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A last-minute endorsement by former President Trump in a key Republican Senate primary, a race to succeed a GOP vice presidential nomination contender, a high-profile Republican representative facing a second straight primary challenge, and a fight to face off with a vulnerable House Democrat.

These showdowns are all in the spotlight Tuesday as voters in Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina and Maine head to the polls to cast ballots in primary elections.

For a second straight election, Republican Rep. Nancy Mace is facing a fight for renomination in South Carolina’s competitive Low Country-based 1st Congressional District.

Mace, who was first elected to the House in 2020, survived a primary challenge against a Trump-backed Republican two years ago. The former president had targeted Mace after she blamed him for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters aiming to upend congressional certification of President Biden’s 2020 election victory.

MACE CONFRONTS FELLOW GOP LAWMAKER WHO ENDORSED HER PRIMARY CHALLENGER

Rep. Nancy Mace speaks at the 13th annual South Carolina Prayer Breakfast on July 26, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (U.S. Senator Tim Scott)

Fast-forward two years and Mace now has Trump’s backing after she endorsed the former president and campaigned for him earlier this year in South Carolina’s crucial GOP presidential primary.

But unlike two years ago, when then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had her back, the now-former House speaker is targeting Mace, who last year was one of eight House Republicans to break ranks and vote to oust McCarthy.

NANCY MACE SPARS WITH BILL MAHER, EXPLAINS HER FLIP ON TRUMP

Around $9 million has been shelled out to run ads in the primary, according to the national ad tracking firm AdImapct. Nearly half of the money comes from McCarthy aligned outside groups that are targeting Mace.

Then-Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, was voted out of his role as House speaker. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

But Mace, who’s also backed by Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, has had roughly $3 million in outside spending on her behalf.

Mace’s main rival is Catherine Templeton, the former head of the state health and environment department who unsuccessfully campaigned for governor in 2018.

Templeton is backed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. Joe Wilson of the neighboring 2nd Congressional District. Besides Trump, Mace enjoys the support of current House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Mace has faced controversy as several of her congressional staffers quit late last year and early this year. And a former Mace chief of staff briefly launched a primary challenge against his former boss.

There’s a third candidate in the primary race, and if no one wins a majority of the vote, there will be a runoff in two weeks.

Businessman Michael B. Moore and veteran Mac Deford are vying for the Democrat nod in the 1st District.

Two other GOP congressional primaries in South Carolina are worth watching.

In the 3rd District – in the northwestern corner of the Palmetto State – a crowded field of seven Republicans is competing for the nomination to replace Rep. Jeff Duncan, who announced in January that he would not seek an eighth two-year term. 

And in the 4th District in upstate South Carolina, three-term Rep. William Timmons faces a challenge from state Rep. Adam Morgan, who’s running to Timmons’ right.

In Nevada, Trump made a last-minute endorsement in the battleground state’s Republican Senate nomination race.

Dermatologist and former U.S. Ambassador to Iceland Dr. Jeffrey Gunter, left, former President Trump and former Army Capt. Sam Brown (State Department | Getty Images | Sam Brown for Nevada)

“Sam Brown is a fearless American patriot,” the former president wrote in a social media posting Sunday night, hours before Tuesday’s primary in the key western swing state. “As your next Senator, Sam will fight tirelessly to secure our Border, end Migrant Crime, stop Inflation, grow our Economy, STRONGLY SUPPORT OUR GREAT MILITARY/VETS.”

Trump’s endorsement, a couple of hours after he headlined a rally in Las Vegas, cemented Brown’s status as the front-runner in a crowded GOP primary field in the fight to face off with Democrat Sen. Jacky Rosen in November in a race that may determine if Republicans win back the Senate majority. 

TRUMP ENDORSEMENT IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE ANOTHER VICTORY FOR SENATE GOP CAMPAIGN CHAIR

Brown is a former Army captain who was severely burned and permanently scarred in 2008 when his vehicle ran over an explosive device in the war in Afghanistan.

The Trump endorsement will boost Brown, who is making his second straight Senate bid, as he aims to fend off a crowded field of rivals, including Jeff Gunter, a wealthy dermatologist who served as the former president’s ambassador to Iceland.

Rosen, a first-term senator who the GOP views as vulnerable, faces two long-shot primary challengers.

Republicans need a pickup of one to two seats in November to win back the Senate majority.

There are also GOP primaries Tuesday for the Democrat-held but competitive 1st, 3rd and 4th congressional districts, which all include portions of the Las Vegas metropolitan area.

Republicans are hoping to expand their current razor-thin majority in the House in November’s elections.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum speaks at a news conference with fellow Republican governors at an oil refinery in Chalmette, Louisiana, on June 3, 2024. (Fox News/Paul Steinhauser)

In North Dakota, Trump running mate contender and two-term Gov. Doug Burgum is not seeking a third term steering the heavily red state.

Burgum, who last year ran unsuccessfully for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination before endorsing Trump early this year, is backing Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller in the race to succeed him.

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Miller is facing off against three-term Rep. Kelly Armstrong, who won the endorsement of the state GOP earlier this year as he runs for governor rather than for re-election to Congress.

In Maine, Republicans are once again targeting Marine Corps veteran and moderate Democrat Rep. Jared Golden, who is running for a fourth term in a mostly rural district won by Trump in both 2016 and 2020.

State Rep. Austin Theriault, a former NASCAR driver, and state Rep. Mike Soboleski, are facing off in Tuesday’s GOP primary in the race to challenge Golden in the general election.

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

WILMINGTON, Del. – A federal court waits with bated breath for a verdict in the historical U.S. v. Hunter Biden criminal case after jury deliberations kicked off Monday afternoon. 

“Choices have consequences and that’s why we’re here,” prosecutor Derek Hines told the court Monday afternoon. 

Hunter Biden’s sixth day of trial, which is related to his gun purchase in 2018, kicked off with a brief rebuttal case from prosecutors before both the prosecution and the defense teams hashed out jury instructions with presiding Judge Maryellen Noreika, held closing arguments and finally jury deliberations.

The first son is facing three charges related to his Oct. 12, 2018, purchase of a Cobra Colt .38 handgun, including making a false statement in the purchase of a gun, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federally licensed gun dealer, and possession of a gun by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.

JURORS MIGHT BELIEVE HUNTER BIDEN IS GUILTY AND VOTE TO ACQUIT HIM ANYWAY

A court sketch depicts Hunter Biden’s federal trial in Wilmington, Delaware on Monday, June 10, 2024. (William J. Hennessy Jr.)

Hunter Biden, who has a well-established history with drug and alcohol abuse, is specifically accused of lying on a federal gun form, called Form 4473, where he checked a box labeled “No” when asked if he is an unlawful user of drugs or addicted to controlled substances.

Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty in the case. 

HUNTER BIDEN ENTERS DAY 6 OF CRIMINAL TRIAL WITH POSSIBILITY OF TAKING THE STAND

Prosecutor Leo Wise delivered the government’s closing arguments in the case, underscoring the phrase previously used in the team’s opening arguments: “No one is above the law.”

Wise told the jury that the evidence and testimony heard in court since last Tuesday has been “personal,” “ugly” and “overwhelming,” but also “necessary.” Throughout the course of the trial, the court heard testimony from Hunter Biden’s ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, ex-girlfriend Zoe Kestan, sister-in-law-turned-girlfriend Hallie Biden, daughter Naomi Biden, as well as from a series of experts from the FBI and DEA in addition to the trio of gun shop owners involved in the gun sale.

Zoe Kestan, former girlfriend of Hunter Biden, leaves federal court after testifying in Biden’s trial on criminal gun charges in Wilmington, Delaware, June 5, 2024. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

Wise told the jury that the prosecution team has sufficiently presented to them evidence that before, during and after the gun purchase, Hunter Biden was a drug addict and knew he was a drug addict before filling out ATF Form 4473.

HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL ENTERS DAY 5 AFTER TESTIMONY FROM SISTER-IN-LAW-TURNED-GIRLFRIEND: ‘PANICKED’

Hunter Biden’s former wife, Kathleen Buhle, departs the federal courthouse after taking the stand during the trial of Hunter Biden on June 5, 2024. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

“The defendant knew he used crack and was addicted to crack at the relevant time period,” Wise said, noting that the prosecution team did not need to prove to the jury that Hunter Biden used and was addicted to crack cocaine on the specific day of the purchase, just the time period surrounding the gun purchase. 

HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL ENTERS DAY 4 AFTER WILD TESTIMONY FROM EXES ON RAMPANT DRUG USE, TRASHED HOTEL ROOMS

The first son’s 2021 memoir “Beautiful Things” again took center stage on Monday. The memoir includes anecdotes from Hunter Biden that he needed crack cocaine every 20 minutes at the height of his addiction, how he met a female drug dealer he nicknamed “Bicycles” who sold him crack cocaine on the streets of Washington, D.C., and how he could serve as a “crack daddy” to dealers due to his spiraling addiction. 

Hunter Biden arrives at federal court, June 3, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

“I had returned that fall of 2018, after my most recent relapse in California, with the hope of getting clean through a new therapy and reconciling with Hallie,” Hunter Biden wrote in his memoir of his return to Delaware after a stint in a California rehab. Wise highlighted that portion of the book, pointing to the phrase “hope of getting clean,” which Wise said shows Hunter Biden was using drugs when he traveled back to Delaware where he purchased the gun. 

HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL ENTERS 3RD DAY WITH CROSS-EXAMINATION OF FBI AGENT

The book was “key evidence that Hunter was using drugs,” Wise argued in his comments to the jury. 

Hunter Biden, son of President Biden, and his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, arrive at the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 6, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Wise also again rehashed text messages Hunter Biden sent others the month of the gun purchase, including telling Hallie Biden one day after the gun purchase that he was “waiting for a dealer named Mookie” behind a stadium, and a day after that, he texted Hallie Biden that he was “sleeping on a car smoking crack on 4th street and Rodney.”

“The central issue in this case is whether he was an addict and knew that he was,” Wise said. 

Attorney Abbe Lowell arrives at federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, June 5, 2024. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

“We’ve had his life in our hands, but not now I have to give it to you,” Lowell told the jury Monday afternoon of Hunter Biden. 

