Trump says heroic teen lifeguard who saved boy from towering waves deserves White House honor
President Donald Trump on Tuesday praised the teenage lifeguard who went viral after rescuing a young boy from towering waves in Santa Cruz, California, saying he wants to invite the teen to the White House and potentially award him a high civilian honor. The lifeguard, identified as 16-year-old Ryder on social media, was captured in a heart-stopping video Saturday battling massive surf as he repeatedly disappeared beneath crashing waves while maintaining a relentless grip on the child he was rescuing. After seeing the dramatic rescue, Trump said the teen deserved national recognition. “We’re going to bring this heroic young man, and his family, into the White House with, perhaps, the boy he saved, to give him a High Civilian Honor. Very brave, he deserves it!” Trump said in a post on X. HEROIC 16-YEAR-OLD LIFEGUARD RESCUES CHILD FROM MONSTER SURF IN HEART-STOPPING VIDEO Hours earlier, Eric Trump also praised the rescue on social media, calling for the teen to receive the nation’s highest civilian recognition. “Give this 16-year-old lifeguard the highest civilian honor. This is truly the best of America! Well done!” he said. The rescue drew thousands of reactions online, with many praising Ryder for battling powerful waves that appeared too dangerous even for bystanders who attempted to help. One person claiming to have witnessed the rescue said it lasted far longer than the viral video showed. Beachgoers reportedly formed a human chain in an effort to help before it was eventually broken apart by the pounding surf, according to social media users. MAN, WOMAN KILLED IN RIP CURRENT AS LIFEGUARD SHORTAGE LEAVES DANGER ZONES IN BEACH DESTINATION After pulling the child safely onto the beach, Ryder reportedly sprinted past his lifeguard tower to get aid as paramedics arrived to evaluate the boy, the witness said. Despite the dramatic rescue, Ryder later returned to duty and continued watching over beachgoers for the rest of the evening. The rescue may have come during Ryder’s first season as a lifeguard. California State Parks requires state lifeguards to be at least 16 years old. Another social media user who said she knew Ryder emphasized how extraordinary the rescue was. “I’m not sure how many people know how hard it is to hold onto someone like that in the ocean, during these heavy conditions and pounding shore break. This lifeguard handled it like a pro, pulled him in most of the way solo and never gave up. Taht is a feat in itself, especially in those conditions. A true Hero & waterman. I seriously hope he gets recognized for this,” the user said. Other people claiming to have witnessed the incident said the surf had initially appeared relatively calm, with many beachgoers standing at the water’s edge when a massive wave suddenly crashed ashore. “It was so big it nearly reached us by our things all the way up the beach!” the witness said. Seabright Beach is known for its powerful shore break, with waves shaped by swells arriving from multiple directions, creating hazardous conditions even for experienced swimmers.
Haley Stevens shreds Abdul El-Sayed: ‘We don’t need a celebrity candidate’
Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., repeatedly called Abdul El-Sayed the “celebrity” candidate in the Michigan Senate race during Monday’s Senate Democratic debate, arguing that El-Sayed’s podcast, books and political activism pale in comparison to her time in Congress. The race between Stevens and El-Sayed has become a microcosm of the battle over the Democratic Party’s future. On Aug. 4, Democratic voters will decide whether to back Stevens, who has the support of the Democratic establishment, or El-Sayed, a socialist-supported challenger who has called for abolishing ICE and is strongly critical of the United States’ support for Israel. In her opening remarks, Stevens rattled off her qualifications as the Democratic Party’s best chance of winning the Senate race, pointing to flipping her seat in 2018, being named Michigan’s most effective Democratic lawmaker by the Center for Effective Lawmaking in 2025 and being endorsed by Democratic Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “My only focus is you,” Stevens said. “Abdul is running for celebrity. Republicans are propping up his campaign, and Mike Rogers, just the other day said in a secret phone call that he made it easier for him to win, that he’s the one he wants to run against.” DEM CIVIL WAR HITS PRIMARY DEBATE STAGE IN FIERY BATTLEGROUND SHOWDOWN: ‘WHAT ARE YOU HIDING?’ Stevens was referring to a phone conversation Republican candidate Mike Rogers had with supporters last month in which he said his campaign would be in “good shape” if El-Sayed were the nominee. “Look, this isn’t about the D.C. or New York influencer crowd,” Stevens said. “This is about putting Michigan first.” Later in the debate, Stevens said she is standing up to Trump’s “abuses of powers,” while taking a dig at Abdul by saying she’s doing so without “shouting into a bullhorn, not getting in front of the first camera I see, but doing the hard work.” SWING-STATE POLL SPELLS TROUBLE FOR FAR LEFT AS SCHUMER-BACKED CANDIDATE DOMINATES WITH CRITICAL VOTING BLOCS “Look, my opponent here, Abdul, he is such a talented guy,” Stevens said, referring to his three books and his podcast America Dissected. “He’s had all this