NationalWatch

A nominee for a district judgeship in Oklahoma struggled during her nomination hearing on Wednesday to define basic terms for orders issued regularly by judges.

Sara E. Hill, who is nominated by President Biden to be the district judge for the Northern District of Oklahoma, was grilled by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., on the Senate Judiciary Committee about basic legal and Constitutional terms and definitions – a practice that’s become usual for him in recent months after several nominees have struggled to pass his tests.

When Kennedy asked Hill the difference between a “stay” order and an “injunction” order – two orders frequently issued by federal courts – Hill stumbled through her answers. 

“A stay order would prohibit, um, sorry. An injunction would restrain the parties from taking action. A stay order … I’m not sure I can, actually can, can give you that,” she said.

‘DANGEROUS’ DEMOCRAT JUDICIAL ETHICS BILL WOULD ALLOW ANY ‘JACKALOON’ TO DEMAND RECUSAL, SEN KENNEDY SAYS

An injunction is an order from the court that prohibits a party in a case from performing or ordering a specified act as the case continues, either temporarily or permanently, sometimes referred to as a temporary restraining order.

A stay order is issued to stop the legal proceedings of a case in court.

BIDEN JUDICIAL NOMINEE NO LONGER BELIEVES CHRISTIAN COALITION MEMBERS ARE ‘BIGOTS’ WHEN PRESSED BY GOP

Carrie Severino, constitutional lawyer and president of the Judicial Crisis Network, commented on X (formerly Twitter) about the exchange by saying, “How can an individual who wants to be a federal judge possibly not know this?”

TOP DEMOCRAT TRIES TO SCHOOL JUSTICE ALITO IN GROWING TIFF OVER SUPREME COURT OVERSIGHT

“Stays and injunctions come before district judges all of the time. This is not a trick question,” she added.

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Severino noted that at the end of Kennedy’s probe, committee Chair Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., “even congratulated Hill afterward for ‘passing the Kennedy bar exam’ – talk about grading on a curve!”

EXCLUSIVE: Republican Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake got another big boost Wednesday with a major endorsement from GOP leadership, a sign the party is increasingly viewing her as the standard-bearer in its bid to flip what is expected to be one of 2024’s most contested seats.

“Kari Lake is a proven conservative fighter who will secure the border, reduce the cost of living, protect our values, and save America,” House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik told Fox News Digital.

“Control of the Senate and the fate of our Republic will be determined in Arizona. I am proud to fully endorse Kari Lake for Senate in Arizona, making her the first E-PAC Senate endorsement of the 2024 cycle,” she added.

KARI LAKE OFFERS SOLUTION TO REPUBLICAN ELECTION LOSSES, PREDICTS GOP VOTERS WILL ‘SHOW UP’ FOR ONE MAJOR NAME

Lake told Fox she was “humbled by the endorsement,” and praised Stefanik as “a proven conservative warrior and leader for the American people.”

“Elise has stood in the breach against the Radical Left, including exposing the sham impeachments against President Trump, and ending Andrew Cuomo’s corrupt career. I look forward to working with her in Congress to get our country back on track,” she said.

Stefanik’s endorsement follows a number of other high-profile Republicans to back Lake, including former President Donald Trump, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and a number of state and local elected officials in Arizona.

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

Through Elevate PAC, or “E-PAC,” Stefanik is leading a national effort to elect more conservative women to Congress, an effort that has lead to millions of dollars being raised and donated to women candidates since the group’s founding in 2018.

During the 2020 election cycle, the first cycle E-PAC was in operation, 228 Republican women ran for the House of Representatives, of which a record 94 won their primaries. That year, 11 of the 15 districts flipped by the GOP were won by E-PAC endorsed women.

With those wins, the number of Republican women in Congress doubled to the highest ever in U.S. history, a feat it later added to during the 2022 midterms when it recruited a record number of Republican Hispanic women to run.

KARI LAKE PICKS UP FIRST MAJOR ENDORSEMENT IN RACE TO FLIP ARIZONA SENATE SEAT RED

Lake’s only major challenger in the race for the Republican nomination so far is Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb.

Recent polls have shown Trump leading President Biden in a hypothetical 2024 matchup in Arizona, which, should it hold, would likely boost the Republican Senate nominee in a matchup with Phoenix-area Rep. Ruben Gallego, the likely Democrat nominee.

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Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who currently holds the seat, has not yet said whether she will run for re-election.

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

A new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday showed President Biden’s approval rating sinking and support for former President Donald Trump rising as the 2024 election looms.

According to the poll, American voters’ worsening views of Biden were driven by his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas, which has also given Trump his first lead in the poll since February.

Just 37% of voters said they approved of Biden’s job performance, with 59% disapproving. The same number (37%) also said they viewed Biden favorably versus unfavorably (59%).

CRITICS RIP NIKKI HALEY OVER VOW TO REQUIRE ALL SOCIAL MEDIA USERS BE VERIFIED: ‘BLATANTLY UNCONSTITUTIONAL’

Concerning the war, just 37% said they approved of Biden’s response while 54% said they disapproved. Those numbers have gotten dramatically worse for the president over the past two weeks, down from the 42% who said they approved and 46% who disapproved at the beginning of the month.

