FBI informant who made up Biden bribe story gets 6 years in prison
A former FBI informant who prosecutors say fabricated a phony story of President Biden and his son Hunter Biden accepting $10 million in bribes from the Ukrainian gas company Burisma was sentenced Wednesday to six years in federal prison. Alexander Smirnov, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, has been behind bars since he was arrested last February on charges of making false statements to the FBI. The indictment came in connection with special counsel David Weiss’ investigation into Hunter Biden. Weiss later indicted Hunter on tax and gun-related charges, but President Biden granted him a sweeping pardon in December before his son was to be sentenced. The Justice Department tacked on additional tax charges against Smirnov in November, alleging he concealed millions of dollars of income he earned between 2020 and 2022, and Smirnov pleaded guilty in December to sidestep his looming trial. BIDEN CLAIMS HE ‘MEANT WHAT I SAID’ WITH PROMISE NOT TO PARDON HUNTER, HOPES IT DOESN’T SET PRECEDENT Smirnov was accused of falsely telling his FBI handler that executives from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had paid then-Vice President Biden and his son $5 million each around 2015. Smirnov’s explosive claim in 2020 came after he expressed “bias” about Joe Biden as a presidential candidate, according to prosecutors. The indictment says investigators found Smirnov had only routine business dealings with Burisma starting in 2017 — after Biden’s term as vice president. Prosecutors noted that Smirnov’s claim “set off a firestorm in Congress” when it resurfaced years later as part of the House impeachment inquiry into President Biden. The Biden administration dismissed the House impeachment effort as a “stunt.” SPECIAL COUNSEL WEISS TELLS LAWMAKERS POLITICS ‘PLAYED NO PART’ IN HUNTER BIDEN PROBE Before Smirnov’s arrest, Republicans had demanded the FBI release the unredacted form documenting the unverified allegations, though they acknowledged they couldn’t confirm if they were true. “In committing his crimes he betrayed the United States, a country that showed him nothing but generosity, including conferring on him the greatest honor it can bestow, citizenship,” Weiss’ team wrote in court papers. “He repaid the trust the United States placed in him to be a law-abiding naturalized citizen and, more specifically, that one of its premier law enforcement agencies placed in him to tell the truth as a confidential human source, by attempting to interfere in a Presidential election.” Prosecutors agreed to pursue no more than six years against Smirnov as part of his plea deal. In court papers, the Justice Department described Smirnov as a “liar and a tax cheat” who “betrayed the United States,” adding that his bogus corruption claims against the Biden family were “among the most serious kinds of election interference one can imagine.” In seeking a lighter sentence, Smirnov’s lawyers wrote that both Hunter Biden and President-elect Trump, who was charged in two since-dropped federal cases by Special Counsel Jack Smith, “have walked free and clear of any meaningful punishment.” His lawyers had asked for a four-year prison term, arguing that their client “has learned a very grave lesson,” had no prior criminal record and was suffering from severe glaucoma in both eyes. Smirnov’s sentencing Wednesday in Los Angeles federal court concluded the final aspects of Weiss’s probe, and the special counsel is expected to submit a report to Attorney General Merrick Garland in accordance with federal regulations. Garland can decide whether to release it to the public. Smirnov will get credit for the time he has served behind bars since February. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Growing conservative movement in Canada is fighting back against ‘California on steroids,’ says strategist
