Johnson floats defunding special counsel’s office amid Jack Smith’s Trump probe
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., floated the possibility of defunding the U.S. Office of Special Counsel on Wednesday, the day after he pledged to “rein in” Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into former President Trump. “There’s a lot of different ideas. People are alarmed that the special counsel, in that capacity, has been abused in recent years,” Johnson said in answer to a Fox News Digital question at his weekly press conference. “How does Congress correct that error and ensure that a special counsel is not abusing their authority? You know, we have oversight, of course, we also have the power of the purse.” Johnson became the highest ranking congressional lawmaker to support Trump in person Tuesday at the Manhattan courthouse, where the former president is facing a criminal trial related to accusations that he falsified business documents to cover up hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. MICHAEL COHEN TESTIFIES HE SECRETLY RECORDED TRUMP IN LEAD-UP TO 2016 ELECTION That trial is unrelated to Smith’s probes into Trump in connection with the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents, but Johnson lambasted those investigations as well in comments to reporters after his court attendance. He pledged on Tuesday, “I’m working with Chairman [Jim] Jordan of the House Judiciary Committee and Chairman [James] Comer of our Oversight Committee on measures to rein in the abuses of Special Counsel Jack Smith.” Asked by Fox News Digital on Wednesday what that looked like, Johnson said, “There’s a lot of different ideas being discussed now on what that would look like. Do you defund the entire Special Counsel’s Office?” MICHAEL COHEN’S CREDIBILITY ISSUES, BRAZEN TIKTOK USAGE RAISE MEDIA EYEBROWS AHEAD OF TESTIMONY “What most people don’t realize is that is not funded in the regular appropriations process. It’s a separate, distinct account, and it’s effectively…funded autopilot,” Johnson said. He said House Republicans would continue “actively discussing” various avenues to hold Smith accountable “even today.” It’s not the first time Johnson has criticized Smith’s investigations or dismissed them as political operations. But his comments on Wednesday came after he poured cold water on calls to take Smith’s funding away in a Politico interview last week. NY V TRUMP: COHEN TESTIFIES TO PAYING STORMY DANIELS FROM HIS OWN POCKET “That’s not something you wave a wand and just eliminate the special counsel as a provision,” Johnson told the outlet. “There is a necessity for a function like that, because sometimes the Department of Justice – which is an executive branch agency – can’t necessarily, without a conflict of interest, investigate or prosecute the president who’s their boss, or the president’s family.” When reached for comment on the different statements, Johnson’s office referred Fox News Digital back to the speaker’s comments in the press conference and to a recent X post when he pledged to “rein in” Smith. Fox News Digital also reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
Pro-life activist sentenced to nearly 5 years in prison in ‘shocking’ outcome: ‘Not the America I know’
Two pro-life activists were sentenced to several years in prison Tuesday on charges of conspiracy against rights and violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act) stemming from a 2020 “rescue action” at a Washington, D.C.-based abortion clinic. Lauren Handy, 30, was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison for organizing the protest, while co-defendant John Hinshaw, 69, was sentenced to a year and nine months. Handy and Hinslaw, along with seven others convicted on the same charges, blocked access to the Washington Surgi-Clinic on Oct. 22, 2020 while chaining themselves to furniture inside the clinic, according to the indictment. The hourslong protest was livestreamed on one of the protester’s Facebook accounts. “Our ‘crime’ was ‘attempting to stop the slaughter of late-term babies in the Santangelo abortion mill in Washington, D.C.,’” Hinslaw said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital. “Additionally, the importance of these sentences cannot be overstated, since never before has ‘peaceful civil disobedience’ faced such legal violence as our federal law enforcement is now practicing!” PRO-LIFE ACTIVISTS FOUND GUILTY ON CONSPIRACY CHARGES FOR 2020 ‘RESCUE ACTION’ AT DC CLINIC During the jury trial last year, Handy and another co-defendant, Herb Geraghty, referenced pro-life organization Live Action’s “Inhuman: Undercover in America’s Late-Term Abortion Industry” video as influencing their decision to participate in the blockade. One part of the video, released a decade ago, shows Santangelo telling an undercover woman if she went into labor and delivered before the “termination part of the procedure” was carried out, “then we would not help it.” Following the indictment, remains of apparently aborted unborn babies were found in Handy’s Washington home, prosecutors said. According to the October 2022 indictment, using a fabricated identity, Handy secured an appointment at the clinic, and as a clinic staff member opened the door, pro-life activists emerged from the building’s emergency stairwell and invaded the facility. The incident resulted in an altercation that led to a clinic employee being hospitalized for an ankle injury, prosecutors said. FOR A LOUISIANA LAWMAKER, EXEMPTING INCEST AND RAPE FROM THE STATE’S ABORTION BAN IS PERSONAL Prosecutors argued the pro-life activists violated the 1994 FACE Act, a federal law that prohibits physical force, threats of force, or intentionally damaging property to prevent someone from obtaining or providing abortion services. Defense