Trump says Ric Grenell will be ‘high up’ in administration after report says ex-intel chief will be Iran envoy
President-elect Donald Trump described Richard “Ric” Grenell, his former acting director of National Intelligence, as a “fabulous person” and “A STAR” in response to a news report about him potentially serving as a special envoy for Iran. Reuters reported that Trump is considering appointing Grenell to the position, citing “two people familiar with the transition plans.” “He’s definitely in the running,” a person familiar with deliberations told the outlet under conditions of anonymity. Grenell, however, said the report is “made up.” Trump shared the Reuters report on Truth Social Wednesday night. While he did not confirm or deny the information in the article, he wrote, “Richard Grenell is a fabulous person, A STAR. He will be someplace, high up!” TRUMP ANNOUNCES MORE NOMINATIONS, INCLUDING KARI LAKE AS DIRECTOR OF VOICE OF AMERICA BROADCAST Grenell shared a link to the Reuters article on his X account on Wednesday evening and denied the information presented. “Wrong. Again,” he wrote. “I hope there’s an actual editor somewhere at @Reuters who is doing journalism. This is made up.” Grenell was previously rumored to be a candidate for various spots in Trump’s second term, including Secretary of State before Sen. Marco Rubio was appointed and special envoy for the Russia-Ukraine conflict before retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg was selected. GET TO KNOW TRUMP’S CABINET: WHO HAS BEEN PICKED SO FAR? Whoever is chosen for the Iran position would be responsible for “developing, coordinating, and implementing the State Department’s Iran policy,” per the job description. The person would report directly to Rubio – assuming the Senate approves his nomination. Grenell has been a loyal ally to Trump since his first presidential term and often appeared on the 2024 campaign trail to show his support for the now president-elect. Fox News Digital has reached out to Reuters for comment.
House passes nearly $1 trillion defense spending bill, adding to US debt of $36 trillion
The House voted to pass its yearly defense bill Wednesday, adding about another $1 trillion to the $36 trillion national debt. The 1,800-page bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), details how $895.2 billion allocated toward defense and national security will be spent. On Wednesday, the bill passed 281-140, with 16 Republicans voting no. Only 81 Democrats voted yes, while 124 voted no. The legislation now heads to the Senate for passage before heading to President Biden’s desk for his signature. 124 DEMS OPPOSE HISTORICALLY BIPARTISAN DEFENSE BILL OVER RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSGENDER TREATMENTS FOR MINORS The bill’s passage comes as the U.S. national debt continues to climb at a rapid pace and shows no signs of slowing down. As of Dec. 11, the national debt, which measures what the U.S. owes its creditors, fell to $36,163,442,396,226.61, according to the latest numbers released by the U.S. Treasury Department. The debt represents a decrease of $8.8 billion from the figure released the previous day. By comparison, 40 years ago, the national debt hovered at about $907 billion. PENTAGON ANNOUNCES NEW COUNTER-DRONE STRATEGY AS UNMANNED ATTACKS ON US INTERESTS SKYROCKET The latest findings from the Congressional Budget Office indicate the national debt will grow to an astonishing $54 trillion in the next decade, the result of an aging population and rising federal health care costs. Higher interest rates are also compounding the pain of higher debt. Should that debt materialize, it could risk America’s economic standing in the world. The spike in the national debt follows a burst of spending by President Biden and Democratic lawmakers. As of September 2022, Biden had already approved roughly $4.8 trillion in borrowing, including $1.85 trillion for a COVID relief measure dubbed the American Rescue Plan and $370 billion for the bipartisan infrastructure bill, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), a group that advocates for reducing the deficit. HERE IS WHO IS VYING FOR POWER IN SYRIA AFTER THE FALL OF BASHAR AL-ASSAD While that is about half of the $7.5 trillion that President-elect Trump added to the deficit while he was in office, it’s far more than the $2.5 trillion Trump approved at that same point during his first term. Biden has repeatedly defended the spending by his administration and boasted about cutting the deficit by $1.7 trillion. “I might note parenthetically: In my first two years, I reduced the debt by $1.7 trillion. No president has ever done that,” Biden said recently. That figure, though, refers to a reduction in the national deficit between fiscal years 2020 and 2022. The deficit certainly shrank during that period, though it was largely because emergency measures put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic had expired. Despite adding to the national debt, the NDAA was strongly bipartisan, but some Democratic lawmakers were against the inclusion of a ban on transgender medical treatments for children of military members if such treatment could result in sterilization. The bill also included a 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted service members and a 4.5% increase for others as key to improving the quality of life for those serving in the military. The defense act also includes measures to strengthen deterrence against China and calls for an investment of $15.6 billion to bolster military capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region. The Biden administration had only requested about $10 billion. Fox News’ Eric Revell and Morgan Phillips, as well as The Associated Press, contributed to this report.