Canada’s conservative movement could gain significant momentum in this election year as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his resignation amid mounting pressure from domestic critics and tariff threats from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Meanwhile, American conservative strategist Matt Shupe has been leading efforts in Calgary, training activists, consultants and volunteers on how to build winning campaigns, positioning the movement for potential gains in the post-Trudeau era. “From my own experience in Canada, I would describe it as California on steroids,” Shupe, 39, who most recently was the spokesperson for ex-MLB star Steve Garvey’s mayoral campaign in Los Angeles, told Fox News Digital in an interview. TRUMP SAYS US SUBSIDIES TO CANADA MAKE ‘NO SENSE,’ SUGGESTS CANADIANS WANT ‘TO BECOME THE 51ST STATE’ Shupe, who began political consulting 10 years ago and founded Praetorian Services, said Trudeau’s resignation is reminiscent of President Biden’s exit from the 2024 presidential race. “They took a page out of the DNC playbook with what they did with Biden,” Shupe said of Canada’s liberal flank. “If American politics serves as any sort of analog, that didn’t work for Kamala.” Shupe noted that his conversations with Canadians suggest progressive policies have pushed even many liberals toward the center. Working with the Leadership Institute, a conservative mentorship and training organization, Shupe said leaders plan to apply lessons and data from U.S. elections to strengthen the prospects of Canadian conservatives. “The [conservative] movement has primarily attracted young people because they don’t have the prospects,” he said. “They’re taxed so heavily there, the cost of living is so high compared to their income, and the cost of owning a home is so hard. Whenever I go there and talk to people my age or younger, even a little older, they all have the same complaints as people I talk to in San Francisco.” Meanwhile, Canada’s firebrand conservative candidate Pierre Poilievre, who could become the nation’s next leader, has been compared to the likes of President-Elect Donald Trump, vowing to crack down on immigration, inflation and the budget deficit. “I think you’re seeing that with the left in Canada and in the United States, is that they just took everything too far, and they hit a threshold with people that it’s just gone too far,” he said. CANADA’S TRUDEAU ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION FOLLOWING PARTY PRESSURE AMID CRITICISMS OF TRUMP, BUDGET HANDLING Poilievre, whose Conservative Party has nearly three times the support of committed voters (47% compared to 18% for the Liberals) in this year’s general election, was first elected to the House of Commons in 2004. The 45-year-old Calgary native became leader of the Canadian Conservatives in 2022 and has seen his party grow in popularity as Canadians have grown tired of 53-year-old Trudeau, whose Liberals formed the government in 2015. The incoming Trump administration will likely soon deal with a Poilievre government as the Conservatives are poised to win the next Canadian election, which could come as early as this spring. When the House of Commons resumes sitting on March 24, the opposition parties are likely to defeat the minority Liberal government in a vote of no-confidence, which would trigger a national vote that presently favors the Conservatives. In his Peterson interview, Poilievre acknowledged that Trump, who has proposed a 25% tariff against Canadian imports, “negotiates very aggressively, and he likes to win.” But as prime minister, the Conservative leader said he would seek “a great deal that will make both countries safer, richer and stronger.” TRUMP REACTS TO TRUDEAU RESIGNATION: ‘MANY PEOPLE IN CANADA LOVE BEING THE 51ST STATE’ Trudeau, after nearly a decade in power, has faced months of declining approval ratings amid growing frustration over rising inflation and the soaring cost of living. “I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust nationwide competitive process,” Trudeau told reporters Monday. “Last night, I asked the president of the Liberal Party to begin that process. This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it is become clear to me that if I’m having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election.” “As you all know, I am a fighter, and I’m not someone who backs away from a fight. Particularly when the fight is as important as this one is. But I have always been driven by my love for Canada, by my desire to serve Canadians and by what is in the best interests of Canadians, and Canadians deserve a real choice in the next election,” Trudeau added. “And it has become obvious to me with the internal battles that I cannot be the one to carry the liberal standard into the next election.” Fox News Digital’s Christopher Guly contributed to this report.
