Biden’s auto-pen pardons disturbed DOJ brass, docs show, raising questions whether they are legally binding
New documents and communications between Biden White House staff and career officials at the Justice Department prompted scrutiny of the legality of former President Joe Biden’s thousands of last-minute pardons. The Oversight Project shared documents obtained from the Trump DOJ with Fox News Digital showing that a career prosecutor warned Biden’s inner circle that the administration’s pardon process was unorthodox and legally troubling. In the most scrutinized e-mail, then-Assistant Deputy Attorney General Bradley Weinsheimer wrote a group email to several executive office staff members on Jan. 18 asking questions about the more than 2,500 pardons. “[T]he White House has described those who received commutations as people convicted of non-violent drug offenses. I think you should stop saying that because it is untrue or at least misleading,” Weinsheimer said. ‘SHOULD BE PROSECUTED’: HOUSE REPUBLICANS ZERO IN ON BIDEN AUTOPEN PARDONS AFTER BOMBSHELL REPORT “As you know, even with the exceedingly limited review we were permitted to do of the individuals we believed you might be considering for commutation action, we initially identified 19 that were highly problematic,” he continued. He cited convicts Terrence Richardson and Ferrone Claiborne, who were included in the clemency grants, and noted the DOJ received “voluminous” objections from victims’ families and law enforcement as the men had been “sentenced to life imprisonment for drug trafficking offenses during which a police officer was killed.” That, according to Oversight Project vice president Kyle Brosnan, shows DOJ was concerned about the “vague” construct of Biden’s pardons and how they appeared to be “illegally delegated” to staff. They also left the DOJ wondering at times which offenses, for people with multiple convictions, were specifically being expunged. “Later in the email, he was like, ‘Look, I read the statement you put out in the president’s name, saying you’ve released a bunch of non-violent drug offenders. You’ve got murderers on your list today. So I’m trying to figure out what the president wants here for this funky warrant.’” Discussing other documents received, Brosnan and attorney Sam Dewey cited a spreadsheet of convicts with “offenses described to the Department of Justice” for the second of several “collective” or catch-all warrants. NEW FOIA ON MIGRANTS POTENTIALLY AVOIDING THE DRAFT COULD OPEN NEW DEPORTATION PREDICATE: ATTORNEYS “I think it best that we receive a statement or direction from the President as to the meaning of the warrant language,” Weinsheimer wrote to White House staff. “That will allow us to give full effect to the commutation warrant in the manner intended by the president.” There was ultimately no explanation for what the offenses or the proverbial descriptions were, according to the document tranche, Brosnan said, adding that the DOJ official suggested to Biden staff that “you should stop saying [pardonees were mostly ‘nonviolent drug offen[ders]’] because it is untrue or at least misleading.” Brosnan explained that a spreadsheet of convicts, said to be attached to one of the e-mails, came from the U.S. Sentencing Commission – and only the president has the power to grant pardons. Treating it otherwise, he said, would amount to an illegal delegation of presidential authority. BIDEN DEFENDS CONTROVERSIAL AUTOPEN USE FOR MASS CLEMENCY DECISIONS IN NYT INTERVIEW: ‘A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE’ To that end, Brosnan pointed to New York Times interviews with Biden in July, wherein the paper reported, “Mr. Biden did not individually approve each name for the categorical pardons that applied to large numbers of people, he and aides confirmed.” “Rather, after extensive discussion of different possible criteria, he signed off on the standards he wanted to be used to determine which convicts would qualify for a reduction in sentence.” “High-profile” pardon recipients like retired Gen. Mark Milley were discussed directly with aides. “Biden did not pardon individual people, but laid out categories of types of people to release and left it to the staff to figure out who meets that criteria,” Brosnan said, adding that many warrant documents were also found to be auto-penned. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Dewey told Fox News Digital the situation was “worse than that” – because “literally no one,” including DOJ officials, “understands what the [aforementioned pardon] criteria are.” “You generally don’t see people write emails like this,” he said. “This isn’t a ‘CYA’ – this is an ‘I’m going to do a Pontius Pilate routine because this is a drug deal and I want to make very sure it doesn’t come back on me.” The entire situation, Dewey said, also has a precedent for such pardons being considered “invalid” going back to “before we were even a country.” “If the pardon is invalid, it falls, and then you proceed as if there was no pardon.” Biden previously defended his pardons, saying that he wanted to undo “disproportionately long sentences compared to the sentences they would receive today under current law, policy, and practice.” “[This] clemency action provides relief for individuals who received lengthy sentences based on discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine, as well as outdated sentencing enhancements for drug crimes,” Biden said in a statement. “This action is an important step toward righting historic wrongs, correcting sentencing disparities, and providing deserving individuals the opportunity to return to their families and communities after spending far too much time behind bars.” Fox News Digital reached out to DOJ and a representative for Biden for further comment. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Meet Mamdani’s radical advisory circle that includes communist activist, anti-Israel advocates
