Newsom’s ‘Golden State Start’ promises 400 free diapers per baby as California grapples with budget woes
Gov. Gavin Newsom is rolling out a taxpayer-backed freebie for new parents, promising hundreds of diapers for every baby born in California under a new statewide program. The Democrat announced Friday that the state will partner with nonprofit Baby2Baby to hand out 400 free diapers to families leaving participating hospitals, starting this summer. The initiative, dubbed “Golden State Start,” is being billed as a first-in-the-nation effort to ease the high cost of raising a child. “Every baby born in California deserves a healthy start in life,” Newsom said in a statement, touting the plan as part of his broader push to tackle affordability. CALIFORNIA IS BROKE, BUT IT’S NOT TOO LATE FOR THE REST OF US Under the program, hospitals will distribute the diapers directly to parents upon discharge. Officials said early rollout will prioritize facilities serving low-income patients on Medi-Cal, with plans to expand statewide. During the program’s first year, it will be offered at about 65 to 75 hospitals that handle about a quarter of births in the state and largely serve low-income patients, Newsom’s office said, according to the Associated Press. The move is the latest in a string of family-focused spending initiatives from the Newsom administration, which already includes free school meals and universal preschool for 4-year-olds. Critics are likely to challenge the program’s price tag, particularly as California navigates a tightening fiscal environment. Fox News Digital has reached out to the governor’s office regarding the costs of the program. According to the Associated Press, the state has allocated $7.4 million in last year’s budget to launch the free diaper initiative, and Governor Newsom’s latest proposal seeks an additional $12.5 million for implementation through the fiscal year ending in June 2027. However, these spending goals collide with a sobering economic reality. In its January budget overview, the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) noted that while the administration officially projected a $2.9 billion deficit for 2026-27, the long-term outlook is far more dire. The LAO warned that the state faces structural deficits ranging from $20 billion to $35 billion annually over the coming years State officials said that they are also looking at ways to take on major diaper brands and drive down prices. Baby2Baby, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that distributes supplies to children in need, will handle manufacturing and logistics for the program. The group says diaper need is widespread, with as many as one in two families struggling to afford them. CALIFORNIA SCHOOL DISTRICT INFORMS PARENTS PERIOD PRODUCTS ARE IN BATHROOMS FOR ‘ANY STUDENT WHO MENSTRUATES’ Co-CEOs Norah Weinstein and Kelly Sawyer Patricof praised the partnership as “historic,” saying it will help families during one of their most financially vulnerable moments. “We are incredibly grateful to Governor Newsom for his ongoing commitment to combating diaper needs in California and could not be prouder to partner on this historic initiative that will support moms and babies at their most vulnerable time,” Weinstein and Patricof said in a joint statement. The announcement comes two years after Tennessee and Delaware became the first U.S. states to offer free diapers to families enrolled in their Medicaid programs, which provide healthcare to low-income families. Tennessee families can go to pharmacies to pick up 100 diapers per month for children under two. The Delaware program, which began as a pilot before the state extended it in 2024, provides individuals with up to 80 diapers and up to one pack of baby wipes per week in the first 12 weeks. Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Utah Supreme Court justice resigns amid probe into alleged relationship with redistricting attorney
A Utah Supreme Court justice has resigned amid a probe into an alleged relationship with an attorney who worked on a redistricting lawsuit. Justice Diana Hagen appeared to reference the investigation and the toll it has taken on her loved ones in a resignation letter to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, which was obtained by Fox News Digital. “As a public servant for twenty-six years, I am keenly aware that public service requires sacrifice,” Hagen wrote. “I have willingly accepted those sacrifices for the privilege of holding a position of public trust, where I could do my part to uphold the rule of law and protect the constitutional rights of every Utahn.” UTAH LEADERS LAUNCH PROBE INTO SUPREME COURT JUSTICE OVER ALLEGED RELATIONSHIP WITH REDISTRICTING LAWYER “I also understand that public officials are rightly held to a higher standard and must accept a greater degree