Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announces book detailing her rapid rise in Democratic politics
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will detail her rapid ascent in Democratic politics in a book out this summer, a move that will undoubtedly spark fresh speculation about her potential presidential ambitions. “True Gretch” is scheduled for release July 9 and a book announcement provided to The Associated Press promises insights into Whitmer’s five-year tenure as Michigan’s governor. It will include a behind-the-scenes look at how she navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, became the target of a kidnapping plot and continually clashed with former President Donald Trump. MICHIGAN GOP LAWMAKERS SLAM TAXPAYER-FUNDED RENT SUBSIDIES FOR MIGRANTS WITH PENDING ASYLUM APPLICATIONS The book also will highlight her role in the 2022 midterm election, when Michigan voters enshrined abortion rights in the state’s constitution through a ballot initiative. Democrats that year also won full control of Michigan’s state government for the first time in four decades. Whitmer, a co-chair in President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, has emerged as one of the Democratic party’s top stars and is often named as a potential contender for the party’s presidential nomination in 2028. “In this moment, our world is thirsty for compassion, empathy, big ideas, and the grit to get sh— done,” Whitmer said in the statement announcing her book. “I hope this book will help you find the good and use it to make a difference. I’ll be doing the same alongside you.” An attorney turned state lawmaker, Whitmer was first elected governor in 2018 after running a campaign centered on a pledge to “fix the damn roads.” Shortly into her first term, when the pandemic began, she implemented some of the nation’s most restrictive stay-at-home orders, which made her the ongoing target of right-wing vitriol. Thousands of people came to the state Capitol with guns in 2020 as Trump egged them on, tweeting “Liberate Michigan.” Whitmer became known as “that woman from Michigan,” a play on words Trump used to attack her in 2020. Her bouts with Trump, which have continued with him calling Whitmer “radical” and a “terrible governor” this week during a Michigan visit, helped grow her national profile. She delivered the Democratic response to Trump’s State of the Union in 2020 and was considered as a potential vice president pick for Biden later that year. Whitmer won reelection in 2022 by more than 10%. Her party also flipped the state House and Senate, which has allowed them to roll back decades of Republican policies and rapidly implement a Democratic agenda over the past 15 months. Whitmer’s motto in politics, she writes in the book, is to “get sh— done.” The book’s release unquestionably will fuel speculation Whitmer is angling for a higher office when her term-limited time as Michigan’s governor concludes at the end of 2026, although she previously has told the AP that she has “no interest in going to D.C.” Both Simon & Schuster and the governor’s office declined to comment on the financial compensation she received for the book. A spokesperson for Simon & Schuster added “it is our policy not to comment on the financials of a book deal.” Whitmer in December signed new financial disclosure laws that will require state officials, including the governor, to annually submit reports showing sources of income, properties owned and other assets valued over $1,000 and liabilities valued at more than $10,000. This year, disclosures are due April 15 and will cover the preceding calendar year. “State government must be open, transparent, and accountable to the people it serves,” Whitmer said in a statement at the time of the signing. Whitmer will donate the net proceeds from the publishing of her book throughout the entirety of her term as governor to the Capital Region Community Foundation, a nonprofit that leads philanthropic solutions to help improve communities in mid-Michigan, according to the release.
Mississippi state budget is expected to shrink slightly in the coming year
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Budget writers in the Mississippi Legislature will have slightly less money to spend during the coming year than they did in the current one. Top members of the House and Senate met Friday and set a revenue estimate of $7.6 billion for the year that begins July 1. That is a decrease of 1% from the current year. REPUBLICAN-LED MISSISSIPPI HOUSE ADVANCES MEDICAID EXPANSION PROPOSAL, MOVES ON TO SENATE The estimate is experts’ best guess of how much money the state will collect, based on economic trends including employment rates and consumer spending patterns. Legislators are in a four-month session that is scheduled to end in early May. During the next few weeks, they are supposed to finish writing the budget for the coming year, deciding how much to spend on schools, prisons, health care and other services. Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said Friday that legislators will be prudent with money. Mississippi is in the process of reducing its personal income tax under a law that Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed in 2022. In his budget proposal released in February, Reeves said he wants to erase the tax by 2029. Hosemann said Friday that he does not expect movement in that direction this year. “I can’t speak for the House. But for the Senate side, I don’t think we’re going to have any income tax cuts,” Hosemann told reporters. It has been months since state agencies submitted the budget requests for the coming year. Legislators rarely give agencies all the money they seek, and House Appropriations Committee Chairman John Read said that’s likely to be the case again this session. “I’m going to do as much as I can,” said Read, a Republican from Gautier. “We get requests. There’s no way I can do 100% of requests, so I tell people to give me a priority list, and that’s what I go on. We try to help everyone.”
