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It was a famous question that Howard Baker asked as the Watergate scandal was enveloping Richard Nixon.

"What did the president know and when did he know it?" the Tennessee senator proclaimed.

Plenty, as it turned out, and Nixon resigned rather than face certain impeachment and conviction.

Now, more than half a century later, the same question is being asked about another president.

TRUMP ALLEGEDLY THANKED POLICE FOR PROBING EPSTEIN IN 2000S, WARNED GHISLAINE MAXWELL IS ‘EVIL’: FBI DOC

It’s important to say upfront that the long-awaited Jeffrey Epstein files have produced not a scintilla of evidence that Donald Trump personally engaged in sexual misconduct.

But he knew a helluva lot more than he’s let on.

Thanks to the relentless reporting of the Miami Herald’s Julie Brown, who has blanketed this story since the sweetheart sentencing deal that Epstein finagled in 2008, Trump knew exactly what was going on between the reprehensible pedophile and underage girls.

EPSTEIN VICTIMS USE SUPER BOWL COMMERCIAL TO PRESSURE PAM BONDI OVER WITHHELD FILES

The scoop is based in part on a 2019 FBI interview with the former Palm Beach police chief, Michael Reiter.

In the summer of 2006, Reiter said, Trump called him and said everyone in Palm Beach and New York knew about Epstein’s sexual activities with minors.

He also said that Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s enabler and onetime girlfriend, now serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking, was "evil" and to focus on her.

"Thank goodness you’re stopping this, everyone has known he’s been doing this," Reiter recalled Trump saying, referring to an Epstein probe the chief had launched three years earlier.

What’s more, the chief says Trump told him "he was around Epstein once when teenagers were present and he ‘got the hell out of there.’"

During this period, a woman had called authorities and said her 14-year-old stepdaughter had been molested by Epstein, as had other girls at the same high school, who allegedly were giving Epstein massages or being subjected to assault or rape, according to this account.

Reiter brought the case to the state’s attorney, which declined to prosecute, and then to the FBI.

In a 2019 email before his suicide in prison, Epstein wrote: "Of course he knew about the girls, as he begged Ghislaine to stop."  

That same year, asked by reporters if he knew about Epstein’s depraved pedophilia, the president said: "No, I had no idea. I had no idea." 

CONSERVATIVE COLUMNIST SAYS DONALD TRUMP HAS LOST THE COUNTRY. IT’S COMPLICATED.

The absurd deal: prosecutors gave Epstein federal immunity in exchange for pleading guilty to two counts of solicitation, one involving a minor. He served all of 13 months.

Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, who is working with Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, yesterday named six people whose files were inexplicably redacted. That shielded them from public disclosure.

"There were six wealthy, powerful men that the DOJ hid for no apparent reason," Khanna said.

Khanna and Massie were allowed to review the unredacted files for two hours.

Khanna named them on the House floor, where he has immunity: 

"Salvatore Nuara, Zurab Mikeladze, Leonic Leonov, Nicola Caputo, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, CEO of Dubai Ports World, and billionaire businessman Leslie Wexner, who was labeled as a co-conspirator by the FBI. 

"Now my question is, why did it take Thomas Massie and me going to the Justice Department to get these six men’s identities to become public? And if we found six men that they were hiding in two hours, imagine how many men they are covering up for in those 3 million files."

That is indeed the question. Why were they shielded from public exposure? How many more are there?

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Maxwell, summoned by Republican James Comer’s Oversight Committee, invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, and indicated she would continue to do that unless Trump granted her clemency.

Trump had dropped hints when he and Epstein were still friendly. In a 2002 interview with New York Magazine, Trump called him a "terrific guy…it is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side."

The Epstein files have been politically toxic for Trump since the start of his second term. And now the plot is thickening.

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) refused to consider Moderna’s application for a new flu vaccine using mRNA technology, the company announced Tuesday, a decision that could delay the introduction of a shot designed to offer stronger protection for older adults.

Moderna said it received what’s known as a "refusal-to-file" (RTF) letter from the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), citing the lack of an "adequate and well-controlled" study with a comparator arm that "does not reflect the best-available standard of care."

Stéphane Bancel, chief executive officer of Moderna, said the FDA's decision did not "identify any safety or efficacy concerns with our product" and "does not further our shared goal of enhancing America’s leadership in developing innovative medicines."

"It should not be controversial to conduct a comprehensive review of a flu vaccine submission that uses an FDA-approved vaccine as a comparator in a study that was discussed and agreed on with CBER prior to starting," Bancel said in a statement. "We look forward to engaging with CBER to understand the path forward as quickly as possible so that America's seniors, and those with underlying conditions, continue to have access to American-made innovations."

