Donald Trump Poll News

EXCLUSIVE – 78 Super Bowls in 38 days. This was the scale of the task facing the Federal Bureau of Investigation going into the first World Cup final the United States has hosted in more than thirty years.

“That’s what we executed on,” FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview detailing the largest commitment of the agency’s resources ever devoted to securing a sporting event – the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

“We’re proud to report that, thank God, and thankfully to the men and women of the FBI and our partners, we had no significant criminal attacks during this World Cup,” Patel said. “And just to put that in perspective, we had 6.5 million people attend the 78 matches in the U.S. across 11 venues.”

Patel said the planning and execution had to be “mathematically precise.”

FIFA WORLD CUP COMES TO THRILLING END WITH WINNING GOAL SCORED IN EXTRA TIME

The tournament shattered previous attendance records and brought millions of international visitors to the country. The FBI dedicated nearly 5,000 personnel to the effort, including more than 4,000 from field offices, 800 from FBI Headquarters and two Legal Attaché offices, along with support from 59 Homeland Security Task Forces. 

The Bureau also conducted approximately 300,000 background checks on players, coaches and other accredited personnel. All told, nearly 7 million fans from all over the world attended World Cup games in the United States, Canada and Mexico, all with no reported major security incidents. In fact, getting into the stadiums often took fans less than 15 minutes for games that averaged more than 65,000 in house.

A defining element of the FBI’s security operation was its aggressive response to the rapidly evolving drone threat. Recognizing that even a low-cost unmanned aircraft could be used to surveil players practicing at the dozens of team base camps around the country, track their movements to and from hotels, probe for security tactics at stadiums or fan zones, disrupt an event or deliver an explosive or chemical device, the Bureau treated every unauthorized incursion as a potential threat.

TRUMP TAKES IN JENNIFER HUDSON’S INCREDIBLE NATIONAL ANTHEM PERFORMANCE BEFORE WORLD CUP FINAL

“If you’re in the space, we’re gonna take you down. And that’s why we took down over 700,” Patel said. “Some of these folks were maybe borderline nuisances, while many of them were criminal in terms of violations of FAA airspace and also failing to register their drones… We’re not taking any chances.”

The FBI established its first dedicated counter-UAS (unmanned aircraft system) school at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama to train state and local officers in detecting, tracking and intercepting unauthorized drones. Those officers were then deployed on FBI-led ground-intercept teams at World Cup venues, creating a nationwide counter-drone capability built for a threat that barely existed when the U.S. last hosted the tournament in 1994.

“We, the FBI, specifically train for the worst of the worst,” Patel said, pointing to the possibility of drones being used to deploy explosives or chemical agents. Former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino was instrumental in developing the Bureau’s counter-drone program.

That preparation was tested as the World Cup was getting underway, when investigators uncovered an alleged coordinated attack targeting UFC Freedom 250 at the White House.

5 CHILLING DETAILS FROM THE ALLEGED WHITE HOUSE ATTACK PLOT TIED TO UFC EVENT

Federal prosecutors allege the suspects planned to use explosive-laden drones to trigger panic and force crowds to evacuate into areas where armed attackers could strike. Patel said the FBI launched a six-state operation, tracked the alleged threat through online communications and began a coordinated takedown “before the first punch was thrown,” allowing the event to proceed without an attack.

Eight defendants have since been charged, although the allegations remain unproven and the defendants are presumed innocent.

FBI REVEALS WHY TRUMP WHITE HOUSE UFC EVENT WENT AHEAD DESPITE ALLEGED TERROR PLOT

International cooperation was another critical component of the World Cup security operation.

“They’re working overseas in their home locations and giving us information back in real time on any single threat that’s coming in,” Patel said.

The FBI hosted the International Police Cooperation Center in Northern Virginia, deploying more than 70 personnel to work alongside officers from U.S. host cities and security officials representing the nations sending teams to the tournament. 

The FBI also assembled a Joint Operations Center with foreign police representatives from 46 of the 48 participating countries, allowing investigators to receive real-time threat intelligence from officials who understood their teams, fan bases and domestic security concerns. That information was supported by the FBI’s Intelligence Coordination Center, where more than 400 personnel processed an average of 26 incidents per day and produced nearly 100 intelligence reports for federal, state, local and private-sector partners, according to the FBI.

Patel credited the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup with bringing federal, state and local agencies together under a unified security strategy. Established by President Donald Trump and led by Andrew Giuliani’s team, the task force served as a central hub for interagency planning, intelligence sharing and the rapid deployment of law enforcement resources across the tournament’s 11 U.S. host cities.

FIRST WORLD CUP HALFTIME SHOW DRAWS MIXED REACTIONS FOR SHAKIRA, JUSTIN BIEBER, BTS, MADONNA PERFORMANCES

“Like anything in government, to succeed, you need tremendous leadership,” Patel said. “President Trump had the foresight to establish the White House Task Force… and what they were able to do was bring in the interagency, at least at the federal level, and then work with us at the state and local levels through our partnerships and put everybody under one roof.”

Patel said the coordinated structure allowed the FBI to quickly send bomb technicians, evidence teams, tactical operators, SWAT personnel and hostage-rescue capabilities wherever additional resources were needed.

FOX WORLD CUP ANNOUNCER SAYS TRUMP’S APPEARANCE AT FINAL IS ‘FUN, UNIQUE THING’ DESPITE POTENTIAL BACKLASH

“President Trump set the standard: Not only were we going to have the largest and safest sporting event in the history of the world, but we were going to make sure everyone had a great time. Those were the marching orders,” Patel said.

He pointed to the social media videos showing international fans enjoying restaurants, pubs, sporting venues and other distinctly American experiences — even joking that Europeans fell in love with ranch dressing.

VIRAL GERMAN SOCCER FAN FREDDY INVITED FOR WHITE HOUSE VISIT AS FAIRY-TALE TRIP ACROSS AMERICA CONTINUES

“These are small vignettes, but they quantify and qualify how awesome America did,” Patel said. “And I don’t just mean government. I mean the private sector. They came in and partnered with us as well.”

Patel said those partnerships helped generate billions of dollars in revenue across the country while giving visitors a memorable experience.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“They wanted not just safety and security, but to show off America to the world,” he said. “And I think we did it brilliantly.”

The Republican National Committee is trolling the Democratic National Committee and the Maine Democratic Party with an offer to provide election lawyers, trained observers and other resources as Democrats scramble to replace disgraced Senate primary candidate Graham Platner.

“So, in a spirit of generosity we hope will not go unnoticed, the RNC formally offers our election integrity resources and personnel to ensure a process worthy of Democrat voters’ confidence,” read a copy of the letter obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital. “Mainers deserve a nomination that is fair, accessible, and free from disenfranchisement — and it never hurts to have professionals in the room.”

The tongue-in-cheek letter is expected to be sent Monday morning from the RNC to DNC chair Ken Martin and Maine Democratic Party Chair Charles Dingman, the RNC election integrity unit told Fox News Digital.

PLATNER ALLY TROY JACKSON CLOSING IN ON DEMOCRATIC SENATE NOD IN KEY RACE TO FACE COLLINS

The letter unwinds many of the Democratic Party platform’s attacks on Republicans in a week that featured an unusual Democratic Party debate and President Donald Trump’s primetime White House address on election integrity.

“The RNC has a deep bench of experienced election attorneys, trained observers, a dedicated State Election Integrity Director, and nationwide election integrity resources — all standing by to assist with convention procedures, delegate credentialing, ballot-counting transparency, and election law compliance,” the letter read, pointing to its multi-million dollar midterm election integrity ground game. “We built this operation to protect elections from exactly this kind of chaos. We simply never expected the loudest cries for help to come from inside your own house.

“As our friends on the left never tire of reminding us, ‘democracy dies in darkness.’ We are offering to turn on the lights.”

MEET THE DEMOCRATS GUNNING TO REPLACE GRAHAM PLATNER

Republicans have received criticism for questioning election integrity, but the RNC letter attempted to turn the table back on the Democrats, during a key Senate race in Maine that could help determine the Senate majority this November.

“We also request clarification on whether your nominating convention will include the basic safeguards every election deserves: voter identification, proof of residency, and independent observation,” the letter continued, pointing to apparent hypocrisy. “We ask in a spirit of thoroughness, not suspicion. Mostly thoroughness.”

“We further understand that proxy voting will not be permitted,” the letter said. “I’m pleased to hear your party discover, at last, the merits of in-person voting — and to learn that when the stakes are highest for Democrats, you too believe there is no substitute for showing up and casting a ballot yourself.”

