NationalWatch

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, hit a fundraising milestone in the last quarter, just months ahead of the Senate Republican leader election, in which he’s hoping to fend off challengers to succeed reigning top fundraiser and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

He recently closed his highest-raising quarter in history with his joint fundraising committee, the Cornyn Victory Committee (CVC), according to a source familiar with the Texas senator’s political operation. CVC brought in $3.5 million in the second quarter of 2024, the source said.

This puts Cornyn at almost $23 million so far in the 2024 election cycle. The total includes his CVC fundraising, money brought in by the senator for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) that he’s raised for candidates across Texas and the amount he’s amassed for national Republican candidates. 

BIPARTISAN TASK FORCE MEMBERS NAMED IN TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT PROBE

John Cornyn has hit a fundraising milestone amid his bid to be Republican Senate leader.  (Getty Images)

The Texas Republican has been the top Senate fundraiser in the conference, with the exception of McConnell, since 2009. 

He started CVC, his joint fundraising committee, in 2021 ahead of the 2022 midterm elections to assist Republicans. Cornyn’s efforts during the cycle earned a total of $20 million, which was more than nearly every other Senate Republican, aside from McConnell and NRSC Chairman Rick Scott, R-Fla., who is also vying for the leader role. 

DEMS LIKELY NEED A POLITICAL MIRACLE TO PASS BIDEN’S LONGSHOT HIGH COURT OVERHAUL

McConnell announced in February he was stepping down come November. (AP)

With months left to raise money for candidates this cycle, Cornyn has already beaten that total by $3 million. 

McConnell, 82, revealed in February that he would be stepping down from his position as party leader in November. The Kentucky senator has served as Republican leader since 2007, making him the longest-serving Senate leader of either party in American history. 

‘CHICKENS FOR KFC’: NETANYAHU RIPS CEASE-FIRE ACTIVISTS IN SPEECH TO CONGRESS AS TLAIB SILENTLY PROTESTS

Thune, Scott, and Cornyn are announced candidates for Republican leader.  (Getty Images)

The GOP leader has long been known for his fundraising prowess, which is passed on to down-ballot Republicans as the party looks to shore up its showing in Congress. With McConnell and his associated fundraising vehicles amassing roughly $400 million in the 2022 cycle, the next leader to take on his role will have to try and meet the expectations set by him. 

Running for leader as well are Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., and Scott. But there’s a widely held attitude among Republicans that there may be more candidates to join the race after the November general election. 

GOP LOOKS TO REVOKE VISAS FROM PARTICIPANTS IN VIOLENT PROTESTS AHEAD OF NETANYAHU ADDRESS

Cornyn has ramped up his fundraising as he looks to become leader.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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Thune is currently the No. 2 Republican in the Senate and has racked up two endorsements from GOP colleagues for the leader role. Like Cornyn, Thune has also been demonstrating his fundraising might, pulling in $19 million so far in the 2024 cycle, a source familiar told Fox News Digital. 

As conference members have discussed their next leader, there have been internal disputes over enforcing a term limit on the position. This is something McConnell has forcefully advocated against, sources have told Fox News Digital of the closed-door conference meetings. One point made by McConnell was that fundraising ability could be handicapped by frequent changes in leaders and a lack of stability. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., announced Monday the representatives who are named to a bipartisan panel that will investigate the assassination attempt against former President Trump earlier this month. 

“We have the utmost confidence in this bipartisan group of steady, highly qualified, and capable Members of Congress to move quickly to find the facts, ensure accountability, and help make certain such failures never happen again,” they said in a joint statement. 

Republican Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania will serve as chairman of the task force. He notably represents Butler, Pennsylvania, where Trump was shot at an outdoor rally and one spectator was killed. 

Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., will be the ranking member. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, left, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (Getty Images)

Other members of the 13-person panel are Reps. Mark Green, R-Tenn., David Joyce, R-Ohio, Laurel Lee, R-Fla., Michael Waltz, R-Fla., Clay Higgins, R-La., Pat Fallon, R-Texas, Lou Correa, D-Calif., Madeleine Dean, D-Penn., Chrissy Houlahan, D-Penn., Glenn Ivey, D-Md., and Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.

“I am grateful to have the confidence of Speaker Johnson and Leader Jeffries to serve on this bipartisan task force,” Moskowitz said in a statement. “As the former Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, I have been involved in after-action reviews to learn from the failures and successes of both natural and man-made disasters, and as a State Representative from Parkland, Florida, where 17 people died in a mass shooting at my alma mater, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, I helped to create the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Commission that investigated the failures of that day.”

“I look forward to working, in a bipartisan fashion, with my colleagues to provide the American people with the answers they seek from this dark moment in our nation’s history and to work on solutions to make sure nothing like this happens again.”

Houlahan issued her own statement in response to the announcement, saying, “It’s a distinct and solemn honor to be appointed by Speaker Mike Johnson and Leader Hakeem Jeffries to serve on the bipartisan task force to investigate the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.” 

“Legislation needed to establish this task force passed the House unanimously, underscoring the mandate from Pennsylvanians and all Americans to conduct this investigation free from political influences and divisive rhetoric. I am committed to upholding our values of truth, civility, decency, and patriotism through my work on this task force,” she added. 

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Noticeably absent from the task force members was Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y. Last week the lawmaker pushed back on concerns voiced by Republicans about his potential status on the panel. Some pointed to a remark the made last year, suggesting that Trump needed to be “eliminated.”

“As someone with a lifelong commitment to democracy and the rule of law, Congressman Goldman immediately clarified a misstatement from last November to emphasize his strong condemnation of all political violence. The Congressman demonstrated with pointed questioning during congressional hearings last week that the Secret Service must be held accountable for its unacceptable security lapse, and he is determined to ensure such a failure never happens again,” Goldman’s spokesperson Madison Andrus told Fox News Digital.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ momentum could be the result of Democrats feeling relieved they are running a candidate other than President Biden rather than her strength as a candidate, a GOP strategist says.

The Democratic ticket has seen a boost in several polls conducted since Biden withdrew his re-election bid, with surveys showing Harris performing better than the president against former President Trump.

A GOP strategist tells Fox News that the momentum might not be the result of Harris herself, but rather the Democratic Party feeling hopeful about a replacement for Biden.

“It’s mostly a reflection of the relief Democrats feel moving past the Biden campaign, which appeared doomed,” GOP strategist David Kochel told Fox News Digital. 

RON DESANTIS BLASTS MAINSTREAM MEDIA FOR ‘WHITEWASHING’ KAMALA HARRIS’ RECORD: ‘BLIZZARD OF LIES’

Vice President Kamala Harris arrives for a campaign event in Milwaukee on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (Daniel Steinle)

Fox News polling found that since Biden dropped out of the race, Harris has gained a slight lead over Trump in almost every swing state.

PIERS MORGAN SAYS KAMALA HARRIS WILL MAKE HISTORY IF ELECTED AS ‘LITERALLY’ THE MOST FAR-LEFT SENATOR

Harris tied with Trump in Michigan, a state the former president was leading Biden by 8 points in January, according to a recent Detroit News WDIV-TV survey.

Additionally, Harris received a favorability boost of nearly 10 points over the course of one week after Biden withdrew from the race, according to an ABC News/Ipsos survey. 

Democrats have touted Harris’ success rate and say that she is uniting the party.

President Biden boards Air Force One as he departs Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, on July 23, 2024. (Saul Loeb)

“It is so remarkable how in a matter of days Harris has consolidated our big tent party, and this is something that is coming from the ground up,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told Fox News, describing a “level of energy that I haven’t seen on the campaign trail in a long time.”

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However, Kochel told Fox that Harris’ momentum will be tested after the Democratic National Convention in August, when she will likely be named the party’s official 2024 nominee.

