Top House committee subpoenas Biden admin for docs on faulty border cameras: ‘National security threat’
FIRST ON FOX: The House Homeland Security Committee has subpoenaed the Biden administration for documents related to what it says is a failure to operate and maintain surveillance cameras at the southern border after it did not receive a response to its demands for answers. Chairman Mark Green has issued a subpoena for documents and information requested on Oct. 16 relating to the working of Border Patrol’s Integrated Fixed Towers and Remote Video Surveillance System-Upgrade (RVSS-U) camera programs. “The exigency of this national security threat demands solutions from the Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and Congress,” an accompanying letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says. WHISTLEBLOWERS CLAIM BORDER PATROL SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS ‘OUT OF SERVICE’ AS GOP DEMANDS ANSWERS FROM DHS Sources had told the committee that more than 66% of the RVSS-U cameras are inoperable, and maintenance is sometimes performed by non-U.S. citizens, which could be a violation of security policy. Whistleblowers had told the committee that some of the busiest Southwest border sectors have nearly 50 or more cameras offline with multiple towers that have been out of service for more than a year. “The failure to maintain camera operability in surveillance towers presents a grave national security threat. In the last four years, the Biden-Harris Administration’s disastrous border security and immigration policies have resulted in CBP encountering more than 8.4 million individuals at the U.S.-Mexico border, more than 10.4 million nationwide, and the escape of more than two million known gotaways into the interior of the United States,” Green said. “The Committee is deeply concerned that if nearly two-thirds of USBP’s remote surveillance tower cameras are inoperable, the total number of aliens that entered or will enter the United States without screening or vetting may be much greater than reported.” BORDER PATROL FACING LARGE-SCALE SURVEILLANCE CAMERA OUTAGE WITH ‘SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS’: REPORT Green said that DHS responded to the request by promising an Oct. 30 briefing to begin answering the questions, but documents were not provided, and the department later said the briefing “was not intended to be responsive” to that request. “The Committee requires the documents, information, and data compelled by the attached subpoena to fully evaluate potential legislation concerning both the standards of operability for USBP surveillance towers and the standards of contractor eligibility for contracts involving the maintenance and operation of USBP surveillance towers,” the letter says. NBC News had reported that an October memo said nearly one-third of cameras, roughly 150 of 500 cameras on surveillance towers, were out due to technical issues. The RVSS cameras are nearly 15 years old and are used to monitor areas of the border without the need for regular on the ground patrols. Agents also rely on a variety of detection and surveillance, including AI-powered towers, as well as helicopters, K-9s, the border wall and the agents themselves. Agents have noted the helpfulness of the automated surveillance towers, which are more advanced and use AI to track migrants and help agents locate them. CBP has deployed more than 300 of the towers. Officials say that RVSS is an old, costly system requiring regular maintenance and dedicated staff to monitor the cameras. That is opposed to the newer systems that use AI and provide alerts to agents in real time. A CBP spokesperson told Fox this month that CBP “utilizes a multilayered approach, including advances in technology to enhance border security along the southern, northern, and coastal/maritime environments.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS “While older technology like the Remote Video Surveillance Systems (RVSS) have been helpful operational tools for more than 15 years, they require significant maintenance and upgrades as they pass the end of their planned lifecycle. As systems go down, CBP works to resolve the issue by refreshing systems with new camera optics or replaces them entirely with a combination of mobile tower systems, aerial platforms, relocatable tower systems, and fixed observation posts to provide coverage in critical areas,” they said. “CBP continues to install newer, more advanced technology that embrace artificial intelligence and machine learning to replace outdated systems, reducing the need to have agents working non-interdiction functions within a local command center. To date, CBP has deployed 305 Automated Surveillance Towers (ASTs) and will deploy an additional 15 recently purchased Integrated Surveillance Towers (ISTs) in the coming months.” However, the situation has brought criticism from the National Border Patrol Council, which said it impacts agent safety. “Once again, we have another situation of ineptness from this administration, and it continues to show how out of touch DHS leadership is. Not only does this have an impact on the country by not knowing who or what is coming in, it also impacts the safety of the agents working the front lines,” said Art Del Cueto, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council. It comes days before the presidential election, where border security has been a top issue for voters, and both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have sought to position themselves as the candidate best suited to secure the border after a yearslong migrant crisis. Fox News’ Bill Melugin and Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
