DOJ sues pro-life activists, alleging interference with abortion clinic access
The Justice Department is suing two pro-life organizations and seven activists for allegedly blocking access to an abortion clinic in Ohio in 2021. The civil suit was filed on Monday in the Northern District of Ohio against Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, a Michigan-based charity, Red Rose Rescue, whose website is operated by the charity’s president and solicits donations, as well as the activists who allegedly blocked access to two Ohio clinics that provide abortions. The two incidents took place on June 4 and 5, 2021. Prosecutors argue that the activists violated the 1994 FACE Act, a federal law that prohibits physical force, threats of force or intentionally damaging property to prevent someone from obtaining or providing abortion services. One of the defendants in the case, Lauren Handy, was sentenced last week to four years and nine months for organizing a similar protest in Washington, D.C., in 2020. Handy’s attorney told Fox News Digital last week that he believes that sentence was “really harsh” and contrasted it with the lack of investigations into the anti-Israel demonstrations that have been occurring on college campuses for weeks. PRO-LIFE ACTIVISTS FOUND GUILTY ON CONSPIRACY CHARGES FOR 2020 ‘RESCUE ACTION’ AT DC CLINIC The Ohio complaint seeks $5,000 in damages for each person affected and fines of up to $20,516 for each defendent as provided by the FACE Act, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. “Defendants’ conduct as described in paragraphs 1 through 99 constitutes a physical obstruction that intentionally intimidated or interfered with persons, or an attempt to intimidate and/or interfere with such persons, because they were or had been providing reproductive health services, or in order to intimidate such persons from providing reproductive health services,” the complaint reads. The first incident allegedly took place at the Northeast Ohio Women’s Center in Cuyahoga Falls at around 11:30 a.m., when Laura Gies and Clara McDonald got into the waiting room of the facility via its back entrance by claiming to be seeking reproductive services, prosecutors allege. Minutes later, Christopher Moscinski and Audrey Whipple came through the front door. Several of the defendants then began handing out roses to patients and pleaded with them not to go through with abortions. The staff then tried to take the patients out of the waiting room and McDonald is alleged to have “forcefully grabbed a patient’s body” and told her not to have an abortion. After the workers asked the activists to leave, the police arrived, but the activists began occupying the waiting room floor by lying down or kneeling, according to the complaint. “All of you staff, your paychecks are from blood money of the innocent children you’re ripping to shreds… God has a plan for your life and this is not it. Please, repent! It’s not too late to stop doing what you’re doing!” Gies proclaimed, according to the complaint. Police carried them out to police cars about 30 minutes after they entered the clinic. FORMER POP STAR SHARES ABORTION REGRET: ‘I HAVE A GRAMMY BUT NONE OF IT WILL BRING MY CHILDREN BACK’ “You just took us out of [an abortion center], we were trying to help them… stop the holocaust,” Gies said to police, according to the complaint. “Now the police in the United States are part of supporting it by taking away people that are trying to stop the holocaust.” Prosecutors said at least one patient had her procedure delayed until late in the day, while an unspecified number of patients skipped their appointments due to police activity at the facility. A similar disruption took place the following day at an Ohio Planned Parenthood in Bedford Heights Surgery Center, according to prosecutors, where activists, including Handy, Monica Miller and Jay Smith, caused the closure of the facility for nearly an entire day, the complaint alleges. The activists swarmed its “private, fenced-in parking lot and talked to people who were waiting in their cars,” just before 9 a.m., and then followed them when they got out, trying to “force the patients to accept brochures and roses,” the complaint reads. Another activist, Jay Smith, entered the waiting room and began passing out brochures, prosecutors allege. When