NationalWatch

Voters in Manchester, New Hampshire are split in support of the U.S. sending humanitarian aid overseas to Israel.

A recent Fox News survey found voters strongly side with Israel in the recent attacks, but some residents in New Hampshire say the U.S. should stay out of the conflict and not send money overseas.

Patrick, a bar and restaurant owner in Manchester, told Fox News that the U.S. government should focus on spending money on issues at home.

“I think our country is more important than any other country right now,” he said. “We should be focusing on what we have going on.”

STATE DEPARTMENT URGES ‘WORLDWIDE CAUTION’ FOR AMERICANS OVERSEAS AS ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR RAGES

Another resident, Mary, agreed that the U.S. should wait before sending money to Israel.

“I think that we have to just wait it out a little bit,” she told Fox. “Instead of sending money to every country. We have problems right here on the border, and I think they should really rectify that first.”

“We have a lot of issues here that we need to address on our own ground as opposed to just sending money to other foreign countries,” another individual told Fox.

Other residents do support sending aid overseas with no constraints, with one saying the U.S. has an obligation as the world power to help other countries.

HEZBOLLAH SAYS IT’S ‘THOUSANDS OF TIMES STRONGER’ THAN BEFORE, WARNS US, ISRAEL: REPORT

“The U.S. should be sending money and helping everybody who needs help because that’s what the U.S. is all about. Helping not just our own people,” he said. “It’s the world’s leader.”

Anya, who works in a local tax office, agreed that the U.S. should send money to any country who needs help.

“Everybody deserves some help from our country since we’re the greatest nation,” she said.

“It’s hard for me to imagine not supporting someone who we’ve often formed an alliance with in a pretty public way,” said Solomon, who recently moved to Manchester. “I would say it’s pretty likely that we will.”

President Biden drafted a $100 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and the U.S. border with Mexico. This comes as he announced he is sending $100 million in humanitarian aid to Gaza and the West Bank.

Biden addressed Americans in a rare Oval Office speech Thursday night explaining why he’s asking Congress for support in sending aid to Israel and Ukraine, calling the package a “smart investment.”

Solomon, who supports sending money to Israel, said he is split on also supporting aid to Ukraine.

“It’s hard for me to think of deciding who we shouldn’t give money to when it’s such a big crisis,” said Solomon.

Anya agrees, telling Fox News we shouldn’t choose one country over another and we should help Ukraine.

“I don’t think we should ever play favoritism,” she said. “I think since we’re one of the greatest countries we definitely should be supporting other countries that are in desperate need such as Ukraine.”

Republican presidential candidates have called for the U.S. to back Israel after the attacks, but continue to spar on the issue when it comes to agreeing on a long-term solution.

Elvin said out of all the GOP candidates, he trusts Former Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley to handle a massive foreign conflict like Israel.

“I think she’s the most genuine,” said Elvin. “I feel like she’s probably the most trustworthy. Out of those three. I don’t really feel like anything that DeSantis or Trump says is believable.”

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But Patrick said he doesn’t trust any GOP candidate to handle the attacks abroad.

“I don’t know if anybody is competent enough to do that,” he said. “I don’t know why we’re not focusing on our country and the Americans in this country over other countries. We’re sending billions of dollars overseas, where our country needs more help than anyone.”

Republicans’ race to nominate and elect a new speaker of the House has created a power vacuum that may benefit Democrats as the vacancy spills into its 20th day.

There are now nine candidates officially in the running to replace former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., but as the GOP caucus mulls its decision, there remain questions about how long the debate will rage – and if that means the party could lose voters in 2024.

Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio failed to garner enough votes during his third round of floor-wide votes on Friday, sending party members back to the drawing board in an effort to end a stalemate. Twenty-five Republicans voted against him, leaving him roughly 217 votes short of securing a win. The slim GOP majority and unified Democrat opposition gives any speaker candidate little wiggle room for naysayers within his or her own party.

Patrick McHenry, who is currently serving as interim speaker, said last week that Republicans will hold another forum Monday on the speakership runs, followed by a likely floor vote Tuesday. The race continues to be cloaked in uncertainty as candidates jockey as the strongest politician to pass muster and garner enough support to secure the speakership.

CHAOTIC, CONVOLUTED PATH HOUSE REPUBLICANS TOOK TO ELECT SPEAKER LEADS BACK TO SQUARE ONE 

“Republican chaos” on the Hill could dash the GOP’s hopes of holding onto the House in the next election cycle, but the party could save itself with the election of a new speaker, according to longtime Democrat strategist Hank Sheinkopf.

“If a speaker can be elected, default avoided and defense budgets restored in the face of international crises, the chances of Democratic takeover will be reduced,” Sheinkopf told Fox News Digital.

McCarthy was ousted on Oct. 3 after a small contingent of conservative Republicans led by Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida rallied support that McCarthy was paralyzing the conservative agenda in the House. Not a single Democrat voted in favor of keeping McCarthy as speaker while eight Republicans voted to oust him in an historic first for removing a speaker in a no-confidence vote.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana soon emerged as a possible replacement, but he dropped out after failing to secure enough support.

Jordan, an anti-establishment firebrand and founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, became the next nominee as some Republicans rallied around his conservative ideology, including former President Donald Trump, who endorsed him for being “STRONG on Crime, Borders, our Military/Vets, & 2nd Amendment.”

JEFFRIES, DEMOCRATS ARE SITTING PRETTY AMID HOUSE GOP SPEAKER CHAOS

Jordan’s run came crashing down after he lost support during his third run as news of death threats made against several of Jordan’s holdouts made headlines. Jordan’s office has condemned the threats as “abhorrent,” but Republicans have spoken out that the messages soured their support or potential support.

“When the pressure campaigns and attacks on fellow members ramped up, it became clear to me that the House Republican Conference does not need a bully as the speaker,” Georgia Rep. Drew Ferguson, whose family allegedly received threats, said in a statement last week. 

Sheinkopf argued that some House members are rejecting candidates who align politically with Trump in order to separate themselves from the former president’s legal issues.

“GOP House members are rejecting MAGA candidates in what appears to be a first important step toward Trump independence. Why? The potential negatives arising from the former president’s legal troubles might rub off on Republicans, making it even more difficult to maintain House control,” he told Fox.

Now, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, House Republican Conference Vice Chairman Mike Johnson of Louisiana and others announced their runs as potential replacements for McCarthy.

Reports have already circulated of Republican in-fighting over Emmer’s run as those in Trump’s orbit spoke out that the former president would not endorse his run, citing a lack of relationship or contentious relationship, Politico reported last week.

JEFFRIES, DEMOCRATS ARE SITTING PRETTY AMID HOUSE GOP SPEAKER CHAOS

As the speakership race continues, Democrats have been fundraising off the turmoil, arguing that the upcoming election cycle will yield favorable results for Democrats.

“Republicans are in ruin,” Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal said in an email seeking donations for her next run, Bloomberg reported. “They are wallowing in their own pigsty of incompetence.”

President Biden’s 2024 presidential campaign also sent a fundraising message to supporters, highlighting that the GOP removed its own speaker and a “bunch of extremist Republicans are throwing their name in the ring” as a replacement.

Democrats have voted for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries amid Republicans’ runs for speaker.

WHY JORDAN COULDN’T GRAB SPEAKER GAVEL AFTER 3 FAILED BALLOTS

Democrat strategist Brad Woodhouse weighed in last week that the “dysfunction” playing out among House Republicans “will benefit” the Democratic Party.

“There’s almost no doubt that this type of dysfunction and chaos among Republicans will benefit Democrats,” Woodhouse told Roll Call before Jordan bowed out of the race. “And I think you combine that with the notion that Jim Jordan is a guy that founded the House Freedom Caucus and is one of the most conservative firebrands in the House. … Even if they solve this current chaos by making him the speaker, they will definitely have cut off their nose to spite their face.”

Former Vice President Mike Pence sounded off against the “chaos caucus” – and the eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy – while former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called on voters to rally around Democrats after House Republicans nominated Jordan as speaker.

MULTIPLE HOUSE SPEAKER CANDIDATES EMERGE AFTER FAILED JORDAN BID AS GOP PLANS TO RECONVENE MONDAY

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said Saturday on X, formerly Twitter, that he’ll be “looking at” the eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy, along with the 25 who voted against Jordan, if the House ends up with a speaker who supports hefty spending bills.

“The question that all Speaker candidates must answer: What’s your plan to prevent an omnibus? McCarthy and Jordan both had plans that could’ve worked. If we end up with an omnibus and more spending, I’m looking at the 8 who vacated McCarthy and the 25 who voted against Jordan,” Massie tweeted Saturday.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS VOTE TO REMOVE JIM JORDAN AS SPEAKER NOMINEE

House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York announced Sunday that nine candidates met the noon deadline to run as speaker.

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EXCLUSIVE: Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and James McGovern, D-Mass., are circulating a letter to their colleagues in the House of Representatives calling on President Biden to end the prosecution of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who is facing a possible extradition to the U.S. for publishing classified U.S. military documents.

In a “Dear Colleague” letter obtained by Fox News Digital, the two congressmen asked fellow House members to join their bipartisan effort to “strongly encourage the Biden administration to withdraw the U.S. extradition request currently pending against Australian publisher Julian Assange and halt all prosecutorial proceedings against him as soon as possible.”

The separate letter the congressmen are referring to, also obtained by Fox News Digital, will be sent to Biden after Massie and McGovern gather signatures from House members. Lawmakers have until Thursday to sign the letter.

The bipartisan congressional effort to free Assange comes a month after a delegation of Australian lawmakers across the political spectrum visited Washington, D.C., and met with members of Congress, U.S. officials and civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, to demand the U.S. drop the charges against Assange, who could be sentenced to up to 175 years in an American maximum-security prison.

AUSTRALIAN DELEGATION MEETS WITH US OFFICIALS, MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO DEMAND JULIAN ASSANGE’S FREEDOM

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in Washington this week to meet with Biden and is expected to bring up Assange’s case. Albanese has repeatedly called on the U.S. in recent months to end the prosecution of Assange.

A spokesperson for the Australian government said in a statement to Fox News Digital that it “has made clear its view that Mr. Assange’s case has dragged on for too long and that it should be brought to a close.” 