of public scrutiny and diminished privacy,” she said. “But my family and friends did not choose public life. They do not deserve to have intensely personal details surrounding the painful dissolution of my thirty-year marriage subjected to public scrutiny.” The resignation was effective immediately, a spokesperson for Utah’s Administrative Office of the Courts said. Hagen was accused by her former husband of sending “inappropriate” text messages to an attorney who helped challenge a Republican-friendly map that maintained four red congressional seats in Utah. David Reymann, who worked on behalf of progressive voting rights groups in the case, was named as the lawyer in a complaint that an attorney for Hagen’s husband submitted to Chief Justice Matthew Durrant and the Judicial Conduct Commission, according to local outlet KSL. RED STATE JUDGE CHOOSES NEW CONGRESSIONAL MAP IN FIGHT THAT COULD RESHAPE HOUSE CONTROL Hagen and Reymann previously denied the allegations. The Judicial Conduct Commission—described on its website as an independent body comprising several state lawmakers, judges, and members of the public—conducted a preliminary investigation based on the complaint and chose not to pursue the matter further, KSL reported. A statement issued by the Utah Supreme Court on behalf of Hagen in April said she took “prompt, prudent, and transparent steps” in response to the allegations by her ex-husband. “My last involvement in the redistricting case was October 2024,” Hagen said. “I voluntarily recused myself from all cases involving Mr. Reymann in May 2025, and my recusal was reflected in the Court’s September 15, 2025, opinion in League of Women Voters.” In her resignation letter, Hagen stated that she would love to continue serving on the bench. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP “But I cannot do so without sacrificing the privacy and well-being of those I care about and the effective functioning and independence of Utah’s judiciary,” she wrote. Cox will be tasked with naming Hagen’s replacement. Fox News Digital has reached out to the governor’s office. Fox News Digital’s Ashley Oliver contributed to this report.
Fox News Campus Radicals Newsletter: Men admitted to all-women’s school, bizarre campus confrontation
IVY LEAGUE CLASH: Ivy League student says president’s confrontation was unlike anything seen on campus ‘LOSES ALL MEANING:‘ College ‘makes a mockery’ of all-women status by admitting transgender students, education watchdog says RADICAL RHETORIC: University director booted after calling Zionism ‘cancerous’ in explosive remarks ‘COMPLETELY OSTRACIZED:’ Junior college athletes speak out on trans controversy that’s now in the Trump admin’s crosshairs REMOTE CONTROL: Bill would let illegal immigrant professors keep teaching US students remotely ‘BETTER THAN THAT’: University rushes ICE alert system months before deadline after pressure from far-left students
Virginia Democrat who helped lead state’s redistricting push also played part in killing it
A top Virginia Democrat’s support for his state’s redistricting referendum ironically backfired after a judge he previously appointed helped torpedo his party’s bid to redraw the state’s congressional districts. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., who endorsed the referendum and appeared at pro-referendum events, gave $100,000 to the campaign behind Virginia Democrats’ redistricting effort, which voters approved in April. On Friday, a judge Warner appointed when he was governor in 2002, D. Arthur Kelsey, was among the four justices who voted to strike the referendum down on constitutional grounds. In fact, Judge Kelsey authored the 4-3 prevailing opinion. The voter-approved ballot measure was poised to give Democrats a major advantage heading into November’s midterm elections, and they vastly outspent Republicans in their bid to get it passed. However, Kelsey wrote in the prevailing opinion that the sequencing in which Democrats held the referendum vote violated the state’s Constitution, which requires an intervening election between the state legislature’s mandatory first and second passage of the proposed constitutional amendment. ‘JUSTICE’: CELEBRATION, MOCKERY ERUPT AFTER SPANBERGER ‘GERRYMANDER’ IS BLOWN UP IN BLOCKBUSTER DECISION Warner, who was the Governor of Virginia from 2002 until 2006, previously appointed Kelsey, then a Circuit Court judge, to the Virginia Court of Appeals. Kelsey served two terms before a GOP state legislature elevated him to the state’s Supreme Court, where Kelsey has been serving since 2015. When Warner appointed Kelsey to the Virginia Court of Appeals in 2002, he praised the then-Suffolk circuit judge as having shown “a keen intellect, a strong work ethic and a commitment to equal justice,” according to a report from Virginia Lawyers Weekly at the time. “Although