NationalWatch

The Young Republicans National Federation’s footprint grew this week with the opening of a state chapter’s headquarters in Orlando, Florida.

The choice of office location was strategic as Republicans hope to flip the predominantly blue area red leading into the 2024 presidential election.

“Putting that investment into Orlando and doing twice the work in less time is going to help significantly,” Brandon Ludwig, a defense contractor and chairman of the Florida Young Republicans, told Fox News Digital over the phone.

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Brandon Ludwig, chairman of the Florida Young Republicans, and Tom Harb, owner of the building where the new office location is located. (Erin Huntley)

Ludwig, a fifth-generation Floridian, was elected chairman in June 2023.

There are more registered Democrats among active voters in Orange County, which includes the populous city of Orlando, than Republicans, according to the Orange County Supervisor of Elections website.

Orange County projects a population of 1,491,071 for 2024, according to the World Population Review.

As of July 12, 2024, there were 805,510 registered voters in Orange County, 214,177 of whom are registered Republicans, with 322,541 registered Democrats, according to the Florida Division of Elections.

“We are in a blue county, so if you look at the voter registration, about 39% are Democrat and 27% are Republican,” Erin Huntley, Orange County GOP chair, told Fox News Digital over the phone.

There are more registered Democrats than Republicans among active voters in Orange County, which includes the populous city of Orlando. (iStock)

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Huntley added that a voter registration analysis of Orange County from the last year provided data showing 10,000 voters registered as Republicans and only 2,000 registered Democrats.

“Things are shifting and when you see shifts in voter registration, it means there’s energy, appetite and momentum in our direction,” Huntley said.

Ludwig said the young generation of hospitality industry professionals in and around Orlando working for Disney and Universal are a central focus of the Young Republicans’ recruiting efforts.

“It’s going to allow us to reach out to those individuals and really start making inroads in Orlando’s many different diversities,” he said.

Florida is only the second state to open a Young Republican headquarters, after Waukesha, Wisconsin. The Young Republican National Federation headquarters is located in Washington, D.C.

Brandon Ludwig told Fox News Digital that Orlando is a focus for Young Republicans due to the many young employees at Disney and Universal. (2024 Wealth of Geeks)

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Ludwig and Huntley, among others, worked tirelessly to open a central space dedicated to campaigning, dividing and conquering as a mutual effort with the county’s GOP, in order to capitalize on the momentum of new Republican constituents.

“Orlando is the blue dot across a state that is turning red,” Ludwig said.

The Young Republicans’ mission is to recruit, train and elect the next generation of Republicans across the country. The Florida Young Republicans are focused on recruiting new members by door knocking and holding social and networking events, among other tactics.

“It’s a fantastic networking operation. We have a variety of individuals from different backgrounds. I personally don’t work in politics,” Ludwig said. “We have members of Congress who are Florida Young Republican members. We have former television stars who are members of our organization as well.”

Former President Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance are on the GOP ticket for the 2024 presidential elections. (Fox News)

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In 2022, Ludwig said eight chapters and 300 members made up the organization across the Sunshine State. Today, he effused pride that the Young Republicans boast 20 chapters and over 1,000 members.

“Tampa is growing,” Ludwig said. “In the Tampa area, we have seen a lot of people who have moved from California and some of those northern states who have joined. It’s really, really interesting because many of these people had not previously been in politics, but they left their states because of politics.”

Ludwig added that while Young Republicans stress a number of political issues where change is coveted, the rising cost of living and inflation are at the forefront of members’ minds.

Former President Trump speaks in Wisconsin, which is regarded as a “toss-up” state this year. (Fox News )

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“Young people, who are my age, are stuck renting, and they don’t know if they’re going to be able to buy a house,” Ludwig said. “There are other issues, too, but that’s the one that we consistently hear the most.”

While the new Florida headquarters will be dedicated to driving awareness around the area and across the state, Ludwig said Orlando, as an international port of call, holds promise to broadcast organizational awareness outside the state, too.

“For us, our impact is largely going to be here in Florida,” Ludwig said.

“[Orlando] is a major conference destination, and it’s going to allow us to do a better job of reaching out to people,” he added. “I think that’s where you’ll see a state and national impact.”

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi is denying claims that she made phone calls to organize the Democratic coup that ultimately forced President Biden out of the 2024 presidential race.

Pelosi was pressed on her role in the pressure campaign in a Saturday interview with CBS. 

“No, I wasn’t the leader of any pressure [campaign],” Pelosi told CBS. “Let me say things that I didn’t do: I didn’t call one person. I did not call one person. I could always say to him, ‘I never called anybody.'”

“He knows that I love him very much,” she said, declining to talk further on the topic.

PELOSI IGNORES BIDEN’S DECISION TO STAY IN THE RACE IN LATEST SIGN OF DEMOCRAT FRACTURE

Panic spread through the Democratic Party after Biden’s disastrous performance in a debate against former President Trump in June. What followed was a steady stream of leaks from within the party decrying the former president’s age and mental acuity, as well as lawmakers outright calling for his withdrawal.

During this time, top Democrats all remained publicly aligned with Biden, though they often said he had a tough decision to make.

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Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi is denying claims that she made phone calls to organize the Democratic coup that ultimately forced President Biden out of the 2024 presidential race. (Getty Images)

“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” Pelosi told MSNBC at the time. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short. The, I think, overwhelming support of the caucus, it’s not for me to say. I’m not the head of the caucus anymore, but he’s beloved, he is respected, and people want him to make that decision. Not me.”

PELOSI ‘CONVINCED BIDEN WILL LOSE,’ WORKING THE PHONES WITH HOPES TO ‘EASE HIM OFF THE TICKET,’ REPORT SAYS

A number of top Democrats were reportedly moving against Biden at the time, including former President Barack Obama. 

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy claimed that Pelosi and Obama together were responsible for “pulling the strings” behind the effort to oust Biden.

Pelosi also spoke directly with Biden at the time, bluntly informing him that polls showed him losing to Trump and causing a disaster for Democrats in the House.

Biden responded by pushing back, telling her he has seen polls that indicate he can win, one source told CNN.

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Another one of the sources described Biden as getting defensive about the polls and that at one point, Pelosi asked Mike Donilon, Biden’s longtime adviser, to get on the line to talk over the data.

A spokesperson for Pelosi’s office declined to comment about the conversation at the time.

Former President Donald Trump at a rally in Atlanta on Saturday again attacked Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and the state’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, both of whom are Republicans, for their refusal to overturn the former president’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden in the Peach State.

The governor responded by suggesting Trump should focus on winning in November and refrain from “petty personal insults, attacking fellow Republicans, or dwelling on the past.”

Before the rally, Trump criticized Kemp, a popular Republican governor in a must-win swing state for the Republican White House hopeful, and suggested the governor should be “fighting Crime, not fighting Unity and the Republican Party.” 

Trump also criticized Kemp’s wife, Marty, for saying she would write in her husband’s name for president in November instead of voting for the former president.

“Brad Raffensperger has to do his job, and make sure this Election is not stolen,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “Brian Kemp should focus his efforts on fighting Crime, not fighting Unity and the Republican Party! His Crime Rate in Georgia is terrible, his Crime Rate in Atlanta is the worst, and his Economy is average.”

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Former President Donald Trump holds a rally in the historically Democratic South Bronx on May 23, 2024, in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Kemp has repeatedly been credited for Georgia’s strong economy during his time as governor and his approval rating in the state has soared, with a 63% approval rating in a June poll conducted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The governor narrowly defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams in the 2018 gubernatorial election after receiving Trump’s endorsement. In 2022, Kemp cruised to a win over Trump-backed former U.S. Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., in the primary before defeating Abrams by seven and a half points in a rematch in the general election.

“He should be seeking UNITY, not Retribution, especially against the man that got him the Nomination through Endorsement and, without whom, he could never have beaten Stacey Abrams,” Trump wrote. “He and his wife didn’t think he could win. I said, ‘I’m telling you you’re going to win.’ Then he won, he was happy, and his wife said, ‘Thank you Sir, we’ll never be able to make it up to you!’ Now she says she won’t Endorse me, and is going to ‘write in Brian Kemp’s name.’ Well, I don’t want her Endorsement, and I don’t want his.”

