American people ‘exhausted’ by lawmakers ‘kicking the ball’ on immigration: Border town mayor
Democrats and Republicans alike caved to election year politics and refused to compromise on the recently revealed and defeated bipartisan border security bill, said a Texas border mayor who believed the failed legislation would “stop the bleeding.” “I think either party, their actions are because it’s an election year,” McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos told Fox News. “The American people, our Border Patrol, they’re exhausted. They’re tired of this.” WATCH MORE FOX NEWS DIGITAL ORIGINALS HERE Lawmakers are “just kicking the ball and trying to do whatever they can, but for the purposes of politics, not for the purpose of benefiting the American people,” he added. A long-awaited bipartisan border security deal aimed at stemming the historic flow of migrants crossing the southern border was released Sunday night, but quickly faced fierce opposition from Republicans in both chambers. The deal collapsed, however, after a key vote on the bill failed 49-50, with all but four Republicans opposing. IMMIGRATION HAWKS WARN CONGRESS THAT SENATE DEAL WILL HANDCUFF FUTURE ADMINISTRATIONS ON SECURING BORDER President Biden, whose administration has overseen record numbers of migrant encounters at the southern border, blamed former President Trump for sabotaging the bill and threatening lawmakers with retribution if they backed the legislation. Trump, for his part, used his influence over Republicans up for re-election to urge them to reject the border deal. HOUSE MEMBER SAYS ‘EULOGY HAS ALREADY BEEN READ’ ON BORDER BILL AS BIDEN BLAMES TRUMP FOR STALEMATE But Villalobos blamed both men for failing to enact real change alongside lawmakers. ‘HE’S DELUSIONAL’: BIDEN’S BORDER COMMENTS SPARK STIFF REBUKE ON CAPITOL HILL FROM SOME LAWMAKERS “I don’t trust many people at all anymore,” Villalobos said. “At the time that President Trump was there, [Republicans] had the majority and nothing occurred. Now you have Biden. Nothing is occurring until very close to the election.” Among Republicans’ many criticisms of the $118 billion spending package, House GOP leaders said the bill incentivized more illegal immigration and didn’t include aggressive enough measures to secure the border. House Speaker Mike Johnson repeatedly called the bill “dead on arrival” after the Senate bill was released. The bill provided $20 billion for immigration enforcement, including hiring Border Patrol agents and officers to evaluate asylum claims, along with $650 million for border wall construction and reinforcement. It also gave Biden and the Department of Homeland Security authority to close the border if migrant encounters hit 5,000 over a seven-day average or 8,500 in one day. “We finally had a bill that at least would kind of stop the bleeding,” Villalobos said. “But unfortunately … nothing’s going to happen because of the election.” “Take care of the American people first and set politics aside,” Villalobos added. “We know we have issues. Let’s take care of them. Probably after this next election we can solve it.”
New California Democrat bill would ban all plastic bags at grocery stores
California would ban all plastic shopping bags in 2026 under a new bill announced Thursday in the state Legislature. California already bans thin plastic shopping bags at grocery stores and other shops, but shoppers at checkout can purchase bags made with a thicker plastic that purportedly makes them reusable and recyclable. LOS ANGELES FREEWAY FIRE PROMPTS CALIFORNIA TO RECOMMEND RULE CHANGES FOR LEASING UNDER FREEWAYS Democratic state Sen. Catherine Blakespear said people are not reusing or recycling those bags. She points to a state study that found the amount of plastic shopping bags trashed per person grew from 8 pounds per year in 2004 to 11 pounds per year in 2021. “It shows that the plastic bag ban that we passed in this state in 2014 did not reduce the overall use of plastic. It actually resulted in a substantial increase in plastic,” Blakespear, a Democrat from Encinitas, said Thursday. “We are literally choking our planet with plastic waste.” Twelve states, including California, already have some type of statewide plastic bag ban in place, according to the environmental advocacy group Environment America Research & Policy Center. Hundreds of cities across 28 states also have their own plastic bag bans in place. While California’s bag ban would apply statewide, it would only end up impacting about half the state’s population, according to Mark Murray, lead advocate for the environmental advocacy group Californians Against Waste. That’s because most of the state’s major cities already ban these types of thicker plastic bags. But a state law passed in 2014 and approved by voters in a 2016 referendum bans cities from passing new laws restricting plastic bag use. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP If the Legislature passes this bill, it would be up to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to decide whether to sign it into law. As San Francisco’s mayor in 2007, Newsom signed the nation’s first plastic bag ban.
