Lawsuit says Georgia’s lieutenant governor should be disqualified for acting as Trump elector



ATLANTA (AP) — A judge rejected a lawsuit Friday that sought to disqualify Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones from holding office because of the Republican’s participation as an elector for Donald Trump in 2020.

Butts County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wilson ruled that the four voters who sued couldn’t use the kind of legal action they filed to attack actions Jones took in 2020 while he was a state senator.

SUPREME COURT TO DECIDE IF TRUMP BANNED FROM COLORADO BALLOT IN HISTORIC CASE

The suit echoed other efforts elsewhere to keep Trump and some of his supporters off ballots and to prosecute people who falsely claimed to be valid Trump electors in states Joe Biden won.

Richard Rose, a civil rights activist who is one of the plaintiffs, said Friday that he had expected Wilson to rule against him and that he anticipates an appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court.

Jones “violated his oath of office, because he lied and said he was a duly qualified elector from state of Georgia, which is not true,” Rose said. (Missing word “the” or CQ?)

Jones says the suit is an illegitimate effort by Democrats to unseat him.

“Democrat activists in Georgia are trying to use the legal system to overrule the will of the voters, just like liberal activists in places like Colorado and Maine are trying to do to President Trump,” Jones said in a statement. “I’m glad to see the court throw out this ridiculous political attack.”

The lawsuit came as a decision remains in limbo on whether to prosecute Jones on state charges, due to a lack of a special prosecutor willing to take the case.

The plaintiffs asked a judge in December to declare Jones ineligible to hold office in Georgia, alleging that he violated his oath of office as a state senator by signing his name as a Trump elector. Biden was certified as winning Georgia’s 16 electoral votes in 2020’s election.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear Trump’s appeal of a Colorado court ruling keeping him off the 2024 presidential ballot because of his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss that culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The court will be considering for the first time the meaning and reach of a provision of the post-Civil War 14th Amendment barring some people who “engaged in insurrection” from holding public office.

In Georgia, challengers argued the same clause prohibits Jones from holding office and called him “an insurrectionist against the Constitution of the United States of America.”

Jones’ lawyer argued the challenge lacked evidence to prove insurrection, a position the judge agreed with.

Jones was one of 16 Republicans who gathered on Dec. 14, 2020, at Georgia’s Capitol, claiming to be legitimate electors. The meeting is critical to the prosecution of Trump and 18 others who were indicted by a Georgia grand jury in August for efforts to overturn Biden’s narrow win.

Of those in Georgia indicted in August, only three acted as Trump electors, and all were indicted for crimes beyond that.

Michigan and Nevada have also criminally charged Trump electors. In Wisconsin, 10 Republicans settled a civil lawsuit last month and admitted their actions sought to overturn Biden’s victory.

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An earlier special Georgia grand jury recommended Jones face felony charges. But Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was barred from indicting Jones. A judge ruled Willis, an elected Democrat, had a conflict of interest because she hosted a fundraiser for the Democrat who lost to Jones in 2022’s election for lieutenant governor.

The state Prosecuting Attorneys Council is supposed to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate whether Jones’ actions were criminal, but hasn’t yet acted.



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Trump fires back, says Biden is a ‘true threat to democracy’


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EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump said President Biden is a “true threat to democracy,” while reacting to his opponent’s campaign speech marking three years since the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Biden delivered a campaign speech in Blue Bell, Pa. Friday, and spent the majority of the address attacking Trump, who holds a massive lead over the GOP presidential primary field.

BIDEN MARKS THREE YEARS SINCE JAN. 6 BLASTING TRUMP, SAYING HE IS ‘TRYING TO STEAL HISTORY’

Biden accused Trump of “trying to steal history the same way he tried to steal the election,” while saying that the results of the 2020 election proved that he was a “loser.” 

But in an interview with Fox News Digital after Biden’s speech, Trump fired back.

Donald Trump wearing a red make america great again hat

Fox News Channel will host a live town hall with former President Trump from Des Moines, Iowa on January 10 at 9 p.m. ET. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

“The Democrats rigged the last election and they are trying it again,” Trump said. “But it won’t work because they have shown how bad and incompetent they are.”

“Joe Biden is the worst president in the history of the United States — he is incompetent, he is crooked, and in many respects, he is Benedict Arnold,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “He is destroying our country like no one else has done before.” 

Trump, pointing to the crisis at the Southern Border, said the United States has “an invasion of millions of people, many from prisons, mental institutions and terrorists pouring into our country.” 

U.S. President Joe Biden

A new Washington Post report warned the Biden administration that Democratic Party voters becoming more hawkish on immigration will pose a challenge to its 2024 re-election. (Photographer: Jacquelyn Martin/AP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“He is responsible for this,” Trump said. “We are a failing nation — a nation in decline — and it is all because he is the worst president in the history of our country.” 

TRUMP EDGES BIDEN AGAIN IN NEW 2024 POLL, BUILDS SUPPORT WITH YOUNGER VOTERS

Trump went on to tell Fox News Digital that “because of his gross incompetence, Joe Biden is a true threat to democracy.”

“This is not a time for us to have a mentally challenged president,” Trump said. 

Donald Trump and Joe Biden

The article warned about Former President Donald Trump beating President Joe Biden in recent polling in swing states. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Trump’s comments come as Biden blasted him for “the worst dereliction of duty by a president in American history” and “an attempt to overturn a free and fair election by force and violence.” 

YOUNGER VOTERS HELP BOOST TRUMP’S EDGE OVER BIDEN IN LATEST FOX SURVEY

But Trump pushed back, saying: “The only insurrection is the insurrection that is taking place at our border where he is allowing millions of people from parts unknown to invade our country at a level far worse than even a military invasion.”

Trump has never been charged with insurrection, despite Special Counsel Jack Smith bringing charges against him related to an investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol protests and the 2020 election. 

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Smith charged Trump with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. 



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Supreme Court to decide if Trump banned from Colorado ballot in historic case


The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on whether former President Trump will be on the Colorado Republican presidential primary ballot. 

The justices said they will hear the case on an expedited basis, with arguments on Feb. 8.

“The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted. The case is set for oral argument on Thursday, February 8, 2024,” the decision said. “Petitioner’s brief on the merits, and any amicus curiae briefs in support or in support of neither party, are to be filed on or before Thursday, January 18, 2024.”

The justices issued an administrative stay that orders the Colorado Secretary of State to put the former president’s name on the GOP primary ballot, at least until the case is decided.

TRUMP ASKS SUPREME COURT TO KEEP NAME ON COLORADO BALLOT

Former President Donald Trump

Former President Trump leaves the courtroom for a lunch break during his civil fraud trial at New York State Supreme Court, Nov. 6, 2023, in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/File)

The highest court said that the briefs are due by Jan 31.

TRUMP FIRES BACK AT JAN. 5 CRITISM, SAYS BIDEN IS A ‘TRUE THREAT TO DEMOCRACY’

The Supreme Court said that the respondents’ briefs are to be filed on or before Jan. 31, and the reply brief is to be filed on or before 5 p.m., Feb. 5.

colorado supreme court outside

Donald Trump is ineligible to serve as US president because of his actions inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, Colorado’s highest court found, in an unprecedented ruling that’s headed for the U.S. Supreme Court. (David Williams/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The Colorado Supreme Court decision was the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was used to bar a presidential contender from the ballot. 

The state’s highest court concluded that Trump “engaged in insurrection” over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

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The historical hearing will consider the meaning of the 14th Amendment, which bars people who “engaged in insurrection” from holding public office. 

The amendment was adopted in 1868, following the Civil War.





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Mayorkas acknowledges that majority of illegal immigrants released into US: ‘I know the data’


Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Thursday acknowledged that the majority of illegal immigrants encountered at the border are released into the U.S., as he also sought to highlight the number the administration has removed.

Mayorkas spoke on “Special Report” on Thursday and was asked by anchor Bret Baier about Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sources who have told Fox News that they are releasing over 70% of migrants crossing every day.

“It would not surprise me at all. I know the data,” Mayorkas said. “And I will tell you that when individuals are released, they are released into immigration enforcement proceedings. They are on alternatives to detention. And we have returned or removed a record number of individuals. We are enforcing the laws that Congress has passed. “

MAYORKAS PUNTS ON IMPEACHMENT QUESTION, FAULTS CONGRESS AMID BORDER CRISIS 

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas testifies during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on November 15, 2023 in Washington, DC.
(Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Separately the secretary said that there are “well more than a million” migrants released into the U.S. annually, and argued repeatedly that it is up to Congress to provide more funding and immigration reform to fix what he has called a “broken” system. He said that the agency is limited in detention capacity by funding provided by Congress.

“When somebody enters the country, we place them in immigration enforcement proceedings pursuant to immigration law, and if their claim for relief, their claim to remain in the United States succeeds, then by law they are able to stay here,” he said.

The interview comes as Mayorkas is facing increasing pressure over the Biden administration’s handling of the crisis at the southern border. There were over 302,000 migrant encounters in December, after an FY 2023 that saw a record 2.4 million encounters overall. A recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) report said that the agency had removed 142,580 illegal immigrants in FY 23, up considerably from 72,177 in FY 22 and 59,011 in FY 21, but still down from the highs of 267,258 under the Trump administration in FY 19.

The administration has continued to push for deeper legislative reform and funding, but Republicans have blamed the crisis on the Biden administration’s policies, including its rolling back of Trump-era policies, narrowed ICE enforcement and its expanded releases into the interior. Some have also called for Mayorkas’ impeachment and hearings on that will take place next week.

EX-DHS OFFICIALS BACK JOHNSON’S AGGRESSIVE BORDER STANCE IN FUNDING FIGHT, SAY GOP MUST HAVE ‘CLEAR RESOLVE’ 

DHS has said that it has seen more removals since Title 42 ended in May it has removed more than 470,000 people, which is more than in the entirety of FY 2019. It has also said it is working to expand the use of expedited removal and increase deportation flights to Venezuela.

