Judge weighing whether to close El Paso shelter that aids undocumented immigrants
Texas argues that Annunciation House is breaking state law by harboring undocumented immigrants, something the shelter’s lawyers called “utter nonsense.”
John Kerry used government email alias as secretary of state, whistleblowers say
EXCLUSIVE: Former Secretary of State John Kerry used a pseudonymous government email address while serving as the nation’s top diplomat during the Obama administration, whistleblowers told Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson. Fox News Digital obtained a letter Grassley, R-Iowa, and Johnson, R-Wis., sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, demanding answers on whether Kerry properly complied with federal records law as secretary of state. Whistleblowers told Grassley and Johnson that Kerry used the email address “[email protected]” while serving in his official capacity. OBAMA STATE DEPT BLOCKED FBI FROM ARRESTING SUPPORTERS OF IRAN NUCLEAR PROGRAM IN US: EMAILS “We want to know whether then-Secretary Kerry properly complied with all federal records laws and regulations with respect to his official email communications and whether responses to relevant Freedom of Information Act requests have properly included that email address in productions to requestors,” they wrote. The senators noted that they have been raising concerns about the State Department’s compliance — or non-compliance — with federal records laws since 2015, during the investigations into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s improper use of a non-government server for government business. BIDEN WAS IN DIRECT CONTACT WITH HUNTER’S BUSINESS PARTNERS USING EMAIL ALIAS AS VP They also noted that since July 2021, they have been raising concerns about President Biden’s use of a non-government email while serving as vice president — as well as pseudonymous government emails for “official business” — and whether he complied with federal records laws. “To-date, the Biden administration has failed to address Joe Biden’s compliance with federal records laws,” they wrote. Meanwhile, the letter to Blinken comes just weeks after whistleblowers told Grassley and Johnson that Kerry and his State Department “actively interfered” to prevent the FBI from executing arrest warrants on individuals illegally in the United States who were allegedly supporting Iranian financial efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction. ERIC SCHWERIN CONFIRMS JOE BIDEN USED ‘ROBINWARE456’ EMAIL ALIAS WHILE SERVING AS VICE PRESIDENT Grassley and Johnson reminded Blinken of their questions about Kerry’s alleged “extensive, consistent, and successful interference and obstruction of the FBI’s efforts to arrest Iranian terrorists because of his desire to cement the failed Iran Nuclear Deal between the Obama/Biden administration and the Iranian government.” Grassley also raised questions about Kerry’s alleged potential mishandling of classified information in communications with Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, after leaving office. In their letter to Blinken on Monday, Grassley and Johnson are demanding answers on whether the [email protected] email address was actually used by Kerry and demanded all records from, to, or cc’ing that email address. They are also questioning whether Kerry complied with federal records laws and demanded the process the State Department used to store and archive his government email records. They also questioned if that email address was used only for official business, and if it was used to communicate with foreign government officials — specifically, whether it was used to communicate information related to the Iran Nuclear Deal. Grassley and Johnson gave Blinken until July 1 to respond. The State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Ex-CIA deputy director sounds the alarm about terror threat posed by open border
Former CIA Deputy Director Mike Morrell warned in a recent op-ed of the terror threat posed by vulnerabilities at the U.S.-Mexico border. “Given the particular vulnerability of the southern border, Biden’s recent executive order to restrict asylum processing is a valuable step toward limiting entry to the United States,” Morell and Graham Allison, former United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for Policy and Plans, wrote in an op-ed published by Foreign Affairs on June 10. “But with U.S. Customs and Border Protection reporting close to 200,000 encounters with migrants at this border each month so far in 2024, and with thousands of people each week crossing the border undetected, the government will need to take additional action — including the use of national emergency authorities — to ensure that terrorists are not exploiting this overwhelmed channel to enter the country,” they said. The op-ed notes how FBI Director Christopher Wray in at least eight appearances before Congress since last fall — including one just earlier this month — identified three different categories of threats to the U.S. homeland: international terrorism, domestic terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism. In December, Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee all three are “simultaneously elevated.” FBI DIRECTOR WRAY WARNED OF TERROR THREAT POSED BY OPEN BORDER DAYS BEFORE 8 ISIS SUSPECTS ARRESTED ACROSS US In speaking about the already heightened threat environment worsening since Hamas terrorists attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, “Wray has repeatedly drawn attention to security gaps at the United States’ southern border, where thousands of people each week enter the country undetected,” Morell and Graham noted. “Last year, hundreds of individuals on the United States’ terrorist watch list attempted to enter the country via the southern border,” Morell and Allison wrote. “It is not difficult to imagine a person, or even a group, with the intent to do harm slipping across a border—where U.S. officials reported 2.5 million encounters with migrants in 2023—and then purchasing assault rifles and carrying out a large massacre. There is no shortage of locations across the United States where hundreds, if not thousands, of people gather on a regular basis—and all may be ready targets for those seeking to incite terror.” The op-ed said that “stated intentions of terrorist groups, the growing capabilities they have demonstrated in recent successful and failed attacks