Trump claims ‘we’re against crime. Democrats like crime’
President Donald Trump on Tuesday told reporters that he believes crime will be a major focus in the 2026 midterm elections, a theme he has hit on heavily in recent days to drum up support for his controversial “federalization” push in Washington, D.C. Speaking Tuesday at a Cabinet meeting in the White House, Trump was asked about his push to “federalize” the nation’s capital by invoking the D.C. Home Rule Act to deploy hundreds of D.C. National Guard troops throughout the city — an effort he has suggested on more than one occasion should be adopted by some Democrat-led cities, including Chicago. “I think crime is going to be the big thing,” Trump said, in regard to the 2026 midterm elections. The rest of his answer was unambiguous — if hyperbolic and lacking in specifics. “The Republicans are the party that wants to stop crime,” he said. “We’re against crime.” EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP-ALIGNED LEGAL GROUP FILES FOIA REQUEST FOR DC CRIME DATA, CITING ALLEGED MANIPULATION “The Democrats like crime,” Trump continued, without providing any further explanation. Trump’s remarks appear to be focused on Chicago and other Democrat-led U.S. cities where Trump has threatened, in recent weeks, to deploy the National Guard to “clean up” the cities. Whether, in fact, he can do so, remains an open question — and one that experts have suggested could invite a litany of issues and legal challenges. “It’s hard to believe what’s been accomplished in 12 days,” Trump told reporters of the last 12 days of his federalization effort. Trump then turned to other issues that he suggested Democrats were weak on, including border security, rights for transgender persons, and “men playing women’s sports,” before veering into examples of specific sports. ‘BRAZENLY UNLAWFUL’: DC OFFICIALS ESCALATE FIGHT WITH TRUMP OVER POLICE TAKEOVER Trump’s remarks come amid his ongoing defense of his “federalization” of D.C., which began 12 days ago and involved temporarily taking control of the city’s police force, and deploying National Guard troops throughout the nation’s capital. The president touted the success of his efforts on Tuesday, telling reporters, “If I were a Democrat — governor or mayor or anybody — I’d call up President Trump and say, ‘President Trump, we need your help. We saw what you’ve done in D.C. in a period of 12 days.’” “This is 12 days. We haven’t even started. This is going to be so safe. It’ll be the safest place on Earth,” he said.
Trump-appointed judge tosses DHS’ lawsuit against Maryland federal bench over court’s deportation policy
A federal judge on Tuesday tossed out an unusual lawsuit the Trump administration brought against all 15 judges of the district court in Maryland over a policy the court has regarding deportation cases. Judge Thomas Cullen, an appointee of President Donald Trump, scolded the administration for the confrontational lawsuit and said he dismissed it because the judges were protected by judicial immunity and because the executive branch lacked standing to bring the claims in the first place. Cullen criticized the administration for suing not just the chief judge of the district court, who issued the court policy in question, but “ostensibly for good measure” all the court’s other judges. TRUMP DHS SUES ENTIRE BENCH OF FEDERAL JUDGES IN MARYLAND DISTRICT COURT OVER AUTOMATIC INJUNCTIONS The policy, known as a standing order, requires court clerks in Maryland to automatically enter administrative pauses that last two business days in cases brought by alleged illegal immigrants who are challenging their detentions or removals. The injunctions have the effect of temporarily barring the Department of Homeland Security from deporting or changing the legal status of an immigrant until a judge has time to review the case. Chief Judge George Russell, who issued the standing order, noted in it that the policy change was necessary to help the court briefly maintain the status quo in deportation cases until a judge could examine them. Russell cited an influx of immigration lawsuits brought in the court, including on weekends and holidays. Government attorneys argued on behalf of the DHS that the order encroached on the department’s authority over immigration policy and that a “sense of frustration and a desire for greater convenience do not give Defendants license to flout the law.” They said that the court does not have authority to automatically interfere with all deportation proceedings brought before it and to briefly put a hold on them. TRUMP DHS SUES ENTIRE BENCH OF FEDERAL JUDGES IN MARYLAND OVER AUTOMATIC INJUNCTIONS Cullen, who is based in the Western District of Virginia, presided over the lawsuit because the Maryland judges recused themselves. Cullen’s 39-page order was laced with harsh words for the Trump administration. The judge said he was unsurprised that “the Executive chose a different, and more confrontational path entirely” than to challenge the policy on a case-by-case basis, which the judge said would have been the appropriate route. The judge said these were not “normal times” and that the administration has made a “concerted effort” to tarnish the reputation of the judiciary branch, an observation that comes as district court judges have routinely hindered the executive branch from carrying out Trump’s top agenda items, including on immigration, tariffs and government cuts. “Although some tension between the coordinate branches of government is a hallmark of our constitutional system, this concerted effort by the Executive to smear and impugn individual judges who rule against it is both unprecedented and unfortunate,” Cullen said. The Trump administration quickly appealed Cullen’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Democrats outraged that alleged gang member could be sent to Uganda