RFK JR. DEFENDS FIRING SPREE AT CDC, VOWS ‘NEW BLOOD’ AT AGENCY

The rare decision from the FDA comes amid increased scrutiny over vaccine approvals under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has criticized mRNA vaccines and rolled back certain COVID-19 shot recommendations over the past year.

Kennedy previously removed members of the federal government’s vaccine advisory panel and appointed new members, and moved to cancel $500 million in mRNA vaccine contracts.

The FDA authorized COVID-19 vaccines for the fall for high-risk groups only. Last May, Kennedy announced the vaccines would be removed from the CDC’s routine immunization schedule for healthy children and pregnant women.

SEN BERNIE SANDERS CALLS ON RFK JR TO RESIGN FOLLOWING DEPARTURE OF CDC OFFICIALS

According to Moderna, the refusal-to-file decision was based on the company’s choice of comparator in its Phase 3 trial — a licensed standard-dose seasonal flu vaccine — which the FDA said did not reflect the "best-available standard of care."

Moderna said the decision contradicts prior written communications from the FDA, including 2024 guidance stating a standard-dose comparator would be acceptable, though a higher-dose vaccine was recommended for participants over 65.

Moderna said the FDA "did not raise any objections or clinical hold comments about the adequacy of the Phase 3 trial after the submission of the protocol in April 2024 or at any time before the initiation of the study in September 2024."

RFK JR LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION INTO SCHOOL FOR ALLEGED VACCINATION OF CHILD WITHOUT PARENTAL CONSENT

In August 2025, following completion of the Phase 3 efficacy trial, Moderna said it held a pre-submission meeting with CBER, which requested that supportive analyses on the comparator be included in the submission and indicated the data would be a "significant issue during review of your BLA."

Moderna said it provided the additional analyses requested by CBER in its submission, noting that "at no time in the pre-submission written feedback or meeting did CBER indicate that it would refuse to review the file."

The company requested a Type A meeting with CBER to understand the basis for the RTF letter, adding that regulatory reviews are continuing in the European Union, Canada and Australia.

Fox News has reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services for comment.

Fox News Digital's Alex Miller and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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A grand jury in the nation's capital on Tuesday refused the Justice Department's attempt to indict a group of Democratic lawmakers who encouraged U.S. military members to ignore "illegal" orders in a video posted online.

The DOJ opened an investigation into the video featuring six Democratic lawmakers calling on troops and members of the intelligence community to defy illegal orders from the federal government. The lawmakers all served in the military or at intelligence agencies.

The lawmakers in the video were Sens. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Mark Kelly of Arizona, as well as Reps. Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire and Jason Crow of Colorado.

"This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens," the lawmakers said in the video. "Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this Constitution. Right now, the threats coming to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad but from right here at home. Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution."

DEM SENATOR SAYS SHE'S UNDER FEDERAL INVESTIGATION OVER 'UNLAWFUL ORDERS' VIDEO

Grand jurors declined to sign off on charges against the lawmakers, according to The Associated Press. It was not immediately clear whether prosecutors had pursued indictments against all six lawmakers or what charges they attempted to bring.

Prosecutors could still attempt to secure an indictmentto secure an indictment against the Democrats.

President Donald Trump had accused the lawmakers of being "traitors" who engaged in "sedition at the highest level" and "should be in jail." He even suggested they should be executed over the video, although he later attempted to walk that comment back.

Slotkin, who previously worked at the CIA and Defense Department, was targeted with a bomb threat just days after the clip and Trump's subsequent statements suggesting the Democrats be executed.

SEN MARK KELLY DIGS IN ON 'ILLEGAL ORDERS' STANCE, TELLS JIMMY KIMMEL HE'S 'NOT BACKING DOWN'

"Tonight we can score one for the Constitution, our freedom of speech, and the rule of law," Slotkin said in a statement on Tuesday. "But today wasn’t just an embarrassing day for the Administration. It was another sad day for our country."

Kelly, a former Navy pilot, called the attempt to bring charges an "outrageous abuse of power by Donald Trump and his lackeys."

"Donald Trump wants every American to be too scared to speak out against him," Kelly said on X. "The most patriotic thing any of us can do is not back down."

In November, the Pentagon launched an investigation into Kelly, pointing to a federal law that allows retired service members to be recalled to active duty on orders of the secretary for possible court-martial or other punishment.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has censured Kelly and is attempting to retroactively demote Kelly from his retired rank of captain over his participation in the video, which affirms that refusing unlawful orders is a standard part of military protocol.

