Hakeem Jeffries demands Trump ‘justify’ striking Iran, but side-steps impeachment question
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is demanding President Donald Trump and his senior officials “justify” the U.S. military’s recent strikes in Iran. “We’ve seen no evidence to date that an offensive strike of this nature was justified under the War Powers Act or the Constitution,” Jeffries said. “But the whole reason for the Trump administration to undertake that process is to come up to Capitol Hill and convince the American people and their elected representatives in the House and in the Senate. That hasn’t happened.” Trump officials have maintained that the strike was in compliance with the War Powers Act, which requires the White House to notify Congress within 48 hours of a military action and blocks that operation from continuing for more than 60 days without approval from lawmakers. ISRAEL’S ACTIONS AGAINST IRAN CREATE STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITY FOR US IN NUCLEAR TALKS, EXPERTS SAY Jeffries claimed he had not seen “a scintilla of evidence to date” that shows “there was an imminent threat to the United States of America.” “If the administration has evidence to the contrary, come up to present it. We’re not hard to find. I’m not hiding,” he said. The House Democratic leader said he requested a briefing Tuesday for the Gang of Eight, the informal name for the top party and intelligence leaders in Congress. Trump green-lit airstrikes on three of Tehran’s major nuclear sites over the weekend. The president said on Truth Social Monday that the areas hit were “completely destroyed.” The move has sharply divided Democrats, with some pro-Israel moderates backing Trump’s move — while several progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., have called for the president’s impeachment over the operation. Dozens of left-wing lawmakers have gotten behind a bipartisan war powers resolution by Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., to limit Trump’s ability to strike Iran. A FULL BREAKDOWN OF OPERATION MIDNIGHT HAMMER, THE ‘LARGEST B-2 OPERATIONAL STRIKE IN US HISTORY’ Meanwhile, Jeffries side-stepped multiple questions on those calls for impeachment during his press conference, instead reasserting his demand that Trump officials come before Congress. “A tool that’s on the table right now is to continue to demand that the administration present itself before the United States Congress and make the case to the American people as to why this extraordinary step has been taken. That’s step one,” Jeffries said. “Step two is for the War Powers Resolution, whether that’s the one that has already been introduced or others that may subsequently be introduced, for those resolutions to be debated on the House floor, as should have occurred already. And then we’ll see where we’re at thereafter.” Pressed again on whether he was taking calls for Trump’s impeachment seriously, Jeffries said, “This is a dangerous moment that we’re in, and we’ve got to get through what’s in front of us. And what’s in front of us right now is the Trump administration has a responsibility to come to Congress, justify actions for which we’ve seen no evidence to justify its offensive strength in Iran.” SATELLITE IMAGE SHOWS FORDOW NUCLEAR FACILITY AFTER MASSIVE BOMB STRIKE When reached for comment on Jeffries’ demands for justification, the White House referred Fox News Digital to press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s comments on Fox News Monday morning. “The White House made calls to congressional leadership. They were bipartisan calls. In fact, Hakeem Jeffries couldn’t be reached. We tried him before the strike, and he didn’t pick up the phone, but he was briefed after, as well as [Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.], who was briefed prior to the strike,” Leavitt said. “We gave these calls as a courtesy, and the Democrats are lying about this, because they can’t talk about the truth of the success of that operation and the success of our United States military and the success of this president and this administration in doing something that past administrations — Democrats too — have only dreamed about.”