The statement continued: “The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister have expressed this view to the governments of the United Kingdom and United States and we will continue to do so. The Australian Government cannot intervene in another country’s legal or court processes just as they are unable to intervene in Australia’s. We continue to convey our expectations that Mr. Assange is entitled to due process, humane and fair treatment, access to proper medical care, and access to his legal team.”

In April, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., led a letter to the Justice Department demanding that the charges against Assange be dropped.

“Deep concerns about this case have been repeatedly expressed by international media outlets, human rights and press freedom advocates,” Massie and McGovern wrote in the letter. “Last April, several Members of Congress argued to Attorney General Merrick Garland that ‘[e]very day that the prosecution of Julian Assange continues is another day that our own government needlessly undermines our own moral authority abroad and rolls back the freedom of the press under the First Amendment at home.’ One example: the Assange case has been cited by officials of the People’s Republic of China to claim that the U.S. is ‘hypocritical’ when it comes to support for media freedom.”

Assange would face trial in Alexandria, Virginia, if he exhausts his legal appeals and is extradited to the U.S. He is facing 17 charges for allegedly receiving, possessing and communicating classified information to the public under the Espionage Act and one charge alleging a conspiracy to commit computer intrusion.

The charges followed the 2010 publication of cables U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning leaked to WikiLeaks that detailed alleged war crimes committed by the U.S. government in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detention camp. The materials also exposed instances of the CIA allegedly engaging in torture and rendition.

Wikileaks’ “Collateral Murder” video showing the U.S. military gunning down civilians in Iraq, including two Reuters journalists, was also published 13 years ago.

JULIAN ASSANGE SUPPORTERS DEMAND CHARGES BE DROPPED IN VIGIL OUTSIDE MERRICK GARLAND’S HOME

“Mr. Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, faces multiple charges under the Espionage Act due to his role in publishing classified documents about the U.S. State Department, Guantánamo Bay, and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,” the letters to House members and the president read. “He has been detained on remand in London since 2019 and is pending extradition to the U.S., having lost his appeal of the extradition order in the courts of the United Kingdom.”

Massie has previously sponsored bipartisan legislation to reform the Espionage Act and protect whistleblowers and journalists. 

Assange has been held at London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison since he was removed from the Ecuadorian Embassy on April 11, 2019, for breaching bail conditions. He had sought asylum at the embassy since 2012 to avoid being sent to Sweden over allegations he raped two women because Sweden would not provide assurances it would protect him from extradition to the U.S. The investigations into the sexual assault allegations were eventually dropped.

JULIAN ASSANGE CASE: TEXT OF SWEDISH PROSECUTOR’S DECISION TO DROP RAPE INVESTIGATION

U.S. prosecutors and critics of Assange have argued WikiLeaks’ publication of classified material put the lives of U.S. allies at risk, but there is no evidence the publishing of the documents put anyone in danger.

In their letter to Biden, Massie and McGovern cite an open letter penned last year by the editors and publishers of U.S. and European news outlets that worked with Assange on the publication of excerpts from more than 250,000 documents he obtained in the Cablegate leak — The Guardian, The New York Times, Le Monde, Der Spiegel and El País — calling for the U.S. to end its prosecution against Assange.

“Deep concerns about this case have been repeatedly expressed by international media outlets, human rights and press freedom advocates, and Members of Congress, among others,” the letter to Biden reads. “To cite only a few of the commentaries, in November 2022, The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, DER SPEIGEL and El País came together to express their grave concerns about the continued prosecution of Julian Assange for obtaining and publishing classified materials, arguing that ‘publishing is not a crime.'”

The Obama administration decided not to indict Assange in 2013 over WikiLeaks’ publishing the classified cables in 2010 because it would have had to also indict journalists from major news outlets who published the same materials. Former President Obama also commuted Manning’s 35-year sentence for violations of the Espionage Act and other offenses to seven years in January 2017, and Manning, who had been imprisoned since 2010, was released later that year.

Former President Trump’s Justice Department later moved to indict Assange under the Espionage Act, and the Biden administration has continued to pursue his prosecution.

AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER SAYS GOVERNMENT STANDS FIRM AGAINST US PROSECUTION OF JULIAN ASSANGE

“We believe the Department of Justice acted correctly in 2013, during your vice presidency, when it declined to pursue charges against Mr. Assange for publishing the classified documents because it recognized that the prosecution would set a dangerous precedent,” the letter to Biden reads. “We note that the 1917 Espionage Act was ostensibly intended to punish and imprison government employees and contractors for providing or selling state secrets to enemy governments, not to punish journalists and whistleblowers for attempting to inform the public about serious issues that some U.S. government officials might prefer to keep secret.”

The letter adds: “We are aware that the Assange case has been cited by officials of the People’s Republic of China to claim that the U.S. is ‘hypocritical’ when it comes to its purported support for media freedom. We are also well aware that should the U.S. extradition and prosecution go forward, there is a significant risk that our bilateral relationship with Australia will be badly damaged.”

During the Trump administration, the CIA allegedly had plans to kill Assange over the publication of sensitive agency hacking tools known as “Vault 7,” which the agency said represented “the largest data loss in CIA history,” Yahoo reported in 2021. The agency was accused of having discussions “at the highest levels” of the administration about plans to assassinate Assange in London and allegedly acted upon orders from then-CIA director Mike Pompeo to draw up kill “sketches” and “options.”

The agency also had advanced plans to kidnap and rendition Assange and had made a political decision to charge him, according to the report.

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WikiLeaks also published internal communications in 2016 between the Democratic National Committee and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign that revealed the DNC’s attempts to boost Clinton in that year’s Democratic primary.

“It is the duty of journalists to seek out sources, including documentary evidence, in order to report to the public on the activities of government,” the lawmakers said in their letter to Biden. “The United States must not pursue an unnecessary prosecution that risks criminalizing common journalistic practices and thus chilling the work of the free press. We urge you to ensure that this case be brought to a close in as timely a manner as possible.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., transferred $75,000 from his campaign’s coffers to his wife and stepson’s nonprofit during the third quarter, Fox News Digital has found.

The money from the senator’s campaign went to the Sanders Institute on Aug. 8, according to its recently released Federal Election Commission filings. The cash follows the $200,000 that the committee sent to the nonprofit earlier this year. 

The institute was established by Sanders’ wife, Jane, and his stepson, David Driscoll, six years ago as a think tank to elevate progressive mouthpieces. However, the group has appeared to perform very little work while paying Driscoll six figures worth of compensation.

BERNIE SANDERS PUSHING CAMPAIGN CASH TO WIFE AND STEPSON’S NONPROFIT RAISES ‘LEGITIMATE CONCERN’: WATCHDOG

“The facts present in this case and the family ties involved certainly raise legitimate concern,” Kendra Arnold, executive director of the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, previously told Fox News Digital. “Obviously, a senator is not allowed to use his campaign to simply transfer large sums of money to family members – regardless of the route the dollars take.”

“While on its face, the percentage the nonprofit paid out in salary alone is not necessarily problematic, legally the issue hinges on whether the salaries were paid for bona fide services at fair market value,” Arnold said. “In other words, if the nonprofit and its executive director are truly producing work and actually earning the money, it is not illegal, but it is frowned upon. On the other hand, if nothing or very little is being done to earn the money legitimately, then it is highly likely a serious campaign finance violation has taken place.”

At its launch in 2017, Jane Sanders told the Washington Post that the institute’s purpose would revolve around revitalizing “democracy” and supporting progressive institutions.

“Our feeling is at our point in time, our country is at a crossroads and people are engaged in a political process that can be opaque,” Sanders told the publication.

“A vital democracy requires an informed electorate, civil discourse and bold thinking,” she continued. “So, we put together this team to focus on issues, but not in a partisan way, not in a way that just focuses on the latest crazy thing. It will not be about [former President Donald] Trump; it will be about the issues facing the country.”

BERNIE SANDERS FUNNELED $200K IN CAMPAIGN CASH TO WIFE AND STEPSON’S NONPROFIT INSTITUTE, RECORDS REVEAL

The institute ceased its functions in 2019 as Sanders entered the Democrat presidential primary to avoid the “appearance of impropriety.” It has since quietly resumed operations.

The group’s latest publicly available tax forms from 2021 show the nonprofit disbursed nearly 40% of its contributions to salaries while seemingly performing minimal work and having rare identifiable achievements.

In 2021, the institute raised nearly $717,000 and moved $257,000 into wages, including $152,653 in salary and other compensation to Driscoll, its executive director.

That same year, the institute also reported disbursing nearly $160,000 on producing The Timeline Project, which it portrayed as a “policy-focused resource based on Bernie Sanders’ work over four decades” that would be one of the “key pilars (sic) of the website.”

They also disbursed nearly $89,000 for a news site, an equivalent amount for social media and content creation, and around $17,000 for a gathering that never occurred due to the pandemic. The most recent details for any institute gathering on its website are from 2018.

The institute, meanwhile, appears to have little to show for the funds it propelled into its projects. Its website does not appear to contain a “policy-focused resource” defined as its top program expense, and its fellows’ blog posts are primarily cross-posted from other sources. Its YouTube page uploaded just three videos this year. Its profile on X, formerly Twitter, largely pushes outside news and opinion pieces from its fellows.

The institute also reported no grants to other progressive organizations in its 2021 tax records despite saying it intends to support other like-minded institutions.

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This election cycle is also not the first time Sanders’ campaign helped bolster his family’s nonprofit. In 2021, his presidential committee transferred $350,000 to the institute.

The cash accounted for nearly half of the $716,000 it raised that year when it put close to 40% of its donations toward salaries and Sanders’ stepson collected slightly more than $150,000 in pay.

Sanders’ campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the money it sent to the institute.

CONCORD, N.H. – The clock is ticking for Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, who’s seriously mulling a 2024 Democratic primary challenge against President Biden. 

Phillips last week missed a deadline to place his name on the ballot in Nevada, which is holding its presidential primary on Feb. 6 in the Democratic Party’s nominating calendar.

Now the millionaire businessman and co-founder of a gelato company turned three-term House Democrat has until the end of business on Friday to place his name on the ballot in New Hampshire, which for a century’s held the first primary along the road to the White House.

As of late Friday afternoon, neither Phillips nor anyone from his team has reached out to the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s office to schedule a time to file.

DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN MULLING PRIMARY CHALLENGE AGAINST BIDEN RESIGNS FROM LEADERSHIP POST

But a Democratic consulting firm that may be working with Philips obtained a permit to hold an event on Friday in the plaza outside New Hampshire’s Statehouse, Politico reported this past weekend. The report sparked speculation that the congressman would travel to New Hampshire on Friday to announce a primary challenge against the president.

Phillips, citing the 80-year-old president’s age, has repeatedly criticized Biden for “not passing the torch” to the next generation of Democratic leaders and has urged that a serious contender primary challenge the president for the party’s 2024 nomination.

Phillips has let lapse a September deadline he set for himself to decide whether he’d launch a primary challenge against the president.

Nevada is holding its presidential primary on Feb. 6 — although the state GOP is holding a presidential caucus two days later. According to Democratic National Committee, which earlier this year upended years of tradition by revamping their longstanding nominating calendar, the Silver State is supposed to vote second, along with New Hampshire, three days after South Carolina’s Feb. 3 kick off primary. 

BIDEN RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN SHOWCASES IMPRESSIVE FUNDRAISING HAUL

It’s all-but-certain that New Hampshire will move up the date of its primary to late January, in accordance with a state law that mandates the Granite State’s primary is held seven days ahead of a similar contest.

Last week Fox News confirmed that Phillips had reached out to some veteran Democratic operatives – both nationally and in New Hampshire. The developments — first reported by Politico and The Messenger — were another sign Phillips is taking steps towards a potential primary challenge against Biden.

Phillips also spoke by phone and spoke with longtime New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley.

“I reminded him the deadline is the 27th for New Hampshire and once he files he can’t get his name off the ballot if he changes his mind,” Buckley told Fox News last week.

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION POLLING

Buckley added that he “told him of course we would be gracious hosts, as is our tradition, but both polling and grassroots interactions in New Hampshire reveal a high level of support for President Biden among the likely voters. It would be a tough challenge for Phillips or anyone. But sure, c’mon on up! “

Fox News reached out to Phillips but he hadn’t responded at the time this article was published.

While the president’s the commanding front-runner for his party’s nomination, polls indicate Biden has faced plenty of concerns from Democrats over his age and physical and mental stamina.

The president is already facing a long-shot primary challenge from best-selling author spiritual adviser Marianne Williamson, who is making her second straight White House run.

Biden was also facing an uphill primary challenge from environmental lawyer and high-profile vaccine critic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is a scion of arguably the nation’s most famous family political dynasty.

But Kennedy announced at a campaign event in Philadelphia earlier this month that he would now seek the White House as an independent candidate.

The DNC is fully backing Biden, as the president campaigns for a second four-year term in the White House. At its winter meeting in February the DNC unanimously passed a resolution committing its “full and complete support” for the re-election of Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Additionally, the DNC has said there will be no primary debates between Biden and any of his challengers. 

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Williamson, Kennedy and others in the party criticized the DNC and Biden, but there is political precedent for the move. No incumbent president has participated in primary debates in modern times. 

With New Hampshire all-but-certain to move up the date of their contest and hold a presidential primary unsanctioned by the DNC, their contest will be found non-compliance and penalized by national Democrats. The president is not expected to file to place his name on the New Hampshire ballot, which would lead to a write-in effort for Biden by Democrats in the Granite State.

Jim Demers, a longtime New Hampshire based political consultant and lobbyist who is helping to lead the write-in effort for Biden, terms a potential primary by Phillips “a ridiculous idea.”

“Democrats in New Hampshire support the president,” Demers emphasized. “So if his mission is to divide Democrats and help Donald Trump, then that’s what he’s doing.”

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

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., warned Sunday of potential terror “sleeper cells” in the United States amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Throwing support behind Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., for his old job as the lower chamber of Congress has remained without a speaker for three weeks, McCarthy said that whoever takes on the role must prioritize border security. Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” McCarthy pointed to a new report released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection that shows 18 people on the FBI’s terror watch list were apprehended at the southern border in September, accounting for the more than 160 caught so far this year.

“It’s going to be an uphill battle,” McCarthy said of the speakership fight after Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Steve Scalise, R-La., both failed to secure enough votes.

“But if you simply look at what’s the chaos right now, a wide-open southern border. I’m concerned about a cell sitting inside America today,” McCarthy said. “We just caught 18 people just last month on the FBI terrorist watch list coming across our border. More than 160 have done it this year.”

He added, “When we’re looking around the Middle East and the uprisings popping up around Europe and others, they could be sleeper cells right now in America. But this administration [hasn’t done anything] to change what’s happening on the southern border.”

BORDER PATROL STOPS RECORD NUMBER OF PEOPLE ON TERROR WATCH LIST AT SOUTHERN BORDER

“We got government funding where our troops wouldn’t be paid sitting here in a month,” he said. “Tom Emmer has been a part of our successes from not just winning the majority but being in the room to help us pass a border security bill to make us energy independent, Parents Bill of Rights to stand up when the Democrats wanted to defund the police and decriminalize some of those laws. And he has been successful. This is not a time for a learning experience as speaker.” 

McCarthy condemned eight House Republicans led by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla, for having “created this chaos by joining every single Democrat in voting to shut down one branch of government.”

“I would do the exact same thing again,” McCarthy said of the deal cut with Democrats to delay a government shutdown for 45 days that ultimately cost him the speakership. “Could you imagine if we were having this discussion right now with the American government shut down with our troops in the Middle East, wondering when they’ll ever get paid again? Keeping the government open was the right decision to make, and I’d make it again each and every day.”

He also alluded to the idea that Gaetz was diverting attention away from a House ethics probe that he faces.

“I don’t know why they would follow Gaetz about his ethics complaint. I don’t know what’s in it,” McCarthy said. “I legally can’t be involved in it – must be rather serious to put this much jeopardy into this nation. I would have hoped that everybody would come together, put the country before the politics and actually solve this. Steve Scalise would have done an excellent job. I supported him. Jim Jordan would have. I just know this is not a time to play games.”

2 IRANIANS WHO ‘COULD POSE A SIGNIFICANT SECURITY THREAT’ CAPTURED AT US BORDER, SOURCES SAY

“This is embarrassing for the Republican Party. It’s embarrassing for the nation. And we need to look at one another and solve the problem,” McCarthy added.

“Meet the Press” host Kristen Walker pressed McCarthy on whether he’d run for speaker again, but he deflected.

“I’m going to lead in any capacity. I can help to protect America. I’m going to work to secure our border. I’m going to work to stop the inflation. I’m going to make sure war does not break out in Israel and that Israel has every resource they need to defend themselves. But most importantly, I’m going to press this administration,” McCarthy said. “We have to destroy Hamas. But you cannot do it without confronting Iran. They need to change their policies. Iran only had $4 billion in the foreign exchange when they took office. They now have 70 billion.”

“Iran only produced 400,000 barrels of oil a day. When they – when Biden took office, they now produce 3 million,” he said. “They’re getting billions of dollars to fund terrorism around the world. And you cannot stop Hamas, you cannot get the American hostages back without confronting Iran. And they cannot make the same mistake they did in Afghanistan. We have to be very clear. Every single American has to come home. No one will be left behind.”

McCarthy, who also declined to say whether he’d endorse former President Donald Trump in 2024 but said he expected Trump to be the GOP nominee, also said he would not support linking Ukraine aid to Israel because the latter needs to be expedited.

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“I would have already sent aid to Israel,” he said. “I would have stood up to the antisemitism that’s coming across the aisle. The lies that are being said by the Democrats where [House Minority Leader] Hakeem [Jeffries] just says there’s no statement. I would have made sure that we had looked at our own border, that we don’t have any sleeping cells here, that we would actually stop these terrorists coming across our own border. And I would have made sure from that perspective going forward that Israel had every sophisticated weapon they needed to defend themselves.” 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Sunday deemed China, Russia and Iran the new “axis of evil” amid wars in Ukraine and Israel, while addressing U.S. funding of allies’ responses to those duel conflicts.

In a new sit-down interview with “Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream, McConnell, the highest-ranking Senate Republican, agreed with fellow Republican Kentuckian Sen. Rand Paul that the $1.5 trillion deficit is “entirely too big.” But while Paul remarked last month that the U.S. under the Biden administration was borrowing heavily from China just to send aid to Ukraine, McConnell instead emphasized Sunday that the deficit also expanded during the prior administration under former President Donald Trump. 

“You have to respond to conditions that actually exist that are a threat to the United States. The Iranians are a threat to us as well. And so, this is an emergency. It’s an emergency that we step up and deal with this axis of evil – China, Russia, Iran – because it’s an immediate threat to the United States,” McConnell said. 

“In many ways the world is more endangered today than it has been in my lifetime,” McConnell said, recalling that unlike when the Berlin Wall fell, the world faces a “big power competition” coinciding with the terrorism threats in the Middle East and culminating in Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists.

STRING OF HAMAS, ISLAMIC JIHAD ROCKET MISFIRES HAVE RESULTED IN THE DEATHS OF MULTIPLE CIVILIANS IN GAZA: IDF

“The question is, is American going to lead?” McConnell posed to Bream. “I think the Biden administration sent the wrong signal and they had the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. I think that was like giving a green light to Putin to go into Ukraine. And we see that Iran, principal sponsor of terrorism, sending drones to the Russians and attacking – Hezbollah and in this particular situation, Hamas – attacking the Israelis with drones. So it’s all connected. You can’t separate out one part of it and say we’re only gonna deal with this. It’s all connected.” 

PUTIN, ISRAEL’S NETANYAHU TO HOLD CALL OVER HAMAS WAR AHEAD OF RUSSIAN PRESIDENT’S TRIP TO CHINA

McConnell said, “We know which side they’re on” in regard to China’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war, adding, “We need to view this as a worldwide problem.”

As for the budget supplemental, McConnell said Senate Republicans will want something “credible on the border,” telling Bream, “If we’re going to accept the financial responsibility of helping our allies we certainly want to do something to help ourselves.” Bream noted how Republicans like Sen. JD Vance of Ohio are critical of President Biden for tying Ukrainian aid to the atrocities seen in Israel during Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack to ask Congress for more funding, but McConnell argued the conflicts are connected. 