Kari Lake nominated as Trump’s pick for director of Voice of America broadcast
President-elect Trump tapped Kari Lake as the next director of the Voice of America, a state-funded U.S. government broadcaster. “I am pleased to announce that Kari Lake will serve as our next Director of the Voice of America. She will be appointed by, and work closely with, our next head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, who I will announce soon, to ensure that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the World FAIRLY and ACCURATELY, unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media,” Trump wrote in a release on Wednesday night. Lake was a longtime Arizona broadcaster who ran unsuccessfully for public office in 2022 and 2024. Voice of America is an influential broadcast channel that serves news, information, and cultural programming through the Internet, mobile and social media, radio, and television. The broadcaster serves in over 40 languages.
Trump announces more nominations, including Kari Lake as director of Voice of America broadcast
President-elect Donald Trump nominated a few more candidates on Wednesday night to serve in various positions during his second term. He tapped Kari Lake as the next director of the Voice of America, a state-funded U.S. government broadcaster. Lake was a longtime Arizona broadcaster who ran unsuccessfully for public office in 2022 and 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Kari Lake will serve as our next Director of the Voice of America. She will be appointed by, and work closely with, our next head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, who I will announce soon, to ensure that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the World FAIRLY and ACCURATELY, unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media,” Trump wrote in a release. Voice of America is an influential broadcast channel that serves news, information, and cultural programming through the Internet, mobile and social media, radio, and television. The broadcaster serves in over 40 languages. TRUMP ANNOUNCES MORE PICKS, NOMINATES KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE TO SERVE AS AMBASSADOR TO GREECE Trump also named Dr. Peter Lamelas, a physician, philanthropist, and businessman, as the next U.S. Ambassador to Argentina. Lamelas immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba and founded MD Now Urgent Care in Florida, the state’s largest urgent care system. “As a child, Peter and his family fled communist Cuba and LEGALLY immigrated to the USA, starting with nothing, and achieving the American Dream,” Trump wrote in the announcement on Truth Social. Lamelas was previously appointed to the Department of Justice’s Medal of Valor Review Board during Trump’s first term and has served as a town commissioner in Manalapan, Florida, and on the state’s Board of Medicine. NEW POLL REVEALS WHAT AMERICANS THINK OF TRUMP’S TRANSITION DECISIONS Also on Wednesday evening, Trump announced Daniel Newlin, a law enforcement veteran, as the next U.S. Ambassador to Colombia. In addition to a 28-year career with the Orange County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office where he worked as a fugitive detective, Newlin is also a business executive and entrepreneur. “With his Law Enforcement expertise enabling him to navigate complex international issues, and his business insights fostering economic partnerships, Newlin stands as a powerful advocate for U.S. interests, and a Champion for strengthening ties, and making a difference in the World,” Trump wrote. The picks announced Wednesday night are the latest in a long string of nominations the president-elect hopes the Senate will approve.
