NationalWatch

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital his Republican colleagues are right to be troubled that the Justice Department spied on lawmakers to aid former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations.

“I think we need to have more facts. Look into it. Republicans are rightly concerned about the possible breach of norms and improper access to email,” Blumenthal told Fox News Digital Wednesday.

The GOP-led Senate Judiciary Committee released a trove of documents Tuesday showing that Smith’s investigation into President Donald Trump included the Department of Justice collecting text messages between 44 members of Congress, among them Republicans and Democrats, and White House staff. 

The messages were purportedly related to Smith’s probe of the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol and Trump’s storage of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

TODD BLANCHE EXPOSES HOW AGGRESSIVE BIDEN DOJ TARGETED LOW-LEVEL MAR-A-LAGO EMPLOYEES

Other Democrats were less willing than Blumenthal to lend credence to Republican concerns regarding how Smith carried out his investigation.

“I’ve got no comment on that. If you want to talk about the news of the day, I will,” Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., told Fox News Digital, referencing acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing. Booker was among the lawmakers who had their text messages seized by the Justice Department.

Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii; Alex Padilla, D-Calif.; and Patty Murray, D-Wash., all declined to comment on the issue when approached by Fox News Digital.

DEM SENATOR’S STUNT GOES SIDEWAYS AFTER GOP LAWMAKER TORCHES HIM AT IMMIGRATION HEARING

Blumenthal’s remarks mark a rare note of bipartisan concern over Smith’s handling of politically sensitive communications, even as other Democrats avoided weighing in on the GOP-led probe. The new documents have intensified Republican scrutiny of whether Justice Department safeguards failed during highly consequential investigations into Trump, while raising fresh questions about how far prosecutors went in accessing lawmakers’ private communications.

“I think Jack Smith is a political hack. I think that’s why the Justice Department, under President Biden, picked him,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told Fox News Digital. 

“Everybody knows he’s a political hack. He never should have been near power. He shouldn’t be near power now because he can’t exercise it objectively or non-emotionally.”

JACK SMITH THRUST BACK INTO SPOTLIGHT AT BLANCHE HEARING OVER EXPOSED SENATORS’ MESSAGES

The Judiciary Committee claims the lawmakers’ messages were reviewed in a way that runs afoul of DOJ protocol.

A “filter team” was supposed to review the communications before Smith’s investigative team could look at them, according to the documents. Contractors managing document review software for the filter team, however, failed to properly set up permission guardrails, allowing the investigative team to examine documents that had not been screened, according to a letter sent to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, by the DOJ.

“He honestly believes he’s smarter and more virtuous than the American people. He’s not, and that’s what got him in trouble,” Kennedy told Fox News Digital in reference to Smith.

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After the Senate Judiciary Committee released the documents on Tuesday, multiple Republican lawmakers alleged that Smith perjured himself by answering “no” to a question from a congressional lawyer about whether he requested text messages from lawmakers as part of his investigation.

“I don’t know whether it was misleading. I just, I really haven’t followed it,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told reporters regarding the allegations against Smith.

The White House on Thursday condemned as “a disgrace” a Trump administration teleprompter operator accused of betting on President Donald Trump’s speeches, saying he has been placed on paid administrative leave amid a federal investigation.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the matter and condemned the staffer’s alleged conduct during Thursday’s White House press briefing.

“Obviously, I’m aware of the report. The president is, too. I spoke with him about it,” Leavitt said. “He believes it’s deeply unfortunate and, frankly, a disgrace.”

TRUMP KEEPS ‘REALLY BIG’ ADDRESS UNDER WRAPS AS WHITE HOUSE SAYS ‘NOBODY KNOWS’ WHAT HE’LL REVEAL

Leavitt said the employee has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the investigation and confirmed a different teleprompter operator would handle Trump’s speech Thursday evening.

ABC News first reported that federal investigators with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission found a White House staffer — identified by sources as Gabriel Perez, Trump’s teleprompter operator since 2016 — allegedly made tens of thousands of dollars by betting on the contents of Trump’s speeches through the prediction market Kalshi.

“The White House has strict ethics guidelines that we expect all staffers and officials to follow,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Fox News when asked about the report. “The staffer in question is fully cooperating with the CFTC.”

A CFTC spokesperson told Fox News the agency “can’t confirm or deny an investigation.”

The case began after Kalshi’s surveillance systems flagged a series of unusual trades in March involving markets tied to words and phrases expected to appear in Trump’s public remarks.

HEGSETH ANNOUNCES JOINT TASK FORCE WITH DOJ TO PROSECUTE LEAKS TO JOURNALISTS ‘WITH THE FULL FORCE OF THE LAW’

Kalshi said the trades stood out because they did not follow typical trading patterns and also drew complaints from market makers through the platform’s whistleblower channels. After reviewing account information, the company said it identified the trader as a federal employee who worked as a White House teleprompter operator.

Kalshi said it froze the account before the trader could withdraw most of the alleged profits, leaving more than $90,000 on the platform while the matter was referred to federal regulators.

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“Our surveillance team promptly flagged and referred these trades to the CFTC after an exchange investigation,” Robert DeNault, Kalshi’s head of enforcement, told Fox News. “We have been assisting regulators on this matter and provided evidence we collected, as we do in any referral.”

Kalshi said the markets involved common words and topics expected to appear in presidential speeches — including country names, economic terms, campaign language and social issues — rather than classified or otherwise sensitive information. The company added it has worked with the CFTC for months as the investigation has continued.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers across the country have been told they can resume traffic stops under new guidance issued Thursday, but only if at least one officer involved is wearing a body camera, sources tell Fox News.

The guidance comes after the White House publicly confirmed Thursday that ICE vehicle stops are continuing. 

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin are “on the same page” that traffic stops remain “a necessary tool” for ICE agents carrying out the administration’s deportation campaign.

“Vehicle stops are a necessary tool that ICE agents need in order to continue their deportation campaign of the worst of the worst illegal alien criminals from our country,” Leavitt said. “With respect to body cameras, I know there’s been some questions about that in recent days. Over half of all ICE field offices now do have body cameras.”

ICE ARRESTS RECORD 238 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN ONE DAY DURING SOUTH TEXAS ENFORCEMENT OPERATION

The new directive means officers without access to body cameras are not authorized to conduct traffic stops. Body cameras have not yet been deployed to every ICE field office after the rollout began in the agency’s largest cities.

The policy is expected to continue limiting the number of ICE traffic stops that can be conducted nationwide until the rollout is complete, a process sources say is expected to take roughly two more months.

“ICE will ensure each arrest team has an individual wearing a body camera,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News. “Ensuring all of our ICE law enforcement officers have body cameras nationwide is a top priority for DHS — especially given the increase in attacks against our law enforcement, including a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them and a 3,300% increase in vehicle attacks. 

SEN ERIC SCHMITT SEEKS TO END BIRTH TOURISM, REVOKE CITIZENSHIP FOR BABIES OF FOREIGN DIPLOMATS

“This is especially needed because the media and sanctuary politicians consistently spread smears about our law enforcement.”

The spokesperson added, “The process of purchasing and issuing body-worn cameras to all of our ICE field offices was interrupted by the Democrats’ multiple government shutdowns. Body cameras have been deployed to more than half the field offices with the remaining half expected to receive them in less than 60 days.”

Leavitt likewise said Thursday that more than half of ICE field officers are now equipped with bodycams, and that the remaining offices are expected to receive them within 60 days. 

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She attributed the slower-than-expected rollout to what she described as Democrats’ decision to shut down DHS for several weeks.

The guidance marks the latest operational change for ICE as the agency expands its use of body cameras while resuming a key immigration enforcement tactic under President Donald Trump’s second administration.

The Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to clarify “birthright citizenship,” but a Republican senator is taking up the mantle of Congress to rework the 14th Amendment, while calling for the Trump administration to revoke citizenship of babies born to foreign diplomats.