“I don’t view this as about whether to give Biden credit or not. This is a question of whether it’s a serious threat to the United States. If the Russians aren’t defeated, they’ll go into a NATO country next,” McConnell warned. “And the notion that somehow our Asian allies are unconcerned about Ukraine is completely wrong.”

“The prime minister of Japan said if you want to send President Xi a message, beat the Russians in Ukraine,” he continued. “The South Koreans, the Japanese, the Taiwanese are all interested in what’s happening over in Ukraine because they know President Xi is watching that. President Xi recently declared that they had an endless friendship with the Russians. What more do you need to know about how relevant Ukraine is to Asia and to the Middle East?” 

As Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, Bream asked McConnell what China might be making of Axios reporting that artillery shells the U.S. designated for Ukraine are being diverted to Israel and that Taiwan has millions of dollars worth of equipment and artillery that the U.S. has been unable to fulfill. 

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“One of the best things about this from a U.S. point of view, is when we give older equipment to the Ukrainians for example, we are rebuilding our industrial base in this country. There are jobs being created by the help we’re providing Ukraine in 38 states. And rebuilding our industrial complex for the more serious big power threat in Asia. So the notion that our assistance for Ukraine is not helpful to us is something not factual.” 

The race for the speaker’s gavel got even more complex Friday after Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, dropped out of the race and a number of Republicans jumped in.

One candidate with favorable backing is Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., who announced his candidacy Friday.

Emmer has already scored a major endorsement from ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who was ousted more than two weeks ago by eight Republicans voting with House Democrats.

It’s unclear whether Emmer will succeed where Jordan and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., failed — convincing the various factions within the GOP to unite around his leadership.

MULTIPLE HOUSE SPEAKER CANDIDATES EMERGE AFTER FAILED JORDAN BID AS GOP PLANS TO RECONVENE MONDAY

“He is the right person for the job. He can unite the conference,” McCarthy said. “He understands the dynamics of the conference. He also understands what it takes to win and keep a majority.”

“Our Conference remains at a crossroads, and the deck is stacked against us. We have no choice but to fight like hell to hold on to our House majority and deliver on our conservative agenda,” Emmer told Republican members of Congress in a letter Saturday about his bid for the speaker’s gavel.

Emmer said he would use teamwork, communication and respect to build on the success Republicans had taking back the House majority in 2022 and scoring legislative wins.

Allies of Emmer also pointed to his ability as a fundraiser. Emmer brought in $9.2 million for House races in the 2022 election cycle, including more than $3.1 million for the National Republican Congressional Committee, which he led at the time. Emmer has raised $7.6 million so far in 2023 for the 2024 election cycle.

Emmer faces a potential roadblock to his nomination from the hard-right side of the Republican caucus. Some reports have indicated former President Trump — who endorsed Jordan for speaker — is whipping members against voting for Emmer. It is unclear how this would affect the House speaker race.

Emmer is an attorney, former hockey player and coach, a father of seven and the No. 3 GOP lawmaker in the House this Congress.

He assumed the whip position from Steve Scalise, R-La., now the House majority leader — who also happened to be the GOP speaker nominee before Jordan.

Holding the position after leading the NRCC in the last election cycle, Emmer says he is a “team guy” from a “big hockey factory.”

The House majority whip said he learned to negotiate through his work as an attorney, but starting a youth hockey team in Delano, Minnesota, in the 1990s is where he cut his teeth in the art of getting people to work together.

“And we literally started because I recognized you’ve got all these competing entities, much like you have in Congress,” Emmer said. “I had to become a member of the local Youth Hockey board. Then I had to become a member of the board that ran the ice arena, so we could control our own ice time.

WHY JORDAN COULDN’T GRAB THE SPEAKER GAVEL AFTER THREE FAILED BALLOTS

“Then I had to become a member of the District Hockey Board that was in charge of the region that our community was part of. Then I had to become part of … Minnesota Hockey, which is under the umbrella of USA Hockey. Why? Because we had to get them all talking to each other.”

Thirty years later, Emmer said, the program in the town that “was not recognized in the sport at all” is consistently making state championships.

The House majority whip was first bitten by the political bug in the early 1990s when Emmer, an attorney at the time, and wife Jackie were living in an old converted country hotel with “200-year-old” oak and maple trees in the front yard. The local public works team marked trees to be removed for a new road the next day.

The whip said his wife was “devastated” by the development because you “just don’t get stuff like that in town,” and Emmer called the mayor, a farmer, who drove to the congressman’s property at 10 p.m. “in his old, beat-up Cadillac Fleetwood” and put his lights on the trees.

The mayor whipped out his cellphone and called the head of public works to save the trees by moving the road 80 feet into the farm field.

“And after he did that, I was like, ‘Oh, well, this is the way it works,’ because the next thing that came was a sewer line that I didn’t need,” Emmer said. “We had two acres, we had a young family and I was getting assessed tens of thousands of dollars for a sewer that I didn’t need and I didn’t want.

“And that’s literally what got me involved running.”

Emmer’s candidacy comes after Jordan failed in his third bid for the speaker’s gavel.

House Republicans are starting from scratch to select a new candidate for speaker after Jordan was voted out of the race.

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A deep roster of Republicans emerged as potential candidates to lead the House immediately after a closed-door House GOP vote on whether to keep Jordan as speaker designate.

Republicans are expected to meet behind closed doors Monday evening for a candidate forum before a conference-wide election via secret anonymous ballot on Tuesday.

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed reporting.

The Senate warned lawmakers and Capitol Hill staffers to take precautions amid a rise in crime throughout D.C., following a series of violent attacks against members of Congress and those who work for them.

In a Friday bulletin to Senate chiefs of staff, administrative managers, chief clerks and staff directors, the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms suggested tips to reduce the risk of being carjacked and warned of an increase in carjackings around the nation’s capital. The warning came the day after a Senate staff member was robbed at gunpoint and weeks after a House Democrat was carjacked.

“Local authorities note an increase in carjacking incidents in and around Capitol Hill and the District of Columbia,” the bulletin, obtained by Fox News Digital from multiple Senate sources, states.

Listed on the bulletin were a variety of safety tips and reminders like, “Always keep doors locked and windows up” and “Don’t stop to assist a stranger with a broken-down car; call the police from a safe location instead.”

BLUE CITY’S RAMPANT VIOLENCE LED THIS FORMER DC RESIDENT TO FLEE THE CRIME-RIDDEN CAPITAL

Additionally, the bulletin reminded Capitol Hill lawmakers and staff to “park in well-lit areas near sidewalks,” “conceal valuables,” and “avoid traveling alone, when possible.”

Another section primarily discussed what an individual should do if “confronted by a carjacker with a weapon.”

“Your safety is paramount; surrender your car without argument and swiftly leave the area,” the bulletin stated. “Attempt to recall the carjacker’s physical details (gender, race, age, hair/eye color, distinctive features, clothing).”

The bulletin advised calling 911 and Capitol Hill Police if an incident occurs near the complex.

From armed robberies to carjackings, a variety of lawmakers and Capitol Hill staff members have found themselves at the center of violent attacks on the streets of D.C. in recent months.

A staff member for Republican Sen. Katie Britt was robbed at gunpoint Thursday night, Washington D.C. Police confirmed Friday. 

According to FOX 5 D.C., Amanda Peper, a scheduler for the senator, was robbed at gunpoint at 8:30 p.m. about a mile from the Capitol. 

Police said Peper was walking to her building when she was approached by a man who pointed a gun in her face and said, “Give me your purse and keys.” Peper complied with the mugger and gave him her belongings, police said.

“It is infuriating and completely unacceptable that an American who is on Capitol Hill to serve her country cannot safely walk the streets of Washington, D.C., at 8:30 at night because of the out-of-control crime in this city,” Britt’s office said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

DC CRIME VICTIMS TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS ABOUT CITY’S CRIME SURGE; RESIDENTS ‘BEING TARGETED AND ATTACKED’

Earlier this month, Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar was carjacked by three armed attackers while parking his car in Washington’s Navy Yard neighborhood, an area where other lawmakers live that’s less than two miles south of the Capitol building. Cuellar was not harmed during the carjacking.

“Three guys came out of nowhere, and they pointed guns at me,” Cuellar told reporters after the incident. “I looked at one with a gun and another with a gun out the one behind me. So, they said they wanted my car, and I said, ‘Sure.’”

In June, an unidentified congressional staffer for Minnesota GOP Rep. Brad Finstad was attacked at gunpoint near his home in D.C. after returning from the congressional baseball game.

Finstad detailed the assault by the armed gunman in a statement following the attack and noted the staffer would be “able to make a full recovery” and that the “extent of his physical injuries was minor.”

“In Washington, D.C. and cities across the country, anti-police, soft-on-crime policies have created lawless societies that endanger the public and empower criminal behavior,” Finstad wrote at the time.

Similarly, Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul announced in March a member of his staff was “brutally attacked” by a perpetrator with a knife on the streets of Washington, D.C.

KENTUCKY SEN. RAND PAUL SAYS STAFF MEMBER WAS ‘BRUTALLY ATTACKED’

“This past weekend a member of my staff was brutally attacked in broad daylight in Washington, D.C.,” Paul said in a statement at the time. “I ask you to join Kelley and me in praying for a speedy and complete recovery and thanking the first responders, hospital staff and police for their diligent actions.

“We are relieved to hear the suspect has been arrested. At this time, we would ask for privacy, so everyone can focus on healing and recovery.”

Paul’s office did not confirm the identity of the staff member who was attacked. However, a press release issued by the Metropolitan Police Department after the attack noted the victim was an adult male who had “life-threatening injuries.”

The statement also announced the arrest of a suspect, 42-year-old Glynn Neal “in reference to an Assault with Intent to Kill (Knife) offense,” and that the incident occurred less than 1½ miles from the Capitol.

Paul himself was attacked by a neighbor and sustained serious injuries in 2017. He broke six ribs, including three displaced fractures, and his recovery was complicated by fluid and blood around the lungs and recurrent pneumonia.

Paul and his wife were also previously attacked by a mob as they made their way to a hotel after Donald Trump’s 2020 Republican National Convention acceptance speech at the White House. One man was charged with assaulting a police officer near Paul at the time, but the charge was later dropped.

Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., also became the victim of a crime in February when she was assaulted in the elevator at her Washington, D.C., apartment building. 

