NationalWatch

• Commissioners in Cascade County, Montana, are set to vote on removing election oversight duties from Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant.
• Commissioner Joe Briggs proposed the resolution, citing complaints about local elections since Merchant took office earlier this year.
• Briggs emphasized the need to address systemic problems before the upcoming general election.

Commissioners in a Montana county are expected to vote Tuesday on whether to remove election oversight duties from a clerk and recorder who expressed doubts about the integrity of the election process when she ran for office last year.

The Cascade County commission meeting was moved to the fairgrounds in Great Falls to accommodate the anticipated public participation. If the resolution passes, it would take effect immediately.

Commissioner Joe Briggs proposed the resolution, noting that since Sandra Merchant was sworn in early this year, the county has received complaints about the way several local elections have been run. Lawsuits have been filed. The library board asked for court-appointed oversight for their mill levy election this summer.

REPUBLICANS UNLEASH EFFORT FORCING BIDEN ADMIN TO HOLD OIL AND GAS LEASE SALES

“It’s been everything from people not getting ballots that should have to people who got ballots that shouldn’t have in these various elections, so there seems to be some systemic problems,” Briggs said Monday.

The issue needs to be settled before next year’s general election, Briggs said.

“We need to get all of the issues identified and fixed before we get in to federal elections, because they do have broad ramifications,” Briggs said.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester is seeking reelection in a race that could help determine the majority party in the Senate, two U.S. House races will be on the ballot along with all the major statewide elected races, including governor.

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The resolution proposes that that election oversight be removed from the clerk and recorder’s office and be assumed by the county commission, which would appoint an election administrator. State law allows for the change and a handful of Montana’s 56 counties have done so.

During the 2022 campaign for clerk and recorder, some Republicans asked the county commission to ask Democratic clerk Rina Fontana Moore to recuse herself from administrating the election since she was on the ballot, Briggs said. She declined to step down temporarily and Briggs proposed taking election duties away from the clerk and recorder’s office. However none of the other two commission members would second his motion.

Merchant defeated Moore by fewer than 40 votes in November 2022, months after the Republican-controlled state Legislature passed several laws it said were needed to improve election security. However, courts rejected those laws, saying the state brought no proof of the alleged widespread voter fraud the laws sought to eliminate.

Before Merchant took office, Briggs again moved to transfer the election duties to a non-elected administrator and again, nobody else supported him. All three commissioners are Republicans.

Things changed, however, as elections took place this year.

“It went from being basically a structural issue of someone in charge of an election should not be on the ballot to broader questions about how things are being conducted here that didn’t exist previously,” Briggs said.

Merchant said after she took office, experienced employees in the elections department left without teaching her how to do the job.

She argues Briggs’ motion is disenfranchising the people who voted for her to run elections.

“They weren’t electing somebody to take care of the records in the other office, they voted for me because of elections and now their votes are being thrown out,” Merchant said Monday.

Merchant campaigned on election integrity, supported opening up ballot tabulators to make sure they could not be connected to the internet and advocated hand counting of ballots as former President Trump brought baseless allegations that there was widespread fraud that cost him the 2020 election. Merchant has not suggested opening tabulators or going to hand counts since she’s been elected, Briggs said.

In the resolution, Briggs wrote that the county recently spent $200,000 on ballot tabulators and “has received persistent criticism and concerns from certain members of the public who are politically aligned to the currently elected Clerk and Recorder that the county’s … tabulators are Wi-Fi connected, capable of being manipulated by foreign governments or other nefarious actors, and that the only way to remove such fears is for Cascade County to open the tabulators for public inspection.”

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However, doing so would void warranties and render the tabulators worthless, he said.

Merchant argues Briggs is playing politics with her job.

“If you’re in the same party you should be supporting each other and working together and that has not happened,” she said.

Briggs said he made the motion to remove partisan politics from elections administration and finds it a little ironic that it was Republicans who sought the change last year when a Democrat was in office and Republicans who oppose the change now.

“From my standpoint, if you tout something because it’s the right way to do to it, then it’s the right way to do it, regardless of whether there’s a Republican or Democrat in office,” Briggs said.

Planned Parenthood affiliates received $90 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans meant for small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from the Government Accountability office (GAO) released Tuesday morning. 

The PPP loans were designed to bail out small independent businesses with less than 500 employees. But pro-life advocates raised concerns with the Small Business Administration — an independent government agency that supports entrepreneurs — and argued that Planned Parenthood has more than 16,000 employees across the country, well above the cutoff to be considered a small business. 

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., one of the lawmakers who requested the report in January 2022, called the findings “appalling.”

PLANNED PARENTHOOD ANNOUNCES RETURN OF ABORTION IN WISCONSIN AFTER KEY COURT RULING

“While small businesses struggled to make ends meet during the pandemic, Planned Parenthood illegally siphoned over $90 million from the Paycheck Protection Program, specifically designed to help our mom and pop shops keep their doors open,” Blackburn said in a statement. 

She added, “The American people want their tax dollars spent responsibly and in line with our nation’s values — not on the Left’s abortion-on-demand agenda.”

The report, also requested by New Jersey state Sen. Chris Smith, outlined federal funding received by several major pro-abortion organizations between 2019 and 2021 amounting to nearly $2 billion. 

Smith said the PPP loans were “money that could have gone to struggling small businesses, many of which were forced to close.”

“This money would have been better spent helping the businesses that were forced to close or providing comprehensive medical support for both women and children,” Smith told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

Aside from the PPP loans, government sources that funneled funds to the organization included Medicaid, Medicare, and Children’s Health Insurance Program reimbursements, along with federal funding through grants and cooperative agreements amounting to $148.5 million.

Between 2019 and 2021, Planned Parenthood obtained $1.78 billion in government funding and executed one million abortion procedures, while International Planned Parenthood Federation received $2.03 million, MSI Reproductive Choices received $1.35 million, and four regional abortion providers got $107.74 million in funding.

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The report noted that in 2019, Planned Parenthood, under the Trump Administration’s Protect Life Rule, declined Title X funding — a federal grant program that provides funding for family planning and reproductive health services — due to the rule’s stipulation against abortion referrals and demanded financial separation from abortion providers. 

The GAO found that Planned Parenthood’s refusal to comply and forfeit its Title X funding “led almost all affiliates to discontinue using family planning grants under Title X” during 2020 and 2021.

From 2019 to 2021, Planned Parenthood conducted 1.11 million abortions while obtaining around $1.78 billion in federal funding, equating to an average of $592 million annually, according to the report. 

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Planned Parenthood operates over 600 health centers across the United States.

Fox News Digital reached out to Planned Parenthood for comment. 

Former President Bill Clinton had a few choice words about his wife Hillary’s disastrous efforts during the 2016 election cycle, according to a new book.

A passage in “The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution” by The Intercept’s Ryan Grim, which was released last week, says the former president allegedly tore into his wife’s campaign for being ineffective communicators and, more specifically, said they could not sell “p—- on a troop train.”

The statement from Bill Clinton, which he allegedly made to a close confidante during the fall of 2016, coincidentally came to light as Democrats reportedly tapped Hillary to help with Biden’s re-election efforts.

