Montana Supreme Court upholds ruling favoring youth plaintiffs in climate lawsuit
Montana’s Supreme Court has rejected an attempt by the state’s Republican governor to block a landmark climate ruling that said regulators must consider the effects of greenhouse gas emissions when issuing permits for fossil fuel development. Justices, in a 5-2 Tuesday decision, declined the request from Gov. Greg Gianforte and three state agencies to block the August ruling from District Court Judge Kathy Seeley while an appeal by the state is pending before the high court. Seeley ruled a state law that prohibited agencies from considering the effect of emissions runs afoul of the state constitution’s requirement “to maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment.” Seeley already rejected an earlier challenge by the state, saying it failed to identify flaws in her findings nor any irreparable harm if the ruling took effect. GOP MONTANA GOV. GREG GIANFORTE ANNOUNCES REELECTION BID The justices in the majority said Seeley “did not act arbitrarily” in rejecting the state’s motion. Two justices said they would have granted the request to stay the ruling. The state high court ruling means Montana officials must “immediately comply” with Seeley’s order pending the appeal, said Mark Bellinger, an attorney for Our Children’s Trust, which represented the 16 young plaintiffs who brought the case. Director Chris Dorrington of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality said in a Wednesday statement that he was disappointed in the court’s ruling but declined to say whether the agency would analyze the effects of greenhouse gas emissions when evaluating permit applications. He argued the agency should have been granted more time to respond to Seeley’s ruling. “We’re committed to getting this right for Montana and avoiding additional costly litigation while we work toward a solution,” Dorrington said. The agency is in the process of updating the Montana Environmental Policy Act, which has prohibited officials from analyzing greenhouse gas emissions since the law was revised by state lawmakers in 2023, in a move seen as benefiting a natural gas power plant being built by NorthWestern Energy. Seeley said in her ruling it would be up to the Montana Legislature to determine how to bring the state’s policies into compliance — dimming the chances for prompt changes in a fossil fuel-friendly state where Republicans dominate the statehouse. However, the ruling provides precedent for legal challenges. The young plaintiffs in the climate case in November submitted a brief in support of a case filed by two environmental groups that are challenging the utility’s plant along the banks of the Yellowstone River near Laurel. They argued the plant’s air quality permit should be declared invalid or at least suspended until the state’s appeal of Seeley’s ruling is decided. It’s unclear how long the appeal might take. The state’s opening brief is due by Feb. 13, pending any extensions that might be granted. The young plaintiffs who challenged the state environmental policy testified they were already feeling the consequences of climate change, with smoke from worsening wildfires choking the air they breathe, along with decreased snowpack and drought drying rivers that sustain agriculture, fish, wildlife and recreation. Attorneys for the state argued that the volume of greenhouse gasses released from Montana fossil fuel projects was insignificant compared to global emissions and reducing them would have no effect on the climate. Carbon dioxide, which is released when fossil fuels are burned, traps heat in the atmosphere and is largely responsible for the warming of the climate. The earth shattered a global heat record in 2023, the European climate agency said earlier this month. The Department of Environmental Quality has created a work group to discuss potential changes to how it uses the Montana Environmental Policy Act, which requires public input in fossil fuel and mining development. Last year’s amendment by lawmakers forbid greenhouse gas emission analyses unless the federal government decided to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant. The work group’s first meeting is next Monday.
NJ Gov. Murphy greenlights $33K pay hike for lawmakers, other raises
New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy has signed legislation to boost lawmakers’ salaries from $49,000 to $82,000 along with raises for his successor and other top officials. Murphy signed the bill on Tuesday, according to a news release from his office. He made no comment on the measure, which passed the Democrat-led Legislature on the final day of the previous legislative session earlier this month. LEFT-WING POLICIES TO BLAME FOR MASS EXODUS OF NEW JERSEY RESIDENTS IN 2023: EXPERT The bill doesn’t take effect until 2026, so Murphy, who leaves office in January 2026, won’t benefit. The two-term incumbent cannot run for a third straight stint as governor. The Assembly will face voters in the regular 2025 general election before the raise takes effect. Lawmakers haven’t voted themselves a pay increase since 2002, and some argued that the 67% increase is needed to keep up with rising costs. They also said they sometimes had to dip into their own pockets to perform the duties the job requires. Republicans questioned the soundness of a pay raise, and many opposed it. The legislation increases the governor’s salary from $175,000 to $210,000 annually and boosts the top rate for Cabinet and other top officials to $210,000 from $175,000 as well. It also boosts the amount lawmakers get specifically to pay their staff, from $135,000 to $150,000. Legislators, unlike in some other states, don’t get a per diem rate or car mileage reimbursements. Just how much the measure would cost taxpayers wasn’t clear. Simple math suggests the increase for lawmakers’ salaries would come with a nearly $4 million price tag. New Jersey’s Legislature is considered part-time, meeting regularly from January to June and typically taking time off over the summer and in the lead-up to elections before returning for a lame-duck session.