Ex-Clinton official applauds Trump’s ‘courageous’ Iran call, doubts Harris would’ve had the nerve
A former Clinton-era National Security Council staffer broke with his party and heaped praise on President Donald Trump’s successful strikes on Iran over the weekend, while remarking former Vice President Kamala Harris would have likely lacked the “courage” to execute such a mission if she were commander-in-chief. “I am not a fan of many of Donald Trump‘s actions, but I will speak openly and honestly when he takes bold steps defending America’s interests, as he did tonight,” Jamie Metzl, founder of the international social group One Shared World, posted to X on Saturday evening. Metzl served on former President Bill Clinton’s National Security Counci and was former President Joe Biden’s deputy staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and he heaped praise on Trump repeatedly on X over the weekend, while also taking a shot at Harris’ lack of “courage and fortitude.” “But I’m not a blind tribalist and am perfectly comfortable praising President Trump for bold and courageous actions in support of America’s core national interests, as he took last night,” Metzl posted to X on Sunday morning. “Although I believe electing Kamala Harris would have been better for our democracy, society, and economy, as well as for helping the most vulnerable people in the United States and around the world, I also believe VP Harris would not have had the courage or fortitude to take such an essential step as the president took last night,” he added. PROMINENT TRUMP CRITICS LAUD PRESIDENT’S DECISION TO STRIKE IRAN NUCLEAR SITES Metzl continued in his X messages that “Iran has been at war with the United States for 46 years,” and was aiming to build a nuclear weapon with the intention of wielding it over the U.S and its allies. TRUMP DECLARES ‘VERY SUCCESSFUL ATTACK’ ON IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM AS US FORCES STRIKE 3 KEY SITES “Iran has been at war with the United States for 46 years. Its regime has murdered thousands of American citizens. Its slogan ‘death to America’ was not window dressing but core ideology. It was racing toward a nuclear weapon with every intention of using it to threaten America, our allies, and the Middle East region as a whole. No actions like this come without risks, and I imagine the story will get more complicated over time, but that’s why these types of decisions are complicated,” he wrote. Fox News Digital reached out to Harris’ office regarding Metzl’s post, but did not immediately receive a reply. Metzl’s comments are among a cacophony of Democratic elected officials and traditional anti-MAGA voices who have come out to praise Trump since the successful attack on Iran, dubbed “Operation Midnight Hammer.” TRUMP ADDRESSES NATION ON ‘SPECTACULAR MILITARY SUCCESS’ OF US STRIKES ON IRANIAN NUCLEAR FACILITIES “The destruction of Iran’s nuclear program is essential to ultimate peace in the Middle East. This is not a Democratic or Republican issue — dealing with the Iranian threat is central to America’s national security. The world is safer because of the actions of our brave service members. I’m praying for the safety of our service members in the region,” New Jersey Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer said in a statement over the weekend, for example. “As I’ve long maintained, this was the correct move by @POTUS,” Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman wrote on X on Saturday. “Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities. I’m grateful for and salute the finest military in the world.” While New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, a frequent Trump critic, wrote in an opinion piece that Trump made a “courageous and correct decision that deserves respect, no matter how one feels about this president,” while fellow Times columnist David French also said it was the “right decision” on social media. Other Democrats and frequent Trump critics, such as New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, have slammed Trump over the strikes, arguing they bypassed Congress. FETTERMAN BACKS TRUMP AFTER IRAN STRIKES: ‘THE CORRECT MOVE’ Trump announced the Saturday evening strikes on Iran in a Truth Social post that was not preceded by media leaks or speculation that strikes were imminent. The unexpected social media post was followed just hours later by a brief Trump address to the nation while flanked by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance. “A short time ago, the U.S. military carried out massive precision strikes on the three key nuclear facilities in the Iranian regime: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan,” Trump said from the White House late on Saturday in an address to the nation regarding the strikes. “Everybody heard those names for years as they built this horribly destructive enterprise. Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity, and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s No. 1 state sponsor of terror. Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success.” The strikes “obliterated” Iranian nuclear facilities and backed the nation into a corner to make a peace deal, Trump said. This mission was also celebrated by Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine as one that was cloaked in secrecy and intentionally deceptive to confuse the enemy. “It involved misdirection and the highest of operational security. Our B-2s went in and out of… these nuclear sites, in and out and back, without the world knowing at all,” Hegseth said. “In that way, it was historic.” The operation included the longest B-2 spirit bomber mission since 2001, the second-longest B-2 mission ever flown and the largest B-2 operational strike in U.S. history, Hegseth and Caine said during the Sunday press conference. Operation Midnight Hammer followed Israel launching preemptive strikes on Iran on June 12 after months of attempted and stalled nuclear negotiations and subsequent heightened concern that Iran was advancing its nuclear program. Netanyahu declared soon afterward that the strikes were necessary to “roll back the Iranian threat to
