Susie Wiles’ lawyer denies approving FBI recording, says he’d lose license over ‘stunt’
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles’ attorney in 2023 is disputing claims that he agreed to let the Biden-era FBI record a call with his client without her knowledge, according to a report. “If I ever pulled a stunt like that I wouldn’t – and shouldn’t – have a license to practice law,” the unidentified attorney said, according to Axios. “I’m as shocked as Susie.” The denial comes as scrutiny intensifies around the FBI’s use of subpoenas and investigative tools during special counsel Jack Smith’s Trump-related probes ahead of President Donald Trump‘s 2024 re-election. Reuters first disclosed the subpoenas Wednesday, reporting that the Biden FBI subpoenaed Wiles’ and now-FBI Director Kash Patel‘s phone records in 2022 and 2023, when both were private citizens. Smith was investigating claims Trump worked to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago, Florida, resort. JONATHAN TURLEY: JACK SMITH’S SECRET SURVEILLANCE OF PATEL AND WILES SHOULD ALARM US ALL At least 10 FBI employees were fired Wednesday over the matter, Fox News Digital previously learned. Amid the revelations, two FBI officials said that FBI agents recorded a phone call between Wiles and her attorney in 2023. Wiles’ attorney was aware the call was being recorded and consented, but Wiles was not informed, the officials claimed. The lawyer, whose name has not been publicly released, pushed back that he “categorically denies he allowed his client to be recorded by the FBI,” according to Axios reporter Marc Caputo. Wiles reportedly “believes him & that the Biden-era FBI may have lied about it,” Caputo wrote on X. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Wiles for comment, but did not immediately receive replies. Fox News Digital also reached out to the FBI for comment Friday morning. FBI SUBPOENA OF PHONE RECORDS LEAVES TRUMP CHIEF OF STAFF ‘IN SHOCK’: REPORT The report sparked conservatives and Trump allies to back the unidentified lawyer and balk at the case overall. “I know the long time lawyer ….and I believe him – This is a violation of basic constitutional rights every American by right – has. We need accountability and we need action,” Trump 2024 co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita posted to X. “So the lawyer Biden’s FBI eavesdropped on during a call with Susie Wiles said he had no idea it happened,” OutKick founder Clay Travis posted to X. “This is a huge story. Biden’s FBI spied on Trump’s campaign manager in the 2024 campaign.” GRASSLEY: BIDEN DOJ BYPASSED CONSTITUTIONAL SAFEGUARDS BY SUBPOENAING SENATOR PHONE RECORDS Wiles was reportedly stunned by the news of the subpoenas, with Axios reporting that she told associates Thursday, “I am in shock.” Patel issued a similar statement on Wednesday. “It is outrageous and deeply alarming that the previous FBI leadership secretly subpoenaed my own phone records — along with those of now White House chief of staff Susie Wiles — using flimsy pretexts and burying the entire process in prohibited case files designed to evade all oversight,” he said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.
Agency that nabbed ‘El Chapo,’ ‘Diddy’ threatened as Democrats’ DHS shutdown drags on
The ongoing standoff over Homeland Security funding is raising concerns about the potential impact on Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the agency that has helped bring cases against high-profile figures, including Sean “Diddy” Combs and Sinaloa cartel co-founder Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. HSI is one of several agencies under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) threatened by the ongoing government shutdown. That branch of DHS acts as the investigative arm for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — the agency that Democrats want to rein in and reform — and handles investigations into human and sex trafficking, drug trafficking, immigration-related crimes, child exploitation and several other areas. DHS SHUTDOWN DRAGS INTO WEEK TWO AS IRAN THREAT, SOTU CLASH COMPLICATE HILL TALKS Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who was anointed the lead negotiator for Senate Republicans in the ongoing DHS funding back-and-forth, told Fox News Digital the agency’s work is “critically important.” “When you think about interior enforcement, I mean, HSI is a critical component of that,” Britt said. “You look at what they’ve done, you look at the bad actors they’ve been able to hunt down and hold accountable for human trafficking, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, child pornography, trafficking, all kinds of things.” Other big names whom HSI has played a role in investigating or indicting include R. Kelly, Josh Duggar, Sinaloa cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada and Jared Fogle. SCHUMER, DEMS AGAIN BLOCK DHS FUNDING, FORCE STATE OF THE UNION SHOWDOWN While ICE and other immigration enforcement operations like HSI were funded in part through Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill,” the lapse in ongoing appropriations could threaten supplies in the field and travel, hampering investigations already underway. A DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital that HSI was continuing to function during the shutdown, with arrests and investigations still happening. But as the current 14-day shutdown continues, delays in supply procurement and travel for “critical personnel to move around the country” could be impacted. “Our national security and ability to get criminals, including pedophiles and other public safety threats, off the streets could be impacted the longer this Democratic shutdown continues,” they said. DEMOCRATS DEMANDING ICE REFORMS LOSE AIRPORT ESCORTS IN SHUTDOWN THEY TRIGGERED Senate Democrats and the White House have so far tried and failed to reach a deal to fund DHS after trading offers and counteroffers in a slow back-and-forth over the last two weeks. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., charged that ICE had been “unleashed without guardrails” throughout the country. “This is not border security, this is not law and order, this is chaos — created at the top and felt in so many of our neighborhoods,” Schumer said. And with lawmakers gone from Washington, D.C., for the weekend, the shutdown is guaranteed to stretch into its third week. Senate Democrats want stringent reforms to ICE, including requiring agents to obtain judicial warrants, unmask and provide thorough identification — all demands that are red lines for the Republicans and the White House, who fear that doing so would increase the chances of ICE agents being doxxed. While Republicans and the administration raised concerns about HSI and other ICE functions, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., countered that from his understanding, “most everybody at HSI is gone.” “They’ve all been deployed to the interior,” he told Fox News Digital. “Not many, if not most, redeployed to interior enforcement. So the administration has gutted HSI.” “My impression is that HSI has been one of the agencies that has been essentially turned into ICE Junior,” Murphy said.
5th Circuit clears Texas to enforce drag show law in front of minors, Paxton claims ‘major win’
An appellate court found on Wednesday that Texas can enforce a law regulating drag shows in public places and in the presence of minors, scrapping a lower court order that had enjoined the state from doing so. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit reaffirmed its November ruling, saying Texas can enforce the 2023 law regulating “sexually oriented performances.” The two-judge panel said only one plaintiff in the case had standing and sent the lawsuit back to the lower court to reevaluate the plaintiff’s First Amendment claim. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is a candidate for Senate, framed the decision as a “major win” in a statement on social media. “I successfully defended a law protecting children from being exposed to sexually illicit content at erotic drag shows,” Paxton said. “I will always work to shield our kids from exposure to erotic and inappropriate sexually oriented performances.” DRAG QUEEN STORY HOUR’S RADICAL ORIGINS AND THE SUBVERSIVE SEXUALIZATION OF OUR KIDS The lawsuit, brought by numerous self-described LGBTQ organizations, centered on a state Senate bill that defined sexually oriented performances as visual performances that feature a nude person or sexual conduct and “[appeal] to the prurient interest in sex.” Under the law, a person could be prosecuted for causing a performance to occur in the presence of minors. Judge Kurt Engelhardt, an appointee of President Donald Trump, authored the opinion and was joined by Judge Leslie Southwick, an appointee of former President George W. Bush. The judges found that most of the plaintiffs, including a nonprofit called Woodlands Pride, did not have standing to bring First and Fourteenth Amendment challenges to the law because the groups’ performances were benign and therefore did not fall under the Texas law. The judges said, however, that a group called 360 Queen Entertainment did engage in performances, sometimes in the presence of minors, and therefore had standing. APPEALS COURT SAYS TEXAS CAN ENFORCE DRAG SHOW BAN, SUGGESTS NOT ALL DRAG SHOWS VIOLATE STATE LAW “Based on the evidence introduced at trial, 360 Queen’s performances arguably include proscribed conduct,” Engelhardt wrote. “The owner described one performance where a drag queen, who was wearing a ‘very revealing’ breastplate, pulsed the breastplate in front of people and put the breastplate in people’s faces.” Sometimes those performances were visible to children, Engelhardt noted. The panel ordered the district court to evaluate whether 360 Queen was right to claim the Texas law violated its free speech rights under the First Amendment. In a statement, Brian Klosterboer of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas said the 5th Circuit effectively deemed some drag performances “family-friendly” but that the law, which will go into effect in March, still had perceived constitutional problems. “The law’s vague and sweeping provisions still create a harmful chilling effect for drag artists and those who support them, while also threatening many types of performing arts cherished here in Texas, from theater to ballet to professional wrestling,” Klosterboer said. In 2023, Judge David Hittner, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, found Texas’ law was unconstitutional. It is “not unreasonable” to think it could affect activities like live theater or dancing, Hittner found. Last November, the 5th Circuit vacated that order. On Wednesday, it reaffirmed that decision and denied the plaintiffs’ request to rehear their appeal.
