Conservative group builds ‘America First’ coalition to fight ‘radical left’s extreme positions and agenda’
An organization working to advance the “America First” agenda has united a diverse coalition of conservative groups to fight together “against the radical left’s extreme positions and agenda” ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Led by America First Works, a 501c4 that’s closely aligned with the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) and promotes an “America First” agenda through policy and legislation, the coalition was constructed earlier this month during a meeting in the nation’s capital, where a pledge to work together was signed. “On April 3rd, America First Works hosted a meeting at the Willard Hotel, which is historic in and of itself – Martin Luther King refined his speech [there], Abraham Lincoln was there – and brought together over 50 organizations, over 100 people, to just sit down and discuss how we can best work together,” Ashley Hayek, who serves as the executive director at America First Works and the chief engagement officer at America First Policy Institute, told Fox News Digital about the “historic” meeting. “For the first time since Reagan’s presidency, [we brought] all of the groups together to work together and to commit that we would coordinate moving forward, whether it’s early vote or ballot harvesting where it’s legal, mobilization, [or] election integrity,” she added. NEW DATA REVEALS VOTERS ARE SHIFTING TO THIS MAJOR POLITICAL PARTY AHEAD OF HEATED 2024 REMATCH Titled “United We Win,” the pledge was signed by dozens of conservative groups with wide-ranging interests who share common goals: To reclaim “our nation’s narrative,” to “win the argument” ahead of the presidential election, and “saving America.” Those who signed the pledge vowed to “work together as never before” as they “harness our collective resources, wisdom, and energy to educate like never before, to grow our coalition with unwavering dedication, and to advance conservative solutions that will steer our country back toward prosperity, security, and freedom.” “Our mission is clear: reclaim our nation’s narrative, win the argument, hold our elected officials accountable, and begin the work of healing and rebuilding,” the pledge reads. “Each member organization promises to contribute fully towards our shared goal. We will combine our energies, budgets, and abilities, leaving no stone unturned, no resource untapped, and no citizen unengaged.” Celebrating the diversity of the groups that pledged their support, Hayek insisted this was the “first step” in ensuring a successful election year. “You have Rebecca Weber, the CEO of AMAC [Association of Mature American Citizens]. It’s a group very similar to AARP, but for conservative seniors. You have groups like Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition, who are mobilizing across the country. You also have groups like Bienvenido that focuses on Hispanic outreach,” she said. “This was the first step in bringing everyone together and to have conversations about what this year looks like, how we reclaim the narrative, how we win messaging, how we push back together against the radical left’s extreme positions and agenda,” Hayek added. Other groups that attended the meeting and signed onto the pledge, Hayek said, included Tea Party Patriots Action and Turning Point Action. “All of our groups have different missions that are very unique, but we all have the same goal of wanting to make America first and to save our country,” Hayek said. “Making sure that we are all talking together, working together, understanding what each group is doing, is really the first step. That was accomplished by signing that pledge and committing to each other that we will unite like we have never united before.” Pointing to early voting efforts that are being championed by the coalition, Hayek highlighted the fact that “life happens” and noted that some circumstances may prevent people in certain areas of the country from getting to the polls on Election Day. AMERICA FIRST POLICY INSTITUTE ROLLS OUT ABORTION, LIFE AGENDA TO ‘EMPOWER WOMEN’ WITH RESOURCES, SUPPORT “If you look at what just recently happened in New York in this special election, you had a snowstorm. Those that did not vote early were not able to possibly cast their ballot. You look at what happened in Reno in 2022 – and it’s a very important Senate race – there was a freak snowstorm that came through and people were not able to cast their ballot,” she said. “While I think most of us agree that there should be Election Day only, no mail ballots, one vote, one person, complete clear rule of the law voting, that’s not reality…. We need to use every tool possible to reach voters, and get people to vote early.” Hayek noted that conservatives should be taking advantage of mailing in their ballots early in states where it’s permitted, as she stressed the importance of “getting caught up with the times, modernizing our tactics, working together, and turning out the vote.” “Conservatives and the America First movement, we are on the right side of policies. We are for families, we are for hardworking Americans, we have policy plans that change hearts and minds. We actually saw that in 2022.