“They’re the ones who got Fani Willis and her boyfriend all ‘jazzed up’ and ready to go. He could have ended that travesty with a phone call, but he doesn’t want to end it because he’s a bad guy,” he continued.

Trump was referring to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, whose office is prosecuting Trump’s election interference case in Georgia, and her controversial relationship with Nathan Wade, who was a prosecutor in the case before resigning earlier this year amid scrutiny over the relationship.

Kemp responded to the former president with a post on the social media platform X, saying: “My focus is on winning this November and saving our country from Kamala Harris and the Democrats – not engaging in petty personal insults, attacking fellow Republicans, or dwelling on the past.”

“You should do the same, Mr. President, and leave my family out of it,” Kemp said.

Raffensperger also replied to Trump’s claims in a post of his own.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp looks on during the celebration honoring the Georgia Bulldogs national championship victory on Jan. 15, 2022, in Athens, Georgia.  (Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)

“Georgia’s elections are secure,” Raffensperger wrote on X. “The winner here in November will reflect the will of the people. History has taught us this type of message doesn’t sell well here in Georgia, sir.”

Kemp, notably, signed Georgia’s Election Integrity Act into law in 2021 that includes requiring identification to vote, extending the early voting period and ensuring a ballot drop box will be available in every county.

During the rally on Saturday, Trump criticized Kemp in a 10-minute rant over baseless claims the governor was responsible for his loss to Biden and for not stopping Willis from prosecuting the Georgia election interference case. A state commission has powers to discipline and remove prosecutors for not following the law after Kemp signed a bill into law, but the governor does not have the ability to remove prosecutors.

“He’s a bad guy. He’s a disloyal guy. And he’s a very average governor. Little Brian, little Brian Kemp. Bad guy,” Trump said.

The former president has continued to repeat false claims the 2020 election was stolen from him.

Biden defeated Trump in Georgia by 11,779 votes in 2020, and the former president pressured Raffensperger to “find” enough votes for him to win. Trump and his allies also attempted to present slates of so-called “fake electors” that could replace the Democratic voters Biden won.

Trump was later indicted in Georgia for attempting to overturn the election, although the case is now on hold as the courts decide whether Willis can continue to prosecute it.

Kemp certified the electors that Biden won in 2020 and rejected efforts by Trump allies to replace them.

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Brian Kemp, governor of Georgia, speaks during an election night rally in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. (Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The governor did not endorse anyone in this year’s GOP primary but has said he will vote for the Republican ticket in November, as Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee after Biden suspended his re-election campaign, look to win the battleground state of Georgia, which had gone to the Republican presidential candidate every year since 1996 before Biden won it four years ago.

Harris’ campaign correctly predicted before Trump’s rally that he would deny the 2020 election results.

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After the rally, the Harris campaign released a statement from former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who served alongside Kemp during the governor’s first term.

“If you were able to see through Donald Trump’s incoherence and vindictiveness tonight, you saw a Donald Trump who does not care about uniting this country or speaking to the voters who will decide this election,” Duncan said in the statement. “Millions of Americans are fed up with his grievance-filled campaign focused only on himself.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The House Freedom Caucus is discussing who could take the lead of the ultra-conservative group with its chairman, Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., expected to step aside.

Multiple people granted anonymity to speak with Fox News Digital indicated they expect Good to step aside from his role after he lost his primary race in June and a subsequent recount Thursday night by a few hundred votes. Good had previously said that he would do so.

It puts the GOP rebel group in uncharted territory. A chairman has never stepped down before the end of a term, and a sitting chair has never lost re-election.

Two sources familiar with the discussions said they expected a previous Freedom Caucus chair, Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., or Scott Perry, R-Pa., specifically, to step in for the remainder of Good’s term.

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House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good is expected to step aside from his role after losing his primary and a subsequent recount. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Both sources, however, said discussions were leaning slightly toward Biggs.

“I am going to push for Andy Biggs to take over during the remainder of Bob’s term. He supported Trump, and he knows how to be the chair already,” one Freedom Caucus member told Fox News Digital.

Biggs did not comment when reached via spokesperson by Fox News Digital. A spokesperson for Perry also declined to comment.

One of the two earlier sources told Fox News Digital Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, the group’s policy chair, has also been floated as a possible replacement. 

But Roy, who also chairs the House Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on the Constitution and limited government, has not publicly indicated interest in the role. 

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Rep. Andy Biggs, a former Freedom Caucus chair, is being considered a possible replacement for the remainder of Good’s term. (Getty Images)

Freshman Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., has also shown interest in the role, according to another source. But it’s not immediately clear if he would be interested in serving out the remainder of the year filling in for Good or whether he’d want to run in the group’s closed-door election for a new term, which usually takes place at the end of the year.

Ogles’ office did not respond to a request for comment, while Roy declined, via spokesperson, to discuss private conversations.

Politico reported last week that Perry and Biggs were both in consideration to finish out the remainder of Good’s term.

Both have a significantly better relationship with former President Trump than Good does, a divide that drove his political unraveling.

Trump backed Good’s primary rival, John McGuire, and actively spoke out against the Virginia conservative’s re-election. Good had originally endorsed Trump’s primary rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, before switching to the ex-president when DeSantis dropped out.

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Good had originally endorsed Trump’s primary rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, before switching to the ex-president when DeSantis dropped out. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)

Good’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital about whether he would follow through on stepping aside.

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A Freedom Caucus spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “HFC does not comment on membership or internal processes.”

Good’s tenure as chairman has been a bumpy one, and multiple members left the group this year.

Most recently, Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, who opposed Good’s chairmanship, was voted out of the Freedom Caucus shortly after he endorsed McGuire in the primary.

Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, resigned in protest of Davidson’s ouster on the same day.

A movement is underway to reform a decade-old California crime law that opponents on both sides of the political aisle say has wreaked havoc on the state, while a “critical” supporter of the measure is running for president.

The 2014 law, Proposition 47, reclassified a number of felonies, including retail and property theft, as misdemeanors. Under Prop 47, petty theft of goods valued at under $950 is classified as a misdemeanor, even for multiple offenses. It also took a broad swath of narcotics possession offenses that were previously felonies and converted them to misdemeanors.

A ballot initiative launched last year to amend Prop 47, called the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act, or Prop 36, has been gaining support from conservatives and liberals alike in the Golden State and will be included on the November ballot. 

San Francisco Mayor London Breed and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan have joined the effort to amend the referendum, along with district attorneys up and down the state. Vice President Kamala Harris, critics say, gave the bill “critical” support, and she won’t say whether she wants to see Prop 47 amended.

CALIFORNIA CRIME REFORM GETS ‘UNHEARD OF’ SUPPORT FROM DAS, SMALL BUSINESSES, PROGRESSIVE MAYORS

Vice President Kamala Harris was tasked early on in the Biden administration with addressing the root causes of mass migration from Central and South America.  (Reuters/Kevin Mohatt/Pool)

“Kamala Harris is not a hardliner [on crime],” Douglas Eckenrod, a former deputy director of parole for the California prison system, told NBC News. “Prop 47 couldn’t happen without the AG’s office support. Her support of it was literally critical.”

Should the initiative to reform Prop 47 pass, it would add fentanyl to the list of hard drugs — like heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine — that are illegal to possess with a gun, and it would mean more serious consequences for selling deadly quantities. 

It would also enable stricter penalties for dealers whose trafficking causes death or serious injury and warns traffickers of potential murder charges if continued drug trafficking results in fatalities. 

PROGRESSIVE CALIFORNIA MAYORS BACK EFFORT TO AMEND CRIME LAWS AMID ‘RAMPANT’ DRUGS AND THEFT

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at her presidential campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del., July 22, 2024.   (Erin Schaff/Pool via Reuters)

“California and Californians are very much at a tipping point. The public is sick and tired of the rampant open-air drug use, the homelessness issue and the theft that occurs before their eyes,” Greg Totten, co-chair of Californians to Reduce Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft and CEO of the California District Attorneys Association, told Fox News Digital. 

 “I mean, they walk into stores, and products are locked up, inventories reduced. Store hours are reduced. Stores are closing. Malls are closed. And so the public is ready for change.” 

Some of the unintended consequences of Prop 47, opponents say, include the pipeline from prison to homelessness. They add that there are no consequences for crime and drug use and that drug treatment programs are not being utilized.  

