NationalWatch

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, was among a number of Republican lawmakers who reacted to acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe’s press conference Friday about the assassination attempt on former President Trump at a rally in July. Lee said he believes there’s more to the story than what Rowe told reporters. 

“It is clear that the American people still have not been given the full story,” Lee told Fox News Digital in a statement. “From the beginning, rally attendees and people with cellphone footage seem to have been more invested in stopping the shooter and figuring out what happened than the Secret Service itself. It is shocking that more officials have not been held accountable.”

Lee added that he would “not stop hounding” the Secret Service for “this egregious failure.”

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said there was “clearly a cover-up.” 

TRUMP RALLY VIDEO AFFIRMS SECRET SERVICE ‘FAILURE’ AFTER FIGURE SEEN ON ROOF BEFORE SHOOTING: ACTING DIRECTOR

Acting U.S. Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe addresses reporters’ questions during a news conference Friday. (Fox News )

“I do not believe acting Director Rowe was forthcoming, as the government rarely admits to being wrong,” Johnson told Fox News Digital. “I suspect that Rowe knows precisely who was responsible for this massive security failure and that this is clearly a cover-up. We need a detailed investigation and transcribed interviews to uncover the truth.”

Only three in 10 Americans are extremely or very confident the Secret Service can keep presidential candidates safe since Trump’s assassination attempt, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. 

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital he appreciated Rowe’s willingness to hold the press conference. 

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, speaks during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee joint hearing Tuesday. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“It’s obvious that this was an epic failure by the leadership of the Secret Service and DHS, whose main responsibility was to protect President Trump at this rally,” Scott said. “Since the shooting, it seemed we got new information from outside sources but nothing from the agencies investigating this failure. So, I appreciate acting Director Rowe’s decision to give an update to the American people in a press conference today, and I encourage him to continue.”

He added that the FBI must follow suit.

“Unless we start getting daily press conferences, conspiracy and rumor will run wild, and trust will permanently disappear,” he said. “The American people still have unanswered questions, and they want to know people are being held accountable for the admitted failures.” 

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital he appreciated Rowe’s willingness to meet with reporters Friday.  (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Miss., reacted on social media Friday to a reporter writing about Rowe insisting the Secret Service didn’t know the shooter had a gun until he started firing. 

“But Secret Service was IN CHARGE of this event, and in charge of local law enforcement,” Hawley wrote on X. “USSS lack of knowledge about events transpiring over nearly *two hours* at their own event is inexcusable.”

TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

During Friday afternoon’s press conference, Rowe gave updates on the investigation into the ill-fated Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, saying the Secret Service takes “full responsibility” for the security “failure” when Thomas Matthew Crooks shot Trump in the ear. 

Former President Trump was shot in the ear while speaking at a rally in Butler, Pa., July 13.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

A rallygoer, Corey Comperatore, was killed in the shooting, and two others were critically injured. 

“The Secret Service takes full responsibility for the tragic events of July 13. This was a mission failure. The sole responsibility of our agency is to make sure our protectees are never put in danger. We fell short of that in Butler, and I’m working to make sure that this failure does not happen again,” Rowe said Friday. 

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said he thought there was “clearly a cover-up.”  (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

He pledged to fully cooperate with congressional oversight investigations and an independent review ordered by President Biden. The Secret Service is also conducting its own internal review. 

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“If policy violations by Secret Service personnel are identified by the agency’s mission assurance review, those individuals will be held accountable, and they will be held accountable to our fair and thorough disciplinary process,” Rowe said.

Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.

Less than 12 hours after his initial post on X, Kyle Rittenhouse took back his comment saying he was going to write in Ron Paul because “Trump was not pro-gun enough.”

“Hi, I’m Kyle Rittenhouse, outreach director for Texas Gun Rights. A lot of people are upset that I said that I am going to be writing in Ron Paul for President of the United States, and that is true. I will be writing in Ron Paul,” Rittenhouse posted in a video on his X account.

Rittenhouse continued his video by explaining his reasoning for not backing Donald Trump for president.

“Unfortunately, Donald Trump had bad advisors making him bad on the Second Amendment and that is my issue. If you can not be completely uncompromisable on the Second Amendment, I will not vote for you and I will write somebody else in,” Rittenhouse vowed. “We need champions for the Second Amendment or our rights will be eaten away and eroded each day. I support my decision and I have no takebacks.” 

SOTOMAYOR FACES BACKLASH FOR GUN RIGHTS VIEWS AFTER BODYGUARDS SHOOT WOULD-BE CARJACKER: ‘INCREDIBLY IRONIC’

Rittenhouse commented on the post, “You must stand by your principles.”

He then made another post saying “No compromise means no compromise.” 

However, less than 12 hours later, Rittenhouse pinned a new post to the top of his X account claiming he had talked to Trump’s team and was taking back his comments.

“Over the past 12 hours, I’ve had a series of productive conversations with members of the Trump’s team and I am confident he will be the strong ally gun owners need to defend our Second Amendment rights,” Rittenhouse said.

PROTESTERS DISRUPT KYLE RITTENHOUSE TPUSA EVENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS: ‘NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE’

“My comments made last night were ill-informed and unproductive. I’m 100% behind Donald Trump and encourage every gun owner to join me in helping send him back to the White House,” he continued. 

Ron Paul is a retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas’s 22nd congressional district from 1975 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, as well as for Texas’s 14th congressional district from 1997 to 2013, according to his biography on the Congress website.

Rittenhouse made national headlines after he fatally shot two people and injured a third person during the second night of civil unrest in Kenosha on Aug. 25, 2020. 

His attorneys argued that the then-17-year-old was acting in self-defense after being attacked from behind when he shot Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26 in the riots following the police shooting of a 29-year-old Black man, Jacob Blake. Rosenbaum and Huber died.

SECOND AMENDMENT FIGHT: GUN RIGHTS GROUP SUES TO BLOCK NEW YORK’S BODY ARMOR BAN

Donald Trump on Hannity: comments after meeting with Kyle Rittenhouse (Fox News)

Jurors in Kenosha, Wisconsin, declared Rittenhouse not guilty on all counts back in 2021. Rittenhouse would have faced a mandatory life sentence if found guilty and convicted of first-degree intentional homicide.

President Biden claimed he “didn’t watch the trial” but stands by “what the jury has concluded.”

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“While the verdict in Kenosha will leave many Americans feeling angry and concerned, myself included, we must acknowledge that the jury has spoken. I ran on a promise to bring Americans together, because I believe that what unites us is far greater than what divides us,” Biden said in a previous statement following the verdict. “I know that we’re not going to heal our country’s wounds overnight, but I remain steadfast in my commitment to do everything in my power to ensure that every American is treated equally, with fairness and dignity, under the law.”

He added that “violence and destruction of property have no place in our democracy.”

Fox News’ Audrey Conklin, Jiovanni Lieggi and Peter Doocy contributed to this report.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., who is a top contender to be Vice President Kamala Harris‘ running mate in the 2024 election, dodged several questions about recent policy reversals by the Democratic presidential nominee.

When the senator was confronted with several of Harris’ past stances, including her support for Medicare for migrants, decriminalizing illegal border crossings, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and banning fracking, he did not say whether he agreed with those ideas. 

“So I’ve been working on this issue now for three and a half years,” Kelly told FOX Business on Thursday in response to questions on Harris’ previous immigration stances. “I am a border senator. I’ve got—I’m on the phone all the time with sheriffs, mayors—I work with them. I work with this administration.”

HARRIS’ BORDER REMARKS HAUNT DOWN-BALLOT DEMS AS LAKE AD PREVIEWS GOP GENERAL ELECTION STRATEGY

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., would not respond to questions about radical previous policy positions held by Vice President Kamala Harris. (Getty Images)

“I mean, and my border mayors, many of them, really appreciate the steps that the administration has taken. What they don’t appreciate is the Republicans in the United States Senate doing the bidding of Donald Trump just for an election,” he added. 

Pressed again on whether he supported Harris’ previously vocalized stances on Medicare for illegal immigrants, decriminalizing border crossings and abolishing ICE, Kelly refused to answer. 