When Platner suspended his Senate campaign before the July deadline after winning the nomination in June, he called out the party’s “establishment” for forcing its will over the will of voters.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“For his part, Mr. Platner announced the suspension of his campaign by insisting that his replacement come from “‘the people of Maine’ through a system that is ‘open, transparent and democratic’ and that reflects the voices of those who supported him,” the RNC letter noted, adding a dig on the DNC’s reported financial struggles, suggesting its political opponents should accept their offer of help.

“We also know that this convention comes at a difficult time financially for you, with the DNC $18 million in debt. Finding the resources necessary to run a nominating convention must be tough.”

Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson appears to have locked up enough delegates to win the abbreviated race to replace now ex-candidate Graham Platner as the Democratic Senate nominee in the high-stakes showdown to face off with longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

Delegates aligned with Jackson won the vast majority of the 500 slots that were up for grabs on Saturday and Sunday as Maine’s 16 counties held two days of delegate selection for next weekend’s nominating convention. And Jackson’s top two rivals for the nomination, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and Nirav Shah, a former top public health official, dropped out of the race on Sunday.

“In November, Mainers will defeat Susan Collins, and we will take back our Senate seat from the billionaires and corporations who think they own it,” Jackson said in a social media post Sunday evening.

While the delegates on Jackson’s slate are not required to support him at next weekend convention, he is in an extremely strong position to secure the nomination and face off in the midterm elections against Collins in what’s expected to be a combative and expensive ballot box battle that’s among a dozen nationwide which will determine if the Democrats can win back the Senate majority. The GOP currently holds the chamber 53-47.

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

A fifth-generation logger and a one-time conservative Republican who became a Democrat over two decades ago, Jackson came in third place last month in Maine’s Democratic gubernatorial primary.

On Saturday, in the race to replace Platner, Jackson-aligned delegates won more than 90% of the slots, including all 149 in Cumberland County, Maine’s most populous county and home to the state’s largest city, Portland.

“Yesterday was an unbelievable huge step, but our work is not finished — not even close,” Jackson said Sunday morning. And the winning streak of Jackson-aligned delegates continued throughout the day.

Over 450 of the 500 delegates elected this weekend were on Jackson’s slate. The delegates chosen will join another 101 coming automatically from the Democratic State Committee. All 601 will officially vote for the Senate nominee at next Saturday’s convention in Bangor, Maine.

Bellows, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, exited the Senate sprint on Sunday morning.

“Donald Trump’s attacks on our democracy are only accelerating, and the best way that I can serve our state and country at this moment is by focusing exclusively on my role as Secretary of State,” Bellows said in a statement that didn’t mention Jackson.

SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER

Shah, a former director the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention from 2019 to 2023 who later served as principal deputy director of the federal CDC during then-President Joe Biden’s administration, and who came in second in last month’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, dropped out Sunday evening and backed Jackson.

“To Maine Democrats: Susan Collins will not be defeated without a united Democratic Party. And we cannot unite without treating one another with respect,” Shah wrote in a statement. “No matter whom you supported in this race, I urge us all to remember that in the weeks ahead.”

Jackson, in a social media post, thanked Shah and urged, “Now it’s time for all of us to come together, build the broadest possible coalition, and defeat Susan Collins. Let’s get to work.”

Jordan Wood, a former congressional staffer for then-Rep. Katie Porter of California who unsuccessfully ran for the Senate as well as the Democratic nomination in the state’s 2nd Congressional District this cycle, also dropped out on Sunday. Another Senate candidate, Maine Beer Company co-founder Dan Kleban,  announced a campaign suspension on Sunday as well..

MAINE DEMOCRATS RALLY BEHIND PLATNER’S PLATFORM IN SPRINT TO REPLACE HIM

Along with Platner, Jackson had the support of progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont as he ran for governor, and he is currently backed by ‘Our Revolution,’ the group born in 2016 out of Sanders’ first presidential campaign.

Jackson, similar to Platner, is running on a progressive and populist platform aimed at working-class voters. He backs raising taxes on billionaires, the universal healthcare system known as “Medicare-for-all,” abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and he opposes military aid to Israel at a time that Democrats are increasingly divided on support for America’s longtime Middle East ally.

Platner, a combat veteran and oyster farmer who was backed by Sanders soon after he launched his bid last August, saw his campaign quickly catch fire. Two-term Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who was heavily recruited by longtime Democratic Senate leader Sen. Chuck Schumer to run for the Senate, suspended her campaign this spring after trailing Platner in fundraising and in the polls.

THE TWELVE RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE MAJORITY

But even as Platner steamrolled the Democratic establishment and crushed the competition last month to capture the nomination, he had already been forced on defense in the wake of a slew of scandals.

Platner dropped out earlier this month, amid calls from top Democrats in Maine and across the country to immediately exit the race following an explosive report containing an allegation of rape from a woman he previously dated. Platner denied the report but stepped aside.

While Jackson was among those who quickly called on Platner to end his bid in the wake of the rape allegation, he had previously campaigned alongside Platner and made the case that he was the best candidate to continue the fight for the progressive and populist agenda.

“This movement has always been bigger than one person. It’s about taking on a system rigged against working people, fighting for ‘Medicare-for-all,’ strong unions, higher wages, reproductive freedom, and an economy where billionaires and corporations finally pay their fair share,” Jackson said last week during a Our Revolution virtual town hall, as he pointed to Platner supporters.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

At last week’s first debate among the replacement candidates, Jackson pointed to Platner and said, “That’s the thing that I think Graham did the best: talked about fighting against the health care industry and the prescription drug industry to make sure that people in this state and this country have affordable, quality health care.”

One of the nation’s largest labor unions wants President Donald Trump to make one of America’s favorite imports a lot more American.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters are urging the administration to impose significant tariffs on Mexican beer, arguing more of it should be brewed by U.S. workers instead of across the border.

The request comes as the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative continues to assess whether certain countries’ policies have fueled unfair manufacturing advantages. 

The Teamsters argue Mexico has fueled its brewing industry through government-backed investment incentives, lower labor costs and export-focused policies that have expanded production and exports, helping imported beer capture a growing share of the U.S. market.

AMERICA’S FAVORITE BEERS — AND THE JOBS TIED TO THEM — ARE AT THE CENTER OF A BREWING TRADE FIGHT

The tariff push could have implications for some of America’s best-known imported beer brands, including Modelo, Corona, Pacifico and Tecate, much of which is brewed in Mexico before being shipped to retailers across the U.S.

“We can brew Modelo beer. It’s the same recipe. Let’s brew it in the United States,” Sean O’Brien, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, told Fox News Digital. “We are very good at producing goods and services in this country,” he added.

In its filing, the union said Mexican beer production has increased 85% since 2014, with about 80% of the country’s beer exports shipped to the United States. Meanwhile, capacity utilization at major U.S. breweries fell from 82% in 2013 to 65% in 2023, a trend the Teamsters say threatens thousands of well-paying union jobs.

TRUMP BET TARIFFS WOULD BRING BACK AMERICAN FACTORY JOBS. NEW REPORT SAYS IT DIDN’T WORK

The union argues tariffs would help shift more beer production back to the U.S., supporting American breweries along with the farmers who grow barley and hops, aluminum manufacturers that produce cans and the truckers who move beer across the country.

“I’m pro-America, pro-American worker, pro American jobs. So if there’s an opportunity to tariff Mexican beer in this situation, which is gonna provide opportunity for our current members, which we have tens of thousands in the brewery and distribution industry, then I’m all for tariffs and all for keeping American jobs in America,” O’Brien added.

THINK YOUR STATE IS EXPENSIVE? NEW DATA REVEALS WHERE AMERICANS FACE THE HIGHEST COST OF LIVING

The Teamsters say the threat to U.S. brewery jobs is growing as major brewers continue investing billions of dollars in Mexico.

According to the filing, breweries have announced plans to add another 19 million to 23 million hectoliters of production capacity over the next five years, an expansion the union attributes to export-focused tax incentives, lower labor costs and industrial policies aimed at boosting manufacturing for foreign markets.

The filing also cites Mexico’s 2023 tax incentives for export-oriented manufacturers and its broader “Plan México” industrial strategy, arguing those policies have encouraged additional investment while suppressing wages and making it more difficult for U.S. producers to compete.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The Teamsters have publicly backed tariffs as high as 75% on Mexican beer imports, calling them one potential remedy to what they describe as an uneven playing field. In a separate submission to USTR, the union said continued pressure from imported beer could force more U.S. brewery slowdowns or closures, jeopardizing good-paying brewery jobs that have supported American families for generations.

The Teamsters’ filing is one of several submitted as USTR weighs potential trade actions under its ongoing Section 301 investigation.

