NationalWatch

New York City’s last remaining “migrant hotel” will soon cease to be an emergency shelter, following the Trump administration’s border crackdown that eased pressure on Texas – which had previously bused waves of migrants to the Big Apple under former President Joe Biden.

The Row, a prominent hotel in the Times Square district, will wind down its operations over the next eight months, as about 3,400 people remain within its 1,300-room confines, according to NY1.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams told the network in a statement that his administration “successfully helped more than 200,000 migrants leave our shelter system and take the next step toward self-sufficiency.”

“The migrant population in our care continues to decline, and we have closed 64 emergency migrant sites, including all of our tent-based facilities,” he said, as hotels around the city, like the Row and the Roosevelt, and large areas like Floyd Bennett Field in Marine Park, Brooklyn were crammed with migrants during the heat of the crisis.

‘I WARNED YOU’: LEFT-WING GOVERNOR SCRAPS MIGRANT SHELTER PLAN AFTER $1B BLOWUP

Adams said the operations were necessary in order to ensure “no family slept on the street.” He said that the city’s Asylum Application Help Center has processed 111,000 such applications for federal protected status and authorization to work in the U.S.

The outlet reported that New York City has expended resources for a total of 65,000 travel tickets to other cities in an effort to save city taxpayers in the long run.

There was no immediate indication of where the immigrants currently at the Row will go if they are still there when the program runs its course by April 2026.

TRUMP RIPS ‘LUXURY HOTELS’ FOR MIGRANTS WHILE AMERICAN CITIZENS ARE ‘LIVING FROM HAND TO MOUTH’

The once-posh Roosevelt Hotel, which shuttered during the COVID-19 pandemic, was another popular spot for housing migrants after it was repurposed by the city in 2023.

That lodging, on the East Side, began winding down migrant housing operations in February, the city said in a separate announcement, ushering in the closure of the Asylum Seeker Arrival Center as well.

NEW YORK CITY MIGRANT CRISIS COSTS EXPECTED TO EXCEED $5B IN TWO-YEAR PERIOD – DOUBLE TO $10B BY 2025

The city has not said much about what will happen to migrants after the last one exits the Row, but in the past the Adams administration told Gothamist that many found their own housing, moved into the city’s regular homeless shelter operations or left town.

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“While we’re not done caring for those who come into our care, today marks another milestone in demonstrating the immense progress we have achieved in turning the corner on an unprecedented international humanitarian effort,” Adams said at the time, adding New York was faced with “unprecedented challenges” in recent years.

The mayor, who remains a candidate for re-election, has been overshadowed in the November race by far-left state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, D-Queens, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the more gregarious Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.

The ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee penned a letter to the Department of Justice demanding information about Ghislaine Maxwell’s recent prison transfer and meeting with a top Trump administration official. 

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said the recent transfer of Maxwell – a convicted sex trafficker and Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and alleged accomplice – out of a maximum security prison in Tallahassee, Florida, gives “the strong appearance” that the Trump administration “is attempting to cover up the full extent of the relationship between President Trump and Mr. Epstein.” 

In the letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Bureau of Prisons Director William K. Marshall III, Raskin said Maxwell’s new home at a minimum-security federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, provides “greater freedom for inmates” and “prior to this extraordinary transfer, [was] categorically off limits to sex offenders.” 

GHISLAINE MAXWELL PRISON TRANSFER CALLED ‘HIGHLY UNUSUAL’ BY FORMER FEDERAL PRISON OFFICIAL

“These actions raise substantial concerns that the administration may now be attempting to tamper with a crucial witness, conceal President Trump’s relationship with convicted sex offenders, and coax Ms. Maxwell into providing false or misleading testimony in order to protect the President,” Raskin wrote, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Fox News Digital. “The transfer also appears to violate both DOJ and Bureau of Prisons (BOP) policies.” 

The letter asked for a cache of documents related to why Maxwell was transferred from Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Tallahassee to Federal Prison Campe (FPC) Bryan. 

Raskin is also seeking a transcript and recording of Maxwell’s recent, hours-long meeting with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche at the Tallahassee prison. 

“These meetings were highly unusual for several reasons. Mr. Blanche, who until ten months ago served as Donald Trump’s personal criminal defense lawyer, met with Ms. Maxwell and her attorney with no line prosecutors present. The meeting took place just days after DOJ leadership fired one of the chief career prosecutors on the Epstein matter,” Raskin wrote, referencing the Justice Department’s firing of Maurene Comey from the Southern District of New York. 

Comey – the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey – most recently worked on the prosecution of Sean “Diddy” Combs. Her other high-profile cases include the Epstein and Maxwell prosecutions. 

The DOJ confirmed criminal investigations into her father – as well as former CIA Director John Brennan – last month. 

REPS. MASSIE, KHANNA SOUND OFF ON WHETHER GHISLAINE MAXWELL SHOULD RECEIVE PARDON, BLAST MIKE JOHNSON

In his letter to Bondi and Marshall, Raskin further argued that convicted sex offenders would typically be barred from federal prison camps, which provide “access to the community,” and any transfer would require “multiple levels of review that would ordinarily take months to complete,” possibly the discovery of new evidence and another months-long waiting period for a spot to open up at such a minimum-security location. 

“Ms. Maxwell, however, appears to have short-circuited the entire review process and jumped the queue, receiving a place in Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Bryan within a matter of days,” Raskin wrote. “Neither DOJ nor BOP has provided anything like a satisfactory explanation for providing Ms. Maxwell this uniquely favorable treatment.” 

The letter seeks a list of any administration officials who “were aware of, were involved in, or approved” of the transfer. Raskin also demanded information regarding “any possible benefits to Ms. Maxwell, including transfers, changes to conditions of confinement, pardons, commutation, or changes to DOJ positions in ongoing matters.”

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The congressman acknowledged that Maxwell was recently subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee to testify. To Bondi and Marshall, he said “there can be no question that your actions have served to send a clear message to Ms. Maxwell in the lead up to any testimony before Congress and the American public: this Administration can punish or reward her as it sees fit for its own purposes.”

After losing his re-election bid in 2024, three-term Ohio Democratic senator Sherrod Brown will be launching a new bid next year to return to his position, according to a report.

Brown’s plans to run for Senate were shared with local media by three Ohio labor leaders who said that Brown had confided in them directly about the plans. Other Ohio Democrats also expressed to the outlet that they had heard of Brown’s plan from members of his inner circle, and the reporting follows news that Brown has been interviewing campaign managers for his upcoming bid.

Brown was ousted in 2024 by MAGA challenger and current freshman Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno, who came out victorious with 50.2% of the vote, compared to Brown’s 46.4%.

SENATE DEMOCRATS ARE FEVERISHLY RECRUITING TOP CANDIDATES TO WIN BACK MAJORITY IN 2026 MIDTERMS

Despite the brushing defeat, Democratic Party Senate leader, Chuck Schumer, has reportedly lobbied Brown to run for months. 

If selected as the Democratic Party’s candidate, Brown’s likely GOP opponent would be Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, who was appointed to fill Vice President J.D. Vance’s seat after he left for the White House. A 2026 special election will decide who will serve out the remainder of Vance’s term, which lasts until 2029.  

“Should Brown enter the race as Schumer’s handpicked candidate he will be starting in the biggest hole of his political career,” said Tyson Shepard, spokesman for Husted’s campaign.

“He has never faced a candidate like Jon Husted. Brown’s slogans will ring hollow as his coalition walks away, tired of the radical policies he’s forced to support to appease his coastal bosses in California and New York.”

