Comer demands White House provide records to prove $200K payment to Biden from brother was a loan

Posted on October 26, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

FIRST ON FOX: House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is demanding the White House provide documentation "clarifying the nature" of a $200,000 payment from James Biden to Joe Biden in 2018, Fox News Digital has learned.

Comer, R-Ky., last week, said his panel had uncovered evidence that Joe Biden, in 2018, received a "$200,000 direct payment" in the form of a "personal check" from his brother James Biden and sister-in-law Sara Biden. The check was labeled "loan repayment."

The White House last week said the committee found that as a private citizen, the president loaned his brother his own money when his brother needed it, and after reviewing bank records, there is a record that he was repaid.

COMER RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT $200K 'DIRECT PAYMENT' FROM JAMES BIDEN TO JOE BIDEN IN 2018

But on Thursday, Comer penned a letter to White House Counsel Edward Siskel requesting documentation on the payment.

"The White House has claimed Joe Biden loaned James Biden $200,000, and this check was repayment," Comer wrote. "Records obtained by the committee do show numerous large incoming transactions into the personal accounts of James and Sara Biden from various entities."

Comer, in September, had subpoenaed the personal and business financial records belonging to both James Biden and Hunter Biden.

"Some of these transaction records may have obscured the identity of the true payer, but no records in the committee’s possession state that Joe Biden made a large loan payment to his brother," Comer wrote.

"If Joe Biden did personally loan James Biden an amount that was later repaid by the $200,000 check, please provide the loan documents, including the loan payment, loan agreement, and any other supporting loan documentation," Comer wrote.

Comer flagged that the Internal Revenue Code has "specific requirements for delineating and reporting ‘below-market [rate] loans’ from gifts."

FBI RECEIVED 'CRIMINAL INFORMATION' FROM OVER 40 CONFIDENTIAL SOURCES ON JOE BIDEN, HUNTER, JAMES: GRASSLEY

"While there are some exceptions, for example loans of $10,000 or less, the payment in question would not appear exempt from such requirements if it is a loan," Comer said. "Indeed, there appears to have been no interest paid on the ‘loan’ based upon the White House’s own representations."

Comer said the "current lack of documentation" leaves "reason to doubt claims that this transaction was repayment for a legal loan."

Comer requested documentation "clarifying the nature of this payment and whether all applicable documentation and IRS filings were properly made."

"Whether it was a loan or not, James Biden’s March 1, 2018, check to Joe Biden aptly demonstrates one way he personally benefited from his family’s shady influence peddling os his name and their access to him," Comer said. "Even if the transaction in question was part of a loan agreement, we are troubled that Joe Biden’s ability to recoup funds depend on his brother’s cashing-in on the Biden brand."

Comer has been leading an investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings since January and whether President Biden was involved in those ventures or "personally benefited" from them.

Comer first made public the revelation of the $200,000 "loan repayment" from James to Joe Biden last week in a video posted to "X," formerly known as Twitter.

In the video, Comer explains that in 2018, James Biden "received $600,000 in loans from Americore – a financially distressed and failing rural hospital operator."

"According to bankruptcy court documents, James Biden received these loans based upon representations that his last name Biden, could open doors; and that he could obtain a large investment from the Middle East based on his political connections," Comer said.

"On March 1, 2018, Americore wired a $200,000 loan into James and Sara Biden’s personal bank account – not their business bank account," he continued. "And then, on the very same day, James Biden wrote a $200,000 check from this same personal bank account to Joe Biden."

Comer said James Biden "wrote this check to Joe Biden as a ‘loan repayment.’"

"Americore – a distressed company – loaned money to James Biden who then sent it to Joe Biden," Comer said.

Comer also demanded Biden answer whether he knew that the same day he received the $200,000 check, "James Biden had just received a loan for the exact same amount from business dealings with a company that was in financial distress and failing."

The White House, last week, blasted the investigation altogether, calling it a "self-debunking wild goose chase that’s only turning up evidence that President Biden did nothing wrong."

"After rummaging through thousands of pages of a private citizen’s bank records, they have again turned up zero evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden – and that’s because there is none," White House spokesperson Ian Sams said. "President Biden didn’t do anything wrong."

Comer's claims come amid his months-long investigation. Comer, alongside House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., is leading the House impeachment inquiry against Biden.

So far, during his committee's investigation, Comer said he has found that Biden family members, their business associates and their "related companies" received "significant payments from individuals and companies in China, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Romania."

Comer said the House Oversight Committee has learned throughout its investigation that the Biden family and their business associates brought in more than $24 million between 2014 and 2019 by "selling Joe Biden as ‘the brand’ around the world."