DOJ further acknowledges Hunter Biden’s laptop is real, contents match Apple iCloud backups
Federal prosecutors further acknowledged in court documents filed Tuesday, that the laptop Hunter Biden dropped off at a computer store is in fact real, adding that the contents on the laptop matched what had previously been obtained through a search warrant on the president’s son’s Apple iCloud. In the court document’s, Biden’s DOJ said the IRS and FBI obtained a search warrant for tax violations in August 2019, and were able to get access to Hunter’s Apple iCloud account. By September 2021, Apple produced backups of data from various electronic devices Hunter backed up to his iCloud account. “Investigators also later came into possession of the defendant’s Apple MacBook Pro, which he left at a computer store,” the court filing reads. “A search warrant was also obtained for his laptop and the results of the search were largely duplicative of information investigators had already obtained from Apple.” HUNTER BIDEN’S GUN POUCH HAD COCAINE RESIDUE ON IT, PROSECUTORS SAY In 2020, John Paul Mac Isaac, a computer repair shop owner who turned over the laptop belonging to the president’s son to authorities and members of the press, said a man he believed to be Hunter dropped off three laptops in his store in April 2019. Only one of the laptops was salvageable, and while repairing the laptop, Isaac said he discovered disturbing material. Mac Isaac could not get in touch with the customer, and said he first searched the emails by keyword in June or July 2019. The laptop saga began in October 2020, when the New York Post reported about a 2015 email from a Ukrainian energy executive to Hunter, thanking him for introducing him to his father, that it obtained from the hard drive of Hunter’s laptop. Joe Biden was vice president at the time of the message, and his son then enjoyed a lucrative position on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy firm, raising concerns of attempted influence-peddling with his powerful father. The laptop’s content included a peek into Hunter’s overseas business dealings, as well as more sordid material like homemade sex tapes and videos showing him using illegal drugs. The laptop was widely dismissed by print and television outlets, especially The New York Times, The Washington Post, MSNBC and CNN. Twitter and Facebook blocked or limited sharing of the New York Post’s article about Biden. Twitter even locked the New York Post out of its account for weeks. But in February 2023, the first son admitted that the laptop at the center of a federal investigation belonged to him in a letter from his lawyers. HOUSE COMMITTEES APPROVE RESOLUTION TO HOLD HUNTER BIDEN IN CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS, MOVES TO FLOOR At the time, journalist Miranda Devine, who authored the book “Laptop from Hell,” tweeted about Hunter’s admission, saying it was not Russian disinformation or a ‘plant,’ as the president and 51 dishonest former intel officials pretended. The 51 intel officials she referred to were the 51 intelligence experts who signed a letter casting doubt on the scandal. HUNTER BIDEN INDICTED ON FEDERAL GUN CHARGES In June 2023, the Department of Justice said they knew in December 2019 that the laptop was “not manipulated in any way” and contained “reliable evidence,” but were “obstructed” from seeing all available information, according to an IRS whistleblower involved in the probe. The admission revealed the DOJ knew the laptop was not manipulated nearly a year before the intelligence officials and President Biden declared it was planted as part of a Russian disinformation campaign. IF BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY IS VALID, WHY HAS THE PRESIDENT LIED ABOUT HIS COMPLICITY? Court records allege that the searches revealed incriminating evidence like the first son’s addiction to controlled substances and his possession of a firearm. For example, the court documents say prior to Oct. 12, 2018, when Hunter obtained a firearm, he took photos of crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia on his phone. He also sent messages, “routinely,” about purchasing drugs. During the two days after Hunter purchased the firearm, he messaged his girlfriend about meeting a drug dealer and smoking crack, court documents say. The documents also show Hunter messaged about sleeping on a car and smoking crack, efforts by his then-girlfriend to discard the firearm, and how his devices contained photos and videos of “apparent cocaine, crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia.”
