Montana Supreme Court blocks ban on transgender surgeries, prompting outcry from GOP lawmaker, supporters
A Montana law banning transgender surgeries for minors will remain temporarily blocked following a state Supreme Court ruling that a Republican lawmaker is calling an “egregious example of hyperpartisanship.” The justices sided with a lower court judge who found that the law — which sought to prohibit the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgical treatments for gender dysphoria — likely violates Montana’s constitutional right to privacy. Republican Sen. John Fuller, who sponsored the bill before it was signed into law by Gov. Greg Gianforte in April 2023, told The Associated Press that the decision on Wednesday “is an egregious example of the hyperpartisanship of the Montana Supreme Court.” He criticized the courts for upholding the “ability to sterilize and mutilate children” and denying protection to children “from unscientific and experimental drugs and operations that have grown increasingly evident as a danger to children.” SUPREME COURT TO WEIGH STATE BAN ON TRANSGENDER ‘MEDICAL TREATMENTS’ FOR MINORS The ruling came on the same day the United Kingdom announced that “existing emergency measures banning the sale and supply of puberty-suppressing hormones will be made indefinite, following official advice from medical experts.” “Children’s healthcare must always be evidence-led. The independent expert Commission on Human Medicines found that the current prescribing and care pathway for gender dysphoria and incongruence presents an unacceptable safety risk for children and young people,” Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said in a statement. In Montana’s case, transgender youth argued the law would ban them from continuing to receive gender-affirming medical care, violating their constitutional rights to equal protection, the right to seek health care and the right to dignity. The state Supreme Court upheld the injunction based on the right to privacy, which court rulings have said includes the right to make personal medical decisions free from government interference. Montana is one of at least 26 states that have passed bans on gender-affirming medical care for minors and most face lawsuits. Some bans have been temporarily blocked by courts, while others have been allowed to take effect. Fifteen states have enacted protections for gender-affirming medical care for minors. “Today’s ruling permits our clients to breathe a sigh of relief,” Akilah Deernose, the executive director of the ACLU of Montana, said in a statement. “But the fight for trans rights is far from over. We will continue to push for the right of all Montanans, including those who are transgender, to be themselves and live their lives free of intrusive government interference.” INCOMING REPUBLICAN SENATOR REVEALS HOW HE WILL ‘STRAP ROCKET-BOOSTERS’ TO TRUMP’S AGENDA IN NEW CONGRESS The case against the Montana law now goes to trial before District Court Judge Jason Marks, with the state attorney general’s office telling the AP it looks forward to defending the law. “In upholding the district court’s flawed decision to temporarily block a duly enacted law, the Supreme Court put the wellbeing of children — who have yet to reach puberty — at risk by allowing experimental treatments that could leave them to deal with serious and irreversible consequences for the rest of their lives to continue,” spokesperson Chase Scheuer said to the news agency. In a majority opinion, Justice Beth Baker wrote that the law, titled Senate Bill 99, blocks “lawful medications and procedures administered by competent and licensed health care providers,” according to The Washington Examiner. “SB 99 affords no room for decision-making by a patient in consultation with their doctors and parents,” she reportedly added. “The statute is a complete ban, prohibiting individualized care tailored to the needs of each patient based on the exercise of professional medical judgment and informed consent.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.
