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NEWFIELDS, N.H. – Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire is expected to endorse former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, multiple GOP sources confirmed to Fox News.

The endorsement of the popular governor of the state that holds the first primary and second overall contest in the Republican presidential nominating calendar is all-but-certain to occur when the two team up Tuesday evening at a Haley campaign event in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Sununu’s political team released a media advisory early Tuesday morning announcing that the governor would join Haley and make remarks at a town hall at 6 p.m. ET at the McIntyre Ski Area in Manchester.

And in a statement to Fox News, the governor said “I look forward to joining Nikki at her town hall this evening – it’s going to be a lot of fun!”

SUNUNU TEAMS UP WITH HALEY, DESANTIS, AND CHRISTIE AS HE DECIDES ON A 2024 ENDORSEMENT

The endorsement could potentially sway some independent and moderate voters who often play an influential role in New Hampshire’s crucial presidential primary.

Sununu has long been a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump, the commanding front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination as he makes his third straight White House run. 

The governor flirted with his own presidential bid before announcing in early June that he wouldn’t seek the White House in 2024. Since then, he’s said he would eventually endorse in the Republican nomination race and has teamed up repeatedly with many of the GOP contenders as they’ve campaigned in New Hampshire. 

MEET THE REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR IN DEMAND WITH THE GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES – OTHER THAN TRUMP

In recent weeks, he’s said that he had narrowed his endorsement choice down to three candidates – Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Christie, who is once again spending most of this time and resources on New Hampshire as he makes his second White House run, returns to the campaign trail in the Granite State with two events on Wednesday. 

DeSantis, who is spending most of his time in Iowa, is expected back in the New Hampshire on Friday.

“What happens in New Hampshire will be significantly impacted by the outcome in Iowa, where the true Trump alternative will emerge. And when Ron DeSantis comes out in that position, he will be joined by over 60 New Hampshire state legislators who stand ready to take the fight to the establishment and their candidates of yesteryear to return power to grassroots conservatives,” DeSantis campaign spokesman Andrew Romeo argued in a statement.

Sununu campaigned with all three candidates on the trail in New Hampshire just before Thanksgiving.

“Nikki’s done a great job. She’s been really pounding the pavement in terms of going to various parts of the state, talking to folks, letting them ask her questions,” Sununu told reporters after teaming up with Haley in Hooksett, New Hampshire. “Her message seems to resonate.”

Haley, who has enjoyed momentum in the polls in recent months, thanks in part to well-received performances in the first three GOP presidential primary debates, leapfrogged DeSantis for second place in New Hampshire and her home state, which holds the first southern contest. Christie stands in third place in most of the latest surveys in New Hampshire.

Haley also aims to make a fight of it in Iowa – the state whose Jan. 15 caucuses lead off the GOP nominating calendar – where the latest polls suggest she is close to pulling even with DeSantis for a distant second place behind Trump.

TRUMP HOLDS A MASSIVE LEAD IN THE POLLS WITH FIVE WEEKS TO GO UNTIL THE IOWA CAUCUSES 

Early this past summer, at the New Hampshire GOP’s annual cookout, Haley was introduced by Sununu. After exchanging a hug, Haley kicked off her comments to the crowd by saying, “You’ve got a great governor.”

With a joke that elicited plenty of laughter, she said, “Governor, I very much worry about your health. What I’m thinking is, I don’t want you to over-stress. I don’t want you to get out there and do too much. So I think what’s best is, go ahead and endorse me now.”

Haley was kidding, but in the ensuing months she’s jokingly asked Sununu about an endorsement a handful of times.

Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa early last month endorsed DeSantis. Since then, Reynolds has joined DeSantis at multiple stops on the Hawkeye State campaign trail. 

Sununu told Fox News Digital last month that his endorsement would also be much more than just a one-day announcement.

“If I get behind a candidate, I’m going to get behind a candidate,” he emphasized.

And he later added that he’d put muscle behind his endorsement, “110%.”

“That’s the fun part. Are you kidding? I’m not going to do an endorsement and sit on my hands. When I do an endorsement, it’s going to be a six-, seven-, eight-, nine-week push, whatever it is, to really make sure folks know where we are. I tend to not leave anything on the table,” he emphasized.

And Sununu, who’s won election and re-election to four two-year terms as New Hampshire governor, said he’d help whichever candidate he backed “put together a ground game. I think we know how to do it pretty well here.”

But he’s also tempered expectations that his endorsement might move the needle in the Granite State, telling Fox News last month that “I’m never a big believer that endorsements matter as much as the press think they do.”

WAS THE REAL WINNER SO FAR IN THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES THE GUY WHO DIDN’T SHOW UP?

Longtime New Hampshire-based Republican strategist Jim Merrilll, a veteran of numerous presidential campaigns, told Fox News the endorsement – which was first reported by WMUR – was “a big deal.”

“There’s no endorsement in New Hampshire you’d rather have. And it’s clear he’s going to use it early and often to support Haley.”

“Chris Sununu is the Shohei Otani of New Hampshire politics. He’s a remarkably gifted, best-in-class talent. He’s our state’s most successful and impactful Republican of his generation. So his endorsement of Nikki Haley makes this the best day of her campaign and gives her a heck of a clean-up hitter down the stretch,” Merrill emphasized.

Neil Levesque, the executive director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, told Fox News “it is always questionable whether endorsements matter but in this case, this is a game-changing endorsement.”

“This is why,” Levesque continued. “Sununu is one of the most talented communicators in politics. You combine that with his credibility and popularity in a state like New Hampshire and the fact that he’s going to basically go on the road and sell this to New Hampshire voters and make a persuasive argument for Nikki Haley, I think is going to move the needle.”

Sununu’s backing of Haley comes a couple of weeks after she landed the endorsement of Americans for Prosperity Action, the political wing of the influential and deep-pocketed fiscally conservative network founded by the billionaire Koch Brothers. AFP Action has pledged to spend tens of millions of dollars and mobilize its formidable grassroots operation to boost Haley and help push the Republican Party past Trump.

Trump continues to hold a very formidable and very large double-digit lead over Haley, DeSantis and the rest of the remaining field of rivals for the nomination in the latest polls in New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina, and in national surveys.

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But Sununu said last month that Trump’s “got a floor, but he’s also got a ceiling,” 

“And when you look at the fact that well over 50% of the Republican core-based voter wants somebody else, the fact that in New Hampshire you can have independents that come out – I believe in record numbers – most of which won’t vote for yesterday’s news in terms of Donald Trump,” Sununu argued.

Fox News’ James Levinson contributed to this report

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

Special Counsel Jack Smith plans to use data from the cell phone former President Trump used in his final weeks in office — including data revealing when Trump’s phone was “unlocked and the Twitter application was open” on Jan. 6, 2021, according to a new court filing. 

Smith, in a court filing Monday, notified the court that he plans to call “expert” witnesses to testify in the trial against Trump, the 2024 GOP presidential frontrunner, which is set to begin March 4, one day before voters in several states participate in Super Tuesday primaries. 

SPECIAL COUNSEL OBTAINED TRUMP’S TWITTER DMS DESPITE COMPANY’S EFFORTS TO BLOCK ACCESS

One of the experts Smith plans to call has “knowledge, skill, experience, training, and education beyond the ordinary lay person regarding the analysis of cellular phone data, including the use of Twitter and other applications on cell phones,” according to the filing.

In the filing, Smith hints that the expert will be able to testify that he or she “extracted and processed data from the White House cell phones” used by Trump and one other individual. The identity of the second individual is unclear.

Smith said the expert will also testify that they “reviewed and analyzed data” on Trump’s phone and on “Individual 1’s” phone, “including analyzing images found on the phones and websites visited.”

Smith said the expert has “determined the usage of these phones throughout the post-election period, including on and around January 6, 2021” and has “specifically identified the periods of time during which the defendant’s phone was unlocked and the Twitter application was open on January 6.”