During her time as attorney general, Harris and her office were responsible for writing the ballot initiative descriptions that helped voters decide what they were voting on. Her description predicted a reduction in prison populations, successful truancy programs and financial savings for the state that could be used for mental health services and K-12 education. 

A report by NBC noted that while Harris didn’t take an official position, Republicans accused her of misrepresenting the bill.  

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Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, delivers remarks during Sigma Gamma Rho’s 60th International Biennial Boule at the George R. Brown Convention Center July 31, 2024, in Houston. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Steve Cooley, who served as the Los Angeles County district attorney from 2000 to 2012, blamed the rise in crime on Harris and the referendum, NBC reported.

“The damage has been untold and, in a sense, irreparable,” said Cooley, who ran as a Republican against Harris for attorney general. “It was beyond a bait and switch. It was fraud by misrepresentation.”

When Prop 47 passed, law enforcement authorities blamed Harris for not acknowledging that it would massively reduce DNA collection to solve crimes like rape and murder. After the law was enacted, the amount of DNA samples collected per month dropped from 15,000 to 5,000.

“[I]f she was aware of the DNA issue, Harris could have exchanged some of the verbiage for the following nine words: Will curb law enforcement’s authority to collect DNA samples. If she wasn’t aware of the DNA issue, she was not doing her job,” the editorial board of the Sacramento Bee wrote in 2015. 

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Speaking to Fox News Digital, a former elected public safety official said Harris’ purported ability to combat drug and violent crime is “all foam and no beer.” 

“That’s really her principle. She doesn’t want to take a position because she doesn’t know how it will impact her future,” the former official said.

“She’ll say that her job was to not formally take a position, but she could have. She didn’t want to because that’s how she threads the needle. 

“If she had written a ballot title that was fair and balanced, perhaps Californians would have seen the true impact Proposition 47 would have had on public safety and our communities. Now, 10 years later, the truth has been revealed.”

A spokesperson for the Harris campaign told Fox News Digital in a statement, “During her career in law enforcement, Kamala Harris was a pragmatic prosecutor who successfully took on predators, fraudsters and cheaters like Donald Trump.”

A Georgia activist stole the show after being introduced by former President Trump at his rally in Atlanta on Saturday.

Trump invited the young woman, Michaelah Montgomery, up on stage towards the end of his speech at the Georgia State University Convocation Center. He introduced Montgomery by explaining that he met her at a restaurant this year.

Trump said that Montgomery, who went to Clark Atlanta University, had recognized him in public and commended him for funding historically Black colleges and universities.

“She looks at me, says ‘It’s President Trump. You saved my college.’ And I said, ‘How the hell do you know that?’ ….This one is so smart, so sharp,” Trump recalled.

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Michaelah Montgomery stole the show after being introduced by former President Trump at his Atlanta rally on Saturday. (Getty Images / Fox News)

“She grabbed me. She gave me a kiss,” he added. “I said, ‘I think I’m never going back home to the first lady.'” 

“You were supposed to keep that quiet,” Montgomery laughed.

The former president commended Montgomery, described her as “incredible” with a “tremendous future,” and told her he would do “whatever I can to help you,” before giving her the podium.

“I do want to add on to some of the remarks that were made by others,” the conservative activist began. “And we do need to do our best to get the message out there. The fight is nothing if all we do is talk about it amongst ourselves.”

Montgomery added that she was a founder of an organization called Conserve the Culture, which helps “mobilize the HBCU students so that they may get this [conservative] message.”

THE ‘WEIRD’ CAMPAIGN: THE STUNNING DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HARRIS AND VANCE COVERAGE

Montgomery went to Clark Atlanta University and had recognized him in public recently. (Fox News)

“Nobody needs this message more than my folks, so do y’all care for real?” Montgomery said to the cheering audience. “Are y’all with us for real?”

“Imma give it back to Big T,” she concluded.

The rally took place days after Trump was criticized by the White House for statements he made at the recent National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention about Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity.

“She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage,” Trump said. “I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black. And now she wants to be known as Black. So, I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”

At the end of her speech, Montgomery mentioned her organization, which is called Conserve the Culture. (Fox News)

On Wednesday, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson praised Trump for “answering tough questions,” at the conference.

“I commend my friend @realdonaldtrump for going into a hostile environment at @NABJ today and answering tough questions,” Carson said in a post on X.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump campaign, but did not immediately hear back.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, admitted Saturday to having an extramarital affair during his first marriage after a bombshell report by the Daily Mail charged he got his children’s nanny pregnant.

“During my first marriage, Kerstin and I went through some tough times on account of my actions,” Emhoff said in a statement to Harris-friendly CNN regarding his first wife, Kerstin Emhoff. “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 did not return Fox News Digital’s requests for comment. 

13 DAYS: KAMALA HARRIS HAS NOT HELD A PRESS CONFERENCE SINCE EMERGING AS PRESUMPTIVE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff admitted Saturday to cheating on his first wife after a bombshell report by the Daily Mail charged he got his children’s nanny pregnant. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Emhoff and his first wife were married from 1992 until 2009, and they share two now-adult children: Cole, 29, and Ella, 25, who they co-parent with stepmom Harris. 

The affair ended the marriage, according to the Daily Mail, which reported the nanny was also a teacher at Emhoff’s children’s school. The report said the woman, who Fox News Digital is not naming, did not keep the baby.

Emhoff, now 59, was an entertainment lawyer and his wife was a movie producer when their marriage ended in 2009. Sources told the Daily Mail the pregnant nanny had to leave her job as a teacher at The Willows, an elite private elementary school in Culver City, California, where she had also taught the Emhoff children.

HARRIS IS ‘BIDEN’S CO-PILOT’ ON ‘BIDENOMICS’ POLICIES THAT PROMPTED WOEFUL JOB NUMBERS: TRUMP CAMP

Emhoff stumping for wife and presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris on the campaign trail.  (Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)

Harris met Emhoff in 2013, when she was serving as California attorney general, and they married in 2014. 

Harris knew about the affair before they married and the Biden 2020 campaign knew about it when they were vetting her for his vice presidential pick, CNN reported. 

Doug Emhoff and Kamala Harris married in 2014, years after his affair and marriage ended.   (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Kerstin Emhoff said in a statement to CNN: “Doug and I decided to end our marriage for a variety of reasons, many years ago. He is a great father to our kids, continues to be a great friend to me and I am really proud of the warm and supportive blended family Doug, Kamala, and I have built together.”

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Emhoff is often seen with Harris on the campaign trail as she is now the presumptive Democratic nominee. 

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, on Saturday called former President Trump’s offer to debate Vice President Kamala Harris on Fox News in September a “masterstroke.”

“I think it’s great,” Trump’s vice presidential pick told SiriusXM’s “Breitbart News Saturday.” “In some ways, it’s a masterstroke because, of course, the Kamala campaign has been saying for a long time that President Trump is afraid to debate Kamala Harris, which, of course, is absurd because the last time he debated their nominee, that nominee withdrew two weeks later.” 

President Biden pulled out of the race and endorsed Harris as the nominee last month after his weak debate performance in late June drew concerns from Democrats.

Late Friday night, Trump wrote on Truth Social, “I have agreed with FoxNews to debate Kamala Harris on Wednesday, September 4th. The Debate was previously scheduled against Sleepy Joe Biden on ABC, but has been terminated in that Biden will no longer be a participant, and I am in litigation against ABC Network and George Slopadopoulos, thereby creating a conflict of interest. 

KAMALA HARRIS FACES A DIFFICULT DECISION WITH VP PICK: STRATEGIST MATT KEELEN

“The FoxNews Debate will be held in the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, at a site in an area to be determined. The Moderators of the Debate will be Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, and the Rules will be similar to the Rules of my Debate with Sleepy Joe, who has been treated horribly by his Party – BUT WITH A FULL ARENA AUDIENCE!”

Sen. JD Vance on Saturday called former President Trump’s offer to debate Vice President Kamala Harris on Fox News in September a “masterstroke.” (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Trump and Biden had previously been scheduled to debate on Sept. 10 on ABC. 

Vance said Trump has “fairly” said about the previously scheduled debate, “I’m not going to do a debate before the Democratic National Convention because maybe they’ll switch out their nominee again.” 

