White House torches Newsom as ‘inauthentic slimeball’ after California governor walks back ICE rhetoric
The White House slammed Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom as an “inauthentic slimeball” after he attempted to walk back his staff’s description of an ICE officer-involved shooting as “state-sponsored terrorism.” “Newscum is an inauthentic slimeball who has no principles — he simply says whatever he thinks he needs to, in the moment, to get attention,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox Digital on Friday. “He’s happy to smear ICE officers and incite violence against them when he thinks it will score points with his radical left base, but as soon as he’s pressed on his dangerous claims he throws his staffers under the bus and tries to distance himself from the content they put out under his name. Newscum will never be ready for primetime,” she added. Jackson was responding to Newsom’s comments on his podcast published Thursday, when he walked back his office’s message on X following an ICE-involved fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7 was “STATE. SPONSORED. TERRORISM.” NEWSOM RETREATS AFTER SHAPIRO PUTS HIM ON THE SPOT OVER CHILLING ICE TERRORISM CLAIM Federal authorities and the administration said the ICE officer had opened fire on Good after she had allegedly used her vehicle as a weapon against the agent. Democrats have described the death as a “murder” and amplified criticisms of federal law enforcement officers in the days following. Newsom was joined on the podcast by conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, who pressed him about his office’s message linking ICE to terrorists. “And then your press office tweeted out that it was state-sponsored terrorism, which I mean, governor, I do have to ask you about that,” Shapiro said on the podcast, “This is Gavin Newsom.” “That sort of thing makes our politics worse. Yeah, I mean, it does. I mean, our ICE officers obviously are not terrorists. A tragic situation is not state-sponsored terrorism.” Newsom responded: “Yeah, I think that’s fair.” Newsom continued during their conversation that he has bucked Democrat colleagues’ calls to “defund ICE” while adding his state cooperates with federal immigration officers. DEMOCRATS WORRY ‘ABOLISH ICE’ SLOGAN WILL BACKFIRE POLITICALLY LIKE ‘DEFUND THE POLICE’ DID “I disagreed when I think a candidate for president by the name of Harris said that in the last campaign. I remember being on [MSNBC show hosted by] Chris Hayes hours later saying, ‘I think that’s a mistake.’ So absolutely,” Newsom said. Former Vice President Kamala Harris called for “a complete overhaul of the agency, mission, culture, operations” of ICE back in 2018. President Donald Trump has for years slammed Newsom’s immigration policies, arguing the sanctuary state weakens border enforcement, protects illegal immigrants, and puts public safety at risk. The Democratic governor defended his state’s policies by saying that California allegedly cooperates with ICE, and that his state’s sanctuary policies would be “unnecessary” if the U.S. had “comprehensive immigration reform.” “We work very directly with ICE as it relates to [California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation] state prison,” Newsom said on the podcast. “California has cooperated with more ICE transfers probably than any other state in the country. And I vetoed multiple pieces of legislation that have come from my legislature to stop the ability for the state of California to do that.” TRUMP ADMIN WARNS OF ‘WIDESCALE DOXXING’ OF ICE IF HOUSE DEM’S NEW BILL PASSES “TRUMP IS TRYING TO CANCEL THE GOVERNOR – VERY WOKE!” Newsom spokesperson Diana Crofts-Pelayo responded to Fox Digital in an email Friday when approached for comment. “EVERYDAY AMERICANS ARE EXPERIENCING STATE SPONSORED TERROR BY OUR INCOMPETENT PRESIDENT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!” Newsom’s office added on X that the governor supports removing “child molesters, rapists and violent criminals” from California but opposes what they called federal “masked agents” sweeping up innocent people, urging an immediate halt to such roundups and calling for federal reform to protect immigrants and U.S. citizens. In the wake of Good’s death, chaos has broken out in Minneapolis, including on Wednesday, as agitators clashed with law enforcement officials after the second ICE-involved shooting in the city. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pinned blame on Democrats and their rhetoric for heightened threats against federal immigration law enforcement officers. “The Democrat Party has demeaned these individuals,” Leavitt said Thursday of federal immigration officers. “They’ve even referred to them as ‘Nazis’ and as ‘the Gestapo.’ And that is absolutely leading to the violence we’re seeing in the streets. “If you look at some of the images out of Minneapolis last night, look at this vehicle, look at what it says,” Leavitt added. “It says, ‘F ICE.’ You have these individuals who are putting their middle finger, proudly so, at the camera, another ICE individual, a vehicle that was vandalized last night by these left-wing agitators.” The Department of Homeland Security reported in December that assaults and violent attacks against ICE law enforcement officers have surged more than 1,150% compared to attacks under the Biden administration. It found there were 238 assaults on ICE officers between Jan. 21, 2025 to Nov. 21, 2025, up from just 19 during the same timeframe in 2024. Fox News Digital’s Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.