GOP Sen. Murkowski says she’s ‘not attached to’ GOP label, but is ‘still a Republican’
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, indicated that she’s not wedded to the Republican label, but noted that she has never abandoned it. Murkowski, who made the remarks at a conference for the No Labels group, claimed that she’s “more of a Ronald Reagan … Republican than I am a Trump Republican. And … some would say, well you’re not really a Republican at all,” she noted. But the senator said “you can call me whatever you want … I’m not attached to a label. I’d rather be that no label.” Murkowski said she’d prefer being known as someone who seeks to “do right by this state and the people that I serve regardless of party.” ANTI-TRUMP GOP ALASKA SENATOR DOESN’T SHOOT DOWN NOTION OF BECOMING INDEPENDENT “In fact, I think I am more comfortable with that identity,” she noted, than with an “identity … as a Republican, as a party person.” But later during her remarks, Murkwoski noted that she’s never ditched her GOP label. “I am still a Republican,” she said, noting, “I’ve never shed my party label.” DESANTIS WELCOMES FLORIDA STATE LAWMAKER TO REPUBLICAN PARTY AS SHE DITCHES DEMOCRATS President-elect Donald Trump urged a crowd in Alaska in 2022 to “dump the horrific RINO senator Lisa Murkowski,” using the acronym that stands for Republican in name only. In late 2002, Frank Murkowski, who had just departed the U.S. Senate to serve as governor, appointed his daughter Lisa Murkwoski to fill the Senate vacancy. She has since won election to the Senate multiple times, including in 2022 when she defeated Trump-backed challenger Kelly Tshibaka. TRUMP ENDORSES MURKOWSKI PRIMARY OPPONENT KELLY TSHIBAKA Earlier this year, Murkowski endorsed former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley during the GOP presidential primary.
Biden stirs outrage in Scranton by commuting ‘kids for cash’ judge’s sentence
President Biden has sparked anger among Pennsylvanians after he commuted the sentence of a corrupt judge who was jailed for more than 17 years after he was caught taking kickbacks for sending juveniles to for-profit detention facilities. In what came to be known as the kids-for-cash scandal, former Judge Michael Conahan shut down a county-run juvenile detention center and shared $2.8 million in illegal payments from the builder and co-owner of two for-profit lockups. Another judge, Mark Ciavarella, was also involved in the illicit scheme, the effects of which are still felt today among victims and families. The scandal is considered Pennsylvania’s largest-ever judicial corruption scheme with the state’s supreme court throwing out some 4,000 juvenile convictions involving more than 2,300 kids after the scheme was uncovered. BIDEN COMMUTES 1,500 JAIL SENTENCES, GRANTS PARDONS FOR 39 OTHERS: ‘LARGEST SINGLE-DAY GRANT OF CLEMENCY’ Conahan, 72, pleaded guilty in 2010 to one count of racketeering conspiracy but was released from prison to home confinement in 2020 because of COVID-19 health concerns with six years left in his sentence. But Biden, the so-called favorite son of Scranton, commuted his sentence Thursday as part of the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history in which he commuted jail sentences for nearly 1,500 people and granted 39 pardons. “My Administration will continue reviewing clemency petitions to advance equal justice under the law, promote public safety, support rehabilitation and reentry, and provide meaningful second chances,” Biden said. The decision has raised questions as to why Biden would choose to commute the sentence of a judge who is detested in the area. Fox News has reached out to the White House for comment but has not received a response. Sandy Fonzo, who once confronted Ciavarella outside federal court after her son was placed in juvenile detention and committed suicide, said that the president’s actions were an “injustice” and “deeply painful.” “I am shocked and I am hurt,” Fonzo said in a statement, per The Citizens Voice. “Conahan‘s actions destroyed families, including mine, and my son’s death is a tragic reminder of the consequences of his abuse of power. This pardon feels like an injustice for all of us who still suffer. Right now I am processing and doing the best I can to cope with the pain that this has brought back.” The scheme began in 2002 when Conahan shut down the state juvenile detention center and used money from the Luzerne County budget to fund a multimillion-dollar lease for the private facilities. WHO ELSE MIGHT BIDEN PARDON AFTER HE SPARED HUNTER FROM