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FBI informant who lied about the Bidens’ ties to Ukrainian energy company had high-level Russian contacts: DOJ

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

A former FBI informant charged with lying about a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme between a Ukrainian energy company and the Bidens had contacts with Russian intelligence officials, prosecutors said Tuesday. 

In court filings, prosecutors said Alexander Smirnov admitted during an interview before his arrest last week that "officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story" about the president’s son, Hunter Biden. They said Smirnov's contacts with Russian officials were recent and extensive, and said Smirnov had planned to meet with one official during an upcoming overseas trip.

They said Smirnov has had numerous contacts with a person he described as the "son of a former high-ranking government official" and "someone with ties to a particular Russian intelligence service." They said there is a serious risk that Smirnov could flee overseas to avoid facing trial.

Prosecutors revealed the alleged contact as they urged a judge to keep Smirnov behind bars while he awaits trial. 

HUNTER BIDEN WAS PAID $100K A MONTH THROUGH CHINESE FIRM VENTURE, EX-ASSOCIATE TESTIFIED

Smirnov, who holds dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship, is charged with falsely reporting to the FBI in June 2020 that executives associated with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid Hunter and Joe Biden $5 million each in 2015 or 2016. 

Smirnov had only routine business dealings with the company starting in 2017 and made the bribery allegations after he "expressed bias" against Joe Biden while he was a presidential candidate, prosecutors said. Special Counsel David Weiss said Smirnov’s lies were aimed at affecting the 2024 presidential election. 

Smirnov is charged with making a false statement and creating a false and fictitious record. The charges were filed in Los Angeles, where he lived for 16 years before relocating to Las Vegas two years ago.

Smirnov was due in court later Tuesday in Las Vegas. He has been in custody at a facility in rural Pahrump, about an hour drive west of Las Vegas, since his arrest last week at the airport while returning from overseas.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Albregts allowed Smirnov to be released from custody on electronic GPS monitoring while he awaits trial. He must stay in Clark County, Nevada, and is prohibited from applying for a new passport.

Before his arrest, Smirnov had been scheduled to leave the U.S. for a months-long, multi-country trip that – by his own admission – involved meetings with officials of foreign intelligence agencies and governments, prosecutors said. 

Ahead of Tuesday's hearing, Defense attorneys David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld had argued for Smirnov's release while he awaits trial "so he can effectively fight the power of the government."

Smirnov's claims have been central to the Republican effort in Congress to investigate the president and his family, and helped spark what is now a House impeachment inquiry into Biden. Democrats called for an end to the probe after the indictment came down last week, while Republicans distanced the inquiry from Smirnov's claims and said they would continue to "follow the facts."

Hunter Biden is expected to give a deposition next week.

The Burisma allegations became a flashpoint in Congress as Republicans pursuing investigations of President Biden and his family demanded the FBI release the unredacted form documenting the allegations. They acknowledged they couldn't confirm if the allegations were true.

Fox News' David Spunt and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Texas AG Paxton sues NGO aiding migrants, accuses it of encouraging illegal immigration

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FIRST ON FOX: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing a Catholic non-governmental organization operating in the state and wants to have its registration revoked, alleging that it is encouraging illegal immigration and operating a stash house for those entering illegally.

Paxton has sued Annunciation House — a Catholic nonprofit set up in the 1980s — and is seeking to revoke its registration to operate in Texas.

Annunciation House describes itself as a volunteer organization that "offers hospitality to migrants, immigrants, and refugees in El Paso, Texas."

TEXAS AG KEN PAXTON SAYS STATE WON’T COMPLY WITH BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ORDER TO REOPEN PARK TO FEDERAL AGENTS

"Rooted in Catholic social teaching, the volunteers of Annunciation House live simply and in community, in the same houses as the guests we serve, who are mostly from Mexico and Central America," the group’s website says. "We also participate in advocacy and education around immigration issues. We seek to be a voice for justice and compassion, especially on behalf of the most marginalized of our society."

But Paxton’s lawsuit accuses the group of "openly and flagrantly violating many provisions of law in a systemic fashion." Specifically, it accuses it of providing shelter to illegal immigrants who have evaded law enforcement, of encouraging illegal immigration, of engaging in human smuggling and of operating a "stash house."

