NationalWatch

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on Thursday released an April 2022 Justice Department memo showing then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, then-Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and then-FBI Director Christopher Wray personally approved an FBI investigation into alleged efforts by Trump campaign associates to obstruct Congress’ certification of the 2020 election.

Grassley posted the four-page memorandum on X, saying it proves top Biden administration officials “personally approved” the case — which he referred to as “Arctic Frost” — and that it “unleashed unchecked government power at the highest levels.”

The Iowa Republican added, “My oversight will continue.”

The April 2022 memo, signed by Garland, Monaco, and Wray, authorized the FBI’s Washington Field Office to open what the bureau designated a “Sensitive Investigative Matter.” The document details the FBI’s request to examine whether individuals connected to Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign conspired to obstruct Congress’ certification of the Electoral College on Jan. 6, 2021.

TOP GOP SENATOR DEMANDS PROBE INTO WHETHER JACK SMITH ‘UNLAWFULLY’ TRIED TO INFLUENCE 2024 ELECTION

“Following the 2020 Presidential and Vice Presidential election, in an apparent effort to obstruct Congress’s certification of Electoral College, fraudulent certificates of electors’ votes were submitted to the Archivist of the United States, purporting to represent the actual elector votes from the states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin,” the executive summary reads. “Open source reporting and public statements made by individuals closely associated with Donald J. Trump, Inc. (Trump Campaign) present an articulable factual basis indicating the existence of a federal crime, and thus the FBI seeks to open a full investigation.

“Because this investigation involves a SIM as set forth in the Department of Justice memorandum dated February 5, 2020, entitled ‘Additional Requirements for Opening of Certain Sensitive Investigations’ (DOJ Memo), your authorization is required before WFO may initiate this full investigation,” the document continued.

Monaco wrote at the bottom of the document, “Merrick- I recommend you approve,” before initialing and dating it 4/5/22. Garland ultimately signed off on the investigation on the same day.

DEM REP DEFENDS DOJ OBTAINING GOP SENATOR CALL RECORDS IN 2023: ‘YOU WEREN’T SURVEILLED’

The authorization came more than a year after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and months before now-former Special Counsel Jack Smith was appointed to oversee related investigations. The memo appears to document an early stage of the Justice Department’s examination of the so-called “fake electors” effort that became a focus of Smith’s probe.

In 2023, Smith subpoenaed phone records belonging to eight Republican senators and one House member, covering a four-day period — Jan. 4 to Jan. 7, 2021 — to examine call activity around the Capitol riot. The subpoenas did not seek call content but instead listed numbers, dates and durations.

The targeted senators included Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

FBI FIRES AGENTS, DISMANTLES CORRUPTION SQUAD AFTER PROBE UNVEILS MONITORING OF GOP SENATORS, PATEL SAYS

In addition to the eight senators, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Fox News’ Sean Hannity Tuesday that he recently discovered Smith also attempted to subpoena his toll records but that his phone company, AT&T, did not hand them over.

Smith said the records were narrowly tailored and “entirely proper,” adding they were meant to support his investigation into Trump’s alleged efforts to subvert the 2020 election results.

His lawyers wrote to Grassley, saying the subpoenas complied with Justice Department policy and were routine.

Republicans have broadly claimed they were inappropriately spied on and compared Arctic Frost to the Watergate scandal. Smith’s lawyers emphasized the normalcy of seeking phone records and said public officials are not immune from investigation.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Smith’s attorneys also disputed accusations from FBI Director Kash Patel that the subpoenas were hidden, noting the requests were referenced in a footnote of Smith’s final report and shared with Trump’s defense team in discovery.

Fox News Digital’s Ashley Oliver contributed to this report.

Conservative businessman and broadcaster John Reid enlisted the help of artificial intelligence to represent Democratic challenger Ghazala Hashmi in a mock debate for the 2025 lieutenant governor’s race.

Reid, the Republican nominee from Richmond, challenged Hashmi, a state senator from Chesterfield, to a series of regional debates around Virginia. Reid noted Hashmi is the only candidate of the six running for statewide office to decline a debate.

A representative for Reid ensured that the AI only envisaged Hashmi’s likeness and voice — and that of the moderator – and the responses given by the representation of Hashmi were based on her prior quotes or publicized policy positions.

Hashmi’s campaign called the video a “deepfake” and told The Washington Post it was a “desperate move straight out of Donald Trump’s playbook.”

YOUNGKIN UNLEASHES CUTTING-EDGE AI TECHNOLOGY IN EFFORT TO SLASH VIRGINIA’S GOVERNMENT RED TAPE

“While we appreciate that ‘AI Ghazala’ did share her vision, like her commitment to public education and reproductive rights, it’s pretty clear Reid only cares about shoddy gimmicks and not governing,” the campaign added.

The AI debate differed from other recent artificially created videos, where the words and representations of lawmakers were made to be cartoonish in some cases.

President Donald Trump shared a viral AI video earlier this month showing House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., wearing a sombrero as “La Cucaracha” played in the background and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., referred to his party as “woke pieces of s—.” 

Schumer never said that in real life.

GOOGLE CEO, MAJOR TECH LEADERS JOIN FIRST LADY MELANIA TRUMP AT WHITE HOUSE AI MEETING

For her opening statement in the debate, the “AI Hashmi” said she is running because Virginians need “someone who has the experience, knowledge and ability to fight for Virginians.”

“I have a track record with regard to the issues Virginians care about — education, health care, housing and opportunity. I am ready to make policy that will make Virginia an example for other states.”

In response, Reid — in real life — noted that Hashmi would not appear for a real debate.

HOLLYWOOD TURNS TO AI TOOLS TO REWIRE MOVIE MAGIC

“If she’s not willing to engage in her own campaign for lieutenant governor, I don’t know why anybody thinks she would be able to fight for anything,” he said.

Reid said Hashmi supported keeping Virginia schools closed an extra year after the coronavirus pandemic and has “push[ed] for boys in girl sports… higher taxes [and] releasing criminals early.”

“Everything that we would ID as a problem in the state of Virginia, Ghazala Hashmi has pushed,” he said.

In this regard, Reid said his work in communications in Congress, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and radio help him understand what businesses need from state government if they choose to operate in Virginia.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The lieutenant governorship is “not just gaveling in the Senate,” Reid said. “[It is] working for the state of Virginia.”

U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a formal letter to top California officials Thursday, warning them against any attempts to arrest or impede federal law enforcement officers enforcing immigration laws.

The letter, which was addressed to Gov. Gavin Newsom, state Attorney General Rob Bonta, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, stressed that federal agents and officers are carrying out lawful duties and any interference by state or local officials is both “illegal and futile.”

The letter comes after Pelosi, the former House Speaker, and Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-Calif., issued a statement Wednesday threatening to arrest federal agents if they break California law.

If convicted, the Democrats noted President Donald Trump cannot pardon agents.

NANCY PELOSI ERUPTS WHEN ASKED BY CNN’S JAKE TAPPER ABOUT ALLEGATIONS OF INSIDER TRADING

“Reports of a planned mass immigration raid in the Bay Area are an appalling abuse of law enforcement power,” Pelosi and Mullin wrote in the statement. “While the President may enjoy absolute immunity courtesy of his rogue Supreme Court, those who operate under his orders do not. … The people of San Francisco will continue to stand with the patriotic immigrants who are the constant reinvigoration of America.”

Blanche shared his response in an X post: “We just sent them a letter: Stand down or face prosecution. No one threatens our agents. No one will stop us from Making America Safe Again.”

PELOSI DODGES WHEN ASKED IF VIRGINIA AG CANDIDATE WHO FANTASIZED ABOUT SHOOTING REPUBLICAN SHOULD DROP OUT

The letter cites several federal statutes that criminalize assaulting, impeding or conspiring against federal officers, and notes the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution dictates state officials cannot prosecute federal agents for actions taken in the course of their duties.

Blanche directed California leaders to “preserve all written and electronic communications and records related to any attempts or efforts to impede or obstruct federal law enforcement officials,” forewarning that the Department of Justice will investigate and prosecute any official who violates federal statutes.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“We urge you and other California officials to publicly abandon this apparent criminal conspiracy, to stop threatening law enforcement, and to prioritize the safety of your citizens,” Blanche wrote.

Pelosi’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News has learned two B-1 bombers took off from Dyess Air Base in Texas Thursday morning, flying toward Venezuela as seen on open source flight trackers, according to senior U.S. official sources.