I had not met Judge Kelsey before this process began, I have spoken to him at length, reviewed his numerous opinions and consulted with those who know him well,” Warner added in 2002. Following the ruling by Virginia’s Supreme Court, Warner put out a statement in a news release saying he respected the decision, but added that “it’s impossible to ignore that more than three million Virginians already cast their ballots on the amendment and deserved to have their voices heard.” MARK WARNER FACES GOP CHALLENGE FROM AIRBORNE RANGER-TURNED-LAWMAKER BRYCE REEVES Fox News Digital reached out to Warner to inquire whether he felt the ruling was fair, but a spokesperson for the senator only referred Fox News Digital to the news release with his public statement. “Donald Trump assumed he could tilt the playing field and lock in political advantage before a single ballot was cast. But Virginians are paying attention,” Warner also said in his public statement. “They want leaders who will protect their rights, defend their freedoms, and actually focus on lowering costs and getting things done. Democrats will still show up this November, we will still compete everywhere, and when the votes are counted, Virginians will send a strong message about the kind of leadership they want.” The prevailing opinion written by Kelsey said that Democrats’ proposed map would have replaced Virginia’s current 6-5 congressional split “with a highly partisan gerrymandered map” expected to create a 10-1 advantage for a single party. Kelsey went on to highlight that under Democrats’ proposed new map, roughly 47% of Virginians who voted for one political party during the last congressional election would end up being represented by just 9% of Virginia’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives, while 51% of Virginians who voted for the other major political party would be represented by 91% of Virginia’s congressional delegation. Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger said Friday she was “disappointed” with the Supreme Court’s decision and, along with other Democrats, blasted the state’s High Court for invalidating the will of voters. “More than three million Virginians cast their ballots in Virginia’s redistricting referendum, and the majority of Virginia voters voted to push back against a President who said he is ‘entitled’ to more Republican seats in Congress with a temporary and responsive referendum. They made their voices heard,” Spanberger said after the ruling. “I am disappointed by the Supreme Court of Virginia’s ruling, but my focus as Governor will be on ensuring that all voters have the information necessary to make their voices heard this November in the midterm elections because in those elections we — the voters — will have the final say.”
Leftist streamer calls violent revolution ‘inevitable’ as Democrats explode over Virginia court decision
Democrats exploded in fury Friday after the Virginia Supreme Court struck down a party-backed redistricting map central to their midterm election strategy, with at least one prominent leftist voice going so far as to call violent revolution “inevitable.” In a 4-3 decision, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that a voter-approved map, which would give Democrats a 10-1 advantage in U.S. House races, violated the state’s constitution because of procedural errors in the map’s passage. Virginia voters will cast ballots in the 2026 midterms using the same district maps from the 2022 and 2024 elections, which Democrats currently hold 6-5. But Democratic lawmakers and commentators alike have framed the Supreme Court’s ruling as an act going against the will of the people. Hasan Piker, a popular leftist streamer who has espoused antisemitic rhetoric and campaigns with congressional candidates, accused the Virginia Supreme Court of denying the results of the state’s redistricting referendum. “Scotus gutted the voting rights act and tennessee carved up the last dem district destroying black voter power in the state,” Piker wrote on X. “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable.” VIRGINIA’S MAP WAR LAYS BARE STATE’S SHARP PARTISAN TURN AS LEGAL FIGHT LOOMS Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., suggested that Democrats won their redrawn map fair and square by holding a statewide election. “Unlike Republican-led states that have redrawn their maps through backroom deals, the Virginia General Assembly let the people decide for themselves in a free and fair election,” Kaine said in a statement. “If the Virginia Supreme Court had legitimate concerns about this referendum, the time to stop it would have been before three million Virginians cast their ballots. TRUMP URGES VIRGINIA VOTERS TO REJECT ‘BLATANT PARTISAN POWER GRAB’ BY DEMOCRATS “But the Court let the process move forward, and Virginians sent a message loud and clear: we see President Trump’s brazen power grab in states across the country, and we won’t stand for it,” Kaine continued. Kaine also echoed Piker’s sentiment that the ruling “eviscerates” the Voting Rights Act. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said they’re “exploring all options” to fight back against Virginia’s high court’s ruling. BLOCKBUSTER SUPREME COURT VOTING RIGHTS RULING IGNITES REDISTRICTING WAR ACROSS SOUTHERN STATES “The decision to overturn an entire election is an unprecedented and undemocratic action that cannot stand,” Jeffries said in a statement. “MAGA Republicans have adopted voter suppression as a strategy, as also evidenced by far-right extremists on the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act to open the door to a Jim Crow-like attack on Black representation across the American South,” Jeffries continued. Meanwhile, Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates Don Scott took a more pragmatic approach, saying he respects the high court’s ruling. “We respect the court. But we will keep fighting for a democracy where voters — not politicians — have the final say. Because in Virginia, power still belongs to the people.” As Democrats describe the Virginia Supreme Court’s ruling as a violation of the Voting Rights Act, Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters, who spearheaded the lawsuit over the maps, said Virginia’s ruling was not based on politics but on the “rule of law.” “Democrats just learned that when you try to rig elections, you lose,” said Chairman Gruters. “The RNC led the charge in court against this blatant power grab, where Virginia Democrats poured more than $66 million into an effort to lock in control and silence voters. We took them to court, and we won.”
Top Dem applauds Trump UFO files release in rare show of support
The Trump administration’s decision to declassify a batch of UFO and UAP files Friday drew unexpected praise from a prominent Democratic lawmaker. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., the leader of Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, cheered the release of dozens of never-before-seen images and videos, stating, “Transparency is the only path to truth.” “I am encouraged that the administration has finally heard my call and the call of millions of Americans to begin unsealing these files,” Gillibrand wrote on social media, adding that she has long advocated for the declassification and release of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) files. “This is another important step, but there is much more work to do,” the New York Democrat went on. “I will continue to fight to ensure the administration finally meets its legal obligation to the American people.” DECLASSIFIED APOLLO MOON DOCS DESCRIBE UNEXPLAINED MYSTERIES, UFO LIGHTS ‘LIKE THE FOURTH OF JULY’ The Trump administration’s file dump, available on the newly created website war.gov/UFO, contains records related to UAP, including inexplicable lights and phenomena captured during the Apollo 12 mission in 1969 and Apollo 17 in 1972. President Donald Trump in February directed the Department of War and other agencies to declassify and publish files related to alien and extraterrestrial life. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Friday that the administration would continue its declassification work. GOP lawmakers widely praised the administration’s effort to bring more transparency to UAP-related material. “This is a massive first step in the right direction,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who has long pushed for the file release, said Friday. Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., also called the move “historic” and said he hoped the file release would be the first of many. The Pentagon’s disclosure also prompted tepid enthusiasm from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who omitted the Trump administration in his statement. “For decades, UFO disclosure has been a distant object — unidentified and unexplained,” he said. “That’s starting to change. I’ll keep pushing until we land on the truth.” TULSI GABBARD TELLS PODCASTER ALIENS MAY BE REAL: ‘WE’RE CONTINUING TO LOOK FOR THE TRUTH’ Trump argued Friday that his administration’s transparency efforts related to government secrets far surpassed those of his predecessors. “Whereas previous Administrations have failed to be transparent on this subject, with these new Documents and Videos, the people can decide for themselves, “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?” Trump wrote on the social media platform Truth Social announcing the release of the files. “Have Fun and Enjoy!” The Trump administration also declassified records last year related to former President John F. Kennedy’s assassination and the 1937 disappearance of Amelia Earhart.
In Trump’s crosshairs, Massie rakes in more than $1M this week while fighting for political life
Rep. Thomas Massie’s campaign has raked in more than $1 million so far since launching a “Moneybomb” fundraiser on Monday morning, according to a running tally displayed on the fundraising website. The embattled Republican, who represents Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, is competing in a GOP primary showdown against former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, the candidate backed by vociferous Massie critic President Donald Trump. “This race has become a national referendum on whether our country is better served by Congressmen like me who keep their promises, or whether Congress needs yet another ‘warm body from central casting’ like Gallrein who pledges to be a rubber stamp for the uniparty,” Massie wrote in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. “He’s like central casting,” Trump said of Gallrein while speaking in Kentucky in March, adding moments later, ” … give me somebody with a warm body to beat Massie. And I got somebody with a warm body, but a big, beautiful brain, and a great patriot. He’s unbelievable.” Massie added in his statement to Fox News Digital on Friday, “We are ahead in the polls, ahead in Kentucky fundraising, and way ahead in national support as shown by our million dollar moneybomb… as long as you don’t count the three liberal out-of-state billionaires propping up my opponent.” ACTOR ZACHARY LEVI BACKS THOMAS MASSIE AS TRUMP TARGETS THE REPUBLICAN FOR OUSTER: ‘GOOD FOR THIS COUNTRY’ Gallrein’s campaign fired back, providing Fox News Digital with the following statement from senior advisor Tim Murtaugh: “These are the last gasps of a member of Congress who promised to term limit himself to three terms, but is now seeking his 8th. He’s turned his back on Kentucky, he’s pointlessly antagonized President Trump, and has tried to obstruct the entire America First agenda. Thomas Massie serves only one person — Thomas Massie — and the voters of Kentucky’s 4th District are about to show him the door. Ed Gallrein is a heavily decorated, retired Navy SEAL a solid conservative who will support President Trump and the America First agenda. Massie’s ego and his act are worn out.” Massie fired back in another statement to Fox News Digital, declaring, “In typical fashion, Ed has a surrogate repeating his lies. Ed is scared to debate me and even afraid to speak to the press.” Before taking office in 2012, Massie signed a pledge declaring that he would support a term limits amendment to the Constitution. “I, Thomas Massie, pledge that as a member of Congress I will cosponsor and vote for the U.S. Term Limits Amendment of three (3) House terms and two (2) Senate terms and no longer limit,” the pledge read. MASSIE ALLY SPARKS BACKLASH AFTER ACCUSING TRUMP-BACKED CHALLENGER OF ABUSING VA BENEFITS During an appearance on KET’s “Kentucky Tonight,” Massie, who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since late 2012, was asked about the issue. “After 14 years, are you not wading into career politician territory? And for those curious about you re-upping your Washington service, how is that better than honoring the spirit of that pledge you signed back in 2012?” host Renee Shaw asked. “Well I’ve honored both the spirit and the letter of that pledge. I have cosponsored the bill that I said I would cosponsor and I voted for it. In fact, now I serve on the Judiciary Committee where that bill starts. All Constitutional amendments begin in the Judiciary Committee,” Massie replied. “So I’ve had the opportunity … and taken it, to vote for that … amendment to the Constitution several times.” MASSIE SAYS MUSK NEVER DONATED TO HIS RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN DESPITE PRIOR PLEDGE The upcoming May 19 primary in Kentucky is less than two weeks away.