Virginia Democrats move to seize redistricting power, opening door to 4 new left-leaning seats
The Virginia state Senate on Friday greenlit a constitutional amendment that would clear the way for the Democrat-controlled legislature to redraw the state’s U.S. House maps ahead of this year’s midterm elections. The move by state senators, following a similar vote on Wednesday in the state House, was the final step needed to send the amendment to Virginia voters. If the ballot measure is approved this spring, the legislature, rather than the current non-partisan commission, would redraw the state’s congressional maps through 2030. Virginia is the latest battleground in the ongoing high-stakes battle between President Donald Trump and Republicans versus Democrats to alter congressional maps ahead of November’s elections. And Virginia Democrats, who currently control six of the state’s 11 U.S. House districts, are aiming to draw up to four additional left-leaning seats. Republicans are defending their razor-thin House majority in the midterms, and Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to win back control of the chamber. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) called Friday’s development “a critical step in giving Virginia voters the opportunity to ensure they have fair and equal representation in Congress.” THE NEXT BATTLEGROUNDS IN THE HIGH-STAKES MAP FIGHT And charging that “Donald Trump and Republicans are doing everything they can to rig the midterms in their favor through unprecedented mid-decade gerrymandering,” DCCC Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene argued that “Virginians — not politicians — will now have the chance to vote for a temporary, emergency exception that will restore fairness, level the playing field, and stand up to extremists seeking to silence their voices.” But the Virginia Senate Republican Caucus accused the state Senate Democrats of passing “a partisan gerrymandering amendment to entrench their party in power.” And the Republican National Committee (RNC) called it a “power grab.” “This is just the most recent example of Democrats’ multi-decade campaign to gerrymander in every state where they gain power,” RNC national press secretary Kiersten Pels argued in a statement to Fox News Digital. “This is exactly why red states are fighting back to level the playing field after years of states like Illinois, New York, and California drawing their districts to disenfranchise Republicans.” STUNNING SETBACK FOR TRUMP IN REDISTRICTING WARS Virginia Democratic lawmakers have indicated they will release a proposed map later this month. And on Thursday, a Democratic-aligned nonprofit titled “Virginians for Fair Elections” launched, to urge voters to vote in favor of the redistricting ballot measure. Aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterms, Trump last spring first floated the idea of rare, but not unheard of, mid-decade congressional redistricting. The mission was simple: redraw congressional district maps in red states to pad the GOP’s razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in the midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats. Trump’s first target was Texas. BIG WIN FOR TRUMP AS SUPREME COURT GREENLIGHTS TEXAS’ NEW CONGRESSIONAL MAP When asked by reporters last summer about his plan to add Republican-leaning House seats across the country, the president said, “Texas will be the biggest one. And that’ll be five.” Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas called a special session of the GOP-dominated state legislature to pass the new map. But Democratic state lawmakers, who broke quorum for two weeks as they fled Texas in a bid to delay the passage of the redistricting bill, energized Democrats across the country. Among those leading the fight against Trump’s redistricting was Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California. California voters in November overwhelmingly passed Proposition 50, a ballot initiative that temporarily sidetracked the left-leaning state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and returned the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democratic-dominated legislature. That is expected to result in five more Democratic-leaning congressional districts in California, which aimed to counter the move by Texas to redraw their maps. The fight quickly spread beyond Texas and California. Republican-controlled Missouri and Ohio, and swing state North Carolina, where the GOP dominates the legislature, have drawn new maps as part of the president’s push. And Florida Republicans, in a move pushed by GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis and state lawmakers are also hoping to pick up an additional three to five seats through a redistricting push during a special legislative session in April. In blows to Republicans, a Utah district judge late last year rejected a congressional district map drawn up by the state’s GOP-dominated legislature and instead approved an alternate that will create a Democratic-leaning district ahead of the midterms. And Republicans in Indiana’s Senate in December defied Trump, shooting down a redistricting bill that had passed the state House. But Trump scored a big victory when the conservative majority on the Supreme Court greenlit Texas’ new map. Other states that might step into the redistricting war are Democratic-dominated Illinois and Maryland and two red states with Democratic governors, Kentucky and Kansas. Hovering over the redistricting wars is the Supreme Court, which is expected to rule in Louisiana v. Callais, a crucial case that may lead to the overturning of a key provision in the Voting Rights Act. If the ruling goes the way of the conservatives on the high court, it could lead to the redrawing of a slew of majority-minority districts across the county, which would greatly favor Republicans. But it is very much up in the air — when the court will rule, and what it will actually do.
IRS confirms Trump-ordered $1,776 ‘Warrior Dividend’ for 1.45M troops is tax-free
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) delivered good news for America’s troops Friday, confirming that the one-time $1,776 “Warrior Dividend” paid to service members in December 2025 is completely tax-free, allowing troops to keep every dollar of the bonus. In a Friday release, the Treasury Department and the IRS said that “supplemental basic allowance for housing payments” made to members of the uniformed services in December 2025 “are not to be included in income by those who received the payments; they are not taxable.” The agency said federal tax law specifically excludes from gross income a “qualified military benefit,” adding that basic allowances for housing payments fall under that category and therefore are not subject to federal income taxes. The confirmation caps off President Donald Trump’s pre-Christmas announcement that nearly 1.5 million U.S. service members would receive a special “Warrior Dividend” in recognition of their service and to commemorate roughly 250 years since the nation’s founding. CONGRESS UNVEILS $900B DEFENSE BILL TARGETING CHINA WITH TECH BANS, INVESTMENT CRACKDOWN, US TROOP PAY RAISE “And the checks are already on the way,” Trump said during a Dec. 17, 2025, primetime address from the White House, crediting tariffs and recently passed GOP spending and tax legislation for funding the payments. “Nobody deserves it more than our military. And I say congratulations to everybody,” he added. According to the IRS, Congress appropriated $2.9 billion in legislation enacted last July to supplement the basic allowance for housing payable to members of the uniformed services, with the one-time $1,776 payments funded by that appropriation. The IRS said the supplemental payments were made primarily to active-duty service members in pay grades O-6 and below, along with eligible Reserve Component members as of Nov. 30, 2025, across the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Space Force. TRUMP SIGNS ‘MEDAL OF HONOR ACT’ TO RAISE PENSIONS FOR AMERICA’S MILITARY HEROES Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson welcomed the tax treatment in remarks carried by Pentagon News, saying the ruling ensures the money reaches military families directly. “The tax-free Warrior Dividend places $1,776 directly in the hands of our warfighters and their families,” Wilson said. “The department is proud to recognize their sacrifice.” During his December address, Trump also pointed to what he described as a turnaround for the armed forces under his leadership, citing record enlistment and contrasting it with what he called historically poor recruitment numbers under the previous administration. “What a difference a year makes,” Trump said. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the dividend reflects a broader push to improve quality of life for military families. “This Warrior Dividend serves as yet another example of how the War Department is working to improve the quality of life for our military personnel and their families,” Hegseth said. “All elements of what we’re doing are to rebuild our military. The Department of War and the Internal Revenue Service did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for additional comment. Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this reporting.
