Apparent swatting call at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Georgia home leads to deadly car accident
An apparent swatting call at the north Georgia home of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., left a woman dead following a car accident involving local police. Greene took to social media on Monday to report that she was the subject of a bomb threat directed at her home. The congresswoman said the Rome Police Department’s assistant chief received the threat via email, prompting a bomb squad to be dispatched to her home. Greene says that this is not the first time she has been the subject of a swatting call since being elected to Congress, noting that she has been “swatted at least nine times.” A swatting call involves alerting 911 of a false threat to a specific location or person, which invokes a police response and can divert resources from real crimes or threats. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE SAYS SHE WAS ‘SWATTED’ FOR 8TH TIME: ‘IT WAS TERRIFYING’ Greene said the email was traced back to a Russian IP address and her office will be working with local and federal law enforcement, including the FBI, to bring the perpetrator to justice. Rome police reported that during the attempt to respond to Greene’s home, a deadly traffic incident took place involving one of their officers. “On Monday December 9, a Rome Police Department officer was traveling in a personal vehicle en route to take his place with the Bomb Squad on a call. This officer was involved in a traffic accident on Redmond Rd near Walmart which has created significant travel delays around the Norfolk Southern Railroad Tracks.” MTG TO INTRODUCE BILL AIMED AT ‘SWATTERS’ AS RICK SCOTT BECOMES LATEST TARGET Greene said she was “heartsick” over the deadly accident, which she said claimed the life of a woman and injured a police officer. “I’m heartsick right now. I was just informed that an innocent woman died today in an auto accident involving a member of the Rome Police bomb squad who was responding to the threat at my home,” she wrote. “These violent political threats have fatal consequences. It’s an undue strain on our law enforcement who must treat them seriously. The officer was responding to protect my life. And now, a woman has lost her life because of this despicable act,” the post said. “My prayers are with Tammie Pickelsimer, her family, the officer who was injured, and the entire Rome Police Department.” Greene was noticeably outraged throughout her updates, accusing the perpetrator of the call of committing murder. “I’m sick to my stomach, but I’m also angry. This should have never happened and I pray it never happens again,” she said. She went on to thank Rome PD for protecting the city and putting their lives at stake. The cause of the accident is still under investigation. Fox News Digital has reached out to Rome police for comment.
‘Greatest warriors’: Hegseth rails against ‘misconstrued’ narrative that he’s against women in military
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Pentagon, praised women in the military as some of the “greatest warriors” after critics took issue with comments he made about women not being fit to serve in combat roles. “I also want an opportunity here to clarify comments that have been misconstrued, that I somehow don’t support women in the military, some of our greatest warriors, our best warriors out there are women,” he told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Monday. Female service members “love our nation, want to defend that flag, and they do it every single day around the globe. I’m not presuming anything,” he added. “But after President Trump asked me to be his Secretary of Defense, should I get the opportunity to do that, I look forward to being a secretary for all our warriors, men and women, for the amazing contributions they make in our military.” Hegseth will spend this week meeting with senators on Capitol Hill to court the 50 votes he needs to secure the Cabinet level position. AFTER SECOND MEETING WITH HEGSETH, ERNST HINTS AT WHETHER SHE WILL OR WON’T SUPPORT CONFIRMATION In a November 7 episode of the Shawn Ryan podcast, which aired mere days before Hegseth, a former Fox News employee, was tapped to serve as Defense Secretary, the nominee said: “I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles.” Hegseth asserted that women serving in combat roles “hasn’t made us more effective, hasn’t made us more lethal” and “has made fighting more complicated.” Hegseth noted that he was not necessarily advocating for making the change right now, commenting; “Imagine the demagoguery in Washington, D.C., if you were actually making the case for, you know, ‘We should scale back women in combat.’” “As the disclaimer for everybody out there,” he added, “we’ve all served with women and they’re great, it’s just our institutions don’t have to incentivize that in places where … over human history, men are more capable.” TRUMP RALLIES BEHIND HEGSETH BUT INVITES DESANTIS TO ARMY-NAVY GAME He said, “I love women service members who contribute amazingly,” but asserted that “everything about women serving together makes the situation more complicated and complication in combat means casualties are worse.” He also criticized the upper echelons of military leadership for changing standards and prioritizing filling diversity quotas above combat effectiveness. He pointed to a 2015 study by the Marine Corps that found that integrated male-female units did “drastically worse” in terms of combat effectiveness than all-male units. “Between bone density and lung capacity and muscle strength, men and women are just different,” he said. “So, I’m ok with if you maintain the standards just where they are for everybody, and if there’s some, you know, hard-charging female that meets that standard, great, cool, join the infantry battalion. But that is not what’s happened. What has happened is the standards have lowered.”
