“I just don’t really recognize the Republican Party”: Ousted state Rep. Steve Allison goes down swinging
Allison lost his primary last year, after being targeted by his party over his vote to kill school vouchers.
Biden says he is still considering pre-emptive pardons for Trump targets Liz Cheney, Fauci and others
President Biden said he was still considering pre-emptive pardons for President-elect Donald Trump’s political foes, such as former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Dr. Anthony Fauci, during his final interview with a print publication before leaving the White House. The interview, conducted over the weekend in the Oval Office by USA Today’s Washington Bureau chief Susan Page, was released Wednesday morning. Biden told Page during the discussion that he was still unsure whether to offer pre-emptive pardons to potential Trump targets, including Cheney, Fauci and others. Biden added during the interview that when he met with Trump following his November election victory, he urged the president-elect not to “try to settle scores.” TWO FEDERAL DEATH ROW INMATES REFUSE BIDEN’S COMMUTATION IN CONTINUED FIGHT TO PROVE THEIR INNOCENCE “He didn’t say, ‘No, I’m going to…’ You know. He didn’t reinforce it. He just basically listened,” Biden told Page. Reports of potential pre-emptive pardons for people who could face Trump’s political wrath started to surface after Biden pardoned his son, Hunter, following his conviction on felony gun and tax charges. The pardon came after Biden said he was not considering such a move. Biden continued handing out pardons and commutations during the waning days of his presidency. Last month, he set a record for the largest single-day act of clemency when he commuted the sentences of roughly 1,500 people in mid-December. Some Democrats have warned the move to issue additional broad-based pardons for Trump’s political targets – on Biden’s way out the door – could set a dangerous precedent. Meanwhile, others have publicly advocated for the pardons over fear of what Trump might do. One of the public officials who Biden has reportedly been considering for one of the pre-emptive pardons, Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told CNN Monday that he did not want to see every president going forward handing out broad-based, blanket pardons. However, Schiff stopped short of saying whether he would decline such a pardon if it were offered to him. BIDEN CLAMS HE ‘MEANT WHAT I SAID’ WITH PROMISE NOT TO PLEDGE HUNTER, HOPES IT DOESN’T SET PRECEDENT Other lawmakers, such as Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., signaled support for Biden issuing pre-emptive pardons. “I think that without question, Trump is going to try to act in a dictatorial way, in a fascistic way, in a revengeful [way his] first year … towards individuals who he believes harmed him,” Markey told Boston Public Radio following Trump’s November election victory. “If it’s clear by January 19th that [revenge] is his intention, then I would recommend to President Biden that he provide those preemptive pardons to people, because that’s really what our country is going to need next year.” Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
Meta ending 3rd-party fact checkers ‘transformative,’ but other legal issues remain, says expert
The decision by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to end Facebook’s work with third-party fact-checkers and ease some of its content restrictions is a potentially “transformative” moment for the platform, experts said, but one that is unlikely to shield the company from liability in ongoing court proceedings. The updates were announced by Zuckerberg, who said in a video that the previous content restrictions used on Facebook and Instagram — which were put into place after the 2016 elections — had “gone too far” and allowed for too much political bias from outside fact-checkers. Meta will now replace that system with a “Community Notes”-style program, similar to the approach taken by social media platform X, he said. X is owned by Elon Musk, the co-director of the planned Department of Government Efficiency. “We’ve reached a point where it’s just too many mistakes and too much censorship,” Zuckerberg said. “The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point toward once again prioritizing speech. So we are going to get back to our roots, focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies, and restoring free expression on our platforms.” META ENDS FACT-CHECKING PROGRAM AS ZUCKERBERG VOWS TO RESTORE FREE EXPRESSION ON FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM The news was praised by President-elect Donald Trump, who told Fox News Digital that he thought Meta’s presentation “was excellent.” “They have come a long way,” Trump said. Still, it is unlikely to ease the legal liability for Meta, which in recent months has been hit with the possibility of a multibillion-dollar class action lawsuit stemming from a privacy scandal involving the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. The Supreme Court in November rejected Meta’s effort to block the lawsuit, leaving in place an appellate court ruling that allowed the class action suit to move forward. Meta has also been the target of multiple Republican-led investigations in Congress. Republicans on the House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government probed Meta’s activity and communication with the federal government and the Biden administration last year as part of a broader investigation into alleged censorship. The platform also came under scrutiny by the House Oversight Committee in August, as part of an investigation into claims that the platform suppressed information about the July 13 assassination attempt of Trump. MORE THAN 100 FORMER JUSTICE DEPT OFFICIALS URGE SENATE TO CONFIRM PAM BONDI AS AG Combined, these factors make it unlikely that Meta will see its legal problems go away anytime soon, law professor and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley told Fox News Digital in an interview. “Facebook is now looking at a tough patch ahead,” he said. “Not only do the Republicans carry both houses of Congress as well as the White House, but there is ongoing litigation in the social media case in Texas.” Additionally, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority is also unlikely to be sympathetic to the views of Meta in any case centered on First Amendment protections and rights to free speech. The House investigations and litigation have both forced more of Meta’s actions into public view— something Turley said expects to come under further scrutiny in the discovery process in Missouri v. Biden, a case that centers on allegations of political censorship. “That discovery is still revealing new details,” Turley said. “So Meta understood that in the coming months, more details would be forthcoming on its censorship program.” Still, he said, this “could be a transformative moment,” Turley said. “And an alliance of Zuckerberg with [Elon] Musk could turn the tide in this fight over free speech,” Turley said. “And as one of Zuckerberg’s most vocal critics I welcome him to this fight.”
