Kamala Harris returns to campaign trail in Trump country to back ‘AOC of Tennessee’
For the first time since losing the 2024 presidential election, Former Vice President Kamala Harris returned to the campaign trail on Tuesday, this time in a surprise appearance with Democratic congressional candidate Aftyn Behn. Fox News confirmed that Harris headlined a canvassing kickoff event for the Tennessee state representative after visiting Fisk University, a historically Black college, and before hosting a book tour event for her memoir “107 Days” at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. Tuesday’s canvass kickoff marked the first time Harris has campaigned for a candidate since losing the White House to President Donald Trump a year ago, and her appearance comes as Democrats are energized from their gubernatorial wins in Virginia and New Jersey earlier this month. While a Democrat hasn’t won in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District in decades, Democrats have been all in for the ruby-red district. “Kamala Harris must’ve fallen out of the coconut tree if she thinks the AOC of Tennessee stands a chance. This is Trump country and Republicans will win Dec. 2,” Republican National Committee Spokeswoman Delanie Bomar told Fox News Digital in a statement. SCOOP: TRUMP-ALIGNED MAGA INC. JUMPS INTO HIGH STAKES BALLOT BOX CONGRESSIONAL SHOWDOWN The former vice president told the crowd at Nashville’s Hadley Park, “Why am I in Tennessee? Because I know the power is in the South,” according to The New York Times. The outlet noted that Harris did not mention Behn by name but urged the crowd to get out the vote. Harris first returned to the campaign trail earlier this month for a rally supporting her home state’s redistricting efforts. California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered a special election this year to level the playing field against Trump-backed efforts to redraw congressional maps in Texas and across the U.S. ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. “Prop 50” passed on Election Day, handing Democrats up to five more likely blue congressional districts. DEMOCRAT AFTYN BEHN ADVANCES TO SPECIAL ELECTION IN BATTLE FOR VACANT CONGRESSIONAL SEAT IN DEEP-RED DISTRICT Former Democratic National Committee vice chair and progressive firebrand David Hogg also campaigned in Nashville last weekend for Behn, the rising liberal star dubbed the “AOC of Tennessee.” “Hey, young Democrats, I am incredibly excited to be here supporting Aftyn in her run for Congress,” Hogg said in an Instagram video while flanked by two young Democrats. “This seat is super, super youth-centric. If young people turn out and vote here, we can flip this seat and send a clear message to Donald Trump and Republicans across the country that we are done with their bulls — and the rest of the country is.“ On Saturday, Hogg joined Behn in Nashville for a “Young Gets It Done” rally and canvass launch at the Metro Courthouse Public Square, encouraging young voters to get out and support Behn. According to her campaign website, Behn is a “p—— off social worker” who decided to run for Congress after Republicans passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act earlier this year — a megabill that included tax cuts and Medicaid reform. Behn described the bill as “a giveaway to the wealthy that codified the largest transfer of wealth from working people to the rich in American history.” She is a state representative in the Tennessee House and a longtime community organizer and activist. Like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., the fellow millennial is active on social media. She also authors a Substack page that is linked to the “Issues” tab on her campaign website. DNC Chair Ken Martin also campaigned in Tennessee for Behn last week as early voting kicked off across the state, highlighting her agenda to lower “healthcare and grocery costs, vote to release the Epstein files, and stand up to Trump and his acolytes like Van Epps.” Behn is vying to replace former Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., in Congress. A Democrat hasn’t been elected to represent Tennessee’s 7th District in the U.S. House of Representatives in decades. Republican Matt Van Epps, a former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of General Services who has worked for several state agencies, defeated an 11-candidate field to secure the Republican nomination last month. While Behn has the support of both the Democratic establishment and its progressive wing, Van Epps has secured endorsements from President Donald Trump, Republican Gov. Bill Lee and Green, who retired from Congress after the “big, beautiful bill” passed this year. Trump held a tele-rally for Van Epps last week in the district the president won by roughly 22 points last year. Tennessee’s 7th District includes parts of Nashville and its large suburban and rural surrounding areas. The top outside political group that supported Trump’s successful 2024 run, MAGA Inc., also launched ads to support Van Epps on Wednesday, Fox News Digital was the first to report. The ads, which MAGA Inc. says will run on broadcast TV and digital and are backed by a seven-figure buy that also includes investments in get-out-the-vote efforts, are the first by the group since last year’s presidential election. Meanwhile, the RNC has staff on the ground in Tennessee and is making a six-figure investment into the race, according to a spokesperson. Fox News Digital reached out to Harris’ office for a response to the RNC’s comment but did not immediately hear back. Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser and Fox News’ Patrick Ward contributed to this report.