GOP speaker claps back after Booker stumps against bid to eradicate red state’s Democrat-held districts
EXCLUSIVE: Alabama Republicans are moving to force through a new congressional map that could reduce Democratic representation amid a narrow national GOP House majority, while rebuking Yankee Democrats traveling to the Yellowhammer State to gin up opposition. State leaders argue the new Supreme Court ruling limiting the use of race in redistricting has changed the legal landscape, giving Alabama grounds to revisit and undo a court-imposed map that recently reshaped its congressional districts to help minority voters. As attention shifted from Louisiana to Alabama after the high bench tossed the Pelican State’s map last week, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., traveled south to stump in Birmingham with fellow Democrats bemoaning legislators’ attempts to force the high bench to reconsider a partially conflicting order from three years prior. “Well, I’m probably guessing that’s first time Cory Booker’s ever been in Alabama,” Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainville, told Fox News Digital. BLOCKBUSTER SUPREME COURT VOTING RIGHTS RULING IGNITES REDISTRICTING WAR ACROSS SOUTHERN STATES “The thing about it is the people that we represent have lived here most of all of their lives and they’re the ones that ask us to do something for them — not the Cory Bookers,” Ledbetter said. “And he can nationalize it all he wants to, but it’s not going to change facts.” Booker joined Rep. Terri Sewell of Birmingham, the state’s lone Democrat, until the court-mandated redraw produced a Democratic flip by Rep. Shomari Figures of Mobile. “We are in a storm right now — the question is, where will you stand, will you hold up your light,” Booker addressed a redistricting town hall in Birmingham, where he declared voting rights are on the ballot, according to the Alabama Reporter. The Yankee Democrat said he came south out of obligation to recognize that the Supreme Court upended decades of progress made by Alabamians, according to the city’s NBC affiliate. Late last month, the Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s 2-Democrat congressional map, in which Reps. Cleo Fields and Troy Carter’s Democratic districts were drawn with race as a significant factor. Alabama faced a similar fight after the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Allen v. Milligan forced the state to redraw its map, leading to a court-imposed plan that shifted its delegation from a 6-1 Republican split to 5-2 after Republicans created but were rebuked for the so-called “Livingston map” that gave minorities districts with 55% and 40% representation respectively. SUPREME COURT RULES ON KEY VOTING RIGHTS ACT RULE AS REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS WAGE REDISTRICTING WAR The interceding Livingston map, so named for Sen. Steve Livingston, R-Scottsboro, should be revisited and upheld by the Supreme Court in line with its more recent ruling, Ledbetter argued. In passing the map, Ledbetter said he expects the Supreme Court will be forced to weigh in, via a new legal challenge or otherwise, and that the Louisiana ruling gives Alabama the precedent it needs to undo the high court’s prior ruling and imposed map. “Once that happens, it gives the governor opportunity to call a special election.” While any action taken by Ledbetter’s legislature would likely spur court action, he suggested quick passage is needed as Alabama’s primaries approach on May 19. “If we did nothing, we had no shot, and doing this gives us the opportunity to have a ball in the air in case they do overturn [Milligan].” Gov. Kay Ivey called the legislature to special session Monday to create plans for potential adjustment of upcoming primary elections, if the state is able to force the redistricting issue upon the Supreme Court. Ledbetter said the Livingston map was fair, and attempted to follow the will of the court originally — adding that he plans to force the issue this week during the special session. “Our goal is to pass the Livingston map and give the governor the opportunity if the 14th Amendment [provision] is removed; that gives us the opportunity to go forward with it,” he said, arguing the earlier ruling relied on legal standards that may now be affected by the court’s more recent decision. “That’s really the only shot we got to be able to do this before the November elections is that map that’s existing,” he said. SUPREME COURT JUST GAVE BLACK VOTERS A SHOT AT REAL POWER BEYOND SAFE SEATS Pushing back again on Booker and critics of Alabama’s prior attempt to redraw, Ledbetter said the Livingston map, under today’s population footprint, actually gives all voting blocs a better shot. “When that was redistricted that was a 50-50 seat,” he said of one of the Democrat-friendly districts on the map. “It gives everybody a shot and it’s got all seven seats open.” He criticized national Democrats for descending on other states like Virginia to try to tip the scale of their own redistricting, noting that Alabamians elected a Republican supermajority in Montgomery and want to reflect that in Congress. DEMS CIRCLE THE WAGONS BY BLAMING GOP FOR THEIR REDISTRICTING RESPONSE AHEAD OF MIDTERMS: ‘VERY DESPERATE’ “I don’t think it’s right for the courts to overstep their boundary and try to do legislation.” Ivey said in a statement the state has been battling “federal courts and activist groups who think they know Alabama better than Alabama” since the 2020 census. “By calling the Legislature into a special session, I am ensuring Alabama is prepared should the courts act quickly enough to allow Alabama’s previously drawn congressional and state Senate maps to be used during this election cycle,” she said. With Ledbetter and his partners on the Senate side primed to repass the Livingston map, the Supreme Court would have about a week to step in ahead of the May 19 primary, while Secretary of State Wes Allen told the Montgomery Advertiser that no matter the result of the special session, that date is set in stone — setting up a reason for national attention to turn toward the Yellowhammer State. Fox News Digital reached out to Booker and Ivey for additional comment.
NYC business owner kickstarts million dollar campaign to combat Mamdani-driven business exodus
New York’s political and financial leaders have launched efforts to combat Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s policies that they say have driven multiple billionaires to look elsewhere for their business homes. After Mamdani named Citadel LLC CEO and owner Ken Griffin in an advertisement for a new tax on second homes in the city, Griffin publicly rebuked him as “creepy.” The COO of Citadel then indicated in a letter to employees that the company may not move forward with plans to continue a $6 billion renovation of a new Midtown Manhattan office skyscraper. “What the mayor of New York has made clear to my partners… and principally my New York partners… is that we need to double down on our bet in Miami, because we want to be in a state that embraces business, that embraces education, that embraces personal freedom and liberty, and that embraces people having an opportunity to live the American Dream,” Griffin said during the Milken Institute Global Conference in New York City on Tuesday. ‘WE’RE TAXING THE RICH’: NYC MAYOR MAMDANI TOUTS NEW $500M-A-YEAR TAX ON LUXURY SECOND HOMES Now, local business leaders are pledging time and money into a campaign hoping to keep business in the Big Apple. Andrew Murstein, founder of Medallion Financial Corp., launched Operation Boomerang in an effort to lure defectors back to New York. Murstein pledged $1 million of his own money into the effort, which will see him sending New York hot dogs, bagels and Katz’s Deli to businesses that fled to Florida, he told the New York Post. “The last 10 years with mayors and governors, those things pass, and they should be in it for the long run,” he told the Post. “I’m trying to convince them not to abandon ship. Whatever it takes.” MAMDANI’S CLASS WARFARE AGAINST NEW YORK BUSINESSES IS ‘ECONOMIC VANDALISM’ Murstein also added that he’s going to leverage his initial contribution into the campaign to raise more money, which he anticipates will net the project between $20 million and $30 million, according to the Post. Former Mayor Eric Adams also lent his voice to re-luring efforts, imploring Griffin to “stand your ground,” in a post on X. Mamdani’s attacks on the rich have even spooked his own employees, according to the Post’s sources. “The mayor’s office is feeling pressure around this, and they are looking for ways to change the narrative around business,” an anonymous local business leader reportedly told the Post. “They’re in a pickle because he’s hearing all the business leaders are looking for exit strategies now and Mamdani needs money and needs to keep his base happy,” the source allegedly continued. “This might be an inflection point because NYC is already a welfare state supported by very few people at the top who can leave,” the source concluded, per the Post.
