After being denied a medically necessary abortion, Amanda Zurawski will do whatever it takes to beat Donald Trump
Two years after a harrowing pregnancy where she was denied an abortion, the Texan has catapulted to being one of Democrats’ biggest messengers on reproductive rights.
Trump adds RFK Jr., Tulsi Gabbard to his transition team as he recruits supporters ‘across partisan lines’
Former President Trump has added former Democrats Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard to his transition team, broadening his coalition of supporters “across partisan lines.” “As President Trumps’s broad coalition of supporters and endorsers expands across partisan lines, we are proud that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard have been added to the Trump/Vance Transition team,” Trump campaign senior advisor Brian Hughes told Fox News Digital. FORMER DEMOCRAT TULSI GABBARD ENDORSES TRUMP IN THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RACE “We look forward to having their powerful voices on the team as we work to restore America’s greatness,” Hughes added. RFK Jr., who began the 2024 cycle running for president as a Democrat, then shifted to run as an Independent, suspended his campaign last week and endorsed former President Trump—a historic move for a member of the Democrat Kennedy family dynasty. Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard also switched party affiliation, and considers herself an Independent. Gabbard, a veteran and the former Democratic representative for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district, endorsed Trump this week. “I am proud to stand here before you today, whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican or an Independent,” Gabbard said. “If you love our country, as I do, if you cherish peace and freedom as we do, I invite you to join me in doing all that we can to save our country and elect President Donald J. Trump and send him back to the White House to do the tough work of saving our country and serving the people.” Gabbard, who ran in the 2019 Democratic presidential primary against Kamala Harris, was recently recruited by Trump to help with debate prep ahead of his Sept. 10 face-off against the vice president at the National Constitutional Center in Philadelphia. RFK JR DEFENDS ‘MAGA,’ TEASES MORE TO JOIN TRUMP ‘UNITY GOVERNMENT’ Meanwhile, RFK Jr. took to social media this week to give his own definition of “MAGA.” “‘Make America Great Again’ recalls a nation brimming with vitality, with a can-do spirit, with hope and a belief in itself. It was an America that was beginning to confront its darker shadows, could acknowledge the injustice in its past and present, yet at the same time could celebrate its successes,” Kennedy wrote. “It was a nation of broad prosperity, the world’s most vibrant middle class, and a [sic] idealistic belief (though not consistently applied) in freedom, justice, and democracy. It was a nation that led the world in innovation, productivity, and technology. And it was the healthiest country in the world. I have talked to many Trump supporters. I have talked with his inner circle. I have talked to the man himself. This is the America they want to restore.”
Why JD Vance is concentrating on these 3 states: ‘Red wall in November’
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance returns to the campaign trail Tuesday in battleground Michigan. On Wednesday, former President Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate will hold events in two more crucial swing states – Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. If it feels like déjà vu, it is. “We’re going to make sure that Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan go red,” the first-term senator from Ohio who preaches populism said in a recent Fox News Digital interview in Michigan. Democrats reliably won all three working-class states in presidential elections for nearly a quarter-century before Trump narrowly carried them in capturing the White House eight years ago. TRUMP PICKS UP THE PACE IN 2024 SHOWDOWN WITH HARRIS However, in 2020, President Biden won back all three states with razor-thin margins as he defeated Trump. The states remain extremely competitive as Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump face off in the 2024 presidential election. Last month’s Republican National Convention was held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s largest city. Trump and Vance held their first joint-campaign rally after the convention in Grand Rapids, Michigan, just a few miles north of where Vance was interviewed by Fox News on Wednesday. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN 2024 ELECTION Vance said he is optimistic the three states are “going to be the red wall in November.” The senator, a leading Trump ally in the Senate, has repeatedly made stops in all three blue wall states since joining Trump’s ticket nearly six weeks ago. He told Fox News that he would be spending plenty of time in the states the rest of the summer and autumn spreading Trump’s working-class message. “People are sick of green energy scams that ship our manufacturing jobs to China instead of keeping them right here at home in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. I think we have a great pro-manufacturing, pro-American worker message,” he emphasized. Vance said that his pitch to working-class voters is a “core message that Donald Trump and I have in this