NationalWatch

The Supreme Court on Friday set a Dec. 8 date to hear oral arguments in a case centered on President Donald Trump’s authority to fire heads of independent agencies without cause.

This closely watched court fight could overturn a longstanding court precedent and further expand executive branch powers. At issue is Trump’s attempted firing of Rebecca Slaughter, the lone Democrat on the Federal Trade Commission. Trump fired Slaughter and another Democratic member of the FTC in March, though that commissioner has since resigned. 

Slaughter sued earlier this year to block her removal, and a lower court judge ordered her temporarily reinstated to her role on the FTC while the case continued to play out on its merits.

The Trump administration appealed the case to the Supreme Court in September. The justices agreed to hear the case and stayed the lower court ruling that ordered her reinstated — allowing Trump, for now, to proceed with Slaughter’s removal from the FTC.

APPEALS COURT BLOCKS TRUMP FROM FIRING FEDERAL BOARD MEMBERS, TEES UP SUPREME COURT FIGHT

The court’s willingness to take up the case is seen by many as a sign that the justices plan to revisit the Supreme Court precedent in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States — a 1935 case in which justices unanimously blocked presidents from removing the heads of independent regulatory agencies without cause, and only in limited circumstances.

Justices signaled as much in their directions to lawyers for the Trump administration and Slaughter. 

They ordered both parties to address two key questions in their briefs: whether the removal protections for FTC members “violates the separation of powers and, if so, whether Humphrey’s Executor, should be overruled,” and whether a federal court may prevent a person’s removal from public office, “either through relief at equity or at law.”

Their review of the case also comes as justices have grappled with a flurry of lawsuits filed this year by other Trump-fired Democratic board members, including by National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member Gwynne Wilcox and Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) member Cathy Harris, two Democratic appointees who were abruptly terminated by the Trump administration this year. 

LAWYERS FOR COOK, DOJ TRADE BLOWS AT HIGH-STAKES CLASH OVER FED FIRING

The Supreme Court in May granted Trump’s request to remove both Wilcox and Harris from their respective boards while lower court challenges played out, though the high court did not invoke the Humphrey’s Executor precedent in the short, unsigned order.

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It also comes as the Supreme Court is slated to hear oral arguments in another key case centered on Trump’s attempt to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, with oral arguments set for January.

The court’s approach in the Slaughter case may signal how it will handle arguments in Trump’s attempt to oust Cook the following month.

An Ohio state legislator is looking to penalize sanctuary cities and push law enforcement to cooperate with federal authorities amid President Donald Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown.

Ohio state Rep. Josh Williams, a Republican running for U.S. House, is introducing the Protecting Ohio Communities Act, known as House Bill 26, which includes a 10% cut in funds from the state for areas deemed to be “sanctuary jurisdictions.”

“We’ve seen Columbus and Cleveland mayors come out and openly say they’re going to defy this legislation within their city limits because we have home rule authority here in the state of Ohio,” Williams told Fox News Digital.

TRUMP ADMIN BLOCKED FROM SLASHING FUNDING FROM DOZENS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS OVER ‘SANCTUARY’ POLICIES

Under Ohio’s constitution, home rule authority gives municipalities the “authority to exercise all powers of local self-government and to adopt and enforce within their limits such local police, sanitary and other similar regulations, as are not in conflict with general laws.”

“If you want to have these sanctuary policies, we’re going to defund you,” he added.

Williams said he hopes the Trump administration will follow suit and apply “conditional funding to our states who are refusing to cooperate and even sometimes obstructing our enforcement efforts.”

In the Midwest, one governor in particular has gone toe-to-toe with Trump on immigration enforcement: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. Williams accused Pritzker of acting out of anger over Trump’s re-election, and he said it was important for states to back federal policies that Americans voted for.

“The majority of the voters, through a popular vote, elected Donald Trump, and he campaigned on the idea of undergoing the largest immigration enforcement in our nation’s history to remove the millions of illegal immigrants that came across the border during the Biden administration. And we need to support him at every single level to make that happen,” Williams told Fox News Digital.

REPUBLICAN BILL WOULD PUT ‘ANARCHIST JURISDICTIONS’ ON NOTICE, THREATEN FEDERAL FUNDING

Williams also slammed Pritzker and Democratic governors like him for “defying and obstructing federal enforcement efforts” in their states.

“Unfortunately, we have out of touch liberals that are able to afford to live in communities [where] they can avoid the chaos that their policies are creating,” Williams told Fox News Digital. “But the average working family in America can’t afford that.”

Williams, whose hometown is Toledo, cited his own experience living in a poor community and what it means to rely on law enforcement for safety and security.

“When I called 911, I expected law enforcement to respond,” he said. Williams added that law enforcement needs to be able to rely on local partners and know that their counterparts won’t “leave them hanging” because they’re working to enforce federal immigration policies.

The Protecting Ohio Communities Act has a long way to go before it becomes state law. The Ohio legislature’s website shows the bill is in House committee as of Oct. 16.

TOM HOMAN PUTS SANCTUARY CITIES ‘ON NOTICE’ AS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CRACKS DOWN ON IMMIGRATION

Williams said he believes Ohio has become the “epicenter of national politics,” making it a crucial piece of the Trump administration’s work to crack down on illegal immigration.

“We do have a Buckeye in the White House,” Williams said, referring to Vice President JD Vance, an Ohio native who represented the state in the U.S. Senate before being tapped as Trump’s running mate.

“I think you’re gonna continue to see Ohio be a spotlight for change here for the nation,” he added.

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Williams is looking to take his fight against sanctuary cities beyond Ohio as he campaigns for Congress. Cracking down on illegal immigration is a major part of his U.S. House campaign platform. Williams’ campaign website lists his priorities as defunding sanctuary cities and states, finishing the border wall, deporting criminal illegal immigrants and supporting law enforcement’s immigration efforts.

“It’s critical we empower our brave law enforcement officers to enforce the laws already on the books as well as give them the resources and authority they need to keep our nation safe,” Williams’ campaign website reads.

FIRST ON FOX: The White House railed against the “Democrat shutdown” for “jeopardizing national security” because 80% of the federal agency charged with protecting the U.S. nuclear stockpile will be furloughed in the coming days, the administration told Fox News Digital. 

“The Democrat shutdown is now jeopardizing our national security,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital Friday afternoon. “By refusing to pass the clean, bipartisan funding extension, the Democrats are causing funds to run out for critical programs, resulting in furloughs of personnel at the National Nuclear Security Administration who manage our nuclear stockpile.

“This is reckless and could be completely avoided if the Democrats simply voted to reopen the government and stopped holding the American people hostage.”

WHITE HOUSE SAYS FEDERAL LAYOFFS COULD HIT ‘THOUSANDS’ AHEAD OF TRUMP, VOUGHT MEETING

An administration official confirmed to Fox Digital that 80% of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s staff will be furloughed because available funds will soon be expended. 

The National Nuclear Security Administration operates within the U.S. Department of Energy, maintains the nation’s nuclear stockpile and works to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons in foreign nations. 

The agency will next enter minimum safe operations, meaning remaining employees will focus on maintaining physical security, cybersecurity, nuclear safety and emergency management, according to an administration official. 

KAROLINE LEAVITT WARNS DEMOCRATS FACE ‘VERY REAL’ CONSEQUENCES IF SHUTDOWN STANDOFF DRAGS ON

“We have not furloughed anyone yet, but we will be out of funds by tomorrow or early next week,” Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Bloomberg News Friday of the upcoming furloughs. “So, we will be forced to do that if this shutdown continues.

“We’ve been paying them to date, but, starting tomorrow, Monday at the latest, we’re not going to be able to pay those workers. If that continues on for long, they may get other jobs,” Wright told Bloomberg, putting “the sovereignty of the country,” at stake.

HERE’S WHAT TRUMP WANTS TO DO TO RESHAPE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DURING THE SHUTDOWN

The administration official told Fox News Digital at there will be significant impacts on the agency’s nuclear deterrence mission as various offices shutter during the shutdown, and consequences of the shutdown are expected to last beyond the eventual reopening of the government. 

“As our adversaries build more silos and weapons, we will be turning off the lights,” the administration official said. 

Republican lawmakers also have sounded off on the upcoming furloughs, including Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers during a House news conference on Friday. 

“We were just informed last night the National Nuclear Security Administration, the group that handles the nuclear stockpile, that the carryover funding they’ve been using is about to run out,” he said. “These are not employees that you want to go home. They are managing and handling a very important strategic asset for us. They need to be at work and being paid.” 