… We saw historic numbers, increases in Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, suburban women who supported conservative causes,” Hayek said. “Now we just need to implement the tactics to make sure we’re turning out our votes in the right places so that we can save our country.” Hayek also spoke briefly about the AFPI’s Pathway to 2025 initiative, which she described as a “five pillar plan” that’s “really simple.” She said the effort, which is being led by former New York GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin, is about “messaging and data, it’s unifying the movement, it’s project 19, focusing on the counties that we believe will ultimately determine the next election, it’s our ballot harvesting and voter mobilization, and then, of course, day one of what a new administration looks like.” “By the way, the day one of the new administration, that’s not just a White House. It’s also in our states… how we can we have a big impact at even at the school board level,”
Trump slams ‘unconstitutional’ gag order as trial wraps for the day: ‘All Biden’
Former President Donald Trump slammed what he described as an “unconstitutional” gag order imposed on him during his trial in Manhattan, while pinning blame for the trial and ongoing anti-Israel protests unfolding on college campuses nationwide on President Biden. “We have a gag order, which to me is totally unconstitutional. I’m not allowed to talk, but people are allowed to talk about me. So they can talk about me,” Trump said outside the courtroom. “They can say whatever they want, they can lie, but I’m not allowed to say anything. I just have to sit back and look at why a conflicted judge has ordered me to have gag order,” he said. “I don’t think anybody’s ever seen anything like this. I’d love to talk to you people. I’d love to say everything that’s on my mind, but I’m restricted because I have a gag order,” he continued. Trump was back in court on Tuesday, when presiding Judge Juan Merchan held a hearing on the prosecution’s request that Trump be held in contempt for violating a gag order. Merchan imposed the gag order on Trump before the trial began, ordering Trump to abstain from making comments — or directing others to make comments — regarding witnesses’ potential participation or the prosecution team. The gag order does allow Trump to publicly speak about District Attorney Alvin Bragg. LIVE UPDATES: NY VS. TRUMP TRIAL TO RESUME AS FORMER PRESIDENT FIGHTS OFF GAG ORDER ALLEGATIONS Prosecutors presented 10 instances of Trump allegedly violating the gag order in social media posts during the hearing. The DA’s office argues he should pay a $1,000 fine each for a handful of the instances. Trump’s legal team pushed back that the posts in question were examples of the 45th president responding to attacks. Merchan has not issued a decision yet on whether Trump is found in contempt. He did warn the Trump defense team that they were “losing all credibility” during the hearing. NY VS. TRUMP: FIRST WITNESS TAKES THE STAND IN MANHATTAN COURT “I’ve asked you 8 or 9 times, ‘show me the exact post that he was responding to’ and you haven’t been able to do that once,” Merchan told Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche. “I have to tell you right now, you’re losing all credibility in the court,” Merchan added. Trump continued in his comments after court wrapped up for the day that the ongoing anti-Israel demonstrations raging on some of the nation’s most elite college campuses are “Biden’s fault,” in addition to the trial itself. “That’s Biden’s fault,” he said of the school protests. “And by the way, this trial is all Biden.” “He can’t put two sentences again, but he’s out campaigning,” Trump continued of Biden. “He’s out campaigning. And I’m here in a courtroom sitting here … sitting up as straight as I can all day long. Because you know what? It’s a very unfair situation.” NY VS. TRUMP: JUDGE WARNS TRUMP TEAM THEY’RE ‘LOSING ALL CREDIBILITY’ IN GAG ORDER HEARING Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts. NY VS. TRUMP: JUDGE DELIVERS JURY INSTRUCTIONS AS OPENING STATEMENTS KICK OFF The trial focuses on Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen paying former pornographic actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 to allegedly quiet her claims of an alleged extramarital affair she had with Trump in the early 2000s. Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels. Prosecutors allege that the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen and fraudulently logged the payments as legal expenses.