Nancy Mace to force censure vote against fellow House Republican
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., is planning to force a vote on censuring a fellow House Republican on Wednesday night. Two sources told Fox News Digital that Mace will introduce a censure resolution against Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., after accusing him of stolen valor on X on Tuesday night. Mace is planning to introduce the censure as a privileged resolution, Fox News Digital is told, meaning House GOP leaders will have two legislative days — by the end of session on Friday — to hold a chamber-wide vote on the measure. TIT FOR TAT: HOUSE CENSURES ARE BECOMING ‘SNAP’ SOLUTIONS Her resolution is likely to come up during the House’s only vote series of the day on Wednesday, which is scheduled for the 8 p.m. hour. House Democrats had threatened to pursue a retaliatory censure against Mills Tuesday evening in response to Republicans trying to censure Del. Stacey Plaskett, D-V.I., the Virgin Islands’ nonvoting representative in the House, over her ties to Jeffrey Epstein. TRUMP SIGNS BILL ENDING LONGEST GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IN US HISTORY The Plaskett censure failed after three House Republicans voted “no” and three more voted “present,” however, along with every Democrat rejecting the measure. Democrats did not appear to pursue the censure against Mills after that. Mace had accused Mills of participating in a “backroom deal” at the time to avoid a censure, adding, “I have the General who ‘recommended’ him for the Bronze Star on record saying he never wrote it, never read it and never personally signed it.” Mills’ office told Fox News Digital there was never a deal, however, and had expected his censure to move forward on Tuesday night. He also voted in favor of censuring Plaskett. The main motivation behind Mace’s censure resolution is not yet clear. But Mace sent a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Wednesday accusing Mills of “credible accusations he misrepresented his military service” and “credible accusations of having committed crimes against women.” Mills has previously denied wrongdoing in reports of both sets of allegations. Fox News Digital reached out to Mills’ spokesperson for comment on Mace’s plans.
Dem senator spent whopping $360k in 9 months on private security despite history of gun control activism
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Raphael Warnock’s, D-Ga., re-election campaign has spent an eye-popping amount of cash on private security over nine months in 2025 despite a history of supporting stricter gun control measures. Between January and September of this year, Warnock spent approximately $360,000 on security services from Executive Protection Agencies, LLC, an Atlanta-based security firm that includes both armed and unarmed options. Warnock’s office did not clarify what type of service he was paying the firm to provide. However, the security firm’s website says it uses its armed services to provide protection for “political figures.” A Fox News Digital review found that Warnock’s campaign has spent over $2.7 million on private security dating back to Dec. 2020. Warnock has regularly pushed gun control in Congress, including co-sponsoring legislation to ban assault weapons and require universal background checks, voting for federal red flag laws, supporting stricter penalties for those who purchase firearms from sellers not legally allowed to do so and stricter licensing requirements for sellers, among other initiatives. GEORGIA JUDGE DECLARES CITY ORDINANCE BANNING GUNS IN UNLOCKED CARS AS ‘UNENFORCEABLE’ Following a 2021 mass shooting in Atlanta that killed eight people across a handful of massage parlors in the city, Warnock criticized Republicans in his state’s legislature for a “distortion of values,” citing the GOP-controlled legislature’s decision to prioritize election integrity measures, which Warnock suggested make it harder for people to vote. “This shooter was able to kill all of these folks the same day he purchased a firearm, but right now what is our legislature doing? They’re busy under the golden dome here in Georgia trying to prevent people from voting the same day they register,” Warnock said on “Meet the Press” in 2021. “I think that suggests a distortion in values, when you can buy a gun and create this much carnage and violence on the same day but if you want to exercise your right to vote as a U.S. citizen, the same legislature that should be focusing on this is busy erecting barriers to that Constitutional right.” Warnock’s anti-Second Amendment advocacy has dated back to at least 2013, according to the Washington Free Beacon. Warnock, a pastor before he was elected, has even taken advantage of his position at the pulpit to rail against those who support gun ownership. SUPREME COURT WILL CONSIDER CASE ON SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS OF DRUG USERS Before his election, Warnock slammed “Stand Your Ground” laws during a 2014 sermon, which allow gun owners to protect themselves with deadly force, without first needing to make an attempt to retreat, if they feel their life could be in danger. The senator also used the pulpit prior to his election to be critical of pro-Second Amendment lawmakers who supported the Safe Carry Protection Act, which permitted concealed