But Fox has also reported that officials have told lawmakers that they are releasing over 5,000 illegal immigrants a day into the U.S. interior, and that doesn’t include the migrants being let in at ports of entry after having used the CBP One app.

The comments comes as negotiations are ongoing between lawmakers and the administration over a supplemental funding request by the administration — which includes $14 billion for border funding. But Republicans have said that the package must increase limits on asylum and the administration’s use of parole, which they say attracts migrants to the border. Senate Democrats have balked at those demands, but the administration has expressed optimism about the talks.

Mayorkas said the magnet was not the policies, but the broken system.

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“What is a magnet is the fact that the time in between an encounter of an individual at the border and their final ruling in their immigration case can sometimes take six or more years. That is a magnet, which is why precisely why I am working with Republicans and Democrats in the United States Senate to deliver a solution for the American people, to deliver a fix to an immigration system that everyone agrees is broken, and that is long overdue,” he said.

Fox News’ Charles Creitz and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
 





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Biden marks three years since Jan. 6 blasting Trump, saying he is ‘trying to steal history’



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President Biden marked three years since the Jan. 6 Capitol riot on Friday, blasting former President Trump by saying he is “trying to steal history the same way he tried to steal the election.”

Biden delivered a speech in Blue Bell, Pa. Friday to mark three years of the Capitol Riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Biden spent the majority of his address attacking his predecessor and 2024 Republican opponent — who holds a massive lead over the GOP presidential primary field.

“In trying to rewrite the facts of January 6, Trump is trying to steal history the same way he tried to steal the election,” Biden said. “But he knew the truth because we saw it with our own eyes.”

Referring to the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot, Biden said the “mob wasn’t a peaceful protest. It was a violent assault.”

“They were insurrectionists, not patriots,” Biden said. “I’ll say what Donald Trump won’t — political violence is never, ever acceptable to the United States… Never, never, never.”

He added: “It has no place in a democracy. None. You can’t be pro-insurrectionist and pro American.”

Biden spent the majority of the speech trying to tie Trump to the Capitol riot. 

While Special Counsel Jack Smith did charge Trump out of his investigation, the former president has never been charged with insurrection. 

Biden said that “democracy is on the ballot” and “freedom is on the ballot” in 2024, while saying the opposite of democracy is “dictatorship.” 

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.



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Wyoming judge dismisses effort to bar Trump from ballot


A Wyoming district court judge dismissed a lawsuit aiming to remove former President Donald Trump and Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis from election ballots, sparking celebration from Wyoming Republican Secretary of State Chuck Gray. 

“I am extremely pleased with Judge Westby’s decision to dismiss Mr. Newcomb’s outrageously wrong and repugnant lawsuit to remove Donald Trump and Cynthia Lummis from the ballot in Wyoming,” Gray said in a press release provided to Fox News Digital. 

“I have been working to make sure that Donald Trump will be able to be on the ballot, and I am happy our motion to dismiss this lawsuit was granted. I will continue to fight against this nationwide effort in order to protect the integrity of our elections and ensure that the people of Wyoming can choose who to elect for themselves.”

Retired lawyer Tim Newcomb filed a lawsuit in November, Newcomb v. Chuck Gray, with the Albany County District Court to remove Trump and Lummis from future ballots, arguing that they are “traitors” under a clause in the 14th Amendment in relation to January 6, 2021, when Trump supporters breached the U.S. Capitol. 

TOP WYOMING OFFICIAL SLAMS BRAKES ON COURT LABELING TRUMP ‘INSURRECTIONIST’: ‘OUTRAGEOUS’

Chuck Gray, Wyoming secretary of state

Republican Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray.  (Wyoming Secretary of State )

In a court filing late last month, Newcomb also called on Gray to resign “for his attempt at stochastic terror against Wyoming’s Judiciary, thenapologize [sic] to the Court and its staff personnel,” court filings state, according to the Cowboy State Daily. 

TRUMP ASKS SUPREME COURT TO KEEP NAME ON COLORADO BALLOT

“Mr. Newcomb’s screed reflects the ravings of a radical left-wing mad man,” Gray told the outlet last month. “Its [sic] another example of the tactics of lunatics of the radical Left with their outrageously wrong attempts at election interference.”   

Newcomb, in his court filings, also claimed that the District Court judge presiding over the case could face death threats if she were to side with him in the case. 

Former President Donald Trump waving to rally crowd

Former U.S. President Donald Trump waves to the crowd on the field during halftime in the Palmetto Bowl between Clemson and South Carolina at Williams Brice Stadium on November 25, 2023, in Columbia, South Carolina. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

“In candor to the Court, death threats — if the Court agrees with the Petitioner’s Verified Complaint . . . against the Court, her Honor, litigants, witnesses, staff personnel and their families, will come,” Newcomb’s filing states, the Cowboy State Daily reported.  

Lummis also celebrated the dismissal in a comment to Fox Digital, calling the suit “frivolous.” 

“Elections in Wyoming are decided by the people of the Cowboy State, and I am glad this frivolous lawsuit to remove myself and Donald Trump from future ballots was dismissed. Efforts to remove candidates from the ballot are a direct attack on the freedom of voters to choose their elected officials and undermines the integrity of our elections,” Lummis told Fox News Digital on Friday. 

Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming Republican

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., attending a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee nomination hearing for Michael Stanley Regan to be Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington on Wednesday, February 3, 2021. (Caroline Brehman/Pool/Sipa USA)

Ahead of this year’s election, other states are in the midst of legal battles over whether to remove Trump’s name from the ballot, which Gray has repeatedly fought against. In Colorado, Gray filed an amicus curiae brief, otherwise known as a “friend of the court brief,” with the Colorado Supreme Court to rectify a lower court in the state labeling Trump an “insurrectionist” in relation to the January 6 protests at the U.S. Capitol. 

CALIFORNIA SECRETARY OF STATE LEAVES TRUMP ON THE BALLOT AFTER CALLS TO REMOVE HIM

“As chief election officials of our states, [Secretaries of State] have to stand up for the electoral process in our republic, and this is pivotal to ensuring the integrity of our elections,” Gray told Fox News Digital in a phone interview last month after filing the amicus brief. 

“I ran on election integrity, and that’s why the people of Wyoming voted me into office. And I’m following through on that, and defending the truth here, and making sure that these outrageous, frivolous lawsuits that the radical left is bringing and trying to remove President Trump from the ballot, that they don’t succeed.” 

Voting sign midterms

A ‘Vote Here’ sign is seen at a voting precinct.  REUTERS/Emily Elconin (REUTERS/Emily Elconin)

TRUMP DISQUALIFIED FROM MAINE 2024 REPUBLICAN PRIMARY BALLOT

The Colorado Supreme Court ultimately ruled to bar Trump from the ballot, with justices writing in their opinion that Trump “incited and encouraged” the use of violence to prevent the peaceful transfer of power on January 6, 2021, following the 2020 presidential election. 

Trump on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to overturn the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling, arguing that the “Colorado Supreme Court has no authority to deny” him a place on the state’s ballot. 

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Maine has also barred Trump from the ballot, which the former president is appealing in state court, while efforts are underway in other states such as Illinois, Oregon and Massachusetts to remove Trump’s name. 



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Trump campaign to hold ‘Iowa Faith Event’ with Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Mike Huckabee, ahead of caucus


A pair of Arkansas governors will be supporting former President Trump at two Iowa faith events with ahead of the state’s Republican presidential caucuses next week.

GOP Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders and former Diamond State Governor Mike Huckabee, a Republican, will be supporting Trump at the Hawkeye State faith events on January 8, Fox News Digital has learned.

Sanders told Fox News Digital she is “excited to head back to Iowa on Monday to campaign for President Trump, because we need his leadership back in the White House.”

TRUMP STARTS 2024 IN ‘STRONGEST POSSIBLE POSITION’ IN REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY RACE

photo of Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Former President Trump will be joining GOP Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders and former Diamond State Governor Mike Huckabee, a Republican, for the Hawkeye State faith event on January 8, Fox News Digital has learned. (YouTube/Screenshot)

“The contrast between President Biden’s disastrous policies and President Trump’s successful policies could not be more clear,” Sanders said. “President Trump made America great and will again.”

The event will be held at the Hickory Grove Community Church in Ottumwa, Iowa, starting at 11 a.m. CT. 

The second will be held at First Church of God in Des Moines, Iowa, at 5 p.m.

The events comes as Trump holds a commanding lead in the GOP presidential primary ahead of the January 15 caucus in Iowa.

Former President Donald Trump

Trump will be joining GOP Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders and former Diamond State Governor Mike Huckabee, a Republican, for the Hawkeye State faith event on January 8, Fox News Digital has learned. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Trump is heavily ahead of his competition in the polls for the GOP nominaton and is touting his position as the presidential nominating cycle kicks off.

“I am honored to tell you that we are beginning the 2024 Election Year in our strongest possible position since the moment I rode down the Golden Escalator and announced my bid to run for president as a political outsider,” Trump wrote in a New Year’s Day fundraising email to supporters, as he pointed back to the launch of his 2016 presidential campaign.

For Trump, a year makes a big difference.

The former president was the only Republican running for the White House as 2023 kicked off and was quickly joined by a chorus of GOP presidential hopefuls, including his former protégé, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Former President Donald Trump picks up the pace on his visits to the first caucus state of Iowa

Trump is heavily ahead of his primary competition in the polls and is touting his positioning in the primary as the year kicks off. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

DeSantis was neck and neck with Trump early on in the race as more people threw their hats into the ring, including former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

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Trump enjoys a formidable double-digit lead over his rivals in the latest polls in Iowa, where the January 15 caucuses lead off the GOP nominating calendar. He holds an even larger lead in the most recent national polls.

The former president is also facing legal trouble amid his third straight White House bid, but it only seems to have had a rallying effect among many Republicans.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed reporting.



