NationalWatch

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner and House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik are accusing former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen of committing perjury and “knowingly” making false statements while testifying before Congress in 2019, Fox News Digital has learned.

Turner, R-Ohio, and Stefanik, R-N.Y., who also sits on the Intelligence Committee, penned a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday calling for an investigation into the matter.

TRUMP FACES OFF IN COURT WITH COHEN AS EX-LAWYER TESTIFIES AGAINST HIM IN TRUMP ORGANIZATION CIVIL TRIAL

Turner and Stefanik pointed to Cohen’s testimony last month in New York City as part of the non-jury civil trial stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit against former President Trump, his family and the Trump Organization. The lawsuit accuses Trump of defrauding banks and inflating the value of his assets.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has repeatedly said his assets were actually undervalued. Trump has repeatedly said his financial statements had disclaimers, requesting that the numbers be evaluated by the banks.

“We write to refer compelling evidence that Michael D. Cohen appears to have committed perjury and knowingly made false statements while testifying under oath during his deposition before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on February 28, 2019,” they wrote.

TRUMP SUES FORMER ATTORNEY MICHAEL COHEN FOR $500 MILLION

“Specifically on October 25, 2023, while testifying in the trial People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump et al.,….Mr. Cohen admitted that the testimony he gave before the Committee in 2019 was knowingly and intentionally false,” they wrote.

Turner and Stefanik referenced Cohen’s February 2019 testimony, in which he was asked whether Trump directed him or former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weiselberg to “inflate the numbers for his personal statement.” 

TRUMP DROPS LAWSUIT AGAINST MICHAEL COHEN, VOWS TO RE-FILE AFTER HE HAS ‘PREVAILED’ IN OTHER CASES

“I’m sorry. Did he ask me to inflate the numbers? Not that I recall, no,” Cohen testified to the House Intelligence Committee in February 2019.

While on the stand in New York City last month, Cohen was presented with the transcript of his February 2019 testimony.

When asked if he was being “honest” in front of the House Intelligence Committee in February 2019, Cohen testified: “No.”

“So you lied under oath in February of 2019? Is that your testimony?” Trump attorney Alina Habba asked him.

“Yes,” Cohen replied.

Turner and Stefanik said Cohen’s statement “raises significant questions about his testimony before the committee,” and said his testimony in New York is “inconsistent with his testimony before the committee.”

JUDGE DENIES TRUMP TEAM’S REQUESTS FOR IMMEDIATE VERDICT IN FRAUD TRIAL AFTER COHEN TESTIMONY

“That Mr. Cohen was willing to openly and brazenly state at trial that he lied to Congress on this specific issue is startling,” they wrote to Garland. “His willingness to make such a statement alone should necessitate an investigation.” 

“In sum, Mr. Cohen’s testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on February 28, 2019 is contradicted by his reported recent testimony on October 25, 2023,” they continued. “Mr. Cohen’s prior conviction for lying to Congress merits a heightened suspicion that he has yet again testified falsely before Congress.”

Turner and Stefanik requested the Justice Department investigate whether any of Cohen’s testimony “warrants another charge” of making a false statement before Congress.

When asked for comment, Michael Cohen told Fox News Digital that Stefanik and Turner “continue to do Donald’s bidding in witness tampering and obstructing justice.” 

“The two members fail to understand the distinction between explicit and implied; which is how the question was asked and accurately responded to,” Cohen. “The topic was further clarified several questions thereafter; which is conveniently and intentionally being ignored. I am not concerned at all with their baseless request.” 

Cohen added: “This is the type of harassment everyone, especially critics, should expect if Donald becomes President again!”

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Cohen, in 2018, pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, making false statements to Congress and tax evasion. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

The Justice Department confirmed receipt of the letter to Fox News Digital. 

Migrant encounters at the southern border hit the highest ever number for October last month, with more than 240,000 people encountered, officials announced on Tuesday — despite a slight decrease in numbers from September.

There were 240,988 encounters at the border in October, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said. That’s higher than the 231,529 recorded in October last year and the 164,837 encountered in 2021. In Oct 2020, there were just 71,929 encounters.

The number is down from the 269,735 encounters in September, which marked the highest monthly total ever. FY 23 saw a record 2.4 million encounters overall. 

STATE AGS URGE SPEAKER JOHNSON TO EXPEDITE BILL GIVING STATES POWER TO TACKLE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION 

The latest numbers show that, despite a broad strategy in place from the Biden administration after the end of Title 42 in May that it says combines “consequences” for illegal entry with expanded lawful pathways, numbers remain stubbornly high.

In a release, CBP said it remains “steadfast” in enforcing immigration laws, including with new technology and resources, as well as greater use of authorities like Expedited Removal and an asylum rule which limits asylum claims for those who have crossed illegally. The administration also started deportation flights directly to Venezuela last month, a move it says is already having an effect.

“In conjunction with our resumption of removal flights to Venezuela consistent with delivering consequences for those who cross the border unlawfully, CBP saw a 65 percent decrease in southwest border encounters of Venezuelans in the second half of October, compared to the second half of September,” acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller said in a statement. 

He also pointed to a 14% decrease in illegal entries between ports of entry between September and October, and an overall decrease in family units. 

GOP LAWMAKER SOUNDS ALARM ON ‘DANGEROUS’ THREAT TO US COMING FROM POROUS BORDER, AND IT’S NOT FROM MEXICO

Republicans have blamed the ongoing migrant crisis on the Biden administration’s border policies — particularly its rolling back of Trump-era border wall construction, a greater use of humanitarian parole and a reduction of interior enforcement. The Biden administration has said it needs comprehensive immigration reform and more funding to fix a “broken” system. Most recently the White House requested $14 billion for border operations.

“The President’s supplemental budget request is critical to funding the frontline, and would provide much-needed personnel, resources, and technology to go after transnational criminal organizations, enhance border security – including the enforcement of consequences for those who break the law – and support state and local partners, all to keep Americans safe,” Miller said.

The call for more funding and immigration reform is one that Republicans have dismissed. In an interview with Fox News Digital on Tuesday, House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green called it “the biggest lie I have ever heard.”

“The resources were the same in the previous administration. The dollars were the same, and the immigration laws were the same. The problem is that they broke the system by undoing the policies that had been implemented by the previous administration,” he said, pointing to the rollback of policies like the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). “So it is a big lie to say they need more resources or that immigration laws need to be fixed–they’re not even following the immigration laws that are in place right now, so why would Congress just pass more law if they’re not going to follow it anyway? So that is a fallacy, it is a talking point so that they can continue their open border.”

In terms of the greater use of parole by the administration, the agency says that 44,000 migrants were paroled into the U.S. in October using the CBP One app, which allows migrants to schedule appointments at ports of entry. There have been nearly 324,000 appointments scheduled on the app since January. 

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Meanwhile, there were 13 Border Patrol arrests of people on the terror watchlist in October, 12 at the southern border and one at the northern border.

The numbers come a day after Republicans in the House failed in an attempt to impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Eight Republicans joined with Democrats in voting to table the measure to impeach the secretary for his handling of the border crisis.
 

President Biden defined on Tuesday what success would mean for his upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, emphasizing that America cannot “decouple” from China. 

The president said his goal for Wednesday’s meeting is a return to a “normal course” of communication between the U.S. and China. 

“We get back on a normal course of corresponding, being able to pick up the phone and talk to one another in a crisis. Being able to make sure our military still have contact with one another,” Biden said in response to a reporter’s question at an event announcing the release of the fifth National Climate Assessment. 

“We’re not trying to decouple from China, but what we’re trying to do is change the relationship for the better,” he continued. “From my perspective, if in fact the Chinese people – who are in trouble right now economically – if the average homeowner, if the average citizen in China was able to have a decent paying job, that benefits them, it benefits all of us.

BIDEN, XI MEETING WILL BE FORUM FOR ‘INTENSE DIPLOMACY’ AMID TENSIONS BETWEEN US, CHINA: OFFICIALS

“But I’m not going to continue to sustain support for positions where if we want to invest in China, we have to turn over all our trade secrets,” he added. 

Biden is set to meet with Xi in California on Wednesday as the two leaders seek to ease tensions between their countries. 

The White House has said Biden and Xi are expected to discuss the relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China, including the importance of maintaining “open lines of communication.”

