Atlantic reporter publishes more texts about attack on Houthi targets
The Atlantic published Wednesday what it described as the “attack plans” at the center of a Signal text chain leak involving senior officials in the Trump administration. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Mike Waltz have faced calls to resign following revelations that the outlet’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently added to a private group chat earlier this month in which Hegseth, Waltz, Vice President JD Vance and other top administration officials reportedly discussed impending airstrikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Hegseth has said “nobody was texting war plans” and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard vowed during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Tuesday that there was “no classified material” in the messages. “TEAM UPDATE: TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch. 1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package). 1345: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME – also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s),” Hegseth apparently wrote in a screenshot of a text message released Wednesday by The Atlantic. “1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package). 1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets). 1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched,” Hegseth reportedly continued, before adding “Godspeed to our Warriors.” HEGSETH FENDS OFF REPORTER’S QUESTIONS ABOUT SIGNAL CHAT LEAK Waltz later allegedly wrote “The first target – their top missile guy – we had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend’s building and it’s now collapsed,” according to The Atlantic. “Excellent,” read a message in response attributed to Vance. The Atlantic said in its report Wednesday – titled “Here Are the Attack Plans That Trump’s Advisers Shared on Signal” – that “the statements by Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe, and Trump – combined with the assertions made by numerous administration officials that we are lying about the content of the Signal texts – have led us to believe that people should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions.” “There is a clear public interest in disclosing the sort of information that Trump advisers included in nonsecure communications channels, especially because senior administration figures are attempting to downplay the significance of the messages that were shared,” wrote the Atlantic’s Goldberg and reporter Shane Harris. “Experts have repeatedly told us that use of a Signal chat for such sensitive discussions poses a threat to national security. As a case in point, Goldberg received information on the attacks two hours before the scheduled start of the bombing of Houthi positions. If this information – particularly the exact times American aircraft were taking off for Yemen – had fallen into the wrong hands in that crucial two-hour period, American pilots and other American personnel could have been exposed to even greater danger than they ordinarily would face,” they also said. JEFFRIES BECOMES HIGHEST-RANKING DEMOCRAT TO CALL FOR HEGSETH TO RESIGN White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich responded to the report on Wednesday by saying “The Atlantic has already abandoned their bulls— ‘war plans’ narrative, and in releasing the full chat , they concede they LIED to perpetuate yet ANOTHER hoax on the American people. What scumbags!” “The Atlantic has conceded: these were NOT ‘war plans,’” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added. “This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well-known for his sensationalist spin.” Some Congressional Democrats have been calling for Hegseth’s ouster since the text chain leak was first reported. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the highest-ranking Democrat to do so, wrote a letter to President Donald Trump yesterday demanding that Hegseth be “fired immediately.” “The so-called Secretary of Defense recklessly and casually disclosed highly sensitive war plans — including the timing of a pending attack, possible strike targets and the weapons to be used –during an unclassified national security group chat that inexplicably included a reporter. His behavior shocks the conscience, risked American lives and likely violated the law,” Jeffries wrote. Pressed by a reporter yesterday about the matter, Hegseth claimed he has everything under control. “Nobody’s texting war plans,” he said. “I know exactly what I’m doing, exactly what we’re directing, and I’m really proud of what we accomplished, the successful missions that night and going forward.” Fox News’ Landon Mion contributed to this report.
