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Democrat turned Republican ‘seriously considering’ challenge to embattled senator indicted on federal charges

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

Republican New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew is "seriously considering" a challenge to Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez, who is running for re-election next year despite being indicted last week on federal bribery and corruption charges.

Fox News Digital confirmed late Tuesday that Van Drew, a former Democrat, is looking at a potential run, but in the meantime "is focused on the issues before Congress."

Van Drew was first elected as a Democrat representing New Jersey's 2nd Congressional District in 2018, but left the party and became a Republican in Dec. 2019, citing the first impeachment of former President Donald as the final straw after he had been mulling a switch for a while.

GOP, DEMS TEAM UP TO RIP ‘DELUSIONAL’ SINEMA OVER ‘PLAN’ TO SWIPE THEIR VOTERS IN INDEPENDENT RE-ELECTION BID

Fox has reached out to the Menendez campaign for comment.

Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York unsealed the indictment on Friday, charging Menendez, his wife Nadine, and New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes with participating in a years-long bribery scheme. 

At a press conference Monday, Menendez asserted he will be exonerated and will remain New Jersey's senior senator. 

LEGAL EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON MENENDEZ INDICTMENT, SUGGEST ‘MONSTER’ CHARGES POINT TO LIKELY CONVICTION

However, he has faced numerous calls from his own party to resign his seat over the indictment, including from Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Peter Welch, D-Vt., John Fetterman, D-Pa., Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Jon Tester, D-Mont., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., Bob Casey, D-Pa., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J.

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Since 2018, as alleged by federal prosecutors, the three businessmen collectively paid hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes, including cash, gold, a Mercedes-Benz, and other things of value in exchange for Menendez agreeing to use his power and influence to protect and enrich them and to benefit the government of Egypt. 

Fox News' Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.

Hunter Biden received $250K wire from Beijing with beneficiary address listed as Joe Biden’s Delaware home

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden received wires originating in Beijing for more than $250,000 from Chinese business partners during the summer of 2019—wires that listed the Delaware home of Joe Biden as the beneficiary address for the funds, Fox News Digital has learned.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has been investigating the Biden family business dealings and Joe Biden’s alleged involvement in those ventures. 

FLASHBACK: HUNTER BIDEN ASSOCIATE TEXTS HINT AT PUSH TO ‘GET JOE INVOLVED,’ MAKE IT LOOK LIKE ‘TRULY FAMILY BUSINESS’

As part of the investigation, Comer subpoenaed financial records related to a specific bank account and received records of two wires originating from Beijing, China and linked to BHR Partners.

BHR Partners is a joint-venture between Hunter Biden’s Rosemont Seneca and Chinese investment firm Bohai Capital. BHR Partners is a Beijing-backed private equity firm controlled by Bank of China Limited. Hunter Biden sat on the Board of Directors of BHR Partners.

The first wire sent to Hunter Biden, dated July 26, 2019, was for $10,000 from an individual named Ms. Wang Xin. There is a Ms. Wang Xin listed on the website for BHR Partners. It is unclear if the wire came from that Wang Xin.

The second wire transfer sent to Hunter Biden, dated August 2, 2019, was for $250,000 from Li Xiang Sheng—also known as Jonathan Li, the CEO of BHR Partners—and Ms. Tan Ling. The committee is trying to identify Ling’s role.

The beneficiary for the wires is listed as Robert Hunter Biden, with the address "1209 Barley Mill Rd." In Wilmington, Delaware. That address is the main residence for Joe Biden.

Comer and the House Oversight Committee have obtained bank records as part of their investigation revealing that the Biden family and their business associates received millions of dollars from oligarchs in Russia, Ukraine, Romania and Kazakhstan during the Obama administration. 

Fox News Digital has also learned that the committee has records revealing that from 2014 to 2019, the Biden family and their associates received $24 million in foreign payments--$15 million to the Bidens, and $9 million for their business associates, $4 million than previously known 

Committee aides told Fox News Digital that beneficiary addresses are either the address listed to the recipient account, or listed by the individual sending the wire. It is unclear, based on the wire records, who listed the address.

Hunter Biden spent a period of time in 2017, 2018 and 2019 living at the Biden family home in Wilmington. It is unclear if he was living at the home at the time of the wire transfers in July and August 2019.

