White House again defends success of B-2 raid on Iran amid new report some uranium survived
The White House maintains that last month’s Operation Midnight Hammer “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites despite a new report from The New York Times suggesting Israeli officials have concluded some enriched uranium survived the targeted U.S. attack. According to the Times, a portion of the stockpile of near-bomb-grade enriched uranium located underground survived bombs dropped by B-2 stealth bombers June 21, 2025, which may still be accessible to Iranian nuclear engineers. When asked about the report, Anna Kelly, a White House deputy press secretary, told Fox News, “As President Trump has said many times, Operation Midnight Hammer totally obliterated Iran’s nuclear facilities. The entire world is safer thanks to his decisive leadership.” The White House’s messaging reiterates what President Donald Trump has said since the night of the attacks, which is that Iran’s nuclear sites were “totally obliterated.” OPERATION MIDNIGHT HAMMER: HISTORIC B-2 BOMBER MISSION FLEW FROM MISSOURI TO STRIKE IRANIAN NUCLEAR SITES Operation Midnight Hammer commenced when B-2 stealth bombers took off from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri at 12:01 a.m. June 21. Some of the bombers flew west and into the Pacific as a decoy, while the main strike force of seven B-2 Spirit bombers, each with two crew members, flew silently eastward with minimal communication as they undertook the 18-hour flight to the target area. The flight required the aircraft to refuel multiple times without landing, and when overland, the strike group linked up with escort and support aircraft from Central Command. At about 5 p.m. EST, a U.S. submarine launched over two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles against key surface infrastructure targets as the main strike force entered Iranian airspace. MIDNIGHT HAMMER IS ‘MISSION ACCOMPLISHED’ BUT THERE’S ONE BIG RED FLAG Additional tactics were used to deceive Iranian forces as the B-2 strike group approached Fordow and Natanz. A total of 14 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) weapons, commonly known as bunker-busters, were dropped on Fordow and Natanz, while Tomahawk missiles launched by U.S. submarines were last to strike, hitting targets at Isfahan. After the mission, Trump posted on Truth Social that the U.S. military carried out “massive precision strikes on three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.” Trump also addressed the nation on television, touting the success of Operation Midnight Hammer. “Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,” Trump said. “And Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier.” PENTAGON FLEXES US MILITARY’S DECOYS AND STRATEGIC DECEPTION THAT TOOK IRAN AND WORLD BY SURPRISE Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have railed against the “fake news” media ever since the attacks for casting doubt that the U.S. strikes on Iran destroyed the country’s nuclear program. While at a NATO summit last month, Hegseth slammed CNN and The New York Times, arguing they work “to find a way to spin” the news. “There’s a reason the president calls out fake news for what it is,” Hegseth said. “These pilots, these refuelers, these fighters, these air defenders. The skill and the courage it took to go into enemy territory flying 36 hours on behalf of the American people and the world to take out a nuclear program is beyond what anyone in this audience can fathom.” “And then the instinct, the instinct of CNN, the instinct of the New York Times, is to try to find a way to spin it for their own political reasons, to try to hurt President Trump or our country,” he added. “They don’t care what the troops think. They don’t care what the world thinks. They want to spin it to try to make him look bad based on a leak. “Of course, we’ve all seen plenty of leakers. And what [do] leakers do? They have agendas. And what do they do? Do they share the whole information or just the part that they want to introduce?” Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton and Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
‘Big tent party’: DNC chair shrugs off Mamdani’s refusal to condemn ‘globalize the intifada’ slogan
