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Democrat Ritchie Torres’ torrent of attacks against own party fuels primary showdown buzz in New York

Democrat Ritchie Torres’ torrent of attacks against own party fuels primary showdown buzz in New York

Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., is considering a run for New York governor – and he’s raising his national profile with a tidal wave of criticism against leaders in his own party. Torres has been vocally opposed to the blue stronghold’s progressive criminal justice policies and has criticized how Gov. Kathy Hochul has managed the Empire State, raising eyebrows about a potentially bruising primary in 2026. “Hochul has a history of coded stereotyping, falsely claiming that young black Bronxites have never heard of the word ‘computer.’ She knows as much about me and communities of color as she knows about governing effectively. Absolutely nothing,” he wrote on X last week. He was also one of the first Democrats to come out and blame the progressive left for Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss to President-elect Trump, saying at the time, “Donald Trump has no greater friend than the far left, which has managed to alienate historic numbers of Latinos, Blacks, Asians, and Jews from the Democratic Party.” MIKE JOHNSON WINS REPUBLICAN SUPPORT TO BE HOUSE SPEAKER AGAIN AFTER TRUMP ENDORSEMENT When reached for comment, Torres’ spokesperson told Fox News Digital that he is weighing a gubernatorial bid “and plans to make a final decision by mid-2025.” The congressman himself gave insight into his thinking when he recently went after New York City Mayor Eric Adams for employing a staffer who had been accused of ripping down posters of Israelis held hostage by Hamas. “If I were at the helm of NYS or NYC government, antisemites need not apply. Tearing down posters of the hostages is completely unacceptable and would not be tolerated,” Torres wrote on social media. In late November, he accused both Adams and Hochul of being “complicit” in a stabbing spree that left three New Yorkers dead.  That same month, he lambasted New York’s policies as bad for business. DANIEL PENNY TO BE TAPPED FOR CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL BY HOUSE GOP LAWMAKER “There are regulations in place that make it impossible to do business… and have made it impossible to build,” Torres said during a Citizens Budget Commission meeting, according to the New York Post. Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., who chaired the New York State Republican Party for over a decade, said it was not shocking to see Torres attacking Hochul while mulling his own gubernatorial bid. “Richie Torres is vocalizing many of the same criticisms Republicans have raised about the dysfunction in Albany. So it’s not surprising that she’s facing a challenge from her own party,” Langworthy said. However, he dismissed Torres’ critiques of progressivism as “posturing in the face of Hochul’s failures and the undeniable success” of Trump’s platform. REPUBLICANS GIVE DETAILS FROM CLOSED-DOOR MEETINGS WITH DOGE’S MUSK, RAMASWAMY Torres had been a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) until earlier this year, when he left over disagreements about Israel.  When asked about Torres’ criticism, Hochul said at a recent press conference that she was “a little busy” doing her job. “Those who have government jobs who aren’t focused on their jobs, and are focused on an election almost two years off, I would think their constituents would have a problem with that,” she said.

Trump’s tariff threats go beyond ‘trade agreement’ to advance American interests: expert

Trump’s tariff threats go beyond ‘trade agreement’ to advance American interests: expert