Biden once ripped ‘antisemitic bile’ but now faces own ‘Charlottesville moment’
President Biden cast the events in Charlottesville, Virginia, and his framing of former President Trump’s response, as the impetus for his 2020 White House run – but Biden now faces his own “Charlottesville moment.” Biden has repeatedly and emphatically condemned the riots in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 for spewing “antisemitic bile,” even saying the protests motivated his run for the White House last election cycle. “In that moment, I knew the threat to this nation was unlike any I had ever seen in my lifetime,” Biden said in 2019 of the riots when announcing his run for the White House against then-President Trump. Flash forward to 2024, antisemitism is running rampant on the campuses of some of the country’s most elite universities, including protesters on Columbia’s campus saying Jewish students were Hamas’ “next targets” amid ongoing protests. FETTERMAN ‘NOT WRONG’ TO COMPARE COLUMBIA PROTESTS TO CHARLOTTESVILLE, CNN HOST SAYS “Al-Qassam you make us proud, kill another soldier now,” protesters on the Ivy League campus chanted over the weekend, referring to the military wing of the terrorist organization Hamas. They also chanted: “We say justice, you say how. Burn Tel Aviv to the ground” and “Hamas we love you. We support your rockets, too.” The protests in Charlottesville in 2017, which played out across two days in August of that year, included White nationalists descending on the city who were met by hundreds of counter-protesters. The protests devolved into violence, including three deaths and dozens of injuries stemming from a car plowing through people and other attacks. IVY LEAGUE ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS’ PROTESTS SPIRAL INTO ‘ACTUAL TERROR ORGANIZATION,’ PROFESSOR WARNS The protests were condemned by both Republicans and Democrats as a hateful display of bigotry, including Trump at the time, who said in a statement that such protests and violence have “no place in America.” “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides,” Trump said in August of that year. Trump added days later in a press conference that he condemned the “egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence” and came under fire from Democrats for his remarks that there was “blame on both sides” and “very fine people, on both sides.” DEARBORN ACTIVISTS’ PUSH TO BAIL ON BIDEN SPREADS TO OTHER KEY BATTLEGROUND STATES Biden pointed to Trump’s comments as helping motivate him to run for the presidency. “With those words, the president of the United States assigned a moral equivalence between those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it,” Biden said in 2019 when announcing his candidacy. Biden has repeatedly pointed to Charlottesville as a moment of shame for the nation, including on the fourth anniversary, when the White House released a statement saying the rally was a “battle for the soul of America was laid bare for all to see.” MICHIGAN ARABS AND MUSLIM COMMUNITY WORK TO BEAT BIDEN IN 2024 RACE: BIDEN ‘THINKS WE’RE BLUFFING’ “The forces of hate and violence were summoned from the shadows as Neo-Nazis, Klansmen, and white supremacists descended on a historic American city. With torches in their hands and veins bulging from their necks, they spewed the same antisemitic bile that was heard in Germany in the 1930s and with the same beatings and bigotry we saw in Jim Crow America for nearly a century,” he said. Though Biden has repeatedly cited Charlottesville, he has come under criticism, as recently as five months ago, for not visiting the city following the protests. “Charlottesville, Virginia,” were even the first two words Biden uttered when announcing his run for the White House. Biden is now facing his own “Charlottesville moment,” as protests rage on college campuses stretching from Yale to the University of California, Berkeley, as anti-Israel students set up encampments while demanding their schools completely divest from Israel. Protests had spread across the nation in October of last year, when Hamas launched its first attacks against Israel, sparking war. They have since intensified, including this month. A Columbia professor told Fox Digital over the weekend that anti-Israel campus groups have morphed into becoming an “actual terror organization,” citing the protester who was seen holding a sign reading, “Al-Qasam’s (sic) next targets” that pointed toward Jewish students. A rabbi on Columbia’s campus has warned Jewish students to leave campus due to the antisemitism. “The events of the last few days, especially last night, have made it clear that Columbia University’s Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy,” Rabbi Elie Buechler wrote to students over the weekend. “It deeply pains me to say that I would strongly recommend you