lawyers asked for a prison sentence of one year for Handy, who has been jailed since her August 2023 conviction. When Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly read the “shocking” sentence, it was “a bit surreal,” said Steve Crampton, senior counsel at the Thomas Moore Society in a Fox News Digital interview Wednesday. “This is not the America I know,” said Crampton, who represented Handy in the case. “Not only did the judge read out this really harsh sentence, but she had the audacity to lecture Lauren Handy about her lack of compassion for the women who were going in to kill their children.” Crampton compared the pro-life activists’ demonstration to that of the current anti-Israel demonstrations that have been occurring on college campuses for weeks. “The contrast here with the Pro-Palestine folks shutting down the colleges and even preventing graduation ceremonies, and blocking entire highways and interstates in addition to the ongoing attacks… yet there are virtually no ongoing investigations. I think there’s kind of a palpable sense of selective prosecution elements that can’t be ignored here.” FORMER POP STAR SHARES ABORTION REGRET: ‘I HAVE A GRAMMY BUT NONE OF IT WILL BRING MY CHILDREN BACK’ The judge told Handy that she was being punished for her actions, not her beliefs. “The law does not protect violent nor obstructive conduct, nor should it,” Kollar-Kotelly said. Prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of roughly six years for Handy. They described her as an anti-abortion extremist who was a “criminal mastermind” behind the Washington invasion and similar attacks on other clinics. “Her strongly held anti-abortion beliefs led her to devise a plan to block access to the Surgi-clinic,” prosecutors wrote. “The blockade, which was broadcast to Handy’s legion of followers, encouraged others to commit similar crimes, publicized her own offense, and traumatized the victims.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.
ED arrests Jharkhand Minister Alamgir Alam in money laundering case
ED arrests Jharkhand Minister Alamgir Alam in money laundering case.
‘Huge problem’: Vulnerable Dem senator ripped after interview resurfaces touting similarity with Biden
Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown is facing heat both online and from his political opponents over a resurfaced clip where he explains that the policies of President Biden are “not much different” than his. “I’ve known him well enough over really decades now, I think he predictably will fight for workers, he will be an appealing presence in Ohio,” Brown told WKYC Channel 3 during an interview in January 2021, shortly before Biden’s inauguration. “I know he lost Ohio. Ohio, as you point out Stephanie, is increasingly harder for a Democrat to win but I won here decisively only a couple years ago, Joe Biden’s politics now are not much different from mine and I think people will get to more and more appreciate the work he does to help people get jobs, to raise wages, to provide health and pension benefits to people and the small businesses to provide those jobs increasingly and that will matter.” The resurfaced clip from the interview three years ago sparked criticism from many conservatives in light of Brown’s highly watched re-election campaign in a state then-President Trump won by 8 points in 2020 that many believe represents one of the best chances Republicans have to re-take control of the Senate in November. VULNERABLE DEM SENATOR BLASTED OVER VOTING RECORD AFTER AD TOUTS STRENGTH ON IMMIGRATION: ‘WON’T BE FOOLED’ “And that right there folks is a huge problem,” conservative communicator Steve Guest posted on X along with the clip. “Sherrod is going to spend the next 6 months lying to Ohio voters and pretending that he doesn’t vote with Biden virtually 100% of the time,” Donald Trump Jr. posted on X. “Don’t fall for his lies!” A spokesperson for businessman Bernie Moreno, Brown’s Republican opponent in November, told Fox News Digital, “No matter how hard he may try, Sherrod Brown can’t run from his record as a rubber-stamp for Joe Biden’s disastrous left-wing agenda.” VULNERABLE DEM SENATOR RIPPED FOR IGNORING QUESTIONS ABOUT BIDEN’S PUSH TO ‘BAN’ GAS-POWERED CARS “Voting with Biden 99% of the time, Brown has helped create record inflation, a war on American energy, and an unprecedented invasion at our southern border. In November, Ohioans will retire Biden and Brown and send new leadership to D.C.” Philip Letsou, spokesperson for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told Fox News Digital, “Sherrod Brown is right, there’s no difference at all between him and Joe Biden.” “That’s why Brown votes with Biden 99% of the time, working hand-in-hand to turbocharge inflation with massive spending bills, open the southern border, and flood the country with Chinese fentanyl,” Letsou added. Brown’s race is one of four Senate races, along with Montana, Arizona, and Nevada, that the Cook Political Report ranks as a “toss up” and most political analysts believe President Biden’s record and low approval numbers will play a significant role in each of those races. “Sherrod works for Ohio, which is why he’s stood up to presidents of both parties to block bad trade deals, worked with Republicans to make sure border patrol agents and law enforcement officers have the resources they need, and demanded the Biden Administration crack down on Chinese solar products that undercut Ohio manufacturers,” Friends of Sherrod Brown spokesperson Matt Keyes told Fox News Digital. The campaign pointed to several examples of Brown taking policy positions different from Biden’s, including opposing the expiration of Title 42, calling on Biden to ban chinese electric vehicles and opposing Biden’s suspension of tariffs on Chinese solar power.