A senior administration official previously said the two leaders will also discuss “managing competition responsibly,” along with a range of regional, global and transnational issues, including Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas war and the growing conflicts in the Middle East.

WH OFFICIALS CONFIRM DATE, LOCATION FOR BIDEN’S US MEETING WITH CHINESE PRESIDENT XI

Additionally, they will broach “potentially contentious” topics, including election interference, with Biden planning to warn Xi about potential election influence operations. 

Wednesday’s meeting will be the second in-person meeting between Biden and Xi since the U.S. president took office in January 2021, but the “seventh interaction,” the official said. 

CHINA ADOPTED ‘MORE DANGEROUS’ TACTICS IN 2022 AS ‘ONLY COMPETITOR’ TO US, PENTAGON WARNS IN NEW REPORT

They previously met in Nov. 2022 at the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia, where they mutually agreed it would be better to have more direct communication between the U.S. and Chinese leadership.

The Biden administration has sought to restore diplomatic relations with China after years of escalating tensions over the status of Taiwan, the coronavirus pandemic and the Trump administration’s threats of new tariffs on Chinese goods. The U.S. has also accused China of stealing American technology and trade secrets, and relations reached a low point earlier this year when the Biden administration announced a Chinese spy craft had drifted into U.S. airspace and was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean. 

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China has taken offense to U.S. strategic ambiguity on the Taiwan Independence issue, refusing to acknowledge the island’s claim to sovereignty while still sending diplomatic missions to meet with the Taiwanese leadership.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the violent conflict between Hamas and Israel have also complicated relations as the U.S. and China jostle for strategic diplomatic positions on the conflicts.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and Timothy H.J. Nerozzi contributed to this report. 

FIRST ON FOX: A trio of former professional athletes are throwing their support behind independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to take the White House.

NBA legend and 1992 “Dream Team” Olympian John Stockton, Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame member Ken Ruettegers and three-time North American Enduro mountain biking champion Kyle Warner are all endorsing Kennedy for president.

The athletes said they like the cut of Kennedy’s jib — all three pointed to what they say are the independent candidate’s genuineness, honesty and openness to conversations about policies as reasons they support him.

ERIC CLAPTON RAISED EYE-POPPING SUM FOR RFK JR’S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

Stockton said he believes Kennedy “has been put on this planet for just this moment in time” and that there’s “a real need for him and his leadership.”

“There’s a need for very smart people in these positions that have integrity that [is] off the charts, that have the stamina and strength to be able to speak and be a leader 24/7, not just on occasion or on blips,” Stockton said.

“And, maybe more than anything, a person that can un-divide this country,” the NBA legend continued. “I don’t think we’ve ever been this divided.”

“You look around, and you see all the different things that are pulling us apart,” he said. “Finally, we have, I think, the right man there available again. What an opportunity to bring us back together.”

Ruettgers said he has met Kennedy “a couple times” and that the independent presidential candidate’s “level of commitment to honesty” that he will “bring to our federal government, to the Oval Office, to the leadership position” is part of why he’s supporting Kennedy for president.

“I love the fact that he loves the Constitution and the Bill of Rights,” the Packers Hall of Fame member said. “Man, that seems to have been eroded in our culture over the last couple decades.”

“And I love other things. He’s … for free-market capitalism, but he’s not for crony capitalism,” he continued. “He’s also for the average American, the middle class, the people who are down and out and cannot provide for themselves.”

Warner — who won the 2014, 2015 and 2016 North American Enduro Championships — said that he believes there’s “a level of elitism” currently in American politics, including with President Biden and former President Donald Trump.

“Whereas I think that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. … does a great job of being a populist and … understanding the plight of the common man,” Warner said. “I have had friends that have been in these big meetings at Facebook, at these censorship meetings with Robert, and they’re just normal people, everyday normal people, and he cares about them. He wants them to succeed.”

Warner, who is one of the independent candidate’s surrogates, said Kennedy “being down-to-earth and relatable is huge and there isn’t that level of elitism.”

The mountain biking champion also said he is a lifelong Democrat who grew up with a mother who “was on welfare.”

“We grew up on food stamps and the only reason we weren’t homeless was because of the government,” Warner said. “With that in mind, I was always a Democrat at my core.”

Warner blasted the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) choice to not host a primary debate as “undemocratic” and that he was happy to see Kennedy run as an independent, despite the “tough road” that comes with it.

“But right now when you see him polling in the 20th percentile already, and I don’t think there’s even been that massive debate that’s happened,” Warner said. “If he can get onstage with Biden [and] Trump … I think it will really do a lot for him, and I really do think he has a chance of winning this thing.”

Stockton said he hasn’t “necessarily been a part of a party, one way or another” and has carefully scrutinized candidates and their level of belief in their platforms.

“That’s a hard journey because it’s hard to get the truth,” he said. “And … one thing I can count on with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the truth.”

“He’ll look you right in the eye. He’ll tell you what he thinks. If you guys disagree, he’s willing to discuss it. His mind isn’t set,” Stockton said. “He’s not dialed into one political way of thinking, and if you can present a decent argument, he wants to hear it and perhaps his mind changes.”

Stockton, who has met the independent presidential candidate, said he thinks Kennedy’s openness is a “good thing” over a candidate who falls behind their party’s platform.

Ruettgers said he is a lifelong Republican who cast his first vote for President Ronald Reagan and that America is in “deeper trouble” if the country can’t get out of the two-party mindset.

“It’s time to make that move and that jump,” Ruettgers said. “So, if not now, when? And if not … Robert F. Kennedy Jr., then who?”

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In addition to Ruettgers, Stockton and Warner, Kennedy has secured the endorsements of several other athletes, including New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers and surfing legend Kelly Slater.

Kennedy has been gaining ground as he mounts his independent challenge to Biden, with a recent poll showing him outperforming both the current and former presidents among young Americans in swing states.

It’s a slimmer field, but it’s the same story, as former President Donald Trump remains the commanding front-runner for the Republican nomination with nine weeks to go until the first votes are cast.

Sen. Tim Scott’s suspension of his White House campaign on Sunday came two weeks after former Vice President Mike Pence departed the 2024 GOP race. And four lesser known candidates who failed to make the debate stage have also dropped out, as a Republican field that once included over a dozen contenders keeps shrinking.

With the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses – which lead off the Republican presidential nomination calendar – fast approaching, Trump retains dominating double-digit leads over his nomination rivals in the latest surveys in the early voting states, and holds even larger massive advantages in national polls.

The over-arching question going forward is if the smaller field of candidates will allow one of the remaining contenders to make it a competitive race against Trump as the primary calendar progresses.

DESANTIS, HALEY, OR TRUMP – WHICH CANDIDATE BENEFITS FROM TIM SCOTT’S DEPARTURE FROM THE 2024 RACE?

“Nothing’s changed. Trump’s still ahead. And right now he’s on the trajectory to win,” longtime Republican consultant Dave Carney, a veteran of numerous presidential campaigns, told Fox News.

Pointing to the single digit support Scott held in the polls as he suspended his campaign, Carney said “It’s not like Scott getting out of the race is going to reshuffle the deck completely. His support isn’t going to change the dynamics that much.”

WHY TIM SCOTT DROPPED OUT OF THE 2024 REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL RACE

But Carney also emphasized that “there’s no way to spin this other than its good news for Nikki Haley. We’ll see if she can take advantage of that.”

Haley, the former two-term South Carolina governor who served as ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration, is battling two-term Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for second place in the GOP nomination race, far behind Trump.

FORMER GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE URGES SOME REMAINING CONTENDERS TO FOLLOW HIS FOOTSTEPS

Longtime Republican strategist David Kochel, pointing to DeSantis and Haley, told Fox News that the winnowing of the Republican field “is a good thing for the two people who still have a shot at becoming the Trump alternative.”

“Trump’s already in the finals,” said Kochel, a veteran of numerous presidential and statewide campaigns in Iowa.

And he highlighted that DeSantis and Haley are “trying to construct some plausible path to get a one-on-one shot with Trump that everybody agrees is essential to any notion that he can be derailed from getting the nomination.”

While DeSantis has the stronger name ID from coast to coast and leads Haley in the national polls, she’s tied DeSantis in the latest surveys in Iowa and leads him in New Hampshire – which votes second – and her home state, which holds the first southern contest.

