Federal judge waits to decide about dismissing corruption charges against NYC Mayor Eric Adams
A federal judge has not decided whether he will dismiss a case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams after the Justice Department urged prosecutors to drop corruption charges against him. U.S. District Judge Dale Ho, who ordered Adams and the Justice Department to appear in court Tuesday, said Wednesday that he wouldn’t issue a decision on the matter from the bench and instead would take time to consider all the facts surrounding the case. “I’m not going to shoot from the hip right here on the bench,” Ho said. The indictment against Adams claims he inappropriately used his position as mayor to solicit illegal campaign contributions and luxury travel from foreign nationals from Turkey, businessmen and others, according to the Justice Department. Adams pleaded not guilty to the charges in September 2024. On Thursday, the Democrat mayor met with President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, to discuss ways to work to weed out violent migrant gangs from New York. Adams said in a statement after the meeting that he wants to work with the Trump administration and not go to “war” with them when addressing illegal immigration. TRUMP’S JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ORDER TO DROP CHARGES AGAINST NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS SPARKS RESIGNATIONS The timing of the meeting, along with the Justice Department’s push to drop the charges against Adams, led to the resignation of multiple Justice Department officials who assert the exchange amounts to a “quid pro quo” offer erasing Adams’ charges and providing the Trump administration more support to tackle illegal immigration. But Adams denied such accusations. “I want to be crystal clear with New Yorkers: I never offered — nor did anyone offer on my behalf — any trade of my authority as your mayor for an end to my case. Never,” Adams said in a statement Friday. Adams was charged in September 2024 with one count of conspiracy to receive campaign contributions from foreign nationals and commit wire fraud and bribery; one count of wire fraud; two counts of soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals; and one count of soliciting and accepting a bribe. Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove III issued a memo on Feb. 10 ordering federal prosecutors to drop the charges against Adams due to the timing of the proceedings that have “improperly interfered” with Adams’ campaign in the 2025 mayoral election. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT MOVES TO DROP CASE AGAINST NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS Additionally, Bove said the legal proceedings were diverting attention from “illegal immigration and violent crime.” Bove wrote in the memo that “the pending prosecution has unduly restricted Mayor Adams’ ability to devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime that escalated” when former President Joe Biden was in the White House. Trump has vowed to take an aggressive approach to border security and illegal immigration and has pushed for mass deportation of illegal immigrants. Already, Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests have increased by 137% from Jan. 20 to Feb. 8 in comparison to the same time period in 2024 under the Biden administration, according to Department of Homeland Security data obtained by Fox News Digital. Bove’s memo prompted the resignation of multiple senior Justice Department officials, including Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Danielle Sassoon, who was temporarily tapped by Trump to lead the office prosecuting Adams. “Adams’s (sic) attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that Adams would be in a position to assist with Department’s enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed,” Sassoon said in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Feb. 12. NEW YORK CITY MAYOR ERIC ADAMS SAYS HE WILL RUN FOR RE-ELECTION AS A DEMOCRAT “Rather than be rewarded, Adams’s (sic) advocacy should be called out for what it is: an improper offer of immigration enforcement assistance in exchange for a dismissal of his case,” Sassoon said. But Bove said the case must be dismissed to prioritize national and public safety in lieu of a case that has been “tainted from the start by troubling tactics.” “There is no room at the Justice Department for attorneys who refuse to execute on the priorities of the Executive Branch — priorities determined by the American people,” Bove said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Feb. 13. “I look forward to working with new leadership at SDNY on the important priorities President Trump has laid out for us to make America safe again.” Fox News’ Louis Casiano and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
‘Under attack’: JFK’s only grandson rips DOGE, family members in series of vulgar social media rants
JFK’s grandson took to Instagram on Tuesday and Wednesday to accuse President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) of attempting to “steal the past” from the American people. “I’m OK, but our country is not,” Jack Schlossberg, former President John F. Kennedy‘s only grandson, said in an Instagram post on Tuesday. “It’s under attack from its own government.” The 32-year-old alleged DOGE is “generating propaganda,” not cutting spending. ‘CATASTROPHIC RESULTS’: UNION, TAXPAYER GROUPS TAKE STAB AT DOGE IN LATEST LAWSUIT OVER IRS DATA ACCESS DOGE, a temporary White House organization with an 18-month lifespan, was created by an executive order earlier this year. It is tasked with optimizing the federal government, streamlining operations, and slashing spending. While Schlossbery announced he was quitting social media weeks ago, the post came after the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum confirmed on Tuesday it is closed “until further notice.” “The sudden dismissal of federal employees at the JFK Library forced the museum to close today,” according to the statement. “As the Foundation that supports the JFK Library, we are devastated by this news and will continue to support