Justice Alito warns college students that ‘support for freedom of speech is declining’
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is warning students that “support for freedom of speech is declining” — especially on American college campuses. Alito made the remark over the weekend during a commencement speech at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio. Anti-Israel protests have been rocking college campuses nationwide. “Right now in the world outside this beautiful campus, troubled waters are slamming against some of our most fundamental principles. Support for freedom of speech is declining, dangerously,” Alito said Saturday. “Especially where it should find broadest and widest acceptance.” “In a book called The Idea of a University, St. John Henry Newman saw the university as a place for reason to debate. Today, very few colleges live up to that ideal,” he continued. “This place is one of the few that does and you are very fortunate to have had that experience.” CLARENCE THOMAS SAYS HE RECEIVES ‘NASTINESS’ FROM CRITICS, DESCRIBES D.C. AS A ‘HIDEOUS PLACE’ Alito also told students that religious liberty is being “threatened.” “When you venture out into the world, you may find yourself in a job, or a community or a social setting where you will be pressured to endorse ideas you don’t believe, or to abandon core beliefs. It will be up to you to stand firm… it will be up to you to speak out,” he said. Alito spoke as the Supreme Court is weighing a number of high-profile cases, including whether former President Trump can claim presidential immunity against criminal charges brought by the Biden Justice Department. JUSTICE ALITO QUESTIONS WHETHER PRESIDENTS WILL HAVE TO FEAR ‘BITTER POLITICAL OPPONENT’ THROWING THEM IN JAIL In late April, Alito questioned the repercussions of charging a former president as arguments were being presented in that case. “Now if an incumbent who loses a very close, hotly contested election knows that a real possible nullity after leaving office is not that the president is going to be able to go off into a peaceful retirement, but that the president may be criminally prosecuted by a bitter political opponent, will that not lead us into a cycle that destabilizes the functioning of our country as a democracy?” he said. “And we can look around the world and find countries where we have seen this process, where the loser gets thrown in jail,” Alito added. Fox News’ Brianna Herlihy and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Missouri AG working to crackdown on businesses hiring illegal immigrants
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is moving to crackdown on businesses that hire illegal immigrants, vowing to “fill the vacuum created by the federal government’s ineptitude” when it comes to illegal immigration. Bailey’s office recently began investigating a complaint that a state business was employing illegal immigrants. The AG’s office has given the business 15 days to provide appropriate proof of citizenship and eligibility to work for all of their employees. “In the State of Missouri, we respect and honor our businesses. They are the engines of economic growth that drive the establishment of successful communities. We honor, too, the dedicated employees who produce prosperity with their hard work, skill, and devotion,” Bailey’s office wrote in a letter to the business that was shared with Fox News Digital. “At the same time, the State of Missouri has a responsibility to ensure that workers, employers, and businesses are complying with Missouri law,” the letter continued. “Otherwise, the rule of law is undermined, and there is a potential for abuse, mistreatment, and unfairness. Upholding the rule of law is essential to ensuring that our business communities continue to thrive in this state.” ‘EXCELLENT SWIMMERS’: DEM MAYOR FLOATS MIGRANTS AS SOLUTION FOR CITY’S LIFEGUARD SHORTAGE If the employer is found to have violated Missouri law regarding the employment of “unauthorized aliens,” the business may be subject to the loss of its business license, permit, or exemptions, as well as other penalties, Bailey stated. Bailey said individual states have been left to “stand in the gap as the federal government refuses to act.” ‘ENOUGH’: CONTROVERSIAL ID PROGRAM FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TARGETED BY GOP SENATOR Bailey continued, “Since 2021, more than eight million illegal immigrants have entered the United States. That is more than the population of Missouri. These numbers are not an accident. There is only one reason eight million people illegally cross a sovereign nation’s border: because they know they can get away with it. Since the Biden Administration’s inception, there has been an orchestrated lack of enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws.” Back in June, Missouri joined an 18-state coalition in filing suit against the Biden administration for its proposed new “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways,” which allowed “vast numbers of aliens to enter the country and receive instant work authorization and quick access to public benefits.” “The situation at the southern border is out of control, all thanks to Joe Biden,” Bailey previously said. “He refuses to carry out his constitutionally mandated responsibilities, so we’re taking him to court to force him to do his job.” BIDEN TORCHED BY REPUBLICANS FOR TOUGHER IMMIGRATION RULE AHEAD OF NOVEMBER ELECTION Bailey added that under the law, the States would be forced to bear the cost of illegal immigrants in the country. “In the midst of the worst border crisis in our nation’s history, the Defendants are attempting to implement a final rule that will further degrade our nation’s border security and make it even easier to illegally immigrate into the United States,” Bailey previously stated. Similarly, last week, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird slammed the Biden administration and argued every state is a border state as the Biden administration has failed to secure the country’s southern border. Bird told “FOX & Friends” that Iowa will defend immigration laws despite the Department of Justice threatening to sue the state.
