NationalWatch

Democratic Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ political opponent debated with an empty podium after Willis skipped the county’s first Democratic Party debate, local reports show. 

Willis is the Georgia district attorney who brought forth the election inference case against former President Trump, charging him and 18 co-defendants with racketeering over allegations they tried to overthrow the 2020 election. Willis became embroiled in controversy when she was accused of having an “improper” relationship with the special counsel she hired, Nathan Wade. 

A judge ordered Willis last month to either remove herself from the case or fire Wade, with Wade ultimately resigning. 

The Fulton County Democratic Party held its first primary debate on Sunday, but Willis was a no-show, leaving her political opponent to take the stage alone, where he criticized his fellow Democrat for hiring a romantic partner for the high-level case. 

ERIC TRUMP WARNS BRAGG, WILLIS ‘WANT TO TORTURE MY FATHER’ BUT NO ONE ‘IS BELIEVING IT’

“That issue is important to us in Fulton County and a lot of people across the country,” Smith said on the stage, Fox 5 reported. 

​​”When you pay one attorney nearly $1 million to handle one case, that leaves the rest of us vulnerable. That hurts everyone in Fulton County,” he said.

FANI WILLIS SHOULD FACE GAG ORDER IN TRUMP ELECTION CASE, SAYS LEGAL ANALYST

Smith did not take issue with Willis prosecuting Trump or the case itself, instead saying Willis has “to do things differently.”

Willis did not attend the debate event, which was sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club, to co-host the second annual “Self Care Fair” with an Atlanta city councilwoman in honor of Crime Victims’ Rights Week. Willis is also focusing on the continued prosecution of Trump, Fox 5 also cited as to why she was not present for the debate. 

AFTER JUDGE’S SCOLDING FOR PLAYING ‘RACE CARD,’ FANI WILLIS SAYS SHE’LL ‘TALK ABOUT IT ANYWAY’

Fox News Digital reached out to Willis’ media team for additional comment on the matter but did not immediately receive a response. 

Willis and Smith will face off in the Democratic primary on May 28. Despite the controversy surrounding the Trump case, local polling shows Willis with strong leads over Smith, Fox 5 reported.  

The Democratic champion of the primary will compete against a Republican challenger on Nov. 5. 

JUDGE IN GEORGIA SLAMS FANI WILLIS’ ‘IMPROPER’ CHURCH SPEECH, ‘PLAYING THE RACE CARD’

Willis and Wade both admitted to the affair amid testimony on the matter, but said they only made their relationship official in 2022, after charges were brought against defendants in the Trump case. Witnesses in the case, however, alleged the pair began their relationship before 2022. 

Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee said last month that there was a “significant appearance of impropriety that infects the current structure of the prosecution team,” but did not find an “actual conflict of interest in this case through her personal relationship and recurring travels with her lead prosecutor.” McAfee ruled that either Willis step aside from the case or Wade be fired. Wade resigned last month. 

JUDGE RULES FANI WILLIS MUST STEP ASIDE FROM TRUMP CASE OR FIRE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR NATHAN WADE

Willis has brushed off criticisms of her affair with Wade, touting herself late last month as the only district attorney with the “courage” to prosecute Trump. 

TRUMP BLASTS FULTON COUNTY PROSECUTOR FANI WILLIS AFTER ROMANTIC PARTNER ALLEGATIONS: ‘TOTALLY COMPROMISED’

“There’s one district attorney in the state – and really around the country – that has had the courage to do this, and she continues to do it,” Willis told FOX 5 Atlanta last month. “The case landed in Fulton County, not by anything that I did, but by the actions of others, and when a case lands in my jurisdiction, I’m going to prosecute it, and that’s the end of that.” 

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Trump, meanwhile, has slammed the case as a “witch hunt” that is led by a “totally compromised” district attorney. 

FIRST ON FOX: A group of Republican senators shared concerns over ideological bias at National Public Radio (NPR), with the organization’s controversial CEO Katherine Maher following high-profile criticism from former senior editor Uri Berliner, who recently resigned from his role citing her “divisive views.” 

“We have deep concerns regarding the editorial direction under NPR’s national leadership,” wrote a group of Republicans in a letter on Monday led by Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.

In the letter, also signed by Republican conference Chairman John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Roger Marshall, R-Kan., Bill Cassidy, R-La., Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and Eric Shmitt, R-Mo., they stressed that NPR’s “National leadership has allowed and cultivated an environment where ideological bias not only creeps in but takes center stage.”

TIM SCOTT SAYS BIDEN IS ‘WILLING TO TANK’ ECONOMY BY GETTING RID OF TRUMP TAX CUTS

Berliner first penned his essay for the Free Press on April 9, discussing why he believes the institution has lost public trust. He detailed his criticisms of the coverage of various events, including allegations of former President Trump’s collusion with Russia in the 2016 election, Hunter Biden’s laptop and the theory that COVID-19 actually began in a lab in China and was leaked. 

The 25-year NPR veteran further revealed that his research found there were “87 registered Democrats” in editorial roles in NPR’s Washington, D.C., headquarters and no Republicans. 

According to the senators, the ideological homogeneity at NPR is not just disappointing, but amounts to “an ethical failure.”

DEM SENATE CANDIDATE ELISSA SLOTKIN’S ‘SMALL CONSULTING BUSINESS’ MAY HAVE NEVER BEEN ACTIVE

The “decidedly left-leaning editorial stance” at the publication is a serious threat to “the integrity and diversity of thought,” they added. 

“If NPR’s goal was to become an echo chamber, mission accomplished. But as a publicly funded entity, you are responsible for providing impartial coverage that accurately informs all Americans, regardless of political affiliation,” the letter continued. 

TOP SENATE DEM CALLS FOR PROBE INTO MUSLIMS PROSECUTED BY DOJ FOR ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSINGS

In closing, the Republicans called on Maher to begin a “course correction” to remedy the exposed lack of diversity at NPR. 

Maher has come under particular scrutiny due to her lack of editorial background, as well as her opinionated and overwhelmingly Democratic personal views, which she has publicly shared on social media over time. In 2020, she criticized news outlets for their coverage of looting during the riots following the death of George Floyd. “I mean, sure, looting is counterproductive. But it’s hard to be mad about protests not prioritizing the private property of a system of oppression founded on treating people’s ancestors as private property,” she said at the time. 

JEWISH DEMOCRAT CALLS OUT BERNIE SANDERS OVER OPPOSITION TO ISRAEL AID: ‘NOW DO ANTISEMITISM’

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NPR did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital. 

In the wake of Berliner’s public criticism of his then-employer, several Republican lawmakers have renewed calls to restrict funding of the organization that provides grants for NPR, giving the outlet federal money. Blackburn recently revealed she is looking at legislative options with the intent of introducing a bill to address funding for NPR, and there are multiple measures in the House already looking to do so. 

Former President Trump weighed in on Monday about the anti-Israel demonstrations that are roiling U.S. college and university campuses.

While the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee is not due in the courtroom on Monday, he spent his morning on Truth Social weighing in on his trial. His posts also included a post about the students who are protesting Israel’s war with Hamas, the terror group that governs Gaza.

“Stop the protests now!!!” Trump said in an all-caps post.

The post comes as the number of students and antisemitic agitators arrested at the nationwide demonstrations approached 900 since New York police removed an anti-Israel protest encampment at Columbia University on April 18. 

VIRGINIA TECH POLICE PHYSICALLY CARRY AWAY ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS AMID EFFORT TO RESTORE PEACE ON CAMPUS

The students are protesting the rising death toll in Gaza amid Israel’s effort to eradicate Hamas, which carried out the deadliest attack in the country’s history on Oct. 7, 2023. The subsequent war has resulted in more than 34,000 deaths, mostly civilian women and children.

The anti-Israel groups are calling on their respective colleges and universities to end any investments in companies that support Israel’s military and their actions in Gaza. Students have remained on campus despite several schools demanding they cease their encampments.

Trump’s comment on Monday morning came amid other posts about “Crooked Joe Biden,” who he called the “worst president in the history of the United States.” Trump also addressed the various lawsuits he is facing, which the Republican candidate described as “election interference.”

TRUMP, DESANTIS MEET PRIVATELY FOR SEVERAL HOURS IN MIAMI

Hundreds of protesters were arrested at various college campuses across the U.S. on Saturday, Sunday and into Monday morning as the disruptive demonstrations continued over the weekend. 

