Trump blasts Kerry’s climate activism for ‘destroying our country’ in Iowa town hall: ‘He has to be stopped’
Former President Donald Trump blasted U.S. Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry in a Fox News town hall event for his climate activism and told the audience that the former Democratic presidential candidate “has to be stopped.” “I see John Kerry all over the place talking about [how] we have to get rid of our coal plants,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity. “And yet China is building one coal plant a week, massive coal plants, and they’re doing it just automatically. And John Kerry wants us to stop doing anything we can. We have a country, we have to fire up our factories. Wind is not going to fire up our factories.” Moments later, when discussing American energy independence, Trump said, “Our country can be rich again. John Kerry has to be stopped. He’s destroying our country.” BIDEN ADMIN UNDER FIRE FOR BURNING TAXPAYER FUNDS ON UN CLIMATE SUMMIT TRIP “This guy, I mean, think of it,” Trump continued. “He goes all over the world in a private jet, by the way. He goes all over the world talking to these people about getting rid of coal plants. They all laugh at him. They, you know, treat him with respect. He’s gone. They say, what an idiot. What a jerk. And then they go ahead and they build their coal plants.” Kerry has been widely criticized by conservatives for using a private jet while railing against the effects of climate change. CLIMATE CHANGE REPORTER DEFENDS WORLD LEADERS FLYING TO DUBAI: ‘CAN’T DO A ZOOM CALL WITH 190 COUNTRIES’ Additionally, Kerry has been slammed by conservatives for several controversial comments related to how he would like the United States to address climate change including a recent statement where he called for a halt in new coal power plant production. “The first step is to stop making the problem worse: stop building new unabated coal power plants,” Kerry said at a climate change summit in Dubai. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Kerry has also previously dismissed concerns that tens of thousands of coal workers in America could lose their jobs if his policies are carried out describing that notion as a “false narrative.” At the same conference in Dubai, Kerry pledged to slash emissions from AC units, refrigerators to fight climate change. Fox News Digital reached out to Kerry’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Texas congresswoman calls her state, Florida ‘deplorable’ in House hearing on trans athletes in women’s sports
A Texas congresswoman called her state and Florida “deplorable” during a Tuesday hearing on trans athletes in women’s sports over co-called conservative legislation by lawmakers there. Jasmine Crockett, a Democrat, issued her remarks during a House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services hearing to discuss proposed changes to Title IX by the Biden administration that would redefine the definition of sexual discrimination to include gender identity. During her open statement, Crockett called out the Heritage Foundation, which was represented by Sarah Parshall Perry, a policy expert for the conservative think tank, and her own state. RILEY GAINES, WOMEN LEADERS TO TESTIFY BEFORE HOUSE PANEL ON PROTECTING GIRLS’ SPORTS FROM BIDEN POLICIES “When lawmakers like this are so far out of touch with what women need, we see states pushing back,” Crockett said of her Republican colleague, U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin, who spokes before her. “At least states that will allow you to push back. I’m from the state of Texas and of course, they don’t want you to ever have an opportunity to raise your voice in the state of Texas.” “In fact, Ms. Perry, I know your organization, the Heritage Foundation, loves Texas. Oh, they love Texas,” she added. “They always sending us some nonsense bills that somehow set this country on the wrong trajectory. They send them to Texas. They send them to Florida. Every deplorable state that we can think about, they usually coming out of ya’lls think tank.” Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene immediately called for “deplorable” to be pulled from the official record before the request was denied. RILEY GAINES TAKES SHOT AT PROTESTERS, SAYS PUNCHES FROM ‘MEN IN DRESSES’ ‘DON’T HURT’ “So the MAGAS think MTG is so amazing… right?” Crockett posted on X. “To be clear, the senior member from Georgia was wrong! It’s a bad day when the Republican chair has to rule in my favor. LEARN the rules before trying to check me.” Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, responded to Crockett on X. “Thank you, @JasmineForUS, for the, well, endorsement of @Heritage,” he wrote. “Yes, ma’am, we love Texas.” After Crockett’s remarks, in which she mentioned rape, abortion and access to bathrooms, U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Michigan, chair of the subcommittee, tried to steer the hearing back on track. “Before this gets even more out of control, I’m going to try and reel it back in,” McClain said. “The importance of protecting female athletes and Title IX. I’m happy to have other hearings but I’d like to stay focused on this hearing.” Among those who testified Tuesday was Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer who has spoken out against transgender males participating in women’s sports.
