NationalWatch

There is a new House GOP-led effort to revoke subpoenas that the House select committee on Jan. 6 sent to key aides of former President Trump. 

Reps. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Eric Burlison, R-Mo., introduced a resolution on Tuesday to rescind subpoenas that the now-defunct committee sent to Steve Bannon, Mark Meadows, Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino.

It would also withdraw the contempt of Congress resolutions filed against each individual over his defiance of those subpoenas.

PELOSI SAYS IT’S ‘WRONG’ TO INVITE ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU TO SPEAK TO CONGRESS: ‘VERY SAD’

A new House GOP-led resolution is aimed at revoking the subpoenas against former President Trump aides Steve Bannon, left, Peter Navarro, center, Mark Meadows, right, and Dan Scavino, not pictured. (Getty Images)

“The Committee was used as a political weapon with a singular focus on taking down Trump and his advisors through the intentional manipulation of facts and the silencing of the minority party,” Burlison said on X. “The subpoenas issued by the illegitimate Committee for Bannon, Navarro, Scavino, and Meadows were insufficient and should be rescinded, and the contempt of Congress referrals based on those subpoenas should be withdrawn.”

Massie wrote on the platform, “Time is of the essence. Speaker Johnson should immediately bring this resolution to the floor for a vote!”

Fox News Digital reached out to Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the former chairman of the committee, for comment on the resolution. Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s office declined to comment.

PELOSI REBUKED TO HER FACE DURING OXFORD DEBATE AFTER CONDEMNING AMERICANS CLOUDED BY ‘GUNS, GAYS, GOD’

The four individuals were subpoenaed by the now-defunct House select committee for the Jan. 6 riot. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

As of Wednesday, the GOP legislation has 22 additional co-sponsors beyond the three lawmakers supporting it.

Bannon, Trump’s former strategic adviser, and Navarro, his former trade adviser, were both sentenced to four months in prison in cases stemming from their contempt referrals by Congress.

The Department of Justice did not prosecute Meadows or Scavino.

Pelosi established the select committee in mid-2021 in response to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, when the former president’s supporters stormed the building in protest of his election loss to President Biden.

DOJ WILL NOT TURN OVER BIDEN’S RECORDED INTERVIEW WITH SPECIAL COUNSEL HUR TO CONGRESS

Former Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi established the Jan. 6 committee. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

An initial vote to create a 9/11-style commission to investigate the riot passed the House, with 35 Republicans and all Democrats, but died in the Senate. The House subsequently voted to create a select committee – with just two GOP votes – which granted Pelosi full power of appointments in “consultation” with Republicans.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

GOP critics of the panel have used that fight as evidence of the committee being a partisan exercise, including Pelosi’s rejection of two Trump-allied Republicans that were nominated by then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

One of those allies, Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., is one of the co-sponsors of Burlison’s resolution.

FIRST ON FOX: Former Vice President Mike Pence’s organization is urging Republican congressional leaders to prevent a provision from moving forward in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would require women to sign up for a potential military draft. 

“The notion of the United States of America requiring women to register to fight our wars is simply untenable and must be opposed at all costs,” Advancing American Freedom (AAF) Executive Director Paul Teller wrote in a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Wednesday.

TRUMP-BACKED CANDIDATE WINS VIRGINIA’S REPUBLICAN SENATE PRIMARY TO TAKE ON TIM KAINE

Mike Pence’s organization is urging Republican leaders Mitch McConnell and Mike Johnson to prevent an amendment that would require women to enroll in selective service from being passed. (Getty Images)

The Senate version of the NDAA advanced out of the Senate Committee on Armed Services last week, including an amendment that would expand selective service registration requirements to include women. 

“There is simply no good reason to require women to register for the draft absent the complete rejection of logic and defiance of common sense,” Teller said. 

VA DEM TIM KAINE WARNS AGAINST TAKING ELECTION FOR GRANTED AS TRUMP EYES BLUE STATE

“We oppose this move in the strongest possible terms and urge you and all Republicans to oppose any legislation that results in young women registering with the Selective Service for a possible future draft,” the letter continued. 

The correspondence was signed by more than 40 other conservative organizations and leaders, including Penny Nance, president and CEO of Concerned Women for America; Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project; and Gary Bauer, president of American Values. 

SENATE GOP STOPS DEM ATTEMPT TO BAN BUMP STOCKS AFTER SCOTUS REVERSES TRUMP-ERA RULE

A proposed amendment would expand selective service registration to women. (Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images)

The controversial provision was not included in the version of the NDAA that passed the Republican-led House last week. That bill, which is unlikely to be brought up in the Senate, would automatically register men aged 18 to 26 for the draft.

A spokesperson for Johnson told Fox News Digital he does not support the provision to include women being in the eventual compromise bill between the House and Senate. 

Some Senate Republicans pushed back at the amendment’s inclusion in the fiscal year 2025 NDAA, with Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., writing on X, “Why are the politicians forcing women into the draft? Because Democrats want to eliminate gender completely & turn the military into a social experiment.”

SCHUMER PUSHES FOR BUMP STOCK BAN AFTER SCOTUS REVERSES TRUMP-ERA RULE

Hawley slammed the proposal. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

“And some Republicans want to draft everybody they can to fight all these wars. Here’s my answer to both: NO,” he added. 

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, made his own disagreement clear last week, posting on X that the provision would only get through “over my dead body.”

McConnell’s office did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital. 

McConnell has previously supported the idea. (AP)

However, the Senate Republican leader may disagree with AAF and Johnson on the matter, having previously voiced support for expanding selective service registration to include women. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I personally think it would be appropriate for [women] to register just like men do,” McConnell said in 2016, as reported by the New York Times. 

“First of all, I don’t anticipate going back to the draft. The professional voluntary Army has been very successful. We’re talking here about registration for Selective Service, should we ever go back to a draft,” he explained at the time. 

Explaining his stance, he noted that women are now “performing virtually all kinds of functions” in the military. 

The New York City Council is urging Mayor Eric Adams to take action and extend in vitro fertilization (IVF) coverage to gay male employees in the wake of a lawsuit.

The council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus sent a letter to Adams last week that said gay men are denied benefits extended to straight couples and single women. The lawmakers argue that an “exclusionary and outdated” statutory definition of “infertility” denies gay men access to IVF. 

“As members of the City Council, we strongly believe that the family building benefits should be offered to all employees, and it cannot be conditioned on a definition of heteronormative infertility,” the caucus wrote in a letter first reported by Politico. “Although the City’s discriminatory policy predates this Administration, the current Administration can solve this problem.”

The issue, according to the caucus, is that the city health plan only covers cycles of IVF for employees who can show documentation of infertility, defined as “the inability to conceive a child through male-female unprotected sexual intercourse.” 

NYC SUED FOR DENYING IN VITRO FERTILIZATION COVERAGE TO GAY MALE EMPLOYEE

The New York City Council is urging Mayor Eric Adams to extend IVF health benefits to gay male municipal employees. (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins)

Since men cannot get pregnant, a 2020 state law that requires insurance plans to cover three cycles of IVF has not provided IVF coverage to gay male couples. The caucus demands that Adams act immediately to remedy the inequity by updating the city’s health care plans and reimbursing all gay men who have been denied IVF benefits in the past. 