BERNIE SANDERS ADDRESSES WHETHER HE’LL RUN IN 2028

Ohio, often seen as a key battleground state, has been trending towards Republicans. In 2024, President Donald Trump won the state by more than 10 percentage points. 

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Since Brown left his position in the senate, he founded the Dignity of Work Institute, which says it is “dedicated to the people who make this country work, and to creating an economy and a society where Americans’ work is valued.”

Brown, nor his representatives, could be reached for comment.    

Former Navy SEAL and current GOP House lawmaker Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona delivered a pointed message to former President Barack Obama.

“You’ve done enough damage. Probably best to sit this one out,” the congressman told Obama in a post on X.

Crane made the comments in response to a post in which Obama declared, “Since we passed the Affordable Care Act, Republicans have tried over and over to repeal it. And over and over, they’ve failed — in part because millions of people now depend on the ACA for quality, affordable health care. Now Republicans are trying something different: quietly weakening the law and hoping you won’t notice. We can’t let them.”

HOUSE REP. ELI CRANE SAYS THERAPY DOGS SHOULD BE MANDATORY AT HEARINGS AFTER JOKE ABOUT DEMS’ MENTAL STABILITY

GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah wrote in response to the Democrat’s post, “Obamacare was a great deal—for huge healthcare companies But it’s made healthcare less affordable for hardworking American families, who have seen their healthcare costs skyrocket—while a small handful of healthcare giants have reaped a windfall of billions of dollars a year.”

OBAMA LABELS TEXAS REDISTRICTING PUSH ‘A POWER GRAB THAT UNDERMINES OUR DEMOCRACY’

“The worst part of Obamacare was putting able-bodied, working-age adults on government assistance instead of helping them find employment. I’ve been vocally against this since day one. Medicaid should be for needy children, families, and seniors. Not for those who can work!” former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who is now the president of the Young America’s Foundation, wrote.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on Obama’s post.

MICHELLE OBAMA CELEBRATES BARACK AS ‘COOLEST GUY’ ON HIS BIRTHDAY AFTER THE PAIR JOKED ABOUT DIVORCE RUMORS

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Obama served two consecutive terms as president, with his White House tenure spanning from early 2009 through early 2017, when he was succeeded by President Donald Trump.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the recent release of Democratic whistleblower testimony claiming Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff approved leaking classified information in order to discredit President Donald Trump during the Russiagate probe a “bombshell” Tuesday afternoon. 

“This is obviously a bombshell whistleblower report,” Leavitt said at a Tuesday White House press briefing. “Hopefully more people in this room will cover it as such.”

“I understand Kash Patel, last night, declassified a 302 FBI document showing that a whistleblower, who is a Democrat, a career intelligence officer who worked for Democrats on the House Intel Committee for more than a decade, repeatedly warned the FBI in 2017 that then-Rep. Adam Schiff had approved leaking classified information to smear then President Donald Trump over the Russiagate scandal,” she added. 

Schiff served in the U.S. House representing California for decades before he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2024. 

Trump and Schiff have long been political foes, which was underscored during Trump’s first administration when Schiff served as the lead House manager during the first impeachment trial against Trump in 2020, and when Schiff repeatedly promoted claims that Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia. 

TRUMP-FOE ADAM SCHIFF DISMISSES TULSI GABBARD’S DECLASSIFIED RUSSIA COLLUSION INTELLIGENCE AS ‘DISHONEST’

On Monday evening, reports spread that a whistleblower who reportedly worked for Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee for more than 10 years told the FBI in 2017 that the Democrat lawmaker green-lit leaking classified information on Trump that allegedly “would be used to indict President TRUMP,” according to the report. 

“In this meeting, SCHIFF stated the group would leak classified information which was derogatory to President of the United States DONALD J. TRUMP. SCHIFF stated the information would be used to indict President TRUMP.”

The whistleblower “stated this would be illegal and, upon hearing his concerns, unnamed members of the meeting reassured that they would not be caught leaking classified information,” the report added.

KAROLINE LEAVITT EXCORIATES MEDIA FOR PERPETUATING ‘COMPLETE SCAM’ OF RUSSIA HOAX

Leavitt continued Tuesday by reading a quote from FBI Director Kash Patel that “for years certain officials used their positions to selectively leak classified information to shape political narratives.”

“It was all done with one purpose: to weaponize intelligence and law enforcement for political gain,” Leavitt said, quoting Patel. “Those abuses eroded public trust in our institutions. The FBI will now lead the charge with our partners at DOJ, and Congress will have the chance to uncover how political power may have been weaponized and to restore accountability.” 

TRUMP INVOKES RUSSIA COLLUSION HOAX WHILE CALLING FOR LONGTIME FOE SCHIFF TO FACE JAIL TIME

Leavitt added, when asked if Trump plans to investigate Schiff over the matter, doubled down that Trump “has already said he wants to see Adam Schiff held accountable for the countless lies he told the American people in relation to the Russiagate scandal.”

Schiff’s office hit back against the report in comment to Fox Digital Tuesday afternoon, claiming it was a “smear” that is “absolutely and categorically false.”

“Kash Patel’s latest smear against Senator Schiff is absolutely and categorically false, and is just the latest in a series of defamatory attacks from the President and his allies meant to distract from their plummeting poll numbers and the Epstein files scandal,” a spokesperson for Schiff said. 

“These baseless smears are based on allegations that were found to be not reliable, not credible, and unsubstantiated from a disgruntled former staffer who was fired by the House Intelligence Committee for cause in early 2017, including for harassment and potentially compromising activity on official travel for the Committee,” the spokesperson continued. “Even Trump’s own Justice Department and an independent inspector general found this individual to not be credible, have “little support for their contentions” and was of “unknown reliability,” and concluded that his accusations against Members of Congress and congressional staff “were not ultimately substantiated.'” 

Schiff is also currently facing a criminal investigation for alleged mortgage fraud stretching back to the early 2000s — a case where he has denied wrongdoing. 

The release of the whistleblower’s account follows Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard bombshell claims in July that Obama-era officials “manufactured and politicized intelligence” to create the narrative that Russia was attempting to influence the 2016 presidential election.

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Gabbard released unclassified documents in July that reportedly show “overwhelming evidence” that then–President Barack Obama and his national security team laid the groundwork for what would be the yearslong Trump–Russia collusion probe after Trump’s election win against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016.

The Trump administration is cracking down on the Smithsonian Institution ahead of America’s 250th anniversary celebration next year, requiring specific national museums and affiliated exhibits to “reflect the unity, progress, and enduring values that define the American story.”

In a letter penned to Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie Bunch III, Trump administration officials laid out a review process that the institution will undergo in order to ensure alignment with President Donald Trump’s “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” executive order.

“This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions,” the letter reads.

TRUMP WHITE HOUSE CALLS OUT SMITHSONIAN FOR PUSHING ‘ONE-SIDED, DIVISIVE POLITICAL NARRATIVES’

The following museums are included during Phase I of the comprehensive internal review: the National Museums of American History, Natural History, African American History and Culture, and American Indian; the National Air and Space Museum; the Smithsonian American Art Museum; the National Portrait Gallery and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

The administration said the review is “rooted in respect” for the institution’s mission and contributions, and the goal is not to interfere with daily operations, but to highlight “historically accurate, uplifting, and inclusive portrayals of America’s heritage.”

The review has five focus points, ranging from an analysis of current and future content within exhibitions at the museums to ensuring that all guidelines for museum content reflect the “Smithsonian’s original mission.”

