A Texas House of Representatives investigative committee recommended impeachment for embattled state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The Texas House Investigative Committee unanimously voted 5-0 to adopt articles of impeachment for Paxton on Thursday, according to FOX 4.
A vote on the recommendation could come as soon as Friday.
Paxton would be forced to leave his position immediately if impeached.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Paxton's office for comment.
EXCLUSIVE: Republican Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee introduced a resolution Thursday to "recognize and honor" Daniel Penny – a military veteran charged with manslaughter – for his "heroism and courage" on a New York City subway train earlier this month.
The resolution aims to set the record straight about what happened this month, and it recognizes Penny’s heroism in stepping up to protect himself and other frightened passengers in the subway car.
Penny is charged with manslaughter in the May 1 chokehold death of Jordan Neely, a homeless man, aboard a subway train. Penny, a 24-year-old Marine veteran, was questioned by police that day and released, but cellphone video, which showed two other men holding Neely's arms as Penny held Neely in a chokehold for several minutes, went viral online. A medical examiner later ruled Neely's death a homicide, even though prosecutors noted Neely was yelling threats toward other subway passengers when Penny intervened.
Disturbed by the treatment received by Penny, Ogles, with assistance from other Republicans in the House, is making it clear where he stands on the issue.
DANIEL PENNY BREAKS SILENCE OVER JORDAN NEELY DEATH: 'HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH RACE'
"The disgusting political abuse of power by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is an egregious assault on our justice system. On May 1, Daniel Penny took action to protect himself and innocent commuters on the F Train from an out-of-control individual," Ogles, who has represented Tennessee's Fifth Congressional District since January, told Fox News Digital. "DA Bragg and the mainstream media were quick to jump to the defense of Jordan Neely, who had a record of 42 arrests, including three assaults on women riding the New York subway."
"Instead of joining in with the full-throttled woke mob in unjustly demonizing Mr. Penny, I introduced a resolution to recognize and honor him for his heroism and courage," Ogles added.
In agreement with Ogles, Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told Fox that Penny – referred to by his critics as a "White supremacist" and a "vigilante" – is the ideal "American hero."
"The world needs more men like Daniel Penny. He is exactly what an American hero looks like," Greene said in a statement.
The resolution, according to its text, recognizes "Daniel Penny of West Islip, New York, for his heroism and courage in apprehending a threat to public safety."
Neely, 30, was homeless and had more than 40 prior arrests, but his supporters have demanded Penny be charged with murder. Penny, who is charged with second-degree manslaughter and is free on $100,000 bond, spoke out for the first time Saturday, saying in a recent interview with the New York Post that his choice to step in had "nothing to do with race."
JORDAN NEELY PROTESTERS ARRESTED IN CLASH WITH COPS AT NYC VETERANS RALLY IN SUPPORT OF DANIEL PENNY
Penny said he was "deeply saddened" by Neely's death and insisted it is "tragic what happened to him."
"I judge a person based on their character. I’m not a White supremacist," Penny said. "I mean, it’s, it’s a little bit comical. Everybody who’s ever met me can tell you, I love all people, I love all cultures."
"Hopefully, we can change the system that’s so desperately failed us," he added.
Penny told the Post that he was on his way to the gym when Neely entered his subway car on May 1. Neely, who reportedly suffered from mental illness, began yelling about going to jail and being hungry and tired.
Passengers have said Neely was yelling and acting erratically when Penny intervened by putting him in a chokehold. Penny's lawyers have argued that the Marine veteran was trying to defend himself and passengers by restraining Neely.
Authorities are still determining to what extent Neely was threatening the train's passengers. Freelance journalist Juan Alberto Vazquez, who filmed the incident, said Neely was yelling and threw his jacket to the ground, but that he did not physically attack anyone.
But an eyewitness told Fox News Digital that Penny was a "hero" and recalled that Neely was using words like "kill" and "bullet" when he was yelling.
"It was self-defense, and I believe in my heart that [Penny] saved a lot of people that day that could have gotten hurt," the retiree told Fox News Digital.
The 24-year-old veteran told the Post that he did not regret the encounter and did not feel ashamed.
