Democratic socialist headed for $142K legislature salary begs for rent handout, deletes post after backlash
A Democratic Socialist expected to coast to victory in a deep-blue Queens state Assembly district is facing questions after briefly asking supporters to help cover his rent and grocery bills while waiting to take office. Brian Romero, the Democratic nominee for New York’s 34th Assembly District, removed a GoFundMe campaign Friday after the New York Post inquired about the fundraiser, which sought $2,000 to help with living expenses. Romero said he left his job as a senior adviser to state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez earlier this year after receiving ethics guidance once he became a candidate for Assembly, according to the Post. While he handily won June’s Democratic primary and faces no Republican challenger in November, Romero said he has exhausted his savings while searching for consulting work and has been unable to collect unemployment benefits. SHOCKING PERCENTAGE OF DEMOCRATS IDENTIFY AS ‘DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS’ ACCORDING TO NEW POLL: ‘TOXIC POLICIES’ “As many of you know, I had to leave my full time job in the legislature when I got on the ballot for our Assembly race,” Romero wrote on the since-deleted fundraising page, according to the Post. “I’m excited that we won and I saved for months to get by but I’ve now depleted my savings as I’m close to closing down some consulting gigs.” The fundraiser said the money would help cover rent and groceries while he navigated the transition to elected office. According to the Post, the page had raised more than $1,000 from 13 donors before Romero removed it Friday. The online appeal drew criticism because Romero is expected to easily win the heavily Democratic district, where he would earn the state Assembly’s $142,000 annual salary once sworn into office, in addition to legislative per diem payments while the Legislature is in session. MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALIST IN HOT SEAT AGAIN OVER DELETED POSTS PRAISING COMMUNISM, MARXISM: ‘CRAZYPANTS’ Jordan Libowitz, vice president for communications at Citizens for Ethics in Washington, told the Post he could not recall another instance of a lawmaker-elect publicly asking for financial assistance while awaiting office. Romero told the newspaper he removed the fundraiser after discussing it with friends and described creating it as “a mistake.” He also said he did not keep any of the money that had been donated. “I decided to take it down. It was kind of done pretty quickly in consultation with some friends,” Romero told the Post. Instead, Romero said friends offered to help him financially while he looked for work. “I have friends I just reached out to directly who said, ‘We’ll take care of it.’ They’re just dear friends who know me, they know politics. They know sometimes these long breaks are really tough,” he told the newspaper. State payroll records cited by the Post show Romero earned $106,469 last year as a legislative aide. The newspaper also reported he lives with his partner in a Jackson Heights apartment that rents for about $2,600 a month. Romero did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Trump says he ‘disagrees 100%’ with U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro over Reflecting Pool case
President Donald Trump publicly broke with his top local prosecutor Saturday, insisting damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was “a pure case of VANDALISM” despite federal officials citing contractor failures as they moved to dismiss a felony case against a former U.S. Olympian. “I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I don’t know what she was thinking?” Trump’s remarks came one day after Pirro’s office asked a federal judge to dismiss a felony destruction of property charge against former U.S. Olympian David Hearn, who was accused of damaging the landmark after allegedly pulling up a loose section of its protective lining on June 19 despite being told by a National Park Service employee to stop. “To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM, that included the grass, which had a big 86 47 emblazoned in giant letters on it, and other elements of the surrounding area,” Trump continued, referencing a separate vandalism incident that had occurred about a week earlier. U.S. Park Police previously discovered the numbers “86 47” etched into the grass near the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The phrase has become a politically charged slogan directed at Trump. Supporters of the president, including Trump himself, have argued it amounts to a call for his assassination. WHO IS DAVID HEARN? US OLYMPIAN WHO DENIES VANDALIZING REFLECTING POOL AFTER VIRAL ARREST Pirro’s office dropped the charges against Hearn on Friday after concluding that reports disclosed by the Department of the Interior revealed that there were many flaws with the renovation project, including that the lining appeared to begin peeling days after installation. “Given all of this newly discovered information, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt,” the motion concluded. Trump acknowledged there potential issues with the project but rejected the Justice Department’s conclusion that construction problems were primarily responsible for the damage. “There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!” Trump wrote. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS LOST OR ABANDONED HUNDREDS OF LAWSUITS AGAINST ANTI-ICE PROTESTERS, MIGRANTS: REPORT Hearn was indicted on July 2 on one count of felony destruction of property after U.S. Park Police alleged he pulled at the pool’s protective coating, with authorities initially estimating the damage exceeded $1,000. According to Pirro’s office, the Department of the Interior initially provided only “barebones” reports and did not disclose documents showing the Reflecting Pool’s newly installed coating had begun failing almost immediately after construction. “Had DOI been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession, the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment,” prosecutors wrote in Friday’s filing. “It was not until after the return of the indictment, that the DOI provided additional documents to the USAO-DC indicating that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings (‘AIC’), and the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026,” the filing continued. The case against Hearn was dismissed without prejudice, meaning charges could be brought again in the future. Court filings show Atlantic Industrial Coatings received a no-bid contract worth more than $14 million to install a new protective lining across the Reflecting Pool’s 68,000-square-foot floor. The project began in early May but was slowed by rain and complications with the pool’s expansion joints, adding pressure to complete the work before the July Fourth festivities celebrating America’s 250th anniversary. According to prosecutors, problems surfaced almost immediately. TRUMP SHARES NEWS OF ‘CRYSTAL CLEAR’ REFLECTING POOL, CALLS FOR VANDALISM SUSPECT’S ARREST Just two days after the project was completed on June 9, a National Park Service engineer reported that sections of the new lining were already peeling. “I stated my concern that this ‘overspray’ along the perimeter of the pool could lead to a 1′-2′ strip that is vulnerable to peeling,” the engineer wrote in a June 11 email obtained by the New York Post. “The contractor would not confirm in field if this was or wasn’t a risk.” Following the dismissal request, Hearn’s legal team accused the government of rushing to prosecute the case. “The Trump administration’s case against Davey Hearn should never have been brought. Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong. The government’s approach was ready, fire, aim. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology,” attorneys Norm Eisen, Mary Dohrmann and Steve Levin said in a statement to the New York Post. Fox News Digital has reached out to Pirro’s office for comment.
Mamdani extends deadline for NYC homeowners to seek exemption from new pied-à-terre tax
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has given homeowners in New York City an additional month to apply to be exempt from his new pied-à-terre tax, which went into effect July 1. Homeowners across the five boroughs who believe they should qualify for an exemption now have until Sept. 18 to apply for one, according to City Hall. The previous deadline was Aug. 21. The extended deadline, city officials said, applies to anyone who received notices from the Department of Finance (DOF) with the phrase “You may be subject to.” The pied-à-terre tax, passed by the New York State Legislature in May, imposes an annual surcharge on certain high-value New York City homes worth more than $5 million that are not the owner’s primary residence. LIBERAL PODCASTER SAYS HE WAS ‘DOXED’ BY MAMDANI’S ‘WANTED POSTER’ OF PROPERTY OWNERS The city’s finance department said the extension was necessary to give homeowners more time to prove that their home is in fact their primary residence, which would mean the tax would not apply to them. Some homeowners were initially confused because, on July 24, the city published a list of more than 900,000 properties in a “supplemental market value roll” without explaining that the vast majority of them would not be getting hit with the pied-à-terre tax. “This roll includes, but is not limited to, those properties that may be subject to the surcharge,” according to a city webpage archived on Monday. On Thursday, the webpage was updated with the following disclaimer: “Not every property or unit listed in the roll will be subject to the surcharge. Only property owners to whom DOF sent a notification by mail are required to take further action.” PROPERTY OWNER ADVOCACY GROUPS PUSH BACK ON MAMDANI’S ‘RENTAL RIPOFF REPORT,’ PUBLIC DATA BASE OF LANDLORDS On Saturday, the same webpage was updated once again, clarifying that the DOF had only sent surcharge letters to 17,000 homeowners and that only those people should concern themselves with sending an exemption application to the city. Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment. Mamdani announced the new levy April 15 — Tax Day — in a controversial video filmed outside Ken Griffin’s $238 million penthouse on Billionaires’ Row, singling out the hedge fund manager by name as an example of the wealthy second-home owners the tax would target. Griffin later described the video as “creepy and weird” during a discussion at the Milken Institute Global Conference May 6. He said he watched it three times. Despite objections from real estate and business leaders who warned that the tax could drive investment out of the city, state lawmakers approved it as part of the budget, which Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law May 28. The tax will apply during the 2026-27 and 2027-28 property tax years to secondary residences, including one-, two- and three-family properties, worth more than $5 million. Individual condo units and co-op units will be taxed if they are valued at $1 million or more.
