NationalWatch

The decision to avoid a second trial charging Sam Bankman-Fried with a conspiracy to make unlawful political donations and bribery of foreign officials has many conservatives up in arms.

Federal prosecutors said Friday that they do not plan to proceed with a second trial against Sam Bankman-Fried, citing public interest in a speedy resolution of the case that has seemingly irritated those who were hoping to see the disgraced FTX founder prosecuted to the fullest extent.

In a Friday letter filed in federal court in Manhattan, prosecutors said they do “not plan to proceed with a second trial” as “much of the evidence that would be offered in a second trial was already offered in the first trial and can be considered by the Court at the defendant’s March 2024 sentencing.”

“Given that practical reality, and the strong public interest in a prompt resolution of this matter, the Government intends to proceed to sentencing on the counts for which the defendant was convicted at trial,” the prosecutors added.

SAM BANKMAN-FRIED WILL NOT FACE A SECOND TRIAL, U.S. PROSECUTORS DECIDE

Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of FTX Cryptocurrency Derivatives Exchange, leaves court in New York, on July 26, 2023. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The decision by prosecutors not to hold a second trial against Bankman-Fried quickly drew backlash from those who had followed the case.

“So we won’t know which politicians he bribed or who’s campaigns he influenced? That collective sigh of relief you are hearing is from the DEEP STATE,” Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., wrote in a Friday night post to X.

Conservative commentator John Cardillo also weighed in on the announcement from prosecutors, accusing the Department of Justice of shielding Democrats from being named as recipients of Bankman-Fried donations.

“Sam Bankman-Fried will not face second trial,” Cardillo wrote in an X post. “DOJ is protecting his Dem donation recipients.”

CryptoLaw founder John Deaton, who has consistently commented on Bankman-Fried’s case, slammed the decision by prosecutors as a “disgrace.”

“The DOJ has shown again, that it is NOT an independent agency,” Deaton said on X. “Who is the Attorney General protecting?”

SAM BANKMAN-FRIED REPORTEDLY USED POUCHES OF FISH AS PAYMENT FOR HAIRCUT IN JAIL

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk also commented on the prosecutors’ move to not hold a second trial for Bankman-Fried, insisting that the case has “became too high-profile for the DOJ to completely ignore.”

“The SBF case became too high-profile for the DOJ to completely ignore, but they made sure laundering $100 million of customers’ money to Schumer, Biden, and McConnell and other dark money groups would never blow back on the ‘elite.’ Trump faces 700 years in federal prison, but America’s uniparty cabal just gave themselves a get out of jail free card. You’re witnessing DC corruption in realtime,” Kirk wrote in a social media post.

Weighing in on the matter, Trending Politics co-owner Collin Rugg said, “Making bribes with stolen money is fine as long as that money is going to U.S. politicians.”

“SBF donated $100 million during the 2022 midterms, pouring tens of millions into dark money groups with customers’ funds,” Rugg wrote on X. “Some of these groups were linked to Senate leaders including Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer.”

FTX FOUNDER SAM BANKMAN-FRIED’S BIGGEST FEAR IN JAIL REVEALED BY AUTHOR

Rugg’s post to social media also included a clip that appeared to show Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., blowing Bankman-Fried a kiss during one of their encounters.

In 2021 and 2022, Bankman-Fried donated nearly $38 million to various candidates and PACs, mainly giving his cash to Democratic candidates and left-wing groups, according to Federal Election Commission filings (FEC). 

The majority of his political givings went to the Protect Our Future PAC, a group founded in January 2022 that is dedicated to boosting candidates who are committed to preventing future pandemics.

Bankman-Fried, who was accused of stealing from customers of his now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange, has been incarcerated since August when a judge revoked his bail for alleged witness tampering. He was found guilty earlier this month on seven federal charges, and his sentencing is slated for March 28.

Former FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried is escorted outside the Manhattan federal court in New York City on March 30, 2023. (REUTERS/David Dee Delgado)

Bankman-Fried made headlines at the beginning of the trial when he appeared in court with a cleaned-up look, sporting a trimmed-up coif and a suit after ditching the longer hairstyle and casual clothes he had become known for as CEO at FTX.

Prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried, who founded and controlled both FTX and sister hedge fund Alameda Research, of misappropriating and embezzling billions of dollars in FTX customer deposits, scheming to mislead investors and instructing other executives at his businesses to do the same.

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In the trial, he faced two counts of wire fraud and five conspiracy counts. The charges combined amount to a maximum sentence of 110 years behind bars, but sentencing guidelines may call for far less than that.

Prosecutors said in their letter Friday that much of the evidence presented during the first trial would have been repeated at a second. They noted that since they “proved that the defendant engaged in a scheme to make unlawful campaign contributions, the Court may consider this scheme as relevant conduct at the defendant’s sentencing.”

Prosecutors also said they were prevented from including the unlawful campaign contributions charge because the extradition agreement with the Bahamas to arrest Bankman-Fried did not include that count.

FOX Business’ Breck Dumas, Suzanne O’Hallora, and Timothy Nerozzi contributed to this report.

U.S. Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed an argument disputing President Trump’s claim to presidential immunity amid his 2020 election interference case.

CBS News congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane published the documents on Saturday. It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia earlier in the day.

The intent of the filing was to ask for the “review of the order of the district court (Chutkan, J.) denying his motions to dismiss based on Presidential immunity and principles of double jeopardy.”

“Immunity from criminal prosecution would be particularly dangerous where, as here, the former President is alleged to have engaged in criminal conduct aimed at overturning the results of [an] election,” Smith wrote in the filing.

SPECIAL COUNSEL IN TRUMP CASE UNCONSTITUTIONAL, FORMER REAGAN AG SAYS

Jack Smith, U.S. special counsel, speaks during a news conference in Washington, D.C. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File)

“A President who unlawfully seeks to retain power through criminal means unchecked by potential criminal prosecution could jeopardize both the Presidency itself and the very foundations of our democratic system of governance,” the special counsel added.

The document also accused Trump of “conspir[ing] to use knowingly false claims of election fraud with the goal of overturning the legitimate results of that election and disenfranchising millions of voters.”

TRUMP CALLS CLAIMS HE’S A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY A ‘HOAX,’ SAYS BIDEN IS THE REAL THREAT: ‘I WILL SAVE DEMOCRACY’

“For the foregoing reasons, the Court should affirm the district court’s order denying the defendant’s motions to dismiss on Presidential immunity and double-jeopardy grounds,” the conclusion read. “For the reasons given in the Government’s motion to expedite appellate review, including the imperative public importance of a prompt resolution of this case, the Government respectfully requests the Court to issue the mandate five days after the entry of judgment.”

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“Such an approach would appropriately require any party seeking further review to do so promptly,” the conclusion added.

This breaking news story is developing. Check back with us for updates.

Fox News Digital’s Lillian Le Croy contributed to this report.

A recent study found that a small fraction of American journalists are Republicans.

The study from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications found that just 3.4% of American journalists identify as Republicans, with another 36.4% identifying as Democrats.

Based on an online survey of 1,600 U.S. journalists conducted in early 2022, the study is part of a series of research from over the years that examines journalists’ “perspective on the work, professional attitudes, and ethics,” according to the study.

The first-of-its-kind study, which made its debut in 1971, has witnessed a dramatic shift in the percentages of Republican and Democratic journalists over the years.

VAST MAJORITY OF AMERICANS BELIEVE MEDIA INCREASING COUNTRY’S POLITICAL DIVIDE: POLL

A study from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications found that just 3.4% of American journalists identify as Republicans. (Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images)

The initial study from 52 years ago revealed that 35.5% of respondents said they were Democrats, 25.7% said they were Republicans and 32.5% said they were Independents. The percentage of people who refer to themselves as Democrats and independents has varied over the years, with those identifying as Democrats hitting a high of more than 44% in 1992.

The 2022 study showed an all-time high for those who are independents at more than 51%, up a point and half from the same study conducted in 2013.

As for those who identify as Republicans, the percentage total has slowly dwindled, with the only exception being a less than 2% increase between the 1992 and 2002 studies.

In 1982, 11 years after the first study was conducted, 18.8% of respondents said they were Republican, compared to 38.5% who said they were Democrats and 39.1% who said they were independents.

