NationalWatch

Atlanta, Ga. – While President Biden and former President Trump meet on stage at the CNN Presidential Debate, their first face-to-face showdown in their 2024 election rematch, their campaigns will be engaged in combat online and on TV in the ad wars all day Thursday.

The Biden campaign announced Thursday morning what they said would be a seven-figure “media blitz” launched ahead of the CNN Presidential Debate.

They said it includes ads on the websites of Buzzfeed, USA Today, CNN, El Tiempo Latino, Telemundo, theGrio and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution where they’ll spotlight what they argue are “the dangers of electing Trump to a second term.” 

The campaign also took out full-page ads in the hard copy editions of USA Today. 

THURSDAY’S DEBATE MAY CHANGE THE 2024 ELECTION NARRATIVE ‘IN A MASSIVE WAY’

Signage for the upcoming presidential debate is seen at the media file center near the CNN Techwood campus in Atlanta on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

“Today’s show of force in Atlanta and across the battlegrounds emphasizes the two contrasting visions the American people will see on the debate stage tonight: between President Biden fighting for the American people, and Donald Trump whose campaign is focused on benefiting one person only: himself,” Biden campaign senior spokesperson Kevin Munoz argued in a statement.

WHICH DONALD TRUMP WILL SHOW UP AT THURSDAY’S FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

The Biden campaign, which has been dominating the TV ad wars since Trump went dark on air after clinching the Republican presidential nomination in mid-March, has been launching new ads each day this week in the lead up to the debate.

The latest spot, shared first with Fox News, features Genesee County, Michigan Sheriff Chris Swanson discussing how he watched in horror as Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol and attacked Capitol police officers on Jan. 6, 2021.

AdImpact, a leading national ad tracking firm, reported that the Biden campaign reserved $2 million in ad reservations for Thursday alone.

The Trump campaign announced on Thursday morning that they would launch two ads for debate day, their first two spots since the end of the GOP primaries over three months ago.

WHICH DONALD TRUMP WILL SHOW UP AT THURSDAY’S FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

A commercial titled “Promises” slams what it charges is “Biden’s disastrous record that has destroyed the booming Trump economy, [importing] over 11 million unvetted illegals from all over the world into our country.”

And an ad titled “Who is laughing Now” takes aim at the 81-year-old president’s physical abilities, as it argues that “Biden can’t ride a bicycle, climb a flight of stairs, or find his way off a stage.”

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The spot suggests that the president wouldn’t last another four years in the White House and that “waiting in the wings” is who they derogatorily call “Cackling Kamala Harris.”

The Trump campaign wouldn’t say how much money they’re putting behind the one-day ad buy. But AdImpact said it was tracking only $100 thousand in reservations from the Trump team.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

A new poll shows that 70% of Americans believe Supreme Court justices are more likely to shape the law to fit their own ideology, rather than serving as neutral arbiters of the law.

The Associated Press-NORC poll released Thursday further found that less than a third of Americans believe the nation’s highest court is more likely to provide an independent check on other branches of government by being fair and impartial.

The poll comes as the court is poised to release rulings in several high-profile cases relating to former President Trump and the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Roughly 4 in 10 U.S. adults say they have hardly any confidence in the people running the Supreme Court, according to the poll.

The poll surveyed 1,088 U.S. adults from June 20-24 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel. The poll advertises a margin of error of 4%.

SUPREME COURT TO HEAR ARGUMENTS IN KEY FIRST AMENDMENT CASE CHALLENGING BIDEN ADMIN TEAMWORK WITH BIG TECH

A new poll shows that 70% of Americans believe Supreme Court justices are more likely to shape the law to fit their own ideology, rather than serving as neutral arbiters of the law. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Just half of Republicans have a great deal or a moderate amount of confidence in the court’s handling of important issues, including gun policy, abortion, elections and voting, and presidential power and immunity, according to the new poll.

BIDEN LIKELY VIOLATED FIRST AMENDMENT DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC, FEDERAL JUDGE SAYS

Meanwhile, 8 in 10 Democrats say justices are likely to shape the law to fit their own ideology. Roughly 7 in 10 independents agree.

Just half of Republicans have a great deal or a moderate amount of confidence in the court’s handling of important issues, including gun policy, abortion, elections and voting, and presidential power and immunity, according to the new poll. (Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States via Getty Images)

The Supreme Court is due to hand down rulings in key cases both Thursday and Friday. The court mistakenly posted a draft of an opinion on a key abortion case to its website Wednesday before quickly taking it down.

The case relates to whether Idaho hospitals are required to perform abortions in emergency situations despite a state law banning the act in most situations. 

The Supreme Court is due to hand down rulings in key cases both Thursday and Friday. The court mistakenly posted a draft of an opinion on a key abortion case to its website Wednesday before quickly taking it down. (Fox News Digital/Lisa Bennatan)

Court spokeswoman Patricia McCabe confirmed to Fox News Digital that the opinion has not formally been posted.

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On Wednesday, the Court handed the Biden administration a win, ruling that plaintiffs challenging the federal government’s effort to influence social media lacked standing to do so.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

FIRST ON FOX: Top House Republicans are leading a bill to reverse the Biden administration’s decision to lift sanctions on a Chinese entity linked to the persecution of Uyghurs.

The legislation targeting the Ministry of Public Security’s (MPS) Institute of Forensic Science of China was introduced Wednesday by Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., and is co-led by House China select committee Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.

“It’s past time for the U.S. to confront the [Chinese Communist Party’s] human rights abusers, and Congress will have to lead in the absence of a strong commander in chief,” Ogles told Fox News Digital.

HONG KONG LAWMAKERS UNANIMOUSLY PASS CONTROVERSIAL SECURITY LAW, GRANTING GOVERNMENT POWER TO CURB DISSENT

House Republicans want to restore Trump-era sanctions on the Chinese government run by Xi Jinping. (Getty Images)

He accused China’s authoritarian government of “a long and sordid history of human rights abuses.”

“Joe Biden has unacceptably chosen to reward a Communist Chinese company despite their genocidal crimes and human rights abuses against the Uyghur population and other ethnic minorities. This legislation to relist China’s Institute of Forensic Science on our Entity List will return us to President Trump’s peace through strength strategy and ensure no U.S. technology is benefiting Communist China’s human rights abuses,” Stefanik said.

The bill has 10 more House GOP co-sponsors and is backed by conservative groups Heritage Action and America First Policy Institute.

NEW TEXT MESSAGE ALLEGEDLY REVEALS HUNTER BIDEN PROPOSED MEETING FOR DAD, UNCLE AND CHINESE EXEC IN NYC

President Biden lifted the sanctions last year. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The CCP agency was one of nine entities sanctioned by the Trump administration in May 2020.

A press release at the time accused it of being “complicit in human rights violations and abuses committed in China’s campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, forced labor and high-technology surveillance against Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other members of Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR).”

The sanctions were lifted in November 2023 while the U.S. was working to persuade China to take a more active role in cracking down on the flow of synthetic drugs and fentanyl precursors from within its borders into the U.S.

CHINA SILENT AS RUSSIA AND NORTH KOREA FORGE NEW DEFENSE PACT, RAISING REGIONAL POWER SHIFT CONCERNS

The Biden administration lifted the sanctions in a bid to boost cooperation on stopping the flow of synthetic drugs. (U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration)

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State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters at the time that the sanctions were “a barrier to achieving cooperation” on the flow of drugs.

“When we evaluated the issue and looked at all the merits of de-listing the IFS, ultimately we decided that given the steps China was willing to take to cut down on precursor trafficking, it was an appropriate step,” he said.

ATLANTA — In a presidential election rematch that remains extremely close and where every vote may count come November, it’s no understatement to say that there’s an incredible amount at stake in Thursday’s first of two debates between President Biden and former President Trump.

The two presumptive major party nominees will face off on the same stage at the CNN Presidential Debate, which is being held at the cable news network’s studios in Atlanta, the largest city and capital of the crucial southeastern battleground state of Georgia.

“This is a toss-up race and there’s over two months until the next debate. This showdown is going to set a tone and a narrative heading into this summer’s conventions,” longtime Republican strategist and communications adviser Matt Gorman told Fox News, as he pointed to the earliest general election presidential debate in modern history. 

And Gorman, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns, emphasized that the debate, which will be simulcast on the Fox News Channel and on other networks, has the potential “to change the narrative in a massive way” as Biden and Trump “try to break out” from the current status quo.

WHICH DONALD TRUMP WILL SHOW UP AT THURSDAY’S FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

Signage for the upcoming presidential debate is seen at the media file center near the CNN Techwood campus in Atlanta on Tuesday, June 25, 2024.  (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

The debate, which kicks off at 9pm ET, will be 90 minutes in length, with two commercial breaks. 

Only the Democratic incumbent and his Republican predecessor will be on the stage, as the third party and independent candidates running for the White House – including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – failed to reach the qualifying thresholds. 

To make the stage, candidates needed to reach at least 15% in four approved national surveys and to make the ballot in enough states to reach 270 electoral votes, which is the number needed to win the White House.

HOW TO WATCH THE CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE SIMULCAST ON THE FOX NEWS CHANNEL

Trump and Biden bypassed the Commission on Presidential Debates – which had organized these quadrennial showdowns for over three decades – and instead mutually agreed on the rules and conditions.

Those include no studio audience, each candidate’s microphone will be muted except when it’s their turn to answer questions, no props or notes allowed on stage, and no opening statements.

There will be closing statements and a coin flip determined that Trump will get the final word.

