NationalWatch

The year that was 2023 is on its way out, and 2024 — along with its consequential and increasingly complicated presidential election — are quickly approaching.

Between a historic ousting of a House speaker to cocaine found at the White House, 2023 proved to be an eventful year in America.

Here are the top six political stories of 2023.

DEM-APPOINTED COLORADO JUSTICE SAYS TRUMP BALLOT BAN UNDERMINED ‘BEDROCK’ OF AMERICA IN FIERY DISSENT

McCarthy’s ouster and the House speaker fight

Arguably the biggest political story of the year, the House of Representatives saw the ousting of its leader for the first time in American history this October.

Now-former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was removed from his post by eight Republicans, led by Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz.

The House Republicans who voted McCarthy out were joined by every Democrat in the chamber in the vote.

McCarthy’s ouster led to a near-monthlong fight to determine the House Republican who would take the gavel.

Three top House Republicans — Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota — made gambits for the gavel, but all were shot down by their conference.

The speaker fight culminated with the election of Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to the position.

January 6 footage release

Just weeks after being elected to the speakership, Johnson made a massive move in congressional transparency. He released 40,000 hours of footage from the January 6 Capitol riots.

“When I ran for Speaker, I promised to make accessible to the American people the 44,000 hours of video from Capitol Hill security taken on January 6, 2021. Truth and transparency are critical,” Johnson said in a statement.

“Today, we will begin immediately posting video on a public website and move as quickly as possible to add to the website nearly all of the footage, more than 40,000 hours. In the meantime, a public viewing room will ensure that every citizen can view every minute of the videos uncensored.”

He continued, “This decision will provide millions of Americans, criminal defendants, public interest organizations, and the media an ability to see for themselves what happened that day, rather than having to rely upon the interpretation of a small group of government officials.”

Johnson said that roughly 5% of the footage would likely be held back due to “sensitive security information related to the building architecture,” and that some faces would be blurred “to avoid any persons from being targeted for retaliation of any kind.”

The White House’s July snowstorm

While drugs may not be far removed from politics, they typically do not make public appearances at the White House.

However, that is exactly what happened this July as Americans geared up to celebrate Independence Day.

While President Biden and his family were at Camp David, the Secret Service found a bag of cocaine in a White House locker.

EXPERTS BAFFLED BY WHITE HOUSE INVOKING HATCH ACT TO DODGE HUNTER COCAINE QUESTION: ‘RIDICULOUS’

The Secret Service launched an investigation into how the July snowstorm happened at the White House.

Speculation surged on how the nose candy ended up in the White House, and legal experts were baffled when the Biden administration invoked the Hatch Act to dodge a question about former President Trump’s claim that the cocaine belonged to either the president or Hunter Biden.

The Secret Service investigation was closed 11 days later with no conclusive cocaine culprit.

Hunter Biden’s tax charges

In general, Hunter Biden has been at the center and center-adjacent of several controversies throughout 2023. The president’s son is also facing several criminal tax charges as his father seeks re-election in 2024.

The younger Biden’s federal charges are in connection with an alleged “four-year scheme” in which he did not pay his federal income taxes from January 2017 to October 2020 while also filing false tax reports.

Special Counsel David Weiss alleged Hunter “engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019, from in or about January 2017 through in or about October 15, 2020, and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns in or about February 2020.”

Weiss said Hunter spent millions to fund an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills.

Hunter will make his initial appearance in a California federal court on nine tax-related charges on Jan. 11, 2024.

Mr. Santos goes to Washington — and gets booted

In another first, now-disgraced GOP New York former Rep. George Santos became the first Republican to be expelled from the House of Representatives.

The lower chamber voted to remove Santos after a damning House Ethics Committee report alleged campaign finance abuses and that the congressman had “engaged in fraudulent conduct.”

Expelling a member of Congress takes a two-thirds majority vote. The last time a House lawmaker was expelled was more than two decades ago, when late former Rep. Jim Traficant, D-Ohio, was voted out of Congress in 2002.

Prior to his ousting, Traficant had been convicted of 10 felony counts, including racketeering and taking bribes.

Santos has not been convicted of a crime, but he has been indicted on 23 counts related to wire fraud, identity theft, falsification of records, credit card fraud and other charges. Santos has been accused of using campaign funds on a number of luxury goods and treatments such as Botox. He has pleaded not guilty.

The 311 to 114 vote was strongly bipartisan, although slightly more Republicans voted to keep Santos than to oust him.

EMBATTLED GOP REP GEORGE SANTOS EXPELLED FROM HOUSE

Trump’s criminal charges

Former President Trump is facing criminal charges of his own in Georgia after the former president was indicted on state charges out of Fulton County related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the crucial southeastern battleground state.

The current GOP presidential primary frontrunner is facing charges that include violating the Georgia RICO Act — the Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations Act; Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer; Conspiracy to Commit Impersonating a Public Officer; Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree; Conspiracy to Commit False Statements and Writings; Conspiracy to Commit Filing False Documents; Conspiracy to Commit Forgery in the First Degree; Filing False Documents; and Solicitation of Violation of Oath by a Public Officer.

However, Trump is also facing criminal charges elsewhere.

Trump was first charged in March through Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s yearslong investigation related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign.

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Bragg alleged that Trump “repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election.”

Trump pleaded not guilty to all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree in New York.

Fox News Digital’s Brandon Gillespie, Cameron Cawthorne, Elizabeth Elkind, Brooke Singman, Joe Schoffstall, Paul Steinhauser, Louis Casiano, Chris Pandolfo, Anders Hagstrom and Andrew Mark Miller contributed reporting.

Democrats and Republicans clashed in a number of heated elections across the country this year as they looked to build momentum heading into 2024.

Both parties experienced big victories and disappointing defeats, including in a number of gubernatorial, mayoral and state legislative races.

Here is a look at the top takeaways from 2023’s elections:

Republicans flip Democrat-held Louisiana governor seat

In October, Republicans flipped Louisiana’s governor seat from Democratic control when state Attorney General Jeff Landry defeated Democrat Shawn Wilson.

Landry passed the 50% threshold required to avoid a runoff in Louisiana’s jungle primary system and will take over from term-limited Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards in January.

AS DEMOCRATS LEAN ON JAN 6, CRITICS ARGUE BIDEN’S PARTY IS THE REAL THREAT TO DEMOCRACY

The race was the first major contest between Democrats and Republicans heading into the 2024 elections, and both hoped to use it as a springboard for success in the November elections just weeks later.

Landry was only the second Republican elected in the last two decades to lead Louisiana, a traditionally deep-red state, with the other being former Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Lori Lightfoot ousted as Chicago mayor

In March, Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot became the first incumbent leading the city in four decades to lose a re-election bid when she came in third in her party’s primary and failed to make the April runoff.

She was ultimately ousted by progressive Democrat Brandon Johnson, a county commissioner backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and the Chicago Teachers Union.

VETERANS SHAME DEMOCRAT IN TOP 2024 HOUSE RACE FOR WEARING ARMY UNIFORM DURING EVENT DESPITE NEVER SERVING

Chicago’s rampant crime problem played a major role in voters’ decision to give Lightfoot the boot as the city saw crime go through the roof during her tenure.

The number of homicides in Chicago in 2021 hit a 25-year-high, reaching 797, according to the Chicago Police Department.

Democrat Andy Beshear wins re-election in deep-red Kentucky

Incumbent Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear handily won re-election in deep-red Kentucky in November, a major blow to Republicans hoping to ride the momentum into the 2024 election year with another big flip after winning in Louisiana.

The rising-star status of Beshear’s opponent, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, combined with the unpopularity of President Biden and his fellow Democrats in the commonwealth, ultimately didn’t boost Republicans’ chances at flipping the seat, and led to a large amount of finger pointing within the party in the aftermath.

Immediately following the election, a number of national and local Republicans lamented that former U.N. Ambassador Kelly Craft, who faced Cameron in the GOP primary earlier in the year, wasn’t the party’s nominee, arguing she would have been a more “formidable” challenge to Beshear.

Beshear will continue as one of the last remaining Democratic governors of a deep-red state where Republican voters outnumber Democrat voters and conservative roots run deep. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelley will be the only other Democratic governor of a Republican-leaning state once Landry replaces Bel Edwards in Louisiana in January.

