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Fani Willis likely to defy Georgia state Senate subpoena ahead of hearing Friday, chairman says

Fani Willis likely to defy Georgia state Senate subpoena ahead of hearing Friday, chairman says

District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to defy a Georgia state senate subpoena for her testimony ahead of a hearing Friday, Fox News Digital has learned. The Senate Special Committee on Investigations, chaired by Republican state Sen. Bill Cowsert, subpoenaed Willis to compel her testimony related to the committee’s investigation into allegations she misused taxpayer funds.  In an interview with Fox News Digital, Cowsert said after Willis refused to testify voluntarily, the committee issued a subpoena, adding her legal counsel had indicated to the committee she would not be complying with the subpoena.  “We think it’s unlikely that she will appear but disappointing that she considers herself above the law,” Cowert said.  FANI WILLIS FACES NOTHING BUT SETBACKS IN CASE AGAINST TRUMP, THE LATEST PENDING WITH SUPREME COURT If Willis does not appear at Friday’s hearing, the state Senate will seek to compel her attendance through a judicial order that will work its way through the court system the next few weeks.  “We do have the authority to investigate and to issue subpoenas to compel testimony and the production of documents, and if tested in court, that will be validated,” Cowsert said.  “She’ll be required to attend, and she’ll be required to produce certain requested documents. It may require a court order for her to obey them, but that’s where we’re headed.”  FORMER SENATOR LAUNCHES 6-FIGURE AD BLITZ AGAINST FANI WILLIS AHEAD OF GEORGIA ELECTION Friday’s hearing will feature a presentation from David Cook, the former Georgia secretary of the Senate, on the investigative powers of legislative bodies and the ability to subpoena.  Legislative counsel Stuart Morelli will also testify on the committee’s legal authority to conduct investigations and to subpoena individuals to testify or to produce documents.  The Republican-led committee was established in January by a resolution that passed by a 30-19 vote. Willis, who is spearheading the sweeping prosection case against former President Trump, has come under scrutiny after she was accused in February of having an “improper” affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she had hired to help prosecute the case. FANI WILLIS’ EX-STAFFER TESTIFIES SHE WAS FIRED AFTER BLOWING WHISTLE ON DA’S SPENDING A decision by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee not to disqualify her from the case is now on appeal, and that hearing is slated for December.  The Georgia Senate committee has already held several hearings, including one featuring the testimony of a whistleblower who said she was fired after she raised concerns about Willis’ office’s alleged misuse of funds.  Willis said in May she believes the committee has no authority to subpoena her and told a news reporter she “will not appear to anything that is unlawful.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I have not broken the law in any way,” Willis told reporters at a press conference in May. “I’m sorry folks get p—ed off that everyone gets treated equally.” But Cowsert said the committee members are “all extremely confident that we’re acting within the constitutional and legislative authority of the state Senate.” A representative for Willis did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.  The hearing begins Friday at 10 a.m. ET.

House GOP rolling out bill to block China from accessing US ports

House GOP rolling out bill to block China from accessing US ports

FIRST ON FOX: GOP Rep. Michelle Steel is rolling out a bill to block China and other American adversaries from accessing U.S. ports. Steel, R-Calif., a member of the House Select Committee on Communist China, created the Secure Our Ports Act, which would prohibit companies owned fully, or in-part, by state-owned enterprises in China, Russia, North Korea and Iran from operating or managing a U.S. port.  Steel told Fox News Digital that adversaries accessing U.S. ports can harm U.S. supply chains because it would enable them to access shipping infrastructure.  HOUSE CHINA COMMITTEE: CARGO CRANES GIVE CHINA A TOOL TO DISRUPT TRADE, MILITARY MOBILIZATION AT US PORTS Steel said her bill “would shore up America’s economic and national security in the face of threats from Communist China and their like-minded allies.”  “Congress must protect America’s supply chains by restricting enemy governments from having high-level access to our ports,” Steel told Fox News Digital. “Nations which threaten the very existence of the United States should not have easy access to our port infrastructure, a key lifeline of America’s supply chains.” Steel’s home region in Southern California is home to two of the largest ports in the country: the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach.  ARE CHINESE CRANES BEING USED FOR SURVEILLANCE AT US PORTS? HOUSE GOP VISITS PORT OF MIAMI TO FIND OUT Steel’s office told Fox News Digital that multiple China-owned conglomerates have an active presence in American ports, including on the West Coast. This includes the Chinese-Owned Shipping Company (COSCO) on the West Coast and China Oil and Foodstuffs Corp. (COFCO) on the Mississippi River. The legislation is co-sponsored by Reps. Stephanie Bice, Ken Calvert, Rick Crawford, Richard Hudson, Doug LaMalfa, Nicole Malliotakis, James Moylan, Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, John Rutherford and Randy Weber. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The bill comes after national security and defense officials last year began viewing giant cargo cranes at U.S. ports as potential Chinese spying tools. Officials have suggested that Chinese equipment and cranes at ports could be used for surveillance.