About 275 people were arrested on Saturday at Indiana University at Bloomington, Arizona State University and others.

Police in riot gear arrested approximately 102 students at an encampment on the campus of Northeastern University in Boston on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, police removed masked protesters and arrested more than 100 people at Washington University in St. Louis, including students and university employees.

Late Sunday and into Monday morning, campus police at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, physically carried some protesters from an encampment and arrested them.

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The nationwide campus protests have surged since students at Columbia University, widely seen as the epicenter of the current protests, formed an encampment by pitching tents at the heart of campus. They have vowed to stay put until the university divests from Israel.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Biden administration is silent on whether students carrying out anti-Israel protests spiraling on college campuses nationwide will be barred from student loan forgiveness programs that have canceled billions of dollars in debt under the 46th president. 

“We say justice, you say how. Burn Tel Aviv to the ground,” protesters have chanted on Columbia University’s campus in recent days. “Hamas we love you. We support your rockets, too,” other chants have included. 

Colleges from coast to coast, including some of the nation’s most elite schools – including Harvard, Yale, Penn, Berkeley and others – have seen days’ long protests on campuses, where students demand their schools completely divest from Israel as the death toll in Gaza increases.

The protests come following terrorist organization Hamas launching war in Israel on Oct. 7, which initially fanned the flames of antisemitism on campuses in the form of protests, menacing graffiti and students reporting that they felt as if it was “open season for Jews on our campuses.” The protests have now heightened to the point where Jewish students are warned to leave campus for their own safety. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House on Sunday asking if the administration plans to bar student protesters from eligibility for student loan forgiveness programs, but did not receive a response. Biden, in part, campaigned in 2020 on forgiving student loan debt, including pledging to cancel at least $10,000 per borrower back in 2020. 

BIDEN ONCE RIPPED ‘ANTISEMITIC BILE’ BUT NOW FACES OWN ‘CHARLOTTESVILLE MOMENT’

IVY LEAGUE ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS’ PROTESTS SPIRAL INTO ‘ACTUAL TERROR ORGANIZATION,’ PROFESSOR WARNS

Last year, the Supreme Court struck down the Biden administration’s plan to give up to $20,000 in debt relief per person, though the administration has remained committed to canceling debt through other avenues, including through established relief programs. As of this month, the administration has forgiven roughly $153 billion in debt among about 4.3 million Americans, the Department of Education detailed in a press release on April 12 after the administration announced $7.4 billion in additional student loan debt relief for more than 200,000 borrowers. 

Fox News Digital asked the administration if they are weighing whether to bar anti-Israel protesters on campuses from such relief programs, but did not receive a response. Fox Digital also asked if the administration is weighing such an option, if students would be barred based on arrests or through college and law enforcement investigations. 

UT AUSTIN SUSPENDS PRO-PALESTINIAN STUDENT GROUP AFTER ANTI-ISRAEL PROTEST

The anti-Israel protests intensified this month, including when the NYPD arrested more than 100 protesters on Columbia’s campus, and a school rabbi warned students last week to leave campus “as soon as possible,” noting that “what we are witnessing in and around campus is terrible and tragic.”

“The events of the last few days, especially last night, have made it clear that Columbia University’s Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy,” Rabbi Elie Buechler wrote to students last weekend. “It deeply pains me to say that I would strongly recommend you return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved.”

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MOVES TO HYBRID LEARNING ON MAIN CAMPUS AMID ANTISEMITIC PROTESTS

A Columbia professor argued in comments to Fox Digital last week that student groups supporting anti-Israel protests had “crossed the line” and morphed into becoming “actual terror” organizations. He specifically pointed to an incident on Columbia’s campus earlier this month when a protester was seen holding a sign reading, “Al-Qasam’s (sic)next targets,” while pointing at a group of Jewish students who were singing and waving Israel’s flag. Al-Qassam is the military wing of Hamas.

Protesters across many of the campuses have established encampments on campus, dubbed titles like the “Gaza Solidarity encampment” or the “liberated zone,” which hearken back to 2020’s “cop free zones” in cities such as Portland and Seattle during the raging defund the police and BLM riots that year. 

GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE JILL STEIN AMONG 100 ARRESTED PROTESTING AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

Arrests for the protests are mounting, with more than 100 protesters arrested at Boston’s Northeastern University on Saturday. The school said protesters were heard using antisemitic slurs, including “Kill the Jews.” Dozens more were arrested on Emory’s campus in Atlanta last week, including an economics professor, with police allegedly using tear gas and Tasers on the crowds. 

All in, more than 200 protesters were arrested on Saturday alone on campuses stretching from Arizona State University to Northeastern, the New York Post reported. 

As the protests intensify and video footage of the scenes spread on social media, critics have slammed debt bailouts under the Biden administration. 

“Your tax dollars at work,” State Auditor of Mississippi Shad White posted on X last week. “No more DEI (which is feeding this antisemitism). No more student debt bailouts. Fix our universities.” 

White’s comment came in response to popular conservative X account “End Wokeness” posting footage of protests on Columbia’s campus last week, captioning the video: “This is the scene at Columbia University right now. A literal cult is occupying the campus. Remember: We all paid their student debt.” 

“IDEA: If a student is arrested in an illegal protest or at least arrested for attacking police he is no longer eligible for student loan relief – he’s got to pay back his loans in full – no forgiveness,” conservative X account Amuse posted while tagging Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz. 

ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS NATIONWIDE FUELED BY LEFT-WING GROUPS BACKED BY SOROS, DARK MONEY

“Supposedly ‘peaceful’ pro-Palestinian protesters outside Columbia University calling for the end of Israel. Remember, your tax dollars are going to forgive the student debt for these people,” publication Conservative Brief posted on X Friday.

Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee for the presidential election, has repeatedly slammed Biden as being responsible for the protests, calling the demonstrations and antisemtism a “disgrace.” 

“What’s going on at the college level… Columbia, NYU and others is a disgrace. And it’s really on Biden,” Trump said on Tuesday morning outside the Manhattan courtroom where he is facing 34 charges of falsifying business records in a case he’s calling a “witch hunt.” 

ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS IN SEATTLE DELAY CAMPUS ENCAMPMENT AFTER BEING CALLED OUT FOR LACK OF DIVERSITY: REPORT

“He’s got the wrong words. He doesn’t know who he’s backing. And it’s a mess. And if this were me, they’d be after me, they’d be after me so much, but they’re trying to get him a pass. And what’s going on is a disgrace to our country. And it’s all Biden’s fault, and everybody knows it. He’s got no message, he’s got no compassion and doesn’t know what he’s doing,” Trump continued, adding Biden is the “worst president in the history of our country.”

Biden has denounced the protests, but came under criticism last week for also condemning those “who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.” 

“I condemn the antisemitic protests. That’s why I have set up a program to deal with that. I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians,” Biden told reporters this month. 

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Critics have compared it to Trump’s remarks in 2017, following a two-day riot in Charlottesville, Virginia, when White nationalists descended on the city. Trump said at the time that the violence had “no place in America,” while adding there was “blame on both sides” and “very fine people, on both sides.”

EXCLUSIVE: A Black Republican running for Congress is declaring an end to what he describes as Democrats’ historic “free pass” to minority voters.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Missouri state Rep. Justin Hicks, who became known last year for defiantly declaring he identified “as an American” during a heated debate with Democrats on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), said minority voters are beginning to wake up to the “false promises” fed to them by the opposite party.

Hicks, a candidate for Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District, answered “I do” when asked if he had noticed the often talked about shift in support from minority voters toward former President Donald Trump and away from President Biden.

WHITE HOUSE DENIES SECRET PLOT TO OUST KARINE JEAN-PIERRE AS BIDEN FACES MORE BAD NEWS

“The Democrats have had a free pass with a lot of minority groups, but I think a lot of the minority groups are starting to realize that the Democrats have, pretty much, false promises that they’re giving them,” he said, adding that “Republican values,” such as limited government, lower taxes, and “allowing you to live your life,” were resonating with people from all different groups.

“I think, come November, we’re going to see a big shift when it comes to minority groups,” he said.