FORMER TRUMP ADVISER KELLYANNE CONWAY LEADS CHARGE TO OVERHAUL GOP ABORTION STRATEGY, END DEMS’ 2024 ADVANTAGE

Virginia Democrats win total control of state legislature

In November, Democrats retained control of the Virginia state Senate and flipped the state House of Delegates from Republicans, despite GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s attempts to win total control of the state legislature for his party.

Virginia’s legislative elections grabbed outsized national attention, with both Democrats and Republicans spending millions on the races, which were viewed in political circles as a key barometer ahead of the 2024 elections for president and control of Congress.

Strategists from both parties looked closely at the results in Virginia’s northern suburbs of Washington, D.C., and around Richmond, for signs that Republicans were able to make any inroads with suburban voters — especially women — who fled the GOP in recent election cycles. But there was scant evidence.

The results mean Youngkin won’t have a free hand during his final two years in office to push through a conservative agenda, and are seen as a political setback for a governor with a reputation as a rising star in the GOP, whom some top Republican donors were urging to make a late-in-the-game entry into the 2024 White House race.

BIDEN TEAM’S CENTRAL 2024 MESSAGE PAINTS TRUMP AS ‘THREAT TO DEMOCRACY’: REPORT

Pennsylvania Democrats win, then lose historic state House majority twice

In February, Democrats in Pennsylvania won control of the state House for the first time in over a decade with a one-seat majority after months of uncertainty following the 2022 elections.

Democrats then lost the majority with the resignation of one of its members in July before regaining the majority with a special election victory in September.

The chamber was thrown back into a deadlock earlier this month with the resignation of another Democrat, who departed for a position as a judge, leaving the balance of power at 101-101.

A special election is expected to be held on Feb. 13 to fill the empty seat. 

Ohio voters approve amendment enshrining abortion access in state constitution

In November, Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights in the state’s constitution. 

The vote was opposed by Republicans, who argued the measure went even further than Roe v. Wade.

BIDEN SCRAMBLES TO WIN OVER SWING STATE BLACK VOTERS AS SUPPORT FROM THE TRADITIONALLY BLUE BLOC FALTERS

The election signaled a major victory for pro-abortion advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union, who had pumped tens of millions into the state that Trump carried by eight points in 2020. 

The group argued that a constitutional amendment was needed to protect abortion access after the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.

Mississippi’s Tate Reeves defeats Elvis Presley’s second cousin to win second term

Incumbent Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves secured a second term at the helm of the Magnolia State in November by defeating his Democratic opponent Brandon Presley, the second cousin to famed rock and roll legend Elvis Presley.

National Democrats saw the race as a potential flip opportunity in a deep-red state and tried to capitalize on that by hammering Reeves for refusing Medicaid expansion. Reeves responded to the attacks by saying he believed in work, not welfare.

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Reeves touted his record as governor during the race, citing the state’s lowest unemployment rate in history, rising educational achievement levels and work with hospital leaders to prevent hospitals from closing.

The Mississippi economy and healthcare, in particular Medicare expansion, became major issues in the race, an unsurprising development considering the state is the poorest in the nation with a poverty rate of 18.1% in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Fox News’ Houston Keene, Andrew Mark Miller and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

What a difference a year makes.

At the dawn of 2023, former President Donald Trump was the only declared candidate in the race for the Republican nomination.

But he was far from a sure thing. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, fresh off an overwhelming gubernatorial re-election less than two months earlier, was neck and neck with Trump in some of the early 2024 polls. 

WHERE THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION RACE STANDS AS 2023 COMES TO A CLOSE

The former president was still facing criticism for contributing to the GOP’s lackluster performance in the 2022 midterms.

And Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign launch at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, a couple of weeks after the midterms was panned by many pundits.

RAISING THE STAKES: ARE TRUMP’S EXPECTATIONS IN IOWA TOO HIGH?

But as 2023 comes to a close, Trump is the commanding frontrunner for the Republican nomination as he makes his third straight White House bid.

Here are five moments that shaped the showdown for the Republican nomination, the Democratic primary battle and the overall White House race.

March: Trump makes legal history  

Trump was indicted by a grand jury in the New York City borough of Manhattan on charges related to an alleged illegal 2016 hush money payment. Trump made history as the first former or current president to be indicted for a crime.

Trump was also indicted later in the year in three other cases, including charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss. But those cases have not deterred his support among Republican voters.

WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE SHOWS

Trump’s legal controversies have had a rallying effect among Republicans, and his legal entanglements have sucked the oxygen out of the room for his nomination rivals.

“Every time he’s targeted by legal actions, it just improves his standing with the conservative base,” longtime Republican strategist and communicator Ryan Williams said.

May: DeSantis campaign launch panned 

After months of testing the waters with trips to the crucial early voting states, DeSantis aimed to make waves with his campaign launch on Twitter Spaces with Elon Musk.

But it didn’t go as planned.

X, then still called Twitter, couldn’t handle the surge in traffic, the app repeatedly crashed and the event eventually started 20 minutes late.

It was the first of many bad omens for DeSantis.

The Florida governor made headlines again for all the wrong reasons over the summer, with a series of campaign staff purges and resets and reports of the campaign burning through cash. 

There were more staff shakeups in autumn, this time at the DeSantis-aligned super PAC Never Back Down, which had taken over many of the traditional duties of a presidential campaign, including grassroots outreach.

DeSantis for months was the clear No. 2 rival to Trump in the Republican nomination race. But in many metrics, Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina governor, had surpassed DeSantis for second place by the end of 2023.

August: Trump skips the debates 

As he ran an incumbent-style campaign, Trump decided against sharing the debate stage with his GOP rivals.

“The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had,” Trump wrote on his social media site ahead of the first debate in August. “I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!”

The former president ended up skipping all four candidate showdowns held this year while hosting competing events on the debate nights.

Trump’s absence didn’t seem to hurt him. He emerged relatively unscathed by his rivals, and his lead over the rest of the field has only grown since the first debate was held.

While the debates didn’t affect Trump, they did help winnow the field of contenders, as nearly all the candidates who failed to qualify for the showdowns dropped out of race. A field of more than a dozen candidates in August was down to just five major contenders by December.

November: Youngkin falls short

As summer turned into autumn, speculation and buzz about Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin potentially making a late entry into the 2024 GOP nomination race was the talk of the party’s donor class.

As a first-time candidate from the party’s business wing, Youngkin edged out former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe in 2021 to become the first GOP candidate in a dozen years to win a gubernatorial election in the one-time swing state that had trended toward the Democrats the previous decade.

Youngkin became an instant Republican Party star, and pundits immediately viewed him as a potential GOP 2024 contender. 

But Youngkin dismissed the speculation, and he repeatedly said his only political mission was to win outright control of his state legislature in Virgnia’s 2023 off-year elections.

After investing plenty of political capital on behalf of Republican legislative candidates as he criss-crossed the state holding rallies, Youngkin became the face of his party’s push to win total control of the state government in Richmond. 

But he failed in his mission, and the buzz about Youngkin parachuting into the White House race instantly dissipated.

December: Haley surges

Haley enjoyed plenty of momentum in the polls this autumn, thanks in part to well-received performances in the first three Republican presidential primary debates. 

She leapfrogged DeSantis for second place in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary and votes second after Iowa. And she’s in second place in her home state, another crucial early voting state that holds the first southern contest.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

But things accelerated for Haley soon after Thanksgiving.

That’s when she was endorsed by Americans for Prosperity (AFP) Action, the political wing of the influential and deep-pocketed fiscally conservative network founded by the billionaire Koch Brothers. AFP Action has pledged to spend tens of millions of dollars and mobilize its formidable grassroots operation to boost Haley and help push the Republican Party past Trump.

A couple of weeks later, Haley landed the much coveted endorsement of popular Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, who spent three straight days teaming up with her on the campaign trail in the Granite State.

The governor’s endorsement of Haley appeared to give her campaign an extra boost as well as a high-profile and energetic surrogate who has been tireless in touting her during national and local media appearances.

It all seems to be clicking for Haley. She’s soared in the latest polls in New Hampshire and is now within striking distance of Trump. 

And in Iowa, whose Jan. 15 caucuses lead off the GOP nominating calendar, she’s pulled even with DeSantis.

