Conservatives blast Biden as ‘election denier’ after he calls McAuliffe the ‘real’ governor of Virginia

President Joe Biden was slammed by conservatives on social media and called an "election denier" after he referred to Terry McAuliffe, who lost the Virginia gubernatorial election to the current GOP governor Glenn Youngkin, as the commonwealth’s "real" governor.

"Hello, Virginia, and the real governor, Terry McAuliffe," Biden told a crowd in Virginia on Tuesday night in an event with VP Kamala Harris discussing abortion access. "My name is Joe Biden. I'm Jill Biden's husband and Kamala's running mate. Kidding aside. Thank you, Kamala, for your leadership protecting reproductive freedom and for so much more that you do."

Biden was quickly criticized by conservatives for the comment. 

"I was informed that denying election results is the biggest threat to our democracy," conservative influence LibsofTikTok posted on X. "Start the impeachment hearings!"

BIDEN ABORTION RALLY IN VIRGINIA INTERRUPTED BY MULTIPLE PROTESTERS: ‘GENOCIDE JOE!’

"Sounds like Biden should be removed from the Virginia ballot," conservative commentator Chris Barron posted on X, referencing Democrat efforts to keep former President Trump off the ballot for "election denial."

"Subverting democracy, denying elections, basically insurrection."

"Biden is shuttled across the river to promote nine-month, taxpayer-funded elective abortion-on-demand — and tosses in some casual election denialism while he’s at it," Fox News contributor Guy Benson posted on X.

BIDEN CALLS TRUMP 'MOST RESPONSIBLE' FOR 'STRIPPING AWAY' ABORTION, VOWS TO VETO ANY NATIONWIDE BAN

"Not sure how our democracy survives this kind of election denialism, tbh," Outkick.com founder Clay Travis posted on X.

"Joe Biden is an election denier in more ways than one," GOP Congresswoman Elise Stefanik posted on X.

"Mr. President, I’m right here," Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin posted on X. 

A White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Biden was "making a joke about McAuliffe’s previous term as governor."

 "He congratulated Governor Youngkin on his election out of the gate and has worked across the aisle with him ever since."

Democrat Cuellar warns Biden: Border crisis will ‘absolutely’ be election issue in 2024

MCALLEN, Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, is warning fellow Democrats, including President Biden, to prepare for border security to be a top election issue in the 2024 cycle.

Standing along the Rio Grande in Hidalgo, Texas, Saturday, Cuellar emphatically told Fox News Digital the situation at the southern border will "absolutely" be on voters’ minds this year.

He traveled to the border this weekend as part of a bipartisan congressional delegation that also included Reps. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas; Randy Weber, R-Texas; and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas.

'SENSE OF HOPELESSNESS': MICHAEL MCCAUL SOUNDS ALARM ON BORDER PATROL MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS

"If they're looking at the same polls I've been looking at, the American public doesn't like what's happening," Cuellar said of fellow Democrats.

"I represent an area where it's almost 80% Hispanic, a lot of Democrats," he said. "So, yeah, the polls are showing that it's an important issue."

Speaking of Biden, he said, "It’s in the president’s best interest politically to come up with a solution on border security."

WATCH: MIGRANTS CLAIM ASYLUM ON COLD JANUARY NIGHT AS CBP UNION LEADER TALKS BORDER CRISIS

A Fox News poll from last month found that eight in 10 voters think the situation at the southern border is either an emergency (34%) or a major problem (45%). 

The group of lawmakers toured sections of the border Saturday and met with border and immigration officials. White House and Senate negotiators are working to cobble together a deal on border reform in exchange for GOP support for Biden’s $106 billion supplemental funding request for Ukraine, Israel and other issues.

KEY REPUBLICAN COMES OUT IN FAVOR OF IMPEACHING MAYORKAS, SAYS HE SHOULD BE 'TRIED FOR TREASON'

Cuellar insisted a show of bipartisanship like their trip was a move in the right direction.

"It's important that if the negotiations go well, and they work something out, that some of us are able to [be] bipartisan," Cuellar said.

He suggested reforms on what constitutes legal asylum was something Democrats were coming around to.

"For example, on the asylum when people come in, I support making changes. There's a lot of Democrats that don't," Cuellar explained. "Now, Democrats are saying, ‘Maybe we need to look at that.’ So, I think we're seeing now a shift where people are willing to get out of their comfort zones. If we have enough Democrats and Republicans, we can get it done."

Hunter Biden’s ‘sugar brother’ lawyer confirms he still holds stake in Chinese state-backed equity fund

Kevin Morris, a lawyer and close friend of Hunter Biden, confirmed to lawmakers that he still holds a stake in a Chinese private equity firm that he took over from the president's son. 

Morris, who has been dubbed Hunter's "sugar brother" for loaning him millions of dollars to pay off back taxes and other bills, told lawmakers on the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees last week that he still holds a 10% stake in the Chinese private equity firm Bohai Harvest RST LLC (BHR). Morris initially acquired the shares after purchasing Skaneateles LLC, a company that Hunter had previously owned, in the fall of 2021 as pressure mounted for Hunter to divest.

In a transcript reviewed by Fox News Digital, Morris invoked attorney-client privilege when asked how "it came up that he would purchase Skaneateles," but said he eyed BHR because he thought it would be a promising investment. However, during the interview, he claimed he couldn't recall "exactly what [the investments] were," but said he remembers "going through them" and thought they were "infrastructure" related.

"I did the transaction because, you know, I evaluated it as a businessman, and I thought it was something that could be a very successful investment," Morris said. "I — you know, but I did diligence on the assets. I knew what — I knew what Hunter paid for it in the beginning, and I saw, and I still see upside."

HUNTER BIDEN LAWYER TESTIFIES THAT 1ST TRUMP IMPEACHMENT CREATED 'EMERGENCY' TO FILE UNPAID TAXES

Morris, who stated he purchased Skaneateles for $157,000, was then pressed on only paying that amount for the 10% stake in the Chinese equity firm. 

"Look, I am going to do the best I can, okay? Morris responded. "I thought it ended up being 157 in cash. There was also a payment in there for — there was a $250,000 payment for a loan. I can't remember if that's part of that transaction, but if it is — that's what it does — and whatever the — I believe those two were combined for the purchase price."