Michael Cohen says NY prosecutors ‘pressured and coerced’ him into anti-Trump testimony
President Donald Trump‘s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, said Friday that prosecutors in both the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the New York Attorney General’s Office “pressured and coerced” him into delivering testimony tailored to securing convictions against Trump. Cohen, who was a key prosecution witness in two New York cases against Trump, accused New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of pursuing evidence aimed at Trump, saying prosecutors were uninterested in testimony that didn’t fit their narrative. “I felt pressured and coerced to only provide information and testimony that would satisfy the government’s desire to build the cases against and secure a judgment and convictions against President Trump,” Cohen wrote in a post on Substack. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Office of the New York State Attorney General and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for comment. APPEALS COURT HANDS TRUMP LEGAL WIN, ORDERS REVIEW OF HUSH MONEY CASE OVER PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY Cohen, who was Trump’s personal lawyer for many years, said he was writing as a federal appeals court considers the president’s request to move his hush money case to federal court for further review. The former Trump fixer testified in a civil case brought by James’ office in 2023, where Trump was found liable for fraudulently inflating his assets to obtain favorable loan terms. He also took the stand in Bragg’s case in 2024, where Trump was ultimately found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records. Cohen accused both James and Bragg of using their high-profile cases to elevate their careers, claiming they sought credit as officials who “took down Trump.” TRUMP FILES ‘POWERHOUSE’ APPEAL IN ‘POLITICALLY CHARGED’ MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY CASE “They blurred the line between justice and politics; and in that blur, the credibility of both suffered,” he wrote. Cohen said that both before and during the trials, prosecutors made it clear they were only interested in testimony from him that would convict Trump. “When my testimony was insufficient for a point the prosecution sought to make, prosecutors frequently asked inappropriate leading questions to elicit answers that supported their narrative,” he said. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to several crimes, including tax evasion, campaign finance violations and lying to Congress. He described cooperating with authorities while incarcerated, saying he sought sentence relief and felt compelled to provide testimony fitting prosecutors’ narratives with the hope that his sentence would be reduced. “You may reasonably ask why I am speaking out now. The answer is simple. I have witnessed firsthand the damage done when prosecutors pick their target first and then seek evidence to fit a predetermined narrative,” Cohen said, while noting that he was not writing in defense of Trump.
Florida GOP candidate wants 50% ‘sin tax’ on OnlyFans creators to fight ‘cultural degeneracy’
A Republican candidate for governor in Florida recently proposed a hefty “sin tax” on OnlyFans content creators if he is elected. “Young women once aspired to be devoted mothers, doctors, lawyers, and nurses,” James Fishback told Fox News Digital in a statement on Friday. Fishback continued, “Today, young women are told by an online platform called OnlyFans that it’s morally right to sell nude photos of themselves to strangers on the internet. I will not tolerate this cultural degeneracy as Florida’s next Republican Governor.” He has estimated the income tax would raise around $200 million, according to FOX 35, which he said would be put into the state’s education system. ONLYFANS BOOM ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES SPARKS CONCERN AS MORE STUDENTS TURN TO PLATFORM FOR FAST CASH The money would also go toward crisis pregnancy centers and to fund the “first-of-its-kind mental health czar for men in particular because men have been told for far too long that they are guilty of masculinity,” he told podcaster Joel Webbon this week. “That they are guilty for all of society’s ills. I’m not going to stand for that slanderous lie.” He told Webbon: “As Florida’s governor, I don’t want young women who could otherwise be mothers raising families, rearing children, I don’t want them to be selling their bodies to sick men online. And I don’t want young, impressionable men who have strayed from Christ, who have strayed from our lord and savior to be told and drawn in to lust.” Fishback told FOX 35 he would be open to a possible tax on OnlyFans customers as well. ONLYFANS STAR PREACHES TO UNIVERSIY STUDENTS AS PROFESSOR SAYS ‘MANIFESTATION WORKED’ OnlyFans content creator Sophie Rain told People magazine she thought the proposal was the “dumbest thing” she had ever heard. “No one ever forced me to start an OnlyFans, it was MY decision, so I don’t need a 31-year-old man telling me I can’t sell my body online,” she explained to the magazine. “I am a Christian, God knows what I am doing, and I know he is happy with me, that’s the only validation I need.” Piper Fawn, another OnlyFans creator, told FOX 35 she felt Fishback was trying to push his religious beliefs with the proposal. “He’s saying, you know, it’s a sin, it’s wrong, that’s true, that’s fair,” she told the station. “But sin is a biblical term, it’s not a legal term. If he’s really trying to make the state a safer spot or making changes for the better, I feel like there are other things that can be worked on and putting our attention towards versus taxing creators.” Fox News Digital has reached out to OnlyFans for comment. “If you are a man or woman selling your body on the internet, you can either have two options: The first of which, you can pay the state of Florida 50% so we can raise teacher pay, or you can quit doing that and do something morally rigorous,” Fishback added to FOX 35.
