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Bernie Sanders believes Hunter Biden pardon sets a ‘dangerous’ precedent

Bernie Sanders believes Hunter Biden pardon sets a ‘dangerous’ precedent

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., had two thoughts about President Biden pardoning his son Hunter Biden after previously saying he would not, while talking to NBC’s “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker on Sunday. “When you have his opponents going after his family as a father, as a parent, I think we can all understand Biden trying to protect his, his son and his family,” Sanders said. “On the other hand, I think the precedent being set is kind of a dangerous one. It was a very wide open pardon, which could, under different circumstances, lead to problems in terms of future presidents.” Despite that, Sanders believes that Biden leaves a “strong legacy” due to being progressive on domestic policies. He also said that “the economy today in many ways is in very strong shape.” Sanders even went as far as to say Biden was the most progressive president since Franklin D. Roosevelt. ILLINOIS GOVERNOR SAYS ‘VIOLENT’ ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS SHOULD BE DEPORTED, OPEN TO MEETING WITH TRUMP OFFICIALS Discussing the minimum wage, Sanders told Welker he would work with President-elect Trump to raise it, as it has stood at $7.25 an hour since 2009. Welker said Trump acknowledged it was too low, but Sanders said the last time he tried to get it raised to $15 an hour was two years ago and no Republicans voted for it.  FORMER DEM CONGRESSMAN WHO LOST BY 109 VOTES IN 2020 CONFIRMED TO LIFETIME JUDICIAL SEAT “Look, a $7.25 per hour minimum wage is an absolute disgrace,” Sanders said. “We have millions of people in this country who are working for starvation wages. They cannot afford housing, that cannot afford to adequately feed their kids.” Sanders now believes the minimum wage should be $17 an hour, and hopes lawmakers “can work in a bipartisan way to finally accomplish that goal.”  

‘Knows how to get things done’: Border Patrol union rallies around Noem as DHS chief

‘Knows how to get things done’: Border Patrol union rallies around Noem as DHS chief

FIRST ON FOX: A labor union representing thousands of Border Patrol agents is all in on South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, calling on senators to confirm her nomination “qui​​ckly.”  “On behalf of the men and women of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) who protect our nation’s borders, we are excited to provide our support for President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee, Governor Kristi Noem, to be the next Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security,” National Border Patrol Council President Paul Perez wrote in a letter to Sens. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Rand. Paul, R-Ky., the chair and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, respectively.  Perez sent the letter, which was obtained by Fox News Digital, to the senators on Thursday, joining a growing chorus of law enforcement groups throwing their support behind Noem. The DHS oversees U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Secret Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The union, which represents about 18,000 Border Patrol agents, wrote in their letter to Paul and Peters that Noem has showcased her ability to “get things done” both at home in South Dakota, and on the national stage when she aided Texas’ “Operation Lone Star” to battle the immigration crisis.  ‘SECURE OUR BORDER’: MASSIVE POLICE ORG CALLS FOR SWIFT CONFIRMATION OF NOEM TO DHS “Governor Noem is a seasoned leader who knows how to get things done – not only as chief executive of her home state but also in Washington, DC, where she served with distinction and integrity in the U.S. House of Representatives,” Perez wrote in the letter, which was also sent to Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the incoming Senate majority leader.  “Governor Noem was the first governor to deploy National Guard personnel to the border in Texas to support Operation Lone Star. This deployment bolstered our resources at a critical time along the border and helped to protect Texans and Americans alike.” TRUMP SELECTS SOUTH DAKOTA GOV KRISTI NOEM TO RUN DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Noem has repeatedly deployed South Dakota National Guard troops to the southern border in Texas to help stem illegal border crossings.  “The border is a war zone, so we’re sending soldiers,” Noem said in a press release in February, which marked the fifth deployment of National Guard troops to the border under the Biden administration. “These soldiers’ primary mission will be construction of a wall to stem the flow of illegal immigrants, drug cartels, and human trafficking into the United States of America.” Earlier this month, Washington, D.C., insiders told Fox News Digital that they anticipate Noem will earn endorsements from a long list of law enforcement groups for her federal nomination.  GOV KRISTI NOEM REFLECTS ON TRUMP WIN, SAYS DEMOCRATS ‘TRY TO PUT WOMEN IN A BOX’ Fox News Digital previously reported that the largest organization of sworn law enforcement officers, the Fraternal Order of Police, sent letters to both President-elect Trump and Paul outlining their staunch support of Noem as secretary of homeland security.  ​​”Governor Noem has been a longtime ally of the FOP during both her tenure in the House of Representatives and as Governor of South Dakota. The South Dakota State Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police endorsed Governor Noem for her re-election campaign in 2022, citing her belief in the rule of law and commitment to public safety,” Fraternal Order of Police national president Patrick Yoes wrote in a November letter to Trump, which was obtained by Fox News Digital.  Perez echoed that sentiment for Border Patrol agents, specifically, calling for Noem’s speedy confirmation to bolster the border and homeland security overall.  “We are confident that as Secretary, Governor Noem will continue to ensure Border Patrol agents have the resources and manpower that we need to secure our border. We urge you to quickly begin consideration of this critical nomination and confirm Governor Noem as Secretary once President Trump is sworn in,” Perez said.  WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT KRISTI NOEM, THE ‘BORDER HAWK’ NOMINATED BY TRUMP TO LEAD DHS Noem has served as governor of the Mount Rushmore State since 2019, and notably gained national attention and praise from conservatives during the pandemic when she bucked lockdown orders and mask mandates common in liberal states such as California and New York.  Trump, who ran on a pledge to end the immigration crisis at the southern border and crack down on the deadly drug epidemic ravaging communities across the nation, announced his nomination of Noem just days after his decisive win over Vice President Kamala Harris last month.  EX-TRUMP OFFICIAL PREDICTS ‘ENTIRE MINDSET CHANGE’ AT SOUTHERN BORDER, HAILS ‘FANTASTIC’ PICK TO LEAD DHS  “Kristi has been very strong on Border Security. She was the first Governor to send National Guard Soldiers to help Texas fight the Biden Border Crisis, and they were sent a total of eight times. She will work closely with ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan to secure the Border, and will guarantee that our American Homeland is secure from our adversaries. I have known Kristi for years, and have worked with her on a wide variety of projects – She will be a great part of our mission to Make America Safe Again,” he wrote last month in his announcement.  Noem began meeting with Senate lawmakers last week to rally their support for the confirmation process.  “We’ve just had great conversations with Sen. Peters, talked about some concerns within the agency, what we can do to solidify our national security interests,” Noem told reporters, according to Roll Call. “And I think Republicans and Democrats in this country recognize how important homeland security is, and that we’re working together to make sure that we’re safe.”