The wires were sent just several months after then-Vice President Joe Biden announced his 2020 presidential campaign. Joe Biden, in August 2019, said he "never discussed with my son or my brother or anyone else anything having to do with their business, period." 

As for Jonathan Li, according to testimony from Hunter Biden’s former business associate Devon Archer as part of the House Oversight Committee’s investigation, Joe Biden sat down for coffee in Beijing with the BHR CEO. Archer also testified that Biden wrote a college recommendation letter for Li’s daughter to Georgetown. Archer also said Hunter Biden put his father on speakerphone for at least one call with Li, in addition to meeting for coffee. 

Separately, Fox News Digital first reported in 2022 that Biden wrote a college recommendation letter for Li's son to Brown University.

EXCLUSIVE: BIDEN WROTE COLLEGE RECOMMENDATION LETTER FOR SON OF HUNTER'S CHINESE BUSINESS PARTNER, EMAILS REVEAL

"Bank records don’t lie but President Joe Biden does," Comer told Fox News Digital. 

"In 2020, Joe Biden told Americans that his family never received money from China. We’ve already proved that to be a lie earlier this year, and now we know that two wires originating from Beijing listed Joe Biden’s Wilmington home as the beneficiary address when he was running for President of the United States. When Joe Biden was vice president, he spoke on the phone and had coffee with Jonathan Li in Beijing, and later wrote a college letter of recommendation for his children," Comer said.

"Joe Biden’s abuse of public office for his family’s financial gain threatens our national security. What did the Bidens do with this money from Beijing? Americans demand and deserve accountability for President Biden and the First Family’s corruption. The Oversight Committee, along with the Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees, will continue to follow the evidence and money to provide transparency and accountability."

Despite Hunter Biden receiving more than a quarter of a million dollars in the summer of 2019 from BHR-linked individuals, in October 2019, then-attorney for Hunter Biden George Mesires explained Hunter’s role at the company by saying he "served only as a member of the board of directors, which he joined based on his interest in seeking ways to bring Chinese capital to international markets."

HUNTER DEMANDED $10M FROM CHINESE ENERGY FIRM BECAUSE 'BIDENS ARE THE BEST,' HAVE 'CONNECTIONS'

"It was an unpaid position," Mesires said on Oct. 13, 2019. "In October 2017, Hunter committed to invest approximately $420,000 USD (as of 10/12/2019) to acquire a 10% equity position in BHR, which he still holds. To date, Hunter has not received any compensation for being on BHR’s board of directors. He has not received any return on his investment; there have been no distributions to BHR shareholders since Hunter obtained his equity interest."

Hunter resigned from the board of BHR at the end of October 2019.

FLASHBACK: HUNTER BIDEN IN 2017 SENT 'BEST WISHES' FROM 'ENTIRE BIDEN FAMILY' TO CHINA FIRM CHAIRMAN, REQUESTED $10M WIRE

The White House, attorneys for Hunter Biden, and Mesires did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. The White House maintains that the president was "never in business with his son."

The subpoenaed financial records come amid House Republicans' impeachment inquiry investigation against President Biden. 

Texas law banning drag performances in front of children ruled unconstitutional by federal judge

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The Texas law dubbed the "Drag Ban" that restricted "sexually oriented performances" in the presence of a child or on public property was ruled unconstitutional on Tuesday by a federal judge, who issued a permanent injunction barring state officials from enforcing it.

Senate Bill 12 was signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in June and was set to go into effect Sep. 1 but was blocked after being challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which filed a lawsuit against the law last month.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge David Hittner said the law was "an unconstitutional restriction on speech," and that it "violates the First Amendment as incorporated to Texas by the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution."

TRUMP CAMPAIGN WALKS BACK CLAIM FORMER PRESIDENT PURCHASED GLOCK AMID QUESTIONS ABOUT LEGALITY

The ruling further ordered Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other state officials to not enforce the law.

According to one of the definitions in the law, a "sexually oriented performance" means a visual performance that features "a male performer exhibiting as a female, or a female performer exhibiting as a male, who uses clothing, makeup, or other similar physical markers and who sings, lip syncs, dances, or otherwise performs before an audience" and "appeals to the prurient interest in sex."

