NationalWatch

Despite being a vocal GOP critic of former President Donald Trump, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu – along with other state party officials – is staying away from a long-shot effort to keep Trump off the presidential ballot.

Bryant “Corky” Messner, an attorney and prominent Republican who won the 2020 Republican Senate nomination thanks in great part to Trump’s support, is mulling a lawsuit if Trump later this year files to put his name on the New Hampshire primary ballot. 

Messner is very publicly questioning the former president’s eligibility to run for the White House, and cites Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. That section disqualifies those who’ve taken an oath to support the Constitution from holding office again if they’ve “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the United States “or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

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Sununu has repeatedly argued the former president – the current commanding front-runner for the Republican nomination – can’t win next year’s general election. The governor has teamed up with many of Trump’s rivals as they campaign in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary and second overall contest in the GOP nominating calendar. Sununu has repeatedly said he’ll endorse a presidential candidate ahead of his state’s primary.

But he appears to be staying away from Messner’s efforts to boot Trump from the primary ballot.

SUNUNU ANNOUNCES DECISION ON 2024 GUBERNATORIAL RE-ELECTION

“The Governor first heard about this effort over the weekend. The Governor is not making any attempt or assisting any effort to keep anyone off the ballot. He has not spoken to and has nothing to do with Mr. Messner’s actions,” Sununu spokesman Ben Vihstadt told Fox News in a statement.

Vihstadt added that “providing he follows the same rules as all other candidates, the Governor doesn’t expect ballot access will be a problem for the former president.”

Ever since Trump launched his third straight White House bid last November, there’s been talk of invoking the 14th Amendment to keep him off the ballot. But with his recent indictments in federal court and in Georgia on charges he attempted to overturn the results of his 2020 election loss to President Biden, the push has gained momentum.

TRUMP’S POST-MUG SHOT FUNDRAISING HAUL

A legal advocacy group that had previously targeted Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and then-Rep. Madison Cawthorne of North Carolina over ballot qualifications this summer sent letters to elections officials in nine states asking them to keep Trump from the ballot.

Some legal scholars have advanced the argument. Among them are William Baude and Michael Stokes Paulsen of the conservative Federalist Society, who made their case in the Pennsylvania Law Review.

“This article presented a very, very, compelling analysis that in fact Donald Trump is disqualified from being on the ballot,” Messner told Fox News Digital.

He said the article motivated him to take action, adding “the Constitution needs an advocate in this situation so that’s why I decided to jump into the fray.”

“My position is that it’s in everybody’s interest – including Donald Trump’s interest – to get this thing into the court system as quickly as possible [to provide legal guidance] and hopefully in front of the Supreme Court on an expedited basis.”

Messner met last Friday with New Hampshire Secretary of State Dave Scanlan, who oversees elections in the Granite State.

Scanlan is seeking legal input from the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office.

“The Attorney General’s Office is now carefully reviewing the legal issues involved,” read a joint statement on Tuesday from state Attorney General John Formella and Scanlan.

The statement also spotlighted “misinformation asserting or implying that the Secretary of State’s Office has already taken a position on or is seeking to take certain action with respect to Donald Trump’s candidacy.”

Scanlan and Formella issued their statement as the Secretary of State’s Office was flooded with calls after Charlie Kirk – a Trump ally and conservative talk show host who runs the right-wing nonprofit Turning Point USA – incorrectly told listeners that New Hampshire was trying to keep Trump off the ballot.

“Neither the Secretary of State’s Office nor the Attorney General’s Office has taken any position regarding the potential applicability of Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution to the upcoming presidential election cycle,” the statement said.

Messner’s move is getting pushback from the New Hampshire GOP.

State party Chairman Chris Ager told Fox News that “Corky is a friend and I respect his opinions and judgment, but I totally disagree with him on this issue.” 

“I have communicated with Secy. Scanlan and I’m confident that all the current people listed as presidential candidates – I’m very confident that all of them, should they apply – would be on our ballot,” Ager added.

Ager said that “we will stay in contact with the secretary and if there is a lawsuit, I would expect that the party would do whatever it had to do to intervene on the side of allowing candidates to be on the ballot and not denying anyone.”

Asked about the effort in New Hampshire and in other states to keep the former president off the ballot, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung argued in a statement that “the people who are pushing this political attack on President Trump are stretching the law beyond recognition much like the political prosecutors in New York, Georgia, and DC. There is no legal basis for this effort except in the minds of those who are pushing it.”

But some of Trump’s rivals for the nomination disagree.

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Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson spotlighted at last week’s first GOP presidential nomination debate that “over a year ago, I said that Donald Trump was morally disqualified from being president again as a result of what happened on Jan. 6. More people are understanding the importance of that, including conservative legal scholars,” 

“I’m not going to support somebody who’s been convicted of a serious felony, or who is disqualified under our Constitution,” Hutchinson added, as he received both boos and cheers from the audience at the debate, a Fox News-hosted showdown in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

President Biden’s chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan two years ago, which led to the death of 13 U.S. service members, marked a political turning point in the presidency that could haunt Biden’s re-election chances in 2024.

Wednesday marks two years since the U.S. military’s hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan as the Taliban took control the country in a matter of days.

Biden on Saturday honored the service members who were killed during the terrorist bombing at the Kabul airport on Aug. 26, 2021, saying they were killed “while performing a noble mission on behalf of our nation.” 

“We grieve with them, we honor them, and we will always continue to support them,” he said.

BIDEN’S TREATMENT OF GOLD STAR FAMILIES UNDER RENEWED SCRUTINY: ‘TOTAL DISREGARD’

However, a new book titled, “Kabul: The Untold Story of Biden’s Fiasco and the American Warriors Who Fought to the End,” argues that the attack outside Abbey Gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport would have never occurred if the Taliban had been prevented from taking over Bagram Air Base, where the bomber, Abdul Rahman al-Logari, had been imprisoned.

“The Taliban freed Logari when it overran Bagram shortly after President Joe Biden abandoned the base despite vocal objections from military commanders,” the book’s authors, James Hasson and Jerry Dunleavy, wrote in an opinion piece for Fox News Digital on Saturday. “If Biden hadn’t rejected military leaders’ advice, Logari would still have been behind bars on August 26, instead of outside Abbey Gate.”

Meanwhile, the Gold Star families of those killed in the Kabul attack who have been fiercely critical of Biden convened again in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday for a roundtable discussion with the House Foreign Affairs Committee called, “Examining the Abbey Gate Terrorist Attack.”

The families attended a congressional forum with the House Foreign Affairs Committee earlier this month when they reported feeling misled and betrayed by their own government and called on Biden administration officials to resign.