Vance office touts US defense of Greenland from Nazis, Soviets, ahead of VP and wife’s visit to Space Base
After the office of the second lady announced on Sunday that Usha Vance would travel to Greenland with her son and an American delegation this week, Vice President JD Vance announced on Tuesday that he will join her on the trip abroad. President Donald Trump has been floating the U.S. acquisition of Greenland. The island, which is part of the Realm of Denmark, has its own local government, according to Denmark’s website. “Looking forward to visiting Greenland on Friday!” Vance said in a tweet on Tuesday, which also includes the American flag emoji. GREENLAND PM SLAMS UPCOMING VISIT FROM USHA VANCE AS ‘VERY AGGRESSIVE’ PROVOCATION: REPORT Vance said in a video that “there was so much excitement around Usha’s visit to Greenland this Friday, that I decided that I didn’t want her to have all that fun by herself,” noting that he would “join her.” The vice president said that he will visit Space Force guardians and “check out what’s goin’ on with the security there of Greenland.” He said that “speaking for President Trump, we wanna reinvigorate the security of the people of Greenland, because we think it’s important to protecting the security of the entire world.” JD VANCE RECALLS HIS WIFE TEXTING HIM UNDER TABLE AT SILICON VALLEY DINNER: ‘THESE PEOPLE ARE F—ING CRAZY’ A press release from the office of the vice president indicates that on Friday the vice president and second lady “will travel to the Pituffik Space Base in Greenland to receive a briefing on Arctic security issues and meet with U.S. servicemembers.” The release states that the base is the Defense Department’s “northernmost installation.” “The Vice President and Second Lady’s visit to Pituffik Space Base will take place in lieu of the Second Lady’s previously announced visit to the Avannaata Qimussersu dogsled race in Sisimiut,” the press release states. “The strategic partnership between the United States and Greenland has long played a vital role in our national and economic security. During World War Two, the United States established over a dozen military bases in Greenland to defend the North Atlantic from Nazi incursion. During the Cold War, the United States committed additional resources to Greenland to defend against Soviet missile attacks,” the release declares. “In the decades since, neglect and inaction from Danish leaders and past U.S. administrations have presented our adversaries with the opportunity to advance their own priorities in Greenland and the Arctic. President Trump is rightly changing course.” TRUMP REMAINS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT ODDS OF ACQUIRING GREENLAND: ‘I THINK IT’LL HAPPEN’ CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Fox News Digital reached out to Vance’s office on Wednesday, but did not receive a response by the time of publication. Fox News’ Sarah Tobianski contributed to this report
Hawley presses FBI to probe alleged Biden-era targeting of Christians
FIRST ON FOX – Sen. Josh Hawley asked FBI Director Kash Patel Wednesday to look into alleged Biden-era abuses against Christians, urging Patel in a new letter to crack down on what the Missouri Republican described as First Amendment violations he said were carried out under the Biden administration. In the letter, previewed exclusively by Fox News Digital, the Missouri Republican asked Patel to investigate alleged abuses against pro-life activists and Christians. He also urged Patel to release by April 30 information compiled by the FBI’s Richmond, Virginia, field office – including a memo that labeled certain traditionalist Catholics as potential “security risks” – and to address possible violations of the FACE Act, which Hawley said targeted pro-life protesters. “I trust that, under your leadership, this misconduct will end. But those responsible must be held accountable,” Hawley said in the letter. KASH PATEL VOWS TO END BIDEN-ERA ‘TARGETING’ OF CHRISTIANS: ‘SACRED TRUST’ “Transparency and accountability will be paramount in restoring Americans’ faith in the Bureau,” he added. “Getting to the bottom of the Biden Administration’s violations of religious liberty is an excellent place to start.” The letter from Hawley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, is not the first time he has used his post to urge Patel to protect against Christian persecution. NATIONAL RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS URGE FLORIDA LAWMAKERS TO KILL BILL TO AVOID ‘LAWFARE’ AGAINST CHRISTIANS Hawley’s letter calls on the FBI to share with his office by the end of April a list of 22 memos and documents compiled by the FBI Richmond Field Office and related to the alleged FACE Act abuses, including all emails, memoranda, directives and policy guidance, sent to or from the FBI director, deputy director, or any other senior official regarding the enforcement of the FACE Act under the Biden Administration. Hawley also urged Patel to share all documents – including communications with state and local law enforcement agencies – that discuss how the Richmond Field Office memorandum or similar FBI policies were implemented or considered for enforcement at the state or local level. Hawley zeroed in on these issues during Patel’s confirmation hearing earlier this year. “Do you think it’s appropriate for the FBI to single out and target people of faith in order to discourage the exercise of their First Amendment rights?” he asked Patel in January. Patel vowed in response that he would “fully utilize, if confirmed, the investigative powers of the FBI to give you the information you require and also to hold those accountable who violated the sacred trust placed upon the FBI.”