campaign and this is a good place for people to hear it.” Vance hails from Ohio, which neighbors both Pennsylvania and Michigan, and his Midwestern and working-class roots in a region long known as the “Rust Belt” were key factors in Trump’s decision to name the senator as his running mate. Before running for Senate, Vance grabbed national attention after his book “Hillbilly Elegy” – which tells his story of growing up in a struggling steel mill city and his roots in Appalachian Kentucky – became a New York Times bestseller and was then made into a Netflix film. The story spotlighted the values of many working-class Americans who became supporters of Trump’s policies. Fox News observed as Vance spread his Midwestern folksiness with the owners and family of the trucking company that hosted a recent rally in Michigan. Later, in his speech at the rally, he spotlighted the instrumental role his grandmother “Mamaw” in his life. The comments have become a key ingredient in his stump speech. “I was one of the lucky ones – I managed to achieve the American Dream. I managed to build a life because I had a Mamaw that was tough as nails,” Vance told the crowd. A longtime Vance ally said that the senator would be campaigning in all seven of the key battlegrounds that will likely determine the outcome of the presidential election, but that there would be a “particular focus on the three blue wall states.” The ally, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, added “I would expect he spends the most time in Pennsylvania.” “This is a very deliberate strategy coming from team Trump,” the ally emphasized. “One of the many reasons JD was picked for the VP slot is because of his personal attachment to the Rust Belt and his ability to appeal to working class voters in states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin…His economic populism really does well with the electorate there.” Democrats have repeatedly taken aim at Vance, and have argued that he’s anything but a working-class hero, as they point to his years in San Francisco as a top hedge fund executive, when he worked as a principal in a venture capital firm owned by billionaire Peter Thiel. Harris — who replaced Biden last month atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket and who named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, another Midwesterner, as her running mate — charges that Vance is a “rubber stamp” for Trump’s “extreme agenda” “Make no mistake, JD Vance will be loyal only to Trump, not to our country,” Harris has said. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Mapping Russia’s Kursk nuclear power plant
IAEA chief visits one of Russia’s nuclear sites after Moscow accused Ukraine of attacking the Kursk power station. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi is visiting the Kursk nuclear power station, following Russian claims of an attack on the site last week. In a post on X on Monday Grossi said, “Given the serious situation, I’m personally leading tomorrow’s @IAEAorg mission to the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in Russia.” Russia accused Ukraine on Friday of trying to attack the Kursk nuclear power station overnight in what it called an act of “nuclear terrorism”. Ukraine has not responded to the accusations. The nuclear plant is located in the Kursk region of western Russia, where fierce fighting has raged since Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion on August 6, hitting back as Russian troops advance in eastern Ukraine. The IAEA said in a statement it had been informed by Russia that the remains of a drone were found within the area of the nuclear power plant, located roughly 100 metres (328 feet) from the plant’s spent fuel nuclear storage facility. Kursk Nuclear Power Station, August 22, 2024 [Planet Labs] Where is fighting taking place? Ukraine estimates it has seized 1,263sq km (488sq miles) of Russian territory so far. On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his forces had gained up to three kilometres (1.86 miles) in the Kursk region, taking control of two more settlements there. Amid the intense fighting, concerns have been growing following claims of the drone attack at Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). This comes just weeks after fighting in Sudzha raised concerns due to the location of the only pumping station for Russian natural gas to reach Europe through Ukraine. Where are Russia’s nuclear sites? Russia operates at least 37 nuclear reactors across 11 nuclear power plants. The Kursk plant, located about 100km (62 miles) from the Ukrainian border, is among the three largest nuclear facilities in the country. Kursk NPP is just 40km (25 miles) away from the recent fighting and has four Soviet RBMK-1000 reactors – the same design as those at the Chernobyl nuclear plant which in 1986 became the scene of the world’s worst civilian nuclear disaster. The two working nuclear reactors -number 3 and 4 – generate 90 percent of the Kursk region’s total power generation capacity. The IAEA has said that during Grossi’s visit, they will assess the site and evaluate the nuclear safety and security conditions at the power plant. “Military activity in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant is a serious risk to nuclear safety and security. My visit to KNPP next week will provide us with timely access to independently assess the situation,” Grossi said on Thursday. Construction of the Kursk-2 power plant is under way, using essentially new reactors of the VVER-510 type, which began in 2018. However, the two reactors are not operational yet. Where are Ukraine’s nuclear sites? Ukraine has 15 nuclear reactors across four NPPs. Zaporizhzhia accounts for nearly half of the total electricity generated by Ukraine’s NPPs and one-fifth (20 percent) of its annual electricity production. Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, concerns for Zaporizhzhia NPP, located in the southern Ukrainian steppe on the Dnipro River, 550km (342 miles) southeast of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, have continuously been raised after it was captured by Russian forces in March 2022. The IAEA has stated it has staff continuously present at all of Ukraine’s nuclear sites to monitor their safety and security. How reliant are Ukraine and Russia on nuclear power? In 2023, more than half (50.7 percent) of Ukraine’s electricity was produced with nuclear power, followed by coal (20.9 percent), hydropower (12.3 percent) and gas (7.8 percent). In 2023, 45 percent of Russia’s electricity came from gas, while only 18.4 percent of its electricity came from nuclear power. Russia is the second-largest exporter of natural gas. Christoph Halser, an analyst with Oslo-based Rystad Energy, told Al Jazeera the share of Russian gas as part of total European imports has more than halved from 38 percent in 2021 to 15 percent in 2023. Despite the war with Russia, Kyiv has allowed the gas to continue being sent through its Soviet-era gas pipeline unabated. Adblock test (Why?)
Israeli military says rescued captive arrives at hospital
NewsFeed An ambulance believed to be carrying 52-year-old Israeli captive Kaid Farhan al-Qadi arrived at a hospital in Israel after the army said they rescued him in Gaza on Tuesday. Videos shared by Israel’s official X account showed his family reacting to the news. Published On 27 Aug 202427 Aug 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Israeli military says captive rescued from Gaza
Kaid Farhan al-Kadi has been rescued in a ‘complex operation’ in the southern Gaza Strip, says the army. Israel says its special forces have recovered an Israeli captive from a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip in “a complex rescue operation”, as the war, now in its 11th month, shows no signs of abating. Kaid Farhan al-Kadi, a 52-year-old Bedouin, was abducted by the Palestinian group Hamas during its October 7 attack on Israel, the military said in a statement on Tuesday. The military said al-Kadi is in “a stable medical condition” and has been transferred to a hospital for medical checks. Al-Kadi is a resident of Rahat, a mainly Arab town. On October 7, he had been working as a guard at a warehouse in southern Israel when he was captured by Hamas-backed fighters along with some 250 other people. Israel says more than 1,100 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the attack. Israel’s offensive on Gaza since October 7 has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians and displaced 90 percent of its 2.3 million people from their homes, leaving hundreds of thousands in makeshift shelters. “We are committed to seizing every opportunity to bring the hostages back to their homes,” Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement on X. Hamas is still holding approximately 110 captives, about a third of whom are believed to be dead. Most of the rest were released in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel during a ceasefire last November. In June, Israeli forces killed at least 274 Palestinians and wounded nearly 700 others to rescue four captives during an operation at Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp. Hamas says several captives have been killed in Israeli air raids and failed retrieval attempts. Israeli soldiers mistakenly killed three Israelis who escaped captivity in December. Meanwhile, Egypt, Qatar and the United States have spent months trying to negotiate an agreement in which the remaining captives would be freed in exchange for a lasting ceasefire. Those talks are continuing in Egypt this week, but there has been no sign of any breakthrough. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced intense criticism from families of the captives and much of the Israeli public for not yet reaching a deal with Hamas to bring them home. Hamas hopes to trade the captives for a lasting ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners. Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan said Tuesday’s operation took place in southern Gaza’s Rafah town on the border with Egypt. “Israel wants control of that border crossing, so this is going to give Israel the impetus to say, ‘This is why we need more control over Rafah,’” Khan said, calling it “a sticking point” in the ceasefire negotiations. He added that only seven or eight captives have been rescued in Israeli military operations, while 105 captives were released in November in ceasefire negotiations, “a big number”. “It goes to prove that if you are serious, and if you want these people back, that a negotiated ceasefire is the only way forward,” said Khan. “Yet Netanyahu and [his] coalition is dragging its feet when it comes to negotiations. In fact, they keep upping the ante … They’re now talking within the public sphere about reoccupying Gaza. That’s a real concern to Hamas and the international community.” Adblock test (Why?)