MICHELLE OBAMA PORTRAITIST’S EXHIBIT WITH TRANS STATUE OF LIBERTY PULLED AFTER PRESSURE FROM VANCE

Museum curators and senior staff will also be interviewed to “better understand the selection process, exhibition approval workflows, and any frameworks currently guiding exhibition content.”

The administration is also asking that the aforementioned museums provide them with all materials – including digital files – for current, upcoming and traveling exhibitions; educational resources; external partnerships; grant-related documentation; survey responses; and internal guidelines and governance. 

All of those items will be reviewed by staff tasked with ensuring the institution aligns with Trump’s order.

SMITHSONIAN TEMPORARILY REMOVES TRUMP IMPEACHMENT REFERENCES FROM HISTORY MUSEUM, DRAWING LIBERAL IRE

A 120-day implementation guideline was given, but the museums are expected to act on some parts of the process within 30 days of receiving the letter from the administration. 

The immediate tasks include submitting current exhibition descriptions, draft plans for upcoming shows, America 250 programming materials, and internal guidelines used in exhibition development. The museums will also choose a staff liaison to serve as the primary contact point during the review process, which will also include on-site observational visits.

Within 120 days, the museums will be expected to implement corrections to content, if needed, and to replace any “divisive or ideologically driven language with unifying, historically accurate, and constructive descriptions.”

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The Trump administration anticipates completing the review in early 2026 and described the process as “a collaborative and forward-looking opportunity” that focuses on “the strength, breadth, and achievements of the American story.”

“By focusing on Americanism—the people, principles, and progress that define our nation—we can work together to renew the Smithsonian’s role as the world’s leading museum institution,” the letter read.

It concluded by saying that the goal is for the Smithsonian Institution to remain “vibrant, trusted and inspiring for generations to come.”

EXCLUSIVE: More than 20 Republican attorneys general are demanding that the Trump administration reinstate safety protocols for the abortion drug mifepristone, saying it poses “serious risks to women.”

In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital, 22 attorneys general called on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Food and Drugs Administration head Martin Makary to bring back safeguards for the pills that were scrapped by the Obama and Biden administrations.

“Recent comprehensive studies of the real-world effects of the chemical abortion drug mifepristone report that serious adverse events occur 22 times more often than stated on the drug’s label, while the drug is less than half as effective as claimed. These facts directly contradict the drug’s primary marketing message of ‘safe’ and ‘effective,'” the letter reads, citing studies published earlier this year by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPA), a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group.

The EPPA report claims the pill presents harm to women, causing 1 in 10 patients to experience a “serious adverse event,” including hemorrhage, emergency room visits and ectopic pregnancy.

FDA CHIEF HAS ‘NO PLANS’ FOR ABORTION PILL POLICY CHANGES BUT CONTINUES SAFETY REVIEW

The letter, led by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, comes after Kennedy Jr. asked Makary to review the latest data on mifepristone and its safety.

“Based on that review, the FDA should consider reinstating safety protocols that it identified as necessary as recently as 2011 in its issuance of a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for mifepristone, but which were removed by the Obama and Biden administrations,” the letter reads, adding that the drug should be taken off the market if safeguards cannot be put in place.

“Alternatively, in light of the serious risks to women who are presently being prescribed this drug without crucial safeguards, and in the event the FDA is unable to reinstate the 2011 safety protocols for mifepristone, the FDA should consider withdrawing mifepristone from the market until it completes its review and can decide on a course of action based on objective safety and efficacy criteria,” the attorneys general wrote.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., also sent a letter to Kennedy Jr. last month urging him to take immediate action to reinstate safety guardrails on mifepristone following the secretary’s commitment to conducting a safety review of the drug.

Makary had previously said that he had no plans to modify policies surrounding mifepristone but that the FDA would act if the data suggested there was a safety issue.

Mifepristone, which is taken with another drug called misoprostol to end an early pregnancy, was first approved by the FDA in 2000 after “a thorough and comprehensive review” found it was safe and effective, according to the agency’s website, which noted that periodic reviews since its approval have not identified new safety concerns.

Last year, the Supreme Court rejected a challenge targeting the drug’s availability. The plaintiffs had sought to restrict access to mifepristone across the country, including in Democrat-led states where abortion remains legal. The court did not rule on whether the FDA acted lawfully when it moved during the Obama and Biden administrations to ease the rules for mifepristone’s use that had been established during the Clinton administration.

Medication abortions made up more than half of all abortions in the U.S. health care system in 2023, according to a study by the Guttmacher Institute.

MEDICAL GROUPS URGE FDA, KENNEDY TO REEXAMINE BROAD APPROVAL OF ABORTION DRUGS

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“Currently, a woman can obtain a mifepristone abortion by participating in only one telehealth visit with any approved healthcare provider (not necessarily a physician), ordering the drugs through a mail-order pharmacy, and self-administering them,” the attorneys general wrote. “And the prescriber is only required to report an adverse event if he or she becomes aware that the patient has died.”

“The FDA’s removal of these crucial safety protocols in 2016 (and in 2023) that only five years before the FDA considered necessary begs the question of whether the removal was motivated by considerations other than the safety of patients … The current FDA’s dedication to the health and wellbeing of all Americans is encouraging, as is the much-needed review of mifepristone that Secretary Kennedy has promised,” the letter concludes.

It’s almost a cliché to say that Donald Trump has accumulated enormous power in the last six months.

He has busted through what used to be guardrails, come close to defying the courts, collected big bucks from ABC and CBS, not to mention $200 million from Columbia, cajoled elite law firms into settlements, and taken over law enforcement in Washington.

One example: Trump fired Erika McEntarfer as commissioner at the Bureau of Labor Statistics when he didn’t like the Biden appointee’s weak jobs number, 73,000 for July.

He has now hired the chief economist from the conservative Heritage Foundation, E.J. Antoni, who has been an outspoken critic of the BLS and has a PhD in economics. He worked on Heritage’s Project 2025, the plan that became a blueprint for the second Trump term, and wants to reform BLS – but his numbers will obviously be pleasing to the White House.

TRUMP FIRES LABOR OFFICIAL OVER WEAK JOBS NUMBER, ORDERS CRIMINAL PROBES OF PAST OPPONENTS

Trump’s takeover of the D.C. police, which will report to Pam Bondi, is legal under the city’s limited home-rule powers, and others have used such power for different ideological goals. The move has been denounced by area Democrats and whether it succeeds is an open question.

The president’s insistence on meeting Vladimir Putin in Alaska without knowing whether he’s serious about a peace deal, or even a cease-fire, is a classic roll of the dice. Trump has been downplaying expectations, saying he may have to walk away.

While Trump thrives on the spectacle of these leader-to-leader negotiations, they don’t always pan out. Despite his loving exchanges with Kim Jong-un, North Korea never reduced its nuclear arsenal. 

In fairness, Trump has pulled off cease-fires with a number of warring countries, the latest being Armenia and Azerbaijan.

TRUMP SAYS HE’LL KNOW ‘IN THE FIRST TWO MINUTES’ IF UKRAINE PEACE DEAL IS POSSIBLE WITH PUTIN

The president has ordered up so many criminal investigations of his opponents – his perceived enemies – that we’ve lost sight of the fact that this kind of interference with the Justice Department has long been considered way off-limits.

The latest is New York AG Letitia James, who brought the civil suit against Trump that resulted in a $350 million penalty but is now being appealed. Also Sen. Adam Schiff on a question about mortgages.

And he has ordered up criminal probes of the Obama administration for allegedly targeting him over Russian hacking that turned out to be unsuccessful, and accused Barack Obama of “treason.” Never mind that a special counsel from the first term investigated this and brought no charges. Trump has also demanded a probe of his first cybersecurity chief, Chris Krebs, and Miles Taylor, better known as Anonymous.

