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Lawmakers fume at Secret Service, demand accountability after first Trump task force hearing

Lawmakers on the House task force investigating the attempted assassinations of former President Trump left their first hearing Thursday fuming at the U.S. Secret Service (USSS), making clear that Acting Director Ronald Rowe has even more questions to answer. The panel heard from a former USSS agent as well as local and state law enforcement officials who were present at the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where one attendee was killed and Trump himself was shot in the ear. “I counted, I think, in the brief five or six minutes that I had, seven different ways in which they could have eliminated that threat, and they didn’t do it,” task force member Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital. “Which is really just so shocking, because I thought the Secret Service was the premier protective agency in the world, and clearly they’re not.” Multiple lawmakers indicated tht they are looking to hear from Acting USSS Director Ronald Rowe again, particularly after Congress recently allocated $230 billion in additional funding for the agency. TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW GUNMAN EVADED SECURITY “There are plans to have Acting Director Rowe in to really—I would like to have their internal investigation complete. And then also what I think all of us are looking for, the American people as well, is some accountability,” said task force member Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla. Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., the top Democrat on the panel, said lawmakers were frustrated, but he made clear that it was not aimed at Thursday’s witnesses. “It was the fault of the Secret Service, because the Secret Service is ultimately responsible for the protection at events like that. They did not do their job. They did not provide the clarity and the guidance to local law enforcement. That was pretty clear to me,” Crow told reporters. SECRET SERVICE BOSS SAYS VITAL INFO NOT RELAYED OVER RADIO, DELAYING RESPONSE TO WOULD-BE RALLY ASSASSIN During the first portion of the hearing, witnesses and lawmakers repeatedly signaled that a lack of clear communication of security plans from the USSS helped lead to a 20-year-old gunman being able to open fire on the rally from a rooftop just outside the security perimeter. As lawmakers fumed about USSS shortfalls that allowed the fatal incident to occur, however, drama also played out behind the scenes, with Democrats on the task force apparently feeling blindsided by the GOP majority inviting two House Republicans to testify. “This isn’t the way it should work,” one source familiar with task force Democrats’ discussions told Fox News Digital. A second person explained their thinking, “All of us, in my understanding, have a very bipartisan and sober approach to this . . . we weren’t notified that this was going to be part of the process until late last night, and we feel like that’s not how we should conduct ourselves.” The hearing saw two panels testify. The first group, which included the law enforcement witnesses, took up the majority of lawmakers’ time. ATTEMPTED TRUMP ASSASSIN SEEN WALKING AROUND PENNSYLVANIA RALLY HOURS BEFORE OPENING FIRE Democrats were absent for the second portion, testimony from Reps. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., and Cory Mills, R-Fla. The two Republicans, both military veterans with sniper experience, have been conducting their own “parallel” investigation into the shooting. A third source familiar with the panel’s Democratic minority said that their leadership was not informed of Crane and Mills’ testimony until late Wednesday afternoon. Some Democratic lawmakers were not informed until Thursday morning, however. “We did not receive notice of the second panel until late yesterday. We didn’t have an opportunity to present our own witnesses,” Crow said when asked about Mills and Crane. “[Task Force Chairman Mike Kelly, R-Pa.] and I are still very committed to having this be bipartisan, consensus-based, and it’s my hope that we can return to that . . . approach going forward.” Kelly similarly told reporters that this would not impede the task force’s bipartisan mission. Waltz largely deferred to Kelly when asked about the discord but added, “From my perspective, we have a lot of expertise, and the more eyes on this, the better.”

Republicans propose bill that would double tariffs on Chinese imports and end favored trade status

