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Nebraska resident Haile McAnally believes it was “divine intervention” that saved her from bleeding to death in her own bathroom shortly after high school.

She told Fox News Digital that abortion medication, in the form of pills, was to blame for her having “hemorrhaged in the bath,” and that she is now focused on sparing other women the same possible fate.

“Planned Parenthood told us that this is what is women empowerment. This is what women do when they can’t handle it. They take this route, and they don’t acknowledge the pain it causes,” McAnally said. 

“The same pills I took under direction of medical professionals, they can be shipped anywhere at any time,” she continued. “I can’t imagine being a young woman in college and maybe finding herself in this position, ordering these pills online, not knowing what kind of maybe pre-medical condition she has, and she finds herself in the same position.”

FIRST ON FOX: TOP REPUBLICANS TAKE ABORTION PILL FIGHT TO SUPREME COURT, CITING COERCION AND SAFETY RISKS

McAnally said the experience is also part of what motivated her to switch parties from a pro-choice “registered Democrat” to a pro-life Republican.

“I had always been on the left because I thought they were the side that was more open to having these conversations, the free-thinkers,” she recalled.

McAnally said her questions about how and why her ordeal happened were met with, “You can’t talk about it. You can’t talk about it because it’s not part of our agenda. It’s not a part of our platform to talk about any complications this may have.”

“I noticed the more I asked questions, the people on the right were more willing to talk about it, which, in the pro-life space, I thought I was gonna be condemned. I thought it was gonna like, ‘You’re gonna go to hell. This is horrible. You’re a murderer.’ These things that you always hear from the left that the right is gonna call you,” she said.

And I was like, ‘I’m gonna talk about it and see what happens.’ And the right was so forgiving and so loving and really embraced my story and really said, ‘This is horrible, I’m glad you seek forgiveness and counsel for this.'”

McAnally told Fox News Digital that it had always been her dream to become a mother. When she got pregnant by her boyfriend, however, she said he had a very different response.

“He asked me what I was gonna do about it and hung up the phone, and I haven’t talked to him since,” she said.

She recalled being fearful of going through the experience alone and turning to pro-choice groups for guidance.

“I remember seeing the pink signs everywhere and the marketing that says … the sisterhood will take care of you,” she said. “And as someone in that position where you’re scared, and you are looking for answers somewhere, and you don’t wanna be alone and being so young at the time, that was a very enticing message.”

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McAnally described the clinic as being “cold,” “dark,” and smelling of rubbing alcohol.

“They took my money, and they sent me back to this room where … this doctor was going to walk me through everything that was going to happen that day. That’s the consent kind of happened, in that room, and he didn’t know me from Adam. He really didn’t ask about my background and anything medical that’s ever happened,” she recalled.

ABORTION PILL FIGHT HEADS TO SUPREME COURT AS MANUFACTURER WARNS OF ‘CHAOS’ AFTER RULING

But as an “emotional and scared” young woman, McAnally said she signed the consent forms and was given one abortion pill and told to take a second one at home. She said medical staff warned her it would feel like “a more intense period,” recommending a heating pad and tea for comfort.

“I followed that protocol, went home, took the second pill, and I found myself on the toilet in the bathroom where bleeding occurred, which was exactly what they said. But after about two hours, I was still bleeding out. And I started feeling really weak. I knew that what was happening was not right, but I couldn’t really comprehend what was going on,” McAnally said.

I CHOSE ABORTION, THEN CHANGED MY MIND — CALIFORNIA WANTS THAT CHOICE GONE

She said she dragged herself into the bathtub before realizing her condition had quickly become serious — but that her phone was out of reach.

“I just laid there and thought that was the moment that everything was over, and, partially, I felt like it was punishment for me making that decision,” she said. “But at the end of the day, I remember waking up, and I was in the hospital and my friend had come home, and she had realized that I was laying in the bathtub unconscious at the time, and she called 911, and I had a blood transfusion done.”

McAnally said she now feels like it’s her duty to warn other women of the potential dangers of unfettered access to mifepristone.

That’s why she and several other women allied with anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America are heading to Capitol Hill on Thursday to meet with lawmakers and staffers. Their plea: curb access to mail-order abortion pills.

“Women who’ve suffered the devastating effects of abortion drugs who are clear-eyed about the lies of the Big Abortion industry are the most effective advocates,” said SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “Their lives are forever changed, but they’re standing strong and having a powerful impact on Capitol Hill and beyond.”

A study in JAMA Internal Medicine observed that 0.6% of women who get mail-order abortion pills experience medical emergencies that leave them hospitalized. A conflicting study by the Ethics and Public Policy Center said one in 10 women have a “serious adverse event.”

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It’s a testament to the volatile, often emotional politics that have consumed the abortion debate in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

Fox News Digital reached out to Planned Parenthood for comment.

China’s President Xi Jinping is set to arrive on U.S. soil later Wednesday for what is expected to be a tense showdown between President Donald Trump and the communist leader.

A red carpet rollout is planned for when Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, arrive at Joint Base Andrews Wednesday evening, replete with an arrival ceremony for the man who has found himself at odds with Trump on issues ranging from artificial intelligence and intellectual property theft, trade practices, rare-earth minerals to the communist county’s support for Iran during America’s military conflict there. Xi hasn’t visited the nation’s capital in more than a decade.

AI will be a major topic of discussion during the two-day summit, which officially begins Thursday morning and ends Friday evening, according to a senior administration official. Thursday will begin with a prestigious State Arrival Ceremony, including 479 military personnel from all branches on the South Lawn, State Floor and Rose Garden of the White House.

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According to the official, a wide-ranging deal on possible tariff reductions on non-strategic goods is an expected topic of discussion, who also said the nation’s leaders will discuss rare-earth exports and possible export controls. Trump is also expected to press China to do more to curb fentanyl precursor chemical exports.

Trump is also likely to press for the release of an American who has been wrongfully detained in China, Gulshan Abbas, who has languished in a Chinese prison for eight years. The country accused her of “participating in a terrorist organization” after her sister spoke out about China’s genocide of Uyghurs, according to Forbes. House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans have expressed confidence that Trump will push for her release.

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First Lady Melania Trump is expected to accompany Peng to the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, “to explore works spanning centuries of artistic achievement and Sino-American cultural exchange.”

The day will end with an elaborate state dinner with high-profile guests, including many from the tech world.

Those guests will include Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, SpaceX founder and former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser and Apple board of directors Chairman Tim Cook.

Trump boasted about American AI supremacy over China during an address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York Tuesday, using his newly-minted term for the technology, “superintelligence.”

TRUMP’S AI RACE WITH CHINA COULD BECOME THE BIGGEST MISTAKE OF OUR TIME

“Every major new technology brings challenges, and superintelligence is no exception,” said Trump. “Whoever wins superintelligence wins. That’s the group that wins. And we’re leading now over China by a lot and everyone else. And we’re going to keep it that way.”

Trump traveled to Beijing in May where he met with Xi, and the two sides agreed to a “constructive” trade truce, pausing a tit-for-tat tariff battle, but only for non-strategic goods. That deal has tentatively held, but during that visit, China also agreed to purchase billions more in American agricultural products like soybeans, and 200 Boeing aircraft. Boeing confirmed the order.

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The 47th president said at the time that he struck “fantastic trade deals” that were “great for both countries.”

Six weeks before the midterms, President Donald Trump is complicating one of Republicans’ central campaign arguments against Democrats — warmly praising New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani after repeatedly warning voters about the rise of socialism and communism on the left.

“I want him to be a great mayor, and he’s certainly got potential, got great potential,” Trump told reporters as he patted Mamdani on the back after the two leaders met Monday at New York City’s Gracie Mansion.

The meeting, where the two leaders discussed cost of living and housing issues, isn’t sitting well with some Republicans fighting to keep control of the House and Senate in the midterms.

“All of it is self-inflicted, off-message, not helpful,” a GOP strategist who asked to remain anonymous to speak freely told Fox News Digital. “None of these candidates out in these states, where these races are tighter and more competitive than they should be, are helped by any of this.”

MAMDANI TELLS TRUMP BANNED NEWS OUTLETS ARE WELCOME AT NYC MEETING

Another Republican consultant, who also asked for anonymity, argued, “This is a president who is in a fully self-indulgent period. It doesn’t seem like he really cares about winning. It’s all off key.”

Less than two weeks ago, Trump told Republicans gathered in Dallas at the GOP’s first-ever midterm convention that there is a “communist” takeover of the Democratic Party.

“In state after state, the Democrat establishment has been overthrown and replaced by crazed lunatics and radicals. They call themselves Democrat socialists, but actually, they’re communists,” the president said.

THE GOP’S ‘SOCIALIST’ MIDTERM PLAYBOOK

Fast-forward to Monday, and Trump held his third meeting with Mamdani since he won election last year as the first socialist and first Muslim mayor of the nation’s most populous city.

A third GOP strategist, who was also granted anonymity, argued, “It seems he keeps on stepping on the message, making the election about how crazy the left is and communists and socialists and then appearing with them and yukking it up.”

A top Trump supporter quickly took to social media to blast the encounter.

“I am a die hard Trump supporter and today I am feeling demoralized because Mamdani is a full blown communist jihadist. He is the spiritual leader of the communists in America and he met with the President today in NYC less than 45 days before the midterms,” right-wing activist and MAGA champion Laura Loomer argued on social media.

Loomer, an internet personality who has carved out an influential unofficial role as Trump confidant, emphasized, “How is this supposed to make Trump’s most loyal supporters feel? We don’t feel very happy today. We were told to FIGHT communism. But when we fight communism, we see the communist get rewarded… The base is very angry today.”

