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National Guard deploys to aid ICE operations in Arkansas, as Sanders backs key Trump initiative

National Guard deploys to aid ICE operations in Arkansas, as Sanders backs key Trump initiative

EXCLUSIVE: Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, one of the most visible figures in President Donald Trump’s first term, told Fox News Digital exclusively that she will announce a plan Tuesday to deploy dozens of National Guard to help in the deportation process for captured illegal immigrants. The Republican, who served as White House press secretary during the last Trump administration, will work with the Department of Homeland Security under federal Title 32 powers that allow guardsmen to remain under her control but be funded by Washington. “Violent, criminal illegal immigrants have no place in Arkansas,” Sanders said.  “I signed the Defense Against Criminal Illegals Act to hold these criminals accountable and slap enhanced penalties on illegal immigrants who commit additional crimes while in our state, and I look forward to our guardsmen working with the Trump Administration to enforce federal immigration law.” ICE COULD GET BOOST FROM NATIONAL GUARD IF CALLED, IOWA GOVERNOR SAYS Sanders said her former boss has skillfully secured the border and praised his efforts to “clean up the streets” in major cities, to the chagrin of Democratic municipal leaders. “Arkansas stands with him every step of the way,” Sanders added. Arkansas National Guard Brig. Gen. Chad Bridges confirmed his service members are ready to assist DHS, saying in a statement that they are committed to “focus on their core operations.” A total of 40 guardsmen in Fort Smith, Little Rock and Fayetteville will be activated for this mission. GOP GOVERNOR GREENLIGHTS STATE TROOPERS TO JOIN ICE IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN Sanders indicated they will assist in logistical support and transportation of illegal immigrant detainees – and remain unarmed. Arkansas National Guard will also help DHS with the clerical side of the detainment and deportation process, allowing federal agents to focus on the hands-on efforts of capturing illegal immigrant criminals. Prior to the news, Sanders signed the state’s Defense Against Criminal Illegals Act, which stipulates enhanced penalties for illegal immigrants who commit crimes in Arkansas beyond simply being illicitly present in the Natural State. Sanders has also expanded the state’s ban on sanctuary cities to include areas of the state not directly governed by municipalities, including many rural communities. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Sanders’ office also shared information on some of the more violent illegal immigrants arrested in Arkansas. In January, ASP arrested Luis Danielle Valdez-Reyes who was accused of striking a state trooper, as well as Elias Avila-Bustillo, who was wanted by El Salvador for illegal gang activity. A nurse from Little Rock, Jennifer Ann Morton, was killed in a DUI crash allegedly caused by another illegal immigrant: Maynor Yair Sorto-Herrera. During the Biden administration, Sanders was one of a handful of governors to travel to the Mexican border to highlight the Democratic administration’s reticence to do so.

Dem governors suddenly crack down on crime as Trump’s National Guard threats loom

Dem governors suddenly crack down on crime as Trump’s National Guard threats loom