In 2019, during Harris’ failed bid for Democratic presidential nominee in 2020, she was asked if she would support Medicare for all, including those in the country illegally. “I’m opposed to any policy that would deny in our country any human being from access to public safety, public education or public health, period,” Harris answered. 

REPUBLICANS LAMBASTE BIDEN FOR ISRAEL WEAPONS DELAYS: ‘STOP ACCOMMODATING IRAN’

A group of over 100 migrants attempting to enter the U.S. illegally rush a border wall in El Paso, Texas, on March 21.  (James Breeden for New York Post / Mega)

She also told the hosts of “The View” during her primary campaign, “I am in favor of saying that we are not going to treat people who are undocumented and cross the border as criminals.”

Further, when Harris was pressed on calls to abolish ICE in her party in 2019, she said, “I think there is no question that we’ve got to critically reexamine ICE and its role and the way it is being administered and the work it is doing.”

“We need to probably even think about starting from scratch,” she added. 

Harris has since reneged on her support for Medicare for all and has appeared to embrace a more moderate Democratic stance on ICE, border security and the criminalization of border crossers during her time in the Biden administration. She expressed support for the bipartisan negotiated border security bill, ultimately opposed by Republicans, and her campaign said that recent executive actions related to limiting asylum would continue in her administration. 

According to Kelly, he “absolutely” approves of Harris’ handling of the border in her capacity as vice president. 

“And on the border with the executive actions that we now have. Absolutely,” he said. 

‘NO KINGS ACT’: SCHUMER ADVANCES BIDEN SCOTUS OVERHAUL WITH BILL TO STRIP TRUMP’S IMMUNITY

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)

When asked for his response to Harris backtracking on her past support for a ban on fracking, Kelly refused to respond to Fox News Digital. 

The Harris campaign recently claimed she no longer supports a ban on fracking, with a spokesperson stating, “Trump’s false claims about fracking bans are an obvious attempt to distract from his own plans to enrich oil and gas executives at the expense of the middle class.”

‘DANGEROUS MESSAGE’: TOP REPUBLICAN RAISES CONCERNS OVER TRADING AMERICANS FOR ‘ACTUAL RUSSIAN CRIMINALS’

Kelly is one of many candidates being vetted to be Harris’ vice presidential running mate.  (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

“This Administration created 300,000 energy jobs, while Trump lost nearly a million and his Project 2025 would undo the enormous progress we’ve made the past four years,” they added.

Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, accounts for two-thirds of marketed natural gas production and roughly half of crude oil production in the U.S., according to the American Petroleum Institute. 

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“There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking,” Harris said in 2019 during her bid to be the Democratic presidential nominee in 2020. 

Neither Kelly’s office nor the Harris campaign provided comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication. 

Harris is expected to announce her chosen running mate by Tuesday, when she will begin a four-day battleground state tour beginning in Philadelphia. 

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

A video posted by Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker appearing to suggest Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Penn., is Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate has caused a social media frenzy as users speculate whether the post was an accidental leak. 

In the Friday afternoon post on X, Parker reiterated her support for Harris’ campaign, but also for Shapiro as her vice presidential pick, despite Harris not having announced her chosen running mate yet. 

REPUBLICANS LAMBASTE BIDEN FOR ISRAEL WEAPONS DELAYS: ‘STOP ACCOMMODATING IRAN’

Harris has yet to announce her running mate. (RYAN COLLERD/AFP via Getty Images)

“And I cannot think of a better partner than our governor, Josh Shapiro,” the mayor said in the video. 

The post read, “Proud to be back with so many leaders from across our region supporting @KamalaHarris for President and @JoshShapiroPA for VP! We are One CITY, One REGION, and ONE Commonwealth United!”

‘NO KINGS ACT’: SCHUMER ADVANCES BIDEN SCOTUS OVERHAUL WITH BILL TO STRIP TRUMP’S IMMUNITY

While social media users were quick to speculate the post was leaked by a staffer accidentally, revealing the much-anticipated selection of the vice president’s running mate, a source familiar with Parker’s political operation denied this. 

The source told Fox News Digital the video was posted purposely as an endorsement of her longtime friend and hometown governor Josh Shapiro as he’s being considered to be Harris’ running mate. 

‘DANGEROUS MESSAGE’: TOP REPUBLICAN RAISES CONCERNS OVER TRADING AMERICANS FOR ‘ACTUAL RUSSIAN CRIMINALS’

Parker posted the video on Friday afternoon. (AP)

Shapiro is in consideration to be Harris’ running mate, alongside several others, including Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Govs. Tim Walz, D-Minn., and Andy Beshear, D-Ky., and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. 

The campaign has yet to announce her pick, but the reveal is expected imminently as the chosen running mate is slated to join her next week on a four-day battleground state tour that begins in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. 

HARRIS’ BORDER REMARKS HAUNT DOWN-BALLOT DEMS AS LAKE AD PREVIEWS GOP GENERAL ELECTION STRATEGY

Shapiro is on Harris’ shortlist for running mate. (Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images)

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In a statement, a Harris campaign spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “Vice President Harris has directed her team to begin the process of vetting potential running mates. That process has begun in earnest and we do not expect to have additional updates until the Vice President announces who will be serving as her running mate and as the next Vice President of the United States.” 

A spokesperson for Shapiro declined to comment to Fox News Digital. 

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

Former President Trump was afforded extra protection the day his ear was grazed by a bullet, according to a top security official. 

“It was the first time Secret Service counter snipers were deployed to support the former president’s detail,” Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe Jr. revealed during a press conference Friday afternoon.

“The former president at campaign rallies has actually been getting state and local resources — tactical assets, counter snipers from state and locals. So, with respect to why they were there in Butler, we evaluate our threat landscape every day. We calibrate based on that threat. We evaluated a threat stream that we have, and we put our Secret Service counter sniper personnel out there.”

Trump was shot in the ear by 20-year-old Thomas Crooks while speaking during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13.

VIDEO FROM TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT VICTIM’S POV SHOWS FIGURE MOVING ON ROOF MOMENTS BEFORE GUNFIRE

Former President Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, reacts as multiple shots rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pa., July 13, 2024.  (Reuters/Brendan McDermid)

Since the shooting, various new details have emerged regarding the event, including texts that showed officers were aware of Crooks 90 minutes before the shooting.

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT VICTIM JAMES COPENHAVER ‘SAD’ WITH STATE OF ‘POLITICAL DIVISION’ IN US

Soon after, the House of Representatives held a hearing to question Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, who stepped down due to mounting pressure from both Democrats and Republicans.  

Following the hearing, the House launched a bipartisan task force to further investigate the assassination attempt. The task force is led by Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., whose district includes the site of the shooting, and Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., a retired Army Ranger.

Former President Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, is rushed offstage during a rally July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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The panel also includes several other members, including Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn.; Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla.; Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa.; and Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md.

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

What’s happening…

-Harris blames Trump for jobs report four years into Biden’s presidency

-House committee launches an investigation into 9/11 terrorist’s plea deal

-Republicans blast Biden’s Israel weapons delays

Too late for shenanigans, it’s Kamala

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.

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…Read more

Vice President Kamala Harris attends an infrastructure event addressing high speed internet in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building’s South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington, June 3, 2021.  (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)

White House

MIGRANTS ON HOLD: Biden admin freezes controversial flight program after fraud revelations …Read more

BLAME GAME: Kamala Harris blames Trump for latest dreadful jobs report nearly a full term after he left office …Read more

TROUBLED TESTIMONY: Hallie Biden, the ex of Hunter Biden, ordered to testify at Hunter Biden’s tax trial, granted immunity …Read more

Capitol Hill

‘PASSAGE OF TIME 2.0’: Harris ripped for repetition in unscripted remarks …Read more

‘NOT ABOUT ME’: GOP military veteran reveals key component he says Trump task force is missing …Read more

‘UNCONSCIONABLE’: Major House committee launches probe into 9/11 plotters’ plea deal …Read more

‘STOP ACCOMMODATING IRAN’: Republicans lambaste Biden for Israel weapons delays …Read more

‘COME TOGETHER’: Top Dem on Trump shooting task force denies his past work as impeachment manager won’t politicize probe …Read more

Rep. Jason Crow spoke with Fox News Digital about his role on the bipartisan House task force to investigate the attempted assassination of former President Trump. (Getty Images)

Tales from the Trail

‘F—— IDIOTS’: Carville says he wishes Harris would tell far left to ‘go f— themselves’ …Read more

BIDEN’S CO-PILOT: Trump campaign says Harris is ‘Biden’s co-pilot’ on ‘Bidenomics’ amid woeful jobs numbers …Read more

SEALING THE DEAL: Harris secures enough delegates to be Democratic nominee, party says …Read more

Across America

‘PAY A PRICE”: WSJ urges stronger stance on hostage takers after Gershkovich release …Read more

POP THE CHAMPAGNE: Journalism community celebrates news that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is coming home …Read more

FAMILY’S GRIEF: Mother of slain nursing student Laken Riley left hearing in tears …Read more

CONFIDENCE PLUNGES: Poll: Americans don’t trust Secret Service protection …Read more

Subscribe now to get the Fox News Politics newsletter in your inbox.

