Senate Republican ‘targeted by Communist China’ in $50 billion lawsuit
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., is being sued by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for tens of billions of dollars in damages for a lawsuit he filed against the country during his time as Missouri’s attorney general. Schmitt is being sued by the People’s Government of Wuhan Municipality, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Wuhan Institute of Virology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for roughly $50 billion, several years after the lawmaker sued the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. The lawsuit, first obtained by Fox News Digital, accused Schmitt, FBI co-deputy director Andrew Bailey, and the state of Missouri of damaging the reputations of China, Wuhan and the associated research facilities through “malicious vexatious litigation, fabricating enormous disinformation, and spreading stigmatizing and discriminating slanders.” CRUZ SAYS REP ILHAN OMAR COULD FACE JAIL TIME, DEPORTATION IF MARRIAGE ALLEGATION PROVES TRUE Schmitt said in a statement to Fox News Digital that he’d been “banned from Communist China, and now I am being sued and targeted by Communist China in a $50 billion lawfare campaign, and I’ll wear it like a badge of honor.” “China’s sinister malfeasance during the COVID-19 pandemic led to over a million Americans losing their lives, economic turmoil that rocked our country for years, and an enormous amount of human suffering, and as Missouri Attorney General I filed suit to hold them accountable,” Schmitt said. “Instead of trying to defend its indefensible behavior, Communist China responded with frivolous lawfare, attempting to absolve themselves of all wrongdoing in the early days of the pandemic.” “This novel lawsuit is factually baseless, legally meritless, and any fake judgment a Chinese court issues in this lawsuit we will easily beat back and keep from being enforced against the people of Missouri or me,” he continued. “This is their way of distracting from what the world already knows, China has blood on its hands.” TRUMP’S SENATE CLOSER: REPUBLICAN FRESHMAN EMERGES AS KEY WHITE HOUSE ALLY Schmitt, who served as attorney general for the Show-Me state from 2019 to 2023, sued the PRC, several Chinese government ministries, the Communist Party of China, the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in early 2020, shortly after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, Schmitt accused the Chinese government of withholding information on the COVID-19 virus, failing to contain the outbreak of the virus, and actively hoarding high-quality personal protective equipment (PPE) while producing and selling lower-quality PPE for the rest of the world. SENATE ADVANCES $901B DEFENSE BILL AS CONGRESS RACES INTO YEAR-END LEGISLATIVE SPRINT That case resulted in an eventual $24 billion judgment earlier this year. Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said in a statement that the state stood “undeterred in our mission to collect on our $24 billion judgment that was lawfully handed down in federal court.” “I find it extremely telling that the Chinese blame our great state for ‘belittling the social evaluation’ of The Wuhan Institute of Virology,” Hanaway said. “This lawsuit is a stalling tactic and tells me that we have been on the right side of this issue all along.” The lawsuit against Schmitt, Bailey, who resigned as Missouri’s attorney general after he was tapped by President Donald Trump to serve as co-deputy FBI director in September, and Missouri contended that the preceding lawsuit, and statements published across a variety of media outlets, led to severe reputational and economic harm. They’re demanding that apologies be published in several outlets, including The New York Times, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Chinese media outlets. The apologies come with a price tag, too. Wuhan and the Chinese government demanded compensation of over 356 billion Chinese Yuan, which converts to just over $50 billion dollars.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to where we stand with a healthcare package: Christmas or Groundhog Day?
