Garland contempt resolution survives key hurdle, setting up House-wide vote

House Republicans' contempt resolution against Attorney General Merrick Garland passed a key procedural hurdle Tuesday evening, setting up a chamber-wide vote.

GOP lawmakers are looking to hold Garland in contempt over his refusal to turn over audio recordings of Special Counsel Robert Hur's interview with President Biden.

The resolution passed the House Rules Committee in a party-line vote after a contentious hearing where Republicans and Democrats clashed over Hur's assertions about Biden, though the debate quickly devolved into back-and-forth comparing Biden and his son, Hunter, to the probes and prosecutions of former President Trump.

That opens it up to a House-wide "rule" vote to allow for debate and then a vote on final passage of the resolution.

The 388-page special counsel report cleared Biden of wrongdoing despite him having "willfully retained and disclosed classified materials" from before he was president.

STATUESQUE REV. GRAHAM TRIBUTE COMES TO THE CAPITOL, BUT SHIES AWAY FROM THE LIMELIGHT

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

Republicans seized on the report, arguing it's proof Biden is not mentally fit to be president and accusing the Department of Justice (DOJ) of selective prosecution.

Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, called Hur's description of Biden's mental state "gratuitous," which was challenged by House Rules Committee Chairman Michael Burgess, R-Texas.

PUPPIES AND RAINBOWS: HOW THE BIPARTISAN INVITATION TO THE LEADER OF ISRAEL THREATENS TO DIVIDE THE DEMOCRATS

"Why not then clear the air and make the actual audio of the interview available? Let the American people be the deciders here. Why hide that from them?" Burgess emphatically said.

Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., argued, "The reason that he recommended against prosecuting President Biden was not a gratuitous statement. It was the reason as to why he refused to recommend prosecution, and it was because Joe Biden is a quote, sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory. Mr. Hur was concerned that a jury would not be willing to convict."

At one point, that committee's top Democrat, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said of the proceeding, "This is a distraction from the fact that the Republican nominee for president is a convicted felon. That's what this is all about."

He invoked the recent guilty verdict of Hunter Biden, the president's son, on federal gun-related charges to refute Republican accusations of DOJ weaponization.

JOHNSON FLOATS DEFUNDING SPECIAL COUNSEL’S OFFICE AMID JACK SMITH’S TRUMP PROBE.

"The divide here is stunning. And it's a great reminder that one political party remains committed to the rule of law and the other doesn't. It's that simple. Did Hunter Biden walk out of the courthouse this morning and slam the judge or the prosecutors? Did he claim some vast conspiracy to weaponize a legal system against him? No, he did not," McGovern said. "How can any Republican in their right mind argue that the Biden administration is weaponizing the DOJ to hurt Republicans and to help Democrats? They just convicted the president's own son."

While the resolution is likely to pass along party lines, House GOP leaders have precious little room for error with their two-seat majority. The House-wide vote is expected on Wednesday.

Republicans' pursuit of the Hur-Biden tapes is part of their wider impeachment inquiry into Biden over accusations he and his family profited off of his political status.

Republicans vow to continue pursuing ‘Biden crime family’ after Hunter Biden’s guilty verdict

Reactions from Republicans poured in after Hunter Biden was found guilty on all charges Tuesday morning in his historic criminal case focused on his purchase of a firearm in 2018. 

Last year, Hunter Biden was expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax as part of a plea deal to avoid jail time for his felony gun charge. But that arrangement – dubbed a "sweetheart deal" by Republicans – fell apart when it was revealed Biden is still under investigation for possible Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) crimes.

"Hunter Biden’s sweetheart plea deal was smoked out after scrutiny by a federal judge," House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement after Tuesday's verdict. "Today’s verdict is a step toward accountability but until the Department of Justice investigates everyone involved in the Bidens’ corrupt influence peddling schemes that generated over $18 million in foreign payments to the Biden family, it will be clear department officials continue to cover for the Big Guy, Joe Biden."

JURORS MIGHT BELIEVE HUNTER BIDEN IS GUILTY AND VOTE TO ACQUIT HIM ANYWAY

In the months preceding Hunter Biden's trial, Comer pledged to target President Biden, asserting "this was always about Joe Biden" and vowed to continue investigating him in the subsequent stage of Biden's impeachment inquiry. 

"Remember, this is an investigation of Joe Biden," Comer said on Fox News’s "Sunday Morning Futures" with Maria Bartiromo. "Hunter Biden, Jim Biden, Eric Schwerin, Devon Archer – these are all witnesses in an investigation of Joe Biden. This was always about Joe Biden."

Stephen Miller, former senior adviser to President Trump, said in a post on X following the verdict that the "DOJ is running election interference for Joe Biden – that’s why DOJ did NOT charge Hunter with being an unregistered foreign agent (FARA) or any crime connected with foreign corruption."

