Trump allegedly thanked police for probing Epstein in 2000s, warned Ghislaine Maxwell is ‘evil’: FBI doc
President Donald Trump allegedly called the Palm Beach, Florida, Police Department in the mid-2000s to thank them for investigating Jeffrey Epstein while simultaneously warning them to stay focused on “evil” Ghislaine Maxwell, according to an FBI document recapping an interview with the local department’s former chief. “TRUMP called the PBPD (Palm Beach Police Department) to tell him ‘thank goodness you’re stopping him, everyone has known he’s been doing this,’” reads an FBI document reviewed by Fox News Digital recounting a 2019 interview with former Palm Beach, Florida, Police Chief Michael Reiter. When approached for comment, however, an official with the Department of Justice pushed back Tuesday that the office was “not aware of any corroborating evidence that the President contacted law enforcement 20 years ago.” Reiter served as the police chief in Palm Beach from 2001 to 2009. Reiter’s name was redacted from the FBI document released by the Department of Justice (DOJ), but confirmed to the Miami Herald that he was interviewed by the FBI in 2019 and that Trump called the police department regarding Epstein in July 2006, according to the outlet. EPSTEIN VICTIMS USE SUPER BOWL COMMERCIAL TO PRESSURE PAM BONDI OVER WITHHELD FILES Fox News Digital reached out to Reiter and a security and crisis management firm he operates, called Michael Reiter and Associates, Tuesday morning. Reiter declined to comment on the matter. The FBI document was among the millions of files, photos and emails released by the DOJ following Trump signing the Epstein Files Transparency Act in late 2025. The DOJ released its latest batch of files on Jan. 30. The Florida police department began investigating Epstein in 2005 after receiving a call that a 14-year-old girl was allegedly molested by the financier, the Miami Herald reported. The call led to police uncovering other similar sexual abuse allegations and pulled Reiter into the investigation, the outlet wrote Monday. The FBI document recapping Reiter’s reported interview with federal officials contends that Trump allegedly called Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate, “evil” and warned that police should “focus on her.” “TRUMP told him people in New York knew EPSTEIN was disgusting,” the FBI document continued of the interview with the former police chief. “TRUMP said MAXWELL was EPSTEIN’s operative, ‘she is evil and to focus on her,’” “TRUMP told (redacted) that he was around EPSTEIN once when teenagers were present and TRUMP ‘got the hell out of there.’ TRUMP was one of the very first people to call when people found out that they were investigating EPSTEIN.” Fox News Digital also reached out to the White House Tuesday morning for comment on the alleged phone call and FBI document. TRUMP CONSIDERS LEGAL ACTION AGAINST MICHAEL WOLFF AND EPSTEIN ESTATE AFTER LATEST DOCUMENT RELEASE Trump long has maintained that while he did at a time brush elbows with Epstein, he “threw him out” of his Mar-a-Lago resort back in the 2000s as details of his web of sex trafficking and pedophilia circulated. Reiter’s interview with the FBI also backed up Trump’s long-standing comments that he ended any ties to Epstein in the early 2000s. “Mar-A-Lago is a mixture of everyone,” the FBI document reads. “DONALD TRUMP told (redacted) that he threw EPSTEIN out of his club.” NEW GHISLAINE MAXWELL MUGSHOT INCLUDED IN DOJ’S LATEST EPSTEIN FILES RELEASE Epstein was a well-connected financier with a lengthy Rolodex of billionaires and celebrities who floated in and out of his orbit across the years. He was convicted of sex trafficking minors in 2008 and served just more than one year of incarceration, which also included a controversial work-release arrangement under a plea agreement. He was arrested again in 2019 on charges of sex trafficking before he was found dead by suicide in his Manhattan jail cell. Reiter’s interview with the FBI was held just two months after Epstein’s death, according to the Herald. Trump signed legislation in November 2025 that required the Justice Department to release files related to the late convicted sex offender, with the DOJ releasing tranches of the documents since December 2025.
