Shashi Tharoor’s increasing distance from the Grand Old Party
After the BJP won the Thiruvananthapuram corporation polls. In a post on X, Tharoor said: “I also want to acknowledge the historic performance of the BJP in Thiruvananthapuram, and offer humble congratulations on their significant victory in the city Corporation.”
‘Modi ji has deep hatred for…’: LoP Rahul Gandhi blasts Centre over G Ram G bill
The Opposition has criticised the bill for changing the scheme’s name and removing Mahatma Gandhi’s reference from it. Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, along with other Opposition MPs, has already held a protest at the Parliament.
Assam CM hits back at Bangladesh’s leader threatening to ‘separate’ North-East states from India, ‘idea is misguided…’
Amid political instability in Bangladesh, a country witnessing an interim government, has been maintaining an anti-India stance constantly. In a fresh, Hasnat Abdullah from National Citizen Party has threatened to ‘separate’ India’s Northeast region which met with strong reply from Assam CM.
Goa nightclub fire: Delhi court grants 48-hour transit remand of Luthra brothers to police
As per reports, during the court proceedings on Tuesday, the entrepreneur brothers broke down and wept after coming face-to-face with their family members for the first time since they fled. They had been brought back to India from Thailand’s capital Bangkok and arrived in Delhi around 2 pm.
Immigrant families in Texas have gone into hiding after latest Trump administration policy
Last month the Trump administration made people from 19 nations ineligible to obtain legal status. “Fear won,” said one woman who came from Venezuela nearly a decade ago.
Residents protest high-voltage power lines that could skirt Dinosaur Valley State Park
One of three possible routes would border the North Texas park. The project is part of a statewide effort to keep pace with Texas’ rapidly growing energy needs.
Pentagon won’t release ‘top secret, full, unedited’ video of September drug boat strike, Hegseth says
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said that the Pentagon would not release the “top secret, full, unedited video” of the controversial September strike on a suspected drug boat. However, Hegseth said that “appropriate” congressional committees would see the footage. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
FBI doubted probable cause for Mar-a-Lago raid but pushed forward amid pressure from Biden DOJ, emails reveal
EXCLUSIVE: The FBI did not believe it had probable cause to raid President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in 2022, but moved forward amid pressure from the Biden Justice Department, with an official saying he didn’t “give a damn about the optics” of the search, newly declassified documents reviewed by Fox News Digital reveal. Fox News Digital reviewed emails between FBI and Justice Department officials in the months leading up to the August 2022 raid of Mar-a-Lago, with FBI officials expressing concerns about a lack of probable cause to execute the search warrant on the then-former president’s residence in Palm Beach, Florida. EXCLUSIVE: FBI SEIZES PRIVILEGED TRUMP RECORDS DURING RAID; DOJ OPPOSES REQUEST FOR INDEPENDENT REVIEW: SOURCES “Very little has been developed related to who might be culpable for mishandling the documents,” an FBI official serving as an assistant special agent in charge, wrote to another FBI official, Anthony Riedlinger. “From the interviews, WFO has gathered information suggesting that there may be additional boxes (presumably of the same type as were sent back to NARA in January) at Mar-a-Lago.” “WFO has been drafting a search warrant affidavit related to these potential boxes, but has some concerns that the information is single source, has not been corroborated, and may be dated,” the official continues. “DOJ CES opines, however, that the SW’s meet the probable cause standard.” “Even as we continue down the path towards a search warrant, WFO believes that a reasonable conversation with the former president’s attorney, (stating that the FBI and DOJ are readying a search warrant, and have developed information that there are more documents at Mar a Lago), ought not to be discounted,” the official wrote. “At a minimum, even if the former president’s attorney is correct and the documents were all declassified (or believed to be declassified), it can be reasonably argued that the documents remain sensitive and should be properly secured until the matter of classification is sorted out,” the official continued. “This conversation could easily be accomplished at the same time that WFO presses forward with the investigation and continues building out the search warrant.” Weeks later, an FBI agent writes an email stating: “We haven’t generated any new facts, but keep being given draft after draft after draft.” “Absent a witness coming forward with recent information about classified on site, at what point is it fair to table this?” the agent writes. “It is time consuming for the team, and not productive if there are no new facts supporting PC (probable cause)?” Another email revealed that the FBI’s Washington Field Office did “not believe (and has articulated to DOJ CES), that we have established probable cause for the search warrant