Noem to tour notorious El Salvador prison
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday will tour El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, where hundreds of alleged criminal illegal aliens are being held after the Trump administration deported them earlier this month. Noem will tour the prison with the Salvadoran Minister of Justice, Héctor Gustavo Villatoro, before meeting with El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, according to a Homeland Security statement. Noem’s visit is part of a three-day trip that will also see her travel to Colombia and Mexico. Bukele opened the prison in 2023 as El Salvador wages a crackdown on powerful street gangs causing mayhem in the country. The facility has eight sprawling pavilions and can hold up to 40,000 inmates. As many as 65 to 70 prisoners are packed into each cell. Prisoners are never allowed outside and can’t have visitors. There are no workshops or educational programs. HIGH-RANKING TREN DE ARAGUA GANGSTER MURDERED TWO AMERICAN WOMEN, CAPTURED ACROSS COUNTRY: FEDS A senior Trump administration official confirmed to Fox News this month that a total of 261 illegal aliens were deported to El Salvador on March 15. The majority of them were deported via the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows for the expulsion of an enemy nation’s natives and citizens without a hearing. More than 100 of the migrants were Venezuelans removed via Title 8, while 21 others were Salvadoran MS-13 gang members, the official added. Two were MS-13 ringleaders and “special cases” for El Salvador. Video released by El Salvador’s government after the deportees’ arrival showed men, shackled at their hands and ankles, exiting airplanes onto an airport tarmac lined by heavily armed officers in riot gear. EXCLUSIVE: GOP MOVES TO AUTHORIZE TRUMP TO WAGE WAR ON CARTELS THROUGH MILITARY FORCE The men were later shown at the prison kneeling on the ground as their heads were shaved before they changed into the prison’s all-white uniform — knee-length shorts, T-shirt, socks and rubber clogs — and placed in cells. El Salvador has been operating under a state of emergency that suspends fundamental rights for nearly three years as Bukele deals with the street gangs. Some 84,000 people have been arrested so far, accused of gang ties and jailed, often without due process. Bukele offered to hold U.S. deportees in the prison when U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited in February. In a March 16 post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump wrote that the U.S. “will not forget” Bukele’s partnership, and thanked the leader for his “understanding of this horrible situation, which was allowed to happen to the United States because of incompetent Democrat leadership.” Fox News Digital’s Adrea Margolis and Emma Colton, along with The Associated Press, contributed to this report.
Trump team’s Signal snafu sparks debate over secure comms: ‘Russia and China are listening’
The leak of Houthi strike plans by the Trump administration to a journalist was not the result of a hack but an apparent human error. Still, it sparked debate over whether the nation’s most powerful government officials should communicate sensitive military information on a non-government platform. Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, wrote on Monday that he was added to a group chat on Signal on March 11 by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz titled “Houthi PC small group.” His article details a leaked conversation between the nation’s top government officials, including the vice president, secretary of defense, director of the CIA and others, in which the sensitive details of a planned strike on Houthi terrorists in Yemen were reportedly discussed. The report shocked Washington and led to accusations from Democrats and others that President Donald Trump’s team endangered national security and possibly violated the law by using Signal, a messaging app. Signal’s platform is encrypted, but that doesn’t mean it is not susceptible to hacks, experts told Fox News Digital. Encryption means that only the sender and the receiver of a message should be able to review it; not even Signal itself can pull its contents. But even without viewing a message’s contents, some metadata might be attainable. TRUMP NOT PLANNING TO FIRE WALTZ AFTER NATIONAL SECURITY TEXT CHAIN LEAK “Knowing who has spoken with whom at what time and for what duration is already very useful intelligence,” said Vahid Behzadan, cybersecurity professor and researcher at the University of New Haven. “If a phone is infected with spyware, messages can be intercepted before or after encryption.” “Screenshots or photos are not protected by Signal itself … and if previews are enabled by users in the app, sensitive info could appear on a locked screen,” he said. Government officials and journalists often use Signal to communicate sensitive information for fear that emails and text communications on official government cellphones could fall under the Freedom of Information Act, meaning they could be made public. However, transmitting