The letter comes after a gay male employee sued the city last month alleging discrimination after he was denied IVF coverage. Former assistant district attorney Corey Briskin and his husband filed the suit, saying they had to put off plans for IVF due to the lack of financial support.

The lawsuit claims that withholding IVF coverage violates the city’s guarantees against discrimination based on sexual orientation as well as the equal rights and due process protections in the U.S. Constitution.

The LGBTQIA+ Caucus letter cites Briskin’s case and also urges Adams to support proposed legislation that would require the city to cover assisted reproduction services and adoption for municipal employees without the need for an infertility diagnosis, Politico reported.

FOLLOWING IVF RULING, BIDEN TO SEND HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY TO VISIT ALABAMA

New York City faces a class action lawsuit alleging discrimination because gay male employees have been denied IVF health benefits extended to straight couples and single women. (David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

“We’re hoping that the City Council’s great leadership on this issue will rub off on Mayor Adams,” Briskin’s lawyer, Peter Romer-Friedman, told the outlet.

A spokesperson for the mayor’s office told Politico the city’s health plan covers IVF treatments for municipal employees “regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation,” although state rules and guidance determine eligibility. The city does not cover costs associated with egg or sperm donation or surrogacy, the spokesperson said. 

ALABAMA PROVIDERS SUSPEND IVF TREATMENTS AFTER STATE COURT’S RULING AS FERTILITY EXPERTS WEIGH IN

New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ office told Politico the city does not provide coverage for egg or sperm donation or surrogacy. (AP Photo/Peter K. Afriyie, File)

IVF issues have been thrust into the spotlight in recent months thanks to questions about how the practice interacts with some abortion restrictions.

An Alabama Supreme Court ruling caused three state fertility clinics to stop offering IVF services. The Alabama ruling prompted a wave of national Republicans to come out in support of IVF, while some conservatives said it is an issue best left to individual states.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Democrats, however, have used the ruling as a political cudgel against the right, claiming that Republicans would crack down on IVF access and reproductive health measures nationwide – an attack that those on the right have denied.

Just one cycle of IVF treatment could cost between $15,000 and $30,000, depending on the clinic and a person’s medical history. Briskin and other gay male employees would only be able to access IVF through surrogacy.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., suggested the pro-Israel lobby is targeting him for being an “outspoken Black man” during a heated debate with his primary challenger on Tuesday night.

The debate was Bowman’s last televised face-off against Westchester County Executive George Latimer before next week, which will be the culmination of one of the most expensive House primary races in U.S. history.

The progressive Democrat took shots at the bipartisan-focused American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) several times throughout the event, accusing it of operating as a right-wing organization. AIPAC is supporting Latimer in the race, and its campaign arm has poured millions into the race.

AOC SLAMMED FOR SAYING ‘FALSE ACCUSATIONS’ OF ANTISEMITISM ARE ‘WIELDED AGAINST PEOPLE OF COLOR’

Rep. Jamaal Bowman is fighting for his political life in a high-profile primary race on Tuesday. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“The majority of his money comes from right-wing Republicans who support Trump,” Bowman said of Latimer.

Without naming AIPAC, he said, “They are spending more money in this primary than any PAC has ever spent in U.S. history.”

“Why? Because I’m an outspoken person of color. I’m an outspoken Black man. I fight against genocide in Gaza, and I fight for justice right here,” Bowman said, before referring back to Latimer and adding, “And his supporters don’t want that because it challenges their power.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Bowman’s campaign to clarify whether his comments targeted AIPAC specifically.

Latimer shot back at him that groups like AIPAC not only supported him but also people like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., and House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y. – none of whom are White.

‘SQUAD’ MEMBER DEFENDS ‘RIVER TO THE SEA’ PHRASE INTERPRETED AS CALLING FOR ‘EXTERMINATION’ OF JEWS

Westchester County Executive George Latimer is backed by AIPAC. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

“The support that they have and I have from individuals comes because of our support of the state of Israel. His opposition comes because he has been anti-Israel, hostile to Israel,” Latimer said. “I have never once flipped a position because of campaign donation. Not once.”

Bowman responded, “Just because you’ve got a few Black friends doesn’t make you an anti-racist organization.”

“He keeps naming off these Black names as if it doesn’t make AIPAC and their supporters racist,” Bowman said.

Latimer earlier called accusations of racism against himself “baloney.”

Bowman name-dropped AIPAC again in his closing statement, arguing, “I work in collaboration with the people, displaying servant leadership, while my opponent is big money in politics personified. He takes billions from right-wing Republicans to serve them and AIPAC.”

NIKKI HALEY WRITES CLEAR MESSAGE TO HAMAS ON IDF ARTILLERY SHELL

During the debate, Latimer countered Bowman’s accusations against AIPAC by pointing out it also endorsed House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, pictured here. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Latimer’s closing statement emphasized his decades in local New York politics, adding, “Who do you trust? Who do you believe has your interest first?”

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

A recent poll by Pix11, which hosted the debate, conducted along with Emerson College and The Hill, showed Latimer leading Bowman 48% to 31%.

If he wins the June 25 primary, Latimer will be the first moderate Democrat to knock off a member of the left-wing “Squad.”

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, a top ally and potential running mate of former President Trump, is making the case for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

Scott, who ran unsuccessfully for the 2024 nomination but remains a very popular figure in the GOP, on Wednesday convenes a one-day summit that is drawing top figures in the Republican Party, as well as mega-donors who have yet to commit to Trump’s White House campaign.

The all afternoon and evening gathering of Great Opportunity Policy, a Scott-aligned non-profit group that supports his political and policy agendas, will also double as a fundraiser for the former president as Trump enters his final phases in his search for a running mate.

THESE REPUBLICANS ARE CONSIDERED TO BE ON TRUMP’S SHORT LIST 

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., right, speaks in front of former President Trump during a campaign rally on Feb. 28, 2020 in North Charleston, South Carolina. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

The senator helped organize a major fundraiser for Trump earlier this year ahead of the South Carolina primary, and he attended a top-dollar fundraiser in New York City for the former president last month. Additionally, Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, earlier this month launched a $14 million effort to help the former president win over Black and other non-White working class voters that Scott argues could be the deciding factor in November’s elections.

On Wednesday, he will be making the case for Trump to a number of top donors and billionaires, including Ken Griffin, the founder of the Citadel hedge fund, who spent tens of millions during the 2024 Republican primaries in support of Trump’s rivals, and hedge fund executive Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital, who helped finance the campaigns of GOP presidential contender Nikki Haley and Democrat turned independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and also supported GOP candidates former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

VP STAKES: TRUMP MEETS WITH POTENTIAL RUNNING MATES

When asked what his message is to top donors who have yet to fully commit to the former president, Scott told Fox News Digital last month that “it is in the best interest of the United States of America to have four more years of President Donald Trump. It is in the best interest of our economy to have four more years of Donald Trump.”

