Democrats have ‘dirty hands’ over complaints about Omar raid weeks before election, ex-prosecutor says
Former federal prosecutors are pushing back on Democrats’ accusations that the Trump administration violated Justice Department policy by searching the home of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., just weeks before an election. “It’s difficult to not point out the dirty hands of the people that might complain about election interference,” Jim Trusty, a former federal prosecutor, said, pointing to former special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of President Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 election. “Democrats definitely can’t contend that it’s a politicized investigation after everything that happened in the Trump era,” Abhishek Kambil, a former federal prosecutor, told Fox News Digital. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, released a lengthy statement alleging that the Justice Department violated protocol by conducting “overt actions in politically-sensitive matters in the 60 days before an election.” HOMAN CONFIRMS ‘CRIMINAL’ INVESTIGATION INVOLVING ILHAN OMAR, SAYS HE KNOWS ‘THINGS ARE GOING ON’ “Just 22 days before the elections, this is blatant political intimidation and an attempt to interfere with the Congresswoman’s reelection,” Raskin wrote in his press release. But Kambil pointed out that the U.S. Department of Justice Manual, which outlines procedures for federal criminal investigations, does not explicitly impose a 60-day period before elections in which investigative actions can’t be conducted. “The 60-day requirement is not something that’s in the justice manual,” Kambil told Fox News Digital. “That’s basically an unwritten practice of what DOJ typically does, and the justice manual itself does not have the time frame on that.” Kambil said that any actions which could be perceived as influencing an election will require prior approval from either the attorney general or the deputy attorney general. The Justice Department has long followed an unwritten practice known as the “60-day rule,” which discourages politically sensitive investigative actions close to an election. The practice came under scrutiny in a 2018 DOJ inspector general report examining former FBI Director James Comey’s decision to notify Congress of new developments in the Hillary Clinton email investigation just 11 days before the 2016 presidential election. The watchdog concluded that Comey had disregarded longstanding department policy and practice, calling his decision a “serious error of judgment.” “It doesn’t create a ban; it just creates effectively a consultation requirement to higher level leadership before it can happen, but there is no statute or anything else preventing this,” Kambil told Fox News Digital. The Justice Department also was accused by President Donald Trump of ignoring its “60-day rule” when special counsel Jack Smith filed a revised indictment against Trump just 70 days before the 2024 presidential election. Weeks later, Smith submitted a 165-page brief outlining evidence against Trump in the federal election interference case, which was made public just 34 days before the election. Trump and Republican lawmakers accused Smith of attempting to influence the election, but Smith maintained that his office followed DOJ policy and complied with a court-ordered filing schedule. “For 60 days prior to an election, the Department of Injustice is supposed to do absolutely nothing that would taint or interfere with a case,” Trump posted in all capital letters to his Truth Social. “They disobeyed their own rule in favor of complete and total election interference.” BIDEN-ERA FBI’S ‘NIXONIAN’ TRUMP FAMILY SURVEILLANCE DRAWS SCRUTINY FROM UNLIKELY CORNER “Going back to Jack Smith, obviously trying to get a case tried — the January 6th case before the election — to affect the electorate,” Trusty said. Trusty pointed out that the Justice Department needed approval from a magistrate judge in Washington, D.C., before executing its search warrant. “There’s at least probable cause,” Trusty said. “It’s a long way off from proving a case at trial.” “But keep in mind, in D.C. President Trump and his administration don’t always have friendly treatment from the judges there,” Trusty continued. “So this was a magistrate judge who looked at the sworn statement, said there’s enough to justify a raid, and now we’ve had a raid.” A judge can reject a search warrant application if investigators fail to establish probable cause. But approving a warrant does not necessarily resolve questions about whether the search complied with the Justice Department’s election-year policies. TRUMP DOJ UNLEASHES LARGEST DENATURALIZATION EFFORT IN DEPARTMENT HISTORY — AND SAYS IT’S ‘ONLY THE BEGINNING’ “When you see Democrats challenging the warrant or what happened, they’re not really going after the merits,” Kambil said. “They’re challenging the timing.” The Homeland Security Investigations raid stems from an investigation into immigration paperwork Omar’s father completed when she was a child. Omar, who fled Somalia’s civil war, immigrated to the United States with her family in 1995 at age 12 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2000. In response to the raid on her home, Omar accused Trump of engaging in “political intimidation” against her. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER “This raid by Trump’s DHS is an outrageous abuse of power and an unprecedented escalation in the weaponization of federal law enforcement to target political enemies,” Omar posted on X. “For a decade, Donald Trump has relentlessly targeted Congresswoman Ilhan Omar with inflammatory rhetoric, repeatedly putting a target on her back.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
Republicans in historically critical battleground county pull no punches in midterm homestretch: ‘Lot of hope’