SENTENCING? Ciavarella, who presided over juvenile court, pushed a zero-tolerance policy that guaranteed large numbers of kids would be sent to PA Child Care and its sister facility, Western PA Child Care. Ciavarella ordered children as young as 8 to detention, many of them first-time offenders deemed delinquent for petty theft, jaywalking, truancy, smoking on school grounds and other minor infractions. The judge often ordered youths he had found delinquent to be immediately shackled, handcuffed and taken away without giving them a chance to put up a defense or even say goodbye to their families. In 2022, both Conahan and Ciavarella were ordered to pay more than $200 million to nearly 300 people they victimized, although it’s unlikely the now-adult victims will see even a fraction of the damages award. During the case, one victim described how he shook uncontrollably during a routine traffic stop — a consequence of the traumatizing impact of his childhood detention — and had to show his mental health records in court to “explain why my behavior was so erratic.” Several of the childhood victims who were part of the lawsuit when it began in 2009 have since died from overdoses or suicide, prosecutors said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The scheme, per The Citizens Voice, involved former Pennsylvania attorney Robert Powell paying Ciavarella and Conahan $770,000, who in turn funneled juvenile defendants to two private, for-profit detention centers Powell partly owned. Powell served an 18-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to felony counts of failing to report a felony and being an accessory to a conspiracy. Real estate developer Robert K. Mericle paid the judges $2.1 million and was later charged with failing to disclose to investigators and a grand jury that he knew the judges were defrauding the government. Mericle served one year in federal prison, per The Citizens Voice. Ciavarella is serving a 28-year prison sentence on honest services mail fraud charges, per the publication. Fox News’ Matt Finn and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
White House says to ‘expect more’ climate funding before President Biden leaves office
The Biden administration is seeking to rapidly disperse climate funds to cement the president’s green energy agenda before President-elect Donald Trump assumes the Oval Office in January. In a memo released by the White House, Jeff Zients, White House Chief of Staff, said that the administration is going to “sprint to the finish line and get as much done as possible for the American people” in the remaining weeks of President Joe Biden’s term. The top Biden official said that they plan to “obligate as much funding as possible before the end of the term,” including dishing out unspent funds from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to support climate-related projects. The White House also said that Americans can “expect more action” on funding from the IRA – the Democrats’ climate legislation. BIDEN ADMIN REPORT COULD SLOW TRUMP’S EFFORTS TO UNLEASH DOMESTIC NATURAL GAS, EXPERTS SAY Trump has suggested that he would “undo” the IRA when he becomes president, legislation he has described as the “greatest scam in history.” Though some House Republicans, who secured a majority in the chamber in the next Congress, have also signaled support for reworking the climate bill, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told CNBC that “you’ve got to use a scalpel and not a sledgehammer” on the legislation. It’s unlikely, however, that the IRA would be completely overturned, given that nearly all the funds have already been awarded. TRUMP TO INSTALL ‘ENERGY CZAR’ TO DISMANTLE BIDEN CLIMATE RULES: REPORT White House spokesperson Andrew Bates warned against Republicans and the incoming administration attempting to undo Biden’s agenda. “Repealing President Biden’s signature laws would be an historic redistribution of wealth from working Americans to Big Pharma and China,” Bates said in a memo first obtained by NBC News, adding that despite potential pushback, projects under the IRA “have been locked-in.” Bates also suggested that Republican districts are benefiting from the IRA. “That includes the creation of over 330,000 clean energy jobs — disproportionately in House districts represented by Republicans,” Bates wrote. “Because of the Inflation Reduction Act, we’ve already saved more than 3.4 million Americans $8.4 million on clean energy upgrades to their homes, and more than 300,000 Americans have saved over $2 billion upfront on [electric vehicle] purchases.”