“The one thing you can discern as a top donor and Republican and, frankly, a strong business person is that a strong economy makes all things possible,” 

Then-GOP presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina speaks with members of the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women at an event at Saint Anselm College’s New Hampshire Institute of Politics on May 25, 2023 in Manchester, New Hampshire. (Fox News )

The senator, who was known for his ferocious fundraising as he cruised to re-election in 2022, has strong ties with many leading figures in the GOP donor class. The money raised two years ago served as a down payment for his 2024 national run.

Scott, who was one of roughly a dozen Republican candidates who unsuccessfully challenged Trump for the GOP presidential nomination before ending his White House bid late last year, endorsed the former president in January.

The conservative senator from South Carolina over the past five months has become a top Trump surrogate and is considered to be among a small group of contenders on the short list as Trump’s running mate on the 2024 Republican ticket.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Political analysts say that Scott, as a Black evangelical, could help the former president make a sizable dent in President Biden’s lead with minority voters.

Republican presidential candidate former President Trump, right, looks to Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., during a Fox News Channel town hall on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024 in Greenville, South Carolina. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

His campaign trail efforts on behalf of Trump appear to have impressed the former president.

“You are a much better candidate for me than you are for yourself,” Trump has said to Scott a handful of times.

However, pundits question whether Scott’s uneven debate appearances during the Republican presidential primaries could be an issue for him if he faces off against Vice President Kamala Harris this summer in a general election running mate debate.

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

It is a nail-biter in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District as one of the nation’s most conservative members of Congress is fighting for his political life against a primary challenger backed by former President Trump and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Rep. Bob Good, who chairs the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, trailed primary challenger state Sen. John McGuire by less than 350 votes as of 12 a.m. Wednesday morning in the GOP nomination race in the reliably red southern Virginia district.

Virginia observes the Juneteenth holiday, and a resumption of the vote tabulation for the remaining uncounted ballots in the race may not take place until Thursday.

FOX NEWS POLL: BIDEN, TRUMP IN A DEAD HEAT IN VIRGINIA

Rep. Bob Good, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, speaks alongside fellow members during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on March 22, 2024. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Good, who is running for a third term in Congress, aims to avert becoming the first House incumbent this election cycle to be ousted by a primary challenger, in a contentious intra-party primary battle that pitted conservatives versus conservatives and Trump against some of his biggest allies in the House of Representatives. 

“We need leaders that know how to put petty differences aside and bring people together for a better future,” McGuire, a former Navy SEAL, told supporters on Tuesday night. “And that’s what I’m all about.”

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS PRIMARY RESULTS 

His comments came as he prematurely declared victory in a speech at his election party in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Virginia state Sen. John McGuire, a candidate in the Republican primary for the state’s 5th Congressional District, speaks to supporters in Lynchburg, Virginia, on Tuesday, June 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Skip Rowland)

Good did not give a speech at his primary night gathering, which was also held in Lynchburg, but in a social media post he noted that “we’re still waiting on the final election results.”

In a race where a whopping $14 million was spent – with much of it targeting the incumbent – Good wrote that “no matter the outcome, you’ve shown the DC Swamp that you won’t back down from standing for what’s right. Keep the faith and don’t stop fighting now.”

Good incurred Trump’s wrath for being one of just a handful of House Republicans to endorse Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the GOP presidential primaries.

Even though Good avoided criticizing Trump and quickly endorsed the former president after DeSantis ended his White House bid in January, Trump wrote on this Truth Social platform that “the damage has been done!”

The former president last month endorsed McGuire, who also had the backing of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a conservative firebrand and major Trump ally who is a vocal critic of Good who last year broke with the House Freedom Caucus. The group is considered the most far-right organization of lawmakers in the chamber.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 3, 2023 as he was ousted as House speaker. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

McCarthy also targeted Good, who was one of eight Republicans last autumn who joined with Democrats to vote to oust McCarthy from his leadership position.

Good had the support of Reps. Matt Gaetz and Byron Donalds of Florida, two conservatives who are also strong backers of Trump.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Fellow House Freedom Caucus members, Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Andy Biggs of Arizona, joined Good in Virginia for a rally on Friday.

Even though he was targeted by Trump, Good spotlighted his support for the former president as he ran for re-election.

Rep. Bob Good, left, a candidate in the Republican primary for the state’s 5th Congressional District, greets family members at a watch party in Lynchburg, Virginia, on Tuesday, June 18, 2024. (AP Photo/P. Kevin Morley)

“Happy Birthday to the best and next president of the United States, President Trump!” Good wrote on social media on Friday, which was the former president’s 78th birthday.

Good also showed up earlier this spring at Trump’s criminal trial in New York City to show his support for the former president.

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

Derrick Anderson won the Republican primary in the race to flip Democrat Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger’s 7th Congressional District seat red. 

Anderson was leading his closest opponent by about 10% when the Associated Press called the race on Tuesday. 

The Republican primary was stacked with six candidates, including: Navy SEAL combat veteran Cameron Hamilton; U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret and combat veteran Derrick Anderson; author and artist Maria Martin; Marine Corps veteran Jon Myers; entrepreneur John Prabhudoss; Trump administration appointee to serve as Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans, Terris Todd. 

Spanberger currently represents the district, but announced last year she would not seek re-election in favor of running for governor of the Old Dominion state in 2025. The Democratic primary for the state’s 7th Congressional District was also held Tuesday, with seven Democrats vying for the nomination. 

SPECIAL FORCES VETERAN GETS MAJOR ENDORSEMENT FROM GOP HOUSE LEADER IN BID TO FLIP VIRGINIA SEAT 

Former Special Forces soldier and Republican Virginia congressional candidate Derrick Anderson. (Derrick Anderson)

The 7th Congressional District stretches from central Virginia into Northern Virginia, encompassing counties such as  Orange, Culpeper, Spotsylvania, and parts of Prince William County outside of Washington, D.C. The district is currently considered one that leans or tilts towards the Democratic Party, according to various election ratings. 

FORMER SPECIAL FORCES SOLDIER LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN IN VIRGINIA TO FLIP SWING HOUSE SEAT FROM DEMOCRATS 

Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill on April 07, 2022 in Washington, DC.  (Getty Images)

Anderson pulled in the most donations during the primary cycle, with a haul of over $1.1 million, data from the Virginia Public Access Project shows. Anderson was followed by Hamilton, who raised over $720,000. Anderson and Hamilton were also the front-runners heading into election day, various polls showed. 

VIRGINIA DEMOCRATIC REP. ABIGAIL SPANBERGER TO LEAVE SWING DISTRICT TO RUN FOR GOVERNOR

Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., who currently serves as the House majority whip, endorsed Anderson, calling him a “conservative leader who will deliver for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.”

Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., right, who currently serves as the House majority whip, had announced his support for Derrick Anderson’s bid to represent Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. (Derrick Anderson, Getty Images)

“Derrick has earned support from military veterans, local sheriffs, and some of the strongest voices in the conservative movement because he will fight back against Joe Biden’s failed agenda,” Emmer said back in March. 

Neither Anderson and Hamilton have served in public office. Both candidates have issued support for former President Donald Trump’s 2024 race to retake the White House. 