“If she sustains it through the convention, it will be more a reflection of her performance,” Kochel said. “We’ll know in a month what to call it.”

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Ted Cruz will put forward a bill Monday aimed at curbing the influence of China and other malign actors in U.S. schools.

Cruz, R-Texas, authored the Senate’s version of the Transparency in Reporting of Adversarial Contributions to Education (TRACE) Act. 

The legislation requires schools to give parents the ability to review – or “trace” – any curriculum provided by foreign actors or purchased with foreign funding.

Cruz said it is imperative that such guardrails be put in place, as American adversaries see the younger generation as a ripe target.

LANDMARK BILL TARGETS HIDDEN FOREIGN FUNDS IN SCHOOLS, AS OFFICIALS WARN OF CCP INFLUENCE

“The Chinese Communist Party exerts vast resources to control what Americans see, hear, and ultimately think,” Cruz said.

“The CCP continues to target American educational institutions, as do other foreign adversaries. The TRACE Act will give parents the transparency they need and deserve, and help safeguard classrooms from foreign influence.”

In the case of China, the CCP’s control of the social media app TikTok has long been under fire for its pattern of influencing youth. 

In June, House Education Committee member Aaron Bean, R-Fla., drafted the lower chamber’s version of the first-of-its kind legislation. Bean separately added that U.S. schools are for “education, not espionage.”

“We cannot allow our students – the future of our great nation – to be corrupted by foreign adversaries who are systematically and aggressively attempting to influence our nation’s K-12 schools,” he said.

“That’s why it’s so important we solidify the rights of parents to know how foreign influence may be impacting their child’s classroom and take concrete steps to deter the ability of foreign nations to reach America’s youth.”

The Jacksonville lawmaker went on to thank Cruz for putting forward companion legislation, expediting the process of sending the bill to President Biden’s desk, should it pass both chambers.

Cruz’s bill also won the endorsement of Parents Defending Education, a grassroots group focused on blunting activist agendas in schools.

“When parents send their children to school, they should have the peace of mind in knowing where the education funds are coming from,” PDEA director of federal affairs Michele Exner said Monday.

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“Unfortunately, there is alarming evidence found by our partner organization, Parents Defending Education, showing foreign nations, particularly adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party, are trying to use America’s classrooms to advance their strategic objectives at our country’s expense. We cannot allow this to happen.”

The bill mandates that schools must furnish parents with information about curricula that are sourced or funded by foreign entities at no cost. It also specifies that school districts are to prominently post or disseminate a statement of parents’ rights under this policy at the beginning of each school year.

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In 2023, Oklahoma’s top elected education official called for congressional action to blunt such foreign influence.

Oklahoma Superintendent of Education Ryan Walters previously called CCP influence a national security risk and noted in a recent Fox News Digital interview that schools in the Sooner State are prohibited from partnering with “antagonistic” countries.

In the same way that Mao Zedong’s “Little Red Book” indoctrinated Chinese youth in the mid-20th century, similar risks are present today thorough foreign funding and “Confucius Classroom” programs, Walters said.

Billionaire Elon Musk suggested that Google’s omission of search functions for the assassination attempt against former President Trump may be improper.

Musk took to social media to highlight that Google Search’s autocomplete feature omitted results relating to the July 13 shooting. Google has denied taking any action to limit the results.

“Wow, Google has a search ban on President Donald Trump.” Musk wrote. “Election interference?”

“They’re getting themselves into a lot of trouble if they interfere with the election,” he wrote in a follow-up post.

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A Google spokesperson told FOX Business that there was no “manual action taken on these predictions.”

META ADDING AI DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT FOR 2024 ELECTION ADS

“Our systems have protections against Autocomplete predictions associated with political violence, which were working as intended prior to this horrific event occurring,” the spokesperson wrote. “We’re working on improvements to ensure our systems are more up to date.”

Billionaire Elon Musk suggested that Google’s alleged censoring of search functions for the assassination attempt against former President Trump may be “election interference.” (Apu Gomes/Getty Images)

Screenshots from Google showed recommended search results of the failed assassination of former President Reagan and the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, whose death sparked World War I, the shooting of Bob Marley and the failed attempt on former President Ford. 

GOOGLE TO REQUIRE POLITICAL ADS TO DISCLOSE USE OF AI DURING 2024 ELECTION CYCLE

Even the keywords “Trump assassination attempt” yielded no additional terms from Google, according to users. 

Screenshots from Google showed recommended search results of the failed assassination of former President Reagan and the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, whose death sparked World War I, the shooting of Bob Marley and the failed attempt on former President Ford. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Big Tech is trying to interfere in the election AGAIN to help Kamala Harris,” Donald Trump Jr. wrote on X. “We all know this is intentional election interference from Google. Truly despicable.”

Google’s spokesperson went on to say the autocomplete feature is “just a tool to help people save time” and they can still search for anything they want. 

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“Following this terrible act, people turned to Google to find high quality information – we connected them with helpful results, and will continue to do so,” the company said. 

Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: War veteran Sam Brown’s campaign for U.S. Senate in Nevada is pushing back after a staffer of his Democratic opponent’s campaign and a member of the state Democratic Party accused him of a “grift” for selling a book discussing his road to recovery from a nearly fatal war injury in Iraq.

“Don’t worry Sam, have a feeling there will be plenty of time for you to promote your latest grift after November 5th,” Johanna Warshaw, communications director for Jacky Rosen for Senate, posted on X last week in response to a post from Brown promoting his new book that he says shares “how I took some of the toughest circumstances in my life, found a mission, & found hope for myself in others” and about his “mission to give hope and change the world.”

Brown is a retired Army captain and a Purple Heart recipient who sustained serious injuries from an IED explosion during a 2008 deployment in Afghanistan, which left his face severely burned. 

In addition to being labeled a grifter by the Rosen campaign spokesperson, the Nevada Democratic Party also weighed in and accused Brown of a “grift” for selling the book about his road to recovery from injuries in battle.

EXCLUSIVE: WAR VETERAN SAM BROWN VOWS TO DELIVER FOR AMERICANS ‘CRUSHED’ BY BIDEN’S POLICIES AFTER MAJOR WIN

Democrat Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen and Republican former U.S. Army Capt. Sam Brown (Getty Images | Sam Brown for Nevada)

“New grift just droppeddddd,” Nevada State Democratic Party spokesperson Katharine Kurz posted on X in response to Brown promoting his book.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Brown campaign communications director Kristy Wilkinson said, “Jacky Rosen has shown her true colors.”

“The contempt this statement has for US Military Veterans and Wounded Warriors is very revealing. It’s not just an insult to the Browns, it’s an insult to all NV veterans for their sacrifice and service to the country,” Wilkinson said. “It’s disgusting behavior from someone who is supposed to be representing all Nevadans. Captain Brown will never stoop so low, never insult our veterans, and never let partisan politics influence how he treats other people.”

FLASHBACK: NEW HARRIS CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER MADE SEVERAL INSENSITIVE COMMENTS ABOUT WOMEN, GAY PEOPLE

Sen. Jacky Rosen speaks during a news conference on June 16, 2023, at the East Vegas Library. (Madeline Carter/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

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

The Nevada Democratic Party defended calling the book a “grift” in a statement.

“After starting a shady PAC last cycle that he used like a slush fund to swindle grassroots donors and pay off his campaign debts, Scam Brown is now using his latest run for office to sell a book and line his own pockets,” Kurz told Fox News Digital. 

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Nevada Senate candidate Sam Brown speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 16, 2024. (Reuters/Mike Segar)

“Instead of talking to Nevada voters about the issues they care about in a state he just moved to a few years ago, Sam Brown seems more focused on a self-promotional book pre-sale in the final months before the election.”