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

For a prominent pro-life group, recent setbacks at the ballot box have not tampered spirits for the future of the movement to create a culture that protects unborn life in the womb.

The March for Life — the organization and the annual event that attracts tens of thousands of people (at least) from across the country each January — has grown significantly in the 50 years since the first march in 1974.

Activists assembled on the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which effectively made abortion legal in every state across the country. Since then, the march always had Roe as its chief point of protest, but in the year and a half since the Supreme Court overturned Roe’s precedent in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, the energy surrounding the march has not waned.

“The march for life was born in a moment after Roe was overturned, and there was a lot of confusion about choosing life, and the unborn child,” March for Life President Jeanne Mancini told Fox News Digital in an interview. “We think this particular moment calls for these marches, and that the pro-life grassroots needs strengthening and even a little direction right now. That’s where we see the state march program as being so critically important.”

FORMER TRUMP ADVISER KELLYANNE CONWAY LEADS CHARGE TO OVERHAUL GOP ABORTION STRATEGY, END DEMS’ 2024 ADVANTAGE

In the past five years, the March for Life has expanded to the state level, hosting annual rallies in cities across the country organized by state chapters of the national organization.

The state-level expansion is moving fast. In 2018, March for Life Virginia held an inaugural march. In 2023, eight states held marches, and next year March for Life will be in 17 states, and Mancini has plans to be in every state in the union in the next six years or so.

Following the Dobbs decision in June 2022, pro-life leaders and conservative politicians have sought to redirect activism to state-level political battles and focus on creating a “culture of life.” March for Life’s goal, Mancini said, is to create a world where “abortion is unthinkable.”

That effort is as much about helping women with unexpected pregnancies as it is about changing laws around abortion.

“There’s so much confusion about what it means to be a woman, and frankly, what it means to be pro-life. The heart of pro-life is supporting women and wanting what’s best for them,” Mancini said.

The political fight over abortion does not appear to be going away, and pro-life leaders are far from giving up on pushing for state or national pro-life legislation.

However, pro-life causes have had a series of setbacks in statewide ballot initiatives in the past two elections. Most recently, Ohio voted to enshrine a right to access abortion into its state constitution in November.

“With the ballot initiatives, we’re learning a lot,” Mancini said. “As we’re moving and changing culture, we’re going to have lessons along the way.” 

PRO-LIFE GROUP ADDRESSES WHAT WENT WRONG IN OHIO ABORTION VOTE, HOW TO RESPOND IN 2024

As many pro-life leaders have pointed out, Mancini noted that public opinion surveys show most Americans are not in favor of completely unrestricted abortion.

“For at least 12 years strong, 7 out of 10 Americans would limit abortion at most to the first three months of pregnancy. And that’s not our national law,” Mancini said. “Some states do enact protective laws of life prior to that moment, which is wonderful, but our national law is not in line with most of Europe.” 

The theme of the 2024 March for Life is “with every woman, for every child.” It aims to address the confusion and show that being pro-life is not only about political fights without regard to the difficulties of an unplanned pregnancy.

“We see two patients when someone is facing an unexpected pregnancy, and we want both of those patients to fully flourish.”

The Charlotte Lozier Institute released a report earlier in December about the impact nearly 3,000 pro-life pregnancy centers across the nation have had serving women.

The report showed that in 2022 alone, the network of mostly locally-run pregnancy centers provided nearly 800,000 new client consultations, 700,000 pregnancy tests, half a million ultrasounds, and hundreds of thousands of STI tests, parenting classes and sexual risk avoidance education.

Pregnancy centers also provided “after-abortion support” to 20,000 clients.

The centers also delivered $358 million worth of material support for new mothers, including cribs, strollers, diapers, baby formula and car seats, the report said.

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Mancini said there was a distinction between advocacy for abortion access, and the pro-life movement. Abortion access tends to prey on women’s fears, implying that those carrying an unplanned pregnancy are not capable of bearing or raising children, Mancini said.

“The pro-life movement is the opposite,” Mancini said. “We want to encourage and support women, come alongside them and strengthen them; and tell them ‘you can do this. You have what it takes to do this. This is going to be hard, but it will be beautiful, and we will be here with you.'”

Gov. Gavin Newsom critized fellow Democrats for considering blocking former president Donald Trump from California’s 2024 presidential primary ballot, saying that, “we defeat candidates at the polls.”

“There is no doubt that Donald Trump is a threat to our liberties and even to our democracy,” Newsom said in a statement. “But in California, we defeat candidates at the polls.”

“Everything else is a political distraction,” Newsom said.

RFK JR SLAMS CALIFORNIA LT GOV FOR EYEING BID TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM BALLOT

The effort to boot Trump off the ballot has been gaining momentum after Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis sent a letter to California Secretary of State, Dr. Shirley Weber, and urged her to “explore” all legal options of removing the former President from the state’s ballot.

“Based on the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling in Anderson v. Griswold (2023 CO 63), I urge you to explore every legal option to remove former President Donald Trump from California’s 2024 presidential primary ballot,” the letter to Weber said. 

In the letter, Kounalakis argued that persuing legal options for removing Trump is about “protecting the fundamental pillars of our democracy.”

CALIFORNIA LT. GOV CALLS FOR STATE TO ‘EXPLORE EVERY LEGAL OPTION’ TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM ’24 BALLOT

“This decision is about honoring the rule of law in our country and protecting the fundamental pillars of our democracy,” Kounalakis wrote.

Newsom’s comments come in the wake of this week’s ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court to remove Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot.

The divided court ruled that Trump is ineligible to run for the presidency under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause, arguing that his actions fueled the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by right-wing protesters aiming to disrupt congressional certification of President Biden’s 2020 election victory.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The blockbuster development was immediately condemned from nearly all corners of the GOP. Additionally, Trump’s Republican rivals for their party’s presidential nomination – who are aiming to defeat him at the ballot box – quickly rallied around the former president.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

A House Committee is expected to launch an investigation into a United Nations agency that provides aid to Palestinians for alleged ties to Hamas, according to a report.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee is planning to investigate the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees in the Near East, which is also known as UNRWA, according to the New York Post.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., told the outlet that there’s evidence of a connection between the UN agency and Hamas.

“There is extensive evidence of a troubling connection between UNRWA and Hamas, and it is far deeper than was known,” Issa said. “Congress must now investigate and uncover the extent of what UNRWA knew, what it did, and what it may be hiding from the world.”

LIVE UPDATES: ISRAEL AT WAR WITH HAMAS 

Since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel carried out by Hamas, troubling reports regarding the UNRWA have emerged.

One Israeli citizen taken hostage by the Hamas terrorist group said they were held for 50 days inside an attic belonging to a UNRWA teacher, according to the Jerusalem Post.

HAMAS SAYS ‘NO TALK ABOUT PRISONERS OR EXCHANGE DEALS’ UNTIL ISRAEL STOPS MILITARY CAMPAIGN: REPORT

The State Department under former President Trump cut ties with UNRWA in 2018, with the agency calling the organization an “irredeemably flawed operation.”

However, President Biden reestablished the relationship in June 2021.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

A spokesperson for Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., who chairs the body’s oversight subcommittee, told the Post that “He is also supportive of a probe, to put it mildly.”

Mazi Melesa Pilip, an Israeli Defense Forces veteran and Republican candidate vying to keep the embattled Rep. George Santos’ vacated district red, spoke at length with Fox News Digital about her message to New York voters, pitching herself as the best candidate to combat the far-left “Squad” of the Democratic Party in Congress. 

Pilip, an Ethiopian Jew, immigrant to Israel and the United States, married mother of seven children and a recent political newcomer, detailed her background and platform while campaigning for New York’s 3rd Congressional District ahead of a Feb. 13 special election against former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi. 

Winning her first political campaign in 2021, flipping a county legislative seat from blue to red while pregnant with identical twins, Pilip is up against Suozzi, whose lengthy Long Island political career affords him name recognition and fundraising advantages after previously representing the same district six years. 

“You know what, Suozzi? Suozzi, a great politician. He’s absolutely a talker,” Pilip told Fox News Digital. “He is playing a game of ‘I am a moderate.’ He’s not.”

