Category: fox-news/politics

Hunter Biden’s texts, emails contradict lawyer’s claim that he ‘did not share’ money from businesses with dad

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Hunter Biden's attorney recently claimed his client "did not share money" from his business dealings with his dad, President Biden, but a 2019 text message and multiple emails appear to contradict this claim.

Abbe Lowell, who has been aggressively defending Hunter, said in a recent interview that he can "categorically" declare that President Biden was not involved in Hunter's previous business dealings and did not profit from any of them.

"I can tell you that Hunter did not share his business with his dad," Lowell said during a recent CNN interview. "I can tell you that he did not share money from his businesses with his dad. And as the evidence out there, his dad, like all good parents, tried to help Hunter when Hunter needed that help."

HUNTER'S TEXT ABOUT BIDEN MAKING HIM FORK OVER HALF HIS SALARY RESURFACES AMID NEW DEMOCRAT TALKING POINT

These claims by Lowell, however, do not appear to hold up when looking at Hunter's text messages and emails from his abandoned laptop, which Fox News Digital previously reported on.

In a January 2019 text message, Hunter expressed frustration with his daughter, Naomi, and revealed that his dad forced him to fork over half his salary.

"I hope you all can do what I did and pay for everything for this entire family Fro (sic) 30 years. It's really hard. But don't worry unlike Pop I won't make you give me half your salary," Hunter wrote. 

In a 2018 WhatsApp message with his uncle, Hunter fumed about now-first lady Jill Biden and called her a "f---ing moron" after she shot down a proposal about him teaching and said he needed to get sober first, or he would not be able to support his family.

"I suooorted [sic] my GM [sic] family including some of the costs you should have used your salary to lay [sic] for- for the last 24 years," Hunter said. 

In another text message exchange from 2018, Hunter claimed to have paid his father's bills for more than a decade, which received backlash from House Republicans.

"Too many cooks in the kitchen," he wrote on April 12, 2018. "Too many profile changes and such. Happened 10 days ago too. What do you need? I’m going to bank in a few. Need to verify identity in person."

"I need to pay AT&T," Hunter's assistant Katie Dodge responded.

GOP ERUPTS OVER 2018 TEXT FROM HUNTER BIDEN CLAIMING HE'D PAID DAD'S BILLS FOR 'PAST 11 YEARS'

Hunter then instructed Dodge to put the payment on both his debit card and his "Wells Fargo credit line."

"My dad has been using most lines on this account which I’ve through the gracious offerings of Eric [Schwerin] have paid for past 11 years," Hunter wrote.

It is not clear whether Hunter was claiming to have a shared AT&T account or a shared Wells Fargo account with his father. The White House declined to clarify when previously reached by Fox News Digital.

A 2010 email from Schwerin, Hunter's longtime business partner, said he was transferring funds from Biden’s tax refund check into Hunter’s account because "he owes it to you."

A 2016 email from Schwerin to Hunter indicated that Hunter was expected to pay an AT&T bill in the amount of $190 for "JRB."

One of the most infamous emails from Hunter's abandoned laptop was the email that refers to the elder Biden as the "big guy" and says, "10 held by H for the big guy?" which is shorthand for 10% held by Hunter Biden for his father. Hunter's former business partner Tony Bobulinski previously confirmed "big guy" was a reference to now-President Biden.

The 2017 email about the equity split proposition for the joint venture with CEFC, a CCP-linked energy company, was sent by business associate James Gilliar, who also infamously told Bobulinski on WhatsApp, in May 2017 not to "mention Joe being involved, it’s only when u [sic] are face to face, I know u [sic] know that but they are paranoid."

"OK they should be paranoid about things," Bobulinski said.

"For real," Gilliar said.

The House Oversight Committee recently included a few of these examples as their "evidence" that Biden was involved with Hunter's business dealings and that he profited, including testimony from a pair of whistleblowers. 

