New York voters want state to support Trump deportations, poll finds
Most voters in New York want the state to support President-elect Trump’s mass deportation plans, according to a new poll released Tuesday. The Siena College New York State Poll found that 54% of respondents say the state should support any Trump administration efforts to deport migrants living illegally in the state, compared to 35% of respondents who oppose the plans. Strong support for the president-elect’s deportation plan was found throughout the state, including New York City. “A majority of voters from the City, 51%, upstate, 54%, and the downstate suburbs, 58%, want the State to support the Feds’ efforts,” Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said of Trump’s effort to deport illegal immigrants living in the state. “Supporting the Feds also has majority support from white and Black voters, and a plurality of Latino voters, 47-36%.” RACHEL MORIN’S MOM PLEADS SENATORS ‘HEAR OUR CRIES FOR HELP’ IN MASS DEPORTATIONS HEARING TESTIMONY The poll found that 51% of Democrats in the state opposed deportations, while 38% supported any such plans. Meanwhile, 87% of Republicans overwhelmingly supported Trump’s plans, compared with 8% who opposed. Independent voters broke down with 54% in support and 30% who opposed., The New York Post earlier last month obtained data from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that showed 58,626 of the 759,218 illegal immigrants living in New York City had previously been convicted of a crime or had criminal charges pending, or 7.7% of the city’s illegal migrant population. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimates that 11 million illegal immigrants were living in the U.S. as of 2022, the latest statistics available. TRUMP CLAIMS GOP ‘VERY OPEN’ TO KEEPING ‘DREAMERS’ IN US, TAKES SHOT AT ‘VERY DIFFICULT’ DEMS Trump has promised to launch a mass deportation campaign when he enters office in January, where he will also have a Republican House and Senate. Ahead of that, some Democrats have been calling on President Biden to extend existing protections for some illegal immigrants – including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. Trump, however, said on Sunday that he wants to work with Democrats on a “plan” to help illegal immigrants who entered the U.S. as minors and were protected from deportation under the Obama-era DACA order. “I will work with the Democrats on a plan, and if we can come up with a plan, but the Democrats have made it very, very difficult to do anything. Republicans are very open to the Dreamers,” Trump said. “The Dreamers, we’re talking many years ago. They were brought into this country many years ago, some of them are no longer young people, and in many cases, they become successful. They have great jobs. In some cases, they have small businesses. In some cases, they might have large businesses, and we’re going to have to do something with them.” Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Rachel Morin’s mom pleads senators ‘hear our cries for help’ in mass deportations hearing testimony
FIRST ON FOX: The mother of a woman allegedly killed by an illegal immigrant pleaded with Judiciary Committee senators to secure the border in her written testimony for a hearing led by committee Democrats titled, “How Mass Deportations Will Separate American Families, Harm Our Armed Forces, and Devastate Our Economy.” “I live 1,800 miles from the southern border in a small town in northern Maryland. Yet a man who was wanted for murder in El Salvador made his way to my community… and ambushed my daughter on a quaint walking trail in broad daylight,” wrote Patty Morin, the mother of Rachel Morin who died in 2023. GOP SENATOR QUESTIONS FBI OVER REPORTED IRANIAN HACK ATTEMPT OF TRUMP PICK KASH PATEL Rachel Morin was a mother of five. Following her death, a grand jury in Maryland voted to formally charge the suspect, illegal immigrant Victor Martinez Hernandez, 23, with two counts of murder, two counts of rape and one count each of sex offense and kidnapping. “We felt relieved when the suspect was finally caught. But that relief quickly turned to horror and outrage when we learned that the suspect was an illegal immigrant. This man was wanted for killing a woman in his home country when he walked into ours,” Patty wrote in her planned testimony. JOHN CORNYN ‘INCLINED’ TO BACK TRUMP FBI PICK KASH PATEL AFTER SENATE MEETING Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., recently previewed the Tuesday hearing, saying it “will examine the consequences of President-elect Donald Trump’s plan for mass deportations, as well as stress the need to shift our focus toward sensible solutions that would bring order to the border and provide a path to citizenship to longtime residents with no serious criminal convictions.” Patty will be one of five witnesses at the hearing. DEMOCRATIC GOVERNORS APPOINT INCOMING CALIFORNIA, NEW JERSEY SENATORS 3 WEEKS EARLY “I really want you to hear my words and take to heart what I and other families across America are saying. Please hear our cries for help! You each have taken an oath…an oath to serve our nation and the citizens who make it great. Protect Americans by securing our borders,” she said in her testimony. LARA TRUMP ANNOUNCES SHE IS STEPPING DOWN AS RNC CO-CHAIR AMIDST TALK SHE MAY BE UP FOR FLORIDA SENATE SEAT The hearing and Patty Morin’s testimony come as both parties prepare for the mass deportations of illegal immigrants that have been promised by the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump. He has also said he will further fortify the southern border and continue building his wall. Rachel Morin’s death was one of several high-profile deaths of women in the U.S. allegedly at the hands of illegal immigrants during the Biden administration. Some of the other cases that garnered national media attention and outrage were those of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray in Texas and Laken Riley in Georgia.