The Nevada race is being closely watched as many experts believe it represents one of the best chances Republicans have to flip a seat and take back control of the Senate.

The Cook Political Report ranks the race as a “toss up” along with the Senate races in Michigan, Montana and Ohio.

Vice President Harris has stated that President Biden is completely fit to finish his term and serve another, despite his debate and interview performances, after having had more than 80 publicly documented encounters over the past year, a Fox News Digital investigation found.

From July 18, 2023, to July 17, 2024, Harris, who is now the presumptive Democrat presidential candidate now that Biden has dropped out, shared at least 25 meetings, eight lunches and 46 events with the president, and they spent two times traveling together. That makes Harris one of the people most capable of speaking to the president’s mental acuity.

Those dozens of meetings are also only the ones listed on public schedules. Not everything the president or vice president does is listed on these, such as time spent in the Situation Room, where Biden and Harris attend briefings together. They likely would have done so after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks on Israel, for example.

After Biden’s stumbling and stalled debate performance against former President Trump in Atlanta this past June, Harris sat down with CNN’s Anderson Cooper to try to hold the line for the commander in chief. 

“Yes, there was a slow start, but it was a strong finish. And what became very clear through the course of the night is that Joe Biden is fighting on behalf of the American people on substance, on policy, on performance. Joe Biden is extraordinarily strong,” Harris said last month. “I’m not going to spend all night with you talking about the last 90 minutes when I’ve been watching the last 3.5 years of performance.”

KAMALA HARRIS SPENT MONTHS SHOOTING DOWN CONCERNS OVER BIDEN’S MENTAL COMPETENCY

President Biden and Vice President Harris (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File)

Harris earlier this year decried Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report that described Biden as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” as nothing but “gratuitous, inaccurate and inappropriate” criticism. But the June 27 debate publicly put Biden’s mental fitness on display, sending vulnerable Democrats in Congress and the donor class into a tailspin over the viability of the aging president’s candidacy.

Biden, who had been self-isolating with a reported case of COVID-19, announced on July 21 via a letter posted on X that he would no longer seek a second term and endorsed Harris as the presidential nominee.   

Harris, however, spent months before the debate defending Biden’s mental competency after a series of gaffes and public trips and falls.

In November, Harris was confronted at the New York Times Dealbook Summit about how former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Biden was confused and needed cue cards during debt negotiations.

“I would say that age is more than a chronological fact. I spend a whole lot of time with our president, be it in the Oval Office or the Situation Room and in other places. And I can tell you, as I just mentioned, not only is he absolutely authoritative in rooms around the globe but in the Oval Office, meeting with members of Congress, meeting with leaders in industry, meeting with community leaders,” Harris responded.

Vice President Harris and President Biden attend a Juneteenth concert on the South Lawn of the White House on June 10, 2024. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

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“Only one person sits behind the Resolute Desk,” she added. “I’m not lying … I’m telling … but I’m telling you a fact.”

The Justice Department report by Hur released in February found Biden “willfully” retained and disclosed classified information to a ghostwriter but did not recommend criminal charges. Hur said Biden displayed “limited faculties” and described his memory as “significantly limited” during interviews with the special counsel’s office, noting the president could not remember “even within several years” when his son, Beau, died.

At an event on the White House grounds dedicated to discussing gun violence, Harris insisted that “the way that the president’s demeanor in that report was characterized could not be more wrong on the facts and clearly politically motivated, gratuitous,” adding that “when it comes to the role and responsibility of a prosecutor in a situation like that, we should expect that there would be a higher level of integrity than what we saw.” 

President Biden delivers remarks on the assassination attempt on former President Trump at the White House on July 14, 2024. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

It was then that Harris described the “countless hours” she spent with Biden and the secretaries of defense and state and the leaders of the intelligence community after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists.

“The president was in front of and on top of it all,” Harris told reporters in February, “asking questions and requiring that America’s military and intelligence community and diplomatic community would figure out to know how many people were dead, how many are Americans, how many hostages, is the situation stable?”

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“He was in front of it all, coordinating and directing leaders who are in charge of America’s national security, not to mention our allies around the globe for days and up until now months,” she said. 

Fox News’ Callie Cassick and Kevin Ferris contributed to this report.

Former President Trump has had a number of legal victories in recent weeks, putting a pause on a majority of cases that could have complicated his campaigning during the general election season. 

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. United States that a former president has substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts in office but not for unofficial acts. The high court said Trump is immune from criminal prosecution for “official acts” but left it to the lower court to determine exactly where the line between official and unofficial is.

“The President therefore may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and he is entitled, at a minimum, to a presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts,” the majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts states. “That immunity applies equally to all occupants of the Oval Office, regardless of politics, policy, or party.”

The question of presidential immunity stemmed from special counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 case against Trump. Trump pleaded not guilty to those charges. That trial was put on hold in a lower court pending the Supreme Court’s ruling, which wiped out any charges related to official presidential acts.

TRUMP IMMUNITY CASE: SUPREME COURT RULES EX-PRESIDENTS HAVE SUBSTANTIAL PROTECTION FROM PROSECUTION

Former President Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, reacts during the CNN Presidential Debate at CNN Studios June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The Supreme Court’s ruling then prompted Trump’s lawyers to request that the former president’s sentencing be delayed in New York v. Trump. He was found guilty on all counts of falsifying business records in the first degree after an unprecedented criminal trial stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation. 

TRUMP TOUTS SUPREME COURT’S PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY RULING AS ‘BIG WIN FOR OUR CONSTITUTION AND FOR DEMOCRACY’

The sentencing was originally scheduled for July 11, before the Republican National Convention, where Trump would eventually be formally nominated as the GOP presidential nominee. Judge Juan Merchan agreed to delay and said a hearing on the matter would take place Sept. 18. 

The Supreme Court ruled a president has immunity from official acts.  (Getty Images)

But days later, Trump’s lawyers asked Merchan to overturn the former president’s guilty verdict in New York v. Trump.

Trump attorneys cited the Supreme Court ruling, saying the court should “dismiss the indictment and vacate the jury’s verdict based on violations of the Presidential immunity doctrine and the Supremacy Clause.” In the formal motion, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche pointed to the Supreme Court’s immunity decision and argued certain evidence of “official acts” should not have been admitted during the trial.

TRUMP REQUESTS NY JUDGE OVERTURN GUILTY VERDICT, INDICTMENT AFTER SCOTUS IMMUNITY RULING

Specifically, Blanche argued that testimony from former White House officials and employees was inappropriately admitted during trial. 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Blanche argued Bragg “violated the Presidential immunity doctrine by using similar official-acts evidence in the grand jury proceedings that gave rise to the politically motivated charges in this case.” 

A ruling on the motion is pending. 

JUDGE DISMISSES TRUMP’S FLORIDA CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS CASE

Days later, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed special counsel Jack Smith’s classified records case against Trump. 

Trump had faced charges related to alleged improper retention of classified records at Mar-a-Lago. He pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony counts from Smith’s probe, including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements. 

But Cannon dismissed the case altogether, ruling Smith was unlawfully appointed and funded, citing the Appointments Clause in the Constitution. 

Donald Trump and Jack Smith  (Getty Images)

The Appointments Clause states, “Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States be appointed by the President subject to the advice and consent of the Senate, although Congress may vest the appointment of inferior officers in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.” Smith, however, was never confirmed by the Senate.

Smith is appealing the ruling. 

TRUMP APPEALS $454M NY CIVIL FRAUD JUDGMENT

Meanwhile, in Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis had charged Trump related to alleged 2020 election interference. Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts. 

Federal Judge Aileen Cannon  (U.S. Courts )

The judge in that case dismissed six of the charges against Trump, saying Willis failed to allege sufficient detail. 