"Annunciation House appears to be engaged in the operation of an illegal stash house by potentially allowing others to use its real estate to engage in human smuggling," the lawsuit says.

Paxton’s office had requested records from the organization to evaluate potential violations of federal law. However, the organization in turn sued the AG’s office, seeking a restraining order and accusing it of making an impossible demand due to its limited volunteer staff and of violating its "constitutional rights of association."

EAGLE PASS MAYOR SAYS SHOWDOWN BETWEEN TEXAS, FEDS OVER BORDER CONTROL IS 'FRUSTRATING,' A 'CONSTANT STRUGGLE'

The lawsuit requests that its right to operate in Texas is terminated and also asks the court to appoint a receiver to liquidate its assets.

"The chaos at the southern border has created an environment where NGOs, funded with taxpayer money from the Biden Administration, facilitate astonishing horrors including human smuggling," Paxton said in a statement. "While the federal government perpetuates the lawlessness destroying this country, my office works day in and day out to hold these organizations responsible for worsening illegal immigration."

In a statement, Annunciation House said it "does its work of accompaniment out of the Gospel mandate to welcome the stranger."  

"This is no different from the work of schools who enroll migrant children, the clinics and hospitals who care for the needs of their ill, the churches, synagogues, and mosques who welcome their families to join in worship," a spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "For the Attorney General to suddenly attack Annunciation House after forty-six years of service to the poor is simply shameful."
 

The legal battle comes amid a broader fight between Texas, which has promoted border security and sought to block illegal immigrants entering the U.S., and the federal government, which has embraced the role of NGOs in processing and aiding illegal immigrants and has sought millions in funding from Congress for groups and communities that receive them.

There was a record 2.4 million migrant encounters in fiscal 2023, and December set a record for encounters with more than 301,000 in that month alone. The House last week impeached DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the crisis. Articles of impeachment now go to the Senate for a trial.

Fox News' Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.

Pence’s organization demands Congress release government funding agreement as deadlines loom

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FIRST ON FOX: Former Vice President Mike Pence's public policy think tank Advancing American Freedom urged congressional leaders on Tuesday to release the government funding agreement as the current temporary spending patch, known as a continuing resolution (CR), will expire the first week of March.

"Three weeks ago, your committees reached a private agreement on the 302(b) allocations for the next fiscal year. Since then, the American people have been kept guessing as to the negotiated funding levels for each of the twelve subcommittee appropriations bills," executive director Paul Teller wrote in a letter to the House and Senate appropriations committees on Tuesday.

House and Senate leaders came together in mid-January to pass a CR to give themselves more time to hash out a deal for the rest of fiscal 2024.

It was the third CR passed since the previous fiscal year ended Sept. 30 and preserved funding for some agencies through March 1 and others through March 8.

MIKE PENCE'S THINK TANK PUSHES BACK ON JD VANCE'S ‘IMPEACHMENT TIME BOMB’ CLAIM IN FOREIGN AID PACKAGE

Both chambers are currently in recess.

"The American people deserve transparency on the spending levels of their government as Congress looks to pass additional spending bills," Teller told Fox News Digital in a statement. "With another deadline rapidly approaching, the American people and rank-and-file members are kept in the dark as to the true spending levels, and this needs to change. Advancing American Freedom is calling on these numbers to be immediately released to the American public."

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., agreed upon a top-line funding agreement of $1.66 trillion last month. That figure was part of an agreement mandated by the Fiscal Responsibility Act last year, a compromise reached during debt limit talks between President Biden and then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

"Now, disconcerting rumors are swirling that the 302(b) allocations that were agreed upon blow out the already excessive $1.7 trillion Johnson-Schumer 'cap,' itself built on Speaker Pelosi’s COVID-19 level spending," Teller wrote.

"Although it has become ‘business as usual,’ airdropping an appropriations package on Congress at the last second is no way to govern," he wrote.

MIKE PENCE'S AAF SENDS MEMO TO LAWMAKERS: 'BIDEN DOESN'T SEEM TO WANT ISRAEL TO WIN'

On the Senate floor, only three of the 12 appropriations bills have been passed.