Trump’s pledge against ‘forever wars’ could be tested with Syria in hands of jihadist factions
President-elect Donald Trump is gearing up for his second White House term just weeks after the abrupt toppling of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria— a pivotal moment that could test Trump’s long-held promises to end U.S. involvement in so-called “forever wars” in the Middle East or putting more American boots on the ground in these countries. With roughly six weeks to go before he takes office, Trump does not appear to be backing down on his promises of pursuing a foreign policy agenda directed toward prioritizing issues at home and avoiding entanglements overseas. However, Trump’s promises about ending U.S. military commitments abroad could be tested in Syria, where conditions in the country are now vastly different from Trump’s first term — creating a government seen as ripe for exploitation by other foreign powers, including governments or terrorist groups. US OIL AND GAS PRODUCERS PRESSURE HOUSE TO PASS PIVOTAL PERMITTING BILL AND GET AMERICA ‘BACK ON TRACK’ “This is not our fight. Let it play out. Do not get involved,” Trump said on Truth Social over the weekend, as rebel-backed fighters advanced into Damascus, forcing Assad to flee to Moscow for safe haven. Trump, for his part, has acknowledged the foreign policy situation he stands to inherit in 2025 could be more complex than he saw in his first term, especially in the Middle East. It “certainly seems like the world is going a little crazy right now,” Trump told leaders earlier this week in Paris, where he attended a grand reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral. Here is a rundown of what Trump did in Syria in 2019 and how his actions could be insufficient today. In Syria, the speed at which rebel forces successfully wrested back control of major cities and forced Assad to flee to Moscow for safe haven took many by surprise, including analysts and diplomats with years of experience in the region. It is currently an “open question” who is currently in charge in Syria, White House National Security communications advisor John Kirby told reporters earlier this week. However, the rebel-led group that ousted Assad is currently designated as a terrorist organization in the U.S., raising fresh uncertainty over whether Trump might see their rise to power as a threat to U.S. national security and whether he might move to position U.S. troops in response. PATEL ‘READY TO SERVE’ AS FBI DIRECTOR, SEEKS ‘SMOOTH TRANSITION’ AFTER WRAY RESIGNATION NEWS The conditions are also ripe for exploration by other governments and adversaries, which could seize on the many power vacuums created by the collapse of Assad’s regime. In the days following Assad’s flight to Moscow, senior Biden administration officials stressed that the U.S. will act only in a supporting capacity, telling reporters, “We are not coming up with a blueprint from Washington for the future of Syria.” “This is written by Syrians. The fall of Assad was delivered by Syrians,” the administration official said. Still, this person added, “I think it’s very clear that the United States can provide a helping hand, and we are very much prepared to do so.” It’s unclear whether Trump will see the situation the same. In October 2019, Trump announced the decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northeastern Syria, news that came under sharp criticism by some diplomats and foreign policy analysts, who cited fears that the decision risked destabilizing one of the only remaining stable parts of Syria and injecting further volatility and uncertainty into the war-torn nation. However, at the time, that part of the country was stable. U.S. troops were stationed there alongside British and French troops, who worked alongside the Syrian Defense Force to protect against a resurgence of Islamic State activity. However, the situation is different now, something that Trump’s team does not appear to be disputing, for its part. Additionally, while seeking the presidency in 2024, Trump continued his “America first” posture that many believe helped him win the election in 2016 — vowing to crack down on border security, job creation, and U.S. oil and gas production, among other things — incoming Trump administration officials have stressed the degree to which they’ve worked alongside the Biden administration to ensure a smooth handover when it comes to geopolitical issues. Unlike his first White House transition, Trump’s preparations for a second presidential term have been remarkably detailed, efficient and policy oriented. That includes announcing nominations for most Cabinet positions and diplomats, and releasing policy blueprints for how the administration plans to govern over the next four years. “For our adversaries out there that think this is a time of opportunity that they can play one administration off the other, they’re wrong, and we… we are hand in glove,” Trump’s pick for national security adviser, Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., told Fox News in an interview following Trump’s election in November. “We are one team with the United States in this transition.”