Morris said he has not received any payout from BHR since he purchased Skaneateles in 2021.

Before Morris took over the BHR shares, Hunter Biden continued owning a stake in the firm after his father pledged in October 2019 to keep his family free of foreign entanglements if he was elected president.

"No one in my family will have an office in the White House, will sit in on meetings as if they are a cabinet member, will, in fact, have any business relationship with anyone that relates to a foreign corporation or a foreign country," now-President Biden said at the time, despite Hunter reportedly living at the White House for an unknown amount of time and participating in official White House events, including state dinners and an official trip to Ireland. Other Biden family members have also visited the White House throughout his administration.

KEVIN MORRIS GAVE 'MASSIVE' FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO HUNTER BIDEN, RAISING CAMPAIGN FINANCE CONCERNS: COMER

During the 2020 campaign, now-White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates, who was a spokesperson for the Biden campaign at the time, took a shot at the Trump campaign in April 2020, calling the campaign's communications director Tim Murtaugh a "liar." 

"When it was announced that Hunter Biden would be quitting the board of a Chinese equity firm, lots of news outlets credulously reported it," Murtaugh tweeted, quote-tweeting a report about Hunter still being listed as a director and owning a 10% equity stake in BHR. "Six months later, records indicate that Hunter has not, in fact, quit. Will the mainstream media be following up?"

Bates, who would later be implicated in the "Russian disinformation" narrative to discredit Hunter Biden's laptop, then responded to Murtaugh while quote-tweeting a Washington Post "fact checker" sharing a screenshot of a letter dated the same day as the tweet, which appeared to show BHR CEO Jonathan Li confirming to Hunter's lawyer that Hunter was no longer an "unpaid director" as of October 2019.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House to inquire whether Bates was aware that Hunter still held his stake in BHR when he attacked the Trump campaign regarding Hunter's involvement with BHR, but he did not respond. 

In late December 2020, Hunter still owned the shares in BHR less than a month before his father took office. In November 2021, Chris Clark, who was a lawyer for Hunter at the time, told The New York Times that Hunter "no longer holds any interest, directly or indirectly, in either BHR or Skaneateles."

The Washington Free Beacon reported in 2023 that Hunter's stake in the Chinese private equity firm had moved to Morris after he had purchased Skaneateles.

Hunter previously sat on the Chinese firm's board — whose financial backers include the Bank of China — before announcing in October 2019 that he would be stepping down over mounting scrutiny of his father's presidential bid.

In December 2013, Hunter traveled with his dad on an Asia trip, which included China as a stop, and introduced him to Li in the lobby of the hotel where the U.S. delegation was staying. A recent closed-door interview with Hunter's former business partner, Devon Archer, revealed that the elder Biden would have coffee with him too during the visit. Less than two weeks later, Hunter would enter into a joint-venture called BHR Partners, a Beijing-backed private equity firm controlled by Bank of China Limited.

Hunter initially invested $420,000 in BHR in October 2017 through Skaneateles. His interest in the company spiked to an estimated $894,000, according to a March 2019 email from his former business partner, Eric Schwerin.

Morris told lawmakers he did not know whether Hunter could buy back BHR in the future.

Following Morris' interview with lawmakers, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer released a statement expressing concern about the lawyer's financial support for his own client. Comer claimed that Morris' actions raised ethical concerns, noting the millions of dollars the lawyer had previously loaned to Hunter.

"Shortly after meeting Hunter Biden at a Joe Biden campaign event in 2019, Kevin Morris began paying Hunter Biden’s tax liability to insulate then-presidential candidate Joe Biden from political liability. Kevin Morris admitted he has ‘loaned’ the president’s son at least $5 million," Comer said. "These ‘loans’ don’t have to be repaid until after the next presidential election and the ‘loans’ may ultimately be forgiven."

"Since Kevin Morris has kept President Biden’s son financially afloat, he’s had access to the Biden White House and has spoken to President Biden," he added. "This follows a familiar pattern where Hunter Biden’s associates have access to Joe Biden himself. As we continue more interviews this month and the next, we will continue to follow the facts to understand the full scope of President Biden and his family’s corruption."

Morris said that while he did loan Hunter money, the two consulted counsel on the transactions and that he is "confident" Hunter will repay him. In addition, Morris denied ever believing the president or his administration would give him anything in return for the loans, saying his "only goal" was to help a friend and that there is no prohibition against that.

Hunter Biden lawyer testifies that 1st Trump impeachment created ’emergency’ to file unpaid taxes

Hunter Biden’s lawyer Kevin Morris told congressional investigators that it was the first impeachment of then-President Trump in February 2020 that made it an "emergency" for the president’s son to file his tax returns, according to a transcript of his testimony reviewed by Fox News Digital.

Morris testified behind closed doors at the House Oversight Committee last week as part of the House impeachment inquiry against President Biden.

Congressional investigators had discovered an email from Morris in February 2020 citing "political risk" amid the election cycle, when then-former Vice President Joe Biden was a candidate in the Democratic primary.

KEVIN MORRIS GAVE 'MASSIVE' FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO HUNTER BIDEN, RAISING CAMPAIGN FINANCE CONCERNS: COMER

The email, which was shown to Morris during his interview, was dated Feb. 7, 2020, and said, "emergency is off for today. Still need to file Monday — we are under considerable risk personally and politically to get the [tax] returns in."

When asked what the emergency was, Morris pointed to the Trump impeachment, in which Republicans had threatened to call Hunter Biden to testify.

"You know, I believe that, you know, remember that the Trump impeachment process was going on at this time," Morris said. "And they were waiving around the possibility of calling Hunter…right until the very end. I believe that it wrapped up. I believe that was the…thing prompting us— you know, this is about preparing his tax returns."

Morris explained that he had just started working with Hunter Biden, a client who was coming in "from addiction stuff." Morris said "taxes are the most important thing," adding that it is his "custom and practice to get the taxes straight."

"It’s a part of— that’s part of recovery, making amends," he said. "It's critical."