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

EXCLUSIVE: A retired Green Beret appointed to the House task force investigating the attempted assassination of former President Trump is questioning whether U.S. Secret Service (USSS) leaders denied multiple requests for more security over funding concerns.

Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital his sources within USSS were “frustrated” with their leaders, including how they’ve handled the fallout since Trump’s July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Waltz suggested he was told Trump had been getting the normal level of protection for a former president, but that USSS leadership was hesitant to grant requests for added security for all of his campaign events as a major party candidate for re-election.

“What I was initially told was that kind of the atmosphere … the leadership wouldn’t say it explicitly, but the tone and the tenor they got back was, ‘We’re not going to burn through our budget — all the extra overtime, all the extra travel, all these extra agents and resources — so that Trump can have all of these rallies every week,'” Waltz said. “That was really, you know, the kind of message they were getting back.

TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Republican candidate Donald Trump with blood on his face surrounded by Secret Service agents as he is taken off the stage at a campaign event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pa., July 13, 2024. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)

“If that’s the case, that is highly politicized and highly dangerous. If they needed more resources, they should have come to the Congress and asked for it, because you’ve got a very active former president who — oh, by the way — is also a candidate.

“You can’t just go to, you know, your standard operating procedures for, say, a Jimmy Carter who’s sitting in an old folks’ home. And so I’m really interested in getting to the bottom of how that happened.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and USSS for comment.

Waltz told Fox News Digital he’s also interested in finding out whether the funding issue led to other potential incidents with Trump during the course of the House’s investigation. He said it was one of “three buckets” of information he’s looking to explore.

VIDEO FROM TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT VICTIM’S POV SHOWS FIGURE MOVING ON ROOF MOMENTS BEFORE GUNFIRE

Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., is one of 13 House lawmakers on a bipartisan panel to investigate the Trump shooting (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“From what agents are telling me, he was assigned the same detail a former president would get to, say, Jimmy Carter or [George W. Bush]. Well, he’s obviously not your average former president. And they’re telling me they were repeatedly denied additional resources,” Waltz said.

“So, were there other near misses? Were there other major, you know, violations or security incidences at his residences, for example?”

A 20-year-old gunman opened fire on Trump’s July 13 rally from a rooftop just outside the event’s security perimeter, killing one rally attendee and injuring two others. The former president was shot in the ear and hastily evacuated by USSS agents.

It’s spurred several probes, including multiple congressional investigations, into security failures that day. The fallout also forced the resignation of former USSS Director Kimberly Cheatle, who was replaced by acting Director Ronald Rowe.

Multiple reports indicated last month that the Trump campaign was denied requests for added security for various events prior to the rally shooting due to a lack of resources.

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT VICTIM JAMES COPENHAVER ‘SAD’ WITH STATE OF ‘POLITICAL DIVISION’ IN US

Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries commissioned the task force in a bipartisan effort. (Getty Images)

USSS spokesman Anthony Guglielmi did not dispute those reports in a statement he made to The Washington Post in late July.

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“The Secret Service has a vast, dynamic and intricate mission. Every day we work in a dynamic threat environment to ensure our protectees are safe and secure across multiple events, travel and other challenging environments. We execute a comprehensive and layered strategy to balance personnel, technology and specialized operational needs,” he said.

“In some instances where specific Secret Service specialized units or resources were not provided, the agency made modifications to ensure the security of the protectee. This may include utilizing state or local partners to provide specialized functions or otherwise identifying alternatives to reduce public exposure of a protectee.”

EXCLUSIVE: A deep-pocketed outside political committee that supports former President Trump’s White House campaign is taking aim at Vice President Kamala Harris over the issue of border security.

“America needs a commander-in-chief who’s tough on illegal immigration. Kamala Harris fails that test,” National Border Patrol Council vice president Art Del Cueto charges in a new ad from the Preserve America super PAC.

The spot, shared first with Fox News Digital on Friday, is the latest by either the Trump campaign or aligned super PACs that target Harris for being weak on border security, which many Republicans see as the vice president’s political Achilles’ heel.

HARRIS LEANS IN ON BORDER SECURITY AND TRUMP RELISHES THE FIGHT

Trump and his allies have repeatedly criticized Harris for nearly two weeks — since she replaced President Biden at the top of the Democrats’ national ticket — over the surge of migrants across the nation’s southern border during the Biden administration.

Harris was tasked by Biden in 2021 with leading the diplomatic outreach to tackle the “root causes” of migration in Central American countries. It led to her being dubbed the “border czar” both by the media and Republican opponents, although the White House has rejected that description.

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

Del Cueto — who has endorsed the former president and who joined Trump running mate Sen. J.D. Vance at a campaign event Thursday along the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona — calls Harris “Biden’s border czar” in the ad, which was filmed along the southern border.

Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, addresses the media during his visit to the U.S.-Mexico border in Hereford, Arizona, on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024.  (Grace Trejo/Arizona Daily Star via AP)

“She supported sanctuary cities and taxpayer benefits for illegal immigrants. And she created the worst border crisis in American history. Kamala Harris is dangerous,” he argued. 

The spot also includes a Harris interview on “The View” from August 2019 — when she was running unsucessfully for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination — in which she said, “We are not going to treat people who are undocumented cross the border as criminals. That is correct.”

The ad is the second straight one from Preserve America to criticize Harris over border security. The group tells Fox News that it is spending at least $10 million to run the spots from the Olympics through Labor Day as part of an ad blitz in the key battlegrounds of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Preserve America was set up during Trump’s unsuccessful 2020 re-election bid and was re-launched this spring to help the former president try to win back the White House in 2024.

REPUBLICAN MEGA DONOR BANKROLLING TRUMP-ALIGNED GROUP

Multi-billionaire Miriam Adelson, the controlling shareholder of the Las Vegas Sands gambling empire, is helping to bankroll the super PAC’s efforts, a source with knowledge of her plans confirmed to Fox News a couple of months ago.

Adelson and her late husband, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, shelled out roughly $90 million to Preserve America four years ago. Sources indicated that the super PAC plans to increase its expenditures from what it spent in 2020 on behalf of Trump.

Harris has been pushing back on the border security attacks as she leans in on the issue.

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

“In this campaign, I will proudly put my record against his,” Harris said at a rally in Atlanta on Tuesday before highlighting her border security efforts as California attorney general.

The vice president argued that Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, “has been talking a big game about securing our border, but he does not walk the walk.”

She pointed to a border security bill with some bipartisan support that had been making its way through Congress earlier this year before Republicans turned against the measure after prompting from Trump.

“It was all set to pass, but at the last minute Trump directed his allies in the Senate to vote it down,” Harris said. 

She charged that the former president “tanked the bipartisan deal because he thought it would help him win an election” and pledged that “as the president, I will bring back the border security bill that Donald Trump killed.”

Vice President Kamala Harris and migrants at the southern border. ( (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images and Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images))

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The Trump campaign quickly took to social media to respond to the comments by the vice president at her rally.