California reparations bills killed as Newsom sought to avoid appearing ‘too progressive’
Reparations activists in California hope their snubbed bills that were shelved in September will be re-introduced by a legislator during the next special session that Gov. Gavin Newsom called in January. “That is one of the primary demands or commands from the community and reparations leaders is for a legislator, it doesn’t even have to be a black legislator, but a legislator to reintroduce those two bills that failed,” California Reparations Task Force Chair Kamilah Moore told Fox News Digital in an interview this week. The bills, SB 1403 and SB 1331, would have established the California American Freedman’s Affairs Agency to oversee reparations programs and create a dedicated fund for implementing reparations policies, respectively. Both were snubbed after backers said the bills would not move forward and be signed by Newsom. PROTESTS ERUPT AT CALIFORNIA STATE CAPITOL AFTER PAIR OF REPARATIONS BILLS SHELVED “I think the reason for Newsom was probably political, like, he didn’t think that these reparations would get so serious so fast,” Moore said. “And then this particular election year when Kamala [Harris] was running for president, and you can’t look too progressive in this political environment we’re in.” The two bills, authored by members of the California Legislative Black Caucus, were pivotal for the reparations task force to carry out its atoning for what supporters said was a legacy of racist policies that drove disparities for Black people, from housing to education to health. The Democrat-led California legislature passed a spate of other bills aimed at remedying past racial injustices, but none of them would provide direct payments to African Americans. “I feel like the caucus and even Newsom were supportive of these bills, and there’s evidence of that. The Black Caucus wrote that letter in June wanting to give $6 million to their friends, the Black freedom Fund, which is problematic,” Moore said. “But the letter also said they wanted to give $6 million to the reparations agency, but then at the last minute, in August, they decided to kill the Reparations Agency Fund bill.” NEWSOM RAILS AGAINST TRUMP’S 25% TARIFF PLAN DURING SOUTHERN BORDER VISIT: ‘IT’S A BETRAYAL’ At the time, then-Sen. Steven Bradford, who is now termed out, said the bills didn’t move forward out of fear they wouldn’t make it past Newsom’s desk. “We’re at the finish line, and we as the Black Caucus owe it to the descendants of chattel slavery, to Black Californians and Black Americans to move this legislation forward,” Bradford said, urging his colleagues to reconsider the bills. When the bills got pulled, a group of protesters were outraged inside the Sacramento Capitol after being promised the bills would receive time. State Republican Assemblyman Bill Essayli accused Democrats in a post on X of going “into hiding” and refusing to bring the bills up for a vote when it came time to pass them despite “promising to pay direct cash reparations to Americans who have been harmed by slavery” for years. Essayli talked to supporters in the Capitol that day and clarified that he did not support California taxpayers paying for the wrongs of slave states but “believed there should be a debate and a recorded vote on the issue.” He then urged the legislature to bring the bills for a floor debate. “I don’t think you can constitutionally justify cash payments based on race,” Essayli told Fox News Digital in an interview this week. “[President-elect] Trump created opportunity zones, which resulted in direct investments into minority communities, so I think there’s other [ways] we can get resources and investments to those who have been harmed by racist policies and slavery long ago.” CALIFORNIA’S UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS SYSTEM ‘BROKEN’ WITH $20B OWED TO FEDS IN LOAN DEBT: REPORT There are two new reparations bills on the California docket that were introduced during the Dec. 2 special session. AB 7, introduced by Democrat Assemblymembers Isaac Bryan and Tina McKinnor, proposes allowing California’s higher education institutions, including the California State University, the University of California, independent colleges and private postsecondary institutions, to consider giving admissions preference to applicants who are descendants of American slavery. AB 57, introduced by McKinnor, seeks to allot a portion of California’s Home Purchase Assistance Program funds for descendants of slaves. Newsom has remained silent on most reparations bills introduced this year but approved a nearly $300 billion budget in June, which included up to $12 million for reparations. The budget did not detail which proposals the funds would support, and his administration has expressed opposition to some of the measures. However, he signed some reparations-related bills, including a “formal apology for California’s historical role in the perpetuation of slavery and its enduring legacy.” “The State of California accepts responsibility for the role we played in promoting, facilitating, and permitting the institution of slavery, as well as its enduring legacy of persistent racial disparities,” Newsom said in a statement in September. “Building on decades of work, California is now taking another important step forward in recognizing the grave injustices of the past – and making amends for the harms caused.” Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Conservatives tout victory after stopping last-minute Schumer push to confirm key agency head: ‘Outstanding’