attention, but the deal is, we don’t need a celebrity candidate. We don’t need a celebrity.” Stevens then pointed to her six years in the House of Representatives, saying she has been committed to “hard, unglamorous work.” “That’s going to stand up to this junk that is wreaking havoc and causing chaos right before our very eyes,” Stevens said. Stevens suggested that Abdul’s Senate campaign is just another “rung on the ladder” for him, pointing to his failed 2018 gubernatorial bid. “It didn’t work out, so he started the podcast, he wrote the books, and now he’s running for Senate, and he’s already bought the website for president,” Stevens said. In response, El-Sayed accused Stevens of “cowardice” over her past votes to increase ICE funding, saying the agency should be completely abolished. MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE ABDUL EL-SAYED DODGES QUESTION ON WHETHER HE STILL SUPPORTS DEFUNDING THE POLICE “So yeah, I’m going to take the bullhorn and I’m going to say that I think we need to abolish ICE because I am not afraid of what they’re going to say about me,” he said. He also suggested that Stevens’ focus on his public health podcast was a distraction from the issues that matter most to voters, such as affordability. “Congresswoman, if you enjoy podcasts about public health, I welcome you to take a listen. You seem very concerned about that,” El-Sayed said. “I’m more concerned about the fact that people can’t pay for their gas, they can’t pay for their groceries.” The open Senate race in Michigan has garnered national attention, with outside groups spending more than $52 million on the race through mid-July, most of it in support of Stevens, according to an OpenSecrets analysis of FEC reports. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER El-Sayed, who is backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., has painted Stevens as the candidate of large super PACs such as AIPAC, while saying he has not received a single dollar from corporate interests or super PACs. Before running for Congress, El-Sayed served as Wayne County director of Health and Human Services. Meanwhile, the Republican Party has deemed Michigan to be one of best pickup opportunities in its effort to maintain control of the Senate. Fox News Digital reached out to El-Sayed and Stevens’ campaigns for comment.
Trump’s war on fraud expands as Treasury launches new site with whistleblower incentives
FIRST ON FOX: Americans could soon cash in on exposing fraud as President Donald Trump’s Treasury Department prepares to launch a program paying whistleblowers, Fox News Digital has learned. The Treasury Department has created an online tip line that incentivize Americans to bring allegations of fraud directly to the administration in an effort to increase transparency and crack down on abuse of taxpayer dollars. The website encourages people to “blow the whistle on fraud, money laundering and sanctions/tax violations.” And those who report explicit details of legitimate fraudulent transactions could see a pay day for their information. “Whistleblowers play a critical role in protecting the integrity of our financial system,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News Digital. THE WAR ON FRAUD IS HERE, AND VICE PRESIDENT VANCE IS LEADING IT FROM THE FRONT “Today, on National Whistleblower Day, Treasury launched a new webpage that brings our whistleblower programs together in one place, making it easier to find information and navigate the reporting process,” he continued. Awards for whistleblowers could range between 10% and 30% of the total amount in penalties recovered from successful enforcement operations carried out by the Departments of Treasury and Justice. The rollout marks the latest step in the Trump administration’s broader campaign to root out fraud across federal programs after officials argued billions in taxpayer dollars have been lost to waste, abuse and organized criminal schemes. The program works alongside the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud — a federal initiative led by Vice President JD Vance that President Donald Trump established by executive order earlier this year. It also mirrors a similar program that was used to root out illicit money movements in Minnesota in the midst of the Feeding Our Futures fraud scandal. The new website consolidates Treasury’s existing whistleblower programs into a single public portal, allowing for fraud report submissions to go through one website that routes tips to the department’s various enforcement bureaus. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S LANDLORD JOINS VANCE FRAUD CRACKDOWN AS WHITE HOUSE WIDENS HUNT: ‘CRITICAL FORCE’ It also serves as a hub for Treasury’s broader anti-fraud campaign, with initiatives ranging from Internal Revenue Service (IRS) fraud investigations and sanctions enforcement to financial institution alerts, whistleblower protections and the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, led by Vance. “Fighting fraud is a core national security and taxpayer protection mission for Treasury,” a Treasury spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “Secretary Bessent has directed the Department to modernize its tools, strengthen partnerships with financial institutions and law enforcement, and aggressively pursue those who steal from the American people. Treasury is committed to preventing fraud before it