NationalWatch

MINNEAPOLIS – Democrats opened their summer meeting in Minnesota on Monday with calls for unity against President Donald Trump, even as internal divisions on a host of issues threaten to erupt. 

“We are unified towards one single goal: to stop Donald Trump and put this country back on track,” DNC Chair Ken Martin declared when he addressed the more than 400 elected party officials from all 50 states and seven territories, as the summer meeting kicked off in his home state of Minnesota.

While Democrats appeared united in their drive to counter the sweeping and controversial moves by Trump during his first seven months back in the White House, divisions among the committee members may flare on Tuesday.

DNC CHAIR DEMANDS DEMOCRATS ‘STOP BRINGING A PENCIL TO A KNIFE FIGHT’

That’s when the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, and limiting dark money in presidential politics, will both be in the spotlight as the DNC’s Resolutions Committee meets.

Competing symbolic resolutions over the war in Gaza – which was sparked by the horrific Oct. 7, 2023, sneak attack by Hamas on Israel – will be voted on by the panel.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR 

Nearly 1,200 people in Israel were killed during the initial surprise attack by Hamas, with over 250 people taken hostage. In the nearly two years since the attack, over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s ongoing military response.

The showdown over the resolutions comes as the Democratic Party’s once nearly unshakable support for Israel has fractured amid the bloodshed. And concerns over the growing death toll among Palestinians by many in the party’s progressive base have soared this spring and summer, amid famine in Gaza.

Recent polling indicates support for Israel’s continued military actions in Gaza is plummeting among Democrats.

One resolution, which is supported by Martin, calls for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

The competing resolution calls for an arms embargo and suspension of U.S. military aid to Israel, which has long been the top American ally in the Middle East.

The other resolution that’s bound to generate spirited debate and grab headlines on Tuesday is Martin’s push for the DNC to affirm its commitment to “eliminating unlimited corporate and dark money in our presidential nominating process beginning in the current 2028 cycle.”

While Democrats have long railed against the role of big money in politics, the resolution, which was first reported by the New York Times, calls for the creation of a new panel to propose by next summer “real, enforceable steps the D.N.C. can take to eliminate unlimited corporate and dark money in its 2028 presidential primary process.”

Outside groups such as super PACs, which are allowed to haul in unlimited contributions but are mandated to disclose their donors, have seen their influence in campaign politics multiply in recent election cycles.

DNC CHAIR TELLS FOX NEWS PARTY HAS HIT ‘ROCK BOTTOM’

Democratic leaders and officials are gathering as the party tries to escape the political wilderness after last year’s elections, when Democrats lost control of the White House and Senate and fell short in their bid to win back the House majority. And Republicans made gains in voter demographics that previously made up key parts of the Democratic Party’s base.

The situation has only worsened for Democrats in the 10 months since last year’s election setbacks.

The Democrats’ brand is deeply unpopular, especially with younger voters, as the party’s poll numbers continue to drop to all-time lows in national surveys. 

The DNC faces a massive fundraising deficit at the hands of the rival Republican National Committee (RNC) and voter data indicated Democratic Party registration was plunging while GOP sign-ups were on the rise in the 30 states that register voters by party.

AMID PLUNGING POLLS, ANEMIC FUNDRAISING, DEMOCRATS LOOK TO REBOUND AT PARTY’S SUMMER MEETING

On Monday, amid talk that Democrats remain divided over a slew of policy and political issue, Martin wasn’t the only one preaching unity and downplaying any discord.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in an address to the committee members, said “there’s a division in my damn house, and we’re still married, and things are good. That’s life… We are strong because we challenge each other.”

And longtime Democratic strategist and DNC committee member Maria Cardona told Fox News, “I’m so sick of people focusing on the infighting and the circular firing squad. All of that is crap, when we have real issues, existential threats that we need to fight about, and we are all united on that front and that’s all that matters.”

Martin, who was elected DNC chair in February, has weathered turmoil during his tenure so far, including a controversy sparked by now-former vice chair David Hogg’s backing of primary challengers against older House Democrats in safe blue districts.

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RNC communications director Zach Parkinson, responding to Monday’s DNC session, told Fox News that “under Ken Martin’s leadership, Democrats have sunk to their lowest approval rating in 35 years.”

Pointing to Martin, Parkinson said “as Republicans, we think he is doing a fantastic job, and we fully endorse him to stay on as DNC Chair.”

After his home was raided by the FBI last week, former national security advisor John Bolton unleashed a blistering critique of President Donald Trump’s Ukraine policy, claiming it is marked by “confusion, haste and disarray.” 

“Collapsing in confusion, haste, and the absence of any discernible meeting of the minds among Ukraine, Russia, several European countries, and America, Trump’s negotiations may be in their last throes, along with his Nobel Peace Prize campaign,” Bolton wrote in an op-ed published in the Washington Examiner days after federal agents carried out search warrants on his home and office.

Bolton said Trump’s attempt to fast-track a peace deal was “inevitably” doomed, arguing the Alaska summit with Putin on Aug. 15 was arranged at a pace “almost surely unprecedented in modern history.” 

DEMOCRATS OPPOSED JOHN BOLTON FOR YEARS — UNTIL THEY SOUGHT HIM AS AN ALLY AGAINST TRUMP

He blasted Trump’s abrupt reversal after the meeting — backing off new sanctions on Moscow and scrapping demands for a ceasefire in favor of a “final agreement” — as proof of chaotic diplomacy.

The former U.N. ambassador also pointed to contradictions inside the administration, noting Trump told Ukraine it must strike inside Russia even as the Pentagon blocked Kyiv from doing so. The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday the Pentagon had been blocking long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMs, from reaching Ukraine. 

Meanwhile, allies such as India, Bolton wrote, were left “hanging out to dry” under new 50% U.S. tariffs while Russia and China skated free.

FBI RAID OF JOHN BOLTON’S HOME REPORTEDLY LINKED TO CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS PROBE

“His efforts over the last two-plus weeks may have left us further from peace and a just settlement for Ukraine than before,” Bolton concluded.

Bolton even went after Trump for releasing a photo of himself pointing his finger at Putin’s chest, drawing comparisons to  then-Vice President Richard Nixon’s finger-pointing during the famous kitchen debate with former Soviet Union prime minister Nikita Khrushchev. 

“Why Trump wants to be compared to the only president who resigned in disgrace is unclear.”

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Bolton was Trump’s national security advisor in 2018 and 2019, until the pair fell out. 

The FBI raid is reportedly linked to a probe of mishandling classified documents.

A federal judge in Maryland blocked the Trump administration on Monday from immediately deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda after he was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials hours earlier, delivering a temporary blow to the government’s efforts to remove the Salvadorian migrant at the center of a months-long court fight. 

Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, Abrego Garcia’s attorney, said Monday that he filed the emergency motion after his client was taken into immigration custody at the ICE Field Office in Baltimore, after he appeared there as a condition of his pretrial release from criminal custody.

The new filing asks a judge to block Abrego Garcia’s removal from the U.S. until his immigration case can play out via the proper channels, ensuring due process protections — including the right to a reasonable fear interview before being removed to a third country.

Judge Paula Xinis said that she planned to move quickly in weighing the emergency request, telling both Justice Department lawyers and attorneys for Abrego Garcia to confer privately to hash out a proposed briefing schedule, with an eye towards Friday as a possible date for an evidentiary hearing. The judge said she would hold off on any decisions until after the hearing.

ABREGO GARCIA RELEASED FROM JAIL, WILL RETURN TO MARYLAND TO AWAIT TRIAL

Xinis noted at the outset that she believed an extension of her current temporary restraining order might be “necessary,” in light of the administration’s stated plans to deport Abrego Garcia to Uganda, even as she acknowledged that the information before her was preliminary.

She also cited the daylight between the plea offer offered to Abrego Garcia late last week —  which would allow him to be sent to Costa Rica as a free individual in exchange for pleading guilty to criminal charges against him —  and the lack of stated assurances from Uganda, the East African nation agreed to accept migrants deported from the U.S. just days earlier. 

She noted there is not a known proffer from Uganda detailing what protections Abreo Garcia would have in the country, including the ability to travel freely throughout its borders,  compared to what Costa Rica provided, which included assurances that he would live in the country freely, and would have residency papers or refugee status.

Crucially, Uganda has not provided any known assurances that Abrego Garcia would not be befouled, or sent back to El Salvador, after being deported to the country.