FOX DIGITAL REVIEW: New York City socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s growing circle of influence is littered with activists who have espoused anti-Israel views and socialist principles as he attempts to dispel the narrative that he is too “radical” to run the nation’s largest city. Mamdani, who has been a fierce critic of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, employs the help of several advisors as part of his “brain trust”, New York Times reported, which includes New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) president Murad Awawdeh, an activist for a group with a long history of seeking to end “state support for detention, deportation, and mass incarceration.” According to Awawdeh, illegal immigrants having access to taxpayer-funded healthcare is a right they “deserve.” “SEEKING ASYLUM AT THE BORDER IS A LEGAL RIGHT,” Awawdeh posted on X in 2022. “ASYLUM SEEKERS ARE FLEEING FOR THEIR LIVES FROM VIOLENCE, PERSECUTION, & IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE. THE U.S. HAS A LEGAL OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE REFUGE.” VULNERABLE DEMOCRATS HAMMERED WITH SCATHING AD HANDCUFFING THEM TO MAMDANI, JEFFRIES NYIC has close ties to and has taken money from the Vera Institute for Justice, a group that received a significant amount of support in the form of contracts from the Biden administration to assist illegal immigrants in avoiding deportations. Additionally, NYIC has taken in $175,000 from the sprawling George Soros nonprofit network. Soros is also tied to another key Mamdani advisor, Patrick Gaspard, who has served in several high-profile political positions, including advising former President Barack Obama’s historic 2008 campaign, serving as the Democratic National Committee’s executive director, and was tapped as the Center for American Progress (CAP) president in 2021. Gaspard, who Fox News Digital previously reported made millions of dollars serving as president of Soros’s Open Society Foundations between 2017 and 2020, has been a staunch defender of Soros, saying earlier this year that he was “inspired by the selection of my friend George Soros, who is one of our leading defenders of inclusive and accountable democracy and vibrant civil society,” after then-President Joe Biden announced he would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. “His accomplishments, in the face of distortions and threats from extremists, will be lauded well into the future,” he continued. In a long 2023 X thread, Gaspard also attempted to deflect blame away from Soros amid reports that Soros and his network were pouring millions of dollars into the campaign coffers of radical DAs and far-left groups that emphasized social justice programs and gave lenient sentences to violent criminals. Mamdani has rejected the “communist” label bestowed on him by critics, including laughing off the accusation when confronted by Fox News Digital earlier this year, while at the same time being advised by an activist who doesn’t appear to shy away from communists. Housing advocate Cea Weaver, part of Mamdani’s reported “brain trust,” is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and advises the mayoral hopeful on housing issues, including Mamdani’s plan to “freeze” the rent, which has gotten strong pushback from many New Yorkers in the industry. MAMDANI PREACHES FROM PULPIT OF RADICAL PASTOR PUSHING REPARATIONS, ABOLISHING POLICE: ‘BROTHER AND FRIEND’ Weaver is also the former coalitions director of Housing Justice for All, a group that counts dozens of radical far-left groups as coalition members, including the Communist Party of the United States of America and the New York Young Communist League. “Elect more Communists,” Weaver posted on social media in 2017, New York Post reported. “Seize private property,” Weaver posted in 2018. Mamdani has faced heated criticism for his long history of anti-Israel statements and positions dating back to his days writing for his college newspaper and his circle of advisors includes several people who have exhibited the same criticisms. Activist Faiza Ali, another member of Mamdani’s reported inner circle, formerly worked for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a group whose executive director, Nihad Awad, stated after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks that he was happy to see Gazans “breaking the siege” against the “occupying power” of Israel. Awad later said those comments were taken out of context. In addition to her ties to CAIR, a group that GOP Sen. Tom Cotton recently said should lose its nonprofit status due to alleged terror ties, Ali is an acquaintance of and has been photographed with Linda Sarsour, who the two are associated with through the Muslim Democratic Club of New York. Sarsour, a prominent anti-Israel activist who has long been labeled antisemitic, has faced criticism for lauding Minister Louis Farrakhan, objecting to the Jewish right to return to Israel, and even calling for “jihad” against President Trump in 2017. She later claimed she was calling only for nonviolent dissent. Maya Handa, a campaign manager reportedly part of the “growing circle” around Mamdani, was formerly a top advisor to former Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman who has a long history of anti-Israel controversy including last year when he defended the phrase “from the river to to the sea,” which is widely interpreted as a call for the elimination of Israel. Mamdani senior advisor Morris Katz, described by the New York Times as being one of two people in Mamdani’s “inner circle” and an “emissary” to the Jewish community to counteract skeptical pro-Israel voters, has been critical of Israel on social media. Katz has previously said the existential threat to Israel’s existence is “not the Palestinians who’re being oppressed and denied basic human rights” but rather Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Katz also amplified a quote from Mamdani saying that Democrats supporting a ceasefire and an arms embargo are “rightfully outraged over Israel’s killing of over 40,000 Palestinians.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani campaign for comment.
