NYC comptroller asks Mayor Eric Adams to prove he can govern or else he will seek to remove him from office
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander (D) on Monday called on Mayor Eric Adams to prove he can still govern the city amid calls for his resignation after the Justice Department dropped bribery charges against him and four deputy mayors submitted their intent to resign. In a letter to Adams, Lander said the potential resignations of the deputy mayors could “create an unprecedented leadership vacuum at the highest levels of City government and wreak havoc on the City’s ability to deliver essential services to New Yorkers.” “Given the gravity of this situation and the chaos it has unleashed among New Yorkers, I formally request that your office promptly develop and present a detailed contingency plan outlining how you intend to manage the City of New York during this period of leadership transition,” he wrote. NEW YORK CITY MAYOR ERIC ADAMS SAYS HE WILL RUN FOR RE-ELECTION AS DEMOCRAT “Specifically, please provide immediate confirmation of your plan for appointing interim Deputy Mayors and key managerial staff, along with an anticipated timeline for stabilizing the administration, no later than Friday, February 21, 2025,” Lander added. If Adams fails to provide a plan, Lander said he would seek to convene a meeting of the Inability Committee. Fox News Digital has reached out to Adams’ office. In a letter last week to Attorney General Pam Bondi, acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon said Adams was being granted special treatment by the Trump administration after receiving a memo drafted by Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove directing the case against the mayor to be dropped. Rather than carry out the directive, Sassoon and several others resigned instead. Adams was charged last year with bribery, soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals, wire fraud and conspiracy. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS PROMISES TO REOPEN ICE OFFICE ON RIKERS ISLAND AFTER MEETING WITH TRUMP BORDER CZAR Critics say Adams has cozied up to the Trump administration, and offered to cooperate on Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown in an effort to get a pardon. “These resignations come in the wake of deeply concerning actions by the U.S. Justice Department, asking the U.S. District Court to drop the indictments against you, so long as you comply with the White House on matters of immigration and criminal justice policy, which call into question your ability to continue to comply with your duties to New Yorkers under the City Charter,” Lander wrote in his letter. On Sunday, Adams told churchgoers in Queens that he is refusing to resign. “I have a mission to finish, the mission that God put me on many years ago,” Adams said, adding that “God has fortified me.” Adams told “Fox & Friends” in an interview on Friday that he plans to run for re-election as a Democrat.
DOGE says it found nearly untraceable budget line item responsible for $4.7T in payments
The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) discovered an identification code linking U.S. Treasury payments to a budget line item, which accounts for nearly $4.7 trillion in payments which was oftentimes left blank. “The Treasury Access Symbol (TAS) is an identification code linking a Treasury payment to a budget line item (standard financial process),” DOGE wrote in a post on X. “In the Federal Government, the TAS field was optional for ~$4.7 Trillion in payments and was often left blank, making traceability almost impossible. As of Saturday, this is now a required field, increasing insight into where money is actually going.” The agency thanked the U.S. Treasury for their work in identifying the optional field. WHAT HAS DOGE CUT SO FAR? According to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, which is under the Treasury, TAS codes are used to describe any one of the account identification codes assigned by the Treasury and is also referred to as the “account.” All financial transactions made by the federal government are classified by TAS when reporting to the Treasury and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The discovery was announced on the same day DOGE appeared to have populated the DOGE.gov Savings page, which, as of Monday evening, said the total estimated savings since the establishment of the department total about $55 billion. DOGE PUTS DEI ON CHOPPING BLOCK WITH TERMINATION OF OVER $370M IN EDUCATION DEPARTMENT GRANTS The savings are a combination of “fraud detection/deletion, contract/lease cancellations, contract/lease renegotiations, asset sales, grant cancellations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes, and regulatory savings.” “We are working to upload all of this data in a digestible and fully transparent manner with clear assumptions, consistent with applicable rules and regulations,” DOGE wrote on the site, adding that the data will be updated twice per week until eventually becoming real-time. Musk is leading DOGE to aggressively slash government waste when it comes to federal spending under President Donald Trump. DOGE SLASHES OVER $100M IN DEI FUNDING AT EDUCATION DEPARTMENT: ‘WIN FOR EVERY STUDENT’ The department was created via executive order and is a temporary organization within the White House that will spend 18 months carrying out its mission. The group has faced criticism over its access to federal systems, including the Treasury Department’s payment system, as well as moves to cancel federal contracts and make cuts at various agencies. Attorneys general from 14 states are suing to block DOGE from accessing federal data, arguing Musk and Trump’s administration have engaged in illegal executive overreach. The newly formed cost-cutting agency scored a win on Friday when a federal judge in Washington declined a request to temporarily block it from accessing sensitive data from the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Fox News Digital’s Hillary Vaugh and Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
What the bleep?