Biden was in direct contact with Hunter’s business partners using email alias as VP
FIRST ON FOX: As vice president, Joe Biden used email aliases and private email addresses to communicate with son Hunter Biden and Hunter’s business associates hundreds of times, new records released by the House Ways & Means Committee revealed. The committee obtained metadata from IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler that reveals Joe Biden used alias email accounts 327 times during a nine-year period — 2010 to 2019 — to correspond with his son, Hunter, and one of Hunter’s key business associates, Eric Schwerin, among others. The majority of the email traffic took place while Biden was vice president. The committee says 54 of the emails were “exclusively” between Joe Biden and Schwerin, who the committee describes as “the architect of the Biden family’s shell companies.” DOJ DEVIATED FROM ‘STANDARD PROCESSES,’ GAVE HUNTER BIDEN ‘SPECIAL TREATMENT’ IN PROBE, HOUSE GOP REPORT SAYS The email aliases used were “robinware456,” “JRBware” and “RobertLPeters.” Earlier this year, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., revealed the existence of Biden’s email aliases. After Comer’s release of those aliases, Fox News Digital learned the whistleblowers, who are still employed as IRS investigators, ran a search for the Biden email aliases in email exchanges with Hunter Biden and Eric Schwerin. That search led to the revelation of the 327 exchanges. HUNTER BIDEN PAID JOE BIDEN FROM ACCOUNT FOR BIZ THAT RECEIVED PAYMENTS FROM CHINA: COMER A source told Fox News Digital the whistleblowers could only access metadata for these exchanges. The source said accessing the content of the emails would require a search warrant. The whistleblowers turned over the results of the search to the committee after a closed-door meeting Tuesday, and the committee released the information Tuesday. The data shows direct emails between Schwerin and Vice President Biden increased during times when the vice president traveled to Ukraine. The committee said the data shows Joe Biden and Schwerin exchanged five emails in June 2014 before the vice president’s trip to Ukraine that month. EXCLUSIVE: JOE BIDEN ALLEGEDLY PAID $5M BY BURISMA EXECUTIVE AS PART OF A BRIBERY SCHEME, ACCORDING TO FBI DOCUMENT After that trip and before Biden’s November 2014 trip back to Ukraine, he and Schwerin emailed 27 times. Hunter Biden joined the board of Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings in April 2014. Biden has acknowledged that when he was vice president he successfully pressured Ukraine to fire Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin. At the time, Shokin was investigating Burisma Holdings during the same period Hunter Biden held a highly lucrative role on the board, receiving thousands of dollars per month. At the time, the vice president threatened to withhold $1 billion of critical U.S. aid if Shokin was not fired. Biden allies maintain the vice president pushed for Shokin’s firing due to concerns the Ukrainian prosecutor went easy on corruption and say his firing was the policy position of the U.S. and international community. DEVON ARCHER: HUNTER BIDEN, BURISMA EXECS ‘CALLED DC’ TO GET UKRAINIAN PROSECUTOR FIRED “Vice President Biden appears to have treated Air Force Two like a corporate jet, traveling to Ukraine and Mexico to advance Hunter Biden’s business interests,” Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith said. “Evidence from today’s documents show right around the time of international trips like those to Ukraine, Joe Biden was emailing his son and his son’s business partner from private email accounts using aliases while vice president.” Smith, R-Mo., is leading the impeachment inquiry against President Biden alongside House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. The chairmen are investigating any foreign money received by the Biden family, whether President Biden was involved in his family’s foreign business dealings and steps allegedly taken by the Biden administration to “slow, hamper, or otherwise impede the criminal investigation into the President’s son, Hunter Biden, which involves funds received by the Biden family from foreign sources.” WITNESS SAYS JOE BIDEN TALKED TO HUNTER’S BUSINESS ASSOCIATES; GOP SEES SMOKING GUN, DEMS DOWNPLAY The White House has blasted the House impeachment inquiry against the president as baseless, maintaining the president was never in business with his son and never spoke to his son about his business dealings. The Justice Department and individual DOJ officials have denied whistleblower allegations that suggest politics played a role in prosecutorial decisions throughout the Hunter Biden probe. Hunter Biden has been subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee and is expected to appear for a deposition Dec. 13. House Republicans have promised to release the transcript of Hunter Biden’s deposition and have vowed to schedule a public hearing so the president’s son can testify publicly before the American people as his attorney requested.