There’s a year-end rush in all aspects of life. Businesses try to run up profits in December. Supervisors want to finish employee reviews. Professors must grade exams. Congress is no different. There’s always a race to the finish line in December on Capitol Hill. KENNEDY URGES GOP TO RESTART SPENDING BATTLE AMID SOARING COST OF LIVING, WARNS AGAINST WASTING MAJORITY This year’s adventure is health care. But it’s a practical impossibility that Congress can actually make law on health care before the calendar flips. Premium spikes for 24 million Americans loom on January 1st. Congress tried — kinda — to address this problem. But not really. So, if you’re that professor handing out the grades at the end of the semester, prepare to flunk some pupils, if not the entire Congressional student body. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., hermetically sealed any possibility of addressing health care in 2025 on Tuesday afternoon. “We’re not going to pass anything by the end of this week. But I do think there is a potential pathway in January if Democrats are willing to come to the table,” said Thune. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., rapidly assembled a bill to allow groups of people – like a bunch of small businesses or a coalition of carpenters – to purchase what they call “association” health plans. In other words, this alliance of people would suddenly have “buying power” if they operate as a team. So if they purchase a set of plans as an “association,” that would defray the cost. “This is going to be a great piece of legislation that everybody will unite around,” said Johnson. But many Republicans groused privately that it’s one thing to do “a health care bill.” It’s another thing to actually short-circuit the astronomical leap in premiums which hit on January 1. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., spoke frankly about simply re-upping the existing subsidies. “We need to do deeper fixes. This is throwing good money after bad. There is some truth to that. But we have constituents. They’re going to have their premiums go up. That doesn’t help them. That’s why I think we need a temporary extension,” said Bacon. Many conservatives adamantly oppose continuing the subsidies. Even if that would help their constituents. But Bacon addresses the realpolitik of the moment. MODERATE REPUBLICAN ERUPTS ON HOUSE GOP LEADERS, SAYS NOT HOLDING OBAMACARE VOTE IS ‘ABSOLUTE BULLS—‘ “It’s not our fault that these things are skyrocketing. But we are in charge. When you’re in charge, you’ve got to deal with it,” said Bacon. “They’re going to have to find some compromise.” A Christmas Congressional crunch often compels lawmakers to solve big legislative headaches before the holidays. “What intensifies the pressure is January 1st is coming,” said Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash. “It’s having a huge impact on people. I think that is definitely a forcing mechanism.” The push from Democrats — and some vulnerable Republicans — was to renew the subsidies. “I don’t understand why we can’t just do a clean extension of what we just had in place earlier this year,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. “I think that is the easiest and most accessible, no nonsense thing for us to do. Especially as the year is coming to an end.” But that wouldn’t fly with conservative Republicans. “I pity the Republican that has to explain why they would propagate or perpetuate a fraud-ridden subsidy from the COVID-era to prop up a failed health care program,” said House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas. Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., also opposes extending Obamacare help. But he worries what voters will think of Republicans if the party doesn’t address health care costs. “I think that we fail the American people. We fail our base. We fail the Republican Party. Before I got up here, I was frustrated the Republicans didn’t repeal Obamacare,” said Burlison. “Repealing Obamacare” probably won’t happen. That’s because the GOP has tried to unwind the measure since Democrats passed the first versions of it in late 2009. That’s why even through everyone was talking about health care on Capitol Hill, most were skeptical that lawmakers could solve this in a matter of days. Despite possible Christmas magic. And even as Thune punted health care into 2026, the House still nibbled around the edges. Critics argued this was only so House Republicans could inoculate themselves from denunciations that they did nothing on health care. SENATE REPUBLICANS UNVEIL PLAN TO REPLACE OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES WITH HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNTS On Tuesday morning, Johnson nixed an idea from GOP moderates for a temporary extension of expiring Obamacare subsidies because it didn’t comply with Congressional budgetary rules. But by afternoon, Johnson reversed himself to entertain another plan backed by Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y. Rather than simply extending