Rural Georgia counties outpace Dem strongholds as Peach State shatters early voting records
Rural Georgians are voting early at a higher rate than those living in Democratic-leaning counties that were key to President Biden flipping the state blue in 2020, the most recent data show. Of the state’s 159 counties, the top 23 for absentee and early in-person voter turnout were won by former President Donald Trump in 2020, according to the state’s elections website. That includes the rural counties of Towns, Oconee and Rabun – which have seen 69.06%, 65.51%, and 64.46% of their active voters already casting ballots, respectively. Towns County voters outpaced the Georgia county average early turnout rate by roughly 15%, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. ‘ADMIRES DICTATORS’: HARRIS CONTINUES COMPARING TRUMP TO HITLER DURING BATTLEGROUND STATE TOWN HALL That includes suburban blue-leaning Cobb County and Gwinnett County, as well as the Democratic stronghold of Fulton County – home to Atlanta. Of Fulton County’s active voters, 53.51% cast ballots before Election Day. Georgia has smashed early voting records since early voting began on Oct. 15. On Wednesday evening, state officials announced that more than half of the state’s total active voters have already cast ballots. Turnout in several rural areas that favored Trump is already close to total 2020 turnout, projections show. Atlanta metro-area counties that voted for Biden are still significantly larger than rural areas with higher turnout, however. ‘ILLEGAL, UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND VOID’: GEORGIA JUDGE STRIKES DOWN NEW ELECTION RULES AFTER LEGAL FIGHTS Nearly 385,000 Fulton County voters cast early in-person ballots, followed by 275,207 from Gwinnett County and 271,426 from Cobb County. By contrast, just under 7,000 Towns County residents voted in person during Georgia’s early voting period, which runs through Friday, Nov. 1. Regardless, the spike in early voting in rural parts of Georgia could be a sign that Trump and Republicans have been successful in their efforts to gin up enthusiasm among their base. It also could change perceptions of the way analysts and predictors interpret voter turnout – traditionally, early voting would heavily favor Democrats while an Election Day surge could help Republicans. GEORGIA GOP CHAIR SHARES 2-PRONGED ELECTION STRATEGY AS TRUMP WORKS TO WIN BACK PEACH STATE Dave Wasserman, of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, noted on X that early turnout in some rural red Georgia counties was on track to match their total turnout, but said it was not necessarily an indicator of who would win. “It’s notable that a place like Towns Co. (Trump +61 in ’20) is at 92% of its final ’20 turnout, while Clayton Co. (Biden +71) is at 69% of its ’20 turnout,” he wrote on X. “Doesn’t tell us who will win GA, just that Dems have more work to do than Rs to turn out their vote in the final days.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Poll of Georgia, North Carolina likely voters finds Trump, Harris nearly tied
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are neck and neck in the vital battleground states of Georgia and North Carolina, according to two new CNN polls conducted by SSRS. In Georgia, Trump edges Harris among likely voters, 48% to 47%, while in North Carolina the results are reversed, with Harris leading 48% to Trump’s 47%. The results are within the margin of error in both states. Trump has won North Carolina twice, in 2016 by nearly four percentage points and in 2020 by just over one point. In the last 20 years, former President Barack Obama was the only Democrat to win North Carolina, and that was by less than half a point in 2008. The Tar Heel state has 16 electoral college votes. TRUMP LEADS HARRIS IN GEORGIA 2 WEEKS FROM ELECTION DAY, POLL FINDS Trump held a rally Wednesday afternoon in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, while Harris made her case in North Carolina’s capital, Raleigh, underlining how important that state will be in deciding who the next president is. Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, is in North Carolina today for a “Gen Z Town Hall.” The CNN/SSRS North Carolina poll comes after a Fox News survey showed Trump ahead by 49%-47% among likely voters, while third-party candidates received 4%. The previous Fox News survey of North Carolina voters, released in September, also had Trump favored by just a touch among likely voters and Harris narrowly up among registered voters. Meanwhile, a poll conducted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the University of Georgia last week found Trump at 47% support in the state, compared to Harris’ 43%. The Peach state also has 16 electoral college votes. President Biden narrowly edged Trump in Georgia in 2020 to become the first Democrat to carry the state in a White House race in nearly 30 years, since former President Bill Clinton in 1992. The CNN/SSRS polls released Thursday found that an overwhelming 95% of likely voters in each state now say they’ve made up their minds about their vote, with more than half of the likely electorate in both Georgia (59%) and North Carolina (52%) saying they have already cast their ballots. FOX NEWS POLL: TRUMP STILL NARROWLY AHEAD OF HARRIS IN NORTH CAROLINA Harris has a seven-point margin in Georgia among those who have already voted, and she is six points clear in North Carolina, according to the CNN/SSRS polls. Roughly two-thirds of Harris backers in both states say they are mostly voting to support Harris, rather than to oppose Trump. Higher majorities of Trump voters in both states – 81% in Georgia and 75% in North Carolina – say their vote is primarily about support for the former president, rather than opposition to Harris. In North Carolina, Trump leads by seven points among men and Harris is ahead by nine points among women. In Georgia, men favor Trump by the same margin, but women are closer to evenly split (49% favor Harris, 47% Trump). Harris leads among Black likely voters in both states too by significant margins, 84% to 13% in Georgia and 78% to 19% in North Carolina. The vice president also leads among voters with college degrees, 55% to 39% in Georgia and by 53% to 42% in North Carolina, the CNN/SSRS polls found. White college graduates split about evenly in both states with 50% for Harris compared to 47% for Trump in North Carolina, and 48% to Trump in Georgia compared to Harris’ 46%. Trump holds a commanding lead, 81% to 15%, among White voters without college degrees in Georgia. He leads that group by a less overwhelming margin, 65% to 31%, in North Carolina. The White House’s response to Hurricane Helene trends poorly with 42% of likely voters in Georgia approving its response, but just 36% of respondents in North Carolina say they approve of the way the Biden administration has handled the disaster. In the race for North Carolina governor, Democrat Josh Stein holds a sizeable lead over Republican Mark Robinson, 53% to 37%, among likely voters. The polls were conducted online and by telephone from Oct. 23 through Oct. 28 with 732 voters polled in Georgia and 750 in North Carolina. The margin of error is 4.7% in both states among likely voters. Fox News’ Dana Blanton and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
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Harris holds narrow lead over Trump in ‘blue wall’ states Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin: poll
A slew of new polls show Vice President Kamala Harris taking a narrow lead over former President Donald Trump in the “blue wall” states many forecasters say she needs to win to clinch the presidency. Marist polls of battlegrounds Michigan and Pennsylvania released on Friday have the Democratic vice president ahead of her Republican rival by two points in each state, 50% to 48%. A third poll of Wisconsin voters shows Harris with a three percentage point lead, 51-48%. All these results are within the Marist polls’ margins of error, plus or minus 3.4 points for the Michigan and Pennsylvania polls and plus or minus 3.5 points for the Wisconsin survey. The surveys were conducted between Oct. 27-30. HARRIS-TRUMP SHOWDOWN: IN NATION’S BIGGEST BATTLEGROUND, NEW POLLS SHOW ‘IT’S REALLY, REALLY CLOSE’ The numbers point toward another historically close election next Tuesday following the 2020 cycle, when just 44,000 votes spread across key battleground states handed President Biden the Electoral College votes he needed to unseat Trump. Similarly, in 2016, Trump captured the White House by just under 78,000 votes in the three “blue wall” states. The small leads Harris holds are credited to independent voters, who appear to be moving in her direction in the final days of the election. Harris opened up a six-point lead over Trump among independents in Michigan, 52-46%, improving from a two-point lead in September. She also improved from a four-point edge with Wisconsin independents in early September to a six-point lead at the end of October. HARRIS LAYS OUT HER CLOSING ARGUMENT AGAINST TRUMP WITH THE WHITE HOUSE AS A BACKDROP However, the most dramatic swing comes in Pennsylvania, where Marist finds a 19-point shift among independents, with Harris at 55% and Trump at 40% compared to September, when Trump led Harris among independents 49-45%. “The Keystone State is the biggest prize of the three highly competitive so-called Blue Wall states,” said Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion. “The good news for Harris is she is running stronger among independents and white voters than Biden did four years ago. The bad news is the gender gap is not as wide here as it was in 2020 or, in fact, where it is elsewhere now.” HARRIS, TRUMP, MAKE FINAL PITCHES TO VOTERS IN HIGH STAKES