Ohio Senate candidate says GOP impeaching ‘traitor’ Mayorkas a ‘no brainer’: ‘Grotesquely unqualified’

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno told Fox News Digital this week that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas should "absolutely" be impeached as House Republicans continue to move toward a floor vote on that very issue.

"Absolutely, the reality is he should have never been appointed. He is grotesquely unqualified for the job and the reality is he's been a traitor," Moreno told Fox News Digital as Republicans were marking up articles of impeachment against Mayorkas who they say has "repeatedly violated laws enacted by Congress regarding immigration and border security."

"He's not followed the laws of the land," Moreno continued. "He's allowed people to come in here, he's put this country in jeopardy. We have no idea how many, hardened criminals and terrorists have come into our country. We have a number of what they've identified as being on a terror watch list, but as you know, there's hundreds of thousands, if not millions who have been classified as ‘gotaways,’ people who we have no idea who they are."

"So absolutely, Mayorkas should be impeached. I called for that over a year ago. It’s a no brainer. This guy's grotesquely unqualified for his job."

TRUMP ALLY MORENO PICKS UP NOEM ENDORSEMENT, RISES TO TOP OHIO REPUBLICAN VYING TO BOOT DEMOCRAT SHERROD BROWN

The push to impeach Mayorkas for his role in failing to stem the flow of record illegal immigration into the United States during Biden’s tenure is expected to come to a full House vote in a matter of days. If the vote goes through, the case will head to the Senate for a trial.

Mayorkas has strongly denied the legitimacy of an impeachment effort calling it "baseless" and "false."

TRUMP CALLS ON 'ENTIRE REPUBLICAN PARTY TO UNITE' AROUND BERNIE MORENO IN RACE FOR SEN. SHERROD BROWN'S SEAT

"I assure you that your false accusations do not rattle me and do not divert me from the law enforcement and broader public service mission to which I have devoted most of my career and to which I remain devoted," Mayorkas said in a lengthy letter to House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green.

Moreno, who is running in the GOP primary to compete with Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in November, also told Fox News Digital that he does not support the framework of the current immigration bill being talked about in the Senate as a compromise between Republicans and Democrats and that no deal is "absolutely" better than a bad deal.

"5000 people a day is over 1 million illegals, 8500, which is what they're saying what it would take to cut it off, is almost 3 million illegals a year," Moreno explained. 

"That's an insane amount of people that are crossing into our country illegally, if they all wore the same shirt, we'd call that what it is, which is an invasion. We have to have it crystal clear to the rest of the world, there's one way to come to America, the legal way, and we have to have a zero-tolerance policy for any illegal immigration and we actually have to reform our asylum laws to make certain that you can only cross into this country legally and if you cross illegally through a non designated port of entry, then you're immediately returned and you forfeit your right for asylum."

Moreno added, "I think one of the important elements that's not been shared with the American public is Joe Biden has the ability to secure the border today with existing laws. Certainly, we have to reform asylum the way I just laid out but he has the ability to put an end to this illegal invasion of our country. He's choosing not to do so, and Republicans should not be giving him the air cover during a presidential election year in which he can pretend that he's actually doing something about a problem that he's actually caused."

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this report

Media meltdown: Why journalism is battered and bleeding

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

Let’s start with the good news.

With a flick of a finger, more information is instantaneously available than at any time in human history. Stories, columns, opinions, video, photos, music, movies, texts, social media, streaming, podcasts. There are more ways to consume–desktop, phone, tablet, smartwatch–and infinitely more ways to voice your views.

Okay, enough of that.

The news business is in a tailspin. Firings and layoffs and buyouts are decimating its ranks. Publications and websites are folding. Revenue is plunging. Credibility is at an all-time low. And AI is starting to gobble up jobs.

BIDEN’S LEAKED CAMPAIGN PLAN: TARGET TRUMP (OF COURSE) AND WORK SOCIAL MEDIA

Worst of all, after the pandemic, scandals and impeachments, economic anxiety and political gridlock, interest in news is declining.

In L.A. they’re always worried about the Big One. For media people it feels like the earthquake has already struck.

The billionaire owner of the once-mighty Los Angeles Times, Patrick Soon-Shiong, has fired the editor and more than 20 percent of its staff, devastating the Washington bureau and several key units. The billionaire owner of the Washington Post, Jeff Bezos, has given buyouts to 240 staffers, decimating the metro staff and losing many of the paper’s biggest names.