During a White House roundtable on immigration and crime crackdowns Thursday, President Donald Trump denied the report, which was first published by The Wall Street Journal.

“No, it’s not accurate. It’s false,” Trump said. “But we’re not happy with Venezuela for a lot of reasons, drugs being one of them. But, also, they’ve been sending their prisoners into our country. … Nobody can do that.”

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth did not correct the president during the Q&A with reporters.

IS TRUMP’S ‘HEAT’ ON VENEZUELA THE START OF A WIDER CAMPAIGN FOR REGIME CHANGE?

During the roundtable with law enforcement and administration officials to discuss the successes of Homeland Security task forces, Trump honed in on the ongoing efforts to curb illegal drug smuggling into the U.S., noting he believes the cartels will begin infiltrating the U.S. by land.

“Now they’re coming in by land,” Trump said. “Even the land is concerned, because I told them … the land is going to be next. We may go to the Senate, we may go to Congress and tell them about it. But I can’t imagine they’d have any problem with it.”

TRUMP UNLEASHES US MILITARY POWER ON CARTELS. IS A WIDER WAR LOOMING?

“Between that and my discussion with [Chinese] President Xi, I think we have never made progress like we’ve made,” Trump added. “The sea drugs are almost dead, and they can’t come in that fast from the land. And the land drugs are much more dangerous for them. It’s going to be much more dangerous. You’ll be seeing that soon. So, that’s the way it is.”

Hours earlier, Hegseth confirmed the U.S. military carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel Wednesday, killing three suspects.

TRUMP SAYS ‘WE’LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS’ WHEN ASKED ABOUT POSSIBILITY OF STRIKING VENEZUELA AMID RISING TENSIONS

The attack marked the ninth vessel strike since September and the second strike reported in the Eastern Pacific.

A total of 37 people have reportedly been killed, with two survivors later repatriating to their home countries.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

When asked by reporters why he is not asking Congress to approve a declaration of war against the cartels, the president said he did not think it was needed.

“I don’t think we’re going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war,” Trump said. “I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. … They’re going to be, like, dead.”

An “independent” advisory panel of non-federal experts determining which preventative healthcare services insurers must cover is accused of being staffed with doctors who have shown a propensity to prioritize “woke” left-wing diversity, equity and inclusion ideals in their work, as opposed to evidence-based science.

The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF), an all-volunteer panel of doctors who serve four-year terms appointed by the Secretary of Health, is made up of experts in preventative medicine, which includes services like screening tests, immunizations, behavioral counseling, and medications that can prevent the development or worsening of health conditions. One of the task force’s primary functions is to weigh the efficacy and cost-benefit of such preventative care services, recommendations for which are then used to shape what preventative care services insurance providers must cover.

The task force’s ability to make these healthcare recommendations, coupled with what appears to be a membership largely made up of left-wing, DEI proponents, has raised concerns about how the task force could be impacting healthcare. 

The Wall Street Journal reported in July that sources with knowledge of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s thinking said he was planning to dismiss all 16 members of the USPSTF for being too “woke.” 

NEW MEDICAL POLICY CENTER COMBATS WOKENESS IN MEDICINE, LAUNCHING LANDMARK RANKING OF TOP SCHOOLS

“HHS has been made aware of the ideological issues with members of the USPSTF raised by letters from Senate Republicans, members of the GOP Doctors Caucus, and a large group of physicians including Associations of American Physicians and Surgeons, America’s Frontline Doctors, and the Pennsylvania Direct Primary Care Association. HHS is troubled by these allegations and is investigating further,” Emily Hilliard, a Health and Human Services Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital when asked about Kennedy’s plans for the future of the current USPSTF.

Meanwhile, others, including the GOP Doctors Caucus and major physician groups including the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, have also raised alarm bells about potential left-wing bias at the USPSTF. One group that has also raised alarm bells about the USPSTF is the conservative watchdog group known as the American Accountability Foundation (AAF), which just released a new report claiming the USPSTF “has been thoroughly hijacked by left-wing partisans for the purpose of weaponizing science to spread leftist ideology.”

The AAF report points to Dr. Michael Silverstein, the task force’s current chairman, who, in 2023, said that USPSTF is “dedicated to … addressing critical issues of health equity” after he was re-appointed to the task force’s leadership team under the Biden administration. As Vice Chair of the task force in 2023, Silverstein co-authored an annual report to Congress highlighting a new partnership with the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) aimed at helping the task force be more “inclusive.”

The partnership, according to the report to Congress, was meant to help develop “new recommendations on screening for anxiety disorders, and other conditions that affect LGBTQ+ communities to enhance the health, wellness, and quality of life of their patients.”

Other recommendations from the USPSTF that have come down in the last several years include a 2022 recommendation denoting the need for physicians to consider race when screening for anxiety in children and adolescents. A more recent recommendation, published in April, said that doctors should pay special attention to breastfeeding in black mothers due to the “lasting psychological impact and stigma of enslaved Black women being forced to act as wet nurses.” 

I’M A GENDER DETRANSITIONER. I TOLD THE FTC HOW DOCTORS ABUSED THEIR POWER OVER ME     

Meanwhile, a 2021 report from the USPSTF, on addressing sex and gender when making preventative healthcare recommendations, included an analysis of how gender-specific terminology, as opposed to “gender-neutral” terminology, could play a role in addressing the needs of “diverse populations.” Think “pregnant people” versus “pregnant mother,” a switch that eventually became part of the task force’s official guidelines. 

“To advance its methods, the USPSTF reviewed its past recommendations that included the use of sex and gender terms, reviewed the approaches of other guideline-making bodies, and pilot tested strategies to address sex and gender diversity,” the report states. “Based on the findings, the USPSTF intends to use an inclusive approach to identify issues related to sex and gender at the start of the guideline development process; assess the applicability, variability, and quality of evidence as a function of sex and gender; ensure clarity in the use of language regarding sex and gender; and identify evidence gaps related to sex and gender.”

Another major achievement towards the task force’s mission to advance “health equity” was the release of a 2024 “Health Equity Framework” aimed at embedding gender theory and other left-wing ideologies into its operations. 

HOW UNIVERSITY INDOCTRINATION TURNED DEADLY, AND WHY ONE SCHOLAR SAYS IT’S ONLY GETTING WORSE  

In addition to the work the task force has done, its members also have an extensive history of publishing research that focuses on “health equity” and other DEI components, such as how race impacts certain health outcomes, or how to address sex and gender when making recommendations for clinical preventative services.

“National Institutes of Health Pathways to Prevention Workshop: Achieving Health Equity in Preventive Services,” is the title of a scientific research report co-authored by task force rank-and-file member, Dr. Sandra Millon Underwood. “Further Incorporating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Into Medical Education Research,” and “Health Equity Starts with Us: Recommendations from the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute Racial Justice and Health Equity Task Force,” were also reports co-authored by members of the USPSTF.

“Antiracist initiatives, such as incorporating community-support persons (e.g., lay doulas) into maternity care for Black people, can reduce disparities in outcomes by addressing both interpersonal racism and the lack of workforce diversity caused by structural racism,” stated a May 2024 research paper co-authored by USPSTF rank-and-file member Dr. Alicia Fernandez.

Members of the supposedly “independent” USPSTF have also used their positions of expertise to fight Trump administration priorities as well, such as those around abortion and research funding reforms. 

For example, Dr. David Chelmow, another task force member, has appeared in several physician-backed American Civil Liberties Union memos about efforts opposing the Trump administration, including one challenging Trump’s efforts to implement greater protections around the mail-order abortion drug called mifepristone, which many pro-life OBGYN’s have warned is dangerous if not dispensed in-person. In March, Dr. Carlos Roberto Jaen, another task force member, signed a letter alongside 1,900 others accusing the Trump administration of weakening US research capacity and endangering Americans.

WHAT’S REALLY IN YOUR FOOD? NEW CAMPAIGN PUSHES FOR NATIONAL INGREDIENT TRANSPARENCY 

When making recommendations for preventative care services, the USPSTF assigns a letter grade, A, B, C, D, or I. 

Any service given an “A” or “B” grade, is required to be covered by private insurers under a mandate in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). These grades are also tied to coverage requirements for public insurers, like Medicare and Medicaid. 