occurs, disrupting criminal networks that exploit government programs, and holding bad actors accountable.” Both the new whistleblower program and anti-fraud task force were created in response to the massive fraud scandal in Minnesota that triggered investigations that later exposed taxpayer dollar abuse statewide. The exposed fraud included allegations that the state’s Somali community was exploiting social services to send millions of dollars to those unqualified to receive financial assistance, including al Qaeda-linked terror groups. “President Trump has been clear that Americans have a right to know that their tax dollars are not being diverted to fund acts of global terror or to fund luxury cars for fraudsters,” a statement from Bessent featured on the new website reads. “At Treasury, we follow the money.” JACOB FREY PRAISES SOMALI COMMUNITY AS MINNESOTA FACES RENEWED SCRUTINY OVER FRAUD INVESTIGATIONS “We did it with the mafia, we have done it with all the cartels, and we’re doing it with the Somali fraudsters,” he went on in the public statement. “We are going to offer whistleblower payments to anyone who wants to tell us the who, what, when, where and how this fraud and money laundering occurred.” The portal provides direct reporting links to Treasury bureaus including the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the IRS and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, allowing tips to be routed to the agency best equipped to investigate them. Treasury has not yet specified how whistleblower payments will be calculated or which cases would qualify for financial rewards.
Acting DNI touts ‘approximately 30% Staff Reduction from Weeks Ago’ as Senate poised to confirm Trump nominee
Acting Director of National Intelligence William Pulte has announced a fifth wave of office downsizing. “Good News! In addition to the Historic DECLASSIFICATIONS (Transparency!) by the President, we are, this morning, Executing a 5th and Near Final Round of TERMINATIONS, an approximately 30% Staff Reduction from Weeks Ago,” he wrote in a Tuesday post on X. “The Intelligence Community must protect the American people, NOT the political whims of the bloated and corrupt elite class,” he added. ACTING DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE ANNOUNCES 4TH WAVE OF LAYOFFS Pulte on Sunday had announced the completion of a fourth batch of layoffs from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). “Since becoming Acting Director of National Intelligence, our team has been smartly, and carefully, reducing the size of ODNI, re-focusing ODNI on national security, the law, and the statute. As of this evening, we just finished a 4th round of thoughtful, measured layoffs. Thank you!” he declared in a Sunday night post on X. In a July 10 post, he had stated, “U.S. National Intelligence is operating more efficiently and effectively than ever before, and today, we started a third round of reducing redundant, or non-critical, personnel. DNI’s future is exceptionally bright, and will be focused on following the law and the statute.” Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, took on the role of acting DNI last month as Tulsi Gabbard, who had been serving as DNI, departed the role due to her husband’s cancer battle. TRUMP’S DNI PICK JAY CLAYTON LOCKS HORNS WITH DEMOCRATIC SENATOR IN FIERY CONFIRMATION HEARING CLASH Prior to when Pulte took the helm at ODNI last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that during an interview, President Donald Trump said he had informed Pulte that he thought the ODNI was “unnecessary and/or too big.” “I’d like to see it smaller. I think there are a lot of people in there that shouldn’t be there,” the president said, pointing to Obama and Biden administration carryovers, according to the Journal. Asked if he was calling on Pulte to terminate workers, the president stated that he wanted Pulte to “start the process,” noting that the eventual DNI nominee should carry on that effort, the outlet reported. In part of a June Truth Social post, Trump declared, “I have named William Pulte to be Acting Director of National Intelligence, who will take over on June 19th, and have asked him to execute the immediate and needed downsizing of the office, reverting staff to their home agencies.” Fox News Digital reached out to ODNI on Tuesday asking for clarification on the reported 30% staffing reduction. SENATE CLEARS WAY FOR TRUMP’S TOP SPY AS KEY ANTI-TERROR PROGRAM REMAINS IN LIMBO Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said during a Senate floor speech last month that he had spoken with the acting DNI, who he says agreed “that we need to return the ODNI to its original size, scope, and mission by spinning off some of these functional… centers and sending intelligence officers who have been detailed there back to their home agencies so they can do actual intelligence work.” “He informed me that yes, a small handful of front office personnel are leaving federal employment, which is not at all uncommon when a senior leader leaves an agency or one comes into an agency,” Cotton said. “He also said that a few dozen, around 45 or 50, career officers are, in fact, returning to their home agencies.” Trump last month announced that he was tapping U.S. District Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton as his DNI nominee. The Senate is slated to vote on confirming Clayton on Tuesday night.
