NationalWatch

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

Here’s what’s happening…

– Biden says he would not back Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear sites…

– North Carolina congresswoman’s husband is stranded in Hurricane Helene…

– Liz Cheney and Kamala Harris team up on the trail in Wisconsin…
 

Breaking it Down

A federal judge on Wednesday unsealed a key filing from special counsel Jack Smith’s updated election interference case against former President Donald Trump.

U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia Tanya Chutkan unsealed Smith’s 165-page filing, in which Smith argues that Trump is not immune from prosecution for his alleged criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 election results. Smith submitted the document after the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that a president is immune from prosecution for official acts. 

“Although the defendant was the incumbent President during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one,” Smith wrote. “Working with a team of private co-conspirators, the defendant acted as a candidate when he pursued multiple criminal means to disrupt, through fraud and deceit, the government function by which votes are collected and counted — a function in which the defendant, as President, had no official role.” …Read more

WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 01: Special Counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on a recently unsealed indictment including four felony counts against former U.S. President Donald Trump at the Justice Department on August 1, 2023 in Washington, DC. Trump was indicted on four felony counts for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.   (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

White House

‘RECKLESS FAILURE’: Watchdog group wants DOI investigated over ‘failure’ to protect federal property …Read more

‘SOWN CHAOS’: Eye-popping number of migrants with national security concerns arrived in US on Biden’s watch: report …Read more

‘PROPORTIONAL’: Biden says he would not back Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear sites …Read more

Capitol Hill

‘POLITICAL MISINFORMATION’: 8 Dem lawmakers demand social media execs protect against ‘misinformation’ …Read more

CUT OFF: NGOs aiding illegal migrants would be barred from federal money under Gaetz bill …Read more

‘SHOCKED BY DEVASTATION’: North Carolina congresswoman’s husband stranded in home in district ravaged by Hurricane Helene …Read more

‘SERIOUS THREAT’: Dozens of lawmakers sound alarm to Garland on noncitizen voting …Read more

Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Tales from the Trail

EYE OF THE STORM: Trump targets Biden, Harris over federal response to hurricane …Read more

HEATING UP: Ohio GOP Senate candidate Moreno hits Brown on Inflation Reduction Act vote in ad that’s part of $25M buy …Read more

‘ONE CANDIDATE GETS IT’: Voters in key swing county tell Fox what’s driving their vote this November …Read more

Voters from Kent County, Mich., spoke to Fox News Digital about the 2024 election. (Fox News Digital)

HARRIS AND CHENEY: Vice President Kamala Harris will team up with leading anti-Trump Republican Liz Cheney in battleground Wisconsin …Read more

BADGER STATE BRAWL: Trump trails Harris by 4 points in Wisconsin but leads on issues: poll …Read more

VIRGINIA SENATE DEBATE: Clinton ex-running mate Kaine, GOP challenger Cao spar on immigration, DEI in military …Read more

Across America

PUNTED: Federal judge blocks California law banning election deepfakes …Read more

‘MOST IMPORTANT THING’: Stevie Nicks releases ‘anthem’ to Roe v. Wade, abortion rights …Read more

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

A federal judge ruled in favor of a southern border rancher who had argued that the Biden administration had violated environmental law in it’s “haste to reverse its predecessor’s border policies” in 2021.

An Arizona rancher, Steven Smith, was part of the lawsuit, Massachusetts Coalition for Immigration Reform et al. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, challenging the Biden administration. The suit claimed that the Department of Homeland Security had failed to conduct a mandatory review required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) before halting border wall construction, a key Trump-era project.

Under NEPA, a federal agency must conduct an Environmental Assessment to determine whether a federal action has the potential to cause significant effects on the human environment, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

After a two-day bench trial, Judge Trevor McFadden of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a ruling on Friday that Smith “suffered concrete and particularized injuries” as a result of DHS not meeting the requirements of NEPA. 

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WITH ‘TERRORISM TIES’ WILL CONTINUE TO EXPLOIT BORDER, HOMELAND SECURITY REPORT WARNS

Border fence construction materials sit unused on the U.S.-Mexico border on Aug. 22, 2024, south of Sierra Vista, Ariz.  (Rebecca Noble)

The Trump-appointed judge also concluded that the actions taken by DHS, such as ending the “Remain in Mexico” policy, resulted in indirect effects relating to population growth.

Smith testified that migrant activity on his ranch had “dramatically increased” after President Joe Biden was elected, and that he had begun seeing illegal immigrants on his property multiple times a month and finds trash on a daily basis.

Smith claimed that the trash left by the migrants has had negative impacts on the environment, as well as on his own cattle, which were eating the litter. 

GAETZ TO INTRODUCE BILL CUTTING OFF FEDERAL AID TO GROUPS HELPING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ENTER US

The rancher also testified that water for cattle and other wildlife was a very scarce resource and that migrants were taking it from a trough on his land. According to court documents: “While this may aid thirsty trespassers, it causes Smith to lose ‘thousands and thousands of gallons of water,’ which ‘can take [him] days and days and days to regain.” 

Border Patrol picks up a group of asylum seekers from an aid camp at the US-Mexico border near Sasabe, Ariz. on Wednesday, March 13, 2024.  (Justin Hamel)

The judge ruled that Smith, a Cochise County resident, “suffered tangible harms” caused by the migrant crisis and is entitled to relief after illegal immigrants “trespassed onto his land, stole his water, and trashed his property.” 

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“At trial, Smith proved as a matter of fact that his harms traced to migrants who reacted predictably to DHS’s decisions,” the ruling reads.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff denied the veracity of a Daily Mail report in which three unnamed sources accused him of having slapped a former girlfriend during a 2012 trip to the Cannes Film Festival.

Fox News Digital has not been able to independently confirm the allegations.

“This report is untrue,” an unnamed representative for Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband told news outlet Semafor. “Any suggestion that he would or has ever hit a woman is false.”

The Daily Mail’s exclusive story on Tuesday quoted a trio of unidentified sources who claim Emhoff slapped his then-girlfriend while the couple waited in a valet line following an event in Nice, France, in 2012. The alleged altercation was purportedly sparked when the woman – identified only by the pseudonym “Jane” and described as a successful New York attorney – flirted with a valet, according to the article.

The Harris campaign, the Office of the Vice President and a representative for Emhoff’s ex-wife, Kerstin Emhoff, did not comment despite repeated requests from Fox News. 

Several media outlets, including Semafor, noted they had been unable to match the Daily Mail’s reporting and legacy media companies such as the New York Times have yet to report on the claims. 

The Daily Mail’s article hinged on the recollections of three people described as being Jane’s friends. The outlet said its sources requested anonymity due to fear of retaliation from Emhoff. The three friends reportedly provided the outlet with a photo of the pair when they were still a couple, as well as itineraries and correspondence between Emhoff and Jane to substantiate that they made the trip to France in May 2012.

‘HE IMPREGNATED HIS KID’S NANNY’: PSAKI RIPPED AFTER CLAIMING EMHOFF ‘RESHAPED’ MASCULINITY

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff participates in stage testing ahead of the start of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Aug. 19, 2024 in Chicago. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

One of the sources is described by the Daily Mail as a female New York attorney who learned about the alleged incident from Jane.

“He hauled up and slapped her so hard she spun around,” the source is quoted as saying. “She said she was in utter shock. She was so furious, she slapped him on one side, and then on the other cheek with the other hand.”

Another friend, described by the Daily Mail as a New York businessman, told the outlet Jane called him sobbing following the alleged incident. 

PROGRESSIVE WOMEN’S GROUPS SILENT ON SECOND GENTLEMAN DOUG EMHOFF’S AFFAIR

“It was very clear what she was telling me,” that source said, according to the Daily Mail. “She said she was with a guy, her date, she was at the Cannes Film Festival, and he hit her. She was in the car with the guy at the time.”

The male friend said he learned more details about the alleged episode after the initial phone call. 

Vice President Kamala Harris hugs second gentleman Douglas Emhoff after speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 22, 2024. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

“It was something like 3 a.m. They were trying to get out of there and they both had been drinking. There was a gigantic line for taxis,” he told the outlet. “She went up to one of the valet guys, offered him 100 euros or whatever, to get to the head of the line. She told me she put her hand on his shoulder. Doug apparently thought that she was flirting, and came over and slapped her in the face.”

A third friend, described as a female executive, told the Daily Mail that she learned of the alleged incident in 2014, and purportedly found out new details from Jane in 2018, when Harris, then a senator from California, made headlines with her questioning of a Supreme Court nominee who had been accused of sexual assault.

“[She] is a gorgeous, strong woman and you would never expect somebody to hit her,” the third friend told the Daily Mail. “When he hit her she hit him back, like, ‘Don’t you ever do that again,'”

KAMALA HARRIS’ HUSBAND DOUG EMHOFF ‘RESHAPED THE PERCEPTION OF MASCULINITY’: MSNBC HOST

The third Daily Mail source added: “I asked her if he ever apologized. She said ‘no,’ but he commented about the hit she gave him. It was a tennis metaphor. But no apology at all.”

All three friends told the outlet that Jane hit Emhoff back after the alleged initial slap. They also claimed that Jane tried to leave the valet area after the alleged slap, but that Emhoff got into a cab with Jane.

Jane and Emhoff had been dating for about three months before the reported trip to France, according to the friends. Emhoff allegedly cut the trip short and returned to the U.S. for his daughter’s birthday at the end of May, and never saw Jane again, the friends told the outlet. 

Doug Emhoff points as he speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Aug. 20, 2024. (Reuters/Mike Segar)

Emhoff’s alleged relationship with Jane unfolded after his 2008 divorce from his first wife and before his 2014 marriage to Harris. 

The New York Post on Wednesday slammed Emhoff as “Worst Gentleman” in its cover story detailing the Daily Mail’s article.

Sen. Kamala Harris, then her party’s vice presidential nominee, and her husband Douglas Emhoff appear on stage at the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Emhoff is fresh off of a Sunday sit-down interview on MSNBC during which Jen Psaki celebrated him as having reshaped “the perception of masculinity.”

“There is also an important, interesting part about how people have talked about your role is how your role has reshaped the perception of masculinity,” Psaki said. “I’m not sure you planned on that, but you are an incredibly supportive spouse. Has that been an evolution for you? Do you think that’s part of the role you might play as first gentleman?”

Emhoff responded: “It’s funny. I’ve started to think a lot about this. I’ve always been like this. My dad’s always been like this. To me, it’s the right thing to do, support women. It is mutual with Kamala and I. We support each other, we have each other’s back.”