"As a retired Navy Captain who is still receiving a military pension, Captain Kelly knows he is still accountable to military justice," Hegseth wrote in an X post on Jan. 5.

Kelly responded by suing Hegseth to block those proceedings, which he called an unconstitutional act of retribution.

During a hearing last week, a judge appeared to be skeptical of key arguments that a government attorney made in defense of Hegseth's move last month to censure the Arizona senator.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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FIRST ON FOX: Hours before banging the gavel to commence a hearing Tuesday to investigate the dynamic of "malign foreign influence," House Committee on Ways and Means chair Jason Smith escalated his investigation into the China-based, American-born Marxist tech tycoon, Neville Roy Singham, who has allegedly been "sowing chaos and spreading Chinese propaganda, possibly in coordination with a foreign government."

Fox News Digital has obtained copies of letters that Smith sent on Monday night to two U.S. nonprofits – BreakThrough BT Media Inc. and Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research – demanding records of their ties to Singham and alleging they are promoting propaganda aligned with the Chinese Communist Party.

At 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Smith will chair a hearing called, "Foreign Influence in American Non-profits: Unmasking Threats from Beijing and Beyond." The hearing will be broadcast online at the committee’s website. Singham, Tricontinental and BreakThrough BT Media, which publishes articles as "BreakThrough News," didn't respond to requests for comment.

Congressional investigators say the Singham network sits at the center of a malign foreign influence operation that allegedly exploits U.S. nonprofit laws to inject anti-American propaganda into domestic protest movements and sow discord from within the United States.

In separate letters, Smith demanded records from BreakThrough and Tricontinental, warning that both tax-exempt organizations may be operating outside their lawful purpose as possible unregistered foreign agents, while helping to fuel domestic unrest under the guise of journalism and academic research.

ANTI-ICE 'DIGITAL MINUTEMEN' USE MILITARY-GRADE SURVEILLANCE TACTICS AGAINST FEDS

The letters describe a full-spectrum operation, with funding aligned with foreign interests flowing into tax-exempt nonprofits that produce ideological research, media narratives and social media messaging, which are then deployed onto U.S. streets through tightly choreographed protests.

Over the past year, Fox News Digital has documented a pattern of coordinated protests by socialist, communist and Marxist groups, revealing a synchronized ecosystem of funding, media amplification, ideological framing and street-level mobilization that aligns with the strategic interests of hostile foreign governments, including the People’s Republic of China.

"Tax-exempt status is a privilege not a right," Smith told Fox News Digital. "Nonprofits must remain accountable and refuse to act as instruments of hostile foreign governments."

The Ways and Means Committee "continues to investigate how foreign money and foreign-linked networks are funneled through tax-exempt entities to sow discord and unrest in our society," he said. "That’s why we’re demanding answers from Tricontinental and BreakThrough about their funding streams, activities and communications with CCP-linked individuals, including Neville Roy Singham."

"If the evidence shows these groups are acting as conduits for CCP-aligned propaganda or functioning like foreign agents while enjoying U.S. tax benefits, their tax-exempt status should be revoked immediately," Smith said. "We’re going to follow the money and demand accountability to put a stop to Beijing’s exploitation of our tax-exempt sector."

In his letter to Karla Reyes, chair and director of BreakThrough, Smith wrote that he was "disturbed by the connections between BreakThrough and Chinese Communist Party linked organizations" and launched an inquiry into whether the outlet deserves its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.

Smith emphasized that the investigation is not about suppressing speech but about whether nonprofit protections are being abused. He wrote that, under federal law, "if more than an insubstantial part of an organization’s activities is not in furtherance of a tax-exempt purpose…the organization is not operated exclusively for such exempt purpose." He cited Supreme Court precedent stating that "the presence of a single nonexempt purpose, if substantial in nature, will destroy the exemption regardless of the number or importance of truly exempt purposes."

In the letter, Smith warned that receiving funding from "an individual who lives in Shanghai, maintains business ties with companies and individuals linked to the CCP, works with and physically alongside a foreign propaganda company, and attends CCP forums on how to promote the party abroad" raises "serious questions" about whether BreakThrough qualifies as an "agent of a foreign principal" under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

THE FAR-LEFT NETWORK THAT HELPED PUT ALEX PRETTI IN HARM'S WAY, THEN MADE HIM A MARTYR

Since its inception, he noted that BreakThrough has produced and distributed content that "aligns with pro-CCP rhetoric across both the United States and the globe." Following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, Smith wrote that BreakThrough News "dramatically shifted their coverage in a way that suggests its intent on sowing division within the United States," while portraying China in an "overwhelmingly positive light."