"Why? Because all the evidence would lead back to JOE. DOJ is Joe’s election protection racket," he said.

In response, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said, "And yet Dems will now point to Hunter’s conviction as evidence that 'there’s no lawfare.'"

For his part, Rep. Matt Gatez, R-Fla., said on X, "The Hunter Biden gun conviction is kinda dumb tbh."

Other Republicans used news of the guilty verdict to circle back to concerns over Biden family business dealings.

Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said, "Biden DOJ is trying to distract Americans from the $20 million the Biden family raked in from China, Russia, Ukraine, etc." 

"Can Joe Biden explain what the money was for?"

Hunter Biden has previously claimed he didn't "stand to gain anything" from his role on the board of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma despite it leading to him making millions of dollars.

HUNTER BIDEN ENTERS DAY 6 OF CRIMINAL TRIAL WITH POSSIBILITY OF TAKING THE STAND

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., also posted his reaction to the verdict on X.

"Never forget DOJ tried to avoid this trial & verdict by giving Hunter a sweetheart plea deal. Until the judge exposed them," he said.

Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., told reporters he'll "be very curious to see when they schedule the actual sentencing."

"That will be interesting because then you get to see if they're going to do it before, after it impacts Joe Biden if he gives him a pardon."

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., also posted on X: "GUILTY. Accountability for the Biden Crime Family at last?"

"The Biden Crime Family is exposed again," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., wrote on X. "No one, including Joe Biden’s son, is above the law. It’s time the DOJ takes action on Hunter Biden for using his father’s position to make millions of dollars from foreign influence peddling and even lying to Congress about it."

"In 2020, Blinken led 50 former intel officials in falsely claiming the Hunter laptop story was Russian disinfo," Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., wrote on X, referencing the current secretary of state, Antony Blinken. "Social media companies then silenced all who dissented including the New York Post. Now Joe Biden's OWN DOJ is using that same laptop as evidence to prosecute Hunter."

HUNTER BIDEN’S DRUG USE: WHAT THE PROSECUTION NEEDS TO PROVE AND WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW

"Today is the first step in delivering accountability for the Biden crime family," Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said to reporters Tuesday. "We must and we will continue as House Republicans to investigate the Biden crime family, for the corrupting influence peddling schemes that generated over $18 million in foreign payments to the Biden crime family members. So this is one step, but again, it goes back to the corruption of Joe Biden's DOJ as they tried to negotiate a sweetheart plea deal."

Hunter Biden faced a trial this month that lasted more than a week and included emotional testimony from members of his family, including daughter Naomi Biden, ex-wife Kathleen Buhle and sister-in-law turned girlfriend Hallie Biden. 

Prosecutors worked to prove that Hunter Biden lied on a federal firearm form, known as ATF Form 4473, in October 2018 when he ticked a box labeled "No" when asked if he is an unlawful user of a firearm or addicted to controlled substances. Hunter Biden purchased the gun from a store called StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply in Wilmington.

The president's son pleaded not guilty in the case.

Hunter Biden has a well-documented history of drug abuse, most notably described in his 2021 memoir, "Beautiful Things," which walks readers through his previous need to smoke crack cocaine every 20 minutes, how his addiction was so prolific that he referred to himself as a "crack daddy" to drug dealers, and anecdotes revolving around drug deals, such as a Washington, D.C., crack dealer Biden nicknamed "Bicycles."

Fox News Digital's Emma Colton contributed to this report.

One trial down, one to go: Hunter Biden faces trial on federal tax charges next

Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial is complete, but the first son faces more criminal charges in California, with a trial set to begin in September

Hunter Biden was found guilty on all counts in Delaware after Special Counsel David Weiss charged him with making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm; making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a licensed firearm dealer; and one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. A date has not yet been set for sentencing for those charges.

HUNTER BIDEN TAX TRIAL POSTPONED TO SEPTEMBER

With all counts combined, the total maximum prison time for the charges could be up to 25 years. Each count carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release. 

President Biden has vowed not to pardon his son. 

But Hunter Biden is set to return to court later this summer — this time, in California. 

That trial also stems from Weiss’ years-long investigation into the first son. 

HOUSE REPUBLICANS REFER HUNTER BIDEN, JAMES BIDEN FOR CRIMINAL PROSECUTION AMID IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

He charged Hunter Biden with three felonies and six misdemeanors concerning $1.4 million in owed taxes that have since been paid. Weiss alleged 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. 

The trial was initially scheduled to begin on June 20, but United States District Court for the Central District of California Judge Mark Scarsi, who is presiding over the case, granted Hunter Biden’s request to delay the trial. 

Hunter Biden’s tax trial is now set to begin on Sept. 5 with jury selection.

Biden’s inner circle deeply involved with family’s business dealings: report

President Biden has long attempted to distance himself from his family’s business dealings as he ran for and eventually became president, but a new report details just how involved those in the president’s inner circle have been in Biden family ventures.