FIRST ON FOX: A group of Republican senators is unveiling a new bill that would cease all permanent normal trade relations with China and double the tariffs on Chinese Communist Party (CCP) goods. The bill would, over five years, increase tariffs by 100% on imports deemed “strategic” to national security by the Biden administration in an effort to force the growth of the domestic market for national security-related goods. It would boost tariffs on non-strategic goods by a minimum of 35%. The bill, led by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and cosponsored by Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., would also grant the president the authority to institute further tariffs, quotas and bans on specific Chinese goods. It would end “de minimis treatment” for China, or the value threshold below which imports are not subject to customs duties. The revenue generated from this, according to the bill, would go towards farmers and manufacturers injured by potential Chinese retaliation, the purchase of key munitions important to a Pacific conflict, and paying down the debt. GOP SENATORS EYE COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY TO CURB CCP INFLUENCE “This comprehensive repeal of China’s PNTR [Permanent normal Trade Relations] status and reform of the U.S.-China trade relationship will protect American workers, enhance our national security, and end the Chinese Communists’ leverage over our economy,” Cotton said in a statement. “Giving Communist China the same trade benefits that we give to our greatest allies was one of the most catastrophic decisions that our country has ever made,” said Rubio. Economists forecast that China’s GDP is expected to grow by nearly 5% in 2024. The U.S.’s forecasted GDP growth is half that. The legislation falls in line with one of Trump’s top priorities: during the presidential debate this month, the former president said again that he would impose a 60% tariff on Chinese goods and a 10% baseline tariff on all imported goods. Vice President Kamala Harris scoffed at that plan as a “a sales tax on the American people.” Earlier this month, China instituted new export controls on a batch of minerals that are critical to the U.S. defense industry, including antimony products. The little-known flame-retardant metal is used in ammunition, infrared missiles, nuclear weapons and night vision goggles, as well as batteries and photovoltaic equipment. China produced nearly half of the world’s antimony last year. BIDEN ROLLS OUT NEW CHINA TARIFFS In 2000, the U.S. Congress voted to grant China permanent normal trade relations. The designation fundamentally changed China-U.S. trade relations: American consumers gained access to low-priced Chinese imports and between 2001 and 2021, the value of goods imported from China quadrupled to $500 billion. “More than two decades ago, Washington elites granted China most favored nation trading status, enabling Beijing to exploit our working class. Congress must revoke this sweetheart deal to protect American workers from our greatest adversary and to bring back the millions of manufacturing jobs shipped overseas,” said Hawley. The Biden administration earlier this month finalized plans to increase tariffs on certain Chinese-made products: the tariff rate would double for electric vehicles, go up 50% on solar cells and 25% on EV batteries, critical minerals, steel, aluminum, face masks and ship-to-shore cranes beginning September 27, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Tariff hikes on other products, like semiconductor chips, are expected to go up over the next two years. Trump implemented sweeping tariffs on about $300 billion worth of Chinese-made products. Biden kept those in place and slapped more tariffs on about $15 billion of Chinese imports. China is widely expected to respond with tariffs on U.S.-made goods.

Secret Service ripped for plan to send staff to Disney World LGBTQ summit amid failures protecting Trump

The United States Secret Service, which has been the subject of heated scrutiny after two assassination attempts against former President Trump that many believe were avoidable, is now facing even more heat as it prepares to send employees to an LGBTQ-focused event at Florida’s Walt Disney World. The Secret Service is expected to send staff to Disney World on Oct. 7-10 as part of the Out and Equal Workplace Summit that includes breakout sessions, a gala and various events aimed at promoting LGBTQ diversity in the workplace. “Individually and as a collective community, we can break down barriers, bring everyone along, and illuminate the way forward where workplaces—and the world—are rich in inclusion and belonging, and innovation and opportunity are unlocked, for LGBTQ+ people and for all,” the Out and Equal Workplace Summit’s website states. “And through the Out & Equal Workplace Summit, we will harness, nurture, and grow that light. We will remind our collective community and the world of the brilliance and power we hold. We will remind them that we are an unstoppable, radiant force.” SECRET SERVICE STRUGGLE TO PROTECT PRESIDENTS WON’T SEE ‘IMMEDIATE’ END EVEN WITH MORE MANPOWER: RETIRED AGENT A RealClearPolitics reporter posted an email earlier this month reportedly from the Secret Service encouraging agents to nominate others to go on the trip to Florida as part of the agency’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. In a statement to Fox News Digital, however, a Secret Service spokesperson clarified, “Due to its current operational tempo, the U.S. Secret Service is limiting participation in conferences to only those personnel who have no impact on current protective operations.” “Two U.S. Secret Service administrative staff members, who are responsible for the implementation of federal special emphasis programs, are attending the 2024 Out & Equal Workplace Summit. These personnel are not law enforcement.” As the Secret Service continues to face various investigations and reports into massive failures in adequately protecting Trump from two assassination attempts, along with serious concerns about the agency’s staffing levels, American Principles Project President Terry Schilling told Fox News Digital the event in Florida is the last thing it should be allocating resources toward. “To say this is a bad look for the Secret Service might be the understatement of the decade,” Schilling said. “There have now been two near-assassinations of a former president in the last two months. The readiness and basic competence of the agency is now rightly under scrutiny. Is this really the right time to be sending staff members to Disney World?” TOP SECRET SERVICE AGENT IN PITTSBURGH SAYS HE WAS KEPT IN DARK ON ‘CREDIBLE’ THREAT AHEAD OF BUTLER RALLY Schilling continued, “Even worse is what this says about the priorities of the Secret Service. At a moment when the agency should be focusing on hiring the best personnel possible, they are instead continuing to focus on the failed and unpopular principles of DEI. If the last couple months have made anything clear, it’s that the Secret Service doesn’t need more nonbinary-identifying agents. Rather, it needs more “good” agents.” A preliminary report on the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs released on Wednesday ripped into newly revealed missteps that went into the Secret Service’s planning and execution of security at the event during which a spectator was killed, two others were seriously wounded and Trump was struck on the ear. The Secret Service is currently operating with about 400 fewer employees than what Congress has authorized, according to a report this month. “A person’s sexual preferences should have zero bearing on their ability to protect our nation’s leaders,” Schilling told Fox News Digital. “So, why is the Secret Service spending so much time and resources obsessing over LGBTQ+ issues? This is a serious scandal that the agency needs to address immediately.” Editor’s note: This story’s headline has been updated to clearly reflect that Secret Service staff and not agents are participating in the Disney World summit.