NY REPUBLICANS TAP IDF VETERAN TO REPLACE SANTOS IN SPECIAL ELECTION

Rejecting Suozzi’s claim to be a moderate Democrat who vows to take on the far left of his party, Pilip argued Suozzi’s voting record proves he almost always aligns with President Biden and the “Squad.”

By contrast, Pilip said she is best suited to take on antisemitic rhetoric from the likes of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Cori Bush, D-Mo.; Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.; and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, because she and her Ukrainian-born husband know firsthand what it was like living in Israel during the second intifada of the early 2000s. 

“I know the fear. My family is living this life,” she said, noting how her relatives were in bomb shelters in Israel for several days after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. “I know how bad and what the Israeli civilians right now are going through. And the only one who can speak really against the Squad, who are causing so much problems for us as a nation here, and especially about Israel. 

“The lie, the lie they are spreading left and right. It’s wrong, and the only one who can present things the way it is, is me, is me. And in all my community here, the Jewish community wants somebody who also can fight antisemitism. Since the war started, the Jewish community are living with fear.” 

Pilip condemned the testimony of the presidents of Harvard, MIT and UPenn, who failed to clearly state before a congressional hearing earlier this month whether calls for intifada or the genocide of Jews on campus violated their institutions’ codes of conduct. 

“They couldn’t even condemn the intifada in calling for genocide of the Jewish people. And it was nothing for them. They didn’t see the red flag on that. Now, I want to ask you if that was happening against African Americans, against any minority class or against LGBTQ?” Pilip said. 

“But here we go when this is happening to the Jewish students, all of the sudden, that’s OK. And I’m here to say that’s not OK. And I’m here to say it as a Black person, OK, as an immigrant, as a woman, as a Jew. I’m here to draw the line. That’s unacceptable.

“We don’t have to hate each other. We have to respect each other,” she added. “We have to work together. We may not … agree with policies, which is normal. But let’s not forget, we are one nation here. We have America here. We are Americans. And we have to continue with that respect to each other, which this country, unfortunately, lost it. And I hope we’re going to be able to build a better future for our kids.” 

Citing the atrocities of Hamas burning and beheading babies, raping young women and taking hostages, Pilip advocated for continued U.S. support for Israel and Ukraine. 

“Tell me who else will do something like this? Evil,” she said. “The war that Israel right now is doing is not just for the future of Israel, the future of the Middle East, the future of the entire world. OK? And therefore, we need to make sure United States continues to support Israel and also Ukraine, because this is our interest, is American, is our national interest. We have to say no for injustice and Israel … And every day there is a price for that for both sides. Unfortunately, civilians are dying. But the only one we can blame is Hamas.” 

Pilip detailed how, at age 12, she was among the more than 14,000 Jews airlifted to Israel from famine-ravaged Ethiopia in 1991 as rebel forces were advancing toward the capital. 

DISGRACED CONGRESSMAN GEORGE SANTOS IN DISCUSSIONS WITH PROSECUTORS FOR POSSIBLE PLEA DEAL

“It was a very emotional day for us to come to Israel, to a beautiful country, a country full of lights, a country, you know, that has so many opportunities,” Pilip said, recalling having to learn a new language and become acclimated to a new culture. “Right after I finished the school, I really wanted to join the Israeli Defense Force because I wanted to give back to the country that really gave me the opportunity.

“I remember when I came to my dad and I said, ‘I want to serve.’ And he said, ‘No, you’re too skinny, too little. What are you going to do in the Israeli army?'” she recalled, “But very quickly he realized that was the things I would like to do, and he was very supportive. Later on, he was very proud. I learned a lot during the service. It was beautiful to see people from different countries who came to Israel to live joining the IDF and for one mission really to defend the country.” 

Describing herself as someone who hates promises, Pilip says she’s used the past two years as Nassau County’s legislator for the 10th District, encompassing Great Neck, Lehigh Park and Manhasset, to freeze property taxes, fully fund law enforcement and increase the police presence to combat crime and concerns from the Jewish community amid the Israel-Hamas war.

“When this opportunity also came to run for Congress, I decided to take it because it’s really about the future of our country. We have a beautiful country, a country full of opportunities. A country really, that’s — I’m living the American dream, my husband is dreaming American dreams. But I’m not sure if my kids’ are going to live the American dream because there is a lot of extreme policies out there,” Pilip told Fox News Digital. “The only one really who benefits from it? The politician. The one that’s pretending they care about the people.” 

Vowing to support the eventual Republican nominee for president, Pilip argued it was too soon to say whether she’d support Donald Trump, noting other GOP candidates still were in the running. As for Santos, who’s under federal indictment for allegedly defrauding campaign donors and lying to Congress, Pilip said voters care more now about the issues the district is facing. 

One such issue is the migrant crisis. Pilip alleges Suozzi fully supports the Biden administration’s immigration policies, which she blames for bringing millions of people into the country without a plan, raising national security concerns over potential terrorists entering the country unchecked and ultimately disenfranchising American voters.

“The politician is doing such a great job dividing us,” said Pilip, who immigrated to the United States with her cardiologist husband, with whom she shares seven children.

‘SQUAD’ DEMS DOUBLE DOWN ON ‘GENOCIDE’ ACCUSATIONS AGAINST ISRAEL, SAY IDF IS ‘TARGETING CIVILIANS’

“They’re bringing them in because they are the future voters,” she said. “That’s the right thing to do, really? For your American citizen, the one who voted for you? The one who trusted you? OK. And this is what you’re doing for migrants? Who are coming here without any plan, putting them on the street? That’s irresponsible. Again, this is all about power. How are we going to secure the future right now? How are we going to re-elect another two- and another four- and another six-year? That’s a game. That’s a politician’s game. That’s the real story.

“And I want people to wake up to see the reality. Yes, we support immigration. Absolutely. Yes,” she said. “And I want people to have the American dream opportunity the way I and my husband, so many immigrants here in the 3rd Congressional District. But it has to be correct. That’s what I’m standing for. Really.” 

Pilip said when she immigrated to the U.S., she registered as a Democrat, but she later ran for elected office as a Republican. 

“They knew I was registered as a Democrat. It wasn’t a secret,” Pilip said of the Nassau County GOP, adding she soon realized Republicans were committed to supporting law enforcement, reducing crime and lowering taxes.

On abortion, projected to be another major issue for 2024, Pilip said she is “pro-life” but would not force her views on other women.

“Abortion is a very personal decision, and I am a religious person. Therefore, I am pro-life. Me. Mazi Melesa Pilip,” Pilip said. “But I will not going to push my own beliefs on any woman. I’m not going to risk women’s rights. That’s all. Therefore, I’m not going to support a national abortion ban. I’m a woman. I understand what a woman needs. I understand. So it’s OK for me to have seven children. That’s not going to play well maybe for other women. So, why I’m going to push her to have the same beliefs, the same way of life?” 

She concluded the interview with a message to fellow women and mothers to stand against “extremist policies” pushed by the government that will impact children.

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“From the day we are pregnant until we give birth — the emotion, the physical that we have to go through, how hard it is. I know, because every woman goes through the same things. And then we have to raise our children to be good children, to have great education, to find a good job. Yeah. So, where is President Biden and Tom Suozzi to protect that right for us as a mother?” she said. “We the mothers we went [through] a lot, so we don’t have a right to protect our children?

“We don’t have the right to say no to policies that are extremist policies that’s putting our children at risk? And I’m talking to mothers. Really, I want you to open your eyes, mothers,” she said. “I know you are fighters. I know you care about the future of your children. Nobody will tell you what’s best for your children. Wake up. See what’s happening around us. See all these extreme policies that are putting out there. They’re risking our children. We have to wake up. We have to say no to this.” 

The migrant crisis at the southern border is putting an increasing strain not only on border officials but also on the immigration courts, as both migrant encounter numbers and court backlogs hit enormous highs.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Friday announced that there were 242,418 migrant encounters at the southern border in November, including migrant encounters at ports of entry and illegal immigrant encounters by Border Patrol between ports of entry. That is the highest November on record and the third-highest month of the crisis so far. 

NOVEMBER SAW NEARLY QUARTER OF A MILLION MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS AMID NEW BORDER SURGE

Announcing the November numbers, acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller said that the agency is facing a “serious challenge” and that it and federal partners need more resources from Congress as requested in the supplemental funding request.