TRUMP DELIVERS ON CAMPAIGN PROMISES WHILE LIBERAL MEDIA CRIES HE’S ‘DESTROYING DEMOCRACY’

The president does this out in the open. You don’t have to rely on, well, anonymous sources.   

National Review’s Rich Lowry said recently that Trump is the most consequential president since Ronald Reagan. “Even if Trump’s second term ended tomorrow, he would have left a significant mark.” It’s hard to argue with that.

SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIES

All this amounts to an image of a strong president, a fighter determined to stoke his base and smite his enemies. The average D.C. resident doesn’t feel safe with this frightening wave of carjackings – “only” 16 of them in July. The average American is just glad the border has been shut down. Trump’s opponents are on notice that he’ll use lawsuits and legal threats to get his way.

And his war on the media is constant, with him calling for some individual journalists to be fired, and yet – irony alert – unlike Joe Biden, he speaks to them virtually every day.

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Whether you like this president or not, whether you approve of his policies or not, he keeps declaring states of emergency to justify his blizzard of executive orders. 

And that’s why he continues to drive the media agenda. 

New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani maintains a hefty lead in the race, according to a recent Siena poll of registered voters.

Mamdani is polling at 44%, and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who’s running as an independent, is at 25%. Republican Curtis Sliwa is at 12%, and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams is at 7%.

“While City Democrats favor Mamdani over Cuomo 53-32%, with single digits for the other two, more than two-thirds of City Republicans support Sliwa. City independent voters are more closely divided, with 30% supporting Mamdani and 20% supporting Adams,” Siena pollster Steven Greenberg said in a press release on Tuesday.

CUOMO OPPONENTS SLAM HIS RE-ENTRY INTO NYC MAYOR RACE, SAY CITY WANTS TO MOVE ON FROM EX GOVERNOR

“City voters under 35 are overwhelmingly supporting Mamdani, as are a plurality of voters 35-54, however, voters 55 and older back Cuomo over Mamdani, 38-32%,” he added.

“Mamdani, included in the Siena poll for the first time, has a 46-32% favorability rating with New York City voters and a negative 28-37% favorability rating among voters statewide,” Greenberg continued.  

However, the pollster said that Cuomo, who resigned as governor and then lost the Democratic primary to Mamdani, is facing serious favorability issues. 

“Cuomo has an underwater favorability rating with City voters, 37-54%, and an even worse 29-61% favorability rating with statewide voters, the worst ever favorability rating for Cuomo in a Siena poll. In fact, among Democrats statewide, Cuomo’s favorability rating is 36-56%, down from 51-39% in March,” he said.

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

Adams, who opted to pursue the race as an independent, is also facing favorability woes, according to the poll. The mayor was indicted by the Department of Justice last year on bribery, conspiracy and campaign finance charges, but the case was later dropped. Adams has presented himself as a pro-law enforcement alternative to Mamdani, especially after the 345 Park Avenue office shooting last month. 

“Adams is also underwater with voters in the City, 30-58%, statewide 22-51%, and among Democrats statewide 22-59%,” Greenberg said. “Sliwa has a 26-30% statewide favorability rating, and 30-42% in the City.”

The recent poll comes as the nation’s eyes remain on the race, as Mamdani’s win was seen as an upset against Cuomo, and the Democratic nominee has pushed several far-left policies. Currently, Mamdani is doing an anti-Trump tour across the city.

“There is no borough that will be free from Trump’s cruelty,” Mamdani said on Monday. “We will feel the pain of this legislation, whether we are in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens or Staten Island, and we will shine a light this week and every week on the costs of this vision that is coming out of Washington, D.C.”

MAMDANI’S PRIMARY WIN EXPOSES DEMOCRAT DIVIDE AS TOP LEADERS WITHHOLD ENDORSEMENTS

Although some Democrats have held back on publicly supporting Mamdani, others, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-NY., have been campaigning for him.

Cuomo, Adams, and Sliwa have taken aim at Mamdani on a variety of issues, including policing and rent control. Cuomo is even pitching “Zohran’s Law” after it came out that Mamdani lives in a rent-stabilized apartment.

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“Rent-stabilized apartments when they’re vacant should only be rented to people who need affordable housing, not people like Zohran Mamdani,” Cuomo told reporters in a video posted on social media on Sunday.

“We must remember that Andrew Cuomo has spent more time talking about my apartment than asking why so many New Yorkers are being forced out of theirs. He has spent more time criticizing me than he has in criticizing the legislation that Donald Trump has passed,” Mamdani fired back on Tuesday. 

The election is on Nov. 4, which makes it one of the few major off-year elections.

Fox News Digital’s Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is demanding that President Donald Trump abandon a GOP-led redistricting push in Texas following a Democratic walkout that blocked the vote in the Lone Star State over a Republican effort to redraw congressional maps.

The Democratic governor warned the partisan battle risks spiraling into a national redistricting “arms race” and urged Trump to “stand down.”

After days of aggressive back and forth between the two leaders, Newsom tweeted from the official page of the Governor Newsom Press Office, mocking Trump in what was ostensibly meant to mimic the president’s idiosyncratic style of using all-caps and superlatives for many of his posts. 

DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST SAYS PARTY LACKS ‘MORAL AUTHORITY’ ON TEXAS REDISTRICTING FIGHT

“DONALD ‘TACO’ TRUMP, AS MANY CALL HIM, ‘MISSED’ THE DEADLINE!!! CALIFORNIA WILL NOW DRAW NEW, MORE ‘BEAUTIFUL MAPS,’ THEY WILL BE HISTORIC AS THEY WILL END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY (DEMS TAKE BACK THE HOUSE!). BIG PRESS CONFERENCE THIS WEEK WITH POWERFUL DEMS AND GAVIN NEWSOM — YOUR FAVORITE GOVERNOR — THAT WILL BE DEVASTATING FOR ‘MAGA.’ THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! — GN,” the tweet read. 

Newsom’s hyperbolic, Trump-mimicking tone suggested that California will be retaliating in the ongoing redistricting battle unless red states like Texas abort their partisan map plans.

The governor seemed to double down on comments on X from Monday in which he posted a video along with the caption: 

“Donald Trump: It’s time to call Greg Abbott and tell him to stand down. You are not ‘entitled’ to 5 congressional seats. If you do not call your lapdogs off, CA will act quickly and swiftly. We will go to the ballot. We will neutralize whatever gains you make. We will not stand by while you light Democracy on fire.”

CALIFORNIA LAUNCHES REDISTRICTING FIGHT TO ‘NULLIFY’ TEXAS GOP PLAN, WITH DEMS POISED TO GAIN 5 SEATS

The post coincided with a letter to Trump from Monday accusing the president of “playing with fire.”

The governor said he is prepared to do whatever it takes to combat any gains that the republicans may achieve through efforts in Texas.

“You are playing with fire, risking the destabilization of our democracy, while knowing that California can neutralize any gains you hope to make,” Newsom told Trump in the letter. 

“This attempt to rig congressional maps to hold onto power before a single vote is cast in the 2026 election is an affront to American democracy,” Newsom said. 

Newsom said he was in favor of leaving the decision to independent commissions, and that he would “happily” stand down if other states followed suit in the redistricting effort.

In another snarky, all-caps tweet meant to mimic Trump’s social media style, Newsom’s office summarized the letter: “DONALD TRUMP, IF YOU DO NOT STAND DOWN, WE WILL BE FORCED TO LEAD AN EFFORT TO REDRAW THE MAPS IN CA TO OFFSET THE RIGGING OF MAPS IN RED STATES. BUT IF THE OTHER STATES CALL OFF THEIR REDISTRICTING EFFORTS, WE WILL DO THE SAME. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!”