The debate comes as polls indicate a very tight race between Biden and Trump, with the former president holding the slight edge in many national polls and surveys in the roughly half-dozen or so battleground states that will likely determine the election’s outcome.

“To put it very simply – debates move numbers in a way few other events do. Period,” Gorman highlighted. “And with over two months to go until the second debate [an ABC News hosted showdown scheduled for Sept. 10], the narratives formed on Thursday night may harden into concrete, so showing up and performing well in Atlanta is crucial.”

Both candidates come into the debate with an ample amount of baggage that will offer their rival plenty of potential ammunition.

The 81-year-old Biden, the oldest president in the nation’s history, for months has faced serious concerns from voters over his age and physical and mental durability. He’s also been dealing for nearly three years with underwater job approval ratings as he’s struggled to combat persistent inflation and a crisis at the nation’s southern border, as well as plenty of overseas hot spots.

FIRST ON FOX: BIDEN CAMPAIGN RIPS TRUMP OVER ‘NEGLECT OF DUTY’ ON EVE OF FIRST 2024 DEBATE

Meanwhile, Trump made history for all the wrong reasons last month, as he was convicted of 34 felony counts in the first criminal trial ever of a former or current president.

Three and a half years after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters trying to upend congressional certification of Biden’s 2020 election victory, Trump faces criminal charges of trying to overturn the results of the last presidential contest. His promises of second-term retribution against his political enemies have created a backlash, and he’s struggled along with plenty of other Republicans to deal with the combustible issue of abortion two years after the Supreme Court struck down the decades-old Roe v. Wade ruling. 

Arguably the biggest question surrounding Thursday night’s debate is which version of Trump will show up?

Then-former Vice President Joe Biden and then-President Donald Trump debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, on Oct. 22, 2020. (Kevin Dietsch/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Will it be the undisciplined candidate who continuously interrupted Biden and debate moderator Chris Wallace dozens and dozens of times at their first debate in the 2020 election? 

Trump appeared to lose his cool, failed to condemn white supremacists, and his performance was widely panned by political pundits and viewers alike.

Or will it be the Trump of the second 2020 debate, when the then-president re-worked his strategy and his disciplined and measured performance was a vast improvement.

“If he replicates that performance, Donald Trump’s going to have a very good night,” longtime Republican consultant and veteran debate coach Brett O’Donnell told Fox News.

BIDEN AND TRUMP CAMPAIGNS MAKE MOVES ON THE EVE OF THE DEBATE 

O’Donnell said his advice to Trump is “watch the second debate you had with Joe Biden in 2020 and replicate that performance. Watch it over and over and replicate that performance in this debate.”

“He was measured but firm,” O’Donnell said of Trump. “You can be aggressive and passionate without being offensive.”

O’Donnell knows a bit about coaching presidential candidates ahead of their debates. He assisted in debate preparations for George W. Bush in 2004, GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona in 2008, and Republican standard-bearer and then-former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in 2012. 

This election cycle, O’Donnell coached Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ahead of his debate performances in the Republican presidential primaries.

O’Donnell said Biden needs to be careful not “to fall into the incumbent trap… Many if not most incumbents in their first debate, whether it’s Ronald Reagan or George H.W. Bush or George W. Bush or Barack Obama, most incumbents perform poorly in their first debate going for the second term.”

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“So the advice to Biden is avoid the incumbent trap because if he falls into it, it’s doubly bad because of all the age arguments,” he added.

And O’Donnell emphasized that Biden has “got to somehow frame the race as a choice in defense of his record over the past four years. That is a tall order, but that’s something he has to do in order to justify picking him over Donald Trump.”

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., warned that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland could be brought into custody for failing to deliver tapes of Special Counsel Rob Hur’s interview of President Biden to Congress. 

Joined by nine other House Republicans, including Freedom Caucus members as well as more moderate members, Luna on Wednesday announced at a press conference that Garland “still has time” to comply with a congressional subpoena for the tapes, but if he does not, “we will press forward with calling the privilege motion on inherent contempt to the floor on Friday morning.” 

If the motion is successful, fellow House Republicans will direct House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to call up the Sergeant-at-Arms, “of which they do have the authority under this inherent contempt motion to bring him into custody,” Luna said. “I also want to make it clear, though, that this is of Garland’s choosing. Again, no one is above the law. And if he chooses to go down this path, then we will.” 

“It is also important to note that if we, as a Congress, do not have the ability to enforce our investigative ability, that we are essentially going to be ignored and undercut and essentially handicapped by all other branches, which would make us not a co-equal branch of government,” Luna said. 

ANNA PAULINA LUNA TO FORCE VOTE ON GARLAND’S ARREST THIS WEEK AFTER DOJ REFUSES CRIMINAL REFERRAL 

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland testifies before the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C., on June 4. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Inherent contempt differs from the criminal contempt resolution passed on June 12. The latter referred Garland to his own department for criminal charges. 

The Department of Justice said it would not prosecute Garland because he was acting on Biden’s own executive privilege claims over the interview tapes.

The inherent contempt power “is a constitutionally based authority given to each house to unilaterally arrest and detain an individual found to be ‘obstructing the performance of the duties of the legislature,'” according to the Congressional Research Service. “The power is broader in scope than the criminal contempt statute in that it may be used not only to combat subpoena non-compliance, but also in response to other actions that could be reviewed as ‘obstructing’ or threatening either house’s exercise of its legislative powers.” 

When asked whether the House speaker has considered alternative ways to enforce the subpoena, Luna said she thinks that Johnson “is open to discussions on how to best enforce this,” but argued that with “what’s currently happening in our country,” a different process “would take a very long time.”

“Why would we do that when we have the direct ability to do it here in the House? What you are seeing is the American people have a deep distrust in our ability to not only effectively govern, but also, too, they’ve lost faith within the Department of Justice and that we are truly an equal country,” Luna said. “Poor White, Brown, Black Americans don’t have the privilege of ignoring subpoenas when they’re called to come to court. I think that it’s pretty egregious that the man that’s in charge, and really the head enforcement officer, is basically choosing to break the law.” 

JOHNSON FLOATS DEFUNDING SPECIAL COUNSEL’S OFFICE AMID JACK SMITH’S TRUMP PROBE

“I understand that this sounds extreme,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, said. “It sounds extreme to put the AG in handcuffs and drag him in here…. I’ll tell you why I’m here, what motivates me. Because what the DOJ is doing in my hometown in Houston, they’re willing to arrest a regular citizen, put them in handcuffs, charge them with ridiculous crimes. And for what? Because that particular citizen, a man named Doctor Haim decided to expose a crime in Texas. That crime was performing harmful gender transition practices on minors. He was indicted for alleged HIPAA violations and this demonstrates that Merrick Garland and this DOJ determination to target whistleblowers who oppose their ideology, they want to protect themselves.” 

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., walks past a “What is Garland Hiding?” poster as she arrives for the news conference on efforts to hold Attorney General Garland in inherent contempt of Congress on Wednesday. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Citing the 118th Congress Jefferson Manual, Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., said inherent contempt has been used by the House of Representatives more than 100 times since 1795 and has been upheld by the Supreme Court. 

“If we allow the Department of Justice and Attorney General Garland to dictate whether or not a congressional subpoena is enforced, we risk becoming subordinate to the executive branch,” Alford said. “That cannot happen. This is unacceptable. Congress must never rely on the actions of the other branches to carry out our constitutional responsibility under Article One. What does Attorney General Merrick Garland have to hide?”

Luna said Democrats considered using inherent contempt powers under former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when Republicans failed to comply with Jan. 6 committee subpoenas, but they ultimately decided against it to avoid risking opening themselves up to discovery. In a contentious exchange with a reporter, Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., on Wednesday said he believes those people who failed to comply are now “in jail.” 

“I think they’re in jail. So are you suggesting the attorney general should be in jail? Because that’s what it sounds like,” Van Orden said. “Listen, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. So the Democrat Party under Nancy Pelosi politicized this body to the point where it’s destructive to the fabric of our nation. And it is time for a reckoning. This has got to stop.” 

“The only way that this is going to stop is if the president of the United States reads this,” he said, holding up a copy of the U.S. Constitution. 

“This is the law of the land. Is that clear? Now do your jobs, people. For Pete’s sake.”

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. Republicans in the House are attempting to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in inherent contempt of Congress. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

When asked whether she was confident she had enough votes from GOP colleagues to pass the resolution, Luna pointed to those who joined her at the press conference. Those members also included Republican Reps. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, Russell Fry of South Carolina, Max Miller of Ohio, Ben Cline of Virginia, Richard McCormick of Georgia and Tim Burchett of Tennessee. 

“As you’re seeing behind me, we have a great cross-section of what the conference represents. Everyone is aware that this is absolutely backed by the Supreme Court, that we have the constitutional authority to do this, and that this is not a laughing matter,” Luna told reporters. “I’ve yet to hear anyone say that they are going to vote on a motion to table, which would prevent this from coming to the floor.” 

As more than 100 members were still missing Tuesday, Luna said she wanted to wait until Friday when more Republicans returned to Washington to prevent the motion from being tabled. 

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Congress has not invoked its inherent contempt power since 1934, when it resulted in Washington lawyer William MacCracken getting a 10-day jail sentence for not sufficiently complying with a Senate subpoena. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which backed Congress’ right to exercise its inherent contempt powers in its February 1935 decision in Jurney v. MacCracken.  

Fox News’ Liz Elkind contributed to this report. 

Conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court clashed over Wednesday’s ruling in favor of President Biden’s administration.

The Court ruled 6-3 that the plaintiffs, a group of conservative states and social media users, had no standing to sue the federal government over its attempts to influence the censorship policies of social media giants. Justice Amy Coney Barrett authored the opinion of the court, but Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas dissented.

Barrett, speaking for the court, argued none of the plaintiffs had established that they were under threat in the case.

“To establish standing, the plaintiffs must demonstrate a substantial risk that, in the near future, they will suffer an injury that is traceable to a Government defendant and redressable by the injunction they seek. Because no plaintiff has carried that burden, none has standing to seek a preliminary injunction,” Barrett wrote.

SUPREME COURT RULES ON CHALLENGE TO BIDEN ADMIN’S EFFORT TO INFLUENCE SOCIAL MEDIA

Conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court clashed in Wednesday’s ruling in favor of President Biden’s administration. (Getty Images)

Alito blasted the majority opinion in his written dissent, which Thomas and Gorsuch joined. He said the Court’s opinion “unjustifiably refuses” to intervene on behalf of the “victims” of COVID-era censorship.

“For months in 2021 and 2022, a coterie of officials at the highest levels of the Federal Government continuously harried and implicitly threatened Facebook with potentially crippling consequences if it did not comply with their wishes about the suppression of certain COVID–19-related speech,” Alito wrote.

SUPREME COURT TO HEAR ARGUMENTS IN KEY FIRST AMENDMENT CASE CHALLENGING BIDEN ADMIN TEAMWORK WITH BIG TECH

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito blasted the majority opinion in his written dissent, which Justices Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh joined. (Getty Images)

“I assume that a fair portion of what social media users had to say about COVID–19 and the pandemic was of little lasting value. Some was undoubtedly untrue or misleading, and some may have been downright dangerous. But we now know that valuable speech was also suppressed. That is what inevitably happens when entry to the marketplace of ideas is restricted,” he continued.

EITHER GARLAND OR WEISS ARE LYING IN HUNTER BIDEN CASE: CHRISTIE

“These victims simply wanted to speak out on a question of the utmost public importance,” he added.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that plaintiffs did not have standing to sue the federal government over COVID-era censorship. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

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Wednesday’s ruling overturns a lower court ruling that sided with the plaintiffs and imposed an injunction against White House officials meeting with major tech companies. That injunction is now lifted.

The injunction had applied to several federal officials and agencies — including some of Biden’s Cabinet members and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

FIRST ON FOX: Republican senators are invoking a statute to force Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra to provide answers to several outstanding inquiries about COVID-19’s origins and vaccine safety. 

“We write regarding the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) complete disregard for transparency, Congressional oversight, and the public’s right to know,” wrote Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., in a letter on Tuesday also signed by Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Roger Marshall, R-Kan.

HOUSE GOP WILL SUE DOJ NEXT WEEK TO GET BIDEN-HUR AUDIO TAPES, JOHNSON SAYS

Sen. Ron Johnson, left, led several Republicans in invoking a statute requiring HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra to respond to outstanding inquiries. (Getty Images )

The lawmakers announced they were invoking a federal statute which requires executive agencies to “submit any information requested of it relating to any matter within the jurisdiction of the committee” when prompted by five members of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGAC). 

The letter states that the senators on HSGAC have written to HHS and its sub-agencies on several occasions with questions regarding the COVID-19 virus and pandemic and its origins. 

“Rather than provide comprehensive and thorough responses to requests from members of this Committee, HHS has opted to either ignore letters from duly elected U.S. senators, or provide incomplete responses,” the senators said. 

SUPREME COURT RULES ON CHALLENGE TO BIDEN ADMIN’S EFFORT TO INFLUENCE SOCIAL MEDIA

A nurse fills a syringe with the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

Eleven specific outstanding requests are highlighted by Johnson, which he noted HHS should prioritize. Each relates to either the origins of the COVID-19 virus or the safety of its vaccines. The outstanding requests date back as far as 2020. 

Responses to the prioritized requests are expected by the senators from Becerra by July 12. 

HERE’S WHAT TOO MANY FEDERAL AGENCIES DON’T UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra has not provided complete answers to the lawmakers, they say. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

“HHS’s indifference and lack of responsiveness threatens our ability to fulfill our Constitutional oversight responsibility,” the lawmakers claimed in the letter. 

According to the Republicans, “HHS’s refusal to provide the requested records over the last three years clearly demonstrates a full-fledged cover-up.”

“What are you and your sub-agencies hiding?” they asked. 

NEW DETAILS EMERGE ABOUT OBAMA, BIDEN SECRET 2024 MEETINGS

Sen. Ron Johnson has pressed HHS repeatedly for information on vaccine safety and COVID origins. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The senators also warned HHS and Becerra against non-compliance with the statutory request, saying, “HSGAC Republicans are taking note of HHS’s and your legal infractions and fully intend to hold you and your colleagues accountable using any means at our disposal.” 

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The lawmakers are capable of using subpoena power to compel Becerra to speak to their questions, requesting transcribed interviews, or even attempting to hold him in contempt of Congress. However, with Democrats currently holding a majority in the Senate, it’s unlikely that a contempt of Congress resolution would pass. 

A spokesperson for HHS told Fox News Digital, “HHS has received the letter and will respond directly to the Senators.”

EXCLUSIVE: House GOP negotiators stopped short of targeting funds for Special Counsel Jack Smith in next year’s Justice Department spending bill, but former President Trump’s allies are already making plans to force it into the final text.

At least three House Republicans are aiming to introduce amendments to the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill that would target the prosecutions against Trump in some way, Fox News Digital has learned.

Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said he was disappointed that his policy targeting Trump’s prosecutions was not included in the base text but that he would be offering it as an amendment later in the legislative process.

“When we have our full House Appropriations Committee markup for CJS next month, I will file my amendment to prohibit taxpayer dollars from funding the prosecution of a presidential candidate before the 2024 election. This measure would impact Fani Willis, Alvin Bragg, and Jack Smith, as they all receive federal funds,” Clyde said.

YOUNG TRUMP SUPERFAN BROUGHT TO TEARS WHILE MEETING FORMER PRESIDENT

Former President Donald Trump’s allies are gunning to defund Special Counsel Jack Smith. (Getty Images)

A source close to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., one of Trump’s most vocal House allies, told Fox News Digital she intends to file an amendment similar to a measure she previously introduced targeting the funding of special counsels.

Greene said Tuesday evening that it was a “failure” for the House GOP to not defund Smith in the legislation’s base text.

Trump ally Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., also plans to introduce an amendment stripping Smith’s funding, his office told Fox News Digital.

The CJS appropriations bill released Tuesday cuts the Justice Department’s funding by nearly $1 billion.

It also includes cuts to the FBI’s budget by roughly 3.5% and blocks the construction of a new bureau headquarters in Maryland.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, also signaled that he would push for cuts to the Trump investigations in Georgia and New York in the CJS bill. 

CELEBS SHOWER BIDEN WITH CAMPAIGN CASH BUT COULD UNDERCUT ‘SCRANTON JOE’ IMAGE

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is among those preparing amendments ahead of next month’s House-wide consideration of the bill. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Earlier this month, Jordan sent a letter to House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., recommending that the spending bill “include language to eliminate federal funding for state prosecutors or state attorneys general involved in lawfare and to zero out federal funding for federal prosecutors engaged in such abuse.”

A spokeswoman for Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News Digital when asked about the amendment push, “The Committee is working to methodically mark up appropriations bills and work through its process. The Speaker looks forward to seeing what comes out of Committee and continuing to move bills through a full floor process.”

Johnson said the House needed a more permanent solution for accountability when asked by CNN on Tuesday night about the lack of measures targeting Smith.

“We’ve got to bring accountability because that’s the role of Congress under the Constitution. The question is, what’s the best and most effective way to do that? So there’s a lot of thoughtful discussion and debate. The underlying bill doesn’t have the provision in, but there may be amendments,” he said. “We have to look at what is actually a lawmaking exercise and not just a messaging exercise, because the times are too important.”

He told Politico last month that the House would not seek to eliminate Smith’s job in this appropriations process. 

JOHNSON FLOATS DEFUNDING SPECIAL COUNSEL’S OFFICE AMID JACK SMITH’S TRUMP PROBE

Speaker Mike Johnson told CNN that he anticipated amendments targeting special counsels in the bill. (Getty Images)

He said, “There is a necessity for a function like that, because sometimes the Department of Justice — which is an executive branch agency — can’t necessarily, without a conflict of interest, investigate or prosecute the president who’s their boss, or the president’s family.”

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But a week later, he told reporters that Congress could target special counsel funding. Outside the Manhattan courthouse where Trump’s criminal proceeding was taking place, Johnson said, “How does Congress correct that error and ensure that a special counsel is not abusing their authority? You know, we have oversight, of course, we also have the power of the purse.”

The CJS appropriations bill is being weighed by a panel on the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday and is expected to see a chamber-wide vote sometime next month.

But even if the amendments targeting Trump’s prosecutions make it into the bill, it’s unlikely to be considered by the Democrat-controlled Senate, which is working on its own version of the fiscal year 2025 appropriations bills.

Former President Trump maintains his lead in a key battleground state in the 2024 presidential election, according to a new poll.

A survey published Tuesday by the AARP finds Trump with a 3-percentage point lead over President Biden in Nevada. Trump is favored by 48% of likely Silver State voters, compared to 45% who said they would vote for Biden if the election were held today. 