“Profanity is the parlance of the fool.” — President Teddy Roosevelt “Be on time. Never criticize a teammate. Never use profanity.” — UCLA 10-time NCAA Basketball Champion Head Coach John Wooden “I’ve been accused of vulgarity. I say that’s bulls—.” – Filmmaker Mel Brooks Do members of Congress curse? GOP REP WHO RETURNED TO CONGRESS AFTER EIGHT-YEAR BREAK CREDITS TRUMP WITH UNIFYING PARTY Of course. Democrats aren’t fussing about President Trump and Elon Musk. They’re cussing about President Trump and Elon Musk. It’s customary for members of Congress to express their views on the president of the United States. They may request a concrete step on domestic policy. A healthcare issue. Suggest an approach on dealing with China or the Middle East. Maybe an initiative to improve the economy, bolster jobs or increase productivity. But congressional Democrats have very specific ideas about President Trump — and what should happen to him. And in some cases, Musk. COMER, LEE ROLL OUT BICAMERAL BILL TO FAST-TACK TRUMP’S GOVERNMENT REORGANIZATION PLANS THROUGH CONGRESS “F— Donald Trump and Elon Musk,” said Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wisc., at a Capitol Hill rally for the union which represents many federal employees. Rep. Donald Norcross, D-N.J., spoke about working as a construction worker and electrician for the International Brotherhood of Electoral Workers in Atlantic City. “We had a guy called Donald Trump. We fought with him for ten years,” said Norcross. “I’m from Jersey. So we speak a little differently. I say f— Trump!” Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., is a freshman and a pulmonologist. “I don’t swear in public very well,” conceded Dexter. But the congresswoman proved she could cuss like a sailor. “We have to f— Trump!” fulminated Dexter. It’s unclear what rubric Dexter relied on to judge if she swore “very well” or failed in her lexical mission. But just six weeks into her first term in Congress, Dexter had cussed out the president of the United States. It’s a feat her predecessor, former Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., never matched in his nearly three decades in Congress. Cheese and crackers! Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., took a slightly different approach. She didn’t issue a verbal disposition to the president. She issued a slightly sanitized call to action. “It’s time to push back on the bullies. Are you guys ready to fight? Let’s effing go!” yelled Sachez at the protest with federal employees. Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Penn., did not direct his obscenities at the president. Instead, Boyle was more general in his characterization about what has gone down during the first month of the Trump administration. “I’m from the home of the Super Bowl champion Eagles,” bragged Boyle. “The great Super Bowl run was actually a welcome distraction for me and all of us in Philly from the sort of bulls— that’s been going on.” Fly Eagles, fly. But for the record, Boyle did not give the president the bird. Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., parroted Boyle’s profanity. “Bulls—. Bulls—. That is why we’re here to fight them,” said Frost, focusing on Musk. “We can’t allow this unelected billionaire to come in and to eviscerate the things we fought so hard to get right. This isn’t about protecting the system.” Son of a biscuit eater! I don’t know where you went to school, but where I grew up in rural Ohio, a teacher might threaten to wash out a student’s mouth with soap if they used salty language. Hey. It was the 1970s. It’s unclear if there’s a remedy to pasteurize the vulgar language now directed toward the president from congressional Democrats. But apparently to the Democrats, desperate times call for #*&@?