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Sen. Katie Britt thought it was “awesome” that actress Scarlett Johansson was picked to roast her on “Saturday Night Live” following her Republican rebuttal to President Biden’s State of the Union address last week.

In an appearance on Sen. Ted Cruz’s “Verdict” podcast, the Alabama senator said being portrayed by Johansson on “SNL” wasn’t on her “bingo card” for 2024.

“How awesome is that?” Britt said of the casting selection. “I actually was pretty pumped about that.”

“They bring in someone from ‘Avengers’ to play me in the cold open, I’m here for it,” the Alabama senator said.

‘BLESS YOUR HEART’: RISING REPUBLICAN STAR KATIE BRITT SHREDS BIDEN ON BORDER, RISING COSTS IN SOTU REBUTTAL

Cruz argued that at least Britt got someone “hot” to play her.

“Scarlett Johansson is hot,” Cruz said. “And I am genuinely jealous because, look, ‘SNL’ has come after me a bunch of times. They don’t ever have Tom Cruise play me!”

Johansson skewered Britt in “SNL’s” opening segment after the senator delivered the Republican response to President Biden’s State of the Union address.

“I have the honor of serving the great people of Alabama, but tonight I’ll be auditioning for the part of scary mom,” Johansson quipped. “And I’ll be performing an original monologue called: This Country is Hell.”

SENATE REPUBLICANS INTRODUCE LAKEN RILEY ACT, URGE IMMEDIATE CONSIDERATION OF ‘COMMONSENSE’ BILL

I’m not just a senator, I’m a mother, a wife, and the craziest b–ch in the Target parking lot,” Johansson said.

“Kitchens are where families have the hard conversations, like the one we’ll have tomorrow about how mommy freaked out the entire country,” Johansson continued.

The “SNL” skit came after some criticized Britt’s rebuttal for being “cringe-inducing.” 

Britt, a first-term senator from Alabama, criticized current immigration policies in the GOP’s State of the Union response.

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“President Biden inherited the most secure border of all-time. But minutes after taking office, he suspended all deportations, halted construction of the border wall, and announced a plan to give amnesty to millions. We know that President Biden didn’t just create this border crisis. He invited it with 94 executive actions in his first 100 days,” she said.

Britt, long considered a rising star within the Republican Party, has been rumored as a potential vice presidential running mate for former President Donald Trump in the general election this November.

Fox News has reached out to Sen. Britt’s office for comment.

A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that the president’s son, Hunter Biden, will go on trial for federal firearms charges as soon as June 3. 

U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika set the date during a telephonic hearing Wednesday, though she is still weighing several defense motions to toss out the case against Hunter Biden. 

The younger Biden has pleaded not guilty to lying about his drug use when he filled out a form to buy a gun in October 2018 – a violation of federal law.  

Biden has acknowledged his struggles with substance abuse during that period, including crack cocaine, but his lawyers have said he didn’t break the law and another nonviolent, first-time offender would not have been charged.

HUNTER BIDEN REFUSES TO ATTEND HOUSE HEARING WITH FORMER BUSINESS ASSOCIATES

He was indicted after a plea deal that would have resolved the case without the spectacle of a trial imploded in July 2023 when a judge who was supposed to approve it instead raised more questions. 

Hunter Biden’s attorneys have since sought to have the case tossed out by arguing that prosecutors bowed to political pressure after the agreement was publicly pilloried by Republicans – including former President Trump – as a “sweetheart deal.”

Prosecutors have said there’s no evidence the case is politically motivated, the evidence against him is “overwhelming” and the immunity deal blew up with the rest of the plea deal.

Biden’s attorneys also argued that immunity provisions from the original deal are still in effect, and defense attorney Abbe Lowell pressed Judge Noreika to make a final ruling on the matter.

Noreika said she hadn’t fully decided how she would handle the case’s four pending motions to dismiss but wanted to ensure that time for any trial would be available on her calendar.

The legal team for lawyer Derek Hines, who represents Special Counsel David Weiss, anticipates it will take three to give days to present the Delaware gun case to a jury. Lowell said he would need two days to present his case to a jury. 

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Hunter Biden has also pleaded not guilty to the separate tax charges in Los Angeles alleging a four-year scheme to avoid paying $1.4 million in taxes while living an extravagant lifestyle. The trial in that case is scheduled from late June until mid-July. 

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A former North Carolina representative who finished second in last week’s primary for essentially his old U.S. House seat announced on Wednesday that he won’t ask for a runoff and will join Donald Trump’s campaign instead.

Ex-U.S. Rep. Mark Walker, who served in Congress for six years through 2020, ran in the central North Carolina 6th District, which stretches from Greensboro and Winston-Salem south and west to Concord.

VOTERS IN 2020 BATTLEGROUND STATE LEAN TOWARDS TRUMP IN 2024: POLL

The top vote-getter in the six-candidate March 5 Republican primary, the Trump-endorsed Addison McDowell, failed to exceed the 30% vote threshold needed to avoid a May 14 runoff. But state law said it was up to Walker to formally ask for the runoff.

A campaign spokesperson confirmed that Walker will not request a runoff, meaning that McDowell won the primary outright and almost assuredly will be the next 6th District representative, since he will face no Democratic opposition this fall.

Democratic Rep. Kathy Manning, the current 6th District representative, did not seek reelection, citing redistricting by the GOP-controlled legislature that made the seat lean significantly rightward. No other Democrat filed as a candidate.

Trump, in a social media posting earlier Wednesday, said that he had asked Walker, a former Baptist pastor, to “join my Campaign team to work with Faith Groups and Minority Communities, and he has agreed to immediately do so.”

“Mark and I had many Wins together, and we look forward to continuing to build bridges to all Communities in our Great Nation,” Trump wrote.

Walker, whose tenure in Congress was marked by efforts to aid historically Black colleges and universities, confirmed his hiring in a news release, saying that he had talked with Trump on Tuesday.

“I’ll continue my work as a bridge builder and am looking forward to bringing these skills to the Trump campaign,” he said.

McDowell, most recently a lobbyist for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, surfaced as a first-time candidate in December, already with Trump’s formal backing. McDowell later received support from top state legislative leaders.

McDowell previously worked for GOP Rep. Richard Hudson’s campaign and as a district staffer for then-Rep. Ted Budd, who is now a U.S. senator. In a news release, McDowell thanked Budd for mentoring him and introducing him in 2016 to Trump.

“I can’t wait to work in Congress to help him secure our Southern border and fight for the America First Agenda that protects and promotes American jobs as the top priority,” McDowell said of Trump.

McDowell ran a television commercial in which he talked about his commitment to strengthening the U.S.-Mexico border in light of his younger brother dying of a fentanyl overdose in 2016.

For Walker, who was elected to Congress in 2014, it was a round of redistricting that led him not to seek reelection. He finished third in the 2022 U.S. Senate primary to Budd, who got Trump’s endorsement in that race. Walker also ran for governor for several months last year before shifting to the 6th District seat.

The Republican primary for North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District is headed to a runoff, however, as second-place finisher Brad Knott filed his formal request on Wednesday. Smithfield attorney Kelly Daughtry got the most votes in the 14-candidate race in the 13th — which arcs around most of Raleigh and stretches to the Virginia border — but fell short of exceeding 30%. The ultimate winner will take on Democrat Frank Pierce.

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Current 13th District Rep. Wiley Nickel, a Democrat, is also not seeking reelection, citing last fall’s redistricting that shifted the district to the right.

Under the North Carolina map used for the 2022 elections, Democrats and Republicans won seven congressional seats each. But the latest map makes it likely the GOP will win at least 10 of the 14 seats, according to election data, helping national Republicans trying to retain what is now a fragile House majority in 2025.

President Biden’s campaign is increasingly out of step with his administration’s positions, and White House officials appear to have their hands tied. 

When pressed, officials have repeatedly declined to provide clarity on the White House’s positions on issues while privately acknowledging any comment would reflect negatively on the incumbent president’s re-election effort.

Hours before President Biden’s State of the Union address — in which he would highlight the importance of NATO and contrast his support of U.S. alliances with former President Donald Trump’s — the Biden campaign shot off an email that contained a weighty foreign policy statement, referring to the right-wing prime minister of Hungary, a NATO ally, as a “dictator.”

TRUMP MEETS WITH HUNGARIAN PM ORBÁN IN FLORIDA, BIDEN CLAIMS ‘HE’S LOOKING FOR DICTATORSHIP’

“Who’s Donald Trump’s squad? Let’s take a look at their rap sheets,” Biden-Harris 2024 Rapid Response spokesperson Sarafina Chitika wrote. “Donald Trump is kicking off the general election with a starting lineup guaranteed to repel the moderate Republicans… Hungarian dictator Viktor Orbán, and convicted felon Roger Stone.”

