NationalWatch

A conservative nonprofit is suing the Department of Justice after it failed to release records requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) pertaining to Matthew Colangelo, a key figure in the New York criminal trial of former President Trump.

America First Legal (AFL) alleged in the lawsuit filed Monday that New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg – the lead official in Trump’s prosecution – hired Matthew Colangelo in December 2022 to reportedly “jump-start” his office’s investigation of Trump, reportedly due to Mr. Colangelo’s “history of taking on Donald J. Trump and his family business.”

TRUMP PROSECUTOR QUIT TOP DOJ POST FOR LOWLY NY JOB IN LIKELY BID TO ‘GET’ FORMER PRESIDENT, EXPERT SAYS

Lead prosecutor Matthew Colangelo previously worked in the DOJ before transitioning to the Manhattan DA’s office. (Fox News Digital | U.S. Dept. of Justice)

The lawsuit states Colangelo previously held senior positions at the DOJ and the New York Attorney General’s Office, “both of which had competing investigations” related to Trump. Colangelo left his high-ranking DOJ post to join Bragg’s investigation of Trump months before the indictment of the former president.

“It is not every day that the number three ranking DOJ official — the Acting Associate Attorney General — leaves his post to join a district attorney’s office. Yet, that is exactly what Mr. Colangelo did,” AFL said in a news release. “This calculated move reeks of partisanship.”

AFL Executive Director Gene Hamilton told Fox News Digital in an interview Tuesday that they had filed a FOIA request in 2023 to obtain Colangelo’s calendars and records discussing Trump to understand his transition from the DOJ to the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

EX-TOP BIDEN DOJ OFFICIAL NOW PROSECUTING TRUMP WAS ONCE PAID BY DNC FOR ‘POLITICAL CONSULTING’.

Former President Trump arrives at Trump Tower in New York City on May 30, 2024, after being found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)

“We’re going to get those records, and we are going to obtain everything from his calendar entries to communications, for everything in between, to show and to help shed a light on this coordinated effort to get Donald Trump, that is unprecedented and has never been done before,” Hamilton said. “Because none of these records are public, and because this is a key central figure involved in the political persecution of Donald Trump, we think it’s vital and critical that we get records.”

After AFL’s initial FOIA request, it received an email from the Justice Department that acknowledged the request and asked for an extra 10 days to process the request due to “unusual circumstances,” according to the lawsuit. On Aug. 28, 2023, AFL replied to the email and agreed “to exclude publicly available news article compilations, provided they were not commented on by department personnel.” 

NY V TRUMP: HOUSE JUDICIARY INVESTIGATES BRAGG PROSECUTOR WHO HELD SENIOR ROLE IN BIDEN DOJ

Former President Trump sits in the courtroom during his criminal trial in New York City on May 21, 2024. (Michael M. Santiago/PoolAFP via Getty Images)

The Justice Department did not release any documents, the lawsuit alleges.

The AFL is not the only party interested in obtaining Colangelo’s records. Last month, Republican House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan sent a letter to New York Attorney General Letitia James demanding that her office turn over Colangelo’s documents. 

“Mr. Colangelo’s recent employment history demonstrates his obsession with investigating a person rather than prosecuting a crime,” Jordan wrote in his letter to James. 

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Colangelo has a lengthy resume in government, working in a variety of legal roles that date to the Obama administration, Fox News Digital previously reported. He most recently served nearly two years in the Biden Justice Department, including as acting associate attorney general and overseeing the Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Environment and Natural Resources, and Tax Divisions.

The Justice Department did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment by press deadline.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

WILMINGTON, Del. — First son Hunter Biden’s criminal trial kicked off in earnest on Tuesday, beginning with opening statements before hearing from the case’s first witness, a special agent with the FBI. 

Jurors heard testimony and opening statements for more than seven hours on Tuesday, including Biden’s defense team setting the stage that his purchase of a Cobra Colt .38 revolver in October 2018 was a hurried purchase promoted by employees at the gun shop – StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply in Wilmington – who wanted to make a sale. Lowell continued in his opening remarks that the firearm Biden purchased was a “small gun” that was never used in the 11 days Biden had it in his possession. 

“No one is above the law,” argued prosecutors, who told the jury that during the trial they will present evidence showing Biden was a crack cocaine addict who lied on a federal gun form in order to purchase the firearm. 

Biden’s 2021 memoir “Beautiful Things” took center stage Tuesday as prosecutors played excerpts from Biden’s audiobook, which is narrated by Biden, in the courtroom. The excerpts detailed anecdotes such as how he linked up with a female drug dealer he nicknamed “Bicycles” who sold him crack cocaine on the streets of Washington, D.C., how he could serve as a “crack daddy” to dealers due to his spiraling addiction, and how he took cocaine from a stranger in a hotel bathroom in Monte Carlo. 

HUNTER BIDEN’S WIFE LASHES OUT AT FORMER TRUMP AIDE DURING COURT APPEARANCE: ‘PIECE OF S—‘

Hunter Biden, accompanied by his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, leaves federal court on June 4, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Though the excerpts from the book contained salacious details, jurors for the case appeared to lose interest at points while the prosecution team played roughly an hour of audiobook excerpts. Jurors were seen yawning, placing their heads in their hands, and even two jurors throughout the day appeared to close their eyes briefly as testimony continued. 

HUNTER BIDEN’S DRUG USE: WHAT THE PROSECUTION NEEDS TO PROVE AND WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW

The court did erupt into chuckles late in the day when presiding Judge Maryellen Noreika told the court that the chair at the witness stand is fixed in its place due to previous witnesses in unrelated cases rocking back and forth before falling off the stand. The judge, as well as the jury and members of the media, laughed at the anecdote before Noreika added that such an instance is “not so funny to witness.” 

Hunter Biden, son of President Biden, leaves federal court with his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, on the second day of his trial on criminal gun charges in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 4, 2024. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

Biden was joined by first lady Jill Biden, his sister, Ashley Biden, and his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden. During breaks, Biden was often drawn to his wife like a magnet, holding her hand and briefly hugging her and giving her a kiss.

Jill Biden took her front-row seat in the court for the second time since Monday, flanked by daughter Ashley and daughter-in-law Melissa on either side. Ashley Biden was seen becoming emotional during the trial, with Jill Biden placing her arm around her daughter.

HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL: 9 KEY FIGURES WHO MAY TESTIFY

The first lady directed her line of vision almost exclusively toward the judge and defense team, unless her family members or allies approached her for a quick chat. At least twice, Jill Biden took a small stack of papers from her cream-colored clutch handbag, which were delicately folded in half, to read or jot down a quick note.

First lady Jill Biden arrives at federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

The first lady left the courtroom after breaking for lunch. She was in the courtroom as excerpts of the audiobook detailed topics such as Biden’s ability to buy crack cocaine in any city he visited.

Lowell also briefly sat with the first lady during a short break in the morning, smiling as the two chatted. Jill Biden seldom stole glances at media members and others sitting behind her in the court.

US V HUNTER BIDEN: OPENING STATEMENTS TO BEGIN IN FIRST SON’S FEDERAL GUN TRIAL AFTER JURY SEATED

Reports surfaced Tuesday that Melissa Cohen lashed out at a former Trump White House aide, Garrett Ziegler, allegedly pointing her finger at him and saying, “You have no right to be here, you Nazi piece of s—.” Fox News Digital did not witness the tense exchange.

Ziegler later confirmed the encounter, telling NBC News, “It’s sad I’ve been sitting here the whole time and haven’t approached anyone.”

Ziegler leads the nonprofit group Marco Polo and was sued by Biden last year for publishing the contents of his infamous laptop.

Hunter Biden, left, arrives with his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, at federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Prosecutors in the case allege that in October 2018, Biden visited StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply to purchase the Colt revolver and that he lied about his drug addiction when he filled out a federal form to purchase the gun. Biden’s form was ticked “No” when asked if he is an unlawful user of a firearm or addicted to controlled substances.

He is facing charges of false statement in purchase of a firearm; false statement related to information required to be kept by federal firearms licensed dealer; possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.