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

Lowell laid out his argument to the jury Monday that prosecutors have failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Biden knowingly lied about his addiction to crack cocaine when buying the gun at the Wilmington gun shop back in October 2018. 

Lowell, instead, accused prosecutors of playing a “magician’s trick,” claiming they rolled out “conjecture” to the jury regarding Hunter Biden’s drug abuse by not presenting evidence showing photos from October 2018 of Hunter Biden’s drug purchases or use, lack of evidence showing the gun he purchased was ever loaded or taken into public, and unable to show who got cocaine residue on the brown pouch that contained the gun when it was eventually collected by police. 

HUNTER BIDEN’S WIFE LASHES OUT AT FORMER TRUMP AIDE DURING COURT APPEARANCE: ‘PIECE OF S—‘

Lowell and the defense team do not dispute that Hunter Biden has a long history with substance abuse, with Lowell telling the court earlier in the trial that the first son began abusing alcohol as a teenager before graduating to drugs as an adult. Lowell instead argued that ahead of the gun purchase in October, Hunter Biden had received rehab treatment in August that same year and hired a “sober coach” to help him stay clean. 

Lowell argued that on the day of Hunter Biden’s gun purchase, the first son did not believe he was an active addict and user, and consequently did not lie on the federal gun form.

An evidence photo presented by the prosecution shows the gun that Hunter Biden purchased. (U.S. Government Exhibit)

“That statement, when made, was not what he believed to be false,” Lowell told the jury. “The word knowingly could not be proved beyond reasonable doubt.”

Lowell specifically walked the jury through the series of other questions asked on ATF Form 4473, which included questions such as: “Have you ever renounced your United States citizenship?” and “Have you ever been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence …”

The question Hunter Biden is accused of lying about states: “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance? Warning: The use or possession of marijuana remains unlawful under Federal law regardless of whether it has been legalized or decriminalized for medicinal or recreational purposes in the state where you reside.”

HUNTER BIDEN’S DRUG USE: WHAT THE PROSECUTION NEEDS TO PROVE AND WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW

Lowell honed in on the phrases “have you ever” versus “are you,” arguing that the drug question asked in the present tense if Hunter Biden was using drugs and was an unlawful user of drugs, not if he had ever been addicted. 

“It’s time to end this case,” Lowell said. 

First lady Jill Biden departs from federal court, Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Hunter Biden was joined in court Monday by his stepmother, first lady Jill Biden, sister Ashley Biden, wife Melissa Cohen Biden, as well as Jim Biden, who is President Biden’s brother. Roughly two dozen Biden family members and allies filled three rows of the court’s audience area. 

Hunter Biden appeared to be more upbeat Monday as the trial nears its end. He flashed a bright smile a handful of times Monday, aimed toward family members and allies.

Jill Biden again took her front-row seat and remained forward-facing, seldom looking around the courtroom. During a break, Lowell joined the first lady for a few moments, and the two chatted and Jill Biden was seen smiling and nodding as she spoke with the defense attorney. 

HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL: 9 KEY FIGURES WHO MAY TESTIFY

Wise highlighted to the jury that the “people sitting in the gallery are not evidence,” seemingly referring to the first lady and others in the Biden family. 

Ashley Biden arrives ahead of Hunter Biden’s trial at federal court, Monday, June 3, 2024, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

“Respectfully, none of that matters,” he added, even if the jurors recognized the audience “from the news.” 

US V HUNTER BIDEN: OPENING STATEMENTS TO BEGIN IN FIRST SON’S FEDERAL GUN TRIAL AFTER JURY SEATED

Prosecutors instead told jurors to focus on whether Hunter Biden was an addict around the time period of the gun purchase and if he knew he was an addict when he bought the gun.

“You don’t have his life in your hands. Was he an addict? Did he know he was an addict when he filled out that form?” prosecutor Derek Hines told the jury during the prosecution team’s final closing rebuttal, pushing back on defense attorney Lowell’s previous comment that the jury’s verdict puts Hunter Biden’s life in the balance. 

“The defendant was a crack addict and a drug user, and he had a gun,” he said.

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If convicted, the total maximum prison time for the three charges could be up to 25 years. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release.

A verdict could be reached as early as Tuesday morning. Hunter Biden did not testify in the case after Lowell floated the possibility on Friday and said he’d take the weekend to make a decision. 

A previously-unreleased video taken on Jan. 6, 2021 shows then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., saying she takes “responsibility” for law enforcement’s lack of preparedness when a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol that day.

A Tweet on X by a House Republican panel contains video that appears to show a frustrated Pelosi being evacuated from the Capitol complex and in intense conversation with Chief of Staff Terri McCullough about how the evacuation was conducted.

“We have responsibility, Terri. We did not have any accountability for what was going on there. And we should have,” Pelosi says in the video, which was reviewed in its original form by Fox News Digital. “This is ridiculous. You’re going to ask me in the middle of the thing when they’ve already breached…that, should we call the Capitol Police? I mean the National Guard? Why weren’t the National Guard there to begin with?”

Her aide appeared to reply that Capitol security did believe they were prepared, to which Pelosi continued, “They clearly didn’t know, and I take responsibility for not having them just prepared for more.”

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

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is the subject of newly unearthed video from Jan. 6, 2021 (Getty Images)

Pelosi then appears to take a shot at former President Trump’s supporters, who ransacked part of the Capitol including her office. 

“It’s stupid that we should be in a situation like this, because they thought they had what- they thought these people would act civilized? They thought these people would give a damn?” Pelosi said. “What is it that is missing here in terms of anticipation? They give us a piece of paper that says walk through the tunnel, don’t walk outside. That’s your preparation?”

When reached for comment on the video, a spokesperson for Pelosi told Fox News Digital, “Numerous independent fact-checkers have confirmed again and again that Speaker Pelosi did not plan her own assassination on January 6th.”

BALANCE OF POWER: MESSY GOP PRIMARIES COULD BOOST DEMOCRATS IN SWING STATE RACES

The video showed her being evacuated as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

“As the footage in its entirety plainly shows, Speaker Pelosi sprang into action in response to the attack on the Capitol — mobilizing the defense of the Capitol, urging the Administration to deploy the National Guard and coordinating the continuity of government.  Cherry-picked, out-of-context clips do not change the fact that the Speaker of the House is not in charge of the security of the Capitol Complex — on January 6th or any other day of the week,” the spokesperson said. “Three years later, House Republicans are still attempting to whitewash the deadly insurrection.”

House Republicans, however, say the clip undercuts Pelosi’s assertions that Trump was to blame for the Jan. 6 riot.

HOUSE GOP REPORT ALLEGES JAN 6 COMMITTEE ‘DELETED RECORDS AND HID EVIDENCE’

Fox News Digital obtained the clip from the House Administration Committee’s subcommittee on oversight, which is led by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (Getty images)

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“Pelosi’s J6 Select Committee spent taxpayer’s money chasing false political narratives and using Hollywood producers for their ‘investigation.’ Her admission of responsibility directly contradicts their own narrative,” tweeted Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., chair the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight.

Fox News Digital reached out to Loudermilk for further comment.

The federal judge presiding over the classified documents case against former President Trump has denied a motion to dismiss some of the charges in the indictment. 

Trump’s legal team had sought to throw out more than a half dozen of the 41 counts in the indictment, which accuses the former commander in chief of illegally hoarding classified documents from his presidency and conspiring with others to conceal sensitive files from the federal government. 

The defendants had challenged counts related to obstruction and false statements, but U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon issued an order Monday saying that “the identified deficiencies, even if generating some arguable confusion, are either permitted by law, raise evidentiary challenges not appropriate for disposition at this juncture, and/or do not require dismissal even if technically deficient, so long as the jury is instructed appropriately and presented with adequate verdict forms as to each Defendants’ alleged conduct.”

TRUMP RILES UP FIERY SWING STATE CROWD IN FIRST RALLY SINCE NEW YORK CONVICTION

Former President Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Las Vegas June 9, 2024. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Cannon did, however, agree to strike down a paragraph from the indictment that defense lawyers argued was prejudicial information that was not essential to the underlying charges.

A view of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Fla. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images/File)

Cannon has rejected multiple other motions already to dismiss the case, including one that suggested that the Presidential Records Act authorized Trump to keep the documents with him after he left the White House and to designate them as his personal files.

Federal Judge Aileen Cannon (US Courts )

Monday’s motion to dismiss the half dozen counts in the indictment is one of multiple pretrial requests and disputes that for months have piled up before Cannon, slowing the progress of the case and delaying the trial. 

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Additional arguments are scheduled for later this month.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee said chants of “lock her up” in regard to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made him “uncomfortable” and urged President Biden to refrain from starting a cycle of political lawfare in the wake of former President Trump’s guilty verdict. 

“They could still do the right thing and perhaps put the genie back in the bottle,” the Republican told Fox News Digital in a Monday interview. 

“There’s so many instances of reversible error in this New York conviction that [Manhattan District Attorney Alvin] Bragg’s office, and those who are handling this case on appeal could, and I believe, should confess error on appeal and walk away from the whole thing and leave it alone,” he said. 

SENATE DEM DOUBLES DOWN ON OLD ALITO COMPLAINT AS SCOTUS NEARS TRUMP IMMUNITY RULING

Republican senators, led by Mike Lee, R-Utah, said they won’t allow the Senate to function and accomplish Democrat priorities after former President Trump’s guilty verdict. (Getty Images)

Last month, Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records by a New York jury. 

Lee led several Republican colleagues on a pledge, vowing not to comply with their Democrat counterparts in the Senate after the verdict.

“Strongly worded statements are not enough. Those who turned our judicial system into a political cudgel must be held accountable. We are no longer cooperating with any Democrat legislative priorities or nominations, and we invite all concerned Senators to join our stand,” he announced at the time. 

According to the senator, “We can’t, in the wake of that conviction, pretend that nothing has happened – Pretend that this is just now going to be business as usual.”

DEMS SET TO BRING UP NEXT REPRODUCTIVE MESSAGING BILL AHEAD OF 2024 ELECTIONS

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, speaks during the Senate Judiciary Committee markup hearing on Nov. 30, 2023. (Bill Clark)

“The pledge is an attempt to harness that message,” he explained. 