around the world, and the fact that several serious plots in the United States have been foiled point to an uncomfortable but unavoidable conclusion.” “Put simply, the United States faces a serious threat of a terrorist attack in the months ahead,” Morell and Allison added. In addition to Wray’s warnings, the op-ed notes how United States Central Command (CENTCOM) commander General Erik Kurilla has been sounding alarms regarding terror groups his forces are fighting in the Middle East, especially since the Biden administration pulled U.S. forces out of Afghanistan. Kurilla has called particular attention to ISIS-K, the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Earlier this year, ISIS-K mounted the deadliest terror attack Iran had experienced since the founding of the Islamic Republic, in which two suicide bombers killed at least 95 people at a memorial on the anniversary of the death of senior Iranian military official Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a January 2020 operation by U.S. forces. FORMER ASSISTANT FBI DIRECTOR WARNS AGAINST ‘HUGE VULNERABILITY’ ASSOCIATED WITH BORDER SURGE ISIS-K struck again in March, “when four terrorists killed 145 people and injured 550 more in a brazen attack on a concert hall in Moscow,” Morell and Allison wrote. The op-ed says foiled terror plots in the United States in recent years should be the “ultimate wake-up call.” In April 2022, the Justice Department charged an Iranian government official based in Tehran with attempting to hire a hit man to assassinate former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton. The next month, the FBI reported “that it had thwarted the plans of an Iraqi national living in Ohio to smuggle four people across the southern border to assassinate former President George W. Bush,” the piece says. The FBI also recently shared declassified intelligence with Politico showing that the agency had stopped a plot to attack critical infrastructure in the United States last fall. “[T]he FBI director’s and the CENTCOM commander’s statements almost certainly reflect the classified intelligence they are reading and the law enforcement and military operations in which their organizations are involved,” the op-ed says. “Their words should be taken seriously.” Morell and Allison also urged Washington to consider “something otherwise unthinkable: work with the Taliban,” floating potential limited intelligence exchanges to target ISIS-K militants overseas. “Taking these steps would be difficult in the best of times, let alone ahead of an election. But terrorists can strike without warning, and they feel no need to respect the U.S. political calendar,” Morell and Allison wrote. “For the past two decades, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, the efforts of thousands of Americans in the military and intelligence communities have spared the country a second 9/11—or worse. This is an extraordinary achievement, but the work is not done. A terrorist attack is a preventable catastrophe. As the threat increases, policymakers must rise to the challenge to protect the U.S. homeland.”
‘Greatest threat’: Former top Kamala Harris aide reveals which Trump VP pick could sink her candidacy
Vice President Harris’ former communications director recently said there is one Republican who would be the “greatest threat” to her vice presidency if chosen as former President Trump’s 2024 running mate. Ashley Etienne, who served as Harris’ communications director in 2021, told CNN on Friday that she believes Ohio Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, is an “incredible debater” and could present a challenge to Harris in the upcoming election. “I think JD Vance would pose the greatest threat [to] Kamala Harris, in some respects. I mean he’s an incredible debater,” Etienne told CNN. “I think he has this quality that makes him seem palpable to that one to two percent that actually might vote or that is undecided, that will actually pay attention to the debates because most people don’t pay attention to the debates.” Etienne, who also served as deputy assistant to President Biden after his 2020 victory, said Vance is “super smart,” “quick-witted” and could pose a threat to Harris on the debate stage. INSIDERS PREDICT RUST BELT REPUBLICAN, POSSIBLE TRUMP VP PICK, COULD FLIP BIDEN VOTERS IN KEY SWING STATES “I think he’s just got a quality about him where he’s super smart and sharp and quick-witted. I just think it’s going to be a challenge to see the two of them face-to-face. I mean, maybe it’s just me, but I think he’s going to be the greatest threat,” she said. DEMOCRATS ‘FEAR’ THIS POSSIBLE TRUMP VP PICK WHO ‘COULD SPELL THE END FOR BIDEN’: INSIDERS The comment comes as Harris’ disapproval rating remains high with 55% of registered voters having an unfavorable opinion of the vice president, according to a Fox News national survey from May. Vance is on Trump’s short list for vice president along with several other top Republican contenders. However, it was recently revealed that the first-term senator was one of only three from the candidate pool who had vetting documents requested from Trump’s campaign team. Vance has shown staunch support for Trump throughout his campaign and legal woes, recently joining the former president at a Manhattan courtroom where he was eventually found guilty on 34 charges related to falsifying business records. Fox News Digital previously reported on Vance’s Silicon Valley donor network, which could help boost Trump’s ticket if he is chosen as Trump’s VP nominee. Vance, after serving as a Marine in the Iraq War, moved for a handful of years to San Francisco to work as a venture capitalist in the tech industry. And Vance – the author of the bestselling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” which was made into a Netflix film – two years ago won his own crowded and combustible GOP Senate primary thanks in part to Trump’s late-in-the-game endorsement. “JD has a Rolodex of Silicon Valley contacts that very few Republican figures can get to. And he put some of those to use on behalf of [Republican U.S. Senate candidate from Ohio Bernie] Moreno,” a source in Vance’s political orbit previously told Fox News. Trump recently told Fox News that he has “a pretty good idea” of who his vice presidential pick will be, an announcement that he confirmed could be made at the Republican National Convention in July. Fox News Digital reached out to Harris for comment.