President-elect Trump announced plans to impose a 25% across-the-board tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico, effective his first day in office. But the move is largely “a diplomatic” one that draws on Trump’s “war chest” to leverage U.S. interests, according to one expert. Tariffs are taxes that governments place on goods being imported or exported. They can raise the cost of imported products, making local products more attractive to buy. “President Trump has used tariffs effectively before, and I think we can expect him to continue using them in a targeted manner, even in areas that are not directly related to trade,” Andrew Hale, Heritage Foundation’s senior policy analyst, told Fox News Digital.  TRUMP’S PROPOSED TARIFFS ON MEXICO, CANADA, CHINA WILL INCREASE INFLATION, GOLDMAN SACHS WARNS Hale noted that Trump’s previous use of tariffs was aimed not just at trade imbalances but also at issues like border security and drug trafficking. According to Hale, Trump has consistently applied these tariffs in areas that extend beyond trade imbalances, using them as tools of diplomacy to further “America First” policies. “Trump continues to assert American strength on the world stage, something the Biden administration has been reluctant to do, and both allies and adversaries have taken notice of this, what I would call a resurgence of U.S. leadership with Trump’s return,” he said. Hale suggested that if Trump’s tariff proposals were implemented, Mexico and Canada might challenge them under the USMCA, but he doubts it would reach that stage, as such measures have previously proven effective in achieving U.S. goals. Hale also speculates that Trump could use tariffs as leverage in other contexts, such as targeting countries that act against U.S. allies like Israel. “I don’t see it going that far, because it’s effectively worked,” he said. TRUMP SUGGESTS CANADA BECOME 51ST STATE AFTER TRUDEAU SAID TARIFF WOULD KILL ECONOMY: SOURCES  During his first term, Trump renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), replacing it with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which went into effect July 2020. The USMCA aimed to modernize and address issues in the original NAFTA, particularly concerning labor rights, environmental standards and digital trade. “I’m going to inform her [Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum] on day one, or sooner, that if they don’t stop this onslaught of criminals and drugs coming into our country, I’m going to immediately impose a 25% tariff on everything they send in to the United States of America,” Trump said during his last North Carolina campaign stop before the election. Hale added that Trump’s success in using tariffs during the USMCA renegotiation with Canada and Mexico demonstrates their power as a diplomatic tool, as Trump has criticized the nations over trade imbalances and issues like drug trafficking as justifications for the tariffs. TRUMP TARIFFS WILL BRING MEXICO TO THE TABLE, TEXAS DEMOCRAT SAYS “The Biden administration has not been implementing USMCA as they should, as Mexico has been violating it,” Hale said. While the tariffs aim to boost U.S. manufacturing, experts and some politicians warn they could disrupt supply chains, increase costs for businesses reliant on foreign goods, and potentially lead to retaliatory tariffs from trading partners, impacting American exporters.  On Thursday, liberal Gov. Gavin Newsom of California took aim at Trump’s proposal, calling it “one of the biggest tax increases in U.S. history.” “You are being betrayed by these policies,” Newsom said. According to the Tax Foundation, the Trump administration imposed some “$80 billion worth of new taxes on Americans” in 2018 and 2019 when he slapped tariffs on $380 billion worth of products. The Biden administration largely kept these tariffs in place and then enforced additional tax increases on $18 billion worth of Chinese goods. Former Vice President Mike Pence came out in support of Trump’s tariffs, but urged a delicate approach to balance the country’s relationship with Beijing. “I fervently hope his proposed tariffs will bring China back to the negotiating table as it did during our administration. I know this will be difficult and create challenges in the short-term, but it will be well worth it in the long-term,” Pence said this week. “We want better for America and China – and I believe a firm, but fair approach is the best way to get there.”  Trump also recently suggested to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that if a tariff for failing to address trade and immigration issues would kill the neighbor to the north’s economy, maybe it should become the 51st state, sources told Fox News. Sources say Trump became more animated when it came to the U.S. trade deficit with Canada, which he estimated to be more than $100 billion. Fox News Digital’s Caitlin McFall, Greg Wehner and Bret Baier contributed to this report. 

