DOJ joins lawsuit against Newsom over ‘racial gerrymander’ of California map
The Department of Justice intervened Thursday in a lawsuit against Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom that is challenging California’s efforts to redraw the state’s congressional map in time for the next election. DOJ Civil Rights Division lawyers argued in a complaint that race was “used as a proxy” in California to justify creating districts favorable to Democrats, a move that served to offset the redistricting showdown in Texas that resulted in more Republican-leaning districts. “In the press, California’s legislators and governor sold a plan to promote the interests of Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections,” the DOJ lawyers wrote. “But amongst themselves and on the debate floor, the focus was not partisanship, but race.” CALIFORNIA REPUBLICANS SUE TO STOP NEWSOM, DEMOCRATS FROM PUSHING REDISTRICTING PLAN They added the Constitution “does not tolerate this racial gerrymander” and cited several remarks from lawmakers and others involved in the process about how they prioritized creating a Latino-majority district to counter Texas’ perceived attempt to “silence the voices of Latino voters.” The federal government has authority to enforce the Voting Rights Act, which has a provision designed to make sure voters are not disenfranchised based on their race. But the law’s language has long been a point of controversy and is now under review by the Supreme Court in a separate redistricting case about Louisiana’s map. California’s ballot measure, called Proposition 50, passed on Election Day, and clears the way for the state legislature to redraw districts that could flip five Republican seats. Newsom said in celebratory remarks after the measure’s passage that it was California’s answer to Trump “trying to rig the midterm elections before one single vote is even cast.” ‘DERANGED OBSESSION’: NEWSOM HIT WITH LAWSUIT OVER ‘RETALIATORY’ CALIFORNIA REDISTRICTING PUSH “One thing he never counted on, though, was the state of California,” Newsom said. “Instead of agonizing over the state of our nation, we organized in an unprecedented way, in a 90-day sprint.” California Assembly Member David Tangipa, a Republican, responded by suing, and the DOJ joined in that lawsuit Thursday. A spokesperson for Newsom told Fox News Digital, “These losers lost at the ballot box and soon they will also lose in court.” The legal battle comes as redistricting fights have intensified in the lead-up to the 2026 midterm elections. In addition to Texas and California, Louisiana’s fight before the Supreme Court could affect its map by the next election, depending on when the high court rules. In Utah, Republicans were just dealt a blow by a state judge who approved a new map that will tip one of the state’s four districts in favor of Democrats.
Former Rep. Gohmert blasts Jack Smith for allegedly targeting his personal phone records in J6 probe
EXCLUSIVE: Former Rep. Louie Gohmert blasted ex-Special Counsel Jack Smith for allegedly targeting his personal phone records as part of his investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots, telling Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that his action “destroys the checks and balances that the founders counted on.” Fox News Digital exclusively reported Thursday morning that Smith targeted then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s personal, private phone records, as well as Gohmert’s. JACK SMITH SOUGHT THEN-HOUSE SPEAKER MCCARTHY’S PRIVATE PHONE RECORDS IN J6 PROBE, FBI DOCS REVEAL Fox News Digital exclusively reviewed the document that FBI Director Kash Patel recently shared with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson containing the explosive revelations. Grassley and Johnson have been leading a joint investigation into Smith’s “Arctic Frost” probe. According to the document, Smith, on Jan. 24, 2023, allegedly sought the “toll records for the personal cell phones of U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (AT&T) and U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert (Verizon.)” The information was included as part of a “significant case notification” drafted by the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division May 25, 2023. “It is astounding that Jack ‘Frost’ Smith went on this persecution,” Gohmert told Fox News Digital Thursday. “Apparently, this guy has never read the Fourth Amendment because you have to describe with particularity what it is you’re going after — there should be probable cause, and they had no probable cause. They were going on a witch hunt.” Smith had sought Gohmert’s personal cellphone records from November 2020 through the end of January 2021. “They don’t have any regard for the Fourth Amendment,” he said. “It makes Watergate look like school yard folly.” But Gohmert said it is the “principle.” “It is the separation of powers that is the problem,” Gohmert explained. “People and whistleblowers contacted me regularly from within the DOJ and the FBI about overreach within the FBI and DOJ. By grabbing my records, they could stifle reporting of potential crimes by people within the agencies.” JACK SMITH TRACKED PRIVATE COMMUNICATIONS, CALLS OF NEARLY A DOZEN GOP SENATORS DURING J6 PROBE, FBI SAYS “You can’t just go seize members of Congress’ records even with a warrant because of that separation of powers,” Gohmert said. “There has to be a wall and that’s what troubles me more than anything.” Gohmert told Fox News Digital that he didn’t remember who he spoke with during the time period Smith sought records, but said that “the last thing I want is for someone who trusted me to keep their name private to have some jack-booted thug like Jack ‘Frost’ Smith grab my records and find out who is