Greg Abbott, Tim Dunn spend millions in Texas GOP primary fights over vouchers, impeachment
Texans For Lawsuit Reform and pro-voucher groups are also spending millions.
Key witness in Fani Willis case testifies he may have lied in texts about friends’ affair
Former law firm partner and divorce attorney Terrance Bradley testified under oath Tuesday regarding what he knew about Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis and special prosector Nathan Wade’s personal relationship. Bradley took the stand after Judge Scott McAfee determined Bradley couldn’t claim attorney-client privilege. Bradley, when pressed under oath, said he couldn’t recall several details and timelines about conversations he had with former client Nathan Wade about Wade’s romantic relationship with Fani Willis. Defense attorney Ashleigh Merchant at one point referenced text messages between her and Bradley in which she had asked Bradley if he thought their relationship started before Willis hired Wade in 2021. Bradley responded “absolutely” in the text exchange. But in court Tuesday, Bradley claimed he was “speculating” in those comments. FANI WILLIS’ TESTIMONY WAS ‘BELLIGERENT’ AND COULD DAMAGE HER CREDIBILITY, FORMER PROSECUTOR SAYS Attorney Richard Rice later asked Bradley if he makes a habit of passing on “lies about your friends.” “Do you tell lies about your friends? About a case of national importance?” Rice asked. “I could have had, I don’t know,” Bradley responded. Bradely said he couldn’t recall key details or specific information over two dozen times in the roughly two-hour testimony in Fulton County Superior Court Tuesday. He also claimed he had only ever discussed Wade’s relationship with Willis once with Wade. FULTON COUNTY DA FANI WILLIS ACCUSED OF LYING ABOUT TIMING OF AFFAIR WITH TRUMP PROSECUTOR Bradley earlier this month avoided answering certain questions, citing attorney-client privilege. Judge McAfee said he would hold an “in-camera” meeting with Bradley to determine if his privilege assertions are accurate. He said it appeared Bradley may have been misusing his attorney-client privilege. Bradley is the former law firm partner to Nathan Wade, who is accused of having an affair that financially benefited Willis after she hired him to help prosecute the election interference case against former president Donald Trump. On Tuesday, Bradley said he hadn’t spoken to Wade in two years after having been friends for over 10 years. Bradley had refused to answer some of the questions asked by defense counsel about what he knew about Wade and Wills’ relationship and when he knew, citing attorney-client privilege. Bradley, for a brief time, was Wade’s lawyer during Wade’s divorce. Judge McAfee determined after the in-camera meeting that Bradley’s testimony was not covered by privilege, leading to Tuesday’s testimony, which is likely the last installment of evidentiary hearings before both sides present final arguments Friday. Lawyers for Trump and his co-defendants who are accusing Willis of having had an “improper” affair with Wade will try to connect evidence that Willis and Wade lied about when their relationship began and should therefore be disqualified from the case. Earlier this month, Willis’ father, John C. Floyd III, took the stand and confirmed what Willis testified to on Thursday — that her father taught her to keep large amounts of cash on hand at all times. She claimed it was from these funds that she reimbursed Wade for luxury trips, which is why she had no record of the payments. He also said he did not meet Wade until 2023, and that he was unaware his daughter had a romantic relationship with Wade until about seven weeks ago, when allegations of Willis’ impropriety were first made in court filings. During their romantic relationship, which ended last summer, Wade and Willis vacationed to wine country in California, the Caribbean and other destinations. Michael Roman, a GOP political operative and co-defendant in the Trump case, first alleged that Willis had a conflict of interest in the case because she benefited financially from hiring her lover. Four co-defendants have made similar accusations. The crux of the defense’s case is whether it can prove with a money trail that Willis has a conflict of interest in the case against Trump and should be disqualified. GEORGIA DA FANI WILLIS WILL NOT TESTIFY FOR SECOND DAY ON ‘IMPROPER’ AFFAIR WITH NATHAN WADE Willis testified Thursday that she reimbursed Wade for her share of vacation expenses