Trump pulls away from Biden in one-time swing state: poll
Former President Trump holds an 18-point lead over President Biden in Iowa, according to a new poll in a one-time crucial general election battleground state that’s shifted to the right over the past decade. Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, stands at 50% with Biden at 32% among likely voters in a Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll released on Monday. Democrat turned independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who says he’s qualified to make Iowa’s ballot, grabbed 9% support, with Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver at 3%, and 3% backing other candidates, according to the survey. Iowa was a one-time swing state, which former President Barack Obama carried in the 2008 and 2012 elections. But Trump won the state by 9 points over Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016 in his White House victory and by 8 points over Biden four years ago in his re-election defeat. WILL THIS POTENTIAL TRUMP RUNNING MATE’S FUNDRAISING PROWESS HELP HIM IN THE VEEPSTAKES? Trump’s 18-point lead over Biden is up from a 15-point margin the former president held over his Democratic successor in the White House in the previous Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, which was conducted in February. The poll was conducted June 9-14, entirely after Trump was found guilty of all 34 felony counts in the first trial of a former or current president in the nation’s history. BIDEN STRIKES GOLD IN CALIFORNIA, ONE WEEK AFTER TRUMP’S MASSIVE HAUL IN BLUE BASTION The president’s approval rating in the poll stood at 28%, with two-thirds disapproving of the job Biden is doing in the White House. And Biden’s favorable rating was also deeply underwater, at 33% favorable and 66% unfavorable. Trump, by comparison, held a 51%-47% favorable/unfavorable rating in the survey. The poll questioned 632 likely voters in Iowa, with an overall sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. The president was last in Iowa in April 2022. Trump made numerous stops in Iowa last year and early this year, ahead of the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Delhi-Meerut RRTS: Big update on 14 km section in Delhi; check details
The 14-km-long section in Delhi, including Sarai Kale Khan, New Ashok Nagar, and Anand Vihar RRTS stations.
Democrat power broker, donor charged with racketeering
A prominent Democrat power broker is facing racketeering and other charges in New Jersey, the state’s attorney general revealed Monday. Businessman George Norcross is facing the charges in connection to government-issued tax credits. State Attorney General Matt Platkin alleged Norcross and others got property rights along the state’s Camden waterfront and collected millions of dollars in state-backed tax credits. Prosecutors say Norcoss and his associates “used their political influence to tailor New Jersey economic development legislation to their preferences. After the legislation was enacted in September 2013, members and associates of the Norcross Enterprise conspired to, and did, extort and coerce others to obtain — for certain individuals and business entities — properties and property rights on the Camden, New Jersey waterfront and associated tax incentive credits.” The indictment further alleges that Norcross “led a criminal enterprise whose members and associates agreed the enterprise would extort others through threats and fear of economic and reputational harm and commit other criminal offenses to achieve the enterprise’s goals.” NEW JERSEY REVIEWING TRUMP GOLF COURSES’ LIQUOR LICENSE AFTER FELONY CONVICTION The indictment also charges Norcross’ brother Philip, a lobbyist; lawyer Bill Tambussi; former Camden Mayor Dana Redd; Sidney Brown, the CFO of trucking company NFI; and John O’Donnell, a northern New Jersey businessman, according to Politico. Norcross never held elected office himself but nevertheless wielded massive power in New Jersey politics. He was also a key member of the state’s Democratic National Committee. NEW DOCS SHOW BRAGG SPENT $1M ON ATTORNEYS TO BLUNT HOUSE PROBE OF TRUMP CASE AMID CITY BUDGET CUTS Norcross was known to be friends with powerful Democrats such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, among others. Another of Norcross’ brothers, Donald, is a member of the House of Representatives. He was not named in the indictment. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Red states ask court to stop Jack Smith’s gag order against Trump in Florida documents case