“The 14th Amendment confers American citizenship upon persons born in the United States while ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof,’” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., wrote in a letter Thursday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

“For more than a century, statutory law, judicial precedent, and executive-branch policy have recognized that foreign diplomats’ children born in the United States are not ‘subject to [its] jurisdiction’ and therefore do not acquire citizenship at birth.

“Indeed, even though the majority in Trump v. Barbara wrongfully expanded birthright citizenship to cover the children of illegal aliens and temporarily present aliens, it too recognized that the children of diplomats do not acquire birthright citizenship.” 

‘IT’S INSANE’: GOP SENATOR SAYS SUPREME COURT BIRTHRIGHT RULING HANDS CHINA A CITIZENSHIP LOOPHOLE

Schmitt’s letter requests the State Department and DHS investigate “illegal grants of citizenship documentation to foreign diplomats’ children, implement policies and procedures to prevent it from occurring in the future, identify the individuals who have illegally procured citizenship documentation in this manner, and revoke those individuals’ illegally procured citizenship documentation.”

The demand comes two days after Schmitt introduced the American Citizenship Act, legislation that would limit birthright citizenship to children of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents.

“SCOTUS got birthright citizenship dangerously wrong,” Schmitt wrote on X. “I’m filing the American Citizenship Act to start the process of restoring the 14th Amendment’s original meaning.

“My bill restores the original understanding to prevent birthright citizenship for illegal aliens and tourists.”

TRUMP BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP FIGHT COMES ROARING BACK WITH ‘INVADERS’ PLAY AFTER KAVANAUGH ROADMAP

The Supreme Court ruled June 30 in Trump v. Barbara that children born in the U.S. to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present are citizens at birth under the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause. The decision blocked Trump’s executive order seeking to deny citizenship to those children.

Schmitt’s bill is aimed at reopening the fight through Congress.

“American citizenship is sacred — our nation, and its people, are bound together by the values and freedoms our forefathers fought a revolution to secure,” Schmitt wrote in a statement Tuesday, when he introduced the American Citizenship Act.

“But the Supreme Court’s erroneous interpretation of the 14th Amendment last month degraded the meaning of that citizenship by extending it to children born to illegal or temporary aliens — including ‘birth tourists’ — who come to our country in violation of our laws. 

“That is an egregious departure from the original meaning of the 14th Amendment.”

TRUMP’S SCOTUS PREDICTION TAKES ON NEW WEIGHT AHEAD OF BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP RULING

The Thursday letter focuses on a narrower category: children of foreign diplomats. Federal policy has long treated children born in the U.S. to accredited foreign diplomatic officers as outside the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship guarantee because their parents are not fully subject to U.S. jurisdiction.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) says such children do not acquire citizenship at birth, though they may register for lawful permanent residence.

Schmitt argued that despite the rule, foreign diplomats’ children have still been able to obtain birth certificates, Social Security numbers and other documents that can be used to claim U.S. citizenship. His letter said agencies lack adequate safeguards to flag when a newborns’ parents are foreign diplomats before citizenship-related documents are issued.

“Foreign diplomats’ children using improperly procured citizenship documentation to illegally claim citizenship degrades the meaning of American citizenship, undermines our sovereignty, and threatens our national security,” Schmitt wrote.

Schmitt urged the State Department and DHS to investigate the scope of what he called improper grants of citizenship documentation, prevent future issuance, identify those who received the documents and revoke documentation that was unlawfully obtained. His letter cited public reporting and legal scholarship to claim that potentially thousands of diplomats’ children may have received citizenship records, despite not being citizens at birth.

Schmitt, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, has made birthright citizenship a central focus after the Supreme Court decision. He previously announced plans for a constitutional amendment and led an amicus brief backing Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order.

Civil liberties groups have sharply opposed efforts to restrict birthright citizenship. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which challenged Trump’s executive order, argued the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to children born in the U.S. and said no president can rewrite that constitutional protection.

Schmitt, however, said the court’s ruling strengthened the case for congressional action.

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“I introduced the American Citizenship Act to restore that original meaning, challenge the Supreme Court’s decision, protect the sacred bond of American citizenship, and honor the legacy of our nation’s patriots who fought to protect what it means to be an American,” Schmitt’s statement concluded.

“It would restart our fight in the courts for sanity in birthright citizenship. While the Supreme Court’s decision threatens to destroy American citizenship, I am fighting to defend it.”

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., declined to weigh in on the latest scandal to hit a member of his party, instead focusing on his planned diatribe against President Donald Trump’s primetime address Thursday.

The New York Post reported that Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., engaged in sexual relationships with at least two Democratic House staffers who did not work for him while he was a member of the House. According to House rules, members are not barred from having relationships with staffers who work outside their office.

Sources told the outlet it was believed the relationships happened while the lawmaker was unmarried.

ETHICS PANEL CLEARS GALLEGO AS LUNA DECLARES, ‘ONCE A CREEP, ALWAYS A CREEP’

When asked to weigh in on the latest scandal involving Gallego, Schumer mentioned his planned speech railing against Trump’s scheduled address on foreign interference in the 2020 election Thursday night and told Fox News Digital, “I’m not — I’m focused on this right now.”

It’s the latest bad headline to hit Gallego, who has been in the conversation for a 2028 presidential bid. The Post reported that Gallego admitted to the two relationships, which were both with aides to Texas Democrats.

When asked by reporters about the allegations, Gallego said, “I’m not going to engage in gossip.”

‘DISTURBING’ ALLEGATIONS AGAINST UNNAMED SENATOR UNDER REVIEW IN WAKE OF SCANDALS ROCKING CONGRESS

Gallego’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.

Gallego has come under scrutiny for his relationship with former Rep. Eric Swalwell, who resigned from the House earlier this year after being accused by several women of sexual assault, rape and harassment.

Swalwell has vehemently denied the allegations.

Gallego moved to quickly distance himself from Swalwell and argued their tight-knit relationship “clouded my judgment,” regarding rumors that swirled about the ex-lawmaker for years in Washington, D.C.

He also reportedly hired former President Joe Biden’s former deputy press secretary to handle crisis communications in the ensuing fallout from Swalwell and a now-dismissed Senate Ethics probe.

SENATOR GALLEGO SAYS LONGTIME FRIENDSHIP WITH SWALWELL ‘CLOUDED MY JUDGMENT’ AS RUMORS SWIRLED IN DC

That probe, which centered on a complaint from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., that alleged Gallego committed sexual misconduct and campaign finance violations, was tossed out by the Senate Ethics Committee last month.

Gallego said in a statement at the time that the Ethics Committee’s decision “reaffirms what I have said about these accusations from the beginning: they were right-wing conspiracies peddled by far-right activists like Anna Paulina Luna, the White House and their allies.”

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Luna quickly weighed in on the latest allegation, charging on X, “‘Conspiracy theories,’ right, [Sen. Ruben Gallego]?”

“Time to resign. Glad people are going on record about this creep,” she said.

President Donald Trump accused members of the U.S. intelligence community Thursday night of operating a “shadow government” to allegedly conceal evidence of China’s efforts to influence U.S. elections, seizing on newly declassified emails that he says reveal a bitter internal dispute about how Beijing’s activities should be characterized.

Trump did not claim China changed votes or altered election results. Instead, he argued Beijing engaged in an influence campaign aimed at shaping U.S. public perceptions.

Trump claimed intelligence officials kept significant reporting out of his presidential briefings and highlighted an email in which a National Security Agency analyst allegedly wrote, “We have deliberately massaged our one pending (presidential daily brief) to avoid any direct links to the election.”

“Those responsible for sounding the alarm instead kept the information secret and hidden,” Trump claimed. “They did not disclose (it) to me as president or to anyone else.”

TRUMP RELEASES DECLASSIFIED ELECTION INTELLIGENCE, SAYS IT REVEALS ‘SHOCKING VULNERABILITIES’

Trump used the disclosures to press Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, casting the newly released intelligence as evidence that lawmakers must tighten federal election rules before the midterms.