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Newsom’s threat could mark a dramatic reversal of California’s voter-approved independent redistricting process and potentially require legislative action or even a statewide ballot measure. 

While this is only intended as a political counterpunch, the move has sparked debate among Democrats’ and Republicans’ about whether the party risks sacrificing its moral high ground on fair maps.

Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith is facing backlash and mockery on social media after she appeared to not understand a question from the media about the department’s “chain of command” amid President Donald Trump’s recent federalization of the department. 

“Can you tell us what the chain of command is now?” a reporter was heard asking Smith during a press conference Tuesday morning. 

“What does that mean?” the police chief responded.

“Well, is it Pam Bondi speaking to the mayor? Is it you? How does this work?” the reporter continued, before Bowser stepped in to explain the department’s chain of command following Trump invoking section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act Monday, which allows the president to assume emergency control of the capital’s police force. 

FBI DIRECTOR KASH PATEL BACKS TRUMP’S DC POLICE TAKEOVER: ‘WHEN YOU LET GOOD COPS BE COPS, THEY DELIVER’

The exchange came amid Bowser’s brief press conference Tuesday morning following her meeting with Attorney General Pam Bondi.  

“Our organizational chart, how we do business, how we fund the police, none of that has changed,” Bowser explained, adding that Bondi is working as Trump’s “proxy” under the federalization order and that the pair are in close communication. 

TOP HOUSE REPUBLICAN SAYS TRUMP ‘RIGHTLY’ TOOK OVER DC POLICE, DEMANDS BOWSER, OTHERS TESTIFY ON CRIME

“We have more police, and we want to make sure we use them,” she added. 

The exchange of Smith appearing to not understand the reporter’s question on the department’s “chain of command” sparked mockery and backlash online Tuesday afternoon. 

“This is who is in charge of the police in D.C...” popular conservative X account Libs of TikTok posted of the exchange. 

“This is why DEI is a disease,” National Co-Chair of the RNC Youth Advisory Council CJ Pearson posted to X in response to the exchange. 

Smith previously served as the department’s first chief equity officer, where she “led the department’s efforts on diversity, equity and inclusion,” according to her biography.

TRUMP’S PLAN TO DEPLOY NATIONAL GUARD IN DC SPARKS BACKLASH FROM RESIDENTS—BUT SOME WELCOME IT

“WTF! The DC Police Chief doesn’t even know what Chain of Command means,” another conservative X account posted in response.

“Smith previously served as the Police Department’s “Chief Equity Officer,'” the Trump War Room account posted to X. 

“MIND BLOWING:  D.C. police chief reveals she  DOES NOT KNOW what chain of command is. Folks, this is the Washington, D.C. POLICE Chief,” another critic posted.

“NEW: Washington DC Police Chief Pamela A. Smith doesn’t know what the ‘chain of command’ means. … Yikes,” Trending Politics co-owner Collin Rugg posted. 

Fox Digital reached out to the Metropolitan Police Department and Bowser’s office for comment on the exchange and subsequent backlash, but did not immediately receive replies. 

TRUMP ACTIVATES NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS TO ADDRESS ‘TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL’ CRIME IN WASHINGTON

Trump federalized the D.C. police department following a spate of high-profile attacks and killings in the city in recent weeks, including the fatal shooting of a congressional intern in June, the fatal shooting of a pair of Israeli embassy staffers in May, and a brutal attack on a former Department of Government Efficiency staffer earlier in August.

“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people,” he said. “And we’re not going to let it happen anymore. We’re not going to take it.” 

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Trump declared it was “Liberation Day in D.C.,” adding, “We’re going to take our capital back.”

“We’re taking it back under the authority vested in me as the president of the United States. I’m officially invoking section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. You know what that is. And placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control. … In addition, I’m deploying the National Guard to help reestablish law, order and public safety in Washington, D.C. And they’re going to be allowed to do their job properly,” he said Monday. 

Mexico is handing over 26 top cartel leaders to the United States this week in a deal with the Trump administration. 

The cartel figures were scheduled to fly to the U.S. on Tuesday.

“Today is the latest example of the Trump administration’s historic efforts to dismantle cartels and foreign terrorist organizations,” Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News Digital. “These 26 men have all played a role in bringing violence and drugs to American shores — under this Department of Justice, they will face severe consequences for their crimes against this country. We are grateful to President Sheinbaum and the Mexican government for their collaboration in this matter.”

Abigael González Valencia, a leader of the “Los Cuinis,” cartel, which is aligned with the notorious Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG) and Roberto Salazar, who is accused of participating in the 2008 killing of a Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy, are among those being handed over to the U.S. 

US ACCUSES VENEZUELAN REGIME OF NARCO-TERRORISM OVER ALLIANCES WITH TREN DE ARAGUA, SINALOA CARTEL

The Trump administration has classified the CJNG as a terrorist organization. 

Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office and Security Ministry confirmed the men were being handed over, saying the deal was made after the U.S. Justice Department said it wouldn’t seek the death penalty for any of the men.

The deal comes amid the Trump administration’s focus on border security and attempt to crack down on Mexican cartels that send drugs across the border. 

“President Trump’s top priority is protecting the homeland, which is why he took the bold step to designate several cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations,” deputy White House press secretary Anna Kelly previously said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

AMERICANS IN VACATION HOT SPOT MAY SEE MORE MILITARY THAN MARGARITAS THIS SUMMER

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Friday said the U.S. military would not be entering Mexican territory following reports that Washington could take action to combat the cartels. 

“We co-operate, we collaborate, but there is not going to be an invasion,” she said. “It’s off the table, absolutely off the table.”

President Donald Trump has also reportedly secretly authorized U.S. military force against cartels in Latin America designated by the U.S. as terrorist organizations, which would allow U.S. forces to engage with them.

It also comes ahead of 25% tariffs on Mexican goods coming into the U.S. imposed by Trump. 

Trump spoke with Sheinbaum, who has been more aggressive than the last president about going after cartels, and told her he would delay 30% tariffs on the country for 90 days for negotiations. 

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Mexico also extradited 29 cartel leaders in February, including Rafael Caro Quintero, who prosecutors say was behind the torture and murder of a DEA agent in 1985. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Texas House Democrats have reportedly confirmed they intend to return to their state after fleeing in an attempt to halt legislative proceedings, which included GOP attempts to redraw congressional districts in the state.

Multiple sources confirmed to ABC 13 Houston on Tuesday that the absent House Democrats will return to the Lone Star State after feeling like they accomplished their mission of killing the special legislative session called by Republicans to pass redistricting legislation. The special session expires next Tuesday.

The outlet reported the exact time of the Democrats’ return to the capital in Austin is not clear.

TEXAS GOP SEEKS TO ‘DOMESTICATE’ ROGUE DEMS FOR BREAKING QUORUM THROUGH NATIONWIDE CIVIL ARREST WARRANTS

News of the lawmakers’ imminent return to the state comes on the same day that Texas Senate Republicans were able to get the new congressional maps approved. They must now be passed in the House before Republican Gov. Greg Abbott can sign them into law.

Earlier this week, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows indicated they would adjourn the special legislative session this Friday if Democrats had not returned by then.

ABBOTT VOWS INDEFINITE SPECIAL SESSIONS, SAYS FLEEING DEMS COULD FACE ARREST ‘FOR LITERALLY YEARS’

Meanwhile, Abbott has signaled plans to immediately call a second consecutive special session and has teased that he may also add additional agenda items.