asked to leave, Smith “used physical force against the patient by pushing him with his shoulder.” Smith refused to leave and workers evacuated the patients out of the waiting room and into a secured area of the facility. Police arrived on the scene and the activists refused to leave, with Handy kneeling down in front of the clinic’s door. She was later arrested and physically carried into the back of a police car. Another person laid down behind a patient’s car and then stood in front of their vehicle door, trapping them inside. The clinic ended up closing for the day, causing nine surgeries and 15 consultations to be rescheduled. “Obstructing people from accessing reproductive health care and physically obstructing providers from offering it are unlawful,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “The Civil Rights Division is committed to enforcing federal law to protect the rights of those who seek and those who provide access to reproductive health services.” READ THE COMPLAINT – APP USERS, CLICK HERE:
Biden border chief Mayorkas in hot seat over Jordanian nationals who tried to breach Quantico
FIRST ON FOX: Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is coming under scrutiny following news that two foreign nationals from Jordan attempted to breach the Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia while posing as delivery drivers. “Please explain how they came to the United States. Were they here illegally? Are either of them on any terrorist watchlist?” Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., questioned Mayorkas in a letter, also requesting the current status of the individuals. MCCONNELL-ALIGNED GROUP SHREDS SEN BROWN’S ‘HANDOUTS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS’ IN OHIO SPOT The two foreign nationals sought entry to Quantico earlier this month, presenting themselves in a box truck and identifying as delivery drivers. After being brought to a holding area, they attempted to move farther toward the Marine base. However, they were prevented from doing so by officers. UNUSED COVID-19 FUNDS WOULD BUILD BORDER WALL UNDER NEW SENATE BILL The individuals were turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody following the event. Acting ICE Director Patrick Lechleitner previously told Fox News Digital that the foreign nationals were in removal proceedings. BIDEN ADMIN SKEWERED BY GOP FOR RULE DESIGNED TO ‘INTENTIONALLY HARM’ GUN INDUSTRY Graham prompted Mayorkas for an immediate response, asking for information about the Jordanian nationals’ “background and intent.” According to the ranking member, “This will allow us to make an informed decision about how to address the recurring threat posed to our national security by this kind of incident, which is not isolated.” REPUBLICANS UNITE TO BLOCK WHITE HOUSE AND SCHUMER BACKED ‘FAKE BORDER BILL’ DHS did not provide comment to Fox News Digital. Republican lawmakers have increasingly sounded the alarm over the vulnerabilities at the U.S. southern border being a security threat, noting the number of nationals from all over the world entering illegally across it. Some have warned that a terrorist attack, similar to that of Sept. 11, 2001, could take place again due to relatively unfettered illegal migration occurring into the U.S. The House of Representatives made history earlier this year, impeaching Mayorkas, making him only the second cabinet official to suffer that fate. However, the majority-Democratic Senate blocked an impeachment trial from moving forward, allowing the DHS secretary to avoid scrutiny.
Elite university journalism professor exposed for monthslong campaign justifying Hamas
A left-wing journalism professor who teaches at a top Chicago-area university has for months justified Hamas terrorists’ war on Israel and even joined anti-Israel student agitators on campus, Fox News Digital learned after reviewing his social media and blog posts. Steven Thrasher is an associate professor of journalism at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism and has been “regularly published in the New York Times, BuzzFeed News, Esquire, the Nation, the Atlantic, the Guardian, and the Daily Beast,” according to his school biography. Thrasher’s activism could be raised on Thursday when Northwestern’s president, as well as leaders from UCLA and Rutgers, appears