Democrats are expressing outrage that alleged gang member and illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia may be deported to Uganda. In the latest turn in Abrego Garcia’s high-profile immigration case, the alleged MS-13 gang member was arrested by ICE at an immigration check-in at a Baltimore facility on Monday and is now facing possible deportation to Uganda. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, an Obama appointee, ruled on Monday to temporarily block Abrego Garcia’s deportation, ordering he stay detained in the U.S. pending a hearing. Xinis ordered Abrego Garcia be kept at the same facility he was moved to in Virginia. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who has been leading the charge of Democrats advocating for Abrego Garcia, expressed outrage over his arrest and possible deportation on Monday, saying, “ICE is holding Kilmar Ábrego García and refusing to answer questions from his lawyers — while the Trump Admin continues to spread lies about his case.” NOEM TORCHES ‘ACTIVIST LIBERAL JUDGES’ AFTER ABREGO GARCIA’S RELEASE FROM JAIL: ‘NEW LOW’ “Instead of spewing unproven allegations on social media, they need to put up or shut up IN COURT,” he went on, adding, “Mr. Ábrego García must be allowed to defend himself.” This follows Salvadoran Abrego Garcia being released from federal custody on Friday in Tennessee, where he was being held pending his trial for charges of human smuggling of illegal immigrants in the U.S. Earlier this year, Abrego Garcia was deported by the Trump administration to his home country of El Salvador, but after Democratic uproar over an alleged lack of due process and a Supreme Court ruling ordering his return, he was eventually returned to the U.S. to stand trial. According to an earlier X post by Van Hollen, the senator met with Abrego Garcia virtually on Sunday to discuss his “long and torturous nightmare” of being deported and standing trial for human smuggling. ‘MARYLAND MAN’ KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA EXPOSED IN POLICE RECORDS AS ‘VIOLENT’ REPEAT WIFE BEATER Van Hollen wrote that “during our conversation, I shared with him that I and many others have been fighting for months to ensure that his constitutional due process rights were respected despite Trump’s efforts to deny them at every turn.” “The courts & public outcry forced Trump to return him to MD, but Trump’s cronies keep lying about his case & are engaged in a malicious abuse of power to try to deport him to Uganda,” wrote Van Hollen, adding, “As I told Kilmar, I won’t stop fighting for justice & due process for all.” Van Hollen was not the only Democrat to express outrage over Abrego Garcia’s arrest. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., also took to X to denounce the Trump administration, which she said, “wrongly sent Kilmar Abrego Garcia to a horrific El Salvadoran prison.” “Now, just days after he was reunited with his family, they’re trying to deny him his rights and deport him to Uganda. Kilmar—like everyone—deserves a fair hearing to defend himself,” wrote Warren. FLORIDA AG ANNOUNCES PROBE OF SANCTUARY JURISDICTIONS THAT GIVE TRUCKING LICENSES TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Meanwhile, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, a prominent Democratic voice and vocal Trump critic, also drilled into the administration, saying, “Let’s be clear: deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda makes no sense—it’s not his home country.” “Nothing about this process has been fair,” she wrote. “ICE is targeting him with cruelty. This is the weaponization of government, not justice.” Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., who joined a rally advocating for Abrego Garcia earlier on Monday, wrote that “Mr. Abrego Garcia must not be sent to some third party country like Uganda.” Ivey wrote that “the people united will continue to seek justice for Kilmar!” DNC CHAIR DEMANDS DEMS STOP ‘BRINGING A PENCIL TO A KNIFE FIGHT’ AT FIERY SUMMER MEETING In response, the Department of Homeland Security posted on its official X account, “Kilmar Abrego Garcia is not and will never be a Maryland Man—he is a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador and public safety threat.” DHS called it “insane” that “sanctuary politicians chose to glorify and stand with an MS-13 gang member over the safety of American citizens.” The agency said that Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem “are not going to allow this illegal alien—who is an MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator—to terrorize American citizens any