Harrison
Harrison
Leo Wilson | Troxclair
Leo Wilson | Troxclair
Harrison
Harrison
Harrison
Harrison
Oliverson | Schofield | DeAyala | Harless | Hull
Oliverson | Schofield | DeAyala | Harless | Hull
Shofner | Harris | Wilson | Pierson | Virdell
Shofner | Harris | Wilson | Pierson | Virdell
Who is the Trump-appointed judge blocking deployment of National Guard to Portland?
U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, who President Donald Trump nominated during his first term, is blocking the commander in chief from deploying National Guard troops in Oregon. The Senate confirmed her via voice vote in 2019. Immergut was involved in a probe pertaining to the salacious scandal that indelibly marked President Bill Clinton’s White House tenure. “I was hired by Ken Starr almost five months after Attorney General Reno sought to expand the OIC’s authority to investigate whether Monica Lewinsky or others suborned perjury, obstructed justice, or intimidated witnesses in connection with the civil sexual harassment case in Jones v. Clinton,” Immergut wrote in response to a question from then-Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., in 2018. “I was hired to work as a line prosecutor to determine whether there were facts to support or refute those allegations,” she noted. She said that she questioned Lewinsky. WHITE HOUSE REBUKES ‘EGREGIOUS’ COURT ORDER BLOCKING TROOP DEPLOYMENTS AMID PORTLAND UNREST “When Ms. Lewinsky agreed to cooperate with the Office of Independent Counsel, I was asked to be one of the team of prosecutors debriefing her. As I was involved in the debriefings, I was asked to participate in questioning Ms. Lewinsky before the grand jury and take her deposition,” she noted in response to another question. Responding to questions from Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Immergut expressed the view that it is not appropriate for lower courts to buck Supreme Court precedent. Asked whether Roe v. Wade was “settled law,” she replied, “Yes” — the nation’s high court overturned the controversial abortion ruling in 2022. Asked whether the Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry is “settled law,” she again replied in the affirmative. Sen. Feinstein passed away in 2023. OBAMA-NOMINATED FEDERAL JUDGE MARRIED TO HOUSE DEM RECUSES HIMSELF FROM OREGON NATIONAL GUARD CASE Trump issued a Truth Social post last month in which he declared that he was “directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.” A document featuring Hegseth’s signature noted that “200 members of the Oregon National Guard will be called into Federal service effective immediately for a period of 60 days.” But this month, Immergut temporarily blocked the move amid a legal challenge lodged by the State of Oregon and the City of Portland. “The President’s determination was simply untethered to the facts,” the judge’s opinion and order asserted, declaring that “this Court GRANTS Plaintiffs’ Motion for Temporary Restraining Order … and temporarily enjoins Defendants’ September 28, 2025, Memorandum ordering the federalization and deployment of Oregon National Guard service members to Portland.” Then she issued a second temporary restraining order that more broadly blocked the administration from deploying any federalized National Guard in the state. “Defendants are temporarily enjoined from deploying federalized members of the National Guard in Oregon,” the document declared. TRUMP’S ‘WAR-RAVAGED PORTLAND’ NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT HALTED BY FEDERAL JUDGE OVER AUTHORITY CONCERNS White House deputy chief of staff for policy and Homeland Security advisor Stephen Miller declared in a post on X that “A district court judge has no conceivable authority, whatsoever, to restrict the President and Commander-in-Chief from dispatching members of the US military to defend federal lives and property.”
FBI fires agents, dismantles corruption squad after probe unveils monitoring of GOP senators, Patel says
The FBI has already terminated employees and abolished the CR-15 squad just one day after it was revealed that several Republicans’ private communications and phone calls had been tracked. FBI Director Kash Patel on Tuesday announced the actions the bureau had taken in response to the revelation of the “baseless monitoring” during the Biden administration and promised more actions to come. “We are cleaning up a diseased temple three decades in the making — identifying the rot, removing those who weaponized law enforcement for political purposes and those who do not meet the standards of this mission while restoring integrity to the FBI. I promised reform, and I intend to deliver it,” Patel said in a statement to Fox News Digital. JACK SMITH TRACKED PRIVATE COMMUNICATIONS, CALLS OF NEARLY A DOZEN GOP SENATORS DURING J6 PROBE, FBI SAYS Patel also posted about it on X, saying, “Transparency is important, and accountability is critical. We promised both, and this is what promises kept looks like… We terminated employees, we abolished the weaponized CR-15 squad, and we initiated an ongoing investigation with more accountability measures ahead.” FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino replied to the post and echoed Patel’s message, writing, “We promised you transparency and accountability. We will continue to deliver on those promises. You deserve better.” The CR-15 squad was the FBI’s Washington Field Office’s public corruption unit. The squad helped former Special Counsel Jack Smith investigate President Donald Trump, according to NBC News, which cited sources familiar with the matter. FBI’S TRUMP PROBE ‘ARCTIC FROST’ ALSO INVESTIGATED CHARLIE KIRK’S TPUSA, GRASSLEY REVEALS On Monday, Fox News Digital learned that Smith allegedly tracked the private communications and phone calls of nearly a dozen Republican senators as part of his investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots. Trump reacted to the revelation on Tuesday and slammed Smith in a post on Truth Social that read, “Deranged Jack Smith got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. A real sleazebag!!!” HAWLEY RIPS JACK SMITH’S ‘BIDEN’S STASI’ PROBE, CALLS ALLEGED SPYING ‘ABUSE OF POWER BEYOND WATERGATE’ A document, reviewed by Fox News Digital on Monday, revealed that Smith and his “Arctic Frost” team investigating Jan. 6 were allegedly tracking the phone calls of GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and GOP Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania. The document, recently discovered by Patel and exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital, is titled “CAST Assistance” and dated Sept. 27, 2023. “CAST” refers to the FBI’s cellular analysis survey team. The case ID is marked in the document as “ARCTIC FROST—Election Law Matters—SENSITIVE INVESTIGATIVE MATTER—CAST.” Additionally, it states the names of the lawmakers and that an FBI special agent on Smith’s team “conducted preliminary toll analysis” on the toll records associated with the lawmakers. An FBI official told Fox News Digital that Smith and his team tracking the senators were able to see which phone numbers they called, the location the phone call originated and the location where it was received. A source said the calls were likely in reference to the vote to certify the 2020 election.