in cash, but she and Wade testified there were no receipts for those transactions. The defense, led by Ashleigh Merchant, is also trying to prove Willis and Wade were romantically involved prior to Wade’s employment in the DA’s office. Both Willis and Wade insisted that their relationship started in 2022, after Wade was hired. But they contradicted testimony from Robin Yeartie, a former “good friend” of Willis and past employee at the DA’s office. Yeartie said she had “no doubt” Willis and Wade’s relationship started in 2019, after the two met at a conference. Yeartie testified to observing Willis and Wade “hugging” and “kissing” and showing “affection” prior to November 2021 and that she had no doubt that the two were in a “romantic” relationship starting in 2019 and lasting until she and Willis last spoke in 2022. Willis dismissed Yeartie’s testimony and said she no longer considers Yeartie a friend. The highlight of the two-day proceeding was Willis’ own — and unexpected — testimony Thursday, which was described by one expert as “belligerent.” She verbally sparred with lawyers for hours, at one point prompting the judge to threaten to strike her testimony. She also raised eyebrows for appearing to be wearing her dress backward. She did not return to the witness stand Friday. Judge McAfee said at the start of the proceedings earlier this month that it’s “clear that disqualification can occur if evidence is produced demonstrating an actual conflict or the appearance of one.”
KJP says Biden has no plans to announce executive order during border visit: ‘You need a legislative solution’
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday said President Biden has no plans to issue executive action during his scheduled visit to the border later this week, reiterating the administration’s stance that legislation is the best solution to address the border crisis. Asked by a reporter whether the president had anything planned during his scheduled visit Thursday to Brownsville, Texas, Jean-Pierre said the White House had nothing to announce. “We’ve spoken to executive [action] many times. We think the bottom line is the way to deal with the challenge that we see at the border, what we see with this immigration, a broken immigration system that has been broken for decades, is if Republicans have moved forward with the bipartisan deal that came out of the Senate.” The Biden administration has repeatedly slammed Republicans for backing out of the bipartisan border deal earlier this month, after Trump came out in opposition to the plan to tighten asylum restrictions and create daily limits on border crossings. REP. KATIE PORTER SAYS MURDER OF GEORGIA STUDENT BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ‘SHOULDN’T SHAPE’ IMMIGRATION POLICY Jean-Pierre later reiterated the White House’s position that executive action would not amount to what bipartisan legislation could achieve if enacted into law. “What [the bipartisan legislation] would have done is been the toughest but also the fairest deal with providing resources,” Jean-Pierre said. Biden and former President Donald Trump are both scheduled to make dueling trips to the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas on Thursday. Biden will travel to Brownsville, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley, an area that often sees large numbers of border crossings. Trump, meanwhile, will go to Eagle Pass, Texas, about 325 miles away from Brownsville, another hot spot. Brandon Judd, the president of the National Border Patrol Council which endorsed the bipartisan border deal, is expected to join Trump at the border. Jean-Pierre declined to comment on why Judd was not invited to meet with Biden. Tuesday’s press conference came after congressional leaders held what was described as an “intense” meeting in the Oval Office with Biden about a legislative logjam that has major ramifications not just for the U.S. but for the world as Ukraine struggles to repel Russia’s invasion with weapons and ammunition starting to run short. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-LA, who rejected a U.S. Mexico border security compromise that was eventually stripped from the final product, signaled no change in his position on Ukraine aid. He said the Senate’s package “does nothing” to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, the GOP’s demand in return for helping Ukraine. “The first priority of the country is our border, and making it secure,” Johnson said.