HAMILTON, OH – Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, is fighting for his political future in a tight race in reliably red Ohio, and he spoke to Fox News Digital along with other local Republicans about what to expect in the few weeks before the critical midterm election. “Look, he’s been there for 50 years and everywhere I go, no one can name a single thing that he ever did for them,” Husted said about his Democratic opponent Sherrod Brown, who is attempting to return to the U.S. Senate after being defeated by Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, in 2024. “And think about this, you can’t keep sending the same old Sherrod Brown back to Washington and expect different results. The place is broken. He’s the one that broke it. He created the system. If you wanna see a better, brighter future, you can’t send the same ol’ Sherrod Brown back.” Husted, speaking to Fox News Digital at a Butler County GOP event on Saturday, pointed to the recent Ohio visits from President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., as a sign the momentum is on his side in a race some polls show him trailing. TRUMP TOUTS ‘GOLDEN AGE’ AT OHIO RALLY, URGES VOTERS TO DELIVER GOP MIDTERM WINS “We’re seeing a ton of energy and literally in the last month, you can just feel it change…we’re just seeing people all around the state just rallying and the crowds have been larger and more enthusiastic than I expected in a midterm. So it gives us a lot of hope.” Despite Ohio’s Republican lean, Husted faces an uphill battle in a race that has tightened considerably and Republicans are also contending with the traditional midterm headwinds facing the party in power, making turnout and voter enthusiasm especially critical in the weeks ahead. Republicans are also facing concerns over gas prices and affordability, with voters focused on the cost of everyday essentials ahead of the midterm elections. Fox News Digital asked Husted about those concerns and whether part of his message to voters is that the Democratic Party being put back in power won’t fix those issues. SCHUMER PREACHES AFFORDABILITY IN DEM MIDTERM PITCH WHILE SABOTAGING GOP FIXES FOR SOARING COSTS “Yeah, look, it’s common sense versus crazy,” Husted explained. “Look, we’ve done some good things. We have more jobs in Ohio than we’ve ever had in our history, the lowest unemployment rate. Now we just got to fight to get prices down. The Democrats block us at every turn trying to do that.” Democrats in the Senate recently blocked Husted’s legislation aimed at requiring large data centers to pay for the power generation and infrastructure needed to serve their facilities rather than shifting that burden onto taxpayers as the data center issue becomes a top issue on the Ohio campaign trail. “They blocked my ratepayer protection pledge, which would have forced data centers to pay their own way. Why? Because they just wanted to use it as a political issue rather than actually solving problems for people,” Husted said. Husted continued, “We’re the party of drill, baby drill. They’re the part of closing down pipelines and refineries and power plants. We are going to create the energy supply to meet the demand and help lower prices. The Democrats, they don’t believe in any of it. They believe in command and control of the government. They want to take more of your money out of your paycheck, send it to Washington. If you want your freedom and your fortune, then you need to vote for Republicans.” If Husted is going to be successful in November, Ohio attorney and political strategist Mehek Cooke says the key will be pushing back hard on the affordability issue. “I think Senator Houston every single day needs to close that deal by talking about his ratepayer protection data plan, where he promised to cut costs for every single American by saying data centers will not take our resources, taxpayers will not pay for those bills, data centers will and every Democrat voted against that,” Cooke said, adding that the vote against Husted’s bill shows Democrats “don’t care about data centers.” “You know what they care about? The money that data centers give them,” Cooke said, referencing Fox News Digital reporting that Brown has taken money from companies that operate data centers. “Jekyll and Hyde, I’ve said this about Sherrod,” Cooke said. “He’s a different man in Ohio. He’s the aw shucks, I’m disheveled, I don’t know where I am, what day is it? You love me, I love you. And then he gets to Washington and he turns his back on us. So we care about datacenters. We don’t wanna pay their bills. And guess what? John Husted will make sure we never do. He’s pushing affordability that Sherrod Brown could never dream of while pocketing their money.” Brown campaign spokesperson Lauren Chou pushed back in a statement to Fox News Digital, accusing Husted of supporting the war in Iran that “sent the costs of gas and diesel to record highs” and saying he “led the charge to bring 226 data centers to Ohio.” “Jon Husted puts corporations and billionaires first every time, and we all pay for it,” Chou said. Butler, Clermont and Warren counties form a critical Republican vote reservoir in southwestern Ohio, collectively producing hundreds of thousands of votes and some of the state’s largest GOP margins. Their importance was underscored in 2004, when George W. Bush’s combined margin in the three counties exceeded his statewide margin of victory. RAMASWAMY OUTLINES KEY CONTRASTS WITH DEM OPPONENT LESS THAN 100 DAYS OUT FROM KEY GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION Several Republican candidates on stage Saturday night pointed to the importance of those counties and Art Sauerwein, Butler County GOP Executive Committee Chairman, told Fox News Digital the “biggest concern” he’s hearing from Republicans is that if Democrats win the governorship, Senate seat, and contested House races “our state’s going to be in huge trouble.” “The wokeness
Omar raid draws ominous warning from Vance as he blasts progressive rep’s ‘rage’ toward America
EXCLUSIVE: TYLER, Texas — Vice President JD Vance told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that the Trump administration has no plans to “butt in” on a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., after the raid on her Washington, D.C., home the day prior. Vance, however, insisted that the law will be enforced if immigration fraud is uncovered. “We don’t want to be like the Biden administration. We never want to be like that — where they would allow the law to go after their political opponents,” the vice president said in an exclusive interview following a midterm campaign rally in the Lone Star State on Tuesday. “We really want to let the law, the facts drive this,” he continued. “And if justice requires something else be done, then, of course, we’ll take a step when we have to.” Omar’s Washington, D.C., home was subject to a predawn raid on Monday conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the principal investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as first reported by Fox News Digital. DEMOCRATS’ FURY OVER ILHAN OMAR RAID DRAWS STINGING GOP REMINDER ABOUT RAID FROM THE PAST: ‘SET THE PRECEDENT’ Conservatives repeatedly accused then-President Joe Biden’s DOJ of politically persecuting President Donald Trump and his allies after his first term in office ended. Most notably for critics, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home was infamously raised by the FBI as part of an investigation into alleged mishandling of classified documents. That case was