DeSantis super PAC hammers Haley with Clinton comparison in million-dollar Iowa ad buy
FIRST ON FOX: A super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president is taking aim at his GOP primary rival Nikki Haley, again comparing her to Hillary Clinton in a new seven-figure ad buy in Iowa — as the battle between the two candidates heats up and a day before the two go head-to-head in a presidential primary debate. Fight Right, a political action committee backing DeSantis for the Republican 2024 presidential nomination, says it has spent $1.54 million on the ad buy, which will go out on cable and broadcast in Iowa – where the first-in-the-nation caucuses will take place in January. The ad cites past remarks from Haley, who served as U.N. ambassador during the Trump administration, in which she said that Clinton who inspired her to run for office. DESANTIS CHALLENGES TRUMP: ‘WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?’ It goes on to accuse her of supporting raising taxes and open borders “like Hillary” before also citing recent remarks from JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dinon, who urged “liberal” Democrats to back Haley to give Republicans a choice other than former President Donald Trump. “Now the globalist Wall Street bankers who financed Hillary’s campaigns are funding Haley’s campaigns,” the ad says. “And just like Hillary Clinton, Nikki Haley shouldn’t be president,” it says – calling her “wrong for America like Hillary.” “With ‘Like Hillary,’ we’re cutting through the noise to expose the truth about Nikki Haley’s troubling track record,” David Dewhirst, Chairman of Fight Right Inc.., said in a statement. “From tax hikes to open borders to ties with China, the parallels are striking. Fight Right is dedicated to bringing these facts to the forefront and empowering Iowa voters with the truth.” The ad buy comes as Haley and DeSantis locked in a fierce battle for second place behind clear frontrunner former President Donald Trump. It’s the latest attempt to compare Haley to Clinton by her rivals. The Trump campaign has also pointed to the times Haley has said she was inspired by Clinton to run for office. However, the comparison has also been fact-checked by multiple outlets for missing context, specifically that Haley has also stressed her ideological differences with the secretary of state and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate. One of the clips used in the ad, in which Haley says Clinton was “the reason I got into politics” omits her also saying that “I don’t agree with anything that [Clinton] has to say.” She said that the inspiration from Clinton came because she had been given multiple reasons why she shouldn’t run but then heard Clinton speak. “Hillary Clinton was the keynote speaker on a leadership institute, and she said that when it comes to women running for office, there will be everybody that tells you why you shouldn’t but that’s all the reasons why we need you to do it, and I walked out of there thinking ‘That’s it. I’m running for office.’” she told the New York Times in 2011. Haley’s campaign has also pointed to past remarks in which she has criticized Clinton, including telling voters in 2016 that Clinton would be “disastrous” as president and would be “absolutely worse” than former President Barack Obama. “This is the sign of a desperate, losing candidate,” Haley spokesperson Ken Farnaso told Fox News Digital. “As Ron DeSantis drops in the polls, Nikki Haley has surged into second place in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina because voters know she is the best candidate to take on Donald Trump and Joe Biden.” Haley and DeSantis will be joined on the debate stage on Wednesday night in Alabama by entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former N.J. Gov. Chris Christie. Trump has again declined to attend the debate. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Biden expected to raise more than $15 million in star-studded fundraising blitz: Sources
EXCLUSIVE: President Biden’s re-election campaign is expected to raise more than $15 million this week as he travels across the nation for multiple high-profile and star-studded fundraising events, Fox News Digital has learned. Two sources close to the campaign and familiar with the president’s fundraising efforts told Fox News Digital that the more $15 million will also include small-dollar donations. BIDEN TO CRISSCROSS COUNTRY FOR CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISERS WITH STEVEN SPIELBERG, JAMES TAYLOR The president attended a fundraising event in Boston, Mass. on Tuesday, which featured a concert by singer-songwriter James Taylor. Front-row tickets sold for $7,500 per seat. The president