Critics have referred to the law as a "drag ban," though its author and supporters claim it was proposed and signed into law to protect children.

WATCH: REPORTERS PILE ON FRUSTRATED KARINE JEAN-PIERRE OVER BIDEN PLAN TO JOIN UAW PICKET

The ACLU filed its lawsuit in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Texas in Houston, and claimed the law "unconstitutionally singles out drag performances as a disfavored form of expression." It also asserted that several terms are not defined or are written in a way that targets protected expression.

Drag was described in the lawsuit as an "art form" that is "inherently expressive," and has no set standard. "As with any art form, there is nothing inherently sexual or obscene about drag," the lawsuit read. "Drag can be performed for any age level and in any venue, since drag artists tailor their performances to their audience."

Fox News Digital has reached out to Paxton's office for comment.

Fox News' Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

Biden nearly stumbles exiting Air Force One, hours after exposed efforts by team to prevent more falls

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President Biden nearly took a tumble down the stairs while getting off Air Force Once in Michigan on Tuesday, hours after it was exposed that his campaign team was making efforts to prevent the president from taking a spill in public during the election season.

The 80-year-old president had just landed in Detroit when he disembarked from the jumbo jet at Detroit Metro Airport.

Around the eighth step, Biden was seen slipping before quickly correcting his balance and continuing down the steps.

BIDEN'S 2024 TEAM IS ON A MISSION TO STOP HIM FROM TRIPPING AMID STRUGGLE WITH ‘SIGNIFICANT SPINAL ARTHRITIS’

Earlier this year, the White House physician diagnosed Biden with "significant spinal arthritis." Since then, he has had multiple tripping incidents that have many people questioning his age and whether he is fit to serve as president.

To prevent another embarrassing fall, Axios reported Tuesday, Biden's team is making a conscious effort to have him wear tennis shoes and limit stair climbs.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS ANNOUNCE FIRST BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY HEARING TO BE HELD THIS WEEK

He is also undergoing physical therapy with specialist Drew Contreras, who worked with former President Barack Obama. Contreras has recommended several exercises to improve the president’s balance, the outlet reported.

Observers noted when Biden began wearing sneakers in public this summer after his nasty fall at the Air Force Academy in June. He also began boarding Air Force One via shorter stairs to a lower level, another move aimed at preventing falls.

WATCH: KARINE JEAN-PIERRE DODGES WHEN PRESSED ON BIDEN'S SOUR APPROVAL RATING, AGE, MENTAL FITNESS

A fall in public during the election season could have crippling effects on Biden’s campaign as he is already scrutinized heavily for his age.

In an Associated Press poll this summer, 77% said Biden is too old to be effective for four more years, with 89% of Republicans taking that position along with 69% of Democrats.

Another poll from the Washington Post and ABC News this week found that 3 out of 5 Democrats would prefer someone else be the party's 2024 nominee.

Fox News Digital's Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

Republicans open probe into Biden’s energy secretary after police called on her EV road trip

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Republicans on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee are probing Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm over her recent electric vehicle (EV) road trip where police were called on her and her team.

Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and Oversight Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs Chairman Pat Fallon, R-Texas, informed Granholm in a letter Tuesday morning that they were investigating the June road trip which they said was aimed to "boost the charade of the effectiveness of green energy."

"This taxpayer-funded publicity stunt illustrates yet again how out of touch the Biden Administration is with the consequences of policies it has unleashed on everyday Americans," Comer and Fallon wrote to Granholm. 

"Committee Republicans remain committed to preserving freedoms like vehicle consumer choice in the face of an unproven, burdensome, and expensive Biden Administration push to force all Americans to buy EVs," they continued. "We request documents and information to understand the purposes, costs, and consequences of your summer 2023 EV road trip."

GOP REP CALLS FOR IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY INTO BIDEN ENERGY SECRETARY GRANHOLM: 'SHE LIED, UNDER OATH'

Earlier this month, reports surfaced that, during Granholm's four-day EV road trip from North Carolina to Tennessee, Energy Department staffers used a car with an internal combustion engine to block off an EV charger for the secretary outside a Walmart in Grovetown, Georgia. 

One family, angered that they were forced by a gas-powered vehicle to wait to use a charger, ultimately called the police to report the incident.

