NationalWatch

In the unprecedented criminal trial of former President Donald Trump, Judge Juan Merchan’s gag order has added another layer of complexity to an already unique legal circumstance. 

Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee for the 2024 presidential election just six months away, is barred from speaking about any of the witnesses in his case, the jury and members of the district attorney’s staff – other than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg himself. Anyone under Trump’s direction is also barred from speaking to or on any of those matters. 

On April 2, the gag order was expanded to include barring Trump from speaking about family members of the judge, including his daughter, who works as a Democratic consultant and has represented Democratic elected officials such as Vice President Kamala Harris and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. 

In a Truth Social post, Trump called out Merchan’s daughter by name, noting her place of work and referenced a social media post of a picture showing Trump behind bars. The Manhattan court has claimed that the account does not belong to Merchan’s daughter.

Trump’s legal team has appealed the gag order after Merchan found Trump in violation of it. The judge has also imposed $10,000 in fines and even threatened jail time if he continues to violate court rules. 

HOPE HICKS: COHEN CALLED HIMSELF ‘MR. FIX IT’ ONLY BECAUSE HE ‘BROKE IT’

New York’s Appellate Division on Wednesday granted the Trump team’s request for an expedited briefing timeline for appealing the gag order. 

The prosecution now has a deadline of May 15 to file a reply brief; Trump’s lawyers will have until May 20 to file their response. All of the briefing documents are under seal by court order, so the details of the appeal and the specific challenges to the order are not public. 

But a source close to the campaign says that the Appellate Division appears to be inclined to move more quickly than it normally would. 

Trump’s lawyers argued to Merchan that the gag order was unilateral and that it only applies to Trump and not to other expected witnesses. Trump’s ex-lawyer Michael Cohen, expected to take the witness stand Monday, has made disparaging comments about Trump on social media, fundraising off the case and wearing a T-shirt depicting Trump behind bars, but the gag order prevents Trump or his team from responding publicly.

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

Trump’s team had also argued that Merchan has an irretrievable conflict of interest, since his daughter is accused of actively helping her clients profit off of the trial. 

They have also argued the gag order wrongly bans Trump from commenting on Michael Colangelo’s involvement with the case. Colangelo is a former high-ranking Justice Department political official and worked in the New York Attorney General’s office on other Trump prosecutions. Trump’s lawyers have argued that the gag order wrongly prevents discourse about what they perceive as Colangelo’s possible political motivations.

Gregory Germain, a law professor at Syracuse University, told Fox News Digital that, if the issue were before the Supreme Court, he’s “quite confident “that the gag order would be overturned.  

“The Supreme Court would be very concerned about gagging a presidential candidate during an election from criticizing the court or the process in such a broad way. A very limited order to protect the identity of jurors or secret witnesses might stand, but gagging Trump from speaking about well-known witnesses like Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen, who are on the lecture circuit talking about him, or criticizing the political nature of the process, could not be justified under the very restrictive standard for prior restraints on free speech,” Germain said. 

GOP AG LAUNCHES NEW PROBE INTO COMMUNICATIONS FROM DOJ AND TRUMP PROSECUTORS

Germain noted that the issue is a long way from the Supreme Court and that the Appellate Division “may not have the same respect for the serious constitutional issues posed by a gag order of this kind. They might slow-walk the request or try to tinker with the language.” 

“But the issue will become a constitutional crisis if Judge Merchan puts Trump in jail for contempt. If that happens, and it seems like a real possibility because Merchan and Trump are locked in a game of chicken over the issue, I would not be surprised to see an emergency petition to the Supreme Court being granted if the Appellate Division does not take the matter seriously now,” he said. 

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“If the Appellate Division is wise, they will send the order back to Judge Merchan with strict instructions to limit the order very specifically to threats that pose an imminent danger of violence or lawlessness. Mere fear that a deranged supporter might respond with violence does not meet the constitutional test.”

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said, “The gag order imposed by conflicted Judge Juan Merchan in the lawless Manhattan D.A. case is unconstitutional and un-American.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Republican senators believe President Biden’s “disgraceful” warning to cut offensive aid to Israel during its conflict with Hamas was a political decision to appease “the pro-Hamas wing of the Democrat Party” in November.

President Biden recently threatened to cut aid to America’s ally Israel if the country invades Rafah, a city in the Gaza Strip.

“If they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities — that deal with that problem,” the president told CNN Wednesday.

The decision comes after weeks of anti-Israel agitators causing chaos on college campuses across the nation, and lawmakers are connecting the two as the president seeks another term in the White House.

HOUSE GOP DRAFTING BIDEN IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES OVER ISRAEL AID CUTOFF THREAT

When asked about Biden’s decision coming amid the anti-Israel riots, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital “the pro-Hamas wing of the Democrat Party is growing.” 

“I do think he caved to the folks on campus, who are calling for the death of Israel. And I think the pro-Hamas wing of the Democrat Party is growing. And these are political decisions, trying to meddle in another country’s elections,” Schmitt said.

“You know, Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden called for Benjamin Netanyahu to be ousted in the middle of a war, and now he’s withholding arms that have been appropriated. It’s really outrageous,” he added. “And I think, again, it just sort of shows how desperate Joe Biden is to try to again appease these radicals in his party. He’s willing to risk U.S.-Israel relations.”

Biden has received bipartisan backlash for his recent comment about aid to Israel, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country “will stand alone” to defeat Hamas if necessary.

“Sadly, this administration has been the most anti-Israel administration we’ve ever seen,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. “And right now, what do you see the Biden administration doing? They are simultaneously flooding cash to the Hamas terrorists while they’re cutting off weapons to Israel. They’re undermining our friend and ally Israel. It is disgraceful. And, yes, part of it is that today’s Democrat Party is terrified of the radical left in the party, the extreme anti-Israel, antisemitic protesters we see at college campuses all across the country.”

The senator added there is a “pro-Hamas wing” of the Democratic party.

NETANYAHU SAYS ISRAEL ‘WILL STAND ALONE’ IF NECESSARY AFTER BIDEN THREATENS TO WITHHOLD WEAPONS

When asked by Fox News Digital if the campus riots were linked to Biden’s recent warning to Israel, Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C. said the two events are “absolutely” connected to Biden seeking another term.

Budd said Biden’s warning to Israel was about the November election and Biden “collapsing in these swing states.”

“I just got back from Israel this week, met with the prime minister. Met with many people here rather easily. They’re wondering, ‘What the heck is the U.S. doing?’ This is all about November, Joe Biden. This is about Minnesota. This is about Michigan. He’s collapsing in these swing states. And so he’s trying to stitch this together, and it’s completely off the rails. 

“It’s showing the world that you can’t trust the U.S.,” Budd added. “It’s very frustrating, particularly when you’re trying to get the eight U.S. hostages home and respect these families that have been waiting and waiting for over 200 days. This just demonstrates weakness and confusion to the world.”

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., agreed Biden’s statement was in response to the protests, saying, “I think he’s caved to the college agitators. And just, in general, the Palestinian community. It just doesn’t make sense to any of us. And that’s why I encourage everybody to not listen to what he says. Watch what Joe Biden does. It makes no sense.

“I describe it as Biden’s schizophrenic national security policies,” he continued. “On the one hand, he says he wants to minimize casualties, public casualties. But, on the other hand, he keeps us from sending smart bombs. On the one hand, he says that he wants a minimum loss of life, that he wants the hostages released. But when he tells the world, ‘We’re not going to send any more weapons,’ what is the message? Do they back out of the negotiations? So, everything that Joe Biden touches when it comes to national security just turns to mud.”

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Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., filed articles of impeachment against Biden Friday for his threat against Israel, saying ahead of the move that “these are the same accusations made against President Trump, which resulted in his impeachment by Democrats. The same must happen for Joe Biden, which is why we’re drawing up articles of impeachment now.”

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

Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

Disney heiress, Abigail Disney, evoked the classic Disney movie, Old Yeller, in a recent play to call on voters to oppose the Republican Party after South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s recent book detailed her shooting her ranch dog.