return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved.” BIDEN CRUSHED FOR EQUIVOCATING ON ANTISEMITIC PROTESTS: ‘VERY FINE PEOPLE ON BOTH SIDES’ MOMENT More than 100 protesters were arrested on Columbia’s campus last week, while dozens more were arrested on Yale’s and NYU’s campus this week. Biden on Monday reiterated his condemnation of the violent protests, while facing criticisms online that his remarks echoed what Trump said in 2017 of the Charlottesville riots. “I condemn the antisemitic protests. That’s why I have set up a program to deal with that. I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians,” Biden told reporters Monday. “This sure sounds like he’s ACTUALLY saying there are very fine people on both sides,” OutKick founder Clay Travis said. ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS COULD ‘ESCALATE,’ TURN MORE EXTREME TO GET BIDEN’S ATTENTION, REPORT WARNS “Joe Biden condemned what he called the ‘antisemitic bile’ of right-wing marchers in Charlottesville, Virginia, and called it a ‘defining moment’ for America. Today we’re witnessing Charlottesville happening on the campus of Columbia University but Biden is silent. This is a defining moment for this presidency. Will he keep pandering to the antisemitic left or confront it the way he did the antisemitic right?” Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen
Senate advances $95B Ukraine and Israel aid package, setting stage for expedited vote
The Senate successfully advanced a $95 billion foreign aid package, which includes assistance for both Israel and Ukraine, on Tuesday by passing a motion to invoke cloture and end debate on the measures early. The upper chamber cleared the procedural hurdle by a vote of 81 to 19 after the House passed the bills on Saturday, and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., promised to move quickly to get the package across the finish line. NY HOUSE REPUBLICANS DEMAND COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT STEP DOWN OVER ANTI-ISRAEL ‘CHAOS’ Included in the package of bills is aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as well as a measure requiring TikTok to divest from Chinese-owned ByteDance, and the REPO Act, which would allow $5 billion in Russian assets held in U.S. banks to be transferred to Ukraine. Schumer pleaded with fellow senators in remarks on the Senate floor ahead of the vote, telling them, “Let us not delay this. Let us not prolong this. Let us not keep our friends around the world waiting for a moment longer.” SCHUMER LOOKS TO EXPEDITE $95 BILLION ISRAEL, UKRAINE AID PACKAGE THROUGH SENATE “Today, the Senate faces a test,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in his own floor remarks prior to the vote. “And we must not fail it.” He further called passage of the supplemental foreign aid bills “overdue.” President Biden first made his request for additional aid to U.S. allies in October 2023. BIDEN ADMIN NOTES ‘URGENT’ CONCERN OVER ISRAEL IN GAZA HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT The Senate initially passed a foreign aid package to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan in February, but House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., did not move quickly to bring the measure to the House floor for a vote. And when Johnson ultimately brought aid for a vote in the lower chamber, it was a different version, prompting the bills to be sent back to the Senate before they can head to Biden for a signature. The initial package had passed the Senate with overwhelming support, by a vote of 70 to 29. DEMOCRATS JOIN REPUBLICANS IN CONDEMNING ANTISEMITISM AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY The package faces some pushback from senators on both sides of the aisle. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, for example, is against the continued aid to Ukraine, citing the amount of aid already given to the country, as well as the potential of humanitarian aid getting into the hands of Hamas terrorists. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also has reservations over the package due to the continued aid to Israel. He has previously criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the high civilian death toll in Gaza. However, the opposition from these senators and others doesn’t appear to be widespread enough to threaten the bills’ passage.
Plea urges EC to ban PM Modi from election campaigning for alleged MCC violation
Nearly 17,421 citizens including, retired IAS, have accused him of instigating and aggravating hatred in Hindus against Muslims.
Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocks Harris County’s guaranteed income pilot program
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is challenging the program, saying it violates the Texas Constitution. The first payments may have already gone out.