The struggle against racialized politics has been an ongoing battle for Hicks, who serves as the only non-White Republican in the Missouri House and has faced what he described as harassment from Democrats in the chamber because of his race.

He detailed the instance last year in which he received applause during a floor debate on a bill opposing state funds for DEI initiatives after he refused to give in to efforts by a Democrat to get him to name the ethnicity he identifies as. 

“I identify as an American,” he said proudly.

REPUBLICAN MAKES MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT IN PUSH TO GROW GOP SUPPORT FROM ONCE-SOLID DEM VOTING BLOC

The exchange still rings loudly in Hicks’ mind. 

“It was a shocker. It took me back when that question was asked to me, because that’s not the country I fought for,” he told Fox, alluding to his time in the U.S. Army and deploying to the Middle East.

“That’s not the country that I fight every single day to ensure that we protect — one where we’re identifying each other based on arbitrary lines such as the color of your skin, or how you look, instead of who you are as in your character,” he added.

Hicks joined the Army at 18 years old and served for six years, an experience he says shaped his political views, and showed him the importance of building America’s military and maintaining its standing in the world.

“We really are a beacon of hope for so many different countries out there, and we have to remember that. I think we fail to realize that, as Americans, a lot of times, we get so caught up in what’s going on inside the country that we don’t actually look outside and see how blessed we are,” he said. 

NEW POLL REVEALS HOW VOTERS’ VIEWS ON ABORTION HAVE CHANGED AS DEMS SEEK TO MAKE ISSUE A CENTRAL 2024 THEME

“We need to ensure that we’re protecting those things … making sure that we’re funding the military appropriately, making sure that we’re pushing back against a lot of the aggression that’s going on with China right now,” he added.

Hicks said his top priority, if elected, would be to advocate for a balanced budget in order to alleviate inflationary pressures on Americans, and avoid “passing the buck” of extravagant debt to younger generations. 

Included in that is his 1-year-old daughter, Liberty, who he credited as the main reason he decided to run for Congress.

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“The America that she’s growing up in is one where we have a lot of selfish leaders here in Congress that care more about doing political theater than actually delivering results here for Americans … where our freedoms are in jeopardy a lot of times, and many aspects that make us uniquely American are in jeopardy,” he said. 

Hicks faces a crowded Republican primary field, including two well-funded Republicans in Bob Onder and Kurt Schaefer. The winner of the primary is widely expected to win the November general election as analysts rate the race as either “solid” or “safe” Republican.

The primary will be held on Aug. 6.

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

The House of Representatives is back in session for four weeks straight on Monday after a brief recess — and for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., it will be the start of a legislative sprint with one less reliable House GOP vote.

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., who was regarded as a rising Republican star, shocked even some of his colleagues when he announced last month that he would leave Congress before the end of his term. The House announced his official departure on Friday.

Due to the timing of his retirement, his seat will not be filled until the next congressional term in January 2025.

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE CALLS JOHNSON’S FOREIGN AID PACKAGE HIS ‘3RD BETRAYAL’ OF AMERICAN PEOPLE

Johnson’s public remarks and even leadership decisions have reflected that he’s keenly aware of the historically slim two-seat margin he’s been dealing with. 

It’s likely to get even smaller sometime over the next several weeks — at least for a time. 

The special election to replace retired Rep. Brian Higgins, D-N.Y., in New York’s 26th Congressional District is Tuesday. The heavily urban seat skews in favor of Democrats; President Biden won the Buffalo-area district by nearly 30 points in 2020.

House GOP leaders are expected to get some relief in late May, when two Republicans running to replace ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., face-off in a special runoff election. McCarthy left the House at the end of last year, but no candidate was able to secure a majority vote in the March race to replace him — by California state law, it triggers a runoff.

3RD REPUBLICAN CALLS FOR SPEAKER JOHNSON’S OUSTER OVER $95B FOREIGN AID PLAN

But if Higgins’ old seat stays in Democratic hands, it’s likely Johnson will have to navigate at least part of this four-week stint with just a one-vote majority. That means he’d only be able to lose one Republican lawmaker on any party-line vote.

A House GOP aide who spoke with Fox News Digital, however, downplayed potential concerns. They argued that Johnson has already successfully ushered through most critical legislation coming in the near future, save for the reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the deadline for which is May 10.

“Absent the FAA reauthorization, which will pass later this year, Speaker Johnson has done the job entrusted to him,” the House GOP aide argued. 

TENSIONS ERUPT ON HOUSE FLOOR AS CONSERVATIVES CONFRONT JOHNSON ON $95B FOREIGN AID PLAN

“While his majority may shrink with another GOP resignation, he’s already won the tough legislative battles. Any dysfunction moving forward falls squarely on those who refuse to govern and prefer to complain.”

The aide was referencing members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus and their allies, who have wielded outsized influence over the House GOP’s thin majority by voting in small blocs to kill or block Republican leaders’ legislation in protest of their handling of critical matters like government spending and foreign aid.

The group has already signaled that they’re putting up a fight over another coming legislative battle — funding the reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. 

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The Freedom Caucus put out a statement earlier this month demanding that any funding allocated by Congress be offset by spending cuts elsewhere, and that the funds would solely focus on bridge reconstruction.

It’s not immediately clear when a funding bill could take shape or how much leverage conservatives have, given the strong bipartisan support it’s expected to receive. But GOP rebels are expected to give Johnson a hard time if he tries to pass it through traditional mechanisms that rely solely on party-line votes.

Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis met privately in Miami, Florida on Sunday, a Republican with knowledge of the meeting confirmed to Fox News.

During the several-hour long meeting, DeSantis agreed to help Trump as the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee tries to close his fundraising gap with President Biden in their 2024 election rematch, the source confirmed.

DeSantis, who was convincingly re-elected in 2022 before launching an unsuccessful bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has built up a formidable network of wealthy donors who could be helpful to Trump as the general election campaign heats up.

News of the meeting was first reported by the Washington Post, which said the get-together between the two rivals was orchestrated by Steve Witkoff, a Florida real estate broker known to both Trump and DeSantis.

RFK JR. CHALLENGES TRUMP TO DEBATE AFTER ‘DEMOCRAT PLANT’ ACCUSATION

The meeting appears to be the first time DeSantis and Trump have spoken, let alone met in person, since the governor ended his White House bid in January, after a disappointing second place finish in the Iowa caucuses, far behind Trump.

The former president and his allies spent nearly a year attacking DeSantis as the two squared off for the GOP nomination that also included other contenders.

DeSantis and Trump did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital on the matter.

TRUMP’S LAST GOP RIVAL LANDS NEW GIG AFTER FAILED 2024 PRESIDENTIAL BID

DeSantis suspended his presidential campaign just two days ahead of the New Hampshire primary and has since endorsed Trump. But to date, DeSantis hasn’t campaigned on behalf of Trump.

During a February call with supporters, the governor took aim at Trump and his top political advisers.

“I think he’s got people in his inner circle who were part of our orbit years ago that we fired, and I think some of that is they just have an ax to grind,” DeSantis said at the time.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? TRUMP’S FORMER OPPONENTS LINING UP NEW JOBS AFTER FAILED 2024 PRESIDENTIAL BIDS

Responding, top Trump campaign aide Chris LaCivita called DeSantis a “sad little man.”

While many on Trump’s team and in his wider political orbit detest DeSantis, the former president may be more forgiving, if it benefits him.

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Trump said in January after DeSantis endorsed him that he would “officially retire” the derogatory “Ron DeSanctimonious” nickname he used repeatedly to attack the Florida governor for nearly a year.

A defiant Kristi Noem hit back at critics following outrage over her upcoming memoir that reveals she once killed a dog. 

“I can understand why some people are upset about a 20 year old story of Cricket, one of the working dogs at our ranch, in my upcoming book — No Going Back. The book is filled with many honest stories of my life, good and bad days, challenges, painful decisions, and lessons learned,” South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem began in a social media post published Sunday on X. 

“The fact is, South Dakota law states that dogs who attack and kill livestock can be put down. Given that Cricket had shown aggressive behavior toward people by biting them, I decided what I did,” Noem continued. 

Outrage spread across social media platforms late last week after the Guardian reported on an excerpt of Noem’s upcoming memoir, “No Going Back,” which is set to be released on May 7. The excerpt detailed Noem describing taking her 14-month-old female dog Cricket to a “gravel pit” near her farm and shooting her because it was “less than worthless,” “untrainable” and had killed and eaten several chickens. 

