White House will ‘neither defend nor criticize’ FBI chief

Maronite Christian Michel Aoun elected Lebanese president

Former Lebanese army general Michel Aoun is elected president of the country, ending a political stalemate of more than two years.

Lawmakers convene at noon for their 46th attempt to elect a president, but the first to actually produce a result.

The 81-year-old Maronite Christian long eyed the presidency, and his candidacy was backed by the powerful Shiite terror group Hezbollah movement, his ally since a surprise rapprochement in 2006.

But the key to clinching the post is the shock support of two of his greatest rivals: Samir Geagea, leader of the Christian Lebanese Forces, and Sunni former premier Saad Hariri.

Hariri says his endorsement of Aoun is necessary to “protect Lebanon, protect the (political) system, protect the state and protect the Lebanese people.”

— with AFP

A supporter of Michel Aoun holds his portrait and the Lebanese flag on the outskirts of Beirut, ahead of the October 31, 2016, parliament session that elected the ex-general as president. (AFP PHOTO/ANWAR AMRO)

Japan teen idol girl band sparks Nazi row

A Japanese teeny-bop girl band triggers outrage after wearing military-style costumes that are compared to Nazi uniforms at a Halloween concert.

Keyakizaka46 sparks an online storm with their black one-piece dresses and capes, complete with peaked caps bearing a golden bird symbol resembling the Nazi eagle above a swastika.

Social media has lit up since the troupe took to the stage in Yokohama on October 22.

Members of Japanese girl band Keyakizaka46 wearing military-style costumes that were compared to Nazi uniforms. (screen capture: YouTube)

In a Twitter backlash, several users slam their choice of costume as “unforgivable” and “unacceptable” while Berlin-based Japanese writer Ichika Rokuso posts: “Seventy-one years have passed since the war ended but there are many people who lost loved ones. Please remember that.”

Other angry tweeters post pictures of Nazis next to images of band members, who posed for photos in their controversial garb before the show.

Keyakizaka46 shot to stardom since being formed in 2015 by producer and lyricist Yasushi Akimoto, reaching number one in Japan with its debut single “Silent Majority.”

— AFP

Syrian woman, children found dead in Danish freezer

Danish police say they found the bodies of a slain Syrian refugee and her two young daughters in a freezer in their apartment, as they launched a manhunt for the girls’ father.

The bodies of the 27-year-old mother and her seven- and nine-year-old daughters were found inside a freezer in their apartment in the southern Danish town of Aabenraa after a concerned relative had not heard from them for days.

“Police went into the apartment and found the three bodies in a freezer,” local police say in a statement.

“The victim’s husband and the father of the two children was not in the apartment, and we are actively searching for him,” the statement adds.

The Syrian family arrived in Denmark in 2015 and was granted refugee status.

— AFP

8 arrested in East Jerusalem for rioting, hurling firebombs

Eight people are arrested in East Jerusalem on suspicion of taking part in riots and throwing stones and Molotov cocktails.

The eight, including three minors, are detained in raids in the Silwan and A-Tur neighborhoods.

Police say the arrests will continue as long as there are efforts to attack members of the security forces.

— Judah Ari Gross

Coalition to boycott Arab MKs’ speeches over Peres snub

Chairman of the coalition David Bitan says its MKs are planning a walkout during speeches by lawmakers from the Joint (Arab) List at this week’s Knesset sessions, over the party’s boycott of former president Shimon Peres’s funeral.

Responding to the announcement, Joint List chairman Ayman Ouda says he’s “not surprised” at the move, noting what he called “fascist and racist policies” of the government.

“Even if you leave the plenary, even if you shut your eyes really tightly, we will still be here,” he says. “I see this as an excellent opportunity to speak directly to the public without interruptions.”

The decision by Arab MKs to miss the September 30 funeral for the former president and prime minister was condemned by their colleagues across the political spectrum.

President Reuven Rivlin, right, meets Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during the funeral for late former president Shimo Peres at Mount Herzl Cemetery in Jerusalem, on September 30, 2016. (Photo by Mark Neyman/GPO)

— Raoul Wootliff

Iraqi special forces near outskirts of IS-held Mosul

Iraqi special forces advance on the Islamic State-held city of Mosul from the east, taking heavy fire but entering the last village before the city limits and clearing a path that is followed by army units.