California man arrested for allegedly making online death threats against JD Vance during Disneyland visit
A California man was arrested on a federal criminal complaint alleging he made online death threats against Vice President JD Vance during his visit to Disneyland Resort in Anaheim in July. Marco Antonio Aguayo, 22, of Anaheim, was taken into custody Friday after he allegedly made multiple threatening comments on Disney’s official Instagram account referencing pipe bombs, imminent bloodshed and violent action against “corrupt politicians” July 12, the same day Vance and his family were visiting and staying at the resort. Aguayo was charged with threatening the president and successors to the presidency, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. He is expected to make his initial appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. SECRET SERVICE AWARE OF UMASS LOWELL-FUNDED RADIO DJ’S DIRECTIVE TO ‘KILL JD VANCE’ “This case is a horrific reminder of the dangers public officials face from deranged criminals who would do them harm,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a Department of Justice news release announcing Aguayo’s arrest. “I am grateful that my friend Vice President Vance and his family are safe, applaud the police work that led to the arrest and will ensure my prosecutors deliver swift justice.” Just before 6:15 p.m. July 12, an Instagram account posted a public comment on the Disney page saying, “Pipe bombs have been placed in preparation for J.D. Vance’s arrival,” according to an affidavit by a U.S. Secret Service Special Agent. A subsequent comment said, “It’s time for us to rise up and you will be a witness to it,” and a third comment added, “Good luck finding all of them on time there will be bloodshed tonight and we will bathe in the blood of corrupt politicians,” according to the affidavit. SUSPECT IN VANCE HOME VANDALISM HAS HAD MULTIPLE RUN-INS WITH THE LAW, DEMANDED TO BE CALLED JULIA Investigators traced the Instagram account allegedly used to post the threats to Aguayo’s email address, phone numbers, IP addresses and home in Anaheim, using records from Meta, Google and other sources. While questioning Aguayo at his home, investigators said he initially claimed his account had been hacked, but he later admitted to making the posts as a “joke,” with the intention of deleting them, officials say. Aguayo consented to searches of his phone, bedroom and laptop, where investigators confirmed he was logged into the account that made the posts, according to the affidavit. “We will not tolerate criminal threats against public officials,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in the release. “We are grateful the vice president and his family remained safe during their visit. Let this case be a warning to anyone who thinks they can make anonymous online threats. We will find you and bring you to justice.”