The punchy note titled, “Donald Trump: Who U Wit?,” was written by Chitika, a 2019 Harvard graduate who was also responsible for a Democratic National Committee statement in January that mocked the end of Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s 2024 bid, prompting President Biden to direct his chief of staff to apologize to Hutchinson by phone.

In the highly choreographed foreign policy world, statements representing the views of the incumbent President of the United States would not be made without careful consideration — much less in the footnote of a campaign email. In fact, Secretary of State Antony Blinken visibly winced when President Biden referred to Chinese Communist President Xi Jinping as a dictator when questioned by reporters at a recent summit. Chitika’s remark about Hungary’s Orbán also comes as the Biden administration is withholding support for Ukraine’s accession to NATO, citing outstanding democratic benchmarks.

Although U.S. officials have previously voiced deep concern over Hungary’s democratic backsliding and close ties to Russia, no U.S. administration has deemed Hungary to be a dictatorship. In 2014, Sen. John McCain sparked a diplomatic feud that prompted Hungary’s foreign minister to summon the U.S. envoy after McCain said in a speech that Hungary was “on the verge of ceding its sovereignty to a neo-fascist dictator.”

For several days following Chitika’s email, White House and campaign officials ignored or declined requests to comment. At Tuesday’s White House briefing, national security adviser Jake Sullivan dodged answering whether the U.S. officially sees its NATO ally as a dictatorship.

“I know why you’re asking the question. I’m not going to speak on behalf of the Biden campaign. You should direct those questions to the campaign,” Sullivan said. “What I will say, as the Biden administration, is that we have made no bones about our deep concerns about Hungary’s assault on democratic institutions, including the judiciary, Hungary’s corruption and other erosion of democracy in Hungary from the leadership there.”

Orbán has openly supported former President Donald Trump’s 2024 candidacy, including in a meeting at Mar-a-Lago in Florida last week. Biden remarked on it at a campaign stop near Philadelphia on Friday. “[Trump] thinks Putin is a strong, basically decent guy,” Biden said. “You know, he’s meeting with today down at Mar-a-Lago, Orbán in Hungary — who stated flatly he doesn’t think democracy works. He’s looking for dictatorship.”

Hungary protested Biden’s comments as a “very serious insult” and burden to the bilateral relationship, demanding a meeting with the U.S. ambassador in Budapest. Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said at a press conference, “We are not required to take such lies from anyone, even if that person is the President of the United States.”

Sullivan, asked about the incident Tuesday, again attempted to walk the delicate line between upholding the campaign-trail commentary of his boss and the official positions of his boss’s government. “The president stands by his statement, and I’m not walking back his statement,” Sullivan said. “All I’m saying is that our position is totally consistent.”

DEFYING TRUMP, HOUSE GOP PLANS TO FORGE AHEAD WITH TIKTOK BILL THAT COULD BAN APP

The Biden campaign has also encountered contradictions with the administration’s official position through its embrace of TikTok. Despite reportedly vowing last year that it would not join the app, the campaign launched an account last month as part of its strategy to “reach the voters where they are.”

The decision boxed in White House officials once again, with the federal inter-agency committee known as CFIUS (Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States) still mulling its decision to recommend a nationwide ban over national security concerns. White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said in a Feb. 12 briefing, “I can only tell you that it’s not allowed on government devices. That policy remains the case. And I just can’t speak for the campaign on their decisions.”

Kirby declined to answer why the president would partake in videos on a platform his administration deems to be a threat.

This week, FBI Director Christopher Wray affirmed at a Senate worldwide threats hearing that the app is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and poses a significant national security concern, in part because its algorithm could be manipulated to help or hurt candidates in the 2024 U.S. election.

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“The key point is that the parent company is, for all intents and purposes, beholden to the CCP,” Wray said.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill with both Democratic and Republican support that could pave the way for TikTok to be banned in U.S. app stores.

No Labels on Thursday is expected to take another step toward forming a bipartisan presidential ticket in November’s general election.

That’s when the centrist group is scheduled to announce the selection process for how a potential candidate will be chosen.

The developments come as No Labels is in discussions with former Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan of Georgia to possibly lead their so-called “unity” ticket, sources confirm to Fox News.

No Labels announced Friday that the roughly 800 delegates who took part in a virtual meeting voted to give a thumbs up to fielding a presidential ticket.

HOW NO LABELS IS MOVING TOWARDS LAUNCHING A THIRD-PARTY PRESIDENTIAL TICKET

“They voted near unanimously to continue our 2024 project and to move immediately to identify candidates to serve on the Unity presidential ticket,” No Labels national convention chair Mike Rawlings said in a statement. The meeting was closed to media coverage.

No Labels chief strategist Ryan Clancy said following the vote that “we will announce our formal selection process next Thursday, March 14, with more details to come shortly thereafter.”

The move will likely lead to the naming of candidates in the coming weeks.

“Now that No Labels’ delegates have given the go ahead for us to accelerate our candidate search for a Unity ticket, voters will read plenty of speculation about who would be on it. But No Labels has not yet chosen a ticket and any names floating around are being put out there by someone else,” Clancy emphasized last week.

NO LABELS CHARGES OPPONENTS ARE TRYING TO KEEP IT OFF THE BALLOT

For over a year, No Labels has mulled a third-party ticket, as it pointed to poll after poll suggesting that many Americans were anything but enthused about a 2024 election rematch between President Biden and former President Donald Trump.

And No Labels had long said that it would decide whether to launch a presidential ticket following Super Tuesday, when 16 states from coast to coast held nominating primaries and caucuses.

Friday’s No Labels vote took place three days after Super Tuesday. And this week, Biden and Trump each won enough delegates in Tuesday’s primaries to officially clinch the respective Democratic and Republican nominations, becoming the two major parties’ presumptive presidential nominees.

The moves by No Labels come after former two-term Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, a former leader of the group who was considered a potential contender for the “unity” ticket, recently took his name out of contention as he announced a run this year for an open Senate seat in his home state.

REMATCH: TRUMP, BIDEN, CLINCH GOP AND DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATIONS

And moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, another former No Labels leader who is not seeking re-election this year and who flirted with a White House run, has also said he won’t launch a presidential bid.

There was also plenty of speculation that former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who was the final 2024 GOP presidential nomination rival to Trump before she ended her White House run last week, would consider running on a No Labels ticket. No Labels had expressed interest in her earlier this year.

But Haley repeatedly nixed joining a No Labels ticket, most recently last week in an interview on “FOX and Friends.”

“What I will tell you is I’m a conservative Republican. I have said many, many times, I would not run as an independent. I would not run as No Labels, because I am a Republican, and that’s who I’ve always been,” Haley reiterated.

The No Labels spotlight now appears to be shining on Duncan, a former health care executive and minor league baseball player who served three terms in the Georgia House of Representatives before winning election as lieutenant governor in 2018.

People familiar with the discussions confirmed to Fox News that No Labels “is talking to him,” adding that conversations are “moving fast” and “nothing’s set.”

A source in Duncan’s political orbit said he hasn’t ruled anything out when it comes to a potential third-party presidential run this year. The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Duncan grabbed national attention in the weeks after the 2020 election for speaking out against then-President Trump’s unfounded claims of “massive voter fraud” in Georgia, which was one of a half-dozen states where Biden narrowly edged Trump to win the White House.

Duncan, along with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, both Republicans, resisted Trump’s requests to overturn the election results in the Peach State.

But Duncan’s public pushback in national interviews against Trump led to threats against him and his wife, which necessitated protection by state troopers, he said in 2021.

Duncan decided months later against seeking re-election in 2022 and instead launched “GOP 2.0,” an effort to try and move the Republican Party past Trump.

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No Labels said last week that it is already on the ballot in 16 states and currently working in 17 other states to obtain access. 

There’s been a chorus of calls from Democrats warning that a No Labels ticket would pave a path to victory for Trump in November, but the group dismisses that criticism.

“That’s not our goal here,” Lieberman told Fox News Digital late last year. “We’re not about electing either President Trump or President Biden.”

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

Democratic Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock called the Republican-led Laken Riley Act “smoke and mirrors” on Tuesday, accusing lawmakers of failing to do anything substantive to address the crisis at the southern border. 

The legislation, which was passed in the House, would require the Department of Homeland Security to take illegal immigrants into custody if they have been charged with theft-related crimes.

Warnock appeared on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” with host Joy Reid on Tuesday when he was asked about what the legislation would do to address crime. 

REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN INTRODUCES ‘LAKEN RILEY ACT’ 

“Let me, first of all, just say that my heart goes out to this young woman’s family. Laken Riley did not deserve what happened to her,” he said. “To answer your question succinctly, this is smoke and mirrors by people who are not serious.”