“My great-uncle Walt Disney knew the magic place animals have in the hearts of families everywhere,” Disney wrote in an email released by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) and obtained exclusively by the Guardian. 

Disney, the grandniece of Walt Disney, said that Noem’s anecdote of killing her dog in her new book, “No Going Back,” “shocked” her.

“When he released Old Yeller, the heart-wrenching story stayed with people because no one takes the killing of a family pet lightly,” Disney said. “At least that’s what I thought until I read about potential Trump VP Kristi Noem shooting her family’s puppy – a story that has shocked so many of us.”

‘YOU NEED TO STOP’: GOV. NOEM LASHES OUT DURING HEATED INTERVIEW OVER BOOK ANECDOTE ABOUT KILLING DOG

In “No Going Back,” the Republican governor described shooting her dog after it attacked a neighbor’s chickens.

Disney said that Noem’s description of killing her ranch dog was part of “the larger story of the 2024 election.”

“Walt Disney also understood story telling. Together, we must make sure all voters see how this sad Kristi Noem episode is part of the larger story of the 2024 election: America could vote into the White House extremists that glorify cruelty and lack basic empathy and compassion,” she told the PCCC.

Since facing backlash for the killing of her ranch dog, Noem has fiercely defended her actions, framing it as her ability to make “tough decisions.”

During an interview with FOX Business’ Stuart Varney, the Republican governor said that the dog was “vicious,” and called the backlash “ridiculous.” 

“This was a vicious, dangerous dog. That was a working dog. And I had to make a choice between the safety of my children and an animal that was killing livestock and attacking people,” Noem told Varney. “So it’s included because a lot of politicians have run from the truth. They want to try to hide from tough decisions.”

“I’m proud of this book,” Noem said. “I know that a lot of people are using attacks to try to take me down because they’re scared of me. I have so much support and all I’ve done is won.”

Disney said that unlike the compassionate shooting of Old Yeller, Noem shot the dog because it was “too hard to teach.”

“In Old Yeller, the family comes to see the lovable stray dog as an indispensable member of the family. The film’s climactic moment is a heartbreaking one, when the father has no choice but to shoot Old Yeller when the dog contracts rabies because of the inevitable threat to their lives – and, out of compassion, to end the suffering the dog would have to endure,” Disney said in the letter to the PCCC.

NOEM ADDRESSES FEELING ‘THREATENED’ BY NIKKI HALEY, A CONTROVERSIAL DOG KILLING, TRUMP VP SPECULATION IN BOOK

“Noem shot her family’s 14-month-old puppy after a hunting trip, in her own account, because she was too hard to teach,” Disney said. “‘I hated that dog,’ she wrote, framing the killing of a puppy as an example of strength.”

“Kristi Noem is not strong. Like Trump, she is cruel and selfish,” she said.

“If Kristi Noem was actually strong, she would stand up to the January 6 insurrectionists instead of celebrating them,” she said. “Or she would make billionaires pay their fair share of taxes instead of lining up for their campaign donations.”

KRISTI NOEM ERUPTS ON CBS ANCHOR AFTER VIRAL INTERVIEW ABOUT CONTROVERSIAL BOOK

“If she had real courage, she might even criticize the Supreme Court for abolishing abortion rights or making it easier to flood our streets and schools with guns,” Disney said.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Gov. Noem’s office, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Abigail Disney for comment.

Fox News’ Audrey Spady contributed to this report.

Former White House official Steve Bannon‘s appeal of his contempt of Congress conviction was denied Friday, meaning he will still have to serve jail time for ignoring a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. 

In a 20-page opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, a three-body panel, said granting Bannon’s appeal would “hamstring Congress’s investigatory authority.”

Bannon claimed he acted on the advice of his legal team and did not intend to break the law. Judge Bradley Garcia wrote that acting on “advice of counsel” defense is “no defense at all.”

MICHAEL COHEN TIKTOK VIDEOS, FUNDRAISING STUN LEGAL OBSERVERS: MAY HAVE ‘TORPEDOED CASE AGAINST TRUMP’

“As both this court and the Supreme Court have repeatedly explained, a contrary rule would contravene the text of the contempt statute and hamstring Congress’s investigatory authority,” Garcia wrote. “Because we have no basis to depart from that binding precedent, and because none of Bannon’s other challenges to his convictions have merit, we affirm.”

Bannon, 70, was sentenced to four months in prison in October 2022, and a $6,500 fine for ignoring the congressional subpoena. 

“I want to say one thing — I respect the judge, the sentence he came down with today is his decision. I’ve been totally respectful to this entire process on the legal side,” Bannon said after the sentencing.

Bannon will appeal Friday’s ruling, his attorney, David Schoen, told Fox News Digital. 

MICHAEL COHEN TO TESTIFY IN TRUMP TRIAL ON MONDAY

“There are many fundamentally important constitutional issues at stake in this case,” Schoen said in a statement. “Today’s decision is wrong as a matter of law, and it reflects a very dangerous view of the threshold for criminal liability for any defendant in our country and for future political abuses of the congressional hearing process.”

Schoen noted that Bannon’s attorney at the time he received the subpoena, Robert Costello, advised his client that he was not permitted, as a matter of law, in any way to respond to the notice, saying executive privilege had been raised and that it was not his privilege to waive it. Costello wrote the committee to inform them that Bannon would comply if the panel worked out any privilege issues with former President Trump or if a court ordered him to comply, Schoen said. 

“In America, we do not criminally prosecute, let alone convict and send to prison people who not only don’t believe their conduct to be wrongful or in violation of the law, but, as in this case, people who follow the advice of their lawyers who tell them that the law does not permit them to comply with a congressional subpoena when executive privilege has been invoked,” Schoen said.

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Other officials who served under Trump have reported to prison. Former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro began his four-month sentence for contempt of Congress at a Miami correctional facility in March. 

“I will walk proudly in there to do my time,” Navarro said during a press conference before turning himself in. “I will gather strength from this: Donald John Trump is the nominee.”

Barron Trump, the 18-year-old son of former President Trump and former first lady Melania Trump, has declined participating as a Florida delegate to the Republican National Convention.

In a statement to Fox News, a spokesperson for the Office of Melania Trump said that Trump “regretfully declined” the delegate selection.

“While Barron is honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party, he regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments,” the statement said.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAG ORDER IN NY V. TRUMP

The Republican National Convention is scheduled from July 15 through July 18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

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According to a list released Wednesday by the Florida Republican Party, several members of the Trump family were chosen to be delegates, including Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Tiffany Trump. Ivanka Trump is not on the list of delegates.

President Joe Biden was blasted on social media this week over a past anti-Trump tweet that critics said showed he should be impeached for withholding some weapons from Israel if it moves forward with a military operation in Rafah, Gaza.

“President Trump withheld Congressionally appropriated aid to Ukraine unless they granted him a political favor,” Biden tweeted as a candidate in 2019 about the impeachment push against Trump over a phone call with Ukraine that Democrats claimed was a “quid pro quo.”

“It’s the definition of quid pro quo. This is no joke—Trump continues to put his own personal, political interests ahead of the national interest. He must be impeached.”

Trump was ultimately impeached  for “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress” related to his dealings with Ukraine.

NETANYAHU SAYS ISRAEL ‘WILL STAND ALONE’ IF NECESSARY AFTER BIDEN THREATENS TO WITHHOLD WEAPONS

Biden’s 2019 post drew immediate push back on social media from conservatives who argued that Biden’s recent move to withhold some military aid from Israel due to his objection to their military campaign in Gaza was similar to what Democrats accused Trump of during the impeachment.

“Joe Biden endorses his own impeachment,” Red State writer Bonchie posted on X.

“Wow — how newly relevant,”  New York Post reporter Jon Levine posted on X.

“Joe Biden is withholding Congressionally appropriated aid to Israel unless they grant him a political favor. It’s the definition of quid pro quo,” conservative communicator Steve Guest posted on X.