FBI received ‘criminal information’ from over 40 confidential sources on Joe Biden, Hunter, James: Grassley

Posted on October 25, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

EXCLUSIVE: The FBI maintained more than 40 confidential human sources on various criminal matters related to the Biden family, including Joe Biden, dating back to his time as vice president, according to information obtained by Sen. Chuck Grassley.

The confidential human sources "provided criminal information to the FBI relating to Joe Biden, James Biden, and Hunter Biden." Those confidential human sources were managed by multiple FBI field offices across the nation—including the FBI’s Seattle Field Office.

EXCLUSIVE: JOE BIDEN ALLEGEDLY PAID $5M BY BURISMA EXECUTIVE AS PART OF A BRIBERY SCHEME, ACCORDING TO FBI DOCUMENT

But Grassley learned that an FBI task force within the Washington Field Office sought to, and in some cases, successfully, shut down reporting and information from those sources by falsely discrediting the information as foreign disinformation. That effort "caused investigative activity to cease."

However, despite those efforts by the FBI task force, Grassley said in at least one instance, a confidential human source and its information had been vetted by multiple U.S. attorney’s offices, which found "no hits to known sources of Russian disinformation."

The revelations were laid out in a letter Grassley, R-Iowa, wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray late Tuesday night. The letter was exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital.

"Based on the information provided to my office over a period of years by multiple credible whistleblowers, there appears to be an effort within the Justice Department and FBI to shut down investigative activity relating to the Biden family," Grassley wrote to Garland and Wray. "Such decisions point to significant political bias infecting the decision-making of not only the Attorney General and FBI Director, but also line agents and prosecutors."

He added: "Our Republic cannot survive such a political infection and you have an obligation to this country to clear the air."

Grassley has been investigating for years information, records, and allegations from multiple Justice Department whistleblowers that indicate "there is—and has been—an effort among certain Justice Department and FBI officials to improperly delay and stop full and complete investigative activity into the Biden family, including but not limited to FD-1023s referencing the Biden family."

An FD-1023 is an FBI-generated form used to document confidential human source reporting.

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

"An essential question that must be answered is this: did the FBI investigate the information or shut it down?" Grassley wrote, noting that if those sources were "improperly shut down, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for the FBI."

One critical FD-1023 in question was first reported on by Fox News Digital earlier this year. That form included reporting from a "highly-credible" confidential human source who alleged a criminal bribery scheme between then-Vice President Joe Biden, his son Hunter Biden, and the founder and CEO of Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings, Mykola Zlochevsky.

The form details multiple meetings and conversations the source had with a top executive of Burisma Holdings over the course of several years starting in 2015. Hunter Biden, at the time, sat on the board of Burisma.

The source told the FBI that Joe Biden and Hunter Biden allegedly "coerced" Zlochevsky to pay them millions of dollars in exchange for their help in getting the Ukrainian prosecutor investigating the company, Viktor Shokin, fired.

The White House has denied the allegations.

But that form and those allegations are "part of an ongoing investigative matter," which Grassley says indicates "its investigative credibility and authenticity."

In the letter transmitted to the DOJ and FBI late Tuesday, Grassley revealed that in December 2019, the FBI Washington Field Office closed a "205B" Kleptocracy case into Zlochevsky. That probe had been opened in January 2016 by a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act squad based out of that same field office—a squad that included agents from FBI headquarters.

EXCLUSIVE: PERSON ALLEGING BIDEN CRIMINAL BRIBERY SCHEME IS 'HIGHLY CREDIBLE' FBI SOURCE USED SINCE OBAMA ADMIN: SOURCE

At the time of the closing of the probe, in December 2019, Hunter Biden’s role on the board of Burisma was heavily under the microscope amid the first impeachment of former President Trump. The impeachment proceedings were based on a request from Trump to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the Biden family’s business dealings in Ukraine and why the prosecutor investigating Burisma had been fired.

Months later, in February 2020, Grassley said a meeting took place at the FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office, which involved discussion about investigative matters relating to the Hunter Biden investigation and related inquiries. By March 2020, a "guardian" assessment was opened in that office to analyze information about the Bidens provided by then-Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.

During the course of that assessment, DOJ and FBI officials located an FD-1023 from March 1, 2017, relating to the kleptocracy investigation of Zlochevsky. That document included a reference to Hunter Biden being on the board of Burisma, which "the handling agent deemed at the time non-relevant information to the ongoing criminal financial case."

"When that FD-1023 was discovered, Justice Department and FBI officials asked the handler for the Confidential Human Source to re-interview that CHS," Grassley said.

Eventually, that re-interview took place, Grassley said, and the aforementioned FD-1023 alleging a criminal scheme between then-Vice President Biden, Hunter Biden, and Zlochevsky, was created in June 2020.

But federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh were "limited in their investigative abilities." Grassley said because it was merely an "assessment." Prosecutors were not able to issue subpoenas and search warrants, but instead, only able to conduct "database checks."

"My office has been informed that the FBI agents and DOJ officials working the Pittsburgh Assessment had to pause their work for weeks at a time because the assessment had to be re-approved every 30 days by multiple DOJ and FBI officials," Grassley wrote in the letter.

DOJ KNEW HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP WAS 'NOT MANIPULATED,' CONTAINED 'RELIABLE EVIDENCE' IN 2019: WHISTLEBLOWER

Several months later, in August 2020, FBI Supervisory Intelligence Analyst Brian Auten opened an assessment, which was used by the Foreign Influence Task Force, to seek out confidential human source information at FBI field offices across the country relating to the Biden family. Grassley said he then worked to "falsely discredit them as foreign disinformation."

The task force "attempted to shut down" the investigative steps on the FD-1023 in question, saying it "was subject to foreign disinformation."

"It should be emphasized that the basis for trying to shut down the Biden family 1023 has been described to my office as highly suspect and is contradicted by other documents my office has been told exist within the Foreign Influence Task Force, FBI Seattle Field Office, FBI Baltimore Field Office, and FBI HQ holdings," Grassley wrote.

During that same time period, in August 2020, that task force traveled to Capitol Hill and "improperly briefed" Grassley and Johnson on their investigation into the Biden family after "pressure from congressional Democrats."

"That improper briefing was used by Democrat’s and the partisan media to falsely claim our investigation, which was based on Obama/Biden administration records, was impacted by foreign disinformation," Grassley wrote.

The Pittsburgh assessment was ultimately closed weeks later, in Sept. 2020, and a final report of its findings was transmitted by U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Scott Brady to the main Justice Department—specifically directed to Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Rich Donoghue.

DOJ ORDERED HUNTER BIDEN INVESTIGATORS TO 'REMOVE ANY REFERENCE' TO JOE BIDEN IN FARA PROBE WARRANT: HOUSE GOP

The subject line of that report, dated Sept. 21, 2020, was: "VETTING."

In that report, Brady noted that investigators "had limited ability to verify all information," due to their lack of authorization for a grand jury. Investigators were unable to issue subpoenas for relevant documents or for interviews. The report, though, included a recommendation that "additional investigative activity be done."

Brady’s office, did, however, coordinate with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York in 2020 on the Biden FD-1023. Both U.S. attorneys offices "found no hits to known sources of Russian disinformation" related to the FD-1023 in question.

The report was eventually transmitted to now-Special Counsel David Weiss, who has been investigating Hunter Biden since 2018. That probe was launched initially as a money laundering investigation and a Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) case. That investigation is ongoing.

Meanwhile, on a call in early October 2020, it became clear that FBI agents in Delaware "were in possession of email evidence that contradicted denials made by Joe Biden that he was never aware of or involved in Hunter Biden’s business arrangements."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf was briefed in late October 2020 on the contents of the FD-1023 in question, but Grassley said she "prevented investigators from seeking information about Joe Biden’s involvement in Hunter Biden’s criminal arrangements." IRS whistleblowers involved in the investigation have also made that allegation.

Grassley also noted that in October 2020, an "avenue of derogatory Hunter Biden reporting was ordered closed" at the direction of Assistant Special Agent in Charge Tim Thibault— a move that whistleblowers said was made "in furtherance of Auten’s assessment."

Grassley said publicly released portions of Thibault’s interview with the House Judiciary Committee confirmed those allegations and reveals that an FBI headquarters and "Baltimore element wanted the Hunter Biden reporting closed which Thibault followed through on."

DOJ REVEALS HUNTER BIDEN STILL UNDER FEDERAL INVESTIGATION FOR POTENTIAL FARA VIOLATIONS

Weeks later, after the 2020 presidential election, Grassley and Johnson made public their final report out of their probe, detailing their findings based on hundreds of Treasury Department Suspicious Activity Reports, interviews, and thousands of pages of government records dating back to the Obama administration.

"Our findings indicated potential criminal activity, to include money laundering, with respect to members of the Biden family and their business associates as well as strong financial connections to questionable foreign nationals and foreign government-linked corporate entities," Grassley wrote.

HUNTER BIDEN INVESTIGATORS LIMITED QUESTIONS ABOUT 'DAD,' 'BIG GUY' DESPITE FBI, IRS OBJECTIONS: WHISTLEBLOWER

Since, Grassley has been in touch with Weiss’ team, and has provided hundreds of pages of bank records "connecting the Biden family to Chinese-government linked entities."

Grassley demanded the FBI and DOJ provide answers to his letter by Nov. 17.