Schumer reveals ‘bipartisan’ plans to reverse DOGE cuts as lawmakers work through funding push
House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would press to restore funding cut by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and even add to the original amounts. Schumer made the comments when he was asked Thursday if he would work to replenish funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) at a forum held by the Center for American Progress. “If you look at the budget we’re working on right now, we restore most of the cuts. And even go higher than previous years on many of the programs that DOGE slashed,” Schumer said. SENATE QUIETLY WORKS ON BIPARTISAN OBAMACARE FIX AS HEALTHCARE CLIFF NEARS “We have worked really hard and gotten bipartisan support to increase these amounts and undo a lot of the cuts which are essential.” He did not describe which specific programs he hopes to supplement. Lawmakers have not yet released a final text for the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bill for 2026. The Senate Appropriations Committee has proposed a plan that would increase its fiscal year 2026 funding by $5 billion over fiscal 2025 levels. Since the Trump administration began making cuts through DOGE, Democrats like Schumer have largely condemned them, calling them an attack on government resources and services. HOUSE GOP TENSIONS ERUPT AFTER MODERATE REPUBLICANS’ OBAMACARE ‘BETRAYAL’ Republicans, by contrast, have framed the effort as a way to remove waste, fraud and abuse. According to the DOGE website, the group believes it has eliminated $215 billion in waste. Republicans made $115 billion of those spending reductions official through a bill passed last year. Since then, lawmakers have not advanced another rescissions package, a bill that helps lawmakers fast-track spending reductions at the request of the president. Republicans like Aaron Bean, R-Fla., chairman of the House DOGE Caucus, say the GOP’s cost-cutting efforts are still ongoing in the background. “DOGE is still alive,” Bean told Fox News Digital in December. “We’re going to get it rocking. I think that will come down the road.” Bean noted that several pressing issues have captured Congress’ attention in the last few months. CONGRESS FLEES TOWN AS HEALTH CARE PREMIUMS SET TO EXPLODE FOR MILLIONS OF AMERICANS IN JANUARY “I think, you know, the shutdown set everybody back a little bit. These credits, with the budget, with everything,” Bean said, referring to the COVID-era Obamacare tax credits that were at the heart of the 2025 government shutdown. Members of the House and Senate Appropriations committees did not immediately respond to a request for a response to Schumer’s statements.
Mamdani announces $2.1M settlement with major landlord as tenants describe ‘nightmare’ conditions
New York City reached a $2.1 million settlement with A&E Real Estate covering 14 buildings in three boroughs, with Mayor Zohran Mamdani saying the agreement will force repairs and stop what he described as tenant harassment. “Today, I am proud to stand here … to announce that New York City has come to a settlement with A&E Realty regarding 14 buildings across three boroughs,” Mamdani said Friday at a news conference in Jackson Heights, Queens. Asked during the news conference how aggressive the new administration plans to be with landlords, Mamdani said, “We want to make it clear to everyone in this city that no one is above the law and that if you are a landlord violating the law, then this administration will hold you to account.” Mamdani said the settlement requires A&E to pay “$2.1 million in restitution” and includes “injunctions preventing them from harassing their tenants” while compelling the company “to correct more than 4,000 building code violations across these 14 buildings.” MAMDANI OFFICIAL CEA WEAVER SAYS SHE REGRETS ‘SOME’ OF HER PAST STATEMENTS AFTER CONTROVERSIAL POSTS RESURFACE “For years, A&E has operated with callous disregard for those residing in its properties, racking up over 140,000 total violations, including 35,000 in the last year alone,” Mamdani said. “City Hall will not sit idly by and accept this illegality, nor will we allow bad actors to continue to harass tenants with impunity.” A tenant, Diana De La Paz, described conditions she said residents have dealt with at her building, including prolonged elevator outages, heat issues and infestations. De La Paz said the elevator in her building has been out of service for long stretches, which she said “effectively imprison[ed] elderly and disabled tenants in their own homes.” NYC DEM REVEALS HOW CITY COUNCIL REJECTED CEA WEAVER—NOW MAMDANI IS HANDING HER POWER WITHOUT CONFIRMATION Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Dina Levy said the agreement will affect “750 tenants across 14 buildings” and said the city’s litigation “has produced a settlement that will lead to the correction of more than 4,000 Housing Code violations.” “It will enforce long overdue court-ordered repairs and impose $2.1 million in civil penalties and will include binding injunctions that will prohibit further tenant harassment and require sustained compliance moving forward from this landlord,” Levy said. Levy said the deal represents the agency’s biggest settlement to