before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce for a hearing titled “Calling for Accountability: Stopping Antisemitic College Chaos.” “Staff like Professor Steven Thrasher continue to peddle hateful antisemitic canards,” Florida Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez, who sits on the committee holding Thursday’s hearing, told Fox News Digital. “This professor has employed hateful rhetoric, invoked antisemitic tropes, and fostered a hostile environment that endangers Jewish students on campus.” JEWISH STUDENT DEFIES ANTI-ISRAEL RADICALS WHO ‘STALKED’ HIM ON CALIFORNIA CAMPUS: WON’T BE ‘SILENCED’ Thrasher’s bio states that he is “the inaugural Daniel H. Renberg Chair of social justice in reporting (with an emphasis on issues relevant to the LGBTQ community) and an assistant professor of journalism.” His areas of expertise include methods of how to study the intersection of “racism, homophobia, policing, medicine, incarceration, culture, and health.” A review of Thrasher’s social media accounts found that stretching back to October of last year, when Hamas launched an attack against Israel, Thrasher espoused anti-Israel rhetoric appearing to defend Hamas. “White supremacy and settler colonialism can NOT kill, maim and steal for decades (or even centuries) via genocidal violence and then expect patience and peace — ESPECIALLY when peaceful protest is met with economic, spiritual and literal death,” he posted on X on Oct. 9 of last year. Fox News Digital reviewed the posts earlier this week, before Thrasher protected his X account. USC STUDENT RECOUNTS DISAPPOINTMENT AFTER GRADUATION COMMENCEMENT WAS CANCELED DUE TO ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS “For those asking ‘But why don’t Palestinians protest peacefully; may I remind you that for me—who is not even Palestinian!!!—merely calling for *peaceful boycott* cost me the German translation of my book, made my PhD advisor shun me forever & almost cost me my entire career,” he wrote in another post that same day. Later that month, Thrasher compared Israel to the Nazis, claiming the country was carrying out “a genocide of the disabled” in Gaza. “This is a genocide of the disabled people, too, who will suffocate on smoke. Who ARE suffocating to death right now. You know who else suffocated the disabled? The Nazis,” he posted on X on Oct. 29. Thrasher is also apparently no fan of President Biden, according to his posts, claiming that “Biden won’t stop” Israel’s retaliations against Gaza, and that “the US is committing genocide.” In a November blog post titled, “Tearing down the Wall,” Thrasher compared Gaza to a Nazi concentration camp, arguing, “we can feel compassion towards a desperate people stuck inside a Nazi concentration camp.” He also argued that if Jews were able to break free from concentration camps, they would have killed “anyone they found partying,” thus seemingly justifying Hamas’ attack on the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7, when hundreds of people were killed and dozens of others taken hostage. NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY DEAL WITH ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS TANTAMOUNT TO ‘PAYING OFF HOSTAGE TAKERS’ “If the Jews being shot and shoveled into ovens could just break through that wall, of course, they would kill anyone they found partying right on the other side of it! And, of course, they would take women and children hostage and drag them back into their hell inside if doing so would give them leverage to free their fellow Jews from torture and death!” he wrote. Last month, Thrasher also spoke before protesters at an anti-Israel encampment, encouraging agitators to continue their protests, according to The Daily Northwestern. “To the Medill students and journalists within earshot, I say to you: Our work is not about objectivity,” he said. “Our work is about you putting your brilliant minds to work and opening your compassionate hearts.” Northwestern, similar to colleges across the nation, has been the site of anti-Israel protests. University President Michael Schill will testify before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce over Northwestern’s “shocking concessions to the unlawful antisemitic encampments.” Schill’s hearing on Thursday is anticipated to also include questions about