Republicans and conservatives on social media are taking a victory lap after Senate Democrats failed in a last-minute attempt to keep control of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Wednesday after narrowly losing a vote to end debate on re-appointing the board’s chair, Lauren McFerran. Outgoing Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had hoped to confirm McFerran, a President Biden pick, to a new five-year term that would have given Democrats control of the influential agency until at least 2026, but the vote failed, 50-49, with independent Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona voting against it. The vote, which conservatives had railed against for days by arguing that President-elect Trump should decide the pick after his November election victory, was celebrated by conservatives. “Working Americans just delivered a massive victory for President Trump and his pro-worker polices, so why on earth would we let Biden choose more NLRB nominees?” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital in a statement. “I’m glad we didn’t, and I look forward to working with President Trump to support policies and nominees that are good for working families and all Americans.” PROGRESSIVE DEMS RAGE AT BIDEN FOR GIVING TRUMP THE SPOTLIGHT DURING FINAL WEEKS IN OFFICE “Lauren McFerran’s abysmal record running the Biden-Harris NLRB includes undermining freelancers, crushing businesses of all sizes, and greenlighting vulgar union harassment of American workers,” Tom Hebert, director of competition and regulatory policy for Americans for Tax Reform, told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Chuck Schumer tried to put the Trump-Vance NLRB under Democrat control by sneaking McFerran’s renomination through the Senate, anticipating Republican absences. Fortunately for American workers and businesses, Republicans showed up and blocked Schumer’s scheme, ensuring the Trump-Vance NLRB is controlled by pro-worker Republicans instead of anti-worker Democrats.” BIDEN, DEMOCRATS BACK AWAY FROM BILL THAT WOULD GIVE TRUMP MORE FEDERAL JUDGES TO APPOINT “I am glad the Senate rejected Democrats’ partisan attempt to deny President Trump the opportunity to choose his own NLRB nominees and enact a pro-America, pro-worker agenda with the mandate he has from the American people,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., posted on X. “Outstanding work @SenateGOP and free thinkers @SenatorSinema and @Sen_JoeManchin!” Independent Women’s Voice senior policy analyst Carrie Sheffield posted on X. “Another antagonist of @elonmusk and free speech collapses. Paving the way for @realDonaldTrump to fix harmful policies. Great work.” A point of frustration for Republicans was the fact that Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chair Bernie Sanders denied a request from Cassidy to hold a public hearing on McFerran before advancing her. McFerran’s nomination has been waiting for consideration since August. In 2021, McFerran’s NLRB ordered Tesla to direct Musk to delete a tweet they said was damaging to a unionization effort at Tesla in a move that was eventually overturned by the U.S. Appeals Court. “The current administration is doing everything possible to prevent government efficiency, but @DOGE is inevitable,” Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk posted on X before the vote in response to a post lamenting the Democrat push to advance McFerran. Unlike most similar agencies, members of the NLRB cannot be removed by the president at will simply based on policy goals or changing administrations. “Any member of the Board may be removed by the President, upon notice and hearing, for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office, but for no other cause,” the NLRB website states. In response to the McFerran vote, Democrats pulled the cloture vote for Republican NLRB nominee Joshua Ditelberg, giving Trump the opportunity to fill two seats if nothing changes before inauguration day. Schumer filed cloture on McFerran’s nomination on Monday, setting up a vote on Wednesday. In floor remarks, the New York Democrat did not acknowledge the lame-duck nature of the vote, telling his colleagues, “If you truly care about working families, if you care about fixing income inequality in America, then you should be in favor of advancing today’s NLRB nominees. You can’t say you are for working families, then go and vote ‘no’ today, because the NLRB protects workers from mistreatment on the job and from overreaching employers.” In a statement after the vote, Schumer said, “It is deeply disappointing, a direct attack on working people, and incredibly troubling that this highly qualified nominee – with a proven track record of protecting worker rights – did not have the votes.” Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson contributed to this report.