closed when Trump again won the presidency in 2024. “In the Trump administration, unlike the previous administration, we let the facts and the law drive this stuff — so the president and I really don’t butt ourselves in the DOJ investigations,” Vance said. “We’re not trying to micromanage this. We’re not trying to tell [Attorney General] Todd Blanche to do one thing or another. We try to let the facts drive this thing.” “So we’re gonna let the investigation unfold,” he went on before warning: “If, of course, criminal wrongdoing is discovered or potentially fraudulent immigration is uncovered, then obviously there will be legal proceedings to follow that.” While an investigation into potential immigration fraud related to a sitting member of Congress is unprecedented, Vance reiterated that authorities will go where the facts take them — no matter the circumstances of the case. “I think we have to let the facts and the law drive this, right? So I don’t think you can say because politics might be difficult or politics might be easy, you can’t follow the law. You have to actually enforce the law as it exists,” he said. COULD TRUMP REVOKE ILHAN OMAR’S CITIZENSHIP FOR ALLEGED BROTHER MARRIAGE? EX FEDERAL PROSECUTOR BREAKS IT DOWN Additionally, the vice president slammed Omar for what he views as a negative attitude towards the United States despite it being the country where her family fled to escape civil war in Somalia in 1991. “And to the question of it being unprecedented, I mean, what I’d say is that Ilhan Omar herself is a very unprecedented person,” he said. “We have very rarely had a person in Congress who seems to have such disdain and such rage at the country that gave her a better life,” Vance said. “Now, that’s not a crime.” “But we’re going to see whether she did commit a crime. And if she did, we’re obviously going to follow the law,” he reiterated. Vance made the comments after rallying on behalf of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton at the Tyler Pounds Regional Airport in Tyler, Texas, a city about 100 miles east of Dallas. Paxton is running in a neck-and-neck race with Democratic state Rep. James Talarico just three weeks before Election Day, as Republicans fight desperately to hold control of Congress. ILHAN OMAR’S WEALTH SCANDAL TAKES A TURN JUST ONE DAY AFTER RAID OF HER DC HOME Omar responded to the raid on social media Monday afternoon, both from her personal and government X accounts. “I’m ok,” Omar wrote on her own X account hours after the search. “Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.” “For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns,” she continued. “This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced.” TRUMP RALLY CROWD CHANTS ‘DEPORT’ AS PRESIDENT RIPS ILHAN OMAR AFTER FEDERAL RAID In a post from her official government X account from just after 1:30 p.m., Omar elaborated further. “This raid by Trump’s DHS is an outrageous abuse of power and an unprecedented escalation in the weaponization of federal law enforcement to target political enemies. For a decade, Donald Trump has relentlessly targeted Congresswoman Ilhan Omar with inflammatory rhetoric, repeatedly putting a target on her back,” she said. “Now, those attacks have escalated to a pointless federal raid. The Congresswoman has done nothing wrong. No president should be able to use the power of the federal government to intimidate his political enemies.” Fox News Digital reached out to Omar’s office for comment, but did not hear back before publication.
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani says he won’t fire NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch despite socialist pressure
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Tuesday he has “no plans” to fire NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, pushing back against calls from his democratic socialist allies to remove the city’s top cop following protests over an ICE-involved shooting in the Bronx. Ahead of a ceremony Tuesday honoring fallen NYPD officers, Mamdani was asked about Tisch’s future as head of the department. “Jessica Tisch is the police commissioner. I have no plans to change that,” Mamdani told reporters. “The reason that I made the decision to have Jessica Tisch as the police commissioner was because of her record of uprooting corruption from the upper echelons of the NYPD while lowering crime across our city,” he continued. “And over the last 10 months that we’ve worked together, we have delivered the lowest recorded number of murders in our city’s history, the lowest recorded number of shootings as well as shooting victims.” SOCIALIST SURGE: MAMDANI FLEXES GROWING POLITICAL MUSCLE AS HE TAKES ON DEM ESTABLISHMENT The mayor’s comments came after the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) called for Tisch’s removal following last week’s ICE shooting and demanded that Mamdani use his authority to drive ICE out of New York City. The demand followed last week’s shooting of Oscar Belgal during a federal immigration operation in the Bronx. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Belgal, a 28-year-old Dominican national, was shot after allegedly refusing to comply with officers’ orders during a targeted ICE operation to arrest him. NYC SOCIALIST CANDIDATE SAYS CRIMINAL RECORD OF MAN SHOT BY ICE ‘DOESN’T EVEN MATTER’ Following the incident, a City Hall spokesperson said Mamdani was reviewing the circumstances surrounding the shooting but had no plans to remove Tisch. Scott Munro, president of the Detectives’ Endowment Association — the union representing active and retired NYPD detectives — was also asked by reporters Tuesday about the DSA urging Mamdani to fire Tisch. Munro said he believes Mamdani supports the police commissioner, noting that crime was down and Tisch was “doing her job.” Mamdani and Tisch appeared together Tuesday at the New York City Police Memorial, where they honored 42 fallen NYPD members, including 41 who died from illnesses related to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and their aftermath. The ceremony also honored Detective First Grade Didarul Islam, who was killed in a Midtown Manhattan mass shooting in 2025. 9/11 DEATH TOLL KEEPS GROWING DECADES LATER AS TOXIC EXPOSURE HAUNTS SURVIVORS The mayor paid tribute to the fallen officers and their families during the ceremony, which Tisch also attended. “While we cannot feel the silence they left behind, we will refuse to let their memory fade,” Mamdani said. Earlier this week, Mamdani directed the NYPD to conduct a comprehensive review of its use-of-force policies and practices. He also announced reforms aimed at strengthening accountability when police officers are accused of serious misconduct.
