Dems face scrutiny over congressional representation gaps in blue states: ‘Don’t have clean hands’
Several Democratic states are facing scrutiny over their own congressional maps amid the push back to Texas redistricting efforts. Specifically, numerous states had a significant percentage vote for President Donald Trump in 2024 but have little or no congressional representation for Republicans. For example, Trump won nearly 46% of the vote in New Mexico, but none of the state’s three seats are held by Republicans. Currently, the Cook Partisan Voting Index is even for the Second Congressional District, which is considered highly competitive. The current maps were kept after a ruling from the New Mexico Supreme Court despite gerrymandering concerns. DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST SAYS PARTY LACKS ‘MORAL AUTHORITY’ ON TEXAS REDISTRICTING FIGHT Connecticut voted nearly 42% for the president but has no seats that Republicans won in 2024. Illinois is considered one of the most gerrymandered states, with Republicans currently only holding three of 17 seats, which is considered a 26% advantage to Democrats. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who has stood in support of the efforts of Texas Democrats to leave the state to thwart redistricting votes, faced questioning from late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert about the current map. “If you are considering doing a little more redrawing in Illinois, you already have some crazy districts in Illinois. Take a look at this. Look at [district] 17 here. It does that, then it comes up here, and it sneaks around there and goes all the way up here and then goes right over there like that,” Colbert said on the Illinois map last week. “Is this common for all states to do?” Pritzker said it was up to the independent redistricting commission, but said the way Texas seeks to redraw its maps mid-decade is problematic. “That is extraordinarily rare,” Pritzker said. “And the way they are doing it is taking voting rights away from Black and Brown people. They are literally obliterating districts that were written according to the Voting Rights Act. So this is going to end up in court if they are actually able to do it.” NETWORKS POUNCE ON REPUBLICAN REDISTRICTING. THEY DIDN’T CARE WHEN DEMOCRATS DID IT California saw Trump win 38% of the vote but just nine out of 52 congressional seats, or 17%. This is considered a 21% Democratic advantage in seats as the state considers adding five Democratic seats to counteract Texas, with a special election for voter approval being scheduled for November. “We are talking about emergency measures to respond to what’s happening in Texas, and we will nullify what happens in Texas,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a press conference last week. New York has a 13% Democratic lead in seats, with seven out of 26 currently having Republican representation, and Trump won 43% of the vote in the state. Oregon has a 24% Democratic lead while the Trump wing has 41% of the vote there. New Jersey saw Trump at 46% of the vote, but the state only has three Republicans out of the 12 congressional seats, and Maryland has only one Republican representative despite 34% of the vote going toward the president, placing the state at a 22% Democratic advantage with eight districts in total. GOV. GREG ABBOTT THREATENS TO REDISTRICT 8 SEATS FOR GOP IF DEM LAWMAKERS DON’T RETURN TO TEXAS Republican states have also faced their fair share of gerrymandering lawsuits in the past, but Democratic strategist Julian Epstein pointed out on “Fox News Live” over the weekend that Democrats are not immune from criticism on the issue. “No, I think they don’t have the moral authority, and there’s a lot of pearl-clutching going on,” he said. “The Democrats don’t have clean hands here. You look at states like Massachusetts, New Jersey[…] Illinois, California, and Democrats have effectively gerrymandered Republicans out of existence,” Epstein added. Many Texas House Democrats remain out of the state to prevent a quorum that would permit the redistricting plan to move forward in the Lone Star State, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says those members will likely be subject to arrest upon their return. “We have a situation where lawmakers are violating the law in Article 3 of the Texas Constitution, where they are required to act on bills. Because they’re violating that constitutional mandate, that means they are not fulfilling their oath of office, and they can be removed from office in this legal action that I’m taking,” he told “Fox News Sunday.”