FLASHBACK: DEMOCRATS CLASH WITH REPUBLICANS OVER PROSPECT OF CALLING HUNTER BIDEN IN IMPEACHMENT TRIAL

When pressed on whether the "political" concerns were due to Biden’s candidacy for office, Morris pushed back, saying "there’s no cardinality between these two things."

"Personally, he hadn’t filed his taxes. Okay? That’s his personal problem," Morris said of Hunter Biden. "And then, politically…look, there was an impeachment proceeding going on. His name was and face was everywhere in the world."

Morris, though, said the "political risk" had nothing to do with Joe Biden’s candidacy for the White House.

Morris testified that he loaned Hunter Biden at least $5 million and began paying his tax liability.

However, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer says that was a move to "insulate then-presidential candidate Joe Biden from political liability."

Morris also admitted to the committee that the "loans" he provided to Hunter Biden do not have to be repaid until 2025, after the next presidential election, and could be forgiven, the committee said.

Trump was acquitted on Feb. 5, 2020 on both articles of impeachment against him — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — after being impeached by the House of Representatives in December 2019.

BIDENS ALLEGEDLY 'COERCED' BURISMA CEO TO PAY THEM MILLIONS TO HELP GET UKRAINE PROSECUTOR FIRED: FBI FORM

Trump was impeached after a July 2019 phone call in which he pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to launch investigations into the Biden family’s actions and business dealings in Ukraine — specifically Hunter Biden’s ventures with Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings and Joe Biden’s successful effort to have former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin ousted.

Hunter Biden was quietly under federal investigation, beginning in 2018, at the time of the call — a probe prompted by suspicious foreign transactions. 

Trump's request was regarded by Democrats as a quid pro quo because millions in U.S. military aid to Ukraine had been frozen. Democrats also claimed Trump was meddling in the 2020 presidential election by asking a foreign leader to look into a Democratic political opponent.

Republicans had been investigating Hunter Biden’s business dealings, specifically with regard to Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings. House Republicans, who were in the minority at the time, made several requests to subpoena Hunter Biden for testimony and documents related to the impeachment of Trump and his business dealings that fell at the center of the proceedings. 

Biden has acknowledged that when he was vice president, he successfully pressured Ukraine to fire prosecutor Viktor Shokin. At the time, Shokin was investigating Burisma Holdings, and at the time, Hunter had a highly-lucrative role on the board, receiving thousands of dollars per month. The then-vice president threatened to withhold $1 billion of critical U.S. aid if Shokin was not fired.

"I said, ‘You’re not getting the billion. I’m going to be leaving here in,' I think it was about six hours. I looked at them and said, ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money,’" Biden recalled telling then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Biden recollected the conversation during an event for the Council on Foreign Relations in 2018. 

"Well, son of a b----, he got fired," Biden said during the event. "And they put in place someone who was solid at the time."

Biden allies maintain the then-vice president pushed for Shokin's firing due to concerns the Ukrainian prosecutor went easy on corruption, and say that his firing, at the time, was the policy position of the U.S. and international community.

Now, as part of the impeachment inquiry, Republicans are investigating any involvement Biden had in his son’s business dealings.

Republicans obtained an FBI FD-1023 form with a confidential human source detailing allegations made by Burisma CEO Mykola Zlochevsky. Zlochevsky alleged that he was "coerced" into paying Joe Biden and Hunter Biden millions of dollars to get Shokin fired, amid the investigation into his firm. 

Meanwhile, Hunter Biden has been under federal investigation since 2018. 

Special Counsel Weiss charged Biden with nine federal tax charges, which break down to three felonies and six misdemeanors concerning $1.4 million in owed taxes that have since been paid. 

Weiss charged Hunter in December, alleging a "four-year scheme" when the president's son did not pay his federal income taxes from January 2017 to October 2020 while also filing false tax reports.

Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

Weiss also indicted the first son on federal gun charges in Delaware last year. Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to those charges as well. His attorneys are attempting to have that case dismissed altogether. 

Hunter Biden’s business associates to appear for closed-door testimonies with lawmakers this week

Hunter Biden’s business associates are gearing up to testify behind closed doors at the House Oversight and Judiciary committees later this week as part of the House impeachment inquiry against his father, President Biden.

First up is Mervyn Yan, who was subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee last year for financial records related to his business dealings with Hunter Biden.

Yan worked with Hunter Biden through Chinese energy company CEFC and Hudson West III.

HUNTER BIDEN DEPOSITION SCHEDULED FOR NEXT MONTH AFTER RISK OF BEING HELD IN CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS

Yan is set to appear before both committees on Thursday for closed-door transcribed interviews.

Next is Rob Walker, who was also subpoenaed last year. He is expected to appear for his closed-door transcribed interviews before both committees on Friday.

Financial records subpoenaed by the committee revealed that members of the Biden family, including Hallie Biden and Sara Biden, received more than $1 million in payments from accounts related to Walker and his Chinese business ventures with Hunter.

FLASHBACK: COMER SUBPOENAS HUNTER BIDEN ART DEALER, BUSINESS ASSOCIATES FOR TESTIMONY AS PART OF ONGOING PROBE

Walker worked on a joint venture called Sinohawk Holdings, which was meant to be a partnership with Chinese energy firm CEFC.

Multiple Biden family accounts, including those belonging to Hunter, Hallie Biden and an unnamed Biden, also received approximately $1.038 million from the same Walker LLC account after Bladon Enterprises, which reportedly belonged to Gabriel "Puiu" Popoviciu, a Romanian tycoon, deposited more than $3 million between November 2015 to May 2017. According to a 2017 email from Walker, which was obtained by the Senate Finance Committee, Walker viewed himself as a "surrogate" for Hunter and his uncle, Jim Biden, when "gauging [business] opportunities."

The transcribed interviews with Yan and Walker this week come after the committees announced last week that they had confirmed a new date for Hunter Biden's closed-door deposition.

FLASHBACK: HOUSE OVERSIGHT SUBPOENAS HUNTER BIDEN, JAMES BIDEN, ROB WALKER FOR TESTIMONY AMID IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

Hunter Biden had initially defied a subpoena to appear for a deposition and was at risk of being held in contempt of Congress.