Hegseth reveals what happened during pivotal confirmation meeting with Ernst
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, celebrated that he had a “great meeting” with Sen. Joni Ernst after the Iowa Republican slow-walked an endorsement of the Cabinet nominee. “It was a great meeting. People don’t really know this. I’ve known Sen. Ernst for over 10 years. I knew her when she was a state senator running to be the first female combat veteran,” Hegseth told Fox News’ Sean Hannity in an exclusive interview Monday evening. “And we supported her in that effort, and have continued to.” “You get into these meetings and you to listen to senators – it’s an amazing advise and consent process — and you hear how thoughtful, serious, substantive they are on these key issues that pertain to our Defense Department,” he continued. “And Joni Ernst is front and center on that. So to able to have phone calls and meetings time and time again to talk over the issues is really, really important. The fact that she’s willing to support me through this process means a lot.” AFTER SECOND MEETING WITH HEGSETH, ERNST HINTS AT WHETHER SHE WILL OR WON’T SUPPORT CONFIRMATION Hegseth has been spending his days on Capitol Hill meeting with Republican senators to rally support as he battles allegations of sexual misconduct, excessive drinking and mismanaging a veterans nonprofit organization. Hegseth has denied the allegations and vowed that he won’t drink “a drop of alcohol” if confirmed to Trump’s cabinet. PETE HEGSETH SAYS HE WILL BE ‘STANDING RIGHT HERE IN THIS FIGHT’ AFTER MEETING WITH SENATORS Among Hegseth’s meetings on Monday, he again met with Ernst, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, after meeting with her last week. Last week, Ernst withheld committing to voting in favor of Hegseth, but hinted Monday that she is beginning to support the Trump nominee. Ernst wrote in a statement Monday that “as I support Pete through this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources.” She added in her statement that “following our encouraging conversations, Pete committed to completing a full audit of the Pentagon and selecting a senior official who will uphold the roles and value of our servicemen and women – based on quality and standards, not quotas – and who will prioritize and strengthen my work to prevent sexual assault within the ranks.” Trump nominated Hegseth, a former National Guard officer, as secretary of defense last month, saying “with Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down.” Hegseth was a host on “Fox & Friends Weekend” before Trump’s nomination. Fox News Digital reported Sunday, following Ernst’s initial hesitation to support Hegseth, that Trump’s allies were expected to ramp up criticisms against her as she stalls on offering support to Trump’s secretary of defense pick. CONSERVATIVE GROUP COMPILES LIST OF ‘WOKE’ SENIOR OFFICERS THEY WANT PETE HEGSETH TO FIRE “It’s really this simple: If you oppose President Trump’s nominees, you oppose the Trump agenda and there will be a political price to pay for that. We are well aware that there are certain establishment Senators trying to tank the President’s nominees to make him look weak and damage him politically, and we’re just not going to allow that to happen,” a top Trump ally told Fox News Digital. Hegseth continued in his interview with Hannity that he will also meet with Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, who Hannity identified as a pair of more liberal Republican senators compared to their colleagues. “We will be meeting with Sen. Collins on Wednesday and Sen. Murkowski on Tuesday. And let me tell you, Sean, the founders got this right. This is not a trivial process. This is a real thing: advise and consent of a nominee who the president has chosen. And I’m so grateful that President Trump would have the faith in me to lead the Defense Department, to choose me to do that. But this advise and consent process, meeting with all the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and they all have great questions, and my answers are for them,” Hegseth said. The SecDef nominee also pushed back on claims of impropriety during the interview, arguing “the left is trying to turn this into a trial in the media – show trial – and we’re not going to let that happen.” “I’m going to walk into the door of every one of these senators with just, as an open book, willing to answer their questions, because they deserve answers. … I’ve heard great things about all of these senators and the questions they want to ask, and we look forward to earning these votes. That’s what it’s about, ultimately earning the votes through the committee and through the entire U.S. Senate,” he said. DOZENS OF PROMINENT VETERANS SIGN ONTO LETTER SUPPORTING ‘OUTSTANDING’ HEGSETH NOMINATION AMID CONTROVERSIES Reports surfaced last week alleging Trump had lost faith in his nominee as Democrats slammed the choice and some Republicans, such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, remarked the allegations against Hegseth were “disturbing.” Trump bucked the claims when he doubled down on his support of Hegseth in a Truth Social post on Friday, while Vice President-elect JD Vance also said the Trump team is “not abandoning this nomination.” ”Pete Hegseth is doing very well. His support is strong and deep,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday. “He will be a fantastic, high energy, Secretary of Defense, one who leads with charisma and skill. Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!!!” Fox News Digital’s Cameron Cawthorne and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