Ex-Adams aide allegedly tried to give reporter a wad of cash hidden in a potato chip bag
A New York City reporter was allegedly the target of an apparent bribery attempt by a former aide to Mayor Eric Adams, who is currently seeking reelection. Winnie Greco, a longtime Adams ally, is accused of trying to give a reporter from THE CITY, a New York City-based publication, a wad of cash hidden in a bag of Herr’s Sour Cream & Onion ripple potato chips. The publication said the incident occurred after a campaign event in Harlem on Wednesday. According to THE CITY’s account of the events, City Hall reporter Katie Honan spotted Greco near the opening of Adams’ new Harlem campaign office. The former Adams aide later texted the reporter and asked to meet across the street from the campaign office. The two then walked to a Whole Foods next door, where Greco handed Honan the bag. Honan, according to THE CITY, believed Greco was offering a snack and initially refused, but the former aide insisted she keep it. ADAMS, CUOMO TRADE JABS IN INTERVIEWS AS DEMS-TURNED-INDEPENDENTS COURT ANTI-MAMDANI VOTE Honan reportedly opened the bag while on her way to the subway and saw a red envelope containing at least one $100 bill and several $20 bills. THE CITY reports that Honan called Greco, who said she had left the area. When Honan said she had to return the money, Greco suggested they meet in Chinatown. According to THE CITY, Honan texted Greco asking when she could return the cash but did not receive a response. THE CITY interviewed Greco later that same day, and she reportedly tried to apologize multiple times, saying she had made “a mistake.” Greco reportedly told the publication that it was “a culture thing” and that she “just wanted to be her friend.” The publication said that it contacted the Department of Investigation (DOI) after the incident. ERIC ADAMS HIT WITH ACCUSATION OF OPERATING ‘CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY’ AT NYPD Greco’s attorney, Steven Brill, denied the act was “nefarious,” saying that it was a Chinese custom to give money to others as a sign of “gratitude and friendship,” though he did not explain why it was hidden in a bag of chips. “This was no payoff. This was no handing over a bag of cash. This is nothing more than a gesture of kindness blown out of a Chinese tradition of handing money to others as a form of gratitude and friendship. She knows this reporter and was fond of her. It may appear strange, but there was nothing nefarious about it,” Brill told Fox News Digital. When Honan returned to her office, she gave the bag to her editors, at which point the publication contacted New York City’s Department of Investigation. THE CITY said it did not open the envelope or count the money inside. Reports indicate that the Adams campaign has since prohibited Greco from participating in volunteer campaign-related activities. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Greco is no stranger to law enforcement and has been under federal investigation for some time. The FBI raided her Bronx home in February 2024 amid reports that Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign conspired with the Turkish government to raise funds. She later resigned from her position as the city’s director of Asian American affairs. According to Fox 5, the DOI is also investigating claims that Greco pressured a campaign volunteer to do personal tasks in exchange for a City Hall job. Fox News Digital reached out to Greco and Adams’ campaign for comment but did not get a response in time for publication. Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz and Greg Wehner and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Texas Rep Chip Roy announces run for state attorney general to replace Ken Paxton
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, announced Thursday that he is running to become the next Texas Attorney General. Roy, who represents Texas’ 21st Congressional District in the U.S. House, made the announcement in a campaign video shared to X that centered on preserving the Lone Star State’s legacy of “liberty, freedom and self-determination.” “Texas has a long and proud tradition of rising to defend our homes, our freedom, and our communities,” he wrote in an accompanying message. “I’m running for Attorney General to carry on that legacy… unafraid to fight, unafraid to win, and unafraid to defend Texas at every turn. #LiveFree.” LONE STAR STATE RIVALS FOR US SENATE COMPETE TO WRANGLE RUNAWAY DEMOCRATS The race is slated for November 2026 – the same time as Republicans defend a slim minority in the House during the midterm elections. A primary is scheduled for March. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is eligible for a fourth term but is not seeking re-election as the state’s top prosecutor. In April, Paxton announced that he was instead running a 2026 primary challenge to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, making for a clash between two powerful Republicans that could have state and national implications. ‘NOT A POLITICIAN’: FATHER OF YOUNG CANCER SURVIVOR DJ DANIEL RUNS FOR TEXAS 18TH DISTRICT SEAT Roy, policy chair of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, said it has been an honor to represent the 21st Congressional District and that he was particularly proud “of our work to deliver on President Trump’s agenda and fight to drain the swamp.” “I could do it forever and be fulfilled professionally. But representatives should not be permanent. And my experience watching Texans unite in response to the devastating Hill Country floods made clear that I want to come home,” Roy, who has served the central Texas district since 2019, said in a statement. “I want to take my experience in Congress, as a federal prosecutor, and as First Assistant Attorney General to fight for Texas from Texas.” “Texas is under assault – from open-border politicians, radical leftists and faceless foreign corporations that threaten our sovereignty, safety and our way of life,” Roy said. “It’s time to draw a line in the sand. As Attorney General, I will fight every single day for our God-given rights, for our families and for the future of Texas.” This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Kennedy’s HHS terminates California sex ed grant after it refuses to drop ‘radical’ gender lessons