Secret Service ripped for plan to send agents to Disney World LGBTQ summit amid failures protecting Trump

The United States Secret Service, which has been the subject of heated scrutiny after two assassination attempts against former President Trump that many believe were avoidable, is now facing even more heat as it prepares to send employees to an LGBTQ-focused event at Florida’s Walt Disney World. The Secret Service is expected to send agents to Disney World on Oct. 7-10 as part of the Out and Equal Workplace Summit that includes breakout sessions, a gala and various events aimed at promoting LGBTQ diversity in the workplace. “Individually and as a collective community, we can break down barriers, bring everyone along, and illuminate the way forward where workplaces—and the world—are rich in inclusion and belonging, and innovation and opportunity are unlocked, for LGBTQ+ people and for all,” the Out and Equal Workplace Summit’s website states. “And through the Out & Equal Workplace Summit, we will harness, nurture, and grow that light. We will remind our collective community and the world of the brilliance and power we hold. We will remind them that we are an unstoppable, radiant force.” SECRET SERVICE STRUGGLE TO PROTECT PRESIDENTS WON’T SEE ‘IMMEDIATE’ END EVEN WITH MORE MANPOWER: RETIRED AGENT A RealClearPolitics reporter posted an email this month reportedly from the Secret Service encouraging agents to nominate others to go on the trip to Florida as part of the agency’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. As the Secret Service continues to face various investigations and reports into massive failures in adequately protecting Trump from two assassination attempts, along with serious concerns about the agency’s staffing levels, American Principles Project President Terry Schilling told Fox News Digital the event in Florida is the last thing it should be allocating resources toward. “To say this is a bad look for the Secret Service might be the understatement of the decade,” Schilling said. “There have now been two near-assassinations of a former president in the last two months. The readiness and basic competence of the agency is now rightly under scrutiny. Is this really the right time to be sending staff members to Disney World?” TOP SECRET SERVICE AGENT IN PITTSBURGH SAYS HE WAS KEPT IN DARK ON ‘CREDIBLE’ THREAT AHEAD OF BUTLER RALLY Schilling continued, “Even worse is what this says about the priorities of the Secret Service. At a moment when the agency should be focusing on hiring the best personnel possible, they are instead continuing to focus on the failed and unpopular principles of DEI. If the last couple months have made anything clear, it’s that the Secret Service doesn’t need more nonbinary-identifying agents. Rather, it needs more “good” agents.” A preliminary report on the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs released on Wednesday ripped into newly revealed missteps that went into the Secret Service’s planning and execution of security at the event during which a spectator was killed, two others were seriously wounded and Trump was struck on the ear. The Secret Service is currently operating with about 400 fewer employees than what Congress has authorized, according to a report this month. Fox News Digital reached out to the Secret Service for comment but did not receive a response. “A person’s sexual preferences should have zero bearing on their ability to protect our nation’s leaders,” Schilling told Fox News Digital. “So, why is the Secret Service spending so much time and resources obsessing over LGBTQ+ issues? This is a serious scandal that the agency needs to address immediately.”