“We had a bipartisan piece of legislation in front of us. It had a lot of provisions, some provisions that some folks on my side didn’t like,” he added. “But the only way to get comprehensive immigration reform, the only way to address the current crisis on the border in divided government, is on a bipartisan basis.”

Riley, 22, a nursing student, was killed in February on the campus of the University of Georgia. Jose Antonio Ibarra, the illegal immigrant from Venezuela charged with the killing, was arrested in New York prior to the murder, but was not detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Republicans have tried to pressure the Biden administration to get behind the bill introduced by Rep. Mike Collins, R- Ga. Twenty-six attorneys general across the U.S. penned a letter to Senate leadership on Wednesday urging the passage of the Laken Riley Act.

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Warnock previously criticized Republicans, saying they were trying to “score cheap political” points in connection to Riley’s death after her name was wrongfully invoked by President Biden during last week’s State of the Union address.

“Rather than demagoguing this tragic death by this young woman, they ought to get serious,” Warnock told Reid. “And let’s pass some bipartisan legislation and deal with the crisis at the border.”

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

What’s happening? 

-Hunter Biden refuses to attend House hearing

-Trump secures the 2024 Republican nomination

-CNN forced to correct story over Sen. Katie Britt

TikTok on the Chopping Block

The House of Representatives has passed a bill that could pave the way for TikTok to be banned in U.S. app stores.

The measure passed 352-65, with one abstention. 

Both Democrats and Republicans supported the measure, which advanced out of committee in a unanimous 50-0 bipartisan vote. It’s a rare show of bipartisan unity in a heavily fractured political environment.

The bill, led by House China select committee Chair Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and ranking member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., would block TikTok in the U.S. if its parent company, Bytedance, does not divest from it within 165 days of passage. It would also require it to be bought by a country that is not a U.S. adversary.

Opponents of the bill — mostly Democrats — raised concerns over free speech issues. Some Republicans objected to the proposal saying it expanded government control over business, and could be abused.

White House

‘INAPPROPRIATE REMARKS’: Former top Biden aide confirms WH official’s alleged history of bullying, sexual harassment …Read more

DEFUNDING UNRWA: White House preparing in case Congress makes block on UN agency permanent …Read more

Capitol Hill

‘APPALLING’: ‘Squad’ congressman’s ‘reprehensible’ stance on Farrakhan mural sparks call for resignation …Read more

‘COMMONSENSE’ BILL: Senate Republicans introduce Laken Riley Act, urge swift consideration …Read more

‘SIGNIFICANT THREATS’: Republicans launch oversight of Chinese threat to US farm industry …Read more

READY FOR BATTLE: Vance bill would review US defense readiness amid Ukraine funding …Read more

HUNTER OUT: Hunter Biden refuses to attend House hearing with former business associates …Read more

CHINESE MILITARY: Stefanik rips Obama AG Lynch over links to Chinese military company …Read more

Tales from the Campaign Trail

2020 REMATCH: Trump goes over the top, clinching 2024 Republican presidential nomination …Read more

BATTLEGROUND STATE: Potential 2024 swing state leans toward Trump in new poll …Read more

Across America

CHINESE LAND: Lawmakers to propose greater oversight of Chinese land acquisitions in America …Read more

‘TRYING TO SILENCE’: CNN forced to correct story after accusations of ‘smear’ campaign against Katie Britt …Read more

‘IMMEDIATE ATTENTION’: More than 25 AGs urge Senate to pass of the Laken Riley Act …Read more

LIGHT DISMISSAL: Judge dismisses some counts against Trump in Fani Willis election interference case …Read more

ACCEPTED: Judge approves Trump’s $92M bond in NY defamation case …Read more

‘WON’T ENDORSE NONSENSE’: Arkansas drops ‘X’ from driver’s licenses and IDs …Read more

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

House Republicans released a report this week they say undermines claims made by a former Trump aide that former President Trump tried to take control of a Secret Service vehicle on Jan. 6, 2021. 

Georgia Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk, chair of the oversight subcommittee of the House Administration Committee, released an 81-page report Monday, which investigated “the security failures of January 6th which House Democrats failed to investigate in the 117th Congress.”

“THE SELECT COMMITTEE WAS DESIGNED TO PROMOTE A POLITICAL NARRATIVE – Pelosi made the unprecedented decision to refuse to appoint minority members chosen by the minority to the Select Committee. They hired Hollywood producers to assist with their primetime hearings. They refused to adopt rules, allowing them to operate without limits, to project their predetermined narrative to the world,” the report’s initial findings detail. 

Within the report’s findings, the oversight subcommittee reported that unreleased testimony from four former White House employees who were present for Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, speech contradicts claims by former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson.

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

“Reps. Thompson and Cheney promoted Cassidy Hutchinson‘s sensational revised testimony and hid witness testimony from White House and Secret Service employees with firsthand knowledge that directly contradicted Hutchinson‘s version of events. Hutchinson conducted three transcribed interviews with the Select Committee before substantially revising her story in her fourth transcribed interview. Despite knowing how significantly her testimony changed, the Select Committee promoted it as fact,” the report detailed, adding that Hutchinson was promoted as a “star witness.”

JAN 6 COMMITTEE ALLEGEDLY SUPPRESSED TESTIMONY SHOWING TRUMP ADMIN PUSHED FOR NATIONAL GUARD PRESENCE: REPORT

Hutchinson, who worked as an aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, had claimed before the select committee that on Jan. 6, 2021, she was told Trump allegedly became “irate” and attempted to join supporters at the Capitol ahead of them breaching the government building. The incident reportedly unfolded after Trump delivered a speech at the Ellipse, which is a park just south of the White House fence. 

“​​The president said something to the effect of, ‘I’m the effing president, take me up to the Capitol now,’” she recounted to the committee in 2022 of what she was told. 

She alleged she was told Trump attempted to grab the steering wheel of a Secret Service SUV before the driver reportedly told Trump to remove his hand and that they were headed to the White House, not the Capitol. 

LIZ CHENEY CALLS SPEAKER JOHNSON ‘DANGEROUS’ FOR HELPING TRUMP ‘UNDERMINE OUR REPUBLIC’

Loudermilk’s report, however, found that Hutchinson’s testimony was “directly refuted” by Anthony Ornato, who served as White House deputy chief of staff for pperations under Trump after decades in the Secret Service. 

“In Ornato’s November 29, 2022, transcribed interview, he directly refuted Hutchinson’s testimony that she allegedly heard the story about what happened in the Beast. Ornato testified that the first time he had ever heard the story Hutchinson claims Ornato told her on January 6, was during Hutchinson’s public testimony,” the report details. Hutchinson had told the committee that she heard the anecdote from Ornato. 

A Secret Service agent who was driving the SUV also refuted the anecdote, according to the report. The report stated that the driver of the SUV on Jan. 6 testified that Trump “never grabbed the steering wheel.” 

“The driver testified that he specifically refuted the version of events as recounted by Hutchinson. The driver of the SUV testified that he ‘did not see him reach [redacted]. [President Trump] never grabbed the steering wheel. I didn’t see him, you know, lunge to try to get into the front seat at all.’”

Loudermilk’s report determined that the Jan. 6 committee “hid the driver’s full testimony and only favorably mentioned his testimony in its Final Report, it did not release the full transcript.” 

The Jan. 6 committee was founded in July 2021 to investigate the breach of the U.S. Capitol earlier that year by supporters of Trump ahead of President Biden officially taking office on Jan. 20. The Jan. 6 committee’s investigation was carried out when Democrats held control of the House. 

The committee concluded its 18-month investigation last year, when Republicans regained control of the House, and sent referrals to the Justice Department recommending Trump be criminally prosecuted for his involvement in the lead-up to supporters breaching the Capitol. 

The committee’s former chair, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and vice chair, Republican now-former Rep. Liz Cheney, both slammed Loudermilk’s 81-page report on social media soon after it was published. In addition to alleging Hutchinson’s testimony was debunked, the report argued the Jan. 6 committee “deleted” records and hired “Hollywood producers” to promote a political narrative.

LIZ CHENEY CALLS SPEAKER JOHNSON ‘DANGEROUS’ FOR HELPING TRUMP ‘UNDERMINE OUR REPUBLIC’

“Loudermilk is merely trying to deflect from Donald Trump’s responsibility for the violence of January 6th and his own refusal to answer the Select Committee’s questions,” Thompson’s statement said, adding that the report is “dishonest.” 

“If your response to Trump’s assault on our democracy is to lie & cover up what he did, attack the brave men & women who came forward with the truth, and defend the criminals who violently assaulted the Capitol, you need to rethink whose side you’re on. Hint: It’s not America’s,” Cheney tweeted Tuesday.

Hutchinson’s attorney, William H. Jordan, wrote a letter to Loudermilk earlier this year defending Hutchinson as an honest witness who “courageously stepped forward” to speak with the committee. 