The case also was thrown into limbo when it was revealed Willis reportedly had an “improper affair” with Nathan Wade, a prosecutor she hired to help bring the case against Trump. Wade was later removed. 

Last month, the Georgia Court of Appeals paused the proceedings until it hears the case to disqualify Willis in October, yet another major setback for Willis. 

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks to the media after winning the Democratic primary May 21, 2024, in Buckhead, Ga.  (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Last week, the Georgia Court of Appeals said it would hear Trump’s argument to have Willis disqualified on Dec. 5, a month after the 2024 presidential election. 

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court ruling could be applied by Trump attorneys in several civil cases he has been fighting. 

In the civil defamation case brought against him by columnist E. Jean Carroll, Trump was ordered to pay more than $83 million in damages after he denied allegations he raped her in the 1990s. 

E. Jean Carroll, center, and attorney Roberta Kaplan, right, leaving Manhattan Federal Court Jan. 26, 2024, in New York City.  (GWR/Star Max/GC Images)

Carroll alleged Trump raped her at the Bergdorf Goodman department store across from Trump Tower in Manhattan in 1996. 

The jury found Carroll was injured as a result of statements Trump made while in the White House in June 2019. 

Trump’s denial came while he was president during a press gaggle at the White House. Trump attorneys could say the denial came as part of an official presidential act. 

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His denial resulted in Carroll slapping Trump with a defamation suit, claiming his response caused harm to her reputation. 

Attorney General Letitia James arrives for the start of the civil fraud trial of former President Trump at New York State Supreme Court Oct. 2, 2023, in New York City.  (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Trump is also appealing the civil fraud ruling that demanded he pay more than $450 million after a lawsuit brought against him by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Trump’s legal team this week filed paperwork with a mid-level appeals court, calling the ruling “unconstitutional.”

Vice President Kamala Harris has gained significant ground on former President Trump in the election betting markets in the week since taking over at the top of the Democratic ticket.

Trump entered Sunday with a 54.6% to win the election, while Harris came in at 39.2%, according to the Real Clear Politics betting average, a spread of a little over 15.2 percentage points.

While the market still favors Trump, the 15-point gap represents a significant shift over the last week. On July 20, the days before President Biden announced his decision to drop out of the race, Trump had a 61% chance to win the election, the Real Clear Politics average showed, while Harris came in with an 18.2% chance and Biden had a 9.5% chance, an almost 43-point gap between Trump and his closest competitor.

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Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump (Getty Images)

A similar trend has played out on PredictIt, a New Zealand-based prediction market that offers “shares” of political outcomes, with Trump shares currently selling for 54 cents on the site and Harris shares selling for 48 cents. Since shares on the platform are priced between $0.01 and $0.99, the price of the share is essentially the percentage chance an outcome will happen, meaning Trump has a 54% chance to win the election.

Harris has gained significant ground on Trump over the last week on PredictIt, the platform’s historical trends show. On July 20, Trump shares were selling for 64 cents, Harris, 27 cents, and Biden 15 cents, meaning the price to bet on Harris has closed from 37 cents to six cents over the last week.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally on June 28, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

BIDEN’S CABINET DOUBLES DOWN ON SUPPORT FOR PRESIDENT AMID CALLS TO INVOKE 25TH AMENDMENT

The tightening betting markets come as polls continue to show what could be a potentially close race between Trump and Harris. According to the Real Clear Politics national average, Trump holds just a 1.7 point lead over Harris in the polls. Polls in the main battleground states have been more sparse, but also show a tight race.

Former President Trump headlines a Republican National Committee spring donor retreat, in Palm Beach, Florida, on May 4, 2024. (Donald Trump 2024 campaign)

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The Trump and Harris campaigns did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Before becoming a senator, Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., was not only an astronaut, but he also co-founded a company that specializes in spy balloons, which was funded, in part, by a venture capitalist in China with close ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

Kelly, who is reportedly on a short list of running mate contenders under consideration by Vice President Kamala Harris, co-founded Tucson, Arizona-based World View in 2012 with a vision to provide space tourism using stratospheric balloons.

While Kelly’s company started out with a focus on space tourism via balloons, the vision evolved with the maturing of the company’s technology.

“As we matured our technology, we recognized an opportunity for immediate use cases for our technology through remote sensing services to defense, scientific and commercial customers,” a spokesperson for World View told Fox News Digital. “Today, our primary business remains providing remote sensing services to the U.S. Department of Defense and her allies by way of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, as well as servicing scientific organizations like NASA, NOAA and others to better understand Earth from the unique atmospheric layer of the stratosphere.”

HARRIS EDGES CLOSER TO TRUMP IN NEW POLL CONDUCTED AFTER BIDEN’S WITHDRAWAL

Sen. Mark Kelly speaks with reporters while waiting to catch the Senate subway to the Hart Senate Office Building from the U.S. Capitol on July 25, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Axios reported that shortly after World View was started, it received venture capital from Tencent in 2013, then again in 2016.

Tencent is one of China’s largest corporations, and it was founded in 1998 by “Pony” Ma Huateng, Zhang Zhidong, Xu Chenye, Chen Yidan and Zeng Liqing. Last year, “Pony” Ma Huateng was listed by Forbes as the fourth-richest man in China with a net worth of $32.1 billion. Ma is also the CEO of Tencent.

The Wall Street Journal reported in 2021 that Tencent collected a trove of data over the years from its mobile app WeChat, the predominant social-media platform in China. The data was collected through its processing of the chat conversations and financial transactions of its over one billion monthly active users, most of them in China. That has made the company’s platform WeChat a powerful surveillance tool for the Chinese government, which reportedly regulates Tencent and regularly has it suppress dissenting views.

ARIZONA SENATE CANDIDATE SAYS MARK KELLY WOULD GIVE HARRIS ‘JOLT’ AS VP

In this photo provided by Chad Fish, a large balloon drifts above the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of South Carolina, with a fighter jet and its contrail seen below it, on Saturday, Feb. 4. (Chad Fish via AP)

With Tencent’s ties to the Chinese government, World View told Fox News Digital on Saturday that Tencent has “zero access, zero input and zero control” over the company.

“The current leadership believed it was a mistake for the company to accept Chinese investment when it did,” a company spokesperson said. “When new leadership arrived in 2019 and learned of that investment, they swiftly moved to ensure World View was protected from any and all involvement from representatives of Chinese investors.”

But the company’s early connections with the Chinese capitalist could raise questions as Kelly is being considered as a candidate for vice president, especially after China floated a surveillance balloon over the U.S. in February 2023, which was ultimately shot down by a fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina.

WHO IS MARK KELLY? WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE SENATOR FOR ARIZONA AND POSSIBLE VP PICK

Democratic Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly co-founded a company that specializes in spy balloons, which was funded, in part, by a venture capitalist in China with close ties to the Chinese Communist Party. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

The incident raised tensions between the U.S. and China, along with concerns that the Chinese government was spying on America.

Kelly stepped away from his position at World View in 2019 to prepare for his U.S. Senate run.

The company spokesperson said the remaining financial interest Kelly has in World View is secured in a blind trust, adding Kelly gave up all of his access, interest and control of the company when he left.

Axios reported that in 2014, Jane Poynter, the former CEO of World View, told Chinese news outlet Pengpai that Kelly met with the head of Tencent USA, David Wallerstein, and “introduced space tourism technology to him.”

TENCENT EXECUTIVE HELD BY CHINA OVER LINKS TO CORRUPTION CASE

A Chinese balloon was flown over the U.S., causing tension between the two nations. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo)

Kelly told The Arizona Republic in 2020 that he had a “very brief conversation” with an individual from Tencent which lasted from 30 seconds to a minute.