controlled but unclassified information on Signal is explicitly banned by Defense Department policy. In February, Google’s Threat Intelligence Group warned of “increasing efforts from several Russia-aligned actors to compromise Signal accounts used by individuals of interest to Russia’s intelligence services.” “While this emerging operational interest has likely been sparked by wartime demands to gain access to sensitive government and military communications in the context of Russia’s re-invasion of Ukraine, we anticipate the tactics and methods used to target Signal will grow in prevalence in the near-term and proliferate to additional threat actors and regions outside the Ukrainian theater of war,” Google said. Google warned that Signal could obtain access to all of a target’s information on their phone while their device is unlocked. “As reflected in wide-ranging efforts to compromise Signal accounts, this threat to secure messaging applications is not limited to remote cyber operations such as phishing and malware delivery, but also critically includes close-access operations where a threat actor can secure brief access to a target’s unlocked device.” TRUMP OFFICIALS ACCIDENTALLY TEXT ATLANTIC JOURNALIST ABOUT MILITARY STRIKES IN APPARENT SECURITY BREACH At first, Goldberg said, he worried that the Signal chat was fake. But shortly thereafter, top names in the administration, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, began naming their points of contact for the impending offensive campaign in Yemen against the Houthis, according to The Atlantic. The group then reportedly began to use the chat for coordinating messaging plans as the administration moved closer to its offensive campaign, which was made public on March 14. The Trump administration has insisted no one shared classified information in the “Houthi PC small group” chat. Ratcliffe said he’d been briefed by the agency about the “permissible work use” of Signal. But Goldberg said the chat “contained operational details of forthcoming strikes on Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, including information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing.” He redacted some of the information he deemed potentially sensitive, including the name of a CIA agent who Ratcliffe had named to run point on the strikes. Ratcliffe said it was not improper for him to share the officer’s name because he was not under active cover. TRUMP REVEALS WHO WAS BEHIND SIGNAL TEXT CHAIN LEAK Both Ratcliffe and Gabbard said they could not recall whether specific weapons systems or specific targets had been mentioned in the Signal chat during a Senate worldwide threats hearing on Tuesday. When asked whether Hegseth had declassified information about the Houthi operations before sharing it in the chat, they referred senators to the Defense Department. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., a national security hawk, isn’t buying that the chat did not reveal classified information. “I will guarantee you 99.99% with confidence Russia and China are monitoring those two phones,” Bacon said of the chat. “This is a gross error, and it’s intentional. They intentionally put highly classified information on an unclassified device. I would have lost my security clearance in the Air Force for this and for a lot less.” Matthew Shoemaker, a former defense intelligence official, said sharing classified information on Signal would violate Title 18 of U.S. Code 793, which bans gathering, transmitting or losing defense information. The punishment for such a crime carries up to 10 years in prison. “They had to physically remove it from a classified system and then put it on an unclassified system,” he said. “Any uniformed officer would immediately be relieved of command.” “It’s hard to believe this is the first time they’ve been doing this. It’s likely just the first time they’ve been caught.” On top of it all, Shoemaker said, White House envoy Steve Witkoff, who was a part of the chat, was in Russia on Russian-operated cell networks at the time the strike information was being communicated to him. “Given the Russian GRU’s past activity breaking into Signal,
GOP lawmaker rips ‘lost in the wilderness’ DOGE protesters amid chaos at her town hall: ‘Highly orchestrated’
EXCLUSIVE: Wyoming GOP Rep. Harriet Hageman spoke to Fox News Digital about the raucous Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) protesters who showed up at her recent town hall and about the acts of “domestic terrorism” occurring at Tesla dealerships, which she says Democrats are doing everything they can to ignore. “My takeaway from that was that it was highly orchestrated,” Hageman said about two of her town halls last week in Wyoming that were disrupted by liberal protesters whose actions went viral on social media. “This was not grassroots. I do believe that quite a few of the people may have been from outside of the state of Wyoming, or at least outside of that community. I have now held 75 town halls in the last three years, and there’s only two of them that have been disrupted.” Hageman told Fox