“I respect everyone in this race. But my opponent is supported by some people that are not supporting President Trump right now. He’s our presumptive nominee; he’s the guy. Meanwhile, I’ve got a large tent of people from Speaker Mike Johnson, down through House leadership to Elise Stefanik, to Ronnie Jackson, who was Trump’s doctor in the White House. We’ve got a big, big tent of people,” Anderson said in comments to The Daily Progress this month. 

Hamilton meanwhile called himself the “most conservative candidate” in the race.

“I’m the most conservative candidate in my race because of my defense of civil liberties, my defense of principled conservatism, even at times where I oppose my own party,” Hamilton told The Daily Progress last week. 

TRUMP, YOUNGKIN MEET FOR FIRST TIME AS GOP EYES WINNING VIRGINIA IN NOVEMBER

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and and former President Donald Trump meet ahead of 2024 election.  (Trump campaign)

Virginia’s primary election comes on the heels of Trump meeting with Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin last week, where they discussed efforts to flip Virginia red in the 2024 presidential election. Virginia has voted for Democrats in each presidential election since President Barack Obama’s first campaign for the White House in 2008. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I think Virginia is in play. Let’s just remind ourselves – Joe Biden won Virginia by 10 points in 2020. I ended up winning by two the next year. What we’ve demonstrated is commonsense conservative policies work, and Virginians appreciate that,” Youngkin said in an interview last month with radio host and Fox News contributor Guy Benson.

A New York appeals court on Tuesday kept in place a gag order on former President Trump, who asked the court to lift the ban on his speech after the recent guilty verdict in his unprecedented criminal trial. 

Now that the trial has concluded and the former president and presumptive GOP nominee in the 2024 presidential election awaits sentencing next month, experts say the gag order, which Judge Juan Merhcan has refused to lift, is “untethered from any compelling rationale.”

“You have a local New York judge effectively limiting what the leading presidential candidate can say in the months leading up to an election,” Johnathan Turley, practicing defense attorney and law professor, told Fox News Digital.

“The continuation of the gag order seems untethered from any compelling rationale, particularly in light of the election,” he said.

NEW YORK APPEALS COURT REJECTS TRUMP’S BID TO LIFT GAG ORDER

Former President Trump arrives at Trump Tower in New York City, May 30, 2024, after being found guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)

Turley noted that appellate courts are generally “highly deferential” to courtroom management-type issues like the imposition and continuation of gag orders, but he said it is “deeply concerning that Judge Merchan would continue a gag order long after the verdict has been reached and the jury dismissed the case.”

“Putting aside the questionable value of the continuation of the gag order, in this case, Judge Merchan is ignoring the countervailing cost for the political system,” Turley added.

The New York Court of Appeals on Tuesday rejected Trump’s bid to have the gag order against him lifted, citing that “no substantial constitutional question is directly involved.” 

Trump’s lawyers cited the November presidential election and the first debate against President Biden later this month, as well as the First Amendment rights of the former president and his supporters, as reasons for the order to be lifted. 

TRUMP ATTORNEYS REQUEST MERCHAN LIFT GAG ORDER AHEAD OF PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE, FOLLOWING END OF TRIAL

Judge Juan Merchan is shown during former President Trump’s criminal trial in New York City on May 29, 2024. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)

The former president was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree last week. The six-week trial stemmed from charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Trump will be sentenced on July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention.

Merchan imposed the gag order on Trump before the trial began, barring Trump from making or directing others to make public statements about witnesses with regard to their potential participation or about counsel in the case – other than Bragg – or about court staff, DA staff or family members of staff.

John Shu, a constitutional attorney who served in both Bush administrations, noted that some of New York’s highest-profile defendants were not subject to such a gag order as the 45th president.

TRUMP SAYS GUILTY VERDICT A ‘SCAR’ ON NEW YORK JUSTICE SYSTEM, VOWS TO ‘KEEP FIGHTING’

Former President Trump appears in Manhattan Criminal Court on May 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig/Pool)

“The Manhattan DA’s office has charged all kinds of high-profile criminal defendants throughout its history, ranging from celebrities to gangsters, such as Lucky Luciano, the head of La Commissione, and they weren’t silenced the way former President Trump was,” said Shu.

“Neither was John Gotti, the former head of the Gambino crime family and known as the ‘Teflon Don,’” he said, though that was a federal case. 

“Say what you want about Donald Trump, but he’s not a mobster,” Shu added.

“The trial is over and there’s no chance that Judge Merchan is going to vacate the verdict and grant a retrial,” Shu told Fox News Digital. “Both the verdict and the gag order now will go through the New York state appellate system as two separate appeals.”

Shu noted that Trump’s lawyers filed an expedited appeal of the gag order and that typically “anytime a litigant asks the highest court in a jurisdiction to step in and shortcut the process, it has to be something very unusual for them to agree.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Steven Cheung, Trump campaign spokesperson, said in a statement, “President Trump and his legal team will continue to fight against the unconstitutional Gag Order imposed by Justice Merchan.”

“The Gag Order wrongfully silences the leading candidate for President of the United States, President Trump, at the height of his campaign. The Gag Order applies only to President Trump and not to any of his political opponents, critics, or even Crooked Joe Biden,” Cheung wrote.

“The Election Interfering Gag Order violates the First Amendment rights of President Trump and all American voters, who have a fundamental right to hear his message,” he added.

Fox News Digital reached out to Merchan’s and Bragg’s offices for comment.

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

Embroiled in controversy over his position on the Israel-Hamas conflict, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., was subjected to more scathing press that cited local Jewish leaders adamantly opposed to his re-election.

Bowman, considered a member of the left-wing “Squad” in Congress, was the subject of a Jewish Insider piece headlined “No More Bridges to Burn in Westchester,” referencing the suburban New York City county that makes up much of his district and is also home to the largest Jewish population outside the Big Apple.

The former junior high school principal is in the political fight of his life against a more moderate Democrat, Westchester County Executive George Latimer, and has even lost the support of some fellow progressives over his criticism of Israel.

According to the Jewish Insider piece, Bowman asked a local Westchester Jewish leader in 2022 whether he had photographs of the two of them together as he tried to rally support for his election.

DONALDS SLAMS LIBERALS LIKE BOWMAN, MIDLER FOR ATTACKS ON MANCHIN

“Do you have pics of us … so I can show the world I’m friends with Jewish people[?]” according to contents of a text reportedly viewed by the outlet.

The Jewish leader told the outlet he had at least one image from an event Bowman attended after a promise to support a House bill favoring former President Trump’s Abraham Accords Mideast peace deal.

Bowman later reportedly withdrew his support for the legislation, and the Jewish leader said the overall situation made him “uncomfortable.”

That situation and other content in the piece caused outrage among Jewish activists, including StopAntisemitism founder Liora Rez, who told Fox News Digital it is time for Bowman to “find a new job.”

“Jamaal Bowman has consistently made clear in his statements and actions his animus toward Israel and the Jewish people,” said Rez, who escaped antisemitism as a refugee from the Soviet Union.