HUNTER BIDEN’S CRIMINAL TRIAL ON FEDERAL GUN CHARGES BEGINS WITH JURY SELECTION

Biden pleaded not guilty in the case. 

The total maximum prison time for the three charges could be up to 25 years. Each count carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release. 

Ashley Biden arrives at federal court on the second day of Hunter Biden’s trial on criminal gun charges in Wilmington, Delaware, on June 4, 2024. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

The trial continues Wednesday with cross-examination of FBI Special Agent Erica Jensen, who testified about dozens of text messages, metadata, photos and short videos found on phones and iCloud accounts belonging to Biden. 

The defense team is laying the groundwork that at the time of the gun purchase in 2018, Biden had just flown from California to the East Coast, which they appeared to argue would be incongruent with his documented behavior of active addiction. Biden detailed in his book that when he was in active addiction, he missed flights out of fear he would not be able to smoke crack on the plane.

In opening statements, Lowell set the framework that Biden’s purchase of a handgun was hurried by gun shop employees seeking to make a sale. Along with the revolver, Biden also purchased a box of ammunition, a speed loader and a BB gun, evidence presented Tuesday showed.

The defense team highlighted to the jury that they are not arguing Biden was a drug addict, with Lowell saying Biden began drinking alcohol as a teenager before graduating to hard drugs as an adult, citing his traumatic childhood, including losing his mother and sister to a car crash in 1972 that also left him seriously injured. Instead, the defense team argued that the issue at hand is whether Biden believed he was in active addiction when he entered the gun shop to make the purchase. 

The prosecution, meanwhile, presented text message evidence and photos and video in an effort to prove to the jury that Biden was an addict before, during and after the purchase, thus working to prove he lied on the federal gun form. 

Prosecutors presented a list of their anticipated witnesses on Tuesday, including: ex-wife Kathleen Buhle; former romantic partner and sister-in-law Hallie Biden; one of Biden’s former romantic partners, Zoe Kestan; gun shop employee Gordon Cleveland; the man who discovered the gun Biden purchased, Edward Banner; and others. 

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Buhle, who was married to Biden from 1993 to 2017, could take the stand on Wednesday. The former couple share three daughters. 

Court begins Wednesday at 9 a.m. and is anticipated to conclude for the day at 4:30 p.m.

President Biden has shown signs of poor cognitive performance in private meetings with congressional lawmakers, as his age and mental acuity continue to come into question ahead of November’s presidential election.

Biden, 81, is the oldest person to hold the presidency and has faced skepticism from voters and Republican lawmakers about his ability to do his job. Many Republicans and even some Democrats said the president showed his age in private meetings, according to The Wall Street Journal, which spoke with 45 lawmakers and administration officials about the president’s mental performance.

Most of the people interviewed by the outlet who were critical of Biden’s performance were Republicans, although some Democrats said the president showed his age in several exchanges. These interviewees participated in meetings with Biden or were briefed on them contemporaneously, including administration officials and other Democrats who did not express concerns about how the president handled the meetings.

When meeting with congressional leaders in January to negotiate a deal to send additional funding to Ukraine, Biden spoke so softly at times that some people struggled to hear him, five people familiar with the meeting told The Wall Street Journal. The president read from notes to make obvious points, paused for extended periods of time and even closed his eyes for so long that some people in the meeting wondered if he had tuned out.

BIDEN SAYS WORLD LEADERS ARE SCARED OF ANOTHER TRUMP PRESIDENCY, TELL HIM ‘YOU CAN’T LET’ TRUMP WIN

President Biden, 81, is the oldest person to hold the presidency. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

In February, when Biden met one-on-one with House Speaker Mike Johnson, the president said a recent policy change by his administration that jeopardizes some big energy projects was just a study, according to six people who were told at the time about what Johnson recalled from the meeting. Johnson was concerned the president had forgotten about the details of his own policy.

Last year, when Biden was negotiating with House Republicans to lift the debt ceiling, his demeanor and command of the details appeared to change from one day to the next, then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and two others familiar with the talks said. He appeared sharp with loose and spontaneous exchanges with Republicans on one day, and mumbled and seemed to rely on notes on other days.

“I used to meet with him when he was vice president. I’d go to his house. He’s not the same person,” McCarthy said.

Previously having a reputation in Washington for being a master negotiator of legislative deals, possessing detailed knowledge of issues and insights into the other side’s motivations and needs and for excelling under pressure, Biden is now perceived, particularly in the last year after Republicans took control of the House, as an aging president with poor cognitive ability at times.

White House officials, however, dismissed many of the accounts from people who have met with the president or been briefed on those meetings, saying such criticisms were motivated by partisan politics.

“Congressional Republicans, foreign leaders and nonpartisan national-security experts have made clear in their own words that President Biden is a savvy and effective leader who has a deep record of legislative accomplishment,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said. “Now, in 2024, House Republicans are making false claims as a political tactic that flatly contradict previous statements made by themselves and their colleagues.”

In Biden’s meeting on Ukraine in January, the president laid out a compelling case for providing aid, according to administration officials and some participants, who said it is common practice to use notes in these meetings. Bates also denied claims that Biden had misspoken during his meeting with Johnson in February about energy policy.

White House officials claimed criticisms of Biden’s mental acuity were motivated by partisan politics. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Administration aides familiar with last year’s debt-ceiling negotiations recalled that Biden was effective, that he was not directly involved and had provided detailed instructions behind the scenes. The aides said McCarthy privately told administration officials at the time that he was impressed with Biden’s performance, and that the former Speaker suggested in public remarks that the president appeared sharp.

The aides said the passage of both Ukraine funding and a debt-ceiling increase without major concessions to Republicans shows he succeeded. 

Former President Trump, Biden’s biggest threat in the presidential election, at 77-years-old, has also faced criticism over his mental acuity as he has shown signs of poor memory, giving inaccurate facts and slipping up in public remarks, allowing both Democrats and Republicans to attack their political foe over mental sharpness.

Some who attended the meetings with Biden blamed his slip-ups on his speech impediment and tendency to be long-winded. People who expressed concern about the president said the behavior they observed suggested unevenness, rather than a confused leader that some of his political opponents have described. The White House said the president’s doctors have found him fit to serve, and that his recent annual physical showed no need for a cognitive test.

Members of the administration provided several examples of other instances they say showed the president was sharp and engaged, including long hours in the Situation Room in April during and after Iran’s missile attack on Israel, and late nights on the phone with lawmakers from the White House.

Voters’ concerns about the mental acuity of Biden and Trump are shaped largely by their speeches and other public appearances.

BIDEN ORDER TO BLOCK MOST ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHEN CROSSINGS SURGE, AS ELECTION NEARS

Former President Trump has also faced criticism over his mental acuity. (Donald Trump/Truth Social)

During a campaign event in Detroit last month, Biden suggested he was vice president during the COVID-19 pandemic, which started during the Trump administration. The following day, during a Rose Garden event celebrating Jewish American Heritage month, Biden initially said one of the U.S. hostages held in Gaza was a guest at the White House event before correcting himself.

In January, Biden mixed up two of his Hispanic cabinet secretaries, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

At a February fundraiser in New York, he recalled speaking to German Chancellor Helmut Kohl at the 2021 Group of Seven meeting, despite the fact that Kohl died in 2017. During a different fundraiser that month, he said that during the 2021 G-7 summit he had spoken to former French President François Mitterrand, who died in 1996.

Trump, meanwhile, mixed up then-Republican presidential opponent Nikki Haley with former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat congresswoman from California, during a speech in January. During a rally in Virginia in March, Trump mixed up Biden with former President Obama when commenting on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s opinion of U.S. leadership. At his criminal hush money trial in New York last month, he closed his eyes for extended periods of time.

Following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, concerns about Trump’s mental state led some of his cabinet officials to discuss whether there should be a greater check on his power and at least one considered invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.

A spokeswoman for Trump told The Wall Street Journal he is “sharp as a tack.”