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Alex Bruesewitz, a longtime Trump aide who now serves as a leading outside adviser to the president, shot back on X, writing, “I don’t understand the “Republicans” who are upset about the President having a friendly relationship with the Mayor of New York @ZohranKMamdani. It’s not wrong to have friendly relationships with people you disagree with. In fact, it’s healthy and good for you!”

Republicans are fighting against traditional political headwinds facing the party in power and a rough political climate fueled by persistent inflation, surging gas and diesel prices, what polls show is a very unpopular war with Iran, and Trump’s underwater approval ratings.

To flip the script, a key part of the GOP playbook aims to turn what’s normally a referendum on the party in power into a choice election by painting all Democrats on the ballot as far-left radicals.

While some Republican strategists say Trump is stepping on the message, others are not concerned.

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“I don’t think it’s that big a deal,” veteran GOP consultant Dave Carney told Fox News Digital.

Carney said that Trump’s meeting with Mamdani “goes with his role” as president “and it’s not a political role. The federal government and the president and the city have to work together.”

But Carney, pointing to left-wing Democrats on the midterm ballot, said “these other candidates out there who advocate these really radical crazy positions aren’t elected yet.”

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Longtime Republican strategist and communicator Ryan Williams, referring to Trump, said the meeting “has the ability to make some on the right angry when he praises, Mamdani, but I don’t think it has really has any political implications.”

“Trump appreciates talent and whatever you think of Mayor Mamdani, the guy is politically talented,” Williams added. “I think the president appreciates that.”

Fox News reached out to the White House for comment, but didn’t receive a response at the time this report was published.

U.S. Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., has emerged as one of the most outspoken foreign policy voices in Congress during his short tenure on Capitol Hill. 

He frames the modern political battleground not just merely as a domestic election but as an existential struggle to preserve Western civilization. 

In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, the Florida Republican pulled no punches as he tied anti-Israel sentiment and opposition to domestic AI data centers directly to foreign influence operations by Iran and China, positioning himself as an unapologetic fighter for President Donald Trump’s agenda.

GOP REP RANDY FINE DECLARES THAT DEPORTING ALL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IS THE TOP WAY TO MAKE THE US AFFORDABLE

As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has emerged as a political lightning rod, serving as a primary litmus test for the American left, Fine believes foreign money has played a large part in shaping public opinion.

“I think it’s a focused effort over many decades to try to pollute our population with these ridiculous ideas,” Fine said. “But I think it’s accelerated since Oct. 7 as massive amounts of foreign money have come in to try and manipulate public opinion through social media. They lie. And here’s how you know they lie. When other countries kill tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of their people, no one seems to be bothered. 

“But when Israel defends itself from a terrorist attack, they lose their minds. Iran killed 40,000 of its own people in a couple of days earlier this year. Those same people who are upset with Israel are actually siding with Iran. The good news is the vast majority of the American people understand that the United States and Israel are fighting to save Western civilization, and that’s certainly a message that I’m focused on spreading every day.”

As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is sweeping through mainstream culture with the recent cancellation of Macklemore’s tour dates in football stadiums, Fine is a staunch defender of Robert Kraft’s decision and denies it’s merely “conservative cancel culture.”

“So, first off, they weren’t political statements,” Fine said. “I mean, is calling for the death of Jews a political statement? I mean it’s antisemitism in the same way racism against black people is. And while you’re allowed to be an idiot, as this Macklemore guy is, you don’t have the right to perform in a stadium that’s owned by private citizens. 

“He didn’t want a guy who puts a prosthetic nose on his face, in order to appear to be a Nazi, performing in his stadium. He has every right to say that is not welcome. 

“That doesn’t mean Macklemore can’t stand on the street corner and preach his views. Cancel culture is when you cannot exist, when you’re debanked, when you literally cannot function in society. 

“But in the same way, I have the right to say whatever I want, other people have the right to you can’t say it in my house. And that’s all that’s happened here. I think he [Robert Kraft] did the right thing. I think we need more of it.”

AOC JOINS MACKLEMORE FUNDRAISING MEMO TARGETING ROBERT KRAFT

Fine has also been at the forefront of condemning the militant pro-Palestinian protesters who have taken over university campuses across the country over the past year.

“I think we draw the line at violence. Every student has the right to get an education,” Fine said. “And, so, for example, when Jewish students are not able to come to class, when they’re not able to walk across campus, when they’re blamed for the actions of a country on the other side of the world, that is where you’ve crossed a line. 

“Look, I had to deal with the ‘free Palestine’ idiots when I was in college, you know, 30 years ago. But they didn’t affect my ability to actually exist and to do my job and to be a student. So. I just didn’t worry about it.”

Fine has described himself as “MAGA through and through” and sees himself as one of the president’s staunchest defenders in Congress.

“Well, I believe in making America great again. I’ve been a huge supporter of the president,” Fine said. “I was the first member of the Florida House to support President Trump when he ran for president again in 2024. And I believe that the president is really putting his fingers in the dam of the destruction of Western civilization, which so many are trying to shove down our throats. 

“So, I’m here to be a warrior and a soldier for President Trump’s agenda, and I’ve been proud to do it since I got elected on April 1 of last year.”

As domestic opposition to data centers has skyrocketed and AI regulation emerges as a major issue heading into the midterms, Fine warns that China is using both issues to win a geopolitical advantage over the United States.

“I think it’s largely an op by China. And let’s explain why. So, I think the 21st century, who wins the 21st century, will largely be defined by who wins the war over AI. And that fight is on four levels. 

“One is hardware. Who has the best hardware? Right now, America is in the lead on that. Who has the best software? Right now, America is on the lead. 

“Who has the best energy infrastructure? Unfortunately, China has the lead on that because while the idiots on our side have said let’s not have coal-fired power plants … let’s not have nuclear, let’s get all of our energy from solar and windmills, China, who’s selling us all the solar and the windmills, is putting up coal-fired power plants. So, cheap, plentiful energy. China’s winning that fight.

“But the fourth front in that fight is what they call compute: data centers. If you want to use Grok, if you want to use ChatGPT, if you want to use Claude and you type that stuff in, something needs to be doing the thinking. It’s not happening on your phone. It’s happening at a data center. And China has realized that if they can get America to not put data centers in, well then those data centers have to go in China, and China wins on that front of the war. 

“Does that mean you should be able to put a data center in a neighborhood? No, it doesn’t. But does that mean the data centers are a critical part of re-industrializing the United States to make sure we win the war over AI? It absolutely is.”

Finally, Congressman Fine addressed the looming midterm elections as Republicans face headwinds to retain control of both chambers, making a forceful case for the GOP’s accomplishments in the 119th Congress.

“Well, I’d say two things. No. 1, look at what we’ve done. The largest tax cut in American history. No tax on tips, no tax on overtime. Look at President Trump sealing the border. Look at the first net migration out of the country in decades. Look at the stopping of the transgender things. Look at all the extraordinary achievements. Remember how bad things were two years ago? 

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“But the second thing is understand what we’re at risk of if the Democrats win. All of the good things that we have done. Many of the Democrats that I serve with hate America. If you think Ilhan Omar, if you think Rashida Tlaib, if you think Abdulrahman Mohammed El-Sayed, if you think Zohran Mamdani, if you think they think America is good and that they love America, you’re out of your mind. 

“And the Democratic Party has been poisoned by people who hate America. The barbarians are no longer outside the gates, they’re inside and they’re running for Congress. And they can never be allowed to have power because they will make it their single-minded mission to destroy the country.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani fired back at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday after the Israeli leader accused him of supporting Hamas terrorists and inciting unrest against Jewish New Yorkers, escalating their long-running feud days before Netanyahu is expected in the city.

When asked by reporters about Netanyahu’s video, Mamdani rejected the prime minister’s accusations.

“We all know that what the prime minister has said in that video is not true,” Mamdani said. “What we do know to actually be the truth when it comes to the prime minister is that he is the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

NETANYAHU ACCUSES MAMDANI OF ‘FOMENTING HATE,’ SAYS RHETORIC IS MAKING NEW YORK JEWS AFRAID

The ICC issued the arrest warrant in November 2024 over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, but Netanyahu and the Israeli government have rejected the allegations and challenged the court’s actions.

Mamdani went further, leveling additional accusations against the Israeli leader days before he is slated to speak at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

“And as the prime minister, he is the architect of horrific genocide against Palestinians,” Mamdani asserted. “And just a few days ago, his military killed an 11-year-old boy in what is deemed to be a safe zone in Gaza. So that is what I have to say to his video.”

ISRAELI UN ENVOY BLASTS MAMDANI AS ‘CLOWN’ OVER CALL TO ARREST NETANYAHU: ‘IT’S A STUNT’

The mayor was responding to comments Netanyahu made earlier Tuesday in a video pledging to “tell the truth” about Mamdani when he speaks at the U.N.

“Shame on you, Mr. Mamdani. Shame on you for supporting the Hamas terrorist monsters who butchered our people. Shame on you for inciting riots against New York Jews,” Netanyahu said in the video posted to X.

“I’m coming to the U.N. I am going to tell the truth about our heroic soldiers, and I’m going to tell you the truth about you,” he added.

EXCLUSIVE: ISRAELI PRESIDENT HERZOG BLASTS MAMDANI, PRAISES TRUMP, SOUNDS ALARM ON IRAN

The exchange is the latest chapter in an ongoing public feud between the two leaders and comes as Netanyahu prepares to visit the city Mamdani leads.

Earlier this year, Mamdani explored whether New York City could execute the ICC warrant against Netanyahu — an issue he had campaigned on — before acknowledging that the city could not enforce the warrant on its own.

Mamdani has previously called Netanyahu a “war criminal” and an “architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people.” He also said over the summer that Netanyahu was “not welcome” in New York City.