News Digital that Democrats are involved in a “national movement” to try and “shout Republicans down” while not bringing any new ideas to the table at the same time. MEDIA, DEMS CELEBRATE TESLA WOES AS ANGER OVER ELON MUSK’S ROLE IN TRUMP ADMIN CONTINUES “The Democrats are so lost in the wilderness right now because their policies have failed, will continue to fail, and the American public woke up as to how bad they are,” Hageman said. “They’re bad for kids. They’re bad for adults. They’re bad for healthcare. They’re bad in terms of education, business, national security. You can go on and on and on by almost every single metric. I’m not aware of one Democrat policy that I can even remotely agree with just because they’ve gone so off the rails. And so, because they’ve lost the narrative, because they’ve lost the support of the American people, they’re lashing out at people like me.” Some of the protesters were chanting about Jan. 6 in the state where Hageman soundly defeated incumbent GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, the face of the movement to impeach Trump over Jan. 6, which Hageman said was a sign that the protests were not organic. “I beat Liz Cheney by almost 40%,” Hageman said. “My election last November was by an enormous landslide that was similar, if not bigger. Yes, there are Democrats in Wyoming, but that’s not what we’re seeing. The national leadership, Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, they made it clear that because they cannot engage in the debate of ideas, they’re going to shut us down from speaking, and that was clearly the intent of what they were trying to do in Albany County.” PAM BONDI THREATENS PROSECUTION AMID DOGE’S FINDINGS ABOUT FRAUD: ‘WE’RE COMING AFTER YOU’ Hageman explained that Democrats “do that because they cannot engage with a legitimate discussion or analysis of the issue they know they’re going to lose” while explaining that she will continue to hold town halls and stand up to the protesters. “They just simply are trying to prevent us from being able to speak,” Hageman said. “Didn’t allow that to happen. I fought through it and I made my points. I did my town hall, I informed people of what was going on in D.C. and I handled it, and we went on to the next one the next time.” Some Democrats in recent weeks have accused Republicans of not showing up to town halls to answer questions from constituents about DOGE and the Trump agenda. Hageman told Fox News Digital she believes the opposite is true. “I think it’s kind of funny that people are saying that because there’s evidence on the internet that that’s not true,” Hageman explained. “We’re seeing the town halls. And again, I think what is happening at these are the activists are coming in and attempting to disrupt them. They want their viral moment. They want the one moment when they get somebody to say something silly, or they take something out of context.” Hageman told Fox News Digital that Democrats have created a “dangerous situation” and that she has carried elevated security at recent events, which has kept the protests in line, but she has concerns about “taking resources away from the rest of the community.” ELON MUSK SAYS DOGE CUTS NECESSARY, BUT FACE HEADWINDS ACCORDING TO FOX POLL Fox News Digital spoke to Hageman about the violence at Tesla dealerships across the country in response to Elon Musk’s DOGE actions, which have resulted in cars being burned and Attorney General Pam Bondi describing the attacks as “domestic terrorism.” “When you look at what Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries are saying, when you say what Jasmine Crockett is saying, when you look at the attacks against Teslas and Tesla dealerships and attempting to dox people, they are intentionally trying to get somebody hurt or have a very scary moment take place at these events, and that’s entirely inappropriate under our form of government,” Hageman said. Fox News Digital asked Hageman about the overall unwillingness by Democrats to condemn the Tesla dealership violence as “domestic terrorism” despite not being shy about using the domestic terrorism label in the past. “The domestic terrorism comes from the left, not the right, and they know that. It is a form of projection and I don’t think that I’ve ever seen anybody or any group of people who are better at projection than Democrats,” Hageman said. “They engage in this kind of rhetoric and violent behavior, and then turn around and try to paint parents at school board meetings or conservative Catholics as domestic terrorists and really it’s a point of deflection.” “It’s to try to say, hey, don’t look at us. We’re not the bad guys. We may be torching Teslas. We may spray painting swastikas on vehicles, but don’t look at us. We’re not the ones doing it, it’s the guy who’s trying to protect his daughter from having some dude go into the locker room. That’s a domestic terrorist. And again, it’s become silly. It’s become very obvious what it is that they’re trying to do this situation with the Teslas.” Hageman told
Controversial climate group facing bankruptcy, how did it get here?