Kendrid Khalil Hamlin pleaded guilty in June to charges of assaulting a member of Congress and assaulting law enforcement officers. He was accused of assaulting two police officers as they were trying to arrest him for the attack.

Craig was getting coffee in the apartment’s lobby when she noticed a man pacing. He got into the elevator with her and said he needed to use the bathroom and that he was going to enter her apartment, a U.S. Capitol Police special agent wrote in court papers.

When she said he couldn’t go into her apartment, he punched her in the face and grabbed her neck before she threw a hot cup of coffee at him, prosecutors said. 

Nick Coe, Craig’s chief of staff, said the lawmaker called 911 after the incident as the attacker fled and that there was no evidence the attack was politically motivated.

A number of other serious crimes committed against lawmakers have taken place in recent years.

James T. Hodgkinson, a far-left former volunteer on Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, opened fire on a group of Republican lawmakers in June 2017 as they practiced for the annual congressional baseball game. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., was shot and critically injured during the attack, requiring surgeries to save his life.

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The nation’s capital has grappled with a crime surge in recent years, hitting nearly a two-decade high of 226 homicides in 2021, according to Metropolitan Police Department data. Homicides dropped in 2022 but still surpassed 200, and acting D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith announced the city had reached its 200th murder this month, putting the city on pace to have among the worst annual body counts since the 1990s.

Overall D.C. crime decreased between 2021 and 2022, but certain offenses remained higher than pre-pandemic levels. In 2023, total violent crime is on the rise again, up nearly 40% from last year, according to police data. Property crime is also surging, with motor vehicle thefts increasing 106% and robberies up 65%.

Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Megan Myers, Louis Casiano, Brandon Gillespie and Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Saturday announced that migrant numbers at the southern border for the month of September had reached new levels with the highest monthly encounters on record as well as the highest fiscal year total on record, in a significant blow to the Biden administration’s border strategy.

There were 269,735 migrant encounters in September, of which 218,763 were encountered entering illegally by Border Patrol agents. That brings the yearly total for migrants at the southern border for FY 23 to 2.48 million, higher than the 2.38 million in FY 22 and 1.73 million in FY 21. There were just 458,088 encounters in FY 2020.

Of those who entered, 43,000 individuals were processed in through ports of entry via the controversial CBP One app, which allows migrants to schedule an appointment to be paroled into the U.S.

HOUSE GOP CAMPAIGN ARM BLASTS TOP DEM LEADER FOR CALLING BORDER WALL ‘MEDIEVAL’ 

Meanwhile, there were 18 encounters of people on the terror watch list between ports of entry at the southern border, taking the total for FY 23 up to 169 — a new record and more than the last six fiscal years combined.

In a statement, acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller said that the agency is surging resources and personnel “in response to high rates of encounters” at the border. The White House this week asked Congress for $14 billion in funding for its border strategy, including more staffing and money for migrant services.

Miller also noted the start this week of deportation flights directly to Venezuela, where a significant part of the migrant population is coming from.

“We are continually engaging with domestic and foreign partners to address historic hemispheric migration, including large migrant groups traveling on freight trains, and to enforce consequences, including by preparing for direct repatriations to Venezuela,” Miller said. “CBP will continue to remain vigilant, making operational adjustments as necessary and enforcing consequences under U.S. immigration law.” 

“The supplemental funding request announced yesterday would provide critically needed additional resources, including additional CBP agents and officers to support our essential missions: from border and migration management, to countering fentanyl and keeping dangerous drugs out of our communities,” he said.

The numbers mark the latest blow for the Biden administration’s post-Title 42 border strategy, which focused on reasserting “consequences” for illegal entry while working with international partners and expanding what it calls “lawful pathways” for migrants to enter the U.S.

HOUSE OVERSIGHT REPUBLICANS PUSH BIDEN DHS ON ‘CONFLICTING’ BORDER WALL POSITIONS

Numbers dropped sharply after the end of Title 42 in May after record-high daily numbers leading up to it, bucking predictions from Republicans that there would be an explosion in encounters at the border.

As numbers remained relatively low through June, the administration pointed to the numbers as a sign that the strategy was working — just as it called on Congress to provide more funding and provide immigration reform to fix what it says is a “broken” overall system.

“Our approach to managing the borders securely and humanely even within our fundamentally broken immigration system is working,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told House lawmakers in July. “Unlawful entries between ports of entry along the southwest border have consistently decreased by more than half, compared to the peak before the end of Title 42.”

HAWLEY PUSHES MAYORKAS ON ENCOUNTERS OF ‘SPECIAL INTEREST ALIENS’ INTO US AMID TERROR FEARS

Numbers skyrocketed in July, August and September, leading to increasing criticism from not only Republicans but also Democratic officials in large cities, like New York, which have been overwhelmed by migrants flooding into their communities.

“This fiscal year may have ended, but the historic crisis at our Southwest border sparked by Secretary Mayorkas’ policies rages on,” House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green said in a statement. “These numbers demonstrate beyond a doubt that Secretary Mayorkas’ refusal to enforce the law and secure our border is jeopardizing our safety and security. Additionally, CBP and the Border Patrol continue to be completely overwhelmed by the flood of illegal immigration that has not stopped since he and President Biden took office.” 

“We also can’t forget about the 1.7 million known gotaways, some of whom may be seeking to cause the same type of devastation we saw in Israel on October 7. Secretary Mayorkas’ policies have failed, but he has only doubled down on them,” he said. “He must be held accountable.” 

The administration has continued to lean heavily on “lawful pathways,” including establishing migrant processing centers in Central America to help migrants identify refugee, parole and other pathways for which they may be eligible. It also granted deportation protections and work permits for over 470,000 Venezuelan nationals last month. 

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There have also been some signs of greater enforcement measures from the administration, which this week touted not only its direct deportation flights to Venezuela, which resumed this week, but also highlighted statistics that it has returned over 110,000 people via expedited removal since May. It has previously said that it has returned or removed more people since Title 42 ended than in the same period in FY 2019 during the Trump administration.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also recently cited an “acute and immediate need” to waive federal regulations in order to build the border wall in South Texas this month, which led to claims from Democrats and Republicans that it is changing its anti-wall position. But DHS said it has been obligated to spend that money due to an FY 19 appropriation, and that its position of opposing wall construction has not changed.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is far from the Golden State this weekend, as he travels from the Mideast to the Far East on a high-stakes overseas trip that could fuel future presidential speculation.

The two-term California governor with a rising national profile made a quick stop in Israel on Friday, amid the Jewish State’s war with Hamas.

Then it was on to China, where Newsom aims to discuss climate change with the world’s most populous nation.

But it’s a delicate dance for the governor, who as a top surrogate on behalf of President Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign, needs to make sure he doesn’t disrupt fragile relations between the administration in Washington and the communist regime in Beijing.

NEWSOM’S POTENTIAL PRESIDENTIAL AMBITIONS FRONT AND CENTER AS HE TOUTS BIDEN FOR 2024 

And the trip, only his second international tour in his official capacity as California governor, carries plenty of risks and rewards for Newsom, who’s viewed by many pundits as a likely future presidential contender.

“This trip builds up his credentials,” seasoned Democratic communicator and strategist Chris Moyer noted, a veteran of multiple presidential campaigns, noted. “It could pay dividends for him later.”

While in Israel, the governor huddled with Californians and others who survived the horrific assault by Hamas militants nearly two weeks ago, which was the deadliest attack on Israel in half a century.

“Today, I met with a Californian who was shot during a missile and grenade attack. She covered herself among dead people to survive. After hours of endless terror, she was rescued and transported to a hospital,” Newsom wrote in a social media posting, as he described his visit to a hospital in Tel Aviv.

Newsom also described meeting a mother whose son, a Californian, is being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. He also spotlighted that he “hugged a girl — another Californian, born in Los Angeles — who was shot in the leg by Hamas and left for dead, in truly horrific conditions.”

“What the Israeli people have experienced is nothing short of barbaric terrorism. But what I heard and saw today was so much more than that. It was a profound sense of resilience,” Newsom said.

The governor’s office noted in a released that “the State of California is working to ship medical supplies to support humanitarian relief efforts in Israel and Gaza.”

California is home to the largest population of Arab Americans in the United States, according to the Arab American Institute. It also has the second-largest populations of Jews in the U.S., according to the American Jewish Population Project at Brandeis University.

Newsom wasn’t the only American governor to visit Israel. Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York stopped in the Jewish State earlier in the week.

GAVIN NEWSOM IS MAKING SOME BIG MOVES IN CALIFORNIA

In China, Newsom will target areas where California and China can team up to reduce global warming emissions — including a focus on electric vehicles, high-speed rail, and offshore wind energy.

While Newsom’s immediate predecessors in Sacramento — former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown — both negotiated with China on climate and trade, relations have dramatically worsened between the two superpowers. That raises the stakes for Newsom’s trip and could invite plenty of criticism from Republicans.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING AND OPINION ON GAVIN NEWSOM 

But the trip also brings business benefits.

Mike Trujillo, a veteran California based Democratic strategist, noted that “California, if it were its own country, would be the fifth-largest economy in the world.” Governors of the Golden State view it their duty to ensure California remains an economic powerhouse. “That means making sure other countries, importers, exporters, everything we do in this state, has a good relationship with our supply line.”

“Whether or not the trip burnishes his credentials for a future presidential race really doesn’t matter. I just think it’s good government by the governor of California,” Trujillo said.

Even though he repeatedly shoots it down, speculation still runs rampant that Newsom’s secretly mulling a White House run in 2024 should something happen to Biden, thanks in part to the governor’s six trips this year to red states and an upcoming primetime debate in Georgia with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Fox News’ “Hannity.” He also has a burgeoning political operation that’s distributing millions to Democratic causes and candidates.

Newsom’s moves have positioned him as a leading voice in the Democratic Party at a time of rising concerns among Democrats over the 80-year-old president’s political durability, his negative approval ratings. Recent polls indicate former President Donald Trump — the commanding front-runner right now for the GOP nomination — is either ahead or tied with Biden in 2024 general election matchups.

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But Newsom has repeatedly emphasized his support for Biden’s re-election and has stressed it is time Democrats rally around the president.