“Despite ongoing challenges, in November, the men and women of CBP continued their tireless work and recorded increased seizures of illegal narcotics while facilitating lawful trade and increased holiday travel,” he said.

The Border Patrol union was more critical of the challenge facing agents.

“While our agents are more than willing to sacrifice the holidays to protect fellow Americans, that’s not what they will be doing,” National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd said Friday. “They will be processing the illegal border crossers for release into the U.S. while large parts of the border will be left wide open to exploitation by organized crime. These will not be happy holidays for the hard-working men and women of the Border Patrol.” 

Meanwhile, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University published data this week showing how the number of cases before the immigration courts has now exceeded three million cases. That number has spiked from around 530,000 in December 2016 at the end of the Obama administration. At the end of the Trump administration, it stood at around 1.3 million. That was before the massive migrant crisis that hit the southern border in 2021. By the end of 2021, the backlog stood at 1.6 million and 2 million by the end of 2022. As of November of this year, the backlog is now at 3.075 million.

TRAC noted that the hiring of new immigration judges has accelerated under the Biden administration, with 682 judges now working and closing an average of 975 cases each during the latest fiscal year, but it has not been enough to keep up with the wave of migrants coming in.

“Immigration Judges are swamped. Immigration Judges now average 4,500 pending cases each,” TRAC said in a report. “If every person with a pending immigration case were gathered together, it would be larger than the population of Chicago, the third largest city in the United States. Indeed, the number of waiting immigrants in the Court’s backlog is now larger than the population found in many states.”

Sources also told Fox News that Border Patrol has released more than 386,000 illegal immigrants into the U.S. with Notices to Appear since October, not including releases by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Republicans have criticized the administration for releasing migrants into the interior and have called for greater restrictions on asylum and the use of humanitarian parole by the administration.

MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS AT BORDER SOAR PAST THE 200K MARK IN DECEMBER, WITH OVER A WEEK STILL TO GO

The administration has said it is dealing with a hemisphere-wide crisis and needs more funding and comprehensive immigration reform to reduce backlogs and fix a “broken” system. It has also implemented a rule to expedite asylum claims using U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officers rather than immigration judges.

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The Biden administration’s funding request, meanwhile, includes $1.4 billion for additional immigration judges. The administration has expressed openness to restrictions on releases in order to get a funding deal done, but it is unclear if it will be enough for Republicans and if it will lose support of Democrats in the process — some of whom have loudly opposed restrictions on asylum.

Lawmakers have expressed optimism at the possibility of a deal, but have warned that it won’t happen before January at the earliest.

Fox News’ Bill Melugin and Griff Jenkins contributed to this report.

The Senate prioritized confirming President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees up until the last hours of the upper chamber’s business sessions before the holiday recess, finalizing a portion of the more than 160 nominees Biden had advocated for this year. A majority of his picks are women and people of color, fulfilling his promise to “diversify” the federal bench.  

A Pew Research Center report found that as of Nov. 5, women who were black, hispanic, asian, or part of another minority group accounted for 42% of the judges Biden had appointed, including Biden’s sole appointee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the highest court.

According to Ballotpedia, there are approximately 1,770 authorized judgeships distributed across 209 courts in the federal court system. Nearly half of these judgeships are filled by the president’s choice, entitling the appointees to lifelong terms. Others are chosen by current judges and serve for specific periods.

COLORADO JUDGES’ DECISION TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM BALLOT IS ‘HOT GARBAGE,’ SAYS FORMER PROSECUTOR

Here’s a list of a few of the judges the Senate confirmed in recent months:

Jerry Edwards Jr.: Confirmed as the first Black federal judge in Louisiana’s U.S. Western District Court, Edwards served as first assistant U.S. attorney and chief of the civil division in Shreveport before his confirmation. His legal career and experience provide a fresh perspective to the Louisiana judiciary. 

Irma Carrillo Ramirez: Confirmed as the first Latina judge on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a notably conservative court. Ramirez has extensive experience presiding over civil cases. Her confirmation, with an 80-12 bipartisan vote, contrasts sharply with other contentious Biden nominees. Ramirez has extensive legal experience, from her bachelor’s degree at West Texas State University to her tenure as a federal magistrate since 2002.

COLORADO NIXING TRUMP ‘STRIKINGLY UNDEMOCRATICALLY’ UNITES EXPERTS AS EX-SCALIA CLERK DECLARES ‘LAWFARE’

Loren AliKhan: Confirmed as the first South Asian woman on the federal trial court in the District of Columbia, AliKhan served as an associate judge on the DC Court of Appeals before her confirmation. Notable cases include representing the District of Columbia in a tax dispute and involvement in litigation concerning the Affordable Care Act. 

Shanlyn Park: Confirmed as the first Native Hawaiian woman federal judge in Hawaii’s U.S. District Court, Park previously served as a state court judge and assistant federal public defender. Her varied legal background contributes to a diverse perspective on the judiciary. 

Ana de Alba: Elevated to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, de Alba, a first-generation Mexican-American, previously served as a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of California. She’s recognized for her legal advocacy in civil and labor rights. 

Brandy R. McMillion: Nominated to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, McMillion is the 50th Black judge and the 101st person of color appointed under the Biden administration. McMillion brings legal experience from roles at Bryan Cave LLP, Perkins Coie LLP, and Pepper Hamilton LLP. Originally from Ohio and later moving to Michigan, McMillion earned her law degree from George Washington University Law School following engineering degrees from the University of Michigan. She has tried six cases to verdict or final decision, including involvement in a high-profile case prosecuting alleged health care fraud. 

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Mónica Ramírez Almadani: Confirmed as a federal district judge for the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Ramírez Almadani brings a rich background from Public Counsel, Covington & Burling LLP, and the United States Department of Justice, emphasizing civil rights, immigration matters, and white-collar defense. From 2005 to 2009, Almadani worked at the national American Civil Liberties Union Foundation’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, handling immigration litigation in federal courts. She has also served as a Trustee of the Mexican American Bar Foundation since 2017.

Jennifer L. Hall: Hall was confirmed as the next U.S. District Judge for the District of Delaware on Oct. 18. She served as a magistrate judge with significant experience in patent cases and has a legal background encompassing the U.S. Attorney’s Office, clerkships, and litigating patent cases. Hall presided over several high profile cases, including one involving an Eighth Amendment claim by an incarcerated individual who alleged being deprived of a mattress. She found the inmate had been without a mattress for a month, yet concluded it was due to a legitimate security reason, as he had damaged previous mattresses. In another case, she recommended dismissing certain discrimination claims by a black Muslim firefighter due to insufficient supporting details in the complaint.

ATTEMPTS TO BAR TRUMP FROM 2024 BALLOT GAINING STEAM

Mustafa Kasubhai: Kusaubhai stands as the successor to U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken, who transitioned to senior status retirement. His appointment as a magistrate marked him as the first Muslim American on the federal bench. Kasubhai was born in Reseda, California, in 1970 to immigrant parents from Mumbai, India. Kasubhai served on the Lane County Circuit Court for approximately a decade before his federal appointment. Prior to his tenure as a judge, he practiced civil law in Eugene and Klamath Falls. He obtained his J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law in 1996. Following law school, he went into private practice, initially focusing on family law. Subsequently, he specialized in labor law litigation, representing injured workers before the Oregon Workers’ Compensation Board and in 1998 established his own labor law firm, Kasubhai & Sánchez.

Rich Federico: Frederico, a Kansas federal public defender was confirmed to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, marking Biden’s second appointment to the Denver-based court. The bipartisan vote of 61-29 on Dec. 11, backed by support from both of Kansas’ Republican senators, contributes to a record number of circuit court judges with public defender backgrounds appointed by Biden, marked the administration’s effort to diversify the federal bench traditionally led by former prosecutors and large law firm attorneys. According to the progressive advocacy group Alliance for Justice, an additional 36 of Biden’s confirmed judicial nominees had previous roles as public defenders.

Former President Trump is taking to social media with a message for his supporters.

“They just removed me from the ballot! Chip in now to show your support,” the former president wrote in a fundraising pitch by his campaign that has been posted multiple times on his Truth Social network.