FIRST ON FOX: A group of 24 Republican state attorneys general have filed an amicus brief in former President Trump’s classified documents case, asking a Florida court not to grant special counsel Jack Smith’s gag order request, calling it “presumptively unconstitutional.” “Free and fair elections in the United States depend on candidates’ ability to speak about important issues of the day. Attempts to stop a candidate from speaking out harm more than just the candidate. They also hurt the voters, who are denied access to crucial information, and the States, which are responsible for managing elections,” the amicus brief filed Monday in the Southern District of Florida stated. “And when agents of one candidate seek a court order to muzzle discussion on matters relating to important electoral issues, that restraint raises even more fundamental First Amendment concerns,” the brief said. Led by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, the group of top state prosecutors argue that “[e]ach branch of government, even the judiciary, should be cautious about abridging core political speech—especially core political speech relating to a presidential election. JUDGE REFUSES TO GAG TRUMP IN CLASSIFIED DOCS CASE, SAYS SPECIAL COUNSEL MOTION FAILED ‘BASIC’ REQUIREMENTS “Unfortunately, the special prosecutor’s request here does not reflect that caution,” the brief states. Last month, Smith’s team filed a motion to U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon, who is presiding over the classified documents case, requesting that she prohibit Trump from making statements that “pose a significant, imminent, and foreseeable danger to law enforcement agents participating in the investigation and prosecution of this case.” Trump claimed in a campaign appeal that FBI agents were “locked & loaded ready to take me out & put my family in danger.” Prosecutors said Trump’s “grossly misleading” claims cited a standard FBI form that details limiting the use of force to emergency situations. The same form was used when federal agents searched for documents at President Biden’s home. The AGs in their brief argued that Smith’s request asked the court “to curtail that right by ordering a prior restraint on President Trump’s constitutionally protected speech. Such an order is presumptively unconstitutional.” TRUMP PREVIEWS CLOSING ARGUMENTS IN ‘SHAM TRIAL’: ‘VERY DANGEROUS DAY FOR AMERICA’ “If granted, this request would prevent the presumptive Republican nominee for President of the United States from speaking out against ‘the prosecution and the criminal trial process that seek to take away his liberty,’” they wrote. “That prosecution, of course, is led by a Department that President Trump’s political opponent controls.” “Politics has no place in a criminal prosecution,” Bird said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Everyone has the right to free speech, including President Trump. This unconstitutional gag order would prevent President Trump from defending himself while he is on the ballot and deny Americans their right to hear from both candidates ahead of an election.” Bird was joined by attorneys general of Florida, West Virginia, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. JACK SMITH ASKS JUDGE TO RESTRICT TRUMP STATEMENTS AFTER ‘INFLAMMATORY’ REMARKS ABOUT FBI RAID “Once again, we are witnessing a prosecutor seek to keep the presumptive Republican nominee for President from speaking in the midst of an election,” Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody. “The First Amendment, at its core, is designed to protect political speech, and I along with my colleagues will not stand idly by and watch the Biden administration trample the free speech of a Florida citizen.” The AGs argued in their brief that “[t]o be sure, there are times when a gag order, even of a political candidate, may be justified.” “But this Court need not find the distant boundary of when such an order is justified because the facts here do not justify such an extraordinary restraint,” they said. Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
Hunter Biden files and quickly withdraws motion for new trial in criminal gun case
Hunter Biden’s legal team filed and quickly withdrew a motion for a new trial on Monday, nearly a week after the first son was found guilty on all charges related to his purchase of a firearm in 2018. Biden’s legal team, led by attorney Abbe Lowell, filed a motion in Delaware federal court on Monday morning requesting a new trial, arguing the court lacked jurisdiction as two appeals in the case are still pending. “The Third Circuit [appeals court], however, did not then and has not yet issued its mandate as to the orders dismissing either appeal,” Lowell wrote in the filing. “Thus, when this Court empaneled the jury on June 3, 2024 and proceeded to trial, it was without jurisdiction to do so.” The motion, however, was quickly withdrawn from a court document website, Reuters reported. HUNTER BIDEN FOUND GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS IN GUN TRIAL “The Motion for a New Trial (formerly DI 233) has been deleted at the request of counsel,” a note filed on a docket website reads, calling it a “correcting entry,” the outlet reported. Biden was found guilty last Tuesday of making a false statement in the purchase of a gun, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federally