Thrasher. “Whether it’s Claudine Gay at Harvard or Liz Magill at UPenn, college presidents at elite universities have failed to address the dangerous and violent proliferation of antisemitism on campus,” Gimenez told Fox News Digital. “As a member of Congress, I look forward to getting direct answers about President Schill’s inaction this Thursday. His failure to act emboldens hateful behavior and compromises student safety,” he continued. NORTHWESTERN PROFESSOR, WHOSE SCHOOL GAVE IN TO ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS, IS SON OF NOTORIOUS TERRORIST RADICALS Northwestern was the first university in the nation to publicly announce that it struck a deal with protesters who established an encampment on campus demanding the school cut financial ties with Israel. The concessions included agreeing to let students review school investments; funding two visiting Palestinian faculty members for two years on campus; full scholarships for five Palestinian undergraduate students; and the immediate construction of a community housing building for Muslim, Middle Eastern and North African students. Protesters in exchange largely dismantled the tent encampment. The Jewish community in the Chicago area slammed Schill and Northwestern for the agreement, with the Jewish United Fund writing in a letter that Schill embraced “those who flagrantly disrupted Northwestern academics and flouted those policies.” COLUMBIA CELEBRATES ‘ALLEGED TERRORISTS’ WITH ON-CAMPUS MEMORIAL TO ‘JOURNALISTS’ KILLED IN GAZA: REPORT “The overwhelming majority of your Jewish students, faculty, staff, and alumni feel betrayed. They trusted an institution you lead and considered it home. You have violated that trust,” the letter said, according to Jewish
Nathan Wade spotted at Fani Willis’ victory party ‘all smiles’: report
Former special prosecutor Nathan Wade was spotted attending the campaign party for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis after her primary victory in Georgia Tuesday night. Willis quickly defeated her Democratic challenger Christian Wise Smith by over 30,000 votes Tuesday night. Willis was seen mingling with the crowd in a glittery blue dress after her win at an event in Buckhead, Georgia, outside of Atlanta, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC). “Well consider me shook. At DA Willis’ campaign party in Buckhead and Nathan Wade just walked in. All smiles,” AJC reporter Tamar Hallerman posted on X with a photo of Wade at the event. NATHAN WADE SPEAKS OUT ON ‘WORKPLACE ROMANCE’ WITH FULTON COUNTY DA FANI WILLIS: ‘AMERICAN AS APPLE PIE’ Mayor Andre Dickens, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum and Reginald Jackson, bishop of the 6th District AME Church, and members of the DA’s office were also reportedly in attendance. Willis took the podium later in the evening and told supporters that no one is above or “beneath” the law, in an apparent nod to her prosecution in the Trump trial. “It’s a message that is p—ing folks off, but there is no one above the law in this country nor is there anyone beneath it,” Willis said. Wade and Willis were accused of having an “improper” affair by lawyers for former President Trump and several co-defendants in the sweeping 2020 election interference case. They accused the pair of being romantically involved prior to Willis hiring Wade in 2021 and that Willis benefited financially through the relationship when the two would take vacations. Both have denied the accusations. Wade resigned from the DA’s office in March after Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled that Willis could not remain in charge of the case as long as Wade was still on the team. Trump and the co-defendants have appealed that ruling to the Georgia appeals court seeking to have Willis disqualified. JUDGE RULES FANI WILLIS MUST STEP ASIDE FROM TRUMP CASE OR FIRE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR NATHAN WADE Wade, in a recent media appearance since the scandal, told ABC News that his “workplace romance” with Willis was “American as apple pie.” “I regret that that private matter became the focal point of this very important prosecution,” Wade told the outlet. “This is a very important case.” Fox News Digital reached out to Willis and Wade for comment. Fox News Digital’s Hannah Panreck contributed to this report.