for classified records at Mar a Lago.” DOJ ASKS COURT TO UNSEAL MAR-A-LAGO RAID WARRANT; AG MERRICK GARLAND PERSONALLY SIGNED OFF ON TRUMP SEARCH “DOJ has opined that they do have probable cause, requesting a wide scope including residence, office, storage space,” an agent wrote. The FBI believed that a raid would be “counterproductive,” and suggested “alternative, less intrusive and likelier quicker options for resolution” to reclaim any potential classified records. The process moved forward, regardless of concerns. Another email on Aug. 4, 2022, revealed the plan for the execution of the warrant. “The FBI intends for the execution of the warrant to be handled in a professional, low key manner, and to be mindful of the optics of the search,” an agent writes. The agent quotes then-Deputy Assistant Attorney General George Toscas in a meeting. TRUMP HIGHLIGHTS BIDEN ADMIN AUTHORIZING ‘DEADLY USE OF FORCE’ IN MAR-A-LAGO RAID “Since we heard Mr. Toscas say yesterday in the call that he ‘frankly doesn’t give a damn about the optics’ and Mr. Bratt has already built an antagonistic relationship with (Trump) attorneys…I think it is more than fair to say that the DOJ contact with (Trump attorney) just prior to the execution of the warrant will not go well. DOJ said as much yesterday,” the agent writes. “I also think that it is fair to say that if FBI calls, having in mind officer safety, to the optics of the search, and the desire to conduct this search in a professional and low key manner, there is a far better chance that the execution will go more smoothly and we may actually gain some measure of cooperation, which could go some way to resolving the mishandling of classified records investigation that is being conducted.” The agent added: “I understand that this request may not go well at DOJ, however, it is the FBI serving and executing the search and it will be our personnel who will have to deal with the reaction to that first contact.” The FBI, in August 2022, raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, executing the search warrant as part of an investigation into his alleged improper retention of classified records after leaving the White House. Fox News Digital reported in 2024 that the Biden administration authorized the use of deadly force during the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago. That language was also used during the search of then-President Joe Biden’s residence for potential classified documents in 2023. An “Operations Order” produced in discovery as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s alleged improper retention of classified records revealed that the “FBI believed its objective for the Mar-a-Lago raid was to seize ‘classified information, NDI, and US Government records,’” as described in the search warrant. The order, according to a court filing, contained a “Policy Statement” regarding “Use of Deadly Force,” which stated, for example, “Law Enforcement officers of the Department of Justice may use deadly force when necessary.” According to the filing, the DOJ and FBI agents “planned to bring ‘Standard Issue Weapons,’ ‘Ammo,’ ‘Handcuffs,’ and ‘medium and large sized bolt cutters,’ but they were instructed to wear ‘unmarked polo or collared shirts’ and to keep ‘law enforcement equipment concealed.” TRUMP TARGETED: A LOOK AT THE INVESTIGATIONS INVOLVING THE FORMER PRESIDENT; FROM RUSSIA TO MAR-A-LAGO Fox News Digital first reported that during the raid, FBI
Kennedy urges GOP to restart spending battle amid soaring cost of living, warns against wasting majority
One Senate Republican is making the case that lawmakers aren’t using all the tools at their disposal to tackle affordability in the United States. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., wants Republicans to take another crack at budget reconciliation, the grueling, monthslong process used earlier this year to pass President Donald Trump’s crowning legislative achievement of 2025, and one that tested the unity of congressional Republicans. Kennedy wants to see the process used to eat into the cost of living in the country, which has proven a thorny issue for the GOP after Trump’s promises on the campaign trail to hack away at skyrocketing inflation that proved politically fatal, among other issues like immigration, for Democrats in last year’s election. SENATE MULLS NEXT STEPS AFTER DUELING OBAMACARE FIXES GO UP IN FLAMES But it’s a Pandora’s box that lawmakers have been hesitant to reopen after narrowly advancing the colossal tax package over the summer. “I have been preaching as persuasively as I can for months now that we need to do another reconciliation, and in that bill, we need to address things like rules and regulations, which add about $2 trillion to the cost of goods and services,” Kennedy said. He acknowledged that the process could be tricky, given that it is governed by the Byrd Rule, which nixes any provisions that don’t have a budgetary impact, but noted that lawmakers have at least two more attempts to take advantage of the process while Republicans still control both chambers of Congress. TRUMP INSISTS PRICES ARE ‘COMING DOWN,’ BLAMES BIDEN — BUT VOTERS SAY THEY’RE STILL GETTING SQUEEZED “And I am at a loss to understand why our leadership will not agree to another reconciliation,” he said. “If