AG Merrick Garland intends to release Special Counsel Jack Smith report on Trump election case
Attorney General Merrick Garland will release Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on the 2020 election interference case against President-elect Trump, according to a court filing. The Department of Justice told the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Wednesday that Garland intends to release Volume One of Smith’s final report to Congress and the public, which covers the allegations that Trump attempted to illegally undo the results of the 2020 presidential election. However, Garland will not release Volume Two, which covers the classified documents case against Trump, as two defendants in that case still face criminal proceedings. Only the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees will be permitted to view Volume Two, and they will be prohibited from discussing the report publicly. “This limited disclosure will further the public interest in keeping congressional leadership apprised of a significant matter within the Department while safeguarding defendants’ interests,” Justice Department attorneys said in response to a motion to stop the report from being released. FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH FROM RELEASING FINAL REPORT It is customary for special counsels to release a final report, detailing the findings of their investigation and explaining any prosecution or declination decisions they reached. In Smith’s case, the prosecution decision is immaterial, given Trump’s status as president-elect and long-standing Justice Department policy against bringing criminal charges against a sitting president. Smith planned to release his final report sometime this month, as early as the end of this week. He will resign from his position before Trump takes office on Jan. 20. However, Trump co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira filed an emergency motion to block the reported imminent release of Smith’s final report. FORMER TRUMP CO-DEFENDANTS WANT JUDGE TO BLOCK SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH REPORT U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida Aileen Cannon on Tuesday ruled in favor of Nauta and De Oliveira to “prevent irreparable harm.” Cannon said Smith is “temporarily enjoined” from “releasing, sharing, or transmitting the Final Report or any drafts of such Report outside the Department of Justice.” The order remains in effect until three days after a resolution is announced from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. JUDGE GRANTS JACK SMITH REQUEST TO DISMISS JAN. 6 CHARGES AGAINST TRUMP, APPEAL DROPPED IN FLORIDA DOCS CASE Nauta and De Oliveira pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging they conspired to obstruct the FBI investigation into classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago. Smith was tapped by Garland in 2022 to investigate both the alleged effort by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as well as Trump’s keeping of allegedly classified documents at his Florida residence. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. Cannon, this summer, dismissed Smith’s case against Trump relating to classified records, ruling that he was appointed unlawfully as special counsel. And in November, federal Judge Tanya Chutkan dropped Smith’s charges against Trump in the 2020 election interference case. Smith also dropped his appeal to Cannon’s ruling in the classified records case. Garland has opted to release the reports from two other special counsels whose investigations concluded during his tenure – publishing both the summary reports submitted by John Durham, who was tapped by then-Attorney General Bill Barr in 2019 to review the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, as well as the final report from Robert Hur, a former U.S. attorney whom he tapped in 2023 to investigate President Biden’s handling of classified documents.