SOCIAL MEDIA DISTURBED BY GOV. NOEM’S STORY ABOUT SHOOTING HER 14-MONTH-OLD DOG: ‘NOT NORMAL’

She explained that Cricket had ruined a pheasant hunt when she went “out of her mind with excitement, chasing all those birds and having the time of her life.” 

“It was not a pleasant job, but it had to be done. And after it was over, I realized another unpleasant job needed to be done,” she continued. In the book, Noem also described killing a “nasty and mean” goat at the same gravel pit, according to the report. 

KRISTI NOEM SHARES VISION FOR AMERICA IN NEW BOOK AMID SPECULATION ABOUT RUNNING AS TRUMP’S VP

The report garnered pushback online, from both Democrats and conservatives, who appeared shocked and outraged over the killing of the dog. 

“Omg – now my blood is boiling. Remember, I’m a country boy who lives on a ranch . There’s a huge difference between putting an old horse down who is suffering, than shooting a 18 month dog for being untrainable. But then to plug your book at the end,” wildly popular conservative X account Catturd tweeted. 

“Seriously, is it just me? [I’m[sic] have no words,” he added.

New York Post columnist Miranda Devine commented, “No. Not normal. Shameful.”

“Anyone who has ever owned a birddog knows how disgusting, lazy and evil this is. Damn,” Democratic Montana gubernatorial candidate Ryan Busse posted. 

Noem has been floated as a potential running mate in former President Trump’s effort to regain control of the White House come November. Critics, however, speculated the controversy over killing her dog may have ended her career in politics. 

BLUE STATE GOVERNORS SHARE PICS OF THEIR DOGS TO DUNK ON GOV. NOEM’S STORY OF SHOOTING HER OWN DOG

Noem initially addressed the controversy on Friday, posting on X that her family loves animals, “but tough decisions” are often made on farms. 

SOUTH DAKOTA GOV. NOEM SEEKS TO BOLSTER TEXAS SECURITY EFFORTS AT US-MEXICO BORDER

“We love animals, but tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm. Sadly, we just had to put down 3 horses a few weeks ago that had been in our family for 25 years,” she posted, while encouraging people to purchase her memoir for “real, honest, and politically INcorrect stories that’ll have the media gasping.”

On Sunday, Noem said she does not shy away from difficult decisions, and believes “people are looking for leaders who are authentic.” 

“What I learned from my years of public service, especially leading South Dakota through COVID, is people are looking for leaders who are authentic, willing to learn from the past, and don’t shy away from tough challenges. My hope is anyone reading this book will have an understanding that I always work to make the best decisions I can for the people in my life,” she said. 

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“Whether running the ranch or in politics, I have never passed on my responsibilities to anyone else to handle. Even if it’s hard and painful. I followed the law and was being a responsible parent, dog owner, and neighbor. As I explained in the book, it wasn’t easy. But often the easy way isn’t the right way,” she concluded. 

The Biden administration is denying there was a secret internal plot to get rid of White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, a scheme first reported Thursday by The New York Post.

Deputy White House press secretary Andrew Bates forcefully rejected claims from multiple sources with knowledge of the plans, which included longtime Biden senior adviser Anita Dunn, supported by White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, recruiting prominent outside Democrats to urge Jean-Pierre to voluntarily make her exit. 

“Not only are these claims wildly false, but the reality is the polar opposite. Karine was never approached by anyone with such a message. She spends four hours preparing every day. And neither Jeff nor Anita did any such thing; both have been unflinchingly supportive of her,” Bates told The Post.

REPUBLICAN MAKES MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT IN PUSH TO GROW GOP SUPPORT FROM ONCE-SOLID DEM VOTING BLOC

According to The Post’s sources, Jean-Pierre’s bosses were unhappy with her habit of reading prepared answers directly from her binder, which they viewed as falling short of making an adequate case for President Biden as he prepared to launch his re-election campaign.

“Every press secretary uses the binder. Why is she being singled out?” Bates added.

One of the sources told The Post that the effort included having outside people Jean-Pierre knew and trusted convince her it was the right time to move along, and that it would make sense for her career to leave at around the same tenure as previous secretaries — about a year and a half.

The other source told The Post, “Jeff and Anita were trying to find Karine a graceful exit” in an effort to avoid removing her against her will. 

NEW POLL REVEALS HOW VOTERS’ VIEWS ON ABORTION HAVE CHANGED AS DEMS SEEK TO MAKE ISSUE A CENTRAL 2024 THEME

“There’s a huge diversity issue, and they’re afraid of what folks are going to say,” the source said, adding that although at least one person from outside the administration spoke to Jean-Pierre, that the plan had not yet, and was unlikely to, lead to her departure.

“She has been pretty consistent in telling people from the minute she got the job that she was going to stay through the election,” the source said. “I think Karine has decided to stay come hell or high water and that’s that.”

Both sources went on to tell The Post that the press secretary relied too much on her notes to be able to provide the quick-thinking pushback needed in the role, with one arguing she “doesn’t have an understanding of the issues,” despite Jean-Pierre thinking that she’s “doing an amazing job.”

A February report by NBC News detailed a job offer Jean-Pierre received and rejected in December from EMILYs List, a pro-abortion group, and, according to an email shared with The Post, Dunn appeared to have accepted that same month that Jean-Pierre wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

NEW POLL SHOWS BIDEN’S 2024 LEAD VANISHING WITH TRUMP ON TRIAL

“KJP isn’t going anywhere, so this is a ridiculous piece,” Dunn wrote in the email to a Washington Post reporter regarding a separate piece.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for additional comment.

The White House’s denial concerning Jean-Pierre comes as Biden received more bad news about his re-election bid.

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A new CNN poll released Sunday found former President Trump holding a continued advantage (49%-43%) in a head-to-head matchup, with that lead growing to nine points (42%-33%) when including independent candidates Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (16%) and Dr. Cornel West (4%), as well as Green Party candidate Jill Stein (3%).

Additionally, 55% said they saw Trump’s presidency as a success, but 61% said they saw Biden’s presidency as a failure.

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

A Wisconsin man who has been charged with making a bomb threat against the office of a Republican Senate candidate has donated to the campaign of the candidate’s Democratic opponent.

Joseph Quade, 72, was charged with making terrorist threats after sending a message to the Wisconsin campaign office of Eric Hovde, warning that it “might blow up” in an April 4 email, according to a report from the Wisconsin State Journal.

“Hey (EH), you think your building might blow up tomorrow? I don’t think you should have any of your people come to work,” read the message, according to the report, which added that the message was sent in a voice memo attached to an email.

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Quade reportedly later told police that he did not remember sending the message, but admitted that he can get “a little political” when he drinks and there was a chance he was responsible for the threat.

Hovde, a Wisconsin businessman, is seeking to unseat incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis. According to Federal Elections Commission data reviewed by Fox News Digital, Quade was a financial backer of the Baldwin campaign, making two donations of $25 and one of $50 to support the senator’s re-election bid. His most recent donation, for $25, was on Dec. 29.

Reached for comment by Fox News Digital, a Baldwin campaign spokesperson said that “violence has no place in our politics and anyone who threatens violence has no place in our campaign.”

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“We will be donating this individual’s contributions to charity,” the spokesperson, Andrew Mamo, said.

Wisconsin, one of the country’s most important battlegrounds in 2024, will play an outsized role in determining the balance of power in Washington in November. Baldwin, who is seeking her third term, won her 2018 re-election bid by just under four percentage points and holds a similar lead in recent polling over Hovde, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average.

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Quade faces a maximum of 3.5 years in prison if convicted. His next court appearance is set for May 2.

Retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer brushed off calls that Justice Sonia Sotomayor should step down from the bench, saying she is a “spring chicken.”

“I think anybody can say what he wants, you know. And I was 83 years old, just about I think, when I retired. But Justice Sotomayor is not, she is a spring chicken,” Breyer told Fox News host Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday.”

There have been calls in recent months, including in op-eds such as the one published in the Atlantic, that Sotomayor retire under the Biden administration. The recent push for the justice to resign comes ahead of the presidential election, with left-leaning pundits and academics arguing President Biden and the Democrat-controlled Senate could approve a candidate before the presidential election. 