"There isn’t a funding agreement to release," a House appropriations aide told Fox News Digital. "The bills are still being negotiated."

The CR continues funding for four appropriations bills through March 1: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration; Energy and Water Development; Military Construction, Veterans Affairs; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development.

Additionally, the CR allocates funding for the remaining eight appropriations bills through March 8: Commerce, Justice, Science; Defense; Financial Services and General Government; Homeland Security; Interior, Environment; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education; Legislative Branch; and State, Foreign Operations.

The aim of having two separate deadlines is to prevent Congress from passing a comprehensive "omnibus" spending bill, a practice widely opposed by Republicans. 

However, the staggered approach may not eliminate the possibility of an omnibus as Congress will only have a few days to pass appropriations bills before the current CR expires. If they fail to either extend current funding levels or reach an agreement on new levels, the government could fall into a partial shutdown, with federal programs on pause and thousands of federal workers potentially furloughed.

Fox News' Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

Chinese illegal immigration on pace to break records at US southern border

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A dramatic increase in Chinese illegal immigration is on track to break records at the southern border, with apprehensions from the communist country in one sector alone already eclipsing fiscal 2021 in just a few days.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sources tell Fox News that between Saturday and Monday there were 452 Chinese nationals apprehended by Border Patrol in the San Diego Sector alone.

That’s more than the 450 apprehended in fiscal 2021 altogether across the entire southwest border.

The number of Chinese nationals has been increasing since fiscal 2021. In fiscal 2022, numbers increased to more than 2,000 border-wide. In fiscal 2023, that number then surged to more than 24,314.

CHINESE MIGRANTS POURING ACROSS SOUTHERN BORDER SPARK NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS

So far in fiscal 2024, which began in October, there have been more than 18,750 encounters by the end of January, meaning that the fiscal year is already on track to exceed last year’s numbers. There were nearly 6,000 encounters in December alone.

The increase in migration from China is an indicator of how global the U.S. border crisis has become. Officials previously said they have encountered migrants from more than 150 countries. Fox News witnessed migrants from countries including Brazil, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ecuador and China crossing into the U.S. at San Diego this week.

Chinese nationals have quickly become the fastest-growing demographic entering the country illegally. Some officials and Republican lawmakers have raised concerns that single adults entering from the geopolitical rival could pose a national security threat.

Brandon Judd, the president of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents all rank-and-file Border Patrol agents nationwide, told Fox News last week that the majority of the Chinese border crossers are single adult males of military age.

INFLUX OF ILLEGAL CHINESE MIGRANTS THREATENS US TERRITORY; ISLAND MUST SHOW 'STRENGTH OF THE NATION'

"That is a very scary prospect. We know that China does not like us, we know that we are in the crosshairs of China," Judd said.

"And they are exporting so many people to our country, and you have to really fear about that."

"There have been numerous documented instances of Chinese nationals, at the direction of the CCP, engaging in espionage, stealing military and economic secrets," a group of Republican senators warned last year.

The Republican-held House impeached DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his handling of the migrant crisis. The articles of impeachment now go to the Senate for a trial.

Overall, there have been more than 961,000 migrant encounters this fiscal year after a record-setting 2.4 million in fiscal 2023. December saw a record 301,000 encounters, followed by a sharp drop to 176,000 in January.

Fox News' Aubrie Spady and Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.

7.2M illegals entered the US under Biden admin, an amount greater than population of 36 states

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Nearly 7.3 million migrants have illegally crossed the southwest border under President Biden's watch, a number greater than the population of 36 individual states, a Fox News analysis finds.

That figure comes from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which has already reported 961,537 border encounters in the current fiscal year, which runs from October through September. If the current pace of illegal immigration does not slow down, fiscal year 2024 will break last year's record of 2,475,669 southwest border encounters — a number that by itself exceeds the population of New Mexico, a border state. 

The total number of southwest land border encounters since Biden assumed office in 2021 is 7,298,486, CBP data shows. 

That is larger than the population of 36 U.S. states, including Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. 