Biden approves $500M Ukraine security package 11 days before Trump takes office
The Biden administration on Thursday announced an additional $500 million of military aid to Ukraine in a security package rushed out the door before President-elect Trump takes office. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the final time at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where he made the announcement. Both officials used the occasion to urge the incoming Trump administration to continue to support Kyiv’s fight against Russia. “If Putin swallows Ukraine, his appetite will only grow,” Austin warned at the 25th meeting of about 50 member nations who have joined forces to support Ukraine with an estimated $122 billion in weapons and support. “If autocrats conclude that democracies will lose their nerve, surrender their interests, and forget their principles, we will only see more land grabs. If tyrants learn that aggression pays, we will only invite even more aggression, chaos, and war.” INSIDE PUTIN’S MINDSET: WHAT TEAM TRUMP CAN EXPECT FROM MOSCOW WHEN NEGOTIATING OPTIONS ON RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR The latest U.S. security assistance to Ukraine includes missiles for fighter jets, support equipment for F-16s, armored bridging systems, small arms and ammunition and other spare parts and communications equipment. The weapons package is funded by the presidential drawdown authority (PDA), meaning the weapons will come from U.S. stockpiles, expediting their delivery to Ukraine. ZELENSKYY SAYS TRUMP COULD BE ‘DECISIVE’ IN BRINGING AN END TO THE WAR Officials noted this is the Biden administration’s seventy-fourth tranche of equipment to be provided from Defense Department inventories for Ukraine since August 2021. This latest package leaves about $3.85 billion in funding to provide future arms shipments to Ukraine; if the Biden administration makes no further announcements, that balance will be available to Trump to send if he chooses. Zelensky pleaded for the next administration to continue U.S. support for his country’s defensive war against Russian invaders. UKRAINE RECEIVES US NATURAL GAS SHIPMENT FOR THE 1ST TIME AMID FRESH SUPPLY FEARS “We’ve come such a long way that it would honestly be crazy to drop the ball now and not keep building on the defense coalitions we’ve created,” Zelenskyy said. “No matter what’s going on in the world, everyone wants to feel sure that their country will not just be erased of the map.” Member nations of the coalition supporting Kyiv, including the U.S., have ramped up weapons production since the Ukraine war exposed that stockpiles were inadequate for a major conventional land war. The U.S. has provided about $66 billion of the total aid since February 2022 and has been able to deliver most of that total — between 80% and 90% — already to Ukraine. “Retreat will only provide incentives for more imperial aggression,” Austin said Thursday. “And if we flinch, you can count on Putin to push further and punch harder. Ukraine’s survival is on the line. But so is the security of Europe, the United States, and the world.”
Americans flock to the Capitol to pay respects to former President Carter ahead of funeral: ‘Job well done’
Americans traveled from all over the country on Wednesday to visit former President Jimmy Carter, who was lying in state at the U.S. Capitol, ahead of his funeral on Thursday. A handful of visitors spoke with Fox News while waiting in line to view Carter’s casket – some knew him personally and others simply admired the late president. Catherine, of nearby Gaithersburg, Maryland, said it was important that she pay her respects to Carter because he was inspirational in how he spent much of his life helping others. “One of the reasons that I respect him is that he showed a lot of us older folks that when you retire, you don’t just stop working,” she said to Fox News’ Rich Edson. “You can use your resources, your experience to help other people, and that’s what I hope to do.” AN ‘EXTRAORDINARY MAN’: FORMER PRESIDENT CARTER LIES IN STATE AT CAPITOL AHEAD OF STATE FUNERAL Georgia native Riley Cagle said he made the trip to Washington, D.C., because Carter was a “dear friend of [her] family” and he wasn’t able to attend his funeral in the Peach State. While Cagle didn’t know him personally, he said his aunt was one of Carter’s best friends and that she was in attendance when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. His grandparents also knew Carter and had shared various “amazing” stories about him while he was growing up – such as his love for pineapple sandwiches. “Man, they just don’t make them like him anymore,” Cagle said, adding that they didn’t “make them like him back then either.” Natalie, another visitor from Maryland, said Carter was “the epitome of a faithful and humble servant” and congratulated him on a “job well done.” JIMMY CARTER, 39TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, DEAD AT 100 The respect for Carter transcended political lines as Ted McConnell, an employee of former President Gerald Ford’s 1976 campaign, was present at the Capitol on Wednesday. “As you well know, President Ford and President Carter became compatriots and close friends after the presidency, so I’m supporting both President Ford and President Carter today,” said McConnell, who was even wearing a “Jimmy Carter for president” button. McConnell said he appreciated all the humanitarian work Carter did all over the world and was “honored to honor him in his laying(sic) in state” on Wednesday. Another man was in attendance with a similar “Jimmy for president” pin, but he actually volunteered to work on the late president’s campaign as a high schooler and attended Carter’s inauguration in 1977. Eric Stromayer told Fox News’ Chad Pergram that the lines to view Carter’s casket were moving quickly and he encouraged “those who want to give a good send off to a highly regarded president, come down and seize the opportunity.” Carter’s casket will be removed from the Rotunda at 9 a.m. on Thursday to be taken to the Washington National Cathedral ahead of his state funeral at 10 a.m. His remains will then be flown to Georgia later in the day via Special Air Mission 39 for a private ceremony in his hometown of Plains. Fox News’ Rich Edson and Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
Texas is silent on whether it will offer summer food assistance for students
After the state missed the Jan. 1 deadline, lawmakers still have time to approve administrative costs before applying for $400 million in federal summer meal assistance.