Treasury sanctions ‘brutally violent’ cartel for timeshare fraud in tourist destination, warns Americans
FIRST ON FOX: The Treasury Department sanctioned a network of individuals linked to a “brutally violent” cartel for hundreds of millions of dollars of timeshare fraud targeting Americans in popular tourist destination Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Fox News Digital has learned. The Treasury Department is now warning current U.S.-based owners of timeshares and those considering the purchase of a Mexico-based timeshare, to conduct “appropriate due diligence.” Officials warn that the scams often target older Americans who can lose their life savings. BRUTALLY VIOLENT MEXICAN CARTEL DRAINING AMERICANS’ LIFE SAVINGS IN COMPLEX SCAM The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on four Mexican individuals and 13 Mexican companies linked to timeshare fraud led by the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG). The individuals linked to the fraud are based in or near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. “We are coming for terrorist drug cartels like Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion that are flooding our country with fentanyl,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a statement. “These cartels continue to create new ways to generate revenue to fuel their terrorist operations. At President Trump’s direction, we will continue our effort to completely eradicate the cartels’ ability to generate revenue, including their efforts to prey on elderly Americans through timeshare fraud.” The three senior CJNG members most involved in timeshare fraud sanctioned Wednesday are Julio Cesar Montero Pinzon (Montero), Carlos Andres Rivera Varela (Rivera) and Francisco Javier Gudino Haro (Gudino). Additionally, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, native Michael Ibarra Diaz Jr. (Ibarra) was sanctioned. Treasury says Ibarra is “engaged in timeshare fraud on behalf of CJNG.” The companies sanctioned are Akali Realtors, Centro Mediador De La Costa, S.A. de C.V., Corporativo Integral De La Costa, S.A. de C.V., Corporativo Costa Norte, S.A. de C.V., and Sunmex Travel, S. de R.L. De C.V. They “explicitly acknowledge their involvement in the timeshare industry.” Another company involved in timeshare-related transactions that was sanctioned is TTR Go, S.A. de C.V. They claim only to be a travel agency. Three additional companies were sanctioned for their alleged real estate activities: Inmobiliaria Integral Del Puerto, S.A. de C.V., KVY Bucerias, S.A. de C.V., and Servicios Inmobiliarios Ibadi, S.A. de C.V. “This diverse corporate network also includes tour operators (Fishing Are Us, S. De R.L. de C.V.; Santamaria Cruise, S. de R.L. de C.V.), an automotive service company (Laminado Profesional Automotriz Elte, S.A. de C.V.), and an accounting firm (Consultorias Profesionales Almida, S.A. de C.V.). Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion is a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization. Officials said the cartel is increasingly supplementing its drug trafficking proceeds with alternative revenue streams like timeshare fraud and fuel theft. “Treasury has taken a series of actions targeting the diverse revenue streams benefitting the cartels, including fuel theft, human smuggling, extortion, and fraud,” the Treasury Department said. “As Treasury and its partners seek to disrupt the cartels’ revenue streams, it is important to remind current owners of timeshares in Mexico: If an unsolicited purchase or rental offer seems too good to be true, it probably is.” Treasury added: “Those considering the purchase of a timeshare in Mexico should conduct appropriate due diligence.” FBI WARNS OF MEXICAN CARTELS TARGETING AMERICANS IN TIMESHARE FRAUD SCHEMES Officials said Mexico-based cartels have been targeting U.S. owners of timeshares through call centers in Mexico staffed by telemarketers in fluent English. Officials said that beginning in 2012, CJNG took control of timeshare fraud schemes in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, and the surrounding area. The scams often target older Americans “who can lose” their life savings, officials warned, adding that the lifecycle of the scams can “last years, resulting in financial and emotional devastation of the victims while enriching cartels like CJNG.” TROPICAL RESORTS POPULAR WITH AMERICANS NO LONG ‘OFF LIMITS’ FOR CARTEL KILLERS: ‘THE RULES HAVE CHANGED’ Officials said the cartels typically obtain information about U.S. owners of timeshares in Mexico from “complicit insiders at timeshare resorts.” “After obtaining information on timeshare owners, the cartels, through their call centers, contact victims by phone or email and claim to be U.S.-based third-party timeshare brokers, attorneys, or sales representatives in the timeshare, travel, real estate, or financial services industries,” the Treasury Department said. Officials explained that the fraud may include timeshare exit scams, or resale scams, timeshare re-rent scams, and timeshare investment scams. “The common theme is that victims are asked to pay advance ‘fees’ and ‘taxes’ before receiving money supposedly owed to them,” officials warned. “This money never comes, and the victims are continuously told to send these ‘fees’ and ‘taxes’ via international wire transfers to accounts held at Mexican banks and brokerage houses.” TIMESHARE TERROR LEAVES RETIRED COUPLE $50K IN THE HOLE AFTER BEING SCAMMED After initial scams, officials warn that “re-victimization scams can occur.” In July 2024, Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the FBI issued a joint-notice on the timeshare fraud associated with Mexico-based cartels and criminal organizations. In the six-month period following that notice, FinCEN received more than 250 suspicious activity reports, and filers reported approximately 1,300 transactions totaling $23.1 million, sent primarily from U.S. based individuals to counterparties in Mexico. Based on FinCEN’s analysis, U.S. fraud victims sent an average of $28,912 and a median amount of $10,000 per transaction to the suspected scammers since July 2024. The FBI says approximately 6,000 U.S. victims reported losing nearly $300 million between 2019 and 2023 to timeshare fraud schemes in Mexico. But officials said that figure “likely underestimates total losses, as the FBI believes the vast majority of victims not report the scam due to embarrassment, among other reasons.”