One of the whistleblowers, who claimed Justice Department, FBI and IRS officials interfered with the investigation into Hunter Biden, said earlier in the summer that Hunter invoked his father to pressure a Chinese business partner while discussing deals. IRS Criminal Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley oversaw the IRS probe into the president's son and said the agency obtained a July 2017 WhatsApp message from Hunter to Harvest Fund Management CEO Henry Zhao showing Hunter alleging he was with his father to pressure Zhao to pay him $10M.

"I am sitting here with my father, and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled," Hunter wrote in the WhatsApp message to Zhao, according to the documents. "Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight," Hunter wrote.

The White House has repeatedly dismissed the House Oversight Committee's allegations about President Biden's involvement with Hunter's business dealings in previous statements and have maintained that Biden was not in business with his son, despite moving the goalposts multiple times. Following Speaker McCarthy's, R-Calif., announcement of an impeachment inquiry last week for Biden, the White House released a 14-page memo pushing back on Republican claims and calling on media outlets to increase scrutiny.

"After nearly 9 months of investigating, House Republicans haven’t been able to turn up any evidence of the President doing anything wrong. But House Republicans led by Marjorie Taylor Greene are nonetheless opening a baseless impeachment inquiry of President Biden — despite many House Republicans openly admitting there is no evidence on which to support it," White House spokesperson Ian Sams wrote last week. 

"Impeachment is grave, rare, and historic. The Constitution requires ‘treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors,’" Sams continued. "But House Republicans are publicly stating they have uncovered none of these things."

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

Fox News Digital's Jessica Chasmar, Brooke Singman and Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report

Speaker McCarthy predicts Trump will be GOP nominee, slams DeSantis as ‘not at the same level’

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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy predicted former President Trump will win the 2024 Republican presidential primary race on Sunday, bashing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as "not at the same level."

McCarthy made the comments during an appearance on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" with host Maria Bartiromo. McCarthy has previously remained neutral in the GOP primary, declining to endorse Trump in July. 

"I think he will be the nominee," McCarthy said about Trump after Bartiromo asked if he thought the former president would be the party's choice for 2024. "The thing is, President Trump is stronger today than he was in 2016 or 2020, and there's a reason why. They saw the policies of what he was able to do with America – putting America first, making our economy stronger."

HOUSE SPEAKER KEVIN MCCARTHY ANNOUNCES FORMAL IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY AGAINST PRESIDENT BIDEN

"We didn't have inflation. We didn't have these battles around the world. We didn't look weak around the world," he added.

"Well it looks like Ron DeSantis is now trying to work with your colleagues who are pushing for a shutdown," Bartiromo said.

BIDEN BREAKS SILENCE ON POSSIBLE IMPEACHMENT, BLAMES GOP DESIRE TO 'SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT'

"I don't think that would work anywhere. A shutdown would only give strength to the Democrats," McCarthy said. "It would give the power to Biden. It wouldn't pay our troops. It wouldn't pay our border agents."

"I actually want to achieve something, and this is where President Trump is so smart, that he was successful in this." McCarthy continued. "President Trump is beating Biden right now in the polls. He is stronger than he has ever been in this process, and, look, I served with Ron DeSantis – he's not at the same level as President Trump by any shape or form. He would not have gotten elected without President Trump's endorsement."

While McCarthy's comments do not amount to an official endorsement of Trump, they are a clear message of friendship to the former president. McCarthy had previously offended the Trump campaign with another television appearance in June.

THE SPEAKER’S LOBBY: ELECTION STRATEGY IF 2024 IS A TRUMP VS. BIDEN REMATCH

In that instance, he told CNBC that he was not sure whether Trump was the best candidate to defeat Biden. He soon apologized to Trump and recanted, sending out an email fundraiser declaring Trump to be "the STRONGEST opponent to Biden."

McCarthy's compliment to Trump comes as he faces down ardent Trump allies in the House Freedom Caucus over the ongoing budget deal.

It is unclear whether the HFC will budge, however, as several members held up McCarthy's own speakership despite Trump's endorsement.

No clear spending deal as Congress inches closer to government shutdown

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Lawmakers in both the House and Senate are set to return to Capitol Hill on Monday afternoon, with less than two weeks to hash out some sort of deal to fund the government past Sept. 30.