“Let me be clear: since Ms. Hutchinson changed counsel, she has and will continue to tell the truth. While other individuals – often men who occupied more senior roles – would not speak with the Select Committee, Ms. Hutchinson and many other witnesses courageously stepped forward. Yet she now finds herself being questioned by you and your Subcommittee regarding her testimony and on matters that may also be the subject of ongoing criminal proceedings against Mr. Trump,” the letter reads.

LIZ CHENEY ADDRESSES CRITICISM OF HER CRITIQUES OF TRUMP AND BIDEN

“Ms. Hutchinson will not succumb to a pressure campaign from those who seek to silence her and influence her testimony, even when done in the name of ‘oversight.’”

Last week, Loudermilk released a separate testimony transcript from Ornato that had been “withheld” and reportedly shows the Trump administration reached out to the Washington, D.C., mayor’s office ahead of Jan. 6, asking her to request as much protection for the city as she needed in anticipation of crowds. The testimony reportedly undermines the committee’s report that they did not have evidence showing the Trump White House requested National Guard assistance for Jan. 6. 

REP LOUDERMILK BLASTS JANUARY 6 COMMITTEE FOR TARGETING HIM: ‘THERE IS A WAR ON THE TRUTH IN THIS COUNTRY’

Cheney spokesman Jeremy Adler called the report “flatly false” in comments to Fox Digital on Sunday and that “no transcripts were destroyed.” 

“The Committee adhered to its obligations to allow the Secret Service to protect sensitive security information for interviews of its agents before preserving that testimony in the archives,” Adler said in a statement.

A 2022 letter, sent by Cheney and Thompson to the general counsel of the Department of Homeland Security, detailed that it adhered to rules surrounding sensitive testimony from Secret Service agents, and preserved such testimony in archives that were then placed into the control of the National Archives. 

TRUMP SAYS FILES DELETED BY JAN 6 COMMITTEE ‘EXONERATED ME COMPLETELY’

Loudermilk said the report’s release Monday is “just the beginning” as his committee works “to uncover the facts about January 6.”

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“The American people deserve the entire truth about what caused the violent breach at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. It is unfortunate the Select Committee succumbed to their political inclinations and chased false narratives instead of providing the important work of a genuine investigation. In my committee’s investigation, it is my objective to uncover the facts about January 6, without political bias or spin. My report today is just the beginning,” Loudermilk said in a statement Monday. 

The bill aimed at forcing Chinese-owned company Bytedance to divest from social media app TikTok has passed the House with overwhelming support.

Led by House China select committee Chair Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and ranking member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., the bill sailed through the House with a 352-65 bipartisan vote.

The Democratic Party was more split over the proposed legislation than Republicans, and only one member of the House abstained from the vote.

DEFYING TRUMP, HOUSE GOP PLANS TO FORGE AHEAD WITH TIKTOK BILL THAT COULD BAN APP

If signed into law, the bill would block TikTok in the U.S. if its parent company, Bytedance, does not divest from it within 165 days of passage. It would also require it to be bought by a country that is not a U.S. adversary

Only 15 Republicans voted against the bill, joined by 50 Democrats. An additional 14 members did not cast a vote on the proposed legislation.

Republican representatives who voted against the legislation include Andy Biggs, Arizona; Dan Bishop, North Carolina; Warren Davidson, Ohio; John S. Duarte, California; Matt Gaetz, Florida; Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia; Clay Higgins, Louisiana; Nancy Mace, South Carolina; Thomas Massie, Kentucky; Tom McClintock, California; Alexander X. Mooney, West Virginia; Barry Moore, Alabama; Scott Perry, Pennsylvania; David Schweikert, Arizona; and W. Gregory Steube, Florida.

KEVIN O’LEARY OFFERS TO BUY TIKTOK AND TURN IT INTO A ‘NEW AMERICAN COMPANY’ IF PROPOSED BAN ADVANCES

Democratic representatives who voted against the legislation include: Suzanne Bonamici, Oregon; Jamaal Bowman, New York; Brendan F. Boyle, Pennsylvania; Cori Bush, Missouri; Greg Casar, Texas; Joaquin Castro, Texas; Katherine M. Clark, Massachusetts; James E. Clyburn, South Carolina; Adriano Espaillat, New York; Maxwell Frost, Florida; Ruben Gallego, Arizona; Jesús G. “Chuy” García, Illinois; Robert Garcia, California; Jimmy Gomez, California; Jahana Hayes, Connecticut; James A. Himes, Connecticut; Steven Horsford, Nevada; Val T. Hoyle, Oregon; Jonathan L. Jackson, Illinois; Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas; Sara Jacobs, California; Pramila Jayapal, Washington; Sydney Kamlager-Dove, California; Ro Khanna, California; Rick Larsen, Washington; John B. Larson, Connecticut; Barbara Lee, California; Summer L. Lee, Pennsylvania; Zoe Lofgren, California; Morgan McGarvey, Kentucky; James P. McGovern, Massachusetts; Gregory W. Meeks, New York; Grace Meng, New York; Gwen Moore, Wisconsin; Kevin Mullin, California; Jerrold Nadler, New York; Richard E. Neal, Massachusetts; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York; Ilhan Omar, Minnesota; Dean Phillips, Minnesota; Mark Pocan, Wisconsin; Katie Porter, California; Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts; Delia C. Ramirez, Illinois; Janice D. Schakowsky, Illinois; Eric Swalwell, California; Norma J. Torres, California; Juan Vargas, California; Nydia M. Velázquez, New York; and Nikema Williams, Georgia.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, was the only “present” vote.

TikTok’s critics have long warned that the social media app poses a national security threat. Lawmakers have cited concerns about the Chinese government’s ability to leverage its power over Bytedance to access sensitive user data – even in the U.S. – something the company has denied. 

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China hawks have also warned that the app’s popularity among young Americans gives the ruling Chinese Communist Party a platform for a mass influence campaign.

At the same time, lawmakers who are wary of the push to curb TikTok have cited First Amendment concerns and potential harm to small businesses who rely on it.

It’s not immediately clear if the Senate will take up the legislation.

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: CNN was forced to issue a correction to its reporting this week aimed at discrediting a portion of Republican Alabama Sen. Katie Britt’s State of the Union rebuttal in which she included the tragic story about an unnamed sex trafficking victim to emphasize the effects of the ongoing border crisis.

That victim of sex trafficking was later identified as Karla Jacinto, who faced immense brutality from the ages of 12 to 16 at the hands of traffickers in Mexico, which Britt detailed in her rebuttal. 

CNN paraded Jacinto in front of its audience over the weekend with an appearance on the network and in a subsequent story in which it made a number of claims attempting to derail Britt’s portrayal of the story. However, those claims ran in stark contrast to past reporting on Jacinto, as well as her own words.

‘BLESS YOUR HEART’: RISING REPUBLICAN STAR KATIE BRITT SHREDS BIDEN ON BORDER, RISING COSTS IN SOTU REBUTTAL

In its piece following the weekend interview with Jacinto, CNN wrote that Britt inaccurately said she met one-on-one with Jacinto. However, Britt never claimed in her rebuttal to have had a one-on-one meeting, only stating that she “spoke” with Jacinto while traveling to the border in Texas.

When reached for comment on the inaccuracy, CNN responded that it had corrected the piece to reflect it was Jacinto’s view that Britt claimed the two met one-on-one, and not the outlet’s. “CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to clarify the circumstances of Britt’s meeting with Jacinto,” a note at the bottom of the story now reads.

CNN also portrayed Britt as incorrectly claiming Jacinto was trafficked by Mexican drug cartels, but the senator never said “drug cartels” during her rebuttal. She specifically talked about “cartels,” referring to organized crime along the border, similar to how Jacinto previously described her traffickers as a “crime organization” during testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in May 2015.

FLORIDA SHERIFF: MILITARY, TEACHER INCLUDED IN THOSE APPREHENDED IN MASSIVE HUMAN TRAFFICKING BUST

During the hearing, Jacinto, referenced a “pimp, or the crime organization” that she said took her 1-year-old daughter from her, so she could continue her work for them.  A Fox News report from later that year also detailed how Jacinto’s pimp, who was described as her boyfriend, was “working as part of an international organized crime ring, and he forced her into a life of prostitution and violence.”

She has also described the criminal organization as an organized crime “family.”

Jacinto has talked about being trafficked on numerous other occasions, including during a roundtable discussion with Britt, as well as Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., in January 2023, in which she said she was almost trafficked to the U.S. at the age of 14.

Following the meeting, Hyde-Smith said, “We had the opportunity to meet with a young lady. Her name was Karla. She was under control of a drug cartel and a human trafficker from the age 12 to 16, before she was able to escape that.”

When reached for comment on the inaccuracy, CNN expressed disagreement with Fox that their portrayal was inaccurate.