BOWMAN SWIPES AT HILLARY CLINTON AFTER SHE ENDORSES HIS OPPONENT

“His hostility to individuals, including his own constituents, simply because of their faith and ethnic background is sickening, and he and his bigoted views deserve no recognition in Washington.”

Bowman’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the Jewish Insider piece.

Another local Jewish leader, Rabbi Evan Hoffman, recently told the New York Post he would support Latimer as Jewish constituents are reportedly organizing a “Vote Shabbat” drive to oppose the incumbent.

“Bowman is opposed to Israel and more subtly the Jews in his own district,” Hoffman said.

Bowman has spoken out on the BDS (Boycott Divestment Sanctions) movement against Israel, calling it a “nonviolent protest opportunity to hold Israel accountable.” Pro-Israel activists consider it conversely antisemitic and an effort to hurt Israel.

Bowman’s opponent, Latimer, has gotten the opposite reception. A February report from The Intercept said support from AIPAC – the American Israel Public Affairs Committee – has constituted more than two-fifths of his fundraising war chest. Bowman has, in turn, accused the group of trying to “buy” the race.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Former Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., a fellow progressive who represented the district across the Tappan Zee Bridge from Bowman, notably chose to endorse Latimer this year.

Jones’ former district, now mostly represented post-redistricting by Rep. Michael Lawler, R-N.Y., also hosts a large Hasidic population in Rockland County.

“I’m making this endorsement [of Latimer] to stand up for my Jewish constituents because Representative Bowman and I have very different views on Israel,” Jones told the Associated Press.

Bowman’s supporters, however, sing his praises as much as his critics do the opposite. Angela Davis-Farrish, an official with the New Rochelle Municipal Housing Authority, praised the lawmaker in a Politico piece after the introduction of legislation to establish a rent ceiling for certain families on government assistance.

He is also endorsed by New York’s Working Families Party and the Democratic Socialists of America.

The Republican contender primed to face either Bowman or Latimer is Dr. Miriam Flisser, a pediatric consultant who previously served as mayor of Scarsdale.

The district, however, is rated D+20 by the Cook Partisan Voting Index, which suggests that the eventual Democrat nominee is a heavy favorite in November.

I think I’ll do some trash-talking today.

Not my style, I know. But indulge me here.

The two candidates spend so much time and energy denigrating and denouncing each other that you really can’t cover this campaign without delving into that. Even when the charges and counter-charges are false, misleading or based on digital manipulation.

TRUMP’S LEAD JUST WON’T BUDGE: WHY THE DEBATES MAY BE BIDEN’S LAST SHOT

Let’s start with Joe Biden’s alleged “frozen” moment, at least according to his detractors. The trash-talk tally: This guy is really out of it, always seems to be wandering aimlessly.

On Sunday, the campaign released footage of the star-studded L.A. fundraiser that raised $30 million. Biden and Barack Obama are waving to the crowd. Biden, 81, stops for a few seconds and is basking in the thunderous cheers. He wasn’t dazed or confused, just taking in the moment.

But what Obama did next is inexplicable. He knows his former VP has been under a constant barrage as frail and confused. Yet he literally took Biden’s hand to lead him off the stage, then kept his hand on the president’s back as they walked. 

Former President Obama takes President Biden by the wrist at a fundraising event.   (Christopher Gardner via Storyful)

Not a single second of that video was distorted in any way. Nobody had to. Everyone could watch it and make up their own minds.

But Karine Jean-Pierre was unusually aggressive in attacking distorted videos of her boss. What the Biden White House, the Biden campaign and its media defenders are trying to make people believe that any video that portrays the president in an unflattering light is a “deepfake” or “cheapfake,” to use the press secretary’s words. Cheap, maybe, but not always fake.

That effort conflates two very different situations. The New York Post seemed to follow the RNC’s lead in running a cropped photo of Biden staring into space at the G-7 – when he was actually talking to and giving a thumbs up to skydivers who had landed a few feet away, before the Italian prime minister pulled him back to the group of world leaders.

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE’S LIES ABOUT ‘DEEPFAKE’ VIDEOS REVEALED BIDEN TEAM’S WORRIES, SAYS KELLYANNE CONWAY

But the embarrassing moment on the Los Angeles stage was totally real and not manipulated in any way. 

Meanwhile, the author of a new book who spent many hours interviewing Trump reports that the former president has a poor memory. Trash-talking tally: This 78-year-old guy keeps attacking his opponent as mentally clueless when he’s not playing with a full deck? 

Ramin Setoodeh, co-editor-in-chief of Variety and author of a book on “The Apprentice,” reports that Trump has “severe memory issues.”.

President Biden looks on at parachutists during the G7 summit in Bari, Italy, on June 13, 2024. (Photo by Michael Kappeler/picture alliance via Getty Images)

“He couldn’t even remember me. We spent an hour together in 2021, in May, and then a few months later, I went back to the White House, I went back to Trump Tower to talk to him about his time in the White House. And I said, he had this vacant look on his face. And I said,’ Do you remember me?’ And he said, ‘No.’ He had no recollection of our lengthy interview that we had, and he wasn’t doing a lot of interviews at that time.”

In an excerpt in the Washington Post, he writes: “Once we get started, he keeps extending our time together, which would spill over into follow-up appointments. 

‘Okay, so why don’t we do another meeting?’ is how he’d usually end our sessions.

SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIES

“I never know when our afternoons together will end. There is always the possibility that if things went extremely well, Trump could keep talking at me through dinner, and maybe I’d have to excuse myself to escape from him.“

Trump spokesman Steven Cheung, like his boss, hit back hard, telling Newsweek: “President Trump was aware of who this individual was throughout the interview process, but this ‘writer’ is a nobody and insignificant so of course he never made an impression. After recognizing the importance of The Apprentice and its significant cultural impact on a global scale, this ‘writer’ has now chosen to allow Trump Derangement Syndrome to rot his brain like so many other losers whose entire existence revolves around President Trump.”

Questions over the mental acuity of both President Biden and former President Trump have been raised in the press. (Associated Press )

All right, I’ll give my trash talk a rest. The media need to intensify their efforts to separate truth from fiction. But most voters don’t have time to watch a three-minute video and examine different angles. They may just see a five-second clip or a single image.

In the end, maybe all the attacks cancel each other out. Maybe people throw up their hands and don’t know what to believe. Maybe, without even getting into AI, there will be a fatal erosion of belief in media institutions that are already widely distrusted. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

And that is a depressing thought. 

Hung Cao won the Virginia Republican Senate primary on Tuesday, getting the party’s nod to take on incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., in November. 

The most prominent contenders in the Senate GOP primary besides Cao were former DeSantis-staffer and Club for Growth employee Scott Parkinson and constitutional attorney Jonathan Emord.

Former President Trump endorsed Cao last month, writing on Truth Social, “A Combat Veteran and Highly Decorated Special Operations Officer, Hung Cao will be a tireless fighter to stop inflation, grow our Economy, secure our Border, strong support our incredible Military/Vets, and defend our always under siege Second Amendment.”

SENATE GOP STOPS DEM ATTEMPT TO BAN BUMP STOCKS AFTER SCOTUS REVERSES TRUMP-ERA RULE

Kaine said he isn’t taking reelection for granted (Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images)

“Hung Cao has my Complete and Total Endorsement,” he continued. 