If Congress can’t agree on spending priorities for the next fiscal year, or at least on a stopgap spending patch known as a continuing resolution (CR) to extend the current year’s funding, they risk sending the government into a partial shutdown. 

Some GOP groups are discussing a 30-day stopgap CR with some border security measures attached, multiple sources told Fox News Digital.

One senior GOP aide told Fox News Digital that they believe a shutdown is likely but dismissed the notion it would be long term.

"It might just be that you know, we're getting close to the deal in the nth hour and it shuts down because it’s Saturday, when this all starts happening. It might be shut down over a weekend, open up on a Monday, that would be a shutdown, technically," a senior GOP aide told Fox News Digital on Friday. "I don’t think anyone can tell you right now with any degree of certainty that it’s going to be a month-long shutdown."

Sept. 30, the end of fiscal year 2023, falls on a Saturday this year.

MCCARTHY 'DANGLING' BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY TO DELAY RECKONING OVER SPENDING, SOME CONSERVATIVES SAY

Last week, plans to pass spending bills in both chambers of Congress were upended by conservative concerns. 

In the House, a planned vote on the defense appropriations bill — the second of 12 that House GOP leadership have promised to pass in place of a large "omnibus" spending bill that many Republicans oppose — was scuttled after it became clear that members of the House Freedom Caucus and their allies would not let it pass over their concerns with the spending process.

Meanwhile, the Senate, where spending has so far been a widely bipartisan topic, was stopped from advancing a "minibus" bundling the appropriations bills for Veterans Affairs, agriculture and transportation by lawmaker objections led by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. 

RONNY JACKSON WARNS MCCARTHY LOSING SPEAKERSHIP 'INEVITABLE' IF HE DOESN'T CAVE TO CONSERVATIVES ON SPENDING

It’s caused discord within both chambers, particularly in the House, where GOP defense appropriators held a press conference on Friday fuming at Republicans holding up the military’s spending bill.

"You may have issues with policies in other agencies, but if you oppose the rule, which is effectively preventing this bill from moving forward, and if you oppose the passage of this bill, you are enabling the failed defense policies and this of this administration and accelerating the downward trajectory of our nation's security," said Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif. "And I don't envy the person that… votes against this bill when they have to explain to their constituents, and more importantly, to our troops."

Garcia also voiced opposition to a CR, as he and other defense hawks argue it delays valuable military progress.

But Republican and Democrat leaders in both chambers acknowledged last month that a CR would be necessary to buy lawmakers more time to make a deal. Both the 175-member Republican Study Committee and the hardliner conservative House Freedom Caucus have signaled they will oppose a CR that does not include key GOP policy items.

However, as of Friday afternoon, it appeared the Republican factions are forging ahead with a CR plan without House leadership. Reps. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., and Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., leaders of the Main Street Caucus, said on Thursday evening, "The Republican Main Street Caucus and the House Freedom Caucus are working together in good faith to establish a plan to lower spending, secure the border, and avoid a government shutdown. The talks have been productive and we’ll continue to work toward a deal."

HOUSE REPUBLICAN SAYS HE OPPOSES ALL TEMPORARY GOVERNMENT FUNDING BILLS AS SHUTDOWN LOOMS

A source familiar with the talks confirmed to Fox News Digital on Friday that the two groups are working toward a CR whose "major contours" include 30 days of government funding plus core parts of the House GOP’s border security bill.

Those talks are between the Main Street Caucus and Freedom Caucus only, the source said when asked if GOP leaders were involved.

Another Republican aide familiar with the talks told Fox News Digital that GOP leaders are aware of them but allowing the members to sort it out themselves. Leadership is offering them technical support where necessary, the aide said.

The aide said lawmakers are currently debating whether to add disaster relief as well. However, it's highly unlikely that anything other than a "clean" CR would pass the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy vowed that lawmakers would not leave this week until some kind of spending agreement is passed.

"We've got another week. I've told my members that when we come back in, don't plan on leaving, we've got to get business done. History has shown no one wins a shutdown," McCarthy said Friday.