‘It’ll upend the community’: PA town roiled by talk of migrant housing in Civil War-era orphanage building

‘It’ll upend the community’: PA town roiled by talk of migrant housing in Civil War-era orphanage building

A Pennsylvania community is up in arms over reports that as many as 1,000 migrants were to be and reportedly still could be housed in a Civil War-era orphanage most recently used as a summer camp facility. The building, located in Scotland outside Gettysburg, is owned by a Lakewood, New Jersey-based LLC, but officials in Greene Township cited a letter from a representative for an Indiana-based disaster response organization, USA Up Star, seeking to use it to “provide shelter for refuge[e] families.” In an August letter to the USA Up Star staffer, Greene Township zoning officer Daniel Bachman wrote that its most recent use as a summer camp falls within its R-1 – or low-density residential – code and that higher-density shelter would not be permitted. Bachman wrote that the company could appeal his ruling. PENNSYLVANIA REPUBLICANS SEEK TO LEVY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS’ REMITTANCES TO FUND PROPERTY TAX RELIEF Fox News Digital reached out to USA Up Star for comment. On its website, it bills itself as a “service-disabled veteran-owned business incorporated in 2009 to provide best-in-class disaster, responder and warfighter support during disaster, contingency, surge, and displacement operations.” The organization last followed up with Bachman by noting they are working with the federal government on the matter and would like further zoning information from Greene Township, according to a letter obtained by Fox News Digital. State Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Gettysburg, the 2022 GOP nominee for governor who represents the area, said in a Friday interview he is extremely concerned about the goings-on with the partially decrepit Scotland property. The retired Army colonel said that most recently an opaque wooden fence went up around the building. He also said that some critics are confusing its most recent use as a summer camp with the idea that migrant minors are already being housed there. PA REPUBLICANS DRAFT BILL DIVERTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM SECRETIVE BIDEN-DHS FLIGHTS TO DE If the endeavor to house migrants were to eventually succeed, Mastriano said, officials still have levers to pull to halt it. He pointed to nearby Letterkenny Army Depot outside Shippensburg, noting the national security sensitivity of that tactical weapons and missile repair site and how its proximity to Scotland could constitute an avenue to bureaucratically block migrant resettlement.  “It would upend the community,” Mastriano said. “There are 1,300 people [in Scotland village],” noting that the number of migrants and staff could equal or exceed the town’s current population. Reached for further comment, Greene Township Supervisor Shawn Corwell pointed Fox News Digital to correspondence and other information on the matter published on the township website. In a statement co-signed by Mastriano and state Rep. Rob Kauffman, R-Chambersburg, praised Greene Township for its “strict interpretation” of its zoning ordinance. The lawmakers added that the commonwealth of Pennsylvania does not have any jurisdiction on the matter but that they “became engaged as soon as we heard rumblings of this potential reuse.” “This is our home township. Our families live here alongside you and your families,” they wrote. “We have been collaborating with Congressman John Joyce to relay information to him, as he works to represent Franklin County and make sure federal funding does not arrive in Franklin County for this purpose.” Kauffman said the complex being turned into unaccompanied-minor migrant housing would “irreparably change” the township. In response to the situation, Joyce, a Republican, drafted an amendment that he seeks to add to the annual Department of Health and Human Services appropriations bill authored by Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., that would prohibit funds from being used by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) “… to provide financial assistance or other support for housing unaccompanied alien children at privately owned or operated shelter facilities or housing.” When reached for comment as well as for information on the presence of a contract with the Indiana firm, the HHS Administration for Children and Families said they could not provide clarification or comment until Tuesday. In a joint statement, Franklin County Commissioners Dean Horst, John Flannery and Robert Ziobrowski said many residents have expressed concerns about the matter. “Franklin County is already experiencing a housing shortage, and affordable workforce housing and quality rental options are at a premium. Our county’s population has increased every year since its founding in 1784; today it is the 13th fastest growing county in the Commonwealth,” they wrote. “The addition of several thousand new residents at one time would only burden and stress the housing market even more.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The commissioners also expressed concern over the reuse’s effect on utilities and county services, but they noted that neither Pennsylvania nor Franklin County have jurisdiction in the matter. Mastriano added that he believes the entire controversy is a result of the “open border” with Mexico. The rezoning sought, he said, is “HC” or highway commercial zone, adding that this is not the first time the feds have put Pennsylvanians in such a position, citing past Biden administration migrant flights that landed at Allentown and Avoca.