Last migrant hotel in New York City set to close as ’emergency shelter’ program sunsets
New York City’s last remaining “migrant hotel” will soon cease to be an emergency shelter, following the Trump administration’s border crackdown that eased pressure on Texas – which had previously bused waves of migrants to the Big Apple under former President Joe Biden. The Row, a prominent hotel in the Times Square district, will wind down its operations over the next eight months, as about 3,400 people remain within its 1,300-room confines, according to NY1. New York City Mayor Eric Adams told the network in a statement that his administration “successfully helped more than 200,000 migrants leave our shelter system and take the next step toward self-sufficiency.” “The migrant population in our care continues to decline, and we have closed 64 emergency migrant sites, including all of our tent-based facilities,” he said, as hotels around the city, like the Row and the Roosevelt, and large areas like Floyd Bennett Field in Marine Park, Brooklyn were crammed with migrants during the heat of the crisis. ‘I WARNED YOU’: LEFT-WING GOVERNOR SCRAPS MIGRANT SHELTER PLAN AFTER $1B BLOWUP Adams said the operations were necessary in order to ensure “no family slept on the street.” He said that the city’s Asylum Application Help Center has processed 111,000 such applications for federal protected status and authorization to work in the U.S. The outlet reported that New York City has expended resources for a total of 65,000 travel tickets to other cities in an effort to save city taxpayers in the long run. There was no immediate indication of where the immigrants currently at the Row will go if they are still there when the program runs its course by April 2026. TRUMP RIPS ‘LUXURY HOTELS’ FOR MIGRANTS WHILE AMERICAN CITIZENS ARE ‘LIVING FROM HAND TO MOUTH’ The once-posh Roosevelt Hotel, which shuttered during the COVID-19 pandemic, was another popular spot for housing migrants after it was repurposed by the city in 2023. That lodging, on the East Side, began winding down migrant housing operations in February, the city said in a separate announcement, ushering in the closure of the Asylum Seeker Arrival Center as well. NEW YORK CITY MIGRANT CRISIS COSTS EXPECTED TO EXCEED $5B IN TWO-YEAR PERIOD – DOUBLE TO $10B BY 2025 The city has not said much about what will happen to migrants after the last one exits the Row, but in the past the Adams administration told Gothamist that many found their own housing, moved into the city’s regular homeless shelter operations or left town. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “While we’re not done caring for those who come into our care, today marks another milestone in demonstrating the immense progress we have achieved in turning the corner on an unprecedented international humanitarian effort,” Adams said at the time, adding New York was faced with “unprecedented challenges” in recent years. The mayor, who remains a candidate for re-election, has been overshadowed in the November race by far-left state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, D-Queens, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the more gregarious Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa.
SCOOP: Trump’s newest DC crime crackdown yields more than 100 arrests
FIRST ON FOX: Law enforcement officials in Washington, D.C., have arrested more than 100 people since Aug. 7, Fox Digital has learned, as President Donald Trump cracks down on crime in the city. Law enforcement officials have arrested a total of 103 individuals as of Wednesday morning since Aug. 7, which includes 43 who were arrested Tuesday, a White House official told Fox Digital Wednesday morning. The arrests are part of Trump’s March executive order, which established the Making DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force, ahead of Trump’s Monday announcement federalizing the D.C. police department. “President Trump’s bold leadership is quickly making our nation’s capital safer,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox Digital. “In less than one week, over 100 violent criminals have already been arrested and taken off of the streets in Washington, D.C. President Trump is delivering on his campaign promise to clean up this city and restore American Greatness to our cherished capital.” Trump announced Monday that he was federalizing the local police department under section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, which allows the president to assume emergency control of the capital’s police force for 30 days. The White House reported there were roughly 30 National Guard troops on the ground Tuesday evening, which is expected to dramatically increase on Wednesday evening, Fox Digital learned. The crime crackdown operation is expected to transition to a 24/7 operating status, breaking from its previous focus of patrolling the nation’s capital on night, the White House said. FBI DIRECTOR KASH PATEL BACKS TRUMP’S DC POLICE TAKEOVER: ‘WHEN YOU LET GOOD COPS BE COPS, THEY DELIVER’ Hundreds of National Guard members have since converged on the nation’s capital, as well as federal law enforcement departments such as the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Capitol Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisting with Trump’s law and order crackdown and sweeps of the city. Tuesday’s sweep of the city included 1,450 law enforcement participants, according to the White House, including roughly 30 National Guard troops and 750 uniformed D.C. police officers. Tuesday’s arrests included: one arrested on suspected homicide, seven related to narcotics charges, 33 for alleged firearm offenses, 10 related to warrants, as well as the arrests of 23 illegal immigrants. Law enforcement recovered a total of 24 firearms on Tuesday, according to the White House. The first phase of the crime crackdown Monday resulted in 23 arrests, FBI Director Kash Patel revealed on X Tuesday. “On the first big push of FBI supporting @POTUS @realDonaldTrump initiative to make DC safe again, FBI reported 10 arrests with partners,” the director wrote on X. “These are just a few examples — we are just getting started,” Patel continued. “Federal partners joined local police and arrested 23 in total.” “When you let good cops be cops they can clean up our streets and do it fast,” he said. “More to come. Your nation’s Capital WILL be safe again.” The nation’s capital in the following years has been