date. “Actually, the settlement announced today … represents HPD’s largest settlement in the history of the unit,” Levy said, adding that the city has additional tools it can use, including intervention in distressed buildings and, in extreme situations, removing buildings from owners’ control and installing “responsive management.” Levy added that the city’s immediate focus is getting violations fixed through the settlement but warned additional action is possible if landlords do not comply. MAMDANI HOUSING CZAR CALLED ‘WHITE, MIDDLE-CLASS HOMEOWNERS’ A ‘HUGE PROBLEM’ DURING 2021 PODCAST APPEARANCE “The intended outcome is safety and well-being for tenants,” Mamdani said. “We today are announcing a multimillion-dollar settlement with this landlord to actually rectify these violations. That is what we want to see. If a landlord cannot get to that settlement, continues to operate outside of the law, then we will hold them to account in additional ways.” City Council member Shekar Krishnan, who represents Jackson Heights, called A&E a “reprehensible landlord” and said enforcement is what tenants need. “As a former tenant lawyer myself … I’ve always said that tenants’ rights are not worth more than the paper they’re written on if they’re not enforced in reality,” Krishnan said. “Here we are today … showing what enforcement looks like.” Mamdani also announced what he called “rental ripoff” hearings across the city. “We will be holding a rental ripoff hearing in each of the five boroughs within the first 100 days of our administration,” he said, describing them as hearings where multiple agencies will “listen to New Yorkers’ needs” and use that feedback to shape enforcement and policy. “We’ve made it our mission to collaborate with the city to improve this building and others that were in deep disrepair when we took ownership,” a spokesperson for A&E Real Estate told Fox News Digital. “In every building we’ve purchased, we’ve invested in replacing boilers, rehabbing elevators and fixing tens of thousands of longstanding violations. “We are pleased to have settled all legal issues with the City and have agreed upon a repair plan with the housing department that we are already delivering on. We look forward to partnering with the city to improve the lives of our residents and find collaborative ways to protect and to continue to invest in New York City’s housing stock.”
Noem declares America’s border ‘most secure’ in nation’s history under Trump administration
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem declared Friday that America’s border is the “most secure” in history, pointing to an eighth straight month of zero parole releases. In a post on X, Noem touted newly released Customs and Border Protection (CBP) numbers for December 2025, praising President Trump and frontline law enforcement for delivering historic results. “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and the dedication of DHS law enforcement, America’s borders are safer than any time in our nation’s history,” Noem wrote. “What President Trump and our CBP agents and officers have been able to do in a single year is nothing short of extraordinary.” CBP reported zero parole releases in December, compared to 7,041 released along the southwest border in December 2024 under the Biden administration. TRUMP HAS MADE THE BORDER SECURE AGAIN — BUT NOW THE HARD PART BEGINS “Once again, we have a record low number of encounters at the border and the 8th straight month of zero releases,” Noem said. “Month after month, we are delivering results that were once thought impossible: the most secure border in history and unmatched enforcement successes.” According to CBP, total nationwide encounters from October through December fell to 91,603, the lowest ever recorded at the start of a fiscal year and 25% below the previous record low set in 2012. December alone saw just 30,698 encounters nationwide, a 92% drop from the Biden-era peak of 370,883 and the lowest December total on record, according to the federal agency. THE NEW HIGH-TECH TOOL TRUMP IS USING TO SECURE OUR BORDER Along the southwest border, Border Patrol recorded just 21,815 apprehensions in the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, marking a 95% drop compared to the Biden administration’s first-quarter average, CBP noted. Border Patrol agents made 6,478 apprehensions in December along the southwest border, marking a 96% decrease from the Biden administration’s monthly average and fewer than what agents encountered in just four days in December 2024. Border patrol agents averaged 209 apprehensions per day during the month, compared to Biden-era levels that exceeded that number every 1.5 hours, CBP wrote. “Our agents and officers have set a new standard for border security, achieving historic results that speak for themselves,” CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said in a statement. NEW DATA REVEALS BORDER CROSSINGS REACH RECORD LOWS AMID TRUMP ADMIN’S CRACKDOWN CBP also seized 39,030 pounds of illicit drugs nationwide in December. “The men and women of CBP are demonstrating what’s possible through unwavering commitment and effective enforcement and will continue to ensure the safety and security of our nation’s borders every single day,” Scott added.