That narrow lead extends to a more comfortable 7 points if independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is included. Kennedy has not yet qualified for the Nevada ballot and state Democrats have filed a lawsuit that challenges his eligibility.

Trump’s lead is more pronounced among voters over 50, who said they prefer the presumptive Republican nominee to Biden, a Democrat, by double digits (53%-41%). The silver lining for Biden is that he maintains a lead among Hispanic voters in that age demographic, 51% to Trump’s 41%, according to the AARP poll.

NEVADA DEMOCRATS SUE TO KEEP RFK JR., GREEN PARTY OFF NOVEMBER BALLOT

Former President Trump, left, and President Biden. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“We have a huge Hispanic population, so that vote will matter,” said Maria Moore, AARP Nevada state director. Hispanics make up 22% of the eligible voter population in Nevada, according to a 2022 Pew Research Center analysis cited in the AARP’s news release. 

Nevada is one of several closely watched states that could very well determine who holds the White House next year. The battleground state has not gone for a Republican presidential candidate since 2004, when President George W. Bush ran for re-election. But Biden only won the state narrowly in 2020, with 50.06% of the vote to Trump’s 47.67% vote share. 

A Fox News poll released earlier this month found Biden trailed Trump by a 5-point margin. 

Republicans are optimistic they can flip the state after current GOP Gov. Joe Lombardo unseated Democratic incumbent Gov. Steve Sisolak in the 2022 election.

Lombardo recently argued that Nevada voters are dissatisfied with Biden’s handling of the economy in a New York Times guest essay.

NEVADA GOVERNOR TELLS BIDEN HE’S IN DANGER OF LOSING CRITICAL STATE OVER HIGH PRICES: ‘JUST DOESN’T GET IT’

Former President Trump points during a campaign rally at Sunset Park in Las Vegas on June 9. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

“If recent polling on Democratic candidates in Nevada is any indication, and I think it is, Mr. Biden has a big problem to overcome, because after three and a half years, Nevadans are losing confidence in him to do something meaningful about inflation and housing and are left with the feeling that he just doesn’t get it,” he wrote. 

The AARP survey found only 40% of voters age 50-plus mostly approve of Biden’s job performance, while 59% disapprove. Reflecting on Trump’s first term in office, 56% of voters over 50 approve of what he did as president, while 43% disapprove. 

The survey also asked about Nevada’s U.S. Senate race, in which Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., seeks re-election against Republican challenger Sam Brown, a wounded combat veteran. The poll found Rosen leading Brown among voters of all ages 47% to 42%, bolstered by Hispanic support for Rosen.

“It’s the margin among Hispanic and Latino voters that’s putting Rosen in the lead,” pollster Bob Ward said. 

TRUMP RILES UP FIERY SWING STATE CROWD IN FIRST RALLY SINCE NEW YORK CONVICTION

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, left, wrote an op-ed in The New York Times arguing the economy was driving Nevadans to support Trump over President Biden. (Getty Images)

The top-ranking issues for Nevada voters were the economy, rising food prices, immigration and border security, according to the AARP survey. 

Impact Research pollster Jeff Liszt suggested split-ticket voters will be the deciding factor in the upcoming election.

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“When you look at the older voters, 43% are straight-ticket Republican and 35% are straight-ticket Democrat, but 23% are splitting their tickets,” Liszt told AARP. “[That’s] an indicator that there are more voters up for grabs right now than there may have been in recent elections.”

Republican pollster Fabrizio Ward partnered with Democratic firm Impact Research to conduct the survey, which included 1,368 likely voters interviewed between June 12 and 18. The poll’s margin of error is 4%.

The House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to block Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ salary.

It was an amendment by Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., for the House’s appropriations bill funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for fiscal year 2025, that would block funds in the bill from being used to pay Mayorkas.

Just one Republican voted against the measure, which passed 193 to 173.

“Taxpayers should not be paying an unelected bureaucrat who was impeached by the House. That’s why I sponsored an amendment to this year’s Homeland Security Appropriations Act to prohibit funding to be used for the salary of DHS Secretary Mayorkas,” Biggs wrote on X before the vote.

DENVER SCHOOLS OVERWHELMED BY MIGRANT SURGE AS MAYOR SLASHES $5M FROM PUBLIC SERVICES TO ADDRESS CRISIS

The House voted to defund Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ salary. (Reuters/Sarah Silbiger)

A second amendment by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., to reduce Mayorkas’ salary to zero failed, however, in a 208 to 200 vote. One Republican voted present on that measure.

Mayorkas is a frequent target of the House GOP’s ire, with Republican lawmakers blaming him for the enduring crisis at the southern border.

House Republicans voted to impeach Mayorkas in February — the first Cabinet secretary impeached since the late 1800s.

HERE ARE THE 3 HOUSE REPUBLICANS WHO TORPEDOED MAYORKAS’ IMPEACHMENT VOTE

The amendment was introduced by Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz. (Getty Images)

The DHS appropriations bill gives the department roughly a $3 billion increase from fiscal year 2024.

It also includes $600 million to fund completion of former President Trump’s border wall and provisions to block funding from being used for abortion care and transgender health care for noncitizens detained in ICE custody. 

Other amendments that have passed so far include one by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, to prohibit funds from being used to implement policies that would keep asylum seekers in Texas while their claims are being processed.

HOUSE FAILS TO IMPEACH DHS SECRETARY ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS IN MAJOR BLOW TO GOP

An amendment to shrink Mayorkas’ salary to zero by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., failed. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, file)

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A measure led by Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., that passed would block DHS from implementing COVID-19 mask policies.

The appropriations bill itself is expected to get a final vote on Friday, though it’s highly unlikely to be taken up by the Democrat-led Senate. 

The White House has already threatened to veto the measure if it got to President Biden’s desk.

A conservative legal advocacy group filed a formal bar complaint this week against New York County Democratic District Attorney Alvin Bragg, alleging racially discriminatory hiring practices.

America First Legal Vice President Dan Epstein told Fox News Digital that Bragg’s official website clearly indicates his office is encouraging hiring practices that prefer applicants from certain backgrounds.

“We have kind of marshaled evidence that his office, when it comes to hiring attorney talent, is very clear about engaging in kind of diversity requirements — whether you call that ‘racial balancing,’ whether you call that ‘quotas.’ There’s clear evidence that there are further steps to do that,” Epstein said Wednesday in an interview.

Not only do such hiring practices risk running afoul of federal law, Epstein said of his group’s complaint, but they also are inconsistent with New York Bar Association standards of professional conduct.

NEW DOCS SHOW BRAGG SPENT $1M ON ATTORNEYS TO BLUNT HOUSE PROBE INTO TRUMP CASE AMID CITY BUDGET CUTS

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, right, speaks during a press conference. (Barry Williams for NY Daily News via Getty)

In a statement announcing the complaint, America First Legal said a regulation of the state Rules of Professional Conduct prohibits “unlawful discrimination” and alleged Bragg’s office also violated New York Human Rights Law with racially and sexually discriminatory hiring practices.

In one example, Bragg’s website says his office “seeks to have a legal staff that reflects the diversity of the community that we serve.”

That, Epstein suggested, puts policy above constitutionality.

“That is precisely the opposite of what lawyers, particularly law enforcement lawyers, should be doing,” he said.

America First Legal’s statement added that “both cannot be true” when it comes to giving attention to diversity while stating the office won’t discriminate based on such characteristics.

BRAGG VIOLATED TRUMP’S 6TH AMENDMENT RIGHTS: LEGAL EXPERT

Epstein also pointed out it is not unprecedented to see a high-profile attorney be disbarred for valid reasons, as Hunter Biden was in Washington, D.C., after his gun violation conviction.

He said the process in New York state falls to district grievance review boards. Bragg falls under the First Judicial District, which covers Bronx County and New York County.

Bragg will be subject to one of three outcomes — no action if the complaint fails to meet a violation threshold, a warning letter or a suspension of his law license, Epstein said.

“It’s not just forced disclosure of race, ethnicity and gender. It’s statements on their hiring portal that say that the district attorney’s office has diversity, equity, inclusion priorities and that they’re committed to hiring a diverse staff,” Epstein said.

“Whenever you give kind-of bonus points or whenever you effectively say, ‘Between two equally qualified candidates, we’re going to pick the candidate simply because of race,’ that’s discrimination.”

Filing objections to attorneys and judges for discriminatory practices is not new, Epstein added, pointing to America First Legal’s ultimately unsuccessful filings against three judges in the Southern District of Illinois who reportedly encouraged “newer, female and minority” attorneys to argue in court proceedings.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the complaints in March.

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Epstein also rejected criticism that America First Legal is “targeting” Bragg, who has been maligned by many conservatives over his prosecution of former President Trump.

Instead, Epstein said, America First Legal is “on the lookout” overall as a watchdog for evidence of discrimination in any government prosecutor’s office.

America First Legal was founded in 2021 by Stephen Miller, a former Trump speechwriter who previously served as a top aide to Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.

The New York Bar declined comment for this story, noting it is a voluntary bar that plays no role in discipline. Bragg’s office did not respond to requests seeking comment. 

A representative for the attorney grievance committee told Fox News Digital, “Pursuant to confidentiality rules, we are not at liberty to make public comment.”

FIRST ON FOX: A key Republican lawmaker spearheading former President Trump’s outreach to Black voters will debut a six-figure ad buy calling out what he describes as President Biden’s “real record on race” during the CNN Presidential Debate Thursday.