“I want to be equally clear: Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large,” Mamdani said at the time.

Mamdani has also defended New Yorkers’ right to protest during Netanyahu’s visit, though he has said he is not encouraging them to demonstrate.

MAMDANI DODGES ON ‘POLITICAL THEATER’ OF EMPTY NETANYAHU ARREST THREAT, CALLS FOR US ACTION AND NYC PROTESTS

When asked in July what New Yorkers frustrated with Netanyahu should do when the Israeli leader visited the city, Mamdani pointed to protest as an option.

“One of the bedrocks of our city is protest,” Mamdani said. “It is something that has been a part of what makes our city so special, that New Yorkers can express themselves whether they are in support or in opposition no matter on whatever topic.”

More recently, Mamdani clarified that he had no plans to participate in protests surrounding Netanyahu’s visit and said he had not encouraged New Yorkers to demonstrate.

“To New Yorkers, I have never encouraged them to protest,” Mamdani said last week. “What I have always told them is that they have the right to do so in the city.”

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Following Mamdani’s meeting with President Donald Trump on Monday, the mayor was also asked whether he discussed Netanyahu with the president.

Mamdani said their conversation remained focused on New York City and New Yorkers. The mayor’s office said after Monday’s meeting that Mamdani and Trump discussed issues affecting the city, including affordability and economic development.

“And when it comes to the prime minister, though, I’ve made very clear where I stand on that,” Mamdani said.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman-Diamond contributed to this report.

House Republicans released six closely watched transcripts Tuesday, offering a new-look inside former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s controversial investigation of President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers.

Committee Republicans allege investigators improperly subpoenaed phone records belonging to more than a dozen GOP lawmakers during the Arctic Frost probe, and secured gag orders preventing lawmakers from learning the Biden-Harris Justice Department had obtained their records.

Taken together, they add substantial detail about the reasoning behind investigatory decisions — especially concerning how they approached probing lawmaker communications — as they investigated whether Trump had attempted to block the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election. They reveal efforts that Smith’s office took to make sure the investigation followed the norms and processes that would apply to any investigation. But it also laid bare key differences in the way the investigation was practically carried out that separated it from most probes.

The documents include testimony from five members of the special prosecutor’s office, including J.P. Cooney, Molly Gaston, Ray Hulser, Tad Duree and Thomas Windom, all members of Smith’s team. The released files also include testimony from Brian Burnett, an agent for the Office of Inspector General (OIG).

The new revelations focus especially on communications gathered from Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., the only lawmaker who had his phone seized as a part of the investigation. 

According to testimony from Smith’s prosecutor, Timothy “Tad” Duree, investigators had decided to seize the phone using a warrant because of his proximity to Trump and his hand in trying to find a legal strategy to keep Trump in office after he lost. Notably, Perry was a go-between from Trump to Jeffrey Clark, the highest-ranking DOJ official willing to explore weaknesses in the 2020 election.

Duree described that warrant process as comparable to other investigations.

“If you seek to obtain something voluntarily, people can just choose not to give it to you. That’s one obvious thing. But there are myriad opportunities for evidence to be altered, tampered with, deleted, added to. And in this search warrant, same as any others, it was important to me and our team to obtain evidence in a way that it was unadulterated,” Duree said in his testimony.

The operation entailed pinging Perry’s phone to find its location.

Thomas Windom testified investigators obtained a “location-warrant” — which found Perry to be on vacation in New Jersey. According to Duree’s transcript, agents located Perry, seized his phone and imaged it, then returned it.

“In this particular case … the whole team wanted to image the phone and get it back to Congressman Perry as quickly as possible. We were trying real hard to do this in a way that was minimally disruptive, it was as respectful as it could be, and it didn’t put Congressman Perry in an awkward spot where we’re seizing a phone right out on Independence [Avenue] in front of the Rayburn Building or it’s some big hubbub,” Windom recalled.

More broadly, investigators also reassured lawmakers that Smith had been cautious about subpoenaing communications from members of Congress. Husler, another one of the prosecutors on Smith’s team, said that they had looked to narrow the scope of which ones were deemed necessary.

“Well, I talked with him about it,” Husler recalled about the selection process. “And, as we got into the May subpoenas, you could see, not only was it [a] narrow list of people, but there were written justifications for it. So he wanted to be very careful if we were going to be getting subpoenas for members.” 

Naturally, securing the communications of lawmakers came with complications.

Duree acknowledged that court-ordered secrecy surrounding subpoenas for lawmakers’ phone records often prevented the lawmakers from challenging the demands while the orders were active. Duree said he did not particularly remember specifics from correspondence about obtaining Rep. Chip Roy’s, R-Texas, phone records that were raised during his interview with investigators.

Rather than serving the subpoena on Roy, investigators sought the records from his phone provider. A nondisclosure order (NDO) prevented the provider from notifying the subscriber about the government’s demand, essentially preventing the lawmaker from asking questions.

Duree acknowledged the practical limitation. A nondisclosure order “will prohibit a person who holds that phone number from litigating issues surrounding the subpoena,” he testified.

He was then pressed as to whether he believed the act violated the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution that protects lawmakers.

Duree did not concede that obtaining the lawmakers’ toll records violated the Speech or Debate Clause. Later in his testimony, he maintained that prosecutors believed the records they sought were not protected by the clause, while acknowledging there was a “lack of clarity on certain points” of the law that arose during the investigation.

“I would say we were hypervigilant and extremely aware of the contours of the Speech or Debate Clause. We knew that Speech or Debate was something that we had to navigate. We treated it seriously,” he said, adding that while case law on the clause can appear “underdeveloped,” he took it seriously.

“[It’s] a common thing, particularly in complex investigations, to run into the corners of the law that aren’t fully built out,” he said.

While parts of the testimony underscored efforts to manage the investigation by the book, other parts highlighted some unusual characteristics.

The Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section knew investigators were seeking Jordan’s phone records when it approved the investigative step in April 2022, according to page seven of the transcript of Jack Smith team prosecutor Tad Duree. However, the OIG agent who served the subpoena to Verizon – Brain Burnett – did not know who the particular number belonged to, and only purportedly figured it out much later.

“It was not until I had been retired and this was on the news and there was conversation about Mr. Jordan’s toll records being subpoenaed and then there was a subpoena that came up on the internet,” Burnett testified, according to his own transcript.

“But I do not know, as we sit here today, if that was his number or not.”

He said that if he had known just who the toll records belonged to, he would have raised the issue with his superiors. Burnett said that the records sought by “AUSAs” – federal prosecutors–were typically nameless: “Just phone numbers,” he said.

The testimony illustrates a gap in the process – in that the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section knew a particular phone number sought belonged to Jordan, while that information was not disclosed to subordinates.

Transcript testimony also revealed that Smith’s work was more hands-on than other investigations.

A veteran agent assigned to the Jeffrey Clark investigation testified that the probe operated in a way “unique, as far as the over 30 years of law enforcement experience I have,” according to transcript documents released by Jordan’s panel.

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Prosecutors directed investigative steps normally handled by agents, he said, describing the dynamic as “top down,” in that when a forensics agent receives the results of a subpoena, it would go back to the prosecutor – not the agent who subpoenaed the records, according to Brian Burnett – one of six individuals whose interviews were released.

Burnett spent 15 years in the DOJ’s inspector general’s office before his 2024 retirement, and was a senior narcotics detective with the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s office in a Richmond, Virginia suburb for nine years.

Asked whether he had encountered another case during his career in which prosecutors dictated the investigation in that manner, Burnett responded, “Not in my entire 30 years of law enforcement.”

President Donald Trump’s social media company is facing a lawsuit from the city of San Francisco over a paid Truth Social subscription service that gives certain customers early access to the president’s posts.

San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu announced the lawsuit Tuesday, alleging that Trump Media’s Truth API service operates as a “pay-to-play scheme,” allowing subscribers to receive President Donald Trump’s market-moving posts before they are publicly available. 

The lawsuit seeks to block the service and impose civil penalties under California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL). 

Chiu alleged the service gives wealthy subscribers an “unfair advantage” by providing early access to government information before it reaches the broader public.

TRUMP WARNS HE’LL BE ‘LAST REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT’ IF SENATE GOP DOESN’T MAKE MAJOR CHANGE

“Truth Social has knowingly created a marketplace for insider trading by giving high-paying subscribers an unfair advantage over ordinary investors in the market,” Chiu said at a news conference Tuesday. “It’s a pay-to-play scheme for early access to the president’s market-moving government decisions.”

The monthly subscription was rolled out Aug. 1 and costs between $60,000 to $100,000 in exchange for early access to market-moving posts from Truth Social accounts with large followings, including Trump’s own account.

“No ordinary person can pay that fee,” Chiu said. “Now the early subscribers are largely high-frequency trading firms with the technology to analyze that information and to make trades within microseconds.”

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Chiu also said Trump owns roughly 41% of Trump Media and “is personally benefiting from this business scheme.”

A Trump Media spokesperson pushed back on the allegations, telling Fox News Digital, “The people of California should outsource their future lawsuits to AI chatbots who, unlike the left-wing activists masquerading as attorneys who filed this lawsuit, will grasp the basic distinction between public and nonpublic information.”

The lawsuit was filed Monday, the same day that dozens of former federal prosecutors and agents filed a court brief backing a separate lawsuit over Truth API, according to CBS News.

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The separate lawsuit, brought by The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation, alleges the paid service violates the First and Fifth amendments.

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A White House spokesperson referred Fox News Digital to Trump Media and The Trump Organization for comment.

Representatives for The Trump Organization and Chiu’s office could not immediately be reached by Fox News Digital for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Julia Bonavita contributed to this report.

