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Former defense secretary predicts Iran will strike at Israel

Former defense secretary predicts Iran will strike at Israel

Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Friday said Iran is likely to retaliate against Israel for a recent missile strike that hit Tehran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the strike, which killed senior Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi. Reuters cited a Lebanese security source as the first to identify Israel as the responsible party, to which an Israeli military spokesperson responded, “We do not comment on reports in the foreign media.” In an interview on CNN, Esper predicted Iran will take action against Israel, but on a limited scale to avoid wide-scale war in the Middle East. “They are going to act,” Esper said Friday. “They’re going to feel the need, to uphold their dignity, to maintain credibility with their proxies, throughout the region, and to really meet the demands of hardliners, within the theocracy that wants to see something done.” ISRAEL-IRAN TENSIONS RISING AS IDF PAUSES LEAVE FOR ALL COMBAT UNITS: ‘MORE ALERT, MORE READY’ “But on the other hand, they’re not going to want to make this a wider war,” he continued. “They don’t want to escalate. They know that a major conflict with Israel, let alone Israel and the United States would be disastrous for Iran. So, I suspect that they will limit the attack to Israel, Israeli targets.”3 Iran has said it reserves the right “to take a decisive response” after the purported Israeli strike, which killed six other Iranian military advisers in addition to Zahedi.  A senior Biden administration official told Fox News Digital that President Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about the threat from Iran on Thursday.  ISRAELI POLICE THWART ALLEGED ISIS TERROR PLOT AGAINST JERUSALEM STADIUM, POLICE STATION “Our teams have been in regular and continuous contact since then. The United States fully supports the defense of Israel against threats from Iran,” the official said.  Two U.S. defense officials said U.S. force posture has not changed in the Middle East since before Israel’s air strike in Damascus. The U.S. is monitoring the situation given the increased rhetoric from Iran, but has not made any changes to prepare for a significant attack.  “Nothing has changed from a force projection standpoint,” one official said.  US TROOPS WARNED TO BRACE FOR RETALIATION FROM IRAN AFTER STRIKE KILLS TOP COMMANDERS Though Israel has not taken credit for the strike on Iran’s consulate, the IDF has made several operational changes, such as canceling leave for any IDF personnel and calling up additional reservists to bolster the force’s air defense systems on Israel’s northern border, The Telegraph reported. Israel has also suffered widespread GPS disruptions on applications, with some users shown to be in Lebanon’s capital Beirut, which Israeli outlet Haaretz reported as deliberate attempts to confuse Israeli drone threats.  IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari reiterated the multifaceted conflict Israel is fighting, saying, “We are in a multi-front war. We are looking not only at Hamas but all our enemies. We look at all fronts and all threats in order to be ready for any scenario.”  Fox News’ Liz Friden, Fox News Digital’s Peter Aitken and Reuters contributed to this report.

Border state GOP pushes to defy White House, adopt TX-style immigration law

Border state GOP pushes to defy White House, adopt TX-style immigration law

Conservatives in the Arizona legislature want to put a Texas-style anti-illegal immigration law on the ballot in November, after the state’s Democratic governor vetoed the bill earlier this year. The Republican-controlled legislature in the border state approved a measure in February that would make illegal immigration a state crime and allow police to arrest those on suspicion of being in the state illegally. It would also have made it a felony for illegal migrants who cross the border after being deported, as well as those who have been ordered to leave the state but refused to comply. It is similar to a Texas law passed in December, but that has been on hold since January due to a lawsuit from the federal government. It’s one of a number of such bills from states who say the federal government is not doing enough to tackle the ongoing crisis at the southern border. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS But it was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs in March. “This bill does not secure our border. On the contrary, it will be harmful for businesses and communities in our state and a burden for law enforcement personnel,” said Hobbs. “I know there’s frustration about the federal government’s failure to secure our border, but this bill is not the solution.” Now, conservatives who are part of the state’s Freedom Caucus are pushing a measure that would add it to the ballot in November. “We know Katie Hobbs won’t sign [the bill], but the Arizona Constitution gives us as a legislature the right to refer a law like that to the ballot. And that is what I’d like to see from the Arizona legislature,” state Rep. Alex Kolodin told Fox News Digital in an interview. ANOTHER RED STATE MOVES A STEP CLOSER TO ENACTING TEXAS-STYLE ANTI-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION BILL Kolodin is calling on leadership to convene a special hearing because it is past the deadline and it needs waiving by a vote of the majority of the chamber.  He believes there is support in the legislature, but it’s just about making it actually happen. “I would say in the House, all of the Republicans are supportive in principle. The issue, though, is that so far that support has not translated into concrete action and that’s what needs to happen because the people of Arizona are expecting that,” he said. Kolodin also said that if it was added to the ballot, he believes it would pass. “I’m very confident that Arizonans would pass it. Immigration is by far the best polling issue for Republicans. This is an issue on which a large majority of Arizonans are on our side,” he said. The push by Arizona represents the latest push by red states to take matters related to immigration into their own hands. A Louisiana legislator recently introduced a Texas-style law, while a similar measure is heading to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ desk. Other measures are moving forward in Tennessee, Oklahoma and Georgia. Kolodin said the move is in response to inaction from the feds. He gave a similar justification for his push for the ballot measure. “The federal government is utterly failing in their duty to protect us from this invasion. And so we have to take matters into our own hands, or the very lives and safety of our constituents are at risk,” he said. Fox News’ Michael Dorgan and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Wisconsin becomes 28th state to pass a ban on ‘Zuckerbucks’ ahead of 2024 election