Armored vehicles, including Abrams tanks, draw mortar and small arms fire as they move on the village of Bazwaya in the dawn assault, while allied artillery and airstrikes hit IS positions.

Car bombers are trying to stop the advance, but the troops, just 2 miles (3 kilometers) from Mosul’s eastern outskirts, aim to enter it later in the day, said Brig. Gen. Haider Fadhil. The army said another unit, its ninth division, had moved up toward Mosul and was now approximately three miles from its eastern outskirts.

Shiite fighters from the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization) advance towards the Iraqi village of Salmani, south of Mosul, on October 30, 2016 during the ongoing battle to liberate the city from Islamic State jihadists. (AFP PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE

State television describes the operation as a “battle of honor” to liberate the city, captured by IS from a superior yet neglected Iraqi force in 2014. The US military estimates IS has 3,000 to 5,000 fighters inside Mosul and another 1,500-2,500 in the city’s outer defensive belt.

Some residents are hanging white flags on buildings and from windows in a sign they will not resist the government troops, says Maj. Salam al-Obeidi, a member of the special forces operation in Bazwaya. He says troops are requesting residents stay inside their homes as forces travel on the streets, guarding against potential suicide bombers.

— AP

Yesh Atid will back budget, if it includes money for the north

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid says his opposition party will support the budget, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reinstates a financial plan to develop northern Israeli communities.

“If the plan is put back in the budget, as the prime minister has promised, we will vote for it, happily,” Lapid says at the start of the party’s weekly faction meeting.

The budget has funding for all parties, but “for this, there is no money,” he says.

Meretz MK Ilan Gilon (right) speaks during a protest by residents of northern Israel at the Knesset in Jerusalem on October 31, 2016, against proposed budget cuts for their communities. The banners read: ‘The government is losing the north.’ (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Lapid speaks as hundreds of protesters from northern Israel rally outside the Knesset to protest the government’s decision to excise the program from its two-year budget.

Earlier, protesters against the cut hurled toilet paper at Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon during a Finance Committee meeting.

— Marissa Newman

Livni: PM trying to silence media, wants ‘weak’ press

Tzipi Livni accuses Netanyahu of attempting to silence the media, saying he wants a “weak” press.

Attacking the PM’s efforts to dismantle a new public broadcasting corporation, the Zionist Union MK says Netanyahu “wants there to be only one voice — his own.”

“If there is no public broadcaster — the public is damaged,” she says.

— Marissa Newman

Liberman hails coalition boycott of Arab MKs’ speeches

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman praises the coalition for boycotting the Arab MKs over their decision to skip the funeral of former president Shimon Peres.

“I hope that same boycott will continue until the end of the session, and will not be a one-time thing,” he says.

He calls the MKs “representatives of terror groups in the Israeli government,” who are “not legitimate [and] not wanted here.”

But he says most Arab Israelis are loyal and should be integrated into Israeli society.

— Marissa Newman

IDF investigating reports of gunfire near Druze town on Golan

The IDF says it is investigating reports of gunfire heard by soldiers stationed near the Druze town of Majdal Shams, on the Golan Heights close to the Syrian border.

— Judah Ari Gross

Lebanese president cites Israeli ‘enemy’ in swearing-in speech

Newly elected Lebanese President Michel Aoun includes a warning to the Israel “enemy” in his swearing-in speech.

“We will spare no effort to liberate what is left of our occupied territories,” Aoun says, according to the Hebrew-language Ynet news website.

“We will spare no effort in protecting our homeland from the enemy that is still eyeing our land and our resources,” he adds.

Herzog: Government facing numerous ‘real challenges’

Zionist Union chairman Isaac Herzog says the government is facing “real challenges,” including the “stability of democracy,” the matter of the evacuation of the illegal Amona outpost, and the two-year budget.

He says the “hatred that led to [the assassination of former prime minister Yitzhak] Rabin has a new face,” which he describes as hatred of a political position, rather than toward an individual.

Herzog urges all Israelis to attend the Rabin memorial in Tel Aviv on Saturday night.

He says that will attend the the memorial in Rabin Square alongside Livni. “I call on all Israeli citizens, on all the MKs, on all party members” to attend, he says.

