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Arizona Republican Launches Campaign For Governor

By
Madeleine Jackson
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By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America - Karrin Taylor Robson, CC BY-SA 2.0,

On Wednesday, Arizona Republican Karrin Taylor Robson launched her comeback gubernatorial bid.

Robson, a small business owner and lawyer, launched her campaign with a new ad centered on President Donald Trump’s return to the White House and her desire to help take back her state from incumbent Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs. 

Robson lost her primary bid in 2022 to Trump-backed Republican nominee Kari Lake.

Robson scored early support from Trump less than two months ago during his visit to Arizona as president-elect.

“I thank President Trump for his strong endorsement and look forward to working with him to secure our border and make Arizona safe again,” Robson said in a statement first obtained by Fox News Digital. “Katie Hobbs has made it harder to live, work, and raise a family safely in this state. Like President Trump, I know how to create jobs. And like President Trump, I will not rest until our border is secure and Arizona families are safe,” she continued.

“Katie Hobbs and Joe Biden’s insane agenda has made life more expensive and dangerous,” Robson stated. “I will fight every day alongside President Trump for stronger borders, a stronger economy, and a stronger Arizona.

President Trump said Robson would have his support if she ran for governor while he was delivering remarks at Turning Point Action’s AmericaFest in December.

“Are you running for governor? I think so, Karrin, ’cause if you do you’re gonna have my support, OK?” Trump said at the time.

Cook Political Report ranks the general election race as a “toss-up,” likely making it one of the most competitive races in the upcoming midterms.

The “Building A Better Arizona PAC” launched last month backing Robson, who formerly served on the Arizona Board of Regents. Former Arizona Republican Party Chairman Robert Graham and former Arizona Senate President Karen Fann created the group.

The primary is Aug. 4, 2026. It’s unclear if Hobbs will face a major challenger in the Democratic primary.

Robson will likely face off against another pro-Trump Republican during the primaries. Supporters of Rep. Andy Biggs hope that the president will shift gears and back his campaign instead, given his strong political agreements with him.

The congressman has already gained the endorsements of Reps. Lauren Boebert, Paul Gosar, and Eli Crane.

“Andy Biggs is the greatest thing since sliced bread,” Sen. Mike Lee( R-Utah) said on X. “Arizonans, do yourselves a big favor and elect this man as your next governor!” 

Senate Votes To Confirm Tulsi Gabbard

By
Madeleine Jackson
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Just in…

On Wednesday, Tulsi Gabbard was officially approved by the Senate to become his Director of National Intelligence (DNI). 

She became his 14th Cabinet confirmation following the Wednesday vote. 

The 52-48 vote caps two months of deliberations in the Senate over whether Gabbard, a former House Democrat from Hawaii, is qualified to lead the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies and prepare President Trump’s daily intelligence brief.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was the only GOP “no” vote.

Some concerns that followed Gabbard through her confirmation hearing were her past meeting with former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, her previous FISA Section 702 stance and her past support for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. 

Trump announced his selection of Gabbard for DNI in November shortly after being elected. “I am pleased to announce that former Congresswoman, Lieutenant Colonel Tulsi Gabbard, will serve as Director of National Intelligence (DNI),” he said in a statement at the time. 

“For over two decades, Tulsi has fought for our Country and the Freedoms of all Americans. As a former Candidate for the Democrat Presidential Nomination, she has broad support in both Parties – She is now a proud Republican! I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through Strength. Tulsi will make us all proud!”

Gabbard left the Democrat Party and subsequently endorsed Trump in the 2024 election. 

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.


Steve Bannon Pleads Guilty To Defrauding MAGA Donors

By
Madeleine Jackson
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Thor Brødreskift / Nordiske Mediedager, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Steve Bannon, the former chief strategist for the Trump White House, pleaded guilty to defrauding donors who thought they were giving money to help build a wall at the United States’ southern border on Tuesday.

Bannon had faced five felony counts and up to fifteen years in prison. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Bannon pled guilty to one count and received a three-year conditional discharge. He will face no jail time so long as he does not re-offend.

The longtime ally of President Donald Trump had previously faced federal charges pertaining to the same scheme. In an indictment unsealed in 2020, Bannon was accused of soliciting millions of dollars to build the wall and the funneling the money to himself and his associates. 

