GOP Texas candidate in the hot seat after rival exposes family’s Dem donations: ‘Doesn’t make sense’
A GOP candidate running for Congress in Texas believes the state’s open primaries may have allowed a Democrat to enter a Republican primary. Alexander Hale can’t help but have questions about the political positions of his fellow Republican challenger, Alexander Kalai, as they face off to represent Texas’ 7th Congressional District. Kalai’s background first caught Hale’s attention in December. “I was simply looking up my opponent’s information. And I saw on Transparency USA that his father had given [thousands] to Beto” and other top Democrats, Hale said, referring to a former Democratic representative of Texas, Beto O’Rourke, the failed Senate and gubernatorial candidate. TRUMP INTRODUCES CORNYN, PAXTON BUT STAYS MUM ON ENDORSEMENT IN HEATED GOP PRIMARY “And I thought, ‘well, that is super strange.’” Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show that his family has a track record of donating to Democrats, leading Hale to believe that the open primary system in Texas may invite Republican-looking candidates to detract attention from candidates with platforms that align more closely with the GOP base. Hale believes that’s a weakness shared by many states that use open primaries. “I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say, well, ‘shouldn’t we only have Republicans electing Republicans and Democrats only electing Democrats?’” Hale said of the primary elections. Texas is one of 14 states that use an open primary system, allowing unregistered candidates to announce their consideration for a party’s primary race. In Kalai’s case, his website states that he supports traditional Republican positions like school choice, protecting women’s sports and an emphasis on deregulation to promote economic activity. Kalai did not respond to a request for comment on his positions. TEXAS EARLY VOTING BEGINS AHEAD OF CONTENTIOUS MARCH 3 PRIMARY ELECTIONS Kalai’s campaign has received $182,000. Of those, $134,000 has come from his own pocket. Kalai lists his source for those donations as “self-employed.” His campaign has also received two donations from his parents, Bashar and Grigitte Kalai, both for $3,500 — the most one donor can give a candidate for the primary, according to federal law. Bashar Kalai’s donation to his son, a Republican, goes against the grain of his past political contributions. As the president and CEO of Amerapex, a technology, engineering and industrial services company based in Houston, Bashar has a long track record of political donations — to Democrats. In addition to his contributions to Beto O’Rourke, he has donated to the campaigns of Hillary Clinton, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., the House Majority PAC, which is controlled by Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives and other Democratic candidates. Hale believes his proximity to his son should raise questions about Alexander Kalai’s affiliations. “I’d love to hear an explanation as to why someone comes out of the blue with all this blue money and says, ‘Hey, I’m a Republican. You’ve never heard of me. I’ve never voted in a primary, but I’m the Republican you need.’” “It doesn’t make sense,” Hale said. DAVID MARCUS: IN DALLAS, VOTERS WEIGH TWO SENATE PRIMARIES AND NOW, A WAR Hale said he fears that candidates with sufficient financial backing, like Kalai, could present a convincing picture to voters in a primary process where fundraising is often used to establish legitimacy. “Money buys attention. In open primaries, we end up in a situation where whoever has the most money — it feels like whoever has the most money wins,” Hale said. Hale and Kalai will face off at the ballot box on Tuesday evening alongside three other Republican candidates. Whoever wins that primary will face off against incumbent Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Texas, in November.