The U.S. government has been in the midst of an ongoing shutdown since Oct. 1, when Senate lawmakers failed to pass funding legislation for 2026.

The Trump administration and Republicans have since pinned blame for the shutdown on Democrats, claiming they sought taxpayer-funded medical benefits for illegal immigrants. Democrats have denied they want to fund healthcare for illegal immigrants and instead have blamed Republicans for the shutdown.

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“Every day that Republicans refuse to negotiate to end this shutdown, the worse it gets for Americans — and the clearer it becomes who’s fighting for them,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told Fox Digital earlier in October of the shutdown. 

“Each day our case to fix healthcare and end this shutdown gets better and better, stronger and stronger because families are opening their letters showing how high their premiums will climb if Republicans get their way.” 

Comments by Senate leadership have renewed expectations among lawmakers that the chamber will soon entertain sanctions on Russia — even as questions remain about whether President Donald Trump would support them.  

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters on Thursday that he thought the Senate could consider sanctions introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., “in the next 30 days.” 

Trump, in contrast, told reporters on Thursday that “it may not be perfect timing” to impose sanctions on Russia.

The sanctions, which have been in the works for months, may have newfound momentum in Congress amid the Trump administration’s increased support for Ukraine in recent weeks — and as Zelenskyy returned to the U.S. this week to press his case for a more aggressive stance against Moscow. 

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle believe the sanctions bill is ripe for consideration. Senators like Blumenthal said those sanctions could be a missing component to ending the three-year conflict that has so far frustrated attempts at meaningful resolution.

“Leader Thune is right. It’s time to bring the Graham-Blumenthal Russian Sanctions bill to the floor,” Blumenthal told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

“Passing it would show unity across our government in support of confronting Putin’s bloody atrocities against Ukraine. A vote on our bone-crushing sanctions bill within the next 30 days is imperative to bring Putin’s war machine to a grinding halt,” Blumenthal added. 

In its current form, the measure would allow the President of the United States enhanced powers to block energy sales, block visas, halt investment listings, impose tariffs of up to 500%, and more — if the president determines that Russia isn’t engaging in good-faith efforts to end the war.

The bill creates some exceptions for humanitarian reasons.

Despite Trump’s hesitations on Thursday, he’s signaled openness to sanctions before. Graham, the sponsor of the legislation, said it equips the president with an expanded negotiating arsenal.

“Yeah, I hope so. It’s a tool available for the president,” Graham said of the legislation, “It empowers him. It’s up to him how to use it.”

SENATE SIGNALS READINESS TO HIT RUSSIA WITH HARD SANCTIONS IF PEACE DEAL FAILS

In addition to its 84 cosponsors in the Senate, the bill has 113 cosponsors in the House of Representatives.

Despite its broad support, Thune warned there are still aspects of the legislation that need to be addressed before it can be put to a vote.

“There are technical issues that are being worked out between the White House and Senator Graham, obviously, who’s the lead sponsor of the bill,” Thune told reporters on Thursday.

He didn’t expand on what areas might need a second look.

Thune added that to put the kind of pressure on Putin that lawmakers have in mind, the bill would also need the support of the international community. 

“We also need to have it amplified by the Europeans. And that’s one of the things the administration is working on. It doesn’t do any good to have the United States unilaterally going to all these countries and sanctioning them, and then having the Europeans buying energy from them,” Thune said.

EU PREPARING 19TH ROUND OF RUSSIA SANCTIONS AS ZELENSKYY MEETS TRUMP

Renewed expectations about the bill come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the White House on Friday, making the case that additional striking capabilities are needed to bring Putin to the negotiating table.

DEMOCRATS DOUBTED TRUMP WOULD SECURE UKRAINE CEASE-FIRE IN ALASKA SUMMIT WITH PUTIN

Its sponsor in the House, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., called the bill another way to ramp up the pressure to negotiate. 

“There are moments in history when hesitation carries a cost too great to bear. This is one of them. Bipartisan support for this bill is overwhelming, and every day of delay is a gift to Putin.”

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“We must give the president every tool to end this war and secure peace through strength. That’s how America leads. That’s how freedom prevails. I’m grateful to Leader Thune for recognizing the urgency of this moment, and I encourage Speaker Johnson to continue his leadership on this issue by scheduling a vote as soon as possible,” Fitzpatrick said.

The Senate has recessed for the weekend and will return to Washington, D.C., on Monday.

FIRST ON FOX: The Trump Department of Homeland Security is criticizing a Democratic judge for taking “activism to a whole new level” by harboring an illegal gang member who just pled guilty to illegally possessing firearms and destroying evidence.

Federal authorities arrested Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, a Venezuelan national who illegally entered the country in 2023 during the Biden administration, in February at the home of former Dona Ana County Magistrate Judge Jose Luis “Joel” Cano, 67, and his wife Nancy Ann Cano, 68.

Based on his tattoos and social media activity showing firearms as well as distinctive hand signs and clothing, the Justice Department believes Ortega-Lopez is a member of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan transnational criminal group recently designated a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump administration.

This month, Ortega-Lopez pled guilty to illegally possessing firearms and conspiracy to destroy evidence.

DHS FLIPS SCRIPT ON MEDIA NARRATIVE WITH NEW DETAILS ABOUT ILLEGAL TEEN ARRESTED BY ICE: ‘SAFETY THREAT’

Commenting on the plea, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the judge’s action is part of a wider pattern of “sanctuary politicians” subverting U.S. law to harbor criminal illegal immigrants.

“Time and time again, we see sanctuary politicians and activist judges like Jose Cano shield criminal illegal aliens – in this case, a suspected GANG MEMBER, from arrest and removal from the country,” McLaughlin wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital.

She added that “Judge Cano, a magistrate judge, takes activist judge to a whole new level—having this criminal illegal alien live in his home with him.”

“Ortega-Lopez, a suspected Tren de Aragua gang member who pled guilty to illegally possessing firearms and conspiracy to destroy evidence, should never have been released into the country by the Biden Administration,” she said.

“This disgusting behavior is wildly unacceptable and is no longer tolerated under the Trump Administration. We are putting the safety of the American people first.”

TRUMP’S WAR ON CARTELS ENTERS NEW PHASE AS EXPERTS PREDICT WHAT’S NEXT

A senior DHS official also told Fox News Digital that the agency “will not let the Democrats’ government shutdown prevent our law enforcement officers from executing the critical mission of securing our nation from the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens.”

Federal agents received a tip in January that Ortega-Lopez was living with other illegal immigrants on a property belonging to Cano, who was still a judge at the time, and his wife.

Authorities seized four guns during a Feb. 28 search of the property.

The four guns, along with three cellphones belonging to Ortega-Lopez, were seized, and he was arrested. During the search, Ortega-Lopez was allowed to make a phone call before being taken to the Doña Ana County Detention Center (DACDC).

He told the agents that the phone he wanted to use was not among the devices recovered. Video calls from DACDC later showed Nancy Cano holding a black iPhone believed to be Ortega’s fourth phone, prosecutors said.

‘LIVING LABORATORY’: TRUMP ADMIN URGED TO LOOK TO SOUTH AMERICA FOR LESSONS ON FIGHTING MIGRANT GANGS

During a March 7 call with Ortega-Lopez, Nancy Cano allegedly used the device to contact someone named “Michelle” via WhatsApp before facilitating a FaceTime call between Michelle and Ortega-Lopez using her personal phone.

In an April 20 call, Nancy Cano and Ortega-Lopez discussed deleting his Facebook account, which he allegedly used to share incriminating content, including gang affiliations and images with guns.

On April 24, federal agents searched the Cano home to locate Ortega-Lopez’s missing phone. During questioning, Judge Cano admitted smashing the device with a hammer five weeks earlier because he believed it contained incriminating photos and videos of Ortega-Lopez with guns and throwing it into a dumpster, according to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

APPEALS COURT BLOCKS TRUMP FROM DEPORTING MEMBERS OF TREN DE ARAGUA GANG

A forensic analysis of the recovered phones revealed messages linked to Ortega’s alleged criminal activities, including links with the Tren de Aragua gang and images of him with guns, authorities said.

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Judge Cano resigned his position in March, and he and his wife were arrested on April 24. They were released on $10,000 bonds and are facing up to 15 years in prison each for evidence tampering and conspiracy to tamper with evidence.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Canos’ attorney for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social Friday that he commuted the sentence of disgraced former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., after several campaign finance violations.