MIGRANTS CAUGHT ON NEW VIDEO STREAMING DOWN REMOTE CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINSIDE TO ILLEGALLY CROSS THE BORDER

Compared to the largest U.S. states, the 7.3 million number is about 18.7% of California's population of 39 million, 23.9% of the state of Texas and its 31 million residents, 32.3% of the population of Florida and 37.3% of New York. It's more than half the size of Pennsylvania, Illinois and Ohio. 

Were the number of illegal immigrants who entered the United States under President Biden gathered together to found a city, it would be the second-largest city in America after New York. And the total does not include an estimated additional 1.8 million known "gotaways" who evaded law enforcement, which would make it bigger than New York. 

Taken together, nearly 10 million migrants have crossed into the U.S. illegally during the Biden administration, a record Biden's critics assert could only be achieved by intentionally refusing to enforce the law. 

"This unprecedented surge in illegal immigration isn't an accident. It is the result of deliberate policy choices by the Biden administration," said Eric Ruark, Director of Research for Numbers USA, a nonprofit that advocates for immigration restrictions.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.  

MIGRANT CRISIS: NOEM SENDS NATIONAL GUARD TO SOUTHERN BORDER'S ‘WARZONE’

Republicans and anti-illegal immigration activists have for years blamed Biden for allowing the current overwhelming surge of migrants by reversing former President Donald Trump's border policies. The Biden administration has denied responsibility for the crisis and pointed to external "push" factors like violence and economic instability in South and Central America as the culprit responsible for vast waves of migration to the U.S. 

However, the president's critics say migrants face more of a "pull" factor in the form of job opportunities and government benefits because they know they will not face deportation under Biden's lenient policies. 

"The administration has refused to enforce existing immigration law and taken every opportunity to aid and abet illegal border crossings — through policies such as catch-and-release, mass parole, and offering temporary work permits to tens of thousands of foreigners who make dubious claims for asylum," Ruark told Fox News Digital. "In actual effect, the United States government is completing the human smuggling and trafficking process for the Mexican cartels."

Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), said migrants have learned in the last three years that they won't face deportation for entering the country illegally. 

"They have sent the signal that if you come to the U.S. illegally, if you abuse the asylum system, you'll be released into the country and allowed to remain here, in most cases given work authorization," Mehlman said. "Even if you neglect to show up for your hearings, the odds of you being removed are negligible. The president claims he doesn't have the authority to enforce our laws. He absolutely does. He is deliberately not enforcing those laws."

LARGE MAJORITY OF ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSING SHIFT TO ARIZONA AND CALIFORNIA, PIVOTING AWAY FROM TEXAS

Biden has called on Congress to pass new laws he claims would let him solve the border crisis. He endorsed a bipartisan deal in the Senate that included an "emergency border authority" to mandate Title 42-style expulsions of migrants when migration levels exceed 5,000 a day over a seven-day rolling average. It would have also limited the window for people to apply for asylum, provided immediate work permits for asylum seekers and funded a massive increase in staffing at the border and more immigration judges. 

But conservatives tanked the deal in the Senate after House Republicans declared it a non-starter. They argued the bill would have normalized record-high levels of illegal immigration and said Biden currently has all the authority he needs to reenact Trump's policies and secure the border. 

While the debate rages, House Republicans have impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for allegedly refusing to enforce immigration laws. Two impeachment articles advanced against Mayorkas accused him of having "refused to comply with Federal immigration laws" and violating the "public trust."

DHS has criticized the effort as politically motivated and insisted the Biden administration is enforcing the laws on the books. 

Biden said that "history will not look kindly on House Republicans for their blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship that has targeted an honorable public servant in order to play petty political games."

Fox News' Bill Melugin, Adam Shaw and Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.

Media deem Trump the nominee, despite Haley tying him to Putin

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Nikki Haley is campaigning hard, making the television rounds and ramping up her rhetoric against Donald Trump.

She is fighting on her home turf – South Carolina, the state that knows her best – and yet the media are acting in many ways as if the campaign is over.

That’s largely because the state’s former governor trails Trump by 22 to 36 percentage points, according to the last several South Carolina polls.

RON DESANTIS ACCUSES NIKKI HALEY OF APPEALING TO 'LIBERAL' T-SHIRT WEARERS: 'SHE'S POISONED THE WELL'

Haley is not only way behind Trump, she’s not closing the gap in a way that makes it a competitive contest on Saturday.