“Most importantly, addressing this crisis of election security demands that Congress must pass the SAVE America Act,” Trump said. “These reforms are urgently needed to stop the vulnerabilities that I’ve mentioned.”

The SAVE America Act passed the House in February but stalled in the Senate in March, when a 53–47 vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance it. Trump urged Americans to call their senators and representatives and demand its passage “without delay.”

REPUBLICAN SAYS TRUMP’S TOP ELECTION PRIORITY ‘DEAD’ IN SENATE AS GOP FRACTURES AHEAD OF MIDTERMS

The legislation would require documentary proof of citizenship to register for federal elections, photo identification to vote and ongoing state efforts to identify and remove noncitizens from voter rolls. Absentee voters would be required to submit a copy of an eligible photo ID when requesting a ballot and again when returning it.

Trump also called for eliminating mail-in voting except in cases of illness, disability, military deployment or travel. The current text of the SAVE America Act does not include that prohibition — it permits absentee voting subject to identification requirements.

Trump urged Americans to call their representatives and demand the bill’s passage “without delay.”

The newly released emails show that analysts disagreed over whether any alleged Chinese influence operations and intelligence collection should be explicitly linked to elections. After the NSA analyst described “massaging” the President’s Daily Brief, other intelligence officials questioned the decision, with one writing that “the mind boggles” and another calling the approach “highly irregular.”

One official alleged the intelligence community was “deliberately avoiding mentioning a connection to elections for non-substantive reasons,” according to a November 2020 email. That official sought to reconnect the intelligence to the election-security assessment and prevent what another described as an “analytic objectivity mistake.”

The documents, however, do not establish Trump’s broader allegation of a politically motivated conspiracy. Instead, they portray competing intelligence assessments over whether China’s actions amounted to an effort to influence the presidential contest or a broader campaign focused on U.S. policies, public opinion and issues important to Beijing.

Trump went further Thursday, claiming an FBI official wrote that she was running a “shadow government” to prevent the China intelligence from becoming public.

The Chinese embassy could not immediately be reached for comment.

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Trump directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Justice Department, FBI and CIA Thursday to investigate why the intelligence was withheld, fire anyone found to have participated in a cover-up and pursue criminal charges “if appropriate.”

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in response to the address: “Americans heard the president once again repeat claims about our elections that have been investigated for years and repeatedly rejected by the Intelligence Community.”

President Donald Trump addressed the nation Thursday evening on “free and fair” elections, announcing the declassification of critical intelligence that reveals, as he said, “shocking vulnerabilities” related to “hacking, exploitation and foreign interference.”

“This vital information is for many years been covered up and hidden from you,” Trump said. “The American people are beautiful, our great American people. But that all changes right now.”

Documents were posted to the White House website during the president’s speech.

The speech came as his administration has aggressively pushed policies, legislation and executive orders to secure U.S. elections. Leading up to the address, Trump teased that his speech would be “big news.” Trump touted his new Trump Accounts and spoke about how his administration has lowered drug prices, reduced crime, and strengthened the border – with the main focus on securing American elections.

“The documents we will release starting tonight have been gathered by the White House Government Transparency Taskforce, a great group of people, along with the staff of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, supported by our top intelligence agency chiefs, who have all personally reviewed the findings we are presenting this evening and fully confirmed their authenticity,” Trump said Thursday.

TRUMP KEEPS ‘REALLY BIG’ ADDRESS UNDER WRAPS AS WHITE HOUSE SAYS ‘NOBODY KNOWS’ WHAT HE’LL REVEAL

TRUMP THREATENS TO EXPAND STRIKES ON IRAN, SAYS POWER PLANTS ARE NEXT TO GO: ‘HIT THEM HARD’

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill is taking heat after state flag status records showed flags at full-staff despite a White House proclamation directing U.S. flags flown at half-staff nationwide in remembrance of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., through Saturday evening.

“This is probably the most political [Trenton administration], and she’s only been there six months — probably the most political governor I’ve served with in the last 25 years,” New Jersey state Sen. Joe Pennacchio, R-Boonton, told Fox News Digital Thursday. He formally requested the governor lower the flags earlier this week after Graham’s death.

A Trenton source confirmed that flags at the Capitol remained at full-staff as of midday Thursday. A New Jersey Department of State website tracking flag status also indicated “all flags full-staff” on Thursday.

SEN LINDSEY GRAHAM DEAD AT 71 AFTER ‘BRIEF AND SUDDEN’ ILLNESS, OFFICE SAYS

Sherrill, whose office did not respond to multiple requests for comment, appeared to be one of a handful of Democratic state leaders to ignore the White House’s proclamation.

Neighboring Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro both reportedly ordered flags lowered, along with leaders of California, Colorado, Maryland,

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger did not appear to issue half-staff orders either because each state’s official flag status remained “full-staff” as of Thursday. Fox News Digital reached out to both governors for comment.

Pennacchio told Fox News Digital that, after inaction from Sherrill on lowering the flags, he crafted a formal request.

Pennacchio said honoring people like Graham should be nonpartisan because Graham was a respected public figure and a decades-long U.S. Air Force veteran and someone who also exuded a bipartisan nature, particularly on key votes like confirmations of Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.

“My request was very respectful. It wasn’t partisan at all,” he said, noting that Sherrill is also a veteran.

Pennacchio said Graham would speak about the importance of putting politics aside in important moments like this, recounting that the South Carolinian defended his aisle-crossing confirmation votes by saying his advise-and-consent role was to consider whether a nominee is qualified regardless of party.

KAGAN RECALLS LINDSEY GRAHAM’S VOTE THAT HELPED SEAL HER SUPREME COURT CONFIRMATION

When Sherrill was in Congress, she represented Pennacchio’s state Senate district. He told Fox News Digital he had hope for bipartisanship with Sherrill because the two offices worked very well together on intergovernmental constituent services.

Sherrill’s decision not to lower flags also ran counter to one of New Jersey’s other most prominent Democrats, Sen. Cory Booker, who recorded a video honoring Graham.

In his video, Booker spoke of how, as a freshman senator, he was told by Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., that Graham would be a good bipartisan colleague to work with on criminal justice reform.

Booker recounted walking up to Graham and breaching the topic, and Graham jokingly admonished him that he was in a South Carolina primary with a “bat—- crazy” opponent and that he can’t even be seen with Democrats.

Graham said Booker should come back to him after the election, and he did.

“True to his word, [Graham] rolled up his sleeves and he went to work,” Booker said, adding that their collaboration ended in the passage of the First Step Act.

Booker did not respond to a request for comment on this story, but Pennacchio said he appreciated the Democrat’s gesture.

“Senator Booker is as partisan as they come, but he did the right thing and put his partisanship aside,” Pennacchio said. “The death of one diminishes a little bit of all of us.”

Another New Jersey figure who did speak out after Graham’s passing was Rep. Christopher Smith, a Republican representing the Jersey Shore and the Garden State’s longest-serving congressman.

MAJORITY LEADER THUNE: LINDSEY GRAHAM WAS THE GOP’S GLUE, BINDING US TOGETHER WITH COURAGE AND GRACE

“Lindsey Graham was an indefatigable and courageous fighter for the right to life, human rights, liberty and freedom,” Smith said earlier this week.

“He was articulate and persuasive and brought both incisive candor and humor to debate. He was a national treasure and will be deeply missed. My wife, Marie, and I offer our deepest condolences to his family.”

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Fox News Digital also reached out to Booker’s counterpart, Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., for comment on the situation.

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“Our nation has long understood that when a public servant passes away after a lifetime of service to the American people, we come together and honor them with dignity and respect. New Jersey should not be the exception,” Pennacchio said.

FIRST ON FOX – The Department of Homeland Security told election officials in California, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania a preliminary review found what could be more than 256,000 noncitizens registered to vote across the four states, according to letters obtained by Fox News Digital.