“George Santos was somewhat of a ‘rogue,’ but there are many rogues throughout our Country that aren’t forced to serve seven years in prison,” Trump wrote. 

FORMER CONGRESSMAN GEORGE SANTOS DELIVERS ‘GLAMOROUS’ FAREWELL BEFORE GOING TO PRISON: ‘THE CURTAIN FALLS’

“I started to think about George when the subject of Democrat Senator Richard “Da Nang Dick” Blumenthal came up again…. This is far worse than what George Santos did, and at least Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!” President Trump added.

“George has been in solitary confinement for long stretches of time and, by all accounts, has been horribly mistreated. Therefore, I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY.”

Santos had reported to serve his sentence in federal prison at the end of July earlier this year, with a theatrical X post in which he wrote, “Well, darlings… The curtain falls, the spotlight dims, and the rhinestones are packed.”

The former representative pleaded guilty in 2024 to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

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“Good luck George, have a great life!” the President concluded.

This is a developing story, check back later for updates.

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…

-FBI arrests alleged pro-Hamas Oct. 7 attacker living in Louisiana

-Millions expected to flood streets at ‘No Kings’ protests targeting Trump across all 50 states

–Thune slams Schumer’s ‘kingmaker’ politics, refuses to ‘kiss the ring’ in shutdown talks

Bolton pleads not guilty

Former White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pleaded not guilty Friday to all 18 counts related to the improper handling of classified materials after surrendering to federal authorities in Maryland.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Sullivan explained the charges to Bolton and asked if he understood them and the potential penalties of up to 10 years per count and a maximum fine of $250,000 per count. 

“I do your honor,” Bolton said during his arraignment at the federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Md…Read more

White House

RATE AND SEE: Fed’s Miran downplays impact of Trump’s tariffs on growth, inflation

F-BOMB: Trump says Venezuela’s Maduro doesn’t want to ‘f*** around’ with the US

‘BAD BLOOD’: Trump says ‘tremendous bad blood’ between Zelenskyy, Putin delaying peace deal despite Middle East momentum

BLUE SLIP BLUES: Trump rips ‘stupid and outdated’ Senate tradition blocking US attorney nominees

World Stage

WEAPONS SWAP DEAL: Zelenskyy pitches Trump on Ukraine drone-for-Tomahawk missile exchange as president weighs escalation concerns

Capitol Hill

TRUMP CARD: EXCLUSIVE: Karoline Leavitt slams Hakeem Jeffries as ‘stone-cold loser’ after he attacks her as ‘demented’

DIGITAL DAMAGE: Deleted posts urging violence haunt Democratic Senate hopeful in Maine race

RIGHTS IN LIMBO: Government shutdown is putting gun owners rights at risk, House Republicans warn

Across America 

AG SPEAKS OUT: Jason Miyares touts record on crime, fentanyl as Jones scandal roils Virginia race

SENATE SABOTAGE: Trump’s US attorneys in blue states face legal challenges that could upend key prosecutions

SPACE RACE REDUX: Musk ally Jared Isaacman makes comeback bid for NASA administrator role after May withdrawal: report

VIOLENCE EXPOSED: Lawyers guild’s alleged ties to Antifa spark call for DOJ probe

NO ‘CHAOS’ ALLOWED: Abbott orders Texas National Guard to Austin in advance of ‘Antifa-linked protest’

FOLLOW THE MONEY: Soros foundation helping fund anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ protests nationwide

MILLIONS EXPECTED: ‘No Kings’ movement and what it wants: Inside the message driving Saturday’s nationwide protests

POLITICAL VIOLENCE: Democrats’ ‘unity’ dinner draws backlash over anti-Trump ‘86 47’ sign linking MAGA to Nazis

RULES FOR ME: Hochul’s office silent when pressed if she sticks by ‘no one is above the law’ belief amid AG’s indictment

TRUST DEFICIT: Mamdani ripped by rivals for unpopular stance during fiery NYC debate

YOUR HONOR: Who is Judge Chuang, the Obama appointee assigned to John Bolton’s case?

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

NEW YORK, N.Y. – New York City socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani sparked a political firestorm on Thursday night when he declined to endorse Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul on a debate stage despite her previously endorsing him. 

“It’s a decision that should be made after this general election,” Mamdani said during a debate with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa when candidates were asked to raise their hand if they supported the governor.

“So my focus is on November,” Mamdani told reporters on Friday when asked about his non-endorsement.

“I am less than three weeks away from the election that we have been building this campaign towards for more than a year, and that’s why I haven’t made any endorsements beyond November.”

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

The comment from Mamdani came as a surprise to some given the fact that Hochul endorsed Mamdani last month after facing pressure from many within her party to get on board with the leading candidate in the New York City mayoral race.

“New York City deserves a mayor who will stand up to Donald Trump and make life more affordable for New Yorkers,” Hochul said during her endorsement announcement. “That’s @ZohranKMamdani.”

Mamdani’s comment on the debate stage drew a strong rebuke from the Republican running against Hochul along with many who chimed in on social media suggesting that Hochul made a miscalculation endorsing Mamdani.

“Degrading and humiliating,” GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik, widely expected to run against Hochul for governor, said about Mamdani’s decision not to publicly endorse Hochul. 

NYC COUNCILWOMAN WHO GREW UP UNDER COMMUNISM SOUNDS ALARM ON KEY MAMDANI POSITIONS: ‘DANGEROUS SITUATION’

“Jihadist and terrorist sympathizer Commie Mamdani’s team threatened @kathyhochul with a primary if she didn’t bend the knee and endorse him,” Stefanik continued. “Hochul quickly caved, and now wears his Defund the Police, Antisemitic, Communist platform.”

“New Yorkers know how politically weak Hochul is. Mamdani confirmed it last night by refusing to endorse her,” Stefanik added.

In a press release, Stefanik referred to Hochul as the “biggest loser” in the debate, given that none of the three candidates said they support her. 

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“Zohran Mamdani REFUSES to endorse Kathy Hochul for reelection even after she endorsed him,” a Republican National Committee account posted on X, along with a clown emoji. 

“LMAO,” GOP Congressman Mike Lawler posted on X. “No one believes @GovKathyHochul should be reelected.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Hochul’s campaign for comment.

Former President Barack Obama officially endorsed both Democrat candidates running in the only pair of gubernatorial elections this cycle, following the tradition of the former president holding his endorsement cards close to his chest in the lead-up to elections.

“Mikie’s integrity, grit, and commitment to service are what we need right now in our leaders,” Obama said in a video endorsement ad released Friday by Democratic New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s gubernatorial campaign. “Mikie Sherrill is the right choice for your next governor.” 

“Mikie is a mom who will drive down costs for New Jersey families,” Obama continued in the ad. “As a federal prosecutor and former Navy helicopter pilot, she worked to keep our communities safe.” 

New Jersey and Virginia are the only states holding gubernatorial elections in 2025’s off-season election year, with Sherrill and former Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger as the only Democrats in the running. 

OBAMA ENDORSES SPANBERGER, ATTACKS REPUBLICANS IN VIRGINIA GOVERNOR’S RACE ADS

Obama endorsed Spanberger Thursday, in a pair of ads that also took aim at Republicans for “attacking abortion rights.” 

“Virginia’s elections are some of the most important in the country this year. We know Republicans will keep attacking abortion rights and the rights of women. That’s why having the right governor matters, and I’m proud to endorse Abigail Spanberger,” Obama said in an ad endorsing the Virginia Democrat. 

“Republican policies are raising costs on working families so (that) billionaires can get massive tax cuts,” he said in another ad endorsing Spanberger. 

Following Obama’s endorsement of Spanberger, the Republican challenger in the race, current Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears’ campaign told Fox Digital Thursday, “Abigail Spanberger is scared, and it shows.”

THE ONLY GOP GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATES RUNNING IN 2025 ELECTIONS LEAN INTO TRUMP’S MAGA CAMPAIGN TACTICS

“After losing support across Virginia, she’s leaning on liberal elites to try and save her collapsing campaign,” Earle-Sears’ press secretary Peyton Vogel said. “This is a desperate play from a candidate who’s run out of support, out of ideas, and out of time. Voters see through it, and that’s why Winsome Earle-Sears is surging.” 

New Jersey Republican Jack Ciattarelli’s campaign also blasted the Obama endorsement in a comment to Fox News Digital Friday. 