And if she loses by more than 20, the pundits will view that as the final nail in her political coffin.

Beyond that, I can’t think of a single state that Haley can win outright. She says she’ll continue at least through Super Tuesday, but the former president may have mathematically clinched the nomination by then, or shortly afterward.

This is not a knock on Haley (though contemporaries say she burned some bridges in South Carolina). The former U.N. ambassador managed to be the last woman standing, well after Pence, DeSantis, Scott, Christie and the others dropped out. But it’s instructive to look at how she’s campaigning, and why Trump – despite his four indictments and $355 million civil fraud penalty – seems unstoppable.

In a Sunday interview on ABC’s "This Week," Haley increasingly tried to tie Trump to Vladimir Putin’s murderous tactics in the wake of the Arctic prison killing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny:

"When you hear Donald Trump say in South Carolina a week ago that he would encourage Putin to invade our allies if they weren’t pulling their weight, that’s bone-chilling, because all he did in that one moment was empower Putin. And all he did in that moment was, he sided with a guy that kills his political opponents, he sided with a thug that arrests American journalists and holds them hostage, and he sided with a guy who wanted to make a point to the Russian people, don’t challenge me in the next election or this will happen to you too."

TRUMP’S NATO COMMENTS TRIGGER FIERCE MEDIA AND EUROPEAN OPPOSITION: HOW SERIOUS IS HE?

What’s more, Haley told Jonathan Karl, "it’s actually pretty amazing that he – not only after making those comments that he would encourage Putin to invade NATO, but the fact that he won’t acknowledge anything with Navalny. Either he sides with Putin and thinks it’s cool that Putin killed one of his political opponents, or he just doesn’t think it’s that big of a deal." 

Trump had said he wouldn’t protect any NATO country that didn’t spend 2% of its funds on defense, and in that case he would encourage Putin and Russia to "do whatever they hell they wanted." He has made no mention of Navalny’s death, which President Biden quickly blamed on Putin.

Haley reminded viewers that if Ukraine falls, Poland or the Baltics could be next.

Now think about this. If a candidate not named Trump had made comments interpreted as potentially blowing up the Atlantic alliance – drawing condemnation from top European leaders – and stayed silent when Russia’s dictator had the opposition leader killed, after a previous poisoning attempt, wouldn’t there be a political uproar?

But since it is Trump, who as president had a friendly relationship with Putin, there has been scant criticism from Republicans. If Trump believes it, most of the party falls into line.

It harkens back to his old 2016 line about shooting someone on Fifth Avenue. Just as the Senate seemed on the verge of passing a bipartisan border bill that included aid to Ukraine and Israel, Trump torpedoed the measure by coming out against it.

DEMOCRATS WIN SEAT, REPUBLICANS WIN IMPEACHMENT, TWO PRESIDENTS CLASH OVER NATO

And in a FOX town hall Sunday night, Haley, who often says her ex-boss was a good president at the time, offered a more negative assessment:

"There were things that he did wrong," Haley told John Roberts. "His press conference in Helsinki, when he went and was trying to buddy up with Putin, I called him out for that. I explained that deeply in my book…how he was completely wrong. Because every time he was in the same room with him, he got weak in the knees. We can't have a president that gets weak in the knees with Putin."

About 20 minutes after Haley used the "weak in the knees" line yesterday on "Fox & Friends," saying Trump has "yet to say anything about Navalny’s death," the ex-president responded on Truth Social: 

"The sudden death of Alexei Navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our Country. It is a slow, steady progression, with CROOKED, Radical Left Politicians, Prosecutors, and Judges leading us down a path to destruction." You might have noticed the pivot, and the failure to mention Putin at all. 

All this, in a nutshell, is why the press are far more interested in the veepstakes chatter surrounding Trump than in Haley’s dogged campaigning.

What most of the media and other critics fail to understand is that Trump represents the majority of his party. He has remade the GOP in his own image. Most leaders, with the notable exception of the strongly pro-Ukraine Mitch McConnell, follow their leader, as do rank-and-file members afraid of a Donald-backed primary challenger.