“Kamala is actually *BRAGGING* about her record on immigration. HERE ARE THE FACTS: As Border Czar, Kamala ferried 15+ million illegals directly into our communities. She thinks illegal immigration “is NOT a crime.” She wants to abolish ICE. She thinks you’re stupid,” the Trump campaign claimed.

Hours earlier, the Trump campaign — in its first major ad blitz of the general election — charged that Harris had “failed us” in securing the border.

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

The Trump campaign is calling Vice President Kamala Harris President Biden’s “co-pilot” in the “Bidenomics” that led to the poor July jobs numbers, which brought the unemployment rate in the U.S. to the highest level in nearly three years. 

The U.S. Department of Labor 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 JOB GROWTH SLOWS TO 114K IN JULY WHILE UNEMPLOYMENT UNEXPECTEDLY JUMPS

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

Both the Trump and Harris 2024 campaigns have put out ads attacking each other for their U.S. southern border policies. (Getty Images)

“Kamala Harris has proudly and repeatedly celebrated her role as Joe Biden’s co-pilot on ‘Bidenomics,'” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday. “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.” 

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

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. 

Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump reacts during the CNN Presidential Debate at the CNN Studios on June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The weaker-than-expected data also raised questions about whether the Federal Reserve 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. 

ONE OF THESE FIVE 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). 

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

Vice President Kamala Harris is pictured during a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisc., on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. 

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.

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

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“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.” 

Fox Business’ Megan Henney contributed to this report. 

Several of Vice President Kamala Harris’ top candidates for vice president have cleared their schedules ahead of her highly anticipated running mate announcement.

Govs. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Andy Beshear of Kentucky, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg – the three candidates on Harris’ shortlist for vice president, all made scheduling changes ahead of the weekend.

Shapiro was originally scheduled to make three appearances at weekend fundraising events in the Hamptons in New York, but his spokesperson said his schedule has since changed.

“The governor’s trip was planned several weeks ago and included several fundraisers for his own campaign committee,” Manuel Bonder, a spokesman for Shapiro, told The New York Times. “His schedule has changed, and he is no longer traveling to the Hamptons this weekend.”

MOST FAVORED CANDIDATE OF HARRIS’ VP SHORTLIST UNVEILED IN NEW POLL

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

Beshear will also be missing two events over the weekend: a Jackson Purchase Distillery visit on Friday and the state’s annual Fancy Farm Picnic on Saturday.

WHITE HOUSE, HARRIS SILENT ON OLYMPICS GENDER CONTROVERSY AS TRUMP VOWS TO ‘PROTECT WOMEN AND GIRLS’

Fox News Digital reached out to the Kentucky governor’s office asking the reasoning behind not attending the events but did not receive a response.

Gov. Andy Beshear cleared some time from his schedule this weekend. (Timothy D. Easley, File)

Additionally, Buttigieg shortened an event on Friday at Ivy Tech Community College Kokomo, according to Politico.

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Harris will hold her first public appearance with her running mate on Tuesday in Philadelphia to kick off a four-day, battleground state tour.

FIRST ON FOX: Then-Sen. Kamala Harris’ 2019 presidential campaign website linked to a study touting what it called the “electoral implications” of not deporting some illegal immigrants, saying that the policy “could provide sizable contributions to the margin of victory in swing states.”

Harris’ campaign website touted a “new roadmap to citizenship for Dreamers,” referring to illegal immigrants who came to the country as children. Her plan called for a pathway to citizenship for those who entered the U.S. illegally and protection from deportation for illegal immigrant parents of U.S. citizens and green card holders.

“We estimate the plan will protect over 6 million immigrants from deportation, add up to $445 billion to U.S. GDP over ten years, and provide America’s 2.1 million Dreamers a path to citizenship if they have a congressionally-required family- or employment-based grounds to adjust status,” her website said.

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

Vice President Kamala Harris has frequently called for a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. (Leigh Vogel/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

That paragraph linked to two studies by the Center for American Progress, including one that looked at the Obama-era Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents [DAPA] program. DAPA, the companion of a similar program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, for those who came as children, was subsequently found to be unconstitutional.

However, the 2015 study touted not only the economic benefits of DAPA, but also the “electoral implications” of protecting them from deportation.

“Implementing DAPA is not only the right thing to do for families and the economy—it also has key electoral implications,” the study said.

It went on to say that there are 3.7 million people who would benefit from DAPA, who have 5.5 million U.S. citizen children.

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

Migrants walk along the highway through Suchiate, Chiapas state in southern Mexico, on Sunday, July 21, 2024 during their journey north toward the U.S. border. (AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente)

“More than half a million of these children – nearly 600,000 – are currently of voting age, and 1.7 million will be of voting age by the 2020 presidential election. These numbers could provide sizable contributions to the margin of victory in swing states,” it says.

“In Florida during the 2012 presidential election, for example, these new voters would have comprised 70 percent of the margin of victory; in North Carolina, they would have represented one-third of the margin of victory. These figures do not take into account other citizen members of “mixed-status” households that include DAPA-eligible individuals—voters who would also feel the effect of DAPA implementation,” it says.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

Harris has continued to support various protections and pathways to citizenship for illegal immigrants. The Biden administration, on day one in office, introduced legislation that would grant a pathway to citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants already in the U.S.

In a statement in June, she said that “there is more work to be done to fix our broken immigration system.”

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“That includes the need for a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. President Biden and I continue to call on the United States Congress to join us in acting by passing permanent protections for Dreamers,” she said.

The Harris campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

A New York appeals court on Thursday denied former President Trump’s request to lift the remaining portions of the gag order imposed upon him in New York v. Trump. 

Trump was found guilty on all counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. The former president and Republican presidential nominee had pleaded not guilty. He is appealing the ruling and has asked Judge Juan Merchan to overturn the jury’s verdict. 

In March, weeks before the trial began, Merchan imposed a gag order on Trump to limit his ability to make certain public statements about court staff, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s staff, and family members of the court and prosecutors. The order also prevented Trump from speaking about witnesses. 

Trump had repeatedly appealed the gag order, urging for it to be overturned and arguing that it violated his First Amendment rights. 

TRUMP REQUESTS NY JUDGE OVERTURN GUILTY VERDICT, INDICTMENT AFTER SCOTUS IMMUNITY RULING

Former President Donald Trump gestures as U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, Republican vice presidential candidate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and his wife Kelly Johnson watch during the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Monday, July 15, 2024.  (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

With the most recent denial, the gag order remains in place.

Trump was set to be sentenced on July 11 — days before the Republican National Convention — but requested that it be delayed following the Supreme Court’s ruling on the issue of presidential immunity. 

NEW YORK V. TRUMP: MERCHAN DELAYS SENTENCING HEARING UNTIL SEPTEMBER

The Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. United States that a former president has substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts in office but not for unofficial acts. The high court said Trump is immune from criminal prosecution for “official acts” but left it to the lower court to determine exactly where the line between official and unofficial is.

“The President therefore may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and he is entitled, at a minimum, to a presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts,” the majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts states. “That immunity applies equally to all occupants of the Oval Office, regardless of politics, policy, or party.”

TRUMP TOUTS SUPREME COURT’S PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY RULING AS ‘BIG WIN FOR OUR CONSTITUTION AND FOR DEMOCRACY’

The question of presidential immunity stemmed from special counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 case against Trump. Trump pleaded not guilty to those charges. That trial was put on hold in a lower court pending the Supreme Court’s ruling, which wiped out any charges related to official presidential acts.

Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg.  (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Judge Juan Merchan agreed to delay and said that a hearing on Trump’s potential sentencing would take place Sept. 18. 

But days later, Trump’s lawyers asked Merchan to overturn the former president’s guilty verdict in New York v. Trump.

Trump attorneys cited the Supreme Court ruling, saying the court should “dismiss the indictment and vacate the jury’s verdict based on violations of the Presidential immunity doctrine and the Supremacy Clause.” In the formal motion, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche pointed to the Supreme Court’s immunity decision and argued that certain evidence of “official acts” should not have been admitted during the trial.

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Specifically, Blanche argued that testimony from former White House officials and employees was inappropriately admitted during trial. 