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

The State Department on Saturday reiterated its worldwide warning for Americans overseas as fears grow that Iran or its supporters could retaliate against U.S. citizens and interests far beyond the Middle East.

The “Worldwide Caution” alert, which has been in place since February, warns that groups supportive of Iran could target Americans and U.S. interests overseas.

The advisory urges U.S. citizens abroad to remain vigilant, monitor local developments and follow guidance from nearby U.S. embassies.

WHY THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ MATTERS AS TRUMP ISSUES FRESH ULTIMATUM TO IRAN

The warning follows a series of rapidly escalating developments in the region. Earlier Saturday, the U.S. military said an Iranian missile and drone attack in Jordan killed two American service members and left another missing, underscoring concerns that the conflict could spill beyond traditional battlefields and increase security risks for Americans overseas.

The heightened security concerns were reinforced when the U.S. Embassy in Amman issued a separate security alert after Jordanian authorities evacuated Aqaba’s international airport and seaport because of what officials described as a “specific and credible threat.” 

The embassy urged Americans to avoid both locations and reminded U.S. citizens that the State Department has maintained an ordered departure for non-emergency U.S. government personnel and their families in Jordan since March because of ongoing security risks.

TWO US SERVICE MEMBERS KILLED IN IRANIAN STRIKES ON JORDAN, CENTCOM SAYS

The State Department said the security environment remains “complex” and warned the conflict could escalate with little notice. 

Officials also noted that U.S. diplomatic facilities, including some outside the Middle East, have previously been targeted and cautioned that groups supportive of Iran could target other U.S. interests or locations associated with the United States and Americans around the world.

Officials urged Americans worldwide, particularly those in the Middle East, to exercise increased caution, keep a low profile, avoid locations associated with the United States when possible, monitor local news, follow security alerts issued by the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate and enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP), which provides security updates and allows embassies to contact U.S. citizens during emergencies.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The advisory also warns that continued military activity could lead to commercial flight cancellations and temporary airspace closures, adding to travel disruptions across the Middle East. Travelers were advised to check with airlines before departing and prepare for potential delays, rerouted flights and last-minute itinerary changes as security conditions evolve.

The State Department issues worldwide caution alerts when officials believe security threats extend beyond a single country or region. 

While the advisory does not prohibit international travel, it reflects growing concern that the conflict could create security risks well beyond the Middle East, prompting U.S. officials to urge Americans everywhere to remain vigilant and prepared for rapidly changing conditions.

As questions persist about Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell’s condition, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., issued a blistering rebuke about his team’s handling of the crisis, reminding them of their “obligation to your constituents.”

The 84-year-old former Senate majority leader has been absent from the upper chamber for over a month now after a fall at his home left him hospitalized. His absence, coupled with the sudden death of late Sen. Lindsey Graham, leaves Senate Republicans down two crucial votes amid a dead sprint to wrap up key parts of President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Speaking with Fox News Digital, Hawley, a conservative populist, said he wishes McConnell and his family well and hopes for a recovery.

At the same time, however, Hawley said that “at a certain point you do have an obligation to your constituents and the country to tell them what’s going on.”

MCCONNELL FACES FRESH CALLS TO COME CLEAN ABOUT HEALTH ISSUES

“To be down a vote,” Hawley continued, “We’ve got a slim majority; it’s not easy.”

While Hawley said he would “defer” to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., on how to handle McConnell’s situation, he noted that the lack of GOP votes is hurting priorities like the voter integrity measure, the SAVE America Act.

“I just hear a lot from leadership that, ‘Well, we don’t have the votes for this.’ Like the voter I.D., we don’t have the votes for that. Well, we might want to do something about that,” he said.

Hawley also said that he too has been “totally in the dark” about McConnell’s condition and said, “I never had any idea about any of his health stuff.”

“I hope he recovers, but I also hope that they get the transparency out there to help people know what the situation is,” he said.

‘THIS IS NOT NORMAL’: AOC UNLOADS ON MCCONNELL’S PROLONGED ABSENCE

Asked whether he believes McConnell’s condition evidences a need for age limits to serve in office, Hawley quickly shot back, “Well, I’m a term-limit guy, so I’m all for that.”

“Nothing against colleagues who are older,” he continued. He pointed to 92-year-old Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, saying, “Chuck is sharp as a tack and spry and all that stuff.”

“But I do think there needs to be term limits. People just come here and stay forever. And I don’t think it’s what the founders intended; I don’t think it’s what people want. So, I’ve always been a big proponent of a constitutional amendment for term limits.”

McConnell is completing his seventh term in the Senate. He was first elected to the chamber in 1984. This June, he was hospitalized after a fall in his Washington, D.C., home. He later developed pneumonia while in the hospital.

After an extended period of silence, McConnell’s issued an open letter to Kentuckians in which the senator addressed his prolonged absence. McConnell attributed his fall to mobility issues left from his childhood fight with polio.

SEE IT: GOP SENATORS SPLIT ON MCCONNELL QUESTIONS AS TUBERVILLE SEEKS TIMELINE, KENNEDY DEFENDS LEADER

He acknowledged that at the advice of his doctors, he “won’t be able to return to the Senate floor to vote quite yet.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

However, McConnell emphasized, “I have every intention of finishing the job you elected me to do” and said, “I’ll keep working hard to get back on the Senate floor as soon as possible.”

He also pledged to keep his constituents updated on the progress of his recovery.

The older brother of former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has been charged after Honolulu police say he allegedly tried to lure several children to his Waikīkī hotel room by offering them gum and money, as his family says he is continuing to receive psychiatric treatment.

Batarti Gabbard, 55, was charged with second-degree custodial interference after the July 12 “stranger danger” incident at a Waikīkī hotel pool, according to police.

Honolulu police allege Gabbard approached several children, including a 9-year-old boy, asked for their names, wrote them in a notebook and offered them money and gum if they would accompany him to his hotel room.

EXCLUSIVE: TULSI GABBARD RESIGNS FROM TRUMP CABINET

Fox News Digital obtained new comment from Gabbard’s father, Hawaii state Sen. Mike Gabbard, who declined to discuss the allegations, but confirmed his son continues to receive medical and psychiatric treatment.

“We love him, and asked him to follow the protocol at the hospital, which he says he will do,” Mike Gabbard told Fox News Digital. “We’re praying for his speedy recovery, and would appreciate the prayers of others.”

Fox News Digital also reached out to Tulsi Gabbard through her public office and left a voicemail requesting comment.

She did not immediately respond.

GABBARD CLAIMS ‘COORDINATED EFFORT’ BY INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY TO ADVANCE NARRATIVE TO IMPEACH TRUMP

Police said the incident occurred around 2 p.m. on July 12 at the pool area of an unnamed Waikīkī hotel, where Batarti Gabbard allegedly approached several children.

According to police, the children refused and Gabbard walked away. 

A 42-year-old woman reported the incident to police.

MIKE WALTZ, TIM TEBOW LAUNCH EFFORT TO COMBAT ONLINE CHILD EXPLOITATION: ‘IT’S HAPPENING IN THEIR BACKYARD’

According to KITV, Gabbard had also been arrested July 16 on charges of theft.

He pleaded not guilty to the theft charge Friday morning, was released and is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 14 in that case.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

KITV reported that no court date has yet been set on the custodial interference charge.

Honolulu Police confirmed to Fox News Digital that Gabbard is no longer in custody.

New York City Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani is embracing his identity as a Democratic Socialist, arguing the movement represents a return to the Democratic Party’s New Deal roots even as he insists Wall Street and corporate leaders have nothing to fear from his administration.

In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times, Mamdani rejected the notion that his political label is a liability, instead characterizing Democratic Socialism as the modern embodiment of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s vision for the Democratic Party.

“So much of what makes me proud to be a Democrat is looking at what our party used to stand for. You think about the Four Freedoms, you think FDR, you think the New Deal,” Mamdani said. “Those are at the core of what our party’s identity is, and yet it feels like to experience it, you have to read about it. You can’t see it around you anymore. And that isn’t something that I’m willing to accept, and I know that many feel similarly.”

DE BLASIO DEFENDS SOCIALIST ‘INSURGENCY’ INSIDE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, SAYS TRUMP HAS BECOME ‘STATUS QUO’

The remarks come as Mamdani has emerged as one of the Democratic Party’s most prominent progressive voices following a string of successful endorsements of fellow Democratic Socialist candidates, who won their primary House races.

Even as he doubled down on Democratic Socialism, Mamdani insisted his administration welcomed private investment and collaboration with Wall Street, finance and real estate leaders, despite continuing to push for higher taxes on the city’s wealthiest residents.