NEW YORK, N.Y. – As President Donald Trump readies for high-stakes negotiations with Chinese President Xi Jinping, a network of pro-China organizations funded by pro-communist tech tycoon Neville Roy Singham is taking to the streets from New York City to Austin, creating the image of rolling street unrest that lawmakers warn China can exploit to project a perception of chaos in the United States.

Yesterday, Singham’s wife, Jodie Evans, wore a trademark fuchsia straw hat and protested across the street from the United Nations on E. 47th Street, between First and Second Avenue, under an arch at Katharine Hepburn Garden, smiling widely next to agitators from the far-left CodePink nonprofit she co-founded and her American-born husband helped fund from his base in Shanghai. As part of their elaborate weeklong calendar, the activists railed against the U.S. military and its “all-out climate and environmental devastation.” and then they marched to the offices of Open AI to demonstrate against data centers they allege “drive war” and “economic degradation.”

The week’s protests reflect a pattern of rapid mobilization around breaking news and political flashpoints. The sequencing of events — combined with messaging sharply critical of the United States and silent about China’s human-rights, environmental and civil-liberties record — raises questions lawmakers debated last week about whether some activists function as “Trojan horses” for foreign adversaries such as China. Recently, Evans posted a video lauding China for building an economy that helps citizens “grow and thrive.” Last year, Singham delivered a speech in China supporting the Chinese Communist Party and Xi’s “new world order.”

SOCIALIST, COMMUNIST GROUPS COORDINATE, PROMOTE ‘SPONTANEOUS’ ANTI-ICE PROTESTS IN AUSTIN

Lawmakers have warned that the cumulative visibility of such actions shape public perceptions, project an image of instability and give foreign adversaries a potential messaging – and negotiating – advantage as Trump prepares for high-stakes talks with Xi this week.

“The American people need to know that this is not just an organic movement,” Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, told Fox News Digital. “There has to be more transparency across all areas with these kinds of activities.”

Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., chairman of the House Select Committee on China, told Fox News Digital the network’s grassroots image belies the serious funding infrastructure behind these groups. “In these situations where you have groups that portray themselves as grassroots, it’s really more Astroturf, very fake,” he said.

He said the protests “raises serious concerns” about malign foreign influence in the U.S., especially “when you see them actively speaking out against American interests.”

The protests are publicly framed as separate events involving immigration, climate change, artificial intelligence, militarism and Israel. But their shared sponsorships show how organizations within the broader Singham network move quickly from one issue to another, using national organizations, local chapters, social-media promotion and shared venues to create a cumulative impression of coordinated street activism.

Moolenaar called for “clarification and transparency” regarding the organizations’ finances and questioned whether they should continue receiving tax-exempt status, adding that their political involvement may violate “campaign rules and political rules here in the United States.”

LAWMAKERS RAISE ALARM OVER NEVILLE ROY SINGHAM’S $278M NETWORK SPREADING CCP PROPAGANDA IN THE U.S.

HASAN PIKER DEFENDS PRO-COMMUNIST, ANTI-ICE SINGHAM NETWORK ACTIVISTS AS ‘WONDERFUL PEOPLE’

The significance of the week’s activity is heightened by the scale of Singham’s financial support for the network. A Fox News Digital investigation has documented how Singham has pumped $285 million through a donor-advised fund and shell companies into a broader network of six major nonprofits, media outlets and activist organizations that have promoted anti-American and pro-China messaging.

In that network, Singham has given CodePink $1.33 million, while doling out $22.44 million to the People’s Forum, a hub for the protest activity this week, and $1.098 million to BreakThrough BT Media, a media arm of the network that is flooding social media with images and videos from the coordinated protests this week.

As Fox News Digital reported exclusively, the Justice Department’s Southern District of New York has convened a federal grand jury investigation into Singham’s financial network, sources say. Prosecutors are examining whether Singham, the organizations he funded or their leaders engaged in alleged wire fraud, bank fraud or money laundering, according to sources. Singham hasn’t been charged with a crime, and the investigation doesn’t establish that he personally directed each protest. Singham, the People’s Forum, CodePink and BreakThrough News haven’t responded to repeated requests for comment.

The sequence began Sunday night in Austin, where socialist and communist organizations rapidly promoted an anti-ICE protest after the shooting of Venezuelan national Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez. The Democratic Socialists of America, Freedom Road Socialist Organization and Party for Socialism and Liberation amplified calls for demonstrators to gather at 8121 Research Blvd. in Austin.

Although media accounts described the protest as organic, the mobilization moved through an existing national activist infrastructure. The Singham network’s Party for Socialism and Liberation and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization circulated video and protest messaging, while Democratic Socialists of America promoted the gathering as “spontaneous” and called supporters to the streets. The protest later spread beyond Austin, with activists in Pearsall, Tex., pledging to put “boots on the ground.”

In response to Fox News Digital’s reporting on the protests, the Party for Socialism and Liberation published a video with an activist “rejecting” criticism of its Austin protests as a “nefarious” coordinated event and called the protests the result of “righteous anger.”

The Party for Socialism and Liberation, Democratic Socialists of America and Freedom Road Socialist Organization didn’t respond to requests for comment.

CHINESE PROPAGANDA, SINGHAM NETWORK, FOREIGN DARK MONEY LINKED TO CAMPAIGNS AGAINST DATA CENTERS

On Monday, the network’s actions moved to New York City, where Singham’s wife, Evans, and her cadre of CodePink activists began a week of demonstrations tied to Climate Week and the United Nations. CodePink co-founder Susan Medea Benjamin has led previous protests, including demonstrations supporting China.

After the environmental activism led by Evans outside the UN, CodePink agitators joined an “Unplug OpenAI” protest outside OpenAI’s offices on Lafayette Street, linking artificial-intelligence data centers to the “military-industrial complex.” The group’s weeklong schedule promised “disruptions” and “bird-dogging,” a tactic in which seemingly regular people plant themselves in restaurants, conferences and other events to heckle and harass public officials and even ordinary citizens, peppering them with questions and shaming rhetoric without any real interest in a dialogue.

Early Tuesday, CodePink celebrated its “fearless cofounder” Evan’s birthday with an Instagram collage of photos from her decades of activism, including the image of a smiling Evans in her pink straw hat, standing beside fuchsia balloons from a campaign called “China Is Not Our Enemy” that the group launched after receiving the donations from Singham. Another photo included her beaming smile next to controversial Marxist influencer Hasan Piker, as the two joined a caravan to support the Communist Party of Cuba.

Later in the day, CodePink activists moved their campaign inside the People’s Forum, a Manhattan hub for communist organizing for a screening of a film, “Earth’s Greatest Enemy,” by a fiercely anti-U.S. film company, Watermelon Pictures, chronicling the U.S. military as “one of the most significant drivers of environmental destruction,” the “world’s largest institutional polluter.”

Back in Austin, a short while later at about 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time, the Singham network’s BreakThrough News propaganda network posted edited video clips from the Austin protests, headlined: “SECOND DAY OF PROTESTS IN AUSTIN AFTER ICE SHOOTS VENEZUELAN DELIVERY DRIVER.”

For Wednesday, Evans and CodePink promise more protests against the U.S. military’s “role in climate issues.”

On Thursday, as Xi meets with Trump in the White House, the People’s Forum, CodePink, the Palestinian Youth Movement and other groups in the Singham network are hitting the streets to protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In social media posts, the groups are advertising a Thursday march from Bryant Park to the United Nations, calling on New Yorkers to “reject war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu and the genocidal Zionist project.”

That day, Evans and CodePink also plans to participate in a teach-in on “War & Climate: What U.S. Imperialism Demands of Our Climate Justice Movements” before joining the anti-Israel agitation. Organizers are lashing out against the “genocide” in Gaza and blasting “ecocide.”

By Friday, as Xi readies to leave town, the protests will go full circle back to Austin, with the Singham network’s Party for Socialism and Liberation planning a protest at 6 p.m. at City Hall with the simple message: “Now is the time for us all to be brave, to follow the example of Minneapolis earlier this year, and TAKE TO THE STREETS!”

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Twenty-seven years before Massachusetts proposed to dramatically expand a taxpayer-funded program sending nurses into the homes of families with newborns, legendary conservative firebrand and grassroots women’s leader Phyllis Schlafly posed a question that her daughter says now sounds remarkably familiar.

“Are the American people willing to allow government agents to come into their homes to ‘advise’ them how to care for their babies?” Schlafly wrote in a March 1999 column titled, “Watch out for ‘Big Sister’ as Well as ‘Big Brother.’”

The warning resurfaced as Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey seeks $2 million to expand the state’s Welcome Family program, which offers nurse visits following childbirth. The program serves approximately 3,000 births annually, and the expansion is intended to make visits available following roughly 68,000 births statewide per year.

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The push comes in the aftermath of the Lindsay Clancy case, which put a searing spotlight on maternal mental illness. Clancy does not dispute that she killed her three young children — Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months — inside their Duxbury home in 2023.

Clancy’s defense argued she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and was not criminally responsible, while prosecutors argued she knew her actions were wrong. The jury deadlocked, resulting in a mistrial.

For Anne Schlafly, chairman of Eagle Forum and Phyllis Schlafly’s daughter, her mother’s warning has now taken on new resonance.

“My mother was very prescient about the things that could happen if we let government intrude into our family lives,” Schlafly told Fox News Digital.

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“Her point was a government agent or an agent of the government has no business in your home, in your castle, snooping around and determining whether or not you’re raising the children the way the government wants you to raise the children,” she said. “After all, the home is our castle.”

Phyllis Schlafly’s 1999 column focused on Healthy Families America and similar home-visiting initiatives, warning about programs that screened families for risk factors, connected parents with health and social services and offered parenting guidance inside the home.

She also questioned whether programs officially described as “voluntary” would always operate that way in practice.