House committee passes Foreign Funding Transparency Act to expose foreign donations to nonprofits
Lawmakers are seeking to expose foreign nationals who may be funneling money and donations through tax-exempt organizations to political committees as the House Ways and Means Committee passed a bill that would revise reporting requirements for tax-exempt groups. The Foreign Funding Transparency Act, which passed 23-18 in the committee last Wednesday, would require tax-exempt organizations to collect and report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) donations received from foreign nationals. “For far too long, foreign influence and interference have plagued our tax-exempt sector,” committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said in a statement. “Foreign donations have no place in American politics, particularly when the sole goal is to manipulate our public discourse, promote propaganda and support violence.” Smith noted that many of the protests and demonstrations that take place across the U.S. appear to be grassroots but are actually well-organized and well-funded, often by groups within what he described as “shadowy networks.” “As the Ways and Means Committee conducted its investigation into the nation’s tax-exempt sector, it became clear that shadowy networks of well-funded organizations have been enjoying lucrative tax benefits for decades, while simultaneously accepting donations and direction from foreign nationals,” Smith added. “From the outside, it looks like a movement, but once you see how the money flows, it becomes clear that this is a machine,” he added. The bill’s passage came just a week after Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for global cooperation at a summit in Washington to combat far-left political terrorism. SHANGHAI SABOTAGE: INSIDE SINGHAM’S SECRET STRATEGY TO DEMONIZE AMERICA “For far too long, however, our counterterrorism doctrine has had a blind spot – a blind spot when it comes to extremist violence from the political left,” Rubio said. “Even today, the very idea that far-left terrorism could be a serious threat is treated as a right-wing fever dream, or worse, as a dangerous fascist conspiracy.” While Rubio didn’t mention any organizations or individuals by name, the House Ways and Means Committee noted Marxist Neville Roy Singham in a statement about the bill’s passage. Singham, a 72-year-old American now based in Shanghai and who sold his tech company for $785 million in 2017, is known to fund pro-Chinese Communist Party groups operating in the U.S. He has funneled $278 million into the broad network of nonprofits since 2017, according to a Fox News Digital investigation. The funneling of funds through nonprofit networks has been a key point of concern for lawmakers and the Trump administration. Major contributors, including Singham, often have dispersed funds through shell 501(c)(3) nonprofits, which subsequently contributed to various tax-exempt organizations. RUBIO’S CALL TO COMBAT GLOBAL FUNDERS OF FAR-LEFT TERRORISM COULD PUT SINGHAM IN CROSSHAIRS During his address to more than 60 countries earlier this month, Rubio noted that networks have been coordinating across multiple countries, providing training instructions and using encrypted communication to facilitate unrest. He said international cooperation was critical to disrupting the financing of dangerous organizations, some of which were working with hostile foreign states. Singham did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
READ THE DIARIES: Documents unveil Fauci’s thoughts on the lab-leak debate, mask doubts and testing failures
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Tuesday released the private diaries of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the controversial former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and chief government spokesperson during the COVID-19 pandemic. The released documents show Fauci privately confronted possibilities about the virus’s origins that he publicly downplayed. On Jan. 31, 2020, he recorded that scientists considered deliberate insertion of the virus possible and agreed it required further expert review, despite later public recommendations suggesting the contrary. He later privately questioned CDC and FDA competence, admitted officials had overstated mask ineffectiveness and repeatedly described testing and supply failures. FAUCI’S NEWLY RELEASED COVID DIARIES REVEAL BIZARRE FIXATION ON FAME AS PANDEMIC DEATHS MOUNTED Throughout his time as NIAID director, he made note of conversations, decisions and his thoughts about actions taken by politicians and other officials. What Paul released is Fauci’s historical record containing almost-daily entries. “Later