As reported, BreakThrough was one of the first social media accounts to publish the video of the killing of anti-ICE demonstrator Alex Pretti.

The investigation places BreakThrough within a broader network that includes Tricontinental, the People’s Forum, the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the ANSWER Coalition, groups that Fox News Digital has documented working alongside organizations such as the Democratic Socialists of America to mobilize protests, train "rapid responders" and flood social media with coordinated narratives during flashpoint events, from immigration enforcement actions to the arrest of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro.

BreakThrough was also one of the first social media accounts to publish video of the U.S. strike over Caracas when Maduro was arrested.

SECOND FRONT: HOW A SOCIALIST CELL IN THE US MOBILIZED PRO-MADURO FOOT SOLDIERS WITHIN 12 HOURS

In his letter to Vijay Prashad, executive director of Tricontinental, Smith said that he was "disturbed by the connections between yourself, Tricontinental and organizations linked to the CCP." He described Tricontinental as an organization that has been "responsible for spreading Marxist and anti-American rhetoric across both the United States and the globe," and possibly "sowing chaos and spreading Chinese propaganda, possibly in coordination with a foreign government."

Committee investigators tied Prashad directly to Chinese state-linked institutions, noting his role as a senior fellow at a think tank connected to China’s Ministry of Education and his participation in conferences hosted by universities funded by the Chinese Communist Party. He also detailed Tricontinental’s financial relationship with Maku Group, a Chinese media company whose stated mission is to "tell China’s story well," and disclosed that Tricontinental paid the firm more than $2.1 million for "research, analysis, and translation services."

The committee also documented Tricontinental’s deep financial and structural ties to Singham, noting that the organization received millions of dollars from entities linked to him, employs his son as a researcher and lists Singham as chair of its international advisory board. Multiple reports, Smith wrote, have found that Tricontinental is "part of Mr. Singham’s network of non-profit organizations that serve as his conduits to spread pro-CCP narratives," including media outlets where Prashad appears regularly.

Researchers say the nonprofits under scrutiny engage in a dynamic known as "narrative convergence," echoing the propaganda of foreign adversaries. In a new report, the Network Contagion Research Institute, based in Princeton, N.J., documented how the Democratic Socialists of America sent delegations to China, Cuba and Venezuela and then, upon returning to the United States, deployed slogans at protests that mirror the anti-U.S. rhetoric of those governments.

The institute concluded that the Democratic Socialists of America "exhibits multiple indicators" warranting scrutiny as a foreign lobbyist. Democratic Socialists of America didn't return a request for comment.

Smith echoed those concerns in his Tricontinental letter, warning that the People’s Forum and allied groups "continued to organize protests aligned with Chinese talking points," including demonstrations that "turned violent in Minnesota."

National security analysts say the hearing represents a critical moment in what they describe as a new cognitive war, in which foreign adversaries seek to weaponize outrage, protest and information to weaken the United States from within.

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This is hardly a breaking-news situation. It’s not like some horrible new information has been unearthed in the last few days about the President of the United States.

(Though I don’t think he helped himself by posting the Obamas-as-apes image and refusing to apologize.) 

I started thinking about this after some comments by Ross Douthat, the moderately conservative New York Times columnist, who is, shall we say, a frequent critic of Donald Trump.

"I want to tell you a secret," Douthat says in the video. Well, that sounds exciting.

WHITE HOUSE REMOVES SOCIAL MEDIA VIDEO SHOWING OBAMAS AS APES AFTER CRITICISM

"One that most conservatives on the internet don’t want you to know. A year into his second presidency, Donald Trump has lost the country."

Is that true?

He’s not just saying that the Democrats are going to crush the GOP in the midterms the same way that the Seattle Seahawks annihilated the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. 

He plays clips of pundits analyzing the latest polls, such as Trump with an approval rating of 37%, and a majority of Americans saying the country is worse off than a year ago. 

But is this the rarefied view of the Acela corridor intelligentsia that doesn’t reflect the Silent Majority, a term popularized by Richard Nixon that Trump has now embraced?

TRUMP DEFENDS MINNEAPOLIS FEDERAL ENFORCEMENT, SAYS CRIME PLUNGED AFTER ‘THOUSANDS OF CRIMINALS’ REMOVED

Let Douthat make his case: "And all of this was predictable. From the first days of DOGE through the debacle in Minneapolis, the Trump administration has consistently governed as if swing voters aren’t part of its coalition. And now, guess what? They’re not."

