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What will Trump’s second term DOJ look like?

After Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration for attorney general, President-elect Donald Trump selected former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi for the role.

Bondi has previously called for the prosecution of “bad” prosecutors involved in the indictment against Trump over efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and has railed against “the deep state” — spreading a false conspiracy theory that DOJ prosecutors and FBI agents were part of a secret cabal trying to undermine Trump.

Trump’s choice for second-in-command at the Justice Department is Todd Blanche, who served as his lead criminal defense attorney in the Stormy Daniels hush-money case.

That history with the elected president is both past and current DOJ officials were concerned that Blanche had won‘don’t stand up to Trumpbut others are cautiously optimistic that he could avoid some of the worst-case scenarios they’ve conjured up.

One official said people feel better about Blanche because he is a legitimate lawyer and a former Justice Department official, but “that reflects low expectations.”

UAE arrests three people in connection with rabbi’s murder

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates have arrested three people in connection with the murder of an Israeli Moldovan rabbi who was found dead in the country. Rabbi Zvi Kogan, who was the Abu Dhabi representative of Chabad Lubavitch, an influential Orthodox Jewish Hasidic organization based in New York, had been missing in the Gulf state since Thursday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that his country “will deal with the criminals responsible for his death to the fullest extent of the law.”

In a separate incident last weekend, a gunman was killed and three police officers subsequently injured a shooting near the Israeli embassy in neighboring Jordan. Jordan’s Communications Minister Mohamed Momani described the shooting as a terrorist attack targeting the country’s public security forces.

Urologist accused of sexually assaulting hundreds

BR, 27, suffered from groin pain when he had a urologist, Dr. Darius Paduchin 2006.

Paduch told BR to masturbate in front of him and then proceeded to examine and photograph him, BR said. About twelve years later, BR notified the deputy general counsel of the hospital where Paduch worked. Paduch then continued to see patients for another year and remained employed until March 2020.

Paduch later joined a hospital on Long Island, where at least one person reported him to management. He was not fired until April 2023 when he was arrested and ultimately charged with sexually assaulting seven former patients, including five boys under the age of 18.

BR is one of hundreds of men who have filed lawsuits accusing hospitals of trying to keep Paduch from sexually abusing patients in his care but failing to prevent it.

Meet the press

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., suggested that should be one of Trump’s first priorities in his new term fire all Justice Department staff who worked on cases involving charges against the president-elect.

“First and foremost, the people involved in this need to be fired immediately,” Schmitt told moderator Kristen Welker.

“And everyone who participated in this, this effort to keep President Trump off the ballot and throw him in jail for the rest of his life because they didn’t like his politics, and who continue to cite him as a threat, democracy, had wrong, and so we’ll see where that goes,” he added.

Schmitt also said he would support Pam Bondi for attorney general. “I intend to help Pam Bondi get out the vote,” he said, describing her selection as a “home run by President Trump.”

You can watch the full interview here.

Politics in brief

Legal battle against abortion: Seven of 10 pro-abortion rights measures held across the country in November passed. The groups that supported them are working on it to ensure that these are carried out smoothly.

Promotion stopped: Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin does blocked the promotion of a general who oversaw troops in Afghanistan during the US withdrawal, as Trump’s transition team considers possible court-martial proceedings.

Trans legislator responds: Representative-elect Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender person elected to Congress, called Republicans‘ pressure to ban her from using women‘s bathrooms ‘small-minded’ and a distraction.

A more affordable Thanksgiving

You may not know it from looking at sticker prices, but Thanksgiving dinner is more affordable than it has been for decades.

Turkey is 6% cheaper than last yearSweet potatoes are 26% cheaper and the price of fresh cranberries remains at its lowest level since 2015, according to a national survey of food prices by the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Of course, it doesn’t feel that way for many households. But according to the AFBF report, “even with the declining purchasing power of the dollar, some goods in our basket are at the lowest price in the long run, even in terms of the ‘current dollar price’.”

As families do their Thanksgiving shopping, Chef Caroline Choe shared with NBC News how you can shake up your usual sides with banchanor Korean side dishes.

A ‘pop-u-lar’ film combination

Rejoice, movie fans! The one-two punch of witches and warriors made for a strong box office weekend to kick off the holiday season.

“Wicked,” the first of two film adaptations of the hit Broadway musical, dominated in North America alone with an estimated $114 million. “Gladiator II,” the sequel to the 2000 historical epic, grossed approximately $55.5 million.

The “Clicked” combo lagged behind last year‘S “Barbenheimer” phenomenonbut still inspired many to embrace it as a similar cinematic event, with costumes, merchandise and other forms of fan involvement.

“It’s such a big event: you have your Broadway theater people, and then of course you have people who just want a good time at the movies,” said a fan who saw both films on opening night. “The whole atmosphere is exciting.”

In case you missed it

• Forecasters are increasingly calling out a cold, soggy Thanksgiving week as winter storms continued to roll across the continental landscape from west to east.
• Nearly 50,000 people from 200 countries came to Azerbaijan for a major climate change conference. It‘The country was characterized by increasing divisions and infighting.
• There have been many families effectively eliminating a second rent check to send their children to daycare as costs rise, new data from the Department of Labor shows.
• Is a cold dip or a warm bath better for athletes after intensive exercise?
• A $6 million banana took the internet by storm. But in much of the broader art world it lacked a certain zest.
• A 51-year mystery has been partially solved as a girl whose body was found in a wooded area in 1973 has finally been identified like a missing schoolgirl.
• Max Verstappen took his fourth Formula 1 world championship Saturday night under the bright lights of Las Vegas, cementing his place among the legends of the sport.
• North America’s top professional sports leagues are warning their players about this a growing threat from organized burglary ringswhose favorite tools are passports, advanced technology and a 90-day calendar.