Top Republicans roll out bill that would undo 9/11 plea deals
FIRST ON FOX: Top Republicans in Congress are introducing a new bill to stop the White House from offering plea deals to suspected 9/11 terrorists. A pretrial agreement between the 9/11 defendants and the government removes the death penalty as a possibility for punishment, but legislation led by Sens. Tom Cotton, Intelligence Committee Chair, and longtime Republican leader Mitch McConnell would reinstate it. The Justice for 9/11 Act would prevent the military court from offering plea deals to the 9/11 terrorists by requiring a trial and ensuring the death penalty remains an option in sentencing. And as President Joe Biden draws down the population of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in the final days he is in office, the bill would also require the defendants to be kept on the Cuban island in solitary confinement and prohibit them from being extradited to another country. BIDEN ADMIN SENDS 11 GUANTANAMO DETAINEES TO OMAN FOR RESETTLEMENT Trials for the suspected 9/11 terrorists have been drawn out for decades – and in many cases haven’t even started – due to administrative delays, debates over whether evidence obtained under torture is permissible in court and the coronavirus pandemic. The plea deal was meant to quickly wrap up three of the cases without trial. “Those monsters should have faced justice decades ago; instead Joe Biden set the stage to let them go free,” said Cotton, R-Ark., in a statement. “My bill will stop this travesty and prevent the Biden administration from replenishing the ranks of our terrorist enemies any further on his way out the door.” “In the wake of terrorist savagery, our obligation is to deliver justice. However long it takes, those responsible for September 11th deserve nothing more,” said McConnell. Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., is introducing companion legislation in the House. Republicans now control both chambers of Congress and soon the presidency, granting the bill a good chance of becoming law. MILITARY APPEALS COURT RULES DEFENSE SEC AUSTIN CANNOT RESCIND 9/11 PLEA DEALS “For the Biden-Harris administration to have offered a plea deal without the death penalty to the very people who planned the attacks that took the lives of almost 3,000 is a betrayal to our cops, firefighters and 9/11 victims and their families. The Justice for 9/11 Act will nullify this horrendous plea deal and prevent any future ones from being offered to those who perpetrated this heinous attack,” said Lawler. Earlier this year, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin tried to rescind the plea deals for three detainees at Guantanamo Bay, including alleged 9/11 architect Khalid Sheikh Mohammad amid backlash, but last week, a military appeals court ruled he could not take back the deals reached by military prosecutors and defense attorneys and the deals were valid and enforceable. The Pentagon has the option of going next to the D.C. Circuit federal appeals court for emergency review, but so far, there’s no indication they’ve done so. A hearing is scheduled for later this week at Guantanamo Bay, where Mohammad and two other defendants could plead guilty in separate hearings, with the death penalty removed as a possible punishment. Hearings will follow in the next week for the co-defendants: Walid bin Attash, an accused deputy, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, accused of helping the hijackers with finances and travel. Biden has tried to wind down operations at Guantanamo in his final days in office after a campaign promise to shut down the costly prison marred by a history of torture allegations. The administration announced on Monday 11 Yemeni detainees, including two alleged bodyguards for Usama bin Laden, would be resettled in Oman, after being held for two decades without charges. The total number of men at the prison is now at its lowest since 2002 – just 15.
Drug dealers could be charged with murder under new Virginia fentanyl plan
Virginia Republicans announced their top legislative priorities for the new year, with curbing fentanyl deaths chief among them. Under current case law, it is difficult to charge a drug dealer with the murder of a user who died from fentanyl they had purchased unless they are in the proximity of that dealer, according to GOP legislators. State Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle, R-New Kent, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that Virginia hopes to address that legislative insufficiency. “This [law] would say if you sell the drugs, it doesn’t matter if you’re in physical proximity,” he said. VIRGINIA DEMS ‘ASKING THE WRONG QUESTION’ AMID OUTRAGE OVER TRUMP’S FEDERAL WORKFORCE CUTS PLAN, GOP SAYS McDougle and Senate Republican Caucus Leader Mark Obenshain are spearheading the effort. Fox News Digital reached out to Obenshain, of Harrisonburg, for additional comment. However, at a related press conference, Obenshain said that as long as people are “dying in every corner of Virginia, of every socioeconomic background, that means there’s people out there peddling this poison.” A pair of Senate special elections on Tuesday were set to determine whether Republicans will take a slightly belated majority in the chamber this term, as Democrats currently control it by one seat. Voters went to the polls in both Loudoun County and a swath of more red counties, including Buckingham, Fluvanna and Goochland. On Wednesday, multiple outlets projected Democrats