Biden has shared a personal bookkeeper with this son, Hunter Biden, a personal lawyer with this brother, Jim Biden, and the former head of then-Vice President Biden’s Secret Service detail helped Jim Biden investigate a potential Chinese business partner, according to a report from Politico.

While the Bidens have long said they observe strict "firewalls" when it comes to discussing business with each other, the Politico report details just how involved those in the president’s orbit have been in dealings with Hunter and Jim Biden.

In one case, the president’s brother, Jim Biden, hired the head of the former vice president’s Secret Service detail, Dale Pupillo, to investigate a Chinese executive the president’s son, Hunter Biden, was traveling to meet in 2017.

TOP CHAOTIC MOMENTS FROM THE HOUSE OVERSIGHT HEARING INTO BIDEN FAMILY'S 'INFLUENCE PEDDLING'

The president’s brother stressed during the February impeachment inquiry that he personally commissioned the investigation into the executive so that he was not going into the situation blind, but insisted he did not know the details of the potential venture being led by his nephew.

"I wanted to know who I was meeting with and if there were any complications at all," he said at the impeachment interview, noting that it was common in the Biden family to keep the details of business dealings away from each other.

The executive, Patrick Ho, was later arrested and convicted on federal corruption charges.

The Politico report notes that Jim Biden had a long habit of tapping those connected to his powerful older brother. In one case, in 1975, during Joe Biden’s first Senate term, Jim Biden secured a loan from the senator’s old law firm, Walsh, Monzack & Owens, to help fund his nightclub business.

One of those partners, Mel Monzack, has gone on to serve as the president’s personal attorney and campaign treasurer. Monzack’s current firm has also served as the registered agent for the president’s personal S Corporation, CelticCapri, which handles income from activities such as writing and speaking fees.

GOP LAWMAKER SAYS REPUBLICANS ‘DON’T HAVE THE GUTS’ TO IMPEACH BIDEN

Monzack has also served as Jim Biden’s personal attorney, helping to negotiate a proposed deal that would have given the president’s brother’s company a 35% stake in the Americore hospital chain.

While the deal fell through, Monzack’s involvement raised questions, though Jim Biden has insisted he does not have knowledge of the attorney’s arrangement with President Biden.

"I don’t have the full depth of what he does or doesn’t do," he said in February. "But I know that he’s intricately involved and has been, you know, for the last 40 or 50 years."

Another close associate of President Biden, body man Fran Person, stayed involved with Hunter Biden after leaving government in 2014. Emails showed that Person, who the Bidens have said became like a son to them over the course of Joe Biden’s service in the Senate and as vice president, pitched Hunter Biden on a plan to develop SeaWorld parks in China in a deal between Person’s business and the state-owned Chinese Development Bank in 2015.

WhatsApp messages that were revealed as part of an IRS investigation into Hunter Biden’s tax matters also showed conversations between Person and Hunter Biden, including conversations in which Person told Hunter Biden his Chinese business partner, Bo Zhang, was eager to help the president’s son overcome his growing financial troubles.

GOP LAWMAKER SAYS REPUBLICANS ‘DON’T HAVE THE GUTS’ TO IMPEACH BIDEN

The Politico report also detailed the role another Hunter Biden business partner, personal bookkeeper Eric Schwerin, played in the family, with President Biden leaning on the bookkeeper to handle his own finances.

Nevertheless, Schwerin testified during the impeachment inquiry that there was no intermingling between the president and his son’s finances.

The connection between the president’s orbit and his family even extended to President Biden’s personal physician, Army doctor Kevin O’Connor. O’Connor served as then-Vice President Biden’s personal physician and grew close to Biden throughout his time in the Biden administration. The doctor now serves as Biden’s White House physician, the report notes.

In between those two roles, the president’s brother, Jim Biden, sought O’Connor’s help as part of his proposed Americore deal. According to the report, the president’s brother wanted to partner with the Veterans Affairs Department "to use vacant space at rural hospitals to treat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder."

The White House did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Hunter Biden’s wife lashes out at former Trump aide during court appearance: ‘Piece of s—‘

Melissa Cohen Biden – the wife of Hunter Biden – lashed out at a former Trump White House aide during a Tuesday appearance in court to support her husband, who has been charged with three felonies stemming from a 2018 firearm purchase.

Her remarks were directed at Garrett Ziegler, who was sued by Hunter Biden last year for publishing the contents of his infamous laptop.

Approaching Ziegler at the trial, Biden's wife pointed her finger at him and said, "You have no right to be here, you Nazi piece of s---."

Ziegler, who leads the nonprofit group Marco Polo, did not respond to Melissa Cohen Biden's remarks at the time.

Ziegler confirmed the encounter, which was first reported by NBC News, and told the outlet, "It's sad I've been sitting here the whole time and haven’t approached anyone."