tattle tailing on him.” He added: “It violates and destroys the checks and balances that the founders counted on.” Gohmert, though, told Fox News Digital that he trusts the current Justice Department and FBI leadership. “I trust the DOJ and trust the people running the FBI,” he said. “We’ll see if there were any crimes committed and, if following the Constitution, they can be properly prosecuted.” HAGERTY PRESSES VERIZON OVER FBI’S ACCESS TO HIS PHONE RECORDS DURING JACK SMITH PROBE Meanwhile, McCarthy said he will take legal action against Smith. “Jack Smith’s radical and deranged investigation was never about finding the truth,” McCarthy told Fox News Digital. “It was a blatant weaponizing of the Justice Department to attack political opponents of the Biden administration. Perhaps no action underscores this point more than the illegal attempt to access the phone records of sitting members of the House and Senate — including the Speaker of the House.” “His illegal targeting demands real accountability,” McCarthy continued. “And I am confident Congress will hold hearings and access documents in its investigation into Jack Smith’s own abuses.” HAGERTY PRESSES VERIZON OVER FBI’S ACCESS TO HIS PHONE RECORDS DURING JACK SMITH PROBE “At the same time, I will ask my own counsel to pursue all areas of redress so this does not happen to anyone else,” McCarthy said. The revelations come after Fox News Digital exclusively reported in October that Smith and his “Arctic Frost” team investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots were tracking the private communications and phone calls of nearly a dozen Republican senators as part of the probe, including Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and GOP Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania. An official told Fox News Digital that those records were collected in 2023 by Smith and his team after subpoenaing major telephone providers. Smith has called his decision to subpoena and track Republican lawmakers’ phone records “entirely proper” and consistent with Justice Department policy. “As described by various Senators, the toll data collection was narrowly tailored and limited to the four days from January 4, 2021 to January 7, 2021, with a focus on telephonic activity during the period immediately surrounding the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol,” Smith’s lawyers wrote in October to Grassley. Grassley, R-Iowa, and Johnson, R-Wis., have been investigating the matter. An FBI official told Fox News Digital that “Arctic Frost” is a “prohibited case,” and that the review required FBI officials to go “above and beyond in order to deliver on this promise of transparency.” The discovery is part of a broader ongoing review, Fox News Digital has learned. Smith, after months of investigating, charged President Donald Trump in the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., in his 2020 election case, but after Trump was elected president, Smith sought to dismiss the case. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted that request. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Smith’s case cost taxpayers more than $50 million. Smith did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Kamala Harris-endorsed candidate in hot seat for million-dollar DC home hundreds of miles outside district
FIRST ON FOX: Former Vice President Kamala Harris’ pick for Massachusetts’ 6th Congressional District, Dan Koh, is facing scrutiny for owning a million-dollar home hundreds of miles from the district in Washington, D.C. Koh, who held several senior roles in former President Joe Biden’s White House, is running in a crowded race to replace Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton, who is running for the Senate. He has received the endorsement of Harris, who called him a “fighter” who “knows how to get things done.” Though running in a suburban Massachusetts district, Koh and his wife own a $1.3 million home in a swanky neighborhood by Capitol Hill, which they purchased in 2022, according to the website for the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue. The two also own a home in Andover, Massachusetts, which sits within the 6th Congressional District, according to the North Essex Registry of Deeds. The Massachusetts home was purchased in 2019 for $810,000. KAMALA HARRIS SAYS DEMOCRATS TOOK BLACK WOMEN FOR GRANTED IN 2024 Amy Carnevale, chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party, knocked Koh over the home, telling Fox News Digital that “living full-time in D.C. with a no-show house in Massachusetts seems to be a family tradition amongst MassDems.” She also criticized another Massachusetts Democrat, Sen. Ed Markey, who she said is “known in the Bay State as the ‘Senator from Chevy Chase,’” because he “is rarely seen in his alleged hometown in Massachusetts.” “Dan Koh is now looking to follow in that tradition. What a shame for actual residents of Massachusetts who deserve better,” added Carnevale. In response, a spokesperson for Koh’s campaign told Fox News Digital that “Dan lives full-time at his home in Andover, which he and his wife have owned for over 6 years.” DEM SENATOR, 79, DRAWS PRIMARY CHALLENGE FROM REP. SETH MOULTON The spokesperson said that Koh “lived in D.C. during his time as a senior official in the White House during the Biden-Harris administration with his family.” Tax documents available on the district’s Office of Tax and Revenue’s website show that Koh and his wife still own the D.C. home as of August. Harris endorsed Koh on Oct. 28, saying: “During our time in the White House, I saw Dan’s steadfast drive to make life better — and more affordable — for working people.” “He knows how to get things done, will be the fighter you deserve, and is ready on day one,” said