longer.” Meanwhile, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital that, “Democrats have proven that they care more about a criminal illegal alien MS-13 member who beat his wife than they do about the safety and security of the American people.” SOCIAL MEDIA ERUPTS AFTER DNC SPEAKER SAYS MIGRANT CRIME, CARJACKINGS ‘DON’T MATTER’ TO MANY AMERICANS “The Trump Administration will never apologize for fulfilling our promise to deport criminal illegal aliens,” said Jackson. Chris Newman, an attorney for Abrego Garcia’s family, categorically denied DHS’ allegations, telling Fox News Digital, “None of those things are true, full stop.” “The problem here is that the administration is trying its hardest to litigate this case through the media, as opposed to through courts of law,” said Newman. He said that “in essence” what the Trump administration has done “is to use the highest office in the land to blackmail an innocent man into sacrificing his constitutional rights.” “And we’ve been fighting against that both and winning in court even as the Trump administration insists on polluting the public debate with lies.” In an emailed statement sent to Fox News Digital, Ivey accused Trump of ignoring the law. “When I prosecuted, MS 13 cases, we indicted, tried the case, won the convictions, sentence them to jail time, and did not support them until after they had served jail their sentence,” said Ivey. “That way, we followed the constitution and the law. The Trump administration is ignoring both. They want to deport them without giving them the day in court that the Supreme Court has required. And they want to jail them indefinitely even though they haven’t been convicted of a crime. That’s wrong and I’ll continue
DNC members rally around pro-DEI resolution: ‘These are American values’
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is reaffirming its support for diversity, equity, and inclusion, better known to millions of Americans by its acronym, DEI. The DNC’s Resolutions Committee, meeting on Tuesday during the second day of the national party’s annual summer meeting, unanimously passed a resolution affirming what it highlighted as the “American Values’ of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The approval of the resolution, which will face a vote by the full 400-plus DNC membership on Wednesday, comes amid relentless conservative backlash against DEI programs in recent years. DNC CHAIR DEMANDS DEMOCRATS ‘STOP BRINGING A PENCIL TO A KNIFE FIGHT’ During the 2024 election cycle, now-President Donald Trump and Republicans repeatedly criticized Democrats for their longstanding support for DEI efforts and transgender rights, turning the Democrats’ stance into a political liability. Republicans spent tens of millions on ads last year bashing transgender women in female sports. A commercial targeting then-Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nominee last summer and autumn, argued that “Kamala is for they/them, Donald Trump is for you.” DEMOCRATS DIVIDED: TENSIONS FLARE OVER WAR IN GAZA Following last year’s election setbacks, when Democrats lost control of the White House and Senate and failed to win back the House majority, some in the party have second-guessed their support for DEI and transgender rights. Trump, in the opening months of his second term in the White House, has signed several executive orders taking aim at transgender and DEI policies implemented by then-President Joe Biden and by major universities and corporations. But DNC committee member Bill Owen of Tennessee, who spoke in support of the resolution in front of the panel, took aim at Republicans as he praised DEI values. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION “These are American values. This is what America was built on,” Owen said. “And to my Republican friends and fellow citizens…who profess to be active Christians, I remind them that D.E.I.is the very foundation of the Christian church. I get a little emotional on this, but Jesus loves little children. All the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white.” “This week’s DNC meeting has proven once again just how disconnected Democrats are from the values and priorities of everyday Americans,” RNC communications director Zach Parkinson told Fox News Digital. “The DNC reaffirmed their party’s support for radical, racist DEI ideology and insulted Christians across the country by saying DEI is ‘the very foundation’ of Christianity. It’s no wonder Democrats’ approval rating is in the toilet.” The vote by the Resolutions Committee on the DEI resolution came a day after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate on the Democrats’ 2024 national ticket, said in an address at the DNC summer meeting that “we’re proud to be a diverse party. We are proud of the diversity of this country. We’re not shying away from diversity as a strength and equity as a goal and inclusion being the air we breathe. That’s what we should be doing.” DEI efforts have been aimed at fostering fair treatment and full participation for all people, particularly those who have faced discrimination or underrepresentation. But Trump, upon returning to the White House at the beginning of this year, called DEI efforts “illegal and immoral discrimination programs” and “public waste.”