Dem claims Trump wielding nuclear strike authority ‘should terrify you’ — then people point out the obvious
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., claimed that people should be terrified that President-elect Donald Trump will possess the power to initiate a nuclear attack. In a post on X, Markey noted, “Come January, Donald Trump will have the sole authority to launch a nuclear strike. This should terrify you. That’s why @RepTedLieu and I are urging @POTUS to put guardrails on presidential authority to start nuclear war.” Trump — who trounced Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 White House contest by winning both the Electoral College and the popular vote — previously served as president from early 2017 through early 2021. And during his Oval Office tenure, he never used nuclear weapons. BIDEN ADMIN SETS NEW TARGET TO TRIPLE US NUCLEAR CAPACITY FROM 2020 LEVELS He has also been outspoken about the massive danger posed by nuclear weapons. “To me, we have one really major threat: That’s called nuclear weapons,” Trump said earlier this year. “This isn’t Army tanks going back and forth and shooting at each other. This is obliteration,” he said of the powerful weapons. “We have incredible stuff, so does Russia. China has much less but” will “catch up,” Trump said, calling the issue the “single biggest threat by far to civilization.” Josh Barnett, who lost in a Republican primary for an Arizona state Senate seat earlier this year, responded to Markey’s post by writing, “LOL he had the authority the last four years he was in office.” PUTIN SIGNS REVISED DOCTRINE LOWERING THRESHOLD FOR NUCLEAR RESPONSE IF RUSSIA IS ATTACKED Others made the point as well. “Hey buddy, he was already president once,” Tom Gillis, who describes himself on X as a “Former PGA tour player,” declared in response to the lawmaker’s post. “He had the power before and didn’t use it,” another individual, Shonathan Perrius, tweeted. In a letter to President Joe Biden Markey and Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., declared that during his waning time in office the commander-in-chief could “safeguard the system against Donald Trump or any future unstable president, and make it constitutional. “We urge you to announce that henceforth it will be the policy of the United States that it will not initiate a nuclear first strike without express authorization from Congress. In a situation where the United States has already been attacked with nuclear weapons, the president would retain the option to respond unilaterally,” the two Democrats declared in their letter to the president. US MUST EXPAND NUCLEAR ARSENAL IN FACE OF RUSSIA AND CHINA THREAT, WARNS TOP OBAMA DEFENSE ADVISER The lawmakers have long advocated for the policy shift, repeatedly pushing legislation on the issue. “As the coauthors of the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act — proposed legislation that prohibits any U.S. president from launching a nuclear first strike without prior congressional authorization — we urge you, in your remaining time in office, to change this unconstitutional policy,” they said in their letter to Biden. “We first introduced this act during the Obama administration not as a partisan effort, but to make the larger point that current U.S. policy, which gives the president sole authority to launch nuclear weapons without any input from Congress, is dangerous. As Donald Trump prepares to return to the Oval Office, it is more important than ever to take the power to start a nuclear war out of the hands of a single individual and ensure that Congress’s constitutional role is respected and fulfilled,” Markey and Lieu noted.
Sen. Booker ‘frustrated’ by lack of transparency about drones, says it’s causing ‘misinformation to spread’
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said he is “frustrated” by the government’s lack of transparency surrounding the recent drone sightings in his state and surrounding areas in the mid-Atlantic region. On Capitol Hill on Thursday, the senator said that he has issued a letter asking for more information because Americans should be aware of what is happening in the skies. “I’ve been a little frustrated,” he told reporters. “There hasn’t been enough transparency letting people know what’s happening. It’s allowing a lot of potentially misinformation to spread, or at least fear. We should know what’s going on over our skies.” LEGISLATORS ACROSS POLITICAL SPECTRUM ‘EQUALLY ANGRY’ OVER HANDLING OF DRONE SIGHTINGS: NEW JERSEY LAWMAKER Booker said he has been hearing from his constituents and other elected leaders, all of whom share his concerns about the mysterious drones. “We have agencies and organizations from the government that should be able to provide a lot more information than the public has,” he said, adding that the public should have “good information” on a situation that is “understandably concerning.” The senator also worries that the lack of transparency about the drones could potentially fuel misinformation. “I’ve heard a lot of things about them, and again, I want to make sure that we have all the facts,” he said. NEW JERSEY RESIDENT CAPTURES VIDEO OF SUSPECTED DRONES HOVERING OUTSIDE HER HOME When asked if he thinks the drones should be shot down, Booker had an opinion differing from fellow congressman, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who clearly stated they should be, if necessary. “Safety first. You’re over populous neighborhoods and areas,” Booker said. “I think the most important thing right now is the safety and security of our communities, but we should know what’s going on.” Large drones were first spotted in New Jersey on Nov. 18, the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed earlier this month. The White House said in a daily press briefing on Thursday that a newly-started investigation into the drones has not revealed anything malicious, criminal or threatening to national security, thus far.