The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for Aug. 19-22. 

The Ohio senator added that Trump was “throwing down the gauntlet of ‘I was willing to go to CNN,’ which is far more hostile to him than any network would be to Kamala Harris, and ‘Kamala Harris, why don’t you come and agree to a debate.

“The thing that we’ve learned about Kamala, Matt, over the last four years, is she’s incredibly bad if she’s not scripted, right?” 

13 DAYS: KAMALA HARRIS HAS NOT HELD A PRESS CONFERENCE SINCE EMERGING AS PRESUMPTIVE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE

On Saturday, Harris hit back at Trump’s offer for a new debate on X, writing, “It’s interesting how ‘any time, any place’ becomes ‘one specific time, one specific safe space.’ I’ll be there on September 10th, like he agreed to. I hope to see him there.” (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Vance added that the final reason he’s thinks “it’s so smart for the president” to want an audience at the debate is “he really feeds off of human beings, which is like natural and normal for a political leader.

“You’re supposed to lead people, and to lead people you actually have to sort of like people and engage with them well,” he said. “So, him having a crowd for this debate, I think, is really important because it will show his natural leadership ability. And it also shows, frankly, that people are kind of turned off by Kamala Harris. So, I think it’s good. Hopefully, it happens, and hopefully Kamala Harris agrees to it. If she doesn’t, then, clearly, she’s the one who’s afraid to debate.”

President Biden dropped his bid for re-election after a weak debate performance against former President Trump June 27.  ( Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Harris hit back at Trump’s offer for a new debate on X Saturday, writing, “It’s interesting how ‘any time, any place’ becomes ‘one specific time, one specific safe space.’ I’ll be there on September 10th, like he agreed to. I hope to see him there.”

In the spring, Trump had called on Biden for a debate “any time, any place.” 

“Donald Trump is running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out,” Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler told Fox News Digital. “He needs to stop playing games and show up to the debate he already committed to on Sept 10.”

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Tyler said Harris would be at the previously scheduled ABC debate “one way or the other to take the opportunity to speak to a primetime national audience. We’re happy to discuss further debates after the one both campaigns have already agreed to. Mr. Anytime, anywhere, anyplace should have no problem with that unless he’s too scared to show up on the 10th.”

The federal judge presiding over Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 case against former President Trump has ordered a conference on Aug. 16 to determine the next steps forward.

Judge Tanya Chutkan wasted no time after she received the case back from the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled last month on the scope of Trump’s claim of presidential immunity from prosecution. The high court said that a president is immune from prosecution for official acts in office, but not unofficial ones, and remanded the case back for trial.

Now, prosecutors and Trump’s defense attorneys will confer in two weeks to determine a schedule for pretrial proceedings and discuss how the Supreme Court’s ruling should be applied in this case. Chutkan denied a defense motion to dismiss the charges against Trump but afforded the Republican candidate’s legal team an opportunity to refile the motion “once all issues of immunity have been resolved.” 

TRUMP FEDERAL ELECTION INTERFERENCE CASE SENT BACK TO TRIAL COURT AFTER SCOTUS RULING

Former President Donald J. Trump, left, and Judge Tanya Chutkan. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci/United States Courts)

“By August 9, 2024, the parties shall confer and file a status report that proposes, jointly to the extent possible, a schedule for pretrial proceedings moving forward. If necessary, the parties may explain any disagreements in separate sections of the report,” Chutkan’s order states.

Open court hearings are anticipated, after which the judge will determine the extent to which the Special Counsel’s evidence can be used in the trial.

Last month, the Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. United States that a former president has substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts committed while in office, but not for unofficial acts.

JUSTICE ALITO QUESTIONS WHETHER PRESIDENTS WILL HAVE TO FEAR ‘BITTER POLITICAL OPPONENT’ THROWING THEM IN JAIL

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)

In a 6-3 decision, the Court sent the matter back down to a lower court, as the justices did not apply the ruling to whether or not Trump is immune from prosecution regarding actions related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The ruling came shortly after a New York jury found Trump guilty on all counts of falsifying business records in the first degree stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation. 

Special Counsel Jack Smith charged the former president with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Those charges stemmed from Smith’s investigation into whether Trump was involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and any alleged interference in the 2020 election result.

SCOTUS WEIGHS MONUMENTAL CONSTITUTIONAL FIGHT OVER TRUMP IMMUNITY CLAIM

Trump answers questions during the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention in Chicago, Illinois, on July 31, 2024.  (KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges last summer.

It is unlikely the case will go to trial before Election Day on Nov. 5.

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Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Vice President Kamala Harris secured enough delegates to become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee Friday, though voting does not close until Monday, the party’s chair said.

A virtual roll call to formally nominate Harris as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee kicked off on Thursday.

“I am honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee,” Harris said on a call with supporters.

The Democratic National Committee’s electronic voting for their party’s 2024 standard-bearer comes less than two weeks after President Biden, in a blockbuster announcement, ended his re-election campaign and endorsed his vice president to succeed him at the top of the ticket.

Unlike the Republicans, who held their roll call in-person during their convention in Milwaukee last month, the DNC is using a virtual roll call which will conclude on Monday, two weeks ahead of the Aug. 19 start of the party’s convention at the United Center in Chicago.

HARRIS LEANS IN ON BORDER SECURITY AND TRUMP RELISHES THE FIGHT

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

But similar to the GOP nomination of former President Trump, there is no drama, as the vice president is the only candidate who qualified by a Tuesday night deadline to have her name placed on the roll call.

2024 AD WARS: TRUMP, HARRIS RACE TO DEFINE VICE PRESIDENT

Biden’s disastrous performance against Trump at a late June debate that was held in Atlanta fueled questions about his physical and mental abilities to serve another four years in the White House.

It also spurred a rising chorus of calls from within his own party for the 81-year-old president to end his bid for a second term in the White House. 

President Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, about his decision to drop his re-election bid. (Evan Vucci, Pool via AP)

Biden’s immediate backing of Harris ignited a surge of endorsements for the vice president by Democratic governors, senators, House members and other party leaders and elders. Within 36 hours, Harris announced that she had locked up her party’s nomination by landing the verbal backing of a majority of the nearly 4,700 convention delegates.

The DNC decided to hold a virtual roll call – which is similar to the one they held four years ago to nominate Biden amid the coronavirus pandemic – in order to formally have a nominee topping their ticket ahead of an Aug. 7 ballot access deadline in Ohio.

“Our delegates have an important responsibility – and opportunity – in the days ahead to cast their history-making ballots for Vice President Harris, ensuring that she will be on the ballot in every state this November,” DNC chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement earlier this week.

1 OF THESE 5 DEMOCRATS COULD BE HARRIS’ RUNNING MATE

The DNC reported that 3,923 delegates petitioned to put Harris on the ballot for the Democratic nomination, and that no other candidate met the party’s threshold of 300 delegate signatures to qualify for the ballot. 

While the official nomination vote by the delegates is being held remotely, the DNC says a ceremonial roll call will be held at the convention in Chicago. 

Former President Trump, speaks during the final day of the Republican National Convention on July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

With the nomination of Harris not in doubt, speculation has soared in the past week over whom the vice president will choose as her running mate. The Harris campaign announced that the vice president and her soon-to-be-named running mate will embark on a swing through all seven key battleground states starting Tuesday in Pennsylvania.

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The running mate announcement could potentially come as early as Monday evening.

That’s when it’s expected Harris will be announced as the nominee, following the 6 p.m. ET conclusion of the virtual roll call. DNC rules then allow for Harris to place the name of her running mate into nomination. 

According to the DNC, the convention chair would then declare that candidate to be the party’s vice presidential nominee.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is blaming former President Trump for the latest negative jobs report — nearly a full term after he left office. 

“Donald Trump failed Americans as president, costing our economy millions of jobs, and bringing us to the brink of recession,” Harris for President spokesperson James Singer said in a statement. 

“Now, he’s promising even more damage with a Project 2025 agenda that will decimate the middle class and increase taxes on working families, while ripping away health care, raising prescription drug costs, and cutting Social Security and Medicare — all while making his billionaire donors richer.” 

Singer added: “We’ve made significant progress, but Vice President Harris knows there’s more work to do to lower costs for families.” 