+&! measures. In fact, if Democrats kept a “swear jar,” it’s possible their regular contributions could offset some of the proposed cuts by DOGE. Major League Baseball players returned to the diamond for an abbreviated season in the summer of 2020 — cut short by the pandemic. With no fans cheering and the games unfolding inside cavernous, empty stadiums, field microphones truly picked up the “sounds of the game.” The experience put an entirely new spin on “color commentary.” Turns out there were more than just foul balls in the national pastime. So for Democrats, perhaps cursing is the new vernacular. It may be helpful to let off steam. The language may rile up the base. It may even pep up a crowd of government workers who fear for their jobs under DOGE. Does it make a difference in the policy? Probably not. Does it persuade the president? No. Does it capture the attention of those aligned with President Trump — whom Democrats need to bring into their fray? Doubtful. YOU’RE HIRED! HERE’S WHO PASSED CONGRESS’ TRUMP CABINET TEST AND HOW STORMY THEIR HEARINGS WERE Democrats may think some of that’s balderdash. “We have to start liberating politicians to speak to the truth,” said former Democratic presidential candidate and Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., on Fox. Phillips just left Congress last month. Democrats are certainly speaking. It’s just unclear if their cussing boosts the message. Or, is the swearing the message. It might underscore just how frustrated Democrats are with what President Trump is doing — to say nothing of the fact that he’s in office for a second term. The language replicates what Democrats did in 2017 during Mr. Trump’s first term. “We should go the f— home,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., eight years ago if Democrats weren’t tangibly helping people. Granted, President Trump’s expletives shifted the political linguistic paradigm when he first campaigned in 2015 and 2016. A 2019 New York Times article referred to Mr. Trump as the “profanity President.” Part of the president’s political appeal was that he spoke “everyday” language. That resonated with large swaths of voters who wanted answers to their problems and were fatigued by sterilized bromides. Clean language was usually the default of public officials until recent years. Now everyone seems to have a case of political potty mouth. But politicians have long relied on expletives. Former President Biden
Kamala Harris mocked over ‘word salad’ speech to cast of ‘A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical’
Former Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a so-called nonsensical “word salad” during an attempt to deliver an inspirational message to the cast of Broadway’s “A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical.” Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, were seen attending two Broadway productions over the weekend, the other being “Gypsy,” the New York Post reported. Following a standing ovation for “A Wonderful World,” Harris delivered her speech to the cast and crew. LIZ CHENEY CAMPAIGNS WITH VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS AHEAD OF THE ELECTION “When we think about these moments where we see things that are being taken, but also let’s see it, you know, nature abhors a vacuum,” Harris tells the musical’s cast in a clip shared on X. “Where there’s a vacancy, let’s fill it. Let us know that the reality is that the progress of our nation has been about the expansion of rights, not the restriction of rights,” she added. “We’re seeing a U-turn right now. For those rights to be maintained, which means we have to be vigilant. It’s just the nature of it.” Harris was mocked online for her remarks, with some comparing her to someone under the influence of alcohol. “Kamala Harris hit Broadway and, of course, served up her signature word salad. A friendly reminder of what we dodged in the White House,” one person wrote on X. She was similarly ridiculed after leaving office when she spoke to firefighters in California as they were battling wildfires in Los Angeles. KAMALA HARRIS MOCKED ONLINE FOR ANOTHER ‘WORD SALAD’ ABOUT ‘COMMUNITY’ DURING FIRE DEPARTMENT VISIT “As I said to these courageous and extraordinary firefighters, you know moments of crisis really do reveal the heroes among us,” she said. “We went and visited World Central Kitchen. I mean, the volunteers who were there, some of them who lost their own homes, are there doing the work of taking care of perfect strangers, who, in the face of that stranger, they see a neighbor.” As vice president, Harris once said: “I grew up understanding the children of the community are the children of the community.” Since leaving the White House, Harris has dodged questions about her political future, amid rumors she may be considering a run to become governor of California. The state’s current governor, Gavin Newsom, a political ally of Harris’, is term-limited from seeking another term. California voters will elect a new governor in 2026.