Progressive prosecutors in crime-ridden cities threatened with loss of federal funding: ‘Devastating result’
FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Dan Meuser, R-PA, introduced a bill that takes direct aim at prosecutors deemed to be soft-on-crime, calling for the officials to “do their jobs” and uphold state and federal laws. “Perhaps the greatest responsibility of a government is to assure the safety and well-being of its citizens,” Meuser said in a press release, obtained first by Fox News Digital. “But far too often in recent years, woke prosecutors have failed to pursue charges against criminals that police officers have often risked their lives to arrest,” Meuser said. “Instead, prosecutors have inserted their own ideological, political agenda into the justice system and deemed themselves judge and jury.” On Wednesday, the Republican representative introduced the Holding Prosecutors Accountable Act, H.B 6999, which would make prosecutors’ offices that fail to prosecute at least 67% of arrests for violent crimes ineligible for Department of Justice Byrne Grants. CONSERVATIVES SOUND ALARM ON DC CRIME CRISIS AFTER HOUSE DEM CARJACKED: ‘SOFT ON CRIME POLICIES’ The grants are the “leading source” of federal justice funding to state jurisdictions, the Department of Justice said. Meuser said that his bill comes as American citizens had a front row seat to “soft-on-crime” policies that have “emboldened criminals.” WASHINGTON, DC SHATTERS HOMICIDE RECORD NOT SEEN IN QUARTER CENTURY AS LEADERS WARN OF ‘STATE OF EMERGENCY’ “The failure to prosecute such an alarming number of arrests has emboldened criminals as they now believe their illegal, violent actions will go unpunished,” Meuser said. “We have seen the devastating result of this soft-on-crime mentality as violence skyrockets in our nation’s major cities.” The Pennsylvania Republican said that “ideological prosecutors” in Washington D.C. only prosecuted 44% of arrests in the 2023 fiscal year and 33% in the fiscal year 2022. Meuser said that, “shockingly,” the 2023 prosecution rate of 44% is the highest it’s been in nine of the last ten years in the city. BLUE CITY’S RAMPANT VIOLENCE LED THIS FORMER DC RESIDENT TO FLEE THE CRIME-RIDDEN CAPITAL He said that the violence has hit close to home after three of his staff members were robbed at gunpoint and his car windows were smashed while parked outside his home in the nation’s capital. Mueser said that in 2023 compared to 2022, homicides were up 35%, armed robberies were up 67%, motor vehicle thefts were up 82%, carjackings were up 103%, arson was up 175%, and violent crime as a whole was up 39% in Washington D.C. In addition to threatening federal funding, the legislation would require prosecutors’ offices that serve jurisdictions larger than 380,000 people to publish their prosecution rate data on an annual basis. Meuser said that most jurisdictions do not make their prosecution rate data available to the public. “The American people have the right to know how many criminals their local, often elected, prosecutor is releasing without pursuing charges,” Meuser said. Rep. Meuser argued that “commonsense says” that when the prosecution rate is increased, there will be fewer offenders. “My bill seeks to hold prosecutors accountable and helps ensure George Soros-backed ideologues are not releasing criminals back onto our streets without consequences,” Meuser said. “Commonsense says that when you increase the prosecution rate of dangerous criminals there will be fewer offenders in our communities to commit acts of violence.”