Mike Johnson elected House speaker three weeks after Kevin McCarthy’s historic ouster

Posted on October 25, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

The House of Representatives chose Rep. Mike Johnson to serve as speaker on Wednesday following the historic ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the role over three weeks ago.

Johnson, R-La., was elected speaker of the House during a full vote on the House floor Wednesday afternoon. The vote tally was 220 to 209.

Johnson needed 215 votes to secure the speaker's gavel Wednesday. Typically, the threshold is 217, however, due to current absences, the threshold fell to 215.

House Republicans selected Johnson as their fourth speaker nominee late Tuesday after their past three nominees to lead the chamber dropped out of the race.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS TO HOLD 3RD INTERNAL VOTE TO FIND SPEAKER CANDIDATE 3 WEEKS AFTER MCCARTHY OUSTER

Johnson was elected House speaker after weeks of closed-door negotiating within the House Republican Conference after McCarthy, R-Calif., was removed as speaker of the House on Oct. 3 in a historic first for the chamber.

The House Republican Conference initially voted to select House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., as their nominee for speaker on a secret ballot, but he later withdrew.

Then, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, was selected as the speaker nominee in a second conference vote, but the conference later voted to remove him after he failed three House-wide votes.

House Republicans considered a move to empower Speaker Pro-tempore Patrick McHenry that would give the interim speaker expanded power through January, but that effort also failed.

By Tuesday, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer had been selected as the House Republican Conference's nominee for speaker, but by Tuesday afternoon, Emmer had dropped out of the race ahead of a formal floor vote.

Emmer's drop out came shortly after a blistering attack on Truth Social from former President Trump, who called him a "globalist RINO," or, Republican In Name Only, and warned House Republicans that electing him speaker would be a "tragic mistake."

After Emmer's drop out, Johnson, along with Reps. Byron Donalds, R-Fla.; Charles Fleischmann, R-Tenn.; Mark Green, R-Tenn., all were possible nominees. Johnson won the nomination Tuesday night.

Trump didn't formally endorse any of the candidates in the next round, posting on his Truth Social account that he "could never go against any of these fine and very talented men, all of whom have supported me, in both mind and spirit, from the very beginning of our GREAT 2016 Victory."

But in that post, Trump "strongly" urged House Republicans to vote for Johnson on the floor and "get it done fast."

Later Wednesday morning, Trump said Johnson would be a "fantastic speaker," and said he is "respected by all and that’s what we need."

"He’s popular, smart, sharp. He’s going to be fantastic. I think he’s going to be a fantastic speaker," Trump said ahead of the floor vote Tuesday.

Johnson has been in politics since 2015 when he was elected to the state House, where he stayed until 2017.

The son of a firefighter, Johnson was elected to Congress in the 2016 election and serves on the House Judiciary and Armed Services Committees.

Johnson is currently in his second term as the vice chairman of the House Republican Conference. The Louisiana Republican previously served one term as the influential Republican Study Committee chairman.

Johnson is an ally of former President Donald Trump and defended him during the Democrat-led House impeachment hearings. He also filed an amicus brief co-signed of 100 House Republicans to support Texas litigation seeking to overturn the 2020 election results in four states: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. He was the Chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee at the time.

"President Trump called me this morning to let me know how much he appreciates the amicus brief we are filing on behalf of Members of Congress," Johnson posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Dec. 9, 2020. "Indeed, ‘this is the big one!’"

The lawsuit, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, tried to buy more time with the Supreme Court to allow investigations of purported voting issues to continue before the final electoral vote in the four swing states. The Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit.

On several other issues, Johnson has aligned with the most conservative lawmakers in the caucus.

Last month, he voted against H.R. 5692, the Ukraine Security Assistance and Oversight Supplemental Appropriations Act, which passed. The bill appropriates federal dollars to assist Ukraine's military in its defense against Russia and establishes an inspector general's office to oversee aid.

Additionally, he opposed the temporary spending measure, known as a Continuing Resolution (CR), aligning with 90 other House Republicans, at the Sept. 30 deadline. He also supported measures to bolster border security within the CR, which aimed to restrict eligibility for asylum seekers. The bill did not garner enough support to pass.

In June, Johnson voted in favor of a resolution calling for the impeachment of President Joe Biden.

Prior to joining Congress, Johnson worked as a lawyer and was the senior spokesperson for the conservative Christian legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom.

This was the second-longest period the House has ever gone without a speaker. It lacked a speaker for two months in late 1855 and early 1856.

McCarthy’s ouster came after Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., introduced a measure against him known as a motion to vacate, accusing him of breaking promises he made to win the speaker's gavel in January.