“We’ve been lied to about what happened that day as well as to what happened to our children,” Greg Page, father of Marine Corps Corporal Daegan Page, said during Tuesday’s roundtable. “We’ve been lied to about our relationship with The Taliban, who, by the way, have done more to take out the leaders of this attack than our own leadership has.”

The Department of Defense released a statement Tuesday offering condolences to the families but pushed back on claims the attack could have been prevented.

“U.S. military commanders on the ground in Afghanistan made the best decisions and provided their best military advice based off what was known at the time and leaders took appropriate action in response to reported threat streams,” the statement read, in part. “From the investigation at the tactical level, the Abbey Gate attack was not preventable without degrading the mission to maximize the number of evacuees, and the leaders on the ground followed the proper measures and procedures.”

The U.S. Department of State released a damning formal evaluation of the United States’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in June, claiming that both former President Trump and President Biden had “insufficient senior-level consideration” of what could go wrong during a withdrawal.

“The decisions of both President Trump and President Biden to end the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan had serious consequences for the viability of the Afghan government and its security,” the report stated. “Those decisions are beyond the scope of this review, but the AAR team found that during both administrations there was insufficient senior-level consideration of worst-case scenarios and how quickly those might follow.”

The White House downplayed the report ahead of its release, placing the blame on Trump, despite Biden telling Americans after Afghanistan’s fall that “the buck stops with me.”

Biden continued to defend himself after the report came out, telling a reporter, “I said al Qaeda would not be there. I said we’d get help from the Taliban. What’s happening now? What’s going on? Read your press. I was right.”

TWO YEARS AFTER AFGHANISTAN AIRPORT ATTACK, 13 AMERICANS NEVER HAD TO DIE

Biden’s decision to pull troops from Afghanistan faced widespread global backlash after Taliban insurgents retook the country in a matter of days on Aug. 15, 2021, essentially winning the war 20 years after their ouster by U.S.-led forces. Just a month earlier, Biden told Americans that the likelihood of a Taliban takeover was “highly unlikely.”

On Aug. 18, 2021, three days after the Taliban seized the capital of Kabul and forced the U.S. Embassy there to evacuate, Biden told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that intelligence did not indicate the Afghan government would quickly collapse — despite reports stating that is exactly what the intelligence predicted. The president also falsely claimed that “no one’s being killed” in Afghanistan despite reports at that time of at least seven deaths amid the chaos at Kabul’s airport.

Then, on Aug. 26, 2021, during the U.S. military’s mass evacuation at the Kabul airport, suicide bombers killed 183 people, including 13 U.S. service members. The U.S. retaliated by launching two drone strikes against suspected ISIS-K terrorists, one of which ended up killing 10 Afghan civilians, including seven children.

The military evacuation, which required thousands of additional U.S. troops on the ground and significant cooperation from the Taliban to complete, ended a day ahead of deadline on Aug. 30, 2021, leaving behind hundreds of U.S. citizens and tens of thousands of Afghan allies, despite Biden’s promise days earlier to “get them all out.” 

After the evacuation, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee there were only 100 Americans citizens left in Afghanistan who wanted to leave, but the State Department confirmed nearly a year later that more than 800 American citizens and at least 600 legal permanent residents of the U.S. had been evacuated since the withdrawal.

Critics immediately demanded that heads roll for the Afghanistan debacle, with calls for the firings of Blinken, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, but Biden has declined to fire a single official over the pullout.

“We were told lies, given incomplete reports, incorrect reports, total disrespect,” Kelly Barnett, mother of Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, said during the July hearing. “I was told to my face he died on impact. That’s not true. The only reason that I know this is because witnesses told me the truth. I was lied to and basically told to shut up.” 

Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui’s father, Steve Nikoui, accused Biden of using his Marine son “as a pawn so we can meet his Sept. 11th deadline and get the optics he wanted.”

BIDEN ADMIN ROILED BY CRISES ON AFGHANISTAN, BORDER, INFLATION, COVID – BUT HEADS YET TO ROLL

Biden campaigned in 2020 on his decades of foreign policy experience with promises to repair the U.S. standing on the world stage after four years of the Trump administration. However, his decision to act unilaterally in the Afghanistan withdrawal without first consulting his NATO allies also sparked widespread backlash abroad, including from top officials in the U.K., Germany, Italy and France, among others who called it a betrayal.

Biden’s critics have compared the withdrawal to the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War and have said Biden’s foreign policy blunders have given the green light to authoritarian leaders to act aggressively across the globe.

For instance, just two months after the Afghanistan withdrawal, Russian President Vladimir Putin renewed a major buildup of troops near the Ukrainian border in October 2021. Russia invaded Ukraine months later on Feb. 24, 2022, in a bloody and economically devastating war that continues today.

Before what turned out to be a watershed moment in his presidency, Biden was enjoying high approval ratings on issues ranging from the economy to his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Gallup, Biden’s approval rating peaked in April 2021, shortly after he took office, but it saw a dramatic 6-point drop in the weeks following the Afghanistan withdrawal and has been on a virtual plateau ever since.

Biden’s foreign policy blunders, starting with Afghanistan, have caught up with him in the polls. A Gallup poll released last week shows Biden with a 38% approval rating on foreign policy, with 59% disapproving.

Biden’s withdrawal could play a significant role in the 2024 presidential campaign, as Afghanistan descends further into totalitarianism and poverty under Taliban rule.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, who is running for the 2024 GOP nomination, said last week that Biden has weakened the U.S. “at home and abroad.”

“That disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan has emboldened the enemies of freedom,” Pence reportedly told CNN. “We have war raging in Eastern Europe, China continues to menace in the Asia Pacific and here at home.”

Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor who is also running for president as a Republican, said Tuesday that the world is “less safe” than it was two years ago.

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“Two years after the fall of Kabul and Joe Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, the world is less safe, our enemies are emboldened, and our allies are questioning America’s commitments,” a statement from Haley’s presidential campaign said.

“Two years ago, the world watched in horror as Joe Biden withdrew from Afghanistan in a way that betrayed our allies and emboldened our enemies,” added Haley. “Disaster followed. Thirteen American service members were killed, China grew increasingly aggressive toward Taiwan, Russia invaded Ukraine, and terrorists took over Afghanistan with the help of American equipment and supplies.”

The Biden campaign and White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE: Daniel Cameron, Kentucky’s Republican attorney general and nominee for governor, is upping his attacks against incumbent Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s handling of violent crime across the commonwealth following a major police group flipping its endorsement to the GOP challenger.

Speaking with Fox News Digital just weeks from Election Day in the most highly anticipated race of the year, Cameron touted the Kentucky State Fraternal Order of Police’s (FOP) endorsement flip after endorsing Beshear in 2019, arguing it was the result of the “havoc” unleashed by the governor on Kentucky communities when it came to violent crime.