If newspapers aren’t owned by these wealthy moguls, they’re increasingly controlled by hedge funds whose strip-mining tactics have reduced them to a skeleton of their former selves.

From Vice to Vox, from Time (15 percent laid off) to Business Insider (8 percent), from Sports Illustrated (blown up) to BuzzFeed News (shuttered), the carnage is everywhere.

And just yesterday, the Messenger, a news and aggregation site launched by Jimmy Finkelstein, former owner of the Hill, shut down after less than a year, having lost $38 million and some staffers lured from top publications.

CNN just had a major round of layoffs. Cable news audiences are aging, and cord-cutting is growing in popularity. 

It’s not just that the voracious Internet broke the business model; that happened a quarter-century ago. It’s that there seems to be no end in sight. 

"Journalists across the country burst into flames of panic this week, as bad news for the news business crested and erupted everywhere all at once," writes Jack Shafer in Politico.

The impact is greatest on local reporting, with far fewer folks to check up on their city halls and statehouses, especially in smaller markets.

THE MENTAL FITNESS MANIA: MEDIA NOW CHALLENGE BIDEN, TRUMP

"No matter how many heroic nonprofit newsrooms like the Baltimore Banner and Daily Memphian take root, no matter how many Substack-like newsletters blossom or creators emerge to drop their videos on YouTube, you can’t deny the journalism business’ decline," Shafer writes.

What’s remarkable to me is how many of these pieces, and there have been many, overlook the importance of political bias. Republicans have been complaining about a liberal tilt since I began to read newspapers. Now, in the Trump era, half the country believes the media have become the opposition party, determined to block their man from returning to the White House. But during the Biden presidency, a growing percentage of those on the left have lost trust in the business as well.

You have Red and Blue America, each filled with anger, each side viewing the other as evil and dangerous, with the press having forfeited its standing as a neutral arbiter of facts. 

"What makes this so unnerving," says the Atlantic, "is the fact that the meltdown has come amid—and in seeming defiance of—a generally booming economy. The ranks of professional journalists keep declining even as overall unemployment stays low, incomes rise, and the stock market reaches new heights." 

The author, Paul Farhi, a longtime media reporter for the Washington Post, just took the paper’s buyout.

"What’s more, a presidential-election cycle tends to produce a surge of readers, viewers, and advertisers as people pay closer attention to the news. Not this time, at least so far."

Beyond news fatigue, Farhi notes, "Facebook has steadily reduced the amount of news that users see in their feed, wiping out a major source of traffic." I’d add that Google has gobbled some of that revenue as well.

HOW NIKKI HALEY BURNED BRIDGES IN SOUTH CAROLINA–AND STILL PULLS PUNCHES AGAINST TRUMP

There are obviously exceptions. The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Boston Globe are strong franchises. Fox News exceeds the prime-time ratings of CNN and MSNBC combined. But even television networks feel compelled to pour money into online shows and pay sites.

"Will journalism become a hobby like scrapbooking or street busking, done on the cheap or for donations, but one without much of a career path?" Politico asks.

I’m more pessimistic than I’ve ever been, and there’s no easy solution. Some say government subsidies are needed, but that raises serious conflict questions. And if zillionaires can’t revive newspapers and magazines, what hope is there for ordinary companies and local owners?

I do think that just as television didn’t wipe out radio, journalism will have to morph into new and more compelling forms to survive. Who would have thought even three years ago that everyone and their brother-in-law would have a podcast?

But people are willing to pay monthly fees for Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV and the like, though they are going through a belt-tightening wave as well, with Spotify having just axed 17 percent of its staff. 

If news outlets can’t convince most of the public that their product is worth buying, they bear the ultimate blame.

‘Squad’ Democrats Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib vote against bill to ban Hamas terrorists from US

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

"Squad" Democrats Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo. and  Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. were the only two representatives who voted against a bill barring Hamas terrorists from entering the United States.

The bill, HR 6679, which was also called the "No Immigration Benefits for Hamas Terrorists Act," expanded a U.S. ban on Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) officers to include all PLO members.

The bill, which was introduced by Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Penn., also barred Hamas members and other participants in the Oct. 7 attack from the U.S.

The legislation states that any person who "participated in, planned, financed, afforded material support to, or otherwise facilitated" the October 7 attack on Israel or attacks after that, "shall be ineligible for any relief under the immigration laws."

PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS SHRUG OFF RAPIDLY RISING US ANTISEMITISM WHILE MANY WATCH IN DISBELIEF

"Any alien who carried out, participated in, planned, financed, afforded material support to, or otherwise facilitated any of the attacks against Israel initiated by Hamas beginning on October 7, 2023, is inadmissible," the bill states.

While 422 members of the House voted to pass the bill, three far-left members voted either against the bill or voted present.

Bush and Tlaib voted against the bill while Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., voted present.

In a press release, Tlaib said that the bill was "just another" Republican bill used to "incite" hatred.

"H.R. 6679 is unnecessary because it is redundant with already existing federal law," Tlaib said. 

ANTISEMITISM IS GETTING WORSE AS MORE 'SHOCKING' AND 'SCARY' INCIDENTS ARE EXPOSED, DC RESIDENTS SAY

"It’s just another GOP messaging bill being used to incite anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian, and anti-Muslim hatred that makes communities like ours unsafe," the Democrat representative said.

Rep. Ramirez said that she voted present because she is "done with political games."

"I voted present  because I am done with political games," Ramirez said. "The majority is wasting time bringing a bill that is already current law. There are already no immigration benefits for Hamas terrorists. 

"After participating for 15 hours of a sham impeachment, I could not stomach another bill only introduced to score cheap political points, politicize immigration, and divide our communities. Like the Republican’s sham impeachment, this bill does not meaningfully address border security nor further protect our communities. H.R.6679 is unnecessary," Ramirez said. "It’s a waste of resources and time. And I’m not playing along."

Tlaib and Bush are among a small but vocal minority of Democrats critical of Israel in the ongoing conflict.

Tlaib was among the first to condemn Israel for the now-discredited claim that it struck a hospital in Gaza with an airstrike and killed some 500 people. 

U.S. intelligence said that the blast originated from a rocket fired by militants in Gaza that fell short.

Tlaib, Bush, and Ramirez did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Trump swipes at Biden’s demand for legislation to secure the border: ‘I didn’t have a bill’

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

Former President Trump took an apparent swipe at President Biden amid White House calls for a border security deal that he "didn’t have a bill" when his administration had "the most secure border in history."

Trump’s comments Wednesday came after Biden earlier this week claimed he had done everything he could do to secure the U.S. border.

BIDEN CLAIMS 'I'VE DONE ALL I CAN DO' TO SECURE THE BORDER

Biden told reporters as he was departing the White House Tuesday that "I've done all I can do. Just give me the power." 

"I asked them the very day I got into office," Biden said. "Give me the Border Patrol. Give me the judges. Give me the people who can stop this." 

Trump, the 2024 GOP frontrunner, appeared to contradict Biden’s claim and urged Republicans to avoid entering the border deal, which is still being negotiated in the Senate.

"There’s never been a border like this ever in the world," Trump said, adding that a "bad border deal would be worse than no deal at all."

"You don’t need a deal to tighten up the border to make it secure," he continued. "I had the most secure border in history. I didn’t have a deal. I didn't have a bill.

"I said no people are coming in, no drugs are coming, and we don’t want to have human trafficking, which nobody even talks about. That is the No. 1."

Trump added: "You have the right to close up your border… You don’t need bills."

Trump went on to say the individuals illegally crossing are individuals U.S. officials know nothing about.

"Right now, we have no idea who these people are that are pouring into our countries," Trump said. "Last night I watched where they're beating a police in New York City, a gang of people that just came in that didn't speak English. Nobody knows who they are, where they come from. And very importantly, they come from, I can tell you they come from jails and prisons. They come from mental institutions and insane asylums."

He added: "And they're terrorists. They have a lot of terrorists coming too, and we don't want them. I'm sorry, you know, we had a very strong border."

MAYORKAS LASHES OUT AT ‘BASELESS’ GOP ALLEGATIONS AHEAD OF KEY IMPEACHMENT VOTE 

President Biden has requested $14 billion in funding for the border as part of its supplemental funding request to Congress, which also includes aid to Ukraine and Israel. The request is being negotiated in Congress after Republicans demanded more limits on asylum and migrant releases into the interior.

Biden has urged Congress to pass the deal, but House Republicans and some conservatives in the Senate have said the reported proposals do not go far enough.