Wisconsin Republicans advance election reform-centric constitutional amendments

Posted on October 24, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

Republicans who control the Wisconsin Legislature have advanced a series of constitutional amendments that would outlaw private funding for elections ahead of the 2024 presidential contest, bar municipalities from allowing non-U.S. citizens to vote in local elections and enshrine existing voter photo ID requirements in the state constitution.

The proposals debated Tuesday at a joint hearing of the Senate and Assembly elections committees stem from false claims made by former President Donald Trump and his supporters that widespread voter fraud tipped the 2020 presidential election in favor of President Joe Biden.

Constitutional amendments must be passed in two consecutive sessions of the state Legislature before being ratified by voters in a statewide election. The governor cannot veto a constitutional amendment.

EX-WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT JUSTICE FIGHTS SUBPOENA OVER PROTASIEWICZ IMPEACHMENT ADVICE

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has previously vetoed more than a dozen Republican-backed elections proposals, including a 2021 bill to outlaw private elections grants.

The Legislature approved the amendments requiring voters to be U.S. citizens and outlawing private elections grants in its last session. The voter ID amendment is a new proposal this year, which means the soonest it could be put on the ballot for voter approval is 2025.

Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August said Tuesday that he hopes to put the amendment outlawing election grants before voters in the statewide April 2024 election and put the citizenship requirements on the November 2024 ballot.

Conservatives were outraged in 2020 by a nonprofit that distributed hundreds of millions of dollars in grants, mostly funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, to local election offices. Opponents termed the money "Zuckerbucks" and claimed it was an attempt by the billionaire to tip the vote in favor of Democrats, although there was no evidence to support that. Since 2020, GOP lawmakers in at least 20 states have outlawed private elections grants.

There has also been a recent push for states to specifically make clear that only U.S. citizens can vote in state and local elections. Some cities and towns across the country have allowed noncitizens to vote in local elections. Federal law already requires U.S. citizenship to vote in national elections and no state constitutions explicitly allow noncitizens to vote in state or local elections.

The Wisconsin Constitution guarantees that every U.S. citizen age 18 and over is a qualified elector. But it does not specifically say that only U.S. citizens are qualified to vote in state or local elections.

"I don't think anyone in this room believes noncitizens are going to gain the right to vote in the state of Wisconsin anytime soon," said Jamie Lynn Crofts, policy director for Wisconsin Voices. "It should be up to people at the local level to decide if noncitizens should be able to vote in their local elections."

The photo ID amendment would enshrine the state's current photo ID law, enacted in 2011, in the state constitution. The Legislature could still pass exceptions to the requirement.

WISCONSIN ALLOCATES $402M TO COMBAT PFAS, OTHER WATER POLLUTANTS

The move to make photo ID a constitutional requirement comes after the Wisconsin Supreme Court flipped to liberal control. There is no current legal challenge to the state's voter ID requirement, which is one of the strictest in the country. But other election-related lawsuits challenging restrictions on absentee voting and ballot drop boxes could be taken up by the state Supreme Court.

Republican supporters at Tuesday's hearing said the voter ID law is designed to ensure that only qualified voters cast ballots. But opponents say voter ID requirements make it more difficult for people to vote, particularly those with disabilities, the elderly and people who don't have driver's licenses.

Under current law, and the proposed amendment, voters must provide one of a list of approved photo IDs in order to cast their ballot. Acceptable IDs include a Wisconsin driver’s license, U.S. passport, tribal ID, U.S. military ID or student ID. Absentee voters must provide a photocopy of their ID when requesting a ballot.

Voters who do not have one of the required photo IDs can vote a provisional ballot and then return by the deadline with the identification to have the ballot counted. The ability to cast a provisional ballot does not change under the proposed amendment.

Who is Mike Johnson, newly elected speaker of the House?

Posted on October 24, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

Louisiana Republican Rep. Mike Johnson was elected speaker of the House on Wednesday by a vote of 220-209.

Johnson, 51, who had been a dark horse for the position, was voted the GOP nominee the night before after Republicans plowed through three higher-profile candidates.

The new speaker has only been in politics since 2015 when he was elected to the state House, where he stayed until 2017.

The son of a firefighter, Johnson was elected to Congress in the 2016 election and serves on the House Judiciary and Armed Services Committees.

Johnson is currently in his second term as the vice chairman of the House Republican Conference, putting him in a leadership position that largely stays out of the limelight.

HOUSE GOP SPIRALS INTO CHAOS AS EMMER BECOMES THIRD SPEAKER NOMINEE DROPPED IN THREE WEEKS

The Louisiana Republican — who would be the second Pelican State speaker nominee after the failed bid from House Majority Leader Steve Scalise — previously served one term as the influential Republican Study Committee chairman.

During the roll call to vacate ex-speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., earlier this month, Johnson voted against ousting him.