Trump to attend mother-in-law’s funeral, will miss E. Jean Carroll trial after ‘nasty’ judge refuses to delay
Former President Trump said he will miss the E. Jean Carroll trial on Thursday so that he can attend his mother-in-law’s funeral, blasting the judge presiding over the case as “nasty” for not delaying court proceedings for the day. “As you know, the first lady’s mother passed away. The funeral is tomorrow,” Trump said during a press conference in New York City Wednesday after spending the day in court. “And we would have assumed that for a trial like this, it’s not an emergency in terms of timing, the judge would have been very nice, and they would let me go because I want to be at every trial day because I saw what happened in the first one where I was asked not to go by the lawyers very much—they said it’s demeaning, there was no evidence, there was no anything— and so I didn’t go, and I understood exactly what he meant when he said it was demeaning. There was no reason to go and you shouldn’t go.” MELANIA TRUMP ANNOUNCES PASSING OF ‘BELOVED’ MOTHER: ‘WE WILL MISS HER BEYOND MEASURE’ Trump said, this time, because the “the judge is a radical Trump hater,” he would “go to all days.” “So, it happened very terribly as we asked to just delay the trial for one day so I could go to the funeral tomorrow and then we could start Friday or Monday or any time they want,” Trump explained. “And he said, absolutely not, the trial will go on just as it is.” Trump said the judge said: “You can go to the funeral or you can go to the trial, but you can’t do both.” “I thought it was terrible. I thought it was terrible,” Trump continued. “So he would rather have me miss the funeral or go to the funeral and miss the trial.” Trump added: “That’s a nasty man. He’s a nasty judge. He’s a Trump-hating guy. And it’s obvious to everybody in the court it’s a disgrace, frankly, what’s happening. It’s a disgrace.” Trump was referring to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who he said is a “Clinton appointee.” Former first lady Melania Trump’s mother, Amalija Knavs, passed away last week at the age of 78. MELANIA TRUMP SPENDS CHRISTMAS WITH AILING MOTHER, MISSING MAR-A-LAGO CELEBRATION “It is with deep sadness that I announce the passing of my beloved mother, Amalija,” the former first lady wrote in a X post. “Amalija Knavs was a strong woman who always carried herself with grace, warmth, and dignity,” Trump wrote. “She was entirely devoted to her husband, daughters, grandson, and son-in-law.” “We will miss her beyond measure and continue to honor and love her legacy,” she added. Trump, after winning the Iowa Caucuses Monday night, in his victory speech, thanked his mother-in-law. “I want to thank my incredible wife, first lady, I’ll say former and maybe future, but more important than Melania, I want to thank her incredible, beautiful mother who passed away a few days ago,” Trump said. “And she’s up there, way up there. She’s looking down and she’s so proud of us. And I just want to say to Amalia, you are special, one of the most special people I’ve ever known.” The funeral is expected to be held Thursday in Palm Beach, Fla. Trump has been in court this week as part of the the civil defamation damages trial stemming from E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit claiming he sexually attacked her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s. The second trial comes after a federal jury in New York City decided in May that Trump was not liable for rape but was liable for sexual abuse and defamation. The former president has been ordered to pay $5 million. Carroll, 79, alleged that Trump raped her at the Bergdorf Goodman department store across the street from Trump Tower in Manhattan sometime in 1996. According to Carroll, the two had a chance run-in at the store, where Trump was shopping for a gift for “a girl.” She said he asked for her advice, and the two shopped together before he pushed her into a dressing room and assaulted her. TRUMP CANNOT ASSERT PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY IN E JEAN CARROLL DEFAMATION LAWSUIT, APPEALS COURT RULES Trump vehemently denied the allegation, and his denial resulted in Carroll slapping Trump with a defamation lawsuit, claiming that his response caused harm to her reputation. Trump and his legal team insist that Carroll’s allegations are fabricated, with the former president’s initial reaction including an accusation that Carroll was motivated by wanting to sell copies of her book. In an exclusive interview just after the jury delivered the verdict, Trump told Fox News Digital that he has “absolutely no idea who this woman is.” “This verdict is a disgrace,” he told Fox News Digital at the time. “It is a continuation of the greatest political witch hunt in history.” The former president told reporters last week that he plans to testify in his defense in the current trial, saying he will “explain I don’t know who the hell she is.” Carroll, 80, plans to testify about the damage to her career and reputation that resulted from Trump’s public statements. She seeks $10 million in compensatory damages and millions more in punitive damages. Nine jurors were selected for the trial, which Kaplan said is likely to last three to five days. Testimony will begin Wednesday.
