Delhi takes BIG step as it passes School Fee Regulation Bill 2025, CM Rekha Gupta says, ‘Justice to all…’
The proposed law aims to regulate the arbitrary fee hikes by private schools in the national capital, providing relief to lakhs of students and their families.
Chicago’s budget shortfall puts spotlight on Mamdani’s ‘socialism’ agenda for New York City
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson warns that finances in the nation’s third most populous city have “reached a point of no return.” The mayor said this week that the city will need to take steps to deal with looming budget shortfalls and that key systems that Chicago provides, including education, housing, health care and transportation, are “woefully underfunded.” Eight-hundred miles to the east, there are concerns in the nation’s most populous city that if democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani wins the election in November as New York City’s next mayor, the city could be headed for a fiscal abyss similar to the crisis half a century ago, when it came close to bankruptcy. CHICAGO TRIBUNE WARNS ‘HALLOWEEN COMES EARLY ‘ AS CITY FACES SHORTFALLS Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who dropped out of the 2025 race for New York City’s Democratic Party mayor nomination and who is running for re-election as an independent, struck a deal with the city council on a roughly $116 billion budget for fiscal year 2026. “There are no perfect budgets. But we have come a long way, and this one gets pretty close,” City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said at a press conference announcing the deal in late June. CUOMO FLIPS SCIPT ON MAMDANI IN NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL RACE But the 33-year-old Mamdani, who is the polling frontrunner over Adams, former New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and two other contenders in November’s general election, is running on an expensive platform to tackle affordability and inequality in one of the nation’s most expensive cities. Mamdani grabbed national attention in late June after topping Cuomo and nine other candidates in the Democratic Party primary, as he took a big step towards becoming the first Muslim and first millennial mayor. Mamdani, a Ugandan-born state assemblyman from the New York City borough of Queens, is proposing to eliminate fares to ride New York City’s vast bus system, making CUNY (City University of New York) “tuition-free,” freezing rents on municipal housing, offering “free childcare” for children up to age 5, and setting up government-run grocery stores. There are concerns that the significant spending increases to pay for Mamdani’s proposals, along with the possibility of revenue shortfalls, could put a strain on New York City’s budget. And at the center of Mamdani’s proposals to pay for his pricey plans is a “millionaire’s tax,” which critics say will spur ultra-wealthy New York City residents to flee. Mamdani’s agenda has given Republicans plenty of fodder to use to go on offense, as they spotlight his “socialist” policies and try to anchor him to Democrats facing challenging re-elections next year. President Donald Trump has gone further, accusing Mamdani of being a “communist.” And Mamdani’s rivals in November’s mayoral election are also taking aim at him. Adams has said Mamdani is making “false promises” that will hurt low-income New Yorkers. And the mayor argues that Mamdani’s proposal to set up government-run supermarkets will “devastate the local bodegas and local stores.” Cuomo, as he proposed his own plan to address affordability in New York City, said on Thursday that Mandani is “proposing a theory of socialism that has never worked anywhere.” “What is the best answer to affordability? It is business development. It is opportunity. It is jobs. It is economic growth. It is not anti-business socialism,” Cuomo said as he asked and answered his own question. Firing back, Mamdani campaign spokesperson Dora Pekec claimed that “trusting Andrew Cuomo to address New York’s affordability crisis is the equivalent of tasking an arsonist with putting out a fire — he created this crisis.” “Trusting Andrew Cuomo to address New York’s affordability crisis is the equivalent of tasking an arsonist with putting out a fire — he created this crisis,” Mamdani spokesperson Dora Pekec said in a statement.