“I think it’s important,” Mamdani said of the city’s relationship with private business leaders. “And what I have in common with leaders of those sectors — even amid disagreements, because I believe that we can raise taxes a little bit more on the wealthiest New Yorkers — what brings us together is both a belief in the city and a commitment to its continued vitality.”

FAR-LEFT SURGE: MAMDANI-BACKED CANDIDATES OUST DEM ESTABLISHMENT INCUMBENTS

Mamdani pointed to the recent announcement of American Express’ new headquarters at Two World Trade Center as evidence that major corporations continue investing in New York.

“These business leaders, they’re not just making decisions on the basis of dollars and cents; they’re also making decisions on the basis of investing in the city and in what the city represents,” he said.

The mayor also rejected the idea that Democratic Socialism is incompatible with economic growth after the interviewer remarked that he sounded in line with a “capitalist mayor.”

NYC MAYOR MAMDANI CALLS THREAT OF RICH PEOPLE LEAVING NYC OVER TAXES ‘IMAGINED’

“I will always celebrate continued investment in this city,” Mamdani said. “And I’ll also look to ensure that more and more New Yorkers can be a part of those benefits.”

But even as Mamdani boasts his support for corporate investments, an analysis by the Citizens Budget Commission found New York’s share of the nation’s millionaires fell from 12.7% in 2010 to 8.7% in 2022, the steepest decline of any state, costing an estimated $10.7 billion in personal income tax revenue in 2022 alone.

The report points to New York’s high taxes and declining competitiveness relative to states like Florida and Texas as factors behind its shrinking share of the nation’s millionaires.

Mamdani has made raising taxes on wealthy New Yorkers a centerpiece of his economic agenda, arguing the city’s highest earners and most profitable corporations should shoulder more of the cost of funding public services.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

His interview comes as national Democrats debate the party’s future direction ahead of the 2028 presidential election. Mamdani argued that the victories of democratic socialist candidates signal that voters are embracing his vision for the party.

“For too long, it has felt like our party, the Democratic Party, the only answer we have is to say that we are not the Republican Party,” Mamdani said. “But we also have to have a vision of what comes after this administration.”

Far-left New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said his administration is actively exploring whether the city has the legal authority to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York for this month’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), escalating one of his sharpest criticisms yet of the foreign leader.

In remarks first reported by The New York Times, Mamdani called Netanyahu a “war criminal” who “belongs in the Hague” and said his administration is in an “active conversation” with the city’s Law Department over what legal authority New York City possesses should the Israeli prime minister travel to the Big Apple.

The comments from self-described Democratic socialist Mamdani raises questions about the limits of a mayor’s authority over foreign affairs and whether New York City could take legal action against a visiting head of government.

POTENTIAL 2028 DEM CONTENDER UNLOADS ON NETANYAHU, ADMITS US-ISRAEL TIES AT ‘CROSSROADS’

Fox News Digital reached out to the mayor’s office asking whether Mamdani stands by calling Netanyahu a “war criminal,” whether City Hall is actively consulting with the Law Department regarding possible legal action against the Israeli leader, and whether the mayor would direct the NYPD to arrest Netanyahu if attorneys determined the city had legal authority.

The mayor’s office did not immediately respond.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz slammed Mamdani’s remarks as “pure political theater,” saying the mayor has no legal authority to arrest Netanyahu.

In a post on X, Waltz argued that the U.S. is not party to the ICC’s founding treaty, the U.N. Headquarters Agreement protects visiting heads of government, head-of-state immunity applies and “federal authority trumps any local mayor’s wishes.”

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024, over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity tied to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

ISRAEL SIGNALS READINESS FOR ANOTHER IRAN STRIKE AS TRUMP DECLARES CEASEFIRE OVER

Israel has rejected the allegations and disputes the court’s jurisdiction, while the U.S. is not a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC.

The issue has become increasingly contentious as world leaders weigh whether they would act on the warrant if Netanyahu enters their countries.

The United Nations General Assembly annually brings dozens of heads of state and government to New York, creating unique diplomatic and security considerations for the city.

The comments are likely to intensify scrutiny of Mamdani’s foreign policy positions, particularly regarding Israel, which became a flashpoint during his mayoral campaign.

Israeli officials have repeatedly rejected allegations that Netanyahu committed war crimes, arguing Israel is acting in self-defense following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack.

FETTERMAN WARNS MAMDANI RISKS ‘CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS’ BY VOWING TO DEFY SCOTUS IMMIGRATION RULING

Mamdani’s office has not yet publicly detailed any legal analysis supporting the idea that New York City or the NYPD could independently execute an international arrest warrant against a visiting foreign head of government, though Fox News Digital has requested further details.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Mamdani’s remarks are the latest example of his administration venturing into international affairs.

Earlier this year, the State Department stepped in to halt a planned meeting between a senior Mamdani administration official and Iran’s U.N. ambassador, stressing the role of federal, not local government to conduct U.S. foreign policy.

Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this reporting.

The White House released a trove of election integrity documents Thursday night after President Donald Trump’s primetime address, posting files related to alleged voting system vulnerabilities, China’s alleged acquisition of U.S. voter data, a Michigan voter registration investigation and noncitizens on state voter rolls.

The documents, posted on a new White House election integrity page, are organized into four buckets and include intelligence assessments, FBI files, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency materials and Department of Homeland Security-related summaries covering issues ranging from election infrastructure cybersecurity to voter-registration database threats. 

The release gives the public access to records the White House says support Trump’s renewed push for election reforms, including voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements.

MORE THAN A QUARTER-MILLION NONCITIZENS MAY BE REGISTERED TO VOTE IN 4 KEY STATES, DHS ALLEGES

The president claimed in his address that electronic voting machines are vulnerable and easily compromised. Fox News has not yet seen evidence supporting that claim and is not able to independently evaluate the accuracy of his statement.

“This vital information has for many years been covered up and hidden from you,” Trump said Thursday night during an address from the White House on election integrity. “But that all changes right now.”

The White House page lists the four document categories as “Vulnerabilities in Electronic Voting and Ballot-Counting Systems,” “China’s Acquisition and Exploitation of American Voter Data,” “Michigan Voter-Registration Investigation” and “Noncitizens on State Voter Rolls.” The page says the files span from January 2020 to June 2026.

Fox News Digital could not independently verify the contents of the documents.

In the section on voting systems, the White House says the documents include what it describes as previously classified intelligence assessments and other reports warning that U.S. adversaries could compromise election infrastructure, including voter registration databases, poll books and election websites.

A separate section includes White House claims that China acquired hundreds of millions of U.S. voter files, while another highlights FBI files tied to an alleged voter registration operation in Michigan.

CALIFORNIA ACCUSED OF BLOCKING FEDERAL VOTER ROLL AUDIT AS DOJ ESCALATES PROBE OF ELECTION FRAUD CLAIMS

“Those responsible for sounding the alarm instead kept the information secret and hidden,” Trump claimed. “They did not disclose (it) to me as president or to anyone else.”

The final bucket focuses on what the White House describes as a DHS review that the White House claims identified noncitizens on state voter rolls.

The documents were posted to the White House website during the president’s speech Thursday night, and more updates, filings and findings are expected to drop, according to the new election integrity webpage.

“The documents we will release starting tonight have been gathered by the White House Government Transparency Taskforce, a great group of people, along with the staff of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, supported by our top intelligence agency chiefs, who have all personally reviewed the findings we are presenting this evening and fully confirmed their authenticity,” Trump said during his speech Thursday.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The files were released as Trump has intensified his election integrity push ahead of the midterms, including calls for voter ID, proof-of-citizenship requirements and Senate passage of the SAVE Act.

Trump previously signed an executive order aimed at requiring proof of citizenship on federal voter registration forms, but federal judges have blocked key portions of the order while the House-passed SAVE Act remains stalled in the Senate.

“No trust, no greatness,” Trump told Americans Thursday.

A fraud expert who testified before the House Oversight Committee Wednesday warned the federal government lacks the tools and policies needed to prevent criminals from using artificial intelligence against taxpayers.

“What’s happening right now is the fact that we simply don’t have the right tools to deal with fraud,” David Maimon, head of fraud insights at SentiLink, told Fox News Digital.

“We don’t have the right policies to deal with fraud. We don’t have enough deterrence. We have no close collaboration between the government and the [private] sector to try and find the right solution to this issue.”

The hearing, “Emerging Fraud Threats and the Evolving Fraud Landscape,” was held by the Government Operations Subcommittee as the Trump administration wages a nationwide “War on Fraud,” led by Vice President JD Vance and focused on how the federal government can better detect and prevent emerging fraud threats through stronger digital identity verification.