FIREWORKS AT LAST WEEK’S THIRD REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY DEBATE

Haley’s enjoyed a rise in the polls thanks in part to well-regarded performances in the three Republican presidential primary debates. Haley’s campaign announced on Monday that they are reserving $10 million to run TV, radio and digital ads in Iowa and New Hampshire starting next month.

“We have plenty of money that we’re going to be on TV with,” Haley touted this past weekend in an interview on “Fox News Sunday.” “We’re going to be strong in New Hampshire. We’re going to be strong in South Carolina, because we spent our money well. We’ve got great ground games in every one of those states. And we’re going to keep surging.”

But Iowa comes first, and DeSantis last week landed the endorsement of GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds, who’s very popular with Hawkeye State Republicans. Reynolds backing was a much-needed boost for DeSantis to alter a negative narrative.

DeSantis is also aiming to land the endorsement of Bob Vander Plaats, who leads the Family Leader, a top social conservative organization in Iowa, a state where evangelical voters play an out-sized role in Republican presidential politics.

“Tim Scott and Mike Pence were surging resources in Iowa, looking to attract evangelical supporters, and unlike Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis is making headway with those voters,” DeSantis campaign communications director Andrew Romeo argued in a statement to Fox News.

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Kochel said “I think Iowa’s going to be more determinative than ever as to who’s going to have momentum going into New Hampshire and South Carolina.”

“Trump already has a ticket. There’s maybe two more and maybe one more” coming out of Iowa, he forecast.

And Kochel predicted “a pretty fierce contest” in the weeks ahead between DeSantis and Haley. 

The 2024 GOP field also includes former two-term New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie – who’s concentrating most of his firepower on New Hampshire – and multi-millionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy – a 38-year-old first-time candidate who appears to draw much of his support from Trump’s MAGA wing of the party. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum – who didn’t make the stage at the third debate – and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchison – who failed to qualify for the past two showdowns – are running long-shot campaigns.

Seasoned Iowa-based Republican strategist and communicator Jimmy Centers cautioned that “everyone needs to be clear-eyed that former President Trump will win the Iowa caucus on Jan. 15.”

“The question is whether Gov. DeSantis or Amb. Haley come in a strong enough second place finish where they put a sizable gap between themselves and whomever comes in third to be able to say to Republicans in New Hampshire and beyond that this is a two-person race,” he spotlighted.

Centers said Haley “has clearly performed very well” since the start of the debates “and voters are responding to that in Iowa.”

But he added that DeSantis enjoys some “momentum right now after Gov. Reynolds endorsement last week.”

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

FIRST ON FOX: House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan subpoenaed former White House Counsel Dana Remus to appear for a deposition and requested transcribed interviews from several other officials with knowledge of President Biden’s alleged improper retention of classified records, Fox News Digital has learned.

Comer and Jordan subpoenaed Remus Monday. 

Comer first requested she appear for a transcribed interview before the House Oversight Committee in May. That request came after the panel obtained information that they said “contradicts important details from the White House’s and President Biden’s personal attorney’s statements about the discovery of documents at the Penn Biden Center, including the location and security of the classified documents.”

COMER DEMANDS ANSWERS ON WHETHER BIDEN CLASSIFIED RECORDS MENTION COUNTRIES RELATED TO FAMILY BUSINESS DEALS

Comer has described Remus as a “central figure in the early stages of coordinating the packing and moving of boxes that were later found to contain classified materials.” Comer, in May. Said Remus could be a witness “with potentially unique knowledge” about the matter.

Comer and Jordan also requested an interview with Annie Tomasini, a senior Biden aide and director of Oval Office Operations who took “inventory” of Biden’s documents at the Penn Biden Center over a year before they were said to be found. Tomasini is a close friend of the Biden family, and Hunter Biden.

They also requested an interview with Anthony Bernal, a senior advisor in First Lady Jill Biden’s office and Ashley Williams, a special assistant to the president and deputy director of Oval Office Operations; and Katharine 

House Republicans identified Remus, Bernal, Williams, Tomasini and an unknown staffer, in addition to Kathy Chung, a top aide to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, as individuals who made multiple visits to the Penn Biden Center and were involved with the retrieval of boxes of documents and materials ahead of early November 2022, which was when Biden’s personal attorneys “unexpectedly discovered Obama-Biden documents” in a locked closet at the Biden think tank.

BIDEN INTERVIEWED BY SPECIAL COUNSEL ABOUT CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS

Biden attorneys claim that classified documents were first discovered at the Penn Biden Center on Nov. 2, 2022, but Comer has pointed to contact between Remus and Cheung dating back to May 2022.

Comer has questioned Remus’ timing of first contacting Chung, flagging that the first contact on May 24, 2022, was “notably” the same day the Justice Department had dated a subpoena return date for former President Donald Trump to turn over any classified records being held at Mar-a-Lago.

Remus left the Biden administration last year and joined Covington & Burling LLP as a partner.

“Facts continue to emerge showing that the White House’s narrative of President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents doesn’t add up,” Comer, R-Ky., said. “It is imperative to learn whether President Biden retained sensitive documents related to any countries involving his family’s foreign business dealings that brought in millions for the Biden family.” 

HOUSE OVERSIGHT DEMANDS EX-WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL DANA REMUS TESTIFY AS PART OF BIDEN CLASSIFIED RECORDS PROBE

“The Oversight Committee looks forward to hearing directly from Dana Remus and other central figures to further our investigation into President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents and determine whether our national security has been compromised,” Comer continued. 

And Jordan, R-Ohio said the subpoenas and interview requests is part of the House’s effort to hold the Justice Department and the president accountable.

“President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents, including the apparently unauthorized possession of classified material at a Washington, D.C. private office and in the garage of his Delaware residence, raise serious concerns about his mishandling of sensitive intelligence information and his Department of Justice’s double standard of justice,” Jordan said. “Today’s subpoena and transcribed interview requests represent another step in holding President Biden and the DOJ accountable.” 

Comer, Jordan and House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., are leading the House impeachment inquiry against President Biden. 

“This is just the latest example of President Biden’s willingness to skirt the law in order to hide the truth,” Smith told Fox News Digital. “If the President himself was illegally holding classified material for some purpose, the American people deserve to know what that purpose is–and whether it constitutes an abuse of office.” 

Smith added that the Biden administration “hasn’t hesitated to scrutinize political opponents’ use of classified materials, and he should be held to the same standard.” 

WEISS SAYS HE ‘WASN’T GRANTED’ SPECIAL ATTORNEY AUTHORITY IN HUNTER BIDEN PROBE DESPITE REQUEST: TRANSCRIPT

Meanwhile, the subpoenas also come after Comer, last month, demanded answers from Special Counsel Robert Hur, who is investigating Biden’s alleged improper retention of classified records, on whether the sensitive, classified documents Biden retained were related to specific countries— countries that were involved in his family’s lucrative foreign business deals.

Comer is investigating the Biden family’s foreign business dealings as part of the House impeachment inquiry, as well as Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified documents.

Comer also requested from Hur a list of the countries named in any documents with classification markings recovered from Penn Biden Center, Biden’s residence, including the garage, in Wilmington, Delaware, or elsewhere; and a list of all individuals named in those documents with classification markings; and all documents found with classified markings.

Biden sat down for an interview with Hur last month.

HOUSE OVERSIGHT SUBPOENAS HUNTER BIDEN, JAMES BIDEN, ROB WALKER FOR TESTIMONY AMID IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

“As we have said from the beginning, the president and the White House are cooperating with this investigation, and as it has been appropriate, we have provided relevant updates publicly, being as transparent as we can, consistent with protecting and preserving the integrity of the investigation,” White House spokesperson for investigations Ian Sams said after the president’s interview with the special counsel. 

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Hur’s investigation comes after a batch of records from President Biden’s time as vice president, including a “small number of documents with classified markings,” were discovered at the Penn Biden Center by the president’s personal attorneys on Nov. 2, 2022. 

Additional classified records were discovered at President Biden’s Wilmington home in January. After that discovery, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Hur as special counsel to investigate the matter.

President Biden and Democrat strategist David Axelrod have shown increasing tension towards each other after Axelrod questioned whether it was the best decision for Biden to run again in 2024. But the friction, at least on the Biden family side, appears to date back years.

Earlier this month, Axelrod suggested it may be “wise” for Biden to drop out of the 2024 race following a poll that showed him losing to former President Trump by up to 10 points in five battleground states he won in 2020.