is expected to attend fundraising events in Washington D.C. on Thursday near the White House. And on Friday, the president will travel to Los Angeles for a Hollywood fundraiser hosted by Steven Spielberg, Shona Rhimes, CEO of Paramount Pictures Jim Gianopulos, actor and filmmaker Rob Reiner, and others. The Los Angeles event will be at the home of interior designer Michael Smith and his partner James Costos, who had served as former President Obama’s ambassador to Spain. Top tickets for that event are said to be $930,000 each. BIDEN’S SUPPORT FROM GEN Z ERODES AS AGE BECOMES CRITICAL ISSUE: ‘HE’S OUT OF TOUCH WITH BASICALLY EVERYBODY’ Lenny Kravitz is expected to perform at the event. Barbara Streisand and a slew of other celebrities are expected to attend. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is also expected to attend the event. The expected fundraising haul comes after the campaign’s strongest grassroots fundraising month since the president announced his re-election campaign, a Biden campaign official told Fox News Digital. Campaign officials told Fox News Digital that in the third quarter, 97% of all donations were under $200 and the average grassroots contribution was $40. The campaign announced in October that it raised more than $71 million in the third quarter of 2023. The campaign, as of October, also had nearly $91 million in cash on hand, with officials calling that figure “the highest total amassed by any Democratic candidate in history at this point in the cycle.”
‘I love you Joe Biden:’ Migrant thanks POTUS after crossing illegally in Arizona
One of the thousands of illegal immigrants who crossed into the U.S. at an overwhelmed part of the southern border in Arizona had warm words for the president of the United States as he hoped to be released into the country. “I love you Joe Biden, thank you for everything, Joe Biden!” the male African migrant told Fox News in Lukeville, Arizona. “I’m a good person, I want to be good person here in the United States,” he said. STUNNING IMAGES SHOW ARIZONA BORDER OVERRUN BY MASSIVE SURGE OF ADULT MALE MIGRANTS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE Both he and another migrant said they are not seeking asylum and instead wanted work and opportunity in the U.S. “I came here because I want [a] quality life, America is a land of opportunity,” the other migrant, also from Africa, said. Both were planning on going to New York City, which has seen more than 140,000 migrants since last year and has been forced to cut budgets due to the crisis. Both the migrants were part of a massive surge of migration into the Tucson Sector in Arizona which has left authorities overwhelmed. Fox News cameras were at the scene in Lukeville, where migrants were camped out in front of the border wall waiting to be processed. The Tucson Sector saw nearly 3,000 encounters in a single day and has seen 17,500 encounters in a single week, the highest weekly total ever recorded. Of those camped out, there were a large number of Africans from countries Senegal, Guinea, Mauritania, Egypt and elsewhere waiting to be processed and potentially released into the U.S. Others were from the Middle East and Asia. ARIZONA LAWMAKER CALLS FOR NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT TO HANDLE TUCSON MIGRANT SURGE: ‘OVERRUN AND UNDERMANNED’ One man told Fox that he paid $10,000 to a smuggler to travel from Mauritania via Colombia, while a man from Guinea said he was planning to head to New York City if he was released into the U.S. CBP has been surging resources and personnel to the Tucson Sector — which typically sees less traffic than other sectors like the Rio Grande Valley– and has been focusing on transporting migrants laterally to other parts of the border combined with a greater use of expedited removal as an alternative to them being released into the U.S. It is the latest part of a years-long migrant crissi that has engulfed the border since 2021, leading to knock-on crises in major cities like New York City, Chicago and elsewhere. US SUSPENDS, REDUCES VEHICLE PROCESSING ALONG SOUTHERN BORDER AT SELECT TEXAS AND ARIZONA PORTS OF ENTRY There were more than 2.4 million migrant encounters in FY 23, a new record. September saw a record for encounters at the southern border, while October saw a record for encounters in October — with more than 240,000 encounters border-wide. Meanwhile in Washington D.C., there are negotiations over an emergency supplemental funding request, which includes $14 billion for border operations. Republicans have demanded it be coupled with restrictions on asylum and the use of parole — a demand at which some Democrats have balked. Fox News’ Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.