Party of ‘crazies’: Dems comply with outrageous redistricting stunts due to primary threats, state rep says
Many of the Texas Democrats who fled the Lone Star State to Democrat-stronghold states amid a Republican redistricting effort are complying with the political stunt out of fear of being primaried by “someone even crazier” within the party, Republican Texas state Rep. Briscoe Cain told Fox News Digital in a Thursday interview. “If they were to come back, they would lose in a primary to someone even more socialistic than they are,” Cain told Fox News Digital in a Thursday Zoom interview. “So yeah, they’re actually there out of fear, not out of fear of the Republican legislation, but out of fear of their own people. And so they’ll continue to sit out of state at their own detriment, all because of the fear of being primaried by someone even crazier than they are.” “I can tell you that many of them don’t want to be there. They know that ultimately they’re going to lose, but because their party’s run by a bunch of crazies, they have to be there,” he continued of the Democrats who left the state ahead of Monday. Dozens of Democratic state lawmakers fled Texas for liberal bastions such as Illinois, Massachusetts and New York to prevent a quorum for a special session as state lawmakers prepared to vote on a redrawn congressional map for the state ahead of the 2026 midterms. State lawmakers have reported they plan to be absent from the state until the end of August, when the special session ends. ABBOTT, PAXTON LAUNCH LEGAL BLITZ ON FLEEING DEMOCRATS IN REDISTRICTING SHOWDOWN Texas law requires at least two-thirds of lawmakers in either chamber be present to proceed with legislative matters, with the Democrat minority party currently holding 62 seats in the Texas house to the GOP’s 88. The Texas House has been at a standstill since the Democrats fled over the weekend. Six Democrats are in the Austin area this week, Cain explained, meaning six more Democrats are required before the body can reach a quorum. Cain said that he heard three additional Democrats are in the Houston area and likely “taunting” Republicans to potentially arrest them over their absence. “They’re older members, and they’re kind of taunting us to arrest them with the idea that ‘who would arrest grandma?’ It’s kind of a clever play by the Democrats,” he said. Texas Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows signed arrest warrants for the absent Democrats on Monday, following the state House approving of such warrants and Gov. Greg Abbott calling on the Texas Department of Public Safety to arrest the “delinquent Texas House Democrats.” The arrest warrants are largely viewed as symbolic as they only apply to those within state lines. TEXAS RESIDENTS SAY ‘THERE SHOULD BE CONSEQUENCES’ FOR DEMS FLEEING STATE TO AVOID VOTE Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) reported Thursday that the FBI agreed to his request to help assist in locating the whereabouts of the derelict lawmakers as Republicans work to reach a quorum upon the Democrats’ returns. “I thank President Trump and Director Patel for supporting and swiftly acting on my call for the federal government to hold these supposed lawmakers accountable for fleeing Texas,” Cornyn said in a Thursday news release. “We cannot allow these rogue legislators to avoid their constitutional responsibilities.” Cain told Fox Digital that Republicans are doing “everything in our power” after Democrats fled the state, including launching investigations into potential bribery. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced an investigation Wednesday into former presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke’s nonprofit, Powered by People, over claims it was helping fund the Democratic exodus from the state, which he described as a political bribe. “They’re being investigated for potential bribery,” Cain told Fox Digital. “And the Attorney General has launched an investigation into Beto O’Rourke’s organization for bribery as well. I’ll tell you, under the Texas Penal Code, offering or accepting or knowingly doing … a benefit to an elected official in exchange for their vote or some kind of discretionary action, like showing up to work, is considered bribery here in Texas. And it kind of looks like that and we need to launch an investigation.” In response to the investigation, O’Rourke described Republicans in Texas as “thugs” who are attempting to “steal our country” and accused Paxton of bribery himself. TEXAS DEMS ALSO SKIPPED TOWN IN 2021 TO AVOID A VOTE, AND SEVERAL CAUGHT COVID-19 IN DC Democratic governors, such as Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, have since opened their proverbial doors to the Texas Democrats who fled the Lone Star State. Cain remarked the irony is not lost on him that the Democrats fled to states that have long histories embracing gerrymandered voting lines. “The irony of this entire walkout, of course, they go to states that are some of the worst gerrymandered states that we’ve seen. “We’re now being able to expose and show the world the maps of these hypocrites. And they also call themselves brave. But as to quote Governor Greg Abbott, they’re very un-Texan, Texans