Bush’s War on Terror vs Trump’s Iran approach: How US Middle East strategy evolved
The War on Terror led to regime change in Iraq and a briefly democratic Afghanistan — at least until former President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal. More recently, a separate conflict between Israel and Iran saw the U.S. step in to help destroy nuclear facilities — but observers should pause before making any apples-to-apples comparisons between the two eras. The image of then-White House chief of staff Andrew Card whispering in President George W. Bush’s ear during an elementary school reading event that the Twin Towers had been hit by terrorists began a continuing three decades of U.S. involvement in the Middle East. The Middle East and the world writ-large was a different place back then, Heritage Foundation senior China and National Security Policy studies fellow Steve Yates told Fox News Digital. Yates previously served in the Bush administration as a top national security affairs adviser to then-Vice President Dick Cheney. More recently, he co-chaired the 2016 RNC’s platform subcommittee on national security. SQUAD ERUPTS IN FURY AS TRUMP TAKES BOLD ACTION AGAINST IRANIAN NUCLEAR THREAT “The world has changed an awful lot in 20 years,” Yates said, when asked to compare the two administrations. “And I think that my perceptions of things have changed a great deal, in no small part, because I’ve had as a primary focus, among all other things in the world, what’s happening with China.” During the Bush years, the Chinese Communist Party was led by Hu Jintao, who Yates quipped was the “definition of boredom” compared to the feistier Xi Jinping. The differences there and in the Mideast have presented challenges to the U.S., Yates said. President Donald Trump leads essentially the first “post-globalist” presidency as the world “awaken[ed] from” its “globalist moment” since the 1990s. “None of those things were factors in the early 2000s. And I think that context is vital to try to see how things are handled now,” he said. “Frankly, I am a supporter of President Trump and what he’s been trying to do. I think he’s very clear that he’s willing to use decisive force when he judges it to be necessary.” US MILITARY TROOPS IN MIDDLE EAST COULD FACE INCREASED THREATS AMID IRAN CONFLICT In the Middle East, American intervention during the War on Terror led to dictator Saddam Hussein being deposed, and a decades-long ground war ensued. Iran, at the time, was led by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — a more prominent president. Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei has become the more prominent global figure as of late, over current President Masoud Pezeshkian. And, while the War on Terror led to boots on the ground, Yates noted Trump has been clear that he wants Mideast allies and their Western-friendly neighbors to carry their “fair share” of risk and responsibility for what happens in the region — which has been marked by conflicts since the time of Jesus Christ. “In that, Israel has been very clear. They haven’t asked for American boots on the ground. To my knowledge to this point they haven’t asked for much of anything other than rhetorical support,” he said, prior to the U.S. dropping MOP bombs from B-2s on Saturday night. Yates foreshadowed that Trump has made clear he is ready to use “decisive American force” if necessary to prevent Iranian nuclear proliferation. TOP DEMOCRATS, MEDIA DECLARE US AT WAR AFTER IRAN STRIKES AS WHITE HOUSE PUSHES BACK ON NARRATIVE “That is a definable objective… That is not a war of occupation or trying to ‘remake Iran in our image’ as some [have] characterized Iraq, whether fairly or unfairly.” “So I think that the president has navigated this with deeper logic than most people give credit.” The question at this time in history is more whether “the Old World” will act on their shared interest in supporting a non-nuclear Iran or similar outcome in a meaningful way. He referenced the “EU-3” — Germany, Great Britain and France, the three largest European economic powers — and said they had previously been a “moderating force” in negotiations that allowed Tehran to “mitigate sanctions” and go back on promises made. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP But the EU-3’s model failed to solve the problem, revealing that the early 21st century style of diplomacy — which often pulled the U.S. into conflicts — may no longer be effective. Israel’s decisive response to October 7 only underscored that point. “I still have a lot of gratitude and respect for my colleagues back in the Bush administration. I just see us as a world in a fundamentally different place,” he said. “And I would give President Trump pretty high marks on how he’s balanced equities — keeping true to his definition of what America First means, but also true to standing by allies in times of need.”