Trump fared better than Biden in terms of favorability, with 42% holding a favorable view of the former president and 55% an unfavorable one.

In a hypothetical 2024 matchup, Trump led Biden 48% to 46% – his first lead in Quinnipiac’s poll since February – although recent polls have still shown him within the margin of error behind Biden.

KARI LAKE OFFERS SOLUTION TO REPUBLICAN ELECTION LOSSES, PREDICTS GOP VOTERS WILL ‘SHOW UP’ FOR ONE MAJOR NAME

With independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. thrown into the mix, Trump still led with 38% support, followed by Biden at 37% and Kennedy at 21%.

Trump maintained that lead in a five-way race as well, garnering 38% to Biden’s 35%, Kennedy’s 17%, independent candidate Cornel West’s 3%, and the Green Party’s Jill Stein at 3%.

Trump also maintained his massive lead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination with 64% support, compared to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 16%, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s 9%, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy’s 4%, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s 2% and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum’s 1%.

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For the Democrat presidential nomination, Biden received 74%, followed by author Marianne Williamson at 12%, Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips at 4% and progressive political commentator Cenk Uygur at 1%.

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

Hunter Biden’s legal team called on the judge overseeing his Delaware firearm charges case to subpoena former President Donald Trump and several former Trump administration officials on Wednesday.

Biden attorney Abbe Lowell argues that the investigation into the president’s son arose only due to “incessant, improper, and partisan pressure.” In addition to Trump, Biden is seeking subpoenas against former Attorney General Bill Barr, former acting Deputy AG Richard Donoghue and former acting AG Jeffrey Rosen.

“The initial investigation was born out of a wider probe into Mr. Biden’s taxes and 
foreign business dealings, ” The request reads. “Public reporting reveals certain instances that appear to suggest incessant, improper, and partisan pressure applied by then President Trump to Messrs. Rosen, Donoghue, and Barr in relation to an investigation of Mr. Biden.”

“Mr. Biden seeks specific information from three former DOJ officials and the former President that goes to the heart of his defense that this is, possibly, a vindictive or selective prosecution arising from an unrelenting pressure campaign beginning in the last administration, in violation of Mr. Biden’s Fifth Amendment rights under the Constitution,” it continued.

DOJ TAX OFFICIAL SAYS WEISS NEEDED APPROVAL FROM HIS DIVISION BEFORE BRINGING HUNTER BIDEN CHARGES: TRANSCRIPT

Trump’s legal team has yet to respond to Biden’s move. The others named in the request have also yet to respond.

HUNTER BIDEN INVESTIGATORS LIMITED QUESTIONS ABOUT ‘DAD,’ ‘BIG GUY’ DESPITE FBI, IRS OBJECTIONS: WHISTLEBLOWER

Biden’s gun crimes trial is not set to begin until after January 2024. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted on all charges. Faces one count of making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm; another of making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed dealer; and one other count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.

This summer, Biden agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax charges and would have also avoided prosecution on the gun charges had he stayed out of trouble for two years. It was the culmination of a years-long investigation by federal prosecutors into the business dealings of the president’s son, and the agreement would have dispensed with criminal proceedings and spared the Bidens weeks of headlines as the election loomed.

HUNTER BIDEN PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO FEDERAL GUN CHARGES OUT OF SPECIAL COUNSEL DAVID WEISS’ PROBE

But the deal fell apart after a judge raised several questions about the arrangement.

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Meanwhile in Congress, House Republicans are searching for a link between Hunter Biden’s business dealings and his father as part of an impeachment inquiry into his father, President Biden, who is running for re-election in 2024 amid the political tumult.

READ BIDEN’S REQUEST FOR A SUBPOENA AGAINST TRUMP – APP USERS, CLICK HERE:

Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

The United States extended a sanctions waiver that critics slammed as tantamount to continuing to fund Iran’s disruptive activities as its proxies attack U.S. forces across the Middle East.

“It is absolutely outrageous the Biden Administration continues to find ways to send Iran money – especially from Iraq, where the same Iranian-backed militias who are targeting American forces increasingly run the show and are helping keep Iraq addicted to Iranian energy,” Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital.   

Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed an extension to the initial 120-day waiver that allows Iraq to pay for Iranian electricity through an escrow account, where it has so far deposited an estimated minimum $10 billion – all without fear of reprisal for potentially breaking any U.S. sanctions. 

The waiver allows the payments so long as they go through Oman, where a portion is converted to euros or other widely-traded currencies for Iran to buy non-sanctioned products such as humanitarian aid. The State Department has insisted, as it did with the $6 billion held in Qatar, that the money can only be spent with U.S. approval. The department ended up quietly re-freezing the Qatar-held funds. 