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Offered new ammunition, Christie repeatedly targets Haley as she closes gap with Trump in New Hampshire polls


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With less than three weeks to go until New Hampshire holds the first primary in the battle for the Republican presidential nomination, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is turning up the volume on his verbal attacks on rival former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

The former New Jersey governor is accusing Haley of acting “immature” in response to her viral comment that New Hampshire voters “correct” the Iowa caucus results. He argues that if former President Trump, the GOP nomination front-runner, asked Haley to be his running mate, “she would take it in five seconds.”

Haley, the former South Carolina governor who later served as United Nations ambassador in the Trump administration, has enjoyed plenty of momentum in recent months and has soared in the latest polls in New Hampshire, which suggest she has significantly closed the gap with Trump.

However, this week, two new comments by Haley were instantly used as ammunition by Christie, who is once again staking his presidential campaign on a strong finish in New Hampshire as he runs a second time for the White House. Christie stands in third place in most Granite State surveys, far behind Trump and Haley but ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and multimillionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

FIRST ON FOX: INFLUENTIAL CONSERVATIVE GROUP LAUNCHES MASSIVE AD BLITZ ON BEHALF OF HALEY

Campaigning in Milford, New Hampshire, on Wednesday, Haley told the large crowd that “we have an opportunity to get this right. And I know we’ll get it right, and I trust you. I trust every single one of you. You know how to do this. You know Iowa starts it. You know that you correct it.”

Pointing to her home state, which on Feb. 24 will hold the first southern contest in the Republican presidential primary schedule, Haley added “and then my sweet state of South Carolina brings it home.”

The comment appeared to be tailored to Granite Staters, and the crowd cheered Haley’s remarks.

WAR OF WORDS BETWEEN HALEY AND DESANTIS REACHES FEVER PITCH

On Thursday night, Christie took aim.

“You don’t have to correct anything that Iowa does or doesn’t do. That’s not New Hampshire’s responsibility. Your responsibility is to do what you think is right. You don’t have to worry about what Iowa does,” he told the crowd at a town hall in this New Hampshire town along the state’s southern border with Massachusetts.

Chris Christie takes aim at Nikki Haley campaigning in New Hampshire

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a 2024 Republican presidential candidate, speaks with voters at a town hall in Hollis, New Hampshire, on Jan. 4, 2024. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

Minutes later, he told reporters, “I think people in Iowa saw here yesterday that she’s willing to say anything to an audience to try to curry their favor.”

“She mocks Iowa voters just to try to get a laugh out of New Hampshire voters,” he argued. “I mean that’s like just immature. Grow up.”

Christie was not the only rival to blast Haley.

DeSantis, who is staking much of his campaign on a strong Iowa finish, charged Thursday in a local radio interview in the Hawkeye State that Haley was “incredibly disrespectful to Iowans to say somehow their votes need to be corrected.”

Haley, during a CNN town hall Thursday in Iowa, said her comment was intended as a joke, noting “we’ve done 150 plus town halls. You got to have some fun, too.”

FIRST ON FOX: HALEY FUNDRAISING SOARS THE PAST THREE MONTHS

In recent weeks, DeSantis and Christie have taken aim at Haley for not being vocal enough in her criticism of Trump. Both candidates have argued Haley has an ulterior motive.

“She will not answer directly, and she owes you an answer to this: Will she accept a vice presidential nomination from Donald Trump? Yes or no?” DeSantis said at a town hall in New Hampshire last month.

Additionally, Christie, on multiple occasions over the past month, has emphasized that, “Ron DeSantis and I have both ruled out accepting the vice presidency from Donald Trump. Nikki Haley has not… That’s why she’s not saying strong things against Donald Trump.” 

Haley has frequently repeated that she is not running for second place in the GOP 2024 presidential primary.

Given the opportunity in a Fox News Digital interview Tuesday ahead of a town hall in New Hampshire to categorically rule out serving as Trump’s running mate if asked, Haley reiterated she is running to win.

“I have said from the very beginning I don’t play for second. It’s offensive for anybody to think that I would do all of this to play for second. And so I have said that. I will continue to say that. If people aren’t satisfied with that, I don’t know what else to say,” Haley said.

Haley also told Fox News that Christie and DeSantis have “criticized me for everything. Let’s be clear. That’s what happens when you’re losing.”

ONLY ON FOX: HALEY PUSHES BACK BUT DOESN’T CATEGORICALLY RULE OUT BEING TRUMP’S RUNNING MATE

Pointing to the Fox News Digital interview, Christie told reporters on Thursday night “she won’t answer. She gives this bull answer ‘I never play for second.’ Like, what’s that mean? It’s simply yes or no. Would you accept vice president from Trump or wouldn’t you.”

“She won’t answer. And you know what that means in politics when you don’t answer a question. That means it’s because you know the answer and you don’t want to say it out loud,” Christie claimed. “I will tell you right now, if Donald Trump offered her vice president, she would take it in five seconds. Five seconds. And that’s why she’s not answering the question.”

Pointing to South Carolina’s Feb. 24 Republican presidential primary, Christie argued that Haley “wants the wiggle room to be able to do that later on when she doesn’t do as well as everyone thinks she’ll do here and when she loses her own home state, which she’s going to do.”

In an interview with the New Hampshire Union Leader, Haley claimed that ruling out serving as running mate would make “the news for days” and stifle her momentum.

Christie, a longtime vocal GOP critic of Trump, has faced plenty of pressure in recent weeks to drop out of the race and back Haley to prevent any fracturing of the anti-Trump vote.

Referencing the crowd of close to 300 people who showed up at his town hall, Christie said “you saw all these people tonight who don’t want me out of this race. They want to vote for me. And I suspect a lot of these people here, if I dropped out, wouldn’t vote at all, because she’s unwilling to take Trump on.”

When asked by Fox News where he needs to finish in New Hampshire to continue on, Christie said “I have to come in second or like a very, very close third. I don’t think there’s any mystery to that. That’s what I have to do.”

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Trump holds an extremely formidable double-digit advantage over DeSantis and Haley in Iowa – whose Jan. 15 caucuses kick off the GOP nominating calendar – and enjoys an even more massive lead in national polling in the Republican race.

However, with the latest polls indicating Haley narrowing the gap in New Hampshire, where independent voters have long played an influential role in the state’s storied primary, Trump’s campaign this week launched an attack ad on Haley in the Granite State.

Trump at New Hampshire rally

Former President Trump speaks at a campaign rally, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Durham, New Hampshire. (AP Photo/Reba Saldanha)

Neil Levesque, the executive director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, told Fox News that “Haley has what every candidate wishes they had – which is momentum. And she’s closing the gap with Trump.”

Haley landed a big boost last month with the endorsement of popular Republican New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who has joined Haley on the campaign trail at her town halls since backing her.

She is also supported by Americans for Prosperity (AFP) Action, the political arm of an influential and deep-pocketed conservative public advocacy group with strong grassroots outreach.

Greg Moore, a longtime New Hampshire-based conservative activist and an AFP Action senior advisor, emphasized that “one thing we know about the New Hampshire primary is that they are often decided by momentum. We’ve seen that – for example – with John McCain twice, where he was a candidate with momentum in both 2000 and 2008. That’s where you want to be. Frankly, I think I’d rather be where Nikki Haley is right now than where Donald Trump is.”

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



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Former AOC aide’s progressive PAC pushing for Biden to step aside


A political action committee (PAC) led by a former aide to democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is calling on President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race.

The leftist No Excuses PAC, led by Ocasio-Cortez’s former communications director Corbin Trent, published a new landing page and digital ad on their website, calling on Biden to exit the race.

The PAC cites the president’s trailing poll numbers against former President Trump in key battleground states, with the page lauding Biden as having “accomplished more in three years than most two term presidents.”

‘SHAMEFUL’: AOC BLASTS BIDEN ADMIN FOR BLOCKING UN GAZA CEASE-FIRE RESOLUTION

The Squad

A political action committee led by a former aide for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is calling on President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

“But battleground state voters say they’ll vote for Trump if you’re the Democratic nominee,” the PAC writes. “It might not make sense. But it doesn’t have to.”

“The reality is that if you attempt to cling to power, your legacy will be Donald Trump’s final destruction of our democracy,” it continues. “If you step aside, however, you’ll be remembered as one of the greatest presidents in history.”

“Thank you, Joe… But now it’s time to go,” the message concludes, asking for $3 donations from webpage visitors.

Farther down on the page, the PAC — which previously pushed to end the filibuster — cited a New York Times/Siena College poll showing Biden trailing behind Trump in battleground states and said that if Biden “stepped aside this month and allowed a primary, many strong Democrats could show us what they’ve got.”

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE RESPONDS TO AOC: BIDEN HAS ‘DONE MORE THAN ANYBODY’ TO SECURE THE BORDER

Photo of Biden interviewed by Kal Penn

The No Excuses PAC published a new landing page and digital ad to their website calling on President Biden to exit the race. (CBS/Paramount Plus/’The Daily Show’/YouTube)

“We have plenty of amazing leaders to choose from — including popular swing state governors Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro, and Tony Evers; high profile national leaders like Elizabeth Warren, Gavin Newsom, Cory Booker; and Ro Khanna; and rising stars like Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona,” the page reads.

“The Biden team is clinging to the long-time Democratic Party strategy of hoping their opponent will defeat himself. That is how we lost in 2016 (and in 2004, 2000, etc,…),” it continues.

“The stakes are too high this time to close our eyes and hope for the best. All of the most dangerous characters from the chaotic Trump presidency have made elaborate plans for taking a wrecking ball to the federal government and our entire justice system if they retake the White House. Billionaire donors have bankrolled conservative and extremist think tanks to host them while they plan.”

“There’s only one way to avoid this train wreck, and that is for Biden to step aside and allow a Democratic primary to take place. It’s not too late, in fact, there is plenty of time,” it continues.