Trump nominates Harmeet Dhillon, Mark Paoletta to key posts, backs KC Crosbie for RNC co-chair
President-elect Trump on Sunday nominated Harmeet K. Dhillon as the assistant attorney general for civil rights in the Justice Department. Trump said Dhillon has consistently protected civil liberties throughout her career, including taking on Big Tech for censoring free speech, representing Christians who were not allowed to pray together during the COVID-19 pandemic, and suing corporations who use woke policies to discriminate against their employees. “Harmeet is one of the top election lawyers in the country, fighting to ensure that all, and ONLY, legal votes are counted,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia Law School and clerked in the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.” “Harmeet is a respected member of the Sikh religious community,” he added. “In her new role at the DOJ, Harmeet will be a tireless defender of our Constitutional Rights and will enforce our Civil Rights and Election Laws FAIRLY and FIRMLY.” GET TO KNOW DONALD TRUMP’S CABINET: WHO HAS THE PRESIDENT-ELECT PICKED SO FAR? Trump also wrote in a separate post that Mark Paoletta will return as general counsel of the Office of Management and Budget. In the role, Trump said, Paoletta will work closely with the Department of Government Efficiency to cut the size of “our bloated government bureaucracy and root out wasteful and anti-American spending.” Trump called Paoletta a brilliant and tenacious lawyer, crediting him with working to advance his agenda in the first term, while leading the charge to find funding to build a wall at the southern border. TRUMP NAMES ALINA HABBA AS COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT; REVEALS SEVERAL STATE DEPARTMENT PICKS Mark is a partner at the law firm Shaerr Jaffe LLP and a senior fellow at the Center for Renewing America. “Mark has served as a Chief Counsel for Oversight and Investigations in Congress for a decade and was a key lawyer in the White House Counsel’s Office to confirm Justice Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1991,” Trump wrote. “Mark is a conservative warrior who knows the ‘ins and outs’ of Government – He will help us, Make America Great Again!” And finally, Trump announced that KC Crosbie is running to become the next co-chair of the Republican National Committee to replace Lara Trump. TRUMP NOMINATES FORMER WISCONSIN REP. SEAN DUFFY FOR SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION “Lara, together with Chairman Michael Whatley, transformed the RNC into a lean, focused, and powerful machine that is empowering the MAGA Movement for many years to come,” the president-elect said. “Thank you for your hard work, Lara, in MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” The incoming president also said Crosbie has helped “real” Republicans get elected across the U.S. and would make a tremendous co-chair. “KC will work on continuing to ensure a highly functioning, fiscally responsible, and effective RNC that makes Election Integrity a highest priority,” Trump said. “KC Crosbie has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Co-Chair of the RNC!”
After second meeting with Hegseth, Ernst hints at whether she will or won’t support confirmation
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, the first female combat veteran elected to the Senate and a member of the Armed Services Committee, has signaled toward supporting President-elect Trump’s nominee for defense secretary. After meeting on Monday for a second time with Pete Hegseth, Ernst wrote in a statement that “as I support Pete through this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources.” An Army National Guard officer who deployed to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and who until last month was a longtime Fox News host, Hegseth has been the focus of a slew of reports spotlighting a series of drinking and sexual misconduct allegations. Hegseth has denied allegations that he mistreated women and has vowed that he won’t drink “a drop of alcohol” if confirmed as defense secretary. A separate report showcased allegations Hegseth mismanaged a veterans nonprofit organization that he once led. TRUMP RALLIES BEHIND HEGSETH BUT INVITES DESANTIS TO ARMY-NAVY GAME Ernst, a conservative lawmaker first elected to the Senate in 2014, is considered a pivotal vote in the confirmation battle over Hegseth, who in the past has questioned the role of women in combat. The senator is also a survivor of sexual assault who has a strong legislative record of addressing sexual assault and harassment in the military. She said in her statement that “following our encouraging conversations, Pete committed to completing a full audit of the Pentagon and selecting a senior official who will uphold the roles and value of our servicemen and women – based on quality and standards, not quotas – and who will prioritize and strengthen my work to prevent sexual assault within the ranks.” TRUMP ORBIT RAMPS UP CRITICISM OF ERNST OVER HEGSETH NOMINATION Ernst’s office told Fox News on Monday that “the senator has consistently followed the process, which she has said since the beginning, and doing her job as a United States senator.” After meeting with Hegseth last week, Ernst said in a social media post that she and Trump’s defense secretary nominee had a “frank and thorough” conversation. A day later, when asked in an interview on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” if she wasn’t ready to vote to confirm Hegseth, the senator replied, “I think