DOUG EMHOFF’S EX-WIFE RESPONDS AFTER SECOND GENTLEMAN ADMITTED TO AFFAIR WITH NANNY

He added: “I’ve said many times when we lift up women, we support women, whether it’s pay equity, child care, family leave, and all of these issues in this post-Dobbs hellscape. Women should not be less than. Women should not have less rights and be treated differently. That’s not the American way.”

Clips of the exchange spread like wildfire on social media as critics noted that, in August, Emhoff admitted to having an affair with his family’s nanny during his first marriage years ago.

Emhoff’s admission came shortly after the Daily Mail published a separate report in August claiming that he got his daughter’s nanny pregnant.

The affair occurred before Emhoff’s relationship with and eventual marriage to Harris. 

“During my first marriage, Kerstin and I went through some tough times on account of my actions. I took responsibility, and in the years since, we worked through things as a family and have come out stronger on the other side,” Emhoff said over the summer, acknowledging the affair, but not naming the nanny. 

Kerstin Emhoff addressed her ex-husband Doug Emhoff’s affair with a nanny. (Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images)

Emhoff and his first wife were married from 1992 to 2008 and share two adult children. Harris married Emhoff in 2014, and helped co-parent his children, who call their stepmom “mommala.” 

HOW KAMALA HARRIS’ HUSBAND’S CHEATING SCANDAL COULD HELP TRUMP, EXPERT SAYS

Emhoff reportedly told Jane in 2012 about his divorce, according to her female friend who works as an executive. 

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The Daily Mail’s report was published just five weeks before the election, when Harris will square off against former President Trump at the ballot box. 

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

Voters in Kent County, Michigan, could play a large role in determining who wins November’s presidential election, but many voters in the area are still undecided about their choice.

“I think there is too much division in his country. I think people on the left and people on the right hate each other a lot and I don’t think that’s right,” said one Kent County voter, who told Fox News Digital he is still undecided.

The comments come as Kent County, which includes Michigan’s second-largest city of Grand Rapids and much of the surrounding area, figures to play an outsized role in November. 

While Michigan is well-known as one of the seven key swing states in the upcoming election, Kent County figures to be one of the key counties. Holding over 6% of the state’s population, the county has traditionally been known as a conservative haven. 

TRUMP TAKES NFL, NBA TO TASK ABOUT KNEELING DURING NATIONAL ANTHEM

Kent County voters discussed their most important issues. (Fox News)

However, that trend has started to reverse itself in recent years, starting when former President Barack Obama was able to capture the county in 2008. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, won the county during his presidential bid in 2012, while former President Donald Trump took Kent County in 2016. It went back to Democrats in 2020, when President Biden was able to capture this important part of Michigan.

This year’s race promises to feature Kent County again, though some voters there remain unconvinced by the candidates.

“Something which stood out to me about Trump is that he didn’t bring us into any wars,” one undecided voter said before noting that he believed Vice President Kamala Harris’ “stance is a lot clearer on LGBTQ rights.”

Immigration stood out as an issue to some Kent County voters, with one telling Fox News Digital the issue was a matter of human rights.

“People having the rights to be in our country and the rights to health care,” said the voter, who indicated he was voting for Harris.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a rally on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024 in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

VANCE, WALZ VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE ENDS WITH BOTH CANDIDATES TOUTING ‘NEW’ FUTURE

“Hopefully she can bring down housing costs and pretty much just inflation for young people like myself,” he added. “Trying to buy a house, trying to get loans and cars and things like that is very important for people of my age.”

However, another voter disagreed on the economy, arguing Trump is the right candidate to lead the country forward.

“I believe that a person who has run a company, that’s been in business, can do a better job than a lifelong politician in terms of making decisions,” the voter said.

That voter also indicated support for Trump on foreign policy, arguing he garnered the respect of world leaders.

“I think he was not afraid to stand up for what he felt is right,” he said. “I think other world leaders took note of that.”

Another voter, who indicated foreign policy was a key issue, disagreed.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Bayfront Convention Center in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)

“One candidate gets it and the other doesn’t,” the voter, who indicated support for Harris, told Fox News Digital of the reason he is voting for Harris.

“She understands the importance of our standing on the global stage, international politics, and our national security. I don’t think Trump understands that,” the voter continued.

Yet others had more trouble picking a candidate, most notably because of the divisive nature of modern politics.

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“One day I’ll go one way and another day I’ll go another way,” one undecided voter told Fox News Digital.

“It’s hard to take her seriously, nothing sticks out about her,” she said on Harris, while also noting that he finds it “very hard to believe” that someone as rich as Trump ” could care about people that don’t have any money.”

The voter also deducted points from Trump because of the “tone of his voice.”

“The name calling, I don’t particularly care for that,” the voter said.

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

As President Biden spends a second straight day surveying damage and getting briefed on recovery and relief efforts in the storm-damaged Southeast, he’s once again coming under political attack from former President Trump.

As the death toll from Hurricane Helene climbs to close to 200 people, with hundreds still missing, millions still without power or running water, and damage estimated in the billions, Trump took to social media on Thursday morning to paint Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris as incompetent.

“Kamala and Sleepy Joe are universally being given POOR GRADES for the way that they are handling the Hurricane, especially in North Carolina,” Trump charged in a social media post. “It is going down as the WORST & MOST INCOMPETENTLY MANAGED ‘STORM,’ AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL, EVER SEEN BEFORE.”

Trump, who’s locked in a margin-of-error race with Harris with less than five weeks to go until Election Day in November, has been attacking the vice president and her boss over the federal response to the powerful storm for nearly a week.

BIDEN, HARRIS, INSPECT STORM DAMAGE WITH TRIPS TO SOUTHEAST 

Former President Trump visits Valdosta, Georgia, a town impacted by Hurricane Helene, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

And with two of the hardest hit states – North Carolina and Georgia – two of the seven key battlegrounds that will likely determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election, the hurricane has become front-and-center in the White House race.

Trump this past weekend accused the president of “sleeping” at his beach house in Delaware as the storm blasted the Southeast.

NORTH CAROLINA RESIDENTS FIGHT FOR THEIR SURVIVAL

And speaking with reporters as he arrived in Valdosta, Georgia, on Monday to survey storm damage and bring relief aid, the former president charged that “the federal government is not being responsive.” 

And he falsely claimed that Biden had not spoken with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a conservative Republican.

Pushing back against the political attacks, Biden has noted that he was on the phone with federal, state and local officials throughout the weekend and returned to the nation’s capital on Sunday afternoon to monitor storm rescue and relief efforts.

“We had over 1,000 federal personnel, including search and rescue teams, at the ready on the ground before it hit,” the president said on Tuesday. “Over the past several days, I’ve been in regular contact with the governors, the mayors, the county officials, and all the affected areas. That includes Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and Virginia.

And Biden emphasized that his administration has sent “every available resource that we have at our disposal to the affected region” and pledged “we’ll be there until this work is done.”

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON HELENE’S HAVOC

More than half of the deaths from the storm are in North Carolina, where entire communities in the western part of the state were demolished by fast-moving waters.

As the floodwaters from the storm receded, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper lamented that, in the western part of his state, “communities were wiped off the map.”

President Biden and Gov. Roy Cooper greet first responders after touring areas impacted by Hurricane Helene, at the ariport in Greenville, South Carolina, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The president on Wednesday was in North Carolina, where he surveyed damage from a helicopter flight over the city of Ashville, one of the hardest hit areas. Biden also visited a rescue command center in the state before also stopping in neighboring South Carolina.

“My top priority is to ensure the communities devastated by this hurricane get the help and support they need as quickly as possible,” Biden told reporters Tuesday as he spoke during a Cabinet meeting focusing on the federal response.

And the president ahead of his trip to the region green-lighted the use of up to 1,000 active duty troops to support relief efforts.

And huddled with Democratic and Republican politicians from the region on Wednesday, Biden emphasized that “in a moment like this, we put politics aside, at least we should put it all aside. We have here – there are no Democrats or Republicans, only Americans – our job is to help as many people as we can, as quickly as we can, and as thoroughly as we can.”

Trump on Sunday attacked Harris for attending “fundraising events with her radical left lunatic donors” in California over the weekend. And he argued that Harris “ought to be down in the area” where the storm caused destruction.

On Monday during his stop in Georgia, Trump repeated the dig, saying, “The vice president, she’s out someplace campaigning looking for money.”

The White House has highlighted that the vice president over the weekend was on the phone with federal, state and local officials. 

Harris said on Saturday that she and the president “remain committed to ensuring that no community or state has to respond to this disaster alone.”

On Monday, Harris visited FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] headquarters in Washington, D.C., where she received a briefing on relief and rescue efforts.

“We will do everything in our power to help communities respond and recover,” Harris vowed.

Harris on Wednesday traveled to Georgia to survey the impacts of the storm and receive an on-the-ground briefing and provide updates on the federal response.

“We are here for the long haul,” Harris told residents in Augusta, Georgia. “There’s a lot of work that’s going to need to happen over the coming days, weeks, and months, and the coordination that we have dedicated ourselves to will be long-lasting to get families, to get residents, to get neighborhoods back up and running.”

Harris was originally scheduled to take part Wednesday in a campaign bus swing through central Pennsylvania, another key battleground state, with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

With the vice president headed to Georgia, Walz headlined the bus tour, which came the day after he faced off in the running mates debate against Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, the GOP vice presidential nominee.

During his Monday stop in Georgia, Trump highlighted that “I’ve come to Valdosta with large semi-trucks, many of them filled with relief aid. A tanker truck filled up with gasoline, a couple of big tanker trucks filled up with gasoline, which they can’t get now. And we’ll be working to distribute it throughout the day.”

And a GoFundMe page set up by the Trump campaign earlier this week has raised over $4 million so far for storm victims.

“I’m committed to traveling to the impacted areas as soon as possible, but I’ve been told that it would be disruptive if I did it right now. We will not do that at the risk of diverting or delaying any of the response assets needed to deal with this crisis,” Biden told reporters on Monday.

And Harris said on Tuesday, “I plan to be on the ground as soon as possible – but as soon as possible without disrupting any emergency response operations, because that must be the highest priority and the first order of business.”

Vice President Kamala Harris greets people who were impacted by Hurricane Helene in Augusta, Georgia, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, as Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson watches at right. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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But the optics of Trump’s Monday stop in Georgia may have put some political pressure on Biden and Harris.