carry in churches, arguing Republicans were helping arm “crazy people.” Warnock, who has suggested he does not see arming teachers or school resource officers (SROs) as a solution to protect students from mass shootings, held a gun control panel with major city mayors and the former leader of the Biden administration’s deputy director of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, Gregory Jackson, just a few weeks ago. Jackson, who has spent more than a decade as a gun control advocate for a number of organizations including groups within the George Soros-backed Tides Foundation network, was at the helm of the Biden administration’s efforts to beef up gun control measures around the country. “We have not done nearly enough. We have, in essence, told our children that, in the face of this ugly specter of mass shootings… the best thing we can do for you is teach you how to hide,” Senator Warnock said at the September gun control event. “What trauma are we visiting upon our children when we tell them the best thing we can do is to teach them how to hide? Not to mention the slow rolling crisis of mass shootings that happens in struggling urban communities, poor communities, Black and brown communities every single day. This is the worst kind of American exceptionalism. So I keep having this panel discussion because I know deep in my heart we are better than this.” In addition to private security, Warnock’s campaign has spent thousands of dollars on limo services in 2025, specifically Washington, D.C.-based Carey Limousine, which says, “Understated Luxury is Our Style” on their website. The luxury car service continues by calling its services “Refined, discreet, and inviting—it’s the quiet confidence that welcomes every guest.” FEC filings reveal that Warnock’s campaign dished out over $3,000 to the car service this year. Fox News Digital reached out to Warnock’s office and campaign multiple times for comment on this story but did not receive a response.
Rubio orders restitution for hundreds of staffers denied promotions under Biden DEI rule
FIRST ON FOX: Hundreds of State Department employees will receive restitution after an internal review under Secretary Marco Rubio found they were denied promotions during the Biden administration for not meeting new diversity, equity and inclusion standards. In addition to removing the diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) precept from the State Department’s promotion process, officials said roughly 295 employees who were marked down for not showing they would “seek diversity in staff” will now receive pay increases, administrative promotions and letters of commendation. “The Trump administration is providing restitution to State Department employees who were adversely impacted by the previous administration’s ideological agenda,” a State Department official said. The department conducted an internal review of 7,319 employees who competed for promotion in 2024. Those employees were judged on five precepts: communication, leadership, management, knowledge and DEIA. Under President Donald Trump, the DEIA precept was replaced with a new criterion: “fidelity,” Fox News Digital previously reported. GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY VIOLATED TILE VI WITH ‘UNLAWFUL DEI POLICIES,’ EDUCATION DEPARTMENT SAYS Promotion board members were instructed to low-rank employees who exhibited a “lack of sensitivity to the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA),” according to a State Department official. The DEIA promotion precept was damaging to those who displayed “little indication of seeking diversity in staff,” the official claimed. “The Biden administration imposed ideological litmus tests on civil servants, penalizing competent and deserving government employees in the process,” principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said. “Under President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the State Department rewards excellence, which is the right thing to do for our workforce, for our country, and for the American people.” The Trump administration’s restitution plan marks a broader rollback of DEI-based policies across federal agencies, part of Trump’s pledge to restore merit-based advancement in government service. The State Department’s previous hiring guide for 2022–2025 required foreign service employees to “demonstrate impact in diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility,” according to the internal documents. Entry-level applicants were expected to proactively seek to “improve one’s own self-awareness with respect to promoting inclusivity.” Mid- and senior-level supervisors were told to recruit and retain diverse teams, respond immediately to noninclusive workplace behaviors and “consult with impacted staff before finalizing decisions. On his first day in office in 2021, President Joe Biden signed an executive order directing federal agencies to pursue policies that advance “equity.” “Affirmatively advancing equity, civil rights, racial justice, and equal opportunity is the responsibility of the whole of our Government,” he stated. “It is therefore the policy of my Administration that the Federal Government should pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality.” Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s office for comment and has not yet received a reply.