Progressive backed by Sanders, AOC pulls off upset ballot box shocker in Democratic congressional primary
A progressive candidate backed by champions of the left, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., pulled off a major upset victory over the more mainstream frontrunner in a Democratic congressional primary for a blue-leaning seat in New Jersey. Analilia Mejia, a progressive organizer, edged out former Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski in the battle for their party’s nomination in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District. On Tuesday, Malinowski announced on X that he had conceded the race. HOUSE GOP MAJORITY SHRINKS TO JUST ONE VOTE AS JOHNSON SWEARS IN NEW HOUSE DEMOCRAT Mejia and Malinowski were the leaders among a field of 11 Democratic candidates in last Thursday’s primary to fill the seat left vacant when now-Gov. Mikie Sherrill stepped down after winning November’s gubernatorial election in the Garden State. The results in the primary showdown were closely watched by the political world as an early testing ground in the debate between progressives versus the more mainstream elements of the Democratic Party. The victory by Mejia, who worked as national political director on Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, is the latest boost for the left against the establishment since now-New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, sent shock waves across the nation with his Democratic primary victory in June 2025. “She stands for a progressive populist economic agenda,” progressive leader Rep. Ro Khanna of California, emphasized last week in a social media post. “She is the future!” Mejia, speaking to supporters on primary night, highlighted that “we have to rebuild our party, we have to rebuild what is happening in our nation. We have to reclaim our democracy. We know that our economy is rigged to suit the billionaires.” ‘ABOLISH ICE’—WHERE SANDERS AND AOC-BACKED MEJIA STANDS ON THE ISSUES Malinowski, an assistant secretary of state in former President Barack Obama’s administration who later represented a neighboring congressional district in northern New Jersey from 2018 to 2022 before losing re-election, was considered the favorite in the race heading into primary day. But Malinowski was the target of a slew of attack ads put out by a group affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which opposed Malinowski because he said he supports conditions on aid to Israel. The AIPAC-aligned super PAC United Democracy Project dished out more than $2.3 million to take aim at Malinowski, even though AIPAC had supported him in his past congressional elections. But the strategy backfired, because Mejia is much tougher on Israel than Malinowski. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) jumped the gun on primary night, congratulating Malinowski in an email release. “Tonight, Democrat Tom Malinowski clinched victory in the New Jersey District 11 special election Democratic primary,” the DNC’s release read. Later in the evening, after taking a slight lead in the vote count over Malinowski, Meija put out a social media post showing the famous photo of President Harry Truman, during his 1948 election victory, holding up a newspaper with the erroneous banner headline: “Dewey Defeats Truman.” Mejia was boosted by the support on the left. Sanders headlined a virtual rally for her on the eve of the primary. And besides Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, Mejia also was endorsed by a large list of other progressive leaders, including Khanna, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. Pramilla Jayapal of Washington state, the former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. TOP 5 GAME-CHANGERS FROM THE 2025 CAMPAIGN TRAIL The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), a leading group on the left, said in a statement, “Analilia Mejia’s momentous showing proves that voters, when given a choice, want Democrats with an inspiring vision who will boldly challenge powerful interests on behalf of working families.” PCCC co-founder Adam Green, a New Jersey native who knocked doors for Mejia and spoke at a rally with her and Sanders on primary eve, added that voters “made clear they want Democrats who will shake up a broken political and economic system – not just be anti-Trump.” While Mejia was the clear choice of the left flank of the party’s base, the rest of the field appeared to divide the more moderate and center-left vote. Mejia will face off with Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway, the only Republican to file for the special election, which will be held on April 16. Hathaway will be considered the underdog in the race, in the suburban northern New Jersey district. Sherrill won re-election for the seat in 2024 by 15 points, the same margin by which she carried the district in November’s gubernatorial showdown. But then-Vice President Kamala Harris won the district by just eight points in the 2024 presidential election, giving the GOP some hopes of possibly flipping the seat. The primary in New Jersey was held as Republicans cling to a razor-thin 218-214 majority in the House of Representatives. But the GOP may land a reinforcement in the House before the open seat in New Jersey is filled. JOHNSON WARNS HOUSE REPUBLICANS TO ‘STAY HEALTHY’ AS GOP MAJORITY SHRINKS TO THE EDGE That’s because a special election is scheduled on March 10 in Georgia’s solidly red 14th Congressional District, in the race to succeed former GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The MAGA firebrand and one-time top Trump House ally in early January stepped away from Congress a year before her term ended. A whopping 22 candidates, including 17 Republicans, are running in the Georgia showdown. According to Georgia state law, all the candidates will run on the same ballot. If no contender tops 50% of the vote, a runoff election between the top two finishers will take place on April 7. WHO TRUJMP IS BACKING IN RACE TO REPLACE MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE Trump last week endorsed Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Clay Fuller, a Republican, in the race. Greene won re-election in 2024 to the seat by nearly 30 points, and Trump carried the district, which is located in northwest Georgia, by 37 points. There’s one more vacant seat in Congress, in California’s 1st Congressional District, following the recent unexpected death of