ALLEGED FEEDING OUR FUTURE FRAUD RINGLEADER TRANSFERRED FROM SOMALIA TO FACE US CHARGES

“Fraud against government programs is no longer a series of isolated schemes,” Maimon told lawmakers during the hearing. “It is a durable, specialized criminal infrastructure.”

He also told lawmakers that “criminals exploit the seams between agencies precisely because our defenses are built program by program, while their infrastructure is built to move across all of them.”

Maimon highlighted how his company has collected intelligence to “understand how the criminals work, what they do and how they do what they do” while uncovering networks where fraudsters share stolen information and tactics.

“We were able to infiltrate thousands of markets where fraudsters are operating. Where you can find identities and stolen checks, you can find tutorials of how to engage in fraud against the government or target financial institutions across the country,” he said.

One of the biggest challenges, he said, is keeping pace with rapidly evolving fraud tactics.

“The most important thing is to make sure that the government is aware of some of the fraud trends we’re seeing out there that fraudsters are engaging in, essentially stealing taxpayers’ money,” Maimon said.

Maimon said the government’s slow deployment of fraud-fighting tools allows criminals to “take advantage of these opportunities” and “continue to exploit” resources.

“The bad guys are moving faster than the government,” he said. “While the government is still trying to catch up and roll out better tools, criminals keep finding new ways to steal money.”

Criminals are now using AI to create fake documents, videos and phishing emails that steal passwords and personal information or bypass identity verification, according to Maimon.

“It’s difficult to prove that you’re not essentially using AI while verifying your identity with documents and liveness tests and selfie images,” he said.

TRUMP ADMIN INVESTIGATING 75 TRUCK DRIVER SCHOOLS FOR FRAUD, HELPING NON-CITIZENS GET LICENSES

During the hearing, Maimon said fraudsters are already using “AI-generated faces and deepfake video to defeat liveness checks at digital banks and tax preparers.”

Pointing to his earlier investigation of Medicaid fraud, Maimon said his team discovered providers that had billed the government about $2 million and claimed to have staff and caregivers, but when investigators visited the addresses in person, many of the employees and operations didn’t exist.

“Sometimes you need to take a look at signals that appear in the database but also at the physical location,” he said.

Instead of relying on a picture or video, Maimon said the government should verify identities using trusted historical data that is harder for AI to fake.

I’M OHIO’S STATE AUDITOR — MEDICAID FRAUD IS NOT JUST A WASHINGTON PROBLEM

“In order to make sure that we address this issue — and it really depends on the type of fraud that you’re dealing with — but to address this issue in a more effective way, maybe we need to have some historical signals around identities we’re trying to verify, rather than just looking at images that could be created easily by AI tools,” he said.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Maimon told lawmakers the fraud affects more than the government’s finances, ultimately hurting the people these programs are designed to serve. 

“Every dollar we protect from organized fraud is a dollar that stays available for the people Congress intended to help,” he said. 

But after years of studying the dark web and Telegram marketplaces, Maimon said law enforcement has uncovered only a fraction of organized fraud.

“I think they’re just scratching the surface.”

Former Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., is campaigning to return to Congress alongside a self-described Maoist activist and political organizer whose online videos and social media rhetoric has included urging leftists not to disavow Hamas or Hezbollah, has included calls to “unmake” America, applauded burning the American flag and endorsed political violence.

The activist, Christopher Winston, has built an online presence across numerous platforms under the pseudonym “BlackRedGuard,” posting and appearing in videos about “Maoist organizing in DSA,” attacking leftists who say they do not support “Hezbollah/Hamas” and using rhetoric that appeared to condone political violence. In one video reviewed by Fox News Digital, Winston asked, “What’s wrong with throwing molotovs at a police station?” 

Bush, an ousted Squad Democrat mounting a comeback bid in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, appeared in a recent social media post standing right beside Winston as he participated in supporting her campaign. 

SOCIALISTS LAUNCH RADICAL PLATFORM TO ABOLISH THE US SENATE IN BID TO FUNDAMENTALLY TRANSFORM AMERICA

Fox News Digital asked Bush’s campaign whether Winston has any formal or informal role with the campaign, whether Bush knows him personally and whether he was invited to the event, but the campaign did not answer those questions, instead sending a link to a Fox News article about Joy Behar, co-host of “The View,” defending democratic socialism, noting it “should clear up any questions you have about DSA.”

“If you say sh– like ‘I don’t support Hezbollah/Hamas’ and call yourself a leftist you lame. All power to all the resistance. Peace through the sword,” Winston, a St. Louis-area activist working with the DSA said in his social media post shaming those on the left who condemn Hamas and Hezbollah.

Other posts from Winston called to “unmake” America and said the American flag “should always be desecrated.” 

“Do not fix America. Unmake it,” a June 2025 post from Winston’s X account said. 

“I applaud the burning of the American flag. That flag is a symbol of the slavery and genocide which built America. It should always be desecrated in that way,” a separate 2024 post from Winston said. 

Meanwhile, during a 2024 video posted on YouTube titled “Debating Commie Gobbledegook (Ft. Black Red Guard),” Winston is asked why, as a Maoist, he chooses to be a part of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). 

 “Well, it’s obvious why I’m a Maoist in the DSA. There’s a lot of naive young white people to brainwash,” he said.

POWERFUL LGBTQ+ GROUP’S ENDORSEMENTS COULD TANK VULNERABLE DEMS OVER RADICAL YOUTH TRANS AGENDA

Fox News Digital reached out to Winston and the DSA for comment on Winston’s remarks and affiliation with the group, but did not hear back.

At another point during the same video, Winston questions “what’s wrong with throwing Molotov cocktails at a police station?” 

When his co-host tried to check him, replying that doing such would be “an easy way to get your whole organization, like, kind of destroyed,” Winston shot back: “That’s why we want the masses to do it.”

He later argued that if the goal is a “socialist” or “communist” revolution, “people are not going to pick up a gun and fight” for something they do not understand, adding that activists must “teach people what communism is.”

A Fox News Digital review of Winston’s X account found several social media posts praising Bush, including a 2023 post where he said, “Yeah, I’m a Maoist ultra with dreams of riding into power on a tank like Fidel and Che but in the meantime Cori Bush is the best congressperson right now and we need to back her.”

“Cori Bush is the best of STL, and DSA,” Winston said in May at a Bush campaign event.

“Cori Bush is running for Congress again. STL-DSA voted to endorse her overwhelmingly. Help beat the AIPAC money that stole her seat here,” Winston said last year.

Winston’s appearance alongside Bush is not the first time her political orbit has drawn scrutiny over hard-left activists and anti-Israel figures. Her comeback bid has already faced questions over campaign spending and alliances that critics say show the same activist network is helping power her effort to return to Washington.

CORI BUSH RIPPED FOR ‘JAW-DROPPING’ HYPOCRISY ON KEY ISSUE AMID COMEBACK HOUSE BID

Earlier this year, Fox News Digital reported that Bush’s comeback campaign paid more than $20,000 to “Unbought Power,” a consulting firm publicly linked to far-left activist Rasha Mubarak, whose ties to Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s political operation had already drawn scrutiny. 

Mubarak has close ties to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), “which was an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2009 Holy Land Foundation terror-financing trial,” according to the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, and has publicly called to “abolish the police,” backed defund-the-police efforts and repeatedly accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and “apartheid.”

“Mubarak has also been a speaker at events held by the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), an organization that promoted the BDS movement,” the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy noted in a report.  “Previously, in September 2023, she served as the press contact for the Arizona-based non-profit Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ), which was investigated for ties to Samidoun, an anti-Israel advocacy group banned in Germany, Canada, and Israel and classified as a terrorist entity in the United States for financing the PFLP.”

HIGH EARNERS FLEE NYC AMID TAXES, RADICAL POLICIES

In her prior campaigns for Congress, Bush also received help from radical anti-Israel activists. During her 2024 re-election bid, Linda Sarsour and Marc Lamont Hill headlined a virtual “Jews for Cori” fundraiser, according to Jewish Insider, which described Sarsour and Hill as “controversial far-left activists with histories of antisemitism.” 

Sarsour has been accused of praising a convicted terrorist and has compared Zionism to white supremacy, while likening Zionists to neo-Nazis. She had to walk back remarks after stating Israel “is built on the idea that Jews are supreme to everyone else,” and lost her seat on the board of the Women’s March amid allegations of antisemitism that she subsequently denied.