Kristi Noem to face Senate grilling over Minneapolis shootings as DHS shutdown hits week 3
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem heads to Capitol Hill Tuesday to face lawmakers demanding she resign, be fired or impeached. Her appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee comes as members of both parties criticize her handling of the Trump administration’s immigration operations throughout the country. Some Democrats have called for her to face impeachment. Her testimony has been in the works for months. Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, had been seeking her appearance to conduct routine oversight of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS FUNDING STALEMATE THAWS AS WHITE HOUSE SENDS DEMOCRATS ‘SERIOUS’ COUNTEROFFER But it wasn’t until after the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good during immigration operations in Minneapolis that Noem agreed to testify. Last month, President Donald Trump dismissed the idea of firing Noem. “Why would I do that?” Trump said. “We have the strongest border in the history of our country. We have the best crime numbers we’ve ever had, going back to the year 1900 — that’s 125 years.” Still, she is expected to face tough questioning from Senate Democrats. DHS SECRETARY KRISTI NOEM ADDRESSES CALLS FOR HER FIRING, NEW ALEX PRETTI VIDEO Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the top Democrat on the committee, said at the time the hearing was announced that Noem previously “refused to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee last year and now tells us that she will be available in five weeks — should she still be DHS Secretary at that time.” “With all of the violence and deaths involving DHS, the Secretary is apparently in no hurry to account for her mismanagement of this national crisis,” Durbin said in a statement. “And she expects us to rubber stamp her record-breaking budget in the meantime.” And there’s at least one Senate Republican on the panel, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who has emerged as one of her top critics. In January, Tillis said he would place holds on DHS nominees coming through the committee until Noem agreed to testify — a move that would block Trump’s picks for the agency. SCHUMER, DEMS AGAIN BLOCK DHS FUNDING, FORCE STATE OF THE UNION SHOWDOWN “I’m not going to get into impeachment,” Tillis said at the time. “I think it should be a management decision. She needs to go.” Her testimony also comes as a partial government shutdown affecting only DHS enters its third week. Some Republicans have expressed concern that the shutdown could hamper the agency’s ability to respond proactively to potential threats in the U.S., particularly following Trump’s weekend strikes in Iran, along with other security challenges that could arise during a prolonged closure. The White House and Senate Democrats, led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have been negotiating for weeks, but neither side has reached a breakthrough. The White House sent its latest offer to Democrats, which a White House official described as “serious” in a statement to Fox News Digital. Still, no agreement has been reached, and the agency remains shuttered. “Democrats need to make a move to end the shutdown before more Americans are harmed by a lack of funding for critical services like disaster relief,” the official said.
Supreme Court blocks California ban on notifying students’ parents about gender transitions
The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for California schools to notify parents if their children want to change their gender identity without approval from the student amid a challenge against the Golden State’s ban on so-called forced outing of transgender students. The court granted an emergency appeal from a conservative legal group, the Thomas More Society, blocking, at least for now, a state law that prohibited automatic parental notification requirements if students change their gender expression or pronouns at school. The Thomas More Society praised the decision as “the most significant parental rights ruling in a generation.” Two sets of Catholic parents represented by the legal group argued that the state law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2024, caused schools to mislead them and secretly facilitate the students’ gender transitions. CATHOLIC GROUP ASKS SCOTUS TO BLOCK CALIFORNIA LAW AGAINST REVEALING STUDENTS’ GENDER IDENTITIES TO PARENTS But California contended that students have the right to privacy about their gender expression, particularly if they fear rejection from their families who may not support their decision to adopt a new gender identity. The state also said school policies and state law sought to balance student privacy with parental rights. Last year, state education officials told school districts that the state’s policy “does not mandate nondisclosure.” Newsom’s office also previously said that “parents continue to have full, guaranteed access to their student’s education records as required by federal law.” The Supreme Court sided with the parents on Monday and reinstated a lower-court order blocking the law and school policies while the case continues. “The parents who assert a free exercise claim have sincere religious beliefs about sex and gender, and they feel a religious obligation to raise their children in accordance with those beliefs. California’s