‘DEEP, DEEP TROUBLE’: DEMS REPORTEDLY BRINGING IN HILLARY CLINTON TO HELP WITH BIDEN’S RE-ELECTION

Grim appears to be the first to report the remarks in a portion of his book examining the communication efforts of her campaign and then-Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. 

“Former president Bill Clinton, surveying the landscape and the ham-handed efforts at identity politics, was bereft, lamenting to a longtime friend in the fall of 2016 that Hillary’s campaign ‘could not sell p—- on a troop train,'” Grim wrote in the book.

However, this was not the first time Bill Clinton allegedly chastised Hillary’s campaign. Another book alleged that he had warned them not to ignore swing states.

In perhaps Hillary’s biggest blunder during the 2016 election, she notoriously faced widespread criticism for not campaigning enough in Midwestern states, which many believe swung the election to former President Donald Trump. 

But during the election, Bill allegedly urged Hillary’s campaign not to neglect those areas, pleas that ultimately “fell on deaf ears,” ABC News reported.

HILLARY CLINTON SAYS BIDEN’S AGE IS A LEGITIMATE ISSUE: ‘PEOPLE HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO CONSIDER IT’

Journalists Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen made the claim in their 2017 book, “Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign,” which received pushback from former Hillary staffers.

“He thought, these eggheads don’t really know politics. They don’t understand persuasion,” Allen said during an ABC News podcast at the time of the book’s release, adding that Bill advised Hillary’s campaign to visit suburban and rural areas where Hillary likely would not garner most of the votes.

“He knew there was some power just in showing up,” Allen said. 

And despite Hillary’s 2016 loss, Democrats are allegedly bringing her in to aid President Biden’s re-election efforts.

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NBC News reported she held a fundraiser for Biden last month at her Georgetown home that raised close to $1 million. Her popularity with women and critical parts of the Democratic base are considered assets for Biden as he attempts to expand his outreach to voters. 

Clinton’s role in Biden’s re-election effort is expected to grow as the 2024 presidential election nears, according to NBC.

Bill Clinton’s office did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – With the first votes in the Republican presidential race fast approaching, a bullish Vivek Ramaswamy predicts he’ll “shatter expectations” when the Jan.15 Iowa caucuses lead off the GOP nominating calendar.

And pointing to public opinion polls that suggest his support in the early voting states has flatlined in the mid to upper single digits while his unfavorability rating has edged up, the multi-millionaire biotech entrepreneur and first-time candidate argues the surveys are “way off the mark.”

In a campaign trail interview with Fox News with five weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses, Ramaswamy reiterated he is “confident we’re going to do excellent in Iowa, that’s going to propel us forward when we come here to New Hampshire. And I think that’s going to carry us forward to the final phase of this race.”

Ramaswamy, who has spent millions of his own money on his White House run, once again spotlighted his optimistic forecast hours after a new and reputable poll in Iowa suggested he stood at just five percent support among likely Republican presidential caucus-goers.

NEW HAMPSHIRE MAN CHARGED WITH PLOTTING TO KILL RAMASWAMY

The candidate noted that “history teaches us that where the polls stand in early December are not a good predictor necessarily of where things land ultimately. And I think we’re in for a shock that’s coming in the next few months.”

“A lot of the people coming to our events, supporting me… they’re not polled. So I think the poll numbers are way off the mark and I think that works well for us,” Ramaswamy argued.

He added that “there’s a lot of people who are libertarians, independents, young people, that are not in those polls…that are absolutely coming to the caucus for us.”

And the Ramaswamy campaign pointed to their own internal numbers that suggest stronger support in Iowa than what the public surveys indicate.

WAS THE REAL WINNER SO FAR IN THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES THE GUY WHO DIDN’T SHOW UP?

The 38-year-old Ramaswamy, who campaigns on an “America First 2.0” agenda, often highlights that “there are two America First candidates in this race. That’s Donald Trump and myself. Everybody else comes from an old-school vision of neo-conservatism that is long outdated, and that is not where our party or our base is.”

Ramaswamy is the biggest supporter of the former president in the winnowing field of 2024 GOP White House hopefuls, and has repeatedly called Trump the “most successful president in our century.”

But unfortunately for the candidate aiming to be Trump’s heir apparent, the former president isn’t going anywhere. In fact, Trump remains the commanding front-runner in the GOP nomination race as he makes his third straight White House run.

Ramaswamy’s rise in the polls in the late winter, spring and early summer was one of the biggest surprises in this cycle’s GOP nomination race. And the candidate has put in the hours on the campaign trail, holding more events than his rivals in Iowa and New Hampshire – which holds the first primary in the Republican calendar and votes second after the Hawkeye State.

“I’m doing more events on the ground in Iowa right now than any other candidate and we’ve been here plenty as well,” he showcased as he spoke with Fox News following a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Monday.

TRUMP HOLDS MASSIVE LEADS IN IOWA WITH FIVE WEEKS UNTIL CAUCUSES 

Longtime Granite State-based Republican consultant Mike Dennehy told Fox News that Ramaswamy’s put in the time in New Hampshire. I think that’s benefited him.”

But Dennehy added that “there’s no doubt in my mind that he has a very limited ceiling because of his consistent support of Donald Trump…Why would someone want the Trump supporter when they can have Trump himself?”

While some of the voters who showed up to see Ramaswamy at the campaign in Portsmouth, New Hampshire told Fox News and other news organizations they were likely to vote for him, plenty of others said they remained all-but-certain to support Trump.

Ramaswamy for months has vowed he’ll pull off a “surprise” in Iowa. Asked whether that means he needs to win, or finish second, Ramaswamy answered, “it means meaningfully ahead of where the mainstream media narrative and the polling narrative is right now. And I think we’re going to accomplish that. I think we’re going to shatter expectations and that will propel us forward to the next phase of this race.”

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The candidate has spent most of his time and resources in Iowa and New Hampshire, and less than impressive finishes in both states would likely all-but-sink his campaign. And in recent weeks he’s broached the possibility on the campaign trail that his presidential bid won’t succeed.

Asked if he would support Trump if his White House bid faltered, Ramaswamy told Fox News “if he’s the nominee, he’ll have my support.”

But he quickly interjected that “I expect his full support if I’m the nominee.”

And Ramaswamy added that “I’m not a plan B person. I’m a plan A person. I didn’t get to where I am in life by plotting out plan B. I’m sticking to Plan A and I think we’re going to succeed in getting there.”

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

The House Freedom Caucus elected a new chairman on Monday night, picking Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., as the hardline conservative group’s leader for 2024.

Good was one of eight House Republicans who voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in early October.

“No comment tonight,” Good told reporters while leaving a Freedom Caucus meeting just minutes before 10 p.m.

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He was similarly coy earlier in the evening after a closed-door House GOP conference meeting. Asked by Fox News Digital of his policy goals if he became chairman, he said, “I’ll wait to talk about it after tonight.”

Good is a conservative who was elected in 2020 to Virginia’s red-leaning 5th Congressional District, which is mostly rural but includes part of Charlottesville.

He is expected to have significant sway over House GOP policy as Freedom Caucus chair, with the group wielding outsized influence so far in Republicans’ razor-thin House majority.

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The group’s current chairman is Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., a close ally of former President Trump’s. Leaving the Monday night meeting, Perry was asked by Fox News Digital whether he had any advice for Good.

