NationalWatch

New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik sent a letter to New York officials on Tuesday arguing there may have been “misconduct” within the New York Supreme Court system to ensure Judge Juan Merchan presided over the unprecedented NY v. Trump trial.

“One cannot help but suspect that the ‘random selection’ at work in the assignment of Acting Justice Merchan, a Democrat Party donor, to these cases involving prominent Republicans, is in fact not random at all,” Stefanik wrote in the letter, which she sent to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct and the Office of the Inspector General of the New York State Unified Court System, warning of “potential misconduct.” The Daily Mail first reported the letter Tuesday.

Stefanik pointed to how Merchan has overseen a handful of cases involving Trump or his allies, including the NY v. Trump case, the criminal trial against the Trump Organization in 2022 – a case that found the organization guilty of tax fraud – and is set to oversee the upcoming trial of Trump ally Steve Bannon.

“The simple answer to why Acting Justice Merchan has been assigned to these cases would seem to be that whoever made the assignment intentionally selected Acting Justice Merchan to handle them to increase the chance that Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, and Steven Bannon would ultimately be convicted,” Stefanik continued in the letter.

STEFANIK FILES ETHICS COMPLAINT AGAINST TRUMP TRIAL JUDGE, CITES DAUGHTER’S WORK FOR GROUP PROMOTING DEMS

Her letter called on the commission and the Inspector General to “investigate this anomaly to determine whether the required random selection process was in fact followed in the assignment of these criminal cases to Acting Justice Merchan.”

She continued that if Merchan or other justices of the court violated assignment rules, she hopes the “Commission would subject them to the required discipline.”

The letter comes the same day the defense and prosecution teams held closing arguments in the NY v. Trump trial. 

Last week, Stefanik filed an ethics complaint against Merchan for an alleged conflict of interest related to his daughter’s role representing Democrat politicians and political action committees. Merchan’s daughter is the president of Authentic Campaigns, a digital marketing agency that has included clients such as Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

Stefanik said in her complaint last week that she learned that the New York State Commission on Judiciary Conduct “privately cautioned [Merchan] in July over his illegal political donations to Biden and Democrats in 2020.”

“This private caution has not deterred Judge Merchan’s judicial misconduct, as evidenced by this current complaint,” she wrote. “Judge Merchan appears driven by Democrat partisanship and financial gain for his daughter.”

TRUMP SAYS JUDGE MERCHAN HAS WAY TO GAIN BACK ‘RESPECT’ DESPITE PRESIDING OVER ‘WITCH HUNT’ TRIAL

Stefanik said it is “imperative that New Yorkers and all Americans have confidence that justice is being dispensed fairly in New York.”

Trump has also railed against Merchan as a “conflicted” judge and previously called on him to recuse himself from the case, citing his daughter’s work as a political consultant.

COHEN’S BOMBSHELL ADMISSION COULD LEAD TO HUNG JURY, IF NOT ACQUITTAL: EXPERT

“Judge Juan Merchan, who is suffering from an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (whose daughter represents Crooked Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, and other Radical Liberals, has just posted a picture of me behind bars, her obvious goal, and makes it completely impossible for me to get a fair trial) has now issued another illegal, un-American, unConstitutional ‘order,’ as he continues to try and take away my Rights,” Trump posted on Truth Social ahead of the trial kicking off.

TRUMP RISKS GAG ORDER VIOLATION WITH NEW SCREED AGAINST LAWYER WHO ARGUED CASE: ‘UNBELIEVABLE’

Trump has since been placed under a gag order, which bans him from publicly speaking about witnesses or making remarks about court staff, DA staff or family members of staff. Following the gag order, Trump has taken to calling Merchan “conflicted” and “corrupt” but not going into great detail about Merchan’s alleged corruption.

“We have a judge who’s highly conflicted. He happens to be corrupt. Yes, there is confliction. It’s the worst that anybody’s seen. Nobody has ever seen anything like it,” Trump said Tuesday morning ahead of court.

Last week, Trump said Merchan could gain back “respect” if he dismissed the case.

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“This case should be dropped by the judge. I think the judge, if he did, that … could gain the respect back. The appellate court has to step in, something has to happen. Think of it, the Republican Party, one of the two great parties, nominates somebody to be their candidate. And that candidate now has been sitting here for almost five weeks in a freezing cold icebox listening to this stuff,” Trump said last Monday.

Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct and the Office of the Inspector General of the New York State Unified Court System on Tuesday evening but did not immediately receive responses. 

President Biden is launching a new effort to reach out to Black voters as polls show the president is losing ground with that key Democratic constituency to his rival, former President Donald Trump.

The Biden-Harris campaign on Wednesday announced an eight-figure spending blitz to drive engagement with Black student organizations, community groups and faith centers nationally and in battleground states as the president seeks to rally support for his reelection. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are scheduled to speak at a rally in Philadelphia Wednesday afternoon for the first official “Black Voters for Biden-Harris” event.

“Today’s launch of the Black Voters for Biden-Harris coalition is yet another example of our campaign working diligently to earn every single vote. This coalition and the newly announced summer outreach and engagement programming serve as the next phase of our campaign’s ongoing historic investments in outreach to the backbone of the Biden-Harris coalition – Black voters,” said Quentin Fulks, the Biden-Harris campaign’s principal deputy campaign manager. 

“While we are busy putting in the work to earn Black America’s support — Donald Trump continues to show just how ignorant he is. Hosting janky rap concerts to hide the fact that he lacks the resources and competence to genuinely engage our community,” Fulks said.

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE TO NOMINATE BIDEN, HARRIS VIRTUALLY AHEAD OF CHICAGO CONVENTION

The Biden rally comes days after Trump held a rally in the Bronx, drawing as many as 10,000 people in the bluest part of deep blue New York City, according to law enforcement. In his speech, Trump emphasized that high inflation seen under Biden’s first term in the White House has had a disproportionate effect on Black and Hispanic families and vowed to turn the economy around if voters send him back to the White House. 

Trump’s decision to target minority voters in places like New York, where Republicans have not carried the state in decades, reflects the Trump campaign’s belief that Biden is showing weakness with key Democratic constituencies.

Polls back that theory up. A recent Fox News Poll found Biden with 72% support among Black voters, up from 66% in February, but lagging his 79% before the 2020 election. The November 2020 Fox News Voter Analysis found 91% of Black voters sided with Biden.

A New York Times/Siena poll of six battleground states found 76% of Black voters rate the economy today as “fair” or “poor,” while only 22% said it was “excellent” or “good.” The poll found that Black Americans, like other Americans, rank the economy as their No. 1 issue.