don’t run from a fight,” he continued. TEXAS DEMOCRATS FLEE STATE TO BLOCK TRUMP-BACKED REDISTRICTING VOTE IN DRAMATIC LEGISLATIVE MOVE Texas lawmakers have used quorum breaking as a political strategy going back to 1870, and last unfolded in 2021, when Democratic state lawmakers fled to Washington, D.C., out of an attempt to block the passage of voting and election integrity legislation, as well as the 2004 walk-out also over redistricting. Cain said history shows such stunts have not proven fruitful for Democrats. “Democrats lost seats every time they came back – might be a hint that the voters don’t appreciate those things. We also still passed the legislation. So it’s really a costly, futile move whereby it’s just pure theater, a chance to go and fundraise, but really they’re not standing up for democracy at all. Rather, they’re just being pure obstructionists and obstructing the will of the people that have elected them,” he said. President Donald Trump has encouraged redistricting in
EXCLUSIVE: Duncan says Trump’s attacks justify his switch from GOP to Democratic Party: ‘He’s making my case for me’
EXCLUSIVE – Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan says President Donald Trump’s social media attacks criticizing his move from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party validates his major switch in political affiliations. “Failed former Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan, of Georgia, is a total loser,” Trump wrote early Friday on his Truth Social platform. The president charged that Duncan was “never able to get anything done, all he ever did was complain. We didn’t want him in the Republican Party any longer, so I’m told he became a Democrat. Good riddance Geoff. You don’t even have a chance!!!” Asked about the criticisms, Duncan told Fox News Digital in an exclusive national interview hours later, “I think he’s making my case for me that the Republican Party no longer wants to love their neighbor. There’s nothing in that tweet or Truth Social post or whatever that shows any sort of attitude that I want to be a part of.” FORMER LT. GOV. GEOFF DUNCAN ABANDONS GOP TO JOIN DEMOCRATIC PARTY “So I wish him the best of luck. I hope he figures out how to run this country better than he is now for the next couple of years. But I’m proud to not be a Republican, especially with him at the tip of the spear,” Duncan highlighted. In announcing his decision, Duncan cited several policy issues that played a part in his decision to change parties, including health care, Medicaid, gun safety, immigration and poverty. He wrote that his time in office taught him the best way to “love my neighbor” is through public policy. Duncan told Fox News, “I find it easier to love my neighbor as a Democrat It’s not a perfect landing spot, but it gives me a better opportunity each day when I wake up to love my neighbor.” GEORGIA GOP EXPELS FORMER LT. GOV. GEOFF DUNCAN FROM PARTY, CITING ALLEGED DISLOYALTY Duncan, a former health care executive and minor league baseball player, served in Georgia’s legislature for four years before running and winning election as lieutenant governor in 2018. He decided against seeking re-election in 2022. After leaving office, Duncan – who was a vocal GOP critic of Trump’s repeated efforts to reverse his razor-thin November 2020 election defeat in battleground Georgia to former President Joe Biden – worked towards what he said was “healing and rebuilding a Republican Party that is damaged but not destroyed.” Duncan endorsed Biden in the 2024 presidential race and later supported Vice President Kamala Harris after she replaced Biden at the top of the Democrats’ 2024 ticket. Duncan spoke in a high-profile speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last August. The Georgia Republican Party expelled him from the GOP earlier this year. “Neither party is hitting it out of the park. You don’t have to look any further than the stats to see that Republicans have their issues. Democrats certainly have their issues,” Duncan told Fox News. “I’ve tried this reform thing before on the Republican side, and Donald Trump has sucked the life and future out of the Republican Party, in my opinion.” Duncan’s old boss, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia, is term-limited and cannot seek re-election next year. Duncan confirmed to Fox News that he’s considering a 2026 run for governor. “My family and I are certainly not ready to make that big of a decision right here, right now. But it is something that we’re considering for sure. I mean, my phone has continued to ring for months on end, from Democrats, independents and even some folks on the right that want us to consider this,” Duncan said. Asked about his timetable, Duncan said “2026 is coming like a freight train. And certainly, if this is a decision that we go forward with, it’ll have to be within, within a few months.” Duncan emphasized that “if Democrats, especially in Georgia, want to be successful, they’re going to have to live in the middle and not the fringes. They’re going to have to have a moderate slate of candidates that are able to use common sense to provide their leadership. And I think there’s a gravitational pull in that