FLORIDA SHERIFF TO CONGRESS AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS NABBED IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING PROBE: ‘SHAME ON ALL OF THEM’

Additionally, CNN itself reported in September 2017 that Jacinto, “by her own estimate,” was raped 43,200 times “after falling into the hands of human traffickers.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Jacinto for comment. Reintegra, an advocacy group that works with Jacinto, responded to a request for comment on her behalf, telling Fox that she “was not pressured or coerced nor did she alter her story in any way.” 

The group added that her story “has been consistent through the years,” and the CNN reporter who wrote the story was “very reputable and trustworthy.”

“Ms. Jacinto has made it clear that she does not wish to be a pawn in political discussions around immigration policies or other political issues. Her focus is to help open peoples’ eyes and let the world know about the evils of human trafficking. She understands that people are [on] both sides of the political aisle can and must be united in this fight for the sake of vulnerable people,” the organization said.

Despite Britt not using Jacinto’s name, the organization suggested the senator needed her permission to use her story during the rebuttal, and called for her to apologize.

14 DEMOCRATS VOTE WITH REPUBLICANS TO CONDEMN BIDEN IMMIGRATION POLICIES

“We invite Senator Britt and all who care about vulnerable people to join us in working together in a bipartisan, multinational way to help provide safe, migration and resettlement opportunities to help prevent this issue. We believe that we can’t fight this common enemy if we are instead fighting across party or racial divides. We ask all to reject language that dehumanizes those seeking asylum and treat others in a dignified, humane way as we work as one to make this world a better place,” they added.

Republicans rallied around Britt this week, accusing the media of undertaking a “smear” campaign against her.

“Joe Biden’s policies have been a gift to the cartels that are engaged in horrific sex trafficking and bringing fentanyl to the U.S. Katie Britt is absolutely right and that’s why the media is attacking her. They want to smear any conservative who speaks out,” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., wrote in a Monday post on X.

Cotton was echoed by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who wrote, “The media is targeting Senator Katie Britt because she’s a strong conservative who told the truth about open border policies. And Katie is exactly right: these border policies have been a disaster for the American people.”

Britt also responded to the media’s apparent blitz against her, telling Fox, “It’s past time for the media to stop covering for Joe Biden’s re-election campaign and start talking about the immense, very real human suffering that’s occurring right now.”

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“The cartels are making record-shattering profits from human trafficking. Historic numbers of migrants are dying at the border. And between brutal murders and fentanyl poisonings, far too many Americans are being killed. That’s the story the media doesn’t want to tell — and now they’re trying to silence me for telling it,” she added.

Britt, long considered a rising star within the Republican Party, has been rumored as a potential vice presidential running mate for former President Donald Trump in the general election this November.

FIRST ON FOX: Twenty-six attorneys general across the U.S. penned a letter to Senate leadership on Wednesday urging the passage of H.R. 7511, or the Laken Riley Act, which would detain illegal immigrants for some criminal offenses until they can be deported.

Led by South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson and Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, the lawmakers wrote to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., saying the bill needs “immediate attention.”

“President Biden’s repeated actions of ignoring the rule of law and abandoning successful policies have created a border crisis of historic proportions,” the letter states. “As attorneys general, we are fighting to preserve the rule of law and keep our states safe when the federal government fails to act or, in the case of illegal immigration, actively makes it worse. To that end, we applaud the bill’s enforcement provision for State Attorneys General.”

REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN INTRODUCES ‘LAKEN RILEY ACT’ 

“Unfortunately, the entire country has seen the news of the tragic and avoidable murder of Laken Riley. In broad daylight, Jose Ibarra is alleged to have brutally attacked and killed Riley while she was on a morning run. Reports show Riley’s skull was beaten so violently with an unidentified object that her skull was disfigured,” the attorneys general wrote.

“Riley’s death could have been prevented on multiple fronts, but the system failed her,” the prosecutors wrote, adding that H.R. 7511 is “a strong bill that can act as another arrow in the quiver when it comes to combatting illegal immigration and protecting Americans.”

In addition to Florida and South Carolina, attorneys general in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Utah and West Virginia all signed the letter.

The House of Representatives last week passed the Laken Riley Act, which would require federal immigration authorities to detain illegal immigrants charged with local theft or burglary, after Ibarra, who was accused of similar offenses, was arrested for Riley’s murder. 

LAKEN RILEY’S MOTHER SPEAKS OUT ABOUT ‘AVOIDABLE TRAGEDY’ AFTER DAUGHTER’S FUNERAL 

The act, which was passed by a 251-170 vote, is named after 22-year-old Laken Riley, a college nursing student who was recently killed on the campus of the University of Georgia.  

Jose Antonio Ibarra, the illegal immigrant from Venezuela charged with the brutal murder, was arrested in New York prior to the murder, but was not detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Before being charged with felony murder, Ibarra was once arrested in New York for endangering a child, and he was cited in Georgia for misdemeanor shoplifting in October 2023 along with his brother, Diego Ibarra, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

After the bill’s passage in the House, the author of the bill, Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., urged the Senate to take up the legislation immediately to “ensure justice for Laken and give ICE more tools to detain and deport criminal illegal aliens before they commit more serious crimes.”

TRUMP MET WITH LAKEN RILEY’S FAMILY BACKSTAGE BEFORE GEORGIA RALLY: ‘PROFOUNDLY HONORED’

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In addition to requiring ICE to issue a detainer for illegal aliens charged with theft or burglary, the bill will also allow individual states to take action against the federal government “if an immigration related action harms the state or its citizens.” 

On Wednesday, two Senate Republicans introduced the Senate version of the bill as a companion to H.R. 7511.

Fox News’ Kyle Morris, Greg Norman, Aubrie Spady, Thomas Phippen, and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.

Former President Donald Trump holds a slim advantage over President Biden after the two candidates secured their parties’ nominations, a new poll shows. 

The two politicians unofficially secured their respective parties’ nominations on Tuesday after both passed the required threshold of delegates.

The USA Today poll – conducted in partnership with Suffolk University – found that 40% of respondents favored Trump, compared to 38% for Biden.

LOCKING IT UP: TRUMP CLINCHES 2024 REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION DURING TUESDAY’S PRIMARIES

A key finding of the survey was the number of registered voters who are open to changing their minds. 

Approximately 25% of those surveyed said they would consider switching their vote between now and the election – 14% of likely Biden voters and 15% of likely Trump voters.

Among those polled, 15% of respondents reported disliking both candidates, according to USA Today. Approximately 25% of these individuals leaned toward Trump, 18% toward Biden and 44% of them reported intending to vote for third-party candidates. 

LOCKING IT UP: BIDEN CLINCHES 2024 DEMOCRAT PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION DURING TUESDAY’S PRIMARIES

With both Trump and Biden crossing the necessary threshold of delegates to all but guarantee their nominations on Tuesday, the public is expecting a 2020 rematch.

Both candidates have proven exceptionally unpopular with voters, and their presidencies have experienced similar tepidity in approval polls.

It is still unclear if Biden will accept Trump’s challenges for a public debate – the administration has thus far dodged questions on the topic.

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The USA Today/Suffolk University poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters. Respondents were contacted via cellphone and landline.

It was conducted from March 8 to 11 and reports a margin of error of +/- 3.1%.

Former President Trump’s bond money — which totaled just under $100 million dollars — was accepted by a federal judge ahead of his appeal.

Trump posted the $92 million bond last week following a ruling that found him liable in his New York defamation case in January of this year.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan approved the bond on Tuesday, which will now serve as a guarantee that the former president will pay out if his appeal does not overturn the verdict.

TRUMP POSTS $91M BOND, APPEALS $83M E JEAN CARROLL JUDGMENT

Trump is appealing the January decision to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan.

He has continued vehemently denying Carroll’s claim that he sexually assaulted her in a department store dressing room in 1996.

A jury found him liable for $83.3 million in damages to E. Jean Carroll for defaming her through previous statements attacking her credibility — $18.3 million in compensatory damages, and $65 million in punitive damages.

LOCKING IT UP: TRUMP CLINCHES 2024 REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION DURING TUESDAY’S PRIMARIES

The bond value is higher than the total damages due to a requirement for 110% of the judgment value to be posted during the appeal process.

Federal Insurance Company — based in Chesapeake, Virginia — provided the bond money, according to documents signed by the former president.

Trump’s lawyers said he made statements about Carroll in an effort to “defend his reputation, protect his family, and defend his Presidency.”

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A federal jury in New York City decided last year that Trump was not liable for rape but was liable for sexual abuse and defamation.

The former president was ordered to pay $5 million in that trial.

Voters in the 2020 battleground state of North Carolina lean toward former Presiden Trump in 2024 by a 5.4 point margin over incumbent President Biden, a new poll conducted after Super Tuesday shows. 