Unearthed antisemitic, anti-Israel posts from Mamdani aide spark GOP outrage
New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is facing heat from two New York lawmakers who spoke to Fox News Digital after a report showing a member of his transition team espoused vitriolic anti-Israel sentiments under the backdrop of Mamdani’s promises to combat antisemitism as mayor. Hassaan Chaudhary, according to a New York Post report on Sunday, has a social media presence littered with anti-Israel posts, including calling the country “barbaric,” using the term “Jew” as a slur, and praising Iran’s former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Chaudhary, who listed himself as a political director for Mamdani’s transition team, apologized for the remarks, saying the decade-old posts don’t represent his current views and that he looks back on them with “regret.” However, two lawmakers who spoke to Fox News Digital blasted Mamdani’s association with Chaudhary and warned that it shows the socialist mayor-elect is not being serious when he pledges to combat antisemitism in New York City. PATRIOTS OWNER ROBERT KRAFT CALLS MAMDANI NYC ELECTION ‘SAD’ AND VICTORY SPEECH ‘DIVISIVE’ “Let’s be transparent — this isn’t some innocent staffing mistake,” New York Republican Assemblyman Jake Blumencranz told Fox News Digital. “This is who Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani is and what his transition team/incoming administration stands for.” “When the incoming Mayor surrounds himself with someone who uses language about Jews reminiscent of the 1930s, praises Ahmadinejad, and holds other abhorrent views, that’s not a red flag — that’s a flashing siren. Extremism isn’t a fringe element of Zohran Mamdani’s team; it’s the foundation he’s building/destroying City Hall on.” A Mamdani spokesperson told the New York Post that Chaudhary is a Muslim outreach director and not a political director, but did not say whether he would be fired. “These comments from over a decade ago are reprehensible and in no way reflect the views of the mayor-elect or this transition,” a Mamdani spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “The mayor-elect has made this clear internally and consistently during the campaign and transition.” MAMDANI SLAMMED FOR JETTING TO ‘LUXURY RESORT’ FOR PUERTO RICO CONFERENCE DURING SHUTDOWN Inna Vernikov, a Republican New York City councilwoman, told Fox News Digital the situation shows that “useful idiots on the hard left have yet to realize that they’re just small pawns in a big and dangerous game.” Vernikov added, “The same agitators screaming in defense of Hamas would be thrown off a roof for their various gender identities. Zohran needs to get one thing clear: he is no longer a protester. He now has a city of 8 million to govern.” Mamdani faced heated criticism on the campaign trail for his long track record of criticizing Israel, dating back to his days in college, where he started his school’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter. Additionally, hundreds of rabbis signed onto a letter in the weeks before the election denouncing his campaign. Despite the outrage, Mamdani cruised to an election victory and has repeatedly promised to represent all New Yorkers, including the massive Jewish community in the city. “We will build a City Hall that stands steadfast alongside Jewish New Yorkers and does not waver in the fight against the scourge of antisemitism,” Mamdani said on election night, adding the next day that he takes the issue of antisemitism “incredibly seriously.” Still, Blumencranz told Fox News Digital that “personnel is policy” and that New Yorkers “better buckle up” if these are the type of people being recruited in the transition. “You don’t ‘accidentally’ hire a person who has spent years spewing this kind of hate,” Blumencranz told Fox News Digital. “The fact that Mamdani hasn’t immediately removed him tells every New Yorker exactly what kind of administration we’re about to get — one where bigotry is tolerated, where antisemitism is normalized, and where the most hateful voices are welcomed into the Gracie Mansion and City Hall.” The Mamdani team did not comment on Chaudhary’s current employment status. “Every resident of this city, Jewish or not, should be alarmed,” Blumencranz said. “This is dangerous, it’s divisive, and it’s a disgrace.”