Accusations of Biden admin ‘interference’ in transgender surgery guidelines for minors probed by House GOP
FIRST ON FOX: A House Oversight Committee panel is probing accusations that the Biden administration pressured a global medical recommendations body to drop age limit guidelines for transgender care. “The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating allegations of political interference by the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in third-party medical organization recommendations,” a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra sent on Tuesday read. “We are concerned that HHS officials, acting in their official capacity, inappropriately applied pressure for changes to international pediatric medical standards.” TRANSGENDER ATHLETE COMPLAINS ABOUT LACK OF SPORTSMANSHIP FROM FELLOW RUNNERS AFTER WINNING GIRLS STATE TITLE The letter was written by Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., chair of the subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services. She cited a June 2024 New York Times report that the administration pressed the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) to remove its age limit recommendations for transgender youth surgeries because it “could fuel growing political opposition to such treatments.” The pressure campaign was led by the staff of HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Adm. Rachel Levine, a transgender woman, according to the report. “Officials applied this inappropriate pressure by urging for the removal of age limits that expands the pool of children and adolescents recommended for irreversible gender transition surgical procedures. The Committee requests documents and information from HHS to assist our investigation of this matter,” McClain wrote. “The Biden Administration’s advocacy for expanding the pool of vulnerable children subjected to life-altering procedures they may later regret is reprehensible. Emails indicating that this advocacy was done for political advantage – possibly to satisfy extremist elements of its base – is even more outrageous.” WOMEN UNDER BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S TITLE IX CHANGES FACE THE ‘EVISCERATION OF LEGAL WOMANHOOD,’ EXPERTS SAY The topic of transgender medical care, particularly for minors, has been a political lightening rod in recent years. Backlash over the Times report prompted the White House to say it did not support gender-affirming surgery for minors. However, the White House later altered its response after backlash from progressive groups, telling 19th News that such surgeries “should be limited to adults,” but, “We continue to support gender-affirming care for minors, which represents a continuum of care, and respect the role of parents, families, and doctors in these decisions.” The 2021 medical guidelines at the heart of McClain’s Tuesday letter initially recommended lowering the acceptable age for transgender hormone therapy to 14, the age for mastectomies to 15 and 17 years for genital or hysterectomy procedures. However, those limits were dropped from the final version of those recommendations, according to the Times. In the outlet’s story, WPATH President Dr. Marci Bowers rejected accusations that the change was politically motivated. Bowers said “the politics were already evident” and said the body “doesn’t look at politics when making a decision.” BIDEN SLAMMED ON SOCIAL MEDIA AFTER ANNOUNCING TRANSGENDER DAY OF VISIBILITY ON EASTER SUNDAY Nevertheless, the subcommittee demanded that HHS turn over all relevant documents and communications by Sept. 10, and warned the department not to obstruct the probe. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Under your purview, HHS has not cooperated in good faith with the Committee’s oversight of HHS and its subagencies, including the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services,” the letter to Becerra said. “It is unacceptable for HHS to interfere with congressional investigations by refusing and delaying cooperation with the Committee’s oversight.” Fox News Digital reached out to HHS and the White House for comment but did not receive a response by press time.