Pritzker admin scraps Chicago migrant camp plan over soil contamination concerns
Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration announced Tuesday that it is scrapping plans for a temporary winter camp for migrants in Chicago, citing the risk of contaminants at the former industrial site. The setback comes as Chicago struggles to house more than 24,000 migrants arriving from the border with Mexico since August of last year, most in buses sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, according to city data released Tuesday. With the coldest weather looming — and despite a partnership with religious leaders to provide temporary housing — hundreds of asylum-seekers still await placement at airports and police stations, some of them still camped on sidewalks outside precinct buildings. Responding to the urgent need, the state put up $65 million for a tent camp in Brighton Park designed to hold 2,000, and for permanent structures at a 200-bed site in the Little Village neighborhood giving priority to families and people with disabilities. CHICAGO TRIBUNE EDITORIAL HAMMERS LOCAL LEADERS FOR HAZARDOUS CONTAMINATION AT MIGRANT CAMP Construction at the Brighton Park site began last week despite residents’ protests that the 9-acre property is polluted and would risk the health of any migrants housed there. According to an environmental report released Friday that identified contaminants, the site was previously home to a railyard with tanks and oil houses, a zinc smelter and truck trailer parking. The city released a study late Friday from consultant Terracon that detailed the discovery and removal of sections of soil from the Brighton Park site that contained higher-than-expected levels of mercury and other contaminants. Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office gave assurances Monday, based on Terracon’s findings, that the shelter site was safe for temporary residential use. That was before Pritzker’s office pulled the plug on it after the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency reviewed the nearly 800-page environmental report. By then, several large white tents outfitted with HVAC units had already been erected there. “My administration is committed to keeping asylum seekers safe as we work to help them achieve independence,” Pritzker said in a statement. “We will not proceed with housing families on a site where serious environmental concerns are still present.” The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency concluded that more testing was needed to ensure the site was safe. “The well-being of residents and workers at the site is our highest priority, and current and planned site conditions do not adequately reduce risks of human exposure to known and potential environmental conditions,” said Illinois EPA Director John J. Kim. Alderwoman Julia Ramirez, the City Council representative for the ward hosting the site, opposed the project over safety concerns. “I am glad that the Governor’s office decided not to continue using this lot for shelter and made sure that we are stepping up to the responsibility of caring for the health of immigrant families and residents,” she said, adding the search for safe shelter must continue. Construction was halted Monday while the state’s environmental agency evaluated the report, which compiled laboratory results assessing the site’s soil, groundwater, and soil gas. An analysis found excess levels of mercury, four metals, DEHP — a chemical present in plastic products — and two semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs), which can be found in pesticides, oil-based products, and fire retardants. The soil surrounding the flagged samples was excavated and disposed offsite, and a barrier was constructed to limit access to that soil, according to the report. Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office said in a statement Monday that with such safeguards, the site was safe for temporary housing. After the project was canceled Tuesday, Johnson told reporters “the mission is still very much alive” to find shelter for immigrants sleeping outdoors. In a statement Tuesday the city reiterated its resolve to move quickly, adding that despite being informed of the report and its findings, “the State provided no additional guidance on its preferred methodology or assessment criteria, nor raised any concerns about its own decision to move forward with construction prior to the release of Terracon’s report.” City officials did not immediately respond to an inquiry as to whether alternative sites were being considered. IL ALLOCATES $160 MILLION TO AID MIGRANTS IN CHICAGO DURING