“President Biden is going to run, and [I’m] looking forward to getting him re-elected. I think there’s been so much wallowing in the last few months, and hand-wringing in this respect. But we’re gearing up for the campaign,” Newsom said last month in an NBC News interview.

Days later, the governor said that “the answer is no” when asked during a CNN interview if he was considering a 2024 White House run. “No ambiguity.”

“Let’s get on the train. This train has left the proverbial station,” he added.

The telegenic 55-year-old Newsom has also spotlighted his support for Vice President Kamala Harris, a fellow Californian whose approval ratings are deeper underwater than Biden’s numbers.

Newsom’s reassuring support for Biden has appeared to put the president’s re-election campaign at ease.

“He’s been a tremendous asset to the campaign, and we’re really grateful to have him as part of our national advisory board,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez told reporters on the eve of the second Republican presidential nomination debate, where Newsom served as the top surrogate for the Biden campaign in the post-debate spin room.

While Newsom’s political moves may set him up for a potential White House run in 2028, Republicans aren’t ready to drop speculation the term-limited governor is still angling for a possible 2024 bid.

“He’s trying to tell the world that he’s the number one guy and that he’s going to be running for this seat for whatever reasons Joe Biden ends up not being their nominee,” California GOP chair Jessica Milan Patterson argued in a Fox News interview last month.

Associated Press material was used in this report

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

The National Republican Congressional Committee is taking aim at House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for calling the border at the southern border “medieval.”

Jeffries was on “Pod Save America” speaking about past government shutdowns. He noted the shutdown in 2018 and 2019 during the Trump administration.

“That was because [Republicans] wanted to try to extract billions of taxpayer dollars for an ineffective, medieval border wall,” he said.

HOUSE OVERSIGHT REPUBLICANS PUSH BIDEN DHS ON ‘CONFLICTING’ BORDER WALL POSITIONS

The description of the wall as medieval, drew criticism from the NRCC.

“What everyday Americans call common sense, extreme Democrat Hakeem Jeffries calls ‘medieval,’” NRCC communications director Jack Pandol told Fox News Digital.

“It makes no sense unless Democrats are so beholden to an open border they just don’t care about the chaos and deadly drugs that come with it,” he said. 

Democrats and the Biden administration have long opposed a wall at the southern border — with the Biden administration shutting down Trump-era construction shortly after entering office.

But with a historic ongoing crisis at the southern border — and a record 260,000 migrant encounters in September — Republicans have hammered the administration and Democrats for not supporting a wall. 

The wall was back in focus in recent weeks when the Biden administration cited an “acute and immediate need” to waive 26 federal regulations to go forward with construction of barriers in South Texas due to an increase in illegal crossings.

MAYORKAS CITES ‘IMMEDIATE NEED’ TO WAIVE REGULATIONS, BUILD BORDER WALL IN TEXAS AS IMMIGRATION SURGES

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has since said that there was no new policy on border wall construction, and the administration was mandated to spend the money appropriated by Congress during the Trump era.

“From day one, this Administration has made clear that a border wall is not the answer. That remains our position and our position has never wavered. The language in the Federal Register notice is being taken out of context and it does not signify any change in policy whatsoever,” he said in an Oct. 5 statement.

“We have repeatedly asked Congress to rescind this money but it has not done so and we are compelled to follow the law,” Mayorkas said.

This week, Republicans on the House Oversight Committee quizzed the administration on what they said are “conflicting” positions. 

BIDEN SAYS ‘NO,’ BORDER WALL DOESN’T WORK, AFTER MAYORKAS CITED ‘IMMEDIATE’ NEED

“On its face, your words concede a seemingly obvious point: that border barriers are an essential part of securing the border, as they have ‘proved to be a critical component in gaining operational control of the border’ by diverting or slowing illegal crossings of people or contraband, and result in a significant and measurable decrease in illegal entry in the areas they are erected while requiring less manpower to patrol,” lawmakers said. “Yet Administration officials continue to assert that this action does not constitute a change in policy and that border barriers are ineffective.”

A DHS spokesperson highlighted to Fox News again that it was a FY 2019 requirement for the money to be spent, and that Congress would not rescind the appropriation.

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“After two years of trying to get Congress to reappropriate the funding for smarter, more effective policy interventions, the only way to then spend the money as Congress intended was to then issue a waiver of these laws,” they said. “The language of the waiver was written to ensure that DHS complied with Congress’s 2019 legal mandate that DHS spend the appropriated funds for border wall construction. It is not a statement of the Administration’s policy. ”

“As a matter of policy, the Administration disagrees with Congress’s 2019 mandate and continues to oppose further border wall construction. Nevertheless, DHS must and will comply with the law,” they said.

Jeffries’ office didn’t respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

A New York judge fined former President Trump $5,000 for violating the partial gag order he imposed in the civil trial stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation into the Trump family’s businesses, while warning the 2024 frontrunner that future violations could result in imprisonment.

Judge Arthur Engoron, earlier this month, imposed a partial gag order to prevent all parties from engaging in any verbal attacks against court staff after Trump criticized a member of the judge’s office on social media.

JUDGE IMPOSES PARTIAL GAG ORDER IN TRUMP ORG. TRIAL BLOCKING PARTIES FROM VERBAL ATTACKS AGAINST COURT STAFF

“On October 3, during a break in this trial, defendant Donald Trump posted to his social media account an untrue, disparaging, and personally identifying post about my Principal Law Clerk,” Engoron wrote in a filing Friday, adding that he ordered Trump to remove the post “immediately.”

The post in question was on Trump’s Truth Social account, and stated Engoron’s law clerk had a relationship with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. The post also contained a photo. Trump added that because of that, the case “should be dismissed immediately.” 

“Approximately 10 minutes later, Donald Trump represented to me that he had taken down the offending post, and that he would not engage in similar behavior going forward,” Engoron wrote, adding that he then imposed the partial gag order, which emphasized that “personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate, and I will not tolerate them under any circumstances.” 

TRUMP JUDGE FACES ONLINE BACKLASH AFTER SMILING, POSING FOR CAMERAS IN COURTROOM: ‘PARTISAN DEMOCRAT CLOWN’

“Despite this clear order, last night I learned that the subject offending post was never removed from the website ‘DonaldJTrump.com,’ and, in fact, had been on that website for the past 17 days,” Engoron wrote. “I understand it was removed late last night, but only in response to an email from this Court.” 

Engoron said lawyers for Trump stated that the violation of the gag order was “inadvertent and was an ‘unfortunate part of the process that is built into the campaign structure.’”

But Engoron said, either way, Trump “violated the gag order.”

“Donald Trump has received ample warning from this Court as to the possible repercussions of violating the gag order,” he wrote. “He specifically acknowledged that he understood and would abide by it.”

He added: “issuing yet another warning is no longer appropriate; this Court is way beyond the ‘warning’ stage.”

JUDGE IMPOSES PARTIAL GAG ORDER AGAINST TRUMP IN SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH’S JAN 6 CASE

Engoron said that given Trump’s position that the violation was “inadvertent,” and even that it is the “first time” violation, the court will impose a “nominal fine” of $5,000.

“Make no mistake: future violations, whether intentional or unintentional, will subject the violator to far more severe sanctions, which may include, but are not limited to, steeper financial penalties, holding Donald Trump in contempt of court, and possibly imprisoning him pursuant to New York Judiciary Law.”

The trial comes after James, a Democrat, brought a lawsuit against Trump last year alleging he and his company misled banks and others about the value of his assets. James claimed Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric, as well as his associates and businesses, committed “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” on their financial statements.

TRUMP JUDGE FACES ONLINE BACKLASH AFTER SMILING, POSING FOR CAMERAS IN COURTROOM: ‘PARTISAN DEMOCRAT CLOWN’

An appellate ruling from over the summer, which limited James from suing for alleged transactions that occurred before July 13, 2014, or Feb. 6, 2016, depending on the defendant, dismissed Ivanka Trump as a defendant. 

Trump has blasted James for bringing the lawsuit; for the trial not having a jury; and Engoron, calling him “corrupt.” 

“The Attorney General filed this case under a consumer protection statute that denies the right to a jury,” a Trump spokesperson said. “There was never an option to choose a jury trial. It is unfortunate that a jury won’t be able to hear how absurd the merits of this case are and conclude no wrongdoing ever happened.” 

Engoron, last month, ruled that Trump and the Trump Organization committed fraud while building his real estate empire by deceiving banks, insurers and others by overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing.

Engoron’s ruling came after James sued Trump, his children and the Trump Organization, alleging that the former president “inflated his net worth by billions of dollars,” and said his children helped him to do so.

Meanwhile, a federal judge also imposed a partial gag order against Trump this week, blocking him from making statements targeting Special Counsel Jack Smith, his staff, witnesses and court personnel.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan of the District of Columbia, who is presiding over Smith’s case against the former president for charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, made the decision during a court hearing on Monday.

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Chutkan said Monday that the former president is able to criticize the Justice Department in general terms and has the right to post his view that the case against him is politically motivated. However, the judge said Trump cannot post attacks against prosecutors or court staff.

“No other criminal defendant would be allowed to do so, and I’m not going to allow it in this case,” Chutkan said, adding that, if necessary, she would impose sanctions if Trump violates the partial gag order.

Long-shot Republican presidential candidate Perry Johnson dropped out of the race Friday, saying that he was not given the opportunity to share “his vision on the debate stage.”

“With no opportunity to share my vision on the debate stage, I have decided at this time suspending my campaign is the right thing to do,” Johnson wrote in a statement announcing his decision. 

The Michigan businessman and quality control industry expert failed to qualify for the first two Republican presidential nomination debates, criticizing the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) polling and donor thresholds. 

LONG-SHOT GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE PERRY JOHNSON CONSIDERING SENATE BID IN BATTLEGROUND MICHIGAN

“I must admit, the corruption among leaders at the RNC during this process was appalling,” Johnson said. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, the people should decide the next President of the United States, not the head of the RNC and her cronies.”

Johnson, who launched his president campaign in March, said that his time campaigning gave him “a renewed sense of hope that America’s best days are ahead.”

“The extraordinary people I’ve met and befriended across the country, especially in lowa and New Hampshire, gives me a renewed sense of hope that America’s best days are ahead,” he added. “It was the honor of a lifetime to run for America’s highest office and having my family along for the ride was a blessing impossible to describe.”