Boston police commissioner doubles down on ICE resistance: ‘We don’t enforce’ detainers
Democrat-appointed Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox is echoing Mayor Michelle Wu’s pledged resistance to the Trump administration’s deportations, saying on a local news station on Sunday that “we don’t enforce” civil immigration detainers filed by ICE. While speaking on a segment of WCVB’s “On the Record” show, Cox, who was appointed as police commissioner by Wu in 2022, said that in line with state and city laws, Boston police officers “don’t have authority to enforce federal immigration law.” Pressed on whether this policy conflicts with federal immigration law, Cox said that “the Boston Police Department has pretty defined rules and we abide by the law here in the state.” “We just don’t do that,” he said. “We don’t enforce civil detainers regarding federal immigration law. It’s defined here in the state, and that’s just how it works.” ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTS SKYROCKET UNDER TRUMP ICE COMPARED TO BIDEN LEVELS LAST YEAR Both the Boston “Trust Act,” passed in 2014, and a 2017 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling known as Lunn vs. Commonwealth both limit law enforcement entities in the city and state from cooperating with ICE “detainer” requests to hold illegal immigrants for potential deportation. Speaking on the same show shortly after the presidential election, Wu said: “Elections have consequences, and the federal government is responsible for a certain set of actions, and cities, no individual city, can reverse or override some parts of that. But what we can do is make sure that we are doing our part to protect our residents in every possible way, that we are not cooperating with those efforts that actually threaten the safety of everyone by causing widespread fear and having large scale economic impact.” ICE has said that such policies endanger local communities by forcing the agency to track down illegals and to make often high-risk arrests in public spaces. ICE ARRESTS ‘PREDATOR’ MIGRANT CONVICTED OF SECRETLY RECORDING OTHERS IN BATHROOM Despite this, and repeated criticisms by the Trump administration and border czar Tom Homan, Cox insisted that his department “abides by Boston law and Massachusetts law,” saying: “We don’t have the authority to enforce federal immigration law.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS “From our perspective and what we tell anyone who comes to visit our city, lives in our city, is that we don’t care about your immigration status, but what we do care about is: Are you a victim of crime in our city or are you a victimizer, right? We will hold you accountable for that, and that doesn’t matter what your immigration status is,” he said. Asked what he would say to Massachusetts residents who are concerned that the Boston Police Department’s policy does not protect them, the commissioner tripled down, saying: “We just don’t have the authority to enforce federal law.” He also went on to say that “what people don’t understand is that there is a difference between criminal warrants and civil detainers” and that “if it’s a warrant involved, we will absolutely enforce it.” TRANS MIGRANT FINDING SANCTUARY IN NYC ACCUSED OF RAPING 14-YEAR-OLD Homan, meanwhile, has warned jurisdictions that refuse to comply with federal immigration enforcement authorities, telling them: “Don’t cross that line.” On her first day in office, Trump’s U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered a 60-day pause on federal funding to migrant “sanctuary cities.” In response to the possibility of Boston having its federal funding cut or removed, Cox said, “We could not be as safe as we are without the help of the federal government. They are partners with us, so I don’t know why that would be undone. But when it comes to financing and income flows into our city, I can only control what we can control, whether it’s the city council, through a budget process every year, or however, the way people talk about funding the police department.”
Fox News Politics Newletter: Duffy Calls Out Clinton
The Fox News Politics newsletter for Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening… -Trump chooses team of four to negotiate end of the Russia-Ukraine war –Elon Musk says there are millions in the Social Security database between the ages of 100 and 159 -Iran says Israel and US ‘can’t do a damn thing’ to thwart Tehran’s nuclear ambitions SpaceX workers will visit the Air Traffic Control System Command Center on Monday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy noted in a Sunday post on X, in which he also mentioned former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, with whom he recently engaged in a social media spat. “America deserves safe, state-of-the-art air travel, and President Trump has ordered that I deliver a new, world-class air traffic control system that will be the envy of the world,” Duffy declared, noting that he’d welcome assistance from American developers or businesses. “Tomorrow, members of @elonmusk’s SpaceX team will be visiting the Air Traffic Control System Command Center in VA to get a firsthand look at the current system, learn what air traffic controllers like and dislike about their current tools, and envision how we can make a new, better, modern and safer system.” He then brought up Clinton… Read more ‘JIM CROW 2.0’: Biden DOJ’s lingering ‘Jim Crow 2.0’ Georgia election lawsuit should be ‘immediately dismissed’: expert… Read more YOU’RE FIRED: Trump admin aims for a fatal blow to the independence of ‘Deep State’ agencies… Read more FAB FOUR: Meet the team Trump picked to negotiate ending the Russia-Ukraine war… Read more TO THE STREETS: Academic unions plan demonstrations outside HHS building, at med schools, to protest Trump research cuts… Read more ‘TDS’ BACKLASH: California Democratic congressman faces social media backlash for post tying Trump