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Trump campaign seeks increased security as election draws near, including military aircraft amid Iran threats

Trump campaign seeks increased security as election draws near, including military aircraft amid Iran threats

The campaign for former President Trump has asked the White House for enhanced Secret Service security amid safety concerns in the final stages of the election, citing threats from Iran, Fox News has learned. On Friday, President Biden was asked about the request by the GOP nominee for enhanced security protocols.  “As long as you don’t ask for F-15s. Well, look, I’ve told them to give him every, every single thing he needs as if he were a sitting president,” Biden said. “If it’s within that category. That’s fine.” The Trump campaign cited serious threats from Iran for extra protection. It asked for temporary airspace restrictions on the campaign trail, motorcade drivers with tactical experience and vehicles like the “Beast”, the bullet-proof vehicle used by for Biden.  TRUMP BRIEFED ON ‘REAL AND SPECIFIC THREATS’ FROM IRAN TO ASSASSINATE HIM, CAMPAIGN SAYS U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and Acting U.S. Secret Service Director Rowe warning that Iran was actively trying to kill Trump.  Waltz asked that various aircraft, including military aircraft with defense capabilities, be provided for Trump in case of a missile attack, as well as a C-17 or C-40.  The requests came following two failed assassination attempts on Trump within weeks of each other.  IRAN’S LEADER TO ADDRESS UN AMID THREATS OF ASSASSINATIONS AGAINST US POLITICIANS, ELECTION INTERFERENCE Last month, Trump talked of a potential Iranian assassination threat against him.  Tehran’s potential assassination plot was detailed in FBI documents that Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, showing other potential targets included Biden and former presidential candidate Nikki Haley, along with other “politicians, military people or bureaucrats.” At one point, Trump was briefed about “real and specific threats” from Iran to assassinate him, the campaign said last month.  Iran’s aim to assassinate Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, is part of the Islamic Republic’s efforts to “destabilize and sow chaos in the United States,” Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said in a press release at the time.  Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace contributed to this report. 

Congresswoman says Biden admin shut down FBI briefing over Afghan man charged with Election Day terror plot

Congresswoman says Biden admin shut down FBI briefing over Afghan man charged with Election Day terror plot

U.S. Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., said the Biden administration has blocked the FBI from fulfilling her request for a briefing on the arrest of an Afghan man charged with plotting a terror attack on Election Day.  In a letter dated Friday to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, Bice said the FBI was fully supportive of her request until the Justice Department stepped in.  “When my office requested additional information and a briefing from the Department of Justice on this matter, my request was denied by the administration,” she wrote. “What does the Biden-Harris Department of Justice have to hide here? AFGHAN MAN IN OKLAHOMA PLOTTED ELECTION DAY TERROR ATTACK IN US ON BEHALF OF ISIS, JUSTICE DEPT SAYS “As a life-long resident of Oklahoma City, our community still vividly recalls the bitter memory of April 19, 1995,” Bice added, referring to the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City that killed 168 people, including 19 children.  She is asking for a briefing as “expeditiously” as possible. Fox News Digital has reached out to Bice’s office and the White House. Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, an Oklahoma resident, was arrested this week for an alleged terror plot on behalf of the Islamic State. He entered the United States a month after U.S. troops pulled out of Afghanistan on a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) humanitarian parole, rather than on a special immigrant visa, as the Justice Department initially said.  The mechanism through which Tawhedi entered the country is especially sensitive because the DHS inspector general raised concerns about Operation Allies Welcome, the program through which the agency paroled Afghan refugees into the country, circumventing the lengthier and more strenuous vetting process of the State Department-run special immigrant visa, or SIV, program. DHS OIG FAULTS AFGHAN VETTING, WARNS NATIONAL SECURITY THREATS MAY HAVE ENTERED US In 2022, the DHS inspector general’s office released a report that said it found officials “did not always have critical data to properly screen, vet, or inspect the evacuees.”  As a result, “DHS may have admitted or paroled individuals into the U.S. who pose a risk to national security and the safety of local communities,” the report said. Tawhedi worked for the CIA as a security guard in Afghanistan.  Investigators said they believe Tawhedi became radicalized after arriving in the U.S.  While he entered the U.S. on humanitarian parole, he later applied for an SIV and was approved, a senior Biden administration official told Fox News.  The administration maintains Tawhedi was subjected to multiple rounds of vetting and that no red flags were raised. “The unsealed criminal complaint against Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi raises continued concerns about the aftermath of the Administration’s catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan and inadequate vetting of evacuees,” Bice wrote. 