Speaker Mike Johnson admitted he consulted with Trump before declaring the border compromise DOA. Marco Rubio, who two months ago helped pass a law barring any president from withdrawing from NATO, said he had no problem with Trump’s remarks about the alliance.

There are even lines that Haley won’t cross. Asked repeatedly on ABC whether she still plans to endorse Trump if he wins, as she said at the campaign’s outset, Haley kept deflecting the question.

A decade ago, Haley’s pro-military and anti-Russia views would have been a comfortable fit for the Republican Party, but that party no longer exists.

Biden’s $200K payment from brother receives renewed scrutiny after report detailing failed hospital venture

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A heavily scrutinized $200,000 check that President Biden received from his brother, James Biden, in 2018 has resurfaced in a new report detailing how the latter leaned heavily on his family's influence to promote a now-defunct hospital chain targeted by the Department of Justice for fraud.

According to the report published Sunday by Politico, James centered his consulting work for Americore, a company that operated rural hospitals, on his leverage as a member of the Biden family, but those connections never materialized into more financing for the company before it ultimately collapsed.

Fox News Digital reported last year that Americore loaned James approximately $600,000 on the promise that his name could bring in funding from the Middle East. On the same day, $200,000 of the $600,000 was transferred to James' personal bank account, prompting him to write Biden a $200,000 check from that same account.

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Politico said that its investigation of James' work for Americore "did not find that Joe Biden involved himself in the firm or took actions on its behalf," but that the president "did benefit indirectly from his brother's work with the firm," citing the $200,000 payment.

The White House has consistently denied that the money was anything other than repayment for a loan Biden previously gave James as a private citizen, and redacted bank records appear to show a $200,000 payment made to James just weeks earlier from a bank account belonging to Biden.

However, Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have emphasized the payment, whether a loan or not, "aptly demonstrates one way [Biden] personally benefited from his family’s shady influence peddling of his name and their access to him."

GOP SENATE HOPEFUL KEPT TIES TO GEORGE SOROS-BACKED GROUP WHERE HUNTER BIDEN SERVED ON BOARD

"Even if the transaction in question was part of a loan agreement, we are troubled that Joe Biden’s ability to recoup funds depends on his brother’s cashing-in on the Biden brand," Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told Fox News Digital in October.

James is expected to be interviewed as part of the committee's impeachment inquiry against Biden on Feb. 21.

According to Politico, a number of former Americore executives said James, at the time, wanted to give Biden equity in the company, put him on its board, and promote its success in a future presidential campaign, none of which ever occurred due to the company's failure.

STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL OFFICIALLY CALLS ON KAMALA HARRIS TO INVOKE 25TH AMENDMENT, REMOVE BIDEN FROM OFFICE

Americore is facing an ongoing $100 million federal prosecution after the DOJ found one of its hospitals allegedly undertook a scheme to defraud Medicare by billing the government for medically unnecessary lab tests. However, James has not been accused of any crime.

In December, a Chapter 11 trustee for Americore testified before the Oversight Committee that the $600,000 loan was provided to James with no documentation in return for the promise of funding from the Middle East that never came. 

Carol Fox told the committee she filed a lawsuit against James, saying he made "representations that his last name, ‘Biden,’ could ‘open doors’ and that he could obtain a large investment from the Middle East based on his political connections." 

The suit was ultimately settled with James required to pay back $350,000 of the loan.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and representatives of James Biden for comment.

Trump trials will make GOP frontrunner’s daytime campaign events a challenge, but ‘nothing will stop him’

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Former President Trump will be on trial in New York City next month to defend himself against charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, taking the 2024 GOP frontrunner off of the campaign trail. 

But that won’t stop him. He says he’ll campaign at night.

"I'll do it in the evening," Trump said this week when asked how sitting in court to defend himself against charges brought by brought by Bragg related to alleged hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign would affect his 2024 presidential campaign. 

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.

NEW YORK JUDGE SETS TRUMP TRIAL FOR MARCH 25, DENIES REQUEST TO DISMISS BRAGG CHARGES IN HUSH MONEY CASE

The former president, who will likely be the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee for the White House by the time the Bragg trial begins March 25, has been forced to tackle competing calendars for the last several months with presidential primaries and court dates in multiple jurisdictions.