“Only [Joe Biden] can make this decision,” the former Obama adviser wrote on X on November 5. “If he continues to run, he will be the nominee of the Democratic Party. What he needs to decide is whether that is wise; whether it’s in HIS best interest or the country’s?” 

FORMER JILL BIDEN SPOX EXPLODES AT BIDEN’S TEAM AMID CRUMBLING POLL NUMBERS: ‘THIS IS INEXCUSABLE’

“It’s very late to change horses; a lot will happen in the next year that no one can predict & Biden’s team says his resolve to run is firm,” he later added in the thread. “He’s defied CW before but this will send tremors of doubt thru the party–not ‘bed-wetting,’ but legitimate concern.”

Axelrod continued on Sunday by warning that Biden’s “age issue” was consistent in polling and noted it’s the “one thing” they can’t reverse, “no matter how effective” the president is behind the scenes.

Meanwhile, a Politico report has since surfaced alleging Biden had fired back at Axelrod in private by calling him a “pr—.” During a Monday CNN appearance, Axelrod fielded a question on the alleged comment, saying Biden was not the first to call him that during his time in politics.

However, the Biden family’s apparent disdain towards Axelrod appears to stem back at least to the 2016 election.

DAVID AXELROD QUESTIONS WHETHER IT IS ‘WISE’ FOR BIDEN TO STAY IN 2024 RACE: ‘STAKES…TOO DRAMATIC TO IGNORE’

During that time, Hunter Biden ripped Axelrod as a “giant a– hole” when communicating with his longtime business partner Eric Schwerin and then-Vice President Biden’s deputy counsel Alexander Mackler, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

In the September 2015 email exchange obtained by Fox News Digital, Mackler shared an Axelrod tweet with Hunter Biden and Schwerin. The message said the 2016 election was “still [Hillary Clinton’s] to lose, despite new polls.”

“It’s still HRC’s to lose, despite new polls. But it’s hard to inspire w/grinding, tactical race. ‘Hillary: Live With It’ is no rallying cry!” Axelrod tweeted.

“At the risk of being told for the second time this week that I need therapy…” Mackler said in response to the tweet. “This guy can take a flying leap. Cannot wait till he comes back to [Joe Biden] in a couple months and tells him it’s time to run, after being the patronizing, self-appointed kingmaker earlier this year and telling him not to run (and then talking about the meeting all over TV).”

“He is a giant a– hole,” Hunter replied.

The email exchange occurred slightly over a month before Biden announced that the window for a potential presidential campaign announcement had “closed.”

“Unfortunately, I believe we’re out of time, the time necessary to mount a winning campaign for the nomination,” Biden said during October 2015 remarks at the White House Rose Garden. “But while I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent.”

In a 2017 email exchange less than two years later, Schwerin and Mackler took more shots at Axelrod over his backing of Clinton over Biden in response to a Washington Free Beacon article with the headline, “Axelrod Rips Clinton for Election Excuses: ‘It Takes a Lot of Work to Lose to Donald Trump'”

BIDEN CALLS DAVID AXELROD A ‘P—-‘ IN PRIVATE AS EX-OBAMA ADVISER VOICES ELECTION CONCERNS: REPORT

“Do you think he should have thought about this before he backed her to the exclusion of others?!?” Schwerin said, appearing to reference Biden as one of the “others.”

“I’m old enough to remember when he took a whole afternoon of [Joe Biden’s] time in the West Wing, arguing that he needed to get out of [Hillary Clinton’s] way because she was the better candidate and would win,” Mackler said.

Axelrod, a senior CNN political commentator, expressed “100 percent” support for Hillary Clinton as early as January 2015 during a phone call with top Clinton aide Huma Abedin, according to an email Abedin sent to other Clinton operatives. 

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However, reports from 2016 regarding the Wikileaks emails show that Clinton staffers were concerned about Axelrod’s criticism of Clinton, and one aide even called his negative comments a “headache.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment on Biden’s recent alleged comment and what appears to be contempt from the Biden family against Axelrod dating back several years.

Fox News Digital’s Hanna Panreck and Kristine Parks contributed to this report.

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott was pretty clear as he dropped out of the Republican presidential nomination race and said he had no plans as of now to endorse another candidate.

“The best way for me to be helpful is to not weigh in,” he said in a live interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy.”

As he suspended his campaign, Scott was polling in the upper single-digits in the latest GOP presidential nomination surveys in Iowa — the state that leads off the Republican calendar — and his home state of South Carolina, which holds the first southern contest. Additionally, the senator stood in the mid single-digits in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary and votes second after Iowa.

The big question with just nine weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses is which of the remaining candidates will Scott supporters back?

WHY TIM SCOTT DROPPED OUT OF THE 2024 REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Scott, a rising star in the GOP and the only Black Republican in the Senate, was showcasing what he called an “optimistic, positive message anchored in conservatism,” as he ran for the White House.

A Scott ally told Fox News that “you’re talking about the most favorably viewed Republican in America right now. So he has a pretty unique coalition of supporters.”

“I think you’re going to see that support spread among several candidates because there’s not a particular subgroup that he was catering to. He had a really broad coalition of support. That’s what happens when you have someone as likable as Tim Scott,” said the strategist, who asked for anonymity to speak more freely.

FORMER GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE URGES SOME REMAINING CONTENDERS TO FOLLOW HIS FOOTSTEPS

The strategist emphasized that Scott supporters would be highly sought after by the campaigns of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former United Nations ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

Both candidates quickly issued statements praising Scott after he dropped out of the race. 

DeSantis and Haley are battling for second place in the GOP nomination race, far behind former President Trump, who remains the commanding front-runner as he makes his third straight White House run.

Nicole Schlinger, a longtime Iowa-based strategist, told Fox News on Monday that “there isn’t necessarily a natural place for Tim Scott supporters to all flock as a group. I think these people are going to go back to the drawing board and kick the tires on someone else.”

“This is going to be all about who is going to court them,” Schlinger added.

Haley’s campaign announced on Monday that they are reserving $10 million to run TV, radio and digital ads in Iowa and New Hampshire starting next month.

It is the largest ad buy to date by the Haley campaign and dwarfs what the DeSantis campaign, as of now, plans to spend to run spots next month in the two crucial early voting states. However, much of the advertising on behalf of the Florida governor comes from the DeSantis-aligned super PAC Never Back Down, rather than the campaign.

When she was South Carolina governor, Haley named Scott, who had just been elected to a second term in the House, to the Senate in December 2012 to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Jim DeMint.

FIREWORKS AT LAST WEEK’S THIRD REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY DEBATE

Haley and Scott share many of the same political friends, allies and donors, which caused some friction as they both ran for the White House.

Dave Wilson, a veteran South Carolina-based Republican consultant, told Fox News that Scott’s departure from the race “gives a level of comfort to South Carolina voters to not have a split between hometown names. When you had Scott and Haley both on the ticket, there was a question for some voters as to which one you throw your support behind.”

Scott, as he ran for president, spotlighted his faith and was a strong supporter of a 15-week federal abortion ban. 

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Scott’s suspension of his campaign, along with former Vice President Mike Pence departing the race late last month, leaves social conservatives and evangelical voters without their two strongest champions, and such voters play an out-sized role in Republican presidential politics in both Iowa and South Carolina.

“Tim Scott and Mike Pence were surging resources in Iowa, looking to attract evangelical supporters, and unlike Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis is making headway with those voters,” DeSantis campaign communications director Andrew Romeo argued in a statement to Fox News.

Romeo emphasized that evangelical voters “will continue to see Ron DeSantis as the only true conservative in this race who will fight and win the big battles important to faith communities in the Hawkeye State.”

Schlinger told Fox News that Iowa evangelicals may be able “to find a good home with Ron DeSantis, or President Trump, or Nikki Haley.”

Wilson emphasized that if you’re “talking to evangelical voters, these campaigns have to figure out how they’re going to message to an audience that’s looking beyond headlines.”

Additionally, pointing to the Florida governor’s wife, Wilson argued that “in all reality, Casey DeSantis is probably the best voice that Ron DeSantis has when it comes to winning over the evangelical vote, because she can speak to that audience with true sincerity.”

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

“Squad” member Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is to face a rematch in the 2024 Democratic primary to keep her House seat against former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels. 