First-term Texas Congressman Wesley Hunt’s Hellfire PAC will air the 60-second ad on Fox News and CNN in major cities in key battleground states including Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin on Thursday night. The ad, which puts a spotlight on several of Biden’s controversial comments on race, is part of Hunt’s strategy to convince Black voters to support Trump in November.

“Joe Biden’s history as a politician reveals a pattern of making explicitly racist comments, authoring and endorsing discriminatory policies, and associating with individuals known as segregationists,” Hunt told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

He announced that Hellfire PAC would begin a national campaign in multiple swing states “to inform voters of Joe Biden’s real history on race.” 

TRUMP ENLISTS PROMINENT BLACK REPUBLICANS TO APPEAL TO THEIR PEERS: ‘FISHING WHERE THE FISH ARE’

A screenshot taken from the Hellfire PAC ad that calls out President Biden’s record on race.  (Hellfire PAC)

The Hellfire PAC video begins with Biden’s own vice president, Kamala Harris, questioning his onetime opposition to school desegregation. In an infamous moment from the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, then-rival candidate Harris said Biden, as a freshman senator in 1975, had worked with segregationist lawmakers to oppose “bussing.” 

“You also worked with them to oppose busing,” Harris told Biden during a primary debate, referencing two segregationist senators. “You know there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate public schools, and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me.”

BLACK GOP LAWMAKERS HOLD ‘CONGRESS, COGNAC AND CIGARS’ EVENT IN KEY SWING STATE

Reps. Wesley Hunt (left) and Byron Donalds (right) are hitting the campaign trail to turn Black male voters out for Donald Trump (center).  (Getty Images)

The ad goes on to call into question Biden’s record on civil rights, noting his relationships with segregationist Southern Democrats, including former Sens. James O. Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmadge of Georgia. Biden ignited a firestorm in 2019 after he spoke fondly of the “civility” of the old Senate and his ability to work with those he disagreed with, name-dropping those opponents of racial integration. In response to attacks from his then-Democratic rivals, Biden said there is “not a racist bone in my body.” 

The video quotes various cringe-inducing statements from Biden’s lengthy political career, including a campaign event from 2012 when the then-vice president told an audience of Black voters that Republicans are “going to put y’all back in chains.” In another insensitive gaffe quoted from a 2019 campaign event in Iowa, Biden said “poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.” 

TRUMP CAMPAIGN SETS UP SHOP IN BLUE PHILADELPHIA IN THE FIGHT FOR BATTLEGROUND PENNSYLVANIA

The Trump campaign hosts a Black business roundtable in Atlanta, featuring Reps. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas (far left), Byron Donalds, R-Fla., (center) and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Ben Carson (second from right).  (Matt Reidy | Fox News)

Hellfire PAC’s ad also shows Biden describing his old running mate, former President Obama, as “the first sort of mainstream African American who is articulate, and bright and clean — nice looking guy.” 

Hunt, who is Black, told Fox News Digital that no Republican would get away with the things Biden has said.

“If any Republican had even the slightest history that Joe Biden has on race, they would be ostracized, canceled, and excoriated by the media,” he said. “When Democrat President Joe Biden does it, there’s always an excuse, and, when there’s not an excuse, the behavior and the policies are simply memory-holed.” 

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The ad will air in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Milwaukee and Detroit during the CNN Presidential Debate. Americans across the country can tune in to the Fox News Channel from 9:00 p.m. ET to 11:00 p.m. ET to watch the CNN Presidential Debate Simulcast. Viewers can also tune into Fox’s live coverage before and after the debate for expert analysis.

Hunt traveled to Atlanta for an event with Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., on Wednesday that the duo calls, “Congress, Cognac and Cigars.” Moderated by former ESPN host Sage Steele, the two Black lawmakers will have a discussion in a cigar lounge and field questions about how Black male voters will impact the 2024 election. 

Hunt told Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind in an interview that he aims to help Republicans capture 25% to 35% of the Black male vote — a long-shot goal, though one that would spell almost certain defeat for Biden’s campaign. 

Multiple exit polls show Trump having won 19% of Black male voters in 2020, though the vast majority of Black voters still went for Biden.

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind, Paul Steinhauser, Joe Schoffstall and Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

ATLANTA — In a presidential election rematch where every vote may count, the campaigns of President Biden and former President Trump are reaching out to key constituencies in an attempt to gain an advantage in what may end up being a photo finish.

Aiming to court the small but potentially crucial sliver of moderate Republicans who are disgruntled with Trump as their party’s standard-bearer, Biden’s campaign on the eve of the first presidential debate unveiled an endorsement from former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.

The former military pilot and Iraq War veteran who transformed into a major Republican Trump critic after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters aiming to upend congressional certification of Biden’s 2020 election victory on Wednesday charged that the former president is “a direct threat to every fundamental American value” in a video announcing his endorsement.

Hours later, standing in the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, Kinzinger said that “if you’d have told me three years ago that ‘You’re going to be endorsing a Democrat for president in three years,’ I probably wouldn’t have believed you.”

FIRST ON FOX: BIDEN CAMPAIGN TARGETS TRUMP OVER ‘NEGLECT OF DUTY’ ON EVE OF FIRST DEBATE

Former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, center, speaks at a Biden campaign news conference in Atlanta on June 26, 2024. Joining him, from left, are former Georgia Lt. Gov Geoff Duncan, former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and Georgia Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler. (Fox News/Paul Steinhauser)

“But I got to tell you, the stakes of this moment are way too high,” Kinzinger added.

Another vocal GOP Trump critic, former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, joined Kinzinger at the news conference along with former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and Georgia Senate Democrat Leader Gloria Butler.

“Going against the grain as a Republican and supporting Democrat Joe Biden for president is not easy, but I’m not looking at this election through the lens of being a Republican,” Duncan explained. “I’m looking through the lens of being an American. An American that cares more about the future of my country than the [morally] bankrupt nominee of my party.”

Kinzinger’s endorsement and the news conference came on the same day that the Biden campaign launched a new ad in the key battleground states that targets Trump over his actions during the attack three and a half years ago on the U.S. Capitol.

The spot, shared first with Fox News on Wednesday, features Genesee County, Michigan, Sheriff Chris Swanson discussing how he watched in horror as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and attacked Capitol police officers.

“As a sheriff, it’s awful to watch police officers getting attacked. That’s not supporting this badge and this uniform. I have no desire to work with somebody who divides. That’s not what America is,” Swanson emphasized.

WHICH DONALD TRUMP WILL SHOW UP THURSDAY AT THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE?

The ad, the endorsements and the news conference were all part of the Biden campaign’s push to hammer the presumptive GOP presidential nominee over what they call “Donald Trump’s attack on American democracy.”

Biden has long made what he charges is Trump’s threats to democracy a key focus of his presidency, and he has hammered home the point as he runs for a second term in the White House. It is very likely Biden will spotlight the issue in Thursday’s first presidential debate between the two major party standard-bearers.

It’s a pitch that may help the Biden campaign persuade some of the Republicans who supported former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the GOP presidential primaries to consider voting for a Democrat this autumn.

Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois speaks with Fox News after headlining a Biden campaign news conference at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta on June 26, 2024. (Fox News/Paul Steinhauser)

“There is still a group of Republicans that are kind of very uneasy going with Donald Trump. They feel like … it’s unthinkable to vote for a Democrat. So, they’re trying to sit here and figure it out,” Kinzinger said. “This is an important time for Republicans to come forward and say it’s OK. You don’t have to give up your Republican stripes to vote for a Democrat. All you’re standing for is democracy.”

Asked by Fox News if the Biden campaign’s efforts to attract Republicans are adequate, Kinzinger said, “I think the campaign has certainly made it very clear, particularly in the last few months, that they want to win those Haley voters, those swing Republican voters.”

TOP TRUMP BLACK SURROGATES MAKE THE CASE FOR THE FORMER PRESIDENT

Kinzinger becomes the highest-profile former GOP elected official to formally back Biden, whose campaign earlier in the month named Kinzinger’s former chief of staff, Austin Weatherford, to serve as its national Republican outreach director.

The Trump campaign took aim at Kinzinger, who was one of only two Republicans who served on the Democrat-dominated House committee that investigated the attack on the Capitol.

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung took to social media, asking, “Who’s Adam Kinzinger? Isn’t he the crybaby?”

Republican Reps. Wesley Hunt of Texas, left, and Byron Donalds of Florida, third from left, and former HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, second from right, attend a Trump campaign Black business roundtable discussion in Atlanta on June 26, 2024. (Fox News/Matthew Reidy)

While the Biden campaign was holding their news conference at the Georgia State House, Trump’s campaign was making a pitch for Black voters at an event just a couple miles away.

The Trump campaign organized what it called a Black American Business Leaders Barbershop Roundtable discussion in midtown Atlanta.

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Leading the discussion were two of Trump’s most prominent Black allies and surrogates: GOP Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida and Wesley Hunt of Texas, and Dr. Ben Carson, a 2016 Republican presidential candidate who later served as Housing and Urban Development secretary in the Trump administration.

Both Carson and Donalds are widely considered to be on the larger list of potential Trump running mates.

Republican Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida, left, and Wesley Hunt of Texas headline a Black voter outreach event titled “Congress, Cognac, and Cigars” on June 4, 2024, in Philadelphia. (Fox News/Paul Steinhauser)

Later Wednesday, 24 hours ahead of the first presidential debate that is being held in Atlanta, Hunt and Donalds were set to hold their second edition of “Congress, Cognac, and Cigars,” a GOP outreach effort for Black male voters that they’re holding in some of the key swing states.