direction.” Nearly half-a-dozen Democrats in Georgia have already launched gubernatorial campaigns, including former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who later worked in the Biden administration. Pointing to the two leading Republicans running for governor, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and state Attorney General Chris Carr, Duncan said “I hope we’re able to sit back and find a Democratic candidate that can win the governorship and not allow a governor Trump to show up for four years in the state, because that’s exactly what’s going to happen.” “The Republican slate is going to be dominated by whoever Donald Trump endorses, and that person is going to be a sock puppet for Donald Trump,” Duncan argued. “And no Georgian wants that. No Georgian wants the inconsistencies of Donald Trump to manage how their kids are educated, how their streets are kept safe and how government interacts with those that need it the most.” Looking ahead to next year’s elections, when Georgia will once again be in the national spotlight, Duncan said “Georgia is going to continue to be the political center of the universe, as we watch the Senate race shape up. As we watch this governor’s race shape up. I do think Georgia has an opportunity to lead the rest of the country, and I hope we take advantage of that.” Fox News’ Landon Mion contributed to this report.
Delhi couple claims restaurant denied entry over Indian attire; CM Rekha Gupta orders probe
In the video, the woman is alleging that the woman was denied entry in the restaurant in an Indian environment because the couple was wearing suit-salwar and pant t-shirt.
Kash Patel slams ‘corrupt’ sanctuary sheriff indicted for cannabis company extortion
Boston’s sanctuary sheriff was arrested Friday on federal charges after allegedly leveraging his elected position to extort $50,000 from a cannabis executive who was seeking state approval to open a dispensary—a scheme FBI Director Kash Patel called a betrayal of public trust. Suffolk County Sheriff Steven Tompkins, 67, who oversees more than 1,000 employees in the Boston-area, was handcuffed Friday morning in the Southern District of Florida after a federal grand jury indicted him on two counts of extortion under color of official right, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. “When someone entrusted with enforcing the law is accused of breaking it for personal gain, it undermines the public’s trust in every honest officer who wears the badge,” Patel told Fox News Digital. “The FBI will pursue corruption at every level, because no one is above the law. The people of Suffolk County, and the country, deserve leaders who serve them, not themselves.” SUSPECTED ICE FACILITY ATTACKERS ARRESTED IN BLUE CITY, CHARGED WITH ASSAULTING FEDERAL OFFICERS Tompkins was appointed sheriff of the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department (SCSD) in 2013, elected in a 2014 special election, and later re-elected to serve successive six-year terms. He made headlines in 2019 after booting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents out of the county jail, signing an eviction notice that required hundreds of illegal immigrant detainees to be moved out within 60 days, according to a report from the Boston Herald. FLORIDA EX-SHERIFF ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY RUNNING ILLEGAL GAMBLING HOUSE THAT GENERATED MILLIONS According to court documents, a cannabis company applied in 2019 for a retail dispensary license in Boston through the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC). To meet the state’s Positive Impact Plan (PIP) requirement, the company partnered with the sheriff’s department, which agreed to screen and refer graduates from its re-entry program for work at the dispensary’s retail store. The company’s partnership with SCSD was formalized in a letter signed by Tompkins in 2019 and submitted with its dispensary license application in 2020. The cannabis commission approved the license in 2021 and renewed it in 2022 and 2023, with the company citing the partnership to meet the PIP requirement in each application. To raise capital for an initial public offering (IPO) and expand as a publicly traded company, executives sought multimillion-dollar investments from institutions and other high-net-worth investors—not the general public, according to court documents. By mid-2020, the company was preparing for its IPO by producing audited financial statements, hiring attorneys and obtaining additional financing. Prosecutors allege Tompkins pressured the cannabis executive for stock, reminding the executive he had helped the company in its licensing efforts. The executive feared Tompkins might exploit his position as sheriff to undermine the partnership with the department, putting both the license and the company’s planned IPO in jeopardy. PATEL’S IMMIGRATION PUSH AT FBI YIELDS 10,000 ARRESTS SINCE JANUARY In October 2020, the company asked Tompkins for an updated partnership letter to submit with its license renewal application, according to court documents. Within a month of signing the letter, and after alleged pressure on the executive, Tompkins obtained a pre-IPO stake in the company. Prosecutors