Blanche argued that Bragg “violated the Presidential immunity doctrine by using similar official-acts evidence in the grand jury proceedings that gave rise to the politically motivated charges in this case.” 

A ruling on the motion is pending. 

Ohio Sen. JD Vance’s “Hillbilly Elegy” returned to the top spot as the No. 1 bestselling book in the U.S. this week — and sources close to the campaign told Fox News Digital it shows that voters are interested in getting to know former President Trump’s running mate.

Vance’s memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” which was originally published in June 2016, reclaimed the top spot on major bestseller lists this week, including The New York Times, Publisher’s Weekly and USA Today. 

JD VANCE SAYS ‘ANTI-FAMILY’ DEMS TOOK ‘CHILDLESS CAT LADY’ REMARK OUT OF CONTEXT: ‘LIE OF THE LEFT’

A film adaption of the memoir, released in 2020, also has seen an uptick in viewership since Trump named Vance his running mate. The film has shot up to the No. 9 spot on Netflix’s list of top 10 movies. A source familiar told Fox News Digital that viewers have watched nearly six million hours of the film. 

Vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, hugs his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 17. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Vance’s commercial success comes as pundits and many on the left have criticized him in recent days about a 2021 comment he made about women without children. 

But a source close to the Trump campaign said the renewed success of “Hillbilly Elegy” just shows that “everyday Americans are rushing to get copies of his personal memoir to get to know the man based on his own words — without any media filter.” 

“The mainstream media has been pulling their hair out, insisting JD Vance had a historically bad week on the campaign trail,” said a source close to the Trump campaign. “In reality, millions of people who have completely lost faith in the media have rushed to buy copies of ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ or gathered with their family to watch the movie at home.” 

TRUMP SENIOR CAMPAIGN ADVISOR SLAMS LEFT: TAKING VANCE’S ‘CAT LADY’ COMMENTS ‘BLATANTLY OUT OF CONTEXT’

Former President Trump and Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, applaud during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 16. (Reuters/Callaghan O’hare)

More recently, Vance has dealt with headaches as an interview from 2021 resurfaced, in which he said, “We are effectively run in this country, via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made, and so they wanna make the rest of the country miserable, too.”

He then specifically called out Vice President Kamala Harris and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., as being part of this group in that interview.

This week, the Harris campaign and various other prominent Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, actress Jennifer Aniston and others, blasted Vance, accusing him of devaluing women that don’t have children or can’t have them under normal circumstances. 

Vance has said Democrats have taken his comments “out of context and blow it out of proportion, which is what they always do because they don’t have an agenda to run on themselves.” 

Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, arrives on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 15. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

VANCE RIPS HARRIS FOR QUESTIONING HIS LOYALTY TO AMERICA: ‘WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE?’

A Vance spokesperson told Fox News Digital that “the leftwing media have twisted Senator Vance’s words and spun up a false narrative about his position on the issues.” 

“As he clearly stated, he was talking about politicians on the left who support policies that are explicitly anti-child and anti-family,” Vance spokesperson Taylor Van Kirk said. “The media can obsess over it all they want, but he’s not going to back down when it comes to advocating for policies that protect parental rights and encourage people to have more kids.” 

Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita also defended Vance, saying the critics are being “absolutely absurd.” 

“We’re about fighting for the working women of the United States, the forgotten people of the middle class. JD Vance is the perfect representation of that,” LaCivita told Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade. “They know it. It scares the hell out of them… They’re going to peddle in fiction and we’re going to have to deal with it as we go forward.”

A pair of Black female activists, who have met with Vice President Harris several times and previously vowed to get “real serious” about helping her become the next president, could alienate some of the “White women for Kamala” supporters with their past rhetoric as they mobilize ahead of November’s election.

Cora Masters Barry, an appointee of Democrat D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and longtime civil rights activist, and Melanie Campbell, who leads the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, have visited the White House more than 50 times combined during the Biden administration, including nearly a dozen visits with Harris or her staff, a Fox News Digital review found.

Weeks before President Biden and Harris were sworn into office in 2021, Barry and Campbell participated in a public Zoom call in which they made controversial statements about Trump supporters and attacked White voters, specifically White women, which could cause some internal clashes as different coalitions mobilize to try to get Harris into the White House.

‘WE JUST TELL THE TRUTH’: VP HARRIS’ LONGTIME MENTOR REPEATEDLY DEFENDED CONTROVERSIAL OBAMA PASTOR

Harris privately met with Cora Masters Barry who said, “F— white women,” on a conference call. (Fox News Digital)

Approximately 164,000 White women hopped on a Zoom call last week, which was organized by Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts and other female celebrities. The call, titled “White Women: Answer the Call,” reportedly raised millions of dollars for Harris’ campaign and could be a major fundraising force over the next few months. 

However, the unearthed comments from the two activists could cause some internal tension for the Harris campaign as they look to mobilize different voting blocs and have called for “Unity.”

“If you claim to stand for unity, you need to do more than just use the word,” Harris recently said.

“We have to change our strategy. We got to get our people. We have to get our – they got their people. They got all the trailer parks all covered,” Barry said during the Zoom. “All them people up in West Virginia and the hills, they’re covered. They got them all the way there to Wall Street.”

“[Trump] did that, and we’re sitting here talking about the White women. F— the white women– excuse me – forget the White women. They’re going to do what the White men tell them to do,” Barry continued, eliciting laughter and clapping from Campbell.

“What they tell themselves,” Campbell interjected.

“They be smiling in their faces, they want to stay in charge,” Barry continued, with Campbell reacting affirmatively in the background. “I don’t care nothing about them, we got to do what we got to do.”

Barry went on to say that the Black community has to “get real serious about organizing to elect Kamala Harris as the next President of the United States” and that she doesn’t “want no women’s parade.”

“If they have another Women’s March – I’ll go over there and blow it up,” Barry said.

Barry also attacked supporters of then-President Trump, comparing them to the Ku Klux Klan by saying, “I’m not saying everyone who voted for Trump is wearing a white sheet, but they got one in their closet, and it comes out when we start messing with the economic value or the balance of power.”

FLASHBACK: HARRIS FUMED AT AMERICANS FOR SAYING ‘MERRY CHRISTMAS’ BEFORE ILLEGAL MIGRANTS GOT PROTECTIONS

Melanie Campbell and Cora Masters Barry participate in a meeting with Vice President Harris in 2021. (Melanie Campbell X account)

Barry went on to say at the time that, should Biden win the 2020 election, her group has “got to start organizing to make sure that the next president of the United States is a Black woman.”

“And that’s not going to happen if we don’t reach all of our Black people, because they’re the ones who are going to put her in there,” Barry added. “Those White folks ain’t going to put her in there.”

During the same Zoom call, Campbell was also critical of White women who have cast their votes for Trump, saying “race” and “White privilege” were driving factors and that she didn’t understand how they could support someone who “disrespects you as a woman.”

FLASHBACK: NEW HARRIS CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER MADE SEVERAL INSENSITIVE COMMENTS ABOUT WOMEN, GAY PEOPLE

“Am I surprised? No. Am I frustrated? Yeah – determined that we have to still find a way to get up and deal with it,” Campbell said. “What I’m not interested in doing is what I did, Cora, in 2016 is have these fruitless conversations with my White girlfriends who want to tell me we need to sit down and have a conversation. No we don’t. You need to go talk to your sister. You need to go talk to your cousin.”

“I have no interest in understanding why White folks do what they do. They do what they do because they doing what they do if I was them. They’re fighting to stay in charge and in control. That’s what they’re doing. I ain’t mad at them. What I am is mad at us,” Barry added, referring to the Black community.

Near the end of the Zoom call, Barry said it is a “perfect time” to mobilize Black voters and push their agenda “because there’s a lot of White guilt money out there.”

“I’m gonna take it- put it in my community and radicalize my people so they can come for your job. I’m saying it’s time to act,” she continued.

Fox News Digital previously reported on Cora Masters Barry praising antisemite religious leader Louis Farrakhan in 2022. (Getty Images/File)

In addition to Barry’s comments about White women, Fox News Digital previously reported on Barry lavishly praising notorious antisemite Louis Farrakhan in 2022 at a private event honoring her late husband, former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry.