FIRST ON FOX: An office within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) terminated a federal grant funding California’s sex education program aimed at preventing teen pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases after the West Coast state reportedly refused to remove “radical gender ideology” from its curriculum, Fox News Digital exclusively learned Thursday. “California’s refusal to comply with federal law and remove egregious gender ideology from federally funded sex-ed materials is unacceptable,” Andrew Gradison, acting assistant secretary at the Administration for Children and Families, said in comment provided to Fox News Digital Thursday. “The Trump Administration will not allow taxpayer dollars to be used to indoctrinate children. Accountability is coming for every state that uses federal funds to teach children delusional gender ideology.” The Administration for Children and Families, an office under HHS’ umbrella that funds state, local and tribal organizations to provide support for families such as child care, announced Thursday morning that it was terminating the funding to California’s Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) grant. The PREP program aims to educate California’s youth, ages 10–19, on preventing teen pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted infections, which the state says has led to students in the program “delaying sexual activity, increasing condom or contraceptive use for sexually active youth, or reducing number of sexual partners.” TRUMP ADMINISTRATION BANS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM TAXPAYER-FUNDED SERVICES, INCLUDING HEAD START “Program services are engaging, nonjudgmental, medically accurate and tailored to the unique needs of youth participants and their communities,” the PREP website states. “Services are offered in a range of settings, including schools, juvenile justice facilities, homeless shelters and foster care group homes. CA PREP activities also include community engagement and promotion of clinical linkages to youth-friendly reproductive health services.” PREP specifically aims to assist those who “reside, attend school or receive reproductive health services in a high-need geographic area; are homeless and/or runaway; attend an alternative or continuation school; are in or emancipated from foster care; are in the juvenile justice or probation system; identify as LGBTQ; are receiving treatment for mental health or substance abuse issues; have special needs; live in migrant farmworker families or are expectant/parenting female youth up to age 21.” GOP LAWMAKERS RIP NEWSOM, CALIFORNIA OFFICIALS FOR ALLOWING TRANS ATHLETES TO COMPETE IN GIRLS’ SPORTS The PREP grant has been under scrutiny by the Trump administration since at least March, when the Administration for Children and Families requested program leaders send copies of its curriculum and other relevant course materials to them for review. The probe was initially launched to ensure the state’s sexual education programming is medically accurate and age-appropriate. Previous grant funding shows California’s PREP program received just under $6 million from the federal government in fiscal year 2022. All in, California could lose $12.3 million in funding that it has not yet received, covering multiple years, according to HHS. The Administration for Children and Families reviewed the program’s curriculum and other teaching materials, and found a lengthy list of subjects and language deemed to fall outside the program’s “authorizing statute,” in particular references to “gender ideology.” In June, Fox News Digital reported Administration for Children and Families gave the sex education program a 60-day deadline to remove all references to gender identity or face potential termination of its funding. The 60-day deadline just ran dry, with the Administration for Children and Families subsequently terminating the funding and sending a letter to Sydney Armendariz, the division chief of Maternal Child, and Adolescent Health Division at the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), and Matthew Green, the deputy director of the Center for Family Health at CDPH, declaring it was “terminating all California State Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) awards and suspending the funding effective August 21, 2025.” The letter sent Thursday reported that following the Administration for Children and Families’ June request to remove what it said was radical gender ideology from PREP teachings, California refused in a letter of its own. 4-H FEDERALLY FUNDED CAMPS UNDER FIRE FOR CABINING KIDS, ADULT COUNSELORS BY ‘IDENTITY’ “CDPH will not make any such modifications