will hold their slim single-seat majority – requiring one liberal to side with McDougle and Obenshain on their counter-fentanyl proposal. In 2022, the Old Dominion ranked 14th among states for total fentanyl-related deaths, with 1,973 fatalities, and was positioned near the national average in terms of death rate per capita, according to CDC data. TOP DOGE SENATOR DEMANDS LAME-DUCK BIDEN AGENCIES HALT COSTLY TELEWORK, CITING VOTER MANDATE For comparison, neighboring West Virginia leads the nation in fentanyl deaths per capita, but total deaths were 1,084, less than Virginia. Seven out of 10 pills seized by the DEA contain a lethal dose of fentanyl, according to OnePillCanKill Virginia. A representative for Gov. Glenn Youngkin said he believes prosecuting fentanyl dealers should receive bipartisan support: “As Governor Youngkin has said time and time again, any person who knowingly and intentionally distributes fentanyl should be charged and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” spokesman Christian Martinez told Fox News Digital. “We cannot continue to let makers and dealers get away with murder – and it is time Democrat lawmakers side with victims’ families over fentanyl makers and dealers.” In April, Youngkin signed Obenshain’s prior fentanyl-related bill, SB 469, which made unlawful possession, purchase or sale of encapsulating machines for the purpose of producing illicit drugs a Class 6 felony. It also imposed felony penalties for subjects who allow a minor or mentally incapacitated person to be present during the manufacture of any substance containing fentanyl. Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares previously said an average of five people die each day from fentanyl overdoses throughout the state. “By enhancing penalties and criminalizing the possession and use of machines to produce counterfeit drugs, we are supplying law enforcement personnel with the tools they need to hold drug dealers accountable for poisoning our communities,” Miyares said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP After her husband signed the 2023 legislation, Virginia first lady Suzanne Youngkin said there is “nothing more important” than protecting families and communities in Virginia. “I applaud all persons working hard to fight the spread of this illicit drug taking the lives of far too many Virginians,” she said. Virginia Republicans also indicated this week that they will work to put Youngkin’s December plan curtailing taxation of gratuities into law. The plan somewhat mirrors President-elect Donald Trump’s “No Tax on Tips” campaign pledge. “Hard-working Virginians deserve to keep the tips they earn for their service,” McDougle said. “Governor Youngkin’s inclusion of this policy in the budget is an important step in our support of hard-working Virginians, and we’re proud to introduce the bill to put it in the Code of Virginia.” McDougle said Tuesday the chamber will also pursue a ban on transgender women competing in women’s and girls’ sports.
Fetterman open to potential Greenland acquisition, declares support for Laken Riley Act
As President-elect Donald Trump continues to express interest in the U.S. acquiring Greenland, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., conveyed a willingness to entertain the concept. Fetterman noted that he would not support forcibly seizing Greenland — but the senator, who made the comments during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” pointed to historical American land acquisitions, including the Louisiana purchase and the purchase of Alaska. Trump declared in a post on Truth Social last month, “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.” DANISH PRIME MINISTER HAS BLUNT MESSAGE FOR TRUMP: GREENLAND IS NOT FOR SALE “Greenland is an incredible place, and the people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation. We will protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside World. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!” he said in a Truth Social post on Monday. Donald Trump Jr. visited Greenland on Tuesday. The icy island “has its own extensive local government, but it is also part of the Realm of Denmark,” according to denmark.dk. “Greenland was a Danish colony until 1953, when it was redefined as a district of Denmark. In addition to its own local government, Greenland has two representatives in the Danish Parliament, the Folketing.” TRUMP ESCALATES PLANS TO ACQUIRE GREENLAND AFTER RESIDENT PLEADS: ‘DENMARK’S USING US’ The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Laken Riley Act in a bipartisan 264-159 vote on Tuesday, and Fetterman said that he plans to support passage in the Senate. The measure is named after the 22-year-old Augusta University nursing student slain last year by an illegal alien in Georgia. The legislation calls for the Homeland Security secretary to issue a detainer for an illegal alien who admits to, or is charged with, arrested, or convicted of actions that comprise the key elements of theft or similar offenses, and to take custody of the person if they have not been detained by federal, state, or local authorities. Fetterman said he doesn’t know why anyone finds it controversial that people illegally in the U.S. who commit crimes “need to go.” “Do you think that this was one of, if not the biggest issue for this election?” Fox News’ Brett Baier asked Fetterman. The senator replied that if Senate Democrats cannot muster 7 votes in support of the measure, that is one of the reasons they lost.