INTERNAL STATE DEPARTMENT MEMO ACCUSED BIDEN OF ‘MISINFORMATION’ ON ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

A senior State Department official told reporters that the waiver “isn’t a free pass for all this money to move,” arguing it is a “layered” and “cumbersome” process with “significant reputational risk.” The 120-day waiver, extended in July and again yesterday, continues a program of waivers going back to 2018 to provide Iraq access to the roughly 40% of energy it imports from Iran. 

“Involving these entities that are well known to us, that we do a lot of outreach and coordination with, make us feel even more comfortable that kind of above the letter of the law,” the official explained. “There is more oversight from a lot of different entities that don’t want these funds to be misused for a variety of different reasons.”

Richard Goldberg, a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and coordinator for the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign on Iran, told Fox News Digital that the State Department issued the waiver as a balance for Iran agreeing to keep uranium enrichment below a 90% threshold – the point at which it reaches “weapons-grade” levels.

WOMAN IDENTIFIED AS STATE DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEE ACCUSES BIDEN ADMIN OF BEING ‘COMPLICIT’ IN ISRAEL ‘GENOCIDE’

“An initial report from Reuters [said] the U.S. has authorized Iran to make a $2.76 billion payment to pay off various debts out of its cash sitting in Iraq, or bulk of that was debt to Turkmenistan for gas, and then also some various international organizations dues, other things that were not itemized at the time,” Goldberg noted about the last Iraqi waiver in July. 

“Maybe there’s going to be a gas-for-oil swap if the U.S. allows,” he continued. “The Iraqis are claiming that they’ve achieved that … Then there’s reports where the Iranian side is saying, actually, the U.S. has authorized the Iranians to use any of the more than $10 billion that’s sitting in escrow in Baghdad.” 

“Everybody is focused on the $6 billion and, ‘Is it frozen? What’s happening there?’ … But nobody was noticing the $10 billion over here,” he added. “They are today.”

Critics argue that the Biden administration should look to cut off or freeze access to all such accounts for Iran, whose proxies have carried out dozens of attacks against U.S. military personnel and assets across the Middle East.

BIDEN ADMIN’S VENEZUELA APPEASEMENT BACKFIRES AS MADURO SUSPENDS PRIMARIES FOR ALLEGED ‘CORRUPTION’

“This move by the administration is abhorrent and reprehensible,” Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., told Fox News Digital. “Money is fungible and the administration should know better.”

“We should not be giving Iran one cent because it will be used to fund Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. All enemies of Israel and the United States,” Daines added. 

The Pentagon said on Tuesday it had counted 56 attacks on troops in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 17, with 59 U.S. personnel injured, 27 of them suffering from traumatic brain injury while the rest suffered non-serious injuries. 

DETROIT-AREA JEWS TRAVELING TO MARCH FOR ISRAEL STRANDED BY ALLEGED BUS DRIVER ‘SICK-OUT’

Last week, the Iranian-backed Houthis claimed to have shot down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone near the Yemini Coast. The drone was reportedly surveilling Yemen when a Houthi militia fired at the equipment, estimated to cost about $30 million.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller pushed back against critics during a press briefing on Tuesday, stressing that “there is no country in the world where we deny access to food and medicine.” 

“That’s true with respect to Russia. It’s true with respect to Iran,” Miller said. “It’s true with respect to every country in the world. And it always has been. That is the policy of the United States.”

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“When it comes to holding Iran accountable for its destabilizing activities, I would remind you that we have imposed more than 400 sanctions on Iran since the outset of this administration,” he added. 

The State Department referred Fox News Digital to its press conferences yesterday when asked for comment. 

Fox News’ Greg Wehner and Liz Friden and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

FIRST ON FOX – Political leaders in a small Ohio town that was thrust into the national spotlight earlier this year after a train derailment triggered the release of hazardous materials are making an endorsement in the state’s competitive GOP Senate primary in a race that could determine if Republicans win back the chamber’s majority.

East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway and fire chief Keith Drabick, as well as Columbiana County Commissioner Tim Weigle, are endorsing state Sen. Matt Dolan. The announcement was shared first with Fox News on Wednesday.

Dolan, a former top county prosecutor and Ohio assistant attorney general whose family owns Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians, is one of the three major Republicans vying for their party’s 2024 nomination in the race to challenge longtime Democratic Sen. Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown in a one-time general election battleground state that’s turned red in recent cycles.

The small town, located along the border with Pennsylvania about 20 miles south of Youngstown, Ohio, was the site of a February train derailment that spilled hazardous chemicals into the air, soil and water and triggered significant evacuations. 

OPINION: TERRIFYING THINGS IN EAST PALESTINE THAT WE STILL DON’T KNOW 

The accident spurred Congressional hearings and a bipartisan railroad safety bill. And nine months after the derailment, lives are still shattered in East Palestine as Norfolk Southern continues its cleanup.

East Palestine Mayor Trent Conaway, in backing Dolan, said in a statement that “in the aftermath of unspeakable tragedy, Ohioans came together from many walks of life to lift one another up and begin a recovery process that continues today. Through it all, one leader among many has stood out for his efforts grounded in responsiveness and results.”