On several other issues, Johnson has aligned with the most conservative lawmakers in the caucus.

In June, Johnson voted in favor of a resolution calling for the impeachment of President Biden.

Prior to joining Congress, Johnson worked as a lawyer and was the senior spokesperson for the conservative Christian legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom. He is a devout Christian and an ardent opponent of abortion.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer's bid for the speaker's gavel collapsed shortly after he secured the most votes in a conference meeting, and he removed himself from the race after another vote within the chamber made it clear he lacked enough votes among Republicans to win a majority on the floor.

Johnson secured a majority of Republican votes late Tuesday evening in a secret ballot.

Emmer dropped out of the race for speaker hours after being named the House Republicans’ nominee, Fox News Digital reported.

Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., called on Johnson and Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., to jump back into the race. Both lost to Emmer earlier in the day.

Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

Conservative group urges Republicans, next speaker not to ‘squander’ chance to fix border crisis

Posted on October 24, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

A top conservative group is warning Republicans that the next speaker should not "squander" what it sees as an opportunity to push for greater border security and pass a GOP overhaul to solve the migrant crisis -- while urging caution on funding requests without policy changes that are tied to assistance to Israel.

The Heritage Foundation is publishing a brief, a copy of which was obtained ahead of publication by Fox News Digital, telling Republicans that an incoming speaker "cannot squander another opportunity to end the Biden border crisis."

The brief argues that Republicans missed an opportunity to address the border crisis by agreeing to a spending agreement last month that did not include the Secure the Border Act (H.R. 2) -- the House Republican signature border and asylum reform.

WHITE HOUSE FUNDING REQUEST INCLUDES $14 BILLION FOR BORDER AS CRISIS HITS NEW RECORDS

"On September 30, just hours before a government shutdown and the Democrat-controlled Senate’s refusal to act, Congress did the exact opposite: It passed a 47-day Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the border and government open," Heritage’s Border Security and Immigration Center Director Lora Ries and visiting advisor RJ Hauman argue.

Other proposed versions of a CR had included the legislation, which passed the House earlier this year but has not yet been voted on in the Senate. Border hawks argued that linking it to funding the government was the best chance of getting the legislation, or a version of it, passed amid an ongoing crisis at the southern border. However, a "clean" CR was passed instead.

H.R. 2 would restart border wall construction, increase the number of Border Patrol agents, limit the use of parole to release migrants into the interior, re-establish the Migrant Protection Protocols, tighten the "credible fear" standard and expand penalties for visa overstays among other reforms.

Now, as the speaker’s race rolls on in the House and the Hamas terror attack on Israel has refocused concerns about the border, Ries and Hauman argue that Republicans and the new speaker "must intensify efforts to secure the border and ensure that our immigration laws are enforced."

HIGH MIGRANT NUMBERS BREAK MULTIPLE RECORDS IN NEW BLOW TO BIDEN BORDER STRATEGY

"Congress should continue to defund Biden’s open border tools and attach aggressive immigration policy riders to relevant appropriations bills awaiting consideration, the House should complete its investigation into the possible impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and Members of Congress should once again consider requiring the inclusion of H.R. 2 as a condition for passing future government funding," they say.

The White House has requested an additional $14 billion in emergency supplemental funding, along with funding for Israel and Ukraine. However, Heritage warns against providing funding by itself, without policy changes, that it is tied to other countries' assistance.

"The time for action is now. H.R. 2 must become law if the homeland is truly to be secured: Simply writing a check as part of an unrelated supplemental spending bill will only worsen the crisis," they say.

HOUSE OVERSIGHT REPUBLICANS PUSH BIDEN DHS ON ‘CONFLICTING’ BORDER WALL POSITIONS

They say that while Israel merits U.S. support, "attaching ‘border security’ money to Israel funding without policy changes is a trap that, however well-intentioned, must be avoided."

The two border and immigration experts also outline suggestions to make existing spending bills stronger by putting riders on to limit what the Biden administration can do with the money being provided to it. They also back efforts in the House to impeach and remove Mayorkas from office for his handling of the border crisis.

"Most important, however, the border crisis should not be viewed as a problem that can be solved simply with more taxpayer dollars—a trap that has been laid alongside providing critical financial assistance to Israel," they warn.

The brief comes just days after the Biden administration announced new border numbers for September -- which marks the highest number of monthly encounters and records, meaning FY 23 as a whole saw the most yearly encounters on record.

Byron Donalds responds to AOC’s ‘experience’ jab: ‘She doesn’t know what she’s talking about’

Posted on October 23, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., clapped back at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's, D-N.Y., comments she made Sunday with MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan.