Former President Donald Trump picks up the pace on his visits to the first caucus state of Iowa

The PAC cites the president’s trailing poll numbers against former President Trump in key battleground states, with the page lauding Biden as having “accomplished more in three years than most two term presidents.” (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

The page concludes by saying “Biden has accomplished incredible things in his presidency” and “that will be his legacy — if he steps aside.”

“Otherwise, he will go down in history as the president whose selfishness allowed Trump to complete the destruction of American democracy,” it concludes. “That’s why it’s time to say, ‘Thanks Joe, but now it’s time to go.’”

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The new website page comes as Biden works to stave off Trump in battleground states while also having the added competition in the form of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s campaign.

Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s and Ocasio-Cortez’s campaigns, as well as No Excuses PAC, for comment.



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Influential conservative group launches massive ad and grassroots blitz on behalf of Haley


FIRST ON FOX – Americans for Prosperity Action, the political wing of the influential and deep-pocketed fiscally conservative network founded by the billionaire Koch Brothers, is launching a new phase in its large ad and grassroots effort on behalf of Nikki Haley’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

The ad blitz, which was shared first with Fox News on Friday, includes mailers, digital ads and connected TV spots that will run starting this week in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. The campaign will also hit Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia, four of the 15 states that hold presidential nominating contests on March 5, which is known as Super Tuesday.

AFP Action, which pledged to spend tens of millions of dollars to help push the Republican Party past former President Donald Trump as it endorsed Haley in late November, says it’s putting an initial $27 million behind this new wave in their ongoing campaign.

“Poll after poll shows that Trump is the weakest candidate against Joe Biden,” the narrator in the group’s ad emphasizes. 

WAR OF WORDS BETWEEN HALEY AND DESANTIS REACHES FEVER PITCH

A slew of recent polls of the 2024 presidential election indicate Haley topping President Biden by larger margins than Trump does in hypothetical general election matchups.

“Nikki Haley crushes Biden by double digits. She even beats him in the swing states that Trump lost in 2020. It’s clear. Nikki Haley would be the strongest candidate to stop Biden and help elect Republicans across the country,” the narrator adds. “She’s a proven conservative fighter. With the criminal trials for President Trump and the liberal media out to get him, our country can’t risk four more years of Biden and Harris.”

ONLY ON FOX: HALEY PUSHES BACK BUT DOESN’T CATEGORICALLY RULE OUT BEING TRUMP’S RUNNING MATE

Trump remains the commanding frontrunner for the Republican nomination as he makes his third straight White House run.

Trump’s lead expanded last spring and summer as he made history as the first former or current president in American history to be indicted for a crime. Trump’s four indictments – including in federal court in Washington, D.C., and in Fulton County court in Georgia on charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss – have only fueled his support among Republican voters.

Former President Donald Trump

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event on Dec. 19, 2023, in Waterloo, Iowa. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

He holds a massive lead over Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in national polling, and in the latest surveys in Iowa, whose Jan. 15 caucuses kick off the GOP presidential nominating calendar.

FIRST ON FOX: HALEY FUNDRAISING SOARS THE PAST THREE MONTHS

But Haley, the former two-term South Carolina governor who later served as ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration, has enjoyed plenty of momentum in recent months. She has caught up to DeSantis in national surveys and in the latest Iowa polls, and surpassed him in New Hampshire and has narrowed the gap with Trump in the Granite State, which holds its primary eight days after the caucuses.

The AFP Action endorsement instantly gave Haley, who until recent weeks had been running a lean campaign, the grassroots outreach and organizational strength that DeSantis has enjoyed, due to the major assist from the DeSantis-aligned super PAC Never Back Down.

Nikki Haley pushes back against claims from DeSantis and Christie that she aims to serve as Trump's running mate

Nikki Haley speaks at a town hall in Rye, New Hampshire, on Jan. 2, 2023. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

In the 2022 midterm election cycle, AFP Action knocked on roughly 5.5 million doors, made 2 million calls, and sent out nearly 70 million pieces of mail on behalf of candidates it was backing.

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The electability argument made by AFP Action in their new blitz mirrors what Haley has repeated showcased on the campaign trail and what the super PAC supporting her has spotlighted in ads. As part of her stump speech, Haley highlights how polls suggest she beats Biden more convincingly that Trump would.

“Nikki Haley is by far the strongest candidate Republicans could run against Joe Biden, and no one else is even close. Nikki Haley would boost Republicans up and down the ballot,” AFP Action director Nathan Nascimento told Fox News in a statement.

But Trump’s political orbit discounts the effort.

“Americans for Prosperity has already lit millions of dollars on fire this primary only to watch President Donald Trump’s lead grow. No amount of money can break the bond President Trump has with voters. He kept his promises,” Karoline Leavitt, spokesperson for the Trump-aligned super PAC Make America Great Again Inc MAGA Inc., said following AFP Action’s endorsement of Haley.

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



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Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein associate funneled large donations to Vivek Ramaswamy and several Dems


A billionaire associate of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein funneled large donations to Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and several Democrat lawmakers, according to a Fox News Digital review of federal filings.

New York City-based hedge fund manager Glenn Dubin was the first name included in previously redacted court documents in a lawsuit against Epstein’s former lover and accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska had recently ordered the documents be made public and were released on Wednesday.

Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre said Dubin was the “first” individual Maxwell had sent her to for sex after she completed her massage training, according to a 2016 deposition.

“When they say massage, that means erotic, okay? That’s their term for it,” Giuffre said. “And I’m telling you that Ghislaine told me to go to Glenn Dubin and give him a massage, which means sex.”

JEFFREY EPSTEIN LIST: COURT UNSEALS NAMES IN GHISLAINE MAXWELL LAWSUIT

Glenn Dubin

Glenn Dubin, co-founder of Highbridge Capital Management, has donated to Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and several Democrat campaigns and committees. (Jin Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“I know Glenn Dubin was first,” Giuffre added.

Dubin, the co-founder of Highbridge Capital Management, is heavily involved with philanthropic endeavors and has given federal candidates hundreds of thousands of dollars in political donations in recent years.

According to Federal Election Commission filings, Dubin funneled $100,000 to Ramaswamy’s American Exceptionalism PAC in 2023. He also added $6,600 in donations to his campaign last year.

Ramaswamy appears to be his only donation to a Republican candidate in some time. His money has primarily gone to Democrat committees.

Dubin drove a $50,000 donation to Hillary Clinton’s victory fund and a $33,400 contribution to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) during the 2016 election cycle. He also showered the Sen. Chuck Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC with $75,000 in cash in 2016 and 2018.

In addition, he’s given thousands of dollars to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s former Win the Era PAC in 2019 and to the campaigns of several Democrat lawmakers, including Reps. Daniel Goldman and Ritchie Torres of New York, over the past several years.

Meanwhile, Dubin’s wife and Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, Eva Andersson-Dubin, was also included in the court records. Andersson-Dubin previously testified on Maxwell’s behalf.

A spokesperson for the Dubins told the New York Post on Thursday that the “Dubins strongly deny these allegations, as we first said [in Vanity Fair] in 2019, when these unsubstantiated statements first surfaced as part of this same civil court proceeding.”

Glenn Dubin did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

JEFFREY EPSTEIN DOCUMENTS: SEE ALL 40 UNSEALED FILES IN GHISLAINE MAXWELL LAWSUIT

Vivek Ramaswamy at GOP presidential debate

Glenn Dubin’s $100,000 donation to Vivek Ramaswamy’s PAC is the largest he’s given in recent years. (Micah Green/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Epstein had many high-profile connections, including former U.S. presidents, foreign prime ministers, Britain’s Prince Andrew, Hollywood stars, leading academics, individuals in the modeling and fashion industries, and other public figures. Some of the names were previously known through other means despite having been withheld from the public’s eye in the lawsuit.

The names were unveiled in a series of 40 documents that have been posted to the docket without the previous redactions that hid prominent names, including former Presidents Clinton and Trump; Clinton’s estranged longtime aide Doug Band; the late former governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson; and French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, who, like Epstein, died while awaiting trial.

Many of the names belong to people who have not been accused of wrongdoing, including Clinton, who also declined to ask the court to have his name remain sealed. Dubin and his wife have also not been charged.

Jeffrey Epstein sitting at a dinner table and wearing a black polo shirt

Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, shown in 2004, was connected to many prominent people, including politicians, actors and academics. He was convicted of having sex with an underage woman. (Rick Friedman/Corbis via Getty Images)

Dubin’s former private chef, Rinaldo Rizzo, was also among the names unsealed Wednesday. Previously released documents revealed that Rizzo said Epstein and Maxwell once visited Dubin’s house with a disoriented, 15-year-old Swedish girl who told him the couple asked her for sex and that her passport had been taken.

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Others cited include Tony Figueroa, Limited Brands founder and former Victoria’s Secret CEO Les Wexner, and Epstein accusers such as Johanna Sjoberg and Annie Farmer.

Epstein was convicted of having sex with an underage girl and faced sex trafficking and conspiracy charges when he killed himself in 2019.

Ramaswamy’s, Goldman’s and Ritchie’s campaigns did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment. The Senate Majority PAC and DNC also did not respond to an inquiry. The remaining committees have been terminated since the time of his contributions.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.





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Border state candidates issue stark warning to fellow Republicans over ceding to Dems on Ukraine: ‘Buckle up’


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EXCLUSIVE: Republican candidates running in border states are warning congressional GOP members negotiating a funding deal not to cede ground to Democrat demands for more Ukraine support so long as the migrant crisis continues.

Fox News Digital spoke with multiple Republican candidates, as well as one Democrat, about the ongoing negotiations and whether concern for Ukraine amid its war with Russia might trump the worsening border crisis that they say is a threat to America’s national security.

“If our elected officials can’t focus solely on securing our border and stopping people from invading our country, then they should be voted out of office,” Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake told Fox. 