Scathing report reveals Antifa-linked org passing out material to K-12 students: ‘Political revolution’
FIRST ON FOX: A newly unearthed training guidebook from the far-left activist group Sunrise Movement calls on both college and K-12 students to engage in monthly disruptions and “mass non-cooperation” as part of a coordinated effort to spark a “political revolution” across the United States. The 25-page document, obtained by Defending Education, focuses on mobilizing youth against what it describes as a “regime” and a “system captured by billionaires,” urges students to walk out of classrooms and boycott businesses in an attempt to prove that the country cannot function without their cooperation. “We’re not going to get there overnight, and we’re not here to get back to the status quo,” the guidebook says. “We’re here to win a political revolution. This is your guide to start winning at your school right now.” Pushing back against ICE is a major theme in the document that appears to have been spread to students in Minnesota and across the country and has made that central pillar of its recent advocacy, framing the agency as an “occupying army” and a “personal gestapo” for the Trump administration. GOT A SCOOP ON CAMPUS? SEND US A TIP HERE In early 2026, the group spearheaded the “ICE Out For Good” campaign, which utilizes “Wide Awake” noise demonstrations, involving drums, whistles and horns, outside hotels believed to be housing ICE agents, particularly in the Minneapolis region. The Defending Education report claims, “The January 18, 2026, ‘TC Students ICE Response Coordination Call’ presentation includes a slide stating ‘Trump is experimenting on Minnesota: How far can he take his authoritarian agenda?’ Another slides states the goals of the movement which include ‘Flex our power now to kick ICE out of Minnesota’ and ‘Build long-term student power in schools here and across the country.’ The document also lists options for ‘Day of Action’ such as a ‘mass buy and return’ at a local Target store or rallying at a state government building.” Organizers behind the movement are building toward a massive “May Day” mobilization on May 1, 2026, when they intend to have millions of students and workers “disrupt business as usual.” TEACHERS UNION PRESIDENT CALLS TRUMP A ‘DICTATOR’ ON UNEARTHED CALL WITH ANTIFA-LINKED GROUP Leading up to that date, the manual instructs students to take action on the first Friday of every month, starting with smaller escalations like wearing red or “dorm storming” before moving to “bigger, more creative” disruptions. Beyond simple protests, the training manual provides a tactical roadmap for radicalizing school environments. It instructs students on how to recruit from homerooms, sports teams, and campus clubs to grow their ranks. The guide also explains how to use “trigger moments” — unforeseen crises or tragedies — to spark mass outrage and absorb new members into the organization. The document lists several supporting organizations involved in the effort, including Higher Education Labor United, the American Association of University Professors, Jewish Voice for Peace and Socialist Alternative. While the guidebook claims a commitment to nonviolence and instructs participants to act lawfully, its stated ultimate goals include a radical overhaul of the American economy. The Sunrise Movement’s vision for this “political revolution” includes demands for a “political party of workers and students,” a federal jobs guarantee, and the Green New Deal. By “taking down one of the many ‘pillars’ holding up the regime” through school-based organizing, the group asserts that it is actively working to bring massive corporations “to their knees.” “It’s deeply concerning that an outside organization operating clubs inside K-12 schools is training children to help bring about a ‘political revolution’,” Rhyen Staley, director of Research at Defending Education, told Fox News Digital. “Parents and teachers should be appalled that the group is encouraging regular disruptions to the learning environment to advance their far-left cause, costing students valuable educational opportunities and time in the classroom.” The Sunrise Movement is a far-left organization that vows to “force the government to end the era of fossil fuel elites, invest in Black, brown and working class communities, and create millions of good union jobs,” according to its website. The core of the group’s mission is fighting for the Green New Deal. Sunrise Movement listed “four pillars” that are critical to the Green New Deal, including to “stop the climate crisis” and to “invest in racial and economic justice.” Sunrise Movement’s far-left ties were enough to spark concern from the House Judiciary Committee chairman in November, Fox News Digital first reported, particularly its links to Antifa, a movement the Trump administration has labeled a terrorist organization. In a letter to George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, the committee wrote, “Of particular concern, OSF has donated ‘at least $2 million’ to the Sunrise Movement, a group closely connected to Antifa. According to the Capital Research Center report, the Sunrise Movement ‘endorsed and solicited financial support for the Antifa-associated anarchist terrorists of the Stop Cop City / Defend the Atlanta Forest coalition’ which, in 2023, violently attacked law enforcement officers and utility workers constructing a training facility near Atlanta, Georgia for police officers and firefighters. During the siege, Antifa terrorists threw Molotov cocktails, bricks, and rocks at law enforcement officers, attempted to blind officers by shining lasers in their eyes, and set construction equipment and a police car on fire, among numerous other violent acts. Prosecutors later charged more than individuals with domestic terrorism due to the attacks.” During the 2020 election season, the Sunrise Movement, whose website says it wants to “force the government to end the era of fossil fuel elites,” received nearly a third of its funding from the Soros-backed Democracy PAC and Sixteen-Thirty Fund, totaling $750,000. Fox News Digital reached out to the Sunrise Movement for comment.