PERRY JOHNSON DESCRIBES HIMSELF AS ‘TRUMP WITHOUT THE BAGGAGE’

In the release, Johnson noted that he is suspending his campaign rather than withdrawing.

Johnson previously hinted that he may pivot to a Senate bid in Michigan. 

“Obviously, it’s no secret that I’ve had a lot of calls to run for this seat because they do want to win this seat. But at this point in time, my focus is right on the presidential [race], and, believe me, that’s taking all my time and energy at this point,” Johnson previously said in a Fox News Digital interview in September.

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“As you can imagine, I get inundated with calls because of the fact that Michigan has an open seat,” Johnson said. “It’s literally a seat that Republicans have not had in Michigan in a long time.”

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

Perry Johnson’s campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

CONCORD, N.H. — Facing questions over the durability of his Republican campaign for president, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina insists “we’re actually great moving forward.”

The super PAC aligned with Scott earlier this week canceled its massive ad blitz on behalf of the senator’s 2024 campaign.

Trust In the Mission PAC, also known as “TIM PAC,” emphasized in a memo that “we aren’t going to waste our money when the electorate isn’t focused or ready” for an alternative to former President Donald Trump, the commanding front-runner for the GOP nomination. 

And Scott’s campaign filed its July-September third quarter fundraising report, showing that it spent a lot more money than it raked in the past three months. The two developments, along with the senator’s flatlining in the polls in the crucial early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and his home state, fed a negative narrative questioning Scott’s ability to win the GOP nomination.

NO MORE MR. NICE GUY? SCOTT LASHES OUT AT BIDEN, GOP RIVALS, OVER ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

“I’m OK,” Scott emphasized when asked by Fox News Digital if his presidential campaign was in trouble. 

Scott, who took questions from reporters after filing at the Statehouse in Concord to place his name on the ballot in New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation Republican presidential primary, spotlighted “two really good pieces of news.”

“Number one — I don’t control my super PAC. That’s just really good news. I can’t tell you exactly what they’re thinking over there,” the senator said.

2024 WATCH: TIM SCOTT-ALIGNED SUPER PAC PULLS THE PLUG ON AD BLITZ

Pointing to the Israel-Hamas war, which has dominated news coverage the past two weeks, Scott noted that “breaking through in this current cycle of news focused right where it should be, on Israel, is very difficult. So, if you’re going to use your resources effectively, I’m glad that they’re making the decision to use those resources as we end this year hitting the first caucus and turning their attention to the first-in-the-nation primary.”

“Better news is that from a campaign account perspective, we still have more money than any candidate in the race save Donald Trump,” Scott touted. “And so our ability to continue to move forward from my campaign, which I do control, is very strong.”

Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate and a rising star in the GOP, entered the presidential race in the spring on high notes and with his campaign coffers stocked with over $20 million left over from his overwhelming re-election last November. 

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But after dishing out roughly $14 million to run ads, Scott’s cash-on-hand was down to $13.3 million at the end of last month.

Scott’s poll numbers are also edging down in the early voting states — and he stood at just 1% in the most recent Fox News national survey of the Republican race.

Asked what he needs to do moving forward — with less than three months to go until the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses kick off the GOP nominating calendar — Scott pointed to retail politics, saying “the more time I spend talking to people, the better off we are.”

“I spent a disproportionate amount of my time doing my day job being in the Senate, and just recently spent more time on the road the past couple of weeks,” he explained. “I need to make sure that I continue to invest more time on the road to meet the voters and I think I’ll win them over.”

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

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley reiterated her support for Israel on Friday while also cautioning the Biden administration to “be smart” regarding Qatari mediation efforts that led to the release of two American hostages — a mother and daughter — by Hamas.

The hostages, identified as Judith and Natalie Raanan, were taken by Hamas from the Nahal Oz kibbutz in southern Israel near the Gaza Strip and released “on humanitarian grounds” following Qatari intervention. 

“The second thing I’ll say to the Biden administration is don’t fall for it. This is you know, I have dealt with Qatar in terms of trying to get hostages or actually hostage bodies out of Gaza,” Haley told “America Reports” co-anchor Sandra Smith on Friday. “This is what they do. They’re trying to earn favor with the United States.”

LIVE UPDATES: ISRAEL AT WAR WITH HAMAS 

At least 11 more Americans remain unaccounted for. 

Haley said Hamas is worried about a potential Israeli ground operation and that “they’re going to throw two hostages out there for one to see if they can weaken us to keep Israel from going into Gaza,” said Haley, who was wearing a sweater with the phrase, “She Who Dares Wins.”

“Who Dares Wins” is the motto of the Sayeret Matkal, an elite Israeli paratrooper unit.

“This is a time to be smart. Go in smart,” Haley said. “Don’t let this weaken us. Don’t fall for it. We’ve got 200 more hostages in there. And don’t forget what happened on Oct. 7. They want everybody to forget. We can never forget. Israel needs to stay focused, determined, and America needs to have their back.”

Haley, who served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under former President Trump, has been steadfast in her support for Israel since the deadly attacks on Israeli civilians by Hamas. 

“Nikki proudly stands with Israel and its fight for peace,” Ken Farnaso, a spokesman for Haley, told Fox News Digital. “At the UN, she warned about Hamas and stood up for Israel — and she’ll do the same as president. We need a leader who will stand with Israel not only when it is hit, but also when it hits back.”

The Squad, a group of progressive House Democrats, continued calls Friday for a ceasefire, citing Israel’s bombardment of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The group has been heavily criticized for appearing to place the blame for the attacks on Israel. 

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“The squad acts like the terrorists,” Haley said. “Here they are, and they’re basically mimicking pro-Hamas comments. They refuse to acknowledge the bloodshed and the torture and the terrorists that have caused all of this.”

House Republicans voted via secret ballot Friday afternoon to remove Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, as their speaker nominee, Fox News Digital has confirmed.

House Republicans huddled behind closed doors to figure out a path forward after Jordan lost even more support for his House speaker bid in a third-round House vote earlier Friday.

GOP lawmakers are still in disarray more than two weeks after ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was ousted.

Twenty-five Republicans voted for someone other than Jordan. Three people who had voted for Jordan in previous rounds switched their votes against him: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., and Thomas Kean, R-N.J.

JORDAN VOWS TO STAY IN SPEAKER’S RACE, SUGGESTS HOUSE MAY VOTE THROUGH WEEKEND

Molinaro told reporters ahead of the vote that he would not be supporting Jordan now.

“It is not my intention to do so today. That doesn’t mean that I’ve closed the door entirely,” Molinaro said about voting for Jordan.

EFFORT TO EMPOWER INTERIM SPEAKER MCHENRY GAINS STEAM AS JORDAN MOMENTUM STALLS

“We had hoped, and I had worked with Congressman Jordan, to try to unify the conference. We are not unified. Opposition is entrenched. There is a level of anger and violence, threats of violence that are unacceptable. The best approach is to go back into our room and try to coalesce around a conservative candidate who can lead not only our conference, but Congress.,” Molinaro said.

Fitzpatrick told reporters after the vote that he doesn’t see Jordan “getting there.”

Kean, who voted for McCarthy on Friday, told Fox News Digital in a statement, “For the past nearly three weeks, my number one priority has always been getting Congress moving again to do the work of the American people. With great respect, it has become evident that Chairman Jordan does not and will not have the votes to become Speaker.”

“It is clear we need a conservative leader to helm the conference in this crucial time,” he said.

JORDAN LOSES HIS SECOND SPEAKER VOTE AS NEARLY TWO DOZEN REPUBLICANS OPPOSE HIM

Jordan himself was projecting confidence on the way to the House GOP meeting, telling reporters, “You guys said we’re going to lose 15-30. You know, we lost of a couple, and we had a few people missing.”

Meanwhile, Jordan also appears poised to lose at least one more supporter if he goes to the floor again Friday. 

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Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, who has been voting for Jordan, told reporters after the vote that he intends to vote for former President Donald Trump to be speaker in the next round — if one happens.

“We got the number two most popular Republican in our country, and we don’t want him — we, meaning collectively, us as a conference,” Nehls said. “So my fourth vote now, this is three, my fourth vote is for Donald J. Trump. I’m moving to Donald J. Trump.”

Fox News’ Chad Pergram and Kelly Phares contributed to this report

FIRST ON FOX: Conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo has again rejected demands from Senate Democrats as they seek to gather information as part of their ongoing investigation into conservative Supreme Court justices, Fox News Digital has learned.

Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats Dick Durbin of Illinois and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island have sent two letters to Leo and billionaire activists in recent months summoning information regarding trips and events that Supreme Court justices have taken and participated in over the years.

On October 5, the senators sent the second letter to Leo, Harlan Crow and Robin Arkley in an attempt to strong-arm them into complying with a previous July request for details about trips involving Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

However, Leo soundly rejected their demands on Friday in a letter his attorneys sent to committee chairman Durbin, a copy of which Fox News Digital has obtained.

DC ATTORNEY GENERAL TARGETS CONSERVATIVE JUDICIAL ACTIVIST LEONARD LEO’S NETWORK: ‘POLITICALLY DRIVEN’

“We have put forward clear and detailed reasons why the Committee’s inquiry is a form of political retaliation in violation of the First Amendment and the Equal Protection component of the Due Process Clause,” Leo’s attorney, David Rivkin, wrote in the letter. “But, for the most part, the October 5 Letter ignores these points, and, since our last correspondence, the Committee has only expanded the retaliatory campaign it is mounting against Mr. Leo.”

“We also have explained at length why the Supreme Court ethics legislation the Committee has written would violate the separation of powers if enacted, and thus cannot legitimate the Committee’s inquiry,” Rivkin said. “But the October 5 Letter offers virtually nothing in the way of rebuttal, and the Committee continues to press forward with its unconstitutional bill. Across the board, the October 5 Letter tries to shield the Committee’s inquiry from our objections by simply acting as though they do not exist.”

Rivkin added that they believe the Senate Judiciary Committee “is not entitled to the personal information it seeks” and, because they have not provided “arguments to the contrary,” declined to provide the information.

The senators have requested an itemized list of gifts and payments from Leo or his linked groups dating back decades in relation to any Supreme Court justice he has associated with, as part of their investigation.