Voters’ concerns about the mental acuity of Biden and Trump are shaped largely by their speeches and other public appearances. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

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Concerns about the president’s mental state were amplified earlier this year when Special Counsel Robert K. Hur, who interviewed him for about five hours over two days last October during an investigation into his handling of classified documents, wrote that Biden’s memory had been “significantly limited.” Biden addressed Hur’s report, saying “I know what the hell I’m doing.”

Americans have had limited opportunities to observe Biden in unscripted moments, as he has shown a reluctance to give media interviews. By the end of April, he had given fewer interviews and press conferences than any of his recent predecessors, according to data collected by Martha Joynt Kumar, an emeritus professor at Towson University. His last town-hall-style meeting with an independent news outlet was in October 2021.

Biden has had fewer small meetings with lawmakers as his term has continued, according to visitor logs. During his first year in office, he held more than three dozen meetings of fewer than 20 lawmakers in the West Wing, even with pandemic restrictions. The number dipped to roughly two dozen in his second year, and about a dozen in his third year.

The Wall Street Journal contributed to this report.

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, on Tuesday fended off a conservative GOP primary challenge, setting up what is expected to be a close race this fall with a Democratic challenger.

Miller-Meeks won against David Pautsch, an advertising executive, former Army tuba player and Gold Star father in the race for the GOP’s nomination for the 1st congressional district.

Miller-Meeks was first elected to Congress in 2020 by a slim margin of just six votes but expanded that advantage in 2022.

TRUMP, BIDEN FACE TESTS IN FINAL 2024 PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES

U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, speaks during a House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health hearing Feb. 15, 2024. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

She had racked up a sizable financial advantage over her challenger, entering the final stretch of the primary campaign with nearly $1.9 million in the bank, compared with just slightly more than $6,000 for Pautsch. 

She had touted endorsements from Gov. Kim Reynolds and Attorney General Brenna Bird. Pautsch, meanwhile, picked up the endorsements from Trump allies, including former Gov. Mike Huckabee and My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell.

By mid-May, Miller-Meeks had spent about $1.4 million on the race, nearly 50 times what Pautsch spent.

Both had made conservative appeals in the primary race. Miller-Meeks described herself as a “proven conservative,” while Pautsch accused her of voting “against you and the Republican platform over 40% of the time.”

REPUBLICAN GOVERNORS CHARGE BIDEN HAS ‘DONE NOTHING BUT ATTACK AMERICAN ENERGY’

Pautsch had criticized Miller-Meeks for not being tough enough on abortion, immigration and the national debt, according to The Des Moines Register. And he accused her of being a Republican in name only (RINO).

He also criticized her for voting to certify President Biden’s presidential election. Miller-Meeks dismissed the criticism as something to be expected in a typical primary campaign and has also pointed to her A+ rating from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and her vote to pass the House border security bill in 2023. 

Businessman David Pautsch with former President Trump (David Pautsch For US Congress)

“I think the most important thing to realize about primaries is that, on the Republican side, your primary opponent is going to go to your right, and on the Democrat side, your primary opponent is going to go to your left,” she said, according to the Register. “And it’s up to you to be able to explain why you vote the way you vote.”

Miller-Meeks will now face former state Rep. Christina Bohannan, who is unopposed in the Democratic primary. 

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Miller-Meeks defeated Bohannan in the 2022 general election, 53% to 47%. The 1st district as a whole went for former President Trump in the 2020 election, voting for him by about three percentage points over President Biden.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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

Longtime New Jersey state assemblyman Herb Conaway won the Democratic primary in New Jersey’s 3rd congressional district on Tuesday, setting him up to face a Republican challenger in November.

Conaway served in the Garden State’s legislature since 1998. A late April survey by Public Policy Polling found Conaway to be the runaway favorite to win the race.

He won a crowded five-way primary race for the seat that’s being vacated by Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., a top contender to unseat embattled Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J. 

REPUBLICANS SEE EMBATTLED MENENDEZ’S POTENTIAL INDEPENDENT BID AS CHANCE TO FLIP SENATE SEAT

Five Democrats were running to replace Rep. Andy Kim (Erin Scott/Bloomberg)

Kim launched a primary challenge against Menendez in September 2023 after the longtime senator dismissed calls for his resignation over damning criminal charges related to bribery and corruption. 

Kim’s been the favorite to win the Democratic primary since Menendez announced he would be running for his seat as an Independent earlier this week.

New Jersey’s 3rd congressional district is in the southern portion of the state, including part of the Philadelphia suburbs. 

SEN MENENDEZ CHARGED WITH OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE IN ANOTHER SUPERSEDING INDICTMENT

Kim is running in a race to replace Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

President Biden won the majority-White and urban district in the 2020 White House race. 

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Voters in the district also narrowly elected incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy, a progressive Democrat, in 2021 – albeit by a margin of roughly two points.

However, it could still be considered in play for Republicans come November – the seat was held by the GOP from 2011 until 2019, when Kim took over after unseating incumbent ex-Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-N.J.

Kim himself had not made an endorsement in the race to succeed him.

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

What’s happening

– Hunter Biden faces second day of criminal trial

– AG Garland grilled on Biden investigation, accusations of ‘weaponized’ DOJ

– Several states and the District of Columbia hold primaries Tuesday 

Election year border crackdown

The White House on Tuesday announced long-awaited executive actions to stop illegal immigrants at the southern border claiming asylum if crossings reach a certain level — a move coming just months before the November election and that could soon see a legal challenge from activists.

“Today I’m moving past Republican obstruction and using executive authorities available to me as president to do what I can on my own to address the border,” President Biden said in a speech on Tuesday afternoon, accusing Republicans of refusing to secure the border.

Biden is issuing a presidential proclamation that will temporarily suspend the entry of non-citizens across the southern border once the number of average border encounters exceeds 2,500 a day over seven days, officials said. That will stay in effect until 14 days after there has been a seven-day average of less than 1,500 encounters along the border. Officials said it would make it easier for immigration officers to quickly remove individuals who do not have a legal basis to remain in the U.S.

Republican critics, who have blasted Biden over the border crisis for years, were quick to question the timing of Biden’s crackdown (weeks before his first debate against Trump) after he said he needed legislative action to secure the border.

President Biden was fact-checked by TIME.  ((AP Photo/Andrew Harnik))

White House

AG RESPONDS: Garland to push back on Trump’s ‘locked & loaded’ FBI claim …Read more

‘UNCHARTED TERRITORY’: Biden reverses strategy of restraint at Greenwich fundraiser, calling Trump ‘crazy’ …Read more

Capitol Hill

GARLAND GRILLED: Republicans hammer defiant AG to hand over Biden-Hur audio …Read more

‘OUR WORST FEARS’: Lawmakers sound alarm on surge of Chinese nationals into US …Read more

BACK IN TOWN: McCarthy weighs in on Johnson’s speakership during surprise Capitol appearance …Read more

PLAN OF ATTACK: Johnson unveils DOJ crackdown strategy in closed-door House GOP meeting …Read more

Tales from the Campaign Trail

DEBATE PREP: Trump asks Judge Merchan to lift gag order before June 27 showdown against Biden …Read more

CRIME MATTERS: Crime a top issue for Washington, DC, Democratic primary following last year’s surge in homicide, car jackings …Read more

FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: New tracker shows which candidate is leading on the issues …Read more

PRIMARY CONCERN: DC law has allowed more than 500 noncitizens to vote in Tuesday’s Council primary elections despite House backlash …Read more

Trials and Tribulations

Hunter Biden arrives at federal court, Monday, June 3, 2024, in Wilmington, Del.  (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

‘IT’S THE AREA’: Potential jurors in Hunter Biden trial repeatedly mentioned this vice in social circles …Read more

FANI’S DAY IN COURT: October hearing date tentatively set for Trump’s appeal to disqualify Fani Willis from GA case …Read more

WITNESS LIST: The 9 people prosecutors hope will convince a jury Hunter Biden is guilty …Read more

Across America

CHAOTIC MEETING: Illinois meeting probing ‘supermayor’ Tiffany Henyard’s lavish spending devolves into scuffle …Read more

FIRST ON FOX: Pence rallies conservatives to ‘stay vigilant’ on specific key issues he says are being watered down …Read more

‘UNLEASH’ AMERICAN ENERGY: Republican governors blast Biden over soaring energy prices …Read more

Subscribe now to get Fox News Politics newsletter in your inbox.