The Biden administration has said it has been expanding "lawful pathways" for migrants while increasing consequences for illegal entry into the U.S. since the ending of Title 42 expulsions in May last year. It has pointed to more than 500,000 removals since May, as well as increased cooperation with Mexico to crack down on human smugglers and fentanyl trafficking. 

The administration also says it has been increasing removal flights — including directly to Venezuela. However, it has stressed that it needs more funding and comprehensive immigration reform to fix what it says is a "broken" system. 

Migrant numbers officially hit 302,000 in December, a new record, after 2.4 million encounters in FY23. Republicans have said that large releases into the interior and a rolling back of Trump-era policies have fueled the crisis and have accused Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of a "dereliction of duty" in his handling of it.  

The House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday approved, along party lines, two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas — teeing up a floor vote as early as next week to impeach the embattled Biden official.

House Democrats come hard at GOP in Mayorkas impeachment hearing

Posted on by Joan McCarter

Following a contentious 15-hour debate, the House Homeland Security Committee voted in the wee hours of Wednesday morning to approve the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The vote was strictly on party lines, 18-15, and Democrats used amendments and procedural motions to score plenty of hits against congressional Republicans for being the tools of Donald Trump.

One of those motions included having the clerk read aloud all amendments, including one from Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell that blasted the Republicans for using this impeachment to boost the campaign of Trump, “a narcissistic, hateful liar who was found by a court of law to have raped and defamed at least one woman,” and who is “currently facing 91 criminal charges for a wide variety of alleged offenses, including a felony conspiracy to defraud the United States.” 

Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California had fun ridiculing Trump for his brilliant border plans, which have included “alligator moats, bombing northern Mexico, shooting migrants in the legs, and electrifying the fence, and putting spikes on them.”

Committee Democrats didn’t just take on Trump. They were having none of the MAGA nonsense from Republican committee members. Here’s Rep. Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island taking on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene:

Magaziner: It’s pretty rich hearing the Rep. Greene express concern about terrorism when she was selling defund the FBI shirts and hats for $30. The leading agency tasked with combatting terrorism.. I’m not going to take any lectures from her on securing the homeland from terror pic.twitter.com/GUqput7zR8

— Acyn (@Acyn) January 31, 2024

“It’s pretty rich hearing the gentlewoman from Georige express her concern about terrorism when she literally was selling ‘defund the FBI’ T-shirts and hats on her website for $30 apiece,” Magaziner said. “The leading law enforcement agency tasked with combating terrorism in this country and keeping people safe, and she wants to defund it,” he continued. “I’m not going to take any lectures from her on securing this homeland from terror.”

Democrats also pointed out Republican actions to stymie Mayorkas, including lawsuits that hamper him from enforcing the law. “When the secretary and the administration has tried to use their limited authority to change policy to limit the number of people coming to the border, to streamline the process, to make it go through ports of entry, Republicans filed lawsuits to stop the administration from doing it,” Rep. Dan Goldman of New York correctly pointed out. 

Goldman: The hypocrisy of you sitting here and accusing Mayorkas of failing to enforce the law when you are going to court to prevent him from enforcing the law… pic.twitter.com/YqtEsFsAXk

— Acyn (@Acyn) January 31, 2024

Republicans eventually shut down amendments from Democrats, playing into the Democrats’ hands. Ranking Democratic member Bennie Thompson of Mississippi blasted Republicans in a statement at the end of the night, criticizing them for shutting down debate “of their sham impeachment articles in the dark of night.

“They were either uncomfortable being confronted by the facts or they lacked the stamina to entertain a fulsome debate of a resolution the Committee entertained to buy off Marjorie Taylor Greene and the extreme MAGA Republicans who have taken over the Republican conference,” he said. That is also true—this sham was spearheaded by Greene.

The impeachment resolution is likely to come to the House floor next week, where its passage isn’t assured. There are still at least a few Republicans who have not committed to impeaching a cabinet official over a policy disagreement, and the Republican majority is so tiny that leadership can’t afford much defection. The Democratic conference is as united against the resolution as the committee Democrats are, and the impeachment won’t go anywhere in the Senate.

This isn’t about immigration policy, of course. This is about fighting President Joe Biden on immigration, which is just about the only issue Republicans have working in their favor in this election. Republican lawmakers themselves admit that.