SUPREME COURT: TRUMP MUST RESPOND TO SPECIAL COUNSEL’S PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY PETITION BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Trump, in August, pleaded not guilty in federal court to all four federal charges stemming from Smith’s investigation into 2020 election interference and the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

The cell phone data Smith plans to use in the trial is in addition to Trump’s direct messages on the social media platform once known as Twitter, despite the company’s efforts to block access.

Unsealed court filings in August showed that Smith’s team obtained location data and draft tweets in addition to the former president’s messages.

Attorneys for the company, now named X Corp., attempted to block and delay the effort in January and February, leading one federal judge to speculate that X owner and one-time CEO Elon Musk was attempting to ally himself with Trump.

The social media giant ultimately lost the struggle, however, and was forced to hand over an extensive list of data related to the “@realdonaldtrump” account, including all tweets “created, drafted, favorited/liked, or retweeted.”

SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH CALLS ON SUPREME COURT TO RULE ON TRUMP IMMUNITY CLAIM

The handover also included searches on the platform surrounding the 2020 election, devices used to log into the account, IP addresses used to log into the account and a list of associated accounts.

Meanwhile, Smith, on Monday, asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether Trump can be prosecuted on charges relating to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

A federal judge ruled the case could go forward, but Trump said he would ask the federal appeals court in Washington to reverse that outcome. Smith is attempting to bypass the appeals court — the usual next step in the process — and have the Supreme Court take up the matter directly.

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The Supreme Court, late Monday, asked Trump’s lawyers to respond to the special counsel’s motion by Wednesday, December 20 — two days later than Smith had requested. 

The Court’s next scheduled conference day for consideration of such matters is Jan. 5, 2024. The court’s brief order did not signal what it ultimately would do.

Former President Donald Trump holds a marginal lead over President Biden in a straight national matchup, according to a new poll.

The Monday poll from Reuters/Ipsos found that Trump leads Biden 38% to 36% in a head-to-head matchup, though a sizable 26% stated that they weren’t sure or supported another candidate. Meanwhile, the poll also found that a third-party candidacy by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. could serve as an effective spoiler against Biden.

When RFK’s candidacy was factored into the poll, Trump’s lead over Biden grew to 5%. Trump’s overall support dropped to 36%, but Biden’s fell to 31%, with RFK Jr. taking 16% of the vote.

Reuters conducted the poll from Dec. 5-11, surveying 4,411 U.S. adults across the nation via online questioning.

HEAD HERE TO CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING

The survey also matched up with recent polling on Americans’ distaste for both Biden and Trump more generally, often citing the candidates’ ages. Roughly 60% of respondents to the Reuters poll stated that they were dissatisfied with the binary option and wanted a third choice.

BIDEN FACES A BIGGER POLLING DEFICIT NOW THAT OBAMA DID A YEAR BEFORE THE 2012 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Biden has consistently fallen behind Trump in national polling in recent weeks. Trump led Biden 47% to 43% in a hypothetical head-to-head match and led 37% to 31% in a hypothetical ballot with five independent candidates, according to the results of a Wall Street Journal poll released Saturday.

The president’s sagging numbers against Trump also come as voters give Biden low approval marks, including only 23% of respondents saying Biden’s policies have helped them personally, compared to 53% who say they have been hurt by the president’s policies.

THESE SIX BATTLEGROUND STATES COULD COST BIDEN THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2024

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Biden’s team, however, has attempted to spin the grim numbers as effectively as possible.

“Predictions more than a year out tend to look a little different a year later,” Biden campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz said last month. “Don’t take our word for it: Gallup predicted an eight-point loss for President Obama, only for him to win handily a year later.”

Reuters and Fox News’ Michael Lee and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

• Commissioners in Cascade County, Montana, are set to vote on removing election oversight duties from Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant.
• Commissioner Joe Briggs proposed the resolution, citing complaints about local elections since Merchant took office earlier this year.
• Briggs emphasized the need to address systemic problems before the upcoming general election.

Commissioners in a Montana county are expected to vote Tuesday on whether to remove election oversight duties from a clerk and recorder who expressed doubts about the integrity of the election process when she ran for office last year.

The Cascade County commission meeting was moved to the fairgrounds in Great Falls to accommodate the anticipated public participation. If the resolution passes, it would take effect immediately.

Commissioner Joe Briggs proposed the resolution, noting that since Sandra Merchant was sworn in early this year, the county has received complaints about the way several local elections have been run. Lawsuits have been filed. The library board asked for court-appointed oversight for their mill levy election this summer.

REPUBLICANS UNLEASH EFFORT FORCING BIDEN ADMIN TO HOLD OIL AND GAS LEASE SALES

“It’s been everything from people not getting ballots that should have to people who got ballots that shouldn’t have in these various elections, so there seems to be some systemic problems,” Briggs said Monday.

The issue needs to be settled before next year’s general election, Briggs said.

“We need to get all of the issues identified and fixed before we get in to federal elections, because they do have broad ramifications,” Briggs said.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester is seeking reelection in a race that could help determine the majority party in the Senate, two U.S. House races will be on the ballot along with all the major statewide elected races, including governor.

‘TOUGHEST UPHILL CLIMB’: RACE FORECASTER REVEALS SHIFT TOWARD GOP IN TOP 2024 SENATE RACE

The resolution proposes that that election oversight be removed from the clerk and recorder’s office and be assumed by the county commission, which would appoint an election administrator. State law allows for the change and a handful of Montana’s 56 counties have done so.

During the 2022 campaign for clerk and recorder, some Republicans asked the county commission to ask Democratic clerk Rina Fontana Moore to recuse herself from administrating the election since she was on the ballot, Briggs said. She declined to step down temporarily and Briggs proposed taking election duties away from the clerk and recorder’s office. However none of the other two commission members would second his motion.

Merchant defeated Moore by fewer than 40 votes in November 2022, months after the Republican-controlled state Legislature passed several laws it said were needed to improve election security. However, courts rejected those laws, saying the state brought no proof of the alleged widespread voter fraud the laws sought to eliminate.

Before Merchant took office, Briggs again moved to transfer the election duties to a non-elected administrator and again, nobody else supported him. All three commissioners are Republicans.

Things changed, however, as elections took place this year.

“It went from being basically a structural issue of someone in charge of an election should not be on the ballot to broader questions about how things are being conducted here that didn’t exist previously,” Briggs said.

Merchant said after she took office, experienced employees in the elections department left without teaching her how to do the job.

She argues Briggs’ motion is disenfranchising the people who voted for her to run elections.

“They weren’t electing somebody to take care of the records in the other office, they voted for me because of elections and now their votes are being thrown out,” Merchant said Monday.

Merchant campaigned on election integrity, supported opening up ballot tabulators to make sure they could not be connected to the internet and advocated hand counting of ballots as former President Trump brought baseless allegations that there was widespread fraud that cost him the 2020 election. Merchant has not suggested opening tabulators or going to hand counts since she’s been elected, Briggs said.

In the resolution, Briggs wrote that the county recently spent $200,000 on ballot tabulators and “has received persistent criticism and concerns from certain members of the public who are politically aligned to the currently elected Clerk and Recorder that the county’s … tabulators are Wi-Fi connected, capable of being manipulated by foreign governments or other nefarious actors, and that the only way to remove such fears is for Cascade County to open the tabulators for public inspection.”

MONTANA DRAG BAN CHALLENGED AS COALITION SEEKS FEDERAL JUDGE’S DECLARATION OF UNCONSTITUTIONALITY

However, doing so would void warranties and render the tabulators worthless, he said.

Merchant argues Briggs is playing politics with her job.

“If you’re in the same party you should be supporting each other and working together and that has not happened,” she said.

Briggs said he made the motion to remove partisan politics from elections administration and finds it a little ironic that it was Republicans who sought the change last year when a Democrat was in office and Republicans who oppose the change now.

“From my standpoint, if you tout something because it’s the right way to do to it, then it’s the right way to do it, regardless of whether there’s a Republican or Democrat in office,” Briggs said.

Planned Parenthood affiliates received $90 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans meant for small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from the Government Accountability office (GAO) released Tuesday morning. 