Mother of Hunter Biden’s daughter defends pardon, says he’s ‘targeted because of who his dad is’
Lunden Roberts, the mother of Hunter Biden’s child, Navy Joan Roberts, is backing President Biden’s decision to issue a sweeping pardon for his son. “I think what Joe did is what the love of any parent would do and not everybody will understand that,” Roberts said in a statement provided by her publisher, Skyhorse, to the DailyMail. “I’d like to see more of that love towards Navy Joan and hope that Biden will take the steps to become a grandparent for my daughter.” Roberts went on to say that she believes that Hunter was “targeted because of who his dad is.” “I don’t know what it’s like to be president, so I can’t say what choices I would make if I was in Biden’s shoes, but I am a mother,” she said. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my child. No barrier I wouldn’t break for Navy Joan.” BIDEN TEAM REPORTEDLY CONSIDERING PREEMPTIVE PARDONS FOR FAUCI, SCHIFF, OTHER TRUMP ‘TARGETS’ “Many people have done what he’s done and have never gotten in trouble,” Roberts added. “But because his dad is president, he’s being held to a different set of circumstances.” Despite repeatedly stating that he would not pardon Hunter, President Biden reversed course and granted clemency to his son for all offenses against the United States he committed or may have committed from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024. The sweeping pardon, therefore, covers, but is not limited to, Hunter’s conviction on federal gun charges in Delaware and his guilty plea on federal tax charges in California. He was due to be sentenced in both cases this month. Roberts penned a book published in August titled, “Out of the Shadows: My Life Inside the Wild World of Hunter Biden.” The Arkansas native details how she met Hunter while she was in Washington, D.C., for school and while Hunter was at the height of his addiction to crack cocaine. WHO ELSE MIGHT BIDEN PARDON AFTER HE SPARED HUNTER FROM SENTENCING? She said she moved back home after becoming pregnant, and Hunter, already a father to three daughters with ex-wife Kathleen Buhle at the time, had grown distant. Roberts gave birth to their daughter, Navy, in August 2018. Hunter was also briefly involved with the widow of his late brother Beau Biden, and not long afterward, he married his current wife, Melissa Cohen Biden. The couple welcomed a son in March 2020 named Beau Biden Jr. The White House Christmas stocking display has included just six grandchildren for years, excluding Navy. President Biden had refused to acknowledge Navy as his grandchild until July 2023. A court-ordered paternity test confirmed Hunter as Navy’s father in 2020. Earlier this year, Roberts agreed to reduced child support payments in exchange for Hunter trying to build a relationship with his daughter. Roberts said Hunter has spoken with his daughter over Zoom. Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and Skyhorse for additional comment.