From left: Opposition בhairman Isaac Herzog, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and Likud MK Avi Dichter attend a meeting of the Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee at the Knesset on October 31, 2016. (Photo by Miriam Alster/Flash90)

— Marissa Newman

Bennett calls on Israel to be ‘brave,’ annex Ma’ale Adumim

Education Minister Naftali Bennett urges Israel to be “brave” and annex a major West Bank settlement near Jerusalem in return for any antagonistic measures.

If the UN Security Council advances a “one-sided” resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel must respond with the annexation of Ma’ale Adumim, he says at the opening of a Jewish Home faction meeting.

“If the UN Security Council works unilaterally, so will we,” he says. “The time has come to regulate the settlements in Judea and Samaria.”

— Marissa Newman

Tibi slams ‘unprecedented’ coalition boycott of Joint List MKs

Arab MK Ahmad Tibi slams the decision by the coalition to boycott every speech by lawmakers from his Joint List faction.

“The announcement by the prime minister on the boycott of an entire faction that represents an entire public is unprecedented,” Tibi writes in Hebrew on Twitter.

הודעת רה׳מ על החרם נגד סיעה שלמה המייצגת ציבור שלם היא חסרת תקדים. https://t.co/yXJ8KCDVkG

— Ahmad Tibi (@Ahmad_tibi) October 31, 2016

Palestinian Authority said seeking to join Interpol

Palestinian Ambassador to Turkey Faed Mustafa says the Palestinian Authority is attempting to join international police federation Interpol.

According to the official PA news outlet Wafa, Mustafa says the Palestinian interior and foreign ministries are holding “intensive contacts” with “concerned countries” around the world that support the initiative.

Interpol member Turkey already pledged its support for the move, the ambassador says, “on the basis that Palestine has the right to join all international organizations.”

Palestinian diplomat Faed Mustafa presents his credentials to then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow on December 16, 2009. (Wikimedia Commons, Russian Presidential Press and Information Office, CC BY 4.0)

He says Ankara already sent a formal letter to Interpol requesting that the inclusion of Palestine be on the agenda for the next Interpol general assembly, which is due to take place in Bali on November 7.

Mustafa, who previously served as the envoy to Russia, says that while the PA is seeking to join all international organizations, joining Interpol is a priority at this stage.

Israel is trying to block the move, the ambassador says.

— Dov Lieber

Jewish, Muslim BFFs draw attention with superhero Halloween costumes

A photo of Jewish and Muslim teenage best friends from California dressed up for Halloween as superhero team “The Juslims” wins internet attention.

The photo tweeted by Jeff Pearlman, the father of Casey, 13, was liked 83,000 times and retweeted 44,000 times in the 48 hours after it was posted on Saturday.

The image is accompanied by the comment: “My daughter is Jewish. Her best pal is Muslim. For Halloween they created a superhero team: The Juslims. I’ve rarely been more proud. Truly.”

My daughter is Jewish. Her best pal is Muslim. For Halloween they created a superhero team: The Juslims. I've rarely been more proud. Truly. pic.twitter.com/zqPCCwzshR

— jeffpearlman (@jeffpearlman) October 30, 2016

— JTA

Shas minister quits as MK, making way for another party member

Shas leader and interior minister Aryeh Deri resigns from his position as an MK, making way for another party member to enter the Knesset.

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri arrives for the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office, Jerusalem, July 17, 2016. (Alex Kolomoisky/Pool)

“I decided to resign from the Knesset for the good of the young guard,” Deri tells a meeting of his faction on the first day of parliament’s winter session, Israel National News reports.

The so-called “Norwegian Law” allows one minister from each coalition party to resign their Knesset seat. Under Israeli law, the prime minister is the only cabinet member required to be a serving parliamentarian.

IDF confirms gunfire on troops close to Syrian side of Golan

The IDF determines that shots were indeed fired at troops stationed near the Syrian border in the northern Golan Heights, a spokesperson says.

IDF Chief of Staff Gadi EIsenkot visits a Golani Brigade exercise in the Golan Heights on Oct. 27, 2015 (IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)

After receiving initial reports of gunfire earlier this afternoon, an army investigation finds that shots were fired at the troops as they conducted “routine activity” along the border, although the army declines to say what evidence leads them to that conclusion.