at this time for several reasons,” the California Department of Public Health said in a letter to ACF earlier this week, according to HHS. “The listed reasons were: 1) PREP materials had already been reviewed and approved by ACF; 2) the materials are medically accurate; 3) the gender ideology content is relevant to purposes identified in the authorizing statute, specifically the adult preparation subjects listed at 42 U.S.C. § 713(b)(2)(C); and 4) ACF does not have authority to take an enforcement action.” Among the materials Administration for Children and Families found amid its review of the curriculum was a lesson for middle school-aged students that sought to introduce them to the concepts of transgenderism, Fox News Digital previously reported. “We’ve been talking during class about messages people get on how they should act as boys and girls—but as many of you know, there are also people who don’t identify as boys or girls, but rather as transgender or gender queer,” the lesson states to students. “This means that even if they were called a boy or a girl at birth and may have body parts that are typically associated with being a boy or a girl, on the inside, they feel differently.” Other flagged lessons in the materials included curriculum for high school-aged students with instructions on what it means to be “nonbinary” and language that informed students “gender-identity” is “essentially a social status.” “In a disturbing and egregious abuse of federal funds, California has been using taxpayer money to teach curricula that could encourage kids to contemplate mutilating their genitals, ‘altering their body… through hormone therapy,’ ‘adding or removing breast tissue,’ and ‘changing their name.’ It instructed teachers to ‘remind students that some men are born with female anatomy,’” HHS said in a Thursday press release of the teachings. HHS GIVES CALIFORNIA DEADLINE TO OVERHAUL FEDERALLY-FUNDED SEX ED PROGRAM ‘INDOCTRINATING’ KIDS The Administration for Children and Families also
Trump tariffs push India closer to America’s strategic rivals China and Russia
For more than two decades, Washington and New Delhi built a strategic partnership that was hailed as one of the great success stories of post–Cold War diplomacy. Today, that relationship is facing its most serious test in years — and India is signaling it has other options. “We’re in a situation in the U.S.-India relationship where the premises and assumptions of the last 25 years — that everybody worked very hard to build, including the president in his first term — have just come completely unraveled,” said Evan Feigenbaum, a South Asia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “The trust is gone.” Since President Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on Indian imports, New Delhi has turned visibly eastward. India’s national security adviser traveled to Moscow in recent weeks, its foreign minister is visiting this week and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi just concluded talks in Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is preparing for his first trip to China in more than seven years, while Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to host him in Moscow before the end of the year. The pivot underscores how tariffs meant to punish India for its continued purchases of Russian oil may instead be pushing New Delhi closer to America’s rivals. TRUMP AND PUTIN’S RELATIONSHIP TURNS SOUR AS PRESIDENT PUSHES FOR RESOLUTION WITH UKRAINE Trump slapped a 25% tariff on Indian imports earlier this year, citing India’s willingness to keep buying Russian crude. On August 27, that tariff is set to double to 50%. Indian public opinion has bristled at what many see as U.S. interference in sovereign decision-making. “They’re signaling very clearly that they view that as interference in India’s foreign policy, and they are not going to put up with it,” Feigenbaum said. Despite initial hesitation, state-run refiners resumed Russian oil purchases, lured by discounts of 6% to 7%. Russian oil now accounts for 35% of India’s imports, up from a negligible 0.2% before the Ukraine war. Moscow, for its part, has seized the opening. “We continue to ship fuel, including crude oil and oil products, thermal and coking coal,” said Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov. “We see potential for the export of Russian LNG.” TRUMP’S DEADLINE ON SECONDARY TARIFFS ARRIVES; US-RUSSIAN RELATIONS HANG IN THE BALANCE Russia is using the rift to promote its vision of a “great Eurasian partnership” linking Moscow, Beijing and Delhi. “All of this engagement we’re seeing between India and China now is not exclusively coming because of Trump and his tariffs,” said Michael Kugelman, a Washington-based South Asia analyst. “We’ve actually seen indications for almost a year of India wanting to ease tensions with China and strengthen relations, mainly for economic reasons. But the Trump administration’s policies have made India want to move even more quickly.” Some of India’s moves are diplomatic theater meant to signal anger at Washington. But others are more durable. “India is going to double down on some aspects of its economic and defense relationship with Russia,” Feigenbaum said. “And those parts are not performative.” Kugelman noted that before the Ukraine war, India had already begun reducing its reliance on Russian arms imports in favor of U.S., French and Israeli systems. “But as soon as the invasion happened, India very quickly started buying more from