By MIKE CORDER and MOLLY QUELL

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders’ far-right Party for Freedom and the centrist D66 were tied with nearly all votes counted Thursday in the Dutch general election in an unprecedented neck-and-neck race to become the biggest party.

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The near-total count tallied and published by Dutch national news agency ANP and cited by Dutch media showed each party winning 26 seats in Wednesday’s election.

The nail-biting finish is expected to lead to delays in starting the process of forming a new coalition. No Dutch election has previously ended with two parties tied for the lead.

When D66 reached its previous record of 24 seats in in 2021, the leader at the time, Sigrid Kaag, danced for joy on a table at a party meeting.

This time, current D66 leader Rob Jetten cut cake for the party faithful gathered at Parliament.

“This is the best result for D66 ever,” the 38-year old told a crowd party insiders and media on Thursday morning after he’d been welcomed with chants of the party’s optimistic election slogan “Het kan wel,” or “It is possible.”

Wilders’ Party for Freedom is forecast to lose 11 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, while D66 gains 17, according to the vote count.

Wilders insisted early Thursday that his party, known by its Dutch acronym PVV, should play a leading role in coalition talks if it is the largest.

“As long as there’s no 100% clarity on this, no D66 scout can get started. We will do everything we can to prevent this,” he said. A scout is an official appointed by the winning party to look into possible coalitions.

Wilders faces an uphill battle to return to government, however. Mainstream parties including D66 have ruled out forming a coalition with the PVV, arguing that Wilders’ decision to torpedo the outgoing four-party coalition in June in a dispute over migration underscored that he is an untrustworthy partner.

As a result, which party ultimately gets the largest number of seats is “completely and utterly irrelevant,” political scientist Henk van der Kolk told The Associated Press.

Van der Kolk sees a possible path forward with a centrist coalition of D66, the center-left bloc of the Labor Party and Green Left, the center-right Christian Democrats and the right-wing People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy.

In fallout from the vote, former European Commission vice president Frans Timmermans said he was quitting Dutch politics after the center-left bloc he led lost seats in an election it had hoped to win.

The election is “unlikely to mark the end of populism in the Netherlands,” said Armida van Rij, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think tank. She noted that another right-wing party, JA21, which she described as a “PVV-light party with equally undemocratic ideas,” made big gains. The party had one seat in the last parliament and is forecast to rise to nine seats.

The vote came against a backdrop of deep polarization in the Netherlands, a nation once famed as a beacon of tolerance. Violence erupted at a recent anti-immigration rally in The Hague — when rioters smashed the windows of the D66 headquarters — and protests against new asylum-seeker centers have been seen in municipalities around the country.

In the splintered Dutch political landscape, forming a coalition is likely to take weeks or months.

While party leaders were handing out cake to their members, thousands of volunteers were trying to finalize the ballot count.

The ballots of some 135,000 Dutch nationals who voted by mail are also outstanding. The Electoral College will certify the count next week.

Counting was halted in the southern town of Venray, a Wilders stronghold, after a fuse box caught fire and volunteers were evacuated. No one was injured but it was not clear when work will resume.

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has stripped references to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack from court papers and punished two federal prosecutors who filed the document seeking prison time at sentencing Thursday for an armed rioter arrested near former President Barack Obama’s home.

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The prosecutors from the U.S. attorney’s office in the District of Columbia were locked out of their government devices and told they were being put on leave Wednesday morning shortly after they filed a sentencing memorandum describing the crowd of President Donald Trump supporters who attacked the Capitol as a “mob of rioters,” according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss personnel issues.

Later Wednesday, the Justice Department replaced the court filing with an updated version that stripped references to the Jan. 6 riot. The new filing also no longer included a reference to the fact that Trump posted on social media what he claimed was Obama’s address on the same day that the defendant, Taylor Taranto, was arrested in the former president’s neighborhood.

It’s the latest move by the Justice Department to discipline attorneys tied to the massive Jan. 6 prosecution and represents an extraordinary effort by the government to erase the history of the riot that left more than 100 police officers injured.