POLL REVEALS ALARMING LEVEL OF FEAR OF WHETHER 2024 ELECTIONS WILL BE ‘FAIR,’ BALLOT COUNTING ACCURATE

Two soldiers patrol wreckage with guns.

Russian soldiers patrol at the Mariupol drama theatre, bombed last March 16, on April 12, 2022 in Mariupol, Ukraine. (Getty Images/Alexander NEMENOV / AFP)

“Any member of Congress who is trying to wrap Ukraine funding into securing our own border is betraying the trust of the American people. The money I would vote to approve will be used to secure our border and stop the invasion, not to process more people coming in,” she added.

Former Republican Texas Congresswoman Mayra Flores, the first Mexican-born woman elected to Congress who is now running to retake her border district seat she lost in the 2022 midterms, echoed Lake. Money should not continue to be sent to Ukraine as long as America continues to battle the crisis at the border, Flores said.

“As the wife of a border patrol agent living in the Rio Grande Valley, I can tell you unequivocally there is no more serious threat to our country’s security than the thousands of unknown, illegal immigrants coming into our country every single day,” she said.

New Mexico Senate candidate Ben Luna also took a tough approach, arguing congressional Republicans needed to step up and stop the decline he said America has been facing because of issues at the border.

BIDEN CONTINUES BLEEDING SUPPORT FROM KEY VOTER GROUPS AS DEMS SOUND ALARM OVER 2024: POLL

“We really need to fix America before we even try to help others. It’s almost like an injured person trying to go do surgery on somebody else. It doesn’t make any sense,” he told Fox. 

Kari Lake, Ben Luna, Mayra Flores

Republican Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake, Republican New Mexico Senate candidate Ben Luna and former Republican Texas Congresswoman Mayra Flores. (Getty Images/Ben Luna/Reuters)

“[Republicans] need to buckle up and play hardball… We haven’t really had a lot of leadership and a lot of people know that hard times create strong men while weak men create hard times. And we’re kind of going through that right now,” he said.

Luna added that Americans were now dealing with the consequences of 70 to 100 years of bad policy decisions, and that even Democrats in his home state were waking up to the realities of politicians sending money elsewhere when it was desperately needed to help those here.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who is up for re-election this year, has been one of the biggest proponents in the Senate for achieving Republicans’ objectives in handling the border crisis. He introduced the Senate version of H.R. 2, officially known as the Secure the Border Act, which has served as the baseline for the GOP’s border position in the funding negotiations.

MAINE DEMOCRAT WHO BARRED TRUMP FROM BALLOT SAID VOTER ID LAWS ‘ROOTED IN WHITE SUPREMACY’

“I think it’s the best and most comprehensive approach to actually securing the border. And the White House’s objection comes down to the sad fact they don’t want it secure for anybody else,” he said in a recent interview.

One of Cruz’s Democrat challengers, Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, offered an alternative view on the funding fight, arguing the war in Ukraine affected everyone across the globe, and that solutions to the border crisis involved reforming gun laws to combat cartel violence.

A photo of a sunset behind a portion of the Yuma border wall

In this Thursday, June 10, 2021, file photo, a pair of migrant families from Brazil pass through a gap in the border wall to reach the United States after crossing from Mexico to Yuma, Ariz., to seek asylum. (AP Photo/Eugene Garcia, File)

“The war in Ukraine is about protecting democracy, and when democracy is challenged anywhere in the world, that affects us all,” he told Fox. “Real border security solutions involve stopping the gun industry from arming cartels. Only comprehensive gun safety reform is going to fix that.” 

Gutierrez said that policies like red flag laws, purchasing age limits and “assault” weapons bans would accomplish that.

BATTLEGROUND STATE POSES BIDEN’S TOUGHEST 2024 CHALLENGE IN POTENTIAL TRUMP REMATCH

“Fixing the chaos caused by Republican extremists at the southern border must be solved, but make no mistake, it should not come at the cost of protecting democracy. It’s time to put an end to the made-for-TV stunts and finally focus on the voices of the leaders from our border communities,” he added.

Fox reached out to a number of other Democrat candidates running in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, and asked what they wanted to see as part of the funding deal, but none offered any response.

Key Senate lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill early this week from the Christmas recess to try and strike a deal on a border security bill after they were unable to reach an agreement last month.

Capitol Dome

The U.S. Capitol is seen lit by the morning sun. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)

Lead Senate negotiators James Lankford, R-Okla., Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., began negotiations with U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and other Biden administration officials a week before the upper chamber was scheduled to go on its holiday recess.

Meanwhile, 60 House Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., ended their holiday break early to visit Eagle Pass, Texas, on the southern border Wednesday. They have vowed that even if a deal is struck in the Senate, it won’t receive support from the GOP-controlled House unless it includes elements of H.R. 2.

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Republicans tied the condition of increased aid to Ukraine to the implementation of stricter border security measures prior to the recess. However, the demand for this linkage, which encompasses aid to Israel and Taiwan alongside Ukraine, arose soon after President Biden urged its passage in October. 

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

Fox News’ Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.



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South Dakota Gov. Noem stumps for Trump in Iowa, says Nikki Haley would be ‘mistake’ as his running mate


South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem traveled to Iowa to stump for former President Trump on Wednesday after saying Nikki Haley would be a “mistake” as Trump’s running mate.

Noem, who endorsed Trump for president in September, was in Sioux City, Iowa, on Wednesday night and told potential Jan. 15 caucus voters that Trump is the best choice for Republicans.

“I’ve known the man for years now,” Noem said onstage, according to KTIV, “worked with him when he was in the White House on tax cuts, worked with him on policies and trade agreements. I served on the Armed Services Committee, worked on foreign policy with him. He helped me build my economy in South Dakota.”

Taking aim at Haley, who served as South Carolina governor and then as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration, Noem told an audience, “She said that she was never going to run for president against President Trump, and now she’s running for president against President Trump.”

HALEY PUSHES BACK BUT DOES NOT CATEGORICALLY RULE OUT BEING TRUMP’S RUNNING MATE

Nikki Haley and Donald Trump recent images cropped side by side

Nikki Haley has been floated as a potential vice presidential running mate for former President Trump. (Getty Images)

“She defends him and then she attacks him. She defends you, she attacks you,” Noem said of Haley, according to the Argus Leader. “Whichever way the political winds blow is where she goes, and we cannot trust our country to somebody like that either.”

Touching on foreign policy, Noem added, “We would never have the situation going on like we see in the Middle East right now if he had been in the White House. We would never see what was going on with Russia and Ukraine. I mean, he would be strong, he’d be strong against North Korea.”

Noem’s visit comes before Trump is expected to campaign in Sioux Center, Iowa, on Friday.

The roughly 30-minute speech in Iowa came a day after Noem was asked on-air by Newsmax host Eric Bolling, “If he picked Nikki Haley, would that be a mistake?”

“Yes,” Noem replied. “But if he picked her, I would tell him I disagreed with him. But then I would support the ticket because he’s still the president, and the president still makes the decisions and, you know, I just, I’ve had a lot of disagreements with Nikki Haley over the years. And I just don’t know which Nikki Haley is going to show up every day. She’s a different person, depending on whatever works for her political agenda.”

Reached for comment Thursday, a spokesperson for Haley’s campaign pointed to how Haley during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday” said she would not “play for second.”

But in a Fox News Digital interview Tuesday, Haley did not categorically rule out being Trump’s running mate.

During her speech in Sioux City on Wednesday, Noem also took aim at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has been endorsed for president by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and visited all of the state’s 99 counties during a tour in which he touted how he defied mask and vaccine mandates in the Sunshine State, according to the Argus Leader. 

Noem endorses Trump

Gov. Kristi Noem endorsed former President Trump for president during a rally in Rapid City, South Dakota, on Sept. 8, 2023. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

“We’re not going to let people who run for office rewrite history,” Noem said onstage Wednesday. “Ron DeSantis closed his businesses down. He closed his beaches down. When it was hard challenging political pressure in times when everything mattered and your constitutional freedoms were threatened, Ron DeSantis caved to pressure. And we just can’t afford to put somebody as leader of the free world that caves to political pressure.”

EX-OBAMA CAMPAIGN MANAGER URGES LIBERAL VOTERS TO SUPPORT NIKKI HALEY TO SABOTAGE TRUMP

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon recently predicted a “big fight” will take place this spring over the direction of the Trump campaign. 

“They’re going to try to force Nikki on the ticket,” Bannon said in an appearance on the podcast “Human Events with Jack Posobiec.”

“They’ll say Trump needs a woman, Nikki, on the ticket, she balances things, and she can bring together that 15% of Never Trumpers in the Republican Party,” Bannon said. “We’re going to have to have that fight. If Nikki Haley is in this administration in any capacity, it will fail. She’s a viper. She’s a viper, and once she gets in there, she’ll try to run it as prime minister. She’ll try to be Dick Cheney. Her to Trump will be just like Dick Cheney to Bush. That’s what she’ll try to do.”

Noem shakes Trump's hand on stage

Former President Trump and Gov. Kristi Noem speak during a campaign rally in Rapid City, South Dakota, on Sept. 8, 2023. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

In an on-air interview with CBS News, Noem was asked if she was on the ground in Sioux City to audition for Trump’s vice presidential spot. She denied that was the case, saying, “I’m here to help the president win.”

When pressed if she would accept an offer to run as Trump’s VP, Noem responded, “I think anybody in this country, if they were offered it, needs to consider it.”

Noem also criticized Haley during the Wednesday appearance, saying, “I haven’t supported Nikki Haley. I just think I don’t really know who the real Nikki Haley is. She’s whoever she needs to be for whatever ways the political winds blow that day.”

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“Nikki Haley would be a bad choice because I don’t know what she will say and do next,” Noem said.