“There’s just nothing right now on the record in that regard,” Xinis said, noting that the silence from Uganda “is certainly taken in contrast” as to what Costa Rica has offered.

JUDGE PRESSES TRUMP DOJ ON ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION; ANSWERS LEAVE COURTROOM IN STUNNED SILENCE

Though Xinis stressed the information before her was preliminary, and that the Trump administration “can certainly right the ship” by providing evidence to the contrary, she said, “the contrast is significant,” at least for now.

Before adjourning the court, she also ordered the Trump administration to keep Abrego Garcia in the same ICE detention center in Virginia, where he was moved after his arrest on Monday, after his attorneys cited concerns ICE would remove him again tonight. 

Justice Department attorney Drew Ensign did not immediately rule out that possibility, prompting her to order him to be kept there.

She also reiterated, several times, that the government must comply with the court.

“Your clients are absolutely forbidden at this juncture to remove Mr. Abrego Garcia from the continental United States,” she noted pointedly to Ensign, who agreed.

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“I’m going to take it from you, as an officer of the court, and on behalf of your clients, that there is the fullest intent to abide by those orders,” Xinis said, before following up again. “Is that accurate?”

“That is accurate, Your Honor,” Ensign said. 

I asked Donald Trump the question. Everyone asked Donald Trump the question.

Would he engage in retribution in a second term?

And we all got the same answer: He’d be too busy for that. His only retribution would be success.

Well, if Trump is not engaged in turning government against his political enemies, he’s doing a pretty good imitation of it.

Now, hardball politics is as old as the republic. The founders engaged in it. Abe Lincoln engaged in it. And you think LBJ never got his way by threatening to pull a grant or two for a congressman’s pet projects?

Look, one thing I’ve learned covering Trump for decades is that he loves to fight. In New York, back in the day, he would do battle with the likes of Ed Koch and Leona Helmsley, the “Queen of Mean.”

BROADCAST BIAS: NETWORKS OOZE WITH SYMPATHY TO ANYONE WHO OPPOSES TRUMP

When his divorce from Ivana became a tabloid sensation, Trump got on the phone with me to discuss why his proposed settlement was really generous.

We see that fighting instinct today when the president goes after not just Democrats but fellow Republicans who defy him, or won’t back his proposals – a number of whom have announced their retirements rather than lose a primary to a Trump-backed challenger.

We see that Trump-against-the-world approach with his crackdown on D.C. crime  which, despite the home-rule issues, is being welcomed by some liberals (publicly and privately) because folks are scared in a city that can’t even stop teenage carjackings.

The next target is Chicago, which also has a Black mayor, with the Washington Post reporting that there has been weeks of secret planning to send thousands of National Guard troops there. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has denounced this as an effort to spread fear, and sometimes it seems like the president is at war with urban America.

The underlying motivation is crucial: Trump believes that the Democrats waged “lawfare” against him for four years. There is no evidence that President Biden ordered such efforts, but Trump is convinced that the multiple investigations against him–as in the Stormy Daniels case–were part of a grand scheme to knock him out of the race.

And he has a point. Look at the outrageously illegal fine that Judge Arthur Engoron hit him with in the civil fraud case brought by New York AG Letitia James: $354 million, since grown to $515 million.

This was so blatantly unfair that an appellate court just threw it out as a violation of the Eighth Amendment, barring cruel and unusual punishment. James is appealing, and the court didn’t toss the whole case–the “fake” case, says Trump–but a half-billion-fine over real estate valuations seems pathetically unfair.

But when Trump cried foul, the media reaction was there he goes again, attacking every judge who disagrees with him. But Trump was right about Engoron.

The Trump DOJ, by the way, is now investigating Tish James for allegations of mortgage fraud.

So what the press sees as Trump going after his opponents is, in his eyes, just basic payback, an attempt at getting even.

Having said that…

“I just watched Sloppy Chris Christie be interviewed on a ratings challenged ‘News’ Show…on ABC Fake News,” “This Week” hosted by George Stephanopoulos.
“Can anyone believe anything that Sloppy Chris says? Do you remember the way he lied about the dangerous and deadly closure of the George Washington Bridge in order to stay out of prison, at the same time sacrificing people who worked for him, including a young mother, who spent years trying to fight off the vicious charges against her. Chris refused to take responsibility for these criminal acts. For the sake of JUSTICE, perhaps we should start looking at that very serious situation again?”

Christie, a onetime ally, was Trump’s harshest Republican critic during the campaign. As for the 2013 scandal known as Bridgegate, it was thoroughly investigated and two top Christie aides were convicted, but the Supreme Court, while blasting the conduct, overturned those convictions.

It’s worth pointing out that the decision to close some lanes on the George Washington Bridge, which created traffic chaos, was the governor’s attempt to strike back at a Democratic mayor who refused to endorse him.

“Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” wrote one of the convicted aides in a remarkably succinct message.

“I always thought he got away with murder,” Trump told reporters yesterday.

Having watched the Sunday shows, the president unloaded on two networks:

“Despite a very high popularity and, according to many, among the greatest 8 months in Presidential History, ABC & NBC FAKE NEWS, two of the worst and most biased networks in history, give me 97% BAD STORIES. IF THAT IS THE CASE, THEY ARE SIMPLY AN ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY AND SHOULD, ACCORDING TO MANY, HAVE THEIR LICENSES REVOKED BY THE FCC. I would be totally in favor of that because they are so biased and untruthful, an actual threat to our Democracy!!!”

CHRIS MATTHEWS SAYS DEMOCRATS ‘FALLING INTO A TRAP OF DEFENDING WHAT’S INDEFENSIBLE’ ON CRIME

He added that ABC and NBC should be paying “Millions of Dollars a year in LICENSE FEES…Crooked ‘journalism’ should not be rewarded, it should be terminated!!!”

Now networks shouldn’t lose their licenses just because the president doesn’t like their coverage. Maybe they should be paying more for use of the airwaves, but that should apply to all networks; so far they’ve played by the rules.

Trump and John Bolton have been at each other’s throats since the president fired the national security adviser. There was a criminal investigation over Bolton’s 2020 book that Trump tried to stop, but it was cleared for publication.

I take Trump at his word that he didn’t know in advance about the FBI raid on Bolton’s Bethesda home. But twice in the days leading up to the raid, Trump was slamming him online for criticizing his efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war..

“Very unfair media is at work on my meeting with Putin. Constantly quoting fired losers and really dumb people like John Bolton, who just said that, even though the meeting is on American soil, ‘Putin has already won.’ What’s that all about?”

After the raid, Trump called Bolton a “low-life” and a “sleazebag” who suffers from “major Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

But two things can be true at once. Trump prosecutors had to show convincing evidence to a special court to get the search warrant approved. So it’s possible that Bolton did hang on to some classified documents.

After the raid, Trump posted that Bolton was among the “stupid people” who were making it “much harder” for him to end the war by ripping his approach to Putin.

I’ve known John Bolton for years–he used to be a Fox contributor–and I’m surprised he’s made no comment. There was just a little wave at the press pack when he returned home.

Next up: Wes Moore, Maryland’s first Black governor.

They’ve been jabbing each other back and forth, which is fine. But then the president posted this:

“Governor Wes Moore of Maryland has asked, in a rather nasty and provocative tone, that I ‘walk the streets of Maryland’ with him. I assume he is talking about out of control, crime ridden, Baltimore? As President, I would much prefer that he clean up this Crime disaster before I go there for a ‘walk.’ Wes Moore’s record on Crime is a very bad one.”.

DEMOCRATS’ NEW BOOGEYMAN IS A DIFFERENT KIND OF DONALD TRUMP

There’s more: 

Trump “offered” to deploy troops to Baltimore – which has a serious crime problem – after which he would accept Moore’s invitation to meet him on the streets.

Then came the threat: “I gave Wes Moore a lot of money to fix his demolished bridge. I will now have to rethink that decision???”

Moore has been rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge since a reckless and out-of-control tanker destroyed it early last year. And for the record, Congress approved the funds as part of a package during the final stretch of the Biden administration.

But put that aside. Who would be hurt if Trump carried out this threat?

Millions of people in Maryland who rely on the bridge, or whose jobs are tied to commerce in that region.

So Trump is openly suggesting to use the official power of government to withhold funds that would hurt ordinary citizens. That is more troubling than the punching and counterpunching with Bolton and Christie. 

For what it’s worth, I don’t think Trump would actually do it. It’s a brushback pitch.