Trump himself for years has worked to downplay the violence and paint as victims the rioters who stormed the Capitol and sent lawmakers running into hiding as they met to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory. Since Trump’s sweeping Jan. 6 pardons in January, his administration has fired or demoted numerous attorneys involved in the largest investigation in Justice Department history.

The Justice Department declined to comment on Thursday.

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said her office would not comment on personnel decisions, but added: “We have and will continue to vigorously pursue justice against those who commit or threaten violence without regard to the political party of the offender or the target.”

Prosecutors are seeking more than two years in prison for Taranto when he is sentenced Thursday in federal court in Washington. He was convicted in May for illegally possessing two guns and roughly 500 rounds of ammunition in Obama’s neighborhood in June 2023. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, also convicted Taranto of recording himself making a hoax threat to bomb a government building in Maryland.

The defense argued at trial that the video showed Taranto was merely joking in an “avant-garde” manner, and that he believes he is a “journalist and, to some extent, a comedian.”

Taranto, a Navy veteran from Pasco, Washington, was separately charged with four misdemeanors related to the Capitol attack before Trump’s sweeping clemency order erased his case. He was captured on video at the entrance of the Speaker’s Lobby in the House around the time that a rioter, Ashli Babbitt, was fatally shot by an officer as she tried to climb through the broken window of a barricaded door.

The prosecutors overseeing Taranto’s case were not told why they were being put on leave, the person familiar with the matter said. Two new prosecutors, including the head of the criminal division for the office, entered the case and submitted the new brief on Wednesday. ABC News first reported that the prosecutors, Samuel White and Carlos Valdivia, had been placed on leave.

Trump’s pardons in January released from prison people caught on camera viciously attacking police as well as leaders of far-right extremist groups convicted of orchestrating violent plots to stop the peaceful transfer of power after his 2020 election loss. Those pardoned include more than 250 people who were convicted of assault charges, some having attacked police with makeshift weapons such as flagpoles, a hockey stick and a crutch.

In January, then-acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered the firings of about two dozen prosecutors who had been hired for temporary assignments to support the Jan. 6 cases, but were moved into permanent roles after Trump’s presidential win in November.

And in June, the department fired two attorneys who worked as supervisors overseeing the Jan. 6 prosecutions in the U.S. attorney’s office in the District of Columbia, as well as a line attorney who prosecuted cases stemming from the Capitol attack.

By BEN FINLEY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government shutdown is exacting a heavy mental toll on the nation’s military families, leaving them not knowing from week to week whether their paychecks will arrive.

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Alicia Blevins, whose husband is a Marine, said she’s going to see a therapist in large part because of the grinding uncertainty.

“I don’t feel like I have the tools to deal with this,” said Blevins, 33, who lives at Camp Lejeune, a Marine base near North Carolina’s coast. “I don’t want to dump all this on my husband. He’s got men that he’s in charge of. He’s got enough to deal with.”

Even though the Trump administration has found ways to pay the troops twice since the shutdown began on Oct. 1, the process has been fraught with anxiety for many Americans in uniform and their loved ones. Both times, they were left hanging until the last minute.

Four days before paychecks were supposed to go out on Oct. 15, President Donald Trump directed the Pentagon to use “all available funds” to ensure U.S. troops were paid. With the next payday approaching Friday, the White House confirmed Wednesday that it had found the money.

The Trump administration plans to move around $5.3 billion from various accounts, with about $2.5 billion coming from Trump’s big tax and spending cuts bill that was signed into law this summer.

But the scrounging in Washington for troop pay can only last for so long.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the government will soon run out of ways to compensate the military and that by Nov. 15, the troops “aren’t going to be able to get paid.”

‘We’re not being thought of at all’

The uncertainty has been fueling resentment among families of the roughly 2 million active duty service members, National Guard members and reservists. There’s a common refrain that the troops are being used as pawns.

But Jennifer Bittner, whose husband is an Army officer, said that gives Congress too much credit.

“You have to be thought of to be used as a pawn,” said Bittner, 43, of Austin, Texas. “And we’re not being thought of at all.”