Hunter Biden: A look at how the saga spanning over six years unfolded

Hunter Biden: A look at how the saga spanning over six years unfolded

President Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, ending a saga that has lasted for more than six years, with wide-ranging investigations by the Justice Department and both chambers of Congress related to his conduct and business dealings.  Hunter Biden was found guilty of three felony firearm offenses stemming from Special Counsel David Weiss’ investigation. The first son was also charged with federal tax crimes regarding the failure to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. Before his trial, Hunter Biden entered a surprise guilty plea.  BIDEN PARDONS SON HUNTER BIDEN AHEAD OF EXIT FROM OVAL OFFICE The charges carried up to 17 years behind bars. His sentencing was scheduled for Dec. 16.  Here’s a look back at how it all began:  The federal investigation into Hunter Biden began in 2018. The probe was predicated, in part, by suspicious activity reports (SARs) regarding foreign transactions. Those SARs, according to sources familiar with the investigation, involved funds from “China and other foreign nations.” Fox News first reported the existence of some type of federal investigation involving Hunter Biden in October 2020, ahead of the last presidential election. It became known then that in the course of an existing money laundering investigation, the FBI had subpoenaed the laptop purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden. Stories about the laptop were widely panned by Democrats and mainstream media outlets as Russian disinformation. At the time, then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe confirmed that the laptop was “not part of some Russian disinformation campaign,” but that claim was rejected by Democrats and many in the media. Social media companies like Twitter and Facebook censored and limited the circulation of stories related to Hunter Biden’s laptop before the 2020 presidential election. Only in 2022 did media outlets verify that the laptop did belong to Hunter Biden and did hold legitimate records belonging to him. Twitter, under the new ownership of Elon Musk, released records surrounding the company’s decisions to block the circulation of the Hunter Biden stories – even though he had been under federal investigation at that point for nearly two years. Hunter Biden confirmed the investigation into his “tax affairs” in December 2020, after his father was elected president. But Hunter Biden’s business dealings were also, simultaneously, being investigated by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., in 2019. Specifically, the senators were investigating Hunter Biden’s business dealings with Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings.  Grassley and Johnson released a report in September 2020 saying that Obama administration officials “knew” that Hunter Biden’s position on the board of Burisma was “problematic” and that it interfered “in the efficient execution of policy with respect to Ukraine.” Hunter Biden joined Burisma in April 2014 and, at the time, reportedly connected the firm with consulting firm Blue Star Strategies to help the natural gas company fight corruption charges in Ukraine. During the time Hunter Biden was on the board of the company, Joe Biden was vice president and was running U.S.-Ukraine relations and policy for the Obama administration. Also in 2019, Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine came into the spotlight during the first impeachment of now-President-elect Donald Trump.  House Republicans wanted to call Hunter Biden to testify in the impeachment proceedings in the fall of 2019.  HUNTER BIDEN INVESTIGATORS LIMITED QUESTIONS ABOUT ‘DAD,’ ‘BIG GUY’ DESPITE FBI, IRS OBJECTIONS: WHISTLEBLOWER Trump was acquitted in Feb. 2020 on both articles of impeachment against him — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — after being impeached by the House of Representatives in December 2019.  Trump was impeached after a July 2019 phone call in which he pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to launch investigations into the Biden family’s actions and business dealings in Ukraine, specifically Hunter Biden’s ventures with Burisma and Joe Biden’s successful effort to have former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin ousted. At the same time as that call, Hunter Biden was under federal investigation, prompted by his suspicious foreign transactions.  Trump’s request was regarded by Democrats as a quid pro quo because millions in U.S. military aid to Ukraine had been frozen. Democrats also said Trump was meddling in the 2020 presidential election by asking a foreign leader to look into a Democrat political opponent. Republicans had been investigating Hunter Biden’s business dealings, specifically with regard Burisma. House Republicans, who were in the minority at the time, made several requests to subpoena Hunter Biden for testimony and documents related to the impeachment of Trump and his business dealings that fell at the center of the proceedings. Biden has acknowledged that when he was vice president, he successfully pressured Ukraine to fire Shokin. At the time, Shokin was investigating Burisma and Hunter Biden had a highly lucrative role on the board, receiving thousands of dollars per month. The then-vice president threatened to withhold $1 billion of critical U.S. aid if Shokin were not fired. FLASHBACK: DEMOCRATS CLASH WITH REPUBLICANS OVER PROSPECT OF CALLING HUNTER BIDEN IN IMPEACHMENT TRIAL “I said, ‘You’re not getting the billion.’ … I looked at them and said, ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money,’” Biden recalled telling then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Biden recollected the conversation during an event for the Council on Foreign Relations in 2018. Meanwhile, once President Biden took office, the House Oversight Committee led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., began investigating Hunter Biden’s business dealings and the business dealings of the Biden family. Comer ultimately found that the Biden family and its associates had received more than $27 million from foreign individuals or entities since 2014. But it wasn’t until 2023 that whistleblowers from the IRS, Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, brought allegations of politicization in the federal probe of Hunter Biden to Congress.  The two alleged that political influence had infected prosecutorial decisions in the federal probe, which was led by Trump-appointed Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who they said had requested to become a special counsel.  After Shapley and Ziegler testified publicly, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Weiss as special counsel

Lara Trump announces she is stepping down as RNC co-chair amidst talk she may be up for Florida Senate seat

Lara Trump announces she is stepping down as RNC co-chair amidst talk she may be up for Florida Senate seat

Lara Trump announced via X that she would be stepping down as co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) citing that during her time the RNC had three distinct goals, and they had all been accomplished. She started her journey as co-chair of the RNC in March 2024, but it has been widely discussed that she is considering her potential options as father-in-law, President-elect Donald Trump once again takes the reins at the White House. “With that big win, I kind of feel like my time is up,” she said. “What I intended to do has been done.” LARA TRUMP SAYS SHE’D ‘LOVE TO CONSIDER’ FILLING RUBIO’S SENATE SEAT IF ASKED BY DESANTIS Trump only began her journey as co-chair in March and was pivotal in Republicans retaking control of the Senate while maintaining a narrow House majority. There has been talk that she may be considered as a replacement for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as Trump has said he will be tapped to be the next Secretary of State. Last month she told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that she “would love to serve the people of Florida” and “would love to consider” filling the seat if asked. LARA TRUMP SAYS SHE WOULD ‘ABSOLUTELY’ CONSIDER BECOMING SEN. RUBIO’S REPLACEMENT: ‘WOULD BE AN HONOR’ | FOX NEWS VIDEO On Sunday, Trump discussed with Howard Kurtz how much of an honor it would be to even be considered. “Certainly, we’ve all had the opportunity over the past nine years to fully involve ourselves in politics, to understand the American people, what they want, and we’ve all been residents of the state of Florida now for over three years,” she said. “If that’s something that’s put in front of me, it would be a true honor.” Maye Musk, mother of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, is one of many pushing for her to replace Rubio. “The Senate is an old man’s club. We desperately need a smart, young, outspoken woman who will reveal their secrets,” she posted on X. Lara Trump is 42. Elon Musk seemingly agrees with his mother’s sentiments as he responded to her X post saying, “Lara Trump is genuinely great.” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on “Hannity” that he “would be like over-the-top excited” and that Republicans “could not do better … than Lara Trump.” Ultimately, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is reportedly being considered to replace Pete Hegseth, will choose Rubio’s replacement.  Michael Whatley will remain RNC chairman.