Code Pink protesters confront Defense Secretary Austin about Israel: ‘Stop supporting mass murder’
Members of the antiwar group Code Pink told Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday to “stop supporting mass murder” over the Biden administration’s support of Israel as it continues to battle Hamas terrorists. Austin was leaving a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense hearing where he and other leaders testified about the Department of Defense fiscal 2025 budget request when Code Pink members voiced their discontent with U.S. policy toward Israel. “We feel that he knows better than to say ‘this is not a genocide’ and he knows that Israel is violating international law and U.S. law, and so he should stand up and say that and not be collaborating with the Israeli military as so many thousands of civilians have been killed and more are being killed every single day,” Code Pink founder Medea Benjamin told Fox News Digital. In videos posted to X, Austin is seen coming out of the committee hearing as Code Pink members wait in a hallway. ‘NOTHING WOULD REMAIN’: IRAN’S PRESIDENT VOWS TO COMPLETELY DESTROY ISRAEL IF IT LAUNCHES ‘TINIEST INVASION’ “The world is not safer,” one person is heard saying as Austin walks away. “Stop supporting mass murder,” said another. “Israel struck the Iranian consulate in Damascus. Israel has instigated wider conflict,” one person is heard saying off camera. “Iran has not killed anyone yet, but if you continue to arm Israel’s genocide, things will escalate.” The Israeli strike on Iran’s consulate in the Syrian capital of Damascus earlier this month killed two Iranian generals and five officers, Iran has said. In response, Iran launched dozens of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), also known as drones, at Israel on Saturday, though many were destroyed and failed to reach their targets, Israeli officials said. In addition to fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces have battled Iran-backed Hezbollah on a second front on the Israel-Lebanon border since Oct. 7. Critics of Israel’s military offensive have claimed the Jewish state is committing acts of genocide against Palestinians, which has been refuted by Israeli and American officials. “In terms of the way that Israel is conducting itself, we condemn what Russia is doing in Ukraine and yet Israel has killed many more civilians in six months than the Russians have killed in over two years,” Benjamin said. WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCES NEW SANCTIONS ON IRAN FOLLOWING ATTACK AGAINST ISRAEL: ‘THE PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE’ One Code Pink member was arrested during Wednesday’s hearing, the group said on X. “Secretary Austin has blood on his hands,” the woman, who was only referred to as Helen, said as she was being detained. “You can take me down the hall, but you can’t close my mouth! I am outraged that my country is committing genocide!” she said. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Defense. Code Pink is known for protesting against U.S. involvement or support in various conflicts. The group describes itself as a “feminist grassroots organization working to end U.S. warfare and imperialism.” Among its causes, the group opposes U.S. sanctions on Iran, Venezuela, N. Korea, Cuba, as well as torture, the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, weaponized and spy drones, and the prosecution of whistle-blowers. “We support Palestinian rights, diplomacy, and growing local peace economies,” the group states on its website. “This conflict started 75 years ago. It didn’t start on Oct. 7,” said Benjamin, referring to the founding of Israel. “The Palestinian people have been dispossessed and oppressed for all these years and there will always be some kind of resistance.”
Code Pink activist disrupts Defense Secretary Austin hearing; ‘You have blood on your hands’
Members of the antiwar group Code Pink told Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday to “stop supporting mass murder” over the Biden administration’s support of Israel as it continues to battle Hamas terrorists. Austin was leaving a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense hearing where he and other leaders testified about the Department of Defense fiscal 2025 budget request when Code Pink members voiced their discontent with U.S. policy toward Israel. “We feel that he knows better than to say ‘this is not a genocide’ and he knows that Israel is violating international law and U.S. law, and so he should stand up and say that and not be collaborating with the Israeli military as so many thousands of civilians have been killed and more are being killed every single day,” Code Pink founder Medea Benjamin told Fox News Digital. In videos posted to X, Austin is seen coming out of the committee hearing as Code Pink members wait in a hallway. ‘NOTHING WOULD REMAIN’: IRAN’S PRESIDENT VOWS TO COMPLETELY DESTROY ISRAEL IF IT LAUNCHES ‘TINIEST INVASION’ “The world is not safer,” one person is heard saying as Austin walks away. “Stop supporting mass murder,” said another. “Israel struck the Iranian consulate in Damascus. Israel has instigated wider conflict,” one person is heard saying off camera. “Iran has not killed anyone yet, but if you continue to arm Israel’s genocide, things will escalate.” The Israeli strike on Iran’s consulate in the Syrian capital of Damascus earlier this month killed two Iranian generals and five officers, Iran has said. In response, Iran launched dozens of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), also known as drones, at Israel on Saturday, though many were destroyed and failed to reach their targets, Israeli officials said. In addition to fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces have battled Iran-backed Hezbollah on a second front on the Israel-Lebanon border since Oct. 7. Critics of Israel’s military offensive have claimed the Jewish state is committing acts of genocide against Palestinians, which has been refuted by Israeli and American officials. “In terms of the way that Israel is conducting itself, we condemn what Russia is doing in Ukraine and yet Israel has killed many more civilians in six months than the Russians have killed in over two years,” Benjamin said. WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCES NEW SANCTIONS ON IRAN FOLLOWING ATTACK AGAINST ISRAEL: ‘THE PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE’ One Code Pink member was arrested during Wednesday’s hearing, the group said on X. “You blood on his hands,” the woman, who was only referred to as Helen, said during the hearing before she was removed. “You can take me down the hall, but you can’t close my mouth! I am outraged that my country is committing genocide!” she said. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Defense. Code Pink is known for protesting against U.S. involvement or support in various conflicts. The group describes itself as a “feminist grassroots organization working to end U.S. warfare and imperialism.” Among its causes, the group opposes U.S. sanctions on Iran, Venezuela, N. Korea, Cuba, as well as torture, the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, weaponized and spy drones, and the prosecution of whistle-blowers. “We support Palestinian rights, diplomacy, and growing local peace economies,” the group states on its website. “This conflict started 75 years ago. It didn’t start on Oct. 7,” said Benjamin, referring to the founding of Israel. “The Palestinian people have been dispossessed and oppressed for all these years and there will always be some kind of resistance.”
New York Legislature hit by cyberattack
The New York state Legislature’s bill drafting office was hit with an apparent cyberattack early Wednesday, officials said. The scope of the attack was not immediately clear but officials said the bill drafting system has been down since early Wednesday. The office is responsible for printing legislation for lawmakers at the state Capitol in Albany. SOUTH CAROLINA’S TOP OFFICER NOT RELEASING DETAILS ON 2012 HACK THAT STOLE MILLIONS OF TAX RETURNS The apparent cyberattack came as the Legislature is moving to finalize its state budget bills, though Gov. Kathy Hochul said the incident isn’t expected to dramatically delay the process. “We have to go back to the more antiquated system we had in place from 1994. You know this happened very, very early in the morning and so we’ve been on top of this,” Hochul, a Democrat, said in a WNYC radio interview. “Our understanding right now is that it will take a little bit longer to deal with the legislative side of it because a lot of data is included in the computers,” she said of the budget process. Asked if the incident was a politically motivated attack, Hochul said “I don’t know.” In a statement, Mike Murphy, a spokesman for the leader of the state Senate, said the bill drafting office “can still process work for the houses and we don’t believe this will delay the overall process.”
Biden admin hit with lawsuit for deleting emails in case that could have consequences for Trump
FIRST ON FOX: A nonprofit legal organization filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration Wednesday, alleging it has deleted federal employees’ emails in violation of existing statute. In a sweeping complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the America First Legal Foundation (AFL), the group headed by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, accused the Department of Health and Human Services of regularly deleting official emails and violating the Federal Records Act. The group also named the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) – which is tasked with overseeing the unlawful destruction of federal records – as a defendant. “If the National Archives decides not to use the legal authorities it has regarding federal records, it certainly shouldn’t make up legal authority that it doesn’t have when it comes to presidential records,” America First Legal Vice President Dan Epstein said in an interview. “We expect our government to act in a transparent and accountable way, and exercise equanimity when it decides to investigate certain allegations. We clearly haven’t seen that in this case.” SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH HITS BACK AT JUDGE FOR ‘FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED LEGAL PREMISE’ IN TRUMP DOCUMENTS CASE According to Epstein, the lawsuit will have deep ramifications in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s ongoing case against former President Donald Trump. Smith is prosecuting Trump in connection to the former president’s handling of classified documents and other presidential records after leaving the White House in early 2021. In June 2023, the Department of Justice unsealed a federal indictment accusing Trump of 37 felony counts in connection with obstruction of justice and mishandling government records. JUDGE IN TRUMP CLASSIFIED DOCS CASE GRANTS JACK SMITH REQUEST TO REDACT WITNESS NAMES Epstein, though, argued that Trump is being held to a different standard than federal employees who regularly delete emails and records without any repercussions. He said potentially tens of thousands of records are deleted every year without authority. AFL’s case is tied to a February 2023 records request the group filed under the Freedom of Information Act with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The group particularly requested records related to the CDC’s support for “teacher-led indoctrination of children with radical gender ideology.” However, shortly thereafter, a CDC officer told the AFL in an email that the agency, which is housed at HHS, deletes most employee files 30 days after said employee departs the agency. “That is correct,” the officer said in an email to AFL. “Unless they were a capstone director/manager etc., it is my understanding all other employees’ emails are deleted 30 days after they leave the agency.” ENFORCEMENT OF GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY RULES IS POOR IN MOST STATES, REPORT FINDS When the matter was brought to NARA, the AFL said the agency determined that, because the “CDC instructs individual email account holders to apply retention based on the email’s content value and its applicability to a NARA-approved records schedule,” the matter was considered closed. “In effect, it appears that NARA entrusts individual CDC employees to decide which emails can be automatically deleted,” the group said in a statement. Federal law states that government agencies must “make and preserve records containing adequate and proper documentation of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, and essential transactions of the agency and designed to furnish the information necessary to protect the legal and financial rights of the Government and of persons directly affected by the agency’s activities.” The AFL argued that NARA’s conclusion is “patently inconsistent with the law.” “You have maybe tens of thousands of government records every year that are destroyed without authority,” Epstein told Fox News Digital. “But when it comes to Donald Trump, he gets prosecuted. Everyone else who doesn’t have to stand for election gets a free pass.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and Archivist of the United States Colleen Shogan were also named in the group’s lawsuit filed Wednesday. Fox News Digital reached out to HHS and NARA for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Senate votes down first impeachment article against DHS Secretary Mayorkas