Russia, particularly energy,” he said. “This is essentially validation of a view in India that the U.S. can’t be trusted, whereas Russia can — because Russia is always going to be there for India no matter what.” Modi has used the standoff to reinforce his image at home as a defender of sovereignty. “India actually made a fair number of concessions to the Trump administration early on in its second term,” Kugelman said, citing tariff reductions and agreements to repatriate undocumented workers. “Because of those concessions, India needs to be careful about signaling further willingness to bend. This is one reason there was no trade deal — Modi put his foot down.” While not directly criticizing Trump, Modi has emphasized that his priority is protecting the livelihoods of farmers, small businesses and young workers. That defiant tone, Kugelman added, has “real political mileage” in India’s domestic debate. The Trump administration has shown no signs of backing down. Former White House trade advisor Peter Navarro blasted India’s oil purchases as “opportunistic” and “deeply corrosive” in a Financial Times op-ed this week. “This two-pronged policy will hit India where it hurts — its access to U.S. markets — even as it seeks to cut off the financial lifeline it has extended to Russia’s war effort,” Navarro wrote. “If India wants to be treated as a strategic partner of the U.S., it needs to start acting like one.” INDIAN PRIME MINISTER MODI TAKES PAGE FROM TRUMP, SAYS ‘MAKE INDIA GREAT AGAIN,’ OR ‘MIGA’ The contrast with the U.S.–India relationship of two decades ago could not be starker. In 2008, the two countries struck a landmark civil nuclear deal that gave India access to American technology and fuel despite not being a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. “India put the entire government on the line for the deal,” Feigenbaum recalled. “Bush really went to the mat and provided a lot of assurances to Congress that were politically not easy, but he was willing to take risks for the relationship.” At that time, Washington and Delhi managed to work around their disagreements. “The U.S. objected to many aspects of India’s relationships with Iran, Burma and Russia,” Feigenbaum said. “India objected to aspects of the U.S. relationships with China and Pakistan. But neither side let that bleed back into the bilateral relationship in a completely debilitating way.” For years, the U.S. has viewed India as a democratic counterweight to China’s authoritarian model — central to its Indo-Pacific strategy under Obama, Trump and Biden. But now the question is whether that glue still holds. “Both sides agree that countering China is the main glue that has really bound this relationship together over this 20-year period,” Kugelman said. “But the tensions,
‘There are 50 swamps’: State Freedom Caucus Network helps conservatives fight the ‘uniparty’
Andrew Roth, president of the State Freedom Caucus Network, helms an organization fighting to help conservatives win and wield control of state governments across the nation. “There is a swamp in all 50 states. There are 50 swamps,” Roth told Fox News Digital during a Tuesday interview, noting that “liberal Republicans” join with Democrats to expand government. This “uniparty” phenomenon exists in the U.S. Congress and in every state, Roth indicated, asserting that in red states many Democrats cannot win elections unless they don the Republican label. “They say they’re good on guns, and babies, and a few other things, but then they get in there, and they vote like liberals, growing government[.] ” Roth noted. He said that while the goal of state freedom caucuses is to slash taxes and government, the first step is exposing “deceitful lawmakers for who they are. And then once you can do that, then you can hopefully start getting good people elected and then cut the budget, cut taxes, cut spending,” he explained. COWBOY STATE REPUBLICAN WHO MOUNTED GUBERNATORIAL BID ‘ISN’T CONSERVATIVE ENOUGH,’ FREEDOM CAUCUS CHAIR SAYS So far, the organization boasts freedom caucuses in 13 of the 50 states, including Pennsylvania, Maryland, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Illinois, Missouri, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Arizona and Idaho – but deep red states like Texas and Florida are conspicuously absent from the list. Asked whether this is because there are not enough conservative legislators in those states to form a freedom caucus, Roth replied, “That’s absolutely correct,” explaining, “In Texas I could probably say there’s only one or two House members, and in Florida I’m not even sure I can say two.” There are “zero” conservative state lawmakers in the Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi state legislatures, he said. FORMER FREEDOM CAUCUS CHAIR BOB GOOD CALLS OUT ‘THE BIG GLARING WEAKNESS FOR ALL OF REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT’ “This is a big, big problem” he noted, “and I don’t think enough people realize how bad it is.” Roth indicated that the organization provides a state director in each freedom caucus state – those directors help read legislation, offer vote recommendations, work with other groups, and help with organizing and strategizing, he explained. GOP LOUISIANA STATE SENATOR SAYS HE’S RUNNING FOR US SENATE BECAUSE INCUMBENT REPUBLICAN ‘SUCKS’ Roth noted that Louisiana state Sen. Blake Miguez, a Republican who belongs to that state’s freedom caucus, is challenging incumbent GOP U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy.