to Georgia small plane crash… Read more ‘VAMPIRES’: Elon Musk says millions in Social Security database are between ages of 100 and 159… Read more ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK: DOGE puts DEI on chopping block with termination of over $370M in education department grants… Read more SHOCKING MOVE: VA Dems spurn antisemitism expert from GMU board… Read more SECESSION!: Effort in ‘red’ swath of Oregon to join Idaho gets new life, as political secession has had mixed results… Read more ‘STEPPING UP,’ NOT DOWN: NYC Mayor Adams refuses to resign in sermon: ‘I have a mission to finish’… Read more ‘RADICAL AND LAWLESS’: Department of Education probing some Virginia school districts over gender identity policies… Read more DEI BOYCOTT: NAACP urges Black consumers to steer buying power away from companies that have ditched DEI… Read more READY FOR LAUNCH: Vivek Ramaswamy to launch Ohio gubernatorial campaign one week from today… Read more FIRST ON FOX: GOP leaders rally to revoke China’s ‘most favored nation’ status after 20-year run… Read more ‘DESERVE TO BE RECOUPED’: Zelenskyy not yet signing US economic agreement ‘short-sighted,’ White House official says… Read more ‘COLLAPSE HAMAS’: Israeli military experts weigh in on Trump’s ‘all hell’ threat to Hamas and what it could look like… Read more ‘READY FOR NEGOTIATIONS’: Putin sending foreign minister to Saudi Arabia for talks with Trump officials… Read more ‘SENDS A WRONG SIGNAL’: China outraged after Trump state department deletes key phrase on Taiwan relations… Read more ‘DM ME’: Illegal-smuggling coyotes now advertising at Canada border amid Trump migrant crackdown: report… Read more IRAN GOES NUCLEAR: Iran warns Israel and US ‘can’t do a damn thing’ to thwart Tehran nuclear ambitions as tensions escalate… Read more Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
Trump right to keep European allies from Ukraine talks, they’d be ‘obstacle’ to peace, expert says
The Trump administration’s potential plan to exclude European allies from negotiations to end the war in Ukraine has caused panic among the continent’s leaders but may be the only way to finally resolve the conflict, an expert tells Fox News Digital. “Trump’s likely rationale for excluding European allies out of direct Russia-Ukraine negotiations is this. First, there’s no agreement among NATO members on the NATO membership for Ukraine. Some are for it and some are against. So it would be a waste of time to add this obstacle to the talks. Second, the Europeans don’t add anything to the talks,” Rebekah Koffler, a strategic military intelligence analyst, former senior official at the Defense Intelligence Agency and author of “Putin’s Playbook,” told Fox News Digital. “They [Europeans] are not decision-makers here. The only ‘deciders’ – using George Bush’s famous phrase – here are Putin and Trump. And even more accurately it’s Putin,” Koffler added. “He holds all the cards, given the realities on the battlefield and outside of it.” The comments come as French President Emmanuel Macron hosts an “emergency meeting” of European leaders Monday to discuss President Donald Trump’s potential plan to largely exclude them from negotiating an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, a move that has caused anxiety on a continent that believes it has a vital stake in determining the terms of any settlement. Despite the uncertainty for European leaders, Trump has insisted that Ukraine will be involved in any talks to end the conflict. TRUMP ADDRESSES UKRAINE-RUSSIA PEACE TALKS, SAYS ZELENSKYY WILL BE INVOLVED “He will be involved, yes,” Trump said Sunday of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Meanwhile, Politico reported Monday that Macron and Trump had a “frank” 20-minute discussion just before the meetings in Paris were held, though the details of that discussion are still unclear. The emergency meeting is being held after a security conference over the weekend in Munich, Germany, where Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, hinted European leaders may not be allowed to take part in a deal the U.S. helps broker between Ukraine and Russia. Asked about Europe’s potential role in resolving the conflict during the conference, Kellogg indicated such involvement “is not going to happen,” arguing he was “from the school of realism” and that adding the Europeans to the mix may only serve to add too many voices to the discussion. “What we don’t want to do is get into a large group discussion,” Kellogg said, adding that Trump is hoping to have a resolution to the conflict within “days and weeks.” “You got to give us a bit of breathing space and time, but when I say that, I’m not talking six months,” he said. Koffler believes that Trump shares a similar realism, a dose of reality she believes has been lacking from media coverage of the war. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR SAYS PUTIN, ZELENSKYY AGREE ‘ONLY PRESIDENT TRUMP COULD GET THEM TO THE TABLE’ “President Trump is a realist and he understands that Ukraine has lost the war. In fact, Ukraine lost the war before it started,” Koffler said. “Russia holds massive, massive combat potential advantage over Ukraine. Always has, always will. I’ve been saying it for three years. It’s a shame that the Biden administration, assisted by the mainstream media, has created a alternate reality, lying to the American people that Ukraine was winning or could win, just like they lied about so many other things.” “But any serious and honest military intelligence analyst who is not on the payroll of the U.S.