The PPP loans were designed to bail out small independent businesses with less than 500 employees. But pro-life advocates raised concerns with the Small Business Administration — an independent government agency that supports entrepreneurs — and argued that Planned Parenthood has more than 16,000 employees across the country, well above the cutoff to be considered a small business. 

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., one of the lawmakers who requested the report in January 2022, called the findings “appalling.”

PLANNED PARENTHOOD ANNOUNCES RETURN OF ABORTION IN WISCONSIN AFTER KEY COURT RULING

“While small businesses struggled to make ends meet during the pandemic, Planned Parenthood illegally siphoned over $90 million from the Paycheck Protection Program, specifically designed to help our mom and pop shops keep their doors open,” Blackburn said in a statement. 

She added, “The American people want their tax dollars spent responsibly and in line with our nation’s values — not on the Left’s abortion-on-demand agenda.”

The report, also requested by New Jersey state Sen. Chris Smith, outlined federal funding received by several major pro-abortion organizations between 2019 and 2021 amounting to nearly $2 billion. 

Smith said the PPP loans were “money that could have gone to struggling small businesses, many of which were forced to close.”

“This money would have been better spent helping the businesses that were forced to close or providing comprehensive medical support for both women and children,” Smith told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

Aside from the PPP loans, government sources that funneled funds to the organization included Medicaid, Medicare, and Children’s Health Insurance Program reimbursements, along with federal funding through grants and cooperative agreements amounting to $148.5 million.

Between 2019 and 2021, Planned Parenthood obtained $1.78 billion in government funding and executed one million abortion procedures, while International Planned Parenthood Federation received $2.03 million, MSI Reproductive Choices received $1.35 million, and four regional abortion providers got $107.74 million in funding.

PSAKI REPEATS CLAIM THAT DEMS DON’T SUPPORT ABORTION UNTIL BIRTH: ‘ENTIRELY MISLEADING’

The report noted that in 2019, Planned Parenthood, under the Trump Administration’s Protect Life Rule, declined Title X funding — a federal grant program that provides funding for family planning and reproductive health services — due to the rule’s stipulation against abortion referrals and demanded financial separation from abortion providers. 

The GAO found that Planned Parenthood’s refusal to comply and forfeit its Title X funding “led almost all affiliates to discontinue using family planning grants under Title X” during 2020 and 2021.

From 2019 to 2021, Planned Parenthood conducted 1.11 million abortions while obtaining around $1.78 billion in federal funding, equating to an average of $592 million annually, according to the report. 

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Planned Parenthood operates over 600 health centers across the United States.

Fox News Digital reached out to Planned Parenthood for comment. 

Former President Bill Clinton had a few choice words about his wife Hillary’s disastrous efforts during the 2016 election cycle, according to a new book.

A passage in “The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution” by The Intercept’s Ryan Grim, which was released last week, says the former president allegedly tore into his wife’s campaign for being ineffective communicators and, more specifically, said they could not sell “p—- on a troop train.”

The statement from Bill Clinton, which he allegedly made to a close confidante during the fall of 2016, coincidentally came to light as Democrats reportedly tapped Hillary to help with Biden’s re-election efforts.

‘DEEP, DEEP TROUBLE’: DEMS REPORTEDLY BRINGING IN HILLARY CLINTON TO HELP WITH BIDEN’S RE-ELECTION

Grim appears to be the first to report the remarks in a portion of his book examining the communication efforts of her campaign and then-Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. 

“Former president Bill Clinton, surveying the landscape and the ham-handed efforts at identity politics, was bereft, lamenting to a longtime friend in the fall of 2016 that Hillary’s campaign ‘could not sell p—- on a troop train,'” Grim wrote in the book.

However, this was not the first time Bill Clinton allegedly chastised Hillary’s campaign. Another book alleged that he had warned them not to ignore swing states.

In perhaps Hillary’s biggest blunder during the 2016 election, she notoriously faced widespread criticism for not campaigning enough in Midwestern states, which many believe swung the election to former President Donald Trump. 

But during the election, Bill allegedly urged Hillary’s campaign not to neglect those areas, pleas that ultimately “fell on deaf ears,” ABC News reported.

HILLARY CLINTON SAYS BIDEN’S AGE IS A LEGITIMATE ISSUE: ‘PEOPLE HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO CONSIDER IT’

Journalists Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen made the claim in their 2017 book, “Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign,” which received pushback from former Hillary staffers.

“He thought, these eggheads don’t really know politics. They don’t understand persuasion,” Allen said during an ABC News podcast at the time of the book’s release, adding that Bill advised Hillary’s campaign to visit suburban and rural areas where Hillary likely would not garner most of the votes.

“He knew there was some power just in showing up,” Allen said. 

And despite Hillary’s 2016 loss, Democrats are allegedly bringing her in to aid President Biden’s re-election efforts.

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NBC News reported she held a fundraiser for Biden last month at her Georgetown home that raised close to $1 million. Her popularity with women and critical parts of the Democratic base are considered assets for Biden as he attempts to expand his outreach to voters. 

Clinton’s role in Biden’s re-election effort is expected to grow as the 2024 presidential election nears, according to NBC.

Bill Clinton’s office did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – With the first votes in the Republican presidential race fast approaching, a bullish Vivek Ramaswamy predicts he’ll “shatter expectations” when the Jan.15 Iowa caucuses lead off the GOP nominating calendar.

And pointing to public opinion polls that suggest his support in the early voting states has flatlined in the mid to upper single digits while his unfavorability rating has edged up, the multi-millionaire biotech entrepreneur and first-time candidate argues the surveys are “way off the mark.”

In a campaign trail interview with Fox News with five weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses, Ramaswamy reiterated he is “confident we’re going to do excellent in Iowa, that’s going to propel us forward when we come here to New Hampshire. And I think that’s going to carry us forward to the final phase of this race.”

Ramaswamy, who has spent millions of his own money on his White House run, once again spotlighted his optimistic forecast hours after a new and reputable poll in Iowa suggested he stood at just five percent support among likely Republican presidential caucus-goers.

NEW HAMPSHIRE MAN CHARGED WITH PLOTTING TO KILL RAMASWAMY

The candidate noted that “history teaches us that where the polls stand in early December are not a good predictor necessarily of where things land ultimately. And I think we’re in for a shock that’s coming in the next few months.”

“A lot of the people coming to our events, supporting me… they’re not polled. So I think the poll numbers are way off the mark and I think that works well for us,” Ramaswamy argued.

He added that “there’s a lot of people who are libertarians, independents, young people, that are not in those polls…that are absolutely coming to the caucus for us.”

And the Ramaswamy campaign pointed to their own internal numbers that suggest stronger support in Iowa than what the public surveys indicate.

WAS THE REAL WINNER SO FAR IN THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES THE GUY WHO DIDN’T SHOW UP?

The 38-year-old Ramaswamy, who campaigns on an “America First 2.0” agenda, often highlights that “there are two America First candidates in this race. That’s Donald Trump and myself. Everybody else comes from an old-school vision of neo-conservatism that is long outdated, and that is not where our party or our base is.”

Ramaswamy is the biggest supporter of the former president in the winnowing field of 2024 GOP White House hopefuls, and has repeatedly called Trump the “most successful president in our century.”

But unfortunately for the candidate aiming to be Trump’s heir apparent, the former president isn’t going anywhere. In fact, Trump remains the commanding front-runner in the GOP nomination race as he makes his third straight White House run.

Ramaswamy’s rise in the polls in the late winter, spring and early summer was one of the biggest surprises in this cycle’s GOP nomination race. And the candidate has put in the hours on the campaign trail, holding more events than his rivals in Iowa and New Hampshire – which holds the first primary in the Republican calendar and votes second after the Hawkeye State.

“I’m doing more events on the ground in Iowa right now than any other candidate and we’ve been here plenty as well,” he showcased as he spoke with Fox News following a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Monday.

TRUMP HOLDS MASSIVE LEADS IN IOWA WITH FIVE WEEKS UNTIL CAUCUSES 

Longtime Granite State-based Republican consultant Mike Dennehy told Fox News that Ramaswamy’s put in the time in New Hampshire. I think that’s benefited him.”