EX-TRUMP AIDE SUED BY HUNTER BIDEN WANTS BIDEN-APPOINTED JUDGE OFF LAPTOP CASE, FEARS '2020 ALL OVER AGAIN'

"For the record, I’m not a Nazi, I’m a believer in the U.S. Constitution. I haven’t said one thing to them," Ziegler added.

Regarding Ziegler's encounter with Melissa Cohen Biden, Marco Polo wrote in a tweet, "The wife has the same level of impulse control as Hunter. To the family bringing decency back, anyone who is perceived as opposition is a Nazi."

"Truly contemptible liars & scoundrels," the group added. "We don’t respond in kind in the back of a courtroom, because we’re gentlemen who do not berate women."

Hunter Biden's lawsuit against Ziegler, which was filed last September, alleged that he had violated federal computer laws by hacking into the now-infamous laptop that was left in a Delaware repair shop in 2019.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, accuses Ziegler and Marco Polo, as well as 10 unidentified associates, of spreading "tens of thousands of emails, thousands of photos, and dozens of videos and recordings" that were considered "pornographic" on the laptop.

Marco Polo is a self-described nonprofit research group "exposing corruption & blackmail." The website has several sections pertaining to Biden’s laptop, including his emails, text messages, phone calls and financial data that culminates into a massive "online searchable database."

In the 14-page civil complaint, Biden’s attorneys allege that Ziegler is a "zealot" who has unleashed a "sustained, unhinged and obsessed campaign" against the entire Biden family for over two years and "spent countless hours accessing, tampering with, manipulating, altering, copying and damaging computer data" with his associates.

"While Defendant Ziegler is entitled to his extremist and counterfactual opinions, he has no right to engage in illegal activities to advance his right-wing agenda," attorneys Abbe Lowell, Bryan Sullivan, Zachary Hansen and Paul Salvaty wrote.

HUNTER BIDEN’S DRUG USE: WHAT THE PROSECUTION NEEDS TO PROVE AND WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW

In March, Ziegler sought to have a judge who was appointed by President Biden removed from the case. He argued that the outcome of the lawsuit not only has implications for the congressional impeachment inquiry, but also the 2024 election.

In a recent motion in U.S. District Court for Central California, Ziegler's attorney, Robert Tyler, requested that Judge Hernán D. Vera recuse himself from the case because his "impartiality will be reasonably questioned." Vera made donations to Joe Biden’s campaign for president in 2020. He also was appointed to his position by President Biden just three months before Hunter Biden filed the lawsuit against Ziegler and one day after then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., announced a presidential impeachment inquiry had commenced in Congress.

Tyler emphasized that he is not arguing against Vera's integrity and assumes the court system assigned the judge to Hunter Biden's lawsuit at random. 

"But there’s something called forum shopping that lawyers do," he told Fox News Digital at the time. "And here’s a case where our client resides in Illinois, he has no contact with California such that California should have any jurisdiction over this case, yet Hunter Biden’s lawyers filed this lawsuit to the Central District of California just shortly after Judge Vera’s appointed."

Hunter Biden's lawsuit seeks a jury trial based on the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and California's Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act. 

Ziegler’s attorney counters that the former Trump aide and associates "prepared a credible investigative report," known as the "Report on the Biden Laptop," not to wage a campaign against Hunter Biden, but to "expose instances of foreign compromise" by Hunter Biden and his father, President Biden, which are "matters of great public interest and concern." In preparing the report, Ziegler relied on copies of files from the laptop that "had already been widely circulated since at least October 2020 to numerous media outlets," Tyler wrote.

The repair shop owner turned the laptop over to the FBI on or around October 2019 after discovering its "disturbing materials," Tyler's motion noted.

The motion stated that Ziegler’s website with the Biden laptop report has been accessed by over 5 million Americans since its inception in June 2023 and more than 8 million Americans have accessed the free digital version of the report made available in November 2022.

Fox News' Jamie Joseph and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.

Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene threatens to force vote on impeaching Biden over border crisis

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on Monday threatened to trigger a privileged resolution to impeach President Biden this week over his handling of the border, in what she describes as the "permanent invasion of the United States."

Greene said she contemplated triggering the resolution on Monday but said she decided to speak with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., first.

"I can force a vote this week," Greene told reporters. "But you know what, I was gonna do it tonight but I decided I’m gonna go talk to our Republican elected Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, that I actually voted for [who] claims he supports Trump, and ask him if he’s gonna do something about it."

Greene said she plans to talk about her privileged impeachment resolution in a closed-door GOP conference meeting this week. 

BIDEN IS SAID TO BE FINALIZING PLANS FOR MIGRANT LIMITS AS PART OF A US-MEXICO BORDER CLAMPDOWN

The move comes as Biden plans to roll out an executive order that would crack down on illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border. The order is expected to shut down asylum requests at the border if the average number of daily encounters reaches 2,500 at ports of entry. 