Massachusetts today describes Welcome Family as voluntary. Nurses assess the health of the “parents and caregivers” and newborn, answer questions about newborn care, screen for postpartum mental health concerns and connect families with additional services.

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Notably, Massachusetts lists “ensuring that your home is safe” among the subjects Welcome Family nurses may advise parents about, though the program’s family information page does not specify particular home safety criteria.

The state has called Welcome Family an “entry point into the system of care” for families with newborns. Healthy Families America, the program at the center of Schlafly’s 1999 column, is also among the models Massachusetts lists within its broader Home Visiting Initiative, though it is separate from Welcome Family.

Healey described her vision for the expansion in broader terms during an interview on Boston Public Radio.

“Everybody in the state, when you have a baby, you’re going to have a home visit within days, weeks, and that will be an opportunity for a healthcare provider to make an assessment to see if you need some additional support and resources,” Healey said.

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Anne Schlafly questioned what meaningful consent looks like shortly after childbirth.

“Is it really voluntary if you don’t have true informed consent?” Schlafly said. “If you have just given birth, you’ve been in labor, you’ve been under sedation, can you really recognize what you were signing up for supposedly on a voluntary basis?

“I think mothers need to have the full disclosure that this would be a government agent in the home.”

The scale of the proposed expansion also concerns Schlafly.

“If government is going to expand their reach and hire a whole bunch of more people and use taxpayer money to send out all these agents to the families, I mean, that’s quite an expansion,” she said. “This idea of coming in to inspect and see what’s going on in your home smacks of Big Sister and Big Brother both.”

Massachusetts does not characterize the visits as inspections but as voluntary health and support services.

State officials point to results from the existing program. In 2025, Welcome Family offered 1,620 postpartum depression screenings, with 208 positive screenings. The state says every person who screened positively received a referral for services.

Schlafly said she does not object to families choosing to accept that help.

“If people want to have this help from Governor Healey, then they can avail themselves of it,” she said.

Her dividing line, she said, is whether parents retain the ability to refuse.

“I think any time you make it compulsory, the line has been crossed,” Schlafly said. “I would say the only way that this Massachusetts program could be acceptable is if the parents could opt out at any time.”

Massachusetts’ published materials describe participation as voluntary.

Fox News Digital reached out to Healey’s office for comment and clarification about parents’ ability to decline visits, information collected during visits and whether information may be shared with other state agencies.

Nearly three decades after her mother warned about “Big Sister” entering the family home, Schlafly said she believes she knows what her mother would tell Massachusetts parents today.

“There’s no doubt that Phyllis Schlafly would advise parents to reject busybodies who want to inspect their home,” she said. “The home is a sacred and private area, and Governor Healey has no business in the homes of Massachusetts parents.

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“Let’s leave her to the state house and not the kitchen table.”

Former Vice President Kamala Harris said Tuesday that she has not decided whether she will run for president again in 2028, telling voters in Detroit that the upcoming midterm elections must come first.

Harris was directly asked during a fireside chat whether she had thought about running for president in 2028 and whether another White House campaign was “on your plate.”

“I have not decided if I’m going to run again,” Harris said before turning the focus to the midterms.

“I do, I do sincerely believe 28 won’t matter if we don’t get through 26.”

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Harris said she was focused on traveling the country and reminding voters of the power of their voices ahead of the 2026 elections.

“And I’m a big believer that you can be. When you focus on the thing out there, you trip on the thing over here.”

The exchange came during Harris’ second event Tuesday in Detroit, where she participated in a fireside chat moderated by Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony, president of the Detroit Branch NAACP and pastor of Fellowship Chapel, and Rev. Dr. Genetta Y. Hatcher, pastor of The Room Church.

Before asking Harris about a possible 2028 campaign, Anthony encouraged those in attendance to vote and referenced early and mail-in voting.

Harris was later presented with “take your souls to the polls” merchandise.

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Earlier Tuesday, Harris campaigned alongside Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed at a roundtable focused on Black maternal health and healthcare costs. Harris used the event to criticize President Donald Trump’s healthcare policies and voice support for El-Sayed.

Harris’ remarks came as she focuses on the 2026 midterms while leaving open the possibility of another presidential campaign.

Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee in 2024 after then-President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign.

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She went on to lose the presidential election to Trump.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday declared that an attack on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is an attack on maternal care as she joined Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed in Detroit to rally support ahead of the November midterm elections.

Harris made the remarks during a campaign roundtable with El-Sayed and several healthcare advocates focused on Black maternal health and healthcare costs.

“An attack on DEI, to recognize diversity, equity and inclusion, is an attack by definition on maternal care, including the need to protect Black women in connection with their pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum care,” Harris said.

She noted that maternal mortality rates are disproportionately higher among minority groups, with the risk of death increasing up to four times for Black women and three times for Native women.

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“One in 12 women in America currently lives in a maternal care desert with limited or no access to maternal care,” she added.

Harris then took aim at political leaders who tout “family values,” arguing that efforts to end DEI programs strip away protections aimed at supporting certain communities during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum care.

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“As one of the most, some would say the most financially strong economies in the world, we have the distinction of also having one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world,” she said.

“So it raises the issue of disparities and also hypocrisy when there are leaders who otherwise walk around every day talking about their family values.”

Harris also turned her criticism toward President Donald Trump’s health care legislation, which she referred to as the “Big Bad Bill,” arguing that it cut Medicaid spending with the support of former Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate nominee facing El-Sayed.

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“Medicaid is the largest funder for maternity care in America,” she said. “Donald Trump cut Medicaid funding by a trillion dollars. These are the facts Mike Rogers supported that cut through that ‘Big Bad Bill.’”

Harris closed by reaffirming her support for El-Sayed in the Senate race, pointing to his position on maternal health and saying she believes he would be a “champion” on the issue.

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“I’m here to support Doctor El Sayed, because, on this subject, I know he will be a champion,” she said. “And I have a right to say that.”

A former U.S. Postal Service (USPS) worker in Utah was indicted after allegedly setting aside more than 300 mail-in ballots at the start of his shift and dumping them without delivering a single one, Department of Justice (DOJ) officials said on charges related to the case Tuesday.

Damon Matai Seei, 34, of Payson, Utah, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Sept. 16, on a charge related to the unlawful secretion, destruction and delay of mail. He was arrested Tuesday and made his initial appearance in federal court in Salt Lake City.

Federal prosecutors allege Seei was working as a letter carrier on June 3, when he was entrusted with delivering mail to more than 300 people in Eagle Mountain, Utah, ahead of the state’s June 23 primary election.

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The mail included advertisements and hundreds of mail-in ballots that were clearly marked as ballots, according to DOJ officials.

Officials said Seei separated the ballots from other mail shortly after beginning his shift, did not deliver any of them and discarded them roughly 90 minutes later. Other mail was also discarded, officials said.

Several voters later complained to the Utah County Clerk that they had not received their mail-in ballots, U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak for the District of Utah said Tuesday.

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Using county databases, the clerk determined that voter participation was unusually low in the area where the complaints originated, according to Holyoak.

It remains unclear whether the affected voters ultimately received replacement ballots or were able to vote. Holyoak said federal officials are continuing to investigate and plan to contact affected voters to determine whether they were able to cast ballots.

Seei has told investigators that he did not have a political motive, according to DOJ officials. The investigation remains ongoing.

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“When American voters lawfully cast their vote, they should feel confident that it is counted,” said Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter. “Allegedly throwing away hundreds of ballots is a serious federal crime that undermines the integrity of our elections. Ballot integrity is not a partisan issue.”

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The case was investigated jointly by the USPS of Inspector General and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Seei’s next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 30.

While Americans brace for a futuristic AI war of killer robots and bioweapons, experts warn ahead of President Xi Jinping’s U.S. visit this week that Beijing is already actively undermining America’s global supremacy through AI without ever firing a shot.

Experts who spoke with Fox News Digital outlined a stealthy, three-part playbook, which includes extracting the logic of American models, undercutting U.S. developers with free open-source software, and ultimately weaponizing those systems for things like cognitive warfare. They laid out how China bypasses billions of dollars in U.S. research through labs that interrogate cutting-edge American AI and copy its capabilities, while simultaneously flooding the global market with free alternatives.

“I think a ‘race’ is the wrong metaphor for this,” Leah Siskind, an AI research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital. “I think it’s kind of like a multi-front war. And in some places, we’re winning and some places we’re losing.”

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While top American tech firms have poured billions into building ultra-expensive, proprietary systems, China has focused heavily on distributing free, open-source models across the globe. Siskind warned that because American tech is costly and the U.S. sector has largely neglected open-source investment, many Fortune 500 companies are making the financial choice to run their operations on Chinese models—unwittingly opening the door to potential CCP censorship, hidden backdoors and, ultimately, global dominance.

“How can you compete with something that’s free when American tech is very, very expensive?” Siskind said. “How can we ensure that a Chinese open-source model would be truly clean, that it’d be truly free of CCP censorship? We can’t be—we just wouldn’t know. And that’s by design. We wouldn’t know what sort of trick backdoors might be implanted and how that could rear its head later on.”

Meanwhile, China expert Gordon Chang warned that Beijing is intentionally using these free models to repeat an economic tactic it previously deployed to corner a different industry.

“This is a tactic that China used with solar panels,” Chang told Fox News Digital. “Beijing sees that one day it will drive out the American models on cost and availability, and they will then dominate global AI.”

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But to flood the market with free software, Beijing first needs the underlying technology—and a way to bypass America’s massive lead in computing power.

Chang noted that the U.S. possesses a commanding lead in physical infrastructure, boasting over 5,400 data centers compared to China’s roughly 450, along with far superior microchips. To work around the staggering hardware and energy costs required to train artificial intelligence from scratch, Siskind warned that Chinese labs are closing the gap through a process known as “knowledge distillation”—a method where a smaller model essentially interrogates a larger, smarter American model to copy its logic.