Top GOP rebel angles for powerful House leadership-backed committee post
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is putting himself forward as a contender to be the next chair of the House Rules Committee, an influential panel that acts as the last gatekeeper for most bills before they get a House-wide vote. “I will defer to the speaker on that,” Roy said when asked about the chairmanship on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast this week. “Obviously, I have put my name out there.” It would be an astonishing ascent for a lawmaker who has been a vocal critic of House leadership on certain issues, particularly on government spending. More recently, however, the GOP rebel – and current policy chair of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus – has gained a reputation for being a conduit between GOP leaders and the lawmakers usually known for bucking their directives. REPUBLICANS GIVE DETAILS FROM CLOSED-DOOR MEETINGS WITH DOGE’S MUSK, RAMASWAMY Roy got a seat on the House Rules Committee as part of a deal with ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in January 2023 to expand conservative representation – a piece of a wider compromise for McCarthy to win his short-lived House speakership. The Texas Republican was not one of the eight Republicans who later voted to oust McCarthy despite his early criticism – and was even publicly skeptical of his colleagues’ decision to do so. The House Rules Committee is the final stop for bills before a House-wide vote. The committee and its chair are responsible for dictating the terms of debate on a bill and what, if any, amendments will also get a vote. After a bill passes the House Rules Committee, it is then subject to a House-wide “rule vote” to allow for debate on the legislation before a vote on final passage. In his two years on the committee, Roy has voted against several House rules, which could put his hopes for the role in jeopardy. DANIEL PENNY TO BE TAPPED FOR CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL BY HOUSE GOP LAWMAKER He’s scored support from multiple colleagues, however – Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital on Thursday, “He’d be great. I support him 100%.” Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, wrote on X that Roy “will build the conservative coalition in the House needed to support President Trump’s priorities as Rule Committee chairman.” But unlike other committees, whose chairpersons are selected by a wider group of lawmakers, only the House speaker gets a say for the House Rules panel. “I think it’s important to have a rules chairman, whoever that may be, that will support leadership,” one GOP lawmaker granted anonymity to speak freely said about Roy’s bid. “The speaker is going to get his agenda passed one way or the other, and so whoever he appoints to that – that’s going to be the deal. Because he can remove them and then replace them.” MIKE JOHNSON WINS REPUBLICAN SUPPORT TO BE HOUSE SPEAKER AGAIN Another GOP lawmaker said, “He’s one of the brightest and knows procedure, but most won’t trust him in that role.” Rumors are swirling that current House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., is also in contention for the role. Current House Rules Committee Chairman Michael Burgess, R-Texas, is retiring at the end of this year.