federal Obamacare subsidies on an interim basis — which means that insurance companies receive the money — LaLota’s idea provides a two-year tax deduction for those who previously received the Obamacare aid. President Trump said he would not sign a bill which continued to send money to the insurance companies. So the revamped approach cuts out insurance companies from the equation and policyholders score the tax relief. “There’s a real possibility they’ll get a vote on it,” said Johnson. “I’ve tried everything I can to get them that vote on the floor.” But a roll call vote is a far cry from an actual fix. And it’s uncertain that the House would adopt any amendment and copy it onto the underlying GOP health care bill. However, a vote on the amendment could give Republicans from swing districts a fig leaf to say they tried to defuse the health care premium crisis. And it’s still unclear if voters might blame Republicans for not addressing health care — now that Democrats copied that issue onto the fall government funding fight. Health care will be a major issue in the 2026 midterms. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. appeared skeptical that Congress could address the skyrocketing premiums in the
201 House Dems vote against bill named after 20-year-old American killed by illegal immigrant teen
Two hundred and one House Democrats voted against a bill that Republicans say would prevent dangerous migrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children from walking free on the streets. The legislation passed in a 225-201 vote. Just seven Democrats voted with Republicans in favor of the bill: Reps. Adam Gray, D-Calif.; Jared Golden, D-Maine; Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash.; Don Davis, D-N.C.; Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas; Laura Gillen, D-N.Y., and Henry Cuellar, D-Texas. The Kayla Hamilton Act is named after a 20-year-old woman with autism who was killed by a 16-year-old from El Salvador, Walter Javier Martinez, in 2022. Martinez pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in April. Martiez came to the U.S. illegally as an unaccompanied minor and was a member of the notorious MS-13 gang, according to a press release from the Maryland State Attorney’s Office in Hartford County. REP JASMINE CROCKETT REFERS TO YOUNG WOMAN MURDERED BY AN MS-13 ILLEGAL MIGRANT AS A ‘RANDOM DEAD PERSON’ The bill, led by Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., would heighten screening requirements for unaccompanied migrant children (UAC) who come to the U.S. undocumented in ways that Republicans argue could prevent future tragedies like Hamilton’s. “I think in this one instance, a simple phone call to El Salvador would have kept him in a secure facility. An eyeball check on gang tattoos on his body would have kept him in the secure facility, because he had both. He would have never been on our streets. He would have been in a security facility pending his immigration hearing, which happens pretty quickly,” Fry told Fox News Digital Tuesday afternoon. His bill would mandate that the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) screen unaccompanied minors for gang tattoos and place UACs who have such indicators in secure federal facilities rather than letting them go to a sponsor somewhere in the U.S. It would also prohibit unaccompanied minors from going to sponsors who are also undocumented in the U.S. HOUSE UNANIMOUSLY VOTES TO MEMORIALIZE TEXAS GIRL ALLEGEDLY SLAIN BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Regarding the sponsors they are placed with, the federal government would be required to do a background check on all adults in the household, which would include fingerprint scans and an immigration status check. Progressives who argued against the bill on the House floor said it would harm already vulnerable children. “Republicans are treating unaccompanied migrant children like criminals,” Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., said. “We must use every tool at our disposal to protect vulnerable children. … This bill criminalizes children and creates dangerous precedent that only makes them more vulnerable.” Rep. Luz Rivas, D-Calif., said it “undermines and strips critical rights from vulnerable children” and “subjects children as young as 12 to strip searches.” Fry said in response, however, “We already do medical evaluations of children when they come into this country. It already is in practice. All we’re saying is if there’s a tattoo on your shoulder, on your forehead, that’s a gang tattoo, we’re saying, ‘Hey, maybe we shouldn’t let them out onto the streets.” “I think some intellectual honesty is really important for them,” Fry told Fox News Digital after the debate. “They want to complain about medical evaluations for kids. That was a Democrat proposal. That was the Democrat law that they did. But if they want to misrepresent what this bill is about, just because they don’t like Trump, I think kids and their safety are more important than being mad at the president.”