you are right.” Ahead of his second meeting with the senator, Hegseth told Fox News’ Aishah Hasnie, “I’m really looking forward to meeting with Sen. Ernst. I appreciate her. I respect her background and her service. She’s incredible. And the ongoing conversation has been very fruitful.” Over the past few days, a high-profile Trump ally has threatened to fuel a primary challenge against Ernst when she’s up for re-election in 2026. “This is the red line. This is not a joke. … The funding is already being put together. Donors are calling like crazy. Primaries are going to be launched,” said Charlie Kirk, an influential conservative activist and radio and TV host who co-founded and steers Turning Point USA. GET TO KNOW DONALD TRUMP’S CABINET: WHO HAS THE PRESIDENT-ELECT PICKED SO FAR? Kirk, on his radio program, warned that “if you support the president’s agenda, you’re good. You’re marked safe from a primary. You go up against Pete Hegseth, the president repeatedly, then don’t be surprised, Joni Ernst, if all of a sudden you have a primary challenge in Iowa.” In Iowa, conservative commentator and media personality Steve Deace took to social media and used his radio program to highlight that he would consider launching a primary challenge against Ernst. “Defeating an incumbent US Senator takes high name ID, connections, and funding potential,” Deace wrote. “I’m one of the few people in Iowa with all three.” Deace, who supported Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in this year’s Iowa GOP presidential caucus, said, “I don’t want to be a Senator, but I am willing to primary her for the good of the cause if I’m assured I have Trump’s support going in. Or I am willing to throw my support and network behind someone else President Trump prefers to primary Joni Ernst instead.” Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, a top Trump supporter in the Iowa caucuses, wrote a column on Breitbart urging Hegseth’s confirmation. While she didn’t mention Ernst by name, Bird took aim at “D.C. politicians” who “think they can ignore the voices of their constituents and entertain smears from the same outlets that have pushed out lies for years.” David Kochel, a veteran GOP consultant who was a key strategist and early backer of Ernst during her successful 2014 Senate campaign, told Fox News that “Joni Ernst is doing what the Constitution says what her job is, which is advise and consent.” “I think that everybody should just give her the space to do her job, and making threats to a combat veteran usually doesn’t work out great,” Kochel said. Trump has praised Hegseth in the past few days. “Hegseth is doing very well. His support is strong and deep, much more so than the Fake News,” the president-elect wrote on Friday. But Fox News and other news organizations have reported that Trump is potentially considering nominating DeSantis as defense secretary as a possible replacement should Hegseth’s nomination falter. Ernst’s name has also come up as a possible replacement. But the senator said last week in an interview with RealClearPolitics that “I am not seeking to be secretary of defense.” Fox News’ Chad Pergram, Tyler Olson and Julia Johnson contributed to this report.
GOP senator questions FBI over reported Iranian hack attempt of Trump pick Kash Patel
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., is looking for answers from the FBI after a selection by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the bureau was reportedly targeted by Iranian hackers. “For an Iranian-backed group to have targeted the potential next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is extremely alarming. Also alarming is the speed at which sensitive and potentially classified information about this attack spread to the news media,” the North Carolina senator penned in a Monday letter to FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate. JOHN CORNYN ‘INCLINED’ TO BACK TRUMP FBI PICK KASH PATEL AFTER SENATE MEETING It was reported by several outlets last week that Kash Patel, who Trump has chosen to be his nominee for FBI director in his new administration, was the target of an Iranian hacking attempt. DEMOCRATIC GOVERNORS APPOINT INCOMING CALIFORNIA, NEW JERSEY SENATORS 3 WEEKS EARLY In response to reports of the hack attempt, Trump Transition spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer told Fox News Digital, “Kash Patel was a key part of the first Trump administration’s efforts against the terrorist Iranian regime and will implement President Trump’s policies to protect America from adversaries as the FBI Director.” LARA TRUMP ANNOUNCES SHE IS STEPPING DOWN AS RNC CO-CHAIR AMIDST TALK SHE MAY BE UP FOR FLORIDA SENATE SEAT In his letter, Tillis pointed to various law enforcement sources that apparently communicated with news publications. “As you know, it is imperative that the FBI and other intelligence agencies maintain confidentiality to ensure the American people are safe from enemies at home and abroad. The release of this information raises major national security and personal safety concerns,” he wrote. CONSERVATIVE GROUP COMPILES LIST OF ‘WOKE’ SENIOR OFFICERS THEY WANT PETE HEGSETH TO FIRE The Republican asked Abbate a series of questions, including whether FBI employees shared information about the cyberattack with either media or with third parties that could’ve given it to media. The FBI told Fox News Digital that it received the letter but had no further comment. Patel has been making the rounds on Capitol Hill and meeting with senators as he looks to shore up support before Trump is inaugurated in January.