US JOB GROWTH SLOWS TO 114K IN JULY WHILE UNEMPLOYMENT UNEXPECTEDLY JUMPS

US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at Westover High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on July 18, 2024.  (ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)

Singer said Harris “will make building up the middle class the defining goal of her presidency, taking on greedy corporations that are price gouging consumers, banning hidden fees, and capping unfair rent increases and drug costs.”

The Harris campaign’s comments come as U.S. job growth cooled sharply in July while the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to the highest level in nearly three years.

The Labor Department on Friday reported that employers added 114,000 jobs in July, missing the 175,000 gain forecast by LSEG economists. The unemployment rate also unexpectedly inched higher to 4.3% against expectations that it would hold steady at 4.1%. 

US President Joe Biden, left, and Vice President Kamala Harris on the Truman Balcony of the White House in Washington, DC, on Thursday, July 4, 2024. (Tierney L. Cross)

It marked the highest level for the jobless rate since October 2021.

Friday’s report adds to mounting evidence that the economy is weakening in the face of ongoing inflation and high interest rates. Stock futures plunged as the report reignited fears of an impending recession, with Dow futures shedding more than 500 points. 

The weaker-than-expected data also raises questions about whether the Federal Reserve has waited too long to cut interest rates. Policymakers voted at the conclusion of their two-day meeting on Wednesday to hold rates steady at a 23-year high but signaled that they could start loosening policy as soon as September. 

1 OF THESE 5 DEMOCRATS COULD BE HARRIS’ RUNNING MATE

Health care continued to lead the way in job creation, onboarding 55,000 new workers in July. Other sectors showing notable growth included construction (25,000), the government (17,000) and transportation and warehousing (14,000). 

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks as U.S. President Joe Biden looks on in the Rose Garden of the White House on July 26, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

However, there were some notable job losses last month. Information employment declined by 20,000, while financial activities shed 4,000 employees.

The report also showed modest revisions. Job gains for June were revised down by a total of 27,000 jobs to 179,000, the government said, while May’s gain also came in slightly lower at 216,000 jobs.

The Trump campaign blamed the Biden-Harris administration. 

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“Kamala Harris has proudly and repeatedly celebrated her role as Joe Biden’s co-pilot on ‘Bidenomics,’” Karoline Leavitt, Trump Campaign National Press Secretary, said in a statement. “She cast tie-breaking votes in the Senate for spending that put inflation on steroids, and despite the evidence that America’s working families are hurting she tells us these failed plans are working.” 

She added: “The basic necessities of food, gas and housing are less affordable, unemployment is rising, and Kamala doesn’t seem to care.”

Fox Business’ Megan Henney contributed to this report. 

Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday officially clinched her party’s 2024 presidential nomination, and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced that the vice president had secured the votes of a majority of pledged delegates to the Democrats’ upcoming national convention.

“I am so proud to confirm that Vice President Harris has earned more than a majority of votes from all convention delegates and will be the nominee of the Democratic Party following the close of voting on Monday,” DNC chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement.

Harris, on a call Friday with supporters, said, “I am honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States.”

She emphasized that “the tireless work of our delegates, our state leaders and staff has been pivotal in making this moment possible.”

2024 CASH DASH: HARRIS LAPS TRUMP IN LATEST FUNDRAISING FIGURES

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally in Atlanta on Tuesday. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

The news came amid a virtual roll call for the nomination, which the DNC kicked off on Thursday and will last through Monday.

And while the nomination of Harris was never in doubt, the vice president was the only candidate to qualify for the presidential nomination roll call. It marks an historic milestone in the nation’s history, as Harris becomes the first woman of color to lead a major political party’s national ticket.

1 OF THESE 5 DEMOCRATS COULD BE HARRIS’ RUNNING MATE

While the official nomination vote by the delegates is being held remotely, the DNC said a ceremonial roll call will be held at the Democratic National Convention, which is set to kick off Aug. 19 in Chicago.

Harris’ clinching of the nomination comes less than two weeks after President Biden’s blockbuster announcement that he was ending his 2024 re-election campaign against former President Trump, the GOP’s nominee.

President Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 24 regarding his decision to drop his Democratic presidential re-election bid. (Evan Vucci, Pool via AP)

Biden’s stunning news came amid mounting pressure from within the Democratic Party for him to drop out after a disastrous performance in last month’s first presidential debate with Trump. The 81-year-old Biden’s halting and stumbling delivery fueled questions about his physical and mental abilities to serve another four years in the White House.

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But Biden’s immediate backing of Harris ignited a surge of endorsements for the vice president by Democratic governors, senators, House members and other party leaders. Within 36 hours, Harris announced that she had locked up her party’s nomination by landing the verbal backing of a majority of the nearly 4,000 convention delegates.

With Harris’ nomination now cleared of any doubt, speculation has soared in the past week and a half over whom the vice president will choose as her running mate. The Harris campaign announced that the vice president and her soon-to-be-named running mate will embark on a swing through all seven key battleground states starting Tuesday in Pennsylvania.

After the presidential nomination virtual roll call concludes at 6 p.m. ET on Monday, DNC rules allow for Harris to place the name of her running mate into nomination. 

According to the DNC, the convention chair would then declare that candidate to be the party’s vice presidential nominee.

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

FIRST ON FOX: Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is rumored to be on the short list of vice-presidential candidates for presumptive nominee Kamala Harris, applied as state attorney general to be part of a Michael Bloomberg-sponsored program to appoint special climate prosecutors to go after the energy industry in his state.

During the Trump administration, the Wall Street Journal reported that climate activists began “placing employees in Attorneys General offices in dubious private-public condominiums” highlighted a “remarkable arrangement” by the NYU Law School’s State Energy and Environmental Impact Center.

The effort was launched in 2017 as part of a $6 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies to “advance a liberal climate and energy agenda.”

The program, which is legal, has placed Bloomberg-funded attorneys in several jurisdictions, including in Connecticut, Illinois, New Mexico, and Washington, D.C., where they focus on climate issues and litigating against oil and gas companies.

GOP SENATE CANDIDATE IN PA TOURS NATURAL GAS PLANT AS VP HARRIS PIVOTS FROM ANTI-FRACKING COMMENTS

AG Josh Shapiro applied in 2018 to be part of a program to fund a special Bloomberg-backed prosecutor to litigate against oil and gas companies.

“The State Energy & Environmental Impact Center at NYU Law studies and supports the work of state attorneys general in defending, enforcing, and promoting strong laws and policies in the areas of climate, environmental justice, environmental protection, and clean energy,” the program’s website states.

In his 2018 application for the program, Shapiro’s office said that Pennsylvania was a “state whose own energy production remains largely based on the burning of coal. This ‘Pennsylvania perspective’ provides a unique and powerful platform from which to create progressive environmental legal and policy change – from within.”

“Put otherwise, while many states can and do fight for progressive environmental legal change, when that fighter is a coal-burning, Marcellus Shale gas-extracting, ozone-suffering state where environmental action may not always be politically palatable, the impact of an environmental leader like Attorney General Josh Shapiro is simply more powerful,” his office continued.

VP HARRIS FACES BACKLASH IN CRUCIAL SWING STATE AFTER HER ‘DISASTROUS’ ANTI-FRACKING POSITION RESURFACES

Josh Shapiro speaks at his swearing-in as Governor of Pennsylvania at the State Capitol Building on January 17, 2023, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Shapiro defeated Republican nominee Doug Mastriano by nearly 15 percent in the November election.  (Mark Makela/Getty Images)

“State attorneys general should describe the particular scope of needs within their offices related to the advancement and defense of progressive clean energy, climate change, and environmental matters,” the prompt for the application states. “Relevant details include the extent to which funding or other capacity constraints have limited the ability to work on these issues or how additional dedicated support could help advance the work of the state attorney general on behalf of his or her constituents.”

“Priority consideration will be given to state attorneys general who demonstrate a commitment to and acute need for additional support on clean energy, climate change, and environmental issues of regional or national importance, such as those matters that cross jurisdictional boundaries or raise legal questions or conflicts that have nationwide applicability.”

Shapiro’s office wrote that he needs more “economic resources” to continue being a leader of “progressive” climate efforts.