India’s arms import decreasing rapidly, revenues from exports rise to Rs…, biggest defence importer is…
Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative increasingly gained speed, India has reduced its dependency on arms import in the last decade. This has been a big shift in the defence strategy. It has also increased its exports in the recent years.
Iran Attacks On US Base: India issues advisory for nationals in Qatar as Tehran launches attack on US military base in Doha
Iran Missile Attack on US Bases: This comes hours after Qatar closed its airspace amid Iranian threats to retaliate against the US over its bombing early Sunday of three Iranian nuclear sites.
Gov. Greg Abbott vetoes funding for federal summer lunch program
Abbott cited uncertainty over federal funding of the program as his reason for rejecting the state’s participation.
Top Trump health official slams Democrats for ‘misleading’ claims about Medicaid reform
FIRST ON FOX: A top Trump White House official is looking to undercut Senate Democrats’ talking points on Medicaid, arguing that the GOP’s plan to reform the healthcare program would benefit rural hospitals, not harm them. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz told Fox News Digital that “special interests are pushing misleading talking points to try and stop the most ambitious healthcare reforms ever.” ‘BABY STEPS’: LEADER THUNE DETAILS HIS WORK TO CORRAL REPUBLICANS BEHIND TRUMP’S LEGISLATIVE VISION Oz’s sentiment comes as Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Republicans sprint to finish their work on President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” ahead of a self-imposed July 4 deadline. Part of the bill from the Senate Finance Committee aims to make good on the GOP’s promise to root out waste, fraud and abuse within the widely used healthcare program by including work requirements and booting illegal immigrants from benefit rolls, among other measures. Tweaks to the Medicaid provider tax rate have ruffled feathers on both sides of the aisle. Indeed, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. and Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., sent a letter to Trump and the top congressional Republicans last week warning that changes to the Medicaid provider tax rate would harm over 300 rural hospitals. SEVERAL PROVISIONS FAIL TO PASS MUSTER WITH SENATE RULES IN ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ And a cohort of Senate Republicans were furious with the change after the bill dropped last week. But Oz contended that “only 5%” of inpatient Medicaid spending happens in rural communities, and that the mammoth bill “instead targets abuses overwhelmingly utilized by large hospitals with well-connected lobbyists.” “We are committed to preserving and improving access to care in rural communities with a transformative approach that bolsters advanced technology, invests in infrastructure, and supports workforce — rather than propping up a system that mostly benefits wealthier urban areas,” Oz said. Schumer’s letter included data from a study recently conducted by the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at his behest. He warned that if the bill is passed as is, millions of people would be kicked off of their healthcare coverage, and “rural hospitals will not get paid for the services they are required by law to provide to patients.” TOP TRUMP ALLY PREDICTS SENATE WILL BLOW PAST ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ DEADLINE Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer, Wyden and Merkley for comment. However, another report from the Trump-aligned Paragon Health Institute argued similarly to Oz that special interest groups and healthcare lobbyists were “flooding the airwaves with claims” that Republicans’ changes to Medicaid would shutter rural hospitals. For example, they argued that a recent report from the Center for American Progress warned that over 200 rural hospitals would be at risk of closure, but that the findings were based on changes to the federal medical assistance percentage, or the amount of Medicaid costs paid for by the federal government. Changes to that percentage were mulled by congressional Republicans but were not included in the “big, beautiful bill.” Still, the changes to the Medicaid provider tax rate, which were a stark departure from the House GOP’s version of the bill, angered the Republicans who have warned not to make revisions to the healthcare program that could shut down rural hospitals and boot working Americans from their benefits. The Senate Finance Committee went further than the House’s freeze of the provider tax rate, or the amount that state Medicaid programs pay to healthcare providers on behalf of Medicaid beneficiaries, for non-Affordable Care Act expansion states, and included a provision that lowers the rate in expansion states annually until it hits 3.5%. However, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is working on a possible change to the bill that would create a provider relief fund that could sate her and other Republicans’ concerns about the change to the provider tax rate.