Red state AG pushes back against Biden immigration lawsuit: ‘We’re happy to fight you’
Oklahoma’s attorney general is pushing back against a lawsuit by the Biden administration over its anti-illegal immigration law, saying his state is confident in the legality of the bill – and that he is happy to fight the administration on this matter. “I would say to the Biden administration, bring your fight to Oklahoma. We’re happy to fight you,” Attorney General Gentner Drummond told Fox News Digital in an interview on Tuesday. The Department of Justice had written to Drummond and Gov. Kevin Stitt last week, threatening to sue over HB 4156 — which makes it a state crime to be in the state illegally and gives local law enforcement the ability to arrest illegal immigrants, and require them to leave the state within 72 hours following conviction or release from custody. On Tuesday, hours after Drummond spoke to Fox News Digital, the DOJ announced it had filed the lawsuit. BIDEN’S DOJ THREATENS ANOTHER GOP STATE WITH LAWSUIT OVER ANTI-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION EFFORTS The law was signed by Stitt this month and is due to go into force on July 1. It is similar to laws passed and signed into law in Iowa and Texas. Those laws have subsequently both been hit by lawsuits from the DOJ, which argues that they infringe on federal authority over immigration law and enforcement. The Texas law is currently on hold amid an ongoing lawsuit. “We have brought this action to ensure that Oklahoma adheres to the Constitution and the framework adopted by Congress for regulation of immigration,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton said in a statement. ANOTHER RED STATE MOVES A STEP CLOSER TO ENACTING TEXAS-STYLE ANTI-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION BILL He said in his letter to Oklahoma last week that Congress has implemented a “comprehensive scheme governing noncitizens’ entry and reentry into the United States, including penalties for unlawful entry and reentry.” “HB 4156, however, seeks to create a separate state immigration scheme by imposing state criminal penalties for violating the federal prohibitions on unlawful entry and reentry. HB 4156 therefore intrudes into a field that is occupied by the federal government and is preempted,” he said. “The United States intends to file suit to enjoin the enforcement of HB 4156 unless Oklahoma agrees to refrain from enforcing the law. The United States is committed to the processing of noncitizens consistent with the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). HB 4156 is contrary to that goal,” he added, giving a May 20 deadline for a response. However, Drummond called it a “red herring.” “The open border coalition wails and gnashes its teeth when states exert their sovereignty,” Drummond said. “And in this instance, Oklahoma has genuinely been invaded by Chinese nationals and Mexican cartels who are in concert or separate and apart from each other, are engaged in illegal activity — principally the marijuana black market and contingent along with that is the distribution of fentanyl, sex trafficking, human trafficking.” “And these organized crime affiliates are being advanced through illegal aliens engaged in illegal activity. And I need the cause of action to capture, detain, prosecute, and imprison,” he said. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS Drummond also said he expected a lawsuit to follow once the bill itself was signed into law. “I fully anticipated that the Biden administration would attempt to intervene and and distract the public from its failures,” he said. He also said he is very confident in his state’s case, noting that unlike other bills, the Oklahoma bill orders the removal of illegal immigrants from the state, not the deportation from the country. “The federal government is the body that deports foreign aliens. States traditionally do not do that, and Oklahoma is not attempting to do that,” he continued. He said that, while there is a liberal faction in Oklahoma opposing the bill, it broadly has support from Republicans within the state government. However, he stressed that his support for this bill is based on an independent determination that it is legal and beneficial to the state. “I can promise you one thing. This attorney general stands behind the plate. I don’t throw the ball. Don’t swing at the ball, don’t catch the ball. I call the ball and I call the strike. And in this instance, it has been my independent determination that the state of Oklahoma needs a mechanism to abate organized crime in Oklahoma by and through its illegal workforce, and this law permits it,” he said.
Home Ministry office in North Block gets bomb threat mail, security officials conduct searches
The call to the DFS was made after an officer posted at the North Block received the bomb threat email, a police officer said.
Calcutta HC cancels all OBC certificates issued since 2010, says services of…
HC scraps OBC status of several classes in Bengal; benefits obtained already not to be affected (Eds: Adding new third para) Kolkata, May 22 (PTI) The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday struck down the OBC status of several classes in West Bengal, finding such reservations under an Act of 2012 to vacancies in services and posts in the state illegal.