Fox News Politics: Grassley Rips Wray
Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. What’s happening… -Biden breaks Obama record for filling Federal Registers… -Elon Musk and Ron Paul agree on cutting foreign aid… -Laura Trump resigns from RNC as rumors of a Senate run swirl… Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley doubled down that he believes Christopher Wray has failed his “fundamental duties” as FBI director in a blistering letter expressing he has “no confidence” in Wray’s continued leadership over the agency. “For the good of the country, it’s time for you and your deputy to move on to the next chapter in your lives. I’ve spent my career fighting for transparency, and I’ve always called out those in government who have fought against it,” Grassley wrote in a letter to Wray on Monday morning, referring also to the FBI’s deputy director Paul Abbate. “For the public record, I must do so once again now.” Grassley went on to say he “must express my vote of no confidence in your continued leadership of the FBI. President-elect Trump has already announced his intention to nominate a candidate to replace you, and the Senate will carefully consider that choice. For my part, I’ve also seen enough, and hope your respective successors will learn from these failures,” Grassley, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, continued…Read more ‘GOVT KNOWS BEST’: Biden breaks Obama record for filling Federal Register with most regulations …Read more ‘LEADING BY EXAMPLE’: White House responds to intraparty criticism about Biden’s final days …Read more THWARTING THE ENEMY: Pentagon announces new counter-drone strategy as unmanned attacks on US interests skyrocket …Read more CEDING THE FLOOR: Progressive Dems rage at Biden for giving Trump the spotlight during final weeks in office …Read more ‘HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY’: Biden updates the nation following fall of Syrian Assad regime …Read more ‘SERIOUS AND GROWING THREAT’: Pro-life groups sound off after Trump says he will not restrict abortion pills: ‘Serious and growing threat’ …Read more PRESSURE CAMPAIGN: Elon Musk joins Trump allies in House GOP pressure campaign over social media bill …Read more ‘ASSAULT ON THE RULE OF LAW’: Cheney responds to Trump suggesting jail time for J6 committee members …Read more ‘INTEGRITY CANNOT BE FOLDED’: Hundreds of vets back Tulsi Gabbard for DNI …Read more ROAD TO FBI: John Cornyn ‘inclined’ to back Trump FBI pick Kash Patel after Senate meeting …Read more ‘BIASED,’ ‘WRONG’: Top Dem objects to defense bill banning funds for transgender medical care for minors …Read more BIG APPLE SHOWDOWN: House Dem’s torrent of attacks against own party fuels primary showdown buzz …Read more ‘NOT WRONG’: Elon Musk agrees with Ron Paul’s call to ‘ELIMINATE foreign aid’ …Read more SENATOR TRUMP?: Lara Trump announces she is stepping down as RNC co-chair amidst talk she may be up for Florida Senate seat …Read more EARLY START: Dem senators-elect start weeks in advance by filling vacancies in CA, NJ …Read more ‘SANITY IS RETURNING’: ‘Pansexual and Panromantic Pride Day’ leaves folks looking forward to Trump …Read more BAD FOR BUSINESS: Execs scramble for security after UnitedHealthcare CEO murder: experts …Read more ‘DIPLOMATIC’: Trump’s tariff threats are tools in Trump’s ‘war chest’ to advance U.S. interests …Read more END OF AN ERA: Hunter Biden: A look at how the saga spanning over six years unfolded …Read more WINNING SCENT: Trump releases new fragrances in ad featuring first lady : ‘They represent us WINNING’ …Read more HISTORIC OFFENSIVE: Who is Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the terror leader at the center of Assad’s fall? …Read more WHY TRUMP WON: Donald Trump says this is the reason he won last month’s presidential election …Read more RESISTING THE LAW: Blue state attorney general advises state officials on how to resist ‘draconian’ Trump deportations …Read more ‘DERAILING’ MIGRANT CRIME: Report offers roadmap to defeat Tren de Aragua in US cities …Read more
Here is who is vying for power in Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad
The fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, the culmination of years of civil war, has given way to a power vacuum with different factions protecting their own interests – and vying for power in the Middle Eastern nation. The U.S., worried about the resurgence of an ISIS stronghold, has struck targets associated with the Islamic State in central Syria. Turkey, which controls a zone of Syria on its northern border, has continued to attack U.S.