-NATO military-industrial complex or of the Zelenskyy’s regime, and who isn’t afraid to go against the media’s party line, known as the editorial line, has known from the very start how this war will end,” she added. But Joel Rubin, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for the Obama administration, cautioned against excluding European allies from the discussions, arguing that a deal without their involvement is “unlikely to foster a sustainable end to this conflict.” “President Trump is right to seek an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, and he should be applauded for his efforts. Yet by staking out a role for the United States to be the indispensable negotiator in the war, he risks creating major commitments, as this is not America’s war and we are now being inserted directly into it,” Rubin told Fox News Digital. “In analogous diplomatic situations, such as the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, we clinched a deal only after providing major commitments to both parties in the form of economic assistance and military aid, totaling well past $100 billion so far.” While Rubin acknowledged that inclusion of European leaders would be more “complex initially,” the payoff would be to “spread the costs” of any guarantees that arise from negotiations. EMMANUEL MACRON CALLS ‘EMERGENCY MEETING’ FOR EUROPEAN LEADERS TO DISCUSS TRUMP: REPORT “And of course, because Europe is directly impacted by Russia’s belligerence, any deal that’s finalized will need their support (in addition to Ukraine’s), otherwise it’s unlikely to foster a sustainable end to this conflict, instead turning these negotiations into just one more stalled diplomatic effort of the many that have taken place in this war since it truly began in 2014,” Rubin said. Macron’s emergency meeting in Paris is expected to be attended by a host of European leaders, according to Politico, including Germany’s Olaf Scholz, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Spain’s Pedro Sánchez, the United Kingdom’s Keir Starmer, Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen, Poland’s Donald Tusk and Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof. But Koffler believes Trump is the only leader in a position to handle what are sure to be difficult negotiations, where none of the world’s leaders will have any leverage over Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Trump is the only U.S. leader who has the courage to acknowledge the obvious – he is not afraid of being blamed for losing the war and handing Putin victory. Which the Democrats and the neocons will almost certainly do,” Koffler said. “It is why Trump
Conservative group slaps top federal agency with lawsuit over Biden-era handling of illegal immigrants
FIRST ON FOX: A conservative group is suing the Department of Homeland Security as part of an effort to get what it says is “maximum transparency” about the agency’s handling of criminal illegal immigrants during the Biden administration. The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) is suing DHS for records it requested in October during the Biden administration about the release of data on noncitizens on Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s non-detained docket with criminal backgrounds. The data, released to lawmakers in September, stated that there were 425,431 convicted criminals on ICE’s non-detained docket, and an additional 222,141 with pending criminal charges. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTS SKYROCKET UNDER TRUMP ICE COMPARED TO BIDEN LEVELS LAST YEAR: ‘WORST OF THE WORST’ Those include 62,231 convicted of assault, 14,301 convicted of burglary, 56,533 with drug convictions and 13,099 convicted of homicide. An additional 2,521 have kidnapping convictions, and 15,811 have sexual assault convictions. There were an additional 1,845 with pending homicide charges, 42,915 with assault charges, 3,266 with burglary charges and 4,250 with assault charges. At the time, the Biden DHS said the data was being misinterpreted, noting it goes back decades, and includes those who are not only free but also those who are incarcerated by federal, state or local authorities but who are not in ICE custody. CASA requested internal communications and records from ICE and Customs and Border Protection related to the data and the release of the data, including meeting requests, call logs and communications with media outlets. It requested the documents via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT, MURDER CONVICTIONS IN US: ICE DATA The group did not receive a response and so has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colombia to compel compliance from the agency. “Through DHS’s failure to make a determination within the time period required by law, CASA has constructively exhausted its administrative remedies and seeks immediate judicial review,” the lawsuit says. “The American people deserve maximum transparency regarding the government’s handling of all illegal aliens, but particularly about those aliens with serious criminal convictions,” CASA director James Fitzpatrick told Fox News Digital. “This lawsuit will force DHS to provide records and communications related to the release of these illegal alien criminals into communities throughout the country,” he said. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE It is unclear how DHS under the Trump administration will handle the request, given the administration’s significantly different attitude to the release of illegal immigrants. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Trump administration has largely stopped the release of migrants into the U.S., in part due to President Trump’s order declaring a national emergency at the southern border. That, in turn, has meant that migrants can be removed without being offered the ability to claim asylum. In addition, the administration has launched a mass deportation campaign and has been making significant steps to not only conduct arrests, but also to house illegal immigrants without releasing them and to increase the rate of deportations. Fox News Digital reported last week that the arrests of illegal immigrants have skyrocketed in the first weeks of the Trump administration compared to the same period last year under former President Biden.