Hill, meanwhile, was fired from his job at CNN after making anti-Israel comments that his former employer, Temple University, called “virulent anti-Semitism and hate speech.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Bush’s alignment with the anti-Israel left has also repeatedly put her alongside fellow “Squad” Reps. Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. Bush, Tlaib and Omar held a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 7, 2023, calling for a cease-fire in Gaza two months after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Bush and Tlaib later became the only two House members to vote against the No Immigration Benefits for Hamas Terrorists Act, a bill aimed at barring Hamas members and non-U.S. nationals involved in the Oct. 7 attack from immigration benefits. 

Tlaib was eventually censured by the House over her Israel-Hamas rhetoric, including her use of the phrase “from the river to the sea.” 

Meanwhile, Bush’s rhetoric after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack also drew condemnation from the Biden White House. Fox News Digital reported that Bush called for ending U.S. support for what she described as Israeli “military occupation and apartheid” in the wake of the attack, prompting then-White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to blast Squad members’ comments as “wrong,” “repugnant” and “disgraceful.”

A Hawaii Supreme Court justice used a ruling overturning a decades-old criminal conviction to deliver a blistering rebuke of Chief Justice John Roberts’ Supreme Court, accusing the nation’s highest court of weakening constitutional rights, damaging democracy and advancing a political agenda.

Justice Todd Eddins authored the 91-page majority opinion Wednesday in State v. Granillo , a case involving a man convicted in 1990 of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman on Maui. The court ordered a new trial after concluding that hair and fiber evidence presented by an FBI expert relied on forensic science that has since been discredited.

But in roughly eight pages of the opinion, Eddins argued Hawaii’s courts should not look to the Roberts Court when interpreting the state constitution, using the case to deliver an unusually sharp critique of the nation’s highest court.

LAWYER WHO BEAT HAWAII GUN LAW CALLS STATE’S RELIANCE ON BLACK CODE ‘DISGRACEFUL’

“When six justices walk away from those they are supposed to protect, state constitutions hold the line,” Eddins wrote, referring to the court’s six conservative justices. “That is not defiance. That is the design.”

Eddins argued that Hawaii’s Constitution provides stronger protections than the federal Constitution as currently interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court, and said the Court has abandoned landmark civil rights principles.

“The Court that now defines federal due process does not honor the work of 1954,” Eddins wrote. “It revives the work of 1857. The work of 1896.”

Eddins was referring to Brown v. Board of Education, ruled in 1954, which ended racial segregation in public schools, as well as Dred Scott v. Sandford, the infamous 1857 decision denying citizenship to Black Americans and Plessy v. Ferguson, the 1896 ruling that upheld racial segregation.

Eddins argued that the Roberts Court no longer reflects the constitutional principles established in Brown v. Board of Education, but instead, he argued the Court’s originalist approach relies on the same type of constitutional interpretation in the discredited Dred Scott and Plessy decisions.

“Today’s hubristic originalists use the same method to control modern life,” Eddins wrote.

SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN LIMIT ON PARTY CAMPAIGN SPENDING IN COORDINATION WITH CANDIDATES

“The Court overrides what Congress passed,” Eddins continued. “It overrides what the people chose. All to serve its own ends. What this Court has done to constitutional rights, democratic institutions, and the rule of law explains why Hawaiʻi’s Constitution takes no instruction from it.”

Throughout the opinion, Eddins pointed to many of the Roberts Court’s most consequential decisions as evidence that constitutional protections have been weakened, including Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned the federal constitutional right to abortion; Citizens United v. FEC on campaign finance; Rucho v. Common Cause on partisan gerrymandering; Trump v. United States on presidential immunity; and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which expanded Second Amendment protections.

Eddins accused the Roberts Court of adopting a “colorblind” approach to the Equal Protection Clause that, in his view, ignores the amendment’s original purpose of protecting formerly enslaved Black Americans.

“The Roberts Court sees only white,” he wrote. “It refuses to acknowledge who the Equal Protection Clause was written to protect.”

He also suggested that recent Supreme Court decisions have repeatedly expanded the power of government officials and wealthy interests while reducing protections for individual rights.

“A court that systematically dismantles democratic safeguards, steamrolls constitutional liberties, and tramples human dignity does not chart the course for the Hawaiʻi Constitution,” he wrote.

THOMAS LEAVES NOTHING LEFT UNSAID ON RACIAL GERRYMANDERING DECISION: ‘GO FURTHER’

The opinion quickly drew criticism from legal observers, who said it was highly unusual for a state supreme court opinion to devote so much space to criticizing the U.S. Supreme Court.

“The Court issues an unhinged attack on the legitimacy of the Supreme Court,” Iowa Solicitor General Eric Wessan wrote on X. “I haven’t ever seen something like this. And it’s not good.”

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley similarly described the opinion as “devoid of judicial restraint and decorum.”

“The Hawaii Supreme Court just issued a truly shocking opinion that unleashed a torrent of rage and recrimination against the majority of the United States Supreme Court, including suggesting that they are de facto racists,” Turley wrote on X.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The opinion comes just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court handed Hawaii a major loss in Wolford v. Lopez, striking down the state’s so-called “vampire rule.” In a 6-3 decision, the court ruled Hawaii could not require gun owners to get a property owner’s permission before carrying a firearm into businesses and other private property open to the public.

Eddins has served on the Hawaii Supreme Court since 2020 after being appointed by then-Democratic Gov. David Ige.

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said Friday that the Trump administration is seeking to debank illegal immigrants as an incentive for them to self-deport from the United States.

Miller gave an update on the White House’s latest tactic to deter illegal immigration during an interview Friday on The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton show.

“President Trump signed an executive order a few weeks ago saying that we are not going to allow illegal aliens to use banking services in this country,” Miller said.

“Illegal aliens have credit cards, they have bank accounts, and they’re paid with direct deposit. So, illegal aliens fully participate in the commercial systems, the financial systems of America. Shutting that down is a massive engine for deportation,” he added.

OBAMA-APPOINTED JUDGE TORPEDOES TRUMP‘S BID TO PROTECT US JOBS BY REFORMING CONTROVERSIAL IMMIGRATION POLICY

Miller was likely referring to an executive order Trump signed on May 19 that directed banks and federal regulators to increase scrutiny of accounts and credit applications involving immigrants without legal status or work authorization.

The order did not explicitly instruct banks to deny credit cards or bank accounts to illegal immigrants, but compliance with it could make it more difficult for them to participate in the financial system.

Federal agencies have already begun acting on Trump’s executive order.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ORDERS GREEN CARD APPLICANTS TO LEAVE THE US, APPLY FROM THEIR HOME COUNTRIES

In early June, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, led by Russell Vought, issued guidance stating that lenders may — and in some cases must — consider applicants’ immigration status and work authorization when assessing their ability to repay loans.

Miller also referenced guidance from three federal agencies issued on July 13 “reminding supervised financial institutions to apply existing safe-and-sound credit risk management practices when lending to borrowers who are not legally authorized to work in the United States.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Both advisories serve to tell banks that illegal immigrants could be higher-risk customers for loans.

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

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said this week that he received two calls from agencies suggesting Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., died while he was in the hospital.

In an interview with Katie Couric uploaded to YouTube on Thursday, Beshear, a Democrat, did not specify which agencies allegedly called him with the news or when the calls were made.

“In fact, I’d gotten two calls from different agencies, not state agencies, suggesting he’d passed,” said Beshear, who has served as governor since December 2019.

Fox News Digital reached out to Beshear and McConnell’s offices for comment.

GOP SENATORS SPLIT AS TUBERVILLE DEMANDS MCCONNELL ANSWERS

After nearly a month of being hospitalized, McConnell’s office released a lengthy statement on July 12 saying he was being treated for a fall he suffered in June. A picture of him in a hospital bed alongside his wife was also released.

Prior to the announcement, there was speculation about what had happened to McConnell, given that his office did not reveal why he was in the hospital for weeks.

Emergency dispatch audio from June 14, the day McConnell was hospitalized, revealed he was “unconscious” and may have suffered a heart attack.

‘THIS IS NOT NORMAL’: AOC UNLOADS ON MCCONNELL’S PROLONGED ABSENCE

“My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion,” McConnell said in the statement last weekend. “I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages.”

Two days before the longtime GOP leader shared more about his condition, Beshear posted on social media demanding that McConnell be more transparent.

“I publicly and privately urged the last administration to address the public’s concerns with the former president’s health,” Beshear wrote, seemingly a reference to former President Joe Biden. “I’m calling on Sen. McConnell to do the same and provide voters an update on his own health.”

Beshear ended the post by urging McConnell to “end the crazy speculation” and “just tell us what’s going on.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

On July 8, Beshear also wrote a letter to the 84-year-old lawmaker requesting that he “fully update Kentuckians regarding the current status of your health.”

McConnell’s doctor said he “developed pneumonia” early in his hospitalization but “responded rapidly to antibiotic treatment.”