DEMOCRATS PRIVATELY CONCERNED BIDEN CAMPAIGN IS ‘DOOMED,’ WORRY TRUMP MAY EVEN WIN BLUE STATES: REPORT

The Biden-Harris campaign promises to ramp up outreach to Black voters in the coming months to prevent that from happening. In addition to Wednesday’s rally in Philadelphia, Biden will join an event with Black-owned small businesses in the city and the campaign will put on an event with national organizations and local community members “focused on direct voter contact.”

YOUNG, BLACK AND REPUBLICAN: HOUSE CONSERVATIVE AIMS TO WIN BLACK VOTERS OVER WITH COGNAC AND CIGARS

Throughout the summer, the Biden campaign will partner with Black groups to reach Black voters and build the campaign’s presence in swing states and register people to vote. 

“Our campaign believes that Black voters deserve to hear from Team Biden-Harris, and they deserve to have their vote earned, not assumed,” the Biden campaign said. “That’s exactly what we are doing through historic investments in Black media and outreach, creative engagement efforts, culturally competent content and innovative organizing initiatives. No campaign has valued Black voters like we have, including through investing earlier and with more money than ever before talking to Black voters.” 

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The Biden team also accuses Trump of “running on an anti-Black agenda” and “talking down to Black voters.” 

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

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

New York prosecutors made their closing arguments in the case against former President Trump on Tuesday, saying the case is “about a conspiracy and a cover-up” and that they have presented “powerful evidence” to convict.

Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. He has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump falsified records to conceal a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, a pornographic performer, in the lead-up to the 2016 election to silence her about an alleged affair with Trump in 2006. The former president has maintained his innocence.

New York prosecutor Joshua Steinglass presented the closing arguments for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and delivered the summation for more than five hours.

Steinglass said Trump’s intent to defraud “could not be any clearer,” arguing that it would have been easier for him to pay Daniels directly. Instead, the prosecutor said, Trump concocted an elaborate scheme and that everything he and his cohorts did was “cloaked in lies.”

“The name of the game was concealment, and all roads lead inescapably to the man who benefited the most: the defendant, former President Donald Trump,” Steinglass said.

NY V TRUMP: DEFENSE SAYS PROSECUTORS ‘DID NOT MEET THE BURDEN OF PROOF,’ FORMER PRESIDENT IS ‘INNOCENT’

Steinglass defended their use of Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, as a witness, telling the jury, “I’m not asking you to feel bad for Michael Cohen. He made his bed.”

“But you can hardly blame him for making money from the one thing he has left, which is his knowledge of the inner workings of the Trump Organization,” he said.

“We didn’t choose Michael Cohen to be our witness. We didn’t pick him up at the witness store,” Steinglass said. “The defendant chose Michael Cohen to be his fixer because he was willing to lie and cheat on the defendant’s behalf.”

Cohen had testified he was “reimbursed $420,000” for the $130,000 he paid to Daniels. Cohen said former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg suggested that Cohen “gross up” the payments and that Trump knew the details of the reimbursement.

The prosecution presented Cohen with 11 checks totaling $420,000. Cohen confirmed they were all received and deposited. The checks had a description of “retainer,” which Cohen said was false.

Meanwhile, Steinglass said the prosecution presented the jury with “smoking guns,” referring to handwritten notes by Weisselberg and ex-controller Jeffrey McConney.

The two documents show calculations related to the payments Cohen got in 2017. They included $130,000 as well as an unrelated payment, a bonus, and money to cover taxes, according to testimony.

“They are the smoking guns,” Steinglass said, saying they “completely blow out of the water” the defense’s claims that the payments were for legal work.

Steinglass went on to accuse Trump of “lies” in bank accounts, shell companies and of false denials.

“The name of the game was concealment, and all roads lead to the man who benefited most, the defendant, Donald Trump,” he said.

Steinglass said Trump was actively trying to prevent the “catch and kill” scheme from going public, saying that “he had every reason to conceal election fraud.” 

Halfway through Steinglass’ presentation, Trump left the courtroom, only to post on his Truth Social his opinion of the lengthy closing argument by the prosecution: “BORING!”

Steinglass went on to highlight a phone call between Cohen and Trump on Oct. 8, 2016, which was the day after the “Access Hollywood” tape was made public.

ROBERT DE NIRO’S ‘OVER-THE-TOP’ TIRADE WAS ‘STUPID MISTAKE’ BY BIDEN CAMPAIGN: ROVE

“There’s just no way, no way, Cohen wouldn’t tell Mr. Trump about Daniels in that phone call,” Steinglass said. 

Pointing to more calls, many around the time of key developments in the Daniels negotiations, Steinglass said, “Is this timing all a coincidence?”

Wrapping up his five-hour presentation, Steinglass echoed an infamous Trump line: “Donald Trump can’t shoot someone on Fifth Avenue at rush hour and get away with it.”

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The comment prompted an objection from Trump’s lawyer, which was sustained.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Trump campaign is increasingly venturing into hostile territory.

The strategy, I’ve been told, is to demonstrate that the former president can make his case in Democratic areas and force the Biden campaign to play defense.

But it runs deeper than that.

IS NEW YORK IN PLAY THIS NOVEMBER?

By campaigning where he wouldn’t ordinarily be welcome, Donald Trump sends a message that he’s a fighter – particularly during the weeklong break from the hush money trial, which resumed yesterday with closing arguments. A conviction in that criminal trial, of course, could alter the playing field.

Exhibit A in Trump’s new playbook was the visit to the South Bronx, a preeminent symbol of urban decay. He didn’t go because he thinks he can win the Bronx, or New York City, or New York State. Trump went to send a message that he cares about minority voters.

He drew a couple of thousand supporters to a park where he mostly recited his greatest hits, including 10 minutes on how he rebuilt a Central Park ice skating rink decades ago, complete with the construction details. But he also said he would rebuild the city. Polls show Trump scoring better among blacks than any Republican nominee in more than a generation, while Joe Biden has been slipping among that crucial constituency for Democrats.

Going to the Bronx, where the Queens-born Trump attended two years of college, was a curveball. And since some liberals ripped the rich Republican for venturing onto their turf, the controversy drove the news cycle for days, a Trump specialty.

The former president also spoke to a massive rally along the shore in New Jersey, another state he’s not going to win, and went to blue-state Minnesota, which he’d carry only if the election is a blowout.

I don’t think the Biden camp is going to fall for these head fakes. The president has to concentrate on Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, where he trails by a few points in most polls, for an Electoral College victory. Scranton Joe has practically taken up residence in Pennsylvania, which is close to Delaware, and yet still trails slightly in most battleground polls. He and Kamala Harris are back in Philly today.