Ken Martin, the chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), dismissed concerns over NYC Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s unwillingness to explicitly condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada,” adding in an interview with PBS that the key to developing a winning coalition is through welcoming people with whom you disagree. After Mamdani’s monumental upset in the Democratic primary election for New York City mayor over former Governor Andrew Cuomo, he garnered backlash for refusing to condemn a phrase used to describe violent Palestinian uprisings against Israel. The slogan, “globalize the intifada,” has become a rallying cry for anti-Israel protesters in the United States ever since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attacks against hundreds of innocent Israelis. “There’s no candidate in this party that I agree 100% of the time with, to be honest with you. There are things that I don’t agree with Mamdani that he said, but at the end of the day, I always believe, as a Democratic Party chair in Minnesota for the last 14 years and now the chair of the DNC, that you win through addition,” Martin said during a Wednesday interview with PBS NewsHour. TOP DEMOCRATS, MEDIA DEMAND ZOHRAN MAMDANI CONDEMN ‘GLOBALIZE THE INTIFADA’ PHRASE “You win by bringing people into your coalition. We have conservative-Democrats, we have centrist-Democrats, we have labor-progressives like me, and we have this new brand of Democrat which is the leftists,” Martin continued. “We win by bringing people into that coalition and at the end of the day, for me, that’s the type of party we’re going to lead. We are a big tent party.” Martin conceded that sometimes this type of coalition building “leads to dissent and debate,” but, he noted, such “differences of opinion” should be celebrated and recognized as a way to move the party forward. During a podcast last month, Mamdani referred to the controversial slogan as “a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights.” When given another chance to explicitly condemn the phrase on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” the NYC mayoral candidate once again refused to do so. “That’s not language that I use,” Mamdani told NBC’s Kristen Welker. “The language that I use and the language that I will continue to use to lead this city is that which speaks clearly to my intent, which is an intent grounded in a belief in universal human rights.” HAKEEM JEFFRIES SAYS NYC HOPEFUL MAMDANI NEEDS TO ‘CLARIFY’ HIS POSITION ON ‘GLOBALIZE THE INTIFADA’ When Welker doubled-down on whether Mamdami would “actually condemn” the slogan, which Welker pointed out a lot of people perceive as a call to violence against Jews, Mamdani responded that he has spoken with numerous Jewish New Yorkers about their fears of anti-Semitism and said he would be committing to increasing “anti-hate crime programming” in the city by 800%. “Ultimately, what I think I need to show is the ability to not only talk about something but to tackle it and to make clear that there’s no room for antisemitism in this city,” Mamdani responded. “And we have to root out that bigotry, and ultimately we do that through the actions, and that is the mayor I will be, one that protects Jewish New Yorkers and lives up to that commitment through the work that I do.” Before turning to a different topic, Welker, for a third time, sought to get Mamdani on the record over whether he condemned the controversial slogan. “Why not just condemn it?” Welker asked. “My concern is to start to walk down the line of language and making clear what language I believe is permissible or impermissible. Takes me into a place similar to that of the president who is looking to do those very kinds of things, putting people in jail for writing an Op-Ed, putting them in jail for protesting,” Mamdani responded. “Ultimately, it’s not language that I use, it’s language I understand there are concerns about, and what I will do is showcase my vision for this city through my words and my actions.”
Texas Border Patrol shooter details remain scant as violence against ICE, CBP agents surges
Details about the shooter who opened fire on Border Patrol agents at an annex in McAllen, Texas, Monday remain scant days later as assaults against federal immigration officials are on the rise. Authorities identified Ryan Louis Mosqueda, 27, as the suspect Monday, confirming Mosqueda was killed at the scene. “Both Border Patrol agents and local police helped neutralize the shooter,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Monday. “Two officers and a Border Patrol employee were injured, including one shot in the knee. All three have gone to the hospital. This is an ongoing investigation led by the FBI.” SHOOTER WHO OPENED FIRE ON BORDER PATROL AGENTS IN SOUTH TEXAS IDENTIFIED BY POLICE CHIEF But the motive of the shooter still remains unknown, and McAllen, Texas, Police Chief Victor Rodriguez did not have any additional information to share with reporters during a news conference Monday about why Mosqueda opened fire on the agents. . Rodriguez said the gunman fired off “many dozens” of rounds at Customs and Border Protection’s McAllen, Texas, station. Mosqueda is affiliated with a Michigan address, and his car had Michigan license plates. However, Rodriguez said Mosqueda was reported missing from an address in Weslaco, Texas, less than 20 miles away, and that “an hour and a few minutes later he was at this particular location, opening fire on a federal building.” Mosqueda’s brother, Joe, told Detroit’s WDIV Local he’d never witnessed