Garland lauds ‘principled’ Wray for ‘integrity and skill’ after resignation announcement
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland praised FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday as a leader who served the U.S. “honorably and with integrity” for two decades in the hours after Wray announced his plans to step down at the end of Biden’s presidency. In a statement Wednesday, Garland lauded Wray’s multi-decade career as a civil servant and U.S. prosecutor, including as U.S. assistant attorney general and the head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Chris Wray has served our country honorably and with integrity for decades, including for seven years as the Director of the FBI under presidents of both parties,” Garland wrote Wednesday. PATEL ‘READY TO SERVE’ AS FBI DIRECTOR, SEEKS ‘SMOOTH TRANSITION’ AFTER WRAY RESIGNATION NEWS “In a heightened threat environment, Director Wray has worked tirelessly to protect the American people and to lead an agency of 38,000 dedicated public servants, many of whom put their lives on the line every day to serve their communities,” Garland wrote, praising his role in working to fulfill the Justice Department’s mission “to keep our country safe, protect civil rights, and uphold the rule of law.” “He has led the FBI’s efforts to aggressively confront the broad range of threats facing our country — from nation-state adversaries and foreign and domestic terrorism to violent crime, cybercrime, and financial crime,” Garland said. “There are few leadership positions more central to keeping the American people safe than the Director of the FBI.” The statement came shortly after Wray announced his plans to resign at Wednesday’s FBI town hall in Washington, D.C., which was attended by thousands of FBI employees virtually and in person. President-elect Donald Trump announced shortly after his election victory last month his nomination of Kash Patel to succeed Wray, giving Wray the option to either exit on his own or be fired after Trump takes office. Patel told Fox News on Wednesday that he’s seeking a “smooth transition” to replace Wray. “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 told employees 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.” WHO IS KASH PATEL? TRUMP’S PICK TO LEAD FBI HAS LONG HISTORY VOWING TO BUST UP ‘DEEP STATE’ In his statement, Garland emphasized the role the FBI director plays in protecting the agency’s independence from what he described as “inappropriate influence in its criminal investigations. … That independence is central to preserving the rule of law and to protecting the freedoms we as Americans hold dear.” “Director Wray has done that job with integrity and skill,” Garland wrote Wednesday. “He has my gratitude, the gratitude of the FBI agents and employees whose respect and admiration he has earned, and the gratitude of the American people.”
Fox News Politics: Wray Makes Way
Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump transition, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening… -Trump border czar fires back after House Dem promises ‘resistance’ to deportations -New mission for House Republican military veterans: Support Trump defense secretary nominee Hegseth -Red state AG slams Biden admin’s attempt to ‘rewrite’ immigration law: ‘Alice in Wonderland stuff’ FBI Director Christopher Wray announced plans to step down from his post at the end of the Biden administration. Fox News learned just moments before the announcement that Wray would make the announcement during an FBI town hall in Washington, D.C., during which thousands of FBI employees are expected to join virtually across the country. “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.”…Read more PARTING GIFTS: Biden admin extends $10B Iran sanctions waiver 2 days after Trump election win…Read more WIDESPREAD DISAPPROVAL: Biden flip-flop on pardoning son Hunter is wildly unpopular with Americans, poll finds…Read more BIG REPORT DROPS: House small business panel releases year-end report on ‘partisan’ Biden agency electioneering allegations…Read more ‘SORRY’: Outgoing Treasury Sec. Yellen ‘sorry that we haven’t made more progress,’ believes deficit must be decreased…Read more BENCHED: Biden, Democrats back away from bill that would give Trump more federal judges to appoint…Read more FINAL GOODBYES: Biden could pardon these Trump antagonists amid Dem fears that ‘revengeful first year’ is looming…Read more ‘TENS OF BILLIONS’: Mast blasts Blinken over ‘tens of billions’ of US taxpayer dollars