McConnell-aligned group shreds Sen Brown’s ‘handouts for illegal immigrants’ in Ohio spot
FIRST ON FOX: Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown’s position on illegal immigration has come under fire as a new multimillion-dollar ad went up in the state on Wednesday morning, hitting the vulnerable senator on the issue. “Senator Sherrod Brown backed Biden, voting to spend tax dollars on illegal immigrants,” the ad said. “Ohio families need cheaper gas and food, not handouts for illegal immigrants.” The new 30-second spot is from One Nation, a group tied to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Republican leadership, and is part of a $28.6 million statewide ad purchase for broadcast, cable, radio and digital. UNUSED COVID-19 FUNDS WOULD BUILD BORDER WALL UNDER NEW SENATE BILL The ad slams Brown for voting against measures throughout his tenure designed to prevent illegal immigrants from being granted access to taxpayer-funded benefits. “Brown even voted with Biden to give illegal immigrants Social Security benefits,” it said, hearkening back to a 2007 vote to change an amendment that would prevent illegal immigrants from reaping any Social Security benefits from work they did illegally. BIDEN ADMIN SKEWERED BY GOP FOR RULE DESIGNED TO ‘INTENTIONALLY HARM’ GUN INDUSTRY “Senator Sherrod Brown has spent his long career in the Senate backing policies that created the current crisis at our Southern border,” One Nation CEO and President Steven Law said in a statement. “It’s no surprise our country is facing an immigration crisis when Senator Brown supports giving illegal immigrants so many benefits at the taxpayer’s expense.” The organization also pointed to a vote in 2013, and one as recent as 2021. One Nation specifically referenced Brown’s vote in favor of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan to provide COVID-19 relief funds. It was revealed in 2024, and reported first on Fox News Digital, that Democratic cities and states had earmarked at least $517 million for COVID-19 relief programs for “undocumented residents.” REPUBLICANS UNITE TO BLOCK WHITE HOUSE AND SCHUMER BACKED ‘FAKE BORDER BILL’ Matt Keyes, Brown campaign spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “Ohioans know Sherrod gets things done for Ohio – from working with Republicans to pass a new law to keep fentanyl out of Ohio by cracking down on the drug cartels to taking on pharmaceutical companies to cap the cost of insulin to saving the pensions of over 100,000 Ohioans. The special interests are attacking Sherrod because they know he will always stand up to them to do what’s right for Ohio while Bernie Moreno only looks out for himself.” His campaign noted his support for a Democrat-backed border bill that was negotiated by designated bipartisan lawmakers. Republicans blocked the measure and are poised to do so again this week. Brown’s race is considered one of the most competitive match ups in the entire country going into the November elections, with non-partisan political handicapper the Cook Political Report rating it a “Toss Up.” He will face off against Trump-endorsed Republican candidate Bernie Moreno in the election. One Nation’s ad highlighting Brown’s past votes with relation to illegal immigration comes as a new national Fox News Poll showed border security emerging as the top deal-breaking issue among Republicans, White men without college degrees, voters older than 65 years and rural voters. Among all registered voters, 14% said border security and immigration was their deal-breaker issue, putting it in the top three most frequently cited. It was also in the top four most frequently cited deal-breakers among Democrats, Republicans and independents. BALANCE OF POWER: VULNERABLE DEMS LOOK TO DIFFERENTIATE THEMSELVES FROM UNPOPULAR BIDEN As President Biden faces poor approval ratings and significant challenges to re-election come November, Brown, among several other vulnerable Democrats, is predicted to make moves to distance himself from the president. Paul Beck, a political science professor at the Ohio State University, previously told Fox News Digital, “Biden is unpopular here in Ohio, and to win Brown will have to poll considerably better than Biden will.” “He will not pay a penalty for supporting a Republican bill, and it may allow him to demonstrate his independence,” he added.