So far, 14 senators have joined him, including National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who is running for Republican leader to succeed outgoing Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

BALANCE OF POWER: SENATE DEMS MOUNT SWING STATE OFFENSE ON ‘CARPETBAGGER’ CLAIMS

Former President Trump returns to the courthouse moments before hearing that the jury had a verdict in his criminal trial at Manhattan Criminal Court, Thursday, May 30, 2024, in New York City. (Justin Lane/Pool Photo via AP)

“I do think we’re going to continue to pick up more Republican senators as time goes on,” Lee predicted.

He noted that his Democrat counterparts haven’t given it much of a response or paid it much attention: “We’ll see how much they feel it as it gains more steam.”

“It’s still a minority of the minority conference,” however, he said he expects that will change. 

GOP SHORES UP MICHIGAN EFFORT AS DEMS LOSE SENATE INCUMBENT ADVANTAGE

Tester is in one of the most competitive races in the country. (Drew Angerer)

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The Utah senator further suggested, “Jon Tester has got to be feeling it. Sherrod Brown has got to be feeling it,” referencing pressure to push back against Trump’s guilty verdict. The two senators are part of a group of several Democrat incumbents who are facing competitive challenges to their re-election bids. 

Lee also rejected the idea that the pledge to disallow any increases to nonsecurity funding as well as any money toward funding “partisan lawfare” would cause a government shutdown.

“There’s nothing about this that even necessarily makes a shutdown any more likely than it would be otherwise,” he said, noting he expects a stopgap funding bill to be necessary when current appropriations bills run out in September.

The White House did not provide comment to Fox News Digital for purposes of this story.

LAS VEGAS – A former Trump official running for Senate in the crucial swing state of Nevada hit back Monday after being snubbed for a major endorsement from his old boss.

Dr. Jeffrey Gunter, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Iceland, had hoped to win former President Trump’s backing in his bid to flip Nevada red, but that honor instead went to his primary opponent, former U.S. Army Capt. Sam Brown, late Sunday.

Both candidates and their respective supporters close to Trump had battled for weeks behind the scenes to win the former president’s backing.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES MAJOR ENDORSEMENT IN CRUCIAL BATTLEGROUND SENATE RACE

Dermatologist and former U.S. Ambassador to Iceland Dr. Jeffrey Gunter, former President Trump, and former U.S. Army Capt. Sam Brown (State Department | Getty Images | Sam Brown for Nevada)

“Mitch McConnell money wins, the American people lose. Rinse and repeat,” Gunter told Fox News Digital after news of the endorsement broke, a clear swipe at national Republicans who have remained staunchly behind Brown’s candidacy.

Gunter later claimed in an early Monday X post that the endorsement came down to a “big check,” something the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) dismissed as an “unglued” attack against Trump.

“California Democrat Jeff Gunter became totally unglued after President Trump endorsed war hero Sam Brown. Gunter took to Twitter to falsely smear President Trump and sounds more Adam Schiff than a conservative,” NRSC communications director Mike Berg told Fox.

Some close to Trump blasted Gunter for accusing the former president of “pay for play,” calling on him to delete the post.

TRUMP ENDORSEMENT IN BATTLEGROUND STATE ANOTHER VICTORY FOR SENATE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN CHAIR

“Didn’t accuse President Trump of anything. Will always support him 110% His ‘top advisers’ on the other hand, have some explaining to do,” Gunter responded in another post.

Fox News Digital interviewed Gunter just hours before Trump announced his endorsement of Brown on Truth Social. He expressed confidence heading into Tuesday’s primary, citing internal polling he said showed him either tied or leading Brown.

“Word on the street is we’re doing great, very exciting, and we’re working hard,” Gunter said. “So we’re very optimistic that we will make Nevada great again as the true Trump supporter 110% and MAGA candidate.”

Brown’s campaign has also cited internal polls, but they show him with a significant lead over Gunter, who argues he is the only one in the race able to defeat incumbent Democrat Sen. Jacky Rosen in the general election.

TRUMP RILES UP FIERY SWING STATE CROWD IN FIRST RALLY SINCE NEW YORK CONVICTION

Former Ambassador to Iceland Jeff Gunter is running for Senate in Nevada as a Republican. (Dr. Jeff Gunter for Senate)

Gunter cited polls showing Rosen leading Brown, but a New York Times poll released last month showed Brown and Rosen tied at 41% each with a number still undecided. Little independent polling has been done on a hypothetical matchup between Gunter and Rosen.

“I am the true MAGA candidate… If you like Mitch McConnell, and if you like Nikki Haley, then maybe you’ll like Sam Brown,” Gunter said. “But if you like America First, and if you love Donald Trump – I worked for him. I was his U.S. ambassador, and I’m true to my principles, and, I’m your guy. And that’s why we’re surging so much and doing so well in the great state of Nevada.”

Gunter said his experience as an ambassador and doctor, as well as his “loyalty” to Trump, were what undecided voters should consider as they head to the polls.

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Fox News Digital repeatedly attempted to interview Brown ahead of Tuesday’s primary, but his campaign would not commit to doing so at the time of this article’s publishing.

Rosen is expected to easily win her primary on Tuesday, and will likely face either Brown or Gunter in the general election.

Republicans view Nevada as one of the party’s top flip opportunities as it seeks to win back control of the Senate from Democrats, who currently hold a slim 51-49 majority. 

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

A conservative Supreme Court justice is being accused of impropriety by a Democratic Senate Judiciary Committee member ahead of a long-anticipated and pivotal ruling on former President Trump’s immunity claim.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse has sent a new letter to Justice Samuel Alito, questioning him over an interview he did last year that “raised several problems.”

“In that interview, you opined on questions related to Congress’s authority over judicial, and more specifically Supreme Court, ethics concerns,” the three-term Rhode Island Democrat recalled in his June 7 letter.

BALANCE OF POWER: SENATE DEMS MOUNT SWING STATE OFFENSE ON ‘CARPETBAGGER’ CLAIMS

Sen. Whitehouse revived an ethics concern he had with Justice Alito last year amid the ongoing backlash to flags flown at the justice’s homes. (Getty Images)

The latest letter follows correspondence that was recently exchanged between Alito, Whitehouse, Chief Justice John Roberts and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill. The senators wrote to the justices asking for Alito’s recusal from cases related to the 2020 election, including the matter of Trump’s immunity, because of revelations of an upside-down American flag and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag displayed at his homes following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. 

Alito resisted their calls to recuse himself from the cases. 

GOP SHORES UP MICHIGAN EFFORT AS DEMS LOSE SENATE INCUMBENT ADVANTAGE

The Supreme Court, Feb. 28, 2024, in Washington (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

In the July 2023 op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Alito was interviewed by attorney David Rivkin and WSJ editorial features editor James Taranto.

“From the outside, it looks like the attorney recruited you to prop up his legal case against our investigation, using the interview to advance the argument he and several colleagues were making,” Whitehouse accused. 

He claimed the topics discussed within the interview were designed to hinder the Democratic-controlled Judiciary Committee’s attempt to move forward legislation to enforce a code of conduct on the Supreme Court. 

SCHUMER JUSTIFIES CONGRESSIONAL INVITE TO NETANYAHU AMID LIBERAL OUTRAGE

Whitehouse sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“I would add that the argument in question had not fared well at the Judiciary Committee’s mark-up of our Supreme Court ethics bill, and your interview supporting the argument appeared within days. The interview seemed both solicited and timed for effect in the ongoing dispute,” the senator said. 

Whitehouse lodged a complaint with Roberts about the article months later, in which he claimed Alito’s remarks in the article “violate several canons of judicial ethics, including standards the Supreme Court has long applied to itself.” 

BIDEN ADMIN ACCUSED OF PLAYING POLITICS WITH FLORIDA FUNDING IN PRO-UNION PUSH

An ethics complaint was previously lodged with Chief Justice Roberts. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Whitehouse also pointed the finger at Alito for potential “ex-parte” communication, that is, communication between one interested party in a case and a judge in that case outside official process.

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Ironically, Whitehouse was recently accused of potentially engaging in ex-parte communications himself, in reference to his various letters to the justices. 

“These senators are telling the chief justice, privately, to change the course of pending litigation,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said of Whitehouse and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., in a recent floor speech, referring to their demands of Supreme Court justices. 

The Supreme Court is expected to issue its ruling in Donald J. Trump v. United States before the end of June, answering the question of “whether and if so to what extent does a former president enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office.”

Former President Trump’s three days in Democrat-dominated California turned out to be lucrative in many ways.

When all the money is counted, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee is expected to haul in roughly $27.5 million from three fundraisers he held in California and one in Las Vegas, Nevada, late last week and this past weekend, a senior campaign official told Fox News.

And the Trump campaign said an additional $6 million was raised for outside groups supporting his 2024 election rematch with President Biden.

But the former president also officially landed the endorsement of a major tech investor at his first fundraiser on Thursday, drew a large crowd of supporters as he arrived at an Orange County fundraiser on Saturday, and bracketed his California swing with rallies Thursday and Sunday in the crucial swing states of Arizona and Nevada.

TRUMP ENDORSEMENT IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE ANOTHER VICTORY FOR SENATE GOP CAMPAIGN CHAIR

Former President Trump points into the crowd during a campaign rally at Sunset Park in Las Vegas on June 9, 2024. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes pointed to what he called “massive turnouts at public events and fundraising events this weekend” as he emphasized that “donors at every level are giving us the resources we need, and enthusiastic voters in every corner of the country are creating an unstoppable movement to Make American Great Again.”

Thursday’s fundraiser was hosted by David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya, two of the heaviest hitters in Silicon Valley and co-hosts of the hot “All-In” podcast. And it was held at Sacks’ multimillion-dollar home in the tony Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, which is a blue bastion.

“When we agreed to do this event, we started off – the question was whether we could just raise $5 million, and that was the goal because as you well know, the Bay Area, is sort of a liberal bastion, and so we thought that $5 million might be a big lift,” Sacks said in an interview on FOX Business’ “Kudlow” on Friday.

WHY TRUMP’S SAN FRANCISCO FUNDRAISER WAS FRUITFUL IN MORE THAN ONE WAY

But the fundraiser ended up bringing in approximately $12 million, more than doubling initial expectations, according to the Trump campaign.

And hours before the event, Sacks endorsed Trump. 

The former president followed up the San Francisco fundraiser with big bucks finance events Friday in Beverly Hills and Saturday in Newport Beach, where some 3,000 supporters greeted Trump, according to local police.