BLUE TO RED: FOUR SENATE SEATS THAT MAY FLIP IN THE 2024 ELECTIONS

“Matt Dolan didn’t come here for headlines, cameras, or social media clicks. He quietly showed up, rolled up his sleeves and asked how he could help. Each day, Matt has stood with East Palestine and as we continue to rebuild, he’s focused on our community’s needs and worked with us to develop a recovery plan that gets results. That’s why I’m proud to stand with Matt Dolan,” Conaway emphasized.

Keith Drabick, the town’s fire chief, highlighted that Dolan “cares about results, not who gets the credit. He’s taken the time to come here, visit with our people, understand our challenges, and get to work in a manner that serves others. We need more leaders like Matt Dolan.”

And Columbiana County Commissioner Tim Weigle said that Dolan “has taken a personal interest in the rebuilding and success of our community, and that makes him exactly the kind of proven public servant we need in Washington.”

WITH NINE WEEKS TO GO UNTIL THE FIRST VOTES, THIS CANDIDATE REMAINS THE COMMANDING FRONT-RUNNER IN THE GOP PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Pointing to the derailment, Dolan said in a statement that “this year our entire nation has seen that Columbiana County personifies resilience, hard work, and grit. When the derailment occurred, local leaders and first responders stepped up. They didn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. They worked together to hold intergovernmental leaders, agencies, and private companies alike accountable, and they demanded results.”

And Dolan vowed that “in the U.S. Senate I will never stop working to build upon their progress and deliver results for East Palestine, Columbiana County, and our entire state.”

Dolan’s in a three-way battle for the GOP Senate nomination, along with Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Bernie Moreno, a successful Cleveland-based businessman and luxury auto dealership giant. 

Dolan and Moreno are making their second straight runs for the Senate. Moreno suspended his campaign a couple of months before the May 2022 primary. Dolan surged near the end of the primary race, coming in third, just behind former state Treasurer Josh Mandel. 

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The 2022 nomination was won by former hedge fund executive and best-selling author JD Vance, who landed former President Donald Trump’s endorsement just before the primary. Vance went on to defeat longtime Democrat Rep. Tim Ryan in last year’s general election to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Rob Portman.

Vance earlier this year endorsed Moreno, but Trump to date has remained neutral in the three-way primary battle.

Trump visited East Palestine after the derailment, and praised the mayor’s efforts. The town is located in Ohio’s Mahoning Valley, which is considered part of the Rust Belt, where working-class voters predominate. Trump made major gains for Republicans in an area, which previously was a Democratic stronghold.

Brown, who’s the only Democrat to win statewide in Ohio over the past decade, will be heavily targeted by Republicans in a state that was once a premiere battleground before shifting red.

Democrats currently control the U.S. Senate with a 51-49 majority, but Republicans are looking at a very favorable Senate map in 2024, with Democrats defending 23 of the 34 seats up for grabs. Three of those seats are in red states that Trump carried in 2020: Ohio, Montana and West Virginia, where Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is not running for re-election.

Five others seats are in key swing states narrowly carried by Biden in 2020: Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

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

A wide range of livestock and agriculture industry groups, in addition to state and local governments, are opposing a Biden administration plan to release grizzly bears in a Washington forest area located near rural communities.

The groups, which include the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), Public Lands Council (PLC) and American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), argued in comments filed with the federal government this week that releasing grizzly bears near communities would be detrimental to their members in the region. They also said such a move would threaten public safety and jeopardize future conservation efforts.

“Introducing an apex predator like the grizzly bear to a new area of Washington state is a mistake and poses a huge threat to our rural communities and hardworking farmers and ranchers,” said Mark Eisele, a Wyoming rancher and incoming NCBA president. 

“This plan is being pushed by bureaucrats thousands of miles away from the West who do not fully understand the harm this species will cause to producers. The Biden administration should listen to rural residents and rethink this plan.”

LOCAL RESIDENTS EXPLODE AT BIDEN OFFICIALS OVER PLAN TO RELEASE GRIZZLY BEARS NEAR THEIR COMMUNITIES

“Grizzly bears are 20 times more dangerous than black bears and are well known for their aggressive, fatal mauling,” added PLC President Mark Roeber, a Colorado rancher. “Their broad diet means they can harm anyone — corn producers, orchards, cattle ranchers, sheep ranchers. The list goes on and on.”

Roeber argued the decision to airdrop bears into a new environment shouldn’t be taken lightly and said he has faced livestock depredation as a result of gray wolf populations near his ranch. Grizzly bears, he added, are an even larger predator that “will only cause more harm to our fellow livestock producers in Washington state.”

WHITE HOUSE CONFIRMS BIDEN WILL SIGN BIPARTISAN BILL REVERSING HIS OWN ADMIN’S CRACKDOWN ON HUNTING

In late September, the National Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a rule and draft environmental impact statement opening the door to releasing grizzly bears in the North Cascades National Park located in northern Washington along the U.S.-Canada border. The proposal was cheered by left-wing eco groups but heavily criticized by local lawmakers and residents.