In 2019, the task force gave the precautionary anti-HIV drug Preexposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) an “A” grade, guidelines for which were later clarified in 2023. The task force’s current Vice Chair, Dr. John Wong, also co-authored a 2017 paper on how scaling-up the use of PrEP can help reduce the prevalence of HIV among gay men. But, according to AAF, the active promotion of PrEP creates an atmosphere of dangerous sexual activity that risks public health dangers due to what the foundation says is promotion of risky sexual behaviors. Additionally, at least one Christian-owned business has argued that forcing insurance providers to cover medication that promotes risky sexual behaviors violates their rights.

Earlier this summer, the Supreme Court weighed in on whether the USPSTF’s authority to compel coverage of preventative healthcare it gives either an “A” or “B” grade was unconstitutional. The group that brought the case, Braidwood Management Inc., initially objected on religious grounds to the ACA requirement that insurance providers cover certain HIV-prevention medications for which the task force has issued an “A” recommendation, specifically PrEP. However, the case ultimately morphed into a question over the legitimacy of USPSTF’s recommendation authority, and whether the circumvention of Senate approval for its members was allowed by the Constitutions Article II clause on advise and consent.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

Both the Biden and Trump administrations have taken up the argument that the Health Secretary alone has ultimate control over whether to appoint or fire USPSTF members. The Trump administration also argued in its briefs to the High Court that the Secretary had the authority to block, or rescind, task force recommendations as well, according to SCOUTS Blog.   

Ultimately, the Supreme Court voted 6-3, in favor of the federal government’s argument that the appointment process for the USPSTF, and therefore its legitimacy, did not violate the Constitution.

Shortly after the Supreme Court’s decision in the Braidwood case, Health Secretary Kennedy reportedly postponed a long-scheduled task force meeting of the USPSTF, which was the same move he made before firing every member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the main federal entity that helps craft federal vaccine policy. Kennedy has long been a critic of conventional vaccination policies and practices.    

The Wall Street Journal reported in July, not long after the Supreme Court’s decision in the Braidwood case, that sources familiar with Kennedy’s thinking said he was planning to dismiss all 16 members of the USPSTF for being too “woke.”

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening…

–Red state university student caught on video threatening lives of Charlie Kirk supporters: ‘Watch your neck’

-Curtis Sliwa vows to be Zohran Mamdani’s ‘worst nightmare’ if the Democratic socialist wins NYC mayoral race

-Undercover video exposes what Spanberger’s campaign organizer really thinks of her: ‘What the f—‘

NYC Mayor Adams to endorse Cuomo in race against Mamdani

New York City Mayor Eric Adams will endorse former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the city’s mayoral race as he faces off against Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani.

“As spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams, I can confirm that the Mayor will endorse former Governor Andrew M. Cuomo for mayor and intends to campaign alongside him,” Adams’ spokesman, Todd Shapiro, said in a statement to Fox News. “The time and locations for their joint appearances are currently being finalized.”

Adams declined to answer questions about Cuomo at an unrelated press conference Thursday morning…READ MORE.
 

White House

HOMEGROWN POWER: Apple building American-made AI servers ahead of schedule in new Houston facility, answering Trump call

NEW DETAILS: SCOOP: Trump’s Memphis crime crackdown locates dozens of missing kids, removes 109 gangbangers from streets

NO PEACE TALKS: Trump ‘not interested’ in de-escalation with ‘unhinged’ leader of Colombia, White House says

ON PAUSE: Trump freezes out Putin for lack of ‘enough action’ toward peace — future talks uncertain

BLUNT DIPLOMACY: Inside Trump’s ultimatum that forced Netanyahu to the table: ‘You can’t fight the world’

World Stage

SKY VIOLATIONS: Russia violates NATO airspace in Lithuania amid Putin warning on long-range missiles

‘AMAZING BLESSING’: Vance visits church where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, resurrected amid Israel-Hamas ceasefire

NO MORE GAMES: After waffling between Russia and Ukraine, Trump slaps Kremlin with oil sanctions

Capitol Hill

SNAP OUT OF IT: Democrats under fire as food stamp funds run dry: 42 million Americans caught in shutdown fight

NO PAY FOR YOU: Essential workers left unpaid after Senate Democrats kill pay bill

HOSTAGE POLITICS: Top Republican slams Katherine Clark for admitting suffering families are “leverage” in shutdown battle

SOCIAL-IST STANDING: Bernie Sanders defends Maine Senate candidate under fire for wild Reddit comments

Across America 

HALF IN, HALF OUT: Trump yet to endorse in VA governor’s race — but also kept Youngkin at arm’s length

MIXED BAG: New poll in key showdown for Virginia governor indicates single-digit race

FOOD FIGHT: Youngkin declares state of emergency over “Democrat Shutdown” depleting food stamp benefits for nearly 1M Virginians

AI ATTACK: Andrew Cuomo campaign walks back controversial attack ad targeting Mamdani voters

CAMPAIGN CLASH: Social media erupts after Cuomo, Mamdani rip each other during final debate: ‘Unmasked’

‘CALL TO ACTION’: NYC rabbis sound off on “unprecedented risk” Mamdani poses as hundreds of leaders sign “call to action”

SECOND GUESSING: NYC socialist mayoral candidate Mamdani’s 911 plan called “worst idea” by former NYPD sergeant

Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

Two federal prosecutors fired by President Donald Trump after working on special counsel Jack Smith’s legal team investigating the commander-in-chief have founded a new law firm to battle corruption.

Molly Gaston and J.P. Cooney have formed a boutique firm in Washington, D.C., to do much of what they did for the Justice Department — but now in private practice.

“We will offer a unique combination of services, including public integrity counseling to state and local governments, strategic representation at every stage of congressional and criminal investigations, and trial-ready representation in criminal and civil cases,” Cooney wrote in a LinkedIn blog post.

DOJ SEEKS REMOVAL OF COMEY’S DEFENSE LAWYER, CITING CONFLICT OF INTEREST

“We are thrilled to join the emerging market of boutique firms offering independent representation and zealous advocacy,” he added.

The pair were part of Smith’s legal team looking into potential election interference and allegations that Trump moved classified documents to his Mar-a-Lago residence. The cases against Trump were dropped when he took office in January.

They were then fired, along with several others who worked on Smith’s prosecutions, with termination letters saying they couldn’t be trusted to “faithfully implement” the president’s agenda, The Wall Street Journal reported.

TRUMP’S US ATTORNEYS IN BLUE STATES FACE LEGAL CHALLENGES THAT COULD UPEND KEY PROSECUTIONS

“We conducted a thorough and efficient investigation under very difficult circumstances. The simple fact is that we ran out of time,” Cooney told the newspaper. “That is unfortunate because it would have been good for the country to resolve these cases in court.”

The new law firm will take on corruption and civil rights cases.

“In the wake of the federal government’s decision to greatly reduce its enforcement of public corruption and civil rights laws, we help state and local governments fill the void,” a fact sheet on the firm’s website states.

Smith recently stood by his 2023 decision to subpoena several Republican lawmakers’ phone records, calling the move “entirely proper” and consistent with Justice Department policy.

In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital, Snith said through his lawyers that the subpoenaed data, known as toll records, belonging to eight senators and one House member were carefully targeted to support his investigation into President Donald Trump’s alleged subversion of the 2020 election.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“As described by various Senators, the toll data collection was narrowly tailored and limited to the four days from January 4, 2021 to January 7, 2021, with a focus on telephonic activity during the period immediately surrounding the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol,” Smith’s lawyers wrote Tuesday to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the law firm for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Ashley Oliver contributed to this report. 

Mayor Eric Adams formally endorsed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to replace him as the next mayor of New York City on Thursday, less than one month after Adams suspended his re-election campaign.

The endorsement followed Wednesday night’s final mayoral debate, where Cuomo, who is running as an Independent, faced off against Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa. Rather than speak to reporters after the debate, Cuomo dashed off to Madison Square Garden to watch the end of the New York Knicks game courtside with Adams.

“I’m fighting for the family of New York,” Adams said. “That’s why I’m here today, to endorse Andrew Cuomo, to be part of this fight, and I’m going to give him my all these next few days to make sure that Black and Brown communities, specifically, who have believe there’s nothing at stake in this election for them.”

Adams spokesperson Todd Shapiro confirmed the mayor would endorse Cuomo in a statement to Fox News on Thursday. The New York Times was the first to report the endorsement. 