The 2013 study found that a little more than 7% of American journalists were Republicans, compared to 28.1% of Democrats at the time.

POLLSTER SHOCKED HALF OF AMERICANS BELIEVE NATIONAL MEDIA AIMS TO MISLEAD: ‘PRETTY STRIKING’

A small collection of GOP memorabilia is housed in a room adjacent to the lobby of the Republican Party’s headquarters in Washington. (Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images)

The findings from the new study appear to show how out of touch some journalists may be with American voters, according to other polls released this year.

As for Americans overall, a November Gallup poll found that 29% consider themselves Democrats, 29% consider themselves Republicans, and 40% consider themselves independents.

A poll released earlier this year also found that nearly three-quarters of Americans believe the media is increasing polarization in the U.S. and that only 16% of adults have a “great deal” of trust and confidence in the news media.

The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights survey found that 74% of overall adults believed the news media was increasing the political divide in this country.

“Is the news media doing more to increase political divisions in the United States, decrease political divisions, or does it not have any impact?” the poll asked adults 18 years or older.

A poll released earlier this year found that nearly three-quarters of Americans believe the media is increasing polarization in the U.S. and that only 16% of adults have a “great deal” of trust and confidence in the news media. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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Nearly three-quarters responded with “increase/a lot,” 18% said the media had “no impact” and 6% responded that media decreased polarization “a little.”

Fox News’ Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.

The Maine official who moved to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 Republican primary ballot on Thursday visited the White House this year to meet with President Biden and previously referred to the Electoral College as a “relic of white supremacy.”

On two separate occasions this year — once in March and another time in June — Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, was invited to the White House, according to White House visitor logs.

Bellows’ first trip came after she was invited to attend a Women’s History Month event held on March 22 at the White House, where she met with Biden and snapped a photo with him.

Bellows took to social media to share the photo she took with Biden at the March event and described the “amazing” experience she had meeting the president.

MAINE GOP STATE LAWMAKER MOVES TO IMPEACH STATE SECRETARY OVER TRUMP BALLOT REMOVAL

On two separate occasions this year — once in March and another time in June — Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows was invited to the White House, according to White House visitor logs. During one trip, she met President Biden. (AP Images)

“Birthday jaunt to DC for a Women’s History Month event at the White House yesterday and walking around today,” she added in the post to Facebook at the time, according to the Washington Free Beacon, the initial outlet to report on Bellows’ trips to the White House.

Bellows’ March trip to the White House was also promoted by the secretary of state’s office in a press release earlier this year, in which she said it was “an honor to join” Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and other female leaders from across the country.

“It was an honor to join President Biden, Vice President Harris and amazing female leaders from around the country to celebrate Women’s History Month at the White House yesterday,” Bellows said at the time. “I hope to someday see the last of the ‘firsts’ like myself, but as we continue to see these groundbreaking leaders in new positions of power, I look forward to celebrating them as part of our nation’s history.”

Bellows’ second trip came on June 6, when she traveled to the White House with more than a dozen others to meet with Justin Vail, a special assistant to Biden. That trip, according to social media posts by others who made the journey with Bellows, appears to have been organized by Issue One Reform, which describes itself as “the leading crosspartisan political reform group” in D.C. that works to “unite Republicans, Democrats, and independents in the movement to fix our broken political system and build an inclusive democracy that works for everyone.”

Responding to a June 8 post to X from Dustin Czarny, a Democrat who made the trip and serves as the Onondaga County elections commissioner and the Democratic Caucus chair of the New York State Elections Commissioner Association, Bellows wrote, “Yes! That was such a powerful part of our trip to DC. Democrats, Republicans and nonpartisan elections officials united on issues of protecting election workers and finding critical election infrastructure.”

Bellows, who represented Maine’s 14th district in the state Senate for roughly four years, has served as the Secretary of State for Maine since 2021.

Shortly after taking office, Bellows penned an op-ed for a progressive platform known as the Democracy Docket. In her writing, titled “Voting Rights for Our Neighbors Matter As Much as Our Own,” Bellows touted her efforts to make “voting more accessible” and said she sought the position of secretary of state in Maine because she “was truly frightened for our democracy” following the 2020 presidential election.

HOUSE DEMOCRAT FROM MAINE RIPS STATE’S DECISION TO TAKE TRUMP OFF BALLOT

Bellows also took aim at the Electoral College in her column, claiming it is “the relic of white supremacy” that prevents voters from being represented fairly.

In her ruling to disqualify Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot, Bellows cited Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that bars people who have “engaged in insurrection” from running for elected office without two-thirds congressional approval.

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows demonstrates how Mainers are now electronically registering to vote or updating voter registration at BMV locations during a visit to the BMV in Portland, Maine, on June 23, 2022. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)

The clause was originally meant to bar former Confederate soldiers and officers from holding positions in the U.S. government or military.

It was also referenced by Colorado’s highest court in a 4-3 ruling last week similarly barring Trump from that state’s primary ballot. The decision was challenged by the Colorado GOP, setting up a battle before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bellows’ affection for Biden and Harris and disdain for Trump is no secret.

In an October 2020 post to social media, Bellows said she was “excited to vote for Biden and Harris.” Before that, in October 2020, Bellows questioned on social media whether the “obsession” with 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was because people “just can’t deal [with] the magnitude of fears of what Trump presidency brings.”

Bellows has faced backlash over her decision to remove Trump from the state ballot from multiple Republicans and those within her own party, including Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine.

“I voted to impeach Donald Trump for his role in the January 6th insurrection. I do not believe he should be re-elected as President of the United States,” Golden said Thursday night. “However, we are a nation of laws, therefore until he is actually found guilty of the crime of insurrection, he should be allowed on the ballot.”

Bellows defended her move while responding to Golden’s criticism during a CNN interview on Friday.

“I reviewed Section Three of the 14th Amendment very carefully and determined that Section Three of the 14th Amendment does not say ‘conviction,’ it says ‘engage,'” Bellows said.

Bellows has faced backlash over her decision to remove Trump from the state ballot from multiple Republicans and those within her own party, including Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine. (REUTERS/Scott Morgan)

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“And, let’s go back and keep in mind that the events of January 6, 2021, were unprecedented and tragic,” Bellows continued. “This was an attack, not only on the Capitol and the government officials, the former vice president, members of Congress, but an attack on the rule of law.”

“And the weight of evidence that I reviewed indicated that it was, in fact, an insurrection,” she added. “And Mr.  Trump engaged in that insurrection under Section Three of the 14th Amendment.”

Bellows’ office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News’ Houston Keene and Liz Elkind contributed to this report.

GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy says the time for Americans to address systemic racism is long gone, and that racism has dwindled to near irrelevance in the U.S.

Ramaswamy made the comments during a campaign stop in Iowa on Friday, telling his audience that contemporary efforts to combat systemic racism are only worsening the issue. Rev. Samuel Ansong asked how the U.S. should grapple with the issue if not in the form of affirmative action and other similar programs.

“Was there a time and place for correcting for those past injustices? Yeah, it was like in 1870,” Ramaswamy responded, according to the Des Moines Register.

Ramaswamy reportedly added that affirmative action and DEI programs were “anti-American at their core” and “inherently divisive.

HOUSE DEMOCRAT FROM MAINE RIPS STATE’S DECISION TO TAKE TRUMP OFF BALLOT

GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy says the time for American to address systemic racism is long gone, and that racism has dwindled to near irrelevance in the U.S. (Micah Green/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“But at a certain point in time, I think that what you would think of as racism in this country — or you can fill in the blank, sexism or any other -ism or form of discrimination — it gets to be small enough, not to be zero, but small enough that the best thing we can do is let it atrophy to irrelevance,” Ramaswamy added.

He went on to argue that current efforts to combat so-called systemic racism do more harm than good by drawing attention to race and highlighting divisions.

Ramaswamy argues that current efforts to combat so-called systemic racism do more harm than good by drawing attention to race and highlighting divisions. (REUTERS/Brian Snyder)

The exchange comes as Ramaswamy and the other GOP 2024 hopefuls are in the home stretch for the presidential primary in Iowa on Jan. 15.