"When are we going to impeach Joe Biden"? Greene asked. "I've got articles of impeachment ready to go, privileged resolution. I'm happy to force everyone up here to vote because that's what we should be doing."

"Because here's Joe Biden, he's going to come out with his garbage executive orders on Wednesday, his permanent invasion of the United States of America plan where he sets a limit, a weekly limit. Here you go, everybody. You get to come in."

She railed against a report that shows that since 2022, over 350,000 asylum cases filed by migrants were closed by the U.S. government on the basis that those who filed did not have a criminal record or were not deemed a threat to the U.S.

"So, you know what? Republicans need to grow a spine. They need to learn that this is our country, our America that we know is gone, because Democrats are willing to put every single one of their political opponents in prison."

IMMIGRATION JUDGES RAMP UP PACE CLOSING DEPORTATION CASES, BUT BACKLOG EXPLODES AS BORDER CRISIS GROWS

If Greene were to trigger the resolution on Tuesday or Wednesday, it would force a vote within two legislative days – likely with a procedural vote coming first on a motion to table or refer to a committee. This would be procedurally similar to what happened with the privileged resolution by Rep. Boebert, R-Colo., to impeach Biden in June of last year. It would also be procedurally similar to what happened to her resolution to oust Johnson last month. 

The vote could happen immediately after Green's resolution is triggered, while it could also be put off until later in the same day, the next day, or even until the House comes back next week as the chamber is leaving town on Wednesday to allow a congressional delegation to go to Normandy for the anniversary of D-Day. In the case the motion to table or refer were to fail, the House would then vote on a privileged resolution to impeach Biden immediately. 

It does not appear likely at this time that the votes are there to impeach Biden.

Greene said if Johnson does not move to impeach Biden she will try and force the matter.

"And if he says he won't bring an impeachment resolution against him, I'll just drop 'em on the floor," Green said. 

"And then we can vote and see where everybody stands. So I'm mad, I'm mad…my people at home are mad. Everybody across this country are furious. We don't want a banana republic. We want an actual legitimate government. We want a real justice system. We don't have one."

Fox News' Tyler Olson contributed to this report.

‘Boom’: Democrats celebrate Trump guilty verdict as Biden weighs remaining threat

Congressional Democrats rejoiced Thursday following a New York jury's guilty verdict against former President Trump on charges of falsifying business records.

"In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law," Biden campaign spokesperson Michael Tyler said in a post-verdict statement. 

"Donald Trump has always mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his own personal gain. But today’s verdict does not change the fact that the American people face a simple reality. There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box. Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president."

'ELECTION INTERFERENCE' CLAIMS MUDDY BATTLEGROUND STATE POLITICS AMID COMPETITIVE RACES

But, according to Tyler, "The threat Trump posed to our democracy has never been greater." 

Trump was found guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. 

The verdict marks the first time a U.S. president has been convicted of a crime. 

"Boom," Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said in a brief post to X, formerly Twitter. 

SPEAKER JOHNSON PLANS TO INVITE ISRAEL'S NETANYAHU TO MEET WITH CONGRESS SOONER RATHER THAN LATER

"Guilty. Today, 12 ordinary American citizens found a former president guilty of dozens of felonies. Despite his efforts to distract, delay, and deny — justice arrived for Donald Trump all the same. And the rule of law prevailed," said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who is running for a Senate seat. 

House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., released a statement following the verdict, claiming, "Trump made deception a cornerstone of his campaign for the White House.

"And now, he will go down in history as the president who has two impeachments and 34 felony convictions to his name — with more trials to come. The American people deserve so much better."

ANTISEMITISM AT YALE, UNIV. OF MICHIGAN TO FACE CONGRESSIONAL SCRUTINY

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., wrote, "It matters that the Republican nominee for president is a convicted criminal.

"And this won’t be his last conviction," he added. "He’s committed multiple crimes, and he’s going to be convicted multiple times. He can never be president again."

GOP SEN CALLS FOR CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION INTO TRUMP TRIAL JUDGE OVER GAG ORDERS

Top Biden surrogate Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., wrote on X: "The jury has spoken. Justice has prevailed."

While the president's campaign welcomed the verdict, Biden White House counsel spokesperson Ian Sams was more guarded, saying, "We respect the rule of law and have no additional comment."

Some moderate Democratic lawmakers were more measured than their colleagues in their responses. 

"Every American deserves their day in court. Former President Trump got his," Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in a statement. 

Sen. Mark Kelly, a Democrat who represents the battleground state of Arizona, called it "a sad day for our nation to see, for the first time, a former president convicted on criminal charges.

"I respect the independence of our justice system and the integrity of this trial."   

While a number of Democrats sounded off about the trial's result, most of Congress's Democratic leadership in the House and Senate notably kept quiet. 