“The latest response by Leonard Leo and Republican megadonors is a defensive, dismissive refusal to inform legislative efforts to establish a code of conduct for all Supreme Court Justices,” a Durbin spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

“This effort is squarely within the Committee’s jurisdiction, popular among the American people, and necessary to re-establish trust in the Supreme Court,” the spokesperson said. “So long as Chief Justice Roberts refuses to use his power to implement a code of conduct, Congress will continue to act. Chair Durbin and Senate Judiciary Democrats are considering next steps, and all options remain on the table.”

DC PROSECUTORS PROBE LIBERAL DARK MONEY NETWORK AFTER BACKLASH FOR INVESTIGATING CONSERVATIVE ORGS

For decades, Leo has been a part of the Federalist Society, which has long been criticized by liberal activists for its involvement in helping advise and lobby former President Trump through the nominations of Supreme Court Justices Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.

The senators’ demands stem from ProPublica’s reporting on the travel habits of Justices Thomas and Alito, which conservatives have widely criticized by pointing out that many of the “experts” cited in the various reports have undisclosed ties to Democratic causes.

Conservatives have called out ProPublica for being primarily funded by organizations and donors who support liberal causes, including court-packing and removing conservative justices from the court.

Alito has defended himself against ProPublica’s reporting, and Leo has released a statement dismissing the idea that the fishing trip was somehow kept from the public.

“Justice Alito talked about this trip in front of dozens of journalists and over 2,000 people after being introduced by Paul Singer at a Federalist Society dinner fourteen years ago,” Leo said in a prior statement. “Nobody questioned Justice Alito’s impartiality then, or thereafter.”

TOP DEM DARK MONEY NETWORK FACES IRS COMPLAINT OVER ALLEGED SELF-ENRICHMENT OF ITS FOUNDER

Leo added that “the only thing that has changed over all these years is that ProPublica and its large pool of liberal dark money donors are having a hard time accepting the fact that they are now losing cases because there aren’t enough Justices around anymore to disregard the law and affirm their policy preferences.”

Supporters of Thomas have insisted that he has broken no laws or ethics codes. 

Meanwhile, Leo has also come under the microscope of Washington, D.C.’s Democrat attorney general Brian Schwalb, who launched an investigation into Leo’s network this past summer. 

Schwalb’s office faced criticism for targeting Leo while ignoring a similar liberal dark money network overseen by the Arabella Advisors consulting firm. 

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However, after the criticism, Schwalb’s office also opened a probe into the Arabella Advisors-managed network.

Lawyer Kenneth Chesebro pleaded guilty to a felony on Friday just as jury selection was getting underway in his trial on charges accusing him of participating in efforts to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election in Georgia.

Chesebro, who was charged alongside Trump and 17 others with violating the state’s anti-racketeering law, pleaded guilty to one felony charge of conspiracy to commit filing false documents in a last-minute deal. His plea came a day after fellow attorney Sidney Powell, who had been scheduled to go to trial alongside him, entered her own guilty plea to six misdemeanor counts.

In Chesebro’s case, he was sentenced to five years’ probation and 100 hours of community service and was ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution, write an apology letter to Georgia’s residents and testify truthfully at any related future trial.

FORMER TRUMP LAWYER SIDNEY POWELL PLEADS GUILTY IN GEORGIA ELECTION INTERFERENCE CASE

The two guilty pleas — along with a third for a bail bondsman last month — are major victories for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who obtained the indictment in August. They allow her to avoid a lengthy trial of just two defendants — which would have given those remaining a peek at her trial strategy — and to whittle down an unwieldy pool of defendants.

Chesebro, who lives in Puerto Rico, was initially charged with felony racketeering and six other counts as part of a wide-ranging scheme to keep the Republican president in power after he lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden. The indictment alleges Chesebro coordinated and executed a plan to have 16 Georgia Republicans sign a certificate declaring falsely that Trump won the state and declaring themselves the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors.

For prosecutors, the plea deal assures that Chesebro publicly accepts responsibility for his conduct in the case and removes the uncertainty of a trial by a jury of his peers. It also compels him to testify about communications he had with Trump’s campaign lawyers and close associates, including co-defendant Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor and a Trump attorney.

Jury selection had been set to start Friday for the trial of Powell and Chesebro after each filed a demand for a speedy trial. Once Powell pleaded guilty, Chesebro had been set to continue to trial on his own.

As part of Powell’s deal, she will serve six years of probation, will be fined $6,000 and will have to write an apology letter to Georgia and its residents. She also recorded a statement for prosecutors and agreed to testify truthfully against her co-defendants at future trials.

GEORGIA TRUMP INDICTMENT: FIRST DEFENDANT WHO TOOK PLEA DEAL WANTS ‘NIGHTMARE’ OVER

A lower-profile defendant in the case, bail bondsman Scott Graham Hall, pleaded guilty last month to five misdemeanor charges. He was sentenced to five years of probation and agreed to testify in further proceedings.

All of the other defendants, including Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, have pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors allege that Chesebro unlawfully conspired with Trump and lawyers associated with his campaign to have the group of Georgia Republicans sign the false elector certificate and to submit it to various federal authorities. He also communicated with Trump campaign lawyers and Republican leaders in other swing states won by Biden to get those states to submit false slates of electors as well, prosecutors alleged.

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That included writing memos advocating for Republicans in those states to meet and cast electoral votes for Trump and providing detailed instructions for how the process should be carried out. In an email to Giuliani, he outlined strategies to disrupt and delay the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, during which electoral votes were to be certified. He wrote that those strategies were “preferable to allowing the Electoral Count Act to operate by its terms.”

President Biden gave an address from the White House’s Oval Office Thursday night, when he provided an update on two conflicts happening across the globe, including Israel’s war with Hamas and Russia’s continued fighting in Ukraine. He vowed America would not be on the sidelines of either conflict.

His brief remarks, however, were met with some criticism as Republicans and others accused him of trying to fix problems that he previously caused and attempted to use the slaughtering of Israelis and the current humanitarian crisis in Gaza to request additional funds in the Ukraine conflict.

“The shame of it all is that we wouldn’t be in this terrible position if Joe Biden hadn’t been so weak in Afghanistan, so slow in Ukraine, so pandering to Iran, and so absent from the border,” wrote Nikki Haley, a Republican presidential candidate who is beating him in some head-to-head polls. “The world is on fire, and America needs strong new leadership to deal with it.”

Some critics called his speech “unbelievable” and “completely disgraceful.”

SEN. VANCE ACCUSES BIDEN OF USING ISRAEL’S FIGHT AGAINST HAMAS TO PUSH FOR MORE UKRAINE AID: ‘DISGUSTING’

In his Oval Office address, Biden focused on Ukraine, which included him saying he will send an “urgent budget request” to Congress on Friday “to fund America’s national security needs to support our critical partners, including Israel and Ukraine is a smart investment that’s going to pay dividends for American security for generations.”

Haley emphasized Biden’s “weakness” around the globe ahead of the speech and said the blame for the current state should rest on him.

“Biden cozied up to Iran, giving it billions of dollars & easing sanctions. Biden talks a big game on Russia, but was too slow in providing Ukraine with the weapons to beat Russia quickly. Biden’s weakness on Moscow & Tehran has strengthened Beijing,” she wrote.

Sen. Tim Scott, R-SC, who is also seeking the Republican nomination to go against Biden in 2024, posted on X, “Biden gave $6 billion to the number one state sponsor of terrorism.”

He added, “There’s no way around it.”

WATCH PRESIDENT BIDEN’S THURSDAY NIGHT ADDRESS FROM OVAL OFFICE

Scott also joined “Hannity” Thursday evening, when he further discussed President Biden’s address.

“Our ally, Israel, was bombed by a terrorist organization and tonight’s speech focused more on Ukraine than Israel,” the presidential contender said. “That’s unbelievable.”

He also said Biden should have more clearly sent a message to Iran and the consequences they would face if they continue to back terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

Joe Concha, a Fox News contributor, recalled that during the speech, Biden gave himself credit for being the first U.S. president to visit Israel during a wartime.

“Biden has now twice patted himself on the back for being the first American president to go into a war zone. This speech is an absolute mess,” Concha wrote.

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, said Biden appeared to correlate the two global conflicts to “sell the American people” on additional aid to Ukraine, which has warred with Russia for more than 600 days.

“I think what the president did is completely disgraceful. If he wants to sell the American people on $60B more to Ukraine, he shouldn’t use dead Israeli children to do it. It was disgusting,” Vance wrote on X.

Fox News host Sean Hannity addressed the speech during his show on Thursday evening.

“I thought it was cliché,” Hannity said. “I wanted to hear more about the barbaric brutality that took place in Israel, the worst terror attack in their history. I wanted to hear more about the hostages. I wanted to hear more about the Americans killed. I wanted to hear more about what America needs to do in all this.”

Fox News’ Dana Perino said Thursday, just before Hannity, that she said she “didn’t think it was strong.”

“I actually didn’t think it was strong,” Perino said. “I prepared all day to want to love this speech. I prepared all day to want to stand up and cheer but at times I felt like a speech whose pages had been mixed up out of order.”

“I thought he didn’t spend enough time talking about the atrocities of Oct. 7,” she added. Perino applauded Biden for mentioning antisemitism but said, “he rushed that part of the speech and the next thing I know we’re talking about Ukraine.”

Republican congressional candidate JR Majewski described Biden’s speech as a “campaign ad for Trump.”

“That entire Biden speech was a campaign ad for Trump 2024,” Majeski wrote on X. “Trump never gave speeches about how badly we needed to help the world because of the wars that he caused, because he never caused these problems.”

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He added, “Joe Biden does NOT deserve another term in office. Frankly, he doesn’t deserve another day in office.”

Democrats widely lauded the speech, and Biden also received praise from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“I thank Joe Biden for his powerful address. Together, we will not allow hatred destroy freedom, and we will not let terrorists destroy democracy,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “Ukraine is grateful for all the U.S. support and its unfaltering belief that humanism, freedom, independence, and rules-based international order must always triumph.”

His address came a day after he visited Tel Aviv, where met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli officials in the hopes of containing the crisis in the Gaza Strip from erupting into a wider conflict.

Biden also said he would “keep American troops out of harm’s way,” and that the congressional aid package would “help us build a world that is safer, more peaceful and more prosperous for our children and grandchildren in Israel.”