“They are able to leapfrog the process by kind of stealing this information,” Siskind said, pointing to the Chinese model DeepSeek as a prime example. “This is how they were able to release models like DeepSeek in 2025, which was seismic news because they were able to show that they were really competing with cutting-edge American models and had invested a fraction of the resources.”

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The threat is not theoretical. Just last week, the Department of Homeland Security issued a joint cybersecurity advisory warning that Chinese companies are conducting “industrial-scale knowledge distillation campaigns” to extract proprietary capabilities from U.S. frontier models.

Beyond economic undercutting and software theft, the experts also warned Beijing is simultaneously deploying artificial intelligence into physical supply chains and public influence campaigns.

Rather than sci-fi “killer robots,” Siskind emphasized that China’s immediate physical priority is “embodied AI”—embedding artificial intelligence into real-world infrastructure like factory automation, commercial drones, and autonomous supply chains. Meanwhile, Chang warned that AI-enhanced propaganda poses a direct threat to American decision-making and democratic sovereignty.

“They’re very good at cognitive warfare, and they can enhance their capabilities with artificial intelligence,” Chang said. “We do not want our elections determined in China. We do not want our critical national security decisions being made in Beijing. And that’s not impossible.”

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As President Xi Jinping arrives in the U.S. this week, the experts who spoke to Fox News Digital said the White House must treat these non-cinematic threats with the same urgency as traditional military posturing.

To protect America’s remaining edge, Siskind said Washington must tighten chip export loopholes, blacklist foreign labs engaging in deceptive distillation, and incentivize U.S. open-source development—emphasizing that “it is very important that the most advanced systems are developed under democracy and represent democratic values, as opposed to authoritarian values.”

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For Chang, the stakes of that technological defense extend far beyond standard economic competition.

“Xi Jinping throughout this century has been pushing the Chinese imperial-era notion of Tianxia, or ‘all under heaven’—that China’s rulers have a right to rule the world,” Chang warned. “That sounds ludicrous to us, but a Chinese regime powered by AI might actually be able to accomplish that. We certainly do not want our decisions being made in the Chinese capital.”

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Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, President Donald Trump reiterated Washington’s goal of outpacing China, declaring that U.S. government documents will now refer to AI as “superintelligence.”

“The United States totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control the artificial intelligence being spoken of,” Trump told world leaders. “Whoever wins superintelligence wins. And we’re leading now over China by a lot and everyone else. And we’re going to keep it that way.”

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly politicized ahead of the midterm elections, the latest Fox News national survey finds voters struggling to reconcile the technology’s promise with the economic and environmental costs of the data centers needed to power it. They are especially against allowing centers in their communities while favoring them in remote locations, creating a “Not In My Backyard” dynamic.

A 71% majority opposes building AI data centers in their area, including 46% who strongly oppose them. Both of those numbers are up a touch since earlier this summer. However, the survey reveals a paradox: a 52% majority favors building them in remote locations (44% oppose).

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The central contrast is seen across community types, as about 7 in 10 urban, suburban and rural voters oppose data centers in their backyards. That consensus fades regarding remote facilities: half of urban voters (50%) and a majority of suburban voters (57%) favor building them there, while 51% of rural voters remain opposed.

Women, White voters, those without a college degree, and Democrats are more likely than men, nonwhite voters, college graduates, and Republicans to oppose data centers, whether near their community or elsewhere.

When presented with arguments for and against data centers, reactions are nuanced. By roughly 30 points, voters are less likely to support construction if told data centers could strain local water supplies (by 28 points), raise energy bills (29 points), or grow to an enormous size (29 points).

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Opposition softens when voters see direct benefits to daily life or national interests. They are more likely to be supportive if told data centers are necessary for online activities such as streaming and banking (9 points), critical infrastructure like transportation and water systems (13 points), or help maintain a competitive edge over countries like China (18 points).

These reactions to additional information operate against a backdrop of AI pessimism. Majorities of voters are more likely to see AI as bad rather than good for the U.S. economy (54% bad vs. 36% good), mental health (54-34%), society (56-34%), the environment (60-30%), and jobs (63-29%).

The lone exception is day-to-day life, where more voters say AI is a good thing by 4 points (47% good, 43% bad), down from an 11-point spread in November 2025 (50-39%).

Overall, AI technology is viewed more negatively than positively by 23 points (37% favorable vs. 60% unfavorable), widening from an 11-point deficit in April and 9 points in July. The underlying demographic patterns mirror those for data centers. Democrats (67% unfavorable), White voters without a college degree (65%), women (64%), and independents (64%) are the most negative. The most favorable views come from nonwhite men (49% favorable), voters with graduate degrees (49%), and MAGA Republicans (46%).

AI & The 2026 Midterms

On the generic congressional ballot, the Democratic candidate is ahead of the Republican by 7 points overall. Republicans have a 21-point advantage among voters who support building data centers in their communities, narrowing to 9 points among those allowing construction only in remote areas. Democrats are ahead by at least 19 points among voters who oppose data centers in either location.

Voters who view AI favorably back the Republican candidate in their district by 7 points, while those with unfavorable views back the Democrat by 17 points.

“In this election, the bottom line is that technology is no longer just a tool, it’s a wedge issue,” says Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who conducts the Fox News Poll with Democrat Chris Anderson. “As infrastructure demands force AI into the physical world, campaigns that map tech anxiety onto their voter coalitions will shape the midterm narrative.”

Voters think Democrats would better handle building AI data centers by a 14-point margin. That lead is especially strong among Black voters (D +51), voters under age 30 (D +35), Hispanic voters (D +29), and independents (D +26). It narrows among White voters (D +5) and rural voters (D +7), while White rural voters are one of the few groups to say Republicans would do better (R +4). Cross-party defections also advantage the Democrats: 15% of Republicans prefer Democrats on data centers, compared with just 4% of Democrats favoring Republicans.

A few more things…

Three-quarters of voters (76%) favor banning AI in kindergarten through eighth-grade classrooms, with some of the strongest preference for the ban among moms (81%).

Support for banning cellphones in K-12 classrooms is also high: 72% favor the policy and 25% oppose it.

In addition, a majority supports prohibiting police departments from using automated license plate readers, such as Flock Safety cameras (57% favor vs. 39% oppose).

Age creates the biggest divide: Voters under 30 would ban license plate readers by 28 points, while those 65 and over support them by 7 points. Partisans show unusual agreement on banning the cameras, though by different margins: Democrats by 27 points, independents by 23 points, and Republicans by 6 points.

Conducted September 11-14, 2026, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News survey includes interviews with a sample of 1,211 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (96) and cellphones (821) or completed the survey online after receiving a text (294). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Sampling error for results among subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and area variables to ensure the demographics are representative of the registered voter population. Sources for developing weight targets include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis, and voter file data.

NEW YORK — Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda revealed Monday he personally pleaded with President Donald Trump to maintain U.S. forces on NATO’s eastern flank as Washington reviews its military footprint in Europe.

Meanwhile, Russia’s war in Ukraine has raged on for more than four-and-a-half years and raised questions on how far Moscow will push into the continent.

Nausėda said during remarks at a fireside chat moderated by Fox News Digital at the Presidential Business Forum on Resilience on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly New York that Lithuania is prepared to provide “very generous host-nation support” for American forces to remain in the region.

“I personally sent two letters to the president,” Nausėda said of the plea to keep an American troops presence.

PENTAGON CUTS BRIGADE COMBAT TEAMS IN EUROPE AS TRUMP PRESSURES NATO ON SPENDING

The Pentagon has already begun scaling back some forces and capabilities in Europe, while reported options under review could remove tens of thousands more troops.

The review is part of a broader Pentagon strategy to shift primary responsibility for Europe’s conventional defense onto European allies, while reserving a more limited U.S. role. But Washington has also signaled that its retrenchment may not be uniform: Trump said last week that the U.S. was making progress toward a permanent Army base in Poland, one of NATO’s highest-spending members.

That has left frontline allies trying to determine where they fit in with an emerging U.S. strategy that calls for a smaller overall role in Europe while deepening ties with countries Washington views as carrying more of the burden.

The review also comes as Russia’s war with Ukraine has increasingly spilled into NATO territory.

RUSSIA PREPARING HYBRID ATTACKS ON NATO’S EASTERN FLANK, INTELLIGENCE WARNS

Lithuania experienced that threat firsthand last week when NATO fighters shot down a drone that crossed into Lithuanian airspace from Belarus. Nausėda later said the aircraft was likely Russian and intended for an attack on Ukraine before veering off course.

The country’s intelligence services warn that Russia is already rebuilding military capabilities near NATO’s eastern borders despite its losses in Ukraine.

Lithuania’s 2026 National Threat Assessment found that a ceasefire or frozen conflict in Ukraine could accelerate that buildup, allowing Moscow to move more troops and equipment back toward permanent bases near the Baltic states and replenish weapons and ammunition depleted during the war. In that scenario, Lithuanian intelligence assessed Russia could eventually develop enough capability to launch military action against the Baltics and seek an initial regional advantage before NATO could fully respond.

Asked how much time NATO would have if a ceasefire were reached tomorrow, Nausėda declined to put a timeline on the threat but warned that “a ceasefire for Russia may mean” looking for new targets.

He said whether Moscow ultimately tests NATO would depend largely on the alliance’s ability to strengthen its deterrence and demonstrate that it can defend its eastern flank.

Nausėda cast doubt on the prospect of near-term peace talks, saying that “for the time being Russia is not ready to start the peace negotiations.”