“This is no joke—Biden continues to put his own personal, political interests ahead of the national interest. He must be impeached,” Federalist co-founder Sean Davis posted on X. 

GOP GOVERNOR FUMES OVER BIDEN’S THREAT TO CUT OFF ISRAEL AID: ‘HE’S NEGOTIATING FOR THE TERRORISTS’

“Joe Biden withheld Congressionally appropriated aid to uproot Hamas in a political pay off pro-Hamas radicals,” Trump adviser Stephen Miller posted on X. “This warrants impeachment and criminal investigation — including exploring all ties between Biden aides and Iran.”

Some have pushed back on the suggestion that Biden committed an impeachable offense, including those who have pointed to a 2020 report from the Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan office that analyzes U.S. policy, that says, “The Arms Export Control Act of 1961 “prohibits the sale or delivery of U.S.-origin defense articles if the President finds that a recipient country has used such articles for unauthorized purposes.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a White House official dismissed the accusations of hypocrisy as “ridiculous.”

ISRAEL BOMBS RAFAH, PREPARES FOR GROUND INVASION AFTER CEASEFIRE TALKS WITH HAMAS FALL APART

“Senior administration officials had already made multiple public statements about Rafah similar to the President’s, including that we are also ensuring Israel gets every dollar appropriated in the supplemental,” the official said. “Trump failed to spend dollars appropriated by Congress that he was legally required to spend. This is about a purchase made by a foreign government using its own funds, not funds appropriated by Congress, and our decision whether to deliver that purchase right now, which could enable an operation we’ve publicly and privately objected to.” 

House Republicans disagree with the assessment from the White House as evidenced by news on Friday that articles of impeachment were filed against President Biden over the controversy.

“In violation of his oath to faithfully execute the office of President and to uphold the Constitution, President Biden abused the powers of his office by soliciting a ‘quid pro quo’ with Israel while leveraging vital military aid for policy changes,” GOP Rep. Cory Mills said in a statement first reported by Fox News Digital.

“This egregious action not only compromised the credibility of the United States but also undermined the interests of our longstanding ally, Israel. Therefore, President Biden’s conduct warrants impeachment, trial, removal from office, and disqualification from holding any future office under the United States.”

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Biden has faced criticism from members of his own party as well including Democratic Rep. Ritchie Tores, who said he suspects that Biden is “pandering to the far left.”

“It looks like election year politics was driving it,” Tores said. “That’s my impression.” 
 

At the close of the 15th day of the trial of N.Y. v. Trump, Judge Juan Merchan directed New York prosecutors to tell Michael Cohen to stop making comments about the case and former President Donald Trump, but did not impose a gag order. 

Merchan imposed a gag order on the former president that prevents him from speaking about the witnesses, the jury, and any prosecutors other than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Cohen, his ex-lawyer, is expected to take the witness stand on Monday. 

Cohen has been making TikTok videos disparaging Trump and has been spotted wearing a T-shirt depicting Trump behind bars. Because of the gag order in place, Trump is not allowed to respond publicly, though he has broken that order several times. In court Friday, Trump’s lawyers argued that Cohen should also be restrained by a gag order. 

But Merchan told the prosecutors to tell Cohen to stop making such comments in a warning that “comes from the bench.” The states’ lawyers said they would relay the message. 

MICHAEL COHEN TIKTOK VIDEOS, FUNDRAISING STUN LEGAL OBSERVERS: MAY HAVE ‘TORPEDOED CASE AGAINST TRUMP’

A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign called the judge’s decision a “big win.” 

The warning does not impose any legal consequences should Cohen not heed the judges’ instructions.

Trump’s legal team has appealed the gag order to the appellate division. 

Cohen is expected to be the star witness for Bragg and his team for his role in arranging a purported $130,000 payment in 2016 to adult actress Stormy Daniels to silence her story that she had a sexual encounter with Trump in the early 2000s. 

MICHAEL COHEN TO TESTIFY IN TRUMP TRIAL ON MONDAY

Trump, later, made several payments of $35,000 to Cohen, who was his personal attorney at the time. Trump has denied the encounter with Daniels ever happened.

Those payments served as the basis for Bragg’s indictment of Trump on charges of falsifying business records. Bragg is trying to prove those payments were reimbursements for the payment to Daniels.

HOUSE GOP GOES AFTER ‘CONVICTED LIAR’ MICHAEL COHEN, URGES JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TO INVESTIGATE RECENT LIES

But Trump defense attorneys say that the $35,000 payments were “not a payback,” but instead, legal payments or attorneys fees. 

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. 

Legal experts told Fox News Digital Cohen might have “torpedoed” the case before taking the stand by ranting about it on TikTok while fundraising.

“It is a major problem for prosecutors. It is not a problem for Cohen’s credibility because he has none – he is a convicted perjurer and fraudster whose current ‘defense’ of his fraud convictions is that he wasn’t telling the truth when he pled guilty,” former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew McCarthy said. 

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“It’s a problem for prosecutors because they chose to build a case on a witness with a track record of bad conduct and deep bias and, not surprisingly, he can’t help himself but continue to act in character,” McCarthy said. 

Defense attorney Jeremy Saland, who used to work in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, told ABC News that Trump’s legal team can use Cohen’s actions to “tear down his credibility.” 

“If I’m the prosecution, I’m on the phone right now saying, ‘Stop what you are doing — right now,'” Saland told ABC News. 

Fox News Digital’s Brian Flood and David Ruitz contributed to this report.

It has been over three decades since a Republican carried New Jersey in a presidential election.

One has to go back to then-Vice President George H.W. Bush, who carried the state in the 1988 election on his way to winning the White House. Since then, Democrats have won the state eight straight times in presidential elections.

However, former President Trump thinks he can clear the high hurdles he faces in the reliably blue state.

“We’re going to try and win the state of New Jersey. I want the people to know that I love it,” Trump predicted in a Friday morning local radio interview on New Jersey 105.1 in the Garden State. “You know, it’s not just going to be like, gee, maybe we can get close. We’re going to win it.”

WHERE THE BIDEN-TRUMP REMATCH STANDS SIX MONTHS UNTIL ELECTION DAY

Trump added that New Jersey “is supposed to be a Democrat state. I think it’s going to flip to Republican.”

The former president spoke on the eve of returning to the Garden State.

“We have a tremendous rally and hope you’re all going to be there. It’s in Wildwood, New Jersey. It’s going to be a big crowd,” the former president touted on Friday.

TRUMP TRIES TO CLOSE HIS FUNDRAISING GAP WITH BIDEN

Wildwood, at the southern tip of the Jersey Shore, is part of the Garden State’s Cape May County, a heavily Republican county in a longtime blue state.

Trump held a rally in Wildwood in January 2020. However, Trump ended up losing New Jersey by 16 points to President Biden. 

Four years earlier, he lost the state to 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton by 14 points.

For Trump, the weekend rally is a short distance from New York City, where he is spending his weekdays in court, making history as the first former or current president to stand trial in a criminal case.

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Democrats do not appear to be taking Trump’s prediction very seriously.

Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, a Biden surrogate, told reporters on Friday that “Jersey is not going to be a welcoming place for Trump.”

Additionally, Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler noted that “Trump’s team is talking about New Jersey. They’re talking about holding concerts in Madison Square Garden to turn out voters in states like New York. I think here on planet earth in the Biden campaign, we’re going to remain laser focused on winning 270 electoral votes.”

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

FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., formally filed articles of impeachment against President Biden on Friday over his recent comments about withholding offensive weapons aid to Israel, drawing parallels to House Democrats’ first impeachment of former President Trump.

The first-term House Republican told Fox News Digital it was his “constitutional duty” to do so.

His legislative text, first obtained by Fox News Digital, accuses Biden of “abuse of power” and charges that he tried to force Israel into changing its own defense policies by leveraging lethal aid.