“Being a leader of these efforts, however, requires economic resources. Perhaps because of its unique position, previous Pennsylvania attorneys general did not focus on environmental protection efforts,” Shapiro wrote. 

“Therefore, the environmental section Attorney General Shapiro inherited was notably smaller than those found in attorney general offices of other environmental leaders. As such, granting Pennsylvania’s application will be particularly significant. It will allow the PA OAG not just to join other states in lawsuits challenging the Trump Administration’s efforts to weaken environmental regulations, but to hire one or more SAAGs so it can be more proactive across-the-board and serve as the lead plaintiff in future such actions.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for the State Impact Center said the organization does “not have a record of why the application did not move forward.”

“To clarify how the State Impact Center’s SAAG program works: it adds capacity for attorneys general, providing them with additional resources to be deployed at their discretion,” the spokesperson said. “Attorneys general direct the work of the SAAGs. The SAAG’s sole duty of loyalty is to the office in which they work.”

BILLIONAIRE OIL CEO SAYS DEMOCRATS ARE ‘STARTING TO RECOGNIZE’ THE GREEN ENERGY PUSH IS ‘ALL A FALLACY’

Vice President Kamala Harris and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (L) speak to the press while making a stop at the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024. (Ryan Collerd/AFP via Getty Images)

Pennsylvania Republican Congressman Guy Reschenthaler told Fox News Digital that Shapiro recruiting a “Bloomberg-funded, unaccountable prosecutor to specifically target energy producers and job creators in Pennsylvania is despicable.”

“Pennsylvania ranks second in natural gas production, third in coal production, and third in electricity production. It is an understatement to say that our commonwealth powers the nation. But Democrats here at home led by Governor Josh Shapiro and Vice President Harris relentlessly attack our energy industry and the 130,000 good-paying, union jobs it supports. Vice President Harris even said, ‘There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking.”

Reschenthaler continued, “Our communities depend on making America energy independent again and must reject any attempts by far-left influences to destroy their livelihoods with a Green New Deal agenda.”

The Wall Street Journal wrote that “ethical problems” with SAAGs should be obvious.”

“This is a fundamental question of ethics and who’s running our government,” West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, one of a handful of Republican attorneys general who have raised concerns about the Bloomberg-funded program, said in 2020.

Shale gas well drilling site in St. Mary’s, Pa. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

“When you actually get to place someone in under a specific agenda and then pay them, and they’re within the office, that starts to call into question whether there are multiple masters within an attorney general office, and that starts to really stink.”

Shapiro, who is reported to have recently met with VP Harris as her search for a vice president comes to a close, has been referred to as a “moderate” and “practical” since becoming governor and was referred to in Politico as having “struck a middle” ground on the issue that directly affects hundreds of thousands of energy workers in the commonwealth, but his past rhetoric could come back to haunt him.

Bloomberg has made his position on climate change clear in many statements over the years, including calling for the elimination of all coal-fired power plants and phasing out gas-powered plants.

According to Washington-based attorney Chris Horner, who worked with Energy Policy Advocates on public records requests into the State Impact Center’s activities, the group’s self-declared “nonpartisan” label is a smokescreen allowing it to pursue ideologically motivated, “progressive” goals with SAAGs he labeled “mercenaries.”

“Nonpartisan, in that you need just promise to use the mercenaries to advance ‘progressive’ climate legal positions,” he said. “So, partisan? Perish the thought. It’s merely ideological.”

UN Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions and founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies Michael R. Bloomberg speaks onstage as COP28 President-Designate Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber and UN Special Envoy Michael R. Bloomberg Announce COP28 Local Climate Action Summit at COP28 In Dubai In December Alongside Local Leaders at The Plaza Hotel on September 19, 2023, in New York City. (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Bloomberg Philanthropies)

Presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris has previously called to ban fracking, a main driver of energy and jobs in Pennsylvania, but she has walked that back in recent weeks after becoming the presumptive nominee.

Dan Weaver, president and executive director of the Pennsylania Independent Oil & Gas Association told Fox News Digital that his organization “believes elected officials who have expressed past concerns with oil and natural gas development, even to the extent of banning all hydraulic fracturing in the U.S., gain an entirely new perspective on the importance of these energy sources to our nation when they are presented with facts from objective sources rather than emotional appeals on the campaign trail.”

“The facts are simple and compelling: natural gas produces more than one-third of our nation’s electricity, and there is no viable or economical option to replace that amount of energy that consumers demand, as well as to meet the forecasted significant increase in demand from data centers and economic growth,” he continued.

Governor of Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro is seen at the Celebration of Freedom Ceremony during Wawa Welcome America on July 4, 2023, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images)

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“American-produced oil refined into gasoline and diesel here in the U.S. currently fuels 98 percent of our vehicle fleet, a general trend that will continue for many years, and replacing that with oil imported from other countries would be expensive and uncertain. Finally, with more than 6,000 consumer, medical and transportation-related products only made possible through the processing of oil and natural gas, their role in supporting a modern society cannot be dismissed with a sound bite about ‘banning fracking.’”

Weaver added that “PIOGA believes Gov. Shapiro, just like Senator John Fetterman and Vice-President Kamala Harris, among many others, conclude that oil and natural gas are essential to our nation when provided with those facts.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Shapiro’s office for comment but did not receive a response.

Fox News Digital’s Tyler Olson contributed to this report.

First son Hunter Biden will be sentenced on Nov. 13, the week after the general election, after he was found guilty on charges in the criminal case focused on his purchase of a handgun in 2018.

Judge Maryellen Noreika, in a court order Friday, set the sentencing date for Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 10:00 a.m. at the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building in Wilmington, Delaware. President Biden’s son will learn his fate 8 days after the 2024 presidential election. 

Hunter Biden was found guilty in June of making a false statement in the purchase of a gun, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federally licensed gun dealer, and possession of a gun by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.

He faces a total maximum prison time of 25 years for the three charges. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release. Hunter Biden, however, is a first-time offender, making it unlikely he will face maximum penalties.

JURY LIKELY CONSIDERED HUNTER BIDEN’S OWN WORDS IN MEMOIR AS ‘POWERFUL’ EVIDENCE TO CONVICT: EXPERTS

Hunter Biden and his wife, Melissa, outside the courtroom during his trial in June.  (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

“I am more grateful today for the love and support I experienced this last week from Melissa, my family, my friends, and my community than I am disappointed by the outcome. Recovery is possible by the grace of God, and I am blessed to experience that gift one day at a time,” Hunter Biden said in a statement following the verdict. 

Hunter Biden’s trial last month lasted about six and a half days and included emotional testimony from members of his family, including daughter Naomi Biden, ex-wife Kathleen Buhle and sister-in-law-turned-girlfriend Hallie Biden.

HUNTER BIDEN ‘DISAPPOINTED’ BY GUILTY VERDICT, TRUMP CAMPAIGN CALLS GUN TRIAL A ‘DISTRACTION’

Hunter Biden was found guilty on all counts by a Delaware jury.  (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Prosecutors worked to prove that Hunter Biden lied on a federal firearm form, known as ATF Form 4473, in October 2018 when he ticked a box labeled “No” when asked if he is an unlawful user of a firearm or addicted to controlled substances. Hunter Biden purchased the gun from a store called StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply in Wilmington.

Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, whose office prosecuted the case, addressed the media after the verdict and said the trial revolved around Hunter Biden’s “illegal choices,” not just the first son’s drug addiction.

‘LIKE A SON’: FORMER TOP BIDEN ADVISER WITH DEEP BUSINESS TIES TO CHINA SPOTTED INSIDE HUNTER BIDEN GUN TRIAL 

Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, will be sentenced on Nov. 13. (Reuters)

“Ultimately, this case was not just about addiction, a disease that haunts families across the United States, including Hunter Biden’s family. This case was about the illegal choices the defendant made while in the throes of addiction. His choice to lie on a government form when he bought a gun and the choice to then possess that gun, it was these choices and the combination of guns and drugs that made his conduct dangerous,” Weiss said.

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“No one in this country is above the law,” Weiss added, a comment his prosecutors repeated in their opening statement and their closing argument. “Everyone must be accountable for their actions, even this defendant. However, Hunter Biden, should be no more accountable than any other citizen convicted of this same conduct. The prosecution has been and will continue to be committed to this principle and to the principles of federal prosecution in carrying out its responsibilities.”