A handful of Democratic governors are cracking down on crime as President Donald Trump threatens to send the National Guard into blue cities struggling with persistent crime waves that have left residents killed or injured and businesses shuttered.  Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) — who has traded barbs with Trump over objecting to the president’s calls to activate the National Guard in the long crime-riddled city — announced on Friday that the Maryland State Police will bolster the Baltimore Police Department’s efforts to crack down on crime.  “We are proud of the progress that we’ve been able to make, and we’re all very, very concerned about how much work still needs to happen,” Moore said on Friday after ordering state police to assist its Baltimore law enforcement counterparts. “If one person does not feel safe in their neighborhood, that is one too many.” Trump is in the midst of a national crime crackdown that began in Washington, D.C., in August, when he federalized the city under section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, which allows the president to assume emergency control of the capital’s police force for 30 days. Trump has since floated deploying the National Guard to crime-riddled cities such as Baltimore and Chicago to install law and order.  NEWSOM DEPLOYS CRIME TEAMS STATEWIDE AS WHITE HOUSE MOCKS ‘COPYING TRUMP AGENDA’ Democratic state and local leaders, however, have frequently balked at Trump’s crackdown as a form of “authoritarianism.”  Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, for example, declared in August that “we cannot incarcerate our way out of violence,” while claiming the U.S. has an “addiction” to jailing criminals. Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has characterized a potential National Guard presence on the streets as unnecessary, citing Chicago’s slowing crime trends since the wildly violent 2020 era and promoting state investments in community violence intervention programs.  Amid left-wing outrage over Trump’s crime crackdown plans, some Democratic governors have taken additional steps at the state level to snuff out crime in violent jurisdictions, Fox News Digital found.  “First, Democrats claimed there was no crime problem and mocked the American people for being concerned about their safety. But now that they’ve seen the tremendous results delivered by President Trump, they’re eager to mimic his success — the reality is, the American people benefit when the President’s agenda is implemented. Let this be a lesson to all Democrats, President Trump was right about everything!” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital on Tuesday morning when asked about a trio of Democratic governors who have announced crime crackdown initiatives in recent days.  Just days after Trump federalized Washington, D.C.’s police department, Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a state of emergency in Rio Arriba County, the city of Española and local Pueblo communities in response to a “significant surge in violent crime, drug trafficking, and public safety threats that have overwhelmed local resources.” TRUMP CLAIMS ‘WE’RE AGAINST CRIME. DEMOCRATS LIKE CRIME’  “We are making every resource available to support our local partners on the ground and restore public safety and stability to these areas that have been hardest hit by this crisis,” Lujan Grisham said in an Aug. 13 press release.  The state of emergency authorized up to $750,000 in “emergency funding for the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management” to coordinate response efforts in the affected areas, and will stay in effect until the funds are spent, or the additional resources are no longer needed.  Lujan Grisham’s decision followed the Democratic governor slamming Trump for federalizing D.C., calling it: “executive overreach in Washington [that] sets a dangerous precedent and undermines safety in our nation’s capital.”  Lujan Grisham’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the matter.  In California longtime Trump political foe Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state’s highway patrol would deploy new “crime suppression” teams to the state’s massive cities seeing crime trends, including San Diego, Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Central Valley, Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area. The announcement followed a similar crime crackdown initiative in Oakland, Bakersfield and San Bernardino, the governor said at the time.  “These operations will be targeted,” Newsom said at a news conference back in August when making the announcement. “They’ll be data-driven.” LIZ PEEK: TRUMP PRANKS DEMOCRATS INTO OPPOSING SOMETHING THEY’VE ALWAYS CLAIMED TO SUPPORT Newsom’s office pointed to data showing crime overall dropped in California in 2024 and that CHP’s increased presence in the new jurisdictions was part of the governor’s “next phase of his crime-fighting efforts.” “While the Trump administration undermines cities, California is partnering with them and delivering real results. With these new deployments, we’re doubling down on these partnerships to build on progress and keep driving crime down,” Newsom said in a statement of the initiative.  Newsom is among vocal Democrats who have slammed Trump over his crime crackdown, including excoriating the administration in June, when federal law enforcement officials and the National Guard converged on Los Angeles to specifically detain and deport illegal immigrants. A federal judge ruled earlier in September that the Trump administration violated federal laws by sending the National Guard to LA in June — a ruling that affects only the state and not other states.  “Today, the court sided with democracy and the Constitution. No president is a king — not even Trump — and no president can trample a state’s power to protect its people,” Newsom said following the judge’s ruling.  The Supreme Court ultimately lifted restrictions on ICE raids in LA on Monday.  When asked about bolstering CHP presence amid Trump’s national crime crackdown, Newsom’s office said “there is no correlation between California’s public safety investments and Trump unnecessarily sending in the National Guard to Washington, D.C.” The state has invested $1.7 billion since 2019 to boost public safety, including record funding in 2023 to combat organized retail crime with a 310% increase in enforcement operations, a spokesperson for Newsom’s office told Fox Digital.  “I know the issue of reduction

North Carolina Republicans demand firing of judge who freed Ukrainian refugee’s murder suspect

North Carolina Republicans demand firing of judge who freed Ukrainian refugee’s murder suspect