Biden’s ‘privilege’ claims sound like arguments Trump officials made before getting thrown in jail: attorney

President Biden's assertion of executive privilege to prevent recordings of his interviews with special counsel Robert Hur from being released shares some similarities with former President Trump's attempts to use privilege while in the White House, according to one legal expert.

Though transcripts of Biden's interview with Hur have already been released to a committee, the White House asserted executive privilege to block the audio recordings from becoming public while arguing in lockstep with Attorney General Merrick Garland that "law enforcement files like these need to be protected."

"The same arguments were made during the Trump years as are being made now. It's just that the roles are reversed," former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew McCarthy told Fox News Digital

"For example, during the Mueller investigation, Trump made available Don McGahn, who was the White House counsel. They not only let Mueller interview McGahn at length, but McGahn took voluminous notes of his conversations with Trump, which they also turned over. And then Democrats wanted to subpoena McGahn to come to the House Judiciary Committee, and the Republicans fought it.

BIDEN'S PRIVILEGE CLAIM TO KEEP SPECIAL COUNSEL INTERVIEW UNDER WRAPS A 'CRUDE POLITICS' MOVE: EXPERTS

"What they said was giving information to an executive branch prosecutor doesn't waive the privilege as to Congress," he added. "The Democrats all said that this was an obstruction of justice, that it was outrageous, that he'd already waived the privilege by allowing McGhan to speak to the prosecutor."

Executive privilege has been around since the earliest days of the country and gives the executive branch the ability to withhold certain internal discussions and documents from scrutiny by the courts and the legislative branch. It allows the president some breathing room for his own deliberations with staff.

"The fact is that since the Republic started, presidents have been withholding information from Congress," McCarthy said.

Congress has a variety of tools it can use to pry information out of the executive branch, including by holding people in contempt. 

"Congress has a whole arsenal of stuff from the Constitution, powers that it can use to fight back and pry information out of the executive branch," McCarthy said. "You know, you can slash budgets or hold up appointments, and if it gets bad enough, you can start holding people in contempt. … The final option, obviously, is impeachment."

McCarthy warned, however, that if the president's party has enough influence in Congress, those efforts can be more challenging.

"If the president's party has enough sway in Congress that you can stop that arsenal from being used, then the whole thing is just a political calculation," he said. "Like for Biden here, it's how much worse would I be hurt by letting the tape come out or the recording come out than by stonewalling. It looks like the tape is so bad, he's decided that even though he's going to be damaged by stonewalling, that's better than letting the tape out."

McCarthy also highlighted how the media has reacted to Biden's assertion of executive privilege, saying they'll report on the matter in an attempt to preserve their integrity and then move on from it to "help Biden bury it."

"The usual problem that you always have here is that when Republican administrations stonewall, the media gets all whipped up about it, and when Democratic administrations stonewall, they feel like they have to cover it for a day or two so that they can say they covered it but then move on to another subject and help Biden bury it, or at least they'll try," he said.

Garland on Thursday defended Biden's decision to assert executive privilege, saying the subpoena for audio recordings "is one that would harm our ability in the future to successfully pursue sensitive investigations."

"There have been a series of unprecedented, frankly, unfounded attacks on the Justice Department. This request, this effort to use contempt as a method of obtaining our sensitive law enforcement files is just the most recent effort to threaten, defund our investigations, and the way in which there are contributions to an atmosphere that puts our agents and our prosecutors at risk," he added.

"It is the longstanding position of the executive branch held by administrations of both parties that an official who asserts the President’s claim of executive privilege cannot be prosecuted for criminal contempt of Congress," Associate Attorney General Carlos Uriarte wrote in a letter Thursday to GOP Reps. Jim Jordan and James Comer, chairmen of the Committee on the Judiciary and Committee on Oversight and Accountability, respectively.

That "longstanding position," however, was challenged following Trump's term in the White House and the Capitol protests Jan. 6, 2021. 

Two individuals who served in the Trump administration and raised executive privilege claims — former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and former Trump adviser Peter Navarro – have been convicted of contempt of Congress and sentenced to serve jail time for their refusal to comply with subpoenas issued by the now-defunct House select committee investigating the Capitol protests.

TRUMP ALLY STEVE BANNON LOSES APPEAL ON CONTEMPT CONVICTION AS HE FIGHTS TO STAY OUT OF PRISON

Bannon, 70, was sentenced to four months in prison in October 2022 and a $6,500 fine for ignoring a congressional subpoena.

Bannon's appeal was denied last week after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit released a 20-page opinion that said granting Bannon's appeal would "hamstring Congress’s investigatory authority."

Bannon claimed he acted on the advice of his legal team and did not intend to break the law. Judge Bradley Garcia wrote the acting on "advice of counsel" defense is "no defense at all."

The ruling will be appealed, Bannon's attorney, David Schoen, told Fox News Digital last week.