Under the proposal, the federal government would release up to seven grizzly bears annually into the North Cascades ecosystem (NCE) over the course of the next five to 10 years. The federal government’s overarching goal would be to establish a grizzly bear population of roughly 200 bears in the coming decades.

“In addition to the threat to human safety, the reintroduction of grizzly bears to the NCE will pose a real risk to the economic viability of the ranch and farm families that undergird the rural economy across Washington state,” the NCBA, PLC, AFBF, American Sheep Industry Association and several local affiliates wrote in comments filed Monday.

“There will be numerous significant economic harms to both private and public lands producers, as well as a severe rise in risks to human safety. These consequences are bad enough on their own, but they are even harder for producers to stomach when this reintroduction is not even required for the continued nationwide growth of the grizzly bear population.”

The federal plan released in September includes three options, two that would involve actively restoring populations of the threatened grizzly bear species and one “no action” alternative that would maintain current management practices. The public comment period for the proposal expired Monday.

“We reiterate our opposition to grizzly bear reintroduction given the likely adverse impacts to our local communities and lack of local government engagement by the federal agencies,” the Chelan County Board of Commissioners, the local governing body near the NCE, wrote in its own comment letter. 

“At minimum, we hope that you will consider our comments and develop a draft EIS and proposed 10(j) rule that more accurately reflects the current science, management needs and local community impacts of grizzly bear reintroduction.”

Both the Montana and Idaho state governments also weighed in on the proposal, arguing the federal government’s proposal would be harmful.

“Grizzly bears will occupy a diversity of habitats, regardless of landownership or zonal designation. It is naive to think that there will only be bears on public lands, unless the intent is to manage bears to exclude any that wander onto private land,” Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Director Dustin Temple wrote. “If that is the intent, then many more bears will be required to achieve a desired population.”

BIDEN’S WAR ON HUNTING FACES BLOWBACK FROM REPUBLICANS, SPORTSMEN GROUPS

According to the NPS, grizzly bears occupied the North Cascades and served as an “essential part of the ecosystem” for thousands of years. However, in the 20th century, as a result of aggressive hunting practices, the species was driven into near extinction and the last confirmed sighting of a grizzly bear in the NCE was in 1996.

Hugh Morrison, the regional FWS director, said in September that grizzly bears are part of the region’s heritage and restoring them could be done in a way that ensures communities, residents and animals “can all coexist peacefully.”

The plan would release grizzly bears near communities, and, according to the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, unintentionally or intentionally killing a grizzly bear in the state can result in massive fines and penalties since the species is listed as federally threatened and state-listed as endangered.

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Plans to reintroduce grizzly bears to the North Cascades dates to the Obama administration. Then, after significant state opposition led by Congressman Dan Newhouse, the Trump administration concluded grizzly bears would not be restored in the ecosystem. 

Former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt noted in July 2020 that grizzly bears are not in danger of extinction and that his agency could manage populations across their existing range.

However, late last year, following extensive litigation from environmental groups, the Biden administration announced it would again review whether to move forward with restoration, a process that led to the proposal in September.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis went after former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley on a local South Carolina radio show on Tuesday and questioned her “leadership” based on a tweet following the death of George Floyd in 2020.

“I remember when the George Floyd riots were happening, I called out the National Guard,” DeSantis told WORD 106.9’s Tara Show in South Carolina on Tuesday. 

“I said I’m standing with police, she was tweeting that it needed to be personal and painful for every single person. I’m thinking to myself, ‘Why does that need to be personal and painful for you or me? We had nothing to do with it.’”

“It just shows an example of her adopting this left-wing mindset and accepting the narrative. We need leaders who are going to fight the narrative. We need leaders who are going to fight back against the left and beat the left, and I’m the only one running that has a firm track record of defeating the Democrats and defeating the left on all these issues.”

WITH 9 WEEKS TO GO UNTIL THE FIRST VOTES, TRUMP REMAINS COMMANDING FRONT-RUNNER AS GOP FIELD KEEPS SHRINKING

DeSantis was referring to a tweet from Haley in May 2020 where she wrote, “It’s important to understand that the death of George Floyd was personal and painful for many. In order to heal, it needs to be personal and painful for everyone.”

DeSantis and radio host Tara Servatius also criticized Haley on transgender bathroom bills, with the Florida governor saying that Haley “killed legislation to protect girls and bragged about it.”

DESANTIS ACCUSES RNC OF DOING TRUMP’S ‘BIDDING’ WITH THREATS TO PUNISH 2024 CANDIDATES

“There he goes again,” a spokesperson for the Haley campaign told Fox News Digital. “Ron DeSantis is so desperate to revive his flailing campaign, he can’t be bothered with the facts. Nikki Haley has always supported separate bathrooms for biological boys and girls. Ron DeSantis had the exact same position as Haley in a 2018 interview, but now, Ron DeSantis is lying because he’s losing.” 