“I think there is a difference. She is a spring chicken and I’m an old rooster. There we are. But people can say what they want. The decision about what to do is up to the judge,” Breyer said. 

FORMER SUPREME COURT JUSTICE STEPHEN BREYER SOUNDS OFF ON DOBBS DECISION: ‘TOO MANY QUESTIONS’ 

“You can stay there until you are 150 years old if you want,” he said of the lifetime appointment to the nation’s highest court. “But in my mind, at least there did come a time and I guess 83, 84, 85 – I don’t know exactly how many 80s you want in there – but it’s time for another person,” he said. 

Sotomayor is 69 years old and has served on the court since 2009, when President Barack Obama appointed her to the position following the retirement of Justice David Souter at the age of 69. Sotomayor, who has Type 1 diabetes, is the oldest liberal-leaning Supreme Court justice, but younger than both Justice Samuel Alito, 74, and Justice Clarence Thomas, 75, who are both conservative. 

FORMER JUSTICE BREYER THROWS COLD WATER ON THEORY DOBBS LEAK CAME FROM A JUSTICE: ‘I’D BE AMAZED’

Liberal pundits argue that if Sotomayor does not retire under the Biden administration, Republicans could take control of the White House and Senate following the election, meaning Sotomayor would have to remain on the bench until Democrats resume control to ensure a liberal-leaning justice is nominated, or risk losing the seat to a new, younger conservative justice if presumed GOP nominee Donald Trump takes the White House. 

Breyer also reflected on his friendship with the late Justice Antonin Scalia in his interview with “Fox News Sunday,” despite the two having wildly different legal opinions. The interview comes as Breyer touts his new book, “Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism,” which is critical of conservative justices for their decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. 

FORMER SCOTUS JUSTICE STEPHEN BREYER CALLS DOBBS RULING LEAK ‘UNFORTUNATE’ IN NEW INTERVIEW

Breyer is a pragmatist, meaning he views laws as being created by specific social contexts, while textualism interprets laws and the Constitution based on its “plain meaning,” not its intent, law definitions show. 

Breyer said that years ago, he and Scalia, a conservative stalwart who identified as a textualist, visited students in Lubbock, Texas, at a football stadium where the two justices debated legal opinions while illustrating to students the pair were still close friends despite the ideological differences. 

BREYER WAS RELENTLESSLY BULLIED BY THE LEFT TO GET OUT BEFORE REPUBLICANS SEIZE THE SENATE

“They’d never seen a Supreme Court judge, and we talked about it, and before you know it… it was clear to them, we liked each other. It was also clear we didn’t agree. So I said, ‘Look, this document, written more than 200 years ago, 1788, 1789.’ I’d say, ‘Look, hey, things have changed. The values don’t change. The freedom of speech stands for certain values, but what it’s applying to changes.’ So I say, you know, ‘Nino, George Washington did not know about the internet,'” he recounted. 

“And Nino says, ‘I knew that,’” Breyer recounted of his debates with Scalia, whom he affectionately calls “Nino.” Scalia suddenly died of a heart attack in 2016 at the age of 79. 

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“So he says, ‘Stephen, the problem with your approach, looking at these different things is it’s too complicated. It’s too complicated. You’re the only one who can do it.’… But then I say to him, ‘If we follow your approach, we’ll have a Constitution that no one would want.’ And so there you have the essence of the argument,” he added. 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded to former President Trump’s allegations he is a “Democrat plant” and would be a “wasted protest vote,” challenging the presumptive Republican presidential nominee to a debate. 

“When frightened men take to social media they risk descending into vitriol, which makes them sound unhinged,” Kennedy wrote in an X post on Saturday afternoon. “President Trump’s rant against me is a barely coherent barrage of wild and inaccurate claims that should best be resolved in the American tradition of presidential debate. President Trump, who has proven himself the most adept debater in modern American political history, should not be panicked to meet me on that stage.” 

RFK Jr. said he will prove Trump “betrayed the hopes of his most sincere followers,” arguing the former president “promised to end the Ukraine war and then colluded with Speaker Johnson and President Biden to fund it.” Kennedy Jr. also said Trump “let Big Pharma and his corrupt bureaucrats run roughshod over him as President,” and “promised to cut the deficit and ran up the biggest debt in history.”

“He promised to run the government like a business and then closed down our businesses. He promised to drain the swamp and then filled his administration with swamp creatures,” RFK Jr. said. “He promised to protect our rights and then torpedoed the Constitution.”

TRUMP ACCUSES RFK JR. OF BEING A ‘DEMOCRAT PLANT’ AND ‘WASTED PROTEST VOTE’

“Instead of lobbing poisonous bombs from the safety of his bunker, let’s hear President Trump defend his record to me mano-a-mano by respectful, congenial debate,” Kennedy concluded.

Trump’s 2020 campaign notably called out Biden’s “bunker” strategy, condemning how the Democrat largely stayed away from the campaign trail and ducked the public eye while running for president. 

Kennedy’s challenge came after Trump blasted the independent presidential candidate on TRUTH Social.

“RFK Jr. is a Democrat ‘Plant,’ a Radical Left Liberal who’s been put in place in order to help Crooked Joe Biden, the Worst President in the History of the United States, get Re-Elected,” Trump wrote in a series of posts earlier Saturday. “A Vote for Junior’ would essentially be a WASTED PROTEST VOTE, that could swing either way, but would only swing against the Democrats if Republicans knew the true story about him.”

RFK JR.’S RUNNING MATE AN ‘UNKNOWN QUANTITY’ WITH ‘DEEP POCKETS’ AS GOP, DEMS FEAR SPOILER CAMPAIGN: EXPERTS

Trump charged that RFK Jr. “is totally Anti-Gun, an Extreme Environmentalist who makes the Green New Scammers look Conservative, a Big Time Taxer and Open Border Advocate, and Anti-Military/Vet.” 

“His Radicalized Family will never allow him to be a Republican, and his Chief ‘Funder’ is the V.P. Candidate that nobody ever heard of, except her ex-husband, who’s been stripped of a big chunk of cash,” Trump continued, taking a swipe at Kennedy’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan. 

Trump said that while living in New York at the same time as Kennedy, he watched the former Democrat convince former Gov. Andrew Cuomo “to make environmental moves that were outright NASTY,” noting that upstate New York “was not allowed to drill or frack as Ohio, Pennsylvania, and others ripped off New York Energy,” causing energy costs in upstate New York and New England to skyrocket. 

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“His Views on Vaccines are FAKE, as is everything else about his Candidacy. Let the Democrats have RFK Jr. They deserve him!” Trump said. 

Democrats are not seeing eye to eye on whether the party has a problem with antisemitism ahead of the November general election. 

“It’s easy to call out people with Tiki torches saying ‘Jews will not replace us’ or the former president saying ‘very fine people on both sides,’ Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., said in a statement to Fox News Digital, referencing a rally with White supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. 

“However, when Democrats look inward and see ‘go back to Poland’ or ‘kill the Zionists,’ they pretend the antisemitic rhetoric on the left isn’t happening, or they are silent,” he added. “And as it turns out, the left and the right have something in common.”

As the war between Israel and terrorist group Hamas has gone on, initially spurred by the latter’s surprise attack on innocent civilians on Oct. 7, acts of antisemitism have been observed more often in the U.S. 

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The Anti-Defamation League reported that U.S. antisemitic assaults in the three months following the October attack in Israel shot up, surpassing the totals for entire years in the past. 

The ADL said 3,291 assaults happened between Oct. 7 and Jan. 7. In 2022, 3,697 assaults occurred over the course of the entire year. The totals for each of the last 10 years, except for 2022, were less than that three-month period following the beginning of Israel’s war with Hamas. 

This month, anti-Israel and antisemitic demonstrations rapidly expanded at top-tier universities, with a Gaza solidarity encampment that is persisting at Columbia University inspiring many of its higher education counterparts to take over their respective campuses, disrupt school activity, and intimidate Jewish students. 

A rabbi at the New York school ultimately reccommended Columbia Jewish students return home to ensure their own safety.

While many Republican lawmakers have been quick to call out the demonstrations, Democrats have more often been quiet, and they have also been measured in their responses and calls for action from schools and police. 