Harris, adding, “I’m proud to endorse him and encourage everyone in Massachusetts’ 6th District to support his campaign.” FORMER VP KAMALA HARRIS ADVOCATES FOR LOWERING THE VOTING AGE A statement by Koh’s campaign said that he is among the first candidates Harris has endorsed in the 2025-26 campaign cycle, which the campaign said demonstrates “the critical importance of electing a strong, effective Democratic leader to represent the 6th District.” Koh said he is “honored that Vice President Harris has endorsed our campaign for Massachusetts’ 6th District,” adding, “I personally witnessed the Vice President’s tireless dedication to the American people every day in the administration.” He added, “I’ll be ready on day one to bring the same brand of leadership to Capitol Hill, getting to work to deliver results for families of our commonwealth and our country.” Fox News Digital reached out to Harris for contact but did not immediately receive a response.
Camelot or Cringe?: Meet JFK’s grandson turned congressional candidate for the scrolling generation
Jack Schlossberg struck a serious tone in his campaign launch video this week, but his digital footprint tells a different story. As former President John F. Kennedy’s only grandson, Schlossberg is practically political royalty. But to New York City’s chronically online electorate, he is better known as the star of hundreds of satirical, and often absurd, viral videos. Sometimes he sings bizarre love songs to Second Lady Usha Vance or trolls her husband, Vice President JD Vance. As a surrogate for former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, Schlossberg teamed up with Democratic candidates nationwide, including former Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., who lost to Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., last year. Between satirical renditions of Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” and answering a lobster like a phone in a spoof news bit, Schlossberg has cultivated a following any aspiring influencer would envy, with close to 850,000 TikTok followers and nearly 770,000 on Instagram. NEW JERSEY DEMOCRAT BREAKS RANKS TO SUPPORT REPUBLICAN JACK CIATTARELLI FOR GOVERNOR “True or false: Usha Vance is way hotter than Jackie O,” Schlossberg said on X earlier this year, referencing his grandmother, former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. JOE KENNEDY III BLASTS RFK JR. AFTER FIERY SENATE HEARING, FUELING KENNEDY FAMILY INFIGHTING: ‘HE MUST RESIGN’ He later described his own comments as “weird” and “creepy” on former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki’s podcast “The Blueprint.” “The internet is a place where it’s difficult to break through, and it’s difficult to break through if you are not saying something controversial or at least somehow unexpected,” Schlossberg explained. “I see that Democrats play that game not as well as we could, and I think I use my judgment to make posts that I think are funny or silly but have a purpose…” Despite the followers and the Kennedy connections, Schlossberg has a slim résumé. He most recently served as a political correspondent for Vogue during the 2024 presidential election. He was also a Democratic National Committee delegate in 2024 and worked as a staff assistant at the U.S. Department of State in 2016. He is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law and Business Schools. According to his LinkedIn, Schlossberg has worked for the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation for 12 years, first as chair of the New Frontier Award, and now as chair of the Profiles in Courage Award. Schlossberg is the son of former U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy. Schlossberg honored former Vice President Mike Pence with the Profiles in Courage Award earlier this year for defying President Donald Trump’s request to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The 32-year-old Kennedy heir is a frequent Trump critic. And while he often experiments with accents in his online skits, Schlossberg did not mince words about the president in his campaign launch video. In the vertical walk-and-talk style video, Schlossberg clipped a mini microphone to his crisp, blue button-down shirt and accused Trump of turning his second term into “cronyism, not capitalism, and a constitutional crisis with one dangerous man in control of all three branches of government.” Earlier this year, fellow New Yorker Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer appointed Schlossberg to the America 250 Commission, claiming there was “no better person to push back” on Trump’s “ego” dominating the celebrations. Schlossberg has also been a vocal critic of his cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who ran a failed presidential campaign last year before endorsing Trump and securing a cabinet position as secretary of Health and Human Services. Schlossberg accused Trump of dismantling the Kennedy legacy and called RFK Jr. a “dangerous person” on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Wednesday. While it’s clear that Schlossberg rejects Trump, his campaign priorities are not so obvious. In his campaign launch video, Schlossberg said he is running to replace the retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., because New York’s 12th Congressional District “should have a representative who can harness the creativity, energy and drive” of the city and translate it into “political power and drive in Washington.” His campaign website includes a short biography and donation links, but no policy proposals, only a list of “12 promises” to the district’s residents. “I’m a big believer that if you don’t have something else to say in the race, you shouldn’t really jump in,” Democratic commentator Kaivan Shroff, a 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign alum, told Fox News Digital. “It’s unclear because he doesn’t have that policy page.” Fox News Digital reached out to Schlossberg for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Newsom vows to block Trump’s reported energy plan in California, experts push back