BATTLEGROUND More surveys released Friday show a tight race. A new USA Today/Suffolk poll finds Harris and Trump tied in Pennsylvania with 49% of the vote each, according to a statewide poll of 500 likely voters conducted from Oct. 27 to 30 with a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points. David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, called the race a “toss up.” “We have all the results within the margin of error … it’s basically a statistical tie,” Paleologos said, according to USA Today. Additionally, the final Detroit Free Press poll of likely Michigan voters shows Harris with a three-percentage-point lead over Trump, strengthened by support from women and Black voters, although the margin is still within the poll’s plus or minus 4-point margin of error. The Rust Belt states that comprise the Democratic Party’s “blue wall” collectively are worth 44 Electoral College votes. Pennsylvania is the largest prize with 19 votes, Michigan has 15 and Wisconsin holds 10. If Harris can win Pennsylvania and one other “blue wall” state, Trump would need to sweep the other swing states, which include the Sun Belt states of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina, to win the White House. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
‘Given clean chit to itself’: Congress writes counter response to ECI over alleged irregularities in Haryana polls
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has dismissed allegations by the Congress party regarding irregularities in the recent Haryana elections. In response, the Congress submitted a “counter response” to the ECI on Friday, describing its initial reply as “generic” and focused on dismissing the comp
Harris slammed for hiring advisor with ties to dark money group pushing gas stove ban: ‘Par for the course’
Energy advocates are knocking Vice President Kamala Harris for bringing on a top campaign advisor with ties to a controversial environmental group behind the effort to ban gas stoves. O.H. Skinner, executive director of the nonprofit Alliance for Consumers, told Fox News Digital that “this is sadly par for the course.” “For years the left has been focused on assaulting consumers and the things in their homes. That has included a litany of Biden-Harris regulations and mandates,” he said. “From ‘green’ regulations on dishwashers and washing machines to EV mandates and bans on gas stoves, a Harris-Walz administration will no doubt continue to eviscerate consumer choice and force Americans to pay more for everyday products and household appliances that do a worse job.” American energy production is a critical issue this election, especially in the largest swing state, Pennsylvania. The Harris campaign has made overtures to energy producers and consumers, saying that her administration would not ban fracking but would reduce energy production costs while investing in clean energy solutions. BIDEN ADMIN’S REGULATIONS WOULD BAN 96% OF GAS STOVES, REPUBLICAN WARNS However, conservatives are knocking her for hiring Camila Thorndike, who previously worked for the dark money climate activist group Rewiring America as the campaign’s “climate engagement director.” Before joining the campaign in September, Updike worked in multiple positions at Rewiring America between late 2022 and last month, according to her Legistorm profile. Rewiring America is an environmental advocacy group that made headlines in 2022 for its push to ban gas stoves. The group does not file federal tax forms since it is sponsored by the Windward Fund, a nonprofit that is part of the billion-dollar dark money network managed by the Washington, D.C.-based Arabella Advisors. The only public contribution to Rewiring America is a 2020 grant worth $300,000 from the left-wing nonprofit Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The group was founded by Alex Laskey, Saul Griffith and Ari Matusiak in 2020. The three founders have all pursued various wind, solar, electrification and energy efficiency ventures, some of which have netted them millions of dollars in buyouts or received significant federal funding. They have simultaneously advocated for policies benefiting those ventures through the nonprofit. BIDEN-HARRIS STILL HATE YOUR GAS STOVE, YOU WON’T BELIEVE HOW MUCH Among its key objectives, Rewiring America has maintained that Americans must broadly electrify their homes to combat climate change and has advocated for massive spending on climate programs. In an October interview with Politico, Thorndike indicated that Hurricanes Helene and Milton were caused by climate change. She told Politico that Harris is “not promoting expansion [of fossil fuel drilling]. She’s just said that they wouldn’t ban fracking,” despite Harris repeatedly supporting a fracking ban during her failed 2019 presidential campaign. The climate advisor has a long history of controversial comments, including accusing the oil and gas industry of “ecoterrorism” and calling for Americans in the fossil fuel industry to “consider putting their talents elsewhere” and stop “continuing to cook the planet,” according to a recent Washington Free Beacon report. She also previously said she is