Unearthed docs undercut Dem warnings of harm from Trump executive order blocking trans surgery for minors
FIRST ON FOX: Conservative lawfare group America First Legal (AFL) has been filing records requests after 15 Democratic-led states and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, D, sued to block President Donald Trump’s executive order banning sex changes for minors, in an attempt to find out whether the harm being alleged in their lawsuit is actually happening. Fox News Digital reported last month on how AFL’s more than a dozen records requests to state departments of health were either ignored, or did not include any responsive records documenting the harms the Democratic states’ lawsuit warns stem from the president’s executive order. One of the states that AFL said ignored its records requests, Connecticut, did subsequently return to them with responsive records. However, according to AFL, the documents provided by Connecticut’s health department continue to lend evidence that the harm being cited in Democrats’ multi-state lawsuit is nonexistent. “I don’t see any impact to HSS funding or federal grants related to this executive order,” said an email that was among what appeared to be three records that the Connecticut Department of Public Health provided to AFL, plus an additional final page that was entirely redacted. CALIFORNIA AG SUES HOSPITAL THAT ENDED GENDER TRANSITION TREATMENT FOR MINORS TO COMPLY WITH TRUMP POLICIES The email came from Elizabeth Frugale, a section chief for health statistics and surveillance at the Connecticut public health department, in response to a question from a grants management and budget supervisor, Aaron Knight, inquiring whether President Trump’s executive order on transgender surgeries “adversely impacts any of your Federal grants.” Frugale’s response stands in contrast to claims in the lawsuit against the president’s executive order on sex changes, which argued the directive had “immediately” jeopardized federal funding and disrupted public health systems. “If Connecticut was not financially impacted by the Executive Order, it should have declined to join a lawsuit,” said Dan Epstein, vice president of America First Legal. “To challenge, without cause, Executive Order 14187’s assurance that taxpayer dollars are not used for chemical and surgical mutilation of children, forces the courts to adjudicate political grievances, not actual disputes. AFL will continue to expose unfounded attempts to clog the federal courts as part of state lawfare against the Administration.” MAJOR CONNECTICUT HOSPITALS BEGIN ‘WINDING DOWN’ YOUTH GENDER PROGRAMS CITING ‘EVOLVING LANDSCAPE’ The third record given in response to AFL’s records request was just an employee notice asking folks to review a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) halting Trump’s executive directive on trans surgeries for minors. A nationwide preliminary injunction halting Trump’s executive order on transgender surgeries was issued just a few months after it came down. When asked how plaintiffs could show proof of harm for a policy measure that has been halted by the courts, Epstein said the plaintiffs in the case still must show “standing” for a court to provide a remedy. He noted that just because the plaintiffs filed their suit early does not mean this responsibility disappears. “Because standing is necessary for any federal court to provide a remedy, plaintiffs must plead concrete evidence of harm in their complaint,” Epstein asserted. “Here, plaintiffs’ complaint failed to show an actual, traceable loss tied to the federal action, beyond merely speculative claims of harm or generalized concerns. Filing suit early does not eliminate this requirement to establish standing.” AFL’s records requests to all the health departments belonging to states listed in the lawsuit, which was filed on Aug. 1, sought an array of records. Among them were documents showing the states had actually experienced the harms they claimed in their lawsuit, such as evidence of prosecutions or penalties for providers, clinic closures, reduced services and increased medical or mental-health crises for transgender adolescents. The group also asked for records showing higher costs for services like counseling, crisis intervention or hospitalizations, worsened mental and physical health outcomes or the states’ inability to meet legal obligations to provide medical care for minors in state custody. AFL asked for any internal communications specifically referencing the executive order and its alleged effects as well. Only four states — Massachusetts, Illinois, Nevada and Connecticut — have provided any sort of response thus far. Furthermore, the responses that did arrive indicated there were no responsive records relating to AFL’s requests, even though they asked for documents pertaining to precisely what the multi-state lawsuit against Trump’s executive order alleges. Trump’s Executive Order 14187 is also being challenged for alleged discrimination in a lawsuit against the Health and Human Services Department led by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Fox News Digital reached out with questions to the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office and the state’s public health department in response to AFL’s allegations, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
House Democrats on offense: Expand 2026 map with 5 new Republican targets
Emboldened congressional Democrats are once again expanding their battleground map for this year’s midterm elections, when Republicans will be defending their razor-thin majority in the House. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) on Tuesday added five more offensive opportunities in Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, South Carolina and Virginia to their list of what they consider are vulnerable Republican-held House districts. That brings the total number of districts Democrats are hoping to flip to 44. The DCCC notes that all five of the new districts they’re adding to their list of “offensive targets” were carried by President Donald Trump by 13 points or fewer in the 2024 elections. Republicans currently control the House by a 218-214 majority, with two right-tilting districts and one left-leaning seat currently vacant. Democrats need a net gain of just three seats in the midterms to win back the majority for the first time in four years. FOX NEWS POLL: AN EARLY LOOK AT THE 2026 MIDTERMS The move by the DCCC comes as Democrats are energized, despite the party’s polling woes. Democrats, thanks to their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation, scored decisive victories in the 2025 elections and have won or over performed in a slew of scheduled and special ballot box contests since Trump returned to the White House over a year ago. Republicans, meanwhile, are facing traditional political headwinds in which the party in power in the nation’s capital normally suffers setbacks in the midterm elections. And the GOP is also dealing with Trump’s continued underwater approval ratings and national polls — including the latest Fox News survey — that indicate many Americans feel things are worse off than they were a year ago and remain pessimistic about the economy. “Democrats are on offense, and our map reflects the fact that everyday Americans are tired of Republicans’ broken promises and ready for change in Congress,” DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene emphasized in a statement. “Healthcare, housing, groceries, energy bills — they are all going up, and it’s directly because of Republican policies that favor the wealthiest few while leaving hardworking families behind.” HOUSE GOP’S ALREADY FRAGILE MAJORITY TO FURTHER SHRINK AFTER DEMOCRATS’ BALLOT BOX VICTORY And DelBene predicted, “Going into the midterms, Democrats have the winning message, top-tier candidates, and the public on our side, paving the way for a new Democratic House Majority under the leadership of a Speaker Hakeem Jeffries.” But the rival National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) scoffed at the move by the DCCC. “National Democrats are daydreaming while the ground collapses beneath them. Democrats are getting demolished in the money race, their incumbents are hanging by a thread, and their disastrous primaries are producing unelectable far-left socialists. The battleground favors Republicans,” NRCC Spokesman Mike Marinella argued in a statement to Fox News Digital. The NRCC is currently targeting what it considers 29 vulnerable House Democrats in the midterms. The new districts being targeted by the Democrats are Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, where Republican Rep. Jeff Crank won re-election in 2024 by 14 points. They also include Minnesota’s 1st CD and Montana’s 1st CD, where GOP Reps. Brad Finstad and Ryan Zinke are seeking re-election, and Virginia’s 5th CD, where Republican Rep. John McGuire is running for another term. The fifth district the DCCC is adding to their target list is the open seat race in South Carolina’s 1st CD, where Republican Rep. Nancy Mace is running for governor rather than seeking re-election.