Fox News' Danielle Wallace, Andrea Vacchiano, and Rebecca Rosenberg contributed to this article.
FIRST ON FOX: The Biden administration is doling out taxpayer money through an anti-terrorism grant initiative to a university program that has explicitly lumped the Republican Party, as well as Christian and conservative groups, into the same category as Nazis, according to documents shared exclusively with Fox News Digital.
The Media Research Center, a conservative watchdog group, obtained documents through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests showing a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) program meant to fight terrorism is funding a group whose work has explicitly targeted the American political right. The MRC outlined its findings in a report, arguing what the group found warrants criminal prosecution.
"This terrorism task force is engaged in an active effort to demonize and eliminate Christian, conservative, and Republican organizations using federal taxpayer dollars," said Brent Bozell, founder and president of the Media Research Center. "What we have uncovered calls for criminal prosecution. The American people need to know those who are abusing their positions in the federal government will be held accountable for their criminal behavior."
DHS's Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant Program (TVTP) provides funds to various public, private, and non-profit institutions — such as universities and county governments — "to establish or enhance capabilities to prevent targeted violence and terrorism." Grant applicants must be based in the U.S. and implement a U.S.-based program.
DHS WARNS OF 'HEIGHTENED THREAT ENVIRONMENT' IN US AMID 'POLITICAL TENSIONS'
The Biden administration has awarded 80 grants through the TVTP totaling just under $40 million. The lowest grant was for $85,000, the highest was over $1.1 million, and the median was about $442,000. TVTP grant recipients are prohibited from engaging in viewpoint discrimination, according to DHS.
Started by the Obama administration under a different name, the TVTP was broadened and revamped by the Biden administration with a new focus on violent extremism and white supremacy. DHS named one of its TVTP goals as "media literacy and online critical thinking initiatives," which many grantees listed as the mission of their projects.
One such grantee was the University of Dayton for its PREVENTS-OH program, which DHS awarded $352,109 to "draw on the expertise of the University of Dayton faculty" to fight "domestic violence extremism and hate movements."
The university's grant application submitted to DHS linked in a footnote to a controversial Dayton conference where an academic researcher presented a chart titled the "Pyramid of Far-Right Radicalization."
Among the organizations and movements displayed on the pyramid were the Republican Party, the Heritage Foundation, the American Conservative Union, Fox News, Breitbart News, the National Rifle Association, PragerUniversity, Tea Party Patriots, the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, the pro-police Blue Lives Matter movement, and the Christian Broadcasting Network.
The pyramid also included hate groups like The Base, a neo-Nazi paramilitary group, and the Daily Stormer, a pro-Nazi publication, seemingly comparing them to mainstream organizations such as the GOP.
In 2021, the University of Dayton held a seminar called "Extremism, Rhetoric, and Democratic Precarity" featuring several experts on extremism who compared mainstream conservatives to genocidal extremists.
The university's grant application to DHS linked to video of the conference, describing it as indicative of the university's work "to assess regional needs and capacities for violent extremism prevention" and directing government evaluators to view it for more information.
One speaker at the conference, University of Cincinnati researcher Michael Loadenthal, presented the "Pyramid of Far-Right Radicalization," portraying it as an accurate depiction of the "modern far-right" and extremism in America.
The MRC report noted that at the same seminar, another speaker, Alexander Hinton, a member of the Rutgers University faculty who specializes in genocide, compared the Trump administration to the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge of Pol Pot's regime in Cambodia killed an estimated 1.5 million-2 million people from 1975-79.
A third speaker — Nicole Widdersheim, deputy Washington director for Human Rights Watch and former senior policy adviser to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Center — compared Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis proposing a volunteer civilian military force to assist the National Guard in emergencies such as hurricanes to the Nazis' Holocaust during World War II.
A DHS official — Joseph Masztalics, a regional prevention coordinator at the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, of which TVTP is a part — was another speaker and appeared virtually in his official capacity at the event to deliver a short presentation about the center's mission and resources.