Newsom vetoes bipartisan accountability legislation aimed at state spending on homelessness crisis

California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a slew of bills Wednesday, including one that would have required state agencies to report how successful the state’s costly homeless programs are to Newsom’s Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) every year. In his veto message, Newsom said while he supports efforts “to increase accountability and the effectiveness” of such programs, “similar measures are already in place.” “For these reasons, I cannot sign this bill,” Newsom wrote after listing several bills in the legislature that will require additional reporting of outcomes of several programs. “These reports will be made publicly available by Cal ICH.” NEWSOM SEEKS TO RESTRICT STUDENTS’ CELLPHONE USE IN SCHOOLS: ‘HARMING THE MENTAL HEALTH OF OUR YOUTH’ California’s homelessness spending — more than $20 billion since Newsom took office — has drawn more scrutiny from legislators, including Democrats, this year. Meanwhile, cities and counties have drawn the ire of Newsom, who blames them for not properly handling allocated funds. The frustrated second-term governor picked up trash left behind by homeless encampments over the summer as he continued to make calls for municipalities to take accountability. Republican state Rep. Joshua Hoover, the author of AB 2903, said in a statement that “Governor Newsom is doubling down on his failed response to homelessness.” “Our state has spent billions of taxpayer dollars in recent years only to see the homeless population increase statewide,” Hoover said. “We will not solve this crisis until we get serious about accountability.” Despite the price tag to reduce homelessness, the problem has only gotten worse in the Golden State in the last decade. NEWSOM VETOES BILL THAT WOULD LET NONCITIZEN STUDENTS WORK AT STATE’S PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES Earlier this year, an independent state audit report found that Newsom’s Cal ICH failed to track how billions of dollars have been spent trying to tackle the crisis in the last five years. Cal ICH was established in 2017 and has since only produced one report in its seven years in operation. Over the past five years, the report found that the CICH didn’t consistently track whether the money actually improved the situation, the audit concluded. It also failed to collect and evaluate outcome data for these programs due to the lack of a consistent method. In a letter to the governor in April, the state auditor wrote that “the state must do more to assess the cost-effectiveness of its homelessness programs.” NEWSOM’S DEEPFAKE ELECTION LAWS ARE ALREADY BEING CHALLENGED IN FEDERAL COURT CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Despite billions spent on homelessness and housing programs during the 2018-2023 fiscal years, the problem didn’t improve in many cities, according to the state auditor’s report. Since 2013, homelessness has risen more than 53%. In 2023, the state estimated about 180,000 people in the state were homeless, more than anywhere else in the U.S. California follows what’s known as a “housing first” policy to address homelessness, which is the idea that providing housing units to homeless people regardless of substance abuse or mental illness is the first step to relieving the crisis. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