The strategy by Texas Democrats to leave the state and abdicate their duties in an effort to stall Republican legislative efforts is a strategy they have used before.

In 2021, more than 50 Texas Democrats left the state for the nation’s capital in an effort to stall Republican election security legislation following President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss.

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The effort led to Abbott ultimately calling three consecutive special legislative sessions, with the election security bill passing during the second one in August.

New York City socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was pressed Tuesday on his pledge to be President Trump’s “worst nightmare” along with his plan to freeze rent, which has been criticized by many landlords in the city. 

“What I’ve said time and again is I will not take a reflexive approach in refusing to speak to any one person, depending on their politics,” Mamdani told Fox News National Correspondent Brian Llenas at a Tuesday press conference when asked about his previous claim that his administration will be Trump’s “worst nightmare” and if that threat rings hollow given the amount of federal power and funding the president yields.

“I am looking to work with anyone so long as it’s to the benefit of New Yorkers,” Mamdani continued. “That’s the distinction between myself and Andrew Cuomo. One of many is that he called Donald Trump not on the question of how can we serve New York City, not on the question of how can we protect this city from these cuts, but rather, how could we work together to subvert the will of Democratic primary voters?”

Llenas followed up by asking how voters can be assured Mamdani won’t be reflexive and can work with the White House, given he is currently on a press tour across the city’s five boroughs specifically attacking Trump.

MAMDANI’S PAST ‘VISCERAL DISDAIN’ FOR POLICE ‘SCARES A LOT OF NEW YORKERS’ FOR GOOD REASON: NYC CRIME EXPERT

“What this tour is reflective of is the fact that Donald Trump is attacking this city,” Mamdani answered. “It’s attacking its people. It’s attacking the very fabric of what we call home. And we’ve spoken about it in a fiscal sense, in terms of what it will mean to steal food from the hungry, what it will mean to throw sick people off of their insurance, what it will mean to make it even more difficult to afford the city. And so, yes, this is a tour against the Trump administration’s attack on New York City voters.”

Mamdani added that if Trump “wants to pick up the phone” to work on issues like cheap groceries that he is “willing to work with him on that” but it cannot be a “partnership at the expense of the people in the city.”

Mamdani has faced strong criticism, including from New York Apartment Association CEO Kenny Burgos in a recent interview with Fox News Digital, about his plan to “freeze” rent in the city for some New Yorkers.

CUOMO FLIPS SCRIPT ON MAMDANI FOR OWNING PROPERTY IN UGANDA DESPITE ITS ANTI-LGBT LAWS: ‘SILENCE IS VIOLENCE’

Mamdani was asked what he would say to those who argue rent freezes keep housing supply lower while denying landlords and builders the necessary funds to build more housing or maintain their properties, a concern echoed by Burgos in his comments to Fox News Digital.

“The rent freezes that we’re speaking about, these are rent freezes that have already taken place in New York City,” Mamdani answered. “They happened three times under the previous administration. The issues that we’re having of housing supply, these are long-term issues in New York City, some of which have to do with politics and policy. Some of which also have to do with process.”

“And these are critically important for us to confront as the leaders of this city, because what we are seeing is a vacancy rate that is so low that it is suffocating the city’s ability to continue to grow and ensure that we can welcome more people here.”

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Mamdani continued by saying what he has “heard from landlords” is primary concerns about insurance. 

“The fact that insurance has doubled in recent years and I see an example in a number of those landlords coming together to create their own insurance entity,” Mamdani said. “I may butcher the name, but Milford Street Captive, which has managed to reduce insurance costs, that’s something that the city can build upon with more significant investment.”

“I’ve also heard from these same landlords that an issue they have is not that a tenant cannot afford the 3 or 4 or 5% increase that the Rent Guidelines Board is passing, as per the directive from Eric Adams. It’s that there are some tenants who can’t afford their rent at all,” Mamdani said. 

Mamdani went on to call for more rent vouchers, saying that there are “so many” New Yorkers living in rent-stabilized housing that can benefit from CityFHEPS.

“That could actually increase the amount of money that these landlords take home in rent, but the city hasn’t paid enough,” Mamdani said. 

“Those previous rent freezes were temporary, were they not?,” Mamdani was pressed by Llenas.

“I’ve spoken about a four-year rent freeze,” Mamdani responded before moving on to the next question. 

FIRST ON FOX: One of the prominent activists behind the protests against President Trump’s move to federalize Washington, D.C., to combat crime is a Black Lives Matter organizer who has a long history of calling for defunding and abolishing the police and other far-left agenda items.

In recent days and on Monday, shortly after Trump’s press conference announcing federal resources being sent to the nation’s capital in accordance with the Constitution, protesters took to the streets opposing the crime crackdown, including Nee Nee Taylor, the executive director of Harriet’s Wildest Dreams and Free DC’s co-founder and operations organizer.

“Free D.C.,” Taylor told protesters gathered around her on the streets of Washington, D.C., on Monday.  “This is our city.”

“Take it to the streets. This our D.C. No justice, no peace,” she continued. “If we don’t get no justice, they’re not going to get any peace… The only violence that’s happening in D.C. right now is the violence against our communities that this president is directing.”

TOP DEMOCRATS RIPPED ON SOCIAL MEDIA OVER ‘BONKERS’ REACTIONS TO TRUMP’S DC CRIME PLAN: ‘MASSIVE LIAR’

Over the years, Taylor has repeatedly called for police to be defunded and abolished on her X account, formerly known as Twitter, with the username “SpiritOfHarrietTubman.”

In 2018, Taylor posted on X, “Let’s [sic] clear I want to abolish the police”

“Black Morning! I woke up like this, in my Greatness and also still having to shout to the World that we are FREE! Abolish the enslave Patrols that beat, kill and arrest Black people,” Taylor posted on X in 2021. “Call & demand that all Protesters be release. [sic]”

“Ayeee! May all Jails and Prisons be abolish! [sic]” Taylor posted on X in 2021 in response to the anniversary of Chelsea Manning, who was found guilty of espionage before being pardoned by former President Obama, being released from prison.

Taylor has specifically called for the defunding of the police department in Washington, D.C., where she is now opposing Trump’s move to send in federal resources.

MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR RAGES AT TRUMP’S FEDERAL TAKEOVER OF DC POLICE TO FIGHT CRIME

“Wasn’t the conclusion to tow cars and hold club owners responsible for violence? Being reactive and not pro active won’t keep people safe,” Taylor posted on X in 2022. “Defund @DCPoliceDept and invest in resources that keep people safe. #DefundMPD invest in community.”

“Access to food is a fundamental human right, yet due to poverty many people aren’t afforded this right,” Harriet’s Wildest Dreams posted on Facebook in 2022. “The state, using police, maintains poverty and therefore hunger. In today’s episode of #PoliticalEducationMondays we discuss why “Defunding Police is Food Justice.”

Taylor’s group went on to slam the police in a series of other social media posts, saying it has “always targeted queer and trans folks” and that “police have existed to violently protect property and its owners.”

Taylor has also been vocal about abolishing ICE, railing against the Los Angeles ICE raids in a June Facebook post. The June 9 post said the raids were “chaos” and were being “provoked by this administration.” She went on to say law enforcement “doesn’t keep us safe. Not the police, not ICE, not any system built to control us.”

Harriet’s Wildest Dreams and Taylor have also both celebrated Assata Shakur, also known as JoAnne Chesimard, who was convicted in the 1973 killing of New Jersey state trooper Werner Foerster, who left behind a wife and 3-year-old son. 