Polling this year indicates that while Biden retains a very large margin of support among Black voters, Trump has made gains with the key electorate that for generations has been a major part of the Democratic Party base.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. 

TRUMP VS. BIDEN: The gloves will be off and the world will be watching. Stay in the know for more updates.

What’s happening…

-Biden admin urging experts to drop age limits on trans surgeries

-Hillary Clinton releasing pre-election book

-Denmark imposes first carbon tax on animal farts

Confident Smugglers

Social media is proving to be an essential tool for human smugglers illegally transporting migrants across the southern border; and the cash-hungry traffickers aren’t afraid to boast about their illegal operations, often flaunting their cash on apps and bragging about the ease at which they can evade authorities.

In August, 22 people were indicted in Arizona for recruiting truck drivers using Snapchat posts of cash glamorizing illegal migrant smuggling. Many of the posts claimed drivers can make hefty sums of money without the risk of being arrested. Read more here…

Multiple migrants wade through the Rio Grande River in Eagle Pass, Texas on September 27, 2023. Border crossings through Eagle Pass continues to strain law enforcement as an unprecedented number of migrants enter the United States each day.  (Benjamin Lowy for Fox News Digital )

White House

‘CAN YOU BELIEVE?’: Karine Jean-Pierre claims she had more rights growing up than children today …Read more

SHOCKING EMAILS: Biden officials urged experts to drop guidance calling for age limits on trans surgeries …Read more

Capitol Hill

‘COVER-UP’: GOP sens look to force answers from HHS Secretary Becerra on COVID-19 origins …Read more

COURTING CONTROVERSY: House GOP will sue DOJ for Hur-Biden audio tapes, Johnson says …Read more

Tales from the Campaign Trail

HILLARY’S ‘WARNING’: Hillary Clinton releasing pre-election book …Read more

ELECTION WHISPERS: New details emerge about Obama, Biden secret 2024 meetings …Read more

‘TOTALLY BANANAS’: Chris Hayes claims pro-Israel lobbying group caused defeat of leftist NY congressman …Read more

ON NOTICE: This House Democrat could be the next ‘Squad’ member targeted …Read more

Hillary Clinton enjoys a lavish night out. (Fox News Digital)

Across America

‘COLLUDED’: Active CIA contractors allegedly at heart of promoting narrative Hunter laptop was Russian disinformation …Read more

CROSSING THE TRACKS: NTSB claims railroad interfered in East Palestine probe …Read more

RULES FOR THEE: Felony case against LA prosecutor spilled out of co-workers’s boozy clash with cops: docs …Read more

FOR MORALE: Ukraine’s Zelenskyy visits troops on front lines under pressure from Russia’s onslaught …Read more

EXCLUSIVE: Israel to boost water plant’s output as UN threatens to cut aid amid safety issues …Read more

FART TAX: Denmark imposes world’s first carbon tax on flatulent farm animals …Read more

ASSANGE FREED: Julian Assange secures freedom following plea deal with US, sentenced to time served …Read more

NEW MESSAGING: Blue state deploys officials to the border with surprising warning for migrants …Read more

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Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

FIRST ON FOX: A letter signed by 16 top economists warning of the economic dangers of electing former President Trump, which is being amplified by the Biden campaign and other Biden surrogates, is littered with signatories who have either donated to Biden or supported him politically in the past.

“While each of us has different views on the particulars of various economic policies, we all agree that Joe Biden’s economic agenda is vastly superior to Donald Trump,” the economists wrote in a letter first reported on by Axios this week that has been promoted by various members of the Biden campaign on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

A Fox News Digital review of the letter’s Nobel Prize-winning signatories shows political donations to President Biden’s 2020 and 2024 campaigns. The signatories also donated tens of thousands of dollars to other Democrat candidates and signed previous letters supporting Biden’s agenda, including attacking “selfish and restless” Trump.

Economist Joseph Stiglitz, the Columbia University professor who reportedly spearheaded the letter, previously signed a letter supporting Biden’s Build Back Better agenda and donated $1,250 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020. 

EXPERTS PREDICT INFLATION ELECTION TROUBLE FOR BIDEN: ‘TOO LATE’ TO FIX

Former President Trump and President Biden (Getty Images)

Between 2004 and 2020, Stiglitz donated over $90,000 to Democrat candidates, FEC records show.

Georgetown University Professor George A. Akerlof, who is married to Biden’s Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, donated $25,000 to the Biden Victory Fund and maxed out as a donor in 2020, giving the campaign $5,600.

Akerlof, who donated nearly $90,000 to Democrats between the 1990s and 2022, also signed a letter supporting Build Back Better, and signed a letter in 2020 calling Trump’s re-election effort “selfish and reckless.”

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China, July 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Harvard University economist and historian Claudia Goldin donated $500 to the Biden campaign in 2020 and 2024 and has donated over $8,000 to Democrats in recent years. Goldin also signed a 2020 letter endorsing the Biden campaign. 

Economist and mathematician Eric Maskin signed a 2020 letter expressing support for the Biden campaign’s agenda and donated $3,000 to Democrats in recent years, including Senate candidates Raphael Warnock, Beto O’Rourke and Jon Ossoff. 

When reached for comment on his background supporting Biden and Democrats, Maskin said, “Although I am a registered Democrat and have donated money to Democratic candidates on occasion, I have also voted for many Republicans over the years (including Bill Weld and Charlie Baker for governor of Massachusetts)” in a statement to Fox News Digital.

He added that he considers himself to “be more a centrist than a strong partisan in either ideological direction” and pointed to an op-ed he recently wrote against political polarization in favor of a Republican senator and “supported the 2020 Biden agenda on its economic merits and signed the recent letter for the same reasons.”

BIDEN REPEATS FALSE CLAIM THAT INFLATION WAS AT 9% WHEN HE TOOK OFFICE AFTER BEING CALLED OUT LAST WEEK

Paul Milgrom, an economist at Stanford University, also previously signed letters supporting Build Back Better and calling Trump’s 2020 campaign “selfish and reckless.”

Daniel McFadden, an economics professor at UC Berkeley, donated at least $4,500 to Democrats in 2020. He also signed onto a letter saying Biden’s Build Back Better plan will “ease” inflation. He was also part of another letter endorsing Biden in 2020.

President Biden has received backlash over his “Build Back Better” agenda from Republicans and Democrats. (Reuters)

Roger Myerson, an economist at the University of Chicago, donated $2,350 to the Biden campaign in 2020 and $250 in 2024 on top of donating over $40,000 to Democrats between 2004 and 2024.

Myerson also previously signed a letter backing Build Back Better and Biden’s economic recovery agenda. The University of Chicago economist took to X after the letter was published, posting, “A dictator from day 1 would be bad for America, and we should testify to that fact as patriotic Americans.”

“As economists we can testify that his policies would not help against inflation either,” he added.

Economist Edmund S. Phelps wrote an article in 2020 called “The Economic Case for Biden” and also said that everything Trump has stood for in the past has been a “disaster.”

INFLATION IS UP 20% SINCE BIDEN TOOK OFFICE

Phelps has also donated to Democrats in the past, including a $1,500 donation to a Democratic House candidate and $25 to Pete Buttigieg.

Paul Romer, an economist at Boston College, has previously described the Trump years as “miserable” and publicly supported his impeachment. Romer endorsed Biden in a 2020 letter, praised Biden’s pandemic plan, and signed a letter in support of Build Back Better.

Stanford University economist Alvin Roth also signed multiple letters opposing Trump and supported the letter that referred to him as “selfish and reckless” on top of donating $1,250 to presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008.

Nobel Prize-winning economist William Sharpe donated $500 to the Biden campaign and $500 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020. Sharpe also signed a letter to business leaders in 2020 arguing that it was time to speak out against Trump and the “threat” he “poses to the Republic.”

Former President Obama confers with President Biden during a ceremony to unveil Obama’s official White House portrait on Sept. 7, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Robert Shiller, a Yale University economist, donated $1,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020 and over $20,000 to Democrats in total in recent years. In 2019, Shiller said he would support any candidate over Trump.

Princeton University economist Christopher Sims donated $500 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020 and over $9,000 to various Democrats. 

Two British economists on the list, Sir Oliver Hart and Sir Angus Deaton, signed a letter in support of Build Back Better. Hart endorsed Biden in 2020 and also signed the 2020 letter calling Trump “selfish and reckless.”

Several Biden campaign officials pounced on the story Tuesday morning to amplify the Axios report, including the Biden campaign’s rapid response adviser, James Singer, and campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez.

White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates and other Biden surrogates also shared the report and quoted from it, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Tim Murtaugh, who served as Trump’s 2020 campaign spokesman, mocked the report on social media Tuesday saying, “How amazing that this happens just in time for Biden to reference it in the upcoming debate (it’s a good bet that he does).”

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“It’s almost as much of a stroke of luck as the letter from 51 intelligence officers claiming that Hunter’s laptop was Russian disinformation,” Murtaugh continued. “Amazing.”

Axios did not note the previous political activism of the economists in the story nor did they note that one of the top signatories is married to Biden’s treasury secretary, Janet Yellen.

Axios did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Biden campaign and all 16 economists for comment.

PHOENIX, Ariz. — A U.S. Army veteran running for Congress is working double time to save America from the “left-wing lunatics” he says have “hijacked” the country and are “hell-bent on destroying it.”