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While Trump may view himself as evening the score, one day Democrats will occupy the White House again. They would feel fully justified in going after their opponents as payback for the way they were targeted for investigation. And the endless cycle continues.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – As Democrats hunger for more forceful pushback against sweeping and controversial moves by President Donald Trump and Republicans, the party’s national chair stressed that it’s time to “stand up and fight.”

And in a fiery speech Monday, Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Ken Martin argued that the president is acting as “a dictator-in-chief” and that Trump’s second administration is “facism dressed in a red tie.”

“We are the only thing standing in his way,” Martin emphasized as he addressed the more than 400 elected party officials from all 50 states and seven territories, as the summer meeting kicked off at a downtown hotel in his hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“Are you ready to take back our country from the wannabe-king in the White House,” he asked the audience, to loud cheers.

AMID PLUNGING POLLS, ANEMIC FUNDRAISING, DEMOCRATS LOOK TO REBOUND AT PARTY’S SUMMER MEETING

Martin, pointing to the forceful response by Democrats to moves this summer by Trump and Republicans to create more right-leaning U.S. House seats in states across the country through rare mid-decade congressional redistricting ahead of next year’s midterm elections, said that he’s “sick and tired of this Democratic Party bringing a pencil to a knife fight.”

“We cannot be the only party that plays by the rules anymore,” he urged.

Democratic Party leaders and officials face a multitude of problems as they try to escape the political wilderness.

The party is trying to escape the political wilderness after last year’s elections, when Democrats lost control of the White House and the Senate and fell short in their bid to win back the House majority. And Republicans made gains with voters who make up key parts of the Democratic Party’s base.

DNC CHAIR TELLS FOX NEWS PARTY HAS HIT ‘ROCK BOTTOM’

But the situation has only worsened for the Democrats in the 10 months since last year’s election setbacks.

The Democrats’ brand is deeply unpopular, especially with younger voters, as the party’s poll numbers continue to drop to all-time lows in national surveys. 

The DNC faces a massive fundraising deficit at the hands of the rival Republican National Committee (RNC), fueled in part by major party donors cutting back their contributions as they express their frustrations with the national party committee.

New voter data first reported last week by the New York Times showed Democratic Party registration plunging while GOP sign-ups were on the rise in the 30 states that register voters by party.

“There’s no doubt that … we have work to do,” Martin acknowledged in a sit-down interview this summer with Fox News Digital.

But seeing a silver lining, he added that “when you hit rock bottom, there’s only one direction to go, and that’s up, and that’s what we’re doing.”

On Monday, amid talk that Democrats remain divided over a slew of policy and political issues, Martin highlighted that “in this big tent party of ours, we are unified towards one single goal, to stop Donald Trump and put this country back on track.”

LONGTIME TRUMP ALLY TAKES OVER CHAIRING REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota took aim at talk of the party’s divisions.

Klobuchar rejected the “we suck club” label and said “we’re not getting into it when they try to divide us on every single issue online. Complaining about each other to each other – it isn’t how we win again.” 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz took aim at media reports of the party’s divisions, saying “it boggles my damn mind that in the midst of a military takeover of our cities and the attempt to go into others, the flaunting of the rule of law, the coolness and the unconstitutional nature of the way they’re attacking our neighbors, that the press finds the need to talk about, ‘oh, there’s a division in the Democratic Party.’”

“There’s a division in my damn house, and we’re still married, and things are good,” Walz said. “That’s life. That’s life. We are strong. We are strong because we challenge each other.”

Walz, who served as then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate on the Democrats national ticket last summer and autumn, slammed Trump as “petty as hell.” 

And he said Americans wake each morning to “a man child crying about whatever’s wrong with him.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison told the audience that he and fellow Democratic state attorneys general who’ve fought the Trump administration in court have “sued this dude 44 times and we’ll sue him 44 more and 44 more after that.”

“We have sued Trump for gender-affirming care. We are not going to scapegoat the transgender community.” Ellison highlighted.

While the 2024 election has faded in the rearview mirror, Republicans have been relentless in characterizing Democrats as extreme leftists.

Former RNC chair Michael Whatley, who formally stepped down last week as he runs for the Senate, argued in a Fox News Digital interview last week that the Democrats “are moving further and further and farther to the left. They are walking away from Main Street right now. They are beholden to left-wing radical woke policies.”

“They haven’t learned a single thing from their election losses in 2024,” Whatley claimed.

RNC communications director Zach Parkinson, responding to Monday’s DNC session, told Fox News that “under Ken Martin’s leadership, Democrats have sunk to their lowest approval rating in 35 years, the DNC is still paying off millions in debt from Kamala Harris’ failed campaign, and Martin himself is actively supporting a communist for mayor of New York City. As Republicans, we think he is doing a fantastic job, and we fully endorse him to stay on as DNC Chair.”

The “communist” reference points to Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, the Democrats’ nominee in this year’s New York City mayoral election.

But despite all the problems and setbacks facing the Democrats, they have enjoyed some victories of late.

Democrats have scored a slew of off-year and special election wins, ahead of next year’s midterm elections, when the GOP will be defending its majorities in the House and Senate as the party in power will likely face historical political headwinds.

Democrats have also landed some top recruits – former Gov. Roy Cooper in North Carolina and former Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, in two of the most crucial 2026 Senate races.

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And while the Democratic Party’s poll numbers are in the gutter, the approval and favorable ratings for Trump and the GOP are nothing to brag about. Plus, polls indicate that the so-called ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ which is the Trump-inspired massive Republican domestic policy, tax cuts and spending law, remains unpopular with Americans.

“We’ve already won, this year, 38 special elections…..We’re winning all across this country, including in many places that haven’t gone blue in generations,” Martin touted.

And he said that “not all of these elections make national news, but I know that every race matters. Every inch of ground that we gain matters. Every single inch.”

A judge ordered the Utah legislature on Monday to redraw its congressional maps in time for next year’s midterm elections, finding the state legislature unlawfully gerrymandered its districts in favor of Republicans.

Judge Dianna Gibson said in a 76-page order that the legislature must pass a “remedial congressional map” by the end of September. State lawmakers have already signaled they plan to appeal, meaning the case is likely headed for the Utah Supreme Court and possibly the U.S. Supreme Court.

Gibson’s order comes after a fight between two of the country’s largest states, Texas and California, thrust gerrymandering into the national spotlight. Gerrymandering is the practice of changing the boundaries of a congressional district in a state to benefit one political party, which critics say dilutes votes.

TRUMP URGES TEXAS REPUBLICANS TO SWIFTLY PASS REDISTRICTING MAPS WHILE NEWSOM, CALIFORNIA DEMS COUNTER

The lawsuit in Utah arose from redistricting changes that began in 2018. Utah voters passed Proposition 4, also known as the “Better Boundaries” initiative, that year to reform the redistricting process and create an independent commission to oversee it.

But the state legislature passed a bill two years later that overrode that measure and stripped the commission of its power by reducing it to an advisory body. Lawmakers then bypassed the commission entirely by drawing congressional maps seen as strongly favoring Republicans.

The new map split Salt Lake City four ways, which voting rights groups, including the League of Women Voters of Utah and the Mormon Women for Ethical Government, alleged illegally broke up the state’s only blue-leaning urban region in violation of the standards set forth by Proposition 4.

TRUMP, ABBOTT VS. NEWSOM: MAD DASH TO REDO CONGRESSIONAL MAPS IN CALIFORNIA, TEXAS

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, warned Monday ahead of Gibson’s ruling that “almost anything promoted as an ‘independent commission’ is often a strategy to give Democrats an edge they can’t win through fair elections.”

“We the people need to halt this trend. To do so, we must first grasp what these independent commissions truly represent,” Lee wrote in a lengthy X post. “In a state like Utah, they’re essentially a mechanism for the left to grab power they can’t get through democratic elections.”

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Utah’s redistricting dispute comes after Texas’ legislature passed new maps this month that give Republicans an advantage in the upcoming midterms. President Donald Trump encouraged the move and celebrated it as a “BIG WIN,” while state Democrats temporarily fled the state in protest over the new map.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, responded to what he said was a Trump-led power grab by advancing a hasty plan to suspend his own state’s map, drawn by an independent commission, and pass a new one in a special election this year to offset Republicans’ gains in Texas. In a press conference, Newsom said Democrats need to “play hardball” to stand a chance against a Republican Party led by Trump. Trump vowed on Monday to sue Newsom over the map.