Samuels, who was narrowly defeated by Omar by just about 2 percentage points in the 2022 primary, announced Sunday that he will once again try to unseat the prominent House progressive. “Ilhan hasn’t helped herself,” Samuels said, after formally announcing his campaign on WCCO News Talk 830 Radio. “She has made missteps, even after the last race. There are some folks who are coming [to support me] because of what I am, who I am, and what I will do. And some are coming because of what she’s done and what she’ll do.”

Omar won re-election twice despite making comments in her first term that were widely criticized for invoking antisemitic tropes and suggesting Jewish Americans have divided loyalties. 

But Omar, a Somali American and Muslim, has come under renewed fire for condemning the Israeli government’s handling of its war against Hamas. 

“We have to remember that Israel is our ally,” Samuels said of the conflict on WCCO. “Hamas is in fact a terrorist organization. But our number one allies are justice and peace.” 

IRAQI-BORN MUSLIM REPUBLICAN RUNNING AGAINST OMAR CALLS OUT ‘HAMAS SQUAD’ AMID CRITICISM OF ISRAEL

“Our congresswoman has a predilection to divisiveness and conflict,” Samuels said of Omar in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of his official announcement Sunday. 

The Jamaican-born Samuels still maintains that his narrow primary loss in 2022 showed Omar was beatable, and that he could have won if they had competed later in the general election, where Omar won 74% of the vote over a little-known Republican in the staunchly blue district. 

The big issue in 2022 was the future of policing in Minneapolis, which descended into violent rioting and protest following the 2020 death of George Floyd in police custody. 

Omar was among the progressives who slammed former President Barack Obama for criticizing the “defund the police” movement as just a “snappy slogan.” “It’s not a slogan but a policy demand,” she posted on Twitter, now known as X.

ADL LEADER SAYS ‘SQUAD’ HAVE ‘MARGINALIZED THEMSELVES,’ LOST INFLUENCE WITH RADICAL POSITIONS ON ISRAEL

In contrast, the centrist Samuels helped lead the opposition that defeated a proposal on the city ballot in 2021 that arose from the “defund” movement and would have replaced the police force with a revamped public safety agency. Samuels thinks safety will be a top issue again.

“The long tails of the George Floyd and COVID issues continue, with empty storefronts and empty strip malls because people don’t want to invest anymore. They don’t think it’s safe,” Samuels said.

Omar issued a written statement Sunday touting her work in Congress and for her district, including fighting to combat climate change and codify abortion rights. She also noted her part in securing an affordable housing facility for veterans in Minnesota and a public safety measure that provides mental health support and services for victims of gun violence.

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“Right-wing donors have targeted me since I first entered public life,” Omar said in the statement, which also accused Samuels of taking hundreds of thousands in contributions from far-right donors and political action committees. “If we’re going to stop Donald Trump, we need record turnout, and I am confident in our ability to drive turnout, particularly in a presidential election year.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Maryanne Trump Barry, the older sister of former President Donald Trump, has died Monday at the age of 86, the New York City Police Department has confirmed to Fox News.

Barry was a former federal appellate judge who retired in April 2019, according to the New York Times.

In 2016, Trump called his sister a “highly respected judge” while noting they disagree on public policy issues.

Four years later, Trump dismissed secret audio recordings released of Barry saying he had “no principles” and was “cruel.”

TRUMP DISMISSES SECRET AUDIO OF SISTER CALLING HIM ‘CRUEL’: ‘WHO CARES?’

“Every day it’s something else, who cares?” Trump said in a statement at the time, according to the Washington Post.

The Post’s story about the recordings appeared one day after the White House hosted a private memorial service for Robert Trump, the president’s younger brother, who died Aug. 15, 2020, at age 71.

The recordings of Barry were made by Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, who published a scathing tell-all book on the president and their family.

“Donald is cruel,” Barry told her niece in the secretly recorded conversation in 2018.

TRUMP ATTORNEY SOUNDS ALARM ON NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL LETITIA JAMES AMID CIVIL FRAUD CASE

“All he wants to do is appeal to his base. He has no principles. None. None. And his base, I mean my God, if you were a religious person, you want to help people. Not do this,” she allegedly said in the recording published by the Post, referring to the Trump administrations’s so-called zero-tolerance policy at the U.S.-Mexico border that led to children being separated from their parents amid immigration court hearings. The policy was later rescinded.

During her legal career, Barry worked as a federal prosecutor before being nominated by then-President Ronald Reagan to the Federal District Court in New Jersey in 1983, the New York Times reports.

In 1999, then-President Bill Clinton appointed her to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the newspaper added.

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Shortly after Trump was sworn in as president in 2017, Barry then told that court she would stop hearing cases, according to the New York Times.

Fox News’ Brie Stimson contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE: Conservative firebrand and Republican Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake is offering a solution to her own party following its multiple election losses last week, telling Fox News Digital that success at the polls would come to the GOP in 2024 because its voters would “show up” to vote for one major name on the ballot.

“When we get President Trump on the ticket, we get some great people who are going to put the citizens of their states and the country first,” Lake said, just days removed from an election night that saw Republicans lose a gubernatorial race in deep-red Kentucky and Democrats winning total control of the Virginia state legislature.

“I have faith that in 2024, people are going to show up in such massive droves because things have gotten so bad. And when President Trump’s on the ticket, they’re going to show up. He brings people out, he brings enthusiasm,” she said.

KARI LAKE BUILDS MOMENTUM WITH MORE BIG-NAME BACKING IN RACE TO FLIP ARIZONA SENATE SEAT

Lake admitted more campaigning could have been done to boost the candidate’s in Tuesday’s election, but said Kentucky was always going to be a tough race for Republicans to flip considering only two GOP governors had been elected in the state over the past few decades. 

She also argued driving up voter enthusiasm in an off-election year was more difficult.

A number of Republicans attempted to blame former President Donald Trump for the losses, including his presidential primary opponent, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

SEN. JOE MANCHIN ANNOUNCES HE WILL NOT SEEK SENATE RE-ELECTION

“Trump endorsed candidate Daniel Cameron loses the Governor’s race in DEEP RED Kentucky. Another loss for Trump. The losing will only end for Republicans if we rid ourselves of Donald Trump. Trump—loser in ‘18, ‘20, ‘21, ‘22 and now ‘23,” Christie wrote on X.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, another Trump opponent, joined in during Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate, saying during his opening remarks, “[Trump] said Republicans were gonna get tired of winning — what we saw last night, I’m sick of Republicans losing.”

When asked about that blame being placed on Trump, Lake pointed to the re-election victory of GOP Gov. Tate Reeves in Mississippi, as well as that of Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, who flipped his state’s gubernatorial seat from Democrats in an election last month.

“He got very involved in those races, and so his endorsement means a lot,” she said.

ARKANSAS GOV SARAH SANDERS MAKES MAJOR ENDORSEMENT IN 2024 REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Lake, in turn, placed some blame for the Kentucky loss on the Republican Governors Association (RGA), who she said “could have done a lot more” to win. She also ripped Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who chairs the organization, for being distracted with her support for DeSantis’s presidential campaign.

“I think that was a misstep, frankly,” she said. 

Lake also responded to criticism that Republican abortion policy also contributed to the losses, including in Ohio where a ballot initiative asking voters if the “right” to an abortion should be enshrined in the state constitution was overwhelmingly approved.

“I’m a big believer that no matter what the abortion laws are, how many weeks, whatever it is, what we need to do as Republicans and, frankly, just as citizens, is figure out why women are choosing to have abortions,” she said.

VP HARRIS SAYS SHE AND BIDEN ‘OBVIOUSLY HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO’ TO WIN RE-ELECTION IN 2024

“Oftentimes it’s because they don’t feel they can afford their baby. And it’s tough in this economy. You know, people can’t even afford life on their own. And then you add a baby to the mix. And it’s a very scary prospect for women,” she added.

Lake argued that Republicans should focus instead on how to help women and families in those situations, and that it could be done through tax breaks and “baby bonuses.”

“I want to make sure that we’re helping women and really, truly give them choices so that they don’t make the tragic choice,” she said.

Lake went on to cite Hungary’s significant abortion rate drop, which fell 23% from 2010-2015, and continued falling thereafter, according to government statistics. The drop reportedly happened without any introduction of new abortion restrictions, and instead came alongside the introduction of “pro-family” government policies, that included defining life as beginning at conception and encouraging adoption. 