sent to Taliban post-Afghanistan withdrawal…Read more MONEY MOVES: Trump Treasury pick reveals whether Fed Chair Powell will finish term…Read more POST-PRESIDECNY SENTENCING?: Bragg pitches post-presidency Trump sentencing in renewed push urging Judge Merchan to keep conviction alive…Read more ‘FUELING OBESITY’: GOP governor calls on incoming Trump officials to ban junk food in food stamps: ‘Make America Healthy Again’…Read more CHIPS DEPLOYED: Top DOGE senator demands answers on plan to exhaust CHIPs Act funds before Trump arrives…Read more COMING BACK?: Former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, convicted of illicit contact with minor, files to run for NYC Council…Read more TIME IS MONEY: House GOP fiscal hawks warn Trump tax cuts in danger of expiring under new Senate-backed plan…Read more HANDICAPPING TRUMP: Manchin, Sinema tank Schumer lame-duck effort to secure Dem majority on top labor board…Read more ‘GOING CRAZY’: Outgoing Rep. Jamaal Bowman issues ‘Dear White People’ thread following Daniel Penny acquittal…Read more ROOTING OUT WOKE: Democrats in a bind over defense bill that bans transgender surgeries for minors but boosts enlisted pay…Read more ‘COMMON GROUND’: Hakeem Jeffries says he’s ‘prepared to find common ground’ with Trump next year…Read more WORKING REMOTE: Nation’s largest labor union for federal employees rebukes GOP’s efforts to end telework…Read more ‘REWARD’: ‘DeSanta Claus’ strikes again: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announces extra days off for state workers…Read more D.A. DOUBLES DOWN: Fani Willis declines to share Jack Smith, Jan. 6 records, citing legal exemptions…Read more FIGHTING BACK: Federal judge who refuses mental evaluation at age 97 fights suspension…Read more E STREET SHUFFLE: Dem NJ gubernatorial candidate cops to faking playlist to feature Bruce Springsteen…Read more ‘WASTING TAXPAYERS’ MONEY’: New Yorkers protest removal of 400 migrants from Albany hotels…Read more Get the latest updates on the Trump presidential transition, incoming Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
Longtime Biden adviser rips ‘rationale’ of Hunter pardon: ‘Attack on our judicial system’
Longtime Biden confidante and former senior adviser Anita Dunn criticized the president’s handling of his son Hunter’s pardon on Wednesday, saying that she disagreed with the “timing” and the “rationale” while describing it as an “attack on our judicial system.” “Had this pardon been done at the end of the term in the context of compassion the way many pardons will be done, I’m sure, and many commutations will be done, I think it would have been a different story,” Dunn told a New York Times panel at the DealBook Summit 2024. “So I will say, I absolutely agree with the president’s decision here, I do not agree with the way it was done, I don’t agree with the timing, and I don’t agree frankly with the attack on our judicial system.” When asked by the moderator to elaborate on her “attack on our judicial system comment,” Dunn said, “I think the president’s statement has to be taken at its face value and clearly, like everyone else in the world, he has the prerogative of changing his mind, and that is indeed what he kind of said and he did there.” BIDEN’S THREE BIGGEST LIES ABOUT HIS FAMILY’S SHADY BUSINESS DEALINGS “I think that from a Democratic Party perspective, from a Democratic perspective, as we were in the midst of the president-elect rolling out his nominees and in particular in the middle of a Kash Patel weekend, kind of throwing this into the middle of it was exceptionally poor timing, and that the argument is one that I think many observers are concerned about a president who ran to restore the rule of law, who has upheld the rule of law, who has really defended the rule of law, kind of saying, ‘well, maybe not right now,’” she said. Dunn, who served as a political strategist and adviser to Biden on his 2020 campaign and a senior adviser in the Biden White House until leaving for the Harris campaign this summer, went on to reiterate that she agrees with the pardon, but disagreed with the “timing,” the “argument” and the “rationale.” ‘MOST DAMNING EVIDENCE’: HUNTER BIDEN’S FULL PARDON RESURFACES DECADE OF CONTROVERSIES, ‘INFLUENCE-PEDDLING’ Fox News Digital reached out to White House but did not immediately receive a response. Dunn added that she was never part of any conversation at the White House about pardoning Hunter besides what to tell the press, which she says was a one-word answer: “No.” Dunn’s comments come as