Instead, he said Moscow appears intent on using the approaching winter to increase pressure on Kyiv by striking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and worsening conditions for civilians.

“The winter is coming. Russia knows very well where they should target, and they will target energy infrastructure first of all,” Nausėda said, describing the attacks as an effort to make living conditions in Ukraine as difficult as possible and pressure its leadership toward concessions.

“For these negotiations, I don’t see any ground, at least right now,” he said, adding that talks could become possible “maybe next year.”

The threat to energy infrastructure was particularly resonant for Nausėda, who spoke as Lithuania marked another step in its yearslong effort to insulate itself from energy pressure from Moscow.

Lithuania, marking a new long-term natural gas agreement with U.S. natural gas producer EQT Corp. this wee during the president’s trip to New York, began importing U.S. LNG in 2017 and now gets roughly 70% of its LNG from the United States, Nausėda said.

During Monday’s forum, Lithuanian energy company Ignitis signed a new long-term LNG agreement with U.S.-based EQT Corp

Nausėda said Lithuania’s push for energy independence was shaped by years of experience with Moscow using the country’s dependence on Russian energy as political leverage.

“Our history shows that all the time Russians misused our dependencies for their own benefit,” Nausėda said.

Nausėda stressed that Lithuania is also increasing its own defense burden, saying the country is spending 5.4% of GDP on defense while building a national division and preparing to host a full German brigade by the end of 2027.

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He said Lithuanian intelligence has periodically warned of a risk that Russia could target critical infrastructure in Lithuania, prompting additional measures to protect energy and other strategic assets.

FIRST ON FOX: Nevada’s Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford is refusing to explain why he personally backed a clemency bid for a convicted killer who took the life of a pregnant woman while out on bail for a series of armed robbery attacks on Vegas tourists, dodging questions on camera as he campaigns to be the state’s next governor.

State records in Nevada show Ford was listed as the sole sponsor for Norman Smith’s commutation application at a Sept. 16 Nevada Board of Pardons Commissioners meeting. Smith was serving time for killing a pregnant woman in a convenience store parking lot—a crime committed while he was out on bail for a series of armed robbery attempts committed against Vegas Strip tourists, according to court documents and local reporting at the time. 

Despite Ford’s backing, the board ultimately denied the clemency bid, while Ford skipped the commutation hearing that was scheduled and later walked away from a questioner asking him to justify the decision to sponsor Smith’s application at a Las Vegas airport.

Ford’s sponsorship of the convicted killer’s early release bid comes as he mounts a gubernatorial run against Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who has repeatedly attacked the attorney general’s record on public safety and criminal justice reform. 

WHITE HOUSE DENIES TRUMP INFLUENCED BY ‘PARDON BROKERS’ AFTER ’60 MINUTES’ INVESTIGATION

When confronted about the sponsorship, Ford’s campaign told Fox News Digital the attorney general missed the hearing due to an out-of-state family medical emergency and argued that sponsoring an application is merely a routine procedural step allowing the Board of Pardons to decide on a specific clemency request—but the campaign repeatedly refused to explain why Ford chose to elevate Smith’s specific case.

“Are you Aaron Ford?” a conservative tracker asked the gubernatorial candidate as he deplaned in Las Vegas after flying to Arizona, the same day as Smith’s Sept. 16 commutation hearing.

“I am,” Ford replied to the tracker, who went on to tell the Nevada Attorney General that she has been “following his stuff” on social media. “Nice to meet you.”

The tracker continued with small talk until pivoting to a question about the decision to sponsor Smith’s clemency bid.

“I have a question, are you—you’re sponsoring Norman Smith’s pardon, right?”

BIDEN CLEMENCY BLITZ LEFT DOJ SCRAMBLING AS MANY COMMUTATONS BYPASSED NORMAL VETTING, EMAILS SHOW

“Uhh, don’t know which one you’re talking about, but anyway—good to see you,” Ford responded before shuffling away with his wife following their trip to visit their college-aged son who was said to be sick. Fox News Digital pressed Ford’s team on what his son was facing in terms of an ailment but was not provided an answer.

“Is there a reason why you’re pardoning him?” Ford was asked as he attempted to skirt away from the questioner.

“Good to see you,” was Ford’s response before walking away. “Take care.”

“No reason?” the tracker doubled down.

CALIFORNIA SUED OVER POLICY THAT COULD FREE SERIAL KILLERS AS LACI PETERSON’S FRIEND SOUNDS ALARM

Under Nevada Board of Pardons Commissioners rules, an inmate’s clemency application sits in a queue until one of the board’s nine members—which includes the governor, attorney general, and state Supreme Court justices—chooses to officially sponsor it. By sponsoring Smith’s application, Ford elevated the case out of the administrative queue and onto the official state agenda for a full hearing and vote.

Based on a Fox News Digital review of official meeting agendas from 2026, Smith’s application was the only commutation request sponsored by Ford all year.

In 2015, Smith was free on bail and facing 14 charges in connection with a series of armed robbery attacks on Vegas Strip tourists when he shot and killed the pregnant woman, Tineshea Adams, according to court documents and reporting at the time from the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Court documents show Smith, who was initially charged with murder but was eventually convicted of voluntary manslaughter and three counts of armed robbery, claimed the killing was the result of self-defense. Smith is currently serving a 10-to-39-year prison sentence.

Republican political strategist Matt Gorman slammed Ford’s silent airport exit, telling Fox News Digital that the attorney general’s refusal to answer speaks volumes.

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“Aaron Ford was moving faster through that airport than the violent criminals he’s trying to put back on the street,” Gorman said. “If Nevada’s top law enforcement officer can’t even explain why he backed early release for a man who killed a pregnant woman while out on bail for a series of other violent crimes, he has no business asking voters to make him governor.”

Canadian sociologist Marshall McLuhan famously declared that “the medium is the message.”

But what if the message is just “medium?” Or, perhaps in today’s vernacular, “mid.”

Both sides are trying to curate what they say to voters in order to coax them to vote for their party in November.

“The message matters,” said House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., on Fox. “We have accomplished a ton. No taxes on overtime. No taxes on tips. We raised the child care tax credit. The list goes on and on.”

EXCLUSIVE: INSIDE VANCE’S INTIMATE CAPITOL HILL HUDDLE AS REPUBLICANS CONFRONT TOUGH MIDTERM TERRAIN

Those are all vestiges of the Big Beautiful Bill which the Republican-led Congress passed last summer. Now Republicans are scrambling to remind voters what they did.

“It was a great message last year and we missed the opportunity, in my view, to talk about the good things we did last year,” conceded Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.

But Cramer says voters want to know what you’ve done for them lately. And that’s where the GOP could struggle.

“People’s rearview mirror is getting shorter and shorter all the time,” said Cramer. “What you are going to do for me today is more important to them than what you tried to do a year ago.”

That’s why some Republicans are frank about their prospects at the polls.

“This midterm is going to be a f*cking bloodbath,” fumed Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who is retiring. “I think that both parties know everyone’s putting blame on the Republicans right now.”

Democrats are campaigning on affordability. The cost of groceries and fuel are top of mind.

“What’s most important to Americans are pocketbook issues,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. “And they see the tariff strategy as punishing our allies and punishing their pocketbooks for no purpose.”

But Democrats are also stumping on a promise.

“The top priority in these next two years is going to be holding Donald Trump accountable,” said Colorado Democratic House nominee Melat Kiros.

“We’ll hold this administration accountable for its corruption,” warned House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif.

“We will subpoena them if we need to,” declared Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.

It’s unclear if threats of Presidential probes could dilute the Democrats’ directive this fall.

“When you talk about (investigations),” yours truly asked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., “Does that step on your message in any way about costs?”

“No, because there’s a cost to the American people around corruption,” answered Jeffries. “Which is why the American people are demanding that action be taken and that we hold the crooks accountable.”

FOX NEWS POLL: SQUEEZED BY COSTS, FRUSTRATED VOTERS TURN TO THE DEMOCRATS

Still, one Democrat says the party is better politically if it sticks to bread and butter issues.

“There are a lot of corruption questions,” said Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt. “But I think the gold ring, the brass ring, is focusing on affordability.”

While Republicans try to remind voters about the Big, Beautiful Bill, another prominent GOP senator says his party lacks a coherent message.

“We’re lucky because the Democrats don’t have a plan either,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. “Here’s the strategy for both sides. ‘The other guys are worse than me.’”

So some Republicans are reverting to a wedge issue which worked for them at the ballot box two years ago.

“We’re going to tell the story about the closed border. I mean, President Trump has the most secure border in our history,” argued Sen. Katie Britt, R-Al.

But both parties are evaluating a late-emerging issue: artificial intelligence.

“In the next 30 days, as we go into this election, Democrats have an opportunity to basically put AI on the ballot,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., on MS NOW.

Jeffries suggested Republicans are dismissing immediate concerns about AI agents going rogue.

“This is a serious thing. It requires urgent Congressional action and Republicans are abandoning their responsibility,” said Jeffries. “Democrats will not do that.”

Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, faces a competitive race this fall in the Buckeye State. He tried to blend a sliver of concerns over AI with the “affordability” question last week.

The House passed the Ratepayer Protection Act, 417-3. The bill defrays the high utility costs consumers are sometimes forced to pay if they live near data centers. The legislation diverts those bills to big tech firms which run the data centers. So, Husted made the case to protect consumers from shelling out extra cash.

“If you create the cost, you should pay the cost,” said Husted.

OBAMA PRIVATELY SOUNDS ALARM ON ‘DANGEROUS’ AI, URGES DEMOCRATS TO PUT ISSUE AT CENTER OF AGENDA

But Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., the top Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, stood in the way.

“It’s not enough for us to tell states to consider making data centers pay for grid updates, rather than voluntary pledges or suggestions to states,” said Heinrich. “Congress needs to pass real legislation with real teeth.”