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DC appeals court to review Jack Smith’s ‘unconstitutional’ appointment in Trump case


The federal court set to hear Special Counsel Jack Smith’s case against former President Donald Trump has told the lawyers to be prepared to answer questions on the constitutionality of Smith’s appointment. 

Ed Meese, former attorney general under President Reagan, filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case against Trump on Tuesday, arguing that Attorney General Merrick Garland’s appointment of Smith — a private citizen — is in violation of the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.

“Not properly clothed in the authority of the federal government, Smith is a modern example of the naked emperor. Illegally appointed, he has no more authority to represent the United States in this Court, or in the underlying prosecution, than Tom Brady, Warren Buffett, or Beyoncé,” the brief argues.

On Thursday, the court issued an order that told counsel for both parties to “be prepared to address at oral argument…any inquiries by the Court regarding discrete issues raised in the briefs filed by amici curiae.”

RED STATE AGS BLAST SPECIAL COUNSEL PUSH FOR SCOTUS TO RUSH TRUMP CASE: ‘PARTISAN INTERESTS’

President Donald Trump awards the National Medal of Freedom to former Attorney General Ed Meese during a ceremony at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 8, 2019.

The brief was filed in Smith’s case against the 45th president on criminal charges related to Trump’s actions during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. The oral arguments are set for Tuesday.

Will Scharf, attorney for the former president, told Fox News Digital in an interview that the order indicates the court is taking the amicus briefs “seriously.”

“I think the order makes it clear that the circuit court panel is carefully reviewing the briefs that have been filed in this case that they’re taking those briefs seriously,” Scharf said.

Meese, along with scholars Steven G. Calabresi and Gary S. Lawson, argue in the brief that “Jack Smith does not have authority to conduct the underlying prosecution.”

“Those actions can be taken only by persons properly appointed as federal officers to properly created federal offices. Neither Smith nor the position of Special Counsel under which he purportedly acts meets those criteria. And that is a serious problem for the American rule of law — whatever one may think of the Defendant or the conduct at issue in the underlying prosecution,” they wrote.

FEDERAL JUDGE DENIES TRUMP’S CLAIM OF PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY IN SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH’S JAN 6 CASE

Ed Meese

Meese was appointed attorney general by President Reagan and served from 1985 to 1988. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Meese and company noted in the brief that Smith was appointed “to conduct the ongoing investigation into whether any person or entity [including former President Donald Trump] violated the law in connection with efforts to interfere with the lawful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election or the certification of the Electoral College vote held on or about January 6, 2021.”

While Garland cited statutory authority for this appointment, Meese said that “none of those statutes, nor any other statutory or constitutional provisions, remotely authorized the appointment by the Attorney General of a private citizen to receive extraordinary criminal law enforcement power under the title of Special Counsel.”

“Second, even if one overlooks the absence of statutory authority for the position, there is no statute specifically authorizing the Attorney General, rather than the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint such a Special Counsel,” the former AG wrote.

“Under the Appointments Clause, inferior officers can be appointed by department heads only if Congress so directs by statute… and so directs specifically enough to overcome a clear-statement presumption in favor of presidential appointment and senatorial confirmation. No such statute exists for the Special Counsel,” he added.

SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH CALLS ON SUPREME COURT TO RULE ON TRUMP IMMUNITY CLAIM

Jack Smith

Special Counsel Jack Smith arrives to give remarks on an unsealed indictment that included four felony counts against former President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 1, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Meese said “the Special Counsel, if a valid officer, is a superior (or principal) rather than inferior officer, and thus cannot be appointed by any means other than presidential appointment and senatorial confirmation, regardless of what any statutes purport to say.”

Meese argued that courts “have discretion to consider Appointments Clause challenges raised for the first time on appeal.”

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“Judicial economy also points towards this Court deciding the Appointments Clause issue now, as otherwise Defendant will simply raise it before the District Court if the case is remanded and this Court will face the issue again on appeal. This panel is accordingly free to invalidate Smith’s appointment, and should do so,” he said.



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From pardoning Trump to controversial comments, here are the top moments from Nikki Haley’s Iowa town hall


Republican presidential candidate and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley had a number of stand-out moments during her appearance at an Iowa town hall hosted by CNN on Thursday.

Haley addressed how she plans to overtake former President Trump, the clear front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination, as well as addressing recent controversial statements she made on the campaign trail regarding slavery and the Iowa caucuses.

When asked how she planned to overtake Trump, who continues to hold a commanding lead in the polls despite Haley’s recent surge in New Hampshire and Iowa, the former South Carolina governor pointed to how many of the same polls indicate she would triumph in a one-on-one matchup with President Biden.

POLL REVEALS ALARMING LEVEL OF FEAR OF WHETHER 2024 ELECTIONS WILL BE ‘FAIR,’ BALLOT COUNTING ACCURATE

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign town hall in Rye, New Hampshire, January 2, 2024. (REUTERS/Brian Snyder)

“I defeat Biden by 17 points,” Haley said, referencing one recent poll and noting it showed she would perform better than Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, another Republican candidate, in a hypothetical November contest against Biden. “If you win by double digits, you go into Washington with a mandate… It is time to move past President Trump.”

Haley argued that “chaos follows” Trump and that she would be the generational leader “that leaves negativity and baggage behind.” However, she later defended her intention to pardon Trump should he be convicted of any crime, and said some of the prosecutions the former president is currently facing in Georgia, Washington, D.C. and New York were “politically motivated.”

“I used to tell him he’s his own worst enemy,” Haley said, after stating that Trump would “have to answer” for some of the charges he faces, but without specifying which ones.

RFK, JR. MEETS REQUIREMENTS TO APPEAR ON FIRST 2024 GENERAL ELECTION BALLOT AS CAMPAIGN SEASON HEATS UP

When asked about the worsening crisis at the southern border, Haley called Biden’s handling of the situation was “truly a dereliction of duty,” and slammed his administration’s efforts to combat Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s actions to secure his state from the masses of migrants attempting to cross the Rio Grande.

Former President Donald Trump

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the New York Young Republican Club Gala at Cipriani Wall Street on December 09, 2023 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

“Are you kidding me?” she said in reaction to Biden’s efforts to remove razor wire placed at the border to prevent passage. 

Haley added that a Haley administration would implement a national e-verify program to ensure businesses weren’t hiring illegal immigrants, defund sanctuary cities, “once and for all,” reinstate the remain in Mexico policy implemented by Trump, and “catch and deport” rather than “catch and release.”

MAINE DEMOCRAT WHO BARRED TRUMP FROM BALLOT SAID VOTER ID LAWS ‘ROOTED IN WHITE SUPREMACY’

She went on to praise Abbott’s bussing migrants to sanctuary cities, but avoided giving DeSantis credit for doing the same despite being directly asked. 

Haley was later asked about how she declined to mention slavery as the reason for sparking the Civil War during a town hall event last month. She reiterated that she made a mistake by not mentioning it.

She explained that, as a southerner, she looks past the issue of slavery and race because of its prevalence in southern history and how southerners are exposed to it from an early age, but that she still should have mentioned slavery first.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott looks on during a news conference on March 15, 2023 in Austin, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Continuing on the discussion of race, she touted her handling of the shooting of an unarmed Black man by a police officer in South Carolina in 2015 while she was governor, and noted that riots like those in Ferguson, Missouri that same year didn’t take place because of the relationship building she did with police and the community.

Haley also defended her recent comments on the Iowa caucuses that although the state “starts” the nominating process, New Hampshire will “correct it.” The suggestion lead to sharp criticism from her Republican opponents.

“We banter against each other… It’s what we do,” Haley said. “I think the problem in politics now is it’s too serious and too dramatic.” 

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“I have been coming here for months… You are going to see me fight until the very end of the last day in Iowa,” she said. “If I didn’t love Iowa, I wouldn’t keep coming to Iowa.” 

Said added that she would probably joke about New Hampshire while in Iowa in the coming days.

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



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Watch DeSantis’ top moments on Trump, Biden, immigration from Iowa town hall: ‘Leaders got to lead’


Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis touched on a variety of issues during a CNN town hall in Iowa on Thursday night, criticizing former President Trump for failing to follow through on 2016 promises and hitting President Biden’s record.

DeSantis took aim at Trump and told the crowd that Republicans “crashed and burned” in 2022.

“Donald Trump’s handpicked candidates lost because the Democrats have a playbook that they can run,” DeSantis said. “You don’t want it to be a referendum on Trump and the past. You want it to be a referendum on Biden’s failures, on our positive vision for this country. I offer that.”

“You need somebody that can serve two terms. You’re going to go in there as a lame duck president, even if you could get elected,” DeSantis continued. “I don’t think that that’s how it works there. We need a change agent in Washington. We need somebody who’s going to go in there, actually unwind the bureaucracy, which Trump promised to do and didn’t do. We need a president that’s going to stop the border invasion by building a wall, which Trump promised to do but didn’t do.”

DeSantis criticized Trump for running on the same platform he ran on in 2016, without accomplishing his goals as president.

“When I tell you I’m going to do something, you can take it to the bank,” DeSantis said. “I’m going to do it.”

DESANTIS CAMPAIGN ACCUSES HALEY OF ‘INSULTING’ IOWANS BY SAYING NH WILL ‘CORRECT’ CAUCUS RESULTS

DeSantis participated in a CNN townhall in Iowa Thursday. (CNN)

DeSantis also hit Trump on abortion saying “of course” the former president is not pro-life.

“When you’re saying that pro-life protections are a terrible thing, by definition, you are not pro-life. When you say that you want to have a federal law at 18 weeks or 20 weeks that would override a state like Iowa that has enacted, pro-life protections, that would mean more abortions, not less abortions, because very few abortions are happening that late anyways,” DeSantis explained. “So he has flip-flopped on this issue.”

I don’t know if it’s because of political convenience or this is all where he always believed in. But here’s the thing. Some issues are pretty fundamental. How do you flip-flop on something like the sanctity of life?”