WINTER MONTHS Yimara Pajaro, a Venezuelan seamstress, said she and her partner camped outside a South Side police station for two months before being moved into a church for temporary shelter last week. Sleeping outside in Chicago, after several snowfalls and subfreezing nights this fall, left them in bad shape, said Pajaro. She suffered three asthma attacks worsened by the cold. Pajaro said she wouldn’t want to move to a shelter designed to hold thousands, like the one planned for Brighton Park. And if the site is polluted, “they should not bring anyone there,” she said. “We will get sick. It seems like our health doesn’t matter to them.” Mayors of Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles and New York have been pressing for more federal aid to accommodate the new arrivals. Migrants have been arriving in the Democrat-led cities on buses funded by the Republican governors of Texas and Florida. Critics initially decried that as a political stunt, but more than a year later, the cities are struggling to cope with the influx amid dwindling resources.
New St. Louis prosecutor says he’s ‘enforcing the laws’ amid notable violent crime crackdown
Prosecution of violent crime in St. Louis is rising sharply in the six months since an embattled progressive prosecutor was replaced by an appointed circuit attorney, according to the prosecutor’s office. Gabe Gore said Tuesday that his office has prosecuted 45% more cases than in the same six-month period of 2022, when Kim Gardner was the city’s top prosecutor. Gore, speaking at a news conference, said his office also has made a dent in a backlog of pending criminal cases by resolving about 2,500 of them — mostly violent crimes in a city with one of the highest homicide rates in the nation. “There’s no type of crime that we are looking the other way on,” Gore said. “We are enforcing the laws. We don’t accept the notion that as a citizen of the city of St. Louis you have to accept a certain amount of property crime, or what people would refer to as petty crime, as a cost of living in the city.” ST. LOUIS COUNTY PROSECUTOR LAUNCHES PRIMARY CHALLENGE AGAINST REP. CORI BUSH Gore, a Democrat, was appointed by Republican Gov. Mike Parson in May following Gardner’s resignation. Her turbulent tenure included prosecution of a sitting Republican governor, frequent run-ins with police, and criticism from Missouri Republican leaders over a backlog of cases and a high number of cases where those convicted of violent crimes were not penalized with more jail time. The new top prosecutor said he has hired 24 attorneys to fill assistant prosecutor positions that were vacant. He’s also secured working relationships with private lawyers and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in St. Louis to help prosecute homicide cases. But he acknowledged that more work remains. Gore inherited 250 homicide cases. Fifty-three have been resolved but charges have been made in 37 new homicide cases since he took office. Meanwhile, his office is reevaluating 24 killings that Gardner’s office did not charge “but that the homicide division believes have merit,” Gore said. At the time of his appointment, Gore faced a backlog of 6,700 pending cases. That number has been reduced to around 4,200. He said violent crimes were dealt with first. The remaining cases — misdemeanors and low-level felonies — are expected to be resolved by the end of March. The Rev. Darryl Gray, a leading civil rights activist who also chairs a civilian-led jail oversight board, said St. Louis needs to focus on preventing crime before it happens, not what happens after. He said that since Gore took office the city jail has reached capacity. Over 90% of the jail’s 750-plus detainees are young Black men, Gray said. “We still have crime,” Gray said. “And until Gabe Gore and elected officials begin to talk about prevention, all we’re going to have are full jails.” Gore said he has hired a director of community engagement and appointed a former judge to lead a new conviction integrity unit to examine possible cases of wrongful convictions. Three convictions are currently being evaluated, Gore said. Gardner, a Democrat, became the city’s first Black circuit attorney after her election in 2016. She was part of a movement of progressive prosecutors around the country who sought diversion programs including mental health treatment or drug abuse treatment for low-level crimes, pledged to hold police more accountable, and proactively sought to free inmates who were wrongfully convicted. Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a lawsuit in February seeking Gardner’s ouster on three grounds: failure to prosecute existing cases; failure to file charges in cases brought by police; and failure to confer with and inform victims and their families about the status of cases. Gardner said Bailey’s attack on her was politically and racially motivated. Public opinion turned against Gardner in February after 17-year-old Janae Edmondson, a volleyball player from Tennessee, was struck by a speeding car after a tournament in downtown St. Louis. She survived but lost both legs. The driver, 21-year-old Daniel Riley, was out on bond on a robbery charge despite nearly 100 bond violations including letting the battery of his GPS monitor die and breaking the terms of his house arrest. Critics questioned why Riley was free despite so many bond violations. ST. LOUIS JAIL UNDER STATE INVESTIGATION OVER MISMANAGEMENT, ABUSE CLAIMS Gardner first drew the ire of Republicans in 2018 when she charged then-Gov. Eric Greitens, a Republican, with felony invasion of privacy, but the charge was eventually dropped and Greitens resigned later that year. The Greitens case drew scrutiny that led to the conviction of Gardner’s investigator. Gardner received a written reprimand for failing to produce documents and saying incorrectly that all documents had been provided to Greitens’ lawyers. In 2019, Gardner announced an “exclusion list” of police officers prohibited from bringing cases to her office. The nearly 60 officers were accused of posting racist and anti-Muslim comments on social media. Gore said he is still deciding if he will run in the 2024 election to keep his job. He offered no timetable for making that decision.
Maryland proposes multibillion-dollar transportation spending cut
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s administration is proposing roughly $3.3 billion in wide-ranging cuts for the state’s six-year transportation spending plan, which is facing inflationary pressures as traditional revenue sources haven’t kept up with costs, the state’s transportation secretary said Tuesday. The proposal, which could be adjusted by the General Assembly next year, will have an impact on highways and transit service, as well as other transportation spending. The approach includes about $1 billion in reductions in the transportation department’s operating budget, $2 billion from the capital program and about $400 million in grant reductions to local governments, the department said in a news release Tuesday. GEORGIA PLANS $127M RAIL TERMINAL NORTHEAST OF ATLANTA “We’re trying to pull as many levers as we can to make this as painless as we can,” Paul Wiedefeld, Maryland’s transportation secretary, told The Associated Press in an interview. The proposal is part of a larger budget challenge the state is facing. Moore, a Democrat, and the legislature, which is controlled by Democrats, are grappling with projected future budget deficits in the state’s operating budget, which is separate from the transportation spending plan. Moore put officials on notice in August that tough budget decisions were coming, during a speech at the Maryland Association of Counties summer conference. When state lawmakers convene for their annual legislative session in January, they will be working to balance the budget for the next fiscal year with an estimated shortfall of about $400 million. They also are facing rising budget gaps i n future years, as the state continues to implement an education funding reform law with phased-in funding. One of the biggest cuts in the transportation funding plan would be to major highway and transit expansion projects that are not advertised by Jan. 1. Those construction dollars would be moved out beyond fiscal year 2029, Wiedefeld said. The plan also would cut funds for maintenance projects by 30%. For highways, that reduction would affect day-to-day operations such as mowing lawns, picking up litter and fixing potholes. “They’re still going to be doing them, but not at the degree that we would prefer,” Wiedefeld said. The plan also calls for saving roughly $40 million a year by shutting down smaller branch offices for the MVA and reducing office hours. The plan also includes increasing airport parking fees. Wiedefeld said the state will maintain matching money to receive federal funding. The transportation department said federal investments add up to about $7 billion. “We’re not going to leave any money on the table because you’re getting roughly 80 cents on the dollar,” Wiedefeld said. The proposal retains project development funds for Baltimore’s Red Line, Southern Maryland Rapid Transit, the Frederick Douglass Tunnel Project, the replacement American Legion Bridge and other