Perhaps the clearest sign of Trump’s unorthodox approach is his weekend speech to the Libertarian convention. This was widely portrayed as a disaster, since Trump was widely booed throughout his appearance. 

He made some promises, such as appointing a Libertarian to the Cabinet and pardoning a Libertarian who ran an online illegal drug market. 

But the booing grew louder when he asked for the party’s nomination. The Libertarians have long been critical of Trump’s record.

TRUMP JUDGE FACES A ‘SERIOUS PROBLEM’ IF COURT RETURNS GUILTY VERDICT: JOHN YOO

Trump argued that together they could win. As the boo-birds kept it up, he pushed back: Maybe you don’t want to win. You can keep on getting 3 percent in every election.

Trump argued the next day that as the Republican candidate he wasn’t allowed to seek another party’s nomination – though he had just done exactly that.

While many view the whole episode as a fiasco, I have a contrarian view.

Trump showed a willingness to step into the lion’s den. He stood his ground against the catcalls. He displayed his pugilistic style before what he had to know would be an unfriendly reception.

That’s quite a contrast with Biden giving safe economic speeches, mainly based on past legislation, before safe audiences.

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Now the spotlight shifts back to the hush money trial, which the jury will get today.

FIRST ON FOX: A top political adviser to a House Democrat, who is running for the Senate in a state that has become a hotbed for anti-Israel activism, attended a convention organized by one of the most notorious antisemites in the United States.

Democratic Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin’s deputy political director, Terra Defoe, posted on Facebook in 2017 about her “full week” of “supporting the Nation of Islam and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan” at the Nation of Islam’s “Saviours’ Day Convention.”

Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, has been vocal about what he thinks of Jews, comparing them to termites and saying they are “Satanic.”

“Great time with my Brothers at Savior’s Day Convention,” Defoe said, including the names of some of the Nation of Islam activists she attended with.

‘SATANIC MINDS’: NAACP LEADER WHO GAVE BIDEN AWARD INVITED NOTORIOUS ANTISEMITE TO HIS CHURCH MULTIPLE TIMES

One of the photos DeFoe posted included Farrakhan and a smiling Mike Duggan, the Democratic mayor of Detroit recently praised by President Biden at the NAACP dinner earlier this month, alongside Nation of Islam members. Duggan has also visited the Biden White House multiple times.

A spokesperson for Duggan claimed “the mayor has never attended a Saviours’ day event.”

“This was a private meeting. At the meeting, the mayor did address the issue of antisemitic language directly with Minister Farrakhan,” John Roach, director of media relations for the City of Detroit told Fox News Digital. “The mayor has made it a practice to meet with an entire range of political voices, from far right wing voices, including several top officials in the Trump administration, and far left wing voices, including many activist groups.”

Farrakhan has praised Duggan multiple times, including at this year’s Saviours’ Day convention in Detoit, where he thanked him and the deputy mayor for the “wonderful and kind way you have received us.” In 2017, DeFoe read a proclamation from Duggan’s office to the participants of the convention welcoming the convention “home” to Detroit, according to the Nation of Islam’s “Final Call” newsletter.

Defoe’s personal website lists multiple political positions she has held, including serving as a Detroit Delegation Organizer to the Michigan House Democrats and a senior adviser to Duggan. She has also worked in ministry and has served as the host of a cable television talk show called “On the Floor” with Dr. Terra DeFoe, which airs in Detroit.

Between July 2023 and March 2024, DeFoe received almost $60,000 from Slotkin’s campaign for a range of payments, including salary, stipends, and reimbursements, according to FEC records reviewed by Fox News Digital. March 2024 disbursements are from the most up-to-date public filings, so the amount will likely be higher when July’s report is released.

LEFT-WING ACTIVIST WHO HIRED ONE OF FARRAKHAN’S ‘TOP SOLDIERS’ HAS VISITED BIDEN WHITE HOUSE 7 TIMES

In 2019, two years after DeFoe attended the Nation of Islam convention, she invited Troy Muhammad onto her talk show. Muhammad, who serves as a “State Representative for Minister Louis Farrakhan and Minister of Muhammad Mosque No. 1” and was pictured in DeFoe’s 2017 Facebook post, was described by DeFoe in the introduction as a “valued community leader in Detroit.” The interview, which lasted nine minutes, according to an archived copy, did not include any questions about Farrakhan’s controversial antisemitic comments.

“Elissa Slotkin is running to the radical antisemitic fringes of the Democratic Party to win her primary campaign against Hill Harper,” a national GOP strategist told Fox News Digital. 

Farrakhan has compared Jewish people to termites, praised Hitler as a “great man” and has become one of the most controversial religious figures in the United States due to his derogatory comments about Israel.

Since taking leadership of the Nation of Islam in the late 1970s, Farrakhan has been accused of antisemitism and homophobia for his comments and sermons.

Farrakhan has blamed Jews for, among other things, the slave trade, Jim Crow and black oppression in general.

During a speech in Chicago in 1996, Farrakhan denounced Jews as “the synagogue of Satan.”

“Louis Farrakhan is an unabashed Jew hater who has used his very public platform to spread abhorrent antisemitic stereotypes, while at the same time recruiting and developing a veritable army of followers indoctrinated into the cult of hatred towards Jews and marginalized communities,” Brooke Goldstein, human rights attorney and executive director of The Lawfare Project, told Fox News Digital earlier this year.

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“Farrakhan, whose support for, and appreciation of, Islamist regimes like Iran, which deprive their own citizens of basic human rights while exporting global terrorism, has spread vitriol accusing Jews of, among many other things, seeking to manipulate and exploit Black people.”

Slotkin, who is Jewish, has spoken out against the violence that has unfolded on college campuses as part of the anti-Israel protests and called on universities to do more to keep students safe from antisemitism.

Fox News Digital reached out to Slotkin’s office and campaign but did not receive a response.

The framework a Manhattan jury will use to consider the charges against former President Trump and reach a verdict will be revealed by Judge Juan Merchan on Wednesday.  

The instructions will be issued nearly a week after they were initially set for release. It comes after weeks of speculation about the specific violations the jury will need to determine when weighing the charges of falsifying business records in the first degree against the former president. 

NY V TRUMP: DEFENSE SAYS PROSECUTORS ‘DID NOT MEET THE BURDEN OF PROOF,’ FORMER PRESIDENT IS ‘INNOCENT’

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all counts. 

The jury instructions are expected to come after a full day of closing arguments were delivered by New York prosecutors and Trump defense attorneys. 

Prosecutors needed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump falsified records to conceal a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, a pornographic performer, in the lead-up to the 2016 election to silence her about an alleged affair with Trump in 2006. The former president has maintained his innocence.