House Republicans hold conference call to avert government shutdown, pass defense spending bill

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House Republicans held a members-only conference call with Freedom Caucus members on Sunday night in an attempt to avert a government shutdown, Fox News has learned.

The goal of the call, which took place at 8 p.m., was to agree on a continuing resolution to fund the government for another month. The Freedom Caucus and House Republican leadership have been disputing over what a funding package could look like.

Before the call took place, sources told Fox News Digital that there has been "good progress" between Freedom Caucus members and other Republicans. 

The interim spending bill, which is good for 31 days, is expected to renew current funding while incorporating more border and immigration-related spending. The House aims to vote on it on Thursday.

HOUSE SPEAKER KEVIN MCCARTHY ANNOUNCES FORMAL IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY AGAINST PRESIDENT BIDEN

The continuing resolution would also fund veteran and military spending at current levels, while marking a 1% cut from FY 2023 discretionary spending levels. House Republicans are hoping to pass their defense spending bill this week.

The defense spending bill will also be coupled with House Resolution 2 (HR 2), which is intended to limit asylum provisions and tighten up border security.

Notably, the defense bill does not include additional disaster relief money for Ukraine, which has been requested by the White House.

MCCARTHY TO GREEN LIGHT BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY THIS WEEK

Main Street Caucus Chairman Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), Vice Chair Stephanie Bice (R-OK), and Executive Board Representative Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) told Fox News that they are working with Freedom Caucus members to build support for the continuing resolution.

"Congress must keep government open and secure the border," the statement read. "That’s why we’ve worked with leaders of the House Freedom Caucus to introduce a 31-day continuing resolution laser-focused on fixing the crisis at our southern border.

"We want to thank members of both the Republican Main Street Caucus and House Freedom Caucus, as well as a broad cross-section of other members from across the Republican conference for their contributions to this effort," the statement added.

Nancy Mace defends Biden impeachment inquiry: ‘Facts are everywhere’

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Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., defended the impeachment inquiry into President Biden during an interview Sunday, arguing that the "facts are everywhere." 

During an appearance on ABC's "This Week," host Jonathan Karl asked Mace if she believed it was premature for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to launch an impeachment inquiry without a vote. Karl cited an op-ed published in the Washington Post by Mace's Republican colleague, Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo, who wrote, "Trump's impeachment in 2019 was a disgrace to the Constitution and is a disservice to Americans. The GOP’s reprise in 2023 is no better."

"I don't believe so," said Mace, a member of the House Oversight Committee. "The facts are everywhere. There are text messages, there are emails, there are witnesses, there are whistleblowers, there are meetings, there are phone calls, there are dinners. And you can’t say, ‘Hey, there’s a little bit of smoke, we’re not going to follow the fire.’ And the inquiry, my understanding is, as you said earlier, gives us expanded subpoena powers. I want the bank records of Joe Biden. All of that should be on the table to prove out the allegations in the SARS reports. We're talking about a significant sum of money. We are talking about bribery. And in the Constitution, Article 2, Section 4, that is the basis for impeachment."

Karl interjected, saying there is no evidence connected to Biden, but Mace rejected the notion. 

HOUSE SPEAKER KEVIN MCCARTHY ANNOUNCES FORMAL IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY AGAINST PRESIDENT BIDEN

"There is evidence. You can’t say that there’s no evidence there when there is evidence," Mace said.

"It was the fourth estate. It was the media and journalists when Nixon was going down that helped do that investigation, helped bring down the president when they – when he broke the law," she said. "And, you know, you guys want to deny that there's evidence. It's everywhere."

In announcing the impeachment inquiry, McCarthy listed allegations of "abuse of power, obstruction and corruption," which have made against Biden by several Republican-led committees that have been investigating the president, and said the investigations found that Biden "did lie to the American people about his own knowledge of his family's foreign business dealings."

"Eyewitnesses have testified that the president joined on multiple phone calls and had multiple interactions, dinners resulted in cars and millions of dollars into his [son] and his son's business partners," McCarthy told reporters.