It is not immediately clear who fired the shots or from where, a spokesperson says, but it appears they came from the Syrian side of the border.

The army investigation is ongoing.

World’s oldest working actor dies at 101

Russian actor Vladimir Zeldin, who was described as the world’s oldest working actor, dies in Moscow at the age of 101.

Russian news agencies quotes his wife, Ivetta Kapralova, as saying he died this morning in a Moscow hospital.

Hoy murió gran actor Vladímir Zeldin.El Caballero de la imagen.Habría cumplido102años en febrero.Estuvo en la Escena hasta sus últimos dias. pic.twitter.com/9i4YOiK6Pf

— valevale (@cimonetca) October 31, 2016

Russian chief Rabbi Berel Lazar pays tribute to the actor he says never forgot his Jewish ancestry.

“He always remembered his Jewish roots and was not going to abandon them, although in the Soviet period, a Jewish name could significantly slow down your career,” Lazar says, according to the Russian media.

Zeldin shot to stardom with the role of a shepherd in “They Met in Moscow.” The shooting began a few months before the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. The 26-year old Zeldin was conscripted and sent to the front line before Stalin’s order recalled him to Moscow to continue the shoot.

The actor, whose career spanned from iconic movie parts in the 1940s to theater appearances in recent years, was due to appear on stage in early November.

— AP and Times of Israel staff

Joint List MKs walk out of PM’s Knesset speech

MKs from the Joint (Arab) List walk out of the Knesset plenum as Netanyahu makes his speech to mark the start of parliament’s winter session.

The move comes after the coalition says all of its MKs will boycott every Joint List speech in retaliation for that faction’s decision to skip Shimon Peres’s funeral on September 30.

The Joint List says the decision by the coalition was “anti-democratic, racist and dangerous.”

Rivlin: Democracy in state of confusion, questioned by many

President Reuven Rivlin delivers a warning on the need to safeguard democracy and to engage with those who doubt its relevance, in an impassioned speech to mark the start of the Knesset winter session in Jerusalem.

“Against a background of political upheavals occurring in the West, the free world, it is no secret that democracy – or western liberal democracy – is in a state of confusion,” he says. “Many citizens across the world feel that the existing democratic system is struggling to function and moreover is struggling to offer an answer to their needs in light of the current threat of terrorism, the current wave of migration and refugees, or the on-going economic and employment crises.”

Furthermore, he continues, studies “conducted in many democratic countries indicate a sharp increase in the percentage of citizens who do not see themselves duty-bound to the principles of the democratic process.”

And while some are shocked by this perspective, we must understand and reconcile with it, Rivlin adds. “It would be a grave error to deny them, or alternatively to bemoan from diverse platforms the end of democracy, complain about ‘losing the way’ and the destruction of values. These are value-based positions struggling with the definition of the boundaries, the character, and the legitimacy of democracy.”

IDF: Apparent shooting attack at West Bank checkpoint

The IDF says shots are fired at the Focus Checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah, in what appears to be a shooting attack.

— Judah Ari Gross

2 hurt in shooting attack near West Bank settlement

Two people are moderately injured by gunfire near the Focus checkpoint outside Ramallah, near the settlement of Beit El, the Magen David Adom ambulance service says.

PM to Knesset: I hope Obama doesn’t abandon Israel

Netanyahu tells the Knesset winter session that he hopes President Obama will not abandon Israel.

“I would like to express our appreciation for the [US] aid package we received,” he says. “It does not mean that occasional disagreements will not arise between us, but I hope they will be rare. Obama declared in 2011 that peace will not be achieved by the UN resolutions, but through direct negotiations. I believe he will stay true to this, and not abandon Israel.”

3 hurt in shooting attack in West Bank

Three people are wounded in the shooting attack in the West Bank.

One is in serious condition and the other two sustained light wounds.

All three are taken to the hospital in Jerusalem.

Reports: West Bank gunman was PA policeman

Palestinian media outlets say the gunman who shot and wounded three IDF soldiers at a checkpoint near Ramallah was a PA policeman from Qabatiya, near Jenin in the northern West Bank.

The reports name him as Muhammad Turkeman.

