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Fox News Politics: ‘Kids for Cash’ Clemency Sparks Keystone Clamor

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump transition, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening… – Dem claims Trump wielding nuclear strike authority ‘should terrify you’ —  then people point out the obvious – Tren de Aragua being used as tool of Maduro regime, says former high-ranking Venezuelan military officer – ‘Politically motivated’ FBI treated conservatives like domestic terrorists on Wray’s watch: whistleblower President Biden has sparked anger among Pennsylvanians after he commuted the sentence of a corrupt judge who was jailed for more than 17 years after he was caught taking kickbacks for sending juveniles to for-profit detention facilities. In what came to be known as the kids-for-cash scandal, former Judge Michael Conahan shut down a county-run juvenile detention center and shared $2.8 million in illegal payments from the builder and co-owner of two for-profit lockups. Another judge, Mark Ciavarella, was also involved in the illicit scheme, the effects of which are still felt today among victims and families.  The scandal is considered Pennsylvania’s largest-ever judicial corruption scheme with the state’s supreme court throwing out some 4,000 juvenile convictions involving more than 2,300 kids after the scheme was uncovered…Read more ANOTHER ROUND: Biden administration announces $500M aid package to Ukraine…Read more ‘ADDRESS THE BIAS: Biden admin launches national strategy to combat Islamophobia, anti-Arab hate…Read more FINAL VERDICT: Negative economic and political ratings for Biden as he exits…Read more FINAL STRETCH: White House says to ‘expect more’ climate funding before President Biden leaves office…Read more SYRIA QUANDARY: Trump’s pledge against ‘forever wars’ could be tested with Syria in hands of jihadist factions…Read more ‘FEEL THE PAIN’: Canadian premier threatens to cut off energy imports to US if Trump imposes tariff on country…Read more ‘WE SHOULD KNOW’: Sen. Booker ‘frustrated’ by lack of transparency about drones, says it’s causing ‘misinformation to spread’…Read more MOVING ON UP: Top GOP rebel angles for key House leadership-backed committee post…Read more ‘SHOULD BE SHOT DOWN’: Sen. Blumenthal says mysterious drones spotted recently ‘should be shot down, if necessary’…Read more PELOSI: Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi injured, hospitalized while traveling to Luxembourg…Read more ‘HORRIFIC RINO’: GOP Sen. Murkowski says she’s ‘not attached to’ GOP label, but is ‘still a Republican’…Read more ‘ACT DECISIVELY’: Senate Dems demand Biden extend protections for illegal immigrants ahead of Trump admin…Read more ‘PREVENTABLE’ CRIME: DA to seek death penalty against illegal immigrants accused in Nungaray murder case…Read more ‘EQUALLY ANGRY’: Legislators across political spectrum ‘equally angry’ over handling of drone sightings: New Jersey lawmaker…Read more SHOCKING DEATH THREATS: WV lawmaker arrested after threatening to kill entire region’s delegation over caucus beef…Read more ‘EGREGIOUS HYPERPARTISANSHIP’: Montana Supreme Court blocks ban on transgender surgeries, prompting outcry from GOP lawmaker, supporters…Read more THEORIES RUN WILD: Drone experts rule out US government experiment, unsure of other New Jersey drone phenomenon theories…Read more LEFT-WING ATTACK: Climate justice group has deep ties to judges, experts involved in litigation amid claims of impartiality…Read more Get the latest updates on the Trump presidential transition, incoming Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

Trump posts ‘how it’s going’ message contrasting Time Person of the Year cover with mugshot

President-elect Trump on Friday posted a message on his Truth Social account that contrasted his 2023 mugshot with his Time magazine cover. Trump was named Time’s Person of the Year this week, which included a cover and an in-depth interview as he prepares to take office for the second time.  “How it started, how it’s going,” Trump wrote with his mugshot on the left side and his Time cover on the right.  TRUMP SPEAKS ON BEING NAMED TIME PERSON OF THE YEAR FROM THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE Trump’s mugshot was taken in May 2023 when he was processed at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta after being indicted on election racketeering charges.   The magazine announced Trump, who faced an assassination attempt last summer and won the first nonconsecutive U.S. presidential term since Grover Cleveland in the 19th century, had been named its Person of the Year Thursday.  TRUMP PROMISES ‘TREMENDOUS INCENTIVE’ ON TAXES DURING SECOND TERM  Trump, in a ceremony after the announcement, called it an “honor.”  ‘Thank you very much for doing it,” he said. “Thank the whole group at Time. Really professional people.”  CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP He was first named the magazine’s Person of the Year after his first presidential win in 2016. 