Biden admin temporarily drops ‘outrageous climate mandate’ amid flurry of lawsuits
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) temporarily suspended its controversial rule requiring private companies to disclose carbon emissions data after it was met with a slew of lawsuits. The rule, which was finalized in March, was immediately met with litigation by a cohort of 25 GOP attorneys general, along with energy companies Liberty Energy and Nomad Proppant Services, and business groups including the Chamber of Commerce, Texas Alliance of Energy Producers and Domestic Energy Producers Alliance. Last month, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a brief administrative stay of the rule while the various lawsuits were consolidated. The groups asked the 8th Circuit to force the SEC to block its rule. On Friday, the SEC voluntarily agreed to temporarily suspend its rule while the litigation continues on the merits. “The mandate is part of Biden’s radical green scheme to influence investments based on climate change theories instead of returns,” Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said Friday, adding that “it would’ve cost Missouri businesses millions of dollars per year.” BIDEN WARNED ON ‘HEAVY-HANDED’ ESG POLICIES HITTING COMPANIES, FAMILIES “It would’ve required businesses to disclose climate-related risks, including higher insurance rates from weather disasters, and release a plan to adapt to climate agenda recommendations,” Bailey said. “Our message to Joe Biden: you cannot implement this insane climate mandate without an act of Congress. Constitution 101: Separation of powers,” Bailey stated on X. In a letter to the 8th Circuit, the SEC said that the stay order “reaffirms the Commission’s ‘view that the Final Rules are consistent with applicable law and within the Commission’s long-standing authority,’” “As the Commission explains, particularly given the procedural complexities of this litigation, a stay will facilitate this Court’s orderly resolution of petitioners’ challenges and will avoid potential regulatory uncertainty ‘if registrants were to become subject to the Final Rules’ requirements during the pendency of the challenges to their validity,’” the letter sent Friday states. SUPREME COURT APPEARS READY TO REEL IN ADMINISTRATIVE STATE IN LANDMARK CHALLENGE FROM EAST COAST FISHERMEN Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird reacted to the SEC’s announcement Friday, calling the rule “Biden’s most outrageous climate mandate for businesses yet,” and called the SEC’s stay of the rule a “huge win.” COALITION URGES CONGRESS TO RECLAIM POWER FROM ‘NAMELESS, FACELESS’ REGULATORS CRUSHING ECONOMY Under the leadership of Chairman Gary Gensler, whom President Biden appointed to the role, the SEC approved the climate disclosure rules on March 6 in a 3-2 vote after nearly two years of heated deliberations. The SEC has said that the rules reflect “investors’ demand for more consistent, comparable, and reliable information about the financial effects of climate-related risks.” And Gensler said they will further guarantee companies “produce more useful information than what investors see today.” Fox News Digital’s Thomas Cattennacci contributed to this report.