While his opponent earned Trump’s coveted seal of approval, Parkinson had garnered significant endorsements from current Republican senators. Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., Mike Lee, R-Utah, Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and Mike Braun, R-Ind., are listed among his endorsers. 

SCHUMER PUSHES FOR BUMP STOCK BAN AFTER SCOTUS REVERSES TRUMP-ERA RULE

Cao is a retired Navy captain. (Images courtesy of Hung Cao)

Trump’s endorsement power varies from state to state, and his endorsement isn’t necessarily a guarantee a candidate will win in a primary. In Virginia’s Republican presidential primary in March, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley received 35% of the vote, compared to Trump’s 63%. Haley suspended her campaign shortly after the primary. 

ELIZABETH WARREN WARNS DEMS TO STAND FIRM ON TAX HIKES AS FIGHT LOOMS OVER TRUMP-ERA CUTS

Congressional primaries were held in Virginia on Tuesday. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Non-partisan political handicapper the Cook Political Report rates the Virginia Senate race as “Solid Democratic.” But despite the seat currently being considered a reliable win for Kaine, the Democratic senator made clear he isn’t leaving anything up to chance. 

“I know I’m not taking it for granted,” Kaine told Fox News Digital of the upcoming general elections in Virginia. “I don’t think anyone should.”

REPUBLICANS BACK STOPGAP SPENDING BILL INTO 2025 IN ANTICIPATION OF GOP WINS

Kaine has served in the office since 2013. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Kaine has served in the Senate since 2013 and was reelected in 2018. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

A recent Fox News Poll shocked some when it showed President Biden and Trump tied in Virginia at 48% to 48%. In the 2020 election, Biden won 54% of the vote to Trump’s 44%. 

The new data comes as Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Trump’s campaign claim the state is “in play” for Republicans in November. 

“Joe Biden is so weak, and Democrats are in such disarray, that not only is President Trump winning every traditional battleground state, but longtime blue states such as Minnesota, Virginia, and New Jersey are now in play. President Trump is on offense with a winning message and growing his movement every single day. Joe Biden’s campaign should be terrified,” campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a recent statement to Fox News Digital.

The Republican primary race in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District between House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good and state Sen. John McGuire was too close to call on Tuesday night.

As of 11 p.m., 92% of the vote was called – with McGuire being up by just 300 votes.

The race will now move to a recount for the GOP primary in the state’s reliably red 5th Congressional District, in the southern part of the commonwealth. 

TRUMP-BACKED CANDIDATE WINS VIRGINIA’S REPUBLICAN SENATE PRIMARY TO TAKE ON TIM KAINE

U.S. Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, speaks alongside fellow members during a press conference on the government funding bill, at the U.S. Capitol on March 22, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

In a statement on X, Good thanked supporters for their volunteer efforts and slammed the “D.C. Swamp.”

“The entire DC Swamp was aligned against us with over $10 million in attack ads, but with your help we were able to make this race too close to call,” Good wrote, in part.

“No matter the outcome, you’ve shown the DC Swamp that you won’t back down from standing for what’s right. Keep the faith and don’t stop fighting now,” he said.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and and former President Donald Trump meet ahead of 2024 election.  (Trump campaign)

The intra-party primary battle came after former President Donald Trump unleashed his wrath against Good for previously endorsing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president.

SMASAL WINS DEM PRIMARY TO FACE JEN KIGGANS IN KEY VIRGINIA SWING DISTRICT

Even though the two-term congressman avoided criticizing Turmp and quickly endorsed the former president after DeSantis ended his White House bid in January, Trump wrote on this Truth Social platform that “the damage has been done!”

The former president last month endorsed McGuire, who also had the backing of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a conservative firebrand and major Trump ally who is a vocal critic of Good who last year broke with the House Freedom Caucus. The group is considered the most far-right organization of lawmakers in the chamber.

Then-Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, as he was ousted as House Speaker. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE BACKS CHALLENGER TO FREEDOM CAUCUS CHAIR AS 2024 STIRS HOUSE GOP CIVIL WAR

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy also targeted Good, who was one of eight Republicans last autumn who joined with Democrats to vote to oust McCarthy from his leadership position.

However, Good had the support of Reps. Matt Gaetz and Byron Donalds of Florida, two conservatives who are also strong backers of Trump.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Additionally, fellow House Freedom Caucus members, Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Andy Biggs of Arizona, joined Good in Virginia for a rally on Friday.

Even though he was targeted by Trump, Good spotlighted his support for the former president as he ran for re-election.

“Happy Birthday to the best and next President of the United States, President Trump!” Good wrote on social media on Friday, on the former president’s 78th birthday.

Good also showed up earlier this spring at Trump’s criminal trial in New York City, to show his support for the former president.

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

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

It’s hard to tell who needs who more.

Former President Trump or House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

It’s too early to say if Mr. Trump will return to the White House next January. But he needs assistance from Capitol Hill if he’s going to accomplish anything.

And it’s a jump ball at best to determine which party might control the House. Johnson is certainly the odds-on favorite to retain the Speakership if Republicans hold the House. But it’s about the math. Eleven Republicans voted alongside an effort in early May by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., to remove Johnson. That won’t work for Johnson if the GOP only maintains a slim majority. But an edict by a potential President-elect Trump in January 2025 could save the day for Johnson if he’s struggling to round up the votes for Speaker on January 3 – the Constitutionally-mandated day to begin the 119th Congress. 

HOUSE SPEAKER CHAOS: ‘ONE DUMPSTER FIRE AT A TIME’

A side-by-side of Former President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson. (Getty Images)

Fox is told that former President Trump needs party unity. That could be the key to legislative success should Mr. Trump return to the White House for a 2.0 launch.

He would need help from the Hill. 

Johnson made his second pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago to huddle with former President Trump in as many months this week. He brought with him Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). That’s the organization devoted to electing Republicans to the House.

“We will not waste a moment. We will be working on a very aggressive agenda to fix all the great problems facing this country right now,” said Johnson ahead his visit to southern Florida.

The meeting came just days after former President Trump visited House and Senate Republicans in separate meetings on both sides of Capitol Hill. It marked the first time Mr. Trump had crept anywhere close to the Capitol since the riot three-and-a-half years ago.

“Unity is strength and the division is an invitation for your opponents to beat you. So I think he sees the advantage of unity,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Tex., of Mr. Trump.

It’s worth noting that Cornyn could serve as either Senate Majority or Minority Leader next year. Current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has a strained relationship with former President Trump. 

Measuring draperies? Unclear. But the former President and Congressional Republicans are sharpening their 2025 legislative agenda.

“Securing the border!” said Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., on Fox.

“We’ve got to bring down energy costs,” declared Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., on Fox.

“The world is a tinderbox,” said Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y.

The former President is already making promises. Some of which might not entail Congressional action.

“On day one of my new administration, we all begin the largest deportation operation in American history,” warned Mr. Trump.

HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADER DECLARES JUSTICE ALITO ‘AN INSURRECTIONIST SYMPATHIZER’ AMID FLAG FRACAS

Another priority is renewing the expiring Trump-era tax cuts.