Let me toss out some caveats:

Donald Trump has been declared politically dead with stunning regularity over the last decade. After his "Access Hollywood" comments about having his way with women. After the payment of hush money to Stormy Daniels. And even by most fellow Republicans after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.

Not to mention by the four indictments, with one conviction, that undoubtedly wound up helping Trump because they were viewed as overkill.

How many political geniuses thought at the time that Trump could come back to win a second term? 

And while I agree that the Democrats have hurricane-force winds at their backs for the midterms, it is still nine months away with many unknown variables, especially the state of the economy in the wake of Trump’s tariffs.

What’s more, Trump’s divisive governing style has always focused on playing to his MAGA base, while doggedly denouncing Democratic leaders (Tim Walz is "seriously r------d"), their cities (Baltimore is a "hellhole"), and saying Somalis are "garbage" and should be sent home. 

"But here’s the thing," says Douthat. "It isn’t moderates and swing voters who lose out when the Trump administration becomes unpopular. It’s people on the right. People like me, and certainly people further to my right who support many of the things the Trump administration has tried to do, from securing the border to pressuring American institutions to become more ideologically diverse, to resetting and rolling back DEI. All of that, all of that agenda will just disappear if the Republican Party can’t win elections."

FEDS SHIFT TO TARGETED IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT IN MINNEAPOLIS UNDER HOMAN

Having offered up various explanations, I have to say I think Ross Douthat is onto something.

We’ve been through a stretch in which the president has kidnapped the leader of Venezuela (though Nicolás Maduro is a crooked thug), threatened to take over Greenland, alienated Canada with his 51st-state talk, abolished the East Wing, ordered his name chiseled onto the Kennedy Center, and presided over a 43-day government shutdown, the longest in American history.

And he remains dogged by the Jeffrey Epstein files, though I’d argue that the documents confirm he didn’t personally engage in sexual misconduct.

Trump has also made no effort to hide his campaign of retribution against political enemies, although such attempts have often been rebuffed by the courts (such as a judge throwing out charges against Jim Comey and Letitia James).

I think it’s something even more visceral than that.

The awful excesses of ICE have fueled a fierce backlash against the federal forces that are carrying out Trump’s signature campaign issue, a program of mass deportation. And the violence directed at these agents is of course reprehensible.

Yet every couple of days, Americans are hearing about, or viewing phone videos of, ICE detaining a 5-year-old boy, ICE dragging a man in his underwear into the snow before returning him, ICE pulling American citizens from their cars, ICE breaking a car window after being told a month-old baby was in the back, covering the infant with shards of glass.

CALM AMID CHAOS: NOEM DEFIES CALLS TO RESIGN, TOUTS BORDER VICTORY AS SHUTDOWNS, STORMS AND RIOTS SWIRL

DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin told me in a video podcast interview that she stands by her comments that Renee Good was a domestic terrorist.

But it’s the killing of Good, who had just dropped her child at school, and especially Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse working with veterans, that have really shaken the country and made Minneapolis resemble a warzone.

The president has toned down his rhetoric, saying ICE should have used a "softer touch," expressing sympathy for the dead Americans, and beginning a partial pullback from Minnesota.

Sometimes an accumulation of issues reaches a tipping point, one that grabs people by the throat and won’t let go, inflicting lasting damage. 

So has Trump lost the country? It’s complicated.    

The tipping-point issue easily becomes shorthand for all the other attributes that people dislike about a politician. The economy really isn’t that bad, with 4.4% unemployment, but many Americans perceive their situation to be worse.

ICE’s sometimes brutal tactics, which are supposed to be aimed at illegal immigrants and the so-called "worst of the worst," are increasingly being used against American citizens.

Less than 14% of the nearly 400,000 immigrants arrested by ICE in the past year had charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses, says an internal Homeland Security document obtained by CBS.

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And then there are the children caught up in this web. According to a lawsuit, 18-month-old Amelia was rushed to a hospital with life-threatening respiratory failure, then sent back to a Texas detention center, where she was allegedly denied the daily medication doctors prescribed. As the toddler struggled to breathe, "she was on the brink of dying," said an immigrants’ advocate at Columbia Law School, according to NBC. (Amelia was released after the suit was filed.)

I would never rule out Trump’s ability to bounce back. But the angst over ICE, and the assault on citizens of this country, have left an indelible scar on his presidency.