Pentagon won’t release ‘top secret, full, unedited’ video of September drug boat strike, Hegseth says
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said that the Pentagon would not release the “top secret, full, unedited video” of the controversial September strike on a suspected drug boat. However, Hegseth said that “appropriate” congressional committees would see the footage. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
FBI doubted probable cause for Mar-a-Lago raid but pushed forward amid pressure from Biden DOJ, emails reveal
EXCLUSIVE: The FBI did not believe it had probable cause to raid President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in 2022, but moved forward amid pressure from the Biden Justice Department, with an official saying he didn’t “give a damn about the optics” of the search, newly declassified documents reviewed by Fox News Digital reveal. Fox News Digital reviewed emails between FBI and Justice Department officials in the months leading up to the August 2022 raid of Mar-a-Lago, with FBI officials expressing concerns about a lack of probable cause to execute the search warrant on the then-former president’s residence in Palm Beach, Florida. EXCLUSIVE: FBI SEIZES PRIVILEGED TRUMP RECORDS DURING RAID; DOJ OPPOSES REQUEST FOR INDEPENDENT REVIEW: SOURCES “Very little has been developed related to who might be culpable for mishandling the documents,” an FBI official serving as an assistant special agent in charge, wrote to another FBI official, Anthony Riedlinger. “From the interviews, WFO has gathered information suggesting that there may be additional boxes (presumably of the same type as were sent back to NARA in January) at Mar-a-Lago.” “WFO has been drafting a search warrant affidavit related to these potential boxes, but has some concerns that the information is single source, has not been corroborated, and may be dated,” the official continues. “DOJ CES opines, however, that the SW’s meet the probable cause standard.” “Even as we continue down the path towards a search warrant, WFO believes that a reasonable conversation with the former president’s attorney, (stating that the FBI and DOJ are readying a search warrant, and have developed information that there are more documents at Mar a Lago), ought not to be discounted,” the official wrote. “At a minimum, even if the former president’s attorney is correct and the documents were all declassified (or believed to be declassified), it can be reasonably argued that the documents remain sensitive and should be properly secured until the matter of classification is sorted out,” the official continued. “This conversation could easily be accomplished at the same time that WFO presses forward with the investigation and continues building out the search warrant.” Weeks later, an FBI agent writes an email stating: “We haven’t generated any new facts, but keep being given draft after draft after draft.” “Absent a witness coming forward with recent information about classified on site, at what point is it fair to table this?” the agent writes. “It is time consuming for the team, and not productive if there are no new facts supporting PC (probable cause)?” Another email revealed that the FBI’s Washington Field Office did “not believe (and has articulated to DOJ CES), that we have established probable cause for the search warrant for classified records at Mar a Lago.” DOJ ASKS COURT TO UNSEAL MAR-A-LAGO RAID WARRANT; AG MERRICK GARLAND PERSONALLY SIGNED OFF ON TRUMP SEARCH “DOJ has opined that they do have probable cause, requesting a wide scope including residence, office, storage space,” an agent wrote. The FBI believed that a raid would be “counterproductive,” and suggested “alternative, less intrusive and likelier quicker options for resolution” to reclaim any potential classified records. The process moved forward, regardless of concerns. Another email on Aug. 4, 2022, revealed the plan for the execution of the warrant. “The FBI intends for the execution of the warrant to be handled in a professional, low key manner, and to be mindful of the optics of the search,” an agent writes. The agent quotes then-Deputy Assistant Attorney General George Toscas in a meeting. TRUMP HIGHLIGHTS BIDEN ADMIN AUTHORIZING ‘DEADLY USE OF FORCE’ IN MAR-A-LAGO RAID “Since we heard Mr. Toscas say yesterday in the call that he ‘frankly doesn’t give a damn about the optics’ and Mr. Bratt has already built an antagonistic relationship with (Trump) attorneys…I think it is more than fair to say that the DOJ contact with (Trump attorney) just prior to the execution of the warrant will not go well. DOJ said as much yesterday,” the agent writes. “I also think that it is fair to say that if FBI calls, having in mind officer safety, to the optics of the search, and the desire to conduct this search in a professional and low key manner, there is a far better chance that the execution will go more smoothly and we may actually gain some measure of cooperation, which could go some way to resolving the mishandling of classified records investigation that is being conducted.” The agent added: “I understand that this request may not go well at DOJ, however, it is the FBI serving and executing the search and it will be our personnel who will have to