“In violation of his oath to faithfully execute the office of President and to uphold the Constitution, President Biden abused the powers of his office by soliciting a ‘quid pro quo’ with Israel while leveraging vital military aid for policy changes. This egregious action not only compromised the credibility of the United States but also undermined the interests of our longstanding ally, Israel. Therefore, President Biden’s conduct warrants impeachment, trial, removal from office, and disqualification from holding any future office under the United States,” Mills said in a statement.

ANTI-ISRAEL OCCUPIERS COULD LOSE FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS UNDER NEW GOP SENATE BILL

Fox News Digital was first to report Mills’ intent to file the impeachment articles on Thursday. He and other GOP lawmakers have drawn comparisons between Biden’s comments on Israel and Trump’s leveraging of lethal aid to Ukraine unless Kyiv announced an investigation into the Bidens.

“Joe Biden is pressuring Israel, our biggest ally in the Middle East, by pausing their funding that has already been approved in the House, if they don’t stop all operations with Hamas. It’s a very clear message, ‘this for that,'” Mills said Thursday. “These are the same accusations made against President Trump, which resulted in his impeachment by Democrats. The same must happen for Joe Biden, which is why we’re drawing up articles of impeachment now.”

Biden made the high-stakes ultimatum to Israel’s government in a CNN interview that aired Wednesday night as it prepares for a ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The city is currently home to more than a million Palestinians who left other parts of the Gaza Strip, where Israel has conducted its mission to eradicate the terrorist group Hamas.

Biden said Israel would continue to see U.S. support for its defensive systems, like the Iron Dome, in the CNN interview. He added, however, that “if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, that deal with that problem.”

‘NO CHOICE’ BUT TO IMPEACH BIDEN OVER DELAYED ISRAEL AID, GOP SENATOR SAYS

Mills’ legislative text argues that in making those comments, Biden “used the powers of the presidency in a manner that compromised the national security of the United States and its ally Israel.”

It’s highly unlikely for the push to reach the level of a Senate trial, with the House’s current ongoing impeachment inquiry into Biden still searching for smoking gun evidence amid accusations of improper behavior and bribery, all of which the White House has denied.

But it shows the sky-high tensions that have taken over Washington amid Israel’s war on Hamas after the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 attack.

A White House official told Fox News Digital that Mills’ push was “ridiculous” on Thursday.

BIDEN’S DECISION TO PULL ISRAEL WEAPONS SHIPMENT KEPT QUIET UNTIL AFTER HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE ADDRESS: REPORT

“Senior administration officials had already made multiple public statements about Rafah similar to the President’s, including that we are also ensuring Israel gets every dollar appropriated in the supplemental. Trump failed to spend dollars appropriated by Congress that he was legally required to spend. This is about a purchase made by a foreign government and our decision whether to deliver that purchase right now, which could enable an operation we’ve publicly and privately objected to,” the official said.

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Meanwhile, White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters on Thursday, “As the President said, Israel has not yet launched such an operation, so he was talking about what would happen in the future if they did.  That is a choice Israel will have to make.  We hope they don’t. We will keep working with them to develop alternative approaches that we think have a better chance of strategic success and a better chance of eliminating the threat that Israeli people still face from Hamas.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for further comment on Friday.

Michael Cohen, ex-lawyer for former President Donald Trump, is expected to testify on Monday, Fox News has learned. 

Cohen is expected to be the star witness for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his team for his role in arranging a $130,000 payment in 2016 to adult actress Stormy Daniels to reportedly keep her story that she had a sexual encounter with Trump in the early 2000s. 

Trump, later, made several payments of $35,000 to Cohen, who was his personal attorney at the time. Trump has denied the encounter happened.

Those payments served as the basis for Bragg’s indictment of Trump on charges of falsifying business records. Bragg is trying to prove those payments were reimbursements for the payment to Daniels.

HOUSE GOP GOES AFTER ‘CONVICTED LIAR’ MICHAEL COHEN, URGES JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TO INVESTIGATE RECENT LIES

But Trump defense attorneys say that the $35,000 payments were “not a payback,” but instead, legal payments.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. 

MICHAEL COHEN TIKTOK VIDEOS, FUNDRAISING STUN LEGAL OBSERVERS: MAY HAVE ‘TORPEDOED CASE AGAINST TRUMP’

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to campaign finance violations, making false statements to Congress and tax evasion. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

The former president has previously called Cohen a “proven liar.” 

HOPE HICKS: COHEN CALLED HIMSELF ‘MR. FIX IT’ ONLY BECAUSE HE ‘BROKE IT’

Earlier this week, press secretary for the 2016 Trump campaign and White House communications director, Hope Hicks, testified that Cohen would call himself “Mr. Fix It,” but only because “he first broke it.” 

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She testified that he would often frustrate campaign staff and do things that were not helpful. 

The unprecedented trail of the former president and presumptive GOP nominee for the 2024 election resumed Friday for day 15 of witness testimony. 

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

Former President Donald Trump is demanding President Biden coordinate a presidential debate after both 2024 candidates have expressed enthusiasm for the idea.

Trump wrote a short “letter to Joe” on Thursday via his proprietary social media platform, Truth Social.

“Dear Joe, now that you’ve committed to Debate on the now dying Howard Stern Show, no less, [sic] let’s set it up right now. I’m ready to go anywhere that you are,” Trump said.

BIDEN GIVES 3-WORD RESPONSE WHEN ASKED WHEN HE’LL DEBATE TRUMP

The former president reiterated venue ideas he’s mentioned in previous debate challenges, including the White House and New York City.

“We could do it in D.C., even pinpoint the White House, or in New York when your Radical Left Fascists are finished with ELECTION INTERFERENCE against your Political Opponent, ME,” Trump continued.

The two presidential candidates have traded challenges back and forth since Biden said that he would be “happy” to debate the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee two weeks ago on the Howard Stern Show.

TRUMP CAMPAIGN DEMANDS BIDEN DEBATE HIM ‘MUCH EARLIER’ AND MORE OFTEN

The same day Trump posted his short “letter to Joe”, Biden was asked whether he would debate the former president prior to the election.

“Set it up,” Biden told reporters following a ceremony celebrating the WNBA Champions, the Las Vegas Aces, on Thursday afternoon.

Despite the bluster from both presumptive candidates, no progress seems to have been made setting up a debate.

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The Commission on Presidential Debates will proceed with its original schedule despite requests for earlier events.

“The CPD’s criteria […] will be applied in early September; afterward, the Commission will extend debate invitations to qualifying candidates,” the CPD told Fox News Digital last month.

The first presidential debate is scheduled for Sept. 16 at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. The second debate will be in Petersburg, Virginia, on Oct. 1, and the third will be held in Salt Lake City on Oct. 9. A vice presidential debate is scheduled for Sept. 25 in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE: In the lead up to Mother’s Day, moms on the Trump campaign are pulling no punches in their criticisms that the Biden administration has left “working moms and families behind.” 

“Joe Biden can’t even define what a ‘woman’ is and his Administration disrespectfully refers to mothers as ‘birthing people.’ Joe Biden has left working moms and families behind by creating the worst inflation crisis in decades, welcoming millions of illegal immigrants into our country to commit crimes, and allowing violent protests to erupt on college campuses,” Trump national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in exclusive comment to Fox News Digital. 

The comments come ahead of celebrating Mother’s Day on Sunday. The Biden administration has faced ongoing scrutiny for the use of “woke” terms that are viewed as degrading to mothers, as well as for recent policy changes that opened the doors to biological males playing against females on youth sports teams, and even changing a federal prison policy that allows inmates to be housed based on their gender identity instead of biological sex. 

The use of the term “birthing people” gained national attention during President Biden’s first year in office, when an Office of Management and Budget proposal removed the word “mother” with the gender-neutral term. 

Later that same year, when Democrats introduced a $3.5 trillion spending package, they also made use of “woke” terms to describe moms, dubbing them “pregnant, lactating, and postpartum individuals.”

PARENTS STRUGGLE TO AFFORD BASIC BABY NEEDS AS DIAPER PRICES CONTINUE TO RISE

RNC co-Chair Lara Trump, former President Trump’s daughter-in-law, told Fox News Digital that Trump is the only candidate vowing to “give rights back to parents” and “protect our children” from inappropriate lessons in schools. 