NYC MAYOR ADAMS TO ENDORSE CUOMO IN RACE AGAINST MAMDANI

“Today confirms what we’ve long known: Andrew Cuomo is running for Eric Adams’ second term,” Mamdani said in a statement Thursday. “It’s no surprise to see two men who share an affinity for corruption and Trump capitulation align themselves at the behest of the billionaire class and the President himself. We are going to turn the page on the politics of big money and small ideas that these two disgraced executives embody and build a city every New Yorker can afford.”

NEW POLL REVEALS MAMDANI’S LEAD IS SHRINKING AS CUOMO GAINS GROUND IN NYC SHOWDOWN

Mamdani reiterated his criticism of the endorsement during a campaign event in Manhattan on Thursday.

“We also know that this is the art of the deal,” Mamdani said before adding, “We know that in a moment when New Yorkers are looking for an answer to the authoritarianism that we’re seeing from Washington, D.C., they don’t want the continuation of making City Hall into an embassy of that same administration.”

Pressure had been mounting since Mamdani won the Democratic primary for Adams or Cuomo to drop out of the race to consolidate support against Mamdani.

Adams announced he was suspending his campaign in a video on Sunday, Sept. 28, prompting the leading mayoral candidates to sharpen their political jabs against each other.

Similar pressure from billionaires, including Red Apple Media CEO John Catsimatidis and hedge fund CEO Bill Ackman, has intensified this week for Sliwa to drop out of the race in order to clear a pathway to victory for Cuomo.

The Democratic nominee, who handily defeated Cuomo in the primary, elicited Adams’ own words against the former governor in the days after he suspended his re-election campaign.

“Even hearing Eric Adams, the way that he described Andrew Cuomo as a snake and a liar, is something that I’ve heard from a number of New Yorkers in wanting to turn that page,” Mamdani said.

Adams addressed his own criticism of Adams during the announcement Thursday. 

“He called me names. But you know what? Now it’s time to fight for the family, and I’m to fight for the family with Andrew Cuomo as the next mayor of the city of New York,” Adams said. 

The latest Fox News survey, conducted Oct. 10-14, ahead of the first general election debate last week, revealed that Mamdani has a substantial lead in the race. According to the poll, Mamdani has a 21-point lead among New York City registered voters with 49% of voters backing Mamdani, while 28% go for Cuomo and 13% favor Sliwa.

Mamdani also rose above the 50% threshold among likely voters, garnering 52% support, while Cuomo picked up 28%, and Sliwa received just 14%.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

But as Mamdani, ever the social media-savvy candidate, warned his followers on Wednesday, it was Cuomo who was the favorite to win the nomination just weeks before the Democratic primary.

By consolidating support with New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, and cross-endorsing each other to topple Cuomo through ranked-choice voting, Mamdani pulled off the political upset that has since landed him on the national stage.

Russia has renewed its violations of NATO airspace with jet incursions into Lithuanian territory, the nation’s president announced Thursday.

“This is a blatant breach of international law and territorial integrity of Lithuania,” President Gitanas Nausėda said. “Once again, it confirms the importance of strengthening European air defense readiness.”

The Lithuanian Ministry of Defense said: “Russian military aircraft briefly entered Lithuanian airspace. Our forces acted quickly with NATO jets on patrol.”

The ministry said around 6 p.m. local time two Russian airplanes – an Su30 and IL78, a refueling aircraft, entered Lithuanian airspace for about 18 seconds. A government source guessed it was a refueling exercise.

Two Spanish fighter jets on a NATO air police mission flew to the site of the violation. 

RUSSIA SHIFTS FROM TALK TO ACTION, TARGETING NATO HOMELAND AMID FEARS OF GLOBAL WAR

Russian diplomats in Vilnius have been called in to meet with the foreign ministry on the matter.

In late September, Lithuania authorized its armed forces to shoot down unmanned aerial vehicles that breach its borders after several Russian drones crashed on its territory near the border.

Russian jets also violated airspace in Estonia for 12 minutes last month, coming near the capital city of Talinn.

NATO WARNS RUSSIA AFTER POLAND SHOOTS DOWN ‘HUGE NUMBER’ OF DRONES THAT VIOLATED ITS AIRSPACE

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin told journalists that if Russia were attacked with Western long-range missiles, the response would be “very serious, if not overwhelming. Let them think about it.”

His comments came after Zelenskyy asked the U.S. for long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles and a Wall Street Journal report that the Trump administration lifted a key restriction on Ukraine’s use of Western long-range missiles. Trump denied the report on Truth Social. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked the U.S. to provide Tomahawk missiles, but so far President Donald Trump has held off. Still, he imposed harsh sanctions on Russia’s oil industry on Wednesday.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces on Tuesday said it used British-made Storm Cruiser Missiles to strike deep within Russia’s territory to strike a chemical plant.

Meanwhile, Trump has called off plans to meet with Putin in Hungary, saying he didn’t want to “waste time” after the Kremlin rejected the idea of freezing the front lines of the battle while the two sides hash out a longer-term peace deal.

The U.S. president last month suggested NATO countries should shoot down Russian jets that violate their airspace. 

“Do you think that NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace?” a reporter asked the president.

“Yes, I do,” he replied.

President Donald Trump has called off a “surge” of federal agents and troops in San Francisco planned for this weekend.

“The Federal Government was preparing to ‘surge’ San Francisco, California, on Saturday, but friends of mine who live in the area called last night to ask me not to go forward with the surge in that the Mayor, Daniel Lurie, was making substantial progress,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday. “I spoke to Mayor Lurie last night and he asked, very nicely, that I give him a chance to see if he can turn it around.”

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie also confirmed the move. 

Lurie said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reaffirmed that direction in a morning conversation, FOX 2 San Francisco reported.

“I am profoundly grateful to all the San Franciscans who came together over the last several days,” Lurie said. “Our city leaders have been united behind the goal of public safety. And our values have been on full display — this is the best of our city.”

Lurie said he will monitor the situation and remain “prepared for any scenario.” Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for comment.

The news outlet initially reported that roughly 100 U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents were conducting an operation with “pre-identified” targets, which could include visiting Home Depot locations around the Bay Area.

Meanwhile, about 200 to 300 protesters were seen singing and chanting Thursday morning in front of the entrance to Coast Guard Island in Alameda.

Trump had threatened to send federal agents and National Guard troops to San Francisco to conduct immigration enforcement operations similar to missions in Los Angeles, Portland and Chicago.

The plan was heavily criticized by California officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“Donald Trump, himself a convicted felon who pardoned felons convicted of assaulting federal law enforcement officers, is misleading the public with his false narrative that America, and especially California, is some lawless wasteland,” Newsom said Tuesday. “But California is proving him wrong — in the courts and on the facts.”

“The notion that the federal government can deploy troops into our cities with no justification grounded in reality, no oversight, no accountability, no respect for state sovereignty — it’s a direct assault on the rule of law,” he added. “We’re drawing a line: California will always defend the Constitution, our people and our values from authoritarian overreach.”

This story is breaking. Please check back for updates. 

Senate Republicans are forcing Democrats to take a stand today — vote to pay expected federal workers (so-called essential) during the shutdown or risk looking anti-worker. 

The bill, from Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Todd Young, R-Ind., would pay troops, on-duty TSA agents, air traffic controllers and law enforcement. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., says it’s a “political ploy” to let Trump “pick and choose” who gets paid. 

WHITE HOUSE MAY ‘RUN OUT’ OF FUNDS TO PAY MILITARY IF SHUTDOWN CONTINUES, JOHNSON WARNS

House Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., conceded to Fox News in a now-viral clip that there will be “families that are going to suffer” because of the shutdown but added that “it is one of the few leverage times we have.” 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pounced, saying Democrats “admitted” to inflicting pain and asking, “What’s wrong with them?” 

Clark fired back, accusing the White House of “spinning the conflict” and inflicting “trauma” by firing workers. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

However, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., called out his own party on Fox News’ “Hannity,” saying, “I am a country over party guy… It’s wrong to shut our government down.”

Lawyers for Salvadorian migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia subpoenaed Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to testify over the government’s decision to investigate and pursue a criminal case against him this year while he was detained in El Salvador. The move portends what is certain to be a high-stakes court clash in Nashville next month, as Abrego Garcia seeks dismissal of his criminal case on the grounds of vindictive and selective prosecution.