‘Drone’ sightings in the Northeast spark ‘unfounded’ panic, says expert

An uptick in alleged drone sightings along the East Coast touched off a flurry of panicked calls for investigation on Friday from residents and state lawmakers, even as public officials stress the aircraft in question are, in fact, being flown lawfully, and a retired port authority aviation expert tells Fox News Digital that fears are overblown. The drone complaints began pouring in last month in New Jersey, where witnesses and residents first began reporting drone sightings off of coastal areas, including off of Cape May, a scenic town located outside of Atlantic City. More recently, lawmakers in New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maryland have reported new alleged drone sightings in their home states, with some witnesses alleging the aircraft in question have been the “size of cars” or seen flying above sensitive infrastructure or in restricted airspace. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, told reporters on Friday he had written to President Biden to share his concerns about the fresh reports of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) sightings in New Jersey airspace, and called for more federal resources to investigate the issue. “It has become apparent that more resources are needed to fully understand what is behind this activity,” Murphy wrote in the letter. DRONE MYSTERY: NEW JERSEY HOMEOWNERS THREATEN TO TAKE MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS IF GOVERNMENT DOESN’T ACT Other lawmakers in the state have gone even further, calling for the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI to join in their investigations into the unmanned aircraft, with one Garden State lawmaker urging the objects be “shot down” if necessary. ​​”We are literally being invaded by drones,” Pequannock Mayor Ryan Herbwe told reporters on Wednesday night following a town hall meeting in New Jersey.  “We have no idea who is doing [this] and where they’re coming from.”  Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., issued a statement on Friday citing concerns “about the potential for these unmanned aerial vehicles — many of which are as large as a car — to disrupt air traffic and, more alarmingly, to be used maliciously to threaten national security.” These remarks have added to a growing collective sense of panic — but a panic that many in the law enforcement community say is both unfounded and unnecessary.  White House national security communications adviser John Kirby sought to assuage these fears, stressing during a press briefing Thursday that there is “no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus.”  Others in the law enforcement community also echoed this sentiment. Retired Port Authority Police Detective Lt. John Ryan told Fox News Digital in an interview Friday that the uptick in activity is likely due to two things. HOMEOWNERS THREATEN TO TAKE MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS IF GOVERNMENT DOESN’T ACT The first, he said, is that drones are a fast-evolving technology that has seen a boom in both recreational and commercial use in the U.S. in the last 10 years. Federal data on drone registration reflects this sharp uptick in use, most if not all of which is legal. Federal data on drone registration reflects this sharp uptick in use: As of October of this year, there were more than 790,000 drones registered with the Federal Aviation Association (FAA), and nearly 400,000 registered commercial drones.  That’s “just to give you an idea” of the magnitude of the number of legal drones in the U.S., said Ryan, whose extensive police career included serving for a decade as the emergency service special operations commander at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, and then later, the chief officer of the Port Authority, whose role includes oversight of all transportation facilities, including Kennedy, LaGuardia and all other airports and ports in the area. SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH REQUIRED TO SUBMIT TRUMP FINDINGS TO DOJ BEFORE LEAVING. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? The second mistake, Ryan said, is that the individuals in question are asking the wrong authorities for help. “The mistake I see people making is that they’re going to the wrong agencies and asking these questions,” he added. The FAA is the federal body tasked with registering drones and other U.S. aircraft. It’s also the one tasked with monitoring recreational and commercial drone use in the U.S. “In New Jersey, they’ve been asking the FBI, they’ve been asking the Department of Homeland Security — they’ve been asking everybody except the people that they should be asking,” said Ryan. The Pentagon also reiterated this view, noting that an initial assessment had shown the drones were not from another country, and were not shot down because they were not deemed a threat to national security. Kirby echoed this sentiment on Thursday. Asked whether the U.S. would consider banning drone use in U.S. airspace, he told reporters, “I don’t know that we’re at a stage right now where we’re considering that” as a policy option.