BLACK VOTERS SAY THEY’RE TURNING AWAY FROM ‘WEAK’ BIDEN IN 2024: ‘HE DIDN’T CHANGE ANYTHING’

Former President Donald Trump holds a massive lead over his competitors in national polls, though candidates like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Ramaswamy have invested a huge effort into swaying Iowa voters specifically.

Entrepreneur and author Vivek Ramaswamy is hoping to separate himself from Republicans who have or have yet to jump into the GOP race including former President Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. (Getty Images)

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Nevertheless, a Fox Business poll of Iowa Republicans found that Trump has a lead of 34 points as of mid-December.

It was the announcement Senate Democrats were dreading.

When it came, it appeared to strike a major blow to their hopes of holding their razor-thin Senate majority in the 2024 elections.

“I have made one of the toughest decisions of my life and decided that I will not be running for re-election to the United States Senate,” Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced in November.

Manchin, a moderate Democrat and former governor, won over 60% of the vote in his 2012 re-election, but his margin of victory fell to just three points in 2018.

CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS 2024 POWER RANKINGS 

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., speaks at a Senate Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., on July 19. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The consensus was that Manchin was the only Democrat who could win in West Virginia next year after his state shifted dramatically to the right over the past decade. Former President Donald Trump carried West Virginia by nearly 40 points in the 2020 election.

MANCHIN SPARKING MORE 2024 SPECULATION WITH UPCOMING TRIP TO KEY PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY STATE

Democrats control the U.S. Senate with a 51-49 majority, but Republicans are looking at a favorable Senate map in 2024, with Democrats defending 23 of the 34 seats up for grabs. Three of those seats are in red states that Trump carried in 2020 — West Virginia, Montana and Ohio.

Five other blue-held seats are in key swing states narrowly carried by President Biden in 2020 — Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

“Democrats have multiple pathways to protect and strengthen our Senate majority and are in a strong position to achieve this goal,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman David Bergstein argued in a statement after Manchin’s announcement.

“In addition to defending our battle-tested incumbents, we’ve already expanded the battleground map to Texas and Florida,” Bergstein added, pointing to what he called “unpopular Republican incumbents.”

Texas and Florida, where respective incumbent Sens. Ted Cruz and Rick Scott are seeking re-election, appear to be the only potentially competitive GOP-held seats up for grabs next year. 

Here’s a look at the five seats most likely to flip in 2024.

West Virginia

With Manchin not seeking re-election, National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) chairman Sen. Steve Daines said, “We like our odds in West Virginia.”

Right now, the main action is in the Republican Senate primary, where popular Democrat-turned-Republican Gov. Jim Justice has the backing of the NRSC and Trump.

President Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, who announced during the rally he would switch parties from Democrat to Republican, in Huntington, West Virginia, on Aug. 3, 2017.  (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Justice has raised more money than his main rival, conservative Rep. Alex Mooney, who enjoys the support of the fiscally-conservative Club for Growth.

The first Democrat to jump into the race following Manchin’s departure is 32-year-old Zachary Shrewsbury, a native West Virginian and Marine Corps veteran.

Montana

Democrats breathed a sigh of relief when Sen. Jon Tester of Montana announced earlier this year that he would seek re-election in 2024 in a state that Trump carried by 16 points three years ago. The Democratic incumbent has hauled in a formidable $15 million in fundraising so far this year.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., questions witnesses during the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on the Special Diabetes Program in Washington, D.C., on July 11. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for JDRF)

Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and Purple Heart recipient who notched more than 200 missions in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere around the globe, launched a Republican Senate bid in late June.

Sheehy, the CEO of Bridger Aerospace, a Montana-based aerial firefighting and wildfire surveillance services company, enjoys the NRSC’s backing.

Rep. Matt Rosendale, a hard-right congressman, is seriously mulling a bid. Rosendale narrowly lost to Tester in the 2018 Senate election.

Ohio

Longtime Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown is the only member of his party to win a non-judicial, statewide election in Ohio in the past decade. As Brown runs in 2024 for a fourth six-year term representing Ohio, he will be heavily targeted by Republicans in a state that was once a premier general election battleground but has shifted red over the past six years.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, attends a rail safety event in Columbus, Ohio, on April 12. (Maddie McGarvey/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trump carried Ohio by eight points in his 2016 presidential election victory and his 2020 re-election defeat. Last year, Trump’s handpicked Senate candidate in Ohio — Sen. JD Vance — topped longtime Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan by six points despite Ryan running what political experts considered a nearly flawless campaign.

Brown, who has served as a congressman, state lawmaker and Ohio secretary of state during his nearly half-century career in elective politics, is well known across the Buckeye State. The senator, known as a champion for populist causes, raked in $3.6 million in contributions during the first three months of this year.

Two Republicans who ran unsuccessfully for the 2022 GOP Senate nomination in Ohio are already in the race to oust Brown.

State Sen. Matt Dolan, a former top county prosecutor and Ohio assistant attorney general, launched his campaign in January. Dolan, whose family owns Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians, shelled out millions of his own money to run ads for his 2022 Senate bid. 

He surged near the end of the primary race, finishing third in a crowded field of Republican contenders, winning nearly a quarter of the vote.

In April, Bernie Moreno, a successful Cleveland-based businessman and luxury auto dealership giant, declared his candidacy. Moreno, an immigrant who arrived in the U.S. legally from Colombia with his family as a 5-year-old boy, also shelled out millions of his own money to run TV commercials to try and boost his first Senate bid.

But he suspended his campaign in February 2022 after requesting and holding a private meeting with Trump.

In July, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose joined the race, launching a much-anticipated Senate campaign.

Arizona

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., attends a committee meeting in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 19, 2021.  (Rod Lamkey-Pool/Getty Images)

With Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema appearing to gear up for a re-election campaign — even though she hasn’t officially announced a campaign — the Senate race in battleground Arizona could be the most complicated of the 2024 cycle.

Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego is already running on the left and has raised more money than Sinema, although the incumbent enjoys a healthy cash-on-hand advantage.

Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb recently became the first major GOP contender to launch a campaign.

But 2022 GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake instantly became the Republican front-runner when she jumped into the race in October. Lake, a former TV news anchor and strong Trump ally, narrowly lost last year’s election for governor but refused to concede.

Former Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake announces her bid for the seat of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., at JetSet Magazine in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Oct. 10. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

Pennsylvania 

The Keystone State, which is a perennial general election battleground, will likely live up to its reputation once again in 2024 as it holds what will arguably be one of the most competitive and expensive Senate races in the country.

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., speaks during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on March 9. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, who served a decade as the state’s auditor general and then treasurer before first winning election to the Senate in 2006, is seeking a fourth six-year term in office.

Casey, who is not expected to face any serious Democratic primary challenge, is the son of a popular former governor.

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Republicans appear united behind Dave McCormick, who is making his second straight Senate run.

McCormick, a former hedge fund executive, West Point graduate, Gulf War combat veteran and Treasury Department official in former President George W. Bush’s administration, was endorsed by the Pennsylvania GOP in late September, soon after he entered the race.

Republican Dave McCormick and his wife Dina Powell. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

McCormick had been courted by national and state Republicans to run, and his candidacy gives the GOP a high-profile candidate with the ability to finance his own race that’s expected to be one of the most expensive in the country.

The Pennsylvania GOP’s endorsement will likely help McCormick avoid a crowded and combustible battle for the 2024 GOP Senate nomination like the one he faced last year. McCormick ended up losing the nomination by a razor-thin margin to celebrity doctor and cardiac surgeon Mehmet Oz, who secured a primary victory thanks to a late endorsement from Trump. Oz ended up losing the general election to Democrat John Fetterman.

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

Republican lawmakers are criticizing President Biden for vacationing in the Caribbean with his family while the crisis at the southern border threatens to spiral out of control. 

Biden is ringing in the New Year on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He arrived Wednesday as strained discussions over how to handle the record number of illegal immigrants crossing the border continue in Washington.

Border towns and sanctuary cities like New York City are seeing their infrastructures buckle under the surge of people. Sources told Fox News there have been more than 276,000 migrant encounters in December so far, already making it the highest month on record.

“President Biden’s entire presidency has been a vacation from reality — 760,000 illegal immigrants have been encountered at the border since October,” Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., chairman of the House GOP Policy Committee, told Fox News Digital.