Wisconsin becomes 28th state to pass a ban on ‘Zuckerbucks’ ahead of 2024 election

Wisconsin voters approved two constitutional amendments that would ban private funds – dubbed “Zuckerbucks” – from being used in election administration in the key battleground state.  On Tuesday, a pair of state constitutional amendments pushed by Republican lawmakers cleared the majority threshold of Wisconsin voters to pass.  The measures will ban clerks from accepting or receiving private grant money to help conduct elections, and require that only election officials can conduct elections.  “Wisconsin has spoken and the message is clear: elections belong to voters, not out-of-state billionaires,” said state GOP Chairman Brian Schimming in a statement. ‘END ZUCKERBUCKS’: GOP BILL AIMS TO BAN MARK ZUCKERBERG-STYLE ELECTION FUNDING Democrats opposed both measures, arguing they would make it more difficult to conduct elections. They also raised concerns about how the broadly written election workers provision would be interpreted and implemented by local election officials, The Associated Press reported. Both constitutional amendments on the ballot were in reaction to grant money that came to Wisconsin in 2020 from the Center for Tech and Civic Life, a liberal group that advocates for voter access.  That year the organization received a $300 million donation from Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, to help election officials buy supplies and run elections at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. ‘ZUCK BUCKS 2.0’: ZUCKERBERG-FUNDED GROUP PUSHING MILLIONS TO INFLUENCE LOCAL ELECTION OFFICES, REPORT SAYS That funding came with the stated goal of helping jurisdictions deal with the coronavirus pandemic through measures such as paying for ballot drop boxes, voting equipment, additional manpower, protective gear for poll workers and public education campaigns on new voting methods. The state’s five largest cities, all of which President Biden won, received $8.8 million. They were among roughly 200 communities in Wisconsin that received around $10 million as part of $350 million given out nationally, the AP reported.  Republicans nationwide have claimed that such funding disproportionately helps Democrats in elections.   “We’re pleased that voters acted resoundingly to ban Zuckerbucks after Governor Evers’ politically motivated vetoes,” said National Chairman of the Election Transparency Initiative (ETI) and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.  “After all, one team doesn’t pay the refs for the Final Four, so why should one side be allowed to pay the ‘refs’ in our elections? The Left funneled money through election offices for partisan voter turnout in 2020, but pretended to be unbiased and non-partisan,” he said.  According to data from the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), Wisconsin is the 28th state to restrict the use of private funds in elections. Those states include battlegrounds like Georgia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Arizona, among others. “Wisconsin was ground zero for Zuckerbucks in 2020. But on Tuesday, Badger State voters chose to reject that same type of dark money influence from affecting future elections,” Sam Rogers, state government affairs director for FGA, told Fox News Digital. “Wisconsin is a critical swing state, and by locking this election protection into their state constitution, Wisconsinites can move forward with more faith and confidence in the integrity of their voting process.” “The impact of this change will ripple all the way through to November,” added Rogers. TEXAS AG INVESTIGATING ZUCKERBERG-BACKED NONPROFIT OVER ELECTION CONCERNS Jason Snead, executive director of the Honest Elections Project, praised the ballot measures’ passage as an effort “to enshrine a ban on private influence on election administration in their state constitution.”  “Private influence schemes such as ZuckBucks in 2020 and ZuckBucks 2.0 in 2024 sow distrust in election outcomes, which is why they should be banned in all 50 states. Moneyed interests, conservative and liberal alike, have no business influencing how elections are administered,” Snead said.  The Associated Press and Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