McConnell said he intends to return to the Senate, but his office has given no timeline on when he’ll be able to do so.

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., will run for Senate in South Carolina following the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, he revealed Saturday.

“I’m here to announce that I will be a candidate for the Senate, I’ll be throwing my hat into the ring, and day one, Kayleigh, I will be laser-focused on passing President Trump’s America First” Norman said during an appearance on “Saturday In America with Kayleigh McEnany.”

Norman then championed Trump’s SAVE America Act and said he would focus on eliminating the filibuster, saying Republicans need to “nuke” the procedure.

Norman made the announcement just days after President Donald Trump publicly endorsed Darline Graham, Lindsey Graham’s sister who was appointed to finish the remainder of his term, to run for the seat fully when her term is up in January.

CONSERVATIVES UNITE AROUND SAVE AMERICA ACT AFTER TRUMP DECLASSIFIES ‘SHOCKING’ ELECTION INTEL

DARLINE GRAHAM IS CONSIDERING RUNNING FOR A FULL SENATE TERM, A REPORT SAID, AS MEMORIAL SERVICES HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED FOR HER LATE BROTHER LINDSEY GRAHAM.

“I hope Darline does this, in ⁠that there would be nobody better to honor ​the legacy of her beloved brother, Lindsey,” Trump ​said in a Truth Social post, also writing “Run Darline Run.”

Norman acknowledged Trump’s endorsement Saturday, telling McEnany he asked for Trump’s blessing.

“He decided to go with Darline, who’s a nice person, and he decided to go with her and I respect that, but that doesn’t deter my plans. I’m in this to win,” he said.

Norman will be running in the Aug. 11 special GOP primary election, revealing that he is in the process of filing the paperwork.

Though not backed by Trump, Norman has received support from GOP Senators Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rick Scott, R-Fla., both of whom endorsed him. The pair, like Norman, are both vocal opponents of the filibuster.

Norman will be entering a competitive primary, as at least two other candidates have declared their intentions to run with further challengers expected to enter the race.

Businessman Mark Lynch, who ran against Lindsey Graham in the recent June primary, has announced his candidacy, as did attorney Duke Buckner.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

And though Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., hasn’t publicly announced an intention to run, state lawmakers are already eyeing his seat in the House should he decide to enter the fray, according to reporting from News From The States.

Fox News Digital contacted Reps. Norman, Mace and Fry, along with Sen. Darline Graham for further comment.

Legal minds across the political spectrum are admonishing an Obama-appointed federal judge for suggesting that bar associations should look into sanctioning lawyers working for the president or the Justice Department, with one liberal constitutional law professor refusing to teach his students that such a move is acceptable.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams formally referred Trump attorney Alejandro Brito to the Florida Bar in an opinion released Monday and ordered the ruling sent to authorities considering existing disciplinary complaints involving Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. The disciplinary actions stem from Williams’s ruling in a case involving a settlement that shielded Trump, members of his family and affiliated businesses from certain federal tax audits and claims.

Bar associations have the ability to suspend the law licenses of individuals practicing law in their jurisdictions, giving them significant power over the ability of lawyers — including powerful DOJ officials — to do their work.

“The court would also have litigants believe that, in such a circumstance, it is not only appropriate to dismiss the case but also to sanction and deprive litigants and their counsel of their reputation, license, or money,” constitutional law professor Christian Lee Gonzalez-Rivera, who identifies as a liberal, told Fox News Digital. “As a law professor, attorney and former judicial law clerk, I refuse to teach the former or accept the latter.”

OBAMA-APPOINTED JUDGE TORCHES TRUMP ADMIN IN LATEST COURTROOM SHOWDOWN, REFERS ATTORNEY FOR BAR REVIEW

The existing complaint against Blanche alleges that he mishandled evidence linked to the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, used the DOJ to attack Trump’s personal enemies and failed to properly represent the interests of the United States during the negotiations that led to the creation of the now-defunct $1.8 billion weaponization compensation fund. 

Woodward, meanwhile, faces a bar complaint alleging that his approval of the creation of the weaponization fund constituted a conflict of interest as he had previously represented Jan. 6 defendants and Trump associates who could potentially benefit from it. 

Gonzalez-Rivera, who teaches law at a Catholic university in Florida, said that the judge’s order “effectively sanctions the bringing of debatable, if losing, arguments in high-stakes first impression cases,” arguing that it would have been ridiculous if judges recommended professional punishments for lawyers who were on the losing sides of other high-profile, historical court cases.

LEGAL WAR ON TRUMP’S AGENDA GAINS FIREPOWER AS FEDERAL LAWYERS DEFECT TO DEMOCRATS

Jeffrey Clark, a former DOJ official now serving as the vice president of litigation at a right-wing watchdog group, cautioned that Williams’s order — if allowed to become the norm — could seriously damage the legal profession by empowering a small number of bar association insiders.

“This nonsense has to end. The State and local bars are not the superior officers of or the equivalent of a school-marmish national Principal’s Office that sits in supervision of two highest-ranking leaders of the Justice Department,” he wrote on Monday. 

“If this trend continues, no future Republican lawyer is going to agree to enter the U.S. Justice Department to carry out the President’s law enforcement orders as the Constitution intended,” Clark continued. “Power will instead be monopolized and moved only to the Left … The Framers would be shocked to learn that the real boss of Executive Branch legal power is not the singular President of the United States, but instead committees of insular coastal elite lawyers purporting to wield the meta-power of legal ethics.”

MIKE DAVIS: WHY SENATE MUST IGNORE OBAMA JUDGE’S ATTACK ON AG NOMINEE TODD BLANCHE

Clark has also faced disciplinary proceedings in Washington, D.C., where a disciplinary board recommended he be disbarred over his role in a proposed DOJ letter to Georgia officials after the 2020 election — allegations he has denied and cast as politically motivated.

“DOJ has the power to put an end to this nonsense by issuing regulations preempting state/local bar weaponization,” he added.

While Williams ordered the clerk to forward her opinion to disciplinary authorities reviewing existing complaints involving Blanche and Woodward, she formally referred Brito to the Florida Bar after finding that he advanced the case in “bad faith.”

Williams said Trump’s lawsuit surrounding his tax immunity settlement was used to give judicial legitimacy to a legally baseless settlement; she flagged conflict concerns involving Blanche and Woodward’s prior clients and ordered the opinion sent to their bars, while formally referring Brito to the Florida Bar because he signed the complaint that launched the case.

“I find it absurd that federal judges continue to attack DOJ lawyers, to include and especially Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, with roots in nothing more than the political viewpoints of those supposed unbiased judges,” Jay Town, the former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, told Fox News Digital.

Williams was appointed to the bench in 2011 by President Barack Obama. She previously issued a ruling against “Alligator Alcatraz,” a detention center operated by the state of Florida to house illegal immigrants awaiting deportation, but was overruled by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“On the bright side, this and the likely more orders like this one we may see out of other district courts nationwide … may nevertheless present higher courts — perhaps our highest one, too — with a chance to revisit judge-made doctrines like justiciability, which increasingly show their ability to be weaponized not only from outside but also from within the judiciary itself,” Gonzalez-Rivera told Fox News Digital.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Conservative lawyer Mike Davis has called on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to overrule Williams’s ruling in this case. 

“The federal Judge in Florida clearly strategically timed her referral of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to the New York Bar to come just before his confirmation hearing to be elevated to the Attorney General’s Office,” Clark told Fox News Digital. “This is flatly unconscionable non-judicial conduct.”

Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate and reality TV star Spencer Pratt took aim at Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz in a post that was widely praised by conservatives on social media.

“If you find yourself defending a child molester, saying: ‘WE can’t be judged by OUR worst day’, you probably need to have your hard drives checked,” Pratt posted on X on Friday.

Pratt was responding to a clip of Walz defending the pardon of a convicted child rapist, contending that his deportation by the State Department did not make the U.S. safer.

“Did that make us any safer?” Walz questioned. “Did that make the children that are left behind any more stable? Did it improve the idea that we can’t all be judged by our worst day?”

TIM WALZ OFFERS STRANGE DEFENSE FOR PARDONING CONVICTED CHILD RAPIST TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DEPORTED

Pratt’s post quickly spread on social media from other conservatives bashing Walz.

“I couldn’t agree more, @spencerpratt,” Republican House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who represents Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, posted on X. “Tim Walz has ZERO morals. He is disgrace to Minnesota!”

EXPOSED DOCS REVEAL WHY TIM WALZ BOARD AWARDED REPEAT CHILD RAPIST PARDON: ‘NO FUTURE’

“To think… he was almost the Vice President,” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., posted on X.