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“They cut abortions in half by empowering families, empowering women to be the parents that they could be. And I think that’s where we should be focused right now. We could cut abortions in half, and that would be absolutely wonderful to see all those beautiful babies and see all those wonderful parents who are happy that they made the choice to keep their children,” she said.

The race for Arizona Senate is expected to be one of the most closely watched in the 2024 election cycle. Lake’s only major opponent in the Republican primary is Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb.

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

Fox News’ Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.

South Carolina Senator Tim Scott announced on Sunday night that he is suspending his 2024 presidential campaign.

Scott dropped the news on an episode of Fox News’ “Sunday Night in America” with Trey Gowdy. 

“I think the voters who are the most remarkable people on the planet have been really clear that they’re telling me, ‘Not now, Tim,’” Scott said.

The senator also emphasized he has no plans to endorse another candidate in the Republican nomination race.

FACING NEGATIVE NARRATIVE, SCOTT TOUTS HE HAS MORE MONEY THAN ANY CANDIDATE IN THE RACE EXCEPT TRUMP

“The best way for me to be helpful is to not weigh in,” he said. 

And also gave a thumbs down to the idea that he could serve as the running mate on the Republican Party’s 2024 national ticket.

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“Being vice president has never been on my to-do list,” he said.

The news comes two weeks after former Vice President Mike Pence ended his bid for the White House.

The South Carolina Republican launched his campaign back in May. He has served as a U.S. senator since 2013.

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

Arizona resident Jacob Chansley, the Jan. 6, 2021 rioter dubbed the “QAnon Shaman” whose image was ubiquitous on televisions as he wore face paint with animal fur and horns, plans to run for Congress in 2024.

The 35-year-old filed a statement of interest last Thursday, which, according to the Associated Press, indicates Chansley wants to run as a Libertarian in next year’s election for the 8th Congressional District seat in Arizona.

Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., announced in October that she will not seek re-election to her seat, which the 64-year-old woman was first elected to in 2018. Her term will officially end in January 2025.

JAN. 6 RIOTER ‘QANON SHAMAN’ JACOB CHANSLEY SECURES EARLY RELEASE FROM PRISON TO HALFWAY HOUSE, LAWYER SAYS

Chansley, 35, is widely recognizable as the shirtless and face-painted man who, according to one federal judge, became the “very image” of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Numerous pictures and videos from the riot show Chansley carrying an American flag through the Capitol building as a mob of then-President Trump’s supporters engaged in violent confrontations with police outside. 

Footage from the Capitol showed Chansley being escorted around the building by Capitol Police officers. At one point, at least nine police officers were seen close to Chansley, and none of them slowed him down.

FORMER LAWYER FOR ‘QANON SHAMAN’ SAYS JAN. 6 FOOTAGE WASN’T SHOWN TO CLIENT, CALLS PRISON SENTENCE A ‘TRAGEDY’

After the riot, Chansley was arrested and charged in connection with the riot. He pleaded guilty to civil disorder and violent entry to the Capitol in September 2021. 

Chansley was sentenced to 41 months in prison in November 2021, and after serving about 27 months, was transferred to a Phoenix halfway house in March 2023.

In a lengthy speech at his sentencing hearing, Chansley said he was “wrong for entering the Capitol” and did not excuse his actions.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT APPEALS SENTENCES FOR PROUD BOYS ALREADY TO SERVE DECADE PLUS OVER JAN. 6 CAPITOL RIOT

“I am in no way, shape or form a violent criminal… no way a domestic terrorist,” Chansley said. “I’m a good man who broke the law. … I am truly repentant for my actions.”

He is among the more than 700 people sentenced in relation to Capitol riot-related federal crimes.

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Chansley previously called himself the “QAnon Shaman,” but has since disavowed the QAnon movement.

The Biden-Harris campaign’s communications director argued that “a brick wall of MAGA extremism” has contributed to Americans struggling financially and working multiple jobs to make ends meet.

“That’s precisely why we need another four years to continue to finish the job, right? I think it’s important, too, that the president, of course, wants to get all of this done. But we have to be honest about the brick wall of MAGA extremism that we continue to run into when we’re trying to get things done for the American people,” Biden campaign official Michael Tyler told CNN’s Victor Blackwell on “CNN This Morning Weekend” on Saturday.

Tyler was responding to a question about how President Biden has previously said Americans shouldn’t be forced to work two jobs in order to stay afloat and above the poverty line.

“The Labor Department numbers came out for the third quarter; nearly 8.4 million people in this country are working at least two jobs. That’s the highest number since 2019. So, when people are looking for that economic shift, they don’t feel it,” Blackwell said before pointing to a woman who is working three jobs to make ends meet.

BIDEN ADMIN CLAIMS ECONOMIC POLICIES ARE ‘WORKING,’ BUT ITS OWN DATA PAINT A VERY DIFFERENT PICTURE

Tyler argued that the Biden administration needs four more years in the White House in order to “get the work done” on the economy.

US HOUSEHOLD INCOME FELL IN 2022 FOR THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR, CENSUS DATA SHOWS

“Are we going to continue the work to build an economy that grows and the middle out and the bottom up? Or do we want to return to the failed trickle down economic policies that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans put into place for generations,” he said.

JEAN-PIERRE CONFRONTED WITH POLLS SHOWING ‘BIDENOMICS’ ISN’T POPULAR WITH AMERICANS

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“This is the work that we have to do over the next four years. The president understands the challenges. He understands people’s concerns, and he is doing the work to solve them. And so we have to make sure that everybody gets out and votes on November 2024, so we can get the work done,” he said. 

The Minnesota Supreme Court this week dismissed a lawsuit attempting to keep former President Trump off the ballot in the state, a decision that could impact efforts to prevent Trump from appearing on ballots in Colorado and Michigan. 

The lawsuits seek to use the Disqualifications Clause, or Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

That clause bars individuals who have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against America or who have aided those engaged in such activities from holding office.

The lawsuits cite Trump’s alleged involvement in the Capitol riot Jan. 6, 2021. 

CASES IN COLORADO, MINNESOTA SEEK TO STOP TRUMP FROM BECOMING PRESIDENT AGAIN

“There is no state statute that prohibits a major political party from placing on the presidential nomination primary ballot, or sending delegates to the national convention supporting, a candidate who is ineligible to hold office,” Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson ruled.

The ruling potentially leaves open the possibility Trump could be kept off the ballot during the general election next November. 

But Minnesota is not the only state that blocked challenges to Trump’s candidacy. 

Last month, a federal judge in New Hampshire also dismissed a lawsuit that sought to use the 14th Amendment to keep Trump off the ballot. 

A source familiar with the decisions and proceedings told Fox News Digital the challenges being rejected “sets precedent,” which will make it “harder and harder to keep Trump off the ballot” in other states. 

TRUMP CAMPAIGN SAYS 14TH AMENDMENT ADVOCATES USING ‘LAWFARE’ TO ‘DEPRIVE’ VOTERS OF CHOICE IN 2024

Currently pending is a decision out of a Colorado lawsuit. Watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and six Colorado voters filed their lawsuit in September to block Trump from appearing on the primary ballot, citing the 14th Amendment. 

The Trump team has made multiple motions to dismiss the case, but Judge Sarah B. Wallace has rejected them. 

Wallace has scheduled closing arguments for next week. 

It is unclear when the Colorado case will be decided, but the trial is running through an expedited process to give state election officials enough time to certify which candidates can appear on the primary ballots. 

Michigan is also considering a case on whether Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has the authority to block Trump’s name from appearing on the ballot. She does not believe that she has the power to use the 14th Amendment to keep Trump off the ballot. 

But while precedent could have been set with the Minnesota and New Hampshire decisions, Andy McCarthy, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a Fox News contributor, said it should not be interpreted as “bulletproof.” 

“It gets to the concept known in the law as persuasive authority. The law distinguishes between binding authority in a jurisdiction and persuasive authority, which means if you’re going to go against it, you better have a good reason or a persuasive argument for why you’re going to do it,” McCarthy said. 

“The more current law you get for the proposition that it is not a basis to remove someone, the harder it is for judges to break ground and go the other way, but we shouldn’t pretend that it is bulletproof.” 

McCarthy said “persuasive authority doesn’t have to be followed.” 

“I think, yes, the more precedent you get on the books that this is not an adequate way to go and that what we ought to do is let the public go to the polls on Election Day and decide the election — the more you have people saying that — the better it is,” McCarthy said. 