WOKE LIBERALS PUSH TO REPLACE ‘MOTHER’ WITH ‘BIRTHING PARENT’ TO APPEASE TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY

“Not only did Donald Trump show his commitment to working families while President through policies like extending the child tax credit and paid family leave, but, he is also the only candidate for President who has vowed to give rights back to parents, protect our children from learning inappropriate topics in our schools and keep all Americans, including and especially our children, safe from the disasters that have resulted from Joe Biden’s open border policy,” she said. 

“As the mother to two of President Trump’s grandchildren, I see daily how they follow in his footsteps of exuding love for this country and standing up for what they know is right, even in the face of unprecedented obstacle.”

INFLATION IS AFFECTING PARENTS’ ABILITY TO PAY FOR EDUCATION: SURVEY  

A campaign official noted to Fox News Digital that the Trump campaign employs dozens of moms this election cycle, including Leavitt who is expecting a baby this summer, and a top adviser for the campaign, mother and grandmother Susie Wiles. He has also hired hundreds of working moms since 2016, including high-profile names such as Kellyanne Conway, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kayleigh McEnany. RNC and Trump campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez and Trump’s legal spokeswoman Alina Habba are also both mothers of young kids. 

LAKEN RILEY’S MOTHER BLASTS BIDEN AS ‘PATHETIC’ FOR GETTING DAUGHTER’S NAME WRONG DURING SOTU

“Everywhere we go on the campaign trail with President Trump, we hear from mothers who have lost children due to Biden’s soft-on-crime policies and have courageously spoken out against Biden and in support of President Trump,” the spokesperson said, citing Gold Star moms whose children were tragically killed during Biden administration’s botched exit from Afghanistan in 2021, and the moms of both Laken Riley and Maddie Hines, who tragically died allegedly at the hands of illegal immigrants. 

GOLD STAR FAMILIES OUTRAGED BY BIDEN ADMIN’S ‘OBVIOUS’ LIES ON AFGHAN EXIT: ‘I’M NOT STUPID’

As the presidential election cycle continues to heat up, the economy and ongoing inflation is a top concern for voters. FOX Business reported last year that a whopping 67% of parents reported in a poll that inflation is affecting their ability to pay for their children’s education, school supplies and extracurricular activities. Diapers and the cost of child care, for example, both spiked by 32% last year compared to 2019 when Trump was president, while baby formula hit an all-time high under Biden. 

GOP LAWMAKERS SLAM BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S NEW TITLE IX PROTECTIONS FOR ‘GENDER IDENTITY’

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“If mothers want a President who will build a prosperous economy for future generations, empower law enforcement to keep their neighborhoods safe, and bring peace back to this world — there is only one option to vote for in November, and that option is President Trump,” Leavitt concluded. 

A proposal that would reassign Air National Guard troops to the Space Force without the consent of governors is an “existential threat” to the part-time force that would erode operational efficiency and eliminate a longstanding precedent, critics say.

Legislative Proposal 480 was submitted to the Senate Armed Services Committee by the Department of Defense in an effort to bolster the Space Force, the U.S. military’s youngest branch created during the Trump administration. The move would override a longtime tradition that requires the Department of Defense to acquire gubernatorial approval before transferring Guard members to another military branch.

“This is really a wholesale harvesting of the units, the people, the structure, the equipment and the facilities in transferring them out of the National Guard from the governors and just placing them in the active component Space Force,” retired Maj. Gen. Francis M. McGinn, president of the National Guard Association, told Fox News Digital.

US ARMY SOLDIER DETAINED, CHARGED IN RUSSIA WITH CRIMINAL MISCONDUCT: OFFICIALS

Under LP480, Air National Guard troops who perform space missions could be brought over to the Space Force and designated as part-timers without approval from the governor of the state where the unit is based. 

The National Guard and Air National Guard are the primary combat reserve components for the active-duty Army and Air Force. They are called upon to perform a variety of missions when they respond to requests from civilian authorities during emergencies, including disaster relief and security.

The National Guard falls under the authority of the respective governors of the 55 states and territories of the United States, until they are federalized, such as when they are deployed to war zones. 

“The original intent of the National Guard was to have a force ready to respond to the needs of their state and country,” according to the more than 80 congressional lawmakers from both parties who were part of a Tuesday letter to the Senate and House Armed Service committees. “Because of this, authority was placed in the hands of each state’s individual governor. This is more than a matter of governance; governors bear the responsibility to protect the safety of their citizens by maintaining the readiness and deployability of their National Guard units.”

US AIR FORCE SECRETARY KENDALL FLIES IN COCKPIT OF PLANE CONTROLLED BY AI

All 55 governors have come out against the plan, arguing that it would usurp their authority. Several of them have spoken with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall III to express their opposition to the measure.

“Federal law requires consultation and approval from Governors on any decisions to move National Guard units, plain and simple,” reads a Thursday statement from the National Governors Association (NGA) chair, Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, and the vice chair, Democrat Colorado Gov. Jared Polis. “Until Air Force leaders withdraw LP 480, they are in violation of federal law. We cannot have productive conversations on this matter until LP 480 is set aside. Governors are united on this point.”

Last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has mobilized National Guard soldiers to assist local authorities in handling illegal immigration at the southern border, called LP480 a “power grab.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Space Force and Kendall’s office. In a May 3 letter from Kendall to Cox, the Air Force secretary said the intent of the proposal isn’t to set a precedent or disregard the role of governors. 

AIR FORCE SETS SIGHTS ON HIGH-TECH LASER WEAPONS

“Rather, the proposal would help complete the standing up of the U.S. Space Force,” reads the letter, which was obtained by Fox News Digital from a source familiar with the issue.

Kendall noted that the Space Force has integrated space missions previously performed by the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps. The Air Force has decided that such missions performed by the Air National Guard should also become part of the Space Force, he said. 

LP408 could impact 1,008 Air Guard troops across 14 units in seven states, according to Air National Guard Brig. Gen. Michael Bruno, the National Guard Association chair of the Space task force. The Space Force as a whole is made up of only a few thousand Guardians, Bruno told Fox News Digital.

Several Air National Guard members are part-time and hold civilian jobs, said Bruno, who noted that a majority would refuse to transfer, which could impact national security because new people would have to be recruited and trained to be mission capable. 

“What would happen is we would have a seven- to 10-year gap in capability and readiness,” Bruno said. “That capability gap for national security is the most important piece that we would lose, and they’re willing to take that risk.”

The Space Force states its mission is to protect the U.S. to operate freely in space as well as keep it secure, “stable and accessible for military space power and new waves of innovation.”

“Right now, we are providing 30% of the space missions in the National Guard for the total Space Force, and we’re providing 60% of the electronic warfare missions,” said McGinn, who added that many airmen surveyed said they would prefer to remain in the Air National Guard. 

“They joined the Guard for a reason,” he added. “They want to stay in their community. They like doing the state mission. They don’t have to relocate. So, they’re not going to go.”

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Another issue that will hamper operations in the future will be recruiting Guard members to fill the mainly administrative roles they will be assigned if transferred to the Space Force, McGinn said.

“No one is going to sign up for that,” he said. “And if they do get anyone dumb enough to be recruited, they’re not going to be retained because they’re going to be bored, and they’re going to leave.”

Former President Trump’s criminal trial will resume Friday after Judge Juan Merchan, for the second time, denied his defense attorney’s request for a mistrial following salacious testimony from Stormy Daniels. 

Daniels, who claims to have had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, took the stand for cross-examination Thursday morning after hours of questioning Tuesday that even the judge called “unnecessary” and “irrelevant.”

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. The charges stem from a years-long investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. The charges are related to alleged payments made ahead of the 2016 presidential election to silence Daniels about an alleged 2006 extramarital affair with Trump.

But the former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee declared, “We are so innocent.” 