our colleagues and the Library.” LAWSUIT TRACKER: NEW RESISTANCE BATTLING TRUMP’S SECOND TERM THROUGH ONSLAUGHT OF LAWSUITS TAKING AIM AT EOS Schlossberg, who served on several of the library’s committees, panned the camera to a framed picture with a handwritten message, supposedly given to him by an astronaut, telling viewers they would never know that his grandfather contributed to space exploration if it weren’t for the library. “JFK sent a man to the moon, but you’d never know it if the JFK Library wasn’t open and no one was allowed to talk about it,” he said. “It’s time to speak out and resist what’s happening,” Schlossberg said. “If you’re not doing that, you’re not helping.” While the rant was initially posted on Instagram, Schlossberg shared the video on X, directly calling out organization leader Elon Musk. DOGE SCORES BIG COURT WIN, ALLOWED ACCESS DATA ON 3 FEDERAL AGENCIES “Hey DOGE eat s— buddy 🙂 @elonmusk,” he wrote. Just weeks ago, Schlossberg posted on X saying there was “nothing heroic” about President Donald Trump issuing an executive order to declassify the JFK files. “The truth is a lot sadder than the myth — a tragedy that didn’t need to happen. Not part of an inevitable grand scheme,” he wrote. “Declassification is using JFK as a political prop, when he’s not here to punch back.” Schlossberg worked on Barack Obama’s presidential primary campaign during high school, and later supported Chris Murphy, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris. The young Kennedy, who holds both Yale and Harvard University degrees, amassed nearly 600,000 followers on Instagram, with much of his content centering around video rants. In subsequent videos, Schlossberg went on to blast cousin “Kick” Kennedy and uncle Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was sworn in as Secretary of Health and Human Services on Thursday. He also attacked cousin Joe Kennedy III for not speaking out against RFK Jr., who he referred to as “uncle schmuck.” “This is my cousin Joe who is happy to do media NOW but cannot find courage to say s— about RFKJR – classic self promo no spine,” Schlossberg wrote. “Grow a pair or sit down.” Photos he posted Wednesday afternoon featured Schlossberg shirtless, wearing feathers around his neck, alongside scantily clad women. One, featuring two women’s bottoms prominently turned toward the camera, was later deleted. “Making sure I always look professional,” he wrote alongside one of the pictures. Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.
Trump admin directs federal agencies to end DEI considerations in govt contracts as DOGE’s impact spreads
The Trump administration revised federal acquisition rules this week requiring the government to stop considering diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) when awarding contracts. This change aligns with the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) broader efforts to fundamentally transform federal operations. The General Services Administration (GSA) on Tuesday announced changes to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) that are meant to align with the president’s executive order aimed at restoring meritocracy and ending discrimination in the public and private sectors. The move reverses previous Biden administration executive orders that made it mandatory to consider DEI when reviewing contract proposals. Elon Musk, who has been leading the charge to radically reform the government, praised the move on X, formerly Twitter, in advance of the GSA’s formal announcement about the changes. “Major FAR reform is needed,” Musk said in a post highlighting GSA acting administrator Stephen Ehikian’s announcement about the changes. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION CANCELS ANOTHER $350M IN ‘WOKE’ SPENDING FOR CONTRACTS, GRANTS “These actions are the first steps in transforming the FAR into a sensible, common sense guideline to ensure that the federal government is working with industry as an attractive partner for business,” Josh Gruenbaum, commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “Coming from private industry, I know how convoluted working through government regulations that don’t make sense can be. We’re going to streamline the FAR and make it industry friendly, more efficient, and deliver cost savings and better value.” FEDERAL JUDGE TEMPORARILY STOPS TRUMP ADMIN FROM FIRING 11 INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS ASSIGNED TO DEI PROGRAMS Trump’s Day One executive order, which the GSA is aligning its actions with, directed the federal contracting process to “be streamlined to enhance speed and efficiency, reduce costs, and require Federal contractors and subcontractors to comply with our civil-rights laws.” The order also commanded the Office of Federal Contract Compliance to “immediately cease” promoting “diversity,” as well as any encouragement of federal contractors and subcontractors to engage in affirmative action-like efforts that consider race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion or national origin when making hiring decisions. Trump’s order added that the heads of each executive agency must begin including contractual language that requires federal contractors to agree to comply with federal anti-discrimination laws. Meanwhile, language associated with DEI principles was also ordered to be removed from any federal acquisition, contracting, grant or financial assistance procedures. “The steps taken by GSA will make it easier for industry to sell their products and services to the government,” acting administrator Ehikian said Tuesday. “GSA is leading the way in transforming government and strongly encourages other agencies to follow our lead.” Trump and fellow Republicans have pushed hard against DEI policies in recent weeks, making the case that the government should instead focus on meritocracy. DOGE claims it has already addressed hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in DEI-related contract cuts, including $350 million at the Department of Education last week. Last month, DOGE announced that taxpayers would see just over a $1 billion savings through the elimination of 104 DEI contracts.