Presidential candidates, activists praise ‘sacrifice’ of US airman who burned himself alive to protest Israel
Left-wing presidential candidates and activists are praising the U.S. airman who committed suicide over the weekend by burning himself alive outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. Fire officials and police responded to the scene around 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, just moments after 25-year-old Aaron Bushnell, who was serving on active duty in the Air Force, livestreamed himself approaching the gate of the embassy, dousing himself with an unknown liquid, setting himself on fire, and yelling, “Free Palestine,” as his body burned. “Rest in power Aaron Bushnell. ‘I will no longer be complicit in genocide. Free Palestine!’ May his sacrifice deepen our commitment to stop genocide now,” Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein wrote in a post on X, quoting Bushnell from his livestream, and including a disturbing screenshot from the video showing his body on fire. PATRIOTS’ ROBERT KRAFT, SECOND GENTLEMAN DOUG EMHOFF MEET TO TALK ANTISEMITISM, OTHER BIAS: REPORT Independent presidential candidate Cornel West echoed Stein, praising Bushnell’s “extraordinary courage and commitment” after dying “for truth and justice.” “I pray for his precious loved ones! Let us rededicate ourselves to genuine solidarity with Palestinians undergoing genocidal attacks in real time!” West added. The Democratic Socialists of America wrote, “Aaron’s final words were to reject complicity in the United States’ genocide in Gaza. May his soul rest in peace and may we live to free Palestine within our lifetime.” HARVARD ANTISEMITISM TASK FORCE CO-CHAIR RESIGNS IN ANOTHER GROUP SETBACK Immediately after the flames covering Bushnell’s body were extinguished, he was rushed to a hospital but later died. The Pentagon described his actions as a “tragic event,” and offered condolences to his family. According to multiple reports following his death, Bushnell was an anarchist who grew up in a religious sect located in Orleans, Massachusetts, and later attended events in Texas, where he lived, organized by “socialist” organizations. He was reportedly “outraged” over the ongoing war between Israel and Gaza. The Air Force has said it is continuing to investigate Bushnell’s death. When reached for comment, Stein’s campaign referred Fox News Digital to a Tuesday press release in which Stein said, “This extraordinary sacrifice brings into greater focus the immense horror that our government is committing in our name.” “Aaron Bushnell was very clear that he committed this extreme act to protest our government’s extreme policies that are killing thousands of innocent people in horrific ways. His sacrifice is reminiscent of that of Buddhist monks protesting US-backed oppression of their people in Vietnam. It is truly tragic that the horrific actions of the US and Israel have provoked such a desperate sacrifice,” she added. Fox News Digital has also reached out to the West campaign for comment. Fox News’ Bradford Betz and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
McConnell says Senate trial for Mayorkas impeachment is the ‘best way forward’
Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on Tuesday he supports a full impeachment trial for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the border crisis. “I think that would be the best way to go forward,” McConnell told reporters after the weekly Senate GOP leadership press conference. Top GOP leader behind McConnell, Republican Whip Sen. John Thune, also called for a full impeachment trial, while more GOP lawmakers argue Democrats are attempting to short circuit a trial. “The House of Representatives has determined that Secretary Mayorkas has committed impeachable offenses. That issue will come before the United States Senate. I believe the Senate needs to hold a trial,” Thune announced. CONGRESS LIKELY TO PUNT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN DEADLINES AGAIN, SOURCES SAY “I’m going to make the argument — and I’m sure the Democrats will try to dismiss it — that we ought to be having a trial, conducting a trial of the United States Senate to determine whether these are impeachable offenses,” he went on. Senate conservatives have been putting pressure on Republican leadership to push forward with a trial as it’s unclear whether the Democrat-controlled Senate will move forward with the House’s articles. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is one of the lawmakers pushing for a full trial. He told Fox News Digital Tuesday that “we have got to make sure we have a real trial and get to real facts about what’s going on here.” “So if he thinks he’s done such a great job come and explain it. But what they want to do is they want to short circuit this,” he said. TRUMP MOVES CLOSER TO LOCKING UP GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION WITH 20-POINT WIN IN SOUTH CAROLINA Scott, alongside nearly a dozen Senate Republicans, signed a letter led by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, last week urging McConnell “ensure that the Senate conducts a proper trial, and that every senator, Republican and Democratic, adjudicates this matter when the Senate returns.” “According to multiple briefings by your staff, Majority Leader Schumer and Senate Democrats intend to dispense with the articles of impeachment by simply tabling both individually,” Lee wrote. “This is an action rarely contemplated and never taken by the U.S. Senate in the history of our Republic.” Meanwhile, Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., didn’t give clarity on Tuesday about whether a trial would be scheduled. After the House voted to impeach Mayorkas earlier this month, Schumer assured a trial would proceed this week. That now appears to be unlikely as a partial government shutdown looms. HOUSE VOTES TO IMPEACH DHS SECRETARY MAYORKAS OVER BORDER CRISIS “Look, as I’ve said, the impeachment of Mayorkas is absurd. There’s not one drop of evidence that leads to any kind of charge of impeachment, and we’re going to handle it in the best way possible,” Schumer told reporters on Tuesday. There is also growing frustration among the 11 House impeachment managers about when they will present their articles to the Senate in the case of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. House managers serve as “prosecutors” and argue the impeachment case before the Senate. One impeachment manager told Fox they had been given “no clear guidance” about the roles they might play or when the House may even transmit the articles to the Senate. Fox News’ Chad Pergram contributed to this report.