California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed this week that he would stop a reported Trump administration effort to unleash energy production off California’s coast in a social media post that was widely criticized by conservatives and experts who spoke to Fox News Digital. “Dead on arrival,” Newsom said in a post on X on Tuesday in response to a Washington Post article reporting that Trump officials are mulling plans to propose oil drilling off California’s coast “for the first time in decades.” Newsom’s post, viewed over 3 million times, drew quick pushback from conservatives. “‘Dead on arrival’ is what @GavinNewsom says about Trump proposal to drill offshore California,” ophthalmologist and commentator Houman David Hemmati posted on X. FETTERMAN FIRES BACK AT NEWSOM AFTER SHUTDOWN CRITICISM, REFUSES TO ‘PLAY CHICKEN’ WITH THE LIVES OF AMERICANS “The SAME man who’s been pushing for overpriced, unreliable, environmentally catastrophic offshore wind.” Gabriella Hoffman, director of the Independent Women’s Forum Center for Energy and Conservation, told Fox News Digital that new offshore oil and gas projects “should be explored in California” and that the projects are “safe” and “have a minimal environmental footprint due to improved technology and increased safety measures.” “California is considered an oil island, despite having plentiful onshore and offshore recoverable oil reserves,” Hoffman said. “Governor Newsom purports to hate oil and gas, yet 60% of California’s petroleum is imported from foreign nations including Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, and Guyana. That’s unsettling, but a natural consequence of forcing a 100% transition to renewables.” Newsom was the most prominent American official to attend the COP30 global climate conference in Belém, Brazil, this week — using the platform to criticize the absent Trump administration. The White House mocked the trip, noting California’s continued rank among the highest in U.S. energy costs. 3 REASONS CALIFORNIA’S GREEN ENERGY CAMPAIGN IS DYING ON THE VINE In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for Newsom’s office said, “The Trump administration has yet to formally share with us their plan, but expensive and riskier offshore drilling would put our communities at risk and undermine the economic stability of our coastal economies. Given recent history, we’re not surprised by the lack of communication or their lack of thought into how their actions will impact Americans. The Trump administration’s focus continues to be on the next grift, and not the well-being of our people and communities.” Newsom’s office put out a summary of his visit to the conference, saying it shows California is “leading by example” and proving that “climate action and economic growth go hand in hand.” Hoffman told Fox News Digital that while every energy project has “environmental trade-offs,” Newsom’s climate agenda has resulted in renewables getting “a pass.” “Governor Newsom desires to litter my home state’s coastline with offshore wind farms that are eyesores, produce expensive unreliable electricity, and threaten fish and marine mammals,” Hoffman said. “Once decommissioned, oil rigs are converted to sanctuaries under the ‘rigs to reef’ program to support marine life — including endangered fish species — with habitat. Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wisely laid the groundwork for this conservation program in 2010 when he signed AB 2503 into law.” Mark Bednar, former communications director for Speaker Kevin McCarthy, told Fox News Digital that the Trump administration is focused on “expanding America’s energy dominance through further exploration” and cautioned Newsom on being out of step with that. “Right now, adversaries like Russia, China, Venezuela, and Iran are working around the clock to expand their economic and geopolitical footholds, and any American lawmaker who opposes moves to grow America’s energy dominance will have a hard time explaining to the American people why unilaterally tying one arm behind our back is good for America,” Bednar said. Ultimately, Newsom’s climate policies, according to Hoffman, “invited energy scarcity in the Golden State.” “California has the second-highest electricity rates after Hawaii. Californians also pay the highest gas tax rate of any U.S. state,” Hoffman said. “If two oil refineries close by 2026, California residents will soon pay $8 per gallon at the gas pump. That’s unsustainable. “California’s energy crisis is entirely self-inflicted. New offshore oil and gas projects, along with new nuclear, geothermal, and natural gas, can reduce energy prices and make the Golden State energy independent once again.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Interior for comment. Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
State Department makes first-ever Antifa foreign terrorist designations across Europe