President Donald Trump on Monday signed a proclamation commemorating the anniversary of the Abbey Gate attack during the Afghanistan withdrawal that took the lives of 13 military service members.

Trump was surrounded by Gold Star families as he signed the proclamation in the White House. 

“We remember these great 13 souls, but we also remember the people that were so badly injured, our soldiers, 32 of them approximately,” he said. “We understand that it should’ve never happened, should have never been allowed to have happened.”

MORNING GLORY: TRUMP’S SIGNATURE QUOTE ON IRAN CEMENTS A DECISIVE SUCCESS

Vice President JD Vance, who served in the Marines, said Monday’s event was a “rectification of a wrong.”

“The fact that the President of the United States lost your loved ones through incompetence, but never acknowledged it in your government, never actually put pen to paper to say we’re grateful for your sacrifice,” he said of former President Joe Biden. 

The Biden administration was heavily criticized for the attack and the way the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan was executed. 

In 2021, Biden removed U.S. troops from Afghanistan, following up on existing plans from the first Trump administration in 2020 with Taliban leaders to end the war in the region. Thirteen U.S. service members were killed during the withdrawal process from a suicide bombing at Abbey Gate, outside the then-Hamid Karzai International Airport, as the Taliban quickly seized control of Kabul.

WATCH: CROWD SINGS ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’ TO TRUMP AT US ARMY’S 250TH ANNIVERSARY PARADE

Biden faced scrutiny after the withdrawal as the Taliban quickly took over Afghanistan again and more than a dozen U.S. service members died supporting evacuation efforts. 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Abbey Gate bombing convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin to start his war with Ukraine.  

“Because he saw how incompetent our military was under Biden,” he said. “The military needs to answer for what happened in Afghanistan.”

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Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, an Afghanistan veteran, is leading a deep dive into what happened at Abbey Gate. 

The state of Texas is intervening in California’s attempts to implement stricter vehicle emissions standards than those set by the federal government. 

After Congress and Trump revoked three waivers the Biden administration granted California, which allowed the state to set stricter vehicle emissions standards than those at the federal level, Newsom immediately sued and issued an executive order directing state agencies to continue pushing the heightened standards. California’s attempt to circumvent Congress could impact other states, since provisions of the federal Clean Air Act allow them to adopt California’s tougher emissions regulations as opposed to the federal baseline. 

Meanwhile, a few weeks after Newsom’s executive order, the Trump administration announced it would sue California in an effort to prevent them from trudging forward with the “unlawful” emissions standards. Now Texas is joining that fight with the help of pro-Trump legal group America First Legal (AFL).

NEW RESEARCH REVEALS HOW EV, EMISSIONS MANDATES ARE INFLATING COSTS FOR GAS-POWERED CARS, UTILITIES

“California’s crusade is not about innovation—it is about abusing the legal system to flout federal law and impose its radical agenda on all Americans,” said Daniel Epstein, vice president of America First Legal. “America First Legal stands proudly with the State of Texas to defend competition, consumer choice, and the rule of law. We will not let Gavin Newsom remake America in California’s image.”

Texas’ motion to intervene, filed Friday with the United States District Court for the Northern District of California Oakland Division, asks the court to allow Texas to become a party to the case so it can defend the interests of Texans, which state Attorney General Ken Paxton and AFL say would be impacted by California’s attempt to impose strict electric vehicle mandates that can have an effect on the rest of the country. 

“I am standing with President Trump in his effort to stop Gavin Newsom and California from shoving its insane so-called ‘green energy’ vehicle standards down the nation’s throat,” said Paxton. “Texas will not look the other way while the failed state of California undermines our sovereignty, attacks America’s energy independence, and intentionally adopts destructive policies that would harm the other States.”

Currently, 17 other states and the District of Columbia have chosen to adopt at least part of California’s vehicle emissions standards, according to a report released this month by the California Air Resources Board. The same report notes that, collectively, these states represent 40% of the nation’s light-duty vehicle market, and 25% of its heavy-duty vehicle market.

TRUMP V. CALIFORNIA: SANCTUARY CITIES TO EV BANS, TRUMP PUTS LEFT-WING STATE UNDER REPEATED SCRUTINY

California’s efforts to implement stricter car emissions regulations would effectively outlaw the sale of new gas- and diesel-powered vehicles by 2035, AFL argued in a press release accompanying their Friday filing. Subsequently, AFL notes, the strict regulations would then impact car manufacturers because they would “dictate the requirements for all cars sold throughout the United States” since manufacturers typically do not produce different vehicle lineups for different states.

“That means fewer choices for families, skyrocketing costs, and an America remade in California’s image,” AFL stated in its press release. 

In addition to the state of Texas, a major pro-business group, the American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce (AmFree), has also taken action to intervene in the case on the side of the Trump administration, with several agricultural and trade organizations backing the move.

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“It’s clear this is not one of those issues that is like ‘the Trump administration doing something completely novel’ and ‘courts having to wrestle with that,'” said Michael Buschbacher, the lead attorney working with AmFree. “This is like squarely, ‘Congress passed the law. You can’t undo that law unless it’s unconstitutional and there’s nothing unconstitutional here.'”

Fox News Digital reached out to Gov. Newsom’s office for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz contributed to this report.

Former Democratic vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz criticized the media for reporting on rifts within the Democratic Party amidst what he called a “fascist” takeover of the country by President Donald Trump.

Walz gave a fiery speech on Monday in front of Democrats gathered for the party’s summer strategy meetings in Minneapolis, where Democratic leadership is attempting to unify a party riddled with internal division.

During the speech, Walz, a progressive who served as former Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in 2024, opined about his and Harris’ 2024 election loss, saying, “We know [Harris] was the most qualified and would have been a fantastic president.”

“We wouldn’t wake up every day to a bunch of s— on TV and a bunch of nonsense,” he asserted. “We would wake up to an adult with compassion and dignity and vision and leadership doing the work. Not a man child crying about whatever’s wrong with him.”

DNC CHAIR DEMANDS DEMS STOP ‘BRINGING A PENCIL TO A KNIFE FIGHT’ AT FIERY SUMMER MEETING

He doubled down on some of the Democratic Party’s more controversial platforms, saying, “We’re not shying away from diversity as a strength and equity as a goal and inclusion being the air we breathe. That’s what we should be doing.”

Though doubling down on DEI, Walz criticized the media for reporting on Democratic infighting. He urged Democrats, “Don’t take the bait.”

“It boggles my d— mind that in the midst of a military takeover of our cities and the attempt to go into others, their flaunting of the rule of law, the cruelness and the unconstitutional nature of the way they’re attacking our neighbors, that the press finds the need to talk about, ‘Oh, there’s a division in the Democratic Party,’” he railed, adding, “There’s a division in my d— house and we’re still married, and things are good. That’s life!”

“We can have our internal decision-making, our internal healthy debates. But – I refuse to believe – we do not have the luxury to fight amongst ourselves while that thing sits in the White House,” said Walz as the crowd broke into cheers.

TIM WALZ LEADING DEM EFFORT TO TURN BIPARTISAN GROUP AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP: REPORT

He asserted that Democrats “are strong because we’re held accountable,” while he lamented it is easy to be a Republican.

“Think of how easy it would be to be a d— Republican. Oh, what should I wear today? This stupid fricking red hat? What should I say today? I don’t know, just make sure it’s cruel. Who do we listen to? That guy? Oh, the felon in the White House? Yeah, I listen to him, and that will be fine,” he said.

He went on to accuse Trump of unleashing fascist policies on the U.S., saying, “I always get in trouble for it, I’ll continue to say it. I don’t think we do any favors when we don’t name it. These are fascist policies… That is what they are.”

Commenting on Trump signing an executive order to crack down on the burning of the American flag, he accused the president of being concerned about flags with his face on them.

JEFFRIES GETS IN HEATED CLASH WITH CNN HOST ON ‘HYPOCRITICAL’ REDISTRICTING POSITION AND IF DEMS HAVE A PLAN

“Now he’s talking about burning flags. He’s going to have flag burning or whatever, because he knows there’s a hell of a lot of flags with his picture on it that are going to get burned. There’s a whole lot of that kind of crap that people are sick of,” he said.

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Concluding his remarks, Walz urged Democrats to start “running to a better future.”