US-MEXICO MIGRATION TALKS INCLUDED BENEFITS OF ‘REGULARIZING’ ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN US 

Republican lawmakers like Reps. Gary Palmer, left, and Mark Alford, right, are criticizing President Biden for going on vacation as the border crisis worsens. (Getty Images)

“This is intentional and tells the American people everything they need to know. President Biden has no desire to stop it. He will continue to vacation while the border burns because this is the outcome he wants.

“President Biden’s dereliction of duty is on full display while he sits on the beach and ignores the thousands of illegal immigrants invading our country daily,” Rep. Randy Weber, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. “America as we know it will be unrecognizable unless this administration comes to the table, starts enforcing the laws and stops the flow of illegal immigrants.”

LIBERAL MAYORS PUSH BIDEN FOR EMERGENCY DECLARATION, ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO DEAL WITH MIGRANT CRISIS

Rep. Mark Alford, R-Texas, said Biden and his officials “should be ashamed” at the state of the U.S. migrant crisis.

“Every month, we continue to see record-breaking encounters at our southern border. Instead of pursuing solutions, Joe Biden is spending time on vacation,” Alford told Fox News Digital. “Mr. President, the world is watching. They see that our borders are in shambles and your administration has zero intention of course correcting.”

President Biden arrived in St. Croix earlier this week for a family vacation (Getty Images)

Another Texas Republican quipped that Biden “might not see the problem from the beaches” but that it’s always present in the Lone Star state.

“Texans are enduring some of the highest numbers of illegal crossings on record while the White House and Senate Democrats refuse to take action,” Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital.

MIGRANT CRISIS INCREASING STRAIN ON BORDER OFFICIALS, IMMIGRATION COURTS WITH MASSIVE NUMBERS 

Since the new fiscal year began Oct. 1., there have been more than 760,000 migrant encounters at the southern border, making the first quarter of fiscal 2024 the highest quarter on record. Meanwhile, there have been 82,000 known getaways since Oct. 1. 

Migrants are processed in Eagle Pass, Texas, Dec. 12, 2023. (Fox News)

It caps a year at the southern border when multiple records have been repeatedly smashed with Border Patrol consistently overwhelmed by the numbers it is seeing.

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Republicans have blamed the surge on the policies of the administration, including the ending of Trump-era policies, while the administration says it is dealing with a hemisphere-wide challenge and needs more funding and immigration reform legislation from Congress.

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

Fox News’ Griff Jenkins contributed to this report

Climate activists in the U.S. and across the world increased the intensity and number of disruptive protests staged in public places as they repeatedly called for governments to phase out fossil fuels in an effort to combat global warming.

Protesters calling for climate action frequently blocked busy roads, interrupted sporting events and concerts, forced government officials to cut events short and vandalized public buildings, storefronts and famous artwork in museums. 

Many of the activists engaging in those activities have received funding from groups like the California-based Climate Emergency Fund (CEF) which has, in turn, raised millions of dollars.

“Climate Emergency Fund is proud to support some of the boldest, bravest climate activists in the world who are not just fighting but are winning,” Margaret Klein Salamon, CEF’s executive director, told Fox News Digital last month. “Throughout history, organized, passionate and dedicated people have awakened the public’s conscience to injustice and achieved change that was once considered impossible.”

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“That’s why the Climate Emergency Fund supports activist organizations that engage in nonviolent protest and civil disobedience worldwide,” she said. “We are experiencing global catastrophic climate events, and they are accelerating – from the months-long summer heat waves in Europe to record-low levels of Antarctic sea ice to ocean temperatures that topped 100 degrees off the coast of Florida.”

Here are five of the most disruptive protests staged by activists in 2023.

1. Music festival protest dispersed at gunpoint

In August, police officers in northern Nevada were filmed dispersing a group of climate protesters who were causing a massive traffic jam on the road leading into the Burning Man festival. The chaotic scene escalated when an officer drew his gun in an effort to get the activists to move away from the road.

OBAMA-APPOINTED JUDGE UPHOLDS MAJOR OIL PROJECT IN BLOW TO ENVIRONMENTALISTS

“We are not violent! Please … we have no weapons at all, we are environmental protesters!” a woman yelled as another activist was handcuffed.

The activists staged their protest in front of a sign that said “Burners of the World Unite.” Some members of the protest chained themselves to a trailer parked on the road.

“People are getting hurt because of climate change. Look at what happened in Maui, look at what is happening right now in Canada,” an activist told frustrated bystanders.

“Get out of the way!” a woman responded. 

“We got to get through, help us, we got s— to do!” a man in a cowboy hat added as he tried to dismantle the trailer. 

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2. U.S. government officials face string of protests: ‘Close the f—ing door’

President Biden, multiple cabinet officials and other senior government officials all attended events that climate protesters attempted to — and in some cases successfully did — shut down.

In September, Biden was heckled during a speech in Arizona honoring the late Sen. John McCain. The president told the protesters to “shush up” and added “democracy’s never easy as we just demonstrated.”

Weeks later, in October, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was chased from an event in Baltimore after more than a dozen activists stormed the stage where he was speaking, yelling slogans.

“Your DOT just approved the Seaport Oil Terminal, a project that will have 80 coal plants’ worth of greenhouse gas emissions and will worsen air quality in areas that already live in cancer clusters,” one of the activists told Buttigieg on stage. 

“This is about environmental racism, and it’s about climate impacts this project will have. Will you commit to stopping these projects?”

“I get the urgency. By the time my kids are old enough to ask, we’re going to have a really good answer to get out of climate change,” he responded.

PETE BUTTIGIEG SPENT $59,000 IN TAXPAYER MONEY TRAVELING ON GOVT JETS: INSPECTOR GENERAL

Activists also disrupted events earlier in the year hosting Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and senior White House climate adviser John Podesta. And Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has been interrupted on multiple occasions by protests.

“Close the f‑‑‑ing door,” Powell appeared to mutter during a November protest in which activists stormed a room where he was delivering remarks.

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3. U.S. Open semifinal disrupted, delayed

Protesters in September forced the U.S. Open semifinals match in New York between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova to be briefly delayed. The activists caused a disturbance from their seats by chanting for policies that “end fossil fuels.”

One of the protesters even glued himself to the ground.

New York Police Department officers soon responded and forcibly removed the activists. However, the match delay lasted about 49 minutes.

New York Police officers remove an environmental protester who had glued his feet to the floor, delaying a match between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchová during the U.S. Open in New York City Sept. 7, 2023. (Corey Sipkin/AFP via Getty Images)

“Following the first game of the second set in the Gauff-Muchová match, play was halted due to a protest conducted by four spectators,” the United States Tennis Association said in a statement.

“Three of the four protesters were escorted out of the stadium without further incident. The fourth protester affixed their bare feet to the floor of the seating bowl. Due to the nature of this action, NYPD and medical personnel were needed in order to safely remove this individual from the stadium,” the statement added. “The four protesters were taken into NYPD custody.”

LEFT-WING GOVERNOR’S RITZY FUNDRAISER SHUT DOWN BY CLIMATE PROTESTERS

4. Civil War memorial honoring African American soldiers defaced

In November, a climate activist with a far-left advocacy group smeared red paint on an exhibit honoring an African American regiment that fought during the Civil War during a protest at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

The member of Declare Emergency, a group that calls for an immediate end to fossil fuel production and reliance, vandalized a wall in the West Building gallery of the Washington, D.C., museum that houses the Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial, officials told Fox News Digital. Using red paint, the activist wrote, “Honor Them,” and explained President Biden could honor Black Civil War soldiers by declaring a climate emergency.

“We should honor them by carrying on their work,” the activist said in a statement. “So, I say, ‘Joe Biden must declare a climate emergency’ in their honor because the great majority of the people who are being harmed by the climate emergency now and who will be harmed in the future are people who look like the soldiers of the Massachusetts 54th.”

“The 54th fought in the Civil War. In the war being waged on humanity now the effects are coming down first and hardest on the most vulnerable people,” he added. “In this undeclared war, the weapon is greenhouse gasses. Children dying of dehydration and starvation in parts of Africa today are being killed by carbon put into the earth’s atmosphere by oil and gas executives in order to make money.”