The State Department will designate four Antifa-linked groups operating in Europe as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specifically Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) — putting them among the likes of ISIS, al-Qaeda and Hezbollah — Fox News Digital has learned. The decision marks the first time the U.S. government has applied foreign terrorist designations to Antifa-linked groups, expanding President Donald Trump’s previous domestic terrorism directive to an international scale. The four Antifa-aligned cells active in Europe — in Germany, Italy and Greece — are accused of organizing or carrying out bombings, shootings and other politically motivated attacks. The designation requires U.S. financial institutions to freeze assets of FTOs and SDGTs and ban entry of the group’s members into the U.S. It allows the U.S. to criminally prosecute those under U.S. jurisdiction who offer material support to FTOs or conspire to offer such support. TRUMP TO DESIGNATE ANTIFA A ‘MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION One of the groups — Antifa Ost — is a left-wing cell that has been linked to attacks between 2018 and 2023 in Germany. German prosecutors have charged seven individuals linked to the group. In September 2025, the Hungarian government designated the group as terrorists after nine members allegedly assaulted people with hammers, batons and pepper spray in Budapest in 2023. The International Revolutionary Front, also known as the Informal Anarchist Federation, is an Italy-based coalition of groups that endorse revolutionary armed conflict against the state. The group has been tied to dozens of violent and criminal incidents over the past two decades: letter bombs to government and industrial targets, small explosive devices, shootings, including the 2012 shooting of a nuclear engineering executive. TRUMP CALLS ANTIFA ‘TERRORIST GROUP,’ FUELING FIGHT OVER FREE SPEECH AND LIMITS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT Two other Greece-based groups: Armed Proletarian Justice and Revolutionary Class Self Defense, have carried out attacks on government buildings throughout Greece, most recently attacking the headquarters of Hellenic Railway in a bombing in April. Revolutionary Class Self Defense dedicated the bombing to “the Palestinian people and their heroic resistance.” “The anarchists, Marxists, and violent extremists of Antifa have waged a terror campaign in the United States and across the Western world for decades, carrying out bombings, beatings, shootings, and riots in service of their extreme agenda,” said principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Piggot. “The State Department is committed to identifying and dismantling these terror networks that conspire to ruthlessly suppress the will of the people and violently undermine the very foundations of the United States and Western Civilization.” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., who had written to Rubio advocating for the designation, praised the move. “I’m grateful to Secretary Rubio and the Trump administration for working with me on this critical issue — holding these radical groups who enable, fund and support political violence in the United States and across the world accountable.” The designation marks a rare use of foreign terrorism sanctions against far-left extremist groups, which are typically handled as domestic security threats by European governments rather than as international terrorist networks.
Oregon Democrats outraged over reported ICE facility plans near Portland
Oregon Democrats are up in arms over reports that a new ICE detention facility could be built near Portland, after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem warned she may have to act “the hard way” following a tense meeting with state officials. Noem met in October with Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson and local police, later describing them as “disingenuous” and hinting at possible federal action during a White House Cabinet meeting. “As soon as you leave the room, then they make the exact opposite response, so we’re looking at new facilities to purchase there in Portland, too, and we’re going to double down,” Noem said at the time. “If we have to do it the hard way… we will.” Seen as a potential follow-up to those remarks, a municipal airport in Newport — on Oregon’s coast about 100 miles southwest of Portland — is being eyed for a potential ICE facility, officials there told the local ABC affiliate. Newport officials told the outlet they are working with state and federal lawmakers to confirm details of the reported project and its impacts on public safety. DHS did not respond to a request for comment, and city leaders said they also reached out to the agency. PORTLAND MAYOR ORDERS REMOVAL OF POLICE TAPE DESPITE FEDERAL DEMAND FOR PERIMETER AT ICE FACILITY, REPORT SAYS Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., told KATU the idea of DHS deciding on its own to build an ICE facility in Newport was “alarming and asinine,” while Newport Mayor Jan Kaplan said public well-being and the “values of our community are the highest priorities of myself and city council.” Kaplan told the local CBS affiliate that he is hearing from people in Portland and elsewhere that they will never visit Newport again, with some expressing concerns about getting “hauled into the street” by ICE. He also said that a marked increase in vehicular traffic due to a new ICE facility would create other potential problems. NOEM PRAYS WITH ICE OFFICERS DURING PORTLAND VISIT AS OREGON GOVERNOR ORDERS TROOPS HOME A letter obtained by KOIN from a Texas-based workforce housing company to Newport City Manager Nina Vetter expressed interest in leasing a 4.3-acre parcel at the airport to the federal government for “operational staging in support of the federal project.” The plan includes “temporary facilities,” a 12-foot fence and controlled access points. The No. 2 Democrat in the Oregon House, who represents Newport, publicly demanded answers from DHS. “Explain your intentions and let the public know what you’re planning,” Rep. David Gomberg said. Gomberg told KATU that he wants respectful dialogue and that locals should not harass U.S. Coast Guard personnel currently stationed on the parcel of federal property at the airport.