Biden, White House blame Israel war for forgetting basic facts during special counsel interviews
President Biden said Thursday that he struggled to remember certain key dates during his interviews with Special Counsel Robert Hur as a result of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Biden told reporters that he was “handling an international crisis” at the time of his interviews with federal investigators shortly after Hur released his 345-page report Thursday detailing the findings in his investigation into the president’s handling of classified documents. In the report, Hur noted that Biden’s memory failed him in multiple instances, saying the president forgot when he was vice president and when his son Beau died. “I sought no delays. In fact, I was so determined to get the special counsel what they needed,” Biden remarked. “I went forward with a five-hour in-person interview over the two days of October — the ninth, eighth and ninth last year — even though Israel had just been attacked by Hamas on the seventh. I was in the middle of handling an international crisis.” “Bottom line is, a special counsel in my case decided against moving forward any charges, and this matter is now closed,” the president continued. “I’ll continue to do what I’ve always done — stay focused on my job like you do, of my job of being president.” TRUMP DEMANDS DOJ ‘IMMEDIATELY’ DROP CHARGES AGAINST HIM IN CLASSIFIED DOCS CASE AFTER BIDEN DECISION Additionally, shortly after the report was published, Biden’s personal lawyers Richard Sauber and Bob Bauer penned a letter to Hur, criticizing him for his characterization of the president’s memory. The lawyers said the report’s language has “no place in a Department of Justice report.” “We do not believe that the report’s treatment of President Biden’s memory is accurate or appropriate,” Sauber and Bauer wrote. “The report uses highly prejudicial language to describe a commonplace occurrence among witnesses: a lack of recall of years-old events.” “In fact there is ample evidence from your interview that the President did well in answering your questions about years-old events over the course of five hours,” they added in the letter. “This is especially true under the circumstances, which you do not mention in your report that his interview began the day after the October 7 attacks on Israel.” White House communications director Ben LaBolt reiterated Biden’s counsel in a post on X, again calling attention to the dates of the president’s interviews in the case. In the report, Hur detailed how Biden forgot basic facts about his own personal history and his family, even referring to Biden as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” And the report states that a jury would have trouble convicting Biden of having committed a serious felony that “requires a mental state of willfulness.” NO CHARGES FOR BIDEN AFTER SPECIAL COUNSEL PROBE INTO IMPROPER HANDLING OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS “In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse,” the report states. “He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (‘if it was 2013 – when did I stop being Vice President?’), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (‘in 2009, am I still Vice President?’).” “He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died,” the report continued. “And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. Among other things, he mistakenly said he ‘had a real difference’ of opinion with General Karl Eikenberry, when, in fact, Eikenberry was an ally whom Mr. Biden cited approvingly in his Thanksgiving memo to President Obama.” “In a case where the government must prove that Mr. Biden knew he had possession of the classified Afghanistan documents after the vice presidency and chose to keep those documents, knowing he was violating the law, we expect that at trial, his attorneys would emphasize these limitations in his recall,” the report said. The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Fox News Digital reporters Brooke Singman and Joe Schoffstall contributed to this report
Republicans slam Biden as ‘unfit’ for office after classified docs report, as Democrats say he’s cleared