But Dennehy added that “there’s no doubt in my mind that he has a very limited ceiling because of his consistent support of Donald Trump…Why would someone want the Trump supporter when they can have Trump himself?”

While some of the voters who showed up to see Ramaswamy at the campaign in Portsmouth, New Hampshire told Fox News and other news organizations they were likely to vote for him, plenty of others said they remained all-but-certain to support Trump.

Ramaswamy for months has vowed he’ll pull off a “surprise” in Iowa. Asked whether that means he needs to win, or finish second, Ramaswamy answered, “it means meaningfully ahead of where the mainstream media narrative and the polling narrative is right now. And I think we’re going to accomplish that. I think we’re going to shatter expectations and that will propel us forward to the next phase of this race.”

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The candidate has spent most of his time and resources in Iowa and New Hampshire, and less than impressive finishes in both states would likely all-but-sink his campaign. And in recent weeks he’s broached the possibility on the campaign trail that his presidential bid won’t succeed.

Asked if he would support Trump if his White House bid faltered, Ramaswamy told Fox News “if he’s the nominee, he’ll have my support.”

But he quickly interjected that “I expect his full support if I’m the nominee.”

And Ramaswamy added that “I’m not a plan B person. I’m a plan A person. I didn’t get to where I am in life by plotting out plan B. I’m sticking to Plan A and I think we’re going to succeed in getting there.”

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

The House Freedom Caucus elected a new chairman on Monday night, picking Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., as the hardline conservative group’s leader for 2024.

Good was one of eight House Republicans who voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in early October.

“No comment tonight,” Good told reporters while leaving a Freedom Caucus meeting just minutes before 10 p.m.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS ANTICIPATE VOTE TO FORMALIZE BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY ‘SOON’

He was similarly coy earlier in the evening after a closed-door House GOP conference meeting. Asked by Fox News Digital of his policy goals if he became chairman, he said, “I’ll wait to talk about it after tonight.”

Good is a conservative who was elected in 2020 to Virginia’s red-leaning 5th Congressional District, which is mostly rural but includes part of Charlottesville.

He is expected to have significant sway over House GOP policy as Freedom Caucus chair, with the group wielding outsized influence so far in Republicans’ razor-thin House majority.

JOHNSON’S FIRST WEEKS AS SPEAKER MARKED BY GOP INFIGHTING – AND SOME VICTORIES

The group’s current chairman is Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., a close ally of former President Trump’s. Leaving the Monday night meeting, Perry was asked by Fox News Digital whether he had any advice for Good.

“Be true and be bold,” Perry said, adding that he hoped Good would “lead better” as his successor. 

Good’s relationship with leadership has, so far, been more fraught than Perry’s, as he was one of 20 House Republicans who forced McCarthy to go through 15 rounds of voting before winning the speaker’s gavel in January, months before finally voting to oust him.

KEVIN MCCARTHY, MATT GAETZ TRADE JABS AS FIERCE RIVALRY CONTINUES: HE ‘BELONGS IN JAIL’

Perry said of that difference, “Past chairs, Jordan, Meadows, Biggs, kind of [grew] into the position. It’s not just about you and your own desires. You’re representing the group, the brand, and so you have to be open to maybe things that you wouldn’t be otherwise.”

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He would not say whether the friction with McCarthy would be a liability for the group’s negotiating power going forward.

“We’re all in this together. So we, you know, get over our personal differences and disagreements and focus on the country,” he said instead.

The Supreme Court has indicated it will expedite consideration of a petition by special counsel Jack Smith on whether former President Donald Trump can be prosecuted on charges he plotted to overturn the 2020 election results.

Smith made his request for the court to act with unusual speed to prevent any delays that could push back the trial of the 2024 Republican presidential primary front-runner, currently set to begin March 4, until after next year’s presidential election.

The Court has asked Trump’s lawyers to respond to the motion by next Wednesday, December 20 – two days later than Smith had requested. 

The Court’s next scheduled conference day for consideration of such matters is Jan. 5, 2024. 

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This is a developing story. Check back for updates. 

Hispanic and Latino House Democrats are calling for a meeting with the White House over their concerns about ongoing talks to pair border and asylum measures with President Biden’s request for supplemental foreign aid, an aide told Fox News.

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) wants to meet with Biden after a request for a sit-down with White House chief of staff Jeff Zients never materialized into an actual meeting, a Democratic aide told Fox News.

CHC members are worried the president would “cave” to GOP demands on border talks, the aide said. 

They cited Biden’s comments during an impassioned speech at the White House last week, “I am willing to make significant compromises on the border. We need to fix the broken border system, it is broken.”

MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS HIT DAILY RECORD AT SOUTHERN BORDER, AS WASHINGTON STRUGGLES TO AGREE ON SOLUTIONS 

The aide said CHC Democrats are worried Biden gave away significant leverage during his address, particularly when it comes to including measures regarding DREAMers and work permits that are sought by the left.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately hear back.

CHC Chair Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., released a statement with Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., on Monday morning rejecting the inclusion of “Trump-era immigration policies” from the ongoing supplemental talks. 

“We are deeply concerned that the President would consider advancing Trump-era immigration policies that Democrats fought so hard against – and that he himself campaigned against – in exchange for aid to our allies that Republicans already support,” they said. “Caving to demands for these permanent damaging policy changes as a ‘price to be paid’ for an unrelated one-time spending package would send a dangerous precedent.”

Rep. Darren Soto, D-Fla., CHC’s vice chair for policy, wrote on X on Sunday that the group “supports border funding, but not immigration policy, being included in the Supplemental.”

‘I LOVE YOU JOE BIDEN:’ MIGRANT THANKS POTUS AFTER CROSSING ILLEGALLY IN ARIZONA

“If [President Biden and Senate Democrats] are going to go there, DREAMers should be included too. These young people have waited long enough,” Soto said.

NBC News first reported that CHC lawmakers and their allies were seeking to broaden communication with Biden on the issue.

It comes after House and Senate Republicans closed ranks last week around addressing the border crisis as part of any foreign aid deal.

Senate Republicans tanked a procedural vote on a $110 billion supplemental aid bill for Ukraine, Israel, the U.S. border and humanitarian causes brought forward last week by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

TOP HOUSE GOP COMMITTEE RENEWS DEMAND FOR DOCS FROM DHS ON TEXAS BORDER WIRE CUTTING 

Democrats have expressed concerns that Republicans are pushing for measures that are too severe and would do little to stop the ongoing border crisis.

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But hardliners within the GOP, who have likened the thousands of people coming across the border with Mexico to an “invasion,” are calling for nothing short of House Republicans’ border bill known as H.R.2, which would build a border wall and significantly tighten asylum laws, among other provisions.

Both Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have signaled that significant border security measures would be needed to entertain all or part of Biden’s supplemental request.

President Biden’s week is off to a rocky start as a new 2024 election poll released Monday found him trailing three of the leading Republican presidential candidates in two key battleground general election matchups.

According to the CNN poll, former President Donald Trump, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would nearly all defeat Biden in both Georgia and Michigan — two key states won by the president in 2020 — if the election were held today.

The survey found Trump leading Biden in Michigan by a whopping 10%, receiving 50% support over only 40% who said they would vote for Biden. About 64% of registered voters in the state said they do not approve of Biden’s handling of the presidency.

TRUMP HOLDS MASSIVE LEAD IN IOWA 5 WEEKS FROM CAUCUSES THAT KICK OFF GOP RACE: POLL

Biden trailed DeSantis by seven percentage points, but would lose to Haley by an even larger margin of 12% in the Great Lake State.

In a hypothetical 2020 rematch in Georgia, 49% of registered voters said they would prefer Trump to Biden, who received only 44% support. 

Haley was also favored over Biden in the Peach State, 49% to 43%, but the latter edged DeSantis, 48% to 45%.

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

The poll also found 61% of registered voters in the state said they disapproved of Biden’s job performance.