CIA denies whistleblower allegation that agency ‘stonewalled’ IRS interview with Hunter Biden ‘sugar brother’
The Central Intelligence Agency is denying whistleblower claims that it “stonewalled” an IRS interview with Hunter Biden’s “sugar brother” Kevin Morris, saying the agency “did not prevent or seek to prevent IRS or DOJ from conducting any such interview.” A whistleblower approached House Republicans last month claiming that the CIA blocked an interview with Morris conducted by the IRS as part of the federal investigation into Hunter Biden. WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIMS CIA ‘STONEWALLED’ IRS INTERVIEW WITH HUNTER BIDEN ‘SUGAR BROTHER’ KEVIN MORRIS: HOUSE GOP According to the whistleblower, in August 2021, when IRS investigators on the Hunter Biden federal investigation were preparing to interview Morris, the CIA “intervened to stop the interview.” The whistleblower alleged that the CIA summoned two Justice Department officials to the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, for a briefing regarding Morris. The whistleblower claimed that Morris “could not be a witness in the investigation.” The allegations were laid out in a letter sent to CIA Director Bill Burns last month by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. But the CIA this week said the allegation is “false.” “Without confirming or denying the existence of any associations or communications, CIA did not prevent or seek to prevent IRS or DOJ from conducting any such interview,” James Catella, the CIA’s director of the Office of Congressional Affairs, wrote in a letter to Jordan and Comer. “The allegation is false.” The CIA said that, as a general matter, and “without specific reference to the issue about which you have inquired, CIA facilitates the Department of Justice’s access to national security information in the context of investigations and prosecutions in a variety of circumstances.” ‘SUGAR BROTHER’ KEVIN MORRIS LOANED HUNTER BIDEN $6.5M FOR DEBTS AND BACK TAXES, MORE THAN PREVIOUS ESTIMATE “For example, CIA engages with DOJ to enable prosecutors to understand national security information that may arise in the course of an investigation and to assess their discovery obligations,” Catella wrote. “CIA cooperates with law enforcement partners and does not obstruct U.S. law enforcement investigations or prosecutions,” he continued. “To the extent your letter seeks information about any ongoing federal law enforcement investigation or prosecution, the Department of Justice is the responsible agency.” Morris loaned Hunter Biden approximately $6.5 million — over $1 million more than originally estimated and discussed — his attorney revealed in a letter earlier this year. Morris, who was subpoenaed to testify as part of the impeachment inquiry, testified that he loaned Hunter Biden at least $5 million and began paying his tax liability. Morris and his attorney were estimating during the interview, a source told Fox News, and promised to follow-up with exact figures loaned to the first son. The attorney followed up to note Morris had given an additional $1.6 million to Hunter Biden. KEVIN MORRIS GAVE ‘MASSIVE’ FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO HUNTER BIDEN, RAISING CAMPAIGN FINANCE CONCERNS: COMER Morris, on Oct. 13, 2021, gave Hunter Biden a loan for approximately $1.4 million. According to the letter, Hunter Biden was to repay the loan, with $500,000 paid by Oct. 1, 2026 and the remaining $417,634 by Oct. 1, 2027, plus interest. A few days later, Morris loaned Hunter Biden $2.6 million, with directions to repay the loan by Oct. 1, 2029. That loan, according to Morris’ lawyer, “was used to pay, among other debts, Mr. Biden’s tax debt to the IRS.” On Oct. 17, 2022, Morris loaned Hunter Biden $640,355 to be repaid by Oct. 15, 2027. In December 2022, Morris loaned Hunter $685,813.99, to be repaid by Oct. 15, 2027. A year later, Dec. 29, 2023, Morris loaned Hunter approximately $1.2 million to be repaid by Oct. 15, 2028, with all interest paid by October 2029. Special Counsel David Weiss charged Hunter Biden with nine federal tax charges, which break down to three felonies and six misdemeanors for $1.4 million in owed taxes that have since been paid. Weiss charged Hunter in December, alleging a “four-year scheme” in which the president’s son did not pay his federal income taxes from January 2017 to October 2020 while also filing false tax reports. Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to all charges. Weiss also indicted the first son on federal gun charges in Delaware last year. Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to those charges as well. His attorneys are attempting to have that case dismissed.