“A future that includes everyone, a future where our children are valued and lifted up, a future where immigrants are celebrated just like our grandparents and parents were, a future where we ask people to pay their fair share while we make life a little bit easier for others, and we find joy in the things that you find personally joyful and I don’t give a d— what your neighbor thinks about those things,” he said. “Those are the things that we are here for.”

Donald Trump said 600,000 Chinese students would be allowed into the U.S. to study at colleges amid ongoing trade talks with China.

Speaking at the White House Monday, the president’s announcement signals a potential thaw in U.S.-China relations after escalating tariffs and restrictions on Chinese students.

“I hear so many stories that we’re not going to allow their students,” Trump told reporters.

“We’re going to allow their students to come in. It’s very important, 600,000 students. It’s very important. But we’re going to get along with China,” he added.

TRUMP CONSIDERING MEETING WITH CHINA’S XI IN THE NEAR FUTURE AMID POSSIBLE TARIFF PAUSE EXTENSION

Trump’s student visa offer comes against the backdrop of trade talks with the Chinese government.

Earlier this year, the administration imposed a 145% tariff on all Chinese goods, prompting Beijing to retaliate with a 125% tariff on U.S. exports.

Negotiators in Geneva agreed in May to pause additional levies, but Trump has continued to warn of further penalties.

Last week, he floated a 200% tariff on Chinese-made magnets, citing what he described as Beijing’s “monopoly” over the global market.

CHINA’S OIL TIES WITH RUSSIA AND IRAN ARE TRADE FLASHPOINTS, US SAYS

“I don’t think we’re going to have a problem with that,” Trump told reporters.

“China, intelligently, went and they sort of took a monopoly on the world’s magnets. It’ll probably take us a year to have them,” he said.

Currently, about 270,000 Chinese students are enrolled in U.S. universities.

In May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced plans to “aggressively revoke” visas for Chinese nationals, particularly those tied to the Communist Party or sensitive research fields.

Trump has since shifted tone, telling reporters in June that he has “always been in favor” of welcoming students from China.

CHINESE NATIONALS WHO INFILTRATED US UNIVERSITIES

Trump’s remarks on admitting Chinese students came ahead of a meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.

When he was asked about a possible summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, he sounded positive. He said he would like to meet him this year.

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“As you know, we’re, we’re taking a lot of money in from China because of the tariffs and the different things. It’s a very important relationship,” Trump said. “It’s a much better relationship economically than it was before with Biden. But he allowed that. They just took him to the cleaners.”

The Democratic National Committee kicked off its annual summer meeting in Minneapolis with a “land acknowledgment” that included an assertion that the U.S. perpetuates a system of suppression.

“Let’s talk about the land for a second,” said Lindy Sowmick, treasurer of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) and self-described “Indigenous queer woman” after DNC Chairman Ken Martin introduced her to recite the acknowledgment. 

“The DNC acknowledges and honors the Dakota Oyate – the Dakota people – who are the original stewards of the lands and waters of Minneapolis,” Sowmick continued. “The Dakota cared for the lands, lakes and the Wakpa Tanka – the ‘Great River,’ the Mississippi River – for thousands of years before colonization. This land was not claimed, or traded – it’s a part of a history of broken treaties and promises. And, in many ways, we still live in a system built to suppress Indigenous peoples’ cultural and spiritual history.”

DNC CHAIR DEMANDS DEMS STOP ‘BRINGING A PENCIL TO A KNIFE FIGHT’ AT FIERY SUMMER MEETING

Sowmick encouraged members of the Democratic Party to see the “land acknowledgment” as more than just “the checking of a box.”  

“As Democrats, I ask of every one of you to not allow land acknowledgments like these to simply be the checking of a box – be curious, ask questions, ensure our native neighbors are heard and work in partnership with your Indigenous communities,” Sowmick urged the crowd Monday. “Honor the legacy of this land and its people by engaging today with each other with honesty, humility, respect and compassion.”

Monday’s comments came in front of more than 400 party officials from all 50 states who gathered at a downtown Minneapolis hotel for the annual summer meeting. 

ILHAN OMAR ERUPTS AT OWN PARTY FOR RENEGING ON SOCIALIST CANDIDATE’S ENDORSEMENT: ‘INEXCUSABLE’ 

Similar to the summer meeting, the DNC’s national party convention in Chicago, held ahead of the 2024 election, also included a “land acknowledgment.” During that recital the speakers blamed the U.S. government for “forcibly remov[ing]” tribal folks from their land. 

Meanwhile, the DNC’s 2024 party platform also included such an acknowledgment on its first page, following the title page. 

“The Democratic National Committee wishes to acknowledge that we gather together to state our values on lands that have been stewarded through many centuries by the ancestors and descendants of Tribal Nations who have been here since time immemorial,” the platform’s acknowledgment stated.

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“We honor the communities native to this continent, and recognize that our country was built on Indigenous homelands. We pay our respects to the millions of Indigenous people throughout history who have protected our lands, waters, and animals.”

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

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…

-How TikTok went from a bipartisan ban to the White House having an official account

-Bolton unleashes on Trump Ukraine policy days after FBI raid

-‘Bold’ general who led US’ ‘Midnight Hammer’ strikes on Iran ends Middle East reign

First Amendment on Trial 

President Donald Trump and his administration are likely set to challenge a Supreme Court ruling that protected the burning of the American flag under the First Amendment with a new executive order calling for those who desecrate the U.S. flag while inciting violence or breaking other laws to face prosecution. 

The executive order, which Trump signed Monday morning, directs the attorney general to prosecute those who violate laws “in ways that involve desecrating the flag,” and to pursue litigation that would clarify the scope of the First Amendment as it relates to flag desecration. 

Burning the American flag, however, already has been litigated, with the Supreme Court ruling in 1989 that it is a form of symbolic speech that is protected by the First Amendment…Read more

White House

DEALER’S CHOICE: Trump says he holds ‘incredible cards’ that could ‘destroy China’ but won’t play them yet

‘GOT ALONG GREAT’: Trump touts Kim Jong Un relationship amid South Korea summit

Capitol Hill

JUDICIAL GRIDLOCK: Trump threatens lawsuit over century-old Senate tradition delaying his nominees

JUDGE JAM: Trump threatens lawsuit over ‘blue slips’ as top GOP senator bucks demand to bend Senate rules for nominees

‘DELIVER LEADERSHIP’: Retired Air Force colonel who piloted last flight out of Afghanistan reveals new mission

BLOCK PARTY: ‘Separated from reality’: Senate Republicans fume as Dems use Epstein saga to block Trump’s agenda

Across America

BORDER BATTLE SHIFT: Mexican immigrant-turned-congresswoman blasts Dem claims Texas redistricting hurts Hispanic vote

MIND THE GAP: Bridge collapse aid becomes economic weapon in escalating Trump-Moore feud

INNER CIRCLE: Zohran Mamdani campaign aficionado gets behind top ‘Squad’ member’s re-election bid: Report

STRENGTH TEST: Mamdani struggles with bench press at Brooklyn event

DEFIANCE BLUEPRINT: Mamdani reveals which Dem cities are ‘model for how to fight’ Trump admin in NYC

PAXTON’S PICK: Texas’ Ken Paxton endorses candidate to succeed him as attorney general

‘MAJOR LIABILITY’: Florida AG announces probe of sanctuary jurisdictions that give trucking licenses to illegal immigrants

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

Insha Rahman, vice president of advocacy and partnerships of the far-left criminal justice reform group, Vera Institute of Justice, caused an uproar on social media after she told Democrats on Monday that migrant crime and carjackings “don’t matter to that many Americans.”

During a political strategy session about crime and safety at the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Rahman urged Democrats to seize on President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown, calling it a “political liability.”

“Trump is not about safety,” Rahman said. “This is a political power grab, and he will do it however he can, whether that’s at the ballot box or taking over our cities.”

While Rahman focused her remarks on how Democrats can reject Republicans’ “tough on crime scare tactics,” the Vera Institute, where the Democratic strategist serves as a senior official, has a long record of supporting defunding the police. 

JD VANCE REVEALS ‘IMPORTANT LESSON’ HE WANTS AMERICANS TO TAKE AWAY FROM DC

“We must dismantle the current culture of policing in the United States,” the Vera Institute said in a 2020 statement during the anti-police protests that erupted across the country after George Floyd, a Black man, was murdered by a White police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

VANCE, WHITE HOUSE BLAST ‘CRAZY COMMUNISTS’ PROTESTING DC CLEAN-UP, TERRORIZING LOCALS: ‘STUPID WHITE HIPPIES’

The liberal criminal justice think tank went on to affirm their support for “the outrage we’re seeing,” and announced they were “building on this unique moment of public awareness, outrage, and calls to defund the police.”