Kelly did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment on the matter.

The New York Times published an article about Kelly on Friday, highlighting the Navy veteran’s accomplishments in the political arena. The publication spoke with Republican operative Daniel Scarpinato, who weighed in on what Kelly could face if selected as a candidate for vice president.

“Mr. Kelly has also not faced the harsh spotlight of a national campaign, and has potential political liabilities like a high-altitude surveillance balloon company he helped found with Chinese venture capital,” the New York Times wrote of Scarpinato’s take.

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Scarpinato could not be reached for further comment.

Along with providing surveillance, World View offers remote sensing services to oil and gas companies, utility companies, mining and shipping companies, and insurance companies, among others.

The shake-up at the top of the ticket made political waves down ballot when President Joe Biden suspended his reelection campaign and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris last Sunday. U.S. Senate Candidate Dave McCormick toured a natural gas pad in Warren, Pennsylvania, Friday to contrast his “all of the above energy” goals with Harris’ resurfaced comments from her 2020 campaign that she would ban fracking.

Dave McCormick was quick to pivot to Kamala Harris this week as he vies for Senator Bob Casey’s Senate seat, considered one of the most likely pick-ups for Republicans to regain Senate control. McCormick released an ad Tuesday clipping Harris’ most liberal comments with Casey’s endorsement, calling Harris “the most liberal Presidential nominee in U.S. history.” The McCormick campaign points to Casey endorsing Harris as proof he is “deeply out of step with the needs of Pennsylvanians.” A 60-second version of the ad will air this Monday during the Olympics in the Scranton-Wilkes Barre and Pittsburgh markets.

Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick spoke to voters at the event. (Fox News)

McCormick has spent months tying Senator Bob Casey to President Joe Biden, who according to a Fox News poll conducted June 7-10 had a 58% disapproval rating. The morning after the Pennsylvania primary in April, McCormick debuted his first general election ad “98 Percent” slamming Senator Bob Casey for voting with President Joe Biden 98% of the time. For months and most recently at the Republican National Convention, McCormick contrasted “Biden and Casey’s failed policies” with the Trump-McCormick vision for Pennsylvania. As the presumptive Democratic nominee has changed in less than week so has the moniker fielding attacks from Republicans.

HARRIS’ FAVORABILITY SEES DRAMATIC SPIKE AFTER BIDEN DROPS OUT: POLL

Former President Donald Trump and McCormick, who have both committed to unleashing American energy as pillars of their campaigns, latched onto comments made by then-candidate Kamala Harris at a CNN town hall. “There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking,” Harris said in 2019. Reacting to Harris’ resurfaced comments at a rally in North Carolina Wednesday Trump said, “She wants no fracking.” President Harris and her campaign have since walked back those now viral comments alleging, she would not ban fracking.

“Trump’s false claims about fracking bans are an obvious attempt to distract from his own plans to enrich oil and gas executives at the expense of the middle class,” a spokesperson for the Harris campaign shared in a statement with Fox News. “The Biden-Harris Administration passed the largest ever climate change legislation and under their leadership, America now has the highest ever domestic energy production. This Administration created 300,000 energy jobs, while Trump lost nearly a million and his Project 2025 would undo the enormous progress we’ve made the past four years.”

When asked by Fox News about Harris’ comments, McCormick pointed instead to the Biden-Harris administration’s record on energy, painting a conflicting view from the one presented by the Harris campaign.

“In this crazy effort to eliminate fossil fuel consumption in our country with all the EPA regulations, the ban on fracking, the LNG pause and killing the Keystone pipeline, the Biden administration has put hundreds of billions of dollars of subsidies to transition to EVs and to solar panels,” McCormick said. “The majority of those solar panels and lithium batteries come from China, so in this crazy strategy of the radical environmental left, we’ve made ourselves more dependent on our greatest adversary. That’s the folly of the Biden administration’s energy policy: bad for security, bad for our economy and bad for the environment. We need pro-energy policies that open up the opportunity here in Pennsylvania.”

In a Fox News exclusive, Dave McCormick toured Bull Run Energy in Warren, Pennsylvania, Friday. Co-founded by Justin Hansen and Sam Harvey, the duo oversee 19 employees, 1,400 oil wells, and drill and frack 5 or 6 wells a year. Most of the oil they produce becomes products like lipstick and other lubricants and everyday products.

“Our company is very small,” Harvey told Fox News Friday. “We have 21 total employees, including myself and Justin. All the shallow conventional operators in northwest Pennsylvania are small businesses, so this is not Big Oil. This is people trying to make a living. It’s a very marginal business. It’s hard to make a living doing this.”

Harvey outlined the difficulty of a one-size-fits-all approach to energy regulation, advocating to scale restrictions to the size and operation of an oil or gas business. Under the Biden-Harris administration, he said the top-down approach hasn’t matched the reality on the ground.  

“Over the past three or four years, we’ve had a lot of regulations that have been rolling down from the federal government,” Harvey said. “They roll down to the state government, and then they’re just now starting to get implemented toward us. What we’re seeing is that a lot of these regulations are designed for Big Oil companies that are drilling unconventional, deep horizontal wells. It doesn’t seem like the folks who wrote the regulations in D.C. have ever come out and visited what these shallow, conventional operations are like. The language doesn’t even fit what we’re doing here.”

US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at Westover High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on July 18, 2024.  (ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)

McCormick told Fox News he visited Bull Run energy to do just that – see how small gas and oil operations are run so he’s equipped to legislate on Pennsylvania’s energy economy.

“I want to make sure I understand all the issues associated with our energy economy.” McCormick said. “So that when I’m a senator, I can be a pro-energy senator that does all the things necessary to make sure our energy sector develops.”

Earlier this year, McCormick unveiled his “Keystone Agenda” which includes “unleashing Pennsylvania energy.” The policy platform lays out a plan to remove Biden-era restrictions on gas and oil projects, embrace “all of the above” energy production, and use America’s natural resources to build energy independence and national security.  

“We’re blessed in Pennsylvania with the fourth largest natural gas reserves in the world,” McCormick added. “We just can’t get access to them, and we can’t get them into the hands of consumers around the United States and around the world. That’s the key. Pennsylvania’s senator should be fighting for those things. Bob Casey has been weak every step of the way and has been for more regulations and eventually the elimination of fossil fuels. That’s bad for Pennsylvanians and bad for America.”

SOME SAN FRANCISCO DEMOCRATS AREN’T SOLD ON KAMALA HARRIS FOR PRESIDENT: ‘MIXED FEELINGS’

In response, the Casey campaign doubled down on the senator’s commitment to “responsible fracking” and his voting record against fracking bans.

Biden speaks at the COP26 climate summit.  (Fox News)

“David McCormick is grasping at straws because the people of Pennsylvania have figured out what he really is — a Connecticut hedge fund mega-millionaire who lied about where he lives, supports a dangerous abortion ban, built up the Chinese military, and invested millions in China’s largest fentanyl producer,” a Casey campaign spokesperson shared with Fox News. “Meanwhile, Bob Casey supports fracking and is actually delivering for the Commonwealth by holding greedy corporations accountable, lowering costs, and supporting veterans and seniors.”

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“This race and this election is about two fundamentally different views of the world and how we should lead our country forward, how we can have an economy that’s for working people, how we have secure borders, how we have a robust energy sector, so we can be an energy superpower,” McCormick told Fox News Friday. “That’s the choice between, Biden-Harris-Casey. Now, Harris-Casey versus McCormick-Trump at the top of the ticket. It’s a fundamentally different view.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Sunday said former President Trump should swap out his “incredibly bad choice” of Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, as his running mate.

During an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Schumer was discussing the upcoming presidential election when he decided to address “the addition of JD Vance” to the GOP ticket.