Trump’s pitch came in the wake of this week’s ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court to remove him from the state’s 2024 ballot.

The divided court ruled that Trump is ineligible to run for the presidency under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause, arguing that his actions fueled the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by right-wing protesters aiming to disrupt congressional certification of President Biden’s 2020 election victory.

COLORADO SUPREME COURT DISQUALIFIES TRUMP FROM 2024 BALLOT

The blockbuster development was immediately condemned from nearly all corners of the GOP. Additionally, Trump’s Republican rivals for their party’s presidential nomination – who are aiming to defeat him at the ballot box – quickly rallied around the former president.

For most candidates, getting booted off the ballot would sink a campaign, but not Trump, who has long defied conventional norms and wisdom.

TRUMP’S REPUBLICAN RIVALS RALLY AROUND THE FORMER PRESIDENT IN BALLOT BATTLE 

Trump made history earlier this year as the first former or current president to be indicted for a crime, but his four indictments — including in federal court in Washington, D.C., and in Fulton County court in Georgia on charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss — have only fueled his support among Republican voters. With less than a month to go until the first votes in the White House race, Trump remains the commanding frontrunner for the GOP nomination as he runs a third straight time for the presidency.

“It’s another boost for President Trump with the base of the party,” seasoned Republican strategist and communicator Ryan Williams said. “Every time he’s targeted by legal actions, it just improves his standing with the conservative base.”

Michael Dennehy, a veteran New Hampshire-based Republican consultant who has worked on multiple presidential campaigns, said the Colorado case and his many legal entanglements have “helped him immensely among Republican primary voters. It solidifies Trump’s message that he is a victim.”

TRUMP CAMPAIGN BLASTS COLORADO SUPREME COURT RULING KNOCKING HIM OFF THAT STATE’S BALLOT

It is not just Republicans who say Trump will benefit politically.

“All the legal challenges that have been thrown at Trump have so far helped strengthen him in the Republican primary, as he depicts himself as a victim. CO will be the same,” David Axelrod, who served as then-President Obama’s top political adviser, wrote on social media. “What seems like Kryptonite winds up being battery packs in the GOP primary.”

Veteran Democratic strategist Maria Cardona, a Democratic National Committee member, said it helps “him continue to play the role of victim-in-chief.”

The Colorado case also helped the former president politically in another way; it once again bumped Trump to the top of the headlines.

“Right now Nikki Haley is surging in some polling, pulling into striking distance in New Hampshire, and that’s not dominating the headlines. Trump getting kicked off the ballot in Colorado is,” Williams emphasized. “It’s another instance of Trump getting a boost with his base and sucking up all the oxygen in the room.”

The Colorado justices put their ruling on hold until Jan. 4, as they anticipated that the former president would appeal their ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. That is what the Trump campaign is in the process of doing, as it blasts the move in Colorado.

“Everyone now is on the edge of their seats, waiting for the Supreme Court to decide on this Colorado case and then the likely impact that it will have on every other case around the country,” Dennehy said.

The Colorado ruling is far from an isolated case. Roughly a dozen other states have pending challenges.

Legal challenges to try dumping Trump from the ballot in Minnesota, Michigan and Florida were dismissed recently in state and federal courts.

However, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruling last month – keeping Trump on the primary ballot – noted that the petitioners could try again to knock the former president off the general election ballot.

CHAIRS OF GROUP THAT LED EFFORT TO BOOT TRUMP FROM COLORADO BALLOT DONATED TO BIDEN

While the Colorado ruling does not apply to other states, it could embolden others to take similar actions.

President Biden this week weighed in on the news, telling reporters that Trump “certainly supported an insurrection. There’s no question about it. None. Zero … He seems to be doubling down on everything.” 

“Whether the 14th Amendment applies, I’ll let the court make that decision,” the president added.

The question looking ahead to next November is whether swing voters will agree with Biden or buy into Trump’s narrative that he is being politically persecuted.

“You know, we talk about democracy, but the whole world is watching the persecution of a political opponent that’s kicking his ass,” Trump charged during a speech a week ago in New Hampshire as he pointed to Biden.

Williams noted that “if the Colorado decision’s overturned by the Supreme Court, it still gives Trump a talking point heading into the general election that he is a victim of political persecution. Whether that’s correct or not, it is another instance that he can point to say that he’s being targeted because of his political beliefs.”

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However, Cardona said “I don’t think it will play because the majority of Americans believe that he participated in an insurrection.”

Additionally, if the Supreme Court surprisingly upholds the Colorado decision, Williams says, “then all bets are off. Red states are going to try to throw Joe Biden off the ballot as blue states will do the same for Trump.”

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

Former President Trump urged two members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers not to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election, according to a report from The Detroit News.

The Detroit News claims to have reviewed tapes from a Nov. 17, 2020 phone call between Trump and GOP canvassers Monica Palmer and William Hartmann, when he urged them not to sign the certification. 

“We’ve got to fight for our country,” said Trump on the recording, according to The Detroit News. 

He added, “We can’t let these people take our country away from us.”

BIDEN TEAM’S CENTRAL 2024 MESSAGE PAINTS TRUMP AS ‘THREAT TO DEMOCRACY’: REPORT

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel was also present on the phone call, the report alleges.

“If you can go home tonight, do not sign it,” McDaniel reportedly told the canvassers in Michigan. “We will get you attorneys.”

JACK SMITH WANTS ‘DOWN AND DIRTY’ TRUMP CONVICTIONS TO INFLUENCE 2024 ELECTION: ALAN DERSHOWITZ

“We’ll take care of that,” Trump allegedly added.

A Trump campaign spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “All of President Trump’s actions were taken in furtherance of his duty as President of the United States to faithfully take care of the laws and ensure election integrity,” repeating the former president’s false claims that the election was “stolen.”

“President Trump and the American people have the Constitutional right to free and fair elections,”  Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrats are spinning their wheels in the face of devastating polling numbers and desperately leaking misleading information to interfere in the election.”

Palmer and Hartmann, who had already voted to certify the election, unsuccessfully attempted to rescind their votes the next day.

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The two canvassers then claimed in signed affidavits that they were bullied into siding with Democrats.

“I voted not to certify, and I still believe this vote should not be certified. Until these questions are addressed, I remain opposed to certification of the Wayne County results,” Hartmann said in his affidavit.

Palmer said in her affidavit that she faced “accusations of racism” and threats to her family.

The Supreme Court has declined Friday to issue an expedited ruling on whether former President Trump has immunity from prosecution related to the 2020 election interference case.

Appellate courts are hearing the immunity case, but the Supreme Court ruled on Friday that it would proceed as normal.

Trump’s criminal trial in Washington, D.C. was scheduled to begin on March 4, but it’s unclear if the Supreme Court ruling will force a delay. Special Counsel Jack Smith initially asked the Supreme Court to expedite arguments in the presidential immunity case.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has already indicated it would expedite its consideration of the immunity case.

FEDERAL JUDGE DENIES TRUMP’S CLAIM OF PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY IN SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH’S JAN. 6 CASE

Trump’s legal team earlier this week filed a written response to Smith’s request, urging the Supreme Court not to rush things.

“This appeal presents momentous, historic questions,” the brief states. “An erroneous denial of a claim of presidential immunity from criminal prosecution unquestionably warrants this Court’s review. The Special Counsel contends that ‘[i]t is of imperative public importance that respondent’s claims of immunity be resolved by this Court.'”

TRUMP IS NOT IMMUNE FROM CIVIL LAWSUITS RELATED TO JAN. 6, FEDERAL APPEALS COURT RULES

“That does not entail, however, that the Court should take the case before the lower courts complete their review. Every jurisdictional and prudential consideration calls for this Court to allow the appeal to proceed first in the D.C. Court.”

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Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights. 

A former aide to President Donald Trump involved in a civil lawsuit filed by Hunter Biden is asking the judge to toss the case.

Former Trump aide Garrett Ziegler filed a motion for a federal judge in the Central District of California to dismiss the case due to its basis in “half-baked legal challenges.”

“Plaintiff alleges no facts which demonstrate Defendants ever accessed any computer, storage, or service which Plaintiff either owns or has exclusive control over,” the motion filed by Ziegler’s attorneys reads.