The statewide poll conducted by Cygnal from March 6-7 and published by the Carolina Journal on Tuesday found that 45.2% of likely voters said they are planning to vote for Trump, while 39.8% said they plan to vote for Biden. 

A substantial amount – 9.4% – of likely voters indicated that they plan to vote for “someone else.” If that actualizes, as the Journal noted, that would be a marked increase from the less than 1.5% of North Carolina votes cast in 2020 for a third party candidate. 

“Trump’s lead is somewhat unsurprising given that he won the state in 2016 and 2020, by 3.6% and 1.3%, respectively. However, it’s still 238 days to November 5, and we’ll be watching to see how this fluctuates,” Carolina Journal publisher and John Locke Foundation CEO Donald Bryson said. 

NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOLS CHIEF LOSES REPUBLICAN PRIMARY TO HOME-SCHOOLING PARENT CRITICAL OF ‘RADICAL AGENDAS’

As for the state’s gubernatorial race, 43.8% of likely voters said they’d cast their ballots for Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a sizable 4.8-point lead over the 39.0% who said they’d vote for Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein. The poll showed that a majority of rural voters, 53%, indicated that they planned to vote for Robinson. 

A plurality of suburban and urban voters, 46% and 47%, respectively, said they’d vote for Stein. 

“Both Josh Stein and Mark Robinson have shown the ability to win statewide races and raise money – the race for the Executive Mansion is the one to watch in North Carolina,” Bryson said. 

MARK ROBINSON WINS GOP NOMINATION FOR NC GOVERNOR, SAYS ‘UNDERDOG’ STORY ‘JUST LIKE NORTH CAROLINA HERSELF’

The Journal noted increased support for Republican candidates in every race polled. 

In a recent shakeup noteworthy for Trump’s influence on politics in the Tar Heel State, Republican newcomer Michele Morrow, a home-schooling parent critical of public schools’ “radical agendas” on race and gender ideology, recently won in the state GOP primary against current Republican North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt. The new poll published Tuesday found 40.8% of likely voters support Morrow, while 39.1% said they planned to vote for Democrat Maurice “Mo” Green to hold the top North Carolina schools position in November.

“Superintendent Catherine Truitt’s primary election loss and four open seats make 2024 a volatile year for the North Carolina Council of State,” Bryson said. “Aside from the drama of these individual races, there is also the question of whether Republicans can maintain their majority on the Council, which also makes policy decisions.” 

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The poll found immigration was the top issue for voters statewide overall. 

• Voters in a Georgia state House district near Augusta selected Columbia County Commissioner Gary Richardson of Evans to fill a vacancy.
• Gary Richardson won about 60% of the vote, defeating conservative commentator C.J. Pearson of Grovetown.
• The vacancy arose when Republican Rep. Barry Fleming resigned to become a superior court judge.

Voters in a Georgia state House district near Augusta have chosen a county commissioner to fill a vacancy created when the former representative stepped down to become a judge.

In state House District 125, Columbia County Commissioner Gary Richardson of Evans beat conservative commentator C.J. Pearson of Grovetown on Tuesday, with Richardson winning about 60% of the vote with all precincts reporting, according to unofficial results.

Richardson and Pearson were vying to replace Republican Rep. Barry Fleming, who resigned to become a superior court judge. They advanced to a runoff after finishing first and second in February, besting Republican and farmer James Steed of Grovetown, Democrat and cosmetologist Kay Turner of Grovetown and Libertarian and software developer John Turpish of Grovetown.

SENATE REPUBLICANS INTRODUCE LAKEN RILEY ACT, URGE IMMEDIATE CONSIDERATION OF ‘COMMONSENSE’ BILL

Pearson and Richardson will face off again in the May Republican primary, seeking a full two-year term.

The district covers parts of Columbia and McDuffie counties.

GEORGIA HOUSE APPROVES ‘SWATTING’ CRACKDOWN FOLLOWING ATTACKS ON LT. GOV., REP. GREENE

Richardson, a car wash owner who can’t run again for county commission because of term limits, touted his experience in public service.

Pearson overcame a residency challenge while winning endorsements from hard-right conservatives and campaigning on a Trump aligned-platform. The 21-year-old Pearson has been opposed by Gov. Brian Kemp’s political organization after Pearson helped manage the primary campaign of Kemp challenger Vernon Jones in 2022.

FIRST ON FOX: Two Senate Republicans introduced the Laken Riley Act, a measure requiring federal immigration authorities to arrest and detain illegal immigrants charged with local theft or burglary, in the upper chamber Tuesday evening.

Introduced by senators Katie Britt, R-Ala., and Ted Budd, R-N.C., the bill serves as the Senate companion to H.R. 7511, originally introduced in the House by Georgia GOP Rep. Mike Collins.

The measure would require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrest illegal immigrants who commit theft, burglary, larceny or shoplifting offenses and mandate that those who commit such crimes are detained until they are removed from the United States, so they cannot break the same law or commit further crimes.

Additionally, the bill would ensure that states have standing to bring civil actions against federal officials who refuse to enforce immigration law or who violate the law.

HOUSE PASSES LAKEN RILEY ACT REQUIRING ICE TO DETAIN MIGRANTS ARRESTED FOR THEFT

The measure is named after 22-year-old Laken Riley, a college nursing student recently killed on the campus of the University of Georgia. Jose Antonio Ibarra, the illegal immigrant from Venezuela charged in the murder, was arrested in New York prior to the murder but was not detained by ICE.

Before being charged with felony murder, Ibarra was once arrested in New York for endangering a child, and he was cited in Georgia for misdemeanor shoplifting in October 2023 along with his brother, Diego Ibarra, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“Make no mistake, Laken Riley’s heartbreaking murder was a direct, preventable consequence of willful open border policies by President Biden and his administration. This commonsense legislation would ensure ICE detains and deports criminal illegal aliens, so more innocent American families do not have to face this kind of unimaginable tragedy,” Britt told Fox News Digital. 

“I am grateful for Rep. Collins’ strong leadership and for Sen. Budd’s partnership in introducing this Senate companion bill. Sen. Schumer should bring this bill to the Senate floor immediately.”

JOHNSON CHASTISES BIDEN FOR ‘REGRET’ ON CALLING LAKEN RILEY MURDER SUSPECT ‘ILLEGAL’: ‘WHAT AN EMBARRASSMENT’

“States should be able to protect their citizens from the Biden administration’s lawless, open border policies by seeking relief in federal court,” Budd told Fox. “That’s why I am joining Sen. Britt to introduce the Senate version of the Laken Riley Act.

“We simply cannot tolerate any more senseless tragedies like this one. What happened to Laken Riley should never happen to any American citizen.”

Collins, who has urged the Senate to take up the legislation immediately to “ensure justice for Laken and give ICE more tools to detain and deport criminal illegal aliens before they commit more serious crimes,” said in a statement shared with Fox he’s “grateful” the “vital” legislation has been introduced in the Senate.

TRUMP MET WITH LAKEN RILEY’S FAMILY BACKSTAGE BEFORE GEORGIA RALLY: ‘PROFOUNDLY HONORED’

“The Laken Riley Act passed the House of Representatives overwhelmingly and on a bipartisan basis,” Collins said. “I am grateful to Sen. Britt for taking the lead on getting this vital legislation through the Senate, so we can put Laken Riley’s name on Joe Biden’s desk and take a step toward preventing this from happening to another American.”

Collins’ measure was passed by a 251-170 vote last week by the House. All 170 no votes were Democrats. However, 37 Democrats joined Republicans to advance the bill.

Collins, who represents Georgia’s 10th Congressional District of Athens, where the fatal attack happened Feb. 22, said the murder of Riley is a “wake-up call” for America and that the measure seeks to combat the “illegal crime wave” that he attributes to the ongoing border crisis.

In the days following Riley’s death, President Biden faced scrutiny for his comments on the subject.

At the urging of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Biden, during an off-script moment in his State of the Union address last week, decried Riley’s killing by “an illegal.” The president later backtracked during an interview with MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart, saying he should have instead used the word “undocumented” to describe Ibarra.

“I shouldn’t have used illegal, I should’ve … it’s undocumented,” Biden told Capehart. “And, look, when I spoke about the difference between Trump and me, one of the things I talked about on the border was his — the way he talks about vermin, the way he talks about these people polluting the blood. I talked about what I’m not going to do, what I won’t do. I’m not going to treat any, any, any of these people with disrespect. Look, they built the country.”

The White House said Monday Biden “did not apologize.”

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“First of all, I want to be really clear about something: The president absolutely did not apologize. There was no apology anywhere in that conversation,” principal deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton told reporters aboard Air Force One. “He did not apologize. He used a different word.”