Immigration judges ramp up pace closing deportation cases, but backlog explodes as border crisis grows
U.S. immigration judges have completed over half a million new cases this year, putting them on pace to set a new record. The immigration court backlog has grown from 2.8 million at the end of Fiscal Year 2023 to nearly 3.6 million in FY 2024, with immigration judges being unable to keep up with the current flow of new cases into the system, according to data collected by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a nonpartisan data gathering organization that tracks immigration cases and backlogs. The newest TRAC report, which was released last week, shows that 3.6 million migrants have pending deportation cases, with 1.3 million of those having filed asylum applications with the immigration court system as of the end of April. DHS’ FAILURE TO FILE PAPERWORK HAS LED TO 200K IMMIGRATION COURT CASES TOSSED UNDER PRESIDENT BIDEN: TRAC The number of new cases filed as well as the number of cases completed by immigration judges are both on pace to exceed all-time highs this year, the TRAC report notes, though the pace of completions will be unable to stem the growing backlog. “Our system was never created to deal with the numbers we’re seeing,” Alfonso Aguilar, the director of Hispanic Engagement at the American Principles Project, told Fox News Digital. “We’re never going to have enough judges to process these cases.” The report comes after a TRAC report in March found that about 200,000 deportation cases have been thrown out since President Biden took office after the Department of Homeland Security failed to file the required “Notice to Appear” in time for a scheduled hearing. Aguilar believes the backlog of cases can also be traced back to the administration’s policies, arguing that the current administration will allow immigrants to “stay here indefinitely.” BIDEN’S REVERSAL OF TRUMP POLICIES CREATED BORDER CRISIS, EXPERT SAYS: ‘INTENTIONALLY UNSECURED IT’ “The dramatic spike in cases is due to the administration’s efforts to facilitate asylum fraud,” he said. “Most of the people who are requesting asylum at the border and are being allowed in have no legitimate claim to it.” Aguilar’s comments were echoed by Lora Ries, the director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration center. “The DOJ appears to be closing more immigration cases — but those cases only exist because of the historic number of illegal aliens that have poured into the country on Biden’s watch,” Ries told Fox News Digital. “When Biden came into office, 1.2 million cases were pending at the DOJ. Now, that number is 3.6 million. Only halfway into this current fiscal year, DHS has added more than 1.3 million new cases to the court’s docket. That’s more than were pending in total when Biden began.” But reached for comment by Fox News Digital, a White House spokesperson argued that the blame for the situation at the border falls on Congress. ‘FEARMONGERING’: CHINESE MIGRANT SURGE HEARING DISMISSED BY HOUSE DEMS DESPITE NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS “The Administration spent months negotiating in good faith to deliver the toughest and fairest bipartisan border security bill in decades because we need Congress to make significant policy reforms and to provide additional funding to secure our border and fix our broken immigration system,” the spokesperson said. “The agreement would have added 100 new immigration judge teams to help reduce the asylum caseload backlog and adjudicate cases more quickly.” The lack of an official ruling has left some migrants in legal limbo, unable to apply for asylum or obtain the work permit that often accompanies such a claim. ICE AGENTS BLAST LA’S ‘FRUSTRATING’ SANCTUARY POLICIES AS THEY WORK TO NAB CRIMINAL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS In cases that do reach a decision, the most recent TRAC report notes that immigration judges have issued removal or voluntary departure orders in 35.7% of the completed cases so far this year. A removal order, otherwise known as a deportation order, allows a migrant to be removed by immigration authorities, while a voluntary order gives a migrant a certain amount of time to voluntarily leave the country. If the migrant fails to follow the order or reenters the country illegally again, that order would then become a removal order. The report notes that Miami-Dade County in Florida had the most residents with pending deportation cases, while Colorado had the highest proportion of people ordered to leave the country. Meanwhile, immigrants from Honduras topped the list of most orders to depart the country, the report notes.