DeSantis campaigns in New Hampshire, but most of his staff moves to focus on South Carolina
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spent part of Wednesday at this seaside community along the New Hampshire coast, making a pitch to voters six days ahead of the state’s Republican presidential primary. “I’m asking for your support on Tuesday,” DeSantis told the crowd as he looked ahead to the New Hampshire primary, the first in the GOP nominating calendar and second overall contest after this week’s Iowa caucuses. But as the Florida governor was speaking to supporters and undecided voters, Fox News confirmed that the DeSantis campaign was in the process of moving the majority of its staff from Iowa to South Carolina rather than New Hampshire. DeSantis came in a distant second in Iowa to former President Trump, the commanding front-runner in the GOP nomination race who crushed his rivals as he won 51% of the vote in Monday’s caucuses. DeSantis, who had spent most of his time and resources in Iowa, narrowly edged former United Nations Ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for second place. CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST POLL NUMBERS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE’S REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY But with polls indicating Haley a strong second to Trump and DeSantis a distant third in the single digits in New Hampshire — where moderates predominate and independent voters play a crucial role in the state’s storied presidential primary — the Florida governor is concentrating his efforts in the much more conservative South Carolina. The state holds the first southern contest in the Republican schedule on Feb. 24. TRUMP, HALEY, TURN UP VOLUME ON EACH OTHER AS GOP PRESIDENTIAL SLUGFEST MOVES TO NEW HAMPSHIRE The governor’s team sees the move to South Carolina as a chance to take down Haley on her home court and knock her out of the race. “When Nikki Haley fails to win her home state, she’ll be finished and this will be a two-person race,” DeSantis campaign communications director Andrew Romeo said in a statement. “We’re wasting no time in taking the fight directly to Haley on her home turf.” A source in DeSantis’ political orbit told Fox News that “it’s all about South Carolina.” “They’re not completely giving up on New Hampshire. They are pursuing both states, but they’re really looking ahead to South Carolina,” the source added. DeSantis was headed home to Florida later on Wednesday. He will return to New Hampshire for at least three stops on Friday before campaigning Saturday and Sunday in South Carolina. He may return to New Hampshire on Monday, on the eve of the first-in-the-nation presidential primary. “He doesn’t want to write off New Hampshire publicly because that would mean his campaign is over,” longtime Republican consultant David Carney – who’s neutral in the 2024 nomination race – told Fox News. “They’ve got to go somewhere. They’ve still got more money to spend. So, they’ll make the case to go to South Carolina.” IOWA’S OVER. NOW GOP PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY FIGHT TURNS TO NEW HAMPSHIRE Carney, a veteran of numerous presidential campaigns and a New Hampshire resident, said that “it’s a good strategy – see what you can get out of South Carolina. And pretend you are campaigning in New Hampshire. If you’re absent for the entire week, your campaign is dead.” Republican strategist Matthew Bartlett, who splits his time between New Hampshire and the nation’s capital, said DeSantis is “going through the motions. I applaud him and his team for doing it, but I think they would have been far better served doing this in the long hot summer rather than the waning days before the New Hampshire primary when the cake is baked.” The two events DeSantis held in New Hampshire on Wednesday were organized by the aligned super PAC Never Back Down, which has taken over many of the traditional responsibilities of a presidential campaign. But as DeSantis was on the campaign trail on Tuesday, Never Back Down trimmed operations, laying off some staff, including nearly the entire ‘war room’ team, Fox News confirmed. The news was first reported by the New York Times. Making his case to New Hampshire voters in Hampton, DeSantis didn’t address the new emphasis being placed on South Carolina. And he didn’t take questions from reporters after the event. Neither the DeSantis campaign nor aligned super PACs have run TV spots in New Hampshire in two months, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact. While the South Carolina strategy may allow DeSantis to live to fight another day, it plays into Haley’s argument that the GOP nomination is becoming a two-person race. “When you look at how we’re doing in New Hampshire, in South Carolina and beyond, I can safely say tonight Iowa made this Republican primary a two-person race,” Haley said in West Des Moines on Monday night after finishing third in the Hawkeye State. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
All eyes on New Hampshire’s independent voters following reports of Democrats voting for Nikki Haley in Iowa