“If anything underscores the lack of enthusiasm around Mikie Sherrill’s arrogant, out-of-touch campaign, it’s that she thinks that endorsements by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton actually matter to middle and working class New Jerseyans who have been kicked in the teeth by 8 years of one-party Democrat rule making our state more expensive and less safe,” Ciattarelli campaign strategist Chris Russell told Fox News Digital. “Spoiler alert: they don’t. If anything, it energizes our voters even more.” 

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has joined fundraising events for both Democratic gubernatorial candidates in October. 

Since leaving the Oval Office, Obama typically has held his endorsement card close to his chest.

He endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in June 2016, following months of signaling support for Clinton without formally offering his endorsement.

THE ONLY TWO DEMS RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR IN 2025 ARE FORMER ROOMMATES WITH MIRRORING POLITICAL CAREERS

Obama remained coy during the 2020 election about whom he would endorse, saying he would not back anyone during the primary. As Democratic contenders such as former Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race, Obama officially endorsed his former vice president, Joe Biden, after he became the party’s presumptive nominee. 

Obama notably got more involved with the 2020 Biden campaign in its final weeks, holding his first in-person event amid the pandemic in Pennsylvania just days before the election. 

The 44th president called on Democrats to “chill out” during the 2020 primary season and wait to see which candidate would emerge successful in the primary process. 

“There will be differences, but I want us to make sure that we keep in mind that relative to the ultimate goal, which is to defeat a president and a party that has, I think, taken a sharp turn away from a lot of the core traditions and values and institutional commitments that built this country,” Obama said in 2019 at a Democrat fundraiser in California. “Compared to that goal, the differences we’re having right now are relatively minor.”

“Everybody needs to chill out about the candidates,” he added, “but gin up about the prospect of rallying behind whoever emerges from this process.”

OBAMA, PELOSI, OTHER TOP DEMS RESISTED INSTANT HARRIS ENDORSEMENT CITING NEED TO ‘EARN IT,’ ‘HIKING’ EXCUSE

During the unprecedented 2024 election cycle, Obama did not offer a formal, new endorsement of Biden’s re-election run, but did join him for campaign events. Biden ultimately dropped out of the race as concerns over his mental acuity and age mounted, with Obama again staying mum for days whether he would endorse then-Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s nominee. 

Biden dropped out of the race July 21, 2024, and endorsed Harris to run in his place that same day in a separate social media post. Obama, as well as former first lady Michelle Obama, endorsed Harris in a video message July 26, 2024, as party members and political pundits awaited the Obamas’ support with bated breath.

TRUMP NOT ON BALLOT, BUT PRESIDENT FRONT AND CENTER IN 2025 ELECTIONS

Harris published a memoir, “107 Days,” in September that detailed her short 2024 campaign cycle, including noting in her book that Obama did not offer an immediate endorsement, instead advising that she has to “earn” the nomination and consider the “timing” of it. 

“Saddle up! Joe did what I hoped he would do. But you have to earn it,” Obama said when Harris spoke to him, according to the book. “Michelle and I are supportive but not going to put a finger on the scale right now. Let Joe have his moment. Think through timing.” 

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Obama also endorsed former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s failed 2021 re-election campaign at the end of October 2024, as that election began losing ground to Republican Glenn Youngkin as education issues took center stage.

The 2025 gubernatorial elections have teed up the two Democrats as potential leaders of the party if they prove fruitful in their races, following the Democrat Party’s disarray from the losses at the 2024 ballot boxes that handed President Donald Trump a victory. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Obama’s office for additional comment on the gubernatorial endorsements Friday but did not immediately receive a reply. 

President Donald Trump confirmed reports that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro offered to grant the U.S. access to Venezuelan oil and other natural resources, as tensions heat up between the U.S. and Venezuela amid Trump’s crusade against drugs. 

Trump said that Maduro put forth the proposal because the Venezuelan leader doesn’t want to mess with the U.S. 

“You’re right. You know why? Because he doesn’t want to f*** around with the United States,” Trump told reporters Friday during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

The New York Times reported on Oct. 10 that Maduro proposed offering current and future oil and gold projects in Venezuela to U.S. companies, and stipulated U.S. businesses would be granted “preferential” contracts. Likewise, the Times reported that other conditions Maduro put forth included cutting down on energy and mining contracts with U.S. adversaries — including China, Iran and Russia. 

However, the Trump administration wrote off the offer, and instead, said it was no longer interested in engaging in diplomatic efforts, according to the Times. 

This is a breaking news story and will be updated. 

President Donald Trump said Friday that “tremendous bad blood” between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin is delaying a peace deal in Ukraine despite the administration’s recent victory in calming tensions in Gaza.

“They have tremendous bad blood. It’s really is what is holding up I think a settlement. I think we are going to get it done,” Trump said Friday.

“We need Tomahawks, and we need a lot of other things that we’ve been sending over the last four years to Ukraine,” the president added.

Trump and Zelenskyy’s meeting, which was announced earlier this week, unfolded a day after Trump held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

TRUMP, PUTIN PLAN HUNGARY MEETING ON UKRAINE WAR

Zelenskyy has made clear his chief aim is to secure better defenses for Ukraine amid Russia’s constant aerial bombardments of civilian targets like cities, energy infrastructure and hospitals, and his big-ticket item is the American Tomahawk missile. 

With the capability of hitting beyond even Moscow, the sophisticated high-precision long-range cruise missile could increase Ukraine’s ability to strike further into Russia and better target not only its military complex, but its oil industry, which has largely funded Putin’s war chest.  

Following his call with Putin on Thursday, Trump said “great progress” was made, but he did not provide any specifics on how progress was achieved, though the pair agreed to once again meet in person, this time in Hungary. 

Though Trump said the pair discussed U.S.-Russia trade, he did not say whether U.S. aid to Ukraine was discussed, which appeared to be the impetus for the call earlier this week when he told reporters he “might have to speak” with Putin regarding whether he wanted U.S. Tomahawks near his borders, in what appeared to be an implied threat.  

COULD TRUMP’S GAZA CEASEFIRE PLAN OFFER A BLUEPRINT FOR PEACE IN UKRAINE?

But neither Tomahawks nor defensive aid were mentioned in the president’s account of the talks.  

Though, according to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, the issue was discussed and opposed by Putin.  

“Vladimir Putin reiterated his thesis that Tomahawks won’t change the situation on the battlefield, but they will cause significant damage to relations between our countries. Not to mention the prospects for a peaceful settlement,” he told reporters following the call, according to Reuters. 

Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X on Thursday that, “Nothing has changed for Russia – it is still terrorizing life in Ukraine.”

“Therefore, every air defense system for Ukraine matters – it saves lives. Every decision that can strengthen us brings the end of the war closer,” he added.

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Zelenskyy’s visit to the White House Friday was his third this year. In his first visit in February, Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Zelenskyy sparred during their meeting.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

EXCLUSIVE: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is hitting back at House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., after he called her “sick” among other attacks on Friday morning.

“Hakeem and Democrats are lashing out because they know what I said is true,” Leavitt told Fox News Digital. “The Democrat Party’s elected officials absolutely cater to pro-Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens and violent criminals. House Democrats voted against a resolution condemning Hamas following the horrific October 7th terrorist attacks, and Democrats cheered on pro-Hamas radicals while they hijacked America’s college campuses and harassed Jewish students.”

“Democrats opened our borders and allowed tens of millions of illegal aliens into our country over the past four years, including rapists and murderers, because they view them as future voters,” she continued. “Democrats coddle violent criminals and support soft-on-crime policies like cashless bail that let violent offenders back on the streets to hurt law-abiding citizens.”

She then went after Jeffries directly while criticizing Democrats as a whole for blocking the GOP’s federal funding bill.

SCREAMING MATCH ERUPTS BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES, MIKE LAWLER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES

“Democrats do NOT serve the interests of the American people. Hakeem Jeffries is an America Last, stone-cold loser. Now open up the government and stop simping to try to get your radical left-wing base to like you,” Leavitt said.

Fox News Digital reached out to Jeffries’ office for a response.

Earlier Friday, Jeffries criticized Republicans as a whole for their attacks against Democrats, before he turned the focus to Leavitt specifically during a press conference.

“You’ve got Karoline Leavitt, who’s sick. She’s out of control,” Jeffries said. “And I’m not sure whether she’s just demented, ignorant, a stone-cold liar or all of the above.”