Senior Trump official reveals visit that set ‘trajectory’ for election victory

A top Team Trump official disclosed the moment that “really set the campaign on a trajectory to victory” – the day President-elect Donald Trump arrived in Columbiana County, Ohio, to survey the East Palestine train derailment. “The ripples from that day do not get enough attention,” White House communications director-designate Steven Cheung said on X, formerly Twitter, in retweeting an op-ed making that assertion. In February 2023, a Norfolk-Southern train hauling caustic industrial chemicals – including vinyl chloride – derailed in a small community near the Pennsylvania border, causing immediate chaos and long-lasting, widespread damage to the region. A controlled burn held shortly after the derailment released toxic phosgene into the air. WHISTLEBLOWER ALLEGES MISTAKES IN INITIAL EAST PALESTINE DISASTER RESPONSE On February 23 – Ash Wednesday – Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, hosted Trump at the site, where the former and future president highlighted Americans “forgotten” by President Joe Biden – who had not yet shown up and would not visit for several more months. The Republican mogul handed out “Trump”-branded water and met with local officials. Meanwhile, officials in both Ohio and Pennsylvania were also visibly working to hold the railroad accountable. In his tweet, Cheung was responding to an op-ed by Pittsburgh-based Washington Examiner writer Selina Zito, who covered the crisis at the time. Zito wrote that Trump’s arrival had happened at a political nadir for the Republican, following the 2022 midterm losses and amid a then-close presidential primary race with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. She noted in a tweet that it was Vance – his future running mate – who brought him to the site. Trump’s mantra of “you are not forgotten” to Rust Belt residents too often forgotten by Washington helped change minds in the area, Zito wrote, quoting a local resident who said she had “switched parties because of the way he spoke directly to the concerns.” “I have voted for him both times since then,” the woman, who owns an East Palestine farm, said. TRUMP VISITS EAST PALESTINE, HANDS OUT TRUMP-WATER: ‘WE STAND WITH YOU’ Trump told residents that day that “in too many cases, your goodness and perseverance were met with indifference and betrayal.” The disparity between Trump’s eagerness to “show up” and Biden’s apparent putting-off of a visit to East Palestine helped turn the tide in the Republican’s favor, the column continued. “100%,” Cheung wrote in his tweet. Trump’s former running mate, Mike Pence, also called out Biden at the time, saying he was “AWOL” and remarking to Fox News that the Delaware Democrat’s policies had “derailed the economy of East Palestine long before that train came through.” On the Pennsylvania side of the line, both Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and his then-former gubernatorial opponent, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Gettysburg, also responded quickly to the derailment. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Shapiro lodged a criminal referral at the time, and Mastriano led hearings that hosted affected residents along the Ohio border wherein Norfolk-Southern CEO Alan Shaw notably no-showed. “It is very disheartening to hear that these alleged delays and botched response approaches took place – especially since those in East Palestine, Ohio, and areas in my district here in Pennsylvania have been dealing with the aftermath of this derailment for over a year now,” state Sen. Elder Vogel Jr. told Fox News Digital at the time, after a whistleblower had spoken out about alleged mistakes from Biden’s EPA response – which the agency disputed.

DC food workers pledge to make Trump officials unwelcome, echoing confrontations in first term