Nobel laureates criticize RFK Jr. HHS nomination over ‘lack of credentials,’ vaccine stance
Seventy-seven Nobel Prize winners have come out against the nomination of environmental and health activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. In a letter first reported by the New York Times, the Nobel Laureates urge members of the United States Senate to reject RFK Jr.’s nomination, raising concerns about his “lack of credentials” in health science or administration, opposition to vaccines and promotion of “conspiracy theories” about mainstream medical treatments. “Placing Mr. Kennedy in charge of DHHS would put the public’s health in jeopardy and undermine America’s global leadership in the health sciences,” the letter cautions. Kennedy, the son of former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, is an environmental lawyer and activist who founded the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit group accused of spreading misinformation on vaccines, including debunked claims that vaccination causes autism. President-elect Trump declared his intention to nominate Kennedy to lead HHS in November after Kennedy, who ran for president as an independent, endorsed Trump for president. RFK JR. WANTS TO CLEAR OUT ‘ENTIRE DEPARTMENTS’ IN THE FDA: ‘THEY HAVE TO GO’ The letter cites Kennedy’s opposition to widely-accepted public health interventions, including vaccination and the fluoridation of drinking water, to suggest his confirmation could lead to public harm. The Nobel Laureates also allude to his rejection of scientific evidence that shows H.I.V. causes AIDS. Additionally, the Nobel Laureates call Kennedy a “belligerent critic” of the agencies he would oversee as Health Secretary, including the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health. Kennedy has accused the FDA of “corruption” and called for “entire departments” at the agency to be cleared out. He has also called the CDC’s vaccine division a “fascist enterprise” and accused health agencies of being captured by the pharmaceutical industry, according to NBC News. The Nobel Laureates insist the next health secretary “should continue to nurture and improve — not to threaten — these important and highly respected institutions and their employees.” TRUMP TAPS RFK JR. TO LEAD DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. If confirmed, Kennedy would oversee a vast health policy bureaucracy that includes 13 agencies, operates with a $2 trillion budget and administers Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act and other crucial federal health programs. RFK JR. CALLS FOR REMOVAL OF FLUORIDE FROM DRINKING WATER, SPARKING DEBATE The Department of Health and Human Services guides public health policy for disease treatment and prevention; provides grants for medical research and community health programs; assists with child welfare programs, including adoption, foster care, child care and child abuse; develops bioterrorism defense strategies; resettles refugees who seek asylum in the United States and much more. “President Trump has asked me to do three things: 1. Clean up the corruption in our government health agencies. 2. Return those agencies to their rich tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science. 3. Make America Healthy Again by ending the chronic disease epidemic,” Kennedy posted on X after his nomination. Kennedy is not the only recent HHS nominee to face public scrutiny over his apparent lack of health credentials. Conservative groups opposed President Biden’s 2020 nomination of then-California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead the department on grounds that Becerra, a former congressman and lawyer, had no related health experience. The Senate confirmed Becerra 50-49, with the support of all Democrats and just one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
Outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin pushes constitutional amendment for Supreme Court term limits
Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.V., and Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., are proposing a constitutional amendment that would institute a term limit system for future Supreme Court justices. Currently, high court justices do not face constraints on the length of their service. They ” … shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour …” the U.S. Constitution states. The proposed amendment would create 18-year terms, with new terms beginning every two years. But the term limits would only impact justices appointed after ratification — all current justices would still be able to remain on the bench as long as they wish. JOE MANCHIN ISN’T DONE WITH POLITICS, SAYS BOB CUSACK “The proposed amendment would not adjust the tenure of sitting Justices, but rather institute a transition period to maintain regular vacancies as current Justices retire,” a Manchin press release explains. “During that period, 18-year terms will begin every two years, regardless of when a current Justice leaves the bench. Once a current Justice retires, the newly appointed Justice will serve out the remainder of the next open 18-year term. The amendment would not change the overall number of Justices on the Court.” Manchin, a Democrat-turned-independent who has served in the Senate since late 2010, did not seek re-election this year. His current term will end in less than a month. “I’m proud to introduce this legislation with Senator Welch that would establish 18-year term limits for Justices of the United States Supreme Court. The current lifetime appointment structure is broken and fuels polarizing confirmation battles and political posturing that has eroded public confidence in the highest court in our land,” Manchin said, according to the press release. MANCHIN DELIVERS EMOTIONAL FINAL FLOOR SPEECH AS WEST VIRGINIA SENATOR: ‘HONOR OF MY LIFE’ “Our amendment maintains that there shall never be more than nine Justices and would gradually create regular vacancies on the Court, allowing the President to appoint a new Justice every two years with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. I encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join our legislation to help restore faith in our judicial system.” The proposed amendment stipulates that the high court should be comprised of nine justices, a figure which is not currently enshrined in the Constitution. “The Judiciary Act of 1869 fixed the number of Justices at nine and no subsequent change to the number of Justices has occurred,” according to the Supreme Court’s website. FIRST DEM SENATOR CALLS FOR BIDEN TO DROP OUT ‘FOR THE GOOD OF THE COUNTRY’ Three of the current nine members of the Supreme Court were appointed by President-elect Donald Trump during his first term in office, while only one of the current members was appointed by President Joe Biden. “Taking action to restore public trust in our nation’s most powerful Court is as urgent as it is necessary. Setting term limits for Supreme Court Justices will cut down on political gamesmanship, and is commonsense reform supported by a majority of Americans,” Welch noted, according to the press release. “I’m proud to lead this effort with Senator Manchin that will restore Americans’ faith in our judicial system.”