During Barry’s remarks at the private ceremony, she praised Farrakhan, who has espoused antisemitic rhetoric for decades, including calling Jews “wicked” and comparing them to termites. Barry referred to Farrakhan as a “friend” and “member of the family” while also telling him “I love you more than words will ever say.”

“Minister Farrakhan, we love you more than you love us. You just don’t know it,” she added.

The Anti-Defamation League labeled Louis Farrakhan the “most popular antisemite in America” in 2020. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

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Farrakhan in turn praised Barry, saying, “Praise God for this woman. She is a treasure. A real treasure.”

A spokesperson for both Barry and Campbell defended the comment about White women, previously telling Fox News Digital that the comment was in reference to how White women are not as reliable Democrat voters and that the vice president was not part of the conversation.

Barry, Campbell and the Harris campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

Fox News’ Houston Keene contributed to this report.

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

What’s happening…

-Harris hit with blistering series of new ads…

-Trump to sit down with FBI after assassination attempt… 

-How has the Supreme Court actually been ruling…

Finally, Home Again

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is free.

Gershkovich and Marine veteran Paul Whelan are back on U.S. soil after a massive swap of political prisoners involving the U.S. and Russia, a senior administration official confirmed to Fox News on Thursday morning. Alsu Kurmasheva, another U.S. citizen, and Vladimir Kara-Murza, a green card holder, were also freed.

Gershkovich, 32, was arrested on March 29, 2023, while reporting on a trip to the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg and accused of espionage, while working for The Wall Street Journal. The Biden administration declared him “wrongfully detained” and The Wall Street Journal and U.S. government both emphatically denied the charges, calling them absurd on their face.

Whelan had languished in Russian custody for years. A well-placed source told Fox News that Turkish intelligence officials played a key role in mediating the prisoner swap…Read more

Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Paul Whelan smile aboard an airplane after being released from Russian prison in a historic prisoner swap on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024.  (U.S. Government)

White House

FAREWELL TOUR: Biden admin eyes parade of foreign visits for president’s final months in office …Read more

MAKING HISTORY: Harris led charge to help man become country’s first undocumented lawyer …Read more

KAMALA’S TRAVELS: Questions mount over whether Harris can take on Putin, Xi …Read more

Capitol Hill

‘DANGEROUS MESSAGE’: Top Republican raises concerns over trading Americans for ‘actual Russian criminals’ …Read more

‘LOOKING FOR A SCAPEGOAT’: Senators say Secret Service trying blame game after Trump rally shooting …Read more

PRIMARY BATTLE: House conservative who has twice moved to impeach Vice President Harris faces competitive GOP primary …Read more

Tales from the Campaign Trail

‘NOT SURPRISING’: Vance slams plea deal for 9/11 terrorists during Arizona rally …Read more

‘MORAL CATASTROPHE’: Harris hit with blistering ad targeting crucial voting blocs in key swing state …Read more

‘HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT’: Ben Carson praises Trump for NABJ appearance …Read more

‘FINALLY!’: Trump thanks Catholic org for multi-million campaign against Harris …Read more

FORGET RACE: Republicans wary of using DEI against Harris as Trump jokes about her being ‘Indian or Black’ …Read more

Kicking off her book tour, then-Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. speaks at George Washington University in Washington, in this Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019, file photo.  (Sait Serkan Gurbuz/AP)

Across America

SCOTUS BREAKDOWN: How have the justices really been siding? …Read more

WITNESS STATEMENT: Trump to sit down for FBI interview after failed assassination plot …Read more

‘UNAFRAID’: Trump assassination attempt victim ‘sad’ with state of ‘political division’ in US …Read more

THE 10,000: Glenn Youngkin promised 10,000 new startups and 400K new jobs upon his 2021 win …Read more

AMERICANS ‘DESERVE ANSWERS’: Trump assassination attempt puts Secret Service funding in question …Read more

Subscribe now to get the Fox News Politics newsletter in your inbox.

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

EXCLUSIVE: The top Democrat on the newly commissioned House task force to investigate the attempted assassination of former President Trump is insisting that the investigation will be free of politics.

Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., was named ranking member of the panel after being selected by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.

As a first-term lawmaker in 2020, Crow was selected as one of seven House Democrats prosecuting Trump’s first impeachment trial before the Senate.

But he denied in an interview with Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the role would open him up to criticism of his handling of the current task force.

BUTLER DISTRICT ATTORNEY SAYS LOCAL SNIPERS WERE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ROOFTOP SHOOTER FIRED FROM 

Rep. Jason Crow spoke with Fox News Digital about his role on the bipartisan House task force to investigate the July 13, 2024, attempted assassination of former President Trump. (Getty Images)

“I’m not concerned about that. You know, I have a great reputation for being one of the most bipartisan members of Congress because, listen, that’s what America does,” Crow said. “We have … tough debates and deliberations about the things that we need to have tough debates and deliberations on. But we also come together and work together when and where we have to.”

The retired Army Ranger said he was trained to serve without bias during his days in the military, which included tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“I served overseas in combat with Americans from all different backgrounds – Republicans, Democrats, independents, people from the East Coast, people from the West Coast, of every different stripe and background – and we got the job done. We came together, we served together, and we got it done. And we’re going to bring that same spirit to this task force,” Crow said.

He’s one of six Democrats appointed to the task force by Jeffries, with seven Republicans chosen by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT VICTIM SAYS HE IS ‘SAD’ WITH STATE OF ‘POLITICAL DIVISION’ IN US 

Speaker Mike Johnson, left, and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are leading the task force assembly as a bipartisan effort. (Getty Images)

Johnson and Jeffries said in a joint statement of Crow’s appointment, “We have the utmost confidence in Ranking Member Rep. Jason Crow and this bipartisan group of steady, qualified and capable Members of Congress to move quickly to find the facts, ensure accountability and help make certain such failures never happen again.”

It comes after a source previously told Fox News Digital that Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., who was the Democrats’ lead counsel in the first Trump impeachment, was being considered for a place on the committee. He did not end up on the final list.

Crow told Fox News Digital that the probe’s exact contours are still being ironed out between himself and Chair Mike Kelly, R-Pa., but he hopes a task force visit to the site of the July 13 Trump rally shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, will be part of their work. Would-be assassin Thomas Crooks, 20, opened fire from a nearby rooftop during the event, grazing Trump’s right ear, killing a former firefighter and seriously wounding two other spectators before being shot dead by a Secret Service counter-sniper.

“Chairman Kelly and I have discussed that, and we do think that would be an important thing to do if we have the support to do it,” Crow said.

He also said “a lot of things appear to have gone wrong” the day of the shooting and pledged a “fast investigation,” noting the group has to release a report in December.

IRAN THREAT PROMPTS QUESTIONS ABOUT TRUMP GUNMAN’S UNCRACKED ENCRYPTION

This overhead image taken on July 14 shows the venue where a gunman tried to assassinate former President Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13. (Carlos Osorio/Reuters)

Crow listed the questions he had: “Are we actually looking at that intelligence properly? Is it being disseminated to the proper law enforcement officials? Why wasn’t there a secure perimeter? Why was that rooftop unsecure?”

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He also explained that the apparent communications breakdown is going to be a major tenet of their probe, adding, “I learned in my time overseas in combat that one of the hardest things to do is actually achieve interoperability of our communications between … different units in different locations.”

“It was very hard to do. But it’s also the essential thing to do, because if you’re not communicating and talking, things fall through the cracks.”

Vice President Kamala Harris raked in a staggering $310 million in fundraising in July, her campaign announced on Friday morning, in what it touted was “the biggest haul of the 2024 cycle.”

The fundraising by the Democratic Party’s presumptive presidential nominee was more than double the $138.7 million that Donald Trump’s campaign announced on Thursday that the former president brought in last month.

Harris has enjoyed a fundraising surge in the 12 days since President Biden, in a blockbuster announcement, ended his re-election campaign and endorsed his vice president to succeed him at the top of the Democratic Party’s ticket.

The embattled president’s immediate backing of Harris ignited a slew 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 delegates to this month’s Democratic National Convention.