BIDEN BREAKS SILENCE ON POSSIBLE IMPEACHMENT, BLAMES GOP DESIRE TO 'SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT'

Earlier in the interview, Mace also refused to say whether or not she'd support a motion to remove McCarthy as speaker.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., threatened to bring a motion to oust McCarthy if he does not follow through on a series of demands from the House Freedom Caucus on spending and legislation. McCarthy told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on "Sunday Morning Futures" that a motion to vacate his speakership would only give Biden what he wants and shut down the House, and effectively, the impeachment inquiry into the president.

"It hasn't happened yet, and I'm not going to … comment on conjecture here. Either he’s going to file it or he’s not. If he’s going to do it, put his money where his mouth is. I do hear that some votes might be up for grabs because people were made promises that have not been kept," Mace said Sunday of the possible motion.

"Quite frankly, a lot of promises were made. It’s not just to the Freedom Caucus but to other members of the House. And those promises ought to be fulfilled," she said. "Everything's on the table at this point for me because I want to do the right thing for the American people, I want to do the right thing for women. I'm trying to show: Here’s a path forward for women post-Roe for birth control, for women who are rape survivors, etc. My district is no stranger to gun violence, to mass shootings."

"We ought to be able to work hard for the American people and show them that. And here we are facing a government shutdown and … really, what have we accomplished this year?"

Trump calls out Biden on 9/11 claim, other falsehoods over past few weeks: ‘Everything he says is like a lie’

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Former President Donald Trump has lashed out against President Biden's repeated false claims over the past few weeks, including the Democrat's latest gaffe about 9/11. 

"Look at all the lies he’d told," Trump told NBC’s "Meet the Press" host Kristen Welker in his first network news interview since leaving office aired Sunday. 

"Look at all the lies he’s told over the past couple of weeks. He said he was at the World Trade Center, and he wasn’t," Trump said. "He said he flew airplanes. He didn’t. He said he drove trucks, and he didn’t. Everything he says is like a lie. It’s terrible." 

 Trump added that Biden claimed to have a golf handicap of six, which means he shoots six over par on average – an impressive score for a non-professional. 

"He’s not a six," Trump added over Welker’s interjection. 

Welker, who newly took over the program from former host Chuck Todd, said she wanted to focus on Trump, not Biden, during the interview because "it’s important that we hear from you." 

TRUMP OPPOSES AGE LIMITS FOR POLITICIANS, SAYS COMPETENCY TESTS WOULD BE ‘A GOOD THING’

"Well, I’d like you to, but you keep interrupting me," Trump said. 

At a 9/11 remembrance event at a military base in Alaska last week, Biden falsely claimed that he visited Ground Zero the day after the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City. By contrast, Trump did visit Ground Zero days after the 2001 attacks, as evidenced in archived photos taken in Manhattan. 

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby avoided a question about 80-year-old Biden’s 9/11 gaffe last week. 

"In the past couple of weeks, the president has lied about being at Ground Zero the day after the Sept. 11 attacks, falsely claimed he saw the Pittsburgh bridge collapse, claimed his grandfather died in the hospital days before his birth," The Washington Times reporter Jeff Mordock posed during a White House press briefing. "What is going on with the president? Is he just believing things that didn’t happen, did happen? Or is he just randomly making stuff up?"

FLORIDA GOP GIVES A VICTORY TO TRUMP OVER DESANTIS BY SCRAPPING A PROPOSED PRIMARY BALLOT RULE

"The president was deeply touched and honored to be able to spend 9/11 with military members there in Alaska and some families," Kirby said in response. "And he spoke about a visit to Ground Zero, which he did participate in about a week or so after the event. And what that looked and what that smelled and what that felt like. And it has visceral impact on him as it did so many other Americans on that terrible day. And he’s focused on making sure that an attack like that never happens again."

Last week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., launched an impeachment inquiry into Biden’s conduct. 

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was seen walking off during her daily briefing when a member of the press pool asked her to respond to a recent poll suggesting 61% of Americans believe Biden lied about his alleged involvement in the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden. 