Trump signs pardons for Alaska diesel mechanics onstage during rally touting major energy deals
President Donald Trump announced pardons for two Alaska diesel mechanics during a midterm rally Tuesday night in Wasilla, bringing the men onstage to sign clemency documents as he highlighted major energy investments and infrastructure projects in the Last Frontier. Trump identified Zachary Czubak and Patrick Fleming, two co-owners of an Anchorage diesel repair shop who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act in 2022. “I’m giving each one of the three an unconditional pardon,” Trump told supporters, also referring to an earlier pardon for Mackenzie “Mac” Spurlock, a Wasilla diesel shop owner. TRUMP GRANTS PARDONS TO ‘PERSECUTED’ MECHANICS IN RIGHT-TO-REPAIR CRACKDOWN: ‘I AM SETTING THEM ALL FREE’ The president defended the men, saying their work helped keep trucks operating in Alaska’s extreme cold and arguing that their Biden-era prosecutions were unfair. According to the Biden Justice Department, Czubak and Fleming were among three co-owners of “Arm Rippin Toys” who admitted removing federally required emissions-control equipment and tampering with monitoring devices on at least 37 diesel vehicles between July 2019 and September 2020. BIDEN-ERA ENVIRO RULE ACCUSED OF STRANGLING TRUCKERS, SQUEEZING AMERICANS LANDS ON TRUMP CHOPPING BLOCK The shop collected approximately $100,000 for the modifications, federal prosecutors said at the time. As he signed the clemency documents, Trump took a jab at former President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen. “So I’m going to sign this now, something that Joe Biden would be unable to do because he was unable to sign his signature,” Trump said. TRUMP COMMUTES SENTENCE FOR FORMER PHILADELPHIA UNION OFFICIAL, ATTORNEY SAYS He also shared candidly the privilege of the presidential pardon power with the crowd. “What an honor. I love doing this stuff,” Trump said. One of the men thanked the president from the stage, describing the personal impact of the prosecution. “It really did destroy us. It destroyed friendships. It destroyed families,” he said. The pardons came during a rally in which Trump made a series of major announcements about Alaska’s energy future, including declaring that a long-awaited 800-mile natural gas pipeline had secured every necessary federal permit. “Every single permit that you need, you can start tonight,” Trump told the crowd. “Every single permit that you need has been granted.” Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for additional details on the project’s federal permitting status.
Rep Ilhan Omar’s immigration history faces new scrutiny as federal investigators subpoena relatives
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s, D-Minn., immigration history is facing fresh scrutiny after federal agents searched her Washington, D.C., home, with new reports detailing subpoenas to relatives and a request from her congressional staff to change the birth year listed in public biographies. Federal investigators have subpoenaed Omar’s sister, Sahra Noor, and at least one other person in her family circle as they examine possible fraud and false statements in immigration paperwork, The New York Times reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the investigation. Fox News has also learned that subpoenas have been sent to multiple family members of Omar. Separately, the New York Post reported that Omar’s staff asked the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library in May 2019 to change her listed birth year from 1981 to 1982, a discrepancy a former political opponent has questioned while challenging the Minnesota Democrat’s account of how she became a U.S. citizen. HOMAN CONFIRMS ‘CRIMINAL’ INVESTIGATION INVOLVING ILHAN OMAR, SAYS HE KNOWS ‘THINGS ARE GOING ON’ The reports come one day after Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents searched Omar’s Washington, D.C., home. Two sources familiar with the probe told Fox News Digital the search was part of an ongoing criminal investigation involving her immigration paperwork. The Justice Department confirmed that agents executed a judicially authorized search warrant as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation. Omar has repeatedly denied immigration wrongdoing and accused the Trump administration of using federal law enforcement against her. “I’m ok. Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement,” Omar, a member of DC’s progressive “The Squad,” wrote Monday on X. “For ten years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns. This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation,” she continued. “I will not be silenced.” According to emails reviewed by the Post, Omar’s congressional staff contacted the Minnesota library months after she entered Congress to request the birth-year correction. “On May 17, 2019, Library staff were informed by Rep. Omar’s congressional staff that her birth year was incorrect and requested that we change it to 1982,” the library’s director wrote in a May 24, 2019, email, according to the outlet. DEMOCRATS’ FURY OVER ILHAN OMAR RAID DRAWS STINGING GOP REMINDER ABOUT RAID FROM THE PAST: ‘SET THE PRECEDENT’ The director also said Omar’s staff were working with Wikipedia, the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress and other sources to correct the year. But the library’s original entry was not based on a birth certificate or other supporting documentation. In another email cited by the Post, the director said the 1981 date had been drawn from other reference sources and added “without documentation.” The discrepancy does not establish that Omar falsified immigration records, and neither report