WATCH: Kaine defends Jones amid AG candidate’s texts envisioning murder of GOP leader: ‘Still a supporter’
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine defended his fellow Democrat, former Del. Jay Jones of Norfolk, as the attorney general nominee’s campaign unravels after texts surfaced depicting Jones envisioning the murder of a top state Republican. Pressed ahead of a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday, Kaine said Jones’ comments were “indefensible” but that he is “still a supporter” of his candidacy against incumbent Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares. “Jay has apologized,” Kaine said. “I’ve known Jay Jones for 25 years,” he said. “I think those statements were not in character, and he has apologized — I wish other people in public life would sincerely apologize for stuff.” YOUNGKIN PRESSES DEMS TO PUSH JAY JONES OFF VIRGINIA AG TICKET AFTER ‘BEYOND DISQUALIFYING’ MESSAGES SURFACE Asked whether Jones’ controversy will affect other Democrats on the ballot, Kaine replied that the situation is a “significant challenge” for Jones but that he doesn’t think it will affect other races. “I think he’s got to explain it in ways that Virginia can see who he really is,” Kaine added. Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., is at the top of the ticket against Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in the governor’s race, and Democratic state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi is facing conservative commentator John Reid for the lieutenant governorship. Fox News later followed up with Kaine, asking if he definitively does not believe Jones should drop out. “Yeah, I’ve answered the question correctly, and I don’t think I can improve on the first answer,” Kaine said. VIRGINIA DEM LOGGED PAC HOURS TO SKIRT POSSIBLE JAIL TIME FOR RECKLESS DRIVING, DOCS SHOW Jones had, apparently accidentally, texted Virginia Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Chester, a message about then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert, venting about Gilbert’s friendship with a recently deceased Democratic Party elder. The texts first came to light Friday to National Review, and were later confirmed to Fox News Digital through multiple Richmond, Virginia, sources. Jones had said the late state Sen. Joe Johnson, D-Bristol, “leaked” Democratic goings-on to Gilbert and the GOP caucus, before remarking: “If those guys die before me, I will go to their funerals to p— on their graves. Send them out awash in something.” VIRGINIA AG CANDIDATE ONCE REFERENCED PUTTING TWO BULLETS IN HEAD OF GOP LEADER, TEXTS SHOW Jones then envisioned that Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, would be shot twice in the head if lined up with Cambodian Khmer Rouge dictator Pol Pot and former German Chancellor Adolf Hitler and the executioner only had two bullets. “Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time,” he added. ‘CONSUMED WITH HATE’: WINSOME SEARS, JASON MIYARES UNLOAD ON DEMOCRAT JAY JONES OVER VIOLENT TEXTS He went on to suggest that Gilbert and his wife, Jennifer, were “breeding little fascists.” The Gilberts have two young children. Since the texts were sent in 2022, Gilbert resigned from the House of Delegates to briefly accept President Donald Trump’s nomination to be the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia based in Roanoke. He has since left that post as well. The texts came one week after documents from New Kent County showed Jones had been charged with reckless driving on a notorious straight-arrow stretch of Interstate 64 between Virginia’s Williamsburg and Richmond in the middle of the night. Jones escaped the typical one-year jail sentence by filing 1,000 community service hours split between his own political PAC and the NAACP’s Virginia branch. A New Kent County, Virginia, official told Fox News Digital that it was not uncommon to have traffic-related crimes prosecuted with the defendant not receiving jail time during the COVID-19 era amid capacity and spacing concerns for more serious offenders. Jones is set to face Miyares at the University of Richmond on Oct. 16 for their only debate, at which the firestorm is sure to be a top issue. Fox News’ Dan Scully contributed to this report.