BIDEN ENERGY SECRETARY REVEALS STOCK OWNERSHIP OF EV LOBBY GROUP FOUNDING COMPANY

"I'm calling because I'm in the Grovetown Walmart at the charging station and there's literally a non-electric car that is taking up a space and said they're holding the space for somebody else," the woman who made the 911 call told a police dispatcher in a recording obtained by Fox News Digital. "And it's holding up a whole bunch of people who need to charge their cars."

"There are other people who are waiting to charge and they're still here and they're not in electric cars," the woman continued. "The sign says you can't park here unless you're charging."

The dispatcher then informed the woman that a deputy was on the way to handle the situation. While a police officer eventually responded to the incident, a police report was never filed. The incident was first reported by NPR which joined Granholm on the trip. According to the report, Granholm's office organized the trip to "draw attention to the billions of dollars the White House is pouring into green energy and clean cars."

GOP OPENS INVESTIGATION INTO BIDEN ADMIN FOR OBSTRUCTING US ENERGY PRODUCERS WITH 'RADICAL ECO-AGENDA'

While Granholm's team planned the trip far in advance to prepare for charging stops, the Georgia stop underscored logistical issues that continue to face zero-emissions cars which Granholm, President Biden and Democratic-led states are aggressively pushing.

After she was pressed on the incident during a House Science and Technology Committee hearing on Sept. 14, Granholm explained the incident occurred as a result of "poor judgment on the part of the team," sidestepping blame.

"Your fleet of EVs could not complete the trip without the support of the fossil fuel industry which you and the Biden Administration have been intent to vilify and destroy," Comer and Fallon continued in their letter Tuesday. "Traveling from Charlotte, North Carolina to Memphis, Tennessee, you encountered significant EV implementation hurdles."

"You and your staff did not even make serious, practical decisions on the EV vehicles chosen for the road trip."

The Department of Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hunter Biden sues Rudy Giuliani over laptop, accuses ex-Trump lawyer of ‘hacking’

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

Hunter Biden on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani alleging the former President Trump lawyer violated his privacy rights by illegally disseminating content from Biden's infamous laptop.

The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California states Giuliani is "primarily responsible" for the "total annihilation" of Biden's digital privacy. It also names Robert Costello, a former federal prosecutor who previously represented Giuliani, as a defendant, Fox News has confirmed. 

"For the past many months and even years, Defendants have dedicated an extraordinary amount of time and energy toward looking for, hacking into, tampering with, manipulating, copying, disseminating, and generally obsessing over data that they were given that was taken or stolen from Plaintiff's devices or storage platforms, including what Defendants claim to have obtained from Plaintiff's alleged ‘laptop’ computer," Biden's attorneys wrote in the complaint, claiming that the data was not even from a "laptop," but from an "external drive."

The contents of this "external drive" include pictures, videos, emails and other data that since their initial publication by the New York Post in 2020, have paced Biden in legal jeopardy and caused political problems for this father, President Biden.

NEWSOM'S LONGTIME TIES TO HUNTER BIDEN EMERGE AFTER HE JUSTIFIES HIS BUISNESS DEALS: ‘HERE’S MY DIRECT EMAIL'

Giuliani and Costello have openly acknowledged that they obtained copies of files from a hard drive device that Biden allegedly left at a Delaware computer repair shop in 2019. Giuliani provided that information to the Post in October 2020, which published a story based on Hunter Biden's emails that implicated President Biden in a business deal with a Ukrainian company that had hired Hunter on its board. 

House Republicans have launched an impeachment inquiry into President Biden based on claims that he used his position, then as vice president, to deter Ukrainian prosecutors from investigating the company that his son worked for. GOP lawmakers further allege, based on their follow-up investigations, that the president was involved in several business deals arranged by his son Hunter. 

The president has repeatedly denied any involvement in his son's business dealings.

BOB MENENDEZ ENLISTS HUNTER BIDEN'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY IN BRIBERY CASE

Hunter Biden's attorneys previously issued cease-and-desist letters to Giuliani and others who obtained and disseminated the laptop's contents.

The lawsuit seeks a court order to prevent Giuliani and others from accessing, tampering with, manipulating or copying Biden's data and have them return the "device/hard drive" to Biden, along with any backup files, cloud files or copies of the same data.