Washington, D.C.-area restaurants once again will not be free from politics as the Trump team prepares to settle into the nation’s capital for a second term.  Food workers inside the Beltway are prepared to refuse service and cause other inconveniences for members of the incoming Trump administration, but this is not the first time the administration and allies will have to deal with harassment while sitting down to dinner. In September 2018, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and his wife were harassed at Fiola, an upscale Italian restaurant in Washington, D.C. Protesters confronted them over Cruz’s support for then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during his contentious confirmation hearings. Videos circulated online showing demonstrators shouting at the couple, chanting, “We believe survivors.” Cruz and his wife eventually left the restaurant due to the altercation. WASHINGTON, D.C., POLITICAL BAR TAKES DOWN REPUBLICAN SYMBOL AFTER FIERCE BACKLASH This incident was part of a broader wave of confrontations involving Trump administration officials and allies over the summer that year. As such, in June 2018, then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen was confronted by protesters at MXDC Cocina Mexicana, a Mexican restaurant in Washington, D.C., over the Trump administration’s family separation policy at the U.S.-Mexico border. Protesters chanted, “Shame!” and called her a “villain,” forcing her to leave. Senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller, known for his role in shaping immigration policy, recounted an incident when he went to pick up an $80 sushi order from a restaurant near his apartment that same month. As he left, the bartender followed him outside, called out his name and, when Miller turned around, gave him a double middle finger. He threw away the sushi out of fear someone in the restaurant had tampered with the food, the New York Post reported at the time. DC FOOD WORKERS VOW TRUMP OFFICIALS WON’T FEEL WELCOMED WHEN DINING OUT IN NATION’S CAPITAL Also in June 2018, the owner of The Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, asked then-White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders to leave, citing opposition to the Trump administration’s tough immigration policies.  Industry veterans, bartenders and servers in the nation’s capital told the Washingtonian this week that resistance to the Republican figures in the progressive city was inevitable and a matter of conscience.  BIDEN ADMIN SETS NEW TARGET TO TRIPLE US NUCLEAR CAPACITY FROM 2020 LEVELS “You expect the masses to just ignore RFK eating at Le Diplomate on a Sunday morning after a few mimosas and not to throw a drink in his face?,” said Zac Hoffman, a Washington, D.C., restaurant veteran who is now a manager at the National Democratic Club. Not every liberal hospitality sector worker in the report planned to protest the incoming administration while doing their job, however.  A bartender named Joseph said while he was disappointed by the election results, he was looking forward to higher tips with more Republicans in Washington. Fox News Digital’s Kristine Parks contributed to this report.

Business experts say Biden regulations have stifled growth: ‘America wants a different choice’

The Biden administration’s aggressive regulatory stance towards big businesses has stymied growth, a cohort of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and other business sector experts expressed to Fox News Digital.  Earlier this week, Albertsons abandoned its $25 million merger with fellow grocery store chain Kroger, after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), led by President Biden appointee Lena Khan, sought to challenge the buyout, arguing it would stifle competition and raise prices. The challenge and the merger’s eventual failure is the latest example of the Biden administration’s offensive against big business.  “We have literally had offers from strategic buyers to buy us, and we go to our counsel and the counsel says, ‘Don’t even try. The FTC will absolutely flag this thing, and you will spend tens of millions of dollars and be stuck in a bureaucratic hell answering questions in court for a year,” said venture capitalist Ravin Gandhi, a former CEO who has been involved in multiple merger and acquisition deals and maintains a stake in a number of startups.  ‘GOV’T KNOWS BEST’: BIDEN ADMIN BREAKS OBAMA RECORD FOR FILLING FEDERAL REGISTER WITH MOST REGULATIONS “Lena Khan was explicit in talking about even mid-market M&A as a vehicle for monopoly. And anyone who has built a business and sold it, like I have, knows that’s ridiculous.” The chilling effect described by Gandhi has been echoed by other analysts, who say that the Biden administration’s rhetoric and policies have required businesses to take matters into their own hands by abandoning or restructuring their transactions in the face of FTC and Department of Justice antitrust concerns. An analysis by international law firm Morgan Lewis found that under Biden, the vast majority — nearly three-quarters — of all transactions in which the government sought more details from companies about a proposed merger were subject to enforcement action. “America wants a different choice,” said Cardone Capital CEO Grant Cardone. “This idea that Joe Biden is going to make the world more competitive is a red herring.”   Cardone, too, expressed frustration over regulatory battles with the Biden administration, noting that they have made it “almost impossible for people to do business.”  Several other business leaders, venture capitalists and people with detailed knowledge of mergers and acquisitions echoed the concerns shared by Gandhi and Cardone that business growth has been stymied. “The FTC’s aggressive antitrust enforcement under the Biden administration has significantly dampened M&A activity, particularly in the tech sector,” said Kison Patel, a financial tech entrepreneur and the host of “M&A Science,” a podcast about mergers and acquisitions. “For example, one Fortune 10 tech company has scaled back its deal making from 30 to fewer than five transactions.”  CONSTRUCTION TRADE GROUP LEADERS LOOK FORWARD TO NEW LEADERSHIP UNDER TRUMP: ‘RELIEF ON THE HORIZON’ Armen Martin, a veteran merger and acquisitions attorney, added that in talking to venture capitalists, he had heard optimism about FTC Commissioner Khan’s exit. She will be replaced by President-elect Trump’s nominee for FTC Commissioner, Andrew Ferguson.  “I think you will see a lot more M&A activity under the Trump administration as companies feel more confident that the government won’t get involved,” Martin said. Meanwhile, in a statement to Fox News Digital, FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar said that the recently blocked grocery store merger “makes it clear that strong, reality-based antitrust enforcement delivers real results for consumers, workers, and small businesses.”   “Today’s win protects competition in the grocery market, which will prevent prices from rising even more,” he added.