“Be true and be bold,” Perry said, adding that he hoped Good would “lead better” as his successor. 

Good’s relationship with leadership has, so far, been more fraught than Perry’s, as he was one of 20 House Republicans who forced McCarthy to go through 15 rounds of voting before winning the speaker’s gavel in January, months before finally voting to oust him.

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Perry said of that difference, “Past chairs, Jordan, Meadows, Biggs, kind of [grew] into the position. It’s not just about you and your own desires. You’re representing the group, the brand, and so you have to be open to maybe things that you wouldn’t be otherwise.”

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He would not say whether the friction with McCarthy would be a liability for the group’s negotiating power going forward.

“We’re all in this together. So we, you know, get over our personal differences and disagreements and focus on the country,” he said instead.

The Supreme Court has indicated it will expedite consideration of a petition by special counsel Jack Smith on whether former President Donald Trump can be prosecuted on charges he plotted to overturn the 2020 election results.

Smith made his request for the court to act with unusual speed to prevent any delays that could push back the trial of the 2024 Republican presidential primary front-runner, currently set to begin March 4, until after next year’s presidential election.

The Court has asked Trump’s lawyers to respond to the motion by next Wednesday, December 20 – two days later than Smith had requested. 

The Court’s next scheduled conference day for consideration of such matters is Jan. 5, 2024. 

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This is a developing story. Check back for updates. 

Hispanic and Latino House Democrats are calling for a meeting with the White House over their concerns about ongoing talks to pair border and asylum measures with President Biden’s request for supplemental foreign aid, an aide told Fox News.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) wants to meet with Biden after a request for a sit-down with White House chief of staff Jeff Zients never materialized into an actual meeting, a Democratic aide told Fox News.

CHC members are worried the president would “cave” to GOP demands on border talks, the aide said. 

They cited Biden’s comments during an impassioned speech at the White House last week, “I am willing to make significant compromises on the border. We need to fix the broken border system, it is broken.”

MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS HIT DAILY RECORD AT SOUTHERN BORDER, AS WASHINGTON STRUGGLES TO AGREE ON SOLUTIONS 

The aide said CHC Democrats are worried Biden gave away significant leverage during his address, particularly when it comes to including measures regarding DREAMers and work permits that are sought by the left.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately hear back.

CHC Chair Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., released a statement with Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., on Monday morning rejecting the inclusion of “Trump-era immigration policies” from the ongoing supplemental talks. 

“We are deeply concerned that the President would consider advancing Trump-era immigration policies that Democrats fought so hard against – and that he himself campaigned against – in exchange for aid to our allies that Republicans already support,” they said. “Caving to demands for these permanent damaging policy changes as a ‘price to be paid’ for an unrelated one-time spending package would send a dangerous precedent.”

Rep. Darren Soto, D-Fla., CHC’s vice chair for policy, wrote on X on Sunday that the group “supports border funding, but not immigration policy, being included in the Supplemental.”

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“If [President Biden and Senate Democrats] are going to go there, DREAMers should be included too. These young people have waited long enough,” Soto said.

NBC News first reported that CHC lawmakers and their allies were seeking to broaden communication with Biden on the issue.

It comes after House and Senate Republicans closed ranks last week around addressing the border crisis as part of any foreign aid deal.

Senate Republicans tanked a procedural vote on a $110 billion supplemental aid bill for Ukraine, Israel, the U.S. border and humanitarian causes brought forward last week by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

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Democrats have expressed concerns that Republicans are pushing for measures that are too severe and would do little to stop the ongoing border crisis.

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But hardliners within the GOP, who have likened the thousands of people coming across the border with Mexico to an “invasion,” are calling for nothing short of House Republicans’ border bill known as H.R.2, which would build a border wall and significantly tighten asylum laws, among other provisions.

Both Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have signaled that significant border security measures would be needed to entertain all or part of Biden’s supplemental request.

President Biden’s week is off to a rocky start as a new 2024 election poll released Monday found him trailing three of the leading Republican presidential candidates in two key battleground general election matchups.

According to the CNN poll, former President Donald Trump, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would nearly all defeat Biden in both Georgia and Michigan — two key states won by the president in 2020 — if the election were held today.

The survey found Trump leading Biden in Michigan by a whopping 10%, receiving 50% support over only 40% who said they would vote for Biden. About 64% of registered voters in the state said they do not approve of Biden’s handling of the presidency.

TRUMP HOLDS MASSIVE LEAD IN IOWA 5 WEEKS FROM CAUCUSES THAT KICK OFF GOP RACE: POLL

Biden trailed DeSantis by seven percentage points, but would lose to Haley by an even larger margin of 12% in the Great Lake State.

In a hypothetical 2020 rematch in Georgia, 49% of registered voters said they would prefer Trump to Biden, who received only 44% support. 

Haley was also favored over Biden in the Peach State, 49% to 43%, but the latter edged DeSantis, 48% to 45%.

POLL SHOWS BIDEN HITTING RECORD LOW APPROVALS, FALLING BEHIND AGAINST TRUMP IN 2024 MATCHUP

The poll also found 61% of registered voters in the state said they disapproved of Biden’s job performance.

Despite DeSantis and Haley besting Biden in the key matchups, with the exception of the former in Georgia, Trump ultimately leads the GOP primary field by nearly 40% in both states.

Among young voters in Michigan, a key demographic to capture in 2024, 69% said that Biden does not have the stamina for another four years. Amid concerns over the president’s cognitive abilities, 66% of young voters in Georgia also reported feeling the Democrat president does not have the sharpness they are looking for in a candidate.

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The Michigan portion of the poll was conducted among registered voters from Nov. 29-Dec. 6, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. The Georgia portion was conducted from Nov. 30-Dec. 7 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.

The results come just days after a Wall Street Journal poll revealed Trump would also be victorious over Biden in a hypothetical general election matchup nationally, locking in 47% support over the president’s 43%.

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Other polls have also shown Trump consistently tied or leading Biden nationally, and in a number of other battleground states, as voters overwhelmingly view Biden’s age as a concerning factor.

The Biden campaign didn’t immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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

Special counsel Jack Smith asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether former President Donald Trump can be prosecuted on charges relating to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

Smith’s Monday filing seeks to go around an appeals court that had initially been expected to handle the case. A federal judge had earlier ruled that the prosecution could move forward, though Trump’s legal team vowed to appeal the ruling.

“This case presents a fundamental question at the heart of our democracy: whether a former President is absolutely immune from federal prosecution for crimes committed while in office or is constitutionally protected from federal prosecution when he has been impeached but not convicted before the criminal proceedings begin,” prosecutors wrote in Monday’s filing.

Trump’s trial in the election interference case is set to begin in March.

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KEY ASPECTS OF TRUMP GAG ORDER UPHELD BY FEDERAL APPEALS COURT

The Washington election interference case is one of four indictments to hit Trump over the past year. He also faces charges of mishandling classified documents arising from Florida, business fraud charges in New York, and more election interference charges in Georgia.

Trump is already engaged in a civil fraud trial in New York City. He had been expected to testify personally in the trial, but he announced on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Sunday, that he no longer plans to testify.