you went to Senator [Chuck] Schumer right now and said, ‘Schumer, Senator Schumer, you have the chance to pass anything you want to pass today within the parameters of Byrd, without having to depend on a single Republican vote,’ what do you think Chuck would do? He’d take a dozen, and I just don’t understand why we are not doing that.” Affordability and the cost of living have become a central focus for many on the Hill, particularly after dueling partisan proposals to tackle the impending hike to healthcare premiums and expiring Obamacare subsidies went down in flames last week. Lawmakers are still searching for a path forward on that front, with a bipartisan group led by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, meeting on Monday night to build a consensus between the parties. GOP ACCUSES DEMOCRATS OF MANUFACTURING AFFORDABILITY CRISIS AS OBAMACARE SUBSIDY FIGHT NEARS DEADLINE Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., one of the architects of Senate Republicans’ healthcare proposal that failed last week, told reporters, “The calendar precludes getting something done this week,” but was still optimistic about finding a way to deal with rising costs on the healthcare front. “But, still, a commitment to work together is a lot of progress,” he said. Still, Kennedy was ardent that lawmakers had spent little time since passing Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” taking advantage of their majority in Congress. “Yes, we passed the ‘one big, beautiful bill,’ that was July 1, five months ago, now, almost six months ago,” he said. “We need to act. And I’m hoping that after the holidays, my friend, Senator [John] Thune, and he is a friend, and I think he’s doing a great job, but I think Senator, I hope Senator Thune will relent and agree to another reconciliation bill that addresses the cost-of-living issue.”
DC mayor fires back at House Oversight Committee over ‘politically motivated’ crime statistics report
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser criticized an interim House Oversight Committee report on the city’s crime statistics, saying the findings were driven by politics rather than a complete investigation. Fox News Digital obtained a letter Bowser sent on Monday to House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., and ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif. “Since the outset, my Administration has fully cooperated with the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (Committee) investigation into allegations concerning publicly reported crime statistics by the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department,” Bowser said in part. “That cooperation was intended to educate the Committee about the complex subject of crime reporting, address the public misrepresentations about crime in the nation’s capital, and identify policies and processes that could be improved to ensure transparent, high-quality crime data. The Committee’s interim report is a disappointing rejection of that good faith approach and instead reflects a rush to judgement in order to serve a politically motivated timeline and release a report whose outcome appears to have been determined before the investigation began.” RANK-AND-FILE DC OFFICERS ACCUSE SUPERIORS OF DOWNGRADING CRIMES TO MASK REAL LEVELS: REPORT The committee’s 22-page report claims that outgoing Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Pamela Smith, who announced her resignation on Dec. 8, oversaw an unprecedented system of intervention in crime reporting. It alleges that Smith, who is expected to remain in the position through the end of the year, pressured commanders on numerous occasions, and at times instructed them to downgrade offenses and avoid classifications that would appear on the city’s daily crime report. The findings, based on eight transcribed interviews with MPD district commanders, describe a toxic management environment in which accuracy was sacrificed for optics, and career officials faced public humiliation or demotion for presenting Smith with unfavorable crime statistics. FIGHT OVER POLICING DC MOVES TO CONGRESS AS PARTIES SPLIT ON CONTROL Bowser defended Smith in her letter as an integral figure in helping reduce a 2023 spike in violent crime and homicides. She also noted that the committee did not interview Smith or any of MPD’s assistant chiefs before issuing its findings. “Even a cursory review of the report reveals its prejudice: of the 22 block quotes presented as complaining about Chief Smith’s management style, 20 of them were made by only two command officials interviewed,” Bowser wrote. The House Oversight investigation unfolded against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s federal crime crackdown in the nation’s capital. In August, Trump issued an executive order to address the “epidemic of crime” in the district and deployed federal law enforcement personnel, including the National Guard. Bowser said the district is committed to publishing accurate, high-quality crime statistics. “The pressure public leaders should all feel to reduce crime and the fear of crime in our communities will never be an acceptable excuse to intentionally alter and downgrade crime, and any police official who believes otherwise will be held accountable,” she added.