The committees said Hunter Biden’s attorneys confirmed that he would appear for a deposition on Feb. 28, thus pausing all contempt of Congress proceedings.

Hunter Biden's deposition will come after his business associates share testimony with the committees.

The House Oversight and Judiciary committees plan to hear testimony from other Hunter Biden business associates like Eric Schwerin on Jan. 30, Tony Bobulinski on Feb. 5, and more.

Republicans probe DHS Secretary Mayorkas over role in housing migrants on federal lands

FIRST ON FOX: House Republican leaders on the Natural Resources Committee are probing the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) role in placing migrants on federal lands in New York.

In a letter sent Monday to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., and Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., who chairs the panel's oversight subcommittee, cited interviews they conducted with federal officials who confirmed DHS's involvement in the decision to house migrants at Gateway National Recreation Area's Floyd Bennett Field, managed by the National Park Service (NPS).

While DHS, according to the letter, intervened to ensure Floyd Bennett Field, in New York City's Brooklyn borough, would be leased to the local government for migrant housing, the land is managed by the Department of the Interior (DOI) and NPS. In one interview, a senior DOI official told congressional investigators that they "did what DHS asked us to do" when they moved forward with the plan last year.

"The Committee is deeply concerned with the Biden administration leasing NPS land for use as a migrant encampment, a use that is not only inconsistent with the National Park Service Organic Act, but publicly recognized as legally perilous by DOI," Westerman and Gosar wrote to Mayorkas. 

REPUBLICANS ACCELERATE PROBE INTO BIDEN ADMINISTRATION'S ACTIONS TO HOUSE MIGRANTS ON FEDERAL LANDS

"Moreover, the Committee is concerned with the role DHS played in the process, particularly as you described it in the letters to Mayor Adams and Governor Hochul and as described to Committee staff by DOI and NPS officials," the Republican lawmakers continued.

MAYOR'S OFFICE AVOIDS SAYING WHETHER IT BACKS NONCITIZENS VOTING AFTER WARNING MIGRANT CRISIS WILL DESTROY NYC

In August, Mayorkas sent letters to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, hitting back at the officials over their handling of the surge of migrants in New York City, Politico reported at the time. He further noted "structural issues" with New York's handling of the crisis and implored the city and state to accept a lease DOI sent for the temporary use of Floyd Bennett Field to house migrants.

"DOI seeks to finalize that lease as soon as you are ready," Mayorkas wrote to Hochul and Adams, according to Politico.

Weeks later, on Sept. 15, DOI and the local parties executed the agreement to lease portions of Floyd Bennett Field's property. Officials then constructed temporary housing on land along the shore of Jamaica Bay.

However, the Republican leaders have pointed out that, prior to the decision to lease the property, Hochul noted the DOI had itself argued such an action would likely violate federal laws. The governor, who has called for federal assistance in dealing with her state's migrant influx, remarked one month prior that officials told her office "they do not allow for use of shelter on any of their properties."

REPUBLICANS FUME AT BIDEN FOR VACATIONING AS BORDER CROSSINGS EXPLODE: 'DERELICTION OF DUTY'

The Republicans have also probed how the White House Council on Environmental Quality appears to have allowed DOI to bypass the normal eco review process mandated under the National Environmental Policy Act. The 1969 law requires federal agencies to review the environmental impacts of projects and proposals on federal land before approval.

Meanwhile, the housing facility erected at Floyd Bennett Field has been heavily criticized by migrants as inhumane and, according to a Venezuelan mother of three interviewed by The City, "like a hell." Thousands of migrants at the encampment were evacuated earlier this month and sent to a New York City high school, forcing the school to cancel in-person classes.

The Natural Resources Committee's ongoing investigation comes as migrants continue to flood the southern border in record numbers and Republicans call for the Biden administration to make structural reforms to secure the border.

In December, more than 302,000 migrants were encountered attempting to cross the U.S. southern border, by far the largest single month figure ever recorded. The number also brought fiscal 2024 first-quarter numbers to 785,000 encounters, the highest number ever recorded.

DHS didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

White House doubles down after Biden admits US border not secure: ‘The system is broken’

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre doubled down on President Biden's admission that the U.S. border is not secure on Monday.

Jean-Pierre nevertheless dodged when asked why Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has repeatedly testified to Congress that the border is in fact secure. The White House described the border as a "broken" system that needs further funding.

"On Friday, President Biden said that he does not believe the border is secure, which is different from what Secretary Mayorkas has testified multiple times on the Hill. Why do they have two different views of the security of the border?" a reporter asked.

"The president has been really clear that we need to move on the border," Jean-Pierre responded. "Him saying that we need to deal with border security, as we, as Mayorkas, as we all have here been doing at the White House, I think shows that we have an issue at the border and we need to deal with it, and we have to act now. There's an urgent need."

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT POPULATION SOARS UNDER BIDEN: GOVERNMENT DATA

"Mayorkas, who is tasked with making sure those resources are applied – If he is saying something different than the president about whether it's secure or not. I guess I have a hard time understanding why there is a disconnect here," the reporter pressed.

MIGRANT CRISIS INCREASING STRAIN ON BORDER OFFICIALS, IMMIGRATION COURTS WITH MASSIVE NUMBERS

"Look, the president has repeatedly said the immigration system is broken," Jean-Pierre responded, going on to point to immigration proposals he put forward over the past three years.

Biden's administration has sought to downplay record-high levels of illegal immigration seen in the late months of 2023. As many as 10,000 migrants were arrested daily at the southwest U.S. border in December, but the White House sought to pass it off as a seasonal surge.

There were 242,418 migrant encounters at the southern border in November – the highest November on record and the third-highest month ever.

Meanwhile, Republicans on Capitol Hill are pursuing impeachment against Mayorkas.

"This one man is the architect of destruction down here. One man has caused all this chaos, deaths from fentanyl poisoning, danger to the country with terrorists coming in and 8 million encounters with no legal status. He is the architect. He has destroyed the fabric of this nation," Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo on Sunday.