The numbers don’t lie: Teamsters in key battlegrounds support Trump over Harris

The announcement by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters that it would not endorse either Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Trump in the 2024 White House race earned some major headlines. And the move by the powerful union with over one million U.S. members instantly gave the Trump campaign some ammunition to fire at Team Harris, because the Teamsters became the only one of the nation’s top ten organized labor organizations not to endorse the vice president in the race to succeed President Biden in the White House. “The Teamsters carry a lot of weight,” Trump noted as he discussed the move by the union against an endorsement for the first time in over a quarter century. 2024 SHOCKER: WHY THE TEAMSTERS STAYED NEUTRAL IN THE HARRIS-TRUMP SHOWDOWN The Harris campaign, in an apparent move to downplay the news, pointed to endorsements from “many Teamsters locals and rank and file.” This week, ahead of Trump’s stop in Savannah, Georgia, to outline his manufacturing proposals, the Harris campaign spotlighted the endorsement of the vice president by Teamsters Joint Council 75, which represents rank-and-file members in Georgia, Florida and Alabama. WHY HARRIS CHARGED TRUMP’S ‘ONE OF THE BIGGEST LOSERS’ The Harris campaign touted that the vice president “has now been endorsed by local Teamsters unions representing more than 1.5 million active and retired members. This includes more than half a million members across battleground states of Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Nevada.” But new numbers released this week by the Teamsters of their survey of rank-and-file members that was conducted July 24-Sept. 15 — broken down by state — shows Trump with far more support than Harris. Here’s the breakdown of the Teamsters rank-and-file vote in the seven crucial battleground states whose razor-thin margins decided President Biden’s 2020 election victor over Trump and will likely determine the outcome of the 2024 White House race. Arizona: Trump 57.3% Harris 38.7% Georgia: Trump 56.3% Harris 40.7% Michigan: Trump 61.7% Harris 32.5% Nevada: Trump 59.9% Harris 37.3% North Carolina: Trump 69.1% Harris 29.2% Pennsylvania: Trump 65.3% Harris 31.4% Wisconsin: Trump 57% Harris 40.5% According to the national Teamsters vote totals released last week at the time of the endorsement announcement, Trump’s support among the rank-and-file surged since Harris replaced Biden at the top of the Democratic Party’s 2024 ticket over two months ago. The union’s polling, prior to Biden dropping out, showed that the president was ahead of Trump among members, 44.3% to 36.3%, but that Trump held a 25-point margin of support over Harris. New figures showed that it was a similar story in the state voting as well, with Trump surging in rank-and-file support after Biden ended his re-election bid. Biden has long been seen as arguably the most pro-union president in modern times, and he made history as the first president to walk the picket lines with striking workers. Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien, in explaining why the Teamsters decided not to endorse, said that “neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business. “We sought commitments from both Trump and Harris not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters industries — and to honor our members’ right to strike — but were unable to secure those pledges.” The Harris campaign touted the vice president’s “strong union record” and argued that “while Donald Trump says that striking workers should be fired, Vice President Harris has literally walked the picket line and stood strong with organized labor for her entire career.” Asked in an MSNBC interview on Wednesday whether the Teamsters were looking for more commitments before making any endorsement, Harris demurred and pivoted to an attack on Trump, charging that the former president during his administration “made a whole lot of promises that he did not meet and, one would argue, broke.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Who would replace NYC Mayor Eric Adams? Democratic socialist Jumaane Williams, who backed defunding police

New York City Mayor Eric Adams may soon resign or be forced out of office in the coming days after facing an indictment on corruption charges this week. The line of succession for mayor of the Big Apple means the office would temporarily go to Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. Williams would then have three days to set the date for a special election, and he would serve as mayor until the new mayor is elected. Williams is a former community organizer who previously served on the city council. Willams and Adams clashed earlier this year over a police reform bill that Williams had co-sponsored. Adams vetoed the bill, and Williams blasted him as a “fearmonger.” If Williams were for some reason unable to serve as mayor, then the office would go to Brad Lander, the city’s comptroller, according to Fox 5. Labner is already running against Adams for mayor in the 2025 election. ADAMS OFFICE LASHES OUT AT FBI EMPLOYEE WHO MIGHT HAVE ‘IMPROPERLY LEAKED DETAILS’ OF CORRUPTION PROBE A Manhattan grand jury indicted Adams on federal criminal charges on Wednesday following a campaign corruption investigation. NEW YORK CITY MAYOR ERIC ADAMS INDICTED Federal prosecutors allege the 64-year-old illegally received foreign and corporate campaign donations for a decade in exchange for influence. Adams countered with a video statement saying any charges filed against him would be “entirely false, based on lies,” and insinuated that his criticism of the Biden administration’s disastrous border policies made him a target for retaliation. While Adams has not been arrested, sources said agents seized the mayor’s phone and raided his home Thursday morning. It was not immediately clear whether Adams was at Gracie Mansion when they arrived. FBI RAIDS HOME OF NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS’ CHIEF FUNDRAISER BRIANNA SUGGS, SOURCE SAYS On top of campaign donations, Adams allegedly received other perks, including free flights on Turkish Airlines to destinations in Europe and Asia, free hotel stays and free high-end meals. In one instance, he allegedly asked about flying to Chile’s Easter Island on a Turkish jet – but he couldn’t because it did not offer a route connecting New York and the South American country. READ THE INDICTMENT: In some cases, he is accused of creating a fake paper trail to make it look like items had been paid for, and he is accused of deleting text messages to and from co-conspirators about the purported scam. Speaking to reporters Thursday, Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, called the fake paper trail “just a clumsy cover-up.” Fox News’ Michael Ruiz contributed to this report

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