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The first time I spoke to Jeff Bezos, he had founded Amazon as an online bookstore and made himself available to all kinds of journalists — a "political genius," said the New York Times Magazine, a "brilliant, charming, hyper, and misleadingly goofy mastermind." In 1999, having blown past the naysayers who scoffed at the strange notion of online retailing, the 35-year-old businessman was named Time’s Person of the Year.

Nearly a decade-and-a-half later, as one of the world’s richest men, Bezos spent $250 million of his personal fortune to buy the Washington Post from Katharine Graham’s family.

And now he should fold his cards and sell it.

It’s a different era for the industry and a very different Bezos, one who is comfortable slashing a third of the paper’s staff.

EX-WASHINGTON POST FACT CHECKER HITS ‘ABSENTEE OWNER’ BEZOS, TELLS HIM TO COMMIT TO SAVING PAPER OR SELL IT

Having initially declared that "the duty of the paper is to the readers, not the owners," Bezos, whose Blue Origin company has federal contracts, is actively trying to repair his once-strained relationship with President Donald Trump. Amazon donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration.

While management has made more than its share of mistakes, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Bezos has destroyed what was once one of America’s great newspapers.

I bring my personal history to the table. I spent 29 years at the Post, working for Bob Woodward’s investigative SWAT team, as Justice Department reporter, as New York bureau chief, and eventually as media reporter and columnist.

In the 1980s and ’90s, when newspapers really mattered, the Post, while lacking the resources of the New York Times, delivered scoops with an all-star team, from politics (David Broder and Dan Balz) to sports (Tony Kornheiser, Michael Wilbon and Tom Boswell) to the metro desk (Woodward and Bernstein). And there was the freewheeling Style section of Sally Quinn and many other narrative writers.

This was the paper of Watergate, helping to drive Richard Nixon from office, after defying his administration in running the Pentagon Papers, documenting the lies of the Vietnam War. It was the newspaper of the legendary Ben Bradlee, whose retirement I covered after being secretly briefed. Despite occasional blunders (such as Janet Cooke’s fraud), it was glamorized in two movies (Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman in "All the President’s Men," Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks in "The Post"), inspiring legions of young graduates to go into journalism.

When Bezos fired 300 journalists the other day, he completed the wave of destruction that had already left the Post a shell of its former self. Those dismissed included such remaining stars as Lizzie Johnson, who said she was "devastated" as she reported from the Ukraine war zone without heat or running water. And Marty Weil, a sardonic night-shift guy who has been at the paper for 60 years. And Sarah Ellison, an elegant writer who came from Vanity Fair. And this wrecking ball followed several earlier rounds of layoffs. 

Bezos doesn’t care. I just think he’s bored with the property he once believed would bring him instant credibility. He’s more interested in his rocket company. The Post is a blip on his global radar.

PROMINENT PITTSBURGH NEWSPAPER THAT PREVIOUSLY ENDORSED TRUMP TO SHUTTER THIS YEAR

I’m not in the camp that says Bezos should subsidize the paper forever just because he’s uber-rich. With the paper losing $100 million last year, he’s entitled to look for a path to profitability. But Bezos is getting absolutely hammered by the media. 

"We’re witnessing a murder," wrote Ashley Parker, now with the Atlantic.

Liberal commentator Charlie Sykes offered this headline: "Gutless Billionaire Guts the Post."

Former executive editor Marty Baron, who previously ran the prize-winning Boston Globe, declared: "Bezos’ sickening efforts to curry favor with President Trump have left an especially ugly stain of their own. This is a case study in near-instant, self-inflicted brand destruction."

Onetime Metro editor David Maraniss, a a mentor to so many at the paper, said: "He bought the Post thinking that it would give him some gravitas and grace that he couldn’t get from just billions of dollars, and then the world changed. Now I don’t think he gives a flying f***."

In fairness, many newspapers have struggled with the collapse of their business model, as classifieds and advertising migrated online, and people could get breaking news from their phones or watches. Some converted to websites; the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is closing in May. 

More than a quarter of American newspapers have folded in the past two decades. Back in 1981, the Washington Star, where I worked, was shuttered as afternoon papers became obsolete.

But the Post is a classic case study of failure to adapt to the digital age. Katharine Graham was skeptical when she summoned me to explain this emerging universe.

EX-WASHINGTON POST CHIEF BLASTS 'GUTLESS' BEZOS AS PAPER ROCKED BY MAJOR LAYOFFS

In the Bezos era, the crashing waves of cutbacks meant asking readers to keep paying for a product that grew increasingly diminished over time, with its star players defecting to other major outlets. 