Republican Abe Hamadeh, 33, a former Maricopa County prosecutor running to represent Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, told Fox News Digital in an interview that a “new generation” of leaders was needed to take on the wide-ranging problems facing the nation, and that he was committed to being the “fighter” everyday Americans have been looking for.

“When I took the oath of office as an Army intelligence officer in the reserve and served overseas, I took my oath to the Constitution seriously,” Hamadeh said, vowing he would “never compromise” on the issues that have made America great. 

“I’m just seeing our country being hijacked by left-wing lunatics who are hell-bent on destroying it. So I think it’s going to take a new generation of fighters who don’t back down, who will never surrender, and never compromise on the issues that have made our country great,” he said.

BIDEN DEBATE PREP FOCUSED ON WAYS TO ‘TRIGGER’ TRUMP AS FORMER PRESIDENT RELIES ON CAMPAIGNING: REPORTS

Republican Abe Hamadeh, a U.S. Army Reserve intelligence officer, is running to represent Arizona’s 8th Congressional District. (Abe for Arizona)

“I think people right now are looking for courage. They know all the problems… They all see the border, and they all see our elections are compromised, but they want somebody to go in there and fight and do something about it.” 

Hamadeh, who has never held elected office, is a son of first-generation immigrants from Syria and Venezuela, and has served in the U.S. Army Reserve in an intelligence role since 2016. He deployed to Saudi Arabia from 2020-2021, where he worked in a counterterrorism capacity following the 2019 terrorist attack in Pensacola, Florida at the hands of a Saudi Arabian pilot.

He was the Republican nominee for Arizona attorney general during the 2022 midterm elections, but narrowly lost by less than 300 votes to his Democratic opponent. A recount automatically triggered by Arizona law because of the narrow margin cut the Democrat’s lead by nearly half.

Hamadeh unsuccessfully challenged the result in court, maintaining that thousands of provisional ballots went uncounted.

FAITH VOTERS WILL ‘DECIDE THIS ELECTION,’ ACCORDING TO PROMINENT GOP MEMBERS

Republican Arizona congressional candidate serves as an intelligence officer with the U.S. Army Reserve. (Abe for Arizona)

Now he says one of the first issues he would work to address as a member of Congress is election integrity.

“We have so many people who have distrust in our elections because of the incompetence and possible corruption of so many of our election officials and people who refuse to acknowledge that there are some huge failures in how our elections are run,” Hamadeh said, referencing his 2022 race. “It’s just a complete mess… It was just so much chaos. Without addressing it and without accountability, it’s going to increase.” 

His plan includes banning certain outside money from helping fund election operations, as well as putting a stop to ranked-choice voting at the federal level.

The ongoing border crisis is another issue Hamadeh said would be a top priority if elected, an area he hopes to work closely on with former President Trump and Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake should they also win their elections in November.

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Former President Trump endorsed Republican Abe Hamadeh to represent Arizona’s 8th Congressional District. (Abe for Arizona)

He’s grown close with both throughout his campaign, and secured their endorsements early on in the primary race despite going up against a more well-known Blake Masters, who unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2022.

“President Trump and Kari Lake have endorsed me and so many great people, because they’ve seen it takes a certain type of mental toughness to go through any political campaign,” Hamadeh said. “They just want somebody who knows that they’re unwavering in their support to make our country great. And that’s exactly what I intend to do when I’m in Congress.”

“People want something new and different, and they expect you to go out there, meet the people and know what issues matter to them and fight for them and not just give them lip service. The voters in this district, especially in Arizona, are hungry for something to be done about our border. They want something to be done about our elections. They just want some push back against what they see is our country being stolen from them right in front of them.”

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Republican Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake and Republican Arizona House candidate Abe Hamadeh (Abe for Arizona)

Hamadeh faces a crowded Republican primary field, including Masters, hoping to replace retiring GOP Rep. Debbie Lesko, but is confident his support from Trump and Lake, as well as his experience serving the country, will carry him across the finish line when voters head to the polls.

The winner of the July 30 primary will be the heavy favorite to win the November general election since analysts rate the race as either “safe” or “solid” Republican.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

It’s the biggest question surrounding Thursday night’s CNN Presidential Debate, which is the first of two on-stage showdowns between President Biden and former President Trump in the 2024 election rematch.

Which version of the former president will show up at the prime-time debate in Atlanta, the capital and largest city in the southeastern battleground of Georgia?

Will it be the undisciplined candidate who continuously interrupted Biden and debate moderator Chris Wallace dozens and dozens of times at their first debate in the 2020 election? 

Trump appeared to lose his cool, failed to condemn white supremacists, and his performance was widely panned by political pundits and viewers alike.

FIRST ON FOX: BIDEN CAMPAIGN RIPS TRUMP OVER ‘NEGLECT OF DUTY’ ON EVE OF FIRST 2024 DEBATE

Then-President Donald Trump speaks as then-Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden listens during the first presidential debate hosted by Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. (Kevin Dietsch/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images )

The then-president re-worked his strategy and his disciplined and measured performance in the second 2020 general election debate was a vast improvement. But it was too late, as Biden ended up winning the presidential election.

“If he replicates that performance, Donald Trump’s going to have a very good night,” longtime Republican consultant and veteran debate coach Brett O’Donnell told Fox News.

HOW TO WATCH THE CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE SIMULCAST ON THE FOX NEWS CHANNEL

O’Donnell said his advice to Trump is “watch the second debate you had with Joe Biden in 2020 and replicate that performance. Watch it over and over and replicate that performance in this debate.”

“He was measured but firm,” O’Donnell said of Trump. “You can be aggressive and passionate without being offensive.”

Then-President Donald Trump (left) and then-former Vice President Joe Biden debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, on Oct. 22, 2020. (Kevin Dietsch/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

O’Donnell knows a bit about coaching presidential candidates ahead of their debates. He assisted in debate preparations for George W. Bush in 2004, GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona in 2008, and Republican standard-bearer and then-former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in 2012. 

This election cycle, O’Donnell coached Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ahead of his debate performances in the Republican presidential primaries.

TRUMP, BIDEN, AIM TO USE POST-DEBATE RALLIES IN THESE STATES TO PUT THEIR RIVAL ON DEFENSE

O’Donnell argues that Trump has been more disciplined in this race, saying that “for the most part, he’s been talking about the things that he needs to talk about. That’s price of gas and groceries and the fact that people can’t afford their home or mortgage payments and can’t afford to buy their first house. Those are the kind of things that people want to hear answers to.”

Former President Donald Trump attends a rally June 9, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Eric Thayer/Washington Post via Getty Images)

“Most Americans think that their personal world and the world in general is in chaos, and they’re looking for someone who’s going to restore order, and I don’t think that talking about personal issues helps either person,” O’Donnell said of both Trump and Biden.

Along those lines, O’Donnell said Biden should avoid calling Trump a “convict,” as the president has multiple times since Trump last month was convicted on all 34 felony counts in the first criminal trial in the nation’s history of a former or current president.

“I think that’s a huge mistake. I think that plays into Trump’s strengths. First of all, I think the American people want this debate to be about their issues and not about the candidates’ issues.,” O’Donnell said. “So if Joe Biden makes this about himself and Donald Trump, that only helps Donald Trump because it deflects away from the issues they should be talking about.”

O’Donnell added that “highlighting this allows Donald Trump to talk about the justice system in a way that resonates with a lot of Americans. I think it’s a mistake.”

He also warned against Trump focusing on Biden’s age. At 81, Biden is the oldest president in American history and his health and mental fitness has been a major concern among voters, according to public opinion polling.

President Biden’s re-election campaign scolded MSNBC and CNN on Wednesday for ignoring a “Black Voters for Biden-Harris” rally in Philadelphia. (Demetrius Freeman/Washington Post via Getty Images)

“I would let Joe Biden’s debating make that argument rather than Trump mentioning it directly,” O’Donnell suggested. 

He predicted that “Biden is likely to be loaded with some clever line like Ronald Reagan had back in 1984” and that if “Trump does the job that he needs to do in the debate, I think that the age factor might be on display by itself without him provoking it.”

Trump for weeks has ridiculed Biden as “weak, failed and incompetent” and said that the president “doesn’t have a clue,” as he’s questioned whether the White House incumbent will be ready for the debate.

But on Tuesday, the Trump campaign attempted to recast Biden as a capable debater, with senior adviser Jason Miller telling reporters that the president “has been doing this successfully for 50 years.” 

O’Donnell, who spoke with Fox News ahead of Tuesday’s comments from Miller, cautioned the former president from “setting the bar low for Joe Biden.”

“We should have high expectations for Joe Biden’s debate performance. After all, he’s the President of the United States,” O’Donnell said. 

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O’Donnell said his advice for Biden “is be careful that you don’t fall into the incumbent trap… Many if not most incumbents in their first debate, whether it’s Ronald Reagan or George H.W. Bush or George W. Bush or Barack Obama, most incumbents perform poorly in their first debate going for the second term.”

“So the advice to Biden is avoid the incumbent trap because if he falls into it, it’s doubly bad because of all the age arguments,” he added.

And O’Donnell emphasized that Biden has “got to somehow frame the race as a choice in defense of his record over the past four years. That is a tall order, but that’s something he has to do in order to justify picking him over Donald Trump.”

“Neither of these candidates has really framed the race up yet for the American voter to understand how they should decide the race,” O’Donnell argued. “And I think the debate is a perfect place for them to do that. And I think that Joe Biden needs to frame the race as a choice between him and Donald Trump. And Donald Trump needs to make this race a referendum on Joe Biden.”