-backed Kurdish forces. Both work with different proxy groups. Here’s a look at the different forces vying for control in the region: HTS was the key faction behind the fall of Damascus and the fleeing of Assad, and now controls the capital city. But the Islamist militant group is far from a U.S. ally – its leader, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, has a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head and has been designated a terrorist since 2013. The group governed just a sliver of northwest Syria in Idlib. ISRAEL DEPLOYS PARATROOPERS TO SYRIA IN ‘DEFENSE ACTIVITIES’ AFTER FALL OF ASSAD The group, founded as an al Qaeda affiliate, still remains largely aligned with al Qaeda but focuses on establishing fundamentalist Islamic rule in Syria rather than a global caliphate. The U.N., U.S. and Turkey all designate HTS as a terrorist organization. The group, in recent years, has worked to soften its image and lobbied to be delisted as a terrorist group, highlighting its government services in Idlib and promising to protect religious and cultural sites, even churches, in Aleppo. Experts believe Turkey, which has long looked to topple Assad, may have been at play in HTS’ offensive. Syria’s forces loyal to Assad have staved off coup attempts since 2011, often through violent crackdowns on protests and rebellion. By 2020, government troops backed by Iran, Russia and Lebanese Hezbollah had pushed rebel forces back to the northwest corner of Syria. In the waning days of November, rebel factions swiftly overpowered government troops, seizing control of Aleppo – a city previously reclaimed by Assad’s forces in 2016. Eight days later, the insurgents successfully captured not only Aleppo, but also Hama, Homs and Damascus. On Monday, HTS granted Assad’s forces “a general amnesty for all military personnel conscripted under compulsory service.” “Their lives are safe and no one may assault them,” the group said in a statement. The SNA is a loosely bound coalition of Turkish-backed forces primarily intent on fighting Kurdish forces. But the coalition, which carries out Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s anti-Assad efforts, was also involved in the fall of Damascus. The groups have – in the past – also battled HTS and other Islamic State terrorists. The SNA coalition believes U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in Syria to be linked to Turkey’s Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a militant group that has launched Kurdish nationalist attacks in Turkey. SDF is a coalition of U.S.-backed Kurdish forces, centered in northeastern Syria. They have long worked alongside the U.S. in battling Islamic State forces in Syria. In addition to fighting the Islamic State, they’ve been fending off attacks from Turkish-backed fighters. US STRIKES DOZENS OF ISIS CAMPS AND OPERATIVES IN SYRIA AMID ASSAD’S DOWNFALL Kurdish forces were not involved in the offensive that toppled Assad, but they hailed the offensive campaign. “In Syria, we are living through historic moments as we witness the fall of the authoritarian regime in Damascus. This change presents an opportunity to build a new Syria based on democracy and justice that guarantees the rights of all Syrians,” said Mazlum Abdi, the commander of the SDF, on Sunday morning. After relatively friendly relations with Syria throughout the early 2000s, Turkey condemned Assad over the violent 2011 crackdown on protesters. While Turkey and the U.S. are allies – bound to protect each other through NATO – they are on opposing sides in Syria, even as both celebrated Assad’s downfall. The Turkish military fired on U.S.-backed forces in Syria over the weekend, where fighting erupted between rebel groups in Manbij, a Kurdish-controlled city near Syria’s border with Turkey. Turkey has long had a goal of pushing the Kurds away from its border, and is looking to use the current turmoil to capture control along the border and decimate the Kurdish population there. Kurdish separatists have fought Turkey for years, looking to carve out their own autonomous nation. Russia has long propped up the Assad regime, and days ago granted the ousted leader asylum. Since 2015, Russia has effectively acted as Assad’s air force, but its capacity to intervene on the dictator’s behalf has diminished since resources were needed for the war with Ukraine. Iran was Assad’s biggest supporter, providing arms and military advice and directing its proxy Lebanese Hezbollah to fight the insurgents. But Hezbollah had to direct its troops back to Lebanon to fight Israel, leaving Assad’s forces in a weakened position. HTS leader al-Golani lamented in a speech on Sunday that Syria had become “a playground for Iranian ambitions.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu credited his forces’ weakening of Hezbollah for playing a key role in the fall of Assad. Israel has consistently launched strikes against Syria with the strategic aim of disrupting the channels Iran uses to supply arms to Hezbollah. After Assad’s fall, Israel, on Sunday, struck Assad’s chemical weapons facilities within Syria, for fear of what hands they may fall into in his absence. Israel also captured control of a buffer zone within the Golan Heights, the first time they’ve captured territory in Syria since the war in 1973. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) moved in on Sunday and told residents to remain in their homes until further notice. They said they needed to capture the territory to ensure border security. They also captured Mount Hermon – the highest point on the border between the two countries and a blind spot in their defenses that Iran had been exploiting to send low-flying drones. Some 900 U.S. troops remain in Syria, where they are partnered with the SDF to fight ISIS. On Sunday, President
Heritage report offers roadmap to defeat Tren de Aragua, the mega-gang taking over US cities