rocked by shootings that have left innocent children shot and dead, a trend of juveniles committing carjackings that have turned deadly in some cases, shoplifting crimes and attacks on government employees, summer interns and others, including the fatal shooting of 21-year-old congressional intern, Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, in June. TRUMP ACTIVATES NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS TO ADDRESS ‘TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL’ CRIME IN WASHINGTON Trump had threatened to federalize the D.C. police department in recent weeks, citing a spate of high-profile crimes that have left locals and visitors to the city dead or seriously injured, such as Tarpinian-Jachym’s killing, the fatal shooting of a pair of Israeli embassy staffers in May, and a brutal attack on a former Department of Government Efficiency staffer earlier in August. “Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people,” Trump said Monday. “And we’re not going to let it happen anymore. We’re not going to take it.” Democrat lawmakers and local leaders have slammed Trump over the move, arguing crime has fallen in recent years following the wildly violent crime trends of 2020 that rocked cities nationwide. WHITE HOUSE LAUNCHES FEDERAL SECURITY BLITZ AS PRESIDENT VOWS TO END DC ‘CRIME PLAGUE’ Trump described the federalization of the police as “Liberation Day in D.C.,” declaring, “We’re going to take our capital back.” “We’re taking it back under the authority vested in me as the president of the United States, I’m officially invoking section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act,” he said Monday. “You know what that is. And placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control. … In addition, I’m deploying the National Guard to help reestablish law, order and public safety in Washington, D.C. And they’re going to be allowed to do their job properly.”
O’Rourke, Soros-linked groups face call for DOJ probe over alleged funding of Texas Dem walkout
FIRST ON FOX: A Senate Republican wants the Justice Department to investigate groups tied to Beto O’Rourke and George Soros for allegedly funding Texas Democrats’ exodus from the state. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to open an investigation into whether O’Rourke’s Powered by People political action committee (PAC) and the Soros-linked Texas Majority PAC have acted “in violation of federal public corruption and election laws” for raising funds to help Texas state Democrats leave the state during the redistricting special session. “I write today to encourage an investigation of the entities funding this charade,” Cornyn wrote in a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital. “News reports make clear that PACs tied to Beto O’Rourke and megadonors such as George Soros are supporting the legislators, along with other campaign entities.” GEORGE SOROS, BETO O’ROURKE BEHIND FUNDING FOR DEMS FLEEING TEXAS OVER GOP CONGRESSIONAL MAP The Texas Democrats fled the state in an effort to kill a special session called by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to redraw maps in the Lone Star State. The lawmakers fled in a bid to prevent a quorum to prevent legislation from moving forward. Cornyn previously called on FBI Director Kash Patel to help find the legislators. His latest letter comes on the heels of reports from the Texas Tribune that O’Rourke’s PAC has played a major role in financially supporting the roughly 50 Democrats who departed for New York and Illinois, paying for airfare, lodging and helping with the $500-per-day fines the lawmakers face for skipping the legislative session. The Soros-aligned PAC is also reportedly working with national fundraising groups to secure additional funding for the legislators. Fox News Digital reached out to both organizations for comment. TRUMP’S EARLIEST SUPPORTER ANNOUNCES BID FOR ALABAMA SENATE SEAT However, the Texas state Senate advanced the new maps on Tuesday night and the missing House Democrats are reportedly planning to return to the state. Now, the Texas state House must vote on the redistricting changes for them to become law. The special session is slated to end next Tuesday, though Abbott has said he would call another in the face of the Democrats’ opposition tactics. Cornyn charged that if legislators took money and gifts in exchange for using their official position to prevent a quorum call, then they may have committed honest services fraud or Hobbs Act Extortion. And by crossing state lines, he noted, the lawmakers could be in violation of the federal Travel Act, “if they did so with the intent to break either federal or state laws.” He said that “at a minimum, it appears likely that Texas state bribery and corruption laws may have been broken” by both the legislators who accepted benefits and the groups linked to O’Rourke and Soros “who provided these corrupt funds.” And O’Rourke’s group may have violated federal campaign finance laws for spending money in prohibited ways, Cornyn noted, like “expenditures being made for individuals’ personal use, which would include food, lodging, and travel unrelated to electioneering activities.” “I therefore request that you also work with the [Federal Election Commission] to examine both the sources of funding for the special interest groups and PACs funding the House members’ dereliction of duty and how those funds have been spent to ensure compliance with all federal laws and regulations,” he wrote. LONE STAR STATE RIVALS FOR US SENATE COMPETE TO WRANGLE RUNAWAY DEMOCRATS Cornyn’s request also follows a similar demand made by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The pair is locked in an already bloody primary battle to capture the Republican nomination for Senate in the Lone Star State. Paxton on Tuesday requested that a Texas district judge jail O’Rourke over allegations that he violated a court order issued last week that prohibited fundraising meant to back the efforts by Texas Democratic lawmakers to blow up the redistricting effort. Cornyn noted that the lawmakers’ flight not only blocked the redistricting effort, but also harmed legislation that would provide aid to victims of the recent devastating Texas floods. “The special session will end in a matter of days, at which point, assistance to flood victims and other needed measures will go unaddressed,” Cornyn said. “The absconding House members’ dereliction of duty is truly shameful.”