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

A group of top economists published a letter this week warning voters that former President Trump would be a disaster for the economy if he wins election, but many of them made the same warnings in 2016.

Of the 16 Nobel Prize-winning economists who signed Tuesday’s letter, at least nine made similar warnings about the economic danger of electing Trump in 2016. Their letter this election cycle highlights their fears about inflation.

“Many Americans are concerned about inflation, which has come down remarkably fast. There is rightly a worry that Donald Trump will reignite this inflation, with his fiscally irresponsible budgets,” the economists wrote, according to Axios.

The group is led by Joseph Stiglitz, who won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2001. The other co-signers include George Akerlof (2001), Sir Angus Deaton (2015), Claudia Goldin (2023), Sir Oliver Hart (2016), Eric Maskin (2007), Daniel McFadden (2000), Paul Milgrom (2020), Roger Myerson (2007), Edmund Phelps (2006), Paul Romer (2018), Alvin Roth (2012), William Sharpe (1990), Robert Shiller (2013), Christopher Sims (2011) and Robert Wilson (2020).

BIDEN CLAIMS TO SEE THE ECONOMY THROUGH THE EYES OF SCRANTON, NOT WALL STREET

A group of top economists published a letter this week warning voters that former President Trump would be a disaster for the economy if he wins election, but many of them made the same warnings in 2016. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)

Several of the laureates were among a group of 370 economists who urged voters not to support Trump just days before the 2016 election. Others derided Trump’s economic policies both before and during his term.

BIDEN’S HOMETOWN SPEAKS OUT ON BIDENOMICS

The 2016 letter argued Trump “promotes magical thinking and conspiracy theories over sober assessments of feasible economic policy options.” They also said Trump had “a deep ignorance of economics and an inability to listen to credible experts.”

“If elected, he poses a unique danger to the functioning of democratic and economic institutions, and to the prosperity of the country. For these reasons, we strongly recommend that you do not vote for Donald Trump,” they wrote.

Polls show most Americans believe former President Trump, left, would handle the U.S. economy better than President Biden. (Getty Images)

That letter featured signatures from Deaton, Hart, Maskin, Myerson, Phelps, Romer, Roth and Shiller.

BIDEN’S MOVE TO LIFT RESTRICTIONS ON NOTORIOUS DICTATORSHIP RECEIVES BACKLASH

“Academic economists are ruled out” of working in Trump’s administration “unless they’re some kind of extremist,” Shiller said in an interview with the Lindau Nobel Laureates group in 2017.

Siglitz made similar criticisms of Trump ahead of the economic conference in Davos in 2016.

“Unfortunately for [Republicans], I believe he is going to fail,” Siglitz said of Trump. “What he is doing is trying to create a protectionist wall, not to manage the economy better.”

Nobel laureate economists claim President Biden is the safer option for the U.S. economy in 2024. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Hart also went into greater detail about his misgivings on Trump in a 2016 interview with CNBC.

“I’m very concerned about the possibility of a Trump presidency,” he said days before the election. “I think it would be disastrous for the economy as well as other things and I felt compelled to speak out.”

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Despite their predictions, the American economy thrived during Trump’s term prior to the coronavirus pandemic, with the poverty rate reaching an all-time low in 2019, wages steadily rising and the unemployment rate low.

Active Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) contractors “colluded” with the Biden campaign when releasing a statement dismissing Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop as Russian disinformation ahead of the 2020 election, and the then-CIA chief was likely in the loop before the statement’s release, according to a joint report released by three House panels shows. 

“We knew that the rushed statement from the 51 former intelligence officials was a political maneuver between the Biden campaign and the intelligence community. Now with this interim report, we reveal how officials at the highest levels of the CIA were aware of the statement and CIA employees knew that several of the so-called former officials were on active contract with the CIA. The report underscores the risks posed by a weaponized federal government,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said in a press release Tuesday.

The House Judiciary Committee, its Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence released a report Tuesday titled, “The Intelligence Community 51: How CIA Contractors Colluded with The Biden Campaign to Mislead American Voters.” 

The report found that active CIA contractors “coordinated” with the Biden campaign just weeks ahead of the 2020 election “to discredit serious allegations about Biden family influence peddling” connected to Hunter’s laptop when 51 alleged former intelligence officials released a statement dismissing the laptop. 

The former intelligence officials released a statement on Oct. 19, 2020, discounting the laptop as having “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation,” in a bid to discredit the New York Post’s bombshell report on the laptop at the time. 

HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP RE-EMERGES AS MEDIA EMBARRASSMENT AS IT BECOMES KEY EVIDENCE AT GUN TRIAL

Chairman Jim Jordan listens as Attorney General Merrick Garland appears before a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Sept. 20, 2023, on Capitol Hill. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

FLASHBACK: MSNBC, CNN, CBS TOLD VIEWERS HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP STORY WAS RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION

“The report reveals new information detailing how the highest levels of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), up to and including then-CIA Director Gina Haspel, were made aware of the ‘Public Statement on the Hunter Biden Emails’ by 51 former intelligence officials prior to its approval and publication,” the press release says, outlining of Haspel’s likely knowledge of the letter. Haspel served as CIA director from 2018 to 2021 during the Trump administration. 

The CIA’s chief operating officer, Andrew Makridis, testified that he informed Haspel or Deputy Director Vaughn Frederick Bishop about the statement ahead of its release, and the report indicates that CIA chiefs had the opportunity to vet the validity of the statement discrediting the laptop of Russian disinformation. 

The laptop re-emerged earlier this month when Hunter Biden faced a criminal trial in Delaware over his purchase of a firearm in 2018. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

CNN BOSS, POLITICAL DIRECTOR SPIKED HUNTER BIDEN CONTROVERSY, AUDIOTAPES REVEAL: ‘WE’RE NOT GOING WITH’ STORY

The report also included internal CIA emails where intelligence officers lamented the political nature of the statement. 

“This frustrates me. I don’t think it is helpful to the Agency in the long run. Sigh,” one unnamed CIA official said in an email on Oct. 20, 2020, a day after Politico published the statement discounting the laptop as disinformation.  

Another unnamed colleague responded to the email, noting that some of the signatories were current CIA contractors. 

VIDEO GOES VIRAL OF DEMOCRATS, MEDIA MEMBERS DOUBTING HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP

President Biden speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Sept. 15, 2023. (Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“I also love that at least a few of the random signatures belong to individuals currently working here on contracts…,” the emailed response reads. 

Hunter Biden and his wife Melissa Cohen in Wilmington, Delaware, during his trial. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The 2020 statement was signed by former CIA directors such as John Brennan and Leon Panetta, as well as former Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper, in addition to former CIA acting director Michael Morell and former CIA inspector general David Buckley. 

5 TAKES ON THE HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP THAT HAVE AGED POORLY

Morell – who helped draft the statement and said it would provide President Biden with a “talking point” in a 2020 presidential debate – was actually a contractor with the CIA when the letter was issued, according to the report. While Buckley was also a contractor at the time of the letter, according to the report, citing CIA documents. 

“It is extremely concerning that signatories of the Hunter Biden statement were on contract with the CIA at the time of the statement’s drafting, review, and publication. This revelation shows that Morell, Buckley, and likely other signatories were receiving U.S. taxpayer funds while engaged in a politicized project to mislead American voters on behalf of the Biden campaign. Such an overtly political action would be illegal under the Hatch Act for a permanent CIA employee. Congress ought to consider whether to extend this important prohibition to CIA contractors as well,” the report states. 

The Hatch Act is a federal law that forbids most civilian federal employees, including intelligence community operatives, from engaging in partisan political activities. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the CIA and White House Wednesday morning regarding the report’s findings, but did not immediately receive responses. 

SECRETARY BLINKEN SILENT ON PAST EFFORTS TO DISCREDIT HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP AFTER FEDS ENTER IT INTO EVIDENCE

Biden did use the statement as a “talking point” during his final 2020 debate against President Trump, claiming that the dozens of signatories proved the laptop was Russian propaganda.  

“There are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what he’s accusing me of is a Russian plant,” Biden said at the time of Trump. “Five former heads of the CIA, both parties, say what he’s saying is a bunch of garbage. Nobody believes it except his good friend Rudy Giuliani.”  

President Trump answers a question during his debate with former Vice President Biden at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, Oct. 22, 2020. (Morry Gash/Pool via Reuters)

The New York Post’s 2020 bombshell report on the contents of Hunter’s laptop was overwhelmingly dismissed by the media in 2020 as “Russian disinformation.” But liberal media outlets changed their tune in 2022 after newspapers such as The Washington Post and The New York Times authenticated thousands of his emails. The laptop hit the public view after Hunter left it at a Delaware repair shop ahead of the 2020 presidential election. 

FBI STILL MUM ON LAPTOP AS IT GETS ENTERED INTO EVIDENCE IN HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL

President Biden walks with his son Hunter Biden. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The laptop re-emerged earlier this month when the first son faced a criminal trial in Delaware over his purchase of a firearm in 2018 while he was reeling from a crack cocaine addiction. The trial, which found Hunter guilty on all counts, formally entered the laptop into evidence and was confirmed by the FBI as legitimate. 

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“The House Intelligence Committee’s work provided us with solid direct evidence that in the final weeks before the 2020 presidential election, 51 former intelligence officials coordinated with the Biden campaign to falsely cast doubt on an explosive New York Post story and label Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop as ‘Russian disinformation.’ The Committee worked to obtain classified documents from the CIA, including emails, and fought to include evidence of these materials in our report,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, said in a statement on the report.