The Haley campaign was referring to a 2018 clip where DeSantis was asked as a gubernatorial candidate if he would “pass a bill” that allows transgender people to “pick the bathrooms they choose” and DeSantis said, “I would leave it as it is and stay out of that.”

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Since taking office, DeSantis has signed several pieces of transgender-related legislation in Florida, including bills that ban gender reassignment surgery for minors, bans pronoun use in schools and prohibiting “willfully entering restroom or changing facility designated for opposite sex.” 

The man accused of brutally attacking former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer apologized in court Tuesday, while describing conspiracy theories about why he went to the couple’s San Francisco home to end what he viewed as government corruption. 

In remarks that lasted more than an hour, a tearful David DePape explained how he switched from the political left to right after reading a comment on a YouTube video about former President Donald Trump. 

“When he was on the ground breathing, I was really scared for his life,” DePape said in federal court in San Francisco FOX San Francisco reported. “And later in the hospital, I felt really bad for him because we had a really good rapport and things were going good until the last second.”

Prosecutors allege DePape broke into the Pelosi home on the evening hours of Oct. 28, 2022, in an attempt to find Nancy Pelosi. On Monday, Paul Pelosi testified that DePape repeatedly asked where his wife was. 

PAUL PELOSI’S ACCUSED ATTACKER DAVID DEPAPE APPEARS IN CALIFORNIA COURT AS TRIAL JURY SELECTION KICKS OFF

“The door opened and a very large man came in with a hammer in one hand and some ties in the other and he said, ‘Where’s Nancy?’ and I think that woke me up,” Pelosi said. “I’m asleep, and he bursts in the door and that woke me up.”

“It was a tremendous shock to recognize that somebody had broken into the house and looking at him and looking at the hammer and the ties, I recognized that I was in serious danger, so I tried to stay as calm as possible,” he said. 

DePape said he went to the Pelosis’ home to talk to Nancy Pelosi about Russian involvement in the 2016 election, and that he planned to wear an inflatable unicorn costume and upload his interrogation of her online.

Paul Pelosi called the police during the home intrusion but DePape struck him with a hammer when officers arrived. 

DePape, 43, said he felt bad for Pelosi after hearing testimony from a neurosurgeon who operated on him after the attack and testified Pelosi had two wounds on his head, including a fracture to his skull that had to be mended with plates and screws. Pelosi also needed stitches on injuries to his right arm and hand.

PAUL PELOSI TESTIFIES IN TRIAL OF MAN ACCUSED OF BRUTALLY ATTACKING HIM WITH HAMMER INSIDE HOME 

“He was never my target and I’m sorry that he got hurt,” DePape said. “I reacted because my plan was basically ruined,” he said when asked why he hit Pelosi.

DePape testified he first was drawn to conspiracies after learning about “Gamergate,” an online harassment campaign against women in the video gaming community that took place about a decade ago. He said he often played video games for up to six hours a day while listening to political podcasts.

He said he believed news outlets repeatedly lied about former Trump, specifically mentioning CNN. DePape echoed the baseless rants, including a QAnon conspiracy theory that claims the U.S. government is run by a cabal of devil-worshipping pedophiles, but he did not mention that Tuesday.

He said his other targets included a women’s and queer studies professor at the University of Michigan, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, actor Tom Hanks and President Joe Biden’s son Hunter. He told jurors that he heard about the professor while listening to conservative commentator James Lindsay.

“The takeaway I got is that she wants to turn our schools into pedophile molestation factories,” said DePape, a Canadian citizen who moved to the U.S. more than 20 years ago.

The unidentified professor testified that some of her writings have been misconstrued to fit a narrative against the gay movement. U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley ordered her name not be put in the public record because of threats against her.

Asked by DePape’s defense attorney if she supported the abuse of children, the professor responded, “Absolutely not.”

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She said that after Paul Pelosi was attacked, the FBI informed her that she was DePape’s main target. She said that she told university administrators and that they have taken measures to protect her, her students, and other staff.

Other witnesses included Daniel Bernal, Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco chief of staff, and DePape neighbor Elizabeth Yates, who said she allowed him to shower at her home once a week.

Closing arguments are expected on Wednesday. DePape faces life in prison if convicted. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Republican presidential candidate and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley was ripped by critics Tuesday after she vowed to require all social media users be verified in the name of “national security.”

“When I get into office, the first thing we have to do, social media accounts, social media companies, they have to show America their algorithms. Let us see why they’re pushing what they’re pushing. The second thing is every person on social media should be verified by their name,” Haley said during an appearance on Fox News earlier in the day. 

“First of all, it’s a national security threat. When you do that, all of a sudden people have to stand by what they say. And it gets rid of the Russian bots, the Iranian bots and the Chinese bots. And then you’re going to get some civility when people know their name is next to what they say, and they know their pastor and their family members are going to see it,” she added.