In the four letters dated Friday, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the department compared publicly available voter registration records with federal immigration data and uncovered thousands of potential matches. He asked state election officials to work with DHS to verify the identities before taking any action.

According to the letters, DHS estimates there may be as many as 190,832 noncitizens registered to vote in California, 35,152 in New Jersey, 15,903 in Nevada and 14,576 in Pennsylvania. 

The department said it found 81,336 California registrants, 19,497 New Jersey registrants, 8,576 Nevada registrants and 8,594 Pennsylvania registrants whose names, dates of birth, addresses and Social Security numbers match noncitizens in DHS records.

DHS PLANS COSTLY CRACKDOWN ON STATES THAT DON’T COOPERATE ON ELECTION SECURITY

Many noncitizens are legally issued Social Security numbers, including lawful permanent residents, people authorized to work in the United States and certain visa holders. DHS said it used Social Security numbers as one of several identifiers in matching voter registration records with federal immigration records.

The letters describe the findings as a preliminary review.

“The most efficient way to ensure the accuracy of our findings is to work collaboratively on identity verification,” Mullin wrote. DHS said it is prepared to provide immigration records under federal law to help states determine whether those individuals are eligible to remain on the voter rolls.

DHS DIRECTS ICE TO DEPORT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHO VOTE IN AMERICAN ELECTIONS UNDER NEW DIRECTIVE

Mullin said ensuring that only U.S. citizens vote in federal elections is essential to protecting election integrity, writing that “allowing just one non-citizen to vote cancels the vote of one U.S. citizen.” 

He added that states maintain voter registration rolls while the federal government maintains the immigration records needed to verify citizenship.

The letters ask the secretaries of state to contact DHS by July 24 so the department can begin sharing records and assisting with the verification process ahead of future federal elections.

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California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt, New Jersey Secretary of State Dale Caldwell and Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital requests for comment.

The letters come as the Trump administration continues pushing states to work more closely with federal agencies on election security and voter eligibility, arguing that access to federal immigration records can help states maintain accurate voter rolls.

Several Republican senators challenged the credibility of the testimony of a former Biden Justice Department official during the second day of the Todd Blanche confirmation hearing, pointing to the part she played in the clemency granted to 37 death row inmates.

Democrats called Elizabeth Oyer, the former U.S. pardon attorney at the Department of Justice, a nonpolitical position she served from April 2022 until March 2025 when then-Deputy Attorney General Blanche fired her, which she argued was politically motivated.

While Democrats cast the former pardon attorney as evidence Blanche had politicized the Justice Department, Republicans argued her recommendations to commute the sentences of federal death row inmates undermined her credibility.

Blanche, who has served as acting attorney general since April 2, did not publicly disclose the reasoning for Oyer’s firing, but she claimed it was because she refused to recommend that actor Mel Gibson, who serves as a special envoy to Hollywood for President Donald Trump, have his gun rights restored. The Justice Department denied this as the cause for her firing.

TRUMP’S AG NOMINEE RACKS UP MASSIVE SUPPORT AHEAD OF CONFIRMATION HEARING: ‘REAL RESULTS’

In her opening testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday, Oyer mentioned Blanche’s handling of the Epstein files and Ghislaine Maxwell’s reassignment to a lower security prison as among the main reasons Blanche should not become attorney general.

“At the end of the day, the priority of this DOJ is protecting powerful men, even when it comes at the expense of vulnerable women,” Oyer testified Thursday.

But Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.; Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.; and Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, hammered Oyer over an internal memo from Nov. 4, 2024, in which she recommended that Attorney General Merrick Garland advise President Joe Biden to consider commuting the 40 remaining federal death sentences. Biden went on to commute the death sentences of 37 of those recommended.

“You have no credibility to talk about Todd Blanche. You have none,” Schmitt said. “You’ve come here, you deny basic facts. You recommended the commutation of murderers. You gave no quarter at all or any time to the victims of these brutal murders. So, again, I can’t believe you’ve been called here by the other side. But I’m glad we’ve had an opportunity to expose your hypocrisy.”

A report from the Justice Department found that Oyer’s 73-page memorandum only dedicated three paragraphs to address the grievances of the victims’ families.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES IT’S READOPTING THE FIRING SQUAD AS A MEANS OF EXECUTION

Earlier in the hearing, Hawley pointed out some of the notorious federal death row inmates whose death sentences Oyer recommended be commuted to life in prison. Among them was Dylan Roof, who was convicted in the June 17, 2015, mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Charleston, South Carolina, where he killed nine Black parishioners during a Bible study. Biden ultimately declined to pardon him.

“You said that actually Roof is not a compelling candidate for clemency, but you recommended it anyway,” Hawley said, referring to Oyer’s memorandum. “Why? Because he suffered from anxiety. You said, ‘Right, he suffered from anxiety’. Did it ever occur to you that maybe the family of his victims might suffer a little bit of anxiety because he marched into their church and murdered them in cold blood, because he was an incredible racist and he wanted to get on TV?”

Hawley then turned to Oyer’s recommendation to commute the death sentence of Robert Bowers, who was convicted of 63 federal charges stemming from the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue shooting, which killed 11 Jewish worshipers. Biden also did not commute Bowers’ sentence.

“This guy killed people just because they’re Jews,” Hawley said. “A jury recommended that he be sentenced to death, and you substituted your judgment for theirs, and now he’s going to live. Are you proud of that?”

“Sir, what I am proud of is the fact that I took my job as pardon attorney extremely seriously,” Oyer said in response.

“I think your judgment is astoundingly terrible. I’m amazed that this side of the aisle has called you.” Hawley responded.

SENATOR TIM SHEEHY: SOFT-ON-CRIME JUDGES NEED CONSEQUENCES. THE JAIL ACT DELIVERS

But Grassley pointed out that Oyer also recommended commuting the death sentence of Jorge Avila-Torrez. Torrez was on federal death row for convictions for the stabbing deaths of two young girls in Illinois, the murder of Navy Petty Officer Amanda Snell at a Virginia military base and the abduction and rape of a University of Maryland graduate student.

He pressed Oyer on the pardon recommendations she made. Oyer refused to answer, invoking the president’s executive privilege.

“You can’t even tell me if you contacted the victim’s family?” Grassley asked. “You can’t say yes or no to that?”

Oyer said that all the death row inmates who received clemency will spend the rest of their lives behind bars.

“These are absolutely horrific cases,” Oyer said. “And every one of the individuals you mentioned will remain incarcerated for the rest of their lives, most likely in a maximum security prison facility.”

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., condemned his Republican colleagues’ line of questioning with Oyer later in the hearing.

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“I just want to start off by saying, Miss Oyer, I hold you in the highest esteem and respect, especially what you’re doing now as a private citizen,” Booker said. “You use a platform to educate people about the law. 

“It is technical, but yet accessible. And the badgering you just endured, it should be completely unacceptable. You were asked to comment on things you didn’t have before you. The treatment here, to me, is just outrageous. And I apologize on behalf of the United States Senate.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s office and Oyer for comment.

EXCLUSIVE: An Illinois Angel Mom whose daughter died after a tragic encounter with an illegal alien last year revealed to Fox News Digital details of a conversation she had with President Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee that convinced her he’s the man for the job.

“I immediately felt so pulled towards him,” Jennifer Bos said, speaking about Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “You get a certain energy from people, and he is just the kindest… He listened to my story very intently, and you could just see his mind ticking like, ‘what are we going to do about this?'”

Bos’ daughter, Megan Bos, was just 37 when she was found dead in April 2026, stuffed in a garbage can and soaked in bleach, 51 days after she disappeared. An illegal alien from Mexico, Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez, was charged with several felonies in relation to Megan’s death after her body was found on his property.

HUNDREDS OF JAILED ILLEGAL ALIENS RELEASED BACK ONTO BLUE-STATE STREETS DESPITE ICE DETAINERS, RECORDS SHOW

Mendoza-Gonzalez is accused of abuse of a corpse, two counts of concealing the death of a person and obstructing justice. He claims Megan overdosed, and insists he had nothing to do with her death.