Trump official fires back at Dem’s Epstein donor claim: ‘Totally different person’
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin clapped back after Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said he had taken money from someone named Jeffrey Epstein. The congresswoman dropped Zeldin’s name while listing figures and entities she said had taken money from “somebody” by the name of Jeffrey Epstein. Noting that she had her “team dig in very quickly,” she rattled off the following list: “Mitt Romney, the NRCC, Lee Zeldin, George Bush, WinRed, McCain-Palin, Rick Lazio.” Zeldin fired back in a post to X, noting that the donation to one of his former campaigns had nothing to do with the notorious late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. FAR-LEFT FIREBRAND SPENDS EYE-POPPING AMOUNT OF CAMPAIGN CASH ON LUXURY HOTELS, ‘TOP-TIER’ LIMO SERVICES “Yes, Crockett, a physician named Dr. Jeffrey Epstein (who is a totally different person than the other Jeffrey Epstein) donated to a prior campaign of mine,” Zeldin wrote, reposting another person’s post that featured footage of Crockett’s comments. Zeldin then exclaimed in all caps, “NO [clap emoji] FREAKIN [clap emoji] RELATION [clap emoji] YOU [clap emoji] GENIUS!!!” CROCKETT LUKEWARM ON AOC PRIMARYING SCHUMER, SAYS SHE DOESN’T SUBSCRIBE TO ‘AGEISM’ Fox News Digital reached out to Crockett’s office for comment. Zeldin, a Republican, lost the 2022 New York gubernatorial contest to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from early 2015 through early 2023, and he had previously served in the New York state Senate. TRUMP BLASTS REP. JASMINE CROCKETT AS ‘LOW IQ,’ JOKES SOMALIA SHOULD ‘TAKE BACK’ ILHAN OMAR CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP President Donald Trump has previously called Crockett “a very low-IQ person.”
Bipartisan plan aims to make the American Dream affordable again for millions of first-time homebuyers
A bipartisan pair of lawmakers is working on making housing costs cheaper for middle- and lower-income Americans across the country. House Main Street Caucus Chairman Mike Flood, R-Neb., is teaming up with Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., on legislation they hope will finally give millions of homebuyers some relief, as the dream of ownership remains a distant goal for many. It would do so by targeting the federal government’s HOME Investments Partnership Program, which provides grants to state and local jurisdictions to build affordable housing. That program, Flood said, has not been significantly amended since the early 1990s. TRUMP’S RUMORED HOUSING EMERGENCY WOULD BE A ‘GAME-CHANGER,’ KEY GOP LAWMAKER SAYS “Traditionally, the program that we’re remodeling… has favored multifamily. But an apartment is not the American Dream. The American Dream is a single-family home,” he said. “And with these changes to the program, it’s my hope that these dollars will leverage the building of new homes, it will leverage the rehab of dilapidated structures, including homes, and it will make some multifamily opportunities even more attractive.” Asked how it would help a young couple buy their first home in his own home state, for example, Flood pointed out that “increased demand” for housing developers to meet strict existing codes for sewer systems, paved streets and stormwater systems has resulted in housing lot prices rising dramatically — particularly with recent years’ high inflation. LIZ PEEK: WHY EVERY ‘AFFORDABLE’ PROMISE FROM DEMOCRATS ENDS UP COSTING YOU MORE Shifting those costs to the state and local governments, he said, would help lower those costs. “The cost of a lot, before you even buy the ground, there’s already $25,000 in there. If the city of Columbus, Nebraska, gets $2.5 million from the Home Partnership program, the city can go in and expand stormwater and sewer and maybe even pavement and streets,” he explained. “And suddenly, instead of being a $50,000 lot, it’s a $20,000 lot. Instead of being a $300,000 home, you know, it’s a $270,000 home because the cost of that was ultimately given to the city, and the city used it to build city infrastructure, not making the developer do that.” Another focus was expanding who can qualify for the program, adjusted by the average income in a certain area. TRUMP’S 50-YEAR MORTGAGE JUST INTRODUCES A NEW KIND OF DEBT “The other thing we’re really focused on is making sure that communities that have a median income, that average, aren’t kicked out of the process simply