"Before I got to Congress, I spent 20 years in the financial industry, something that leadership here on Capitol Hill definitely needs," Donalds said on Fox's "The Story" with Martha MacCallum on Monday.

"Number two, I spent four years in the legislature in Florida. I chair two committees there, and number three, since being here on Capitol Hill, I've worked intimately with members of our leadership team and members all through the conference, both appropriators and authorizers to get some of our biggest pieces of legislation accomplished this Congress," he said.

CHAOTIC, CONVOLUTED PATH HOUSE REPUBLICANS TOOK TO ELECT SPEAKER LEADS BACK TO SQUARE ONE

He added, "So, with all due respect to miss Ocasio-Cortez, she doesn't know what she's talking about. And if the Democrats are this concerned, I would tell my colleagues see what happens if I become your speaker."

Ocasio-Cortez jabbed the Republican rep on Sunday, arguing that "he's only served one term" in the House and submitted "false evidence" during a Biden impeachment hearing.

"I think it helps to know where all the bathrooms are before you run for the U.S. House of Representatives, personally, and I think it helps to have some real experience in one of most complex legislative bodies in the world before you try to run it," Ocasio-Cortez said.

JEFFRIES, DEMOCRATS ARE SITTING PRETTY AMID HOUSE GOP SPEAKER CHAOS

Her reference to falsified evidence in the impeachment hearing involved a screenshot of text messages between Hunter Biden and President Biden's brother, James Biden, to further his argument that the president directly benefitted from his family's foreign business dealings.

There are now nine candidates officially in the running to replace former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., but as the GOP caucus mulls its decision, there remain questions about how long the debate will rage, and if that means the party could lose voters in 2024.

HOUSE SPEAKER 'CHAOS' COULD BENEFIT DEMS AS RACE STRETCHES INTO NEW WEEK

Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio failed to garner enough votes during his third round of floor-wide votes on Friday, sending party members back to the drawing board in an effort to end a stalemate. Twenty-five Republicans voted against him, leaving him roughly 217 votes short of securing a win. The slim GOP majority and unified Democrat opposition gives any speaker candidate little wiggle room for naysayers within his or her own party.

Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., currently serving as interim speaker, announced last week that Republicans will convene for another forum on the speakership race on Monday, with a probable floor vote scheduled for Tuesday. The competition remains shrouded in uncertainty as candidates vie to establish themselves as the most formidable contender, capable of garnering the necessary support to clinch the speakership.

Fox News Digital reached out to Ocasio-Cortez's office for comment.

Fox News' Emma Colton contributed to this report.

DOJ prosecutors to answer questions on Hunter Biden probe behind closed doors at House Judiciary

Posted on October 23, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

Federal prosecutors will appear for transcribed interviews behind closed doors at the House Judiciary Committee this week amid the panel’s investigation into alleged politicization of the Hunter Biden probe.

Fox News has learned that U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, Martin Estrada, will sit for a transcribed interview on Tuesday, and DOJ Tax Division attorney Stuart Goldberg is expected to sit for his interview Wednesday.

The requests for DOJ officials to answer questions before the committee come after allegations of politicization and misconduct at the Justice Department agencies throughout the years-long probe into the president’s son.

HUNTER BIDEN PROSECUTOR DAVID WEISS TO APPEAR FOR CLOSED-DOOR HOUSE JUDICIARY INTERVIEW NEXT MONTH

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, has been negotiating with the Justice Department to have federal prosecutors involved in the Biden investigation to testify before his committee for months.

Special Counsel David Weiss, who is overseeing the government's investigation into Biden, is now expected to appear for his transcribed interview on Nov. 7 behind closed doors.

HUNTER BIDEN PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO FEDERAL GUN CHARGES OUT OF SPECIAL COUNSEL DAVID WEISS' PROBE

The Justice Department had initially offered Weiss for public testimony back in July. A Justice Department source told Fox News that they would prefer Weiss testify in public.

Attorney General Merrick Garland tapped Weiss in August to serve as special counsel with jurisdiction over the Biden investigation and any other issues that have come up, or may come up, related to that probe.

HUNTER BIDEN INVESTIGATORS LIMITED QUESTIONS ABOUT 'DAD,' 'BIG GUY' DESPITE FBI, IRS OBJECTIONS: WHISTLEBLOWER

Weiss, the U.S. attorney for Delaware, has been leading the Biden investigation since 2018. His appointment as special counsel came amid allegations that politics had influenced or hampered prosecutorial decisions in the yearslong investigation into the president’s son.

HUNTER BIDEN INVESTIGATORS LIMITED QUESTIONS ABOUT 'DAD,' 'BIG GUY' DESPITE FBI, IRS OBJECTIONS: WHISTLEBLOWER

In his first move as special counsel, Weiss charged Biden 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.