Court will resume on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. for jury instructions. 

Defense attorneys for former President Trump told the jury Tuesday he is innocent, did not commit any crimes and that Bragg “did not meet the burden of proof. Period.” 

“President Trump is innocent. He did not commit any crimes. The district attorney did not meet the burden of proof. Period,” Blanche said. 

Blanche added that the case is “simple” and it is “not a guilty verdict.” 

“This case is about documents; it is a paper case,” Blanche said. “This case is not about an encounter with Stormy Daniels 18 years ago. It is not even about a nondisclosure agreement signed eight years ago.”

Blanche said the charges are about whether Trump “had anything” to do with payments to his ex-attorney, Michael Cohen, on his personal accounting ledger.

“The answer? The bookings were accurate and there was no intent to defraud and there was no conspiracy to influence the 2016 election,” Blanche said. “The proof doesn’t add up.”

NY V TRUMP: PROSECUTION SAYS THEY HAVE PRESENTED ‘POWERFUL EVIDENCE’ AGAINST FORMER PRESIDENT

Blanche told the jury they cannot convict Trump based on Cohen’s testimony, recalling how Trump’s ex-attorney “took the stand and then lied.”

“The records are not false and there was no intent to defraud,” he said.

Blanche said not one single invoice was sent to Trump directly and that Cohen billed Trump “for services rendered.” He also told the jury Cohen rendered services as Trump’s personal attorney in 2017.

The defense lawyer said that even if the amount of work was minimal, there was a retainer agreement, which he explained is “how retainer agreements work.” Blanche said Cohen was “on call for President Trump.”

Blanche also explained that checks to Cohen were not signed by Trump. 

“You can’t convict President Trump,” he said. “Because sometimes President Trump looked at the invoices … that is a stretch and that is reasonable doubt.”

Blanche also blasted the prosecution’s “star witness” Michael Cohen, saying “he is the human embodiment of reasonable doubt.”

“He lied to you repeatedly … he is biased and motivated,” Blanche said, adding that the jury should want a witness to tell the truth.

“Michael Cohen is the GLOAT,” Blanche said. “He is the greatest liar of all time … his words cannot be trusted … all those lies, put them to the side for just a moment, that is enough to walk away.”  

Blanche noted Cohen had lied to both Houses of Congress, federal judges, state judges and family.

“You cannot send someone to prison based upon the words of Michael Cohen,” Blanche said, adding that a verdict needs to be reached based on evidence from documents and witnesses. “If you do that, this is a very quick and easy not-guilty verdict.” 

Meanwhile, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass delivered his closing argument for more than five hours Tuesday, saying the prosecution has presented “powerful” evidence in their case against Trump. 

Steinglass said Trump’s intent to defraud “could not be any clearer,” arguing that it would have been far easier for him to pay Stormy Daniels directly. Instead, the prosecutor said, he concocted an elaborate scheme and everything he and his cohorts did was “cloaked in lies.”

“The name of the game was concealment and all roads lead inescapably to the man who benefited the most: the defendant, former President Donald Trump,” Steinglass said.

Steinglass defended the prosecution’s use of Michael Cohen as a witness, telling the jury: “I’m not asking you to feel bad for Michael Cohen. He made his bed.” 

“But you can hardly blame him for making money from the one thing he has left, which is his knowledge of the inner workings of the Trump Organization,” he said. 

“We didn’t choose Michael Cohen to be our witness. We didn’t pick him up at the witness store,” Steinglass said. “The defendant chose Michael Cohen to be his fixer because he was willing to lie and cheat on the defendant’s behalf.” 

Wrapping up his five-hour presentation, Steinglass, echoing an infamous Trump line, said: “Donald Trump can’t shoot someone on Fifth Avenue at rush hour and get away with it.” 

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The comment prompted an objection from Trump’s lawyer, which was sustained.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

Jay Furman defeated Lazaro Garza in the Republican runoff primary race to decide who will square off against Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, who was indicted by the federal government on conspiracy and bribery charges earlier this month.

The GOP runoff primary for the 28th Congressional District was called Tuesday night for the winner, just after 8 p.m. local time Tuesday night.

Jay Furman, a retired Navy officer, and rancher Lazaro Garza were competing in a heavily-watched primary that will help determine the political future of Cuellar, who was indicted earlier this month by President Biden’s Justice Department. 

The investigation is connected to $600,000 in bribes Cuellar allegedly accepted along with his wife between 2014 and 2021 from an Azerbaijan-based energy company and a bank in Mexico City to advance the former Soviet republic’s interests in the U.S. 

TEXAS REPUBLICAN PRIMARY RUNOFFS FEATURE POLITICAL REVENGE, TRUMP AS KEY FACTORS

The couple has denied any wrongdoing.

Cuellar has long been considered by many political pundits to be a thorn in the side of the Democratic Party due to his conservative positions on issues like abortion and immigration.

Cuellar has been labeled the last openly pro-life Democrat in Congress and has also been an outspoken critic of the crisis along the southern border. 

ATTORNEY BACKS TEXAS SCHOOL DISTRICT OVER BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S TITLE IX CHANGES: ‘WE EXPECT TO WIN’

“If they’re looking at the same polls I’ve been looking at, the American public doesn’t like what’s happening,” Cuellar, who represents a district that sits along the southern border with Mexico, said of fellow Democrats on immigration earlier this year.

“I represent an area where it’s almost 80% Hispanic, a lot of Democrats,” he said. “So, yeah, the polls are showing that it’s an important issue.”

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Four GOP candidates ran in the March primary but none of them hit the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff. Furman won 44.8% of the vote, Garza won 27.1% of the vote and candidates Jose Sanz and Jimmy Leon won 20.5% and 7.5%, respectively. 

Cuellar won his primary uncontested after narrowly defeating his primary challenger in 2022.

The Cook Political Report ranks the November race as “Lean Democrat.”

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind and The Associated Press contributed to this report

The Associated Press projects that Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas will win his Republican primary runoff election on Tuesday with far-right challenger Brandon Herrera.

Gonzales is running for a third two-year term representing a majority Hispanic district in southwestern Texas. 

With more than 800 miles of U.S.-Mexico border, Texas’s 23rd district has the largest stretch of the border territory of any Congressional district. The district is also home to Uvalde, Texas, where two years ago, 19 children and two adults were murdered in an elementary school shooting.

Gonzales, who has bucked his party on gun safety, immigration, and same-sex marriage, was challenged in the runoff by Herrera, a MAGA supporter and gun rights advocate who is known for his gun-themed YouTube channel titled “The AK Guy.”