According to DHS, the University of Dayton was not a TVTP grantee at the time of the seminar and received a grant the following year — when the department was already aware of what was presented at the event. A DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the award was unrelated to the seminar and rejected the notion that it supports any form of discrimination.
"This seminar was not funded, organized, or hosted by the Department of Homeland Security," the spokesperson said. "Similarly, the presented chart was not developed, presented, or endorsed by the Department of Homeland Security, and was not part of any successful grant application to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS does not profile, target, or discriminate against any individual for exercising their constitutional rights protected by the First Amendment."
BIDEN’S WAR ON ‘DISINFORMATION’ RAMPS UP AS GOP ACCUSES OFFICIALS OF PLAYING POLITICS WITH THE TRUTH
The University of Dayton similarly described the seminar as being separate from the PREVENTS-OH program.
"The speakers at the programs referred to in the Media Research Center's report are from the University of Dayton Human Rights Center's Social Practice of Human Rights Conference in the fall of 2021, which had no affiliation with and predates PREVENTS-OH," the university told Fox News Digital in a statement. "The University of Dayton Human Rights Center received its PREVENTS-OH grant in the fall of 2022 and, to date, its community awareness events and dialogues have focused on all forms of domestic terrorism, targeted violence, and extremism. As we stated when awarded the grant, 'We look forward to partnering with Ohioans throughout the Miami Valley across all political and social affiliations and sectors of the community.'"
The school did not note its inclusion of the seminar in its grant application.
"Extremism, Rhetoric, and Democratic Precarity" wasn't the only controversial conference conducted by the University of Dayton. Indeed, at a separate seminar titled "White Natioanlism Workshop," Loadenthal also spoke and explained how "antifascists" could "pressure" financial services, retailers, service providers, and various platforms to "kick people off," promoting the "de-platforming" of alleged fascists who he compared to the mainstream political right.
"A lot of things we're doing are illegal," he said. "A lot of it involves breaking the law."
Loadenthal also described hate speech as an act of war, calling it the "strategic deployment of organizational energy and power," and called for shutting down forces deemed extremist.
"To deny people that, to shut down their websites, to close their meetings, [and] to physically prevent them from assembling in public — this is the belief," he said, also displaying an infographic of how "antifascists" can "infiltrate," "surveil," and "disrupt" far-right forces.
At the same event, University of Dayton Professor Paul Becker displayed images of anti-COVID lockdown and anti-vaccine mandate protesters, suggesting they were infiltrated by hate groups.
In order to promote its work to the city of Dayton, PREVENTS-OH sent the city an image, named Anti-Rights Movements and Democratic Regression, featuring a caricature of a Second Amendment supporter above the words "Why do we have a radicalized society."
The MRC described its findings in a new letter sent to Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of both the House Judiciary Committee and the newly established Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. The letter from Bozell called for an investigation and "criminal prosecution" while asking to meet with Jordan to discuss the DHS documents.
"The Media Research Center has uncovered disturbing documentation that proves that the government is colluding with left-wing activists, academics, and state and local officials in an active effort to target some of the most prestigious conservatives and prominent political, religious, and media groups in the country, linking them directly to Nazis and terrorists," the letter states. "The American people need to know that those who are abusing their positions in the federal government will be held accountable for this criminal behavior."
The first version of the TVTP was created by the Obama administration, which in 2011 unveiled a plan titled "Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States" to give taxpayer-funded grants to local groups — including police departments, universities, and non-profits — to prevent domestic "violent extremism." The first grants weren't rolled out until 2016 in the "Countering Violent Extremism Grant Program."
The Trump administration halted the program for three years before DHS resurrected it in 2019 through the newly launched Office of Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention. DHS officials had reportedly circumvented the White House to seek congressional funds for the program.
In August 2020, then-presidential candidate Joe Biden vowed to "end the Trump administration's Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Program" and replace it with his own. Once in office, Biden and his secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas, replaced the Office for Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention with the new Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3), of which TVTP is a part. According to a DHS press release from the time, "the creation of CP3 [is] … [among] the latest actions DHS is taking under Secretary Mayorkas' leadership to comprehensively combat domestic violent extremism, including violent white supremacy."