Fox News Politics Newsletter: A Diagnosis of ‘Democrat Hysteria’
Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening… -Former migrant shelter director reveals he was attacked after blowing whistle on sexual abuse -Task force to expose ‘federal secrets’ on JFK assassination, Epstein, UFOs packed with GOP rebels –Border arrests hit lowest mark since last time Trump was in office, White House says FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) still employs more people than it did in 2019, despite “Democrat hysteria” over recent cuts within the department’s agencies, Fox News Digital exclusively learned. A senior Trump administration official told Fox News Digital that there have been 6,000 departures from HHS since Jan. 20, Inauguration Day. The agency, however, still employs nearly 6,000 more people than it did in 2019, including more than 2,000 employees at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) relative to 2019 numbers, and 1,200 employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Hiring at HHS ballooned between fiscal year 2019 and 2024, the senior Trump administration official said, with 17% more full-time employees by 2024. Fifty percent of overall jobs in the U.S. that were created in 2024 were indirect or direct government jobs, the official added…Read more MIGRANT CRIME CRACKDOWN: Trump list of cartels being designated terror groups…Read more ‘RESTORE LAW AND ORDER’: Trump nominates Jan. 6 defense attorney for top prosecutor role in DC…Read more THE PLANE TRUTH: Are more airplanes crashing now in Trump’s presidency than under Biden?…Read more CHANGE OF HEART: Major K Street players previously skeptical of Trump now pledging to work together with him…Read more FIRING FREEZE: Federal judge temporarily stops Trump admin from firing 11 intelligence officers assigned to DEI programs…Read more ‘PULL THE RUG OUT’: US Conference of Catholic Bishops sues Trump over immigration, refugee funding freeze…Read more ‘UNPRECEDENTED ASSAULT’: Here’s the argument Trump hopes will net first major SCOTUS win in second term…Read more UNDOING BIDEN’S DAMAGE: Trump admin freezes applications for Biden-era migrant programs amid fraud, national security concerns…Read more ‘PAST DUE’: Zelenskyy faces perilous re-election odds as US, Russia push Ukraine to go to the polls as part of peace deal…Read more PROST!: Euro leaders offended by Vance should ‘have a beer with’ their people to understand concerns: US conservatives…Read more FLIGHT HAZARD: DHS helicopter patrolling border struck three times by laser from Mexico…Read more ‘AUTHORITY TO FIGHT BACK’: Cartels on alert as border state officials may get green light to take major action…Read more ‘DISINFORMATION SPACE’: Ukraine’s Zelenskyy says Trump lives in ‘disinformation space’ amid rift on Russia talks…Read more ‘FIGHTING FOR IRAN‘: Iranian crown prince calls for global action against Khamenei’s regime…Read more ‘TRANQUIL NIGHT’: Pope Francis slept peacefully, ate breakfast following diagnosis of pneumonia in both lungs…Read more JUDICIAL SMACKDOWN: Judge denies Democrat-led effort to block DOGE access, citing lack of harmful evidence…Read more KEY PICKUP: Trump FBI director nominee Kash Patel picks up support from key GOP senator…Read more ‘WEAKEN AMERICA’: Schumer spotted posing for photo with CCP official as warnings swirl about China influence…Read more ‘GOLDEN ERA OF PROSPERITY’: Senate confirms Kelly Loeffler to lead Small Business Administration…Read more RIGHT-TO-WORK: Trump’s nominee for labor secretary walks back support for PRO Act, embraces Right-to-Work laws…Read more GREEN NEW HEADACHE: Even Democrats are fleeing Phil Murphy’s “Energy Master Plan” as election approaches…Read more RETURN TO SENDER: Postmaster General Louis DeJoy stepping down amid US Postal Service financial turmoil…Read more ‘WAR ON REALITY’: ‘Misgendering’ trans people on their death certificates could be jailable offense under blue-state bill…Read more AGITATORS IN ACTION: Anti-Israel protest in NYC devolves into violence and mayhem…Read more CUFFS OFF: Bipartisan probation reform modeled off DeSantis and Jay-Z efforts primed for passage in VA…Read more FULL STOP: Sanctuary state’s ‘green light’ law is a red flag for public safety and national security: experts…Read more ROADBLOCK: Trump admin moves to block NYC congestion toll program…Read more WHAT’S IN YOUR WALLET?: DOGE uncovers over 4 million government credit cards responsible for 90 million transactions…Read more GUN CONTROL: Colorado poised to ban sale of AR-15s, other rifles and shotguns with extended mags…Read more SKEPTICAL JUDGE: Skeptical judge questions executive order barring transgender service members from joining the military…Read more SOUNDS ABOUT WHITE: CA post-wildfire beef heats up as state insurance chief accuses Dem congressman of ‘White mansplaining’…Read more Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