Blanche is one of at least five government officials Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have subpoenaed to appear in the two-day evidentiary hearing, according to a court filing submitted Wednesday. 

Others include two of Blanche’s deputies and two officials from the Department of Homeland Security.

US JUDGE VOWS TO RULE ‘SOON’ ON ABREGO GARCIA’S FATE AFTER MARATHON HEARING

DOJ lawyers said that they plan to ask the judge to quash the subpoenas to prevent the officials from testifying.

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw ruled earlier this month that Abrego Garcia’s legal team had established a “realistic likelihood” of vindictiveness in his criminal case, which was initiated by the Justice Department while he was detained in El Salvador. Crenshaw ordered new discovery and a two-day evidentiary hearing, scheduled for the first week in November. 

Crenshaw’s ruling named Blanche directly on several occasions, which could present a bigger hurdle for the Trump administration in their efforts to quash the subpoena.

The judge cited Blanche’s remarks directly, including from an interview in June, in which the deputy attorney general said that Abrego Garcia was brought back to the U.S. not because of orders from a federal judge in Maryland, but because of the Tennessee arrest warrant. “This could be direct evidence of vindictiveness,” Crenshaw said in his ruling.

ABREGO GARCIA REMAINS IN US FOR NOW AS JUDGE TAKES CASE UNDER ADVISEMENT

It is notoriously difficult to have a case dismissed on the grounds of selective or vindictive prosecution, and few attempts have even made it even to the discovery phase. 

Still, the outcome is anything but clear. Existing precedent requires a defendant to prove both that prosecutors acted with genuine animus in bringing the case, and that prosecutors singled them out because of that animus. 

Selective prosecution requires the defense to prove that “similarly situated” persons have not been prosecuted. 

Still, the case has been at the center of an eight-month legal maelstrom — one that critics say has given the Trump administration a chance to test its approach to immigration enforcement and to delay or sidestep compliance with federal court orders.

Trump officials, for their part, have railed against the “activist” judges whom they argue are blocking their agenda and impinging on the president’s executive branch authorities.

ABREGO GARCIA LAWYERS FILE MOTION TO DISMISS CRIMINAL CHARGES FROM TRUMP DOJ

A spokesperson for the Justice Department declined to comment on the subpoenas, citing the judge’s earlier order for both parties to limit their public remarks about Abrego Garcia’s case.

“We cannot comment due to a gag order in this case,” the spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador in March in violation of a 2019 court order, and in what Trump administration officials later acknowledged was an “administrative error.”

He entered the country illegally more than a decade ago and had been living in Maryland with his wife and child when authorities deported him to a maximum security prison in El Salvador in March.

Trump officials have repeatedly alleged that Abrego Garcia is a vicious MS-13 gang member, a notion that Crenshaw dismissed as “fanciful” in ordering Abrego Garcia’s release from criminal custody pending trial. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

Others have also objected to the administration’s characterization of the smuggling charges brought against him, noting that in 2024, they carried an average prison sentence of 15 months. 

Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that a vote by Israeli lawmakers to annex the West Bank was a “very stupid political stunt.”

A bill applying Israeli law to the occupied West Bank, which effectively would annex the territory for Israel, passed a vote Wednesday in Israel’s parliament as Vance was visiting the country, according to Reuters. It was the first of four votes needed for the proposal to become law. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s Likud party did not back the legislation, which was pushed by lawmakers outside his ruling coalition, the news agency added.

“That was weird. I was sort of confused by that,” Vance told reporters on Thursday when asked about the vote. “Now I actually asked somebody about it, and they told me that it was a symbolic vote, some symbolic vote to recognize or a symbolic vote to annex the West Bank. I mean, what I would say to that is when I asked about it, somebody told me it was a political stunt, that it had no practical significance, it was purely symbolic.”

“I mean look, if it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it. The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel,” Vance added. “The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy. And if people want to take symbolic votes, they can do that, but we certainly weren’t happy about it.”

JD VANCE SAYS PSAKI’S REMARK ABOUT HIS WIFE WAS ‘DISGRACEFUL’

Following Vance’s comments, a top member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party announced Thursday that the Israeli prime minister told him not to advance proposals regarding the annexation of the West Bank, according to Israeli media.

“The Knesset vote on annexation was a deliberate political provocation by the opposition to sow discord during Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Israel. The two bills were sponsored by opposition members of the Knesset,” Netanyahu’s office wrote on X.

“The Likud party and the religious parties (the principal coalition members) did not vote for these bills, except for one disgruntled Likud member who was recently fired from the chairmanship of a Knesset committee. Without Likud support, these bills are unlikely to go anywhere,” it added.

VANCE HAILS ‘DAYS OF DESTINY’ AS VP SEEKS TO BUILD ON CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT

Possible annexation of the West Bank has been floated in Israel in response to a string of countries moving to recognize a Palestinian state, according to The Associated Press.

Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories to form their future state. They, and much of the international community, say annexation would all but end any remaining possibility of a two-state solution, the AP reported.

More than half a million Jewish settlers now live in the West Bank in some 130 settlements.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank,” President Donald Trump said in late September in the Oval Office. “I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Candidates came out swinging at New York City’s final mayoral debate Wednesday night, with all three candidates launching personal attacks and spotlighting each other’s hottest controversies.

With just weeks until the election, socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani is highly favored to win. Despite this, the debate on Wednesday was every man for himself, with each candidate lobbing attacks and insults at one another.

Here are the top five moments from Wednesday night’s debate.

1. ‘Knock him on his tuchas’

Independent candidate Andrew Cuomo, who led the state as a Democratic governor from 2011 until he resigned amid controversy in 2021, took aim at Mamdani’s lack of leadership experience, predicting that President Donald Trump would make short work of him if he were elected mayor.

“[Trump] has said he’ll take over New York if he wins, and he will, because he has no respect for him. He thinks he’s a kid and he’s going to knock him on his tuchas,” said Cuomo.

‘TIME FOR A CHANGE’: OUTSIDE 30 ROCK, NEW YORKERS TRADE CHANTS AND ARGUMENTS DURING TENSE MAYORAL SHOWDOWN

Mamdani immediately shot back by calling Cuomo “Donald Trump’s puppet himself.”

“You could turn on the TV any day of the week, and you will hear Donald Trump share that his pick for Mayor is Andrew Cuomo, and he wants Andrew Cuomo to be the mayor, not because it will be good for New Yorkers, but because it will be good for him,” said Mamdani.

2. ‘You fled!’

Though far and away the dark horse candidate in the race, Republican Curtis Sliwa landed some of the hardest punches of the night. Early on in the debate, he fired at Cuomo’s controversial exit from office, saying, “Andrew, you didn’t leave. You fled from being impeached by the Democrats in the state legislature. You fled!”

Cuomo, meanwhile, reserved most of his ire for Mamdani. At another point in the debate, he addressed the 34-year-old socialist New York assembly member, saying, “You don’t know how to run a government, you don’t know how to handle an emergency, and you’ve literally never proposed the bill on anything that you’re not talking about in your campaign.”

“You had the worst attendance record in the assembly, and you gave yourself the highest raise in the United States of America,” he said, exclaiming, “Shame on you! Shame on you!”

MAMDANI RIPPED BY RIVALS FOR UNPOPULAR STANCE DURING FIERY NYC DEBATE: ‘YOU WON’T SUPPORT ISRAEL’

In response, a grinning Mamdani said, “It is always a pleasure to hear Andrew Cuomo create his own facts at every debate stage.”

“We just had a former governor say in his own words that the city has been getting screwed by the state. Who was leading the state? It was you!” said Mamdani. “You were leading the state for ten years, screwing the city!”

Cuomo immediately denied this accusation, blaming the current Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and saying, “That’s the past four years.”

3. The meme moment

Chaos erupted on the debate stage after Mamdani attempted to skirt around a question on whether he supports a set of housing ballot initiatives, with Cuomo, Sliwa and the moderators immediately pressing him to answer.

“What is your opinion, Zohran? Come on!” Sliwa shouted as Cuomo droned, “Yes or no?!”

Cuomo rocked back and forth with his hands, mocking Mamdani, saying, “It’s a TikTok dance,” producing the most meme-worthy moment of the night.

“They’re pointing out what I was about to say. Would you please answer the question?” a moderator asked.

Mamdani continued to deflect, saying, “I think on this stage you can see two people appealing for the Republican Party votes and myself speaking directly to New York City.”

