Trump casts doubt on election results after sweeping midterms loss

President Donald Trump on Monday cast doubt on his sweeping losses in the midterm congressional election, for the first time raising his trademark unsubstantiated claims of voting irregularities.

“Does anybody really believe that this “Election” was honest,” Trump vented on his social media site. “How could the Polls be so wrong???” Without offering any evidence, Trump suggested that Republicans were doomed to defeat because Democrats performed so well in early voting.

“Some early voting ‘dumps’ were so large that it was impossible to win, no matter how many people went to vote,” he added. Trump also suggested that voting machines could have somehow been rigged, presumably to hurt the chances of Republicans, again without providing any evidence to back up his claims.

“It’s all about the machines, which are far more important than the voter!” Trump said. Democrats swept to a historic landslide victory in the midterms, winning at least 54 Senate seats and 255 seats in the House of Representatives.

—New York Daily News

Feds' Hitler reference in University of Michigan terror case prompts judge's warning

DETROIT — A statement by U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon likening a group of pro-Palestinian protesters facing federal charges to Adolf Hitler is "very concerning," a judge said while reminding prosecutors about the risk of tainting a prospective jury pool in a case involving an alleged conspiracy to terrorize members of the Jewish community and University of Michigan officials.

U.S. District Judge Judith Levy shared her concerns Nov. 3 during a hearing in federal court in Ann Arbor, four days after Gorgon, the region's top federal law enforcement official, issued a press release announcing a new round of criminal charges in the case.

“These alleged attempts to terrorize our Jewish community and government officials are nothing new," Gorgon said in the statement. "From Pharaoh to Hitler to Hamas, those who terrorize Jews have been the bad guys. As Americans, our job is to fight the bad guys.”

In all, 12 people have been charged since May, including accused ringleader Zainab Hakim, who is accused of helping destroy one victim’s law firm, throwing canning jar bombs into a victim’s home and spray-painting a car belonging to the victim’s wife, part of what prosecutors said is a campaign to force UM to sever ties with Israel.

—The Detroit News

'Largest jewelry heist in US history' suspect agrees to plead guilty

LOS ANGELES — A man facing federal charges in what authorities have called the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history has agreed to plead guilty for his role in the crime.

Carlos Victor Mestanza Cercado was one of seven men charged with breaking into a Brinks big rig at a Grapevine truck stop and stealing around $100 million worth of gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and luxury watches in 2022. A month after charges were filed last year, authorities arrested Mestanza at an international airport in Panama, as he was on his way to Ecuador.

In a court filing made public Monday, Mestanza agreed to plead guilty to interference with commerce by robbery. His plea hearing is set for Nov. 19. Mestanza could face up to 20 years in prison. Mestanza's attorney declined to comment.

Three of Mestanza's co-defendants are set to go to trial in March. Another, Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores, was deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as he awaited trial. Prosecutors said they were unaware of the deportation and still hope to bring Flores to trial.

—Los Angeles Times

Eisenkot faces tough odds in quest to form Israeli coalition

Former Israeli general Gadi Eisenkot faces a daunting test as he tries to cobble together a ruling coalition from a divided opposition while potentially luring allies away from Benjamin Netanyahu, a master political tactician and veteran of national power struggles.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog tasked Eisenkot with forming the country’s next government on Sunday, after he secured the endorsement of 67 members of the Knesset, Israel’s newly elected parliament, compared with 46 for Netanyahu.

Yet there’s a significant gap between Eisenkot’s majority in party recommendations and his ability to translate those numbers into a functioning coalition. Some of those key endorsements come from Israeli Arab parties, and it would require a significant ideological compromise to bring them into government given public sentiment since the October 2023 Hamas attacks.

“We are in a state of emergency, approaching a point of no return for Israel,” Eisenkot said at a ceremony at the president’s residence, citing the country’s unresolved wars and diplomatic crises. “We must form a national emergency government and this will require creative and unconventional political steps,” he added.

—Bloomberg News