India’s Top Astrologer Nilesh Lodha Receives Bharat Jyotish Samman Title at Delhi Legislative Assembly
Nilesh Lodha emphasized the profound connection between astrology and dietary habits
Trump files emergency petition to Supreme Court to prevent sentencing in NY v. Trump
President-elect Trump on Wednesday morning filed an emergency petition to the United States Supreme Court in an effort to block his sentencing in New York v. Trump. Judge Juan Merchan set Trump’s sentencing in New York v. Trump for Jan. 10, after a jury found the now-president-elect guilty of falsifying business records in the first degree, stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges and has appealed the ruling, but was rejected last week by Merchan. NEW YORK JUDGE SETS TRUMP SENTENCING DAYS BEFORE INAUGURATION “President Trump’s legal team filed an emergency petition with the United States Supreme Court, asking the Court to correct the unjust actions by New York courts and stop the unlawful sentencing in the Manhattan D.A.’s Witch Hunt,” Trump spokesman and incoming White House communications director Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital. “The Supreme Court’s historic decision on Immunity, the Constitution, and established legal precedent mandate that this meritless hoax be immediately dismissed.” Cheung said the “American People elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate that demands an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and all of the remaining Witch Hunts.” He added: “We look forward to uniting our country in the new administration as President Trump makes America great again.” This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Mexico disperses migrant caravans heading to US ahead of Trump inauguration
The Mexican government is working hard to break up migrant caravans trying to make the treacherous journey north to the U.S. ahead of President-elect Trump’s inauguration in less than two weeks’ time. Faced with the prospect of massive tariffs on goods under the new administration, Mexico has been dispersing migrants throughout the country to keep them far from the U.S. border, including dropping them off at the once vibrant tourist hotspot of Acapulco, a beach resort town on Mexico’s Pacific coast made famous by the jet set in the 1950s and ’60s. Once a crown jewel of Mexico’s tourism industry, the city now suffers under the thumb of organized crime and is still struggling to climb back after taking a direct hit from powerful Hurricane Otis in 2023. It now has one of Mexico’s highest rates of homicides. MORE MIGRANTS LIKELY TO RUSH BORDER DESPITE REPORTS OF SPLINTERING CARAVAN: EXPERTS Yet authorities are dropping busloads of migrants there with little support and few options. The Mexican government has embraced a policy of “dispersion and exhaustion” to reduce the number of migrants reaching the U.S. border. Authorities let migrants walk for days until they’re exhausted and then offer to bus them to various cities where they say their immigration status will be reviewed. The migrants tell the Associated Press that they accepted an offer from immigration officials to come to the city under the premise that they could continue their journey north toward the U.S. border, but instead they have essentially been abandoned there. On Monday, desperate migrants could be seen sleeping in the streets in tents and say they fear Mexico’s drug cartels could target them for kidnapping and extortion, though many migrants say authorities extort them too. “Immigration (officials) told us they were going to give us a permit to transit the country freely for 10, 15 days and it wasn’t like that,” 28-year-old Venezuelan, Ender Antonio Castañeda, told the Associated Press. “They left us dumped here without any way to get out. They won’t sell us (bus) tickets. They won’t sell us anything.” MORE MIGRANTS LIKELY TO RUSH BORDER DESPITE REPORTS OF SPLINTERING CARAVAN: EXPERTS Castañeda, is one of thousands of other migrants who had left the southern city of Tapachula near the Guatemalan border in recent weeks in the hope of crossing the Mexican border into the U.S. before Trump takes office. It would take an adult migrant about 16 days of non-stop walking to get to the most southern point of the U.S. border is at the crossing at Matamoros, near Brownsville, Texas. Migrants prefer traveling in caravans because they believe there is safety in numbers as it is hard or impossible for immigration agents to detain large groups of hundreds of migrants. Trump has threatened Mexico with a 25% tariff on imported goods from Mexico, and the country hopes the lower numbers will give them some defense from Trump’s pressures. Trump is expected to clamp down heavily on illegal crossings, which have soared under the Biden-Harris administration. He has also vowed to carry out the largest deportation operation in the history of the U.S. and has appointed hardliner South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to serve as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) while Tom Homan will be the new “Border Czar.” Additionally, he has also pledged to end the use of parole programs by the Biden administration that allow migrants to enter via the expanded “lawful pathways.” On Tuesday, Trump reiterated his threat in a press briefing where he also said he would change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. “Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country. They can stop them. And we’re going to put very serious tariffs on Mexico and Canada, because Canada, they come through Canada too, and the drugs that are coming through are at record numbers, record numbers. So we’re going to make up for that by putting tariffs on Mexico and Canada, substantial tariffs,” he said. The Associated Press contributed to this report.