Some Democrats have even supported the encampment at Columbia, such as Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who recently visited students involved in the protest. 

TOP SENATE DEM CALLS FOR PROBE INTO MUSLIMS PROSECUTED BY DOJ FOR ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSINGS

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has additionally discouraged the use of police enforcement against such demonstrations. 

Rachel Rosen, the chief communications officer for the group Democratic Majority for Israel, told Fox News Digital, “Antisemitism is emanating from the far left and the far right.”

However, she said, “President Biden has forcefully condemned antisemitism and defended Israel.”

JEWISH DEMOCRAT CALLS OUT BERNIE SANDERS OVER OPPOSITION TO ISRAEL AID: ‘NOW DO ANTISEMITISM’

She added, “We’re still waiting for GOP leaders to condemn Marjorie Taylor Greene’s ‘Jewish space lasers,’ the Republican candidate for governor of North Carolina’s Holocaust denialism and Donald Trump’s disgraceful trafficking in antisemitic tropes and dining with an actual Nazi.” 

“Donald Trump regularly demeans Jewish Americans, dines with White nationalists, and said Adolf Hitler ‘did some good things,'” agreed Eric Schultz, senior advisor to former President Barack Obama. “Most Jewish voters support President Biden and that is because he has shown steadfast support for the Jewish people, especially with antisemitism on the rise.”

The White House didn’t provide comment on whether the Democratic Party has a problem with antisemitism to Fox News Digital in time for publication. 

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., who has emerged as a vocal advocate of Israel, was quick to say the party does have such a problem: “The far left, clearly. And that seems to manifest itself especially on the college campuses,” he said. 

According to Fetterman, the Democrats can grapple with the issue “by calling it out,” which he noted he has been doing. However, he said he wasn’t going to give his colleagues advice on how to do so.

“I’m not aware of it,” Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said when asked by Fox News Digital if the Democrats had an issue with antisemitism within the party. “But if there is, I’d be concerned.”

Tester is campaigning for re-election in Montana, which is poised to be one of the most competitive races in the country, rating as a “Toss Up” by non-partisan political handicapper the Cook Political Report. 

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., shared with Fox News Digital that he doesn’t believe there is an issue among Democrats with antisemitism. “I don’t believe there are antisemites among Democrats in the United States Congress,” he said, noting that he couldn’t possibly know the beliefs of every individual Democratic voter. 

HELP CHAIRMAN BERNIE SANDERS AVOIDS AGREEING TO CAMPUS ANTISEMITISM HEARINGS

“People often say things that may be misconstrued,” he explained. “And sometimes they say things that are offensive. But I don’t believe deep in their hearts people in the United States Congress hate Jews.”

Several Democrats, prompted as to whether there is specifically an issue on the left, avoided answering, instead condemning antisemitism in general. 

“As the co-founder of the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, I’ve been working across the aisle to fight the scourge of antisemitism wherever it rears its ugly head, regardless of political party or ideology,” Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said in a statement to Fox News Digital. Rosen is the only Jewish woman in the Senate. 

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., similarly emphasized in a statement, “Antisemitism has no place in our country and I condemn this hate in no uncertain terms.” 

The women each face their own competitive re-election battles in Nevada and Wisconsin in November. 

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., didn’t answer whether there was a problem within the party, but noted he felt badly for students across the country who are having school and graduation ceremonies potentially interrupted amid the hysteria of the demonstrations. 

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The question was also sidestepped by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., whose office directed Fox News Digital instead to recent legislation he introduced to address antisemitism on college campuses. 

Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., pointed to his statement denouncing “hateful, antisemitic harassment and intimidation” at Columbia, without commenting on the party’s potential antisemitism concern. 

Robert Shapiro, a political science professor at Columbia University explained that “The problem for the Democrats – Biden in particular, is not antisemitism.”

Instead, the issue they face is “how to deal with Israel and how to deal with the protests, especially in terms of the general disruption to society for which Biden and the Democrats may be held accountable, ultimately, in the 2024 election.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the highest ranking Jewish elected official in the U.S., did not provide comment in time for publication.  

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Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio and Bob Casey, D-Penn., who face tough re-election contests in November, also didn’t provide comments.

Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Mark Warner, and Reps. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Jamie Raskin, D-Md., were additionally reached out to by Fox News Digital. 

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas raised a question Thursday that goes to the heart of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s charges against former President Donald Trump.

The high court was considering Trump’s argument that he is immune from prosecution for actions he took while president, but another issue is whether Smith and the Office of Special Counsel have the authority to bring charges at all.

“Did you, in this litigation, challenge the appointment of special counsel?” Thomas asked Trump attorney John Sauer on Thursday during a nearly three-hour session at the Supreme Court.

Sauer replied that Trump’s attorneys had not raised that concern “directly” in the current Supreme Court case — in which justices are considering Trump’s arguments that presidential immunity precludes the prosecution of charges that the former president illegally sought to overturn the 2020 election.

Sauer told Thomas that, “we totally agree with the analysis provided by Attorney General Meese [III] and Attorney General Mukasey.” 

SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH HITS BACK AT JUDGE FOR ‘FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED LEGAL PREMISE’ IN TRUMP DOCUMENTS CASE

“It points to a very important issue here because one of [the special counsel’s] arguments is, of course, that we should have this presumption of regularity. That runs into the reality that we have here an extraordinary prosecutorial power being exercised by someone who was never nominated by the president or confirmed by the Senate at any time. So we agree with that position. We hadn’t raised it yet in this case when this case went up on appeal,” Sauer said.

In a 42-page amicus brief presented to the high court in March, Meese and Mukasey questioned whether “Jack Smith has lawful authority to undertake the ‘criminal prosecution'” of Trump. Mukasey and Meese — both former U.S. attorneys general — said Smith and the Office of Special Counsel itself have no authority to prosecute, in part because he was never confirmed by the Senate to any position.

Federal prosecutions, “can be taken only by persons properly appointed as federal officers to properly created federal offices,” Meese and Mukasey argued. “But neither Smith nor the position of special counsel under which he purportedly acts meets those criteria. He wields tremendous power, effectively answerable to no one, by design. And that is a serious problem for the rule of law — whatever one may think of former President Trump or the conduct on January 6, 2021, that Smith challenges in the underlying case.”

TRUMP ATTORNEY, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE CLASH ON WHETHER A PRESIDENT WHO ‘ORDERED’ A ‘COUP’ COULD BE PROSECUTED

The crux of the problem, according to Meese, is that Smith was never confirmed by the Senate as a U.S. attorney, and no other statute allows the U.S. attorney general to name merely anyone as special counsel. Smith was acting U.S. attorney for a federal district in Tennessee in 2017, but he was never nominated to the position. He resigned from the private sector after then-President Trump nominated a different prosecutor as U.S. attorney for the middle district of Tennessee.

Meese and Mukasey argued that because the special counsel exercises broad authority to convene grand juries and make prosecutorial decisions, independent of the White House or the attorney general, he is far more powerful than any government officer who has not been confirmed by the Senate. 

Sauer and Trump’s other attorneys objected to the legitimacy of Smith’s appointment in the charges against Trump in the classified documents case, also brought by Smith, before a Florida federal court. 

In a March court filing in Florida, Trump’s attorneys claimed that the special counsel’s office argues in federal court that Smith is wholly independent of the White House and Garland — contradicting Trump’s arguments that the federal charges against him are politically motivated. But at the same time, the special counsel’s attorneys insist that Smith is subordinate to the attorney general, and therefore not subject to Senate confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

SPECIAL COUNSEL IN TRUMP CASE UNCONSTITUTIONAL, FORMER REAGAN AG SAYS

“There is significant tension between the Office’s assurances to that court that Smith is independent, and not prosecuting the Republican nominee for President at the direction of the Biden Administration, and the Office’s assurance here that Smith is not independent and is instead so thoroughly supervised and accountable to President Biden and Attorney General Garland that this Court should not be concerned about such tremendous power being exercised to alter the trajectory of the ongoing presidential election,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in the filing.

The special counsel’s office, responding to Trump’s claims in the Florida case, argued that the attorney general “has the statutory authority to appoint a Special Prosecutor” and that the Supreme Court even upheld that authority “in closely analogous circumstances nearly 50 years ago” — in a 1974 case that challenged the prosecutor investigating the late President Richard Nixon. 