Despite DeSantis and Haley besting Biden in the key matchups, with the exception of the former in Georgia, Trump ultimately leads the GOP primary field by nearly 40% in both states.

Among young voters in Michigan, a key demographic to capture in 2024, 69% said that Biden does not have the stamina for another four years. Amid concerns over the president’s cognitive abilities, 66% of young voters in Georgia also reported feeling the Democrat president does not have the sharpness they are looking for in a candidate.

KEY MCCONNELL ALLY MAKES ENDORSEMENT IN CRUCIAL SWING STATE RACE THAT COULD FLIP SENATE RED

The Michigan portion of the poll was conducted among registered voters from Nov. 29-Dec. 6, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. The Georgia portion was conducted from Nov. 30-Dec. 7 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.

The results come just days after a Wall Street Journal poll revealed Trump would also be victorious over Biden in a hypothetical general election matchup nationally, locking in 47% support over the president’s 43%.

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Other polls have also shown Trump consistently tied or leading Biden nationally, and in a number of other battleground states, as voters overwhelmingly view Biden’s age as a concerning factor.

The Biden campaign didn’t immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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

Special counsel Jack Smith asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether former President Donald Trump can be prosecuted on charges relating to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

Smith’s Monday filing seeks to go around an appeals court that had initially been expected to handle the case. A federal judge had earlier ruled that the prosecution could move forward, though Trump’s legal team vowed to appeal the ruling.

“This case presents a fundamental question at the heart of our democracy: whether a former President is absolutely immune from federal prosecution for crimes committed while in office or is constitutionally protected from federal prosecution when he has been impeached but not convicted before the criminal proceedings begin,” prosecutors wrote in Monday’s filing.

Trump’s trial in the election interference case is set to begin in March.

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

KEY ASPECTS OF TRUMP GAG ORDER UPHELD BY FEDERAL APPEALS COURT

The Washington election interference case is one of four indictments to hit Trump over the past year. He also faces charges of mishandling classified documents arising from Florida, business fraud charges in New York, and more election interference charges in Georgia.

Trump is already engaged in a civil fraud trial in New York City. He had been expected to testify personally in the trial, but he announced on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Sunday, that he no longer plans to testify.

“As everyone knows, I have very successfully & conclusively testified in the corrupt, Biden directed, New York state attorney general’s rigged trial against me. World renowned experts, highly respected bank & insurance executives, real estate professionals, as well as others, both honest & credible, have stated, clearly & unequivocally, that I, and my very successful company, did nothing wrong! My financial statements were conservative, liquid, & ‘extraordinary,’” Trump posted.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking $250 million in damages and to bar Trump from conducting business in the state. The attorney general’s complaint accuses Trump, his sons and his company of fraudulently inflating the values of his properties to obtain more favorable loan and insurance rates.

“Donald Trump already testified in our financial fraud case against him. Whether or not Trump testifies again tomorrow, we have already proven that he committed years of financial fraud and unjustly enriched himself and his family. No matter how much he tries to distract from reality, the facts don’t lie,” James told Fox News on Sunday.

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Court officials said proceedings will resume Tuesday as scheduled, and Eli Bartov, an accounting expert who Trump came to see testify last week, will resume the final part of his testimony.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

PORTSMOUTH, NH — A New Hampshire man who sent text messages threatening Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and attendees at a campaign event was arrested Monday, the Justice Department announced.

Tyler Anderson, 30, of Dover, New Hampshire, was charged with transmitting in interstate commerce a threat to injure the person of another, and is scheduled to make an initial appearance today in federal court in Concord at 2:30 p.m. ET.  

According to the charging documents, Anderson received a text message from the victim’s campaign notifying him of a political event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Anderson responded to the text message on Dec. 8, stating: “Great, another opportunity for me to blow his brains out!” and “I’m going to kill everyone who attends and then f— their corpses.” 

Tricia McLaughlin, spokesperson for Ramaswamy’s campaign, said in a statement Monday, “We are grateful to law enforcement for their swiftness and professionalism in handling this matter and pray for the safety of all Americans.”

VIVEK RAMASWAMY’S QUADRUPLES DOWN ON FIERY ATTACKS AT FOURTH GOP DEBATE, CALLS HALEY ‘FASCIST’

The charge against Anderson comes with the possibility of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. 

Ramaswamy hosted the campaign event on Monday morning at the Roundabout Diner, in Portsmouth.

WAS THE REAL WINNER SO FAR IN THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES THE GUY WHO DIDN’T SHOW UP?

The multi-millionaire biotech entrepreneur and first-time candidate spoke and took questions for roughly an hour from a crowd of close to 100 people. 

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Ramaswamy, whose initial surge of support earlier this year was one of the biggest surprises in the race for the 2024 Republican nomination, has seen his poll numbers flatline or edge down this autumn.

With five weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses lead off the GOP nominating calendar, Ramaswamy faces a steep uphill climb in a race where former President Donald Trump remains the commanding front-runner.

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

More GOP senators are rallying behind former President Trump for the 2024 general election, boosting his momentum in the Republican Party.

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., announced last week on X he is endorsing Trump in the GOP primary. 

“I am honored to stand with Donald J. Trump as he embarks on a mission to restore peace, prosperity and freedom in our great nation,” Cramer wrote. “Lets consolidate Republican support around the leader of our GOP and ensure a Republican victory in 2024. Work with him to Make America Great Again!”

His endorsement came as North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum backed out of the race last Monday. Cramer previously supported Burgum.

TRUMP HOLDS MASSIVE LEAD IN IOWA 5 WEEKS FROM CAUCUSES THAT KICK OFF GOP RACE: POLL 

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., also endorsed Trump after Burgum dropped out. 

“President Trump is strong on the issues that are important for North Dakota. That includes making America energy dominant, reducing the regulatory burden, securing our border, growing our economy and strong support for our military,” Hoeven wrote on Facebook last week. 

Hoeven added he had the opportunity to work with the former president “to support our farmers” and that he “understands how vital strong farm policy is to our state and our nation.”

Republican Alabama Senator Katie Britt also endorsed Trump right before the GOP debate Wednesday night with an op-ed in the local news outlet Yellowhammer.

WAS THE REAL WINNER SO FAR IN THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES THE GUY WHO DIDN’T SHOW UP?

“One candidate has already proven he’s more than up for the job – because he’s done the job successfully. There is one candidate I know will secure the border — because he’s done it. There is one candidate I know will achieve peace through strength — because he’s done it,” she wrote. “And that’s why President Donald Trump has my endorsement to be our 47th President.”

Britt went on to say that “results matter” and that the former president’s track record “are clear for all to see.” 

“These past three years have felt like an eternity, but I’m sure you recall how much better off we were under the Trump Administration,” she wrote.

Trump, the first major GOP leader to announce his candidacy, has now secured backing from every GOP member in Alabama’s Congressional delegation.

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SEN MARSHALL ENDORSES TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT, CALLS FOR END TO ‘POLITICAL PRIMARY CHARADE’

The endorsements come as there are only a few GOP candidates left in the running — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Trump.

Trump leads the GOP nomination race with the backing of a record 62% of Republican primary voters in a Fox News survey released last month.

So far, 16 senators and more than 80 House members have announced their support for Trump in 2024. Seven governors also support his bid for the presidency. 

Former President Trump is expanding his already formidable lead in the state that leads off the Republican presidential nominating calendar, according to a new and highly reputable poll.

The former president stands at 51% support among those likely to take part in Iowa’s Republican presidential caucuses, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a distant second at 19%, and former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley at 16%, according to the latest NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll.

The survey, conducted Dec. 2-7, was released on Monday, with five weeks to go until the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses.

Trump’s lead over the rest of the field of 2024 GOP nomination rivals – which has expanded by five points since October – is the largest recorded so close to a competitive Republican caucus in the history of the survey, which is considered by many to be the gold standard of Iowa caucus polling.

WAS THE REAL WINNER SO FAR IN THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES THE GUY WHO DIDN’T SHOW UP?

J. Ann Selzer, the pollster who has conducted the survey for the past three decades, pointed to the recent winnowing of the once large Republican presidential field and noted that “the field may have shrunk, but it may have made Donald Trump even stronger. I would call his lead commanding at this point.”