Defense Secretary Austin ‘confident’ in military leadership to address safety following helicopter crashes
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he’s confident in the U.S. military’s leadership to address safety issues related to its aviation programs following a series of deadly helicopter crashes, the Pentagon said Tuesday. Remarks by the Department of Defense came on the same day the National Guard issued an aviation safety stand down of all Army National Guard helicopter units following two separate helicopter crashes in Mississippi and Utah that killed two soldiers and injured two others, respectively. “The secretary is confident in the service secretaries and chiefs and their leadership in terms of addressing safety concerns,” Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder said Tuesday. Units across the National Guard’s 54 states and territories will “review safety policies and procedures” following the deadly Feb. 23 crash of a Mississippi National Guard AH-64D Apache helicopter, and the Feb. 12 crash of a Utah National Guard Apache that injured both soldiers on board. FATHERS, UNCLE OF MARINES KILLED IN CALIFORNIA HELICOPTER CRASH SPEAK OUT: ‘SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED’ “We are a combat force with helicopters training or on mission worldwide every day,” said Lt. Gen. Jon A. Jensen, director of the Army National Guard. “Safety is always at the top of our minds. We will stand down to ensure all of our crews are prepared as well as possible for whatever they’re asked to do.” Since 2012, there were at least 279 deaths involved in U.S. military non-combat aviation crashes, according to data reviewed by Fox News Digital. In total, there were 179 aviation incidents involving the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and the Army and Air National Guard in the same time frame. The Air Force reported 56 incidents, followed by the Navy with 40, Marines with 38, the Army with 23, and both National Guard branches with 23. The Mississippi National Guard identified the two service members killed last week as Chief Warrant Officer 4 Bryan Andrew Zemek, 36, and Chief Warrant Officer 4 Derek Joshua Abbott, 42. The pair died near Booneville, Mississippi, when their Apache went down in a rural wooded area during a routine training flight, officials said. None of the pilots in the Utah crash died. MARINE KILLED IN CAMP PENDLETON TRAINING EXERCISE IDENTIFIED Bradi Abbott, widow of Derek Joshua Abbott, said her husband joined the National Guard in 2002, and that “second to his children, he loved his Apache.” Since the crash that took her husband, Abbott has received daily updates from investigators, she told Fox News Digital. “There’s no doubt about it,” she said when asked if she believes the Pentagon can address the safety concerns plaguing the military’s aviation programs. “I do, 100%.” Of her husband, Abbott said he, “believed in the military and the government more than anybody I know.” That Mississippi crash happened after five Marines died when their CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crashed during a storm in the mountains outside San Diego on Feb. 6, while on a routine training flight. The crew departed Creech Air Force Base in Nevada en route to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar near San Diego when it went down. FREE COLLEGE PROMISES INTENSIFY MILITARY RECRUITMENT CRISIS Bradford Moulton, the uncle of Capt. Benjamin Moulton, who died in the crash, told “Fox & Friends” that the aircraft should never have been allowed to take off during a rare winter storm. “That’s something that I personally cannot understand. Having worked with the military for most of my career, I know the military does hazardous missions all the time, and they train all the time, but this was a highly volatile storm,” he said Monday. “They had hurricane-force winds. These helicopters, they were flying, they don’t have defrosters on the windshields. If their rotors ice up, they’re going down. They were flying at an altitude of 5,400 feet, which is right where the snow and the rain mixes.” Most recently, two Army pilots escaped a training exercise with minor injuries when their UH-72 Lakota helicopter crashed Friday in Alabama. Jensen didn’t specify how long the National Guard stand down will last. In 2023, the Army grounded all its helicopters after two Black Hawk helicopters in Kentucky crashed, killing nine people, and a midair collision of two Apaches in Alaska. Less than a month after that stand down, two Army Apache pilots were injured in a crash during a training flight in Washington state. In September 2023, the Marines Corps also ordered an aviation safety stand down after stealth F-35 jet “mishap” in South Carolina that prompted the pilot to eject the aircraft. Despite the number of aviation incidents, the military will continue to prioritize safety, Ryder said. “Safety is always something that we’re always going to be concerned about and take seriously, he said. “In every service, you will see senior leadership making safety a priority.”
Michigan presidential primary election gives communities more time to handle absentee ballots
Michigan’s presidential primary was the first time that communities in the state had the ability to count absentee ballots days before the Tuesday election. Absentee voting is a popular way to participate in Michigan since eligibility rules were greatly eased in 2018. But it took another change in law in 2023 to give local clerks more time to handle the flood of envelopes. MICHIGAN PRIMARY PUTS MAJOR BATTLEGROUND STATE IN PLAY FOR 2024 Many cities and townships now can run absentee ballots through tabulator machines starting eight days before the election. No results could be publicly released, however, until after 8 p.m. Tuesday. “That took a lot of the burden off Election Day tabulation of absentee ballots,” said Michael Siegrist, the clerk in Wayne County’s Canton Township. “Michigan had been held hostage by antiquated laws and procedures.” He said 10,000 of Canton’s 11,000 absentee ballots were processed by Tuesday morning. More than 1.2 million absentee ballots were issued to Michigan voters, according to the secretary of state. In the 2020 general election, more than 3 million absentee ballots were cast in the state, overwhelming some communities, which couldn’t open envelopes until election eve. Then-President Donald Trump and his allies falsely said delays in finalizing results were evidence of fraud. “When it takes a while for results to come in, there’s a vacuum,” Siegrist said. “Sometimes misinformation or disinformation fills that vacuum. That’s what we saw in the 2020 election.” In Warren, a Detroit suburb, election workers were sworn in Tuesday before handling thousands of absentee ballots. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Our absentee counting board workers are well-trained and work very hard to process each and every ballot received,” said Sonja Buffa, the city clerk.