BIDEN ADMIN REVERSES TRUMP-ERA ACTION MAKING IT EASIER TO BUILD FOSSIL FUEL PIPELINES

The activist was removed from the gallery by law enforcement minutes after he vandalized the exhibit, according to video of the protest captured by independent filmmaker Ford Fischer of the independent media outlet News2Share. A spokesperson for the National Gallery of Art later confirmed the protester was arrested and that an investigation into the matter was underway. 

A climate activist with Declare Emergency vandalized a Civil War memorial at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in November. (Ford Fischer/News2Share/X Screenshot | Declare Emergency)

5. Washington, D.C., drivers become irate as their commute is blocked 

And one of many roadway disruptions quickly became heated in late August in Washington, D.C., when commuters began screaming at activists, according to video captured by News2Share.

“I want to go to work! I want to go to work!” one of the commuters screamed.

“You don’t give a f—!” another commuter added.

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“Get the f— out of here! We have to go to f—ing work! We’ve got kids to feed!” a third person yelled.

The protesters, who were calling for President Biden to declare a “climate emergency,” were eventually taken away by police officers who handcuffed them.

Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos and Greg Norman contributed to this report.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber will include former President Trump on her state’s primary ballot despite pressure to remove the Republican presidential frontrunner.

Weber argued that while she finds the former president’s actions “abhorrent and disturbing and an attack on democracy,” she feels obligated to follow the rule of law and allow Trump on her state’s primary ballot.

“But at the same time, if I believe in this democracy that is there, I have to basically continue to abide by the rule of law, and for me not to do that, then I am no better than Trump,” Weber told The Los Angeles Times on Friday. “And I must be better than Trump.”

And I must be better than Trump.

— California Secretary of State Shirley Weber

Former President Trump (Sean Rayford/Getty Images/File)

On Tuesday, Trump is expected to appeal the ballot decisions issued in recent days in Colorado and Maine, Fox News has confirmed.

The move follows Maine Democratic Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ decision to remove Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot, citing the insurrection clause of the Constitution.

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A divided Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump is ineligible to run for the presidency under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause, arguing that his actions fueled the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by right-wing protesters aiming to disrupt congressional certification of President Biden’s 2020 election victory.

The U.S. Supreme Court is likely to make the final decision on Trump’s eligibility.

The number of non-detained illegal immigrants has soared under the Biden administration amid a historic crisis at the southern border, a new report released Friday shows, even as deportations have climbed but have failed to keep pace with the surge at the border. 

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) report for fiscal 2023 shows that the number of illegal immigrants on the non-detained docket has soared from 3.7 million in FY 2021 to nearly 4.8 million in FY 2022 to nearly 6.2 million in FY 2023. The non-detained docket includes illegal immigrants who have final orders of removal or are going through removal proceedings but are not detained in ICE custody.

The number on the detained docket has increased from 22,000 to over 36,000 in the same period.

BORDER NUMBERS FOR DECEMBER BREAK MONTHLY RECORD, AS BIDEN TALKS AMNESTY WITH MEXICO

ICE agents conduct an enforcement operation in the U.S. interior on June 2, 2022. ((Immigration and Customs Enforcement))

The number of illegal immigrants being deported has increased, according to the report, but it is still a fraction of the increase in the illegal immigrant population. There were 142,580 removals in FY 23, up considerably from 72,177 in FY 22 and 59,011 in FY 21, but still down from the highs of 267,258 under the Trump administration in FY 19. ICE noted that the 142,580 removals were in addition to over 60,000 Title 42 expulsions in FY 23 at the border, some of whom it said would have otherwise been subject to deportation.

That’s at the same time as there were a record 2.4 million migrant apprehensions at the southern border. Those numbers have looked likely to continue, with Fox News reporting on Friday that December will shatter records for monthly encounters with over 276,000 encounters. Fox has previously reported that officials have said they are releasing around 5,000 illegal immigrants into the U.S. each day.

The agency also pointed to an increase in administrative ICE arrests, which increased by 19.5% to 170,590 in FY 23. It also arrested 73,822 illegal immigrants with a criminal history.

“ICE continues to disrupt transnational criminal organizations, remove threats to national security and public safety, uphold the integrity of U.S. immigration laws, and collaborate with colleagues across government and law enforcement in pursuit of our mission to keep U.S. communities safe,” acting ICE Director Patrick Leichleitner said in a statement. “I am proud of the efforts of our more than 20,000-strong workforce who work every day to achieve their mission while also assisting homeland security and law enforcement partners with integrity, courage and excellence.”

US-MEXICO MIGRATION TALKS INCLUDED BENEFITS OF ‘REGULARIZING’ ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN US 

The Biden administration significantly narrowed ICE enforcement priorities in 2021, limiting agents to arresting and deporting those who are either recent border crossers, national security threats or public safety threats. It came after the administration initially tried to slap a moratorium on all ICE deportations, but was blocked by a federal judge.

The administration says the narrowed priorities are necessary due to limited ICE resources, but Republican critics have claimed it is part of an open-borders agenda from the administration.

Separately, ICE only removed 212 unaccompanied minors in FY 23, despite the more than 137,000 arriving in FY 23; it’s a new low and down considerably from over 6,000 removed in FY 19.

Meanwhile, ICE deported 139 known or suspected terrorists in FY 23, a large jump in deportations of that population from 56 in FY 22 and higher than the numbers seen during the Trump administration as well, where 58 were removed in FY 19.

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The new report is unlikely to satisfy Republican criticisms of the Biden administration, who see the enormous number of migrants being released into the U.S. and what they regard as insufficient efforts to either stop them coming in or deport them. Some Republicans have pushed for the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, while a number of Republican states unsuccessfully sued to block the administration’s narrowing of ICE priorities.

The White House has called for an additional $14 billion in border funding, which includes additional ICE detention beds and immigration judges. But it has been held up as Republicans demand stricter limits on asylum and the administration’s use of humanitarian parole. Some Republicans have called for the inclusion of the House GOP border security bill, which would restart border wall construction and significantly limit releases of migrants into the interior.

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The administration has reportedly been open to a new Title 42-style removal authority and additional detention and removals as part of any agreement, but it is unclear if any such agreement can be reached and if it could pass both chambers of Congress.

Fox News’ Griff Jenkins contributed to this report.

A Maine Republican state lawmaker wants to impeach the Maine secretary of state who removed former President Donald Trump from the primary ballot.

GOP state Rep. John Andrews said he wants to pursue impeachment against Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows after she disqualified Trump from the 2024 Republican primary ballot on Thursday.

In her ruling, Bellows cited Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which bans from office those who “engaged in insurrection.”

Andrews said in a statement that he filed a request with the Maine Revisor’s Office saying he wanted “to file a Joint Order, or whichever is the proper parliamentary mechanism under Mason’s Rules, to impeach Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.”

HOUSE DEMOCRAT FROM MAINE RIPS STATE’S DECISION TO TAKE TRUMP OFF BALLOT

Maine GOP Rep. John Andrews said he wants to pursue impeachment against Secretary of State Shenna Bellows after she removed former President Donald Trump from the Republican primary ballot on Thursday. (Screenshot/FOX and Friends) (Fox News)

“In Maine, the people do not elect the Secretary of State, Attorney General or Treasurer,” Andrews told Fox News Digital. “They are chosen by elected Democrat Party insiders after deals are made in the back room of State House.”

“Shenna Bellows knows that the process that put her there is extremely partisan,” he continued. “She should know better and be going out of her way to be as neutral as possible to serve every citizen in Maine and not just registered Democrats.”

“That’s why she swore an oath to the Constitution and not the Democrat Party,” he added. “We are still a republic, but moves like this fracture that foundation, which ultimately is the point of all this.”

Andrews said in his statement that he wants to impeach Bellows “on the grounds that she is barring an American citizen and [the] 45th President of the United States, who is convicted of no crime or impeachment, their right to appear on a Maine Republican Party ballot in March.”

Andrews said the U.S. is “a republic” and that “Maine is made up of citizens and not subjects in the duchy of Shenna Bellows.” (Gordon Chibroski)

“Donald J. Trump has met all qualifications for the March 2024 Republican Presidential Primary. He should be allowed on the ballot. This is raw partisanship and has no place in the offices of our state’s Constitutional Officers,” he continued.