policies violate those beliefs,” the majority wrote in an unsigned order, adding that state policies also burden the free exercise of religion. Conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas also said they would have gone a step further and granted the teachers’ appeal to lift restrictions for them. The three liberal justices dissented, saying the case is still working its way through lower courts and there was no need to take action now. “If nothing else, this Court owes it to a sovereign State to avoid throwing over its policies in a slapdash way, if the Court can provide normal procedures. And throwing over a State’s policy is what the Court does today,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote. A federal judge ruled in December 2025 that schools cannot prevent teachers from sharing information about a student’s gender identity with their parents, but an appeals court blocked that ruling last month, leading the plaintiffs to ask the nation’s highest court to step in. TRUMP ADMIN FINDS CALIFORNIA BAN ON NOTIFYING PARENTS OF GENDER TRANSITIONS VIOLATED FEDERAL LAW The high court has been weighing whether to hear arguments in cases out of other states such as Massachusetts and Florida filed by parents who say schools facilitated gender transitions without notifying them. The U.S. Department of Education also announced last month that the California law violates federal law. The findings of the federal investigation could put at risk the nearly $8 billion in education funding the federal government gives the state each year if state officials do not work with the Trump administration to resolve the violations. The Trump administration is also pursuing legal action against California and threatening to withhold funding over a policy allowing biological males to compete in girls’ sports. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Trump sends official notification to Congress on strikes against Iran
President Donald Trump on Monday sent an official notification to Congress about the U.S. strikes against Iran, in which he attempted to justify the military action in the now expanding conflict in the Middle East. In a letter obtained by FOX News, Trump told Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, that “no U.S. ground forces were used in these strikes” and that the mission “was planned and executed in a manner designed to minimize civilian casualties, deter future attacks, and neutralize Iran’s malign activities.” This comes after joint U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran on Saturday as part of Operation Epic Fury, triggering a response from Tehran and a wider conflict in the region. The strikes killed the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other military leaders. TRUMP ADMIN WARNED LAWMAKERS ISRAEL WAS ‘DETERMINED TO ACT WITH OR WITHOUT US’ BEFORE MASSIVE IRAN STRIKES Trump wrote that it is not yet possible to know the full scope of military operations against Iran and that U.S. forces are prepared to take potential further action. “Although the United States desires a quick and enduring peace, not possible at this time to know the full scope and duration of military operations that may be necessary,” Trump wrote. “As such, United States forces remain postured to take further action, as necessary and appropriate, to address further threats and attacks upon the United States or its allies and partners, and ensure the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran ceases being a threat to the United States, its allies, and the international community.” “I directed this military action consistent with my responsibility to protect Americans and United States interests both at home and abroad and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests,” he added. “I acted pursuant to my constitutional authority as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive to conduct United States foreign relations.” Trump said he was “providing this report as part of my efforts to keep the Congress fully informed, consistent with the War Powers Resolution,” as some Republican and Democrat lawmakers attempt to restrain the president’s military action, which they affirm is unconstitutional without congressional approval. The president also accused Iran of being among the largest state sponsors of terrorism in the world and purported that the “Iranian regime continues to seek the means to possess and employ nuclear weapons,” even after the White House said in June that precision strikes at the time “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities. US SURGES FORCES TO MIDDLE EAST AS PENTAGON WARNS IRAN FIGHT ‘WILL TAKE SOME TIME’ “As I previously communicated to the Congress, Iran remains one of the largest, if not the largest, state-sponsors of terrorism in the world,” Trump said in the letter on Monday. “Despite the success of Operation MIDNIGHT HAMMER, the Iranian regime continues to seek the means to possess and employ nuclear weapons. Its array of ballistic, cruise, anti-ship, and other missiles pose a direct threat to and are attacking United States forces, commercial vessels, and civilians, as well as those of our allies and partners.” “Despite my Administration’s repeated efforts to achieve a diplomatic solution to Iran’s malign behavior, the threat to the United States and its allies and partners became untenable,” he continued. Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report.