POLITICAL REVENGE AND TRUMP AMONG THE KEY FACTORS IN TEXAS GOP PRIMARY RUNOFFS 

Gonzales was endorsed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbot, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Mike Johnson. Actor Matthew McConaughey, a Texas native, recorded robocalls in support of Gonzales.

TEXAS GOP VOTES TO SENSURE REP. TONY GONZALES OVER VOTES ON SAME-SEX MARRIAGE, GUNS AND BORDER SECURITY

Herrera was backed by controversial Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Rep. Bob Good of Florida, another far-right House member and the chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

Gonzales won over 45% of the vote in the March primary, with Herrera a distant second at 25%. However, since neither grabbed a majority of the vote, under Texas law, they both advanced to a one-on-one runoff.

Veteran Texas-based Republican strategist Brendan Steinhauser noted that Herrera branded the showdown as “an establishment versus far-right, populist race,” and that Gonzales was well aware “that he needs to protect his right flank”

However, he added that “Tony has a pretty big presence in the conservative eco ecosystem. He’s on Fox News a lot, talking about the border.”

Outside groups shelled out over $5 million in ad spending in the race, according to AdImpact, a leading ad tracking firm.

Among the groups helping Gonzales were the Republican Jewish Coalition Victory Fund, the Hispanic Leadership Alliance, and the American Action Network, which is aligned with the House GOP leadership.

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

A former Trump campaign official has won a tight primary fight and will now serve as the representative of a deep-red Texas House district.

Republican Katrina Pierson, who served as the spokesperson for former President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, defeated incumbent state Rep. Justin Holland in Tuesday’s primary runoff for Texas’ 33rd House District, and is the presumptive winner of November’s general election since no Democrat candidate is standing in the race.

Pierson had the backing of Republican Texas Gov. Gregg Abott, who sought to oust incumbent Republicans opposed to some of his policy objectives.

WATCH: BUSINESSMAN REVEALS PLAN TO FLIP CALIFORNIA HOUSE SEAT AS THESE TOP 2 ISSUES TAKE CENTER STAGE

Holland, who was first elected in 2016, opposed key legislation supported by Abbott that would have paved the way for Texas parents to send their children to private or religious affiliated schools using public funding. A group of 21 Republicans, including Holland, joined all Democrats in opposing the measure last year.

Holland has also faced scrutiny for a number of other positions he’s taken, including supporting legislation last year that would have raised the age to purchase “assault” style rifles from 18 to 21, and voting in favor of impeaching Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

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Pierson gained Paxton’s backing ahead of the March primary, while Abbott endorsed her ahead of the runoff.

Republicans currently hold 86 of the 150 seats in the Texas state House, a majority of 11.

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

State Rep. Craig Goldman secured the Republican nomination for the open 12th Congressional District in Texas in a runoff Tuesday, a seat opening up due to the retirement of Rep. Kay Granger, according to the Associated Press.

Goldman won in a runoff after neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the March primary. Granger has held the seat since 1997 but is retiring at the end of the term. 

The race had been a demonstration of the split in the state’s Republican Party. O’Shea had framed himself an “America First” candidate and had touted the backing of Attorney General Ken Paxton and Trump allies, including Roger Stone and Gen. Michael Flynn.

TEXAS REPUBLICAN PRIMARY RUNOFFS FEATURE POLITICAL REVENGE, TRUMP AS KEY FACTORS

“It is an honor to support John O’Shea for Texas’ 12th. John is a friend who I have found to be a dedicated husband and father who will put family, faith and country first,” Paxton said in a statement backing the candidate. 

O’Shea argued the U.S. “has a number of higher priority issues that must be addressed to ensure our citizens are taken care of before focusing on other global matters.”

Goldman, a fifth-generation Texan, meanwhile, had the endorsement of Gov. Greg Abbott and Speaker Dade Phelan, and had voted to impeach Paxton in 2023.  He had promised to be a “conservative fighter who will prioritize border security and the American taxpayer.”

CONTROVERSIAL MOVE: ABBOTT PARDONS ARMY SERGEANT WHO KILLED BLM PROTESTER

O’Shea had used that vote for Paxton’s impeachment to hit his opponent. 

“There is a civil war in the party in the state of Texas,” O’Shea said in April, according to the Texas Tribune. “I like to characterize it as the America First-Paxton side, and then there’s the establishment team Phelan side. You have a candidate who represents each one of those two sides. The choice is clear. Now, you have a chance to choose.”

Goldman has pushed back against claims he is less conservative than O’Shea, arguing he had a proven conservative voting record.

“That’s the difference between John and I,” Goldman said at an April debate, according to KERA News.

The winner of the Republican primary runoff will face Trey Hunt, a progressive activist and mental health professional who has been outspoken on homeless issues. Hunt, whose campaign website says he was “born and raised in Southwest Fort Worth,” is running to push for “reform in the criminal justice system,” “guaranteeing abortion rights” for women and other issues.

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Both Republican candidates have emphasized their stances on tackling illegal immigration in a state that has been on the frontline of the ongoing migrant crisis at the southern border. They have both also highlighted their positions on abortion and Second Amendment rights.

It’s one of a number of races in which Abbott and Paxton have chosen opposing candidates. They have done so in five separate races. Both lawmakers have scores to settle, with Paxton targeting those Republicans who voted to impeach him last year on corruption charges and Abbott eyeing those who defeated his 2023 education plan. The school voucher measure, which was Abbott’s top legislative item last year, passed the state Senate, but its defeat in the state House was a rare political setback for Abbott.

“It’s a power play and definitely a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party of Texas, and Gov. Abbott wants to get legislators in there who will support his agenda,” veteran Texas-based Republican strategist Brendan Steinhauser told Fox News.

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Granger had backed Goldman for the seat, touting his credentials as a “staunch advocate for a strong national defense.”

Phelan faces his own challenge in District 21 from oil and gas consultant David Covey. Phelan oversaw the impeachment effort against Paxton. He was later censured by the Texas GOP for the effort. 

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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The Associated Press projects that Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan will survive a Republican primary runoff election challenge by David Covey.

Phelan’s victory in a state House district east of Houston is seen as a political setback for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and former President Donald Trump, as well as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

Phelan oversaw the effort last year to impeach Paxton over corruption charges. Paxton was acquitted by the state Senate after the House overwhelmingly impeached the controversial attorney general. 

CONTROVERSIAL MOVE: ABBOTT PARDONS ARMY SERGEANT WHO KILLED BLM PROTESTER

In response, Paxton targeted over 30 GOP incumbent state representatives, with Phelan at the top of the list. Paxton’s most powerful ally, Trump, endorsed Covey.