established that the biography change prompted Monday’s search. Omar has said she became a citizen through her father’s naturalization in 2000, before she turned 18. “I became a citizen actually before I turned 18,” she told The Intercept in a September 2018 interview, according to the Post. “My father became a citizen and so I got my citizenship through that process.” COULD TRUMP REVOKE ILHAN OMAR’S CITIZENSHIP FOR ALLEGED BROTHER MARRIAGE? EX FEDERAL PROSECUTOR BREAKS IT DOWN AJ Kern, who unsuccessfully challenged Omar in the 2022 Democratic primary, has questioned whether Omar was still a minor when her father became a citizen, the Post reported. Kern told the outlet that she filed a Federal Election Commission complaint and sued to demand proof of Omar’s citizenship. A state judge dismissed the lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction, according to the Post. The Times reported that investigators have been examining the immigration history of Omar’s family, including whether her late father, Nur Omar Mohamed, lied or omitted information on immigration forms before becoming a citizen. The precise scope of the investigation remains unclear. Grand jury subpoenas seek evidence and do not, by themselves, mean the recipients are suspected of wrongdoing. The Times reported that previous federal inquiries into Omar’s immigration history have not resulted in charges. ILHAN OMAR’S EMBATTLED HUSBAND APPEARS AT SCENE OF HSI RAID IN MIDST OF CRIMINAL FRAUD INVESTIGATION The immigration developments also come as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro disclosed a separate examination of Omar’s financial disclosures. Speaking Tuesday on Fox News’ “America Reports,” Pirro said her office was investigating the filings, which previously showed that the combined reported value of two businesses tied to Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett, climbed from approximately $15,000 to $51,000 in 2023 to between $6 million and $30 million in 2024. Fox News Digital previously examined the disclosures involving eStCru LLC, a California winery, and Rose Lake Capital LLC, a Washington-based venture capital firm. ‘SQUAD’ DEM DISMISSES FRAUD PROBE SPECULATION AFTER $29M NET-WORTH DROP Omar amended the filings in April, reducing the couple’s combined reported assets to between $18,004 and $95,000. Her office said the original disclosures failed to properly account for business liabilities. Financial disclosures list assets in broad ranges and do not establish an exact net worth. In September, the Office of Congressional Conduct voted 5-1 to recommend that the House Ethics Committee dismiss misconduct allegations related to the disclosures, finding no substantial reason to believe Omar reported false or incomplete information in violation of federal law or House rules. That review is separate from the federal investigation Pirro described. It remains unclear whether the financial inquiry is connected to Monday’s search. President Donald Trump renewed his criticism Tuesday in a statement shared by the White House on X, questioning the change in Omar’s financial filings. “America wants answers, and we want them, NOW!” Trump said. Vice President JD Vance, who previously accused Omar of immigration fraud, said Tuesday that he had no advance knowledge of the search, according to the Times. “If there’s a real case there, we’re going to follow the facts,” Vance said. “If there’s not a real case there, then we won’t.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Justice Department, Omar’s
Pentagon pushes hypersonic weapons production as startups slash costs
As the U.S. works to refill its missile stockpile, it is also looking to develop new weapons for its arsenal. “We’re going to need all three tiers of missiles. The cheap ones, the ones that are now the high-end like Patriot and then maybe some hypersonics,” said Mark Cancian, a retired U.S. Marines colonel and senior advisor with the CSIS Defense and Security Department. The U.S. military is taking an increasing interest in hypersonic weapons, which are maneuverable and travel five times faster than the speed of sound. “These hypersonic systems are now seen as the novel revolutionary system and the ballistic missile is seen as the archaic one,” said UC Berkeley Senior Research Scholar Cameron Tracy. US FALLS BEHIND IN HYPERSONIC RACE AS CHINA, RUSSIA GAIN EDGE But the weapons the military has traditionally invested in could come at a cost. Estimates from the Government Accountability Office show missiles for the Army’s long-range hypersonic weapon, the Dark Eagle, could cost more than $40 million each. As the Navy works to equip its Zumwalt Destroyers with hypersonics, the GAO puts estimates at $70 million per missile, which includes costs to develop and incorporate the necessary technologies. The GAO also notes the modernization project is two years behind schedule. “In the long run, for example, the Army thinks that the long-ranged hypersonic weapon will become cheaper as production ramps up,” said Xiaodon Liang, arms control association senior policy analyst for Nuclear Weapons Policy and Disarmament. Tomahawk missiles cost around $2.6 million, according to the U.S. Navy. Army budget documents show Patriot missiles cost nearly $4 million. Precision Strike Missiles or PrSMs cost $1.6 million per unit. The U.S. Navy could buy almost 27 tomahawks for the price of one hypersonic missile aboard the Zumwalt Destroyers. The Army could buy around 25 PrSMs for the price of one Dark Eagle hypersonic weapon. “The U.S. has invested in recent years in several of the programs that are starting to become into fruition,” said Liang. “These are exquisite weapons. And I think that the military is acquiring