his brother speak about immigration issues or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) but said he suspected he was dealing with undiagnosed mental health challenges. “Out of the blue,” Joe Mosqueda told the outlet. “I don’t know if he was intentionally targeting, I don’t know. I believe it was mental health issues.” Joe Mosqueda or other family members could not be immediately reached for comment by email or phone calls by Fox News Digital. RED STATES CONSIDER ‘ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ’ SPINOFFS AS WH URGES THEM TO FOLLOW DESANTIS’ LEAD: ‘LOTS OF BEARS’ The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. The Department of Homeland Security reported earlier in July that assaults against ICE officers and other federal immigration agents have risen nearly 700% compared to 2024. While the agency reported 10 assault incidents between Jan. 1, 2024, and June 30, 2024, that number rose to 79 reported assaults in the same time frame in 2025. Other recent episodes of violence against law enforcement include another shooting near ICE’s Prairieland Detention Facility Friday, where a Texas police officer was shot in the neck. The Justice Department announced Tuesday that 10 individuals face charges in the shooting. The White House has urged Democrats to scale back language toward federal immigration officials after the shooting and other similar instances of violence. “We certainly call on Democrats to tone down their rhetoric against ICE and Border Patrol agents, who, again, are everyday men and women,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday. “These are honorable Americans who are just simply trying to do their job to enforce the law. They go home to their families every night, just like we all do, and they deserve respect and dignity for trying to enforce our nation’s immigration laws and to remove public safety threats from our communities.” Lawmakers, including Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., have issued harsh statements about ICE in recent weeks. Jayapal accused ICE of acting “like a terrorist force” in June and defended her comments in a July 2 interview with CNN after the White House demanded an apology from the lawmaker. TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ BOLSTERS BORDER SECURITY BY $100 BILLION Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., who oversees the House Homeland Security committee’s subcommittee on border security and enforcement, said in a statement Wednesday to Fox News Digital that “radical anti-law enforcement rhetoric” has prompted the uptick in crime against federal immigration officials. “This dangerous rhetoric from the far left jeopardizes the safety of our men and women in green. Violence against law enforcement will not be tolerated,” Green said. “The Committee on Homeland Security is in close contact with DHS concerning this attack on our law enforcement, and we will support the FBI’s investigation into the individual responsible and their motives.” Fox News’ Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.
Tim Walz blasted for costing Minnesota taxpayers $430K in legal prep ahead of Hill hearing
Republican state lawmakers in Minnesota have not held back with criticism after news Gov. Tim Walz spent $430,000 in taxpayer money to prepare for a House congressional hearing probing blue state governors on their “sanctuary city” policies. Invoices obtained by the Star Tribune of Minnesota uncovered that Walz’s office contracted with high-powered global law firm K&L Gates to prepare for the governor’s mid-June hearing in front of the GOP-controlled House Oversight Committee, which included questions about his and other blue state governors’ “sanctuary city” policies. In May alone, Walz incurred legal fees of around $232,000, according to invoices the Star Tribune obtained. This balanced out to a rate of about $516 per hour, the local outlet noted. In total, according to the Star Tribune, K&L Gates worked with Walz’s office from April 10 until the June 12 hearing, costing taxpayers $430,000 for the legal preparation. TAXPAYERS COULD BE FORCED TO FUND TRUMP FOE LETITIA JAMES’ LEGAL DEFENSE IF DEM BUDGET ITEM PASSES Minnesota GOP Rep. Jim Nash, one of two Republicans on the state’s Legislative Advisory Commission, questioned why Walz felt compelled to get outside counsel rather than work with the state’s attorneys and public relations specialists. “A half a million dollars of taxpayer money to prepare the governor to go to his old stomping grounds seems exorbitant, particularly since the AG for the state of Minnesota was in Congress with Walz at the same time, and the two of them certainly could have figured out how to do what they were needing to do,” he said. Nash added that he intends to dig deeper into scrutinizing the invoices obtained by the Star Tribune. NEW BOOK SHEDS LIGHT ON HARRIS’ DECISION TO PICK WALZ AS HER RUNNING MATE OVER SHAPIRO: ‘WENT