hesitant to have children because of climate change threats, saying it’s an “ethical question that keeps me up at night.” Jason Isaac, a former Texas representative and CEO of the American Energy Institute, told Fox News Digital that Harris’ decision to bring on Thorndike “underscores her administration’s hostility towards American energy sources that power our economy and support millions of jobs.” “If her campaign’s staff is any indication, we can expect Harris to continue pushing policies that harm American energy independence and target the livelihoods of countless workers,” he said. “This isn’t just about gas stoves. It’s a coordinated effort to undermine affordable, reliable energy that Americans depend on.” Rewiring America did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Fox News’ Thomas Catenacci and Aubrie Spady contributed to this report. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
GOP lawmakers sound alarm on military voting ‘deficiencies’ ahead of Election Day
FIRST ON FOX: With just four days to go until Election Day, Republican lawmakers are demanding answers from the Pentagon after receiving complaints about inadequate resources to help military service members vote. Active duty service members claim the Pentagon has not allocated enough resources to let them cast their ballot on time and that the stockpile of write-in absentee ballots on at least one military base is depleted and has not been replenished, according to three GOP congressmen. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Mich., Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich. and Mike Walz, R-Fla., penned a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Wednesday, writing “with grave concern” about “deficiencies in the Defense Department’s protocols,” which also includes not making service members aware of their options on how to vote. “Our nation’s brave men and women in uniform brought to our attention that there has been inadequate education at the administrative level on how to register to vote, request an absentee ballot, and fill in a federal write-in absentee ballot if their state-issued ballot does not arrive in time,” the lawmakers write. MAJORITY OF VETERANS POLLED SUPPORT RE-ELECTION OF DONALD TRUMP: ‘WE WANT TRUMP BACK’ “Other service members also stated that when a request for a federal write-in absentee ballot was made, they were told the base’s stockpile of such ballots was depleted and had not been replenished.” The lawmakers say it is imperative that the Pentagon does everything in its power so the nation’s “elite warriors” have every opportunity to vote and that the Department of Defense (DOD) “mobilize all the necessary resources over the next seven days” so that military personnel are given that opportunity. They also requested that Austin clarify what training or guidance is given to service members so that they can vote and what training is given to each unit’s Voting Assistance Office (VAO). The Republicans also asked if there is a sufficient stockpile of federal write-in absentee ballots for service members nationwide to vote if their state-issued absentee ballot does not arrive on time. Additionally, the lawmakers want to know if military personnel have been given sufficient time to review a sample ballot electronically, so they know their voting options ahead of the election or if they have to fill in a federal write-in absentee ballot. BRIAN MAST: I’M A WOUNDED WARRIOR. I’VE SEEN DONALD TRUMP CARE FOR VETERANS. THAT’S WHY I’M VOTING FOR HIM Fox News Digital requested comment from the DOD regarding the letter but did not receive a response prior to publication. “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have mobilized federal manpower, resources, and tax dollars to block state-level election integrity measures, including in Georgia and Virginia, through lawsuits and smears,” Mast, a miliary veteran who lost both his legs while serving in Afghanistan in 2010, tells Fox News Digital. “They claim to care about democracy and the right to vote, yet they’ve failed to plan accordingly to facilitate the right to vote for every single one of our nation’s brave men and women in uniform. This is absolutely unacceptable. Our nation’s elite warriors deserve to have every opportunity to vote for the next commander-in-chief, especially since that person will be making life-and-death decisions for our troops.” Waltz, who served 27 years in the U.S. Army and National Guard, echoed those sentiments. “Both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have dismissed our warfighters serving in combat zones by either falsely claiming the U.S. has suffered no casualties under this administration or by claiming thousands of these service members aren’t in active combat zones,” Walz tells Fox News Digital. “We need assurances these service members who are putting their lives on the line for our country have the information and tools they need to cast their ballot to vote.” Huizenga too said the situation “is completely unacceptable.” “Sadly, this is the latest example of the Biden-Harris Administration failing to stand up for our servicemembers,” Huizenga tells Fox News Digital.