IN SHOWDOWN WITH TRUMP, DEMOCRATS MOVE TO MAKE HARRIS NOMINATION OFFICIAL

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

The Harris campaign, in announcing their July fundraising, highlighted that more than $200 million was brought in during the first week after the vice president replaced Biden. They called it the “single greatest week in fundraising history” and touted that July was the “best grassroots fundraising month in presidential history.”

According to the Harris campaign, two-thirds of the monthly haul came from first-time donors. And they also highlighted that they were sitting on a massive $377 million war chest as of the end of July.

HARRIS LEANS IN ON BORDER SECURITY AND TRUMP RELISHES THE FIGHT

The July fundraising, by what started out as the Biden campaign and quickly transformed into the Harris campaign, is up from the healthy $127 million that the Biden-Harris ticket brought in during the month of June. Nearly $40 million of that haul came at the end of the month, after Biden’s disastrous June 27th debate performance against Trump.

In a sign of support for the 81-year-old president, donors initially shelled out big bucks for Biden in the wake of the debate. 

President Biden and former President Trump debated on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Getty Images)

But Biden’s halting and shaky debate delivery also instantly fueled questions about his physical and mental abilities 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 in the White House. The brief surge in fundraising didn’t last and by early July, began to significantly slow down.

Meanwhile, Trump’s July haul was an increase of over $25 million from the $112 million the former president brought in during the month of June.

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

The Trump campaign also reported $327 million cash-on-hand as of the end of July and said in a statement that “these numbers reflect continued momentum with donors at every level and provide the resources for the final 96 days until victory November 5th.”

Trump, in a social media post a couple of hours later, pointed to his fundraising and said, “Spectacular support from Great American Patriots who are donating to our Campaign for President of the United States.”

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump dances as he wraps up a campaign rally, Saturday, July 27, 2024, in St. Cloud, Minn. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The Harris campaign has been spotlighting their surge in fundraising since the vice president replaced Biden at the top of the ticket.

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Early last week, the Harris campaign touted that they hauled in $81 million in the 24 hours following Biden’s announcement that he was suspending his campaign.

The one-day haul easily topped the nearly $53 million Trump brought in two months ago in the first 24 hours after the former president was convicted on 34 felony counts in his criminal trial in New York City.

Former President Trump appears at a rally at the Van Andel Arena on July 20, 2024 in Grand Rapids, Michigan (left). Vice President Harris speaks to NCAA Champion Teams on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C. (right). (Left: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images, Right: Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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 $331 million to $264 million during the April-June second quarter of 2024 fundraising.

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.

FIRST ON FOX: Nearly the entire Republican Senate conference came together to denounce President Biden’s administration for what they describe as a “partial arms embargo against Israel” as the country’s war with terrorist group Hamas continues. 

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., led his GOP colleagues in sharp criticism of the president, telling Biden that he “emboldened” enemies of Israel ahead of a recent attack on its northern border by Hezbollah that saw the death of 12 children and teens. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the only Senate Republican who did not sign on.

The Hezbollah rocket strike hit a soccer field in northern Israel on Saturday. In addition to the deaths, there were 29 more children and teens who were injured. 

‘NO KINGS ACT’: SCHUMER ADVANCES BIDEN SCOTUS OVERHAUL WITH BILL TO STRIP TRUMP’S IMMUNITY

Biden is being criticized over weapons delays to Israel as it continues to fight terrorist groups. He is shown with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Getty Images/File)

Republicans noted in the letter to Biden that this was “the single deadliest attack on that part of the country since October 7.” 

In May, it was revealed that the Biden administration had put a hold on 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs. The hold came as a result of a review of “proposed transfers of particular weapons to Israel that might be used in Rafah” in Gaza where the administration was actively discouraging a ground invasion by Israel. 

The State Department said in June that a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel was still under review.

‘DANGEROUS MESSAGE’: TOP REPUBLICAN RAISES CONCERNS OVER TRADING AMERICANS FOR ‘ACTUAL RUSSIAN CRIMINALS’

This image shows the scene of a deadly Hezbollah rocket strike on a soccer field in the Israeli Druze village of Majdal Shams on July 28, 2024. The strike killed 12 and injured about 30 more, with most of the casualties between the ages of 10-20. (Erez Ben Simon/TPS-IL)

Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called out the Biden administration for the weapons delay, saying, “It’s inconceivable that in the past few months the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel.”

“Give us the tools, and we’ll finish the job a lot faster,” he urged Biden.

KAMALA HARRIS HIT FOR HER ROLE IN PROMOTING IRA FUNDING OF ‘ANTI-AMERICAN’ GROUPS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pleaded with President Biden to continue weapons shipments. (Getty Images/File)

“The ultimate responsibility for this attack rests with Hezbollah and the ayatollahs in Iran,” the Republican conference said. “However, while Tehran financed the attack and Hezbollah conducted it, your fear of escalation has left Israel exposed and our enemies emboldened.”

According to the senators, the administration’s actions “run counter to our long history of robust military cooperation with Israel and cast doubt upon the reliability of the United States as a long-term security partner.”

SCHUMER SILENT ON BIDEN OIL PURCHASE AFTER BLASTING TRUMP FOR ‘BAILOUT FOR BIG OIL’

The delay in weapons shipments further goes against the will of Congress, they pointed out. Earlier this year, lawmakers passed a $95 billion supplemental foreign aid package with assistance for Israel, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific.

Sen. Tom Cotton led his Republican colleagues on the letter. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images/File)

They slammed the president for failing to address past inquiries from Congress regarding the weapons shipments.

“You ignored Congressional inquiries, including a May 6, 2024, letter from Senator Marshall, a May 6, 2024, letter from Senator Ernst, a May 6, 2024, letter from Senator Marshall, a May 14, 2024, letter from Senator Risch and a June 20, 2024, letter from Senator Cotton,” the Republicans listed.

“Your stalling tactics are endangering our greatest ally in the Middle East and jeopardizing the lives of our American servicemembers (sic) stationed in the region,” they warned.

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The Republican senators concluded by urging Biden to use every tool at his disposal to “expedite the physical delivery of all weapons and ammunition to Israel, that have been approved by Congress.”

The White House and the State Department did not provide comment to Fox News Digital in time for publication.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Thursday gave President Biden full credit for the safe return of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and other Americans wrongfully detained in Russia. 

Sullivan took the podium at the daily White House press briefing after the Biden-Harris administration announced a massive swap of political prisoners between the United States and Russia. 

“Today’s exchange is a feat of diplomacy that, honestly, could only be achieved by a leader like Joe Biden and his direction,” Sullivan told reporters. 

Three American citizens — Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva — were freed from Russian custody along with one American green-card holder, Vladimir Kara-Murza, and a dozen others. Sullivan shared that Biden had been “personally engaged” in diplomatic efforts to bring those Americans home, including multiple conversations with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and leaders of other countries who provided Russian prisoners for the exchange. 

BIDEN CALLS RUSSIA PRISONER SWAP DEAL THAT FREED WSJ’S GERSHKOVICH, WHELAN A ‘FEAT OF DIPLOMACY’

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on August 1, 2024. The U.S. had been working on a deal that would have freed detained Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny when he died in Russian custody, the White House said Thursday. “We had been working with our partners on a deal that would have included Alexei Navalny, and unfortunately, he died,” Sullivan told journalists. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/ AFP) (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images) (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

The White House confirmed that Biden had a phone call with the prime minster of Slovenia on Sunday, July 21, to make final arrangements for the deal to fall in place. 

“There is no more singular or concrete demonstration that the alliances that the president has reinvigorated around the world matter to Americans, to the individual safety of Americans, and to the collective security of Americans. And we’re deeply grateful to our allies who supported us in these complex negotiations to achieve this outcome,” Sullivan said. 

He added that Biden was reaching out to the leaders of Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey as he spoke to thank them for their part in putting the deal together. 

“This was vintage Joe Biden, rallying American allies to save American citizens and Russian freedom fighters, and doing it with intricate statecraft, pulling his whole team together to drive this across the finish line,” Sullivan said, noting the president maintained regular contact with the families of those detained as he worked for their release. 