A new report released by the Heritage Foundation offers the first comprehensive English language look at the massive Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) whose cruel exploits in the U.S. have been making national headlines. The verdict? According to the report’s author, Joseph Humire, the threat America faces from Tren de Aragua is much worse than most people think. Titled “Derailing the Tren de Aragua,” the report offers U.S. leaders a starting point to understand the violent criminal organization that it says was “honed and perfected inside Venezuelan prison walls then exported throughout the Western Hemisphere.” Humire told Fox News Digital that he hopes the report will give the incoming Trump administration a starting point on how to respond to and dismantle the TdA before it can continue to grow more roots within U.S. borders. EX-ICE OFFICIAL WARNS TREN DE ARAGUA HAS GROWN FASTER INSIDE US THAN MURDEROUS RIVAL GANG: ‘PUT THEM OUT NOW’ “The TdA is unique among criminal organizations because it has an ideology associated with it,” Humire said in the report. “Now that the TdA is already present in America, to fix this, a proper understanding of the TdA is necessary to detect their motives, tactics, and overall strategy of organized crime.” Humire, who is director of the Center for a Secure and Free Society and a Heritage Foundation fellow, told Fox News Digital that the first thing to understand about Tren de Aragua is that it is much more than a gang. Rather, it is an organized international terrorist effort backed by some of America’s worst enemies to sow chaos and destabilize the U.S. Born from a Venezuelan prison more than a decade ago, Tren de Aragua, which means “Train from Aragua,” burst into the national consciousness in 2023 after reports of members of the group holding an entire apartment building hostage in Aurora, Colorado, a suburb of Denver. Since then, reports of violent crimes by Tren de Aragua members have spread like wildfire, including the high-profile murders of nursing student Laken Riley in Georgia and 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray in Houston. AMERICANS WILL BE ‘TARGETED’ AS TREN DE ARAGUA GANG MEMBERS MULTIPLY ACROSS US, EXPERT WARNS American media coverage and politicians have cast Tren de Aragua as a group of simple thugs and criminals. However, Humire’s report emphasizes that Tren de Aragua is a state-sponsored transnational criminal organization sponsored by and embedded in the Venezuelan socialist government. Rather than working to detect and deter criminals and terror, Humire said that key aspects of the Venezuelan government help facilitate TdA’s operations, not only within Venezuela but throughout the Western Hemisphere. With the backing of the Venezuelan government, he said TdA has an intentional “invasion ideology” that is bent on achieving territorial control of neighborhoods and regions in a matter of weeks rather than the yearslong process taken by most gangs and transnational criminal organizations. ‘SLAP IN THE FACE’: MEDIA, GOVERNMENT DOWNPLAYING VENEZUELAN GANGS, SAYS WOMAN WHO FLED HER COLORADO APARTMENT While many comparisons have been drawn between Tren de Aragua and the El Salvadoran gang La Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13), TdA is expanding much more quickly, which Humire said is likely due to its unique origin and state sponsorship in Venezuela. He also alleged that TdA’s rapid expansion in the United States is a “direct consequence of the Biden–Harris Administration’s failed immigration policies and lack of border enforcement.” The Biden Cuban, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans parole program and the Venezuelan parole program before it have made it so that in many cases Venezuelan migrants are being waved into the country en masse with little to no vetting. Because of these policies, the Venezuelan population in the U.S. has grown by nearly 1 million – 520.8% – becoming the fastest-growing nationality in the U.S. since 2021. The result has been that though TdA is new to the U.S., it now has a presence in more than 30 major U.S. cities and at least 100 federal investigations involving the group are underway, as the report puts it, “catching most of the U.S. law enforcement community by surprise.” COLORADO REPUBLICANS SOUND OFF ON IMPACT OF MIGRANT SURGE ON CITIZENS: ‘THEIR SOULS ARE CRUSHED’ In the first 100 days of his new administration, Humire said Trump should follow the example set by Texas’ efforts to root out the gang by delivering on his promise to launch an “Operation Aurora” to take a “whole-of-government approach” that uses federal resources within the Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the military to complement state-led law enforcement efforts as well as partner with Latin American allies to hit TdA from every angle. “It is believed that the main TdA leaders have not yet arrived in America, meaning time is of the essence to take preventive measures,” says the report. Humire said the Trump Department of Homeland Security should immediately label TdA a transnational terror group and mark Venezuelan migrants as “special interest aliens.” This designation would reverse the Biden administration’s policy of waving in Venezuelan migrants and instead allow U.S. immigration officials to more properly vet Venezuelan migrants. Though this may sound