DOJ sues Virginia for allegedly purging noncitizens from voting rolls too close to election

DOJ sues Virginia for allegedly purging noncitizens from voting rolls too close to election

The U.S. Department of Justice is suing Virginia, alleging that the commonwealth removed noncitizens from its voter rolls too close to Election Day. The complaint alleges that the state Board of Elections and Virginia Commissioner of Elections Susan Beals violated the federal National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), which mandates that states must complete their maintenance program no later than 90 days before an election under a clause known as the Quiet Period Provision. The agency alleges that Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin violated the NVRA when announcing and subsequently carrying out an executive order which required the election commissioner to regularly update the state’s voter lists to remove individuals who have been “identified as noncitizens,” and had not responded to a request to verify their citizenship in 14 days.  Under Youngkin’s executive order, Virginia has removed 6,303 individuals. “The Executive Order formalized the Program and announced that 6,303 individuals had been removed from the rolls pursuant to the same process between January 2022 and July 2024,” the complaint said. DOJ SUES ALABAMA, STATE’S TOP ELECTION OFFICIAL FOR ALLEGEDLY PURGING NONCITIZEN VOTERS TOO CLOSE TO ELECTION The complaint notes that voters were identified as possible noncitizens if they responded “no” to questions about their citizenship status on certain forms submitted to the state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). “This systematic voter removal program, which the State is conducting within 90 days of the upcoming federal election, violates the Quiet Period Provision,” the DOJ said. In a statement, Yougkin pushed back on the Justice Department’s lawsuit, saying the lawsuit was “politically motivated.” “With less than 30 days until the election, the Biden-Harris Department of Justice is filing an unprecedented lawsuit against me and the Commonwealth of Virginia, for appropriately enforcing a 2006 law signed by Democrat Tim Kaine that requires Virginia to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls – a process that starts with someone declaring themselves a non-citizen and then registering to vote,” Youngkins said. “Virginians – and Americans – will see this for exactly what it is: a desperate attempt to attack the legitimacy of the elections in the Commonwealth, the very crucible of American Democracy,” he said. Younkin vowed to “defend these commonsense steps” and promised that the state’s election would be “secure and fair.” YOUNGKIN MANDATES ALL PAPER BALLOTS FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN VIRGINIA “With the support of our Attorney General, we will defend these commonsense steps, that we are legally required to take, with every resource available to us,” he said. “Virginia’s election will be secure and fair, and I will not stand idly by as this politically motivated action tries to interfere in our elections, period.” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote on X that the DOJ lawsuit is “election interference.” THOUSANDS OF NONCITIZENS REMOVED FROM VOTER ROLLS, DOZENS OF LAWMAKERS WANT ANSWERS FROM GARLANDc “The Biden-Harris administration is engaging in election interference,” he wrote. “They’re harassing states that are trying to make sure that noncitizens can’t vote. This is a lawless abuse of power.” The Justice Department lawsuit against Virginia comes after the agency sued Alabama and its Republican Secretary of State Wes Allen over the state’s voter purge program that targeted noncitizen voters.  The Justice Department seeks injunctive relief that “would restore the ability of impacted eligible voters to vote unimpeded on Election Day,” and “would prohibit future quiet period violations,” the DOJ said in a statement. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “The department also seeks remedial mailings to educate eligible voters concerning the restoration of their rights and adequate training of local officials and poll workers to address confusion and distrust among eligible voters accused of being noncitizens,” the agency said. Fox News Digital has reached out to Youngkin for comment.