Musk, xAI tout newest Grok update as only ‘non-woke’ platform: ‘Doesn’t equivocate”
X’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok has begun rolling out its first beta version of Grok 4.20, which Elon Musk and X say will provide not only better performance and new features but also the least “politically correct” platform in terms of liberal bias. Over the past week, users on X, including Musk, have been touting search results from Grok showing “non woke” answers to questions about popular cultural issues and figures compared to results from Anthropic’s Claude, Open AI’s ChatGPT, and Google’s Gemini. “Grok 4.20 is BASED,” Musk also posted on X last week. “The only AI that doesn’t equivocate when asked if America is on stolen land. The others are weak sauce.” Musk’s post included screenshots of ChatGPT saying the “short answer” is “yes”, Claude ultimately saying “yes” and Gemini saying the answer is “complex” while Grok responds with “No.” TRUMP SAYS HE PLANS TO ORDER FEDERAL BAN ON ANTHROPIC AI AFTER COMPANY REFUSES PENTAGON DEMANDS In another post shared by Musk, the AI platforms are asked for a “yes” or “no” if President Donald Trump is “racist.” Grok responded with “No” while Gemini responded by saying the answer is not as simple as “yes” or “no.” Claude and ChatGPT also declined to respond with a “yes” or “no”: arguing it’s a more nuanced issue. ELON MUSK POURS A STAGGERING $10M INTO KENTUCKY SENATE RACE, BACKING PRO-TRUMP BUSINESS OUTSIDER “Grok 4.20 is the only non-woke AI in existence, engineered to pursue maximum truth, and deliver unfiltered, evidence-based answers where every other major model has been lobotomized by the woke mind virus,” an xAI spokesperson told Fox News Digital. The recent attack on Iran by the United States and Israel also provided examples on social media of Grok results appearing less “biased” than other platforms, including a post showing what happened when each platform was asked a “yes” or “no” question about whether Trump was “right” to authorize the strike. Grok responded with “yes” while ChatGPT said “no” and both Gemini and Claude argued that the situation was too nuanced to respond definitively one way or the other. “In times of split second decision making by our nation’s top leaders — it’s clear which AI our military should be using,” ‘The Katie Miller Show’ host and former DOGE adviser Katie Miller posted on X. “Truth-seeking is @grok’s best feature.” Various websites have attempted to track the political leanings of artificial intelligence platforms, including Dartmouth College’s Polarization Research Lab, last updated in 2025, which ranked Gemini as the least political. In early 2025, a Manhattan Institute report concluded Grok was a close second to Gemini in terms of political bias. An OpenAI spokesperson pointed Fox News Digital to its public ModelSpec which defines how ChatGPT should behave and “assume an objective point of view” and said “we actively test and measure political bias in ways that mirror real-world use and publish our findings, including evaluations across hundreds of prompts and real production traffic, where detectable political bias is rare (fewer than 0.01% of responses show any detectable political bias) and continues to decline with newer models.” Fox News Digital reached out to Anthropic and Google for comment.
Trump admin warned lawmakers Israel was ‘determined to act with or without us’ before massive Iran strikes
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., described the recent U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran as a defensive measure, saying, “Israel was determined to act with or without us” following a classified briefing on Monday evening. Johnson told reporters after the briefing that Israel viewed Iran’s capabilities as an existential threat and was prepared to conduct operations regardless of U.S. participation. He said Israel’s assessment shaped American deliberations, and it was “determined to act in their own defense here, with or without American support.” The speaker said administration officials had to weigh risks to U.S. forces, regional assets and interests before supporting the operation. “They had to evaluate the threats to the U.S., to our troops, to our installations, to our assets in the region and beyond. And they determined, because of the intelligence that we had, that a coordinated response was necessary,” Johnson said. Johnson said he guarantees that if the U.S. had not acted, the Trump administration would have been hauled in by Congress and asked why they waited if they had “existential intelligence, knowing that that would happen.” EX-CIA CHIEF WARNS NOT TO UNDERESTIMATE IRAN’S RESPONSE AFTER OPERATION EPIC FURY EXPOSED REGIME ‘ARROGANCE’ “I am convinced that they did the right thing,” he said. Rubio confirmed that Israel was prepared to act against Iran and said the president “made a very wise decision.” “We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces,” he told reporters. “And we knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties.” FIRES RAGE AT IRAN’S BANDAR ABBAS NAVAL HEADQUARTERS, STRAIT OF HORMUZ TRAFFIC STALLED Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., a top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, emerged from the briefing and said he did not believe there was an “imminent threat” prior to Saturday’s strikes. “There was