them for exquisite purposes.” Hypersonic weapons travel up to 20 times faster than traditional missiles and an adversary’s reaction time is thought to be six times shorter. Hypersonic speeds are also vital for both evading enemy defense systems and executing strikes. The Atlantic Council estimates 75% fewer hypersonic weapons would be needed for a mission. US ARMY OFFERING DEFENSE FIRMS ‘CONCIERGE ACCESS’ TO TEST WEAPONS AT MILITARY RANGES Startups are hoping to bring down some of the costs to produce hypersonic weapons with more affordable missiles and increased testing capabilities. “The weapon itself is under $500,000, which, if you know about munitions, that’s incredibly cheap,” Castelion co-founder and CEO Bryon Hargis said. The Army and Navy are investing in Castelion’s Blackbeard hypersonic weapon, which the company says is designed for mass production. “It is a story about hypersonics and what they can provide in terms of a weapon, but it’s really a story of American manufacturing,” Hargis said. “The company is focused on providing America options to have that middle deterrence layer, and we’re doing that through production.” This year, Castelion began building what it says will be the largest dedicated hypersonic weapon production factory in the U.S. Project Ranger is expected to produce thousands of Blackbeard weapons annually. Those will eventually be used to fill Castelion’s various contracts, such as integrating the weapons into the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornet Jets, incorporating the system into the U.S. Army’s HIMARS and deploying Blackbeard on unmanned surface vessels. “The advantage of a hypersonic system is that it goes very far, it gets there quickly and it’s highly survivable because of that maneuverability. And that’s important for achieving deterrence because it’s hard to shoot down,” Hargis said. Hypersonic weapons remain mostly in Earth’s atmosphere. The missiles are maneuverable during flight and can strike a target quickly, in 15-30 minutes from around 1,725 miles away. US REBUILDING WEAPONS STOCKPILE COULD DELAY ORDERS FROM ALLIES “If you don’t know what the target would be initially, unlike a ballistic missile where you can calculate where it’ll land, you might misinterpret, for example, an incoming strike as a decapitation attempt. And that would be very concerning,” Liang said. Developers say the U.S. speaks with other countries about missile launches and what the intended targets are. But there are other concerns that hypersonic maneuverability could lead to inaccuracy. “Technologies do tend to improve over time as testing and especially as experience with use builds up, but there are pretty important physical constraints on the performance of these systems,” said Tracy. Defense contractor Rocket Lab is working with the War Department to improve hypersonic missile capabilities through an increasing number of test launches. INSIDE AMERICA’S LASER REVOLUTION AS THE MILITARY NEARS BIG BATTLEFIELD BREAKTHROUGH “With our HASTE program, what we have enabled is low-cost, high-frequency hypersonic and missile defense testing. And when you can say that you can get that cheaper and faster, now you’re looking at more of a shots on goal approach to demonstrating capability of the technology insertion cycle,” Rocket Lab Vice President of Global Launch Services Brian Rogers said. Rocket Lab’s HASTE is a suborbital test bed launch vehicle that provides flight test opportunities for the government to advance hypersonic and suborbital system technology development. The vehicle is derived from Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket, which has launched nearly 100 missions. “Rather than saying we need to be stuck in an analysis environment, and then it’s a very rigorous test campaign that costs a lot of money and involves a lot people, now you can say we’re planning 12 tests this year. We don’t have to bet the farm on any one of them, which allows us to take more risk and really move the needle in terms of technology development,” Rogers said. The U.S. military has never used a hypersonic weapon but has explored deploying its Dark Eagle to the Middle East. “I would be very surprised if we used
‘Bonnie and Clyde’ illegal immigrant couple accused of brazen jewelry theft spree across four states
An illegal immigrant couple dubbed “Bonnie and Clyde” by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) allegedly turned strangers’ kindness into a payday, stealing necklaces from elderly victims in a jewelry theft spree stretching across four states. Rudi Lacatusu, 28, and Mirabela Lacatusu, 26, Romanian nationals accused of targeting victims on Long Island, are now in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, DHS announced Tuesday. The pair allegedly carried out at least 14 jewelry thefts across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland, according to DHS, which cited local reporting. The stolen necklaces were valued between $2,000 and $3,000 each. DHS BOSS REVEALS OVAL OFFICE PLAN TO ‘WITHHOLD FUNDING’ FROM SANCTUARY CITIES AFTER AGGRESSIVE NEW YORK BUST One alleged encounter began with a seemingly innocent request for directions. A 73-year-old woman was standing outside her Valley Stream, New York, home Oct. 5, when a gold Mitsubishi with a man and woman inside pulled up, Nassau County police said. The female passenger asked how to get to BJ’s Wholesale Club. After the woman helped, the passenger stepped out, asked to hug her and placed two gold-colored necklaces around her neck, according to detectives. A short time later, the woman realized her own gold necklace, worth approximately $2,000, was gone. Investigators linked the suspects to similar thefts in Franklin Square and East