Such a project likely requires the Senate use a special budgetary process to sidestep a filibuster. It’s known as “reconciliation.” The Senate can only deploy this parliamentary tool on bills which don’t deal directly with policy – but focus on tax or fiscal issues. Senate Republicans used budget reconciliation to greenlight the tax cuts in late 2017. 

Budget reconciliation always requires that legislation approved under this special set of rules not add to the deficit. It is unclear how re-upping the tax cuts won’t contribute to the national debt. This may require some fancy bookkeeping.

Even so, former President Trump is likely to have narrow majorities in the House and Senate – if Republicans prevail. That’s why GOPers must stick together.

“[Former President Trump] and I speak frequently about the election cycle, of course, and how we can complete the mission of restoring him to the White House and growing the House majority and winning the Republican majority in the Senate,” said Johnson.

But critics claim there’s no agenda at all. It’s just about former President Trump. 

Former President Donald Trump headlines a Republican National Committee spring donor retreat, in Palm Beach, Florida on May 4, 2024. (Donald Trump 2024 campaign)

“The Constitution doesn’t matter to them. None of it matters to them. The only thing that matters is the pursuit of power,” opined Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who is running for the Senate.

Democrats are banking on tying former President Trump to vulnerable Republicans facing competitive re-elections in battleground states or districts.

“They’re going to have to defend this approach that they’ve taken over the next several months in advance of November before the American people,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. 

“With November fast approaching, Republicans continue to show the American people where they really are with MAGA extremists and not with the majority of America,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

President Biden and Democrats have long telegraphed their electoral strategy. They will run against three opponents this fall: Republicans. Former President Trump. And now, the Supreme Court. 

That’s why Democrats are escalating attacks on conservative Supreme Court justices in light of controversies about the conduct of justices and controversial rulings about guns and abortion.

BIDEN’S ATTORNEY GENERAL IS FIGHTING BACK AS THE GOP-LED HOUSE CONTEMPLATES CONTEMPT

“It appears that [Supreme Court] Justice [Samuel] Alito is an insurrectionist sympathizer, joined by his right wing buddy, [Supreme Court Justice] Clarence Thomas,” claimed Jeffries.

Democrats accuse Thomas and Alito of questionable ethics.

They ding Thomas for taking lavish getaways on the dimes of GOP megadonors.

“He has done it 60 times. He was a vacation-taking fiend. My Lord!” thundered Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., on the Senate floor.

The left targets Alito for flying controversial flags at his homes.

“I believe the legacy of the [Chief Justice John] Roberts Court will be one of unchecked corruption and absolute politicization,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. 

An attorney for Thomas says ethics rules don’t require him to report such trips – so long as donors don’t have business before the Court. 

Alito says his wife flew the flags. 

Republicans contend the Democrats’ complaints are camouflage for what really needles left.

“Democrats don’t like the fact that the justices were making certain decisions,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.

Liberal media and Democratic Party leaders have used the classic “Appeal to Heaven” colonial-era flag to link Supreme Court Justice Alito to Jan. 6 insurrectionists. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

So, progressives are trying to curb powers of the Court.

“I’m for term limits for members of Congress. Senators. Supreme Court justices. Let’s get some new blood in there,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.

One Democrat demands that Chief Justice Roberts penalize associate justices.

“He can say that Justice Alito no longer writes majority opinions. He can say that Justice Alito no longer presides over a circuit,” said. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

Republicans are appalled by the ultimatums.

“They want the Supreme Court to become subservient to the Congress,” said Cornyn.

Top Republicans say the attacks are just politics.

“This is an election year. And they’re trying to make much ado about nothing,” said Johnson. 

But Democrats don’t seem to disagree when it comes to an electoral strategy.

“Democrats in election after election after election, since the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022, are winning,” said Jeffries.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

So, ahead of the election, former President Trump needs Congressional Republicans. Those same GOP lawmakers need him. But Democrats have their needs, too: former President Trump and the rightward tilt of the Supreme Court.

Rep. Kevin Hern won the Republican primary for Oklahoma’s First Congressional District, ending a lopsided fundraising battle, according to the Associated Press. Hern will face Dennis Baker who was ahead of his closest primary opponent by about 8% when the Associated Press called the race.

The battle for the seat pitted Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., who has held the seat for six years, and Paul Royse, who ran on a platform his campaign boasted was “against Trump,” including plans to make “drastic cuts” to both Social Security and Medicare.

INSIDERS PREDICT RUST BELT REPUBLICAN, POSSIBLE TRUMP VP PICK, COULD FLIP BIDEN VOTES IN KEY SWING STATES

Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hern, R-Okla. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Hern has been a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump and was nominated for Speaker of the House last January as a protest of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. The incumbent expressed interest in seeking the nomination for Speaker in October before withdrawing himself from consideration. He then announced his desire to seek the nomination again after Reps. Steve Scalise, R-La., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, dropped out of the race.

The race featured one of the more lopsided funding battles of any primary across the country, with Hern raising nearly $1.6 million, according to Federal Election Commission data. Royse, meanwhile, did not file any campaign finance disclosures with the FEC.

Members of the House of Representatives voting to elect a speaker in Oct. 2023. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

EXPERTS PREDICT INFLATION ELECTION TROUBLE FOR BIDEN: ‘TOO LATE’ TO FIX

Hern will now advance to November’s general election, where he will face off with either Evelyn Rogers, who has sought the seat in previous elections as an independent but is running as a Democrat in 2024 and former FBI agent Dennis Baker.

U.S. Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) speaks to reporters as he leaves a House Republican candidates forum where congressmen who are running for Speaker of the House presented their platforms in the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill on October 23, 2023, in Washington, DC.  (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Oklahoma’s First Congressional District has been solidly Republican for decades, with former Rep. James R. Jones being the last Democrat to win the seat in 1984.  

Voters in Virginia’s 2nd congressional district have selected military veteran Missy Cotter Smasal to face off against Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., in November. 

Like Kiggans, Smasal served in the U.S. Navy. Her campaign website states that she was a Surface Warfare Officer and deployed aboard the U.S.S. Trenton during Operation Enduring Freedom.

Smasal is an adjunct professor and small business owner who also runs the nonprofit Valor Run, which is aimed at honoring female service members. 

FOX NEWS POLL: BIDEN, TRUMP IN A DEAD HEAT IN VIRGINIA

Rep. Jen Kiggans, a Republican veteran, is running for re-election in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District (Getty Images)

Her victory puts Kiggans onto a political battlefield similar to the one she claimed victory on in November 2022, when she unseated incumbent former Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., also a Navy veteran.

Smasal defeated Jake Denton, a former journalist and a civil rights attorney.

Her website says she “is running to ensure that kids and families across coastal Virginia have the opportunities they need to succeed.”

WHALE OF A LAWSUIT THREATENS TO SWALLOW UP BIDEN GREEN ENERGY AGENDA

Navy veteran Missy Cotter Smasal (Instagram/@missycottersmasal)

Kiggans is a first-term lawmaker representing a district with a heavy military presence and she also comes from a military family.