TOP 5 MOMENTS OF TRUMP TRIAL AFTER ‘SALACIOUS’ STORMY DANIELS TESTIMONY

Trump defense attorney Susan Necheles vs. Stormy Daniels

Susan Necheles, after cross-examination, said Stormy Daniels’ story about an alleged sexual encounter with the former president keeps changing because the affair never happened. 

Necheles pointed to a statement Daniels signed in 2018 denying an encounter with Trump ever took place. Daniels said she did not write the statement but signed it. 

Necheles pointed to another statement in which Daniels denied having a sexual relationship with Trump. In part, the statement said, “I’m denying this affair because it never happened.”

Daniels maintained that she signed the statements, entered a non-disclosure agreement and took a $130,000 payment, which prosecutors allege was illegally marked as legal expenses, for protection. But Trump’s team aimed to show that Daniels was after a payday and changed her story when it would lead to profit. 

Daniels denied ever requesting money from Trump. Facing pressure from Necheles, Daniels added, “I never asked for money from anyone in particular. I asked for money for telling my story. … I was asking for money from publications to sell my story, to get the truth out.”

Daniels admitted to selling the story for nearly $1 million, when she agreed to write her book, “Full Disclosure,” for $800,000. But she claimed she did not receive all that money.

When asked for specific details about the alleged sexual encounter in 2006 on the sidelines of a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Daniels appeared to tell a different story in court than when she first spoke about the incident, or in her book. 

“You told In Touch a completely different story,” Necheles said, which Daniels denied, adding there were just “parts in the middle I didn’t remember.” 

STORMY DANIELS’ SALACIOUS AFFAIR STORY KEEPS CHANGING BECAUSE ENCOUNTER NEVER HAPPENED, TRUMP TEAM CLAIMS

“You made it up,” Necheles said. 

“No,” Daniels replied.

Necheles asked Daniels if she knew or understood why Trump was indicted in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case. She said she did not, adding he was “indicted for a lot of things.”

Former White House aide gets emotional discussing time in Trump admin

Madeleine Westerhout, who previously served as former President Trump’s personal secretary in the White House, was brought to tears Thursday on the stand as she described her experience in the administration.

The emotion came as Westerhout outlined the former president’s relationship with his wife, Melania Trump.

Westerhout said the couple’s relationship was one of mutual respect and that they laughed often when they were in the Oval Office.

Westerhout said Melania would sometimes text Trump, reminding him that it was past dinner time and asking when her husband was coming home.

Getting emotional as she reflected on her time in the White House under Trump, Westerhout said she has “grown so much” and said she really respects Trump and thinks he’s been treated unfairly.

Prosecution decides not to call Playboy model Karen McDougal 

After Stormy Daniels’ testimony, prosecutors said they would no longer call Playboy model Karen McDougal as a witness in the trial. 

McDougal also allegedly received a payment to keep silent about an alleged affair with Trump. She sold her story to the National Enquirer, which never published it, in exchange for $150,000. McDougal’s payout is not part of the criminal charges.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass defended the decision not to call McDougal, saying prosecutors did not “change their minds” about calling her. Instead, prosecutors never formally decided if they would use her as a witness during trial. 

Judge denies request for gag order modification, mistrial after Stormy Daniels testimony

Judge Juan Merchan denied Trump defense attorneys’ request for a mistrial and a modification of a gag order Thursday, arguing the former president should be able to defend himself against Stormy Daniels’ salacious and “prejudicial” testimony.

Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche first requested a mistrial Tuesday after Daniels’ first day on the stand but was denied. Merchan did, however, admit Daniels was a difficult witness to control and said much of her testimony was “unnecessary” and “irrelevant” to the charges.

Trump attorneys on Thursday again requested a mistrial.

Blanche said the prosecution asked Daniels “a whole host of questions” that never should have been asked, pointing to questions about the porn actress’s childhood and her alleged interaction with Trump. Blanche argued they were “things that are irrelevant to the facts of this case.”

Blanche reminded that the case is not about sex and again stressed that Daniels’ testimony was “extraordinarily prejudicial for the jury to hear.”

NY V. TRUMP: JUDGE DENIES REQUEST FOR GAG ORDER MODIFICATION, MISTRIAL AFTER STORMY DANIELS TESTIMONY

“It is so dangerous, so prejudicial, it borders on a problem from the beginning,” Blanche said, adding that Daniels’ testimony and story about the alleged sexual encounter kept changing.

But Merchan denied the request and reminded Blanche that, during his opening argument, he denied Trump had a sexual encounter with Stormy Daniels. 

“Your denial puts the jury in a position to decide who to believe,” Merchan said, adding the defense could have objected many times during Daniels’ testimony “but didn’t.” 

With regard to one explicit detail, Merchan said he agreed that “shouldn’t have come out … but for the life of me, I don’t know why Ms. Necheles didn’t object.”

Merchan told Blanche he made decisions to strike things from the record to “protect” Trump and said he disagrees with any changing narrative while adding that the details “add a sense of credibility.” 

Blanche also requested a modification to the gag order, arguing Daniels made false statements about Trump, and the former president should be allowed to defend himself now that her testimony is complete. 

The judge denied that request. 

Trump declares: ‘We are so innocent’

“So, what happened today? I don’t think we have to do any expert explaining. I’m not allowed to anyway because this judge is a corrupt judge. This judge, what he did and what his ruling was, is a disgrace,” Trump said after court adjourned, adding Merchan is “totally conflicted.” 

Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, said he’s “got to get back on the campaign trail.” 

“I’m not supposed to be here,” Trump said. “We are so innocent. There’s never been anything like it.

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“I’m innocent, and I’m being held in this court with a corrupt judge who’s totally conflicted.” 

The former president said it is “a disgrace to the city of New York, to the state of New York and to the country.” 

Republican Congressman Darrell Issa told Fox News Digital it would be a “huge help” if President Biden disavowed and rejected donations from progressive groups that are fueling the anti-Israel protests nationwide, while also explaining that the tepid response from Democrats shows the rise of anti-Semitism within the party.

“If the president would come out, whether it’s George Soros or a host of other supporters and be honest and say that, you know, not only would he send the money back but he wants them to stop funding people who support violence it would be a huge help,” Issa said. “I don’t expect him to do it.”

The anti-Israel protests have been organized by groups fueled by progressive donors, including George Soros, some of whom have also donated to the Democratic Party and Biden, Fox News Digital reported last month.

Soros recently gave $250,000 to help Biden win re-election and Politico reported earlier this month that some major Biden donors have also funded groups associated with the college protests. 

‘SHAMEFUL’: GOP LAWMAKER SHREDS ‘AWOL’ BIDEN FOR THROWING JEWS ‘UNDER THE BUS’ AMID ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS

Issa told Fox News Digital that the response to the protest from Democrats has been an example that anti-Semitism has found a home within the party. 

“The growth of The Squad and people who think the same and are willing to talk the same, or at least support them has certainly caused people to realize that the party of the Democrats of Robert F Kennedy, John Kennedy and for that matter of Steny Hoyer is gone,” Issa told Fox News Digital this week.  

“They’re no longer willing to stand up for Israel or against anti-Semitism and it’s now coming home to be seen in these incredible amounts of votes where they won’t support Israel.”

Issa told Fox News Digital he is “deeply disappointed” by President Biden’s response to the anti-Israel protests on college campuses nationwide and explained that the president’s desire to “placate” both sides is an indicator that anti-Semitism has been festering in the Democratic Party for years. 

BIDEN VOWS TO WITHHOLD WEAPONS FROM ISRAEL IF NETANYAHU GOES FORWARD WITH RAFAH INVASION

“I think President Biden is trying to placate both sides, tell both sides that he’s in the middle,” Issa said. “He’s managed to upset the Middle Eastern community many of whom wanted decisive action and the Israel and pro-Israel community who see him as hurting the effort to bring to an end, if you will, Hamas and their allies.”