Jack Smith escalates Trump DOJ clash with blistering private-event rebuke
Former special counsel Jack Smith unleashed on the Department of Justice in an unusually fiery speech to a few hundred people during a private event, accusing the department of being “corrupted” and targeting President Donald Trump’s enemies. Smith’s remarks, given during a private dinner in D.C. in April and reported by the New York Times this week, zeroed in on the DOJ’s decisions to investigate and prosecute some of Trump’s top political rivals, such as former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. The former special counsel accused the department of weaponizing its authority, the very same accusation that Republicans have widely leveled against Smith for bringing two criminal cases against Trump during the Biden administration. “We have a Department of Justice today that targets people for criminal prosecution simply because the president doesn’t like them,” Smith said. CONSERVATIVES ACCUSE JACK SMITH OF IMPROPER TIES WITH JUDGES IN TRUMP CASES AFTER NEW DOCUMENT DUMP A DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital the department expected “nothing less from Jack Smith whose sole mission was to politically prosecute a former president in an attempt to stop him from assuming office again.” “This DOJ has ended the weaponization perpetrated by the Biden Administration and will continue to ensure no one is above the law,” the spokesperson said. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson called Smith a “lying hack” who prosecuted Trump “to try and benefit his Democrat cronies.” “Jack Smith was specifically hired to spend years on a witch hunt to compile lies against the President, and it’s laughable that he would try and criticize this Administration for restoring integrity to the Justice Department,” Jackson told Fox News Digital. Smith brought indictments against Trump alleging he illegally attempted to overturn the 2020 election and that he retained classified national defense information. Smith faced significant hurdles in the election case, while the classified documents case was tossed out by Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, who said he was unlawfully appointed as special counsel. Smith’s office was appealing Cannon’s ruling when Trump won the 2024 election. Weeks later, Smith moved to dismiss both federal cases, citing the Justice Department’s longstanding policy against prosecuting a sitting president. Trump raged at Smith repeatedly, calling him a corrupt “thug” who belonged in jail. In January, Trump said on Truth Social that Smith was a “deranged animal” who should lose his law license. Smith is a longtime attorney who prosecuted war crimes in the Hague and led the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section during the Obama administration. JACK SMITH PUSHES FOR PUBLIC TESTIMONY TO CONFRONT ‘MISCHARACTERIZATIONS’ OF TRUMP PROBES Trump said he hoped the DOJ was investigating Smith, “including some of the crooked and corrupt witnesses that he was attempting to use in his case against me. The whole thing was a Democrat SCAM — A big price should be paid by them for what they have put our Country through!” The president’s remarks directly clash with Smith’s rare, heated commentary at the private event, as both accuse the other of weaponization and as Smith faces threats of federal prosecution for targeting Trump, despite the DOJ and congressional investigators yet to uncover criminal wrongdoing by Smith. HOUSE DEMOCRATS DEMAND ANSWERS ON DOJ’S MOVE TO FIRE FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL OFFICIALS Smith said the DOJ has “been corrupted” over the past year but that he believed the department would “ultimately come through this better.” Smith also accused the DOJ of turning a blind eye to cases that might reveal “inconvenient” facts that would contradict “narratives the president would like to press.” Smith praised career prosecutors, saying a “central component” of the current DOJ’s strategy was to punish those like the several Minnesota attorneys who resigned in protest over internal disputes with how to handle an investigation into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent killing Renee Good, a 37-year-old anti-ICE activist. “To erode the rule of law in this country you need to attack these people, and that is what we have seen since January 2025,” Smith said. Smith’s comments were not all negative, however, according to the New York Times. He praised the DOJ for being more vocal than it was under Biden, a comment that comes as Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who replaced Pam Bondi a month ago, has taken on an aggressive, proactive media strategy. Blanche has held a series of press conferences where he has taken rounds of off-topic questions while also doing numerous wide-ranging interviews with friendly and tough media outlets. A Smith representative had no comment.