DSA candidate pushes federal AI data center moratorium with Michigan early voting underway
Michigan House candidate and Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member Will Lawrence advocated for a national data center moratorium Saturday during an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital. “What I see is that there is an urgent need to have a federal moratorium on new AI data centers so that we can have a national conversation about, if we’re going to be generating this hyper-intelligent AI, what’s the best way to do it and how do we ensure that it benefits everybody rather than just a few billionaires in Silicon Valley?” Lawrence said at a campaign event in South Lansing, Michigan. “I do support a federal moratorium because there may be a right way to build these data centers and generate super-intelligent AI, but what’s happening now is the wrong way, because it’s abandoning the basic principles of democracy and self-determination that are foundational to the American identity. BLANCHE URGED TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGED FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN FIGHT AGAINST DATA CENTERS “You have billionaires from Silicon Valley and Wall Street who are coming into small towns and then just telling everybody, ‘Trust us, trust us, your energy bills aren’t going to rise. This is going to be a great deal for everybody.’” In addition to backing a data center ban, Lawrence also bashed President Donald Trump for a number of policies and, like other DSA members, advocated for major campaign finance reform in the form of publicly funded elections. “There’s a lot of money in politics, there’s no doubt about it. And I think it does a disservice to the democratic process,” Lawrence said. SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN LIMIT ON PARTY CAMPAIGN SPENDING IN COORDINATION WITH CANDIDATES He then took aim at the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, a landmark 2010 decision that ruled political contributions should be treated as a First Amendment-protected form of free speech. “Unless there’s change in the Supreme Court, Citizens United will need to be overturned with a constitutional amendment because it’s a Supreme Court decision. But beyond just ending Citizens United, which deals with the dark money in politics, I also support public financing of elections, which would mean that every single candidate who has legitimate grassroots support gets access to the same pool of public funding and the same amount of dollars to run their campaign with,” he said. Lawrence avoided a question about a broader slate of DSA policies, such as abolishing the Supreme Court, the presidency and the Senate, potentially turning off centrist voters. HARRIS’ ‘NO BAD IDEA BRAINSTORM’ FOR DEMS INCLUDES PACKING SCOTUS, ELIMINATING ELECTORAL COLLEGE “That’s not what we’re talking about. So, I can’t speak to whether people are turned off by it or not. We’re focused on stopping these AI data centers, stopping these wars around the world and ensuring that everybody has health care,” he responded. Lawrence, who’s backed by prominent leftists like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is running in the Aug. 4 Democratic primary to claim the House seat in Michigan’s 7th district. The district is represented by Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., a first-term congressman who won the seat after current Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., vacated it to run for Senate. Lawrence is vying with a number of other Democratic candidates to face off against Barrett in November’s election, including former Obama National Security Council member and U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink. Fox News Digital contacted the Barrett and Brink campaigns and the DSA for comment.
Trump immigration agenda faces setback as Obama-appointed judge issues fresh TPS stay
A Massachusetts federal judge has once again blocked the Trump administration from ending temporary protected status (TPS) for Somalia, issuing a new administrative stay after plaintiffs rewrote their lawsuit around constitutional claims just days after a federal appeals court threw out similar stays terminating TPS for Ethiopia and South Sudan. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs, appointed by former President Barack Obama, issued the administrative stay Friday after African Communities Together and other plaintiffs filed an amended complaint alleging the Trump administration violated the Fifth Amendment by terminating Somalia’s TPS designation based on racial and national-origin discrimination. The plaintiffs filed an amended complaint and emergency motion on Thursday in a renewed bid to keep Somalia’s TPS protections alive after the Supreme Court’s June ruling in Mullin v. Doe sharply limited lower courts’ ability to block TPS terminations. Burroughs’ latest order has intensified growing criticism over whether district judges are using administrative stays to work around higher court rulings. It comes just