WITH HER GUT’ Republican Minnesota state Rep. Harry Niska noted there “appears to be no legitimate legal interest in the state racking up nearly half-a-million dollars in what amounts to PR consulting.” “Tim Walz spent 12 years in Congress — he knows those hearing rooms inside and out, and he certainly knows how to conduct himself in that type of setting. So, why did the governor feel the need to spend $430,000 of taxpayer money on a private firm to ‘prepare’ for this hearing?” Niska asked. “To be clear, there appears to be no legitimate legal interest of the state in racking up nearly half a million dollars in what amounts to PR consulting as he tries to lay the groundwork for a presidential campaign that’s going absolutely nowhere. It is unconscionable to make hardworking Minnesota taxpayers pay for the governor’s personal national political aspirations.” In response to the criticism over Walz’s decision to contract with K&L Gates, both the governor and his team sidestepped offering an explanation. Instead, they suggested the blame fell at the feet of Republicans for holding a hearing that served no other purpose than to “grandstand,” according to the Star Tribune. TIM WALZ CRITICIZED FOR ‘NAIVE’ CLAIM ON WORLD’S ‘MORAL AUTHORITY’: ‘MIGHT BE THE CHINESE’ Teddy Tschann, a Walz spokesperson, described the hearing as a “planned political stunt on the taxpayer dime,” the Star Tribune reported. “They were too busy performing for the cameras to even feign interest in hearing from Gov. Walz about Minnesota’s balanced approach to immigration,” Tschann added. “What’s most frustrating is that Tom Emmer and Pete Stauber planned this spectacle knowing what it would cost and went through with it anyway.” When asked directly about the legal bill, Walz told reporters the GOP-led hearing was “not where I wanted to spend money. It’s not where I wanted to spend my time, and it certainly proved that there was nothing there other than using it as grandstanding.” While the hefty legal bill has garnered Walz backlash this week, it wouldn’t be the first time a governor has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal advice. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said earlier this year after attending a hearing in the nation’s capital she expected to pay around $650,000 to the law firm that helped her prepare. The City of Denver also forked over $250,000 for outside legal counsel earlier this year to prepare the city’s mayor, Mike Johnston, for a congressional hearing. Fox News Digital reached out to Walz’s office and K&L Gates for comment but did not receive a response from either.
Trump administration bans illegal immigrants from taxpayer-funded services, including Head Start
The Trump administration announced Thursday that the Department of Health and Human Services will ban illegal immigrants from accessing taxpayer-funded services, including the popular Head Start early childhood education program. The agency announced that it will rescind the 1998 interpretation of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), which extended certain federal public benefits to those living in the United States illegally. “For too long, the government has diverted hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “Today’s action changes that — it restores integrity to federal social programs, enforces the rule of law, and protects vital resources for the American people.” NEW GOP BILL WOULD CUT OFF HOUSING FUNDS TO SANCTUARY CITIES DEFYING TRUMP DHS The PRWORA, known as welfare reform, passed during the Clinton administration and granted states greater autonomy to manage social welfare programs. The new policy applies PRWORA’s plain-language definition of a “federal public benefit,” affirms that programs serving individuals, households or families are subject to eligibility restrictions and clarifies that no HHS programs have been formally exempted under PRWORA’s limited exceptions, HHS said. Among the programs no longer accessible to illegal immigrants will be Head Start, an early childhood education and nutrition program for low-income families. TRUMP HAS A SECRET WEAPON TO DEFEAT ACTIVIST JUDGES ON IMMIGRATION An HHS preliminary analysis estimates American citizens could receive as much as $374 million in additional Head Start services annually. “Alongside HHS, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is committed to providing and protecting resources that serve America’s most vulnerable,” said acting Assistant Secretary Andrew Gradison. “Head Start’s classification under the new PRWORA interpretation puts American families first by ensuring taxpayer-funded benefits are reserved for eligible individuals.” Other services now classified under the “federal public benefit” category include grant programs for workforce programs, mental health and substance abuse, among others. The new policy takes effect upon publication in the Federal Register and has a 30-day comment period.