“Answer the question for once,” Cuomo continued prodding as Sliwa waved his arms and smacked his forehead with his palm.

“My question to you was, do you support the three ballot amendment questions?” the moderator pressed.

Mamdani finally answered, “I have not yet taken a position on those ballot initiatives,” as both Cuomo and Sliwa moaned in protest.

“What a shocker!” Cuomo teased. “Don’t worry, once he takes it, he’ll change it anyway.”

TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM FIERY NYC MAYORAL DEBATE: ‘HE LITERALLY HAS NEVER HAD A JOB’

4. Support for global jihad?

Moderators and candidates alike pressed Mamdani on his controversial positions on Israel and rising fears amongst New York’s Jewish community.

Citing two sons who he said were raised Jewish, Sliwa said, “This issue is personal for me.”

“Let me speak on behalf of my two sons when they’ve heard some of the statements you’ve made, like in support of global jihad, and I hear some people out there saying, ‘the Jews that time is due,’ which means the same thing. They’re frightened; they’re scared. They view you as the arsonist who fanned the flames of antisemitism,” said Sliwa.

“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, a lot of apologizing to do,” Sliwa went on. “My sons are afraid. Their family, their friends, many in the Jewish community are concerned if you become mayor, because they don’t think when antisemitism rears its ugly head, which it’s now doing more than ever before, that you will have the ability to come in and put out those flames of hate.”

Mamdani shot back, “I think there is room for disagreement on many positions and many policies, but I also want to correct the record: I have never, not once, spoken in support of global jihad.”

“That is not something that I have said, and that continues to be ascribed to me. And frankly, I think much of it has to do with the fact that I am the first Muslim candidate to be on the precipice of winning this election,” Mamdani went on, adding, “All the same, Curtis, I do still want to be the mayor that will keep your sons safe, that will keep every single New Yorker safe.”

TRADING BARBS FROM LIGHT-HEARTED TO VICIOUS, MAYORAL CANDIDATES MAKE FINAL APPEAL TO NEW YORKERS

5. A stage full of scandal

Sparks flew when Cuomo and Mamdani were given free rein to question each other and, unsurprisingly, chose to press each other on their most controversial scandals.

Cuomo knocked Mamdani, who is an immigrant to the U.S. from Uganda, for being a “toxic” force in New York City, and pressed him for not advocating for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Uganda for its laws against homosexuality.

“You take a picture with Rebecca Kadaga, deputy prime minister of Uganda … She’s known as Rebecca ‘gay-killer’ Kadaga,” said Cuomo, asking, “How do you not renounce your citizenship, or demand BDS against Uganda for imprisoning people who are gay just by their sexual orientation, is that not a basic violation against human rights?”

Mamdani answered that “had I known that the first deputy minister was the architect of that legislation, I would not have taken that photo.”

In turn, Mamdani grilled Cuomo on 13 sexual harassment allegations filed against him while he was governor. Cuomo brushed this aside, saying, “The cases were dropped” and pressing further, “You have no problem with BDS against Israel, but no BDS against Uganda.”

At another point in the debate, Mamdani attempted to turn the question of experience on Cuomo, saying, “The issue is that we have all experienced your experience.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“The issue is that we experienced you taking a $5 million book deal while you sent seniors to their deaths in nursing homes. The issue is that we experienced you cutting funding for the MTA to send money to upstate ski resorts. The issue is that we saw you give $959 million in tax breaks to Elon Musk. The issue is your experience,” said Mamdani.

“The issue is you have no experience,” insisted Cuomo, adding, “You’ve accomplished nothing.”

Illinois gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey announced the loss of his son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren in a helicopter crash in Montana on Wednesday.

Bailey, a Republican, and his wife Cindy announced the deaths of their son Zachary, his wife Kelsey, and their two young children, Vada Rose, 12, and Samuel, 7, in a post on social media. A third child, Finn, was not in the helicopter and is alive, the statement said.

“Darren and Cindy are heartbroken by this unimaginable loss. They are finding comfort in their faith, their family, and the prayers of so many who love and care for them,” Bailey’s campaign said in a statement.

“The Baileys deeply appreciate the kindness and support they have received and ask for privacy as they grieve and hold their loved ones close during this difficult time,” the statement continued.

TRUMP ADMIN MAKES SUPREME COURT PLEA FOR NATIONAL GUARD IN CHICAGO AFTER JUDGE DENIES ‘REBELLION’ CONCERN

The circumstances of the helicopter crash remain unknown.

‘OPERATION MIDWAY BLITZ’: INSIDE DOJ’S PUSH TO TACKLE CRIME, ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IN CHICAGO

Bailey is running to unseat Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. He previously served as a state senator in Illinois and lost a gubernatorial race to Pritzker in 2022.

During that campaign, a Chicago man was charged with sending Bailey a death threat. Scott Lennox, 21, was charged with three felony offenses: threatening a public official, telephone harassment and harassment by electronic communications.

Lennox was accused of leaving Bailey a voicemail threatening to “mutilate and kill” the Republican, according to the Chicago Sun Times.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Illinois State Police discovered that Lennox allegedly used his cellphone to make the threats, according to the Times. Chicago police said Lennox admitted to making the threats.

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.

This story is part of Fox News Digital’s investigative series Campus Radicals. Get the full series here.

Four days after a Chicago elementary school teacher was captured in a viral video mocking the death of Charlie Kirk at an anti-Trump protest, the school system has yet to put out a statement condemning political violence, the actions of the teacher, or any specific disciplinary measures that have been taken.

The Chicago Public Schools system leaped into the national spotlight over the weekend after Lucy Martinez, a K-8 STEM teacher at Nathan Hale Elementary School, was seen on video during the “No Kings” protests antagonizing a Charlie Kirk supporter by pointing an imaginary gun to her neck and shouting, “Bang, bang.” 

Shortly after the video was posted, social media erupted with calls for the teacher to be fired for mocking Kirk’s assassination and seeming to condone political violence. 

VIOLENT SYMBOLISM, THREATS STEAL SHOW AT NATIONWIDE ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS

“Teachers are entrusted to educate the next generation of American students by modeling respect and integrity,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon posted on X, joining a chorus of others who condemned the teachers’ actions.

“No child should be trapped in a government-run school with a teacher who celebrates murder.”

Over the next few days after the incident, the school faced mounting criticism for not forcefully condemning Martinez as it focused instead on concerns about the educator’s safety in a letter to parents on Sunday.

“Dear Hale Parents, and Staff, Safety continues to be my top priority, which is why I am writing to notify you of a situation involving our school,” the letter said. “We were recently made aware of social media posts with language that resemble a potential threat to a staff member. We take all potential threats extremely seriously to ensure the safety of our school community.”

The school system provided a statement to Fox News Digital on Wednesday that did not condemn political violence, acknowledge any wrongdoing by Martinez, or disclose any disciplinary measures that have been taken since Saturday. 

‘IT’S A JOKE’: WHITE HOUSE DISMISSES ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS, WHILE NANCY PELOSI RIPS CROWN IN DEFIANCE

“Chicago Public Schools (CPS) remains committed to creating and maintaining a welcoming, safe, and inclusive teaching and learning environment, free from harassment, bias, or harm of any kind,” the statement said. “While CPS does not comment on specific personnel matters the District follows a consistent process when allegations of misconduct are reported. Employees found to have violated Board policy are subject to disciplinary action.”

While the school system has not given many specifics to the public, Turning Point USA’s Andrew Kolvet posted a screenshot on X of an email he says was shared by a “livid” parent showing Hale principal Dawn Iles-Gomez addressing families in a way Kolvet described as “making Martinez out to be a victim without even acknowledging her vile behavior.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

In a separate incident in Chicago on Saturday, another education professional found himself in the national spotlight after he spoke through a bullhorn at a “No Kings” rally and called for ICE agents to be shot. 

Social media users quickly identified the man as an employee for City Colleges of Chicago and on Monday the school system confirmed he “no longer” works there.

“Our college system does not tolerate violence or incitement under any circumstances,” a City Colleges of Chicago spokesperson said.

FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump will host a roundtable at the White House Thursday afternoon with law enforcement and administration officials to discuss the successes of the Homeland Security Task Forces, which the president established on his first day in office to snuff out threats from criminal cartels in the U.S.