in the pandemic, he gloried in the positive attention he was receiving from legacy media and demonized those who questioned his official narrative — like me,” Paul said — alluding to heated exchanges during congressional hearings when Paul grilled Fauci over his pandemic response. “Many entries in Fauci’s daily historical account completely undermine the official narrative that Fauci and other public health officials espoused,” Paul wrote in his introduction to the documents. SLACK MESSAGES RELEASED BY RAND PAUL APPEAR TO SHOW AUTHORS OF KEY COVID-19 ORIGIN PAPER HELD PRIVATE DOUBTS SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER Paul said the “first alarm” went straight to the octogenarian immunologist, as he and two other medical experts examined the furin cleavage site in the virus and deliberated about the aforementioned genomic insertion and whether it truly escaped from a Chinese lab. “Before most Americans knew there was an origins debate, the government’s top infectious-disease official was already confronting the lab scenario,” Paul said. READ THE FAUCI DIARIES FROM 2001-2015. APP USERS: CLICK HERE READ THE COVID-ERA FAUCI DIARIES BELOW. APP USERS: CLICK HERE
DEI hiring boost for one blue state’s Muslim commission initiative flies in face of Trump’s anti-woke push
Massachusetts lawmakers are taking steps toward prioritizing the hiring of American Muslims for state government positions under a permanent so-called Muslim commission. The group would help recommend Americans who practice Islam to appointed government positions in the New England state at the same time the Trump administration is moving to dismantle such diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs nationwide — teeing-up a standoff between local leaders and the president. A proposed bill would create a panel of 11 Muslims appointed by Democratic Gov. Maura Healey and other state officials to represent the Islamic faith on issues such as business, economy, healthcare and other concerns. DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST ACTRESS CYNTHIA NIXON HANDED POWERFUL ROLE IN HELPING CHOOSE NEW YORK TOP JUDGES The Muslim commission would influence government recruiting and, “Identify and recommend qualified American Muslims for appointive positions at all levels of government, including boards and commissions, as the commission considers necessary and appropriate,” according to language in the bill. “Massachusetts has always prided itself on being a leader in equality and civil rights, a legacy this bill builds upon,” said Democratic state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, the bill’s primary sponsor. “American Muslims in my district and across the Commonwealth enrich our communities as students, healthcare workers, educators, small business owners, and civic leaders,” Eldridge added in the press release on the proposal. “This commission will help the state better understand and address the challenges they face, while strengthening inclusion and civic participation. “ Senate Bill S.2134 currently sits in the state’s Senate Ways and Means Committee after clearing initial committee markups and votes. Muslims account for an estimated 2% to 3% of Massachusetts’ population, according to approximate figures from Pew Research Center and the U.S. Census. COAST GUARD ENDING RACE-BASED ADMISSIONS FOR OFFICER COMMISSIONING PROGRAM UNDER TRUMP DEI CRACKDOWN Massachusetts’ push comes as President Donald Trump has made it a mission of his administration to cut back on DEI programs in the private sector, as well as in the federal government. “President Trump was resoundingly elected with a mandate to end divisive, racist policies and restore merit and efficiency,” White House spokesperson Allison Shuster told Fox News Digital. “DEI ran rampant during the Biden Administration, and Americans ultimately paid the price for these destructive policies with a restricted labor pool, higher operational costs, and workforce inefficiencies,” Shuster added. “The Trump Administration will always promote equal treatment under the law for every American, regardless of race or ethnicity.” The president’s team has terminated federal DEI-related contracts and eliminated DEI federal government programs. Part of Trump’s initiative during his first 100 days with the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was to put an end to programs that prioritized hiring and representation in the workplace based on applicants’ protected classes. Many Republicans, including the president and Musk, claimed that DEI was “reverse discrimination” that provided unfair preferences against majority groups in the U.S. Gov. Healey’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the legislation.