Supporters of former President Trump react to his motorcade on the day he visits for a fundraiser in Newport Beach, California, June 8, 2024. (Reuters/David Swanson)

The trip doesn’t mean the Trump campaign thinks overwhelmingly blue California may be in play. 

Instead, Trump’s appearances – like those of two sold-out fundraisers in the Bay Area on Wednesday headlined by Vice President Harris and Biden’s San Francisco area fundraisers last month – are the latest proof that the Golden State remains a crucial ATM for campaign cash.

“Republicans don’t do well in votes, but they do well in money in California,” longtime political analyst Bill Schneider told Fox News. 

THIS IS HOW MUCH A TOP PRO-TRUMP SUPER PAC HAULED IN LAST MONTH

Schneider noted that the late GOP President Ronald Reagan, who lived for decades in the Golden State, “really blazed the trail of fundraising for Republicans in California.”

But he added that “both Democrats and Republicans use California for an ATM machine.”

Biden returns to California on Saturday, to team up with former President Obama, Hollywood superstars George Clooney and Julia Roberts, and late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, for a star-studded fundraiser in downtown Los Angeles.

Former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama join President Biden at a star-studded fundraising event at Radio City Music Hall, on March 28, 2024, in New York City. (Getty Images)

A top Golden State Republican told Fox News that fundraising not only brings in campaign cash, but that it also sends a message.

“In California, there are many voters who seek a change in the White House, and contributing to presidential campaigns is a crucial way for us to make our voices heard beyond the ballot box. This form of participation sends a powerful message to the rest of the country that not all Californians align with the current political climate,” Corrin Rankin, California Republican Party vice chair, said.

“California stands as a case study of the failure of Democratic policies, with many residents experiencing firsthand the negative impacts of these policies,” Rankin argued. “As a result, Californians understand better than most the consequences of another four years under Biden’s administration. This has galvanized many to fundraise actively for a better alternative… Our fundraising success here underscores the diverse political landscape of California and the strong desire among many of its citizens for a different direction at the national level.”

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The cash raised in the past few days will boost already potent Trump fundraising from the past couple of weeks.

Trump’s campaign last week said it and the Republican National Committee (RNC), fueled in part by the former president’s guilty verdicts in his criminal trial, hauled in a stunning $141 million in fundraising in May.

Trump was found guilty of all 34 felony counts in the first trial of a former or current president in the nation’s history.

The former president’s campaign highlighted that in the first 24 hours following the verdict, it and the RNC brought in nearly $53 million in fundraising, which counted toward May’s total. 

The Biden campaign has also been fundraising off the Trump verdict, and a source familiar told Fox News that “the 24 hours after the verdict were one of the best fundraising 24 hours of the Biden campaign since launch.”

Trump has been aiming to close his fundraising gap with Biden. In April, his campaign and the RNC for the first time outraised the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee. 

Fundraising, along with public opinion polling, is a key metric used to measure the strength of candidates and their campaigns. Money raised can be used to build up grassroots outreach and get-out-the-vote operations, staffing, travel and ads, among other things.

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

Former President Trump made a last minute endorsement in battleground Nevada’s Republican Senate nomination race.

“Sam Brown is a fearless American patriot,” the former president wrote in a social media posting Sunday night, hours before Tuesday’s primary in the key western swing state. “As your next Senator, Sam will fight tirelessly to secure our Border, end Migrant Crime, stop Inflation, grow our Economy, STRONGLY SUPPORT OUR GREAT MILITARY/VETS.”

Trump’s endorsement, a couple of hours after he headlined a rally in Las Vegas, cements Brown’s status as the frontrunner in a crowded GOP primary field in the fight to face off with Democratic Sen. Jackie Rosen in November in a race that may determine if Republicans win back the Senate majority.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES WHO HE’S BACKING IN THIS KEY SENATE BATTLEGROUND RACE

Former President Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, speaks during a campaign rally at Sunset Park in Las Vegas on June 9, 2024. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

The endorsement was also a victory for GOP Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which is the Senate GOP’s campaign arm. It is the latest example of the seemingly strong alliance Daines has forged with Trump to shape the 2024 Senate map in key races across the country, including in states that will be instrumental in shaping both the Senate and presidential elections.

“I’m asking him to endorse Sam Brown. Yeah. And I think that’s very close,” Daines predicted in an interview with Fox News’ Aishah Hasnie a week ago. “He likes Sam Brown a lot. I’m confident you’re going to see President Trump endorse Sam Brown in the near future.”

6 KEY SENATE SEATS REPUBLICANS AIM TO FLIP IN NOVEMBER 

Brown is a former Army captain who was severely burned and permanently scarred in 2008 when his vehicle ran over an explosive device in the war in Afghanistan. The Trump endorsement will boost Brown, who is making his second straight Senate bid, as he aims to fend off a crowded field of rivals including Jeff Gunter, a wealthy dermatologist who served as the former president’s ambassador to Iceland.

Republican Nevada Senate candidate, former U.S. Army Captain Sam Brown. (Sam Brown for Nevada)

“Daines worked behind the scenes to help lock up the Trump endorsement,” a source familiar told Fox News, adding that the NRSC chair spoke with “Trump multiple times about the race.”

This year’s Senate map has heavy overlap with must-win states Trump narrowly lost four years ago and needs to carry in order to win back the White House: Nevada, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Arizona. 

Additionally, Daines and Trump are now aligned in every key battleground state race, with both supporting Brown, former Rep. Mike Rogers in Michigan, Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania, Eric Hovde in Wisconsin and 2022 gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake in Arizona.

They were also backing Tim Sheehy in last week’s GOP Senate primary in Montana, a race where Republicans aim to flip a Democratic-held seat in a red state.

A senior GOP strategist involved in Senate races, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, told Fox News that Daines and the former president “share the goal of nominating candidates who will help President Trump, rather than hurt him, in must-win states.” 

Daines credits his “strong productive working relationship, a friendship,” he has with Trump, which has bridged the still-lingering intra-party divide between the former president and longtime Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

“From the very beginning, the president and I have worked very closely, very carefully, finding candidates that we agree on, that are the best candidates that can not only win primaries but general elections,” Daines emphasized in a Fox News Digital interview last month.

Democrats see it differently when it comes to the candidates Daines and Trump are backing.

“Now the damaging revelations emerging about the GOP’s Senate recruits have grown to include their lies about their biographies on the campaign trail, scandals stemming from their finances and a lifetime of unvetted statements and policy positions,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee communications director David Bergstein argued in a recent memo.

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Democrats control the U.S. Senate, 51-49, but Republicans are looking at a favorable Senate map this year, with Democrats defending 23 of the 34 seats up for grabs. 

Three of those seats are in red states that former President Trump carried in 2020 — Ohio, Montana and West Virginia, where Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is not running for re-election. 

Five more Democrat-held seats are in the key general election battleground states. Democrats are also defending an open seat in blue Maryland, where popular former two-term Republican Gov. Larry Hogan is running for the Senate.

“I want 51. That’s the majority,” Daines said last month when asked what he’s aiming for in November’s elections.

The senator is striking a very different tone than his predecessor, Sen. Rick Scott of Florida.

Scott predicted a 55-seat majority would come out of the 2022 midterms, but he fell far short as Republicans faced ballot box setbacks in key contests and failed to win back the Senate majority they lost in the 2020 cycle.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) walks out of the U.S. Capitol to speak at a news conference on May 3, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“As we looked at the results of ’22, nobody was happy,” Daines said. “Everybody likes winning. Nobody likes to lose. We looked first and foremost at a strategy that would start with finding candidates that could win not just primary elections but general elections.”

Daines made news in a Fox Digital interview in December 2022 as he was coming on board as NRSC chair. The senator vowed to do “whatever it takes to make sure we have a Republican majority.”

That included having the NRSC get involved in contested GOP primaries, which marked a significant change from his predecessor on the committee.

Fast-forward a year and a half, and Daines said “we’re positioned now in most of these states with candidates that not only can win primaries but are making every general election race right now competitive.”

Plenty of the blame for 2022’s GOP Senate election setbacks was directed at Trump, who shaped key primary battles. In some of the races, the nominees either supported or begrudgingly disavowed Trump’s repeated re-litigating of his 2020 election defeat to President Biden and his unproven claims his loss was due to a “rigged” and “stolen” election. 

Herschel Walker in Georgia, Blake Masters in Arizona, Adam Laxalt in Nevada and Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, who won their primaries due in part to Trump’s endorsements and support, all went down in defeat.

It has been a different story in 2024, with Trump, the NRSC and McConnell nearly entirely on the same page when it comes to Senate race recruitments.

“We compare notes,” Daines said of his working relationship with Trump. “There’s trust built there, constructive dialogue. We text and speak to each other frequently … as we shape the Senate map for 2024.”

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

Hunter Biden will not testify in his own defense in his federal gun crime trial, despite earlier indications from his defense attorney Abbe Lowell that he might. Lowell told the judge and jury Monday morning that, “Mr. Biden rests his case.”

The prosecution called FBI Special Agent Erika Jensen back to the stand. 

Hunter Biden is joined in the courtroom by a cohort of family members, including First Lady Jill Biden; his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden; his half-sister Ashley Biden; friend Kevin Morris; his aunt Valerie Biden Owens; and her husband, Jack. President Biden’s brother, James Biden, is also in attendance.

HUNTER BIDEN ENTERS DAY 6 OF CRIMINAL TRIAL WITH POSSIBILITY OF TAKING THE STAND

Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, arrives to the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 6, 2024 in Wilmington, Delaware. The trial for Hunter Bidens felony gun charges continues today with additional witnesses.  (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Prosecutors are working to prove that Biden lied on a federal firearm form, known as ATF Form 4473, in October 2018 when he ticked a box labeled “No” when asked if he is an unlawful user of a firearm or addicted to controlled substances. Hunter Biden purchased a Cobra Colt .38 from a store called StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply in Wilmington.

Federal prosecutors charged the president’s son of making false statements during the gun purchase process, including providing inaccurate information required by federally licensed firearms dealers, and possessing a gun while being unlawfully addicted to or using controlled substances.

He pleaded not guilty in the case. It is the first time in U.S. history that a sitting president’s child is on trial.