Biden to visit Texas border sector with among the lowest illegal crossings
President Biden plans to visit the southern border in Brownsville, Texas later this week, though according to recent data, apprehensions in the sector are some of the lowest across the border. On Monday, Border Patrol agents apprehended 4,752 illegal immigrants along the southern border, from California through Texas, according to a chart provided to Fox News from a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) source. Some places saw triple digit numbers, including Eagle Pass Station in the Del Rio Sector, which reported 511 apprehensions; Ajo Station in the Tucson Sector, which reported 481 apprehensions; and Santa Teresa Station in the El Paso Sector, which reported 473 apprehensions. In fact, 15 of the 35 border stations reported triple digit numbers, while the rest of the stations reported apprehensions on Monday in the double digits. BIDEN, TRUMP TO MAKE US-MEXICO BORDER STOPS THURSDAY AS MIGRANT CRISIS ROILS ELECTION Of the remaining 20, the Brownsville Station in the Rio Grande Valley Sector reported 12 apprehensions on Monday. The illegal immigrant activity in Brownsville is nearly nonexistent. Still, Biden is expected to travel to the area on Thursday to meet with U.S. Border Patrol agents, law enforcement and local leaders. The same day, former President Trump will travel to Eagle Pass, Texas. 7.2M ILLEGALS ENTERED US UNDER BIDEN ADMIN, AN AMOUNT GREATER THAN POPULATION OF 36 STATES The two cities are about 325 miles apart. Biden is expected to use his trip to talk about the importance of passing the Senate’s bipartisan border security agreement, the White House official said, adding that the president will “reiterate his calls for Congressional Republicans to stop playing politics and to provide the funding needed for additional U.S. Border Patrol agents, more asylum officers, fentanyl detection technology and more.” In January 2023, Biden visited the border in El Paso, Texas, getting what was considered a watered-down version of the border crisis. BORDER PATROL UNION RIPS BIDEN OVER BORDER CRISIS: ‘YOU OWN THIS CATASTROPHIC DISASTER’ The number of illegal immigrants that were crossing into the U.S. from Mexico in El Paso appeared to have plummeted at the time, and the Central Processing Center, which was previously overwhelmed with immigrants, was no longer at its capacity of about 1,000 migrants, and the camps of migrants suddenly vanished, CBP sources said. According to a Fox News analysis published last week, nearly 7.3 million migrants are known to have illegally crossed the southwest border since Biden took office. That number is greater than the population of 36 individual states. It comes from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which has already reported 961,537 border encounters in the current fiscal year, which runs from October through September. If the current pace of illegal immigration does not slow down, fiscal 2024 will break last year’s record of 2,475,669 southwest border encounters — a number that by itself exceeds the population of New Mexico, a border state. The total number of southwest land border encounters since Biden assumed office in 2021 is 7,298,486, CBP data shows. White House officials did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital on the matter. Danielle Wallace and Bradford Betz of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
Polls show Biden facing ‘enthusiasm gap’ heading into 2024 election season
Several national polls in recent weeks suggest that President Biden is suffering from an enthusiasm gap when it comes to how excited his Democratic base and voters in general are to support him in November. A Monmouth University poll conducted earlier this month showed that only 32% of registered voters feel at least somewhat enthusiastic about Biden’s candidacy and that number stands at just 62% among Democrats. The same number of registered voters, 32%, say they are at least somewhat confident in Biden’s physical and mental ability to be president. The same poll shows that confidence in Biden’s abilities among Democrats has dropped significantly to 72% after standing at 91% in 2020. BIDEN APPROVAL PLUMMETS TO NEAR CARTER LEVEL: GALLUP The Monmouth poll also shows Biden with a meager 39% approval rating and that he is under water on several issues with voters, including jobs, immigration and foreign policy. The weak approval rating is backed up by other polls as evidenced by the Real Clear Politics average showing that his approval rating has been under 50% since August 2021. According to Gallup, Biden is significantly losing support from key demographics, including young voters, Black voters and Hispanic voters. Gallup explained that most of the decline in Black voters referring to themselves as Democrats has been in the last few years. POLL SHOWS BIDEN’S LEAD OVER TRUMP SHRINKING IN 2024 MATCHUP AS CONCERNS OVER PHYSICAL FITNESS GROW “Most of the decline has been recent, with the net-Democratic ID for this group falling 19 points from a 66-point advantage in 2020,” Gallup said. “At that time, 77% of Black adults favored the Democrats and 11% the Republicans, so the 2023 findings represent an 11-point decrease in Democratic affiliation since 2020 and an eight-point increase in Republican affiliation.” Mainstream news outlets have taken notice of the enthusiasm numbers, including the New York Times editorial board, which wrote earlier this month that Biden “needs to do more to show the public that he is fully capable of holding office until age 86.” Also in February, prominent election