deal with the reaction to that first contact.” The FBI, in August 2022, raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, executing the search warrant as part of an investigation into his alleged improper retention of classified records after leaving the White House. Fox News Digital reported in 2024 that the Biden administration authorized the use of deadly force during the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago. That language was also used during the search of then-President Joe Biden’s residence for potential classified documents in 2023. An “Operations Order” produced in discovery as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s alleged improper retention of classified records revealed that the “FBI believed its objective for the Mar-a-Lago raid was to seize ‘classified information, NDI, and US Government records,’” as described in the search warrant. The order, according to a court filing, contained a “Policy Statement” regarding “Use of Deadly Force,” which stated, for example, “Law Enforcement officers of the Department of Justice may use deadly force when necessary.” According to the filing, the DOJ and FBI agents “planned to bring ‘Standard Issue Weapons,’ ‘Ammo,’ ‘Handcuffs,’ and ‘medium and large sized bolt cutters,’ but they were instructed to wear ‘unmarked polo or collared shirts’ and to keep ‘law enforcement equipment concealed.” TRUMP TARGETED: A LOOK AT THE INVESTIGATIONS INVOLVING THE FORMER PRESIDENT; FROM RUSSIA TO MAR-A-LAGO Fox News Digital first reported that during the raid, FBI
Kennedy urges GOP to restart spending battle amid soaring cost of living, warns against wasting majority
One Senate Republican is making the case that lawmakers aren’t using all the tools at their disposal to tackle affordability in the United States. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., wants Republicans to take another crack at budget reconciliation, the grueling, monthslong process used earlier this year to pass President Donald Trump’s crowning legislative achievement of 2025, and one that tested the unity of congressional Republicans. Kennedy wants to see the process used to eat into the cost of living in the country, which has proven a thorny issue for the GOP after Trump’s promises on the campaign trail to hack away at skyrocketing inflation that proved politically fatal, among other issues like immigration, for Democrats in last year’s election. SENATE MULLS NEXT STEPS AFTER DUELING OBAMACARE FIXES GO UP IN FLAMES But it’s a Pandora’s box that lawmakers have been hesitant to reopen after narrowly advancing the colossal tax package over the summer. “I have been preaching as persuasively as I can for months now that we need to do another reconciliation, and in that bill, we need to address things like rules and regulations, which add about $2 trillion to the cost of goods and services,” Kennedy said. He acknowledged that the process could be tricky, given that it is governed by the Byrd Rule, which nixes any provisions that don’t have a budgetary impact, but noted that lawmakers have at least two more attempts to take advantage of the process while Republicans still control both chambers of Congress. TRUMP INSISTS PRICES ARE ‘COMING DOWN,’ BLAMES BIDEN — BUT VOTERS SAY THEY’RE STILL GETTING SQUEEZED “And I am at a loss to understand why our leadership will not agree to another reconciliation,” he said. “If you went to Senator [Chuck] Schumer right now and said, ‘Schumer, Senator Schumer, you have the chance to pass anything you want to pass today within the parameters of Byrd, without having to depend on a single Republican vote,’ what do you think Chuck would do? He’d take a dozen, and I just don’t understand why we are not doing that.” Affordability and the cost of living have become a central focus for many on the Hill, particularly after dueling partisan proposals to tackle the impending hike to healthcare premiums and expiring Obamacare subsidies went down in flames last week. Lawmakers are still searching for a path forward on that front, with a bipartisan group led by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, meeting on Monday night to build a consensus between the parties. GOP ACCUSES DEMOCRATS OF MANUFACTURING AFFORDABILITY CRISIS AS OBAMACARE SUBSIDY FIGHT NEARS DEADLINE Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., one of the architects of Senate Republicans’ healthcare proposal that failed last week, told reporters, “The calendar precludes getting something done this week,” but was still optimistic about finding a way to deal with rising costs on the healthcare front. “But, still, a commitment to work together is a lot of progress,” he said. Still, Kennedy was ardent that lawmakers had spent little time since passing Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” taking advantage of their majority in Congress. “Yes, we passed the ‘one big, beautiful bill,’ that was July 1, five months ago, now, almost six months ago,” he said. “We need to act. And I’m hoping that after the holidays, my friend, Senator [John] Thune, and he is a friend, and I think he’s doing a great job, but I think Senator, I hope Senator Thune will relent and agree to another reconciliation bill that addresses the cost-of-living issue.”