Minnesota police clear out anti-Israel protest in the heart of Ilhan Omar’s congressional district
Police at the University of Minnesota cleared out an anti-Israel protest encampment from its Twin Cities campus, which is located in progressive “Squad” member Rep. Ilhan Omar’s district, and arrested nine demonstrators early Tuesday. The university’s Department of Public Safety received reports that a group had set up an encampment with tents on the north end of the Northrop Mall, a university spokesperson told Fox News Digital. Officers warned the protesters around 6 a.m. that those present were in violation of university policy and state trespassing law as tents are not allowed on campus without a permit, the spokesperson said, adding that “no encampments, tents, fires, or other types of encampment living arrangements have ever been permitted on any university properties or in buildings.” “The group was asked to disperse by 7 a.m. and told they would be arrested if they chose to stay past that time,” the university spokesperson said. “Some of those present chose to disperse and continue peacefully protesting, but nine chose to remain and were arrested without incident.” LIVE UPDATES: ANTISEMITISM ON CAMPUS SURGES AS AGITATORS TAKE OVER Those arrested were taken on trespassing charges to the Hennepin County jail, where more than a dozen demonstrations gathered to protest the arrests, Minnesota Public Radio reported. Meanwhile, the university’s statement said that it supports the rights of its community “to speak and demonstrate peacefully” as similar protests occur around the country. “In light of protests around the country and this morning’s activity on the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus, it’s important to note that the U of M supports and respects free speech through lawful protest,” the statement said. NYU STUDENTS PLANNING WALKOUT FOLLOWING VIOLENT ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS Other encampments have taken over campuses at Columbia University and New York University in New York City and Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. These protests have led some universities to cancel some in-person classes and have also led to arrests. Isra Hirsi, the daughter of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was among one of more than 100 demonstrators who were arrested during a protest at Columbia University last week. Omar praised her daughter in a post on social media following her arrest. The 21-year-old Hirsi had said that she had been suspended from Barnard College in New York City earlier that day for “standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide.” Fox News Digital has reached out to Omar’s office about the campus protest in her district but didn’t immediately hear back.
Congress won’t pass border security legislation this year, Johnson’s office suggests
The House GOP’s push to pass border security reform in the 118th Congress could end up an unrealized dream. A spokesperson for Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., pointed out to Fox News Digital that House Republicans have passed multiple border security and immigration enforcement bills – none of which have been taken up by the Democrat-controlled Senate. The Johnson spokesperson indicated that with Republicans and Democrats still far apart on the issue, House GOP leaders are relying on former President Trump to take back the White House next year for any meaningful border policy changes to take place. GOP PREPS ATTACKS ON VULNERABLE DEM SENATORS OVER MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT TRIAL DISMISSAL “House Republicans have passed multiple border security bills – including our signature Secure the Border Act, Laken Riley Act, and Consequences for Social Security Fraud Act – which have been ignored by the Democrat Senate and proves their unseriousness when it comes to dealing with the border catastrophe,” Johnson’s office said. “Democrats have only proposed measures for political cover that won’t fix the problem, and Republicans are not going to let the White House accept anything less than transformative change.” “House Republicans understand that the only way to truly solve the problem is to elect President Trump in November.” REPUBLICANS PREDICT DEMS TO PAY ‘HEAVY PRICE’ IN ELECTION AFTER MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT BID FAILS Fox News Digital had reached out to Johnson’s office two days after the speaker convened a rare Saturday session to pass his $95 billion foreign aid proposal. While the wide bipartisan margin demonstrated a victory for Johnson in his still relatively new leadership role, GOP rebels who have been increasingly critical of Johnson for crossing the aisle on key legislation were furious that he passed roughly $61 billion in Ukraine aid without trying to force through border security measures. “The only path forward for substantive border legislation was to leverage the Biden regime’s push for more Ukraine aid,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., wrote on X last week. Johnson has also maintained for months that President Biden himself has the unilateral ability to stop the border crisis through executive action – something the White House has pushed back on, arguing a permanent fix has to come from Congress. The statement from Johnson’s office Tuesday came after Fox News Digital asked if he had spoken with Biden recently about the possibility of executive action on the border, or whether House Republicans could be looking at using the next big legislative fight – fiscal year 2025 government funding – as an area to jam the Senate on border security. An earlier attempt to pass foreign aid alongside a bipartisan border security deal failed when Republicans in both the Senate and House argued the border measures included would have only codified the Biden administration’s existing bad policies. ‘CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY’ OF SENATE DEMS QUASHING MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT TRIAL QUESTIONED BY EXPERTS Democrats, however, refused Republicans’ urging to take up their Secure the Border Act, calling its Trump administration-era immigration provisions a non-starter. Meanwhile, a House GOP aide familiar with the House Homeland Security Committee’s work said the panel was conducting multiple investigations into the Biden administration’s handling of the border, but would not discuss any pending legislation that House GOP leaders could have potentially held up as a new push for reform. The House GOP aide said Republicans were committed “to respond[ing] to this crisis and [making] sure people know [they] take this issue very seriously.”