“As everyone knows, I have very successfully & conclusively testified in the corrupt, Biden directed, New York state attorney general’s rigged trial against me. World renowned experts, highly respected bank & insurance executives, real estate professionals, as well as others, both honest & credible, have stated, clearly & unequivocally, that I, and my very successful company, did nothing wrong! My financial statements were conservative, liquid, & ‘extraordinary,’” Trump posted.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking $250 million in damages and to bar Trump from conducting business in the state. The attorney general’s complaint accuses Trump, his sons and his company of fraudulently inflating the values of his properties to obtain more favorable loan and insurance rates.

“Donald Trump already testified in our financial fraud case against him. Whether or not Trump testifies again tomorrow, we have already proven that he committed years of financial fraud and unjustly enriched himself and his family. No matter how much he tries to distract from reality, the facts don’t lie,” James told Fox News on Sunday.

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Court officials said proceedings will resume Tuesday as scheduled, and Eli Bartov, an accounting expert who Trump came to see testify last week, will resume the final part of his testimony.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

PORTSMOUTH, NH — A New Hampshire man who sent text messages threatening Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and attendees at a campaign event was arrested Monday, the Justice Department announced.

Tyler Anderson, 30, of Dover, New Hampshire, was charged with transmitting in interstate commerce a threat to injure the person of another, and is scheduled to make an initial appearance today in federal court in Concord at 2:30 p.m. ET.  

According to the charging documents, Anderson received a text message from the victim’s campaign notifying him of a political event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Anderson responded to the text message on Dec. 8, stating: “Great, another opportunity for me to blow his brains out!” and “I’m going to kill everyone who attends and then f— their corpses.” 

Tricia McLaughlin, spokesperson for Ramaswamy’s campaign, said in a statement Monday, “We are grateful to law enforcement for their swiftness and professionalism in handling this matter and pray for the safety of all Americans.”

VIVEK RAMASWAMY’S QUADRUPLES DOWN ON FIERY ATTACKS AT FOURTH GOP DEBATE, CALLS HALEY ‘FASCIST’

The charge against Anderson comes with the possibility of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. 

Ramaswamy hosted the campaign event on Monday morning at the Roundabout Diner, in Portsmouth.

WAS THE REAL WINNER SO FAR IN THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES THE GUY WHO DIDN’T SHOW UP?

The multi-millionaire biotech entrepreneur and first-time candidate spoke and took questions for roughly an hour from a crowd of close to 100 people. 

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Ramaswamy, whose initial surge of support earlier this year was one of the biggest surprises in the race for the 2024 Republican nomination, has seen his poll numbers flatline or edge down this autumn.

With five weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses lead off the GOP nominating calendar, Ramaswamy faces a steep uphill climb in a race where former President Donald Trump remains the commanding front-runner.

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

More GOP senators are rallying behind former President Trump for the 2024 general election, boosting his momentum in the Republican Party.

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., announced last week on X he is endorsing Trump in the GOP primary. 

“I am honored to stand with Donald J. Trump as he embarks on a mission to restore peace, prosperity and freedom in our great nation,” Cramer wrote. “Lets consolidate Republican support around the leader of our GOP and ensure a Republican victory in 2024. Work with him to Make America Great Again!”

His endorsement came as North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum backed out of the race last Monday. Cramer previously supported Burgum.

TRUMP HOLDS MASSIVE LEAD IN IOWA 5 WEEKS FROM CAUCUSES THAT KICK OFF GOP RACE: POLL 

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., also endorsed Trump after Burgum dropped out. 

“President Trump is strong on the issues that are important for North Dakota. That includes making America energy dominant, reducing the regulatory burden, securing our border, growing our economy and strong support for our military,” Hoeven wrote on Facebook last week. 

Hoeven added he had the opportunity to work with the former president “to support our farmers” and that he “understands how vital strong farm policy is to our state and our nation.”

Republican Alabama Senator Katie Britt also endorsed Trump right before the GOP debate Wednesday night with an op-ed in the local news outlet Yellowhammer.

WAS THE REAL WINNER SO FAR IN THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES THE GUY WHO DIDN’T SHOW UP?

“One candidate has already proven he’s more than up for the job – because he’s done the job successfully. There is one candidate I know will secure the border — because he’s done it. There is one candidate I know will achieve peace through strength — because he’s done it,” she wrote. “And that’s why President Donald Trump has my endorsement to be our 47th President.”

Britt went on to say that “results matter” and that the former president’s track record “are clear for all to see.” 

“These past three years have felt like an eternity, but I’m sure you recall how much better off we were under the Trump Administration,” she wrote.

Trump, the first major GOP leader to announce his candidacy, has now secured backing from every GOP member in Alabama’s Congressional delegation.

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SEN MARSHALL ENDORSES TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT, CALLS FOR END TO ‘POLITICAL PRIMARY CHARADE’

The endorsements come as there are only a few GOP candidates left in the running — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Trump.

Trump leads the GOP nomination race with the backing of a record 62% of Republican primary voters in a Fox News survey released last month.

So far, 16 senators and more than 80 House members have announced their support for Trump in 2024. Seven governors also support his bid for the presidency. 

Former President Trump is expanding his already formidable lead in the state that leads off the Republican presidential nominating calendar, according to a new and highly reputable poll.

The former president stands at 51% support among those likely to take part in Iowa’s Republican presidential caucuses, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a distant second at 19%, and former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley at 16%, according to the latest NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll.

The survey, conducted Dec. 2-7, was released on Monday, with five weeks to go until the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses.

Trump’s lead over the rest of the field of 2024 GOP nomination rivals – which has expanded by five points since October – is the largest recorded so close to a competitive Republican caucus in the history of the survey, which is considered by many to be the gold standard of Iowa caucus polling.

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J. Ann Selzer, the pollster who has conducted the survey for the past three decades, pointed to the recent winnowing of the once large Republican presidential field and noted that “the field may have shrunk, but it may have made Donald Trump even stronger. I would call his lead commanding at this point.”

Trump is aiming for a big victory next month in the caucuses to try and bring the nomination race to an early conclusion, so he can focus on a rematch with President Biden, who defeated him in the 2020 election.

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Trump’s large double-digit lead in the survey is fueled in part by strong support of evangelical voters – who enjoy outsized influence in Iowa Republican politics – and likely first-time caucus goers. Additionally, nearly three-quarters of Iowa Republicans who believe Trump can defeat Biden in next year’s general election – despite the former president’s numerous legal challenges – back Trump.

Trump made history earlier this year as the first former or current president to be indicted for a crime, but his 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.

The new poll in Iowa is also the latest to suggest that Trump supporters are more enthusiastic and committed to support their candidate than those backing the former president’s GOP rivals.

As Fox News first reported last week, the Trump campaign said it was shifting into a higher gear in the final weeks leading up to the Iowa caucuses.

“We have an extremely aggressive operation and an extremely aggressive schedule,” Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita told Fox News Digital.

LaCivita previewed that the Trump campaign is planning a slew of Iowa visits not only from the former president, but also from “dozens of surrogates that are going to be storming the state campaigning… in every venue that has people.”

He said there were “close to 1,500-1,600 precinct captains throughout the state that, literally, their sole job is to run each individual caucus that takes place and making sure that the list of the targeted voters supporting President Trump show up.”