“I’m really sad because, historically, they’ve enjoyed both Arab and Israeli pro-Israel votes, Jewish votes and the Republicans have always been the party that has supported Israel. George W Bush, no stronger friend, President Trump, no stronger friend. You know, president after president promised to move the embassy to Jerusalem. President Trump did it. So, when you really look at it you realize that for a long time we’ve been the pro-Israel party. Only now are people realizing that real anti-Semitism exists in the Democratic Party, and it’s condoned there.”

President Biden waited 9 days before giving on-camera remarks about the anti-Israel violence on campus which Issa said was a key reason why the protests spread the way they did. 

“President Biden needed to say on day one to all the governors of either party that you act or I will act because, in fact, the civil disobedience that turns into violence is a federal issue,” Issa said. “Had he done that, had he challenged the governors to go in aggressively and quickly, this would be over instead of watching it grow.”

Issa, who was in high school in Ohio during the unrest and shootings at Kent State University in 1970, told Fox News Digital he is concerned that history is repeating itself.

“As someone who was in high school when Kent State had its riot and not only did they close after May 4th but so did almost every university around the country, I see history repeating itself in a nasty way,” Issa said. “The protests against the Vietnam War were fine, violence wasn’t fine, and they were slow to get past it because many of the professors were on the same side as the students.”

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Issa continued, “This is the same situation, the anti-Semitism on campus, the elite are part of that. They’ve been teaching it for a long time, and as a result, they have a hard time enforcing. Very few states, even governors have been willing to do what Governor Youngkin in Virginia and others did, which was act quickly and if it didn’t work, act again. In my home state of California, it’s amazing that UCLA was able to build a building faster than anyone in California is allowed to get a permit. They built it out of plywood and everyone watched as they did it and then they finally tried to slow it down or stop it, and it was too late.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response.

New York City is facing a lawsuit from a gay male employee who argues that the city’s policy of only providing in vitro fertilization coverage to women is discriminatory.

The Thursday lawsuit was filed by former assistant district attorney Corey Briskin and his husband, who say they had to put off plans for IVF due to the lack of financial support.

City policy currently only covers IVF procedures in cases where the employee or their partner are infertile.

The lawsuit comes as the New York City Council is considering legislation that would change the city’s rules, mandating IVF coverage for all employees regardless of marital status or sexual orientation, Reuters reported.

FOLLOWING IVF RULING, BIDEN TO SEND HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY TO VISIT ALABAMA

“No court has yet opined on the issue of whether gay men can be denied IVF benefits given to other employees,” Peter Romer-Friedman, a lawyer for Briskin and his husband, told the outlet.

ALABAMA PROVIDERS SUSPEND IVF TREATMENTS AFTER STATE COURT’S RULING AS FERTILITY EXPERTS WEIGH IN

The lawsuit claims that withholding IVF coverage violates the city’s guarantees against discrimination based on sexual orientation as well as the equal rights and due process protections in the U.S. Constitution.

IVF issues have been thrust into the spotlight in recent months thanks to questions about how the practice interacts with some abortion restrictions.

An Alabama Supreme Court ruling caused three state fertility clinics to stop offering IVF services. The Alabama ruling prompted a wave of national Republicans to come out in support of IVF, while some conservatives said it is an issue best left to individual states.

ALABAMA HOUSE, SENATE PASS PROTECTIONS FOR IVF AFTER COURT RULING

Democrats, however, have used the ruling as a political cudgel against the right, claiming that Republicans would crack down on IVF access and reproductive health measures nationwide – an attack that those on the right have denied.

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Just one cycle of IVF treatment could cost between $15,000 and $30,000, depending on the clinic and a person’s medical history. Briskin and other gay male employees would only be able to access IVF through surrogacy.

More than 20 red states are filing suit after the Biden administration’s recent Title IX changes that redefine sex and expand the definition of sex discrimination to include gender identity.

“Joe Biden is once again perverting the law; this time to put a radical transgender ideology ahead of the safety of women and girls,” Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey told Fox News Digital on Thursday. 

Bailey said he takes the law “personally” as the father of a young daughter and that he’s “proud” to be leading a coalition of states opposing Biden’s “unconstitutional rewrite of Title IX.” 

Other states filing suit against the Education Department include: Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Montana, Tennessee, West Virginia, Louisiana, Indiana, South Carolina and Idaho.

6 STATES SUE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION OVER NEW TITLE IX PROTECTIONS FOR TRANS ATHLETES IN GIRLS’ SPORTS

Several states in the last week – Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and Oklahoma – joined the legal battle and filed two additional lawsuits.

Up until Biden’s revision, the 1972 law promoted gender equality and allowed sex-segregated spaces like bathrooms and locker rooms.

“The interpretation of the Biden administration is completely inconsistent with the statute and the way it’s been interpreted for decades,” Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said at a news conference announcing the suit alongside Bailey on Tuesday.

“We have seen this coming for a while, and we are considering what options we have to stop this rule,” Griffin said, adding that it poses a threat to the First Amendment by compelling people to “speak in a particular way or risk a sort of harassment charge.”

GOP SENATOR LEADS CHARGE TO RECOGNIZE ‘AMERICAN GIRLS IN SPORTS DAY’ AMID BIDEN’S TITLE IX OVERHAUL

Meanwhile, other red states like Florida are encouraging institutions not to comply with the new regulations. 

“Florida rejects Joe Biden’s attempt to rewrite Title IX,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a video posted to X. “We will not comply, and we will fight back.” 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced in a letter to the White House last month that his state will not implement the changes either. 

“Title IX was written by Congress to support the advancement of women academically and athletically,” the letter states. “The law was based on the fundamental premise that there are only two sexes – male and female. You have rewritten Title IX to force schools to treat boys as if they were girls and to accept every student’s self-declared gender identity.”

Other conservative lawmakers, like Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, said fellow Republican officials refusing to abide by the Biden administration’s revisions to Title IX “undermines the rule of law” and instead encouraged GOP states to fight back using the courts.

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“I don’t think it’s ever a good idea to skip the legal process,” Skrmetti told Fox News Digital last week. 

The new rules revised the ways in which sexual harassment and assault claims are adjudicated on campus.

RILEY GAINES SLAMS NEW TITLE IX PROTECTIONS AS ‘MOST ANTI-WOMAN’ PURSUIT OF BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

Under the revision, sex discrimination includes discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. Schools are prohibited from separating people based on their biological sex, except in limited circumstances, under the provisions. Critics say the change will permit transgender people in locker rooms and bathrooms that contradict the sex appearing on their birth certificate.

LGBTQ+ students who face the new standards of “discrimination” will be entitled to a response from their school under Title IX, and those failed by their schools can seek recourse from the federal government.

Missing from the new rule, however, is a policy forbidding schools from enacting outright bans on transgender athletes competing against biological females.

Fox News’ Joshua Q. Nelson contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., is preparing impeachment articles against President Biden over his threat to halt U.S. offensive aid to Israel, the first-term lawmaker told Fox News Digital on Thursday.

Mills accused Biden of forcing Israel into a “quid pro quo” situation by leveraging U.S. dollars against the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza, drawing parallels to Democrats’ first impeachment of former President Trump over his handling of Ukraine aid.

“The House has no choice but to impeach President ‘Quid pro Joe’ Biden. As Vice President, Biden was caught threatening to withhold funding and aid to Ukraine unless they fired the attorney general investigating Burisma, a company financially benefiting his son Hunter, not to mention the 10% share for ‘the big guy’ himself,” Mills said in a statement.

“Now, Joe Biden is pressuring Israel, our biggest ally in the Middle East, by pausing their funding that has already been approved in the House, if they don’t stop all operations with Hamas. It’s a very clear message, ‘this for that.’”

MANY ISRAELIS FEEL ‘BETRAYED’ FOLLOWING BIDEN THREAT TO WITHHOLD ARMS TO DEFEAT HAMAS IN RAFAH

“These are the same accusations made against President Trump, which resulted in his impeachment by Democrats. The same must happen for Joe Biden, which is why we’re drawing up articles of impeachment now,” Mills finished.