Neither attorneys for Hunter Biden nor a representative for Giuliani immediately responded to a request for comment. 

The lawsuit filed Tuesday is the latest effort from Biden and his lawyers to hit back after leaks of the information catapulted his sordid private life onto the front page of many conservative media outlets.

HUNTER BIDEN SUES FORMER WH AIDE FOR ALTERING, PUBLISHING ‘PORNOGRAPHIC’ PHOTOS FROM THE LAPTOP HE DENIES IS HIS

Earlier this month, the president's son sued former President Trump aide Garrett Ziegler, alleging that Ziegler and his company spread "tens of thousands of emails, thousands of photos, and dozens of videos and recordings" that were considered "pornographic" from the device.

In March, Biden initiated a countersuit asserting that the Wilmington, Delaware, computer repair shop owner, John Paul Mac Isaac, had unlawfully disseminated Biden's personal information, and leveled six invasion of privacy charges against him. Mac Isaac first filed a lawsuit against the president’s son — as well as CNN, Politico, and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.— in October 2022 for defamation.

According to Mac Isaac, Biden did not return for the laptop within three months after dropping it off, and he could not be reached. He then alerted the FBI after seeing emails illustrating information about then-Vice President Joe Biden’s purported foreign business dealings and videos of Biden taking drugs and performing sex acts with prostitutes.

Before federal agents picked up the device, Mac Isaac made a copy of its hard drive and gave it to Giuliani the following year.

Biden was expected to plead guilty in July to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax as part of a plea deal to avoid jail time on a felony gun charge. Instead, he pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and one felony gun charge last month.

Fox News' Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.

Biden’s 2024 team is on a mission to stop him from tripping amid struggle with ‘significant spinal arthritis’

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President Biden's campaign team is on a mission to prevent him from tripping in public as the 80-year-old continues to struggle with a diagnosis of "significant spinal arthritis."

The White House physician made the diagnosis earlier this year, and Biden has since had multiple public tripping incidents that have only compounded questions about his age. Now, his team has made a conscious effort to make him wear tennis shoes and limit stair climbs to prevent another embarrassing fall, Axios reported Tuesday.

Biden is also undergoing physical therapy with specialist Drew Contreras, who also worked with President Barack Obama. Contreras has recommended several exercises to improve the president's balance, the outlet reported.

Observers noted when Biden began wearing sneakers in public this summer after his nasty fall at the Air Force Academy in June. He also began boarding Air Force One via shorter stairs to a lower level, another move aimed at preventing falls.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS ANNOUNCE FIRST BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY HEARING TO BE HELD THIS WEEK

WATCH: KARINE JEAN-PIERRE DODGES WHEN PRESSED ON BIDEN'S SOUR APPROVAL RATING, AGE, MENTAL FITNESS

The goal for Biden's team is to prevent the president from taking a spill in public during election season, something that could potentially damage his campaign.

Health scares have had major impacts on several presidential campaigns, from Hillary Clinton's fainting incident in 2016 to Bob Dole falling off a campaign stage in 1996.

A fall would be even more devastating in Biden's case as he already faces heavy criticism over his age. In an Associated Press poll this summer, 77% said Biden is too old to be effective for four more years with 89% of Republicans taking that position along with 69% of Democrats.

VETERAN AIR FORCE PILOT SEEKING TO OUST VULNERABLE DEM SENATOR SAYS NATION MUST ABANDON ‘WRONG LEADERS’

Another poll from the Washington Post and ABC News this week found that 3 out of 5 Democrats would prefer someone else be the party's 2024 nominee.

White House spokesman Andrew Bates pushed back on the story in a statement to Axios.

"This article fits an unfortunate pattern of media attempting to sensationalize something that has long been public, rather than covering the president's very real achievements for hardworking Americans," Bates told the outlet.

WATCH: Reporters pile on frustrated Karine Jean-Pierre over Biden plan to join UAW picket

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Reporters at Monday's White House press briefing piled on press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre over President Biden's decision to join the United Auto Workers (UAW) on the picket line Tuesday amid their strike against the Big Three car manufacturers.