because they want to put in affordable housing,” he said. “So we’re taking the average median income standard from 80% of the county average to 100%, to make communities that have all the nice amenities able to participate in the program.” Cleaver said in a statement on the legislation last month, “By revamping and revitalizing the HOME Program—one of our greatest tools to expand the supply of affordable housing for working-class families—we can ensure that affordable housing and the American Dream of homeownership are once again attainable from the heartland to the coasts.” Housing affordability has been a growing issue for some time, reaching a fever pitch just this year when the National Association of Realtors revealed the median age for a first-time home buyer is now a record 40 years old. First-time home buyers made up just 21% of home sales this year, the lowest number since 1981, according to the National Association of Realtors. When speaking with Fox News Digital on Tuesday, Flood also credited President Donald Trump with pushing the issue to the forefront of the national conversation. “President Trump accelerated our success and our progress on this issue when he came out very forcefully earlier in the summer and said that housing affordability was one of the top goals of his administration,” he said.
Socialist group ‘By Any Means Necessary’ escalates campaign to ‘stop’ Turning Point USA
In a Sunday afternoon meeting called a “tribunal,” Yvette Felarca, a Berkeley, Calif., public school teacher and a local fixture among self-professed “anti-fascist” agitators, joyfully led about 40 members of the socialist organization By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) in an after-action report on the group’s “victory” last week in a bloody battle at the University of California, Berkeley against supporters of Turning Point USA. At the meeting’s end, Fox News Digital learned Felarca, once arrested for inciting a riot, moved for a vote on the next phase of the operation: to “stop” Turning Point USA chapters, not only on college campuses but also in public K–12 schools, beginning with Berkeley High School, where she teaches. The motion passed unanimously to “stop fascist recruiting in schools” by amplifying the work of “By Any Means Necessary,” which collects tax-deductible donations under the 501(c)(3) nonprofit umbrella of the Detroit-based nonprofit, Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality. The members closed the 90-minute meeting with one-word salutations. UC BERKELEY TPUSA MEMBERS NAVIGATE POLARIZED CAMPUS FOLLOWING PROTESTS AND ARRESTS “Solidarity!” said Felarca. This year, Democratic activists and far-left groups have increasingly exploited the term “fascist” as a sweeping label to justify denying political opponents their constitutional rights. The word was allegedly scrawled on the bullet casing left by the man arrested for killing Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, in a chilling reminder of how language can be weaponized to rationalize violence. In November 2019, the Sacramento district attorney dismissed felony assault charges and misdemeanor rioting charges against Felarca and two co-defendants after requiring them to complete 90 hours of volunteer work. A video from a protest showed Felarca hitting and yelling at a man she opposed as a “Nazi” and “White nationalist” until he fell and Felarca’s allies pummeled and kicked him. At Sunday’s meeting, Felarca told fellow members that her response to Turning Point USA organizing at Berkeley HIgh School was, “What, no, no way.” Using the “fascist” term to vilify youth, Felarca continued: “And so, you know, I just think it’s super incumbent on us to, like, work, talk to, obviously, other teachers, but also, most importantly, students to really stop this and prevent Turning Point or any fascist organizing to take place.” The group talked about a protest activated this month against a new youth Turning Point USA chapter at Royal Oak High School in Royal Oak, Mich. Representatives from Berkeley High School and Berkeley Unified School District didn’t respond to requests for comment. ANTIFA VIOLENCE EXPOSES UC BERKELEY’S HYPOCRISY ON FREE SPEECH AND TOLERANCE “I know it’s possible to stop it, and if we take the same approach that we took to protesting Turning Point last week – to not just ignore this, because then they’ll just go away or, you know, but to also use collective action, and it was crazy, like, find ways to express collectively the