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

Hunter Biden departs from federal court, Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in Wilmington, Del.  (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

The total maximum prison time for the three charges could be up to 25 years. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release.

Hunter Biden’s defense team does not deny the first son’s issues with addiction, which are well documented in his memoir, “Beautiful Things.” They instead argue that at the time of the gun purchase, Hunter did not consider himself a user of illegal substances. 

Last week, President Joe Biden released the following statement about his son’s trial: “I am the President, but I am also a Dad. Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today. Hunter’s resilience in the face of adversity and the strength he has brought to his recovery are inspiring to us.”

HUNTER BIDEN’S WIFE LASHES OUT AT FORMER TRUMP AIDE DURING COURT APPEARANCE: ‘PIECE OF S—‘

An evidence photo presented by the prosecution  shows the gun that Hunter Biden purchased. (U.S. Government Exhibit)

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“A lot of families have loved ones who have overcome addiction and know what we mean. As the President, I don’t and won’t comment on pending federal cases, but as a Dad, I have boundless love for my son, confidence in him, and respect for his strength. Our family has been through a lot together, and Jill and I are going to continue to be there for Hunter and our family with our love and support,” the statement said.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom, Brianna Herlihy and Emma Colton contributed to this report. 

Former President Trump is set to take part in a virtual interview with New York probation officers Monday, before his sentencing hearing next month, the Trump campaign has confirmed.

The former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree last week. The six-week-long trial stemmed from charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. 

Trump is expected to be interviewed via video conference. 

A pre-sentencing probation interview is often conducted to prepare a report for the judge to learn more about the defendant, and possibly help to determine the proper punishment for the crime. 

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

Former U.S. President Donald Trump, flanked by attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, arrives for his criminal trial at the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, NY on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records last year, which prosecutors say was an effort to hide a potential sex scandal, both before and after the 2016 presidential election. Trump is the first former U.S. president to face trial on criminal charges.   (Jabin Botsford/Pool via REUTERS)

Trump’s sentencing date is set for July 11 — just four days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where he is expected to be formally nominated as the 2024 Republican presidential nominee. 

“President Trump has established a commanding polling lead in the battleground and Crooked Joe Biden is on the ropes. His Democrat party allies know it, so they continue to ramp up their ongoing Witch-Hunts, further abusing and misusing the power of their offices to interfere in the presidential election,” Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital. “President Trump and his legal team are already taking necessary steps to challenge and defeat the lawless Manhattan DA case. The American People will not fall for the Biden-directed Hoaxes and will hold Crooked Joe and his comrades to account this fall.”

Trump is continuing to request Judge Juan Merchan terminate the gag order restricting him from speaking about witnesses and the case now that the trial has concluded, citing the 2024 election and the first debate against President Biden later this month, as well as his First Amendment rights and the rights of his supporters. 

TRUMP GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS IN NEW YORK CRIMINAL TRIAL

Merchan imposed a 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.

Trump’s team repeatedly appealed the order and have been denied. 

Former President Donald Trump appears in Manhattan Criminal Court, Thursday, May 30, 2024, in New York. Jury deliberations in  Trump’s criminal hush money trial enter a second day as jurors navigate the weighty task of evaluating the former president’s guilt and innocence alongside the facts of the case.  (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool)

Trump was fined $10,000 for violating the gag order during the trial. Merchan also threatened Trump with jail time for further alleged violations.

“The last thing I want to consider is jail,” Merchan said. “You are [the] former president and possibly the next president.” 

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“The magnitude of that decision is not lost on me,” Merchan said during the trial. “Your continued willful violation of the court’s order … constitutes a direct attack … and will not be allowed to continue.… It is not allowed to continue.” 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

First son Hunter Biden could testify in his criminal trial on Monday, according to his defense team. 

Day five of Biden’s historic trial in Wilmington, Delaware, regarding the purchase of a handgun in 2018 could include testimony from the man in question himself. Defense attorney Abbe Lowell was heard saying following Friday’s lunch break that he will take the weekend to decide if he will call Biden to testify, and that he will notify Special Counsel David Weiss’ office of the decision. 

Details surrounding the decision will be made public some time after 8:15 a.m. Monday, when presiding Judge Maryellen Noreika requested both legal parties report back to the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building and United States Courthouse.

Prosecutors are working to prove that Biden lied on a federal firearm form, known as ATF Form 4473, in October 2018 when he ticked a box labeled “No” when asked if he is an unlawful user of a firearm or addicted to controlled substances. Hunter Biden purchased a Cobra Colt .38 from a store called StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply in Wilmington.

HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL ENTERS DAY 5 AFTER TESTIMONY FROM SISTER-IN-LAW-TURNED-GIRLFRIEND: ‘PANICKED’

Hunter Biden and his wife Melissa Cohen Biden, arrive to the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 6, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

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

He pleaded not guilty in the case. It is the first time in U.S. history that a sitting president’s child is on trial. 

HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL ENTERS DAY 4 AFTER WILD TESTIMONY FROM EXES ON RAMPANT DRUG USE, TRASHED HOTEL ROOMS

The total maximum prison time for the three charges could be up to 25 years. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release.

Hunter Biden’s defense team does not deny the first son’s issues with addiction, which are well documented in his memoir, “Beautiful Things.” They instead argue that at the time of the gun purchase, Hunter did not consider himself a user of illegal substances. 

Friday’s day in court included testimony from: Dr. Jason Brewer, a forensic chemist for the FBI; Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Supervisory Special Agent Joshua Romig; Jason Turner, the gun shop employee who ran Biden’s background check for the gun purchase; Ronald Palimere, the owner of the gun shop, StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply; and Biden’s daughter, Naomi Biden. 

HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL ENTERS 3RD DAY WITH CROSS-EXAMINATION OF FBI AGENT

A court sketch depicts Hunter Biden wiping his eyes while listening to Naomi Biden’s testimony during his federal trial in Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday, June 7, 2024. (William J. Hennessy Jr.)

Naomi Biden took the stand early Friday afternoon in the federal courthouse, dressed in all black with her hair pulled back, and told the court amid her testimony that she was “nervous.” Hunter Biden appeared emotional when his daughter first entered court, taking out a tissue at one point and dabbing his eyes. 

The first granddaughter told the court that she is aware of her father’s addiction to drugs, but said she had never witnessed him use drugs, namely crack cocaine. 

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

“Yes, I knew that he was struggling with addiction,” she said. “After my uncle died things got bad…”

A court sketch depicts Naomi Biden’s testimony during Hunter Biden’s federal trial in Wilmington, Delaware on Friday, June 7, 2024. (William J. Hennessy Jr.)

Hunter Biden’s brother, Beau Biden, died in 2015, which Hunter Biden has previously cited as contributing to his spiraling drug and alcohol addiction. 

Naomi Biden walked the court through a California trip she took in August 2018 to visit her father amid his stint at a rehab facility. She said she met with Biden, his sober coach, alongside her then-boyfriend and eventual husband, Peter Neal, for lunch at a coffee shop, noting she was proud of her father for his work on becoming sober. 

HUNTER BIDEN’S WIFE LASHES OUT AT FORMER TRUMP AIDE DURING COURT APPEARANCE: ‘PIECE OF S—‘

Prosecutor Leo Wise grilled Naomi Biden about mid-October of 2018, specifically asking about the first son’s pickup truck that Naomi Biden had in New York City, where she lived at the time. 

Earlier this week, the court heard that Hunter Biden stored the Cobra Colt .38. in the truck’s center console, before his sister-in-law turned girlfriend, Hallie Biden, found the gun and threw it away in a trashcan outside of a grocery store in Wilmington. 

President Biden’s granddaughter Naomi Biden and her husband Peter Neal arrive for a State Dinner at the White House, Oct. 25, 2023. (Reuters/Nathan Howard)

Naomi Biden testified that the truck was in good condition when she returned it to her father on Oct. 19, telling the court there were no remnants of drugs and crack cocaine. Hallie Biden had testified she found the gun in the truck on Oct. 23, telling the court she also found a “dusting” of powder in the truck on Oct. 23.

HUNTER BIDEN’S DRUG USE: WHAT THE PROSECUTION NEEDS TO PROVE AND WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW

The gun was recovered in a brown pouch. Chemistry expert Brewer testified Friday that he tested the “white or off-white” substance found on the pouch, finding it was cocaine. Cocaine is the base substance for crack cocaine. 

A court sketch depicts testimony during Hunter Biden’s federal trial in Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday, June 7, 2024. (William J. Hennessy Jr.)

Prosecutor Wise presented Naomi Biden with a stack of printed out text messages she shared with her father in October 2018 during cross-examination, including messages Hunter Biden sent his daughter after 2 a.m. asking if her boyfriend could drive the truck to him at that hour. 

“Where are the keys for the truck and can Peter bring the keys to 57th and 5th and I’ll trade cars with him?” the text said, according to Wise’s reading.  

HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL: 9 KEY FIGURES WHO MAY TESTIFY

Naomi testified that she did not know what her father was doing at 2 a.m. or why he was asking for the car in the middle of the night. Wise asked Naomi Biden if she knew if her father was meeting with someone named Frankie that night. Hunter Biden’s former girlfriend, Zoe Kestan, a 24-year-old stripper Biden met in 2017 when he was 48, testified earlier this week that Biden met with a drug dealer named Frankie in a hotel room when he was in New York City in October 2018. 

Zoe Kestan, former girlfriend of Hunter Biden, departs after testifying in Hunter Biden’s trial on criminal gun charges in Wilmington, Delaware, June 5, 2024. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

“I can’t take this. I don’t know what to say. I just miss you so much,” she also texted him as they worked to hash out exchanging the truck. Biden texted back apologizing.  

US V HUNTER BIDEN: OPENING STATEMENTS TO BEGIN IN FIRST SON’S FEDERAL GUN TRIAL AFTER JURY SEATED

Prosecutors were working to prove to the jury that just days after Biden purchased the revolver on Oct. 12, Biden was using crack cocaine. 

Hunter Biden was seen keeping his eyes locked on Naomi Biden as she testified, looking away from the witness stand only when he looked through the stack of printed-out text messages he exchanged with his daughter in October 2018. He hugged his daughter after she stepped down from the stand, and then watched her as she left court. 