EXCLUSIVE: Biden pardon won’t shield Fauci if he lies to Congress, Comer says
EXCLUSIVE: House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is warning Dr. Anthony Fauci that his presidential pardon has limits ahead of the former public health official’s high-profile day on Capitol Hill. Fauci is set to testify before a GOP-led Senate panel on Wednesday, days after hundreds of pages of his COVID-19 pandemic-era diary entries were made public. “We now know why President Biden gave a blanket pardon to Dr. Fauci. While obsessing about his own fame, Dr. Fauci wasn’t truthful with the American people about the origins of COVID and advised schools to be closed,” Comer told Fox News Digital. LEGACY MEDIA IGNORES MASSIVE ANTHONY FAUCI DOCUMENT RELEASE ALLEGING HE MISLED CONGRESS ON COVID ORIGINS “Americans are still reaping the consequences of Dr. Fauci’s actions. Biden’s pardon doesn’t cover Dr. Fauci’s testimony this week and if he continues to lie, he must be held accountable.” Fauci was among several recipients of controversial “preemptive pardons” by former President Joe Biden made during the final hours of the Democratic administration. The pardon covers any offenses from January 1, 2014, through its issue date, or anything related “to his service as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force or the White House COVID-19 Response Team, or as Chief Medical Advisor to the President.” FAUCI PRIVATELY TOOK CREDIT FOR COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS DESPITE PUBLIC DENIAL, NEWLY EXPOSED DIARY ENTRIES REVEAL Because the pardon covers conduct during his government service, there will likely be some debate over whether it would protect him from liability stemming from his testimony. But other House Republicans are also accusing Fauci of behaving in a way that hurts public trust in U.S. health, including the co-chairs of the House GOP Doctors’ Caucus — both of whom are physicians themselves. “Dr. Fauci, enamored with his own fame and vanity, put politics above science during the pandemic. He is primarily responsible for the resulting multi-generational erosion of trust in American medicine,” Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital. “A perfect example of ego destroying whatever achievements he had prior to the pandemic.” FAUCI’S NEWLY RELEASED COVID DIARIES REVEAL BIZARRE FIXATION ON FAME AS PANDEMIC DEATHS MOUNTED Rep. John Joyce, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital that Fauci “must be held accountable” by the House as well as the Senate. “The release of Dr. Fauci’s diary entries validates what many Americans suspected all along: he was not honest about the origins of COVID-19,” Joyce said. “His fixation on preserving his own image and maintaining a position of power eroded public trust, undermined the integrity of our public health institutions, and failed the American people.” Diary entries made public by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a longtime Fauci critic and chair of the committee before which Fauci is appearing on Wednesday, show the high-profile doctor reflecting on his pandemic-era fame and raising questions about the disease’s origins. Some entries appear to show Fauci taking credit for influencing policies that closed schools during the pandemic, something that has become one of the most hotly debated aspects of how the government handled COVID. He told the House Oversight Committee in January 2024, however, “I did not close the schools.” Fauci has long denied any wrongdoing and instead has argued that he’s been made a political target by people on the right who are critical of how governments handled COVID-19.
Flock surveillance spreads across the South as red-state lawmakers seek to axe ‘1984’-style tracking tools
State lawmakers in West Virginia‘s Freedom Caucus are seeking to ban AI-powered Flock surveillance cameras statewide, arguing the technology violates citizens’ Fourth Amendment right to privacy. “The West Virginia Freedom Caucus strongly opposes the unchecked expansion of automated surveillance technologies, including Flock Safety camera systems, automated license plate readers (ALPRs), AI-powered facial recognition, multimodal vehicle recognition, and emerging ‘gun detection’ software that claims to identify armed citizens based on body shape or movement,” West Virginia Delegate Chris Anders, the Chairman of West Virginia’s Freedom Caucus, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “These technologies represent a dramatic expansion of government surveillance that is fundamentally at odds with the Fourth Amendment,” Anders added. THE SURVEILLANCE CAMERA ON YOUR STREET CORNER: LAWFUL SPYING OR CONSTITUTIONALLY PROBLEMATIC? “No state or local government should be mass tracking the daily movements of law-abiding citizens without a warrant. Mass surveillance has no place in a free society,” Anders also said in a statement posted to the caucus’ X account. The caucus is calling on all state municipalities to immediately remove automated license plate readers such as the ones run by the security company Flock Safety. “The Constitution does not disappear because technology advances,” Anders added. The caucus plans on combatting the cameras and surveillance technologies by reintroducing a previously failed legislative measure called the Fourth Amendment Restoration Act. The bill would prohibit a series of AI-powered surveillance technologies from being used by law enforcement and other agencies in the state. The technologies it would