“I think the Kentucky state FOP, which is the largest law enforcement organization in the state, has shown great confidence in our campaign and our commitment to standing up for our law enforcement community, which is in contrast with Andy Beshear, who only does it when it is convenient,” Cameron said.

“This governor unleashed havoc on our communities in many ways. Here’s a governor that in 2020 let out 1,700 criminals from jail — and a third of those recommitted offenses in our communities,” he said, referencing Beshear’s early release of some inmates amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

RED STATE DEMOCRAT ATTEMPTS TO BUCK TRENDS WITH CONSERVATIVE VOTERS AMID BRUTAL RE-ELECTION FIGHT

The FOP’s flip to Cameron, although significant, isn’t the first time the group has shifted its support between parties. In addition to Beshear in 2019, the group also endorsed the Democratic candidate for governor in 2015 and 2007, but switched to the Republican candidate in 2011. The group’s endorsed candidates in 2011 and 2015 were not elected.

Cameron told Fox that law enforcement wanted “leadership in the governor’s office that’s going to back them not only in word, but also in deed,” and said he would implement policies aimed at recruiting and retaining officers, as well as establish a Kentucky State Police post in Louisville, the largest city in the commonwealth.

Last month, Cameron unveiled a 12-point public safety plan to rein in crime across Kentucky, which includes, in addition to his previously mentioned policies, pursuing the death penalty for someone who murders a police officer, reforming the parole board, increased penalties for drug traffickers who kill Kentuckians, and passing a standalone carjacking statute.

When asked about the plan, Cameron said he wanted it to be a model for other states across the country dealing with increased crime, including Democrat-led states like California, New York and Illinois. 

KENTUCKY CLINIC ADMITS CHILD SEX CHANGE SURGERIES DESPITE DEM GOV’S INSISTENCE PROCEDURES ‘DON’T HAPPEN’

“I certainly want Kentucky to lead the nation on a multitude of factors, whether it’s addressing the issue of violent crime or education,” he said. “But as it pertains specifically to violent crime, I certainly think that putting money behind our effort, meaning making sure that our law enforcement community knows that they are supported with funding and resources so that morale improves amongst their ranks, so they feel like they’re in a position to do their job effectively.” 

“We know from the old adage that if you address the small things, then you can avoid the larger societal issues that arise. And so it is a strong 12-point plan,” he said.

Cameron went on to blast what he called Beshear’s — as well as President Biden’s — lack of action to address the issue of fentanyl pouring onto American streets from abroad. 

“Beshear, hasn’t done anything to address this issue or to push back against the Biden administration that has been inept at controlling and maintaining our southern border. [He] is beholden to the far left and to Joe Biden, and so he cannot speak out on these really big issues that are important to our citizens here in Kentucky,” he said.

DEMOCRATS COME OUT SWINGING WITH TOUGH-ON-CRIME STANCE IN DEEP-RED STATE AS REPUBLICANS PLAY CATCH-UP

In addition to the FOP, Cameron has been endorsed by almost 200 law enforcement officials from across the commonwealth. However, Beshear has also received his fair share of law enforcement support.

More than 35 law enforcement officials announced their endorsement of Beshear over Cameron in June, but the latter dismissed that support, saying his “dwarfs” what Beshear has received. Cameron added that his endorsements were evidence that law enforcement policy in the commonwealth needed a new direction.

“That new direction is a governor in the form of me that will stand with them, not just when it’s convenient, but will stand with them when times are challenging, when times are good,” he said. “I’m always going to be there for our law enforcement community because I know at the end of the day, support for our law enforcement community means that we can keep our streets safe of crime and drugs. Andy Beshear doesn’t understand that.”

When reached for comment, Beshear’s campaign slammed Cameron for his claims that violent crime has continued to increase across the commonwealth, pointing to his role as attorney general during the period he says crime has risen.

DEMOCRATS CELEBRATE, BIDEN FUNDRAISES OFF TRUMP ARREST

“Daniel Cameron has refused to take any responsibility for crime as attorney general and helped cover for Matt Bevin’s indefensible pardons for murderers and a child rapist,” Beshear campaign spokesperson Alex Floyd told Fox, referencing the governor’s Republican predecessor’s controversial pardons ahead of leaving office.

“Under Andy Beshear, violent crime rates are down and pay for state troopers is up. Unlike Daniel Cameron’s record of covering for criminals and lying about grand jury proceedings, Andy Beshear actually delivered pay raises for law enforcement – leading to the largest Kentucky State Police recruiting class in years,” he added.

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Floyd’s statement about violent crime being down in Kentucky was in reference to the report on the commonwealth’s 2022 crime statistics released last month that showed a double-digit drop in homicides, robberies and drug offenses from 2021.

The report initially showed a drop of 33.4% in reported homicides, but revelations that Jefferson County, which contains Louisville, undercounted murders reported by the police department brought the reduction to 17.9%, still a double-digit drop from the previous year.

Congress has never been in session when various grand juries around the nation have indicted former President Trump on a host of charges.

It doesn’t matter whether it was New York, Miami, Washington or Atlanta. Lawmakers have never been at the Capitol when a grand jury handed up the historic indictments for the former president.

Why does it matter whether Trump received word of an indictment when Congress was out of session? That means there weren’t hordes of Capitol Hill reporters roaming the congressional complex in search of reaction and commentary from GOP lawmakers.

Congressional Republicans – whether they embraced the former president or not – abhorred the incessant questioning by reporters about his tweets, antics, criticisms and other commentary. Some GOPers tried to ignore this. But in the two and a half years since Trump left the White House, those lawmakers who are Trump loyalists are more apt to go to the mat to defend him. Many now openly question whether President Biden and Democrats are trying to “steal” the election by prosecuting their political opponents.

SPEAKER’S LOBBY: ELECTION STRATEGY IF 2024 IS TRUMP VS BIDEN REMATCH

This is a new dynamic on Capitol Hill heading into the presidential election of 2024.

This talk from Republicans certainly builds up the GOP base and voters aligned with Trump. However, it puts other Republicans who want to build real estate between themselves, the party or their brand in a bad spot. The four court cases moving ahead are going to be long and tedious. It’s going to be impossible for Republicans to ignore questions this time around regarding legal jeopardy. Moreover, many of the questions tied to the Georgia prosecution will focus on efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Many rank-and-file Republicans don’t want to endure a relitigation of the Capitol riot or purported election fraud – repeatedly proven false.

And this is the conundrum facing congressional Republicans as we head into 2024. Yet again, how do they deal with former President Trump potentially at the top of the ticket? That’s to say nothing of the heartburn some Republicans anticipate if Trump costs GOPers races down ballot as he did in 2018, 2020 and 2022.

Lawmakers who support Trump will resort to what they’ve done for a while. They’ll vocally support the former president. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and members of the Freedom Caucus will do all they can to throw shade at the Biden administration, Special Counsel Jack Smith and Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis.

DEMOCRATS CELEBRATE, BIDEN FUNDRAISES OFF TRUMP ARREST

But that doesn’t do much for Republican lawmakers who want a clean break from the former president. That’s to say nothing of those who – at best – are willing to go along simply because this is where the Republican Party stands at the moment.

So how do GOP lawmakers who are wary of the former president finesse this gauntlet in 2023 and 2024?

Republicans have struggled with this question since Trump hit the national stage in 2015. It’s not even clear if some Republicans want to address the question. It’s more an air of resignation.

Many Republicans are willing to just go along to get along. Some are scared to speak frankly about the former president, lest they draw his ire or the wrath of his advocates. But other Republicans who represent battleground districts or states face another 15 months – or more – of having to wrestle with the “Trump question” on Capitol Hill. Some of these inquiries about the former president and his legal troubles will naturally permeate the halls of Congress as lawmakers return to session in the coming weeks. The “Trump question” is just too big to duck this time.

GOP LAWMAKER UNVEILS PUSH TO BLOCK FUNDING FOR TRUMP PROSECUTIONS

However …

The various Trump trials may have another impact.

It’s possible they could consume so much news oxygen that Republicans who are leery of the former president don’t have to comment much at all. There is a finite amount of news bandwidth. Running to lawmakers with questions about a motion in a given trial, testimony or new piece of evidence might not resonate on Capitol Hill. Much of the press corps will focus their attention strictly on the courtroom. Congressional reaction may be a secondary or tertiary angle at best.

That’s not to say that reporters will give GOPers a pass. Particularly revealing testimony could make it a challenge for even some Trump loyalists to continue to defend him so vehemently. Watch to see if the former president’s approval ratings start to slip in polls as the trials progress. That could alter the entire calculus.

The toughest questions for lawmakers tied to Trump will center around the Capitol riot and evidence to overturn the election. That will hinge on evidence and testimony presented in the courtroom. There may be an inherent advantage for Republicans who try to keep Trump at arms length. They appear more justified in the minds of some voters – and particularly swing voters – for mounting opposition to the former president.

AUGUST IS OFTEN THE STRANGEST MONTH IN POLITICS, AND THIS YEAR IS NO DIFFERENT

Mild as it may be.

Let’s look at this from an historical perspective.

Some presidential contests have played out on Capitol Hill. Many of the candidates in a given year may have come from Congress. Think 2008 when everyone from Barack Obama (then a senator) to Joe Biden (then a senator) to Hillary Clinton (then a senator) to Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., was running. Consider battles over legislation dictating the contours of a presidential contest. Republicans tried to run against President Obama in 2012 after the 2010 passage of Obamacare. Democrats thought that Republicans were damaged in 1988 after the Iran-Contra hearings of 1987.

It’s doubtful that the 2024 presidential campaign landscape is on Capitol Hill. It’s in the courtroom – wherever a trial or a hearing involving former President Trump is underway.

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It may have mattered before whether or not Congress was in session when the indictments appeared for Trump. There wasn’t as much to say if lawmakers weren’t in Washington.

But this is a different paradigm. It won’t matter whether Congress is in session or not when news hits about the former president’s legal woes. That’s because when it comes to Donald Trump, he’s always in session.

District Attorney Fani Willis filed a motion Tuesday afternoon asking the Fulton County, Georgia, judge presiding over the case against former President Donald Trump and 18 others to expedite the trial.

All 19 defendants – Trump, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, his former attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro, and others – are being tried together on charges related to Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. 

Willis’ motion asks that the defendants be given a deadline to be able to sever themselves from the larger case.

GEORGIA INDICTMENT: FIRST TRUMP CO-DEFENDANT PLEADS ‘NOT GUILTY’

“The State of Georgia further respectfully requests that the Court set a deadline for any Defendant wishing to file a motion to sever, allow the parties, including the State of Georgia, sufficient time to brief the severance issue, and hold a hearing on any filed motion to sever so that the Court may consider the factors set forth in Cain and its progeny, as required by Georgia law,” the motion states.

Willis’ motion Tuesday came after Chesebro requested a speedy trial, and Judge Scott McAfee set his trial date for Oct. 23. Powell asked for a speedy trial shortly after, prompting Willis’ response.

“The State maintains its position that severance is improper at this juncture and that all Defendants should be tried together, but at an absolute minimum, the Court should set Defendant Powell’s trial and that of any other defendant who may file a speedy trial demand on the same date as Defendant Chesebro’s,” the motion states.

All 19 defendants surrendered to the Fulton County Jail and were booked ahead of deadline last week.

In addition to alleged RICO violations, the charges include Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer; Conspiracy to Commit Impersonating a Public Officer; Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree; Conspiracy to Commit False Statements and Writings; Conspiracy to Commit Filing False Documents; Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree; Filing False Documents; and Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer. 

Not everyone faces the same charges.

The former president, specifically, was charged in Fulton County with 13 counts: One count of violation of the Georgia RICO Act, three counts of criminal solicitation, six counts of criminal conspiracy, one count of filing false documents and two counts of making false statements.

McAfee set bond for the former president, and current 2024 GOP presidential frontrunner, at $200,000.

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It’s the fourth criminal case against Trump since March.

Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo, Brooke Singman and Claudia Kelly-Bazan contributed to this report.

South Carolina voters are divided over whether former President Donald Trump should have been charged in Georgia as he accelerates his 2024 campaign.

Trump, along with 18 co-defendants, was indicted by District Attorney Fani Willis on 13 charges in relation to his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

The former president turned himself in on Thursday and was booked into the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta.

“I felt like it was very political,” a South Carolinian told Fox News Digital when asked about Trump’s controversial indictment. “Yes, there is precedent for wrongdoing, but instead of actually doing it the proper way, they’re using it as a political tool rather than doing the right thing.”

DONALD TRUMP MUGSHOT RELEASED AFTER GEORGIA BOOKING, FIRST EVER FOR A FORMER PRESIDENT

“Nobody should be above the law,” another person told Fox. “I’m neither a Democrat nor Republican. But if you decide that somebody’s not supposed to [do something], just like me — a normal citizen — I would go to jail. So, if he’d done something wrong, and he’s convicted, that’s where he needs to go.”

Other potential voters in Columbia, South Carolina, believe the charges to be politically driven.