KARI LAKE OFFERS SOLUTION TO REPUBLICAN ELECTION LOSSES, PREDICTS GOP VOTERS WILL ‘SHOW UP’ FOR ONE MAJOR NAME

Social media users quickly jumped on Haley, blasting her comments as “blatantly unconstitutional,” and “completely unhinged.” Those critics included her Republican primary opponents Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

“You know who were anonymous writers back in the day? Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison when they wrote the Federalist Papers. They were not ‘national security threats,’ nor are the many conservative Americans across the country who exercise their Constitutional right to voice their opinions without fear of being harassed or canceled by the school they go to or the company they work for,” DeSantis wrote.

He went on to call her proposal “dangerous,” and said it would be “dead on arrival” in a DeSantis administration.

DESANTIS BLASTS HALEY’S LEADERSHIP BY BRINGING UP GEORGE FLOYD TWEET: ‘LEFT-WING MINDSET’

Ramaswamy also referenced the Federalist Papers, and called her comments “disgusting.”

“Here’s what they would say to [Nkki Haley] if they were alive: get your heels off my neck & go back to England,” he wrote, referencing a slight about her high heels she directed at him during the third Republican presidential debate last week.

“Nice try, Nikki. Anonymous speech is a core part of free speech — which the founders would know, since many of them (including Alexander Hamilton and James Madison) wrote anonymously,” conservative activist Charlie Kirk wrote.

Digital strategist Greg Price joked Haley had “decided that enough was enough” after being “ratioed” over an X post about her high heels serving as “ammunition.”

FORMER TRUMP AMBASSADOR, GOP SENATE CANDIDATE TOUTS PAST SUPPORT FOR PRIDE GROUP THAT PROMOTED GENDER IDEOLOGY

“Is Nikki Haley aware that the Federalist Papers were written by founding fathers using pseudonyms? Nikki Haley may be one of the most war-mongering and authoritarian candidates for president in some time. She’s completely unhinged. This is blatantly unconstitutional,” journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote.

Dan Caldwell, the vice president of the Center for Renewing America, also referenced the Federalist Papers, and added that “the ability to engage in anonymous speech has been a central pillar of the American conception of free speech since our founding.”

Other users accused Haley of wanting “to eliminate free speech,” called her comments “horribly authoritarian,” and warned that her idea would lead to conservatives being fired from their jobs for expressing their opinions.

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

A number of staffers and supporters of DeSantis also took the opportunity to target Haley.

“I am no lawyer but isn’t this blatantly unconstitutional? Free speech includes anonymous speech,” DeSantis Rapid Response Director Christina Pushaw wrote while Noah Jennings, the Iowa political director of pro-DeSantis superPAC Never Back Down, suggested Haley might “expand the Patriot Act to police thought crime.”

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Haley’s campaign responded to the criticism in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying, “We all know that America’s enemies use anonymous bots to spread anti-American lies and sow chaos and division within our borders. Nikki believes social media companies need to do a better job of verifying users so we can crack down on Chinese, Iranian, and Russian bots. That’s common sense.”

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

A controversial far-left prosecutor in Virginia who’s received enormous backing from liberal billionaire George Soros has been defeated despite significantly outspending her opponent.

Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj, whom Soros has backed with nearly $1 million since 2019, lost to her Republican opponent, Bob Anderson, by 300 votes in a race that wrapped up counting its remaining ballots from last week’s election on Tuesday evening, Fox 5 DC reported.

“We are finished. We are waiting for the certification. Our electoral board is working on signing abstracts, and reviewing paperwork,” a Loudoun County election official told Fox 5.

GEORGE SOROS CIRCLES BACK TO VIRGINIA TO AID FAR-LEFT PROSECUTORS FACING DEM CHALLENGERS, FILINGS SHOW

Anderson ultimately garnered 68,080 votes while Biberaj received 67,768, Fox 5 reported.

“This is the closest Commonwealth’s Attorney’s race in Loudoun history. Following the canvass process, Buta trails by just 300 votes out of more than 136,000 votes cast,” Shannon Sankey, Biberaj’s campaign manager, told the Fox affiliate. “This 0.22% deficit puts our campaign well within the margin for a recount in Virginia. Our campaign is reviewing the results and we expect to make a decision shortly on our next steps. Buta remains committed to protecting democratic rights and ensuring that every Loudoun resident’s vote is counted.”

Anderson, who previously served in the position from 1996 to 2003, emerged victorious despite being significantly outspent by Biberaj. Virginia Public Access Project data shows that Biberaj dropped $1.1 million on the race – nearly 16 times more than the $70,356 Anderson had spent. 

Throughout the race, the progressive prosecutor received help from outside groups such as the Working Families Party National PAC and the Soros-backed Justice and Public Safety PAC.

Biberaj has been among the many nationwide candidates boosted by cash from Soros in his bid to overhaul the criminal justice system.

SOROS FAMILY AND OTHER HIGH-PROFILE MEGADONORS HELPED FUEL THE POLITICAL CAREER OF NEW YORK AG SUING TRUMP

Since 2019, the Justice and Public Safety PAC has spent $926,000 backing her candidacy, which has gone into ad buys, literature and polling services. Between 2019 and 2022, Soros moved more than $2.4 million into the Justice & Public Safety PAC from his name and his Democracy PAC.