Due to Illinois’ sanctuary policies, Mendoza-Gonzalez walked free after an initial hearing, infuriating Jennifer. He was tracked down and re-arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Indiana in July 2026, just days after Jennifer shared her tragic story with Trump when they crossed paths at an anti-fentanyl bill signing.

Jennifer and her husband are now raising Megan’s daughter, who was five years old when her mother died.

EXCLUSIVE: DHS HONORS ANGEL FAMILIES DURING NATIONAL CRIME VICTIMS WEEK, CALLS CRIMES ‘COMPLETELY PREVENTABLE’

Though, as Jennifer noted, there is nothing Blanche can do to help her family specifically, since her daughter has already tragically died, she is confident the attorney general nominee understands the plight of Angel Families everywhere.

“We’re trying to make a difference for people who haven’t been touched by this kind of tragedy, who haven’t been touched be the violence that can be from an illegal immigrant,” Jennifer said.

She said she thinks Blanche, placed as acting attorney general after Pam Bondi’s ouster, is “being true to the job he’s supposed to do.”

“I trust that he’s doing the right thing for the right reasons,” she continued.

Jennifer testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee just 24 hours after Democrats on the committee attempted to shred Blanche’s credibility, and paint him as a personal yes-man for Trump.

She told Fox News Digital those same Democrats have completely ignored families whose lives have been forever altered by the death of a relative at the hands of an illegal alien, including hers. She didn’t speak to any Democrats on the panel before her Thursday testimony.

TODD BLANCHE EARNS ATTORNEY GENERAL BID ENDORSEMENT FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT ALLIANCE AHEAD OF CONFIRMATION

“You know, before President Trump came into office, Angel Families were inconvenient truths,” she said. “They didn’t want to acknowledge the damage that was being done by having open borders and by having people here illegally, that they couldn’t track, they couldn’t identify.”

She described Republicans and independents as “welcoming,” and said they’re always open to meetings and helping Angel Families tell their stories.

Jennifer came face-to-face with her own senator, Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who is the Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee, during Thursday’s hearing.

“I was very frustrated listening to my own senator when he addressed me directly, giving his apologies, because all I could think of was, you know, I’ve been out in the public, I’m everywhere, I have been for the last year and a half, yet never once has he said anything to me, reached out to me or anything of the like,” said Jennifer.

She said the issue of illegal alien crime is “very nonpartisan,” noting that it can happen to anyone regardless of political ideology and expressing disappointment that both sides of the political aisle can’t come together to solve the problem.

Jennifer did say that Durbin approached her to chat after the hearing, and that she is hopeful the pair can collaborate on solutions in the future.

During the hearing, Jennifer said Blanche is listening to Angel Families, and that they’re “being taken seriously.”

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“I’m asking the committee not to wait until another mother is sitting where I am, confirmed Todd Blanche,” she said. “He is a leader who will uphold the law, honor victims, confront dangerous criminal organizations, and fight to give other American families the safety and lasting protection that came too late for mine.”

“I couldn’t save my daughter. But Todd Blanche as attorney general, he might save yours because next time, it could be your child. It could be your family. It could be you.”

The Trump administration is opening civil-rights investigations into the University of Connecticut and the University of Minnesota after receiving complaints alleging the schools are operating dorm programs that may be steering students into campus housing services based on race.

The complaints, filed by the Equal Protection Project and obtained by Fox News Digital, accuse UConn of operating three allegedly discriminatory housing programs — ScHOLA²RS House, BSOUL House and La Comunidad Intelectual — promoted toward Black male, Black female and Hispanic students. A separate complaint against the University of Minnesota Twin Cities names four programs — Huntley House, Charlotte’s Home, CASA SOL and Tsev Hmoob — that allegedly are promoted toward Black male, Black female, Hispanic and Hmong American students. 

According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the programs potentially violate the Fair Housing Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and constitutional equal-protection guarantees by steering students toward or away from dormitory housing programs – which also include student support services – based on race, color or national origin, even when the universities say the programs are “open to all.”

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“Unlawful discrimination cannot be allowed to poison American communities or separate members of our next generation —especially in college and university housing,” Secretary Scott Turner said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Every student has the right to learn and live in an educational environment free from illegal and divisive DEI. Unlike the Biden Administration, the Trump Administration does not play favorites. Every American deserves the law’s protection, and any institution of higher education that engages in unlawful housing discrimination will be held accountable.”

Both universities denied engaging in discriminatory housing practices.

A University of Minnesota spokesperson told Fox News Digital the school wasn’t aware of the probe from HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, but argued the school’s programs are compliant with “federal regulations, guidelines and anti-discrimination laws.” HUD confirmed to Fox News Digital it sent notice of the investigation to the university ahead of publication. 

“The University’s Living Learning Communities are open to all students, regardless of race or ethnicity, which is clearly stated on our website,” the spokesperson said. “The University is diligent in its compliance with federal regulations, guidelines and anti-discrimination laws.”

HUD LAUNCHES CIVIL RIGHTS INVESTIGATION INTO BOSTON’S DEI HOUSING POLICIES OVER ALLEGED RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

However, the Equal Protection Project’s complaint cited by HUD appeared to anticipate UMN’s defense, arguing that the school’s “open to all” disclaimer does not resolve the alleged problem because the university still “expressly defines and markets” the residential communities around race or ethnicity. 

“Such perfunctory non-discrimination language does not cure the racial steering violation,” the complaint says.

The complaint points to UMN materials describing Huntley House as a community “designed for Black men,” Charlotte’s House as “designed for Black women,” CASA SOL as “designed for Latinx students” and Tsev Hmoob as “designed for Hmong American students,” all of which provide housing and programmatic benefits including peer mentoring, academic support, community events and shared residential space for selected students.

The complaint also alleges UMN added its “open to all” language to at least three of the programs sometime after March 17, 2026, based on internet archive history, and argues that the late-added disclaimer does not cure the alleged violation. Instead, the complaint says, the added language suggests the university was aware its race-based descriptions and opens them to legal liability.

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Meanwhile, UConn also denied discriminating in campus housing.

“UConn does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, or any other aspect of identity, including in our on-campus housing,” a university spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

“UConn is home to nearly 20 different interdisciplinary living and learning communities within on-campus housing, all of which are organized around students who may have similar interests, backgrounds, or academic pursuits, including the three that were specifically named,” the spokesperson continued. “However, these communities are open to all students and no student is denied access to these communities based on their identity.”

But the Equal Protection Project complaint cited by HUD in conjunction with its new probe argues that UConn’s housing programs, which also offer student support services, may still amount to unlawful racial steering even if students outside the named groups are not formally barred. 

UConn’s housing descriptions for ScHOLA²RS House, BSOUL House and La Comunidad Intelectual, the complaint alleged, have been promoted in a manner that could signal to other students that the housing programs are not intended for them. The complaint points specifically to the schools’ promotional materials and social media posts, arguing the housing the programs’ titles, descriptions and imagery are likely to steer non-Black or non-Hispanic students away from applying, regardless of whether UConn intended to discriminate.

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“This information steers individuals (‘ordinary readers’) towards and away from dormitory housing based on these preferences in violation of the FHA,” the complaint against UConn states, adding that the allegation holds “even if UConn in fact has no discriminatory intent.”

The complaint highlights how UConn’s learning communities allow students to live together while participating in shared academic courses, mentoring and co-curricular programming, and says the named programs also promote support including academic and social or emotional support, research opportunities, professional development, seminar courses, events and shared community space.

“When parents entrust their children to universities, they expect these institutions to cultivate independent thinkers who will engage with life’s permanent questions, pursue truth, beauty, and goodness, and carry forward the great intellectual, moral, and cultural inheritance of Western civilization,” Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Craig Trainor told Fox News Digital. 