Tech company refuses Pentagon demands on unrestricted use of its AI
The Pentagon is calling for Anthropic to allow the Department of War to utilize the company’s artificial intelligence product for “all lawful purposes,” but CEO Dario Amodei has suggested the government could potentially use their product for “mass domestic surveillance” or “fully autonomous weapons,” and that the company would not be willing to allow such use cases. “The Department of War has stated they will only contract with AI companies who accede to ‘any lawful use’ and remove safeguards in the cases mentioned above. They have threatened to remove us from their systems if we maintain these safeguards; they have also threatened to designate us a ‘supply chain risk’ — a label reserved for US adversaries, never before applied to an American company — and to invoke the Defense Production Act to force the safeguards’ removal,” Amodei said in a Thursday statement. He declared that the “threats do not change our position: we cannot in good conscience accede to their request.” PENTAGON GIVES AI FIRM ULTIMATUM: LIFT MILITARY LIMITS BY FRIDAY OR LOSE $200M DEAL Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Affairs Sean Parnell declared in a post on X that the department does not want to engage in either of those activities but is asking to use Anthropic’s AI for all legal purposes. “The Department of War has no interest in using AI to conduct mass surveillance of Americans (which is illegal) nor do we want to use AI to develop autonomous weapons that operate without human involvement,” Parnell said in the post. “Here’s what we’re asking: Allow the Pentagon to use Anthropic’s model for all lawful purposes.” “This is a simple, common-sense request that will prevent Anthropic from jeopardizing critical military operations and potentially putting our warfighters at risk. We will not let ANY company dictate the terms regarding how we make operational decisions. They have until 5:01 PM ET on Friday to decide. Otherwise, we will terminate our partnership with Anthropic and deem them a supply chain risk for DOW,” he noted. TOP AI FIRM ALLEGES CHINESE LABS USED 24K FAKE ACCOUNTS TO SIPHON US TECH Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering Emil Michael accused Anthropic and Amodei of lying. In a post on X, Michael called Amodei “a liar” who “has a God-complex.” “He wants nothing more than to try to personally control the US Military and is ok putting our nation’s safety at risk. The @DeptofWar will ALWAYS adhere to the law but not bend to whims of any one for-profit tech company,” he asserted. In another post he asserted, “Anthropic is lying. The @DeptofWar doesn’t do mass surveillance as that is already illegal. What we are talking about is allowing our warfighters to use AI without having to call @DarioAmodei for permission to shoot down an enemy drone swarms that would kill Americans.” War Secretary Pete Hegseth reposted both of Michael’s messages. MADURO RAID QUESTIONS TRIGGER PENTAGON REVIEW OF TOP AI FIRM AS POTENTIAL ‘SUPPLY CHAIN RISK’ Fox News Digital reached out to the Pentagon on Friday morning. In response to a request for comment from Fox News Digital, Anthropic highlighted Amodei’s statement that the company issued on Thursday. “It is the Department’s prerogative to select contractors most aligned with their vision. But given the substantial value that Anthropic’s technology provides to our armed forces, we hope they reconsider. Our strong preference is to continue to serve the Department and our warfighters — with our two requested safeguards in place. Should the Department choose to offboard Anthropic, we will work to enable a smooth transition to another provider, avoiding any disruption to ongoing military planning, operations, or other critical missions. Our models will be available on the expansive terms we have proposed for as long as required,” Amodei noted in his statement. “We remain ready to continue our work to support the national security of the United States,” he said.