The New Mexico Democrat then objected, blocking Husted’s entreaty on the spot. However, Republicans actually think the move by Heinrich could boost Husted, help Republicans and backfire on Democrats. In other words, a Democratic blockade might assist the GOP make the point that they’re for affordability and the other party is standing in the way. Especially on a bill which passed with such overwhelming support in the House.

“Now there’s a differentiation between Republicans and Democrats. Republicans are looking out for ratepayers. Democrats are not,” said Cramer.

Fox is told it’s possible the Senate could try again on the data center-related measure before senators leave the Capitol for the midterms. Another on-the-spot, unanimous consent request would take a matter of minutes to either pass or block the bill (again). But a customary debate accompanied by multiple procedural votes likely consumes a week – even if there’s support for the plan. That said, some lawmakers from both sides wouldn’t mind a roll call vote where they’re documented as supporting the issue. Or, a vote where Republicans dare Democrats to go on the record opposing it.

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What that means is that the Senate likely leaves town for the midterms without addressing “affordability.” Republicans can blame Democrats — a little. Specifically on the Ratepayer Protection Act. But Democrats aren’t in the majority. They can upbraid Republicans for not addressing some of those pocket book concerns.

That’s the “message” ahead of November. As Kennedy suggested, it might fall flat on both sides. Or, as is sometimes said these days, “mid.”

After all, it is the midterms.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has collected an unusually broad portfolio in President Donald Trump’s second administration — and one of his most powerful roles is now permanent.

Trump recently signed a commission formally making Rubio his national security adviser, a senior State Department official, White House official and senior administration official confirmed to Fox News Digital on Tuesday. 

The move makes permanent a role Rubio has held since May 2025, when Trump tapped him to replace Michael Waltz on an interim basis.

I SERVED AS TRUMP’S NSA. SCOTUS NEED TO STOP COURTS PUTTING THE PRESIDENT’S SECURITY AT RISK

Rubio will continue to manage the National Security Council process and serve as a direct line to the president on national security matters.

The former Florida senator has been a prominent figure in the Trump administration, holding multiple official posts while becoming the subject of online jokes about just how many jobs he could take on.

The move puts Rubio in rare company, being only the second person in U.S. history to simultaneously serve as secretary of state and national security adviser, after Henry Kissinger held both posts under President Richard Nixon in the 1970s.

WHAT RUBIO’S RISE AS THE INTERNET’S ‘FIXER’ TELLS US ABOUT TODAY’S POLITICS

Kissinger became Nixon’s national security adviser in 1969 later being sworn in as the Secretary of State in 1973, the roles gave him extraordinary influence during conflict with the Soviet Union, the opening to China and diplomacy surrounding the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.

Trump has previously tapped Rubio to serve as U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) acting administrator shortly after being sworn in at the State Department. He was also tapped to serve as acting archivist of the United States, a post he held from February to December 2025.

MARCO RUBIO GETS 68 NEW JOBS IN EPIC WHITE HOUSE BIRTHDAY GIFT INSPIRED BY VIRAL MEME

Rubio has taken social media by storm, as critics and allies of the administration share viral memes showing doctored photos of Rubio sitting in the Oval Office wearing various outfits to fit a new job role he could pick up.

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Photos have circulated of Rubio as Spirit Airlines pilot, a White House beekeeper or a Kentucky Derby jockey – even dressed as Dolly Parton after the popstar passed away earlier this year.

Former Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican Michigan U.S. Senate candidate backed by President Donald Trump, noted the financial strain Americans are facing, declared that the Iran war must “end quickly,” and called for a diesel export embargo until the conflict concludes in a social media video.

“Michigan families are struggling with the price of everyday life. Groceries cost too much. We have to bring prices down. The war with Iran needs to end, and end quickly. When it does, energy costs will plummet. But Michigan families can’t afford to wait for that to happen,” Rogers said in the video.

“I previously called for the suspension of the state and federal gas tax, 70 cents a gallon,” he said.

The state’s motor fuel tax, which applies to both gas and diesel, is 52.4 cents per gallon.

“Federal taxes include excise taxes of 18.3 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.3 cents per gallon on diesel fuel, and a Leaking Underground Storage Tank fee of 0.1 cents per gallon on both fuels,” according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

ANXIETY GROWS OVER EMERGING ELECTION ISSUE, BUT GOP SAYS WASHINGTON ISN’T THE ANSWER

While Rogers does not appear to have called for a suspension of the federal diesel tax, he called for a diesel export embargo.

“Diesel fuels the trucks that bring groceries to this store. It fuels the tractors that grow our food. And when diesel costs more, it costs more to grow it, ship it, stock it, and ultimately, buy it. So until this war is over, I’m calling for a temporary embargo on American diesel exports,” he said.

Trump has endorsed Rogers, including in a video posted last week on social media.

“Mike Rogers has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next U.S. Senator from Michigan — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” the video’s caption read.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House on Tuesday.

The AAA national average price for diesel is at a record high of $6.5276 as of Sept. 22.

EL-SAYED’S JEWISH OUTREACH IGNITES ‘TOKENISM’ FURY AS MICHIGAN GOP CHAIR MAKES BOLD PREDICTION

Rogers is running against Democratic Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

Responding to Rogers’ video, El-Sayed targeted his Republican rival in a post on X, writing, “You’ve spent your entire campaign supporting the war in Iran. Liar, coward, fraud.”

Former Rep. Justin Amash, who finished the 2024 GOP Michigan U.S. Senate primary in a distant second place behind Rogers, wrote in a post on X, “When inveterate war hawk Mike Rogers suddenly declares, ‘The war in Iran needs to end—and end quickly,’ you know he’s losing—and losing badly.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Rogers’ campaign on Tuesday.

HISTORIC NEWSPAPER GIVES EL-SAYED A SAVAGE REBUKE FOR HIDING HIS PAST WHILE ENDORSING HIS OPPONENT

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While it was a close race, Rogers lost the 2024 U.S. Senate general election to then-Rep. Elissa Slotkin.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is harshly dismissing a fellow Democrat who publicly undermined his quest to win the majority in Congress — on the left-wing leader’s own home turf.

Jeffries hit back at Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, in a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday after Golden endorsed Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., a moderate Republican, for re-election in November.

“Mike Lawler is a partisan hack and Trump sycophant who Cait Conley will defeat in November. In desperation, he is peddling an 11th-hour endorsement from a retiring congressmember who represents an out-of-town district more than 400 miles away,” Jeffries said.

“This smoke-and-mirrors ploy will do nothing to change the outcome of the race. The election will be decided by the people of Westchester and the lower Hudson Valley.”

OUTGOING HOUSE DEMOCRAT BACKS INCUMBENT REPUBLICAN LAWMAKER FOR RE-ELECTION

Jeffries claimed Lawler had “never shown bipartisan courage when it matters” while lauding his Democrat opponent as a “combat veteran and patriot.”

DEMOCRAT CHALLENGING MIKE LAWLER WON’T COMMIT ON CAMPAIGNING WITH AOC, MAMDANI OR REJECTING DSA

“Mike Lawler can try to run from his extremist record. We will never let him hide,” he said.

But Golden, who has broken from Jeffries multiple times in the past, argued Lawler was among the most bipartisan members of Congress.

JEFFRIES THREATENS ‘SERIOUS RESPONSE’ AFTER DEMOCRATS HELP GOP ADVANCE ANTI-SOCIALISM VOTE

“I know how bipartisan Mike Lawler really is. I know something about what that takes. I held the most challenging district of any Democrat in the country by earning the trust of Democrats, independents, and Republicans alike,” Golden wrote.

“Lawler holds one of just three Republican seats in the country that Kamala Harris carried in 2024. Representing districts like ours forces you to work for people who disagree with you, and it teaches you that those people are not your enemies. They are your neighbors.”

HOUSE DEMS OVERWHELMINGLY REJECT ANTI-SOCIALISM RESOLUTION AFTER 2 MODERATES DEFY JEFFRIES

He pointed out that the nonpartisan Lugar Bipartisanship Index ranked Lawler the fourth-most bipartisan member of Congress in its most recent analysis.

“I am leaving Congress in January by my own choice, but I have not given up on the institution, and voters should not either. The Congress we get is the one we elect, and the country needs fewer members who treat the job as a stage and more who treat it as work. In New York’s Hudson Valley this fall, that is the choice on the ballot,” Golden wrote.

Lawler thanked Golden for the endorsement in his own public statement.

“While we are from different parties and different states, Jared and I have worked during our time together in the House to find common ground on issues that matter both to us and our constituents,” he wrote on X. “We share a firm belief that what’s best for the people should come before one’s party, and that if more members on both sides of the aisle took that approach more often, the country would be better off for it.”

Lawler is facing long odds of winning a third term in Congress, with most projections favoring Democrats in his district in the New York City suburbs.

But Lawler has defied political gravity before, including most recently in November 2024 when his victory split the ticket with ex-Vice President Kamala Harris.

DEMOCRATS PUNISH MEMBERS WHO PUT WORKING AMERICANS AHEAD OF PARTY LOYALTY

Golden, who is retiring at the end of this year, is known for breaking from his party on a variety of issues. He was one of the only Democrats to praise President Donald Trump’s tariff efforts.

He also recently made headlines for publicly defying Jeffries by voting with Republicans on a procedural measure called a “rule vote” alongside fellow moderate Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash.

While Republican lawmakers have weaponized rule votes in recent years to extract promises from House GOP leaders, it was almost unheard of for Democrats to defy their leaders like that on the other side of the aisle.

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It was especially stunning to see Golden and Perez do so twice within one month — with Jeffries attacking the move as a “breach of trust” the first time.