Trump claims GOP ‘very open’ to keeping ‘Dreamers’ in US, takes shot at ‘very difficult’ Dems
President-elect Donald Trump says that he wants to work with Democrats on a “plan” to help illegal immigrants who entered the U.S. as minors and were protected from deportation under an Obama-era order — echoing a similar push he attempted in 2019. Trump was asked in an interview with NBC News on Sunday about “dreamers,” an activist-preferred term for illegal immigrants who arrived as children, and whether they would be included in his plan for mass deportations. “Dreamers are going to come later, and we have to do something about the Dreamers, because these are people that have been brought here at a very young age, and many of these are middle-aged people now, they don’t even speak the language of their country, and yes, we’re going to do something about them,” Trump said. FIREBRAND GOP LAWMAKERS DEMANDS MAYORKAS PRESERVE BORDER CRISIS RECORDS FOR TRUMP ADMIN: ‘UNDO THE DAMAGE DONE’ “I will work with the Democrats on a plan, and if we can come up with a plan, but the Democrats have made it very, very difficult to do anything. Republicans are very open to the Dreamers. The Dreamers, we’re talking many years ago. They were brought into this country many years ago, some of them are no longer young people, and in many cases, they become successful,” Trump continued. “They have great jobs. In some cases, they have small businesses. In some cases, they might have large businesses, and we’re going to have to do something with them.” When asked if he wanted them to be able to stay, he said, “I do. I want to be able to work something out.” “I think we can work with the Democrats and work something out,” he said. Then-President Barack Obama signed the executive order, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), in 2012, which shielded more than 800,000 illegal immigrants from being deported and gave them the ability to work in the U.S. The Trump administration pushed unsuccessfully to end DACA, being blocked by the Supreme Court. It remains before the courts with a lawsuit challenging the legality of the policy under review in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. DEM SENATOR URGES BIDEN TO EXTEND PROTECTIONS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS BEFORE TRUMP ADMIN: ‘NOBODY IS SAFE’ However, as the Trump administration pushed to end DACA, Trump proposed an additional three years of protection for DACA recipients and others in exchange for money to build a wall along the southern border. Democrats rejected that deal as “hostage taking.” Immigration activists have pushed for the passage of the DREAM Act, which has been introduced multiple times. That legislation would go much further than DACA and grant a pathway to citizenship for what advocates estimate to be 2 million illegal immigrants. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS Trump has promised to launch a mass deportation campaign when he enters office in January, where he will also have a Republican House and Senate. Ahead of that, some Democrats have been calling on President Biden to extend existing protections for some illegal immigrants — including DACA recipients. Immigration activists were unimpressed by Trump’s comments. Bruna Sollod, senior political director of United We Dream, said in response to Trump’s comments, “Actions speak louder than words, and Donald Trump’s track record in attacking DACA, fueling depraved disinformation and violence, and scapegoating immigrants extend back to his very first day in office to today.” Sollod said that Trump should “immediately call on his allies in Texas to drop the lawsuit against DACA and stop his mass detention and deportation agenda now.”