Meadow. Each faces three counts of fourth-degree grand larceny, police said. DHS said Nassau County authorities turned the couple over to ICE after their arrests. Both entered the U.S. illegally at an unknown time and location, according to DHS. DOJ SUES CONNECTICUT, NEW HAVEN OVER SANCTUARY POLICIES: ‘OPEN DEFIANCE’ “This ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ illegal alien couple from Romania has been charged with grand larceny after allegedly carrying out more than a dozen jewelry thefts across four states,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said. “Thanks to local partners in New York, these illegal aliens are in ICE custody and will be removed from our country.” Mullin also took aim at Democrat New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, arguing that sanctuary policies put Americans at risk. “If it were up to sanctuary politicians like Governor Kathy Hochul, these criminals would be back on the streets to rob more Americans,” he said. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S IMMIGRATION PUSH FUELS ICE’S BIGGEST ARREST MONTH IN AGENCY HISTORY DHS used the arrests to renew its criticism of New York’s sanctuary policies, calling the state a “hotbed of illegal alien crime” under Hochul. DHS also argued those policies have had “disastrous consequences” beyond New York’s borders. The announcement follows Operation Rotten Apple, an ICE crackdown that ran from July 27 through Aug. 29. DHS said officers arrested 2,197 illegal immigrants across New York during the operation, including people the department described as murderers, rapists, child predators, drug traffickers and violent assailants. Nassau County police initially issued the suspects appearance tickets directing them to court in Hempstead Oct. 20, according to the department’s arrest announcement. DHS’ statement Tuesday did not specify when ICE took custody of them. The case prompted police to warn residents about distraction scams targeting elderly people, including strangers offering jewelry or gifts, asking to pray together, requesting change or seeking help with a flat tire. While a victim’s attention is elsewhere, the thieves can remove jewelry directly from their body, police warned. Authorities urged residents to stay alert in parking lots and outside grocery stores and call 911 to report suspicious activity. Anyone who has been targeted in a similar theft can contact Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS.
Dem candidate’s bizarre anti-MAGA tirade ends with ‘We have guns too’
A Democrat running for county council in eastern Indiana was ridiculed Tuesday after critics claimed she appeared “s— faced” and slurred her way through attacks on Republicans during a televised candidate forum. During the forum, Fayette County Council candidate Jaime West said she would “fire all Republicans” if elected, railed against “MAGAs” she called “racist” and unintelligent and alleged that a sheriff’s nephew had threatened to kill her. Asked for a final message to voters, West responded: “We have guns too.” “This is not a skit,” said LibsOfTikTok, a popular conservative punditry account run by commentator Chaya Raichik. “Jaime West, a Democrat running for Fayette County Council in Indiana, gave an embarrassing interview where she appears to mumble and rant the entire time. Is she intoxicated?” Raichik asked on X. LAWMAKER’S STUNNED FACE AND OTHER VIRAL MOMENTS CAP ROUGH WEEK FOR POLITICAL CLASS Former litigator Viva Frei tweeted that the video initially appeared to be a “skit [or] high school video project.” “I had to make sure she did not have a neurological disorder that could account for the slurred speech and insane rambling. She doesn’t. And even if she did have a diagnosed neurological disorder, ‘we have guns too’ after talking about firing all Republicans would ordinarily be disqualifying,” Frei said. When asked one decision she would make if elected that constituents would find unpopular, West told the moderator, “Fire all Republicans.” “I wouldn’t let them — I don’t even talk to them. I don’t like them. They voted against — their own state representative voted against her own party,” West continued while also pledging not to raise taxes. DEM SENATE HOPEFULS UNDER SCRUTINY FOR ‘CHOKE THEM OUT’ RHETORIC AFTER TRUMP ATTACK SCARE “Y’all did this to us. … You made this happen. This ICE coming into our communities, stealing people’s jobs. I mean, I’ve been threatened so many times to my face by MAGA; we’ll call them, because there’s Republicans who actually get it. You know, there are good Republicans out there, but then there’s these MAGAs who are just racist and aren’t very intelligent at all,” West continued. “They call you names. The sheriff’s nephew threatened to blow my head off. But, you know, what are you going to do?” The moderator paused before asking West for a final message to voters. “We have guns too,” West said as the moderator pivoted to informing viewers about how to vote in the Hoosier State’s elections this year. West could not immediately be reached for comment. While it was not immediately clear which Indiana sheriff West was referring to, Zac Jones, who leads the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office where she is running, was stunned by the remark. “I don’t know Jaime West, and she obviously doesn’t know me. I have five nieces and zero nephews. I’m not sure what she is talking about, and I’m certain she has no idea what she is talking about either,” Jones told Fox News Digital. “It’s a sad day when this is the best the Democrat Party can get to run for this important local office.” SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER West is running against Republican Gary Keener Jr. in Fayette County.
