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Conservative ‘playbook’ to beat Democrats in court outlined in senator’s new book

Conservative ‘playbook’ to beat Democrats in court outlined in senator’s new book

FIRST ON FOX: One Senate Republican has crafted a blueprint for how conservatives can take on Democrats in the courts and win. Before he was in Washington D.C., Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo. served as Missouri’s attorney general during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. And during that time, he filed lawsuit after lawsuit challenging the Biden administration, Dr. Anthony Fauci and even going so far as to sue China. And more often than not, be it through uncovering discrepancies during the discovery process or winning multibillion-dollar settlements, Schmitt was mostly successful in challenging Democratic “lawfare.” SENATE SIGNALS READINESS TO HIT RUSSIA WITH HARD SANCTIONS IF PEACE DEAL FAILS “The fact of the matter is, what our fights were, were about restoring individual liberty and pulling back the expanse of government,” Schmitt told Fox News Digital in an interview. “What the Left is trying to do now with their lawfare machine was, number one, they’re trying to put their opponents in jail, but then also to defend the expanse of government, to defend the administrative state. And I think if we have the right arguments, we can win.” Schmitt detailed how to secure those winning arguments through his own experiences in his latest book “The Last Line of Defense: How to Beat the Left in Court.” He described the book as “a field manual from the front lines of the battles that were fought against the left-wing law machine.” Indeed, Schmitt outlined a guide for attorneys general across the country to take on challenges at all levels, from local to federal. “Our playbook really is … really in response to what their playbook was, to create a manufactured emergency, a real or manufactured emergency, to aggregate power, to exercise it in ways that never were imagined to other folks who disagree and silence dissent,” Schmitt said. “That’s what they were really trying to do.” TEXAS DEMS END WEEKSLONG QUORUM STANDOFF IN REDISTRICTING FIGHT In some cases, he went beyond the country’s borders and sued a foreign country, as Schmitt did to China. He argued in the book that the Chinese Communist Party had withheld information on the COVID-19 virus, and was actively hoarding high-quality personal protective equipment (PPE) while producing and selling lower-quality PPE for the rest of the world. That case resulted in an eventual $24 billion judgment earlier this year. From there, Schmitt challenged former President Joe Biden’s student loan debt cancellation plan by focusing his case on a local student loan servicing company, a plan that was ultimately blocked by the Supreme Court just months into Schmitt’s first year as a lawmaker in 2023. Through it all, the pandemic was the “inflection point,” Schmitt said, and his biggest target became Fauci. He got an opportunity to depose Fauci, who served as the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and medical advisor to Biden, as part of his lawsuit taking on censorship and suppression by social media platforms like Facebook. BILL BARR, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY GENERAL, ARRIVES TO FACE HOUSE INVESTIGATORS IN EPSTEIN PROBE “He wanted to silence anybody who talked about it being a lab leak,” Schmitt said. “Which, of course, we know is that’s exactly what it was now. It wasn’t some bat mating with a penguin, you know, this was actually in the Wuhan Institute of Virology is where this thing came from.” Schmitt, who is a fan of both former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Justice Clarence Thomas — particularly Scalia’s usage of originalism, or interpreting the Constitution as it was written rather than as a living document — noted in the book that there has been a “complete shift” in the courts. In particular, conservative-leaning justices have the majority on the Supreme Court, and courts across the country are being filled, albeit slowly, with President Donald Trump’s picks. When asked if he was at all concerned about partisan politicking coming to the bench, Schmitt countered that courts are returning to a legal system that had been “disrupted by the progressive era, beginning with Woodrow Wilson and the rise of the administrative state, FDR, who threatened to pack the court.” “The Constitution means exactly what it says, nothing more, nothing less, just like our laws,” he said. “They mean what they say, nothing more, nothing less.”  “I don’t want a judge to necessarily agree with my politics,” he continued. “I just want a judge to adhere to the Constitution.”

MS-13 gang member arrested in DC as Bondi touts admin’s ‘extraordinary’ crime crackdown

MS-13 gang member arrested in DC as Bondi touts admin’s ‘extraordinary’ crime crackdown

An MS-13 gang member previously convicted of driving while intoxicated and drug possession was one of the 52 arrests in Washington, D.C., on Monday night as the Trump administration fires back at critics who have been downplaying their effectiveness. “At the direction of [President Donald Trump], our nation’s capital is a SAFER place—and we are just getting started. 52 arrests were made last night, including an MS-13 gang member, and 9 firearms were taken off the streets,” Bondi posted to X on Tuesday morning. “Since our mission began, there have been a total of 465 arrests, 68 guns seized, and charges for homicide, narcotics, and firearm offenses. Nearly half of these arrests occurred in the high-crime areas of DC. Residents and tourists alike appreciate this extraordinary effort by our DC and Federal law enforcement partners,” she continued. “Make DC Safe Again!” HUNDREDS ARRESTED AS TRUMP’S WASHINGTON, DC, CRIME CRACKDOWN HITS FULL STRIDE Other arrests included ones for assault with a deadly weapon, federal parole violation for robbery, murder, a warrant for attempted murder, assaulting a federal law enforcement official, felony assault, and carrying a pistol without a license, according to the White House. Four homeless encampments were also cleared out on Monday, bringing the total to 48. A White House official told Fox News on background that over 450 arrests have been made since Thursday, Aug. 7. Out of the 212 non-immigration arrests, 101 were in the high-crime Wards 7 and 8, Axios reported regarding a White House analysis of the data so far. The White House said the data counteracted a map “tracking troops” in the capital city from The Washington Post. “Facts are stubborn things,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson posted to X on Tuesday morning. On Friday, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is playing a critical role in the federal police takeover of the city. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS COULD DOMINATE DC ARRESTS UNDER FEDERALIZED POLICE FORCE, SAYS EXPERT “Under President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership, ICE law enforcement is being unleashed to keep America safe from dangerous criminals. As the secretary has announced, ICE and CBP have been deployed to help clean up the streets of our nation’s capital,” McLaughlin stated. “Our message is clear: Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the United States,” she continued. Amid Trump’s crime crackdown in D.C., the Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser has been critical of the federalization of the city’s police force. “This is a time where community needs to jump in. We all need to, to do what we can in our space, in our lane, to protect our city and to protect our autonomy, to protect our home rule, and get to the other side of this guy, and make sure we elect a Democratic House so that we have a backstop to this authoritarian push,” Bowser said during town hall with community leaders, which was livestreamed on X, last week. She continued by calling Trump’s effort “an intrusion on our autonomy.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE The National Guard has been deployed throughout the city, but the White House says that they are not currently the ones making arrests. Last week, Bondi issued an order superseding the capital city’s sanctuary policies to allow compliance between local police and federal immigration authorities. BONDI ANNOUNCES NEARLY 200 ARRESTS ‘AND COUNTING’ AS FEDERAL AGENTS SWARM NATION’S CAPITAL “At my direction, [the Metropolitan Police Department] will now fully cooperate with federal immigration authorities,” Bondi tweeted on Friday. “[President Donald Trump] remains in control under the law to determine what is necessary and appropriate.” The federal takeover has gotten significant pushback from Democrats, including local leaders who say it’s an act of overreach despite D.C.’s unique legal governing status. “Let us be clear: armed soldiers should not be policing American citizens on American soil. Instead of making DC more secure, it undermines public safety and endangers our democracy. It’s DC today, but the same dangerous strategy can be deployed to occupy any American community,” D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb tweeted on Tuesday morning.