CONSERVATIVES UNLOAD AFTER TRUMP BOOKED INTO GEORGIA JAIL IN 4TH INDICTMENT: ‘SICKENING’

“The grounds that they’re using to indict him is ridiculous,” someone said of the charges. “He’s entitled to his opinion on the 12th Amendment. And you have Stacey Abrams that denied the election and still denies the election, but yet Trump denies it and they indict him. And it’s just political interference.”

“How do you indict him for asking questions?” another individual said, defending the former president. “I mean, what is America going to come to if a guy that’s running for president, and he’s leading the opposition party, and he gets indicted? I don’t think that’s very fair. I don’t. I hate that America has come to that. That scares me.”

“I think it’s a distraction. I think that they don’t want him to run again,” another said, referring to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.

The first-ever mugshot of a former president was captured of Trump after he turned himself in, and one person spoke of getting the image “framed and put it up in the house.”

The charges in Georgia mark the fourth indictment against the former president since he launched his 2024 presidential campaign.

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“This is all about election interference,” Trump told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview after the mugshot was released. “It all comes through Washington and the DOJ and ‘Crooked’ Joe Biden. Nothing like this has ever happened in our country before.”

Fox News’ Aubrie Spady, Brandon Gillespie and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE: Former Trump attorney John Eastman warned that “freedom of speech” is “gone” in an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham Tuesday night.

Former President Trump, Eastman, and 17 others were charged out of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ investigation into alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.

GEORGIA INDICTMENT: 2 TRUMP CO-DEFENDANTS BOOKED IN FULTON COUNTY JAIL

“We did nothing wrong,” Eastman told Ingraham in a multi-part interview. Part one of the interview will air at 7:00 p.m. ET Tuesday on the “Ingraham Angle” on Fox News Channel.

“We were challenging the election for what even Vice President Pence described as serious allegations of fraud and numerous instances of officials violating state law,” Eastman said. “And if we can’t speak out about that, then our freedom of speech, our right to petition the government for redress of grievances are gone.”

Eastman was charged with nine counts of crimes, including racketeering, conspiracy to commit forgery, and filing false documents. He turned himself in to the Fulton County Jail last week and accepted a bond of $100,000.

TRUMP SAYS GEORGIA INDICTMENT COMES DURING ‘DARK PERIOD’ FOR US, VOWS TO FIX IT BY WINNING

Eastman, a former dean of Chapman University law school in Southern California, is facing charges related to his advice to Trump on how the former president could overturn the 2020 election. 

Eastman has slammed the indictment for targeting attorneys for “zealous advocacy on behalf of their clients,” and said each defendant should be entitled to rely on the advice of lawyers and past legal precedent.

“The people that I was representing had a right to counsel,” Eastman told Ingraham. “And what’s going on here with the bar complaint against everybody involved in any of the litigation, this Fulton County complaint, the unindicted coconspirators in the federal action, they’re trying to stifle people from being able to get representation in election challenges.” 

TRUMP BOOKED AT FULTON COUNTY JAIL AFTER CHARGES STEMMING FROM 2020 ELECTION PROBE

He added: “They’ve made that very clear that that’s what they’re up to, and we can’t allow it to happen.”

Eastman said that if “disputed questions of constitutional law all of a sudden become criminal, we could throw the entire legal profession, the entire legal academy in jail.” 

“The fact of the matter is, throughout our history, significant leaders in Congress have argued that Congress doesn’t have authority under the 12th Amendment, that the founders specifically designed it that way so that the president wouldn’t owe his job to Congress,” Eastman explained, adding that it is “a core separation of powers principle that the founders adopted.” 

Trump was charged with one count of violation of the Georgia RICO Act, three counts of criminal solicitation, six counts of criminal conspiracy, one count of filing false documents and two counts of making false statements.

Trump has been indicted four times, making him the first president in United States history to face criminal charges.

Willis and Fulton County prosecutors charged Trump’s senior political aides.

MEADOWS, GIULIANI, OTHERS INDICTED ALONG WITH TRUMP IN GEORGIA 2020 ELECTION INTERFERENCE PROBE

In addition to Eastman, former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and top attorneys Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro, and Jeff Clark, were charged out of the investigation. 

Others indicted include: Georgia lawyer Robert Cheeley, former campaign strategist Michael Roman, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party David Shafer, publicist Trevian Kutti, former Georgia elections supervisor Misty Hampton Hayes, the VP of Black Conservative Federation Harrison William Prescott Floyd, Stephen Lee, former Georgia GOP official Cathleen Alston Latham, Shawn Micah Tresher Still, Scott Graham Hall, and Ray Stallings Smith III. 

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All of the defendants face at least one count of violating the Georgia RICO Act—the Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations Act. 

Other charges the defendants are facing include Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer; Conspiracy to Commit Impersonating a Public Officer; Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree; Conspiracy to Commit False Statements and Writings; Conspiracy to Commit Filing False Documents; Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree; Filing False Documents; and Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer.

Separately, in his investigation into alleged election interference, Special Counsel Jack Smith charged Trump with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

In the indictment, Smith describes six “co-conspirators,” but those co-conspirators have not yet been charged, and it is unclear if they will be. John Eastman, Giuliani, Powell, Clark, and Chesebro have been identified as co-conspirators. The sixth co-conspirator is unknown.

EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump has raised more than $9.4 million since being processed and taking a mugshot in Fulton County, Georgia last week—bringing the Trump campaign’s fundraising numbers for the month of August to more than $20 million, Fox News Digital has learned.

The former president and current 2024 Republican front-runner turned himself in last Thursday night at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Ga. after being charged out of District Attorney Fani Willis’ investigation into his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state.

TRUMP SAYS TAKING MUGSHOT WAS ‘NOT A COMFORTABLE FEELING, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU’VE DONE NOTHING WRONG’

The Trump campaign began selling mugshot merchandise following the event, which a source said “spiked” the fundraising numbers.

Fox News Digital has learned that 36,000 t-shirts with Trump’s historic mugshot printed have been sold, bringing in more than $1.7 million.

The Trump campaign also sold 24,000 mugshot coffee mugs, bringing in $864,000 and 8,600 mugshot posters, raking in $352,000.

TRUMP BOOKED AT FULTON COUNTY JAIL AFTER CHARGES STEMMING FROM 2020 ELECTION PROBE

The Trump campaign told Fox News Digital that all of these funds are “earmarked” for political and campaign activities, and will not be used to cover legal expenses.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital last Thursday after processing, Trump said Georgia officials “insisted” he have a mugshot taken. He said that doing so was “not a comfortable feeling—especially when you’ve done nothing wrong.” 