“The President’s Homeland Security Task Forces are a landmark achievement that highlight what the federal government can achieve with a leader like President Trump who is willing to slash red tape, increase coordination and put the safety of the American people first,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital of the event. 

“In a short period of time, the Trump Administration has removed lethal drugs, illegal weapons, dangerous foreign terrorists and cartel members from American communities,” she added. “The American people are safer today because of the HSTFs — and they’re just getting started.” 

Trump established the creation of Homeland Security Task Forces Jan. 20 — his first day back in office — via executive order, “Protecting the American People from Invasion.” The executive order directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to establish such task forces in each state as part of the administration’s efforts to thwart cartels and human trafficking networks operating on U.S. soil. 

WAR DEPARTMENT LAUNCHES NEW COUNTER-NARCOTICS TASK FORCE UNDER TRUMP DIRECTIVE TO CRUSH CARTELS

The executive order specifically directed the task forces to “end the presence of criminal cartels, foreign gangs, and transnational criminal organizations throughout the United States, dismantle cross-border human smuggling and trafficking networks, end the scourge of human smuggling and trafficking, with a particular focus on such offenses involving children, and ensure the use of all available law enforcement tools to faithfully execute the immigration laws of the United States.”

On Thursday, administration officials will join Trump to provide updates on the task forces’ efforts. 

The roundtable will be joined by Deputy Chief of Staff and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller, Noem, Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, FBI Director Kash Patel and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Fox News Digital learned. 

TRUMP SENDS MILITARY AFTER THE CARTELS AND IT’S LONG OVERDUE

Fox News Digital learned that the task forces nationwide became fully operational at the end of August and have yielded thousands of arrests, and the removal of dangerous drugs and illegal firearms from U.S. streets. 

BONDI SAYS HUMAN SMUGGLING IS ‘GETTING PEOPLE KILLED’ ACROSS US AS SHE ANNOUNCES CRACKDOWN

More than 3,000 foreign terrorists and cartel members were arrested as part of the task forces’ operations, including members of notoriously dangerous gangs such as the Sinaloa Cartel, MS-13 and Cartel Jalisco Nuevo Genaracion, Fox News Digital learned. 

The task forces also have recovered two million fentanyl pills and seven tons of other deadly narcotics, seized $3 million in currency and removed more than 1,000 illegal guns from U.S. communities. 

Trump campaigned, in part, on removing violent illegal immigrants and crime from U.S. communities, spotlighting the efforts in his address before Congress back in March 2025. 

“The territory to the immediate south of our border is now dominated entirely by criminal cartels that murder, rape, torture and exercise total control. They have total control over a whole nation. posing a grave threat to our national security,” Trump said at the time. “The cartels are waging war in America, and it’s time for America to wage war on the cartels.”

The roundtable comes as the U.S. military carries out strikes on suspected drug cartel vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. The strikes began in September and are part of Trump’s broader effort to dismantle transnational cartels by force.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Trump held a similar roundtable at the White House earlier in October, inviting independent journalists who have experienced Antifa’s violence firsthand to speak about their experiences as the administration targets the left-wing group’s protests outside immigration facilities and recently designating it a “domestic terrorist organization.”

EXCLUSIVE — LINDEN, N.J. — With less than two weeks to go until Election Day in New Jersey, and the latest polls suggesting Jack Ciattarelli cutting the gap with Democratic rival Rep. Mikee Sherrill in one of only two races for governor this year across the country, the Republican nominee’s confidence is high.

“Early voting starts this Saturday. We turn out, we win. Let’s finish strong,” Ciattarelli told supporters at a packed diner in this small city in north-central New Jersey.

Ciattarelli, aiming to pump up the Republican base as the polls tighten, was joined on the campaign trail Wednesday morning and afternoon at three diner stops by Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, a top House ally of President Donald Trump. 

“Jack’s been running a great campaign. I’ve been watching it from down in the Sunshine State. But it’s about winning. We got to help everybody get across the line,” Donalds said in a joint Fox News Channel and Fox News Digital interview.

BATTLE FOR GOVERNOR IN THIS CLOSELY WATCHED RACE MAY BE HEADED FOR A PHOTO FINISH

Ciattarelli, who’s making his third straight run for Garden State governor, and who nearly upset Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago, says things are different this time around.

“Because of the closeness of that race in ’21, people are paying closer attention this time around,” Ciattarelli said.

In a state where registered Democrats still outnumber Republicans despite a GOP surge in registration this decade, four public opinion polls released over the past two weeks — from Fox News, Quinnipiac University, Fairleigh Dickinson University and Rutgers-Eagleton — indicated Ciattarelli narrowing the margins with Sherrill in the race to succeed the term-limited Murphy.

FIVE KEY RACES TO WATCH WITH TWO WEEKS UNTIL ELECTION DAY

“I think we’re in a great position,” Ciattarelli emphasized. ” As you know, many of these polls have a dead heat. And that’s in a state in which Republicans typically under poll because we are the minority party. And when you have the endorsement of Democratic mayors across the state, it says people want change. That’s exactly what we’re going to deliver when we win this race.”

Donalds, who has Trump’s backing as he runs for Florida’s governor next year, touted that in New Jersey, “the wind is at our back.”

Asked why he made the trip, the congressman said, “It’s about New Jersey and making sure that the people of the Garden State get out and vote. That’s all that matters right now.”

Donalds was the second major MAGA star to parachute into New Jersey. Last week, Ciattarelli was joined at a diner packed inside and outside with supporters by Ohio gubernatorial candidate and former White House contender Vivek Ramaswamy.

“A lot of Trump voters do not vote for anybody else, so getting guys out that they like will get them out to vote,” former Rahway, New Jersey, GOP chairman Patrick Cassio told Fox News.

“Four years ago, 400,000 Republicans didn’t vote. So, think about that. He picks up half of that, he wins. The math is pretty simple,” Cassio said.

Democrats took aim at Ciattarelli for teaming up with MAGA surrogates.

“Jack Ciattarelli is ramping up his outreach to the furthest MAGA fringes, this time with Byron Donalds — who doesn’t think people need health insurance and wants a 6-week abortion ban. With two weeks to go until Election Day, Jack’s choice to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him tells you everything you need to know about why he couldn’t be more wrong for New Jersey,” New Jersey Democratic State Committee spokesperson Ryan Radulovacki charged in a statement.

New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states to hold gubernatorial showdowns in the year after a presidential election, and the contests traditionally grab outsized attention and are viewed as political barometers ahead of the following year’s midterm elections.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE 2025 ELECTIONS

And this year, they’re being viewed, in part, as ballot-box referendums on Trump’s unprecedented and explosive second-term agenda.

While Democrats have long dominated federal and state legislative elections in blue-leaning New Jersey, Republicans are very competitive in gubernatorial contests, winning five out of the past 10 elections.

And Trump made major gains in New Jersey in last year’s presidential election, losing the state by only six percentage points, a vast improvement over his 16-point deficit four years earlier.

While it’s still not clear if Trump will physically hit the campaign trail in New Jersey sometime during the next two weeks, Fox News confirmed that the president will hold a tele-rally with Ciattarelli ahead of Election Day.

Asked if he wants Trump to join him in person on the campaign trail, Ciattarelli didn’t directly answer.

THE POLITICAL BOMB TRUMP EXPLODED IN THE NEW JERSEY SHOWDOWN FOR GOVERNOR

“The White House is working in close partnership with us, and what they’ve said is ‘we’ll do whatever it is that we think we can do to win.’ The president is very busy. So he’s got a lot going on. We’re happy to work in partnership with the White House to deliver a win here,” Ciattarelli said.

While Trump isn’t on the ballot, he’s loomed large over the New Jersey gubernatorial election.

At this month’s second and final debate, Sherrill charged that her GOP rival had “shown zero signs of standing up to this president. In fact, the president himself called Jack 100% MAGA, and he’s shown every sign of being that.”

FINAL FACEOFF: CIATTARELLI, SHERRILL, CLASH ON DEBATE STAGE

Asked whether he considered himself part of the MAGA movement, Ciattarelli said he was “part of a New Jersey movement.”

When asked to grade the president’s performance so far during his second term, Ciattarelli said, “I’d certainly give the president an A. I think he’s right about everything that he’s doing.”

“I think that tells us all we need to know about who Jack Ciattarelli’s supporting. I give him an F right now,” Sherrill responded, as she pointed to New Jersey’s high cost of living.