Freshman Focus: Republican Brad Knott, ex-prosecutor who flipped House seat in North Carolina, talks game plan

Freshman Focus: Republican Brad Knott, ex-prosecutor who flipped House seat in North Carolina, talks game plan

Republican Brad Knott, who flipped North Carolina’s 13th District red in November, explained to Fox News Digital why he resigned as a federal prosecutor to run for Congress – and what his priorities will be once he’s sworn into the House next month.  A lifelong North Carolinian and former longtime Assistant U.S. Attorney, Knott said that he considered it a “high honor” to spend most of his career working alongside law enforcement, including through organized crime investigations spanning across the country. It was the effects of President Biden and Vice President Harris taking office on local law enforcement in particular that drove Knott to run for Congress.  Observing the impact of the border crisis on communities, Knott said that he couldn’t sit by and watch the sheer “availability of drugs, the presence of violence, the inability to combat it effectively because of just the deluge of people and contraband and criminality that was coming across the border and really the refusal of Washington to do what it could do.” “I had a very, very extensive career in law enforcement, saw a lot in that role and was very much troubled by what I saw on a policy level once Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took the reins in January of 2021,” Knott said. “And the deliberate policies and the actions that they took upon taking the oath had a trickle-down effect that was just undeniable. And it was undeniably harmful not only for us as prosecutors, but federal law enforcement, local law enforcement, and then obviously the communities that we are all tasked to protect.”  FRESHMAN FOCUS: REPUBLICAN ROB BRESNAHAN, WHO OUSTED SIX-TERM HOUSE DEMOCRAT, REVEALS HOW HE DID IT Noting executive policies alone, Knott said “there was an absolute refusal to tackle this problem,” which he found “baffling” given the numbers of drug overdoses, attrition rates of law enforcement agencies and crime.  “There was just not an appetite at all to tackle this issue. And after a number of years of that, I ultimately followed my heart. We had prayed about this and given the unique posture I had before I decided to run,” Knott said. “Seeing crimes all over the country and the effects of it, I thought that it’d be worth trying to run for office in an effort ultimately to fix those issues that I had a firsthand account of seeing and seeing how to combat it effectively.”  Knott’s endorsement by President-elect Trump in April resulted in his overwhelming May run-off primary win, staving off the prior GOP front-runner Kelly Daughtry. He went on to defeat Democrat Frank Pierce on Election Day last month, winning the redrawn district now covering all or parts of the eight counties in or near the state capital of Raleigh.  The highlight of campaigning for office, Knott said, was door knocking and hosting town halls for the opportunities to speak and interact with voters firsthand.  “It’s essential to do that because it gives you a window, a front row seat and to what people are actually focused on,” Knott said. “It cuts through the noise. It cuts through the media. And in my old job, it’s like getting to talk to the jury. It just goes right to the relevant party.”  Through those conversations, Knott said the people of the 13th district expressed “a fairly consistent basket of issues” involving the border crisis’ strain of resources on local police and first responders, and in schools and hospitals.  “But beyond that, there was an overwhelming sense that the country was just headed in the wrong direction,” Knott told Fox News Digital. “And from a priority standpoint, I think many people realize that the last administration, the current administration, but soon to be the last administration, were prioritizing things that most Americans just did not agree with. There’s real suffering in the United States right now, and there’s a very real misconception that the economy is doing well, that the economy is robust. It is not robust. And most people in the 13th District had a real understanding of just how limited the economy is.”  Knott stressed that the United States is $36 trillion in debt – and regardless of their background, he said voters overwhelmingly felt their taxpayer dollars were funneled to illegal immigrants and conflicts abroad, rather than Americans at home.  “Most people are struggling and struggling mightily. And whether it’s sending tens, if not hundreds of billions of dollars abroad, tens if not hundreds of billions of dollars to illegal immigrants, the promulgation of thousands of regulations that strangle small businesses, essentially enabling only the connected and the big businesses to thrive,” Knott said. “And again, the overall sentiment was the country is just headed in the wrong direction. And the path we’re on, it needs to change. And so getting out into the community, our belief about getting into the race was certainly affirmed that the people, regardless of race, regardless of class, regardless of of politics, really, they wanted they wanted meaningful changes to obvious problems.”  “We are $36 trillion in debt. What have you received for all of that spending?” Knott asked, stating that “we are going to have to pay that back for no services rendered.” As for the border crisis, Knott condemned how the U.S. government “literally borrowed money from other countries, from the taxpayers, their future earnings to subsidize the illegal immigration invasion,” as “we were spending tens, if not hundreds of billions of dollars a year over the last couple of years paying for illegal immigrants to be here, to be educated here, to eat here, to sleep here. And incentivizing more of it.”  “That’s just one example of the gross incompetence, but the unbelievable power of Washington,” Knott said. The Biden administration is rushing to dispense billions more in U.S. aid to Ukraine before Trump takes office. Additional assistance amid what is nearly a three-year-long conflict will be deliberated by the new Congress, controlled by the GOP in both chambers, as

Rep Gimenez warns China is ‘greatest threat’ to US, Trump admin will ‘project strength’ to CCP

Rep Gimenez warns China is ‘greatest threat’ to US, Trump admin will ‘project strength’ to CCP

EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Carlos Gimenez, a member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), said China is the “greatest threat” to the United States and that President-elect Donald Trump will bring “peace through strength, not peace through appeasement.”  Gimenez, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital the CCP is the “adversary we have to watch, both militarily and economically.”  “China is making great strides around the world,” Gimenez said, pointing to its capacity in production, specifically with defense materials and weapons. “It surpasses that of the United States’ and we have seen that we are lacking.”  NATO CHIEF URGES MEMBERS TO ‘TURBOCHARGE’ DEFENSE PRODUCTION AS HE PAINTS PICTURE OF A WORLD BOUND FOR WAR Gimenez said the Russian-Ukraine war has “demonstrated to us that our defense capacity has been degraded over the decades.” “It shows we could run out of munitions fairly quickly if we had a prolonged fight with China,” he said, warning that China also “has the ability to produce many more ships than we do.”  Gimenez said the U.S. is “trying to do catch-up.”  “We have to update how we do things at the Pentagon, we have to be more nimble, we have to get the private sector involved, and we have to eliminate bureaucracy that has hampered our ability to protect ourselves,” he said.  ‘BE AWARE’: HOUSE LAWMAKERS DESCRIBE WHAT IT’S LIKE LIVING UNDER THREAT BY CHINA, IRAN But as for the approach to the China threat, Gimenez blasted the Biden administration, specifically President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “I think China, with Biden and Blinken, thought they could do just about anything they wanted or thought they could fool them,” he said. “The Biden administration was always exhibiting weakness and trying to appease our enemies, whereas Trump knows exactly who our friends are, who our enemies are and is going to put the security of America first.” Gimenez added, “He understands that the security of America lies in peace through strength, not peace through appeasement.” As for confronting the threat in the coming months, Gimenez pointed to the importance of the U.S. being energy independent. Gimenez said he wants to “make America the energy spigot of the world, where the world goes to get energy is America.”  TRUMP TAPS FORMER ACTING AG MATTHEW WHITAKER AS NATO AMBASSADOR “It would help our financial situation, our balance sheet, and give us the ability to help our friends and weaken our enemies,” he said. “We could use our energy dominance as an economic weapon against our enemies, helping our friends and hurting our enemies,” he continued. “We can substitute Iranian and Venezuelan oil with American oil, Russian oil with American oil, and then starve those countries which are allied with China of their greatest source of revenue and then impede their ability to help China.” “If China finds itself isolated in the world, I think that’s the best way we can contain this threat,” he said. “But we have to project strength and the willingness to confront aggression by the CCP.” As for the House Select Committee on the CCP, he said they have “much more work to do.”  “The China threat is increasing,” he said, noting that the committee is bipartisan in its nature and that members on both sides of the aisle have “bought into that China is the threat and that China will be the threat.” “It’s not climate change, it’s China,” he said. “And we have to confront that threat or live in a world that is dominated by the Chinese Communist Party.” “And Trump is going to project strength and back those words with action.”