The majority of TVTP grants, 52%, have gone to public institutions like universities and county governments, while 48% have gone to private organizations, such as the University of Dayton and the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Out Boulder County.
According to the MRC, DHS has resisted producing documents pursuant to its FOIA requests to date, but the watchdog has acquired numerous documents directly from DHS grant recipients and other related organizations.
TVTP was very much on the radar of DHS leadership. Indeed, Mayorkas called the program a "high priority" in a document obtained by the MRC.
"Secretary Mayorkas thanked the grantees for their work, and he reassured all in attendance that this program is a priority for the department and that the work being done is of the highest importance," the Maryland Department of Emergency Management wrote in its notes and documentation of the 2022 TVTP Grantee Symposium, which Mayorkas hosted.
The MRC report comes amid calls for Mayorkas to resign due to his handling of the ongoing crisis at the country's southern border. Several Republican lawmakers have pushed the idea of impeaching him for allegedly neglecting his duties.
The report also comes amid outcry over the findings of Special Counsel John Durham, who had been investigating the FBI's original Trump-Russia probe — another instance of critics accusing a federal government agency of mobilizing against a political opponent.
"On the heels of the Durham report, we now have evidence that the Biden administration is ratcheting up its anti-American targeting of Christians, conservatives and Republicans. This is abhorrent and criminal," said MRC Free Speech America Vice President Dan Schneider. "We call on federal prosecutors to hold violators accountable under our civil rights laws, 18 USC Section 241 and 18 USC Section 242 accountable."
Last week, Special Counsel John Durham released a final report on his investigation into the original probe concerning whether former President Donald Trump and his campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election. Durham found that there was never any information to justify opening the FBI's investigation and that the bureau and the Department of Justice "failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law."
MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT GAINS STEAM AMONG REPUBLICANS IN PURPLE DISTRICTS AS BORDER CHAOS CONTINUES
The MRC argued in its report that TVTP grants are just the latest example of the Biden administration using taxpayer dollars to attack political opponents, citing DHS's now-defunct and much-maligned Disinformation Governance Board and the FBI reportedly targeting parents with anti-terrorism tools.
To conclude its report, the Media Research Center noted it obtained documents for several other TVTP grantees allegedly showing DHS funding efforts to targe and demonize political opponents of the Biden administration.
"This report only scratches the surface of the Biden DHS's nefarious TVTP grant program," the document states. "MRC Free Speech America has obtained more documents from other DHS grantees and other organizations through our concentrated FOIA initiative and will be presenting further evidence of the Biden administration's efforts to target conservatives, Christians, and the Republican Party going forward."
Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., once said it was "very clear" the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians in the 2016 election — a claim later contradicted by the release of Special Counsel John Durham's report on the Russia investigation.
"It’s become very clear that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians in trying to subvert the election," Nadler told CNN in November 2018. "The president is right to be nervous right now, because it appears that time is running out when he can hold himself above the law."
DURHAM REPORT CONTRADICTS 'GUARANTEE' FROM MAXINE WATERS THAT TRUMP COLLUDED WITH RUSSIA
The comments now conflict with the Durham report, which concluded in May that federal agencies had no "actual evidence of collusion" to justify its launch of the Trump-Russia investigation. This added to the conclusion of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report in 2019 that determined there was no evidence of a criminal plot to influence the 2016 election.
Nadler, in the 2018 interview, said evidence would soon surface to prove Trump's personal involvement in collusion with Russia.
"The walls are tightening about his knowledge of the collusion with the Russians," Nadler said.
This evidence never arose, but Nadler later said in a January 2020 interview with CBS that Trump attempted to rig the 2020 election just "as he worked with the Russians to try to rig the 2016 election." The comments came amid the impeachment push over Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky to investigate then-candidate Joe Biden.
"The reason he did that was in order to extort a foreign government to smear his political opponents for his personal benefits and to help try to rig the 2020 election as he worked with the Russians to try to rig the 2016 election," Nadler said. "Same pattern."