Rep. Eli Crane stunned at ‘insane’ sum in taxpayer funds used for transgender animal studies
At least $241 million in taxpayer funds was spent on transgender surgeries and animal experiments, prompting a congressional lawmaker to question the rationale behind the expenditures. Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., on Wednesday, said spending millions on such treatments was “insane, right?” During a Feb. 6 House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing titled: “Transgender Lab Rats and Poisoned Puppies: Oversight of Taxpayer Funded Animal Cruelty,” earlier this month, Justin Goodman of the White Coat Waste Project (WCW) watchdog group said the federal government spent millions on “transgender animal testing.” GOP LAWMAKER SCRAPS WITH DEMOCRAT IN HEARING OVER TRANSGENDER ‘SLUR,’ BATHROOM RIGHTS: ‘NOT GOING TO HAVE IT’ “I would say that’s the floor, not the ceiling,” Goodman told Crane. “In a lot of these cases, they involve mice, rats, monkeys, who are being surgically mutilated and subjected to hormone therapies to mimic female to male or male to female gender transitions, gender-affirming hormone therapies, and then looking at the biological, psychological and physiological effects of the gender transitions, looking at the effects of taking vaccines after you’ve transitioned these animals from male to female or female to male, looking at the size of their genitals changing after you’ve put them on estrogen or testosterone therapies to transition them,” he added. In one instance, a $1.1 million grant was handed out to give female lab rats testosterone to mimic transgender male humans and observed to determine if they are likely to overdose on a rape drug, he said. “Anthony Fauci lied to the American people about masks, vaccines, social distancing, gain-of-function research, and the origins of COVID-19,” Crane said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “On top of these egregious actions, he also authorized more than $200 million of taxpayer funds for ‘transgender animal testing’.” “Hardworking Americans are sick of these disgusting uses of their resources. Congress must return to single-subject spending bills, so we can permanently cut these fraudulent programs line-by-line.” he added. Goodman said that many of the taxpayer-funded animal studies aren’t easily accessible to the public. “You essentially need a degree in information technology to navigate the federal spending databases to find any of this stuff,” he said, adding that the databases aren’t transparent “by design.” Goodman said the WCW estimates that more than $20 billion has been spent on ineffective animal research. WEST POINT DISBANDS GENDER-BASED, RACE CLUBS IN TRUMP’S DEI SWEEP Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), funded 95% of the transgender animal experiments, Goodman said, citing a WCW analysis. In 2024, $10 million was spent on creating transgender animals, a study by the White Coat Waste Project revealed. “Last year, the White Coat Waste Project exposed more than $10 million in taxpayer funds that were spent creating transgender mice, rats and monkeys,” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., at the hearing. “These DEI grants funded painful and deadly transgender experiments that forced lab animals to undergo invasive surgeries and hormone therapies at universities across the country.” Mace then criticized the Biden administration’s agenda for allowing taxpayer dollars to fund “surgically mutating animal genitals.” “The U.S. government spends in excess of $20 billion a year conducting experiments on animals,” Mace said. “We spent over $1 million to find out if female rats receiving testosterone therapy were more likely to overdose on a date rape drug. That’s what your taxpayer dollars were being spent on.” Goodman noted that animal testing is incredibly “inaccurate and expensive” and “not very good at projecting the human health effects or environmental effects of chemicals and pesticides.” He also noted that the Biden administration overturned a Trump-era plan to phase out animal testing. Fox News Digital has reached out to Crane’s office.