During the briefing, an increasingly frustrated Jean-Pierre pushed back as multiple members of the media questioned why Biden would be picketing alongside the union members if the administration's position was to avoid getting involved in the negotiations between the companies and the UAW.

One reporter asked if Biden's decision to picket meant he supported the demands of the union, such as a 40% pay increase and a shorter work week.

"I'm not going to get into the details of what's being negotiated right now on the table with — certainly with the parties," Jean-Pierre said, a position she continued to take amid the subsequent questions about Biden's plan to picket.

WATCH: KARINE JEAN-PIERRE DODGES WHEN PRESSED ON BIDEN'S SOUR APPROVAL RATING, AGE, MENTAL FITNESS

"I want to press you a little bit on what you just said. You said that the president supports the autoworkers. Does that mean that the president is siding with the autoworkers over the auto companies?" another reporter asked.

"What we're saying is we're not going to get into the negotiation. Right? This is — When it comes to a negotiation, that is something for the parties to decide on. That is something for them to discuss," Jean-Pierre said.

Another reporter suggested Biden was "interfering" with the negations by joining the picket before calling out Jean-Pierre's refusal to get into specifics about the dispute while Biden plans to "literally" stand with workers and their terms.

"To be very clear, he is standing with them to make sure that they get a fair share. That is what he's standing with them on. He's standing with them — and we've said this — that they get — the record profits mean a record contract for UAW. That is why he's going. That is what he's standing for," she responded.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS ANNOUNCE FIRST BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY HEARING TO BE HELD THIS WEEK

She added that the two sides in the dispute would have to decide what "a win-win" would look like, but that Biden thought the workers "deserve a fair share."

"But it seems like he's taking away the — some past presidents have been an arbiter between two sides that are in conflict. It seems like going to the picket line, he's not an arbiter between the two sides. He's choosing a side by standing on the picket line," the reporter said, calling the administration's position "confusing."

"I disagree. It is not confusing. What he is saying, and we've been very clear, he stands with union workers. He stands with the workers. He has said, and they have said, he is the most pro-union president in history. And that is what he's doing. He is going to stand in solidarity at the picket line with the workers," Jean-Pierre hit back.

Another reporter began to also ask about the picket, sparking protest from Jean-Pierre.

AOC GRILLED ON HER NON-UNION ELECTRIC VEHICLE WHILE SUPPORTING UAW STRIKE

"Oh my goodness. You're going to ask the same question? I'm not going to change my answer," she said, with what appeared to be a frustrated laugh.

"It's fine. I'm going to ask again," the reporter said.

"Feel free. And I'm going to give you the same answer," Jean-Pierre responded.

The reporter questioned if Biden would be visiting the picket line or if he would actually be walking it.

"He's going to join the picket line," Jean-Pierre said.

AMERICANS, STAND WITH THE UAW AND ME AND FIGHT OUT-OF-CONTROL CORPORATE GREED

She then dismissed the reporters question whether there could be "political risk" involved in joining the picket.

"He is standing with the autoworkers. He is standing with the workers. We are not involved in negotiations. That is something for them to decide what is going to work for the parties that are involved. But he is standing with the autoworkers. That's what the president is doing," she said.

House Republicans announce first Biden impeachment inquiry hearing to be held this week

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FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans announced Monday that the first impeachment inquiry hearing into President Biden will be held on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. ET.

According to the office of House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., the hearing "will examine the value of an impeachment inquiry," and will present all evidence to date uncovered by the committee in its investigation into the Biden family finances.

"Since January, House Committees on Oversight and Accountability, Judiciary, and Ways and Means have uncovered an overwhelming amount of evidence showing President Joe Biden abused his public office for his family’s financial gain," Comer said in a statement.

WATCH: KARINE JEAN-PIERRE DODGES WHEN PRESSED ON BIDEN'S SOUR APPROVAL RATING, AGE, MENTAL FITNESS

"Thousands of pages of financial records, emails, texts, testimony from credible IRS whistleblowers, and a transcribed interview with Biden family business associate Devon Archer all reveal that Joe Biden allowed his family to sell him as ‘the brand’ around the world to enrich the Biden family," he said. 

Comer's statement said that Congress had a duty to open the impeachment inquiry into Biden's alleged corruption, and that Americans "demand and deserve answers, transparency, and accountability for this abuse of public office."