The 2024 wild card: How Trump trial verdict could reshape presidential election
With the end of Donald Trump’s criminal trial in sight, a pending verdict in the historic case could have serious consequences in the 2024 election rematch between the former president and President Biden. Trump holds the slight edge right now both in national polling and in public opinion surveys in most of the crucial battleground states that will likely decide the election. But Trump could potentially be convicted on some or all of the nearly three-dozen state felony charges he faces in his trial in New York City, which is the first in the nation’s history for a former or current president. Veteran Democratic pollster Chris Anderson told Fox News that he didn’t think “a guilty verdict would fundamentally change the landscape of the race.” Longtime Republican pollster Neil Newhouse went even further, arguing that a Trump conviction “is unlikely to make any difference.” CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS DEVELOPMENTS IN THE TRUMP CRIMINAL TRIAL Both pointed to the fact that “attitudes are so set in concrete” regarding both the former Republican president and his Democratic successor in the White House. Trump is charged with falsifying business records in relation to payments during the 2016 election that he made to Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about his alleged affair with the adult film actress. Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, paid Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, $130,000 in return for her silence about allegations of an affair with Trump in 2006. WARNING SIGNS FOR TRUMP AND BIDEN AS THEY CAREEN TOWARDS NEXT MONTH’S FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE Both Cohen and Daniels testified for the prosecution and were grilled by Trump’s attorneys during cross-examination in a case that’s grabbed tons of attention on the cable news networks, online and on social media. The former president has repeatedly denied falsifying business records as well as the alleged sexual encounter with Daniels, and has repeatedly claimed, without providing evidence, that the case is a “SHAM TRIAL instigated and prosecuted directly from the inner halls of the White House and DOJ.” Trump has also been fined a couple of times by the judge in the case – and threatened with jail – for violating a gag order aimed at protecting witnesses and jurors from the former president’s verbal attacks. According to a Fox News national poll conducted earlier this month, nearly half of registered voters questioned said Trump had done something illegal when it comes to violations of campaign finance laws, with another quarter saying he had done something unethical. THE BLUE STATES TRUMP AIMS TO FLIP RED IN HIS 2024 REMATCH WITH BIDEN Only 27% said the former president had done nothing seriously wrong. But that number jumped to 54% among Trump supporters. That same survey indicated that voters were roughly divided on whether Trump’s legal treatment was fair (51%) or unfair (47%). There was an expected extremely wide partisan divide, with nine out of 10 Democrats saying the former president’s treatment was fair and 85% of Republicans disagreeing. Would a Trump guilty verdict dramatically alter the current state of play in the presidential showdown? Two recent national polls suggest the answer is not really. Sixty-two percent of registered voters questioned in a Quinnipiac University survey said a guilty verdict would make no difference to their vote for president. Fifteen percent said it would make them more likely to cast a ballot for Trump and 21% said it would make them less likely to vote for the former president. Meanwhile, eight out of 10 Trump supporters surveyed in an ABC News/Ipsos national poll said they’d still back the presumptive GOP presidential nominee if he was found guilty in court. Sixteen percent said they would reconsider their support, and 4% said they would no longer back Trump. Anderson, a member of the Fox News Election Decision Team and the Democratic partner on the Fox News Poll, compared a potential guilty verdict to the infamous video that briefly damaged Trump’s chances of winning the 2016 presidential election. “We might see an ‘Access Hollywood’ type slump in Trump’s poll numbers, where some of his less devoted supporters sour on him temporarily, but then by November it will seem forgivable,” Anderson said. ” So I don’t think a guilty verdict would fundamentally change the landscape of the race, but it will certainly be a new contour that could be meaningful in a close race.” Newhouse, who served as a pollster on four Republican presidential campaigns and is a co-founder of the political survey and polling firm Public Opinion Strategies, highlighted that “attitudes are so set in concrete regarding both President Biden and former President Trump that a guilty verdict in the hush money is unlikely to make any difference at all on the presidential ballot.” “Those who back Trump believe this is nothing more than a political witch hunt, while those who oppose him came to a guilty verdict before the trial ever began,” he emphasized. But Anderson spotlighted that the history-making trial would have an impact. “Regardless of the verdict, this trial clearly isn’t what Trump wants to be dealing with right now and has not helped him,” Anderson said. “What might help him is a not guilty verdict that will allow him to claim vindication. But even then, it’s a real stretch to imagine it becomes a net positive for him.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Schumer plans vote on ‘constitutional right to contraception’ in bid to protect Senate Democrat majority
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is planning a vote on the “constitutional right to contraception,” in an election-year move aimed at protecting Democrats’ control of the Senate. The majority leader is expected to fast-track a vote next month on the Right to Contraception Act. Though it likely won’t pass with most Republicans opposing the bill, Schumer wants to put senators in the opposing party on record on contraception and birth control access during an election year, The New York Times reported. The bill’s language says it “sets out statutory protections for an individual’s right to access and a health care provider’s right to provide contraception and related information.” “This is a clarifying political vote that will put every Republican on record as to whether or not they believe in a constitutional right to contraception,” the bill’s lead sponsor, Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., told the New York Times. TRUMP SAYS HE ‘WILL NEVER ADVOCATE IMPOSING RESTRICTIONS ON BIRTH CONTROL’ OR OTHER CONTRACEPTIVES Senate Republicans last year blocked Markey’s effort to pass a version of the bill without debate, arguing the legislation could also apply to pills that induce abortion, not simply birth control. Replaying strategy used in 2022 after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Senate Democrats are hammering Republicans on not only abortion, but birth control and contraception access. Schumer hosted a press conference outside the Capitol on Tuesday with Planned Parenthood doctors dedicated to discussing “how Republican abortion bans are hurting health care providers and worsening access to care for millions of people.” He claimed that “far right Republicans have been working systematically to dismantle a woman’s fundamental right to choose, and they’ve been working at it for decades.” “So today we’re here to say loud and clear, Democrats stand with women, and with our nation’s health care providers,” Schumer said. “We will never, ever stop fighting against these Republican attacks. We will never, ever stop fighting to take back these rights from the far-right extremists who want to impose their views on the country that overwhelmingly do not agree with them.” The planned vote comes after Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, earlier this month vetoed a contraception access measure that had been approved by the Democrat-controlled state legislature, stating at the time, “I support access to contraception. However, we cannot trample on the religious freedoms of Virginians.” He said contraception access is already protected under the Constitution. TRUMP SAYS ABORTION SHOULD BE DECIDED BY THE STATES, ‘WILL OF THE PEOPLE’ Schumer on Tuesday also went after former President Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, directly. “The most extreme elements of the Republican Party have made clear their mission to eliminate this freedom of choice,” Schumer said. “And we can’t forget that Donald Trump said just a few weeks ago that he was ‘proud’ to be the person who paved the way to overturn Roe. Make no mistake, he’ll be at it again if, God forbid, he becomes President. So that was the word President Trump used, ‘proud.’ He’s not even hiding it. So with the Dobbs decision, they opened the floodgates for draconian and cruel bans on women’s choice all across America.” But on Tuesday, Trump outlined his stance in a post on TRUTH Social, making clear that he will not look to restrict access to contraceptives if he regains the presidency. “I HAVE NEVER, AND WILL NEVER ADVOCATE IMPOSING RESTRICTIONS ON BIRTH CONTROL, or other contraceptives,” Trump wrote. “This is a Democrat fabricated lie, MISINFORMATION/DISINFORMATION, because they have nothing else to run on except FAILURE, POVERTY, AND DEATH. I DO NOT SUPPORT A BAN ON BIRTH CONTROL, AND NEITHER WILL THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!” Earlier, the Times had harped on an interview Trump did with KDKA, a CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh, Pa., in which he did not make clear what his position was on the issue. Asked if he supported “restrictions on a person’s right to contraception” on Monday, Trump told KDKA, “We’re looking at that, and I’m going to have a policy on that very shortly.” “And I think it’s something that you’ll find interesting, and it’s another issue that’s very interesting, but you will find it, I think, very smart. I think it’s a smart decision,” he said. Pressed at the time on whether he supported restrictions, Trump added, “You know, things really do have a lot to do with the states, and some states are going to have different policy than others.”