Meanwhile, Abbott was looking for payback over the downing in the state House last year of his education plan that would have opened the spigot for taxpayer funding of private schools. The school voucher measure, which was Abbott’s top legislative item last year, passed the state Senate, but its downing in the state House was a rare political setback for the three-term governor.

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Nine GOP state House lawmakers went down to defeat in the state’s March primary, with eight more forced into runoffs. All were targeted by either Abbott or Paxton, or by both the governor and the attorney general.

“It’s a power play and definitely a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party of Texas and Gov. Abbott wants to get legislators in there who will support his agenda,” veteran Texas-based Republican strategist Brendan Steinhauser told Fox News last week.

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“For Ken Paxton and [Lt. Gov.] Dan Patrick and Donald Trump by proxy, for them, it is definitely trying to take out the person who led the impeachment against Ken Paxton and who stood in the way of Dan Patrick’s agenda in the Senate. All those factors together make a really powerful force for the Speaker to overcome,” he emphasized.

The race was also seen as a proxy battle for the future of the GOP in Texas.

Phelan was backed by old guard Republicans and conservative-leaning business leaders who helped bring the GOP to power in Texas in the 1980s and 1990s. Covey enjoyed the support of not only Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Paxton and Trump, but also far-right activists who place more of an emphasis on social and cultural issues.

If Phelan had lost, he would have become the first Texas House speaker to be ousted in a primary in over a half century.

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

An Air Force veteran who touts her national security experience has won the Republican primary in one of deep-blue Oregon’s more competitive House races. 

Attorney and former Air Force Col. Monique DeSpain will now take on incumbent Democrat Rep. Val Hoyle, who represents Oregon’s 4th Congressional District, in the November general election as Republicans hope to increase their narrow majority in the House of Representatives.

The race is one of the few competitive ones in deep-blue Oregon, but Democrats hold a vast fundraising advantage, and national Republicans are likely to steer money to more marginal races in other parts of the country.

EXPERTS REVEAL MAJOR ‘DOWNSIDE’ TO POTENTIAL TRUMP VP PICK: ‘NO WOW FACTOR’

Hoyle is no stranger to controversy. 

Fox News Digital reported last year that she accepted congressional campaign donations from a handful of cannabis entrepreneurs who were awarded a taxpayer-funded grant she oversaw during her tenure as the commissioner of Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) in 2022.

In April 2022, Federal Election Commission (FEC) records showed Laura Vega, a co-founder of the nonprofit ENDVR, made a $1,000 donation to Hoyle’s campaign. Vega, according to Portland-based Willamette Week, “founded a cannabis products company and served on an array of cannabis advisory bodies.”

WATCH: POSSIBLE TRUMP VP PICK MAKES MAJOR PREDICTION ABOUT BLACK VOTERS AS BIDEN BLEEDS SUPPORT

The donation to Hoyle’s congressional campaign by Vega, who co-founded ENDVR alongside La Mota CEO Rosa Cazares in late 2021, came just one week after ENDVR received nonprofit status by the IRS and two weeks before the nonprofit submitted a grant application to the BOLI to establish an apprenticeship program.

Hoyle was also among a group of Democrats showered with campaign cash from colleagues who refused to condemn Hamas’ devastating Oct. 7 attack on Israel, a Fox News Digital review found last year.

A number of far-left progressives poured money from their own committees into the campaigns of at least 33 other Democrats in recent years, with several receiving over $15,000 from the group, the review found. Many Democrats who received the contributions are locked in tough election battles, including Hoyle.

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Hoyle received $15,000 from the group at the time.

Elections analysts rate the race for Oregon’s 4th Congressional District as “likely Democratic.”

Fox News’ Kyle Morris contributed to this report.

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Thirteen-term Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, won the Republican primary in his re-election effort for Idaho’s 2nd Congressional District.

Simpson has represented the district since the late 1990s, but his career in politics stretches back to when he served on the Blackfoot City Council in 1980.

The Republican has represented the Gem State in Congress for 13 consecutive terms, advancing Tuesday night to face Idaho Falls Democrat David Roth, who is unopposed, in the general election in November.

EMBATTLED TRUMP PROSECUTOR FIGHTS TO KEEP JOB AS GEORGIA AMONG FIVE STATES HOLDING ELECTIONS TUESDAY

Simpson’s win comes after the lawmaker split with several members of his party in backing an investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riots and voting against a recount of the 2020 election results.

WEST COAST EXODUC DRIVES SUPRISING POLITICAL EFFECT IN RED STATE, AND IT’S NOT A LIBERAL SHIFT

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The Republican went on to win his 2022 GOP primary with 55% of the vote.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., prevailed in a three-way Republican primary on Tuesday night, paving the way to an eighth term representing his deep-red Kentucky district.

Massie enjoyed a decisive victory during what’s been a tumultuous period for both the House GOP and himself.

The libertarian Republican was one of three GOP rebels pushing to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., from power over his bipartisan work on government spending and foreign aid. Their bid failed this month when a significant number of Democrats joined a majority of Republicans to block a House-wide vote.

OHIO PURGES ‘NON-CITIZENS’ FROM STATE VOTER ROLLS, CALLS ON BIDEN ADMIN FOR DATA AHEAD OF 2024 ELECTION

Massie told reporters in late April that his voters were behind him, even as a litany of GOP lawmakers lined up to deride the effort and warn it would cost them the November election.

“I haven’t gotten any blowback,” Massie said at the time. “I explained the problem with Mike Johnson and the three big betrayals he’s made to the majority of Republicans here and the majority of Republicans back home. And they understand.”

He’s also one of the few Republicans who have not shied away from confronting former President Trump and his influence in the party.

FOX NEWS POLL: ABORTION, ECONOMY, BORDER SECURITY ARE TOP DEAL-BREAKERS IN 2024 ELECTIONS

Massie was one of the most vocal surrogates for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ now-defunct presidential primary bid. More recently, he accused Trump of “ridiculous bullying tactics” for calling for a Republican to challenge sitting House Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla.

His Tuesday primary victory comes despite his claim that hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent against him by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a bipartisan pro-Israel lobby that has spent big this cycle against lawmakers who have opposed legislation affirming U.S. support for Israel and condemning antisemitism.

REPUBLICAN AIMING TO FLIP KEY SENATE SEAT IN DARK-BLUE STATE GETS PRAISE FROM THESE TOP DEMS

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He brushed off AIPAC’s threat in a statement to voters before polls closed, writing on X, “Election Day in KY! It’s a referendum on whether a guy can go to DC and vote against foreign aid, foreign wars, and sanctions, while supporting free speech, privacy, & the [Second Amendment]. AIPAC claims to have spent $400k against me. They won’t be happy tonight!”