Elite university professor sparks social media backlash after revealing what Iran should do next: ‘This demon’
A professor at Georgetown University is in hot water on social media over a post where he explained his “hope” for Iran doing “some symbolic strike” on a U.S. military base, igniting backlash on social media and calls for him to be fired. “I’m not an expert, but I assume Iran could still get a bomb easily,” Dr. Jonathan Brown, the Alwaleed bin Talal chair of Islamic Civilization in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, posted on X on Sunday after the U.S. struck Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday night. “I hope Iran does some symbolic strike on a base, then everyone stops. I’m surprised this is what these FDD/Hasbara people have been auto-erotically asphyxiating themselves for all these years. Ironically, the main takeaways (in my non-expert opinion, and I’m happy to be corrected) from all this have nothing to do with a US attack: 1) Iran can take a licking; 2) if Israel attacks Iranian cities, it gets f—ed up pretty bad. I mean I’ve been shocked at the damage Iranian missiles caused; 3) despite his best efforts, Reza Pahlavi HVAC repair services still only third best in Nova.” Many conservatives on social media immediately reacted to the post and interpreted it as a college professor wishing for Iran to attack U.S. soldiers or at least put them in harm’s way. AMERICAN TRAVELERS SHOULD KNOW ESCAPE ROUTES AT TRANSIT HUBS AFTER IRAN STRIKES, SECURITY EXPERT WARNS “Are you kidding me?” conservative commentator Sage Steele posted on X in response to the post being picked up by the conservative influencer account LibsofTikTok. A ‘Professor of Islamic Civilization’ at @Georgetown ‘hopes Iran does some symbolic strike’ on Americans,” GOP Rep. Randy Fine posted on X. “Some civilization. The President of Georgetown will be before @EdWorkforceCmte soon. This demon had better be gone by then. We have a Muslim problem in America.” “A Georgetown professor wants Iran to attack a US base,” Foundation for the Defense of Democracies CEO Mark Dubowitz posted on X, before providing information on the background of Brown’s wife. “Brown is married to Laila Al-Arian, a journalist for the Muslim Brotherhood propaganda outlet Al Jazeera. Her father, Sami Al-Arian, was deported from the U.S. to Turkey. He was accused of providing material support to the US-designated and Iran-backed terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad.” FORMER DEM ADVISOR BLASTS ‘UNHINGED CALLS FOR IMPEACHMENT’ AFTER TRUMP’S IRAN ATTACK AS ‘TRULY TDS’ Brown’s father-in-law, Sami Al-Arian, was deported from the United States to Turkey in 2015 after a long legal battle where he pleaded “guilty” to supporting Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist organization, according to Politico. A 2006 Department of Justice press release said he acknowledged “in the plea agreement that he knew the PIJ used acts of violence as a means to achieve its objectives. Nevertheless, Al-Arian continued to assist the terrorist organization, for instance, by filing official paperwork to obtain immigration benefits for PIJ associate Bashir Nafi, and concealing the terrorist associations of various individuals associated with the PIJ.” “Al-Arian admits that he performed services for the PIJ in 1995 and thereafter, when he was a professor at the University of South Florida and after he knew that the PIJ had been designated by President Clinton as a terrorist organization,” the press release said. “I went to graduate school with Jonathan Brown,” Jewish People Policy Institute fellow Dr. Sara Yael Hirschhorn posted on X. “I’m appalled to see him calling for Iran to attack U.S. troops and his awe at attacks on Israeli civilians. @Georgetown- enough!” “These are the people teaching your kids at colleges and Universities,” conservative influencer Laura Loomer posted on X. “@Georgetown should fire him.” In a follow-up post on Monday morning, Brown told his followers he deleted the post and explained why. “I deleted my previous tweet because a lot of people were interpreting it as a call for violence,” Brown posted on X. “That’s not what I intended. I have two immediate family members in the US military who’ve served abroad and wouldn’t want any harm to befall American soldiers… or anyone!” When reached for comment on his controversial post, Brown told Fox News Digital he “meant something like right after Solimani was killed, with telegraphed warning and no American casualties and no one felt any further need for attacks.” “I was calling for de-esclation as I am very opposed to American involvement in foreign wars,” he continued. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP A Georgetown University spokesperson told Fox News Digital the university was “appalled” by the social media post. “We are appalled that a faculty member would call for a ‘symbolic strike’ on a military base in a social media post. The original statement is from an individual faculty member and not the University, and the faculty member has since deleted the post and stated that he would not want any harm to befall American servicemembers,” the spokesperson said. “We are reviewing this matter to see if further action is warranted. We take our community’s concerns seriously and condemn language which is deeply inconsistent with Georgetown University’s values.” President Donald Trump announced the U.S. had struck a trio of nuclear facilities in Iran via a Saturday evening Truth Social post, which was not preceded by any media leaks of prior indication such strikes were imminent. The president ordered U.S. B-2 stealth bombers to carry out strikes against Iran’s Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities. “Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated,” Trump said. “And Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier.” Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report
Americans must have ‘higher degree of vigilance’ amid Iran terror threat, House Intel chair warns
EXCLUSIVE: The chair of the House Intelligence Committee is urging Americans across the country to practice “a higher degree of vigilance and situational awareness” as concerns about possible terror threats in the U.S. skyrocket over the situation in the Middle East. Chair Rick Crawford, R-Ark., told Fox News Digital in an interview that people in the U.S. “need to have a sense of situational awareness and understand that there are people outside the United States that do seek to do us harm.” President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. military to hit three key Iranian nuclear bases over the weekend in a mission deemed a success by the vast majority of Republicans and some pro-Israel Democrats. The targeted strikes, which U.S. officials said are not an act of war, came after a week of escalating tensions between Israel and Iran. Israel, warning Iran was dangerously close to a nuclear weapon, launched preemptive strikes in and around Tehran earlier this month that killed several of the Islamic regime’s top military officials and nuclear scientists. ISRAEL’S ACTIONS AGAINST IRAN CREATE STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITY FOR US IN NUCLEAR TALKS, EXPERTS SAY The Department of Homeland Security issued a memo warning of a “heightened threat environment” over the Israel-Iran conflict shortly after the U.S. strike. Meanwhile, NBC News reported that Iran threatened to activate sleeper cells in the U.S. if attacked. It has rung alarm bells for top U.S. national security officials both in and outside of Congress. Crawford, whose panel oversees the U.S. intelligence community, blamed the former Biden administration’s actions for creating an illegal immigration crisis that he said could have potentially allowed bad actors to enter the U.S. in recent years. “We know historically, Iran being the leading state sponsor of terror, we also know that during the Biden years, there were hundreds of Iranians that were allowed to come in, pretty much unchecked,” he said, referring to people who crossed the border illegally. “We don’t necessarily have a good read on where they are, what their intentions are… And so I think we need to redouble our [counter-intelligence] posture in the United States.” A FULL BREAKDOWN OF OPERATION MIDNIGHT HAMMER, THE ‘LARGEST B-2 OPERATIONAL STRIKE IN US HISTORY’ White House border czar Tom Homan said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that there were “1,272 nationals of Iran released in the country between the [Office of Field Operations] and the Border Patrol” under former President Joe Biden. On Congress’ part, Crawford said the next fiscal year’s Intelligence Authorization Act would broadly address the heightened terror environment in the U.S. “We want to step up our [counter-intelligence] presence here at home and make sure that across the federal law enforcement enterprise, that they’re adequately postured and resourced to address that threat,” he said. The Arkansas Republican also urged Americans to remember that Iran is also “trying to instill a sense of fear” with its threats. “I do think if there are terror cells in the United States, at some point they could act. I don’t think it would be anything on the scale of a 9/11, but it would certainly be designed to – just as the name implies – to inflict terror and cause the American people to adjust behavior and cause economic fallout and social upheaval and things of this nature,” he said. Nonetheless, he warned Americans to go about their daily lives aware of their surroundings, particularly in large public spaces. SATELLITE IMAGE SHOWS FORDOW NUCLEAR FACILITY AFTER MASSIVE BOMB STRIKE “For example, I mean, if something doesn’t feel right…don’t go there. Trust your judgment on that. I mean, just because you live in Arkansas as I do, doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re insulated from threats,” he said. “It also doesn’t necessarily mean that you should be living in fear. It just means that if you see something amiss, if you have sort of a sense that maybe something’s out of place, you know, trust your instincts. Maybe you need to call law enforcement, maybe you need to just remove yourself from a given situation if you don’t feel like it’s safe.” In the meantime, Crawford said he and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence will be seeking more information from federal officials. “Absolutely, we’ll be engaging with the intelligence community to get better insights into what’s going on and and updated information in real time,” he said, adding the panel generally gets information “quickly” from the intelligence community. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