Fox News Digital has covered the Vera Institute for years, including its ties to former President Joe Biden’s Justice Department and billionaire liberal megadonor George Soros. 

The Vera Institute has advocated for defunding the police and has openly stated their mission is to demolish a “racist” criminal justice system. 

Fox News Digital discovered in 2022 that the non-profit secured a staggering $171.7 million federal contract to provide legal assistance to unaccompanied minors, according to a federal database. 

“Don’t take the bait in talking about migrant crime or carjackings or the things that actually don’t matter to that many Americans, and then go to the policy proposals that we think work,” Rahman instructed Democrats on Monday.

This clip went viral Monday afternoon with conservatives slamming Rahman for her rhetoric and pointing out her organization’s ties to the Defund the Police movement.

“Who has given money to the George Soros-tied Vera Institute?” conservative communicator Steve Guest posted on X. “The Biden DOJ, the Open Society Foundations, Rockefeller, Tides, the Ford Foundation and MacKenzie Scott. Vera Institute in turn supports BLM and numerous left wing causes. FOLLOW THE MONEY!”

“This Democrat Speaker is a member of the Vera Institute of Justice which advocates for defunding the police,” the Republican National Committee’s research account posted on X.

“She makes over $300k in salary according to last year’s tax filings, and the Vera Institute brought in around $140 million in revenue,” the Project for Immigration Reform posted on X.
 

 

Trump last week floated the deployment of federal law enforcement to address major U.S. cities, including Chicago, after mobilizing more than 2,200 National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., to fight a “crime emergency.”

The president signed an executive order on Monday, seeking to eliminate cashless bail for suspects arrested in the nation’s capital. 

Rahman said Democrats should respond by saying, “They want money and privilege and to give a handout to the bail bondsman while we want to make sure safety, not wealth, determines who stays in jail and who goes home to their families.”

She also advised Democrats not to let Trump “take credit” for crime going down. 

“It’s going down in spite of him and because of Democratic leadership like mine. That is the phrase you want to use. Don’t be afraid of the crime debate. Lean all the way in. Call out what Trump is doing and say, ‘The reason crime is going down, our communities are becoming safer, is because of us,'” Rahman said. 

Regarding questions about defunding the police, Rahman said Democrats should “call out the scare tactics.”

“I’m not about scare tactics or slogans,” she said Democrats should tell their Republican opponents. “I’m not afraid to have an honest conversation.”

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“We keep expecting police to solve every social problem. No one profession can do that. We’re spending too much and putting too much burden on them. It’s time to pry out some promising new solutions to lift the burden. It’s time for support and change, not blame,” she added. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the DNC and Vera but did not immediately receive a response. 

The House Oversight Committee took significant steps to widen its probe into Jeffrey Epstein on Monday, including subpoenaing the late pedophile’s estate.

Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., sent a letter to attorneys representing Epstein’s estate, requesting a slew of documents by Sept. 8.

“The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is reviewing the possible mismanagement of the federal government’s investigation of Mr. Jeffrey Epstein and Ms. Ghislaine Maxwell, the circumstances and subsequent investigations of Mr. Epstein’s death, the operation of sex-trafficking rings and ways for the federal government to effectively combat them, and potential violations of ethics rules related to elected officials,” Comer wrote.

“It is our understanding that the Estate of Jeffrey Epstein is in custody and control of documents that may further the Committee’s investigation and legislative goals. Further, it is our understanding the Estate is ready and willing to provide these documents to the Committee pursuant to a subpoena.”

MAXWELL SAYS SHE NEVER SAW TRUMP DO ANYTHING INAPPROPRIATE, NEW DOJ DOCS REVEAL

Comer also announced that the committee would hear from Alexander Acosta, a former Trump administration labor secretary who also served as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida when Epstein entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the federal government in 2008.

Acosta is appearing before the committee for a closed-door transcribed interview on Sept. 19. He was not compelled via subpoena. 

The controversial agreement, which Acosta signed off on, was concealed from more than 30 of Epstein’s underaged victims, according to The Miami Herald.

Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to two state charges in Florida of soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution, avoiding more severe federal charges. He ended up serving 13 months in county jail with the benefit of a work-release program, made confidential settlements with some victims, and registered as a sex offender. 

It also allowed co-conspirators to avoid charges – a major point of contention during his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell’s federal trial in late 2021. It’s also the basis of Maxwell’s appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn her guilty verdict.

Documents subpoenaed by Comer include all entries in a book compiled by Maxwell for Epstein’s 50th birthday, Epstein’s will, and information on the non-prosecution agreement.

GHISLAINE MAXWELL SAYS NO JEFFREY EPSTEIN CLIENT LIST EXISTS AS DOJ RELEASES INTERVIEW RECORDINGS

Information is being sought on Epstein’s financial transactions, call and visitor logs, and “any document or record that could reasonably be construed to be a potential list of clients involved in sex, sex acts, or sex trafficking facilitated by Mr. Jeffrey Epstein,” according to a copy of the subpoena viewed by Fox News Digital.

An attorney for the executors of Epstein’s estate told Fox News Digital they were reviewing the subpoena. “As the Co-Executors have always said, they will comply with all lawful process in this matter, and that includes the Committee’s subpoena,” the attorney said.

The House Oversight Committee sent a flurry of subpoenas regarding Epstein earlier this month, kicking off a bipartisan investigation into the late pedophile.

Comer sought depositions from former FBI directors Robert Mueller and James Comey, ex-attorneys general Bill Barr and Loretta Lynch, as well as former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Barr testified last week.

The subpoenas were directed via a bipartisan vote during an unrelated House Oversight subcommittee hearing on illegal immigrant children in late July.

Renewed interest in Epstein’s case has gripped Capitol Hill after the DOJ’s handling of the matter spurred a GOP revolt by far-right figures.

The DOJ effectively declared the case closed after an “exhaustive review,” revealing Epstein had no “client list,” did not blackmail “prominent individuals,” and confirmed he did die by suicide in a New York City jail while awaiting prosecution.

Democrats seized on the discord with newfound calls for transparency in Epstein’s case, spurring accusations of hypocrisy from their Republican colleagues.

Indeed, the bipartisan unity that the investigation was kicked off with quickly disintegrated after the first witness, Barr, was deposed last week.

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Reps. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., and Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, who attended part of Barr’s deposition, left the room roughly halfway through the sit-down and accused Republicans of insufficiently probing questions during their allotted time to depose Barr.

Comer, who argued those accusations were baseless, implored Democrats not to politicize a bipartisan investigation.

Divisions deepened after Comer said Barr had no knowledge of, nor did he believe, any implications of wrongdoing on President Donald Trump’s part related to Epstein.

House Oversight Committee ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., who was not in the room, released a statement after the deposition, claiming Barr did not clear Trump.

EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security is unleashing on Democrats who have condemned the move by ICE to detain Kilmar Abrego Garcia and deport him to Uganda.

Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran national who was arrested by ICE on Monday at his check-in at the agency’s office in Baltimore, Maryland, and he’s expected to be deported to a third-party country, likely Uganda. 

“Kilmar Abrego Garcia is not and will never be a Maryland Man—he is a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador and public safety threat,” a senior DHS Official told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement.

ICE ARRESTS ABREGO-GARCIA AT MARYLAND CHECK-IN, LAWYER SAYS

“It is insane that sanctuary politicians chose to glorify and stand with an MS-13 gang member over the safety of American citizens. President Trump and Secretary Noem are not going to allow this illegal alien, who is an MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator, to terrorize American citizens any longer.”

Earlier this year, Abrego Garica was first deported to El Salvador for being a suspected gang member, which caused a nationwide controversy that sparked visits to the Central American country, including by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland. However, he ended up later facing charges in the U.S. for alleged human smuggling after a 2022 Tennessee traffic stop resurfaced.

Last week, Abrego Garcia made his way back to Maryland from Tennessee, and U.S. Magistrate Judge ordered that if he was taken into ICE custody that he would need to have “access to his attorneys” in order to “prepare for trial in this case.” His brief freedom was slammed as the result of “publicity hungry Maryland judge” by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

District Judge Paula Xinis ruled on Monday afternoon that Abrego Garcia cannot yet be deported to Uganda until his legal team can have a shot at fighting it, according to multiple media outlets.