TRUMP CAMPAIGN RAISES $7.1 MILLION IN FUNDRAISING SINCE MUGSHOT WAS TAKEN THURSDAY, FOX NEWS CONFIRMS

The fundraising blitz in August also comes after Trump was indicted out of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into alleged interference in the 2020 election.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges, which included conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.

Trump’s arraignment in Georgia is expected to take place in September. He is expected to plead not guilty.

House Republicans are extending an investigation into Attorney General Merrick Garland’s appointment of Special Counsel David Weiss to oversee Hunter Biden’s federal case. 

A joint letter sent by the chairmen of the Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees said Weiss’s elevation from Delaware U.S. Attorney to special counsel “raises numerous concerns,” claiming it undercuts Garland and Weiss’s previous insistence that the prosecutor was already operating independently without political pressure.

“Given the extremely serious nature of these issues, the Committees expect unfettered cooperation with our oversight from both you and the Department,” the letter said. 

They questioned why Weiss opened the investigation in 2018, after being appointed by former President Donald Trump, but was only made special counsel this summer.

HUNTER BIDEN TRAVELED TO AT LEAST 15 COUNTRIES WITH VP DAD: ‘I CAN CATCH A RIDE WITH HIM’

“It is not clear why you have only now, after the investigation has been going on for five years, opted to appoint Mr. Weiss as special counsel, especially after you and the Department represented that Mr. Weiss already had ‘ultimate’ authority over the case,” the lawmakers said.

“Indeed, the only explanation you have offered is that ‘extraordinary circumstances’ require the appointment. The order appointing Mr. Weiss as special counsel is similarly lacking in any meaningful explanation.”

COMER DEMANDS NATIONAL ARCHIVES FORK OVER UNREDACTED EMAILS INVOLVING HUNTER BIDEN, UKRAINE, BURISMA

The Republicans’ letter primarily cited the whistleblower testimony of IRS agent Gary Shapley, who was on the Hunter Biden investigation for a time and who told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that Weiss’s investigation was intentionally stymied by the Biden administration. 

He and fellow IRS agent Joseph Ziegler testified before Congress last month that they believe investigators were blocked from probing any potential ties between Hunter Biden’s alleged misdeeds and his father, President Joe Biden. They also accused the Justice Department of limiting their investigation outside of the normal boundaries of procedure. 

Republicans also attacked Weiss in the wake of a now-defunct plea agreement between the Justice Department and Hunter Biden that they categorized as a “sweetheart deal.” Weiss was appointed as special counsel just weeks after the deal fell apart and the president’s son pleaded “not guilty” to two federal tax charges in late July.

HOUSE GOP RELEASES BANK RECORDS ON HUNTER BIDEN PAYMENTS FROM RUSSIAN, KAZAKH OLIGARCHS, TOTAL CLEARS $20M

“The Department pulled punches in this investigation, handicapping veteran investigators and preventing them from freely pursuing the facts,” the Monday letter said. “Now you have appointed as special counsel an individual who oversaw all the investigation’s irregularities, who spent the past two months claiming that he did not need special counsel status, and who was responsible for the plea agreement that collapsed in court and is widely viewed as an embarrassment for the Department. In light of Mr. Weiss’s record leading this investigation, we have concerns with his appointment as special counsel.”

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Garland said when he named Weiss as special counsel that the prosecutor had asked for the title himself.

The House Republicans are now calling on him to hand over all communications and documents related to Weiss’s special counsel appointment from when Biden took over the White House until now, with a deadline of Sept. 11.

The letter was signed by Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo., Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Ky., and Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

A new political advertisement aimed at promoting Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., links the conservative Democratic senator to former President Donald Trump. 

Manchin is up for re-election in 2024. Though he has not formally disclosed his planned political future, he is already expected to face one of the toughest Senate fights of his career in deep-red West Virginia if he seeks re-election. The state’s popular governor, Jim Justice, and House GOP Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., are both running in the GOP primary to face him.

But a new six-figure ad campaign by Duty and Honor PAC, which is affiliated with the Democrat-linked Senate Majority PAC, is capitalizing on Manchin’s victories for coal miners and features at least one other popular Republican to West Virginians – Trump. 

“When miners’ pension checks were being chipped away, Joe Manchin protected our hard-earned benefits, and worked with President Trump to protect over 100,000 miners’ pensions,” a voiceover said in one 30-second ad spot.

DEMOCRATS GROW WORRIED ABOUT POTENTIAL MANCHIN THIRD PARTY 2024 PRESIDENTIAL BID

“And when gridlock in Washington threatened to take away our health care, Sen. Manchin made sure nobody touched our benefits and helped secure health insurance for 22,000 miners. That’s the West Virginia way. Tell Manchin to keep fighting for West Virginia.”

Shorter versions of the ad are also being rolled out, Fox News Digital was told. 

MANCHIN BACKTRACKS, DOWNPLAYS INVOLVEMENT IN INFLATION REDUCTION ACT AFTER CLAIMING HE ‘WROTE’ IT

Manchin is the only statewide elected Democrat left in West Virginia, which Trump carried by nearly 40 points over President Biden in the 2020 race. Trump is running for a second term as president in 2024.

But Manchin said in a radio interview recently that he is “seriously” considering leaving the Democratic Party altogether.

“I have to have peace of mind, basically. The brand has become so bad, the ‘D’ brand and ‘R’ brand,” Manchin told West Virginia Metro News’ “Talkline” host Hoppy Kercheval. “In West Virginia, the ‘D’ brand because it’s [the] national brand. It’s not the Democrats in West Virginia, it’s the Democrats in Washington.”

MANCHIN ON POTENTIAL THIRD-PARTY 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RUN: ‘IF I GET IN THE RACE, I’M GOING TO WIN’

At the same time, Manchin has generated speculation as a top prospect for a presidential ticket under the new third-party group No Labels, after he appeared at an event it hosted in New Hampshire and refused to rule out a White House bid there.

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Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., attacked Manchin on social media over the new ad linking the Democrat to his father.

“Don’t be fooled – There’s no bigger fraud in the US Senate than Joe Manchin,” he said on Twitter, formerly X. “He pretends to be a Pro-Trump moderate whenever he has an election coming up in West Virginia, but when it actually matters, he always does exactly what Chuck Schumer and the Dems tell him to do in DC!!”

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., is calling for Staten Island to break away from the rest of New York City over Democrat Mayor Eric Adams’ handling of the migrant crisis. 

“What we’re simply asking is, for common sense. We want the mayor to end this. Stop doing what you’re doing and listen. Secure the damn border. We do not have a border. We do not have a nation,” Malliotakis said during a protest at a former Catholic school turned migrant shelter in the borough.

“If you’re not going to do your job, mayor, then let Staten Island secede.” 