AOC DROPS THOUSANDS ON LUXURY HOTELS WHILE ‘FIGHTING OLIGARCHY’ WITH SANDERS, FILINGS REVEAL

He added, “But the notion that an official White House spokesperson would say that the Democratic Party consists of terrorists, violent criminals and undocumented immigrants makes no sense, that this is what the American people are getting from the Trump administration in the middle of a shutdown.”

Tensions have run high on both sides as the shutdown drags on, and the standoff shows no signs of slowing down.

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In fact, it’s expected to roll into its fourth week after Senate Democrats blocked the GOP’s federal funding measure for a tenth time on Thursday before leaving Washington for the weekend.

Republicans put forward last month a seven-week extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 funding levels, called a continuing resolution (CR), aimed at giving congressional negotiators more time to strike a long-term deal for FY2026.

But Democrats in the House and Senate were infuriated by being sidelined in those talks. The majority of Democrats are refusing to accept any deal that does not include serious healthcare concessions, at least extending COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of this year.

The top Democrat in the House of Representatives attacked White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt with a slew of insults on Friday.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., accused Republican officials of unjustly going after Democrats amid a controversy over a swastika flag found in a House GOP lawmaker’s office this week, though the lawmaker denied he or his staff played any role. Jeffries made the comments during a press conference with reporters on day 17 of the ongoing government shutdown.

“You’ve got Karoline Leavitt, who’s sick. She’s out of control. And I’m not sure whether she’s just demented, ignorant, a stone-cold liar, or all of the above,” Jeffries said.

“But the notion that an official White House spokesperson would say that the Democratic Party consists of terrorists, violent criminals, and undocumented immigrants makes no sense, that this is what the American people are getting from the Trump administration in the middle of a shutdown.”

58 HOUSE DEMS VOTE AGAINST RESOLUTION HONORING ‘LIFE AND LEGACY’ OF CHARLIE KIRK

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for a response.

Jeffries had been asked about the swastika, which was reportedly embedded into a small American flag that was hanging on a cork board in the office of Rep. Dave Taylor, R-Ohio. It was first reported by a local Ohio social media reporter who goes by the X handle “The Rooster.”

Taylor said in a statement to Fox News that several offices were targeted with the flag, which he said was the work of an “unidentified group” in a coordinated opposition campaign.

SCREAMING MATCH ERUPTS BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES, MIKE LAWLER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES

“New details have emerged from a coordinated investigation into the vile symbol that appeared in my office. Numerous Republican offices have confirmed that they were targeted by an unidentified group or individual who distributed American flags bearing a similar symbol, which were initially indistinguishable from an ordinary American flag to the naked eye,” Taylor said. 

“After a full-scale internal investigation, I am confident that no employee of this office would knowingly display such a despicable image, and the flag in question was taken down immediately upon the discovery of the obscured symbol it bore.”

It’s not immediately clear why the events made Jeffries invoke Leavitt specifically, however.

Tensions have run high on both sides as the shutdown drags on, and the standoff shows no signs of slowing down.

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In fact, it’s expected to roll into its fourth week after Senate Democrats blocked the GOP’s federal funding measure for a fourth time on Thursday before leaving Washington for the weekend.

Republicans put forward last month a seven-week extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 funding levels, called a continuing resolution (CR), aimed at giving congressional negotiators more time to strike a long-term deal for FY2026.

But Democrats in the House and Senate were infuriated by being sidelined in those talks. The majority of Democrats are refusing to accept any deal that does not include serious healthcare concessions, at least extending COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of this year.

Fox News’ Chad Pergram contributed to this report.

“No Kings” protests against President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies are set to kick-off in cities nationwide Saturday to declare, “America has No Kings.”

“We’re standing together against the abuses of power, cruelty, and corruption. On October 18, we gather to remind President Trump and his enablers: America has No Kings!” the movement’s website states of the upcoming Saturday protests/ 

Protests declaring America has “no kings” first mobilized back in February on President’s Day to denounce the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency and cuts to the federal government. The “No Kings” movement, however, gained national prominence in June, when Trump held a miliary parade honoring the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary, which also fell on his 79th birthday. 

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Washington, Los Angeles, Denver, New York, Philadelphia and elsewhere to protest what they viewed as Trump’s “coronation” day, as well as other administration policies, including its ongoing deportation efforts. 

ADVOCACY GROUP CEO CLAIMS HE WAS OFFERED $20 MILLION TO RECRUIT PROTESTERS FOR ANTI-TRUMP DEMONSTRATIONS

“The world saw the power of the people. President Trump’s birthday parade was drowned out by protests in every state and across the globe. His attempt to turn June 14 into a coronation collapsed, and the story became the strength of a movement rising against his authoritarian power grabs,” the “No Kings” website outlines. 

Four months later, “No Kings” protests will be held in cities such as Philadelphia, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Hartford, Connecticut, to protest the Trump administration with a heightened focus on speaking out against the administration’s efforts to deport millions of illegal immigrants residing in the U.S. The group states on its website that it anticipates “millions across the country” will “march against authoritarian politics and billionaire takeover.” 

PROTESTERS TARGET TRUMP ADMIN POLICIES WITH MARCH TO WHITE HOUSE, DEMONSTRATIONS THROUGHOUT COUNTRY

“President Trump has doubled down. His administration is sending masked agents into our streets, terrorizing our communities,” the “No Kings” website states. “They are targeting immigrant families, profiling, arresting and detaining people without warrants. Threatening to overtake elections. Gutting healthcare, environmental protections, and education when families need them most. Rigging maps to silence voters. Ignoring mass shootings at our schools and in our communities. Driving up the cost of living while handing out massive giveaways to billionaire allies, as families struggle.”

The protests are organized by left-wing groups such as Indivisible, a grassroots progressive organization behind anti-Trump protests stretching back to the 2016 election, as well as other groups such as the American Federation of Teachers, ACLU, Greenpeace, the Human Rights Campaign, MoveOn, National Nurses United, Public Citizen and Service Employees International Union, according to its website. 

The group repeatedly calls on participants to peacefully protest on its website. Los Angeles’ “No Kings” protests in June did devolve into chaos, as “agitators who came here with the purpose of creating chaos” attacked police officers, the Los Angeles County sheriff told local media at the time. 

The Saturday protests are expected to focus on Trump’s immigration policies, including Trump’s alleged “authoritarian takeovers of cities—deploying federal forces, seizing local police departments, and funding mass detention and deportation operations,” as well as the movement’s ongoing claims that Trump is conducting himself more like a monarch than a president. 

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT TODAY’S ‘NO KINGS’ ANTI-TRUMP RALLIES ACROSS THE US

“President Trump has openly said he wants a third term and is already acting like a monarch—seizing control of D.C., threatening other cities, and using federal forces against his own people. But the American people don’t bow to kings. Together, we will peacefully mobilize, yet again, in huge numbers to reject this corruption and abuse of power—it’s in our DNA as a country,” the group’s website states. 

Fox News Digital reached out to organizers of the movement for additional comment on the upcoming demonstrations but did not immediately receive a reply on Thursday. 

“Who cares?” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital when asked about the upcoming protests on Saturday.

The Trump administration has been on an immigration blitz since Trump was sworn back into office on Jan. 20, as federal law enforcement officials such as ICE agents converged on cities in targeted efforts to remove illegal immigrants. Trump has simultaneously targeted individual U.S. cities for overall crime clean-ups, including federalizing the Washington, D.C., police force in August, including ordering the National Guard to the city, with Los Angeles, Memphis and Portland facing similar crime reduction efforts. Trump’s attempt to roll out crime clean up initiatives in Portland and Los Angeles, however, are tied up in the courts.  

‘NO KINGS’ RALLIES ARE A TROJAN HORSE FOR RADICAL, VIOLENT LEFTISTS

Trump’s 2024 campaign included a large focus on ending the illegal immigration crisis in the U.S. and bringing down crime, with voters frequently pointing to the issues as among their top concerns heading to the ballot boxes.

“Whether you’re outraged by attacks on civil rights, skyrocketing costs, abductions and disappearances, the gutting of essential services, or the assault on free speech, this moment is for you. Whether you’ve been in the fight for years or you’re just fed up and ready to take action, this moment is for you,” the “No Kings” website states of its objectives for Oct. 18. 

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The protests follow Trump and his administration securing a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel, which included the president traveling to Israel and Egypt earlier in October to speak with world leaders directly, and as Trump holds talks Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday and a meeting with Ukraine President Vlodomyr Zelenskyy Friday at the White House as part as a separate war between those nations continues raging since 2022.