Texas Democrat who rails against billionaire cash takes $59K from Trump-backing megadonor
Texas Democrat James Talarico has campaigned on getting megadonor cash out of elections, but records show he has been cashing checks from an unlikely source: a Republican, Trump-backing billionaire. Talarico’s single largest donation last year came from a PAC backed by casino mogul Miriam Adelson, the widow of longtime Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson. Records show Talarico received $59,000 from Adelson’s Texas Sands PAC in 2024, making the group his largest donor for that year. A representative for Talarico’s office defended his accepting the funds, telling Politico that while he opposes big-donor cash influencing elections, “he will not unilaterally disarm and let Texas Republicans play by different rules. “Rep. Talarico believes our campaign finance system is deeply broken,” spokesman Antonio Esparza told the outlet. “That’s why he filed legislation to cap campaign contribution limits in the state of Texas.” ABBOTT SCORES BIG WIN IN REDISTRICTING BATTLE AS TEXAS DEMOCRATS’ BLOCKADE COLLAPSES Talarico proposed legislation last year that would have capped donations to state-level lawmakers at $10,000. There is no cap on such donations under current law. Reports on the donations come after Talarico appeared on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast in July, during which he blasted Republicans for accepting billionaire dollars. “Basically every single Republican state senator in Texas has taken their money. Every single one. A majority of the Republicans in the State House have taken their money,” he told Rogan, referring to oil-based billionaires in the state. “They increasingly run this whole government here in Texas.” NEWSOM-STYLE REDISTRICTING EFFORTS CRITIQUED BY CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATS AS RECENTLY AS JULY, STATEMENTS SHOW Meanwhile, Adelson’s PAC has routinely supported both Democrats and Republicans on the state level in Texas, pushing for the state to legalize casino gambling. In 2023, Talarico voted in favor of a measure that would have given voters the chance to approve casino legalization through a constitutional amendment. Talarico was among the roughly 50 Texas Democrats who fled the state earlier this month in an attempt to block Republicans from adopting a new congressional map. ‘TIRED OF DEMOCRACY DYING’: NEWSOM REDISTRICTING PUSH FACES GOP BACKLASH OVER VOTER RIGHTS CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Talarico and his fellow Democrats returned to Austin this week, saying they achieved their goal of galvanizing Democratic opposition across the country. Several Democratic states are now threatening to carry out their own redistricting plans, as parties battle for control over the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections.