controversial, Humire said it’s something that would not only better protect American citizens in the interior but also legitimize asylum seekers fleeing Venezuela. TEXAS HAS SPENT MILLIONS PLACING RAZOR WIRE ALONG BORDER: IS IT WORKING? “This is really meant to protect the Venezuelan migrants because just because you come from one of those countries,” he said. “Most Venezuelan migrants will actually agree with this because they don’t want to be infiltrated by Tren de Aragua, and all Venezuelan migrants know how brutal and dangerous Tren de Aragua truly is.” Humire said there are already positive signs from the Trump transition that the president-elect is serious about his promise to dismantle TdA. “I think that appointing the border czar so early in the transition process was a clear signal that that’s one of the top, if not the top priority of the new Trump administration,” he said. “And Tom Homan, who was appointed
Elon Musk joins Trump allies in House GOP pressure campaign over social media bill
Allies of President-elect Trump are pressuring House leaders to take up legislation overhauling how social media companies deal with users under 18 – but time is running short with just two weeks left in this congressional term. Elon Musk is among the figures in Trump’s orbit pushing for the legislation, and his company X has been involved in talks on reshaping the bill to alleviate concerns about some provisions. The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) overwhelmingly passed the Senate earlier this year in a 91-3 vote. It hit a snag in the House of Representatives, however, where Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., have both expressed reservations. House leaders were worried the bill would give the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) too much power, and that it could open the door to censorship of certain viewpoints. ELON MUSK AND VIVEK RAMASWAMY AGREE ON ‘NEED TO SCRUTINIZE’ US FUNDING FOR NGOS “When X testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee last January, we committed to working with Congress on child safety legislation. We’ve heard the pleas of parents and youth advocates who seek sensible guardrails across online platforms, and the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) addresses that need. After working with the bill authors, I’m proud to share that we’ve made progress to further protect freedom of speech while maintaining safety for minors online,” Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, wrote on the platform this weekend. “We urge Congress and the House to pass the Kids Online Safety Act this year.” Musk wrote in response, “Protecting kids should always be priority #1.” Donald Trump Jr., also sounded off Sunday, “We can protect free speech and our kids at the same time from Big Tech. It’s time for House Republicans to pass the Kids Online Safety Act ASAP.” “KOSA is the right thing to do to protect our kids from dangerous online content – while still preserving free speech. Let’s pass this commonsense legislation now!” Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump’s former press secretary, also chimed in. The bill’s leaders, Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., thanked Musk and Yaccarino in their own statement. DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKER OPEN TO ‘BIPARTISAN COOPERATION’ IN ELON MUSK’S DOGE PLANS “These changes should eliminate once and for all the false narrative that this bill would be weaponized by unelected bureaucrats to censor Americans,” Blackburn and Blumenthal said. “We appreciate that this endorsement and revised text reflects their publicly stated goal of furthering free speech without fear of censorship. We reiterate X’s call to pass KOSA by the end of the year – it is clear that this legislation has overwhelming support from Congress.” Fox News Digital reached out to both Scalise and Johnson’s offices for comment on the most recent version of the bill and on the Trump allies’ push. When asked last week whether there could be a KOSA vote this month, Scalise told Fox News Radio, “We still are working through some of the problems that give power to, for example, to an unelected bureaucrat who’s under investigation for abuse of power.” Johnson told Punchbowl News in October that some details of the bill were “problematic.” At least one senior House GOP aide who spoke with Fox News Digital is not optimistic that much can be done in the last two weeks Congress has in Washington this year, however. When asked what the odds were of KOSA getting a House-wide vote this month, the aide bluntly responded via text: “0.” GOP SENATOR ANNOUNCES ‘DOGE ACTS’ TO BACK MUSK, RAMASWAMY GOVERNMENT COST-CUTTING OBJECTIVES Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump transition team for comment. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP KOSA is one of the most significant social media safety bills passed by the Senate in years. It would put the onus on social media companies to prevent and mitigate potential harm that could be caused to users under age 17. The bill would also force platforms to block addictive components for minor users and make it easier for minors to protect their information, among other measures. Fox News Radio’s Ryan Schmelz contributed to this report.