Fox News' Lawrence Richard contributed to this report

House Republicans negotiate with president’s brother on deposition terms

President Biden’s younger brother, James Biden, is in active negotiations to appear for a deposition before House Republicans, Fox News has learned. 

The younger Biden was subpoenaed as part of the investigation into Hunter Biden and President Biden in November. 

House Republicans leading the impeachment inquiry into President Biden believe that James has knowledge of Hunter’s business deals and whether the president was involved. 

The president’s brother was scheduled to appear for a closed-door deposition in early December, but that date came and went. Conversations continue between the House Oversight Committee and Biden’s legal team. 

HUNTER BIDEN'S HOLLYWOOD LAWYER ‘SUGAR BRO’ ALLEGEDLY VIOLATED PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT RULES: BAR COMPLAINT

"I'm going to hold off criticism of the president's brother. He obviously has due process and we have heard from his attorney. We're trying to make that work and I feel like that'll happen soon," House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said last month.

The Washington Post reported in December that James Biden’s conversations were swept up in an FBI investigation, though he was not the target. 

HUNTER HAS TIES TO NEARLY 2 DOZEN CURRENT, FORMER BIDEN OFFICIALS AS FEDERAL CHARGES, HOUSE PROBES LOOM

According to the Post, Biden’s conversations were recorded as part of an FBI investigation into a Mississippi attorney named Richard "Dickie" Scruggs. 

The outlet reported that the FBI secretly recorded conversations involving Biden because of his relationship with Scruggs, who went to federal prison for a bribery conviction involving a judge. 

James Biden was not the subject of the FBI probe and was never charged or accused of wrongdoing by the bureau.

James Biden’s nephew, Hunter Biden, is scheduled for a closed-door deposition on Feb. 28 after a public back and forth with the committee that almost led to a contempt of Congress vote.

Hunter has ties to nearly 2 dozen current, former Biden officials as federal charges, House probes loom

Nearly two dozen current and former officials serving in the White House and Biden administration, including the president's national security adviser and the secretary of state, have extensive ties to Hunter Biden, who is accused by Republicans of selling access to his father dating back over a decade.

A Fox News Digital analysis reveals the extent of Hunter's potential reach in the White House as the embattled first son faces federal tax charges in California, as well as a congressional investigation into his alleged influence peddling and foreign business deals.

Hunter pleaded not guilty during his initial court appearance this month after being charged with nine tax crimes stemming from an investigation by Justice Department Special Counsel David Weiss. A day earlier, he made a shocking appearance at a House Oversight Committee meeting where members were considering whether to hold him in contempt for defying a subpoena as part of the impeachment inquiry into his father, President Biden.

The most notable individuals from Fox's analysis include two members of Biden's Cabinet, one former Cabinet member, a top aide to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, a national security adviser, four top Biden White House aides, the communications director for first lady Jill Biden, and multiple other former staffers.

All emails were reviewed and verified by Fox News Digital.

Former White House communications director Kate Bedingfield, who departed the role last year but is still a staunch defender of the Biden administration and serves as an outside surrogate, previously communicated with Hunter in 2016 about a column written by Joel Goldstein, a law professor, praising his father's presidency.

"It is excellent. We will move it around to the WH press corps," she wrote to Hunter and a number of others. Bedingfield was serving as then-Vice President Biden's communications director at the time.

Other emails from 2015 showed Bedingfield later tried to quash a Bloomberg story about Hunter at the request of his firm, Rosemont Seneca. The emails showed a close relationship between Biden's office, Hunter's longtime business partner Eric Schwerin, and the media.

Schwerin, who was the then-president of Hunter's now-defunct Rosemont Seneca Partners investment firm, asked Bedingfield whether there was any "follow up" by other news outlets on a New York Times story that said the "credibility of the vice president’s anti-corruption message may have been undermined" by Hunter’s serving on the board of Burisma Holdings.

VP BIDEN'S OFFICE TRIED TO QUASH BLOOMBERG STORY ABOUT HUNTER BIDEN AT HIS FIRM'S REQUEST, EMAILS SHOW

Bedingfield, who is now a CNN political commentator, responded that a Bloomberg reporter had asked about it but was "doing everything she can to not use it."

"…VP just finished an interview with the Bloomberg reporter traveling with us and she asked about it, though she assures me she's doing everything she can to not use it," she wrote. "I will have a transcript soon but my quick notes on his answer are: No one has any doubt about my record on corruption, I don't talk to my son about his business and my children don't talk to me about mine, I have complete faith in my son."

Schwerin responded, "I would just urge her (as I know you are doing) that there is no new news there. And even if she uses it — she should avoid getting into past stories (Navy, etc.) that have nothing to do with this."

The story was ultimately published.

John Nevergole, a business executive who was tapped in 2022 to serve another term on President Biden's Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa (PAC-DBIA), previously worked as a senior adviser to Rosemont Seneca and strategized with Hunter on brokering business deals in western Africa years prior to his appointment in the current administration.

Emails show Nevergole’s relationship with Hunter dating back to at least 2011. In an Aug. 5, 2011, email chain, Schwerin, then-president of Rosemont Seneca Advisors, informed Hunter that Nevergole had requested to split a retainer fee 70/30 for helping broker a deal between Rosemont and Brazilian construction giant OAS.

BIDEN ADMIN'S COMMERCE APPOINTEE WAS LONGTIME BUSINESS PARTNER OF HUNTER BIDEN, EMAILS REVEAL

After Hunter pushed back on the price, Schwerin, who was also a member of ABD’s board of advisers for several years, said, "So, I am OK with 70/30 … Mainly because I think the relationship can bear fruit in other areas down the line, e.g. in Africa if we choose to focus there."

A few years later, Schwerin emailed Hunter on May 29, 2014, saying he "talked to John Nevergole yesterday, and he said you had mentioned to him you wanted to discuss natural gas at some point."

At the time, Hunter had just been appointed to serve as a board member for Ukrainian oil and gas company Burisma Holdings, for which he had received intense scrutiny over several years that prompted him to later admit he used "poor judgment" and that he would not join the board again if he could do things over.

The two communicated frequently from 2010 to 2017.