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

Reform California Chairman Carl DeMaio is blasting an assembly bill that Democrats in the California State Legislature are proposing that will direct the University of California system to begin hiring illegal immigrants for taxpayer-funded state jobs. 

“I have seen a lot of outrageous proposals from California Democrat politicians, bending over backwards to make it easier for illegal immigrants to get in and to get taxpayer benefits. But this one absolutely tops the list of insane ideas,” DeMaio told Fox News Digital. 

If passed, Assembly Bill 2586 would provide state government jobs at taxpayers’ expense for illegal immigrants. DeMaio said specifically, it mandates that illegal immigrants with no U.S. work authorization should be given access to apply for and take jobs provided through taxpayer-funded universities run by the state government.

“By passing a law to mandate that illegal immigrants be hired for taxpayer-funded jobs in state government, California Democrats are not only making our border crisis worse, they are openly violating federal employment laws that prohibit the hiring of illegal immigrants!” DeMaio said. 

REP MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE THREATENS TO FORCE VOTE ON IMPEACHING BIDEN OVER BORDER CRISIS

Reform California Chairman Carl DeMaio says Democrats in the California State Legislature are proposing to pass the so-called “Opportunity for All Act” (CA Assembly Bill 2586) that will direct the University of California system – which is the largest agency of the state government – to begin hiring illegal immigrants for taxpayer-funded state jobs.  (Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Image)

DeMaio said the bill is instructing the largest state government agency in California, the University of California system, the colleges and universities, to hire illegal immigrants, which violates federal employment law. 

“They are telling the managers of state government to knowingly break federal employment law, which is very clear, that it is against federal law for an employer to knowingly hire someone in this country that’s not authorized to work. And these illegal immigrants are not authorized to work,” DeMaio explained.

He continued by stating that, despite this, the state government has decided to knowingly break the law. He said, according to university lawyers, this not only opens up the manager who’s doing the hiring to federal prosecution, but also puts the illegal immigrant in legal jeopardy. 

“This is insane. It’s offensive. Taxpayers should not be giving state government jobs to illegal immigrants in the state of California. On top of all the welfare benefits and all the other goodies that are being given out,” DeMaio said.

BIDEN ADMIN QUIETLY DISMISSES OVER 350K ASYLUM APPLICATIONS FROM IMMIGRANTS SINCE 2022: TRAC

May 23, 2024: Illegal immigrants wait to be picked up at the southern border. (Bill Melugin/Fox News)

DeMaio said even the University of California board, the regents, and the University of California system, which have a board of directors that the governor appoints, backed away from this proposal a year ago because university attorneys said the bill was going to create legal problems.

“It’s a violation of federal law, an open and shut case. And because the UC board of directors chose not to implement this policy, now, California politicians in the state legislature want to mandate it by passing this law,” DeMaio explained.

DeMaio emphasized that this law has been fast tracked. It sailed through the Assembly, passing by a 59-4 vote. Now it’s awaiting action in the state Senate, which he fears will pass it and make it law. He said it’s just like so many other “bad policies that incentivize illegal immigration in California.” 

“It’s a problem on two fronts. First, it’s offensive to be giving taxpayer-funded state government jobs to illegal immigrants in violation of federal law, putting everybody at legal jeopardy,” DeMaio said.

“But second, let’s be very clear that California politicians are the marketing boosters for human trafficking. They are giving these goodies out whether it’s free health care at taxpayer expense or the sanctuary state law or these government jobs. They’re putting a whole bunch of goodies on the table, at taxpayer expense, that the human traffickers use to induce and incentivize illegal immigration across the California-Mexico border.” 

BIDEN’S DOJ THREATENS ANOTHER GOP STATE WITH LAWSUIT OVER ANTI-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION EFFORTS

Approximately 30 migrants lined up in an empty parking lot near Jacumba Hot Springs, California, on March 27, 2024. Border Patrol agents have encountered record numbers of illegal immigrants in the San Diego area in recent years, straining both federal and local resources.  (Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News Digital)

DeMaio said that not only is this a California problem, but it’s also a national problem.

“This is a national issue because if California continues to dangle carrots at taxpayer expense through their state government to incentivize illegal immigration, we will never secure our border,” DeMaio said.

He praised Texas Governor Greg Abbott for “doing his job” and sending the resources needed to shore up Texas’ border with Mexico.DeMaio said because Abbott has done so well addressing the border crisis in Texas, the San Diego Sector in California is becoming the number one illegal immigrant crossing point.

DeMaio said this is the first time California has been number one in illegal immigrant crossings since 1999. He said the reason is that Texas has put more security at their border, pushing the flow of illegal immigration to California. 

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“So even if we do get President Trump back in the Oval Office, even if we do change federal policy at the border, if California politicians continue to roll out a red carpet and give taxpayer funded benefits and taxpayer funded jobs to illegal immigrants, we are going to still have a border crisis, and that will be an impact that will be felt nationally,” DeMaio said. 

Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, R-Ky., pressed Attorney General Merrick on the constitutionality of appointing Jack Smith as special counsel in a hearing Tuesday. 

Garland testified before the House Judiciary Committee and was questioned by Massie on Smith’s appointment to oversee the classified documents and January 6 probe into former President Donald Trump. 

“What gives you the authority to appoint a special counsel to create…you’ve created an office in the U.S. government that does not exist without authorization from Congress,” Massie posed to Garland. 

Massie referenced amicus briefs in the cases brought by the DOJ against Trump filed by former Attorney General Ed Meese under Ronald Reagan – in which he argues that the case that Garland’s appointment of Smith — a private citizen — is in violation of the Appointments Clause of the Constitution. 

SPECIAL COUNSEL IN TRUMP CASE UNCONSTITUTIONAL, FORMER REAGAN AG SAYS

Attorney General Merrick Garland testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, June 4.  (AP/Jose Luis Magana)

“Not clothed in the authority of the federal government, Smith is a modern example of the naked emperor,” the brief states. 

“Improperly appointed, he has no more authority to represent the United States in this Court than Bryce Harper, Taylor Swift, or Jeff Bezos,” they argued. 

Meese argues that the “illegality” of Smith’s appointment is “sufficient to sink Smith’s petition, and the Court should deny review.” 

Meese and company noted in the brief that Smith was appointed “to conduct the ongoing investigation into whether any person or entity [including former President Donald Trump] violated the law in connection with efforts to interfere with the lawful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election or the certification of the Electoral College vote held on or about January 6, 2021.”

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

 Special Counsel Jack Smith arrives to give remarks on a recently unsealed indictment including four felony counts against former U.S. President Donald Trump on August 1, 2023, in Washington, DC.  (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Garland responded to Massie that, “there are regulations under which the Attorney General appoint Special Counsel, they have been in effect for 30 years, maybe longer, under both parties. The matter that you’re talking about, about whether somebody can have an employee of the Justice Department serve as special counsel has been adjudicated,” he said. 

Garland argued that special counsel appointments that he and other AGs, including Attorney General William Barr, have made cite a regulation that points to a statute. 

Meese, however, in his briefs filed in several points in the Trump cases, argued that “none of those statutes, nor any other statutory or constitutional provisions, remotely authorized the appointment by the Attorney General of a private citizen to receive extraordinary criminal law enforcement power under the title of Special Counsel.”

JACK SMITH ASKS JUDGE TO RESTRICT TRUMP STATEMENTS AFTER ‘INFLAMMATORY’ REMARKS ABOUT FBI RAID

 U.S. President Donald Trump awards the National Medal of Freedom to former Attorney General Edwin Meese during a ceremony in the Oval Office at the White House October 08, 2019, in Washington, DC. Meese was appointed attorney general by President Ronald Reagan and served from 1985 to 1988.  ((Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images))

“Second, even if one overlooks the absence of statutory authority for the position, there is no statute specifically authorizing the Attorney General, rather than the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint such a Special Counsel,” the former AG wrote. 