Biden calls Trump a ‘loser,’ wonders if former president ‘injected bleach’
President Biden mocked his GOP rival on Tuesday during his speech at the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies’ (APAICS) gala. Biden mentioned former President Donald Trump while offering a list of policy initiatives, saying Trump personally called Republicans to kill a bipartisan border agreement earlier this year. “That bipartisan bill has majority support in the House and Senate. But I was told, that other guy, that loser,” Biden told the guests to a round of laughter. TRUMP UNLEASHES ON ‘FASCISTS’ IN DEM PARTY AFTER ‘VERY GOOD DAY’ OF TRIAL The president continued, “I think he’s having trouble. Trump called Republicans to block that Senate bill, got on the phone and said it’d be a win for Biden and a loser for him, so they have to make sure you don’t allow it to get to a vote.” Trump was a vocal opponent of the White House-backed bipartisan bill, claiming it was a Trojan Horse for unrelated spending. He claimed Biden already possessed the necessary executive powers to end the crisis without further legislation. “The so-called border security deal Biden is gushing out and pushing out is not designed to stop illegal immigration,” the Republican claimed. “It’s designed to continue the invasion of America while sending billions of dollars to Ukraine and other countries.” REPORTS OF BIDEN WHITE HOUSE KEEPING ‘SENSITIVE’ HAMAS INTEL FROM ISRAEL DRAWS OUTRAGE Later on in the speech, Biden returned to talking about his GOP rival in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden claimed Trump had encouraged the US public to “inject bleach” to cure the disease. “Look, I’ll never forget him lying about the pandemic, telling Americans to inject bleach into their skin,” Biden said Tuesday. “I wonder if he did it. It might explain something.” Trump referenced an unspecified “disinfectant” that he was learning about which could be injected to combat coronavirus. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning?” the then-president said. “As you see, it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.” Trump never mentioned bleach, and later clarified, “It wouldn’t be through injections — almost a cleaning and sterilization of an area. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t work, but it certainly has a big effect if it’s on a stationary object.” Trump called the Democratic Party a group of “fascists” on Tuesday following a “very good day” in court, which included continued testimony from his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen.
Trump accepts Biden offer to debate him in June and September
Former President Trump accepted President Biden’s offer to debate him on television in June and September. The proposal was outlined by the Biden-Harris campaign in a letter to the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates on Wednesday morning. It abandoned the decades-old tradition of three fall meetings organized by the debate commission. “Crooked Joe Biden is the worst debater I have ever faced—he can’t put two sentences together,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “Crooked is also the worst president in the history of the United States, by far.” Trump told Fox News Digital that “it is time for a debate to take place—even if it has to be held through the offices of the Commission on Presidential Debates, which are totally controlled by Democrats and who, as people remember, got caught cheating with me with debate sound levels.” TRUMP URGES BIDEN TO FOLLOW THROUGH WITH DEBATE PROMISE: ‘I’M READY TO GO ANYWHERE’ “I’m ready to go,” Trump said. “The dates that they proposed are fine. Anywhere. Anytime. Any place. Let’s see if Joe can make it to the stand-up podium.” BIDEN GIVES 3-WORD RESPONSE WHEN ASKED WHEN HE’LL DEBATE TRUMP “The proposed June and early September dates are fully acceptable to me,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “I will provide my own transportation.” In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital, the Biden-Harris campaign proposed that the first debate be in late June, after Trump’s New York criminal trial is likely to be over and after Biden returns from meeting with world leaders at the G7 Summit. A second presidential debate would occur in September prior to the beginning of early voting. The campaign proposed a vice presidential debate to occur in late July after the Republicans nominate their vice presidential candidate. “Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020. Since then, he hasn’t shown up for a debate. Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, pal,” Biden said in a video message shared earlier Wednesday morning. “I’ll even do it twice. So let’s pick the dates, Donald. I hear you’re free on Wednesdays.” Echoing his sentiments expressed to Fox News Digital, Trump also took to TRUTH Social in a post Wednesday. This is a developing news story. Check back for updates.
CAA: Centre issues first set of citizenship certificates, 14 people granted Indian nationality
Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla handed over the certificates to the 14 people after their applications were processed online through a designated portal, an official spokesperson said.