Where Iran’s ballistic missiles can reach — and how close they are to the US
President Donald Trump warned that Iran is working to build missiles that could “soon reach the United States of America,” elevating concerns about a weapons program that already places U.S. forces across the Middle East within range. Iran does not currently possess a missile capable of striking the U.S. homeland, officials say. But its existing ballistic missile arsenal can target major American military installations in the Gulf, and U.S. officials say the issue has emerged as a key sticking point in ongoing nuclear negotiations. Here’s what Iran can hit now — and how close it is to reaching the U.S. IRAN ANNOUNCES TEST OF NEW NAVAL AIR DEFENSE MISSILE IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ AS US MILITARY BUILDUP CONTINUES Iran is widely assessed by Western defense analysts to operate the largest ballistic missile force in the Middle East. Its arsenal consists primarily of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles with ranges of up to roughly 2,000 kilometers — about 1,200 miles. That range places a broad network of U.S. military infrastructure across the Gulf within reach. Among the installations inside that envelope: IRAN SIGNALS NUCLEAR PROGRESS IN GENEVA AS TRUMP CALLS FOR FULL DISMANTLEMENT U.S. forces have drawn down from some regional positions in recent months, including the transfer of Al Asad Air Base in Iraq back to Iraqi control earlier in 2026. But major Gulf installations remain within the range envelope of Iran’s current missile inventory. Multiple U.S. officials told Fox News that staffing at the Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain has been reduced to “mission critical” levels amid heightened tensions. A separate U.S. official disputed that characterization, saying no ordered departure of personnel or dependents has been issued. At the same time, the U.S. has surged significant naval and air assets into and around the region in recent days. The USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is operating in the Arabian Sea alongside multiple destroyers, while additional destroyers are positioned in the eastern Mediterranean, Red Sea and Persian Gulf. The USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group is also headed toward the region. U.S. Air Force fighter aircraft — including F-15s, F-16s, F-35s and A-10s — are based across Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, supported by aerial refueling tankers, early warning aircraft and surveillance platforms, according to a recent Fox News military briefing. Iran has demonstrated its willingness to use ballistic missiles against U.S. targets before. In January 2020, following the U.S. strike that killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at U.S. positions in Iraq. Dozens of American service members were later diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries. That episode underscored the vulnerability of forward-deployed forces within reach of Iran’s missile arsenal. Most publicly known Iranian missile systems are assessed to have maximum ranges of around 2,000 kilometers. Depending on launch location, that could place parts of southeastern Europe — including Greece, Bulgaria and Romania — within potential reach. The U.S. has some 80,000 troops stationed across Europe, including in all three of these countries. Reaching deeper into Europe would require longer-range systems than Iran has publicly demonstrated as operational. IRAN NEARS CHINA ANTI-SHIP SUPERSONIC MISSILE DEAL AS US CARRIERS MASS IN REGION: REPORT Iran does not currently field an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of striking the U.S. homeland. To reach the U.S. East Coast, a missile would need a range of roughly 10,000 kilometers — far beyond Iran’s known operational capability. However, U.S. intelligence agencies have warned that Iran’s space launch vehicle program could provide the technological foundation for a future long-range missile. In a recent threat overview, the Defense Intelligence Agency stated that Iran “has space launch vehicles it could use to develop a militarily-viable ICBM by 2035 should Tehran decide to pursue the capability.” That assessment places any potential Iranian intercontinental missile capability roughly a decade away — and contingent on a political decision by Tehran. U.S. officials and defense analysts have pointed in particular to Iran’s recent space launches, including rockets such as the Zuljanah, which use solid-fuel propulsion. Solid-fuel motors can be stored and launched more quickly than liquid-fueled rockets — a feature that is also important for military ballistic missiles. Space launch vehicles and long-range ballistic missiles rely on similar multi-stage rocket technology. Analysts say advances in Iran’s space program could shorten the pathway to an intercontinental-range missile if Tehran chose to adapt that technology for military use. For now, however, Iran has not deployed an operational ICBM, and the U.S. homeland remains outside the reach of its current ballistic missile arsenal. The U.S. relies