— Avi Issacharoff

AIPAC drops Ari Shavit following sexual assault claims

APIAC cancels Israeli journalist Ari Shavit’s participation in its events after two women accuse him of sexual assault.

The pro-Israel lobby confirms the decision after anti-Israel publication Mondoweiss reports that a November 10 San Francisco Bay Area event jointly put on by AIPAC and the local Jewish Community Relations Council was canceled. A JCRC website link still advertises the event, but the web page itself has no content.

Shavit resigned from his positions at the Haaretz newspaper and Channel 10 television in wake of the allegations by Jewish Journal reporter Danielle Berrin and an unnamed J Street staffer.

— JTA

Zionist Union MK to PM: Next political murder will be your fault

Zionist Union MK Erel Margalit slams Netanyahu for what he says is the prime minister’s incitement against those he deems to be traitors to the state.

“Your policy is one of incitement and branding people traitors,” Margalit says in a Knesset speech as he presents a motion of no confidence in the government.

“Whoever calls loyal citizens traitors is authorizing bloodshed,” Margalit says, according to Channel 2. “The next political assassination will be on your head.”

Sweden declares Holocaust hero Raoul Wallenberg officially dead

Swedish authorities formally pronounce World War II hero Raoul Wallenberg dead, 71 years after he disappeared in Hungary.

The Swedish diplomat, credited with helping at least 20,000 Hungarian Jews escape the Holocaust, is believed to have died in Soviet captivity, though the time and circumstances of his death remain unresolved.

Raoul Wallenberg (Wikimedia Commons)

The Swedish Tax Authority, which registers births and deaths in Sweden, confirms a report in Expressen newspaper that Wallenberg was pronounced dead.

Pia Gustafsson, who heads the agency’s legal department, says the decision was taken on October 26 after an application from Wallenberg’s trustee.

She says the date of Wallenberg’s death has been set as July 31, 1952, a date chosen by default under a rule saying a missing person who is presumed to have died should be declared dead five years after his disappearance.

Wallenberg vanished after being arrested by the Red Army in 1945. The Soviets initially denied he was in their custody, but in 1957 they said he had died of a heart attack in prison on July 17, 1947.

— AP

Hamas praises West Bank shooting attack on IDF soldiers

The Palestinian terror group Hamas praises today’s attack on IDF troops near Ramallah, calling it “a strong message in the face of Israeli crimes.”

Three soldiers were wounded, one seriously, when a gunman reported to be a PA police officer opened fire at a checkpoint near Ramallah.

In its statement, Hamas calls for more members of Palestinian security forces to become involved in what it has regularly called a new intifada since the current cycle of violence began a year ago.

— Dov Lieber

Ban urges speedy formation of new Lebanon government

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomes the long-awaited election of a president in Lebanon and says a new government must now be formed without delay.

Ban congratulates Michel Aoun, the Hezbollah-backed former general whose election ends a two-year political vacuum in the country bordering Syria.

Supporters of Lebanon’s Free Patriotic Movement celebrate the election of their leader Michel Aoun in the town of Jdeideh, north of Beirut, on October 31, 2016. (AFP PHOTO/MARWAN TAHTAH)

The UN chief “hopes that Lebanese parties will now continue to work in a spirit of unity and in the national interest,” says a statement from his spokesman.

He “encourages the formation without delay of a government that can effectively serve the needs of all Lebanese citizens and address the serious challenges facing the country.”

The United Nations has repeatedly called on Lebanon’s political leaders to elect a president and bolster institutional stability at a time when the war in Syria was rattling the region.

— AFP

Last shelters destroyed at ‘Jungle’ migrant camp in Calais

Demolition crews destroy the last shelters at the infamous “Jungle” migrant camp in Calais on Monday, AFP reporters at the site say.

Work began last Monday to clear the Jungle, home to around 6,000 migrants until a week ago and a glaring symbol of Europe’s worst migration crisis since World War II.

Thick smoke and flames rise from amidst the tents after fires were started in the makeshift migrant camp known as “the jungle” near Calais, northern France, Wednesday, October 26, 2016. Firefighters have doused several dozen fires set by migrants as they left the makeshift camp where they have been living near the northern French city of Calais. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

— AFP

Florida Holocaust Museum targeted in break-in; no damage

A 23-year-old man breaks into the Florida Holocaust Museum, but does not steal anything or cause damage any of the displays.