Andrews’ press release noted a social media post he made, saying Bellows’ decision “is hyper-partisanship on full display.”

“A Secretary of State APPOINTED by legislative Democrats bans President Trump from the 2024 ballot so that she can jockey for position in the 2026 Democrat Primary for Governor,” Andrews said. “Banana Republic isn’t just a store at the mall.”

Andrews said Friday in a “FOX & Friends” interview that Bellows “has unilaterally disenfranchised 300,060 Maine voters with this partisan move.”

He also applauded U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Maine Democrat, for speaking out against Bellows’ move, even with his dislike of Trump.

Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, is seen during a House Armed Services Committee hearing in the Rayburn Building in Washington, D.C., on March 6, 2019. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Golden slammed Bellows over the move, saying that he “voted to impeach Donald Trump for his role in the January 6th Insurrection.”

“I do not believe he should be re-elected as President of the United States,” Golden said Thursday night. “However, we are a nation of laws, therefore until he is actually found guilty of the crime of insurrection, he should be allowed on the ballot.”

The Maine secretary of state defended her move while responding to Golden’s criticism during a CNN interview on Friday.

“I reviewed Section Three of the 14th Amendment very carefully and determined that Section Three of the 14th Amendment does not say ‘conviction,’ it says ‘engage,'” Bellows said.

“And, let’s go back and keep in mind that the events of January 6, 2021, were unprecedented and tragic,” Bellows continued. “This was an attack, not only on the Capitol and the government officials, the former vice president, members of Congress, but an attack on the rule of law.”

“And the weight of evidence that I reviewed indicated that it was, in fact, an insurrection,” she added. “And Mr.  Trump engaged in that insurrection under Section Three of the 14th Amendment.”

In a shock decision issued Thursday evening, Bellows said Trump was ineligible for the state’s 2024 primary ballot, citing a clause in the U.S. Constitution that bars people who have “engaged in insurrection” from running for elected office without two-thirds congressional approval.

The clause was originally meant to bar former Confederate soldiers and officers from holding positions in the U.S. government or military.

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It was also referenced by Colorado’s highest court in a 4-3 ruling last week similarly barring Trump from that state’s primary ballot. The decision was challenged by the Colorado GOP, setting up a battle before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bellows’ office declined to comment.

Fox News’ Liz Elkind contributed to this report.

CHICAGO (AP) — The 2024 elections will be dominated by the presidential contest and the battle for control of Congress, but another series of races is shaping up to be just as consequential.

Crucial battles over abortion, gerrymandering, voting rights and other issues will take center stage in next year’s elections for state supreme court seats — 80 of them in 33 states.

NATIONAL ARCHIVES SETTLES WITH MARCH FOR LIFE VISITORS TOLD TO REMOVE PRO-LIFE CLOTHING

The races have emerged as some of the most hotly contested and costliest contests on the ballot since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, eliminating the consitutional right to an abortion. The decision shifted the abortion debate to states, creating a “new era” in state supreme court elections, said Douglas Keith, senior counsel in the judiciary program at the Brennan Center for Justice, which tracks spending in judicial races.

“We have seen attention on state supreme court elections like never before and money in these races like never before,” Keith said.

Heated court races in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in 2023 handed victories to Democrats and saw tens of millions of dollars in TV ads, offering a preview of 2024. They’re also prompting groups to consider investing in states they would not previously have considered.

ABORTION AND GERRYMANDERING TOP ISSUES

At least 38 lawsuits have been filed challenging abortion bans in 23 states, according to the Brennan Center. Many of those are expected to end up before state supreme courts.

The ACLU is watching cases challenging abortion restrictions in Wyoming, Kentucky, Ohio, Utah, Florida, Nevada, Arizona, Nebraska, Georgia and Montana.

“After Roe v. Wade was overturned, we had to turn to state courts and state constitutions as the critical backstop to protecting access to abortion,” said Brigitte Amiri, deputy director at the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project. “And the stakes are unbelievably high in each of these cases in each of these states.”

The ACLU was among major spenders on behalf of Democrats in this year’s state supreme court contests in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Another big player in recent court races has been the Republican State Leadership Committee, which has said its focus is mainly on redistricting, or the drawing of political district boundaries. The group called state supreme courts the “last line of defense against far-left national groups,” but didn’t say how much it intends to spend on next year’s races or which states it’s focusing on.

In Ohio, Democrats are expected to cast state supreme court races as an extension of the November election in which voters enshrined the right to abortion in the state constitution. The state has more than 30 abortion restrictions in place that could be challenged now that the amendment has passed.

“The state supreme court is going to be the ultimate arbiter of the meaning of the new constitutional amendment that the people voted for and organized around,” said Jessie Hill, law professor at Case Western Reserve University and a consultant for Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights. “That is a huge amount of power.”

With three seats up for a vote and a current Republican majority of 4-3, Democrats have an opportunity to flip the majority of the court while Republicans will try to expand their control. Hill said the “very high-stakes election” will serve as another test of the salience of the abortion issue in turning out voters.

“We saw an incredible number of voters come out to vote on that amendment and an incredible amount of investment in those campaigns,” Hill added. “I think we’ll see a similar attention and investment in Ohio come next year.”

Redistricting also is likely to be a main focus in the state’s supreme court races, given the court will have realigned politically since it issued a series of rulings finding Ohio’s congressional and legislative maps unconstitutionally gerrymandered to favor Republicans, said David Niven, political science professor at the University of Cincinnati. He expects millions of dollars to be spent on those campaigns.

“There’s often little conversation about these races, but they are just so utterly consequential in very tangible, practical ways that touch voters’ everyday lives,” he said.

MAP BROADENS FOR CONSEQUENTIAL RACES

Pending legislative and congressional redistricting cases also could play a role in North Carolina.

Republicans in North Carolina are looking to expand their majority two years after the court flipped from Democratic control in the 2022 election. That flip to a 5-2 GOP majority led to dramatic reversals in 2023 on rulings made by the previous court, which had struck down a 2018 photo voter identification law as well as district maps for the General Assembly and the state’s congressional delegation.

Groups on both sides also are expected to focus on Michigan, where Democrats hold a 4-3 majority on the state Supreme Court. Candidates run without political affiliations listed on the ballot, though they’re nominated by political parties.

Two incumbents — one Democrat, one Republican — will be up for election in 2024. The court recently kept former President Donald Trump on the state’s ballot, denying a liberal group’s request to kick him off. It is currently weighing a high-profile case over a Republican legislative maneuver that gutted a minimum wage hike backed by voters.

2023 RACES A PREVIEW

In Wisconsin, abortion played a dominant role in the 2023 court race, with Democrats flipping the court to a 4-3 majority in a campaign that shattered previous national records for spending in state supreme court elections.

Liberal-leaning Justice Janet Protasiewicz defeated former Justice Dan Kelly, who previously worked for Republicans and had support from the state’s leading anti-abortion groups.

Protasiewicz was targeted with impeachment threats this year over comments she made on the campaign trail about redistricting as Republicans argued she had prejudged what then was an expected case on the state’s heavily gerrymandered state legislative districts. Experts say the controversy is an example of how more money and attention have changed the dynamics of many state supreme court races to be increasingly partisan.

Democrats in Pennsylvania added to their majority on the court after a race with tens of millions of dollars in spending. Democrat Dan McCaffery won after positioning himself as a strong defender of abortion rights.

CONTESTED SEATS EVEN IN DEEP RED STATES

It remains to be seen whether abortion rights will play a factor in states where party control isn’t at stake. That includes Arkansas, where the court is expected to maintain its 4-3 conservative majority. The seats up next year include the chief justice position, which has drawn three sitting justices.

A fight over abortion could wind up before the court, with a group trying to put a measure on the ballot next year that would scale back a state ban on the procedure that took effect once Roe was overturned.

Abortion rights supporters also aren’t writing off longshot states such as Texas and its all-Republican high court, which rejected the request from a pregnant woman whose fetus had a fatal condition to be exempted from the state’s strict abortion ban.

In Montana, Republicans have spent huge sums to try to push the court in a more conservative direction. The liberal-leaning court is expected to hear cases related to restrictions on transgender youth and abortion. A landmark climate change case also is pending before the court, which will have two of its seven seats up for election.