Audrey Strauss, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York at the time, said in a statement that Bannon and his co-conspirators had “defrauded hundreds of thousands of donors, capitalizing on their interest in funding a border wall to raise millions of dollars, under the false pretense that all of that money would be spent on construction.”

Bannon received a presidential pardon from Trump on Tuesday, January 19, 2021, the final full day of Trump’s first term in office. In 2022, the Manhattan district attorney’s office charged him over the same scheme.

Last month, Bannon openly declared war on billionaire businessman Elon Musk ahead of Trump’s second inauguration.

In an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, as highlighted by Mediaite, Bannon sharply criticized Musk, who was tapped by Trump to co-lead the “Department of Government Efficiency.”

“I will have Elon Musk run out of here by Inauguration Day,” Bannon said. “He is a truly evil guy, a very bad guy. I made it my personal thing to take this guy down.”

Federal Appeals Court Dismisses Classified Records Case Against Former Trump Co-defendants

By
Madeleine Jackson
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It’s over…

A federal appeals court dismissed the appeal charges brought against President Donald Trump aides Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira by former Special Counsel Jack Smith in his classified documents case, Fox News Digital reports. 

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case against Nauta and De Oliveira on Tuesday morning, two weeks after the Justice Department moved to drop the charges.

Nauta, Trump’s valet, and De Oliveira, the property manager of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, had pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging they conspired to obstruct the FBI investigation into classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago. 

The Justice Department had filed a motion in January to drop all criminal proceedings against Nauta and De Oliveira, putting an end to Smith’s probe more than two years after it began.

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The classified records case was dismissed in July 2024 by U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen Cannon, who ruled that Special Counsel Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed as special counsel. 

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

4 FEMA Employees Fired After Approving ‘Egregious’ Payments For Illegal Migrants

By
Madeleine Jackson
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Image via Pixabay free images

The buck stops here…

The Department of Homeland Security told Fox News that “four employees are being fired today for circumventing leadership and unilaterally making the egregious payment for hotels for migrants in New York City.”

The firings come after Elon Musk wrote on X Monday that “The DOGE team just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants.” 

“Sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President’s executive order,” Musk added. “That money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high end hotels for illegals!”  

“A clawback demand will be made today to recoup those funds,” he added. 

A New York City Hall spokesperson confirmed to Fox News that the city had received funds “through the past week” that were allocated by the Biden administration for the purpose of housing and supporting illegal immigrants. 

Of the $59.3 million, $19 million was for direct hotel costs, while the balance funded other services such as food and security. According to NY City Hall, the funds were not part of a disaster relief grant. 

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) told “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday that the firings were ‘long overdue.”

“These funds have been misappropriated going back to the Biden administration and New York City – a sanctuary city – has been wasting billions of dollars of taxpayer money to provide free housing, clothing, food, education and healthcare to illegal immigrants, including criminal aliens that are here illegally,” he added.

“And so I applaud DHS for taking action to stop these payments under President Trump’s leadership because we have incentivized cities like New York and states like New York – a sanctuary state – to allow this to continue and it has to stop,” Lawler also said.

The Department of Homeland Security previously told Fox News Digital that those who made the payment will be “held accountable.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that she supported getting rid of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) “the way it exists today.” 

In an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Noem’s stance appeared in line with that of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who have both suggested shutting down FEMA could be an option, as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has reportedly gained access to FEMA’s sensitive disaster relief data to review its programs. 

“Can and should Donald Trump shut it down?” CNN’s Dana Bash asked Noem. 

“He can. And I believe that he will do that evaluation with his team,” Noem said. “And he’s talking about it, which I’m grateful for. He’ll work with Congress, though, to make sure that it’s done correctly and that we’re still there to help folks who have a terrible disaster or a crisis in their life. He’s been very clear that he still believes there’s a role for the federal government to come in and help people get back up on their feet. But there’s a lot of fraud and waste and abuse out there. And since President Trump has taken over and come back into this administration, we’ve seen incredible change.” 