Bittner’s 6-year-old daughter is using three inhalers right now because she has high-risk asthma, a chronic lung condition and a cold. Each device requires a $38 copay at the pharmacy. Bittner’s severely autistic son requires diapers that cost $200 a month, while she sometimes has to haggle with military insurance to cover the expense.

She worries about those costs as well as the mortgage and groceries for their family of five.

“It is mentally and sometimes physically exhausting stressing about it,” Bittner said of her husband possibly missing a paycheck, while noting that members of Congress are still getting paid.

Many active duty troops live paycheck to paycheck and survive on only one income. Even when they get paid, the shutdown is deepening the financial strain that many families face, said Delia Johnson, chief operating officer for the nonprofit Military Family Advisory Network.

The Oct. 15 paychecks arrived days after they usually do for many people with early direct deposit to their bank accounts, disrupting their ability to pay bills on time and forcing some to pay late fees or rack up debt, Johnson said. Active duty troops also may be dealing with the added expense of moving from one base to another, which she said occurs for roughly 400,000 military households each year.

And many military spouses lose their jobs because of the move or are underemployed from frequent relocations, Johnson said. Reimbursements for moving costs are paused for many during the shutdown, while not all expenses are being repaid.

Reservists are losing weekend drill pay

Monthly weekend drills for many reservists also have been canceled, eliminating a chunk of pay that can be several hundred dollars each month, military advocates said. Besides helping with mortgages and other bills, the drill money is used by some reservists to cover premiums for military health insurance, said John Hashem, executive director of the Reserve Organization of America, an advocacy group.

“People rely on that money,” Hashem said of the drill pay. “The way that this is stretching out right now, it’s almost like the service is taken for granted.”

The reserve organization, along with other groups, urged leaders in Congress in a letter Tuesday to pass a measure to pay National Guard members and reservists.

The financial strain exacerbated by the shutdown prompted the Military Family Advisory Network to set up an emergency grocery support program this month. The nonprofit said 50,000 military families signed up within 72 hours.

The food boxes were assembled in a Houston warehouse by the grocery and logistics company Umoja Health, said chief marketing officer Missy Hunter, and contained everything from noodles and spaghetti sauce to pancake mix and syrup.

Blevins said she and her husband received a box, which provided some peace of mind. In the meantime, she said, her husband is still working, coming home exhausted and with a “long gaze” in his eyes.

The couple moved to North Carolina from Camp Pendleton in California in September, drawing down their savings. They’re still waiting for roughly $9,000 in reimbursement.

“We’re constantly checking the news,” Blevins said. “And my Facebook feed is nothing but, ‘It’s the Democrats’ fault. It’s the Republicans’ fault.’ And I’m just like, can’t we just get off the blame game and get this taken care of?”

Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Macalester College over its use of animals in psychology courses, although the alumnus who filed the case said Wednesday he plans to appeal the decision.

In a civil complaint filed June 3 in Hennepin County District Court, Dr. Neal Barnard said he relied on Macalester’s “false statements” over its animal testing in his decision to join the college’s Class of 1975 Planning Committee, as well as its Gift Subcommittee, and donate $100 to the St. Paul private school.

The complaint alleged one count each of fraudulent misrepresentation, false statement in advertisement and unlawful practices.

Barnard, a Maryland resident, sought, among other actions, an order compelling the St. Paul school “to cease its use of animal laboratories in psychology instruction and in all other areas for which non-animal methods are available.”

Macalester moved to dismiss Barnard’s claims, arguing that he knew about Macalester’s practices before making his donation.

“Unsatisfied with Macalester’s response to his demands that it change how it teaches psychology,” Macalester attorney Sean Somermeyer wrote in the June 26 motion memo, “(Barnard) set out to cook up a lawsuit by making a $100 donation — his first in 40 years — and claiming ‘fraud.’ ”

A hearing on the motion was held July 30 before Judge Karen Janisch, who ultimately agreed with Macalester and issued an order Tuesday dismissing the three counts.