In the interview Sunday, Welker also asked Trump, "Mr. President, tell me what you see when you look at your mugshot."

"I see somebody that loves this country in me. That loves this country," Trump began. "I see tremendous unfairness. I think very few people would have been able to handle what I handled."

In the case related to Mar-a-Lago, Welker asked Trump about a new charge alleging the former president asked a staffer to delete security camera footage so it wouldn’t get into the hands of investigators. Trump's response criticized the Justice Department's Special Counsel Jack Smith. 

"False," Trump said, agreeing he would testify to that under oath. "It’s a fake charge by this deranged lunatic prosecutor who lost in the Supreme Court 9 to nothing, and he tried to destroy lots of lives. He’s a lunatic, so it’s a fake charge, but, more importantly, the tapes weren’t deleted. In other words, there was nothing done to them. And, they were my tapes." 

Texas AG Ken Paxton warns Biden administration after defeating ‘sham impeachment’: ‘Buckle up’

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released a scathing letter directed towards the White House after he was acquitted of state impeachment charges Saturday.

Paxton, a Republican, was accused of corruption, bribery and unfitness for office by a bipartisan group of Texas state senators. All 12 Democrats in the jury voted for his impeachment, along with two Republicans: Sens. Robert Nichols and Kelly Hancock.

The attorney general was accused of misusing his political power to hire Nate Paul, a real state developer who employed Paxton's alleged mistress Laura Olson. Paul was indicted in June for allegedly making false statements to banks.

The jury needed 21 votes to confirm the impeachment, but a two-thirds majority was not reached. The vote finished just before 1 p.m. Saturday.

TEXAS AG KEN PAXTON PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO IMPEACHMENT CHARGES AFTER SENATE ADVANCES CASE TO TRIAL

"The sham impeachment coordinated by the Biden Administration with liberal House Speaker Dade Phelan and his kangaroo court has cost taxpayers millions of dollars, disrupted the work of the Office of Attorney General and left a dark and permanent stain on the Texas House," Paxton's letter read.

"The weaponization of the impeachment process to settle political differences is not only wrong, it is immoral and corrupt," the embattled attorney general added.

IMPEACHMENT TRIAL OF TEXAS REPUBLICAN ATTORNEY GENERAL KEN PAXTON SET TO BEGIN

Paxton then accused the White House of promoting "lawless policies" and promised that President Biden will be "held accountable."

"Finally, I can promise the Biden Administration the following: buckle up because your lawless policies will not go unchallenged," the statement read. "We will not allow you to shred the constitution and infringe on the rights of Texans. You will be held accountable."

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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for a statement, but has not heard back.

Fox News' Chris Pandolfo and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Speaker McCarthy faces triangle of troubles

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"I always have a plan. That doesn't mean it happens," House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said early Thursday afternoon. "I had a plan for this week. It didn't turn out exactly as I had planned."

McCarthy’s "plan" was for the House to approve a defense spending bill stocked with all sorts of conservative priorities. The measure included the elimination of "woke" policies in the military focused on "inclusion" and "diversity." 

The bill also torpedoed a Pentagon decision to permit service members seeking abortions to travel across state lines. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., is holding up the promotions of about 300 senior officers across all branches in protest. 

But that wasn’t enough for House Republicans. McCarthy lacked the votes to even put the defense bill on the floor.

MASK CONFUSION ENTERS CONGRESS AGAIN AS COVID-19 CASES TICK UP

"I don’t have one complaint by any member about what’s wrong with this bill," McCarthy groused.

It’s always about the math on Capitol Hill. McCarthy’s margin is even tighter now thanks to the resignation of former Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah. There are just enough arch-conservatives to vote no who won’t support much of anything. That’s despite McCarthy stripping spending on various appropriations bills well below the level agreed to in the debt ceiling accord forged with President Biden.

McCarthy torched his opponents in a closed-door House Republican Conference meeting Thursday. The speaker is exasperated by right-wing intransigence to passing even GOP bills that articulate core conservative priorities. That’s to say nothing of intimations from right-wing members who are threatening to oust McCarthy from the speaker’s position, disappointed in his stewardship.