days after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed similar administrative stays issued by U.S. District Judges Brian Murphy and Patti Saris, who had temporarily delayed the Trump administration’s TPS terminations for Ethiopia and South Sudan. LIBERAL COURT STUNS WITH RULING THAT HANDS TRUMP MAJOR IMMIGRATION WIN The 1st Circuit based its rulings on the Supreme Court’s Mullin decision, which ruled lower courts generally cannot block TPS terminations based on non-constitutional claims. The latest order drew an immediate rebuke from DHS General Counsel James Percival, who accused Burroughs of continuing a pattern of judicial obstruction. “Judge Allison Burroughs just entered yet another order preventing the termination of Somalia TPS. There is no serious debate about what is going on in these cases — defiance, obstruction, and delay,” Percival wrote on X. Iowa Solicitor General Eric Wessan argued Burroughs’ order improperly grants emergency relief despite what he described as legally deficient claims. “I looked at the amended complaint in the Somalia TPS case,” Wessan wrote on X. “The district judge has entered a novel ‘administrative stay’ to sort out the claims. She has declared the TPS termination ‘void’ for now, while deciding whether any of the claims can justify a more permanent pause.” DHS EVISCERATES MEDIA FOR ‘ABSOLUTE ABSURDITY’ OVER CONCERN ABOUT ‘WORST OF THE WORST’ ACTIVIST JUDGES LIST Wessan argued that the order “turns the law upside down,” writing that four of the lawsuit’s five claims are foreclosed by the Supreme Court’s decision in Mullin and describing the remaining claim as “frivolous.” “Even if this was a fresh lawsuit without the baggage, the claims cannot justify any relief — much less meet the high bar for interim relief,” Wessan wrote. “This is very bad. I hope that, with time to review, Judge Burroughs vacates her administrative stay to allow the correct status quo to continue.” The plaintiffs contend, however, that their amended complaint presents a fundamentally different case than those recently rejected by the 1st Circuit. BIDEN JUDGE BLOCKING ETHIOPIAN DEPORTATIONS DESPITE SCOTUS RULING CLASHED WITH ICE BEFORE The amended lawsuit argues the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to revoke Somalia’s TPS designation was predetermined, pointing to President Donald Trump’s November 2025 Truth Social post announcing the end of TPS months before DHS had completed the review process. The plaintiffs argue that deprived Somali TPS holders of the fair process guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause because the decision had effectively already been made before the agency completed the review required by law. The complaint also alleges the administration violated the Fifth Amendment’s equal protection guarantee by targeting Somali nationals based on race and national origin. It cites Trump’s past remarks describing Somali immigrants as “criminals,” “gang members” and “low IQ,” as well as his statements that he doesn’t “want them in our country” and to “send them back.” “These statements evince the Administration’s racist and xenophobic motivations to exclude Somali people from the country. At the same time, the Administration has expressed preferences for white immigrants as ‘nice’ and welcome in the U.S. and created protections for white Afrikaner refugees from South Africa,” the plaintiffs wrote. Burroughs has presided over the Somalia TPS litigation since earlier this year. On March 13, she initially entered an administrative stay preventing the Somalia TPS termination from taking effect while the litigation proceeded. Fox News Digital reached out to African Communities Together for comment.
Reporter’s Notebook: Why Fauci’s 111 Fifth Amendment pleas could end up before the courts
Silence is golden. But actions speak louder than words. That’s the solution Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., is engineering for the reticence of Dr. Anthony Fauci. The head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for 38 years, Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment a staggering 111 times when appearing under subpoena before Paul’s panel this week. RAND PAUL SEEKS CONTEMPT CHARGES AFTER FAUCI INVOKES FIFTH AMENDMENT MORE THAN 100 TIMES The only words Fauci spoke were his invocation of the Fifth Amendment on the advice of his attorney. But the action promised by Paul is contempt of Congress. “There will be repercussions to your refusal to testify today,” Paul warned after Fauci invoked the Fifth. “The committee will have to consider after this hearing what appropriate action should be taken against you for the failure to testify after being directed to do so. It’s against the law to obstruct an investigation of Congress.” But it’s not as though Fauci was completely mum during the entire hearing. He offered an opening statement before leaning on the Fifth Amendment as a shield for the next three hours. “The only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, quote, ‘behind bars,’ unquote,” Fauci said. “Any reasonable person who has followed his unhinged obsession with me would readily come to the same conclusion.” And then Fauci fell mute. He ignored questions about his diary, inquiries about what ignited the pandemic, even interrogatives about the mundane. TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM FAUCI’S HEARING: PAUL BOOTS LAWYER, MORENO ERUPTS AS CONTEMPT VOTE LOOMS “What day of the week is it today?” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., asked. Hawley wasn’t done. “What color tie are you’re wearing?” Hawley continued. “What is the color of the carpeting?” From a legal standpoint, there is logic behind Hawley’s banal inquiries. These are carefully designed questions which a good prosecutor might ask a witness to trip them up. To wit: If Fauci had already invoked the Fifth Amendment, why is he suddenly answering questions about the calendar, his tie or carpeting? If Fauci replied “Wednesday,” “blue” or “green” as answers to Hawley’s queries, Paul could have asserted that the Fifth Amendment shield no longer applied. Thus, the committee, or the courts, should compel Fauci to respond to any question. By the same token, Republicans argued that Fauci should have been able to answer such trite questions from Hawley because they had nothing to do with the proceedings. It’s kind of a “we win, you lose” proposition for the GOP. Yet Fauci never deviated from the script, invoking the Fifth Amendment 111 times. CAN FAUCI HIDE BEHIND THE FIFTH? GAME-CHANGING BIDEN PARDON MAY NOT PROVIDE COMPLETE COVER, EXPERTS SAY By the way, Fauci’s repetitive legal recitation of the Fifth is not a Senate record. In 1958, mob boss Vito Genovese appeared before a Senate panel investigating organized crime. Genovese established the mark, invoking the Fifth a stupefying 150 times. Republicans don’t think that Fauci had any right to invoke the Fifth even once, considering his pardon from former President Joe Biden. On one hand, they asserted he should be free to testify. Democrats took issue with that. “I’m not surprised that he pled the Fifth because the objective is to put him in jeopardy of criminal prosecution,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “So, the more prudent course was to claim the Fifth Amendment.” Hawley saw it differently, citing the 1896 Supreme Court case Brown v. Walker. In the late 19th Century, the Supreme Court granted auditor Theodore Brown immunity to testify in a railway rate-fixing case. But Brown still refused to testify. However, the high court ruled Brown had to speak. Writing for the majority, Justice Henry Billings Brown (no relation), who also wrote the opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson, declared the following: “If it be once conceded that the fact that his testimony may tend to bring the witness into disrepute, though not to incriminate him, does not entitle him to the privilege of silence, it necessarily follows that, if it also tends to incriminate, but at the same time operates as a pardon for the offense, the fact that the disgrace remains no more entitles him to immunity in this case than in the other.” Translation: What you have to say may be embarrassing. But if you enjoy the privilege of immunity, you still have to cough up the goods despite the Fifth Amendment. How Fauci conducted himself in the hearing runs parallel to former IRS official Lois Lerner‘s conduct in 2014. Republicans believed that Lerner blocked groups affiliated with the Tea Party from tax-exempt status or targeted them for scrutiny. At a 2014 House Oversight Committee hearing, Lerner delivered an opening statement. She then invoked the Fifth. The full House later voted to hold Lerner in contempt of Congress for not answering questions and referred her to the Justice Department for prosecution. The DOJ, then operating under the administration of former President Barack Obama, did not take action against Lerner. Whether DOJ prosecutes contempt of Congress often comes down to which party on Capitol Hill is doing the referring and which party controls the Justice Department. For instance, the Republican House referred former Attorney General Eric Holder to the DOJ for contempt of Congress in 2012. But it was Holder who ran the Justice Department. So, that was a dead letter. The Democratic House referred White House Counsel Harriet Miers to the DOJ in 2008. But the administration of former President George W. Bush was simply not going to prosecute its own lead attorney at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The Democratic House held Trump administration figures Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro in contempt of Congress for failing to appear before the committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot. Naturally, the Biden Justice Department prosecuted
Trump blasts rogue GOP senators for blocking Blanche nomination, vows anti-weaponization bill fight