His challengers included former Kentucky gubernatorial candidate Eric Deters and Michael McGinnis, a self-described “sixth generation Kentuckian,” according to his campaign site.

Embattled Georgia prosector Fani Willis survived her primary election challenge Tuesday night, and will face off against a GOP challenger in November. 

Willis, the District Attorney for Fulton County, is leading the sweeping 2020 election interference case against former President Donald Trump and has been the subject of scrutiny many Republicans in the state and nationwide for her affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, which almost got her removed from the case.

Willis on Tuesday defeated Democrat attorney Christian Wise Smith in a rematch of their race four years ago. In the county that in 2020 voted 73% for President Joe Biden, she was favored to win.

WIlis is currently under investigation by Republicans in both chambers of the U.S. congress and two commissions in the Georgia state legislature.

SENATE GOP PROBES TRUMP PROSECUTOR FANI WILLIS’ OFFICE FOR ALLEGED ‘MISUSE’ OF FUNDS

Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., on Wednesday accused Willis of allegedly misusing federal funds meant to help at-risk youth and gang prevention but that were used to purchase computers and “swag.”

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio., subpoenaed Willis in February over the accusations of misusing federal funds. 

But Willis says those investigations are predicated on “false reasons.” 

“Jim Jordan has, time after time after time, attacked my office with no legitimate purpose,” Willis told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Monday. “Anyone who knows Jim Jordan’s history knows that he only has the purpose of trying to interfere in a criminal investigation.”

“All while his jurisdiction has one of the worst crime rates, has poverty issues, and not one time has he used his position to try to investigate people who are attacking me and attacking others legitimately doing their jobs,” she added. “Making him illegitimate in his position, and it’s disgusting. So I bring that up at the federal level because now at the state level, they have decided to follow this clown’s lead. And they want to now try to interfere in an investigation, and it’s not legitimate either.”

“They have decided in Georgia that they would like to come after me. They use false reasons for wanting to come after me,” Willis said during the media appearance. 

Earlier this month, Georgia lawmakers heard testimony that caused one Republican senator to express concern that oversight of Willis’  $36.6 million budget is “like the Wild West, very little control.”

NATHAN WADE’S ESTRANGED WIFE SAYS HE’S FAILED TO PAY SPOUSAL SUPPORT SINCE RESIGNING FROM FANI WILLIS’ OFFICE

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee – who also faced a primary challenger on Tuesday – ruled in March that Willis could stay on the case as long as Nathan Wade, with whom she was accused of having an “improper” affair, quit. 

But Trump and his co-defendants are appealing that ruling to the Georgia Court of Appeals, where they hope to get Willis disqualified from the case. 

MEET FANI WILLIS’ GOP CHALLENGER FOR THE TOP PROSECUTOR JOB IN DEEP-BLUE GEORGIA

The appeals court agreed to hear their bid. A hearing date has yet to be scheduled but could be as early as August or as late as 2025. 

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Willis will now face Atlanta-based lawyer Courtney Kramer in the general election in November. She is the first Republican who has sought the office in more than two decades.

Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report. 

Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee, who is the judge in the sweeping racketeering case against former President Donald Trump, won the primary election Tuesday. 

McAfee, favored to win, was challenged by civil rights attorney and radio host Robert Patillo in the nonpartisan race.

McAfee has been a judge for just over a year, since Republican Gov. Brian Kemp appointed him to fill an empty seat. He will now serve a full four-year term beginning in January.

McAfee has become one of the most high-profile judges in Georgia since he was assigned last year to preside over the election interference case. With the added advantages of incumbency, strong bipartisan backing from heavy hitters and an impressive fundraising haul, he was the likely favorite to win, the Associated Press reported.

EMBATTLED TRUMP PROSECUTOR FIGHTS TO KEEP JOB AS GEORGIA AMONG FIVE STATES HOLDING ELECTIONS TUESDAY

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, the prosecutor in the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump, won the Democratic primary in her bid for reelection, setting her up to face a Republican challenger in the general election.

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Willis beat challenger Christian Wise Smith and is now set to face Republican lawyer Courtney Kramer in November. With her high name recognition, the advantages of incumbency and a hefty fundraising haul, Willis’ victory in the primary was not terribly surprising, the AP said.

House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik filed an ethics complaint against Judge Juan Merchan for an alleged conflict of interest pertaining to his daughter’s role at a firm known for representing Democratic politicians.

Merchan, an acting Supreme Court justice in New York, is presiding over the unprecedented criminal trial against former President Trump stemming from charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Stefanik, R-N.Y., filed the complaint with the New York State Commission on Judiciary Conduct, warning that Trump, who pleaded not guilty to all 34 counts of falsifying business records, faces “a maximum of 136 years’ imprisonment” if convicted, and said not only are his “interests at stake,” but “the interests of all Americans are at stake.” 

She pointed to Merchan’s daughter, who serves as the president of Authentic Campaigns — a group that represents Democrat politicians and political action committees. 

NY V TRUMP: JUDGE TO CONSIDER DEFENSE MOTION TO DISMISS AFTER PROSECUTION RESTS CASE

Stefanik highlighted how her clients, like Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., have fundraised off of Trump’s indictment and criminal trial. Trump himself has requested Merchan recuse himself from the trial due to his daughter’s work. Merchan said there was no reason for him to do so.

Stefanik added that she learned that the New York State Commission on Judiciary Conduct “privately cautioned him in July over his illegal political donations to Biden and Democrats in 2020.”

“This private caution has not deterred Judge Merchan’s judicial misconduct, as evidenced by this current complaint,” she wrote. “Judge Merchan appears driven by Democrat partisanship and financial gain for his daughter.”

Stefanik said it is “imperative that New Yorkers and all Americans have confidence that justice is being dispensed fairly in New York.”

NY V TRUMP: JUDGE TO CONSIDER DEFENSE MOTION TO DISMISS AFTER PROSECUTION RESTS CASE

“This is especially true in politically sensitive cases where bias is most likely to rear its ugly head. Here, we are in the middle of a presidential election campaign. The circumstances are unprecedented: President Trump, a former president and the likely nominee of a major party for the presidency, is on trial,” Stefanik wrote. “These proceedings are under a microscope.”

On Tuesday, defense attorneys for Trump rested their case without calling former President Trump to the stand to testify. They called two witnesses — paralegal Daniel Sitko and a former legal adviser to Michael Cohen, Robert Costello — before resting their case. Prosecutors rested their case on Monday. 

Merchan dismissed the jury until after Memorial Day. 