Schoen noted that Bannon's attorney at the time he received the subpoena, Robert Costello, advised his client that he was not permitted, as a matter of law, in any way to respond to the notice, saying executive privilege had been raised and that it was not his privilege to waive it. Costello wrote the committee to inform it that Bannon would comply if the panel worked out any privilege issues with former President Trump or if a court ordered him to comply, Schoen said.

Similarly, Navarro, who reported to prison in Miami in March following an order from the U.S. Supreme Court, was charged and convicted with contempt of Congress after he refused to comply with a congressional subpoena demanding his testimony and documents relating to the events of Jan. 6.

Though Navarro is attempting to appeal his contempt of Congress conviction, the court refused to postpone his imprisonment until after the appeal is concluded.

Navarro claimed he could not cooperate with the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack because Trump had invoked executive privilege, an argument that lower courts have rejected.

The lower courts found that Navarro could not actually prove Trump had invoked executive privilege.

Biden's decision to assert the privilege, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, came at the request of Garland. Jean-Pierre said it was Garland's suggestion that "law enforcement files like these need to be protected."

The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday advanced a resolution to hold Garland in contempt of Congress over the Justice Department’s failure to produce the subpoenaed audio recording of Biden’s interview with Hur. The vote advances the measure for a full floor vote.

Hur led the investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents after his departure as vice president under the Obama administration. Hur announced in February that he would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials after his vice presidency, saying Biden is "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Hur wrote in the report that "it would be difficult" to convince a jury to convict Biden of any willful crime, citing his advanced age. 

The findings sparked widespread outrage that Biden was effectively deemed too cognitively impaired to be charged with a crime but could serve as president. Trump has meanwhile slammed the disparity in charges as a reflection of a "sick and corrupt, two-tiered system of justice in our country."

Fox News' Chris Pandolfo, Elizabeth Elkind, Louis Casiano and Emma Colton contributed to this report.

White House walks diplomatic tightrope on Israel amid contradictory messaging: ‘You can’t have it both ways’

The Biden administration has been taking criticism as of late for what some have described as conflicting messaging on key subjects relating to the United States' top Mideast ally: Israel.

During a daily briefing last week, Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich pressed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about the administration's attestation to an "ironclad commitment" to Israel while "slow-walk[ing] arms sales."

Jean-Pierre replied, in part, by reiterating America's commitment to Israeli security remains "ironclad."

Meanwhile, President Biden himself pledged that if the Israel Defense Forces incur substantively into the southern Gazan city of Rafah, "I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities – that deal with that problem."

BLINKEN DELIVERS STRONGEST REBUKE OF ISRAEL YET: ‘GET OUT OF GAZA’

Several lawmakers have taken issue with the administration's stance, including Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., chair of the House Armed Services Committee, who called the president's recent tack "another shortsighted decision by Biden that undermines our allies, emboldens our adversaries, and sends the message that the U.S. is unreliable."

"Our adversaries would love nothing more than to drive a wedge between the U.S. and Israel," Rogers told Fox News Digital in a statement Friday. "Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas and Iran."

Rogers' counterpart in the Senate, Armed Services Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., also called out Biden over a May 8 Associated Press report that the U.S. indeed paused a shipment of bombs in response to Israel potentially making a decision on a "full-scale assault" on Rafah.

"If Hamas laid down its weapons, the war would be over. But if Israel lays down its weapons, it would be the end of Israel," Wicker said. 

MIKE PENCE ACCUSES BIDEN OF IMPEACHMENT HYPOCRISY

"Unfortunately, President Biden has this backwards. He has withheld arms for our staunchest ally one day then professed solidarity with the Jewish people the next," the Magnolia State lawmaker added.

Former National Security Council official Victoria Coates said of the administration's conflicting messaging, "you can't have it both ways."

"You're going to have to pick a team and put on a jersey and get in a fight. And the administration is desperately trying to please both sides," Coates said.

"And what they've achieved is that both sides are very angry with them. So, you know, it's it's just a massive failure both on the policy and the political front."

Two other GOP senators, Ted Budd of North Carolina and Joni Ernst of Iowa, wrote the White House a detailed letter demanding issue-specific answers from Biden on his comments on arms sales and Rafah.

Some of the questions posed included demands on which types of ammunition are reportedly being withheld, whether any arms withheld were part of those directly approved by Congress in a recent supplemental appropriation, and how such reports square with the president's April 23 pledge to "make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against Iran and terrorists it supports."

"Why did your administration fail to notify Congress about this decision to withhold assistance to Israel?" Ernst and Budd asked in the letter. 

"We must give Israel the arms it needs to fight the Hamas terrorists that continue to hold Americans hostage. We call on your administration to immediately restart the weapons shipments to Israel today."

In a statement, Budd told Fox News Digital one of his constituents, Keith Siegel, remains in Hamas captivity along with seven other U.S. citizens.