Venezuelan migrants, progressive group sue Trump admin after Noem nixes Biden-era ‘protected status’
A Venezuelan civic group and several migrants sued federal immigration agencies this week, alleging the Trump administration unlawfully ended Biden-imposed “Temporary Protected Status” for Venezuelans. The Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts, a progressive group called Democracy Forward, and three migrants filed suit in Boston federal court against the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services challenging what they called President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s “sudden and unlawful termination” of temporary protected statuses. In a statement, Democracy Forward said the plaintiffs objected to an alleged April mass email from DHS to TPS migrants stating: “It is time for you to leave the United States.” The plaintiffs suggested the recipients of the blunt missive have the legal right to remain in the U.S. given their work-permitting and other related documentation they may have applied for. FEDERAL JUDGE FINDS ‘RACIAL AND DISCRIMINATORY ANIMUS’ IN TRUMP MOVE TO CANCEL TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS They further argued that TPS revocation requires case-by-case determinations and wrongly disrupts lives and occupations and risks becoming subject to deportation. “As a community-based organization, we have seen firsthand the direct harm this sudden policy inflicts on people who arrived lawfully, complied with every DHS requirement, including the CBP One process, and worked hard to build stable lives for their families,” Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts official Carlina Velázquez and Carlos Martín Medina said in a joint statement obtained by Fox News Digital. Democracy Forward President Skye Perryman added that the “sudden policy shift” exhibits the “Trump-Vance administration’s assault on immigrants who have followed the rules.” “Let me be clear: none of this is about immigration, it’s about cruelty and the targeting of people in vulnerable circumstances,” Perryman claimed. “Our clients used the CBP One app because DHS required it. To now strip them of their rights and threaten them with deportation is a gross violation of the law and public trust.” FEDERAL JUDGE HALTS TRUMP TPS POLICY, ACCUSES DHS OF MAKING MIGRANTS ‘ATONE FOR THEIR RACE’ Migrants fleeing Venezuela – effectively a dictatorship since the late Hugo Chávez’s 1999 election – were granted special protection by former President Joe Biden in 2021 due to humanitarian concerns. Biden then extended TPS in 2023, qualifying about 350,000 more Venezuelan migrants to arrive after the original timeframe imposed. After Trump took office, Noem revoked the 2023 TPS extension, which set the ball rolling on the eventual cancellation of protected status for Venezuelan migrants. In April, Obama-appointed Judge Edward Milton Chen issued an injunction blocking Noem’s move to end TPS. The Supreme Court overruled Chen in a brief, unsigned order in May, allowing Noem’s timeline to resume. While unsigned, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson noted her dissent. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP But Chen then followed up in June with a narrow ruling noting that preexisting work permits and the like should not be canceled retroactively. A three-judge Ninth Circuit panel in Pasadena, California, last heard arguments during a July appeal by the Trump administration during which one judge reportedly called the president’s comments “arguably racist.” In comments to Fox News Digital, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the lawsuit is “a desperate attempt to keep half a million poorly vetted illegal aliens in this country and undermine President Trump’s constitutional authority to enforce America’s immigration laws.” “The Biden administration abused its parole authority to create an industrial-scale catch-and-release scheme, and the Trump administration is correcting that,” she added. “This lawsuit is an insult to the tens of millions of Americans who gave this president a mandate to restore safety and common sense to our immigration system.”