Stefanik argued that the judge’s “clear conflict of interest, based upon his adult daughter’s financial state in this unprecedented criminal trial, has badly damaged the court’s appearance of impartiality.”

TRUMP SLAMS NY COURT SYSTEM, BOASTS HE’S GOING ‘TO WIN’ EMPIRE STATE

“Given Judge Merchan’s daughter’s clientele — and the vast sums of money that these individuals have raised and will continue to raise off of President Trump’s charges — Judge Merchan’s daughter stands to benefit the more legally imperiled President Trump is,” Stefanik said. “She is well within the sixth degree of relation to Judge Merchan; indeed, as his daughter, she falls within the first degree.”

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She added: “A straightforward application of Section 100.3(e)(1)(D)(iii) requires recusal. As Judge Merchan has declined to do so, I request that you investigate his conduct and impose whatever discipline is required.”

Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz pulled no punches while questioning Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a heated Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Tuesday.

The tense clash between the two began with Cruz blasting the Biden administration’s “worst foreign policy disaster of modern times,” referencing its handling of Iran and the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, and culminated with the senator accusing the White House of indirectly funding the attack.

“Mr. Secretary, you have presided over the worst foreign policy disaster of modern times,” Cruz began. “When Joe Biden became president, he inherited peace and prosperity in the world. We now have two simultaneous wars waging: the worst war in Europe since World War II, and the worst war in the Middle East in 50 years. Both, I believe, were caused by this administration’s consistent weakness.”

EXPERTS REVEAL MAJOR ‘DOWNSIDE’ TO POTENTIAL TRUMP VP PICK: ‘NO WOW FACTOR’

“Your foreign policy is precisely backwards from what a rational American foreign policy should be to our friends and allies. This administration has consistently undermined, weakened and attacked them,” he added. “And to our enemies, this administration has shown constant appeasement and indeed has flowed billions of dollars to the enemies of America who want to kill us.” 

The two clashed over the Biden administration’s effort to prevent Israel from attacking Rafah, a city in the Gaza Strip, as part of its efforts to root out Hamas terrorists from among the Palestinians, with Cruz demanding to know whether they offered Israel intelligence on the terrorists if they would hold off attacking.

Blinken denied any such action was taken and attempted to expand on what he said was President Biden’s support for Israel, but Cruz stopped him, saying he wasn’t interested in a “campaign speech.”

Cruz continued to press him, but Blinken called the notion “misleading and wrong,” and said the U.S. government shares intelligence if it’s available.

WATCH:  POSSIBLE TRUMP VP PICK MAKES MAJOR PREDICTION ABOUT BLACK VOTERS AS BIDEN BLEEDS SUPPORT

Cruz then accused Blinken and the State Department of repeatedly telling Israel “not to kill” Hamas terrorists, citing a tweet he said the department later deleted immediately after the Oct. 7 attack, calling on Israel “not to engage in military retaliation.”

“Senator, I was in Israel five days after Oct. 7. I’ve been there seven times since. No one, starting with President Biden, has done more to make sure they have what they need to defend themselves from Hamas, to deal with the threat,” Blinken said, as Cruz pushed back.

“That is simply wrong. … That is ludicrous,” Cruz said, asking if the administration had cut off sending weapons to Israel. 

Blinken denied the administration had cut off any weapons supplies, but Cruz began to press him on funding for Iran.

Cruz noted that Iran’s oil production had increased since Biden had taken office, and that the nation had developed more “ghost” ships to circumvent the sanctions against it and ship the oil.

TRUMP’S POTENTIAL RUNNING MATES TO COMPETE FOR APPROVAL AT MAJOR CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE AS SPECULATION SWIRLS

“This administration desperately wants a new Iran deal. You have been showering cash on Iran from day one,” Cruz said, referencing what he said was the administration’s “refusal to enforce oil sanctions.”

“In a very real sense, this administration, you and President Biden funded the Oct. 7 attacks by flowing $100 billion to a homicidal, genocidal regime that funded those attacks,” he added.

Blinken quickly hit back, calling Cruz’s statement “profoundly wrong” and “disgraceful,” to which the latter responded, “Why?”

“We have gone at Iran repeatedly with more than 600 sanctions applied against them,” Blinken said.

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“Why are they selling 10 million barrels a day compared to 300,000?” Cruz responded.

Blinken argued Iran was working hard to get around the sanctions, and that the administration was continuing to “go at them” every day despite the country being “determined” to sell more oil.

“They weren’t determined when Trump was president,” Cruz said.

The Biden administration authorized the use of deadly force during the FBI’s raid on former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August 2022 as part of its investigation into classified records, court documents revealed.

An “Operations Order” produced in discovery as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s alleged improper retention of classified records revealed that the “FBI believed its objective for the Mar-a-Lago raid was to seize ‘classified information, NDI, and US Government records” as described in the search warrant. 

The order, according to a court filing, contained a “Policy Statement” regarding “Use of Deadly Force,” which stated, for example, “Law Enforcement officers of the Department of Justice may use deadly force when necessary.” 

FLASHBACK: TRUMP SAYS MAR-A-LAGO HOME IN FLORIDA ‘UNDER SIEGE’ BY FBI AGENTS

According to the filing, the DOJ and FBI agents “planned to bring ‘Standard Issue Weapons, ‘Ammo,’ ‘Handcuffs,’ and ‘medium and large sized bolt cutters,’ but they were instructed to wear ‘unmarked polo or collared shirts’ and to keep ‘law enforcement equipment concealed.” 

Trump, who spent yet another day in a New York City courtroom for his unprecedented criminal trial stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation, reacted to the revelations Tuesday afternoon. 

“WOW! I just came out of the Biden Witch Hunt Trial in Manhattan, the ‘Icebox,’ and was shown Reports that Crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ, in their Illegal and UnConstitutional Raid of Mar-a-Lago, AUTHORIZED THE FBI TO USE DEADLY (LETHAL) FORCE,” Trump posted on his Truth Social. “NOW WE KNOW, FOR SURE, THAT JOE BIDEN IS A SERIOUS THREAT TO DEMOCRACY.” 

FEDERAL JUDGE POSTPONES TRUMP’S CLASSIFIED RECORDS TRIAL WITH NO NEW DATE

Trump added: “HE IS MENTALLY UNFIT TO HOLD OFFICE — 25TH AMENDMENT!” 

Trump was charged out of Smith’s investigation into his retention of classified materials. Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony charges from Smith’s probe, including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and false statements.

Trump was also charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment out of the investigation: an additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts.

Trump pleaded not guilty.

The federal judge presiding over the case, Judge Aileen Cannon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, postponed the trial stemming from Smith’s case indefinitely. The trial was set to begin May 20.