on layered missile defense systems — including Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), Patriot and ship-based interceptors — to protect forces and allies from ballistic missile threats across the Middle East. These systems are technically capable, but interceptor inventories are finite. During the June 2025 Iran-Israel missile exchange, U.S. forces reportedly fired more than 150 THAAD interceptors — roughly a quarter of the total the Pentagon had funded to date, according to defense analysts. The economics also highlight the imbalance: open-source estimates suggest Iranian short-range ballistic missiles can cost in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars apiece, while advanced U.S. interceptors such as THAAD run roughly $12 million or more per missile. Precise inventory levels are classified. But experts who track Pentagon procurement data warn that replenishing advanced interceptors can take years, meaning a prolonged, high-intensity missile exchange could strain stockpiles even if U.S. defenses remain effective. The ballistic missile issue has also emerged as a key fault line in ongoing diplomatic efforts between Washington and Tehran. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said Iran’s refusal to negotiate limits on its ballistic missile program is “a big problem,” signaling that the administration views the arsenal as central to long-term regional security. While current negotiations are focused primarily on Iran’s nuclear program and uranium enrichment activities, U.S. officials have argued that delivery systems — including ballistic missiles — cannot be separated from concerns about a potential nuclear
Swalwell campaign sets off alarm bells after accepting $25K donation from CCP-tied lawyer: ‘Outrageous’
FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Eric Swalwell’s, D-Calif., gubernatorial campaign continues to be bankrolled by Keliang “Clay” Zhu despite concerns over his ties to China and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Zhu donated another $25,000 to Swalwell’s campaign earlier this month after he had already donated $5,000 to Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign in November and previously donated over $10,000 to his House campaigns. Zhu is a partner at DeHeng Law Offices PC, a top Beijing law firm that has deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party, and has also donated thousands to Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign. The law firm’s website shows their lone “Silicon Valley Office,” located in Pleasanton, Calif., appears to only have a single lawyer who works there – Zhu, who has a history of fighting for Chinese interests in the U.S. “Once again, Congressman Swalwell got caught with his hand in the CCP cookie jar,” lamented Michael Lucci, a top China expert and the founder and CEO of State Armor Action. “It’s simply outrageous that Congressman Swallwell would take even more money from Keliang Zhu after Zhu’s connections to the CCP were made public.” SWALWELL GOVERNOR BID HIT WITH RESIDENCY QUESTIONS AFTER COURT FILING ALLEGES HE DOESN’T LIVE IN CALIFORNIA A Fox News Digital review in January revealed that the law firm Zhu is a partner in was founded as the China Law Office, which was a subsidiary firm established by the CCP’s Ministry of Justice in the early 1990s before being renamed the DeHeng Law Offices in 1995. While the firm, which has over two dozen offices in China, portrays itself as independent, the firm and its lawyers continue to have longstanding cooperation with the Chinese government’s departments and major state-owned enterprises. Many of the firm’s China-based attorneys also have a history of working in Chinese politics. Zhu, who is originally from China, touts several examples of how he has helped Chinese state-owned enterprises and other Chinese companies get a foothold in the United States, according to his bio on the law firm’s website. For example, he touts representing an “investment fund of a major state-owned enterprise in acquiring majority shares in one data analytics software company in the Silicon Valley,” which he valued at $100 million. Another bio for Zhu touts how he “has assisted Chinese companies and funds to complete more than $9 billion investments in the fields of chips, unmanned vehicles, new energy, artificial intelligence, industrial automation, and biopharmaceuticals in the United States.” “On behalf of Chinese enterprises, he has negotiated with the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of Treasury and other organizations for many times and achieved compliance plans, which greatly reduced the compliance risks for Chinese clients in the United States,” the bio continued. ERIC SWALWELL’S SECRET POETRY EXPOSED The bios also indicate Zhu helped advise “a governmental investment fund from Shenzhen for its compliance with CFIUS regulations in the U.S.” and represented “WeChat users in a historic lawsuit that sued President Trump and successfully stopped his WeChat ban in 2020.” At the time, Trump’s first administration sounded the alarm over WeChat and said the “data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information” and was concerned that the CCP would use data to stalk dissenters or control messaging inside the United States, such as launching disinformation campaigns. Similar efforts to restrict WeChat have occurred in countries like Australia and India, according to the White House. Meanwhile, after a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit intended to stop a Texas law banning Chinese nationals from owning or leasing land in the state, Zhu described the legislation as “unfair, unconstitutional and un-American,” according to AsAmNews, a daily news site focused on Asian-American and Pacific-Islander communities. Zhu similarly expressed disfavor with a Florida law meant to prevent individuals from countries that are foreign adversaries to the United States, such as China, from buying up land. DeHeng Law Office’s other China-based attorneys have a history of working in Chinese politics as well. This has largely been through the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which is a “key mechanism for multi-party cooperation and political consultation” under the leadership of the CCP, according to the CPPCC website, and is a crucial tool of the United Front strategy to influence U.S. policy. For example, Zhixu Wu, who is a “Director and Senior Partner” of the Kunming, China-based office of DeHeng Law Offices, is a member of the “Standing Committee of the 13th Kunming Committee of the CPPCC” and a member “of the 12th Yunnan Committee of the CPPCC.” His bio also says he was previously awarded in 2017 with “the title of ‘Excellent League Member’ for the second assistance event of the National Lawyers Service Group,” which was approved by the “Eight Bureau of United Front Work Department of CPC Central Committee, Guidance Department of Lawyer’s Notarization Work of the Ministry of Justice.” HUNTER BIDEN’S FORMER ‘SUGAR BROTHER’ LAWYER DROPS BIG MONEY ON SWALWELL’S CAMPAIGN: ‘BIGGEST CHEERLEADER’ Swalwell’s ties to China have come under scrutiny before, particularly after Chinese national, Christine Fang, also known as “Fang Fang,” gained special access to him and his campaign. She was deemed by U.S. officials to be part of a counterintelligence effort linked to China meant to influence and get close to U.S. political figures. Swalwell has repeatedly claimed he cut off ties as soon as U.S. intelligence officials warned him of the threat and a congressional ethics investigation into the matter eventually found no wrongdoing on Swalwell’s behalf. However, he was ultimately removed by Republicans from his post on the House Intelligence Committee, with then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy citing Swalwell’s past run-in with a suspected Chinese spy. Fox News Digital uncovered a previously unreported 2013 Facebook post by China’s San Francisco consulate last month showing Swalwell touting “great potential” for U.S.-China cooperation during a meeting with a senior CCP diplomat early in his career, which came during the same time period when Swalwell was allegedly targeted by Chinese espionage efforts. The Facebook
Vance says ‘no chance’ US will get into prolonged Middle East war amid Iran tensions
As President Donald Trump pressures Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions amid rising tensions, Vice President JD Vance told The Washington Post there is “no chance” the U.S. will enter a yearslong war in the Middle East. “The idea that we’re going to be in a Middle Eastern war for years with no end in sight — there is no chance that will happen,” Vance said on Thursday, according to the outlet. “I think we all prefer the diplomatic option,” he said, according to the Post. “But it really depends on what the Iranians do and what they say.” IRAN REJECTS TRUMP DEMANDS DESPITE ‘SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS’ IN NUCLEAR TALKS “I do think we have to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. I also think that we have to avoid overlearning the lessons of the past. Just because one president screwed up a military conflict doesn’t mean we can never engage in military conflict again. We’ve got to be careful about it, but I think the president is being careful,” Vance told the outlet. Fox News Digital reached out to Vance’s office and the White House on Friday morning. KENNEDY WARNS AYATOLLAH WANTS TO ‘DRINK OUR BLOOD OUT OF A BOOT’ AS IRAN TENSIONS ESCALATE Trump said during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, “My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy. But one thing is certain: I will never allow the world’s number-one sponsor of terror — which they are by far — to have a nuclear weapon.” VANCE SAYS AMERICA ‘CANNOT GIVE POWER BACK TO CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS’ FOLLOWING THEIR BEHAVIOR AT SOTU In a Truth Social post regarding Iran on Monday, the president said that he “would rather have a Deal than not but, if we don’t make a Deal, it will be a very bad day for that Country and, very sadly, its people, because they are great and wonderful, and something like this should never have happened to them.”