The companion measure in the Senate included more than 30 original GOP co-sponsors, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Fox News’ Greg Norman, Aubrie Spady, Thomas Phippen, and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.

It seems like trust – in politicians, in celebrities, in institutions – is fading fast around the globe.

Some of this has to do with new technology, as it’s easier than ever to manipulate facts, sound and images. But it’s also rooted in old-fashioned lying and deception that have been around roughly forever.

The royal uproar over Princess Kate altering a photo might seem like much ado about little, except that it has blown a hole in the family’s credibility, even though she’s one of its most popular members. At least she had the good sense to apologize.

HOW LEFT AND RIGHT JUSTICES FOUND COMMON GROUND IN RESTORING TRUMP TO THE BALLOT

Kate hasn’t been seen since Christmas, when she underwent abdominal surgery, unspecified because Buckingham Palace provided no details. Since there were concerns about her health, she put out a gorgeous photo of herself and her three kids, which ran around the world, for British Mother’s Day. 

But major photo services, led by the AP and Reuters, quickly retracted the picture after discovering it had been digitally altered. This may not have been the dreaded AI, but a simple Photoshop job.

The Princess of Wales posted that “like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused.”

But come on. Kate knows full well that she was trying to reassure the British public about the state of her health and instead accomplished exactly the opposite. 

The Washington Post describes the reaction of veteran photographer Paul Clarke: 

“What was up with Princess Charlotte’s hand, which seemed distorted by the cuff of her sleeve? Why were her mother’s fingers so blurry against the crisp knit of Prince Louis’s sweater? Were those glints of professional catchlights in the family’s eyes, in a photo supposedly snapped by Prince William? The photo, Clarke noted in a social media post that quickly went viral, contained ‘numerous … manipulations easily visible.’”

“He added: ‘What *were* they thinking?’”

No one can quite figure that out. Yes, the picture looked too perfect, but was it intended to hide something more damaging?

There is, to be sure, a clash of cultures here. As the paper puts it, “On one side, the ever-heightening expectations of celebrity perfection — smooth faces and cellulite-free thighs, best achieved with a little Photoshopping. On the other, certain ideals of journalistic transparency and integrity that are increasingly under assault as artificial intelligence deepfakes and cries of ‘fake news’ have wormed their way into culture.”

Even Clarke is quoted as saying this wasn’t so bad: “We all want photos of our children smiling.” 

LIBERAL PUNDITS, URGING BIDEN TO WITHDRAW, PUSHING CONVENTION SCENARIO

But the rules are different when your husband is heir to the British throne and your own health is suspect because of your desire, and that of the palace, to release as little information as possible.

At the same time, what Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin did was far worse–he refused to tell the public, or his boss Joe Biden, that he’d secretly checked into the hospital for prostate cancer surgery.

That brings us to Katie Britt. The Alabama senator had the unenviable task of delivering the response to the State of the Union, and while her presentation from her kitchen was rather awkward, I was appalled by the incessant piling on that reached a Mean Girls level.

But the Republican lawmaker made a blatant miscalculation that she has not acknowledged.

Britt was lambasting Biden’s border policies when she said a Mexican woman had told her a story of being held in sexual slavery. The unmistakable impression was that the president was to blame for the border crisis, which is of course a Democratic albatross, and this was a prime example.

But it quickly turned out that the woman, Karla Jacinto, had nothing to do with Biden or even the United States.

She now says that her years being sexually trafficked were between 2004 and 2008, long before Biden was president and even before he became vice president. He was just one of 100 senators.

What’s more, everything happened in Mexico. Jacinto has never been to the U.S. She has never applied for asylum in the U.S. She was kidnapped in Mexico and rescued in Mexico four years later.

When pressed by Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday,” Britt refused to concede an inch. She said the timing of her story had been clear and that it was fair to invoke the president’s policies.

Jacinto, now an activist working with sex trafficking victims, disputed the senator’s account on CNN later that day.

She said she had not been abducted by a Mexican drug cartel, as Britt had claimed.

She said she met the senator at an event with activists and lawmakers, not in a one-on-one discussion with her, as Britt had said.  

People who are really trafficked and abused, as she [Britt] mentioned. And I think she [Britt] should first take into account what really happens before telling a story of that magnitude.

“I hardly ever cooperate with politicians, because it seems to me that they only want an image. They only want a photo — and that to me is not fair,” Jacinto said.

She added that “people who are really trafficked and abused, as [Britt] mentioned. And I think she should first take into account what really happens before telling a story of that magnitude.”

If Britt had just said she didn’t mean to leave a misleading impression and needed to clarify things, the story wouldn’t have gotten worse for her every day.

Now there is a long and illustrious history of lying and deceiving politicians and other famous people.

Biden himself dropped out of his first White House campaign, in 1987, after admitting that he had plagiarized British political figure Neil Kinnock in his speeches.

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

Bill Clinton was lying when he said “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky,” as it turned out he was peddling an absurdly narrow definition of such relations.

Actor Jussie Smollett made up a story about being attacked on the street by pro-Trump thugs when in fact he had staged the whole thing.

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But now, in the era of artificial intelligence, such things will be harder than ever for the average person to detect – with high tech making it exponentially more difficult to rely on your own eyes and ears.

House Republicans released a report claiming the Jan. 6 select committee “deleted” records and hired “Hollywood producers” to promote a political narrative while investigating the circumstances surrounding supporters of former President Donald Trump breaching the Capitol in 2021. 

“For nearly two years, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s January 6th Select Committee promoted hearsay and cherry-picked information to promote its political goal – to legislatively prosecute former President Donald Trump,” Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., chairman of the Committee on House Administration’s Subcommittee on Oversight, said in a statement accompanied by his “Initial Findings Report” on Monday. 

“It was no surprise that the Select Committee’s final report focused primarily on former President Trump and his supporters, not the security failures and reforms needed to ensure the United States Capitol is safer today than in 2021.”‘

Loudermilk’s oversight subcommittee of the House Administration Committee released an 81-page report Monday that investigated “the security failures of January 6th which House Democrats failed to investigate in the 117th Congress.” 

JAN 6 COMMITTEE ALLEGEDLY SUPPRESSED TESTIMONY SHOWING TRUMP ADMIN PUSHED FOR NATIONAL GUARD PRESENCE: REPORT

Among its key findings, the report stated that the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol was designed “to promote a political narrative” reportedly at the direction of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

“Pelosi made the unprecedented decision to refuse to appoint minority members chosen by the minority to the Select Committee. They hired Hollywood producers to assist with their primetime hearings. They refused to adopt rules, allowing them to operate without limits, to project their predetermined narrative to the world,” the report’s key findings page states. 

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Within the report, it details that the Jan. 6 committee “enlisted the help of Hollywood producers to edit USCP closed circuit television (“CCTV”) footage, as well as videos of depositions and transcribed interviews, for use at public hearings.” 

LIZ CHENEY CALLS SPEAKER JOHNSON ‘DANGEROUS’ FOR HELPING TRUMP ‘UNDERMINE OUR REPUBLIC’

The Jan. 6 committee was founded in July 2021 to investigate the breach of the U.S. Capitol earlier that year by supporters of Trump ahead of President Biden officially taking office on Jan. 20. The Jan. 6 committee’s investigation was carried out when Democrats held control of the House. 

The committee concluded its 18-month investigation last year, when Republicans regained control of the House, and sent referrals to the Justice Department recommending Trump be criminally prosecuted for his involvement in the lead-up to supporters breaching the Capitol. 

The committee was composed of seven Democrats and two Republican lawmakers, Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both of whom are no longer in office. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chaired the committee, while Cheney served as vice chair. 

Loudermilk’s report argued that Cheney’s position was reserved for a Democrat, and that she should not have served as vice chair. 

“Cheney was not the minority ranking member but served as Vice Chair of the Select Committee – a position under House Rules for a member of the same party as the Chair. Pelosi appointed Cheney to the Select Committee as one of Pelosi’s eight majority appointments to the Select Committee. Former Select Committee staff members spoke out against Cheney’s insistence that the Select Committee focus on President Trump,” the report’s key findings found. 

Republicans have long claimed that the committee was improperly constructed, including in a court case in 2022, when a federal judge appointed by Trump validated the Jan. 6 committee’s investigative pursuits, including allowing the committee to obtain Republican National Committee’s marketing email data in the lead up to Jan. 6. 

LIZ CHENEY CALLS SPEAKER JOHNSON ‘DANGEROUS’ FOR HELPING TRUMP ‘UNDERMINE OUR REPUBLIC’ 

Loudermilk’s report also asserted that the committee “deleted records and hid evidence” ahead of Republicans taking the House majority during the 2022 election cycle. 