 “It’s an incredibly bad choice,” Schumer said. “I think Donald Trump, I know him, and he’s probably sitting and watching the TV, and every day, Vance, it comes out Vance has done something more extreme, more weird, more erratic. Vance seems to be more erratic and more extreme than President Trump.” 

“And I’ll bet President Trump is sitting there scratching his head and wondering, ‘Why did I pick this guy?’ The choice may be one of the best things he ever did for Democrats,” Schumer said. 

TRUMP SENIOR CAMPAIGN ADVISOR SLAMS LEFT: TAKING VANCE’S ‘CAT LADY’ COMMENTS ‘BLATANTLY OUT OF CONTEXT

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urged former President Trump to replace Sen. JD Vance as his running mate. (Getty Images)

Referring to Trump, the former president and 2024 Republican presidential nominee, Schumer said “the president has about 10 days – 10 days before the Ohio ballot is locked in.” 

“And he has a choice: does he keep Vance on the ticket?” Schumer said. “He already has a whole lot of baggage, he’s probably going to be more baggage over the weeks because we’ll hear more things about him, or does he pick someone new? What’s his choice?” 

The left has gone after Vance in recent days over a 2021 interview in which the Ohio senator appeared to disparage “childless cat ladies” in the Democratic Party.

“We are effectively run in this country, via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made, and so they wanna make the rest of the country miserable, too,” Vance said three years ago, specifically calling out Vice President Harris and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., as being part of that group. 

On an episode of Fox News’ “The Brian Kilmeade Show,” Trump 2024 senior campaign adviser Chris LaCivita said Vance’s interview is being “blatantly taken out of context,” adding that the Trump-Vance campaign is not against “childless women” as the liberal media is saying.

Vance, the author of “Hillbilly Elegy,” a memoir adapted into a Netflix film about his time as a Yale Law School student reflecting on growing up in Appalachia, was propelled into national headlines when Trump announced him as vice presidential running mate at the start of the Republican National Convention. 

Sen. JD Vance introduces former President Trump during a rally at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on July 27, 2024, in St. Cloud, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

REPUBLICANS SAY SCHUMER MUST ACT ON VOTER PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP BILL IF DEMOCRAT ‘REALLY CARES ABOUT DEMOCRACY’

Republicans have billed Vance, whose mother is 10 years sober, as speaking to forgotten working class Americans. 

But the Harris campaign has attempted to counter that messaging. 

In a video shared weeks ago, Harris claimed Vance would be “loyal only to Trump, not to our country” and a “rubber stamp for [Trump’s] extreme agenda.”

But Vance, a Marine veteran who served in Iraq, shot back during a campaign rally with Trump in Minnesota Saturday. 

Vice presidential candidate JD Vance speaks during a campaign rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on July 27, 2024. (Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images)

“Now, I saw the other day Kamala Harris questioned my loyalty to this country. That’s the word she used, loyalty. And it’s an interesting word. Semper Fi, because there is no greater sign of disloyalty to this country than what Kamala Harris has done at our southern border,” Vance said. “And I’d like to ask the vice president, what has she done to question my loyalty to this country?”

“I served in the United States Marine Corps. I went to Iraq for this country. I built a business for this country. And my running mate took a bullet for this country. So my question to Kamala Harris is, what the hell have you done to question our loyalty to the United States of America?” Vance added. “And the answer, my friends, is nothing.” 

Asked about how Harris should handle Republican criticism of her immigration policy, Schumer told CBS host Robert Costa that Democrats in Congress and the Biden-Harris administration “put together the toughest border policy that would have stopped the flow from the border that we’ve seen in a very long time.” 

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He said the plan was initially supported by Republicans but claimed Trump wants chaos at the border so he can run on it during the election.

“We’re happy to bring that up. And case after case, when we bring that up, the voters side with us, not with their policies. We were willing to fix the border. Trump and his Republican minions said, ‘Don’t fix it, we want chaos for political purposes.’ Who do you think’s going to win the argument?” Schumer said. 

Fox News’ Garbriel Hays contributed to this report.

Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg defended the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of illegal immigration in a heated back-and-forth with Fox News’ Shannon Bream on Sunday.

Buttigieg appeared in his personal capacity as a special guest on “Fox News Sunday” and attempted to deflect criticisms of Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris and Democrats have attempted to flip the script on her 2021 mission to address border issues, a mission that led to the media widely calling her “border czar” at the time. 

“Let’s be very clear about this because there has been a lot of mischaracterization. She was not in charge of the border. The Homeland Security Department is in charge of the border. She did do something important, though. She was assigned to conduct diplomacy with Central American countries, knowing that that’s part of the bigger picture of what’s affecting the border. And you know what? Those Central American countries are among the few countries to see their numbers go down in terms of the source of migrants who are seen at the border,” Buttigieg said.

“Not by much,” Bream countered.

TRUMP EYES MULTIPLE BORDER VISITS AS HE DRAWS CONTRAST WITH ‘RADICAL LEFT’ HARRIS

Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg defended the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of illegal immigration in a heated back-and-forth with Fox News’ Shannon Bream on Sunday. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Buttigieg went on to argue that President Biden had only failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform thanks to former President Trump’s intervention.

BIDEN ADDRESSES DECISION TO DROP OUT OF 2024 RACE, INTENDS TO COMPLETE TERM IN WHITE HOUSE

“[Biden] wanted Congress to resolve [immigration] because that would have been more durable. But when Trump came in, talked Republicans out of their own bipartisan project because he didn’t want the issue to get better. Remember, the worse things are at the border, the better things get for Donald Trump. So he has a vested interest in it remaining chaotic down there,” Buttigieg said.

Vice President Harris and migrants at the southern border. (Getty Images)

Bream pushed back on the claim, however, saying that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other Republican lawmakers had objected to provisions Democrats slipped into the border bill.

KAMALA HARRIS HIT WITH ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT OVER BORDER CRISIS, ‘MISLEADING’ PEOPLE ON BIDEN

“Let’s get real. You know why they didn’t move forward,” Buttigieg insisted. “They moved forward because Donald Trump swooped in and said I don’t want Joe Biden to get a win.”

“Many of them felt that it was a flawed piece of legislation that had too many loopholes and things they couldn’t support,” Bream said.

Migrants walk along the highway through Suchiate, Chiapas state in southern Mexico, Sunday, July 21, 2024, during their journey north toward the U.S. border. (AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente)

Buttigieg is one of many top Democrats who have jumped to defend Harris on her immigration policy since her rapid ascension as the presumptive Democratic nominee in 2024.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., accused Republicans of “making up” the title of “border czar.” His comments came just before six members of his House Democratic Caucus voted to criticize her handling of the migrant crisis.

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“We have a single legislative item that is on the floor today… it’s a fake and fraudulent resolution cooked up, I think, by one of the representatives from New York – continues to embarrass herself regularly – that lies about the vice president,” Jeffries told reporters at his weekly press conference.

“She was never assigned the position of border czar. They’re making that up, because the extreme MAGA Republicans are in full meltdown,” he added.

Vice President Kamala Harris has seen her favorability among American voters rise dramatically in the aftermath of President Biden dropping out of the race, a new poll shows.

Harris’ overall favorability rose from 35% to 43% compared to a week earlier, while the vice president’s unfavorability rating fell from 46% to 42%, according to the results of an ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted on Friday and Saturday.

The poll comes just a week after Biden made the decision to drop out of the 2024 race and endorse Harris, who quickly consolidated support among her fellow Democrats to essentially lock up the nomination by the middle of last week.