claim that in November 2020, Tompkins wired $50,000 from his retirement account to an account controlled by the executive, purchasing nearly 29,000 shares at $1.73 each. Following a reverse stock split, he held about 14,400 shares valued at $3.46 each. Once the company launched its IPO in 2021, the stock value jumped to $9.60 per share, increasing the value of Tompkins’ $50,000 purchase of 14,417 shares to $138,403. By May 2022, the value of Tompkins’ stock had dropped thousands of dollars below his $50,000 investment, but he allegedly demanded a full refund. The executive agreed, issuing five checks between May 2022 and July 2023. Prosecutors claim some checks were marked as “loan repayment” and “[company] expense” at Tompkins’s direction to disguise the nature of some of the payments. US ATTORNEY FOR MASSACHUSETTS SAYS INTERFERENCE WITH ICE OPERATIONS IS ‘DISTURBING,’ THREATENS ARRESTS U.S. Attorney Leah Foley wrote in a statement that elected officials, particularly those in law enforcement, are expected to be ethical, honest and law-abiding, “not self-serving.” “His alleged actions are an affront to the voters and taxpayers who elected him to his position, and the many dedicated and honest public servants at the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department. The people of Suffolk County deserve better,” Foley wrote. “Public corruption remains a top priority for my administration, and we will continue to investigate and prosecute anyone who uses their position of trust and power for their own gain.” FBI Boston special agent in charge Ted Docks added the act was “clear-cut corruption.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “From his very first day as Suffolk County Sheriff, Steven Tompkins sought to portray himself as a man of the people–a principled public servant and reformer, devoted to the cause of justice. That’s why it’s beyond disappointing that he’s now accused of gaming a system instituted in the interests of public safety and fair play,” Docks wrote in a statement. “We believe what the Sheriff saw as an easy way to make a quick buck on the sly is clear-cut corruption under federal law. The citizens of Suffolk County deserve better, not a man who is accused of trading on his position to bankroll his own political and financial future. Public servants must be held to the highest of ethical standards, and those falling short will be rooted out.” Tompkins, who faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison for each count, will appear in Boston federal court at a later date.
Noem, in Illinois, calls out Gov. Pritzker, Chicago’s mayor over their handling of criminal illegal immigrants
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem traveled to Illinois on Friday to call out Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, accusing both Democrats of “being obstructionist” when it comes to getting criminal illegal immigrants off the streets. Noem, speaking in a Chicago suburb, highlighted the recent ICE arrests of a Mexican illegal immigrant convicted of predatory sexual criminal assault against a victim under the age of 13, a Polish national convicted of attempted murder and aggravated domestic battery and an illegal immigrant from Micronesia with three DUI convictions. “These individuals would still be out on our streets today committing crimes and attacking people and harming them and hurting our children if Governor Pritzker and Mayor Johnson had their way. Because their choice has been routinely over and over and over again to release these criminals back on the streets,” Noem said. “The debate over so-called sanctuary policies has real consequences and has consequences for our law enforcement officers, but also for the families that live here and the businesses that are just trying to provide for their community,” she added. BONDI DOJ NAMES AND SHAMES 35 SANCTUARY JURISDICTIONS THAT ‘PUT AMERICAN CITIZENS AT RISK’ Representatives for both Pritzker and Johnson did not immediately respond Friday to requests for comment from Fox News Digital. “I’m here today because the elected leaders in this state of Illinois are ignoring the law. In fact, they’re being obstructionist when it comes to getting dangerous criminals off of their streets,” Noem also said. “They are deciding the dangerous criminals that are murderers, rapists, money launderers, have committed assault, that are trafficking children are more important than the families that live in the communities here.” NOEM WARNS OF ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ THREAT LEVEL FOR ICE AGENTS, BLAMES ‘LIES’ FROM DEMOCRATS “That includes Governor Pritzker, Mayor Johnson and others who have worked so hard to protect these dangerous criminals. They’d rather be a sanctuary state and continue to put those individuals above American citizens, American citizens who built this country, who have raised their families here for generations,” Noem added. Noem also told reporters Friday that “In just the last seven months, ICE has issued over 1,664 detainers in Chicago alone,” marking a “106% increase” over what was issued during the Biden administration. “Unfortunately,” she said, “Chicago and its leadership has only honored 8% of those.”