DC mayor fires back at House Oversight Committee over ‘politically motivated’ crime statistics report
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser criticized an interim House Oversight Committee report on the city’s crime statistics, saying the findings were driven by politics rather than a complete investigation. Fox News Digital obtained a letter Bowser sent on Monday to House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., and ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif. “Since the outset, my Administration has fully cooperated with the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (Committee) investigation into allegations concerning publicly reported crime statistics by the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department,” Bowser said in part. “That cooperation was intended to educate the Committee about the complex subject of crime reporting, address the public misrepresentations about crime in the nation’s capital, and identify policies and processes that could be improved to ensure transparent, high-quality crime data. The Committee’s interim report is a disappointing rejection of that good faith approach and instead reflects a rush to judgement in order to serve a politically motivated timeline and release a report whose outcome appears to have been determined before the investigation began.” RANK-AND-FILE DC OFFICERS ACCUSE SUPERIORS OF DOWNGRADING CRIMES TO MASK REAL LEVELS: REPORT The committee’s 22-page report claims that outgoing Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Pamela Smith, who announced her resignation on Dec. 8, oversaw an unprecedented system of intervention in crime reporting. It alleges that Smith, who is expected to remain in the position through the end of the year, pressured commanders on numerous occasions, and at times instructed them to downgrade offenses and avoid classifications that would appear on the city’s daily crime report. The findings, based on eight transcribed interviews with MPD district commanders, describe a toxic management environment in which accuracy was sacrificed for optics, and career officials faced public humiliation or demotion for presenting Smith with unfavorable crime statistics. FIGHT OVER POLICING DC MOVES TO CONGRESS AS PARTIES SPLIT ON CONTROL Bowser defended Smith in her letter as an integral figure in helping reduce a 2023 spike in violent crime and homicides. She also noted that the committee did not interview Smith or any of MPD’s assistant chiefs before issuing its findings. “Even a cursory review of the report reveals its prejudice: of the 22 block quotes presented as complaining about Chief Smith’s management style, 20 of them were made by only two command officials interviewed,” Bowser wrote. The House Oversight investigation unfolded against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s federal crime crackdown in the nation’s capital. In August, Trump issued an executive order to address the “epidemic of crime” in the district and deployed federal law enforcement personnel, including the National Guard. Bowser said the district is committed to publishing accurate, high-quality crime statistics. “The pressure public leaders should all feel to reduce crime and the fear of crime in our communities will never be an acceptable excuse to intentionally alter and downgrade crime, and any police official who believes otherwise will be held accountable,” she added.