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Meese’s brief was even mentioned in a question by Justice Clarence Thomas in the Supreme Court oral arguments over Trump’s presidential immunity – which the high court is expected to decide this month.

“It seems like you’ve created an office that would require an act of Congress, yet there’s not an act of Congress that authorizes that. And even if it didn’t require an act of Congress, and you’ve already admitted that there was no act of Congress that established this office, it would still require, according to the Constitution, a nomination by the President and confirmation by the Senate,” Massie said to Garland. 

President Biden’s announcement of a new asylum bar for migrants coming across the southern border when encounters hit a certain level was met with immediate criticism from both Democrats and Republicans — with Republicans calling it a “stunt” and some Democrats accusing him of betraying migrants.

Biden signed a proclamation that will temporarily suspend the entry of non-citizens across the southern border once the number of average border encounters exceeds 2,500 a day over seven days, officials said. 

That will stay in effect until 14 days after there has been a seven-day average of less than 1,500 encounters along the border. Officials said it would make it easier for immigration officers to quickly remove individuals who do not have a legal basis to remain in the U.S.

BIDEN ORDER TO BLOCK MOST ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHEN CROSSINGS SURGE, AS ELECTION NEARS

The order includes a number of exceptions for those coming across the border. It will not apply to visa holders, unaccompanied children, victims of a “severe form” of trafficking, as well as those who face an acute medical emergency or an imminent threat to life or safety. It also does not apply to those seeking entry to the U.S. via ports of entry using the CBP One app — of which around 1,500 migrants are allowed in each day.

President Joe Biden speaks about an executive order in the East Room at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, June 4, 2024.  (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“Today I’m moving past Republican obstruction and using executive authorities available to me as president to do what I can on my own to address the border,” President Biden said in a speech on Tuesday afternoon, accusing Republicans of refusing to secure the border.

But it drew a sharp backlash both from Republicans and from some Democrats, but for different reasons.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, with Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Tom Emmer and House Republican Chair Elise Stefanik, said that the order was a “desperate political stunt to try and stabilize his plummeting poll numbers” ahead of the November election.

FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS SAY THE US-MEXICO BORDER IS A BIG PROBLEM

“From his first day in office, Biden has worked to implement a failed open border agenda which created this historic humanitarian and national security catastrophe. He has turned every American community into a border community and opened our country to violent criminals, terrorists, cartels, and poisonous drugs.

“This Executive action does nothing to end parole abuses or catch-and-release. It continues the administration’s abuse of the CBP One app. It does not reimplement President Trump’s successful Remain in Mexico policy. It provides no new resources for border patrol. It does nothing to deport the millions who have poured over our open border every year since Biden took office. And it will still allow scores of additional illegal immigrants to flood into our country before any so-called shutdown authority kicks in,” they said.

“President Biden has effectively legitimized crisis levels of illegal immigration well beyond those laid out by the DHS secretary he once served with,” House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green said. “And  this number doesn’t count any of the roughly 70,000 monthly encounters through Biden and Mayorkas’ unlawful CBP One, CHNV and other mass-parole programs.”

MAYORKAS SAYS SOME MIGRANTS ‘TRY TO GAME’ ASYLUM SYSTEM, AS BORDER REMAINS TOP POLITICAL ISSUE

Immigrants wait to be processed by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing the border from Mexico, with the U.S.-Mexico border barrier in the background, on August 6, 2022 in Yuma, Arizona.  ((Photo by Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images))

Stephen Miller, who served as a senior White House official during the Trump administration, was scathing in his assessment of the order, calling it a “pro-invasion, pr- illegal migration executive order.”

He highlighted that the Biden administration is currently allowing thousands of migrants a week via ports of entry using the CBP One app, and said that just because a migrant is unable to claim asylum at the border, does not mean they won’t be released into the interior of the country.

“They’ll still release you on a [Notice to Appear]. They’ll still give you a court date in the future. They will still release you on the basis of capacity concerns. Mexico won’t take them, other countries won’t take them They have no detention space, no detention plans. Border Patrol is going to keep on releasing everybody, and everyone they don’t release is going to go to a port of entry, and they’re going to get released into the country with parole to live in our communities,” he told reporters.

The order also picked up criticism from Democrats in both chambers. Rep. Pramila Jayapal who is ranking member of the Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, said the move was a “dangerous step in the wrong direction” and noted that the underlying authority — 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) had been deployed by the Trump administration.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

“This attempt to shut down the border to asylum seekers uses the same section of U.S. immigration laws that convicted felon Donald Trump used to implement the Muslim Ban and in attempts to cut off all access to asylum,” she said in a statement. “While there are some differences from Trump’s actions, the reality is that this utilizes the same failed enforcement-only approach, penalizes asylum seekers, and furthers a false narrative that these actions will ‘fix’ the border.” 

Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee were also not impressed by the order.

“President Biden has acted in the face of Congressional Republicans cynically deciding to block bipartisan border security legislation,” Ranking Member Bennie Thompson said. “That being said, I am concerned about the impact of the Executive Order on vulnerable people coming to the United States for safety and protection. We must ensure continued access to asylum under U.S. law.”

In the Senate, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., accused Biden of having “undermined American values and abandoned our nation’s obligations to provide people fleeing persecution, violence and authoritarianism with an opportunity to seek refuge in the U.S.”

“This asylum ban will fail to address the challenge at our border, just as it did under the Trump administration. It will lead to people with legitimate asylum claims being prevented from seeking safety and returned to harm.”

Republicans there too were no less critical of the order.

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“By my count, he’s issued 94 executive orders since he’s been president of the United States. But he’s waited until today to actually do what he calls effective action on the border,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said at a press conference. “And my question to him is, why did you wait until now if you were serious about doing it? The simple answer is he’s not serious about securing the border.“

“This is one of the most cynical things that I have ever seen a politician attempt to do five months before an election. It is insulting. It is cheap,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said.

Arizona would step directly into immigration enforcement by making it a state crime to cross the Arizona-Mexico border anywhere except a port of entry, under a proposal that’s up for a final vote by lawmakers on Tuesday. If approved, voters would decide in November if the measure becomes law.

The measure, scheduled for a vote in the Arizona House, would let state and local police arrest people crossing the border without authorization. It also would empower state judges to order people convicted of the offense to go back to their home country.

ARIZONA AG CONFIRMS RUDY GIULIANI SERVED IN ELECTIONS CASE AMID FORMER TRUMP ASSOCIATE’S 80TH BIRTHDAY PARTY

House Republicans closed access to the upper gallery of the chamber before the session started Tuesday, citing concerns about security and possible disruptions. The move immediately drew the criticism of Democrats, who demanded that the gallery be reopened.

“The public gallery should be open to the public. This is the people’s House,” said state Rep. Analise Ortiz.

People line up against a border wall as they wait to apply for asylum after crossing the border from Mexico, July 11, 2023, near Yuma, Ariz. Arizona lawmakers are expected to take a final vote Tuesday, June 4, 2024, on a proposal that would ask voters to make it a state crime for non-citizens to enter the state through Mexico at any location other than a port of entry.  (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

The proposal is similar to a Texas law that has been put on hold by a federal appeals court while it’s being challenged. The Arizona Senate approved the proposal on a 16-13 party-line vote. If it clears the House, the proposal would bypass Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who vetoed a similar proposal in early March, and instead get sent to the Nov. 5 ballot.

While federal law already prohibits the unauthorized entry of migrants into the U.S., proponents of the measure say it’s needed because the federal government hasn’t done enough to stop people from crossing illegally over Arizona’s vast, porous border with Mexico. They also said some people who enter Arizona without authorization commit identity theft and take advantage of public benefits.

Opponents say the proposal would inevitably lead to racial profiling by police and saddle the state with new costs from law enforcement agencies that don’t have experience with immigration law, as well as hurt Arizona’s reputation in the business world.

Supporters of the proposed ballot measure waved off concerns about racial profiling, saying local officers would still have to develop probable cause to arrest people who enter Arizona outside ports of entry.