The president's son pleaded not guilty to all charges earlier this month.

Weiss has said the investigation into the president's son is ongoing.

Weiss' interview comes amid House Republicans' impeachment inquiry against President Biden.

The status of the impeachment inquiry is unclear, however, after the ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as House speaker.

Comer raises questions about $200k ‘direct payment’ from James Biden to Joe Biden in 2018

Posted on October 20, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said his panel has uncovered evidence that Joe Biden, in 2018, received a "$200,000 direct payment" from his brother James Biden and sister-in-law Sara Biden, and is demanding the president answer questions about "financial arrangements" with members of his family.

Comer, R-Ky., has been leading an investigation into the Biden family’s business dealings since January and whether President Biden was involved in those ventures or "personally benefited" from them.

COMER DEMANDS ANSWERS ON WHETHER BIDEN CLASSIFIED RECORDS MENTION COUNTRIES RELATED TO FAMILY BUSINESS DEALS

Comer, in September, issued three subpoenas for the personal and business bank records belonging to both Hunter Biden and James Biden.

Comer, in a video posted to "X," formerly known as Twitter, detailing his committee’s latest findings. Comer said the check was written by James Biden to President Biden as a "loan repayment," but questioned the timing.

"Bank records obtained by the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability have revealed a $200,000 direct payment from James and Sara Biden to Joe Biden in the form of a personal check," Comer states.

Comer explains that in 2018, James Biden "received $600,000 in loans from Americore —a financially distressed and failing rural hospital operator."

"On March 1, 2018, Americore wired a $200,000 loan into James and Sara Biden’s personal bank account—not their business bank account," he continued. "And then, on the very same day, James Biden wrote a $200,000 check from this same personal bank account to Joe Biden."

Comer said James Biden "wrote this check to Joe Biden as a ‘loan repayment.’"

"Americore—a distressed company—loaned money to James Biden who then sent it to Joe Biden," Comer said.

But Comer said even if the payment was "a personal loan repayment, it’s still troubling that Joe Biden’s ability to be paid back by his brother depended on the success of his family’s shady financial dealings."

"Some immediate questions President Biden must answer for the American people: Does he have documents proving he lent such a large sum of money to his brother and what were the terms of such financial arrangement?" Comer asked. "Did he have similar financial arrangements with other family members that led them to make similar large payments to him?"

DOJ ORDERED HUNTER BIDEN INVESTIGATORS TO 'REMOVE ANY REFERENCE' TO JOE BIDEN IN FARA PROBE WARRANT: HOUSE GOP

"The House Oversight Committee will soon announce our next investigative actions and continue to follow the money," he said. "The bank records don’t end here. There is more to come."

Comer's findings come amid his months-long investigation. Comer, alongside House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., is leading the House impeachment inquiry against Biden.

Hunter Biden prosecutor David Weiss to appear for closed-door House Judiciary interview next month

Posted on October 19, 2023 by Latest Political News on Fox News

Special Counsel David Weiss is expected to appear for a transcribed interview before the House Judiciary Committee next month, a source familiar with the situation told Fox News.

Weiss is set to appear for his transcribed interview behind closed doors on Nov. 7, the source said.

JORDAN WANTS SPECIAL COUNSEL DAVID WEISS TO TESTIFY PUBLICLY NEXT MONTH BEFORE CONGRESS

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, has been requesting Weiss and other federal prosecutors involved in the Hunter Biden investigation to testify before his committee for months. He initially requested Weiss meet with the committee on Oct. 11.

Attorney General Merrick Garland tapped Weiss in August to serve as special counsel with jurisdiction over the Hunter Biden investigation and any other issues that have come up, or may come up, related to that probe.

HUNTER BIDEN INVESTIGATORS LIMITED QUESTIONS ABOUT 'DAD,' 'BIG GUY' DESPITE FBI, IRS OBJECTIONS: WHISTLEBLOWER

Weiss, the U.S. attorney for Delaware, has been leading the Hunter Biden investigation since 2018. His appointment as special counsel came amid allegations that politics had influenced or hampered prosecutorial decisions in the years-long investigation into the president’s son.

In his first move as special counsel, Weiss charged Hunter Biden 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.

The president's son pleaded not guilty to all charges earlier this month.

Weiss has said the investigation into the president's son is ongoing.

HUNTER BIDEN PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO FEDERAL GUN CHARGES OUT OF SPECIAL COUNSEL DAVID WEISS' PROBE

Weiss' interview comes amid House Republicans' impeachment inquiry against President Biden.

The status of the impeachment inquiry is unclear, however, after the ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as House speaker. Jordan is currently the Republican nominee for speaker, and is expected to hold a third vote for the post on Friday.