An evidence photo presented by the prosecution shows the gun that Hunter Biden purchased. (U.S. Government Exhibit)

In addition to Naomi Biden and two expert witnesses, the court also heard from the gun shop owner and the employee who were at the store the day of Biden’s purchase. The employee who ran the background check, Jason Turner, delivered blunt answers to the defense team on Friday, appearing annoyed and defensive as Lowell peppered him with questions regarding the sequence of events surrounding when Biden picked out the firearm on Oct. 12, when Biden filled out the federal gun form, when Turner ran the background check, and when Biden actually purchased the gun. 

HUNTER BIDEN’S CRIMINAL TRIAL ON FEDERAL GUN CHARGES BEGINS WITH JURY SELECTION

Hunter Biden arrives at federal court, Monday, June 3, 2024, in Wilmington. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

“You’re not understanding how gun shop life is,” Turner told Lowell at one point, referring to how gun purchases can take time, and that people who frequent gun shops often spend time talking sports or just visiting with employees. 

Lowell and Turner often spoke over each other, with Noreika jumping in to tell Turner to let Lowell finish his questions before answering, and that Lowell would do the same when Turner responded. Noreika joked that, otherwise, the court’s stenographer gets “mad” at her for the inability to record both parties’ comments. 

First lady Jill Biden departs from federal court, Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in Wilmington. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

“Be mad at me,” Turner quipped to the court stenographer, eliciting a few chuckles in court. 

“He’s been mad at me the whole trial,” Lowell lightheartedly said in response. 

If Biden does testify, direct testimony and cross-examination could eat up most of the day. The prosecution team was heard saying they might call a rebuttal witness if Biden testifies, which could extend the timeline of the trial. 

If Lowell does not call on Biden to testify, the court could hold closing statements, jury instructions and begin jury deliberations as early as Monday. The trial was initially expected to last a week or two. 

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First lady Jill Biden joined her stepson in court again Friday, after missing Thursday’s court proceedings due to her trip to Normandy, France, with President Biden to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. The first lady was flanked in court by her daughter-in-law Melissa Cohen, Hunter Biden’s wife, and President Biden’s younger sister, Valerie Biden. 

Dozens of former intelligence officials who signed a letter warning Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop “has all the classic earmarks” of Russian disinformation are either declining to retract or doubling down despite the device being entered as evidence in his ongoing criminal trial.

Fox News Digital reached out to all 51 individuals who signed the heavily scrutinized October 2020 letter, published just before the 2020 presidential election, asking if they regretted signing it now that the laptop is being used by the prosecution arguing Hunter committed a federal gun crime.

“No,” former Obama Director of National Intelligence James Clapper simply said, also declining to publicly remove his name from the letter or concede that those signing onto it should have waited longer for more information to develop.

Mark S. Zaid, an attorney representing signatories Ronald Marks, Marc Polymeropoulos, Douglas Wise, Paul Kolbe, John Sipher, Emile Nakhleh and Gerald O’Shea, sent Fox News Digital a statement on behalf of his clients that doubled down on the importance of the letter and claimed it was “patriotic” to sign it.

BIDEN CAMPAIGN’S 2020 NARRATIVE ABOUT HUNTER’S LAPTOP COLLAPSES AFTER BIDEN DOJ ENTERS INTO TRIAL EVIDENCE

“There continues to be by many a calculated or woefully ignorant interpretation of the October 2020 letter signed by fifty-one former intelligence officials concerning Hunter Biden’s laptop,” Zaid, who once posted online that Trump’s election was “very scary,” said in the statement.

“A careful and objective reading of the document reflects that even today its content is accurate. It served as nothing more than a warning letter of what we have known for decades: certain foreign governments – including Russia – continue to try and actively interfere in our domestic affairs and our guard must remain vigilant. Every patriotic American should have signed that letter.”

Greg Treverton, a signatory who previously served as chair of the National Intelligence Council, defended the letter in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

“This is very old news,” Treverton said. “What we said was true, we were inferring from our experience, and it did look like a Russian operation. We didn’t, and couldn’t of course say it was a Russian operation. Enough said.”

BIDEN SAYS HE WON’T PARDON SON HUNTER, VOWS TO ACCEPT VERDICT IN FELONY GUN CRIME TRIAL

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, left, and CIA Director John Brennan testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill, Jan. 10, 2017. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Former CIA Director Michael Hayden hung up the phone when contacted by Fox News Digital and did not respond to a follow-up text and email.

Former CIA chief of staff Larry Pfeiffer declined to comment, and former National Counterterrorism Center National Director Russ Travers said, “These issues were addressed… several years ago.”

Two of the signatories – Patty Brandmaier and Brett Davis – passed away in 2023.

“We want to emphasize that we do not know if the emails, provided to the New York Post by President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, are genuine or not and that we do not have evidence of Russian involvement – just that our experience makes us deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case,” the letter stated, before explaining several reasons why the laptop is “consistent” with Russian disinformation.

“Our view that the Russians are involved in the Hunter Biden email issue is consistent with two other significant data points as well. According to the Washington Post, citing four sources, ‘U.S. intelligence agencies warned the White House last year that Giuliani was the target of an influence operation by Russian intelligence.’”

HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP RE-EMERGES AS MEDIA EMBARRASSMENT AS IT BECOMES KEY EVIDENCE AT GUN TRIAL

President Biden and Hunter Biden during the Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on April 1, 2024. (Michael Reynolds/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“In addition, media reports say that the FBI has now opened an investigation into Russian involvement in this case. According to USA Today, ‘…federal authorities are investigating whether the material supplied to the New York Post by Rudy Giuliani… is part of a smoke bomb of disinformation pushed by Russia.’”

“Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say,” the original headline from Politico story on the letter from the 51 former officials said. 

When asked about Politico’s characterization of the letter in the headline compared to his statement on behalf of his clients and why his clients did not publicly push back on it after publication, Zaid told Fox News Digital that in journalism “sometimes not even the writer of the story chooses the headline content” and that “pretty much two people wrote the letter, and everyone else just signed.”

“These are not people who often would pay attention to the media details. I couldn’t even tell you if they saw the Politico story. Many of them have since spoken out and very clearly clarified what they meant.”

BIDENS MOCKED HUNTER’S LAPTOP TO HIDE EVIDENCE OF POSSIBLY LARGEST US CORRUPTION SCANDAL EVER

Hunter Biden departs from federal court, Tuesday, June 4, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Hunter Biden’s laptop, the contents of which were first published by the New York Post in 2020, has long been dismissed by Democrats as Russian disinformation and news outlets across the country seized on the letter from former intel officials as definitive proof the laptop was not legitimate.

Several members of the Biden campaign vigorously denied the legitimacy of the laptop leading up to the November election while appearing to be coordinating the release of the Politico story. The article was published days before a debate between Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and President Trump, where Biden claimed, “There are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what he’s accusing me of is a Russian plant.”

Despite claims from former officials that the laptop had the hallmarks of Russian disinformation, Fox News Digital reported that federal investigators with the Department of Justice knew in December 2019 that Hunter Biden’s laptop was “not manipulated in any way” and contained “reliable evidence,” but were “obstructed” from seeing all available information, according to an IRS whistleblower involved in the probe – nearly a year before the former intelligence officials and Joe Biden declared it was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.

The laptop was introduced into evidence in a Delaware courtroom last week by prosecutor Derek Hines and handed to FBI agent Erika Jensen, who had earlier explained how the FBI authenticated the laptop and extracted data. In the gun trial, she testified about dozens of text messages, metadata, photos and short videos found on phones and iCloud accounts belonging to Biden. 

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The full list of signatories is as follows: Former CIA Director and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, former CIA Director Michael Hayden, former Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper, former National Intelligence Council Chair Thomas Fingar, former National Security Agency Deputy Director Rick Legett, former CIA acting Director John McLaughlin, former CIA acting Director Michael Morell, former Defense Undersecretary for Intelligence Mike Vickers, former Defense Intelligence Agency Deputy Director Doug Wise, former National Counterterrorism Center Director Nick Rasmussen, former National Counterterrorism Center acting Director Russ Travers, former National Counterterrorism Center Deputy Director Andy Liepman, former CIA chief of staff John Moseman, former CIA chief of staff Larry Pfeiffer, former CIA chief of staff Jeremy Bash, former National Security Agency general counsel Glenn Gerstell, former CIA chief of staff Rodney Snyder, former CIA analyst and manager David Priess, former CIA Deputy Director of Analysis Pam Purcilly, former CIA senior operations officer Marc Polymeropoulos, former CIA senior intelligence officer Chris Savos, former CIA senior intelligence officer John Tullius, former CIA senior intelligence officer David A. Vanell, former CIA senior operations officer Kristin Wood, former CIA inspector general David Buckley, former CIA analyst and targeting officer Nada Bakos, former CIA senior intelligence officer Patty Brandmaier, former CIA senior intelligence officer James B. Bruce, former CIA intelligence analyst David Cariens, former CIA operational support officer Janice Cariens, former CIA senior operations officer Paul Kolbe, former CIA analyst Peter Corsell, former CIA senior intelligence officer Brett Davis, former national intelligence officer Roger Zane George, former CIA senior intelligence officer Steven L. Hall, former national intelligence officer Kent Harrington, former national security executive Don Hepburn, former dean of CIA’s Kent School of Intelligence Analysis Timothy D. Kilbourn, former CIA officer Ron Marks, former CIA technical operations officer Jonna Hiestand Mendez, former director of CIA’s Political Islam Strategic Analysis Program Emile Nakhleh, former CIA senior operations officer Gerald A. O’Shea, former CIA deputy chief of staff Nick Shapiro, former CIA senior operations officer John Sipher, former National Security Council senior director for intelligence programs Stephen Slick, former CIA deputy assistant director for global issues Cynthia Strand, former CIA Deputy Executive Director Greg Tarbell, former National Intelligence Collection Board Chairman David Terry, former National Intelligence Council Chair Greg Treverton, and former CIA director of analysis Winston Wiley.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report

FIRST ON FOX: Former President Donald Trump has made a major endorsement in what is expected to be one of this year’s most closely watched Senate races.

Trump announced Sunday in a post on Truth Social that he would be backing former U.S. Army Captain Sam Brown to take on incumbent Democrat Sen. Jacky Rosen in November.