Virginia’s 2nd congressional district encompasses a large part of the commonwealth’s shoreline, including Virginia Beach.

It’s also one of the most politically fickle districts in the country – before Kiggans unseated her, Luria won the district in November 2018 by defeating then-Rep. Scott Taylor, R-Va.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, JUNE 14, 1777, CONGRESS ADOPTS ‘STARS AND STRIPES’ FLAG, ‘THE NEW CONSTELLATION’

Kiggans unseated former Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., in November 2022. (Tom Williams)

The freshman moderate Republican is one of 18 GOP lawmakers who won seats in districts that President Biden carried during the 2020 White House race. However, former President Trump narrowly won the district over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Kiggans is now being endorsed by Trump for reelection.

Democrats are eyeing the area as a potential stop on their roadmap to win back control of the House of Representatives in November.

Longtime House Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., won his Tuesday night primary and is on track to clinch his 12th term in the House of Representatives this November.

Cole, who currently serves as chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, was facing a crowded GOP led by opponent Paul Bondar. Bondar is a political outsider and a businessman who has poured millions of his own dollars into the race.

The senior Republican has represented Oklahoma’s 3rd congressional district since January 2003. The district encompasses part of Oklahoma City and the city of Norman.

BATTLE FOR THE LAST FRONTIER: REPUBLICANS LOOK TO TAKE BACK HISTORICALLY GOP-HELD HOUSE SEAT IN ALASKA

Rep. Tom Cole is running for his 12th term in Congress (Getty Images)

Cole had been expected to get at least a plurality of the vote, given his deep ties to Oklahoma GOP politics, but his reputation for working across the aisle has earned him challenges from his right flank.

Bondar has tried to style himself as a more conservative alternative to Cole, bashing the congressman for being willing to work with Democrats on issues like government funding and Ukraine aid. Cole’s campaign has in turn styled Bondar as a carpetbagger trying to buy the race. 

Cole also came into the Tuesday election armed with an endorsement from former President Trump, who won the district by double digits in 2020.

DEMOCRATS ‘FEAR’ THIS POSSIBLE TRUMP VP PICK WHO ‘SOULD SPELL THE END FOR BIDEN’: INSIDERS

Donald Trump endorsed Cole earlier this year. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)

“Tom Cole is a fantastic Representative for Oklahoma’s 4th Congressional District. As Chairman of the POWERFUL Appropriations Committee, Tom is fighting hard to Secure the Border, Stop Migrant Crime, Strengthen our Military/Vets, Support our Great Law Enforcement, and Protect our always-under-siege Second Amendment,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in May. 

“He has almost always voted with me, including on both Impeachment Hoaxes. Tom Cole has my Complete and Total Endorsement – He will not let you down!”

BLACK MALE VOTERS SOUR ON BIDEN, TRUMP: ‘TIRED OF BEING FORCED TO CHOOSE THE LESSER OF THE GREATER EVILS’

Cole is also a staunch ally of Speaker Mike Johnson, pictured here. (Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

In addition to supporting Trump, Cole has also been a staunch ally of House GOP leadership. He previously served as head of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), House Republicans’ campaign arm, and before taking the Appropriations Committee gavel he served as the top Republican on the House Rules Committee.

Other Republican hopefuls who ran to unseat Cole on Tuesday night are Nick Hankins, Rick Harris and Andrew Hayes.

Former First Lady Melania Trump will “most certainly” have an influence on who her husband selects as a running mate for the 2024 presidential election, according to one former White House insider.

“Mrs. Trump will most certainly speak her mind when it comes to which person she thinks would be best to serve alongside her husband as he attempts to take back the White House,” the source, who previously served as an aide to Trump during his presidency, told Fox News Digital.

“Whether or not Trump takes her advice when selecting his running mate will be determined later down the road. It’s safe to assume, though, based on what I’ve seen in the past, that she will be upfront and candid about whether certain people are fit to serve as vice president,” the source said of Melania.

Should she make clear who she believes fits the bill best, it won’t be the first time Melania influenced her husband’s thinking when it comes to his vice presidential pick.

TRUMP HAS ‘SORT OF A PRETTY GOOD IDEA’ OF VP PICK, WILL PROBABLY ANNOUNCE DURING RNC CONVENTION

Former President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump stand together during an event at his Mar-a-Lago home on Nov. 15, 2022, in Palm Beach, Fla. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

In her 2018 book, “First in Line: Presidents, Vice Presidents and the Pursuit of Power,” Kate Andersen Brower noted that Melania played a pivotal role in ensuring a “clean” and “safe” candidate was chosen to serve as Trump’s running mate in the 2016 election.

“That meant no affairs and no messy financial entanglements. In short, it meant no drama. She realized her husband had enough of that already,” Brower noted at the time.

Though they now have a troubled relationship marred by the results of the 2020 presidential election, Trump ultimately selected former Vice President Mike Pence to serve as his running mate for both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.

Brower said Melania was “decidedly in Pence’s corner” due to his record of having “absolutely no skeletons.”

Though it is still unclear who Trump will select as his running mate for the 2024 presidential election, which is less than five months away, a report published last week touted the former president and first lady’s relationship with North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and his family.

The Puck report highlighted Melania’s relationship with Burgum’s wife, Kathryn, and pointed to how she “worked with Melania on multiple occasions, including on building recovery-friendly workplaces” during Trump’s presidency.

‘GREATEST THREAT’: FORMER TOP KAMALA HARRIS AIDE REVEALS WHICH TRUMP VP PICK COULD SINK HER CANDIDACY

Former President Donald Trump stands alongside North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and his wife, Kathryn Burgum, at a caucus night rally held at the Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Feb 08, 2024.

The report also highlighted how the Burgums were invited to the White House to celebrate the signing of the First Step Act criminal justice reform initiative, an issue the outlet said is “particularly important to Kathryn.”

Additionally, the outlet noted how the two couples “bonded” with one another at Mar-a-Lago for an Easter brunch this year.

It is not yet known whether Melania will speak on Burgum’s behalf as the former president weighs his options in the crowded contest for vice president, but she’s had success in offering suggestions to her husband in the past.

Petitioning the former president on particular topics was something the former first lady is said to have done often, typically on issues dealing with public perception and trust.

“There were definitely times when he sought Mrs. Trump’s counsel, and those occurrences were typically dealing with what I’d consider to be public perception,” the former White House insider told Fox. “He knew when not to also. He wouldn’t usually seek her advice on issues that he had specific knowledge about — like the economy, business, trade and other dealings of the sort.”

“She is in many ways, I think, like Nancy Reagan behind the scenes,” the source added. “Though she wasn’t seen by the public each day, she played roles in several decisions that were made for the better regarding public perception, trust, and advocacy during the Trump presidency.”

Then-First Lady Melania Trump sits during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 12, 2020. (Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Speaking to Fox News’ Aishah Hasnie at the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the Republican National Committee last week, Trump said he has “sort of a pretty good idea” of who his vice presidential running mate will be.

His decision, however, isn’t expected to be made public until this summer’s Republican National Convention, which is slated to take place in Milwaukee, Wis., from July 15 to 18.