Can these 5 bills to expand voting access in Texas win bipartisan support in the Legislature?
Proposals to allow online registration and broaden photo ID options may have a chance to advance, supporters say.
‘DOGE’ senator seeks to ensure feds can continue pursuing COVID fraudsters, debtors, as IG sounds alarm
FIRST ON FOX: A top “DOGE” senator said a government watchdog alerted her to an “alarming” rate of defaults on COVID-era “PPP” loans, and now she wants to hold fraudsters accountable. In a letter to Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery (SIGPR) Brian Miller wrote that the loan programs funding reported losses of $1.27 billion as of November 2024, and had snowballed since debtors’ initial payments began coming due in July 2023. “Without SIGPR to protect the taxpayer, there will be no one on watch which will allow this crisis to continue,” Miller wrote. “Of equal concern is an alarming rate of defaults by borrowers who are failing to pay even the interest payments on the loans for the Main Street Lending Program (MSLP) and the Direct Loan Program.” ‘DOGE’-MEETS-CONGRESS: GOP LAWMAKER AARON BEAN LAUNCHES CAUCUS TO HELP MUSK ‘TAKE ON CRAZYTOWN’ The inspector general added that their office has been “shedding staff” and going through legally mandated processes for an agency in the process of shutting down. There are at least 130 potential defendants identified to be probed, and without proper resources, they may never be so. Ernst warned that dishonest loan applicants could get away with $200 billion in fraud from COVID-19 relief if her bill does not pass. “Con artists took advantage of small businesses’ pain during COVID to defraud government programs designed to help hardworking Americans,” Ernst said Wednesday. “While we are $36 trillion in debt, we especially cannot afford to leave more than $200 billion floating around, especially in the hands of fraudsters. My Republican colleagues and I are making sure that all resources are available in this fight to get taxpayers’ money back and hold these criminals accountable.” BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION FAILED TO RECOUP $200B IN FRAUDULENT COVID LOANS, HOUSE COMMITTEE SAYS When the Small Business Administration initiated the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, they were on a “first come, first serve” basis. Critics claimed at the time that many qualifying businesses and entities were therefore turned away, and reports proliferated that gang members and drug traffickers were instead able to access the resources. One alleged fraudster used a photo of a Barbie doll as their identifier on an SBA loan application, while another raked in $8 million that could have gone to struggling restaurants – particularly in states with onerous shutdown policies. TOP DOGE SENATOR DEMANDS ANSWERS ON PLAN TO EXHAUST CHIPS FUNDING BEFORE TRUMP ARRIVES In response, Ernst has drafted the Complete COVID Collections Act, Fox News Digital has learned. The bill would extend authorization of the SIGPR through 2030 and expand its jurisdiction to cover other SBA COVID-related programs. As of Wednesday, the SIGPR is only authorized into September. The proposal also directs the Treasury to enforce collection of loans under $100,000 as stringently as high-dollar alleged scofflaws and late-debtors. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP It also brings in the Justice Department, requiring the law enforcement agency to provide regular reports to Congress on activities related to pandemic-centric programs including prosecutions, fund recovery and referrals to the DOJ from other entities. By Wednesday afternoon, Ernst’s bill gained co-sponsorship from four other Republicans: Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Todd Young of Indiana, James Lankford of Oklahoma, and John Curtis of Utah – who was just seated following the departure of Mitt Romney.