Trump equal opportunity commission puts employers ‘on notice’ to stop ‘anti-American bias’
The acting head of the Trump administration’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is warning U.S. employers that there will be legal and financial consequences for “anti-American bias” against American workers during hiring. The EEOC is a federal agency charged with enforcing laws against job discrimination and harassment. Andrea Lucas, acting EEOC chair, issued a stark warning on Wednesday in which she put employers “on notice” and said she will be prioritizing protecting American workers from illegal discrimination. ACTIVISTS IN MEXICO REPORT FLOW OF MIGRANTS HAS ‘ENORMOUSLY DECREASED’ ONE MONTH INTO TRUMP ADMIN Lucas said biases against Americans in hiring is a “large-scale problem in multiple industries,” including agriculture, manufacturing and blue-collar jobs. She said this discrimination has significantly contributed to the migrant crisis by motivating aliens to defy U.S. law to get jobs. Addressing employers directly, Lucas said: “The law applies to you, and you are not above the law.” “If you are part of the pipeline contributing to our immigration crisis or abusing our legal immigration system via illegal preferences against American workers, you must stop,” she warned. PRESIDENT TRUMP: FOUNDING FATHERS ‘SPINNING IN THEIR GRAVES’ BECAUSE OF BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ABUSE In an interview with Fox News Digital, Lucas said the bias to prefer cheaper labor by illegal immigrants has caused “serious harm” to American families and whole communities. She said responding to the immigration crisis is an “administration-wide effort” and that the EEOC “can play a role in that by ensuring that [employers} are not engaging in national-origin discrimination.” “We do need to find a way to decrease the economic incentives for employers to want to be abusing the holes that are in our immigration system,” she explained. “It’s a broad, multiracial class of individuals who are being harmed by this, and they’re all tied together behind a common characteristic that they’re Americans, and they have been let down by the businesses in their communities, and they have been discriminated against.” Under President Donald Trump, Lucas said that is going to change. TRUMP ADMIN REVEALS LIST OF CARTELS AND GANGS TO BE DESIGNATED TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS “President Trump is all about fighting for the working Americans,” she said. “Part of that is making sure that jobs that people are qualified for they actually have a fair and fighting chance to compete for, as opposed to being automatically discriminated against in favor of importing foreign workers.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE Lucas pointed to the EEOC’s successful track record of advocating for discriminated against American workers by suing the offending employer and at times winning multimillion-dollar cases. This enforcement mechanism, however, depends on American workers to stand up for their own rights. TRUMP FREEZES APPLICATIONS FOR BIDEN-ERA MIGRANT PROGRAMS AMID FRAUD, NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS “It’s really important for people to protect their rights,” said Lucas. “You can bring a charge, even if you’re just an applicant, you don’t have to have been an employee and fired, you can say: ‘I applied, I wanted to apply to this business and I believe that they are discriminating against us and against American workers in preference for foreign workers.’ “We do have a large track record of large-scale, multimillion-dollar cases,” she said. “I expect that we’re going to continue to see significant cases because the caseload is there.”
LA Mayor Bass points fingers when grilled on Africa trip amid botched wildfire response
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who has come under intense scrutiny for traveling to Africa last month amid a botched fire response, is deflecting blame on the controversial trip. “I felt absolutely terrible not being here for my city,” Bass, a Democrat, told a Fox 11 Los Angeles reporter in a recent interview. “Would I say it was a mistake, absolutely. The idea that I was not present was very painful,” she added, saying that proper “preparation didn’t happen” to notify her ahead of the Ghana trip. LA’S RICH AND FAMOUS MADE ‘ODD REQUEST’ OF PRIVATE ARMIES AS WILDFIRES FUELED FEAR, BOSS SAYS She said she would not have even traveled south to San Diego had she been given the proper “preparation” about the fire danger. “It didn’t reach that level to me to say ‘Something terrible could happen and maybe you shouldn’t have gone on the trip,’” the Democrat added. “I think that’s one of the things we need to look at, everything that happened, including that, needs to be examined,” she continued, revealing that there are at least two investigations into the city’s response to the fires. The National Weather Service put out the “fire weather warning” on Jan. 3 and the mayor left for Africa the next day. She did not return until Jan. 8, according to Fox 11 LA. SEN. SCHIFF URGES TRUMP ADMIN TO EXCLUDE FIREFIGHTERS FROM FEDERAL HIRING FREEZE The fire in the Pacific Palisades ripped through the community, burning down thousands of homes and businesses. In another interview with NBC Los Angeles, Bass conceded her Africa trip was “absolutely” a mistake and that she was working to regain the public’s