President Donald Trump blasted Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, Saturday for opposing his nomination of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to the permanent position, suggesting he could keep Blanche in the temporary Justice Department leadership role and ensure the anti-weaponization bill is passed. While blasting the rogue GOP senators, Trump tied the Blanche nomination fight to the anti-weaponization bill, proposed legislation that would establish a congressionally authorized compensation program for alleged victims of political “weaponization,” replacing the controversial DOJ-created anti-weaponization fund. The fund was formed through a settlement Blanche reached with the IRS and the Treasury Department to create a $1.8 billion fund to compensate alleged victims of political persecution. Amid criticism that the executive branch lacked authority to create such a program without congressional approval, the Justice Department later said it would not move forward with the fund, effectively shelving it. “If Senators Cornyn and Tillis, both upset because I wouldn’t Endorse them (they lost, and quit, respectively!), aren’t going to approve Todd Blanche, one of the most respected professionals, according to everybody, in the Country, to be the United States Attorney General, then I will keep Todd as Acting A.G., and push hard to get the Anti-Weaponization Bill, which takes care of those who have been so badly treated by the Crooked Joe Biden (and Obuma!) Administration (I get nothing, although I was treated horribly!), PASSED. Todd Blanche was a voice of reason! It will immediately be back on the table, and I will get it done,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Saturday morning. TRUMP THREATENS TO YANK HIS OWN AG NOMINEE AS GOP REVOLT GROWS Cornyn and Tillis, both of whom faced electoral opposition from Trump in some form, each indicated they would not vote to advance Blanche’s nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I think I am prepared to vote no, but I do think I owe it to my constituents and to Mr. Blanche to try to negotiate in good faith,” Cornyn told Capitol Hill reporters Wednesday. “And that’s what we’ve been doing. And, so, we’ll see where things are this morning and see where we go from here.” Though both Blanche and Trump have previously said the anti-weaponization fund is “dead,” Cornyn and Tillis both indicated they want the fund’s demise to be formalized in writing before supporting Blanche’s confirmation. Cornyn questioned Blanche about the fund during his mid-July confirmation hearing. “Has there been a written agreement of the parties to modify the settlement fund?” Cornyn asked Blanche. “No, the settlement fund is just not moving forward,” Blanche replied. TRUMP UNLOADS ON CORNYN, TIES AG NOMINATION FIGHT TO BITTER TEXAS PRIMARY Tillis, who announced in 2025 that he would not be seeking re-election just one day after Trump threatened to back a primary challenger, also criticized the anti-weaponization fund, calling it a “payout pot for punks” in a response to Trump on X Saturday morning. “Despite comments as late as yesterday that the fund is dead, President Trump clearly intends to resurrect the payout pot for punks either by inappropriately establishing another bogus fund or pushing Congress to vote for a bill that the majority of Republicans in the Senate would be against,” Tillis wrote. “It’s unfortunate that Todd Blanche, who I consider qualified for the job, will not be confirmed because of this reversal. Hopefully, we can resolve this by Tuesday.” Cornyn, who has been a senator since 2002, lost his GOP primary to Trump-backed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton during the state’s May 26 contest, losing by nearly 400,000 votes, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s Office. Trump, during his Cabinet Friday meeting at Camp David, theorized that his backing of Paxton was Cornyn’s motivation for opposing Blanche. “This is being done by a senator. And I don’t really blame him, to be honest with you. I endorsed his opponent. And as soon as I endorsed his opponent, his opponent went through the roof, and he won the primary election in Texas,” Trump said. “And the man that lost, the man that I didn’t endorse has become very angry. And that’s OK. I understand that. I probably would do the same thing.” Cornyn downplayed that possibility. “That’s a convenient excuse, and it happens to be untrue,” Cornyn told reporters on Capitol Hill Wednesday, according to CBS News. Trump also told reporters during the Cabinet meeting that, though he considers the anti-weaponization fund “dead,” he wishes it wasn’t. “Well, it is dead. But, you know, I wish it weren’t to be honest with you. I think people were horribly treated, horribly abused. … And I’d like to see them compensated for the pain,” Trump said. Blanche is scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday for a vote on whether to advance his nomination out of the committee and to the full Senate for confirmation. Fox News Digital contacted the White House, the Justice Department, Cornyn and Tillis for further comment. Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this report.