“Sam Brown is a FEARLESS AMERICAN PATRIOT, a Purple Heart Recipient, who has proven he has the ‘PURE GRIT’ and COURAGE to take on our Enemies, both Foreign and Domestic. Sam is now running for U.S. Senate in the Great State of Nevada, primarily because he knows that Crooked Joe Biden and the Radical Left are A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY,” Trump wrote.

TRUMP RILES UP FIERY SWING STATE CROWD IN FIRST RALLY SINCE NEW YORK CONVICTION

Former President Donald Trump announced his endorsement of former U.S. Army Captain Sam Brown in a post on Truth Social. (Truth Social/Donald Trump)

“Our Country can no longer stand with this Corrupt and Incompetent “President” calling the shots. As your next Senator, Sam will fight tirelessly to secure our Border, end Migrant Crime, stop Inflation, grow our Economy, STRONGLY SUPPORT OUR GREAT MILITARY/VETS, protect our always under siege Second Amendment, and restore PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH…” he added.

Brown thanked Trump in a statement to Fox News Digital following the endorsement.

“Thank you, President Trump, for your leadership and your endorsement. I look forward to working with you to bring a better future to every Nevadan when we both win in November!!” he said.

Former President Donald Trump and former U.S. Army Captain Sam Brown. (Getty Images)

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

LAS VEGAS – Former President Trump riled up a fiery crowd of supporters in a key swing state on Sunday, his first rally since his conviction in a New York court on what he and his supporters have described as “sham” charges.

Thousands of Nevadans piled into Sunset Park, just miles from the Las Vegas Strip, to hear the former president, who spared no time in blasting the “Biden crime family” and his conviction, which he called “bulls–t.”

“We’re going to knock off the Biden crime family. It’s a Biden family of crime, including the fact that they’ve weaponized the Department of Justice like has never happened in this country,” Trump said. “We’re going to end the weak and failed regime of crooked Joe Biden, the worst president in the history of our country, and we’re going to make America great again.”

TRUMP ENDORSEMENT TAKES CENTER STAGE IN BRUTAL SWING STATE PRIMARY AS ACCUSATIONS OF ‘DISLOYALTY’ FLY

Thousands of Trump supporters attend a rally in Las Vegas on June 9, 2024. (Fox News Digital/Brandon Gillespie)

Trump also spent significant time early on in his speech slamming President Biden’s handling of the southern border, a particularly important issue for voters in the state.

“Under Biden, the invasion is just a disaster. … In four years, crooked Joe has imported more people than at any other time in our history,” Trump said. “They’re changing the fabric of our country. They’re destroying our country.”

Trump later targeted Biden’s age, mental fitness and frequent vacations to the beaches of Delaware, saying, “This guy goes to the beach all the time. Somebody thinks he looks good in a bathing suit. I don’t know.”

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

Former President Trump points to the teleprompter and says it’s not working as he speaks during a campaign rally at Sunset Park in Las Vegas on June 9, 2024. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

“He’s not old, he’s incompetent,” he added, stating he took a “second” cognitive test and that he “aced” them both.

“Biden should have a cognitive test, and before the debate in two weeks he should take a drug test,” Trump said.

Trump notably made no endorsement in the ongoing Republican primary for U.S. Senate, but he did offer praise for former Army Captain Sam Brown, who has been largely viewed as the front-runner in the race.

FOLLOWING TRUMP’S GUILTY VERDICT, FIRST SWING STATE POLL REVEALS HOW IT IMPACTS VOTERS’ DECISIONS

Former President Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at Sunset Park in Las Vegas on June 9, 2024. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump’s rally comes just days after a new Fox News poll found the former president leading Biden by five points (50%-45%) in a head-to-head matchup.

That lead holds steady (45%-40%) with the inclusion of independent presidential candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (7%) and Dr. Cornel West (2%) as well as Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein (2%).

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Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in a New York City court on May 30, but that appears to have had little effect on his level of support.

The former president was tied with Biden in Democrat-leaning Virginia, another Fox News poll found. Virginia hasn’t voted for a Republican presidential candidate since former President George W. Bush won there in 2004.

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

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., called on the Justice Department to investigate anti-Israel agitators who vandalized statues at Washington, D.C.’s Lafayette Square the same way the department went after rioters who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol protests.

“Anti-American, pro-Hamas thugs desecrated the statues of our veterans literally across the street from the White House, a blatant violation of federal law. On video,” Cotton said in a post on X Sunday. “I expect the Department of Justice to use every technique against them that it used against grandmas in MAGA hats on Jan. 6. And if it doesn’t now, it will next year.”

Cotton’s comments come as thousands and thousands of people descended on the White House Saturday to protest President Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, with many waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Free Palestine” as they marched around the nation’s capital. 

ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATOR IN HAMAS HEADBAND HOLDS UP BLOODIED BIDEN FACE MASK STEPS FROM WHITE HOUSE

Although the protests started peacefully, some demonstrators turned their attention to the statues at Lafayette Square just outside the White House and vandalized them with spray paint and graffiti.

Other demonstrators turned their attention to park rangers working the area, shouting “”F— you, fascist!” and “Piggy, piggy, oink, oink!” Another man wearing a Hamas headband held up a bloody face mask that depicted Biden and shouted, “Down, down occupation!” while another demonstrator lit an American flag on fire.

Cotton likened the event to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots that saw thousands of supporters of former President Trump descend on the U.S. Capitol, with many breaking barriers and breaching the building.

Anti-Israel protesters deface statue in Washington, D.C., on June 8, 2024. (FNTV)

ADDITIONAL BARRIERS ERECTED AROUND WHITE HOUSE AHEAD OF PLANNED PRO-PALESTINIAN DEMONSTRATION

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

Those protests led to thousands of arrests, with the Justice Department boasting in January that over 1,265 defendants had been charged in cases relating to the demonstrations. 

But no arrests were made during Saturday’s demonstrations, according to a report from NBC News, with police saying they attempted to arrest a person who climbed a statue but were unsuccessful after the crowd intervened.

“Anti-American, pro-Hamas thugs desecrated the statues of our veterans literally across the street from the White House,” Sen. Tom Cotton said. (FNTV)

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Police say they then deployed pepper spray and the suspect was able to get away.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Park Police said anyone with information can aid the investigation into the incidents by calling 202-379-4877 or emailing USPP_tipline@nps.gov.

Hunter Biden’s defense team is likely “banking on” the jury deadlocking on a verdict in the first son’s historic criminal gun trial, a legal expert told Fox News Digital. 

“That’s what Hunter Biden and his defense team are banking on in this case,” Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow Zack Smith told Fox News Digital when asked if the trial could result in a hung jury or even acquittal. 

“Legally speaking, it didn’t really seem like Hunter Biden has a defense to these charges,” Smith continued. “Particularly, some of the jurors might have had family or friends struggling with substance abuse issues and have some sympathy for Hunter Biden and his substance abuse issues.”

Hunter Biden’s trial began last Monday in a federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, where he faces three felony firearm offenses regarding the 2018 purchase of a .38 revolver from a gun shop in the state. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL ENTERS DAY 5 AFTER TESTIMONY FROM SISTER-IN-LAW-TURNED-GIRLFRIEND: ‘PANICKED’

Hunter Biden departs from federal court, Tuesday, June 4, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Prosecutors are working to prove that Hunter Biden lied on a federal firearm form, known as ATF Form 4473, in October 2018 when he ticked a box labeled “No” when asked if he is an unlawful user of a firearm or addicted to controlled substances.

It is the first time in U.S. history that a sitting president’s child is on trial. 

Hunter Biden has a well-documented history of drug addiction, most notably detailed in his memoir “Beautiful Things,” which walks readers through his need for crack cocaine every 20 minutes at the height of his addiction, how he linked up with a female drug dealer he nicknamed “Bicycles” who sold him crack cocaine on the streets of Washington, D.C., and how he could serve as a “crack daddy” to dealers due to his spiraling addiction. 

HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL ENTERS DAY 4 AFTER WILD TESTIMONY FROM EXES ON RAMPANT DRUG USE, TRASHED HOTEL ROOMS

The defense team does not deny Hunter Biden’s history with alcohol and drug addiction. Instead, they are working to build an argument that on the day Hunter Biden purchased the hand gun, Oct. 12, 2018, that he was not using crack cocaine and did not consider himself an active addict, citing his recent stint in a rehab. 

An evidence photo presented by the prosecution shows the gun that Hunter Biden purchased. (U.S. Government Exhibit)

Prosecutors are working to prove that Hunter Biden was addicted to crack cocaine, before, after and during the purchase of the handgun. 

Smith continued in his comments to Fox News Digital that it is likely the jurors could deadlock and not reach a unanimous verdict. 

HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL ENTERS 3RD DAY WITH CROSS-EXAMINATION OF FBI AGENT

“It’s certainly a possibility that you could have a hung jury. It’s a very real possibility. You only need one juror as a holdout,” Smith explained. 

“But even those who may have some sympathy for Hunter Biden and his struggle with substance abuse, I thought Hallie Biden’s testimony was problematic for him.”

Hunter Biden arrives at federal court with his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in Wilmington. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Hallie Biden is the widow of Beau Biden, Hunter Biden’s brother who died in 2015 from brain cancer. Hallie Biden dated Hunter Biden following her husband’s death, and was called as a witness in the case by the prosection team. 

Hallie Biden walked the jury through the rise and fall of their relationship, which focused on how Biden introduced her to crack cocaine before she ultimately became sober. Hunter Biden and Hallie Biden have since ended the relationship, with Hallie Biden joining court with her husband, John Hopkins Anning, whom she married just last weekend.

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

A court sketch depicts Hallie Biden testifying on the stand during Hunter Biden’s trial in Wilmington, Delaware, on Thursday, June 6, 2024. (William J. Hennessy Jr.)

“I found [crack] and googled it because I didn’t know what it was,” Hallie Biden told the court of the first time she saw the drug in her home. “[Hunter Biden] told me what it was, crack cocaine.”

Hallie Biden, who testified under immunity, said she smoked crack cocaine and even accompanied Hunter Biden on drug deals. Hallie Biden is also a key figure in the trial, as she found Hunter’s Colt gun in the console of his pickup truck 11 days after he purchased the firearm. She testified she tossed the gun in a public trashcan outside of an upscale grocery market in Wilmington because she feared Hunter Biden would hurt himself or others. 

