.

“She was screaming her head off,” Ryder said. “She doesn’t like to be picked up usually.”

The fire reached their property as the couple left around midnight. They stopped on the side of Pacific Coast Highway to plan where to go next, ultimately deciding to sleep in their truck before heading to the evacuation center early Tuesday.

“It was insane,” Jones said. “The bright red flames and glow of the fire were all around the ridge line as we were leaving.”

While Pepperdine University was in the heart of the evacuation area, the university had directed students and others on campus overnight to remain in the Tyler Campus Center or Payson Library. Around 3:30 a.m., the school said the worst of the fire had pushed past the campus.

The campus lifted its shelter-in-place order early Tuesday after assessing conditions after sunrise, according to the university. Spot fires continue to flare up around the school, so officials encouraged students and staff to remain on campus and stay off Malibu roads.

Pepperdine has a well-documented “shelter-in-place” protocol when wildfires threaten Malibu, given how difficult it can be to evacuate the campus quickly on narrow roads during a crisis.

The university says the campus’ buildings are built with fire-resistant materials, and brush is cleared at least 200 feet away from structures. The school took some criticism for its shelter-in-place plan after the campus used it during the Woolsey fire in 2018, with some students nervous about remaining on campus.

The university, however, has said Pepperdine’s practice of having students shelter in place on campus during wildfires has lasted for decades and is supported by the county fire department. Besides the Woolsey fire, it has been utilized for all fires since 1993, including the Old Topanga in 1993, Calabasas in 1996 and the Canyon and Corral fires in 2007.

Classes and final exams were canceled Tuesday on the Malibu campus. Public schools in Malibu were also closed because of the fire.

Pepperdine student Nick Gerding told KTLA-TV on Tuesday morning that hundreds of students sheltered in place in the campus library overnight as the flames moved closer.

“Once we got news it jumped Malibu Canyon Road, you could really see it come over the hill,” Gerding said. “It was so close that we got the warning to stay away from the windows because the trees that were a good 20 feet ahead of it were on fire.”

It wasn’t clear if the burning trees were a part of a defensive fire set by crews, he said. Meanwhile, some 200 to 300 students lined up to grab breakfast while another few hundred slept, Gerding said.

Even though Pepperdine’s process for the fire made him feel relatively safe, the experience still frightened Gerding, he told KTLA.

“My brother attended Pepperdine here about five years ago and they had a campus fire … and did the same process,” he said. “I was familiar but it was a panic I’d never experienced before, so I wasn’t ready for that.”

Malibu resident Alp Toygar said he had taken a drive through Malibu in the early morning hours for a closer look at the conflagration.

“Flames are everywhere,” he told The Times around 3:30 a.m. “People are running away in vehicles from Malibu both directions on the coastal highway. I just passed through the blazes … on the highway. No traffic lights. Police cars and fire trucks are everywhere.”

The National Weather Service has issued a “Particularly Dangerous Situation” red flag warning for wide portions of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, which will last through Tuesday afternoon. Gusts of up to 80 mph are possible, and relative humidity is forecast to be alarmingly low, while vegetation is extremely dry.

The weather service said that within the Franklin fire area, strong and damaging winds from the north and northeast were expected to peak around sunrise Tuesday, and last through late Tuesday morning.

Relative humidity levels were as low as 9% just before midnight. It could fall even lower — forecasters said that relative humidity could fall to as low as 1% in Oxnard and Thousand Oaks in nearby Ventura County.

This is the second time this fire season that the weather service has issued a Particularly Dangerous Situation red flag warning. The last time the warning was issued was on Nov. 5, and a day later, the Mountain fire ignited in Ventura County and, whipped by powerful winds, razed more than 240 buildings. It became the third most destructive wildfire in Southern California since 2013.

The dry, strong Santa Ana winds are being driven by a system of high pressure building in the Great Basin, which is sending air hurtling through canyons and mountain passes to the coast, where there is low pressure.

The region has also been quite dry. Since the water year began on Oct. 1, just 0.14 inches of rain has fallen in downtown Los Angeles. That’s sharply below the average for this time of the season, when 1.87 inches on average has already fallen. And there’s not too much hope for significant rain for the next week in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

Malibu and neighboring communities in Thousand Oaks, Oak Park and Agoura Hills saw tremendous destruction in the 2018 Woolsey fire, which destroyed more than 1,600 structures and burned about 97,000 acres.

Kenklippenstein obtained a copy of suspected killer Luigi Mangione’s manifesto.

Here’s the manifesto:

“To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone. This was fairly trivial: some elementary social engineering, basic CAD, a lot of patience.

The spiral notebook, if present, has some straggling notes and To Do lists that illuminate the gist of it. My tech is pretty locked down because I work in engineering so probably not much info there. I do apologize for any strife of traumas but it had to be done.

Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming. A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy.

United is the [indecipherable] largest company in the US by market cap, behind only Apple, Google, Walmart. It has grown and grown, but as our life expectancy?

No the reality is, these [indecipherable] have simply gotten too powerful, and they continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allwed them to get away with it.

Obviously the problem is more complex, but I do not have space, and frankly I do not pretend to be the most qualified person to lay out the full argument. But many have illuminated the corruption and greed (e.g.: Rosenthal, Moore), decades ago and the problems simply remain.

It is not an issue of awareness at this point, but clearly power games at play. Evidently I am the first to face it with such brutal honesty.”