The backers also say the measure focuses only on the state’s border region and — unlike Arizona’s landmark 2010 immigration law — doesn’t target people throughout the state. Opponents point out the proposal doesn’t contain any geographical limitations on where it can be enforced within the state.

The ballot proposal contains other provisions that aren’t included in the Texas measure and aren’t directly related to immigration. Those include making it a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison for selling fentanyl that leads to a person’s death, and a requirement that government agencies that administer benefit programs use a federal database to verify that a noncitizen’s eligibility for benefits.

Warning about potential legal costs, opponents pointed to Arizona’s 2005 immigrant smuggling ban used by then-Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to carry out 20 large-scale traffic patrols that targeted immigrants. That led to a 2013 racial profiling verdict and taxpayer-funded legal and compliance costs that now total $265 million and are expected to reach $314 million by July 2025.

Under the current proposal, a first-time conviction of the border-crossing provision would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail. State judges could order people to return to their countries of origin after completing a term of incarceration, although the courts would have the power to dismiss cases if those arrested agree to return home.

The measure would require the state corrections department to take into custody people who are charged or convicted under the measure if local or county law enforcement agencies don’t have enough space to house them.

The proposal includes exceptions for people who have been granted lawful presence status or asylum by the federal government.

The provision allowing for the arrests of border crossers in between ports would not take effect until the Texas law or similar laws from other states have been in effect for 60 days.

This isn’t the first time Republican lawmakers in Arizona have tried to criminalize migrants who aren’t authorized to be in the United States.

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When passing its 2010 immigration bill, the Arizona Legislature considered expanding the state’s trespassing law to criminalize the presence of immigrants and impose criminal penalties. But the trespassing language was removed and replaced with a requirement that officers, while enforcing other laws, question people’s immigration status if they were believed to be in the country illegally.

The questioning requirement was ultimately upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court despite the racial profiling concerns of critics, but courts barred enforcement of other sections of the law.

Republican lawmakers hammered Attorney General Merrick Garland over his ongoing refusal to release audio from President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur on Tuesday.

The House Judiciary Committee summoned Garland to Tuesday’s hearing to discuss both the audio tape and former President Trump’s felony conviction last week. Garland repeatedly defied Republican demands for the tape, arguing that there is no legal basis for doing so when the transcript has already been released.

Garland argued that the DOJ has already “gone beyond precedent” by publicizing the transcript.

“We have made clear that we will not provide audio recordings – from which the transcripts you already have were created. Releasing the audio would chill cooperation with the Department in future investigations.  And it could influence witnesses’ answers if they thought the audio of their law enforcement interviews could be broadcast to Congress and the public,” Garland said in his opening statement.

TRUMP GUILTY VERDICT REVEALS SPLIT AMONG FORMER GOP PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY OPPONENTS

Attorney General Merrick Garland testifies during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill. (Getty Images)

Garland went on to say that lawmakers are seeking the audio for “no legitimate purpose,” and he argued the attempt is part of “a long line of attacks on the Justice Department’s work.”

Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., argued the tape is critical to understanding Biden’s “demeanor” during his five-hour interview with Hur.

HOW TRUMP GUILTY VERDICTS MAY IMPACT THE 2024 REMATCH WITH BIDEN

“What [needs to] be done by this committee is to observe the audio recording of the president testifying to see whether it comports with the transcript or whether it reveals things about his capacity or his veracity or anything else that comes from his demeanor as he is interviewed,” Bishop told Garland.

Rep. Dan Bishop argued the tape is critical to understanding Biden’s “demeanor” during his five-hour interview with Hur. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, file)

“None of the things you just mentioned are a legislative purpose,” Garland responded. “You have yet to suggest any law that you intend to pass or are thinking about in which the audio would make a difference over the transcript.

Republicans on the committee have threatened to hold Garland in contempt of Congress if he continues to refuse to hand over the audio recording.

TRUMP LAYS OUT HIS ‘REVENGE’ STRATEGY AFTER CONVICTION MAKES HIM A FELON

Attorney General Merrick Garland and others pledge allegiance to the flag prior to Garland’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. (Getty Images)

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Other GOP lawmakers questioned Garland regarding Trump’s conviction in New York. Garland repeatedly stated that the DOJ has no control over the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which brought the charges against Trump.

The White House on Tuesday announced long-awaited executive actions to stop illegal immigrants at the southern border claiming asylum if crossings reach a certain level — a move coming just months before the November election and that could soon see a legal challenge from activists.

President Biden is issuing a presidential proclamation that will temporarily suspend the entry of non-citizens across the southern border once the number of average border encounters exceeds 2,500 a day over seven days, officials said. That will stay in effect until 14 days after there has been a seven-day average of less than 1,500 encounters along the border. Officials said it would make it easier for immigration officers to quickly remove individuals who do not have a legal basis to remain in the U.S.

In the last 24 hours at the border, sources tell Fox there were 5,200 encounters, and it has averaged over 5,000 every day for the past week. There were 179,725 encounters at the southern border in April, compared to 211,992 in April 2023, and 189,357 in March. While those numbers are lower than highs seen in 2022 and 2023, they still remain high compared to pre-2021 numbers.

BIDEN EXPECTED TO ANNOUNCE BORDER ACTIONS AS POLITICAL HEAT INTENSIFIES AHEAD OF NOVEMBER ELECTION 

President Biden has called for more congressional action on illegal immigration and the border crisis. (Biden photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images, Migrant caravan photo by Jose Torres/Anadolu via Getty Images)

In doing so, Biden is drawing upon authorities under 212(f) and 215(a)of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) which allows presidents to suspend entry of certain categories of foreign nationals. The Trump administration used 212 (f) on a number of occasions, including for the travel ban from certain countries, but it was blocked by a legal challenge from applying it to the southern border.

The order from President Biden includes a number of exceptions for those coming across the border. It will not apply to visa holders, unaccompanied children, victims of a “severe form” of trafficking, as well as those who face an acute medical emergency or an imminent threat to life or safety. It also does not apply to those seeking entry to the U.S. via ports of entry using the CBP One app — of which around 1,500 migrants are allowed in each day.

It is expected to take place immediately, and will be accompanied by a joint rule restricting asylum eligibility during high border encounters that will be issued by the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security.

It marks a significant move toward the right from the Biden administration. In 2021 the administration rolled back a series of Trump-era border protections, which critics say encouraged the historic migrant numbers that followed. There have been over 7 million migrant crossings during Biden’s time in office.

The administration says it is dealing with a hemisphere-wide challenge that needs congressional action to provide funding and fix what it says is a “broken immigration system.” The White House has said that this action comes now after Republicans have rejected other attempts at congressional actions, including a bipartisan Senate bill that would have implemented a similar limiting mechanism as well as providing additional funding.

“The presidential proclamation, together with the interim final rule, is another important step in our more than three years of ongoing efforts to strengthen our ability to impose consequences on those who cross our southern border,” a senior administration official told reporters on Tuesday ahead of the announcement.

FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS SAY THE US-MEXICO BORDER IS A BIG PROBLEM

“But we are clear eyed that today’s executive actions are no substitute for Congress taking up and passing the tough but fair bipartisan Senate bill, which would have significantly strengthened the consequences in place at the border and, equally important, have provided billions of dollars to support the men and women who are working on the front lines to secure our border,” they said.

While Republicans have previously urged the administration to use 212(f) to stop illegal crossings, ahead of the announcement lawmakers were unimpressed and called it a move that was too little, too late.

“By my count, he’s issued 94 executive orders since he’s been president for the United States. But he’s waited until today to actually do what he calls effective action on the border,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said at a press conference. “And my question to him is, why did you wait until now if you were serious about doing it? The simple answer is he’s not serious about securing the border.“

Other lawmakers claimed it was a cynical move just months out from an election in which Biden is struggling due to his handling of border security. A recent Fox News poll found that seven in 10 voters go so far as to say the White House has “mostly failed” at improving border security. 

MAYORKAS SAYS SOME MIGRANTS ‘TRY TO GAME’ ASYLUM SYSTEM, AS BORDER REMAINS TOP POLITICAL ISSUE

Dec. 18, 2023: Migrants flood into Eagle Pass, Texas, waiting to be processed. (Fox News)

“It’s a little late, you can’t make this cat walk backwards,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., who described Biden as “polling right up there with fungal infections.”