White House says it’s working for Hamas surrender even as it tries to rein in Israel
The White House said it remains committed to ensuring a Hamas surrender and has engaged in conversations with intermediary countries, including Qatar and Egypt, to achieve that end. In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said it delivered that message “forcefully” to counterparts in Qatar and Egypt, which have acted as mediators in the ongoing Middle East conflict. U.S. officials’ continued push for a surrender underscores the delicate balance the White House is seeking to achieve as it works to end hostilities. “We’ve been clear publicly, as well as privately, that this conflict could end today if Hamas would just lay down their arms and that if Hamas cared about the lives of the Palestinian people, they would do that,” the National Security Council spokesperson said. White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said President Biden wants Hamas to surrender and pointed to examples of the president and other officials saying so in the past. Biden remarked during his State of the Union address last month that the conflict would end if Hamas stood down, released its hostages and handed over those responsible for the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel. BIDEN RIDICULED FOR ‘OBVIOUS HYPOCRISY’ AS HE CONDEMNS ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE THAT KILLED AID WORKERS IN GAZA Yet, the White House asserts that it is actively working to achieve a Hamas surrender even as Biden intensifies pressure on the Israeli government. In a phone call Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden called for an immediate cease-fire, saying it is “essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians.” According to a readout of the call released by the White House, Biden further stated that U.S. policy would hinge on Israel’s response to humanitarian concerns in Gaza. ISRAELIS FEAR BIDEN’S ‘INTOLERABLE’ CEASE-FIRE DEMAND MEANS VICTORY FOR HAMAS Earlier this week, seven World Central Kitchen aid workers were killed by Israeli airstrikes, adding to growing concerns about the humanitarian situation on the ground in Gaza. Israel’s bombardment of Gaza targeting Hamas is now in its fifth month – part of its response to terrorist attacks committed by the militant group on Oct. 7, 2023 – which resulted in more than 1,200 civilian deaths and has been called “Israel’s 9/11.” “It’s a signal that the U.S. government is losing patience with the approach that the Israeli government has taken in Gaza, and that there may be some appetite in the Biden administration to put tighter controls on how its military and other resources are being used by the Israeli government,” Ian Hurd, the director of Northwestern University’s Weinberg College Center for International and Area Studies, told Fox News Digital. “I think there’s a longer-term shift going on with global support, and the Netanyahu government may be miscalculating the strength of its military backers.” ISRAEL-IRAN TENSIONS RISING AS IDF PAUSES LEAVE FOR ALL COMBAT UNITS: ‘MORE ALERT, MORE READY’ Hurd added that focus should be placed on Israel’s actions in Gaza, rather than Hamas’ actions or response to U.S. pressure. Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research at the nonpartisan Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Biden’s actions and decision to reprimand Netanyahu will embolden Hamas, characterizing the White House as an “inadvertent ally of Hamas.” He also argued Biden hasn’t called for a Hamas surrender forcefully enough. “Why would Hamas make a deal for hostages right now, when it’s the U.S. that is putting significant pressure on the Israelis, and they’re holding the Israelis back from finishing off Hamas? Why would they want to make any concessions?” Schanzer said. “They’re holding all the cards right now, and some of the cards have just been handed to them by the administration.” “There’s a weird equivalence thing going on here, where the administration is beating up on its allies and ignoring the crimes of its adversaries and enemies,” he continued. “And one does get a sense here that politics is a major factor.” Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee contributed to this report.
RFK Jr ‘disturbed’ by ‘weaponization of government’ against Trump, vows to appoint Jan 6 special counsel
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on Friday said he is “disturbed” by “the weaponization of government against” former President Donald Trump. He also vowed that if elected president, he would appoint a special counsel to investigate whether “prosecutorial discretion was abused for political ends” in cases related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Kennedy on Friday issued a statement in an effort to “clarify his views on the events of January 6, 2021.” TRUMP SAYS HE WILL FREE JAN. 6 RIOTERS ON FIRST DAY IF RE-ELECTED “January 6 is one of the most polarizing topics on the political landscape. I am listening to people of diverse viewpoints on it in order to make sense of the event and what followed. I want to hear every side,” Kennedy said, adding that it is “quite clear that many of the January 6 protesters broke the law in what may have started as a protest but turned into a riot.” “Because it happened with the encouragement of President Trump, and in the context of his delusion that the election was stolen from him, many people see it not as a riot but as an insurrection,” he said. But Kennedy said that “reasonable