One of the leading global environmental networks has been drained of hundreds of millions over the years as a result of several lawsuits filed against their involvement in anti-oil protests. Greenpeace, an international environmentalist group, has been at the center of several highly controversial environmental cases over the years and has been accused of hiring protesters and rioters to advance their cause. Most recently, Greenpeace was found liable for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages resulting from a pipeline protest. The group recently said that such a ruling could “shut down Greenpeace USA.” Here are some of the top cases that got Greenpeace to the dire straits it is in right now. More than 800 people were arrested in 2016 during a monthslong protest, led by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, opposing construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), an oil pipeline that runs from North Dakota to Illinois. JURY FINDS GREENPEACE LIABLE, ORDERED TO PAY HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OVER DAKOTA ACCESS OIL PIPELINE PROTESTS Energy Transfer, the developer of the pipeline, sued Greenpeace USA and Greenpeace International for $300 million on claims the climate groups orchestrated the protests by providing resources to the activists and, therefore, were liable for the expenses that resulted from construction being postponed. In March 2025, a North Dakota jury found Greenpeace liable for about $660 million resulting from the protest. GREENPEACE VOWS MORE LEGAL ACTION AFTER GETTING HIT WITH $660M RULING THAT WOULD ‘SHUT DOWN’ ORGANIZATION “Our lawsuit is about recovering damages for the harm Greenpeace caused our company. It is not about free speech. Their organizing, funding, and encouraging the unlawful destruction of property and the dissemination of misinformation goes well beyond the exercise of free speech. We look forward to proving our case, and we trust the North Dakota legal system to do that.” The weekslong Morton County trial, which began in late February, heard testimony that claimed that Greenpeace not only trained the DAPL protesters, but purchased supplies to aid their resistance. Greenpeace described the battle as “one of the most consequential free speech cases in recent history.” Greenpeace settled a lawsuit with Shell after four individuals affiliated with the group boarded and occupied a Shell oil company vessel for two weeks in 2023. The activists “unlawfully scaled” a moving vessel in the North Sea while carrying a banner reading “Stop Drilling. Start Paying.” Because of this incident, Greenpeace was ordered to make a payment of 300k pounds to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, and the group was barred from going within 500 meters of a Shell platform in the North Sea. In 2020, the Norwegian Supreme Court ruled against Greenpeace’s attempt to block new oil exploration in the country. Greenpeace was joined by Young Friends of the Earth Norway in a 2016 lawsuit filed against the Norwegian Government after several new oil and gas leases were granted in the Balian Sea. The lawsuit, known as “People vs. the Arctic,” was the first case to challenge the country’s constitution on environmental rights. The environmental groups claimed that the Arctic drilling would violate Section 112 of the Norwegian Constitution, which states that everyone has the right to a healthy environment. Despite extensive appeals, Greenpeace failed to secure a single victory in the Norwegian court system, which found at every level that the government in that they did not violate the country’s constitution. DARK MONEY FUND POURED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS INTO ECO ACTIVIST GROUPS BLOCKING HIGHWAYS, DESTROYING FAMOUS ART Commenting on the North Dakota ruling, a representative for Energy Transfer told Fox News Digital it was “very pleased that Greenpeace has been held accountable for their actions against us and that the jury recognized these were not law-abiding, peaceful protests as Greenpeace tried to claim.” The representative said their victory was shared with the local native tribe and people throughout North Dakota who “had to live through the daily harassment and disruptions caused by the protesters who were funded and trained by Greenpeace.” “It is also a win for all law-abiding Americans who understand the difference between the right to free speech and breaking the law,” said the representative, adding, “that Greenpeace has been held responsible is a win for all of us.” Sushma Raman, a representative for Greenpeace USA, told Fox News Digital that the group will be appealing the decision, saying, “we will not back down from this fight, and we will not be silenced.” GREENPEACE CO-FOUNDER: NO SCIENTIFIC PROOF HUMANS ARE DOMINANT CAUSE OF WARMING CLIMATE Raman said that Energy Transfer “knows we don’t have $660 million” and claimed “they want our silence, not our money.” “This case should alarm everyone, no matter their political inclinations,” she said. “It’s part of a renewed push by corporations to weaponize our courts to silence dissent. We should all be concerned about the future of the First Amendment, and lawsuits like this aimed at destroying our rights to peaceful protest and free speech.