Cuban-born congressman calls for Squad member’s removal over ‘Guatemalan before American’ remark
EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Carlos Gimenez, the lawmaker who fled the Castros’ communist regime as a youth, put forward a resolution Friday to boot “Squad” member Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., from the Homeland Security committee for violating her Oath of Office. The resolution cites Ramirez’ comments in Spanish during an event in Mexico City earlier this week, in which she declared, “I am a proud Guatemalan before I am an American.” “I was born in Cuba and exiled from my homeland shortly after the communist takeover,” Gimenez, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital on Friday, just before he filed the bill during the House’s brief pro-forma session. “Everything I am, I owe to this exceptional country of limitless opportunities that paved the way for a Cuban refugee like me to become a firefighter, fire chief, city manager, county commissioner, county mayor, and yes, even a member of Congress.” LONE CUBAN-BORN REP ‘AMPED UP’ TO SEE NATION LIBERATED, AFTER EMOTIONAL RETURN 64 YEARS IN THE MAKING “Only in America,” said Gimenez, who is the only Cuban-born member of Congress. While an immigrant himself, Gimenez said that when a fellow lawmaker “openly declares allegiance to a foreign nation” over the U.S., they lose the right to be in certain positions in the federal government. “It is not only unacceptable, it is disqualifying for service on a committee tasked with securing our homeland,” he said. Gimenez also serves on the House Homeland Security Committee, chairing its maritime and transportation subcommittee. EXCLUSIVE: VENEZUELAN OPPO LEADER JOINS CUBA-BORN REP TO LAUD TRUMP AFTER BIDEN’S MADURO OIL DEAL CANCELED Blowback continued online throughout the week, with actor James Woods quipping, “Well, okay then, Hasta La Vista.” Conservative commentator Matt Walsh added that Ramirez should be arrested. Ramirez’ office directed Fox News Digital to a statement on the blowback the Chicagoan received after her comments south of the border. The statement said “Republican commentators” and the social media presence for the Department of Homeland Security wrongly attacked her for “showing pride in her multi-cultural, multi-ethnic heritage.” Ramirez said she is a U.S. citizen by birth and that the attacks over the past days were “a weak attempt to silence my dissent and invalidate my patriotic criticism of the nativist, White supremacist, authoritarians in government. It is the definition of hypocrisy that members of Congress, who betray their oath each day they enable Trump, are attacking me for celebrating my Guatemalan-American roots.” Ramirez added that “no one questions” her many colleagues who celebrate their Irish ancestry, or others of similar Caucasian descent. “I am the daughter of immigrants and the daughter of America. I am both Chapina and American. I am from both Guatemala and Chicago, Illinois.”