“Assata Shakur is a freedom fighter and political activist. A prominent figure in the Black Liberation Movement, Assata sought refuge in Cuba in 1984 after escaping political persecution in the U.S,” the group wrote last year on Facebook with the “HandsOffAssata” hashtag. “She became the first woman on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. Denying criminal accusations, she embodies a symbol of resistance against racism and injustice.”

In another Facebook post from last week, the group included a graphic with Shakur’s face and a caption that read, “Black August is a time to honor those who chose freedom, no matter the cost. We carry the stories  of those who risked everything for liberation.”

Taylor posted several times about Shakur being a “freedom fighter” and downplayed her murder conviction by saying she was stooped for a broken taillight, ignoring her involvement in the shooting. Shakur later escaped prison and fled to Cuba, where former Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro granted her asylum. She is currently still wanted by the FBI.

A flyer distributed by the Free DC Project, an organizer along with Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, said that the opposition’s “guiding principles” are: Do not obey in advance. Prioritize joy. Take up space. Be in solidarity, and organize.

“Silence is compliance, so we need to get loud, starting tonight and every night of this occupation, go outside at 8:00 PM and bang pots and pans, sing, chant, or make noise for five minutes,” the flyer, posted on Instagram on Monday, explained.

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Harriet’s Wildest Dreams refers to itself as a group formed out of Black Lives Matter with the intent “to begin the next chapter of our journey as organizers in the movement for Black lives and liberation in DMV (DC, MD, VA).”

On the Harriet’s Wildest Dreams website, Taylor is described as “our modern-day Harriet Tubman.”

Harriet’s Wildest Dream was also active in 2024 pushing back against the arrest of anti-Israel protesters on college campuses, including George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

The nation’s capital in the following years has been rocked by shootings that have left innocent children shot and dead, a trend of juveniles committing carjackings that have turned deadly in some cases, shoplifting crimes and attacks on government employees, summer interns and others, including the fatal shooting of 21-year-old congressional intern, Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, in June.

Trump responded on Monday by announcing that he is federalizing the D.C. police department to curb spiraling violence, sparking pushback from Democrats who have claimed crime is down in the nation’s capital. 

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report

The Texas state Senate approved new Republican-drawn maps Tuesday night, which have led House Democrats in Texas to flee the state.

While Texas House Democrats remain on the lam in an effort to obstruct legislative proceedings spearheaded by Republicans to redraw the state’s congressional maps, the Senate was still able to obtain a quorum and pass the maps. They now must be passed in the House, but it is unclear when that will be possible. 

During the vote, nine Democrats exited the floor in protest, but two remained on the floor, which allowed the Senate to reach a quorum. The vote to pass the new maps eventually gained approval by the Senate following a 19-2 vote.

ABBOTT, PAXTON LAUNCH LEGAL BLITZ ON FLEEING DEMOCRATS IN REDISTRICTING SHOWDOWN 

“This mid-decade redistricting isn’t about fair representation—it’s about politicians picking their voters instead of voters choosing their leaders,” the Senate Democratic Caucus said in a statement, according to The Texas Tribune. “And it doesn’t stop here. If they can gerrymander now, they can and will do it before every election.”

Texas Republicans began pushing for new maps after the Trump administration directed state officials that they were in violation of the Voting Rights Act. 

Civil arrest warrants were issued by the Texas House Republican majority last week in an effort to compel the absent Democrats to return, but they are only enforceable within state lines and do not lead to jail time, since the warrants are not criminal. 

TEXAS DEMS ALSO SKIPPED TOWN IN 2021 TO AVOID A VOTE, AND SEVERAL CAUGHT COVID-19 IN DC

However, Texas Republicans are seeking to utilize “every legal remedy at our disposal to hold these rogue legislators accountable,” Texas GOP Attorney General Ken Paxton said.

In addition to blocking Texas Republicans’ redistricting bill, the exodus of Texas Democrats is obstructing crucial legislation from making its way through the legislature, state Sen. Mayes Middleton told Fox News Digital. 

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This includes flood-disaster relief aid, bills to protect women’s spaces, and more.

Former first daughter Ashley Biden this week filed for divorce from her husband of 13 years, according to reports. 

The 44-year-old also posted an Instagram story on the same day with the song “Freedom” by Beyonce. 

In her post, Biden walks through a park giving a thumbs up while the song plays, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, which reported the filing first. 

MICHELLE OBAMA MOCKS RUMORS THAT HER MARRIAGE IS IN TROUBLE

She also posted the quote: “New life, new beginnings means new boundaries. New ways of being that won’t look or sound like they did before” over “Freedom Time” by Lauryn Hill. 

Biden has been married to plastic surgeon Howard Krein since 2012. 

The estranged couple were wed in Greenville, Delaware, in a ceremony that combined her Catholic faith and his Jewish roots, according to People magazine.

A reception was held at the Biden family’s Wilmington lake house.

ASHLEY BIDEN SLAMS REPORTING ABOUT HER DAD’S MENTAL ACUITY AS ‘DISRESPECTFUL AND UNTRUE’

“I kept telling Ash, we’ve got to open up the church and practice walking up and down the aisle so I can handle it,” former President Joe Biden, who was vice president at the time, told People, saying he expected to be emotional at the ceremony. 

“This is the right guy. And he’s getting a helluva woman,” the former president said at the time. Biden met her husband through her late brother Beau Biden and started dating him in 2010. 

She mentioned her wedding when she introduced the former president at the Democratic National Convention last year. 

“At the time, my dad was vice president, but he was also that dad who literally set up the entire reception,” she said. “He was riding around in his John Deere 4-wheeler, fixing the place settings, arranging the plants, and by the way, he was very emotional.”

She added, “Before he walked me down the aisle, he turned to me and said he would always be my best friend. All these years later, Dad, you are still my best friend.”

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Fox News Digital has reached out to a rep for the former president for comment. 

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening…

-Female military recruits surge across all service branches

-Climate group scrubs judges’ names from website after unearthed chats unmasked cozy ties

-DC paid protester requests surge 400% amid Trump’s federal takeover of city police: crowd company

Trump vs Newsom showdown lands in court with family ties to the nation’s highest bench

The federal government argued before a California judge — the brother of a retired Supreme Court justice — that President Donald Trump acted within his legal authority by deploying the National Guard and Marines to quell immigration riots in Los Angeles earlier this year.

Judge Charles Breyer – sibling of President Bill Clinton-appointed Justice Stephen Breyer – heard testimony in the case brought by the Newsom administration over whether the federal government violated federal law in its use of the military on domestic soil and/or the 10th Amendment.

The case is expected to test the limits of a president’s power as commander in chief, as the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act — born out of Reconstruction — requires either an act of Congress or constitutional authorization to use the U.S. military for domestic law enforcement…READ MORE.