DeSantis spoke about the illegal immigration crisis and specifically how fentanyl is pouring across the border and killing Americans.

“How many fentanyl deaths are enough, are we just supposed to sit here and let this happen?” DeSantis said. “I think a president not only has a right, I think you have a responsibility to fight back against these people.”

I am sick and tired of seeing the carnage in this country and in my travels through Iowa I’ve met angel parents, people that have lost kids to fentanyl overdose. And a lot of times these are not drug addicts. These are maybe a college student that is stressed out during exams. So they buy a pill thinking it’s going to help them get through the night and it turns out it’s laced with fentanyl. That could be enough to poison that student to death. And so this is shattering families. It’s shattering communities. The people in D.C., they just shrug their shoulder. They could care less about what’s going on.”

DeSantis touched on the foreign policy record of Joe Biden slamming him for the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan which he says sent a clear message to America’s enemies abroad.

OVER 500 ELECTED OFFICIALS HAVE ENDORSED DESANTIS AS PRESIDENTIAL BATTLE HEATS UP AHEAD OF IOWA CAUCUSES

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to members of the media

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to members of the media after an event on Thursday, July 27, 2023 in Chariton, Iowa.  ((Sergio Flores for The Washington Post via Getty Images))

“How he left Afghanistan was a total disgrace,” DeSantis said. “I mean, it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of veterans who’ve served over there. To see all that weaponry and all that stuff over there just taken by the Taliban, 13 people killed, that was humiliating for this country. But that sent a signal to people like Russia, to Iran, that now is the time to be able to start acting out.”

“When I’m president, it’s going to be totally different. You know, we’re going to lay down very clear markers and people are going to know, don’t mess with the USA.”

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Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis

Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis delivers remarks at the 2023 Christians United for Israel summit on July 17, 2023, in Arlington, Virginia.  ((Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images))

DeSantis was asked about gay marriage in the context of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie recently saying that he was wrong about gay marriage in the past.

“I respect the Supreme Court’s decision,” Desantis said. “We’ve abided by that in Florida, even though our [state] constitution defines it as between a man and a woman. But I think what we need to recognize is, you know, you are going to have people try to wield power against our religious institutions and try to marginalize them simply by upholding the biblical definition. And so I’m going to protect those religious institutions to be able to do what has always been done in terms of how they consider marriage as a sacrament.”

DeSantis also touted his ability to work across the aisle, especially in the case of national disasters. He even credited Biden with not politicizing Hurricane Ian, which caused major damage in Florida last September.

NEWSOM, DESANTIS DEBATE GETS HEATED OVER COVID, TAX POLICIES: ‘YOU DID A LOT OF DAMAGE’

As president, when we have these national disasters I don’t care if it’s a Republican governor like Kim Reynolds, who I’m very close with, or a liberal governor like [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom, who I’ve got some differences with, when you have these situations, leaders got to lead and you got to put politics aside.”

DeSantis’ town hall appearance came less than 2 weeks ahead of the Iowa caucuses, the first contest in the GOP’s 2024 nominating cycle. The Florida governor is currently polling at 18.6% in the Hawkeye State, according to the Real Clear Politics average, which trails Trump who leads at 51.3% and is just ahead of rival Nikki Haley, who sits at 16.1%.



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Prosecutor on Jack Smith team discouraged FBI from investigating Clinton Foundation in 2016


EXCLUSIVE: A top prosecutor on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team discouraged the FBI from pursuing an investigation into the Clinton Foundation in 2016 due to what he viewed as negligible evidence, despite multiple Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) related to hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign transactions, Fox News Digital has learned.

Ray Hulser, the former chief of the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section (PIN), who serves on Smith’s team currently prosecuting former President Donald Trump, was identified as the official who “declined prosecution” of the Clinton Foundation in 2016 in Special Counsel John Durham’s report.

Jack Smith and Trump

Special Counsel Jack Smith is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Former President Donald Trump’s immunity claims in the election interference criminal case against him. (Getty Images)

FBI IGNORED ‘CLEAR WARNING SIGN’ OF CLINTON-LED EFFORT TO ‘MANIPULATE’ BUREAU FOR ‘POLITICAL PURPOSES’

According to the Durham report, in January 2016, “three different FBI field offices, the New York Field Office, the Washington Field Office, and the Little Rock Field Office, opened investigations into possible criminal activity involving the Clinton Foundation.”

The report reveals that the case was opened referring to an intelligence product and corroborating financial reporting that a particular commercial “industry likely engaged a federal public official in a flow of benefits scheme, namely, large monetary contributions were made to a non-profit, under both direct and indirect control of the federal public official, in exchange for favorable government action and/or influence.”

DURHAM FINDS DOJ, FBI ‘FAILED TO UPHOLD’ MISSION OF ‘STRICT FIDELITY TO THE LAW’ IN TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE

The investigation out of Washington was opened as a “preliminary investigation, because the case agent wanted to determine if he could develop additional information to corroborate allegations in a recently-published book, ‘Clinton Cash’ by Peter Schweizer, before seeking to convert the matter to a full investigation,” the report states.

the clintons

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

But the New York and Little Rock investigations included predication “based on source reporting that identified foreign governments that had made, or offered to make, contributions to the Foundation in exchange for favorable or preferential treatment from Clinton.” 

The Durham report revealed that because three different FBI field offices opened investigations related to the Clinton Foundation, there was a “perceived need to conduct coordination meetings between the field offices, FBI Headquarters, and appropriate U.S. Attorney’s offices,” as well as “components” from main Justice Department.

DESPITE ACQUITTAL, DURHAM TRIAL OF SUSSMANN ADDED TO EVIDENCE CLINTON CAMPAIGN PLOTTED TO TIE TRUMP TO RUSSIA

“These meetings likely were deemed especially important given that the investigations were occurring in an election year in which Clinton was a declared candidate for President,” the report states, including details from those meetings.

One meeting detailed in the report took place on Feb. 1, 2016. Present for that meeting were several FBI officials, as well as Criminal Division Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell and Hulser, who, at the time, was Public Integrity Section chief.

Durham interviewed Hulser as part of his investigation. Hulser told Durham that the FBI briefing on the Clinton Foundation was “poorly presented and that there was insufficient predication for at least one of the investigations due to its reliance on allegations contained in a book.” 

“Hulser downplayed information provided by the New York Field Office CHS [confidential human source] and recalled that the amount involved in the financial reporting was ‘de minimis,’” the report states.

However, Durham’s team reviewed the financial reporting to better “understand the allegations.”

John Durham

Special Counsel John Durham testifies before the House Judiciary Committee on June 20, 2023. (Screenshot/House Judiciary Committee)

“The reporting, which in itself is not proof of wrongdoing, was a narrative describing multiple funds transfers, some of which involved international bank accounts that were suspected of facilitating bribery or gratuity violations,” the Durham report states in a footnote. “The transactions involved occurred between 2012 and 2014, and totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

The Durham report does not explicitly state the words “Suspicious Activity Report”; however, the activity described is that which would normally be the subject of such reports.

A source familiar with the matter, however, told Fox News Digital that there were multiple SARs filed related to the Clinton Foundation during that time. In 2012, Hillary Clinton served as secretary of state.

Banks have a duty to file SARs, but it is up to the Justice Department to determine if there is any criminality.

Due to the Clinton name, the Clinton Foundation or Clinton-related accounts likely had a “PEP” designation within financial institutions. PEP is short for politically exposed person, meaning the individual, through their prominent position or relationships, could be more susceptible to being involved in bribery or corruption.

The Hunter Biden federal criminal investigation was predicated, in part, by SARs on funds from “China and other foreign nations.” Those SARs have been reviewed as part of the House impeachment inquiry against President Biden, led by House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky.; Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; and Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo.

MONEY LAUNDERING INVESTIGATOR WARNED OF HUNTER BIDEN’S ‘UNUSUAL,’ ‘ERRATIC’ PAYMENTS FROM CHINA IN 2018

Meanwhile, the Durham report states that during the February 2016 meeting, Hulser “declined prosecution” of the Clinton Foundation on behalf of the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section.

Hulser told Durham during his interview, though, that he “made it clear” that “his decision was not binding on the various U.S. Attorneys’ Offices or FBI field divisions.”

In interviewing another individual present for the meeting, Durham learned that the Justice Department’s reaction to the Clinton Foundation briefing was “hostile.” 

“There are mega indications that the Obama Justice Department slow-walked and discouraged the Clinton Foundation investigation, including discouraging the FBI from pursuing it,” former federal prosecutor and Fox News contributor Andy McCarthy said. 

trump 2024 announcement

Former President Donald Trump. (AP )

With regard to Hulser, McCarthy told Fox News Digital that “it has been obvious from the beginning that the decision by the Biden Justice Department to appoint a special counsel was utterly political and done to create distance between the attorney general and the president from the decision to bring charges against Trump, that Smith has conducted it throughout with an eye on the election calendar.” 

“Nobody should be surprised if people on Smith’s staff have been involved in situations that make it politically conflicting for them to be involved in this,” McCarthy said. 

Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges stemming from Smith’s investigation related to both Jan. 6 and 2020 election interference, as well as his case related to classified records.

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office declined to comment on this story. 

As for the Clinton Foundation probes, in another meeting in February 2016, then-Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe “initially directed the field offices to close their cases, but following objections, agreed to reconsider the final disposition of the cases.”

James Comey testifies in suit during Senate hearing

Former FBI Director James Comey. (Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

According to current Deputy FBI Director Paul Abbate’s interview with Durham’s team, he recalled McCabe stating that the DOJ said “there’s nothing here” and “why are we even doing this?”

FLASHBACK: DNI DECLASSIFIES BRENNAN NOTES, CIA MEMO ON HILLARY CLINTON ‘STIRRING UP’ SCANDAL BETWEEN TRUMP, RUSSIA

At the end of the meeting, it was announced that for “any overt investigative steps to be taken,” McCabe’s approval “would be required.”