“But if it looks in September 2024 like Trump can win the election, I wouldn’t put anything past these guys. Anything.” 

Speaking to the theory being tested in Michigan that courts don’t need to be involved, and rather, an elected bureaucrat like the secretary of state or state attorney general can take a person off the ballot, McCarthy said he believed that was a “radical path.” 

“I think they’ll try to resist doing that because it’s pretty radical,” he said. “But desperate times call for desperate measures if it looks like he has the chance of winning.” 

But in terms of the law, McCarthy said he thinks the 14th Amendment argument is a “frivolous theory.” 

“In my mind, the 14th Amendment, Section 3, doesn’t even apply to the presidency because it itemizes the list of offices that people are not eligible for, and it doesn’t mention the president of the United States or the vice president of the United States, which is a strange omission because it does mention electors of the president and goes through pains of mentioning senators and members of the house,” McCarthy explained.

“The theory is that there is a catch-all provision that refers to any federal official, but I don’t think that can sensibly be applied to the president after you’ve gone through the trouble of listing all of these other offices.

“If the drafters of that amendment wanted to include the presidency, they would have said so.” 

The Trump campaign has told Fox News Digital it believes “there is no legal basis for this effort except in the minds of those who are pushing it.” 

“This is nothing more than a blatant attempt by enemies of America to create fake excuses and use lawfare to deprive voters of choosing their next president,” the Trump campaign spokesperson said. 

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Trump is the first former president in United States history to face criminal charges. 

Trump was indicted during special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into alleged interference in the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. He faces criminal charges in Georgia, New York and from Smith’s separate investigation into his alleged mishandling of classified documents.

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

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Republicans suffered election losses in several states Nov. 7, and one political strategist told Fox News Digital it shows the GOP is playing like a “JV team” that needs to make several key changes.

“When I was looking back at all of the election results, the first thing that I realized was that we had an absence of a cohesive, well-funded machine for conservatives in terms of our tactics,” said Ashley Hayek, executive director of America First Works, who served as the national coalitions director for Trump’s 2020 campaign.

“We are still very much lagging in mail votes and early votes, and I would say the conservative effort is more like the JV football team compared to an NFL team in terms of our ability to turn out voters early through mail and just really mobilize our ground game,” Hayek told Fox News Digital.

In Ohio, where voters approved a measure that enshrined abortion access into the state’s constitution, Hayek told Fox News Digital “Republicans just didn’t turn out” on that issue or the ballot measure that legalized recreational marijuana.

YOUNGKIN FALLS SHORT IN HIS MISSION TO WIN TOTAL GOP CONTROL OF VIRGINIA STATE LEGISLATURE

“I did hear back the day after the election that, in Ohio, mayors’ seats were picked up for Republicans,” Hayek, a political consultant for 15 years, said. “There were some county board seats that were flipped. Some school board seats were picked up. So, Republicans were actively choosing to not engage on those issues, whereas they were still voting in those smaller races.“

One of the things that struck Hayek as a misstep for Republicans in Kentucky was not focusing early and often enough on President Trump’s endorsement of Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who lost by five points in a state Trump carried by 26 points in 2020.

TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM ELECTION DAY 2023 AND WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT THE 2024 SHOWDOWNS

“What was interesting in the Kentucky governor’s race is the fact that the attorney general and the secretary of state — Republicans both won and they both received more votes than the Democrat governor,” Hayek said. 

“I think not having and not using Donald Trump’s endorsement earlier was a misstep and a missed opportunity. Not addressing some of the advertising that was taking place on abortion was also a missed opportunity to take that issue head on. So, the Kentucky race is actually a little bit unique in that there’s a lot of dynamics at play there.“

In Ohio, Virginia and Kentucky, Hayek said Republicans were massively outspent by their opposition, specifically on the abortion issue, which is a factor Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America Marjorie Dannenfelser raised in a memo after the election.

“In regards to spending in the state of Ohio, there was a combined $71.6 million in contributions, and the pro-life groups were outspent 2 to 1,” Hayek said. “If you look at Virginia, the amount of money that was spent on ads pertaining to abortion was also pretty astronomical in a lot of those races. 

“At the end of the day, I think conservatives are always going to be outspent, so it just means that we have to be a lot more strategic in how we spend money, how we target voters, how we message, and we need to be more unified.”

Republicans did score some notable victories in New York Tuesday night, a continuation of a red wave that has turned Long Island into a GOP bastion in recent years in a historically blue state. Hayek said it’s a blueprint that needs to be used in other areas.

“I think that goes to show that people are really sick and tired of the left’s policies and that there is an opportunity and a path forward,” Hayek said.  

“When you have a party that is completely annihilating the nuclear family, fighting to take away parents’ rights, increasing your taxes, making it hard to keep your job, wants to defund your police that keep your community safe, it makes a very easy way for people to come in and say, ‘You know what, that’s not right; that’s not what we’re going to do anymore,’ and start winning back those seats.”

Hayek told Fox News Digital Republicans have an opportunity to highlight President Biden’s record and ask voters if their lives are better today than four years ago. But they will need to try and match Democrats’ unity.

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“It doesn’t matter if it’s Black Lives Matter or Occupy Wall Street or abortion, the left will find an issue, they’ll hold onto it and that’s what they’ll use to drive the vote, period,” Hayek told Fox News Digital. 

“The difference between the left and the right is that the left has one message across the board. Conservatives are not really unified in a message, and I think we’re getting closer. But we’re not really there yet.“

The Republican National Committee (RNC) threatened to prevent GOP presidential candidates from taking part in future party-sanctioned debates if they engaged in an open-press event in Iowa next week, drawing backlash from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The threat came prior to an agreement that was announced Saturday between the RNC and organizers of the event to allow GOP candidates to participate.

Prior to the agreement over the format of the forum, in an Oct. 28 letter to the respective presidential campaigns the RNC Counsel’s Office said that any candidate who participates in the Nov. 17 Des Moines event would violate their pledge to not participate in non-RNC-sanctioned primary debates.

“It has come to the attention of the RNC Counsel’s Office that several Republican presidential candidates have been invited to participate in an open-press event in Iowa in November at which they would ‘gather around the table to have a moderated, friendly, and open discussion about the issues.’ In other words, a debate,” the RNC Counsel’s Office wrote in the letter, which was obtained by Fox News.

GOP DEBATE: HALEY TAKES INCOMING FIRE AS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES BATTLE FOR 2ND PLACE BEHIND TRUMP

“As a reminder, in accordance with RNC Rule 10(a)(11), each Republican presidential candidate participating in RNC-sanctioned primary debates has signed a pledge stating, in relevant part, that ‘if I participate in any debate that has not been sanctioned by the Republican National Committee, I will not be eligible to participate in any further Republican National Committee sanctioned debates,'” the counsel’s office added in the letter.

Should the candidate(s) choose to ignore the warning and participate in the event, or an event similar in nature, the counsel’s office said the candidate(s) said at the time that they “will be deemed to have violated this pledge and will be disqualified from taking part in any future RNC-sanctioned presidential primary debates.”

Five GOP candidates — former President Donald Trump, DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott — were invited to the Family Leader’s “Thanksgiving Family Forum.”

Organizers for the event told Fox News that three candidates — DeSantis, Ramaswamy, and Scott – have confirmed they will attend, with Haley expected to do the same.

The RNC’s former threat to bar Republican candidates from future debates if they take part in the event was met with frustration from DeSantis, who said he would participate in the event “no matter what.”

“I’m going to be there at The Family Leader. I think it’s an important part of this process,” DeSantis wrote in a post to X on Saturday. “There’s no way that should cause the RNC to penalize any candidate. I’ll be here no matter what happens.”

GOP DEBATE FIREWORKS: WHY VIVEK RAMASWAMY TOOK AIM AT RNC CHAIR RONNA MCDANIEL

Following the letter to Republican candidates, Family Leader President and CEO Bob Vander Plaats announced Saturday that he and the RNC had “agreed on the format” for the event.

“The Forum is NOT a debate,” he wrote in a post to X. “Thus, the RNC is giving a thumbs up for candidates to participate. Thanks to the RNC for facilitating a win/win for the process.”

Prior to announcing the agreement Saturday, Vander Plaats told the Des Moines Register that his organization would move forward with the planned event, saying “these forums are not debates.”

DeSantis also accused the RNC of doing Trump’s “bidding” by issuing the threat while speaking to reporters on Saturday, before the agreement was announced by Vander Plaats.