"This week, the House Oversight Committee will present evidence uncovered to date and hear from legal and financial experts about crimes the Bidens may have committed as they brought in millions at the expense of U.S. interests," he added.

WATCH: BIDEN FORGETS TO SHAKE HANDS WITH PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL IN LATEST AWKWARD GAFFE

The witnesses who will testify at the hearing include Bruce Dubinsky, a forensic accountant with decades of experience in financial investigations and consulting, and who the committee says has testified in over 80 trials, including trials that involved financial fraud.

Former Assistant Attorney General Eileen O'Connor, who served in the U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division, and law professor Jonathan Turley, who testified in the Clinton and Trump impeachments, will also testify.

Last week, the Biden administration blasted House Republicans for planning to hold the hearing just days before the government runs out of funding, while dismissing the "evidence-free" probe as a "political stunt." Congress is currently negotiating a continuing resolution to extend the current year’s funding, but without passing a deal by Sept. 30, they risk sending the government into a partial shutdown.

VETERAN AIR FORCE PILOT SEEKING TO OUST VULNERABLE DEM SENATOR SAYS NATION MUST ABANDON ‘WRONG LEADERS’

"Extreme House Republicans are already telegraphing their plans to try to distract from their own chaotic inability to govern and the impact of it on the country," White House spokesperson Ian Sams told Fox News Digital.

"Staging a political stunt hearing in the waning days before they shut down the government reveals their true priorities: to them, baseless personal attacks on President Biden are more important than preventing a government shutdown and the pain it would inflict on American families," Sams said.

The hearing will be the first since House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., formalized an impeachment inquiry last week. McCarthy directed Comer and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, along with Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., to lead the investigation. 

However, the hearing won’t necessarily tread any new ground. It is expected to be a review of the existing evidence and explain the status of the inquiry, sources familiar said.

Democrat Rep Eric Swalwell calls House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry a ‘continuation of the insurrection’

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Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., called the GOP House-led impeachment inquiry into President Biden a "continuation of the [Jan. 6] insurrection" during an interview Sunday.

"Many of [Kevin] McCarthy's folks go to the January 6 prisoners and visit them to give them comfort and aid, and so they've never accepted President Biden as a legitimate president," Swalwell said to MSNBC host Jen Psaki. "And this week, even as we are hurtling toward a shutdown, they'll hold impeachment proceedings, which is just a continuation of the insurrection — and so this is all about just putting Donald Trump in charge."

Psaki asked Swalwell — who sat on the Jan. 6 House committee — what he thinks of former PresidentTrump’s purported role in the House’s decisions. The Democrat congressman said, "Donald Trump and McCarthy and the other pro-insurrection Republicans have never accepted Joe Biden as the president."

"The House, unfortunately, has become a law firm with just one client, Donald Trump," he said.

SWALWELL, NEHLS CLASH AT CHILD MIGRANT HEARING OVER ALLEGED CHINESE SPY TIES: 'YOU DON'T GET TO SAY THAT S---'

The House is probing Biden’s foreign business ties with his son, Hunter, in Ukraine and China. Republicans hope to unearth bribery negotiations that suggest Biden leveraged his position as then-vice president under former President Obama for personal gain.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., will lead the inquiry alongside House Oversight Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo.

ERIC SWALWELL DENIES WRONGDOING IN CHINESE SPY SCANDAL

House Republicans, led by Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., will hold their first impeachment inquiry hearing to investigate allegations of corruption and abuse of power against President Biden on Thursday.

"Kevin McCarthy is a spectator speaker. He may have the title, but Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, they all share the job," Swalwell said.

Swalwell’s comments come as time is ticking in the House to reach a spending deal before funds run out from the previous fiscal year and the government shuts down on Saturday.

COMER TO PURSUE HUNTER, JAMES BIDEN PERSONAL BANK RECORDS AS NEXT STEP IN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

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Meanwhile, Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said on CNN’s "State of the Union" he would "look strongly at" ousting McCarthy from speakership if he doesn’t pass the 12 appropriation bills needed to fund the government.

"They're all talking about this promise that he made with Biden a year ago — what about the promise we made to the American public that we were going to be responsible Americans?" Burchett asked CNN host Dana Bash.