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP A representative for Greenpeace International pointed out to Fox News Digital that the ruling does not impact Greenpeace’s 24 other national and regional organizations. The representative said these groups will “continue functioning as normal even in the worst case scenario.” The representative also pointed out that Greenpeace is counter-suing Energy Transfer in a Netherlands court to recover all fines lost in the North Dakota case.
Federal judge temporarily blocks shutdown of US-funded radio network
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., temporarily blocked the shutdown of a U.S.-funded radio network. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, who was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan, granted a temporary restraining order on the shutdown of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), a non-profit news organization originally founded in the 1950s by the Central Intelligence Agency to broadcast behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. Congress later began funding RFE/RL in the 1970s to promote democracy across the globe. RADIO FREE EUROPE SUES TRUMP ADMIN, KARI LAKE OVER DEFUNDING The judge found Kari Lake, the longtime Arizona broadcaster and unsuccessful gubernatorial and Senate candidate tapped to oversee the U.S. Agency for Global Media, likely violated federal law in moving to slash RFE/RFL’s funding in line with President Donald Trump’s agenda to eliminate government waste. The U.S. Agency for Global Media houses Radio Free Europe and Asia, as well as Voice of America and Radio Marti in Cuba. “RFE/RL has, for decades, operated as one of the organizations that Congress has statutorily designated to carry out this policy,” Lamberth wrote. “The leadership of USAGM cannot, with one sentence of reasoning offering virtually no explanation, force RFE/RL to shut down—even if the President has told them to do so.” Trump signed an executive order earlier this month aimed at dismantling U.S.-funded media organizations. A senior White House official told Fox News Digital at the time that Voice of America “has been out of step with America for years.” “It serves as the Voice for Radical America and has pushed divisive propaganda for years now,” the official said. The executive order, which targets seven offices, including the U.S. Agency for Global Media, said “non-statutory components and functions of the following governmental entities shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law, and such entities shall reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.” TRUMP ORDERS THE DISMANTLING OF GOVERNMENT-FUNDED, ‘PROPAGANDA’-PEDDLING MEDIA OUTLET RFE/RFL sued in federal court, saying that the administration immediately froze nearly $7.5 million in funding already appropriated by Congress. The Justice Department wrote in court documents on Monday that the disbursement was underway and proof of payment would come by Wednesday. Voice of America Director Michael Abramowitz wrote on X that “virtually” the whole 1300-person staff was placed on leave. In a court hearing Monday, Justice Department lawyer Abby Stout argued that RFE/RL has no grounds for a restraining order given the U.S. government would disburse the nearly $7.5 million. The plaintiff’s lawyer, Thomas Brugato, said the disbursement was only a temporary fix and the non-profit could expect widespread layoffs and to close by April if funding doesn’t continue. “It’s really a Band-Aid,” Brugato said in court, according to The Hill. In his order, Lamberth said RFE/RL “was originally conceived of in the 1950s as a vehicle for providing trustworthy, locally relevant news to audiences subject to communist propaganda.” “Since its inception, RFE/RL has continued to expand, responding to threats to democracy and media freedom across the globe,” the judge wrote, later concluding, “The Court concludes, in keeping with Congress’s longstanding determination, that the continued operation of RFE/RL is in the public interest.” Separately, a lawsuit was brought Friday by Voice of America reporters, Reporters Without Borders and a handful of unions in U.S. District Court in New York against the U.S. Agency for Global Media and Kari Lake over efforts to shut them down. Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.