key projects, the transportation department said in a news release Tuesday afternoon. The secretary, a former general manager and CEO of Metro, said Maryland won’t back away from investments needed to support the subway system linking Maryland and Virginia with the District of Columbia. NRA PRAISES COURT ORDER STRIKING DOWN ‘DRACONIAN’ BLUE STATE’S HANDGUN LAW The funding crunch comes as revenue sources have not kept up with operating costs, Wiedefeld said. Operating costs have risen roughly 7% annually, while revenues have gone up only about 1%, he said. The state’s vehicle titling tax isn’t keeping up with costs, as more people keep their vehicles longer, and the gas tax also doesn’t keep pace due to increasing efficiency and electric car use. Wiedefeld also noted that transit ridership has not bounced back to what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. The secretary also pointed out that the state has hit a debt-limit cap, creating another challenge for capital needs. Despite the difficulties, Wiedefeld noted that Maryland will still be spending almost $20 billion in the transportation spending plan. “We are building projects out there today, and we’re not stopping things that are under construction,” Wiedefeld said. “We have bus purchases in the future. all of those things are still funded. It’s just that where we’d like to be, we can’t afford right now.”
Romney rips ‘clueless’ Democrats for trying to negotiate border spending
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, says Republicans want the border “closed” as part of a potential congressional agreement for additional emergency spending requested by the White House and criticized “clueless” Democrats who want to negotiate border provisions. “Dems want $106B—GOP wants a closed border. That’s the trade. But clueless Dems want to negotiate the border bill. Not going to happen,” Romney said on X, formerly Twitter. “Is an open border more important to Dems than Ukraine and Israel?” Republicans and Democrats have been struggling to find common ground over how to handle the crisis at the southern border as part of a supplemental spending agreement that includes border security and funding to Ukraine and Israel. REPUBLICANS CLOSE RANKS, DEMAND DEMS FACE BORDER CRISIS AS BIDEN UKRAINE AID PLAN HANGS IN BALANCE The White House requested $14 billion to help it deal with the massive crisis at the southern border. The request includes $6.4 billion for “border operations,” which includes $4.4 billion for holding facilities and reimbursement of support from the Pentagon. It also includes money for DNA collection and over $1.9 billion for Health and Human Services “to support eligible arrivals and unaccompanied children.” Related to migrant care is $1.4 billion for shelter and services for migrants released from DHS custody. This is in addition to $800 million distributed to states and non-governmental organizations by the administration to aid the many migrants who have been released into the U.S. interior. But Republicans want to see higher standards for asylum, limits on parole and other inclusions to make it harder for migrants to be released into the U.S. interior. House conservatives have been pushing Speaker Mike Johnson to refuse to accept anything less than H.R. 2, the GOP’s marquee border bill, which would reinstate Trump administration-era measures such as Remain In Mexico and restart border wall construction. SENATE DEMS SAY ANY CHANGES TO ASYLUM SYSTEM MUST BE COUPLED WITH AMNESTY FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has teed up a vote on Biden’s aid request for later this week, but so far GOP leadership is urging a no vote until there are “meaningful” changes at the border. Meanwhile, some Senate Democrats have said policy changes should not go ahead unless they are linked to an amnesty for illegal immigrants already in the U.S. “As negotiations surrounding the supplemental aid package progress, we are concerned about reports of harmful changes to our asylum system that will potentially deny lifesaving humanitarian protection for vulnerable people, including children, and fail to deliver any meaningful improvement to the situation at the border,” a coalition of 11 Democratic senators said Wednesday. “Using a one-time spending package to enact these unrelated permanent policy changes sets a dangerous precedent and risks assistance to our international partners,” they said. “Any proposal considering permanent changes to our asylum and immigration system needs to include a clear path to legalization for long-standing undocumented immigrants.” Fox News’ Liz Elkind contributed to this report.