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The Durham report concluded the Trump-Russia investigation was based upon "raw, unanalyzed and uncorroborated intelligence." The launch of the investigation despite the lack of evidence, the report said, showed the Department of Justice and FBI "failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law." The report also concluded the agencies relied heavily upon leads for information "provided or funded (directly or indirectly) by Trump's political opponents."
The idea of impeaching Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is gaining more steam among Republicans in purple districts as the chaos at the southern border continues to unfold.
Several House GOP lawmakers in swing districts threw their support behind impeaching Mayorkas over the exacerbated border crisis that saw Title 42 expire last week.
California Republican Rep. Mike Garcia told Punchbowl News that he supports impeaching Mayorkas, arguing that the DHS secretary is "going out of his way to allow this invasion on our southern border."
DHS SEC. MAYORKAS TAKES VICTORY LAP AS BORDER SURGE CONTINUES
"When the Joker is acting like the Joker, it’s one thing," Garcia said on Friday. "But when Batman — who’s supposed to be protecting you — starts acting like the Joker, you’ve got to do something about it."
Garcia’s district went for President Biden in the 2020 election and is a target district for Democrats to flip blue.
Fellow California Rep. John Duarte — one of two Republicans who didn’t back the GOP border bill — said Mayorkas’ "failures are obvious" and is considering impeachment.
"At some point, if we believe there is a case there, I’ll probably stick with the party," Duarte said.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., also threw her support behind impeaching Mayorkas, telling Punchbowl News an impeachment of the DHS secretary would help vulnerable GOP members.
"Illegal immigration is an American problem. It doesn’t matter if you have an ‘R’ or a ‘D’ or an ‘I’ by your name," Mace said.
New York GOP Rep. Anthony D’Esposito — whose district also went for Biden in 2020 — criticized Mayorkas but didn’t outright back an impeachment effort.
"Secretary Mayorkas is not fulfilling his oath that he took to protect this homeland and protect this nation," D’Esposito said.
Texas GOP Rep. Pat Fallon, who took 67 percent of the vote in the 2022 midterm election, told Punchbow that he hasn't heard his Republican colleagues voicing concerns about bringing impeachment articles against Mayorkas.
"The middle understands the disaster at the border," said Fallon, who introduced impeachment articles against Mayorkas in January. "It’ll help purple districts because it’s more of a 70-30 issue, where only the hard left are the ones who want to keep things as they are."
Other Republicans are not on board with impeaching Mayorkas, with Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska telling Punchbowl News while the secretary "deserves criticism," he is not behind impeachment.
"But I don’t think Mayorkas is the problem. The president is," he continued.
Inherently an agonizing process for all involved, impeaching a president or cabinet secretary expends a lot of political capital and requires the right winds to fully set sail.
The growing crisis at the border has been brewing a maelstrom for Mayorkas, however, especially as migrants flow in after the end of Title 42. The statute allowed the U.S. to expel migrants at the southern border due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Swing district Republicans supporting a Mayorkas impeachment could signal that they see the benefits of such an effort as outweighing the costs.
This means we could have a ballgame very soon.
California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom used the 1955 death of Black teenager Emmett Till to cast aspersions on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., after she said she felt "threatened" by the behavior of Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y.
"This is the kind of dangerous rhetoric that led to Emmett Till's death," Newsom wrote in a Thursday tweet, using language similar to that from Bowman. "Everyone should call this out for what it is: blatant racism."
Greene detailed Bowman's actions and behavior during a Thursday press conference at the Capitol, where she introduced articles of impeachment against President Biden.
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE ANNOUNCES IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES AGAINST PRESIDENT BIDEN
The two House members clashed following a Wednesday vote to send a resolution to expel embattled Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., to the House Ethics Committee rather than directly take up the measure. As Santos spoke with reporters about the vote, Bowman and fellow "Squad" member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., heckled him to resign.
According to footage of the spat, Bowman and Greene began shouting over each other, with him calling on her to vote to expel Santos, who is facing numerous federal charges and an ethics investigation. Greene told Bowman to "impeach Biden" and "save the country."
Greene told reporters Thursday at the press conference that she had been "swarmed" by a "mob" led by Bowman, which she said had also been captured on video, and that he had called her a "White supremacist."