Michael Hochman, a White House aide who has held multiple positions in the Biden administration, including White House deputy staff secretary, previously spent nearly two decades at a Delaware law firm that was heavily involved with corporate entities tied to Hunter, his business associates and other Biden family members.

Between January 2021 and June 2022, Hochman served as the White House deputy staff secretary before joining the White House’s recently created Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD), which advises Biden on cybersecurity policy and strategy. Hochman started out as the deputy general counsel and deputy chief of staff before being promoted to chief of staff last November.

Fox's analysis found several emails between Hochman and Hunter sent during the Obama-Biden administration, in addition to nearly a dozen Biden-linked corporate entities that were registered through the law firm where Hochman spent most of his career.

TOP WHITE HOUSE AIDE WORKED AT LAW FIRM HEAVILY INVOLVED WITH CORPORATE ENTITIES TIED TO HUNTER, BIDEN FAMILY

The review found that Monzack Mersky McLaughlin and Browder had served as the registered agents for Owasco LLC, Rosemont Seneca Advisors, and Robinson Walker LLC, which is owned by Hunter's former business partner, Rob Walker. Fox News Digital previously reported that members of the Biden family received more than $1 million in payments from accounts related to Walker's LLC and their Chinese business ventures involving CEFC affiliate State Energy HK in 2017.

Multiple Biden family accounts, including those belonging to Hunter, Hallie Biden and an unnamed Biden, also received approximately $1.038 million from the same Walker LLC account after Bladon Enterprises, which reportedly belonged to Gabriel "Puiu" Popoviciu, a Romanian tycoon, deposited over $3 million between November 2015 to May 2017. According to a 2017 email from Walker, which was obtained by the Senate Finance Committee, Walker viewed himself as a "surrogate" for Hunter and his uncle, Jim Biden, when "gauging [business] opportunities."

Less than six months before Hunter and his longtime business partner, Devon Archer, became board members at the Burisma energy company in Ukraine in 2014, email correspondence shows that a top aide to then-Secretary of State John Kerry, who announced this month that he was leaving the Biden administration to serve as an adviser for the Biden campaign, was telling some of his fellow State Department officials that Kerry and Hunter had a close friendship and that Hunter asked Kerry to speak to his Georgetown University grad students on March 18, 2014.

"Just spoke with Hunter Biden, good friend of S, who teaches a class at Georgetown on advocacy," David Wade wrote. "He'd like S to speak to his class on 3/18. If S is here, he'll for sure want to do this. Class would come here to HST."

EMAIL REVEALS HUNTER'S COZY RELATIONSHIP WITH HIGHEST LEVELS OF OBAMA'S STATE DEPT. AS FARA ACCUSATIONS SWIRL

On the day of the class, Archer told Hunter he would send a briefing he put together on Burisma ahead of Hunter's trip the following day to New York City to meet with him. It is unclear whether Kerry had knowledge of the conversations between Hunter and Archer about Burisma in March 2014 or in the weeks following the class. 

Kerry's stepson, Chris Heinz, was a business partner of Hunter and Archer at the time, but he reportedly severed ties with the firm later that year. And a spokesperson attributed their Burisma board memberships as a "major catalyst for Mr. Heinz ending his business relationships with Mr. Archer and Mr. Biden."

However, he still remained friendly with them in emails more than a year after they joined the Burisma board.

Hunter Biden and President Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, served together on the board of the Truman National Security Project, a liberal foreign policy think tank, for roughly two years before Sullivan joined the president’s campaign in 2020.

Hunter, who started serving on the board in 2012, and Sullivan both served on the Washington-based nonprofit’s board between 2017 and early 2019, according to internet archives captured by Wayback Machine.

During that time, Hunter was also serving on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings and the Chinese private equity fund BHR Partners. The federal investigation into Hunter's foreign business dealings, which is still ongoing, also launched during the same time frame in 2018.

JAKE SULLIVAN SERVED ON A NATIONAL SECURITY BOARD WITH HUNTER BIDEN FOR 2 YEARS, RAISING QUESTIONS FROM GOP

Sullivan has been accused by former White House official Mike McCormick of being a "conspirator" in the Biden family's "kickback scheme" in Ukraine when Biden was vice president.

Sullivan denied the allegations, telling reporters that he had nothing to do with such an operation.

White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, who led the federal COVID-19 pandemic response between early 2021 and April 2022, met Hunter multiple times in 2016, according to emails and White House visitor logs.

Zients met with Hunter Biden twice in February 2016 and on another occasion in May 2016, just months before Biden, the vice president at the time, was set to leave the White House.

Biden attended the first two meetings, both of which took place at the U.S. Naval Observatory, where the vice presidential residence is located.

Additionally, Anne Marie Muldoon, who was an assistant for then-Vice President Biden between 2014 and 2017, sent Hunter Biden an invitation to attend a potential fourth meeting with his father, Zients, David Bradley, a Washington, D.C.-based political consultant and chair of media group Atlantic Media, and Eric Lander at the Naval Observatory on July 12, 2016. While it is unclear whether Hunter Biden joined the meeting, Muldoon sent him a copy of the meeting agenda after it took place.

Biden’s former White House chief of staff, Ron Klain, who stepped down last year, previously served as the chief of staff for Vice President Biden until the end of January 2011. In September 2012, Klain reached out to Hunter for help in raising $20,000 for the Vice President's Residence Foundation (VPRF), telling him to "keep this low low key" to prevent "bad PR," according to emails Fox News Digital previously reported on.

"The tax lawyers for the VP Residence Foundation have concluded that since the Cheney folks last raised money in 2007 and not 2008, we actually have to have some incoming funds before the end of this fiscal year (i.e., before 9/30/12 – next week) to remain eligible to be a 'public charity,'" Klain, who had left his chief of staff position in Vice President Biden's office a year earlier but was the foundation's chair at the time, said in an email to Hunter.

RON KLAIN SOLICITED MONEY FROM HUNTER BIDEN FOR VP RESIDENCE IN 2012, EMAILS SHOW: 'KEEP THIS LOW LOW KEY'

"It's not much – we need to raise a total of $20,000 – so I'm hitting up a few very close friends on a very confidential basis to write checks of $2,000 each," Klain continued. "We need to keep this low low key, because raising money for the Residence now is bad PR – but it has to be done, so I'm trying to just collect the 10 checks of $2,000, get it done in a week, and then, we can do an event for the Residence Foundation after the election."