“THE SELECT COMMITTEE DELETED RECORDS AND HID EVIDENCE – Reps. Thompson and Cheney failed to turn over video recordings of witness interviews and depositions despite using these recordings in their high-profile, primetime hearings. The Subcommittee recovered over one hundred deleted or password-protected files, including some files that were deleted days before Republicans took the majority. They also hid multiple transcribed interviews of witnesses who had firsthand knowledge of Trump‘s actions on January 6,” the report found. 

Trump has repeatedly claimed the committee deleted and destroyed evidence, including this year in a Truth Social post singling out Cheney. 

“Why did American Disaster Liz Cheney … ILLEGALLY DELETE & DESTROY most of the evidence, and related items, from the January 6th Committee of Political Thugs and Misfits. THIS ACT OF EXTREME SABOTAGE MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR MY LAWYERS TO PROPERLY PREPARE FOR, AND PRESENT, A PROPER DEFENSE OF THEIR CLIENT, ME. All of the information on Crazy Nancy Pelosi turning down 10,000 soldiers that I offered to to [sic] guard the Capitol Building, and beyond, is gone,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Jan. 1, 2024.

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Cheney responded to the report early on Tuesday morning on X, arguing the report works to “cover up” Trump’s actions in 2021. 

“If your response to Trump’s assault on our democracy is to lie & cover up what he did, attack the brave men & women who came forward with the truth, and defend the criminals who violently assaulted the Capitol, you need to rethink whose side you’re on. Hint: It’s not America’s,” Cheney tweeted Tuesday. 

Last week, Loudermilk’s office released transcripts of a “withheld” committee interview with a Trump administration official, White House deputy chief of staff Anthony Ornato, that reportedly undermines the committee’s report that they did not have evidence showing the Trump White House requested National Guard assistance for Jan. 6. 

Ahead of serving as White House deputy chief of staff, Ornato served decades in the Secret Service. 

REP LOUDERMILK BLASTS JANUARY 6 COMMITTEE FOR TARGETING HIM: ‘THERE IS A WAR ON THE TRUTH IN THIS COUNTRY’

The interview, which was first reported by The Federalist, shows Ornato told the committee that he overheard then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows asking D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to request as much protection for the city as she needed for Jan. 6. 

Cheney spokesperson Jeremy Adler told Fox News Digital on Sunday that The Federalist’s report is “flatly false.” 

“The Federalist report is flatly false. No transcripts were destroyed, and as this letter (which has long been public) describes in detail, the Committee adhered to its obligations to allow the Secret Service to protect sensitive security information for interviews of its agents before preserving that testimony in the archives,” Adler said in a statement.

The 2022 letter, sent by Cheney and Thompson to the general counsel of the Department of Homeland Security, detailed that it adhered to rules surrounding sensitive testimony from Secret Service agents, and preserved such testimony in archives that were then placed into the control of the National Archives. 

“Also, relevant content of the Secret Service transcripts was summarized in multiple places in the report… This is all a continuation of efforts to lie about and cover up Donald Trump’s culpability for January 6th,” Adler added on Sunday. 

TRUMP SAYS FILES DELETED BY JAN 6 COMMITTEE ‘EXONERATED ME COMPLETELY’

Among its other key findings, the Loudermilk report alleged that Thompson and Cheney “promoted” a “star” witness’ “sensational revised” testimony and “hid” other testimony that contradicted the star witness. The report also alleged that the Jan. 6 committee “colluded” with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to prosecute Trump in Georgia for alleged election racketeering. 

“Fulton County District Attorney wrote to the Select Committee seeking assistance with her prosecution of President Trump. Select Committee staff met with representatives from her office,” the initial findings report states. 

Pelosi’s office declined comment Tuesday morning when contacted by Fox News Digital on Loudermilk’s report. Fox News Digital also reached out to Thompson’s press secretary, but did not immediately receive a response. 

Thompson did respond to the report in a statement published to his X account, calling the report “dishonest.”

“Loudermilk is merely trying to deflect from Donald Trump’s responsibility for the violence of January 6th and his own refusal to answer the Select Committee’s questions,” his statement added. 

Loudermilk said in comments Monday that the report’s release “is just the beginning” in his efforts to “uncover the facts about January 6.” 

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“The American people deserve the entire truth about what caused the violent breach at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. It is unfortunate the Select Committee succumbed to their political inclinations and chased false narratives instead of providing the important work of a genuine investigation. In my committee’s investigation, it is my objective to uncover the facts about January 6, without political bias or spin. My report today is just the beginning,” Loudermilk said. 

FIRST ON FOX: North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis will introduce two bills Tuesday aimed at holding sanctuary cities accountable for what he calls lax policies toward illegal immigration and refusal to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The first bill, titled the Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act, would create a private right for victims of rape or other felonies and their family members to sue states and districts if they refuse to honor detainer requests from the Department of Homeland Security. In order to qualify for federal grants, local governments and states would have to give up their immunity against this legal action. 

THE GENERAL ELECTION COULD START TODAY, HERE IS WHAT TO KNOW

The second measure, known as the Immigration Detainer Enforcement Act, would give the DHS secretary, rather than the attorney general, the authority to issue detainer requests for illegal immigrants. It would further remove language dictating that an illegal immigrant must be considered at risk of escaping before a warrant can be issued in order for a detainer to be sought. The bill would also allow DHS to compensate local and state jurisdictions for claims against them due to their enforcement of ICE detainers. 

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“For too long, we have watched local jurisdictions in North Carolina and across the country ignore the lawful notification and detainer requests made by ICE agents and instead release dangerous criminals back into their communities and put innocent lives at risk,” Tillis said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “It is time for Congress to step in and put an end to this madness by holding sanctuary cities accountable and empowering ICE to gain custody of criminal illegal immigrants so they can’t cause more harm and violence.”

Both of the bills are being co-sponsored by Sens. Ted Budd, R-N.C., Tim Scott, R-S.C., Steve Daines, R-Mont., Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., Mike Rounds, R-S.D., Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and Tom Cotton, R-Ark. 

Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Roger Marshall, R-Kan., are co-sponsors of the Justice for Victims of Sanctuary Cities Act.

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“Sanctuary states and cities that refuse to enforce the law make Americans less safe,” Ricketts also told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Adding incentives for cooperation with ICE will get dangerous criminals off our streets. These two bills would bring needed accountability to those who facilitate illegal immigration and bring justice for the victims of sanctuary policies.”

The new legislation is being introduced in the wake of the death of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus. The suspect in her killing is a Venezuelan man who illegally immigrated to the U.S. in 2022. Jose Antonio Ibarra, 22, is being detained without bond on a variety of charges, including malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, kidnapping, and several others. 

TRUMP LEGAL TEAM’S NEW STRATEGIC MOVE IN BRAGG’S HUSH MONEY TRIAL

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Riley’s death last month captured national attention. President Biden even appeared to succumb to pressure from congressional Republicans, mentioning her in his State of the Union address on March 7. Many Republican members of Congress donned pins with Riley’s name on them to the event. 

Former President Trump is officially the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

Trump clinched his party’s 2024 nomination Tuesday when Georgia, Mississippi and Washington state held primaries.

With no major challengers left, both Trump and President Biden, who locked up his party’s nomination earlier in the evening, were on course to collect all or nearly all the delegates up for grabs in Tuesday’s contests, putting each of them over the top and making them the Democratic and Republican presumptive presidential nominees.

WHERE THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION RACES STAND

Trump and his successor in the White House will formally become the two major party nominees this summer, as the Republicans and Democrats host their national nominating conventions in July and August, respectively.

Trump had 1,078 delegates at the start of the day. He needed 1,215 to lock up the nomination.

BIDEN, TRUMP, SWEEP SUPER TUESDAY CONTESTS AS THEY MOVE CLOSER TO CLINCHING NOMINATIONS

Fifty-nine GOP delegates were up for grabs in Georgia, with 40 at stake in Mississippi and 43 in Washington state. Nineteen more delegates are up for grabs in Hawaii, which holds a Republican presidential caucus later in the evening. 

Trump swept 14 of the 15 GOP Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses last week, which moved him closer to officially locking up the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. And Trump’s last rival for the nomination, Nikki Haley, dropped out of the race the day after Super Tuesday.

The November rematch between Biden and Trump is the first in the race for the White House since 1956, when Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower defeated former Democratic Gov. Adlai Stevenson of Illinois when they faced off a second time.

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Trump, a businessman, real estate mogul and reality TV star, won the White House in 2016 by upsetting Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. But he was defeated by Biden four years later when he ran for re-election.

Trump launched his third White House bid in November 2022. Trump last year made history as the first president or former president to face criminal charges.

The former president faces four major criminal trials and a total of 91 indictments, as well as a $355 million civil fraud judgment that Trump is appealing. But Trump’s legal entanglements over the past year have only fueled his support among Republican voters, boosting him far ahead of his one-time rivals for the nomination.

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