trust after facing backlash for her botched response to the raging fires in her city last month. “Absolutely it is, and I think that I have to demonstrate that every day by showing what we’re doing, what is working, what are the challenges,” Bass told NBC Los Angeles when asked if she’s trying to “regain confidence.” Bass was in Ghana for the swearing-in of its president when the fires began, even though there was a high fire risk known at the time. The Palisades Fire started Jan. 7 and escalated through the night, but the mayor did not get back into the city until Jan. 8, and she did not answer repeated questions from a Sky News reporter upon her arrival in the United States. “Yes, it was an ambush, and I wasn’t sure who he was. And that is unfortunate because I see the way that looks, as if I was avoiding, but when you’re getting off a plane you’ve been on a plane for 17 hours and someone hits you with a camera, I wish, in hindsight, my response had been better,” the mayor told Fox 11 Los Angeles when asked about the viral clip. She also claimed that the Biden administration asked her to travel to Africa on their behalf during the Fox 11 interview. DISNEYLAND, UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD, OFFERING FREE TICKETS TO FIREFIGHTERS Over 170,000 people have signed a Change.org petition calling for her to step down as mayor. The situation also resulted in public criticism of the mayor, ranging from former Democratic mayoral opponent Rick Caruso to liberal talk show host Bill Maher. “LA’s mayor, Karen Bass, the Nero of American politics, was fiddling in Ghana while the city burned,” Maher said last month. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., suggested that Disney CEO Bob Iger run for mayor in 2026. When pressed on whether she took Khanna’s comments personally, Bass shrugged it off. “I am focused on one thing and one thing only, and that is to make sure that our city is able to recover and rebuild, and that all of those individuals that lived in the Palisades can go home,” Bass told NBC Los Angeles.
GOP senators back Trump’s demand for Ukraine elections, but won’t call Zelenskyy ‘dictator’
Republican lawmakers are backing President Donald Trump’s insistence that Ukraine hold elections, even if they don’t share his belief that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a “dictator.” “I think you have to give them some space… There is a negotiation going on,” said Sen. Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. Trump on Tuesday night said Ukraine “never should have started” the war, and doubled down by calling Zelenskyy a “dictator” because Ukraine hasn’t held elections since Russia invaded the country in 2022. “Ukraine clearly did not start this war,” Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., wrote on X. “The fact is that Russia invaded Ukraine and must be held accountable. Otherwise, aggressors will be encouraged in their bad actions.” Still, the Nebraska senator commended Trump for trying to end the war. TRUMP CALLS UKRAINE’S ZELENSKYY A ‘DICTATOR WITHOUT ELECTIONS’ AS RIFT WIDENS Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., backed up the president’s push for elections. “We held elections during World War Two. Britain held elections during World War Two. If they’re a democracy, they should hold elections. I don’t think that’s difficult,” he told reporters Thursday. “[Zelenskyy] is the elected leader of the country,” said Hawley. “But, you know, at a certain point you’ve got to hold elections.” Vice President JD Vance was on Capitol Hill for a lunch with Republican senators, but the president’s bold assertion about the Ukrainian leader was not a topic of discussion, according to Hawley. Zelenskyy was originally up for reelection in April 2024, but Ukraine’s constitution bars holding elections until the president lifts the martial law order he instituted after the 2022 invasion. “Well, we’ve got to have elections,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said when asked about the comments. “When it comes to blame for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I blame Putin above all others,” Graham added in a post on X, claiming Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden were “pathetically weak in handling Putin and failed to protect Ukraine from invasion.” Still, Graham called Trump Ukraine’s “best hope” to end the war. Trump “will achieve this goal in the Trump way,” he said. Graham spoke with Zelenskyy on Wednesday, according to the Ukrainian leader. “As always, Senator Graham is constructive and doing a lot to help bring peace closer,” he said. “Make no mistake about it, that invasion was the responsibility of one human being on the face of this planet. It was Vladimir Putin,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told reporters. Tillis said he believed Putin planned to roll through the Baltic States and “send the signal to China that now is the time” they can take over Taiwan. “That’s what this is about, and that’s what we have to communicate.” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., signaled that he disagreed with Trump’s comments on Zelenskyy, calling Putin a “gangster” and an “evil person.” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., called Zelenskyy the “duly elected president of Ukraine” but said he did not believe U.S. policy was aligning with Ukraine. UKRAINE ADVOCATES SAY POST-WAR ELECTIONS WOULD BE A FAR BETTER OPTION, BUT ELECTIONS OFFER RUSSIA AN OPPORTUNITY TO SOW CHAOS. “I think he’s factually wrong on those points,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-S.D. “I also don’t know what his motive [is] behind it. As a negotiator, he’s always positioning, and he’s in a negotiating mood these days.” Trump’s remarks came just after Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Saudi Arabia to meet with their Russian counterparts. The team came back with an agreement to increase diplomatic presence in each other’s nation and an agreed-upon need for elections in Ukraine. Russia has insisted it will not sign a peace agreement until Ukraine agrees to hold elections, and the U.S. is now “floating” the idea of a three-stage plan: ceasefire, then Ukrainian elections, then inking of a peace deal. General Valerii Zaluzhny, likely Zelenskyy’s most formidable opponent in a reelection campaign, said he would not entertain the idea of running against Ukraine’s president until the war is over. “When such conditions come, I will be ready to give an answer to such a question. For now, our task is to endure and save our nation. And only after that will we think about other things.” Zelenskyy, according to Trump, “refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden ‘like a fiddle.’” “A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left. In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only ‘TRUMP,’ and the Trump Administration, can do,” Trump said. “Biden never tried, Europe has failed to bring Peace, and Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the ‘gravy train’ going. I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died.” Dmitry Medvedev, a top Kremlin security official, remarked: “If you’d told me just three months ago that these were the words of the US president, I would have laughed out loud. [Trump] is 200 percent right [about Zelenskyy]. Bankrupt clown.”
Fired Biden immigration judge lashes out at Trump: ‘It was political’
An immigration judge appointed by former President Joe Biden is lashing out after being fired by President Donald Trump. “It was political,” Judge Kerry Doyle said, according to a report from WGBH. Doyle, who worked in Massachusetts, was one of more than 20 immigration judges fired in recent days without explanation, with Doyle saying she received an email from the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) last week that read the agency had “determined that retaining” her was “not in the best interest of the agency.” Administrative judges like Doyle do not have the same protection from firing as federal judges, who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate to fill lifetime terms. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FIRES MORE THAN A DOZEN IMMIGRATION JUDGES Nevertheless, Doyle told WGBH in an interview that Trump’s decision will undermine faith in the nation’s immigration system. “If you start making it political, it really does blow the system up and blow up people’s faith in the system,” said Doyle, who previously helped lead a court challenge against Trump’s 2017 travel ban for people from multiple Muslim-majority countries. “None of us were there to drive a political agenda. We were there to do our jobs.” Doyle noted that many judges in the Boston area have served on the immigration court across multiple administrations, arguing that those appointed to fill the roles don’t act in a partisan manner. “It would be problematic for it to be political because what civil servants do is they serve the public – we swear an oath to the Constitution,” she said. But the firings have raised concerns that the already large backlog of immigration cases will now take even longer to clear, with International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers President Matthew Biggs pointing out that a single judge can rule on 500 to 700 cases per year. US IMMIGRATION BACKLOG REACHES NEW RECORD OF 3 MILLION PENDING CASES: REPORT “Look up the definition of ‘hypocrisy.’ It’s ‘when someone says one thing but does another.’ The firing of immigration judges when we need more judges to enforce our immigration laws by this administration is a perfect example of hypocrisy,” Briggs, whose organization represents the nation’s roughly 700 immigration judges, told WGBH. Massachusetts alone has a backlog of about 160,000 cases, the report notes. Doyle was readying to take over the cases of a colleague who had just left the court, meaning some of those cases could now be on an extended timeline. “Those cases will have to be handed out to all the other judges. So it’s going to be even more work for them,” she said. “They need every judge, every person available. And so it will just make the court more congested. Folks are working very hard already.” The report notes that the recent firings are not the first time a new administration has fired judges, pointing to a 2021 example in which Judge Marna Rusher, who was hired by Trump, was fired shortly after Biden took office. But Doyle had less of an issue with that decision, reasoning Biden’s decision was less likely to be “politically motivated.” “Maybe it’s just that each president wants to have his imprimatur and people who will follow his agenda. I don’t know,” Doyle said. “I don’t think that I would call that politically motivated in as much as they think they have a better idea for America and fairly treating people that come across the border.”