handicapper Nate Silver warned that Biden is “losing now and there’s no plan to fix the problems other than hoping that the polls are wrong.” The Biden campaign pointed Fox News Digital to “several indicators of enthusiasm” they have seen in favor of the president. “In the Nevada primary, we saw higher turnout than 2008 – despite that being a far more competitive election,” Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said. “The email from the First Lady after the Hur report was our best performing email since the launch.” Hitt also pointed to Biden winning “more votes in NH as a write in candidate than Obama did in ‘12” and highlighted that Obama was on the ballot and Biden wasn’t. “January was our best grassroots fundraising month ever, we doubled the number of small-dollar donors from December,” Hitt added. “We brought in over $1M in donations following President Biden’s speech marking the anniversary of the January 6th insurrection.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
House Homeland GOP demands info from Biden admin on Georgia murder suspect
FIRST ON FOX: Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee are demanding documents and information from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) related to a Venezuelan national who was paroled into the U.S. and was last week charged with the murder of a Georgia college student. Chair Mark Green, in a letter obtained by Fox News Digital, wrote to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas seeking information on Jose Antonio Ibarra — who is charged with the murder of 22-year-old Laken Riley. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed Sunday that Ibarra had been encountered by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Sept. 8, 2022, after entering the country near El Paso and was “paroled and released for further processing.” ICE CONFIRMS GEORGIA STUDENT MURDER SUSPECT ENTERED US ILLEGALLY, WAS PREVIOUSLY ARRESTED IN NYC ICE also said that Ibarra had been arrested by the New York Police Department a year later, on Aug 31, 2023, and “charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation.” He was released before ICE could issue a detainer, the agency said. In its statement, ICE said its Enforcement and Removal Operations office in Atlanta “encountered Ibarra pursuant to his arrest by the University of Georgia Police Department and being charged with murder and other crimes. ERO Atlanta lodged a detainer.” Police have charged Ibarra with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing the death of another, authorities said on Friday. The case has renewed concerns about the mass release of migrants into the U.S. in recent years and the crimes that are being committed by those being released into the U.S. Republicans are also presenting the release of Ibarra into the interior as a consequence of Biden administration policies. Humanitarian parole, under which Ibarra was released, is supposed to be used on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit. Republicans have accused the Biden administration of abusing its authority with regard to mass releases, something the administration has repeatedly denied. In the letter, Green says the death “further underscores the Committee’s serious concerns about the security of our nation, and the potential for criminal aliens to take advantage of the glaring vulnerabilities created by the Biden administration’s open-border policies.” His letter requests Ibarra’s Alien File, all information in the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations’ database related to him, and all documents from Mayorkas’ office and CBP and ICE related to Ibarra. Republicans in the House recently impeached Mayorkas over his handling of the crisis at the border, and Green — whose committee investigated Mayorkas — tied the murder to the administration’s policies. “If Secretary Mayorkas had chosen to comply with the laws of the United States, kept his solemn oath to defend the Constitution, and done his statutory duty to secure our borders and our homeland, Laken Riley would almost certainly be alive today,” the Tennessee Republican said in a statement. BROTHER OF UGA MURDER SUSPECT CHARGED WITH GREEN CARD FRAUD “Instead, we know that under his policy of unlawful mass parole, this individual was released into the country and essentially allowed to roam free, from Texas to New York to Georgia. Congress and the American people have a right to these documents and to know why this man was released into the interior, and how DHS has responded to his murderous actions,” he said. 7.2M ENTERED US UNDER BIDEN ADMIN, AN AMOUNT GREATER THAN POPULATION OF 36 STATES Mayorkas and DHS have denied that the administration is abusing the parole authority, arguing that those allowed in are done so on a case-by-case basis and noting broad use of the authority in the past across multiple administrations. They have also denied claims of an “open-border” policy by pointing to more than 500,000 removals since May and record seizures of fentanyl at the border. The administration has also said it is working to deal with a hemisphere-wide crisis and is working within a “broken system” that requires additional funding and comprehensive immigration reform to fix it. Most recently, it has been urging the passage of a bipartisan border bill that would restrict asylum and provide additional personnel at the border, a bill that has so far failed to pass the Senate. Conservatives have said the bill would normalize already high levels of illegal immigration. Fox News Digital has reached out to DHS for comment.