Tren de Aragua are ideological terrorists disguised as a street gang warns former military officer
A former high-ranking Venezuelan military officer is sounding the alarm about the migrant gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) being used as a tool of the Venezuelan government to sow violence and discord throughout the United States. Tren de Aragua, which means “Train from Aragua,” is a massive criminal and terrorist organization that originated a decade ago in a Venezuelan prison and is already present in more than 30 major U.S. cities. José Gustavo Arocha, a former lieutenant colonel in the Venezuelan army, told Fox News Digital that socialist Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro is behind much of TdA’s growth and rapid expansion, first in Latin America and now in the U.S. VIOLENT VENEZUELAN GANG TREN DE ARAGUA SPREADS TO ONE OF AMERICA’S MOST REMOTE STATES Arocha fled Venezuela to the United States in 2015 after being imprisoned by the Maduro regime for eight months. Since then, he said the situation has only worsened with Maduro asserting ever more control over the region. This year, Maduro retained control of the country by prevailing in a hotly contested election that was widely believed to be fraudulent. “We have to understand also something of the Tren de Aragua, the TdA. It’s a state-sponsored Maduro regime organization,” he said. “The real boss of the Tren de Aragua is in Caracas, Venezuela. It is the Maduro regime, because they created TdA, and they use the TdA as a blackmail [tool] for any situation.” Arocha said the Maduro dictatorship’s counterintelligence agency – the Directorate of Military Counterintelligence, also known as “DGCIM” – has been using TdA as an asymmetrical warfare tool, giving itself “plausible deniability.” EX-ICE OFFICIAL WARNS TREN DE ARAGUA HAS GROWN FASTER INSIDE US THAN MURDEROUS RIVAL GANG: ‘PUT THEM OUT NOW’ Tren de Aragua first burst onto the scene in the U.S. when several members of the gang violently took control of an apartment building in the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado. Since then, the gang has been responsible for a steady stream of violent attacks and gang-related crimes, including the high-profile murder of nursing student Laken Riley in Georgia. While some media reports have portrayed TdA as a simple gang, Arocha said the group has been trained and enabled by the Venezuelan government and DGCIM to advance a specific agenda and criminal ideology. Even the name “train from Aragua,” he said, evidences the group’s intent to transport its ideology throughout the Western Hemisphere. Arocha said the Venezuelan government has already used TdA to inflict crippling crime waves in surrounding countries, helping to usher in a slate of socialist-friendly governments in Colombia, Peru and Chile. “They want to create all sorts of chaos in countries in order to shape the contours of the borders and also to create a sensation of instability [and] criminality,” he said. “This kind of culture they are exporting outside from Venezuela, first of all [to] Latin America, and right now the U.S.” VENEZUELAN NATIONAL AND TREN DE ARAGUA GANG MEMBER ARRESTED IN TRUMP’S BACKYARD According to Arocha, the Venezuelan government has seized on the historic migrant crisis under the Biden administration as a “big opportunity” to “create roots” in the U.S. The administration further worsened the situation by temporarily lifting key oil sanctions previously in place against Maduro. “Just imagine, there are more or less 8 million Venezuelan migrants. It’s a huge number,” he said. “If you look at that, it’s like a wall where it’s spreading all over the states. And when you take into consideration the bussing of the migrants from Texas to other states, they are spreading like a disease, like a virus, all over the country.” With President-elect Donald Trump soon to replace Biden, Arocha said Trump must put the destruction of Tren de Aragua at the “top” of the list of day-one priorities. While acknowledging that it’s crucial to close the southern border, Arocha said Tren de Aragua will simply return if the U.S. does not “contain” Maduro. “Just imagine that, OK, you take all of Tren de Aragua and send [them] to Venezuela or whatever country. It’s going to come back. That’s not going to finish the disease,” he said. “You have to combat the cause of TdA. The cause of the TdA is the behavior of the Maduro regime that is trying to hurt the American people by using this asymmetrical tool.” “The rule is to not give Maduro the ability to continue in Venezuela,” Arocha said. “What I mean is that if you let Maduro to have oil revenues, have the access to resources, you have to have TdA here in the United States.”