The call was met with cheers and applause from the hundreds of attendees. Staten Island makes up a large part of Malliotakis’ district, which also includes part of Brooklyn. It’s a district that mostly voted for former President Donald Trump in 2020 despite New York City’s blue stronghold status.

FORMER NEW YORK CITY GOP MAYORAL CANDIDATE CURTIS SLIWA ARRESTED DURING QUEENS PROTEST: REPORT

“We didn’t vote for your policies. We should not be subjected to your policies. We’re going to keep on turning out. Let Staten Island secede,” Malliotakis said of state- and citywide Democrats.

The protest was not organized by Malliotakis or her staff, her office told Fox News Digital Tuesday. Her office also noted that the push for Staten Island to break away from the other four boroughs has been ongoing for decades.

NYC MAYOR ADAMS ANNOUNCES NEW TAXPAYER-FUNDED MIGRANT TENT CITY

The two-term GOP lawmaker has led Republican pushback to New York City officials’ handling of the worsening migrant crisis. 

She spoke with Fox News Digital earlier this month after several people were arrested while protesting reported plans to convert a nursing home into an overflow shelter for undocumented migrants. She called for the protesters to be let go and compared it to how she believed Black Lives Matter protesters were treated in 2020.

LONG ISLAND LEADER REFUSES TO LET NYC MOVE MIGRANTS INTO FORMER NHL ARENA

“Arrests were made at the direction of the mayor, obviously. And it’s frustrating because, you know, the summer of 2020, we had rioters who assaulted police officers, who looted, who created all sorts of disruption, and all their charges were dropped. So, I’m calling for equal treatment,” Malliotakis said at the time. 

Officials from both parties in New York have repeatedly called on the federal government to provide more aid as migrants continue arriving to the city, many of whom have been sleeping on the streets. 

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But the Biden administration replied Monday in a pair of letters to Adams and New York state Gov. Kathy Hochul from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

In the letters, obtained by several news outlets, Mayorkas both defended Biden officials’ response and fired off a list of “structural issues” the state had in managing the crisis.

Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Tuesday released a statement vowing “accountability” for the families of those killed in the Abbey Gate bombing two years ago during the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“We owe Gold Star families everything. We owe them transparency, we owe them honesty, we owe them accountability. We owe them the truth about what happened to their loved ones,” Milley, who has received sharp criticism for his role in the botched Afghanistan withdrawal, said in a statement to Fox News.

The U.S. on Saturday marked the two-year anniversary of the attack outside the Abbey Gate at Kabul Airport during the chaotic military evacuation from Afghanistan in 2021. At least 183 people were killed in the attack, including 13 U.S. service members.

AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL: A POLITICAL TURNING POINT FOR WAY PUBLIC FELT ABOUT BIDEN

The Biden administration took heavy criticism for the chaos that accompanied the withdrawal, which was in turn followed by a takeover of the country by the Taliban. Republicans in particular have continued to demand officials be held accountable for the withdrawal.  

MOTHER OF MARINE KILLED IN KABUL SAYS BIDEN ROLLED HIS ‘F— EYES’ WHEN SHE REMEMBERED SON DURING MEETING

Some Gold Star families have also criticized the administration, and said they were given incomplete or incorrect information. The House Foreign Affairs Committee was holding a roundtable with Gold Star families on Tuesday afternoon, just as Milley’s statement was released.

Milley addressed some of the claims about incorrect information in his statement.

“I trust the Army, Navy and Marine Corps did the best they could in briefing the families who had loved ones killed at Abbey Gate. I believe the briefers gave every piece of information that they could. If there was issues with that, we need to take whatever corrective action is necessary,” he said. “And our hearts go out to those families.”

He continued: “This is a personal thing for all of us in uniform. We don’t like what happened in Afghanistan. We don’t like the outcome of Afghanistan. We owe it to the families to take care of them. Their sacrifices were not in vain.”

He then said that for those who served in the mission, “the cost in blood was high, but every single one of us who served in Afghanistan should hold our heads high. 

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“Each served with skill, dedication and honor. For two decades our nation was not attacked from Afghanistan – that was our mission, and each one can be rightly proud of their service,” he continued.

This is a breaking story; check back for updates

Ray Stallings Smith III, a former Trump campaign lawyer, has pleaded “not guilty” to the election meddling charges brought against him in Fulton County, Georgia. 

Smith’s attorney filed court documents Monday that waived his formal arraignment and entered a “not guilty” plea to each of the 12 counts in District Attorney Fani Willis’ racketeering case against former President Trump. Trump and his 18 co-defendants are accused of violating Georgia’s racketeering law in an alleged plot to overturn President Biden’s victory in the state after the 2020 election. 

“It is counsel’s understanding that by filing this waiver of arraignment, prior to the arraignment date, that Mr. Smith and the undersigned counsel are excused from appearing at the arraignment calendar on September 6, 2023,” the document states.  

An attorney for Smith did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DEMS’ CLAIMS THAT TRUMP IS ‘DISQUALIFIED’ BY 14TH AMENDMENT NOT ‘GOING TO FLY’: EX-CLINTON SCANDAL PROSECUTOR

Smith is the first of Trump’s co-defendants to enter a plea in the Georgia 2020 election case. By waiving his arraignment, Smith and his attorney will not be required to appear in court next week when the other defendants are expected to enter their pleas. 

Fulton County prosecutors charged Trump and all 18 others with at least one count of violating the Georgia RICO Act—the Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations Act. 

Other charges Trump and the defendants are facing include Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer; Conspiracy to Commit Impersonating a Public Officer; Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree; Conspiracy to Commit False Statements and Writings; Conspiracy to Commit Filing False Documents; Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree; Filing False Documents; and Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer.

MARK MEADOWS TO MAKE FIRST COURT APPEARANCE IN GEORGIA ELECTION CASE

The 97-page indictment contains 12 counts against Smith, who is accused of illegally asking state lawmakers to appoint a different set of electors from Georgia who would cast their votes for Trump in the Electoral College.

In 2020, Smith participated in state legislative hearings on behalf of the Trump campaign, arguing it was “impossible” to certify Biden’s victory. 

“Because of irregularities and abject failure of the secretary of state of this state and the counties to properly conduct of the election it is impossible — impossible — to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election,” Smith told the Georgia State Senate Judiciary Subcommittee at the time. He argued that Georgia’s election was “flawed” and claimed state lawmakers held the power to choose presidential electors in the event of gross “irregularities” in a presidential election. 