Child sex abuser, gang member among latest arrests as DHS slams sanctuary politicians
FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security is slamming pro-sanctuary politicians for “peddling a false sob story” about alleged gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia while the agency continues its roundup of criminal illegal aliens, including illegals convicted of forced sodomy, injury of a child and sexual assault of a child. In a statement sent to Fox News Digital, DHS said, “While Sanctuary politicians and activists were peddling the false sob story of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a gang member, human trafficker, child predator, and wife beater, ICE was out arresting the worst of the worst.” Among the aliens arrested by DHS on Monday is Mexican illegal immigrant Arturo Lopez-Ramirez, who has been convicted of sodomy by force in Alameda County, California. Another, Julio-Cesar Lopez-Rivera, an illegal from Mexico, was convicted of injury to a child in Dallas County, Texas. PARENTS BLAST BLUE STATE GOVERNOR FOR EXTENDING STUDENT FINANCIAL AID TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Elsewhere in Texas, Honduran illegal Darlin Josue Martinez-Espinoza was arrested after being convicted of aggravated sexual assault with a child, indecency with a child, and driving while intoxicated in Austin. In Queens, New York, DHS said it arrested a Honduran illegal alien, Edgar Stiven Rivera-Villanueva, who it said was convicted of attempted gang assault. Not far away, another illegal immigrant from Mexico, Salvador Hernandez-Aguilar, was arrested after being convicted of two counts of theft of a motor vehicle and resisting arrest in Middlesex County, New Jersey. DHS said these five criminal illegal aliens represent some of the worst of the worst arrested in just one day, as it continues its crackdown on illegal immigrant crime. DESANTIS VOWS TO HOLD ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCKER IN FATAL CRASH ACCOUNTABLE, DESPITE PETITION The agency said, “From Texas to New York to California, ICE officers are removing the worst of the worst violent offenders from our streets and sending a clear message: America is no longer a safe haven for criminal illegal aliens.” “In just one day, ICE officers across the U.S. nabbed illegal aliens with convictions for sexual assault with a child, sodomy, vehicle theft, and more barbaric crimes,” a senior DHS official told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement. “On day one, President Trump unleashed ICE law enforcement to go after depraved criminals who are terrorizing American communities,” wrote the senior official. “While sanctuary politicians and the media were peddling a FALSE sob story of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, our brave ICE law enforcement was arresting the worst of the worst.” This comes as many Democratic leaders have expressed outrage over DHS arresting Abrego Garcia, who is a Salvadoran national, on Monday and threatening to deport him to Uganda. Federal Judge Paula Xinis, an Obama appointee, ruled on Monday to temporarily block the administration from deporting Abrego Garcia. KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA IS THE ‘OFFICIAL MASCOT’ FOR THE DEM PARTY: JOE CONCHA Abrego Garcia was deported to his home country, El Salvador, earlier this year, but later returned to the U.S. to stand trial on human smuggling charges. DHS has previously presented evidence suggesting Abrego Garcia is also a member of the Salvadoran gang MS-13 and that he previously beat his wife, leading to the agency labeling him a “public safety threat.” Chris Newman, an attorney for Abrego Garcia’s family, has categorically denied those claims, telling Fox News Digital, “None of those things are true, full stop.” “The problem here is that the administration is trying its hardest to litigate this case through the media, as opposed to through courts of law,” claimed Newman. DHS called it “insane” that “sanctuary politicians chose to glorify and stand with an MS-13 gang member over the safety of American citizens.” The agency said that Trump and Secretary Kristi Noem “are not going to allow this illegal alien—who is an MS-13 gang member, human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator—to terrorize American citizens any longer.”