‘Politically motivated’ FBI treated conservatives like domestic terrorists on Wray’s watch: whistleblower
As FBI Director Christopher Wray is slated to resign after seven years of service in his 10-year tenure, questions about the bureau’s “political weaponization” have been reignited, with critics like President-elect Trump citing bias in domestic terrorism and civil rights probes. While Wray, who was appointed by Trump in his first term, has faced scrutiny from conservatives for a kind of political bias in the bureau, FBI whistleblower Kyle Seraphin said the FBI’s shift toward politicized agendas within its field offices began in the post-9/11 era when sweeping reforms and surveillance powers were granted the agency. “What people are seeing is the natural outgrowth of letting FBI agents, or FBI senior management, forecast what they think the crime is going to be in the country, being incentivized to be correct, because they’re going to be paid a monetary bonus at the end of it if they’re right, and then they go out and find that crime,” Seraphin told Fox News Digital. FBI DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER WRAY ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION “And so it looks very politicized,” he added. “But I think that’s actually just a mistake of the correlation. In reality, what’s going on is the FBI is serving the interests of the senior management, which is that they want to get paid, and the easiest way to get paid is to go round up MAGA people, which they fall under this category of … anti-government, anti-authority, violent extremists.” Over the last four years, the FBI has intensified its focus on domestic terrorists and targeting white supremacist activities. Between spring 2020 and September 2021, the FBI’s domestic terrorism caseload more than doubled, rising from approximately 1,000 to around 2,700 investigations, according to the Government Accountability Office. Wray testified in September 2020 that white supremacy is the largest category within domestic terrorism. Over the last four years, the FBI has increased its focus on domestic terrorism, particularly targeting white supremacist activities. The agency’s caseload more than doubled from about 1,000 to 2,700 investigations between spring 2020 and September 2021, according to the Government Accountability Office. FBI Director Christopher Wray testified in September 2020 that white supremacy constitutes the largest domestic terrorism category. Critics, however, have questioned the FBI’s definition of domestic terrorism. Seraphin said a New Mexico field office prioritized “anti-abortion extremists” as the state’s third-highest national security threat. Separately over the summer, a Texas doctor was charged with four felonies for exposing alleged transgender surgeries on children at a hospital. “Everybody assumes that it’s about politics because the FBI has some really politically motivated leads,” Seraphin said. “The current deputy director, Paul Abbate, is very politically motivated, and he’s very hard leading to the left.” Seraphin blamed the FBI’s seemingly political bias on an integrated program management, a McKinsey & Company-designed system rewarding executives with large bonuses for meeting self-set metrics, including domestic extremism and terrorism. In December 2023, the House Judiciary Committee released a report titled “The FBI’s Breach of Religious Freedom: The Weaponization of Law Enforcement Against Catholic Americans.” The report followed Seraphin’s disclosure of an FBI memo labeling certain Catholic Americans as potential violent extremists. GRASSLEY RIPS WRAY’S ‘FAILED’ LEADERSHIP AT FBI WITH 11 PAGES OF EXAMPLES IN BLISTERING ‘NO CONFIDENCE’ LETTER “They use national security words to go after domestic individuals, and they have national security tools to look through your email to grab access to your comms, your phone calls, your text messages, your emails and so on,” Seraphin said. “They have the ability to look into your bank account and check out your financial records. And should they find evidence of a crime that is not related to what they’re searching for, the threat that they’re actually looking for?” “Do we want people to get away with crime? No, but we want the government to be accountable to the freaking Bill of Rights,” Seraphin said. In a December interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Trump said, “I can’t say I’m thrilled with him,” when asked if he would fire Wray upon entering his second non-consecutive presidential term. “He invaded my home,” Trump said, referencing the FBI’s 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. Trump announced at the end of November his nomination of Kash Patel – a Trump ally and previous chief of staff to the secretary of defense – as the next FBI director. Patel has been critical of the FBI’s handling of investigations relating to Trump. Seraphin, who said he has spoken to Patel about the bureau, said he may be “the most qualified” nominee for the role. “He understands what the FBI does to directors in order to maintain their status quo,” Seraphin said. “That makes him a very potentially disruptive force to the status quo. But I actually think he’ll be if he’s able to achieve the things that he said, which is going out there and rooting out the corruption, taking away the political things, making sure that the FBI is subservient to the Constitution.” WHO IS KASH PATEL? TRUMP’S PICK TO LEAD FBI HAS LONG HISTORY VOWING TO BUST UP ‘DEEP STATE’ Wray made his resignation announcement during an FBI virtual town hall from Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, during which thousands of FBI employees across the country were expected to attend online. “After weeks of careful thought, I’ve decided the right thing for the bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then step down,” Wray said during the town hall. “My goal is to keep the focus on our mission: the indispensable work you’re doing on behalf of the American people every day. In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work.” Wray also said his focus is and always has been on the FBI doing what is right. “When you look at where the threats are headed, it’s clear that the importance of our work