House Democrat presses DOJ on Ghislaine Maxwell prison transfer, meeting with top official
The ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee penned a letter to the Department of Justice demanding information about Ghislaine Maxwell’s recent prison transfer and meeting with a top Trump administration official. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said the recent transfer of Maxwell – a convicted sex trafficker and Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and alleged accomplice – out of a maximum security prison in Tallahassee, Florida, gives “the strong appearance” that the Trump administration “is attempting to cover up the full extent of the relationship between President Trump and Mr. Epstein.” In the letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Bureau of Prisons Director William K. Marshall III, Raskin said Maxwell’s new home at a minimum-security federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, provides “greater freedom for inmates.” He argued that such an “extraordinary transfer” would typically be “categorically off limits to sex offenders.” GHISLAINE MAXWELL PRISON TRANSFER CALLED ‘HIGHLY UNUSUAL’ BY FORMER FEDERAL PRISON OFFICIAL “These actions raise substantial concerns that the administration may now be attempting to tamper with a crucial witness, conceal President Trump’s relationship with convicted sex offenders, and coax Ms. Maxwell into providing false or misleading testimony in order to protect the President,” Raskin wrote, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Fox News Digital. “The transfer also appears to violate both DOJ and Bureau of Prisons (BOP) policies.” The letter asked for a cache of documents related to why Maxwell was transferred from Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Tallahassee to Federal Prison Campe (FPC) Bryan. Raskin is also seeking a transcript and recording of Maxwell’s recent, hours-long meeting with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche at the Tallahassee prison. “These meetings were highly unusual for several reasons. Mr. Blanche, who until ten months ago served as Donald Trump’s personal criminal defense lawyer, met with Ms. Maxwell and her attorney with no line prosecutors present. The meeting took place just days after DOJ leadership fired one of the chief career prosecutors on the Epstein matter,” Raskin wrote, referencing the Justice Department’s firing of Maurene Comey from the Southern District of New York. Comey – the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey – most recently worked on the prosecution of Sean “Diddy” Combs. Her other high-profile cases include the Epstein and Maxwell prosecutions. The DOJ confirmed criminal investigations into her father – as well as former CIA Director John Brennan – last month. Reached by Fox News Digital on Wednesday, a Justice Department spokesperson confirmed the receipt of Raskin’s letter but declined to comment further. REPS. MASSIE, KHANNA SOUND OFF ON WHETHER GHISLAINE MAXWELL SHOULD RECEIVE PARDON, BLAST MIKE JOHNSON In his letter to Bondi and Marshall, Raskin further argued that convicted sex offenders would typically be barred from federal prison camps, which provide “access to the community,” and any transfer would require “multiple levels of review that would ordinarily take months to complete.” He said any approval of a transfer “typically requires new facts or evidence” and even so, “an inmate would then have to join a months-long waitlist for an opening at a camp.” “Ms. Maxwell, however, appears to have short-circuited the entire review process and jumped the queue, receiving a place in Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Bryan within a matter of days,” Raskin wrote. “Neither DOJ nor BOP has provided anything like a satisfactory explanation for providing Ms. Maxwell this uniquely favorable treatment.” The letter – also signed by all Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee – seeks a list of any administration officials who “were aware of, were involved in, or approved” of the transfer. Raskin also demanded information regarding “any possible benefits to Ms. Maxwell, including transfers, changes to conditions of confinement, pardons, commutation, or changes to DOJ positions in ongoing matters.” Raskin acknowledged that Maxwell was recently subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee to testify. To Bondi and Marshall, the congressman said “there can be no question that your actions have served to send a clear message to Ms. Maxwell in the lead up to any testimony before Congress and the American public: this Administration can punish or reward her as it sees fit for its own purposes.”
Mamdani pressed on pledge to be Trump’s ‘worst nightmare’ and landlord pushback on rent freeze plan
New York City socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was pressed Tuesday on his pledge to be President Trump’s “worst nightmare” along with his plan to freeze rent, which has been criticized by many landlords in the city. “What I’ve said time and again is I will not take a reflexive approach in refusing to speak to any one person, depending on their politics,” Mamdani told Fox News National Correspondent Brian Llenas at a Tuesday press conference when asked about his previous claim that his administration will be Trump’s “worst nightmare” and if that threat rings hollow given the amount of federal power and funding the president yields. “I am looking to work with anyone so long as it’s to the benefit of New Yorkers,” Mamdani continued. “That’s the distinction between myself and Andrew Cuomo. One of many is that he called Donald Trump not on the question of how can we serve New York City, not on the question of how can we protect this city from these cuts, but rather, how could we work together to subvert the will of Democratic primary voters?” Llenas followed up by asking how voters can be assured Mamdani won’t be reflexive