recent polling shows that Biden’s decision to pardon Hunter after previously vowing on several occasions he would not give his son a pass has the approval of only 20% of Americans. Dunn’s comments drew immediate reaction on social media, including from former Jill Biden press secretary Michael LaRose, who posted on X, “Yikes.” President Biden attempted to make the case when he pardoned his son earlier this month that Hunter had been unfairly prosecuted. “Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,” Biden wrote in a statement at the time. “From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.” “Without aggravating factors like use in a crime, multiple purchases, or buying a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form,” Biden added. “Those who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions, but paid them back subsequently with interest and penalties, are typically given non-criminal resolutions. It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.” The president also referenced his son’s battle with addiction and blamed “raw politics” for the unraveling of Hunter’s plea deal. “There has been an effort to break Hunter — who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution,” the 82-year-old father wrote. “In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me — and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.”
Marine critic of Afghan withdrawal to lead rank-and-file enlistees in Senate visits promoting Hegseth
EXCLUSIVE: A Marine lieutenant colonel from Ohio who publicly spoke out against the Afghanistan withdrawal will lead rank-and-file service members door-to-door in the Senate next week in support of defense nominee Pete Hegseth. Stuart Scheller, who was imprisoned in a Jacksonville, N.C., brig for his public criticisms of military brass, told Fox News Digital Wednesday he is organizing enlisted men and women to engage with senators next Wednesday. Scheller stressed that service members who are participating are not prominent fellows at think tanks or in any governmental or related seats of power. “Pete has made public comments that he wants to move to a meritocracy, and he believes that we need more courage in the ranks. So, I’m not saying that I wouldn’t have been reprimanded [if he was secretary],” Scheller said. MCCAUL: SADLY IRONIC THAT MARINE HELD IN BRIG AT LEJEUNE WHILE BIDEN WH LACKS ACCOUNTABILITY “I still think there probably was some reprimand that needed to happen, but it would go across the board. “The difference is, if Pete was the secretary of defense, the general officers would have also been held accountable [for the botched withdrawal], and I would not have had to go to the lengths that I had to go to bring attention to the situation.” Scheller said that, in the last decade or two, the U.S. military is “not winning anything, and we need to turn it into a winning organization.” Scheller said Hegseth has planned to hold accountable Pentagon leaders who have “become stagnant” in the lieutenant colonel’s words. SCHELLER ATTORNEY RIPS ‘PUNITIVE’ GENERALS He also stressed that Hegseth is the first Pentagon nominee in decades who is not from the officer corps or defense contracting firms. Outgoing Secretary Lloyd Austin III is a retired CENTCOM general but also came from the board of Raytheon. “Forty years to become a four-star general really removes you from the forces,” Scheller said of the past several officer-corps secretary choices overall. “Pete’s middle management — a major. I mean, he’s like the perfect guy … and he’s been sitting here talking to veterans when he was developing his book, trying to understand their pulse and the heartbeat. So, that book that he wrote probably prepared him in terms of the current culture and sentiment and frustrations more than any other secretary of defense.” As for his plans for the Hill next week, Scheller said he and fellow service members are focused on those who may appear to be on the fence about Hegseth. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I’m looking for more [of] the right people than the total quantity,” he said. Scheller will also release a video announcing his Wednesday mission. “[Hegseth] is a combat veteran from our generation and … he’s not a puppet for the military industrial complex. He’s not going to end up on one of their boards like every general officer of our generation,” Scheller says in the video. “I’m going to be in Washington, D.C., walking through the halls of the U.S. Senate, talking to all the U.S. senators, advocating for peace.”