"He was the one that approached me — even CNN reported that — yelling, shouting, raising his voice. He has aggressive — his physical mannerisms are aggressive," Greene said, while also referring to a previous altercation Bowman had with Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., in March over gun violence, in which Bowman, appearing angry, continuously shouted over Massie as he tried to talk with him.
"I think there's a lot of concern about Jamaal Bowman, and I am concerned about it. I feel threatened by him," she said. "I am very concerned about Jamaal Bowman, and he's someone people should watch."
Responding to Greene, Bowman, a member of the far-left "Squad," insisted that the Georgia representative wants Black people "targeted for harm" and accused her of putting a target on his back.
"This is why it is so important that we teach and know our history. There is a long tradition—that Marjorie should be well aware of—of Black men who are passionate, outspoken, or who stand their ground, being characterized as ‘threatening’ or ‘intimidating.’ That’s what happened with Emmett Till, with Mike Brown, and with so many more," Bowman told reporters outside the Capitol on Thursday.
"Marjorie’s attack is beyond a dog-whistle. It’s a bullhorn. And it’s reckless and dangerous. She has put a target on my back," he continued. "The truth of the matter is that we had a light back-and-forth on the steps of Capitol Hill, surrounded by reporters and staff. We can roll back the tapes and see her characterization of our conversation is an utter and blatant lie."
"This is, historically, what white supremacists do. They try to dehumanize Black people, Black skin, and Black humanity—so that we can be targeted for harm," he added.
Fox News' Brandon Gillespie contributed to this article.
A special committee of the Vermont House of Representatives formed to investigate the possible impeachment of the Franklin County sheriff and state’s attorney will be meeting over the summer, the speaker of the Vermont House says.
Democratic Speaker Jill Krowinski says if the committee she named earlier this week determines the House should hold an impeachment vote she will call the chamber back into session.
VERMONT LAUNCHES IMPEACHMENT INVESTIGATIONS INTO FRANKLIN COUNTY PROSECUTOR, SHERIFF
"That is a committee of seven, with Democrats, Republicans and an independent with each a different background that they bring that I really think helps to form a really thoughtful group of members to lead this investigation," Krowinski said Wednesday.
She promised a public process that will be scheduled over the next week or so.
Franklin County State’s Attorney John Lavoie is accused of harassing and discriminating against employees. Franklin County Sheriff John Grismore is facing an assault charge for kicking a shackled detainee, as well as a financial investigation.
Lavoie has acknowledged some inappropriate humor but doesn’t think his actions warrant him stepping down. Grismore has defended his actions.
VERMONT SHERIFF'S OFFICE CAPTAIN UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR KICKING DETAINED MAN IN GROIN
Emails were sent Thursday to Lavoie and Grismore.
The Vermont Constitution gives the House of Representatives the power to impeach "state criminals." If someone is impeached by a two-thirds vote in the House, that person would be tried in the Senate, which also requires a two-thirds vote for removal from office.
The Vermont Secretary of State says the last time impeachment proceedings took place in the Vermont House was in 1976 when the Washington County Sheriff was impeached by the House but, acquitted in the Senate. The last impeachment to end in a conviction and removal from office was in 1785.
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., once said she guaranteed that President Donald Trump colluded with Russia to win the White House in 2016 – a claim contradicted by this week's release of Special Counsel John Durham's report on the Trump investigation.
"Here you have a president who I can tell you, I guarantee you, is in collusion with the Russians to undermine our democracy," Waters said in September 2017.
The Durham probe, released nearly six years after that comment, determined that the investigation into the Trump campaign's connection with Russia was premised on "raw, unanalyzed and uncorroborated intelligence." The investigation, the report concluded, had no "actual evidence of collusion" to justify its launch, and the actions from the Department of Justice and FBI "failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law."
Waters emerged as an early proponent of the Russia collusion theory. She introduced legislation to investigate Trump over collusion claims less than a month after his inauguration. She later called for his impeachment.
"I will fight every day until he is impeached," Waters said in April 2017. "Impeach 45."