people, including Trump opponents, tell me there is little evidence of a true insurrection.” “They observe that the protesters carried no weapons, had no plans or ability to seize the reins of government, and that Trump himself had urged them to protest ‘peacefully,’” Kennedy said. HOUSE JAN. 6 COMMITTEE DELETED MORE THAN 100 ENCRYPTED FILES DAYS BEFORE GOP TOOK MAJORITY: SOURCES “Like many reasonable Americans, I am concerned about the possibility that political objectives motivated the vigor of the prosecution of the J6 defendants, their long sentences, and their harsh treatment,” he continued. “That would fit a disturbing pattern of the weaponization of government agencies — the DoJ, the IRS, the SEC, the FBI, etc. — against political opponents.” Kennedy said that though he opposes Trump “and all he stands for,” he is still “disturbed by the weaponization of government against him.” “As President, I will appoint a special counsel — an individual respected by all sides — to investigate whether prosecutorial discretion was abused for political ends in this case, and I will right any wrongs that we discover,” Kennedy said. “Without the impartial rule of law, there is no true democracy or moral governance.” Kennedy said that Jan. 6 is being used by both parties to “pour fuel on the fire of America’s divisions,” saying that Republicans and Democrats claim that in 2024 “a victory by their opponents means the end of democracy.” Biden has used Jan. 6 during campaign speeches and even his State of the Union address to illustrate why Trump should not be elected president again. “Instead of demonizing our opponents as apocalyptic threats to democracy, let’s focus on the issues and priorities of how they will govern, and defeat them at the ballot box rather than through legal maneuvers and dirty tricks,” Kennedy said. HOUSE INVESTIGATION INTO ‘WHAT REALLY HAPPENED ON JANUARY 6’ ENTERING ‘NEW PHASE’ WITH SPEAKER JOHNSON SUPPORT Kennedy went on to blast both Trump and Biden for presiding as president during “the continued worsening of our national debt, chronic disease epidemic, government corruption, erosion of civil liberties, and foreign military entanglements.” “Maybe it is because the establishment parties differ very little on these key issues that they campaign on the demonization of their opponents and all who support them instead,” he said. Special Counsel Jack Smith has charged Trump with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Those charges stemmed from Smith’s investigation into whether Trump was involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and any alleged interference in the 2020 election result. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on April 25 on the issue of presidential immunity, and whether Trump is immune from prosecution in Smith’s case. More than 1,350 people have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to the Justice Department.
Fox News Politics: Too much democracy
Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. What’s happening? – GOP’s Ukraine skeptics draw battle lines – Biden renews effort to cancel student loans despite SCOTUS ruling – GOP candidate with famous last name shatters fundraising record An internal memo showing panic within the Democratic Party over its “nonpartisan” voter registration efforts potentially helping former President Trump is drawing criticism from those who say the registration efforts were a “partisan scam” from the start. Democrats across the country have become increasingly concerned over the amount of support Trump is pulling from usually reliable demographics and donors have been bickering over an internal memo casting doubt on whether the party should continue using nonprofits to register unregistered voters over fears it could help Trump, the Washington Post reported this week. “Indeed, if we were to blindly register nonvoters and get them on the rolls, we would be distinctly aiding Trump’s quest for a personal dictatorship,” the memo explained, casting doubt on the longstanding voter registration push that typically has resulted in favorable results for Democrats in previous elections. HANDOUT TAKE 2: Biden to defy Supreme Court in second attempt at sweeping student loan handout …Read more KEY DEMANDS: Baltimore Bridge collapse: House Freedom Caucus demands limits on federal funding …Read more SETTING THE STAGE: House GOP Ukraine skeptics draw battle lines ahead of funding fight …Read more APRIL SHOWERS: Billionaire donors pour cash into Trump campaign coffers: ‘fundraising juggernaut’ …Read more NOT SO FAST: RFK disavows campaign email calling Jan. 6 protesters ‘activists’ stripped of ‘constitutional liberties’ …Read more FLIP TO RED?: Daughter of this blue bastion’s last Republican senator shatters state Republican fundraising record …Read more KEY GROUP: Latino voters may make or break the presidential election in swing states like Nevada …Read more ‘REALLY BUGS ME’: ‘The Rock’ explains why he’s not endorsing Biden this time, how he feels about ‘woke culture’ …Read more CHECKS AND BALANCES: Poll finds Americans’ support for checks and balances depends on who is in office …Read more ‘REAL THREAT’: Democratic strategist boasts party fought to undermine ‘dangerous’ third-party threat to Biden …Read more ‘TEXAS IS GROUND ZERO’: Texas Gov. Abbott travels to sanctuary city to say he won’t stop bussing in illegal immigrants …Read more BREAKING AND ENTERING: Caught on camera: Crowds of illegal immigrants cut razor wire, rush into Texas …Read more ‘PARTISAN SCAM’: Democrats ripped for admitting ‘quiet part out loud’ after panic about key strategy helping Trump …Read more ‘HORRIFIC MANAGER’: ‘Shark Tank’s’ Kevin O’Leary shreds AOC over her district looking like a ‘Third World country’ …Read more Subscribe now to get Fox News Politics newsletter in your inbox. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