Fundraiser for Texas ex-official seeks $20K in donations after ‘Whites-only’ comment about young flood victims
A Democratic former mayoral appointee in Houston, Texas, is being slammed on a fundraising platform after a campaign was set up to help with “legal support” following her comments on social media about the race of the 27 girls from Camp Mystic who died in Hill Country floods last week. In the video, Sade Perkins said the camp “is a Whites-only girls Christian camp” that “doesn’t even have a token Asian” or “token Black person.” She neglected to mention the races of more than 200 others missing or dead as a result of the floods across multiple Texas counties. “It is a all White, White-only conservative Christian camp,” Perkins said in the video. “It’s not to say that we don’t want the girls to be found, whatever girls that are missing … but you best believe, especially in today’s political climate, if this were a group of Hispanic girls … this would not be getting this type of coverage that they’re getting. No one would give a f—.” PARENTS DESPERATELY SEEKING ANSWERS ON MISSING CAMPERS AFTER TEXAS FLOOD The fundraiser, “Support for Sade Perkins,” was posted on crowdfunding platform GiveSendGo and features photos of some young girls who died in the flood. Created by Marian Hills, it supposedly will benefit Perkins, a former member of the Houston Food Insecurity Board. “Sade Perkins is being publicly targeted for telling the truth,” organizers wrote on the site. “After the devastating flood at Camp Mystic, Sade, like many of us, was heartbroken. But she also had the courage to say what others wouldn’t: Would this response have looked different if the victims were Hispanic or Black girls?” Hill claimed Perkins is being stalked, harassed and flooded with hate messages, noting Houston Mayor John Whitmire said Perkins was fired “to make it look like they’ve taken some kind of action in response to public outrage.” However, Hill said Perkins resigned “on her own terms” in January, which is when her term expired, according to the city. FORMER HOUSTON MAYORAL APPOINTEE’S BOYFRIEND SLAMS HER ‘WHITES-ONLY’ CAMP MYSTIC COMMENTS Despite Perkins inserting race into the conversation, organizers are now calling the backlash she is facing “racialized violence.” “Sade simply spoke up about racial disparity in emergency response, something many have quietly thought but were too afraid to say. And the hate she’s getting? It’s not just disagreement, it’s racialized violence in plain sight,” according to the fundraiser. Hill alleged that if a white public figure had made the same comment, “it would have sparked debate, not a takedown.” She added that since Perkins is a Black woman, she is being told, “You shouldn’t be talking at all.” FORMER HOUSTON APPOINTEE CLAIMS FLOOD-RAVAGED CAMP MYSTIC IS ‘WHITES-ONLY’ IN VIRAL VIDEO With the money raised, organizers said, Perkins will be afforded “protection, legal support, and recovery from the reputational and emotional harm she’s enduring.” As of Thursday afternoon, the campaign had raised just over $400, with a goal of $20,000. Many of the donations are in small amounts, sent in by usernames acting as comments. A donation by “Disgrace to Houston” garnered 23 likes, while donations made by other usernames with racial slurs, obscene language or death threats aimed toward Perkins have hundreds of likes. While Perkins has yet to address the fundraiser, her boyfriend, Rev. Colin Bossen, released a statement on his website noting he “disavows” her comments. “My partner Sadé Perkins has made comments on social media regarding the horrific flooding that devastated Camp Mystic. I want to be clear that I disavow her comments,” Bossen wrote. “While she was not speaking on my behalf or on behalf of my congregation, I recognize that her comments have caused harm to many who are experiencing terrible loss and anxiety.”
‘It will happen quickly’: State Dept poised to act after Supreme Court green-lights agency layoffs
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the agency is poised to move “quickly” after the Supreme Court shot down a lower court’s ruling blocking the Trump administration from implementing widescale reductions in force across the federal government. “I think it’s fair to say that with everything else that happens [at the State Department], it will happen quickly,” Bruce said when asked how soon the agency would begin issuing notices to department employees. “This is not going to be an extended wait for people who are listening and watching in this building, or fellow Americans at home and around the world, this will happen quickly.” Bruce pointed out that, up to this point, the only reason there has been a delay in implementing force reductions at the Department of State, is because of the courts that have stepped in to try to halt the reforms. SOTOMAYOR BREAKS WITH JACKSON IN SUPREME COURT DECISION OVER TRUMP CUTS TO FEDERAL WORKFORCE “There has been a delay – not to our interests, but because of the courts,” Bruce added. “It’s been difficult when you know you need to get something done for the benefit of everyone. So it will be – it will be quickly.” However, while Bruce indicated the agency would be moving “quickly,” she declined to provide any specific timeline. She also declined to provide specifics around whether a court order that followed the Supreme Court’s decision authorizing the Trump administration’s reductions in force, which seeks to resolve a dispute over whether the administration must publicly share the reasoning for their reorganization efforts, might slow down the process. SUPREME COURT LETS TRUMP’S ‘WRECKING BALL’ FEDERAL JOB CUTS PROCEED WHILE LEGAL FIGHT CONTINUES The court order seeking to determine whether the Trump administration must publicly share the details of their planned reforms and reductions in force across the government was signed by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston. It was Illston’s previous ruling in May that temporarily blocked the Trump administration from implementing its executive agency reforms, which the Supreme Court overturned this week. Illston’s May ruling stemmed from lawsuits initiated by labor unions and advocacy groups, which argued the president’s February work reduction executive order was an overreach of power and undermined certain civil service protections.