Senate won’t pass border security legislation this year, Johnson’s office suggests
The House GOP’s push to pass border security reform through the divided 118th Congress could end up an unrealized dream. A spokesperson for Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., pointed out to Fox News Digital that House Republicans have passed multiple border security and immigration enforcement bills – none of which have been taken up by the Democrat-controlled Senate. The Johnson spokesperson indicated that with Republicans and Democrats still far apart on the issue, House GOP leaders are relying on former President Trump to take back the White House next year for any meaningful border policy changes to take place. GOP PREPS ATTACKS ON VULNERABLE DEM SENATORS OVER MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT TRIAL DISMISSAL “House Republicans have passed multiple border security bills – including our signature Secure the Border Act, Laken Riley Act, and Consequences for Social Security Fraud Act – which have been ignored by the Democrat Senate and proves their unseriousness when it comes to dealing with the border catastrophe,” Johnson’s office said. “Democrats have only proposed measures for political cover that won’t fix the problem, and Republicans are not going to let the White House accept anything less than transformative change.” “House Republicans understand that the only way to truly solve the problem is to elect President Trump in November.” REPUBLICANS PREDICT DEMS TO PAY ‘HEAVY PRICE’ IN ELECTION AFTER MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT BID FAILS Fox News Digital had reached out to Johnson’s office two days after the speaker convened a rare Saturday session to pass his $95 billion foreign aid proposal. While the wide bipartisan margin demonstrated a victory for Johnson in his still relatively new leadership role, GOP rebels who have been increasingly critical of Johnson for crossing the aisle on key legislation were furious that he passed roughly $61 billion in Ukraine aid without trying to force through border security measures. “The only path forward for substantive border legislation was to leverage the Biden regime’s push for more Ukraine aid,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., wrote on X last week. Johnson has also maintained for months that President Biden himself has the unilateral ability to stop the border crisis through executive action – something the White House has pushed back on, arguing a permanent fix has to come from Congress. The statement from Johnson’s office Tuesday came after Fox News Digital asked if he had spoken with Biden recently about the possibility of executive action on the border, or whether House Republicans could be looking at using the next big legislative fight – fiscal year 2025 government funding – as an area to jam the Senate on border security. An earlier attempt to pass foreign aid alongside a bipartisan border security deal failed when Republicans in both the Senate and House argued the border measures included would have only codified the Biden administration’s existing bad policies. ‘CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY’ OF SENATE DEMS QUASHING MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT TRIAL QUESTIONED BY EXPERTS Democrats, however, refused Republicans’ urging to take up their Secure the Border Act, calling its Trump administration-era immigration provisions a non-starter. Meanwhile, a House GOP aide familiar with the House Homeland Security Committee’s work said the panel was conducting multiple investigations into the Biden administration’s handling of the border, but would not discuss any pending legislation that House GOP leaders could have potentially held up as a new push for reform. The House GOP aide said Republicans were committed “to respond[ing] to this crisis and [making] sure people know [they] take this issue very seriously.” Fox News Digital reached out to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office for comment. EDITOR’S NOTE: This article’s headline has been updated to more clearly reflect that Johnson’s office was referring to the Senate.