Jeremiah Lynch, a former federal magistrate running for the open chief justice position, has cast himself as a defender of the court’s independence and has warned voters to expect a barrage of negative advertising. Cory Swanson, a county attorney also running for the post, announced his bid on a conservative talk show and recently vowed to weed out any “radicalized” applicants for law clerks in response to antisemitism on college campuses.

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In West Virginia, where conservatives have a current 5-4 majority on the court and two seats will be up for grabs, GOP chair Elgine McArdle said Republicans aim to focus more on judicial races than in years past.

“One area the state party has never really engaged much in is nonpartisan races, including the judicial races,” McArdle said. “That won’t be the case this time around.”

Michael Cohen, former President Trump’s onetime fixer and lawyer, admitted in a filing unsealed Friday that he inadvertently gave his lawyer fake legal case citations generated by artificial intelligence in connection with a motion to end his supervised release early. 

U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman previously called the citations into question, writing earlier this month, “In the letter brief, Mr. Cohen asserts that, “[a]s recently as 2022, there have been District Court decisions, affirmed by the Second Circuit Court, granting early termination of supervised release.” 

Furman added, “As far as the Court can tell, none of these cases exist.”

Cohen said in his sworn declaration released Friday that he had found the phony citations through Google Bard, an AI service that he said he thought was a “supercharged” search engine. 

RITE AID BANNED FROM USING AI FACIAL RECOGNITION OVER LACK OF CONSUMER PROTECTIONS 

Michael Cohen admitted to inadvertently citing fake legal cases in a motion to end his early release in a sworn declaration released Friday. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah/File)

“As a non-lawyer, I have not kept up with emerging trends (and related risks) in legal technology and did not realize that Google Bard was a generative text service that, like Chat-GPT, could show citations and descriptions that looked real but actually were not,” Cohen said. “Instead, I understood it to be a super-charged search engine and had repeatedly used it in other contexts to (successfully) find accurate information online.”

ELON MUSK REPORTEDLY WARNED THAT AI COULD DESTROY HUMAN COLONY ON MARS: REPORT

In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to tax evasion, campaign finance charges and lying to Congress, spending more than a year in prison before he was put on supervised release. He was also disbarred as a lawyer. 

“It did not occur to me then and remains surprising to me now—that Mr. Schwartz would drop the cases into his submission wholesale without even confirming that they existed,” he added, citing his lawyer David Schwartz. “I deeply regret any problems Mr. Schwartz’s filing may have caused.” 

He said Schwartz’s alleged mistake was “a product of inadvertence, not any intent to deceive.”

E. Danya Perry, who represents Cohen and discovered the citations were fake, told the judge, “Mr. Cohen engaged in no misconduct and should not suffer any collateral damage from Mr. Schwartz’s misstep.”

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In an unrelated case earlier this month, two lawyers were fined $5,000 for citing fake cases generated by AI. 

Perry didn’t immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

The Associated Press 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. 

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What’s Happening? 

– Dem blasts decision to remove Trump from ballot

– DOJ threatens to sue Texas

– Haley walks back on slavery comment

– COLD BLOODED: Biden admin targets refrigerators, freezers

The year of ‘stop Trump’

Former President Trump faced unprecedented legal challenges as a frontrunner candidate of a major political party, and the year is ending with various state officials throwing fresh obstacles against his re-election.

In the last remaining business hours before 2024, Maine’s secretary of state moved to block Trump from the GOP primary ballot. Colorado also recently moved to block Trump from its primary ballot, but backed off pending the GOP’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Trump was removed from the Maine primary ballot. (Sean Rayford/Getty)

White House

‘NOT THE SECOND COMING’: Biden was ‘not certain’ about Carter’s re-election chances, floated replacing him: ‘That man’s in trouble’ …Read more

BORDER BATTLE: DOJ threatens to sue Texas over anti-illegal immigration law; Abbott prepared for Supreme Court fight …Read more

Capitol Hill

FISCAL HELL: Freedom Caucus warns GOP leaders against spending ‘agreement’ with Dems as shutdown deadline looms …Read more

Tales from the Campaign Trail

GOLDEN STATE WIN: California secretary of state leaves Trump on the ballot after calls to remove him …Read more

RECORD TURNOUT?: Iowa GOP chair predicts ‘potential for a record turnout’ in 2024 caucuses as new voters ‘surge’ …Read more

‘SUPER SCARY’: Former WH comms director admits 2024 looks ‘really scary’ for President Biden …Read more

SQUEEZED: Don Lemon hits Haley walking back slavery comment after previous clash: ‘Didn’t offer me that same grace’ …Read more

DEMOCRATS DENIED: Hochul vetoes Democrat-backed bill changing state campaign financing program …Read more

ELECTION PROPOSALS: Arkansas group advocating for paper ballots resubmits proposal to state attorney general …Read more

Across America

AMNESTY ON THE TABLE?: US-Mexico migration meeting included talks on ‘regularizing’ illegal immigrants living in US …Read more

HARVARD BLUE: All but 3 of more than 100 high dollar donations from Harvard employees go to Democrats: report …Read more

WHAT IS SWATTING?: What is ‘swatting,’ the ‘criminal harassment’ that has targeted three Republican lawmakers since Christmas? …Read more

BUCKEYE BATTLE: Riley Gaines puts heat on Republican Ohio governor to sign trans bill …Read more

BACK TO SCHOOL: Key moments that defined education in America in 2023 …Read more

FOLDING: New Hampshire casino faces shutdown following alleged COVID-19 relief fund fraud by state senator …Read more

‘WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED’: Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones becomes latest victim of ‘swatting’ incident: ‘I will not be intimidated’

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

Migrant numbers at the southern border in December have broken the record for monthly encounters, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sources tell Fox News — just as U.S. and Mexico officials met this week and discussed the benefits of “regularizing” those in the country illegally.

Sources say there have been more than 276,000 migrant encounters in December so far, already making it the highest month on record. 

The previous record was set in September when officials saw 269,735 encounters. The number includes illegal immigrants encountered between ports of entry and migrants entering at ports of entry via the CBP One app. 

US-MEXICO MIGRATION TALKS INCLUDED BENEFITS OF ‘REGULARIZING’ ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS LIVING IN US 

Migrants take part in a caravan towards the border with the United States in Tapachula, Chiapas State, Mexico, on December 24, 2023.   (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

It means that since the new fiscal year began on Oct. 1st, there have been more than 760,000 migrant encounters at the southern border, making the first quarter of FY 24 the highest quarter on record.

It caps a year at the southern border where multiple records have been repeatedly smashed, and where Border Patrol have consistently been overwhelmed by the numbers they are seeing.

Republicans have blamed the surge on the policies of the administration, including the ending of Trump-era policies, while the administration says it is dealing with a hemisphere-wide challenge and needs more funding and immigration reform legislation from Congress. 

LIBERAL MAYORS PUSH BIDEN FOR EMERGENCY DECLARATION, ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO DEAL WITH MIGRANT CRISIS

It has adopted a strategy of expanding “lawful” pathways for migration, cracking down on smugglers and increasing what it says are consequences for illegal entry. A DHS official told Fox this month that there have been 400,000 removals between May and the end of November — nearly the number of removals in all of FY19.

However, officials have also told lawmakers that they are releasing 5,000 illegal immigrants a day into the U.S., and that doesn’t include those being paroled in at ports of entry. 

Currently the White House is requesting $14 billion in border funding as part of the emergency supplemental funding request, but that has stalled as Republicans demand additional restrictions on asylum and the government’s use of parole to stop the interior releases.

This week Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas were part of a U.S. delegation to Mexico City where they met with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

In the joint statement, the countries affirmed their commitments to “orderly, humane and regular migration” and stressed their efforts to tackle “root causes” of migration, disrupt human smuggling and promote private investment while also investing in “ambitious development programs” in the region.

But the statement also said that officials discussed the “benefits” of granting some form of legal status for illegal immigrants already in the U.S., including those protected by the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) — an executive order signed by President Barack Obama, which shielded some illegal immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as minors.

“The delegations also discussed the benefits of regularizing the situation of Hispanic migrants who have been undocumented for several years and the DACA beneficiaries, who are a vital part of the US economy and society,” the joint statement said, adding that the delegations will meet again in January.