War on cartels? White House says it has an ironclad case to strike narco-terrorist groups
The White House has told Congress the United States is now in an “armed conflict” with narco-traffickers operating in Latin America — a declaration that sounded to some like a formal announcement of war. Last week, a memo sent to lawmakers stated that the U.S. is in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug traffickers classified as “unlawful combatants.” That followed President Donald Trump’s earlier designation of several cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and four U.S. strikes on boats allegedly carrying narcotics near Venezuelan waters, which killed 21 people over the past month, according to U.S. officials. The White House says those operations are part of a broader national-security campaign to stop what it calls a direct threat to Americans — and insists the administration’s legal case to do so is “ironclad.” “The President acted in line with the law of armed conflict to protect our country from those trying to bring deadly poison to our shores, and he is delivering on his promise to take on the cartels and eliminate these national security threats from murdering more Americans,” deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement. CARTEL CONNECTION: HEZBOLLAH AND IRAN EXPLOIT MADURO’S VENEZUELA FOR COCAINE CASH A White House official stressed that the report “does not convey any new information,” noting that it followed a Sept. 15 strike against a designated terrorist organization after earlier operations in the Caribbean. Immediately after the report was delivered, the Department of War carried out its fourth strike on suspected traffickers in the Caribbean, killing four in international waters off the coast of Venezuela. “A boat loaded with enough drugs to kill 25 TO 50 THOUSAND PEOPLE was stopped, early this morning off the Coast of Venezuela, from entering American Territory,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The new memo effectively shifts U.S. operations against drug cartels from a law-enforcement model — arrests and prosecutions — to a wartime paradigm that allows for lethal force and detention without trial. Like the post-9/11 War on Terror, the administration argues that drug cartels are “unlawful combatants” and can be targeted militarily rather than treated as criminals. Administration officials maintain this approach is legally justified, while critics warn it stretches presidential authority. TRUMP APPROVES MILITARY ACTION AGAINST LATIN AMERICAN CARTELS CLASSIFIED AS TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS Under Article II of the Constitution, presidents may use force to repel sudden attacks. The Trump administration argues drugs that have killed more than 100,000 Americans per year in recent years constitute an urgent national security threat, granting authority for the strikes. But national security lawyers say that authority is limited. “That’s a far cry from authorizing an ongoing series of strikes,” wrote Georgetown law professor Marty Lederman, who argued such a campaign would amount to “war in the constitutional sense” and therefore require congressional approval. National security lawyer Irina Tsukerman said the administration’s framing signals a protracted campaign and an effort to assert unilateral presidential authority. “He’s saying he doesn’t even need to go to Congress, because he’s essentially taking action against these unlawful combatants, and it’s going to be a long-term operation, just like with the War on Terror,” she said. She also noted that, unlike al Qaeda or ISIS, no authorization for use of military force exists for cartels. “The president has only the authority to continue strikes for 60 days,” she added. “Beyond that, Congress must approve.” That means the 60-day war powers clock is already running — it began with the first strike on Sept. 2. Unless Congress acts, that authority expires in early November. So far, Democratic leaders have questioned the scope of the strikes but have not moved to block them. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., claimed Trump’s advisors are pushing him toward war. “The insecure, overcompensating war mongers around Trump — who convinced him to change the name of the Department of Defense — now seem to be trying to goad Venezuela into a war no one wants,” he wrote on X last month. Pedro Garmendia, managing director of geopolitical risk firm The Pinafore Group and a former representative of Venezuela’s interim government at the Organization of American States, the international body of Western Hemisphere nations, said the strikes should be viewed less as isolated counternarcotics operations and more as part of a larger regional message. “For years, the regime in Venezuela has used its ties to drug trafficking organizations and international terror groups like Hezbollah to prop itself up and destabilize its rivals,” Garmendia said. “This is best understood as an extension of the Bush Doctrine. It lets Trump take control of the Caribbean, a major drug route, while also sending messages to Iran, China and Russia — all of whom have a footprint in Venezuela.” TRUMP UNLEASHES US MILITARY POWER ON CARTELS. IS A WIDER WAR LOOMING? Garmendia argued that by treating cartels as non-state combatants, the administration is also signaling that Nicolás Maduro’s regime is not a legitimate government, but a “zombie behemoth” sustained by foreign sponsors and criminal enterprises. “The leaders of the cartels and gangs are the members of the government. They are completely intertwined,” he said. “The message here is more to Venezuelan authorities — that they are legitimate targets as well. If I were a minister in Maduro’s government, or even Maduro, I would be very scared by that declaration.” He added that Venezuela lacks the capacity to retaliate against overwhelming U.S. force. “They don’t have the ability to intercept an F-35 or match the firepower already in the Caribbean,” Garmendia said. Colombian President Gustavo Petro, facing an election year, may adopt an “anti-imperialist” posture toward U.S. escalation but is unlikely to provide material support to Maduro, while Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva may try to discourage strikes but is not expected to openly defend Caracas. “Maduro’s regime is essentially a drug cartel that captured an entire country,” Garmendia said. “I don’t see Lula putting his hands on the fire to save him.” Trump has also moved to cut off diplomatic channels with Caracas, instructing