New poll reveals Republican Senate candidate deadlocked with Dem in crucial deep blue state
A new poll indicates a deadlocked Senate race in Maryland, where Republicans are aiming to flip a long-held Democrat seat in an overwhelmingly blue state in a key contest that may decide if the GOP wins back the chamber’s majority. Former two-term Gov. Larry Hogan – the Republican nominee in the race – and Democratic nominee Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks both stand at 46% support among likely voters in Maryland, according to an AARP public opinion survey released on Tuesday. Seven percent were undecided, according to the survey conducted Aug. 14-20. SENATE DEMOCRATS CAMPAIGN CHAIR GOES ONE-ON-ONE WITH FOX NEWS The poll is the first since the May primary in Maryland to indicate a tied race, with previous surveys suggesting Alsobrooks with the lead. The winner of the November election will succeed Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, who is retiring this year after serving nearly two decades in the Senate and nearly six decades as a state and then federal lawmaker. TOP SENATE REPUBLICAN CRISS-CROSSES THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL IN ‘MAKE OR BREAK’ MOMENT TO WIN BACK MAJORITY While Hogan and Alsobrooks are tied, the poll indicates Vice President Kamala Harris far ahead of former President Donald Trump in Maryland. According to the survey, Harris tops Trump by 30 points in a multi-candidate field and by 32 points in a head-to-head match-up. “Hogan is running a net 32-points ahead of Trump,” the poll’s release highlighted. “Not surprisingly, he is outrunning Trump among all major demographic groups.” Democrats control the Senate by a razor-thin 51-49 margin, and Republicans are looking at a favorable election map this year with Democrats defending 23 of the 34 seats up for grabs. One of those seats is in West Virginia, a deep red state that Trump carried by nearly 40 points in 2020. With moderate Democrat-turned-Independent Sen. Joe Manchin, a former governor, not seeking re-election, flipping the seat is nearly a sure thing for the GOP. Republicans are also aiming to flip seats in Ohio and Montana, two states Trump comfortably carried four years ago. And five more Democratic-held seats up for grabs this year are in crucial presidential-election battleground states. With Democrats trying to protect their fragile Senate majority, Hogan’s late entry into the race in February gave them an unexpected headache in a state previously considered safe territory. Hogan left the governor’s office at the beginning of 2023 with very positive approval and favorable ratings. The poll highlights that “Hogan is making the race competitive in spite of Maryland’s large Democratic registration advantage by winning Independents by 23-points and also a quarter of Democrats.” Hogan, a vocal Republican Trump critic who flirted with a 2024 White House run before deciding against it, has repeatedly said that he won’t vote for the former president in November’s election. And in the spring, he stood out from most other Republicans for publicly calling for the guilty verdicts in Trump’s criminal trial to be respected. Asked about having Trump at the top of the Republican ticket, Hogan said in a Fox News Digital interview earlier this year that “it’s a tough hurdle to overcome because he lost my state by 33 points…It’s not going to be helpful to me, but I think we’re going to be able to overcome that challenge.” The AARP poll was conducted by the bipartisan polling team of Fabrizio Ward (Republican) & Impact Research (Democrat). The firms interviewed 1,258 likely voters in Maryland. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Over 200 former Bush, McCain, Romney staffers endorse Harris: ‘The alternative … is simply untenable’
More than 200 Republicans who previously worked for former President George W. Bush, the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., or Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, penned an open letter Monday endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for president. The cohort of Republican officials, which also includes a handful of aides to former President George H.W. Bush, previously sought to rally voters against former President Donald Trump in 2020. In their letter, the GOP officials singled out “moderate Republicans and conservative independents,” calling on them to vote for Harris. “Four years ago, President George W. Bush, the late Sen. John McCain, and then-Gov. Mitt Romney alumni came together to warn fellow Republicans that re-electing President Trump would be a disaster for our nation. In those declarations we stated the plain truth, each predicting that another four years of a Trump presidency would irreparably damage our beloved democracy,” stated the letter, published Monday by USA Today. KEY SENATOR REPORTEDLY BEHIND HARRIS’ RISE TO POWER WITHHOLDS HIS ENDORSEMENT FOR PRESIDENT “We reunite today, joined by new George H.W. Bush alumni, to reinforce our 2020 statements and, for the first time, jointly declare that we’re voting for Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz this November,” the letter continued. “Of course, we have plenty of honest, ideological disagreements with Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz. That’s to be expected. The alternative, however, is simply untenable.” Monday’s big endorsement from GOP officials follows a separate endorsement released late last week from a dozen Republican White House lawyers who served under former President Ronald Reagan, as well as under both Bush administrations. Similar to the Monday endorsement, Republican officials argued that returning to a Trump administration “would threaten democracy and undermine the rule of law in our country.” The Monday letter included nearly 240 signatures. It described Trump’s leadership as “chaotic” and implied the former president wants to advance the goals of Project 2025 – a Republican blueprint for a potential GOP administration. Trump, however, has repeatedly sought to distance himself from the presidential transition blueprint, including during his recent visit to the southern border. “They’ve been told officially, legally, in every way, that we have nothing to do with Project 25,” Trump said, according to NPR. “They know it, but they bring it up anyway. They bring up every single thing that you can bring up. Every one of them was false.” PROJECT 2025 LEADER STEPS DOWN AMID CRITICISM FROM TRUMP Meanwhile, the Monday endorsement letter also charges Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, with “kowtow[ing]” to dictators, such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, while “turning their backs” on U.S. allies. “We can’t let that happen,” the officials wrote. “We know now, thanks to exit polling and voter data, that it was moderate Republicans and conservative independents in key swing states that ultimately delivered the presidency to Joe Biden,” the open letter concluded. “We’re heartfully calling on these friends, colleagues, neighbors, and family members to take a brave stand once more, to vote for leaders that will strive for consensus, not chaos; that will work to unite, not divide; that will make our country and our children proud.” In response to the letter, Trump Campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung said, “It’s hilarious because nobody knows who these people are. They would rather see the country burn down than to see President Trump successfully return to the White House to Make America Great Again.”