DOGE Caucus senator pushes to end ‘slush fund’ for presidential candidates: ‘Welfare for politicians’
EXCLUSIVE: In commemoration of Presidents Day, a top DOGE senator is seeking to claw back $400 million sitting in a “slush fund” set up to help presidential candidates that hasn’t borne fruit since Y2K. Through the Eliminating Leftover Expenses for Campaigns from Taxpayers (ELECT) Act, Sen. Joni Ernst said she hopes to defund an account she calls “welfare for politicians.” “This Presidents Day I am fighting for the integrity of the office because the last thing we need to spend tax dollars on is more political attack ads,” said Ernst, R-Iowa. “There is no better way to pay down the $36 trillion debt than by defunding welfare for politicians. Washington should be working to benefit all Americans instead of itself.” DRAIN THE SWAMP ACT SEEKS TO MOVE DC BUREAUCRACY OUT OF CRAZYTOWN, DOGE LEADER SAYS Ernst, the chair of the DOGE caucus in the upper chamber, remarked the fund has not been successfully utilized in decades. The last winning presidential candidate to pull from the fund was Texas Gov. George W. Bush in 2000, and later in 2004. Since then, a handful of unsuccessful candidates have utilized it, including former Vice President Mike Pence and Green Party candidate Jill Stein; both in the 2024 cycle. Pence’s campaign reportedly received more than $1 million from the fund amid his GOP primary bid, while Stein utilized $380,000. The late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., also received $84.1 million from the fund in 2008. An FEC release from that time said nominees of major parties are entitled to $20 million plus a cost-of-living adjustment back to 1974. Defunding the account was first floated as one of several proposals in a DOGE-centric November letter from Ernst to Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Stein told Fox News Digital the candidates’ fund was “raided” of $375 million, and that Democrats too have tried to moot the effectiveness of the fund by trying to put public funding “out of reach of grassroots candidates” through their H.R.-1 (the For the People Act) during the Biden era. TOP DOGE LAWMAKER SAYS ISSUES THAT SPURRED DOGE’S GENESIS CAME FULL CIRCLE WITH TRUMP FIXES A checkbox on the IRS’ 1099 tax form asks filers whether they would like to pay $3 into the fund, which Stein said showed it is different than other public monies. “It’s outrageous,” Stein said, calling the effort to end the fund “part of a bipartisan, anti-democratic effort to stifle competition in presidential elections – specifically by denying voters the option to support publicly financed candidates who refuse the legalized bribery of big corporate contributions.” Stein added that a majority of voters have called for presidential candidates outside the two major parties, citing a Gallup survey showing they “do such a poor job” of representing Americans. “Publicly funded campaigns are the antidote to the massive legalized corruption that puts more money in the hands of billionaires than ever… the American people abhor the corporate buyout of our elections,” Stein said. “As life becomes increasingly unlivable for everyday Americans, while billionaire wealth skyrockets, the demand to end the sale of our democracy will be unstoppable, through simple reforms including publicly funded elections, inclusive debates, ranked choice voting, ending obstructive ballot access laws and voter suppression, and more.” “Eliminating public funding denies voters the option to support candidates who refuse pay-to-play politics.” A source familiar said FEC rules also allow candidates to continue seeking public funds for campaign debt. IRS Code 9006, with footnotes dating the fund to at least the 1970s, allows for eligible candidates to be paid out of the fund “upon receipt of a certification from the [Federal Election] Commission.” “Amounts paid to any such candidates shall be under the control of such candidates.” In 2014, the portion of the Presidential Election Campaign Fund allocated to assist political parties with their conventions was redirected to pediatric cancer research through an act of Congress. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Then-Rep. Gregg Harper, R-Miss., drafted a bill later signed by President Barack Obama that diverted such funds to an NIH research initiative. Then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., gave the measure a major leadership push after he heard the case of a young Leesburg girl afflicted with the disease and decided to name the legislation the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act in her name. Fox News Digital reached out to a representative for Pence for comment.