New York City on high alert for Democrat mayoral primary after US strikes Iran
New York City is prepping for primary elections on Tuesday as one of several major U.S. cities on high alert following U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. “We’re tracking the situation unfolding in Iran,” the NYPD said in an X post Saturday night. “Out of an abundance of caution, we’re deploying additional resources to religious, cultural, and diplomatic sites across NYC and coordinating with our federal partners. We’ll continue to monitor for any potential impact to NYC.” As New Yorkers brace for a major heat wave on Election Day, New York State Police are also “working to protect at-risk sites and fight cyberattacks,” Gov. Kathy Hochul shared Saturday night. Home to the largest Jewish diaspora outside Israel, the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which reached a boiling point with U.S. involvement Saturday, has seeped onto the New York City campaign trail. ‘GLOBALIZE THE INTIFADA’ PHRASE STIRS TENSIONS ON NYC CAMPAIGN TRAIL AS MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT RAGES Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned from office in 2021 following allegations of sexual harassment, has emerged as the frontrunner in a crowded field vying for the Democratic nomination. CUOMO’S LEAD SHRINKS WITH UNDER ONE WEEK UNTIL NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL PRIMARY: POLL Following the United States’ successful strikes on Iran Saturday night, Cuomo acknowledged, “Iran cannot have nuclear capability,” and admitted that eliminating Iran’s nuclear capacity “is in everyone’s best interest.” However, Cuomo joined the barrage of Democrats criticizing Trump for striking Iran without congressional approval. Reps. Thomas Massie, a Republican, and Ro Khanna, a Democrat, who proposed the bipartisan War Powers Resolution with 49 co-sponsors as of Sunday, called Trump green-lighting strikes against Iran “unconstitutional.” Congress has the sole power to declare war under Article I of the Constitution. “I don’t support the way he did it. I do believe he should have consulted Congress,” Cuomo, who secured an endorsement from former President Bill Clinton over the weekend, said in a statement. However, Cuomo’s closest competitors in the race were not so diplomatic. State Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist with endorsements from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, slammed Trump Saturday night. “Donald Trump ran for president promising to end wars, not start new ones,” Mamdani said. “Today’s unconstitutional military action represents a new, dark chapter in his endless series of betrayals that now threaten to plunge the world deeper into chaos.” Mamdani, who would be the first Muslim mayor of New York City if elected, added he is “thinking of the New Yorkers with loved ones in harm’s way.” Cuomo took a jab at Mamdani on Sunday, according to The New York Times, telling reporters, “This is not the time for on-the-job training,” in light of the U.S. strikes on Iran. Additionally, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who has cross-endorsed Mamdani as they attempt to consolidate support against Cuomo within the ranked-choice voting style, said during a Working Families Party unity rally Sunday, “Jewish New Yorkers and Muslim New Yorkers are not going to be divided against each other.” On Sunday night, Lander, who is Jewish, dissed “Trump’s reckless & unconstitutional strikes against Iran” as a “dangerous escalation of war” that “threaten countless Iranian, Israeli & American lives.” Democratic mayoral candidates who will also appear on Tuesday’s ballot include former Comptroller Scott Stringer, educator Selma Bartholomew, state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, state Sen. Jessica Ramos, investor and editor at Stansberry Research Whitney Tilson, former State Assembly Member Michael Blake and content creator and music artist Paperboy Prince. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The Democratic nominee will face incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an Independent. Former federal prosecutor Jim Walden is also running as an Independent, and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa will once again be the Republican nominee. Fox News’ Jess Loker contributed to this report.