Former White House National Security Advisor John Bolton surrendered to federal authorities Friday after being indicted on 18 counts related to the improper handling of classified materials.

Photographers snapped images of Bolton leaving his home in Bethesda, Md., earlier Friday. He was later captured on news cameras walking into the federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Md.

When asked by Fox News at the scene if he had a comment, Bolton just walked into the building.

Bolton was indicted on eight counts of transmission of national defense Information and ten counts of retention of national defense information.

EX-NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR JOHN BOLTON INDICTED WITH IMPROPER HANDLING OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS

“From on or about April 9, 2018, through at least on or about August 22, 2025, BOLTON abused his position as National Security Advisor by sharing more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities as the National Security Advisor—including information relating to the national defense which was classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level—with two unauthorized individuals, namely Individuals 1 and 2,” the indictment reads. “BOLTON also unlawfully retained documents, writings, and notes relating to the national defense, including information classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level, in his home in Montgomery County, Maryland.”

The documents Bolton transmitted were sent to two individuals unauthorized to view classified documents.

Those documents, according to the indictment, revealed intelligence about future attacks by an adversarial group in another country; a liaison partner sharing sensitive information with the U.S. intelligence community; intelligence that a foreign adversary was planning a missile launch in the future and a covert action in a foreign country that was related to sensitive intergovernmental actions, among other information.

JOHN BOLTON’S HOME AND OFFICE RAIDED BY FEDERAL AGENTS

“The FBI’s investigation revealed that John Bolton allegedly transmitted top secret information using personal online accounts and retained said documents in his house in direct violation of federal law,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “The case was based on meticulous work from dedicated career professionals at the FBI who followed the facts without fear or favor. Weaponization of justice will not be tolerated, and this FBI will stop at nothing to bring to justice anyone who threatens our national security.”

Bolton’s Maryland home had been raided by FBI agents in August. That search was focused on classified documents agents believed Bolton possessed. 

“Now, I have become the latest target in weaponizing the Justice Department to charge those he deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts,” Bolton said in a statement to The Associated Press, referencing President Donald Trump.

Bolton’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, added to the AP that the “underlying facts in this case were investigated and resolved years ago.”

“Bolton kept diaries — that is not a crime,” he said, noting that Bolton “did not unlawfully share or store any information.”

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Lowell told the AP that the charges Bolton faces are linked to portions of Bolton’s personal diaries and included unclassified information that was shared with only immediate family members. Lowell also said this was known to the FBI dating back to at least 2021.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

New York Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul offered her support of Empire State Attorney General Letitia James when she was first indicted on charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution, following years of the New York governor celebrating legal challenges originating in her home state and elsewhere against President Donald Trump. 

“New Yorkers know @NewYorkStateAGJames for her integrity, her independence, and her relentless fight for justice. What we’re seeing today is nothing less than the weaponization of the Justice Department to punish those who hold the powerful accountable,” Hochul posted to X following James’ indictment. 

A grand jury in Virginia indicted James Thursday, months after Federal Housing Finance Director Bill Pulte said in a criminal referral to the Department of Justice in April that James allegedly falsified mortgage records to obtain more favorable loans. She faces charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution.

Pulte alleged in his criminal referral that James purchased a home in Norfolk, Virginia, in 2023, but identified it as her primary residence on mortgage documents and a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac form. James is legally required to live in New York as a statewide elected official in that state. 

LEGAL EXPERT CALLS OUT ‘IRONIC’ TWIST AS NY AG WHO PROSECUTED TRUMP FACES FEDERAL BANK FRAUD CHARGES

“No one is above the law. The charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Lindsey Halligan said when James was indicted. “The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served.”

Hochul, as well as other prominent Democrats, have pointed to the indictment as alleged “political weaponization” and political persecution of a Trump foe at the hands of the administration. 

James and Trump have long traded barbs, with James campaigning for the attorney general job in 2018 vowing to pursue legal charges against Trump if elected. Her office ultimately filed nearly 100 legal challenges against the first Trump administration and vowed to continue the legal battles upon his re-election in November 2024. 

MAMDANI ASSAILS TRUMP FOR ‘POLITICAL RETRIBUTION’ AGAINST LETITIA JAMES IN SWEEPING DEFENSE OF EMBATTLED AG

Trump accused Democrats of waging lawfare — which is understood as leveraging the courts to gain political advantage — as a last-ditch attempt to prevent him from running for the Oval Office again in the 2024 cycle and securing another federal election win. Trump, for example, was indicted and found guilty in a New York case that accused him of falsifying business records, he was indicted on racketeering charges in Georgia, faced federal criminal cases claiming he mishandled sensitive government documents after his first presidency, and another claiming he attempted to overturn the 2020 election results. 

Trump also faced civil cases, including James accusing Trump and the Trump Organization of inflating asset values in a lawsuit that found Trump and his companies liable. 

Fox News Digital took a look back at Hochul’s previous comments on Trump and the legal cases that plagued the president during his first administration through his interim as the 45th and 47th president, and found the governor frequently celebrated cases that conservatives identified as “lawfare.” 

Fox News Digital reached out to Hochul’s office for comment on her past remarks on legal cases against Trump as she promotes the narrative that the administration is weaponizng the justice system against political foes but did not immediately receive a reply. Fox Digital specifically asked if Hochul stands by her previous comments that “no one is above the law,” considering James’ indictment, but did not receive replies. 

Trump is the first and only president to be impeached twice by the House, with Hochul remaking during his first impeachment in 2019 — which accused him of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress related to allegedly seeking foreign interference from Ukraine to boost his re-election efforts in 2020 — that no one is above the law.

LETITIA JAMES’ OWN WORDS COME BACK TO HAUNT HER AFTER FEDERAL BANK FRAUD CHARGES FILED

“It’s really quite simple — NO ONE is above the law. Not now, not ever,” she posted to Facebook. “Speaker Pelosi & Democrats in Congress are holding the president accountable because they have a patriotic duty to uphold our Constitution, not play partisan politics.”

As Trump stood trial for the civil fraud case launched by James that accused Trump and Trump Organization of financial fraud, Hochul commented that she had “full confidence” that he would be held accountable, while also remarking that he had “temper tantrums” in the court. 

“Former President Donald Trump is testifying in an unprecedented civil trial brought by our own Attorney General, Tish James. So far from telling the truth as he’s required to do, he’s throwing temper tantrums from the witness stand and verbally attacking judges and courtroom staff. His conduct has been a disgrace and I have full confidence that Donald Trump will be held accountable for his actions,” she said in November of 2023. 

A month later, the Democratic governor appeared to throw her support behind a lawsuit that aimed to prevent Trump’s name from appearing on voting ballots for the 2024 election. 

NEW YORK AG LETITIA JAMES’ INDICTMENT SPARKS SHARP PARTISAN DIVIDE

A group of Colorado voters brought forth a lawsuit in 2022 arguing Trump should be deemed ineligible from holding political office under a Civil War-era insurrection clause. The lawsuit argued Trump’s action on Jan. 6, 2021 — when supporters breached the U.S. Capitol — violated a clause in the 14th Amendment that prevents officers of the United States, members of Congress or state legislatures who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the Constitution from holding political office.

“Jan. 6 will live in infamy. Shame on us if we forget that,” Hochul said in December 2023, when the Colorado Supreme Court declared him ineligible to run for president. “Shame on us what happened to this country when a Capitol that I used to proudly walk in as a member of Congress was literally under siege, people died, people were injured, and if he doesn’t take responsibility for that, then the American people ought to hold him accountable. So that’s what’s starting in Colorado.”

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in March 2024 to keep Trump on the ballot.

After Trump was found liable in James’ civil fraud case in 2023 and ordered to pay $355 million fine, Hochul worked to calm other business leaders’ concerns that they could face similar trials, citing that Trump and “his behavior” set him apart. 

“I think that this is really an extraordinary, unusual circumstance that the law-abiding and rule-following New Yorkers who are business people have nothing to worry about, because they’re very different than Donald Trump and his behavior,” Hochul said on radio show “The Cats Roundtable” in February 2024. 

An appeals court threw out the monetary penalty in the case earlier in 2025. 

Later that same year, Hochul celebrated that “no one is above the law” when Trump was found guilty in NY v. Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records. 

“Today’s verdict reaffirms that no one is above the law,” Hochul said in a statement in May 2024. “In preparation for a verdict in this trial, I directed my Administration to closely coordinate with local and federal law enforcement and we continue to monitor the situation. We are committed to protecting the safety of all New Yorkers and the integrity of our judicial system.”