LIVE UPDATES: PRISONER SWAP DEAL WITH RUSSIA

Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva and Paul Whelan, who were detained in Russia, pose with a U.S. flag as they celebrate their freedom in this undated handout photograph obtained on August 1, 2024.  (U.S. Government/Handout via REUTERS)

Gershkovich, 32, was arrested on March 29, 2023, while reporting on a trip to the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg and was accused of espionage. The Biden administration declared him “wrongfully detained,” and The Wall Street Journal and U.S. government both emphatically denied the charges, calling them absurd on their face. 

Whelan languished in Russian custody for years. A well-placed source told Fox News that Turkish intelligence officials played a key role in mediating the prisoner swap.  

“His goal has always been to put the families first, the families who are enduring an unimaginable ordeal,” Sullivan said of Biden. 

“From the president on down, we’ve stayed in regular and routine touch with them. I spent a lot of time with the families of Evan and Paul and Alsu, and most of the time, as you can imagine, those are tough conversations. But not today,” he said, becoming emotional. 

WSJ REPORTER EVAN GERSHKOVICH RELEASED BY RUSSIA IN PRISONER SWAP; PAUL WHELAN ALSO BEING FREED

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about the release of Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Vladimir Kara-Murza, who were detained in Russia, during a brief event with some of their relatives in attendance, at the White House in Washington, August 1, 2024.  (REUTERS/Nathan Howard)

“Today was a very good day, and we’re going to build on it.” 

As Sullivan spoke, former President Trump weighed in on Truth Social, demanding to know the details of the prisoner exchange.

Trump wrote: “How many people do we get versus them? Are we also paying them cash? Are they giving us cash (Please withdraw that question, because I’m sure the answer is NO)? Are we releasing murderers, killers, or thugs?”

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“Just curious because we never make good deals, at anything, but especially hostage swaps,” the Republican nominee for president continued. “Our ‘negotiators’ are always an embarrassment to us! I got back many hostages, and gave the opposing Country NOTHING – and never any cash. To do so is bad precedent for the future. That’s the way it should be, or this situation will get worse and worse. They are extorting the United States of America. They’re calling the trade ‘complex’ – That’s so nobody can figure out how bad it is!”

Sullivan told reporters that no money or sanctions relief was tied to the prisoner exchange.

He also addressed concerns that the prisoner exchange could incentivize U.S. adversaries to wrongfully detain more Americans, arguing that freeing innocents is worth the price.

“It is difficult to send back a convicted criminal to secure the release of an innocent American. And yet, sometimes the choice is between doing that and consigning that person basically to live out their days in prison in a hostile foreign country, or in the hands of a hostile power,” Sullivan said. 

“So from our perspective, we have assessed and analyzed that risk, and we have judged that the benefit of reuniting Americans and bringing people home, and also of vindicating the idea that the American president and the American government are going to do what it takes to protect and secure the release of innocent Americans, that that benefit outweighs the risk.”

A retired Recon Marine who conducted civilian rescues within Afghanistan, a former Navy SEAL and an ex-Pentagon chief are among the figures clamoring for Congress to hear from a top Afghan resistance leader and to stop directly or indirectly financially backing the Taliban government there.

Around the time of the U.S.’ withdrawal, National Resistance Front (NRF) leader Ahmad Massoud returned to the Panjshir Valley in northern Afghanistan.

There, elements opposed to Taliban rule stuck it out until they were forced to flee — including Massoud, who escaped to neighboring Tajikistan. He reportedly was joined by at least one official from the deposed U.S.-backed democratic government: former Vice President Amrullah Saleh.

Saleh sought refuge in Dushanbe, the Tajik capital, as of 2021, according to France24 News.

REPUBLICANS FUME OVER REPORT BILLIONS OF AFGHAN HUMANITARIAN AID IS FUNDING TALIBAN

According to Chad Robichaux, who took part in perilous civilian rescue operations in Afghanistan — including the evacuation of his former interpreter Aziz, who faced execution by the Taliban — Massoud has since been recognized as the de facto opposition figure-in-exile.

“Massoud is leading all of our allies of the last 20 years, all the people we left behind; our commandos, our interpreters, all the ones that chose to resist and then continue to fight…” Robichaux said. “We’ve completely abandoned him and our allies and the Afghan people.”

Robichaux said the U.S. government essentially “switched teams” in the middle of the fight by allowing the Taliban to return to power.

He pointed to reports that billions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer funds have gone to the Taliban, including through United Nations humanitarian appropriations that are majority funded by the U.S.

“[O]ur allies are trying to prevent a terrorist attack on the United States. But, you know, meanwhile, we’re funding it. It’s insane,” Robichaux said, adding that Massoud may have information helpful to preventing another terror attack like 9/11 on U.S. soil.

GOLD STAR MOTHER TORCHES BIDEN’S ‘ABILITIES’ ON AFGHAN WITHDRAWAL ANNIVERSARY: ‘REFUSES TO HELP US’

Taliban soldiers stand guard in Panjshir province in northeastern Afghanistan on Sept. 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Mohammad Asif Khan)

Robichaux added that Massoud’s father — of the same name — was the top anti-Soviet leader who helped the West battle the Taliban in Afghanistan decades ago.

Robichaux said Usama bin Laden had Massoud assassinated in the near-term prior to 9/11 because the terrorist knew the U.S. would need an allied figure in Afghanistan if they wanted to take on the Taliban.

“Twenty years later, his son is saying the same thing. There’s a pending attack on the United States. You guys are sending money to the Taliban, and they’re training a terrorist group to attack the United States,” Robichaux said.

He went on to claim Massoud has been subject to an ambiguous “blacklist” from visiting the U.S. Therefore, Robichaux said, it is imperative that congressional leaders visit the Middle East to meet with him.

Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department to confirm or deny the blacklist claim.

Massoud himself said the international community has conducted a policy of appeasement toward the Taliban government, which has failed to help the situation.

“We haven’t seen the Taliban relent on even one issue,” Massoud said. “This policy will have global consequences as it allows the Taliban to buy time and achieve its goals with the 21 other regional and global terror networks.”

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Ahmad Massoud has launched an initiative to build an anti-Taliban coalition to bring peace to Afghanistan. (Reza/Getty Images)

“For a peaceful world, a more realistic policy that benefits both the people of Afghanistan and prevents a global security crisis must be adopted. We must emphasize the support of the international community and the USA for a legitimate and democratic government solely based on the will and vote of Afghanistan’s citizens,” he said.

When asked about the safety of lawmakers, should they agree to host Massoud abroad, Robichaux said another proponent of the petition, retired SEAL and podcast host Shawn Ryan, was able to do so in Austria as a civilian.

Fox News Digital also reached out to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., ahead of the petition’s formal delivery to inquire about the prospect of Congress meeting with Massoud, but did not hear back by press time.

According to the petition, which lists Ryan as primary author, Massoud’s testimony would shed light on the true situation in Afghanistan and better inform congressional decisionmaking and allocation of funding in the region.

“Moreover, Congress should redirect its financial support towards the NRF, restoring their critical logistical and aid support,” the petition demands.

Ryan previously interviewed Massoud on his podcast, and said the conversation “shows he is one of the brave few continuing to fight for the future and stability of Afghanistan… His voice needs to be heard by Congress.”

Later in his interview, Robichaux said there is one potential development that would render his concerns with the State Department moot: the election of former President Trump.

Robichaux said Trump has long indicated his aversion to assuaging malign regimes, and was confident he would find a way to stop U.S. funds ending up in Taliban hands.

“If there’s a threat to the United States, [Trump] would let our Central Intelligence Agency do their job,” he said.

Christopher Miller, Trump’s former defense secretary, claimed about $87 million in U.S taxpayer dollars per week are ending up in Taliban hands.

“[These are] the very same people that killed over 2,400 of our warriors and wounded another 21,000-plus and sheltered the leader of Al Qaeda — is beyond comprehension and the definition of criminal negligence,” Miller said in calling for Congress to hear directly from Massoud.

At least one House lawmaker also agreed on the need for Massoud to brief Congress.

Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., a former military sniper, said Massoud could shed light on a part of the world “deeply embroiled in chaos; only made worse by the current administration.”