ABREGO GARCIA TO APPEAR AT ICE OFFICE IN BALTIMORE AMID TALK OF UGANDA DEPORTATION

In a news release first shared with Fox News Digital, DHS is specifically taking aim at a handful of posts on X from Democratic lawmakers.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

“ICE is holding Kilmar Ábrego García and refusing to answer questions from his lawyers — while the Trump Admin continues to spread lies about his case. Instead of spewing unproven allegations on social media, they need to put up or shut up IN COURT. Mr. Ábrego García must be allowed to defend himself,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-M.D., posted on Monday.

“The Trump admin wrongly sent Kilmar Abrego Garcia to a horrific El Salvadoran prison. Now, just days after he was reunited with his family, they’re trying to deny him his rights and deport him to Uganda. Kilmar—like everyone—deserves a fair hearing to defend himself,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., posted.

JUDGE SETS STRICT CONDITIONS FOR ABREGO GARCIA’S RELEASE AS TRUMP OFFICIALS PURSUE CASE AGAINST HIM

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“Let’s be clear: deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda makes no sense—it’s not his home country. Nothing about this process has been fair. ICE is targeting him with cruelty. This is the weaponization of government, not justice,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, wrote.

Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.

A top advisor to Zohran Mamdani’s New York City mayoral campaign reportedly helped launch the re-election bid of the House of Representatives’ chief progressive.

Morris Katz, a left-wing political operative who serves as the Mamdani campaign’s lead media strategist, helped create a new ad for Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair and “Squad” member Greg Casar, D-Texas, announcing his 2026 midterm campaign on Monday morning, Politico Playbook reported.

Katz is no stranger to Democratic campaigns, having helped “fortify and expand” New York’s Working Families Party, according to an online biography, and most recently creating ads for a Democrat in Maine who is challenging longtime Sen. Susan Collins, D-Maine. He also advised Dan Osborn’s independent Senate campaign in Nebraska.

The Fight Agency, where he works creating ads and advising on campaign strategy, has rolled out videos for Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., among others.

CUOMO, ADAMS TRADE SHOTS OVER WHO SHOULD DROP OUT IN RACE AGAINST MAMDANI FOR NYC MAYOR

But it’s his work for Mamdani that propelled Katz’s name to the national stage.

He told New York Magazine in June that he was taken with the 33-year-old democratic socialist after their first meeting. 

“I left thinking, I love this man. And I am supposed to be skeptical. What is going to happen when the rest of New York gets to know him?” the outlet published him saying.

Katz is now reportedly throwing his progressive ad-making chops behind Casar, who is running for his third term representing part of the Austin, Texas area.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Fight Agency and Casar’s campaign multiple times for confirmation and further comment but did not receive a response.

Casar’s new ad, which runs just over two minutes long, touts his time as a labor organizer and state lawmaker before coming to Congress in January 2023.

“Donald Trump and Greg Abbot don’t want a guy like me in Congress, because I didn’t start my career in the courtroom or the C-Suite. I started it here, on Austin construction sites, as a labor organizer fighting alongside workers to win a raise, a union, and the right to a water break,” Casar says in the opening of the ad.

He goes on to tout “taking on Trump, his billionaire buddies, and their puppet politicians,” while the ad features images of other progressive darlings like Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

The Fight Agency’s website also features a brief ad promoting Casar’s first House bid in 2022.

MEET MAMDANI’S RADICAL ADVISORY CIRCLE THAT INCLUDES COMMUNIST ACTIVIST, ANTI-ISRAEL ADVOCATES

The timing of Casar’s announcement is significant; it comes days after Texas’ state legislature passed new congressional maps – backed by the White House – which could give Republicans as many as five new seats in the House of Representatives.

It’s triggered a redistricting war across the country and already pitted Democratic lawmakers against each other.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, a longtime House lawmaker who would have had to face Casar in a primary under the new maps, announced last week he would not run for re-election if the new district lines went into effect.

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“I had hoped that my commitment to reelection under any circumstances would encourage Congressman Casar to not surrender his winnable district to Trump,” Doggett said in a statement on Thursday. “While his apparent decision is most unfortunate, I prefer to devote the coming months to fighting Trump tyranny and serving Austin rather than waging a struggle with fellow Democrats. If Trump’s extreme gerrymandering prevails, I wish Congressman Casar the best.”

Casar said Thursday in response, “Lloyd Doggett is an Austin institution. I’ve learned so much from him. I’m grateful to him. The fight for democracy continues.”

He wrote on X Monday morning of his decision to switch districts, “I’ll keep fighting Trump’s gerrymander. If the new maps hold, I’m running in the new Austin District (37), which includes my home, my city council district, and 250,000 of my current constituents.”

What began as a war of words over Baltimore crime between Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and President Donald Trump is now turning into a high-stakes commerce fight.

Federal funding for the Francis Scott Key Bridge, destroyed last March when a container ship lost power and slammed into it, has become the new flashpoint. 

TRUMP SAYS HE COULD SEND THE NATIONAL GUARD TO MARYLAND TO ADDRESS CRIME

On Sunday, Trump raised in a Truth Social post the possibility of revoking bridge funding and even deploying the National Guard to address the city’s crime problem: “I gave Wes Moore a lot of money to fix his demolished bridge. I will now have to rethink that decision.”

The revelation came on the heels of tit-for-tat barbs exchanged by Moore and Trump over Baltimore’s crime rates.

Moore argues that the prospect of withholding those dollars threatens to derail critical infrastructure projects tied to the Port of Baltimore, injecting uncertainty into efforts that businesses, labor unions, and federal agencies rely on to keep goods moving through one of the East Coast’s busiest shipping hubs.

The new bridge, which sits at Baltimore’s harbor entrance, is expected to cost approximately $1.9 billion. Without federal dollars, Maryland would struggle to cover that cost and construction timelines could slip past the current 2028 target completion, prolonging disruptions for commuters, truckers, and shipping.

BALTIMORE KEY BRIDGE COLLAPSE: CARGO SHIP THAT CAUSED DISASTER HAD 2 POWER FAILURES BEFORE DEPARTURE

The Port of Baltimore is an economic engine that supports upwards of 20,000 jobs, underpins the operations of more than 900 businesses and handles approximately $7 billion in trade. Though the port handles a relatively modest share of U.S. trade, nearly 5% of imports and a little more than 3% of exports, it is essential for certain goods.

The port is a key gateway for heavy machinery like bulldozers and tractors, and for critical metals and coal. In fact, it handles nearly all of America’s tin imports and more than a third of its nickel, both vital for electronics, steel, and batteries, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics. With most of its trade tied to Europe and Asia, this port also serves as a crucial link in international supply chains.

“President Trump’s attack threatens this bipartisan agreement that is a win for port workers, truckers, small businesses, service members, and working families throughout Maryland and across America. Any threats to this funding will cause irrevocable damage to the national economy and to the entire State of Maryland,” a spokesperson for Moore wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital.

The spokesperson added that reconstruction is already underway: “We have already begun rebuilding, and now that Maryland is showing great progress, our president is threatening to intentionally harm Maryland. We will continue to move full steam ahead because we know how vital this bridge is to the entire nation.”

Trump, meanwhile, escalated the feud on Sunday after bristling at Moore’s invitation to join a Baltimore public safety walk.

“As President, I would much prefer that he clean up this crime disaster before I go there for a walk,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. He accused Moore of having a poor record on crime “unless he fudges his figures on crime like many of the other Blue States are doing.”

Trump added that he did not appreciate the tone of Moore’s invitation.

“But if Wes Moore needs help, like Gavin Newscum did in L.A., I will send in the “troops,” which is being done in nearby DC, and quickly clean up the crime,” Trump wrote. He added that Baltimore ranks among the worst cities in the U.S. for crime and murder.

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Moore’s office fired back, renewing calls for Trump to visit Baltimore in person. “This is a president who would rather attack his country’s largest cities from behind a desk than walk the streets with the people he represents,” a spokesperson said, adding that Trump’s “blissful ignorance, tropes, and 1980s scare tactics benefit no one.” A spokesperson for Moore, added that the city has recorded its lowest homicide level in 50 years.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration rolled out a plan aimed at making Washington, D.C., “safer and more beautiful” as his administration doubles down on efforts to address crime and a growing homeless population in the nation’s capital. 