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton and Brooke Singman and Fox News’ Bill Mears contributed to this report. 

The former campaign manager for former President Obama, David Plouffe, has joined Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, and the newly minted Democratic nominee has retained the entire leadership team of President Biden’s re-election effort. 

Harris on Friday secured the Democratic presidential nomination, weeks before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago begins on Aug. 19. 

The vice president’s campaign, now in full swing, will include the members of President Biden’s suspended re-election campaign and a number of experienced Democratic operatives who will aid in her effort to beat former President Trump in November. 

Jen O’Malley Dillon, who worked as Biden’s campaign chair, has agreed to stay in the top role, reporting directly to Harris. Dillon is expected to run the campaign from the original Biden campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware.

Vice President Kamala Harris has gone 10 days without holding a press conference since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee.  (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

IT’S OFFICIAL: VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS GOES OVER THE TOP AND CLINCHES DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION

Julie Chávez Rodriguez will remain campaign manager, with Rob Flaherty continuing his role as deputy campaign manager. Quentin Fulks will continue his role as principal deputy campaign manager, and Michael Tyler is continuing his role as communications director. 

Harris’ campaign has also brought on Liz Allen, who will serve as chief of staff for Harris’ yet-to-be-named running mate, and Megan Rooney as head speechwriter. 

Jen O’Malley Dillon, White House deputy chief of staff, and Jake Sullivan, White House national security adviser, left, follow behind President Biden, not pictured, on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, D.C., May 17, 2023. (Getty Images)

HARRIS IS ‘BIDEN’S CO-PILOT’ ON ‘BIDENOMICS’ POLICIES THAT PROMPTED WOEFUL JOBS NUMBERS: TRUMP CAMP

Brian Fallon, who was previously the director of public affairs for Obama’s Justice Department, a top aide to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 national press secretary, will also join the Harris campaign as a senior adviser for communications. 

Plouffe, Obama’s former campaign manager, will serve as the senior adviser on the “Path to 270” and the strategy moving forward. Plouffe will suspend his consulting work for TikTok and his podcast while advising the campaign, according to a source. 

Jen Palmieri, who ran communications for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and served as Obama’s White House communications director, will also join the Harris campaign as an adviser for second gentleman Doug Emhoff. 

Brian Fallon, national press secretary for 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton campaign, speaks during a Bloomberg Politics interview in Manchester, N.H., Feb. 4, 2016. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

BIDEN TOP ADVISER ANITA DUNN LEAVES WHITE HOUSE FOR SUPER PAC SUPPORTING HARRIS

Other senior-level consultants joining the team include Mitch Stewart, who will serve as a senior adviser for battleground states, and Terrance Woodbury, who will watch polling. 

The top consultants are not expected to work out of Wilmington. 

David Binder is also expected to take a leading role in polling and research with the existing team. 

The Harris campaign has also added a new paid media strategy and will continue its work with Blue Sky, Conexion and Truxton and expects to work with GMMB. Fulks is expected to oversee that program. 

President Biden walks on the field with White House senior adviser Cedric Richmond, right, as he attends the Congressional Baseball Game at Nationals Park Sept. 29, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge came onboard as a campaign co-chair and will expand her role to include outreach and strategy, while her co-chair, Rep. Cedric Richmond, will continue his work as a longtime adviser to Harris. 

Sources close to the campaign said the team is in place to “scale and manage what is coming” in terms of the intensity of the volume and work that comes with a general election season. 

Sources said the moves also reflect an “all-hands-on-deck” approach to the final stretch before the November election. They said the Democratic Party is “united.” 

The built-out team was named after Harris secured the nomination Friday. 

U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge delivers remarks in Washington, D.C., in July 2022.  (Brian Stukes/Getty Images)

“I am so proud to confirm that Vice President Harris has earned more than a majority of votes from all convention delegates and will be the nominee of the Democratic Party following the close of voting on Monday,” DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement.

Harris, on a call Friday with supporters, said, “I am honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for president of the United States.”

She emphasized that “the tireless work of our delegates, our state leaders and staff has been pivotal in making this moment possible.”

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The news came amid a virtual roll call for the nomination, which the DNC kicked off Thursday and lasts through Monday.

And while the nomination of Harris was never in doubt, the vice president was the only candidate to qualify for the presidential nomination roll call. It marks a historic milestone in the nation’s history with Harris becoming the first woman of color to lead a major political party’s national ticket.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report. 

Following the Supreme Court’s historic decision on former President Trump’s immunity claim in the federal election interference case, the matter has been officially returned for a trial.

This is standard court procedure. A month after the Supreme Court’s July 1 decision, the case has been formally remanded to the appeals court, which will then return it to Judge Tanya Chutkan.

“ORDERED, on the court’s own motion, that this case be remanded to the District Court for further proceedings consistent with the Supreme Court’s opinion,” Friday’s filing reads.

JUSTICE ALITO QUESTIONS WHETHER PRESIDENTS WILL HAVE TO FEAR ‘BITTER POLITICAL OPPONENT’ THROWING THEM IN JAIL

Former President Trump arrives at Trump Tower in New York on May 30 after being found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)

In the coming days, Judge Chutkan is expected to establish a schedule for the parties to discuss the application of the SCOTUS ruling in the ongoing prosecution. Open court hearings are anticipated, after which the judge will determine the extent to which the Special Counsel’s evidence can be used in the trial.

Last month, the Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. United States that a former president has substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts committed while in office, but not for unofficial acts.

SCOTUS WEIGHS MONUMENTAL CONSTITUTIONAL FIGHT OVER TRUMP IMMUNITY CLAIM

The Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. United States that a former president has substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts committed while in office, but not for unofficial acts. (Getty Images)

In a 6-3 decision, the Court sent the matter back down to a lower court, as the justices did not apply the ruling to whether or not Trump is immune from prosecution regarding actions related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The ruling came shortly after a New York jury found Trump guilty on all counts of falsifying business records in the first degree stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation. 

Special Counsel Jack Smith charged the former president with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Those charges stemmed from Smith’s investigation into whether Trump was involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and any alleged interference in the 2020 election result.

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Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges last summer.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment. 

This is a developing story.

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

Former President Trump announced Friday night that he has agreed to Fox News’ proposal for a debate against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump said the debate would be held on Sept. 4 in Pennsylvania, although the location of the event has not yet been determined.

The former president also noted that an ABC News debate previously scheduled against President Biden before he suspended his re-election campaign had been canceled, citing his lawsuit against that network and one of its hosts, George Stephanopoulos.

“I have agreed with FoxNews to debate Kamala Harris on Wednesday, September 4th,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “The Debate was previously scheduled against Sleepy Joe Biden on ABC, but has been terminated in that Biden will no longer be a participant, and I am in litigation against ABC Network and George Slopadopoulos, thereby creating a conflict of interest.”

TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW GUNMAN EVADED SECURITY

Former President Trump said he has agreed to a debate against Vice President Kamala Harris on Fox News. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

The moderators of the debate will be Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.

The debate rules will be similar to the rules of the June 27 CNN debate against Biden, who Trump wrote “has been treated horribly by his Party.” But unlike the CNN debate, which did not have an audience, the Fox News debate will have spectators.

Fox News had invited Trump and Harris to participate in a debate in Pennsylvania on Sept. 17.

Harris said last month that she was “ready” to debate the former president and accused him of backpedaling away from the previous agreement to debate on ABC News on Sept. 10.

This comes after Harris became the Democratic Party’s nominee for president after Biden announced he was dropping his re-election campaign.

Trump previously said he would not debate Harris because she was not the party’s official candidate after Biden dropped out of the race. But on Friday, the vice president secured enough delegates to officially become the party’s nominee.

IT’S OFFICIAL: VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS GOES OVER THE TOP AND CLINCHES DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION

Fox News had invited Trump and Harris to participate in a debate in Pennsylvania. (ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)

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“As everyone knows, the Democrats have Unconstitutionally taken a Candidate, who was acknowledged to be defeated, and unceremoniously replaced him with a new Candidate,” Trump wrote. “This has never been done before, and is a Threat to Democracy, but I am totally prepared to accept the results of this ‘coup,’ and replace Joe on the Debate stage with Crazy Kamala Harris.”