‘For Ethiopia’s heritage’: Family fights to reclaim war hero’s stolen medal
Amaha Kassa’s grandfather was the last remaining commander who bravely rallied troops and fought back when the Italians invaded and briefly colonised Ethiopia in 1935. Four decades earlier, the Italians initially attempted to annex the country but were soundly defeated. This time though, the story would be different. Armed with rifles and spears, the Ethiopians were no match for the new machineguns the Italians carried, and the aircraft that sprayed deadly chemicals from the sky. Although Kassa’s grandfather, Ras (Prince) Desta Damtew, fought long and hard, he was eventually caught and executed in 1937. Tens of thousands more Ethiopians would be killed during the seven-year occupation, including civilians and Red Cross aid workers – a memory still raw for many in the country. Imperial Order of the Star of Ethiopia [Courtesy of La Galerie Numismatique] So it was with shock and anger that Kassa and his siblings discovered in November that a gold medal Damtew owned was set to be auctioned by an art gallery in Switzerland. The piece was going for between 60,000 and 90,000 euros ($61,800 and $92,700). Its description or provenance stated blatantly that the medal came from the estate of an Italian soldier who “was present at the capture of the prince”, and painted details of Damtew’s killing. “They were not in any way attempting to hide the provenance of this item, and were even using the personal circumstances of his death and execution as a selling point,” Kassa, who runs African Communities Together, a New York-based activist organisation, told Al Jazeera. Advertisement “I just can’t imagine that this would be a Nazi-era object and that something like this would happen. There’s a way that people have not come to think of African issues as being worthy of respect,” he said. The case has kickstarted an international quest for the medal to be returned. It also shines a light on a pressing, ongoing conversation across Africa, as governments and individuals from Kenya to Cameroon push for the return of thousands of antiquities looted by colonising Western powers. In Ethiopia, hoards of artefacts were looted, first by the British, and later, by the Italians. Although the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty required that Italy return all of the art and religious objects stolen during its brief occupation, and pay $25m in reparations within 18 months, that treaty has not fully been enforced. “The Vatican Library has more than 300 Ethiopian manuscripts, most of which were looted during the occupation,” Alula Pankhurst, the country director of Oxford University’s Young Lives Ethiopia project, told Al Jazeera. While some items have been returned, Italy has continued to hold on to hundreds of other items like crowns, royal regalia, and paintings, said the veteran professor of Ethiopian studies. Members of the Ethiopian Patriotic Association, whose purpose is to honour resistance fighters in Italian East Africa during the second world war, parade at an event to commemorate Arbegnoch Qen, or Ethiopian Patriots’ Victory Day, in the capital, Addis Ababa, on Thursday, May 5, 2022. The event marks the anniversary of when Emperor Haile Selassie returned to Addis Ababa in 1941, ending the five-year Italian occupation of the city during the war [AP Photo] Symbol of African resistance Ras Desta Damtew was executed by the Italian army in February 1937, at age 44. His was a long life of service to the then-Ethiopian Empire. His father died commanding soldiers in the iconic Battle of Adwa in 1896 when Ethiopian forces humiliated Italian invaders in their initial attempt at conquest. It was the first time an invading European power lost to an African force. Advertisement Damtew too fought for various monarchs. He helped Emperor Haile Selassie attain the throne and later married Leult (Princess) Tenagnework, the emperor’s eldest child. “I didn’t grow up with personal memories of him, but I certainly heard a lot about him,” Kassa said, sharing that his mother, Princess Seble – one of the couple’s eight children – was only a child when Damtew died. “He was this kind of legend. There’s a tremendous sense of pride in the sacrifices that he made, but then there’s also a sort of sadness to it as well.” In old newspaper articles, Damtew is described as stoic, handsome and intelligent, with a mastery of French. Grainy black and white photos show him in full royal regalia: heavily decorated mid-length robes and shiny leather shoes. In one, a star-shaped brooch is pinned on his right chest – likely the Imperial Order of the Star of Ethiopia – a medal of pure gold that signified a rare military honour conferred for service to the crown, and the artefact at the centre of the current uproar. As a special ambassador of Ethiopia, the