HARRIS CLOSES IN ON TRUMP IN ELECTION BETTING MARKETS

Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks on reproductive rights at Ritchie Coliseum on the campus of the University of Maryland on June 24, 2024, in College Park, Maryland. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The news brought a jolt of enthusiasm to Democrats, who donated record-setting fundraising numbers to the Harris campaign in the aftermath of her taking over at the top of the ticket, enthusiasm that was reflected in the new poll.

Among Democrats, 88% indicated that they were enthusiastic about Harris (63% very and 25% somewhat) becoming the party’s nominee. The level of enthusiasm for Harris in her own party outstrips that of former President Trump among Republicans, with 82% of those respondents indicating that they were enthusiastic about him being the nominee.

Trump also saw his favorability rating drop in the poll, falling from 40% last week to 36% in the most recent poll. The former president’s unfavorable rating also ticked up slightly in the new poll, rising from 51% to 52%.

Former President Trump gestures to the crowd at a campaign event on July 1, 2023, in Pickens, South Carolina. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

DEMOCRATS TO CONFIRM NOMINEES BY VIRTUAL ROLL CALL WEEKS BEFORE DNC IN CHICAGO TO AVOID LEGAL CHALLENGES

The poll also tackled the ongoing “veepstakes” for Harris, who has yet to choose a running mate. While Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (54%) and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (54%) enjoy the highest name recognition among respondents, candidates such as Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., (22% favorable) and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (17% favorable) have the highest favorability rating among respondents who were familiar with them.

Sen. Mark Kelly speaks with reporters at the U.S. Capitol on July 25, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

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The ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted between July 26-27, surveying 1,200 U.S. adults with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The United States will announce a major revamp of its military structure in Asia, unveiling a new command in Tokyo as it deepens ties with Japan in response to China’s increased ambition in the region.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are scheduled to hold talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Defense Minister Minoru Kihara on Sunday, according to a report from Reuters, where Austin will announce a shift of U.S. forces in Japan.

“Secretary Austin plans to announce that the United States intends to reconstitute U.S. Forces Japan as a Joint Force Headquarters, reporting to the commander of U.S. INDOPACOM,” a U.S. official told Reuters.

TRUMP SHOOTING PLAYS INTO RUSSIA, CHINA PLANS TO DIVIDE US AHEAD OF ELECTIONS

Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks after reviewing the People’s Liberation Army fleet in the South China Sea. (Li Gang/Xinhua via AP, File)

Japan has been looking to establish a new joint headquarters in the country to better coordinate with U.S. forces as it sees growing threats in the region, the report notes, with Japan citing increased missile tests by North Korea and China’s growing military ambitions.

Japan had hoped the new command would be headed by a four-star general, but the U.S. official told Reuters that a three-star general will take control of the new organization.

Talks between the U.S. and Japan Sunday are expected to cover “extended deterrence,” the U.S. official said, the term the U.S. uses to describe how it deploys nuclear forces to deter attacks on its allies.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testifies before a Senate Appropriations Committee on Capitol Hill. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta/File)

TAIWAN REACTS TO TRUMP’S THEY ‘SHOULD PAY US FOR DEFENSE’ COMMENTS

Japan already hosts a U.S. military base with 54,000 American troops, hundreds of aircraft, and a forward-deployed carrier strike group, the report notes, but the new command will allow for greater cooperation between the two countries. Japan recently committed to double defense spending from 1% of GDP to 2% as it seeks greater deterrence over China and North Korea.

The move also comes as President Biden has looked to increase cooperation between Japan and South Korea, another key U.S. ally in the region. Relations between the two countries have been strained since the early 20th century.

The three nations on Sunday signed an agreement to “institutionalize” trilateral cooperation, according to the report, which will include sharing of real-time North Korean missile information and increased joint-military exercises.

President Biden speaks during a campaign event in Philadelphia on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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“This memorandum, strengthens the cooperation between Japan, the United States and South Korea, making our partnership unshakable no matter how the international situation changes,” Kihara told reporters after the agreement was signed.

The Pentagon and White House did not immediately respond to a Fox News request for comment.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker downplayed the importance of Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate pick amid speculation he is one of the frontrunners for the position.

“We’ve seen over the last decades that who you pick as your vice president doesn’t determine whether you’re going to win a state or not,” the Democratic governor said during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “What it does determine is whether you’ve got the message right across the board.”

The comments come as Pritzker is believed to be one of the candidates in the running to join Harris on the Democratic ticket, though an NBC news report last week indicated the field had been whittled down to Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

DEMOCRATS TO CONFIRM NOMINEES BY VIRTUAL ROLL CALL WEEKS BEFORE DNC IN CHICAGO TO AVOID LEGAL CHALLENGES

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker attends the Clinton Global Initiative meeting on Sept. 19, 2023, in New York City. (John Nacion/WireImage)

Nevertheless, some reports had speculated that the Illinois governor was at least under consideration by the Harris campaign and had been sent vetting materials, something Pritzker declined to comment on during his Sunday interview.

“I’m not going to talk about that. I am going to talk about what I think is important in this campaign, and that’s winning, beating Donald Trump,” Prtizker told “This Week.”

When it comes to defeating former President Trump in the election, Pritzker argued that the “electorate is energized” since Harris launched her campaign.

Vice President Kamala Harris arrives for a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. (Daniel Steinle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

BIDEN’S CABINET DOUBLES DOWN ON SUPPORT FOR PRESIDENT AMID CALLS TO INVOKE 25TH AMENDMENT

“Democrats are ready to go… Her message is one that I think resonates with people,” Pritzker said of Harris, who officially replaced President Biden at the top of the ticket last week.

The Illinois governor also cited Harris’ experience as a prosecutor, arguing that her experience will resonate against Trump, who has been battling multiple legal issues since leaving office.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker argued that the “electorate is energized” since Vice President Harris launched her campaign. (John Nacion/WireImage/Getty Images)

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“She’s somebody who understands that making the case is how you win… every day prosecuting the case, especially against a 34-time convicted felon and, frankly, a congenital liar,” Pritzker said.

The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., called for creating a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants on Sunday, arguing Vice President Kamala Harris is the candidate to “get it done.”

Warren made the comments during a Sunday morning appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” with host Jake Tapper. Tapper pressed her to defend the immigration policies of the Biden-Harris administration, which have been historically unpopular.

“I don’t need to tell you voters overwhelmingly disapprove of how the Biden-Harris administration has handled the border,” Tapper said. “By giving the nomination to one of the leaders of the border effort, aren’t Democrats doubling down on one of your party’s biggest vulnerabilities?”

“Border crossings now are lower than they were in the last year of the Trump administration. But recognize – and I know that Kamala Harris knows – this is a problem that ultimately has to be solved by Congress,” Warren responded.

WEBPAGE THAT RATED KAMALA HARRIS THE ‘MOST LIBERAL’ SENATOR IN 2019 SUDDENLY DISAPPEARS

Sen. Elizabeth Warren called for a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants on Sunday and said Vice President Harris is the candidate to “get it done.” (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

“We need the tools in order to have more resources at the border, to have more resources in the states and cities that are supporting migrants. And I believe we need to create a pathway to citizenship. All of that is part of what we need to do for comprehensive immigration reform. Kamala Harris will work with Congress and get that done,” she added.

CBS STATION SLAPPED WITH COMMUNITY NOTE AFTER CLAIMING TRUMP MISLED ABOUT HARRIS-BACKED BAIL FUND

Former President Trump has remained focused on illegal immigration throughout his campaign. Border crossings repeatedly surged to unprecedented levels at multiple points during the Biden administration.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at Westover High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on July 18, 2024. (Allison Joyce/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, accused Harris of wanting citizenship for illegal immigrants at a campaign rally in Minnesota on Saturday.

Sen. JD Vance accused Harris of wanting citizenship for illegal immigrants at a campaign rally in Minnesota on Saturday. (Getty Images)

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“Worst of all, Kamala Harris would happily erode every protection we have to prevent them from voting,” Vance said at a rally in Minnesota Saturday. “She wants to hand over control of our country to people who shouldn’t be here in the first place. And we cannot let her. And I have a message, a very simple message to the millions of illegal aliens who are in this country and shouldn’t be. If you are here, start packing your bags right now because Donald J. Trump is coming back into office.”

FIRST ON FOX: Former President Trump’s campaign has mapped out its general election strategy with just 100 days until voters cast their ballots in November, launching a social media blitz and urging supporters to join its “Trump Force 47” grassroots effort to recruit new voters. 

The program, which the campaign says is focused on mobilizing “highly-targeted voters in critical precincts across the battleground states and districts,” has already engaged tens of thousands of volunteers. 

“Trump Force 47 is highly effective because it takes traditional voter contact tactics a step further by equipping voters with the skills to persuade their neighbors to vote for President Trump,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital. “100 days out from Election Day, Team Trump is ready to turn the historic enthusiasm behind President Trump into action by signing up thousands of new volunteers who are ready to Make America Great Again.” 

TRUMP’S NEW BOOK ‘SAVE AMERICA’ CHRONICLES FIRST-TERM TRIUMPHS, OUTLINES BLUEPRINT FOR A WINNING SECOND

Former President Trump, speaks during the final day of the Republican National Convention, July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

The campaign told Fox News Digital that “Trump Force 47” builds on its early-state primary strategy of organizing volunteers at the precinct level, where each volunteer works to attract several specifically-targeted voters. 

The “Trump Force 47” website says it is “the official army of volunteer neighborhood organizers working together to defeat Kamala Harris and the far-left liberal democrats.” 

Potential volunteers can sign up to target voter outreach in their own neighborhoods; call targeted voters; sign up for poll watching; be a “Trump Captain; host a “Trump House Party;” or deliver yard signs to neighbors. 

Former President Trump and running mate JD Vance at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 16, 2024. (Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz)

“Securing these votes are critical to ensuring President Trump and other Republicans win in November,” the Trump campaign said. 

Meanwhile, the campaign is focusing on themes echoed throughout the Republican National Committee earlier this month, including “Make America Safe Again,” “Make America Strong Again” and “Make America Great Again.” 

TRUMP CAMPAIGN SAYS IT’S ‘WELL-POSITIONED TO PROSECUTE THE CASE’ AGAINST KAMALA HARRIS

The Trump campaign is releasing new graphics and ads, touting the former president’s record and his plans to “win, win, win” against Vice President Harris. 

The new voter strategy comes after former Trump officially became the Republican presidential nominee, and Sen. JD Vance became his running mate, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at the Republican National Convention earlier this month. 

It also comes after President Biden suspended his re-election campaign. Harris landed endorsements from Biden, along with other top Democrats like former President Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and more. 

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on the Truman Balcony of the White House on July 4, 2024. (Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images)

Harris has also landed endorsements from the majority of delegates needed to secure the Democratic nomination. 

The official Democratic nominee, though, will not be named until Aug. 1. 

The change at the top of the Democratic ticket does not concern the Trump campaign, according to sources familiar. 

The campaign told Fox News Digital it “has been wholly prepared for every scenario” and said it completed its “gameplanning months in advance.”

“The campaign leaves nothing to chance and is well-positioned to prosecute the case against a weak, failed, incompetent, and dangerously liberal in Kamala Harris,” a Trump campaign adviser told Fox News Digital. 

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And in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital this week, former President Trump said Harris is “a radical left lunatic.” 

“She’ll destroy our country,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “She doesn’t have what it takes to be president.”   

Ohio’s top election official is demanding that Democrats stop using his state as an excuse to justify their expedited nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris for president at a virtual meeting next month.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose sent a letter to DNC Chairman Jamie Harris on Thursday calling out party officials for deceptively claiming the Buckeye State’s ballot access deadline requires them to nominate a presidential candidate before the party convention in Chicago on Aug. 19-22. 

“I’ve seen numerous media reports and interviews within the past week in which you repeatedly cite Ohio’s August 7 ballot access deadline as justification for your committee’s intent to conduct a ‘virtual nominating convention,’” LaRose wrote to Harrison. “As you know, the Ohio General Assembly made an exception to the ballot access deadline for the 2024 presidential election, passing legislation signed by the governor that temporarily extends it to September 1, 2024.”

The Democratic National Committee announced Wednesday it will hold a virtual roll call vote on the party’s presidential and vice presidential nominees weeks before the convention, purportedly because of a ballot-access conflict in Ohio. Harrison and other Democratic officials have insisted the early vote is necessary because of an Aug. 7 deadline under Ohio state law. 

DEMOCRATS TO CONFIRM NOMINEES BY VIRTUAL ROLL CALL WEEKS BEFORE DNC IN CHICAGO TO AVOID LEGAL CHALLENGES

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at Westover High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on July 18, 2024. (Allison Joyce/AFP via Getty Images)

“Since May, MAGA Republicans in Ohio have played games with our democracy and threatened to keep Democrats off the general election ballot. Just this week, after President Biden withdrew from the race, Republicans like Speaker Mike Johnson threatened litigation to challenge the Democratic nominee’s place on the ballot and disenfranchise voters,” a DNC spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

“The Democratic Party is undertaking an open, fair, and democratic process to select our nominee, ensure we meet all legal requirements – not just in Ohio, and move forward as a united Democratic Party with a candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in November,” the spokesperson added. 

BIDEN’S CABINET DOUBLES DOWN ON SUPPORT FOR PRESIDENT AMID CALLS TO INVOKE 25TH AMENDMENT

DNC chair Jaime Harrison has insisted the party must nominate a presidential candidate before an Aug. 7 deadline to secure ballot access in Ohio, contrary to what the state elections chief has said.  (Screenshot/NBC/Today)

Under DNC rules, candidates have until July 27 to declare their candidacies with the convention and until July 30 to show they’ve met the qualifications for nomination. The earliest delegates can begin voting electronically will be Aug. 1, assuming Harris is the only candidate to declare and meet the required qualifications and delegate support threshold.

Although unlikely, if more than one candidate declares and meets those requirements, a period of up to five days will be allowed for each candidate to make the case for nomination to the delegates before voting can begin.

HARRIS REPEATS DEBUNKED CLAIM TRUMP WANTS TO ‘BAN’ ABORTION DURING FIRST CAMPAIGN RALLY SINCE BIDEN QUIT RACE

The United Center in Chicago, where Democrats will hold their 2024 presidential nominating convention. (Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

Harris announced she’d locked up the nomination within 36 hours of Biden’s exit from the race, noting she’d won commitments of backing from a majority of the nearly 4,000 delegates.

“I am proud to have earned the support needed to become our party’s nominee,” she wrote in a social media post just after midnight early Tuesday morning.

Contrary to what Democrats are saying, LaRose argued there is nothing in Ohio state law that would keep the eventual Democratic presidential candidate off the ballot so long as a candidate is nominated before Sept. 1.

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“As the state’s chief elections officer, I’ve confirmed with our state’s attorney general that Ohio law does not require the DNC to conduct a ‘virtual roll call’ prior to your scheduled August convention dates,” LaRose wrote. 

“I’m confident that your attorneys are well-aware of this fact, and I suspect your current rhetorical posturing is part of a plan to replace the incumbent president without a contested convention or any kind of democratic process. It’s clever, if not completely antithetical to your party’s relentless finger wagging about threats to democracy, but I ask that you stop using Ohio to justify your course of action.”

LaRose concluded his letter with an assurance that so long as the Democrats nominate candidates for president and vice president before Sept. 1, they will appear on the Ohio ballot. 

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser and Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.