‘Very scary territory’: Libertarian Party president fears what Harris could do to American Dream

‘Very scary territory’: Libertarian Party president fears what Harris could do to American Dream

A new survey from the Rainey Center, a D.C.-based policy-research think tank, found that only 9% of American voters think the American Dream is more attainable today. The survey, which questioned over 1,000 American voters in July, found only 3% of its respondents said the American Dream was “much more” attainable, while 6% said it was “somewhat more” attainable. Meanwhile, 66% of the survey’s respondents said that over the last decade the American Dream has become either “much less” or “somewhat less” attainable.      Angela McArdle, president of the national Libertarian Party, told Fox News Digital she was not surprised by the results of the survey. McArdle suggested the country was “in very scary territory” when it comes to upward economic mobility, something she said is “a big part” of the American Dream.  AMERICAN VALUES: ‘IT’S DYING’: PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS WORRY ABOUT FUTURE OF AMERICAN DREAM In July, McArdle wrote an editorial in Newsweek arguing that an increasing number of Americans, particularly those who are younger, are feeling shut out of the American Dream as a result of declining purchasing power and an erosion of individual liberties.  The Rainey Center survey similarly found that the younger you are, the more pessimistic people are likely to be about the American Dream. It also found that individual liberties and financial stability ranked among the two most important aspects of the American Dream for respondents.  “I think we’re in very scary territory, especially if Kamala Harris is elected,” McArdle said, referring to upward economic mobility and the American Dream. McArdle expressed better faith in Trump to revive a more optimistic view of the American Dream. “Donald Trump, you know, while he’s been very friendly to libertarians, which I greatly appreciate now, he’s not a libertarian. He doesn’t bat 1,000, he’s not going to get it 100% of the time, but I think, aside from every little libertarian nuance, I think he does understand the American Dream.” TRUMP OUTLINES ECONOMIC POLICIES AT AN EVENT FOR THE ECONOMIC CLUB OF NEW YORK McArdle also echoed her argument from July that said an erosion of individual liberties, such as the enforcement of property rights, could be tied to national pessimism about the American Dream. McArdle added that Harris “doesn’t care about us having property ownership.” “As you grow and become an adult, you want to be able to save up and make a big purchase, whether that’s a home for a lot of people, or it’s your first car. And when you have a potential president who’s not going to enforce rule of law against property crime, it really takes the excitement out of making a major purchase like that.” “I think a lot of people, especially in urban areas, are very nervous to open a small business if the police don’t protect your property,” McArdle added. “If, instead, they’re weaponized to come for you over thought crimes, political speech, things of that nature, what’s left of the American dream at that point?” Harris has praised efforts that stripped funding from law enforcement, and during the George Floyd riots of 2020 she referred to the protesters who caused billions of dollars in property damage and frequently assaulted police as “essential.” During the riots she supported a bail fund movement that was working to get many of the violent rioters released from jail. “That is, I think, real destruction of the American Dream,” McArdle said, in reference to Harris’ failure to protect property rights. AS DISTRICT ATTORNEY, KAMALA HARRIS LOOKED OUT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S CRIMINALS Rainey Center President Sarah Hunt told Fox News Digital that the next administration “must make restoring economic prosperity and equal opportunity” a priority if they hope to restore faith in the American Dream. “Americans are losing hope, and to most, the concept of the American Dream taught to us at an early age by our parents and grandparents truly feels unattainable,” Hunt said. “Young Americans are forgoing the idea of becoming homeowners because of crippling mortgage rates, runaway spending and detrimental inflation. The bottom line: Americans feel like they can no longer afford the American Dream. But there is still hope in reversing course.” KAMALA HARRIS BLAMED FOR CRIME FAILURES IN CALIFORNIA Hunt and McArdle both pointed to deregulation as a major factor that could help improve the national pessimism around the “American Dream.”  CONSERVATIVE ECONOMISTS POUR COLD WATER ON HARRIS’ NEW SMALL-BUSINESS TAX PROPOSAL “I think many Americans are in jobs where they don’t believe they are fulfilling their potential, or they don’t maybe believe that they can find education or provide an education for their children that will help them fulfill their potential,” Hunt said. “But, you know, a fundamental part of that is having a government that has sensible policies. And, you know, deregulating some of these burdens and regulations that limit our ability to build things or make it harder to start business would go a long way for giving people more opportunity.” Meanwhile, McArdle said that while she appreciates Harris paying “lip service” to small businesses, she doesn’t think Harris “realizes or has any regard or cares what the regulatory framework is really like.” “She talks about lowering taxes for small businesses. Well, that’s fantastic, that’s a great start, but the barrier to job creation is regulation,” McArdle said.