Maryland Gov Wes Moore in hot seat after report questions claim about grandfather and KKK
Maryland’s Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, widely believed to have White House ambitions, is facing questions over the accuracy of a story about his family’s background involving being forced to flee the state of South Carolina due to threats from the Ku Klux Klan. “I am literally the grandson of someone who was run out of this country by the Ku Klux Klan, right?” Moore told Time magazine in 2023 in a conversation about how he “reconciles Patriotism” with the country’s “racist past.” “Right? So the fact that I can be both this grandson of someone who was run outta this country by the Ku Klux Klan, and also be the first Black governor in the history of the state of Maryland.” Moore has frequently referenced his grandfather, James Thomas, as the figure in this story, including during a 2020 appearance on the Yang Speaks podcast titled “Wes Moore on how the KKK ran his family into exile,” where he detailed how his grandfather was a minister in Winnsboro, South Carolina, who fled to Jamaica after being threatened by the klan. ANTI-ICE LEGISLATION HEADS TO DESK OF RISING STAR DEMOCRAT GOVERNOR, TESTING HIS PRESIDENTIAL AMBITIONS However, a Washington Free Beacon report last week cast doubt on the specifics of that story. The report claims that historical records from the Protestant Episcopal Church and contemporary newspaper reports indicate that Thomas’s departure was not a secret, middle-of-the-night escape, but an orderly and public professional transfer after he was appointed to replace a deceased pastor in Jamaica. Additionally, archival data and the diocese’s own historical accounts suggest that the White community in Pineville, S.C., actually held Thomas’s church in high regard for its medical services, with no mention of racial animus or Klan interference during his tenure. WES MOORE WARNS NOEM ‘FEDERAL OCCUPATION’ OF NEW ICE COMPOUND NOW UNDER STATE INVESTIGATION Fox News Digital has not independently verified the claims in the report and Moore’s office pushed back in a statement to Fox News. “We’re not going to litigate a family’s century-old oral history with a partisan outlet,” Moore spokesperson Ammar Moussa told Fox News Digital, in reference to the Washington Free Beacon report. “The broader reality is not in dispute: intimidation and racial terror were pervasive in the Jim Crow South, and it rarely came with neat documentation. Even Bishop William Alexander Guerry — whom they cite to suggest there was no hostility — was later murdered amid intense backlash tied to his racial equality work. The Governor is focused on doing the job Marylanders elected him to do.” The report on Moore’s portrayal of his grandfather’s life story added fuel to the fire of scrutiny the rumored 2028 White House hopeful has already faced for previous stories about his record, including questions about his military record and an Oxford University thesis, both reported on by the Washington Free Beacon and both brought up by users on social media in recent days. “Wes Moore is being talked about as one of the top contenders in the 2028 Democratic primary and the guy has already told more lies about his life than Elizabeth Warren,” Greg Price, Trump White House rapid response manager for the first half of 2025, posted on X. “Moore is reaching Biden levels of fabulism,” National Review editor Ramesh Ponnuru posted on X. “Hoo boy,” Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume posted on X. “Read this, and the post it is in response to.” In September, Moore said he is “not running for president” in 2028 and is “excited” about serving a full term if he wins re-election in November, although many still believe he has presidential ambitions at some point in the future.
Grassley: Biden DOJ bypassed constitutional safeguards by subpoenaing senator phone records
Phone records of sitting members of Congress were secretly obtained in a way that blocked lawmakers from invoking constitutional protections, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, alleged Tuesday during a hearing. Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who is leading the hearing, signaled that their panel planned to grill hearing witnesses, who included executives from Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile, about the disclosure of the phone data. Grassley noted in his opening remarks that the three companies received a total of 10 subpoenas for 20 current or former Republican Congress members related to Arctic Frost, the FBI probe that led to Smith bringing charges against President Donald Trump over the 2020 election. JACK SMITH DENIES POLITICS PLAYED ANY ROLE IN TRUMP PROSECUTIONS AT HOUSE HEARING Blackburn, in her opening remarks, called the disclosures an “invasion of privacy and violation of our constitutional rights.” Blackburn pointed to the speech or debate clause, which gives Congress members an added layer of protection from prosecution. “It’s critical that each of these carriers go on the record about the decisions they made and why — or why not — they enabled with Jack Smith’s weaponization of government,” Blackburn said. The hearing will offer the first public opportunity for Republican committee members, several of whom had a narrow set of their phone data turned over to Smith’s team, to seek answers from each of the phone carriers on how they handled the subpoenas upon receiving them. Grassley noted that a federal statute said phone carriers cannot be barred from giving notice to a Senate office about a subpoena unless the member is the target of an investigation. He also said Verizon, in particular, was under a contract that required it to notify the Senate Sergeant at Arms about subpoenas related to senators. The subpoenas were accompanied by court-authorized gag orders, which ordered the phone companies not to alert the senators to the records request. Blackburn, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, are among those on the committee who had their records subpoenaed as part of Arctic Frost. JACK SMITH TO TESTIFY NEXT WEEK AT A PUBLIC HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE HEARING While the phone companies come under scrutiny, Grassley also blamed Smith. Smith received the greenlight from DOJ’s Public Integrity Section to seek the senators’ records as part of his investigation, according to emails, but an official from the section also floated that the subpoenas could expose the DOJ to constitutional challenges. “Smith and his team irresponsibly steam0rolled ahead while intentionally hiding their activity from Members of Congress. … Smith’s deceitful conduct was a substantial intrusion into the core constitutional activity of constitutional officers,” Grassley said. Smith, meanwhile, has repeatedly defended the subpoenas, pointing out that they aligned with DOJ policies at the time.