Republicans are claiming President Biden is unfit for office and that his Department of Justice is operating on a double standard over a new report on his handling of classified documents. Republicans slammed the report by Special Counsel Robert Hur, released on Thursday, which “uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen.” GOP lawmakers seized on Hur’s descriptions of Biden’s fragility and advanced age, including an instance when he had trouble recalling the year of his son’s death, as well as Hur’s decision not to charge Biden. “Special Counsel Hur said Biden is a ‘well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.’ His present mental and physical condition should preclude him from being the President of the United States,” Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., wrote on X. SPECIAL COUNSEL CALLS BIDEN ‘SYMPATHETIC, WELL-MEANING, ELDERLY MAN WITH A POOR MEMORY,’ BRINGS NO CHARGES House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, accused the federal government of operating on a double-standard of justice over Biden’s lack of recommended charges. “Today’s report from Robert Hur tells us two things: There’s a double standard of justice in this country. And Joe Biden isn’t fit for office,” Jordan said. Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, similarly wrote on X, “The Special Counsel found Biden had ‘uncovered evidence that Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after he was VP when he was a private citizen.’ But will not charge him! The deep state protects their own.” Meanwhile, Biden ally Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, pointed out the distinction that Special Counsel Robert Hur made between the parallel investigations into Biden and former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents. “MAGA Republicans will no doubt now call to investigate the investigators—it’s their favorite move—but the Hur report effectively ends the discussion. President Biden cooperated fully with the Special Counsel and redacted no portion of the Special Counsel’s report. Unlike Trump, President Biden has nothing to hide,” Nadler said. “If Trump had cooperated with the Department of Justice—instead of lying to investigators, again and again—he might have avoided at least some of the 91 criminal charges currently pending against him.” NO CHARGES FOR BIDEN AFTER SPECIAL COUNSEL PROBE INTO IMPROPER HANDLING OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS Republican Senators quickly blasted the DOJ for the purported double standard between Biden’s special counsel ruling compared to special counsel Jack Smith’s probe into President Donald Trump. Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony charges out of Smith’s probe. “The special counsel report confirms that Biden ‘willfully retained and disclosed classified materials’ for years before he entered the White House,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., posted to X on Thursday. “Meanwhile, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home was raided by the FBI and he’s facing a weaponized DOJ. A clear two-tiered system of justice.” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital in an interview Thursday that the report “is gonna really fuel concerns that there’s two tiers of justice.” “Joe Biden literally had classified documents in an unlocked garage that Hunter Biden, who’s probably compromised, was living in,” he said. “So I think that, you know, without getting the specific facts of the case that certainly I think the public would tell that you’ve got two tiers of justice here, which is very concerning.” COMER DEMANDS ANSWERS ON WHETHER BIDEN CLASSIFIED RECORDS MENTION COUNTRIES RELATED TO FAMILY BUSINESS DEALS Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., wrote on X: “President Biden mishandled classified documents for years, storing them in the garage of his Delaware home, and yet, no charges are expected. Tennesseans and Americans are fed up with the two tiers of justice that has become the status quo of this administration.” In response to a section of the Hur report which described Biden’s memory “to have significant limitations,” including his time in office as Vice President in the Obama administration, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said “Biden doesn’t remember his time as VP? But somehow he’s qualified to be President for another 4 years?” The National Senatorial Republican Committee, the upper chamber’s prominent campaign fundraising group, said: “Joe Biden is unfit to be president.” Hur had decided not to charge Biden despite finding he “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials.” In his report, Hur, who was not in charge of Trump’s classified documents case, wrote of the former president: “Most notably, after being given multiple chances to return classified documents and avoid prosecution, Mr. Trump allegedly did the opposite.”
After border bill fiasco, Sen. Ted Cruz calls for Republican leader Mitch McConnell’s replacement
Texas’ junior senator has long been a critic of Mitch McConnell, who has led Republican senators since 2015.
Texas A&M University to close Qatar campus
The decision comes after an antisemitism think tank alleged last month the Qatar government had control over nuclear research at the branch campus. Texas A&M has denied it.