Obama officials admitted they had no ’empirical evidence’ of Trump-Russia collusion: House Intel transcripts
Obama-era intelligence officials acknowledged that they had no “empirical evidence” of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election, but continued to publicly push the “narrative” of collusion. The House Intelligence Committee, in 2017, conducted depositions of top Obama intelligence officials, including Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, national security advisor Susan Rice and Attorney General Loretta Lynch, among others. FLASHBACK: HOUSE INTEL TRANSCRIPTS SHOW TOP OBAMA OFFICIALS HAD NO ‘EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE’ OF TRUMP-RUSSIA COLLUSION The officials’ responses in the transcripts of those interviews align with the results of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation – which found no evidence of criminal coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia in 2016, while not reaching a determination on obstruction of justice. Their testimony has come back into the spotlight amid revelations that former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey are under criminal investigation for potential wrongdoing related to the Trump–Russia probe, including allegedly making false statements to Congress, Justice Department sources exclusively told Fox News Digital. The transcripts, from 2017 and 2018, revealed top Obama officials were questioned by House Intelligence Committee lawmakers and investigators about whether they had or had seen evidence of such collusion, coordination or conspiracy – the issue that drove the FBI’s initial case and later the special counsel probe. “I never saw any direct empirical evidence that the Trump campaign or someone in it was plotting/conspiring with the Russians to meddle with the election,” Clapper testified in 2017. “That’s not to say that there weren’t concerns about the evidence we were seeing, anecdotal evidence…. But I do not recall any instance where I had direct evidence.” Lynch also said she did “not recall that being briefed up to me.” “I can’t say that it existed or not,” Lynch said, referring to evidence of collusion, conspiracy or coordination. But Clapper and Lynch, and Vice President Joe Biden, were present in the Oval Office on July 28, 2016, when Brennan briefed Obama and Comey on intelligence he’d received from one of Hillary Clinton’s campaign foreign policy advisors “to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service.” KEY PLAYERS IN ORIGINS OF TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE “We’re getting additional insight into Russian activities from (REDACTED),” Brennan’s handwritten notes, exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital in October 2020, read. “CITE (summarizing) alleged approved by Hillary Clinton a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisers to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service.” After that briefing, the CIA properly forwarded that information through a Counterintelligence Operational Lead (CIOL) to Comey and then-Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter Strzok, with the subject line: “Crossfire Hurricane.” Fox News Digital exclusively obtained and reported on the CIOL in October 2020, which stated: “The following information is provided for the exclusive use of your bureau for background investigative action or lead purposes as appropriate.” “Per FBI verbal request, CIA provides the below examples of information the CROSSFIRE HURRICANE fusion cell has gleaned to date,” the memo continued. “An exchange (REDACTED) discussing US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s approval of a plan concerning US presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian hackers hampering US elections as a means of distracting the public from her use of a private email server.” The FBI did not open an investigation into the matter, and instead, continued with its counterintelligence investigation into whether candidate Trump and members of his campaign were colluding or coordinating with Russia to influence the 2016 campaign. Days after the Brennan meeting to brief Obama, Biden, Comey, Clapper and Lynch on July 31, 2016, the FBI opened the original Trump–Russia investigation, which was referred to inside the bureau as “Crossfire Hurricane.” Meanwhile, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, according to the transcript of her interview to the House Intelligence Committee, was asked whether she had or saw any evidence of collusion or conspiracy. Power replied: “I am not in possession of anything – I am not in possession and didn’t read or absorb information that came from out of the intelligence community.” When asked again, she said: “I am not.” Obama national security advisor Susan Rice was asked the same question. “To the best of my recollection, there wasn’t anything smoking, but there were some