In the weeks since the final debate, Sherrill has highlighted that Ciattarelli gave Trump an A rating.

But Donalds argued that Sherrill’s focus on linking Ciattarelli to Trump would backfire.

“I think that’s a stupid strategy,” Donalds said. “Let me tell you why. He secured the border. That’s what the American people want, even people in New Jersey. He’s done that. Our economy is sound and getting better every single day. That’s what all Americans want.”

Sherrill, a Naval Academy graduate who flew helicopters during her military service and who was first elected to Congress in 2018, is getting plenty of company on the campaign trail. This past weekend she was joined by two of the biggest names in the party — Govs. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Wes Moore of Maryland — who are considered potential 2028 White House contenders. And former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, two more potential presidential candidates, are on deck.

And Sherrill’s campaign announced on Tuesday that the most popular Democrat in the country — former President Barack Obama — will headline a rally with her in Newark on Nov. 1, the final weekend before Election Day.

But Ciattarelli’s campaign claimed that Obama’s upcoming appearance on the New Jersey campaign trail is a sign of weakness for the Democrats.

“National and New Jersey Democrats are in full-blown panic. At this point, we expect them to import anyone they think can excite Democrats because Mikie Sherrill excites no one,” Ciattarelli campaign chief strategist Chris Russell argued in a statement to Fox News Digital.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced on Tuesday that it’s upping the ante, infusing more money into the New Jersey Democratic Coordinated Campaign, on top of the $3 million it’s already dished out in the Garden State.

“This November will set the tone for years to come, and it’s our moment to show Donald Trump and the Republicans that their time in power is coming to an end,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

New Jersey traditionally elects a governor from the party out of power in the White House, which this year would favor the Democrats.

But Garden State voters haven’t elected a governor from the same party in three straight elections in over a half century, which would favor the Republicans.

One of those political trends will be derailed in two weeks.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., attacked the Trump administration’s immigration efforts on Wednesday, which he claimed were opposed by Americans.

Jeffries’ comments came during his near-daily government shutdown press conference in response to a reporter asking an unrelated question about whether Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) needed scaling back.

“We’ve all been very outspoken as it relates to the out-of-control behavior unleashed on law-abiding immigrant communities by masked agents hiding their identity and far too often violating the rule of law, often directed at people who are American citizens,” the top House Democrat answered.

“It’s all unacceptable, and it’s one of the reasons why the American people have turned on Donald Trump and Republicans with respect to their extreme immigration policies,” he said.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARRESTED AFTER RAMMING BORDER PATROL IN CHICAGO AMID VIOLENT CLASH WITH PROTESTERS

He then demanded the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) be held “accountable for the overreach and the extremism that they’re being subjected to in terms of what the American people are experiencing.”

“And yet we’re seeing none of that accountability coming from Republicans,” Jeffries continued. “That’s unfortunate, but Democrats will continue to make the case to the American people that this is all abnormal. So much of it is unlawful, and it’s got to stop.”

FBI DIRECTOR KASH PATEL VOWS JUSTICE AFTER DHS AGENT’S VEHICLE RAMMED IN CHICAGO

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital in response, “ICE officers are facing a 1,000% increase in assaults because of unhinged rhetoric from activists and Democrat politicians smearing heroic ICE officers. Anyone who assaults or otherwise harms law enforcement officers will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

Attacks on ICE have increased since Trump took office. A woman from North Texas was arrested this week in connection with a violent attack on an Alvarado ICE facility, according to CBS News.

FBI Director Kash Patel previously called the incident a “planned and coordinated terrorist attack.”

Democrats have spent much of Trump’s first year back in office criticizing the actions of ICE, in particular, homing in on accounts of American citizens being improperly detained by federal authorities.

The majority of Republicans have pushed back, arguing ICE has largely done the necessary work of cracking down on illegal immigration.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

Jeffries’ comments come after Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said the panel would be launching an ICE “tracker” to keep tabs on “incidents” the agency is involved in.

Oversight Democrats’ spokesperson Sara Guerrero said in a statement, “The tracker documents unconstitutional actions after they occur — it is not a live location tool. Creating this kind of investigatory record is routine and essential in any oversight inquiry.”

“We’re not tracking officers’ locations or putting anyone at risk. We’re publishing records to expose patterns of misconduct and to build a transparent public record for the American people. Our work will always protect the public, law enforcement, and the Constitution,” she said.

But House Committee on Administration Chair Bryan Steil, R-Wis., whose panel would have jurisdiction over materials used by Congress, ruled that out.

“The House of Representatives absolutely will not maintain a website that tracks or doxes ICE agents,” Steil said in a statement.

Judges for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Monday cleared the way for President Donald Trump to deploy hundreds of National Guard troops to Portland, handing a major victory to the president in his ongoing federalization fight — but one that might not have much staying power.

The case itself comes amid a fast-moving backdrop of similar court fights playing out across the country, including one challenge that has already been appealed to the Supreme Court.

At issue in Oregon is a 9th Circuit ruling that affirmed Trump’s authority to deploy 200 Oregon National Guard troops to Portland, despite the objections of local and state leaders. 

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 Monday to lift a lower court order blocking Trump from federalizing the National Guard, finding he likely had the authority as president to order the deployments, even if reports of protester violence were overstated.

9TH CIRCUIT COURT RULES ON TRUMP’S NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT IN PORTLAND

Still, the appeals court ruling has limited practical implications, at least for now.

Writing for the majority of the 9th Circuit, Judges Ryan Nelson and Bridget Bade stressed on Monday that they could not evaluate a second emergency order that was issued by the lower court judge late last week, after Trump attempted to deploy federalized National Guard troops from California to the City of Portland. 

The second order from U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut clarified that Trump can not deploy any federalized troops to Portland. 

The past 48 hours have seen a flurry of action from lawyers for the Justice Department and the states of Oregon and California, as the Trump administration asked Immergut to dissolve her second temporary restraining order, in light of the appeals court ruling. 

Meanwhile, lawyers for Oregon and California urged the judge to keep the second emergency order in place until the 9th Circuit can vote on their request to evaluate the case en banc, or in with the full appellate court bench. 

‘UNTETHERED FROM REALITY’: LAWYERS FOR TRUMP, OREGON, SPAR OVER NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT IN COURT CLASH

While Trump, in his first term as president, appointed 10 judges to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the bench still retains a slight majority of Democrat-appointed judges, by a margin of 16 to 13. 

“The fight is not over,” Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek vowed to reporters on Monday. “Until the district court acts on the second TRO, National Guard members from Oregon, or any other state cannot deploy,” she added. 

Both parties are expected to have more clarity shortly.

As of this writing, the lower court judge has ordered lawyers for the state of Oregon and the Justice Department to appear Friday morning for a status hearing to evaluate the Trump administration’s request for her to dissolve or stay the second emergency order.

Both parties were also ordered to come to Friday’s hearing prepared to discuss the pending en banc vote before the 9th Circuit, which will hold a vote on whether to review the case.

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP’S NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT TO PORTLAND AMID CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE

In order to review the case, 15 of the 29 judges on the 9th Circuit must agree to take it up, and further action is expected before Friday.

Otherwise, relief could come in the form of Supreme Court action. The Trump administration appealed to the high court a lower court’s injunction that blocked its deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago. 

In the interim, court challenges continue to play out in the handful of other Democratic-led cities where Trump has launched his federalization effort. A federal judge in Washington, D.C. on Friday will hold a hearing to evaluate the status of Trump’s deployment of some 2,500 National Guard troops in the nation’s capital, after the city’s attorney general suggested in a court filing that the effort could stretch through summer 2026.

The Trump administration also re-filed its motion to stay the district court’s injunction centered on the Chicago deployments to the 7th Circuit of Appeals, citing their victory in the 9th Circuit. 

Trump has sought to deploy hundreds of National Guard troops to Democratic-led cities despite stated opposition from local and state leaders. Senior administration officials have argued that the deployment is a necessary step to crack down on what they say is an uptick in violent crime and protect against threats from protesters, including anti-ICE demonstrations in many downtown areas.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

Democrats have countered that Trump’s descriptions are hyperbolic and inaccurate, and are merely a legal pretext for Trump to try to “federalize” Democratic-led cities. They’ve used news conferences to highlight declines in violent crime, and have argued in court that the effort to deploy federal troops exceeds Trump’s authority as commander-in-chief.