Fox News Politics Newsletter: Trump says ‘no choice’ but to revive death penalty in DC
Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening… -Pentagon tests first fighter jet tactically controlled by artificial intelligence -Bolton may be in hot water as FBI investigation expands beyond controversial book -Walz’s Minnesota may be next as ICE detention footprint grows nationwide President Donald Trump said he plans to pursue reviving the death penalty in Washington for those convicted of murder amid his crime crackdown in the nation’s capital. “If somebody kills somebody in the capital, Washington, D.C., we’re going to be seeking the death penalty,” Trump told reporters during a Tuesday Cabinet meeting. “And that’s a very strong preventative. And everybody that’s heard it agrees with it. I don’t know if we’re ready for it in this country, but we have it. … We have no choice.” The 1972 Supreme Court decision in Furman v. Georgia determined that the death penalty violated the Eighth Amendment’s provision barring cruel and unusual punishment, and the D.C. Council officially rescinded the death penalty in 1981, according to the nonprofit organization the Death Penalty Information Center…READ MORE. LOOSE CANNON PAYBACK: ‘Doctor Strangelove with a mustache’: Bolton blasted for ‘profiteering’ off US secrets by White House advisor ‘IT’S A TRAP’: ‘It’s a trap’: Trump mocks Chuck Schumer, Dems for stepping on political landmines HALLWAY APPROVAL: Trump claims liberal governor praised him in private convo, scoffs at 2028 hopes LAW AND ORDER: Trump’s DC crime crackdown busts another alleged Tren de Aragua gang member: ‘Make DC Safe Again’ UP IN FLAMES: Flashback: Hillary Clinton once called for flag-burning ban as Trump’s order ignites backlash ‘GREAT GUY’: Trump reacts to Taylor Swift–Travis Kelce engagement in high-profile Cabinet meeting POWER TRIP: ‘Some authoritarian s—:’ Dems rip Trump’s unprecedented firing of Fed governor Lisa Cook POWER GRAB: Fight over policing DC moves to Congress as parties split on control QUESTION OF LOYALTY: Rep. Greene raises red flag after Trump indicates US will accept 600,000 Chinese students PRITZKER PROBLEMS: White House accuses Pritzker, Illinois Dems of whining while Chicago crime rages AGAINST ALL ODDS: Child cancer survivor hailed by Trump sworn in as NYC honorary deputy mayor MONEY MOVES: Zohran Mamdani’s $1M fundraising haul fueled by out-of-state donors, data reveals DISASTER POLITICS: DHS juggles ‘mass deportation’ push with Helene relief, adds $124M after Biden backlash ‘JUDICIAL CAPTURE’: EPA urged to axe funds for ‘radical’ climate project accuse of training judges, state AGs rally LOST IN TRANSLATION: Trump admin threatens to cut millions in federal funding from 3 states over trucker English rules Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
Illinois Democrat leaders blast Trump push to send National Guard to Chicago
Illinois leaders are pushing back on President Donald Trump’s suggestion that he might send in National Guard troops to the state to crack down on Chicago crime — akin to what he’s done to address crime in Washington. While Trump has floated that multiple other cities in the U.S. — including Chicago and New York — could also receive an influx of National Guard troops to cut down on crime, Illinois leaders are sounding the alarm and making it clear those troops aren’t welcome in the Land of Lincoln. “Forcing the military, uninvited, into Chicago to intimidate Americans in their own communities does not make our nation stronger, it simply distracts the military from executing its core mission of keeping Americans safe from real adversaries who wish us harm,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said in a Monday X post. WHITE HOUSE ACCUSES PRITZKER, ILLINOIS DEMS OF WHINING WHILE CHICAGO CRIME RAGES Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, also said Monday that the move is “unconstitutional” and “un-American.” “Donald Trump wants to use the military to occupy a U.S. city, punish its dissidents and score political points,” Pritzker said. “If this were happening in any other country, we would have no trouble calling it what it is — a dangerous power grab.” Meanwhile, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said that crime is down in Chicago. Specifically, he said the city in the past year has reduced homicides by more than 30%, robberies by 35% and shootings by almost 40%. TRUMP’S WEEK SHAPED BY CRIME AGENDA, POTENTIAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT TO CHICAGO “The problem with the President’s approach is that it is uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound,” Johnson said in a Friday statement. “Unlawfully deploying the National Guard to Chicago has the potential to inflame tensions between residents and law enforcement when we know that trust between police and residents is foundational to building safer communities.” However, the White House published a fact sheet on Monday pointing to local reports that Chicago has had the most murders of any U.S. city for the past 13 years, as of 2024. On Aug. 11, Trump unveiled plans to deploy troops from the D.C. National Guard and to federalize the Metropolitan Police Department to tackle crime in Washington. Since then, Trump has floated that he might deploy National Guard troops to other cities in the U.S., and has specifically zeroed in on Chicago and characterized the city as “a killing field.” “We go in, we will solve Chicago within one week, maybe less,” Trump told reporters Monday morning. “But within one week we’ll have no crime in Chicago, like no crime in D.C.” On Tuesday, Trump made similar comments and said he wished Pritzker would call him and ask him to send in the National Guard troops. CHICAGO MAYOR CALLS TRUMP’S NATIONAL GUARD PLAN ‘MOST FLAGRANT VIOLATION OF OUR CONSTITUTION’ “Everybody knows Chicago is a hellhole right now,” Trump said at a Tuesday Cabinet meeting. “Everybody knows.” National Guard troops are reserve forces that are tapped to address state and federal operations, including natural disasters. While most are typically overseen by state governments, the federal government oversees the District of Columbia National Guard. However, Trump controversially deployed California National Guard troops to Los Angeles in response to immigration riots there in June — bypassing California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Newsom, a Democrat, ultimately filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for federalizing the National Guard to respond to those riots, and labeled the move an “unmistakable step toward authoritarianism.”