FIRST ON FOX: Republican members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation are calling for the removal of a state judge who released a man now accused of stabbing a Ukrainian refugee to death on a Charlotte train. All 10 House GOP members from the Tar Heel State signed a letter urging formal proceedings to remove Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes. They cited her decision earlier this year to release Decarlos Brown “based solely on his ‘written promise’ to appear for a future court date.” Brown is now charged in the Aug. 22 stabbing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, who fled Ukraine in 2022 after Russia’s invasion. Republicans argued Stokes ignored Brown’s lengthy record when she freed him without bail. GOFUNDME PULLS FUNDRAISERS FOR FELON ACCUSED OF KILLING COMMUTER IN RANDOM CHARLOTTE TRAIN ATTACK They argued that the release “was made despite Brown’s extensive criminal history, which included at least 14 prior arrests for serious offenses such as possession of a firearm by a felon, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and physical assault of his sister.” Brown, who was reportedly diagnosed with schizophrenia, had been charged with a misdemeanor in January after calling 911 and demanding responding officers investigate “man-made” materials inside his body controlling him, according to KATV.  He called 911 again after being angered by the police’s refusal, and was subsequently arrested and charged with a misdemeanor, according to the outlet. But the homeless man’s case is now the latest example being held up by Republicans of big cities having too lax a justice system in dealing with crime, including on mass transit.  It comes amid broader partisan divisions over the merits of President Donald Trump deploying the national guard to major cities in order to deal with violent crime. “Ms. Zarutska’s murder was not only a profound personal tragedy but also a direct result of a failure of judicial responsibility. By releasing a repeat violent offender on nothing more than his written promise to appear, Magistrate Stokes displayed a willful failure to perform the duties of her office and engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice,” the lawmakers, led by Rep. Tim Moore, R-N.C., wrote. DEM GOVERNOR BREAKS SILENCE ON MURDER OF UKRAINIAN REFUGEE AFTER SOCIAL MEDIA BACKLASH “Her decision has undermined public confidence in the judicial system and exposed the community to wholly preventable harm.” Zarutska had fled Ukraine in August 2022 after Russia launched its invasion of the sovereign country. The attack appears to have been unprovoked, as Zarutska had been sitting in front of Brown on a train while on her way home from work, according to local reports. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “[W]e urge you to commence formal removal proceedings against Magistrate Teresa Stokes. We further request that the Court conduct a thorough review of her prior bond determinations to assess the full extent of misconduct,” the letter said.  “North Carolinians deserve to know that those entrusted with judicial authority exercise it with diligence, responsibility, and regard for the safety of the community.” Fox News Digital reached out to the North Carolina Judicial Branch for comment but did not hear back by press time.

Ted Cruz accuses Biden of breaking pardon rules with autopen use after bombshell report

Ted Cruz accuses Biden of breaking pardon rules with autopen use after bombshell report

FIRST ON FOX: A Senate Republican charged that former President Joe Biden and top administration officials “demolished” the constitutional guardrails for pardons by using an autopen. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, wrote in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, which was first obtained by Fox News Digital, that there are a list of “core constitutional requirements” that must be met for pardons and granting clemency, and that the administration’s usage of an autopen likely ran afoul of those guardrails. In the waning months of his presidency, the Biden administration commuted the sentences of roughly 1,500 inmates and pardoned 39 others in December. A little over a month later, the administration issued roughly 2,500 more commutations — the most ever by a president in a single day. COMER VOWS ‘ACCOUNTABILITY,’ TRUMP RIPS ‘SCANDAL’ AFTER BOMBSHELL REPORT ON BIDEN AUTOPEN PARDONS Cruz, who is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and chair of the Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights, offered to provide Bondi assistance in ongoing investigations into the administration’s alleged abuse of the autopen. He said that the clemencies were issued “based on broad criteria rather than case-by-case evaluations, and at least some were signed using an autopen of then-President Biden’s signature.” “These core Constitutional requirements, considerations, and expectations were demolished in the final months of the Biden administration for partisan and personal motives by President Biden, his family, and his top officials,” Cruz said. Cruz noted that the presidential pardon authority granted under Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution requires a chain of custody of sorts: there has to be an unbroken line from the president to a pardon being granted, he said. TOP BIDEN OFFICIALS QUESTIONED AND CRITICIZED HOW HIS TEAM ISSUED PARDONS, USED AUTOPEN: REPORT “Everyone involved in the process — government officials purporting to issue a pardon, the person to whom it is being granted, judicial and law enforcement officials, and most of all the American people — should have absolute confidence a pardon was granted at the president’s explicit direction,” Cruz said. But recent reports, and ongoing congressional investigations, have raised doubts over whether Biden explicitly directed the avalanche of pardons toward the end of his presidency.   Cruz’s letter comes on the heels of a report from Axios that unearthed emails that showed Biden officials raised concerns with how the president’s team decided to make certain pardons and the frequent usage of the autopen. ‘PRESIDENTIAL INCAPACITY’: SENATE REPUBLICAN SEEKS PAPER TRAIL OF BIDEN’S AUTOPEN USE Cruz said that the emails showed that the Biden White House “implemented a process that separated the President from officials responsible for signing pardons on his behalf.” “They could not know if they were doing so at the President’s direction, either on a case-by-case basis or as a matter of criteria,” he said. He argued that the doubts raised by recent reports, and the ongoing investigations by the Justice Department, risked a “constitutional crisis in which the other branches and the American people cannot have faith that the President’s Article 2 pardon power was legitimately deployed.” “If the integrity of the clemency process was broken by Biden officials, such that the relevant actions were not taken at the President’s direction, the status of the pardons and commutations would at a minimum be cast into doubt, and the officials involved in approving and using the autopens should be held accountable,” Cruz said. 