Pro-life leaders urge Trump to reverse his IVF stand, say the technology is ‘not pro-life’
Some key pro-life activists are raising ethical questions about President Donald Trump’s executive order to expand access to pricey in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures, arguing the technology “is not pro-life” because some embryos “are destroyed” in the process. “IVF doesn’t address the root causes of the infertility health crisis in America,” Live Action founder Lila Rose wrote on X. “It’s a Big Pharma bandaid, with major ethical issues, like millions of frozen & destroyed embryos. If we want to Make America Healthy Again, we should invest in addressing and healing the underlying causes of infertility.” Trump signed the executive order Tuesday, fulfilling part of a key campaign promise to mandate free IVF treatment for women. The order came shortly after Democrats criticized him for his role in appointing Supreme Court justices who reversed the landmark Roe v. Wade case, leaving abortion access up to each state, PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT TO SHAKE UP MESSAGING WITH BIG INVESTMENT FROM THESE KEY PLAYERS IVF “offers hope to men and women experiencing fertility challenges,” the executive order states, and “Americans need reliable access to IVF and more affordable treatment options” as the cost for treatments can range anywhere from $12,000 to $25,000. “Therefore, to support American families, it is the policy of my Administration to ensure reliable access to IVF treatment, including by easing unnecessary statutory or regulatory burdens to make IVF treatment drastically more affordable,” the order states. Patrick T. Brown, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, explained that IVF raises a unique ethical issue within the conservative pro-life movement due to the technology’s potential to create new life, which is causing some splintering among some on the right. “I think that there are questions about what exactly are we doing with IVF, where we’re creating something that has the potential to become a human person,” Brown said. “All of us were embryos at one stage or another, so they deserve some respect, at the very least, if not legal protection of some form or another.” “There’s actual guardrails that need to be pursued, rather than just going full speed ahead,” he added. Brown predicted that the most likely outcome is that after the White House comes up with a plan in the next three months, the Trump administration may consult with experts who have long been focused on IVF who are aware of the ethical concerns. “The U.S. allows people to select sex or to screen for different genetic traits in a way that most other countries don’t,” Brown said. “We’re kind of the ‘Wild West’ when it comes to some of this stuff. And it opens the can of worms for eugenics and some of these other things that I don’t think President Trump actually intends. But, you know, it could actually go that way if we’re not careful about it.” PRO-LIFE ACTIVIST PROSECUTED BY BIDEN DOJ REACTS TO TRUMP PARDON: ‘I WANT TO GIVE HIM A HUG’ Several conservative social media influencers opposed Trump’s executive order on Tuesday. “IVF ends more precious lives than it creates,” Turning Point USA influencer Alex Clark wrote on X. “President Trump’s executive order pushing for expanded access is just fueling the same industry that competes with Planned Parenthood. More babies will also be born without a right to know both of their biological parents, and that’s a tragedy in itself.” Conservative commentator Liz Wheeler, who is Catholic, called IVF “dreadful” in another post. “Over 90% of children created by IVF die, either left frozen and abandoned, destroyed due to eugenics, experimented on, or miscarried. Only 7% are born. It’s dreadful,” she wrote. Allie Beth Stuckey, an evangelical Christian who hosts The Blaze podcast “Relatable,” wrote that IVF “is anti-MAHA,” referring to the Make America Healthy Again movement. “It’s the perfect example of what’s wrong with much of modern medicine in America,” she wrote. “Instead of getting to the root cause of infertility, it masks the symptoms with a ‘solution’ that is a threat to women’s health. The process almost always involves the destruction or indefinite freezing of embryos. It is unbelievably unregulated in the United States, and I fear this latest EO will only make it worse.” ‘PROMISES KEPT’: TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER TO ‘AGGRESSIVELY’ MAKE IVF MORE AFFORDABLE AND ACCESSIBLE IVF rose to become a high-profile issue during the presidential campaign. In February 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children, leading to paused IVF services in the state. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey later codified access to IVF services in state law a few months later. “When frozen embryos are thawed and prepared for transfer, there is a very small possibility that they may be damaged or destroyed and therefore unable to be successfully transferred,” Joanne Rosen, a practice professor in Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins University, wrote in a blog post after the state’s high court ruling. “Even fresh embryos may be damaged and not able to be transferred. So there was real concern about the legal consequences given that these embryos, these in vitro embryos, have been declared persons under the law in Alabama.” Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the head of the Health and Human Services (HHS) department, wrote in a September post that while he and Trump are not opposed to IVF, “we are going to investigate the alarming decline in fertility.” “We will evaluate research implicating chemicals like glyphosate, BPA, heavy metals, xenoestrogens, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and so on,” he wrote. “We will look into nutritional factors too. Why are sperm counts declining year after year? Why are girls reaching puberty so early? Why are so many couples infertile? The American people deserve answers, and we will provide them. So yes, IVF – but this issue is so much bigger than IVF.” Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.