That immediately drew criticism from Republicans, who warned that such moves would only exacerbate the crisis.

MIGRANT CRISIS INCREASING STRAIN ON BORDER OFFICIALS, IMMIGRATION COURTS WITH MASSIVE NUMBERS 

“At a time when America is experiencing the worst border crisis in our nation’s history, it is unconscionable to hear the Biden Administration’s announcement that Secretaries Mayorkas and Blinken discussed with the President of Mexico amnesty for illegal immigrants,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said. “The United States must focus on policies that deter — not attract — people attempting to come here illegally, and the smugglers who profit from the catastrophe at our border.” 

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“This development further demonstrates the Administration has no real intention of solving the humanitarian disaster and immediate national security crisis their policies have created. President Biden needs to stop vacationing and take immediate steps to stop the flow of illegal immigration into our country. Our nation’s security and sovereignty depend upon it, and the American people demand it,” he said.

Fox News’ Bill Melugin contributed to this report.

A Democratic House lawmaker from Maine is criticizing his state’s decision to remove former President Donald Trump from the 2024 Republican primary ballot.

“I voted to impeach Donald Trump for his role in the January 6th insurrection. I do not believe he should be re-elected as President of the United States,” Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, began on Thursday night.

“However, we are a nation of laws, therefore until he is actually found guilty of the crime of insurrection, he should be allowed on the ballot.”

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

Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, is criticizing his state’s decision to take Donald Trump off of the primary ballot. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

In a shock decision issued Thursday evening, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said that Trump was ineligible for the state’s 2024 primary ballot. She cited a clause in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that bars people who have “engaged in insurrection” from running for elected office without two-thirds congressional approval.

The clause was originally meant to bar former Confederate soldiers and officers from holding positions in the U.S. government or military.

It was also referenced by Colorado’s highest court in a 4-3 ruling last week similarly barring Trump from that state’s primary ballot. The decision was challenged by the Colorado GOP, setting up a battle before the U.S. Supreme Court.

FBI, DENVER POLICE INVESTIGATING THREATS AGAINST COLORADO JUDGES WHO BARRED TRUMP FOR STATE’S BALLOTS

Former U.S. President Donald Trump was accused of violating the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Bellows’ Thursday night decision has unified the Republican Party around Trump, including his allies and rivals.

While most national Democrats remained silent on the matter, some did applaud Trump’s removal from the Maine primary ballot.

“The text of the Fourteenth Amendment is clear. No person who engaged in an insurrection against the government can ever again serve in elected office,” Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, wrote online.

WILL ELECTIONS FINALLY BE SECURE AND HONEST IN 2024?

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows issued the shock decision on Thursday night. (Gordon Chibroski)

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“On January 6, 2021, Donald Trump incited a violent mob to block Congress from certifying the Electoral College [and] overturn the 2020 presidential election. Our Constitution is the very bedrock of America and our laws and it appears Trump’s actions are prohibited by the Constitution.”

Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., similarly said on X, “Donald Trump incited a violent riot to overthrow American democracy. Of course he should be banned from the presidency forever.”

WATERLOO, Iowa – The longtime chair of the Iowa GOP says there’s a chance for a “record turnout” when his state’s caucuses on January 15 lead off the Republican presidential nominating calendar.

The Republican record was set eight years ago, when roughly 186,000 voters cast ballots in a wide-open GOP caucus that was narrowly won by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

“I think there is a potential for a record turnout. Certainly we’re going to be well above 100,000,” Iowa Republican Party chair Jeff Kaufmann emphasized in a recent Fox News Digital interview.

Kaufmann pointed to what he characterized as a surge in new voters showing up at Republican presidential campaign events across the Hawkeye State.

RAISING THE STAKES: ARE TRUMP’S EXPECTATIONS TOO HIGH IN IOWA’S JAN. 15 REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CAUCUSES?

The Iowa Caucuses display at the State Historical Museum of Iowa, on January 15, 2020. (Fox News)

“You come to these events, regardless of the candidate, and you ask how many people are going to caucus for the very first time. I’m seeing a fourth, a third of the people raising their hand,” Kaufmann said. “That’s the unknown factor that makes it harder to predict, but it makes it wonderful as a party chair to know that we’re going to have even more registered Republicans.”

The caucus, unlike most primary elections, is run by the state party. And Kaufmann, with the clock ticking toward caucus day, shared his concerns.

WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN IOWA SHOWS 

“We’ve got 1,657 precincts. Almost 10,000 volunteers. Anything can go wrong, but the key is making sure you have stopgaps, you have double checks, you have everything that you need in order to make sure that a process that big, that reliant on volunteer help, everything goes well. So I don’t sleep for the next four weeks,” he said as he spoke with Fox News six days before Christmas at a rally headlined by former President Donald Trump.

But he added: “we feel good with where we’re at. We’re doing caucus trainings by the hundreds.”

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump attends a campaign event in Waterloo, Iowa, on December 19, 2023. REUTERS/Scott Morgan. (REUTERS/Scott Morgan)

Trump remains the commanding front-runner in the Iowa GOP presidential caucus, with his support at 50% or more in the latest surveys. A FOX Business poll indicated Trump at 52%, far ahead of two closes rivals — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 18% and former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley at 16%.

The Trump campaign’s ground game operation in Iowa is leagues ahead of his 2016 effort, when he narrowly lost the caucuses to Cruz. 

“Ted Cruz won in 2016 because his ground game was fantastic,” Kaufmann, who remains neutral in the Republican nomination race, told Fox News.

AS FRONT-RUNNER TRUMP RETURNS TO IOWA, RIVALS HALEY AND DESANTIS TURN UP THE VOLUME — ON EACH OTHER

And pointing to the 2024 Trump campaign, Kaufmann emphasized that “their ground game has increased immensely.”

After losing to Cruz eight years ago, Trump, in an unproven claim, charged that “Cruz didn’t win Iowa. He stole it.”

It was a taste of things to come, as Trump has repeatedly charged without providing concrete evidence that his 2020 general election loss to President Biden was “rigged” with “massive voter fraud.”

Iowa GOP chair Jeff Kaufmann is interviewed by Fox News Digital, on December 19, 2023, in Waterloo, Iowa. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

But Kaufmann said he’s not concerned about Trump claiming that the 2024 caucuses will be “rigged” if the former president doesn’t live up to expectations.

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“We have such a transparent process. We count the ballots in the actual room. We report the ballots in the actual room,” he emphasized.

And Kaufmann added that “the conversations I’ve had with the Trump campaign have not revolved at all around any kind of rigged elections or anything of that nature. . . . We’ve got some great ground games right now in this state. And Donald Trump has one of those great ground games. And so that’s what wins an Iowa caucus.”

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

California voters will have the option to select former President Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential primary despite calls from the state’s lieutenant governor to remove him from the ballot.

Secretary of State Shirley Weber certified the list of candidates Thursday night.

GAVIN NEWSOM BLASTS EFFORT TO BLOCK TRUMP FROM CALIFORNIA BALLOT: ‘WE DEFEAT CANDIDATES AT THE POLLS’

Voters in California will be able to vote for former President Donald Trump in the presidential primary after Secretary of State Shirley Weber certified the list of candidates, which included him, Thursday night. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

The decision from the Golden State came hours after Maine’s secretary of state disqualified the GOP front-runner from the ballot – a move that comes in the wake of a similar ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court.

The divided court ruled that Trump is ineligible to run for the presidency under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause, arguing that his actions fueled the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by right-wing protesters aiming to disrupt congressional certification of President Biden’s 2020 election victory.

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Activists in other states, such as Oregon, have asked election officials to remove the former president from their states’ primary ballots under Section 3 of the 14th amendment.

Efforts to remove Trump from the primary ballots in Minnesota and Michigan were unsuccessful.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to make a final decision on Trump’s eligibility nationwide.

Maine’s Democratic secretary of state on Thursday disqualified former President Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot. 

The decision follows a ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court earlier this month that booted Trump from the ballot there under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Colorado is a Democratic-leaning state that is not expected to be competitive for Republicans in November.

Acevedo maintained he gave Trump a “fair platform” that would allow viewers to judge him for themselves. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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This is a developing story. Check back for updates.