White House

NUMBERS IN DOUBT: Trump’s pick to lead labor stats agency could pause monthly jobs report over accuracy concerns

BOOTS ON STANDBY: Pentagon drawing up quick reaction force of National Guard ready to quell civil unrest at any moment: report

DOGE VICTORY: DOGE lands big legal win as appeals court strikes down preliminary injunction

‘UNFORTUNATE’: White House criticizes judge’s decision not to unseal Epstein associate grand jury testimony

CAMPUS CRACKDOWN: Trump admin rips George Washington University in DC as ‘deliberately indifferent’ to antisemitism

MONEY PIT: Trump blasts ‘Too Late’ Powell again, threatens lawsuit over Fed’s $3B HQ renovations

‘AWFUL LOT WRONG’: Unearthed emails reveal how White House nixed Biden visiting ship because of ‘how many steps were involved’
 

World Stage

DICTATOR’S REIGN: Venezuela human rights hit new low as US puts $50M bounty on Maduro’s head: State Department

NEW FINDINGS: State Department report condemns South Africa over ‘extrajudicial killings’ in annual Human Rights report

Capitol Hill

‘STUPID BEHAVIOR’: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene explains why she’s ‘extremely frustrated’ with DC lawmakers

TIDE TURNS: Senate Democrats show shift on Israel as Sanders-backed arms blockade gains traction
 

Across America 

RED STATE REBELLION: Bernie Sanders brings ‘Fighting Oligarchy Tour’ to Trump strongholds across deep-red West Virginia

FLORIDA’S ‘CHUCK NORRIS’: DeSantis picks ‘the Chuck Norris of Florida politics’ as new top deputy

PARTISAN PLAYBOOK: Dems suggest GOP redistricting has forced them to play partisan politics, Republicans argue nothing’s changed

RUNAWAY REBELLION: Texas Republicans seek to ‘domesticate’ rogue Dems for breaking quorum

‘VERY CONCERNED’: Minneapolis Democratic socialist Omar Fateh vows to protect ‘undocumented’ residents from Trump

LIVING ‘RENT-FREE’: Mamdani zings Cuomo in rent-stabilized housing spat during anti-Trump tour stop

‘WORST OF THE WORST’: ICE Houston arrests more than 350 gang members — and it’s not just MS-13

DC VIOLENCE: Man in DC shot and killed hours after Trump federalizes city’s police department

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

ARLINGTON, Va. – Gov. Glenn Youngkin laid out his plans to address human trafficking during an annual conference Tuesday, saying the Trump administration has been a shot in the arm to state law enforcement as it attempts to tackle the elusive issue.

Youngkin, joined by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and other state attorneys general, compared human trafficking enforcement to addressing transnational gangs.

“We must have multi-state and federal support in order to dismantle the networks, not just arrest an individual, we’ve got to unpack the networks,” Youngkin told a crowd of a few hundred.

The Trump administration has been a boon to human trafficking enforcement efforts, Youngkin said, noting he met with top Justice Department officials at the White House after the inauguration to discuss the matter and found them receptive. Virginia law enforcement has since been coordinating with the federal government to take down foreign gang operations, which Youngkin said overlaps with the human trafficking space. Youngkin used the example of gang crime inside correctional centers, which he said was the first “thread” his team pulled.

FLORIDA’S OPERATION DRAGON EYE RESCUES DOZENS OF ‘CRITICALLY MISSING’ CHILDREN IN MASSIVE STING

“We were able to unpick [MS-13 gangs] from their phones,” Youngkin said. “What we found was an immense network being run out of incarcerated criminals, and once the FBI tools and the Homeland Security tools and the state police tools could all be unleashed, in the FBI regional headquarters here in Northern Virginia, a map went up on the wall of the organization, and it’s just like any other work chart.”

Miyares said in an interview with Fox News Digital he made requests to the Biden administration for an interagency task force to address MS-13, Tren de Aragua and other gangs but that the requests were made “on deaf ears.” He said that, by contrast, the Trump administration has acted quickly.

“It’s not just drug trafficking. Human trafficking is a huge component of it.… Within 30 days, [the Trump administration] had both approved it and given us interagency space at the FBI field office in Manassas, a huge space where we had both federal, state and local law enforcement working together,” Miyares said.

In March, the U.S. attorney for Eastern Virginia announced the task force had made 342 arrests, “many of them with illegal status,” and that 81 had “gang or transnational crime affiliation.”

VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS CHOOSE NOMINEE TO CHALLENGE GOP ATTORNEY GENERAL JASON MIYARES

Human trafficking violations are governed largely by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, a law passed more than two decades ago. Incidents can involve a person forcing or coercing another person into performing labor or sexual acts. The perpetrators tend to target children, women and vulnerable people, such as those living in economic hardship, fleeing natural disasters or struggling psychologically.

Youngkin said human trafficking is an “ill-defined” problem.

Miyares echoed those sentiments, saying human trafficking violations were “multifaceted.” He cited instances of missing children in his state and an arrest made in 2022 after migrants were discovered working illegally in a laundry facility in Williamsburg.

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West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey told Fox News Digital in an interview after the event that trafficking cases “all look so very different” but that foster children in his state were particularly susceptible. He said he hopes to harness artificial intelligence to use data across agencies to get a firmer grasp on the issue.

“I think the biggest next step is building these communication bridges between agencies.… Because once a kid is found, [police] need to know everything immediately, and it needs to all be in one centralized place so that a correct decision can be made very, very quickly,” McCuskey said. “Because these things happen fast, and a kid’s life can be ruined in a day and a half because an adult made the wrong decision based on bad intervention.”

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., blasted President Donald Trump for activating National Guard troops and taking over the Metropolitan Police Department to tackle crime in Washington. 

Schiff’s comments coincide with the start of a trial regarding Trump’s deployment of California National Guard troops to Los Angeles to respond to immigration riots in June, bypassing California Gov. Gavin Newsom to dispatch the troops.

“First, Donald Trump used the Marines and the National Guard to support his mass deportation agenda in Los Angeles,” Schiff posted on X Monday. “Now, he’s using similar tactics in D.C. like a tinpot dictator. Don’t look away. Don’t stay silent. If you do, don’t be surprised if it’s your city next.” 

Tinpot is a term typically used to describe figures who exhibit poor leadership skills.

DEFENSE SECRETARY PETE HEGSETH VOWS TO BE ‘FORCE MULTIPLIERS’ OF DC POLICE

Trump announced Monday that he would deploy approximately 800 National Guard troops to respond to crime in the nation’s capital. He also announced he would federalize Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department to respond to crime, placing it under the authority of Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“I’m deploying the National Guard to help reestablish law, order and public safety in Washington, D.C.,” Trump told reporters at a Monday press conference. “And they’re going to be allowed to do their job properly.”

National Guard troops are reserve forces that are tapped to address state and federal operations, including natural disasters. While most are typically overseen by state governments, the federal government oversees the District of Columbia National Guard. 

Trump’s deployment of the National Guard comes after he vowed Washington would be “LIBERATED” from “Crime, Savagery, Filth, and Scum” in a post on Truth Social Monday morning. He said: “The days of ruthlessly killing, or hurting, innocent people, are OVER!” 

TRUMP TAKES CONTROL OF METRO POLICE, DEPLOYS NATIONAL GUARD TO TAKE ON WASHINGTON CRIME

Trump suggested federalizing Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department and employing National Guard troops to address crime in Washington on Wednesday. The comments came after the assault of a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer on Aug. 3 in D.C.

A temporary federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department is justified in cases of emergency, but it’s expected that Trump’s decision will face challenges in court over whether the situation in Washington qualifies as an emergency.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

Schiff’s comments echoed those of Newsom, who filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for federalizing the National Guard to respond to immigration riots. He said in June the move was an “unmistakable step toward authoritarianism.” 

TRUMP THREATENS TO FEDERALIZE DC AFTER EX-DOGE EMPLOYEE ‘BIG BALLS’ VIOLENTLY BEATEN

“Donald Trump is creating fear and terror by failing to adhere to the U.S. Constitution and overstepping his authority,” Newsom said in a statement in June. “This is a manufactured crisis to allow him to take over a state militia, damaging the very foundation of our republic. Every governor, red or blue, should reject this outrageous overreach.”

Meanwhile, a three-day trial kicked off on Monday in California over whether Trump’s decision to bypass Newsom and activate roughly 4,000 National Guard troops violated the law.