Local reports say St. Petersburg Police arrested Christopher Michael Venegas early yesterday morning. Surveillance camera footage at the museum in the central Florida city shows Venegas breaking an electronic keypad and call box, which sent a signal to the police, who arrive minutes later.

Venegas is charged with one count of commercial burglary and was later released on $5,000 bail. He refused to talk to police, according to WFTS Tampa Bay.

The museum praises the police for their quick response.

“In the past few years, local grants from Homeland Security have allowed us to begin upgrading our security systems,” the museum’s executive director, Elizabeth Gelman, says in a statement. “Those security measures — and the quick response from the St. Petersburg Police — assisted in keeping damage to the minimum.”

— JTA

Dutch anti-Islam MP goes on trial for hate speech

Dutch anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders goes on trial in a landmark case on hate speech as a high-security court heard how children had been scared by inflammatory calls that fewer Moroccans should live in the country.

As expected, the firebrand MP with the peroxide-blonde hair snubs the court, leaving his defense lawyer to read out a statement to explain the no-show.

“It is a political process and I have decided not to be present. It’s my right as a politician to speak out if there is a problem in the Netherlands,” says Wilders’ statement. Prosecutors confirm they will not demand that he appear.

Analysts say the highly-anticipated trial will test the boundaries of freedom of expression as general elections loom in March.

L to R: Judges arrive at a courthouse in Schiphol on October 31, 2016, for the start of the trial of Dutch anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders on charges of insulting a racial group and inciting racial hatred. (AFP PHOTO/ANP/Koen van Weel)

Three judges are hearing the case against Wilders, 53, on charges of insulting a racial group and inciting racial hatred after comments he made about Moroccans living in the Netherlands.

The trial focuses in part on a comment made at a March 2014 local government election rally, when Wilders asked supporters whether they wanted “fewer or more Moroccans in your city and in the Netherlands.”

When the crowd shouted back “Fewer! Fewer!” a smiling Wilders answered: “We’re going to organize that.”

His 2014 statements were met with outrage including from the small but vocal Dutch Muslim community. An avalanche of 6,400 complaints followed.

— AFP

Parole Board to meet again on Katsav bid for early release

Disgraced former president Moshe Katsav is getting another hearing for his request for early release from a seven-year jail sentence for rape.

The Israel Prisons Service Parole Board will reconvene again at the start of December to discuss Katsav’s request, Channel 2 reports.

Katsav was put on closer monitoring over fears he may try to harm himself, after his previous request was denied in August.

Russian-born Israeli becomes 5th Miss Holocaust Survivor

A Russian-born Israeli woman who was 2-days-old when World War II broke out becomes the fifth Miss Holocaust Survivor.

Anna Grinis, 75, was crowned yesterday at the annual pageant in Haifa for women who survived the Holocaust and the war. Fourteen finalists competed for the crown, according to reports; some 300 women had applied to participate in the contest.

The pageant is sponsored by Yad Ezer L’Haver, or Helping Hand in English, a group that helps needy Holocaust survivors in Israel.

The program, which was attended by Sara Netanyahu, featured a performance by a women’s choir made up of Holocaust survivors — with an average age of 91 — singing Holocaust-themed songs.

— JTA

White House will ‘neither defend nor criticize’ FBI chief

White House press secretary Josh Ernest says the Obama administration will “neither defend nor criticize” FBI chief James Comey for his bombshell decision to announce further investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email days before the 2016 presidential election.

Earnest describes Comey as a “man of integrity,” but does point to norms that “limit public discussion of facts that are collected in the context” of ongoing investigations.

“The president believes that it’s important for those norms and traditions and guidelines to be followed,” the spokesman says.

Earnest also says Obama does not think Comey is trying to sway the outcome of the November 8 vote — the view of many Clinton supporters.

FBI Director James Comey in July, 2016 (YouTube screenshot)

“The president doesn’t believe that he’s secretly strategizing to benefit one candidate or one political party,” says Earnest, according to CNN. “He’s in a tough spot, and he’s the one who will be in a position to defend his actions in the face of significant criticism from a variety of legal experts, including individuals who served in senior Department of Justice positions in administrations led by presidents in both parties.”

— AFP and Times of Israel staff