Hunter Biden claims under oath that his family is broke amid fight over $17M legal bill
In a recently released deposition transcript, Hunter Biden claimed that his family is broke and that he’s being crushed by legal fees. The deposition is related to an ongoing lawsuit between Biden and firm Winston Taylor for unpaid legal bills. Winston Taylor, which has a history of representing leading Democrats, claims that the Biden scion owes them $17 million from representing him in criminal prosecutions, congressional investigations and defamation suits against his critics. “My family doesn’t have any money, and it’s not their debt anyway,” he said, according to the transcript. “I don’t own anything of any value other than — and I don’t know the value of it — my paintings which I painted myself. So that’s it. And I don’t even have any other assets at all, stocks, bonds, anything like that, savings accounts.” HUNTER BIDEN RESURFACES IN LA, REACTS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT BIDEN TAPES, UFO FILES Claims that the Biden family may be strapped for cash are reflected in other reporting. The Wall Street Journal reported in September 2025 that former President Joe Biden is having far more trouble cashing in on his time in the White House than his predecessors. Upon leaving office, the former president had accrued roughly $800,000 in personal debt and was burdened with increased property taxes on their $2.7 million Delaware home, according to a source familiar with his finances. Biden also has had trouble booking paid speaking engagements, a common source of funds for former presidents, owing to his unpopularity and fears of angering President Donald Trump. CHARLAMAGNE RIPS JILL BIDEN’S CONFESSIONS ABOUT HER HUSBAND AS TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE Former President Joe Biden, however, pulls in more than $400,000 a year in government pensions from his time in Congress and the White House, according to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation. Hunter Biden’s claimed lack of assets follows years of partying and substance abuse. The former president’s son reportedly spent large sums of cash on crack cocaine, alcohol, stays at luxury hotels, prostitutes and expensive jewelry for his brother’s widow, whom he was romantically involved with. His spending habits could help explain how he blew through the wealth he accumulated selling paintings and pulling in a seven-figure salary while employed by the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. ‘PRIVILEGED’ HUNTER BIDEN, SPARED BY DAD’S PARDON, BLASTS TRUMP’S CLEMENCY POWER “I don’t have any assets. I don’t own a car. I don’t own a phone,” Biden said in the deposition, which took place in February but was released by Biden’s new lawyers in recent days. Biden argues that Winston Taylor knew he would be unable to pay his legal fees when it agreed to take him on as a client and claims the parties agreed to “work something out.” The law firm, meanwhile, says that it tried to connect Biden with donors in the Democratic ecosystem to help him cover his legal bills. The younger Biden won a comparatively small legal victory in July when a judge awarded him $1.7 million in a defamation suit. Winston Taylor, however, has sought to put a lien on the judgment, and the Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, who was ruled against, is believed to be overseas, making collection complicated. Representatives for Hunter Biden and former President Joe Biden did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital Friday.
Fauci’s Fifth fuels vow to haul him into court ‘every day’ despite Biden pardon
Former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci may be spending more time in the Deep South than he envisioned after officials in Alabama and Florida announced plans to investigate whether he can be held accountable under state law for maladministration of the COVID-19 response. Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 111 times during a Senate hearing Wednesday. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., argued that former President Joe Biden’s blanket pardon eliminated Fauci’s federal criminal exposure for covered conduct and undercut his basis for refusing to answer. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., alluded to that detail and told Fox News Digital that same pardon cannot prevent prosecution at the state level under the Constitution — which says presidential pardons cover “offenses (sic) against the United States.” CAN FAUCI HIDE BEHIND THE FIFTH? GAME-CHANGING BIDEN PARDON MAY NOT PROVIDE COMPLETE COVER, EXPERTS SAY “Anthony Fauci is responsible for the deaths of millions of Americans and tens of thousands of Alabamians,” Tuberville told Fox News Digital. “The ‘pardon’ signed by Joe Biden’s autopen doesn’t apply to state-level crimes.” “When I’m governor of Alabama, I will look into ways we can hold Fauci accountable for all of the Alabamians who died under his watch,” the former Auburn football icon said. TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM FAUCI’S HEARING: PAUL BOOTS LAWYER, MORENO ERUPTS AS CONTEMPT VOTE LOOMS Tuberville — who is favored to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Kay Ivey in November — indicated he would order Fauci to Montgomery, Alabama, as many times as he could to face state charges, and encouraged Alabamians to bring their own civil claims against the 85-year-old immunologist. Speaking to Newsmax from the Capitol, Tuberville separately fumed that Fauci “should be locked up before he leaves this building today.” FAUCI PRIVATELY TOOK CREDIT FOR COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS DESPITE PUBLIC DENIAL, NEWLY EXPOSED DIARY ENTRIES REVEAL “We lost 20-30,000 (people) in Alabama alone, and I hope every damn one of them sues Fauci.” Tuberville said that if state prosecutors can’t imprison Fauci, he would support voluminous litigation to “put him in court for the rest of his life where he can listen to the death he caused. He told Fox Business that when he regularly heard from Fauci during COVID on the HELP Committee, and now believes he “lied … and knew he was lying” due in