So far this year, Trump dominated in the Iowa caucuses, left New Hampshire with a commanding victory, swept caucuses in Nevada and the U.S. Virgin Islands and is poised to win in South Carolina Feb. 24.

But Trump’s victories haven’t come just from crisscrossing the country stumping on the campaign trail. He’s spent days in court in New York for Bragg’s case, the civil fraud trial stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit against him and his businesses and E. Jean Carroll’s defamation trial. 

TRUMP ORDERED TO PAY MORE THAN $80 MILLION IN E. JEAN CARROLL DEFAMATION TRIAL

He's also appeared in court in Washington D.C. for special counsel Jack Smith’s case related to the 2020 election and in Florida for Smith’s case related to classified documents.

"President Trump has been attacked by the Democrats for eight years. He has stood strong through two sham impeachments, endless lies and now multiple baseless political witch hunts," Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital. "The Democrats want Donald Trump in a courtroom instead of on the campaign trail delivering his winning message to the American people, but nothing will stop him from doing that."

The first trial on the 2024 calendar was supposed to be in Washington, D.C., March 4 after special counsel Jack Smith charged the former president with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights. 

Those charges stem from Smith’s investigation into whether Trump was involved in the Capitol riot Jan. 6, 2021, and any alleged interference in the 2020 election result.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The trial was scheduled for March 4, the day before the March 5 Super Tuesday primary contests, when Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Vermont vote to select a GOP nominee.

But Smith has asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether Trump can be prosecuted on charges relating to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Trump has also appealed to the Supreme Court a lower court’s ruling on presidential immunity.

TRUMP ASKS SUPREME COURT TO EXTEND DELAY IN ELECTION CASE, CLAIMING PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY

The trial is paused until the Supreme Court makes its decisions. It is now unclear when — and if — that trial could begin.

But that doesn’t make the month of March free for campaign events. New York Judge Juan Merchan this week rejected Trump’s request to dismiss the charges against him from Bragg’s investigation. Merchan set jury selection for March 25 and said the trial will last approximately six weeks.

Bragg alleged Trump "repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election."

Trump pleaded not guilty to all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree in New York.

Jury selection in that case will begin just after the Louisiana primary and ahead of April 2, when Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin voters hit the polls to select a GOP nominee.

Smith also charged Trump after his investigation into the former president’s alleged improper retention of classified records from his presidency at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony charges from that probe. The charges include willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements.

Trump was then charged with an additional three counts as part of a superseding indictment from Smith’s investigation, an additional count of willful retention of national defense information and two additional obstruction counts. Trump pleaded not guilty.

That trial was set to begin on May 20, 2024, ahead of the Kentucky primary on May 21, the Oregon primary on May 25 and New Jersey's primary June 4.

But U.S. District Judge of the Southern District of Florida Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over the case, said that date may be delayed. A decision will be made March 1 during the next court date.

Should Trump win the GOP nomination, he would spend July 15-18 at the Republican Convention in Milwaukee.

However, Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis has proposed her trial begin just weeks later.

Willis charged Trump as part of her investigation into his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state. Trump was charged with one count of violation of the Georgia RICO Act, three counts of criminal solicitation, six counts of criminal conspiracy, one count of filing false documents and two counts of making false statements.

TRUMP CALLS 'BADLY TAINTED' FULTON COUNTY CASE 'A SCAM' AFTER DA FANI WILLIS' COURTROOM DRAMA

He pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Fulton County prosecutors have proposed that trial begin Aug. 5, 2024.

But Willis has been in court defending herself after revelations that she had a romantic relationship with prosecutor Nathan Wade, who she brought onto her team to help bring charges against Trump.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital this week, Trump blasted the case as a "sham." 

"There is no case here," Trump said during Willis’ testimony. "It is so badly tainted. There is no case here."

Trump told Fox News Digital "the case will have to be dropped."

"There's no way they can have a case," Trump said. "The whole thing was a scam to get money for the boyfriend."

Commenting on all of the cases against him, Trump said, "It’s all corrupt stuff. It is all politics — using the law to try to stop a party that is substantially ahead, and a particular person that’s substantially ahead in every poll, including against Biden.