Georgia attorney general sues GOP opponent in governor’s race over campaign financing
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, one of the leading Republican contenders for governor, has filed a lawsuit against Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, challenging the legality of his GOP rival’s campaign funding. Carr asked a federal judge to permanently block Jones’ ability to spend money from his leadership committee, a fundraising tool that allows the state’s governor, lieutenant governor and legislative leaders to raise unlimited funds. Both men are leading Republican candidates to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Brian Kemp after next year’s election. Carr argues that Jones’ leadership committee violates the attorney general’s First Amendment right to free speech and his 14th Amendment right to equal protection by setting up a campaign finance structure that boosts Jones and limits how much Carr can spend on his campaign. A 2021 state law that created leadership committees does not allow Carr or other declared candidates to have access to the fundraising vehicle. Carr’s regular campaign committee is limited to raising $8,400 from each donor for his primary campaign and $4,200 for a potential primary runoff. FORMER GEORGIA LT. GOV. GEOFF DUNCAN ABANDONS GOP TO JOIN DEMOCRATIC PARTY Carr campaign spokeswoman Julia Mazzone said in a statement that Jones “is using his position to sidestep contribution limits, raise six-figure checks during legislative sessions and funnel unlimited money into a competitive primary through a structure only he can access.” “Republicans cannot ignore the cloud of unethical, illegal and corrupt behavior that surrounds Burt Jones,” Mazzone said. “Leadership committees were never intended to be unregulated campaign machines,” the statement added. “The court has ruled on this before, and the Constitution prohibits exactly what’s happening here. We’re taking action to uphold transparency and accountability standards.” A Jones campaign spokesperson, meanwhile, has accused Carr of being hypocritical since his office previously defended the same law that he is now challenging in court. Carr has argued that the attorney general must defend challenged laws even if he personally disagrees with them. “Georgia’s lackluster Attorney General defended this law two years ago,” Kendyl Parker, Jones’ spokeswoman said. “Now, he’s running for governor and wants to challenge the same law he once defended. If hypocrisy were an Olympic sport, he’d take gold.” Carr launched his gubernatorial bid last year, saying he needed more time to raise money because he is not personally wealthy. His campaign has expressed concerns for months that Jones will use his leadership committee and family wealth to support his primary campaign. REPUBLICAN DOOLEY JUMPS INTO GEORGIA’S SENATE RACE WHILE TOUTING SUPPORT FOR TRUMP AND TAKING AIM AT OSSOFF The Carr campaign has sought to have the state Ethics Commission probe the source of a $10 million loan Jones made to his leadership committee, although the commission declined to launch an investigation, noting that Carr failed to allege a legal violation. The attorney general’s campaign pointed to U.S. District Judge Mark Cohen’s 2022 ruling that a leadership committee for Kemp could not use money for Kemp’s re-election campaign during that year’s Republican primary. Cohen found that the “unequal campaign finance scheme” violated GOP primary challenger and former U.S. Sen. David Perdue’s First Amendment right to free speech. Cohen ruled that Kemp could continue raising money for the leadership committee but said the governor could not spend it against Perdue in the primary. “Despite full knowledge of this history, Mr. Jones and his leadership committee, WBJ Leadership Committee, Inc., are ignoring this Court’s prior rulings and using a leadership committee—that has no contribution or coordinated spending limits—in a primary election against a candidate without one,” Carr’s lawsuit reads. Carr is seeking additional restrictions on Jones’ leadership committee than in Cohen’s ruling. The attorney general is asking a judge to cut off both fundraising and spending from the lieutenant governor’s leadership committee until the primary race is over. He is also requesting that a federal magistrate judge be appointed to oversee all spending by the leadership committee and that Jones’ regular campaign committee repay any money already spent by the leadership committee to support Jones’ gubernatorial run. “The loan and its amount are significant because Mr. Jones is also able to raise unlimited funds into the leadership committee, then repay the loan from funds raised that then can be applied directly to his campaign account, effectively removing the contribution limits from those dollars,” the lawsuit says. Carr asks that the court block Jones from giving any cash to dark money groups or making any loans to his regular campaign committee during the primary. He also wants the magistrate judge to probe where Jones’ $10 million loan came from, citing a 2022 financial disclosure showing that Jones did not have enough liquid assets for a loan of that quantity. The attorney general’s campaign continues to express concern that Jones could raise unlimited money to repay his loan and then give the repaid money to his candidate committee for the primary, arguing that this would wreck campaign contribution restrictions. “Mr. Jones is raising and spending unlimited amounts of money in the primary—and Mr. Carr is limited in what he can raise by Georgia’s existing campaign contribution limits,” the lawsuit reads. “This Court should level this uneven playing field by preventing Mr. Jones from using his leadership committee during the primary election.” Carr’s campaign has also called on the Ethics Commission for an advisory legal opinion on whether Jones’ fundraising activity is legal. The Republican primary will be held in May, and the general election next year in the purple state is expected to be one of the most expensive governor’s races in the country. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