Walz’ Minnesota may be next as ICE detention footprint grows nationwide
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz may be the next state leader subject to ICE’s expanding detention center network, after major facilities were opened or repurposed in Florida, New Jersey, Texas and elsewhere. A private prison that shut down over a decade ago—and rendered obsolete by a 2024 law banning non-governmental state penitentiaries–may be next on ICE’s list. The defunct Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, near the South Dakota line, is reportedly under consideration, according to documents reported by Minnesota Public Radio News. An Appleton official told the outlet his city is not in communication with ICE at this time, but that the owner of the prison – who operated it until 2010 – is seeking a federal contract. BOSTON’S WU FIRES BACK AT BONDI, CITING REVOLUTION, AS OTHER CITIES SLAM FEDS OVER ‘SANCTUARY’ WARNINGS The state law reportedly does not cover federal usage of private prison facilities. Fox News Digital reached out to Walz – a staunch opponent of President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement framework during the 2024 presidential sweeps – for comment – but did not hear back by press time. In addition to Minnesota’s potential prison, several other potential locations popped up on a map curated by the Washington Post that geotagged present and potential future facilities – including Alligator Alcatraz in Ochopee, Florida, which is currently in limbo due to an Obama-appointed judge’s ruling. Another private prison that currently holds ICE detainees among its inmates is also one of the world’s largest such penitentiaries. The RCDC or Reeves County Detention Center in Pecos, Texas, has a capacity of 3,700 beds, overall. AMERICA’S ORIGINAL SANCTUARY STATE REBUKE’S BONDI’S WARNING; DENIES OBSTRUCTION OF ICE Also in Texas, documents reviewed by the Post included a facility dubbed “Brownsville Family” near the border-area city, which would have a 3,500-person capacity. The feds already utilize Fort Bliss in El Paso for immigration-related detentions. The move to repurpose part of the historic installation enraged the local ACLU chapter, which compared ICE’s behavior to when former President Franklin Roosevelt used similar sites to intern Japanese Americans. In California City, California. – outside Bakersfield – plans are already in the works to house ICE detainees at another former private prison. CoreCivic, the same vendor as the prison in Walz’ Minnesota, forged a deal with the feds in a different blue state to repurpose its 2,560 facility, according to the Los Angeles Times. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has opposed private prisons, and a ban he signed in 2019 was overturned at the last moment by a federal court who ruled it unconstitutional if applied in federal respects, the paper reported. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The largest ICE detention center in the northeastern U.S. sits not far from Penn State in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. The Moshannon Valley Processing Center – another privately-contracted facility – can hold about 1,800 people, according to reports. Texas, Louisiana and California also rank in the top-three in migrant detentions, per the Times. The Post reported that at least 19 states could have the capacity for or have detention-purposed facilities by New Year’s.