Schumer, Jeffries trash Trump’s DHS proposal as ‘incomplete and insufficient’
The top two congressional Democrats have, for now, rejected President Donald Trump and Republicans’ offer to avert a shutdown as the deadline rapidly approaches. For several hours Monday night, both Republicans and Democrats were near-radio silent about the nature of the counter-offer from the White House. That was, in part, because some lawmakers had no idea what was in it. But the silence appeared to spell yet another positive step toward averting the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Until Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., trashed the offer Monday night. SENATE RACES TO AVERT THIRD SHUTDOWN AS DHS DEAL TAKES SHAPE “Republicans shared an outline of a counterproposal, which included neither details nor legislative text,” the duo said in a joint statement. “The initial GOP response is both incomplete and insufficient in terms of addressing the concerns Americans have about [Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s] lawless conduct,” they continued. “Democrats await additional detail and text.” While not the death knell for negotiations to fund DHS or to agree to a short-term funding extension, it does slow some of the optimistic momentum that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said was building over the weekend. REPUBLICANS WARN DEMOCRATS’ ICE REFORM PUSH IS COVER TO DEFUND BORDER ENFORCEMENT Democrats’ prime objective is reining in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good. They finally turned over their legislative proposals to rein in DHS and ICE to Republicans on Saturday. The proposal they submitted included items that are a bridge too far for Republicans, including requiring ICE agents to get judicial warrants, unmask and have identification ready — some in the GOP warn doing so would lead to more agents being doxxed, when a person’s private information is made public, like their address. The White House’s counter-offer was in response to Democrats’ list of demands and has been kept under heavy lock and key. SHUTDOWN AVERTED FOR NOW, BUT SENATE WARNS DHS FIGHT COULD TRIGGER ANOTHER IN DAYS Before Schumer and Jeffries’ rebellion, Republicans were already mulling turning to another short-term funding extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR), for DHS. That’s because after the House passed the Trump-Schumer funding deal last week, lawmakers had only eight days to figure out how to fund the trickiest of all federal agencies. Now, the Friday deadline is quickly bearing down on Congress, and lawmakers are set to leave Washington, D.C., on Thursday for a weeklong recess. Many will head to Germany for the Munich Security Conference. Thune said that he would likely tee up another CR on Tuesday, and at the time was optimistic that negotiations were moving in a direction that could lead some Democrats to support the move. “We will have to vote on something, obviously, if there’s additional time that’s needed, and hopefully Democrats will be amenable to doing another — an extension,” Thune said.