Billionaire donors plan to shower Trump with millions in April: ‘fundraising juggernaut’
Big-money donors are beginning to coalesce around former President Donald Trump after he has become the presumptive GOP nominee as he attempts to close the cash-on-hand gap with President Biden, who recently set a high-dollar fundraising record. This weekend at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump will host an “Inaugural Leadership Dinner” that includes several Republican high-profile donors and signals the beginning of a major push to cut into Biden’s cash-on-hand lead. The event will be led by hedge-fund billionaire John Paulson and will be co-chaired by hedge fund tycoon Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah, oil tycoon Harold Hamm, hotelier Robert Bigelow and casino mogul Steve Wynn. Bigelow and Hamm had previously funneled money to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in his ill-fated presidential run against Trump in the primary. Hamm previously donated to former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign as well. TRUMP RAKES IN HEFTY MARCH FUNDRAISING HAUL AS CAMPAIGN AIMS TO CLOSE CASH GAP WITH BIDEN Chicago Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts and New York Jets co-owner Woody Johnson are also expected to be involved along with Wilbur Ross, Trump’s former secretary of commerce. The event tops out at the “Chairman Level,” which costs $824,600 and includes seating at the former president’s table. “Now that President Trump won the primaries, defeating all 10 contenders by a landslide, I think it’s time for Republicans to unite behind him,” Paulsen recently told Bloomberg. “For that reason, I’m hosting this inaugural event to galvanize the broad support there is for the president.” The event comes after President Biden raised at least $26 million in a star-studded event with former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Many expect Trump’s fundraising haul to eclipse that record-setting figure and possibly raise around $43 million. JOE BIDEN DOESN’T CARE IF HIS POLICIES HURT THE AVERAGE JOE On April 10, Trump will hold a fundraising luncheon in the swing state of Georgia with former Georgia Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. Top GOP donors are expected to attend, including Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus, poultry industry executive Tommy Bagwell, beverage sector executive Don Leebern III and Buckhead advocate Bill White. On that same day, Trump will be holding a fundraiser in Orlando, Florida, with attorney Dan Newlin. “President Donald J. Trump has again created a fundraising juggernaut among Republicans. While he has been the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party for less than a month, the RNC and Trump campaign are one unified operation and focused on victory,” Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement this week. “We’re raising funds and making strategic investments to get out the vote and protect the ballot. We are going to win BIG in just 31 weeks,” Whatley predicted. Fox News Digital confirmed Trump and the RNC 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. The Biden campaign reported raising $53 million in February, ending the month with $155 million on hand. While Trump trails with cash on hand, The New York Times reported in February that Trump leads Biden when it comes to small-dollar donors who gave less than $200.
ACLU threatens to sue Georgia over election bill conservatives praise as ‘commonsense’ reform
The Georgia legislature passed new election ballot reforms that could have a big impact in the 2024 election in the key battleground state, should Gov. Brian Kemp sign the bill into law. The Georgia state legislature passed GOP-backed Senate Bill 189 last week, which now awaits Kemp’s signature or veto. The bill would grant access to Georgia’s ballot to any political party that has qualified for the presidential ballot in at least 20 states — a change that could boost independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and potentially draw votes away from President Biden. The bill also makes ballots, once certified, immediately available as public record in an effort to increase the scope of poll watchers on Election Day. It also makes audits of voter rolls easier, to ensure deceased residents or those who have moved out of state are no longer eligible to vote. LIBERAL GROUPS SUE TO BLOCK NEW ALABAMA VOTING LAW BANNING BALLOT HARVESTING Hans von Spakovsky, an election law expert and former member of the Federal Election Commission, said the Georgia legislature, through measures like Senate Bill 189, is trying to address several administration problems highlighted in the 2020 election. “The Georgia legislature has been trying to correct the vulnerabilities that allowed some of those administrative problems to creep in,” von Spakovsky told Fox News Digital in an interview. Von Spakovsky, who also served on the Board of Advisors of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and on the Fulton County Board of Registrations and Elections, praised the measure as an effort to make future elections “as transparent as possible.” MAIL-IN BALLOTS