Obamas planned to meet Reiners on night they were killed, former first lady reveals
The Obamas were scheduled to meet Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, on the night they were killed, former first lady Michelle Obama revealed on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Monday. Michelle Obama said she and her husband, former President Barack Obama, were close friends with the late couple and described them as “some of the most decent, courageous people you ever want to know.” “My God. We’ve known them for many, many years, and we were supposed to be seeing them that night — last night. And we got the news,” she said. “And let me just say this: unlike some people, Rob and Michele Reiner are some of the most decent, courageous people you ever want to know,” she continued. ROB REINER AND WIFE MURDERED: TIMELINE SHOWS ARGUMENT WITH SON NIGHT BEFORE DEATHS “They are not — they’re not deranged or crazed,” the former first lady added. “What they have always been are passionate people in a time when there’s not a lot of courage going on.” Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Reiner, 68, were discovered stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home on Sunday. Their son, Nick Reiner, was arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with their deaths, according to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. He is being held without bail after it was previously set at $4 million. Michelle Obama went on to say the Reiners “were the kind of people who were ready to put their actions behind what they cared about.” 2 PEOPLE FOUND DEAD INSIDE HOME OF HOLLYWOOD DIRECTOR ROB REINER IN AFFLUENT LOS ANGELES NEIGHBORHOOD “And they cared about their family, and they cared about this country, and they cared about fairness and equity,” she said. “And that is the truth. I do know them.” Earlier Tuesday, former President Barack Obama released a statement expressing his condolences on the couple’s deaths. Obama wrote that he and Michelle are “heartbroken by the tragic passing of Rob Reiner and his beloved wife, Michele.” “Rob’s achievements in film and television gave us some of our most cherished stories on screen,” he said. “But beneath all of the stories he produced was a deep belief in the goodness of people — and a lifelong commitment to putting that belief into action. Together, he and his wife lived lives defined by purpose. They will be remembered for the values they championed and the countless people they inspired. We send our deepest condolences to all who loved them.”
Democrats unite against Sydney terror — but Fetterman warns party’s anti-Israel rift boiling over
Members of the Democratic Party were quick to condemn the horrific Hanukkah attack in Australia, but one senator says their response clashes with years of anti-Israel rhetoric inside the party. Sunday’s mass shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach left at least 15 people dead and dozens wounded. Australian authorities labeled the shooting an act of terrorism targeting the Jewish community. It sparked swift condemnation from top party politicians, from the center to the left, as well as a chorus of calls by leading Democrats to combat antisemitism. But Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, a fierce supporter of Israel, warned of consequences for his party’s discord over the more than two years of fighting between the Jewish state and Hamas in Gaza. The senator criticized fellow Democrats for embracing what he called openly hostile, anti-Israel rhetoric that he said is now “becoming more and more part of my party’s platform.” Fetterman’s comments come as the attack is likely to intensify pressure on the party, which is already facing internal fractures over the Israel–Hamas conflict that could define its 2026 electoral messaging. WERE WARNINGS IGNORED IN AUSTRALIA TERROR ATTACK ? In the hours after this weekend’s mass shooting in Australia, Democrats instantly joined Republicans in raising warnings about the rising tide of antisemitism. “As I have warned repeatedly, antisemitism is a scourge around the world that must be condemned loudly and fought vigorously at every turn,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who is Jewish, wrote. And House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., emphasized, “It is our collective responsibility to aggressively eradicate the poison of antisemitism whenever and wherever it is found.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is considered a potential top-tier contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, wrote, “We stand with the Jewish community worldwide against a rising tide of antisemitic violence and hate.” EYEWITNESS TO AUSTRALIA TERROR ATTACK DESCRIBES ‘PANDEMONIUM’ DURING DEADLY SHOOTING AT HANUKKAH EVENT Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, another high-profile Democrat who may seek the White House in the next presidential election cycle, highlighted, “Antisemitism has no place in this world.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, a progressive champion who could potentially run for president in 2028, said she was “horrified by the attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia. My thoughts are with the victims and our Jewish communities in NYC mourning. As antisemitism rises across the world, we have a moral obligation to stamp it out everywhere it exists.” And Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin, in a statement, said, “We must all vigorously condemn antisemitism and hate at every turn, and the perpetrators of these evil acts must be brought to justice.” While condemnation of the attacks was uniform among Democrats, the party has been anything but unified when it comes to bloodshed in Gaza, which was sparked by the bloody Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel. Nearly 1,200 people in Israel were killed after Hamas ambushed them, with over 250 people taken hostage. In the more than two years since the attack, over 70,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, were killed during Israel’s military response, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza. Tensions between Democrats over the fighting flared at the DNC’s summer meeting in August, as a party committee voted on a symbolic resolution calling for an arms embargo and suspension of U.S. military aid to Israel, which has long been the top American ally in the Middle East. The divide among Democrats has Fetterman befuddled. Pointing to anti-Israel comments from some on the left, Fetterman said this weekend in an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” “I can’t imagine why so many parts of people in my party continue to back away or to kind of deflect… condemning these kinds of horrific acts of terrorism.”