Democratic senator calls for ‘more effective leadership’ as Schumer faces mounting pressure
CONCORD, N.H. — Amid heated calls by some House Democrats and others in the party to remove Sen. Chuck Schumer from his longtime role as Senate Democratic leader, a top Democrat in the chamber is calling for “more effective leadership.” Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut told Fox News Digital that Schumer needs to lead a conversation to “stop having a group of members cross over and support Donald Trump’s agenda.” Murphy was interviewed on Wednesday, two days after seven Senate Democrats and independent Sen. Angus King of Maine, who caucuses with the party, bucked Senate Democratic leaders and voted with the majority Republicans to end the longest federal government shutdown in history. Plenty of progressives and center-left Democrats have pilloried the deal to end the shutdown, which didn’t include the Democrats’ top priority, an agreement to extend expiring subsidies that make health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act, known as the ACA or Obamacare, more affordable to millions of Americans. SCHUMER FACES FURY FROM THE LEFT OVER DEAL TO END SHUTDOWN And even though he opposed the agreement, Schumer, the top Democrat in the chamber, has faced calls from some House Democrats and others in the party to step down due to his inability to keep Senate Democrats unified. But to date, no Senate Democrat has joined those calls for Schumer to step down. Asked if Schumer was still up to the task of steering Senate Democrats, Murphy said, “I think his job is really, really hard. He obviously did not want this outcome. He wanted the caucus to stay together. He was not successful in that endeavor.” TRUMP ARGUES SCHUMER MADE A MISTAKE “We’ve got to have a hard conversation as a caucus about what we all need to do, what kind of leadership we need in order to make sure that we don’t continue to break apart,” added Murphy, who as Deputy Democratic Conference Secretary is a member of the party’s leadership in the chamber. And he noted that “this is the fourth major moment this year where a handful of Democrats have crossed over and voted with Donald Trump.” “That means we need more effective leadership. That also means that the caucus has to decide for itself that we’re not going to continue to break apart like this,” he emphasized. And pointing to Schumer, he added, “That’s a conversation that, yes, the leader of the caucus has to head up, but it’s a conversation all of us have to have. We all have to hold each other accountable.” Murphy was interviewed after headlining an event in New Hampshire’s capital city with the Merrimack County Democrats. New Hampshire’s two senators — Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan — were among the Democrats who supported the deal with Republicans. SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN: DEMOCRATIC SENATOR STANDS FIRM AFTER DEFYING PARTY Shaheen, who previously supported a bill to extend the ACA subsidies, on Monday defended breaking with her party to support the deal. “We’re making sure that the people of America can get the food benefits that they need, that air traffic controllers can get paid, that federal workers are able to come back, the ones who were let go, that they get paid, that contractors get paid, that aviation moves forward,” Shaheen said in a “Fox and Friends” interview. Asked about Shaheen’s comments, Murphy said Senate Democrats “had a big disagreement.” “I understand why my colleagues wanted to end the shutdown. I wanted to end this shutdown. The fact is that shutdowns hurt and Trump was making the shutdown even worse than it had to be by, for instance, illegally denying people food stamp benefits, nutrition benefits,” Murphy argued. But he added, “I still think we could have won. I think as these premium increases were just becoming real for people, as folks are digesting an election that clearly was a referendum on the way that Donald Trump was plunging the country to shut down, we could have actually gotten a resolution that would have stopped at least some of the pain that’s coming to families as these healthcare premiums go into effect.” The deal to end the shutdown does not include such a provision, but only a promise by the majority Republicans to hold an upcoming vote on extending the subsidies. And Murphy lamented that the deal will only embolden the president. “I definitely worry that when Trump gets the opposition party to yield to him, as he did last week, that it just emboldens him, that he ends up acting even more lawlessly and recklessly and illegally,” he said. “I understand why my colleagues wanted to end this shutdown. I am just of the belief that Trump is going to constantly try to weaponize our compassion against us.” Murphy, who during former President Joe Biden’s tenure in the White House spent much of his time trying to reach across the aisle to find common ground with Republicans on such issues as gun control, immigration and Ukraine, is now helping fund organizations that are pushing back against Trump and his agenda. “I’ve been making grants to protest organizations and grassroots organizations all around the country,” he said. And the senator, who won re-election last year in blue-leaning Connecticut by nearly 20 points, highlighted that “I’ve been all over the country this year. I’ve been holding town halls, often with other colleagues, targeting mostly states that are represented by Republicans, so that they’re hearing the other side.” And looking ahead to next year’s midterm elections, he said, “I’ll likely be traveling throughout New England, but also throughout the rest of the country, to try to help stand up a national mobilization against Trump’s corruption.” Murphy is seen by political pundits as a possible contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, which is expected to be a crowded and competitive race. After his interview with Fox News Digital, Murphy headlined the latest “Stand Up New Hampshire Town Hall.” The speaking series, organized by top New Hampshire Democratic elected officials and party