part to revelations in the doctor’s diary. “He’s going to court every day of his life for the rest of his life. And he’s going (to) have to look these people in the face, these families, because the pardon does not cover state government.” Fox News Digital reached out to Ivey for comment on whether she would pursue similar action in the final months of her administration. Florida also is investigating Fauci’s COVID-era tenure. Attorney General James Uthmeier confirmed to Fox News Digital that “any and all potential violations of Florida law” are on the table. “Our inquiry will focus on what Fauci knew, when he knew it, and how he misled the American people. We will examine the physical and monetary harms to Floridians that may have resulted from his deceptions and determine whether his conduct exposes him to liability under state law,” said Uthmeier press secretary Jae Williams. Lt. Gov. Jay Collins — who is running for governor to succeed boss Gov. Ron DeSantis — fully backed Uthmeier’s probe in an interview Thursday with Fox News Digital. “There has to be accountability … between families getting threatened and our kids not being able to potentially go to school because of the risks coming from Fauci,” he said. Collins noted he is a 100%-disabled retired amputee veteran, and said he couldn’t get care from Veterans Affairs unless he had a COVID-19 shot. “I had to make a choice of getting my prosthetic care and having a leg to walk on versus taking an immunization that I didn’t want or believe in,” he said, blaming Fauci’s prescriptions for “generational loss” of businesses nationwide. Asked about Fauci criticizing DeSantis in his diary, Collins said it was a badge of honor to be the state on the receiving end of “pejoratives.” DeSantis “became America’s governor. Greatest governor in our state’s history, largely because of what he did in COVID. When our president, our federal government, other world leaders were attacking him, he stood there and took it over and over and over.” “We protected America,” he said of Tallahassee’s government. “We pushed back on the Fauci-Ouchie and all the nonsense that came from it … I’m glad (Fauci) was offended.” DeSantis similarly called Fauci the “most destructive bureaucrat in the history of the United States of America,” when asked on Fox News to respond to the diary entries that called him a “jerk” and more. While California’s current leadership complied with and welcomed Fauci’s prescriptions, the state’s Republican gubernatorial nominee said after watching Fauci plead the Fifth, he drafted a plan similar to his Deep South compatriots to bring the bureaucrat to justice. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER “What an absolute disgrace — when will there be any accountability for this guy,” Hilton said in a statement. “I tell you, when I’m governor of California we will have a COVID Accountability Commission,” he said on Facebook, Hilton said the panel would examine Fauci and California officials over policies “who caused so much pain and suffering and cruelty in this absolute disaster of public policy.” Fox News Digital reached out to Fauci via counsel for comment. DeSantis’ office directed Fox News Digital to his quoted comments.
Bipartisan pair of senators urge Rubio to release aid to African women, children at risk of Ebola
Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., are urging the State Department to release hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to help women and infants affected by an Ebola outbreak in East Africa. In a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday, the senators urged him to use $608 million in congressionally-approved international family-planning funds and distribute $1.7 million in already purchased family-planning supplies. The supplies — which the senators implied included condoms, hormonal contraception, post-rape care medicine and hemorrhage medicines — are being stored at a facility in Geel, Belgium, according to the letter. The senators said that if the supplies aren’t used, their understanding is that they will be “destroyed.” EBOLA TREATMENT CENTER SET ON FIRE IN CONGO AFTER RESIDENTS CLASH WITH AUTHORITIES OVER VICTIM’S BODY “Ebola during pregnancy is catastrophic, with a nearly 100 percent fetal loss rate and catastrophic material mortality risk due to severe hemorrhaging,” the lawmakers wrote. “By providing women with the option to voluntarily prevent unplanned pregnancies and to protect themselves from transmission of the virus and have access to clinics, the United States can prevent further deaths of women and the cruel and certain death of any fetus exposed to the virus,” they added. The senators also asked the State Department to issue a “humanitarian exception” to support the United Nations Population Fund’s existing health clinics in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). SUDAN’S FORGOTTEN WAR LEAVES MILLIONS HUNGRY AS GLOBAL ATTENTION REMAINS ELSEWHERE As of July 29, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had reported 3,532 Ebola cases in the DRC and 1,556 deaths, representing a mortality rate of roughly 44%. In neighboring Uganda, there have been 20 confirmed cases and two deaths, according to the CDC. Murkowski and Shaheen told the State Department that the virus’s rapid spread “leaves no time for delay in providing all possible interventions to save lives.” VACATION HOT SPOT FACES NEW CDC TRAVEL WARNING AS OUTBREAK CASES CONTINUE CLIMBING “The cost of [the] United States response is approaching $1 billion,” they wrote. “Investment now in voluntary family planning is fiscally rational in addition to being morally urgent.” Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for comment. The earliest known case in the latest Ebola outbreak involved a health worker in the DRC’s Ituri Province who developed symptoms in late April and later died, though the World Health Organization (WHO) believes transmission may have begun as early as March. The WHO was first alerted to the outbreak on May 5 after four health workers died within four days. Ten days later, investigators confirmed that the illness was caused by Bundibugyo virus, a form of Ebola.