As the election came down to the wire in 2024, Hochul slammed Trump as a “fraud” and “philanderer” who lacked New York values, while pointing to the NY v. Trump case. 

“Donald Trump was born a New Yorker but ended up a fraud, a philanderer, and a felon. He wasn’t raised with the New York values that I know,” Hochul declared during her Democratic National Convention speech in Chicago in 2024. “Trust me, America, if you think you’re tired of Donald Trump, talk to a New Yorker. We’ve had to deal with them for 78 long years, the fraud, the tax dodging, the sham university, the shady charities.”

DOJ OPENS GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION INTO LETITIA JAMES TIED TO TRUMP CIVIL CASE

Trump won the Republican primary in the 2024 election cycle, and swept the seven battleground states on Election Day, defeating then-Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed then-Preisdent Joe Biden in the Oval Office. 

Hochul and James held a press conference the day after the election, and vowed to battle the Trump agenda while honoring the results of the election. 

“I want to be very clear that while we honor the results of this election and will work with anyone who wants to be a partner in achieving the goals of our administration in our state, that does not mean we’ll accept an agenda from Washington that strips away the rights that New Yorkers have long enjoyed,” Hochul said on Nov. 6, 2024. 

“We did not expect this result, but we are prepared to respond to this result,” James said during the same press conference. “And my office has been preparing for several months because we’ve been here before,” James said. “We faced this challenge before, and we used the rule of law to fight back. And we are prepared to fight back once again because, as the attorney general of this great state, it is my job to protect and defend the rights of New Yorkers and the rule of law. And I will not shrink from that responsibility.”

Trump slammed the onslaught of court cases against him in recent years, denying wrongdoing and identifying them as attempts from his political foes as tools to prevent him from seeking and winning re-election. 

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“They’re playing with the courts, as you know, they’ve been playing with the courts for four years. Probably got me more votes because I got the highest number of votes ever gotten by a Republican by far, actually, by a lot. And, you know, we had a great election, so I guess it didn’t work. But even to this day, they’re playing with the courts and they’re friendly judges that like to try and make everybody happy. … It’s called lawfare, it’s called weaponization of justice,” Trump said in January, just days before he was sworn back into office. 

Democratic Party candidate Jay Jones’ political rhetoric and his desire to turn a statewide election into a political referendum of President Donald Trump during Thursday night’s debate between Virginia’s two candidates for attorney general did not go unnoticed on social media. 

The exchange offered a preview of how national politics — and Trump in particular — continue to define down-ballot races in key 2025 battlegrounds.

“It is almost difficult to describe how thoroughly Jason Miyares DESTROYED Jay Jones on the debate stage tonight,” said X user @ROOZVA, a Virginia Republican activist. “Miyares was throwing verbal haymakers for the entire hour, and Jay Jones had no idea how to respond. Miyares hit Jones’ texts, reckless driving, and radical record in the House. Jones was on the defensive the entire time, had nothing to say except ‘but Trump.’ That’s not going to cut it for voters. We might’ve seen the final nail in the coffin of his campaign tonight.”

DEM AG CANDIDATE JAY JONES GRILLED OVER RECKLESS DRIVING CONVICTION BY GOP OPPONENT

“What this debate is highlighting is not only is Jay Jones violent, dangerous, and maybe a sociopath. He’s also stupid,” conservative strategist Matt Whitlock also said on X.

“Tonight’s debate reinforced one thing we already know: Jason Miyares protects Virginians, Jay Jones protects himself,” added Republican Virginia State Sen. Glen Sturtevant. 

One part of the debate that social media zeroed in on was when GOP Attorney General Jason Miyares combined his criticism of Jones’ political rhetoric and his criticism of Jones’ public safety agenda. 

“I find it a little bit stunning that today you say one of the pillars of your public safety platform is protecting children. Were you protecting Jennifer’s children when you said you wanted to see them die in their mother’s arms?” Miyares asked of Jones during the debate. 

Jennifer is the wife of Todd Gilbert, who Jones said he would like to see get “two bullets” to the head. 

VIRGINIA PARENTS CRUSH FUNDRAISING GOAL FOR TRANS LOCKER ROOM FIGHT AFTER JUDGE ORDERED MASSIVE BOND

“How can anybody who’s ever worked in any of the crimes against children, all of the areas of federal, state and local law department, how can they ever take you seriously to be the top prosecutor knowing that you view that children should die to advance a political agenda?” Miyares continued in the moment that was later rehashed on social media. “It’s unconscionable and if you were truly ‘sorry,’ you would not be running for this office. You disqualified yourself.”

Republican influencer C.J. Pearson called the moment when Miyares called on Jones to disqualify himself a “dagger” to Jones during the debate. 

Meanwhile, GOP critics of Jones also slammed him for focusing on Trump as much as he did. Jones attempted throughout the debate to align Miyares with Trump, arguing he has given up many opportunities to sue the current administration that would have helped Virginians.

According to some estimates, Jones said Trump’s name nearly 50 times. 

“VA Dem Attorney General nominee Jay ‘two bullets’ Jones is making it very clear that he’ll be the state’s Letitia James—focusing only on suing Trump while ignoring the crimes in Virginia,” Julie Gunlock of the Independent Women’s Forum Network said. “How Jones thinks this is an attractive strategy to VA voters, is beyond me.”

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Former Republican Attorney General Bill Bolling reserved judgment of the Thursday night debate between Virginia’s Attorney General candidates for another time, but he did comment on the clean debate format. Something he was not alone in applauding after the debate ended.  

“I will withhold commenting on who ‘won’ tonight’s AG debate, because I know partisans in both camps will insist their guy ‘won,’” Bolling said on Facebook. “But I will say this….. it was a very good debate, the way debates should be conducted, unlike that spectacle we saw when the gubernatorial candidates debated last week. For that both candidates deserve credit.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., stood by Virginia’s embattled Democratic attorney general candidate Jay Jones who sent text messages fantasizing about putting “two bullets” in his Republican rival’s head and also suggested his ‘fascist’ children should die as well. 

As Jones faces mounting calls to drop out of his race because of the text scandal, with his GOP opponent going so far as saying he should disqualify himself at a Thursday night debate, Jeffries suggested that Jones already did the right thing by apologizing.

“The attorney general candidate has appropriately apologized for his remarks, and I know his remarks have been condemned across the board by Democrats in the commonwealth [of] Virginia and beyond,” said Jeffries, adding, “And that’s the right thing to do.”

JAY JONES INVOKES TRUMP NEARLY 50 TIMES DURING VIRGINIA AG DEBATE, TIES MIYARES TO ‘MAGA’

Fox News Digital reached out to the office of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to ask whether he also stood by Jones but did not receive a response. 

The Virginia attorney general’s race was rocked by resurfaced text messages sent by Jones to a colleague when he was serving as a state delegate. Jones texted Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Hopewell, in 2022, imagining a scenario where he would choose to kill then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert’s over Pol Pot or Adolf Hitler.

Jones wrote, “Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, Hitler and Pol Pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.” He then added in a subsequent text, “Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.”

Jones also wrote he hoped Gilbert’s children would die. He doubled down in a series of messages, saying that such grief might be “a good thing” if it advanced his politics.

VIRGINIA DEM JAY JONES’ FATHERHOOD-THEMED POST SPARKS OUTRAGE OVER PAST TEXT WISHING HARM TO REPUBLICAN’S KIDS

Despite the graphic nature of these messages, Democrat leaders have largely declined to call on Jones to withdraw from the race. Democratic Party Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger was pressed repeatedly during her own debate last week but declined to do as much. 

During a Thursday night debate, Jones said he was “ashamed” and “embarrassed” of the surfaced text messages from 2022. “And I am sorry. I am sorry to Speaker Gilbert. I am sorry to his family. And I am sorry to every single Virginian,” Jones continued during the Thursday night debate with his GOP opponent Jason Miyares. 

However, Jones would not provide a clear answer to questions on whether his judgment should be questioned as a result of the text message scandal and other incidents that have surfaced in the news amid his campaign, such as a reckless driving conviction. 

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In addition to the criticism surrounding Jones’ violent political rhetoric, he also faced criticism for allegedly attempting to skirt community service requirements handed down by a judge after getting convicted for reckless driving. GOP candidate Miyares blasted Jones Thursday night, arguing he couldn’t pass a background check to be a prosecutor in his office, or likely any other Attorney General’s office around the country. 