The Soros-fueled PAC has also spent significant sums backing other Virginia prosecutor candidates in recent years, two of which handily won re-election on Tuesday, including the unopposed Parisa Dehghani-Tafti in Arlington County and Steve Descano in Fairfax County, who faced a write-in challenge but ultimately won by nearly 149,000 votes.

Biberaj’s office has repeatedly faced controversy since she started the job in 2020. 

Last year, she was hit with a bar complaint after a circuit court judge booted her office from a criminal case for “deliberately misleading the Court and the public.”

A Virginia judge also dismissed Biberaj from an appeal case in 2022, citing “concerns” over “impartiality.” The case involved a Virginia father who was arrested while speaking out at a school board meeting after his daughter was sexually assaulted in a public school bathroom by a male student. 

Biberaj has also faced allegations of using her office to target political opponents and came under fire for hiring a convicted sex offender as a paralegal.

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A spokesperson for George Soros did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

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

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. 

Subscribe now to get Fox News Politics newsletter in your inbox.

What’s happening:

– The House readies vote on a spending package to fund the government through the holiday season…

– Biden admin staffers revolt over president’s calls for a ceasefire… 

– RFK receives endorsements from three all-star athletes… 

UFC in Committee

Congress has plenty of political battles, but Tuesday saw several incidents that nearly resulted in literal fights. 

Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin almost got in a physical altercation with Teamster President Sean O’Brien in a health, education and labor committee hearing. 

“Sir this is a time, this is a place, you want to run your mouth we can be two consenting adults, and we can finish it here,” Mullin told O’Brien after reading a tweet where O’Brien said he could take the senator “any time” or “any place.” 

“I would love to do it right now,” O’Brien said, prompting Mullin to say, “Well, stand your butt up then.”

“You stand your butt up, big guy,” O’Brien said. Then Mullin, a former MMA fighter, rose from his chair and appeared ready to take on the union boss before committee Chairman Bernie Sanders told the pair to knock it off.

‘CHEAP SHOT’: On the other side of Capitol Hill, ex-Speaker McCarthy was accused of throwing an elbow into a Republican who helped oust him …Read more

Chaos on Capitol Hill

SHUTDOWN LOOMING: Republicans talking with Democrats to gauge where votes may lie to pass spending bill, avoid shutdown …Read more

BLOCKED: Bid to impeach Mayorkas halted as eight Republicans join Democrats in opposition …Read more

JOHNSON’S FIRST TEST: House readies vote on new speaker’s plan to avoid government shutdown …Read more

‘WE NEED BOLD CHANGE’: House Freedom Caucus comes out swinging against Johnson plan to avert shutdown …Read more

‘MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE’: These 8 Republicans joined with Dems to kill Mayorkas impeachment …Read more

‘SIGNIFICANT QUESTIONS’: Turner, Stefanik call for DOJ probe into Michael Cohen after recent testimony …Read more

‘REASSERT AUTHORITY’: Freedom Caucus chair shares warning for Johnson as Republicans rebel on CR …Read more

White House

‘WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?’: Distraught mother of American wrongfully on death row in China calls on Biden to confront Xi …Read more

‘NOT GOING TO COMMENT’: White House refuses to say it will support subpoena cooperation in Biden classified docs investigation …Read more

CLEAN UP FOR A DICTATOR: WH dismisses question about blue city’s sudden makeover …Read more

DISSENT LETTER: Biden officials rebel against president on Israel-Hamas war …Read more

TROUBLE BREWING: Biden supports ‘decent paying job’ for ‘average citizen in China’; won’t surrender US trade secrets …Read more

UNSOLVED MYSTERY: Photo of the mysterious White House cocaine emerges …Read more

Tales from the Campaign Trail

TIME’S ALMOST UP: GOP Presidential field keeps shrinking but Trump still leads the pack …Read more

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’: Vulnerable Dem attended Hollywood fundraiser with donors linked to corruption, discrimination scandals …Read more

TRIPLE THREAT: NFL Hall-of-Famer, mountain biking champion, NBA legend endorse RFK Jr for president …Read more

What else?

TICKING CLOCK: Kansas senator calls on Senate Dems to pass Israel funding bill …Read more

PAYBACK: Georgia man threatens to kill Marjorie Taylor Greene and her staff, now faces federal charges …Read more

ANOTHER RECORD: Migrant encounters broke prior October highs …Read more

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

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

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

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

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

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

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

TRUMP SUES FORMER ATTORNEY MICHAEL COHEN FOR $500 MILLION

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yes,” Cohen replied.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WHY TIM SCOTT DROPPED OUT OF THE 2024 REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL RACE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FIREWORKS AT LAST WEEK’S THIRD REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY DEBATE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Comer and Jordan subpoenaed Remus Monday. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

BIDEN INTERVIEWED BY SPECIAL COUNSEL ABOUT CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Biden sat down for an interview with Hur last month.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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