Nancy Guthrie case: Why criminals are turning to cryptocurrency for ransoms
As the search for Nancy Guthrie stretches into a second week, her alleged captors are reportedly seeking a $6 million Bitcoin ransom, illustrating how cryptocurrency has reshaped the business of extortion. Guthrie, 84, the mother of NBC News anchor Savannah Guthrie, was abducted from her home in Arizona, with investigators later confirming only limited details about a ransom demand. Bitcoin is a digital currency that operates without a central authority like a bank or government, allowing people to send money directly to one another over a network of computers. TIMELINE: NANCY GUTHRIE DISAPPEARS AS SHERIFF SAYS ‘EVERYBODY’S STILL A SUSPECT’ “Criminals increasingly request cryptocurrency in ransom and extortion cases because it is fast, global and does not rely on traditional banking rails that can delay or block payments,” explained Ari Redbord, global head of policy at TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence and crypto-forensics firm. “Cases like the alleged crypto ransom demand in the Nancy Guthrie case highlight how this dynamic is playing out in the real world,” added Redbord, a former federal prosecutor and senior U.S. Treasury official. NANCY GUTHRIE DISAPPEARANCE: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT ALLEGED RANSOM NOTE AND ITS DEMANDS It remains unclear whether payment of the $6 million would secure the 84-year-old’s release. What’s more, despite repeated public pleas from the Guthrie family, neither proof of life nor direct contact with her has been provided. Still, Redbord cautions that the same technology that makes cryptocurrency attractive to criminals can also expose them. “The moment a wallet address appears, investigators have something actionable. Funds can be tracked in real time, associations identified and networks mapped in ways that are impossible with bulk cash or informal value transfer systems,” Redbord said. He added that cryptocurrency has fundamentally altered the economics of ransom and extortion — often in ways perpetrators fail to fully appreciate. “Crypto has changed the economics and incentives behind ransom and extortion by increasing speed and reach, but it has also given law enforcement and national security teams unprecedented visibility,” he added. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the recovery of Guthrie or the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in her disappearance. If you have any information concerning this case, contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI, or submit a tip online.
‘I Voted’ sticker helps convict noncitizen who cast ballot in 2024 as election security debate heats up
A Colombian woman living in Massachusetts was convicted on a series of federal identity theft and identity fraud charges, including voting illegally in the 2024 presidential election, the Justice Department said. Federal officials have pointed to the case as a rare, documented example of noncitizen voting prosecuted at the highest level, highlighting it amid renewed debate over voter identification, citizenship verification and election security ahead of the 2026 midterms. The Colombian national, Lina Maria Orovio-Hernandez, was convicted on federal charges of identity theft, passport fraud and illegal voting, including in the 2024 presidential election. She was captured on surveillance video displaying an “I Voted” sticker on Election Day, underscoring what Justice Department officials characterized as a flagrant disregard for U.S. laws. “Her actions were not a one-time mistake or accident,” the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Special Agent in Charge Shawn Rice said in a statement. WATCHDOG SOUNDS ALARM OVER POTENTIAL NONCITIZEN VOTING AND FOREIGN INFLUENCE AHEAD OF MIDTERMS Officials have highlighted Orovio-Hernandez’s case as an example of successful interagency cooperation and enforcement, as election security concerns have intensified in the run-up to the 2026 midterms. The verdict “sends a clear message: identity theft and fraud against federal benefit programs will not go undetected or unpunished,” said Amy Connelly, special agent in charge of the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General in Boston. The Trump administration, for its part, has touted her conviction as an example of the pitfalls of weak voter identification standards or vetting procedures. Officials in several U.S. states have already moved to tighten their individual verification standards and procedures in hopes of cracking down on any fraudulent voting efforts and shoring up voter confidence. SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS PENNSYLVANIA PROVISIONAL BALLOT RULING, IN A MAJOR LOSS FOR GOP The conviction comes amid renewed scrutiny of election administration nationwide, including a recent FBI raid at an election hub in Fulton County, Georgia, that authorized a broad seizure of election records, voting rolls and other data tied to the 2020 election, according to a copy of the warrant. Some Senate Democrats have cited concerns over the news that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was present at the raid, though she stressed in a letter obtained by Fox News Digital that the ODNI’s Office of General Counsel “has found my actions to be consistent and well within my statutory authority as the Director of National Intelligence.” BEHIND-THE-SCENES BATTLES: LEGAL CHALLENGES THAT COULD IMPACT THE VOTE BEFORE ELECTION DAY BEGINS The Republican Party has sought to embrace a new, litigation-focused “election integrity” strategy in the months ahead of the 2024 general election, as party officials told Fox News Digital at the time. The effort saw dozens of lawsuits that sought to crack down on voter identification laws, tighten citizenship verification standards and add new requirements for mail-in ballots and provisional ballots accepted by certain states. It is unclear to what degree the party might seek to replicate this effort ahead of the midterm elections.