Hunter then forwarded the email to Schwerin, who helped manage a majority of Hunter's finances, and the two discussed donating to the foundation, though it's not clear what was ultimately decided.

Klain's career with Biden dates back to his failed presidential campaign in 1988 and serving as counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Annie Tomasini, an assistant to the president and the current director of Oval Office operations, was in frequent communication with Hunter, referred to him as her "brother" and often ended her emails with "LY" for "love you," according to emails dating from 2010 to 2016.

Biden publicly announced on Dec. 20, 2010, that Tomasini was stepping down to take a position with Harvard University, and Tomasini kept Hunter clued in on the details of that position before she took it, according to emails. The month prior, on Nov. 19, 2010, she forwarded information to Hunter about Harvard’s employee benefits and added, "Thanks."

"Hey – I looked at benefits[.] And they look pretty amazing. Any word on comp?" Hunter responded on Nov. 23, 2010.

"I'll keep you posted. Thanks for looking at all the background Hunt," Tomasini replied.

Tomasini was offered the job on Nov. 30, 2010, writing to Hunter, "Director of intergovernmental relations. > 120k ish – may be a little higher."

She later thanked him and said she was going to tell his father the news. Months later, Hunter gave a speech at Harvard but not before running the draft by Tomasini first.

Tomasini has accompanied Biden and Hunter to Camp David on multiple occasions.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a meeting with Hunter Biden at the State Department in July 2015 when he was serving as the deputy secretary of state in the Obama-Biden administration and Hunter was on Burisma's board, according to emails previously reviewed and verified by Fox News Digital.

The meeting was two months in the making after Hunter emailed Blinken in late May 2015, asking, "Have a few minutes next week to grab a cup of coffee? I know you are impossibly busy, but would like to get your advice on a couple of things."

Blinken said "absolutely" and Hunter forwarded Blinken's full email response to Devon Archer, who was also serving on the Burisma board with him. However, the initial meeting appeared to have been canceled due to the admission of Hunter’s older brother, Beau Biden, to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland because of a recurrence of brain cancer. Beau died on May 30, 2015.

Less than two months later, Blinken and Hunter met, prompting Blinken to send a follow-up email saying it was "great to see" Hunter and "catch up."

In April 2023, former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell testified before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees that Blinken, as President Biden’s then-campaign senior adviser, "played a role in the inception" of the public statement signed by intelligence officials to assert that Hunter’s abandoned laptop was part of a Russian disinformation campaign just weeks before the 2020 presidential election.

Blinken denied having any role in getting the letter signed by members of the intelligence community and said, "One of the great benefits of this job is that I don't do politics and don't engage in it. But with regard to that letter, I didn't – it wasn't my idea, didn't ask for it, didn't solicit it."

Emails from Hunter's laptop that Blinken allegedly sought to discredit show that Hunter had ties to Blinken and his wife, Evan Ryan, dating back more than a decade. Those emails also show that Hunter scheduled meetings with Blinken while he was on the board of Burisma and Blinken was the deputy secretary of state.

Multiple profile pieces over the years said Blinken has advised Biden on more than just foreign policy in his decades-long friendship with the president and serving as a confidant. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., President Biden's reelection campaign co-chair, told CNN in 2021, "President Biden is personally close to both Tony Blinken and Evan Ryan, and Tony has been an incredibly loyal, capable and effective adviser, staffer and personal friend of the sort that is rare in Washington."

Elizabeth Alexander, the communications director for first lady Jill Biden, also has ties to Hunter. 

In 2014, Alexander, who served as Biden’s spokesperson when he was a senator and the vice president, reached out to praise Hunter for his statement after he was kicked out of the Navy Reserve for testing positive for cocaine.

"Hey Hunter – just wanted to write you a quick note to say David and I are thinking of you," she wrote in an email. "Your statement was perfect and gracious. Sending you a virtual hug from both of us and hoping you can get some peace this weekend."

Alexander is married to David Wade, a former State Department staffer who helped advise Hunter with rapid response as he was receiving increased public scrutiny about his lucrative position with Burisma.

Emails uncovered by Fox News Digital last year showed Hunter's firm, Rosemont Seneca Partners, was paying Wade for communications consulting, and he strategized with Hunter and his partners on how to respond to inquiries by the Wall Street Journal and New York Times.

Wade has visited the White House at least five times during Biden's presidency, according to visitor logs. 

Evan Ryan, Blinken's wife who is currently serving as White House cabinet secretary, communicated frequently with Hunter and his longtime business partner, Eric Schwerin, when she was working at the White House during the Obama-Biden administration.

Hunter tried to connect with Blinken on June 16, 2010, when he asked Ryan for his non-government email address, according to emails. Ryan, who also worked on Biden's unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign, then provided Blinken's personal email address to Hunter.

White House visitor logs also show that Schwerin, who was the president of Hunter Biden’s investment firm Rosemont Seneca Partners for several years, met with Ryan at the White House's Old Executive Office Building (OEOB) in October 2010.

She was also in communication with Hunter and Schwerin about a couple of White House events that year, including the Mexico state dinner and the annual Easter Egg Roll.

"OVP has 250 tix to the Easter Egg Roll and your Mom has an additional 200. Family, etc is coming out of your Mom's allotment," Schwerin said in the email to Hunter, referring to Blinken's wife. "Evan is handling your Dad's and we can pass on names to her for outreach purposes. Let's discuss. I don't think we have 50 spots, but if we had 20 or so names we'd probably be fine."

"More importantly, OVP has 12 spots to fill for the Mexico State Dinner in May and needs to send in their names by Monday," he continued. "Evan is looking for any suggestions. Hispanic Americans or just any outreach related suggestions. Obviously they won't have trouble filling this number but is still looking for suggestions."

A couple of months later, Hunter and Ryan exchanged emails about the Mexico State dinner guest list, and she sent him the seating chart for his table.