How Biden – and Trump – helped make the pardon go haywire
The pardon debate – individual, group, partisan, preemptive – is spinning out of control. In his “Meet the Press” interview, Donald Trump mocked Joe Biden’s repeated assurances about Hunter: “‘I’m not going to give my son a pardon. I will not under any circumstances give him a pardon.’ I watch this and I always knew he was going to give him a pardon.” In a portion of that interview that did not air but was posted online, the president-elect complained to Kristen Welker: “The press was obviously unfair to me. The press, no president has ever gotten treated by the press like I was.” BIDEN’S PARDONING OF HUNTER INDICATES HE HAS ‘A LOT MORE TO HIDE’: LARA TRUMP Why did he appear on “Meet the Press”? “You’re very hostile,” Trump said. Her response: “Well, hopefully, you thought it was a fair interview. We covered a lot of policy grounds.” “It’s fair only in that you allowed me to say what I say. But you know, the answers to questions are, you know, pretty nasty. But look, because I’ve seen you interview other people like Biden.” “I’ve never interviewed President Biden,” Welker responded. Trump said he was speaking “metaphorically.” “I’ve seen George Stephanopoulos interview. And he’s a tough interviewer. It’s the softest interview I’ve seen. CNN interview. They give these soft, you know, what’s your favorite ice cream? It’s a whole different deal. I don’t understand why.” The strength of Welker’s approach is that she asked as many as half a dozen follow-ups on major topics, making more news. When she asked, for instance, whether he would actually deport 11 million illegal immigrants, as he’d said constantly on the campaign trail, he answered yes – which for some reason lots of news outlets led with. But a subsequent question got Trump to say he didn’t think the Dreamers should be expelled and would work it out with the Democrats. As for Trump, he reminded me of the candidate I interviewed twice this year. He was sharp and serious, connecting on each pitch, fouling a few off. This was not the candidate talking about sharks at rallies. BIDEN, TRUMP BOTH RIP DOJ AFTER PRESIDENT PARDONS HUNTER With one significant misstep, he made the case that he was not seeking retribution – even backing off a campaign pledge that he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Biden. That misstep, when Trump couldn’t hold back, was in saying of the House Jan. 6 Committee members, including Liz Cheney: “For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail.” He did add the caveat that he would let his attorney general and FBI chief make that decision, but it allowed media outlets to lead with Trump wanting his political opponents behind bars. For what it’s worth, there’s no crime in lawmakers holding hearings, and this business about them withholding information seems like a real stretch. Now back to the pardons. This mushrooming debate was obviously triggered by the president breaking his repeated promise with a sweeping, decade-long pardon of his son, a 54-year-old convicted criminal. But then, as first reported by Politico, we learned that the Biden White House is debating whether to issue a whole bunch of preemptive pardons to people perceived to be potential targets of Trumpian retaliation. But the inconvenient truth is that anyone accepting such a pardon would essentially admit to the appearance of being guilty. That’s why Sen.-elect Adam Schiff says he doesn’t want a pardon and won’t accept one. MEDIA ADMITS THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS TOO ‘WOKE’ AFTER KAMALA HARRIS’ 2024 LOSS But many of those potential recipients don’t even know they’re under consideration for sweeping pardons covering anything they may or may not have done. It is a truly awful idea, and with Biden and Trump both agreeing that DOJ engages in unfair and selective prosecutions – which in the Republican’s case made his numbers go up – the stage is set for endless rounds of payback against each previous administration. I remember first thinking about the unchecked power of presidential pardons when Bill Clinton delivered a last-minute one to ally and super-wealthy Marc Rich. So it’s time to hear from Alexander Hamilton, who pushed it into the Constitution. Keep in mind that in that horse-and-buggy era, there were very few federal offenses because most law enforcement was done by the states. In Federalist 74, published in 1788, Hamilton said a single person was better equipped than an unwieldy group, and such decisions should be broadly applied to help those in need. “In seasons of insurrection or rebellion,” the future Treasury secretary wrote, “there are often critical moments, when a welltimed offer of pardon to the insurgents or rebels may restore the tranquillity of the commonwealth.” SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIES Otherwise, it might be too late. But another founding father, George Mason, opposed him, saying a president “may frequently pardon crimes which were advised by himself. It may happen, at some future day, that he will establish a monarchy, and destroy the republic. If he has the power of granting pardons before indictment, or conviction, may he not stop inquiry and prevent detection?” An excellent argument, but Hamilton won out. As Hamilton envisioned, George Washington, in 1794, granted clemency to leaders of the Whiskey Rebellion to calm a fraught situation. Something tells me that Biden, Trump and their allies aren’t poring over the Federalist papers. But it’s still an awful lot of sweeping power to place in the hands of one chief executive, for which the only remedy is impeachment.