Newsom staffer who told California reporter to ‘f— off’ is raking in massive taxpayer-funded salary
Isaac “Izzy” Gardon, the communications director for Gov. Gavin Newsom who made headlines earlier this week for telling a national reporter to “f— off” after she pressed him on the California governor’s reported dyslexia diagnosis, is raking in a hefty six-figure salary, a Fox News Digital review found. While Newsom’s dyslexia diagnosis has been public for decades, interest in the matter was amplified amid the California governor’s book tour he launched this month. During one of his first stops on the tour, in Atlanta, Newsom was asked about his dyslexia in conversation with Democratic Mayor of Atlanta Andre Dickens, who asked what he hoped readers would take away from the discussion about his diagnosis in the governor’s new book. “I’m like you. I’m no better than you. You know, I’m a 960 SAT guy,” Newsom said in response, garnering criticism online that he was pandering to the Black community. Amid the rebukes from MAGA world and Republicans, Real Clear Politics (RCP) national correspondent Susan Crabtree reached out to Gardon for verification on his childhood disability diagnosis. In response, Gardon told her to “respectfully, f— off.” TOMMY PHAM SPEAKS OUT AGAINST GAVIN NEWSOM OVER CONTROVERSIAL SAT SCORE COMMENTS The testy response led to further criticism targeting Newsom’s office and Gardon, including from RCP’s Carl Cannon, who questioned why people who are offended so deeply by Trump “consistently imitate his worst behavior.” Newsom’s press office has been known to meet the White House’s pointed and often hostile social media posts targeting Democrats, which frequently include AI generated images, with similarly hostile social media posts targeting Trump and Republicans. When reached for comment on this story, Gardon told Fox News Digital that “Susan is not a journalist.” “She’s a MAGA blogger who writes about conspiracy theories,” Gardon added. Transparent California, a statewide public pay and pension database, revealed that Gardon is being paid quite handsomely to be one of Newsom’s most ardent defenders online. Gardon has risen in stature from an administrative assistant making around $30,000 per year in 2019, to earning $212,154.02 in 2024 as a senior assistant and communications director in Newsom’s office. NEWSOM BLASTED BY CA GOP CHAIR OVER VIRAL CLIP LABELED ‘RACIST’ BY CRITICS: ‘HE SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED’ Gardon’s “regular pay” in 2024 was $152,091.05. That was also supplemented by nearly $57,000 in benefits and another $3,141.16 in “other pay,” according to the database, leading to a combined annual payment of $212,154.02. However, his current pay, which does not appear to be publicly available online, is likely to be higher. Following news of Gardon’s response to Crabtree’s follow-up, a senior reporter for the California Post also shared an email from Gardon in response to one of his media inquiries. In Gardon’s response, he referred to the New York Post as the “New York Comic Book.” Then, when Koehn followed up, indicating the San Francisco Chronicle was covering the same story, Gardon replied, “I’d put that outlet in the same bucket,” according to Koehn, who posted screenshots of the pair’s back-and-forth on X. While some top Newsom staffers have praised Gardon’s style, including his boss and senior advisor of communications, Bob Salladay, who told Politico that “Izzy’s creativity and imagination is part of what the governor is doing.” Some Democratic operatives have vocally been critical about his communication style, including Garry Tan, a prolific Democratic donor and CEO of Y Combinator “Most unprofessional person to ever work in politics,” Tan posted on X. “Izzy Gardon brings shame to the Newsom campaign.” In addition to the email, Gardon came under fire earlier this month when he referred to rapper and MAGA activist Nicki Minaj as a “stupid hoe” on X. He defended his social media post by pointing to her 2012 song called, “Stupid Hoe.”
Bill Clinton faces high-stakes House grilling in Epstein probe after Hillary blasts ‘fishing expedition’
Former President Bill Clinton will testify to the House Oversight Committee in a high-stakes deposition for the committee’s probe into Jeffrey Epstein on Friday. The closed-door meeting is expected to take place at 11 a.m. at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center in Westchester County, N.Y. Chappaqua has been the Clintons’ primary residence since they left the White House at the end of the former president’s tenure. Republicans have been eager to question Bill Clinton about his ties to Epstein for months as the committee has gone back and forth with his lawyers about terms of the interview. DEMOCRATS DODGE QUESTIONS AS HOUSE GOP PREPARES CONTEMPT VOTES AGAINST THE CLINTONS Both Democrats and Republicans are expected to grill Clinton, as well as committee staff on both sides. His sitdown comes a day after his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, appeared before the panel for her own lengthy deposition in the Epstein probe. However, House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told reporters on Thursday that he anticipated Bill Clinton’s deposition would be “even longer” than his wife’s. BILL, HILLARY CLINTON TO BE DEPOSED IN NEW YORK FOR HOUSE OVERSIGHT EPSTEIN PROBE He also stressed Thursday that