ban include facial recognition software, surveillance drones, license plate readers and more. “For two consecutive years, the Fourth Amendment Restoration Act has been introduced in the West Virginia Legislature, yet it has failed to reach the Governor’s desk. That must change,” Anders also said, placing blame for the bill’s previous failures at the feet of the state’s legislative leadership. “Despite growing public concern over government surveillance, Speaker Roger Hanshaw and House Judiciary Chairman JB Akers declined to bring the bill forward for consideration. As a result, the House was never given the opportunity to debate or vote on the legislation,” Anders wrote in an email to Fox News Digital. “If House leadership continues to deny the people’s elected representatives the opportunity to vote on this fundamental constitutional issue, the Freedom Caucus will use every parliamentary tool available to insist that the Fourth Amendment Restoration Act receive an up-or-down vote in both chambers. Constitutional rights should never be quietly buried in committee,” Anders added. Chairman Akers, in a response to Anders’ comments, told Fox News Digital, “We actually passed a bill last session that limits the amount of surveillance law enforcement may engage in on private property. Unfortunately, Chris Anders submits sloppily drafted bills given to him by outside groups. In the 4th Amendment context, his proposals would prevent even normal law enforcement actions that conservatives support.” “Last session, he tried to amend a bill in a way that would have prevented police from entering property even if a dead body were in plain view in the front yard. Bluntly, his idea was dumb,” Akers said of Anders’ proposal draft. “He left me no choice but to say that. If he’s going to blame others for failing to get his bills through, then he needs to do better work. Frankly, I think he’d rather see his bad bills fail so he can then scream RINO for clicks.” Other Freedom Caucus members also objected to the Flock cameras. “The Fourth Amendment was written specifically to stop the government from engaging in generalized surveillance and warrantless searches,” West Virginia Freedom Caucus Secretary Henry Dillon said in a statement. He argued that “Flock cameras don’t just identify criminals — they create a database documenting where law-abiding citizens worship, seek medical care, conduct business, and travel.” “That is fundamentally incompatible with a free society,” he said. JOHNSON FACES GOP REVOLT OVER WARRANTLESS SURVEILLANCE POWERS AHEAD OF KEY VOTE Another Freedom Caucus member, state Sen. Craig Hart, pointed to a series of alleged police abuses involving Flock cameras in Georgia, including a 2025 incident in which Braselton Police Department Chief Michael Steffman was arrested for allegedly using automated license plate readers to stalk and harass people. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Atlas of Surveillance, at least five West Virginia municipalities incorporate Flock Safety license plate readers, while other municipalities like Wheeling and the state capital of Charleston operate drones, camera registries and intelligence fusion centers. The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the West Virginia city of Huntington after its mayor and city council agreed to a $2.1 million deal with Flock for AI-powered surveillance equipment. “If the Court allows the contract to proceed, Huntington would be blanketed in license plate recognition cameras with vehicle fingerprint technology, live video cameras, gunshot detection audio devices, and even automatically dispatched drones,” the ACLU wrote in a statement. The ACLU said more than 50 citizens attended the city council meeting to voice their disapproval of the agreement. Meanwhile, Huntington Mayor Patrick Farrell argued that Flock cameras in other states have already helped catch West Virginia suspects. Recounting a pursuit of a murder suspect who allegedly shot a woman in the head near Huntington, Farrell said “he was going back to Michigan, and luckily for us, some other city had license plate reader cameras that caught the car.” “That gave us the lead that led to his arrest in Michigan. So it helps our law enforcement do its work faster, more efficiently, and that’s the kind of success that I think we need more of,” the mayor said. Despite the safety argument, Anders and his caucus insist the technology violates the Constitution. “The Founders did not fight a revolution so government could monitor innocent citizens everywhere they travel,” Anders told Fox News Digital. “George Orwell’s 1984 was intended as a warning, not an instruction manual. We should be striving for more 1776, not more 1984.” “The Fourth Amendment Restoration Act does not prevent police from investigating crime. It simply requires government to do what the Constitution
New audio undercuts Dems who defended Biden, slammed Hur after classified docs report revealed memory loss