Noem, who visited Asheville, North Carolina, on Saturday to meet with Hurricane Helene victims and survey the damage, told CNN that she oversaw 12 different natural disasters that prompted a FEMA response when she was governor of South Dakota.

During former President Biden’s term, FEMA faced backlash after it was reported that while they lacked the necessary funds needed to help Hurricane Helene victims, they were dishing out money that ended up being used to aid illegal immigrants.  

Speaker Mike Johnson clarified that emergency relief funding is separate from FEMA funds allocated to immigration, but said that the agency should not have any part in funding the border crisis. 

FEMA partners with Customs and Border Control (CBP) and administers money to the Shelter and Services Program (SSP), a government-funded program that provides assistance and housing for illegal immigrants released into the U.S. 

“FEMA spent tens of millions of dollars in Democrat areas, disobeying orders, but left the people of North Carolina high and dry. It is now under review and investigation,” Trump posted, adding:

THE BIDEN RUN FEMA HAS BEEN A DISASTER. FEMA SHOULD BE TERMINATED! IT HAS BEEN SLOW AND TOTALLY INEFFECTIVE. INDIVIDUAL STATES SHOULD HANDLE STORMS, ETC., AS THEY COME. BIG SAVINGS, FAR MORE EFFICIENT!!!

Trump Declines To Name JD Vance His Successor During Fox News Interview

By
Madeleine Jackson
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Presidential debate photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

In what some are claiming is a dig at his vice president, Trump declined to explicitly name JD Vance as his successor during his recent interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier.

In a clip from his interview with the president that aired Monday afternoon on Fox, Baier asked “Do you view Vice President JD Vance as your successor, the Republican nominee in 2028?”

“No, but he’s very capable,” answered Trump decisively. “I mean, I don’t think that it, you know, I think you have a lot of very capable people. So far, I think he’s doing a fantastic job. It’s too early, we’re just starting.”

“But by the time you get to the midterms, he’s going to be looking for an endorsement,” observed Baier.

Trump then deflected by submitting that “a lot of people have said that this has been the greatest opening almost three weeks in the history of the presidency.”

On Monday, Baier weighed in on the answer:

I think it was a little shocking when he said no, you know, I wasn’t expecting that. But, you know, following up, it is you know, once you get to the midterm, it starts, you start to think about 2028. And obviously, one would think JD Vance is going to be trying to position for that role. But clearly, the president is not ready to talk about that, or think about it, and says that there are other other people that may get in the mix.

Watch:

Report: Trump To Pardon Disgraced Former Governor

By
Madeleine Jackson
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1

Just in…

President Donald Trump is expected to pardon former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Axios first reported the news.

Blagojevich served eight years in prison on charges stemming from his effort to sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat after Obama won the 2008 presidential election, until Trump commuted his 14-year sentence in 2020.

The former governor also appeared on the Trump-hosted “Celebrity Apprentice” after being impeached and removed from office.

The former governor defended Trump after Trump was indicted in the New York hush money case and likened Trump’s legal problems to his own.

“I love Trump more today than ever!” Blagojevich said on social media at the time. “When you’ve lived through it yourself you recognize when they do it to someone else.”

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump Admin. From Deporting Migrants To Guantanamo Bay

By
Madeleine Jackson
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A federal court on Sunday issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration from sending three Venezuelan immigrants held in New Mexico to the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detention camp.

Lawyers for the trio said in a legal filing that the detainees “fit the profile of those the administration has prioritized for detention in Guantánamo, i.e. Venezuelan men detained in the El Paso area with (false) charges of connections with the Tren de Aragua gang.”

In the filing, the lawyers asked a U.S. District Court in New Mexico for a temporary restraining order to block the administration from flying them to the U.S. military base. The lawyers noted that “the mere uncertainty the government has created surrounding the availability of legal process and counsel access is sufficient to authorize the modest injunction.”

The filing came as part of a lawsuit on behalf of the three men filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico and Las Americas Immigrant Advisory Center.

Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales granted the temporary restraining order, according to attorney Jessica Vosburgh, who represents the three men.

“It’s short term. This will get revisited and further fleshed out in the weeks to come,” Vosburgh told The Associated Press.