Meanwhile, by May 2016, then-FBI Director James Comey directed the FBI’s New York Field Office to “cease and desist” from the Clinton Foundation investigation due to “some undisclosed counterintelligence concern.”

Durham was “not able to determine what the counterintelligence issue raised by Comey was.” 

Andrew McCabe at hearing

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

By August 2016, a meeting was held to direct that the Washington and Little Rock investigations “be closed and consolidated” into the New York investigation. But during the meeting, U.S. attorneys’ offices “declined to issue subpoenas.”

Durham included this information in his report to show “the contrast” between how the FBI handled Clinton matters in comparison to the Trump-Russia probe, known internally as “Crossfire Hurricane.”

“As an initial matter, the NYFO and WFO investigations appear to have been opened as preliminary investigations due to the political sensitivity and their reliance on unvetted hearsay information (the Clinton Cash book) and [confidential human source reporting],” the report states. “By contrast, the Crossfire Hurricane investigation was immediately opened as a full investigation despite the fact that it was similarly predicated on hearsay information.”

John durham special counsel

Special Counsel John Durham. (Ron Sachs/Consolidated News Pictures/Getty Images)

Durham added that while the DOJ appeared to have had “legitimate concerns” about the Clinton Foundation investigation occurring so close to the presidential election, “it does not appear that similar concerns were expressed by the Department or FBI regarding the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.” 

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Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s nearly two-year investigation yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential election.

Durham found that the FBI “failed to act” on a “clear warning sign” that the bureau was the “target” of a Hillary Clinton-led effort to “manipulate or influence the law enforcement process for political purposes” against Trump ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Hulser was the top prosecutor for the government’s 2015 corruption case against New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, which was dismissed after a hung jury failed to reach a verdict. He also was involved in the Justice Department’s prosecution of former Trump White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, who was convicted of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee.





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Fox News Politics newsletter


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? 

– Expect more Epstein documents to drop…

– Biden mocked over migrant crisis comments

– Haley won’t rule out being Trump’s Vice President

5 revelations

A federal court in New York unsealed dozens of documents relating to sex trafficker and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Here are five takeaways from the release: 

1. ‘He likes them young’ – Epstein allegedly talked about former President Clinton’s tastes

2. Bounties for disproof – In a typo-filled email to Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein offered a “reward” for any of Virginia Giuffre friends and family who could disprove Giuffre’s allegations

3. Dinner and a show – one alleged victim described David Copperfield, who was himself once accused of sexually assaulting a teen model, as a friend of Epstein who performed at the financier’s home

4. Royal connections – she also alleged that Prince Andrew groped her while she was sitting in his lap with a Prince Andrew puppet

5. Trumped – Epstein once said he’d call up Donald Trump (before he was president) when his flight had to be rerouted to Atlantic City because it couldn’t land in New York, according to court testimony

Bill Clinton with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at the Clinton White House at an event that took place in 1993 for donors to the White House Historical Association. (Mega)

Tales from the Campaign Trail

CLINTON CONNECTION: Top deputy for Special Counsel Jack Smith helped scuttle FBI investigations into the Clintons …Read more

‘TOO DISTASTEFUL’ FOR SOME: Ex-Obama campaign manager calls for liberal voters to sabotage GOP primary …Read more

SENATE SUPPORT: GOP lawmakers throw support behind Trump in Colorado ballot dispute …Read more

ONE AND DONE: North Carolina shuts out Democratic primary challengers, makes Biden only candidate on ballot …Read more

‘BANK YOUR VOTE’: RNC launches ‘Bank Your Vote’ websites in 16 languages in all 50 states ahead of primaries …Read more

‘I’M IN’: Georgia Republican senator joins race for congressional seat …Read more

GOING ON ATTACK: Biden looks to double down on Jan. 6 attacks against Trump after ‘Bidenomics’ struggles …Read more

NOT HAPPY: Union boss meets privately with Trump, vexing liberals …Read more

IOWA DUST-UP: DeSantis accuses Haley of ‘insulting’ voters ahead of first 2024 caucus …Read more

White House

‘SECURE THE BORDER’: Biden mocked or saying ‘We gotta do something’ when asked about migrant crisis …Read more

DISSENTING LETTER: Biden campaign staffers issue letter protesting Israel-Hamas war, call for cease-fire, end of aid to Israel …Read more

LOSING GROUND: House GOP majority to shrink again in time for potential government shutdown showdown …Read more

Across America

‘DIDN’T DO IT’: Ex-Michigan House speaker aides plead not guilty to embezzlement …Read more

‘THREATENING CALLS’: Florida man arrested for threatening to kill Eric Swalwell and his kids …Read more

OIL BAN: New Mexico lawmakers consider ban on oil and gas production near schools …Read more

SOUND OF SILENCE: Obama’s support not enough to keep Claudine Gay as Harvard president …Read more

CALIFORNIA EXODUS: California exodus continues as U-Haul moving list reveals large net loss for fourth year in a row …Read more

IMMIGRATION BATTLE: DOJ sues Texas in battle over immigration law …Read more

HE’S BACK: Scandal-ridden Andrew Gillum re-emerges with podcast after political career fell apart …Read more

PARTY IN ‘PERIL’: Democratic Party’s appeal to young voters ‘in ruins,’ liberal columnist warns …Read more

DEATH PENALTY CONTROVERSY: UN experts look to stop Alabama from carrying out first US nitrogen gas execution …Read more

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



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Colorado voters seeking Trump ballot ban file response in effort to speed up Supreme Court decision


Colorado voters seeking to remove former President Trump from their state’s GOP primary ballot responded Thursday to the former president’s appeal, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to disqualify him from appearing on the ballot for another term.

“The Court should decline Trump’s invitation to second-guess the Colorado Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Colorado Election Code,” the court filing said.

The Supreme Court originally gave the Colorado voters until Feb. 5 to file their response to Trump’s appeal, but the voter plaintiffs want the court to hear and decide the issue quickly.

The justices have not decided whether they will expedite consideration of the Colorado voters’ appeal.

TRUMP ASKS SUPREME COURT TO KEEP NAME ON COLORADO BALLOT

Former President Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower in New York

Former President Trump asked the justices on Wednesday to reverse the Colorado state supreme court’s ruling to disqualify him from the Republican primary ballot for allegedly engaging in an insurrection. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura/File)

On Wednesday, Trump asked the justices to reverse the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling to disqualify him from the Republican primary ballot for engaging in an insurrection.

In a statement to Fox News, Trump’s team said that if he is prevented from being on the Colorado ballot, it would be the first time in history such a thing has happened.

GUNMAN ARRESTED AFTER BREACHING COLORADO SUPREME COURT, HOLDING GUARD AT GUNPOINT: COPS

“Over 74 million Americans voted for President Trump in the 2020 general election, including more than 1.3 million voters in the State of Colorado,” Trump’s team said in a statement.

colorado supreme court outside

The Colorado Supreme Court in Denver is shown on Dec. 20, 2023. (Getty Images)

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“Yet, on December 19, 2023, the Colorado Supreme Court ordered President Trump removed from the presidential primary ballot — a ruling that, if allowed to stand, will mark the first time in the history of the United States that the judiciary has prevented voters from casting ballots for the leading major-party presidential candidate.”





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Poll reveals alarming level of fear over whether 2024 elections will be ‘fair,’ ballot counting accurate


A new poll released Thursday revealed an alarming level of fear among Americans over whether the 2024 elections will be “fair” and if ballots will be counted accurately.

According to the Suffolk University/USA Today poll, 46% of registered Republicans said they had no confidence ballots would be accurately counted and reported after people across the country head to the polls in November.

When narrowed to those supporting former President Donald Trump, who argued the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from him, 52% said they lacked confidence ballots would be counted accurately.

RFK, JR. MEETS REQUIREMENTS TO APPEAR ON FIRST 2024 GENERAL ELECTION BALLOT AS CAMPAIGN SEASON HEATS UP

Pennsylvania mail-in ballots

Chester County, Pennsylvania, election workers process mail-in and absentee ballots at West Chester University in West Chester on Nov. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

The poll found a stark divide, however, when it came to registered Democrats, 81% of whom said they were “very” confident the 2024 elections would be “fair.” Just 14% of Republicans felt the same.

MAINE DEMOCRAT WHO BARRED TRUMP FROM BALLOT SAID VOTER ID LAWS ‘ROOTED IN WHITE SUPREMACY’

It also found a large majority of voters (83%) worried about “threats to democracy,” but they are divided over what they see as the actual threat.

A plurality of 18% said Trump was the greatest threat, while 10% pointed to government corruption and dysfunction and 8% cited immigration and open borders.

Former President Trump looking into the crowd.

Former President Donald Trump on the campaign trail. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

When asked which party was more responsible for threatening democracy, voters were split with 40% blaming Democrats and 40% blaming Republicans.

A 59% majority said it was “appropriate” for those participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol to face criminal prosecution, while 32% said it was inappropriate and should be reversed.

Fewer Americans, however, placed blame for the riot on Trump nearly three years later. Forty-three percent said the former president bore “a lot of blame,” down from 48% in 2021. Twenty-eight percent of Americans in both years said Trump wasn’t to blame at all.

BIDEN CONTINUES BLEEDING SUPPORT FROM KEY VOTER GROUPS AS DEMS SOUND ALARM OVER 2024: POLL

U.S. Capitol protests on January 6

Americans loyal to President Donald Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

Concerning prosecutions against Trump in Georgia, Washington, D.C., and New York, 52% said they were appropriate, a majority driven by the 96% of Democrats who agreed. Forty-three percent said the prosecutions were inappropriate and should be reversed, a number driven by 85% of Republicans who agreed.

Independents were largely split 48%-42% that the prosecutions were appropriate, with 9% undecided.

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Trump held a slight edge (44%-43%) over President Biden in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup, but that lead grew to 39%-37% when voters were asked about a third-party option (17%).

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



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