no imminent threat to the United States of America by the Iranians. It was a threat to Israel,” he said. “We equate a threat to Israel is the equivalent of an imminent threat to the United States. Then we are in uncharted territory.” “We have seen the goals for this operation change now, I believe 4 or 5 times,” he went on. US SURGES FORCES TO MIDDLE EAST AS PENTAGON WARNS IRAN FIGHT ‘WILL TAKE SOME TIME’ Rubio insisted the operation was not about Iranian regime change but about taking out its capabilities as a threat to the region – focused on ballistic missiles and naval capacity. He did not say whether strikes would extend to nuclear facilities. “I do believe there is more than adequate justification for our American and Israeli actions,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told reporters he believes there is “more than adequate justification for our American and Israeli actions,” without saying more. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital in an interview afterward that he felt administration officials did a good job of illustrating the threat level faced by the U.S. in the days leading up to the strikes. “I think that’s largely been very open source. The president laid that out, you know, very clearly. It does go beyond that to what I can’t get into, but it goes beyond that. I’m sure it’ll come out in the administration’s good time, but it’s not for me to say,” Mast said. “But the more immediate nature of threats — I’m going through the negotiations with [Special Envoy Steve Witkoff], [Jared Kushner], Rubio, others that were a part of having those conversations and throughout that 10-day window of, you know, let’s call it countdown to make a deal, the threats that were going on in that window is probably the high-side information that you have.” He also said there was a lot of daylight between what Democrats and Republicans in the briefing considered an “imminent threat.” “It’s like, for me as a soldier, right, if I see an enemy machine gun nest, that to me, given that it’s an enemy machine gun nest, is an imminent threat,” Mast said. “To Democrats, unless that machine gun is burning up its barrels firing at you, it’s not yet an imminent threat. And those are the two separate ways that we’re looking at it.”. On February 26th, the U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran in coordination with Israel. The offensive campaign has resulted in the death of 49 top Iranian leaders, including the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Six U.S. service members have lost their lives in Iranian counterattacks. The opening phase of the conflict struck more than 1,000 targets in the first 24 hours, according to Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. American B-2 bombers flew 37-hour round-trip missions from the continental United States to hit underground facilities with penetrating munitions, he added.
Radical US mosques honor Iran’s Supreme Leader’s ‘martyrdom’ with memorial services, eulogy: ‘Our leader’
Two United States-based mosques that have faced scrutiny for their ties to Iran held formal events to “honor” Ayatollah Khamenei after U.S. military forces took out the Islamic leader of Iran this weekend, including one mosque in Northern Virginia that referred to Khamenei as “our leader.” Located in Manassas, Virginia, and Dearborn Heights, Michigan, the mosques both publicly advertised events eulogizing the slain leader. In a flyer for the “Potluck Iftar” honoring Khamenei, which is a ceremony where Muslims break their Ramadan fast, the Manassass Mosque, which has faced questions over alleged ties to Iran, referred to Khamenei as “our leader.” Meanwhile, at the Islamic House of Wisdom (IHW) in Dearborn Heights, which has also faced scrutiny over its ties to Iran, the center’s Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi called the U.S. military offensive “evil” and argued that it was based on false-pretenses. “You promised that America First, and now we ended up to have Netanyahu first,” the Michigan-based Imam told his congregants after the attacks this weekend. “Now we realize that all their talk about nuclear [unintelligible] was a joke, it didn’t even exist. From the beginning talking about regime change, we want to change, because we don’t like it. So, starting an illegal – illegal war – and then go and bomb the house of the leader of the country. Where is justification for this? Where is their reason for this, at all?” FBI REMAINS ON HIGH ALERT, DHS MEMO WARNS OF LONE WOLF ATTACKS AMID WAR WITH IRAN The Michigan-based Islamic worship center and its Imam also touted talking points from Iranian state media and officials that have not yet been confirmed, claiming hundreds of young girls were killed by a missile strike on a school in Iran. Hossein Kermanpour, a spokesperson for Iran’s health ministry, said Saturday that 60 young children were killed and 80 injured, but by Sunday Iranian officials were saying the death toll had risen to about 150, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) posted on X on Monday that the alleged death toll was now as high as 168. According to The Guardian, Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command, indicated they were “aware of reports concerning civilian harm resulting from ongoing military operations,” adding that, “We take these reports seriously and are looking into