Trump said he would address crime in other major U.S. cities, describing D.C. as a “hellhole” before federal law enforcement and more than 2,200 National Guard members were mobilized to patrol the city’s streets. “Now it’s safe,” the president said a day after visiting with deployed troops in the capital.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said last week that more than 700 arrests have been made in D.C. since Aug. 11.

President Donald Trump touted his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and said the two would meet “someday” — just before a summit at the White House with South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae Myung. 

During Trump’s first term in office, the president met with Kim on multiple occasions — including in Singapore in 2018, and then twice in 2019 in Vietnam and within North Korea — for denuclearization talks. 

“I have very good relationships with Kim Jong UN, North Korea,” Trump told reporters at the White House Monday. “I mean, a lot of people would say, oh, that’s terrible. No, it’s good. In fact, someday I’ll see him. I look forward to seeing him. He was very good with me. We had two meeting — we had two summits. We got along great.” 

WHITE HOUSE RESPONDS TO ‘ROCKET MAN’ AND NORTH KOREA’S THREATS OVER DENUCLEARIZATION

“I know him better than you do,” Trump said. “I know him better than anybody almost, other than his sister. His sister knows him pretty well. No, I know him well. And I got along with him. You know, I’m not supposed to say I really like him a lot because if I do that, I get killed in the fake news media. But I got along with him very well.” 

Denuclearization talks with Kim crumbled during Trump’s first administration when the president refused to get on board with Kim’s request for sanctions relief, in exchange for shuttering North Korea’s primary nuclear complex. 

While the current Trump administration has signaled ongoing interest in renewing denuclearization talks with North Korea, Kim’s sister Kim Yo Jong said in July that pressure from the White House for North Korea to denuclearize would be interpreted as “nothing but a mockery.”

TRUMP REMAINS ‘RECEPTIVE’ TO DIALOGUE WITH KIM JONG UN DESPITE REPORTED LETTER SNUB

“The recognition of the irreversible position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state and the hard fact that its capabilities and geopolitical environment have radically changed should be a prerequisite for predicting and thinking everything in the future,” Kim Yo Jong said in a statement in July published by the North Korean state news agency KCNA. 

Meanwhile, Trump also took a shot at ally South Korea hours before Lee’s scheduled arrival at the White House — and weeks after the two agreed to a trade deal. 

NORTH KOREA BREAKS SILENCE ON TRUMP’S RETURN, SENDS MESSAGE FROM ‘ROCKET MAN’

“WHAT IS GOING ON IN SOUTH KOREA? Seems like a Purge or Revolution. We can’t have that and do business there,” Trump said in a social media post on Monday morning. 

Trump told reporters Monday morning his statements stemmed from media reports about raids on churches and on Osan Air Base in July. He told reporters he wasn’t sure how accurate the media reports were, but that he’d question Lee on the matter because he wouldn’t “stand for that.” 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Police in Rhode Island’s largest city are in hot water with municipal investigators over their alleged presence and behavior at an immigration enforcement operation.

Providence’s External Review Authority, or PERA, found Friday that police in the Ocean State’s capital acted in violation of a city ordinance against cooperating with ICE while present at a July operation involving federal agents.

PERA found police “impermissibly assisted” ICE agents in conducting civil immigration enforcement operations,” according to WLNE, which obtained a copy of the report.

PERA’s report claimed police wrongfully established a perimeter, gathered intelligence and generally aided ICE’s response to the pursuit of Honduran national and alleged fentanyl trafficker Ivan Rene Mendoza-Meza.

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The civilian board, which requires part of the police’s budget be allocated to its own, singled out one sergeant who had allegedly helped ICE confirm Mendoza-Meza’s location when speaking with a landlord.

The report suggested Providence Police put out clearer operational guidelines for situations involving federal agencies and hold training sessions with all officers.

Providence Police told WLNE in a statement that it reviewed PERA’s report and confirmed it is creating training materials as recommended.

“The Providence Police Department remains dedicated to fairness, accountability and building trust with all members of our community.”

Mendoza-Meza was listed as a “worst of the worst” candidate by ICE in a statement identifying him as a “documented MS-13 gang member” who goes by “El Negro.”

AMERICA’S ORIGINAL SANCTUARY STATE REBUKES BONDI’S WARNING, DENIES OBSTRUCTION OF ICE

On July 13, federal agents were chasing Mendoza-Meza when he crashed his vehicle.

Mendoza-Meza reportedly hit a parked car, and Providence Police responded to “ensure public safety” at the accident scene, according to a Boston Globe report.

However, the Globe further reported that video from the scene showed police allegedly assisting ICE by speaking with the landlord, reviewing photos taken by federal agents of a figure seen inside the dwelling and an exchange in which one officer told an agent “I want your people grabbing him; we’ll help you.”

Mendoza-Meza had faced a prior charge of fentanyl trafficking in Rhode Island in 2023, according to the paper, and indictments in two other instances, according to WLNE.

City Council President Rachel Miller asked for an external review at the time, remarking, “What is this if it’s not cooperation,” and claimed the perception of police working with the feds is “damaging to the overall community safety.”

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In 2017, then-Mayor Jorge Elorza signed the Providence Community-Police Relations Act into law, which is what the police in Mendoza-Meza’s case are accused of violating.

The ordinance prescribes that police are prohibited from complying with interagency requests to assist in operations conducted “solely for the purpose of enforcing federal civil immigration law.”

Examples given by the law include traffic perimeters solely meant for immigration enforcement, providing documentation on inmates and allowing feds access to police premises without a warrant.

Zohran Mamdani is “dangerous,” and socialism would be a “death knell for New York City,” former Gov. Andrew Cuomo told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures.” 

The leading mayoral candidates represent the political divide that has been brewing in the Democratic Party since President Donald Trump reclaimed the White House last year. 

Cuomo said this “internal debate” should come as “no surprise,” tying Mamdani to fellow self-described democratic socialists, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., both of whom have endorsed Mamdani’s campaign. 

“The primaries get the most active, often on the Democratic side, the most far-left people to come out to vote, and he mobilized the 20- to 30-year-olds, the socialists. The socialist organizations across the country sent volunteers, sent funding,” Cuomo said, rationalizing Mamdani’s Democratic primary win. 

NYC OFFICIAL WARNS BUSINESSES WILL FLEE ‘IN DROVES’ IF DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST CANDIDATE WINS MAYORAL RACE

The former governor, who is running as an independent candidate after losing to Mamdani in June, said the general election electorate is “much different.”

CITY-RUN GROCERY STORES, DEFUNDING POLICE, SAFE INJECTION SITES: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT NYC’S NEXT POTENTIAL MAYOR

“New York City people are not socialists,” Cuomo said. “They’re not anti-business people. They’re not anti-corporate people. They want jobs. They want growth.”

“It’s antithetical to New York City to be anti-corporate,” Cuomo said on Fox News on Sunday, criticizing Mamdani and his fellow “socialists” who believe in government freebies, taxing the rich and seizing the means of production. 

New York City was “built on capitalism,” Cuomo said. 

Mamdani plans to pay for his ambitious policy agenda, which includes free buses, no-cost healthcare and city-run grocery stores, by raising taxes on the 1% and corporations. 

His plan includes raising the corporate tax rate to 11.5% and taxing the wealthiest 1% of New Yorkers 2%, according to Mamdani’s campaign website. 

“New York City corporations are already high-taxed, as are the individuals,” Cuomo said. “I think it would be a death knell for New York City, and he is dangerous, frankly, for New York City.”

Meanwhile, Cuomo explained that his “pro-growth development strategy” focuses on attracting and building businesses and is central to Cuomo’s campaign. 

“Too many businesses, as you know, have moved out of New York. So, number one, get more businesses here and grow the businesses that are here,” Cuomo explained. 

A Bloomberg study found that 158 companies managing $993 billion in assets moved their headquarters out of New York between 2020 and 2023. 

In addition to building businesses in New York City, Cuomo said he is focused on public safety and affordable housing. 

“Crime is a real problem in New York City as it is in cities across the country, and New York City exacerbated it. A few years ago, the socialists went through this ‘defund the police,’ this anti-police movement,” Cuomo said.

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According to Cuomo’s campaign website, the former governor wants to add 5,000 new police officers to the New York Police Department (NYPD). He told Fox News that he plans to add 1,500 officers to the patrol subways.

And to provide more affordable housing, Cuomo said he plans to add 50,000 new units per year, which will “add to the supply and meet the demand.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani for a response to Cuomo’s comments but did not immediately hear back.