neither of the Clintons are being accused of wrongdoing tied to Epstein. “No one’s accusing, at this moment, the Clintons of any wrongdoing. They’re going to have due process,” Comer said. “But we have a lot of questions, and the purpose of the whole investigation is to try to understand many things about Epstein.” Both depositions will be released on video sometime later. Hillary Clinton told lawmakers in her opening statement that she could not recall any contact with Epstein, nor did she have any more information for the committee past what she sent in a Jan. 13 statement. She also criticized the probe’s attention on her as a “fishing expedition” and accused Republicans of trying to use her to pull attention from Trump. “A committee endeavoring to stop human trafficking would seek to understand what specific steps are needed to fix a system that allowed Epstein to get away with his crimes in 2008,” she told the panel, according to her opening remarks. REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: CLINTONS CALL FOR OPEN EPSTEIN FILES HEARING AFTER MONTHS OF DEFYING SUBPOENAS “But that’s not happening. Instead, you have compelled me to testify, fully aware that I have no knowledge that would assist your investigation, in order to distract attention from President Trump’s actions and to cover them up despite legitimate calls for answers.” Unlike his wife, however, Bill Clinton had a well-documented relationship with Epstein before his federal probes related to prostitution of minors and sex trafficking. Bill Clinton’s name and photo appear numerous times in documents released by the federal government on Epstein, and flight records show he did ride Epstein’s plane. But neither he nor Hillary Clinton have been implicated in Epstein’s crimes. The committee has also interviewed two former Trump administration officials, ex-Attorney General Bill Barr and ex-Labor Secretary Alex Acosta. Their testimonies come weeks after the House nearly voted on holding both Clintons in contempt of Congress for defying Comer’s subpoena. House leaders dropped the effort after the Clintons said they would comply.
Report exposes billions in uncovered fraud, waste as watchdog coalition offers support to Trump’s crackdown
FIRST ON FOX: As the Trump administration appoints Vice President JD Vance to lead a nationwide “War on Fraud,” a coalition of conservative state financial officers says it has already uncovered and stopped billions in taxpayer waste and is pledging to partner with the White House to root out corruption nationwide. In a Thursday letter to the White House, the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF) praised President Donald Trump’s focus on what he called fraud scandals that have “resulted in tens of billions of dollars being stolen from American taxpayers,” writing that such corruption “shreds the fabric of a nation” SFOF CEO OJ Oleka told Vance that the group’s 40 conservative state treasurers, auditors and comptrollers across 28 states stand ready to support the administration’s anti-fraud mission, noting they collectively oversee more than $3 trillion in state funds. The letter accompanied SFOF’s inaugural 2025 Oversight Report, which claims that affiliated state financial officers safeguarded more than $28 billion of waste, fraud, and abuse in 2025 alone. JD VANCE SPEARHEADS ‘WAR ON FRAUD,’ PROMISES TO ROOT OUT TAXPAYER MONEY ‘STOLEN’ BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS The report highlights some of the most egregious examples within that $28 billion, including in Florida, where Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia found just under $2 billion in excessive spending, and in Kentucky, where Auditor Allison Ball found more than $836 million in improper Medicaid payments. Medicaid fraud has been of particular interest to the Trump administration given the massive fraud scandal that has unfolded in Minnesota and Vance said on Wednesday the administration has “decided to temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that are going to the state of Minnesota in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligations seriously to be good stewards of the American people’s tax money.” HEAVILY REDACTED AUDIT FINDS MINNESOTA MEDICAID HAD WIDESPREAD VULNERABILITIES The report also highlights North Carolina, where it says State Auditor Dave Boliek discovered more than $1 billion in lapsed salaries from long-term vacancies in the state. Additionally, Utah auditor Tina Cannon identified more than $518 million in fraud, waste and abuse across agencies and nonprofits receiving state and federal funds. In his letter, Oleka told Vance that SFOF’s members are “allies already on the battlefield” and stand ready to assist the administration in protecting taxpayer dollars. “The American people deserve nothing less,” he wrote. SFOF argues that state-level financial watchdogs, often elected independently of governors and legislatures, are uniquely positioned to expose mismanagement and enforce fiscal discipline. With billions already identified at the state level, the group says a coordinated federal-state approach could dramatically expand the scope of fraud detection nationwide, potentially reshaping how taxpayer dollars are safeguarded across the country. “By working together, we can protect our nation’s treasure to the fullest extent against every foe and every plot to endanger it,” Oleka wrote.