Trump aims to shatter Biden’s fundraising record with top-dollar Palm Beach gathering

Trump aims to shatter Biden’s fundraising record with top-dollar Palm Beach gathering

Former President Trump is aiming to break a brand-new fundraising record set just over a week ago by President Biden. The Trump campaign predicts that it will haul in over $40 million at a fundraiser on Saturday in Palm Beach, Florida. That would easily top the more than $26 million Biden’s campaign said he raked in during a fundraising appearance on March 28 with former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton at New York City’s famed Radio City Music Hall. The president’s re-election campaign called the money raised at the star-studded event – which set a record for a single fundraiser – “historic.” TRUMP AIMS TO LEVEL FUNDRAISING PLAYING FIELD WITH BIDEN – WITH HELP FROM TOP GOP DONORS More importantly, the fundraising haul helped Biden boost his already formidable cash advantage over Trump as the Democratic White House incumbent and his Republican predecessor face off in a rematch of their 2020 showdown. But Michael Whatley, the newly installed Republican National Committee chair and Trump ally, said in an interview this week on FOX Business’ “Mornings with Maria” that over $40 million would be brought in at the fundraiser, which he described as a “huge event.” SHOT IN THE ARM: TRUMP TOUTS HEFTY MARCH FUNDRAISING FIGURE Billionaire investor and hedge fund founder John Paulson is hosting the top-dollar fundraiser, which is the kickoff event for the recently formed Donald J. Trump National Committee. The event will include major contributors, some of whom stayed on the sidelines or supported the former president’s rivals during the recently concluded primary season. Among those listed as co-chairs of the fundraiser are hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah Mercer. They were major boosters of Trump in 2016 but mostly sat out the former president’s 2020 re-election campaign. Also on the list of co-chairs are oil magnate Harold Hamm; hotelier and space entrepreneur Robert Bigelow; casino giant Steve Wynn; and Todd Ricketts, a co-owner of the Chicago Cubs, a member of the TD Ameritrade board of directors and former RNC finance chairman. The “Inaugural Leadership Dinner” will be held at Paulson’s Palm Beach home, which isn’t far from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club and resort. Those attending the fundraiser are expected to donate from $250,000 to over $800,000, which would include “dinner seating at President Trump’s table.” The gala will feature former first lady Melania Trump and three of Trump’s former 2024 GOP presidential primary opponents who have since endorsed him – Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and multi-millionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who are listed as special guests. The fundraiser is a further sign of the coalescing of much of the Republican donor class around Trump, now that he’s clinched the GOP nomination and is the party’s presumptive presidential nominee. A source in the former president’s political orbit called the fundraiser a “come home to Trump” moment. Trump has long had strained relations with some in the Republican Party’s donor class, but he has worked hard in recent months to improve relations. He’s hosted some of these major contributors in recent weeks. “There’s no question that most of the major donors who were with [Ron] DeSantis or [Nikki] Haley are coming on board and rallying around the president. I think everybody realizes what’s at stake in the 2024 elections,” Republican Jewish Coalition CEO Matt Brooks, who has close ties to the donor class, told Fox News. One reason Trump faces such a large fundraising deficit to Biden is that the president has been able to raise money in conjunction with the Democratic National Committee and Democratic state parties across the country. But a joint fundraising committee set up last month by the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) will allow them to similarly coordinate among themselves and with state GOP chapters from coast to coast. The committee was formed after the former president and his campaign team, after clinching the GOP nomination, took control of the RNC and installed allies – including Whatley and Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump – in the national party committee’s top leadership positions. Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita is simultaneously serving as the RNC chief of staff. An RNC and Trump campaign official, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, last week acknowledged that “we’ll never be able to raise dollar to dollar with Biden… but we’re going to have what we need to win.” The official described the burgeoning Trump campaign/RNC fundraising effort as “impressive” and added, “We feel really good about where we’re going to be this time next month.” Biden’s campaign recently taunted Trump over the latest fundraising figures, which spotlighted the president’s formidable fundraising advantage. “If Donald Trump put up these kinds of numbers on ‘The Apprentice,’ he’d fire himself,” Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler said in a statement.  But Trump and the RNC raked in a substantial amount of cash in March, in a move which will likely ease concerns among some in the GOP over the campaign fundraising deficit they face against Biden and the DNC. Trump and the RNC highlighted this week that they brought in $65.6 million in March and ended the month with $93.1 million in cash on hand. The figures include money raised by a number of fundraising committees. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.