“I spent Hundreds of Millions of Dollars, Time, and Effort fighting Joe, and when I won the Debate, they threw a new Candidate into the ring. Not fair, but it is what it is!” he continued. “Nevertheless, different Candidate or not, their bad Policies are the same, and this will be strongly revealed at the September 4th Debate. I look forward to meeting and debating Kamala Harris on September 4th. This date is convenient and appropriate in that it is just prior to the September 6th start of Early Voting in the 2024 Presidential Election. I look forward to seeing everyone on September 4th, in the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania!”

Trump also survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on July 13.

Conservative watchdog legal group American First Legal (AFL), says it has achieved a significant “victory” in a New Jersey school district after the U.S. Department of Education deemed the school system to have acted unlawfully by not providing an opt-out option for “equity” and “diversity” surveys handed out to students.

“When we’re talking about things like gender identity and other sensitive issues, there is the very real issue of, this is also being used almost as an educational tool, to push these concepts on kids,” senior advisor Ian Prior told Fox News Digital in an interview. “So, it’s really a dual concern. What are these surveys being used for, as far as data collection, but how are these surveys being used to essentially normalize things that parents and students may have objections to?”

HARRIS’ BACKING OF BAIL FUND DURING GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTS DAMPENS TRUMP ‘PROSECUTOR’ CAMPAIGN PITCH

Students and a classroom. (iStock/Getty)

In Cedar Grove, New Jersey, the local school district distributed surveys on sensitive topics like religion, family income, and gender identity without giving parents a chance to opt out. After parents filed complaints with both the state and federal education departments in mid-2021, the New Jersey Board of Education ruled that the district had violated state law. 

The U.S. Department of Education, however, did not act promptly, leading AFL to file a lawsuit in 2023 to compel the federal agency to investigate.

Prior explained that AFL had created a “parent toolkit” in early 2022 to help parents understand and use the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), a federal law enacted in the 1970s, that ensures that parents have the right to access information about their children’s education, that has often been overlooked. 

HARRIS NOW BACKING AWAY FROM SEVERAL FAR-LEFT STANCES SHE ONCE PROMOTED

Parent Rally (Courtesy of Becket)

The Department of Education later investigated and confirmed that Cedar Grove had indeed violated the PPRA. They have now required the district to comply with the law and provide necessary documentation by September. 

“I think it also shows the power of this law that has largely gone unused for decades, and that it is a way, for instance, to enforce their rights against these school systems that are doing everything they can to hide information from parents,” Prior said. “And it’s encouraging that our work early on in 2022 is bringing awareness to parents across the country about their rights.”

The Cedar Grove School District could not be reached for comment. 

OLYMPIC BOXER DEEMED TO HAVE MALE CHROMOSOMES WINS FIGHT IN 46 SECONDS, OPPONENT LEFT IN TEARS AFTER HARD HITS

Parent Rally (Courtesy of Becket)

Parental rights have long been a hot-button issue in the culture war. Last week, a conservative think tank launched an eight-figure effort to highlight VP Kamala Harris’ “extremist” record on parental rights and transgender issues.

Also last week, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California signed into law a controversial mandate that bans schools in the state from being forced to notify parents if their child uses pronouns or a gender identity opposite their biological sex. 

Fox News Digital’s Kendall Tietz contributed to this report. 

The United States Secret Service leadership are the “kings of cover-up,” an inside source claims.

A veteran agent of the United States Secret Service (USSS) spoke with Fox News Digital about the management of the agency and what he sees as the source of its failures to prevent the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

“The three things that failed us in Butler were lack of communication, which is a leadership issue, lack of personnel, which is a leadership issue, and lack of use of technology, which is also a leadership issue.”

SENATORS ACCUSE SECRET SERVICE OF TRYING TO MAKE LOCAL POLICE A ‘SCAPEGOAT’ FOLLOWING TRUMP RALLY SHOOTING

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is shown surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents following the assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The agent, who spoke with Fox News Digital on the condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation from his superiors, defended the USSS personnel on the ground in Butler, saying that “the people that need to be fired are the people in leadership.”

Acting USSS Director Ronald Rowe, during his Capitol Hill testimony on Tuesday, appeared to blame local police for not seeing Crooks on top of the building from which he ultimately fired from. However, on Wednesday, the district attorney of Butler County disputed Rowe’s account and told Fox News that local snipers were not responsible for monitoring that rooftop. 

“I think they’re looking for a scapegoat,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told The Washington Times following Rowe’s testimony. 

WHISTLEBLOWER ACCUSES ACTING SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR OF REDUCING COUNTER SURVEILLANCE BEFORE TRUMP SHOOTING

U.S. Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe, testifies before a Joint Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing examining the security failures leading to the assassination attempt on Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

“This has a lot of CYA [cover your a–] feel to it,” added Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. 

The veteran agent told Fox News Digital that the agency is experiencing serious recruitment problems, calling the USSS “horrible at retention and horrible at hiring.”

He said, “We have people on the job capable of doing it, but they want to do things their ignorant ways. There’s a bit of cockiness to it, if you will.”

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A U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division police car parked in front of the White House in Washington, D.C. (Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A new poll has revealed that most Americans don’t trust the Secret Service to keep presidential candidates safe from violence in the wake of the Trump rally shooting in Pennsylvania three weeks ago. 

The survey, by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, found that about seven in 10 Americans think the Secret Service bears at least a moderate amount of responsibility for the assassination attempt, while half of Americans think local law enforcement in Pennsylvania had at least a moderate amount of responsibility, according to the poll. 

Only about one-third of Americans said they are extremely or very confident that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service, will conduct a full and fair investigation of the Trump assassination attempt. 

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: Republican lawmakers are raising concerns about a new “parole in place” scheme to protect illegal immigrant spouses of citizens from deportation — warning that it could be accompanied by a spike in marriage fraud.

In a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, obtained by Fox News Digital, 10 lawmakers led by Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., say that the expansion of parole “is likely to result in the growth of an existing international criminal network used to allow aliens to illegally enter the country through fraudulent marriages, including individuals connected with terrorist organizations.”

The Biden administration announced the new process in June, that allows noncitizen spouses who have lived in the U.S. for 10 years and are judged not to pose a threat to public safety or national security to apply for permanent residency.

VANCE BORDER SPEECH HITS HARRIS IN LATEST BARRAGE OF ATTACKS BETWEEN CAMPAIGNS ON MIGRANT CRISIS

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 31: House Oversight Committee member Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) talks to reporters as he departs the ONeill House Office Building on Capitol Hill on July 31, 2023 in Washington, DC. The committee heard closed-door testimony from Hunter Biden’s former business partner Devon Archer.  (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

DHS estimates that it will affect approximately 500,000 illegal immigrants. The process would not be eligible for new arrivals, as they must be in the U.S. for more than 10 years by June 2024.

But the lawmakers note that marriage fraud has been a major avenue used for illegal immigrants, and is often organized by criminal groups.

“Marriage fraud is also known to be a tool used by terrorist organizations. Members of both Al Qaeda and Hezbollah have used marriage fraud to allow their members to enter the United States under the guise of legitimacy,” they note.

“Since the criminal mechanisms for large scale marriage fraud for illegal aliens already exist, we are greatly concerned that the announced plans to parole certain aliens based on marriage status to American citizens will only exacerbate the current problem with detecting fraudulent marriages,” they say.

2024 SHOWDOWN: TRUMP CAMPAIGN REJOICES AFTER HARRIS LEANS IN ON KEY ISSUE HAUNTING HER VICE PRESIDENCY

The lawmakers ask DHS how many cases it identifies of marriage fraud each year, the processes for identifying fraud and whether DHS anticipates instances of fraud will increase due to the new parole program.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

They also ask whether there is consideration that some of those who qualify may qualify only because they are in a fraudulent marriage, and whether DHS is planning on implementing further measures to detect fraud.

The letter is the latest concern raised about the use of parole by the Biden administration. Republicans have said they believe the parole system is being abused by the administration and that the authority only allows it to be used on a case by case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.

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The Biden administration says it is expanding lawful pathways for migrants, in part due to the lack of funding and reform passed by Congress and as a way to bring order to the border and to discourage illegal immigration.

Fox News Digital reached out to DHS for comment.