Meese and Mukasey wrote in their brief that the Nixon case was irrelevant because it “concerned the relationship between the President and DOJ as an institution, not between the President and any specific actor purportedly appointed by DOJ.” 

The pair also said special counsel investigations are necessary and often lawful, but stated that “the Attorney General cannot appoint someone never confirmed by the Senate, as a substitute United States Attorney under the title ‘Special Counsel.’ Smith’s appointment was thus unlawful, as are all actions flowing from it, including his prosecution of former President Trump.”

Smith was a private citizen when Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed him as special counsel to investigate Trump in 2022. 

Other recent special counsels — including John Durham’s Trump-Russia probe; David Weiss of the Hunter Biden investigation; and Robert Hur, who investigated Biden’s mishandling of classified documents — were all confirmed by the Senate to various positions before being named as special counsels. 

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The Florida court has yet to rule on Trump’s motion to dismiss the classified documents case due to claims that Smith was improperly appointed. 

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on Trump’s immunity arguments before its term ends in June.

Washington, D.C., chooses its wars. And, for now, leaders in Washington have decided the U.S. has a vested interest in the war in Ukraine.

After months of consternation, lawmakers eventually approved $62 billion for Ukraine to fight Russia in recent weeks, with most Democrats endorsing American assistance. 

But Congress only dislodged the money after a lengthy push by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. President Biden, McConnell and others finally pushed House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to support the aid, even though most House Republicans opposed it. The Senate OK’d a combination foreign aid package a few days later, 79-18. Only 31 of the Senate’s 49 GOP members voted yes.

Tucked into that package was money for Israel, another conflict in which the U.S. has infused itself, thanks to the votes of bipartisan lawmakers.

THE HOUSE IS PRACTICALLY FUNCTIONING AS A PARLIAMENT, WITH MIKE JOHNSON AS ITS ‘PRIME MINISTER’

A not-so-subtle reminder of how Washington immerses itself into overseas conflicts came the other day following the death of Alfonso Chardy. Chardy was a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Miami Herald and helped untangle and expose the Iran-Contra Affair in the mid-1980s. That was a decision by the Reagan administration to involve itself in proxy wars in Central America under the guise of fighting the spread of communism during the Cold War. There was worry about increasing Soviet influence in the Western Hemisphere.

Leftist Sandinistas grabbed power in Nicaragua in the late 1970s. Congress sent money to the Contra rebels to support them in the civil war. But lawmakers began restricting money to the Contras in the early 1980s before eliminating all funding.

Reagan administration officials found a creative — albeit illegal way — to go around Congress.

The U.S. would covertly sell weapons to Iran in an effort to curry favor with Tehran to release western hostages held in the Middle East. The proceeds from those arms sales benefited the Contras to wage their battles against the Sandinistas.

Congress may have decided against getting involved in Nicaragua. But Washington as a whole picked that particular fight, making sure the U.S. was fighting through a proxy in Central America.

Fast-forward several decades, when the U.S. made a decision to go to war in Iraq in 2003. Congress voted in the fall of 2002 to approve the operation, but few lawmakers defend the entirety of that conflict today.

That was the thesis of a floor speech from Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, perhaps the most ardent opponent in Congress against sending assistance to Ukraine.

“In 2003, I was a high school senior and I had a political position,” declared Vance, speaking about his time finishing high school in Middletown, Ohio, and enlisting in the Marine Corps. “Back then, I believed the propaganda of the George W. Bush administration that we needed to invade Iraq.”

Vance later said arguments about helping Ukraine “sound familiar.”

TRUMP DEMANDS EUROPE COUGH UP MORE CASH FOR UKRAINE, SAYS WAR WITH RUSSIA WOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED ON HIS WATCH

“It’s the same exact talking points 20 years later with different names,” said Vance. “I saw when I went to Iraq that I had been lied to. That the promises of the foreign policy establishment of this country were a complete joke.”

Vance called the push for war in Iraq “perhaps the most shameful period in the Republican Party’s history of the last 40 years.”

Vance added that his “excuse” for backing the war in Iraq “is that I was a high school senior. What is the excuse of many people who are in this chamber or in the House of Representatives at the time and are now singing the same song when it comes to Ukraine?”

The answer is that America’s leaders are committed to helping Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.

BUTTIGIEG DEFENDS BIDEN CONFUSING UKRAINE AND IRAQ TWICE IN 2 DAYS: ‘VERY FOCUSED ON DETAILS’

History will bear out who is right or wrong on this front. Just the same as history has judged U.S. involvement in Central America against Soviet influences or by seeking war in Iraq. Remember that the foreign aid package includes money for Israel. Congressional Republicans were more comfortable assisting Israel than some liberals.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was one of the most outspoken opponents of sending U.S. dollars to Israel.

“Put simply, we are deeply complicit in what is happening. This is not an Israeli war. This is an Israeli-American war. Most of the bombs and most of the military equipment the Israeli government is using is provided by the United States and subsidized by American taxpayers,” said Sanders. “We are aiding and abetting the destruction of the Palestinian people.”

Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., also opposed the legislation in the House.

SQUAD DEMOCRATS PUSH ISRAEL AID PACKAGE AMENDMENT IN FAILED CEASE-FIRE EFFORT: ‘DEATH WARRANT ON PALESTINIANS’

“This bill passed today is a death warrant. A death warrant on Palestinians,” said Bush. “Apparently, it means that Palestinians are not as valued. That their lives are not as valuable as Israeli lives. And I have to say this, for those that feel that way, shame on you.”

Back on Ukraine, it was clear McConnell prevailed. Perhaps it’s one of his last major policy achievements as Republican leader. McConnell didn’t call out Vance by name. But it was clear who he was targeting in an impassioned floor speech.

“So much of the hesitation and shortsightedness that has delayed this moment is premised on sheer fiction,” said McConnell. “I take no pleasure in rebutting misguided fantasies. I wish sincerely that recognizing the responsible ideas of American leadership was the price of admission for serious conversation about the future of our national security.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., echoed his counterpart.

“Getting this done was one of the greatest achievements the Senate has faced in years. Perhaps decades. A lot of people inside and outside the Congress wanted this package to fail,” said Schumer.

“I think we’ve turned the corner on the isolationist movement,” observed McConnell. “You could argue that this is a more challenging time right now than it was leading up to World War II. I don’t want it to take something like the Pearl Harbor attack to get our attention.”

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The U.S. sat on the sidelines as Adolph Hitler ran roughshod through Europe in the 1930s and early 1940s. The U.S. only got involved after the Japanese bombed Pearl Habor and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill made a plea to America during a Joint Session of Congress just after Christmas in 1941.

America chooses its wars; America has chosen its wars in Ukraine and Israel.

History will judge whether those were the right decisions.

Florida GOP Rep. Bill Posey announced Friday that he would not be seeking re-election, joining a slew of other GOP lawmakers also not seeking re-election. 

“It has been the greatest honor of Katie’s and my life to represent you in Congress. And, polls suggest that because of YOUR support, I could remain in the job forever, and we were looking forward to another spirited campaign for a final term in office,” Posey said in a statement released. “However, earlier this week circumstances beyond my control now require me to suspend my re-election campaign.”

“I will continue to devote all possible resources to continue representing you through the end of my current term, helping President Donald Trump return to the oval office, and supporting former Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos, in whom I have the greatest trust and confidence, to take up my battles against the swamp and replace me as your Congressman,” Posey continued in the statement. 

HOUSE REPUBLICANS EYE CRACKDOWN ON FAMILY-SPONSORED IMMIGRATION

The GOP representative then shared his endorsement of former Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos. Haridopolos announced his campaign on Friday, thanking Posey in a Facebook post announcing his run. 

“For many years, Mike has served as my Congressional Finance Committee Chairman, while I have mentored him to replace me. Mike was, and remains, my first choice to represent you, me, and our district in Congress,” Posey said in the statement.

EX-HOUSE REPUBLICAN WHO VOTED TO IMPEACH TRUMP DROPS MICHIGAN SENATE BID

“Without going into a lot of personal details, stars aligned during the past week, and Mike decided he was ready for Congress. I enthusiastically endorse him and will do everything I can to help him get elected,” he continued. 