things that gave me pause,” she said, according to her transcribed interview, in response to whether she had any evidence of conspiracy. “I don’t recall intelligence that I would consider evidence to that effect that I saw… conspiracy prior to my departure.” When asked whether she had any evidence of “coordination,” Rice replied: “I don’t recall any intelligence or evidence to that effect.” When asked about collusion, Rice replied: “Same answer.” Former deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes was asked the same question during his House Intelligence interview. OBAMA OFFICIALS USED DOSSIER TO PROBE, BRIEF TRUMP DESPITE KNOWING IT WAS UNVERIFIED ‘INTERNET RUMOR’ “I wouldn’t have received any information on any criminal or counterintelligence investigations into what the Trump campaign was doing, so I would not have seen that information,” Rhodes said. When pressed again, he said: “I saw indications of potential coordination, but I did not see, you know, the specific evidence of the actions of the Trump campaign.” Meanwhile, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was not asked that specific question but rather questions about the accuracy and legitimacy of the unverified anti-Trump dossier compiled by ex-British intelligence officer Christopher Steele. McCabe was asked during his interview in 2017 what was the most “damning or important piece of evidence in the dossier that” he “now knows is true.” McCabe replied: “We have not been able to prove the accuracy of all the information.” “You don’t know if it’s true or not?” a House investigator asked, to which McCabe replied: “That’s correct.” After Trump’s 2016 victory and during the presidential transition period, Comey briefed Trump on the now-infamous anti-Trump dossier, containing salacious allegations of purported coordination between Trump and the Russian
Federal judge weighs severe limits on Trump’s immigration enforcement in California
A judge in Los Angeles presided over a hearing Thursday where she considered granting a request that could have major implications for immigration enforcement in California, a state that has become a focal point in President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation plans. Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, a Biden appointee, heard arguments about whether to grant an emergency restraining order against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over allegations the agency is violating constitutional rights during its immigration arrests. Frimpong said during the hearing that she was leaning toward granting a temporary restraining by Friday that could change how arrests are made, but she cautioned that she wanted to be careful not to overstep. “I think it’s important for the court not to burden otherwise lawful law enforcement activities,” the judge said. The case was initially brought in June as a routine petition from three detainees, but it has ballooned into a weighty lawsuit challenging the way ICE operates. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SUES LOS ANGELES OVER SANCTUARY POLICIES THAT ‘IMPEDE’ ICE OPERATIONS Immigration rights groups and local governments, including the cities of Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Culver, and West Hollywood, have all intervened in the case and Democrat-led states have filed an amicus brief in support of them. The plaintiffs alleged in court papers that ICE is “indiscriminately” arresting people with “brown skin” at Home Depots, car washes, farms and more. Authorities made the arrests with no “reasonable suspicion” and sometimes mistakenly apprehended U.S. citizens in the process, all in violation of the Fourth Amendment, attorneys wrote. The plaintiffs argued the Trump administration gave ICE an unrealistic quota of 3,000 arrests per day, causing officers to feel pressured to blow past legal requirements to achieve those numbers. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is disputing the allegations and denies wrongdoing. Department of Justice attorneys wrote that immigration arrests, of which there have been nearly 3,000 across California since early June, have been carried out legally. “Their request that immigration authorities be enjoined from relying on certain factors like occupation and location flies in the face of established law requiring immigration officials to consider the totality of the circumstances, including things like occupation and location,” the attorneys wrote. The plaintiffs have also asked the judge to expand visitor access to a short-term detention facility in downtown Los Angeles. The facility became the site of protests and unrest in early June, leading to authorities temporarily abandoning the building. The plaintiffs allege that detainees’ access to lawyers has been hindered while in the facility, in violation of the Fifth Amendment.
Why is India forcing 80 million people to justify their right to vote?