power of the movement and not just leave it and hope that the administration will take care of it, because they’re clearly not,” Felarca said. “They’ve already approved the group. Then it’s super, super important that we do that.” The group’s members also voted unanimously to move forward with a plan to “stop and block” law enforcement officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In one plan, they agreed to order “ICE whistles,” increasingly used in neighborhoods in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City to alert residents that ICE officers are in the area. Felarca said they would brand the whistles with the “By Any Means Necessary” name. The escalation comes at a moment of intense scrutiny from the Trump administration, which has opened a federal investigation into whether “By Any Means Necessary” and allied groups engaged in an organized conspiracy to deny Turning Point USA participants their free speech rights through coercion and disruption at last week’s UC Berkeley event. Far from a spontaneous gathering, Fox News Digital reporting reveals the protest was premeditated and coordinated by a network of seven organizations, most of them enjoying tax-free benefits, at least six days before it occurred, signaling advance coordination. U.S. Assistant Attorney for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon, who flew to Berkeley to lead the civil rights investigation into the case, is well familiar with Felarca and “By Any Means Necessary.” In 2018, her former law practice, Dhillon Law Group, won a lawsuit against Felarca for filing a frivolous restraining order against then-Berkeley College Republican president, Troy Worden, as Felarca led protests on campus against Trump, and an Alameda County Superior Court commissioner ordered Felarca to pay Worden $11,100 in legal fees. Earlier, in February 2017, “By Any Means Necessary” leaders bragged that they got right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos canceled from a talk on the campus of UC Berkeley. Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show” and spokesman for Turning Point USA, said the new escalation by Felarca and “By Any Means Necessary” is “fundamentally un-American” and represents a “conspiracy to silence the free speech of others.” CALIFORNIA WOMAN CHARGED IN CONNECTION WITH DISRUPTING APRIL TURNING POINT USA EVENT ON A COLLEGE CAMPUS “Turning Point USA has grown over the years not because we tried to silence others or that we engaged in some operation to shut the voices of others,” said Kolvet, who was a close friend of Kirk. “We grew because Charlie believed that our ideas were better, and that if more young people heard them they would be convinced and persuaded to believe them too.” Kolvet directly addressed the campaign by leaders of “By Any Means Necessary” against the constitutional rights of Turning Point USA members, saying, “Any organization formed or animated by a guiding mission to harass, heckle and attack events hosted by other groups — just because they don’t agree with their ideas — is fundamentally un-American and is engaging in a conspiracy to silence the free speech of others. This is especially egregious given that Turning Point USA’s events involve minors. These are young kids being
Mamdani keeps Jessica Tisch as NYPD commissioner
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is keeping Jessica Tisch as commissioner of the New York City Police Department. “Today, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced the appointment of Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch to serve as the New York City Police Commissioner in his incoming administration,” Mamdani’s office said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that the pair will “advance a coordinated approach to public safety built on partnership and shared purpose.” “That includes ensuring police officers remain focused on serious and violent crime, while strengthening the city’s response to issues like homelessness and mental health. A new Department of Community Safety will support this work while collaborating closely with the NYPD,” the office added. “As the 48th Commissioner of New York City Police Department, Commissioner Tisch has rooted out corruption in the upper echelons of the NYPD and led a department-wide focus on accountability and transparency, while delivering historic reductions in violent crime,” it also said. NYC MAYOR-ELECT MAMDANI DOUBLES DOWN ON NETANYAHU ARREST PLEDGE In his own