All eyes will be on New Hampshire’s undeclared, or independent, voters next week for the first-in-the-nation presidential primaries following reports of cross-party voting by Democrats in support of former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley during Monday’s Iowa caucuses. Although former President Donald Trump achieved a historic victory in the Hawkeye State with more than 50% of the vote, well ahead of Haley’s third-place finish, it wasn’t for lack of trying by Democrats and independents opposed to the former president. They reportedly showed up at some caucus sites and caused a shortage of party registration forms. Even though registered Republicans were the only voters allowed to vote in Iowa’s caucuses, the state allows same-day party registration, meaning Democrats and independents could show up, register and vote all in one evening. TRUMP, HALEY TURN UP THE VOLUME ON EACH OTHER AS GOP PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY SLUGFEST MOVES TO NEW HAMPSHIRE At one caucus site in Johnson County, the only county Trump lost to Haley, by a single vote, caucus workers had to scramble for more printer paper to have enough forms to accommodate those trying to switch their party registration to Republican, according to CBS News. Other reports also pointed to meddling by Democrats, including one voter who told Axios that switching party registration for a day was “a chance to diminish Trump’s inevitability.” Another said, “I believe all Americans should cast a vote against Donald Trump every chance we have.” By contrast, David Barker, the treasurer of the Iowa Republican Party, told Fox News Digital that although there were some new registrations for the party from Democrats and independents, a vast majority of those registering on the night of the caucus were first-time voters ready to oust President Biden. VIRGINIA VETERAN AIMS TO BE 1ST FEMALE MARINE ELECTED TO CONGRESS, JOINS RACE TO FLIP COVETED DEM-HELD SEAT Despite any such effort to oppose Trump, it wasn’t enough to boost Haley ahead of her main challenger for second place, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who bested her by around 2,300 votes. Looking ahead to next week’s New Hampshire primary, approximately 3,500 Democrats in the state switched their party registration to become undeclared voters, or independents, ahead of the October deadline. Part of that effort was led by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who recently dropped out of the race, encouraging voters to take every opportunity to turn out against Trump. Undeclared voters in New Hampshire, who make up a plurality of the Granite State’s electorate, can choose whether to vote in the Democratic or Republican primary, and have long played a crucial role in determining who will be the non-incumbent party’s nominee for president. The state does not allow intra-party voting. WATCH: NEW CONSERVATIVE TECH COMPANY INSPIRED BY SWING STATE ELECTION LOSSES AIMS TO FLIP SCRIPT ON DEMOCRATS Some argue New Hampshire’s undeclared voters who show up to vote on Tuesday will likely cast a ballot in the Republican primary considering President Biden isn’t facing any serious challenge to his likely nomination for the Democrats. As one New Hampshire voter put it, the GOP race is “where all the action is.” Others, such as Dante Scala, a political science professor and researcher at the University of New Hampshire, say whether anti-Trump independents show up to vote for Haley “depends on their perception of Trump’s inevitability.” “I think some of those voters would like to stick it to Trump if they could, but they really liked Chris Christie because he was purely anti-Trump. Haley is not. The question always is, will they show up? And I think they need a clear reason to do so. … If they’re looking at the polling in New Hampshire, and they’re listening to reports, and the vibe is ‘Trump’s got it in the bag,’ then I think there will be less interest in showing up,” Scala said. “If you’re a Democratic leaner, you’re not crazy about going to vote in a Republican primary in the first place. That kind of cuts against the grain. Haley’s a pretty mainstream Republican, and so you’re really uncomfortable with that. So, you would kind of need a good reason to do it.” WATCH: VETERAN AIR FORCE COMMANDER JOINS RACE FOR CONGRESS, SAYS MOMENT ‘TOO IMPORTANT’ FOR CAREER POLITICIANS Haley campaign spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas told Fox News Digital the ambassador has “always believed that the Republican Party has to be about addition, not subtraction.” “Otherwise, Republicans will keep losing like we did in 2018, 2020 and 2022. If Republicans want to start winning again, we have to start bringing in voters who are fed up with Joe Biden, not pushing them away,” she said. A senior Trump campaign official told Fox News Digital the “only people” voting for Haley are Democrats trying to interfere in the Republican primary because she “is a desperate globalist who wants higher taxes, open borders and China to dominate the United States.” Fox News Digital also reached out to the DeSantis campaign for comment. According to a new poll released Wednesday by Suffolk University, the Boston Globe and NBC10 in Boston, Trump remains the clear frontrunner over Haley in New Hampshire with 50% support to her 34%. DeSantis stands at 5% and is expected to head to South Carolina, Haley’s home state, this weekend to start campaigning there. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