At first, Bezos took a hands-off approach, seemingly in sync with the newsroom culture. During Trump’s first term, he coined the slogan "Democracy Dies in Darkness." But there was a drastic shift in 2024.

When the editorial board drafted an endorsement of Kamala Harris, Bezos killed it, which as the owner he has every right to do. Had he decided on a non-endorsement earlier, few would have cared. But Bezos wielded the ax a week before the election, and the furor was deafening. As the Post itself reported, more than 250,000 people canceled their subscriptions.

Four months later, Bezos decreed that the editorial pages would focus every day on promoting "personal liberties" and "free markets," banning any attempt to offer opposing views. Opinion Editor David Shipley, whose section had won two Pulitzers, resigned, and other editors and columnists cut ties with the Post.  

Meanwhile, the mogul socialized with the Trumps at Mar-a-Lago, and sat behind the president at his second inauguration.

Bezos himself, as everyone knows, is now quite the jet-setter. He found himself in the middle of a tabloid scandal when the National Enquirer published lewd texts between Bezos and his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, as news of his divorce was breaking. The Enquirer also published pictures of his genitals, which he slammed as an attempt at blackmail. Bezos proposed to Sanchez on his 417-foot yacht, and they were married last spring in Venice, an extravaganza attended by the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gayle King, Tom Brady and Kim Kardashian. The price tag for the multi-day celebrations was somewhere between $20 million and $50 million.

For Bezos, this was basically spare change. Peter Baker, a Post alumnus who is now chief White House correspondent at the Times and an MS NOW analyst, reports that Bezos’ net worth is up $224 billion since buying the Washington paper.

So why does Bezos need the headache? He should unload this distressed asset to someone who would have a fresh shot at resuscitating the Washington Post from its near-death experience–though in all candor, it’s probably too late.

A day after abolishing the Post’s sports section, CEO Will Lewis – who blew off the staff call explaining the layoffs – was walking the red carpet at the NFL Honors in San Francisco, an event leading up to the Super Bowl. Those who had lost their jobs, and their colleagues, were furious.

Even worse, he wouldn’t allow the Post to write about the sweeping layoffs. Seriously. His terse farewell note thanked only Bezos.

Back in the day, there would have been a half-dozen stories in the Post about the journalistic earthquake in its midst. But that was a long time ago.

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A relatively brief, but lucrative ICE surge into West Virginia netted roughly 650 illegal immigrant arrests earlier this month — a two-week, statewide operation officials say unfolded with little disruption and now stands as a counterpoint to the turmoil surrounding similar enforcement efforts in Minnesota.

From Jan. 5 through Jan. 19, federal agents fanned out across the Mountain State — at times working with local law enforcement — targeting illegal immigrants with criminal histories or prior deportation orders, DHS officials told Fox News Digital.

Officials involved contrast the West Virginia operation with recent tensions in Minnesota, where ICE-related enforcement actions have sparked sustained protests, surveillance of federal agents and confrontations with law enforcement.

"I think the most important thing to notice here is that West Virginia and similarly situated states … have made it very, very easy for criminal illegal aliens to be picked up and processed by ICE," West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview.

MANY OF AMERICA’S SAFEST CITIES ARE IN JURISDICTIONS THAT COOPERATE WITH ICE

Some of the operations even reached the state’s bluer-tinged Eastern Panhandle, the fast-growing exurb of Washington, D.C., where officials say cooperation, not confrontation, defined the response.

There, Jefferson County Sheriff Thomas Hansen confirmed a two-week operation with ICE in his jurisdiction, which includes Charles Town, Harpers Ferry and Summit Point.

"The (JCSO) was impressed with the professionalism and work ethic of the agents and how well they interacted with the citizens and local law enforcement officers," Hansen said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.

McCuskey said the lack of disruption in West Virginia reflected a cooperative approach that he argued prevented the kind of disorder seen elsewhere.

"When you contrast that with places like Minnesota, where you have Keith Ellison — who's obviously embroiled in a massive fraud scandal involving Somali immigrants, et cetera, what you see is riots and violence," he said.

McCuskey suggested the West Virginia mission shows Minnesota’s leadership can no longer blame federal law for its approach, noting that all states still operate under the same immigration statutes that have remained intact since the Obama administration.

TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION VICTORY IN A MINNESOTA COURT IS A WIN FOR ALL LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS

"All God-fearing Americans believe in immigration. We believe that the promise of this country should be available to those who want to come to America the right way, follow our laws, and become great parts of this incredible quilt that is the American experience," McCuskey said.

"And if your first act as a hopeful new American is to break our laws, that trust has been broken."