Biden ‘did not remember when he was vice president,’ when his son Beau died, during special counsel interviews
According to Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report on President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents released Thursday, Biden could not remember key details, such as when he was vice president, during interviews with investigators. Hur has been investigating Biden’s improper retention of classified records since last year. The papers included classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan, among other national security and foreign policy records, which Hur said implicated “sensitive intelligence sources and methods.” He announced he would not seek criminal charges against Biden. The report, however, also contains an eye-opening portion on how Biden struggled to remember when he served as vice president in the Obama administration while being interviewed for the investigation. Additionally, Hur’s office believed Biden’s lawyers would use those “limitations” in his recall if it went to trial. NO CHARGES FOR BIDEN AFTER SPECIAL COUNSEL PROBE INTO IMPROPER HANDLING OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS “In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse,” the report states. “He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (‘if it was 2013 – when did I stop being Vice President?’), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (‘in 2009, am I still Vice President?’).” “He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died,” the report continued. “And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. Among other things, he mistakenly said he ‘had a real difference’ of opinion with General Karl Eikenberry, when, in fact, Eikenberry was an ally whom Mr. Biden cited approvingly in his Thanksgiving memo to President Obama.” “In a case where the government must prove that Mr. Biden knew he had possession of the classified Afghanistan documents after the vice presidency and chose to keep those documents, knowing he was violating the law, we expect that at trial, his attorneys would emphasize these limitations in his recall,” the report said. GARLAND SAYS SPECIAL COUNSEL PROBING BIDEN CLASSIFIED RECORDS HAS SUBMITTED REPORT, UNDER WHITE HOUSE REVIEW While Biden will not face charges, Hur said his investigation “uncovered evidence that Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen.” The materials included “marked classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan, and notebooks containing Mr. Biden’s handwritten entries about issues of national security and foreign policy implicating sensitive intelligence sources and methods.” Hur said FBI agents recovered the materials from “the garages, offices, and basement den in Mr. Biden’s Wilimington, Delaware home.” He added that the evidence “does not establish Mr. Biden’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Trump demands DOJ ‘immediately’ drop charges against him in classified docs case after Biden decision
EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump told Fox News Digital that “deranged” Special Counsel Jack Smith needs to “immediately” drop all charges against him in his classified records case following the decision not to bring charges against President Biden for his retention of sensitive national security documents. Trump spoke exclusively to Fox News Digital after Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report was made public. Hur did not recommend criminal charges against Biden for mishandling and retaining classified documents — and stated that he wouldn’t bring charges against Biden even if he were not in the Oval Office. Those records included classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan, among other records related to national security and foreign policy which Hur said implicated “sensitive intelligence sources and methods.” NO CHARGES FOR BIDEN AFTER SPECIAL COUNSEL PROBE INTO IMPROPER HANDLING OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS Trump, on the other hand, was charged out of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation related to his retention of classified materials. Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony charges out of Smith’s probe. The charges include willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements. Trump, the 2024 GOP front-runner, was then charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment out of Smith’s investigation — an additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts. Trump pleaded not guilty. That trial is set to begin on May 20, 2024. “They should immediately drop the case against me,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “I am covered by the Presidential Records Act — he wasn’t. He had many, many times more documents — totally unguarded. Mine were always surrounded by Secret Service and in locked rooms.” Hur, in his report, revealed damning photos of classified national security documents stored unsecurely in Biden’s garage, basement and offices at his Wilmington, Delaware, home. Trump said Biden’s case is “100 times more severe.” Hur, in his report, described Biden as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” When asked about that description, Trump told Fox News Digital that Biden does “have a poor memory,” but that “he had to have a poor memory in order to get out of this mess.” “This is 100 times more severe. This is two standards of justice and it has to end in our country,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “Deranged Jack Smith should drop the case immediately against us.” Trump added: “It is election interference…. I did absolutely nothing wrong.” Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Florida, was raided by the FBI in August 2022. Federal agents seized documents and records dating back to Trump’s presidency. Garland, on Nov. 18, 2022, appointed Smith to serve as special counsel to investigate whether Trump was improperly retaining classified records at Mar-a-Lago. When Smith was appointed to investigate Trump, Garland and top DOJ officials were simultaneously conducting an internal review of President Biden’s mishandling of classified records. That review, and the discovery of classified records at Biden’s office, was not disclosed to the public until January. Republicans and allies of former President Trump were outraged, blasting the Justice Department for a double standard.