HUNTER BIDEN’S WIFE LASHES OUT AT FORMER TRUMP AIDE DURING COURT APPEARANCE: ‘PIECE OF S—‘

Hunter Biden is facing three charges, false statement in purchase of a firearm; false statement related to information required to be kept by federal firearms licensed dealer; and possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.

The total maximum prison time for the charges could be up to 25 years. Each count carries a maximum fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release. 

An evidence photo presented by the prosecution shows an image of Hunter Biden on April 11, 2018. (U.S. Government Exhibit)

Smith noted that even though a possibility of a hung jury is in the cards, prosecutors have presented a strong case against the first son. 

“Based on the charges that have been brought and the evidence produced at trial, it certainly seems prosecutors have done their homework and done enough to convince the jury to convict Hunter Biden,” he said. 

HUNTER BIDEN’S DRUG USE: WHAT THE PROSECUTION NEEDS TO PROVE AND WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW

In addition to playing excerpts of the audio book version of Hunter’s memoir – which was narrated by the first son – prosecutors have also presented evidence such as a brown pouch that contained the gun having trace amounts of cocaine on it, as well as questioning witnesses at the time of the gun purchase regarding Hunter’s drug use. 

Prosecutors called on Hunter’s former girlfriend, Zoe Kestan, who met Hunter when she was 24 and he was 48 at a strip club in New York City. She testified that Hunter “would want to smoke the second he woke up,” discussed photos she took of his drug paraphernalia in trashed hotel rooms, and even how he attempted to get sober by purging his body of drugs with frog venom called “kambo.” 

Zoe Kestan, former girlfriend of Hunter Biden, departs federal court after testifying in his trial on criminal gun charges in Wilmington, June 5, 2024. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

Though Kestan knew Hunter Biden before and after his purchase of the Colt revolver in October 2018, the pair did not speak that month, rekindling their relationship in November 2018 before it officially ended. 

The jury also heard from Hunter Biden’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle, who was married to Hunter Biden for more than 20 years, and recounted to the jury that she was “definitely worried, scared” after first discovering a crack pipe on the side porch of their home in Washington, D.C., in 2015. 

Buhle said following the discovery of a crack pipe at their home in 2015, they participated in couple’s therapy before the marriage ended. 

HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL: 9 KEY FIGURES WHO MAY TESTIFY

The jury has also been presented with banking information showing thousands of dollars in cash withdrawals – a payment method often used for drug deals – and countless text messages of Hunter setting up drug deals, making references to drugs with language such as “party favor,” “baby powder” and “chore boy,” which is a type of scouring pad used as a filter for crack pipes. 

The federal court before Hunter Biden arrives for his scheduled trial, Monday, June 3, 2024, in Wilmington. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

The texts concerning drug references were from the lead-up and after the gun purchase. Though, one day after the gun purchase, Hunter Biden texted Hallie Biden that he was “waiting for a dealer named Mookie.” A day after that text, he texted that he was “sleeping on a car smoking crack on 4th Street and Rodney” in Wilmington. 

The defense team argues that Hallie Biden doesn’t know with certainty that Hunter Biden was conducting a drug deal on Oct. 13 or if he was smoking crack on a car on Oct. 14, and that he could have just been avoiding Hallie Biden. 

US V HUNTER BIDEN: OPENING STATEMENTS TO BEGIN IN FIRST SON’S FEDERAL GUN TRIAL AFTER JURY SEATED

“One of the things Hunter Biden and his defense attorneys seem to be going for is that Hunter didn’t believe he was addicted,” Smith said, pointing to such texts as statements that “seem to undercut that argument.”

During jury selection last Monday, nearly all the more than 60 people called as potential jurors detailed to the court that they have family or friends who have struggled with addiction, which could lead to jurors feeling sympathetic for the president’s 54-year-old son. Delaware is also a small state where the Biden family’s roots run deep. 

“The Bidens’ influence and their power in the state can’t be underestimated. But I think the sympathetic issue is the one that Hunter Biden’s legal team is focusing on,” Smith said. 

Hunter Biden arrives with his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden at federal court, Tuesday, June 4, 2024, in Wilmington. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

The trial follows the unprecedented NY v. Trump trial, which found former President Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Following the verdict, President Biden highlighted that “no one is above the law.” 

HUNTER BIDEN’S CRIMINAL TRIAL ON FEDERAL GUN CHARGES BEGINS WITH JURY SELECTION

Hunter Biden is also facing a criminal tax trial in California, which will begin in September, after he was charged with three felonies and six misdemeanors regarding $1.4 million in owed taxes. The taxes have since been paid. Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty in that case. 

First lady Jill Biden arrives ahead of Hunter Biden’s trial at federal court, Monday, June 3, 2024, in Wilmington. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

“The only reason this case is going to trial in Delaware and the tax case is going to trial in California is because the federal judge in Delaware rejected the sweetheart plea deal… that’s the only reason this case is even going to trial at all. That’s the only reason we, as the American people, are finding out a lot of this information,” Smith continued. 

“Most Americans would be right to question the different treatment in both of those cases.”

Hunter Biden could testify in his criminal trial on Monday, according to his defense team. Defense attorney Abbe Lowell was heard saying following Friday’s lunch break that he will take the weekend to decide if he will call Biden to testify, and that he will notify Special Counsel David Weiss’ office of the decision. 

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Details surrounding the decision will be made public some time after 8:15 a.m. on Monday, when presiding Judge Maryellen Noreika requested both legal parties report back to the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building and United States Courthouse.

Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a series of profiles of potential running mates for presidential candidate Donald Trump on the 2024 Republican Party ticket

The race to determine who will be Donald Trump’s running mate this November took a major step forward last week with the acceleration of vetting multiple potential candidates, but political insiders with deep knowledge of presidential campaigns say there is one possible name on the former president’s shortlist Democrats “fear” the most.

Trump’s campaign recently entered the next phase of the running mate search by requesting documents from several prospective contenders, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who has grown to be a staunch ally of the former president since running against him in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries.

“Rubio is a familiar face who has become one of the strongest voices in the Senate for the America First agenda, is excellent on TV, and can blast Biden effectively for his failed policies,” one top GOP strategist told Fox News Digital. 

INSIDERS PREDICT THIS POSSIBLE TRUMP VP PICK POSES ‘EXISTENTIAL THREAT’ TO KEY AREA OD BIDEN SUPPORT

From left to right: Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. (Getty Images)

“Trump is doing very well with Latino voters and the addition of Rubio would only strengthen that, which could spell the end for Biden,” they said, adding that “Rubio would be a solid, safe pick, with a lot of upside.”

GOP strategist Matt Wolking, who served as deputy communications director for Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, described Rubio as “an effective, disciplined communicator who rarely makes mistakes.”

He noted that Rubio was the only person under consideration who speaks another language, and that his ability to speak Spanish would help the Trump campaign reach Hispanic voters in many states where it could boost their competitiveness, including Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Virginia, New York, and Florida.

“While demonstrating his ability to win a slightly higher percentage of White voters in 2022 than Trump did in Florida in 2020, he also appeals to the suburban and independent voters that will be key to Trump’s success, and is the only contender from a true battleground state,” Wolking said. 

“Trump would balance out his ticket by picking Rubio for VP, which cannot be said for some of the other options. These reasons are why many Democrats fear the selection of Rubio the most,” he said, citing a May Vanity Fair article specifically noting some of those worries.

INSIDERS PREDICT THIS ‘POWERHOUSE’ REPUBLICAN WOULD BRING MAJOR BOOST AS TRUMP VP PICK

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) speaks to his supporters during an election-night party on November 8, 2022 in Miami, Florida. (Saul Martinez/Getty Images)

Wolking added that Rubio’s experience as a leader on the Senate Intelligence Committee would be “valuable” for Trump to “reign in rogue agencies.”

A source close to Trump’s campaign echoed what the other two said of Rubio’s Latino heritage boosting the campaign’s ability to connect with Hispanic voters, but also pointed to what they said were a few downsides to Rubio’s potential selection.

“I’m not sure he’s a 100% Trump guy. That’s the one thing I would say, that he has not always been enthusiastic about Trump. I think that’s the one area I would find could be a little troubling to the Trump faithful. That might be an issue,” the source said. 

They were noting Rubio’s past criticism of Trump, including when he called him “reckless and dangerous” while running against him in 2016, and when he said the former president was responsible “for some of what happened” during the Jan. 6 protests at the U.S. Capitol. 

“The other thing is the question of whether Rubio is the right person to carry the Republican colors in 2028 and beyond,” the source said. “I think he’s a good man. Don’t get me wrong. I think he’s been a great senator, and been very effective. I think he would be a more than adequate vice president, but it just gives me pause to think about him as a potential candidate, and whether he’s a Trump-faithful follower.”

EXPERTS REVEAL MAJOR ‘DOWNSIDE’ TO POTENTIAL TRUMP VP PICK: ‘NO WOW FACTOR’

Former U.S. President Donald Trump listens as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) speaks during a rally at the Miami-Dade County Fair and Exposition on November 6, 2022 in Miami, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Wolking, however, said none of the downsides to Rubio’s selection were “particularly big ones,” but noted he tends “to be more hawkish than Trump when it comes to foreign policy.”

He also mentioned concerns over the Constitution’s 12th Amendment, which prohibits electors voting for a president and vice president if they are inhabitants of the same state. Rubio and Trump are both residents of Florida. 

“That would likely prove to be more a speedbump than a real obstacle to putting him on the ticket,” Wolking said.

A source familiar with Rubio pointed Fox to the senator’s positive performance in states like Virginia and Minnesota during his 2016 primary campaign, suggesting his selection could boost Trump in states now being viewed as potential targets for Republicans.

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The source also pointed to Rubio’s legislative track-record, his debate performances during his two subsequent Senate re-elections since running for president, his ability to communicate, as well as his ability to “fire up a crowd” as all things that would make him a good addition to the Republican ticket.

A number of other big names have also been floated to join Trump on the Republican ticket, including House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Ohio Sen. JD Vance and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.

From left to right: House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and South Carolina Gov. Tim Scott. All have been floated as possible vice presidential running mates for former President Donald Trump. (Getty Images)

Trump has suggested he will likely wait until July’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee to name his pick.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

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