Trump is aiming for a big victory next month in the caucuses to try and bring the nomination race to an early conclusion, so he can focus on a rematch with President Biden, who defeated him in the 2020 election.

TRUMP CAMPAIGN PREVIEWS ‘EXTREMELY AGRESSIVE’ PUSH IN IOWA 

Trump’s large double-digit lead in the survey is fueled in part by strong support of evangelical voters – who enjoy outsized influence in Iowa Republican politics – and likely first-time caucus goers. Additionally, nearly three-quarters of Iowa Republicans who believe Trump can defeat Biden in next year’s general election – despite the former president’s numerous legal challenges – back Trump.

Trump made history earlier this year as the first former or current president to be indicted for a crime, but his four indictments – including in federal court in Washington, D.C., and in Fulton County court in Georgia on charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss – have only fueled his support among Republican voters.

The new poll in Iowa is also the latest to suggest that Trump supporters are more enthusiastic and committed to support their candidate than those backing the former president’s GOP rivals.

As Fox News first reported last week, the Trump campaign said it was shifting into a higher gear in the final weeks leading up to the Iowa caucuses.

“We have an extremely aggressive operation and an extremely aggressive schedule,” Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita told Fox News Digital.

LaCivita previewed that the Trump campaign is planning a slew of Iowa visits not only from the former president, but also from “dozens of surrogates that are going to be storming the state campaigning… in every venue that has people.”

He said there were “close to 1,500-1,600 precinct captains throughout the state that, literally, their sole job is to run each individual caucus that takes place and making sure that the list of the targeted voters supporting President Trump show up.”

Trump’s campaign said it was not taking anything for granted. Looking ahead to the final stretch leading up to the caucuses, LaCivita said “our only concern is complacency.”

DeSantis, meanwhile, earlier this month fulfilled his goal of stopping in all of Iowa’s 99 counties. He has repeatedly been joined on the campaign trail in the Hawkeye State by popular Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who endorsed him in early November.

Also backing DeSantis was Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of The Family Leader, an influential social conservative organization in the state.

DeSantis has repeatedly vowed he will pull off an upset by winning Iowa.

DESANTIS STOPS IN ALL OF IOWA’S 99 COUNTIES, BUT WILL IT HELP HIM CLOSE THE GAP WITH TRUMP?

Haley, who has enjoyed momentum in the polls in recent months, thanks in part to well-received performances in the first three GOP presidential primary debates, has leapfrogged DeSantis for second place in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary and votes second in the Republican nominating schedule, and her home state, which holds the first southern contest.

She also aims to make a fight of it in Iowa, where the new poll is the latest to suggest she is close to pulling even with DeSantis for second place.

Two weeks ago, Haley landed the backing of Americans for Prosperity Action, the political wing of the influential and deep-pocketed fiscally conservative network founded by the billionaire Koch Brothers. AFP Action has pledged to spend tens of millions of dollars and mobilize its formidable grassroots operation to boost Haley and help push the Republican Party past Trump.

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The new NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom survey indicates multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur and first time candidate Vivek Ramaswamy at 5% support in Iowa. Ramaswamy, who has spent millions of his own money on his campaign, has predicted that he will pull off a “surprise” in Iowa, where he has spent plenty of time reaching out to voters.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is making his second bid for the White House, stands at 4% support in the poll. However, Christie has not campaigned in the Hawkeye State, as he concentrates most of his time and resources in New Hampshire.

The poll also indicates former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson at 1%. Hutchinson remains in the 2024 race even after failing to make the stage at the past three Republican presidential nomination debates.

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

EXCLUSIVE: A key ally of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has decided which candidate he will support in one crucial swing state race that could ultimately determine whether Republicans win back control of the Senate in 2024.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., announced Monday his endorsement of Republican Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake, a conservative firebrand and former 2022 gubernatorial candidate, in her bid to flip the seat currently held by independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a former Democrat.

“Kari Lake is the fighter Arizona needs to secure the border, unleash American Energy Independence, and lower the cost of living. Joe Biden’s policies have been a disaster for Arizona and Kari Lake will stand up to the Biden agenda and put Arizonans first. Let’s send Kari to the Senate and take back the majority,” Cotton said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

KARI LAKE OFFERS SOLUTION TO REPUBLICAN ELECTION LOSSES, PREDICTS GOP VOTERS WILL ‘SHOW UP’ FOR ONE MAJOR NAME IN 2024

“I am grateful for the endorsement of Sen. Cotton, someone who served our country honorably in the military and has been a conservative warrior in the Senate. I look forward to working with Sen. Cotton to secure our border and get America back on track from Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer’s far-left agenda,” Lake told Fox.

The race is expected to be one of the most closely watched of the 2024 election cycle as Republicans aim for a majority in Congress’ upper chamber, which Democrats currently control by a slim 51-49 margin with the support of Sinema and her fellow independents, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine.

With Cotton’s backing, Lake has secured the support of two top senators, the other being Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., as well as House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York and a number of other House Republicans. She also has the backing of former President Trump, who endorsed her via video during her campaign launch in October, and multiple state and local officials in Arizona and across the country.

2024 WHITE HOUSE HOPEFULS SHRED DOJ, ‘DEEP STATE’ OVER TIMING OF HUNTER BIDEN INDICTMENT: ‘SLOW-WALKED’

Lake’s only major challenger in the race for the Republican nomination so far is Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb.

Whichever Republican wins the nomination will likely face Phoenix-area Democrat Rep. Ruben Gallego in the general election.

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Sinema has not yet said whether she will run for reelection.

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

The Biden administration is sending California more than $3 billion in federal taxpayer funds for the state’s high-speed rail project which was first approved 15 years ago and has since faced unprecedented delays and been dramatically downsized.

The White House announced $3.07 billion in additional federal funding for the California Inaugural High-Speed Rail Service Project as part of a broader announcement Friday unveiling a total of $8.2 billion in new passenger rail corridors nationwide. The project — which has ballooned $80 billion over budget since it was first approved by California voters in 2008 — has been championed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“California is delivering on the first 220-mph, electric high-speed rail project in the nation,” Newsom said after the funding was announced. “This show of support from the Biden-Harris Administration is a vote of confidence in today’s vision and comes at a critical turning point, providing the project new momentum.”

“California takes great pride in our ambitious status as the leading edge of high-speed rail in America. With this new $3.07 billion in federal funding, we take an important leap closer to making high-speed rail a reality in California,” added Pelosi. “An electrified high-speed rail network will dramatically improve the quality of life in the Central Valley and up and down California.”

BIDEN ADMIN FACING CONGRESSIONAL PROBE FOR SENDING BILLIONS TO SOLAR COMPANY ACCUSED OF SCAMMING ELDERLY

In its announcement, the White House failed to disclose the project has been under development for more than a decade and has faced significant delays, instead boasting of its climate benefits. An accompanying announcement from the Department of Transportation described it as a project to “help deliver high-speed rail service in California’s Central Valley.”

Former Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who left office in early 2011, first introduced the high-speed rail system project, and his Democratic successor, Gov. Jerry Brown, continued the project. The Obama-Biden administration secured more than $2 billion to support the project’s development in 2010 using funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the 2009 post-recession stimulus package.

BIDEN’S BILLION-DOLLAR PLAN TO BUILD 500,000 EV CHARGERS HAS YET TO YIELD A SINGLE CHARGER

The project was originally planned as a $33 billion project consisting of 1,955 miles of railway connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles. Since then, the cost has swelled to $113 billion and the project’s scope has been dramatically scaled down to a 171-mile railway connecting Bakersfield, Fresno and Merced that isn’t expected to be operational until 2030.

Overall, if the project is completed in 2030, it will have taken a decade longer than expected, while costing $80 billion more and being 91% smaller than originally planned. Because of its repeated shortfalls, the project has been dubbed by critics as the “train to nowhere.”