“Bob Vander Plaats is someone that’s been very outspoken, that Donald Trump is not the way forward for the party. And because of that, I think there’s been pressure from Trump’s camp on the RNC to try to do something to stop it,” DeSantis said. “But if I have an opportunity to speak to Iowans about issues that matter to them, I’m going to show up.”

DeSantis also questioned why the RNC would “be doing the bidding of somebody who not only didn’t show up to the last debate, but counter programed a rally.”

“I’ll be there one way or another, we’re going to be there spreading the message, answering the questions,” he added.

The event is set to feature presidential candidates sitting around a table to engage in conversation with Vander Plaats. In order to be invited to the forum, candidates needed to have an RCP polling average of 4.0 or more in either the national polls or the Iowa polls on November 1.

Vander Plaats is one of the major endorsements candidates are seeking. He’s expected to announce around Thanksgiving who he will support in the race.

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Vander Plaats endorsed the last three Republican winners of the Iowa caucuses — Mike Huckabee in 2008, Rick Santorum in 2012 and Ted Cruz in 2016 — but none went on to win the GOP nomination.

Fox News Digital reached out to the campaigns of Ramaswamy, Haley, and Scott for comment.

Fox News’ Jessica Loker and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

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

A top Republican wants to prohibit Harvard and other universities allowing ‘antisemitism’ to go unchecked on their campuses from collecting large sums of taxpayer money.

Harvard and other elite schools have faced scrutiny over rising antisemitic events unfolding on their campuses and their lackluster response to the incidents in the wake of Hamas’ bloody onslaught on Israelis and their subsequent counter-response.

House GOP conference chair Elise Stefanik, a Harvard graduate herself, is now calling for tightening the taxpayer valve on her alma mater and other higher educational institutions and said House Republicans intend to hold them accountable. 

ELITE AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES RECEIVING BILLIONS IN FEDERAL FUNDS SEE RISE IN ANTISEMITISM: ‘GAMED THE TAX CODE’

“It is abhorrent that Harvard and universities across America are enabling horrific antisemitism to run rampant on their campuses,” Stefanik told Fox News Digital. “U.S. taxpayer dollars should be prohibited from funding any institution that promotes antisemitism or anti-Israel bigotry, and House Republicans will hold these extremist institutions accountable for failing their students.”

Fox News Digital reported last week that Harvard, which has been under a microscope following the antisemitic events on its campus, has received billions of dollars in federal funds in recent years.

Between 2018 and 2022, Harvard amassed $3.13 billion in total federal payments, including federal grants and contracts, according to an analysis conducted by OpenTheBooks and provided to Fox News Digital. 

Harvard also acquired generous tax breaks on its endowment. During those same years, the school’s endowment totaled $50.9 billion, and it received $2.17 billion in special federal tax treatment. 

“Are these wealthy universities operating in the public interest or their own special interest? Since these schools are educational charities under IRS code 501(c)3, Congress should hold hearings,” OpenTheBooks founder Adam Andrzejewski said of the taxpayer money.

“Who knew that you were subsidizing the wealthy Ivy League? They don’t need taxpayer help,” Andrzejewski said.

UPENN NOTIFIES FBI OF ‘DISTURBING’ ANTISEMITIC EMAILS ‘THREATENING VIOLENCE’ AGAINST ITS JEWISH COMMUNITY

Stefanik has been outspoken against her alma mater since more than two dozen student groups at the university castigated Israel and supported Palestinians in Gaza shortly after Hamas’ attack on Israeli civilians. 

The Harvard student organizations‘ statement, released on the day of the Hamas attacks, said the events did not occur “in a vacuum.” The groups who signed the letter included the Harvard Islamic Society, the Harvard Jews for Liberation, the Society of Arab Students and the Harvard Divinity School Muslim Association.

“We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence,” the message said.

“For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison,” the statement said. “Israeli officials promise to ‘open the gates of hell,’ and the massacres in Gaza have already commenced. Palestinians in Gaza have no shelters for refuge and nowhere to escape. In the coming days, Palestinians will be forced to bear the full brunt of Israel’s violence.”

The statement also attacked Israel’s “apartheid regime” that they say forced Palestinians into “colonial retaliation.”

Shortly after the letter made rounds on social media, Stefanik took to X and called it “heinous” that Harvard student groups blamed Israel for “Hamas’ barbaric terrorist attacks.”

“Any voice that excuses the slaughter of innocent women and children has chosen the side of evil and terrorism,” Stefanik said.

UPENN DONOR YANKS FINANCIAL SUPPORT OVER SCHOOL’S ‘UNWILLINGNESS TO CALL OUT EVIL’ AFTER HAMAS ATTACK

Jewish students at the university have also reportedly faced “anti-Israel and antisemitic bias” from Harvard professor Marshall Ganz, the Boston Herald reported. 

These events and others prompted some of the university’s influential donors to end their relationships with the school. Due to the increasing incidents, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan withdrew his offer to participate in Harvard’s fellowship programs.

Meanwhile, students are planning to sue Harvard, among other universities, for not doing enough to address the “explosion” of antisemitic incidents on campus, Business Insider reported. 

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“We’re going to show that the universities had notice of acts of hatred and bigotry towards Jewish students, that there was pervasive anti-Jewish bigotry on campus and that administrators and university bureaucrats acted with deliberate indifference, which is the legal term, with respect to campus antisemitism,” lawyer Mark Ressler told the publication.

“Things are out of control on campus,” he said. 

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

Republicans are all but sure to pick up a new Senate seat in ruby-red West Virginia next year with Sen. Joe Manchin’s retirement ringing like a death knell for Democrats’ presence in state-wide offices there. 

Manchin’s Thursday announcement sent shock waves through Capitol Hill, but it is not the first time he has dealt a blow to his own party — particularly in recent years under President Biden. 

The conservative Democrat announced in December 2021 that he would not support Biden’s $2.2 trillion progressive Build Back Better package, effectively sinking the left-wing wish list. 

It invoked the ire of progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who attacked Manchin for forcing Democrats to decouple the package from a more moderate bipartisan infrastructure proposal. 

TOP DEM SENATOR PRESSES BIDEN ADMIN ON OIL DRILLING RESTRICTIONS

“When a handful of us in the House warned this would happen if Dem leaders gave Manchin everything he wanted 1st by moving [infrastructure] before BBB instead of passing together, many ridiculed our position. Maybe they’ll believe us next time. Or maybe people will just keep calling us naïve,” she wrote on X at the time. 

Manchin’s support for Biden’s policies plummeted over the course of his administration as well. A report from polling aggregation site FiveThirtyEight found that Manchin voted with Biden’s position roughly 21% of the time during this Congress.

MANCHIN TORCHES DEMOCRATS ON ENERGY POLICY

Republicans are now confident that Manchin has handed them a victory over Democrats with his announcement that he will not run again in 2024, in a state that overwhelmingly voted for former President Trump in both 2016 and 2020. 

National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chair Steve Daines, R-Mont., released a simple statement on the news, “We like our odds in West Virginia.”

“When a party committee puts out a one-sentence statement, they’re telling you very bluntly how they assess the situation,” GOP strategist Doug Heye told Fox News Digital on Friday. “Clearly, the NRSC believes [Manchin’s] retirement makes this a very, very safe seat for Republicans now.”

While it could very well help Democrats lose the Senate majority, Republicans now likely just need to flip one more vulnerable Democratic seat to win. Democrats have already lacked a reliable vote in Manchin on some of Biden’s more progressive nominees.

VP HARRIS SAYS SHE AND BIDEN ‘OBVIOUSLY HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO’ TO WIN RE-ELECTION IN 2024

This past May, Manchin vowed to oppose all of Biden’s nominees to the Environmental Protection Agency, citing the administration’s “commitment to their extreme ideology,” which he said “overshadows their responsibility to ensure long-lasting energy and economic security.”

He also derailed acting Labor Secretary Julie Su’s nomination to Biden’s Cabinet.

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What Manchin does next is not immediately clear, but he could further pose problems for the Democratic Party down the line — his pledge to “unite the middle” in his Thursday announcement raised eyebrows whether he will challenge Biden for the White House.

“I have made one of the toughest decisions of my life and decided that I will not be running for re-election to the United States Senate,” Manchin said. “But what I will be doing is traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together.”