“The court’s ruling affirms that external parties cannot interfere with or dictate curriculum,” Macalester President Suzanne Rivera said in a Wednesday statement issued by the college. “While people are entitled to personal opinions about animal use in science, the college is deeply committed to academic freedom. We respect the expertise of our faculty in what to teach and how to teach it.”

Barnard is a 1975 Macalester psychology graduate and medical doctor who founded the Washington, D.C.-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a group that advocates for alternatives to animal testing.

The nonprofit issued a statement Wednesday that said Barnard intends to appeal the judge’s decision.

“Medical schools dropped animal labs from their curricula years ago,” the statement quoted Barnard as saying. “Mac should, too.”

‘Make a Gift’

According to the facts of the case outlined in the judge’s order:

Macalester reached out to Barnard and other 1975 graduates in 2023 about a 50th class reunion, asking for donations for activities and whether they were interested in planning them.

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Before his donation, Barnard reviewed Macalester’s website, which stated that “animal welfare standards and ethical principles are applied at the highest possible level in any animal use or research conducted at or in association with the college.”

The same webpage included a “Make a Gift” link for making charitable donations.

Before making a donation, Barnard contacted Macalester psychology department head Janie Strauss to discuss the college’s current practices.

The two met in person on May 9, 2024, and Strauss, in response to a question from Barnard, informed him that Macalester continued to use “Skinner-inspired animal laboratories” as part of its introductory psychology courses, the judge’s order read.

In the 1920s, psychologist B.F. Skinner invented what would become known as “Skinner boxes,” which often involve starving rats or pigeons to motivate them.

Barnard told Strauss that he believed such practices are prohibited under ethical principles regarding the use of animals in science, called the “Three Rs” — for replacement, reduction and refinement.

“The Three R’s have been enshrined in some federal laws and as part of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, a standard text in the field,” the judge’s order read.

Barnard, believing the college was open to reform, then accepted an invitation to join Macalester’s Class of 1975 Planning Committee and serve on its Gift Subcommittee, the complaint said.

In his role from July 30 through Nov. 1, Barnard made phone calls, sent emails and mailed postal letters to fellow Macalester alumni assigned to him by Macalester’s fundraising staff to solicit charitable donations, according to the complaint.

Barnard met with Macalester President Suzanne Rivera and Macalester Vice Provost Paul Overvoorde on Nov. 6 to discuss his concerns. The next day, Barnard participated in person in another Gift Subcommittee meeting and afterward donated $100 to the school.

Barnard emailed Overvoorde on Nov. 15 about the college’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, which oversees all scientific uses of animals by the college. Rivera then emailed Barnard on Dec. 2, instructing him to direct all future communications on animal use matters to Macalester’s legal counsel.

Judge’s conclusions

Janisch noted in the dismissal order that the only statement the college made to Barnard after the Nov. 6 meeting and his donation the next day was Rivera telling him over the phone that she would “forward [his] concerns to appropriate people.”

Janisch cited 2009 state case law, Valspar Refinish Inc. v. Gaylord Inc., that states: “When a party conducts an independent factual investigation before it enters into a commercial transaction, that party cannot later claim that it reasonably relied on the alleged misrepresentation.”

As in Valspar, Janisch concluded, Barnard’s “actual knowledge of Macalester’s practices after investigating the college’s claims, preclude him from establishing he reasonably relied on the content of (the) website statement when making his donation.”

Macalester made no separate promise to Barnard to change any practice, Janisch wrote, and therefore he “cannot, as a matter of law, establish a valid claim for fraudulent or negligent misrepresentation consistent with the facts pleaded in the complaint.”

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Barnard asserted that he had standing to bring a consumer fraud act violation claim based on the solicitation for donations and his eventual donation. He maintained that his injury and his standing are predicated on his website donation.

Janisch noted the Minnesota Consumer Fraud Act allows private civil action by a consumer who claims injury by a violation in connection with a sale of merchandise for personal, family, household or agricultural purposes.

Janisch concluded that Barnard’s knowledge of the use of animals in classroom settings before donating preclude him “from establishing that he suffered an injury caused by the alleged false statement on Macalester’s website.”