McCuskey also accused Minnesota’s leadership of failing on parallel issues, calling Ellison "dalliant" in confronting social services fraud.

"My office [oversees] the same things," he said, noting West Virginia also has a high proportion of residents on entitlements but lacks the level of fraud he says plagues Minnesota.

Just across the Potomac River from ICE’s Martinsburg sting, Maryland Democrats lambasted ICE’s presence in Washington County.

ICE REVEALS 'WORST OF THE WORST' ARRESTS IN JUST ONE DAY AFTER ROUNDING UP 'THUGS' CONVICTED OF VILE CRIMES

McCuskey called that a "representation of the generalized idiocy of most of the Democrats in Congress, who have sat on their hands for the last 25 years and done nothing about the very immigration laws that they're very angry about being enforced."

Ellison, by contrast, showered protesters with praise at a recent public appearance, calling ICE's operations a "federal invasion" and telling those assembled in the Twin Cities that he "wanted you to know that I was here with you, fighting with you, standing with you. Keep fighting, stand up strong, don’t back down."

Fox News Digital reached out to Ellison and Gov. Tim Walz for comment, but neither office responded. DHS officials, however, said they expect states that cooperate with ICE to see similar success to West Virginia.

Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said "work[ing] together can make America safe again."

DHS told Fox News Digital of similarly low-profile ICE operations in Alabama, including activity near Birmingham that netted a violent illegal immigrant accused of stabbing a federal agent, along with enforcement actions in other cities reported by local media.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and Sen. Tommy Tuberville told Fox News Digital they will continue to welcome federal agents in the Yellowhammer State, with Tuberville, a candidate for governor, quipping that one mayor who has pledged to protect illegal immigrants "won’t like me very much" if he succeeds Ivey.

Those arrested in the West Virginia sweep included Mexican national Enrique Vergara — convicted of assault with a weapon — Guatemalan national Isaias Santos — convicted of several violent charges — Julian Garza, charged with auto theft; Brayan Canelis-Giron, charged with domestic violence and gun offenses; and Dennis Paz-Vallecillo, convicted of child neglect.

Not every Mountaineer leader was on board, however, as WVDP Chair Mike Pushkin — a state delegate from Kanawha County — told Fox News Digital people "have to be honest about what’s really going on here."

FROM PROTEST TO FELONY: THE LINES MINNESOTA ANTI-ICE AGITATORS MAY BE CROSSING

"The difference between what you’re seeing in Minnesota and what’s happening in West Virginia isn’t complicated — it’s courage," Pushkin said, crediting Minnesota leaders with standing up to President Donald Trump "trampl[ing] due process and ignor[ing] the Constitution."

"Republican leaders here won’t even clear their throats — and trying to compare the size and scope of the Minnesota operation to what happened here is just silly. That’s like comparing a house fire to a burnt piece of toast and pretending they’re the same emergency," he said.

Pushkin cited a Clinton-appointed judge’s order that some of the detainees be released, including two men picked up on the West Virginia Turnpike.

"In the court’s words, there wasn’t ‘a shred of evidence to justify the government’s position’ — that should be the headline. That should alarm anyone who cares about freedom or the rule of law," Pushkin said.

"Minnesota leaders pushed back. West Virginia’s Republican leadership just clicked their heels, saluted, and fell in line."

HOMAN ANNOUNCES DRAWDOWN OF FEDERAL PRESENCE IN MINNESOTA, HAILS 'UNPRECEDENTED COOPERATION' FROM LOCAL POLICE

Fox News Digital also asked several blue-state leaders about the cooperation contrast but heard back from only one.

A spokeswoman for California Gov. Gavin Newsom said that if the feds truly cared about getting "hardened criminals off our streets, they would pick up every person released from our state prisons that have immigration detainers placed on them."

Diana Crofts-Pelayo said there’s only a one-in-eight rate in that regard, which she said shows the Trump administration just wants to "cause panic and fear to ultimately ensure compliance to a dangerous immigration agenda that threatens Americans’ safety, affordability and freedom."

A California source familiar with the immigration enforcement dynamic there said that immigrants who commit crimes are subject to certain exceptions that do allow local law enforcement cooperation with ICE, particularly those charged with a violent felony.

DHS said that cooperation with federal law enforcement is the safest and most effective option for state officials.

"Sanctuary politicians who refuse to cooperate with DHS law enforcement are wasting law enforcement time, energy, and resources, while putting their own constituents in danger," McLaughlin told Fox News Digital, crediting West Virginia officials with allowing such a quick and effective operation and expressing hope that other states would follow suit.

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