“Too often, however, these young Americans arrive on campus only to be steered toward racially segregated housing arrangements that divide students, create unequal experiences, and betray the core principles of a classical liberal education,” he concluded. “We will fully investigate the allegations against the University of Connecticut and the University of Minnesota to determine if they are, in fact, violating the Fair Housing Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”

FIRST ON FOX: A conservative organization is calling for a sweeping overhaul of America’s service academies and war colleges, arguing the institutions have drifted too far toward civilian academia and urging Congress to permanently enshrine the Trump administration’s military education reforms into law.

The 12-page blueprint, obtained by Fox News Digital, was drafted by Restoration of America, a conservative advocacy organization that promotes right-leaning public policy proposals and political engagement, and proposes reshaping admissions, curriculum, faculty and governance around a single objective: preparing officers to “win the nation’s wars” by returning military education to what its authors describe as a warfighting-first mission.

“The expectation is that they’re generating warfighters, not philosophers and future bureaucrats,” Restoration of America founder Doug Truax, a West Point graduate, told Fox News Digital. “We pay a lot for these academies… and the expectation is that they’re generating warfighters.” 

COAST GUARD ENDING RACE-BASED ADMISSIONS FOR OFFICER COMMISSIONING PROGRAM UNDER TRUMP DEI CRACKDOWN

A Pentagon review already has led to changes at the academies. West Point disbanded a dozen cadet clubs centered on race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation to comply with the administration’s anti-diversity, equity and inclusion directives.

During a March 26, 2025, Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, the service academy superintendents testified that West Point had eliminated two elective courses — “Race, Ethnicity and Nation” and “Power and Difference” — while the Naval Academy canceled two courses, “Gender Matters” and “Gender Sexuality Studies,” and modified 18 others as part of a Pentagon-directed review of diversity-related curriculum.

But Truax argues those changes should not end with executive action.

“We have to take our opportunity when we have power to put this into law,” Truax said. “Otherwise, we’ll look back and be like, well, we had that one little moment where it was getting better, but now we’re right back where we were.”

SENATE DEMS DRAW RARE LINE AGAINST MUST-PASS PENTAGON BILL

Truax said the foundation is sharing the blueprint with lawmakers and administration officials in hopes Congress ultimately will codify many of the recommendations through legislation. He said executive orders can be reversed by future administrations, making statutory changes the only way to ensure the reforms endure.

The blueprint is organized around four pillars — admissions, curriculum, faculty and governance — and proposes some of the most sweeping changes to military education advanced by conservatives since President Donald Trump returned to office.

Among its recommendations, the paper calls for permanently banning consideration of race, ethnicity and sex in admissions decisions, requiring at least 75% of coursework to focus directly on military competencies and warfighting, replacing most civilian professors with active-duty or retired military officers and abolishing tenure at military educational institutions.

LIBERAL FACULTY STILL HUGELY OUTNUMBER CONSERVATIVES IN HIGHER EDUCATION: REPORT

It also recommends ending academy participation in the Rhodes Scholarship program, arguing the military’s top young officers should spend their formative years leading troops rather than pursuing prestigious overseas academic fellowships, along with eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion offices and restructuring academy oversight boards.

Truax argued the nation’s military academies gradually adopted the culture and priorities of civilian universities during the Obama and Biden administrations, shifting attention away from preparing officers for combat.

Critics of similar proposals argue senior military education exists to prepare future generals and admirals for strategic leadership rather than tactical command.

In a March essay published by War on the Rocks, retired Army officer Bradford Duplessis argued “the cult of lethality approach, characterized by its focus on tactical warfighting at the expense of strategic study, will not produce senior military leaders with the necessary skills and attributes to effectively lead in today’s complex environment.”

“The removal of civilian faculty from the war colleges would result in brain drain in vital areas where military officers possess little to no experience or education,” he wrote.

Duplessis argued senior officers “must understand the responsibilities of their future bosses” and said strategic leadership requires an understanding of diplomacy, politics and other instruments of national power in addition to military force.

Truax rejected that argument, saying he believes the officer corps has spent too much time learning to think like “politicians, State Department employees and military contractors” instead of warriors — a theme echoed throughout the blueprint.

While Truax praised Hegseth for taking what he called “a number of steps in the right direction,” he argued executive action alone is insufficient.

“There’s been a number of steps in the right direction,” Truax said. “However, here’s the main problem. A lot of this has been done by executive order.”

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“Woke did not go anywhere,” he added. “It’s just in hiding right now.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of War and all three military service academies for comment.

House GOP leaders narrowly avoided a major setback Thursday as they race to pass a third-party-line megabill, but fiscal hawks are still threatening to derail the effort down the road.

The first test came Thursday at a critical House Budget Committee markup, during which the panel approved a $95 billion budget reconciliation framework along party lines.

But House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is likely to face trouble on the House floor next week as some conservatives sharply criticize the package for including no spending-cut instructions. 

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a member of the budget panel, did not vote.

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The budget blueprint now heads to the House Rules Committee, where GOP leaders will attempt to win a key vote and put the plan up for a chamber-wide vote by the end of next week.

The framework would provide $73 billion for defense and intelligence, allocate $12 billion in assistance to farmers and establish a $10 billion funding pot that is expected to provide grants to states to implement elements of the SAVE America Act.

House fiscal hawks warned earlier this week that the bill was a non-starter because it included no spending offsets.

“I think that a no offset plan is dead on arrival because, frankly, three of us would kill it,” Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, told reporters. “And so, I think that’s likely at this point.”

Passing a budget blueprint is the first step to unlock the complex budget reconciliation process, which requires near-unanimity among Republicans amid their slim margins.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., can afford to lose just three GOP defections assuming all members are present and voting.

SENATE FACES ‘COME-TO-JESUS’ MOMENT ON TRUMP’S ELECTION PRIORITY UNDER GOP’S NEW PLAN

Republicans are pursuing a third “big, beautiful bill” to cut Democrats out of the process, meaning Johnson will have to rely solely on GOP votes.

The plan also faces an uphill battle in the Senate, where some Republicans remain skeptical of another reconciliation effort. House Republicans’ blueprint notably contains no spending instructions for the upper chamber, an omission that could further delay the process.

If the budget blueprint advances out of the House and Senate, only then will lawmakers start writing the actual bill.

The plan could also face trouble in the upper chamber, where a faction of Senate Republicans remain skeptical of another reconciliation effort.

“Everybody is betting against us being able to get it done,” Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. “I am more and more optimistic each day that passes.”

Johnson has cast the effort as the best opportunity for Republicans to pass pieces of the stalled SAVE America Act before the November midterm elections.

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“It’s our best shot at enacting our party’s top priority legislation, the SAVE America Act,” Johnson said Wednesday at a news conference with Vice President JD Vance. “It is important to the American people and it’s important to the future.”

The Republican in charge of funding and backing candidates for the Senate has two people in mind to replace the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., has been fielding calls from former and current members of Congress all interested in jumping into the Aug. 11 special election to replace the late lawmaker, but there’s only one he’s been calling consistently: former Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C.

Scott said during an event remembering his colleague Graham on Wednesday, “You probably will be surprised to hear this, but I have an affinity for Trey Gowdy.

GRAHAM’S DEATH IGNITES GOP SCRAMBLE FOR SENATE SEAT AS TRUMP HINTS HE ALREADY HAS A FAVORITE

“Trey would be an amazing senator for South Carolina. I’m not sure that, as he says, he could afford the alimony or the pay cut,” Scott said. “But I would love to see him. He’s happily married, by the way.”

Gowdy served in the House for eight years, opting to retire from the lower chamber in 2019 after making a name for himself leading the House Select Committee on Benghazi, where he peppered former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the 2012 terrorist attacks in Libya where four Americans died. He’s since become a host on Fox News.

Scott believed that Gowdy could easily slot into the role because of his years of experience in Congress, and noted that he shared similar areas of expertise as Graham, given his past as a prosecutor and his foreign policy acumen.