Democrats hold Pennsylvania state House with special election win
The Democratic Party will take control of the Pennsylvania State House after securing an additional seat in a special election on Tuesday night. Democrat Dan Goughnor won out over Republican Charles Davis in a landslide 63-to-35-point victory. Control over the Pennsylvania Senate remains up in the air, with the race uncalled-for as Democrat James Malone leads Republican Josh Parsons by less than one percent. The Pennsylvania State House had been deadlocked, with Republicans and Democrats both controlling 101 seats prior to Tuesday’s election. Democrats had lost their razor-thin majority in January after the death of state Rep. Matt Gergerly. DEMOCRATS FAR FROM THRILLED ON POSSIBLE BIDEN POLITICAL REEMERGENCE The House race is the fifth straight special election that Democrats have won so far in 2025, despite the party performing dismally in polls. POLL POSITION: DEMOCRATIC PARTY’S NUMBERS PLUNGE TO ALL-TIME LOWS The party’s favorable rating sank to all-time lows in separate national polls conducted this month by CNN and NBC News. Those numbers followed a record low for Democrats in a Quinnipiac University survey in the field in February. Additionally, the latest Fox News National poll, which was released last week, indicated that congressional Democrats’ approval rating at 30%, near an all-time low. And Democrat activists are irate over their party’s inability to blunt President Donald Trump’s agenda. While Democrats were heavily favored in Tuesday’s state House race, they had less of an advantage in the state Senate race. GOP state Sen. Ryan Aument stepped down in December to work as state director for newly elected U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, a fellow Republican. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Regardless of the election results, the GOP will continue to control the state Senate, where they currently hold a 27-22 majority. Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Jeffries becomes highest-ranking Dem to call for Hegseth to resign
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is now the highest-ranking Democrat to call for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to resign over the Signal text chain leak, writing a letter to President Donald Trump demanding that he be “fired immediately.” “Pete Hegseth is the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in American history. His continued presence in the top position of leadership at the Pentagon threatens the nation’s security and puts our brave men and women in uniform throughout the world in danger,” the Democrat from New York said. “The so-called Secretary of Defense recklessly and casually disclosed highly sensitive war plans — including the timing of a pending attack, possible strike targets and the weapons to be used –during an unclassified national security group chat that inexplicably included a reporter. His behavior shocks the conscience, risked American lives and likely violated the law,” Jeffries continued. “Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth should be fired immediately,” he added. HEGSETH FENDS OFF REPORTER’S QUESTIONS OVER SIGNAL CHAT LEAK Hegseth on Tuesday fended off a reporter’s questions about the leaked Signal chat group allegedly involving Trump administration officials discussing forthcoming strikes on the Houthis in Yemen. The strikes then happened on March 15. Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, said officials were discussing “war plans,” but he decided not to publish some of the highly sensitive information he saw, including precise information about weapons packages, targets and timing, due to potential threats to national security and military operations. The secretary repeated his claims that “nobody was texting war plans,” pushing back on Goldberg’s assertion. TRUMP SAYS WALTZ DOESN’T NEED TO APOLOGIZE OVER SIGNAL TEXT CHAIN LINK “As I also stated yesterday, nobody’s texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that,” Hegseth said. “I know exactly what I’m doing, exactly what we’re directing, and I’m really proud of what we accomplished, the successful missions that night and going forward,” he also said. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called for national security advisor Mike Waltz and Hegseth to resign Tuesday during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. Trump told Fox News he has no plans to fire Waltz. Fox News’ Landon Mion contributed to this report.