The Durham probe concluded the core problem with the launch of the Russia collusion investigation, which was titled "Crossfire Hurricane," was that it relied on information from sources openly opposed to Trump's presidency.
"In particular, there was significant reliance on investigative leads provided or funded (directly or indirectly) by Trump's political opponents," the report stated. "The Department did not adequately examine or question these materials and the motivations of those providing them, even when at about the same time the Director of the FBI and others learned of significant and potentially contrary intelligence."
JEAN PIERRE ENDS BRIEFING AFTER BEING PRESSED ON DURHAM REPORT
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Special Counsel Robert Mueller released his investigation into Trump-Russia collusion in April 2019, concluding there was no evidence of criminal conspiracy to influence the 2016 election.
Waters' office did not respond to a request for comment.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, clashed with Democrats in a minutes-long argument during a hearing featuring FBI whistleblowers on Thursday.
Rep. Stacey Plaskett, D-USVI, initially butted heads with Jordan over past testimony one of the witnesses had given to Republicans. The witness, FBI staff operations specialist Marcus Allen, had consented only to speak with Republicans in a previous hearing, and Plaskett requested that Democrats on the committee be provided with a transcript of that interview.
Jordan denied the request, leading to a lengthy argument that dragged in multiple lawmakers over the committee's rules.
"I'm not aware that you're able to withhold information from the minority that we would need to use," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Shultz before being cut off by Jordan.
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"When it comes to whistleblowers you are not [entitled]," Jordan said, repeating the phrase as Wasserman Shultz protested.
"That's not right," interjected Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y.
"It's shocking that the gentleman from New York would say that when you were part of an investigation with an anonymous whistleblower," Jordan said as Goldman continued to talk. Goldman had served as counsel during former President Trump's first impeachment.
FEDERAL PROSECUTORS NEAR DECISION ON HUNTER BIDEN PROBE: REPORT
"I'm inquiring--" Wasserman Schultz said before once again being cut off.
"And I told you that when it comes to whistleblowers you are not entitled. It is at the discretion of Mr. Allen," Jordan said.
"Mr. Chairman, these individuals have been determined not to be whistleblowers," Wasserman Shultz said. "These are not whistleblowers. They have been determined by the agency not to be whistleblowers. Are you deciding that they're whistleblowers?"
"Yes, the law decides. Did you not listen to [the testimony]?" Jordan countered.
Jordan continued to bull through the complaints and ultimately allowed Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., to proceed with questioning.
Jordan and other Republicans on the committee released a report detailing the claims of various FBI whistleblowers, arguing that the organization had been infected with "politicized rot." Jordan said during a press conference prior to the hearing that his committee spoke with over two dozen FBI whistleblowers in compiling its report.
"If you're a parent attending a school board meeting; if you're a pro-lifer praying at a clinic, or you're a Catholic simply going to mass, you are a target of the government, a target of the FBI," Jordan said, adding that officials attempted to "inflate" their investigations to treat them as domestic and violent extremism cases.
Gaetz also spoke at the news conference, and detailed whistleblower claims that the Washington, D.C., field office is the source of much of the "rot" within the organization.
"A lot of the rot, the committee has learned, emerges out of headquarters, out of the Washington field office," Gaetz said. "[A whistleblower] described the conflict that existed as the Washington field office put pressure on other field offices around the country to engage in law enforcement work without predication."
Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI for comment, but they did not immediately respond.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., is introducing articles of impeachment against President Biden.
"It is with the highest amount of solemnity that I announce my intention to introduce articles of impeachment today on the head of this America-at-last Executive Branch that has been working since January 20th, 2021, to systematically destroy this country: the President of the United States, Joseph Robinette Biden," Greene said at a press conference Thursday.
The firebrand congresswoman said Biden should be removed from office because he has failed to secure the border and has "deliberately compromised our national security by refusing to enforce immigration laws and secure our border."
Greene announced her intention to introduce impeachment articles against Biden at a press conference capping off "impeachment week," during which she has moved to impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Green said each official is "corrupt" and "unfit to hold office."
This is a developing story and will be updated.