Trump leaves China guessing what his next move is with unusual inauguration invitation

Trump leaves China guessing what his next move is with unusual inauguration invitation

President-elect Trump took China by surprise when he invited President Xi Jinping to his upcoming inauguration, a friendly gesture ahead of a widely expected trade war.  The move left everyone wondering what Trump was up to — a Chinese head of state has not attended a U.S. inauguration in all of history.  Xi is not expected to accept the invitation, sources told CBS News.  “We have a good relationship with China. I have a good relationship,” Trump told CNBC on Friday. “We’ve been talking and discussing with President Xi some things.” But the invitation comes as the U.S. intelligence community disclosed a massive hack of eight U.S. telecom companies, finding that Chinese hackers had accessed the data of millions of Americans, including Vice President-elect JD Vance. The hack, nicknamed Salt Typhoon and one of the most far-reaching in history, affected mostly people in the Washington, D.C., area, and was targeted at government-linked people. Information about their phone calls and texts was intercepted.  CHINESE HACKERS TARGET US TELECOMS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO PROTECT YOUR DATA Meanwhile, a Chinese national was arrested on suspicion of flying a drone over Vandenberg Space Force base in Northern California, the Department of Justice said Wednesday.  “Many people were disappointed by this invitation,” said China expert Gordon Chang. “A man who is responsible for spreading COVID beyond China borders, for being behind the fentanyl program, which kills 70,000 Americans a year, that was not a good look for the United States,” he went on. “And it betrayed weakness.” “The Chinese president looks at that and believes that Trump is not serious,” said Chang.  “Xi Jinping has made it clear that the United States is China’s enemy. He’s done that in many ways. And for an American president to show friendship is not a gesture in Xi’s mind, it’s a display of weakness, and Chinese leaders always take advantage of weakness.”  It’s not clear if the invitation means that Trump is looking to take a more diplomatic approach to the relationship with China after a campaign marked by threats of hiking tariffs.  CHINA DENIES NEW REPORT LINKING CCP TO FOUR SITES IN CUBA ALLEGEDLY USED TO SPY ON THE US Trump has floated the idea of a 60% across-the-board levy on all goods imported from China, which would cover some $400 billion worth of products.  Free trade supporters have worried this would break a top campaign promise for Trump: to rein in and prevent the record inflation figures seen under the Biden administration. And the threat of a trade war comes as military tensions rise in the Indo-Pacific. China has been putting on displays of force in the waters off the shores of U.S. allies like the Philippines and Japan, and increasingly threatening Taiwan, an island democracy it views as its rightful territory.  Defense experts have begun to muse whether the U.S. could find itself at war with China. Lyle Goldstein, Director of Asia Engagement at Defense Priorities think tank, welcomed the news of the invitation, reading it as a sign of being willing to engage. “Nothing like that has happened under the Biden administration,” he said. “Trump is a dealmaker, and I think China is eager to make deals. “The Biden approach was very ideological, you know, the world is black and white.”  “If we go into a new Cold War, the results, I think, will be devastating for both the United States and China,” Goldstein added. “I think there is some understanding in the Trump team that the stakes are enormous here.” China, meanwhile, is considering devaluing its currency further in anticipation of Trump’s tariffs, according to a Reuters report.  “People have got to realize that trading with China generally is a good thing. But yeah, we have to. There are some key readjustments that need to take place,” said Goldstein. “I would like to see that take place from readjusting China’s currency.”