licensed gun dealer, and possession of a gun by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL ENTERS DAY 5 AFTER TESTIMONY FROM SISTER-IN-LAW-TURNED-GIRLFRIEND: ‘PANICKED’ Prosecutors worked to prove that Biden lied on a federal firearm form, known as ATF Form 4473, in October 2018, when he ticked a box labeled “No” when asked if he is an unlawful user of substances or addicted to controlled substances. Biden purchased the gun from a store in Wilmington. Biden pleaded not guilty in the case. READ THE VERDICT Biden has a well-documented history of drug abuse, which was most notably documented in his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things,” which walks readers through his previous need to smoke crack cocaine every 20 minutes, how his addiction was so prolific that he referred to himself as a “crack daddy” to drug dealers, and anecdotes revolving around drug deals, such as a Washington, D.C., crack dealer Biden nicknamed “Bicycles.” Lowell did not dispute Biden’s long history with substance abuse amid the trial, which also includes an addiction to alcohol. The defense instead argued that on the day Biden bought the Cobra Colt .38, he did not consider himself an active drug addict, citing the first son’s stint in rehab ahead of the October 2018 purchase. ‘LIKE A SON’: FORMER TOP BIDEN ADVISER WITH DEEP BUSINESS TIES TO CHINA SPOTTED INSIDE HUNTER BIDEN GUN TRIAL Prosecutors, however, argued Biden was addicted to crack cocaine before, during and after he bought the handgun. Just one day after the gun purchase, prosecutors showed the court that Biden texted Hallie Biden, his sister-in-law turned girlfriend, to say he was “waiting for a dealer named Mookie.” A day after that text, he texted that he was “sleeping on a car smoking crack on 4th Street and Rodney” in Wilmington. A jury of his peers deliberated for roughly three hours across two days before finding Biden guilty on each charge. He will be sentenced later this year, though no date has yet been issued. Biden faces a total maximum prison time of 25 years for the three charges. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release. Biden, however, is a first-time offender, making it unlikely he will face maximum penalties when he is eventually sentenced. Fox News Digital reached out to Lowell’s office for comment regarding the withdrawn motion, but did not immediately receive a response.
Israel, Hezbollah on ‘brink’ of all-out war, officials warn
Israeli officials warned that the country is on the “brink” of a full-scale war with Hezbollah if the terrorist group continues to increase its aggression in northern Israel. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) made the warning on Sunday, just a day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to meet with Amos Hochstein, a top aide to President Biden. Biden’s administration is pushing Israel to avoid a war in Lebanon, but IDF officials continue to highlight the outsized threat posed by Hezbollah compared to Hamas. “Hezbollah’s increasing aggression is bringing us to the brink of what could be a wider escalation,” an IDF spokesman warned Sunday. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant echoed the statement in his own talks with Hochstein on Monday. ISRAELI WAR CABINET MINISTER BENNY GANTZ QUITS NETANYAHU’S EMERGENCY GOVERNMENT “We are committed to the diplomatic process, however Hezbollah’s aggression is bringing us closer to a critical point in the decision-making regarding our military activities in Lebanon,” he told the Biden representative. NETANYAHU CRITICIZES MILITARY’S PLANS FOR 11-HOUR DAILY PAUSES IN FIGHTING Hochstein later met with both Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Both Israeli figures thanked Hochstein for meeting with them but made no promises regarding a war in Lebanon. Israel did not offer details about their conversations. As the war in Gaza continues, Israeli sources have highlighted the threat that Hezbollah poses compared to Hamas. The Gaza Strip terror group has relatively few resources and has largely been dismantled by the IDF since the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel. Hezbollah, however, is far more well-equipped and has more manpower. Their rockets and drone attacks have already forced over 100,000 Israelis to evacuate their homes in northern Israel. “Hezbollah is the crown jewel in the Iranian empire of terror and evil and is by far the most powerful Iranian proxy, equipped with nation state capabilities and even more firepower than several European countries have today,” former IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus told Fox News. “In a military comparison, Hezbollah is far more powerful than Hamas,” he added. Netanyahu has threatened war with Hezbollah for months, but there has yet to be a distinct escalation. A steady stream of Israeli air strikes have eliminated a number of top Hezbollah commanders, and Hezbollah has kept up its barrage of missiles and rockets.