NJ lawmaker crafts state DOGE committee to ‘mirror’ Elon’s brainchild: ‘We need it more’

A top New Jersey lawmaker is proposing legislation to form a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the Garden State, modeling it after the one Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are forming at the federal level. “We need it more” than Washington, Senate Minority Whip Joe Pennacchio, R-Boonton, said.  “We’re mirroring what the federal government and what those two gentlemen are doing.” Pennacchio, who also previously worked under former Republican Gov. Donald DiFrancesco on economic development, said NJDOGE would take on a state budget that has increased 60% in the past seven fiscal years. DRONE ACTIVITY NEAR TRUMP-BEDMINSTER, PICATINNY ARSENAL SPURS NJ FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS “A lot of those increases were one-shots, when they borrowed money during the period of COVID. You’re not going to get that back. … They haven’t even spent it all. Those one-shots, they’re all gone. “I’ve seen estimates of a budget deficit next year of maybe $4 billion. Next year is the governor’s race. We will have a new governor, and regardless of who comes in — Republican or Democrat — it would be nice to have a committee together to give them a blueprint of what we can or should not do.” He said the state does have a “red tape” commission set up by former Gov. Chris Christie to trim regulations, adding it hasn’t borne results. “Every dollar we save is $1 less that [Trenton] has to raise taxes,” Pennacchio said.  Pennacchio’s committee, if approved, would consist of one member from the state Treasury, one from the Chamber of Commerce, the top Republican and Democrat from the Senate and General Assembly and one public member appointed by the governor. DOGE-MEETS-CONGRESS: GOP LAWMAKER LAUNCHES CAUCUS TO HELP MUSK ‘TAKE ON CRAZYTOWN’ “[N]ot only can we start to chip away at our exacerbated affordability crisis by cutting wasteful spending and ensuring efficiency, we can also ease the financial burden for our constituents across the Garden State by lowering the onslaught of taxes and fees,” Pennacchio said. At least one other state senator is planning to endorse the idea but has not yet done so publicly. Fox News Digital also reached out to representatives of the General Assembly for their reaction to the senator’s legislation. Despite being long viewed as a reliably “blue” state, New Jersey came within about four points of electing Donald Trump instead of Vice President Kamala Harris. Political analysts pointed to the results as evidence of a tidal shift in public opinion toward government spending, among other subjects. GOP LAWMAKER TORCHES OFFSHORE NJ WIND PROJECTS AS MD MAYOR BLASTS ‘STAR WARS’ BACKDROPS Trump twice won Morris County and flipped Passaic County in 2024, parts of which Pennacchio represents. The lawmaker said his constituents are on board with his NJDOGE proposal and that they’ve similarly recognized disparities in the funding support they receive from Trenton. Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump Transition for comment on the plan. “My district is a district that is getting the bills. Schools in my district are seeing cuts while schools in other districts are not seeing cuts,” Pennacchio said. “It is stuff like this that we should look at. … If the legislature sees fit that they still want to subsidize this nonsense, then that’s fine. They’ll be on record. “Let’s greet the next new governor with outlines of what they can do, where there are cost savings, where things can be eliminated; that will stimulate the economy, maybe decrease taxes on the people.” The 2025 field for that governor’s race is packed, with several top names in both partisan primaries. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, former Senate Leader Steve Sweeney and representatives Mikie Sherrill and Josh Gottheimer round out the Democratic choices. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Truck driver and former state Sen. Ed Durr, Sen. Jon Bramnick, conservative journalist Bill Spadea and 2021 gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli are the top names on the Republican side. State Sen. Robert Singer, R-Lakewood, also joined Pennacchio’s call for a NJDOGE. “With President Trump’s plan to bring business back to the U.S., New Jersey has the chance to lead the charge. It’s time to restore our state’s manufacturing glory with high-paying jobs,” Singer said. “Let’s make New Jersey the blueprint for the Make America Work Again movement, starting with a statewide DOGE.” Recently, large drones have been spotted across Pennacchio’s district, making nationwide news. Pennacchio slammed the feds for offering Jerseyans few answers on the aircraft, saying that when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in 2001, government officials knew right away who orchestrated it. “We even had some face time with the Department of Homeland Security (about the drones). They were useless. … They should be ashamed of themselves. The FBI director, he checked out. [Christopher Wray] already announced that he’s leaving. … So who’s minding the store here?”