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones defended himself from questions about controversial texts envisioning the murder of the Old Dominion’s then-Republican House Speaker. 

And Attorney General Jason Miyares questioned Jones’ ability to govern while Jones repeatedly invoked President Donald Trump and salivated over seeing him in court during a debate at the University of Richmond sponsored by the Virginia Bar Association Young Lawyers Section.

Jones offered regret over his words in those texts but repeatedly pivoted from Miyares’ criticisms to pledge to spend his four years fighting Trump in court and faulting Miyares for being friendly with the Floridian mogul.

“He’s asking you to hire him to be the top prosecutor, but he’s never prosecuted a day in his life,” Miyares said of Jones, calling him “anti-police” and “anti-victim” for votes to pull school resource officers out of schools.

Miyares attributed Jones’ reported support for ending the mandatory reporting requirement of sexual assaults in schools to conditions that led to related controversies in Loudoun County schools.

WATCH: KAINE DEFENDS JONES AMID AG CANDIDATE’S TEXTS ENVISIONING MURDER OF GOP LEADER: ‘STILL A SUPPORTER’

Pivoting to Jones’ texts, Miyares said Virginians have “seen a window into who Jay Jones is and what he thinks of people who disagree with him”

He quoted Abraham Lincoln, saying that “character is what you do in the dark when no one is watching” and said Jones’ invective was spurred by something as simple as Republican leader Todd Gilbert offering kind words about Del. Joe Johnson, D-Bristol, after the elderly moderate died.

In turn, Jones said he wants to bring progress, opportunity and safety to Virginia and accused Miyares of being too cozy with Trump, invoking the president’s name more than about two dozen times.

LIBERAL MEDIA DOWNPLAYS SCANDAL OF DEM VIRGINIA AG HOPEFUL JAY JONES’ TEXTS FANTASIZING MURDER OF GOP LAWMAKER

He repeatedly said he “cannot wait” to see Trump in court and claimed Miyares has abandoned Virginians by not repeatedly filing suits as other state attorneys general have for a potpourri of reasons.

Addressing the texts, he said he is “ashamed. I am embarrassed, and I am sorry. I am sorry to Speaker Gilbert. I am sorry to his family. And I am sorry to every single Virginian.”

“This race has always been about more — when Donald Trump fires workers, defunds our schools, armed troops into cities. He has a willing cheerleader in Jason Miyares,” Jones said.

‘CONSUMED WITH HATE’: WINSOME SEARS, JASON MIYARES UNLOAD ON DEMOCRAT JAY JONES OVER VIOLENT TEXTS

“[Miyares is] the only statewide elected official to receive that endorsement.”

Jones said Miyares will see the president at “MAGA rallies” but that Jones will see him in court.

When Miyares brought up Jay’s reckless driving charge — after a 116 mph speeding ticket on I-64 in New Kent, Virginia — Jones said he was held accountable by the Virginia State Police.

VIRGINIA DEM JAY JONES’ FATHERHOOD-THEMED POST SPARKS OUTRAGE OVER PAST TEXT WISHING HARM TO REPUBLICAN’S KIDS

But Miyares said Jones was not truly held accountable, because instead of jail time, he asked for — and was given — community service. And instead of serving a charity, Miyares claimed that Jones served his own political action committee instead.

Miyares claimed three of the four people charged that day with similar offenses in New Kent County, Jones was the only one not to receive a suspended or active jail sentence.

“If you were to apply to be a line prosecutor … you would not pass a background check,” he said.

JAY JONES’ ‘TWO BULLETS’ SCANDAL OVER VIOLENT TEXTS EXPECTED TO DOMINATE VIRGINIA AG DEBATE

Jones later responded by invoking crimes by conservatives during the Capitol riot Jan. 6, 2021.

Themes of the debate were Miyares branding Jones “not a prosecutor but a politician” and Jones repeatedly associating Miyares with Trump and Miyares as more beholden to Washington than Richmond taxpayers.

Miyares later touched on his position as the first child of immigrants to hold Virginia’s top lawman’s job. He told a story about helping his mother learn the Pledge of Allegiance for her citizenship test and his uncle Angel Miyares being subjected to a public mock execution by the Castro regime for having the “wrong” ideas as far as the Communist leaders were concerned.

“Every autocratic regime, the people in charge always think ideas are better than people,” he said, tying that thought into Jones’ murder texts and how he envisioned violence against a political opponent simply over political disagreements and eulogies about Johnson’s death.

Jones spoke of his namesake father Jerrauld Jones Sr.’s role in the House of Delegates and as an attorney in Hampton Roads and as his other family members who had participated in the Civil Rights movement.

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Moments before the debate, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., became the rare Democrat to speak publicly about Jones’ text scandal.

Jeffries declined to call for Jones to drop out, telling reporters at the U.S. Capitol that Jones “has appropriately apologized for his remarks, and I know his remarks have been condemned across the board by Democrats in the Commonwealth [of] Virginia and beyond,” Jeffries told reporters outside the Capitol. “And that’s the right thing to do.”

FIRST ON FOX: Following mainstream media reporting about ICE arresting a 13-year-old boy and separating him from his family, the Trump Department of Homeland Security is setting the record straight on his suspected gang involvement and stated intent to “shoot and kill” another student.

Media outlets ran headlines such as, “Her 13-year-old son was arrested, then taken by ICE to a detention facility. The police chief calls it a first for his city” and “Mass. 13-year-old was picked up by ICE after a police interaction and now he’s hundreds of miles from home.”

However, DHS officials told Fox News Digital that the teen, Brazilian illegal immigrant Arthur Yuri De Almeida Silva Berto, is a suspected member of the “33” gang with 11 prior police complaints filed by Everett Police Department in Massachusetts for criminal behavior, including breaking and entering, vandalism, theft, fighting, ‘flash mob’ style shoplifting and more.

Berto was arrested by Everett Police Oct. 9 after a classmate reported he had shown her a concealed gun on school property, stating he was looking for another boy he had been fighting with and that he was going to “shoot and kill him,” according to a police report obtained by Fox News Digital.

KENTUCKY TEEN DIES PROTECTING MOTHER FROM ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT’S VIOLENT ALLEGED ASSAULT IN FAMILY APARTMENT

After being alerted, police searched the school area and found Berto at a bus stop. He was searched and found with a concealed 5½-inch Milwaukee knife.

According to DHS, local officials contacted federal law enforcement and notified it of the arrest. Later that same day, ICE Boston officers took the teen into custody outside the Everett Police Department. The next day, ICE transported Berto to the Northwest Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Winchester, Virginia.

An immigration court document obtained by Fox News Digital from a high-ranking Trump administration official states that, based upon Berto’s recidivist criminal history and ties to the 33 gang, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations determined him to be a “public safety threat.”

According to the document, Berto entered the U.S. illegally with his family Sept. 24, 2021, near San Luis, Arizona. He and his family were released into the U.S. on an order of release on recognizance under the Biden administration.

ICE ARRESTS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED WITH CHILD SEX CRIMES AFTER HIS RELEASE BY LOCAL POLICE DESPITE DETAINER

Police complaints involving Berto date back to June 2024, when Everett police responded to a disturbance involving minors and found him with other gang members, according to an immigration court document obtained by Fox News Digital from a senior Trump administration official.

In July 2024, police issued a summons for larceny over $1,200 for Berto after he was observed on video footage stealing two bicycles and a cellphone.

After further incidents involving vandalism, he was identified by police as a “high-risk juvenile” in March. In April, he was charged with receiving stolen property and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. That same month, he was caught by police in a stolen vehicle with three other individuals, all wearing ski masks.

In May, he was again caught on video footage, this time participating in a 33 gang “flash mob”-style shoplifting incident at a convenience store. Berto was arraigned in May by the Middlesex County Juvenile Court in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for knowingly receiving stolen property, breaking and entering and malicious destruction of property.

MAN DEPORTED 3 TIMES NOW CONVICTED AFTER ILLEGAL US REENTRY DURING BIDEN ADMIN

In July, he was again arraigned for assault and battery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Everett police also filed a criminal complaint against Berto for the charge of receiving stolen property over $1,200 after receiving a report that he had stolen a moped.

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“Here are the facts: This individual and suspected gang member posed a public safety threat with an extensive rap sheet, including violent assault with a dangerous weapon, battery, breaking and entering and destruction of property,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, federal law enforcement is restoring common sense and law and order to our streets. This public safety threat will stay in juvenile detention pending further proceedings.”