A Jewish political action committee hired several Mexican day laborers to dress as Orthodox Jews and protest at the Gay Pride parade in New York City. After a reporter noticed that the men in Orthodox garb were clearly Hispanic, the Jewish Political Action Committee admitted it hired substitutes for its members "because of what they would see at the parade." The Week Staff

Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo likely thought she got an unusually transparent guest in Smithfield Foods' new CEO Dennis Organ on Wednesday morning. But what neither she nor anyone at Fox Business seemed to know was that Organ was actually animal activist Matt Johnson, disguising criticism of Smithfield under a layer of self-described "transparency" and a relentlessly positive tone that's the hallmark of C-suiters everywhere.

Johnson started out the interview with pretty convincing impersonation of a big-name CEO, thanking the U.S. government for prioritizing food workers for COVID-19 vaccinations. But then Johnson started sliding in some harsh criticisms of Smithfield that no self-preserving executive would dare mention. For example, while Johnson said the company had been providing employees with "extensive" PPE and paid leave, he then took a shot at Smithfield, saying "those steps have unfortunately been insufficient."

Johnson went on to say that "under my leadership," Smithfield would provide "transparency" and "brutal honesty," hence his following wave of criticisms."Our industry poses a serious threat in effectively bringing on the next pandemic," while "hog farming causes immense harm to our air and waterways," Johnson said, as Bartiromo seemingly agreed with him and then asked about Chinese influence over the company.

It doesn't seem that Bartiromo or anyone at Fox Business was fully aware of the sneak attack — an article aggregated on MSN even quoted the "Smithfield Foods CEO" and his prediction of the company's contributions to a future pandemic. But the activist group Direct Action Now soon took credit for the appearance, which was all meant to highlight how Smithfield and other companies' meatpacking plants had turned into coronavirus hotspots amid the pandemic. Kathryn Krawczyk

After weeks of pessimism, Brexit negotiators are suddenly feeling hopeful just a few days before the transitional period ends and the United Kingdom leaves the European Union for good.

Negotiations between Brussels and London appeared to be in the final phase Wednesday, The Associated Press and The Financial Times report. One anonymous EU source told AP, "I expect to see some white smoke tonight," while allies of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told FT a trade agreement could be "wrapped up within hours."

The two sides have primarily been stuck on issues revolving around fishing rights, but they've seemingly made progress as Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took control of the negotiations.

Neither side is celebrating just yet, however. "We will need to get those final issues resolved, and there's some way further to go on that," said U.K. Cabinet minister Robert Jenrick, though he did admit he's optimistic. "Fingers crossed," one European diplomat told FT. Read more at The Financial Times and The Associated Press. Tim O'Donnell

White House staffers received an email Tuesday night with instructions for vacating the building, several outlets, including CBS News and Politico, report.

The memo said employees "will start departing" the week of Jan. 4, and it outlined information on everything their final paychecks to cleaning out refrigerators and microwaves.

But then on Wednesday morning, the staffers received another email telling them to disregard the previous message.

It's unclear what exactly prompted the change, though there's speculation it's an attempt to appease President Trump, who has not given up his longshot bid to remain in the White House. Tim O'Donnell

The Senate is getting ready to override President Trump's vetoes two times as he's on his way out the door.

After Congress passed a massive government spending package that included a range of COVID-19 relief proposals, Trump declared his opposition to the stimulus, threatening to veto it if it's not amended to include $2,000 checks. But because that and another bill he's looking to veto have overwhelming support, Trump is setting himself up for double failure before he leaves the White House.

Trump aired his grievances with the stimulus package in a video posted on Twitter Tuesday night, calling the bill a "disgrace" and its $600 stimulus checks "ridiculously low." Trump didn't acknowledge that the $600 check proposal came from his Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) quickly agreed that Congress should distribute bigger checks, and other Democrats echoed her view. Still, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said Trump should sign the government funding bill first.

Meanwhile, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) mentioned Wednesday that senators have already been told they may have to return to session to override Trump's veto. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) wasn't a fan of the spending package, possibly complicating a unanimous override vote.

Also likely to get overridden is Trump's potential veto of the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which allocates $741 billion to the Pentagon. Trump pledged to oppose the bill because it mandates renaming military bases named for Confederate leaders. Again, both the Senate and House passed the bill with more than two-thirds support, nullifying Trump's potential veto; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has already set up the process for overriding it. Kathryn Krawczyk

Weekly jobless claims in the United States fell unexpectedly as the coronavirus pandemic rages on, though they remained above recent lows seen in early November.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that 803,000 Americans filed initial jobless claims — which Reuters notes is the most timely data on the economy's health — last week. That figure was down from the 892,000 new claims filed the previous week, and it was also shy of the 885,000 claims anticipated by economists.

But the good news is mostly relative, and the fact that the numbers remain higher than in previous months suggests the American economy's recovery is muted. It also appears to reflect the increasing amount of coronavirus-related restrictions states are implementing to combat the virus' spread this winter, NBC News notes.

The Commerce Department similarly signaled a crawling recovery Wednesday when it showed U.S. consumer spending dipped to 0.4 percent after climbing 0.3 percent in November. That's the first drop in such activity since the recovery began in May. Read more at Reuters and NBC News. Tim O'Donnell

The 15 people President Trump pardoned Tuesday evening include the first two congressmen who endorsed him for president — former Reps. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) and Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), both convicted of financial crimes — two people jailed in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, and four private guards working for Blackwater who were serving long sentences for an unprovoked and unnecessary 2007 massacre of civilians in Baghdad's Nisour Square that left 17 Iraqis dead, including two boys, ages 8 and 11.

Blackwater, since sold and renamed Academi, is a private military contractor outfit headed at the time by Erik Prince, brother to Trump's education secretary, Betsy DeVos. The Nisour Square massacre marked a low point in U.S.-Iraqi relations after the 2003 U.S. invasion, and federal prosecutors spent years bringing the four Blackwater guards — Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, and Dustin Heard — to justice.

After a federal judge in 2009 dismissed the first murder and manslaughter convictions of the Blackwater contractors, ruling the evidence was tainted, then-Vice President Joe Biden said at a press conference in Baghdad that the men had not been acquitted and the U.S. would appeal the decision. "In subsequent years, as the case continued, the contractors became known in conservative media as the 'Biden Four,'" The Washington Post reports. Slatten was eventually sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder, while the other three were convicted of manslaughter and given sentences of 12 to 15 years.

"Campaigns urging that the four receive presidential pardons began in earnest last year, most arguing that the men were veterans still in engaged in quasi military duties," the Post reports, noting that Trump has already pardoned two Army officers convicted or awaiting trial on murder charges for shooting Afghan civilians. In a 2009 column at Fox News, Duncan Hunter — still in Congress — called "the Biden Four" brave "political pawns" who were "sent to prison for doing their jobs." Peter Weber