TRUMP AG PICK HANGS BY A THREAD AS KEY GOP SENATORS REFUSE TO COMMIT

And he could easily step in on the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Graham was expected to become chair next year, to debate and help select a new Supreme Court Justice should a retirement come down the pike in the near future.

“I think he would make a great representative,” Scott said. “I think that’s undeniably true.”

“I can’t think of a better person that, I think, represents the heart of South Carolina than Trey Gowdy,” Scott said. “However, he’s been pretty clear that he is not looking for the job, asking for the job. I’m trying to get him interested in it, but we’ll see if that works out at all.”

TRUMP REVEALS WHO HE’S EYEING TO REPLACE LINDSEY GRAHAM

But,he acknowledged that there are others who may be catching the eye of President Donald Trump, who will likely have a major role in tapping Graham’s successor.

“The president’s enthusiasm around Russell Fry probably is no surprise to anybody,” Scott said. “But I have not seen or heard of an endorsement yet coming out of the White House.”

Trump has suggested that Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., who he handpicked to run for the House four years ago, would be a person to watch in the special election. And Fry has been communicating with the White House about jumping into the race.

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But there’s also another person that, in Scott’s opinion, would be a near-perfect fit to replace Graham: his sister, Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., who was appointed to fill out the remainder of her brother’s term.

“I think the truth of the matter is that Darline has so far been off to a remarkable start,” he said. “Why not her, would be my question.”

The Trump administration announced Thursday it is investigating 75 entry-level truck driver commercial driver’s license schools across the U.S. that are suspected of fraudulently helping put non-citizen drivers on American highways.

The Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) are partnering to address fraud regarding the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs to illegal aliens.

“FMCSA has identified approximately 75 entry-level driving training schools suspected of fraudulent activities, including using improper driver certifications, falsifying training records, and failing to properly train drivers applying for CDLs, among other violations,” DHS announced in a release Thursday.

The crackdown comes after months of American deaths from truck-driving accidents caused by reported illegal immigrants.

“Too many American lives have been lost in completely avoidable accidents because illegal aliens have been granted commercial driver’s licenses to drive trucks and 18-wheelers on America’s roadways,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin wrote in a statement. 

“DHS law enforcement is partnering with the Department of Transportation to eliminate CDL fraud, strengthen the integrity of the CDL system, and investigate commercial driver’s license schools throughout the country. This is a whole-of-government approach, to keep America’s roads safe.”

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy hailed President Donald Trump’s DHS investigators for being “force multiplier” in the administration’s effort to root out CDL fraud and restore safety to America’s streets.

“USDOT has spent the last year rooting out bad actors from our trucking industry,” Duffy wrote in a statement. 

“We’ve knocked over 24,000 drivers off our roads for failing to speak English, forced states to cancel over 28,000 licenses illegally issued to foreign drivers, and purged over 9,500 unqualified training schools from our FMCSA registry.

“DHS will be a force multiplier of our efforts to clean up America’s roads. President Trump is using every lever at his disposal to ensure the safety of American families.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday he was the target of an assassination attempt by a “left-wing activist” just two hours after being sworn into office, citing the case as evidence that violent political extremism from the left is a real and growing threat.

Speaking at the State Department‘s Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism, Bessent pushed back against critics who have questioned the Trump administration’s focus on violent far-left extremist groups.

“I’m going to remind everyone in this room — and all the media — that I was the subject of an assassination attempt by an addled left-wing activist two hours after being sworn into my job,” Bessent said. “Any of you who want to report that this is a fiction and does not exist, be there for the sentencing this August.”

Bessent appeared to be referring to Ryan Michael English, a 24-year-old Massachusetts man who pleaded guilty in March to charges related to attempting to assassinate the then-Treasury secretary nominee at the U.S. Capitol.

English traveled to Washington on Jan. 27, 2025, carrying a folding knife and two improvised Molotov cocktails before approaching a U.S. Capitol Police officer and asking to turn himself in, according to the Justice Department.

Prosecutors said English admitted he had come to the Capitol intending to kill a Cabinet nominee whose Senate confirmation vote was scheduled that day or burn down a Washington think tank. Investigators also recovered a note in which he allegedly wrote, in part, “This is terrible but I cant do nothing while nazis kill my sisters.”

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English pleaded guilty in March to one count of unlawful receipt, possession and transfer of a firearm and one count of carrying a dangerous weapon on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol. He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 14.

Before his time as Treasury secretary, Bessent spent years at Soros Fund Management, serving as the firm’s chief investment officer from 2011 to 2015 after earlier helping lead its London office. Following his departure, he launched Key Square Capital Management with backing from George Soros, the billionaire investor and Democratic megadonor who has frequently been a target of criticism from Trump and other conservatives.

Bessent made the remarks as administration officials gathered representatives from roughly 65 countries for a State Department summit aimed at building international cooperation against what the Trump administration describes as a resurgence of violent far-left political terrorism.

The Trump administration took the fight over who controls U.S. attorney appointments to a whole new level, firing a Seattle-based prosecutor less than an hour after he was picked for the job without the blessing of the administration.

“District court judges can appoint a temporary U.S. Attorney, and POTUS can fire them,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote Wednesday on X as he was testifying before the Senate in his confirmation hearing, calling out a U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington state panel for elevating Judge Roger Rogoff to be the top federal prosecutor in Seattle.

“WDWA judges abandoned the time-honored process of consultation with the administration so that the selected U.S. Attorney is qualified to serve in the administration,” Blanche said. “Roger Rogoff has been fired by the President.”

That post came after Rogoff, 57, a former King County Superior Court judge and longtime state and federal prosecutor, was sworn in before 8 a.m. local time at the federal courthouse in downtown Seattle as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington.

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He then went to the U.S. Attorney’s Office and asked to meet with Charles Neil Floyd, the Trump administration’s preferred choice for the job, whose 120-day interim term expired in February.

While Rogoff waited in the lobby, he received an email notifying him that Trump had removed him from office.

Rogoff’s situation was not mentioned in Blanche’s Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday, but Blanche is back before the Senate again Thursday and Rogoff now might be a notable topic of discussion during his confirmation process.

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The quick dismissal came after all 17 active and senior federal judges in the deep-blue district appointed Rogoff to the vacancy. The judges, appointed by five presidents (10 by Democrats and seven by Republicans), had opened an application process after the administration did not send Floyd’s nomination to the Senate and instead kept him in place by making him first assistant U.S. attorney while leaving the top job vacant.

U.S. attorneys, who serve as the Justice Department’s chief federal prosecutors in each district, are normally nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Federal law allows the attorney general to name an interim U.S. attorney for 120 days. If that period expires without a confirmed nominee, district judges may appoint someone to serve until the vacancy is filled.

Because of obstruction by Democrats in the narrowly held Senate, the Trump administration has resorted to using acting titles and other personnel moves to keep its prosecutors in place. Courts have pushed back in several Democrat-heavy districts like Seattle and New Jersey, issuing legal challenges to the Justice Department and White House authority.

“I don’t think it’s the way to run the Department of Justice,” Rogoff told The New York Times. “When you have this sort of made up way of putting people in these positions, the process breaks down.”

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., opposed Floyd for the U.S. attorney job and blasted Rogoff’s quick firing.

“Throughout his career, he has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to public service, and he was appointed legally by the federal judges in the Western District of Washington,” Murray wrote in a statement. “This administration doesn’t want to deal with advice and consent — they just want to install cronies to carry out a corrupt political agenda.”

LEGAL WAR ON TRUMP’S AGENDA GAINS FIREPOWER AS FEDERAL LAWYERS DEFECT TO DEMOCRATS

Trump administration officials have long noted that the “advise and consent” role of the Senate does not grant Democrats against Trump’s administrative priorities to be a hard block on his agenda and nominees, though.

Rogoff has retained an employment law firm and is considering a legal challenge to his firing.

Fox News Digital reached out to Rogoff for comment.