The move comes with Biden facing intense political pressure on the crisis from both the left and the right.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

Mayors of cities like New York City, Denver and Chicago have demanded more funding from the federal government and have called for additional action, including expedited work permits. Recently, 15 House Democrats wrote to Biden calling on him to take additional action at the southern border.

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“It has become clear that the current situation remains untenable, but with Republicans playing politics on border security, it is time for your administration to act. We urge you to use all tools at your disposal, including executive action, to better address security at the Southern border, interdict illicit fentanyl and allow for orderly legal immigration,” the letter said.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., revealed a “three-pronged” strategy for cracking down on the alleged weaponization of the Department of Justice (DOJ) in a closed-door meeting with House Republicans on Tuesday.

It comes as former President Trump faces criminal charges in two federal cases led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, as well as charges in Fulton County, Georgia and a criminal conviction on 34 counts in Manhattan criminal court.

Three people – two GOP lawmakers and a source familiar with the plan – told Fox News Digital that Johnson’s strategy to rein in the “weaponization” of the DOJ is broadly focused on three pillars: oversight, appropriations, and legislation.

Johnson updated Trump on the plan ahead of announcing it to his House GOP conference, Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital.

TRUMP GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS IN NEW YORK CRIMINAL TRIAL

Speaker Mike Johnson, right, is channeling the power of Congress to crack down on what he calls the weaponization of the DOJ against former President Trump (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images | Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Johnson confirmed his approach during a press conference just after the meeting.

“We’re going to do everything we can, everything within our scope of our responsibility in the Congress, to address it appropriately. And I announced this morning to our conference, we’re working on a three-pronged approach,” Johnson told reporters.

“We’re looking at various approaches to what can be done here through the appropriations process, through the legislative process, through bills that will be advancing through our committees and put on the floor for passage and through oversight. All those things will be happening vigorously.”

WHAT’S NEXT FOR TRUMP LEGALLY? WHICH CASE MIGHT COME UP BEFORE ELECTION DAY?

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital that he understood Johnson’s timeline for his strategy to include both the next six months, while the House GOP still holds its razor-thin majority, as well as next year, assuming they keep the chamber from flipping to Democratic control.

Norman paraphrased Johnson’s message to Republicans, “It can’t just be words…It’s got to have some action to it, and that’s where legislation comes in. Meaningless resolutions…that’s words. You’ve got to go beyond that.”

It comes the same day as Attorney General Merrick Garland’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

The South Carolina Republican said Johnson did not raise the issue of a Biden impeachment, however, despite Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s threats to force a vote on the matter.

Jackson said Johnson also pointed out that the chairs of the relevant committees – like Oversight, Judiciary and Appropriations – were already exploring ways to crack down on the DOJ.

“It’s not going to happen instantaneously. This stuff has to be put together and vetted by the conference and then put on the floor, so on and so forth,” Jackson said. “His point was, we’re doing everything we can.”

He said Trump is “in the loop on what the plan for the House is.”

NY V. TRUMP: HOUSE JUDICIARY INVESTIGATES BRAGG PROSECUTOR WHO HELD SENIOR ROLE IN BIDEN DOJ

Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, said Trump is in the loop on Johnson’s plan. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

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Jackson suggested Johnson was looking at a shorter timeline but said the speaker did not give specifics on the matter. 

“I know there are people that are anxious, myself included, to see something happen. So it’ll be soon,” Jackson said.

Johnson’s comments come the same day that Attorney General Merrick Garland is on Capitol Hill testifying before the House GOP-led Judiciary Committee.

Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment.              

President Biden called former President Trump a “convicted felon” who “snapped” and is going “crazy” after the 2020 election at a campaign event Monday.

The remarks at a fundraiser in Greenwich, Connecticut, were the first time Biden has participated in a campaign reception where he referred to his 2024 opponent as a “convicted felon.” 

“Folks, the campaign entered uncharted territory last week. For the first time in American history, a former president that is a convicted felon is now seeking the office of the presidency,” Biden said. “But as disturbing as that is, more damaging is the all-out assault Donald Trump is making on the American system of justice.” 

A jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his New York criminal trial last week. Trump maintains his innocence and has claimed Biden and the Democratic Party prosecuted him for political purposes, to damage his presidential campaign.

GARLAND TO PUSH BACK ON TRUMP’S ‘LOCKED & LOADED’ FBI CLAIM, DENY DOJ CONTROL OF NY CASE

President Biden, left, on Friday, for the first time while campaigning, referred to his former President Trump as a “convicted felon.” (Getty Images)

At the White House on Friday, Biden told reporters, “it’s reckless, it’s dangerous, it’s irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don’t like the verdict.” He repeated those comments on Monday and suggested Trump is not mentally well. 

“Something snapped in this guy for real” after the 2020 election, Biden said. “It’s literally driving him crazy.” 

He told the audience Trump “does not deserve to be president whether or not I’m running.” 

Throughout most of Trump’s New York trial, Biden and his campaign held back from attacking the presumptive Republican nominee over his criminal charges. It appeared to be an effort to combat Trump’s repeated unsubstantiated allegations that it was a “SHAM TRIAL instigated and prosecuted directly from the inner halls of the White House and DOJ [Department of Justice].”

FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: ALL EYES COULD BE ON OMAHA THIS NOVEMBER

President Biden boards Air Force One before departing Westchester County Airport in White Plains, New York, on June 3, 2024. Biden was in Greenwich, Connecticut, for a campaign fundraiser. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

However, that changed last Tuesday when the Biden campaign held a news conference outside the courthouse in Lower Manhattan, which appeared to be a major break with their strategy during the past six weeks of steering clear of the case.

Similar to what the Trump campaign had been doing for the duration of the trial, the Biden team came equipped with high-profile surrogates. They were actor and Biden supporter Robert De Niro, who last week voiced a campaign ad for the president, and former police officers Harry Dunn and Michael Fanone, who fought back against pro-Trump rioters during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Now, the president is openly calling his opponent a “convicted felon” and making the case that he is dangerous and unfit for office as such.

TRUMP LEADS BIDEN ON MOST OF THE KEY ISSUES IN THE FIRST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS ISSUES TRACKER

Former President Trump sat down with “Fox & Friends Weekend” for an exclusive interview that aired on Sunday. (Fox & Friends Weekend)

“Crooked Joe Biden will do anything to distract from Hunter’s trial and the fact his family has raked in tens of millions of dollars from China, Russia and Ukraine,” said Jason Miller, a senior advisor to the Trump campaign. “The Biden Family Criminal Empire is all coming to an end on November 5th, and never again will a Biden sell government access for personal profit.” 

Biden currently trails Trump both in national polling and in public opinion surveys in most of the crucial battleground states that will likely decide their election rematch.

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The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee announced Monday they raised a stunning $141 million in May. The announcement came days after Trump and the RNC hauled in nearly $53 million in the first 24 hours after Trump’s guilty verdict.

The Biden campaign is sitting on an $84 million war chest as of April.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this update.

CHALMETTE, LA – Republican governors charge that President Biden has “done nothing but attack American energy” and are urging the president to end what they call his “regulatory war” in a bid to lower fuel and food prices for people across the nation.

Seven Republican governors, standing in front of a large oil refinery along the Mississippi River a few miles east of New Orleans, Louisiana, also highlighted “a comprehensive list of immediate steps that should be taken to unleash… American energy independence.”

“From day one, President Biden has done nothing but attack American energy,” Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry claimed. “He paused new oil and gas leases. He canceled the Keystone pipeline. He prioritized foreign energy over domestic energy, which means he prioritized foreign jobs over domestic jobs. The Department of Energy and the EPA are releasing rules and regulations at a neck-breaking speed.”

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt spotlighted a joint-letter signed by 20 GOP governors that lists what they spotlight as “commonsense steps” the Biden administration could take to lower regulations and “adopt an all-of-the-above homegrown energy plan.”