“I wish to thank our incredible Congressman Bill Posey for his faithful service to our  community, state, and nation. I will work every day to live up to his legacy of service and serve the people of District 8 with integrity and honor,” Haridopolos said in a statement to Space Coast Daily upon his announcement. 

Posey was first elected to Congress in 2008 and worked in the Florida State Legislature for 18 years prior. The Florida Republican was a supporter of former President Donald Trump. 

He recently voted against the foreign aid package supported by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson as well as the FISA renewal earlier this month. 

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“Our nation is facing an unprecedented border security crisis and a crippling national debt putting undue strain on our cities and jeopardizing the safety and security of Americans,” Posey said in a statement after voting against the foreign aid package. “Defending our borders and balancing our budget should be THE top priority in Washington. I’ve voted against 99% of all spending over the past four years because those bills failed to secure our border. The American people expect Washington to put America first.”

President Biden faced a wave of criticism on Friday — from media outlets and commentators — for stretching the truth during a rare live interview with radio host Howard Stern.

During his interview with Stern, Biden spoke about an array of subjects, including a debate with former President Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 election and the time he “got arrested” as a teenager at a Delaware desegregation protest.

Some of the claims made by the president during the hour-long interview, however, faced scrutiny from the national media and certain individuals in the political realm who have become accustomed to Biden’s habit of straying from the truth.

As he has done in the past, Biden recounted during his interview with Stern what his mother had supposedly told him about accepting then-Sen. Barack Obama’s invitation to serve as his running mate in the 2008 presidential election.

BIDEN SKEWERED FOR FALSELY CLAIMING TO BE THE FIRST IN HIS FAMILY TO GO TO COLLEGE: ‘PATHOLOGICAL LIAR’

Biden recounted: “She said, ‘Remember when they were desegregating Lynnfield, the neighborhood … suburbia — and I told you — and there was a Black family moving in and there was — people were down there protesting; I told you not to go down there, and you went down, remember that? And you got arrested standing on the porch with a Black family? And they brought you back, the police?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, Mom, I remember that.’”

The New York Times, which took aim at President Biden on Thursday for “actively and effectively” avoiding journalists’ questions during his first term in office, reported Friday that Biden “appeared to once again stretch the truth about being arrested at a Delaware desegregation protest as a teenager.”

“There is no evidence that he was ever arrested at a civil-rights protest,” the Times added.

CNN also piled on Biden’s claim, noting in a fact check that there is “no evidence Biden ever got arrested during a civil rights protest, as the Washington Post and PolitiFact found when they looked into this claim in 2022 – and Biden has at least twice told the story of his supposed presence at this particular Delaware protest without mentioning any arrest, instead claiming that the police merely took him home that day.”

Biden also faced criticism from CNN earlier this week after he “revived a debunked tale about his past — his fictional claim that he used to drive an 18-wheeler truck,” during a campaign event in Florida this week.

Fact-checking the president’s claim, CNN wrote: “Biden has repeatedly embellished or invented biographical tidbits. In 2021, he claimed during a tour of a Mack Trucks facility: ‘I used to drive an 18-wheeler, man,’ then added, ‘I got to.’ At a separate 2021 event, he told college students studying truck technology, ‘I used to drive a tractor-trailer,’ adding, ‘I only did it for part of a summer, but I got my license anyway.'”

“Biden’s claim remains untrue. There is no evidence he ever drove an 18-wheeler,” the outlet added of his Tuesday remarks.

Biden also faced backlash for embellishing the truth from individuals on social media, including Greg Price, a popular conservative X user and the communications director for the State Freedom Caucus Network.

BIDEN’S FALSE CANNIBAL STORY DESCRIBED AS A SIMPLE ‘MISSTATEMENT,’ ‘OFF ON THE DETAILS’ BY THE MEDIA

Price noted a number of questionable remarks made by Biden during his interview with Stern that he believes are “lies,” including a tale he told about saving “half a dozen” lives during his past tenure as a lifeguard and the arrest he suffered amid civil rights protests when he was a teenager.

Another suspected “lie” was Biden’s claim that he was “runner-up in state scoring” in football during his high school years.

Price’s post on social media also referenced a claim made by Biden about receiving “salacious pictures” from women in the 1970s during his time as a senator, which he gave to the Secret Service.

“I got put in that ten most eligible bachelors list … and a lot of lovely women… would send very salacious pictures, and I’d just give them to the Secret Service. I thought somebody would think I was —,” Biden told Stern before shifting topics.

It’s unclear how the Secret Service would have been involved. Senators do not receive Secret Service protection, and Biden didn’t receive Secret Service protection until 2008, when he was elected vice president.

Others also took aim at the president for his remarks on Stern’s show.

“Another day, another Biden lie … at least no one got eaten by cannibals in this one,” conservative commentator Rita Panahi wrote in a post on X.

Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro, co-host of “The Five,” also weighed in on Biden’s “lies,” questioning Friday how Biden can debate if “he can’t even keep his lies straight.”

Earlier this month, during a visit to a war memorial near his hometown in Pennsylvania, Biden faced criticism for appearing to imply that his uncle was eaten by cannibals after his plane was shot down during World War II.

“He flew single-engine planes, reconnaissance flights over New Guinea. He had volunteered because someone couldn’t make it. He got shot down in an area where there were a lot of cannibals in New Guinea at the time,” Biden said at the time. “They never recovered his body.”

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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre later acknowledged that Biden’s maternal uncle, Ambrose Finnegan, whom he refers to as “Uncle Bosie,” did die in WWII when his plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean, but confirmed he was not eaten by cannibals, as Biden seemed to suggest on two separate occasions during his visit to the state.

Former Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich., announced Friday evening that he had dropped out of the race to represent Michigan in the U.S. Senate.

“I got into this race because I believed I had the strongest chance of winning in November to work to right this ship and reverse trendlines that have only gotten worse over these past months,” Meijer, whose family founded the Meijer supermarket chain, said in a statement posted on X.

“The hard reality is the fundamentals of the race have changed significantly since we launched this campaign,” he continued. “After prayerful consideration, today I withdrew my name from the primary ballot. Without a strong pathway to victory, continuing this campaign only increases the likelihood of a divisive primary that would distract from the essential goal — conservative victories in November.”

Meijer, who represented Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District from 2021 to 2023 and lost his re-election bid to a GOP challenger in the state’s 2022 Republican primary election, was one of ten House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, protests at the U.S. Capitol.

TRUMP-BACKED GOP SENATE CANDIDATE AIMS TO FLIP DEM-HELD SEAT IN CRUCIAL BATTLEGROUND STATE

Shortly after Meijer released the statement, Trump took to Truth Social and congratulated “all Good Republicans” and insisted “the 10 Impeachers are just about gone.”

“Peter Meijer, one of the 10 Impeachers of your Favorite President, ME, and someone thought of to have a very good political future, has just withdrawn from the Senate Race in the Great State of Michigan,” the former president wrote. “Once he raised his very little and delicate hand to Impeach President Trump, his Political Career was OVER!”

“Last time he lost in the Primary to a nice, but unknown, person, and now he lost to a GREAT Candidate, Mike Rogers, who will easily WIN the Nomination, and go on to WIN the Senate, BIG, in Michigan,” Trump added. “Happily, the 10 Impeachers are just about gone.”

The two remaining Republicans who voted to impeach Trump that remain in office are Reps. Dan Newhouse of Washington and David Valadao of California.

DEM SENATE CANDIDATE ELISSA SLOTKIN’S ‘SMALL CONSULTING BUSINESS’ MAY HAVE NEVER BEEN ACTIVE

The other eight — Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington, John Katko of New York, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Tom Rice of South Carolina and Fred Upton of Michigan — either retired from Congress or were defeated in their respective primary elections.

Trump noted in his post on Truth Social that he believes Newhouse “will be next” to lose re-election.

“Newhouse, in Washington State, will be next – VOTE FOR JERROD SESSLER,” Trump wrote.

There are now ten Republicans, including former Michigan Reps. Mike Rogers and Justin Amash, who are seeking their party’s nomination for the position in the upper chamber to replace retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.

Rogers, who is currently the favored Republican candidate in the race and has received support from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, will likely face off against another popular Michigan politician if he wins the state’s primary election and moves on to the general election.

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Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., is currently the highest polling Democrat seeking the position, outpacing her top challenger in the race, actor Hill Harper.