"This is all meant to stop me."

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

DOJ reviewing Biden, Hur interview to ID potential classified information in response to House GOP demands

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

The Justice Department on Friday said it will consult with various intelligence agencies and law enforcement to identify any classified information during a discussion between President Biden and Special Counsel Robert Hur in response to a request from House Republicans demanding the transcript, and any recordings of the interview. 

"Several of the materials listed in your February 12 letter require review for classification and protection of national defense information," Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte wrote in a letter to House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan and House Ways & Means Committee Chair Jason Smith.

SPECIAL COUNSEL CALLS BIDEN 'SYMPATHETIC, WELL-MEANING, ELDERLY MAN WITH A POOR MEMORY,' BRINGS NO CHARGES

The GOP lawmakers have requested Attorney General Merrick Garland turn over the transcript and any recordings of Biden's October 2023 interview with Hur and the special counsel team. The three committee leaders are leading the impeachment inquiry against Biden.

"We have already begun this process. The Department is committed to responding to the Committees’ requests expeditiously, consistent with the law, longstanding Department policies and principles, and available resources," Uriarte wrote. 

The Justice Department will release the transcript to Congress if the White House gives the OK. The White House could invoke executive privilege, which could bar the release. 

Hur, who released his report to the public last week after months of investigating, did not recommend criminal charges against Biden for mishandling and retaining classified documents, and stated that he wouldn't bring charges against Biden, even if he were not in the Oval Office.

The report revealed Biden's significant memory issues, as concerns about the president's age and mental capacity continue to surface amid his re-election campaign. 

Hur said Biden came off "as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" and that "it would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him-by then a former president well into his eighties-of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness."

He is expected to testify before Congress about his findings, according to reports.  

Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind and Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

Fox News Politics: Trump vows appeal

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. 

What's Happening? 

- NY judge orders Trump to pay hundreds of millions, bars him from operating business…

- DA Fani Willis did not testify Friday after fiery courtroom appearance…

- Biden visits East Palestine, Ohio, more than a year later…

Former President Trump blasted "clubhouse politician" Judge Arthur Engoron Friday after he barred him from operating his business in New York for three years and fined him more than $350 million, defending the "great company" he built and telling Fox News Digital that the ruling is yet another example of Democrats "trying to stop" him, but that "they will not be successful."

Engoron handed down his ruling Friday after a months-long civil fraud trial beginning in October and stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit alleging the former president inflated his assets and committed fraud. 

Trump spoke exclusively to Fox News Digital shortly after Engoron's ruling was made public Friday afternoon. 

"A crooked New York judge working with the very corrupt attorney general of New York State, who ran on the basis of ‘I will get trump’ before knowing me — before even knowing anything about me — just ruled that I have to pay a fine of $355 million based on absolutely nothing," Trump told Fox News Digital. "No victims. No damages. Great financial statements, with full disclaimer clauses, only success." 

'SOUTHERN GENTLEMAN': Meet Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor accused of having 'improper' affair with Fani Willis ...Read more

FIERY DAY 2: DA Fani Willis doesn't take the stand in second day of the hearing ...Read more

SEE IT: Top moments from the DA Fani Willis hearing over 'improper' affair with Nathan Wade so far ...Read more

'MENTAL DECLINE': Republicans pressure Biden to take cognitive test, calling it a 'national security concern' ...Read more

'OUTRAGEOUS EFFORT': Biden calls for an end to impeachment inquiry after indictment of FBI informant: 'Outrageous effort' ...Read more

‘LASER FOCUS’: Biden insist's he's committed to helping East Palestine a year after toxic train derailment …Read more

'FAR OVERDUE': Trump-endorsed Ohio Senate candidate blasts Biden's visit to East Palestine ...Read more

MANCHIN OUT: West Virginia senator declines third-party presidential run ...Read more

'WE'RE GOOD FRIENDS': Romney reveals whether he has plans to run for president, serve as Manchin's VP ...Read more

'COMMONSENSE CONSERVATIVE': Former special forces soldier lands big endorsement in race to flip House seat ...Read more

'RACE OF HIS LIFE': Dem Sen blasts GOP for not caring about immigration; record comes back to haunt him ...Read more

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