After special counsel Robert Hur’s 2023 investigation and the subsequent report into former President Joe Biden’s retention of classified documents, Democrats rushed to defend the 46th president from his characterization that Biden was an “elderly man with a poor memory.” The left-wing’s narrative surrounding Biden’s mental cognition — especially as he was running for re-election against President Donald Trump — is now crumbling after audio tapes from the investigation were revealed Monday night. Prominent Democrats lined up to defend Biden when the initial report was released in 2024, many using the same line that Hur’s report was “gratuitous.” Then-Vice President Kamala Harris was chief among the chorus of defenders, saying that the report was “inaccurate and inappropriate.” “The way that the president’s demeanor in that report was characterized could not be more wrong on the facts,” she told reporters at an event in Washington at the time. She also said the report was “clearly politically motivated, gratuitous.” Months later, Biden dropped out of the presidential race and was replaced on the ticket by his No. 2 without a primary election to decide his replacement. BIDEN’S HUR INTERVIEW TAPES COULD NOW GO PUBLIC AFTER HIS ATTORNEYS WAVE WHITE FLAG “What everyone will soon realize is that this is a Republican special counsel who completely went out of his way to editorialize, to include material in his report that is unnecessary and irrelevant to what he was tasked with doing,” Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., piled on in comments to ABC at the time. Hur’s appointment was nonpartisan. In 2023, Hur was investigating Biden for retaining classified information. At the center of the investigation were audio tapes of Biden from interviews with his “Promise Me, Dad” memoir ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer, from 2016 and 2017. Hur’s report concluded that Biden did, in fact, retain classified documents, but that prosecuting him might not lead to a conviction, because he could be viewed “as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” “Mr. Biden’s memory was significantly limited, both during his recorded interviews with the ghostwriter in 2017 and in his interview with our office in 2023,” the report said. BIDEN’S FIGHT TO KEEP HUR INTERVIEW TAPES UNDER WRAPS SUFFERS FRESH COURT BLOW After a prolonged legal battle during which Biden sought to keep the audio tapes private, a nonprofit called the Oversight Project obtained them via public records requests. The damning tapes reveal Biden’s inability to remember basic names and dates. In one instance, on April 24, 2017, Biden struggled to recall the names of two economic advisers. “I’ll think of his name,” said Biden, who at the time was a private citizen and former vice president. “I should write the names down because I keep forgetting them.” There was then a long pause before Zwonitzer prompted Biden by saying Alan Krueger’s name. BIDEN SCORES TEMPORARY COURT VICTORY AS TRUMP-APPOINTED JUDGE DELAYS RELEASE OF HUR INVESTIGATION MATERIALS In another instance, when trying to recall a memorial he attended for a fallen service member, Biden forgot the date of the service and name of the deceased. “I think I went to that memorial service in Wilmington. It says [REDACTED] December the 4th, but I don’t — I know what this means. Memorial service — [REDACTED] gets names really f—ed up,” said Biden. “So it says memorial service for [REDACTED]. I don’t think her name was [REDACTED]. Or I forget [REDACTED].” The interviews were marked by consistent lapses in memory. But in 2024, that didn’t stop Democrats from accusing Hur of being a partisan activist who intentionally tried to tarnish Biden and his chances in a rematch against Trump. Andrew Weissman, a former general counsel to the FBI, cried foul on MSNBC. “That is not the role of the Department of Justice … to talk about your memory today — irrelevant, it is gratuitous,” he reportedly said. “And it is also exactly what you’re not supposed to do, which is putting your thumb on the scale that could have political repercussions.” Ian Sams, a spokesperson for Biden’s general counsel, said at the time that the report was “gratuitous.” “When you are the first special counsel in history not to indict anybody, there is pressure to criticize and to make, you know, statements that maybe in otherwise you wouldn’t make,” Sams reportedly said. “I think this issue of age is already out there, and when November comes, it’s going to be a choice between two people,” said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., told POLITICO. “I was with a congressional leadership about two weeks ago, and no one walked out of that meeting, saying, ‘Oh, my God, it was like he wasn’t in charge.’” Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., who at the time had just spent a day traveling with Biden, insisted that he was, “at the very top of his game, all the way through it, both in private and in person.” Later in 2024, Biden was yanked from the top of the presidential ticket after an embarrassing debate performance against then-candidate Donald Trump, which showcased his apparent mental decline. Harris, serving as vice president at the time, was then coronated as the party’s presidential nominee despite never winning a primary. When she ran in 2020, Harris never made it to the primaries, dropping out on December 3, 2019, months before the first elections took place. A Biden spokesperson ducked the former president’s memory in a statement to CBS. “President Biden’s conversations for a book a decade ago that discussed his late son are private, and were provided to the Department of Justice on the express condition they stay that way,” TJ Ducklo told the outlet. “Reversing course and making them public is just the latest example of this Administration weaponizing the DOJ for political retribution.” “It’s wrong, and while President Biden disagrees with today’s decision, he also respects the courts and the vital role an independent judiciary plays in a healthy democracy.”