and can work with the White House, given he is currently on a press tour across the city’s five boroughs specifically attacking Trump. MAMDANI’S PAST ‘VISCERAL DISDAIN’ FOR POLICE ‘SCARES A LOT OF NEW YORKERS’ FOR GOOD REASON: NYC CRIME EXPERT “What this tour is reflective of is the fact that Donald Trump is attacking this city,” Mamdani answered. “It’s attacking its people. It’s attacking the very fabric of what we call home. And we’ve spoken about it in a fiscal sense, in terms of what it will mean to steal food from the hungry, what it will mean to throw sick people off of their insurance, what it will mean to make it even more difficult to afford the city. And so, yes, this is a tour against the Trump administration’s attack on New York City voters.” Mamdani added that if Trump “wants to pick up the phone” to work on issues like cheap groceries that he is “willing to work with him on that” but it cannot be a “partnership at the expense of the people in the city.” Mamdani has faced strong criticism, including from New York Apartment Association CEO Kenny Burgos in a recent interview with Fox News Digital, about his plan to “freeze” rent in the city for some New Yorkers. CUOMO FLIPS SCRIPT ON MAMDANI FOR OWNING PROPERTY IN UGANDA DESPITE ITS ANTI-LGBT LAWS: ‘SILENCE IS VIOLENCE’ Mamdani was asked what he would say to those who argue rent freezes keep housing supply lower while denying landlords and builders the necessary funds to build more housing or maintain their properties, a concern echoed by Burgos in his comments to Fox News Digital. “The rent freezes that we’re speaking about, these are rent freezes that have already taken place in New York City,” Mamdani answered. “They happened three times under the previous administration. The issues that we’re having of housing supply, these are long-term issues in New York City, some of which have to do with politics and policy. Some of which also have to do with process.” “And these are critically important for us to confront as the leaders of this city, because what we are seeing is a vacancy rate that is so low that it is suffocating the city’s ability to continue to grow and ensure that we can welcome more people here.” Mamdani continued by saying what he has “heard from landlords” is primary concerns about insurance. “The fact that insurance has doubled in recent years and I see an example in a number of those landlords coming together to create their own insurance entity,” Mamdani said. “I may butcher the name, but Milford Street Captive, which has managed to reduce insurance costs, that’s something that the city can build upon with more significant investment.” “I’ve also heard from these same landlords that an issue they have is not that a tenant cannot afford the 3 or 4 or 5% increase that the Rent Guidelines Board is passing, as per the directive from Eric Adams. It’s that there are some tenants who can’t afford their rent at all,” Mamdani said. Mamdani went on to call for more rent vouchers, saying that there are “so many” New Yorkers living in rent-stabilized housing that can benefit from CityFHEPS. “That could actually increase the amount of money that these landlords take home in rent, but the city hasn’t paid enough,” Mamdani said. “Those previous rent freezes were temporary, were they not?,” Mamdani was pressed by Llenas. “I’ve spoken about a four-year rent freeze,” Mamdani responded before moving on to the next question.
BLM activist leading resistance to Trump’s DC crime plan repeatedly called for abolishing police
FIRST ON FOX: One of the prominent activists behind the protests against President Trump’s move to federalize Washington, D.C., to combat crime is a Black Lives Matter organizer who has a long history of calling for defunding and abolishing the police and other far-left agenda items. In recent days and on Monday, shortly after Trump’s press conference announcing federal resources being sent to the nation’s capital in accordance with the Constitution, protesters took to the streets opposing the crime crackdown, including Nee Nee Taylor, the executive director of Harriet’s Wildest Dreams and Free DC’s co-founder and operations organizer. “Free D.C.,” Taylor told protesters gathered around her on the streets of Washington, D.C., on Monday. “This is our city.” “Take it to the streets. This our D.C. No justice, no peace,” she continued. “If we don’t get no justice, they’re not going to get any peace… The only violence that’s happening in D.C. right now is the violence against our communities that this president is directing.” TOP DEMOCRATS RIPPED ON SOCIAL MEDIA OVER ‘BONKERS’ REACTIONS TO TRUMP’S DC CRIME PLAN: ‘MASSIVE LIAR’ Over the years, Taylor has repeatedly called for police to be defunded and abolished on her X account, formerly known as Twitter, with the username “SpiritOfHarrietTubman.” In 2018, Taylor posted on X, “Let’s [sic] clear I want to abolish the police” “Black Morning! I woke up like this, in my Greatness and also still having to shout to the World that we are FREE! Abolish the enslave Patrols that beat, kill and arrest Black people,” Taylor posted on X in 2021. “Call & demand that all Protesters be release. [sic]” “Ayeee! May all Jails and Prisons be abolish! [sic]” Taylor posted on X in 2021 in response to the anniversary of Chelsea Manning, who was found guilty of espionage before being pardoned by former President Obama, being released from prison. Taylor has specifically called for the defunding of the police department in Washington, D.C., where she is now opposing Trump’s move to send in federal resources. MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR RAGES AT TRUMP’S FEDERAL TAKEOVER OF DC POLICE TO FIGHT CRIME “Wasn’t the conclusion to tow cars and hold club owners responsible for violence? Being reactive and not pro active won’t keep people safe,” Taylor posted on X in 2022. “Defund @DCPoliceDept and invest in resources that keep people safe. #DefundMPD invest in