Ex-Biden spin doctor Ian Sams, slammed by Trump as ‘below average,’ grilled in House autopen probe
An eleventh former Biden administration aide is appearing before House Oversight Committee investigators on Thursday morning as Republicans continue to investigate allegations of a “cover-up” in the previous White House. Ian Sams is a longtime Democrat communications operative who most recently served as a senior spokesman for former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign. Before that, he served as a senior advisor and spokesman for the White House Counsel’s Office under former President Joe Biden, where his primary role entailed responding to congressional probes mainly launched by Republicans. RON KLAIN DODGES REPORTERS AFTER MARATHON GRILLING IN BIDEN COVER-UP PROBE “You were a first line of defense to spin negative stories about the president and his mishaps,” House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., wrote to Sams in late June. He pointed out that Sams’ tenure in that role, which lasted from May 2022 to late August 2024, stretched across much of the latter half of Biden’s term. “The scope of your responsibilities—both official and otherwise—and personal interactions within the Oval Office cannot go without investigation, given the mounting evidence that President Biden was incapacitated for much, if not all, of his single term,” Comer wrote. “If White House staff carried out a strategy lasting months or even years to hide the chief executive’s condition—or to perform his duties—Congress may need to consider a legislative response.” LONGTIME BIDEN AIDE SAYS HE STOOD TO EARN UP TO $8M HAD PRESIDENT WON RE-ELECTION Comer’s committee is investigating whether Biden’s top White House aides covered up signs of mental decline in the former president from both the media and fellow Democrats. Of particular interest to House investigators is the myriad clemency orders that Trump signed in the latter half of his four-year term, and whether those decisions and others signed via autopen were made with Biden’s full awareness. Biden maintained he “made every decision” in a recent interview with The New York Times. Sams was also notably thrust into the spotlight during his time as a Harris 2024 spokesman after being called out by name by President Donald Trump. “Sams is just a below-average guy, with memorized FAKE NEWS soundbites, almost all of which are WRONG,” Trump wrote on Truth Social after one of Sams’ appearances on Fox News Channel last year. While Sams is the eleventh former Biden White House aide appearing, he is just the eighth to come in for a voluntary interview. Three other former Biden officials – ex-White House physician Kevin O’Connor and former senior advisors Anthony Bernal and Annie Tomasini – were compelled to appeal via subpoena. Like the sit-downs before his, Sams’ interview will be taking place behind closed doors and is expected to be led by lawyers for both Republicans and Democrats on the committee.
Trump-aligned legal group probes Biden-era organ transplant program over ethical concerns
FIRST ON FOX — A Trump-aligned legal group founded by White House aide Stephen Miller filed Freedom of Information Act requests Thursday targeting a Biden organ transplant program that critics warn could be open to abuse. The requests from America First Legal went to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Health Resources and Services Administration. At issue is the Increasing Organ Transplant Access Model, a six-year mandatory program finalized in December 2024 and set to take effect in July 2025, which aims to expand access to kidney transplants but has drawn criticism from Trump officials who warn it may be vulnerable to outside influence. The model builds on earlier payment experiments, testing whether financial rewards and penalties can improve care and expand access for Medicare and Medicaid patients. Trump officials and allies, including America First Legal, argue the system risks distortion by outside interests — a charge that prompted AFL’s FOIA requests as part of a broader investigation. TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDER ON VOTING BLOCKED BY FEDERAL JUDGES AMID FLURRY OF LEGAL SETBACKS They cited in part recent findings from an HRSA-led probe published earlier this year. That investigation suggested third-party groups or for-profit organizations “may have unduly influenced the IOTA Model”— though their exact role or the extent they may have done so is unclear. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also cited concerns from the study, which the department said in a statement “revealed clear negligence and disturbing practices” by a large organ procurement organization in the U.S., prompting him to launch a new reform initiative. In previewing the FOIA requests to Fox News Digital, AFL cited related concerns about patient safety, ethical misconduct, and discrimination in organ allocation, among other things. The requests ask HHS, CMS and HRSA for a long list of information regarding the program and related correspondence — including emails, letters and memos between agency personnel and third-party representatives about the development or implementation of the IOTA Model. They also seek meeting records, agendas and summaries of discussions involving agency staff and outside officials. The payment model will affect more than 100 U.S. transplant hospitals over six years, imposing mandatory financial incentives and penalties tied to a final performance score. FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP BAN FOR ALL INFANTS, TESTING LOWER COURT POWERS IOTA was touted as a way to help increase access to organ donors and transplants in the U.S. and help address the long waiting list of patients awaiting a transplant, which as of last fall stood at roughly 90,000 people. Participating hospitals are evaluated for their performance in three key areas, according to CMS’s final rule, which took force in July, including the volume of kidney transplants, their matching efficiency, and post-transplant outcomes of their patients. But the role outside groups have played, including during the process of drafting the final rule, has prompted criticism and calls for additional scrutiny from Trump allies, including AFL. “Self-interested third parties should play no role in shaping America’s organ transplant policy,” AFL counsel Laura Stell told Fox News Digital in a statement previewing the FOIA requests and broader investigation. “Where monetary incentives and penalties come into play, there must be utmost certainty that CMS developed the program without influence from entities with improper motives.” America First Legal, though not officially part of the Trump administration, was founded by longtime Trump adviser Stephen Miller after Trump’s first presidential term. Miller stepped down from AFL before rejoining the White House in 2025 as Trump’s deputy chief of staff.