RELATED STORIES:

Republicans admit impeaching Mayorkas is all politics

Republicans would rather campaign on the border crisis than solve it

Congressman shreds Trump's worst 'ideas' for border security

Campaign Action

It is primary season, and Donald Trump seems pretty low energy these days. Kerry and Markos talk about the chances of Trump stumbling through the election season and the need to press our advantage and make gains in the House and Senate. Meanwhile, the right-wing media world is losing its collective minds about Taylor Swift registering younger Americans to vote!

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Congressman shreds Trump’s worst ‘ideas’ for border security

Posted on by Walter Einenkel

The House Homeland Security Committee convened on Tuesday to discuss and vote on two Republican-led articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The Democratic members of the committee decided to take a two-pronged approach to managing today’s proceedings.

First, they pointed out how overtly political this impeachment process has been, and second, Democrats stressed how Republicans spend most of their time and energy complaining about border security while fighting tooth and nail to stop anything from actually being done about border security. That obstructionism includes trying to impeach Mayorkas.

Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California used his time to detail how “Donald Trump and House Republicans also have their own ideas for the border” and went on to helpfully list these actual proposed solutions. 

So let's review the majority’s border ideas, that they've actually presented. Here they are:

Donald Trump actually has said that he wants to build alligator moats along the border. That's one of his incredible ideas. 

Another idea that Donald Trump has promoted is he actually wants to electrify the border fence, and maybe even put some spikes on the border. That's another Donald Trump and MAGA-majority border idea. 

Another idea, which I'm not sure how well it would go, is he wants to actually bomb northern Mexico with missiles. That's another Trump idea.

And finally, I think one of the ones that I think is the most grotesque, is suggestions that instead we should maybe just shoot migrants in the legs as they cross the border. So once again, the Donald Trump and MAGA plan is alligator moats, bombing northern Mexico, shooting migrants in the legs, and electrifying the fence, and putting spikes on them. That is the Donald Trump border plan. 

And so again, we are here today with these horrific ideas being presented constantly by the former president. This is all about trying to get Donald Trump reelected. Donald Trump himself is saying he wants no solutions this year out of the Congress. And Secretary Mayorkas and President Biden continue to offer solutions every day and are ready to actually talk about real immigration and border solutions in this country.

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The Republican Party has admitted too many times that these committee hearings and impeachment pushes are entirely political maneuvers, fueled by petty revenge and attempted power grabs. These partisan performances have nothing to do with the checks and balances in our Constitution.

Campaign Action

It is primary season, and Donald Trump seems pretty low energy these days. Kerry and Markos talk about the chances of Trump stumbling through the election season and the need to press our advantage and make gains in the House and Senate. Meanwhile, the right-wing media world is losing its collective minds about Taylor Swift registering younger Americans to vote!

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James Biden to appear for transcribed interview with House Oversight Committee in February

Posted on by Latest Political News on Fox News

President Joe Biden's younger brother, James Biden, will appear before the House Oversight Committee on Feb. 21 for a transcribed interview.

The younger Biden was subpoenaed as part of the investigation into Hunter Biden and President Biden in November. He has not been charged with any wrongdoing by the FBI. 

House Republicans leading the impeachment inquiry into President Biden believe that James has knowledge of Hunter’s business deals and whether the president was involved. 

House Republicans have heard recently from several Biden associates. Rob Walker, a former business associate of Hunter, said the President "was never involved" in Hunter's business dealings during a closed-door interview.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS NEGOTIATE WITH PRESIDENT'S BROTHER ON DEPOSITION TERMS

Another one of Hunter's business associates, Mervyn Yan, testified behind closed-doors before the committees Thursday about the nature of Biden's business activities in China, which House Republicans said raised many questions.

A source with direct knowledge of Yan’s testimony told Fox News Digital that Yan told congressional investigators he is "unaware of any involvement President Biden may have had with his son’s business pursuits."

In December, The Washington Post reported that James Biden's discussions were monitored in an FBI investigation, although he wasn't the focus of it. The FBI recorded Biden's conversations due to his association with Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, a Mississippi attorney convicted of bribery involving a judge, as part of the investigation.

"I'm going to hold off criticism of the president's brother. He obviously has due process and we have heard from his attorney. We're trying to make that work and I feel like that'll happen soon," House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said last month.

Hunter Biden will appear before the House Oversight Committee for a deposition on Feb. 28. 

This is a breaking story, check back for updates. 

Fox News' David Spunt and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.