European countries put freeze on Syrian asylum claims after Assad’s fall, unclear if US will follow

Countries in Europe are slamming the brakes on asylum cases filed by Syrian migrants in the wake of the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad, but it is not yet clear whether the U.S. will take similar action. The U.K. and Norway, along with E.U. countries of Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Finland, Ireland and Sweden, have suspended applications from Syrians after the fall of the Assad regime. While it does not necessarily mean those people will be returned to Syria, it puts those applications in limbo in a continent that saw a massive surge of Syrian migration during the 2015 European migration crisis. TRUMP’S PLEDGE AGAINST ‘FOREVER WARS’ COULD BE TESTED WITH SYRIA IN HANDS OF JIHADIST FACTIONS  The European Union has also said that conditions are not currently in place for the safe return of nationals to Syria. While Europe has seen a considerably more sizeable influx of migrants from Syria than the U.S., it is not clear how those cases in the U.S. will change, if at all, given the changing political dynamics in the Middle Eastern country. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services handle asylum cases, and asylum officers are instructed to consider changes in circumstances when considering those cases. So, if an applicant’s country becomes more stable, then the consideration of that case changes dynamically. Therefore, if Syria stabilizes, it may make it harder for Syrians to receive a positive ruling on their cases. US GROUP LOOKS FOR KIDNAPPED AMERICANS IN SYRIA AFTER FALL OF ASSAD REGIME: WON’T ‘LEAVE A STONE UNTURNED’  But so far, there have been no pauses of Syrian asylum cases announced by the Biden administration. The White House did not respond to requests for comment on the matter. One factor that could change in the next year is Temporary Protected Status, which grants deportation protection and work permits for nationals of countries deemed unsafe. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas extended and redesignated Syria for TPS in January, and that lasts until September 2025. Should the Trump administration choose not to extend or redesignate Syria for TPS, it would require those who are no longer protected from deportation and who do not have another legal status to leave the U.S. or face deportation. However, the number of Syrians protected under TPS is relatively few, compared to other nationalities and the situation in Europe. DHS estimated that around 8,000 Syrians were eligible for TPS in January. The Center for Immigration Studies cited statistics showing that the number of Syrians granted asylum between 2011 and 2023 was just over 7,000. Meanwhile, data obtained by Fox News Digital this week shows that there are 741 Syrians with deportation orders on Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) non-detained docket. In Europe, around 183,000 Syrians applied for asylum in 2023, according to the Associated Press. The U.N. refugee agency has called for “patience and vigilance” for Syrian migrants, arguing that much will depend on whether Syria’s new government is respectful of law and order. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

‘Unethical garbage’: ProPublica faces backlash for ‘journalism’ claim after email to Hegseth gets exposed