EPA urged to axe funds for ‘radical’ climate project accused of training judges, state AGs rally
First on Fox: Nearly two dozen Republican state attorneys general sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency chief Lee Zeldin Tuesday, calling on him to cancel funding to a left-wing environmental group accused of training and lobbying judges on climate policy, Fox News Digital exclusively learned. “As attorney general, I refuse to stand by while Americans’ tax dollars fund radical environmental training for judges across the country,” Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen told Fox News Digital of his push to encourage the EPA to end its funding of the Climate Judiciary Project. “The Environmental Law Institute’s Climate Judiciary Project is using woke climate propaganda, under the guise of what they call ‘neutral’ education, to persuade judges and push their wildly unpopular agenda through the court system,” he said. “I commend President Trump’s efforts to cut waste and abuse during the first eight months of his presidency, and I am optimistic that his Administration will do the right thing and halt all funding to ELI.” Knudsen spearheaded the letter sent to Zeldin Tuesday, which included the signatures of 22 other Republican state attorneys general, calling for the EPA to axe its funding to the left-wing environmental nonprofit, called the Environmental Law Institute, which oversees the Climate Judiciary Project (CJP). TOP ENERGY GROUP CALLS FOR PROBE INTO SECRETIVE ‘NATIONAL LAWFARE CAMPAIGN’ TO INFLUENCE JUDGES ON CLIMATE The Environmental Law Institute founded the Climate Judiciary Project in 2018, which pitches itself as a “first-of-its-kind effort” that “provides judges with authoritative, objective, and trusted education on climate science, the impacts of climate change, and the ways climate science is arising in the law.” The group, however, has been accused of trying to manipulate judges to make them more amenable to left-wing climate litigation. The letter sent Tuesday called on the EPA specifically to end any grants and awards endowed to the group. “We write to bring to your attention grants made by EPA to the Environmental Law Institute (‘ELI’),” the letter reads. “According to its 2024 financial statements, ELI received approximately 13% of its revenue in 2023, and 8.4% in 2024, from EPA awards. ELI also apparently still expected to receive funds from the federal government; its financial statement warned that the collectability of federal grant funds ‘is subject to significant uncertainty related to collectability and continual funding due to (the federal grant) funding freeze or other federal actions.’” CLIMATE GROUP SCRUBS JUDGES’ NAMES FROM WEBSITE AFTER UNEARTHED CHATS UNMASKED COZY TIES The Environmental Law Institute received $637,591 from the EPA in 2024 and $866,402 in 2023 from the EPA, according to nonprofit tax documents published by ProPublica detailing the group’s federal expenditures that year. “The Climate Judiciary Project’s mission is clear: lobby judges in order to make climate change policy through the courts,” 23 state attorneys general wrote in the letter. “An alumni magazine profile said the quiet part out loud, writing that the Climate Judiciary Project co-founder was ‘explaining the science of climate change to a group of people with real power to act on it: judges.’ The Climate Judiciary Project’s tampering raises serious legal and ethical questions.” The Environmental Law Institute, however, in recent comment to Fox News Digital, has maintained that its educational programs through Climate Judiciary Project are in accordance with the standards established by national judicial education institutions. Climate Judiciary Project educational events are done “in partnership with leading national judicial education institutions and state judicial authorities, in accordance with their accepted standards,” a spokesperson for the group said in an emailed statement in July. “Its curriculum is fact-based and science-first, grounded in consensus reports and developed with a robust peer review process that meets the highest scholarly standards.” “CJP’s work is no different than the work of other continuing judicial education organizations that address important complex topics, including medicine, tech and neuroscience,” an Environmental Law Institute spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital when asked about its educational programs. The call for EPA to slash any funds to the Environmental Law Institute was celebrated by leading groups such as the American Energy Institute and the Alliance for Consumers, who lamented in comment to Fox Digital that taxpayer funds should not be used to fund the group and that “courtroom maneuvering” threatens day-to-day life. “The State Attorneys General are right to call for the elimination of taxpayer funding for the Environmental Law Institute and its Climate Judiciary Project,” Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, told Fox Digital. “This is a coordinated campaign to advance the Green New Deal through the judiciary using so-called climate litigation in the courts. Its curriculum is developed by climate alarmist allies of the plaintiffs and delivered to judges behind closed doors. Public funds should never be used to finance political advocacy disguised as judicial education.” O.H. Skinner, the executive director of Alliance for Consumers, which is a nonprofit focused on advocating on behalf of American consumers, remarked that “as we have long warned, the left has a plan to reshape American society by using lawsuits in courts all across the country, especially in places like Hawaii and other coastal enclaves.” “The new wave of revelations about ELI is further concerning evidence of how committed the left is to imposing mandatory Progressive Lifestyle Choices through this courtroom maneuvering and how big a threat it really is to all our ways of life,” Skinner added. CLIMATE LAWFARE CAMPAIGN DEALT BLOW IN SOUTH CAROLINA The Tuesday letter specifically argued: “State consumer protection laws prohibit deceptive and misleading statements to market a product. ELI is representing its training as objective when reality shows that it is not. State Attorneys General are responsible for protecting consumers, and we are concerned by ELI’s statements.” The EPA has taken a hatchet to millions of dollars doled out under the Biden administration to left-wing groups and other programs deemed a waste of taxpayer funds upon Zeldin’s Senate confirmation as EPA chief in January. The EPA under the Trump administration has canceled $20 billion in grants under the Inflation Reduction