Biden made the high-stakes ultimatum to Israel’s government in a CNN interview that aired Wednesday night as it prepares for a ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The city is currently home to more than a million Palestinians who left other parts of the Gaza Strip, where Israel has conducted its mission to eradicate the terrorist group Hamas.

Biden said Israel would continue to see U.S. support for its defensive systems, like the Iron Dome, in the CNN interview. He added, however, that “if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, that deal with that problem.”

BIDEN’S DECISION TO PULL ISRAEL WEAPONS SHIPMENT KEPT QUIET UNTIL AFTER HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE ADDRESS: REPORT

The remarks prompted a flurry of backlash from Republicans and some moderate Democrats. Several more GOP lawmakers voiced support for impeaching Biden over the decision, arguing there are parallels to Trump’s withholding of weapons aid to Ukraine in exchange for announcing an investigation into the Biden family.

Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., called on the House to open an immediate impeachment inquiry, arguing that Biden was motivated by political reasons.

“Given Democrats’ Trump-Ukraine precedent, President Biden’s decision to withhold lethal aid to our ally, Israel, for political gain is undoubtedly an impeachable offense. Clearly, the nefarious motive behind our commander in chief’s move to condition U.S. aid to Israel is to appease radical leftists and Hamas sympathizers ahead of the 2024 election,” Clyde said. “The House must immediately open an impeachment inquiry due to the president’s disastrous decision to play politics with national security.”

Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., told Fox News Digital, “The Democrats made their bed, and now they’re [lying] in it. This is just the latest on a long list of reasons to impeach Biden, including the deadline withdrawal in Afghanistan and allowing more than 9 million illegal immigrants to invade our southern border.”

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION INVESTIGATING EMORY UNIVERSITY FOR ALLEGED ANTI-MUSLIM DISCRIMINATION 

It’s highly unlikely for the push to reach the level of a Senate trial, with the House’s current ongoing impeachment inquiry into Biden still searching for smoking gun evidence amid a mountain of accusations of improper behavior and bribery. 

But it shows the sky-high tensions that have taken over Washington amid Israel’s war on Hamas after the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 attack.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., stopped short of calling for impeachment, but said, “The president is essentially threatening an arms embargo on our closest ally in the Middle East that is fighting a terror army holding American citizens hostage. Withholding critical munitions that Congress appropriated and Biden himself signed into law is wrong.”

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The first member of Congress to make the call was Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., posting on X early on Thursday morning, “The House has no choice but to impeach Biden based on the Trump-Ukraine precedent of withholding foreign aid to help with reelection. Only with Biden, it’s true.”

When reached for comment, the White House referred Fox News Digital to remarks made on Thursday morning by White House national security communications adviser John Kirby saying, “The president and his team have been clear for several weeks that we do not support a major ground operation in Rafah, where more than a million people are sheltering with nowhere safe to go.

“We propose alternative methods of defeating Hamas that do not involve a major ground operation in Rafah. Those conversations with the Israeli government are ongoing. The president said yesterday that if Israel in fact proceeds with a major ground operation in Rafah, he will not provide certain categories of weapons to support such an operation. The Israeli government has understood this for some time now.”

President Biden gave a three-word response when he was asked whether he would debate former President Trump prior to the election.

“Set it up,” the Democratic president told reporters following a ceremony celebrating the WNBA Champions, the Las Vegas Aces, on Thursday afternoon.

Biden’s statement came after Trump repeatedly said he would debate Biden “anywhere, anytime, anyplace.”

Two weeks ago, Biden said that he would be “happy” to debate the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee. 

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“I am, somewhere. I don’t know when,” the president said in an interview with broadcaster Howard Stern on Friday, April 26. “I’m happy to debate him.”

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Shortly after Biden’s interview with Stern, Trump posted to his Truth Social account inviting Biden to debate him at the courthouse in Lower Manhattan. 

“In the alternative, he’s in New York City today, although probably doesn’t know it, and so am I, stuck in one of the many Court cases that he instigated as ELECTION INTERFERENCE AGAINST A POLITICAL OPPONENT – A CONTINUING WITCH HUNT!” Trump posted to Truth Social. “It’s the only way he thinks he can win. In fact, let’s do the Debate at the Courthouse tonight – on National Television, I’ll wait around!” 

The former president also suggested the White House as the venue, saying it would be “very comfortable” for the pair. 

“We’ll do it at the White House,” Trump said. “That would be very comfortable, actually. You tell me where. We’re ready.” 

Trump has repeatedly told reporters that he is “ready, willing and able” to debate Biden.

“We’re ready, willing and able. We don’t see him and I don’t think he’ll be here. Maybe next week he’ll do it,” Trump told reporters at the Manhattan Criminal Court.

“I doubt it,” Trump said. “But maybe next week.”

Biden has not nailed down a date to debate Trump, saying last month that his participation would depend on the former president’s behavior.

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“Depends on his behavior,” Biden said. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to Biden’s campaign for comment, but has not yet heard back.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed two measures into law on Thursday that are aimed at better protecting personal data online from Big Tech, including a bill making Maryland the second state to try to create strong limits on information collected on children.

The measure, known as the Maryland Kids Code, seeks to limit data that could be collected from children online and protect them from being flooded with harmful material they were not trying to find.

“Look, the bottom line is Big Tech has been preying on and victimizing our children for way, way too long,” said state Sen. Ben Kramer, a Democrat in the suburbs of the nation’s capital.

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Big Tech companies sought to assure lawmakers that the industry could take care of problem without interference from the government, Kramer noted. “But the fact of the matter is, leaving the fox to guard the chicken coop has left Big Tech fat and greedy, because they have prioritized cash over our kids,” the senator said.

Supporters say the new law aimed at protecting children was crafted to withstand court challenges like one that halted a California law. For example, the measure incorporates case law and established consumer protection law, supporters said.

Carl Szabo, vice president and general counsel of NetChoice, said the group shares lawmakers’ desire to better protect children online. “But this goal can be achieved in ways that don’t violate the Constitution and leave a litany of serious, unintended consequences in their wake,” he said.

NetChoice is a commercial association whose members include Google, Amazon, Meta and TikTok. It challenged the California law.

“Unfortunately, the law Gov. Moore signed today will fail to accomplish its goal — creating a safer online environment for young Marylanders. An unconstitutional law will not keep anyone safe. By discounting the rights and privacy of their citizens, Maryland lawmakers have unfortunately signed onto a path that will make everyone worse off — especially children,” Szabo said in an email.

Under the law, businesses would not be able to profile a child by default, with some limited exceptions, or process personal data that is not reasonably necessary to provide an online product with which the child is actively and knowingly engaged.

Del. Jared Solomon, a bill sponsor, said lawmakers were careful to make sure the measure is not meant to moderate available content. He said protective language was added to ensure a child could not be prevented from searching for content online.

“If you want to go and you want to look for things that you probably shouldn’t be looking at, we are not scrubbing that from the internet,” Solomon, a Montgomery Democrat, said. “But what we are saying to companies is you should not be essentially be accumulating data on somebody and making assumptions that that is the content that they want to see.”

Design It For Us, a coalition advocating for safer social media and online platforms for children, praised the new law.

“We hope this will bring urgency to other states to pass and adopt much needed Kids Code legislation and end Big Tech’s power over our safety and privacy,” said Zamaan Qureshi, a co-chair of the group.

The governor, a Democrat, also signed the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act of 2024.

The new law will impose certain duties on businesses to protect an individual’s personal information. For example, a business in possession of personal information will be required to implement and maintain security procedures and practices to protect the information from unauthorized access, use, modification or disclosure.

“It puts guardrails up on the amount of data that companies can collect on people online and also what they do with that data, and it gives consumers more control over their own data,” said Del. Sara Love, a Montgomery County Democrat who sponsored the measure.

The new law also will create consumer protections and rights, as well as disclosure obligations, relating to online personal data controlled or processed by certain entities that conduct business in Maryland or provide services or products that are targeted to residents of the state.

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A consumer also will have the right to opt out of the processing of personal data for the purposes of targeted advertising, the sale of personal data and certain profiling activities.