Ziegler’s attorneys also claim that their client’s posts sharing the contents of the laptop “constitutes protected activity because it involves a public figure and is a matter of public importance.”

HUNTER BIDEN SUES FORMER WH AIDE FOR ALTERING, PUBLISHING ‘PORNOGRAPHIC’ PHOTOS FROM LAPTOP HE DENIES IS HIS

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, accuses Ziegler and his company — Marco Polo USA — and 10 unidentified associates of spreading “tens of thousands of emails, thousands of photos, and dozens of videos and recordings” from the laptop that were considered “pornographic.” 

Ziegler’s legal team alleges that Biden’s lawsuit is “aimed at chilling the valid exercise of the constitutional rights of freedom of speech.”

FBI AGENT INVOLVED IN HUNTER BIDEN PROBE DOES NOT BELIEVE POLITICS WERE INVOLVED

In the 14-page civil complaint, Biden’s attorneys allege that Ziegler is a “zealot” who has unleashed a “sustained, unhinged and obsessed campaign” against the entire Biden family for over two years and “spent countless hours accessing, tampering with, manipulating, altering, copying and damaging computer data” with his associates.

“While Defendant Ziegler is entitled to his extremist and counterfactual opinions, he has no right to engage in illegal activities to advance his right-wing agenda,” attorneys Abbe Lowell, Bryan Sullivan, Zachary Hansen and Paul Salvaty previously wrote.

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In the motion to dismiss, Ziegler’s legal representation also questions the existence of a connection between their client and the state of California. The attorneys claim this would invalidate the jurisdiction of the state where the lawsuit was filed.

Hunter Biden is currently facing nine criminal counts in the same California court where he has filed three civil lawsuits. 

The president’s son is also currently suing Rudy Giuliani and lawyer Robert Costello for illegally accessing his laptop computer, and former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne for defamation.

Fox News’ Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.

November saw nearly a quarter of a million migrant encounters at the southern border, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on Friday, making it the third-busiest month of a migrant crisis that has smashed records and overwhelmed Border Patrol agents.

There were 242,418 migrant encounters at the southern border in November, including migrant encounters at ports of entry and illegal immigrant encounters by Border Patrol between ports of entry.

It’s higher than the 235,173 encountered during Nov. 22, and is only behind September (269,735) and December 2022 (252,315) in terms of the number of migrants encountered. It is the highest November number on record.

Meanwhile, there were 17 apprehensions of people on the terror watch list in November.

MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS AT BORDER SOAR PAST THE 200K MARK IN DECEMBER, WITH OVER A WEEK STILL TO GO 

It comes as Border Patrol has been dealing with increased numbers after a FY 23 that broke the record for encounters in a single fiscal year. Agents have been overwhelmed by a surge of migrants from across the globe in places like Lukeville, Arizona, and Eagle Pass, Texas.

Monday saw a record 12,600 encounters, the highest recorded in a single day. CBP sources told Fox this week that December has already exceeded 200,000 encounters and could easily eclipse November’s numbers given that agents are encountering 10,000+ a day.

Meanwhile, sources told Fox News on Friday that Border Patrol has released more than 386,000 illegal immigrants into the U.S. with Notices to Appear. That does not include those released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and does not include migrants paroled into the U.S. via the CBP One app at ports of entry.

Republicans have blamed the crisis on Biden-era policies, including the rolling back of policies put in place by the Trump administration, and have passed legislation in the House to limit releases and increase border security. The Biden administration has said it needs more funding and its own sweeping legislation to fix a “broken” system and deal with a hemisphere-wide crisis. Meanwhile, it has said it is increasing consequences for illegal entry while expanding “lawful pathways.”

In a statement, CBP said it had surged resources to respond to increases and is screening every individual encountered. It said that since May, over 400,000 individuals have been removed from the country.

“CBP continues to execute its important mission to protect the American people, safeguard our borders, and enhance the nation’s economic prosperity by implementing operational plans, surging personnel and decompressing areas along the southwest border while processing and vetting migrants who are encountered humanely, safely, and efficiently, consistent with our laws. We are facing a serious challenge along the southwest border and CBP and our federal partners need more resources from Congress — as outlined in the supplemental budget request — to enhance border security and America’s national security.” acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller said in a statement. “Despite ongoing challenges, in November, the men and women of CBP continued their tireless work and recorded increased seizures of illegal narcotics while facilitating lawful trade and increased holiday travel.”

The White House this week had appeared to downplay the crisis, saying that such increases in numbers are “not unusual.”

5,000 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS RELEASED EVERY DAY INTO US, ADMIN OFFICIALS PRIVATELY TELL LAWMAKERS

“What we’re seeing here at the border, the increased migration flow, certainly, it ebbs and flows. And we’re at a time of the year where we’re seeing more at the border. And it’s not unusual. This is an immigration system that has been broken for decades. And the president has taken this very seriously to try to do more. That’s why we have the comprehensive immigration policy legislation that the president put forth on day one,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Negotiations are ongoing in Congress for the White House’s supplemental funding request, which includes $14 billion for border operations. Republicans have demanded limits on asylum and restrictions on the use of parole. President Biden has said he is open to “significant compromises” but so far a deal has not been reached, despite optimism from lawmakers.

Meanwhile, the administration continues to face pressure from state and local officials at the border and elsewhere in the U.S. Mayors of sanctuary cities like Chicago and New York City have demanded more funding to help them deal with the massive numbers of migrants they have seen come to their cities and that have strained their social services. 

Last week, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs announced that she was mobilizing the National Guard to help federal officials and attempt to reopen the Lukeville port of entry, while accusing the federal government of inaction.

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, meanwhile, has expanded his transports of migrants to “sanctuary” cities by flying migrants into Chicago. He also signed an immigration bill this week to allow law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants in an attempt to stop what he called a “tidal wave” of illegal immigration.

Meanwhile, the Border Patrol union made clear agents’ displeasure with the way the crisis is being handled.

“While our agents are more than willing to sacrifice the holidays to protect fellow Americans, that’s not what they will be doing,” National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd said on Friday. “They will be processing the illegal border crossers for release into the U.S. while large parts of the border will be left wide open to exploitation by organized crime. These will not be happy holidays for the hard working men and women of the Border Patrol.” 

Former Mueller prosecutor Andrew Weissmann claimed on MSNBC that Americans died in the Civil War to bar candidates “who engaged in insurrection” from running for office.

Weissmann made the claim on Thursday while speaking in a panel discussion on the Colorado Supreme Court moving to keep Trump off the state’s primary ballot.

“This is not new. It is true that this provision of the Constitution is new to lots of people, because we’ve never been in a situation where you would have somebody running for office who engaged in insurrection or a rebellion,” Weissmann said.

DEM-APPOINTED COLORADO JUSTICE SAYS TRUMP BALLOT BAN UNDERMINES ‘BEDROCK’ OF AMERICA IN FIERY DISSENT

Weissmann said it was “remarkable” to him that the ruling from the Democrat-appointed court justices “isn’t really the unanimous finding in the Colorado case because you had no one dissenting on the issue of did he do it.”

“No one was saying, oh, no, this was insufficient proof,” Weissmann said. “There were lots of procedural issues, and I don’t mean to minimize them, that the dissent raised, but there was a district court finding and there was a majority opinion with no dissents on the fact that the leading contender for the Republican nomination had done what we had a civil war about.”

“And the reason for this amendment was because, after the Civil War, people said, if you have engaged in this kind of conduct you cannot be any longer the president, the vice president, or any federal position,” Weissmann continued.

“So this is historically really important in terms of what many people died for in this country,” he added.

Weissmann served on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

The investigation probed the 2016 Trump campaign over alleged collusion between the campaign and Russia, but there was insufficient evidence found by Mueller linking the two.

The Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to ban Trump from the state’s primary ballot undermines a “bedrock principle” of American democracy, one of the court’s Democrat-appointed justices wrote in a fiery dissent.

Justices Carlos Samour, Maria Berkenkotter and Chief Justice Brian D. Boatright all dissented, but Samour was particularly critical of the 4-3 ruling. Samour and Boatright were each appointed by Democratic former Gov. John Hickenlooper, and Berkenkotter was appointed by current Gov. Jared Polis, also a Democrat. 