GOP Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte announces reelection bid
Montana Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte, whose administration oversaw a decrease in individual income taxes and an increase in residential property taxes, is seeking a second term. Gianforte made the announcement Tuesday and said Lt. Gov. Kristen Juras will be his running mate. With a historic budget surplus following federal stimulus spending due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state paid off its debt, reduced the top income tax rate and authorized up to $1,250 in one-time rebates to individual income tax payers under Gianforte’s administration. During his first three years in office, the state has seen 40,000 more jobs — 30,000 more compared to pre-pandemic levels — and record low unemployment, according to federal labor statistics. MONTANA REPUBLICANS FUME OVER UNIVERSITY DEFYING CALLS TO SHUTTER CCP-LINKED PROGRAM: ‘MALIGN INFLUENCE’ Property taxes went up because the appraised value of homes increased due to demand. Critics said Gianforte and the Republican Legislature did not do enough to mitigate the increase. The legislature passed a property tax rebate of up to $675 for both 2023 and 2024 for resident homeowners — an amount that Gianforte later said would offset most people’s property tax increases until the 2025 Legislature can find a solution. “There’s still work to do, as we build on what we’ve done,” Gianforte said in a statement. He said serving as governor “has been the honor of my life, and today I humbly ask for your support to serve another term.” Ryan Busse, a former firearms executive from Kalispell who is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, called Gianforte “just another typical politician who stuck Montanans with a record tax hike so that he could give tax cuts to the wealthy.” Busse and the Montana Democratic Party criticized Gianforte’s support of legislation that sought to limit access to abortion. Those laws are being challenged in court.
Families plead alongside bipartisan group of senators more action to release hostages held by Hamas
It’s been more than 100 days since Hamas attacked Southern Israel and took nearly 200 hostages captive. Now, the families of those victims are urging the U.S. and Israeli government to ramp up its efforts to bring them home. A group of bipartisan senators led by Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Foreign Relations Chair Ben Cardin, D-Md., held an emotional press conference Wednesday with five families whose loved ones are still being held hostage by Hamas. “I discussed with a few of the families some new strategy that we can implement. And I promise to try and do that,” Schumer said Wednesday. “There are always new initiatives as there are right now. And we are making slow, slow, slow, but important progress. Not that that progress can’t come fast enough. And let me be clear, if Hamas had any basic shred of humanity, they would have released the hostages already.” Schumer and other senators did not immediately expand on what those new strategies or initiatives would entail. ISRAEL TO SCALE BACK MILITARY OFFENSIVE IN SOUTHERN GAZA Hamas is still holding 130 of the 240 hostages captive, including six Americans, whose conditions are unknown. Families lamented that Wednesday marked 103 days since the attack. One of the victims’ family members, Jon Polin, said during the press conference that his son, Hersh, was celebrating his 23rd birthday at the music festival when Hamas terrorists massacred over a thousand people. Hersh is one of the current victims held hostage. “From eyewitness accounts and subsequent video footage, we know that he was loaded onto a Hamas pickup truck after having his left arm, his dominant arm, blown off,” Polin told reporters. “And as Americans, we expect the United States, the greatest superpower in the history of the world, to use its full power to secure the hostages release. This includes making sure that all partners in the region make this a top priority.” Adi Marciano’s daughter was killed in captivity while being held by Hamas terrorists. As she urged for more action to release the remaining victims, she said a “black cloud” hangs over her. “Let’s ensure that we do everything in our power to bring our loved ones home,” she said. ISRAELI KIBBUTZ BE’ERI CONFIRMS DEATH OF 2 HOSTAGES SEEN IN HAMAS TERROR GROUP VIDEO Yarden Gonen’s 23-year-old sister, Romi, was also kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7. “You are all lawmakers of the most powerful country in the world, a beacon of democracy, a defender of civil and human rights,” Gonen said. “Please, with this great power comes great responsibility. I ask you, please do everything you can to get our hostages home where they deserve to be. This is a violation of international law, of basic human rights.” Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-NE., said “Hamas must surrender” and that he and his colleagues will continue to “push for the release of hostages.” Sens. Susan Collins, R-Me., Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., were also in attendance. Ernst urged the Biden administration to do more to help the release of hostages. Some Israeli family members blamed Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not striking a deal to get their loved ones home. Cardin emphasized throughout the press conference that lawmakers will exhaust every possible avenue to progress toward bringing the victims home safely. BIDEN MARKS DAY 100 OF CAPTIVITY FOR HOSTAGES IN GAZA: ‘TRAGIC MILESTONE’ He also criticized the Qatar government for not doing more to advance the effort. “They do have opportunities that we don’t have,” Cardin said. “They have not been as effective as I would like to see them.” Israeli President Kibbutz Be’eri confirmed on Tuesday that two residents, Yossi Sharabi, 53, and Itai Svirsky, 38, held captive by Hamas, were killed. The announcement followed the release of a new Hamas video on the 100-day anniversary of the October 7 massacre, which also features a third hostage, Noa Argamani, 26. Family members at Wednesday’s press conference lamented that if action isn’t taken swiftly to release the captives, their loved ones will inevitably be killed. “Every day that Prime Minister Netanyahu and the war cabinet do not negotiate a deal to release all the people who are hostages in Gaza is a failure,” said Liz Natfali, a relative of 4-year-old Abigal Edan, who was the first American hostage freed by Hamas. An agreement to temporarily halt the war between Israel and Hamas was carried out in November, which resulted in the release of about 100 hostages and 180 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. But the deal was short-lived after Hamas violated the pause and continued to hold more than 100 victims still captive.
‘Horse’s a–‘: Biden has repeatedly insulted voters, contrary to White House press sec’s claim
On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed that President Biden does not insult voters, but he has made insulting remarks to them on several occasions. “One thing that the president does not do is insult voters or American people,” Jean-Pierre said. However, Biden has a long history of questionable remarks to voters and members of the media. In December 2019, as Biden was campaigning for president, he appeared at an Iowa town hall and derided a voter in a tense exchange. BIDEN HAS BEEN SECRETLY MEETING WITH DONORS TO EASE CONCERNS, INCLUDING HIS AGE AND ENERGY: REPORT “I’m not a Republican,” one man told Biden at the event. “I’ve got two problems with you. One is you’re damn near as old as I am. You’re too old. I’m 83, and I know damn well I don’t have the mental faculties I did [inaudible.]” He went on to the topic of Ukraine — specifically the lucrative job Biden’s son Hunter held with natural gas firm Burisma Holdings during the Obama administration. “But on the other hand, you sent your son over there to get a job and work for a gas company where he had no experience… In order to get access for the president…you’re selling access to the president just like he was,” the questioner said. Biden fired back: “You’re a damn liar, man. That’s not true, and no one has ever said that.” The claim that Biden “sent” his son to Ukraine for a job at Burisma is not accurate. The man later told Biden he did not plan on voting for him. Biden said he knew that because he was “too old” to vote for him. OBAMA INCREASINGLY WORRIED ABOUT TRUMP BEATING BIDEN, REPORT SAYS: ‘INCALCULABLE DAMAGE’ In May 2020, Biden appeared on Charlamagne tha God’s “The Breakfast Club” radio show and said anyone contemplating voting for him or Trump “ain’t Black” after the host said he should go to his New York studio for another interview. “You’ve got more questions?” Biden said. “Well, I tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.” Three months later, in August 2020, Biden snapped at a reporter and asked him if he was “a junkie” after fielding a question about if he’d ever taken a cognitive test amid attacks from then-President Trump over his mental stamina. “No, I haven’t taken a test. Why the hell would I take a test?” Biden said. “Come on, man. That’s like saying you, before you got on this program, you take a test whether you’re taking cocaine or not. What do you think? Huh? Are you a junkie?” he said while turning the question back around on CBS News reporter Errol Barnett, who is Black. Biden chuckled as he finished his response. Biden later confronted an autoworker while campaigning in September 2020 and told him he “doesn’t work for him” before calling him a “horse’s a–.” And in 2022, Biden was caught on a hot mic calling Fox News correspondent Peter Doochy a “stupid son of a bi—” after he had asked a question about inflation. The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.