them.” CHASING THE APOCALYPSE: RADICAL SIITE CLERICS ON AMERICAN SOIL PREACH PROHETIC SHOWDOWN WITH US “Why a school? Why not a military base or a missile base? They attack children first. It’s a form of their – again, call me crazy – but child sacrifice,” said a speaker at the IHW’s Ramadan program, who gave a speech alongside Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi. “This is a war against justice, against morality, against legality, against truth,” Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi added as he was speaking to his followers. “Now we realize that all their talk about nuclear [unintelligible] was a joke, it didn’t even exist. From the beginning talking about regime change, we want to change, because we don’t like it,” the Imam continued. IRAN’S SECURITY CHIEF ACCUSES TRUMP OF ‘ISRAEL FIRST’ POLICY, ‘DELUSIONAL FANTASIES’ IN REGION Both the Manassas Mosque and the IWH were listed in a July 2023 letter that Congressional Republicans sent to former Attorney General Merrick Garland and former Director of National Intelligence during the Biden administration, Avril Haines. The letter called out a network of U.S.-based mosques throughout the country that have received financial funding from the Alavi Foundation, which lawmakers said “is a large foundation that has been in litigation for years because of allegations it operates on behalf of the Iranian regime, a state sponsor of terrorism,” or have other close ties to the Iranian regime. “The Imam of IHW, Mohammad Ali Elahi, served as the head of ‘political ideology’ for the Iranian Navy in the 1980s, according to a publicly available Central Intelligence Agency report.” the letter asserts. “He personally claims to be ‘friends’ with three former Iranian Presidents, and since moving to the US, he has had seemingly non-stop contact with senior regime officials.” The letter, which included concerns also laid out in a report drafted by the George Washington University Program on Extremism, adds that IHW has been “a significant purveyor of extremist propaganda, in line with the Iranian regime’s views.” The Manassas Mosque was among the groups that received financial funding from the Alavi Foundation, reportedly totaling around $200,000. The mosque has also reportedly been gifted expensive relics from the Iranian regime, and alleged video of the inside reportedly shows the worship center filled with pictures of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) “martyrs” killed in Syria, a life-size cut-out of Khamenei and Iranian flags or other symbols. Fox News Digital reached out to both mosques, but neither returned requests for comment in time for publication.
Bill Clinton reveals Trump ‘never said anything’ linking himself to Epstein’s crimes
Former President Bill Clinton told lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee last week that he couldn’t recall President Donald Trump saying anything that would link him to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes. As Democrats pressed Clinton on his relationship with Trump and the pair’s numerous mentions in the Epstein files, Clinton paused to clarify his stance. “I hate this because I don’t think I should inject anything, but I do not want to leave the impression… He, the president, never — this is 20-something years ago — never said anything to me to make me think he was involved with anything improper with regard to Epstein,” Clinton told investigators last week. At another point in the deposition, Clinton again clarified his stance on Trump’s relationship with Epstein. HILLARY CLINTON TELLS HOUSE ‘I DO NOT RECALL EVER ENCOUNTERING’ JEFFREY EPSTEIN “As I said earlier, the only conversation I had with President Trump about this was in the early 2000s and I have no information that he did anything wrong,” Clinton said. Lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee deposed the former president as a part of the group’s ongoing probe into Epstein and his crimes. Epstein, a former financier with a robust social circle that included Clinton, Trump, Bill Gates, the United Kingdom’s Prince Andrew and other famous figures, died while incarcerated in 2019 on charges of sex trafficking minors. CLINTONS AGREE TO TESTIFY AFTER HOUSE THREATENS CONTEMPT IN JEFFREY EPSTEIN PROBE Lawmakers are investigating whether Epstein used his expansive social connections to facilitate illegal sexual encounters for his contacts. Democrats, in particular, have sifted through the files with an eye for any connections to Trump. Clinton, who was repeatedly asked by Democrats about Trump throughout his deposition, continued to affirm that he had only limited knowledge of Trump’s relationship with Epstein and that his primary concern was about government transparency on the matter. “I just want it all out there. I want everybody to get it all out there and let everybody see where we are,” Clinton said. Notably, Clinton is pictured in several materials released by the Department of Justice. One places him in a pool with Ghislaine Maxwell, an accomplice of Epstein, and a third person whose identity has been redacted. RO KHANNA’S STATE OF THE UNION GUEST RECRUITED OVER 20 UNDERAGE GIRLS FOR EPSTEIN: ‘LIKE HEIDI FLEISS’ Asked again about his communications with the president, Clinton said he had not spoken to Trump in the years since the “early 2000s” about Epstein. “It’s the truth,” Clinton added.