Inside Epstein’s infamous “birthday book”: Clinton’s note, poolside candids and bizarre animal pics

Inside Epstein’s infamous “birthday book”: Clinton’s note, poolside candids and bizarre animal pics

Among the files made public by the House Oversight Committee is a document that stands out for its tone: a glossy 238-page scrapbook that offers a rare and unusually intimate glimpse of Jeffrey Epstein’s self-curated network.  The infamous “birthday book,” compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003, for Epstein’s 50th includes what appears to be notes from former President Bill Clinton, Alan Dershowitz, as well as photographs that juxtapose girlfriends, animals, children’s drawings with financiers and politicians — a tableau that feels all the more unsettling today. BILL CLINTON LETTER IN EPSTEIN ‘BIRTHDAY BOOK’ AMONG NEW FILES RELEASED BY HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE Maxwell wrote to Epstein at the beginning of the book that she wanted to “gather stories and old photographs to jog your memory about places, people and different events.” She hoped he would “derive as much pleasure from looking through it” as she did assembling it for him. Later in the book, a photo of the two canoodling appears with a caption that reads “the first date,” marked with the year 1991. Maxwell was found guilty in 2021 of sex trafficking and other offenses, and is serving a 20-year prison term. Prosecutors said she played a central role in Epstein’s scheme, luring underage girls into what began as massages and escalated into sexual abuse. Now 63 and incarcerated since her 2020 arrest, Maxwell told Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in late August that she had no role in the sexual exploitation of minors. When asked about the “birthday book,” she told Blanche that she could only remember some parts of it, adding that it had been years since she compiled it.  HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE RELEASES THOUSANDS OF EPSTEIN DOCUMENTS Among the book’s entries is an apparent note from Bill Clinton, where the former Democratic president praises Epstein’s “childlike curiosity” and his “drive to make a difference” as well as the “[illegible] of friends.” Dershowitz, a former Harvard University law professor who once represented Epstein during criminal investigations, used his birthday note to make a joke about influencing media coverage. “Dear Jeffrey, as a birthday gift to you, I managed to obtain an early version of the Vanity Unfair article. I talked them into changing the focus from you to Bill Clinton, as you will see from the enclosed excerpt. Happy birthday and best regards,” the entry said. Dershowitz has repeatedly denied wrongdoing as it relates to Epstein. The birthday book also contained sentimental messages from family and friends. In one note, Epstein’s mother, Pauline Stolofsky Epstein, wrote that she’s been “very busy reminiscing since Ghislaine asked me to write about you.”  “Jeff[,] you have been a good son since day one and we have been proud of you ever since,” Epstein’s mother said. “I recall you refused to sleep [as a child] unless I read a story from Grandma’s Golden Book that she bought for 25c,” she added. “At PTA meetings I begged your teachers to improve your handwriting.” EPSTEIN ESTATE TO HAND OVER ‘BIRTHDAY BOOK’ TO LAWMAKERS, HOUSE DEM SAYS She also referenced Epstein’s life as a bachelor, as well as his prominent media shout-outs. “At age 21 Cosmopolitan magazine featured you as ‘Bachelor of the Month,” Pauline Epstein wrote. “Today you still hold that title.” “Jeff, I’m so sorry that Dad can’t share the nachus [pride] we have regarding your achievements,” she added. “He would have been overjoyed reading the article about you in the New York magazine.”  The book features hundreds of photos from throughout Epstein’s life until age 50, including pictures of him as a child and a teenager. Some of the earlier images included family pictures, formal school photos and pictures of him hanging out with friends as a teenager. HOUSE MOVES TO EXPOSE EPSTEIN FILES, AUTHORIZES OVERSIGHT PROBE The book also had revealing images of Epstein shirtless, Epstein embracing women and what appears to be a censored photo of him and Maxwell laughing and embracing in a pool. Pictures of mating lions and zebras were also included in the book. A picture of a woman in a bikini was also included with the caption, “Visiting you down in Palm Beach. Can’t get a second of privacy with you and a camera around ha ha!” Upon the files’ release, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight Committee, accused Democrats of previously “cherry-picking” the documents. “Oversight Committee Republicans are focused on running a thorough investigation to bring transparency and accountability for survivors of Epstein’s heinous crimes and the American people,” Comer said.