The Seattle clash follows similar disputes elsewhere. In New Jersey, Alina Habba resigned as the top federal prosecutor after an appeals court said she had been serving unlawfully. In Virginia, Lindsey Halligan left an acting U.S. attorney post after a judge found her appointment unlawful and dismissed indictments she had brought against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey.

The administration has also fired court-appointed U.S. attorneys in other districts.

Rogoff, who spent 20 years as a state prosecutor and six as a federal prosecutor before becoming a state judge, said he knew the administration might fire him immediately. Despite this, he said he had no qualms about the potential conflict he was walking into, because being U.S. attorney is “the best job there is.”

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“I’m really proud of my career,” Rogoff said. “The fact that the judges of this district — most of whom I’ve spent my career appearing in front of, or trying cases against, or working with — believed that I was the right person to do this work is just really humbling and amazing.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has “no plans” to leave the Democratic Party but if it officially became the “anti-Israel party,” count him out.

“My long-term concern has been with the Democratic Party, as I am a member of that, is that our party is going to back away and turn their back to Israel,” he said Wednesday at the Hill Nation Summit in Washington, D.C.

“If our party ever becomes, and just makes it official, the anti-Israel party, that’s when I would leave because that’s been a moral clarity for me.”

The news comes as Fetterman and fellow Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., launch a rare joint fundraising PAC called “Common Ground PA” this month, according to FEC filings, and Fetterman’s breaks from Democratic Party votes have become increasingly apparent since he was elected in 2022 and took office Jan. 3, 2023.

SEN JOHN FETTERMAN PLEDGES TO BE ‘LAST MAN STANDING’ IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN SUPPORT OF ISRAEL

“Though I was elected as a Democrat, I’m proud to serve all Pennsylvanians,” Fetterman wrote in a May op-ed, delivering the age-old mantra that he has not changed from his principles, the party has. “It has become increasingly lonely to serve in that way, but I firmly believe it’s what is needed.

“My party cannot simply be the opposite of whatever President Donald Trump says. The president could come out for ice cream and lazy Sundays, and my party would suddenly hate them. Such pointless pile-ons and attacks are unproductive. The American people want us to work together to find solutions on issues they and our country face.”

His lines in the sand, he wrote, had been laid bare on:

• Israel
• Open borders
• Party toxicity
• Anti-Trump reflex
• Obstruction and government shutdowns
• Defund the police
• Lack of “working across the aisle”
• Poor candidate vetting
• Rejection of voter ID

JOHN FETTERMAN’S FALL FROM HERO TO HERETIC EXPOSES DEMOCRATS’ HARD LEFT TURN

The push away from Israel has become a “long-term concern” that he “can’t understand” and might ultimately become the ultimate red line for him, he told the Hill Nation Summit.

“You look at the kinds of individuals that are winning our recent primaries,” he said. “It’s becoming more … anti-Israel and hostile to people.”

Fetter declined to discuss what he called “private conversations” with Republicans on a potential party switch, but he wrote in May he would first become independent.

“Being an independent voice that works with the other side to deliver for Pennsylvanians might put me at odds with the party that I have stayed committed to and have no plans to leave — but I will continue to put the commonwealth and the country first,” he wrote.

“Plus, I’d be a terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats.”

WHY TRUMP, GOP ARE COURTING JOHN FETTERMAN, WHO INSISTS HE’LL REMAIN A DEMOCRAT

The latest vow to break from Democratic Party votes is his rejection of the amendment from Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., that would cut off $3.3 billion in annual security assistance to Israel.

He is also increasingly concerned about the primary election successes of progressive candidates who have been sharply critical of Israel – evidence of what he views as a troubling shift inside his party.

Democrats are “trying to ingratiate ourselves with that segment of the base of our voters” that are “intensely, intensely anti-Israel,” he warned Wednesday.

Fetterman also raised concerns about Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed’s performance in polling for the Michigan Senate primary, warning that Democrats could be forced to spend more heavily in the battleground state if El-Sayed becomes the nominee against former Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., who narrowly lost Michigan’s 2024 Senate race.

“Rogers just barely, barely lost in ’24,” Fetterman said.

“If El-Sayed wins, then that puts Michigan much more in play for us and would require us to spend more money. What’s defined El-Sayed is the more anti-Israel and hostile-to-Israel thing.”

Fetterman also criticized El-Sayed and other progressive candidates over past support for the “defund the police” movement, arguing that his party risks repeating political mistakes from the 2024 election.

“Now here’s more Democrats to ‘defund the police,’” he warned. “Here we are back to part of the worst impulses that we just can’t resist.

“We forgot the crazy things that we said, and that cost us the election in 2024. Now we want to revisit that — if anything they’re coming back in the strongest kind of terms. Look at the people who are winning.”

The senator also took aim at fellow Democrats who backed progressive Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner before Platner ended his campaign following allegations that he raped a woman in 2021.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., forcefully supported Platner, which left him “angry,” he said, questioning why Democrats embraced him as the evidence mounted.

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“Why did you push these people? Why did you buy in and then plunge that most consequential Senate race now into chaos?” Fetterman asked, arguing that it is now “more difficult” to defeat Republican Sen. Susan Collins and win control of the narrowly held Senate.

“Where’s the accountability?” Fetterman asked. “Imagine if I would have done that and pushed that kind of individual.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Fetterman’s Senate office and campaign officials for further comment.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., is calling for more information about Sen. Mitch McConnell’s, R-Ky., prolonged absence from the Senate, while Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., urged people to “leave Mitch alone” as questions about the Kentucky Republican’s health persist.

“Somebody needs to do something,” Tuberville told Fox News Digital. “Somebody needs to come out.”

McConnell finally broke his silence on his previously undisclosed medical conditions that have kept him absent from the Senate since he was first hospitalized on June 14. In a post to social media, McConnell said he would not be returning to the Senate floor just yet due to doctors’ orders, but vowed he would return to “finish the job” before his announced retirement at the end of his term.

MITCH MCCONNELL BREAKS SILENCE ON MYSTERY HOSPITALIZATION AFTER GRAHAM’S DEATH

Tuberville said no additional information from Senate leadership about a timeline for when McConnell may come back or the status of his health has been given out internally to his colleagues.

“We didn’t get any information today in our luncheon,” Tuberville said Tuesday. “I don’t know what’s going on, but you know that’s not my business.”

Meanwhile, Kennedy vehemently defended McConnell, dismissing rumors that the 84-year-old senator was in a vegetative state, or even dead, as some had speculated a more serious condition than what was disclosed.

“Look, I believe Mitch,” Kennedy said. “I don’t believe all these stories that he’s brain dead and all of that. People need to get a life.”

‘THIS IS NOT NORMAL’: AOC UNLOADS ON MCCONNELL’S PROLONGED ABSENCE

In his post, McConnell claimed that his childhood fight with polio contributed to a fall that left him “briefly unconscious” and hospitalized last month — when some speculated he had suffered cardiac arrest. He said he was then hit with a “mild case of pneumonia” while in recovery, extending the healing process.

“I think he had a fall, and Mitch is not 29 anymore,” Kennedy said. “And he’s recuperating from it, and he’ll be back as soon as he can.”

He continued, “That’s what he said, and I take him at his word.”

MCCONNELL WAS FOUND ‘UNCONSCIOUS’ IN HOME LAST MONTH AS CONDITION REMAINS UNKNOWN

While Tuberville also expressed his well-wishes for McConnell’s recovery, he said more information about his timeline for return needs to be shared before the Senate begins August recess — when senators will take a break to head back to their home states from Aug. 8 to Sept. 13.

“He’s gonna need to come back probably before this three-week session’s over with, because then we’re off for like five weeks,” Tuberville said.

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Tuberville said Republicans will need McConnell back as the Senate prepares for votes on President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda before lawmakers leave for the August recess. McConnell has not indicated when he expects to return.

“We’re gonna need him, because the Democrats are not gonna give us any votes,” Tuberville said.