McCarthy brought the heat in the private meeting, dropping F-bombs on fellow Republicans he believes were obstinate.

"I showed frustration in here because I am frustrated with the committee or frustrated with some people in the conference," McCarthy said afterward. "I don’t walk away from a battle."

McCarthy promised that if it will take "a fight, I’ll have a fight."

The speaker’s loyalists closed ranks around the California Republican.

"He’s irritated," said Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., when asked about McCarthy’s salty language.

"The speaker said, ‘Look, if you want to make a motion to vacate the chair, bring it on,’" added Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.

Let’s go back to the math.

MCCARTHY TO GREEN LIGHT BIDEN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY THIS WEEK

It’s doubtful that anyone would have votes to dethrone McCarthy at this stage. And while few say it out loud, many believed McCarthy talking impeachment all summer long would buy him political capital with detractors. 

Even some moderate Republicans representing battleground districts like Bacon and Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, embraced McCarthy’s impeachment gambit of President Biden.

"I think we should have impeached his ass a long time ago," said Gonzales, miffed about how the president handled the border.

But McCarthy faces a triangle of trouble.

The impeachment inquiry begins as McCarthy attempts to avert a government shutdown and could face a no-confidence vote from rank-and-file members.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., characterized it as a "three-ring circus."

"They can’t even bring the defense appropriations bill to the floor because they’ve totally lost control of the floor to the extremists who are running the House," said Jeffries.

The New York Democrat seemingly sympathized with McCarthy about his conundrums.

"He’s not wrong in terms of the schizophrenic nature of some of the demands that have been made by House Republicans," said Jeffries.

McCarthy’s angered right-wingers because the House must likely approve an interim spending bill that simply renews all old funding on a temporary basis to avoid a shutdown. McCarthy said this week the stopgap measure could last for a month or two. 

What McCarthy didn’t say was that he probably needs to lean on Democrats to provide the votes to avoid a shutdown. The combination of failing to trim spending immediately and relying on more Democratic votes — a la what happened in May to approve the debt ceiling accord — is a toxic political cocktail for the speaker. It doesn’t matter what he does on impeachment.

"If it takes too long get a vote for impeachment, I’m forcing a vote on impeachment," vowed Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.

It was Boebert who tried to deposit a snap resolution on the floor in June to impeach President Biden on the spot. This was all without committee hearings or any other vetting. The speaker intervened, euthanizing Boebert’s resolution. It’s unclear if McCarthy wishes he could rapidly say "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice" to make antagonists like Boebert disappear. 

Some conservatives accused McCarthy of pivoting to impeachment because of struggles to prevent a shutdown and slash spending.

"He likes talking impeachment because it is a way to divert from the very failure to align to the commitment that was made in January," said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.

Gaetz nearly blocked McCarthy from becoming speaker in January.

Some conservatives vow they will abandon McCarthy if he attempts to just re-up the old funding without immediate cuts. 

"Speaker McCarthy is not living up to the promises that he made in order to secure that gavel," said Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont.

It’s notable that Gaetz, Boebert and Rosendale — along with representatives Bob Good, R-Va., Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and Eli Crane, R-Ariz., all voted "present" and never supported McCarthy on the 15th and final ballot for speaker in January.

All it takes is one member to demand the House conduct a vote to "vacate the chair" and there’s a potential challenge to McCarthy’s speakership. The House has voted to elect a new speaker before when a speaker died or resigned in the middle of the Congress. 

Such was the case in 2015 when former House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, announced his retirement. Thus, a successful vote to "vacate the chair" would trigger an unprecedented mid-Congress vote for speaker on the floor. 

Ironically, some Democrats could bail out McCarthy if it comes to that. 

"I think the motion to vacate the chair should be opposed," said Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va. "We’d rather have the speaker we know than the speaker we don’t know."

But the top House Democrat said McCarthy could be on his own.