“This commuter train isn’t even ‘high speed,’ is at least 13 years behind schedule, and will now cost four times the original price tag promised to voters,” Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., who has opposed the project for years, told Fox News Digital. “Far too much taxpayer dollars have been wasted on this boondoggle. It’s in everyone’s best interest to cut the losses and rescind every cent dedicated to this foolish project.”

“Any fool can see this project isn’t going to be completed,” LaMalfa continued. “The state is $68 billion in debt, hasn’t laid a single inch of track and is over $120 billion short. Biden and Newsom sure know how to waste your money.”

HOUSE PANEL TO PROBE BIDEN ADMIN’S NEGOTIATIONS WITH ECO GROUPS TRYING TO TEAR DOWN KEY POWER SOURCE

And fellow California Republican Rep. Jay Obernolte also blasted the project, noting that even when it is operational, its ridership will fall short of covering the expected operating costs.

“I believe it is inappropriate for the federal government to subsidize the California High-Speed Rail Authority,” Obernolte told Fox News Digital. “This rail system is years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget, and even if it is ever completed, its projected ridership won’t come close to covering its operating costs — meaning that taxpayers will be asked to continue subsidizing it forever. This is not a wise or appropriate use of taxpayer money.”

Shortly after taking office in 2019, Newsom acknowledged in his first State of the State address that he would scale the project down from its original ambitious plan, saying it would cost too much and take too long to stay the course. He noted during his remarks that “there’s been too little oversight and not enough transparency.”

Months later, the Trump administration penned a scathing letter to California, informing the state that it was rescinding the multi-billion-dollar grant awarded for the project under the Obama administration. Former Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Ronald Batory wrote that California “has no foreseeable plans, nor the capability, to pursue that statewide [High-Speed Rail] System as originally proposed.”

In June 2021, the Biden administration said it would reverse that decision and restore the funding.

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“This investment has already created over 11,000 good-paying union jobs, and California high speed rail is going to save people time, make it easy to travel across the state for the first time in history, and reduce carbon emissions by as much as 2 million metric tons — comparable to taking 432,000 passenger vehicles off the road every year,” White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson told Fox News Digital in a statement.

Patterson characterized criticism aimed at the project as “hot air.”

A White House aide who has held multiple positions in the Biden administration, including White House deputy staff secretary, previously spent nearly two decades at a Delaware law firm that was heavily involved with corporate entities tied to Hunter Biden, his business associates, and other Biden family members.

Michael Hochman, a top lawyer for more than 17 years at Monzack Mersky McLaughlin and Browder, originally co-founded by Biden in 1970 before he started his Senate career, is currently serving in his third Biden White House position, his LinkedIn profile shows.

Between January 2021 and June 2022, Hochman served as the White House deputy staff secretary before joining the White House’s recently created Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD), which advises Biden on cybersecurity policy and strategy. Hochman started out as the deputy general counsel and deputy chief of staff before being promoted to chief of staff last November. 

In a recent profile piece, Hochman described his role as having “an enterprise-wide view of the work of the office” and said it’s “like working for a start-up” with the “long hours and all the challenges that come from building something new.”

SPECIAL COUNSEL HITS BACK AT HUNTER BIDEN REQUESTING TRUMP, BARR SUBPOENAS

Hochman’s jump to the Biden White House will likely raise questions from Republicans as the House Oversight Committee dives into his past work at the law firm and communications with Hunter Biden as they continue investigating his foreign business dealings. A Fox News Digital review found several emails between Hochman and Hunter during the Obama-Biden administration, in addition to nearly a dozen Biden-linked corporate entities that were registered through the law firm where Hochman spent most of his career.

The review found that Monzack Mersky McLaughlin and Browder has served as the registered agent for Owasco LLC, Rosemont Seneca Advisors, and Robinson Walker LLC, which is owned by Hunter’s former business partner Rob Walker. Fox News Digital previously reported that members of the Biden family received more than $1 million in payments from accounts related to Walker’s LLC and their Chinese business ventures involving CEFC affiliate State Energy HK in 2017.

HUNTER’S EX-BUSINESS ASSOCIATE BLASTS BIDEN’S NEW CLAIM ABOUT SON’S BUSINESS DEALINGS: ‘COMPLETE MALARKEY’

Multiple Biden family accounts, including those belonging to Hunter, Hallie Biden and an unnamed Biden, also received approximately $1.038 million from the same Walker LLC account after Bladon Enterprises, which reportedly belonged to Gabriel “Puiu” Popoviciu, a Romanian tycoon, deposited over $3 million between November 2015 to May 2017. According to a 2017 email from Walker, which was obtained by the Senate Finance Committee, Walker viewed himself as a “surrogate” for Hunter and his uncle, Jim Biden, when “gauging [business] opportunities.”

Owasco LLC and Rosemont Seneca Advisors are directly tied to Hunter and were also incorporated by Hochman’s former firm. A 2016 email from Hunter’s longtime business partner, Eric Schwerin, reveals that Owasco was set up to “hold Hunter’s investment interests in a variety of work related entities.  Owasco, LLC owns a 100% interest in Rosemont Seneca Technology Partners (RSTP) I, RSTP II Alpha and RSTP II Bravo.  Owasco, LLC also owns 75% of Skaneateles, LLC and via Skaneateles, LLC and its subsidiaries…”

In 2017, Joe and Jill Biden used Monzack Mersky and Browder as the registered agent to set up two S-corporations, Celticcapri Corp. and Giacoppa Corp., the business entities used “to receive [millions of dollars in] royalties from their writing and speaking engagements.” 

The law firm was also a registered agent for multiple Biden campaign committees, the Beau Biden Foundation, Livelihood, an apparel company founded by Hunter’s sister, Ashley Biden, and JBB SR., INC., which is associated with Biden’s brother, James Biden. JBB is one of the entities that the House Oversight Committee is investigating after they discovered that it received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Walker’s LLC.

“I have said for months that the Bidens’ corrupt influence peddling scheme will go down as the greatest political scandal of our lifetime, and likely in the history of the country,” House GOP Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York told Fox News Digital. “Joe Biden is compromised. House Republicans are committed to delivering the transparency and accountability that the American people demand and deserve from their elected officials and public servants.”

DEFIANT HUNTER BIDEN SAYS REPUBLICAN ‘MOTHERF—ERS’ ARE ‘TRYING TO KILL ME’

Stefanik’s comment comes as House Republicans appear primed to officially move forward with an impeachment inquiry against Biden for alleged corruption charges as early as this week, which could spark an impeachment vote in the House early next year.

Hunter’s ties to Hochman extend to email communications throughout the Obama administration, in addition to Hochman visiting Biden’s vice presidential residence multiple times for holiday parties.

In May 2014, Hochman emailed Hunter and said he was running with Beau Biden, Hunter’s now-deceased brother and a college roommate, longtime friend of Hochman’s, and that Burisma was “briefly” discussed.

“Went running with Beau yesterday and we were talking briefly about Burisma. Good news.  I’m pretty familiar with this industry (at least domestically) – my father-in-law is heavily involved in the Marcellus shale gas play in Pennsylvania – the largest source of natural gas in the United States,” Hochman said. “He is extremely knowledgeable and well-connected in those parts. He’d love to discuss with you; would you be willing to talk with him? Also, a good excuse for me to come down and see you guys in DC. Let me know.”

It is unclear whether Hunter took Hochman up on the offer to chat with Hochman’s father-in-law. Fox News Digital reached out to Hochman’s father-in-law for comment but did not receive a response.

COMER, JORDAN DEMAND HUNTER BIDEN APPEAR FOR DEPOSITION, SAY HE WILL NOT RECEIVE ‘SPECIAL TREATMENT’

Another email from early 2014 shows Hochman pitching Hunter a new client, whom he describes as a “good friend of the family’s, and a client of MMMB,” referring to his law firm.

“Eugene Amobi is the principal member of Tech International Corp., a good friend of the family’s, and a client of MMMB.  He is a retired DuPont engineer with two sons who attended Tower Hill (Chux) and Friends (E.J.), both of whom live in Delaware,” Hochman wrote. 