US appeals court blocks Trump contempt proceedings ordered by Boasberg
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled 2-1 Friday that U.S. District Judge James Boasberg cannot move forward with possible contempt proceedings against the Trump administration. The case involves the administration’s alleged violation of an emergency court order blocking the administration from using a 1798 law to summarily deport hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador — the latest in an evolving, high-stakes court clash that has played out for months in various courts. Judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao, two Trump appointees on the majority-Democrat bench, sided with the Trump administration Friday in blocking Boasberg’s contempt motion from moving forward. Judge Nina Pillard, an Obama appointee, dissented. The 2-1 ruling is all but certain to be appealed to the full court to be heard en banc, where the Democrat-majority bench is seen as more favorable to the plaintiffs, or directly to the Supreme Court for review. WHO IS JAMES BOASBERG, THE US JUDGE AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP’S DEPORTATION EFFORTS? “The district court here was placed in an enormously difficult position,” Katsas said Friday, writing for the majority. “Faced with an emergency situation, it had to digest and rule upon novel and complex issues within a matter of hours. In that context, the court quite understandably issued a written order that contained some ambiguity.” Katsas noted that the appellate court ruling does not center on the lawfulness of Trump’s Alien Enemies Act removals in March, when administration officials invoked the 1798 immigration law to send more than 250 Venezuelan nationals to CECOT, the maximum-security prison in El Salvador. “Nor may we decide whether the government’s aggressive implementation of the presidential proclamation warrants praise or criticism as a policy matter,” he added. “Perhaps it should warrant more careful judicial scrutiny in the future. Perhaps it already has.” “Regardless, the government’s initial implementation of the proclamation clearly and indisputably was not criminal.” The ruling comes months after Boasberg originally found grounds to move on potential contempt proceedings in the case. It comes as Boasberg has also ordered ongoing status updates on the location and custodial status of the 252 CECOT class migrants, after they were deported last month from El Salvador to Venezuela as part of a prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Venezuela. It is unclear how many of those migrants had pending asylum applications in the U.S. or had been granted a “withholding of removal” order blocking their return to their country of origin. 100 DAYS OF INJUNCTIONS, TRIALS AND ‘TEFLON DON’: TRUMP SECOND TERM MEETS ITS BIGGEST TESTS IN COURT The long-awaited ruling comes months after Boasberg ruled that the court had found probable cause to move on criminal contempt proceedings after he issued a late-night temporary restraining order on March 15 blocking the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to summarily deport certain migrants to El Salvador. Boasberg had also ordered all migrants to be “immediately returned” to U.S. soil, which did not happen. Despite the order, hundreds of migrants were deported to the Salvadorian prison, CECOT, in March, where they remained until late last month, when they were sent from the prison in El Salvador to Venezuela, as part of the prisoner exchange. Boasbeg ruled in April that there was “probable cause” to move on criminal contempt proceedings against the Trump administration for failing to return the planes to U.S. soil and said the court had determined that the Trump administration demonstrated a “willful disregard” for his order. The appeals court granted the Trump administration’s request for an emergency stay of the ruling months earlier, prompting questions as to why they did not move more quickly on the motion. APPEALS COURT BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN’S DEPORTATION FLIGHTS IN ALIEN ENEMIES ACT IMMIGRATION SUIT Still, the decision is almost certain to be appealed either to the full circuit court to be heard en banc, or directly to the Supreme Court for review. The Trump administration for months has sparred with judges who have blocked the president’s executive orders from taking force. Boasberg, in particular, has emerged as one of Trump’s biggest public foes. Last month, the court attempted to have him removed from overseeing the case and have it reassigned to another case — a long-shot effort that legal experts and former judges suggested is unlikely to go far. This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.