Trump supporting California sheriff launches Republican run for governor in race to succeed Newsom
A tough-on-crime Republican sheriff who was a supporter of President Donald Trump in last year’s election on Monday launched a campaign for California governor. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco announced his candidacy at an event Monday in Riverside, California, about 50 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, in the 2026 race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. “As Californians we want leadership that actually cares about the cost of living …and leaders who will do something about it,” Bianco said in his address, according to prepared excerpts. He emphasized that “we want homes we can afford. We want air conditioning when it’s hot, not rolling blackouts. We want water for the crops and animals that feed us. We want the opportunity to achieve the California Dream, not be prevented from it because of red tape and regulation from government. We want honesty and transparency from our elected officials. We want lower taxes and less government waste. We want sanity restored and common sense to prevail.” TOP TRUMP OFFICIAL TEASES CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL BID IF FORMER VP HARRIS RUNS Bianco, a vocal critic of Newsom and other state Democratic leaders when it comes to the issues of crime and punishment, was one of the leaders who helped push California’s Proposition 36 ballot measure to a landslide victory in last November’s elections. The measure, which took effect in December, mandates stiffer penalties and longer sentences in California for certain drug and theft crimes. “I am running for Governor because our beautiful state – which I absolutely love – is heading down the wrong track and has been for years. Everyone knows it, except those sitting in the Sacramento echo chamber. For decades the party in complete control of our state government has tried the same failed ideas and implemented the same failed policies,” Bianco argued, as he took aim at Newsom and the Democratic majorities in the state legislature. Bianco, who has worked in law enforcement for more than three decades, was first elected sheriff in 2018. He’s been openly flirting with a 2026 gubernatorial run since at least last spring. It’s been nearly two decades since a Republican won statewide office in heavily blue California. You have to go all the way back to former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2006 re-election victory. There has been plenty of speculation since former Vice President Kamala Harris’ election defeat last November to Trump regarding her next political move, with the two potential options likely being launching a 2026 gubernatorial run in her home state of California or seeking the presidency again in 2028. MAJOR CALIFORNIA DEMOCRAT PREEDICTS FORMER VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS WOULD CLEAR GUBERNATORIAL FIELD Harris served as San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general and U.S. senator before becoming vice president. Sources in the former vice president’s political orbit say no decisions have been made about any next steps. The Democrats’ field for governor in the heavily blue-leaning state is already crowded. Among the more than half-dozen candidates already running for governor are Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, a Harris ally, and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Former Rep. Katie Porter, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic Senate nomination last year, has expressed interest in launching a campaign. Additionally, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who served in Congress and as California attorney general before joining the Biden administration, is also seen as a potential contender. Former Fox News Channel host and conservative commentator Steve Hilton is considering a Republican run for California governor. And one of Trump’s top aides is floating a potential bid for California governor if Harris also runs. Richard Grenell, a longtime Trump loyalist who is serving as U.S. envoy for special missions in the president’s second administration, told reporters late last week, “If Kamala Harris runs for governor, I believe that she has such baggage and hundreds of millions of dollars in educating the voters of how terrible she is, that it’s a new day in California and that the Republican actually has a shot.” Grenell, who served as ambassador to Germany and as acting director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term, considered a run for California governor during the 2021 recall election that Newsom eventually ended up easily winning, but he ultimately decided against launching a campaign. In California, unlike most other states, the top two finishers in a primary, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election.