Federal prosecutors open investigation into Walz, Frey over alleged impeding of law enforcement
Fox News has learned federal prosecutors are investigating both Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for allegedly impeding law enforcement efforts in the blue state. Two sources familiar confirmed the probe, though no additional details about the investigation have been publicly released. Sources said the investigation is in early stages, and it is unclear if it will result in any criminal charges. U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News the duo’s anti-ICE rhetoric was teetering on a federal crime. “When the governor or the mayor threaten our officers, when the mayor suggests that he’s encouraging citizens to call 911 when they see ICE officers, that is very close to a federal crime,” Blanche said. Bondi added on X, “A reminder to all those in Minnesota: No one is above the law.” PROTESTERS CLASH WITH FEDERAL OFFICERS AFTER ANOTHER ICE SHOOTING IN MINNEAPOLIS Walz responded to the news by accusing the Trump administration of “weaponizing the justice system.” “Two days ago, it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly,” Walz wrote in an X post. “Weaponizing the justice system against your opponents is an authoritarian tactic. The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.” Frey also weighed in on social media, asserting he “will not be intimidated.” “This is an obvious attempt to intimidate me for standing up for Minneapolis, local law enforcement, and residents against the chaos and danger this Administration has brought to our city,” Frey wrote on X. “I will not be intimidated. My focus remains where it’s always been: keeping our city safe. Frey’s office told Fox News Digital they have not yet heard from the federal government. “America depends on leaders that use integrity and the rule of law as the guideposts for governance,” Frey’s office wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Neither our city nor our country will succumb to this fear. We stand rock solid.” “America depends on leaders that use integrity and the rule of law as the guideposts for governance. Neither our city nor our country will succumb to this fear. We stand rock solid.” Both Democrat leaders have encouraged anti-immigration enforcement protests following the death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, who was fatally shot Jan. 7 by a federal agent while allegedly blocking an ICE operation in Minneapolis. The White House’s Rapid Response 47 team criticized Walz following a statewide address Wednesday, where he called for ICE agents to be prosecuted. “Help us establish a record of exactly what’s happening in our communities. You have an absolute right to peacefully film ICE agents as they conduct these activities,” Walz said. “So, carry your phone with you at all times. And if you see these ICE agents in your neighborhood, take out that phone and hit record. “Help us create a database of the atrocities against Minnesotans, not just to establish a record for posterity. But to bank evidence for future prosecution.” Frey called for peace on Wednesday, just days after telling ICE to “get the f— out” of the city. OMAR, MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR ACCUSE TRUMP ADMIN OF UNLEASHING ‘POLITICAL RETRIBUTION,’ ‘INVASION’ WITH ICE ACTIVITY White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Fox News that Walz, Frey and other Democratic leaders have “done nothing but turn up the temperature, smear heroic ICE officers, and incite violence against them—all in defense of criminal illegal aliens.” President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Thursday warning he would invoke the Insurrection Act if Minnesotans continue aggression toward federal agents. “If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump wrote in the post. WHITE HOUSE BLAMES DEMOCRATS FOR ICE VIOLENCE AS MINNEAPOLIS ERUPTS, INSURRECTION ACT THREAT LOOMS The Insurrection Act, which allows the president to deploy the military to suppress rebellions and enforce federal laws, has not been invoked since the 1992 Los Angeles riots. If invoked, National Guardsmen could be deployed to carry out domestic law enforcement. Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman-Diamond contributed to this report.