Longtime Republican strategist David Kochel said Trump had been “very aggressive” with his quick trip to the storm-damaged region. 

“I think he put a lot of pressure on them to try to do something,” Kochel, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns, told Fox News. “He’s out there pushing a line that they don’t care – they’re not doing anything and I think they’re reacting to it.”

The response by elected officials to natural disasters can impact their political standing.

President George W. Bush was heavily criticized in the summer of 2005 for his initial response to Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans.

And Trump faced criticism early in his White House tenure as Puerto Rico struggled to recover from a powerful storm. The president was pilloried for throwing paper towels to the crowd as he stopped by a relief center during a storm-related visit to the island.

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

FIRST ON FOX – Ohio Republican Bernie Moreno is hitting incumbent Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown on his Inflation Reduction Act vote in a new ad that’s part of a $25 million new buy ahead of Election Day. 

The 30-second ad spot, which will run on television and digitally, opens with a single mother from Versailles, Ohio, saying she can’t believe the current prices for groceries. 

“It’s a lot tougher to provide for my kids with the Democrats’ inflation,” the woman, Carla, says. “Sherrod Brown’s only made things worse. Brown supported Kamala, not us, and voted for her radical Inflation Act, and now prices are at a 40-year-high. Bernie Moreno will fight to lower prices and stop inflation. That’s why I trust Bernie Moreno to help Ohio families.” 

The ad, first obtained by Fox News Digital in advance of its planned roll out, also includes the message on screen: “Sherrod Brown voted for Kamala’s Inflation Act.” 

VIRGINIA SENATE DEBATE: CLINTON EX-RUNNING MATE KAINE, GOP CHALLENGER CAO SPAR ON IMMIGRATION, DEI IN MILITARY

It was paid for by Bernie Moreno for Senate and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

“Hardworking Ohioans are suffering under the record-high inflation created by Kamala Harris and Sherrod Brown,” Moreno said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “While he claims to fight for Ohio, families are unable to afford basic necessities. In November, we will send him packing and get our economy back on track.” 

Moreno’s campaign told Fox News Digital that the ad is part of an additional $25 million in spending. It comes just 33 days before the Nov. 5 election. Early voting in Ohio starts Oct. 8. 

The contest is on track to be the most expensive Senate race this cycle, with $310.4 million in spending from both campaigns as of August, according to Axios.

As of August, Moreno shelled out $158.4 million and Brown spent $152 million, Axios reported. 

Brown’s campaign announced Wednesday it will report raising nearly $31 million in the third quarter. 

Bernie Moreno comes on stage to speak at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 16, 2024. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

Fox News has labeled the race between Moreno and Brown as a toss-up. 

NRA TARGETS SEN SHERROD BROWN IN 7-FIGURE AD BUY IN OHIO: ‘VOTE LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT’

Fox News Digital reached out to Brown’s campaign and congressional office for comment about the new ad but did not immediately hear back. 

Ohio is center stage on the presidential ticket this cycle with Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, as former President Trump’s vice presidential running mate. Moreno ran against Vance in the 2022 GOP Republican primary for Senate, which Vance won, and has supported the Trump-Vance bid for the White House. 

In August 2023, on the one-year anniversary of President Biden signing his Inflation Reduction Act into law, Brown’s campaign issued a statement championing the legislation as having included “key priorities Brown fought for to save Ohioans money, crack down on Wall Street stock buybacks, and attract investment and good-paying jobs to Ohio.” 

Sen. JD Vance and his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance celebrate as he is nominated for vice president alongside Ohio delegate Bernie Moreno at the Republican National Convention on July 15, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“The Inflation Reduction Act is already saving Ohioans money at the pharmacy counter and spurring Ohio to lead the country in manufacturing the technology of the future – and those cost savings and Ohio jobs will only grow in the coming years,” Brown said in a statement at the time. 

As of August 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Midwest – which includes Ohio – rose by 2.6% over the last 12 months. 

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The bureau said the index for all items, less food and energy, advanced 3.2% over the year, while food prices increased 1.8%. Energy prices declined 2.6%, “largely the result of decreasing prices for gasoline,” it added. 

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Republican challenger Hung Cao clashed on the debate stage Wednesday night on a range of issues including immigration, education and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the military. 

Kaine, who previously served as governor of Virginia and was Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential running mate in 2016, made his case during the hourlong showdown at Norfolk State University on why he should keep his seat in the upper chamber of Congress. The only debate of the campaign focused on national issues and matters that resonate in Virginia and the coastal city of Norfolk, which is home to the country’s largest Navy base.

Cao, a 25-year Navy veteran endorsed by former President Donald Trump, criticized COVID vaccine mandates for service members and the Biden-Harris administration’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal when asked about the military’s collective failure to recently meet recruiting goals. He also criticized DEI efforts.

“When you’re using a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, that’s not the people we want,” Cao said. “What we need is alpha males and alpha females who are going to rip out their own guts, eat them and ask for seconds. Those are the young men and women that are going to win wars.”

VIRGINIA SCHOOL BOARD TO PAY ‘WRONGFULLY FIRED’ TEACHER WHO REFUSED TO USE STUDENT’S PREFERRED PRONOUNS

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, left, debates Republican challenger Hung Cao at Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia, on Wednesday Oct. 2, 2024. (Nextstar/WAVY-TV via AP)

Kaine, who is on the Senate Armed Services Committee, responded by saying that railing at DEI “is a red herring” and the real challenge is informing more Americans about the benefits of the military when only about 1% of the population serves in the armed forces. “We need to do a better job of talking about the G.I. Bill and other benefits as well as the tremendous leadership training that you get in the military,” Kaine said.

Cao, meanwhile, brought up the G.I. Bill when challenging Kaine on student loan forgiveness. The incumbent Democrat had praised the Biden administration for having forgiven “the loans of more than a million public servants in thanks for the public service they provide, whether it’s in the military, whether it’s teaching, whether it’s working as a frontline health professional or working for a local or state government.” 

The moderator then posed a question to Cao on how the Republican candidate would ease the burden, noting that the U.S. Department of Education reports more than a million Virginians owe a collective $43 billion in federal student debt as of last October, impacting their ability to contribute to the state’s economy.

“If you’re struggling to pay for your school, then get a G.I. Bill,” Cao said. “That means go out and serve in the military. You’ll get a stipend as well as tuition. We need to fix education, and we need to do it now. But here’s the thing with people like Senator Kaine, you’ve been an officer for 30 years in various offices, in the U.S. Senate for 12. Why have you not fixed it yet?” 

VIRGINIA FAA CONTRACTOR ALLEGEDLY SPIED FOR IRAN, SHARED PRIVATE INFO ON US AIRPORTS, ENERGY INDUSTRY: DOJ

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., left, is facing a challenge from Republican Hung Cao. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh | J. Scott Applewhite)

Kaine responded by saying Virginia “was named the best state for a child to be raised in the United States” and “the best managed state and the best state to do business” when he was governor from 2006 to 2010. 

“Oh, again, he says what he’s going to do,” Cao shot back. “Honestly, of the 227 bills that Senator Kaine has proposed, only three of them made it through… That’s a 99% failure rate.” 

“Check the tape on that. That’s completely wrong,” Kaine insisted. 

However, Cao retorted, “There’s two truths in the world, okay? Never walk into a target store wearing a red shirt and never go against an Asian when it comes to math. Trust me.” 

“He’s got a 99% failure rate,” Cao added. “If I just had 99% failure rate, and I defused bombs, I wouldn’t be here right now.” 

Hung Cao, left, speaks on stage after an invitation from former President Donald Trump during a rally in Chesapeake, Virginia, on June 28, 2024. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot/Tribune News Service)

The moderator also pressed Cao, whose family fled Vietnam during the 1970s, on whether he supports the mass deportation of “all undocumented immigrants.” 

“When Vietnam fell, we had nowhere to go, and America had brought us in and my parents waited in line for seven years. We all did for seven years to get our citizenship. The last thing that my dad had [hung] over his bed when he passed away two years ago was his naturalization certificate. I love this country so much that I wrote a blank check – up to including my life – to defend it for 25 years in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and other parts of the world,” Cao said. “Here’s my thing to anybody who wants to come here, don’t ask for an American dream. If you’re not willing to be American laws and embrace the American culture, because I did.” 

“If you come here illegally, then you need to leave, especially if you’re a violent crime person,” Cao said, citing new Immigration and Customs Enforcement data provided to lawmakers last week. 

“There are 13,000 convicted murderers and 16,000 convicted rapists that came across under their watch. That’s unacceptable. We need to protect Americans every single day,” Cao said. 

“If you came here illegally, you’ve basically screwed up the whole system,” Cao said. “You can’t jump the line – I mean, you go to Costco and jump the line, what do you think is going to happen? You can’t come here and expect the American dream if you’re not willing to obey the American laws and embrace the American culture.”

“Deport anybody that’s committing crimes right now,” he added. “That’s the first thing we need. Secure the border.” 

Kaine said he never supported mass amnesty but believes it would “devastate the economy” to deport the 10 million illegal immigrants who crossed the border during the Biden-Harris administration – a figure the moderator cited and the Democratic candidate echoed. He also slammed former President Donald Trump for asking Republicans to oppose the last congressional border deal. 

“We recently negotiated a very tough border deal that would have put a lot of resources on the border to stop illegal immigration,” Kaine said. “President Trump asked for Republicans to oppose it, even though it was supported by the border control union.”

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024 in Walker, Michigan. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Another subject was Trump’s proposal to place more tariffs on imported goods. 

“What we need to do is not tax our industry here,” Cao said. “What we need to do is tax other countries bringing in goods.”

Kaine criticized Trump’s proposal. “The Trump tariffs would be a massive tax that would cause prices on all of these items that are imported to go up,” Kaine said. “On that, I differ strongly from my opponent.”

With Kaine’s seat considered solidly Democratic, the race has not seen the kind of dead-heat polling as the national presidential contest or the high-stakes drama of other Senate races such as those in Montana and Ohio, where Democratic incumbents face tough re-election bids, according to The Associated Press. 

Trump has endorsed Cao, and political scientists say his path to victory is narrow given Virginia’s moderate electorate, aversion to Trump in 2020 and Kaine’s salience with voters, according to the AP. 

Kaine won his last race in 2018 by 16 percentage points, although he said he was preparing for a tough race this year. The most recent Republican from Virginia to hold a U.S. Senate seat was the late John Warner, a centrist with an independent streak who last won in 2002.

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Republicans have won statewide offices in Virginia. Glenn Youngkin was elected governor by two points in 2021, along with a Republican lieutenant governor and attorney general.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

A federal judge on Wednesday unsealed a key filing from special counsel Jack Smith’s updated election interference case against former President Donald Trump.

U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia Tanya Chutkan unsealed Smith’s 165-page filing, in which Smith argues that Trump is not immune from prosecution for his alleged criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 election results. Smith submitted the document after the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that a president is immune from prosecution for official acts. 

“Although the defendant was the incumbent President during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one,” Smith wrote. “Working with a team of private co-conspirators, the defendant acted as a candidate when he pursued multiple criminal means to disrupt, through fraud and deceit, the government function by which votes are collected and counted — a function in which the defendant, as President, had no official role.” 

The Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. United States held that Smith could not prosecute Trump for the president’s alleged use of the Justice Department to look into unproven claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. In response, Smith filed an updated indictment that revised the allegations against Trump to fit within the scope of the Supreme Court’s decision. 

JUDGE UNSEALS KEY FILING IN SPECIAL COUNSEL’S ELECTION CASE AGAINST TRUMP

Special counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on a recently unsealed indictment including four felony counts against former President Donald Trump at the Justice Department on Aug. 1, 2023, in Washington, D.C. Trump was indicted on four felony counts for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

In the unsealed filing, Smith told the court that Trump is not immune from the remaining allegations against him and laid out his case for why Trump “must stand trial for his private crimes.” 

Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges brought against him by Smith.

Here are five key details from the special counsel’s new filing, which is partially redacted: 

1. Smith’s ‘factual proffer’ 

In the filing unsealed Wednesday, Smith outlined a “factual proffer,” alleging Trump “resorted to crimes to try to stay in office” after losing the 2020 presidential election.

“With private co-conspirators, the defendant launched a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results in seven states that he had lost—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin,” Smith wrote. 

“His efforts included lying to state officials in order to induce them to ignore true vote counts; manufacturing fraudulent electoral votes in the targeted states; attempting to enlist Vice President Michael R. Pence, in his role as President of the Senate, to obstruct Congress’s certification of the election by using the defendant’s fraudulent electoral votes; and when all else had failed, on January 6, 2021, directing an angry crowd of supporters to the United States Capitol to obstruct the congressional certification.” 

PROSECUTORS REQUEST INDEFINITE DELAY IN TRIAL FOR TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT SUSPECT RYAN ROUTH

Smith claims that the “throughline of these efforts was deceit,” alleging Trump and co-conspirators engaged in a conspiracy to interfere with the federal government function by which the nation collects and counts election results, which is set forth in the Constitution and the Electoral Count Act (ECA); a conspiracy to obstruct the official proceeding in which Congress certifies the legitimate results of the presidential election; and a conspiracy against the rights of millions of Americans to vote and have their votes counted.” 

Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump speaks to attendees during a campaign rally at the Prairie Du Chien Area Arts Center on Sept. 28, 2024 in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

2. Smith claims Trump’s personal attorney told POTUS election fraud claims were ‘bulls—’ 

Smith claims that several people close to Trump had told the former president his claims of election fraud were “bulls—.” 

According to Smith, in one conversation, an unnamed Trump attorney had told Trump that the campaign was “looking into his fraud claims and had even hired external experts to do so, but could find no support for them.” 

“He told the defendant that if the Campaign took these claims to court, they would get slaughtered because the claims are all ‘bulls—,’” the filing states, with Smith claiming that a lawyer discussed with Trump the investigations and “debunkings on all major claims.” 

For example, the attorney allegedly told Trump that Georgia’s audit disproved claims that votes had been altered. 

TRUMP BLASTS DOJ FOR ‘ELECTION INTERFERENCE,’ CALLS JACK SMITH CASE A ‘SCAM’ AFTER JUDGE UNSEALS KEY FILING

This photo from Jan. 6, 2021 shows President Donald Trump supporters swarming the Capitol, as Congress prepares to affirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Smith also claims a senior campaign adviser who spoke with Trump on a “daily basis” and had “informed him on multiple occasions that various fraud claims were false” had complained that Trump was losing his election lawsuits because his lawyers could not back up false claims about the election.

“When our research and campaign legal team can’t back up any of the claims made by our Elite Strike Force Legal Team, you can see why we’re 0-32 on our cases,” the campaign adviser allegedly wrote.

“I’ll obviously hustle to help on all fronts, but it’s tough to own any of this when it’s all just conspiracy s— beamed down from the mothership.”  

3. New details on Trump’s interactions with Vice President Mike Pence

The filing details several alleged interactions between Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence in the days following the election.

Smith details a Nov. 7, 2020, call between Pence and Trump in which Pence allegedly “tried to encourage” Trump “as a friend” by reminding him that he “took a dying political party and gave it a new lease on life.” 

Smith also details a private lunch between Trump and Pence on Nov. 12, 2020, when Pence allegedly gave Trump a “face-saving option.” That option, according to the filing, was “don’t concede but recognize the process is over.” 

In another private lunch between Trump and Pence on Nov. 16, 2020, Pence allegedly tried to encourage Trump to accept the results of the election and run again in 2024. Trump is alleged to have responded, “I don’t know, 2024 is so far off.” 

TRUMP TRIAL STEMMING FROM JACK SMITH’S PROBE DELAYED PAST ELECTION DAY

Then-President Trump, left, looks on after a news conference with then-Vice President Mike Pence in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Feb. 26, 2020 in Washington, D.C. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

In yet another private lunch on Dec. 21, Pence allegedly “encouraged” Trump “not to look at the election ‘as a loss – just an intermission.'” Later that day in the Oval Office, Trump allegedly asked Pence for advice on what he should do. According to Smith, Pence said, “after we have exhausted every legal process in the courts and Congress, if we still came up short, Trump should ‘take a bow.’” 

Additionally, Smith reveals that Trump allegedly showed little regard for Pence’s safety during the Jan. 6, 2023 riot at the U.S. Capitol after it became clear that Pence would not support his attempt to stop the certification of the election. 

Smith alleges that an unnamed Trump aide, “upon receiving a phone call alerting him that Pence had been taken to a secure location… rushed to the dining room to inform the defendant [Trump] in hopes that the defendant would take action to ensure Pence’s safety.” 

Smith writes that instead, after the aide delivered the news, Trump “looked at him and said only, ‘So what?'” 

4. White House staffer allegedly overhears Trump say, ‘It doesn’t matter if you won or lost’ 

Smith alleges that Trump at multiple times showed complete disregard for those who informed him his claims of voter fraud were false, including Republican elections officials in states where Trump had claimed the election was stolen. 

“Election officials, for instance, issued press releases and other public statements to combat the disinformation that the defendant and his allies were spreading,” Smith wrote. “At one point long after the defendant had begun spreading false fraud claims, [REDACTED], a White House staffer traveling with the defendant, overheard him tell family members that ‘it doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election. You still have to fight like hell.” 

Smith goes on to assert that Trump and his legal team “repeatedly changed the numbers in their baseless fraud allegations from day to day,” and even “made up figures from whole cloth.” 

TRUMP INDICTED A SECOND TIME IN ELECTION SUBVERSION CASE BROUGHT BY SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH

In this Jan. 6, 2021 photo, protesters loyal to then-President Trump storm the Capitol in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

The special counsel claimed Trump “was on notice that there was no evidence of widespread election fraud in Arizona within a week of the election” and claimed Trump also “had early notice that his claims of election fraud in Georgia were false.” 

By the time Trump spoke at his rally on Jan. 6, after Pence had refused to stop the certification of the election, Smith said the former president knew his “last hope” to overturn the results was “the large and angry crowd standing in front of him.” 

“So for more than an hour, the defendant delivered a speech designed to inflame his supports and motivate them to march to the Capitol. The defendant told the crowd many of the same lies he had been telling for months—privately and publicly, including to the officials in the targeted states—and that he knew were not true.”

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5. Smith presents case against presidential immunity

Smith argues that based on a “factbound analysis” of Trump’s conduct, the court should determine that the former president was not acting in his official capacity when he challenged the election results and is therefore not immune from prosecution. 

“None of the allegations or evidence is protected by presidential immunity,” Smith wrote, asserting Trump’s “scheme was a private one.” 

“He extensively used private actors and his campaign infrastructure to attempt to overturn the election results and operated in a private capacity as a candidate for office,” Smith claimed. “To the limited extent that the superseding indictment and proffered evidence reflect official conduct, however, the Government can rebut the presumption of immunity because relying on that conduct in this prosecution will not pose a danger of intrusion on the authority or functions of the Executive Branch.” 

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and Fox News’ Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

Vice President Kamala Harris is maintaining her lead over former President Trump in Wisconsin despite Trump leading on the key issues, according to a Wednesday poll.

The new poll from Marquette Law School finds Harris leading Trump in a 52%-48% match-up. The poll also found that voters are deeply invested in the election, with 46% of respondents saying they have stopped talking to someone about politics due to the presidential race.

Marquette conducted the survey from Sept. 18-26, polling 882 Wisconsin registered voters and 798 likely voters. The poll advertises a margin of error of 4.4%.

Despite trailing in the polls, Trump leads Harris in the top issues in the race, including border security, the economy, and handling the Israel-Hamas war.

YOUNG SWING STATE VOTERS DELIVER ADVICE FOR KAMALA HARRIS

Former President Donald Trump trails in the polls against Vice President Kamala Harris in Wisconsin by 4 points, a new poll finds. (Reuters)

Trump enjoys a sizable 49-37% lead over Harris on immigration. Meanwhile, 50% of Wisconsinites say he will handle the economy better than Harris, with the vice president getting just 42% support. Trump also enjoys a 45%-33% lead when it comes to Israel’s conflict in the Middle East. He also has a narrow lead over Harris when it comes to foreign relations more generally.

FOX NEWS POLL: HARRIS, TRUMP LOCKED IN TIGHT RACE IN BATTLEGROUND PENNSYLVANIA

Harris does have a lead over Trump in a number of other issues, however, namely abortion and election concerns. Roughly 53% of respondents said they trusted Harris to handle the former, compared to 36% for Trump. Another 49% said Harris would be better for ensuring a fair and accurate election, compared to Trump’s 39%.

Trump continues to campaign across the country as he and Harris remain neck-and-neck in national polls. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Wisconsin is among a handful of swing states that are likely to determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. Other states like Ohio and Pennsylvania are also critical to either a Trump or Harris victory.

Pennsylvania in particular is one of the tightest contests in the nation, where Harris leads Trump in a razor-thin 49%-47% match-up, according to new data from AARP. 

Harris holds slight leads over Trump in several key battleground states. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

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The AARP survey spoke with 1,398 likely voters in Pennsylvania and has an overall margin of error of four percentage points. 

FIRST ON FOX: Nonprofit groups that assist illegal immigrants would be cut off from federal grant money under the terms of a bill introduced Thursday by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.

“NGOs and non-profits serve as the foot soldiers for the Biden-Harris administration’s mass-migration policies by helping illegal aliens cross the border and stay here for years after illegally,” Gaetz said in a statement previewed exclusively by Fox News Digital. “My legislation, the BARRIER Act, will strip these organizations of their federal funding, which can be used to assist those who break federal law.”

FEAR GRIPS IDYLLIC NANTUCKET AMID MIGRANT CRIME SPIKE: ‘A LOT OF BAD PEOPLE’

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

The bill, Blocking Assistance and Resources to Restrict Illegal Entry and Residency (BARRIER) Act, which Gaetz is expected to introduce Thursday, is co-sponsored by Reps. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., Mary Miller, R-Ill., Eric Burlison, R-Mo., Randy Weber, R-Texas, Troy Nehls, R-Texas, Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., and Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.

The Florida Republican said his BARRIER Act would also penalize organizations helping immigrants who are already living in the U.S. unlawfully.

“The federal government should not be financing the destruction of its own country,” said Gaetz, who is running for re-election to a fifth term in Congress.

NANTUCKET PARENTS FEAR FOR CHILDREN AMID SPIKE IN MIGRANT CRIME: ‘AS A FATHER IT TRULY SCARES ME’

Texas National Guard troops watch over more than 1,000 immigrants who crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico on Dec. 18, 2023, in Eagle Pass. (John Moore/Getty Images)

If enacted, immigration groups like the National Immigration Law Center, American Immigration Council and CASA would likely lose their federal grants.

Illegal immigration and the crisis at the southern border are among the top issues for voters this election cycle. Tens of thousands of illegal immigrants with sex offenses and homicide convictions could be loose on the streets, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement data provided to lawmakers last week.

AURORA POLICE DENY TREN DE ARAGUA GANG HAS ‘TAKEN OVER’ THE CITY IN PRESSER: ‘NOT AN IMMIGRATION ISSUE’

A Border Patrol agent guides migrants to a van to be taken to a processing center on Feb. 4, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas. (Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images)

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The Biden administration came under fire for releasing many migrants who came to the U.S. border into the interior, which coincided with a sharp drop in deportations as it focused on prioritizing public safety and national security threats. There were 142,580 removals in fiscal 2023, up considerably from 72,177 in fiscal 2022 and 59,011 in fiscal 2021, but still down from the highs of 267,258 under the Trump administration in fiscal 2019.

The number of illegal immigrants on the nondetained docket, meanwhile, has soared from 3.7 million in fiscal 2021 to nearly 4.8 million in fiscal 2022 to more than 7 million in fiscal 2023.

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this report.

In an effort to win the vote of disgruntled Republicans as she battles former President Trump in the race for the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris is heading to the town that claims to be the birthplace of the GOP.

A senior Harris campaign official says that the vice president on Thursday will team up in battleground Wisconsin with former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, a one-time rising conservative star in the GOP who became her party’s most visible anti-Trump leader.

The campaign event will take place in Ripon, Wisconsin, where a one-room schoolhouse was designated a national historic landmark due to its role in holding a series of meetings in 1854 that led to the formation of the Republican Party.

According to her campaign, Harris plans to spotlight the significance of that moment and that place – as she makes another direct appeal to Republican voters frustrated that Trump is their party’s presidential nominee – and as she reiterates her pledge to be a president for all Americans.

LIZ CHENEY WEIGHS IN ON WHOM SHE’LL BACK IN THE 2024 ELECTION

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a rally on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Harris is also expected to praise Cheney for her courage and patriotism in putting country over party.

Cheney, at a speaking event in early September at Duke University in swing state North Carolina, announced that she would be voting for Harris in the presidential election.

TRUMP UPS HIS ANTE IN THE 2024 FUNDRAISING FIGHT WITH HARRIS

“As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this, and because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris.”

Cheney’s father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, also endorsed Harris. 

The younger Cheney was once rising in the ranks of House Republican leadership 

Liz Cheney attends Liz Cheney in Conversation with David Rubenstein at The 92nd Street Y, New York on June 26, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Gary Gershoff/Getty Images) (Gary Gershoff/Getty Images)

But she was the most high-profile of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach then-president Trump in early 2021 on a charge of inciting the deadly Jan. 6th attack on the Capitol, which was waged by right-wing extremists and other Trump supporters who aimed to disrupt congressional certification of President Biden’s Electoral College victory in the 2020 election.

The conservative lawmaker and defense hawk immediately came under verbal attack from Trump and his allies, and was eventually ousted from her number-three House GOP leadership position.

WHITE HOUSE LAWYERS WHO ADVISED REAGAN AND BUSH BACK HARRIS OVER TRUMP

Cheney, who has been vocal in emphasizing the importance of defending the nation’s democratic process and of putting country before party, was one of only two Republicans who served on a special select committee organized by House Democrats that investigated the riot at the Capitol.

In 2022, she was ousted in the GOP congressional primary in Wyoming to a candidate that was backed by Trump.

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming departs after speaking to supporters during a primary night event on August 16, 2022 in Jackson, Wyoming. Rep. Cheney was defeated in her primary race by Wyoming Republican congressional candidate Harriet Hageman.  (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Cheney — who has argued that the former president is a “liar,” a “con man” and a potential “tyrant” who, if elected again, would “torch the Constitution” — vowed after leaving Congress that “I will do everything I can to make sure [Trump] is never anywhere near the Oval Office again.”

The Harris campaign says that the vice president, at her event with Cheney, plans to note that while Republicans may not agree with her on every issue, she promises to uphold the Constitution, America’s fundamental principles, and the rule of law.

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The Cheneys are part of a growing list of prominent Republicans who are supporting Harris.

Two other high-profile anti-Trump Republicans — former Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan – had speaking roles at the Democratic National Convention, which was held six weeks ago in Chicago.

Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois speaks at the Democratic National Convention, on Aug. 22, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois  (Paul Steinhauser – Fox News )

And Harris is backed by more than 200 alumni who served in both Bush administrations or worked for the late Sen. John McCain and Sen. Mitt Romney, the 2008 and 2012 GOP presidential nominee. She’s also supported by more than 100 Republican former national security officials and other prominent Republicans.

Ripon is not the only town that claims to be the birthplace of the GOP. Exeter, New Hampshire also has some bragging rites, as it was the site of meetings in 1853 – a year ahead of the Ripon gatherings – by disenchanted political leaders who discussed the formation of a new party of Republicans.

But officials in Ripon said the group in Exeter never actually formed a political organization, or chose officials, as they did in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin is one of seven crucial battleground states with razor-thin margins that decided Biden’s 2020 White House victory and are likely to determine if Harris or Trump wins the 2024 presidential election.

With less than five weeks until Election Day in November, Harris and Trump are locked in a margin-of-error race in the key swing states.

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

FIRST ON FOX: Dozens of lawmakers in the House and Senate are calling for more information from the Justice Department about efforts to stop noncitizen voting in federal elections, which they call a “serious threat” to election integrity, citing officials in multiple states who have identified noncitizens on their voter rolls.

A letter from 73 lawmakers, led by Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., and Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland said they were “deeply concerned” by reports of noncitizens registering to vote and voting in federal elections and had not received a response from an inquiry in July on the matter.

“As of today, there has been no response from you or your Department regarding the inquiry on July 12, 2024, seeking information on efforts undertaken by your Department to enforce laws prohibiting non-citizen voting. Given that the 2024 Presidential Election is in less than 34 days, your Department’s inaction and refusal to provide any information regarding its efforts to promote public trust and confidence in our elections is especially alarming,” they wrote.

Specifically, they asked how many aliens have been prosecuted under laws related to noncitizen voting, how the DOJ handles allegations of noncitizen voting or registration and the steps it takes to prevent such practices.

Noncitizens are not allowed to vote, and top Republicans, including former President Trump, have repeatedly expressed concern that noncitizens may attempt to vote in federal elections, particularly given the influx of immigrants across the southern border in recent years.

DOJ: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT STOLE US CITIZEN’S IDENTITY TO VOTE IN MULTIPLE ELECTIONS, OBTAIN AMERICAN PASSPORT

Attorney General Merrick Garland (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images)

In August, Republican lawmakers pushed for the SAVE Act, which aimed to require states to obtain proof of citizenship in person when registering an individual to vote and require states to remove noncitizens from voter rolls, to be attached to a spending bill extension to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the fiscal year.

The lawmakers in the letter cited an announcement by the Virginia attorney general that it had identified 6,303 noncitizens on its voter rolls in 2022 and 2023, while Texas had removed 6,500 noncitizens from its voter rolls. Of those, 1,930 had a history of voting.

The DOJ itself announced last month that it had charged an illegal immigrant with stealing a U.S. citizen’s identity to vote in multiple elections and fraudulently obtain a U.S. passport. 

“Clearly, there is a non-negligible amount of voter participation by non-citizens in federal elections, which is not only a serious threat to the integrity of our elections and the democratic process they represent, but also has the potential to reduce Americans’ trust and confidence in election results,” they wrote.

ALABAMA ELECTION OFFICIAL SAYS BIDEN EXECUTIVE ORDER GIVES ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ‘MECHANISM’ TO REGISTER TO VOTE 

Lawmakers quizzed the DOJ on information related to the issue in a July 12 request but had not received a response.

It also asks what steps the department is taking to prosecute noncitizens registered to vote in the 2024 election. Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment.

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This week, the DOJ sued Alabama, alleging the state removed voters who had been issued noncitizen identification numbers from its election rolls too close to Election Day. The agency argued that officials violated the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which requires states to complete any changes to the voter registration lists no later than 90 days before federal elections.

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.

It was civil. It was cordial. It was substantive.

And there’s no question that JD Vance easily won the vice presidential debate. Tim Walz did better than anticipated – perhaps those expectations were deliberately set low – but despite some strong counterpunching, he frequently stumbled.

Each man had a mission: to defend his running mate and rough up the opposing presidential candidate.

But Vance had a second goal beyond talking up Donald Trump, and that was softening his own image. He made a concerted effort to project empathy, to appear reasonable, to be open to opposing viewpoints.

VOTERS REACT TO GOV TIM WALZ DODGING TIANANMEN SQUARE QUESTION: ‘I’M A KNUCKLEHEAD AT TIMES’

There is a caricature of the Ohio senator as a hard-right ideologue with little sympathy for women, as reflected by the famous childless cat ladies comment. But when the subject of abortion came up, he went out of his way to sound sympathetic to the pro-choice side:

“I know a lot of Americans don’t agree with everything that I’ve ever said on this topic. And, you know, I grew up in a working-class family in a neighborhood where I knew a lot of young women who had unplanned pregnancies and decided to terminate those pregnancies because they feel like they didn’t have any other options. And, you know, one of them is actually very dear to me. And I know she’s watching tonight and I love you. 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during the debate at the CBS Broadcast Center on Oct. 1, 2024, in New York City. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“And she told me something a couple of years ago that she felt like if she hadn’t had that abortion, that it would have destroyed her life because she was in an abusive relationship. And I think that what I take from that as a Republican who proudly wants to protect innocent life in this country, who proudly wants to protect the vulnerable, is that my party? We’ve got to do so much better of a job at earning the American people’s trust back on this issue, where they frankly just don’t trust us.”

(Vance’s website describes him as “100 percent pro-life.”)

Walz countered with specific stories of women who died or whose health was damaged because they lived in states that tightly restrict abortion.

The Minnesota governor hit his talking points, but regularly took a long time to get to his main argument. A question about Kamala Harris’ plan to build 3 million housing units produced a detour about how Walz has only bought one home. 

WATCH: VOTERS REACT IN REAL TIME TO KEY VANCE-WALZ DEBATE MOMENTS ON IMMIGRATION, DEMOCRACY, ABORTION

Walz often spoke in a clipped shorthand – the ACA, Springfield, Vance creating stories – without explaining, for instance, that he meant the false tale of Haitian migrants eating pets.

The CBS moderators, Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan, edged into ABC territory by fact-checking only Vance, despite saying they would try to avoid that. After the senator referred to illegal immigrants in the Ohio town, Brennan said Springfield “does have a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status, temporary protected.” That’s a point Walz should have made, but didn’t.

Many questions were framed from the left. “Senator Vance,” said Brennan, “you oppose most gun legislation that Democrats claim would curb gun violence. You oppose red flag gun laws and legislation to ban certain semi-automatic rifles, including AR-15s.”

JD Vance and Tim Walz gave differing views on how to tackle gun violence during Tuesday’s vice presidential debate. (AP/Matt Rourke)

Walz’s worst moment was one he should have anticipated, a story in the New York Times and elsewhere saying he was not in China for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests as he had claimed, but got to Hong Kong months later. The governor began with a word-salad answer about growing up in Nebraska before retreating to “I’ve not been perfect. And I’m a knucklehead at times.”

Pressed again, he said he had misspoken.

Vance’s worst moment was about Jan. 6. O’Donnell began, “You have said you would not have certified the last presidential election and would have asked the states to submit alternative electors that has been called unconstitutional and illegal.”

POLITICS HIJACKS HURRICANE DEVASTATION IN THE SOUTH, BIDEN CALLS TRUMP A LIAR

The senator countered that Trump “said that on January the 6th, the protesters ought to protest peacefully. And on January the 20th, what happened? Joe Biden became the president. Donald Trump left the White House.”

This time Walz was ready. Trump “lost this election and he said he did. 140 police officers were beaten at the Capitol that day, some with the American flag. Several later died.”

He turned to Vance and said: “Did he lose the 2020 election?”

Sen. JD Vance speaks during the vice presidential debate with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday, Oct. 1, in New York. (AP/Matt Rourke)

When Vance tried the “focused on the future” line again, Walz called that “a damning non-answer.”

But Vance largely came off as a Bush-style compassionate conservative. He must figure that win or lose, he’ll be running for president in 2028 and needed to combat all the negative coverage.

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Walz looked like a man who was happy to survive his turn on the national stage. The debate would have looked very different if Harris had picked Josh Shapiro, given that she’s tied with Trump in Pennsylvania.

The Harris campaign has bubble-wrapped Tim Walz, not allowing him to do a single solo interview. JD Vance is constantly doing interviews, podcasts and press conferences, the best kind of preparation for a big debate. And that, in the end, may have been the difference.

Reactions from conservatives on social media poured in during and following the first and only vice presidential debate on Tuesday night with the majority praising JD Vance for his performance.

“This was a massacre,” Outkick founder Clay Travis posted on X. “JD Vance absolutely destroyed Tim Walz.”

“JD Vance just won big,” conservative commentator Charlie Kirk posted on X along with a video montage of facial reactions by the two candidates. “And it wasn’t even close.”

“Tonight’s debate underscored that the Harris-Walz ticket is the most radical in our nation’s history,” Jessica Anderson, President of Sentinel Action Fund, said in a statement. 

WALZ STUNS INTERNET WITH VP DEBATE GAFFE: ‘I’VE BECOME FRIENDS WITH SCHOOL SHOOTERS’

JD Vance and Tim Walz debated on Tuesday night in New York City with just weeks until the election.  (Reuters)

“As Governor, Walz implemented his far-left agenda in Minnesota, with soft-on-crime policies, authoritarian COVID lockdowns, and support for limitless abortion. As Vice President, he will expand his extremism beyond Minnesota as the unapologetic wingman for Kamala Harris.”

“Vance absolutely crushed it tonight and secured a very bright future in the GOP,” American Principles Project President Terry Schilling posted on X.

VANCE RIPS WALZ ON ECONOMY, SAYS HE’S FORCED TO ‘PRETEND’ TRUMP DIDN’T LOWER INFLATION’

Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) participates in a debate at the CBS Broadcast Center on October 1, 2024 in New York City. This is expected to be the only vice presidential debate of the 2024 general election.  (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“Very proud of JD for a stellar performance tonight,” former presidential candidate Vivek Ramasawmy posted on X. “And my condolences to Tim Walz – it was unkind for them to put him in this position.”

“JD Vance won big and demonstrated why he was a fantastic pick by President Trump,” Arkansas GOP Sen. Tom Cotton posted on X. “He skillfully contrasted Trump’s record of peace and prosperity with Kamala’s record of disaster.”

TIM WALZ SAID HE WENT TO CHINA ‘DOZENS’ OF TIMES, NOW HIS CAMPAIGN SAYS ITS ‘CLOSER TO 15’

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News, with Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

The Harris campaign released a statement following the debate expressing why it believes that Walz, not Vance, had the strongest night.

“Tonight, Governor Walz showed exactly why Vice President Harris picked him: he is a leader who cares about the issues that matter most to the American people,” Harris-Walz Campaign Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement. “In the debate, Americans got to see a real contrast: a straight talker focused on sharing real solutions, and a slick politician who spent the whole night defending Donald Trump’s division and failures.”

“On every single issue – the economy, health care, foreign policy, reproductive freedom, gun violence – Governor Walz won. He spoke passionately about the Vice President’s vision for a new way forward for the country. And in what was the most critical moment of the entire debate, which came in its final exchange, he stood up for our Constitution, while JD Vance admitted he’d put Trump ahead of the country.”

O’Malley Dillon continued, “The choice facing the American people in November was on full display tonight: between charting a new way forward, or going backwards. Vice President Harris believes that the American people deserve to see her and Trump on the debate stage one more time. She will be in Atlanta on October 23 – Donald Trump should step up and face the voters.”

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The Trump campaign said in a statement that Vance “unequivocally won tonight’s debate in dominating fashion” in what was “the best debate performance from any Vice-Presidential candidate in history.”

“Senator Vance spoke the truth, eloquently prosecuted the case against Kamala Harris’ failed record, and effectively held Governor Tim Walz accountable for his lies on behalf of the Harris-Biden Administration,” Trump senior advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita said. “Senator Vance also perfectly articulated the Trump-Vance vision to make America safe again with their plan to launch the largest mass deportation operation in history; to make America strong again with a peace through strength foreign policy agenda; and to make America wealthy again by cutting taxes, unleashing American energy dominance, and ending inflation.”

 “Tonight, Senator Vance proved why President Trump chose him as his running mate. Together, they make the strongest and most dynamic presidential ticket ever, and they are going to win on November 5th.” 

A focus group of Democrats, independents and Republicans reacted to the moment when Gov. Tim Walz called himself a “knucklehead” for claiming to have been in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Moderators confronted Walz on the claim during the CBS News Vice Presidential Debate Tuesday night. Walz admitted that he only traveled to Asia in August 1989, several months after the April 15 massacre. The focus group found that voters were initially skeptical of Walz’s answer, but he eventually recovered.

“Can you explain that discrepancy?” a moderator asked, as the focus group remained neutral.

“Look, I grew up in small rural Nebraska, a town of 400. A town that you rode your bikes with your buddies until the streetlights come on, and I’m proud of that service. I joined the national guard at 17, worked on family farms, and then I used the GI bill to become a teacher. Passionate about it. Young teacher. My first year out, I got the opportunity in the summer of ’89 to travel to China–35 years ago, to be able to do that,” Walz said.

ABC DEBATE MODERATORS SPARK FURY FOR AGGRESSIVE FACT-CHECKING OF TRUMP, EASY TREATMENT OF HARRIS

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz admitted that he is often a “knucklehead” when he was asked about his claims of being in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square massacre. (Getty Images)

“I came back home and started a program to take young people there. We would take basketball teams, we would take baseball teams, we would take dancers, and we would go back and forth to China,” he added.

JD VANCE REMINDS CBS MODERATORS OF DEBATE RULES AFTER THEY TRY TO FACT-CHECK HIM

The focus group showed support from Republicans, independents and Democrats all going down for Walz during the first portion of his response.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, right, delivered a rambling response when debate moderators pressed him on his claims about traveling to China. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

However, Walz recovered among independents and Democrats when he went on to admit that he can be “a knucklehead at times.”

“Many times I will talk a lot. I will get caught up in the rhetoric,” he said, as support from independents rose above 50% in the focus group.

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WATCH: TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM THE DEBATE:

Walz’s support among Republicans dipped to its lowest point – under 10% – when he said former President Donald Trump would have benefited from participating in one of his China trips, arguing Trump would never have befriended Chinese President Xi Jinping.

President Biden said Wednesday that he would not support an attack by Israel on Iranian nuclear sites in retaliation for Iran’s firing of 181 missiles at Israel amid fears that a lethal regional war is around the corner.

On Wednesday, a day after the massive attack and after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Iran would pay for the attack, Biden briefly spoke with reporters before boarding Air Force One.

He said all the leaders on a recent call – France, Canada, Japan, Britain, Italy and Germany – agreed that Israel had the right to “proportionally” respond to Iran’s military strike.

“We’ll be discussing with the Israelis what they’re going to do, but all seven of us [G7 nations] agree that they have a right to respond, but they should respond proportionally,” he said.

ISRAEL URGES UN TO CONDEMN IRAN AFTER LATEST ATTACKS

President Biden speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Oct. 2, 2024. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

But when asked whether he would back Israel striking Iranian nuclear sites as it has long threatened, Biden told reporters, “The answer is no.”

ISRAEL STRIKES HEZBOLLAH TARGETS IN LEBANON

Biden said more sanctions would be imposed on Iran and that he would speak with Netanyahu soon.

“Obviously, Iran is way off course,” he said.

President Biden speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Oct. 2, 2024. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran’s missile attack escalated tensions in the region, where the Biden administration has for months led negotiations on a cease-fire in the nearly year-old Israel-Hamas war.

ISRAEL’S ‘SWORN ENEMY’ HEZBOLLAH TELLS IRAN IT WOULD FIGHT ALONE IF CONFLICT ESCALATES

The recent assault on Israel follows the Biden administration souring on the prospects of an end to the war between Israel and Hamas. 

“We aren’t any closer to that now than we were even a week ago,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby previously told reporters. He called the prospects of a completed deal “daunting.” 

“No deal is imminent,” one U.S. official told the Wall Street Journal. “I’m not sure it ever gets done.”

Biden is traveling to South Carolina and North Carolina to survey storm damage after Hurricane Helene. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

During Tuesday’s vice presidential debate with Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Democrat nominee Vice President Harris’ “steady leadership” in the region is necessary.

“What we’ve seen out of Vice President Harris is we’ve seen steady leadership. We’ve seen a calmness that is able to be able to draw on the coalitions, to bring them together, understanding that our allies matter. When our allies see Donald Trump turn towards Vladimir Putin, turn towards North Korea, when we start to see that type of fickleness around holding the coalitions together, we will stay committed,” he said.

“And as the vice president said today, we will protect our forces and our allied forces, and there will be consequences,” he said.

JD Vance and Tim Walz took part in the vice presidential debate on Tuesday night in New York City. (Reuters)

Vance voiced support for GOP nominee former President Trump’s “peace through strength” policy toward Israel.

“Donald Trump recognized that for people to fear the United States, you need peace through strength,” Vance said. “They needed to recognize that if they got out of line, the United States’ global leadership would put stability and peace back in the world.”

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Vance said it is “up to Israel” how they choose to respond.

“Now, you asked about a preemptive strike, Margaret, and I want to answer the question,” he said during the debate. “Look, it is up to Israel what they think they need to do to keep their country safe,” he said. “And we should support our allies wherever they are when they’re fighting the bad guys. I think that’s the right approach to take with the Israel question.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department and the White House for comment.

Former President Trump blasted the Justice Department Wednesday for having “disobeyed their own rule in favor of complete and total election interference” after a key filing from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s election case against him was unsealed with just weeks before Americans cast their ballots. 

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Tanya Chutkan unsealed Smith’s 165-page filing Wednesday afternoon. The filing lays out his case and the alleged evidence he intends to use in an eventual trial against Trump. 

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges brought by Smith. 

JUDGE UNSEALS KEY FILING IN SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH’S ELECTION CASE

But Trump blasted the Justice Department Wednesday evening. 

“For 60 days prior to an election, the Department of Injustice is supposed to do absolutely nothing that would taint or interfere with a case,” Trump posted in all capital letters to his Truth Social. “They disobeyed their own rule in favor of complete and total election interference.”

“I did nothing wrong, they did!” he continued. 

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Mint Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

DOJ practice during an election year has often been to hold off on major actions in cases that could impact elections during the 60 days leading up to Election Day, an unwritten policy commonly referred to as the “60-day rule.” The “rule,” which is really more of a tradition because it is not an actual rule, has been cited many times in recent years.

“The case is a scam, just like all of the others, including the documents case, which was dismissed!” 

Trump was pointing to the other case Smith brought against him related to classified records. The case was tossed out by a federal judge in Florida who ruled that Smith was unlawfully appointed as special counsel. 

The former president further blasted Democrats, saying they are “weaponizing the Justice Department against me because they I know I am WINNING, and they are desperate to prop up their failing candidate, Kamala Harris.” 

Trump said the unsealing of the Smith filing, which he called the “latest ‘hit job,’” happened because his running mate, Sen. JD Vance “humiliated” Harris’ running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz during Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate. 

Trump said the Justice Department “has become nothing more than an extension of Joe’s, and now Kamala’s, campaign.” 

TRUMP TRIAL STEMMING FROM JACK SMITH’S PROBE DELAYED PAST ELECTION DAY

“This is egregious PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT, and should not have been released right before the Election,” Trump said. “The Democrat Party is turning America into a Third World Country that tries to censor, harass, and intimidate their Political Opponents. What they have done to our Justice System is one of the Great, All Time, Tragedies.” 

The former president added that the Democrat Party “is guilty of the Worst Election Interference in American History.” 

“They are trying to DESTROY OUR DEMOCRACY, allowing millions of people to enter our Country illegally. They are determined to stop us from winning back the White House, sealing the Border, and MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. BUT THEY WILL FAIL, AND WE WILL SAVE OUR NATION!” Trump posted. 

Trump also blasted Smith as “deranged,” and said that he, the “Harris-Biden DOJ, and Washington, D.C. based Radical Left Democrats, are “HELL BENT on continuing to Weaponize the Justice Department in an attempt to cling to power.” 

“‘TRUMP’ is dominating the Election cycle, leading in the Polls, and the Radical Democrats throughout the Deep State are totally ‘freaking out.’ This entire case is a Partisan, Unconstitutional, Witch Hunt, that should be dismissed, entirely, just like the Florida case was dismissed!” Trump said. 

The Department of Justice seals is seen during a news conference at the DOJ office in Washington, May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Trump’s comments came in response to Smith’s newly-unsealed filing, in which he alleges Trump “resorted to crimes to try to stay in office” after losing the 2020 presidential election.

“With private co-conspirators, the defendant launched a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results in seven states that he had lost — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin,” Smith wrote. 

“His efforts included lying to state officials in order to induce them to ignore true vote counts; manufacturing fraudulent electoral votes in the targeted states; attempting to enlist Vice President Michael R. Pence, in his role as President of the Senate, to obstruct Congress’s certification of the election by using the defendant’s fraudulent electoral votes; and when all else had failed, on January 6, 2021, directing an angry crowd of supporters to the United States Capitol to obstruct the congressional certification.” 

Smith claims that the “throughline of these efforts was deceit,” claiming Trump and co-conspirators engaged in a conspiracy to interfere with the federal government function by which the nation collects and counts election results, which is set forth in the Constitution and the Electoral Count Act (ECA); a conspiracy to obstruct the official proceeding in which Congress certifies the legitimate results of the presidential election; and a conspiracy against the rights of millions of Americans to vote and have their votes counted.” 

The Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that a president is immune from prosecution for official acts. 

Donald Trump and Jack Smith  (Getty Images)

TRUMP INDICTED A SECOND TIME IN ELECTION SUBVERSION CASE BROUGHT BY SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH

Smith was then required to file another indictment against Trump, revising the charges in an effort to navigate the Supreme Court ruling. The new indictment kept the prior criminal charges but narrowed and reframed allegations against Trump after the high court’s ruling that gave broad immunity to former presidents. 

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in the new indictment as well. 

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital the release of the “falsehood-ridden, unconstitutional J6 brief immediately following Tim Walz’s disastrous debate performance is another obvious attempt by the Harris-Biden regime to undermine American Democracy and interfere in this election.” 

“Deranged Jack Smith and Washington DC Radical Democrats are hell-bent on weaponizing the Justice Department in an attempt to cling to power,” Cheung said. “President Trump is dominating, and the Radical Democrats throughout the Deep State are freaking out.

“This entire case is a partisan, Unconstitutional Witch Hunt that should be dismissed entirely, together with ALL of the remaining Democrat hoaxes.” 

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Last month, Chutkan said she would not hold the trial for Trump on charges stemming from Smith’s Jan. 6 investigation until after the 2024 presidential election. She set deadlines for replies and paperwork from federal prosecutors and Trump’s legal team for Nov. 7 — after Election Day. 

Fox News’ Jake Gibson contributed to this report. 

YORK, Pa. — The day after their vice presidential debate in New York City, Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota jumped back on the campaign trail with stops in two crucial battleground states.

As he arrived at the airport near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Wednesday, Walz pointed toward his debate hours earlier with Vance and told reporters, “New York City was a little crazy last night.”

Most pundits said Vance was the more polished of the two candidates on the vice presidential debate stage Tuesday night, although flash polls indicated debate watchers were mostly divided on which running mate was victorious.

An accidental response by Walz during the debate quickly went viral, as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate mistakenly said he had “become friends with school shooters.” 

2024 CASH DASH: TRUMP UPS HIS ANTE AS HE TRIES TO CLOSE GAP WITH HARRIS

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, the Republican vice presidential nominee, speaks with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, during a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News Tuesday, Oct. 1, in New York.  (AP/Matt Rourke)

The mishap occurred when Walz was asked about changing positions on banning assault weapons, which he previously opposed but now supports. 

“I sat in that office with those Sandy Hook parents. I’ve become friends with school shooters. I’ve seen it,” Walz said.

Asked to clarify his debate gaffe, Walz said Wednesday, “I’m super passionate about this. The question came up about the school shooting. We’re talking about everything except school shootings. And I sat as a member of Congress with the Sandy Hook parents, and it was a profound movement.

“David Hogg [a leading gun control activist and school shooting survivor] is a good friend of mine.”

VANCE, WALZ, SPAR OVER ISSUES AT VP DEBATE SHOWDOWN

Walz acknowledged “I need to be more specific on that. But I am passionate about this.”

Vance, speaking at a rally in Auburn Hills, Michigan, said he didn’t hear Walz’s comment until he was told about it during a conversation with his running mate, former President Trump, after the debate.

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance of Ohio speaks at a rally in Auburn Hills, Mich., Oct. 2, 2024. (Associated Press)

“He said that Tim Walz said that he was friends with school shooters twice,” Vance said, referencing his conversation with Trump. “And that’s something I actually didn’t notice that Tim Walz had said that on the debate stage.

“I said, ‘Did he really say that, sir?’ And he [Trump] said, ‘I’m telling you, man, go and watch the clips.’

HARRIS, BIDEN, HEAD TO STORM-RAVAGED SOUTHEAST IN WAKE OF TRUMP TRIP

“And I said that was probably only the third or fourth-dumbest comment Tim Walz made that night.”

The debate moderators also confronted Walz on his claim to have been in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing, China.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, headlines a rally in York, Pa., Oct. 2, 2024. (Fox News Digital/Paul Steinhauser)

Walz admitted he traveled to Asia in August 1989, several months after the April 15 massacre, adding he can be “a knucklehead at times.”

The governor on Wednesday reiterated that he had his “dates wrong.”

Trump, in an interview Wednesday with Fox News’ Brooke Singman, called his running mate’s performance “fantastic” and that it had “reconfirmed my choice.” 

The former president also argued that Walz had “embarrassed himself” during the debate.

Another major moment in the debate came near the end, when Vance wouldn’t say that President Biden won the 2020 election over Trump. The former president for four years has repeatedly made unproven claims that the election was rigged and rampant with voter fraud.

Walz, on Wednesday, once again emphasized that “it is disqualifying to not acknowledge that the 2020 election was won by Joe Biden. It’s as simple as that.”

An hour later, speaking to a large crowd at a rally at the York Fairgrounds, Walz charged that “you can’t rewrite history. And trying to mislead us about Donald Trump’s record. That’s gaslighting.”

Vance, asked about his avoidance of answering the 2020 election question during the debate, reiterated his charge on Wednesday that “the simple reason” is that “the media is obsessed with talking about the election of four years ago. I’m focused on the election of 33 days from now because I want to throw Kamala Harris out of office and get back to commonsense, economic policies.”

Walz arrived at his rally in York to cheers as he pulled into the York Exposition Center riding his campaign bus.

But York is Trump country. The former president won York County by roughly 25 points over Biden in 2020.

Walz’s Pennsylvania swing through Harrisburg, York and Reading kicked off what the Harris campaign described as a more aggressive post-debate travel and voter engagement blitz by the governor, with stops in two other battleground states — Arizona and Nevada — and a fundraising blitz in Ohio, California and Washington

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And the campaign noted that Walz would participate in more media interviews. Vance has done dozens of interviews and repeatedly fielded questions from reporters on the campaign trail since Trump named the senator as his running mate 2½ months ago.

Vance made the first of his two stops in Michigan in Auburn Hills, at Visioneering, an automotive industry tool supplier.

Auburn Hills is in Oakland County, which has swung heavily toward the Democrats in recent election cycles. Biden carried the county by roughly 14 points over Trump four years ago.

Michigan and Pennsylvania are two of seven key battleground states whose razor-thin margins decided Biden’s 2020 victory over Trump and will likely determine whether Trump or Harris win the 2024 presidential election.

Fox News’ Deirdre Heavey and Kirill Clark contributed to this report

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

Former President Trump’s campaign said on Wednesday that they hauled in over $160 million in fundraising in September, in figures shared with Fox News. 

The haul by the former president’s campaign is up from the roughly $130 million that Trump’s various fundraising committees brought in during the month of August. 

Trump faces a large fundraising deficit to Vice President Kamala Harris, with just under five weeks to go until Election Day in November.

FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP AIMS TO FLIP THE SCRIPT ON THE CASH DASH

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Bayfront Convention Center in Erie, Pa., Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke) (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)

The Harris campaign announced last month that it raked in a staggering $361 million in August, nearly triple Trump’s fundraising. 

The Harris campaign has yet to report its September fundraising figures.

WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS SHOW IN THE 2024 ELECTION

The Trump campaign, in revealing its fundraising numbers, said that it had $283.1 million cash-on-hand as of the end of September. That’s down slightly from the $295 million it had in its coffers a month earlier.

The Harris campaign, in its announcement last month, reported $404 million cash-on-hand.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event in Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trump’s team, in releasing their latest figures, showcased their small-dollar grassroots fundraising, saying the average donation they received was $60 and that 96% of their contributions were less than $200.

The Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee enjoyed a fundraising lead over Trump and the Republican National Committee earlier this year. But Trump and the RNC topped Biden and the DNC by $331 million to $264 million during the second quarter of 2024 fundraising.

Biden enjoyed a brief fundraising surge after his disastrous performance in his late June debate with Trump as donors briefly shelled out big bucks in a sign of support for the 81-year-old president.

But Biden’s halting and shaky debate delivery also instantly fueled questions about his physical and mental ability to serve another four years in the White House and spurred a rising chorus of calls from within his own party for the president to end his bid for a second term. The brief surge in fundraising didn’t last and, by early July, began to significantly slow down. 

Biden bowed out of the 2024 race July 21, and the party quickly consolidated around Harris, who instantly saw her fundraising soar, spurred by small-dollar donations.

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When asked about the fundraising deficit, Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley told Fox News Digital last month that “the Democrats have a ton of money. The Democrats always have a ton of money.”

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. (Getty Images)

However, he emphasized that “we absolutely have the resources that we need to get our message out to all the voters that we’re talking to and feel very comfortable that we’re going to be able to see this campaign through, and we’re going to win on November 5.”

Fundraising, along with polling, is a key metric in campaign politics and a measure of a candidate’s popularity and their campaign’s strength. The money raised can be used – among other things – to hire staff, expand grassroots outreach and get-out-the-vote efforts, pay to produce and run ads on TV, radio, digital and mailers, and for candidate travel.

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

U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia Tanya Chutkan on Wednesday unsealed a key filing in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s election case against former President Trump. 

Chutkan unsealed Smith’s 165-page filing Wednesday after the special counsel submitted the document, in which he lays out the case and alleged evidence he intends to use in an eventual trial against Trump. 

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges brought against him by Smith. 

TRUMP INDICTED A SECOND TIME IN ELECTION SUBVERSION CASE BROUGHT BY SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH

The Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that a president is immune from prosecution for official acts. 

Smith was then required to file another indictment against Trump, revising the charges in an effort to navigate the Supreme Court ruling. The new indictment kept the prior criminal charges but narrowed and reframed allegations against Trump after the high court’s ruling that gave broad immunity to former presidents. 

In the filing unsealed Wednesday, Smith outlines a “factual proffer,” alleging that Trump “resorted to crimes to try to stay in office” after losing the 2020 presidential election.

“With private co-conspirators, the defendant launched a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results in seven states that he had lost—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin,” Smith wrote. 

“His efforts included lying to state officials in order to induce them to ignore true vote counts; manufacturing fraudulent electoral votes in the targeted states; attempting to enlist Vice President Michael R. Pence, in his role as President of the Senate, to obstruct Congress’s certification of the election by using the defendant’s fraudulent electoral votes; and when all else had failed, on January 6m 2021, directing an angry crowd of supporters to the United States Capitol to obstruct the congressional certification.” 

Smith claims that the “throughline of these efforts was deceit,” claiming Trump and co-conspirators engaged in a conspiracy to interfere with the federal government function by which the nation collects and counts election results, which is set forth in the Constitution and the Electoral Count Act (ECA); a conspiracy to obstruct the official proceeding in which Congress certifies the legitimate results of the presidential election; and a conspiracy against the rights of millions of Americans to vote and have their votes counted.” 

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital that the release of the “falsehood-ridden, Unconstitutional J6 brief immediately following Tim Walz’s disastrous debate performance is another obvious attempt by the Harris-Biden regime to undermine American Democracy and interfere in this election.” 

“Deranged Jack Smith and Washington DC Radical Democrats are hell-bent on weaponizing the Justice Department in an attempt to cling to power,” Cheung said. “President Trump is dominating, and the Radical Democrats throughout the Deep State are freaking out.” 

Cheung added: “This entire case is a partisan, Unconstitutional Witch Hunt that should be dismissed entirely, together with ALL of the remaining Democrat hoaxes.” 

In the filing, Smith lays out his findings, claiming that people close to Trump had tried to tell him that the claims were all “bulls—t.”

Smith details conversations between an unnamed Trump personal attorney and the former president. That attorney allegedly told Trump that the campaign was “looking into his fraud claims and had even hired external experts to do so, but could find no support for them.” 

“He told the defendant that if the Campaign took these claims to court, they would get slaughtered because the claims are all ‘bullsh—t,’” the filing states, with Smith claiming that lawyer discussed with Trump the investigations and “debunkings on all major claims.” 

Smith also details alleged interactions between Trump and Pence in the days following the election. 

Smith details a Nov. 7, 2020 call between Pence and Trump in which Pence allegedly “tried to encourage” Trump “as a friend” by reminding him that he “took a dying political party and gave it a new lease on life.” 

Smith also details a private lunch between Trump and Pence on Nov. 12, 2020, in which Pence allegedly gave Trump a “face-saving option.” That option, according to the filing, was “don’t concede but recognize the process is over.” 

Smith also detailed another private lunch between Trump and Pence on Nov. 16, 2020, in which Pence allegedly tried to encourage Trump to accept the results of the election and run again in 2024. Trump allegedly said at the time: “I don’t know. 2024 is so far off.” 

Smith details another private lunch between the two in which Pence allegedly “encouraged” Trump “not to look at the election as a loss — just an intermission.”

Smith writes that after that lunch, Trump allegedly asked Pence in the Oval Office: “What do you think we should do?” 

Pence allegedly said: “After we have exhausted every legal process in the courts and Congress, if we still came up short, [the defendant] should ‘take a bow.’”

Meanwhile, Smith claims a White House staffer traveling with Trump overheard him tell his family members that “it doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election. You still have to fight like hell.” 

Smith claims that Trump “was on notice that there was no evidence of widespread election fraud in Arizona within a week of the election,” and claimed Trump also “had early notice that his claims of election fraud in Georgia were false.” 

Smith claims that “none of the allegations or evidence is protected by presidential immunity,” arguing that Trump’s “scheme was a private one.” 

“He extensively used private actors and his Campaign infrastructure to attempt to overturn the election results and operated in a private capacity as a candidate for office,” Smith claimed. “To the limited extent that the superseding indictment and proffered evidence reflect official conduct, however, the Government can rebut the presumption of immunity because relying on that conduct in this prosecution will not pose a danger of intrusion on the authority or functions of the Executive Branch.” 

Fox News’ Bill Mears and David Spunt contributed to this report.