NY prosecutors reveal ‘another crime’ Trump allegedly tried to conceal with falsified business records
New York prosecutors on Tuesday revealed the other crime they claim former President Trump was trying to conceal when he allegedly falsified his business records. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. In order for prosecutors to secure a criminal conviction, they must convince the jury that Trump allegedly committed the crime of falsifying business records in “furtherance of another crime.” TRUMP TRIAL: FORMER PRESIDENT ‘INNOCENT,’ SAYS DEFENSE AS DA ALLEGES ‘CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY’ Trump pleaded not guilty to all 34 counts. New York prosecutor Joshua Steinglass on Tuesday said the other crime was a violation of a New York law called “conspiracy to promote or prevent election.” Prosecutors will try to prove that the alleged conspiracy was to conceal a conspiracy to unlawfully promote his candidacy. “Any two or more persons who conspire to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means and which conspiracy is acted upon by one or more of the parties thereto, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor,” New York Law 17-152 reads. Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo, during his opening argument Monday, said the case against Trump “is about a criminal conspiracy and a cover-up.” Colangelo argued that months after Trump announced his candidacy for president in June 2015, he invited former CEO of American Media Inc. (AMI) David Pecker to Trump Tower for a meeting. His then-attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen was also at the meeting. AMI owned the National Inquirer. “Those three men formed a conspiracy to influence the election,” Colangelo argued. Colangelo claimed Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 to “silence” her and make sure the public did not learn of an alleged sexual encounter with Trump. Colangelo claimed that after the election, Trump reimbursed Cohen through a series of monthly checks from his businesses but claimed that he disguised those payments as payments for legal services. Colangelo alleged that Pecker, Cohen and Trump “conspired to influence the 2016 presidential election,” and said Pecker would gather harmful information and prevent it from going public. Colangelo alleged he only published flattering stories about Trump and negative stories about opponents. Colangelo claimed that the men used a practice called “catch & kill,” saying they bought damaging information, had the seller of that information sign a non-disclosure agreement and then blocked the information from being published. Colangelo said the practice was used three times — once to block a story a former Trump Tower doorman was trying to sell about an alleged out-of-wedlock child. Colangelo said the payment was $30,000. The doorman’s story was eventually proven to be untrue. BRAGG SAYS HE WILL TRY TO ‘DISCREDIT’ TRUMP IF HE TESTIFIES IN HIS DEFENSE DURING CRIMINAL TRIAL The next payment was to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claimed a romantic and sexual relationship with Trump. Colangelo alleged that Cohen asked AMI to buy the story. Colangelo said AMI paid McDougal $150,000 in exchange for “unlimited life rights” to her story. Colangelo also alleged there was a payment made of $130,000 to Daniels. Colangelo said that when it came time to pay Cohen back, Trump “didn’t negotiate the price down — he doubled it.” Colangelo alleged that his “willingness to do this shows the importance of hiding the payments” and alleged “overall election conspiracy.” But Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche rejected the prosecution’s argument, declaring: “President Trump is innocent.” “None of this was a crime,” Blanche said. “People say that Trump is trying to cover up payments — think… President Trump did not pay Cohen back $130,000. He paid Cohen $420,000.” He added, “Would a frugal businessman repay a $130,000 debt to the tune of $420,000?” Blanche said that the money “was not a payback,” and said Trump, in 2017, after the election, was paying legal fees. He added, “I have a spoiler alert — there is nothing wrong with trying to influence an election. It’s called democracy. They put something sinister on it.” NY VS TRUMP: THE EVIDENCE PROSECUTORS CAN PRESENT IF FORMER PRESIDENT TESTIFIES Blanche argued that Cohen paying Daniels “was not illegal” and said that entering into a non-disclosure agreement was also not illegal, saying companies “do that all the time.” “There is nothing illegal about it,” Blanche said, arguing that Daniels was attempting to try to embarrass Trump with “all sorts of allegations” that could be “damaging to him and damaging to his family.” “Trump fought back to protect his family, reputation, brand,” Blanche said. “And that is not a crime.”