“I didn’t used to understand the phrase, ‘bring common sense to DC,’ but it becomes more apparent every day that it’s missing at every level of government,” Florida Republican congressional candidate Tim Wilkins posted on X. “This is insanity.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Walz’s office for comment.

The Minnesota Board of Pardons, composed of Walz, state Attorney General Keith Ellison and state Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, granted clemency to Laotian national Tou Lue Vang, 42, on June 10. Vang was scheduled to be deported from the United States before the pardon.

Vang was convicted for repeatedly raping a 10-year-old girl between 2002 and 2004, and told authorities after he was arrested that “it is a cultural thing… to marry and have sex with girls as young as 12.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Secretary of State Marco Rubio stepped in to terminate Tou Lue Vang’s legal status in the U.S. and ensure that Walz’s actions would not create roadblocks for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) removing him from the country before Vang was ultimately deported.

Pratt has been increasingly active in politics on social media since finishing third in the Los Angeles mayoral primary and recently met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office which increased speculation that another political run could be in his future.

“I will never stop fighting for my community,” Pratt captioned the photo of the meeting on X.

Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this report.

A House task force chairman says companies helping foreign nationals travel to the United States to give birth so their children obtain U.S. citizenship could be engaging in a criminal conspiracy.

Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, who chairs the House Oversight Committee’s Task Force on Defending Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses, told Fox News Digital that his panel has subpoenaed several so-called “birth tourism companies” as it investigates firms advertising services to help foreign nationals travel to the United States to give birth.

“Right now, under current law, birth tourism is illegal. You cannot come into the United States for the purpose of giving birth,” Gill said.

TRUMP BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP FIGHT COMES ROARING BACK WITH ‘INVADERS’ PLAY AFTER KAVANAUGH ROADMAP

“And I believe that there’s a compelling legal case to be made that these businesses that are facilitating this process — facilitating somebody coming into the United States to give birth — lying on their immigration forms or on their visa forms — are engaging in a form of criminal conspiracy, and that’s what we’re going to get to the bottom of,” Gill said.

State Department regulations prohibit foreign nationals from obtaining visitor visas when consular officers determine that their primary purpose is traveling to the United States to give birth so their child obtains U.S. citizenship.

While Gill’s task force has been quietly looking into several companies since at least 2025, the national scrutiny intensified after photographs circulated in July of a billboard advertising for the Women’s Center at Mission Regional Medical Center in Mission, Texas – a stone’s throw from Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

The Spanish-language billboard advertised a now-defunct “Have My Baby In Texas” website, and quoted Mission Regional providing births for $3,950 and Caesarean Sections for $5,525. It also displayed a phone number that included “001” – the country code required for international calls to the U.S.

MAINE GOP HOPEFUL VYING FOR TRUMP ENDORSEMENT PREVIOUSLY RAN BIRTHING CLINICS CATERING TO MIGRANT WOMEN

Gill and others have since issued responses to the controversy, with the State of Texas also launching its own investigation of the hospital.

“I think it’s astounding,” Gill said. His task force is investigating several similar operations, including one in Miami, and has requested records from that business and three others nationwide.

Gill said birth tourism is an “obvious and clear abuse” of the U.S. immigration system and of the benevolence of the American people and the nation’s institutions.

TRUMP BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP FIGHT COMES ROARING BACK WITH ‘INVADERS’ PLAY AFTER KAVANAUGH ROADMAP

“We are the ones who often end up picking up the tab for a lot of these services,” he said, arguing that birthright citizenship was intended for former slaves and their children when the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868.

“It had nothing to do with hordes of illegal aliens crossing our southern border and giving birth in America and using those babies to anchor illegal aliens into our country. And for all of America’s history, we’ve always had a very clear understanding that there are certain people who are born within America’s boundaries, within America borders, who are not American citizens, the children of an invading army.”

The latter point was captured by Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., and put into legislation Fox News Digital exclusively broke earlier in the week.

That proposal would codify President Donald Trump’s executive order deeming the illegal immigration crisis an “invasion” and cite the 1898 Wong Kim Ark Supreme Court case’s exemption of citizenship for people not “bound to render obedience to the sovereign (U.S. government) whose domains are being invaded.”

Gill said he had heard about but not fully read Banks’ bill – but underlined he believes it to be a “phenomenal” plan of action.

“I think that that is the type of legal clarification that could help us out quite a bit in the long run,” he said.

“Remember that the goal is to make sure that our children’s birthright isn’t being taken away from us because foreigners are coming in and having babies in our country and then buying up our homes and taking American jobs and using welfare that the American people are paying for.”

Gill said the crisis touches on the biggest issue from the 2024 election cycle, which he considered to be the illegal immigration crisis writ-large.

“In this case; seeing people cross the border so that their children can be anchored into the United States. That is such an obvious abuse of the American People economically, socially, culturally. It’s a huge risk to America’s national defense.”

A Mission Regional spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Friday the hospital remains an “award-winning, nonprofit” infirmary that has been operating as such since 1954.

“We recognize that a very limited marketing campaign may have caused unintended misunderstanding and was immediately discontinued. The campaign was meant to highlight services available to the communities we serve and was never intended to encourage any unlawful activity and Mission Regional Medical Center remains committed to serving the Rio Grande Valley with integrity, compassion, transparency, and full compliance with all applicable laws,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the billboard campaign returned very little patient volume and no financial benefit to a community they said has a high uninsured-patient rate and limited maternity care.

“The hospital does not support or facilitate unlawful activity and has never operated its obstetric program with the intent of attracting individuals who are unlawfully present in the United States, promoting birth tourism, or encouraging travel to the United States for the purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship for a child,” the spokesperson added.

Citing a separate order from Austin, the spokesperson said 99% of all emergency and inpatient patients who responded to a state-required survey were legal U.S. residents or citizens.

SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“Birth tourism should never be big business in the United States. This tactic exploits U.S. immigration law, and those who willfully mispresent their intentions to temporarily come to the U.S. are breaking the law,” Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the greater Oversight Committee said in May.

In a concurrence to the Supreme Court’s June 30 ruling striking down Trump’s birthright citizenship order, Justice Brett Kavanaugh indicated that Congress could still act through legislation. Gill, Banks and other lawmakers have said they plan to pursue that route as they seek to restrict birthright citizenship.

Trump’s housing chief is taking aim at New York City’s housing agenda, arguing the policies championed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani would worsen affordability rather than solve it by discouraging private investment.

“Socialist progressive policies never work,” Turner told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. “To try to implement those policies in one of our greatest cities in the world — you will see people leaving New York in droves. Businesses and families can’t afford it.”

Turner’s comments come as Mamdani has made housing affordability a centerpiece of his administration, backing policies like rent freezes for stabilized apartments and higher taxes on corporations and wealthy residents to fund affordable housing. He also wants local government to play a larger role in addressing New York City’s housing shortage.

NEW YORK CITY IS ABOUT TO TEST MAMDANI’S PROGRESSIVE ECONOMIC VISION, HERE’S WHAT TO KNOW

As America’s largest city and one of its most expensive housing markets, New York has become a focal point in the national debate over how to address affordability.

Turner’s criticism reflects the Trump administration’s broader affordability strategy, which, in contrast to Mamdani, emphasizes reducing regulations, expanding the nation’s housing supply and encouraging private-sector investment rather than increasing government’s role in the market.

The Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary told Fox News Digital that states such as Florida and Texas are “ahead of the game” on addressing the affordability crisis because they have prioritized homebuilding and reducing regulatory barriers that drive up costs.

He argued New York should follow a similar approach, saying affordability improves when governments make it easier for builders to construct new homes rather than expand their role in the housing market.

“That’s what we’re doing now is easing the regulatory environment, bringing the cost down, raising the supply so builders can build and homeowners can buy,” Turner said.

‘AMERICAN HOUSES ARE FOR AMERICAN PEOPLE’: TRUMP HOUSING CHIEF INSISTS IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN WILL LOWER COSTS

Turner contrasted that approach with the policies championed by Mamdani in the nation’s largest city, arguing his approach discourages the investment needed to increase housing supply.

“The policies that he’s putting forth are not encouraging, they’re discouraging,” Turner said. “People want to go a place where they can get the government out of the way. The government is not the answer. The private sector is the answer. Family is the answer. Church and faith is the answer.”

Turner predicted that Mamdani’s governing philosophy would ultimately fail.

“Mamdani and his policies are the complete opposite of that,” Turner said. “So no, they’re not gonna work, period.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Mamdani has argued his proposals are necessary to address New York City’s housing affordability crisis, contending that stronger tenant protections and expanded public investment would help ease rising costs for working families.

Mamdani’s office did not respond to Fox New Digital’s request for comment.