"They’re going to have to work out their own, internal poisonous, partisan, political dynamics," Jeffries said of House Republicans.

Fox is told that House leaders don’t expect any motion to vacate the chair until after the House votes on a still-hypothetical interim spending bill that doesn’t align with conservative demands. So, for now, McCarthy is trying to spray foam on the smoldering spending embers. 

"Nobody wins in a government shutdown," said McCarthy. 

So, McCarthy hopes to forestall a shutdown. He wants to re-up current funding later in the fall. The aim is to sweeten the pot for conservatives by attaching some border security measures to the package.

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That is McCarthy’s plan.

But as the speaker conceded, his plan doesn’t always work out.

Texas Senate to vote on AG Ken Paxton impeachment

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The Texas Senate will vote on articles of impeachment brought against state Attorney General Ken Paxton at 10:30 a.m. central time on Saturday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced.

The jury of 30 senators, most of whom are Republicans, spent about eight hours deliberating behind closed doors since the Senate ended deliberations. A two-thirds majority is required to convict Paxton on any of 16 articles of impeachment that accuse Paxton of bribery, corruption and unfitness for office.

The vote could be a slow, public process. Each article of impeachment gets a separate vote. Republicans hold a 19-12 majority in the Senate, meaning that if all Democrats vote to convict Paxton, they would need nine Republicans to join them.

Paxton faces accusations that he misused his political power to help the real estate developer Nate Paul. Paxton's opponents have argued that the attorney general accepted a bribe by hiring Paul.

"If we don’t keep public officials from abusing the powers of their office, then frankly no one can," Republican state Rep. Andrew Murr, one of the impeachment managers in the Texas House, said during closing arguments. 

Attorneys for the bipartisan group of lawmakers prosecuting Paxton’s impeachment rested their case Wednesday after a woman who was expected to testify about an extramarital affair with Paxton made a sudden appearance at the trial, but she never took the stand.

The affair is central to the proceedings and accusations of Paul, who was under FBI investigation and employed the woman, Laura Olson. One of the articles of impeachment against Paxton alleges that Paul's hiring of Olson amounted to a bribe.

Paxton's lawyers have cast the impeachment effort as a ploy by establishment Republicans to remove a proven conservative from office, pointing to Paxton's long record of challenging Democratic presidential administrations in high profile court cases that have won him acclaim from former President Donald Trump and conservative hardliners. 

"I would suggest to you this is a political witch hunt," Paxton attorney Tony Buzbee said. "I would suggest to you that this trial has displayed, for the country to see, a partisan fight within the Republican Party."

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Paxton was also previously indicted in June for allegedly making false statements to banks. 

Paxton, who was suspended from office pending the trial's outcome, was not required to attend the proceedings and appeared only once in the Senate, durinc closing arguments, since testimony began last week. His wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, sat across the room from him. She was required to be present for the whole trial but was prohibited from participating in debate or voting on the outcome of her husband's trial. 

This is a developing story and will be updated. Fox News' Danielle Wallace and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 
 

White House addresses possibility of pardoning Hunter Biden for first time since federal indictment

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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the possibility of President Biden pardoning his son, Hunter, for the first time since the latter was indicted on federal charges for making false statements and unlawfully possessing a firearm.

"Will the president pardon or commute his son if he is convicted?" one reporter asked Jean-Pierre during Friday's daily White House press briefing.

"So I've answered this question before. It was asked of me not too long ago — a couple of weeks ago — and I was very clear, and I said no," Jean-Pierre responded.

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Her answer was unchanged from the one she gave in July following Hunter's first appearance at a Delaware federal court where the president's sonded not guilty to tax charges pl. Jean-Pierre simply said "no" when asked if the president would pardon his son if convicted.

Biden was indicted Thursday on federal gun charges out of Special Counsel David Weiss' investigation. 

He was specifically charged with making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm; making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed dealer; and one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. 

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These are the first charges Weiss has brought against the first son since being granted special counsel status. 

The charges come after an original plea agreement collapsed during Hunter's July court appearance, when he 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 on the felony gun charge.

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Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.