Left-wing nonprofit ProPublica is facing renewed scrutiny after an email exchange related to its recent unpublished story on Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth was released on Thursday. A media firestorm began earlier this week when Hegseth revealed on X that ProPublica, which he called a “Left Wing hack group” was planning to publish a “knowingly false report” that he was not accepted by West Point in 1999. Attached to the post was a photo of Hegseth’s acceptance letter signed by West Point Superintendent Lieutenant General Daniel Christman, U.S. Army. ProPublica editor Jesse Eisinger responded to the post, explaining that West Point public affairs had told the outlet twice that Hegseth hadn’t applied. “We reached out,” Eisinger wrote. “Hegseth’s spox gave us his acceptance letter. We didn’t publish a story. That’s journalism.” TIDE TURNS IN FAVOR OF TRUMP DOD PICK PETE HEGSETH AFTER MATT GAETZ FAILURE After intense criticism from conservatives online, with some questioning why ProPublica did not press West Point on the inaccurate information and publish a story on that aspect, Eisinger posted a lengthy X thread outlining the steps ProPublica had taken researching the story claiming and touting how they “care about accuracy” and being “intellectually honest” and had given Hegseth a “fair chance to respond to all of the salient facts in the story.” Questions about ProPublica’s journalistic standards intensified shortly afterward when Daily Caller published an email from reporter Justin Elliot reaching out to Hegseth’s lawyer, giving him an hour to respond to the allegation that he never went to West Point and asking, “Why did Mr. Hegseth say he got into West Point when that is not true?”  SAMUEL ALITO SLAMS PROPUBLICA AS ‘MISLEADING’ AHEAD OF REPORT ALLEGING CONFLICT OF INTEREST FROM SCOTUS BENCH “How can Mr. Hegseth be Secretary of Defense given that he has made false statements about getting into the military’s most prestigious academy?” Elliot asked. That email drew the ire of many on social media, who took issue with the accusatory tone of the email and the small window to respond to such a serious allegation, which suggested the story had already been completed without hearing Hegseth’s side. “ProPublica did not contact Pete Hegseth to get the full story,” Red State writer Bonchie posted on X. “They contacted him to claim he was a liar while demanding a response within one hour not to offer his side, but to ask why he ‘lied’ and what else he ‘lied’ about.” “This isn’t ‘journalism.’ It’s unethical garbage.” “***Nothing*** in Jesse’s 11-tweet thread even hinted that ***this*** is how ProPublica actually approached the story— taking the falsehood from West Point, repeatedly asserting to Hegseth that he was a liar & implying he is unfit for SecDef, & giving him just one hour to respond,” journalist Jerry Dunleavy posted on X.  “ProPublica’s Editor-in-Chief claimed that they gave @PeteHegseth a fair chance to respond to the West Point story because they ‘care about accuracy,’” Trump 2024 Rapid Response Director Greg Price posted on X. “According to this unhinged email obtained by @reaganreese, they straight up accused him of being a liar and gave him a one hour deadline to respond.” REPUBLICAN MILITARY VETS IN CONGRESS ARE ON A MISSION TO GET HEGSETH CONFIRMED In a statement to Fox News Digital, a ProPublica spokesperson said, “Reporters do their job by asking tough questions to people in power, which is exactly what happened here. Responsible news organizations only publish what they can verify, which is why we didn’t publish a story once Mr. Hegseth provided documentation that corrected the statements from West Point.” Fox News Digital reached out to West Point asking whether any disciplinary actions had been taken against the staffers for providing false information and why procedures had not been in place to prevent that kind of error.  West Point directed Fox News Digital to its previously issued statement.  “A review of our records indicates Peter Hegseth was offered admission to West Point in 1999 but did not attend. An incorrect statement involving Hegseth’s admission to the U.S. Military Academy was released by an employee on Dec. 10, 2024.  Upon further review of an archived database, employees realized this statement was in error. Hegseth was offered acceptance to West Point as a prospective member of the Class of 2003. The academy takes this situation seriously and apologizes for this administrative error.” In a letter to West Point this week, Republican Congressman Jim Banks wrote, “It is outrageous that West Point officials would so grossly interfere in a political process and make false claims regarding a presidential nominee.” “Even in the unlikely scenario of OPA mistakenly making false claims not once but twice, it is an unforgivable act of incompetence that OPA did not make absolutely sure their information was accurate before sharing it with a reporter.” This week’s ProPublica controversy comes after the nonprofit, which has received millions of dollars from liberal foundations, faced strong criticism for its reporting on conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, which critics referred to as “hit pieces.” “Journalistic inquiry into the private dealings of public officials is essential for our democracy. But honest inquiry applies the same standard to all people rather than single out those with whom one disagrees,” Gretchen Reiter, senior vice president of communications at Stand Together, told Fox News Digital last year regarding ProPublica’s reporting on Thomas. ProPublica’s reporting on Alito prompted the justice to write a Wall Street Journal op-ed where he wrote, “ProPublica has leveled two charges against me: first, that I should have recused in matters in which an entity connected with Paul Singer was a party and, second, that I was obligated to list certain items as gifts on my 2008 Financial Disclose Report. Neither charge is valid.” ProPublica stood by its reporting on Alito but acknowledged there are “lessons for ProPublica in this experience.”

Texas files first lawsuit against out-of-state abortion provider

This case sets up a legal battle between Texas’ near-total abortion ban and New York’s shield law that protects doctors from out-of-state prosecution.