“He is looking for assistance navigating the federal, local, and international systems for growth opportunities in the company’s engineering, IT, and project/construction management areas of expertise,” he continued. “I believe Tech International also qualifies for certification as a minority-owned business, which may be an incentive for certain projects. If you think your firm can help, I would be happy to introduce you to Eugene.”

Hunter forwarded the email and asked Schwerin to “take a look and lets get back to him.” Schwerin said he “talked to Michael on Friday and he’s arranging a meeting/call between us and the CEO.” Hunter’s calendar in April 2014 shows he and Schwerin were meeting with Hochman and Amobi at the Rosemont Seneca Partners office on April 7.

At one point, Schwerin had a role in handling then-Vice President Biden’s finances as a “bookkeeper” and a person familiar with their relationship told Fox News Digital that Schwerin previously worked on Biden’s personal budget and helped coordinate with his tax preparers.

Another email chain shows Hochman provided legal services in 2015 to Hunter and Schwerin for Rosemont Seneca Technology Partners and RSTP II LLC, which was owned by Owasco LLC at the time.

JOE BIDEN NOMINATES FORMER HUNTER BIDEN LAW FIRM COLLEAGUE AS SPECIAL COUNSEL

Hochman’s law firm was intimately involved in setting up RSTP II LLC and in a 2014 email chain he discussed the inner workings with Schwerin.

“Per Devon’s instructions I made one edit to the document,” Hochman wrote to Schwerin, referring to former Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer. “It now divides his 40% of RSTP II up to 20% Archer, 15% Rob and 5% Heinz.” 

“In addition, we are going to ask for the payment to be $250,000 with $50K payable now and the rest in $50,000 quarterly installments due beginning on January 1, 2016.  I made those changes and had Hunter sign for RSP and Skaneateles. We also sent the attached to Devon for his signature so we could send to those guys showing that 45% of the partnership is in agreement with this.”

The two go back and forth via email discussing payments and ownership of that LLC.

Emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop in 2015 also show Hochman directly involved in establishing the Joseph R. “Beau” Biden III Children’s Educational Trust Fund and discussing financial commitments to the fund.

Hochman wasn’t the only partner at the law firm with close ties to the Bidens. Melvyn Monzack, who co-founded the firm and has been a longtime friend of the Biden family, has been a confidante and personal attorney for Biden dating back decades. 

A Fox News Digital review found that Monzack has donated thousands of dollars to Biden’s presidential campaigns, served as Biden’s treasurer during his 2002 Senate reelection and failed 2008 presidential run, which led to Biden for President, Inc. and Monzack, in his official capacity as treasurer, to be fined $50K for failing to keep records to show that over $1M in campaign donations that exceeded federal limits was returned to donors. 

Monzack was also instrumental in facilitating the agreement between the Bidens and the University of Delaware for Biden’s “Senate papers,” which Biden has refused to release, despite previously touting the importance of the papers during remarks.

A 2010 email chain from Hunter’s laptop shows that Monzack and another partner at his firm were also involved in behind-the-scenes discussions regarding Paradigm Global Advisors, a hedge fund acquisition led by James and Hunter Biden, which ultimately fell through, leading to litigation. According to a 2019 Politico profile piece that quoted an anonymous executive at Paradigm, Biden’s brother said, “Don’t worry about investors…We’ve got people all around the world who want to invest in Joe Biden.” 

BIDEN’S MISHANDLING OF DOCUMENTS, HIS FAMILY’S BUSINESS SCHEMES THREATEN OUR NATIONAL SECURITY

The revelation that Congress may soon consider the impeachment of the president comes shortly after House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., released subpoenaed bank records showing an entity owned by Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, had made “direct monthly payments to Joe Biden.”

“This wasn’t a payment from Hunter Biden’s personal account but an account for his corporation that received payments from China and other shady corners of the world,” Comer said in a video message last week.

President Biden has been widely criticized for issuing inconsistent and inaccurate defenses of his son’s business dealings over the last few years and recently dismissed a question of why he conversed with several of Hunter’s business partners as “just a bunch of lies.”

“They’re lies. I did not. They’re lies.”

Recent polling from The Associated Press found that nearly 70% of Americans, including 40% of Democrats, believe Biden acted unethically or illegally when it came to his family’s business interests.

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Hunter faced another indictment late last week in California, which includes nine charges alleging a “four-year scheme” when he did not pay his federal income taxes from January 2017 to October 2020 while also filing false tax reports. The charges break down to three felonies and six misdemeanors centered around $1.4 million in owed taxes that have since been paid.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, Hochman, Monzack, and Hunter’s attorney, but did not receive a response.

Fox News Digital’s Thomas Catenacci, Houston Keene, Jessica Chasmar, Chad Pergram, and Brooke Singman contributed reporting.

Former President Trump announced on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Sunday, that he no longer plans to testify at his civil fraud trial on Monday.

Trump had been scheduled to testify Monday as one of the final defense witnesses in a trial that has lasted two months and is entering its final week of testimony.

Court officials also confirmed to Fox News that Trump has notified the court that he is not testifying. 

“As everyone knows, I have very successfully & conclusively testified in the corrupt, Biden directed, New York state attorney general’s rigged trial against me. World renowned experts, highly respected bank & insurance executives, real estate professionals, as well as others, both honest & credible, have stated, clearly & unequivocally, that I, and my very successful company, did nothing wrong! My financial statements were conservative, liquid, & ‘extraordinary,’” Trump posted.

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

The reversal of Trump’s testimony came after an accounting expert testified that the AG’s case had no merit and that he didn’t see any evidence of fraud in the financial statements that were being challenged by the AG.

“A top professor from NYU Stern said, “If Mr. Trump were my student, he would get an ‘A’ on his financial statements. I’ve never seen a statement that provided so much detail, and is so transparent, as these statements.” Plus, they all have an ironclad disclaimer clause stating that the users must do their own due diligence & analysis – no reliance! The only fraud committed was by the highly partisan and out-of-control judge, and racist A.G., who promised that, ‘I will get Trump,’” Trump exclaimed. 

New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking $250 million in damages and to bar Trump from conducting business in the state. The attorney general’s complaint accuses Trump, his sons and his company of fraudulently inflating the values of his properties to obtain more favorable loan and insurance rates.

KEY ASPECTS OF TRUMP GAG ORDER UPHELD BY FEDERAL APPEALS COURT

“Donald Trump already testified in our financial fraud case against him. Whether or not Trump testifies again tomorrow, we have already proven that he committed years of financial fraud and unjustly enriched himself and his family. No matter how much he tries to distract from reality, the facts don’t lie,” James told Fox News. 

Trump went on to share more details about his reasoning for not testifying.

“They claimed that Mar-a-Lago was worth only $18,000,000, when it is worth 50 to 100 times that amount, in order to illegally reduce my values & make a fake case against me. They did this on other properties, as well, and wouldn’t give me a jury. Likewise, the A.G. thugs do not want to acknowledge that I have paid almost 300 million dollars in New York City and state taxes during the years in question. Importantly, I won at the appellate division, which effectively ended most of the case, but the biased judge refused to accept their order, an unheard of first!” Trump posted.

TRUMP SEEKS PAUSE OF FEDERAL ELECTION TRIAL TO CHALLENGE IMMUNITY RULING

Trump continued his post by calling the case a witch hunt against him.

“Based on the above, and the fact that our unassailable final expert witness has been so strong and irrefutable in his testimony, which will conclude on Tuesday, and that I have already testified to everything and have nothing more to say other than that this is a complete and total election interference (Biden campaign!) witch hunt, that will do nothing but keep businesses out of New York, I will not be testifying on Monday. Maga!” Trump said.

TOP WYOMING OFFICIAL SLAMS BRAKES ON COURT LABELING TRUMP ‘INSURRECTIONIST’: ‘OUTRAGEOUS’

Court officials said proceedings will resume Tuesday as scheduled, and Eli Bartov, an accounting expert who Trump came to see testify last week, will resume the final part of his testimony.

The attorney general’s office will then have a day for rebuttals, then each side has until January 5 to file briefs, and closing arguments will take place January 11.

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