community.” “Access to food is a fundamental human right, yet due to poverty many people aren’t afforded this right,” Harriet’s Wildest Dreams posted on Facebook in 2022. “The state, using police, maintains poverty and therefore hunger. In today’s episode of #PoliticalEducationMondays we discuss why “Defunding Police is Food Justice.” Taylor’s group went on to slam the police in a series of other social media posts, saying it has “always targeted queer and trans folks” and that “police have existed to violently protect property and its owners.” Taylor has also been vocal about abolishing ICE, railing against the Los Angeles ICE raids in a June Facebook post. The June 9 post said the raids were “chaos” and were being “provoked by this administration.” She went on to say law enforcement “doesn’t keep us safe. Not the police, not ICE, not any system built to control us.” Harriet’s Wildest Dreams and Taylor have also both celebrated Assata Shakur, also known as JoAnne Chesimard, who was convicted in the 1973 killing of New Jersey state trooper Werner Foerster, who left behind a wife and 3-year-old son. “Assata Shakur is a freedom fighter and political activist. A prominent figure in the Black Liberation Movement, Assata sought refuge in Cuba in 1984 after escaping political persecution in the U.S,” the group wrote last year on Facebook with the “HandsOffAssata” hashtag. “She became the first woman on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. Denying criminal accusations, she embodies a symbol of resistance against racism and injustice.” In another Facebook post from last week, the group included a graphic with Shakur’s face and a caption that read, “Black August is a time to honor those who chose freedom, no matter the cost. We carry the stories of those who risked everything for liberation.” Taylor posted several times about Shakur being a “freedom fighter” and downplayed her murder conviction by saying she was stooped for a broken taillight, ignoring her involvement in the shooting. Shakur later escaped prison and fled to Cuba, where former Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro granted her asylum. She is currently still wanted by the FBI. A flyer distributed by the Free DC Project, an organizer along with Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, said that the opposition’s “guiding principles” are: Do not obey in advance. Prioritize joy. Take up space. Be in solidarity, and organize. “Silence is compliance, so we need to get loud, starting tonight and every night of this occupation, go outside at 8:00 PM and bang pots and pans, sing, chant, or make noise for five minutes,” the flyer, posted on Instagram on Monday, explained. Harriet’s Wildest Dreams refers to itself as a group formed out of Black Lives Matter with the intent “to begin the next chapter of our journey as organizers in the movement for Black lives and liberation in DMV (DC, MD, VA).” On the Harriet’s Wildest Dreams website, Taylor is described as “our modern-day Harriet Tubman.” Harriet’s Wildest Dream was also active in 2024 pushing back against the arrest of anti-Israel protesters on college campuses, including George Washington University in Washington, D.C. The nation’s capital in the following years has been rocked by shootings that have left innocent children shot and dead, a trend of juveniles committing carjackings that have turned deadly in some cases, shoplifting crimes and attacks on government employees, summer interns and others, including the fatal shooting of 21-year-old congressional intern, Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, in June. Trump responded on Monday by announcing that he is federalizing the D.C. police department to curb spiraling violence, sparking pushback from Democrats who have claimed crime is down in the nation’s capital. Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this
Texas Dems begin to crack, confirm return to state after fleeing to obstruct GOP redistricting: report
Texas House Democrats have reportedly confirmed they intend to return to their state after fleeing in an attempt to halt legislative proceedings, which included GOP attempts to redraw congressional districts in the state. Multiple sources confirmed to ABC 13 Houston on Tuesday that the absent House Democrats will return to the Lone Star State after feeling like they accomplished their mission of killing the special legislative session called by Republicans to pass redistricting legislation. The special session expires next Tuesday. The outlet reported the exact time of the Democrats’ return to the capital in Austin is not clear. TEXAS GOP SEEKS TO ‘DOMESTICATE’ ROGUE DEMS FOR BREAKING QUORUM THROUGH NATIONWIDE CIVIL ARREST WARRANTS News of the lawmakers’ imminent return to the state comes on the same day that Texas Senate Republicans were able to get the new congressional maps approved. They must now be passed in the House before Republican Gov. Greg Abbott can sign them into law. Earlier this week, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows indicated they would adjourn the special legislative session this Friday if Democrats had not returned by then. ABBOTT VOWS INDEFINITE SPECIAL SESSIONS, SAYS FLEEING DEMS COULD FACE ARREST ‘FOR LITERALLY YEARS’ Meanwhile, Abbott has signaled plans to immediately call a second consecutive special session and has teased that he may also add additional agenda items. The strategy by Texas Democrats to leave the state and abdicate their duties in an effort to stall Republican legislative efforts is a strategy they have used before. In 2021, more than 50 Texas Democrats left the state for the nation’s capital in an effort to stall Republican election security legislation following President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss. The effort led to Abbott ultimately calling three consecutive special legislative sessions, with the election security bill passing during the second one in August.