The first article of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was deemed unconstitutional by the Senate on Wednesday in a party-line vote. The first of two articles of impeachment alleged Mayorkas engaged in the “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” regarding the southern border in his capacity as DHS secretary. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., proposed a point of order declaring the article unconstitutional, to which the majority of senators agreed following several failed motions by Republicans. The article was deemed unconstitutional by a vote of 51-48, with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska voting present. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
T-Squared: Robert Downen wins Nyhan Prize for Political Journalism
The prize honors a political journalist who covers politics and social policy in the public interest.
Texas criminal appeals court removes Tomas Gallo from death row because of his intellectual disability
The court re-sentenced Gallo to life in prison for the murder of his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter.
Wisconsin Supreme Court justices question how much power Legislature should have
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Supreme Court justices questioned Wednesday how much power legislative committees should wield, in a case that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers brought against the Republican-controlled Legislature and that could have a major impact on how state government functions. A ruling in favor of Evers would upend decades-old practices in the Legislature and make it easier to approve projects in a land stewardship program. But justices echoed concerns raised by Republicans that the case could have far broader impacts on the separation of power between the executive and legislative branches. LIBERAL JUSTICE’S RETIREMENT PUTS WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT MAJORITY BACK ON BALLOT Siding with Evers would “overturn how our state government has functioned for almost a century,” Misha Tseytlin, a lawyer for the Legislature, told the court. But liberal Justice Jill Karofsky, in deflecting arguments that the court should not overturn such established practices, said “Maybe they’ve been wrong for the last century and we shouldn’t double down on how wrong this is.” Evers argues that the Legislature’s powerful budget-writing Joint Finance Committee, which is controlled 12-4 by Republicans, is exceeding its constitutional lawmaking authority and effectively acting as a fourth branch of government. The Legislature counters that the committee’s powers, including the approval of certain state conservation projects, are well established in state law and court precedent. Karofsky questioned whether the budget committee had too much power. “There doesn’t seem to me to be any limits whatsoever,” she said. “There are zero guardrails here.” If the court sides with Evers, then numerous other functions of the budget committee, the state building commission and other legislative committees that have been in place for a century would also be unconstitutional, Tseytlin said. Conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley questioned whether the court’s ruling would apply across a myriad of legislative committees and their powers. “You’re asking us to make a big shift,” she said, adding that the court can’t “slice and dice separation of powers” between the executive and legislative branches. “Either we’re going to apply it strictly or we’re not,” she said. Liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley echoed some concerns raised by conservative justices. “Your position seems to be black and white: Once the Legislature has passed a bill, hands off,” she said to Evers’ attorney. “Isn’t there any nuance to the position, some kind of limitations on your black-and-white argument? It seems to me there should be.” Evers’ attorney Colin Roth said the constitution is clear that once the Legislature passes a law, it is up to the executive branch to carry it out. The Legislature is overreaching its authority when committees can veto actions such as the approval of stewardship projects, he said. Evers, speaking about the case on Tuesday, said the state Supreme Court needs to recognize that the Legislature’s budget committee has been acting as a fourth branch of government and should be reined in. “The idea that somehow they have the ability to essentially work as a fourth arm of our state is just wrong,” Evers told reporters. The lawsuit cites the committee’s rejection of dozens of conservation projects selected by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources under the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program. The Legislature created the stewardship program in 1989. It provides funding primarily to local governments, conservation groups and the DNR to purchase blocks of land to preserve natural areas and wildlife habitat, protect water quality and fisheries, and expand outdoor recreational opportunities. Supporters herald it as a way to further protect natural areas from development. Republicans have been trying for years to scale back stewardship purchases, complaining that they take too much land off the tax rolls, rob northern Wisconsin municipalities of revenue and drive up state debt. Legislative oversight of the program increased as concerns grew about the scope and cost of the stewardship program. The Legislature did its job when it passed laws creating and funding the program, attorneys for Evers argue in court filings. But the budget committee’s ability to block approval of stewardship projects, essentially vetoing decisions of the executive branch, is an unconstitutional separation of powers violation, they say. Conservative Chief Justice Annette Ziegler questioned whether the case should be put on hold so the court could gather more facts and take a broader look at legislative and executive powers. “Why rush this case?” she asked. The court will issue a ruling in the next several weeks or months.