Fox News Digital previously reported several other ties between Hunter and Ryan.

Kathy Chung, who is currently serving as the Pentagon's deputy director of protocol, communicated frequently with Hunter when she was serving as Biden's executive assistant during the Obama administration.

Throughout much of her five-year tenure working for Biden, Chung regularly shared information with Hunter about his father's schedule and passed messages directly from the then-vice president, according to emails.

Chung's relationship with Hunter also appears to date back to before she worked for his father. The emails showed that Hunter recommended Chung for the executive assistant role when the previous holder of the job, Michele Smith, departed the White House in the spring of 2012.

A month after Chung thanked Hunter for "thinking" of her and getting her to apply for a job in the vice president's office, Chung emailed Hunter Biden to inform him that she had been offered the job.

"I cannot thank you enough for thinking about me and walking me thru this," she said. "What an incredible opportunity! Thanks, Hunter!!"

In another email exchange shortly after the Obama-Biden administration concluded, Hunter suggested that Chung come work at his company. It does not appear that she ever joined Hunter's company.

Chung made headlines last year after she was reportedly questioned by federal investigators as part of the probe into the president's handling of classified documents.

Michael Donilon, a current senior adviser to Biden who served as his chief campaign strategist in 2020, was on dozens of emails with Hunter and other members of Biden's inner circle coordinating strategy meetings throughout the 2012 campaign, mulling over a 2016 presidential bid, and later plotting Biden's endeavors post-vice presidency.

In August 2015, Schwerin shared a Politico article with Hunter that said Donilon and a few other advisers from Biden's inner circle, including Hunter, are the only ones "involved in the real decision-making."

An email from February 2016 showed that Hunter, Donilon and a few others were also involved in the planning stages for the Biden Foundation. And shortly after Biden left office in 2017, Hunter, Donilon and others in his inner circle were invited to a meeting at Biden's residence in McLean, Virginia, according to emails. 

Days later, Hunter, Donilon and several others were invited to a meeting at Biden's Wilmington, Delaware, home where classified documents were recently discovered. The meeting took place on Feb. 7, 2017, the same day it was announced that the former vice president would be leading the Penn Biden Center at the University of Pennsylvania, where classified documents were also found, and the Biden Institute at the University of Delaware.

Donilon accompanied Biden a few months ago on the trip to Ireland, which included Hunter and Biden's sister, Valerie Biden Owens.

Steve Ricchetti, who currently serves as Biden's White House counselor, was also on dozens of emails with Hunter dealing with strategy meetings and helping Biden with post-VP life.

Fox News Digital reported last year that Schwerin visited the White House at least eight times in 2016, meeting with Ricchetti at least twice when he was serving as Biden’s chief of staff. 

Morell, the former CIA deputy director who testified in April, said he received a call in October 2020 from Ricchetti, who was serving as the chair of Biden's campaign at the time, following the Joe Biden's final debate against then-President Trump, when Biden said the Hunter laptop was a "Russian plant" and a "bunch of garbage." 

Morell said the call from Ricchetti was to thank him for spearheading the letter signed by intelligence officials that tried to debunk the laptop. 

In addition to the aforementioned top current and former Biden officials that Hunter was in frequent contact with during the Obama administration and years following, Hunter also had frequent contact with these other Biden administration officials and aides: first lady Jill Biden's senior adviser, Anthony Bernal; Louisa Terrell, an assistant to the president and the director of the Office of Legislative Affairs; State Department protocol officer Nancy Orloff; U.S. Representative to the European Union Mark Gitenstein; former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl, among others.

The White House and Hunter Biden's lawyer did not respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.

Fox News’ Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report.

‘Sense of hopelessness’: Michael McCaul sounds alarm on border patrol mental health crisis

MCALLEN, Texas — House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Mike McCaul said he’s "profoundly" alarmed at the impact the ongoing border crisis is having on Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents’ mental health. 

The senior Republican spoke to Fox News Digital in the border city of McAllen, Texas, a bipartisan congressional delegation met with border and immigration officials while also touring facilities where migrants are brought and their asylum claims processed.

McCaul said the state of the border is "just worse" each time he’s seen it.

"Every time I come down here, it gets worse; the lack of detention space, the human tragedy you see here; what the Border Patrol has to deal with every day, day in and day out, looking at these migrants that are pouring in; this sense of hopelessness, that it won't stop," the Texas Republican said.

REPUBLICANS, DEMS SPAR AT MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT HEARING AS STATE AGS DESCRIBE IMPACT OF MIGRANT CRISIS

"Profoundly, I worry about the mental health of our border patrol. The suicide rate is going up. They don't have the proper resources."

Seventeen CBP agents died by suicide in 2022 alone, Chris Cabrera, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, told Congress in March 2023. That’s the highest number since CBP began tracking it in 2007. There were 19,357 CPB agents on the job in 2022.

Since then, the number of migrant encounters at the border has continued to see historic highs, most recently this past December, while CBP has struggled somewhat to replenish its retiring forces.

REPUBLICANS MOVE FORWARD WITH MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT AMID EMOTIONAL TESTIMONY: DEMS DECRY ‘MAGA SPECTACLE’

McCaul said the cartels on the other side of the border that are bringing a constant flow of drug and human trafficking are better equipped, in some ways, than the federal officials patrolling on the U.S. side.

"For instance, we only have 20 drones here in the Rio Grande Valley sector, and the cartels are way out numbering us. And that's just eyes and ears on the ground," McCaul said. "So, we're not equipping them. But most importantly, more than money, is just the lack of policy."

Cabrera spoke to the media during his recent border visit, describing what he said were regular instances of officers getting overwhelmed.

MEXICAN SOLDIERS FIND FACTORY PRODUCING DRONE BOMBS, GRENADE LAUNCHERS, FAKE MILITARY UNIFORMS

"There’s times when you’re out there, two, three agents, and you’ll have 100 people there," he said.

"But then you also have the medical emergencies: pregnant women, dehydration, kids with illnesses, people that have broken legs along the journey. And then we have people that fall off the wall. So, while we’re dealing with two, three hundred people, or 50 people, you’re also having to deal with medical emergencies and issues like that."