Comer warns contempt as Clintons face January dates for Epstein-probe depositions
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is delaying Bill and Hillary Clinton’s depositions before Congress until January. In a letter sent to their attorney on Monday evening, Comer warned that a failure to appear for their new dates would result in immediate contempt of Congress proceedings. “They’re saying now that he’s going to a funeral on that day, so we’ve been going back and forth with the lawyer,” Comer told Fox News Digital the same evening. “We’re going to hold him in contempt if he doesn’t show up for his deposition.” The letter said, however, that they failed to provide “alternative dates” for their testimonies. COMER ACCUSES OVERSIGHT DEMS OF ‘CHERRY-PICKING’ EPSTEIN ISLAND FILES: ‘CHASING HEADLINES’ “Therefore, the Committee has chosen the date of January 13, 2026, for the deposition of President Clinton and January 14, 2026, for the deposition of Secretary Clinton. If your clients do not comply with these new dates, the Committee will move immediately to contempt proceedings,” the letter said. The Clintons were originally subpoenaed over the summer to testify in the House Oversight Committee’s probe into Jeffrey Epstein. They were part of a long list of former presidential administration officials called in for closed-door meetings with the panel’s lawyers. EPSTEIN BOASTED HE BRIEFED RUSSIAN DIPLOMAT ON HOW TO HANDLE TRUMP IN NEWLY RELEASED EMAILS To date, just two people have shown up in person — former Trump administration Attorney General Bill Barr and former Trump administration Labor Secretary Alex Acosta. Others have deferred their subpoena dates or opted to send in written statements due to various personal matters, but it appears Comer is not allowing the Clintons to sidestep an in-person grilling. In his letter, the Republican leader even went so far as to criticize the Clintons’ lawyer for asking for the same treatment. “Your correspondence with the Committee continues to ignore the Committee’s arguments, misstates relevant facts, and seeks information about the Committee’s investigation to which neither you nor your clients are entitled,” the letter said. “As the Committee stated clearly in its November 21, 2025, letter to you, the Committee’s decision to forego in-person depositions for certain other individuals was because those individuals ‘lacked any relevant information to the Committee’s investigation or otherwise had serious health issues that prevented their testimony.’” Comer said the former president and former secretary of state “are not similarly situated and therefore your argument that they are receiving unfair treatment — which you continue to repeat — is baseless.” VIRGINIA GIUFFRE’S MEMOIR RECOUNTS RAPE BY FORMER PRIME MINISTER; EPSTEIN’S TIES TO BILL CLINTON, TRUMP “For example, unlike these other individuals, President Clinton and Secretary Clinton had a personal relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell,” he wrote. Photos and other documents released by the committee so far have shown Bill Clinton and other powerful figures, including President Donald Trump, socializing with Epstein to varying degrees. Both Bill Clinton and Trump were shown to have handwritten entries in a book compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday, though until then much of the media scrutiny had been focused on Trump’s entry alone. Neither of the Clintons have been implicated in any wrongdoing related to Epstein, however, and their social engagements with him appear to have ended long before his 2019 federal indictment on sex trafficking charges and subsequent suicide.