Haitian migrant, now a double homicide suspect, was allowed into US by Biden admin via controversial app
FIRST ON FOX: A Haitian migrant now accused of killing two roommates in New York was paroled into the U.S. after booking an appointment on the controversial CBP One app — which has been expanded by the Biden administration to allow tens of thousands of migrants to enter the U.S. each month. Kenol Baptiste, a Haitian national, was arrested in Middletown, New York, on April 1 for second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, Middletown PD said in a statement earlier this month. Police said that two men had sustained multiple stab wounds. One was determined to have died at the scene, and the other was seriously injured and later died during surgery. Police said Baptiste was an acquaintance of the victims, and all lived at the same address. Baptiste was located in a nearby wooded area by the police’s K9 team. He was then detained at Orange County Jail. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told Fox News Digital that Baptiste had arrived in the United States in July 2023 when he presented himself at the Paso Del Norte port of entry in El Paso, Texas. The spokesperson said he presented himself on July 25 at the port of entry after booking an appointment on the CBP One app. Baptiste was given a notice to appear (NTA) in immigration court, was processed and paroled into the U.S. for pending removal proceedings. ICE has since placed a detainer on him, which requests he be transferred to ICE custody on his eventual release from jail. The app was created under the Trump administration, but was expanded last year by the Biden administration to allow up to 1,450 migrants a day to make an appointment to be processed into the U.S. as part of the administration’s efforts to expand “lawful pathways” for migration in order to deal with the historic crisis at the southern border. It claims that the app has helped promote a safe and orderly way to enter the U.S. for migrants in a way that doesn’t involve entering illegally. The expanded app allows migrants to upload a photograph before making an appointment and provide additional information before the appointment. Authorities have said that migrants are vetted using biometric and biographic data before being allowed into the U.S. HAITIAN MIGRANT CHARGED WITH RAPE OF 15-YEAR-OLD GIRL ENTERED VIA CONTROVERSIAL PAROLE PROGRAM: SOURCES The app, which has so far allowed more than 547,000 individuals to make appointments since 2023, has come under fire from Republicans who say it is a “concierge service” for otherwise-illegal immigrants to enter the U.S. under the guise of legality. Migrants from Haiti are one of the top nationalities, along with those from Mexico and Venezuela. CBP One is also used beyond ports of entry to allow up to 30,000 migrants from Haiti, as well as Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to fly or travel directly into the United States after getting approval for parole. MAYORKAS CALLS POLICY TO LET 30K MIGRANTS FLY IN EACH MONTH A ‘KEY ELEMENT’ OF BORDER PLAN AFTER LEGAL WIN Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus told Fox News Digital that the two men who were stabbed were also Haitian, and confirmed that Baptiste was waiting for a hearing from a federal judge. “He came in over the border, but they did give him working papers, and he was scheduled to get an asylum hearing by a federal judge,” he said. Neuhaus said that there were seven people all in all living in the one apartment. He also said he believed the story has received less coverage because the victims weren’t American citizens. “Unfortunately, you have two individuals that have died, but most people didn’t know they were in the community,” he said. It is the latest crime involving Haitian migrants paroled into the U.S. A migrant now charged with the rape of a 15-year-old girl at a Massachusetts hotel housing migrants was paroled into the U.S., Fox News reported last month.
Ravi Kishan’s wife Preeti Shukla files FIR against woman who claims to be his second wife
In her complaint, Preeti alleged that Aparna threatened her and demanded Rs. 20 crore from them.