WATCH: Bill Clinton grilled on shirtless hot tub photo amid swirling questions on Epstein relationship
Former President Bill Clinton told lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee that recently uncovered images of him in a pool with Ghislaine Maxwell, an accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein, and the infamous hot tub photo were taken at a hotel in Brunei and are not linked to any sexual misconduct. “No,” Clinton answered flatly when asked if he had sexual relations with the female in the hot tub photo, whose identity has been redacted by the Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ is required by law to release any documents or images related to Epstein, but to censor information that could identify Epstein’s victims. Clinton said his stay at the hotel came about as an invitation from the kingdom’s sultan — someone Clinton said he had met during his presidency. HILLARY CLINTON COMES OUT SWINGING AFTER GOP GRILLED HER DURING MARATHON EPSTEIN DEPOSITION “It’s a tiny place but a very wealthy one, and the sultan was a man I had gotten to know well in my eight years as president and his involvement with the Asia-Pacific leaders conference, which I started and which he attended,” Clinton said. Brunei is a kingdom located on an island near Indonesia. “When he knew I was coming, he invited me to stay there. And he said, ‘I want you to stay at this hotel, and I hope that you’ll use the pool.’ So, I did, and then I got out and went to bed, exhausted,” Clinton recalled. BILL CLINTON COMES OUT SWINGING AGAINST COMER FOR REJECTING PUBLIC EPSTEIN HEARING: ‘STOP PLAYING GAMES’ While Clinton said that he remembered that both Epstein and Maxwell had joined him at the resort, he told lawmakers he couldn’t remember who else was there. Clinton didn’t explain why Epstein and Maxwell had accompanied him on the trip. He answered that and said that, to the best of his recollection, no one at the pool had been a minor. He went on to admit that he thought that everybody there was part of their party and that he believes there was a Secret Service agent there too. HILLARY CLINTON TELLS HOUSE ‘I DO NOT RECALL EVER ENCOUNTERING’ JEFFREY EPSTEIN Clinton appeared before lawmakers as a part of their ongoing probe into Epstein and his crimes. Epstein, who rubbed shoulders with rich and powerful figures, died in prison in 2019 while charged with sex trafficking minors. Despite being pictured together with Epstein in several images released by the DOJ, Clinton has denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes or having been party to them. “I don’t think there was anyone else in that hot tub. I had forgotten there was anyone in the hot tub,” Clinton said. “I don’t think I ever knew the photo was taken.”
White House doctor explains Trump’s visible neck rash
President Donald Trump’s personal doctor on Monday said he was using a cream after a rash was spotted on his neck, which drew criticism online. The redness on the right side of Trump’s neck was imposed during Monday’s Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House. It appeared just above his shirt collar. DOCTORS REACT TO ALLEGED TRUMP HEALTH CONCERNS AS PHOTOS SHOWING SWELLING AND BRUISING “President Trump is using a very common cream on the right side of his neck, which is a preventative skin treatment, prescribed by the White House Doctor,” Dr. Sean Barbabella, Trump’s physician, told Fox News. “The President is using this treatment for one week, and the redness is expected to last for a few weeks.” Questions about Trump’s health began last year after swelling and bruising was seen on his hands and swelling on his ankles. DOCTORS REACT TO ALLEGED TRUMP HEALTH CONCERNS AS PHOTOS SHOWING SWELLING AND BRUISING “At the time, the White House announced that he had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, which occurs when leg veins fail to send blood back to the heart properly.” White House Press secretary Karoline Leavitt characterized the diagnosis as “benign and common, particularly in individuals over the age of 70.” Regarding Trump’s hand bruises, Leavitt said it was from “minor soft tissue irritation from frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin.” “This is a well-known and benign side effect of aspirin therapy,” she said. “The president remains in excellent health, which I think all of you witness on a daily basis here.” In October, Barbabella said Trump was in “excellent overall health” after a follow-up evaluation at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.