Jack Smith targeted then-House Speaker McCarthy’s private phone records in J6 probe, FBI docs reveal
EXCLUSIVE: Former special counsel Jack Smith allegedly sought the private, personal cellphone records of then-Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy as part of his investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots, Fox News Digital has learned. Smith also sought the private phone records of now-former Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas. JACK SMITH TRACKED PRIVATE COMMUNICATIONS, CALLS OF NEARLY A DOZEN GOP SENATORS DURING J6 PROBE, FBI SAYS Fox News Digital exclusively reviewed the document that FBI Director Kash Patel recently shared with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson containing the explosive revelations. Grassley and Johnson have been leading a joint investigation into Smith’s “Arctic Frost” probe. According to the document, Smith, on Jan. 24, 2023, allegedly sought the “toll records for the personal cell phones of U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (AT&T) and U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert (Verizon.)” The information was included as part of a “Significant Case Notification” drafted by the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division on May 25, 2023. “Jack Smith’s radical and deranged investigation was never about finding the truth,” former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told Fox News Digital. “It was a blatant weaponizing of the Justice Department to attack political opponents of the Biden administration. Perhaps no action underscores this point more than the illegal attempt to access the phone records of sitting members of the House and Senate — including the Speaker of the House.” “His illegal targeting demands real accountability,” McCarthy continued. “And I am confident Congress will hold hearings and access documents in its investigation into Jack Smith’s own abuses.” HAGERTY PRESSES VERIZON OVER FBI’S ACCESS TO HIS PHONE RECORDS DURING JACK SMITH PROBE “At the same time, I will ask my own counsel to pursue all areas of redress so this does not happen to anyone else,” McCarthy said. The revelations come after Fox News Digital exclusively reported in October that Smith and his “Arctic Frost” team investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots were tracking the private communications and phone calls of nearly a dozen Republican senators as part of the probe, including Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and GOP Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania. An official told Fox News Digital that those records were collected in 2023 by Smith and his team after subpoenaing major telephone providers. Smith has called his decision to subpoena and track Republican lawmakers’ phone records “entirely proper” and consistent with Justice Department policy. “As described by various Senators, the toll data collection was narrowly tailored and limited to the four days from January 4, 2021 to January 7, 2021, with a focus on telephonic activity during the period immediately surrounding the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol,” Smith’s lawyers wrote in October to Grassley. Grassley, R-Iowa, and Johnson, R-Wis., have been investigating the matter, and seeking answers from major telephone providers. In AT&T’s response to Grassley, it noted that Smith sought phone records for two members of Congress. Fox News Digital has learned that AT&T informed Grassley’s staff that one of the members was Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, but refused to disclose the second member. The newly declassified document reviewed by Fox News Digital appears to reveal that the second member of Congress that Smith sought records from AT&T for was McCarthy, R-Calif. Fox News Digital obtained AT&T’s response to Grassley, in which the company notes that Smith sent them a grand jury subpoena that included a request for phone records associated with two members of Congress. “However, when AT&T raised questions with Special Counsel Smith’s office concerning the legal basis for seeking records of members of Congress, the Special Counsel did not pursue the subpoena further, and no records were produced,” AT&T told Grassley. AT&T also stressed that the company “has not produced any records or other information to Special Counsel Jack Smith” relating to “any member of Congress.” “Jack Smith’s Arctic Frost investigation looks more and more out of control with each passing day,” Grassley told Fox News Digital. “Based on my oversight, it was a fishing expedition that swept up Republicans in and out of Congress, from top to bottom.” “Arctic Frost” was opened inside the bureau April 13, 2022. Smith was appointed as special counsel to take over the probe in November 2022. GOP SENATOR DEMANDS FBI REVEAL IF SURVEILLANCE WENT BEYOND JACK SMITH’S PHONE TRACKING An FBI official told Fox News Digital that “Arctic Frost” is a “prohibited case,” and that the review required FBI officials to go “above and beyond in order to deliver on this promise of transparency.” The discovery is part of a broader ongoing review, Fox News Digital has learned. Smith, after months of investigating, charged President Donald Trump in the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., in his 2020 election case, but after Trump was elected president, Smith sought to dismiss the case. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted that request. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Smith’s case cost taxpayers more than $50 million. Smith did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Clinton bashes Pentagon’s America First reset as a ‘disaster’
As President Donald Trump redirects U.S. resources toward operations closer to home, former Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and Mike Pompeo warned that America’s adversaries could benefit from a reduced global footprint. Clinton told an audience Wednesday that she’d heard of internal Pentagon discussions advocating a “spheres of influence” model that would focus U.S. power in the Western Hemisphere while allowing Russia to dominate Eastern Europe and China to control much of East Asia. “There seems to be a group within the Pentagon who are advocating for these spheres of influence … I think that’s a disaster. And I think it weakens us vis-à-vis our principal problem, which is… the Chinese Communist Party,” she said during a discussion at Columbia University. The remarks come as the Pentagon increases counter-narcotics and maritime security missions across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, expanding the U.S. military presence in the Southern Command region to its largest level in decades — a shift that reflects Trump’s renewed emphasis on prioritizing the Western Hemisphere. PUTIN AND XI DEEPEN TIES AS IRAN, NORTH KOREA LEADERS VISIT BEIJING The U.S. last week said it would withdraw a rotational infantry brigade largely based in Romania, with some forces in Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria. Clinton, who was an early architect of the Obama administration’s “pivot to Asia” strategy during her 2009–2013 tenure at the State Department, said any retreat from the Indo-Pacific would invite instability and signal weakness to U.S. adversaries. Pompeo largely agreed, saying the United States should strive for global “American hegemony” rooted in Western values and must never concede leadership to rivals. “I agree with almost everything Secretary Clinton said there,” Pompeo said. “I want American values to dominate the world for the next 250 years … I want to influence every sphere of influence.” Even as the War Department has prioritized a focus on the Western Hemisphere, Secretary Pete Hegseth has promised the U.S. would “stoutly defend” its interests in the Indo-Pacific. Pompeo directed particularly harsh words at China, even as U.S.–China relations show tentative signs of easing after Trump’s recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “We shouldn’t use the word competition and the Chinese Communist Party in the same sentence… The Chinese Communist Party wants to cut our heads off,” he said, adding, “They killed 10 million people and didn’t lose a moment’s sleep when a virus was foisted around the world.” Pompeo, who served as secretary of state and CIA director in the first Trump administration, also claimed that China had given its blessing to North Korea to send troops to assist Russia in its war on Ukraine. “There are 13,000 North Koreans on the ground inside of that conflict today,” he said. “They did not go there without Xi Jinping asking Chairman Kim… to go.” Clinton, meanwhile, accused congressional Republicans of staying silent when the White House oversteps its power, citing Trump’s repeated extensions of a deadline for TikTok to divest or face a U.S. ban. “Their tongues must be totally bitten off because they don’t speak out,” Clinton said. FIVE WAYS AMERICA CAN STOP A NEW COLD WAR WITH CHINA FROM TURNING HOT She warned that social media is now shaping — and in some cases distorting — public opinion, posing “a huge danger to democracy.” Clinton also said TikTok was “found by a bipartisan decision of Congress to be controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.” Pompeo echoed that concern. “I’m worried about the fact that we’ve got social influencers on TikTok that are shaping your minds, and that that’s controlled by the Chinese Communist Party to a significant degree,” he said. The pair of former officials found common ground years after Pompeo vowed to release more of her emails in the run-up to the 2020 election. Trump had expressed disappointment that Pompeo’s State Department had not released more of the emails Clinton famously sent from a private server during her time leading the department. “We’re doing it as fast as we can” Pompeo told Fox News at the time, while predicting “there will be more to see before the election.” “It’s pathetic,” Clinton had told The New York Times of Pompeo’s promise. Pompeo has also been critical of Clinton’s “failures” related to Benghazi and “rampant corruption.”
Comey and James challenge Trump appointee’s legitimacy in federal court hearing
Former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James are aiming to convince a federal judge on Thursday that Lindsey Halligan, who brought criminal charges against both of them, is an unlawful U.S. attorney. Lawyers for Comey and James plan to make their arguments during a hearing in Virginia to Judge Cameron Currie, a Clinton appointee tasked with deciding Halligan’s fate. President Donald Trump installed Halligan in September as the top prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia days after ousting Erik Siebert, who opposed charging Comey and James, two of the president’s top political nemeses. Amid the change, Trump posted a message to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Truth Social, indicating that he wanted revenge for his own prior prosecutions and that Bondi needed to act fast. Halligan, a former insurance lawyer with no prosecutorial experience, brought the indictments almost immediately. Her name was the lone signature on each of them, and no Virginia prosecutors joined the case. TRUMP’S US ATTORNEYS IN BLUE STATES FACE LEGAL CHALLENGES THAT COULD UPEND KEY PROSECUTIONS In court briefs, Comey’s and James’ lawyers have said Halligan’s appointment was defective because Bondi improperly designated her as an interim U.S. attorney after Siebert had already served in that position, which had a 120-day term limit that had expired. Because Halligan was the only prosecutor to sign the grand jury indictments, legal experts have said that could be their fatal flaw if the courts deem her invalid. Bondi has since said she retroactively ratified the indictments and designated Halligan a “special attorney” for the “avoidance of doubt,” according to court filings. “In all events, the government has endorsed the prosecutions, and the Attorney General has personally ratified the indictments to obviate any question as to their validity,” DOJ lawyers wrote. COMEY SEEKS TO TOSS CRIMINAL CASE CALLING TRUMP PROSECUTOR ‘UNLAWFUL’ APPOINTEE Halligan’s appointment came as part of a series of maneuvers the Trump administration has made to bypass the Senate confirmation process and keep in place the president’s preferred appointees in temporary capacities using loopholes in federal vacancy laws. Federal judges in New Jersey, California and Nevada have disqualified appointees in those states, and the New Jersey case is now pending before an appellate court. The issue could be bound for the Supreme Court. Comey’s lawyers argued in court papers that Currie, the judge presiding over the issue, “should reject the government’s machinations.” Comey is facing a charge that he made a false statement to Congress and James is facing a bank fraud allegation. DOJ DEFENDS TRUMP TRUTH SOCIAL POST AS COMEY SEEKS TO HAVE CASE DISMISSED Both have pleaded not guilty and have argued their indictments should be tossed out on the grounds that Halligan was improperly appointed and that they were selectively and vindictively prosecuted. If Comey’s and James’ charges were to be thrown out, it is unclear what would happen next. The DOJ could appeal or attempt to bring them again, depending on how the courts rule. Fox News’ Bill Mears and David Spunt contributed to this report.
Rev Jesse Jackson hospitalized amid health battle with neurodegenerative disease
Longtime civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson was hospitalized Wednesday, his organization announced in a statement. Jackson, 84, was admitted to the hospital and under observation for progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare neurodegenerative disease for which there is currently no cure. The Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a progressive organization Jackson formed in 1996 by merging two groups he founded earlier, said he has been managing his PSP condition for more than a decade. “He was originally diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease; however, last April, his PSP condition was confirmed. The family appreciates all prayers at this time,” the organization said. JESSE JACKSON ARRESTED AT POOR PEOPLE’S CAMPAIGN MARCH IN DC Jackson announced his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2017. “After a battery of tests, my physicians identified the issue as Parkinson’s disease, a disease that bested my father,” he said at the time. “Recognition of the effects of this disease on me has been painful, and I have been slow to grasp the gravity of it.” 7 KEY BEHAVIORS THAT COULD SHIELD YOUR BRAIN FROM PARKINSON’S DISEASE The longtime political activist and Baptist minister who worked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has faced several health challenges in recent years, including gallbladder surgery and hospitalization due to COVID-19. Jackson announced his retirement as president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in 2023, naming Rev. Frederick Douglass Haynes III as the organization’s new leader.
Record 40% of young women want to flee US: poll
A new survey found that a record number of young women are interested in fleeing the U.S. and moving abroad permanently. Gallup recently found for the second year in a row that approximately one in five Americans say they would like to leave the U.S. and move to another country permanently. However, a growing number of young women expressed interest in fleeing the country. According to the polling firm, 40% of women ages 15 to 44 said they would move abroad permanently if given the opportunity. Gallup noted that in 2014, only one-quarter as many women of that age bracket expressed a desire to leave the country. FOX NEWS VOTER POLL: HOW SPANBERGER WON VIRGINIA GOVERNOR By contrast, 19% of the young women’s male counterparts said they would like to leave the U.S. for good, marking what Gallup said was the widest gap it had recorded in this trend. Gallup also noted that few countries had shown this kind of gender gap in a desire to migrate since it started measuring the question globally in 2007. The polling firm said the first decisive increase in the number of young women looking to leave the U.S. occurred in 2016, as then-President Barack Obama’s second term came to a close. The 2016 survey was conducted in June and July, after both parties chose their presumptive nominees for the presidential election. While the results seem to be political in nature, Gallup assessed that the results suggested a “broader shift” among young women rather than “a solely partisan one.” 2025 FOX NEWS VOTER POLL The results of the survey come on the heels of an election in which Democratic candidates won big with voters from that same group. In the high-stakes Virginia gubernatorial race, Democrat Abigail Spanberger defeated Republican Winsome Earle-Sears. A Fox News poll found that Spanberger benefited from a significant gender gap with 65% of women casting their ballots for her, while just 35% of women voted for Earle-Sears. While Earle-Sears had higher support among men, the gap between the two candidates was much smaller. The Fox News poll found Spanberger trailed Earle-Sears by just 4 points among men, paling in comparison to the Democrat’s 30-point advantage with women. In an ad released just over a month before the election, Spanberger hit Earle-Sears for her opposition to abortion. When asked about the video, a spokesperson for Spanberger told Fox News Digital that it was important that voters know about Earle-Sears’ position. “The Republican nominee in this race has called abortion ‘wicked’ and just this year handwrote a note on Virginia’s proposed constitutional amendment protecting reproductive rights in Virginia making clear that she is ‘morally opposed,’” the spokesperson said. This could signal a ripple effect from the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in 2022, which overturned Roe v. Wade. Since then, Democrats, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, have used their platforms to address reproductive rights. While Harris lost on the issue, it seemed to work for Spanberger, who is set to be Virginia’s first female governor.
6 House Democrats explain breaking with party to end shutdown
The six House Democrats who broke ranks with party leadership by voting in favor of legislation that ended the government shutdown are now opening up about their actions, with one saying, “The last several weeks have been a case study in why most Americans can’t stand Congress.” Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Jared Golden of Maine, Adam Gray of California, Don Davis of North Carolina, Henry Cuellar of Texas and Tom Suozzi of New York were the six who voted with all but two Republicans to pass the bill by a 222 to 209 margin. President Donald Trump then signed the legislation late Wednesday night, putting an end to the longest shutdown in U.S. history. “Americans can’t afford for their Representatives to get so caught up in landing a partisan win that they abandon their obligation to come together to solve the urgent problems that our nation faces,” Gluesenkamp Perez wrote on X. “The last several weeks have been a case study in why most Americans can’t stand Congress. None of my friends who rely on SNAP would want to trade their dinner for an ambiguous D.C. beltway ‘messaging victory,’ and I’m glad this ugly scene is in the rearview mirror.” The bill keeps funding the government at the same levels during fiscal year 2025 through Jan. 30 to provide additional time to hash out a longer appropriations measure for fiscal year 2026. The measure also funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that more than 42 million Americans rely on through September. The program provides non- or low-income individuals or families the ability to purchase groceries on a debit card. JOHN FETTERMAN BREAKS WITH DEMOCRATS IN SHUTDOWN VOTE, SAYS IT’S AN ‘EASY CHOICE’ TO PUT AMERICA FIRST “I just voted to reopen the government, pay federal workers, and get food assistance and other critical programs up and running again,” Golden said Wednesday. “Now, with the shutdown ended, Congress should take immediate action to extend expiring Affordable Care Act premium tax credits that keep health insurance plans affordable for millions of Americans. We still have a window to pass bipartisan legislation to extend these credits,” he also said. Gray said in his own statement that, “No parent should have to choose between feeding their children and keeping the lights on because someone in Washington thinks chaos is a negotiating tactic.” “That’s why I voted for a bipartisan agreement that takes food assistance off the table for an entire year. So when the next shutdown happens (and in this divided Washington, there is always a next shutdown) the president cannot use hungry kids as bargaining chips again. This agreement also protects veterans, small business owners, and federal workers from being turned into political weapons,” he said. TRUMP SIGNS BILL ENDING LONGEST GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IN US HISTORY Suozzi noted in his statement that the “airport situations are becoming untenable, and government workers have gone without pay for too long.” “If my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are willing to work together to address this health insurance affordability crisis by extending the premium tax credits, then we will have accomplished something meaningful,” he continued. “If we are not successful, it will deal yet another blow to the already eroding trust in Washington, D.C., and it will be clear who failed to deliver.” Davis released a statement on X saying in part that he voted to reopen the government “to support my constituents, alleviate the suffering of our families as the holidays approach, and bring vital resources to eastern North Carolina.” Cuellar said he voted to reopen the government “so we can get critical programs back on track,” adding, “this stability is especially important for our border communities, where so many families depend on federal agencies to keep trade, travel and public safety moving.” Fox News Digital’s Diana Stancy and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
Trump signs bill ending longest government shutdown in US history
President Donald Trump signed legislation to fund the government again — putting an end to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Trump signaled Monday the government would open soon, as consequences of a lapse in funding continued to snowball, including missed paychecks for federal workers and airline delays stemming from air traffic controller staffing shortages. The bill keeps funding the government at the same levels during fiscal year 2025 through Jan. 30 to provide additional time to hash out a longer appropriations measure for fiscal year 2026. The measure also funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that more than 42 million Americans rely on through September. The program supports non- or low-income individuals or families to purchase groceries on a debit card. LONGEST GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IN HISTORY NEARS LIKELY END AS HOUSE MOVES ON FUNDING BILL Additionally, the measure reverses layoffs the Trump administration set into motion earlier in October and pays employees for their absence. The reopening of the government comes after more than 40 days of a lapse in funding amid a stalemate between Senate Republicans and Democrats over a stopgap spending bill that would have funded the government through Nov. 21. After a lapse in funding starting Oct. 1, the Senate passed legislation Monday night that would reopen the government by a 60–40 vote margin. A total of eight Democrats voted alongside their Republican counterparts for the measure. The House subsequently passed its version of the measure Wednesday. THE 5 LONGEST GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWNS IN HISTORY: WHAT HAPPENED, HOW THEY ENDED The deal came as fallout from the shutdown came to a head, including travel disruptions at U.S. airports where air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers were required to work and were gearing up to miss a second paycheck. As a result, these staffers were calling in sick, or taking on second jobs, creating staffing shortages and flight delays. The standoff between Republicans and Democrats originated over disagreements about various healthcare provisions to include in a potential funding measure. Trump and Republicans claimed Democrats wanted to provide illegal immigrants healthcare, and pointed to a provision that would repeal part of Trump’s tax and domestic policy bill known as the “big, beautiful bill” that reduced Medicaid eligibility for non-U.S. citizens. GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN BECOMING LONGEST IN US HISTORY AS DEMOCRATS DIG IN ON OBAMACARE Democrats pushed back on this characterization, and said they want to permanently extend certain Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of 2025. The stopgap spending bill that Trump signed does not extend these subsidies by the end of the year, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., agreed to a vote in December on legislation that would continue these credits. Even so, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., has not agreed to get on board with that arrangement in the House. Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
Texas sues county for helping migrants access legal support as they fight deportation: ‘Evil and wicked’
Texas GOP Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Harris County — home to Houston — for using county funds for programs that help migrants facing deportation obtain access to legal support. Harris County established the Immigrant Legal Services Fund program in 2020, sending money to five organizations that help migrants facing deportation obtain lawyers. Last month, the county appropriated an additional $1.3 million to support the program. Paxton said in a statement that the program is “evil and wicked,” as well as unconstitutional. TEXAS AG KEN PAXTON SUES LATINO VOTER GROUP JOLT FOR ALLEGEDLY REGISTERING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS “We must stop the left-wing radicals who are robbing Texans to prevent illegals from being deported by the Trump Administration,” Paxton said. “Beyond just being blatantly unconstitutional, this is evil and wicked. Millions upon millions of illegals invaded America during the last administration, and they must be sent back to where they came from.” This is one of several recent lawsuits filed by Paxton targeting organizations that support migrants. Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee, a Democrat, rebuked Paxton’s latest lawsuit, affirming that the program is “perfectly legal” and that his office would fight back against the lawsuit in court. “This lawsuit is a cheap political stunt,” he said in a statement. “At a time when the president has unleashed ICE agents to terrorize immigrant neighborhoods, deport U.S. citizens, and trample the law, it’s shameful that Republican state officials are joining in instead of standing up for Texans.” The Harris County Jail leads the nation in ICE detainers, according to The Texas Tribune, as federal and state officials seek to continue to carry out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. Before the county started the Immigrant Legal Services Fund in 2020, it was the largest county in the country without a program to help migrants get access to legal counsel, The Texas Tribune noted. The county passed the program on a party-line vote. “When you have a family at a deportation hearing and they don’t have an attorney, they’re deported at a much higher rate, like 90% of the time, compared to like 5% of the time when they do have an attorney,” county Judge Lina Hidalgo, who proposed the program, said at the time, according to the Houston Chronicle. FIRST ON FOX: TEXAS’ KEN PAXTON ENDORSES CANDIDATE TO SUCCEED HIM AS ATTORNEY GENERAL In the lawsuit, Paxton claims that the programs “serve no public purpose and instead constitute unconstitutional grants of public funds to private entities to subsidize individual deportation defenses.” He asked the court to block the county from distributing funds to these organizations and prohibit it from sending the money to the groups in the future. Last month, after the vote to allocate funding for the program, Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis said the funding was needed because of the uptick in raids targeting migrants, according to the Houston Chronicle. “Having access to legal representation not only improves case outcomes but helps keep families together,” he said in a statement. “In a county as diverse as ours, local government must step up to safeguard safety, justice, and the people we serve.”
Longtime Newsom critic puts UN summit on notice if Dem governor is allowed to speak: ‘Climate hypocrisy’
An annual United Nations climate summit being held in the Amazonian city of Belém in Brazil is slated to include talks and appearances by California Gov. Gavin Newsom. However, California Republican gubernatorial candidate and former Fox News host Steve Hilton, a longtime critic of Newsom, is putting the summit on notice if they allow him to speak. This week, Hilton sent a letter to the heads of the COP30 summit, requesting that they deny anymore speaking roles for the California governor or face risking the credibility of the conference, citing the Democratic governor’s “climate hypocrisy.” According to Hilton, California, under Newsom’s leadership, has imported nearly half of all the crude oil drilled from the Amazon rainforest. “Governor Newsom has built his political image around climate virtue signaling while presiding over one of the most environmentally destructive hypocrisies in the world,” Hilton wrote. “This oil comes from one of the most sensitive ecosystems on Earth, contributing to deforestation and the displacement of Indigenous communities … Instead of addressing this exploitation, Governor Newsom continues to promote himself as a global climate leader—jetting to international conferences to pose for cameras while his policies bankroll rainforest destruction.” BILL GATES DISCOVERS THE WAY TO FIGHT CLIMATE BATTLE ACTUALLY INVOLVES HELPING HUMANS Hilton notes that earlier this year, even members of California’s Democratic-controlled state Senate unanimously called for an investigation into the state’s role in funding the Amazonian oil trade. Oil drilling in the Amazon is rapidly increasing deforestation and destroying the rainforest’s biodiversity, according to environmentalists, who argue California’s reputation as a climate leader is undermined by its actions drilling oil in the South American rainforest. Hilton, meanwhile, described Newsom’s appearance at the summit as “political theater masquerading as leadership.” CALIFORNIA USING BACK DOOR TO GET FEDERAL FUNDS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT HEALTHCARE, GOP SAYS; DEMS SAY NONSENSE “To have Gavin Newsom lecture the world on climate justice while his administration promotes the decimation of the Amazon would be an insult to the conference and its members,” Hilton wrote to the COP30 leaders. “The UNFCCC and COP 30 must not reward hypocrisy with a platform.” Newsom spoke Tuesday at the conference, during which he slammed Donald Trump for his failure to protect the environment, calling him an “invasive species” and “a wrecking ball” when it comes to progress on climate change. Newsom is expected to make appearances across the roughly two-week period that the summit is being held, including a trip deep into the Amazon Rainforest to meet with local residents and leaders. Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom’s office in response to Hilton’s petition calling on COP30 to deny the California governor public appearances at the summit, but only received a six-word response. “I’m sorry – who is Steve Hilton?” questioned Newsom spokeswoman Izzy Gardon.
Epstein boasted he briefed Russian diplomat on how to handle Trump in newly released emails
Jeffrey Epstein cast himself as a political insider after President Donald Trump’s first election, newly released House Oversight emails show, offering foreign leaders “insight” into the new president and boasting that he’d already briefed a top Russian diplomat on how to handle him. The trove of emails, made public this week by the House Oversight Committee, spans 2016 to 2018 and reveals Epstein trying to reestablish himself on the world stage by courting heads of state, billionaires and diplomats. The convicted sex offender, who died in federal custody in 2019, positioned himself as a man with rare access and understanding of Trump, offering his analysis to global figures eager to make sense of the new administration. In one 2018 exchange, former Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland thanked Epstein for a “lovely evening” and said he would meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s assistant. SUPREME COURT DECLINES TO TAKE UP GHISLAINE MAXWELL’S SEX TRAFFICKING APPEAL Epstein replied that Jagland should tell Russian President Vladimir Putin that Lavrov “can get insight on talking to me,” adding that “Vitaly Churkin was great — he understood Trump after our conversations.” Churkin, Russia’s longtime ambassador to the United Nations, died in 2017. The messages show Epstein repeatedly pitching himself as an interpreter of Trump’s behavior. WHITE HOUSE SLAMS DEMS’ ‘BAD-FAITH’ EPSTEIN DOC RELEASE AS DEMAND FOR FILES INTENSIFIES “It is not complex,” he wrote to Jagland. “He must be seen to get something its that simple.” Earlier emails show Epstein attempting to broker access around Trump’s 2017 inauguration. Dubai ports magnate Sultan bin Sulayem asked whether he should accept an invitation from Trump ally Tom Barrack and whether it would be possible to shake the president’s hand. Epstein advised that the events would be “very crowded” but offered to help arrange meetings before or after in Washington or New York. VIRGINIA GIUFFRE’S MEMOIR RECOUNTS RAPE BY FORMER PRIME MINISTER; EPSTEIN’S TIES TO BILL CLINTON, TRUMP Epstein also stayed in touch with prominent American financiers and political figures. In December 2016, he exchanged notes with Hyatt heir Tom Pritzker, boasting that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had sent him “a tent, carpets and all.” Pritzker joked the gesture might be “code for ‘I love you.’” In a separate 2018 chain following Trump’s summit with Putin in Helsinki, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers asked Epstein, “Do the Russians have stuff on Trump? Today was appalling even by his standards.” Epstein dismissed the idea, replying that Trump was “totally predictable” and offering to explain by phone. ‘SEPARATED FROM REALITY’: SENATE REPUBLICANS FUME AS DEMS USE EPSTEIN SAGA TO BLOCK TRUMP’S AGENDA “He thinks he has charmed his adversary,” Epstein wrote. “He has no idea of the symbolism. He has no idea of most things.” Together, the communications paint a picture of Epstein trying to leverage his reputation and relationships for renewed influence, using his connections in Washington, the Middle East and Europe to insert himself into the Trump era’s global intrigue. When reached for comment, the White House told Fox News Digital, “These emails prove literally nothing.” The House Oversight Committee released the cache of Epstein-related documents this week as part of its ongoing probe into the Justice Department’s handling of the financier’s previous plea deal and his wider network of contacts.