Bolton may be in hot water as FBI investigation expands beyond controversial book
The FBI’s raid on John Bolton’s home and office is tied to an investigation that reaches beyond his controversial book, a source told Fox News Digital, fueling speculation that the former Trump adviser could face criminal charges. The scope of any potential charges against Bolton, who served under President Donald Trump before falling out of favor with him in 2019, is uncertain, but legal experts tend to agree that Bolton has some legal exposure. Prominent D.C.-based attorney Mark Zaid, who specializes in national security, said that while there are many unknowns about the Department of Justice’s investigation into Bolton, his memoir, “The Room Where It Happened,” could be an area of vulnerability for him. “With respect to Bolton’s book, he is potentially vulnerable if he maintains any copies of early drafts which were determined to contain ‘voluminous’ amounts of classified information when it was first submitted to the White House for review,” Zaid told Fox New Digital. “Those drafts were likely disseminated, per normal course of business, to his literary agent, publisher and lawyer.” THE HISTORY OF HOW TRUMP AND BOLTON’S RELATIONSHIP FELL TO TATTERS Zaid added that those transmissions could be unlawful under the Espionage Act, a serious set of charges used throughout history to punish spies and leakers of government secrets. During the first Trump administration, Attorney General Bill Barr opened an investigation into Bolton and brought a civil lawsuit against him over the book days before it was set for release. The DOJ alleged in the lawsuit that Bolton skipped over normal prepublication review processes and allowed his publisher to move forward with printing a book that contained several passages of classified national security information. In court papers, Bolton said he did not initially believe his memoir contained classified information, but then he edited some information out of the book after consulting with the National Security Council. Bolton never received a final signoff from the National Security Council before moving forward with publishing. He argued in court papers that the Trump administration’s refusal to approve the memoir’s contents violated his First Amendment rights and that the National Security Council’s review process “had been abused in an effort to suppress” the book, which contained harsh criticisms of Trump. DEMOCRATS OPPOSED JOHN BOLTON FOR YEARS — UNTIL THEY SOUGHT HIM AS AN ALLY AGAINST TRUMP Judge Royce Lamberth, a D.C.-based Regan appointee, denied the Trump DOJ’s request to block publication of Bolton’s book because, among several reasons, it had already been exposed to publishers. Still, Lamberth faulted Bolton. “Defendant Bolton has gambled with the national security of the United States,” Lamberth wrote in an order at the time. “He has exposed his country to harm and himself to civil (and potentially criminal) liability.” Lamberth found it was likely Bolton “jeopardized national security by disclosing classified information” in violation of various nondisclosure agreements he signed as part of his national security role. The DOJ never brought charges against Bolton, and the investigation was closed under the Biden administration. The Biden DOJ dismissed the civil lawsuit against Bolton over his book in June 2021. JD VANCE INSISTS FBI SEARCHING BOLTON HOME ‘NOT AT ALL’ ABOUT POLITICAL RETRIBUTION While Bolton’s book controversy has been at the forefront since the raids at his home and office, one well-placed source familiar with the investigation told Fox News Digital on Monday the investigation is far more expansive than the book. The search warrants, which were authorized by a judge, were based on evidence collected overseas by the CIA, the New York Times reported. Critics note Bolton is the latest target of the Trump DOJ, which despite pledging to end “weaponization” has pursued several of the president’s political rivals. The department has launched grand jury probes into New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and is examining Obama-era national security officials who Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard says tried to undermine Trump’s 2016 victory. Trump has also urged an investigation of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, citing “criminal acts” tied to the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal. Former U.S. Attorney John Fishwick of Virginia suggested the line between honest scrutiny of potential wrongdoing and political revenge has become blurred. “Trump DOJ targeting enemies of Trump — Letitia James, Adam Schiff, Federal Reserve Governor [Lisa] Cook and now John Bolton. Trump appears to want them harmed for personal/political reasons but if they broke the law are the investigations justified?” Fishwick told Fox News Digital in a statement. “That question is putting an incredible stress test on our legal system.” Zaid noted that Bolton could bring claims of a selective or vindictive prosecution if he were indicted but that those are difficult to prove. Attorney Jason Kander, an army veteran and former secretary of state of Missouri, said on the podcast Talking Feds that even if the DOJ does not secure a conviction against Bolton, the legal process itself is punishment. “It’s not just harassment. It’s potential financial ruin,” Kander said. “When they come after you like this it doesn’t matter if there isn’t a scintilla of evidence. It’s a minimum half a million bucks in legal fees in a situation like this.”