WHAT TRUMP TOLD FOX NEWS ABOUT PUMPING UP AMERICAN ENERGY

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, speaking at the podium, is joined by, from left, Govs. Mike Dunleavy of Alaska, Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, Brian Kemp of Georgia, Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, Glenn Younkgin of Virginia and Doug Burgum of North Dakota, at a news conference to criticize President Biden’s energy policy, on June 3, 2024, at an oil refinery in Chalmette, Louisiana. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

Stitt said that includes “ending regulatory overreach that is restricting domestic energy production and driving up costs, increasing the number and quality onshore and offshore lease sales of all forms of energy production, expediting the approval of federal drilling permits.”

He also called for “expanding critical mineral mining and processing to counter China.”

REPUBLICANS CLAIM AMERICA’S ENERGY FUTURE UNDER THREAT FROM BIDEN

The news conference was led by Landry and Stitt and included Govs. Mike Dunleavy of Alaska, Brian Kemp of Georgia, Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, and Doug Burgum of North Dakota, who’s considered to be on former President Trump’s short list for 2024 running mates.

While the nation has been producing more oil than any country in history for six straight years – according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration – the governors said oil output should be increased.

“We’re producing about 13 million barrels of oil a day. We should be doing 15, 16, 18, 20 million barrels of oil a day,” Burgum emphasized. “That would be not just energy independence, that would be energy dominance. We’d be selling that to our allies instead of our allies having to buy from our enemies.”

Asked about climate change, the governors responded that the U.S. produces fuels more cleanly than other countries, and they argued that red states were taking the lead in green energy, including wind power production.

“We’re not about despoiling the environment,” Dunleavy said. “If you don’t do it in America and you do it overseas, there’s no EPA overseas, there’s no Army Corps overseas.”

The governors also argued that energy is also a matter of national security.

“If the Biden administration continues this drive to repress our domestic industry and strengthen our demand for Chinese industry, we are causing a further national security crisis than the one we’re already in,” Youngkin claimed.

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The Democratic National Committee, responding to the criticism from the Republican governors, emphasized that “President Biden has put hundreds of thousands of Americans to work in the energy sector with new, good-paying jobs fueling the 21st century economy.”

And DNC spokesperson Alex Floyd charged that “while President Biden is walking and chewing gum – fighting for American workers while lowering energy costs – Donald Trump is trying to sell out America’s energy policy to the highest bidder. Trump would threaten President Biden’s made-in-America energy boom and roll back tax relief that lowers energy costs for working families – all so Trump can trade favors for campaign cash with his Big Oil and Gas backers. Trump’s pay-for-play energy agenda would put special interests donors over hardworking families and American energy production.”

President Biden speaks about gas prices in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus, June 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

But Landry, speaking with Fox News Digital, argued that “another four years of Joe Biden, I don’t think the American people could tolerate it…. we know that what we’ll get under President Trump is what we had before, which is lower energy prices, more economic activity, and a better quality of life for all Americans.”

Kemp and Sununu, who’ve had sharp differences with the former president in recent years, said in exclusive interviews with Fox News that a second Trump administration would be an improvement over four more years of Biden in the White House.

Asked if a second Trump administration would be friendly to the energy sector, Kemp pointed to the former president’s efforts to reduce government regulations during his four years in the White House, and said, “I think it would be a big difference.”

Sununu agreed, saying “ask every single American paying more at the pump, paying more for food because it costs more to grow crops, more to transport every product in America. It costs more to make every product in America.”

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

The Georgia Court of Appeals has tentatively scheduled a hearing date of Oct. 4 for the case brought by former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants to have embattled District Attorney Fani Willis disqualified from the case. 

“President Trump’s interlocutory appeal was docketed today in the Georgia Court of Appeals, and oral argument is tentatively scheduled for October 4, 2024,” Steve Sadow, lawyer for President Trump said in a statement. 

“We look forward to presenting arguments before Judges Brown, Markel, and Land on why this case should be dismissed and Fulton County DA Willis should be disqualified for the trial court’s acknowledged ‘odor of mendacity’ misconduct in violation of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct.”

Judge P.J. Miller has recused herself, and Judge Brown is her replacement.

REP JORDAN URGES CONGRESS TO ‘DEFUND LAWFARE ACTIVITIES’ OF TRUMP PROSECUTORS

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis arrives to speak after winning the Democratic primary on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in Buckhead, Ga.  (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

The date is tentative, subject to motions from the parties agreeing on the date. Oct. 4 is roughly a month out from the presidential election, all but nullifying Willis’ aim to have the sweeping racketeering case against the former president and presumptive 2024 GOP nominee go to trial before the election. 

Judge Scott McAfee’s order in March said that special prosecutor Nathan Wade had to be removed in order to keep Willis from disqualification in the Trump election interference case in Georgia. 

Trump and several co-defendants alleged Willis and Wade were romantically involved prior to his hiring and that she financially benefited from the relationship. Both Willis and Wade denied those allegations.

Fani Willis and Donald Trump (Getty Images)

McAfee allowed the defense to appeal his ruling, and the appeals court announced last week that they will hear the defense’s case to still have Willis disqualified. The appeals court agreed to hear the case last month. 

McAfee’s ruling in March said that the defendants “failed to meet their burden of proving that the District Attorney acquired an actual conflict of interest in this case through her personal relationship and recurring travels with her lead prosecutor.”

GEORGIA PROSECUTOR FANI WILLIS APPEALS AFTER JUDGE DROPS MULTIPLE TRUMP CHARGES

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis looks on during a hearing in the case of the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse on March 1, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia.  (Photo by Alex Slitz-Pool/Getty Images)

“However, the established record now highlights a significant appearance of impropriety that infects the current structure of the prosecution team — an appearance that must be removed through the State’s selection of one of two options,” he wrote, adding that Willis and her whole office can choose to step aside, or Wade can withdraw from the case.

Wade subsequently resigned from his post as special prosecutor.

Both Wade and Willis denied they were in a romantic relationship prior to his hiring and that the couple would split the costs of their shared travels; Willis said she reimbursed Wade for her share of the trips in cash.

In his March order, McAfee said while Willis’ “reimbursement practice” was “unusual and the lack of any documentary corroboration understandably concerning,” he ultimately decided that the defendants did not present “sufficient evidence” that expenses weren’t “roughly divided evenly.” 

He also said that “the evidence demonstrated that the financial gain flowing from her relationship with Wade was not a motivating factor on the part of the District Attorney to indict and prosecute this case.”

FANI WILLIS’ EX-STAFFER TESTIFIES SHE WAS FIRED AFTER BLOWING WHISTLE ON DA’S SPENDING

Former Special prosecutor Nathan Wade arrives before Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks after winning the Democratic primary on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in Buckhead, Ga.  (AP)

In February, Judge McAfee held a two-day evidentiary hearing where the defense, led by attorney Ashley Merchant, set out to expose a money trail that would mean Willis has a conflict of interest in the case against Trump and should be disqualified.

“[T]he Court finds that the record made at the evidentiary hearing established that the District Attorney’s prosecution is encumbered by an appearance of impropriety,” McAfee wrote in his order.

“As the case moves forward, reasonable members of the public could easily be left to wonder whether the financial exchanges have continued resulting in some form of benefit to the District Attorney, or even whether the romantic relationship has resumed.”

“Put differently, an outsider could reasonably think that the District Attorney is not exercising her independent professional judgment totally free of any compromising influences. As long as Wade remains on the case, this unnecessary perception will persist,” he said.

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Both Willis and Wade insisted that their relationship started in 2022, after Wade was hired. But they contradicted testimony from Robin Yeartie, a former “good friend” of Willis and past employee at the DA’s office. 

Yeartie said she had “no doubt” that Willis and Wade’s relationship started in 2019, after the two met at a conference. 

When the defense in March submitted a joint motion for a Certificate of Immediate Review, McAfee said that his Order on the Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss and Disqualify the Fulton County District Attorney issued March 15 “is of such importance to the case that immediate review should be had” and allowed the defendants to ask the Georgia appeals court for an opportunity to appeal, which the court granted last month.