TRUMP CO-DEFENDANT, HEAD OF BLACK VOICES FOR TRUMP DENIED BAIL AND WILL REMAIN IN PRISON

Smith presented the Trump campaign’s case that Georgia election code was not followed in 2020 to lawmakers— claims tossed out of court — and interviewed several witnesses put forward by Trump’s defense team. He now faces three counts of soliciting a public officer to violate their oath and two counts of making false statements at the hearings. 

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Smith also faces six counts in connection to an alleged scheme to submit a false slate of electors, including forgery, two false statement charges and several conspiracy counts. 

Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report. 

The leader of the California Senate said Monday she will step down from her leadership post, ending an historic run as the first woman and first openly gay person to lead the upper legislative chamber of the nation’s most populous state.

Toni Atkins, a Democrat from San Diego, said she will step down next year. Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat from the state’s North Coast region, will replace Atkins as the Senate’s president pro tempore.

Atkins made the announcement at a news conference with McGuire and most of the Senate Democratic Caucus standing behind her. The display of unity was in stark contrast to the leadership battle that embroiled the state Assembly last year, when new speaker Robert Rivas replaced former speaker Anthony Rendon.

THE SPEAKER’S LOBBY: ELECTION STRATEGY IF 2024 IS A TRUMP VS. BIDEN REMATCH

Atkins cannot seek re-election because of term limits and must leave the Senate at the end of next year. She said the caucus chose to announce the transition now because “a long, drawn-out successor campaign would not be in the best interest of the Senate nor the people who we were elected to represent.”

“We have a lot of work to get through in the next few weeks,” Atkins said, referring to the chaotic final days of the Legislative session when lawmakers will vote on hundreds of bills. “This work does not mix well with internal caucus politics being at the top of everyone’s minds.”

The leader of the California Senate is one of the most powerful positions in state politics, acting as the body’s chief negotiator with the governor and the Assembly speaker on key legislation and the state’s more than $300 billion annual operating budget.

Atkins is one of only three people in history to hold both top spots in the Legislature. She has led the Senate since 2018. Before that, she was speaker of the state Assembly from 2014 to 2016.

McGuire was first elected to the Senate in 2014. He has been an outspoken critic of Pacific Gas & Electric, the nation’s largest utility, whose equipment has sparked a number of massive wildfires that have killed dozens of people and destroyed thousands of homes.

In 2019, McGuire took on former Republican President Donald Trump by authoring a law that required candidates for president to disclose their tax returns as a condition of appearing on the ballot in California. The part of the law that applied to presidential candidates was ultimately struck down by the courts. But the law still applies to candidates for governor.

McGuire praised Atkins as “a California trailblazer” and pledged to carry on her work, including focusing on climate issues, housing and access to abortion. But McGuire made it clear Atkins was still in charge.

BERNIE SANDERS STICKS UP FOR FELLOW OCTOGENARIAN BIDEN: ‘SEEMED FINE TO ME’

“There is one leader, one leader at a time. And our leader here in the California state Senate is Toni Atkins,” he said. “The pro tem and I, we are unified in our transition. And we can make this promise to each and every one of you. The next three weeks, getting these bills off the floor and into the governor’s desk is going to be smooth, successful and focused on the success of the Golden State.”

McGuire is known throughout the state Capitol for his seemingly unending energy, often referred to by his nickname of the “Energizer Bunny,” according to veteran lobbyist Chris Micheli.

His ascension to the Senate’s top post means the Legislature will have two leaders who represent mostly rural parts of California, a rare occurrence in a state where political power has historically been concentrated in the dense urban areas of Southern California and the San Francisco Bay.

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Rivas, who took over as Assembly speaker earlier this summer, represents a district in the state’s mostly agricultural Central Coast region. McGuire’s district stretches from the northern tip of the San Francisco Bay to the Oregon border.

“I think these are parts of the state that deserve a little more attention and focus,” said Jennifer Fearing, a longtime lobbyist whose firm — Fearless Advocacy — represents nonprofit organizations. “I look forward to it, what the difference their leadership can make on addressing longstanding disparities.”

McGuire’s term in office will be a short one. He is required to leave office after 2026 because of term limits.

Democrats control 32 of the 40 seats in the state Legislature, giving them total control of what bills can pass. State Sen. Brian Jones, the Republican leader, said McGuire has “respect for differing viewpoints.”

“He has shown a willingness to work in a bipartisan manner and we are excited to continue this cooperation,” Jones said.

One of the biggest moments from last week’s first Republican presidential debate appeared to echo a similar moment that occurred during a primary debate in the 2016 election cycle.

Political outsider Vivek Ramaswamy turned heads at the Fox News debate Wednesday during a discussion whether human behavior creates climate change.

“I’m the only person on this stage who isn’t bought and paid for,” Ramaswamy declared.

That comment elicited intense boos from the audience and sparked a line of attacks from former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. 

However, to some viewers, that exchange was reminiscent of one then-candidate Donald Trump had with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at a primary debate in February 2016. 

CNN, POLITICO JOURNALISTS REPORTEDLY SAID VIVEK RAMASWAMY ‘COULD BE OUR NEXT PRESIDENT’

Bush went after Trump over an accusation that the celebrity billionaire attempted to use eminent domain to take property from an elderly woman in Atlantic City, New Jersey, something he denied.

As Trump was giving his response knocking Bush as being a “tough guy,” Bush interrupted and asked, “How tough is it take property from an elderly woman?”

“Quiet,” Trump scolded Bush while lifting his finger over his mouth. 

VIVEK RAMASWAMY WAS THE MOST GOOGLE-SEARCHED CANDIDATE AT THE GOP DEBATE

Like Ramaswamy, that fueled loud boos from the audience. However, then Trump took aim at the booers themselves.

“That’s all of his donors and special interests out there, it’s what it is,” Trump pointed at the audience, invoking a laugh from Bush.

Trump then accused the RNC of only allotting tickets for the debate to “donors” and “special interests.”

“And by the way, let me just tell you- we needed tickets. You can’t get them. You know who has the tickets? I’m talking about — to the television audience — donors, special interests, the people that are putting up the money,” Trump said, which elicited even more boos. 

“The RNC told us we have all donors in the audience and the reason — excuse me,” Trump scolded the audience for the ongoing booing. “The reason they’re not loving me is I don’t want their money. I’m gonna do the right thing for the American public. I don’t want their money, I don’t need their money, and I’m the only one up here who can say that.”

RAMASWAMY SAYS HE EMBRACES THE MEDIA HEAT AHEAD OF FIRST GOP DEBATE: ‘IT MAKES ME STRONGER AS A CANDIDATE’

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The 2016 debate spat resurfaced after the first GOP showdown of the 2024 presidential primary race, inspiring many on social media to agree that the two moments sound similar — some called it “deja vu.” 

Ramaswamy himself shared the clip with his followers on X, formerly known as Twitter.