Trump FBI director pick Kash Patel ‘instrumental in unraveling’ Russia collusion hoax, former chair says
Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI director, was the chief investigator in the congressional probe into alleged Trump-Russia collusion, uncovering government surveillance abuse that led to the appointment of two special counsels: one who determined there was no such collusion and another who determined the entire premise of the FBI’s original investigation was bogus. Patel served as senior counsel and a national security adviser on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) for then-Chair Rep. Devin Nunes. DURHAM FINDS DOJ, FBI ‘FAILED TO UPHOLD’ MISSION OF ‘STRICT FIDELITY TO THE LAW’ IN TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE “Kash was instrumental in unraveling the Russia collusion hoax and finding evidence of government malfeasance despite constant attempts by the FBI and DOJ to stonewall our investigation,” Nunes, who now chiefs Trump’s Truth Social site, told Fox News Digital. In July 2016, during the 2016 election cycle, the FBI launched an investigation into whether the Trump campaign was colluding with Russia to influence the outcome of the election. That investigation, inside the bureau, was known as “Crossfire Hurricane.” By January 2017, then-FBI Director James Comey had notified Trump of a dossier, known as the Steele dossier, that contained salacious and unverified allegations about Trump’s purported coordination with the Russian government, a key document prompting the opening of the probe. The dossier was authored by Christopher Steele, an ex-British intelligence officer, and commissioned by Fusion GPS. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign hired Fusion GPS during the 2016 election cycle. HOUSE INTEL TRANSCRIPTS SHOW TOP OBAMA OFFICIALS HAD NO ‘EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE’ OF TRUMP-RUSSIA COLLUSION It eventually was determined that the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee funded the dossier through the law firm Perkins Coie. Trump fired Comey in May 2017. Days later, Robert Mueller was appointed as special counsel to take over the “Crossfire Hurricane” probe and investigate whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election cycle. While Mueller investigated, the HPSCI opened its own investigation into alleged Trump-Russia collusion. Patel, as chief investigator for Nunes, by February 2018 had discovered widespread government surveillance abuse, including improper surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. FBI IGNORED ‘CLEAR WARNING SIGN’ OF CLINTON-LED EFFORT TO ‘MANIPULATE’ BUREAU FOR ‘POLITICAL PURPOSES’ “While most members of Congress were ready to ignore the unprecedented civil rights abuses against the Trump campaign and myself, Kash Patel’s training as a top public defender made him the perfect advocate for exposing one of the greatest election interference scandals of all time,” Page told Fox News Digital. Patel was an integral part of the creation of a memo released by then-Chair Nunes in February 2018, which detailed the DOJ’s and FBI’s surveillance of Page under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Nunes and Patel revealed that the infamous anti-Trump dossier funded by Democrats “formed an essential part” of the application to spy on Page. DECLASSIFIED TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE DOCUMENTS: WHAT TO KNOW The memo referred to closed-door testimony from former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who said that “no surveillance warrant would have been sought” from the FISA court “without the Steele dossier information.” But when applying for the FISA warrant, the FBI omitted the origins of the dossier, specifically its funding from Clinton, who was Trump’s 2016 presidential opponent. The memo also said Steele, who worked as an FBI informant, was eventually cut off from the bureau for what the FBI described as the most serious of violations, “an unauthorized disclosure to the media of his relationship with the FBI.” FLASHBACK: DNI DECLASSIFIES BRENNAN NOTES, CIA MEMO ON HILLARY CLINTON ‘STIRRING UP’ SCANDAL BETWEEN TRUMP, RUSSIA The memo noted that the FBI and DOJ obtained “one initial FISA warrant” targeting Page and three FISA renewals from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The statute required that every 90 days a FISA order on an American citizen “must be reviewed.” The memo revealed that Comey signed three FISA applications for Page, while McCabe, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and former Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente signed at least one. The memo was widely criticized by Democrats but was ultimately correct. The Justice Department inspector general, Michael Horowitz, reviewed the memo and confirmed the dossier served as the basis for the controversial FISA warrants obtained against Page. HERE’S WHAT KASH PATEL’S FORMER COLLEAGUES ARE SAYING ABOUT HIM “The feds spied on Kash during the probe and ran information warfare against him, but Kash helped expose them anyway,” Nunes told Fox News Digital. Nunes was referring to the Justice Department in November 2017 using grand jury