Leading House Republican announces retirement from Congress: ‘Privilege of my life’
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., announced Thursday that she will not be seeking re-election to the House this year, saying in a post to social media that “the time has come to serve the people of Eastern Washington in new ways.” In announcing her retirement after nearly 20 years in Congress, McMorris Rodgers said in a statement, “It’s been the honor and privilege of my life to represent the people of Eastern Washington in Congress. They inspire me every day. They are part of the strength and soul of America — the greatest experiment in self-governance the world has ever known.” “After much prayer and reflection, I’ve decided the time has come to serve them in new ways. I will not be running for re-election to the People’s House,” she added. Rodgers, who first won election to the House in 2004, currently represents Washington’s Fifth Congressional District. BLAINE LUETKEMEYER BECOMES LATEST HOUSE REPUBLICAN TO ANNOUNCE RETIREMENT “For years now, my team and I have lived and worked by our values of having fun while we SERVE — to Seek excellence, that Everybody matters, to Responsibly own it, practice Vigilant integrity, and Embrace change. I’m proud of how it’s helped us be more effective and deliver results to my district and the hardworking people of this country. There is no doubt I’ve had the best staff on my team. They are smart, strategic, and committed to building trust,” she said. Rodgers, one of 34 Republican women currently serving in the House, has been assigned to a number of committees during her tenure in Congress and currently serves as chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Rodgers is the first female to hold that position since the committee was formed in 1975. With her family’s “love, support, and patience,” McMorris Rodgers said she was able to serve as well as she did during her time in office. MORE THAN 150 REPUBLICANS TAKE AIM AT BIDEN’S MORATORIUM ON NATURAL GAS EXPORTS “Especially as Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, I’ve seen the best of Eastern Washington and the United States of America. We will spend this year honoring the Committee’s rich history — plowing the hard ground necessary to legislate on solutions to make people’s lives better and ensure America wins the future,” McMorris Rodgers said. In addition to her role as chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, McMorris Rodgers also served as chair of the House Republican Conference from 2013 to 2019. Prior to that, she served as vice chair of the conference from 2009 to 2013. “Every day, my number one priority is to pray. I pray that God’s purpose over my life will be more deeply rooted in my heart and in gratitude for the remarkable colleagues and people He has brought into my life. No matter the division, we must unite in prayer. And as we do, we will bring hope and healing to broken lives, broken families, and broken systems failing broken people. Together, may we always be guided by God’s abundant grace and wisdom to keep the promise of America alive,” she concluded. Rodgers’ current term ends on Jan. 3, 2025.
White House defends Biden after he mixed up world leaders with dead people: ‘It happens’
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended President Biden on Thursday when asked about a gaffe in which the president said he spoke in 2021 with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl – who actually died four years earlier – arguing that misspeaking “happens to all of us, and it is common.” Biden had made the remark on Wednesday while recalling past conversations during fundraising events. At his second and third events in New York, he told donors about conversations surrounding Jan. 6, 2021, at his first Group of Seven meeting as president, which took place in England in June of that year. Biden said Kohl asked him what he would say if he learned 1,000 people stormed the British Parliament in an attempt to deny the next prime minister from taking office. The annual meeting was not attended by Kohl, as he had been dead for four years, but by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The gaffe is similar to the one Biden made on Sunday after he claimed he spoke with François Mitterrand, a French president who died in 1996, at the same G-7 meeting. BIDEN CLAIMS HE SPOKE WITH GERMAN CHANCELLOR WHO DIED IN 2017 AT FIRST G7 MEETING IN LATEST GAFFE “I want to just step back for a second and just kind of think really kind of top level of what the president was talking about when he tells a story about having these conversations with world leaders, which are obviously important conversations. He was underlying the Jan. 6 events in 2021, what happened,” Jean-Pierre said Thursday when asked about the matter. “The message that it sent around the globe, around the world to our leaders, to world leaders, how dangerous it is, our democracy, how important democracy was and or is continues to be, obviously.” “As it relates to the names and what he was trying to say, many people, elected officials, many people, you know, they can misspeak sometimes, right?” she added. BIDEN UNDER FIRE ONLINE AGAIN FOR TWICE CONFUSING LIVING EUROPEAN LEADERS WITH DEAD PREDECESSORS IN ONE WEEK Jean-Pierre then cited a handful of examples of what she said were mistakes by media and political figures. “And so this happens. You know, it happens to all of us and it is common,” Jean-Pierre argued. “But I do want to make sure we don’t forget what the overall arching kind of theme, what he is trying to say about our leadership on the global stage.” Fox News’ Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.