Last week, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt separately said that flights carrying detained illegal immigrants had been sent to Guantánamo.

Immigrant rights groups sent a letter on Friday demanding access to people who are now being held at the U.S. naval station, arguing that the base should not be used as a “legal black hole.” Guantánamo has been criticized around the world for its inhumane abuse and torture of detainees, including interrogation tactics.

The immigrants are being held in the Guantánamo detention camp that was set up for detainees in the aftermath of 9/11. The immigrants are separated from the 15 detainees who were already there, including planners in the 2001 terrorist attack.

Trump has promised to expand the detention camp to hold up to 30,000 “criminal illegal aliens.”

Ukranian President Accuses Ex-Fox News Personality Of Colluding With Russia

By
Madeleine Jackson
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Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused conservative commentator Tucker Carlson of working with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

Responding to Carlson’s own appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored – during which he criticized Zelensky for his persecution of political opponents and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – the Ukrainian president claimed, “Regrettably, this blogger or journalist, whatever he wants to call him, he unfortunately fully repeats words of the Putin.”

“It seems to me that to this journalist, I do not remember his surname. Excuse me, Tucker. Yes, Tucker, his name, but it seems to me he needs to more deeply understand what’s happening in Ukraine,” Zelensky said during an appearance on pundit Piers Morgan’s program. “Just stop working for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.”

Carlson, Zelensky said, knows better.

“When he simply says something, you know, just throwing the words,” the Ukrainian leader said. “Has he for one time in his lifetime lost his close ones? I wish to his family, I do not know his family, I wish them peace and no losses, but one must have his own opinion and understand that he probably influences many people. He’s simply disinforming them, misinforming the people.”

Watch:

Carlson, a former Fox News host, recently launched his own media company and used an interview and commentary style internet show to feature conversations with newsmakers and other public figures.

Last year, Carlson published an extensive interview with Putin, during which the Russian leader defended his invasion of Ukraine. (RELATED: Tucker Carlson Confirms Vladimir Putin Interview)

During his appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Zelensky also claimed he had been invited to President Donald Trump’s inauguration but decided not to go.

“President Trump invited me to his inauguration, but he invited me in very general terms, as maybe other leaders,” he said. “I think that it was simply not very appropriate for me to come. He wouldn’t have time for [a] personal meeting.”

Lawmakers Swiftly Denied While Attempting To Access Dept. Of Education

By
Madeleine Jackson
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3
Image via Gage Skidmore Flickr

Thirty House Democrats on Friday morning attempted to enter the Department of Education building in Washington, D.C., to meet with acting Education Secretary Denise L. Carter, but they were stopped by security.

A man who said he was a federal employee did not make it clear why the lawmakers had not been allowed into the building.

Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) asked the man whether he was doing so of his own volition or had been ordered to block the door, to which the man responded that he was doing his job. 

Fox News reports:

As they surrounded the man in front of the door, lawmakers repeatedly insisted that they had the right to enter the building and slammed the Trump administration over a “lack of transparency.”

President Donald Trump and Republicans have advocated for shutting down the Department of Education, saying that the states are better equipped to handle education. Trump on Tuesday said that if Linda McMahon, his pick for education secretary, is confirmed, she should work to “put herself out of a job.”

Ninety-six members of Congress, led by Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) wrote a letter to Carter requesting a meeting. The department acknowledged receipt of the letter but did not set up a meeting.

An aide made it inside the building and explained to security that lawmakers were there. Members then tried to go inside the building, and at that point, the doors were locked, Fox News is told.

Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who served in Trump’s first administration, slammed the department and called for a revamp in an opinion piece.

“A complete reset begins with ending the failed experiment resident in the Department of Education. The bureaucrats have focused on mandating DEI, when students needed the focus to be on ABC and 123,” DeVos wrote. “President Trump and Congress should take their corrosive power away and instead block grant all necessary education funding directly to the states.”

“This reset must also ensure that no child in America is trapped in a failing school,” DeVos added.

Elon Musk, whose Department of Government Efficiency is expected to recommend major spending cuts, became the subject of Democrats’ ire as lawmakers protested against him on Capitol Hill this past Tuesday.

In response to lawmakers’ fears, Trump said that Musk “can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval.”

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