subpoenas to secretly obtain the personal email and phone data for Patel and another Nunes staffer on the HPSCI as they were investigating FBI abuse and the Russia probe. DURHAM TESTIFIES FBI IGNORED HILLARY CLINTON PLAN TO LINK TRUMP TO RUSSIA House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, wrote a letter to now-FBI Director Christopher Wray last year to investigate the improper surveillance of Patel. Meanwhile, Mueller completed his investigation in April 2019, which yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the 2016 election. Weeks later, then-Attorney General Bill Barr tapped then-U.S. Attorney for Connecticut John Durham to serve as special counsel to investigate the origins of the FBI’s original Trump-Russia probe. Durham in his report said the Justice Department and FBI “failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law” when it launched its original Trump-Russia probe. He also said in his report that the FBI “failed to act” on a “clear warning sign” that the bureau was the “target” of a Clinton-led effort to “manipulate or influence the law enforcement process for political purposes” ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Durham was referring to intelligence on a plan stirred up by Clinton’s presidential campaign in July 2016 to tie Trump to Russia in an effort to distract from the investigation into her use of a private email server and mishandling of classified information.
DNC fundraiser takes aim at ‘vindictive’ torrent of criticism over Hegseth comments
Prominent Democratic National Committee (DNC) powerhouse Lindy Li is facing fierce backlash from members of her own party after she expressed support for President-elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary nominee, Pete Hegseth. She said her position touched off a level of intraparty vitriol that took her off guard, to the point where some are calling for her to leave the Democratic Party altogether. Li, a Democrat strategist, served as both a surrogate for Vice President Harris and a member of the DNC’s national fundraising committee, a membership for which she noted requires raising “millions of dollars” on behalf of Democrat candidates. She also appeared nearly every day on the air to stump for Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign. Li said that what’s happening to her underscores the party’s broader posture of finger-pointing and internal blame even after its wide election losses. So, it was in this context that she appeared on NewsNation’s “Morning in America” show over the weekend and offered what she described as “restrained support” for Hegseth, Li told Fox News Digital on Monday. The two share Princeton University as their alma mater and both appeared at the same time on “Fox & Friends” this fall. Asked about his nomination on Sunday, Li told host Markie Martin, “I actually think he’s a pretty good guy.” “Maybe you’re looking for someone to oppose the nomination, but I actually have personal interactions with [Hegseth],” she said, adding that, “because I’ve been on Fox and Friends – I’ve met Pete, he’s my fellow Princetonian.” Li repeatedly declined to answer questions about Hegseth’s path to confirmation amid allegations of alcohol abuse and sexual misconduct. Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing. Still, the torrent of criticism continued, ranging from party leaders to public voices within the party who urged her on social media and in text messages reviewed by Fox News Digital to resign or be “fired,” to which Li scoffed because she, in her current capacity, is not on any DNC payroll. (As a Democrat strategist and fundraiser, she has raised millions of dollars for both President Biden and Harris in their respective presidential campaigns, and she appeared on TV countless times. Her family has also donated buildings, including a Philadelphia-area church.) Still, Li said, the criticism caused her to question, to some degree, her allegiance to the very party for which she’s raised millions of dollars during the 2024 election cycle alone. “I’m not just some random donor. I am one of the biggest, if not the biggest, Asian-American fundraiser on the Democratic side,” she said. TRUMP TRANSITION SIGNS AGREEMENT FOR FBI BACKGROUND CHECKS Instead, Li said she sees the fallout over the fairly innocuous comment as a “microcosm of what is wrong with the Democratic Party” by “permitting no dissent, no criticism.” She said this bolsters the contention held by certain factions within the Democratic Party: the leadership has learned the wrong lessons after their losses in the 2024 House, Senate and presidential races. Instead of engaging in an open dialogue with the public about their missteps, they have become more resolute on intraparty blame and finger-pointing. Li described a “vindictive” effort by some leadership to discount her support and the millions she has raised on behalf of their party. She also took aim at some Democrat leaders’ decisions to reinforce the idea of identity politics, a strategy embraced most prominently by outgoing Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison. Harrison, whose leadership role ends in February, has sharply dismissed critics within the party who have urged them to take a different path forward after their resounding losses in 2024. He also used a speech last week to push back on the notion that Democrats need to abandon “identity politics,” despite criticism that embracing these issues may have prompted their losses in key swing states. Li said she and others think that’s part of the problem. “Harrison is asking us to double down on identity politics. And I think that’s a counterproductive strategy,” Li said in the interview. SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH REQUIRED TO SUBMIT TRUMP FINDINGS TO DOJ BEFORE LEAVING. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? “It’s just insane,” she said. “If you want an explanation for why they lost, this is it,” Li added, taking aim at what she described as the Democratic Party’s “purity tests” and the “purging” of Democrats regarded as out of step or failing to toe the party line. In the meantime, Li said she is not facing a shortage of options as she weighs what a future role in the Democratic Party could look like, or if she even wants to stay with it. “I think I’m too big to fully exile from the party,” Li said of her contributions to the DNC. “The leadership knows that.” “People on Trump’s team have already reached out to me to see if I’d be willing to switch,” Li added. “So, I’m not an orphan, you know? And I know people are actively trying to recruit me.”
Gov. Phil Murphy signs law prohibiting book bans, making New Jersey the latest state to do so
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, signed a bill into law on Monday to prohibit public libraries and school libraries from banning books in the state. The law will also implement protections for librarians who follow the law against civil and criminal charges, according to The Associated Press. This makes New Jersey the latest state to enact a law prohibiting book bans, joining other Democrat-led states, including Illinois and Minnesota. Murphy signed the bill at Princeton’s public library, located near Princeton University. The legislation comes in response to Republican-leaning states that have looked to remove books in recent years from school curriculum and school libraries that they deem inappropriate for young children, such as books containing sexually explicit material or that center on LGBTQ+ or Critical Race Theory. SUPREME COURT REJECTS BOSTON PARENTS’ APPEAL CLAIMING RACIAL BIAS IN AN ADMISSIONS POLICY “It’s the antithesis of all these book banning states that you see,” the governor said. “I’m incredibly proud to have signed it, but also acknowledge that America — and this is yet another good example — is becoming a patchwork quilt country. It really matters where you live.” Under the law, public libraries and school libraries may not exclude books because of the origin, background or views of the material or of its authors. Libraries will also be prohibited from censoring books solely because a person finds them offensive. The bill allows books to be restricted in the case of “developmentally inappropriate material” for certain age groups. The law also requires local school boards and the governing bodies of public libraries to establish policies for book curation and the removal of library materials, including a way to address concerns over certain titles. Lawmakers in more than 15 states have proposed bills this year to impose harsh penalties on libraries or librarians. SCHOOL DISTRICT MIRED IN TRANSGENDER ATHLETE CONTROVERSY TELLS CRITICS TO BLAME LAWMAKERS IN CA AND DC Conservative parents and activists argue that the books are too sexually explicit or otherwise inappropriate, particularly for younger children. National groups such as Moms for Liberty have said parents should have more of a say over which books ought to be available to their children. Librarians praised the enactment of New Jersey’s law, with Karen Grant, president of the New Jersey Association of School Librarians, saying the bill recognizes librarians’ professionalism and promotes libraries as a source of information. “The bill will protect the intellectual freedom of students as well as acknowledge that school libraries are centers for voluntary inquiry, fostering students’ growth and development,” Grant said. Retired librarian Martha Hickson spoke on Monday alongside the governor about how parents first suggested her book collections contained pedophilia and pornography during a school board meeting in 2021. She watched the livestream in shock as they objected to the availability of the novel “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison, which contains graphic descriptions of sex between men and children, and the illustrated memoir “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe. Hickson, who said parents suggested she should be criminally liable for the availability of the books, said Monday that it was time to celebrate after three years of harassment. “I’m thrilled,” she said. “After more than three years of harassment, this legislation is a relief to readers and librarians.” The law is set to take effect in a year, although the state education commissioner and state librarian may begin taking steps to implement the law. The Associated Press contributed to this report.