statement, Mamdani said, “I look forward to working with Commissioner Jessica Tisch to deliver genuine public safety in New York City. “I have admired her work cracking down on corruption in the upper echelons of the police department, driving down crime in New York City, and standing up for New Yorkers in the face of authoritarianism,” Mamdani continued. “Together, we will deliver a city where rank-and-file police officers and the communities they serve alike are safe, represented, and proud to call New York their home.” MAMDANI’S FATHER SAYS HE WILL KEEP ‘ARM’S LENGTH’ FROM SON’S UPCOMING ADMINISTRATION “Thanks to the men and women of the NYPD, the strategies we deployed this year have delivered historic reductions in crime,” added Tisch. “I’ve spoken to Mayor-elect Mamdani several times, and I’m ready to serve with honor as his Police Commissioner. That’s because he and I share many of the same public safety goals for New York City: lowering crime, making communities safer, rooting out corruption, and giving our officers the tools, support, and resources they need to carry out their noble work.” Tisch was sworn in as NYPD commissioner in November 2024 by current New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Mamdani’s office said under her leadership, murders are down “nearly 20 percent citywide year-to-date” and “more than 4,800 illegal guns [were] removed from the city’s streets in 2025.” Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
House Republican chairman refers Jack Smith’s former deputy to DOJ for prosecution
First on Fox: House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, called on the Department of Justice on Wednesday to prosecute one of former special counsel Jack Smith’s lead attorneys, accusing him of obstructing a congressional investigation. Jordan said in the 19-page referral that Thomas Windom, a veteran federal prosecutor who was fired in the second Trump administration, declined to answer dozens of questions from committee staff after meeting with them twice behind closed doors this year. Windom cited his Fifth Amendment right and federal rules surrounding grand jury secrecy, among other reasons, for refusing to answer questions. Jordan said he was dissatisfied with those reasons and that at least one other similarly situated prosecutor, J.P. Cooney, had been more candid with his committee, signaling Windom was withholding more than he needed to. “Windom’s improper refusal to answer nearly all questions during his deposition obstructed the Committee’s fact-finding,” Jordan wrote. “As a senior assistant to Special Counsel Jack Smith, Windom possesses unique, firsthand information about the work of that Office. Yet, despite being given express authorization by DOJ on two separate occasions, Windom declined to answer questions during his deposition about topics necessary and relevant to the Committee’s inquiry.” The GOP-led committee inquired about a range of topics related to Windom’s work investigating Trump’s alleged efforts to illegally overturn the 2020 election and supporting Smith as a former senior assistant special counsel. Congress has a long history of referring its investigative targets to the DOJ for criminal prosecution, but the department has no obligation to act on them. This referral marks the second from Jordan’s committee in as many months. In October, the chairman called on the DOJ to prosecute former CIA Director John Brennan, alleging he made false statements to Congress. Fox News Digital reached out to a representative for Windom for comment. Windom’s lawyer told the committee during a deposition in September that his client had cooperated with the committee “in good faith” and that committee Republicans and the Department of Justice did not return the favor. The DOJ, the lawyer said, abandoned its typical practice of preventing line attorneys like Windom from testifying in Congress, especially without counsel. The committee, meanwhile, showed no “respect for, nor understanding” of federal obligations to keep grand jury material secret, the lawyer said. “Majority staff, operating with no meaningful oversight or checks, have engaged in an unserious, performative exercise, convened for political theater,” Windom’s lawyer said, adding that “they have intentionally placed him on the horns of an impossible dilemma, forcing him to choose between risking criminal prosecution for violating grand jury secrecy rules or, alternatively, risking criminal prosecution for contempt of Congress.”