Coast Guard firefight puts US, Mexico at odds despite coordinated border operations
A firefight involving U.S. Coast Guard personnel along the Mexican border has sparked a dispute between Washington and Mexico City over where the gunfire originated, even as the two countries continue coordinating border security operations. The Coast Guard told Fox News Digital that personnel conducting joint interdiction operations near Garceno, Texas, came under fire from the Mexican side of the border Sept. 26 and returned fire. No injuries or damage to Coast Guard vessels or equipment were reported, and the incident remains under investigation. After U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson publicly announced that Coast Guard personnel had come under fire, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum demanded evidence that the shots originated from her country’s territory. “We asked for all the evidence because we have no evidence,” Sheinbaum told reporters in Mexico City, saying Mexican security forces had not detected shots originating from their territory. MEXICO VOWS US WILL PAY AFTER ICE FATALLY SHOOTS ILLEGAL MIGRANT WHO ALLEGEDLY ATTEMPTED TO RAM AGENT WITH CAR The State Department, however, told Fox News Digital that information about the shooting had been shared with Mexican authorities. “U.S. Coast Guard personnel were fired upon from Mexican territory on September 26, and we have shared the available information with the Government of Mexico through official channels,” a State Department spokesman said. The department did not specify what was shared or when, and U.S. officials have not publicly identified the shooters or detailed how they determined the gunfire’s origin. TRUMP DHS HITS 16 STRAIGHT MONTHS WITH 0 RELEASES AT THE BORDER The incident occurred amid Operation River Wall, a Coast Guard initiative launched in October 2025 to deter illegal migration, drug smuggling and other threats along approximately 300 miles of the Rio Grande. “Over the past year, the Coast Guard has expanded operations in the region, deploying more than 1,000 personnel and more than 30 assets,” a Coast Guard spokesperson told Fox News Digital, referring to “Operation Sable”. Separately, Mexico’s Navy Ministry, led by Secretary Raymundo Morales-Angeles, said 159 “Naval elements”, 11 vehicles and two drones were deployed to the Tamaulipas sector. U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) separately told Fox News Digital that American troops are being repositioned to the Rio Grande Valley in anticipation of a seasonal increase in attempted illegal border crossings. Asked whether Mexico had received evidence from U.S. authorities or launched its own investigation, a representative for Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Roberto Lazzeri Montaño referred Fox News Digital on Monday to Sheinbaum’s more recent remarks addressing the incident. Sheinbaum said Mexico’s military ministry “maintains” communication with NORTHCOM and the Coast Guard and that a “mirror operation” coordinated with the U.S. remains active. “We want to have a good relationship with the United States within the framework of our sovereignty, our territorial integrity, mutual trust, and coordination without subordination,” she said. Her response did not explicitly confirm whether Mexico had received the information Washington says it shared. Fox News Digital also contacted Sheinbaum’s office for comment. LATIN AMERICA’S CONSERVATIVE SHIFT FACES ITS BIGGEST TEST YET IN BRAZIL ELECTION Santiago Vidal Calvo, a Venezuelan-born immigration analyst at the Manhattan Institute, told Fox News Digital that Sheinbaum’s approach to border security is shaped by pressure from Washington and a broader Latin American shift toward right-wing governments. “She has that regional pressure [and] she has the international pressure from the United States” to cooperate on security matters, Calvo said. He suggested Sheinbaum’s demand for evidence of the Coast Guard shooting could reflect pressure within her own political coalition to justify working with the Trump administration. “She has a high bar to meet if she wants to ally with the Trump administration internally within her own party and her own government,” Calvo said. “We’ve got to understand this through the lens of what is going on in Latin America. I do think that Sheinbaum’s position is substantially different today than it was when Trump got elected,” Calvo said. His assessment reflects Sheinbaum’s ties to the left-wing Morena Party and the political legacy of her predecessor, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, commonly known as AMLO. Calvo characterized Sheinbaum as the “last bastion of Latin American socialism,” arguing that she could face additional regional pressure if Flávio Bolsonaro defeats President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil’s upcoming presidential runoff. Calvo suggested that the rightward shift among South American governments could increase pressure on Sheinbaum to cooperate with Washington on security matters. He said she may face questions about whether “you’re the only president of Latin America who’s not cooperating with the United States in terms of security?” “Both of those things do lead to a more serious border campaign for both countries,” Calvo said. “I have no doubt that the change in South America from left-leaning governments to right-leaning governments has to do with the Trump administration’s policy in Latin America,” he added. US CHARGES MEXICAN GOVERNOR, TOP OFFICIALS IN CARTEL CONSPIRACY AS MEXICO FIRES BACK OVER PROOF Border security policy analyst Simon Hankinson told Fox News Digital that gunfire near the Rio Grande is not unprecedented, citing accounts he heard during previous visits to the border. Hankinson said cartel involvement was possible but expressed doubt that Mexican military personnel would deliberately fire across the border unless they were acting against orders. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER “I think these two politicians can cooperate, they can agree on some things, even if they don’t agree on socialism versus capitalism and some other ideological issues,” he added. The Coast Guard said the circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation.