Democrat politicos rerun underhanded leftist playbook in effort to torpedo Trump’s AG nominee
Washington D.C.’s entrenched politicos sprang into action this week before key confirmation hearings in the U.S. Senate to try and sink President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general. Roughly 1,200 Department of Justice (DOJ) alumni signed off on a letter on Tuesday sent to high-ranking Senate Judiciary Committee leaders demanding they reject elevating Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as he prepares for confirmation hearings next week on July 15 and 16. Blanche, who previously served as former AG Pam Bondi’s No. 2, has been tapped by the 47th president to do the job permanently, sending the former bureaucrats into a frenzy. TRUMP SAYS HE WILL NOMINATE ACTING AG TODD BLANCHE TO PERMANENTLY LEAD JUSTICE DEPARTMENT The signatories of the letter trying to stop the process bill themselves as former DOJ employees from Republican and Democratic administrations, which is true. But even a cursory look at some of the names reveals the letter’s true hyperpartisan nature. Here are a few: UNEARTHED DOJ EMAILS EXPOSE TURMOIL OVER BIDEN-ERA MEMO URGING CRACKDOWN ON PARENTS “This list is a who’s who of partisan activists, including liberal politicians such as former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who saw crime drastically rise under her tenure, Trump impeachment witness Pamela Karlan, and multiple former disgruntled Biden administration officials, some of whom were directly involved in the weaponization of the Department,” a DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital of the letter. A former White House official quipped that, “It looks like they passed a petition around the MS NOW green room.” The Trump DOJ says Blanche has the support of law enforcement. “Law enforcement throughout the nation supports the nomination of Acting Attorney General Blanche, including the Major Cities Chiefs Association, representing police leadership in dozens of major U.S. cities; the International Association of Chiefs of Police, representing tens of thousands of law enforcement leaders worldwide; and the Major County Sheriffs of America, representing hundreds of the nation’s largest sheriffs’ offices,” the spokesperson said. The letter itself states that as former DOJ employees, the signatories take seriously their “oath to support and defend the Constitution, not the occupant of the White House.” It complains that Blanche has fired hundreds of DOJ employees, some of whom, they say, were fired for “having worked on cases the President didn’t like.” “The consequences of Blanche’s attacks on DOJ’s apolitical workforce radiate beyond the halls of Main Justice, affecting the entire country,” the letter says. “They’ve meant that much of the department’s vital work isn’t being done, or isn’t being done as well – leaving communities less safe, Americans’ rights less protected, and our national security more vulnerable.” But the note is eerily reminiscent of another widely-covered stunt that turned out to be a political operation to protect then-presidential candidate Joe Biden during his 2020 election bid. In that instance, 51 former intelligence officials, including known Trump adversaries former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan, penned a letter to the public claiming that the Hunter Biden laptop scandal appeared to be a foreign intelligence operation. The contents of Hunter Biden’s personal computer, published in October 2020 by the New York Post, contained shocking videos and photos of drug use, lewd sex acts, and sensitive business communications. It eventually was dubbed the “laptop from hell” due to the public relations nightmare it caused for the Biden campaign. The former intelligence officials immediately jumped to Biden’s defense, claiming the letter had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” “Such an operation would be consistent with some of the key methods Russia has used in its now multi-year operation to interfere in our democracy — the hacking (via cyber-operations) and the dumping of accurate information or the distribution of inaccurate or misinformation,” the letter said. Mainstream news outlets ran with the letter, downplaying the scandal. By early 2022, many of those same news outlets were forced to report that the emails and files from the laptop were, in fact, authentic after federal investigators looked into the matter. Clapper was one of the few signatories who answered for the bogus Russian intelligence claim, but he stood by the letter, claiming the ex-intel crowd never said for sure that the laptop was a Russian operation. “Yes, I stand by the statement made AT THE TIME, and would call attention to its 5th paragraph,” he told The New York Post. “I think sounding such a cautionary note AT THE TIME was appropriate.” So it appears the latest actions are just a repeat of the same playbook Democrats have been using to push their agenda against Trump.
Steve Forbes backs Trump’s Mt. Rushmore warning on communism: ‘He’s right’
Steve Forbes has been a bold advocate for the American capitalist system, free markets and sound money for decades. As the chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes, and a presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000, he has been one of the nation’s leading voices on economics. Recently, Forbes sat down with Fox News Digital at Freedom Fest in Las Vegas to discuss the state of the American economy, New York City’s socialist turn, and the policies of the Trump administration. STEVE FORBES: CHUCK SCHUMER HAS A BEEF WITH BEEF, BUT DOESN’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO GRILL IT “First of all, New York City has had a reputation in the past of electing radical candidates, including the allegedly only communist member of Congress back in the late 1940s. So there is that streak there. But more importantly, I think it shows that people, a lot of people, are dissatisfied. The 78-year-old scion of a publishing empire said the left is better organized than it’s freedom-loving counterparts. “We’ve got to get the message out,” he said. “And one thing that the left has learned is that you try to occupy the high moral ground. Even if you wreck people’s lives, kill millions of people under socialism, communism, your intentions were good. “So they try to play the moral card. And so it’s not enough to say, ‘Well, free enterprise gives you more prosperity.’ You also have to put on the plane that free enterprise is moral. It’s based on liberty, based on allowing human beings to be creative, or as Lincoln put it, improve your lot in life.” Following Trump’s Mount Rushmore speech and its depiction of the internal threat of communism, Forbes agrees, citing another U.S. president. “Whatever you call it, communism, socialism, extreme leftism, anti-Semitism, it’s all the same disease,” Forbes said. “Abraham Lincoln put it very well in the 1800s. He said, ‘It won’t be foreign forces that destroy the United States. It’ll be things we do internally.’” Forbes suggested that many incorrectly blame problems on free markets, when they should instead be blaming government policies: “What happens is when governments start making mistakes and doing things that people don’t like and that hurt people’s prospects for getting ahead, upsetting society, they blame it on capitalism. They blame it on free markets,” he said. “So they help wreck free markets and then say, ‘The victim is the cause of it.’” Prosperity and innovation can only flourish with freedom, Forbes said. While capitalism isn’t perfect, it has led to inventions that improve our lives, according to Forbes. STEVE FORBES: MAMDANI’S SOCIALIST RENT CONTROL PUTS NEW YORK ON THE ROAD TO HOUSING RUIN “Take your handheld,” he said. “If you’d said 30 years ago [that your] grandma could operate a supercomputer, you’d have gotten a rather strange look. Now we take it for granted. The first one was just 40 years ago, cost $3,995, weighed like a brick, the size of a shoebox. And today we have handhelds that are really supercomputers that can do anything anywhere. And in real terms, they get cheaper and cheaper. So that’s the miracle of human creativity. And then the amazing thing is we take it for granted.” Forbes has long been an advocate for sound money, and a prominent critic of the Federal Reserve: “Start with the Federal Reserve, the idea that prosperity causes inflation. Experience shows time and time again, it’s absolute nonsense. So if the economy starts to do well, you hear mutterings from the central bank asking, ‘Is the economy overheating?’ as if the economy is a machine,” Forbes said. “So ask yourself, if your income is improving, do you start to feel overheating? Do you start to sweat at night? You know, ‘Take it away because I’m overheating?’ No, it’s preposterous,” he said. The central bank’s role is to preserve the integrity of the dollar, not to manage economic activity by trying to manipulate interest rates, according to Forbes. “And yet most free marketeers, for example, realize rent control distorts markets and ends up costing more and giving people less,” Forbes noted. “Well, what is controlling interest rates? It’s a form of rent control. They used to call interest rent. You’d rent the money.” His prescription for the Trump administration is simple: “On the domestic front, go for a new round of tax cuts. Reduce tax rates for individuals and for businesses,” Forbes said. “Taxes are a price. So, propose it. Congress may not pass it, but you’ve got an issue you can take to the voters. Selling such a plan to the public could be done with some savvy marketing, Forbes added. “Bring out examples of people who have benefited enormously from not taxing overtime, not taxing tips, and saying, remember those old late night TV commercials [where hawkers would say] ‘But wait, there’s more?’ They can say, ‘But wait, there’s more. We’re going to have big tax cuts. Everyone’s going to benefit.’ “And continue with the deregulation,” he concluded. “You go on that path, and good things will happen.”
Trump’s ambitious energy bet could be a winning hand as the world burns more oil, gas than ever
The world consumed more energy than ever before in 2025, with fossil fuels still supplying the vast majority of global energy despite record growth in renewable power, according to a new report. The findings come as President Donald Trump pushes to expand U.S. oil and gas production, arguing domestic energy is key to lowering prices, strengthening national security and boosting economic growth. The Energy Institute’s 2026 Statistical Review of World Energy found oil, natural gas and coal accounted for 86% of global energy use last year, underscoring that despite years of investment in wind and solar power, the world continues to rely overwhelmingly on fossil fuels to power homes, businesses, transportation and industry. Overall, the world consumed more energy than at any point on record. GAS SURGE TIED TO IRAN CONFLICT HITS SWING STATES, TESTING TRUMP’S LOW-PRICE PITCH The findings align with the Trump administration’s argument that expanding domestic oil and gas production is critical to lowering energy costs, strengthening U.S. energy security and fueling economic growth ahead of next year’s midterm elections, where both parties are expected to make the economy and inflation central campaign issues — but for very different reasons. America’s dominant position in global energy markets was on full display in the report — and Trump is taking a victory lap. “Even left-wing studies are finding that President Trump’s energy dominance agenda has been undeniably successful in unleashing reliable, affordable, and secure energy,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital. “Thanks to the President, U.S. oil, natural gas, and coal production has increased – which benefits American families and businesses by lowering prices, creating jobs, and strengthening our energy security,” she added. “America has abundant resources—President Trump is unleashing them.” WHY THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ MATTERS AS TRUMP ISSUES FRESH ULTIMATUM TO IRAN U.S. oil production reached a record 21.1 million barrels a day in 2025, nearly matching the combined output of Saudi Arabia and Russia. The U.S. also remained the world’s largest natural gas producer and the world’s leading exporter of petroleum products. The report also comes as the conflict with Iran has renewed concerns about energy security and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Although its data predate the conflict, the report underscores how geopolitical tensions can threaten global energy supplies. Few places are more important to global energy markets than the Strait of Hormuz. About 20 million barrels of oil and one-fifth of the world’s liquefied natural gas pass through the waterway each day, along with shipments of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Economist Steve Moore said the latest conflict illustrates why the U.S. should continue expanding domestic energy production. “Every time we’ve had flare-ups in the Middle East, this has caused a lot of disruption to the energy markets,” he told Fox News Digital. Moore said the conflict has once again exposed the world’s dependence on oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, putting upward pressure on energy prices. BBQ LOVERS BEWARE: MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT MIGHT DISRUPT YOUR SUMMER PLANS THIS YEAR Heritage Foundation chief economist EJ Antoni said the conflict underscores the need for the U.S. to move beyond energy independence and embrace what Trump has called “energy dominance.” “The Iran war has shown us it’s not simply enough for America to be pumping at current levels. America needs to be not just energy independent, but energy dominant,” Antoni told Fox News Digital. He said the U.S. should continue expanding domestic energy production and refining capacity to strengthen its energy security. The White House has argued that increasing domestic oil and natural gas production will help shield Americans from geopolitical shocks while lowering energy costs, a key pillar of Trump’s broader economic agenda. Read the full report here:
Sen. Lindsey Graham dead at 71 after ‘brief and sudden’ illness, office says
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., died Saturday evening following a “brief and sudden” illness, according to a statement from his office. He was 71. “On the evening of Saturday, July 11, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham passed away from a brief and sudden illness,” his office said. “Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period,” it continued. DEM GOVERNOR ESCALATES MCCONNELL HEALTH DEMANDS, CITES RESPONSE TO PAST TRUMP HEALTH CONCERNS President Donald Trump reacted to Graham’s death, calling the longtime South Carolina senator a “true American Patriot.” “Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, is dead!” Trump posted on Truth Social. “He was always working, and was a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!! DETAILS AND ARRANGEMENTS TO FOLLOW. So sad!” South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster released a statement early Sunday morning expressing that he is “devastated” by the news of Graham’s passing. “Peggy and I – and our children – are devastated,” he said in a statement. “Lindsey Graham is irreplaceable. The fiercest of fighters for South Carolina and America – and a loyal and steadfast friend. We grieve with Darline, his family and his developed staff. May God hold him gently in the palm of his hand. We shall not see his likes again.” Graham was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002 and won re-election three times. He was seeking a fifth Senate term after winning the Republican primary last month. Graham served as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and sat on the Appropriations, Judiciary, and Environment and Public Works committees. Before joining the Senate, Graham was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994, becoming the first Republican to represent South Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District since 1877. MCCONNELL’S WIFE, ELAINE CHAO, SAW NO NEED FOR ‘IMMEDIATE RETURN’ FROM CHINA AS FORMER GOP LEADER HOSPITALIZED Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Graham was a steadfast advocate for the United States and its allies, adding that his influence on the federal judiciary, national defense and his home state of South Carolina “will be felt for generations.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had “lost one of its greatest friends” with Graham’s death, calling the senator “a great friend of Israel and a cherished friend of mine.” “Lindsey understood that the security of Israel and America are inseparable,” Netanyahu said. “Israel has lost one of its greatest friends. America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a beloved friend.” HOUSE DEMOCRAT RO KHANNA SAYS HE WAS DETAINED BY ARMED ISRAELI SETTLERS IN WEST BANK Graham, who frequently visited Ukraine, had just met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Friday. He was scheduled to appear on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday morning. Israeli President Isaac Herzog mourned Graham’s death, calling the South Carolina senator a “great American patriot” and a “great friend of Israel.” “Senator Graham was a beacon of moral clarity and a true leader of the U.S.-Israel partnership,” he said in a statement. “We will never forget how he stood by the people of Israel in our most difficult moments, and we will remain eternally grateful for his sense of justice, truth, and loyalty. “The people of Israel mourn his loss, and I will miss my great friend very dearly,” he added. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz remembered Graham as “an unwavering voice in support of Israel’s security and its right to defend itself.” He noted that Graham repeatedly visited Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, calling him “an exceptional leader, a man of principle, and a dear friend whose legacy will endure for generations.” Graham served 33 years in the U.S. Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, retiring as a colonel in 2015. An Air Force lawyer, he served in Germany during the Cold War, was called to active duty during the Gulf War, and later completed multiple Reserve deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan during congressional recesses. Graham’s office confirmed his death in a statement to Fox News Digital. This is a breaking news story; check back for updates.
‘Die Hard’ actor Robert Davi blasts Mamdani after NYC map omits Little Italy
“Die Hard” actor Robert Davi blasted New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani Friday after a city map highlighting immigrant enclaves omitted Little Italy. The “New York City Immigrant Enclaves” map resurfaced on social media earlier this week after users pointed out it omitted Little Italy, as well as historically Jewish and Irish neighborhoods, despite highlighting 30 immigrant communities across the five boroughs. Following criticism from Italian-American groups, the city said it plans to update the map to include Little Italy. MAMDANI DEFENDS CONTROVERSIAL NYC MAP AFTER OMITTING ICONIC LITTLE ITALY, JEWISH AND IRISH NEIGHBORHOODS Davi, who was born in Astoria, Queens, lashed out at Mamdani in a video posted on X, calling him a “jerk” for snubbing Little Italy. “I hope every New York Italian American and Irish American spits on you when they see you,” Davi said. “I would spit on you if I saw you. Shame on you, you garbage man. Shame on you. Respect the city you’re in and understand the people who helped build it.” “My grandparents came from Sicily and Naples and they taught me, speak the English. This is America. God bless America,” the 75-year-old “Licence to Kill” actor said. ZOHRAN MAMDANI PRAISED FOR ‘FANTASTIC’ QUESTION-DODGING ON PRESIDENTIAL ELIGIBILITY “My grandfather enlisted in World War I and got wounded three times … he helped build New York City as an immigrant, an Italian immigrant,” he continued. The veteran actor also suggested the mayor, whom he described as a “leftist Marxist Communist,” leave the United States. “Go back to where you were born, Mamdani,” Davi said. “You don’t belong in America.” MAMDANI BLASTS ICE AGENTS, ELON MUSK AND ‘SUPREMACY’ IN AMERICA 250 SPEECH AHEAD OF JULY 4 WEEKEND Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, and moved to the United States when he was 7 years old. Davi also suggested there should be a constitutional amendment preventing Mamdani from running for public office. “You should spend time in America, at least a generation, especially those of you that come from a country that has a totally different philosophical ideology bent,” he said. The mayor’s office previously directed Fox News Digital to remarks Mamdani made during an unrelated press conference Friday, where he defended the map and said it had originally been created under the previous administration in 2023. “This map was initially created by the prior administration in 2023, and when we inherited it, we added a few additional neighborhoods,” Mamdani said. “It’s clearly not an exhaustive list of the more than 200 ethnic communities that call our city home, and we’re going to be making additional changes in the future to reflect that and that includes Little Italy.” Fox News Digital has reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment. According to the Library of Congress, more than 4 million Italians immigrated to the United States between the 1880s and 1924, with roughly one-third settling in New York City. Fox News Digital’s Brittany Miller contributed to this report.
Dem governor escalates McConnell health demands, cites response to past Trump health concerns
Democrat Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear escalated his pressure campaign against Sen. Mitch McConnell on Saturday, demanding the longtime Republican senator from the Bluegrass State reveal his undisclosed medical condition as questions mount over the 84-year-old’s ability to serve. In a post on X, Beshear connected his recent push for the lawmaker’s transparency to past national debates, writing, “I publicly and privately urged the last administration to address the public’s concerns with the former president’s health. I’m calling on Sen. McConnell to do the same and provide voters an update on his own health.” Beshear ended the post by urging McConnell to “end the crazy speculation” and “just tell us what’s going on.” MCCONNELL FACES FRESH CALLS TO COME CLEAN ABOUT HEALTH ISSUES The governor’s public comments follow a formal letter he sent to McConnell on Wednesday requesting a full health update on behalf of constituents who are “increasingly concerned” about the senator’s wellbeing and “ability to hold office in the United States Senate.” Beshear argued public officeholders have a commitment to represent constituents with “clear communication about one’s ability to serve.” MCCONNELL WAS FOUND ‘UNCONSCIOUS’ IN HOME LAST MONTH AS CONDITION REMAINS UNKNOWN McConnell has been absent from the Senate for three weeks and was first hospitalized in early June for an undisclosed condition. His office has declined to release specific details or a timeline for his return, though leaked emergency dispatch audio from a June 14 call revealed he was seemingly found unconscious at his home and may have suffered a heart attack. McConnell’s wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, met with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng in Beijing following the hospitalization, and her office claimed his condition “did not warrant an immediate return to the U.S.“ Both Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso said they have since spoken with McConnell at length about Senate business, recent Supreme Court decisions and the ongoing Graham Platner campaign scandal. However, when asked about McConnell’s condition aboard Air Force One on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said, “I have no idea how he’s doing.” The White House and McConnell’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
Trump-aligned House holdouts accused of holding ‘life-saving’ veterans bill ‘hostage’ over SAVE America Act
A sweeping veterans package supporters describe as the largest expansion of veterans’ health care and benefits in more than a decade is expected to return to the House floor when lawmakers return from the July recess. But backers warn the legislation could once again become collateral damage in the Republican standoff over the SAVE America Act. The Take Care of American Veterans Act rolls roughly 60 veterans bills into a package that would dramatically expand veterans’ health care and benefits. At its core, the legislation would cement veterans’ access to community care outside the VA while increasing benefits for combat-wounded veterans, caregivers and Gold Star families, expanding mental health services and enacting dozens of additional reforms. House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., told Fox News Digital he intends to bring the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act back for a vote as soon as the House reconvenes next week. HOUSE CONSERVATIVES DERAIL GOP AGENDA IN SAVE AMERICA ACT SHOWDOWN The legislation was held up last month after a group of House Republicans joined Democrats to defeat a procedural vote, stopping the House from taking up the bill. “I’m feeling good as long as my members stay with us on the rule,” Bost said. “Right now, there’s some politics being played, not about this bill, but just in general.” The bill became entangled in a broader House Republican fight over the SAVE America Act, legislation championed by President Donald Trump that would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. On June 30, the House voted on H. Res. 1398, the procedural rule governing floor consideration of several bills, including the National Defense Authorization Act and the Take Care of American Veterans Act. The rule failed after 14 Republicans joined Democrats in opposition, preventing the House from taking up the veterans package and bringing floor business to a standstill. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., claimed to have voted against the rules vote in protest against House leadership’s handling of the SAVE America Act. As a result, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson sent the members home early. Bost accused the holdouts of effectively putting veterans legislation on hold. ‘IT’S A MESS’: GOP TURNS ON HOUSE CONSERVATIVES AS VOTER ID BLOCKADE STALLS TRUMP’S AGENDA “They’re holding all bills hostage,” Bost said. “They’re not voting for any rule. Any bill that has to pass a rule before it comes to the floor — which this bill does because of its size — can’t move.” Although Bost said he supports the SAVE America Act and has voted for it three times, he argued the Senate’s failure to act should not stop the House from advancing unrelated legislation. “I agree with that bill,” Bost said. “But the Senate still has to do their work. We don’t stop our work because the Senate isn’t doing it.” With 23 legislative days left in the congressional session, Concerned Veterans for America Strategic Director John Byrnes, a supporter of the bill, said time is of the essence. “There are lots and lots of things that have to get done,” Byrnes told Fox News Digital. “There’s also the National Defense Authorization Act, which is a must pass every year, so these things eat up time. There’s requirements to have debate on these, which eat up session time.” Byrnes argued that every procedural delay pushes other legislation further down the calendar. “This bill will save lives in 2027,” Byrnes said. “If we lose veterans because they could have had faster, better access to health care, we’re never going to get those veterans back.” TRUMP’S SAVE AMERICA ACT SHOWS SIGNS OF LIFE IN THE SENATE DESPITE REPUBLICAN REVOLT But Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who also voted no on the procedural vote, told Fox News Digital he has concerns about how the bill is financed. “I appreciate what the chairman’s trying to do in some respects, but there’s a few issues,” Roy said. Among them, Roy pointed to provisions offsetting new spending through changes affecting other veterans. “You’re taxing certain veterans to provide some sort of benefits and changes to other veterans,” Roy said. “There are concerns about some of the pay-fors.” Veterans of Foreign Wars has also taken issue with Section 108 of the bill, warning that it would codify changes to future disability ratings for tinnitus and sleep apnea to help finance other veterans’ priorities. But Bost said this is inaccurate. “No veteran is going to have their benefits reduced,” Bost said. “If you’re receiving a benefit right now, that’s not going to be reduced at all.” Roy, who previously served two years on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said he supported a lot of what the bill was seeking to accomplish but said other pieces of legislation are priorities, too. “There is a block of us for whom border security, the SAVE Act and demonstrating our leadership on major issues is critical,” Roy said. “Some of these other bills may or may not get hung up based on a desire of many in the conference to see movement on other things.” Fox News Digital reached out to Luna’s office and the White House for comment.
Harvard astronomer tapped to lead White House UFO council says US government ‘baffled by what they are seeing’
Avi Loeb, the Harvard astronomer chosen last month by the White House to lead a UFO advisory council, believes he was brought on because federal officials are “baffled” by the many unidentified objects the U.S. military has captured over the past several decades. Loeb, known for arguing that alien spacecraft may have already reached Earth, said his newly formed team of more than a dozen scientists is combing through four batches of public UFO sighting disclosures released by the Trump administration in recent months. His mission began in early June when an official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) visited his home and asked him to form a group of experts to make sense of UFOs, now referred to by the U.S. government as unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). This is an umbrella term that accounts for objects seen zipping underwater and in space. “The U.S. government had me at hello,” Loeb told Fox News Digital in an interview Saturday. “The fact that they are reaching out to scientists like myself indicates, in my mind, that they are baffled by what they are seeing, and they think that maybe it’s not human-made.” NASA CHIEF CONFIRMS AGENCY HAS UNEXPLAINED UFO IMAGERY: ‘WE DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS’ Loeb’s council will report its findings to the UAP Governing Board, a recently established body under the direction of ODNI. According to the council’s website, Loeb and his colleagues will only be reviewing already-declassified materials on UAPs. However, Loeb told Fox News Digital he has asked the Pentagon and other agencies for 50 videos, images and other documents related to known UAP incidents. Those materials haven’t been given to him yet, with the custodian agencies citing national security concerns. “It’s not so much the targets that are the issue. It’s that the sensors that were used were for national security purposes. The U.S. government doesn’t want to reveal to adversarial nations the kind of sensors being used. So, that’s the main obstacle right now,” Loeb said. NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON DARES GOVERNMENT TO ‘JUST SHOW THE ALIEN,’ AS DISCLOSURE FERVOR CONTINUES TO GROW Loeb’s goal is to figure out whether UAPs that have been captured by the U.S. military originate from other nations or if they don’t come from humans at all. “In the second case, if it’s not human-made, then that’s the biggest discovery ever made by science, and the U.S. government has the privilege of ushering in this new realization that we have a neighbor visiting us,” Loeb said. Loeb sought to temper expectations, saying that many of the phenomena they are studying could turn out to be mundane. Often, he said, the strange looking objects people see in the sky are merely space junk or broken satellites. “Unless they maneuver in ways that cannot be explained by gravity, you should assume that they are space junk,” Loeb said. DECLASSIFIED APOLLO MISSION UFO FILES CHALLENGE LONG-RUNNING MOON LANDING CONSPIRACY THEORIES Nonetheless, he praised the White House for its push for transparency on this issue. In February, President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon and other agencies to declassify files related to aliens and UAPs because of “tremendous interest.” One of the most important aims of Loeb’s council is to recommend better sensors so that the government can capture UAPs with more confidence in the future. “If we are dealing with drones of some unusual qualities that the Chinese are using, it’s good for the U.S. to have better sensors that can help it identify those. Right now, they are reported as orbs. They may not be drones, but I’m saying that, at the very least, we will help national security,” Loeb said. Loeb made the remarks after the Department of War on Friday released the fourth and latest batch of UAP materials to the public. Loeb commented on one of the most sensational releases from the first batch, which were photos from the Apollo 12 mission on the Moon in 1969. One of the photos has five “unidentified phenomena,” but Loeb said federal authorities have now officially concluded that those blue flashes are most likely cosmic rays. Until 2020, Loeb headed up Harvard University’s astronomy department, where he studied black holes, the formation of the universe’s first stars and extraterrestrial life. In 2017, when scientists discovered a remnant of a Pluto-like world in the solar system, Loeb disputed those findings, arguing that the object was possibly a light sail from an alien civilization. After this claim earned him widespread respect in the UFO community, Loeb founded the Galileo Project at Harvard to search for artifacts from extraterrestrial civilizations.
House Democrat Ro Khanna says he was detained by armed Israeli settlers in West Bank
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., claims to have been detained by Israeli settlers armed with U.S.-made firearms while visiting the West Bank. Khanna and his team were surrounded by a group of West Bank settlers near the Palestinian village of Khirbet Zanuta on Wednesday, his office told The New York Times. The settlers were armed with American-made M4 machine guns, Khanna’s office said. When soldiers from the Israeli Defense Forces arrived, Khanna claimed they sided with the settlers. The situation only defused after Israeli police officers arrived and dispersed the settlers and their vehicles blocking the U.S. congressional group’s path, according to the Democrat’s office. DOZENS OF DEMS FLIP ON ISRAEL, VOTE TO BAN ARMS SALES IN PROTEST OF IRAN WAR “If they will do this to an American congressman, imagine what is happening to Palestinian families who are just trying to live,” Rep Khanna told Fox News Digital in a statement. “I am grateful to David Brownstein of the American embassy for helping rescue us. I expect Israel will prosecute the violent settlers and IDF soldiers who detained American citizens,” Rep. Khanna said. The Times first reported details of the alleged incident on Saturday. Reached by Fox News Digital, a representative for Khanna’s team said she could confirm the details reported by the Times. Khanna also spoke to Reuters about what allegedly transpired. “I’m certainly probably the first American politician who’s been detained by the IDF and Israeli settlers,” Khanna said in a Reuters video. “We were at a village that Israeli settlers had destroyed,” Khanna said. “And these hoodlums come in with machine guns, an M4, an American-made machine gun, and they detain us. They block off the road, and then they call the IDF and the IDF is on their side, not on the side of the Americans.” WATCH: GOP SENATOR WARNS ‘HAMMER-AND-SICKLE’ POLITICS WILL DEFINE DEMOCRATS’ 2028 PRIMARY Khanna, a frequent critic of Israel and potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, claimed the incident reframed his thinking on a potential White House run. “I’m strongly considering it,” he told Reuters on camera of a potential U.S. presidential run, “and I’m more resolved to consider it after this trip. We need a new moral direction in our party. A new moral vision that respects the dignity and human rights of people around the world.” Khanna added to the Times, “No American would support this if they knew the details of what was going on here.” The Israeli military told Reuters that troops and police officers intervened after receiving a report of settlers blocking vehicles near the village of Khirbet Zanuta. “Upon their arrival, the troops dispersed the Israeli civilians and allowed the vehicles to continue on their way,” the military told Reuters. Fox News Digital also reached out to the IDF, State Department and U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem for more information.
Trump-appointed judge permanently ends Proud Boys’ Jan 6 case, says Constitution left him no choice
A Trump-appointed federal judge on Friday reluctantly dismissed the Jan. 6 prosecution of four Proud Boys members, saying the law left him no authority to block the Justice Department’s request. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly granted the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss the case with prejudice against Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola after a federal appeals court had already vacated their convictions. In a seven-page opinion, Kelly said longstanding separation-of-powers principles leave charging decisions to the executive branch, meaning he could not require the Justice Department to maintain a prosecution it had decided to drop. DOJ SEEKS TO VACATE JAN 6 CONVICTIONS IN SWEEPING MOVE TIED TO TRUMP ORDER “Because the decisions to issue the Executive Order and to abandon this prosecution — even after the Government secured convictions for serious crimes relating to the attack on the Capitol on January 6 — are solely the Executive’s, no one should mistake the Court’s granting of the Government’s motion for its agreement with those decisions,” Kelly wrote. Pezzola, who was convicted of assaulting police, robbery and destroying government property, was found guilty of stealing a Capitol Police riot shield before using it to smash a Capitol window, creating what prosecutors said was the first breach point through which hundreds of rioters entered the building. He was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted on multiple other felony counts. Nordean, Biggs and Rehl were convicted of seditious conspiracy and several other felonies related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, including conspiracy to obstruct Congress’ certification of the 2020 presidential election, obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder and destruction of government property. FORMER INDIANA REP STEPHEN BUYER RECEIVES FULL PARDON FROM TRUMP FOR 2023 INSIDER TRADING CONVICTION The Justice Department first moved in April to vacate the convictions and dismiss the case against the four men, arguing that doing so was “in the interests of justice” in light of President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025, executive order commuting their sentences and issuing full pardons to former Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio and hundreds of other Jan. 6 defendants. The D.C. Circuit had already erased the men’s convictions before returning the case to Kelly’s courtroom to consider the Justice Department’s request to dismiss the indictment. “There is little mystery about why the Government is moving to dismiss this case, or whether dismissal is in fact what the Executive seeks,” Kelly wrote. “President Trump’s views about the prosecution of those who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6 — whether those views are based on fact or fiction — are well known, as is his intention to extend clemency to them.” Kelly cited longstanding precedent holding that charging decisions belong to the executive branch and that judges cannot reject a dismissal simply because they disagree with the government’s reasoning. LEGAL WAR ON TRUMP’S AGENDA GAINS FIREPOWER AS FEDERAL LAWYERS DEFECT TO DEMOCRATS And because the convictions had already been vacated and prosecutors have broad authority to decide whether to pursue criminal charges, Kelly said he lacked the power to force the Justice Department to continue the prosecution. “Indeed, it is hard to see how any course other than granting the motion in full could make practical sense. Denying the motion would not somehow revive the convictions that the Court of Appeals vacated,” Kelly wrote. “Nor would denying it mean a retrial would follow, because the Court lacks the authority to compel the Executive to pursue a prosecution, full stop — but especially when an executive order explicitly requires that the Government seek dismissal with prejudice.” But Kelly sharply rebuked the actions of the Jan. 6 rioters, calling it an attack on the people, Congress and the “Constitution’s mechanism to facilitate the peaceful transfer of power.” “Moving forward, if this Nation’s experiment in self-government is to last another 250 years, the American people — no matter their partisan preferences — will have to act together to preserve, protect and defend that miracle through our constitutional framework,” Kelly wrote. Tarrio, who was also pardoned for criminal charges stemming from his role in the Jan. 6 riots, celebrated Kelly’s dismissal on X. “We took the worst they threw at us the raids, the solitary, the lies and we stood tall,” Tarrio wrote. “Trump dropped the pardons and now the rest is crumbling. Justice is SERVED! Proud Boys don’t lose. We WIN. This is OUR victory. THANK YOU PRESIDENT DONALD J TRUMP and all of you that fought for us!”