Jack Smith targeted then-House Speaker McCarthy’s private phone records in J6 probe, FBI docs reveal
EXCLUSIVE: Former special counsel Jack Smith allegedly sought the private, personal cellphone records of then-Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy as part of his investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots, Fox News Digital has learned. Smith also sought the private phone records of now-former Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas. JACK SMITH TRACKED PRIVATE COMMUNICATIONS, CALLS OF NEARLY A DOZEN GOP SENATORS DURING J6 PROBE, FBI SAYS Fox News Digital exclusively reviewed the document that FBI Director Kash Patel recently shared with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson containing the explosive revelations. Grassley and Johnson have been leading a joint investigation into Smith’s “Arctic Frost” probe. According to the document, Smith, on Jan. 24, 2023, allegedly sought the “toll records for the personal cell phones of U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (AT&T) and U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert (Verizon.)” The information was included as part of a “Significant Case Notification” drafted by the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division on May 25, 2023. “Jack Smith’s radical and deranged investigation was never about finding the truth,” former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told Fox News Digital. “It was a blatant weaponizing of the Justice Department to attack political opponents of the Biden administration. Perhaps no action underscores this point more than the illegal attempt to access the phone records of sitting members of the House and Senate — including the Speaker of the House.” “His illegal targeting demands real accountability,” McCarthy continued. “And I am confident Congress will hold hearings and access documents in its investigation into Jack Smith’s own abuses.” HAGERTY PRESSES VERIZON OVER FBI’S ACCESS TO HIS PHONE RECORDS DURING JACK SMITH PROBE “At the same time, I will ask my own counsel to pursue all areas of redress so this does not happen to anyone else,” McCarthy said. The revelations come after Fox News Digital exclusively reported in October that Smith and his “Arctic Frost” team investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots were tracking the private communications and phone calls of nearly a dozen Republican senators as part of the probe, including Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and GOP Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania. An official told Fox News Digital that those records were collected in 2023 by Smith and his team after subpoenaing major telephone providers. Smith has called his decision to subpoena and track Republican lawmakers’ phone records “entirely proper” and consistent with Justice Department policy. “As described by various Senators, the toll data collection was narrowly tailored and limited to the four days from January 4, 2021 to January 7, 2021, with a focus on telephonic activity during the period immediately surrounding the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol,” Smith’s lawyers wrote in October to Grassley. Grassley, R-Iowa, and Johnson, R-Wis., have been investigating the matter, and seeking answers from major telephone providers. In AT&T’s response to Grassley, it noted that Smith sought phone records for two members of Congress. Fox News Digital has learned that AT&T informed Grassley’s staff that one of the members was Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, but refused to disclose the second member. The newly declassified document reviewed by Fox News Digital appears to reveal that the second member of Congress that Smith sought records from AT&T for was McCarthy, R-Calif. Fox News Digital obtained AT&T’s response to Grassley, in which the company notes that Smith sent them a grand jury subpoena that included a request for phone records associated with two members of Congress. “However, when AT&T raised questions with Special Counsel Smith’s office concerning the legal basis for seeking records of members of Congress, the Special Counsel did not pursue the subpoena further, and no records were produced,” AT&T told Grassley. AT&T also stressed that the company “has not produced any records or other information to Special Counsel Jack Smith” relating to “any member of Congress.” “Jack Smith’s Arctic Frost investigation looks more and more out of control with each passing day,” Grassley told Fox News Digital. “Based on my oversight, it was a fishing expedition that swept up Republicans in and out of Congress, from top to bottom.” “Arctic Frost” was opened inside the bureau April 13, 2022. Smith was appointed as special counsel to take over the probe in November 2022. GOP SENATOR DEMANDS FBI REVEAL IF SURVEILLANCE WENT BEYOND JACK SMITH’S PHONE TRACKING An FBI official told Fox News Digital that “Arctic Frost” is a “prohibited case,” and that the review required FBI officials to go “above and beyond in order to deliver on this promise of transparency.” The discovery is part of a broader ongoing review, Fox News Digital has learned. Smith, after months of investigating, charged President Donald Trump in the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., in his 2020 election case, but after Trump was elected president, Smith sought to dismiss the case. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted that request. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Smith’s case cost taxpayers more than $50 million. Smith did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Clinton bashes Pentagon’s America First reset as a ‘disaster’
As President Donald Trump redirects U.S. resources toward operations closer to home, former Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and Mike Pompeo warned that America’s adversaries could benefit from a reduced global footprint. Clinton told an audience Wednesday that she’d heard of internal Pentagon discussions advocating a “spheres of influence” model that would focus U.S. power in the Western Hemisphere while allowing Russia to dominate Eastern Europe and China to control much of East Asia. “There seems to be a group within the Pentagon who are advocating for these spheres of influence … I think that’s a disaster. And I think it weakens us vis-à-vis our principal problem, which is… the Chinese Communist Party,” she said during a discussion at Columbia University. The remarks come as the Pentagon increases counter-narcotics and maritime security missions across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, expanding the U.S. military presence in the Southern Command region to its largest level in decades — a shift that reflects Trump’s renewed emphasis on prioritizing the Western Hemisphere. PUTIN AND XI DEEPEN TIES AS IRAN, NORTH KOREA LEADERS VISIT BEIJING The U.S. last week said it would withdraw a rotational infantry brigade largely based in Romania, with some forces in Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria. Clinton, who was an early architect of the Obama administration’s “pivot to Asia” strategy during her 2009–2013 tenure at the State Department, said any retreat from the Indo-Pacific would invite instability and signal weakness to U.S. adversaries. Pompeo largely agreed, saying the United States should strive for global “American hegemony” rooted in Western values and must never concede leadership to rivals. “I agree with almost everything Secretary Clinton said there,” Pompeo said. “I want American values to dominate the world for the next 250 years … I want to influence every sphere of influence.” Even as the War Department has prioritized a focus on the Western Hemisphere, Secretary Pete Hegseth has promised the U.S. would “stoutly defend” its interests in the Indo-Pacific. Pompeo directed particularly harsh words at China, even as U.S.–China relations show tentative signs of easing after Trump’s recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “We shouldn’t use the word competition and the Chinese Communist Party in the same sentence… The Chinese Communist Party wants to cut our heads off,” he said, adding, “They killed 10 million people and didn’t lose a moment’s sleep when a virus was foisted around the world.” Pompeo, who served as secretary of state and CIA director in the first Trump administration, also claimed that China had given its blessing to North Korea to send troops to assist Russia in its war on Ukraine. “There are 13,000 North Koreans on the ground inside of that conflict today,” he said. “They did not go there without Xi Jinping asking Chairman Kim… to go.” Clinton, meanwhile, accused congressional Republicans of staying silent when the White House oversteps its power, citing Trump’s repeated extensions of a deadline for TikTok to divest or face a U.S. ban. “Their tongues must be totally bitten off because they don’t speak out,” Clinton said. FIVE WAYS AMERICA CAN STOP A NEW COLD WAR WITH CHINA FROM TURNING HOT She warned that social media is now shaping — and in some cases distorting — public opinion, posing “a huge danger to democracy.” Clinton also said TikTok was “found by a bipartisan decision of Congress to be controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.” Pompeo echoed that concern. “I’m worried about the fact that we’ve got social influencers on TikTok that are shaping your minds, and that that’s controlled by the Chinese Communist Party to a significant degree,” he said. The pair of former officials found common ground years after Pompeo vowed to release more of her emails in the run-up to the 2020 election. Trump had expressed disappointment that Pompeo’s State Department had not released more of the emails Clinton famously sent from a private server during her time leading the department. “We’re doing it as fast as we can” Pompeo told Fox News at the time, while predicting “there will be more to see before the election.” “It’s pathetic,” Clinton had told The New York Times of Pompeo’s promise. Pompeo has also been critical of Clinton’s “failures” related to Benghazi and “rampant corruption.”