“The decision to bar former President Donald J. Trump — by all accounts the current leading Republican presidential candidate (and reportedly the current leading overall presidential candidate) — from Colorado’s presidential primary ballot flies in the face of the due process doctrine,” Samour wrote.

“Even if we are convinced that a candidate committed horrible acts in the past — dare I say, engaged in insurrection — there must be procedural due process before we can declare that individual disqualified from holding public office,” he wrote.

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Samour went on to argue that allowing states to decide individually whether to allow Trump’s candidacy “risked chaos in the country.” The justice conjured visions of state governments divided on the legitimacy of a victorious presidential candidate.

“This can’t possibly be the outcome the framers intended,” Samour argued.

The disqualification, which was made under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, is related to the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

The 14th Amendment states: “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”

While the 14th Amendment was one of the Reconstruction Amendments adopted in the aftermath of the Civil War, the war was largely fought over the issue of slavery, not whether a presidential candidate could be kept off the ballot.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Weissman for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed reporting.

President Biden is experiencing approval ratings lower than any other modern president at this point in their term.

Biden’s job approval rating currently sits at 39%, a slight uptick from October and November when it was reported at 37%, according to a new poll from Gallup. 

His approval rating has dipped under 40% five times during his term.

Biden’s poor performance is the lowest among modern presidents seeking re-election at this point in their term, according to Gallup.

TRUMP EDGES BIDEN AGAIN IN NEW 2024 POLL, BUILDS SUPPORT WITH YOUNGER VOTERS

At this point in his first term, former President Donald Trump held an approval rating of approximately 45%, the analytics company reported.

Former President Barack Obama held a 43% approval rating at this same point. All other presidents reaching back to Jimmy Carter had approval ratings above 50%.

TRUMP KEEPS MASSIVE LEAD, HALEY TIES DESANTIS FOR SECOND IN NEW 2024 GOP PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY POLL

George W. Bush boasted the highest approval rating of the group with 58%.

Biden is complaining to close aides as his low approval rating continues to frustrate him and first lady Jill Biden, according to a new media report.

“After pardoning a pair of turkeys, an annual White House tradition, Biden delivered some stern words for the small group assembled: His poll numbers were unacceptably low, and he wanted to know what his team and his campaign were doing about it,” The Washington Post reported.

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“He complained that his economic message had done little to move the ball, even as the economy was growing and unemployment was falling, according to people familiar with his comments, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private conversation,” according to The Post, whose headline noted Biden’s “dismal poll numbers.”

The Biden family’s complaints date back months, with Joe and Jill Biden telling “aides and friends that they are frustrated by the president’s low approval rating and the polls that show him trailing former president Donald Trump,” the report continued. 

Fox News’ Jeffrey Clark contributed to this report.

Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt called Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis the one presidential candidate with the leadership skills and experience needed for the job.

“I think it’s the leadership, but it’s even more than that, It’s just the get-it-done attitude and a guy that just doesn’t back down,” Stitt told Fox News Digital on Thursday aboard a campaign bus in eastern Iowa as he stumped for DeSantis with just about three weeks to until the Iowa Caucus. 

“I mean, who takes on Disney, the largest corporation in your state with the most influence and power if you’re not just trying to do the right things?” he added. “No politician does that. That’s why you look at DeSantis and say this is a guy that’s going to be based on principles.”

Stitt explained that he felt it was important to come to the Hawkeye State and tell Iowans face to face why he believes DeSantis is the right candidate while outlining examples of where DeSantis has led, including during the coronavirus pandemic.

“COVID is a perfect example,” Stitt said. “We were having to push back against a Republican administration to just keep our schools open. I mean, Fauci was running everything at that time, and I just watched how he led and I know he’s the right guy for the job.”

TRUMP KEEPS MASSIVE LEAD, HALEY TIES DESANTIS FOR SECOND IN NEW 2024 GOP PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY POLL

“We need somebody that can be there for eight years, not just four years and so I thought it was important for me to come out to Iowa and share from another governor’s perspective why I personally support him.”

Stitt told Fox News Digital that the top two concerns Iowans have expressed to him during his visit are the economy, border security and spending.

“The economy is really affecting everybody right now, inflation is at record highs, the spending is out of control in D.C. in both Republican and Democrat administrations. They keep spending more than we bring in,” Stitt said. “You know, if you bring in four trillion, let’s spend four trillion, we can’t keep printing money, which is going to devalue the dollar.”

DESANTIS ARGUES TRUMP ‘WILL SAY IT’S STOLEN, NO MATTER WHAT’ IF FORMER PRESIDENT LOSES IN IOWA OR NH

“So we need a president that’s not afraid to go up there and shake up the baseball game that’s going on in Washington, D.C., and all those counties and everybody that’s living off of the regular America.”

With just about three weeks to go until the Iowa Caucus, former President Donald Trump holds a commanding lead against his Republican opponents in polls both nationally and in Iowa where the Real Clear Politics average shows him leading DeSantis by 32 points.

Stitt dismissed the idea that Trump’s lead is insurmountable and pointed to recent elections where the polls have been wildly inaccurate.

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“Here’s the deal: national polls mean absolutely nothing,” Stitt said. “Think about this, in my re-election the polls were showing I was going to lose, or a dead heat, and I won by 15 points. I think people are just so sick of polls. In Florida, not one newspaper endorsed DeSantis and he won by 20 points. The people are going to make the decisions and it’s all going to come down to Iowa and New Hampshire, so I think it’s a new day on January 16 when DeSantis wins Iowa. It’s going to be unbelievable.”

Stitt says his interactions with Iowa voters and their enthusiasm gives him confidence that DeSantis’s message is resonating.

“I really do I think he’s connecting with voters, again, you know if you’re the president and you can only be in for four years, you’re basically a lame duck day one,” Stitt said. “It’s just so difficult to get the momentum, and the deep state just kind of tries to outlast you.

“You have to have that threat of re-election and coming back and being there for eight years to actually move the needle and get policy done, and that’s kind of hard to explain if you’re not in this game and you don’t understand exactly how it works,” he went on. “But that’s something that you can’t discount. That’s very, very important.”

Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. 

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What’s Happening? 

– Biden commutes sentences for 11 convicted of drug crimes

– Nikki Haley closes in

– Look back on 2023’s most memorable political gaffes

Festivus for the Rest of Us

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., released his annual Christmas “Festivus” report Friday for the ninth year in a row, outlining $900 billion in government waste. 

Among notable instances, the National Institutes of Health allocated funds to study Russian cats on treadmills, photos of Barbies were utilized as identification to obtain COVID relief funds, the Department of Defense lost $169 million of outdoor-stored military gear, $6 million went towards tourism in Egypt by the United States Agency for International Development, and the Small Business Administration provided over $200 million to “struggling” music artists such as Post Malone, Chris Brown, and Lil Wayne.

Up from $30 trillion in debt in 2022, this year’s debt amounts to $34 trillion, the report also highlights. 

White House

‘LACK OF RESPONSIVENESS’: Menendez blocks 2 Biden nominees over frustration with border negotiations …Read more

‘UNJUSTIFIED DISPARITIES’: Biden commutes sentences for 11 convicted of drug crimes …Read more

‘UNNECESSARY BURDENS’: Biden admin unveils strict hydrogen regulations in victory for environmentalists …Read more

Capitol Hill

AGE VERIFICATION: Mike Lee introduces bill cracking down on commercial porn sites …Read more

‘ZERO TOLERANCE’: House leftists include antisemitism in resolution condemning Islamophobia, ‘anti-Palestinian discrimination’ …Read more

Tales from the Campaign Trail

‘SMARTEST MOVE’: Experts weigh in on why it would be a ‘smart’ political move for Biden to oppose CO ruling …Read more

BASHING BIDEN: Democrat Dean Phillips attacks Biden for trying to upend traditional primary election process …Read more

CAMPAIGN THEME: Biden’s key 2024 message will be Trump as ‘threat to democracy’: report …Read More

SURPRISE POLL: Nikki Haley closes to within 4 percentage points of Trump in New Hampshire poll …Read more

Across America

STUMBLES & BUMBLES: Most memorable political gaffes and blunders of 2023 …Read more

HELP ON THE WAY: ICE ramps up staffing at southern border to aid CBP with new migrant surge …Read more

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.