MUST HAVE DATES ON ENVELOPES, PENNSYLVANIA APPEALS COURT RULES Andrea Young, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Georgia, has said the legislation violates the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), and threatened to sue if it becomes law. Among other things, the NVRA, signed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, bans states from removing registered voters from voter rolls unless certain criteria are met. “The majority in the Georgia General Assembly persists in passing laws that will undermine our democracy,” Young told local news station FOX 5. “This is a recipe for election chaos, and we strongly urge the governor to veto it.” But von Spakovsky said he doesn’t see anything in the state’s measure that would violate the NVRA, and says that similar legal challenges in other states have failed. He also noted that claims by President Biden two years ago that other Georgia election reforms — like requiring ID for absentee ballots — were a mechanism to suppress minority voters and amounted to “Jim Crow 2.0” have proven to be false. Von Spakovsky noted that a survey conducted by the University of Georgia found that precisely 0% of Black respondents said that they had a “poor” experience voting in 2022, compared to 0.9% of White voters. AG GARLAND PLEDGES TO FIGHT VOTER ID LAWS, ELECTION INTEGRITY MEASURES “I have a lot more confidence that we’re going to have a good election this year than I did in 2020,” von Spakovsky said. Janae Stracke, vice president of outreach at the conservative group Heritage Action, said that lawmakers in Georgia “deserve a lot of praise for their work to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat through commonsense proposals that are often supported by a bipartisan majority of Americans.” “Free and fair elections are the bedrock of our republic, and everyone deserves to know their vote will be counted accurately this November,” she said. The ACLU did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Spike in number of illegal Chinese immigrants becoming US national security issue
The number of Chinese nationals arriving at the U.S. border illegally has surged more than 6,300% in recent years, further fueling national security concerns that came back into focus last week when a Chinese immigrant was stopped at a Marine base. There have been 22,233 encounters of Chinese nationals crossing illegally at the northern and southern border so far in fiscal year 2024, which began in October. That means this year is likely to significantly exceed last year’s total of 24,125. That figure was itself a massive increase over the previous two years. There were just 342 apprehensions of Chinese nationals in fiscal year 2021 and 1,987 in FY 2022, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS In the San Diego Sector this week, 182 Chinese nationals were apprehended in a single day. Lawmakers have raised concerns about the migrants’ potential ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). “There have been numerous documented instances of Chinese nationals, at the direction of the CCP, engaging in espionage, stealing military and economic secrets,” lawmakers, led by Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said last year. The Biden administration has noted the national security threat from China more broadly. In its most recent threat assessment, the Department of Homeland Security warns China will likely use predatory economic practices, including espionage and market manipulation, against the U.S. CHINESE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTED AFTER DRIVING ONTO MILITARY BASE IN CALIFORNIA Last week, a Chinese illegal immigrant was detained in California after entering a Marine Corps base without authorization and ignoring orders to leave. The individual had attempted to access the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms without a valid ID, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marine Corps’ Training and Education Command told Fox News Digital. “Despite being prompted to exit at the Condor gate by installation security, the individual proceeded onto the installation without authorization. Military law enforcement were immediately notified and detained the individual,” the spokesperson said. CBP has stressed that there will be consequences for those who enter the U.S. illegally. CHINESE MIGRANTS MAKE MULTI-COUNTRY TREK TO US SOUTHERN BORDER: ‘I JUST WANT TO MAKE MONEY’ “DHS continues to enforce United States immigration laws, expanding lawful pathways while strengthening enforcement consequences for those who cross our border unlawfully,” the agency said in a statement last week. “Individuals and families without a legal basis to remain in the U.S. are subject to removal pursuant to Title 8 authorities and are subject to a minimum five-year bar on reapplying for admission and potential criminal prosecution if they subsequently re-enter without authorization.” It added: “CBP is leveraging all available resources and partnerships to efficiently vet and process migrants consistent with law.” But other migrants coming from China have said they just intend to make a better life for themselves and their families. “My English is not very good, and I don’t know anyone in the United States,” one migrant told Fox last month. “Once I get to the United States, I know I have to start all over again. But I want to live a good life in the future, and I want my children to be educated well. I strive to take root in the United States as soon as possible.”