Biden-Harris admin refuses to reveal nationalities of terror watchlist migrants nabbed at border
EXCLUSIVE: The Biden-Harris administration has again blocked a request by Fox News to reveal the nationalities of people on the FBI terror watchlist arrested at the border by Border Patrol, citing the privacy interests of those who were encountered and arguing that it could expose law enforcement “vulnerabilities” and “tip off” terrorists. “[Customs and Border Protection (CBP)] is committed to protecting the identity of individuals and avoiding divulging information about any individual by either direct or indirect means,” the agency said in a letter to Fox. “Releasing data for a particular nationality, or nationalities, that reflect a small number of individuals could lead to identification, especially by organizations familiar with the individuals.” Fox’s Bill Melugin filed a Freedom of Information Act request in October 2023 seeking the nationalities of suspects on the FBI terror watchlist arrested at the southern border entering between ports of entry by Border Patrol. The request sought only the nationalities of those encountered, not the names or dates of birth or any other identifying information. BIDEN ADMIN REFUSES TO REVEAL TERROR WATCHLIST NATIONALITIES AS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION EXPLODES ON HIS WATCH In May, CBP told Fox it would not provide the information, although it acknowledged the information is maintained in the Terrorist Screening Dataset (TSDS). The letter said then that it was applying exemptions to protect the disclosure of files that may create a “clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy” and must balance a public’s right to disclosure against an individual’s right to privacy. In its letter to Fox this month, the agency doubled down on that reasoning. FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS BIDEN ADMIN MOVE TO GIVE LEGAL STATUS TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SPOUSES OF US CITIZENS “The privacy interests of third parties (being protected from public disclosure because they could conceivably be subject to harassment and annoyance in his/her private life) far outweigh whatever public interest, if any, exists in having their information released.” The agency also claimed that the release of the information would reveal investigative techniques used in processing and apprehending terrorists. “By providing this information, it could allow targets to alter their behavior to avoid detection and exploit the gaps in CBP’s law enforcement intelligence, as well as compromise national security. Additionally, providing the requested information could disclose terrorist travel trends by geographic area which could help tip off terrorists about the government’s knowledge of travel plans, allowing the terrorists to take countermeasures against the investigators and their investigations,” it says. It gave the examples of allowing terror groups to compare disclosed nationalities to operational numbers. “If such an organization were to move ‘X’ number of operatives of one nationality over the relevant period, and the disclosed nationality numbers were substantially lower than X, the terrorist organization could infer a large percentage of its operatives from a particular nationality have been able to move undetected (thereby minimizing the deterrent effect of the TSDS),” the letter said. The agency argued that the disclosure of nationalities could allow bad actors “to undertake countermeasures to avoid CBP’s law enforcement activities and exploit any vulnerabilities in CBP’s law enforcement efforts.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS “This information could allow bad actors to reverse engineer effective countermeasures to facilitate undetected movement and activity and thwart CBP interdiction efforts,” it argued. There were 172 encounters of nationals on the terror watchlist at the border between ports of entry last fiscal year and more than 560 at the ports of entry. So far this fiscal year, there have been 98 encounters between the ports of entry and 324 at the ports. The watchlist, now called the Terrorist Screening Dataset, includes known or suspected terrorists, as well as additional individuals believed to pose a potential threat to the U.S. — including affiliates of individuals on the watchlist.