Trump’s campaign said it was not taking anything for granted. Looking ahead to the final stretch leading up to the caucuses, LaCivita said “our only concern is complacency.”

DeSantis, meanwhile, earlier this month fulfilled his goal of stopping in all of Iowa’s 99 counties. He has repeatedly been joined on the campaign trail in the Hawkeye State by popular Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who endorsed him in early November.

Also backing DeSantis was Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of The Family Leader, an influential social conservative organization in the state.

DeSantis has repeatedly vowed he will pull off an upset by winning Iowa.

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Haley, who has enjoyed momentum in the polls in recent months, thanks in part to well-received performances in the first three GOP presidential primary debates, has leapfrogged DeSantis for second place in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary and votes second in the Republican nominating schedule, and her home state, which holds the first southern contest.

She also aims to make a fight of it in Iowa, where the new poll is the latest to suggest she is close to pulling even with DeSantis for second place.

Two weeks ago, Haley landed the backing of Americans for Prosperity Action, the political wing of the influential and deep-pocketed fiscally conservative network founded by the billionaire Koch Brothers. AFP Action has pledged to spend tens of millions of dollars and mobilize its formidable grassroots operation to boost Haley and help push the Republican Party past Trump.

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The new NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom survey indicates multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur and first time candidate Vivek Ramaswamy at 5% support in Iowa. Ramaswamy, who has spent millions of his own money on his campaign, has predicted that he will pull off a “surprise” in Iowa, where he has spent plenty of time reaching out to voters.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is making his second bid for the White House, stands at 4% support in the poll. However, Christie has not campaigned in the Hawkeye State, as he concentrates most of his time and resources in New Hampshire.

The poll also indicates former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson at 1%. Hutchinson remains in the 2024 race even after failing to make the stage at the past three Republican presidential nomination debates.

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

EXCLUSIVE: A key ally of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has decided which candidate he will support in one crucial swing state race that could ultimately determine whether Republicans win back control of the Senate in 2024.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., announced Monday his endorsement of Republican Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake, a conservative firebrand and former 2022 gubernatorial candidate, in her bid to flip the seat currently held by independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a former Democrat.

“Kari Lake is the fighter Arizona needs to secure the border, unleash American Energy Independence, and lower the cost of living. Joe Biden’s policies have been a disaster for Arizona and Kari Lake will stand up to the Biden agenda and put Arizonans first. Let’s send Kari to the Senate and take back the majority,” Cotton said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

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“I am grateful for the endorsement of Sen. Cotton, someone who served our country honorably in the military and has been a conservative warrior in the Senate. I look forward to working with Sen. Cotton to secure our border and get America back on track from Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer’s far-left agenda,” Lake told Fox.

The race is expected to be one of the most closely watched of the 2024 election cycle as Republicans aim for a majority in Congress’ upper chamber, which Democrats currently control by a slim 51-49 margin with the support of Sinema and her fellow independents, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine.

With Cotton’s backing, Lake has secured the support of two top senators, the other being Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., as well as House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York and a number of other House Republicans. She also has the backing of former President Trump, who endorsed her via video during her campaign launch in October, and multiple state and local officials in Arizona and across the country.

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

Whichever Republican wins the nomination will likely face Phoenix-area Democrat Rep. Ruben Gallego in the general election.

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Sinema has not yet said whether she will run for reelection.

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

The Biden administration is sending California more than $3 billion in federal taxpayer funds for the state’s high-speed rail project which was first approved 15 years ago and has since faced unprecedented delays and been dramatically downsized.

The White House announced $3.07 billion in additional federal funding for the California Inaugural High-Speed Rail Service Project as part of a broader announcement Friday unveiling a total of $8.2 billion in new passenger rail corridors nationwide. The project — which has ballooned $80 billion over budget since it was first approved by California voters in 2008 — has been championed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“California is delivering on the first 220-mph, electric high-speed rail project in the nation,” Newsom said after the funding was announced. “This show of support from the Biden-Harris Administration is a vote of confidence in today’s vision and comes at a critical turning point, providing the project new momentum.”

“California takes great pride in our ambitious status as the leading edge of high-speed rail in America. With this new $3.07 billion in federal funding, we take an important leap closer to making high-speed rail a reality in California,” added Pelosi. “An electrified high-speed rail network will dramatically improve the quality of life in the Central Valley and up and down California.”

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In its announcement, the White House failed to disclose the project has been under development for more than a decade and has faced significant delays, instead boasting of its climate benefits. An accompanying announcement from the Department of Transportation described it as a project to “help deliver high-speed rail service in California’s Central Valley.”

Former Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who left office in early 2011, first introduced the high-speed rail system project, and his Democratic successor, Gov. Jerry Brown, continued the project. The Obama-Biden administration secured more than $2 billion to support the project’s development in 2010 using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the 2009 post-recession stimulus package.

BIDEN’S BILLION-DOLLAR PLAN TO BUILD 500,000 EV CHARGERS HAS YET TO YIELD A SINGLE CHARGER

The project was originally planned as a $33 billion project consisting of 1,955 miles of railway connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles. Since then, the cost has swelled to $113 billion and the project’s scope has been dramatically scaled down to a 171-mile railway connecting Bakersfield, Fresno and Merced that isn’t expected to be operational until 2030.

Overall, if the project is completed in 2030, it will have taken a decade longer than expected, while costing $80 billion more and being 91% smaller than originally planned. Because of its repeated shortfalls, the project has been dubbed by critics as the “train to nowhere.”

“This commuter train isn’t even ‘high speed,’ is at least 13 years behind schedule, and will now cost four times the original price tag promised to voters,” Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., who has opposed the project for years, told Fox News Digital. “Far too much taxpayer dollars have been wasted on this boondoggle. It’s in everyone’s best interest to cut the losses and rescind every cent dedicated to this foolish project.”

“Any fool can see this project isn’t going to be completed,” LaMalfa continued. “The state is $68 billion in debt, hasn’t laid a single inch of track and is over $120 billion short. Biden and Newsom sure know how to waste your money.”

HOUSE PANEL TO PROBE BIDEN ADMIN’S NEGOTIATIONS WITH ECO GROUPS TRYING TO TEAR DOWN KEY POWER SOURCE

And fellow California Republican Rep. Jay Obernolte also blasted the project, noting that even when it is operational, its ridership will fall short of covering the expected operating costs.

“I believe it is inappropriate for the federal government to subsidize the California High-Speed Rail Authority,” Obernolte told Fox News Digital. “This rail system is years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget, and even if it is ever completed, its projected ridership won’t come close to covering its operating costs — meaning that taxpayers will be asked to continue subsidizing it forever. This is not a wise or appropriate use of taxpayer money.”

Shortly after taking office in 2019, Newsom acknowledged in his first State of the State address that he would scale the project down from its original ambitious plan, saying it would cost too much and take too long to stay the course. He noted during his remarks that “there’s been too little oversight and not enough transparency.”

Months later, the Trump administration penned a scathing letter to California, informing the state that it was rescinding the multi-billion-dollar grant awarded for the project under the Obama administration. Former Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Ronald Batory wrote that California “has no foreseeable plans, nor the capability, to pursue that statewide [High-Speed Rail] System as originally proposed.”

In June 2021, the Biden administration said it would reverse that decision and restore the funding.

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“This investment has already created over 11,000 good-paying union jobs, and California high speed rail is going to save people time, make it easy to travel across the state for the first time in history, and reduce carbon emissions by as much as 2 million metric tons — comparable to taking 432,000 passenger vehicles off the road every year,” White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson told Fox News Digital in a statement.

Patterson characterized criticism aimed at the project as “hot air.”

A White House aide who has held multiple positions in the Biden administration, including White House deputy staff secretary, previously spent nearly two decades at a Delaware law firm that was heavily involved with corporate entities tied to Hunter Biden, his business associates, and other Biden family members.

Michael Hochman, a top lawyer for more than 17 years at Monzack Mersky McLaughlin and Browder, originally co-founded by Biden in 1970 before he started his Senate career, is currently serving in his third Biden White House position, his LinkedIn profile shows.

Between January 2021 and June 2022, Hochman served as the White House deputy staff secretary before joining the White House’s recently created Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD), which advises Biden on cybersecurity policy and strategy. Hochman started out as the deputy general counsel and deputy chief of staff before being promoted to chief of staff last November. 

In a recent profile piece, Hochman described his role as having “an enterprise-wide view of the work of the office” and said it’s “like working for a start-up” with the “long hours and all the challenges that come from building something new.”

SPECIAL COUNSEL HITS BACK AT HUNTER BIDEN REQUESTING TRUMP, BARR SUBPOENAS

Hochman’s jump to the Biden White House will likely raise questions from Republicans as the House Oversight Committee dives into his past work at the law firm and communications with Hunter Biden as they continue investigating his foreign business dealings. A Fox News Digital review found several emails between Hochman and Hunter during the Obama-Biden administration, in addition to nearly a dozen Biden-linked corporate entities that were registered through the law firm where Hochman spent most of his career.

The review found that Monzack Mersky McLaughlin and Browder has served as the registered agent for Owasco LLC, Rosemont Seneca Advisors, and Robinson Walker LLC, which is owned by Hunter’s former business partner Rob Walker. Fox News Digital previously reported that members of the Biden family received more than $1 million in payments from accounts related to Walker’s LLC and their Chinese business ventures involving CEFC affiliate State Energy HK in 2017.

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Multiple Biden family accounts, including those belonging to Hunter, Hallie Biden and an unnamed Biden, also received approximately $1.038 million from the same Walker LLC account after Bladon Enterprises, which reportedly belonged to Gabriel “Puiu” Popoviciu, a Romanian tycoon, deposited over $3 million between November 2015 to May 2017. According to a 2017 email from Walker, which was obtained by the Senate Finance Committee, Walker viewed himself as a “surrogate” for Hunter and his uncle, Jim Biden, when “gauging [business] opportunities.”

Owasco LLC and Rosemont Seneca Advisors are directly tied to Hunter and were also incorporated by Hochman’s former firm. A 2016 email from Hunter’s longtime business partner, Eric Schwerin, reveals that Owasco was set up to “hold Hunter’s investment interests in a variety of work related entities.  Owasco, LLC owns a 100% interest in Rosemont Seneca Technology Partners (RSTP) I, RSTP II Alpha and RSTP II Bravo.  Owasco, LLC also owns 75% of Skaneateles, LLC and via Skaneateles, LLC and its subsidiaries…”

In 2017, Joe and Jill Biden used Monzack Mersky and Browder as the registered agent to set up two S-corporations, Celticcapri Corp. and Giacoppa Corp., the business entities used “to receive [millions of dollars in] royalties from their writing and speaking engagements.” 

The law firm was also a registered agent for multiple Biden campaign committees, the Beau Biden Foundation, Livelihood, an apparel company founded by Hunter’s sister, Ashley Biden, and JBB SR., INC., which is associated with Biden’s brother, James Biden. JBB is one of the entities that the House Oversight Committee is investigating after they discovered that it received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Walker’s LLC.

“I have said for months that the Bidens’ corrupt influence peddling scheme will go down as the greatest political scandal of our lifetime, and likely in the history of the country,” House GOP Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York told Fox News Digital. “Joe Biden is compromised. House Republicans are committed to delivering the transparency and accountability that the American people demand and deserve from their elected officials and public servants.”

DEFIANT HUNTER BIDEN SAYS REPUBLICAN ‘MOTHERF—ERS’ ARE ‘TRYING TO KILL ME’

Stefanik’s comment comes as House Republicans appear primed to officially move forward with an impeachment inquiry against Biden for alleged corruption charges as early as this week, which could spark an impeachment vote in the House early next year.

Hunter’s ties to Hochman extend to email communications throughout the Obama administration, in addition to Hochman visiting Biden’s vice presidential residence multiple times for holiday parties.

In May 2014, Hochman emailed Hunter and said he was running with Beau Biden, Hunter’s now-deceased brother and a college roommate, longtime friend of Hochman’s, and that Burisma was “briefly” discussed.

“Went running with Beau yesterday and we were talking briefly about Burisma. Good news.  I’m pretty familiar with this industry (at least domestically) – my father-in-law is heavily involved in the Marcellus shale gas play in Pennsylvania – the largest source of natural gas in the United States,” Hochman said. “He is extremely knowledgeable and well-connected in those parts. He’d love to discuss with you; would you be willing to talk with him? Also, a good excuse for me to come down and see you guys in DC. Let me know.”

It is unclear whether Hunter took Hochman up on the offer to chat with Hochman’s father-in-law. Fox News Digital reached out to Hochman’s father-in-law for comment but did not receive a response.

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Another email from early 2014 shows Hochman pitching Hunter a new client, whom he describes as a “good friend of the family’s, and a client of MMMB,” referring to his law firm.

“Eugene Amobi is the principal member of Tech International Corp., a good friend of the family’s, and a client of MMMB.  He is a retired DuPont engineer with two sons who attended Tower Hill (Chux) and Friends (E.J.), both of whom live in Delaware,” Hochman wrote. 

“He is looking for assistance navigating the federal, local, and international systems for growth opportunities in the company’s engineering, IT, and project/construction management areas of expertise,” he continued. “I believe Tech International also qualifies for certification as a minority-owned business, which may be an incentive for certain projects. If you think your firm can help, I would be happy to introduce you to Eugene.”

Hunter forwarded the email and asked Schwerin to “take a look and lets get back to him.” Schwerin said he “talked to Michael on Friday and he’s arranging a meeting/call between us and the CEO.” Hunter’s calendar in April 2014 shows he and Schwerin were meeting with Hochman and Amobi at the Rosemont Seneca Partners office on April 7.

At one point, Schwerin had a role in handling then-Vice President Biden’s finances as a “bookkeeper” and a person familiar with their relationship told Fox News Digital that Schwerin previously worked on Biden’s personal budget and helped coordinate with his tax preparers.

Another email chain shows Hochman provided legal services in 2015 to Hunter and Schwerin for Rosemont Seneca Technology Partners and RSTP II LLC, which was owned by Owasco LLC at the time.

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Hochman’s law firm was intimately involved in setting up RSTP II LLC and in a 2014 email chain he discussed the inner workings with Schwerin.

“Per Devon’s instructions I made one edit to the document,” Hochman wrote to Schwerin, referring to former Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer. “It now divides his 40% of RSTP II up to 20% Archer, 15% Rob and 5% Heinz.” 

“In addition, we are going to ask for the payment to be $250,000 with $50K payable now and the rest in $50,000 quarterly installments due beginning on January 1, 2016.  I made those changes and had Hunter sign for RSP and Skaneateles. We also sent the attached to Devon for his signature so we could send to those guys showing that 45% of the partnership is in agreement with this.”

The two go back and forth via email discussing payments and ownership of that LLC.

Emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop in 2015 also show Hochman directly involved in establishing the Joseph R. “Beau” Biden III Children’s Educational Trust Fund and discussing financial commitments to the fund.

Hochman wasn’t the only partner at the law firm with close ties to the Bidens. Melvyn Monzack, who co-founded the firm and has been a longtime friend of the Biden family, has been a confidante and personal attorney for Biden dating back decades. 

A Fox News Digital review found that Monzack has donated thousands of dollars to Biden’s presidential campaigns, served as Biden’s treasurer during his 2002 Senate reelection and failed 2008 presidential run, which led to Biden for President, Inc. and Monzack, in his official capacity as treasurer, to be fined $50K for failing to keep records to show that over $1M in campaign donations that exceeded federal limits was returned to donors. 

Monzack was also instrumental in facilitating the agreement between the Bidens and the University of Delaware for Biden’s “Senate papers,” which Biden has refused to release, despite previously touting the importance of the papers during remarks.

A 2010 email chain from Hunter’s laptop shows that Monzack and another partner at his firm were also involved in behind-the-scenes discussions regarding Paradigm Global Advisors, a hedge fund acquisition led by James and Hunter Biden, which ultimately fell through, leading to litigation. According to a 2019 Politico profile piece that quoted an anonymous executive at Paradigm, Biden’s brother said, “Don’t worry about investors…We’ve got people all around the world who want to invest in Joe Biden.” 

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The revelation that Congress may soon consider the impeachment of the president comes shortly after House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., released subpoenaed bank records showing an entity owned by Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, had made “direct monthly payments to Joe Biden.”

“This wasn’t a payment from Hunter Biden’s personal account but an account for his corporation that received payments from China and other shady corners of the world,” Comer said in a video message last week.

President Biden has been widely criticized for issuing inconsistent and inaccurate defenses of his son’s business dealings over the last few years and recently dismissed a question of why he conversed with several of Hunter’s business partners as “just a bunch of lies.”

“They’re lies. I did not. They’re lies.”

Recent polling from The Associated Press found that nearly 70% of Americans, including 40% of Democrats, believe Biden acted unethically or illegally when it came to his family’s business interests.

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Hunter faced another indictment late last week in California, which includes nine charges alleging a “four-year scheme” when he did not pay his federal income taxes from January 2017 to October 2020 while also filing false tax reports. The charges break down to three felonies and six misdemeanors centered around $1.4 million in owed taxes that have since been paid.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, Hochman, Monzack, and Hunter’s attorney, but did not receive a response.

Fox News Digital’s Thomas Catenacci, Houston Keene, Jessica Chasmar, Chad Pergram, and Brooke Singman contributed reporting.

Former President Trump announced on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Sunday, that he no longer plans to testify at his civil fraud trial on Monday.

Trump had been scheduled to testify Monday as one of the final defense witnesses in a trial that has lasted two months and is entering its final week of testimony.

Court officials also confirmed to Fox News that Trump has notified the court that he is not testifying. 

“As everyone knows, I have very successfully & conclusively testified in the corrupt, Biden directed, New York state attorney general’s rigged trial against me. World renowned experts, highly respected bank & insurance executives, real estate professionals, as well as others, both honest & credible, have stated, clearly & unequivocally, that I, and my very successful company, did nothing wrong! My financial statements were conservative, liquid, & ‘extraordinary,’” Trump posted.

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The reversal of Trump’s testimony came after an accounting expert testified that the AG’s case had no merit and that he didn’t see any evidence of fraud in the financial statements that were being challenged by the AG.

“A top professor from NYU Stern said, “If Mr. Trump were my student, he would get an ‘A’ on his financial statements. I’ve never seen a statement that provided so much detail, and is so transparent, as these statements.” Plus, they all have an ironclad disclaimer clause stating that the users must do their own due diligence & analysis – no reliance! The only fraud committed was by the highly partisan and out-of-control judge, and racist A.G., who promised that, ‘I will get Trump,’” Trump exclaimed. 

New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking $250 million in damages and to bar Trump from conducting business in the state. The attorney general’s complaint accuses Trump, his sons and his company of fraudulently inflating the values of his properties to obtain more favorable loan and insurance rates.

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“Donald Trump already testified in our financial fraud case against him. Whether or not Trump testifies again tomorrow, we have already proven that he committed years of financial fraud and unjustly enriched himself and his family. No matter how much he tries to distract from reality, the facts don’t lie,” James told Fox News. 

Trump went on to share more details about his reasoning for not testifying.

“They claimed that Mar-a-Lago was worth only $18,000,000, when it is worth 50 to 100 times that amount, in order to illegally reduce my values & make a fake case against me. They did this on other properties, as well, and wouldn’t give me a jury. Likewise, the A.G. thugs do not want to acknowledge that I have paid almost 300 million dollars in New York City and state taxes during the years in question. Importantly, I won at the appellate division, which effectively ended most of the case, but the biased judge refused to accept their order, an unheard of first!” Trump posted.

TRUMP SEEKS PAUSE OF FEDERAL ELECTION TRIAL TO CHALLENGE IMMUNITY RULING

Trump continued his post by calling the case a witch hunt against him.

“Based on the above, and the fact that our unassailable final expert witness has been so strong and irrefutable in his testimony, which will conclude on Tuesday, and that I have already testified to everything and have nothing more to say other than that this is a complete and total election interference (Biden campaign!) witch hunt, that will do nothing but keep businesses out of New York, I will not be testifying on Monday. Maga!” Trump said.

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

Court officials said proceedings will resume Tuesday as scheduled, and Eli Bartov, an accounting expert who Trump came to see testify last week, will resume the final part of his testimony.

The attorney general’s office will then have a day for rebuttals, then each side has until January 5 to file briefs, and closing arguments will take place January 11.

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President Biden’s State Department said Saturday it approved the sale of $106.5 million worth of tank ammunition to Israel amid the war against Hamas in a deal that bypasses Congress. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has approved a possible foreign military sale to the government of Israel of 120mm M830A1 High Explosive Anti-Tank Multi-Purpose with Tracer (MPAT) tank cartridges and related equipment for an estimated cost of $106.5 million, according to a State Department press release Saturday. 

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on Friday. 

“The Government of Israel has requested to buy thirteen thousand nine hundred eighty-one (13,981) 120mm M830A1 High Explosive Anti-Tank Multi-Purpose with Tracer (MPAT) tank cartridges,” the State Department said. “Also included are publications and technical documentation; U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical, and logistics support services; studies and surveys; and other related elements of logistics and program support.”

UN REJECTS RESOLUTION CALLING FOR IMMEDIATE CEASE-FIRE IN GAZA

Blinken “determined and provided detailed justification to Congress that an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale to the Government of Israel of the above defense articles and services in the national security interests of the United States, thereby waiving the Congressional review requirements under Section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act, as amended,” according to the release.

“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability,” the press release continued. “This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives.  Israel will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense. Israel will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces. The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.” 

The move comes as Biden’s request for a nearly $106 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other national security is languishing in Congress, caught up in a debate over U.S. immigration policy and border security. Some Democratic lawmakers have spoken of making the proposed $14.3 billion in American assistance to its Mideast ally contingent on concrete steps by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to reduce civilian casualties in Gaza during the war with Hamas.

According to the Associated Press, the determinations to bypass the congressional review requirement for foreign military sales are rare, but not unprecedented, when administrations see an urgent need for weapons to be delivered without waiting for lawmakers’ approval.

BLINKEN BLASTED FOR ‘LECTURING’ ISRAELIS, AS JOHN MCCAIN’S 2014 WARNING ABOUT DIPLOMAT RESURFACES

“This will be a sale from U.S. Army inventory,” the State Department said. “There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale. Implementation of this proposed sale will not require the assignment of any additional U.S. Government or contractor representatives to Israel.”

The State Department noted that there would be “no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness” because of the sale. a

Bypassing Congress with emergency determinations for arms sales is an unusual step that in the past has met resistance from lawmakers, who normally have a period of time to weigh in on proposed weapons transfers and, in some cases, block them.

In May 2019, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made an emergency determination for an $8.1 billion sales of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan after it became clear that the Trump administration would have trouble overcoming lawmakers’ concerns about the Saudi- UAE-led war in Yemen.

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Pompeo came under heavy criticism for the move, which some believed may have violated the law because many of the weapons involved had yet to be built and could not be delivered urgently. But he was cleared of any wrongdoing after an internal investigation.

At least four administrations have used the authority since 1979. President George H.W. Bush’s administration used it during the Gulf War to get arms quickly to Saudi Arabia.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Voters on the ground and in polls continue to say “no” to a potential rematch between President Biden and former President Donald Trump in the general election next November.

Just 32% of all voters are enthusiastic about Biden becoming the party nominee, and 37% of all voters are enthusiastic about Trump becoming the GOP nominee, according to a Monmouth University poll conducted in September.

“Voters are unhappy with both candidates,” said Carly Cooperman, a Democratic strategist and pollster of 20 years. “Majorities of voters on both sides of the aisle say that they want other choices”

Despite an appetite for alternatives, Cooperman says a Trump-Biden matchup is a likelihood Americans should prepare for in 2024.

CONFIDENCE IN US PRESIDENCY HITS LOWEST POINT EVER AS TRUMP LEADS BIDEN IN 2024 REMATCH: SURVEY

“I think it’s pretty inevitable that we’re going to see Biden and Trump going at it in 2024,” said Cooperman. “As much as people don’t want it, I think it would be highly unlikely for another scenario to take place.”

Voters on the ground don’t seem to want a repeat of 2020 election choices either. Nate Blackford from Westside, Iowa, says that although he believes the former president would be able to move the country forward, he thinks Trump will lose the general election.

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“That’s my only concern. I don’t know that Trump can get the votes,” said Blackford. “I think he would be good for our country again. I don’t think he’s the best candidate currently. And if he ends up winning the GOP, that’s going to be disappointing.”

Greg, a Republican from Sioux City, Iowa, agrees, saying Trump’s name on the ballot only hurts the GOP.

“I think anyone not named Trump beats Biden in a landslide,” said Greg.

Don, from Sioux City, Iowa, says Trump’s legal woes will hurt him and thinks Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would be a better alternative.

“On every major issue, Trump was amazing. But he brings all that baggage with him. And nothing will galvanize the Democrat electorate more than Trump being the candidate even against Joe Biden,” said Don. “I think if we wanted to really make changes to the government, I think we need somebody like Ron.”

Daniel Weingarten from Clear Lake, Iowa, shares a similarly unhappy sentiment about a possible rematch and says both candidates are in a weak position to run.

“If the rematch happens between Trump and Biden, I think that that’s just a total loss for the country. Trump brings way too much baggage and makes it too much about himself and not about policy,” said Weingarten. “And Biden’s health and cognition looks to be in question.”

So why are voters left with two options they don’t seem to want? Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster and co-founder of polling firm Public Opinion Strategies, says for Biden it is due in part to the power that comes with incumbency. And for Trump, it’s his grip over certain Republican voters that can’t seem to be shaken.

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“It’s always hard to replace an incumbent president,” said Newhouse. “He’s sitting at probably 75 to 80% among Democrats. That’s enough to kind of shut out, you know, any other kind of Democratic challenger. Donald Trump has essentially taken over the Republican Party. We even ask in our surveys among Republicans, ‘Do you consider yourself more to be a follower of the Republican Party or a follower of Donald Trump?’ And it’s essentially been dead even.”

Cooperman says that while it is possible for another candidate to steal the GOP spotlight, at this stage in the race the chances of someone other than Trump breaking through keeps getting slimmer.

“There was the expectation that somebody would emerge as a stronger challenger, given the negatives that Trump has. But it hasn’t taken off,” said Cooperman. “And now Nikki Haley is the latest. We’re watching closely. She’s getting a lot of money. She’s getting a lot of attention. But I think to convince voters to leave Trump, there has to be a compelling reason to do that at this point.”

In tentative matchups, Trump is beating Biden in five out of six battleground states, according to a New York Times/Siena Poll conducted last month.

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Biden suggested last week he would not be running if it weren’t for Trump. His approval rating sits at 40%, while Trump’s favorability rating sits at 44% according to a Fox News Poll last month.

“Americans are unhappy because they think they should have more choices,” said Newhouse. “They’re looking at the candidates as two old white men who are aging out of existence. One who they think is a crook and the other many think is senile. They’re looking at this as just a horrible choice.”

Lindsey, from Des Moines, Iowa, says the poor quality of candidates is pushing her and others to consider someone outside the GOP and Democratic tickets.

“I don’t think most Americans want to see a rematch between Trump and Biden,” said Lindsey. “But if that does happen, there’s other people on the ballot. And I think a lot of people will exercise that right.”

Newhouse says if any election were to give rise to a third-party candidate, it would be the election in 2024.

“You’ve got a ton of voters out there who don’t want either of these candidates. And that’s giving fuel to some of these third-party candidates and some of the efforts to get someone else on the ballot as an alternative to either Trump or Biden,” said Newhouse. 

“So, this is probably the perfect political environment for a third-party candidate to have at least as much success as Perot did back in the day.”

To underscore the extent of unhappiness among voters with a possible Biden-Trump rematch, Newhouse pointed to one focus group he conducted recently.

“We asked, ‘Who are you going to vote for?’ And the moderator says, ‘Gun to your head, who are you going to vote for, Trump or Biden?’ And we went around the table, and one woman says, ‘Bullet.’”

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Not all Americans share the same drastic belief, but voters are vocal about heading in a new direction.

“This may be the last election where we have this generation of candidates running, and it’ll be the election where we’re finally hopefully turning the page,” said Newhouse.