"President Biden is making it harder to secure the hostages’ freedom," Budd said.

Another Republican lawmaker, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul of Texas, called the threat of an arms embargo a "dangerous mistake" and "shortsighted."

On his Fox News program, "Life, Liberty & Levin," former Reagan Justice Department chief of staff Mark Levin went so far as to say Biden's actions have renewed "ancient blood libels against Jews."

Stateside, Biden has condemned the "ferocious surge of antisemitism in America" and said that "there’s the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos" only after he tried to clean up comments made during a press gaggle where he said, "I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians …"

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The administration has been criticized for declining to take a tough stance against criminal acts committed by some anti-Israel agitators on college campuses or call on law enforcement to step in.

In April, 27 Republican senators wrote a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to demand an update on any efforts to curb the "outbreak of anti-Semitic, pro-terrorist mobs on college campuses."

"These pro-Hamas rioters have effectively shut down college campuses and have literally chased Jewish students away from our schools," the letter reads in part. "The Department of Education and federal law enforcement must act immediately to restore order, prosecute the mobs who have perpetuated violence and threats against Jewish students, revoke the visas of all foreign nationals (such as exchange students) who have taken part in promoting terrorism, and hold accountable school administrators who have stood by instead of protecting their students."

In response to the protests, Rep. Michael Lawler, R-N.Y., of whose district 90,000 Jewish U.S. citizens call home, drafted the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which successfully passed the House, 320-91, with some "nay" votes falling on grounds the bill would purportedly infringe upon First Amendment rights. Lawler's office did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response by press time.

Fox News' Jacqui Heinrich, Bradford Betz, Greg Norman and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

Biden torched by Republicans for tougher immigration rule ahead of November election

Republicans slammed President Biden for a newly proposed Department of Homeland Security rule that they claim is just an election-year move to help him in a close match with former President Trump. 

"Biden is announcing these new rules on criminal migrants because they have released migrants with links to terrorism into America and are now scrambling to cover themselves in case we have an attack before the election," said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on X, formerly Twitter.

DHS announced the proposed rule change, which would move up "statutory bars to asylum" in the evaluation process, last week. 

DEMS PLAN TO REVIVE BORDER BILL REJECTED BY REPUBLICANS AHEAD OF NOVEMBER ELECTION

A DHS official told Fox News Digital that the proposed rule would not change any eligibility standards but would only move the assessment of security threats up in the process. 

"This rule would enable DHS to more quickly remove those who are subject to the bars and pose a risk to our national security or public safety," read a press release from the department. 

"During his first 100 days, President Biden took 94 executive actions to OPEN the border," wrote Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., on X. "Now, just months before an election, he finally took an obvious step that should have been taken years ago."

She called the move "small and necessary," but claimed, "It does nothing to address the larger border crisis he created."

SCHUMER MAY LET CONTROVERSIAL BIDEN NOMINEE WITH 'PROBLEMATIC' TIES QUIETLY EXPIRE: EXPERT

This sentiment was echoed by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., who said on X: "Less than 6 months before an election, he is attempting 1 small change the narrative on our chaotic border – they already have the authority to do so much more, but they won’t." 

The White House did not provide comment to Fox News Digital over the criticism. 

VULNERABLE DEMOCRATIC SENATOR BACKS LAKEN RILEY IMMIGRATION BILL AHEAD OF TOUGH RE-ELECTION IN RED STATE

While Republicans were suspicious of the Biden administration's motivations for the change, not every Democrat was happy with it either. 

An advocate for the rights of asylum-seekers, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said on X: "I’m closely reviewing the Administration’s proposed rule. Concerned that moving the asylum bars to the initial credible fear interview stage risks returning legitimate asylum seekers to danger."

"To improve the asylum system we must fully fund it and provide access to counsel," he added. 

"The proposed rule we have published today is yet another step in our ongoing efforts to ensure the safety of the American public by more quickly identifying and removing those individuals who present a security risk and have no legal basis to remain here," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement regarding the rule. "We will continue to take action, but fundamentally it is only Congress that can fix what everyone agrees is a broken immigration system."

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION GRANTED SANCTIONS RELIEF TO ARAB NATIONS JUST BEFORE PRESIDENT'S ISRAEL AID THREAT

Mayorkas recently made history by becoming only the second Cabinet official to be impeached, with the House passing two articles against him. The previous Cabinet-level impeachment occurred more than 100 years prior. However, the secretary was not removed from office as Senate Democrats were able to swiftly dismiss the articles upon delivery. 

The proposal comes just months ahead of the presidential election in November, which is shaping up to be a close rematch between Biden and Trump. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is also seeking to shift attention back to the border in the legislature, where he is strongly considering reviving a border bill that nearly all Republicans opposed, per a source familiar. 

Several incumbent Democratic senators face significant challenges in the upcoming elections, where the party will fight to hold onto its Senate majority.