prince visited the United States in July 1933 decked in flowing robes and bearing gifts including lion manes and photos of the emperor. He was feted by President Franklin Roosevelt in Washington. Two years later in October 1935, the Italians, under fascist leader Benito Mussolini, invaded and seized Addis Ababa. From left to right standing: Princess Tsehai; the Crown Prince of Ethiopia, Asfaw Wossen; the Ethiopian princess – wife of Ras Desta; Ras Desta, son-in-law of the emperor, married to the eldest daughter; the crown princess; Princess Thahai; Prince Makonnen; (seated in front) the emperor and empress with the two children of Ras Desta and the eldest daughter of the Emperor Haile Selassie, shown on August 20, 1935 [File: AP Photo] With their “deadly rain” of sulfur and machineguns, the 100,000-plus Italian army decimated Ethiopia’s defences, even though the local forces outnumbered the invaders eight to one. To clamp down on a budding civilian resistance, the Italians massacred people in their thousands, while also pillaging Ethiopia’s cultural objects. At least 100,000 Ethiopians were killed by the end of the occupation in 1941. Advertisement Damtew’s battalion spent two years holding the fort even as Emperor Selassie fled into exile. By the time the prince was caught, he had been wounded in the fighting. Some accounts
Clashes in Mozambique as main opposition leader Mondlane returns from exile
Injuries reported as police fire tear gas and live ammunition as Venancio Mondlane lands in Maputo after disputed election. Police have fired live ammunition and tear gas to prevent supporters of Mozambique’s main opposition leader Venancio Mondlane from reaching the airport to greet him following his return from self-imposed exile. Live images from capital Maputo broadcast by Al Jazeera on Thursday showed police chasing down protesters, some of whom responded by throwing rocks, as they attempted to breach the main highway leading to the city’s Mavalane International Airport. Al Jazeera’s Fahmida Miller, reporting from the site of the clashes in Maputo, said some of Mondlane’s supporters were injured in the clashes. “Police have been pushing back at protesters, firing tear gas. We also heard live ammunition being used,” she said. “The protesters are trying to reach the airport to greet Mondlane, and they can’t. So they are increasingly agitated. There has been a back and forth between the police and protesters.” The number of injuries could not be immediately determined. Mondlane’s supporters tend to a man allegedly shot in the head by police at a checkpoint near the Maputo international airport on Thursday [Amilton Neves/AFP] Mondlane, who was met by a large group of journalists after exiting the airport building, claims the October 9 election was rigged in favour of the candidate of the ruling Frelimo party, Daniel Chapo, who is due to be sworn in on January 15. Advertisement Mondlane went into hiding more than two months ago fearing for his life after two senior members of his party were killed in their car by unknown gunmen in the aftermath of the election, which also killed dozens of others. “I am here in the flesh to say that if you want to negotiate … I am here,” Mondlane told reporters outside the airport. The election dispute unleashed waves of violence that have left about 300 people dead, including protesters killed in a police crackdown, according to a tally by a local rights group. Authorities say police officers have also been killed and there has been looting and vandalism. A decision by Mozambique’s top court, the Constitutional Council, to validate the election results triggered more demonstrations. There were fears that Mondlane could be arrested on his return, including on charges related to the weeks of protests by his supporters, many of them young Mozambicans desperate for change after 50 years under the ruling Frelimo. Frelimo, which has ruled Mozambique since the end of the war against Portuguese colonial rule in 1975, denies opposition accusations of electoral fraud. Western observers have said this year’s election was not free and fair. Al Jazeera’s Miller said the government is blaming Mondlane for “inciting” the unrest across the country in recent weeks. “They also said that he should pay for the damages caused in Mozambique during that time. The question now is, how will the government now respond?” Mondlane’s supporters say his return from a two-month exile gives people hope. “We young people are here fighting for our tomorrow,” said Fatima Pinto, 20, who trained as a general medical technician. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
19 killed in assault on Chad presidential complex
[unable to retrieve full-text content] At least 19 people have been killed in Chad where security forces said they had prevented an attack by armed fighters.