Mumbai, India – A move by India’s top election body, the Election Commission of India (ECI), to re-scrutinise nearly 80 million voters’ documents in a bid to weed out “foreign illegal immigrants” has prompted widespread fears of mass disenfranchisement and deportations in the world’s largest democracy. On June 24, the ECI announced that each of the nearly 80 million voters – equivalent to the entire population of the United Kingdom – in the eastern Indian state of Bihar will need to re-register as voters by July 26. Those unable to do so will lose their right to vote and will be reported as “suspected foreign nationals”, as per the ECI directive and could even face jail or deportation. The state’s legislative elections are expected to be held in October or November. Critics say the move is a backdoor route to implement the controversial National Register of Citizens (NRC) that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has proposed in the past as a way to identify “illegal immigrants” and deport them. The move comes at a time when thousands of largely Bengali-speaking Muslims have been rounded up, and many of them have been deported from India as alleged Bangladeshi immigrants in the last few weeks. Al Jazeera sent questions to the ECI about the move, but the commission has not responded, despite reminder emails. Patna District Magistrate Thiyagarajan S M talks to voters holding the forms they are required to submit to the Electoral Commission to confirm their right to vote, in Patna, Bihar, on June 29, 2025 [Santosh Kumar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images] What is the controversy about? Bihar is India’s poorest state in terms of per capita income (PDF), and more than one-third of its population falls under the Indian government’s threshold of poverty. Advertisement But as the country’s third-most populous state, it is also one of India’s most politically important battlegrounds. Since 2005, Modi’s Hindu majoritarian Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been in power in Bihar in alliance with a regional party, the Janata Dal (United) (JDU), for the most part, apart from short periods of rule by opposition-led alliances. Coming ahead of state elections, the election monitor’s move has led to confusion, panic and a scramble for documents among some of the country’s poorest communities in rural Bihar, say critics. Opposition politicians as well as civil society groups have argued that wide portions of Bihar’s population will not be able to provide citizenship documents within the short window they have to justify their right to vote, and would be left disenfranchised. India’s principal opposition party, the Indian National Congress, along with its Bihar alliance partner, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), called for a shutdown of Bihar on Wednesday, with Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi leading the protests in Bihar’s capital, Patna. A clutch of petitioners, including opposition leaders and civil society groups, have approached India’s Supreme Court asking for the exercise to be scrapped. The court is expected to hear these petitions on Thursday. The ruling BJP has been alleging a massive influx of Muslim immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh and Myanmar and has backed the ECI’s move. In fact, it has demanded that the move be replicated across the country. Al Jazeera reached out to BJP’s chief spokesperson and media in-charge, Anil Baluni, through text and email for the party’s comments. He has not responded yet. But political observers and election transparency experts caution that the move carries deep implications for the future of Indian democracy and the rights of voters. Bihar Congress President Rajesh Ram, AICC Media and Publicity Chairman Pawan Khera and AICC Bihar Incharge Krishna Allavaru address the media during a briefing on the issue of the Bihar voter list revision at Indira Bhawan on July 3, 2025 in New Delhi, India [Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times via Getty Images] What is the Election Commission’s justification for the move? The ECI’s June 24 announcement said that the exercise was meant to ensure that “no ineligible voter is included in the roll”, and cited reasons like rapid urbanisation, frequent migration, new voters, dead voters and “the inclusion of foreign illegal immigrants” in the list as reasons. The last such full revision was carried out in 2003, but since then, electoral rolls have been regularly updated and cleaned, including last year before the national elections. Advertisement According to the ECI, those voters who were on the 2003 voter list have to only re-submit voter registration forms, while those who were added later, depending on when they were added, would have to submit proof of their date of birth as well as place of birth as well, along with proofs of one or both their parents. Of the 79.6 million-odd voters in Bihar, the ECI has estimated that only 29 million voters would have to verify their credentials. But independent estimates suggest this number could be upwards of 47 million. The exercise involves ECI officials first going door-to-door and distributing enumeration forms to each registered voter. The voters are then expected to produce documents, attach these documents and submit them along with the forms to election officials, all this by July 26. The draft new electoral roll will be published on August 1, and those who have been left out will get a month more to object. Jagdeep Chhokar, from the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), a 25-year-old nonprofit that has been working towards electoral reforms, said the ECI’s choice to scrutinise all new voters added since 2003 casts a shadow on all the elections that the state has seen since then. “Is the ECI saying that there has been a huge scam in Bihar’s voter list since 2003? Is it saying that everyone who got elected from Bihar in these 22 years is not valid, then?” asked Chhokar. What is the criticism of this exercise? First, the timeline: to reach out to nearly 80 million at least twice, within a month, is a herculean task in itself. The ECI has appointed nearly 100,000 officers and roped in nearly 400,000 volunteers for the task. Second,